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At three o'clock in the afternoon of the 2nd of August, the 'Supply', which had been previously sent a-head on purpose, made the signal for seeing the land, which was visible to the whole fleet before sunset, and proved to be Cape Frio, in latitude 23 deg 5 min south, longitude 41 deg 40 1/4 min west. Owing to light airs we did not get a-breast of the city of St.
The high bluff head, with yellowish cliffs, which we were a-breast of at noon, I called Cape Turnagain, because here we turned back. It lies in latitude 40° 34' S. longitude 182° 55' W., distant eighteen leagues S.S.W. and S.S.W. 1/2 W. from Cape Kidnappers.
That instant I collected all my camels, and after we had travelled some time, we came into a valley, the pass into which was so narrow, that two camels could not go a-breast. The two mountains which bounded this valley formed nearly a circle, but were so high, craggy, and steep, that there was no fear of our being seen by any body.
Thus exposed, there was never any real chance of success. The whole circumference of the bastion, if lined with men, would not have contained more than fifteen or twenty men a-breast; and the whole means of the fort were levelled on this small space, to their certain defeat and destruction. All that was in the power of mortal man to do was done, but all our efforts were in vain.
The point of land of which we were now a-breast, and which I called Point Rodney, is the N.W. extremity of the river Thames; for under that name I comprehend the deep bay, which terminates in the fresh water stream, and the N E. extremity is the promontory which we passed when we entered it, and which I called Cape Colville, in honour of the Right Honourable Lord Colville.
Soon after, a single man ran along the shore, armed with his lance, and when he came a-breast of the boat he began to dance, brandish his weapon, and call out in a very shrill tone, which Tupia said was a defiance from the people.
At day-light in the morning of the 24th, we observed with no small degree of pleasure, that we had gained ground to windward; but this we knew was not owing to any weatherly qualities in the ship, but to the wind having varied several points during the night, and of which we had availed ourselves: by noon we were so far to windward as to perceive the utmost extent of the reef to the southward under our lee, and we had a prospect of weathering it; we, of course, carried a press of sail, and did weather it about two or three miles: when a-breast of it, the highest part of the Isle of Pines was just to be seen above the horizon, which was very clear, and it bore by compass north-east by north, distant ten or eleven leagues; having passed without the reef, at noon we observed our latitude to be 23° 7' south, so that the south extremity of this dangerous reef lies in latitude 23° 00' south nearly: as soon as we were fairly clear of this situation, we bore away to the westward.
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