218 COOK'S VOYAGE TO MAliCH, 



same search. I had very little trouble in finding 

 what we wanted. On the north-west of the arm we 

 were now in, and not far from the ships, I met with 

 a convenient snug cove well suited to our purpose. 

 Mr. King was equally successful ; for he returned 

 about noon, with an account of a still better harbour, 

 which he had seen and examined, lying on the north- 

 west side of the land. But as it would have required 

 more time to carry the ships thither than to the cove, 

 where I had been, which was immediately within our 

 reach ; this reason operated to determine my choice 

 in favour of the latter situation. But being appre- 

 hensive that we should not be able to transport our 

 ships to it, and to moor them properly, before night 

 came on, I thought it best to remain where we were 

 till next morning ; and, that no time might be 

 lost, I employed the remainder of the day to some 

 useful purposes, ordering the sails to be unbent, the 

 topmasts to be struck, and the foremast of the Reso- 

 lution to be unrigged, in order to fix a new bib, one 

 of the old ones being decayed. 



A great many canoes, filled with the natives, were 

 about the ships all day ; and a trade commenced be- 

 twixt us and them, which was carried on with the 

 strictest honesty on both sides. The articles which 

 they offered to sale were skins of various animals, such 

 as bears, wolves, foxes, deer, racoons, polecats, mar- 

 tins ; and, in particular, of the sea otters, which are 

 found at the islands east of Kamtschatka. Besides 

 the skins in their native shape, they also brought gar- 

 ments made of them, and another sort of clothing 

 made of the bark of a tree, or some plant like hemp ; 

 weapons, such as bows, arrows, and spears; fish- 

 hooks, and instruments of various kinds; wooden 

 vizors of many different monstrous figures ; a sort of 

 woollen stuff; or blanketing; bags filled with red 

 ochre ; pieces of carved work ; beads ; and several 

 other little ornaments of thin brass and iron, shaped 



