CHAP. VI.

PROGRESS ALONG THE COAST.—CAPE ELIZABETH.—CAPE ST. HERMOGENES.—ACCOUNTS OF BEERING’S VOYAGE VERY DEFECTIVE.—POINT BANKS.—CAPE DOUGLAS.—CAPE BEDE.—MOUNT ST. AUGUSTIN.—HOPES OF FINDING A PASSAGE UP AN INLET.—THE SHIPS PROCEED UP IT.—INDUBITABLE MARKS OF ITS BEING A RIVER.—NAMED COOK’S RIVER.—THE SHIPS RETURN DOWN IT.—VARIOUS VISITS FROM THE NATIVES.—LIEUTENANT KING LANDS, AND TAKES POSSESSION OF THE COUNTRY.—HIS REPORT.—THE RESOLUTION RUNS AGROUND ON A SHOAL.—REFLECTIONS ON THE DISCOVERY OF COOK’S RIVER.—THE CONSIDERABLE TIDES IN IT ACCOUNTED FOR.

After leaving Prince William’s Sound, I steered to the south-west, with a gentle breeze at north north-east; which, at four o’clock the next morning, was succeeded by a calm; and soon after, the calm was succeeded by a breeze from south-west. This freshening, and veering to north-west, we still continued to stretch to the south-west, and passed a lofty promontory, situated in the latitude of 59° 10ʹ, and the longitude of 207° 45ʹ. As the discovery of it was connected with the Princess Elizabeth’s birth-day, I named it Cape Elizabeth. Beyond it we could see no land; so that, at first, we were in hopes that it was the western extremity of the continent; but not long after, we saw our mistake; for fresh land appeared in sight, bearing west south-west.

The wind, by this time, had increased to a very strong gale, and forced us to a good distance from the coast. In the afternoon of the 22d, the gale abated; and we stood to the northward for Cape Elizabeth; which at noon, the next day, bore west, ten leagues distant. At the same time, a new land was seen, bearing south 77° west, which was supposed to connect Cape Elizabeth with the land we had seen to the westward.

The wind continued at west, and I stood to the southward till noon the next day, when we were within three leagues of the coast which we had discovered on the 22d. It here formed a point that bore west north-west. At the same time, more land was seen extending to the southward, as far as south south-west; the whole being twelve or fifteen leagues distant. On it was seen a ridge of mountains covered with snow, extending to the north-west, behind the first land, which we judged to be an island, from the very inconsiderable quantity of snow that lay upon it. This point of land is situated in the latitude of 58° 15ʹ, and in the longitude of 207° 42ʹ; and by what I can gather from the account of Beering’s voyage, and the chart that accompanies it in the English edition [72] , I conclude, that it must be what he called Cape St. Hermogenes. But the account of that voyage is so very much abridged, and the chart so extremely inaccurate, that it is hardly possible, either by the one or by the other, or by comparing both together, to find out any one place which that navigator either saw or touched at. Were I to form a judgment of Beering’s proceedings on this coast, I should suppose, that he fell in with the continent near Mount Fairweather. But I am by no means certain, that the bay to which I have given his name, is the place where he anchored. Nor do I know, that what I called Mount St. Elias, is the same conspicuous mountain to which he gave that name. And as to his Cape St. Elias, I am entirely at a loss to pronounce where it lies.

On the north side of Cape St. Hermogenes, the coast turned toward the north-west, and appeared to be wholly unconnected with the land seen by us the preceding day. In the chart above mentioned, there is here a space, where Beering is supposed to have seen no land. This also favoured the latter account published by Mr. Stæhlin, who makes Cape St. Hermogenes, and all the land that Beering discovered to the south-west of it, to be a cluster of islands; placing St. Hermogenes amongst those which are destitute of wood. What we now saw seemed to confirm this; and every circumstance inspired us with hopes of finding here a passage northward, without being obliged to proceed any farther to the south-west.

