to admit our veffel; fo at eight o’clock, having a frefh Eafterly
breeze, we weighed anchor, and began to ply into the harbour to
the Northward. At two o’clock we came to anchor in eight fathom
water, over a bottom' o f loft mud, within piftol Ihot of the
-fhore, and very near two large Indian huts.
We were now compleatly land-locked, being entirely furrounded
?by low flat illands, where fcarcely any fnow could be feen, and well
Sheltered from any wind or weather whatever.
The people-feemed very well pleafed at our arrival, and a number
•of them prefentlycamealong-fideus. Theyfoon underftpod what we
wanted, and an old man brought us eight or ten excellent feaotter
fkins. This eircumftance, together with our having as yet feen no
beads, or other ornaments, or any iron implements, gave us reafon
to conclude, that no trading party had ever been here, and confe-
quently that we Ihould reap a plentiful harveft; but our conjectures
on this head were built on a fandy foundation; for on a further
acquaintance with our neighbours, they /hewed us plenty of
•beads, and the fame kind of knives and fpears we had feen in Prince
William’s Sound; and as a melancholy proof that we only gleaned
after more fortunate traders, what furs they brought to fell,
«xclulive of the fmall quantity juft mentioned, were of a very inferior
land.
From the 25th of May to-the ill: of June; our trade was incon-
fiderable 1 we were frequently viftted by the people who lived in
the creek I juft now fpoke of, but they belonged to the fame tribe
witn our neighbours, and poflefled very few. furs of any confe-
quence.
I have
I have already obferved,.,. that. we were furrounded by a number
of fmall illands ; thefe forming various creeks ^and harbours, Cap- 1------—
tain Dixon propofed furveying the whole, hoping that fo extenfive
a found as this appeared to be, jcontained a much greater number
of inhabitants than we had hitherto feen ; but as yet the weather
had been fo thick and hazy, attended with confiant rain, that this
defign was fruftrated. However, the morning of the ill: of June
proving tolerably clear, he went in the whale-boat at ten d clock,
in order to examine the adjacent harbours, taking with him one of
the Indians who had frequently been on board, and who was a tolerably
intelligent fellow, as. a guide.
At five in the afternoon, Captain Dixon returned from his fur-
vey, which had by no means anfwered his expeftations. He had
found lèverai huts fcattered here and there, in various parts of the
fountC but they were moftlv inhabited by people whom we had
already feen ; and there was not a fingle fkin of any value amongft
them : indeed our fuccefs .at, this place fell greatly fliort of what
we had reafon to expeft, from its promifing fituation, and the firft
appearance of inhabitants j but this poverty was not to be difeo-
veredon a fudden, for though-the whole that we purchafed here
confifted only of about fixteen good fea otter fkins, two fine cloaks
of theearlefs marmot, -a few racoons, and a parcel of very inferior
pieces and flips of beaver, fufficient to fill oneJingle puncheon ; yet
it was not till the 3d of June, (ten days from the time of our coming
into the harbour) that we found the natives fçanty flock of furs
not only exhaufted, but that they had ftripped themfelves almoft
naked, to fpin out their trade as far as poffible. This tedious delay
was occafioned. by the flow, deliberate manner in which thefe
people condua their traffic. Four or fix people come along-fide in
a canoe, and wait perhaps an hour before they give the, leaft inti-
Y madon