as much as possible; and as soon as it was light the next morning, I sent the master again, out in the cutter, in search of an anchorage on the south shore.  I waited in a state of the most painful suspense for her return, till five o’clock in the afternoon, fearing that we should be obliged to keep out in this dangerous pass another night, but I then saw her sounding a bay, and immediately stood in after her:  In a short time the master came on board, and to our unspeakable comfort, reported that we might here come safely to an anchor; this, with the help of our boat, was effected about six o’clock, and I went down into my cabin to take some rest:  I had, however, scarcely lain down, before I was alarmed with a universal shout and tumult among the people, all that were below running hastily upon the deck, and joining the clamour of those above:  I instantly started up, imagining that a gust had forced the ship from her anchor, and that she was driving out of the bay, but when I came upon the deck, I heard the people cry out, The Dolphin! the Dolphin! in a transport of surprise and joy which appeared to be little short of distraction:  A few minutes, however, convinced us, that what had been taken for a sail was nothing more than the water which had been forced up, and whirled about in the air, by one of the violent gusts that were continually coming off the high land, and which, through the haze, had a most deceitful appearance.  The people were for a few minutes somewhat dejected by their disappointment, but before I went down, I had the pleasure to see their usual fortitude and cheerfulness return.

The little bay where we were now at anchor, lies about three leagues E. by S. from Cape Pillar:  It is the first place which has any appearance of a bay within that Cape, and bears S. by E., about four leagues from the island which Sir John Narborough called Westminster Hall, from its resemblance to that building in a distant view.  The western point of this bay makes a very remarkable appearance, being a perpendicular plane like the wall of a house.  There are three islands about two cables’ length within its entrance, and within those islands a very good harbour, with anchorage in between twenty-five and thirty fathom, with a bottom of soft mud.  We anchored without the islands, the passage on each side of them being not more than one-fourth of a cable’s length wide.  Our little bay is about two cables’ length broad, the points bearing east and west of each other:  In the inner part there is from sixteen to eighteen fathom, but where we lay it is deeper; we had one anchor in seventeen fathom, and the other in forty-five, with great over-falls between them, and rocks in several places.  Here we rode out a very hard gale, and the ground being extremely uneven, we expected our cables to be cut in two every minute, yet when we weighed, to our great surprise, they did not appear to have been rubbed in any part, though we found it very difficult to heave them clear of