In this employment we were busy till the 30th, when the wind seeming to settle at S. E. and our water being nearly completed, we warped the ship out of the cove, that we might have room to get under sail; and at noon I went away in the pinnace to examine as much of the bay as my time would admit. After rowing about two leagues up it, I went ashore upon a point of land on the western side, and having climbed a hill, I saw the western arm of this bay run in S. W. by W. about five leagues farther, yet I could not discover the end of it: there appeared to be several other inlets, or at least small bays, between this and the north-west head of Queen Charlotte’s Sound, in each of which, I make no doubt, there is anchorage and shelter, as they are all covered from the sea wind by the islands which lie without them. The land about this bay, as far as I could see of it, is of a hilly surface, chiefly covered with trees, shrubs, and fern, which render travelling difficult and fatiguing. In this excursion I was accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, who found several new plants. We met with some huts, which seemed to have been long deserted, but saw no inhabitants. Mr. Banks examined several of the stones that lay upon the beach, which were full of veins, and had a mineral appearance; but he did not discover any thing in them which he knew to be ore: if he had had an opportunity to examine any of the bare rocks, perhaps he might have been more fortunate. He was also of opinion that what I had taken for marble in another place, was a mineral substance; and that, considering the correspondence of latitude between this place and South America, it was not improbable but that, by a proper examination, something very valuable might be found.