177^. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 415 



and stood to the westward, which course soon brought 

 us into deep water ; and, during the i c 2th, we plied 

 to the north, both coasts being in sight; but we kept 

 nearest to that of America. 



At four in the afternoon of the 13th, a breeze 

 springing up at south, I steered N. E. by N., till four 

 o'clock next morning, when, seeing no land, we di- 

 rected our course E. by N. ; and between nine and 

 ten, land, supposed to be a continuation of the con- 

 tinent, appeared. It extended from east by south to 

 east by north ; and, soon after, we saw more land, 

 bearing N. by E. Coming pretty suddenly into thir- 

 teen fathoms water, at two in the afternoon we made 

 a trip off till four, when we stood in again for the 

 land ; which was seen, soon after, extending from 

 north to south-east ; the nearest part three or four 

 leagues distant. The coast here forms a point, named 

 Point Mulgrave, which lies in the latitude of 67 45'; 

 and in the longitude of 194 51'. The land appeared 

 very low next the sea ; but, a little back, it rises into 

 hills of a moderate height. The whole was free from 

 snow ; and to appearance destitute of wood. I now 

 tacked, and bore away N. W. by W. ; but soon after, 

 thick weather with rain coming on, and the wind in- 

 creasing, I hauled more to the west. 



Next morning, at two o'clock, the wind veered to 

 S. W. by S., and blew a strong gale, which abated 

 at noon ; and the sun shining out, we found ourselves, 

 by observation, in the latitude of 68 18'. I now 

 steered N. E. till six o'clock the next morning, when 

 I steered two points more easterly. In this run we 

 met with several sea-horses, and flights of birds ; 

 some like land-larks, and others seen no bigger than 

 hedge-sparrows. Some shags were also seen ; so that 

 we judged ourselves to be not far from the land. 

 But as we had a thick fog, we could not expect to 

 see any ; and as the wind blew strong, it was not 

 prudent to continue a course which was most likely 

 to bring us to it. From the noon of this day to six 



