THIRD VOYAGE 339 



with the Princess Elizabeth's birth-day, I named it Cape 

 Elizabeth. Beyond it we could see no land, so that at first 

 we were in hopes that it was the western extremity of the 

 Continent ; but not long after we found our mistake, for 

 fresh land appeared in sight, bearing west south-west. We 

 continued our course with little variation, observing many 

 high mountains near the coast till the 30th, when we 

 anchored in nineteen fathoms water under the eastern shore. 

 " About noon two canoes, with a man in each, came 

 off to the ship, from near a place where we had seen some 

 smoke the preceding day. They laboured very hard in 

 paddling across the strong tide, and hesitated a little before 

 they would come quite close ; but, upon signs being made 

 to them, they approached. One of them talked a great 

 deal to no purpose, for we did not understand a word he 

 said. He kept pointing to the shore, which we interpreted 

 to be an invitation to go thither. They accepted of a few 

 trifles from me, which I conveyed to them from the quarter 

 gallery. 



" When the flood made, we weighed, and stood over to 

 the western shore with a fresh gale at north north-east. 

 This, with the other on the opposite shore, contracted the 

 channel to the breadth of four leagues. Through this 

 channel ran a prodigious tide. 



" As we proceeded farther up the marks of a river dis- 

 played themselves. The water was found to be fresher, 

 insomuch that I was convinced that we were in a large river, 

 and not in a strait communicating with the Northern Seas. 

 But I was desirous of having stronger proofs ; and therefore 

 weighed with the next flood, in the morning of the 31st, 

 and plied higher up, or rather drove up with the tide, for 

 we had but little wind. 



" About eight o'clock we were visited by several of the 

 natives, in one large, and several small canoes. The latter 

 carried only one person each ; and some had a paddle with 

 a blade at each end, after the manner of the Esquimaux. 



" Soon after we came to an anchor, about two leagues 

 from the west shore. The weather was misty, with drizzling 

 rain, and clear by turns. At the clear intervals, we saw an 

 opening between the mountains on the eastern shore, bear- 

 ing east from the station of the ships, with low land, which 

 we supposed to be islands lying between us and the main- 

 land. From these appearances we were in some doubt 

 whether the inlet did not take an easterly direction through 

 the above opening, Qr whether that opening was only a 

 branch of it, and the main channel continued its northern 

 direction through the low land now in sight. 



" To determine this point, and to examine the shoals, I 



