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 seaotter. There is not the least doubt, that a very beneficial fürtrade 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. VOL. XVI. pose. 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. The variation of the compass was 25° 40' E. SECTION VI. -- Discoveries after leaving Cook's River Island of St Hermogenes. Cape Whitsunday.-Cape Greville.-Cape Barnabas-Two-headed Point.-Trinity Island.- Beering's Foggy Island. A beautiful Bird described.-Kodiak and the Schumagin Islands A Russian Letter brought on Board by a Native.- Conjectures about it.-Rock Point.-Halibut Island.-A Volcano Mountain.-Providential Escape. -Arrival of the Ships at Oonalaschka.- Intercourse with the Natives there-Another Russian Letter.-Samganoodha Harbour described. As soon as the ebb tide made in our favour, we weighed, and, with a light breeze, between WIS. W., and S.S.W., plied down the river, till the flood obliged us to anchor again. At length, about one o'clock next morning, a fresh breeze sprung up at W., with which we got under sail, and, at at eight, passed the Barren Islands, and stretched away for Cape St Hermogenes. At noon, this cape bore S.S. E., eight leagues distant; and the passage between the island of that name, and the main land, bore S. For this passage I steered, intending to go through it. But soon after the wind failed us, and we had baffling light airs from the eastward, so that I gave up my design of carrying the ships bė tween the island and the main. At this time we saw several columns of smoke on the coast of the continent, to the northward of the passage; and, most probably, they were meant as signals to attract us thither. Here the land forms a bay, or perhaps a harbour, off the N.W. point of which lies a low, rocky island. There are also some other islands of the same appearance, scattered along the coast, between this place and Point Banks. At eight in the evening, the island of St Hermogenes extended from S. 3 E. to S.S.E. ‡ E., and the rocks that lie on the N. side of it bore S.E., three miles distant. In this situation, we had forty fathoms water over a bottom of sand and shells. Soon after, on putting over hooks and lines, we caught several halibut. At midnight, being past the rocks, we bore up to the southward, and, at noon, St Hermogenes bore N., four leagues distant. At this time, the southernmost point of the main land, within or to the westward of St Hermogenes, lay N. W., distant five leagues. This promontory, which is situated in the latitude of 58° 15′, and in the longitude of 207° 24', was named, after the day, Cape Whitsunday. A large bay, which lies to the W. of it, obtained the name of Whitsuntide Bay. The land on the E. side of this bay, of which Cape Whitsunday is the most southern point, and Point Banks the northern one, is, in all respects, like the island of St Hermogenes, seemingly destitute of wood, and partly free from snow. It was supposed to be covered with a mossy substance, that gave it a brownish cast. There were some reasons to think it was an island. If this be so, the last-mentioned bay is only the strait or passage that separates it from the main land. 1 Between Such seems to be the opinion of Arrowsmith, as indicated by his map of America, 1804. That map, however, is far from being minute or satisfactory as to this part of the voyage. The chart of the Russian and English discoveries, which Mr Coxe has inserted in his work so often alluded to, is perhaps a better guide. But indeed both are faulty. The read Between one and two in the afternoon, the wind, which had been at N E., shifted at once to the southward. It was unsettled till six, when it fixed at S., which was the very direction of our course, so that we were obliged to ply up the coast The weather was gloomy, and the air dry, but cold. We stood to the eastward till midnight, then tacked, and stood in for the land; and, between seven and eight in the morning of the 8th, we were within four miles of it, and not more than half a league from some sunken rocks, which bore W.S.W. In this situation we tacked in thirty-five fathoms water, the island of St Hermogenes bearing Ñ. 20° E., and the southernmost land in sight, S. In standing in for this coast, we crossed the mouth of Whitsuntide Bay, and saw land all round the bottom of it, so that either the land is connected, or else the points lock in, one behind another. I am more inclined to think, that the former is the case, and that the land, east of the bay, is a part of the continent. Some small islands lie on the west of the bay. The sea-coast to the southward of it is rather low, with projecting rocky points, between which are small bays or inlets. There was no wood, and but little snow upon the coast; but the mountains, which lie at some distance inland, were wholly covered with the latter. We stood off till noon, then tacked, and stood in for the land. The latitude, at this time, was 57° 52'; Cape St Hermogenes bore N. 30° W., eight leagues distant, and the southernmost part of the coast in sight, the same that was seen before, bore S.W., ten leagues distant. The land here forms a point, which was named Cape Greville. It lies in the latitude of 57° 33', and in the longitude of 207° 15′, and is distant fifteen leagues from Cape St Hermogenes, in the direction of S. 17° W. The three following days we had almost constant misty weather, with drizzling rain, so that we seldom had a sight of the coast. The wind was S.E. by S., and S.S.E., a gentle breeze, and the air raw and cold. With this wind and weather, we continued to ply up the coast, making boards of six or eight leagues each. The depth of water was from thirty to fifty-five fathoms, over a coarse, black sandy bot tom. The er need not be informed that the geography of this region is still very imperfect.-E. The fog clearing up, with the change of the wind to S.W., in the evening of the 12th, we had a sight of the land bearing W., twelve leagues distant. We stood in for it early next morning. At noon we were not above three miles from it; an elevated point, which obtained the name of Cape Barnabas, lying in the latitude of 57° 13′, bore N.N. E. E., ten miles distant, and the coast extended from N. 42° E., to W.S.W. The N.E. extreme was lost in a haze, but the point to the S.W., whose elevated summit terminated in two round hills, on that account was called Twoheaded Point. This part of the coast, in which are several small bays, is composed of high hills and deep valleys, and in some places we could see the tops of other hills, beyond those that form the coast, which was but little encumbered with snow, but had a very barren appearance. Not a tree or bush was to be seen upon it; and, in general, it had a brownish hue, probably the effect of a mossy covering. I continued to ply to the S.W. by W., as the coast trended, and, at six in the evening, being midway between Cape Barnabas and Two-headed Point, and two leagues from the shore, the depth of water was sixty-two fathoms. From this station, a low point of land made its appearance beyond Two-headed Point, bearing S. 69° W., and, without it, other land that had the appearance of an island, bore S. 59° W. At noon, on the 13th, being in latitude 56° 49′, Cape St Barnabas bore N. 52° E., Two-headed Point, N. 14° W., seven or eight miles distant, and the coast of the continent extended as far as S. 721° W., and the land seen the preceding evening, and supposed to be an island, now appeared like two islands. From whatever quarter Two-headed Point was viewed, it had the appearance of being an island, or else it is a peninsula, on each side of which the shore forms a bay. The wind still continued westerly, a gentle breeze, the weather rather dull and cloudy, and the air sharp and dry. We were well up with the southernmost land next morning, and found it to be an island, which was named Trinity Island. Its greatest extent is six leagues in the direction of E. and W. Each end is elevated naked land, and in the middle it is low, so that, at a distance, from some points of view, it assumes the appearance of two islands. It lies in the latitude of 56° 36′, and in the longitude of 205°, and between two and three leagues from the continent, which |