1794. ■ was quite deep and conipaft they continued to row until after midnight,
, Ausyuft- , when they came to a grapnél, andreftedin the boats. This day had proved
extremely fatiguing to the people, as they had been nearly the whole of
the twenty-four hours on their oars. ■ In this route- they had reached -the
main arm of Prince Frederick’s found, and had found the. fhores to form a
large rounding," though not lofty promontory, in which were- feveral fmall
open bays, and near it feveral detached rocks. This promontory obtained
the name of P o i n t M a c a r t n e y ,-the weilern extremity óf which isfitu-
ated in latitude '57° i f , longitude 226° lSV - From hence the (hore'trends
N . 15 e . about a-league, where the width of the found is about 7 utiles
acrofs, in a diredlion N. 47 w. to point Napean. From this flatiqn
-N. 28 e ., at the diftance. of about a league and a half lies a final!, ifland,
with patches of rocks from this point reaching nearly to its fhores. The
promontory ft ill took' a rounding dire&ion about n . 65 e ., five miles further,
from whence thé fouthern Ihore of the found extends N. 75 e . fe-
venteen miles, to the weft point of a fmall cove, the only opening in the
Ihore' from point Macartney; but off the little projefting points be-
tweën'this Cove and that-pöiht, are detached rocks lying at no great dif-
tance from the Ihore. This extent was not reached until the afternoon
of the 16th, in conféquence of the wind blowing hard from the eaft-wai d,
attended with a heavy rain, againft which they contended with their ut-
mOft exertions, left theexhaufted ftate -of their prövifions fliould oblige
them to retire before they-could join the other party. This cove-extended
s, 34 e . about a league, where it terminated, and according to
-om- Purvey, formed a narrow ifthmus’between it and the’ head of Duncan s
canal, about-2 miles- acrols in a northern direHion; and is another lin king
inftance of the very extenfive, and extraordinary-infular ftate of the
region lying- before the weffiern cóaft of the American continent, between
the 47th and 59th degrees o f north latitude.
Having dined, the party refumed their- furvey along the fouthern fide
-of the found; which took nearly an eaft direftion. They had not far
a d v a n c e d /when about five in the-evening they had the joyful fatisfa&ion
o f meeting Mr. Y/hidbey and his party as before rècited.
1 t Mr.
r o u n d t h e w o r l d .
Mr. Johnftone Hated, that'the part of the coaft that had claimed his
attention during his laft excurfion is a peninfula, connected with the
more eaftern land by the laft mentioned narrow ifthmus, and that it is by
no means fo high or1 mountainous as the land compoling the adjacent
•countries.on the oppofite or north-eaftern fide of the found, which at no
great diftance confifted of very lofty, rugged, dreary, barren mountains,
covered with ice and fnow; but that the land compoling the peninfula
was chiefly of moderate height, and produced a noble foreft of large, and
ftately pine trees of clean and ftraight growth, amongft which were a few
berry bullies and fome alders. The Ihores along the bays, and arms they
had vifited were in general low, and prefented a probability that if the
. wood were cleared away, the foil of the country might be advantageoufly
employed-under cultivation. Thefe bays and arms .abounded with a
greater number of falmon and fea otters, than Mr. Johnftone hadobferved
on any other part of the coaft ; and as they were found-in the greateft
abundance at the heads of thofe places, it was inferred that falmon, and
other fmall fifh, form a large proportion of the food of the fea otters,
which are thus induced to frequent thefe inland channels, to which at this-
feafon of the year fuch fifties refort.
Mr. Whidbey. in his obfervations on Admiralty ifland, remarks, that
notwithflanding this ifland feemed to be. compofed of a rocky fubftance
covered with little, foil, and that chiefly confifting of vegetables in an
imperfeH ftate of diffolution, yet like the peninfula-juft adverted to, it
- produced, timber, which he confidered as fuperior to any he had before
noticed on this fide of America. He alfo ftates, that in his two-laft ex-
curfions feveral places were feen, where the -ocean was evidently in-
croaching very rapidly on the land, and that the low borders extending,
from the bafe of the mountains to the fea fide, had, at no-very remote period
of time produced tall and (lately timber ; as many of their dead trunks
-Were found (landing erefil, and dill rooted fad in the ground, in different
ftages of decay; thofe being the mod perfeft that had been the lead fub-
jeft. to the .influence of the fait water, by which they were furrounded
on every flood tide: fuch had been the incroachment of the fea-on thefe
fhores,