The Indians of California are very expert in the use of the bow, and subsist chiefly by hunting and fishing. Their skin is dark, and they paint their bodies, by way of ornament: they also pierce their ears, and wear in them trinkets of various kinds. The wealthiest of them wear cloaks made of sea-otter skins, which cover the loins, and reach below their middle. Others, however, have only a piece of cloth round their waist, and a little cloak, formed of rabbit-skin, which covers their shoulders, and is tied beneath the chin. The huts of these Indians are the most miserable that can be imagined. Their form is circular; and about six feet wide and four feet high. In the construction of them, stakes, eight or ten feet long, are driven into the ground, and are brought together so as to form an arch at the top; and trusses of straw, badly arranged upon these stakes, defend the inhabitants from the wind and rain.
Near the Spanish settlement of Monterey, in north latitude 30 degrees 35 minutes, M. de la Perouse, the French navigator, states that the soil is tolerably fertile and productive; and the climate is mild, though foggy. This part of California produces, in abundance, olives, figs, pomegranates, grapes, and peaches; the trees of which have all been planted by the missionaries. Beyond Monterey, the interior of the country is covered with immense forests of pines and other trees.
North of California is New Albion, a country so called by Sir Francis Drake, who originally discovered it in the year 1578. It was visited about two hundred years afterwards, by Captain Cook. The country is mountainous; and, during the winter and spring, the mountains are covered with snow. The valleys and the grounds along the sea-coast, are clad with trees, and appear like a vast forest.
Captain Cook sailed northward along the coast of New Albion, and anchored his vessels in an inlet called Nootka Sound. The inhabitants of the adjacent country approached his ships, and offered for sale the skins of various animals; garments of different kinds, some of fur, and others formed of the bark of trees. But, of all the articles brought to market, the most extraordinary, were human skulls, and hands not quite stripped of their flesh, some of which had evident marks of having been upon the fire. The articles which the natives took, in exchange for their commodities, were knives, chisels, pieces of iron and tin, nails, looking-glasses, buttons, or any kind of metal. Though the commerce was, in general, carried on with mutual honesty, there were some among these people who were much inclined to theft. And they were extremely dangerous thieves; for, possessing sharp iron instruments, they could cut a hook from a tackle, or any other piece of iron from a rope, the moment that the backs of the English were turned; and the dexterity with which they conducted their operations of this nature, frequently eluded the most cautious vigilance. In the progress of the commerce, they would deal for nothing but metal; and, at length, brass was so eagerly sought for, in preference to iron, that, before the navigators quitted the place, scarcely a bit of brass was left in the ships, except what belonged to the different instruments. Whole suits of clothes were stripped of every button; bureaus were deprived of their furniture; copper-kettles, tin-canisters, candlesticks, and whatever of the like kind could be found, all were seized and carried off.
On Captain Cook's first arrival in this inlet, he had honoured it with the name of King George's Sound; but as it was called Nootka, by the natives, the latter appellation has since been generally adopted. The climate appeared to be much milder than that on the east coast of America, in the same parallel of latitude. With regard to trees, those of which the woods are chiefly composed, are the Canadian pine and white cypress; of the land animals, the most common were bears, deer, foxes, and wolves. The sea animals, which were seen off the coast, were whales, porpoises, seals, and sea-otters. Birds, in general, were not only rare as to the different species, but few in number.
With respect to the inhabitants, their persons are generally under the common stature; but they are usually full or plump, though without being muscular. From their bringing to sale human skulls and bones, it may be inferred that they treat their enemies with a degree of brutal cruelty. To the navigators, however, they appeared to be a docile, courteous, and good-natured people. The chief employments of the men, were those of fishing, and of killing land or sea animals for the sustenance of themselves and their families; while the women were occupied in manufacturing flaxen or woollen garments, and in other domestic offices.
North of Nootka Sound is Port St. François, which was visited by M. de la Perouse. There is, at this place, a deep bay which affords a safe anchorage. During three or four months of the year, vegetation near Port St. François is vigorous. In the interior of the country are forests of stately trees; and mountains of granite rise from the sea, and to such an elevation that their summits are capped with snow. Some of the highest mountains were computed by M. de la Perouse, to be ten thousand feet in perpendicular height.
The inhabitants of this part of America are more robust, and better proportioned, than the Californians. The faces of the women are, however, disfigured by having, through the under lip, a piece of wood, by way of ornament. They paint their body and face, tatoo themselves, and pierce their ears and the cartilage of their nose, for the purpose of placing ornaments in them. Their food consists chiefly of game and fish. Their huts, or cabins, are constructed of rushes, or the branches of trees, and are covered with bark. The weapons of the men are bows, javelins, and daggers. The women are chiefly employed in domestic concerns: their dress consists of a leathern shirt, and a mantle of skins; and their feet are generally naked.
The inhabitants of the country, adjacent to an inlet which Captain Cook named Prince William's Sound, appeared to have a strong resemblance to the Esquimaux and Greenlanders. Their canoes, their weapons, and their implements for fishing and hunting, are exactly similar, in materials and construction, to those used in Greenland; and the animals are, in general, similar to those that are found at Nootka. Humming-birds frequently flew about the ships while at anchor. Waterfowl were in considerable abundance: but torsk and holibut were almost the only kinds of fish that were caught. Vegetables were few in number; and the trees were chiefly the Canadian and spruce pine.
North of Prince William's Sound, Captain Cook entered an inlet, which, it was hoped, would be found to communicate either with Baffin's or Hudson's Bay to the east; but, after an examination of it, to the distance of seventy leagues from the sea, it was proved to be a river. It is now called Cook's River.