other weapons,
were hid in the bushes close behind them. Mr King also informed me,
that the ground was swampy, and the soil poor, light, and black. It
produced a few trees and shrubs; such as pines, alders, birch, and
willows; rose and currant bushes; and a little grass; but they saw not
a single plant in flower.

We weighed anchor as soon as it was high water, and, with a faint
breeze, southerly, stood over to the west shore, where the return of
the flood obliged us to anchor early next morning. Soon after, several
large, and some small canoes, with natives, came off, who bartered
their skins; after which they sold their garments, till many of them
were quite naked. Amongst others, they brought a number of white hare
or rabbit skins; and very beautiful reddish ones of foxes; but there
were only two or three skins of otters. They also sold us some pieces
of salmon and halibut. They preferred iron to every thing else offered
to them in exchange. The lip ornaments did not seem so frequent
amongst them as at Prince William's Sound; but they had more of those
which pass through the nose, and in general these were also much
longer. They had, however, a greater quantity of a kind of white and
red embroidered work on some parts of their garments, and on other
things, such as their quivers and knife-cases.

At half-past ten, we weighed with the first of the ebb, and having a
gentle breeze at south, plied down the river; in the doing of which,
by the inattention and neglect of the man at the lead, the Resolution
struck, and stuck fast on a bank, that lies nearly in the middle of
the river, and about two miles above the two projecting bluff points
before mentioned. This bank was, no doubt, the occasion of that very
strong rippling, or agitation of the stream, which we had observed
when turning up the river. There was not less than twelve feet depth
of water about the ship, at the lowest of the ebb, but other parts of
the bank were dry. As soon as the ship came aground, I made a signal
for the Discovery to anchor. She, as I afterward understood, had been
near ashore on the west side of the bank. As the flood-tide came
in, the ship floated off, soon after five o'clock in the afternoon,
without receiving the least damage, or giving us any trouble; and,
after standing over to the west shore into deep water, we anchored to
wait for the ebb, as the wind was still contrary.

We weighed again with the ebb, at ten o'clock at night; and