The land, except in some places close to the sea, is all of a considerable height, and hilly; but Mount Edgcumbe far out-tops all the other hills. It was wholly covered with snow; as were also all the other elevated hills; but the lower ones, and the flatter spots, bordering upon the sea, were free from it, and covered with wood.
As we advanced to the north, we found the coast from Cape Edgcumbe to trend north and north-easterly for six or seven leagues, and there form a large bay. In the entrance of that bay are some islands; for which reason I named it the Bay of Islands. It lies in the latitude of 57° 20';[4] and seemed to branch into several arms, one of which turned to the south, and may probably communicate with the bay on the east side of Cape Edgcumbe, and make the land of the Cape an island. At eight o'clock in the evening, the Cape bore S.E. 1/2 S.; the Bay of Islands N. 53° E.; and another inlet, before which are also some islands, bore N. 52° E. five leagues distant. I continued to steer N.N.W. 1/2 W. and N.W. by W. as the coast trended, with a fine gale at N.E. and clear weather.
At half-an-hour past four in the morning, on the 3d, Mount Edgcumbe bore S. 54° E.; a large inlet, N. 50° E., distant six leagues; and the most advanced point of the land, to the N.W. lying under a very high-peaked mountain, which obtained the name of Mount Fairweather, bore N. 32° W. The inlet was named Cross Sound, as being first seen on that day, so marked in our calendar. It appeared to branch in several arms, the largest of which turned to the northward. The S.E. point of this Sound is a high promontory, which obtained the name of Cross Cape. It lies in the latitude of 57° 57', and its longitude is 223° 21'. At noon it bore S.E.; and the point under the peaked mountain, which was called Cape Fairweather, N. by W. 1/4 W., distant thirteen leagues. Our latitude at this time was 58° 17', and our longitude 222° 14'; and we were distant from the shore three or four leagues. In this situation we found the variation of the compass to be from 24° 11' to 26° 11' E.
Here the N.E. wind left us, and was succeeded by light breezes from the N.W. which lasted for several days. I stood to the S.W. and W.S.W. till eight o'clock the next morning, when we tacked, and stood toward the shore. At noon, the latitude was 58° 22', and the longitude 220° 45'. Mount Fairweather, the peaked mountain over the Cape of the same name, bore N. 63° E.; the shore under it twelve leagues distant. This mountain, which lies in the latitude of 58° 52', and in the longitude of 222°, and five leagues inland, is the highest of a chain, or rather a ridge of mountains, that rise at the N.W. entrance of Cross Sound, and extend to the N.W. in a parallel direction with the coast. These mountains were wholly covered with snow, from the highest summit down to the sea-coast; some few places excepted, where we could perceive trees rising, as it were, out of the sea; and which, therefore, we supposed, grew on low land, or on islands bordering upon the shore of the continent.[5] At five in the afternoon, our latitude being then 58° 53', and our longitude 220° 52', the summit of an elevated mountain appeared above the horizon, bearing N., 26° W., and, as was afterwards found, forty leagues distant. We supposed it to be Beering's Mount St Elias; and it stands by that name in our chart.
This day we saw several whales, seals, and porpoises; many gulls, and several flocks of birds, which had a black ring about the head; the tip of the tail, and the upper part of the wings, with a black band; and the rest bluish above and white below. We also saw a brownish duck, with a black or deep-blue head and neck, sitting upon the water.
Having but light winds, with some calms, we advanced slowly; so that on the 6th at noon we were only in the latitude of 59° 8', and in the longitude of 220° 19'. Mount Fairweather bore S. 63° E. and Mount Elias N. 30° W.; the nearest land about eight leagues distant. In the direction of N. 47° E. from this station, there was the appearance of a bay, and an island off the S. point of it that was covered with wood. It is here where I suppose Commodore Beering to have anchored. The latitude, which is 59° 18', corresponds pretty well with the map of his voyage,[6] and the longitude is 221° E. Behind the bay, (which I shall distinguish by the name of Beering's Bay, in honour of its discoverer,) or rather to the south of it, the chain of mountains before mentioned is interrupted by a plain of a few leagues extent; beyond which the sight was unlimited; so that there is either a level country or water behind it. In the afternoon, having a few hours calm, I took this opportunity to sound, and found seventy fathoms water, over a muddy bottom. The calm was succeeded by a light breeze from the N., with which we stood to the westward; and at noon the next day, we were in the latitude of 59° 27', and the longitude of 219° 7'. In this situation, Mount Fairweather bore S. 70° E.; Mount St Elias N. 1/2 W.; the westernmost land in sight N. 52° W.; and our distance from the shore four or five leagues; the depth of water being eighty-two fathoms over a muddy bottom. From this station we could see a bay (circular to appearance) under the high land, with low wood-land on each side of it.
We now found the coast to trend very much to the west, inclining hardly any thing to the north; and as we had the wind mostly from the westward, and but little of it, our progress was slow. On the 9th at noon, the latitude was 59° 30', and the longitude 217°. In this situation the nearest land was nine leagues distant; and Mount St Elias bore N., 30° E, nineteen leagues distant. This mountain lies twelve leagues inland in the latitude of 60° 27', and in the longitude of 219°. It belongs to a ridge of exceedingly high mountains, that may be reckoned a continuation of the former, as they are only divided from them by the plain above mentioned. They extend as far to the west as the longitude of 217°; where, although they do not end, they lose much of their height, and become more broken and divided.
