| The
weather now began to clear up; and being able to see several leagues round
us, I steered more to the northward. At noon, the latitude, by
observation, was 50° 1'; longitude 229° 26'. I now steered N.W. by N.,
with a fresh gale at S.S.E., and fair weather. But at nine in the evening
it began again to blow hard and in squalls with rain. With such weather,
and the wind between S.S.E. and S.W., I continued the same course till the
30th, at four in the morning, when I steered N. by W., in order to make
the land. I regretted very much indeed that I could not do it sooner, for
this obvious reason, that we were now passing the place where geographers
have placed the pretended strait of Admiral de Fonte. For my own part, I
give no credit to such vague and improbable stories, that carry their own
confutation along with them. Nevertheless, I was very desirous of keeping
the American coast aboard, in order to clear up this point beyond dispute.
But it would have been highly imprudent in me to have engaged with the
land in weather so exceedingly tempestuous, or to have lost the advantage
of a fair wind by waiting for better weather.
The next morning, being the first of May, seeing
nothing of the land, I steered north-easterly, with a fresh breeze at
S.S.E. and S., with squalls and showers of rain and hail. At seven in the
evening, being in the latitude of 55° 20', we got sight of the land,
extending from N.N.E. to E., or E. by S., about twelve or fourteen leagues
distant. An hour after I steered N. by W., and at four the next morning,
the coast was seen from N. by W. to S.E., the nearest part about six
leagues distant¹. At this time the northern point of an inlet, or what
appeared to be one, bore E. by S. It lies in the latitude of 56°, and
from it to the northward, the coast seemed to be much broken, forming bays
and harbours every two or three leagues, or else appearances much deceived
us. At six o'clock, drawing nearer the land, I steered N.W. by N., this
being the direction of the coast, having a fresh gale at S.E., with some
showers of hail, snow, and sleet. Between eleven and twelve o'clock, we
passed a group of small islands lying under the main land, and off, or
rather to the northward of, the S. point of a large bay. An arm of this
bay, in the northern part of it, seemed to extend in toward the N., behind
a round elevated mountain that lies between it and the sea. This mountain
I called Mount Edgecumbe, and the point of land that shoots out from it,
Cape Edgecumbe.
The land, except in some places close to the sea,
is all of a considerable height, and hilly; but Mount Edgecumbe far
out-tops all the other hills. It was wholly covered with snow; as were
also all the other elevated hills; but the lower ones, and the flatter
spots, bordering upon the sea, were free from it, and covered with wood.
As we advanced to the north, we found the coast
from Cape Edgecumbe to trend to north and north-easterly for six or seven
leagues, and there form a large bay. In the entrance of that bay are some
islands; for which reason I named it the Bay of Islands. It lies
in the latitude of 57° 20'; and seemed to branch into several arms, one
of which turned to the south, and may probably communicate with the bay on
the east side of Cape Edgecumbe, and make the land of that Cape an island.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the Cape bore south-east half south; the
Bay of Islands N. 53° E.; and another inlet, before which are also some
islands, bore N. 52° E., five leagues distant. I continued to steer
N.N.W., half W., and N.W. by W., as the coast trended, with a fine gale at
N.E., and clear weather. At half an hour past four in the morning, on the
3rd, Mount Edgecumbe bore S. 54° E.; a large inlet, N. 50° E., distant
six leagues; and the most advanced point of the land, to the N.W., lying
under a very high peaked mountain, which obtained the name of Mount Fair
Weather, bore N. 32° W. The inlet was named Cross Sound, as being first
seen on that day, so marked in our calendar. It appeared to branch in
several arms, the largest of which obtained the name of Cross Cape.
At five in the afternoon [of the next day], our
latitude being then 58° 53', and our longitude 220° 52', the summit of
an elevated mountain appeared above the horizon, being N. 26° W.; and, as
was afterward found, forty leagues distant. We supposed it to be Beering's
Mount St. Elias; and it stands by that name in our chart. This day we saw
several whales, seals, and porpoises; many gulls, and several flocks of
birds, which had a black ring about the head; the tip of the tail and
upper part of the wings with a black band; and the rest bluish above, and
white below. We also saw a brownish duck, with a black or deep blue head
and neck, sitting upon the water.
