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.