356 AVOYAGETO 



177?. wc might fearch for, and flop the leak ; our prefent ftation 

 111 >, ' «' being too much expofed for this purpofe. At firft, I propofed 

 to have gone up the bay, before which we had anchored ; but 

 tlic clearnefs of the weather tempted me to fleer to the 

 Northward, farther up the great inlet, as being all in our 

 way. As foon as we had palled the North Weft point of the 

 bay above mentioned, we found the coaft on that fide to 

 turn fhort to the Eallward. I did not follow it, but con- 

 tinued our courfe to the North, for a point of land which 

 we faw in that diredion. 



The natives who vifited us the preceding evening, came 

 off again in the morning, in five or fix canoes ; but not till 

 we were under fail ; and although they followed us for 

 fome time, they could not get up with us. Before two in 

 the afternoon, the bad weather returned again, with fo 

 thick a haze, that we could fee no other land befides the 

 point juft mentioned, which wc reached at half paft four, 

 and found it to be a fmall ifland, lying about two miles 

 from the adjacent coaft, being a point of land, on the Eafl 

 fide of which we difcovered a fine bay, or rather harbour. 

 To this we plied up, under reefed top fails and courfes. The 

 wind blew ftrong at South Eaft, and in exccflively hard 

 fqualls, with rain. At intervals, we could fee land in every 

 diredlion ; but in general the weather was fo foggy, that we 

 could fee none but the fliores of the bay into which we 

 were plying. In pafilng the ifland, the depth of water was 

 twenty-fix fathoms, with a muddy bottom. Soon after, the 

 depth increafed to fixty and fcventy fathoms, a rocky bot- 

 tom; but in the entrance of the bay, the depth was from 

 thirty to fix fathoms ; the laft very near the fliorc. Ac 

 length, at eight o'clock, the violence of the fqualls obliged 



us 



