Sentence:  On the 11th [June, 1771] we run up the channel ... at noon we were abreast of Dover, and about three came to an anchor in the <WSD>Downs</WSD>, and went ashore at Deal. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A road for shipping in the English Channel or Straits of Dover, near Deal, employed as a naval rendezvous in time of war.