Nootka.  Their heads were also powdered with feathers.  One man held out a white garment, which we interpreted as a sign of friendship; and another stood up in the canoe, quite naked, for almost a quarter of an hour, with his arms stretched out like a cross, and motionless.  The canoes were not constructed of wood, as at King George’s or Nootka Sound.  The frame only, being slender laths, was of that substance; the outside consisting of the skins of seals, or of such like animals.  Though we returned all their signs of friendship, and, by every expressive gesture, tried to encourage them to come alongside, we could not prevail.  Some of our people repeated several of the common words of the Nootka language, such as seekemaile, and mahook; but they did not seem to understand them.  After receiving some presents, which were thrown to them, they retired toward that part of the shore from whence they came; giving us to understand by signs, that they would visit us again the next morning.  Two of them, however, each in a small canoe, waited upon us in the night; probably with a design to pilfer something, thinking we should be all asleep; for they retired as soon as they found themselves discovered.

During the night, the wind was at S.S.E., blowing hard and in squalls, with rain, and very thick weather.  At ten o’clock next morning, the wind became more moderate, and the weather being somewhat clearer, we got under sail, in order to look out for some snug place, where we might search for, and stop the leak; our present station being too much exposed for this purpose.  At first I proposed to have gone up the bay, before which we had anchored; but the clearness of the weather tempted me to steer to the northward, farther up the great inlet, as being all in our way.  As soon as we had passed the N.W. point of the bay above mentioned, we found the coast on that side to turn short to the eastward.  I did not follow it, but continued our course to the north, for a point of land which we saw in that direction.

The natives who visited us the preceding evening, came off again in the morning, in five or six canoes; but not till we were under sail; and although they followed us for some time, they could not get up with us.  Before two in the afternoon, the bad weather returned again, with so thick a haze, that we could see no other land besides the point just mentioned, which we reached at half past four, and found it to be a small island, lying about two miles from the adjacent coast, being a point of land, on the east side of which we discovered a fine bay, or rather harbour.  To this we plied up, under reefed topsails and courses.  The wind blew strong at S.E., and in excessively hard squalls, with rain.  At intervals, we could see land in every direction; but in general the weather was so foggy, that we could see none but the shores of the bay into which we were plying.  In passing the island, the depth of water was twenty-six fathoms,