Volume 17 / Part 3 / Book 3 — CHAPTER VI. (continued 2)

We found the stream on our return so exceedingly rapid, that, notwithstanding the cossacks and Kamtschadales used their utmost exertions, we did not reach the first village, Opatchin, till the evening of the 17th, which was at the rate of about twenty miles a day. We got to Natcheekin on the 19th; and, on the 20th, we crossed the plain to Karatchin. We found the road much better than when we had passed it before, there having been a smart frost on the night of the 19th. On the 21st, we proceeded down the Awatska river; and, before it was dark, got over the shoals which lie at the entrance of the bay. During the whole course of our journey we were much pleased with the great good-will with which the Toions and their Kamtschadales afforded us their assistance at the different ostrogs through which we passed; and I could not but observe the pleasure that appeared in their countenances on seeing the major, and their strong expressions of sorrow, on hearing he was so soon going to leave them.

We had dispatched a messenger to Captain Clerke from Bolcheretsk, with an account of our reception, and of the major's intention of returning with us, at the same time apprising him of the day he might probably expect to see us. We were therefore very well pleased to observe, as we approached the harbour, all the boats of the two ships coming towards us, the men clean, and the officers as well dressed as the scarcity of our clothing would permit. The major was much struck at the robust and healthy appearance of the boats' crews, and still more at seeing most of them without any other covering than a shirt and trowsers, although at the very moment it actually snowed.

As Major Behm had expressed his intentions of visiting the ships before he landed, as soon as we arrived off the town, I desired to receive his commands; when remarking, that from the account we had given of the very bad state of Captain Clerke's health, it might be imprudent to disturb him at so late an hour, (it being now past nine o'clock,) he thought it, he said, most advisable to remain that night on shore. Accordingly, after attending him to the serjeant's house, I took my leave for the present, and went on board to acquaint Captain Clerke with my proceedings at Bolcheretsk. It was with the utmost concern I found, that, in the fortnight we had been absent, this excellent officer was much altered for the worse, instead of reaping that advantage we flattered ourselves he might from the repose of the harbour, and the milk and vegetable diet with which he was supplied.

As soon as I had dispatched this business, I returned to the major, and the next morning conducted him to the ships; where, on his arrival, he was saluted with thirteen guns, and received with every other mark of distinction that it was in our power to pay him. He was attended by the commander of one of the Russian galliots, the master of a sloop that lay in the harbour, two merchants from Bolcheretsk, and the priest of the neighbouring village of Paratounca, for whom he appeared to entertain the highest respect, and whom I shall hereafter have occasion to mention, on account of his great kindness to Captain Clerke.

After visiting the captain, and taking a view of both the ships, he returned to dinner on board the Resolution; and, in the afternoon, the various curiosities we had collected in the course of our voyage were shewn him, and a complete assortment of every article presented to him by Captain Clerke. On this occasion I must not pass over an instance of great generosity and gratitude in the sailors of both ships; who, when they were told of the handsome present of tobacco that was made them by the major, desired, entirely of their own accord, that their grog might be stopped, and their allowance of spirits presented, on their part, to the garrison of Bolcheretsk, as they said they had reason to conclude that brandy was scarce in the country, and would be very acceptable to them, since the soldiers on shore had offered four roubles a bottle for it. We, who knew how much the sailors always felt whenever their allowance of grog was stopped, which was generally done in warm weather, that they might have it in a greater proportion in cold, and that this offer would deprive them of it during the inclement season we had to expect in our next expedition to the north, could not but admire so extraordinary a sacrifice; and, that they might not suffer by it, Captain Clerke, and the rest of the officers, substituted in the room of the very small quantity the major could be prevailed on to accept, the same quantity of rum. This, with a dozen or two of Cape wine, for Madame Behm, and such other little presents as were in our power to bestow, were accepted in the most obliging manner. The next morning the tobacco was divided between the crews of the two ships, three pounds being allotted to every man that chewed or smoked tobacco, and one pound to those that did not.

I have before mentioned that Major Behm had resigned the command of Kamtschatka, and intended to set out in, a short time for Petersburg; and he now offered to charge himself with any dispatches we might trust to his care. This was an opportunity not to be neglected, and accordingly Captain Clerke acquainted him, that he would take the liberty of sending by him some papers relating to our voyage, to be delivered to our ambassador at the Russian court. Our first intentions were to send only a small journal of our proceedings; but, afterward, Captain Clerke being persuaded that the whole account of our discoveries might safely be trusted to a person who had given such striking proofs both of his public and private virtues; and considering that we had a very hazardous part of the voyage still to undertake, determined to send by him the whole of the journal of our late commander, with that part of his own which completed the period of Captain Cook's death till our arrival at Kamtschatka, together with a chart of all our discoveries. Mr Bayly and myself thought it also proper to send a general account of our proceedings to the Board of Longitude; by which precautions, if any misfortune had afterward befallen us, the Admiralty would have been in possession of a complete history of the principal facts of our voyage. It was also determined that a smaller packet should be sent by an express from Okotsk, which, the major said, if he was fortunate in his passage to that port, would reach Petersburg by December, and that he himself should be there in February or March.

During the three following days the major was entertained alternately in the two ships in the best manner we were able. On the 25th he took his leave, and was saluted with thirteen guns; and the sailors, at their own desire, gave him three cheers. The next morning, Mr Webber and myself attended him a few miles up the Awatska river, where we met the Russian priest, his wife and children, who were waiting to take the last farewell of their commander.

It was hard to say, whether the good priest and his family, or ourselves, were most affected on taking leave of Major Behm. Short as our acquaintance had been, his noble and disinterested conduct had inspired us with the highest respect and esteem for him; and we could not part with a person to whom we were under such obligations, and whom we had little prospect of ever seeing again, without feeling the most tender concern. The intrinsic value of the private presents we received from him, exclusive of the stores which might be carried to a public account, must have amounted, according to the current price of articles in that country, to upward of two hundred pounds. But this generosity, extraordinary as it must appear in itself, was exceeded by the delicacy with which all his favours were conferred, and the artful manner in which he endeavoured to prevent our feeling the weight of obligations, which he knew we had no means of requiting. If we go a step further, and consider him as supporting a public character, and maintaining the honour of a great sovereign, we shall find a still higher subject of admiration, in the just and enlarged sentiments by which he was actuated. "The service in which you are employed," he would often say, "is for the general advantage of mankind, and therefore gives you a right, not merely to the offices of humanity, but to the privileges of citizens, in whatever country you may be thrown. I am sure I am acting agreeably to the wishes of my mistress, in affording you all the relief in our power; and I cannot forget either her character, or my own honour, so much, as to barter for the performance of my duty." At other times he would tell us, that he was particularly desirous of setting a good example to the Kamtschadales, who, he said, were but just emerging from a state of barbarism; that they looked up to the Russians as their patterns in every thing; and that he had hopes they might in future look upon it as a duty incumbent upon them to assist strangers to the utmost of their power, and believe that such was the universal practice of civilized nations. To all this must be added, that after having relieved, to the utmost of his abilities, all our present distresses, he shewed himself not much less mindful of our future wants; and as he supposed it more than probable we should not discover the passage we were in search of, and therefore should return to Kamtschatka in the fall of the year, he made Captain Clerke give him a list of what cordage and flour we should want, and promised they should be sent from Okotsk, and wait our arrival. For the same purpose, he gave Captain Clerke a paper, enjoining all the subjects of the empress, whom we might happen to meet, to give us every assistance in their power.[20]

[20] The reader need scarcely be reminded, that mention is made in the introduction to this voyage, of an honourable testimony of British gratitude for the extraordinary services of this generous man. Of his subsequent history, we regret to say, we are entirely ignorant.--E.

SECTION III.

