A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 16

by Robert Kerr

Between one and two in the morning of the 30th, we weighed again with the first of the flood, the gale having, by this time quite abated, but still continuing contrary; so that we plied up till near seven o'clock, when the tide being done, we anchored in nineteen fathoms, under the same shore as before. The N.W. part of it, forming a bluff point, bore N., 20° E., two leagues distant; a point on the other shore opposite to it, and nearly of the same height, bore N., 36° W.; our latitude, by observation, 60° 37'.

About noon, two canoes, with a man in each, came off to the ship from near the place where we had seen the smoke the preceding day. They laboured very hard in paddling across the strong tide, and hesitated a little before they would come quite close; but upon signs being made to them, they approached. One of them talked a great deal to no purpose; for we did not understand a word he said. He kept pointing to the shore, which we interpreted to be an invitation to go thither. They accepted a few trifles from me, which I conveyed to them from the quarter-gallery. These men, in every respect, resembled the people we had met with in Prince William's Sound, as to their persons and dress. Their canoes were also of the same construction. One of our visitors had his face painted jet black, and seemed to have no beard; but the other, who was more elderly, had no paint, and a considerable beard, with a visage much like the common sort of the Prince William's people. There was also smoke seen upon the flat western shore this day, from whence we may infer that these lower spots and islands are the only inhabited places.

When the flood made we weighed, and then the canoes left us. I stood over to the western shore, with a fresh gale at N.N.E., and fetched under the point above-mentioned. This, with the other on the opposite shore, contracted the channel to the breadth of four leagues. Through this channel ran a prodigious tide. It looked frightful to us, who could not tell whether the agitation of the water was occasioned by the stream, or by the breaking of the waves against rocks or sands. As we met with no shoal, it was concluded to be the former; but, in the end, we found ourselves mistaken. I now kept the western shore aboard, it appearing to be the safest. Near the shore we had a depth of thirteen fathoms; and two or three miles off, forty and upwards. At eight in the evening, we anchored under a point of land which bore N.E., three leagues distant, in fifteen fathoms water. Here we lay during the ebb, which ran near five knots in the hour.

Until we got thus far, the water had retained the same degree of saltness at low as at high water; and at both periods was as salt as that in the ocean. But now the marks of a river displayed themselves. The water taken up this ebb, when at the lowest, was found to be very considerably fresher than any we had hitherto tasted; insomuch that I was convinced that we were in a large river, and not in a strait, communicating with the northern seas. But as we had proceeded thus far, I was desirous of having stronger proofs; and therefore weighed with the next flood in the morning of the 31st, and plied higher up, or rather drove up with the tide; for we had but little wind.

About eight o'clock, we were visited by several of the natives, in one large and several small canoes. The latter carried only one person each; and some had a paddle, with a blade at each end, after the manner of the Esquimaux. In the large canoes, were men, women, and children. Before they reached the ship, they displayed a leathern frock, upon a long pole, as a sign, as we understood it, of their peaceable intentions. This frock they conveyed into the ship, in return for some trifles which I gave them. I could observe no difference between the persons, dress, ornaments, and boats of these people, and those of Prince William's Sound, except that the small canoes were rather of a less size, and carried only one man. We procured from them some of their fur dresses, made of the skins of sea-otters, martins, hares, and other animals; a few of their darts, and a small supply of salmon and halibut. In exchange for these they took old clothes, beads, and pieces of iron. We found that they were in possession of large iron knives, and of sky-blue glass beads, such as we had found amongst the natives of Prince William's Sound. These latter they seemed to value much, and consequently those which we now gave them. But their inclination led them especially to ask for large pieces of iron; which metal, if I was not much mistaken, they called by the name of goone; though, like their neighbours in Prince William's Sound, they seemed to have many significations to one word. They evidently spoke the same language; as the words keeta, naema, oonaka, and a few others of the most common we heard in that Sound, were also frequently used by this new tribe. After spending about two hours between the one ship and the other, they all retired to the western shore.

At nine o'clock, we came to an anchor, in sixteen fathoms water, about two leagues from the west shore, and found the ebb already begun. At its greatest strength, it ran only three knots in the hour, and fell, upon a perpendicular, after we had anchored, twenty-one feet. The weather was misty, with drizzling rain, and clear, by turns. At the clear intervals, we saw an opening between the mountains on the eastern shore, bearing east from the station of the ships, with low land, which we supposed to be islands lying between us and the main land. Low land was also seen to the northward, that seemed to extend from the foot of the mountains on the one side to those on the other; and at low water we perceived large shoals stretching out from this low land, some of which were at no great distance from us. From these appearances we were in some doubt whether the inlet did not take an easterly direction through the above opening; or whether that opening was only a branch of it, and the main channel continued its northern direction through the low land now in sight. The continuation and direction of the chain of mountains on each side of it, strongly indicated the probability of the latter supposition.

To determine this point, and to examine the shoals, I dispatched two boats under the command of the master, and as soon as the flood-tide made, followed with the ships; but as it was a dead calm, and the tide strong, I anchored, after driving about ten miles in an east direction. At the lowest of the preceding ebb, the water at the surface, and for near a foot below it, was found to be perfectly fresh; retaining, however, a considerable degree of saltness at a greater depth. Besides this, we had now many other, and but too evident proofs of being in a great river; such as low shores; very thick and muddy water; large trees, and all manner of dirt and rubbish, floating up and down with the tide. In the afternoon, the natives, in several canoes, paid us another visit; and trafficked with our people for some time, without ever giving us reason to accuse them of any act of dishonesty.

At two o'clock next morning, being the 1st of June, the master returned, and reported, that he found the inlet, or rather river, contracted to the breadth of one league, by low land on each side, through which it took a northerly direction. He proceeded three leagues through this narrow part, which he found navigable for the largest ships, being from twenty to seventeen fathoms deep. The least water, at a proper distance from the shore and shoals, was ten fathoms; and this was before he entered the narrow part. While the ebb or stream run down, the water was perfectly fresh; but after the flood made it became brackish; and toward high water, very much so, even as high up as he went. He landed upon an island, which lies between this branch and the eastern one; and upon it saw some currant bushes, with the fruit already set; and some other fruit-trees and bushes, unknown to him. The soil appeared to be clay, mixed with sand. About three leagues beyond the extent of his search, or to the northward of it, he observed there was another separation in the eastern chain of mountains, through which he supposed the river took a N.E. direction; but it seemed rather more probable that this was only another branch, and that the main channel kept its northern direction, between the two ridges or chains of mountains before mentioned. He found that these two ridges, as they extended to the north, inclined more and more to each other, but never appeared to close; nor was any elevated land seen between them, only low land, part woody, and part clear.

All hopes of finding a passage were now given up. But as the ebb was almost spent, and we could not return against the flood, I thought I might as well take the advantage of the latter to get a nearer view of the eastern branch; and by that means finally to determine, whether the low land on the east side of the river was an island, as we had supposed, or not. With this purpose in view, we weighed with the first breeze of the flood, and having a faint breeze at N.E. stood over for the eastern shore, with boats ahead, sounding. Our depth was from twelve to five fathoms; the bottom a hard gravel, though the water was exceedingly muddy. At eight o'clock a fresh breeze sprung up at east, blowing in an opposite direction to our course; so that I despaired of reaching the entrance of the river, to which we were plying up, before high water. But thinking, that what the ships could not do might be done by boats, I dispatched two, under the command of Lieutenant King, to examine the tides, and to make such other observations as might give us some insight into the nature of the river.