414 cook's voyage to aug. 



examination, I must have pronounced Mr. Staehlin's 

 map, and his account of the new Northern Archipe- 

 lago, to be either exceeding erroneous, even in lati- 

 tude, or else to be a mere fiction ; a judgment which 

 I had no right to pass upon a publication so re- 

 spectably vouched, without producing the clearest 

 proofs. 



After a stav of between two and three hours with 

 these people, we returned to our ships ; and soon 

 after, the wind veering to the south, we weighed 

 anchor, stood out of the bay, and steered to the 

 north-east, between the coast and the two islands. 

 The next day, at noon, the former extended from 

 S. 80 W., to N. 84 W. ; the latter bore 43 W. ; and 

 the peaked mountain, over Cape Prince of Wales, 

 bore S. 36 E. ; with land extending from it as far 

 as S. 75 E. The latitude of the ship was 66 5J' ; 

 the longitude 191 19'; our depth of water twenty- 

 eight fathoms ; and our position nearly in the middle 

 of the channel between the two coasts, each being 

 seven leagues distant. 



From this station we steered east, in order to get 

 nearer the American coast. In this course the water 

 shoaled gradually, and there being little wind, and 

 all our endeavours to increase our depth failing, I 

 was obliged at last to drop anchor in six fathoms ; 

 the only remedy we had left to prevent the ships 

 driving into less. The nearest part of the western 

 land bore W., twelve leagues distant ; the peaked 

 hill over Cape Prince of Wales, S. 16 W. ; and the 

 northernmost part of the American continent in sight 

 E. S. E., the nearest part about four leagues distant. 

 After we had anchored, I sent a boat to sound, and 

 the water was found to shoal gradually toward the 

 land. While we lay at anchor, which was from six 

 to nine in the evening, we found little or no current; 

 nor could we perceive that the water either rose or 

 fell. 



A breeze of wind springing up north, we weighed 



