Volume Xvi Part 20 (1/2)
I therefore kept along the southernmost chain of islands, and at noon we were in the lat.i.tude of 55 18', and in the narrowest part of the channel, formed by them and those which lie along the continent, where it is about a league and a half, or two leagues over. The largest island in this group was now on our left, and is distinguished by the name of _Kodiak_,[4] according to the information we afterwards received. I left the rest of them without names. I believe them to be the same that Beering calls Schumagin's Islands,[5] or those which he called by that name, to be a part of them, for this group is pretty extensive. We saw islands as far to the southward as an island could be seen. They commence in the longitude of 200 15' E., and extend a degree and a half, or two degrees, to the westward. I cannot be particular, as we could not distinguish all the islands from the coast of the continent. Most of these islands are of a good height, very barren and rugged, abounding with rocks and steep cliffs, and exhibiting other romantic appearances. There are several snug bays and coves about them, streams of fresh water run from their elevated parts, some drift-wood was floating around, but not a tree or bush was to be seen growing on the land. A good deal of snow still lay on many of them, and the parts of the continent, which shewed themselves between the innermost islands, were quite covered with it.[6]
[Footnote 4: See an account of Kodiac, in Staehlin's New Northern Archipelago, p. 30-39.]
[Footnote 5: See Muller's _Decouvertes des Russes_, p. 262-277.]
[Footnote 6: c.o.xe's work maybe advantageously consulted for information respecting the islands now mentioned. But few persons, it is presumed, feel so interested about them, as to desire any addition to the text. Besides, though a connected account of this archipelago might be either amusing or necessary, it is obvious that detached notices would have little value to commend them to attention.--E.]
At four in the afternoon, we had pa.s.sed all the islands that lay to the southward of us; the southernmost, at this time, bearing S. 5 E., and the westernmost point of land now in sight, S. 82 W. For this point we steered, and pa.s.sed between it and two or three elevated rocks that lie about a league to the east of it.
Some time after we had got through this channel, in which we found forty fathoms water, the Discovery, now about two miles astern, fired three guns, and brought-to, and made a signal to speak with us. This alarmed me not a little; and, as no apparent danger had been remarked in the pa.s.sage through the channel, it was apprehended that some accident, such as springing a leak, must have happened. A boat was immediately sent to her, and in a short time returned with Captain Clerke. I now learned from him, that some natives, in three or four canoes, who had been following the s.h.i.+p for some time, at length got under his stern. One of them then made many signs, taking off his cap, and bowing, after the manner of Europeans. A rope being handed down from the s.h.i.+p, to this he fastened a small thin wooden case or box, and having delivered this safe, and spoken something, and made some more signs, the canoes dropped astern, and left the Discovery. No one on board her had any suspicion that the box contained any thing, till after the departure of the canoes, when it was accidentally opened, and a piece of paper was found, folded up carefully, upon which something was written in the Russian language, as was supposed. The date 1778 was prefixed to it, and, in the body of the written note, there was a reference to the year 1776. Not learned enough to decypher the alphabet of the writer, his numerals marked sufficiently that others had preceded us in visiting this dreary part of the globe, who were united to us by other ties besides those of our common nature; and the hopes of soon meeting with some of the Russian traders could not but give a sensible satisfaction to those who had, for such a length of time, been conversant with the savages of the Pacific Ocean, and of the continent of North America.
Captain Clerke was, at first, of opinion, that some Russians had been s.h.i.+pwrecked here, and that these unfortunate persons, seeing our s.h.i.+ps pa.s.s, had taken this method to inform us of their situation. Impressed with humane sentiments, on such an occasion, he was desirous of our stopping till they might have time to join us. But no such idea occurred to me. It seemed obvious, that if this had been the case, it would have been the first step taken by such s.h.i.+pwrecked persons, in order to secure to themselves, and to their companions, the relief they could not but be solicitous about, to send some of their body off to the s.h.i.+ps in the canoes. For this reason, I rather thought that the paper contained a note of information, left by some Russian trader, who had lately been amongst these islands, to be delivered to the next of their countrymen who should arrive; and that the natives, seeing our s.h.i.+ps pa.s.s, and supposing us to be Russians, had resolved to bring off the note, thinking it might induce us to stop. Fully convinced of this, I did not stay to enquire any farther into the matter, but made sail, and stood away to the westward, along the coast; perhaps I should say along the islands, for we could not p.r.o.nounce, with certainty, whether the nearest land, within us, was continent or islands. If not the latter, the coast here forms some tolerably large and deep bays.
We continued to run all night with a gentle breeze at N.E., and, at two o'clock next morning, some breakers were seen within us, at the distance of about two miles. Two hours after, others were seen a-head, and on our larboard bow, and between us and the land, they were innumerable. We did but just clear them, by holding a south course.
