Travel and adventure in the territory of Alaska, formerly Russian America-- now ceded to the United States-- and in various other parts of the north Pacific

Front matter

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TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE

TERRITORY OF ALASKA.

Preface

So little is known of the interior of Kussian America, that I trust even this imperfect and meagre narrative may prove not altogether uninteresting. A large portion of these pages refers to a journey made in the Yukon region, which though containing one of the grandest streams on the North American continent, has hitherto remained almost unnoticed. Sir John Richardson, indeed, when on the Mackenzie, collected some information respecting it, but never visited any portion of it, whilst the travels of Zagoskin, of the Russian Imperial Navy, have never been popularly known.

This country has recently acquired some notice from its transfer to the United States Government, and within a few years we shall doubtless hear more of it. The natives have been hitherto so isolated from civilization, that perhaps in no other part of America can the " red-skin " be seen to greater perfection. In a few generations he will be extinct.

" Alaska Territory " — the title by which the whole of Russian America is to be known in future — though as good a name as any other, is founded, apparently, on a misconception. It seems to have been derived from the title viii PREFACE.

of that long peninsula (Aliaska) with which we are all familiar on the map, but the title does not properly belongto the whole territory.

I have before me a ' Report on the Resources of Iceland and Greenland,' issued this year (1868) by the State Department at Washington. It was compiled, at the desire of the Hon. W. H. Seward, by B. M. Peirce, Esq. From that production I glean that the United States Government, so far from regretting the purchase of Alaska, are almost ready to bid for Iceland and Greenland! Mr. Seward's mania for icebergs and snow-fields seems insatiable.

The opening chapters contain some earlier reminiscences of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, whilst in the concluding pages I have attempted to sketch California of our own time. I have also briefly recorded some visits paid by me to the eastern coasts of Siberia and Kamchatka.

Some of the most pleasant days of my life were spent with the two Expeditions with which I have been connected ; and of many of my old friends and companions I shall ever think with much kindness. To Colonel Bulkley, Engineer-in Chief of the Russo- American Telegraph Expedition; to Captain Scammon (U. S. Revenue Service); and to my good friends Messrs. Wright, Chappel, and Lewis, all American gentlemen with whom it was a pleasure to be connected, I am indebted for courtesies which it would be difficult for me to sufficiently acknowledge.

PKEFACE. ix

To the President and Council of the Koyal Geographical Society I am specially obliged for the use of the map, illustrating the coarse of the Yukon, &c, which is to appear in their ' Journal ' in connection with the paper contributed by me. To Mr. Arrowsmith, for the trouble he has taken to work out the crude material laid before him ; to Mr. H. W. Bates and Captain George ; to Mr. Murray, and to my father and brother, for their constant and kind assistance, I cannot be too grateful.

The illustrations are taken, with but two exceptions, from the original sketches made on the spot; they have gained considerably in the hands of my friends, Messrs. Skelton, Mahoney, and Zwecker. The portrait of an Aht native (Vancouver Island), page 53, has been copied from an excellent photograph by Mr. Gentile, now of San Francisco; and the picture of a Tchuktchi house, page 89, is from a photograph by Mr. Kyder, who was for the season of 1866, attached to the Telegraph Expedition.

Contents

CHAPTEE I.

THE VOYAGE OUT.

Leaving England — Our passengers — Old Mo' — Freight for the matrimonial market — Storm on hoard — Mutiny — Volunteer coalheaving — Falkland Islands— Port Stanley — The Horn — Out of coal — San Francisco — The Straits of Fuca — Cook — Vancouver — Juan de Fuca — Victoria — Cariboo mines — The gold — The discoverers of William's Creek — Journalism on the Pacific Page 1

Chapter II. The Glaciers Of Bute Inlet, British Columbia

The mountains of British Columbia and adjacent coasts — Bute Inlet — Chilicoten Indians — A " blow up " — Indian packers — Eoute through the forests — Indian guide — Chinook jargon — Trackless forests — Lost in the woods — The glacier streams — Camp — Great Glacier — Description — Eeturn journey — Second Glacier . . 18

Chapter III. The Tragedy Among The Glaciers

Reported murder — Canoe trip on the sea — Dodd's Narrows — Island on fire — The massacre at Bute Inlet — Reports of survivors — Second massacre — Excitement in the Colony — Expeditions in search of the Indians — Capture of a part of the murderers — The xii • CONTENTS.

ideal and real Indian — His ultimate extinction — Eeasons for it — Indian traders — Proposed semi-secular, semi-missionary settlements — The mission at Metlakahtla Page 29

