Our Situation
Now Became Much More Dangerous, For The Waves Were Driven With Fury
Against The Rocks And Trees, Which
Till now had afforded us refuge:
we therefore took advantage of the low tide, and moved about half a mile
Round a point to a small brook, which we had not observed before on
account of the thick bushes and driftwood which concealed its mouth.
Here we were more safe, but still cold and wet; our clothes and bedding
rotten as well as wet, our baggage at a distance, and the canoes,
our only means of escape from this place, at the mercy of the waves.
Still, we continued to enjoy good health, and even had the luxury of feasting
on some salmon and three salmon trout which we caught in the brook.
Three of the men attempted to go round a point in our small Indian canoe,
but the high waves rendered her quite unmanageable, these boats requiring
the seamanship of the natives to make them live in so rough a sea."
It should be borne in mind that the canoes of the explorers were poor
dug-outs, unfit to navigate the turbulent waters of the bay, and the men
were not so expert in that sort of seamanship as were the Indians whom they,
with envy, saw breasting the waves and making short voyages in the midst
of the storms. It continued to rain without any intermission, and the waves
dashed up among the floating logs of the camp in a very distracting manner.
The party now had nothing but dried fish to eat, and it was with great
difficulty that a fire could be built.
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