ed with his fruitless expedition.

In the afternoon of the 13th, the voyagers continued their route, and
with very favourable weather. They passed several places, where fires
had recently been made; and beyond these, they observed a party of
Indians, drawing their canoes on the beach, and endeavouring to escape
into the woods. These had been so much terrified, by the appearance of
the strangers, and the report of their guns, in shooting wild-geese,
that they left, on the beach, several weapons and articles of dress. Mr.
Mackenzie directed his men to go into the woods, in search of them, but
in vain; for they had fled too rapidly to be overtaken.

The voyagers had, for some time, subsisted chiefly on fish, which they
had caught in their nets, and on deer and other game, which the hunters
had killed.

On Saturday, the 12th of September, at three o'clock in the afternoon,
they again arrived at _Fort Chepewyan_; and thus concluded an arduous
voyage, which, in the whole, had occupied the space of one hundred and
two days.

_The Western Coast of America, from California to Behring's Strait._

On the western coast of North America, and lying between the
twenty-second and thirty-second degrees of latitude, is a very singular
promontory, near seven hundred miles in length, called _California_. It
is at present subject to Spain; and is separated from New Mexico, by the
_Gulf of California_, an arm of the sea, which is navigable by vessels
of the largest size. The general surface of the country is barren,
rugged, overrun with hills, rocks, and sand-banks, and unfit for
agriculture. But, in a few places, where the Spanish missionaries have
established settlements, the lands are fertile, and singularly
productive of maize, barley, and peas. The plains, in the interior, are
noted for the production of rock-salt.

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;