by, without further inquiry, agreeably to our eftablifhed maxim, never
to court a danger on fliore when neceffity did not compel our landing.
A fmall fandy ifland, lying to the eaftward of the village, affords between
it and the land on which the town is fituated, a fmall, but very commodious,
anchorage. This is not, however, to he approached by the paf-
fage to the fouth of the ifland, that being navigable only for very finall
Craft. T o the fouth o f the village a valley extended, apparently to a
confiderable diftance in a fouth-wefterly direction. Through it a .very
fine ftream o f frelh water emptied itfelf into the fea, and, from the
many wears that were feen in it ; it was unqueftionably well ftocked'with
filb, though not any was offered for fele, notwithftandimg the folicitations
o f our party, in the Nootka language, with which the natives feemed
well acquainted.
After the chief had received feme prefents, amongfl which, copper
feemed to him the moft valuable, he, with mofl of his- companions, returned
to the Ihore ; and, on landing, fired feveral mufkets, to fliew, in all
probability, with what dexterity they could ufe thefe weapons, to which
they feemed as familiarized as if they, had been aecuftomed to fire-arms
from their eartieft infancy.
The fhores on each fide of the channel had materially decreafed in
height. That to the northward appeared very much broken, and moft-
ly compofed of iflands ; whilft that to. the fouthward, which was purfu-
ed, remained compaft and intire. The iflands to the north were generally
formed by low land near the Ihore, riling to a moderate height,
well wooded, and on them the fmoke of lèverai fires was. obferved.
This circumftance, together with the number of inhabitants on the
fouthern Ihore, and the many canoes that were feen palling and repairing,
evidently befpoke this country to be infinitely more populous
than the fhores o f the gulph of Georgia.
The evening brought our party to the termination of the compaCt
fouthern Ihore in its weft direction, by a narrow channel leading to the
fouth ; and the main arm, which from that ftation took a north direction,
fpread very confiderably ; but the view to the weftward was
greatly
greatly interrupted by fmall iflands. In the hope of reaching the weft-
ernmoft ifland in fight, and by that means of determining the great ob- 1— <r—>
jeet of their purfuit, they proceeded with a frelh gale from the eaft,
attended by a great fall of rain, until midnight; when, fuppofing them-
felves at the limits they had feen before it was dark, they came to a grapnel
under the lee of a fmall ifland, which in fome degree flickered them
from the inclemency o f the night. This extremely unpleafant weather
continued without intermiflion, the whole of the next day, and until the
morning of the loth. They had now been abfent fix days out o f the
feven for which they had been provided, and the fmall remains o f their
flock were becoming hourly more infufficient for the diftant voyage they
had yet to perform in returning to the fliips, which greatly mcreafed
the mortification they experienced by this very unlooked for detention ;
but a wefterly wind and pleafant weather returning with the morning of
the 10th, they rowed to an ifland confpicuoufly fituated, from whence
their expectations were gratified by a clear though diftant view of the
expanfive ocean. The land eonftituting the different Ihores o f the paf-
fage appeared of moderate height, much broken, and feemed to form
various other channels to fea. This was however the moft capacious;
the wefternmoft land of which, on the northern fide, bore by compafs
N. 62 w . about 5 leagues; and the wefternmoft land on the fouthern
fide N. S ow . about 4 leagues diftant. This ifland obtained the name of
A l l e v i a t i o n I s l a n d -, from whence they direfied their courfe home-'
ward, being upwards of 120 miles from the fhips.
Impelled by reafons of the moft prefling nature, no time was loft in
taking advantage of the prevailing favorable gale, with which they kept
on their return until midnight, when as ufual they landed for the night on
the fouthern fhore, nearly oppofite the weft end of the ifland that forms
the fouth fide of the intricate paffage they had paffed through on the
6th. As the furvey from the (hip had been carried on by that route,
and confined to the examination o f the northern or continental fhore to
that ftation, through paffages rendered by various impediments ineligible
as a navigation for the fhips, Mr. Johnftone was defirous of purfuing
another which led more foutherly, and appeared lels liable to fuch objections.