that it had a large comb upon it; round the neck there was a white ruff,
exactly resembling a lady's tippet; the feathers on the back were as
black as jet, and as bright as the finest polish could render that
mineral; the legs were remarkably strong and large, the talons were like
those of an eagle, except that they were not so sharp, and the wings,
when they were extended, measured from point to point no less than
twelve feet.

The Tamar worked into the harbour with the tide of flood, but I kept my
station with the Dolphin till I should have a leading wind, and the wind
shifting to the eastward, I weighed about five o'clock in the afternoon,
intending to go up with the evening flood: Before I could get under
sail, however, the wind shifted again to N.W. by N. and it being low
water, the ship lying but just within the harbour, and there being no
tide to assist us, we were obliged to anchor near the south shore. The
wind came off the land in very hard flaws, and in a short time our
anchor coming home, the ship tailed on shore against a steep gravelly
beach. The anchoring ground, indeed, as far as we had yet sounded, was
bad, being very hard; so that, in this situation, if the wind blows
fresh, there is always the greatest reason to fear that the anchor
should come home before the ship can be brought up. While we were on
shore, it began to blow very hard, and the tide running like a sluice,
it was with the utmost difficulty that we could carry an anchor to heave
us off; however, after about four hours hard labour, this was effected,
and the ship floated in the stream. As there was only about six or seven
feet of the after-part of her that touched the ground, there was reason
to hope that she had suffered no damage; however, I determined to unhang
the rudder, that it might be examined.

During all this night and the next morning the wind blew with great