in a
bay five or six miles wide, with no very certain prospect of a camping
place. Just then we espied a cluster of cabins and houses on a point to
the east. There we made a landing, at what is now known as Alki Point,
though it then bore the pretentious name of New York.

We soon pushed on to the east shore, where the steam from a sawmill
served as a guide, and landed at a point that cannot be far from the
western limit of the present Pioneer Place, in Seattle, near where the
totem pole now stands.

As we were not looking for a mill site or town site, we pushed on next
day. We had gone but a few miles when a favorable breeze sprang up,
bringing with it visions of a happy time sailing; but behind us lay a
long stretch of open waters several miles wide, and ahead we could see
no visible shelter and no lessening of width; consequently the breeze
was not entirely welcome. In a short time the breeze stiffened, and we
began to realize that we were in danger. We were afraid to attempt a
landing on the surf-beaten shore; but finally, the wind increasing, the
clouds lowering, and the rain coming down in torrents, we had to take
the risk. Letting down the sail, we headed our frail craft towards the
shore. Fortune favored us, for we found a good sandy beach upon which to
land, though we got a thorough drenching while so doing.

[Illustration: _Brown Bros._

A rich haul of salmon.]

Here we were compelled to remain two or three days in a dismal camp,
until the weather became more favorable. Then launching our boat, we
pulled for the head of Whidbey's Island, a few miles to the northwest.

Now I have a fish story to tell. I have always been shy about telling
it, lest some smart fellow should up and say I was drawing on my
imagination: I am not.

When we had broken camp and were sailing along, we heard a dull sound
like that often heard from the tide rips. As we rested on our oars, we
could see that there was a disturbance in the water and that it was
moving toward us. It extended as far as we could see, in the direction
we were going. The sound increased and became like the roar of a heavy
fall of rain or hail on water, and we became aware that it was a vast
school of fish moving south, while millions were seemingly dancing on
the surface of the water or leaping in the air.

We could feel the fish striking against the boat in such vast numbers
that they fairly moved it. The leap in the air was so high that we tried
tippin