Having but light winds, with some calms, we
advanced slowly; so that, on the 6th at noon, we were only in the latitude
of 59° 8', and in the longitude of 220° 19'. Mount Fair Weather bore S.,
63° E., and Mount Elias N., 30° W.; the nearest land about eight leagues
distant. In the direction of north, 47° E. from this station, there was
the appearance of a bay, and an island off the south point of it, that was
covered with wood. It is here where I suppose Commodore Beering to have
anchored. The latitude, which is 59° 18', corresponds pretty well with
the map of his voyage, and the longitude is 221° E. Behind the bay (which
I shall distinguish by the name of Beering's Bay, in honour of its
discoverer), or rather to the south of it, the chain of mountains is
interrupted by a plain of a few leagues' extent; beyond which the sight
was unlimited; so that there is either a level country or water behind it.
In the afternoon, having a few hours' calm, I took this opportunity to
sound, and found twenty fathoms' water over a muddy bottom. From this
station we could see a bay (circular to appearance) under the high land,
with low wood-land on each side of it.
We now found the coast to trend very much to the
west, inclining hardly anything to the north; and as we had the wind
mostly from the westward, and but little of it, our progress was slow. At
noon, on the 10th, our latitude was 59° 51', and our longitude 215° 56',
being no more than three leagues from the coast of the continent, which
extended from east half north, to north-west half west, as far as the eye
could reach. To the westward of this last direction was an island, six
leagues distant. A point shoots out from the main toward the north-east
end of the island, which I named Cape Suckling. The point of the cape is
low; but within it is a tolerably high hill, which is disjoined from the
mountains by low land; so that, at a distance, the cape looks like an
island. On the north side of Cape Suckling is a bay that appeared to be of
some extent, and to be covered from most winds. To this bay I had some
thoughts of going to stop our leak, as all our endeavours to do it at sea
had proved ineffectual. With this view I steered for the Cape; but as we
had only variable light breezes, we approached it slowly.
At four o'clock next morning, the wind, which had
been mostly at north-east, shifted to north. This being against us, I gave
up the design of going within the island, or into the bay, as neither
could be done without loss of time. I therefore bore up for the west end
of the island. The wind blew faint; and at ten o'clock it fell calm. Being
not far from the island, I went in a boat and landed upon it, with a view
of seeing what lay on the other side; but finding it farther to the hills
than I expected, and the way being steep and woody, I was obliged to drop
the design. At the foot of a tree, on a little eminence not far from the
shore, I left a bottle with a paper in it, on which were inscribed the
names of the ships, and the date of our discovery. And along with it I
inclosed two silver twopenny pieces of his majesty's coin, of the date
1772. These, with many others, were furnished me by the Reverend Dr. Kaye;
and, as a mark of my esteem and regard for that gentleman, I named the
island, after him, Kaye's Island. It is eleven or twelve leagues in
length, in the direction of north-east and south-west; but its breadth is
not above a league, or a league and a half, in any part of it. The
south-west point is very remarkable, being a naked rock, elevated
considerably above the land within it. There is also an elevated rock
lying off it, which, from some points of view, appears like a ruined
castle. Toward the sea the island terminates in a kind of bare sloping
cliffs, with a beach, only a few paces across to their foot, of large
pebble stones, intermixed in some places with a brownish clayey sand,
which the sea seems to deposit after rolling in, having been washed down
from the higher parts by the rivulets or torrents. The cliffs are composed
of a bluish stone or rock, in a soft or mouldering state, except in a few
places. There are parts of the shore interrupted by small valleys and
gullies. In each of these a rivulet or torrent rushes down with
considerable impetuosity; though it may be supposed that they are only
furnished from the snow, and last no longer than till it is all melted.
These valleys are filled with pine-trees, which grow down close to the
entrance, but only to about half way up the higher or middle part of the
island.
We saw, flying about the wood, a crow; two or
three white-headed eagles; and another sort full as large, which appeared
also of the same colour, or blacker, and had only a white breast. In the
passage from the ship to the shore, we saw a great many fowls sitting upon
the water, or flying about in flocks or pairs; the chief of which were a
few quebrantahuessos, divers, ducks, or large peterels, gulls, shags, and
burres. At the place where we landed, a fox came from the verge of the
wood, and eyed us with very little emotion, walking leisurely, without any
signs of fear. He was of a reddish-yellow colour, like some of the skins
we bought at Nootka, but not of a large size. We also saw two or three
little seals off-shore; but no other animals or birds, nor the least signs
of inhabitants having ever been upon the island.