These breakers were occasioned by rocks, some of which were above water. They extend seven leagues from the land, and are very dangerous, especially in thick weather, to which this coast seems much subject. At noon, we had just got on their outside, and, by observation, we were in the lat.i.tude of 54 44', and in the longitude of 198. The nearest land, being an elevated bluff point, which was called _Rock Point_, bore N., seven or eight leagues distant; the westernmost part of the main, or what was supposed to be the main, bore N. 80 W.; and a round hill, without, which was found to be an island, and was called _Halibut-Head_, bore S. 64 W., thirteen leagues distant.
On the 21st at noon, having made but little progress, on account of faint winds and calms, Halibut-Head, which lies in the lat.i.tude of 54 27', and in the longitude of 197, bore N. 24 W., and the island on which it is, and called _Halibut Island_, extended from N. by E. to N.W. by W., two leagues distant. This island is seven or eight leagues in circuit, and, except the head, the land of it is low and very barren. There are several small islands near it, all of the same appearance, but there seemed to be a pa.s.sage between them and the main, two or three leagues broad.[7]
[Footnote 7: So Arrowsmith's map has it. The chart in c.o.xe's work, 4th edition, does not mention Halibut Island.--E.]
The rocks and breakers, before mentioned, forced us so far from the continent, that we had but a distant view of the coast between Rock Point and Halibut Island. Over this and the adjoining islands we could see the main land covered with snow, but particularly some hills, whose elevated tops were seen, towering above the clouds, to a most stupendous height. The most south-westerly of these hills was discovered to have a _volcano_, which continually threw up vast columns of black smoke. It stands not far from the coast, and in the lat.i.tude of 54 48', and in the longitude of 195 45'. It is also remarkable from its figure, which is a complete cone, and the volcano is at the very summit. We seldom saw this (or indeed any other of these mountains) wholly clear of clouds. At times, both base and summit would be clear, when a narrow cloud, sometimes two or three, one above another, would embrace the middle like a girdle, which, with the column of smoke, rising perpendicular to a great height out of its top, and spreading before the wind into a tail of vast length, made a very picturesque appearance. It may be worth remarking, that the wind, at the height to which the smoke of this volcano reached, moved sometimes in a direction contrary to what it did at sea, even when it blew a fresh gale.
In the afternoon, having three hours calm, our people caught upwards of a hundred halibuts, some of which weighed a hundred pounds, and none less than twenty pounds. This was a very seasonable refreshment to us. In the height of our fis.h.i.+ng, which was in thirty-five fathoms water, and three or four miles from the sh.o.r.e, a small canoe, conducted by one man, came to us from the large island. On approaching the s.h.i.+p, be took off his cap, and bowed, as the other had done, who visited the Discovery the preceding day. It was evident that the Russians must have a communication and traffic with these people, not only from their acquired politeness, but from the note before mentioned. But we had now a fresh proof of it; for our present visitor wore a pair of green cloth breeches, and a jacket of black cloth or stuff, under the gut-s.h.i.+rt or frock of his own country. He had nothing to barter, except a grey fox skin, and some fis.h.i.+ng implements or harpoons, the heads of the shafts of which, for the length of a foot or more, were neatly made of bone, as thick as a walking cane, and carved. He had with him a bladder full of something, which we supposed to be oil, for he opened it, took a mouthful, and then fastened it again.
His canoe was of the same make with those we had seen before, but rather smaller. He used a double bladed-paddle, as did also those who had visited the Discovery. In his size and features, he exactly resembled those we saw in Prince William's Sound, and in the Great River, but he was quite free from paint of any kind, and had the perforation of his lips made in an oblique direction, without any ornament in it. He did not seem to understand any of the words commonly used by our visitors in the Sound, when repeated to him. But, perhaps, our faulty p.r.o.nunciation, rather than his ignorance of the dialect, may be inferred from this.
The weather was cloudy and hazy, with now and then suns.h.i.+ne, till the afternoon of the 22d, when the wind came round to the S.E., and, as usual, brought thick rainy weather. Before the fog came on, no part of the main land was in sight, except the volcano, and another mountain close by it. I continued to steer W. till seven in the evening, when, being apprehensive of falling in with the land in thick weather, we hauled the wind to the southward, till two o'clock next morning, and then bore away W. We made but little progress, having the wind variable, and but little of it, till at last it fixed in the western board, and at five in the afternoon, having a gleam of suns.h.i.+ne, we saw land bearing N. 59 W., appearing in hillocks like islands.
At six in the morning of the 24th, we got a sight of the continent, and at nine it was seen extending from N.E. by E. to S.W. by W. 1/2 W., the nearest part about four leagues distant. The land to the S.W. proved to be islands, the same that had been seen the preceding evening. But the other was a continuation of the continent, without any islands to obstruct our view of it. In the evening, being about four leagues from the sh.o.r.e, in forty-two fathoms water, having little or no wind, we had recourse to our hooks and lines, but only two or three small cod were caught.
The next morning we got a breeze easterly, and what was uncommon with this wind, clear weather, so that we not only saw the volcano, but other mountains, both to the east and west of it, and all the coast of the main land under them, much plainer than at any time before. It extended from N.E. by N. to N.W. 1/2 W., where it seemed to terminate.
