It is about twenty miles from North Island to the entrance of Virago Sound. The coast and back-lying country for ten or fifteen miles, is low and thickly wooded; the shores being generally rocky with sharp points and many outlying rocks, surrounded with kelp, though there are occasional short beaches of gravel and sand. There are several exposed bays but no harbors, except for small boats, after leaving
BRUIN BAY, opening into the south-eastern entrance to Parry Passage. Here vessels sometimes anchor, though exposed to strong eddies. Rounding the next point we reach
PILLAR BAY, so-named from an isolated column of conglomerate rock, about a hundred feet in height, standing near its eastern side. It is three or four miles in width, and a mile and a-half in depth, but open to north-east winds. The
JALUN RIVER, the largest stream between North Island and Virago Sound, discharges into a small bay about four miles further eastward. It is from forty to fifty feet in width at its mouth, and navigable for canoes, not exceeding half a mile on account of rapids. Here were two huts, and a wooden boiler made from a hollowed log, for extracting dogfish oil with heated stones, this being a favorite camping place for the native fishermen and hunters.
KLAS-KWUN POINT—Seven or eight miles to the eastward from the mouth of Jalun River, there is a bold point rising a short distance back from the shore to two or three hundred feet, known as Klas-kwun Point, on the east side of which lies
YAT-ZA VILLAGE—It has the most rocky and difficult landing of any Indian village on the island, the sites of which are almost invariably on perfect little harbors. Passing Cape Naden, we now enter the waters of
VIRAGO SOUND—It is about eight miles in width and five in depth, and opening into Naden Sound through narrows less than half a mile in width, between Points George and Mary. The shores are low and thickly wooded, with spruce of small growth. Two small islets lie near its west side entrance. Virago Sound is exposed to all winds north of south-east and south-west, but safe anchorage may be found at all times in
NADEN HARBOR on the west side opposite the abandoned village of Kung. Naden Harbor is about five miles in length, north and south and two miles in width. Its shores are low, and generally sandy, except in its southern and north-western sides. There are nine streams flowing into it, with extensive tide flats at their mouths—which will be noticed in the order reached in following the right hand shore:
First, a small creek about half a mile east of the village of Kung, into which the high tide flows for half a mile or more.
The second empties into the harbor, about two miles southward of of the highest land bordering it, called Bain Point.