RESOLUTION LEAKS.

On 26th April a start was made, and before leaving, an Indian, who had specially attached himself to Cook, gave him a valuable beaver skin, and was so pleased with the return present he received that he insisted on Cook taking from him a beaver cloak upon which he had always set great store. In return "he was made as happy as a prince by a gift of a new broadsword with a brass hilt." The next day, when well clear of the land, a perfect hurricane arose, and the ships lay to, heading to the south-east. The Resolution sprang a leak, and the water could be seen and heard rushing in, but after some little anxiety one pump was found to be sufficient to keep the upper hand. The gale lasted two days, but on the second they were able to get an observation which gave the position of the ship as 50 degrees 1 minute North, 229 degrees 26 minutes East, about opposite to where the Straits of de Fonte were marked on his chart. They were now able to run along the coast and see and name the most salient points, but time was too valuable to make any halts by the way. The land appeared to be of considerable height, the hills covered with snow, but near the sea, well wooded. Mount St. Elias was sighted 4th May, at a distance of forty leagues, and on the 6th they arrived in the bay in which Behring had anchored, so his name was given to it on the chart. Here the land trended away to the west; the wind was westerly and light, and consequently their progress was very slow. Landing on an island to try to get a view of the other side from the top of a hill, it was found so steep and thickly wooded he had to give up the attempt. He therefore left a bottle containing some coins given him by his friend, Dr. Kaye, and named the island after him. Here they found currant and strawberry plants, but the season was too early for fruit.

Near Cape Hinchinbroke Gore went off to an island to shoot, but seeing two large canoes containing about twenty Indians, he thought it wiser to return to the ship. He was followed up, but none of the natives would come on board, and after a time intimating they would return next day, retired. Two men in small canoes did return during the night, but finding that every one on board was not asleep, beat a hurried retreat. The next day the ships got into a better position, and more Indians turned up, with whom they had little difficulty in entering into trading relations; but as they desired pieces of iron about ten inches long by three wide, and it was rather a scarce article on board, very little, chiefly skins, was purchased. At first only one man came on board, and as he saw only two or three people on the Discovery, he went to the Resolution and brought over some of his friends, who rushed the deck with their knives drawn. However, the crew quickly ran up with their cutlasses ready, so the natives retired, remarking that the white men's knives were longer than theirs. At the Resolution they broke every glass scuttle they could reach with their paddles, says Burney. Cook points out that they must have been quite ignorant of the use of firearms, and concludes by saying:

"However, after all these tricks, we had the good fortune to leave them as ignorant as we found them, for they neither heard nor saw a musket fired unless at birds."

The leak on the Resolution was attended to, and in places the oakum caulking was found to have disappeared completely; one writer says it was caused by rats, and that the ship was saved by rubbish having choked up the leak.