»793-
July-
This channel, about 22 leagues long,..communicating between Chatham’s
and Nepean’s founds, I named, after the Right.Hon, Lord Grenville,
G r e n v i l l e ’s C a n a l .
The refult of this expedition left no doubt as to the meafur.es that
were to be purfued. I therefore direfted that the brewing, utenfils and
other matters fhould be immediately removed from the fhore, and the
velfels unmoored; my intention being, to proceed through the channel
that Mr. Johnftone had found leading towards the. ocean, and from thence
to continue to the north-weftward, through the paffage formed by Ranks s
ifland to the. fouth-wcll, and Pitt’s archipelago to the north-eaft. This
channel had already been navigated by Sen*'- Caamano, who had named
it Canal del Principe, and in whofe chart it is reprefented as fair and
navigable.
Whilftour bufinefs.with the (hore was going, forward, three canoes, in
which were fome o f the natives,. made their appearance; thefe, with one
canoe feen fome days before at a diftance; in which were fome people,
were the only inhabitants we had noticed during our refidence in
Nepean’s found. One only of thefe canoes ventured near us this morning;
it contained, four or five perfons, who made their approach with
the utmoft diffidence and caution. They difpofed o f a few, indifferent
fea otter fkins, and feemed, in a trifling degree, to differ, in their perfons
from the people we had been accuftomed to fe e ; they were not taller,
but they were ftouter, their faces more round and flat, their hair coarfe,
ftraight, black, and cut fhort to their head; in this refpeft they differed
from any of the tribes of North Weft America with whom we had met,
who, though in various fafhions, univerfally wore their hair long, which
was in general of a foft nature, and chiefly of a light or dark brown colour,
feldom approaching to black.
- The wind being light and variable, kept us ftationary until near noon,
when, feeming to b e . fettled in the north-eaft quarter, we quitted our
anchorage. Although the fhores here formed no very great indent, I
diftinguifhed it by the name of Fifherman’s cove, from our fuccefs in
procuring fifh, which in thefe .regions were a very, fcarce commodity.
In this cove are two confiderable runs of frefti water, and wood may.be
eafily
eafily procured in abundance. The foundings are from 15 to 40 fathoms, >'793.-
good holding ground, where a few veffels may ride with great fafety and ■ -U_1-'
convenience;
Whilft we remained in Fifherman’s cove, I procured obfervations
fufficient to afcertain its fituatiort, by which its latitude was found to be
53018-y, its longitude deduced from fix fets o f the fun’s altitude and the
chronometers, 230° 53*1' the variation, by three different compaffes
taken on fhore, fhewing from 20° 29' to 2 2° 18', gave the mean refult
o f 21017' eaftwardly. Fifherman’s cove being fituated at the extremity
o f an ifland, in the midft o f this very broken region, it was impoffible
to afcertain with the leaft regularity any thing refpefting the tides, as
they were fo much influenced by the winds and other latent caufes.
It was feven in the evening before wé had paffed through the northern
■ entrance into Nepean’s found, when the wind, which blew in very
light airs, being favorable, our courfe was directed flowly up the Canal
del Principe.
The next morning a light breeze fpringing up, we flood to wind- Monday 15.
ward,- and at noon Bànks’s ifland extended from s. 51 e . to n . 70 w.,
the latter being in a line with a part o f the fhores o f Pitt’s archipelago ;
fo that,- as yet, we had not thé paffage to fea open. A t this time we
were a-breaft of a fmall opening about n .e . by n ., at the diftancfe o f a
mile,' apparently the1 fame that had been named by Mr. Duncan, Port
Stephens ; its-entrance was obftrufted by many rocky iflets and rocks,
and- it préfented' no very tempting appearance as a port. The eaftern-
moft land' in fight, on the'northern fide o f the canal, bore by compafs
s. gff E.y and the neareft fhore o f Banks’s ifland s.w. by w., about a mile
diftant; here the obferved latitude was 530 pjM| longitude 23o°i9'.
In the afternoon, we paffed the Port de Canaveral ; it feemed to be
extenfive," and’to have an entrance, free from obftruftion, about a league
and a half wide.1 Its outer points lie n . 35 w . and s. 35 e . from each
other ; off the'latter lies a fmall round ifland, in latitude 53° 29', longitude
230° 16'. As we made1 a tolerable progrefs in plying, we continued
under fail until nine in the evening ; when we anchored in 34'
fathoms, within the length o f three cables from the fhores o f Pitt’s ar-
V o l . II. T t chipelago,