Hastings Arm is a

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...

on the

North Coast North Coast or Northcoast may refer to : Antigua and Barbuda * Major Division of North Coast, a census division in Saint John Parish Australia *New South Wales North Coast, a region Canada *The British Columbia Coast, primarily the communiti ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, which is the northwest arm of

Observatory Inlet Observatory Inlet is an inlet on the North Coast of British Columbia. It is a northward extension of Portland Inlet, other branches of which include the Portland Canal. The entrance of Observatory Inlet, from Portland Inlet, lies between Ramsden ...

, one of the two main branchings of

Portland Inlet Portland Inlet is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean on the north coast of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Prince Rupert. It joins Chatham Sound opposite the Dixon Entrance. It is long and as much as wide. It drains the Portland Cana ...

, the other being the better-known

Portland Canal , image = Hyder Alaska IMG 0276 (22495379342).jpg , alt = , caption = Portland Canal from Hyder, Alaska , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Alaska and British Columbia , group = , coordinates ...

, which forms part of the

Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...

. Hastings Arm is approximately in length from the divergence of Observatory Inlet near the former smelting town of

Anyox Anyox was a small company-owned mining town in British Columbia, Canada. Today it is a ghost town, abandoned and largely destroyed. It is located on the shores of Granby Bay in coastal Observatory Inlet, about southeast of (but no land link to) ...

, where a east arm,

Alice Arm Alice Arm is the east arm of Observatory Inlet, which itself is an arm of Portland Inlet, on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, near the border with the American state of Alaska. The abandoned settlement and steamer landing of Alice Arm, ...

, branches off towards its head at the mouth of the Kitsault River. This divergence is approximately from the mouth of Observatory Inlet itself, near Nass Bay, which is the outer part of the estuary of the

Nass River The Nass River is a river in northern British Columbia, Canada. It flows from the Coast Mountains southwest to Nass Bay, a sidewater of Portland Inlet, which connects to the North Pacific Ocean via the Dixon Entrance. Nass Bay joins Portland Inl ...

. At the head of Hastings Arm is the mouth of the Kshwan River, and the

Nisga'a The Nisga’a , often formerly spelled Nishga and spelled in the Nisga'a language as (pronounced ), are an Indigenous people of Canada in British Columbia. They reside in the Nass River valley of northwestern British Columbia. The name is a r ...

village-site of Kswan.

Names

The name of the inlet in the

Nisga'a language Nisga’a (also Nass, Nisgha, Nisg̱a’a, Nishka, Niska, Nishga, Nisqa’a) is a Tsimshianic language of the Nisga'a people of northwestern British Columbia. Nisga'a people, however, dislike the term ''Tshimshianic'' as they feel that it gives p ...

, which is indigenous to this area, is ''K'alli Kshwan'', meaning "upriver water teeth" literally, and which is a reference to the tribe's founder Tseemsim cupping his hands to take a drink from the Kshwan River and finding it so cold it hurt his teeth. The English name was conferred in 1869 by Captain

Daniel Pender Daniel Pender was a Royal Navy Staff Commander, later captain, who surveyed the Coast of British Columbia aboard , and from 1857 to 1870. Pender was recorded as the second master of the admiralty survey vessel, HMS ''Plumper'', in 1857 when h ...

, after Rear Admiral the Hon.

George Fowler Hastings Vice-Admiral George Fowler Hastings CB (28 November 1814 – 21 March 1876) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the First Opium War and the Crimean War. In a naval career spanning over 50 years Hastings saw service across t ...

, Commander in Chief of the

Pacific Station The Pacific Station was created in 1837 as one of the geographical military formations into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. The South America Station was split into the Pacific Station and the South East Coast of A ...

1866–69, whose flagship was the 20-gun HMS ''Zealous''. Mount Fowler in the same area was also named for Admiral Hastings.

References

* Fjords of British Columbia North Coast of British Columbia Nisga'a Inlets of British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub