76 COO's VO Y A G E,K 
which they fvv armed in fuch amazing numbers, bore leaves ancl 
flowers, and appeared to be in as flourilhing a ftate as thofe 
that were found. We found alfo an incredible number of but- 
terflies, fo that for the fpace of three or four acres the air was fo 
crowded with them that millions were to be feen in every di- 
rection, at the fame time that every branch and twig was co- 
vered with others that were not upon the wing. We found here 
alfo a fmall fifh of a Angular kind ; it was. about the Aze of a 
minnow, and had two very ftrong breafl: flns : we found it in 
places that vyere quite dry, where we fuppofed it might have 
been left by the tide ; but it did not feem to have become lan- 
guid by the want of water ; for upon our approach it leaped 
away, by the help of the breafl: fins, as nimbly as a frog, nei- 
ther indeed did it feem to prefer water to land ; for when we 
found it in the water, it frequently leaped out, and purfued 
itstvay upon dry ground : we alfo obferved that when it was 
in places where fmall flcnes were Handing above the furface of 
the water, at a little diflance from each other, it chofe rather ' 
to leap from ftone to ftone, than to pafs through the water ; 
arfd we faw feveral of them pafs entirely over puddles in this 
m’Shner, till they came to dry ground, and then leap away. 
In the afternoon we renewed our fearch after frefli water, 
blit without fuccefs ; and therefore I determined to make my 
fiay here but fliort : however, having obferved from an emi- 
nence that the inlet penetrated a conflderable way into the 
couhtry, I determined to trace it in the morning. 
At fun-rile I went alhore, and climbing a conflderable hill, 
I took a view of the coaft and the iflands that lie offit, with their 
bearings, having an azimuth compafs with me for that pur- 
pole ; but I obferved that the needle differed very confiderably 
in its pofition, even to thirty degrees, in fome places more, in ' 
others lefs ; and once I found it differ from itfelf no lefs than ‘ 
two points, in the diflance of fourteen feet. I took up fome of 
the loofe ftone3 that lay upon the ground, and applied them to 
the needle, but they produced no effect ; and I therefore con- 
cluded that there was iron ore in the hills, of which I had re- 
marked other indications both here, and in the neighbouring 
parts. After I had made my obfervations upon the hill, I pro- 
ceeded with Dr. Solander up the inlet ; I fet out with the firft 
of the flood, and long before high-water T had advanced above 
eight leagues. Its breadth thus far was from two to five miles, 
upon a S. W. by S. direction ; but here it opened every way, 
and formed a large lake, which to the N. W. communicated [ 
with the fea ; and I not only faw the fea in this direttion, but l t 
found the tide of flood coming flrongly in from that point : I 
alfo obferved an arm of this lake extending to the eaftward, 
and it is not improbable that it may communicate with the 
fea in the bottom of the bay, which lies to the "weftward of* 
Cape 
