time nearly ftationary,-waiting their aflault, but this they all thought'
proper to decline.
Some chaftifement for fo unprovoked and treacherous breach of hof-
pitality and good faith, might probably have been attended with the
delirable effe£! of preventing limilar aggrelhons in future; but as our
party had received no injury from their evil intentions, Mr. Whidbey
very humanely defifted from taking any revenge ; and notwithftanding he
had them much in his power, and could not have fired upon them without
making great Daughter, he neverthelefs did not avail himfelf of his
fituation, but left it at their option to.retire, or to become more a£iive
aggrelfors. By his having direfied his courfe toward mid-channel, the
canoes were drawn from the lhore into the middle -.of the canal, where
they were lefs liable to be troublefome, as it had appeared that on all
fuch occafions they were defirous of fecuring a retreat, by being near
to the rocks or woods. The whole Indian party, followed the boats for
about three miles, when they gave up their purfuit, and retired, making
a great noife, and holding up fea otter Ikins, which they feemed to
poflefs in great abundance.-
With this party three chiefs only had appeared,. although, according
to their own account, the tribe refiding up the brook had belonging to
it, eight chiefs, The whole of this party, which had been collected at a
very lhort notice, feemed to be fighting men, or perfons of that defcrip-
tion, there being neither ftriplings nor women among!! them, excepting
five principal ladies, each of whom, agreeably to the falhion of the nations
of this part of America, lleered and eondufited one of the five large
canoes, the flat ion allotted to them in all warlike enterpfizes, as has been
defcribed on a former occafion. By this ftrength it will appear,, that
if, as it is prefumed, thefe were three only,, of the eight'chiefs-of the
brook, and that the other five were equally powerful,- : this muft be
among!! the moil numerous tribes we had yet become acquainted with,
on the coaft of North Weft America.
The party being at length relieved from thefe very troublefome vifi-
tors, with the pleating reflection of not having been driven to the ne-
ceflity of depriving any one of life, purfued their route quietly along the
ealtern
eaftern lhore. The weather was dark and gloomy, and as the day advanced
the wind blew ftrong from the fouthward, attended with much
rain. At breakfaft time a point,'called by me Po ïNt S t . Ma r y ’s, was
reached in latitude 58° 43-5-', longitude 225° 2', forming the north point of
a bay, which I named B erners B a y , about 4 miles acrofs, in a direction
s. 20 EÏ, about 5 miles deep to the n. n .-e . From the fouth point of this
bay, which I called Poin t B rio Ge t ,-the continental (bore took a direction
s. 26' E., and having advanced about 10 miles pafling a fmall ifland,
with fome rocks and iflets about it, the feverity of the weather obliged them
to take Ihelter among!! a group of fmall iflets, where, during the night,
they experienced a hard gale from the fouthward, attended with a heavy
rain, which detained them until eight in the forenoon of the 18th, when the
party refumed their examination in a channel difficult''to navigate, even
for boats'; it being much incommoded with numberlefs rocks between this
group of iflets and the continent, which ftill continued in the direClion
before mentioned'. Beyond thefe iflets to the leftward, lies a “larger
ifland, and from the lhore of the main land, a lhallow bank extends nearly
half a league,- commencing about a league from the place at which the
party had flept the night preceding. In pafling. through this intricate
navigation, fmokes werefeen-in various .directions,'and many Indians were
obferved about the Shores, along which the party having now advanced
about five miles, they came, to thehorth point of a: fmall bay where the
fhoalbank terminated. Here they^ flopped to dine in exceflively cold
rainy weather, with a ftrong gale of wind from 1 the fouthward. From
this ftation the fouth point of the large ifland, which in a x .w . and s. e .
direftion is about fix miles long, and about two milés broad, lies
N.77 w., diftant two miles and a half,' and forms the north point of a
channel into the main arm, about a mile and three quarters wide; the
fouth point of this channel being alfo the weft point of a narrow branch
leading to the fouth-eaft. After dinner, accompanied by a canoe and
twelve Indians, the route of the party was direCled up this fouth-eaftern
branch, but their progrefs in' cönfequence of the very bad weather was
rendered extremely flow, and towards the evening they had the further
mortification of being joined by another large canoe full of Indians;
1794- July.
As