NORTH WEST COAST OF AMERICA. n 



whenthe wind fuddenly chopped round to South South Weft. ^ "^^^ ^' 



A t noon we had very ft rong gales and fqually weather. About " -— ~» 



one o'clock the wind veering to Weft South Weft it was my September, 

 intention to have weighed and gone to fea, but the weather ""^ ^^ ^-' 

 in an inftant changing its appearance, and beginning to 

 blow very hard, prevented me. The gale ftill increaftng, 

 I gave orders for the topgallant-mafts to be ftruck and got 

 down upon deck. I likewife caufed preparation to be - 

 made for ftriking the topmafts, and fpliced one of the new 

 cables to the beft bower ; intending, fhould the gale con- 

 tinue till the evening, to lower the topmafts, to have 

 veered to a cable and halt on the beft bower, and half a 

 cable on the fmall one. If the fliip had not held faft under 

 thefe precautions, I fhould have run through the Little 

 Ruflels, as I had a pilot on board ; and by having the 

 lower yards aloft, might have brought her under thecourfes, 

 and on occalion, the topfails clofe reefed ; but fortunately 

 towards evening the wind got round to the Northward, 

 though it continued blowing in fudden gufts through the 

 night. 



At nine o'clock in the morning of the 26th, having a Monday 26. 

 moderate breeze at North North Weft, we weighed anchor 

 and got under fail ; at noon St, Martin's Point bore North 

 Eaft by North, diftant one mile and a half; our obferva- 

 tion gave 49° 20' North latitude. At four in the after- 

 noon the pilot left us. Salt proviftons v/ere firft ferved 

 out to the crews on the 27th, at a pound a man a day, 

 together with half a pound of potatoes. At nooa we faw ' - 

 Seven Ifles, which bore South, eight or nine leagues, , 

 and the Ifle of Bafs South Weft by South, feven leagues 

 diftant : our latitude was 49° 6' North, and the longitude, 

 by lunar obfervation, 3'' 50' 45'^ Weft. 



C 2 In 



