COAST NEAR WEST HILL. 33 



from one place of shelter to another, among the 

 little islets which here fringe the coast. 



On March 3, we came in sight of West Hill, and 

 after passing through some heavy seas and tide 

 races, which filled our open boat once or twice up to 

 the thwarts, we crossed Broad Sound, and sailed 

 down along shore to the northward. The coast of 

 the main land hereabouts is formed of a low sandy 

 shore, with a flat country of five or six miles wide 

 behind it, backed by a bold range of lofty hills, or 

 rather a high flat-topped ridge, perhaps the edge of 

 a table land. Here and there a conical hill stands 

 out in advance of the range, and West Hill is one 

 of these, rising directly from the sea to a height of 

 nearly 1,000 feet. We saw smoke rising in two 

 places from the top of the high land at the back of 

 the coast, and in one from the slope of West Hill. 

 The wind was now moderating and the sky clearing, 

 and, for the first time during our boat cruise, the 

 weather became pleasant. About one p. m, we 

 rounded West Hill, and entered a wide shallow bay, 

 with a broad sandy beach, to the northward of it, 

 where we shortly anchored in four fathoms, about a 

 quarter of a mile from the shore. Having dined, 

 Aird and I landed, taking our guns and two men 

 armed with muskets. As soon as we had got ashore, 

 we heard the shouts and coeys of the natives on a 

 woody cliff on our right hand. Two or three shewed 

 themselves at the edge of the wood below the cliff, 



VOL. I. D 



