NORTH WEST COAST OF AMERICA. 



we were greatly furprifed to hear the report of a great gun 

 from the fhore ; it was now very thick over the land, 

 which prevented us from feeing the fmoke of the gun ; 

 however, we fired a gun and hoifted our colours, and pre- * "^ ' ''" 

 fently afterwards £red another, expecting it would be 

 anfwered. Immediately after our firing the fecond gun 

 another was fired from the fliore, in the diredlion of Eaft, 

 three quarters South. It was now very evident, that fome 

 nation or other had got to this place before us, which 

 mortified me not a little. Soon after this we perceived a 

 boat rowing out towards the fhips ; on which, we tacked 

 and flood in fiiore, in order to meet her; by feven o'clock the 

 boat came on board, and I found the people to be Ruffians. 



As we had no perfon who underflood the Ruffian lan- 

 guage, the information we got from this party was but 

 little. If I underftood them right, they came laft from 

 Kodiac, an iiland near the Schumagins, on a trading ex- 

 pedition ; that they left their veflel at Kodiac, and pro- 

 ceeded to Cook's River in boats. The harbour which I 

 intended to make, they gave me to underftand, was a very 

 good one ; and they offered to take a perfon from the fhip 

 in their boat to examine it, I accepted their offer, and 

 fent Mr. M'Leod along with them to examine the har- 

 bour and found the entrance, there being fome rocks near 

 it. The Ruffians left us at half paft eight o'clock, and 

 immediately afterwards we came to anchor in thirty-five 

 fathoms water, over a bottom of coarfe fand and fhells ; 

 Point Bede bearing South 31° Eaft, diftant two leagues, 

 and a fmall rocky ifland detached from it, in the fame 

 diredion. At the time we anchored it was high water; 

 and on the ebb making, I found it to fet from the North 



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