tack, and laid us upon our beam-ends; the main tack was then cut for it
was become impossible to cast it off; and the main sheet struck down the
first lieutenant, bruised him dreadfully, and beat out three of his
teeth: the main-topsail, which was not quite handed, was split to
pieces. If this squall, which came on with less warning and more
violence than any I had ever seen, had taken us in the night, I think
the ship must have been lost. When it came on we observed several
hundred of birds flying before it, which expressed their terror by loud
shrieks; it lasted about twenty minutes, and then gradually subsided.
The Tamar split her main-sail, but as she was to leeward of us, she had
more time to prepare. In a short time it began to blow very hard again,
so that we reefed our main-sail, and lay-to all night. As morning
approached the gale became more moderate, but we had still a great sea,
and the wind shifting to S. by W. we stood to the westward under our
courses. Soon after it was light, the sea appeared as red as blood,
being covered with a small shell-fish of that colour, somewhat
resembling our cray-fish, but less, of which we took up great quantities
in baskets.

At half an hour past four in the morning of the 15th of November, we saw
land, which had the appearance of an island about eight or nine leagues
long, there being no land in sight either to the northward or southward,
though by the charts it should be Cape Saint Helena, which projects from
the coast to a considerable distance, and forms two bays, one to the
north, and the other to the south. As the weather was very fine, I
tacked and stood in for it about ten o'clock; but as there were many
sunken rocks at about two leagues distance from it, upon which the sea
broke very high, and the wind seemed to be gradually dying away, I
tacked again and stood off. The land appeared to be barren and rocky,
without either tree or bush: When I was nearest to it I sounded, and had