Continuation of Transactions in the Harbour of St Peter and St Paul.--Abundance of Fish.--Death of a Seaman belonging to the Resolution.--The Russian Hospital put under the Care of the Ship's Surgeons.--Supply of Flour and Cattle.--Celebration of the King's Birth-day.--Difficulties in Sailing out of the Bay.--Eruption of a Volcano.--Steer to the Northward.--Cheepoonskoi Noss.--Errors of the Russian Charts.--Kamptschatskoi Noss.--Island of St Laurence.--View, from the same Point, of the Coasts of Asia and America, and the Islands of St Diomede.--Various Attempts to get to the North, between the two Continents.--Obstructed by Impenetrable Ice.--Sea-horses and White Bears killed.--Captain Clerke's Determination and future Designs.

Having concluded the last section with an account of our return from Bolcheretsk, accompanied by Major Behm, the commander of Kamtschatka, and of his departure, I shall proceed to relate the transactions that passed in the harbour of St Peter and St Paul during our absence. On the 7th of May, soon after we had left the bay, a large piece of ice drove across the cut- water of the Resolution, and brought home the small bower-anchor. This obliged them to weigh the other anchor, and moor again. The carpenters who were employed in stopping the leak, were obliged to take off a great part of the sheathing from the bows, and found many of the trunnels so very loose and rotten, as to be easily drawn out with the fingers.

On the 11th, they had heavy gales from the N.E., which obliged both the ships to strike yards and topmasts; but in the afternoon the weather being more moderate, and the ice having drifted away as far as the mouth of the harbour of St Peter and St Paul, they warped close to the shore for the greater convenience, of watering and wooding, and again moored as before; the town bearing N. 1/2 W., half a mile distant, and the mouth of the bay shut in by the southernmost point of Rakowina harbour, S.

The next day a party was sent on shore to cut wood, but made little progress on account of the snow, which still covered the ground. A convenient spot was cleared away abreast of the ships, where there was a fine run of water; and a tent being erected for the cooper, the empty casks were landed, and the sail-makers sent on shore.

On the 15th, the beach being clear of ice, the people were sent to haul the seine, and caught an abundant supply of fine flat fish for both the ships' companies. Indeed from this time, during the whole of our stay in the harbour, we were absolutely overpowered with the quantities of fish which came in from every quarter. The Toions, both of this town, and of Paratounca, a village in the neighbourhood, had received orders from Major Behm to employ all the Kamtschadales in our service; so that we frequently could not take into the ships the presents that were sent us. They consisted in general of fish, cod, trout, and herring. These last, which were in their full perfection, and of a delicious flavour, were exceedingly abundant in this bay. The Discovery's people surrounded at one time so great a quantity in their seine, that they were obliged to throw a vast number out, lest the net should be broken to pieces; and the cargo they landed was afterward so plentiful, that besides a sufficient store for immediate use, they filled as many casks as they could spare for salting; and after sending to the Resolution a sufficient quantity for the same purpose, they left several bushels behind on the beach.

The snow now began to disappear very rapidly, and abundance of wild garlic, celery, and nettle-tops, were gathered for the use of the crews; which being boiled with wheat and portable soup, made them a wholesome and comfortable breakfast; and with this they were supplied every morning. The birch-trees were also tapped, and the sweet juice, which they yielded in great quantities, was constantly mixed with the men's allowance of brandy.

The next day a small bullock, which had been procured for the ship's company by the serjeant, was killed; and weighed two hundred and seventy- two pounds. It was served out to both crews for their Sunday's dinner, being the first piece of fresh beef they had tasted since our departure from the Cape of Good Hope, in December 1776, a period of near two years and a half.

This evening died John Macintosh, the carpenter's mate, after having laboured under a dysentery ever since our departure from the Sandwich islands; he was a very hard working quiet man, and much regretted by his messmates. He was the fourth person we lost by sickness during the voyage; but the first who could be said, from his age and the constitutional habits of his body, to have had on our setting out an equal chance with the rest of his comrades; Watman, we supposed to be about sixty years of age, and Roberts and Mr Anderson, from the decay which had evidently commenced before we left England, could not, in all probability, under any circumstances, have lived a greater length of time than they did.

I have already mentioned, that Captain Clerke's health continued daily to decline, notwithstanding the salutary change of diet which the country of Kamtschatka afforded him. The priest of Paratounca, as soon as he heard of the infirm state he was in, supplied him every day with bread, milk, fresh butter, and fowls, though his house was sixteen miles from the harbour where we lay.

On our first arrival, we found the Russian hospital, which is near the town of St Peter and St Paul, in a condition truly deplorable. All the soldiers were, more or less, affected by the scurvy, and a great many in the last stage of that disorder. The rest of the Russian inhabitants were also in the same condition; and we particularly remarked, that our friend the serjeant, by making too free with the spirits we gave him, had brought on himself, in the course of a few days, some of the most alarming symptoms of that malady. In this lamentable state, Captain Clerke put them all under the care of our surgeons, and ordered a supply of sourkrout, and malt, for wort, to be furnished for their use. It was astonishing to observe the alteration in the figures of almost every person we met on our return from Bolcheretsk; and I was informed by our surgeons, that they attributed their speedy recovery principally to the effects of the sweetwort.[21]

[21] Krusenstern substantially admits the correctness of Captain King's statement respecting the Russian hospital, &c. by saying, expressively enough, things are not quite so bad at present. It is evident, however, from his remarks, that the change to the better is almost to the full amount of being imperceptible, notwithstanding the zeal of some individuals whose exertions he is anxious to eulogize, and his own disposition to believe that their well-meant exertions have not been entirely fruitless. The change, it would seem, consists in the greater quantities of medicine sent to Kamtschatka, and not in the greater practicability of judiciously applying them. This, most persons of discernment will shrewdly suspect, is several degrees worse than problematically a change to the better. At least one could scarcely help desiring rather to accept peaceably the warrant of a natural death, than to risk the enhancement of a conflict on the doubtful aid of a bungling doctor, whose chief recommendation, perhaps, if he would but allow himself to be favoured by it, consisted in his avowed ignorance securing his neutrality. In such a case, indeed, and it seems on the whole to be almost the very one which K. describes, it is obvious enough that the medicines can at least do no more harm than the bottles and boxes that contain them; but then one cannot easily perceive wherein consists the merit or utility of having provided them, unless, as in the instance of fire-arms hung over the chimney never to be loaded or fired, or in that of idols of wood and stone which adorn the temples of pagans, but which can neither receive nor bestow favours, we shall suppose that the imagination of some potential advantages is quite equivalent to the reality of their operation. Krusenstern has some sensible remarks on the proper method of supplying Kamtschatka with well-qualified physicians, but they are of course foreign to this place, and cannot, therefore, properly be introduced.--E.

On the 1st of June we got on board two hundred and fifty poods, or nine thousand pound weight of rye-flour, with which we were supplied from the stores of St Peter and St Paul; and the Discovery had a proportional quantity. The men were immediately put on full allowance of bread, which they had not been indulged in since our leaving the Cape of Good Hope. The same day our watering was completed, having got on board sixty-five tons.

On the 4th we had fresh breezes and hard rain, which disappointed us in our design of dressing the ships, and obliged us to content ourselves with firing twenty-one guns in honour of the day, and celebrating it in other respects in the best manner we were able. Port, who was left with us on account of his skill in languages, behaved himself with so much modesty and discretion, that as soon as his master was gone, he was no longer Jean Port, but Monsieur Port, the interpreter; and partook, as well as the serjeant (in his capacity of commander of the place), of the entertainment of the day. Our worthy friend, the priest of Paratounca, having got intelligence of its being our king's birth-day, gave also a sumptuous feast; at which some of our gentlemen were present, who seemed highly delighted with their entertainment, which consisted of abundance of good eating and drinking, together with dancing.

