the next day, when the wind coming at south-south-west and south, we began to coast it along the shore on the northward, keeping at six or seven leagues off shore, and sounding often, we had between forty and forty-six fathom water, brown sand with some white shells.  This 15th of August we were in latitude 24 degrees 41 minutes.  On the 16th day, at noon, we were in 23 degrees 22 minutes.  The wind coming at east by north, we could not keep the shore aboard, but were forced to go farther off, and lost sight of the land; then sounding, we had no ground with eighty-fathom line.  However, the wind shortly after came about again to the southward, and then we jogged on again to the northward, and saw many small dolphins and whales, and abundance of cuttle-shells swimming on the sea, and some water-snakes every day.  The 17th we saw the land again and took a sight of it.

The 18th, in the afternoon, being three or four leagues off shore, I saw a shoal-point stretching from the land into the sea a league or more; the sea broke high on it, by which I saw plainly there was a shoal there.  I stood farther off and coasted along shore to about seven or eight leagues distance, and at twelve o’clock at night we sounded, and had but twenty fathom, hard sand.  By this I found I was upon another shoal, and so presently steered off west half an hour, and had then forty fathom.  At one in the morning of the 18th day we had eighty-five fathom; by two we could find no ground, and then I ventured to steer along shore again due north, which is two points wide of the coast (that lies north-north-east), for fear of another shoal.  I would not be too far off from the land, being desirous to search into it wherever I should find an opening or any convenience of searching about for water, etc.  When we were off the shoal-point I mentioned, where we had but twenty fathom water, we had in the night abundance of whales about the ship, some ahead, others astern, and some on each side, blowing and making a very dismal noise; but when we came out again into deeper water, they left us; indeed, the noise that they made by blowing and dashing of the sea with their tails, making it all of a breach and foam, was very dreadful to us, like the breach of the waves in very shoal water or among rocks.  The shoal these whales were upon had depth of water sufficient, no less than twenty fathom, as I said, and it lies in latitude 22 degrees 22 minutes.  The shore was generally bold all along.  We had met with no shoal at sea since the Abrohlo shoal, when we first fell on the New Holland coast in the latitude of 28 degrees, till yesterday in the afternoon and this night.  This morning also, when we expected by the draught we had with us to have been eleven leagues off shore, we were but four, so that either our draughts were faulty, which yet hitherto and afterwards we found true enough as to the lying of the coast, or else here was a tide unknown to us that deceived us, though we had found