ELLS GRAHAM ISLAND 11 B

and accessible only at high state of the tide. At low water they are entirely
dry. These are at the mouth of Tllal river about twenty-five miles north of
Skidegate ; at a small creek south of Cape Ball; and at a small lagoon near
Cape Fife, about eight miles south of Rose point. Inside the bends of the
creeks at these places boats can lie safely sheltered from east winds, but
are aground at low water. On the north side a similar high-water shelter
for boats is found in Hiellan creek at Tow hill, ten miles west of Rose
point. In bad weather, therefore, boat navigation along this coast is
very dangerous and many lives have been lost in the vain attempt to reach
a shelter in some one of these small harbours. |

Along the north shore, Masset and Virago sound are the only harbours
of consequence. The entrance to the former is somewhat obstructed by a
bar on which the water hag a reported depth at low tide of three fathoms,
but the position of this bar is not fixed, owing to heavy storms and tidal
currents. In the inlet, good water extends all the way to the lake expan-
sion though there are heavy tidal currents throughout the entire seventeen
miles of the narrow approach.

At Virago sound, about twelve miles west, the entrance is somewhat
narrow but there is plenty of water, and once inside the points there is a
perfect shelter and good anchorage.

These shores are practically uncharted except in the vicinity of Skide-
gate and, to some extent, at Masset, and the charts of the west coast are
useless for navigation. No soundings have been taken, the coast line is
merely sketched in, and is fringed in places for some miles seaward by
jagged reefs, on which the seas are constantly breaking in rough weather.
No reliable information could be obtained as to the character of this shore
except that it was very rough, and no one could be found at the time of
our visit who could act as pilot or who knew very much about this portion
of the island.

The shores of the North island also are without harbours, but shelter
from west winds can be found on the east side, near the entrance to
Parry passage, which separates this island from Graham island. About
nine miles farther east there is a good high-water boat harbour at the
mouth of the Jalun river.

In the absence of a pilot, or of definite information as to the features
of the west coast, we had to depend upon our own resources, aided by
a rough sketch of the Crown Land plan of the island. The one man,
apparently, who had been around the shores with Dr. Newcombe, of
Victoria, some years before, had gone with the rest of his tribe to the
mainland for the salmon fishing.

The whole island is densely wooded down to the sea-beach. There
are no roads or cleared areas in any part and the only trails are those