356 cook's voyage to may, 



tending from N.N.E. to N.E. by E. \ E. How- 

 ever, as this was supposed to be an island, it did 

 not discourage us. About this time we got a light 

 breeze southerly, and I steered to the westward of 

 this low land, nothing appearing to obstruct us in 

 that direction. Our soundings during the night were 

 from thirty to twenty -five fathoms. 



On the 28th in the morning, having but very little 

 wind, and observing the ship to drive to the southward, 

 in order to stop her I dropped a kedge-anchor, with 

 an eight-inch hawser ben t* to it. But, in bringing 

 the ship up, the hawser parted near the inner end, 

 and we lost both it and the anchor. For although 

 we brought the ship up with one of the bowers, and 

 spent most of the day in sweeping for them, it was to 

 no effect. By an observation, we found our station 

 to be in the latitude of 59 51' ; the low land above 

 mentioned extended from N. E. to S. f5 E., the 

 nearest part two leagues distant, and extended from 

 S.35 W. to N. 7 E., so that the extent of the inlet 

 was now reduced to three points and a half of the 

 compass ; that is, from N. \ E. to N. E. Between 

 these two points no land was to be seen. Here was 

 a strong tide setting to the southward out of the 

 inlet. It was the ebb, and ran between three and 

 four knots in an hour, and it was low water at ten 

 o'clock. A good deal of sea-weed and some drift- 

 wood were carried out with the tide. The water, 

 too, had become thick like that in rivers, but we were 

 encouraged to proceed by finding it as salt at low 

 water as the ocean. The strength of the flood-tide 

 was three knots, and the stream ran up till four in 

 afternoon. 



As it continued calm all day, I did not move till 

 eight o'clock in the evening, when, with a light 

 breeze at E., we weighed and stood to the N., up the 

 inlet. We had not been long under sail, before the 

 wind veered to the N., increasing to a fresh gale, 

 and blowing in squalls, with rain. This did not. 



