weather and much ſea. By ſun-ſet, we got well up with the Weſtern iſle, and being moon-light, I ſent the chief mate, in one of the boats, to fiſh during the night, as well as to take ſoundings round the iſle for the beſt anchoring place; and in the morning to make an attempt to land. At noon, on the following day, he returned with plenty of fiſh of the ſpecies of cod and bream, weighing from four to ſix pounds each; and informed me he had taken ſoundings round the iſle, and that the only bay was on the South ſide; but that he could not find any bottom except cloſe to the ſhore, which was at eighteen fathoms depth and rocky: That he had alſo ſounded, on the North ſide, round the iſle, to eight fathoms, within half a mile of the ſhore, and found a ſandy bottom; but beyond that, could find no ground, at thirty fathoms; and, that the late gale had occaſioned ſo great a ſurf as to render it impoſſible to land. He added, that the iſland appeared to be covered with ſeals. I had by this time ſurrounded the iſle, with the ſhip, and frequently tried for ſoundings, but no bottom could be found, with one hundred and ſeventy fathoms of line, at the diſtance of from four to ſix miles from the ſhore.
The whaling maſter and ſecond mate attempted to land in the evening, the ſwell having conſiderably abated; but they could not accompliſh their deſign. They ſet out again, at four o'clock May 22.the next morning, twenty-ſecond, with a ſimilar deſign;