Port Discovery. Port Townsend. 

 Port Lawrence. Pilot's Cove. 



OREGON. 



Fort Nisqually. 



281 



'.he Clalam tribe. They occupy a few miserable 

 lodges on one of tbe points, and are a most filthy 

 race, so much so indeed that to enter their lodges 

 is absolutely disgusting. They are no more than a 

 few rudely-cut slabs, covered in part by coarse 

 mats. 



We remained at Port Discovery until 8th May, 

 during which time we were employed in surveying 

 the harbour and exploring the country. Our 

 botanists had a large and interesting field opened 

 to them, and there are few places where the 

 variety and beauty of the flora are so great as they 

 are here. The soil consists of a light-brown lonm, 

 but its general character around Port Discovery is 

 a thin, black, vegetable mould, with a substratum 

 of sand and gravel. 



Soon after our arrival at Port Discovery, I des- 

 patched an Indian with a letter to the fort of the 

 Hudson Bay Company at Nisqually, at the upper 

 end of Puget Sound, to request that a pilot might 

 be sent me. My interview with the native whom 

 I employed for this purpose was amusing. He 

 appeared of a gay and lively disposition: the first 

 thing he did, when brought into the cabin, was to 

 show me a cross and repeat his ave, which he did 

 with great readiness and apparent devotion; but 

 he burst into loud laughter as soon as he had 

 finished repeating it. He and I made many efforts 

 to understand each othei', but without much suc- 

 cess, except so far as the transmission of the letter 

 to Fort Nisqually, and the reward he was to re- 

 ceive on his return. 



On the 6th of May, finding that the messenger 

 whom I had despatched to Fort Nisqually did not 

 return, I determined to proceed towards that place 

 without further delay. We therefore got under 

 way at half-past ten, and beat out of Port Dis- 

 covery: we then stood towards Point Wilson (of 

 Vancouver), which forms one side of the entrance 

 into Admiralty Inlet. Turning the point, we 

 entered the inlet, and soon anchored in Port Towns- 

 end, on its northern side, in ten fathoms water. 



Port Townsend is a fine sheet of water, three 

 miles and a quarter in length, by one mile and 

 three-quarters in width. Opposite to our anchor- 

 age is an extensive table-land, free from wood, and 

 which would afford a good site for a town. 



The bay is free from dangers, and is well pro- 

 tected from the quarters whence stormy winds 

 blow. It has anchorage of a convenient depth ; and 

 there is abundance of fresh water to be had. In the 

 afternoon, we lauded and examined the table-land 

 and bay. 



On the 7th, we had completed the survey; but the 

 wind coming up from the southward and eastward, 

 which was contrary to our intended course, we de- 

 termined to remain. At noon, there was a favour- 

 able change, when both vessels moved up about 

 eight miles, and anchored in what I called Port 

 Lawrence. This is just at the entrance of Hood's 

 Canal, and gave us a view both of it and Admiralty 

 Inlet. The weather was unpleasant, and the only 

 duty that could be performed was that of dredg- 

 ing. 



On the morning of the 8th, we made the survey 

 of Port Lawrence, beginning at daylight. This 

 being completed, I took advantage of the tide 

 making to get under way with a fresh breeze, and 

 passed with both vessels as far as a small cove on 

 the west side of the inlet opposite to the south end 



of Whidby's Island. Here we anchored before 

 sunset, and I named it Pilot's Cove, from the cir- 

 cumstance of having been here joined by the first 

 officer of the Hudson Bay Company's steamer, com- 

 manded by Captain M'Niel, who on hearing of our 

 arrival, kindly sent him down to pilot up the 

 ship. 



We were under way soon after daylight, 

 taking advantage of the tide, and continued beat- 

 ing as long as it lasted. This was about two 

 hours, by which time we reached another small 

 cove. This was named Apple-Tree Cove, from 

 the numbers of that tree which were in blossom 

 around its shores. This cove answers well all 

 the purposes of a temporary anchorage. Before 

 the tide began to make in our favour, we again 

 sailed, and at dark anchored under the west shore, 

 near a fine bay; which the next day was surveyed, 

 and named Port Madison. This is an excellent 

 harbour, affording every possible convenience for 

 shipping. 



The wind proved fair the same afternoon, and we 

 passed up Admiralty Inlet, taking the passage to 

 the right of Vashon's Island, and finally, towards 

 evening, anchored just below the narrows leading 

 into Puget Sound, within a few yards of the .shore 

 and under a high perpendicular bank, in sixteen 

 fathoms. 



The shores of all these inlets and bays are re- 

 markably bold; so much so, that in many places a 

 ship's sides would strike the shore before the keel 

 would touch the ground. 



On the llth of May, we again weighed our an- 

 chors, but had great difficulty in getting beyond the 

 reach of the eddy winds occasioned by the high 

 banks. The scenery about this pass becomes very 

 fine : on all sides are high projecting bluffs of sand- 

 stone, rising almost perpendicularly from the water, 

 with a great variety of shrubs along their base. 

 The tide, which runs through the narrows with 

 great velocity, causes many eddies and whirlpools, 

 through which a ship is carried with extraordinary 

 rapidity, while the danger seems to be imminent. 

 The Porpoise succeeded in entering the narrows 

 first, and in a few minutes was lost sight of ; the 

 Vincennes entered, and seemed at first to be hurry- 

 ing to destruction, with her sails quite aback. We 

 were carried onward wholly by the force of the 

 tide, and had backed and filled only once before 

 we found ourselves in as spacious a sound as the 

 one we had just left. This narrow pass seems as 

 if intended by its natural facilities to afford every 

 means for its perfect defence. 



Twelve miles more brought us to the anchorage 

 off Nisqually, where both vessels dropped their 

 anchors about eight o'clock. Here we found an 

 English steamer undergoing repairs. Soon after 

 we anchored, I had the pleasure of a visit from 

 Mr. Anderson, who is in charge of the fort, and 

 Captain M'Niel. They gave me a warm welcome, 

 and offered every assistance in their power to aid 

 me in my operations. 



Nothing can exceed the beauty of these waters, 

 and their safety : not a shoal exists within the 

 Straits of Juan de Fuca, Admiralty Inlet, Puget 

 Sound, or Hood's Canal, that can in any way 

 interrupt their navigation by a seventy-four gun 

 ship. I venture nothing in saying, there is no 

 country in the world that possesses waters equal 

 to these. 