I returned on board at half-past two in the
afternoon; and, with a light breeze easterly, steered for the south-west
of the island, which we got round by eight o'clock, and then stood for the
westernmost land now in sight. On the north-west side of the north-east
end of Kaye's Island, lies another island stretching south-east and
north-west about three leagues, to within the same distance of the
north-west boundary of the bay above mentioned, which is distinguished by
the name of Comptroller's Bay.
Next morning at four o'clock Kaye's Island was
still in sight, bearing east a quarter south. We had now a fresh gale at
east-south-east; and as we advanced to the north-west we raised land more
and more westerly, and at last to the southward of west; so that at noon,
the most advanced land bore from us south-west by west half west. At the
same time the east point of a large inlet bore west-north-west, three
leagues distant. From Comptroller's Bay to this point, which I name Cape
Hinchinbroke, the direction of the coast is nearly east and west. Beyond
this it seemed to incline to the southward; a direction so contrary to the
modern charts founded upon the late Russian discoveries, that we had
reason to expect that by the inlet before us we should find a passage to
the north, and that the land to the west and south-west was nothing but a
group of islands. Add to this, that the wind was now at south-east, and we
were threatened with a fog and a storm; and I wanted to get into some
place to stop the leak before we encountered another gale. These reasons
induced me to steer for the inlet, which we had no sooner reached than the
weather became so foggy that we could not see a mile before us, and it
became necessary to secure the ships in some place to wait for a clearer
sky. With this view, I hauled close under Cape Hinchinbroke, and anchored
before a small cove, a little within the cape and about a quarter of a
mile from the shore.
The boats were then hoisted out, some to sound
and others to fish. The seine was drawn in the cove; but without success,
for it was torn. At some short intervals the fog cleared away, and gave us
a sight of the lands around us. The cape bore south by west half west, one
league distant; the west point of the inlet south-west by west, distant
five leagues; and the land on that side extended as far as west by north.
Between this point and north-west by west we could see no land; and what
was in the last direction seemed to be at a great distance. The
westernmost point we had in sight on the north shore, bore
north-north-west half west, two leagues distant. Between this point and
the shore under which we were at anchor is a bay about three leagues deep;
on the south-east side of which there are two or three coves, such as that
before which we had anchored; and in the middle some rocky islands. To
these islands Mr. Gore was sent in a boat, in hopes of shooting some
eatable birds. But he had hardly got to them before about twenty natives
made their appearance in two large canoes; on which he thought proper to
return to the ships, and they followed him. They would not venture
alongside, but kept at some distance, holloing aloud, and alternately
clasping and extending their arms; and, in a short time, began a kind of
song exactly after the manner of those at Nootka. Their heads were also
powdered with feathers. One man held out a white garment, which we
interpreted as a sign of friendship; and another stood up in the canoe
quite naked, for almost a quarter of an hour, with his arms stretched out
like a cross, and motionless. The canoes were not constructed of wood, as
at King George's or Nootka Sound. The frame only, being slender laths, was
of that substance; the outside consisting of the skins of seals, or
such-like animals. Though we returned all their signs of friendship, and,
by every expressive gesture, tried to encourage them to come alongside, we
could not prevail. Some of our people repeated several of the common words
of the Nootka language, such as seekemaile and mahook;
but they did not seem to understand them. After receiving some presents
which were thrown to them, they retired toward that part of the shore from
whence they came; giving us to understand by signs, that they would visit
us again the next morning. Two of them, however, each in a small canoe,
waited upon us in the night; probably with a design to pilfer something,
thinking we should be all asleep, for they retired as soon as they found
themselves discovered.
During the night the wind was at
south-south-east, blowing hard and in squalls, with rain, and very thick
weather. At ten o'clock next morning the wind became more moderate, and
the weather being somewhat clearer, we got under sail in order to look out
for some snug place where we might search for and stop the leak; our
present station being too much exposed for this purpose. At first I
proposed to have gone up the bay, before which we had anchored; but the
clearness of the weather tempted me to steer to the northward, farther up
the great inlet, as being all in our way. As soon as we had passed the
north-west point of the bay above-mentioned, we found the coast on that
side turn short to the eastward. I did not follow it, but continued our
course to the north, for a point of land which we saw in that direction.