Chapter IV. The Interior Of Vancouver Island

Pleasures of labour — Unknown interior of Vancouver Island — Expedition organized — Cowichan Eiver — Somenos — Kakalatza and his hat-box — Travel up the river — Our camps — Camp yarns — Indian version of the Book of Jonah — Cowichan Lake — Eafting experiences — The " Eampant Eaft " — Brown's camp — Acquisition of a canoe .. 41

Chapter V. The Interior Of Vancouver Island

Nittinaht Inlet — " Whyack " — The Indians — Aht tribes — The breakers — Port San Juan — Indian yarn — Sooke Basin and Eiver — Discovery of gold — Gold on Queen Charlotte's Island — Nanaimo — Coal-seam at Comox — Ascent of Puntledge Eiver — Wreck of Canoe — Interior lakes — Barclay Sound — Game list — Camp-mark .. 52

Chapter VI. Alaska Territory

Acquisition of Eussian America by the United States — American criticisms on the purchase — Coal and gold discoveries — Mock advertisements — America for the Americans — Geographical literature of the Pacific — Of Eussian America — The Treaty — W. U. Telegraph Expedition — Its organization — Preference for youngmen

CONTENTS. xiii

CHAPTEK VII.

A VISIT TO THE CAPITAL OF ALASKA.

The voyage — Sitka Sound and harbour — Baranoff — Early history — The town — Water supply — Agriculture — Former Eussian settlements in California — Eussian American Company — The fisheries — Kalosh Indians — Our experiences of Eussian hospitality — Sitka in new hands — Two Sundays in a week — Kodiack ice — Formal transfer of Alaska Page 72

Chapter VIII. Voyage In The North Pacific

Departure from Sitka — Oukamok — Ounga — Breakers ahead — Volcanoes in Ounimak Pass — St. Michael's, Norton Sound, Aiaska — Soundings of Bering Sea — Plover Bay, Eastern Siberia — The Tchuktchis — Tents — Canoes — Tchuktchis' strength — Children — The irrepressible " Naukum " — Native's idea of the telegraph — The ' Shenandoah ' pirate — Avatcha Bay . . . . 84

Chapter IX. Petropaulovski And Our Return Voyage To San Francisco

The Harbour — Town — Monuments — The fur trade — Kamchatka generally — The volcanoes — The attack of the Allies in 1854 — Their return in 1855 — The ' General Teste ' — Eejoin the steamer ' Wright ' — Gale — Incidents of storm — Covert's " smoke-stack " 94

CONTENTS.

Chapter X. Voyage In The North Pacific

Organization of the expedition — Thirsty medical man — Our fleet

— Voyage — Petropaulovski again — The Eussian corvette — Eussian wedding — Heat . — International pic-nic — Voyage north — Bering's voyages — Shipwreck — Death of Bering — Gulf of Anadyr

— The " Wandering Tchuktchis " Page 105

CHAPTER XL

THE ANADYR RIVER AND PLOVER BAY, EASTERN SIBERIA.

Tchuktchi with letter of recommendation — Boat expedition to the river — Our explorers — Their experiences — The Anadyr Eiver — Tchuktchi thieves — Plover Bay — Naukum again — Advertising in Bering Straits — Telegraph station erected — Foraging with a vengeance — Whaling — Norton Sound, Alaska — Death of Major Kennicott 117

Chapter XII. Russian And Indian Settlements. — Norton Sound

St. Michael's — The fort and its inhabitants — The ' Provalishik ' — Eussian steam-bath — " Total immersion " — The island — Incident of break-up of ice — Arrival of dead Indian sledge-driver — Steamboat trip — Steamer laid up — Eussian post at Unalachleet — Malemute and Kaveak Indians — Skin clothing — Intertribal commerce — Trade with the Tchuktchis — Underground houses — Fishing through the ice 127

CONTENTS. xv

Chapter XIII. Unalachleet — Norton Sound

Indian town-hall — Preparations for dance — Smoke-consuming Indians — Feast — Dance — Chorus — The Malemutes and Kaveaks — The chiefs — " Parka-mama" — Erection of quarters — Preparations for sledge journey Page 141

Chapter XIV. Sledge Journey To The Yukon

Routes to the Yukon — Sledges and dogs — Our start — Our party — Unalachleet River —Brought to a standstill — Dogs desert — Ingelete Indians — Underground houses, &c. — Beans versus rice — Indian cleanliness — Medical aid — Ulukuk — The river — Indian trading 148

Chapter XV

sledge journey to the yukon. — Continued.

