Our situation was such that not a man could have escaped to have told where the rest suffered:  however, whatever might have been the private feelings of each individual, I never saw orders executed with more alacrity in any situation; every officer and man took his station for the look-out; and, the ship being wore to the eastward, notwithstanding the strength of the gale, the close reefed fore and main top-sails were set over the reefed courses.

Fortunately at this instant the wind favoured us near two points, and the ship lay better up upon this tack, than her course upon the other had promised, but still the weather was so thick, the sea so high, the gale so strong, and so dead upon the shore, that little hope could be entertained of our weathering the land.  We stood on to the eastward, and the ship, to my astonishment, as well as to that of every person on board, bore such a press of sail wonderfully.  We had, about midnight, run back the distance made from the first land we saw to the second, and perceived, through the haze, the looming of that land under our lee, nearly on the beam; this advantage we had gained by the shifting of the wind two points.  We now stood on, and I had hopes that this might be the most projecting land; but at two in the afternoon, as I was looking from the quarter deck very anxiously to leeward, I observed the looming of a high and very steep point of rocky land, and the sea foaming with frightful violence against it.  I made no mention of it; but just at that instant it was discovered by the sailors stationed forward, and they called out, “Land, close under our lee;” I replied it was very well, I had seen it some time, and that as it was now upon our beam (which it really was, for I discovered it through the main shrouds) there could be no danger from it, we should soon pass it:  if this land had been seen a little sooner, the fear of not being able to weather it might have occasioned our wearing, which would have been unfortunate, as the weather just cleared up at a time when we could see that no danger was to be apprehended from it.

The ship was at this time half buried in the sea by the press of sail, since she was going through it (for she could not be said to be going over it) at the rate of four knots.

We soon shot past this head, and from the course we had made, I was convinced it was Tasman’s Head, which is the eastern point of a bay, of which the south cape is the western, and was called by Tasman, Storm-Bay.  The first land we had seen was within the bay, on the east shore, not so far out as Tasman’s Head; and the western land, under which we wore at half past six, was the south cape.

After passing Tasman’s Head, we kept our wind still, and carried sail, in order, if possible, to weather Maria’s Islands, which lay about six leagues to the north-east, for we had no sooner got round the last head, than the wind headed us, and we fell off from east by south to east by north; had this change taken place a little sooner, it must have proved fatal to us.