The wind being ahead, we were unable to cross the bar, but remained two or three days at anchor in its immediate vicinity.

Ocracoke Inlet is the main entrance into Pamlico Sound, a large inlet or body of water, some eighty miles long, separated from the sea by low sandy islands, mostly inhabited.

On this Sound are situated some thriving towns, and into it the rivers Tar and Neuse empty their waters.

The little town or village of Portsmouth is situated on an island in the immediate vicinity of Ocracoke Inlet.

The inhabitants, or those who at that time deigned to pursue any regular occupation, were for the most part engaged in fishing and piloting.