Cross the Ulukuk River — Walking on snow shoes — Ulukuk Mountains — Land travelling — Versola Sofka — Patent camp — Our frozen breath — Indian honesty — The use of snow shoes — Warm springs — First glimpse of the Yukon — Coltog — Old " Stareek " — Travel on the Yukon — AlikofPs " barabba '' — Meet a Russian sledge-train — Arrival at Nulato 159

Chapter XVI. Life At Nulato — Yukon River

First explorers of the Yukon — Nulato — Our quarters — Water sledge — Fish traps— Winter sketching — Frozen provisions — xvi CONTENTS.

Coldest day — Departure of a sledge train — Dinner party — Indian arrivals — Shortest day — Merry Christmas — Bill of fare — Aurora — Temperatures — Supplies — Principal winter trip of our lorers Page 169

Chapter XVII. The Co-yukon Indians

Co-Yukon tribe — Fashions — The Nulato massacre — Incidents of the attack — Indian murders — Mourning observances — " Wake "

— Four-post Coffins — Superstitions — " Corralling " deer — News travels fast — Furs and trading — Indian women — Indian "goggles"

— Children's dolls 182

Chapter XVIII. Canoe Journey. — Ascent Of The Yukon

Spring — Thaw — Break-up of the Yukon — Preparations for journey

— Our canoes — Start — Dangerous condition of river — Its size — Current — Perilous navigation — Submerged islands — Co-Yukuk

— Birch - bark fleet — Sachertelontin — Lagoon • — Newicargut — Purchase of supplies — Tooth - brush experiences — Medicine-making — Indian dissipation — Child's birch-bark chair . . . . 192

Chapter XIX

canoe journey — (continued). — ASCENT OF THE YUKON.

Meet a deserter — Indian taste for " Nigger " minstrelsy — Tracking — Lagoon — Piles of drift wood — Nuclukayette — Unsophisticated Indians — Ceremony — Leave the Eussians — The Indian's head — Mountain gorge — Indian dogs — Canoe leak — The rapids — The " Eamparts " — Moose -hunting — Islands — Overhanging banks — Shallows — Shortest night — First English Indians — Porcupine Eiver — Fort Yukon 207

CONTENTS. xvii

CHAPTEE XX.

FORT YUKON.

Eeturn of the Commander and Missionary — Information received from them — Mackenzie and the Yukon — The Indians — Numerous tribes — The furs — Fictitious black fox — Missionary work — Eeturn of our explorers from the Upper Yukon — Fort Yukon, sledges, &c. Page 219

CHAPTEE XXI.

DESCENT OF THE YUKON.

Drifting down the stream — Yukon salmon — Arrival at Nulato — Overdose of arsenic and alcohol — Trip resumed — Indian music

— Anvic — The mission — Earthquake on the water — Andreavski

— The mouths of the Yukon — Smith's observations — Pastolik

— St. Michael's — Progress of the telegraph — Frozen soil — Scurvy — Arrival of our barque — Plover Bay — Eeturn to San Francisco 231

CHAPTEE XXII.

THE VALUE OF ALASKA. — THE ORIGIN OF THE ESQUIMAUX OF NORTHERN ALASKA AND GREENLAND.

The value of Alaska — The furs and fisheries — The purchase, an act of justice to Eussia — The Aleutian Islands — Volcanoes — Bogoslov Island — The Asiatic origin of the Esquimaux — The Tchuktchis — Sea-going canoes — The voyages of two Japanese junks — The connecting links between the Tchuktchis and the Esquimaux — Language — Degeneration of the Esquimaux — Community of goods

— The " Schaman " and the " Angekok." 2-44

b xviii CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE XXIIT.

W. U. TELEGEAPH EXPLORATIONS IN ASIA.

Major Abasa appointed Chief — Arrival in Petropaulovski — Travels in Kamchatka — Ghijega — The town, &c. — Eoute betwen Ghijega and Ochotsk — The explorations of Mahood and Bush — Nicolaiefski, Month of the Amoor — Travel to Ochotsk — Eeindeer riding — The Tnnguse — Ayan — Ochotsk — MacCrea and Arnold's wanderings among the Tchuktchis — Anadyrsk Page 257

CHAPTEE XXIV.

CALIFORNIA.

