ach round the bay seemed to be covered with drift-wood. At the same
time, a boat was sent from each ship, to sound round the bay; and, at
three in the afternoon, the wind freshening at N.E., we weighed, in
order to work farther in. But it was soon found to be impossible,
on account of the shoals, which extended quite round the bay, to the
distance of two or three miles from the shore, as the officers, who
had been sent to sound, reported. We, therefore, kept standing off
and on with the ships, waiting for Mr Gore, who returned about eight
o'clock, with the launch laden with wood.

He reported, that there was but little fresh water; and that wood
was difficult to be got at, by reason of the boats grounding at some
distance from the beach. This being the case, I stood back to the
other shore; and, at eight o'clock the next morning, sent all the
boats, and a party of men with an officer, to get wood from the place
where I had landed two days before. We continued for a while to
stand on and off with the ships; but, at length, came to an anchor in
one-fourth less than five fathoms, half a league from the coast, the
south point of which bore S. 26 deg. W.; and Bald Head, N. 60 deg. E.,
nine leagues distant. Cape Denbigh bore S. 72 deg. E., twenty-six miles
distant; and the island under the east shore, to the southward of
Cape Denbigh, named _Besborough Island_, S. 52 deg. E., fifteen leagues
distant.

As this was a very open road, and consequently not a safe station,
I resolved not to wait to complete water, as that would require some
time; but only to supply the ships with wood, and then to go in search
of a more convenient place for the other article. We took off the
drift-wood that lay upon the beach; and as the wind blew along
shore, the boats could sail both ways, which enabled us to make great
dispatch.

In the afternoon, I went ashore, and walked a little into the country,
which, where there was no wood, was covered with heath and other
plants, some of which produce berries in abundance. All the berries
were ripe, the hurtle-berries too much so, and hardly a single plant
was in flower. The underwood, such as birch, willows, and alders,
rendered it very troublesome walking amongst the trees, which were all
spruce, and none of them above six or eight inches in diameter. But
we found some lying upon the beach more than twice this size. All the
drift-wood in these northern parts was fir. I saw not a stick of any
other