As soon as the boat was hoisted in, which, was not till near six o'clock, we made sail to the east, with a fine breeze at north. For since we had explored the south coast of Terra del Fuego, I resolved to do the same by Staten Land, which I believed to have been as little known as the former. At nine o'clock the wind freshening, and veering to N.W., we tacked, and stood to S.W., in order to spend the night; which proved none of the best, being stormy and hazy, with rain.
Next morning, at three o'clock, we bore up for the east end of Staten Land, which, at half past four, bore S. 60° E., the west end S. 2° E., and the land of Terra del Fuego S. 40° W. Soon after I had taken these bearings, the land was again obscured in a thick haze, and we were obliged to make way, as it were, in the dark; for it was but now and then we got a sight of the coast. As we advanced to the east, we perceived several islands, of unequal extent, lying off the land. There seemed to be a clear passage between the easternmost, and the one next to it, to the west. I would gladly have gone through this passage, and anchored under one of the islands, to have waited for better weather, for on sounding we found only twenty-nine fathoms water; but when I considered that this was running to leeward in the dark, I chose to keep without the islands, and accordingly hauled off to the north. At eight o'clock we were abreast of the most eastern isle, distant from it about two miles, and had the same depth of water as before. I now shortened sail to the three top-sails, to wait for clear weather; for the fog was so thick that we could see no other land than this island. After waiting an hour, and the weather not clearing, we bore up and hauled round the east end of the island, for the sake of smooth water and anchorage, if it should be necessary. In hauling round, we found a strong race of a current, like unto broken water; but we had no less than nineteen fathoms. We also saw on the island abundance of seals and birds. This was a temptation too great for people in our situation to withstand, to whom fresh provisions of any kind were acceptable; and determined me to anchor, in order that we might taste of what we now only saw at a distance. At length, after making a few boards, fishing, as it were, for the best ground, we anchored in twenty-one fathoms water, a stony bottom, about a mile from the island, which extended from N. 18° E. to N. 55° 1/2 W.; and soon after, the weather clearing up, we saw Cape St John, or the east end of Staten Land, bearing S. 76° E., distant four leagues. We were sheltered from the south wind by Staten Land, and from the north wind by the island; the other isles lay to the west, and secured us from that wind; but beside being open to the N.E. and E., we also lay exposed to the N.N.W. winds. This might have been avoided by anchoring more to the west, but I made choice of my situation for two reasons; first, to be near the island we intended to land upon, and, secondly, to be able to get to sea with any wind.