The Events at Nootka Sound 1778 Nootka Nootka Nootka Nootka Nootka Nootka

The ships, in a sad state of repair and leaking badly, were almost three years out. Cook was in the Resolution while his good friend Charles Clerke commanded the Discovery. They had been making their way steadily north away from from the warm waters off Hawaii, up the Oregon coast, buffeted by gale after gale. Their orders were to explore as far north as possible, well up into the cold Artic, to search for a "back door' to the much sought after North West Passage. The men were exhausted. The Discovery had just “sprung” her main main mast. They were low on fresh water and needed somewhere, anywhere, to make land.

...At length, at nine o'clock in the morning of the 29th, as we were standing to the north-east, we again saw the land, which, at noon, extended from northwest by west, to east south-east, the nearest part about six leagues distant. Our latitude was now 49° 29' north, and our longitude 232° 29' east....

...as we advanced, the existence of the inlet was no longer doubtful. At five o'clock we reached the west point of it, where we were becalmed for some time. While in this situation, I ordered all the boats to be hoisted out to tow the ships in. But this was hardly done, before a fresh breeze sprung up again at north-west, with which we were enabled to stretch up into an arm of the inlet, that was observed by us to run in to the north-east. There we were again becalmed, and obliged to anchor in eighty-five fathoms water, and so near the shore as to reach it with a hawser..

...These circumstances gave us a reasonable ground of hope, that we should find this a comfortable station to supply all our wants, and make us forget the hardships and delays experienced during a constant succession of adverse winds, and boisterous weather, almost ever since our arrival upon the coast of America. Voyage, Vol VI, pg 246.

Murder of Cook

James Cook would never return home. Nine months and a few days later, his luck would run out as he once again attempted to face down the natives on a matter of a stolen ships boat. Standing on the water's edge, overwhelmed by angry natives, he was stoned, stabbed, then cut up into little pieces and, later, partially consumed. Clerke, to die of tuberculosis only a year after his friend's murder, would receive from one of the Hawaiin natives a neatly wrapped bundle of the little that remained: his skull, the right hand identified by a known scar, his thigh, and a few pounds of flesh, partly cooked.

The best description of what it was like is provided by Lieutenant James King of the Resolution who, after the deaths of Cook and Clerke, would bring the ships home...

“It will require the assistance of ones imagination to have an adequate Idea of the Wild, savage appearance & Action of these first Visitors,” wrote King. Their faces were, “...bedaub’d with red & black Paint & Grease, in no regular manner…” with “...small black Eyes void of fire,” and an, “expression of the countenance unmeaning”; and some wore, “frightful” masks of distorted bird and animal faces. At the sight of the English, they worked themselves “into the highest frenzy,” King added; "shaking rattles and uttering something between a howl & a song.”

Cook - one of many such contacts for him – calmly offered beads and medals to a man standing in one of the canoes. “He threw them into the Ship in return some dried herrings...”

Then King reported, “...a man repeated a few words in tune, & regulated the meaning by beating against the Canoe sides, after which they all join’d in a song, that was by no means unpleasant to the Ear.”

“...We judg’d they might like our musick, & we ordered the Fife & drum to play a tune,” King wrote. And as dusk fell, “...They Observed the Profoundest silence, & we were sorry that the Dark hind’red our seeing the effect of this musick on their countenances. Not to be outdone in politeness, they gave us another song, & we then entertain’d them with French horns, to which they were equally attentive.”

The following summary, extracted from the 1821 version of Cook's and Lieutenant King's Log, provides a description of the events that occurred and the interactions between English sailor and Native between the dates 29 March 1778 and 26 April 1778 in Nootka Sound.

We no sooner drew near the inlet, than we found the coast to be inhabited; and at the place where we were first becalmed, three canoes came off to the ship. In one of these were two men, in another six, and in the third ten. Having come pretty near us, a person in one of the two last stood up, and made a long harangue, inviting us to land, as we guessed by his gestures…

We observed that two or three had their hair quite strewed over with small white feathers, and others had large ones stuck into different parts of the head.

The sun set that first night at about 06:30 PM, and with a clear sky it left a sliver of a moon and the planet Mars low in the west also soon to set. Higher in the sky to the west were the Pleiades; and to the south familiar Jupiter.

And almost a month later on the night before they set sail, the moon had gone through a full cycle and the skies were dark.

We employed the next day in hauling our ships into the cove, where they were moored head and stern, fastening our hawsers to the trees on shore…. The ship being again very leaky in her upper works, I ordered the carpenters to go to work to calk her, and to repair such other defects, as on examination we might discover…

The fame of our arrival brought a great concourse of the natives to our ships in the course of this day. We counted above a hundred canoes at one time, which might be supposed to contain, at an average, five persons each ; for few of them had less than three on board ; great numbers had seven, eight, or nine; and one was manned with no less than seventeen. Amongst these visitors, many now favoured us with their company for the first time, which we could guess from their approaching the ships with their orations and other ceremonies. If they had any distrust or fear of us at first, they now appeared to have laid it aside; for they came on board the ships, and mixed with our people with the greatest freedom.

