Page:Extracts from the letters and journals of George Fletcher Moore.djvu/253

 Rh 19th.—We are now opposite the part of the coast to which you seem to have turned your attention. It is bold and rocky, reminding me greatly of the Irish coast—more to be admired for the picturesque than trusted for its safety. It is probable that there may be many nooks, sounds, or bays, affording shelter, but they are not yet known.

It is a work of time, expense, and difficulty to explore the windings of a coast; more an object for Government to accomplish, than for an individual to undertake. You conjecture that this is a desirable part of the continent to select for a settlement, but it may be long before this place shall be located, and a solitary settler would labour under many disadvantages in his isolation.

It would be very injudicious to choose an uninhabited district, when there are so many places here in which we can have the protection and comfort of society. A Robinson Crusoe kind of life may do very well in romance, but will not be pleasant in reality.

This must be obvious for many reasons; and as we are now going with a nine-knot breeze and a heaving sea, I shall not be at the trouble of scribbling any thing in proof of it.

Last night the wind became unfavourable as we were rounding Cape Lewin, but on standing out a little we got a fair breeze off land, and so