of the mountains, and being in most parts covered with wood.  From Point Five Fingers, down to latitude 44 deg. 26’, there is a narrow ridge of hills that rises directly from the sea, and is covered with wood:  Close behind these hills are the mountains, extending in another ridge of a stupendous height, and consisting of rocks that are totally barren and naked, except where they are covered with snow, which is to be seen in large patches upon many parts of them, and has probably lain there ever since the creation of the world:  A prospect more rude, craggy, and desolate than this country affords from the sea, cannot possibly be conceived, for as far inland as the eye can reach, nothing appears but the summits of rocks, which stand so near together, that instead of vallies there are only fissures between them.  From the latitude of 44 deg. 20’, to the latitude of 42 deg. 8’, these mountains lie farther inland, and the sea-coast consists of woody hills and valleys, of various height and extent, and has much appearance of fertility:  Many of the vallies form plains of considerable extent, wholly covered with wood, but it is very probable that the ground, in many places, is swampy, and interspersed with pools of water.  From latitude 42 deg. 8’, to 41 deg. 30’, the land is not distinguished by any thing remarkable:  It rises into hills directly from the sea, and is covered with wood; but the weather being foggy while we were upon this part of the coast, we could see very little inland, except now and then the summits of the mountains, towering above the cloudy mists that obscured them below, which confirmed my opinion that a chain of mountains extended from one end of the island to the other.

In the afternoon, we had a gentle breeze at S.W., which, before it was quite dark, brought us abreast of the eastern point which we had seen at noon; but not knowing what course the land took on the other side of it, we brought-to in thirty-four fathom, at the distance of about one league from the shore.  At eight in the evening, there being little wind, we filled and stood on till midnight, and then we brought-to till four in the morning, when we again made sail, and at break of day we saw low land extending from the point to the S.S.E. as far as the eye could reach, the eastern extremity of which appeared in round hillocks:  By this time the gale had veered to the eastward, which obliged us to ply to windward.  At noon next day, the eastern point bore S.W. by S. distant sixteen miles, and our latitude was 40 deg. 19’:  The wind continuing easterly, we were nearly in the same situation at noon on the day following.  About three o’clock the wind came to the westward, and we steered E.S.E. with all the sail we could set till it was dark, and then shortened sail till the morning:  As we had thick hazy weather all night, we kept sounding continually, and had from thirty-seven to forty-two fathom.  When the day broke we saw land bearing S.E. by E. and an island lying near it, bearing E.S.E. distant about five leagues:  This island I knew to be the same that I had seen from the entrance of Queen Charlotte’s Sound, from which it bears N.W. by N. distant nine leagues.  At noon, it bore south, distant four or five miles, and the north-west head of the Sound S.E. by S. distant ten leagues and a half.  Our latitude, by observation, was 40 deg. 33’ S.