We were detained off the cape by variable light airs and calms, till two o’clock the next morning, when a breeze springing up at north-east we steered north-north-west along the coast; and soon found the land of Cape St. Hermogenes to be an island, about six leagues in circuit, separated from the adjacent coast by a channel one league broad. A league and a half to the north of this island lie some rocks, above water; on the north-east side of which we had from thirty to twenty fathoms water.

At noon, the island of St. Hermogenes bore south-east, eight leagues distant; and the land to the north-west of it extended from south 1⁄2 west to near west. In this last direction it ended in a low point, now five leagues distant, which was called Point Banks. The latitude of the ship, at this time, was 58° 41ʹ, and its longitude 207° 44ʹ. In this situation, the land, which was supposed to connect Cape Elizabeth with this south-west land, was in sight, bearing north-west 1⁄2 north. I steered directly for it; and, on a nearer approach, found it to be a group of high islands and rocks, entirely unconnected with any other land. They obtained the name of Barren Isles from their very naked appearance. Their situation is in the latitude of 59°, and in a line with Cape Elizabeth and Point Banks; three leagues distant from the former, and five from the latter.

I intended going through one of the channels that divide these islands, but meeting with a strong current setting against us, I bore up and went to the leeward of them all. Toward the evening, the weather, which had been hazy all day, cleared up, and we got sight of a very lofty promontory, whose elevated summit, forming two exceedingly high mountains, was seen above the clouds. This promontory I named Cape Douglas, in honour of my very good friend, Dr. Douglas, canon of Windsor. It is situated in the latitude of 58° 56ʹ, and in the longitude of 206° 10ʹ, ten leagues to the westward of Barren Isles, and twelve from Point Banks, in the direction of N. W. by W. 1⁄2 W.

Between this point and Cape Douglas, the coast seemed to form a large and deep bay; which, from some smoke that had been seen on Point Banks, obtained the name of Smokey Bay.

At day-break the next morning, being the 26th, having got to the northward of the Barren Isles, we discovered more land, extending from Cape Douglas to the north. It formed a chain of mountains of vast height, one of which, far more conspicuous than the rest, was named Mount Saint Augustin. The discovery of this land did not discourage us, as it was supposed to be wholly unconnected with the land of Cape Elizabeth. For, in a N. N. E. direction, the sight was unlimited by every thing but the horizon. We also thought that there was a passage to the N. W., between Cape Douglas and Mount St. Augustin. In short, it was imagined, that the land on our larboard to the N. of Cape Douglas was composed of a group of islands, disjoined by so many channels, any one of which we might make use of according as the wind should serve.

With these flattering ideas, having a fresh gale at N. N. E., we stood to the N. W. till eight o’clock, when we clearly saw that what we had taken for islands were summits of mountains, every where connected by lower land, which the haziness of the horizon had prevented us from seeing at a greater distance. This land was every where covered with snow, from the tops of the hills down to the very sea-beach, and had every other appearance of being part of a great continent. I was now fully persuaded that I should find no passage by this inlet; and my persevering in the search of it here was more to satisfy other people than to confirm my own opinion.

At this time, Mount St. Augustin bore N. 40° W., three or four leagues distant. This mountain is of a conical figure, and of very considerable height, but it remains undetermined whether it be an island, or part of the continent. Finding that nothing could be done to the W., we tacked and stood over to Cape Elizabeth, under which we fetched at half past five in the afternoon. On the north side of Cape Elizabeth, between it and a lofty promontory, named Cape Bede [73] , is a bay, in the bottom of which there appeared to be two snug harbours. We stood well into this bay, where we might have anchored in twenty-three fathoms water: but as I had no such view, we tacked and stood to the westward, with the wind at N., a very strong gale, attended by rain, and thick hazy weather.

The next morning the gale abated, but the same weather continued till three o’clock in the afternoon, when it cleared up. Cape Douglas bore S. W. by W.; Mount St. Augustin W. 1⁄2 S., and Cape Bede S. 15° E., five leagues distant. In this situation, the depth of water was forty fathoms, over a rocky bottom. From Cape Bede, the coast trended N. E. by E., with a chain of mountains inland, extending in the same direction. The land on the coast was woody, and there seemed to be no deficiency of harbours. But what was not much in our favour, we discovered low land in the middle of the inlet, extending from N. N. E. to N. E. by E. 1⁄2 E. However, as this was supposed to be an island, it did not discourage us. About this time we got a light breeze southerly, and I steered to the westward of this low land, nothing appearing to obstruct us in that direction. Our soundings during the night were from thirty to twenty-five fathoms.

