Page:Voyages in the Northern Pacific - 1896.djvu/68

50 April 30th.—Weighed and made sail from Macao towards the N. W. coast of America. On the 23rd of May we passed Ormsby's Peak, a very high rock that makes like a ship in full sail, and is quite covered with birds, latitude 30° 48′ north, longitude 217° east. On the 31st, we lost a young man, named James Dodd, overboard from the main-boom; the ship was then running ten knots per hour, with a strong fair wind; we immediately rounded-too and lowered a boat, but the sea ran so very high that she could not approach the man, who sunk, and it was with great difficulty we recovered the boat by making several tacks to windward. Our passage was the quickest ever made. July 11th, we saw Hallibut Island; also a remarkable volcano on the main land, from which a column of smoke ascended. Stood along towards the Straits of Oonalaska, and next day were close up with the island of that name. Tacked one mile from the west side of the Straits, wind blowing in hard squalls from N. W.; all the islands in sight were covered with snow; three bodarkees, with Oonalaska Indians, came on board, abreast of Cook's harbour. They had been out fishing, and returning home; they gave us some fish and we gave them rum in exchange. July 17th, off the island of St. George, we were boarded by two bodarkees, with one Russian and four Indians; next day we got off the landing place where there was a considerable store, a large bodarkee came on board and took the cargo onshore, and by the evening we had taken on board 313 bales of fur