All hopes of finding a passage were now given up. But as the ebb was almost spent, and we could not return against the flood, I thought I might as well take the advantage of the latter, to get a nearer view of the eastern branch; and, by that means, finally to determine whether the low land on the east side of the river was an island, as we had supposed, or not. With this purpose in view, we weighed with the first of the flood, and, having a faint breeze at north-east, stood over for the eastern shore, with boats ahead, sounding. Our depth was from twelve to five fathoms; the bottom a hard gravel, though the water was exceedingly muddy. At eight o’clock a fresh breeze sprung up at east, blowing in an opposite direction to our course; so that I despaired of reaching the entrance of the river to which we were plying up, before high-water. But thinking that what the ships could not do, might be done with boats, I dispatched two, under the command of Lieutenant King, to examine the tides, and to make such observations as might give us some insight into the nature of the river. At ten o’clock, finding the ebb begun, I anchored in nine fathoms water, over a gravelly bottom. Observing the tide to be too strong for the boats to make head against it, I made a signal for them to return on board, before they had got half way to the entrance of the river they were sent to examine, which bore from us S., 80° E., three leagues distant. The principal information gained by this tide’s work, was the determining that all the low land, which we had supposed to be an island or islands, was one continued tract, from the banks of the great river to the foot of the mountains, to which it joined; and that it terminated at the south entrance of this eastern branch, which I shall distinguish by the name of _River Turnagain_. On the north side of this river, the low land again begins, and stretches out from the foot of the mountains down to the banks of the great river; so that, before the river Turnagain, it forms a large bay, on the south side of which we were now at anchor, and where we had from twelve to five fathoms, from half-flood to high-water.