On the 21st, in the evening, we saw several men of war birds; and at midnight, heard many birds about the ship.  At five o’clock in the morning of the 23d, we saw the Island of Ascension; and at eight, discovered a ship to the eastward, who brought-to, and hoisted a jack at her main-topmast-head, upon which we shewed our colours, and she then stood in for the land again.  We ran down close along the north-east side of the island, and looked into the bay, but seeing no ship there, and it blowing a stiff gale, I made the best of my way.

On Monday the 28th, we crossed the equator, and got again into north latitude.

On Wednesday, the 13th of April, we passed a great quantity of gulph weed; and on the 17th, we passed a great deal more.  On the 19th, we saw two flocks of birds, and observing the water to be discoloured, we thought the ground might be reached, but, upon sounding, could find no bottom.

At five o’clock in the morning of Sunday the 24th, we saw the peak of the island of Pico bearing N.N.E. at the distance of about eighteen leagues.  We found, by observation, that Fyal lies in latitude 38 deg. 20’ N., longitude 28 deg. 30’ W. from London.

No incident worth recording happened till about noon on the 11th of May, when, being in latitude 48 deg. 44’ N., longitude 7 deg. 16’ W. we saw a ship in chace of a sloop, at which she fired several guns.  We bore away, and at three, fired a gun at the chace, and brought her to; the ship to windward, being near the chace, immediately sent a boat on board her, and soon after, Captain Hammond, of his majesty’s sloop the Savage, came on board of me, and told me, that the vessel he had chaced, when he first saw her, was in company with an Irish wherry, and that as soon as they discovered him to be a man of war, they took different ways; the wherry hauled the wind, and the other vessel bore away.  That he at first hauled the wind, and stood after the wherry, but finding that he gained no ground, he bore away after the other vessel, which probably would also have escaped, if I had not stopped her, for that he gained very little ground in the chace.  She appeared to be laden with tea, brandy, and other goods, from Roscoe in France; and though she was steering a south-west course, pretended to be bound to Bergen in Norway.  She belonged to Liverpool, was called the Jenny, and commanded by one Robert Christian.  Her brandy and tea were in small kegs and bags; and all appearances being strongly against her, I detained her, in order to be sent to England.

At half an hour after five, on the 13th, we saw the islands of Scilly; on the 19th, I landed at Hastings in Sussex; and at four the next morning, the ship anchored safely in the Downs, it being just 637 days since her weighing anchor in Plymouth Sound.  To this narrative, I have only to add, that the object of the voyage being discovery, it was my constant practice, during the whole time of my navigating those parts of the sea which are not perfectly known, to lie-to every night, and make sail only in the day, that nothing might escape me.