RUN ACROSS THE GULF OF GEORGIA. 155 



chief, it seems, had loved the wife of his predecessor, 

 and was willing to pay any ransom for his lost 

 darling. After a long 'wa-wa' (talk), the captain 

 consented to effect a purchase, if possible, and 

 bring back, on our return, the lost one to the 

 arms of her sable lover. 



We had a pleasant run across the Gulf of 

 Georgia, and anchored at 10 P.M. in Billings' 

 Harbour (much like a small duck-pond), in 

 Faveda Island. The next morning, again under 

 weigh at (> A.M., raining, as the captain said, 

 ' marlinespikes,' we steamed past a group of 

 islands, behind which is Malospina Strait. From 

 this strait, Jarvis's Inlet runs like an immense 

 canal for a distance (I believe) of fifty miles 

 inland. 



Here the gulf widens out like the open sea, 

 and little can be seen of the land until the ex- 

 treme south-east point of Valdes Island is reached, 

 known as Point Mudge, betwixt which and Van- 

 couver Island is a narrow channel, not more 

 than a mile in width, called Discovery Passage. 



About a mile from its entrance, we passed a 

 large Indian village, the home of the Tah-cul-tas, 

 a powerful band, of most predatory habits, and 

 generally at war with the different tribes north 

 and south of them ; they own a large fleet of 