California in 1849 — To-day — Agricultural progress — Wine manufacture — Climate — Lower California — San Francisco — No paper money — Coinage — Growth — General prosperity — Scarcity of labour — Hiring a domestic — Luxuries of the land — The " Mission " — Hotel carte — Home for the Inebriates — Immigration desired — Newspapers — Chinese population — " John's " status — John as a miner — Dead Chinamen — Celestial entertainment — Merchant's pigtail 269

CHAPTEE XXV.

California. — Continued.

San Francisco Society — Phraseology — Ladies of Fr'isco — Sunday in the city — Free criticism on parsons — Site — Steep streets — San Francisco calves — Earthquakes — House-moving — Fire companies — " Wells Fargo's Express " — The three-cent stamps — The men of the Pacific 282

PKEFACE. xix

CHAPTER XXVI,

CALIFORNIA AS A FIELD FOR EMIGRATION.

Early American opinions of the country — California steamers — The public lands — Extent — Price — Labour — Wages — The wine interests — Table of temperatures — The vineyards, &c. — Classes suitable for immigrants — Education — Schools — School ma'ams — Investments 292

Appendix

I. — The Proposed Overland Eoute from the Atlantic

to the Pacific, through British Territory .. .. 309

LL— The W. U. Telegraph Scheme 312

ILL — Notes on Sitka 315

IV. — Port Clarence, Northern Alaska 316

V. — Indian Dialects of Northern Alaska 318

VI. — Notes on the Geology of the Yukon , 329

2 LEAVING ENGLAND. [Chap. I.

in the Mediterranean, " had our destinies in their power," and made us aware of the fact.

" Winds are rude in Biscay's sleepless bay : "

at least we found them so, for a breeze increased into a gale before we were clear of its outer waters. Our craft was a staunch iron screw-steamer, the ' Tynemouth,' which had won a good reputation during the Crimean war by weathering out that terrible storm in the Black Sea, in which so many vessels (including the ' Black Prince ') were lost. We were bound for Vancouver Island, via the Horn, and expected to call at one or two ports by the way. On board were some three hundred passengers, two-thirds of whom shewed a total loss of dignity and self-respect during these early days, and made our vessel much resemble a floating hospital. But there is an end to all things ; and by the time we reached the tropics, our friends had recovered their appetites, and, clad in light attire, lounged, smoking, chatting, and reading under the awnings, giving our decks the appearance of a nautical pic-nic. Our passengers were a study in themselves. They included a number of young men, much too large a proportion of whom had apparently no profession, business, or definite aim in life, to augur well for their future career in a new country* Still, most branches were represented; from farmers, tradesmen, and mechanics, to lawyers, artists, and literary men. The greatest character on board was a venerable Jew, generally known as " Old Mo'." He was an Israelite of the conventional stage type, and did not neglect turning a penny, by selling to the passengers stale lemons and bad cigars, or by organizing raffles and mock auctions. Towards the end of the voyage, he purchased all the odds

Chap. I.] OUR PASSENGERS. 3

and ends on which he could lay his hands, offering the " highestch prishe for old closhe and zhewellry ;" and with these he afterwards stocked a small shop in Victoria. Moses, like Shylock, had much to stand in gibes and sneers, but bore it " with a patient shrug."

Our most noticeable living freight was, however, an "invoice" of sixty young ladies destined for the colonial and matrimonial market. They had been sent out by a home Society, under the watchful care of a clergyman and matron; and they must have passed the dreariest three months of their existence on board, for they were isolated from the rest of the passengers, and could only look on at the fun and amusements in which every one else could take a part. Every benevolent effort deserves respect; but, from personal observation, I cannot honestly recommend such a mode of supplying the demands of a colony. Half of them married soon after arrival, or went into service ; but a large proportion quickly went to the bad, and, from appearances, had been there before. The influence of but a few such on the more respectable girls could not have been otherwise than detrimental. To speak ungallantly, but truly, many of these ladies were neither young nor beautiful, and reminded me of the crowd who answered the advertisement in the farce of ' Wanted 10,000 Milliners ! ' Of course much might be said about giving the poor creatures a chance ! but the fact is, that the market would in the course of affairs more naturally supply itself. The prosperous settler would send for his sweetheart, or come home in search of one, and could always get suitable domestics sent out by his friends, and meet them at the port of arrival. It will be readily understood too, that in a new country there is a floating

b 2

4 MUTINY ON BOARD. [Chap. I-

population, among whom some individuals by " chance," or byindustry, have acquired a little money, and are ready to plunge into matrimony on the slightest provocation ; whilst there is also a large proportion of " black sheep," who are quite ready to amuse themselves at the expense of the poor girls.

