42'X 
THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
of mountains; but our light could not determine whether it l 77 s. 
compofed one or more lllands. We afterward found it to be 
only one ifland, and known by the name of Qonalajhka. Be¬ 
tween it, and the land to the North, which had the appear¬ 
ance of being a group of iflands, there feemed to be a chan¬ 
nel, in the direction of North Weft by North. On a point,, 
which bore Weft from the fliip, three quarters of a mile 
diftant, were feveral natives, and their habitations. To this 
place we faw them tow in two whales, which we fuppofed 
they had juft killed. A few of them, now and then, came 
off to the fhips, and bartered a few trifling things with 
our people ; but never remained above a quarter of an hour, 
at a time. On the contrary, they rather feemed fhy; and 
yet, we could judge that they were no ftrangers to veffels,. 
in fome degree, like ours.. They behaved with a degree of 
politenefs uncommon to favage tribes. 
At one o’clock in the afternoon, having a light breeze at 
North Eaft, and the tide of flood in our favour, we weighed, 
and fleered for the channel above mentioned, in hopes, af¬ 
ter we were through, of finding the land trend away to 
the Northward, or, at leaf!, a paffage out to fea, to the Weft. 
For we fuppofed ourfelves, as it really happened, to be 
amongft iflands, and not in an inlet of the continent. We 
had not been long under fail,, before the wind veered to the L 
North, which obliged us to ply. The foundings were from 
forty to twenty-feven fathoms, over a bottom of fand and 
mud. In the evening, the ebb making againft us, we an¬ 
chored about three leagues from our laft ftation, with the 
paffage bearing North Weft. 
At day-break the next morning, we weighed, with a. Sunday 
light breeze at South, which carried us up to the paffage, 
when it was fucceeded by variable light airs from all di- 
1 - reftionSo. 