On the 6th, twenty head of cattle were sent us by the commander's orders, from the Verchnei ostrog, which is situated on the river Kamtschatka, at the distance of near a hundred miles from this place, in a direct line. They were of a moderate size; and, notwithstanding the Kamtschadales had been seventeen days in driving them down to the harbour, arrived in good condition. The four following days were employed in making ready for sea; and on the 11th, at two in the morning, we began to unmoor; but before we had got one anchor up, it blew so strong a gale from the N.E., that we kept fast, and moored again; conjecturing, from the position of the entrance of the bay, that the current of wind would set up the channel. Accordingly, the pinnace being sent out to examine the passage, returned with an account, that the wind blew strong from the S.E., with a great swell setting into the bay, which would have made any attempt to get to sea very hazardous.

Our friend Port now took his leave of us, and carried with him the box with our Journals, which was to go by the major, and the packet that was to be sent express. On the 12th, the weather being more moderate, we began to unmoor again; but, after breaking the messenger, and reeving a running purchase with a six-inch hawser, which also broke three times, we were obliged at last to heave a strain at low water, and wait for the flowing of the tide to raise the anchor. This project succeeded; but not without damaging the cable in the wake of the hawse. At three we weighed the best bower, and set sail; and at eight having little wind, and the tide making against us, we dropped anchor again in ten fathoms, off the mouth of Rakowina harbour; the ostrog bearing N. by E. 1/2 E., two miles and a half distant; the Needle Rocks on the east side of the passage, S.S.E. 1/2 E.; and the high rock, on the west side of the passage, S.

On the 13th, at four in the morning, we got under way with the ebb tide; and there being a dead calm, the boats were sent ahead to tow the ships. At ten the wind springing up from the S.E. by S., and the tide having turned, we were again obliged to drop anchor in seven fathoms; the Three Needle Rocks bearing S. 1/2 E.; and the ostrog N. 1/2 E., at the distance of one mile from the nearest land. After dinner I went with Captain Gore on shore on the east side of the passage, where we saw, in two different places, the remains of extensive villages; and on the side of the hill an old ruined parapet, with four or five embrasures. It commanded the passage up the mouth of the bay; and in Beering's time, as he himself mentions, had guns mounted on it. Near this place were the ruins of some caverns under ground, which we supposed to have been magazines.

At six in the afternoon we weighed with the ebb tide, and turned to windward; but at eight a thick fog arising, we were obliged to bring-to, as our soundings could not afford us a sufficient direction for steering between several sunk rocks, which lie on each side of the passage we had to make. In the morning of the 14th, the fog clearing away, we weighed as soon as the tide began to ebb, and having little wind, sent the boats ahead to tow; but at ten o'clock, both the wind and tide set in so strong from the sea, that we were again obliged to drop anchor in thirteen fathoms, the high rock bearing W. 1/4 S., distant three quarters of a mile. We remained fast for the rest of the day, the wind blowing fresh into the mouth of the bay; and toward evening, the weather had a very unusual appearance, being exceedingly dark and cloudy, with an unsettled shifting wind.

Before day-light, on the 15th, we were surprised with a rumbling noise, resembling distant hollow thunder; and when the day broke, we found the decks and sides of the ships covered with a fine dust like emery, near an inch thick. The air at the same time continued loaded and darkened with this substance, and toward the volcano mountain, situated to the north of the harbour, it was so thick and black, that we could not distinguish the body of the hill. About twelve o'clock, and during the afternoon, the explosions became louder, and were followed by showers of cinders, which were in general about the size of peas; though many were picked up from the deck larger than a hazel-nut. Along with the cinders fell several small stones, which had undergone no change from the action of fire. In the evening we had dreadful thunder and lightning, which, with the darkness of the atmosphere, and the sulphureous smell of the air, produced altogether a most awful and terrifying effect. We were at this time about eight leagues from the foot of the mountain.

On the 16th, at day-light, we again weighed anchor, and stood out of the bay; but the ebb tide setting across the passage upon the eastern shore, and the wind falling, we were driven very near the Three Needle Rocks, which lie on that side of the entrance, and obliged to hoist out the boats, in order to tow the ships clear of them. At noon we were two leagues from the land, and had soundings with forty-three fathoms of line, over a bottom of small stones, of the same kind with those which fell on our decks after the eruption of the volcano; but whether they had been, left there by the last, or by some former eruptions, we were not able to determine.

The aspect of the country was now very different from what it had been on our first arrival. The snow, excepting what remained on the tops of some very high mountains, had disappeared; and the sides of the hills, which in many parts were well wooded, were covered with a beautiful verdure.

As it was Captain Clerke's intention to keep as much in sight of the coast of Kamtschatka as the weather would permit, in order to determine its position, we continued steering to the N.N.E, with light and variable winds till the 18th. The volcano was still seen throwing up immense volumes of smoke, and we had no soundings with one hundred and fifty fathoms, at the distance of four leagues from the shore.

On the 18th, the wind freshening from the south, the weather became so thick and hazy, as to make it imprudent to attempt any longer to keep in sight of the land. But that we might be ready to resume our survey, whenever the fogs should disperse, we ran on in the direction of the coast, as laid down in the Russian charts, and fired signal guns for the Discovery to steer the same course. At eleven o'clock, just before we lost sight of the land, Cheepoonskoi Noss, so called by the Russians, (a description of which, as well as the coast between it and Awatska Bay, will be given, hereafter), bore N.N.E., distant seven or eight leagues.

On the 20th, at three in the morning, the weather having cleared up, we stood in toward the land; and in an hour's time saw it ahead, extending from N.W. to N.N.E., distant about five leagues. The north part we took to be Kronotskoi Noss; its position in the Russian charts agreeing nearly with our reckoning as to its latitude, which was 54° 42'; but in longitude we differed from them considerably, they placing it 1° 48' E. of Awatska; whereas our reckoning, corrected by the time-keepers and lunar observations, makes it 3° 34' eastward of that place, or 162° 17' E. from Greenwich. The land about this cape is very high, and the inland mountains were still covered with snow. The shore breaks off in steep cliffs, and the coast is without appearance of inlets or bays. We had not been long gratified with this sight of the land, when the Wind freshened from the S.W., and brought on a thick fog, which obliged us to stand off to the N.E.by E. The weather clearing up again at noon, we steered toward the land, expecting to fall in with Kamtschatskoi Noss, and had sight of it at day-break of the 21st.

The southerly wind was soon after succeeded by a light breeze blowing off the land, which prevented our approaching the coast sufficiently near to describe its aspect, or ascertain with accuracy its direction. At noon our latitude, by observation, was 55° 52', and longitude (deduced from a comparison of many lunar observations, taken near this time, with the time- keepers), 163° 50'; the extremities of the land bearing N.W. by W. 3/4 W., and N. by W. 3/4 W., the nearest part about eight leagues distant. At nine o'clock in the evening, having approached about two leagues nearer the coast, we found it formed a projecting peninsula, extending about twelve leagues in a direction nearly north and south. It is level, and of a moderate height, the southern extremity terminating in a low sloping point; that to the north forming a steep bluff head; and between them, about four leagues to the southward of the northern cape, there is a considerable break in the land. On each side of this break the land is quite low; beyond the opening rises a remarkable saddle-like hill; and a chain of high mountains, covered with snow, ranges along the back of the whole peninsula.

