Page:Voyage of discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and round the world in the years 1791-95, volume 3.djvu/174

152 "infill

lying 14 leagues to the caflward of cape Elizabeth, our furvey made thefe promontories fcarccly 10 leagues apart. On reference to our pofiiion on the coaft, the land fecn before us forming tlie nortii extreme could be no other than the fouthernmofl; of Pies idands ; towards which with a pleafant breeze from the 3. vv. we made great progrefs, at the didance of 3 or 4 miles from the fhore. Two openings wine palTcd, and we obrervcd along the coall fevcral low detached parcels of rocks, at a greater diflance from the main land than we had generally remarked along the exterior coaPs of this country. One group in particular lying s. 75 vv., diftant near four miles from the fouthernmofl: of Pies illands, mufl; be very dangerous in thick weather, efpecially as at high water during the fpring tides it is probably over- flown. The coad we failed along this day is in mofl; parts very moun- tainous, and deicends rather quickly into the ocean, excepting in thofe places where it is broken into vallies, fome of which are extenhve, and gradually incline to the water fide. Thefe in fome inflances were ftill buried in ice and fnow, within a few yards of the wafli of the fea; whilfl here and there fome of the loftiefl of the pine trees jufl: fliewed their heads through this frigid furface.

We could not avoid reiriarking, that the whole of this exterior coaft feemed to wear a much more wintry afpeft than the countries bordering on thofe more northern inland waters we had fo recently quitted.

The fouthernmofl of Pies iflands in feveral points of view forms a very confpicuous peak, and although not remarkable for its great height, yet from its fingular appearance it is not eafdy to be miflaken in this neigh- bourhood, as it defcends with great regularity from its fummit to the water's edge; its fouth extremity by our obfervations, is fituutcd in lati- tude 59° 19', longitude 210° 21'. To the nv)rih-eaflward of this ifland the coafl flill prefented a broken appearance, and our north-eallern point of view in the evening exhibited a clufln of iflands and rocks, extending fome diflance from the main land ; thefe we fuppofed were thole named by Mr. Portlock Chifwell's ifles, lying before port Andrews, that is to fay, Blying's found, for which we continued our courfe until ten at night, when we hauled to the wind under an eafy fail, in order to keep our flation for 3 continuing