1774- ROUND THE WORLD. l6l 



had little wind easterly, which in the morning veered 

 toN.E. and N.N. E., but it was too faint to be of use ; 

 and at ten, we had a calm, when we observed the 

 ship to drive from off the shore out to sea. We had 

 made the same observation the day before. This 

 must have been occasioned by a current; and the 

 melting of the snow increasing, the inland waters will 

 cause a stream to run out of most of these inlets. At 

 noon, we observed in latitude 55° 39' SO" S. York 

 Minster, then bearing N. 1.5° E., distant five leagues % 

 and Round-hill, just peeping above the horizon, 

 which we judged to belong to the isles of Saint 

 Ildefonso, E. 25° S., ten or eleven leagues distant. 

 At ten o'clock, a breeze springing up at E. by S., I 

 took this opportunity to stand in for the land, being 

 desirous of going into one of the many ports which 

 seemed open to receive us, in order to take a view of 

 the country, and to recruit our stock of wood and 

 water. 



In standing in for an opening, which appeared on 

 the east side of York Minster, we had forty, thirty- 

 seven, fifty, and sixty fathoms water, a bottom of 

 small stones and shells. When we had the last sound- 

 ings we were nearly in the middle between the two 

 points that form the entrance to the inlet, which we 

 observed to branch into two arms, both of them lying 

 in nearly N., and disjoined by a high rocky point. 

 We stood for the eastern branch as being clear of 

 islets ; and after passing a black rocky one, lying 

 without the point just mentioned, we sounded and 

 found no bottom with a line of an hundred and 

 seventy fathoms. This was altogether unexpected, 

 and a circumstance that would not have been re- 

 garded, if the breeze had continued ; but, at this time, 

 it fell calm, so that it was not possible to extricate 

 ourselves from this disagreeable situation. Two 

 boats were hoisted out, and sent a-head to tow ; but 

 they would have availed little, had not a breeze 

 sprung up about eight o'clock, at S. W. which put it 



VOL. IV. M 



