100 
SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 
1818. menced its exploration, but the greater part of 
May* 6 . the tide was expended before we reached the 
entrance, which is fronted by a bank of mud on 
which there was not more than twelve feet water ; 
the depth, however, increased after we entered 
the river to four and five fathoms ; and, as we 
proceeded up, we found the channel to be seven 
and eight fathoms deep; The banks on either side 
were very low ; they were composed of a soft 
mud, and so thickly lined with mangroves as to 
prevent our landing, until we had pulled up foi 
seven or eight miles. At ten o’clock the flood 
ceased, and the ebb, setting with considerable 
strength, prevented our proceeding higher up . 
here we landed, and, after spending some time 
in taking bearings and examining the country, 
we returned to the cutter, which we reached 
early in the afternoon. 
The banks where we landed were about two 
hundred yards apart, but were so low, and without 
a hillock to ascend, or a tree to climb, to enable 
us to obtain a view of the country, that we could 
form but a very slight opinion of the place. A 
sugar-loaf-shaped hill, which was also visible 
from the anchorage, bore S. 80 ° E. ; at the dis- 
tance of a league was a rocky hill that bore 
N. 88 |° E. ; and, five or six leagues off, was a 
