In the evening we hauled our wind, and plied in order to retain our
lituation, for the purpofe o f profecuting our refearches in the morning ;
when, notwithftanding that the wind was favorable to this defign, yet
the fog prevented my putting it into execution, and we were obliged
to Hand to windward all that day under an eafy fail. Unpleafant weather
like this had attended many o f our favorable n .w . winds 15nee our.
departure from port Protection, and in a manner I had not been ac-
cuftomed to notice. The fog did not in general rife more than ten or
twelves degrees above the horizon; above which the atmofphere was
clear and pleafant, admitting us frequently to fee not only the fummits,
but alfo fome diftance down the fides of the mountains that compofe-
the coaft. Thefe now appeared in a double ridge; the interior ones,
produced foreft trees, that fhewed their tops above the fummits o f thofe
that feemed to rife abruptly from the fea Ihore, the lower parts of which
continued to be totally obfcured by the denfity o f the fog, until the
morning of the 8th; when it in fome mealure difperfed, and permitted
us to fee that part of the coaft from whence we had flood to fea on
the evening of the 6th, and enabled us to afcertain, that; fouthward from
that Ration, the coaft ftill continued in a!direction s. 40 e., and was
equally compaft. The fame wind, with a continuance of thick hazy
weather, fearcely allowed us to fee from point to point as we failed along
the coaft, and prevented our delineating its pofttion with that degree of
accuracy and precifion I could have wifhed ; though it did not preclude
our afcertaining the continuation and connexion of the continental
(hore, which, as we advanced, became lefs abrupt; and the country,
compofed o f vallies and mountains that gradually defcended towards
the fea fhore, which confifted of alternate rocks and fandy beaches,
put on a more agreeable appearance, as vegetation again feemed to ex-
i f t : fome dwarf trees were produced, and the furface was interfperfed
with a few dull verdant fpots.
About nine o’clock we paffed a low projecting point, off which lie,
at a fmall diftance, two or three rugged detached rocks ; the outermoft
is fituated in latitude 35' 42", longitude 239' 6"; from whence the line
o f the coaft, for a fhort diftance, inclines, a few degrees more to* the
I eaftward;
ea ft ward; the mountains fall further back from the water-fide, and the No,v^ 1jer_
intermediate country appeared to be a plain, or to rife with a very gradual c----.---- <■
afcent, for the fpace of about four leagues along' the coaft. This land
was tolerably well wooded, even clofe down to the fhore; and by the
afiiftance o f our glalfes fome o f the trees were feen to be very large,
with fpreading branches; and being for the greater part diftributed in
detached clumps, produced a very pleafing effeft, and a profpeft more
fertile than we had lately been accuftomed to behold. This difference in
the appearance o f the country, was not confined to inanimate nature, for
its inhabitants feemed to benefit by its fuperior productions, as we foon
difeovered a canoe approaching us, of a conftruétion I little expected
to have met with. Inftead of its being compofed of ftraw, like thofe
we had feen on our firft vifit to port St. Francifco, it was neatly formed
of wood, much after the Nootka fafhion, and was navigated with great
adroitnefs by four of the’natives of the. country. Their paddles were
about ten feet long, with a blade at each end; thefe they handled with
much dexterity, ’ either intirely on one fide, or alternately on each fide of
their canoe. Their exertions to reach us were very great, but as we- were
favored with a frefh gale, with all fail fet, they were nor able1 to come up
with us ; and I regretted that I could not afford fome leifure for a better
acquaintance with thefe people, who feemed, by the ingenuity difplayed-
in their canoe, to differ very materially from thofe infenfible beings we
had met in the neighbourhood of St. Francifco and Monterrey.
. Our progrefs by noon brought us to the latitude of 35°’33 > longitude
ogcf i 5i ' -, in this fituation the northernmoft part of the coaft in fight
bore by compafs N.w. by w. ; a point forming the north point of the
bay, s. 75 e . ; a high conical hill, flat at the top, appearing to be an
ifland in the bay; s. 67 e . ; the fouth point o f the bay s. 46 e . ; and the
neareft fhore n . 26 e ., two miles diftant. At the north point of this bay,
which is fituated in latitude 35° 31', longitude 239“ 22', the woodland
country ceafes to exift, and the fhores acquire a quick afcent, with a
very uneven furface, particularly in the neighbourhood o f the bay. Some
detached rocks are about its fouthern point, which lies, from the northern
s. 25 e ., diftant thirteen miles, and is formed by fteep cliffs, falling
perpen