der the orders o f the Conde de Revilla Gigedo, viceroy of New Spain ;
as alfo for his ■ excellency’s offers of whatever further affiflance the
countries under his authority might afford. In commemoration therefore
o f his excellency’s very kind attention, I have' not only'adopted
the name o f the canal after tliat nobleman, but have further diftinguifh-
ed the land to the north o f it by the name of the I s l a n d o r Re v i l l a
G i g e d o .
Oppofite to the eaftern entrance into the canal is filuatcd the Bocas
de Quadra ; and as I had always regretted that no opportunity was taken
to commemorate the weighty obligations conferred by Major Behm on
the officers and crews of the Refolution and Difcovery, whilft at Kamp-
fchatka in the year 1779, by the introduction o f that gentleman’s name
in the charts of that voyage; I embraced this occafion to name the
channel that feparates the ifland of Revilla Gigedo from the continent,
B ehm ’ s C a n a l . Thefe tributes are o f à very infignificant nature
when compared with the merit to which they are offered, and are only
to be regarded as memorials to bear teftimony o f the zeal for advancing
o f fcience in thefe noble and diftinguifhed characters, difplayed by their
friendly and liberal fupport of thofe who have been engaged in the feveral
laborious undertakings projected by His Britannic Majefty, for the attainment
o f a true and perfect geographical knowledge o f the earth.
Quitting this flation, we continued along the weft fide o f the ifland
o f Gravina; where a few rocks extended from the projecting points
o f its .fhores thefe. are nearly ftraight and compaft, ftretching s. ig e .
to a point where I obferved the latitude to be 55° 10'; longitude 228°
28'. From this point, and for 2 leagues to the north of it, the width
of the channel did not exceed a league and a half ; but, as we advanced
to the fouth, it again increafed in its width to 2 and g leagues. The
weftern ftiore appeared to be much broken, and the land to be more
elevated than on the eaftern fide, which is of a moderate height, and is
covered with wood.
From this ftation the eaftern fhore took a direction s. go e . for five
miles, and then turned fhort to the eaftward and north-eaft, appearing
R O U N D T H E W O R L D . 369
to divide the ifland of Gravina by a paflage about two miles wide, in AljWS^
which were feen innumerable rocks and rocky iflets; but the hazinefs 1— v—J
o f the weather did not permit our acquiring any competent knowledge
o f them, or of the fhores forming the paflage.
I was much inclined to purfue our way home by this channel, as
in all probability it would have materially fhortened our journey, and
made it lefs laborious, by following a more direCt line, and in fmooth
water; but as the main branch ftill led to the fouth, it was evidently the
mod proper for the veflels to navigate, and I was for that reafon extremely
anxious that it fhould undergo our examination. We therefore
pafled by this opening, and continued our route until near ten o’clock,
when we refted for the night in a fmall cove near a point, fituated in
latitude g ^ o’ -go", longitude 228° 40'. This point I named P o i n t
D a v i s o n , in compliment to Alexander Davifon, Efq. the owner of our
ftorefhip. Here, in confequence of a ftrong gale of wind from the fouth-
weft, attended with a heavy rain, we pafled a very difagreeable night.
By the dawn of day the wind was lefs violent, and we departed from this Wednef. 14.
unpleafant ftation ; but the agitation of the fea much retarded our pro-
grefs, until we pafled a projecting point o f land, which I diftinguifhed
by the name of P o i n t P e r c y , when we derived fome tolerable aflift-
anoe from our fails for the firft time during thisexcurfion.
Point Percy is the weftern extremity of a long narrow clufter of low
iflands, lying s. 5 w . from point Davifon, diftant four miles. This
clufter of iflands and rocks feems to extend about five miles in an E. N. E.
direflion, nearly uniting to the eaftern Ihore, which is much broken
both on the north and fouth o f thefe iflands, and appears to form another
divifion of the ifland of Gravina. From point Percy, the fouth point
o f this land, or ifles of Gravina, which I named C a p e N o r t h u m b e r l
a n d , in honor of that illuftrious family, lies s. 65 E., at the diftance
o f g leagues. Our courfe was directed thither through feveral clufters
of dangerous rocks, lying in all directions a confiderable diftance from
the ftiore, with very irregular foundings from 4 to go fathoms water;
the weeds however which grow in their neighbourhood, are a fulfieient
warning in the day time to avoid thofe dangers.
V o l . II. 3 B About