On the 16th, we were in latitude 27° 4°, and saw a vast tract of low land, with, here and there, a rising hill.
On the 17th, the land appeared higher, having many remarkable peaks; one of which was like a glass-house: we also saw some smoke, and the appearance of a large river; the water of which was of a pale green colour. Latitude 26° 2°.
On the 18th, in latitude 25° 3°, the land appeared to rise perpendicular, of an unequal height, and looked like a wall along the coast, without having any break; which prevented us from seeing the back land; and it was covered with great patches of white sand and stinted shrubs. The sea was full of a sort of orange-coloured powder, like that we saw on the coast of Brazil. On this day, we saw a water-snake.
On the 20th, in the forenoon, we were a-breast of a point which seemed to be the last of the land to the north, and tended away abruptly to the south. From this point there runs a very large shoal, on several parts of which the water broke. We sailed along-side of it, and had from seventeen to nine fathoms water. Before night came on, we got round it, and kept our course westward, as we had seen the looming of land in that quarter. The barren sandy land continued to this point, and was uninhabited. We saw a large turtle, some large grampusses that leaped out of the water, a great number of porpoises, many sharks which would not take bait, and several men-of-war birds. Latitude 24° 2°.