The natives who visited us the preceding evening,
came off again in the morning, in five or six canoes, but not till we were
under sail; and although they followed us for some time, they could not
get up with us. Before two in the afternoon the bad weather returned
again, with so thick a haze that we could see no other land besides the
point just mentioned, which we reached at half past four, and found it to
be a small island lying about two miles from the adjacent coast, being a
point of land, on the east side of which we discovered a fine bay, or
rather harbour. To this we plied up under reefed topsails and courses. The
wind blew strong at south-east, and in excessively hard squalls, with
rain. At intervals we could see land in every direction; but in general
the weather was so foggy, that we could see none but the shores of the bay
into which we were plying. At length, at eight o'clock, the violence of
the squalls obliged us to anchor in thirteen fathoms, before we had got so
far into the bay as I intended; but we thought ourselves fortunate that we
had already sufficiently secured ourselves at this hour, for the night was
exceedingly stormy. The weather, bad as it was, did not hinder three of
the natives from paying us a visit. They came off in two canoes, two men
in one and one in the other, being the number each could carry; for they
were built and constructed in the same manner with those of the Esquimaux,
only in the one were two holes for two men to sit in, and in the other but
one. Each of these men had a stick about three feet long, with the large
feathers or wing of birds tied to it. These they frequently held up to us;
with a view, as we guessed, to express their pacific disposition.
The treatment these men met with, induced many
more to visit us between one and two the next morning, in both great and
small canoes. Some ventured on board the ship; but not till some of our
people had stepped into their boats. Amongst those who came on board, was
a good-looking middle-aged man, whom we afterwards found to be the chief.
He was clothed in a dress made of the sea-otter's skin; and had on his
head such a cap as is worn by the people of King George's Sound,
ornamented with sky-blue glass beads, about the size of a large pea. He
seemed to set a much higher value upon these than upon our white glass
beads. Any sort of beads, however, appeared to be in high estimation with
these people; and they readily gave whatever they had in exchange for
them; even their fine sea-otter skins. But here I must observe, that they
set no more value upon these than upon other skins, which was also the
case at King George's Sound, till our people set a higher price upon them;
and even after that, the natives of both places would sooner part with a
dress made of these, than with one made of the skins of wild cats or of
martins. These people were also desirous of iron; but they wanted pieces
of eight or ten inches long at least, and of the breadth of three or four
fingers. For they absolutely rejected small pieces. Consequently they got
but little from us; iron having, by this time, become rather a scarce
article. The points of some of their spears or lances were of that metal;
others were of copper, and a few of bone; of which the points of their
darts, arrows, &c., were composed. I could not prevail upon the chief
to trust himself below the upper deck; nor did he and his companions
remain long on board. But while we had their company it was necessary to
watch them narrowly, as they soon betrayed a thievish disposition. At
length, after being about three or four hours alongside the Resolution,
they all left her and went to the Discovery; none having been
there before, except one man, who at this time came from her, and
immediately returned thither in company with the rest. When I observed
this, I thought this man had met with something there, which he knew would
please his countrymen better than what they met with at our ship. But in
this I was mistaken, as will soon appear.
As soon as they were gone, I sent a boat to sound
the head of the bay. For as the wind was moderate, I had thoughts of
laying the ship ashore, if a convenient place could be found where I might
begin our operations to stop the leak. It was not long before all the
Americans left the Discovery, and instead of returning to us,
made their way toward our boat employed as above. The officer in her
seeing this, returned to the ship, and was followed by all the canoes. The
boat's crew had no sooner come on board, leaving in her two of their
number by way of a guard, than some of the Americans stepped into her.
Some presented their spears before the two men; others cast loose the rope
which fastened her to the ship; and the rest attempted to tow her away.
But the instant they saw us preparing to oppose them, they let her go,
stepped out of her into canoes, and made signs to us to lay down our arms,
having the appearance of being as perfectly unconcerned as if they had
done nothing amiss. This, though rather a more daring attempt, was hardly
equal to what they had meditated on board the Discovery. The man
who came and carried all his countrymen from the Resolution to
the other ship, had first been on board of her; where, after looking down
all the hatchways, and seeing nobody but the officer of the watch, and one
or two more, he, no doubt, thought they might plunder her with ease;
especially as she lay at some distance from us. It was unquestionably with
this view that they all repaired to her. Several of them, without any
ceremony, went on board; drew their knives, and made signs to the officer
and people on deck to keep off; and began to look about them for plunder.
