Among other things the bay affords there is plenty of winters bark, easy to be known by its broad leaf like a laurel of a light green colour and blueish underneath, the bark is easily stripd off with a bone or stick as ours are barkd in England; its virtues are so well known that I shall say little except that it may be us'd as a spice even in culinary matters and is found to be very wholesome. Here is also plenty of wild celery apium antescorbuticum, scurvy grass cardamine antescorbutica, both which are as pleasant to the taste as any herbs of the kind found in Europe and I beleive possess as much virtue in curing the scurvy. [15]

The trees here are cheifly of one sort, a Kind of Birch Betula antarctica with very small leaves, it is a light white wood and cleaves very straight; sometimes the trees are 2 or 3 feet in diameter and run 30 or 40 feet in the bole; possibly they might in cases of nescessity supply topmasts. [16] Here are also great plenty of cranberries both white and red, Arbutus rigida. Inhabitants I saw none but found their hutts in two places, once in a thick wood and again close by the beach; they are most unartificaly made, Conical but open on one side where was marks of fire so that probably the fire servd them instead of a door. [17]

Voyaging Accounts