On the 28th in the morning, having but very little wind, and observing the ship to drive to the southward, in order to stop her I dropped a kedge-anchor, with an eight-inch hawser bent to it. But, in bringing the ship up, the hawser parted near the inner end, and we lost both it and the anchor. For although we brought the ship up with one of the bowers, and spent most of the day in sweeping for them, it was to no effect. By an observation, we found our station to be in the latitude of 59° 51ʹ; the low land above mentioned extended from N. E. to S. 75° E., the nearest part two leagues distant, and extended from S. 35° W. to N. 7° E., so that the extent of the inlet was now reduced to three points and a half of the compass; that is, from N. 1⁄2 E. to N. E. Between these two points no land was to be seen. Here was a strong tide setting to the southward out of the inlet. It was the ebb, and ran between three and four knots in an hour, and it was low water at ten o’clock. A good deal of sea-weed and some drift-wood were carried out with the tide. The water, too, had become thick like that in rivers, but we were encouraged to proceed by finding it as salt at low water as the ocean. The strength of the flood-tide was three knots, and the stream ran up till four in afternoon.

As it continued calm all day, I did not move till eight o’clock in the evening, when, with a light breeze at E., we weighed and stood to the N., up the inlet. We had not been long under sail, before the wind veered to the N., increasing to a fresh gale, and blowing in squalls, with rain. This did not, however, hinder us from plying up as long as the flood continued, which was till near five o’clock the next morning. We had soundings from thirty-five to twenty-four fathoms. In this last depth we anchored about two leagues from the eastern shore, in the latitude of 60° 8ʹ; some low land that we judged to be an island, lying under the western shore, extended from N. 1⁄2 W. to N. W. by N., distant three or four leagues.

The weather had now become fair and tolerably clear, so that we could see any land that might lie within our horizon; and in a N. N. E. direction, no land, nor any thing to obstruct our progress, was visible. But on each side was a ridge of mountains, rising one behind another without the least separation. I judged it to be low water, by the shore, about ten o’clock; but the ebb ran down till near noon. The strength of it was four knots and a half, and it fell upon a perpendicular ten feet three inches, that is, while we lay at anchor; so that there is reason to believe this was not the greatest fall. On the eastern shore we now saw two columns of smoke, a sure sign that there were inhabitants.

At one in the afternoon we weighed, and plied up under double-reefed top-sails and courses, having a very strong gale at N. N. E., nearly right down the inlet. We stretched over to the western shore, and fetched within two leagues of the south end of the low land or island before mentioned, under which I intended to have taken shelter till the gale should cease. But falling suddenly into twelve fathoms water, from upward of forty, and seeing the appearance of a shoal ahead spitting out from the low land, I tacked and stretched back to the eastward; and anchored under the shore in nineteen fathoms water, over a bottom of small pebble-stones.

Between one and two in the morning of the 30th, we weighed again with the first of the flood, the gale having by this time quite abated, but still continuing contrary, so that we plied up till near seven o’clock, when the tide being done, we anchored in nineteen fathoms, under the same shore as before. The N. W. part of it forming a bluff point, bore N. 20° E., two leagues distant; a point on the other shore opposite to it, and nearly of the same height, bore N. 36° W., our latitude, by observation, 60° 37ʹ.

About noon two canoes with a man in each came off to the ship, from near the place where we had seen the smoke the preceding day. They laboured very hard in paddling across the strong tide, and hesitated a little before they would come quite close; but upon signs being made to them, they approached. One of them talked a great deal to no purpose, for we did not understand a word he said. He kept pointing to the shore, which we interpreted to be an invitation to go thither. They accepted a few trifles from me, which I conveyed to them from the quarter gallery. These men in every respect resembled the people we had met with in Prince William’s Sound, as to their persons and dress. Their canoes were also of the same construction. One of our visitors had his face painted jet black, and seemed to have no beard; but the other, who was more elderly, had no paint, and a considerable beard, with a visage much like the common sort of the Prince William’s people. There was also smoke seen upon the flat western shore this day, from whence we may infer, that these lower spots and islands are the only inhabited places.