As the coast runs in an even direction, we were at a great loss where to place Kamtschatskoi Noss, which, according to Muller, forms a projecting point about the middle of the peninsula, and which certainly does not exist; but I have since found, that in the general map published by the Academy of Petersburgh in 1776, that name is given to the southern cape. This was found, by several accurate observations, to be in latitude 56° 3', longitude 163° 20'; the difference, in longitude, from the Russian charts, being the same as at Kronotskoi Noss. The variation of the compass at this time was 10° E. To the southward of this peninsula, the great river Kamtschatka falls into the sea.

As the season was too far advanced to admit of our making an accurate survey of the coast of Kamtschatka, it was Captain Clerke's plan, in our run to Beering'a Strait, to determine principally the positions of the projecting points of the coast. We therefore directed our course across an extensive bay, laid down between Kamtschatskoi Noss and Olutorskoi Noss, intending to make the latter; which, according to the Russian geographers, terminates the peninsula called Kamtschatka, and becomes the southern boundary of the Koriaki country.

On the 22d we passed a dead whale, which emitted a horrid stench, perceivable at upward of a league's distance; it was covered with a great number of sea-birds, that were feasting on it.

On the 24th, the wind, which had varied round the compass the three preceding days, fixed at S.W., and brought clear weather, with which we continued our course to the N.E. by N. across the bay, without any land in sight.

This day we saw a great number of gulls, and were witnesses to the disgusting mode of feeding of the arctic gull, which has procured it the name of the parasite; and which, if the reader is not already acquainted with it, he will find in the note below.[22]

[22] This bird, which is somewhat larger than the common gull, pursues the latter kind whenever it meets them; the gull, after flying for some time, with loud screams, and evident marks of great terror, drops its dung, which its pursuer immediately darts at, and catches before it falls into the sea.

On the 25th, at one o'clock in the afternoon, being in latitude 59° 12', longitude 168° 35', the wind freshening from the same quarter, a thick fog succeeded; and this unfortunately just at the time we expected to see Olutorskoi Noss, which, if Muller places it right in latitude 59° 3O', and in longitude 167°36', could only have then been twelve leagues from us; at which distance, land of a moderate height might easily have been seen. But if the same error in longitude prevails here, which we have hitherto invariably found, it would have been much nearer us, even before the fog came on; and as we saw no appearances of land at that time, it must either have been very low, or there must be some mistake of latitude in Muller's account. We tried soundings, but had no ground with one hundred and sixty fathoms of line.

The weather still thickening, and preventing a nearer approach to the land, at five we steered E. by N., which is somewhat more easterly than the Russian charts lay down the trending of the coast from Olutorskoi Noss. The next day we had a fresh gale from the S.W., which lasted till the 27th at noon, when the fogs clearing away, we stood to the northward, in order to make the land. The latitude at noon, by observation, was 59° 49', longitude 175° 43'. Notwithstanding we saw shags in the forenoon, which are supposed never to go far from land, yet there was no appearance of it this day; but on the 28th, at six in the morning, we got sight of it to the N.W. The coast shews itself in hills of a moderate height; but inland, others are seen to rise considerably. We could observe no wood, and the snow lying upon them in patches, gave the whole a very barren appearance. At nine we were about ten miles from the shore, the southern extremity bearing W. by S., six leagues distant, beyond which the coast appeared to trend to the westward. This point being in latitude 61° 48', longitude 174°, 48', lies, according to the Russian charts, near the mouth of the river Opuka. At the same time the northern extreme bore N. by W.; between which and a hill bearing N.W. by W. 1/4 W., and at this distance appearing to us like an island, the coast seemed to bend to the westward, and form a deep bay.

About eight miles from land, we perceived ourselves in a strong rippling; and being apprehensive of foul ground, we bore away to the N.E., along the shore; notwithstanding, on heaving the lead, we found regular soundings of twenty-four fathoms, over a gravelly bottom; from whence we concluded, that this appearance was occasioned by a tide, at that time running to the southward. At noon, the extremes of the land bearing W.S.W. 3/4 W., and N.N.E. 3/4 E., distant from the nearest shore four leagues, we were abreast of the low land, which we now perceived to join the two points, where we had before expected to find a deep bay. The coast bends a little to the westward, and has a small inlet, which may probably be the mouth of some trifling stream. Our latitude, by observation, was 61° 56', and longitude 175° 43', and the variation of the compass 17° 30' E.

We continued during the afternoon to run along the shore, at the distance of four or five leagues, with a moderate westerly breeze, carrying regular soundings from twenty-eight to thirty-six fathoms. The coast presented the same barren aspect as to the southward; the hills rising considerably inland, but to what height, the clouds on their tops put it out of our power to determine. At eight in the evening, land was thought to have been seen to the E. by N., on which, we steered to the southward of E.; but it turned out to be only a fog-bank. At midnight, the extreme point bearing N.E. 1/4 E., we supposed it to be Saint Thadeus's Noss; to the southward of which the land trends to the westward, and forms a deep bight, wherein, according to the Russian charts, lies the river Katirka.

On the 29th, the weather was unsettled and variable, with the wind from the N.E. At noon of the 30th, our latitude, by observation, was 61° 48', and longitude 180° 0'; at which time Saint Thadeus's Noss bore N.N.W., twenty- three leagues distant, and beyond it we observed the coast stretching almost directly N. The most easterly point of the Noss is in latitude 62° 50', and longitude 179° 0', being 3-1/2° more to the E. than what the Russians make it. The land about it must be of a considerable height, from its being seen at so great a distance. During the two last days, we saw numbers of whales, large seals, and sea-horses; also gulls, sea-parrots, and albatrosses. We took the advantage of a little calm weather to try for fish, and caught abundance of fine cod. The depth of water from sixty-five to seventy-five fathoms.

On the 1st of July at noon, Mr Bligh having moored a small keg with the deep-sea lead, in seventy-five fathoms, found the ship made a course N. by E., half a mile an hour. This he attributed to the effect of a long southerly swell, and not to that of any current. The wind freshening from the S.E. toward evening, we shaped our course to the N.E. by E., for the point called in Beering's chart Tschukotskoi Noss, which we had observed on the 4th of September last year, at the same time that we saw, to the S E., the island of Saint Laurence. This cape, and Saint Thadeus's Noss, form the N.E. and S.W. extremities of the large and deep gulph of Anadir, into the bottom of which the river of that name empties itself, dividing as it passes the country of the Koriacs from that of the Tschutski.

On the 3d at noon, the latitude, by observation, was 63° 33', and the longitude 186° 45'; half an hour after which we got sight of the Tschukotskoi Noss, bearing N. 1/2 W., thirteen or fourteen leagues distant; and at five in the afternoon saw the island of Saint Laurence, bearing E. 3/4 N.; and another island a little to the eastward of it, which we supposed to be between Saint Laurence and Anderson's Island, about six leagues E.S.E. of the former. As we had no certain accounts of this island, Captain Clerke was desirous of a nearer prospect, and immediately hauled the wind toward it; but unfortunately we were not able to weather the island of Saint Laurence, and were therefore under the necessity of bearing up again, and passing them all to the leeward.

We had a better opportunity of settling the longitude of the island Saint Laurence, when we last saw it than now. But seeing it at that time but once, and to the southward, we could only determine its latitude so far as we could judge of distances; whereas now the noon observations enabled us to ascertain it correctly, which is 63° 47'. Its longitude was found to be 188° 15' as before. This island, if its boundaries were at this time within our view, is about three leagues in circuit. The north part may be seen at the distance of ten or twelve leagues; but as it falls in lowland to the south-east, the extent of which we could not see, some of us conjectured that it might probably be joined to the land to the eastward of it; this, however, the haziness of the weather prevented our ascertaining. These islands, as well as the land about the Tschukotskoi Noss, were covered with snow, and presented us with a most dreary picture. At midnight, Saint Laurence bore S.S.E., five or six miles distant; and our depth of water was eighteen fathoms. We were accompanied by various kinds of sea-fowl, and saw several small crested hawks.

