Early on the morning of the 19th the ship was discovered to be on fire. This was owing to one of the savages having gone on board with a firebrand at night for the purpose of plunder, some sparks from which fell into the hold, and, communicating with some combustibles, soon enveloped the whole in flames. The natives regretted the loss of the ship the more as a great part of her cargo still remained on board. To my companion and myself it was a most melancholy sight, for with her disappeared from our eyes every trace of a civilised country; but the disappointment we experienced was still more severely felt, for we had calculated on having the provision to ourselves, which would have furnished us with a stock for years, as whatever is cured with salt, together with most of our other articles of food, are never eaten by these people. I had luckily saved all my tools, excepting the anvil and the bellows, which was attached to the forge, and from their weight had not been brought on shore. We had also the good fortune, in looking over what had been taken from the ship, to discover a box of chocolate and a case of port wine, which, as the Indians were not fond of it, proved a great comfort to us for some time; and from one of the natives I obtained a Nautical Almanack which had belonged to the captain, and which was of great use to me in determining the time.
About two days after, on examining their booty, the savages found a tierce of rum, with which they were highly delighted, as they have become very fond of spirituous liquors since their intercourse with the whites.[60] This was towards evening, and Maquina, having assembled all the men at his house, gave a feast, at which they drank so freely of the rum, that in a short time they became so extremely wild and frantic that Thompson and myself, apprehensive for our safety, thought it prudent to retire privately into the woods, where we continued till past midnight.
On our return we found the women gone, who are always very temperate, drinking nothing but water, having quitted the house and gone to the other huts to sleep, so terrified were they at the conduct of the men, who lay all stretched out on the floor in a state of complete intoxication. How easy in this situation would it have been for us to have dispatched or made ourselves masters of our enemies had there been any ship near to which we could have escaped, but as we were situated the attempt would have been madness. The wish of revenge was, however, less strongly impressed on my mind than what appeared to be so evident an interposition of Divine Providence in our favour. How little can man penetrate its designs, and how frequently is that intended as a blessing which he views as a curse. The burning of our ship, which we had lamented so much, as depriving us of so many comforts, now appeared to us in a very different light, for, had the savages got possession of the rum, of which there were nearly twenty puncheons on board,[61] we must inevitably have fallen a sacrifice to their fury in some of their moments of intoxication. This cask, fortunately, and a case of gin, was all the spirits they obtained from the ship. To prevent the recurrence of similar danger, I examined the cask, and, finding still a considerable quantity remaining, I bored a small hole in the bottom with a gimblet, which before morning, to my great joy, completely emptied it.
By this time the wound in my head began to be much better, so that I could enjoy some sleep, which I had been almost deprived of by the pain, and though I was still feeble from the loss of blood and my sufferings, I found myself sufficiently well to go to work at my trade, in making for the king and his wives bracelets and other small ornaments of copper or steel, and in repairing the arms, making use of a large square stone for the anvil, and heating my metal in a common wood fire. This was very gratifying to Maquina, and his women particularly, and secured me their goodwill.
In the meantime, great numbers from the other tribes kept continually flocking to Nootka, bringing with them, in exchange for the ship's plunder, such quantities of provision, that, notwithstanding the little success that Maquina met with in whaling this season, and their gluttonous waste, always eating to excess when they have it, regardless of the morrow, seldom did the natives experience any want of food during the summer. As to myself and companion, we fared as they did, never wanting for such provision as they had, though we were obliged to eat it cooked in their manner, and with train-oil as a sauce, a circumstance not a little unpleasant, both from their uncleanly mode of cooking and many of the articles of their food, which to a European are very disgusting; but, as the saying is, hunger will break through stone walls, and we found, at times, in the blubber of sea animals and the flesh of the dog-fish, loathsome as it generally was, a very acceptable repast.
But much oftener would poor Thompson, who was no favourite with them, have suffered from hunger had it not been for my furnishing him with provision. This I was enabled to do from my work, Maquina allowing me the privilege, when not employed for him, to work for myself in making bracelets and other ornaments of copper, fish-hooks, daggers, etc., either to sell to the tribes who visited us or for our own chiefs, who on these occasions, besides supplying me with as much as I wished to eat, and a sufficiency for Thompson, almost always made me a present of a European garment, taken from the ship, or some fathoms of cloth, which were made up by my comrade, and enabled us to go comfortably clad for some time; or small bundles of penknives, razors, scissors, etc., for one of which we could almost always procure from the natives two or three fresh salmon, cod, or halibut; or dried fish, clams, and herring spawn from the stranger tribes; and had we only been permitted to cook them after our own way, as we had pots and other utensils belonging to the ship, we should not have had much cause of complaint in this respect; but so tenacious are these people of their customs, particularly in the article of food and cooking, that the king always obliged me to give whatever provision I bought to the women to cook. And one day, finding Thompson and myself on the shore employed in boiling down sea-water into salt, on being told what it was he was very much displeased, and, taking the little we had procured, threw it into the sea. In one instance alone, as a particular favour, he allowed me to boil some salmon in my own way, when I invited him and his queen to eat with me; they tasted it, but did not like it, and made their meal of some of it that I had cooked in their country fashion.
In May the weather became uncommonly mild and pleasant, and so forward was vegetation, that I picked plenty of strawberries[62] by the middle of the month. Of this fruit there are great quantities on this coast, and I found them a most delicious treat.
My health now had become almost re-established, my wound being so far healed that it gave me no further trouble. I had never failed to wash it regularly once a day in sea water, and to dress it with a fresh leaf of tobacco, which I obtained from the natives, who had taken it from the ship, but made no use of it. This was all the dressing I gave it, except applying to it two or three times a little loaf sugar, which Maquina gave me, in order to remove some proud flesh, which prevented it from closing.