When the flood made, we weighed, and then the canoes left us. I stood over to the western shore, with a fresh gale at N. N. E., and fetched under the point above mentioned. This, with the other on the opposite shore, contracted the channel to the breadth of four leagues. Through this channel ran a prodigious tide. It looked frightful to us, who could not tell whether the agitation of the water was occasioned by the stream, or by the breaking of the waves against rocks or sands. As we met with no shoal, it was concluded to be the former; but in the end we found ourselves mistaken. I now kept the western shore aboard, it appearing to be the safest. Near the shore we had a depth of thirteen fathoms; and two or three miles off, forty and upward. At eight in the evening, we anchored under a point of land which bore N. E., three leagues distant, in fifteen fathoms water. Here we lay during the ebb, which ran near five knots in the hour.

Until we got thus far, the water had retained the same degree of saltness at low as at high water, and at both periods was as salt as that in the ocean. But now the marks of a river displayed themselves. The water taken up this ebb, when at the lowest, was found to be very considerably fresher than any we had hitherto tasted, insomuch that I was convinced that we were in a large river, and not in a strait, communicating with the northern seas. But as we had proceeded thus far, I was desirous of having stronger proofs, and therefore weighed with the next flood in the morning of the 31st, and plied higher up, or rather drove up with the tide, for we had but little wind.

About eight o’clock we were visited by several of the natives, in one large and several small canoes. The latter carried only one person each, and some had a paddle with a blade at each end, after the manner of the Esquimaux. In the large canoes were men, women, and children. Before they reached the ship, they displayed a leathern frock upon a long pole as a sign, as we understood it, of their peaceable intentions. This frock they conveyed into the ship, in return for some trifles which I gave them. I could observe no difference between the persons, dress, ornaments, and boats of these people, and those of Prince William’s Sound, except that the small canoes were rather of a less size, and carried only one man. We procured from them some of their fur dresses, made of the skins of sea-otters, martins, hares, and other animals, a few of their darts, and a small supply of salmon and halibut. In exchange for these they took old clothes, beads, and pieces of iron. We found that they were in possession of large iron knives, and of sky-blue glass beads, such as we had found amongst the natives of Prince William’s Sound. These latter they seemed to value much, and consequently those which we now gave them. But their inclination led them, especially, to ask for large pieces of iron, which metal, if I was not much mistaken, they called by the name of goone, though like their neighbours in Prince William’s Sound, they seemed to have many significations to one word. They evidently spoke the same language; as the words keeta, naema, oonaka, and a few others of the most common we heard in that sound, were also frequently used by this new tribe. After spending about two hours between the one ship and the other, they all retired to the western shore.

At nine o’clock we came to an anchor in sixteen fathoms water, about two leagues from the west shore, and found the ebb already begun. At its greatest strength it ran only three knots in the hour, and fell upon a perpendicular, after we had anchored, twenty-one feet. The weather was misty, with drizzling rain, and clear, by turns. At the clear intervals, we saw an opening between the mountains on the eastern shore, bearing east from the station of the ships, with low land, which we suppose to be islands lying between us and the main land. Low land was also seen to the northward, that seemed to extend from the foot of the mountains on the one side to those on the other; and at low water we perceived large shoals stretching out from this low land, some of which were at no great distance from us. From these appearances, we were in some doubt whether the inlet did not take an easterly direction, through the above opening, or whether that opening was only a branch of it, and the main channel continued its northern direction through the low land now in sight. The continuation and direction of the chain of mountains on each side of it strongly indicated the probability of the latter supposition.