The weather still continuing to thicken, we lost all sight of land till the 5th, when it appeared both to the N.E. and N.W, Our latitude, by account, was at this time 65° 24', longitude 189° 14'. As the islands of Saint Diomede, which lie between the two continents in Beering's strait, were determined by us last year to be in latitude 65° 48', we could not reconcile the land to the N.E., with the situation of these islands. We therefore stood toward the land till three in the afternoon, when we were within four miles of it, and finding it to be two islands, were pretty well satisfied of their being the same; but the weather still continuing hazy, to make sure of our situation, we stood over to the coast of Asia till seven in the evening; at which time we were within two or three leagues of the east cape of that continent.

This cape is a high round head of land, extending four or five miles from north to south, forming a peninsula, and connected with the continent by a narrow neck of low land. Its shore is bold, and off its north part are three high, detached, spiral rocks. At this time it was covered with snow, and the beach surrounded with ice. We were now convinced, that we had been under the influence of a strong current, setting to the north, that had caused an error in our latitude at noon of twenty miles. In passing this strait the last year, we had experienced the same effect.

Being at length sure of our position, we held on to the N. by E. At ten at night the weather becoming clear, we had an opportunity of seeing, at the same moment, the remarkable peaked hill, near Cape Prince of Wales, on the coast of America, and the east cape of Asia, with the two connecting islands of Saint Diomede between them.[23]

[23] The distance betwixt the two remarkable points now specified, it will be proper for the reader to remember, is estimated at 13 leagues, or about 40 miles, being the nearest approach of the two continents of Asia and America yet ascertained.--E.

At noon on the 6th, the latitude, by account, was 67° N., and the longitude 191° 6' E. Having already passed a considerable number of large masses of ice, and observed that it still adhered in several places to the shore on the continent of Asia, we were not much surprised to fall in, at three in the afternoon, with an extensive body of it, stretching away to the westward. This sight gave great discouragement to our hopes of advancing much farther northward this year, than we had done the preceding.

Having little wind in the afternoon, we hoisted out the boats in pursuit of the sea-horses, which were in great numbers on the detached pieces of ice; but they soon returned without success; these animals being exceedingly shy, and before they could come within gun-shot always making their retreat into the water.

At seven in the evening we hoisted in the boats, and the wind freshening from the southward, we stood on to the N.E., with a view of exploring the continent of America, between the latitudes of 68° and 69°, which, owing to the foggy weather last year, we had not been able to examine. In this attempt we were again in part disappointed. For on the 7th, at six in the morning, we were stopped by a large field of ice, stretching from N.W. to S.E.; but soon after, the horizon becoming clear, we had sight of the coast of America, at about ten leagues distance, extending from N.E. by E. to E., and lying, by observation, between the 68° and 68° 20' of latitude. As the weather was clear, and the ice not high, we were enabled to see over a great extent of it. The whole presented a solid and compact surface, not in the smallest degree thawed; and appeared to us likewise to adhere to the land.

The weather soon after changing to hazy, we saw no more of the land; and there not remaining a possibility of approaching nearer to it, we stood to the N.N.W., keeping the ice close on board, and got round its western extremity by noon, when we found it trending nearly N. Our latitude at this time was, by account, 68° 22', and longitude 192° 34'. We continued our course to the N.N.E., along the edge of the ice, during the remaining part of the day, passing through many loose pieces that had been broken, off from the main body, and against which, notwithstanding all our caution, the ships were driven with great violence. At eight o'clock in the evening, we passed some drift-wood; and at midnight the wind shifted to the N.W., the thermometer fell from 38° to 31', and we had continued showers of snow and sleet.

On the 8th at five in the morning, the wind coming still more to the northward, we could no longer keep on the same tack, on account of the ice, but were obliged to stand to the westward. At this time our soundings had decreased to nineteen fathoms, from which, on comparing it with our observations on the depth of water last year, we concluded that we were not at a greater distance from the American shore than six or seven leagues; but our view was confined within a much shorter compass, by a violent fall of snow. At noon, the latitude, by account, was 69° 21', longitude 192° 42'. At two in the afternoon the weather cleared up, and we found ourselves close to an expanse of what appeared from the deck solid ice; but, from the mast-head, it was discovered to be composed of huge compact bodies, close and united toward the outer edge, but in the interior parts several pieces were seen floating in vacant spaces of the water. It extended from N.E. by the N. to W.S.W. We bore away by the edge of it to the southward, that we might get into clearer water; for the strong northerly winds had drifted down such quantities of loose pieces, that we had been for some time surrounded by them, and could not avoid striking against several, notwithstanding we reefed the topsails, and stood under an easy sail.

On the 9th we had a fresh gale from the N.N.W., with heavy showers of snow and sleet. The thermometer was in the night time 28°, and at noon 30°. We continued to steer W.S.W., as before, keeping as near the large body of ice as we could, and had the misfortune to rub off some of the sheathing from the bows against the drift pieces, and to damage the cutwater. Indeed, the shocks we could not avoid receiving, were frequently so severe, as to be attended with considerable danger. At noon, the latitude, by account, was 69° 12',. and longitude 188° 5'. The variation in the afternoon was found to be 29° 30' E.

As we had now sailed near forty leagues to the westward, along the edge of the ice, without seeing any opening, or a clear sea to the northward beyond it, and had therefore no prospect of advancing farther N. for the present, Captain Clerke resolved to bear away to the S. by E. (the only quarter that was clear), and to wait till the season was more advanced, before he made any farther efforts to penetrate through the ice. The intermediate time he proposed to spend in examining the bay of Saint Laurence, and the coast to the southward of it; as a harbour so near, in case of future damage from the ice, would be very desirable. We also wished to pay another visit to our Tschutski friends; and particularly since the accounts we had heard of them from the commander of Kamtschatka.

We therefore stood on to the southward, till the noon of the 10th, at which time we passed great quantities of drift-ice, and the wind fell to a perfect calm. The latitude, by observation, was 68° 1', longitude 188° 30'. We passed several whales in the forenoon, and in the afternoon hoisted out the boats, and sent them in pursuit of the sea-horses, which were in great numbers on the pieces of ice that surrounded us. Our people were more successful than they had been before, returning with three large ones and a young one; besides killing and wounding several others. The gentlemen who went on this party were witnesses of several remarkable instances of parental affection in those animals. On the approach of our boats toward the ice, they all took their cubs under their fins, and endeavoured to escape with them into the sea. Several, whose young were killed or wounded, and left floating on the surface, rose again, and carried them down, sometimes just as our people were going to take them up into the boat; and might be traced bearing them to a great distance through the water, which was coloured with their blood; we afterward observed them bringing them at times above the surface, as if for air, and again diving under it with a dreadful bellowing. The female, in particular, whose young had been destroyed, and taken into the boat, became so enraged, that she attacked the cutter, and struck her two tusks through the bottom of it.

At eight in the evening, a breeze sprang up to the eastward, with which we still continued our course to the southward, and at twelve fell in with numerous large bodies of ice. We endeavoured to push through them with an easy sail, for fear of damaging the ship; and having got a little farther to the southward, nothing was to be seen but one compact field of ice, stretching to the S.W., S.E., and N.E., as far as the eye could reach. This unexpected and formidable obstacle put an end to Captain Clerke's plan of visiting the Tschutski; for no space remained open, but back again to the northward. Accordingly, at three in the morning of the 11th, we tacked, and stood to that quarter. At noon, the latitude, by observation, was 67° 49', and longitude 188° 47'.

