nmost point of the main land, within or to the westward of
St Hermogenes, lay N. 1/2 W., distant five leagues. This promontory,
which is situated in the latitude of 58 deg. 15', and in the longitude of
207 deg. 24', was named, after the day, _Cape Whitsunday_. A large bay,
which lies to the W. of it, obtained the name of _Whitsuntide Bay_.
The land on the E. side of this bay, of which Cape Whitsunday is the
most southern point, and Point Banks the northern one, is, in all
respects, like the island of St Hermogenes, seemingly destitute of
wood, and partly free from snow. It was supposed to be covered with a
mossy substance, that gave it a brownish cast. There were some reasons
to think it was an island. If this be so, the last-mentioned bay is
only the strait or passage that separates it from the main land.[1]

[Footnote 1: Such seems to be the opinion of Arrowsmith, as indicated
by his map of America, 1804. That map, however, is far from being
minute or satisfactory as to this part of the voyage. The chart of
the Russian and English discoveries, which Mr Coxe has inserted in his
work so often alluded to, is perhaps a better guide. But indeed both
are faulty. The reader need not be informed that the geography of this
region is still very imperfect.--E.]

Between one and two in the afternoon, the wind, which had been at
N.E., shifted at once to the southward. It was unsettled till six,
when it fixed at S., which was the very direction of our course, so
that we were obliged to ply up the coast. The weather was gloomy, and
the air dry, but cold. We stood to the eastward till midnight, then
tacked, and stood in for the land; and, between seven and eight in the
morning of the 8th, we were within four miles of it, and not more
than half a league from some sunken rocks, which bore W.S.W. In this
situation we tacked in thirty-five fathoms water, the island of St
Hermogenes bearing N. 20 deg. E., and the southernmost land in sight, S.

In standing in for this coast, we crossed the mouth of Whitsuntide
Bay, and saw land all round the bottom of it, so that either the land
is connected, or else the points lock in, one behind another. I am
more inclined to think, that the former is the case, and that the
land, east of the bay, is a part of the continent. Some small islands
lie on the west of the bay. The sea-coast to the southward of it is
rather low, with projecting rocky points, between which are small bays
or inlets. There was n