1770, the fea coaft confifts of woody hills and vallies, of various
. Mach' , height and extent, and has much appearance of fertility :
F,:da)' *3' many of the vallies form plains of conlidefable extent,
wholly covered with wood, but it is very probable that the
ground, in many places, is fwampy, and interfperfed with
pools of water. From latitude 420 8', to 41^ 30', the land is
not diftinguifhed by any thing remarkable: it rifes into hills
diredlly from the fea, and is covered with wood; but the
weather being foggy while we were upon this part of the
coaft, we could fee very little inland, except now and then
the fummics of the mountains, towering above the .cloudy
mills thatobfcuxed them below, which confirmed my opinion
that a chain of mountains extended from one end of the
ifland to the other.
In the afternoon, we had a gentle breeze at S. W. which,
before it was quite dark, brought us abreaft of the eaftern
point which we had feen at noon; but not knowing what
courfe the land took on -the other fide of it, we brought: to in
thirty-four fathom, at the diftance of about one league from
the fhore. At eight in the evening, there being little wind,
we filled and flood on till midnight, and then we brought to
Saturday 24. till four in the morning, when we again made fail, and;at
break of day we faw low land extending from the poiiit to
the S. S. E. as far as the eye could reach, the eaftern extremity
of which appeared in round hillocks: by this time the
gale had veered to the eaflward, which obliged us to plv to
Sunday 25. windward. At noon next day, the eaftern point bore S. W.
by S. diftant fixteen miles, and our latitude was 40° 19': the
wind continuing eafterly, we were nearly in the fame fitua-
Monday 26. tion at noon on the day following.. About three o’clock the
wind came to the weftward, and we fleered E. S, E. with all
the fail we could fet till it was dark, and then fhortened fail
Tueflay 27. till the morning: as we had thick hazey weather all night,
4 we
we: kept founding continually, and had from thirty-feven to wjo.
fortv-two fathom. When the day broke we faw land bearing e— — j v v , . ,.n Tuefdav'27*
S*E. by E. and an ifland lying near it, bearing E.S.E. diltant
about five leagues: this ifland I knew to be the fame that I
had feen from the entrance of Queen Charlotte’s Sound,
from which it bears N. W. by N. diftant nine leagues. At
noon, it bore fouth, diftant four or five miles, and the north
weft head of the Sound S. E. by S. diftant ten leagues and an
half. Our latitude, by obfervation, was 400 33'S.
As we had now circumnavigated the whole country* it became
neceflary. to think of quitting it s but as I had thirty
tons of empty water calks on board, this could not be done
till I had filled them: I therefore hauled round the ifland,
and entered a bay, which lies between that and Queen Charlotte’s
Sound, leaving three more illands, which lay clofe
under the weftern fhore, between three or four miles within
the entrance, on our ftarboard hand: while we were running
in, we kept the lead continually going, and had from
forty to twelve fathom. At fix o’clock in the evening, we
anchored in eleven fathom with a muddy bottom, under the
weft Ihore, in the fecond cove, that lies within the three
iflands; and as foon as it was light the next morning, I took wednef. *8.
a boat, and went on fhore to look for a watering-place, and
a proper birth for the Ihip, both which I found, much to my
fatisfadtion. As foon as the Ihip was moored, I fentan officer
on Ihore to fuperintend the watering, and the carpenter,
with his crew, to cut wood, while the long-boat was employed
in landing the empty calks.
In this employment we were bufy till the 30th, when the Friday 30.
wind feeming to fettle at S. E. and our water being nearly
completed, we' warped the Ihip out of the cove, that we
might have room to get under fail: and at noon I went away
D s in