A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xvi Part 19

After we had entered the bay, the flood set strong into the river Turnagain, and ebb came out with still greater force; the water falling, while we lay at anchor, twenty feet upon a perpendicular.

These circ.u.mstances convinced me, that no pa.s.sage was to be expected by this side-river anymore 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 lat.i.tude of 61 30', and the longitude of 210; which is seventy leagues or more from its entrance, without seeing the least appearance of its source.

If the discovery of this great river,[5] 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 pa.s.sage into Baffin's or Hudson's Bay less probable, or at least shewed 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 a.s.sumed, 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.

[Footnote 5: Captain Cook having here left a blank which he had not filled up with any particular name, Lord Sandwich directed, with the greatest propriety, that it should be called _Cook's River_.--D.

Some readers may require to be informed, that, for reasons mentioned in the account of his voyage, Captain Vancouver has called it _Cook's Inlet_.--E.]

In the afternoon, I sent Mr King again, with two armed boats, with orders to land on the north-eastern point of the low land, on the south-east side of the river; there to display the flag; 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 was 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 S., two miles distant.

When Mr King returned, he informed me, that as he approached the sh.o.r.e, about twenty of the natives made their appearance, with their arms extended; probably to express thus their peaceable disposition, and to shew that they were without weapons. On Mr King's, and the gentlemen with him, landing, with musquets 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 surprise 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, alders, birch, and willows; rose and currant bushes; and a little gra.s.s; 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 pa.s.s through the nose, and in general these were also much longer. They had, however, a greater quant.i.ty 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 the doing of which, by the inattention and neglect of the man at the lead, the Resolution struck, and stuck fast on a 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 ash.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.e into deep water, we anch.o.r.ed 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 quant.i.ty 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 lat.i.tude of 60 23'; and it 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 sh.o.r.e; 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 surprise, 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 gla.s.s 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 pa.s.sage 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 princ.i.p.al 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 a.s.siduous 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 sh.o.r.es, and by that means swells the tide to a great height.

The variation of the compa.s.s was 25 40' E.

SECTION VII.

_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 W.S.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 eight, pa.s.sed the Barren Islands, and stretched away for Cape St Hermogenes. At noon, this cape bore S.S.E., eight leagues distant; and the pa.s.sage between the island of that name, and the main land, bore S. For this pa.s.sage 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 between 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 pa.s.sage; 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.

1/2 E. to S.S.E. 1/4 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 sh.e.l.ls. 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. 1/2 W., distant five leagues. This promontory, which is situated in the lat.i.tude 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 dest.i.tute 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 pa.s.sage that separates it from the main land.[1]

[Footnote 1: 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 c.o.xe has inserted in his work so often alluded to, is perhaps a better guide. But indeed both are faulty. The reader need not be informed that the geography of this region is still very imperfect.--E.]

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 N. 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 lat.i.tude, at this time, was 57 52-1/2'; 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 lat.i.tude 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 coa.r.s.e, black sandy bottom.

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 lat.i.tude of 57 13', bore N.N. E. 1/2 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 _Two-headed 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 enc.u.mbered 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 lat.i.tude 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. 72 1/2 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 sh.o.r.e 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 a.s.sumes the appearance of two islands. It lies in the lat.i.tude of 56 36', and in the longitude of 205, and between two and three leagues from the continent, which s.p.a.ce is interspersed with small islands and rocks, but there seemed to be good pa.s.sage enough, and also safe anchorage. At first we were inclined to think, that this was Beering's _Foggy Island_,[2] but its situation so near the main does not suit his chart.

[Footnote 2: _Tumannoi-ostrow_, c'est-a-dire, _L'isle Nebuleuse_.--Muller, p. 261.]

At eight in the evening, we stood in for the land, till we were within a league of the above-mentioned small islands. The westernmost part of the continent now in sight, being a low point facing Trinity Island, and which we called _Cape Trinity_, now bore W.N.W. In this situation, having tacked in fifty-four fathoms water, over a bottom of black sand, we stood over for the island, intending to work up between it and the main. The land to the westward of Two-headed Point, is not so mountainous as it is to the N.E. of it, nor does so much snow lie upon it. There are, however, a good many hills considerably elevated, but they are disjoined by large tracts of flat land that appeared to be perfectly dest.i.tute of wood, and very barren.

As we were standing over toward the island, we met two men in a small canoe, paddling from it to the main. Far from approaching us, they seemed rather to avoid it. The wind now began to incline to the S., and we had reason to expect, that it would soon be at the S.E.

Experience having taught us, that a south-easterly wind was here generally, if not always, accompanied by a thick fog, I was afraid to venture through between the island and the continent, lest the pa.s.sage should not be accomplished before night, or before the thick weather came on, when we should be obliged to anchor, and by that means lose the advantage of a fair wind. These reasons induced me to stretch out to sea, and we pa.s.sed two or three rocky islets that lie near the east end of Trinity Island. At four in the afternoon, having weathered the island, we tacked, and steered west-southerly, with a fresh gale at S.S.E., which, before midnight, veered to the S.E., and was, as usual, attended with misty, drizzling, rainy weather.

