*793- wide, extending in another direftion; this, on monday morning, I fent
1-----.---- 1 Mr. Swaine to explore, who found it terminate about 3 leagues from
Monday 17. jjjg entrance of the bay, in latitude52° 29', longitude 232° 2'.,
This day in the afternoon, and for a few minutes about one o’clock
the day before, the fun made its appearance, and enabled me to procure
fome obfervations for the longitude by the chronometers, but not for the
latitude; I had however, whilft on the furvey in the boats not more
than 2 leagues to the weftward of this Ration, an excellent obfervation
for this purpofe; and from hence Ijudged, that by placing our anchorage
in latitude 52° 20L', longitude 231° 58-j, it wiflbe found nearly correct.
In the evening the Chatham’s cutter, and the Difcovery’s fmall cutter
returned, after having had a very difagreeable, fatiguing, and laborious
excurfion; rendered very diftreffmg by the melancholy lofs o f John
Carter, one o f our feamen, who had unfortunately been poifoned by
eating mufcles. Two or three others of the- party narrowly efeaped the
fame fate.
■ The firft day after their departure from* the vedels, they met with
fome of the natives who had fome halibut recently caught, and although
very high prices were offered, the Indians could not be induced to part
with any of thefe filh; this was lingular, and indicated a -very fcanty
fupply of this fpécies o f food. As théy-pafféd the village on the rock,
the inhabitants appeared to regard them with great attention and friend-
lhip: Their chief Whacojh being down on the rocks, fome prefents were
fent to him, and he feemed to receive them with great pleafure. When
the party left this ftation, they found the opening, though not more than
a quarter o f a mile wide in fome places, to be a clear and navigable canal,
lying in a direftion n. 18 w . for about 8 miles,where it united with a
more extèhfivé one about half a league wide, which took a direftion
N. 15 e . and s'. 15 w . This appeared the moft extenfive, but their ob-
jeft was the purfuit of the other. On its eaftern fide were found two
large bays, or rather bafons. In the fouthernmoft o f thefe are fome
rocky iflets. The next morning brought no alteration in the weather,
which continued extremely bad and rainy; yet they proceeded again,
and were joinèd by half a dozen of the natives in two fmall canoes, of
2 whom
whom they purchafed a fmall filh, being all they had to difpofe of. The
wind blew very ffrong in fqualls from the fouth-eaft, attended with conftant
rain. At five in the afternoon they reached the head o f the arm, where
it terminated in latitude 520 365^', longitude 2320. The evening being
fair, fome progrefs was made in their way back by the fame route they
had advanced; and having flopped for the night, the above channel
was purfued in its fouthern direftion in the morning of the 1 2th. This
continued nearly ftraight, making the land that forms the weft fide of this
opening an illand. On its weftern Ihore they found a confiderable village,
from whence feveral of the natives vifited them in their canoes. Thefe
were moftly fmall, containing only four or five perfons in each; excepting
one, in which there were thirty-two men. They condufted them-
felves in a very proper manner, and in a friendly way invited our party
to their habitations; a civility that it was thought moft proper to decline.
Having palled to the northward of fome detached rocks, and
rocky iflets, they reached the fouth-weft point o f the canal, fituated in
latitude 52° 15', longitude 2310 45'. This communicated with another
channel about 2 miles wide, that took an eaft and weft direftion; the former
towards the ftation of the lhips, the latter towards the ocean, being
the fame that had been difcovered in my examination. From thence they
purfued the continental coaft about a league, lying in a direftion from this
point n . 72 w . ; its lhores are low and rocky, with feveral detached
iflets and rocks lying near them. From this fituation they had an unlimited
view of the ocean, between fouth, and s.w. by w. The wind
blowing ftrong from this quarter, produced a very heavy furf on the
lhores, which prevented their making any further progrefs to the weft-
ward ; and being then a-breaft of a fmall opening extending to the northward,
interfperfed with rocks and breakers, Mr. Johnftone entered it
contrary to his inclinations, as it was by no means eligible for the navigation
o f (hipping, but the wind and fea totally preventing their making
any progrefs further weftward, he was compelled to take Ihelter there
from the inclemency of the weather; and during the night it blew a
ftrong gale of wind, attended by torrents of rain. The return1 o f day
(the 13th) prefented no alternative, but that of remaining, inaftive, or
O o 2 of