216 Thirty Years 
pears to be the most convenient, and perhaps the best, 
place for ships to anchor that we have seen along the 
coast ; at this season especially, when they might in- 
crease their stock of provision, if provided with good 
marksmen. Deer are numerous in its vicinity, musk- 
oxen also may be found up Hood’s River, and the fine 
sandy bottom of the bays promise favorably for fishing 
with the seine. The hills on the western side are 
even in their outline and slope gradually to the water’s 
edge, The rocks give place to an alluvial sandy soil, 
towards the bottom of the sound; but on Banks’ 
Peninsula rocky eminences again prevail, which are 
rugged and uneven, but they are intersected by val- 
leys, now green ; along their base is a fine sandy beach. 
From Point Wollaston to our present encampment the 
coast is skirted with trap cliffs, which have often a 
columnar form, and are very difficult of access. These 
cliffs lie in ranges parallel to the shore, and the deer 
that we killed were feeding in small marshy grassy 
plats that lie in the valleys between them. 
Being detained by the continuance of the gale, on 
‘the 2d of August some men were sent out to hunt, 
and the officers visited the tops of the highest hills, 
to ascertain the best channels to be pursued. The 
wind abating at ten P.M., we embarked and paddled 
round the southern end of the island, and continued 
our course to the south-east. Much doubt at this 