To determine this point, and to examine the shoals, I dispatched two boats, under the command of the master; and, as soon as the flood-tide made, followed with the ships; but, as it was a dead calm, and the tide strong, I anchored, after driving about ten miles in an east direction. At the lowest of the preceding ebb, the water at the surface, and for near a foot below it, was found to be perfectly fresh; retaining, however, a considerable degree of saltness at a greater depth. Besides this, we had now many other and but too evident proofs of being in a great river; such as low shores, very thick and muddy water, large trees, and all manner of dirt and rubbish, floating up and down with the tide. In the afternoon the natives, in several canoes, paid us another visit; and trafficked with our people for some time, without ever giving us reason to accuse them of any act of dishonesty.

At two o’clock next morning, being the 1st of June, the master returned, and reported that he found the inlet, or rather river, contracted to the breadth of one league, by low land on each side, through which it took a northerly direction. He proceeded three leagues through this narrow part, which he found navigable for the largest ships, being from twenty to seventeen fathoms deep. The least water, at a proper distance from the shore and shoals, was ten fathoms; and this was before he entered the narrow part. While the ebb or stream ran down, the water was perfectly fresh; but after the flood made, it became brackish; and, toward high water, very much so, even as high up as he went. He landed upon an island, which lies between this branch and the eastern one; and upon it saw some currant bushes, with the fruit already set, and some other fruit-trees and bushes unknown to him. The soil appeared to be clay, mixed with sand. About three leagues beyond the extent of his search, or to the northward of it, he observed there was another separation in the eastern chain of mountains, through which he supposed the river took a north-east direction; but it seemed rather more probable that this was only another branch, and that the main channel kept its northern direction, between the two ridges or chains of mountains before mentioned. He found that these two ridges, as they extended to the north, inclined more and more to each other, but never appeared to close; nor was any elevated land seen between them, only low land, part woody, and part clear.

All hopes of finding a passage were now given up. But as the ebb was almost spent, and we could not return against the flood, I thought I might as well take the advantage of the latter, to get a nearer view of the eastern branch; and, by that means, finally to determine whether the low land on the east side of the river was an island, as we had supposed, or not. With this purpose in view, we weighed with the first of the flood, and, having a faint breeze at north-east, stood over for the eastern shore, with boats ahead, sounding. Our depth was from twelve to five fathoms; the bottom a hard gravel, though the water was exceedingly muddy. At eight o’clock a fresh breeze sprung up at east, blowing in an opposite direction to our course; so that I despaired of reaching the entrance of the river to which we were plying up, before high-water. But thinking that what the ships could not do, might be done with boats, I dispatched two, under the command of Lieutenant King, to examine the tides, and to make such observations as might give us some insight into the nature of the river.

At ten o’clock, finding the ebb begun, I anchored in nine fathoms water, over a gravelly bottom. Observing the tide to be too strong for the boats to make head against it, I made a signal for them to return on board, before they had got half way to the entrance of the river they were sent to examine, which bore from us S., 80° E., three leagues distant. The principal information gained by this tide’s work, was the determining that all the low land, which we had supposed to be an island or islands, was one continued tract, from the banks of the great river to the foot of the mountains, to which it joined; and that it terminated at the south entrance of this eastern branch, which I shall distinguish by the name of River Turnagain. On the north side of this river, the low land again begins, and stretches out from the foot of the mountains down to the banks of the great river; so that, before the river Turnagain, it forms a large bay, on the south side of which we were now at anchor, and where we had from twelve to five fathoms, from half-flood to high-water.

After we had entered the bay, the flood set strong into the river Turnagain; the ebb came out with still greater force; the water falling, while we lay at anchor, twenty feet upon a perpendicular. These circumstances convinced me, that no passage was to be expected by this side river, any more than by the main branch. However, as the water during the ebb, though very considerably fresher, had still a strong degree of saltness, it is but reasonable to suppose that both these branches are navigable by ships, much farther than we examined them; and that by means of this river, and its several branches, a very extensive inland communication lies open. We had traced it as high as the latitude of 61° 30ʹ, and the longitude of 201°; which is seventy leagues, or more, from its entrance, without seeing the least appearance of its source.

