276
>794- hitherto, been confidered as a part o f the continent; one extenf ive ifland,
which I called A d m i r a l t y I s l a n d .
In order however that no doubt fhotild in future arife, Mr. Whidbey
proceeded to point Retreat. After palling the village, which from
that point lies s. ,33 £., at the diftance o f about to miles, the boats were
followed by many large and fmall canoes; and as the evening was drawing
near, to get rid o f fuch troublefome v-ifitors. a mulket was fired over
their heads, but this as before had only the effefi: o f making them lefs
ceremonious; this was proved by their exertions in paddling to come up
with our party, which they did very fall, until another Ihot was fired at
the largeft canoe, and was fuppofed to have llruck her, as the Indians all
fell back in the canoe, and were quite out of fight; they, however, managed
to bring their canoe’s Hein in a line with the boats’. Items: in
that fituation they paddled backwards with all their ftrength, and at the
fame time fcreened every part o f their perfons, by the height and fpread-
ing o f their canoes’ bows, excepting their hands, which, in theafil o f paddling
only became yjfible, fo very jndic-kmfly did they, provide for their
fafety in their flight 4 in which, having gained feme diftance from our
party, who had quietly purfued their courfe, the canoes flopped for a
fhort time, as if for confultation, but foon made the beft o f their way
back to. the village; and Mr. Whidbey proceeded without further interruption
to point Retreat. In this route the party paffed by the fouth-
weft fide of a very narrow ifland, about half a mile broad, and about a
league and an half king; this before had been paffed on its north-eaft
fide, in the night of the 1.8th of july, but it was then lb dark that it
was not difcoyered to be an ifland. The channel, about three fourths
of a mile wide, which was now purfued, is by rocks and diets rendered
equally unfafe and intricate with that mentioned on the former furvey,
fo that the communication between thefe two extenfive branches of the
ocean is, by thefe impediments, very dangerous for the navigation of
(hipping. In this fouth-weft channel, about a league from point Retreat,
on the fouthern fliore, is a deep cove, which, with the narrow ifland lying
before it, forms a very fnug harbour, of good accefs by the paflage
round to the north o f point Retreat; as the rocky part of the channel
lies
lies to the fouth-eaft of this cove, to which Mr. Whidbey gave the name A'Jg9^
of B a r l o w ’s C o v e . The fhores of Admiralty ifland, which now had 1--- ,—
been completely circumnavigated, and found to be about 60 leagues in
circuit, are, excepting at this and its fouth-eaftern part, very bold, afford
many convenient bays, likely to admit of fafe anchorage, with fine
ftreams of freflt water flowing into them, and prefented an afpeft very
different from that of the adjacent continent, as «he ifland in general is
moderately elevated, and produces an uninterrupted foreft of very fine
timber trees, chiefly of the pine tribe; whilft the {hores o f the continent,,
bounded by a continuation of thefe lofty frozen mountains, which extend
fouth-eaftward from mount Fair-weather', role-' abruptly from the
water-fide, and were covered with perpetual fnow, whilft their fides-
were broken into deep ravines or vallies, filled with immenfe mountains
of ice.
Such was the contrail exhibited at point Retreat, where Mr. Whidbey
had an opportunity of feteing feveral of the points that had been fixed
by his former obfervations, and which, on the’ prefent occafion, aflifted
him in correcting his furvey, for he had thus far been able to procure
but one obfervation for the latitude, finee his leaving port Conclufion.
From point Retreat the party returned to Barlow’s cove, where they
refted for the night. The next morning a ftrong gale blew from the
s; e. with a very heavy fall of rain; this greatly impeded their progrefs
in their way down this paflage, which dividing Admiralty ifland from the
continent, obtained the nameof S t e ph e n s ’s P a s s a g e ; the point on
which the northern village is fituated, was found to be, as had before been
conjeftured, the weft point o f entrance into the narrow icy arm, in which
wasao-ain feentheiflet noticed the preceding morning in an e . s . e . direction,
whence it was clearly alcertained, that the intermediate land,
forming the north fide o f Stephens’s paflage was an ifland, which after
the Bilhop of Salifbury, I named D o u g l a s ’s I s l a n d ; it is about
twenty miles long, and fix miles broad in the middle, but becomes
narrow towards each end, particularly that to the eaftward, where it
terminates in a {harp point; the channel between this ifland and the
main land, being rendered by the ice impaflable, the boats were fleered
over