Sunday 2.
and o f a larger fize. Two or three whales, one near point Menzies, feve-
ral feals, and fome fea otters had been Ifeen ; thefe were remarkably fhy,
as were two black bears that were obferved on the fhores.
. The tide in this neighbourhood appeared to rife and fall about ten
feet1;'arid it is high water io h 20*, after the moon palfes the meridian;
but neither the ebb nor the flood appeared' to occafion any general,
or even vifible, ftream.
Early the next morning, with rainy unpleafant weather, we again proceeded,
keeping the {larboard or continental fhore on board, to the fifth
unexamined opening, lying from point Edward on King’s ifland nearly
north, about 6 miles-; in general a mile, but fometimes a league wide.
We palled an illet and fome rocks, lying on the eaftern or {larboard
fhore, where we breakfafted, and afterwards continued our refearches
until about two o’clock, when we Hopped to dine in a bay on the wef-
ter-n lhore, into which flowed the moll confiderable rivulet I had yet
feen in this country. The tide was then at the loweft, yet it admitted
our boats into its entrance, which is about thirty yards wide, and
four feet deep, and difcharged a rapid ftream o f frelh water until prevented
by the flood tide. The fpring tides appeared to rife about feven
feet. High water- i i v io' after the moon palfes the meridian. This
brook foon decreafed in dimenfions within the entrance, and fhortly
loft itfelf in a valley, bounded at no. great diftance by high perpendicular
mountains. Three Indians appeared on the oppofite fide of the
brook. I endeavoured by figns and'offe-rs of trinkets to prevail on their
crofting over to us, but without fuccefs; at length they gave us to under-
ftand by figns, that if we would go back to. our party who were at no
great diftance, they would follow in their-canoe. They paddled after us
a few yards, but again returned to the fhore, on which one of them
landed; and the other two again came forward. The man who had
landed haftened back along the banks o f the brook, with vifible marks
of fear, as we conjectured towards their habitations. His apprehenfions
operated on the other two, who alfo retired up the brook in their
canoe. As we were preparing to depart about three o’clock, this canoe,
attended by another containing fix or feven Indians, came down the
rivulet;
rivulet; but notwithftanding every means was ufed to invite them, they '793-
would not venture nearer us than their companions had done before. 1___— -j
I left fome iron, knives, and trinkets near our fire, whither I had little
doubt their curiofity would foon be directed.
From hence we proceeded about g miles up the arm, Hill extending
to the north-eaft, and preferving the fame width. We palfed a fmall
ifland lying near the weftern fhore; here we took up our abode for the
night, and the next morning again proceeded. The water was nearly Mondays,
frelh at low tide, but was not of a very light colour. Having gone about
a league we arrived at a point on the weftern lhore, from whence the
arm took a direction N. n .w . for about 3 leagues, and then, as was molt
commonly the cafe, it terminated in low marlhy land. On a fmall fpot
of low projecting land from the eallern fhore, three or four natives were
obferved, who would not venture near us ; and at a little diftance from
the fhore, the trees appeared to have been cleared away for fome extent,
and a fqua-re, fpac-ious platform was erefted, lying horizontally, and
fupported by feveral upright fpars of confiderable thicknefs, and appa.
rently not lefs than twenty-five or thirty feet high from the ground. A
fire was burning on it at one end, but there was no appearance of any
thing like a houfe, though we concluded that fuch was the ufe to which it
Was appropriated. After breakfaft we returned by the fame route we had
arrived, and Hopped at the point above mentioned to obferve its latitude,
which I found to be 520 43-5-', and its longitude 232° 55'. T o this point
I gave the name of P o i n t R a p h o e , and to the canal we had thus explored,
D e a n ’ s C a n a l . Quitting this point, we dined on our return
at the lame brook where we had flopped the preceding d a y ; the Indians
had taken the trinkets we had left for them, and although they
were heard in the woods they did not make their appearance. From
thence we proceeded towards the next unexplored inlet, until near dark,
when we halted' again for the night, and on the following morning Tuefday 4.
reached its entrance about half a mile wide, lying in a n . now . direction.
The weather was rough, chilly, and unpleafant, attended with
much rain until near noon. At this time we had reached within a mile
of the head of the arm, where the obferved latitude was 520 32-, longi-
M m 2 tude