If the discovery of this great river [74] , which promises to vie with the most considerable ones already known to be capable of extensive inland navigation, should prove of use either to the present or to any future age, the time we spent in it ought to be the less regretted. But to us, who had a much greater object in view, the delay thus occasioned was an essential loss. The season was advancing apace. We knew not how far we might have to proceed to the south; and we were now convinced that the continent of North America extended farther to the west than, from the modern most reputable charts, we had reason to expect. This made the existence of a passage into Baffin’s or Hudson’s Bays less probable, or, at least, showed it to be of greater extent. It was a satisfaction to me, however, to reflect that, if I had not examined this very considerable inlet, it would have been assumed, by speculative fabricators of geography, as a fact that it communicated with the sea to the north, or with Baffin’s or Hudson’s Bay to the east; and been marked, perhaps, on future maps of the world, with greater precision, and more certain signs of reality, than the invisible, because imaginary, Straits of de Fuca, and de Fonte.

In the afternoon I sent Mr. King again, with two armed boats, with orders to land on the northern point of the low land, on the south-east side of the river; there to display the flag, and to take possession of the country and river in his Majesty’s name; and to bury in the ground a bottle, containing some pieces of English coin, of the year 1772, and a paper, on which were inscribed the names of our ships, and the date of our discovery. In the mean time, the ships were got under sail, in order to proceed down the river. The wind still blew fresh, easterly; but a calm ensued not long after we were under way; and the flood-tide meeting us off the point where Mr. King landed (and which thence got the name of Point Possession), we were obliged to drop anchor in six fathoms water, with the point bearing south, two miles distant.

When Mr. King returned, he informed me, that as he approached the shore about twenty of the natives made their appearance, with their arms extended; probably to express thus their peaceable disposition, and to show that they were without weapons. On Mr. King’s and the gentlemen with him landing with muskets in their hands, they seemed alarmed, and made signs expressive of their request to lay them down. This was accordingly done; and then they suffered the gentlemen to walk up to them, and appeared to be cheerful and sociable. They had with them a few pieces of fresh salmon, and several dogs. Mr. Law, surgeon of the Discovery, who was one of the party, having bought one of the latter, took it down toward the boat and shot it dead in their sight. This seemed to surprize them exceedingly; and, as if they did not think themselves safe in such company, they walked away; but it was soon after discovered that their spears and other weapons were hid in the bushes close behind them. Mr. King also informed me that the ground was swampy, and the soil poor, light, and black. It produced a few trees and shrubs; such as pines, elders, birch, and willows; rose and currant bushes; and a little grass; but they saw not a single plant in flower.

We weighed anchor, as soon as it was high water, and, with a faint breeze southerly, stood over to the west shore, where the return of the flood obliged us to anchor early next morning. Soon after, several large and some small canoes with natives came off, who bartered their skins; after which they sold their garments, till many of them were quite naked. Amongst others, they brought a number of white hare or rabbit skins, and very beautiful reddish ones of foxes; but there were only two or three skins of otters. They also sold us some pieces of salmon and halibut. They preferred iron to every thing else offered to them in exchange. The lip-ornaments did not seem so frequent amongst them as at Prince William’s Sound; but they had more of those which pass through the nose, and, in general, these were also much longer. They had, however, a greater quantity of a kind of white and red embroidered work on some parts of their garments, and on other things, such as their quivers and knife-cases.

At half past ten we weighed with the first of the ebb, and having a gentle breeze at south, plied down the river; in doing of which, by the inattention and neglect of the man at the lead, the Resolution struck, and stuck fast on the bank, that lies nearly in the middle of the river, and about two miles above the two projecting bluff points before mentioned. This bank was, no doubt, the occasion of that very strong rippling, or agitation of the stream, which we had observed when turning up the river. There was not less than twelve feet depth of water about the ship, at the lowest of the ebb; but other parts of the bank were dry. As soon as the ship came aground, I made a signal for the Discovery to anchor. She, as I afterward understood, had been near ashore on the west side of the bank. As the flood-tide came in, the ship floated off, soon after five o’clock in the afternoon, without receiving the least damage, or giving us any trouble; and, after standing over to the west shore, into deep water, we anchored to wait for the ebb, as the wind was still contrary.

