We went to the northward of these islands, and steered W. by S. with a strong south westerly current. At eleven o'clock at night, we fell in with another island of a considerable extent, flat, green, and of a pleasant appearance; we saw none of its inhabitants, but it appeared by the many fires which we saw in the night to be well peopled. It lies in latitude 4° 5° S. and bears west fifteen leagues from the northermost of the Nine Islands, and we called it SIR CHARLES HARDY' S ISLAND.

At day-break the next morning, we discovered another large high island, which, rising in three considerable hills, had, at a distance, the appearance of three islands. We gave it the name of WINCHELSEA' S ISLAND; it is distant from Sir Charles Hardy's Island about ten leagues, in the direction of S. by E. We had here the wind squally, with unsettled weather, and a very strong westerly current.

About ten o'clock in the morning of the 26th, we saw another large island to the northward, which I supposed to be the same that was discovered by Schouten, and called the island of Saint John. Soon after we saw high land to the westward, which proved to be Nova Britannia, and as we approached it we found a very strong S.S. westerly current, setting at the rate of no less than thirty-two miles a day. The next day, having only light winds, a north westerly current set us into a deep bay or gulph, which proved to be that which Dampier has distinguished by the name of Saint George's Bay.

Voyaging Accounts