On the 12th, we had light winds, with thick hazy weather; and on trying the current, we found it set to the N.W., at the rate of half a knot an hour. We continued to steer northward, with a moderate southerly breeze and fair weather till the 13th, at ten in the forenoon, when we again found ourselves close in with a solid field of ice, to which we could see no limits from the mast-head. This at once dashed all our hopes of penetrating farther, which had been considerably raised, by having now advanced near ten leagues through a space, which on the 9th we had found occupied by impenetrable ice. Our latitude at this time was 69° 37'; our position nearly in the mid-channel between tween the two continents; and the field of ice extending from E.N.E. to W.S.W.

As there did not remain the smallest prospect of getting farther north in the part of the sea where we now were, Captain Clerke resolved to make one more and final attempt on the American coast, for Baffin's Bay, since we had been able to advance the farthest on this side last year. Accordingly we kept working the remaining part of the day to the windward, with a fresh easterly breeze. We saw several fulmars and arctic gulls, and passed two trees, both appearing to have lain in the water a long time. The larger was about ten feet in length, and three in circumference, without either bark or branches, but with the roots remaining attached.

On the 14th, we stood on to the eastward, with thick and foggy weather, our course being nearly parallel to that we steered the 8th and 9th, but six leagues more to the northward. On the 15th, the wind freshened from the westward, and having in a great measure dispersed the fog, we immediately stood to the northward, that we might take a nearer view of the ice; and in an hour were close in with it, extending from N.N.W. to N.E. We found it to be compact and solid; the outer parts were ragged, and of different heights; the interior surface was even, and we judged from eight to ten feet above the level of the sea. The weather becoming moderate for the remaining part of the day, we directed our course according to the trending of the ice, which in many parts formed deep bays.

In the morning of the 16th the wind freshened, and was attended with thick and frequent showers of snow. At eight in the forenoon, it blew a strong gale from the W.S.W., and brought us under double-reefed top-sails; when the weather clearing a little, we found ourselves embayed, the ice having taken a sudden turn to the S.E., and in one compact body surrounding us on all sides, except on the south quarter. We therefore hauled our wind to the southward, being at this time in latitude 70° 8' N., and in twenty-six fathoms water; and, as we supposed, about twenty-five leagues from the coast of America. The gale increasing, at four in the afternoon we close reefed the fore and main top-sails, furled the mizen-top-sail, and got the top-gallant-yards down upon deck. At eight, finding the depth of water had decreased to twenty-two fathoms, which we considered as a proof of our near approach to the American coast, we tacked and stood to the north. We had blowing weather, accompanied with snow, through the night; but next morning it became clear and moderate, and at eight in the forenoon we got the top-gallant yards across, and made sail with the wind still at W.S.W. At noon we were in latitude, by observation, 69° 55', longitude 194° 30'. Toward evening the wind slackened, and at midnight it was a calm.

On the 18th, at five in the morning, a light breeze sprung up from the E.N.E., with which we continued our course to the north, in order to regain the ice as soon as possible. We passed some small logs of drift-wood, and saw abundance of sea-parrots, and the small ice-birds, and likewise a number of whales. At noon the latitude, by observation, was 70° 26', and longitude 194° 54'; the depth of water twenty-three fathoms; the ice stretched from N. to E.N.E., and was distant about three miles. At one in the afternoon, finding that we were close in with a firm united field of it, extending from W.N.W. to E., we tacked, and the wind coming round to the westward, stood on to the eastward, along its edge, till eleven at night. At that time a very thick fog coming on, and the water shoaling to nineteen fathoms, we hauled our wind to the south. The variation observed this day was 31° 20' E. It is remarkable, that though we saw no sea-horses on the body of the ice, yet they were in herds, and in greater numbers on the detached fragments, than we had ever observed before. About nine in the evening, a white bear was seen swimming close by the Discovery; it afterward made to the ice, on which were also two others.

On the 19th, at one in the morning, the weather clearing up, we again steered to the N.E. till two, when we were a second time so completely embayed, that there was no opening left but to the south; to which quarter we accordingly directed our course, returning through a remarkably smooth water, and with very favourable weather, by the same way we had come in. We were never able to penetrate farther north than at this time, when our latitude was 70° 33'; and this was five leagues short of the point to which we advanced last season. We held on to the S.S.W., with light winds from the N.W., by the edge of the main ice, which lay on our left hand, and stretched between us and the continent of America. Our latitude, by observation at noon, was 70° 11', our longitude 196° 15', and the depth of water sixteen fathoms. From this circumstance, we judged that the Icy Cape was now only at seven or eight leagues distance; but though the weather was in general clear, it was at the same time hazy in the horizon; so that we could not expect to see it.[24]

[24] Captain Cook then must still be allowed to have succeeded in getting farther towards the north in this ocean, than any other navigator. For, from the date of this voyage up to the present period, so far at least as has been published, no one has surpassed the limit of his examination. But it is obvious, from the very circumstance of the difference betwixt the two attempts recorded in this voyage, that a considerable variation in the state and intensity of the obstructing cause may occur in various years. There is a probability then, that a still greater difference might be experienced, affording a practicable opportunity of getting still more towards the north than in either of them. How far this probability, not a great one, as Captain King afterwards suggests, ought to be considered, or how far the expectation of any benefit arising from it, ought to influence in directing another similar undertaking, it is not the province of this work to speculate. But one cannot help remarking, that the Russian government at least, might not be injudiciously employed in ordering one or more vessels, properly fitted up, to be kept in readiness at some port in this distant region of the empire, to take advantage of any season more suitable than another, for prosecuting the enterprise. Nay, is it not far from being romantic to imagine, that the two friendly powers of Russia and Great Britain might actually find a reward, in the promotion of their mutual interest, by a joint and well-concerted plan for opening up a communication by any means betwixt the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans? Both of them, one should suppose, must be sensible, that the zeal of their intermediate neighbour (if the expression may be used) the Americans, to discover the practicability of a connexion, and of course to establish one betwixt the opposite sides of the new continent, is not likely to prove altogether fruitless, though perhaps there are still more formidable difficulties in the way of its exercise. A little time will probably demonstrate, that these politic republicans have not in vain emulated the enterprising spirit, or commercial sagacity of the parent state; and that neither of the other governments just now mentioned, has fully profited of all the advantages which its possessions have continued to hold out.--E.

In the afternoon we saw two white bears in the water, to which we immediately gave chase in the jolly-boat, and had the good fortune to kill them both. The larger, which probably was the dam of the younger, being shot first, the other would not quit it, though it might easily have escaped on the ice whilst the men were reloading, but remained swimming about, till after being fired upon several times, it was shot dead.

The dimensions of the larger were as follow:

On comparing the dimensions of this with Lord Mulgrave's white bear, they were found almost exactly the same, except in the circumference, where our's fell exceedingly short.

These animals afforded us a few excellent meals of fresh meat. The flesh had, indeed, a strong filthy taste, but was, in every respect infinitely superior to that of the sea-horse; which nevertheless our people were again persuaded, without much difficulty, to prefer to their salted provisions.

At six in the morning of the 20th, a thick fog coming on, we lost sight of the ice for two hours; but the weather clearing, we saw the main body again to the S.S.E., when we hauled our wind, which was easterly, toward it, in the expectation of making the American coast to the S.E., and which we effected at half past ten. At noon, the latitude, by account, was 69° 33', and longitude 194° 53', and the depth of water nineteen fathoms. The land extended from S. by E. to S.S.W. 1/2 W., distant eight or ten leagues, being the same we had seen last year; but it was now much more covered with snow than at that time, and to all appearance the ice adhered to the shore. We continued in the afternoon sailing through a sea of loose ice, and standing toward the land, as near as the wind, which was E.S.E., would admit. At eight the wind lessening, there came on a thick fog, and on perceiving a rippling in the water, we tried the current, which we found to set to the E.N.E., at the rate of a mile an hour, and therefore determined to steer during the night before the wind, in order to stem it, and to oppose the large fragments of loose ice that were setting us on toward the land. The depth of the water at midnight was twenty fathoms.

