On the 21st at noon, having made but little progress, on account of faint winds and calms, Halibut-Head, which lies in the latitude of 54° 27', and in the longitude of 197°, bore N. 24° W., and the island on which it is, and called Halibut Island, extended from N. by E. to N.W. by W., two leagues distant. This island is seven or eight leagues in circuit, and, except the head, the land of it is low and very barren. There are several small islands near it, all of the same appearance, but there seemed to be a passage between them and the main, two or three leagues broad.[7]
The rocks and breakers, before mentioned, forced us so far from the continent, that we had but a distant view of the coast between Rock Point and Halibut Island. Over this and the adjoining islands we could see the main land covered with snow, but particularly some hills, whose elevated tops were seen, towering above the clouds, to a most stupendous height. The most south-westerly of these hills was discovered to have a volcano, which continually threw up vast columns of black smoke. It stands not far from the coast, and in the latitude of 54° 48', and in the longitude of 195° 45'. It is also remarkable from its figure, which is a complete cone, and the volcano is at the very summit. We seldom saw this (or indeed any other of these mountains) wholly clear of clouds. At times, both base and summit would be clear, when a narrow cloud, sometimes two or three, one above another, would embrace the middle like a girdle, which, with the column of smoke, rising perpendicular to a great height out of its top, and spreading before the wind into a tail of vast length, made a very picturesque appearance. It may be worth remarking, that the wind, at the height to which the smoke of this volcano reached, moved sometimes in a direction contrary to what it did at sea, even when it blew a fresh gale.
In the afternoon, having three hours calm, our people caught upwards of a hundred halibuts, some of which weighed a hundred pounds, and none less than twenty pounds. This was a very seasonable refreshment to us. In the height of our fishing, which was in thirty-five fathoms water, and three or four miles from the shore, a small canoe, conducted by one man, came to us from the large island. On approaching the ship, be took off his cap, and bowed, as the other had done, who visited the Discovery the preceding day. It was evident that the Russians must have a communication and traffic with these people, not only from their acquired politeness, but from the note before mentioned. But we had now a fresh proof of it; for our present visitor wore a pair of green cloth breeches, and a jacket of black cloth or stuff, under the gut-shirt or frock of his own country. He had nothing to barter, except a grey fox skin, and some fishing implements or harpoons, the heads of the shafts of which, for the length of a foot or more, were neatly made of bone, as thick as a walking cane, and carved. He had with him a bladder full of something, which we supposed to be oil, for he opened it, took a mouthful, and then fastened it again.
His canoe was of the same make with those we had seen before, but rather smaller. He used a double bladed-paddle, as did also those who had visited the Discovery. In his size and features, he exactly resembled those we saw in Prince William's Sound, and in the Great River, but he was quite free from paint of any kind, and had the perforation of his lips made in an oblique direction, without any ornament in it. He did not seem to understand any of the words commonly used by our visitors in the Sound, when repeated to him. But, perhaps, our faulty pronunciation, rather than his ignorance of the dialect, may be inferred from this.
The weather was cloudy and hazy, with now and then sunshine, till the afternoon of the 22d, when the wind came round to the S.E., and, as usual, brought thick rainy weather. Before the fog came on, no part of the main land was in sight, except the volcano, and another mountain close by it. I continued to steer W. till seven in the evening, when, being apprehensive of falling in with the land in thick weather, we hauled the wind to the southward, till two o'clock next morning, and then bore away W. We made but little progress, having the wind variable, and but little of it, till at last it fixed in the western board, and at five in the afternoon, having a gleam of sunshine, we saw land bearing N. 59° W., appearing in hillocks like islands.
At six in the morning of the 24th, we got a sight of the continent, and at nine it was seen extending from N.E. by E. to S.W. by W. 1/2 W., the nearest part about four leagues distant. The land to the S.W. proved to be islands, the same that had been seen the preceding evening. But the other was a continuation of the continent, without any islands to obstruct our view of it. In the evening, being about four leagues from the shore, in forty-two fathoms water, having little or no wind, we had recourse to our hooks and lines, but only two or three small cod were caught.
The next morning we got a breeze easterly, and what was uncommon with this wind, clear weather, so that we not only saw the volcano, but other mountains, both to the east and west of it, and all the coast of the main land under them, much plainer than at any time before. It extended from N.E. by N. to N.W. 1/2 W., where it seemed to terminate. Between this point and the islands without it, there appeared a large opening, for which I steered, till we raised land beyond it. This land, although we did not perceive that it joined the continent, made a passage through the opening very doubtful. It also made it doubtful, whether the land which we saw to the S.W., was insular or continental, and, if the latter, it was obvious that the opening would be a deep bay or inlet, from which, if once we entered it with an easterly wind, it would not be so easy to get out. Not caring, therefore, to trust too much to appearances, I steered to the southward. Having thus got without all the land in sight, I then steered west, in which direction the islands lay, for such we found this land to be.
By eight o'clock we had passed three of them, all of a good height. More of them were now seen to the westward, the south-westernmost part of them bearing W.N.W. The weather, in the afternoon, became gloomy, and at length turned to a mist, and the wind blew fresh at E. I therefore, at ten at night, hauled the wind to the southward till day-break, when we resumed our course to the W.
Day-light availed us little, for the weather was so thick, that we could not see a hundred yards before us; but as the wind was now moderate, I ventured to run. At half-past four, we were alarmed at hearing the sound of breakers on our larboard bow. On heaving the lead, we found twenty-eight fathoms water, and the next cast, twenty-five. I immediately brought the ship to, with her head to the northward, and anchored in this last depth, over a bottom of coarse sand, calling to the Discovery, she being close by us, to anchor also.
A few hours after, the fog having cleared away a little, it appeared that we had escaped very imminent danger. We found ourselves three quarters of a mile from the N.E. side of an island, which extended from S. by W. 1/2 W. to N. by E. 1/2 E., each extreme about a league distant. Two elevated rocks, the one bearing S. by E., and the other E. by S., were about half a league each from us, and about the same distance from each other. There were several breakers about them, and yet Providence had, in the dark, conducted the ships through, between these rocks, which I should not have ventured in a clear day, and to such an anchoring-place, that I could not have chosen a better.