.‘ 794- vented our making any lunar obfervations, but had afforded me fufficient
*■— -v— opportunities for afcertammg very latisfa&orily the rates of the chro.no?
meters, by fuch means as were in my power on board, no.t having ereCt-
ed the obfervatory on fhore; fo& as a convenient lituation could not be
found near the Ihip, and as I was in hopes we fhould not long be detained
at this ftation, I was not particularly anxious to land the inftru-
ments; and under the circumftances of the weather, I had not much to
regret that they had remained unremoved.
Other objeCts began to claim our ferious attention. The plan that I had
adopted for drawing our laborious examination of this coaft to a conclu-
fion, by the furveys on which the boats were now employed, I had fully
expected would have been accomplilhed in a week or ten days at the fur-
theft, but the whole time for which they had been provided was now ex-
Friday i j . pired, and the 15th arrived without bringing any relief to our very anxious
concern for their welfare. This unpleafant ftate of fufpenfe continually
brought to our recollection the various untoward accidents to which our
expeditions in fuch fmall open boats had been liable; and when we adverted
to the very treacherous behaviour of the Indians experienced by
Mr. Whidbey in his late excurfion from Crofs found, and the limilar difpo-
lition that had been Ihewn to us the preceding feafon by thole people who
inhabit the countries not fardiftant to the fouth-eaftward, our minds were
filled with apprehenfion, and every hour increafed our foljcitude for the
return of our abfent friends. The fervice that each party had to perform,
called them, if not into the immediate neighbourhood o f thefe
unfriendly people, at leaft into the vicinity of the places to which they
frequently refort; and as they are by nature of a cunning, defigning,
and avaricious difpofition, they were much to be feared; for although
they could not be confidered as a courageous tribe, yet the very unwarrantable
and impolitic conduCt of the feveral traders on this coaft, in fup.-
plying them fo amply with fire arms and ammunition, and in teaching
them the ufe of thofe deftruftive weapons, has not only given the natives
a degree of confidence that renders them bold and importunate,: but
the dread which they before entertained of mulketry is greatly leffened
by their becoming fo familiar to them; and they are now fo well furnilhed,
R O U N D T H E W O R L D .
nilhed, as to confider themfelves when in their large canoes nearly on an ‘ 794-
equality with us, and of courle are daily becoming formidable, efpeci- , |
ally to the parties in our fmall boats. Thefe diftreffing confiderations,
in addition to the protrafted abfenee of our friends, gave us but too
much reafon to be apprehenfive, that we had at length hazarded our
little' boats, with the fmall force they were able to take for their defence,
once too often.
Whilft we endured this irkfome anxiety, it is a tribute that is juftly
due to the meritorious exertions of thofe mnder my command, that I
fhould again acknowledge the great confolation I derived« on all painful
dceafiOUs like this, by having the moft implicit confidence in the
diferetion and abilities of my officers, and the exertions and ready obedience
of my people. Thefe hap'py reflections left me no grounds for
entertaining tile moft diftant idea that any precaution would be wanting
to guard againft, or effort unexerted to avert, fo far as human prudence
could dictate, the threatening dangers to which I was confeious they
muft neceffarily be expofed.
In the hourly hope that thefe confcling reflections would once more be
proved to have been well founded, by the fafe return of the boats, I directed
that every thing fhould be got in roadinefs to proceed with all dif-
patch in fuch direction as circumftances might require ; for which pur-
pofe the vfeffels were moved to the oppofite fide of the harbour, as being
a more convenient fituatidn for our immediate departure. Here
wfc remained' in the moft uncomfortable ftate o f fufpenfe that can be
imagined until the lgth ; When, in the midft of a deluge of rain, with Tuetky 19.
the wind blowing very ftrong from the s.E., we had the indeforibable
fatisfaCiion of feeing the four boats enter the harbour together from
the northward. The parties foon reached the veffels, all well, and
communicated' the glad tidings of their having effectually performed
the fervice, and attained the objeCt that had been expefted from this expedition.
The aecomplilhment of an undertaking, the laborious nature of which
will, probably; from the perufal of the foregoing fheets, be more eafily
conceived than explained : a fervice that had demanded our conftant
2 and