Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/169

163 JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO N. W. AMERICA. 163 object of our long & stormy passage. Our attempt to cross the bar, however, was unsuccessful! & we were under the mortifying necessity of putting again to sea. On the 7th we made another attempt & before the evening we were safely at anchor in Bakers bay. We lay about i of a mile from the shore, & opposite two small rocky islands, which lay at the bottom of the bay. The land is very steap & uneven, but is covered completely by pine trees. 9th.- We 'were this morning pleased by a scene that was new to all of us, several canoes were seen approaching the ship & in a short time three of them were alongside of us. On coming on board they behaved with the utmost propriety ; but from what we could understand of their signs we suspected the state of affairs among them was very unsettled. We ascertained from them that most of the white men had gone up the river & left Ft. George, & by taking a knife & putting it to their breast we concluded that some murder had lately taken place. The dress of the men consisted of a robe of skin, which was thrown loosely over their shoulders, & alike useless for the purpose of decency or of comfort. Their hats were made of straw very neatly plaited, and were of a conical sugar loaf shape. The dress of the women was more de- cent, & consisted of a petticoat which reached to the knee. It was made of many strings placed exceedingly thick to- gether & must afford considerable warmth. Over this they wear the same skin robe as the men. Among those [who] were permitted to come on board was a man dressed in European clothes, & who appeared to be of some consequence among them ; his wife who ac- companied him was dressed with red cloth & was the most intelligent person among them. She knew a good many English & a few French words. They were well provided with arms of different kinds ; in addition to their bows & arrows, every canoe had several fowling pieces & a plen-