Between this point and the islands without it, there appeared a large opening, for which I steered, till we raised land beyond it. This land, although we did not perceive that it joined the continent, made a pa.s.sage through the opening very doubtful. It also made it doubtful, whether the land which we saw to the S.W., was insular or continental, and, if the latter, it was obvious that the opening would be a deep bay or inlet, from which, if once we entered it with an easterly wind, it would not be so easy to get out. Not caring, therefore, to trust too much to appearances, I steered to the southward. Having thus got without all the land in sight, I then steered west, in which direction the islands lay, for such we found this land to be.
By eight o'clock we had pa.s.sed three of them, all of a good height.
More of them were now seen to the westward, the south-westernmost part of them bearing W.N.W. The weather, in the afternoon, became gloomy, and at length turned to a mist, and the wind blew fresh at E. I therefore, at ten at night, hauled the wind to the southward till day-break, when we resumed our course to the W.
Day-light availed us little, for the weather was so thick, that we could not see a hundred yards before us; but as the wind was now moderate, I ventured to run. At half-past four, we were alarmed at hearing the sound of breakers on our larboard bow. On heaving the lead, we found twenty-eight fathoms water, and the next cast, twenty-five. I immediately brought the s.h.i.+p to, with her head to the northward, and anch.o.r.ed in this last depth, over a bottom of coa.r.s.e sand, calling to the Discovery, she being close by us, to anchor also.
A few hours after, the fog having cleared away a little, it appeared that we had escaped very imminent danger. We found ourselves three quarters of a mile from the N.E. side of an island, which extended from S. by W. 1/2 W. to N. by E. 1/2 E., each extreme about a league distant. Two elevated rocks, the one bearing S. by E., and the other E. by S., were about half a league each from us, and about the same distance from each other. There were several breakers about them, and yet Providence had, in the dark, conducted the s.h.i.+ps through, between these rocks, which I should not have ventured in a clear day, and to such an anchoring-place, that I could not have chosen a better.
Finding ourselves so near land, I sent a boat to examine what it produced. In the afternoon she returned, and the officer, who commanded her, reported, that it produced some tolerable good gra.s.s, and several other small plants, one of which was like purslain, and eat very well, either in soups or as a sallad. There was no appearance of shrubs or trees, but on the beach were a few pieces of drift wood.
It was judged to be low water between ten and eleven o'clock, and we found, where we lay at anchor, that the flood-tide came from the E. or S.E.
In the night, the wind blew fresh at S., but was more moderate toward the morning, and the fog partly dispersed. Having weighed at seven o'clock, we steered to the northward, between the island under which we had anch.o.r.ed, and another small one near it. The channel is not above a mile broad; and before we were through it, the wind failed, and we were obliged to anchor in thirty-four fathoms water. We had now land in every direction. That to the S., extended to the S.W., in a ridge of mountains, but our sight could not determine whether it composed one or more islands. We afterward found it to be only one island, and known by the name of _Oonalashka_. Between it, and the land to the N., which had the appearance of being a group of islands, there seemed to be a channel, in the direction of N.W. by N. On a point, which bore W. from the s.h.i.+p, three quarters of a mile distant, were several natives and their habitations. To this place we saw them tow in two whales, which we supposed they had just killed. A few of them, now and then, came off to the s.h.i.+ps, and bartered a few trifling things with our people, but never remained above a quarter of an hour at a time. On the contrary, they rather seemed shy, and yet we could judge that they were no strangers to vessels, in some degree, like ours. They behaved with a degree of politeness uncommon to savage tribes.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, having a light breeze at N.E., and the tide of flood in our favour, we weighed, and steered for the channel above-mentioned, in hopes, after we were through, of finding the land trend away to the northward, or, at least, a pa.s.sage out to sea to the W. For we supposed ourselves, as it really happened, to be amongst islands, and not in an inlet of the continent. We had not been long under sail, before the wind veered to the N., which obliged us to ply. The soundings were from forty to twenty-seven fathoms, over a bottom of sand and mud. In the evening, the ebb making against us, we anch.o.r.ed about three leagues from our last station, with the pa.s.sage bearing N.W.
At day-break the next morning, we weighed, with a light breeze at S., which carried us up to the pa.s.sage, when it was succeeded by variable light airs from all directions. But as there run a rapid tide in our favour, the Resolution got through before the ebb made. The Discovery was not so fortunate. She was carried back, got into the race, and had some trouble to get clear of it. As soon as we were through, the land on one side was found to trend W. and S.W., and that on the other side to trend N. This gave us great reason to hope, that the continent had here taken a new direction, which was much in our favour. Being in want of water, and perceiving that we run some risk of driving about in a rapid tide, without wind to govern the s.h.i.+p, I stood for a harbour, lying on the S. side of the pa.s.sage, but we were very soon driven past it, and, to prevent being forced back through the pa.s.sage, came to an anchor in twenty-eight fathoms water, pretty near the southern sh.o.r.e, out of the reach of the strong tide. And yet, even here, we found it to run full five knots and a half in the hour.