We were beginning to find life somewhat tedious, when a storm arose on board that altered the aspect of affairs. In common with a large proportion of ships — as far as my experience goes — we were considerably undermanned, and the overworked crew rebelled. They came aft to the captain; and a scene ensued, in which very high words passed, and at length one of the more daring mutineers "planted" (to use the language of the fraternity) a blow between the skipper's " peepers," which brought the " claret " very freely -from his nose. In consequence, the fiat went forth — instantly and indignantly — "Put them in irons!" which was, however, a thing easier said than done. At last the officers — with the assistance of some of the passengers — succeeded in handcuffing the rebels, and they were then stowed away in a rather warm compartment near the engine-room, till such time as mutiny should be melted out of them.

Our captain was in a dilemma. We were almost becalmed ; our sails flapped idly in the wind, while the arrangements for the coals were such, that with these men off duty, our engine must soon come to a standstill. The coal was chiefly in the fore-hold, and had to be raised, wheeled along deck, and deposited in the " bunkers."

At this juncture a committee of the passengers was convened, and it was agreed that the more active of all classes

Chap. I.] VOLUNTEER COAL HEAVING. 5

should be invited to volunteer, and act as crew for the time being. All the younger men came forward readily, were solemnly enrolled, and set to work at once, glad of an interruption to the monotony of the voyage. We scrubbed the decks, hauled at ropes, filled the coal-sacks, and hoisted them on deck, getting a fair taste of a modern sailor's life on board a steam- vessel. It is more than doubtful whether any of us would have echoed the words of England's sea-song writer, who says —

" Then, Bill, let us thank Providence That you and I are sailors ! "

but we found it good exercise, and worked with a will. Did we not know that the eyes of sixty maidens were looking on approvingly, as we helped them on to the consummation of their dearest wishes ? We did, and even our parson creditably proved his " muscular Christianity," and soiled his irreproachable garments at one and the same time. I tasted the dignity of labour in the role of an amateur coal-heaver, and in the more sinecure employment of keeping the " lookout." We cooled our fevered frames with libations of beer, and buckets of diluted lime-juice ; in this matter having an undoubted advantage over the old crew, who didn't get much of such luxuries. At last the tropical heat, superadded to that of the furnaces, brought the men to their senses, and the larger part of them went back to work ; three, however, held out, and were kept in irons.

After some rough weather off the Eio de la Plata (known familiarly by sailors as the Eiver Plate), in which we stove in our bulwarks and lost a boat, we at last made the Falkland Islands, and came to an anchor in Stanley Harbour. This is a land-locked basin some six miles long by half a mile

6 THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. [Chap. I.

or so wide, and is on East Falkland. We arrived there early in August, but it was the end of their winter. The snow had just disappeared from the low lands, leaving them in places very swampy. The island was thick with peat-moss, which affords the inhabitants their only fuel, no timber except a very limited amount of drift wood being attainable. There are no trees whatever on the Falklands, and it is said that attempts to introduce them have been unsuccessful. It was from these islands that Col. Moody, when Colonial Governor, brought the " Tussac " grass.

The Falklands had been in the hands of both the Spanish and French before we obtained possession of them, and they were not formerly valued as they are now. Port Stanley is a pretty little town of 700 or 800 inhabitants, with a church, government buildings, and school-house. Vessels returning from China, Australia, or California, find these islands directly in their course, and often put into Port Stanley for repairs, water, coal, or supplies. Vegetables and fresh meat are abundant, the latter selling for two-pence or three-pence a pound. The cattle on the islands are very numerous, and for the most part wild ; they were introduced by the Spaniards. Stanley was a free port at the date of our visit, and our passengers took advantage of the fact to lay in stocks of hollands and brandy, much to the disgust of our steward, who firmly believed in monopoly.

As our ship's cow had given up the ghost — frightened to death in a storm — and the fowls were things of the past, we were all glad to get ashore, luxuriate on milk and fresh provisions, and stretch our legs. An English company had — and I presume has — a large store there, and exported hides and furs, employing some 150 persons directly, and

Chap. I.] PORT STANLEY. 7

a larger number indirectly, in their collection. Our vessel coaled at this settlement.

We spent several days in excursions from the ship, shooting wild-fowl, and amusing ourselves with watching the penguin, which were very abundant. On the beach, when waddling away from us in a hurry, they suggested the idea of old women tripping over the stones with many a fall! We visited the excellent lighthouse at Cape Pembroke, the easternmost point of East Falkland, about eight miles from the port. Here we found the keeper's wife, with a family of youngsters, some of whom had never seen even the glories of Port Stanley, and yet were happy. The lighthouse, 110 feet in height, stands at the termination of a barren sand waste, and the beach near it is everywhere strewed with kelp and sea-weed of the most enormous growth, resembling in fact sea trees. Kelp is so thick in some parts of the harbour that it is next to impossible to row through it.