At noon on the 10th, our latitude was 59° 51', and our longitude 215° 56', being no more than three leagues from, the coast of the continent, which extended from E. 1/2 N., to N.W. 1/2 W., as far as the eye could reach. To the westward of this last direction was an island that extended from N., 52° W., to S., 85° W., distant six leagues. A point shoots out from the main toward the N.E. end of the island, bearing, at this time, N., 30° W., five or six leagues distant. This point I named Cape Suckling. The point of the cape is low; but within it, is a tolerably high hill, which is disjoined from the mountains by low land; so that, at a distance, the cape looks like an island. On the north side of Cape Suckling is a bay that appeared to be of some extent, and to be covered from most winds. To this bay I had some thoughts of going, to stop our leak, as all our endeavours to do it at sea had proved ineffectual. With this view, I steered for the cape; but as we had only variable light breezes, we approached it slowly. However, before night, we were near enough to see some low land spitting out from the cape to the north-west, so as to cover the east part of the bay from the south wind. We also saw some small islands in the bay, and elevated rocks between the cape and the north-east end of the island. But still there appeared to be a passage on both sides of these rocks; and I continued steering for them all night, having from forty-three to twenty-seven fathoms water over a muddy bottom.
At four o'clock next morning, the wind, which had been mostly at N.E., shifted to N. This being against us, I gave up the design of going within the island, or into the bay, as neither could be done without loss of time. I therefore bore up for the west end of the island. The wind blew faint, and at ten o'clock it fell calm. Being not far from the island, I went in a boat, and landed upon it, with a view of seeing what lay on the other side; but finding it farther to the hills than I expected, and the way being steep and woody, I was obliged to drop the design. At the foot of a tree, on a little eminence not far from the shore, I left a bottle with a paper in it, on which were inscribed the names of the ships, and the date of our discovery. And along with it, I inclosed two silver two-penny pieces of his majesty's coin, of the date 1772. These, with many others, were furnished me by the Reverend Dr Kaye;[7] and, as a mark of my esteem and regard for that gentleman, I named the island, after him, Kaye's Island. It is eleven or twelve leagues in length, in the direction of N.E. and S.W.; but its breadth is not above a league, or a league and a half, in any part of it. The S.W. point, which lies in the latitude of 59° 49', and the longitude of 216° 58', is very remarkable, being a naked rock, elevated considerably above the land within it. There is also an elevated rock lying off it, which, from some points of view, appears like a ruined castle. Toward the sea, the island terminates in a kind of bare-sloping cliffs, with a beach, only a few paces across to their foot, of large pebble stones, intermixed in some places with a brownish clayey sand, which the sea seems to deposit after rolling in, having been washed down from the higher parts, by the rivulets or torrents. The cliffs are composed of a bluish stone or rock, in a soft or mouldering state, except in a few places. There are parts of the shore interrupted by small vallies and gullies. In each of these, a rivulet or torrent rushes down with considerable impetuosity; though it may be supposed that they are only furnished from the snow, and last no longer than till it is all melted. These vallies are filled with pine-trees, which grow down close to the entrance, but only to about half way up the higher or middle part of the island. The woody part also begins, every-where, immediately above the cliffs, and is continued to the same height with the former; so that the island is covered, as it were, with a broad girdle of wood, spread upon its side, included between the top of the cliffy shore; and the higher parts in the centre. The trees, however, are far from being of an uncommon growth; few appearing to be larger than one might grasp round with his arms, and about forty or fifty feet high; so that the only purpose they could answer for shipping, would be to make top-gallant masts, and other small things. How far we may judge of the size of the trees which grow on the neighbouring continent, it may be difficult to determine. But it was observed, that none larger than those we saw growing, lay upon the beach amongst the drift-wood. The pine-trees seemed all of one sort; and there was neither the Canadian pine, nor cypress, to be seen. But there were a few which appeared to be the alder, that were but small, and had not yet shot forth their leaves. Upon the edges of the cliffs, and on some sloping ground, the surface was covered with a kind of turf, about half a foot thick, which seemed composed of the common moss; and the top, or upper part of the island, had almost the same appearance as to colour; but whatever covered it seemed to be thicker. I found amongst the trees some currant and hawberry bushes; a small yellow-flowered violet; and the leaves of some other plants not yet in flower, particularly one which Mr Anderson supposed to be the heracleum of Linnæus, the sweet herb, which Steller, who attended Beering, imagined the Americans here dress for food, in the same manner as the natives of Kamtschatka.
We saw, flying about the wood, a crow; two or three of the white-headed eagles mentioned at Nootka; and another sort full as large, which appeared also of the same colour, or blacker, and had only a white breast.[8] In the passage from the ship to the shore, we saw a great many fowls sitting upon the water, or flying about in flocks or pairs; the chief of which were a few quebrantaheuses, divers, ducks, or large peterels, gulls, shags, and burres. The divers were of two sorts; one very large, of a black colour, with a white breast and belly; the other smaller, and with a longer and more pointed bill, which seemed to be the common guillemot. The ducks were also of two sorts; one brownish, with a black or deep blue head and neck, and is perhaps the stone-duck described by Steller. The others fly in larger flocks, but are smaller than these, and are of a dirty black colour. The gulls were of the common sort, and those which fly in flocks. The shags were large and black, with a white spot behind the wings as they flew; but probably only the larger water cormorant. There was also a single bird seen flying about, to appearance of the gull kind, of a snowy white colour, with black along part of the upper side of its wings. I owe all these remarks to Mr Anderson. At the place where we landed, a fox came from the verge of the wood, and eyed us with very little emotion, walking leisurely without any signs of fear. He was of a reddish-yellow colour, like some of the skins we bought at Nootka, but not of a large size. We also saw two or three little seals off shore; but no other animals or birds, nor the least signs of inhabitants having ever been upon the island.