The first thing they met with was the rudder of one of the boats, which
they threw overboard to those of their party who had remained in the
canoes. Before they had time to find another object that pleased their
fancy, the crew were alarmed, and began to come upon deck armed with
cutlasses. On seeing this, the whole company of plunderers sneaked off
into their canoes, with as much deliberation and indifference as they had
given up the boat; and they were observed describing to those who had not
been on board, how much longer the knives of the ship's crew were than
their own. It was at this time that my boat was on the sounding duty;
which they must have seen; for they proceeded directly for her, after
their disappointment at the Discovery. I have not the least doubt
that their visiting us so very early in the morning, was with a view to
plunder; on a supposition that they should find everybody asleep. May we
not, from these circumstances, reasonably infer, that these people are
unacquainted with fire-arms? For certainly, if they had known anything of
their effect, they never would have dared to attempt taking a boat from
under a ship's guns, in the face of above a hundred men; for most of my
people were looking at them, at the very instant they made the attempt.
However, after all these tricks, we had the good fortune to leave them as
ignorant, in this respect, as we found them. For they neither heard nor
saw a musket fired, unless at birds.
Just as we were going to weigh the anchor, to
proceed farther up the bay, it began to blow and to rain as hard as
before; so that we were obliged to bear away the cable again, and lay
fast. Toward the evening, finding that the gale did not moderate, and that
it might be some time before an opportunity offered to get higher up, I
came to a resolution to heel the ship where we were; and with this view,
moored her with a kedge-anchor and hawser. In heaving the anchor out of
the boat, one of the seamen, either through ignorance or carelessness, or
both, was carried overboard by the buoy-rope, and followed the anchor to
the bottom. It is remarkable that, in this very critical situation, he had
presence of mind to disengage himself, and come up to the surface of the
water, where he was taken up, with one of his legs fractured in a
dangerous manner. Early the next morning we gave the ship a good heel to
port, in order to come at and stop the leak. On ripping off the sheathing
it was found to be in the seams, which were very open both in and under
the wale; and in several places not a bit of oakum in them. While the
carpenters were making good these defects, we filled all our empty
water-casks at a stream hard by the ship. The wind was now moderate, but
the weather was thick and hazy, with rain. The natives, who left us the
preceding day, when the bad weather came on, paid us another visit this
morning. Those who came first were in small canoes; others afterwards
arrived in large boats; in one of which were twenty women and one man,
besides children.
In the evening of the 16th, the weather cleared
up, and we then found ourselves surrounded on every side by land. Our
station was on the east side of the sound, in a place which in a chart is
distinguished by the name of Snug Corner Bay; and a very snug place it is.
I went, accompanied by some of the officers, to view the head of it; and
we found that it was sheltered from all winds; with a depth of water from
seven to three fathoms over a muddy bottom. The land near the shore is
low; part clear, and part wooded. The clear ground was covered, two or
three feet thick, with snow; but very little lay in the woods. The very
summits of the neighbouring hills were covered with wood; but those
farther inland seemed to be naked rocks buried in snow.
The leak being stopped, and the sheathing made
good over it, at four o'clock in the morning of the 17th we weighed, and
steered to the north-westward, with a light breeze at east-north-east;
thinking if there should be any passage to the north through this inlet,
that it must be in that direction. Soon after we were under sail, the
natives, in both great and small canoes, paid us another visit, which gave
us an additional opportunity of forming a more perfect idea of their
persons, dress, and other particulars. Our visitors seemed to have no
other business but to gratify their curiosity; for they entered into no
sort of traffic with us. After we had got over to the north-west point of
the arm in which we had anchored, we found that the flood-tide came into
the inlet, through the same channel by which we had entered. Although this
circumstance did not make wholly against a passage, it was, however,
nothing in its favour. After passing the point above-mentioned, we met
with a good deal of foul ground, and many sunken rocks even out in the
middle of the channel, which is here five or six leagues wide. At this
time the wind failed us, and was succeeded by calms and light airs from
every direction; so that we had some trouble to extricate ourselves from
the threatening danger. At length, about one o'clock, with the assistance
of our boats, we got to an anchor, under the eastern shore, in thirteen
fathoms' water, and about four leagues to the north of our last station.
In the morning the weather had been very hazy; but it afterward cleared
up, so as to give us a distinct view of all the land round us,
particularly to the northward, where it seemed to close. This left us but
little hopes of finding a passage that way; or indeed in any other
direction, without putting out again to sea. |
