BOOK have been found, and recognised, after a lapse of ten years. LXXVI. These trunks are found sunk in the water, with the earth which supported them.

Indigenous tribes.

The inhabitants of the coast of Bhering's Straits appear to belong to the same race as the Tchouktches, on the opposite coast of Asia, although they are said to be at war with them. Their huts, more numerous than might be supposed in a similar climate, are situated along the shores of the sea, as far as the Kamtschatkan Gulf,* to which Captain Cook gave the name of the Bay of Bristol, because, in fact, it resembles that bay in England. The interior has not been visited. The Konias inhabit the eastern part of the peninsula of Alaska, which is almost separated from the continent by the Lake Schelekow. They appear to be of the same race as the Aleutians, as well as the Kenaitze, their neighbours to the east. The latter have given their name to the Kenaitzian Gulf, previously known under the name of Cook's River. Notwithstanding appearances to the contrary, no large river has been discovered here. Farther to the east, live the Tchougatches, a people of an imposing stature, who speak an idiom resembling that of the Tchouktches. The bay, covered with islands, and called by Captain Cook Norton's Inlet, bears the name of the Tchougatchean Gulf, in the Russian charts. A river separates this tribe from that of the Ougalachmiuts, who live near the celebrated mountain of St. Elias, which is probably a volcanic peak, and is calculated to have an elevation of 2,775 toises. It was in the environs of this mountain that Bhering landed, in the bay which bears his name, called in the idiom of the indigenous inhabitants, the bay of Ikatak. The Russians have built a small fort there; but Sitka, or New Archangel, their last establishment, is situated two degrees farther to

*Or Kamitchatskaia; but the last syllables are only the terminations of the Russian adjective in the feminine, corresponding to the substantive guba. It becomes necessary, therefore, to Anglicise it, in order to make it correspond with gulf.

the south, in one of the islands which Vancouver had de- BOOK nominated the Archipelago of King George III. A milder LXXVI. climate allows of the vigorous growth of the pine, the New ArchBerries of an angel.

American cedar, and several other trees.

excellent taste are likewise met with; fish is abundant and delicious, and rye and barley have succeeded there.

lougians.

port.

The warlike and ferocious Kolougis, Kolioujes, or Ka- The Kalougians, inhabit this coast. Possessing some fire arms, they still carry on an obstinate war against the Russians.* It was in the territory of the Kalougians, that the unfortunate La Peyrouse discovered the Port des Français, French which has been immortalized by the noble and unhappy sacrifice of the brothers La Borde. The French navigators give the most favourable account of the active and industrious spirit of the natives. Forging of iron and copper; working a kind of tapestry with the needle; weaving, with a great deal of ingenuity and taste, hats and baskets of reeds; hewing, sculpturing, and polishing serpentine stone; such are the first indications of the incipient civilization of this tribe. But, a strong propensity to theft, an indifference to the ties of kindred and marriage; the dirtiness of their cabins, and the disgusting custom of wearing a piece of wood in a slit in their lower lip, establishes a resemblance between them and their savage neighbours, and the Siberian Russians, who come and aggravate here all the evils of primitive barbarism.

sian Com

The fur which the Russians obtain from these coun Commerce tries, is chiefly procured from the sea-wolf, as well as other of the Rusanimals of the genus Phoca, and likewise from the sea-ot-pany. ter. These latter animals, incessantly hunted, begin now to become rare. The Indians employed as hunters, bring from the interior of the continent foxes skins of a blue, black, and grey colour. Already, parties of Russian hun

Lisienski's Voyage Round the World, p. 162. (English translation.) Langsdorf's Voyage Round the World, t. XI. p. 217. (English translation.) + La Peyrouse's Voyage Round the World, chap. IX.

BOOK ters have passed the Rocky Mountains, and, in all probaLXXVI. bility, their numbers are augmented by Canadian and

Continuation of the

mountains.

American hunters. The Russian Company of America possesses a capital of L.260,000. Those who are principally interested in this trade, are the merchants of Irkoutsk, a town in Siberia. The factories spread along the coasts of the continent, and upon the islands, are nothing more than a collection of huts, surrounded by a palisado of wood. A single ship of war would carry these feeble posts, one after the other, and would obtain rich booty from the store-houses of the Company. Even a party of resolute Canadian hunters would be sufficient for this purpose; because the natives, detesting the Russians, would, doubtlessly, join their enemies. It may be questioned if such distant and precarious establishments are sufficiently valuable for the Russians to expose themselves to the risk of disputes with the English and Anglo-Americans, which seem to be the inevitable. result of the continual advance of the hunters on both sides.

