GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON. 29 



islands appears to resemble that of the western region of Oregon, except 

 that it is less dry in summer ; farther north, the rainy season increases in 

 length, but the accompanying increase in the coldness of the atmosphere 

 neutralizes any advantages for cultivation which might be derived from 

 the more constant supply of moisture. Wood, however, seems to be 

 every where abundant near the coasts ; and this may prove important, as 

 the channels of the archipelago offer great ■ facilities for communication 

 by steam vessels. 



It has been already said that Russia claims all the coasts and islands 

 north of the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes. The islands south of that 

 line which are here considered as attached to Oregon, lie in three groups. 



The southernmost group embraces one large island and an infinite 

 number of smaller ones, extending from the 49th parallel to the 51st, and 

 separated from the continent, on the south and east, by the channel called 

 the Strait of Fuca. The main island received, in 1792, the long and 

 inconvenient appellation of Island of Quadra and Vancouver, in virtue of a 

 compromise between a British and a Spanish commander, each claim- 

 ing the merit of having ascertained its insulation. It is the largest in 

 the archipelago, and, indeed, on the whole west coast of America, being 

 about two hundred and fifty miles in length, by an average breadth of 

 forty-five miles. On its south-western side are several large bays contain- 

 ing islands, among which are some good ports, formerly much frequented 

 by fur traders. The principal of these places is Nootka or King George's 

 Sound, opening to the Pacific in the latitude of 49J degrees, between 

 Woody Point, on the north, and Point Breakers, on the south; and offer- 

 ing a safe harbor for vessels in Friendly Cove, about eight miles from the 

 ocean. Near Nootka, on the west, is another bay, called Clyoquot ; far- 

 ther in the same direction, at the entrance of the Strait of Fuca, is Nitti- 

 nat ; and within the strait are several other harbors, generally protected 

 by small islands. Nootka Sound was, in 1789, the scene of occurrences 

 which gave to it much celebrity, as they first rendered the north-west 

 coasts of America the subject of dispute and convention between the 

 governments of European nations. 



Queen Charlotte's Island, so called by the British, or Washington's 

 Island, as it was named by the Americans in 1789, forms the centre of 

 another group, situated between the latitudes of 52 and 54 degrees, at a 

 considerable distance from the continent. The principal island is of tri- 

 angular form, and is rather smaller in superficial extent than the Island 

 of Quadra and Vancouver, though larger than any other in the archipelago. 

 Its north-western extremity received from the Spanish navigator Perez, 

 who discovered it in 1774, the name of Cape Santa Margarita, but is 

 now generally known as Cape North; the north-east end was called by 

 the Americans Sandy Point, and afterward, by the Spaniards, Cape Invisi- 

 ble; the southern extremity is Cape St. James. The island presents a 

 number of bays, affording good harbors, which were first examined, sur- 

 veyed, and named, by the American fur traders ; and afterwards received 

 from British and Spanish navigators the appellations usually assigned to 

 them on maps. The principal of these bays are, on the northern side, 

 Hancock's River, the Port Estrada of the Spaniards, near Sandy Point, 

 and Craft's Sound, or Port Mazarredo, a little farther west ; on. the 

 Pacific coast are Port Ingraham, near North Cape, and Magee's Sound, 

 in the latitude of 52^- degrees; on the eastern side of the island are 



