C H A P . II.
32* Name o f the Sound, and Directions fo r failing into it.
Account o f the adjacent Country.—dWeather.-—Climate.
— Trees.— Other vegetable Produ&ions.— Quadrupeds,
whofe Skins were brought fo r Sale.— Sea Animals.—
Defcription o f a Sea Otter.— Birds.— Water Fowl.— -
F ijh.— Shell-fifh, c.— Reptiles.— InfeCts.— Stones,&c.
— Perfons o f the Inhabitants.— Their Colour.— Common
Drefs and Ornaments.— Occafonal Drelfes, and mon-
fro u s Decorations o f wooden Majks.— Their general D if-
poftions.— Songs.— M u fca l Injlruments.— Their Eager -
nefs to pojfefs Iron and other Metals.
ON m y arrival in this inlet, I had honoured it with the
name o f K in g George’s Sound ; but I afterward found,
that it is called Nootka by the natives. T h e entrance is fitu-
ated in the Eaft corner o f Hope Bay, in the latitude o f 49° 33'
North, and in the longitude o f 233* 12' Eaft. T he Eaft coaft
o f that bay, all the w ay from Breakers Point to the entrance
o f the Sound, is covered by a chain o f funken rocks, that
feemed to extend fome diftance from the ihore ; and, near
the Sound, are fome iflands and rocks above water.
We enter this Sound between two rocky points, that lie
Eaft South Eaft, and Weft North Weft from each other, dif-
tant between three and four miles. Within thefe points
the Sound widens coniiderably, and extends in, to the N orthward,
ward, four leagues at leaft, exclufive o f the feveral branches jw®*
toward its bottom, the termination o f w hich we had not an <— *—
opportunity to afcertain. But, from the circumftance o f
finding that the water freihened where our boats crofted
their entrance, it is probable that they had almoft reached
its utmoft limits. And this probability is increafed by the
hills that bounded it toward the land, being covered with
thick fnow, when thofe toward the fea, or where we lay, had
not a fpeck remaining on them ; though, in general, they
were much higher. In the middle o f the Sound are a number
o f iflands o f various fizes. But the chart or iketch o f
the Sound, here annexed, though it has no pretenfions to
accuracy, w ill, with all its imperfections, convey a better
idea o f thefe iflands, and o f the figure, and the extent o f
the Sound, than any written defcription. T h e depth o f
water in the middle o f the Sound, and even clofe home to
fome parts o f its ihore, is from forty-feven to ninety fa thoms,
and perhaps more. The harbours, and anchoring-
places within its circuit, are numerous ; but w e had no.
time to furvey them. T h e cove in w hich our ihips la y is on
the Eaft fide o f the Sound, and on the Eaft fide o f the largeft
o f the iflands. It is covered from the fea, but has little elfe
to recommend it, being expofed to the South Eaft winds,
w hich w e found to blow with great violence ; and the de-
vaftation they make fometimes, was apparent in many
places.
1 T h e land bordering upon the fea-coaft is o f a' middling
height and level; but within the Sound, it rifes almoft every
where into fteep hills, which agree in their general formation,
ending in round or blunted tops, w ith fome iharp,
though not very prominent, ridges on their fides. Some o f
thefe hills may be reckoned h igh , w h ile others o f them
V o l . II. P P are