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VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH SEAS.
during the night, with the deſign of going on ſhore in the morning. This iſle is of a moderate height, preſents a pleaſant aſpect, and is ſurrounded with ſmall iſlets, the two largeſt of which I named after the admirals Sir Alan Gardner and Caldwell. There are ſeveral ſandy beaches on it, and a great number of ſeals were ſeen off it. At day-light the current had ſet us ſo conſiderably to the Southward and Weſtward, as to have loſt ſight of the iſland, though we plyed to Windward all the forenoon we gained but little. We got ſight, however, of Albemarle Iſle, and two ſmaller ones which lie between it and Charles Iſle. I take them to be the Croſſman and Brattles Iſles of the Buccaneers. March 20.At noon on the twentieth, our Latitude was 1° 23′ South; the extremes of Charles Iſle bearing from Eaſt 14° North, to Eaſt 24° North; and Albemarle iſle from North 45° Weſt, to North 10° Weſt; with a ſmall flat iſle between them. We ſaw ſeveral ſpermaceti whales, and gave chaſe with boats and ſhip but could not come up with them. We beat off here for forty hours, and loſt ground conſiderably from the current running ſo ſtrong to the Weſtward. 21.At noon on the twenty-firſt, our Latitude was 1° 19′ South, Albemarle Iſle bearing from North 20° Eaſt, to North 31° Weſt; and Perry Iſthmus, North 5° Weſt. By four o'clock in the afternoon, we got within two miles of the South
