September 24.

The next morning we reached the farther end of the basin and anchored under a remarkable range of hills; which, from their appearance, were called the Bastion Hills; the latitude of this station is 15 degrees 29 minutes 38 seconds South.  The gulf, which had now assumed the character of a river, trended to the South-West, and at the distance of three or four miles disappeared among some high land in that direction.

In the evening (since we had lately seen no appearance of sharks) the people were allowed to bathe; but they had no sooner finished, and everyone on board, than an alligator swam past the vessel.  The appearance of this animal revived some hopes of our yet finding fresh water and also that the gulf would terminate in a river; the breadth here is about a mile and a half and the rise of the tide about twenty-one feet:  the ebb set at the rate of three knots per hour and the water was very muddy; but at low tide, upon being tasted, it still retained its saltness.

September 25.

At daylight the next morning we were again under weigh; but, the wind being directly adverse, were obliged to make several tacks:  as we proceeded the opening was found to get more contracted and to wind through a very narrow strait between high precipitous hills; and as, on approaching it, the passage appeared too narrow to be attempted with safety, we anchored at about two miles from it near the low west bank; and after breakfast Mr. Cunningham accompanied me in the whale-boat to continue its further exploration.

The wind was blowing a fresh gale from the South-West directly out of the Gut and impeded us a good deal; but the tide was running with such strength that we were not long before we passed through.  This passage is about two miles and a half long, bounded on either side by rocky barren hills rising abruptly from the water.  The channel is deep for our boat’s lead-line of twenty fathoms did not reach the bottom.  At the south end of the gut the land opened out into another basin which, like the former, is surrounded by low land overrun with mangroves and studded with several islets, occasionally covered by the tide.  The course of the river still trended to the south-west, in which direction we continued to pull but found some difficulty from its being very shoal; for in the fair way across there was not more water than eighteen feet at three-quarters’ flood.  At eleven o’clock, having crossed the basin, we landed on an islet which, like the rest, had been covered by the last high tide.  The river had now contracted to the width of one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards and trended by a winding course to the south and south-east, but the water was still as salt as ever although we were at least sixty miles from the sea.  As there was now no probability of our extending the examination of this river for any useful purpose we stopped at high water and landed on the bank to examine the country whilst the people dined.  We