Early English Explorations. 61 



grave." The harbor is described in the narrative of Dixon's 

 voyage as being " entirely surrounded by low, flat islands, where 

 scarcely any snow could be seen, and well sheltered from any 

 winds whatever." 



The voyage of the Queen Charlotte was not made for the pur- 

 pose of increasing geographic knowledge, but with a commercial 

 object. Trade was at once opened Avith the natives, but resulted 

 less favorably than was desired, as only sixteen sea-otter skins 

 and a few less valuable furs were secured. 



On the chart accompanying the narrative of Dixon's voyage 

 the inlet now known as Yakutat bay is named "Admiralty bay." 



A survey of the adjacent shores and inlets was made, and the 

 astronomical position of the anchorage was approximately de- 

 termined. The map resulting from' these surveys, the first ever 

 made of any portion of Yakutat bay, is reproduced on a reduced 

 scale as plate 4. 



At the time of Dixon's voyage, the inhabitants numbered 

 about seventy, including men, women, and children, and were 

 thus described : 



" They are of about middle size, their Hmbs straight and well shaped, 

 but, like the i-est of the inhabitants we have seen on the coast, are par- 

 ticularly fond of painting their faces with a variety of colors, so that it is 

 not any easy matter to discover their real complexion." 



An amusing insta^nce is narrated of inducing a woman to wash 

 her face, when it was discovered that — 



" Her countenance had all the cheerful glow of an English milk maid, 

 and the healthy red which flushed her cheeks was even beautifully con- 

 trasted with the whiteness of her neck ; her eyes were black and spark- 

 ling ; her eyebrows the same color, and most beautifully arched ; her 

 forehead so remarkably clear that the transparent veins were seen mean- 

 dering even in their minutest branches — in short, she was what would be 

 reckoned as handsome even in England. The symmetry of her features, 

 however, was marred, at least in the eyes of her English admirer, by the 

 habit of wearing a labret in the slit of her lower lip." 



During our recent visit to Port Mulgrave we did not find the 

 native women answering to the glowing description of the voy- 

 ager who discovered the harbor ; but this may be owing to the 

 fact that we did not prevail upon any of them to wash their 

 faces. 



One other discrepancy must be noted between the records of 

 Dixon's voyage and my own observations, made one hundred 



10— Nat. Geog. Mag., vol. Ill, 1891. 



