le to go farther: I found it, indeed, not
only difficult but dangerous to get up thus far. The stream is very
rapid, and many stumps of trees lie hidden under it: One of these made
its way through the bottom of my boat, and in an instant she was full of
water. We got on shore as well as we could; and afterwards, with great
difficulty, hauled her up upon the side of the river: Here we contrived
to stop the hole in her bottom, so as that we made a shift to get her
down to the river's mouth, where she was soon properly repaired by the
carpenter. On each side of this river there are the finest trees I ever
saw, and I make no doubt but that they would supply the British navy
with the best masts in the world. Some of them are of a great height,
and more than eight feet in diameter, which is proportionably more than
eight yards in circumference; so that four men, joining hand in hand,
could not compass them: Among others, we found the pepper tree, or
Winter's bark, in great plenty.[23] Among these woods, notwithstanding
the coldness of the climate, there are innumerable parrots, and other birds
of the most beautiful plumage. I shot every day geese and ducks enough
to serve my own table and several others, and every body on board might
have done the same: We had, indeed, great plenty of fresh provisions of
all kinds, for we caught as much fish every day as served the companies
of both ships. As I was much on shore here, I tracked many wild beasts
in the sand, but never saw one; we also found many huts or wigwams, but
never met with an Indian. The country between this port and Cape
Forward, which is distant about four leagues, is extremely fine, the
soil appears to be very good, and there are no less than three pretty
large rivers, besides several brooks.[24]

[Footnote 23: "In this part may be found a considerable quantity of
excellent wood, either green or dry, the latter lying along the shore on
both sides the straits, which are almost covered with the trees, that,
having grown on the banks, have been blown down by the high winds. These
trees are somewhat like our birch, but are of so considerable a size,
that the trunks of some of them are two feet (surely an error, yards
must be intended) and a half in diameter, and sixty feet in length. Many
of these we cut down for our carpenters use, and found that, when
properly dried, they were very serviceable, though not fit for masts."
The bark named Winter's in the text, is so calle