with a muddy bottom.  Soon after, the depth increased to sixty and seventy fathoms, a rocky bottom; but in the entrance of the bay, the depth was from thirty to six fathoms; the last very near the shore.  At length, at eight o’clock, the violence of the squalls obliged us to anchor in thirteen fathoms, before we had got so far into the bay as I intended; but we thought ourselves fortunate that we had already sufficiently secured ourselves at this hour; for the night was exceedingly stormy.

The weather, bad as it was, did not hinder three of the natives from paying us a visit.  They came off in two canoes; two men in one, and one in the other, being the number each could carry.  For they were built and constructed in the same manner with those of the Esquimaux; only in the one were two holes for two men to sit in, and in the other but one.  Each of these men had a stick, about three feet long, with the large feathers or wing of birds tied to it.  These they frequently held up to us, with a view, as we guessed, to express their pacific disposition.[9]

[Footnote 9:  Exactly corresponding to this, was the manner of receiving Beering’s people, at the Schumagin Islands, on this coast, in 1741.  Muller’s words are—­“On sait ce que c’est que le Calumet, que les Americans septentrionaux presentent en signe de paix.  Ceux-ci en tenoient de pareils en main.  C’etoient des batons avec ailes de faucon attachees au bout”—­Decouvertes, p. 268.—­D.]

The treatment these men met with, induced many more to visit us, between one and two the next morning, in both great and small canoes.  Some ventured on board the ship; but not till some of our people had stepped into their boats.  Amongst those who came on board, was a good-looking middle-aged man, whom we afterward found to be the chief.  He was cloathed in a dress made of the sea-otter’s skin; and had on his head such a cap as is worn by the people of King George’s Sound, ornamented with sky-blue glass beads, about the size of a large pea.  He seemed to set a much higher value upon these, than upon our white glass beads.  Any sort of beads, however, appeared to be in high estimation with these people; and they readily gave whatever they had in exchange for them, even their fine sea-otter skins.  But here I must observe, that they set no more value upon these than upon other skins, which was also the case at King George’s Sound, till our people set a higher price upon them; and even after that, the natives of both places would sooner part with a dress made of these, than with one made of the skins of wild-cats or of martins.