1791.
June.
Sunday 3.
Monday 4.
fought in other countries, and only to be acquired by an immoderate
expence in manual labour. The foil principally confifted of a rich black
vegetable mould, lying on a fandy or clayey fubftratum; the grafs, of
an excellent quality, grew to the height of three feet, and the ferns,,
which, in the fandy foils, occupied the clear fpots, were nearly twice as
high. The country in the vicinity o f this branch of the fea is, according
to Mr. Whidbey’s reprefentation, the fineft we had yet met with,
riotwithftanding the very pleafing appearance of many others; its natural
productions were luxuriant in the higheft degree, and it was, by no
means, ill fupplied with ftreams of frelh water. The number of its inhabitants
he eftimated at about fix hundred, which I Ihould fuppofe would
exceed the total of all the natives we had before feen ; the other parts
o f the found did not appear, by any means, fo populous, as we had been
vifited by one fmall canoe only, in which were five of the natives, who
civilly furnilhed us with fome fmall filh. The charafter arid appearance
of their feveral tribes here feen did not feem to differ in any material
refpeft from each other, or from thofe we have already had occafion to
mention.
A fortnight had now been dedicated to the examination of this inlet;
which I have diftinguilhed by the name o f A d m i r a l t y I n l e t : we
had Hill to return about forty miles through this tedious inland navigation,
before we could arrive on a new field of inquiry. The broken
appearance o f the region before us, and the difficulties we had already
encountered in tracing its various fhores, inconteftibly proved, that the
objeft of our voyage could alone be accompliffied by very flow degrees.
Perfeftly fatisfied with the arduoufnefs of the talk in which we were engaged,
and the progrefs we were likely to make, I became anxioufly felicitous
to move the inftant an opportunity Ihould ferve. The two following
days were however unfavorable to that purpofe, and after the
great fatigue our people had lately undergone, were well appropriated to
holidays. On funday all hands were employed in Billing with tolerably
good fuccefs, or in taking a little recreation on ffiore; and on monday
they were ferved as good a dinner as we were able to provide them, with
double allowance of grog to drink the King’s health, it being the anniverfary
verfary of His Majefty’s birth; on which aufpicious day, I had long
fince defigned to take formal poffeffion o f all the countries we had lately
been employed in exploring, in the name of, and for His Britannic
Majefty, his heirs and fueceffors.
T o execute this purpofe, accompanied by Mr. Broughton, and fome
of the officers, I went on ffiore about one o’clock, purfuing the ufual
formalities which are generally obferved on Inch occafions, and under
the difcharge of a royal falute from the veffels, took poffeffion accordingly
of the coaft, from that part of New Albion, in the latitude o f
39° 20' north, and longitude 236° 26' eaft, to the entrance of this inlet of
the fea, faid to be the fuppofed {traits o f Inan de Fuca ; as likewife all
the coaft iflands, &c. within the faid ftraits, as well on the northern as
on the fouthern ffiores; together with thofe fituated in the interior fea
we had difcovered, extending from the faid ftraits, in various directions,
between the north-weft, north, eaft, and fouthern quarters; which interior
fea I have honored with the name of T h e G u l p h o f G e o r g i a ,
arid the continent binding the faid gulph, and extending fouthward to
the 45th degree of north latitude, with that of N e w G e o r g i a , in honor
of His prefent Majefty. This branch of Admiralty inlet obtained
the name of P o s s e s s i o n S o u n d ; its weftern arm, after Vice Admiral
Sir Alan Gardner, I diftinguiffi by the name of P o r t G a r d n e r , and
its fmaller or eaftern one by that of P o r t S u s a n .
V o l . I. P p CH A P T E R