The, observatories were carried ashore, and placed upon an elevated rock on one side of the cove, close to the Resolution.

A party of men, with an officer, sent to cut wood, and to clear a place for the conveniency of watering. Others were employed to brew spruce-beer, as pine trees abounded here. The forge was also set up, to make the iron-work wanting for the repairs of the foremast.

A considerable number of the natives visited us daily; and every now and then we saw new faces. On their first coming, they generally went through a singular mode of introducing themselves. They would paddle, with all their strength, quite round both ships, a chief, or other principal person, in the canoe, standing up with a spear, or some other weapon, in his hand, and speaking, or rather hollowing, all the time. Sometimes the orator of the canoe would have his face covered with a mask, representing either a human visage, or that of some animal; and, instead of a weapon, would hold a rattle in his hand, as before described. After making this circuit round the ships, they would come alongside, and begin to trade without further ceremony. Very often, indeed, they would first give us a song, in which all in the canoe joined, with a very pleasing harmony.

05 April 1778: Rigged Foremast but found it defective and hard to start again..

Next day, rigged the foremast; the head of which being rather too small for the cap, the carpenter went to work to fix a piece on one side, to fill up the vacant space. In cutting into the mast-head for this purpose, and examining the state of it, both cheeks were found to be so rotten that there was no possibility of repairing them; and it became necessary to get the mast out, and to fix new ones upon it. …Thus, when we were almost ready to put to sea, we had all our work to do over again ; and, what was still more provoking, an additional repair was to be undertaken, which would require some time to be completed.

In the morning of the 7th, we got the foremast out, and hauled it ashore; and the carpenters of the ships were set to work upon it.

From the time of our putting into the Sound till now, the weather had been exceedingly fine without either wind or rain. That comfort, at the very moment when the continuance of it would have been of most service, was withdrawn.

In the morning of the 8th, the wind freshened at south-east, attended with thick hazy weather and rain. In the afternoon the wind increased; and toward the evening it blew very hard indeed. It came, in excessively heavy squalls, from over the high land on the opposite shore, right into the cove; and, though the snips were very well moored, put them in some danger. These tempestuous blasts succeeded each other pretty quick; but they were of short duration; and in the intervals between them we had a perfect calm.

According to the old proverb, "misfortunes seldom come single;" the mizen was now the only mast on board the Resolution that remained rigged, with its top-mast up. The former was so defective that it could not support the latter during the violence of the squalls, but gave way at the head under the rigging.

The bad weather which now came on, did not, however, hinder the natives from visiting us daily; and, in such circumstances, their visits were very advantageous to us. For they frequently brought us a tolerable supply of fish, when we could not catch any ourselves with hook and line; and there was not a proper place near us where we could draw a net.

On the 11th, notwithstanding the rainy weather, the main-rigging was fixed and got over head; and our employment, the day after, was to take down the mizen-mast, the head of which proved to be so rotten that it dropped off while in the slings.

In the evening we were visited by a tribe of natives whom we had never seen before ; and who, in general, were better looking people than most of our old friends, some of whom attended them. I prevailed upon these visitors to go down into the cabin for the first time; and observed, that there was not a single object that fixed the attention of most of them for a moment; their countenances marking that they looked upon all our novelties with the utmost indiference. This, however, was not without exception; for a few of the company showed a certain degree of curiosity

In the afternoon of the next day I went into the woods with a party of our men, and cut down a tree for a mizen-mast. On the day following, it was brought to the place where the carpenters were employed upon the foremast.

In the evening the wind, which had been for some time westerly, veered to the south-east, and increased to a very hard gale, with rain, which continued till eight o'clock the next morning, when it abated, and veered again to the west.

The fore-mast being, by this time, finished, we hauled it along-side; but the bad weather prevented our getting it in till the afternoon ; and we set about rigging it with the greatest expedition, while the carpenters were going on with the mizen-mast on shore.

They had made very considerable progress in it on the 16th, when they discovered that the stick upon which they were at work was sprung, or wounded, owing, as supposed, to some accident in cutting it down. So that all their labour was thrown away; and it became necessary to get another tree out of the woods, which employed all hands above half a day.

During these various operations, several of the natives, who were about the ships, looked on with an expressive silent surprize, which we did not expect, from their general indifference and inattention.

19 April 1778: Out and about for the day, around Bligh Island and to Yuquot

After a fortnight's bad weather, the 19th proving a fair day, we availed ourselves of it, to get up the top-masts and yards, and to fix up the rigging. And, having now finished most of our heavy work, I set out the next morning to take a view of the Sound.

I first went to the west point, where I found a large village, and before it a very snug harbour, in which was from nine to four fathoms water, over a bottom of fine sand. The people of this village, who were numerous, and to most of whom I was well known, received me very courteously, every one pressing me to go into his house, or rather his apartment; for several families live under the same roof.

