lard 
May 1828. GULF OF PENAS—KELLY HARBOUR. 175 
until midnight of the 22d, it rained in torrents, without the 
intermission of a single minute, the wind being strong and 
squally at W., W.N.W., and N.W. 
** When the weather improved, on the 22d, we weighed, and 
made sail along the northern side of the sound, for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining whether it admitted of a passage to the 
northward. We kept within a mile of the shore, sounding from 
eight to fifteen fathoms, generally on a sandy bottom; and a 
run of seven miles brought us within three miles of the bottom 
of the inlet, the depth of water being four fathoms, on sand. 
The termination of this sound is continuous low land, with 
patches of sandy beach, over which, in the distance, among 
mountains of great height, we were again able to make out 
and take the bearing of that remarkable one, named the ‘ Dome 
of St. Paul’s.. The shores of this inlet are thickly wooded ; 
the land near them is, for the most part, low, but rises into 
mountains, or rather hills, from twelve to fifteen hundred feet 
in height, from which many streams of water descend. As 
soon as a ship has passed Dead Tree Island, she becomes land- 
locked ; and as in all parts of the sound there is anchorage 
depth, with a muddy or sandy bottom, the advantages offered 
to shipping would be of great consequence in parts of the world 
more frequented than the Gulf of Penas. 
«* Whales were numerous, and seals were seen in this inlet, 
now called the Gulf of San Estevan. 
“Hence we went to Kelly Harbour, at the north-eastern side 
of the Gulf of Peas, four miles N.E. of Xavier Island. The 
land around it is rocky and mountainous, but by no means 
bare of wood. Near the entrance it is low, as compared with 
the adjacent land; but in the interior are lofty snow-capped 
mountains. 
*< A large field of ice, lying on the low land near Kelly Har- 
bour, was remarkable. There was none on the low grounds at 
the other (southern) side of the port, though it was almost the 
winter solstice at the time of our visit. 
*¢ Another day and night of incessant rain. In the morning 
of the 25th we had some showers of hail, and at daylight found 
