1773.
April.
reached the summit, which they made known to us by lighting a great fire there. We should have accompanied them on this excursion, but a violent flux attended with gripes confined us on board. It was owing to the carelessness of our cook, who had suffered our copper kitchen-furniture to become full of verdigrise. In the evening however, we went to meet our travellers in Cascade Cove, and after searching the woods some time for plants and birds, we brought them on board with us. At night the fire had spread in a bright circular garland all round the summit of the mountain, and made a very elegant illumination in honour of St. George's day. Our party related that they had a prospect of the whole bay, and of the sea beyond the mountains to the south, S.W. and W.N.W. for more than twenty leagues all round them, the weather being remarkably fine and clear. The inland mountains were very barren, and consisted of huge broken and craggy masses, all covered with snow on their summits; the top of that on which they stood, afforded several low shrubs and various alpine plants, which we had seen no where else. A little lower down they saw a taller shrubbery; below this a space covered with dry or dead trees, and next to those the living woods began, which increased in size as they descended. The ascent had been fatiguing enough, on account of the intricacy of briars and climbers, but the descent also was dangerous, because of manyprecipices
