SKIDEGATE, Queen Charlotte Islands, June, 1884.
_Hon. Wm. Smithe, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works of the
Province of British Columbia:_--SIR--On the 5th of May, having secured
the services of two Hyda Indians, one a native of Ninstints, the
extreme southern village of the Hyda nation, familiar with the shores
of the southern portion of Moresby, and also of Provost Island, and
the other of Gold Harbor, well acquainted with the northwestern coast
of Moresby Island, I proceeded from Skidegate by canoe southward,
circumnavigating the islands above mentioned, and also crossing them
from shore to shore at two different points, and penetrating inland
sufficiently far in several other places to determine the general
character of the section of country under examination. Our route was
via Sand Spit Point, Copper Bay, the villages of Cumshewa and
Skedance, Cumshewa Inlet, Louise Island, Selwyn Inlet, Talunkwan
Island, Dana Inlet, Logan Inlet, Tanoo Island, the village of Tanoo or
Laskeek, Bichardson Inlet, Darwin Sound, De La Beche Inlet, Hutton
Inlet, Werner Bay, Huxley Island, Barnaby Island, Scudder Point,
Granite Point, Skincuttle Inlet, Deluge Point, Collison Bay, Carpenter
Bay and Forsyth Point, all on the east side of Moresby Island; thence
across Houston Stewart Channel, around Provost Island, entering
Provost and Luxana Bays and Seal Cove, rounding Cape St. James, and
then along the west coast, northward, via the village of Ninstints,
Henry and Robson Inlets, Grand View Inlet, Tassoo and Gold Harbors, to
the southern or Canoe Passage of Skidegate Channel, through which,
touching at the abandoned village of Cha-atl, we returned to
Skidegate, the round trip of about 325 miles having been made in
twenty-three days.