By the course we steered all night, I was in hopes of falling in with the continent in the morning. And, doubtless, we should have seen it, had the weather been in the least clear, but the fog prevented. Seeing no land at noon, and the gale increasing, with a thick fog and rain, I steered W.N.W., under such sail as we could easily haul the wind with, being fully sensible of the danger of running before a strong gale in a thick fog, in the vicinity of an unknown coast. It was, however, necessary to run some risk when the wind favoured us; for clear weather, we had found, was generally accompanied with winds from the west.

Between two and three in the afternoon, land was seen through the fog, bearing N.W., not more than three or four miles distant. Upon this, we immediately hauled up south, close to the wind. Soon after, the two courses were split, so that we had others to bring to the yards, and several others of our sails received considerable damage. At nine, the gale abated, the weather cleared up, and we lost sight of the coast again, extending from W. by S. to N.W., about four or five leagues distant. On sounding, we found a hundred fathoms water, over a muddy bottom. Soon after, the fog returned, and we saw no more of the land all night.

At four next morning, the fog being now dispersed, we found ourselves in a manner surrounded by land; the continent, or what was supposed to be the continent, extending from W.S.W. to N.E. by N., and some elevated land bearing S.E. 1/2 S., by estimation eight or nine leagues distant. The N.E. extreme of the main was the same point of land that we had fallen in with during the fog, and we named it _Foggy Cape_. It lies in lat.i.tude 56 31'. At this time, having had but little wind all night, a breeze sprung up at N.W. With this we stood to the southward, to make the land, seen in that direction, plainer.

At nine o'clock, we found it to be an island of about nine leagues in compa.s.s, lying in the lat.i.tude of 56 10', and in the longitude of 202 46'; and it is distinguished in our chart by the name of _Foggy Island_, having reason to believe, from its situation, that it is the same which had that name given to it by Beering. At the same time, three or four islands, lying before a bay, formed by the coast of the main land; bore N. by W.; a point, with three or four pinnacle rocks upon it, which was called _Pinnacle Point_, bore N.W. by W.; and a cl.u.s.ter of small islets, or rocks, lying about nine leagues from the coast, S.S.E.

At noon, when our lat.i.tude was 56 9', and our longitude 201 45', these rocks bore S. 58' E., ten miles distant; Pinnacle Point, N.N.W., distant seven leagues; the nearest part of the main land N.W. by W., six leagues distant; and the most advanced land to the S.W., which had the appearance of being an island, bore W., a little southerly. In the afternoon, we had little or no wind, so that our progress was inconsiderable. At eight in the evening, the coast extended from S.W.

to N.N.E., the nearest part about eight leagues distant.

On the 17th, the wind was between W. and N.W., a gentle breeze, and sometimes almost calm. The weather was clear, and the air sharp and dry. At noon, the continent extended from S.W. to N. by E., the nearest part seven leagues distant. A large group of islands lying about the same distance from the continent, extended from S. 26 W. to S. 52 W.

It was calm great part of the 18th, and the weather was clear and pleasant. We availed ourselves of this, by making observations for the longitude and variation. The latter was found to be 21 27' E. There can be no doubt that there is a continuation of the continent between Trinity Island and Foggy Cape, which the thick weather prevented us from seeing. For some distance to the S.W., of that cape, this country is more broken or rugged than any part we had yet seen, both with respect to the hills themselves, and to the coast, which seemed full of creeks, or small inlets, none of which appeared to be of any great depth. Perhaps, upon a closer examination, some of the projecting points between these inlets will be found to be islands. Every part had a very barren aspect, and was covered with snow, from the summits of the highest hills, down to a very small distance from the sea coast.

Having occasion to send a boat on board the Discovery, one of the people in her shot a very beautiful bird of the hawk kind. It is somewhat less than a duck, and of a black colour, except the fore-part of the head, which is white, and from above and behind each eye arises an elegant yellowish-white crest, revolved backward as a ram's horn.

The bill and feet are red. It is, perhaps, the _alca monochroa_ of Steller, mentioned in the history of Kamtschatka.[3] I think the first of these birds was seen by us a little to the southward of Cape St Hermogenes. From that time, we generally saw some of them every day, and sometimes in large flocks. Besides these, we daily saw most of the other sea-birds, that are commonly found in other northern oceans, such as gulls, s.h.a.gs, puffins, sheerwaters, and sometimes ducks, geese, and swans. And seldom a day pa.s.sed without seeing seals, whales, and ether large fish.

[Footnote 3: P. 158. Eng. Trans.--The Tufted Aek.--_Pennant's Arct.

Zool._ ii. N. 432.]

In the afternoon, we got a light breeze of wind southerly, which enabled us to steer W., for the channel that appeared between the islands and the continent; and, at day-break next morning, we were at no great distance from it, and found several other islands, within those already seen by us, of various extent both in height and circuit. But between these last islands, and those before seen, there seemed to be a clear channel, for which I steered, being afraid to keep the coast of the continent aboard, lest we should mistake some point of it for an island, and, by that means, be drawn into some inlet, and lose the advantage of the fair wind, which at this time blew.