In the morning of the 24th we took two boats and examined Cordes bay, which we found very much inferior to that in which the ship lay; it had indeed a larger lagoon, but the entrance of it was very narrow, and barred by a shoal, on which there was not sufficient depth of water for a ship of burden to float: The entrance of the bay also was rocky, and within it the ground was foul.
In this place we saw an animal that resembled an ass, but it had a cloven hoof, as we discovered afterwards by tracking it, and was as swift as a deer. This was the first animal we had seen in the streight, except at the entrance, where we found the guanicoes that we would fain have trafficked for with the Indians. We shot at this creature, but we could not hit it; probably it is altogether unknown to the naturalists of Europe.
The country about this place has the most dreary and forlorn appearance that can be imagined; the mountains on each side the streight are of an immense height: About one-fourth of the ascent is covered with trees of a considerable size; in the space from thence to the middle of the mountain there is nothing but withered shrubs; above these are patches of snow, and fragments of broken rock; and the summit is altogether rude and naked, towering above the clouds in vast crags that are piled upon each other, and look like the ruins of nature devoted to everlasting sterility and desolation.
We went over in two boats to the Royal Islands, and sounded, but found no bottom: A very rapid tide set through wherever there was an opening; and they cannot be approached by shipping without the most imminent danger. Whoever navigates this part of the streight, should keep the north shore close on board all the way, and not venture more than a mile from it till the Royal islands are passed. The current sets easterly through the whole four-and-twenty hours, and the indraught should by all means be avoided. The latitude of Cape Gallant road is 53° 50'S.
We continued in this station, taking in wood and water, and gathering mussels and herbs, till the morning of the 27th, when, a boat that had been sent to try the current, returned with an account that it set nearly at the rate of two miles an hour, but that, the wind being northerly, we might probably get round to Elizabeth Bay or York Road before night; we therefore weighed with all expedition. At noon on the 28th, the west point of Cape Gallant bore W.N.W. distant half a mile, and the white patch on Charles' Island S.E. by S. We had fresh gales and heavy flaws off the land; and at two o'clock the west point of Cape Gallant bore E. distant three leagues, and York Point W.N.W. distant five leagues. At five, we opened York Road, the point bearing N.W. at the distance of half a mile: At this time the ship was taken a-back, and a strong current with a heavy squall drove us so far to leeward, that it was with great difficulty we got into Elizabeth Bay, and anchored in twelve fathom near a river. The Swallow being at anchor off the point of the bay, and very near the rocks, I sent all the boats with anchors and hausers to her assistance, and at last she was happily warped to windward into good anchorage. York Point now bore W. by N. a shoal with weeds upon it W.N.W. at the distance of a cable's length. Point Passage S.E. 1/2 E. distant half a mile, a rock near Rupert's Isle S.1/2 E. and a rivulet on the bay N.E. by E. distant about three cables' length. Soon after sun-set we saw a great smoke on the southern shore, and another on Prince Rupert's Island.