At eight in the morning of the 21st, the wind freshening, and the fog clearing away, we saw the American coast to the S.E., at the distance of eight or ten leagues, and hauled in for it; but were stopped again by the ice, and obliged to bear away to the westward, along the edge of it. At noon, the latitude, by account, was 69° 34', and longitude 193°, and the depth of water twenty-four fathoms.

Thus a connected solid field of ice, rendering every effort we could make to a nearer approach to the land fruitless, and joining as we judged to it, we took a last farewell of a N.E passage to Old England. I shall beg leave to give, in Captain Clerke's own words, the reasons of this his final determination, as well as of his future plans; and this the rather, as it is the last transaction his health permitted him to write down.

"It is now impossible to proceed the least farther to the northward upon this coast (America); and it is equally as improbable that this amazing mass of ice should be dissolved by the few remaining summer-weeks which will terminate this season; but it will continue, it is to be believed, as it now is, an insurmountable barrier to every attempt we can possibly make. I therefore think it the best step that can be taken, for the good of the service, to trace the sea over to the Asiatic coast, and to try if I can find any opening, that will admit me farther north; if not, to see what more is to be done upon that coast; where I hope, yet cannot much flatter myself, to meet with better success; for the sea is now so choaked with ice, that a passage, I fear, is totally out of the question."

SECTION IV.

Fruitless Attempts to penetrate through the Ice to the North-West.-- Dangerous Situation of the Discovery.--Sea-horses killed.--Fresh Obstructions from the Ice.--Report of Damages received by the Discovery.-- Captain Clerke's Determination to proceed to the Southward.--Joy of the Ships' Crews on that Occasion.--Pass Serdze Kamen.--Return through Beering's Strait.--Enquiry into the Extent of the North-East Coast of Asia.--Reasons for rejecting Muller's Map of the Promontory of the Tschutski.--Reasons for believing the Coast does not reach a higher Latitude than 70-1/2° North.--General Observations on the Impracticability of a North-East or North-West Passage from the Atlantic into the Pacific Ocean.--Comparative View of the Progress made in the Years 1778 and 1779.--Remarks on the Sea and Sea-coasts, North of Beering's Strait.--History of the Voyage resumed.--Pass the Island of St Laurence.--The Island of Mednoi.--Death of Captain Clerke.--Short Account of his Services.

Captain Clerke having determined, for the reasons assigned, to give up all farther attempts on the coast of America, and to make his last efforts in search of a passage on the coast of the opposite continent, we continued during the afternoon of the 21st of July, to steer to the W.N.W., through much loose ice. At ten at night, discovering the main body of it through the fog, right ahead, and almost close to us, and being unwilling to take a southerly course so long as we could possibly avoid it, we hauled our wind, which was easterly, and stood to the northward; but in an hour after, the weather clearing up, and finding ourselves surrounded by a compact field of ice on every side, except to the S.S.W., we tacked and stood on in that direction, in order to get clear of it.

At noon of the 22d, our latitude, by observation, was 69° 30', and longitude 187° 30'. In the afternoon we again came up with the ice, which extended to the N.W. and S.W., and obliged us to continue our course to the southward, in order to weather it.

It may be remarked, that, since the 8th of this month, we had twice traversed this sea, in lines nearly parallel with the run we had just now made; that in the first of those traverses we were not able to penetrate so far north, by eight or ten leagues, as in the second; and that in the last we had again found an united body of ice, generally about five leagues to the southward of its position in the preceding run. As this proves that the large compact fields of ice, which we saw, were moveable, or diminishing, at the same time, it does not leave any well-founded expectations of advancing much farther in the most favourable seasons.

At seven in the evening, the weather being hazy, and no ice in sight, we bore away to the westward; but at half past eight the fog dispersing, we found ourselves in the midst of loose ice, and close in with the main body; we therefore stood upon a wind, which was still easterly, and kept beating to windward during the night, in hopes of weathering the loose pieces, which the freshness of the wind kept driving down upon us in such quantities, that we were in manifest danger of being blocked up by them.

In the morning of the 23d, the clear water, in which we continued to stand to and fro, did not exceed a mile and a half, and was every instant lessening. At length, after using our utmost endeavours to clear the loose ice, we were driven to the necessity of forcing the passage to the southward, which at half past seven we accomplished, but not without subjecting the ship to some very severe shocks. The Discovery was less successful. For at eleven, when they had nigh got clear out, she became so entangled by several large pieces, that her way was stopped, and immediately dropping bodily to leeward, she fell broadside foremost, on the edge of a considerable body of ice; and having at the same time an open sea to windward, the surf caused her to strike violently upon it. This mass at length either so far broke, or moved, as to set them at liberty to make another trial to escape; but unfortunately before the ship gathered way enough to be under command, she again fell to leeward on another fragment; and the swell making it unsafe to lie to windward, and finding no chance of getting clear, they pushed into a small opening, furled their sails, and made fast with ice-hooks.

In this dangerous situation we saw them at noon, about three miles from us, bearing N.W., a fresh gale from the S.E. driving more ice to the N.W., and increasing the body that lay between us. Our latitude, by account, was 69° 8', the longitude 187° and the depth of water twenty-eight fathoms. To add to the gloomy apprehensions which began to force themselves on us, at half past four in the afternoon, the weather becoming thick and hazy, we lost sight of the Discovery; but that we might be in a situation to afford her every assistance in our power, we kept standing on close by the edge of the ice. At six, the wind happily coming round to the north, gave us some hopes that the ice might drift away and release her; and in that case, as it was uncertain in what condition she might come out, We kept firing a gun every half hour, in order to prevent a separation. Our apprehensions for her safety did not cease till nine, when we heard her guns in answer to ours; and soon after being hailed by her, were informed that upon the change of wind the ice began to separate; and that setting all their sails, they forced a passage through it. We learned farther, that whilst they were encompassed by it, they found the ship drift with the main body to the N.E., at the rate of half a mile an hour. We were sorry to find that the Discovery had rubbed off a great deal of the sheathing from her bows, and was become very leaky, from the strokes she had received when she fell upon the edge of the ice.

On the 24th we had fresh breezes from the S.W., with hazy weather, and kept running to the S.E. till eleven in the forenoon, when a large body of loose ice, extending from N.N.E. round by the E., to S.S.E., and to which (though the weather was tolerably clear) we could see no end, again obstructed our course. We therefore kept working to windward, and at noon our latitude, by observation, was 68° 53', longitude 188°; the variation of the compass 22° 30' E. At four in the afternoon it became calm, and we hoisted out the boats in pursuit of the sea-horses, which were in prodigious herds on every side of us. We killed ten of them, which were as many as we could make use of for eating, or for converting into lamp-oil. We kept on with the wind from the S.W., along the edge of the ice, which extended in a direction almost due E. and W., till four in the morning of the 25th, when observing a clear sea beyond it to the S.E., we made sail that way, with a view of forcing through it. By six we had cleared it, and continued the remainder of the day running to the S.E., without any ice in sight. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 68° 38', longitude 189° 9', and the depth of water thirty fathoms. At midnight we tacked and stood to the westward, with a fresh gale from the S.; and at ten in the forenoon, of the 26th, the ice again shewed itself, extending from N.W. to S. It appeared loose, and drifting by the force of the wind to the northward. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 68° N., longitude 188° 10' E.; and we had soundings with twenty-eight fathoms. For the remaining part of the day, and till noon of the 27th, we kept standing backward and forward, in order to clear ourselves of different bodies of ice. At noon we were in latitude, by observation, 67° 47', longitude 188°. At two in the afternoon, we saw the continent to the S. by E.; and at four, having run since noon with a S.S.E. wind to the S.W., we were surrounded by loose masses of ice, with the firm body of it in sight, stretching in a N. by W. and a S. by E. direction, as far as the eye could reach; beyond which we saw the coast of Asia, bearing S. and S. by E.

