Page:Voyage of discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and round the world in the years 1791-95, volume 3.djvu/177

Rh 1794. M..V. tolerably well wooded, and are not liable to be miftaken, particularly for the Chifwell ifles, becaufe thofe appear to be intirclv barren.

My intention was to have palFed along the fouth-eail fide of Montagu ifland, but the wind veering again to the caftward, and the weather be- ing again overcaft, we bore up, and in the evening we anchored within the fouth point of this ifland, in 21 fathoms water. Its fhores bore by compafs from s. 30 e. to n. 11 e. ; the former at the diftance of three miles, and its nearefl fliore s.53 e., one mile diftant ; the iflands form, ing the weft fide of this channel into Prince William's found from n. 1 2 v. to s. 89 w., and the fouthernmoft part of the main land in fight S.69W. During the night we had a light breeze from the land, with fome rain, and a very heavy fwell that rolled round the fouth point of Montagu ifland, up the channel, giving us reafon to fuppofe that in all probabi- lity we had efcaped a boifterous and very unpleafant gale from the eaft- ward, having been fcreened, by the lofty mountains that com pole the ifland, from the violence of its fury. The fame weather continued, with a breeze from the n. e., and a ftream that we confidered to be the ebb tide fetting to the eaftward, until ten on thurfday forenoon, when on ThurfJayje. the current taking an oppofite line of dire6lion we weighed, but were fo little afllfted by the tide that we proceeded very flowly.

Whilft we were at anchor we were vifited by four of the natives, in two fmall fkin canoes, one of whom was an elderly man, who feemed to know we were from England, as he frequently made ufe of the words " Englifti, Portlock, and Nootka ;" by the two former there could be no doubt of his meaning, and by the latter we fuppofed he meant the veflel in which Mr. Meares pafled a winter in this found. Thefe peo- ple brought nothing to difpofe of, nor could any intreaty prevail on them to venture on board, though they readily accepted fuch trivial prefents as were made to them, exprefling their thankfulnefs in the Ruflian language, and giving us to underftand, that there were fome people of that nation refiding up the found.

In the afternoon the wind blew frefli from the n. e., and towards evening increafed to a hard gale, attended with heavy fqualls and fliowers of rain. In one of thefe fqualls the head of the bowfprit broke fliort off;