]00 SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL Is?s. menced its exploration, but the greater part Of ?iay ? the tide was expended before we reached the' entrance, which is fronted by a bank of mud Which there was not more than twelve feet water; the depth, howe?rer, increased aier we entered' the river to four and five fathoms'; and, as we proceeded up, we found the channel to be seve n and eight fathoms deep; The banks on either side were very low; they were composed of a soi? mud, and so 'thickly lined with mangroves as tO prevent our landing, until we had pulled up for seven or eight miles. At ten o'clock the flood ceased, and the ebb, setting with C0nsiderable strength, 'prevented our proceeding higher up: here we landed, and, after spending some time. in taking bearings and examining tl/e ?ountry, we returned to the cutter, which We reached' early in the a?ernoon. The banks where we landed were about two hundred yards apart, but were so low, and withot/t a hillock to ascend, or a tree to climb, to enable us to obtain a view of the country, that we could form but a very slight opinion of the place. A sug?r-loaf-shaped hill, which was also visible from the anchorage, bore S. 80 � at the. dis- tance of a league was a rocky hill that bore N. 884 � and, five or six leagues off, was'a
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