The countries that extend to the south of Russian Amenorth-west rica, as far as the confines of California, appear to form a region. long succession of plateaus, or very elevated basins, which are circumscribed to the east and west by two chains of mountains, the most western of which is, what the English The rocky have denominated the Stony, or Rocky Mountains. It is at the foot of those mountains that the largest rivers of North America take their rise, such as the Missouri, which flows to the south-east; the Sachatchawin, or Bourbon River, which runs to the east; and the Oungigah, which is lost towards the north. The other precipitous face of the north-west plateau forms a great chain parallel to the sea coasts, and always at a short distance from the Pacific Ocean. This distinction between the two chains which support the north-west plateau, appears to us to result from the observations of those who have traversed this country from east to west. The first of these travellers is Macken

zie, who, in his map, places the chain of the Rocky Moun- BOOK tains at more than a hundred leagues from the shore of the LXXVI. Pacific Ocean. These mountains appeared to him to rise about 3000 feet above their base, which must, itself, be very elevated; since our traveller experienced a more intense degree of cold there than at Fort Chipiwyan.* Their summits were covered with perpetual snow. He then descended to a more temperate valley, through which flows the Tahoutche Tessé, or Columbia River.t

Here is manifestly the boundary of the chain of the Stony Mountains. This chain continues a hundred leagues distant from the Pacific Ocean, or, at least, eighty, after allowing something for the sinuosities and ramifications.

chain of

west.

Mackenzie then ascended very lofty mountains, where Maritime he found himself obliged to walk on snow in the month of the northJune. After this, he descended towards the sea by an extremely rapid declivity; the climate immediately changed, and the empire of spring succeeded that of winter. Another modern traveller, Captain Vancouver, constantly observed a very high chain of mountains which closely bordered the shores of the continent, and in many places were covered with perpetual snow. La Peyrouse, Cook, Dixon, and all the other navigators, perceived this maritime chain of the north-west, which runs parallel to the coast, from Cook's Inlet to New Albion, a distance of more than 1000 leagues. Even the peninsula of California appears to be nothing more than the extremity of this great chain, disengaged from its secondary branches and terraces, or lower ridges, which, in New Albion, somewhat conceal its direction.

In order to throw some light on our description, we shall Divisions according adopt the nomenclature of Captain Vancouver. According to Vanto the maps of this able observer, New Georgia is situ- couver. ated between the 45° and 50° of north latitude. Its limits towards the interior are not determined. The Gulph of

Mackenzie's Travels, (French translation,) t. XI. p. 274-310, &c.

Ibid. p. 339–345.

Ibid. t. III. p. 145-151.

T

BOOK Georgia is very considerable, and communicates with the LXXVI. Pacific Ocean to the south by Claaset's Strait, which is supposed to be that of Juan de Fuca, and to the north, by Queen Charlotte's Strait. The river Columbia traverses the southern part and interior of this division.

New

Quadra and Vancouver Island, better known under the name of Nootka, is situated opposite New Georgia. The English have an establishment in Nootka Sound.

New Hanover extends from the 50th to the 54th parallel. In front of its coasts are situated the Fleurieu Islands, discovered and named by M. La Peyrouse, but unintentionally deprived of their appellation, by Vancouver, in assigning them to the Princess Royal of England. To the north, there are two arms of the sea which penetrate very far into the land, and have been called Inchbrook's Canal, and Gardner's Canal. The great island of Queen Charlotte is separated from the coast of New Hanover, by a broad channel, or arm of the ocean. The southern promontory of this island was named Cape Hector by La Peyrouse, and Cape St. James by Vancouver.

New Cornwall extends from the 54th to the 57th parallel. It comprehends a number of islands, designated under the name of Pitt's, or the Prince of Wales's Archipelago. The coast is completely intersected by friths, or channels, which penetrate very far into the country, especially the Portland channel; but no river of any length has yet been discovered. The currents of water that have been met with scarcely merit the name of rivulets.

New Norfolk runs as far as the 60th parallel. To the south it comprehends Admiralty Island, and King George's Archipelago; but, as the Russians now occupy these coasts, and the name of the natives, (the Kolioujes,) is known, the English denomination will probably soon disappear.

New Georgia presents the prospect of a moderately eleGeorgia. vated coast, agreeably diversified by hills, meadows, little woods, and brooks of fresh water. But behind these banks rise mountains covered with perpetual snow. Mount Rai