The 6th of August, in the morning, we saw an opening in the land, and we ran into it, and anchored in seven and a half fathom water, two miles from the shore, clean sand.  It was somewhat difficult getting in here, by reason of many shoals we met with; but I sent my boat sounding before me.  The mouth of this sound, which I called Shark’s Bay, lies in about 25 degrees south latitude, and our reckoning made its longitude from the Cape of Good Hope to be about 87 degrees, which is less by one hundred and ninety-five leagues than is usually laid down in our common draughts, if our reckoning was right and our glasses did not deceive us.  As soon as I came to anchor in this bay, I sent my boat ashore to seek for fresh water, but in the evening my men returned, having found none.  The next morning I went ashore myself, carrying pickaxes and shovels with me, to dig for water, and axes to cut wood.  We tried in several places for water, but finding none after several trials, nor in several miles compass, we left any further search for it, and spending the rest of the day in cutting wood, we went aboard at night.

The land is of an indifferent height, so that it may be seen nine or ten leagues off.  It appears at a distance very even; but as you come nigher you find there are many gentle risings, though none steep or high.  It is all a steep shore against the open sea; but in this bay or sound we were now in, the land is low by the seaside, rising gradually in with the land.  The mould is sand by the seaside, producing a large sort of samphire, which bears a white flower.  Farther in the mould is reddish, a sort of sand, producing some grass, plants, and shrubs.  The grass grows in great tufts as big as a bushel, here and there a tuft, being intermixed with much heath, much of the kind we have growing on our commons in England.  Of trees or shrubs here are divers sorts, but none above ten feet high, their bodies about three feet about, and five or six feet high before you come to the branches, which are bushy, and composed of small twigs there spreading abroad, though thick set and full of leaves, which were mostly long and narrow.  The colour of the leaves was on one side whitish, and on the other green, and the bark of the trees was generally of the same colour with the leaves, of a pale green.  Some of these trees were sweet-scented, and reddish within the bark, like sassafras, but redder.  Most of the trees and shrubs had at this time either blossoms or berries on them.  The blossoms of the different sorts of trees were of several colours, as red, white, yellow, etc., but mostly blue, and these generally smelt very sweet and fragrant, as did some also of the rest.  There were also besides some plants, herbs, and tall flowers, some very small flowers growing on the ground, that were sweet and beautiful, and, for the most part, unlike any I had seen elsewhere.