1794.
April.
1--- -v——'
Sunday 27.
Monday 28.
beads, hawk’s bells, buttons and needles, all of which feemed to be highly
valued, and were accepted with expreflions of the moft grateful acknowledgment.
As the drift ice did not feetn to he in fuch abundance as' on the preceding
day, the chief and his party took ,their leave, and evinced their
approbation of the treatment they had received by hnging ,as they pad-
died round the fhip ; on which occalion Chatidooltz, being the only one
Handing up in the. canoe, performed many antic tricks that were very ludicrous.
The- behaviour of thefe people whilft on board Was perfeflly
correfpondent with the affurances given by their chief, and was in
every refpeft, not only free from the le-aft cenfure, but deferyiijg the
higheft commendation. They were permitted without any reftraint to go
where they pleafed, and to fatisfy their cüriofity in examining whatever
attrafted their attention, and without incurring the leaf! difapprobation.
The chief promifed to repeat his vilit in the cqurfe o f a few days; and I
.endeavoured to make him underlland that game or filh would be very
acceptable to us, but the figns he made in return did not encourage us
to hope for a fupply of thefe refrefhments; on the contrary, he re-
quefted and procured fome bread and meat to take home with him,
which evinced that food at this feafon of the year with them, was not in
abundance.
Since the 21ft the weather had been very ferene, and the intenfity of
the cold had greatly abated -, the thermometer in the day time now Hood
at 40, and the nights were attended with little froft.
Anxious to avoid every polfible delay, Mr. Whidbey, with two boats
equipped for ten days, was difpatched with direfiions to examine the river
Turnagain, fo long as his flares and provifions fhould laft; but fhould
that river be foon found to terminate, then to profecute the examination
of the eaftern fhore to the eaft Foreland, from thence acrofs the river
to the weft Foreland, and to continue his furvey along the weftern fhore
back to the ftation o f the {hip; having fuppofed from the appearance of
the land that an opening, which might proye extenfive, did exift a few
leagues to the north-reaflward of the north Foreland. In the mean time
I fhould
I Ihould endeavour, as foon as our bufinefs on board was tolerably for- ‘ 794-
ward, to fatisfy myfelf with refpeft to the termination or further extent >--------->
o f thefe waters.
The drift ice already mentioned as exceffively troublefome, and greatly
obftrufiing our operations with the fhore, had latterly been confidered
in a diminifhing ftate; but contrary to our expe&ations, it was much
augmented by the flood tide, and large maffes, forming almoft complete
fields of ice, were driven by the increafed rapidity óf the fpring tides
(that now moved at the rate of nearly 5 miles an hour) again!! the
bows of the lhip with alarming violence, and made me regret too late
having difpatched the boats; not only on account of their fafety, for
which I became very apprehenfive; but alfo, left we fhould be driven
from our ftation by this powerful opponent, without being able to leave on
fhore any inftruHions for their direction.
The following day brought no favorable alteration; the quantity of Tuefday 29.
ice and the rapidity of the tide, particularly on the flood, were greatly
increafed and were truly alarming. One large body of ice hooked the
fmall bower cable, and with the violence of the tide broke it about i c
fathoms from the bows; at the fame time the cable of the beft bower, by
which alone the lhip now rode, was conftantly prefled with fuch immenfe
weights, that we fhould have had no hope of its being able to fuftain
them, had it not been a new fixteen-inch cable, nearly three inches in
girth more than thofe of our eftablifhment,. which had been procured at
the cape of Good Hope, and to all appearance was very ftrong and
well made.
Notwithftanding however the confidence we had in this, our fituation
was very irkfome and extremely uncomfortable, from the apprehenlion
left the cable fhould be unable to refift the violent fhocks it repeatedly
received; for in the event of it? breaking, we Ihould then be reduced to
only one anchor and a thirteen inch cable for our prefervation.
All communication with the fhore was at an end, and our apprehen-
fions for the fhip’s fafety were now increafed by the violence with which
the ice, nearly as hard and ponderous as the folid rock, was frequently
driven again!! the fhip’s bows, occafioning fuch fhocks as to awaken our
fears, left the hull of the veffel fhould fuftain fome material injury. In
V ol, III. Q addition