170 KEST — spAiis — HOPPNER SOUND. May 1828. 



the 9th of May tliere was a succession of stormy weather, 

 accompanied by almost incessant and heavy rain, which pre- 

 vented the ship being moved; but proved, in one respect, 

 advantageous, by affording a very seasonable cessation from 

 work to the fatigued crew, and obliging Captain Stokes to 

 take some little rest, which he so much required; but regretted 

 allowing himself, and submitted to most reluctantly. He con- 

 tinues his journal on the 9th of May, stating that, " Among the 

 advantages which this admirable port presents to shipping, a 

 capital one seems to be the rich growth of stout and shapely 

 timber, with which its shores, even down to the margin of the 

 sea, are closely furnished, and from which a frigate of the 

 largest size might obtain spars large enough to replace a top- 

 mast, topsail-yard, or even a lower-yard. In order to try what 

 would be the quality of the timber, if, in case of emergency, it 

 were used in an unseasoned state, I sent the carpenter and his 

 crew to cut two spars for a topgallant-mast and yard. Those 

 they brought on board were of beech- wood ; the larger being 

 thirteen inches in diameter, and thirty feet in length. 



" On the 10th, the weather having improved, the Beagle was 

 moved to the head of the inlet, to an anchorage in Hoppner 

 Sound, and on the 11th I went with Lieut. Skyring to examine 

 the opening, off which we were anchored. 



" On each side of it we found coves, so perfectly sheltered, 

 and with such inexhaustible supplies of fresh water and fuel, 

 that we lamented their not being in a part of the world where 

 such advantages could benefit navigation. The depth of water 

 in mid-channel was generally forty fathoms ; in the bights, or 

 coves, it varied from sixteen to twenty-five fathoms, with 

 always a sandy bottom. We saw a great many hair seals, shoals 

 of pie-bald porpoises, and birds of the usual kinds in con- 

 siderable numbers. On several points of the shores were parts 

 of the skeletons of whales ; but we no where saw a four-footed 

 animal, or the slightest trace of a human habitation. The 

 unusual fineness of the morning, the smoothness of the water, 

 and the proximity of the adjacent lofty mountains, clothed 

 almost to their suminits by the fullest foliage, with every 



