, but the wind we had experienced the preceding night
caused a rather heavy swell, which rendered the attempt to enter this
inlet an impracticable task; however, it was tried. We found between the
ship and the shore six, four, and two fathoms, but as the mouth of the
inlet was filled with breakers, apparently on a bar extending out half a
mile, I was fully convinced that further perseverance would only amount
to waste of time and needless risk, and therefore, after taking a few
angles to fix the position of the boat, we returned on board. It appeared
at low-water to be nearly dry, and then only amounted to a collection of
mud and sandbanks. The examination quite satisfied me that it partook of
the same character as the one already spoken of as seen yesterday, and
that they are alike useless.

We were soon underway, and standing towards, or rather along, the shore;
and as the day advanced, the wind drew more to the westward, a common
occurrence, enabling us to lay along the shore, North 1/2 East. By four
P.M., we were within two miles of it, in nine fathoms.

The coast here is fronted with a range of sandhills, some of which are
topped with verdure: several low black rocky points extend for some
distance from the flat sandy beach into the sea. I have no hesitation in
saying, that this is a kind of black sandstone, often found at the bases
of most cliffy points, and probably coloured by the chemical action of
the saltwater. The sandhills, which form the coastline, do not appear to
extend more than a mile inland. Beyond, the country appeared to subside
into the same dull level which is the characteristic feature of what we
have yet seen of this coast, thickly studded with timber of a much finer
growth than the stunted productions of Roebuck Bay. Behind the cliffy
parts of the coast the land assumed a more fertile appearance; and this
seemed an almost invariable law in the natural history of this new world.

PROGRESS TO THE NORTHWARD.

Five miles to the northward of Point Coulomb, we passed a reef, lying a
mile from the shore, with seven fathoms one mile seaward of it. The land
now trended to the eastward, and formed a large bay, the south point of
which we rounded at half past four P.M. The mangroves grew right down to
the water's edge, and the spring tides appear to inundate the country to
a very considerable extent, the land here being lower than any we had yet
seen. We anchored, at half past eight, in six and a half f