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1789.]

SUPERSTITIONS OF THE NATIVES.

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and the admission of the chief himself, sufficiently prove the existence of this atrocious custom, whatever might be the extent to which it was carried.

For a long time the English thought the inhabitants had no religious belief whatever. To the huge misshapen images seen in their houses they address no homage; they had neither priests nor temples, nor did they offer any sacrifices; but an accidental circumstance led to the discovery that, though devoid of all superstitious observances, and wholly ignorant of the true God, they were not without a certain species of mythology, including the belief of an existence after death. "This discovery," says Meares,

66

arose from our inquiries on a very different subject. On expressing our wish to be informed by what means they became acquainted with copper, and why it was such a peculiar object of their admiration, a son of Hannapa, one of the Nootkan chiefs, a youth of uncommon sagacity, informed us of all he knew on the subject; and we found, to our surprise, that his story involved a little sketch of their religion." When words were wanting, he supplied the deficiency by those expressive actions which nature or necessity seems to communicate to people whose language is imperfect; and the young Nootkan conveyed his ideas. by signs so skilfully as to render them perfectly intelligible. He related his story in the following manner :— "He first placed a certain number of sticks on the ground, at small distances from each other, to which he gave separate names. Thus, he called the first his father, and the next his grandfather: he then took what remained, and threw them all into confusion together, as much as to say that they were the general heap of his ancestors, whom he could not individually reckon. He then, pointing to this bundle, said, when they lived, an old man entered the Sound in a copper canoe, with copper paddles, and every

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SPECULATIONS ON A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE.

[1789.

thing else in his possession of the same metal; that he paddled along the shore, on which all the people were assembled to contemplate so strange a sight, and that, having thrown one of his copper paddles on shore, he himself landed. The extraordinary stranger then told the natives that he came from the sky, to which the boy pointed with his hand; that their country would one day be destroyed, when they would all be killed, and rise again to live in the place from whence he came. Our young interpreter explained this circumstance of his narrative by lying down as if he were dead, and then, rising up suddenly, he imitated the action as if he were soaring through the air. He continued to inform us that the people killed the old man and took his canoe, from which event they derived their fondness for copper, and he added that the images in their houses were intended to represent the form, and perpetuate the mission, of this supernatural person who came from the sky."

As the objects of this voyage were principally of a commercial nature, Captain Meares had better opportunities to observe the character of the natives than to explore the coast or the interior of the country. The range of his navigation, extending only from Nootka Sound to the latitude of 49° 37′ north, disclosed no regular continuity of land, but in every direction large islands, divided by deep sounds and channels. The time which this intelligent seaman could spare was not enough to complete the survey; but judging from what he did see, he was led to the belief that the entire space from St. George's Sound to Hudson's Bay and Davis' Strait, instead of a continent, was occupied by an immense archipelago, through which might reach a passage from the Pacific into the Atlantic Ocean.

*Meares' Voyages, vol. ii. pp. 70, 71.

"The

1790.]

VOYAGE OF VANCOUVER.

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channels of this archipelago," says he, in his memoir on the probable existence of a north-west passage, 66 were found to be wide and capacious, with near two hundred fathoms depth of water, and huge promontories stretching out into the sea, where whales and sea-otters were seen in an incredible abundance. In some of these channels there are islands of ice, which we may venture to say could never have been formed on the western side of America, which possesses a mild and moderate climate; so that their existence cannot be reconciled to any other idea, than that they received their formation in the Eastern Seas, and have been drifted by tides and currents through the passage for whose existence we are contending."

To determine this great question, and complete an accurate survey of the north-west coast of America, Captain Vancouver, an excellent officer, who had received his professional education under Cook, was despatched in 1790; and commencing his voyage at Cape Mendocino, in latitude 41°, he sailed northward two hundred and nineteen leagues to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, never losing sight of the surf which dashed against the shore, taking once or twice every day the meridional altitude, and minutely noting the position of the most conspicuous points. The whole coast presented an impenetrable barrier against approach from the sea, and no opening was found to afford his vessels the smallest shelter. He then explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca; and having satisfied himself that no passage across America was to be discovered there, devoted his time to the survey of the labyrinth of islands, sounds, and inlets, between 50° and 60° of latitude. After a series of patient and scientific observations every way worthy of the school in which he had been bred, he ascer

*Meares' Voyages, vol. ii. p. 242.

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KOTZEBUE.

[1816.

tained the grand fact that the coast was throughout continuous, and thus dispelled all hope of a north-west passage in this quarter. It was his fate to encounter not a little unreasonable scepticism when the result was made public; and, like many other travellers and navigators, he found too much reason to complain of those lazy closet-philosophers who refuse to admit any testimony which happens to contradict their own preconceived theories. Time, however, has done him justice, and fully confirmed the accuracy of his report.

After the disastrous result of the expedition of Behring, more than eighty years elapsed before Russia thought proper to pursue the career of discovery on the extreme coasts of North-western America. At length Count Romanzoff, a scientific and patriotic nobleman, determined to despatch Lieutenant Kotzebue on a voyage to the straits which bear the name of that great mariner. His equipment consisted of a single vessel, the Rurick, 100 tons burden, with twenty-two sailors, a surgeon, and a botanist. Having doubled Cape Horn, he arrived on the 19th June 1816 at Awatscha. Continuing his course, he passed the boundary explored by Behring, and on the 1st of August descried on his right, in latitude 68°, a broad opening, which he trusted would prove the longsought-for passage. Having entered, he landed on the beach, ascended a neighbouring hill, and saw nothing but water as far as the eye could reach. Full of ardent expectation, he employed a fortnight in examining this sound, making a complete circuit of its shores. No outlet, however, was discovered, except one, which it appeared almost certain communicated with Norton Sound, and Kotzebue resumed his voyage, which, however, was attended with no new or important results. To this arm of the sea, the discovery of which forms the principal feature in

1816.]

COLONIZATION OF CANADA.

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his enterprise, he has very properly communicated his

name.

With Kotzebue terminates our account of the progress of discovery upon the north-western shores of America; for an outline of the survey made by Captain Beechey belongs to a future portion of this disquisition. It is a pleasing reflection, that almost exclusively to the British navy belongs the hard-earned praise of having explored nearly the whole of this coast, with an accuracy which leaves nothing to be desired by the most scientific navigator.

CHAPTER III.

Hearne and Sir Alexander Mackenzie.

Colonization of Canada-French Fur-Trade-Rise of Hudson's Bay Company-Hearne's Three Journeys-North-West Fur CompanyFirst Journey of Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1789-His Second Expedition in 1792.

HAVING completed a brief sketch of the progress of discovery along the wide extent of the eastern and western shores of North America, from the first expedition of Cabot to the latest attempts of Kotzebue, two important subjects present themselves the rise of the fur-trade, and the great discoveries which were achieved by British subjects connected with this branch of commercial enterprise. The expedition of Cartier conferred on the French that title to the countries round the St. Lawrence which results from priority of discovery; and other circumstances combined to direct their efforts chiefly to the colonization of the more northern tracts of America. Amongst these causes may be reckoned the disastrous failure of their attempt to establish a settlement in Florida, the great power of the Spaniards

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