386 cook's voyage to june, 



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 anchored, 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 

 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 ap- 

 pearance 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 ship, 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 ships, 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 men- 

 tioned, in hopes, after we were through, of finding 

 the land trend away to the northward, or, at least, a 

 passage out to sea to the W. For we supposed our- 

 selves, 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 