From this village I proceeded up the west side of the Sound. For about three miles I found the shore covered with small islands, which are so situated as to form several convenient harbours, having various depths of water, from thirty to seven fathoms, with a good bottom.

A mile above the second arm, I found the remains of a village. The logs or framings of the houses were standing; but the boards that had composed their sides and roofs did not exist. … Behind this ruined village is a plain of a few hours' extent, covered with the largest pine-trees that I ever saw. This was the more remarkable, as the elevated ground, most other parts of this west side of the Sound, was rather naked.

From this place I crossed over to the other, or east side of the Sound, passing an arm of it that runs in north north-east, to appearance not far. I now found what I had before conjectured, that the land, under which the ships lay, was an island; and that there were many smaller ones lying scattered in the Sound on the west side of it.

Opposite the north end of our large island, upon the main land, I observed a village, and there I landed. …The inhabitants of it were not so polite as those of the other I had just visited. But this cold reception seemed, in a great measure, if not entirely, owing to one surly chief, who would not let me enter their houses, following me wherever I went; and several times, by expressive signs, marking his impatience that I should be gone. I attempted in vain to sooth him by presents; but though he did not refuse them, they did not alter his behaviour. Some of the young women, better pleased with us than was their inhospitable chief, dressed themselves expeditiously in their best apparel, and assembling in a body, welcomed us to their village, by joining in a song, which was far from harsh or disagreeable.

The mizen-mast being finished, it was got in, and rigged, on the 21st; and the carpenters were set to work to make a new fore-top mast, to replace the one that had been carried away some time before.

Our attendance on these visitors being finished, Captain Clerke and I went in the forenoon with two boats to the village at the west point of the sound. When I was there the day before, I had observed that plenty of grass grew near it, and it was necessary to lay in a quantity of this as food for the few goats and sheep which were still left on board. The inhabit-ants received us with the same demonstrations of friendship which I had experienced before; and the moment we landed, I ordered some of my people to begin their operation of cutting. I had not the least imagination, that the natives could make any objection to our furnishing ourselves with what seemed to be of no use to them, but was necessary for us. However, I was mistaken, for the moment that our men began to cut, some of the inhabitants interposed and would not permit them to proceed, saying they must " makook ;" that is, must first buy it.

I was now in one of the houses, but as soon as I heard of this, I went to the field, where I found about a dozen of the natives, each, of whom laid claim to some part of the grass that grew in this place. I bargained with them for it, and having completed the purchase, thought we were now at liberty to cut wherever we pleased; but here, again, it appeared that I was under a mistake, for the liberal manner in which I had paid the first pretended proprietors, brought fresh demands upon me from others, so that there did not seem to be a single blade of grass that had not a separate owner; and so many of them were to be satisfied, that I very soon emptied my pockets. When they found that I really had nothing more to give, their importunities ceased, and we were permitted to cut wherever we pleased, and as much as we chose to carry away.

During the time I was at this village, Mr. Webber, who had attended me thither, made drawings of every thing that was curious, both within and with-out doors.

The three following days were employed in getting ready to put to sea, the sails were bent, the observatories and instruments, brewing vessels, and other things were moved from the shore ; some small spars for different uses, and pieces of timber which might be occasionally sawn into boards, were prepared and put on board, and both ships were cleared and put into a sailing condition.

Every thing being now ready in the morning of the 26th, I intended to have put to sea, but both wind and tide being against us, was obliged to wait till noon, when the S. W. wind was succeeded by a calm; and the tide turning in our favour, we cast off the moorings, and with our boats towed the ships out of the cove.

…The mercury in the barometer fell unusually low; and we had every other fore-runner of an approaching storm, which we had reason to expect would be from the southward ; this made me hesitate a little, as night was at hand, whether I should venture to sail or wait till the next morning. But my anxious impatience to proceed upon the voyage, and the fear of losing this opportunity of getting out of the sound, making a greater impression on my mind than any apprehension of immediate danger, I determined to put to sea at all events.

Our friends, the natives, attended us till we were almost out of the sound, some on board the ships and others in their canoes. One of their chiefs who had some time before attached himself to me, was amongst the last who left us. Having, before he went, bestowed upon him a small present, I received in return a beaver skin of much greater value. This called upon me to make some addition to my present, which pleased him so much, that he insisted upon my acceptance of the beaver skin cloak which he then wore, and of which I knew he was particularly fond. Struck with this instance of generosity, and desirous that he should be no sufferer by his friendship to me, I presented to him a new broad-sword with a brass hilt, the possession of which made him completely happy. He, and also many others of his countrymen, importuned us much to pay them another visit, and, by way of encouragement, promised to lay in a good stock of skins. I make no doubt, that whoever comes after me to this place, will find the natives prepared accordingly, with no inconsiderably supply of an article of trade, which they could observe we were eager to possess, and which we found could be purchased to great advantage.

What Happened at Nootka Sound, March 29th to April 26th 1778?