Our mutineers were tried in due form, and sentenced to a spell of hard labour, which in this case consisted of amateur gardening, and sanding the floors of the government buildings. They were apparently rather glad than otherwise of a brief residence in a place where fresh food was so abundant, and knew moreover that the next vessel touching there short-handed would probably be glad to take them at higher wages than those ruling in the port of London.

We were detained — partly by bad weather — for twelve days, but at last the favourable moment arrived, and we steamed out in good style. In the evening of the same day we passed Staten Land, over the rugged shores of which a canopy of mist hung gracefully. In the valleys a lace-work

8 CAPE HORN — SAN FRANCISCO. [Chap. I.

of snow still remained. Next morning we were in the Pacific in sight of the broken jagged coast of the famed and dreaded " Horn." The weather was superb, the sea almost a lake and the regulation terrors of the passage were nowhere ! For the reader's sake, this was a great pity, but our passengers felt a kind of relief from the lingering dread of the more usual bad weather of the Cape. We soon got the " trade winds," set all sail, and knocked off steam.

Before we made the Californian coast, the wind died out, and having again to steam, our coal got reduced to the last gasp. All loose wood on deck, and even some valuable spars, had to be cut up for the furnaces, and the day before our arrival in San Francisco it was seriously contemplated to strip the second and third cabins of their berths and furniture !

But if we had been glad to go ashore at the Falklands, how much more so were we to land in San Francisco, to walk about its handsome streets, and enjoy its good things. Some of our passengers were so well satisfied with it that they abandoned all idea of going any further, and others, who could not imagine that our captain would start from it in such a hurry, were in consequence left behind. Of San Francisco, I shall speak in my concluding chapters. I have watched its growth for five years, and believe its history to be almost unexampled among cities that have arisen in modern times, and that its future teems with the greatest promise.

Kesuming our trip, we at length reached Cape Flattery and the Straits of Fuca, and obtained a first glimpse of the interminable forests on Vancouver Island, that were to be the home of some of us for many a day. As late as the days

Chap. I.] STRAITS OF FUCA. 9

of Cook, it was believed that Vancouver Island was a part of the mainland, and it was so laid down in the atlas accompanying his great work. The Straits of Fuca were in effect so named in 1792 by Vancouver, after their real discoverer, Juan de Fuca, an old Greek sailor, whose pretensions, in re gard to their exploration, were long scoffed at by geographers. Cook sailing up the coast of New Albion, now known as Oregon and Washington Territory, reached the promontory which has always since borne the name he gave it — Cape Flattery. " It is in this very latitude," says he, " where we now were, that geographers have placed the pretended Straits of Juan de Fuca. But we saw nothing like it ; nor is there the least probability that ever any such thing existed." Tolerably positive language ! — more especially when we know the real facts of the voyage, as later given to the world by Captain James Burney* who served with Cook on this identical voyage. He says, "After making the coast, unfavourable winds and weather forced the ships as far south as to 43°, and when we again made way northward, blowing and thick unsettled weather prevented our tracing a continuation of the coast, so that between a cape in lat. 44° 55' N., named by Captain Cook Cape Foulweather, and a point of land in 48° 15' N., which he named Cape Flattery, because the prospect of the land near it gave it a doubtful promise of a harbour, we obtained only now and then a glimpse of the land.

" We were near the last-mentioned point on the evening of the 22nd (March, 1778), and a little before seven o'clock ; it

* 'A Chronological History of North-Eastern Voyages of Discovery.

Chap. xix.

10 STRAITS OF FUCA. [Chap. I.

growing dark, Captain Cook tacked to wait for daylight, intending to make closer examination ; but before morning a hard gale of wind came on with rainy weather, and we were obliged to keep off from the land. At this time a port was necessary to both ships, to repair the lower rigging, as well as to recruit their stock of fresh water. On the 29th, in the forenoon, we again made the land. At noon, the latitude was observed 49° 28' N." The reader who has followed me thus far, will see that Cook missed the entrance to the Straits of Fuca. There is nothing surprising in the fact, though there is in his hasty conclusion with regard to the existence of a strait. The last latitude is approximately that of Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, of which both Cook and Burney give us full descriptions.