The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World, Vol. II (of VII)

Excerpt: 'At four o’clock in the afternoon of Friday the 9th of February, we tacked, and stood S. W. till eight o’clock the next morning; when, being not above three or four miles from the shore, we stood off two hours, and then again S. W. till noon, when, at the distance of about two miles from the shore, we had twenty-six fathom water. We continued to make sail to the southward till sunset on the 11th, when a fresh breeze at N. E. had carried us back again the length of Cape Palliser, of which as the weather was clear we had a good view. It is of a height sufficient to be seen in clear weather 2at the distance of twelve or fourteen leagues, and the land is of a broken and hilly surface. Between the foot of the high land and the sea there is a low flat border, off which there are some rocks that appear above water. Between this Cape and Cape Turnagain, the land near the shore is, in many places, low and flat, and has a green and pleasant appearance; but farther from the sea it rises into hills. The land between Cape Palliser and Cape Tierawitte is high and makes in table-points; it also seemed to us to form two bays, but we were at too great a distance from this part of the coast to judge accurately from appearances. The wind having been variable, with calms, we had advanced no farther by the 12th at noon than latitude 41° 52', Cape Palliser then bearing north, distant about five leagues; and the snowy mountain S. 83 W.'