Yet, Even At This
Time And Place, When Expectation Must Have Been High, And Not Without Good
Reason, And When
We are expressly informed by Captain Ross that much
interest was excited by the appearance of the sound, the attempt
To
ascertain, by close and accurate investigation, whether this sound was
really closed at its extremity, or led into another sea, was given up,
after having sailed into it during the night, and till three o'clock the
following day. It is unnecessary here to examine the reasons which induced
Captain Ross to leave this sound without putting the question of its nature
and termination beyond a doubt, by an accurate and close survey. He says,
that at three o'clock he distinctly saw the land round the bottom of the
bay, forming a connected chain of mountains with those which extended along
the north and south sides. No person seems to have been on deck when this
land was seen by the captain, and orders in consequence given to put the
ships about, except Mr. Lewis, the master, and another. So that in this
latitude, where the sight at all times is mocked with fogs and other
circumstances which mislead it, and where, therefore, it is absolutely
necessary that as many eyes as possible should be employed, that these
should get as near the object as possible, that it should be viewed for a
considerable length of time, and under as many aspects, and from as many
points as possible - not a subordinate or incidental design of the voyage,
but that for which it was expressly made, was abandoned, and on the sole
responsibility of the captain and two other persons.
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Words from 190142 to 190421
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