An Account of a Voyage to the North West Coast of America in 1785 and 1786, Alexander Walker; Edited by Robin Fisher & J.M. Bumsted. Published by Douglas & McIntyre, University of Washington Press, Vancouver, BC/ Toronto, Seattle, Washington, 1982. 8vo up to 9½” tall., 319 pp., frontis portrait, maps, illustrations, notes, Appendix of the Vocabulary of Nootka Sound, bibliography, index. Volume is in fine, unread condition; dustjacket has age toning and chip to upper front edge.
Ensign Alexander Walker sailed with Captain James Charles Stewart Strange to Nootka Sound eight years after Captain Cook’s visit. As fur traders, only James Hanna had preceded them in 1785. Walker’s description of the customs, traditions, and habits of the Indians of Nootka and Prince William Sounds was the first detailed account based upon extensive onshore study. Some of the Chinook vocabulary that evolved along the Pacific Coast can be traced to the initial contacts between the Nuu-chah-nulth and the first efforts to communicate by interpreters such as Walker. Walker’s original journal was lost but he reconstructed his account between 1813 and 1831. That work remained unpublished until 1982. Re-discovered in the Scottish Nation al Library in the late 20th century, the diaries reflect Walker’s sometimes condescending perspective in 1785 and 1786 as he struggled to bridge the language barrier amid earnest efforts to learn.