We weighed again with the ebb, at ten o’clock at night; and, between four and five next morning, when the tide was finished, once more cast anchor about two miles below the bluff point, on the west shore, in nineteen fathoms water. A good many of the natives came off, when we were in this station, and attended upon us all the morning. Their company was very acceptable; for they brought with them a large quantity of very fine salmon, which they exchanged for such trifles as we had to give them. Most of it was split ready for drying; and several hundred weight of it was procured for the two ships.

In the afternoon, the mountains, for the first time since our entering the river, were clear of clouds; and we discovered a volcano in one of those on the west side. It is in the latitude of 60° 23ʹ; and is the first high mountain to the north of Mount St. Augustin. The volcano is on that side of it that is next the river, and not far from the summit. It did not now make any striking appearance, emitting only a white smoke, but no fire.

The wind remaining southerly, we continued to tide it down the river; and, on the 5th, in the morning, coming to the place where we had lost our kedge-anchor, made an attempt to recover it, but without success. Before we left this place, six canoes came off from the east shore; some conducted by one, and others by two men. They remained at a little distance from the ships, viewing them, with a kind of silent surprize, at least half an hour, without exchanging a single word with us, or with one another. At length they took courage, and came alongside; began to barter with our people; and did not leave us till they had parted with every thing they brought with them, consisting of a few skins and some salmon. And here it may not be improper to remark, that all the people we had met with in this river seemed, by every striking instance of resemblance, to be of the same nation with those who inhabit Prince William’s Sound, but differing essentially from those of Nootka, or King George’s Sound, both in their persons and language. The language of these is rather more guttural; but, like the others, they speak strongly and distinct, in words which seem sentences.

I have before observed, that they are in possession of iron; that is, they have the points of their spears and knives of this metal; and some of the former are also made of copper. Their spears are like our spontoons; and their knives, which they keep in sheaths, are of a considerable length. These, with a few glass beads, are the only things we saw amongst them that were not of their own manufacture. I have already offered my conjectures from whence they derive their foreign articles; and shall only add here, that, if it were probable that they found their way to them from such of their neighbours with whom the Russians may have established a trade, I will be bold to say, the Russians themselves have never been amongst them; for, if that had been the case, we should hardly have found them clothed in such valuable skins as those of the sea-otter.

There is not the least doubt, that a very beneficial fur-trade might be carried on with the inhabitants of this vast coast. But unless a northern passage should be found practicable, it seems rather too remote for Great Britain to receive any emolument from it. It must, however, be observed, that the most valuable, or rather the only valuable skins, I saw on this west side of America, were those of the sea-otter. All their other skins seemed to be of an inferior quality; particularly those of their foxes and martins. It must also be observed, that most of the skins, which we purchased, were made up into garments. However, some of these were in good condition; but others were old and ragged enough; and all of them very lousy. But as these poor people make no other use of skins but for clothing themselves, it cannot be supposed that they are at the trouble of dressing more of them than are necessary for this purpose. And, perhaps, this is the chief use for which they kill the animals; for the sea and the rivers seem to supply them with their principal articles of food. It would, probably, be much otherwise, were they once habituated to a constant trade with foreigners. This intercourse would increase their wants, by introducing them to an acquaintance with new luxuries; and, in order to be enabled to purchase these, they would be more assiduous in procuring skins, which they would soon discover to be the commodity most sought for; and a plentiful supply of which, I make no doubt, would be had in the country.

It will appear, from what has been said occasionally of the tide, that it is considerable in this river, and contributes very much to facilitate the navigation of it. It is high-water in the stream, on the days of the new and full moon, between two and three o’clock, and the tide rises, upon a perpendicular, between three and four fathoms. The reason of the tide’s being greater here, than at other parts of this coast, is easily accounted for. The mouth of the river being situated in a corner of the coast, the flood that comes from the ocean is forced into it by both shores, and by that means swells the tide to a great height. A view of the chart will illustrate this.

The variation of the compass was 25° 40ʹ E.