Page:Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World in the Years 1791–95, volume 1.djvu/497

Rh 1709.

and nearly level on ihc top, where ii produees a few trees, its i'ules arc aliuofl. perpendicular ; near it are fonie Hnall white barren rocks, fonie I'linken ones, and Tome rocky iflets of curious and romantic iliapes. At noon the obfcrved latitude was j<S° 8', and the loiifvimdc, deduced from i'our dilFcrent fels of obfersations for the chronometer taken in the af- ternoon, was 2^'j" 26'. In this fuuation the fouthernmoR land in fighl bore by com pa fs s. jS 1.. and the mountain before confidercd as mount Olymjjus, call. Whethi. r our having been latterly accultonied to fee more lofty tnountains, or hither the mountain being dilVobed of its winter garment (the fnow now being only in patches) produced the effe8, is not eafdy determined, but it certaiidy feemed of Icfs (lujjendous height than when we fn 11 beheld it in the fpring. A light favorable j)rce7.c from the N.w. during the afternoon, afforded a good opportunity for deter- mining the fituation of this Cape, and I had the faiisfaftion to find it correfpoiid exa6llv with the pofition I had afTigned to it, on pafTing it in {hv fpring. This exinced the propriety of" a(lo])ting the meridian of Nootka for our charts, agreeably to the refult of the obfervaiions we had made for afcertaining it. In the point of view wc this day law the entrance of De Fuca's flraits ; it appeared in no ri Ipetl remarkable, or likely to be an opening of any confulerable extent. The night being again almoll calm, our difhxncc from the land was increafcd as before. We ajjproached it flowly in the forenoon, and at mid-day the coalt by compafs extended n. k.w. to k.s.l. ; Waiucr. 1 ■ mount Olympus bore. .jo r.. and the nearefl fliore N. K. about 4 leagues diflant. Our oblinAcd latitude 47" 27', longitude 233° 38', agreed exceedingly well with our former pofition of this part of lue coaft. A light x.w. bre( /.e prevailed in the afternoon, which by fun-fit brought us witliin .[ miles of the (here, having foundings from 50 to 30 fathoms. At eight the wind died away, ami as we weie now aj^proach.ing a part of the coal! which we had formerly pafl'cd at a greater diflance than I could have wiflied, wi- anchored for the night to prexcnt the fame tiling happening a fecond time. The depth of water was 2 1 fathoms, black fandv bottom. At five tlie ncNt nuM'nnig. v.itli ;• im iitle bree/e from the Tlmi land, we turned up along {l:oir. and h;id IihiivImi^s IVcmu ij to ^o Vol. I. 3 II fatlioius. .8. ■ 11; ! •h