Page:Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World in the Years 1791–95, volume 1.djvu/111

hc'ufr AdpiU'd up, that tlioy fomi'timcs ivlbrt to the rivulets and to ilic (ra foj provilions. On this account, it was confidfrnl latiicr extraordinary, thai the l)onrs of the (ilhcs on which thiy had led were no where to be louiid; aiul this led to a ru|)j)o(ition that ihole which their endeavours ena- bled them to procine were very linall. It appean d Hill more extraordinary that, finee they <hew a certain proj)ortion of their food f'roin the fea, they (hould not have difcovered foexcellent a part of its |)roduceas oyllcrj and chinis; notwithllandinj; ihat llie hitter (how thendi'lves on the beaches over which they mud frecpienily walk; and that the former at low water require only wading hall-leg deep on the Ihoals that extend from the main land lo gather in a ll-w minutes a day's fnblillence. Neither did it ap- pear that they had any knowledge of llielt", the limpets, nor any other fhc-ll lilh found amongd the rocks; or ii" they had, for lc)me riafon not eafdy to be imagined, they certainly madenoufe of them; olherwife their ftiells in all human jjrobability would have i)een (een near the places of their re- fort. Hence it may naturally be inferred, that the land principally fnpplies their wants, or hunger would long fince have condutled them to fuch excellent refourccs. This opinion is fui)ported by the ex- treme (liynefs of the feathered creation, and the wildnels of the quadru- peds, whofe footing, and the other figns of their being at no great didancc without our obtaining any fight of them, fufficicntly procd that they were conllantly purfued. This cireumflancc may furnilh a probable con- jeftuie on the caufe of the very extraordinary devaflaiion by fire, which the vegetable produftions had fuffcred throughout the whole country we traverfed. Fire is frecjuently rcfbrted to by rude nations, either for the purpofe of encouraging a fwcetcr growth of herbage in their hunting grounds, or as toils for taking their wild animals, of which they are in |)urluit. When the forelt is fet on fire for fuch purpofes in a dry feafon, its ravages may become very extenfivc; and the inflannnatory quality of the gum plant, which is here in great abundance, may operate to pro- mote that general havoek which we obfcrved in the vegetable kingdom. The deltru6iive operations of fire were, however, evident in places where the gum-plant was not found for a confidcrable diflance; and, pofitively fpcaking, in our excurfion on fhore, we did not fee a fpot that • 701. October. ^•!f 1 mvj