low water, but six fathom; but at spring tides the water rises no less
than four fathom and a half, which is seven-and-twenty feet. The tide
indeed in this place is such as perhaps it is not in any other.[13] It
happened by some accident that one of our men fell overboard; the boats
were all alongside, and the man was an exceeding good swimmer, yet
before any assistance could be sent after him, the rapidity of the
stream, had hurried him almost out of sight; we had however at last the
good fortune to save him. This day I was again on shore, and walked six
or seven miles up the country: I saw several hares as large as a fawn; I
shot one of them, which weighed more than six and twenty pounds, and if
I had had a good greyhound, I dare say the ship's company might have
lived upon hare two days in the week. In the mean time the people on
board were busy in getting up all the cables upon deck, and clearing the
hold, that a proper quantity of ballast might be taken in, and the guns
lowered into it, except a few which it might be thought necessary to
keep above.

[Footnote 13: "The harbour itself is not much more than half a mile
over. On the south shore is a remarkable rock in the form of a tower,
which appears on entering the harbour's mouth. Abreast of this rock we
lay at anchor in seven or eight fathom water, moored to the east and
west, with both bowers, which we found extremely necessary, on account
of the strong tide that regularly ebbs and flows every twelve hours.
Indeed the ebb is so rapid, that we found by our log-line it continued
to run five or six knots an hour; and in ten minutes after the ebb is
past, the flood returns with equal velocity; besides, the wind generally
blows during the whole night out of the harbour."]

On the 25th, I went a good way up the harbour in the boat, and having
landed on the north side, we soon after found an old oar of a very