194 cook's SECOND VOYAGE JAN. 



to which are some rocky islets. It is situated in the 

 latitude of 54° S., longitude 38° 23' W. The other 

 isle, which obtained the name of Bird Isle, on ac- 

 count of the vast number that were upon it, is not so 

 high, but of greater extent, and is close to the N.E. 

 point of the main land, which I called Cape North. 



The S.E. coast of this land, as far as we saw it, 

 lies in the direction of S. 50° E., and N. 50° W. It 

 seemed to form several bays or inlets ; and we ob- 

 served huge masses of snow, or ice, in the bottoms of 

 them, especially in one which lies ten miles to the 

 S.S.E. of Bird Isle. 



After getting through the passage, we found the 

 north coast trended E. by N. for about nine miles ; 

 and then E. and E. southerly to Cape Buller, which 

 is eleven miles more. We ranged the coast, at 

 one league distance, till near ten o'clock, when we 

 brought to for the night, and, on sounding, found 

 fifty fathoms, a muddy bottom. 



At two o'clock in the morning of the 17th, we 

 made sail in for the land, with a fine breeze at S.W.; 

 at four, Willis's Isle bore W. by S., distant thirty-two 

 miles ; Cape Buller, to the west of which lie some 

 rocky islets, bore S.W. by W. ; and the most ad- 

 vanced point of land to the E., S. 63° E. We now 

 steered along the shore, at the distance of four or 

 five miles, till seven o'clock, when, seeing the ap- 

 pearance of an inlet, we hauled in for it. As soon 

 as we drew near the shore, having hoisted out a boat, 

 I embarked in it, accompanied by Mr. Forster and 

 his party, with a view of reconnoitring the bay 

 before we ventured in with the ship. When we put 

 off from her, which was about four miles from the 

 shore, we had forty fathoms' water. I continued to 

 sound as I went farther in, but found no bottom with 

 a line of thirty-four fathoms, which was the length of 

 that I had in the boat, and which also proved too 

 short to sound the bay, so far as I went up it. I 

 observed it to lie in S.W. by S. about two leagues, 