As it was now necessary to come to some determination with respect to the course we were next to steer, Captain Clerke sent a boat, with the carpenters, on board the Discovery, to enquire into the particulars of the damage she had sustained. They returned in the evening, with the report of Captain Gore, and of the carpenters of both ships, that the damages they had received were of a kind that would require three weeks to repair; and that it would be necessary, for that purpose, to go into some port.

Thus, finding a farther advance to the northward, as well as a nearer approach to either continent, obstructed by a sea blocked up with ice, we judged it both injurious to the service, by endangering the safety of the ships, as well as fruitless, with respect to the design of our voyage, to make any farther attempts toward a passage. This, therefore, added to the representations of Captain Gore, determined Captain Clerke not to lose more time in what he concluded to be an unattainable object, but to sail for Awatska Bay, to repair our damages there; and before the winter should set in, and render all other efforts toward discovery impracticable, to explore the coast of Japan.

I will not endeavour to conceal the joy that brightened the countenance of every individual, as soon as Captain Clerke's resolutions were made known. We were all heartily sick of a navigation full of danger, and in which the utmost perseverance had not been repaid with the smallest probability of success. We therefore turned our faces toward home, after an absence of three years, with a delight and satisfaction, which, notwithstanding the tedious voyage we had still to make, and the immense distance we had to run, were as freely entertained, and perhaps as fully enjoyed, as if we had been already in sight of the Land's-end.

On the 28th, we kept working to windward with a fresh breeze from the S.E., having the coast of Asia still in sight. At four in the morning, the cape, which, on the authority of Muller, we have called Serdze Kamen, bore S.S.W., distant six or seven leagues. We saw in different places, upon the tops of the hills, which rise inland on both sides of the cape, protuberances of a considerable height, which had the appearance of huge rocks, or pillars of stone.

On the 29th, the wind still continuing contrary, we made but slow progress to the southward. At midnight we had thick foggy weather, accompanied with a breeze from the N.N.W., with which we directed our course to the S.S.E. through the strait, and had no land in sight till seven in the evening of the 30th, when the fog clearing away, we saw Cape Prince of Wales bearing S. by E., distant about six leagues; and the island St Diomede, S.W. by W. We now altered our course to the W., and at eight made the east cape, which at midnight bore W. by N., distant four leagues. In the night we steered to the S.S.W., with a fresh west-north-westerly breeze; and at four in the morning of the 31st, the east cape bore N.N.E.; and the N.E. part of the bay of St Laurence (where we anchored the last year) W. by S., its distance being four leagues. As we could not have worked up to windward without a greater waste of time than the object appeared to deserve, we ran across the bay, regretting much, as we passed along, the loss of this opportunity of paying a second visit to the Tschutski. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 65° 6', and longitude 189°. The south point of the bay of St Laurence bore N. by W. 1/4 W., and was distant seven or eight leagues. In the afternoon, the variation was found to be 22° 50' E.

Having now passed Beering's Strait, and taken our final leave of the N.E. coast of Asia, it may not be improper, on this occasion, to state the grounds on which we have ventured to adopt two general conclusions respecting its extent, in opposition to the opinions of Mr Muller. The first, that the promontory named East Cape, is actually the easternmost point of that quarter of the globe; or, in other words, that no part of the continent extends in longitude beyond 190° 22' E.; the second, that the latitude of the north-easternmost extremity falls to the southward of 70° N. With respect to the former, if such land exist, it must necessarily be to the N. of latitude 69°, where the discoveries made in the present voyage terminate; and, therefore, the probable direction of the coast, beyond this point, is the question I shall endeavour, in the first place, to investigate.

As the Russian is the only nation that has hitherto navigated these seas, all our information respecting the situation of the coast to the northward of Cape North, must necessarily be derived from the charts and journals of the persons who have been employed at various times in ascertaining the limits of that empire; and these are for the most part so imperfect, so confused, and contradictory, that it is not easy to form any distinct idea of their pretended, much less to collect the amount of their real discoveries. It is on this account, that the extent and form of the peninsula, inhabited by the Tschutski, still remains a point on which the Russian geographers are much divided. Mr Muller, in his map, published in the year 1754, supposes this country to extend toward the N.E., to the 75° of latitude, and in longitude 190° E. of Greenwich, and to terminate in a round cape, which he calls Tschukotskoi Noss. To the southward of this cape he conceives the coast to form a bay to the westward, bounded in latitude 67° 18', by Serdze Kamen, the northernmost point seen by Beering in his expedition in the year 1728. The map published by the academy of St Petersburgh, in the year 1776, gives the whole peninsula entirely a new form, placing its north-easternmost extremity in the latitude of 73°, longitude 178° 30'. The easternmost point in latitude 65° 30', longitude 189° 30'. All the other maps we saw, both printed and in manuscript, vary between these two, apparently more according to the fancy of the compiler, than on any grounds of more accurate information. The only point in which there is a general coincidence, without any considerable variation, is in the position of the east cape in latitude 66°. The form of the coast, both to the S. and N. of this cape, in the map of the academy, is exceedingly erroneous, and may be totally disregarded. In that of Mr Muller, the coast to the northward bears a considerable resemblance to our survey, as far as the latter extends, except that it does not trend sufficiently to the westward, receding only about 5° of longitude, between the latitude of 66° and 69°; whereas in reality it recedes near ten. Between the latitude of 69° and 74°, he makes the coast bend round to the N. and N.E., and to form a considerable promontory. On what authority now remains to be examined.

Mr Coxe, whose accurate researches into this subject give his opinion great weight, is persuaded that the extremity of the Noss in question was never passed but by Deshneff and his party, who sailed from the river Kovyma in the year 1648, and are supposed to have got round it into the Anadir. As the account of this expedition, the substance of which the reader will find in Mr Coxe's Account of Russian Discoveries, contains no geographical delineation of the coast along which they sailed, its position must be conjectured from incidental circumstances; and from these it appears very manifest, that the Tschukotskoi Noss of Deshneff is no other than the promontory called by Captain Cook the East Cape. Speaking of the Noss, he says, "One might sail from the isthmus to the river Anadir, with a fair wind, in three days and three nights." This exactly coincides with the situation of the East Cape, which is about one hundred and twenty leagues from the mouth of the Anadir; and as there is no other isthmus to the northward between that and the latitude of 69°, it is obvious that, by this description, he must intend either the cape in question, or some other to the southward of it. In another place he says, "Over against the isthmus there are two islands in the sea, upon which were seen people of the Tschutski nation, through whose lips were run pieces of the teeth of the sea-horse." This again perfectly agrees with the two islands situated to the S.E. of the East Cape. We saw indeed no inhabitants on them, but it is not at all improbable that a party of the Americans from the opposite continent, whom this description accurately suits, might, at that time, have been accidentally there; and whom it was natural enough for him to mistake for a tribe of the Tschutski.[25]

[25] From the circumstance, related in the last volume, that gave name to Sledge Island, it appears that the inhabitants of the adjacent continents visit occasionally the small islands lying between them, probably for the conveniency of fishing, or in pursuit of furs.

It appears also from Popoff's deposition, which I shall have occasion to speak of more particularly hereafter, that the general resemblance between the people, who are seen in these islands, and the Tschutski, was sufficient to lead Deshneff into the error of imagining them to be the same. "Opposite to the Noss," he says, "is an island of moderate size, without trees, whose inhabitants resemble in their exterior the Tschutski, although they are quite another nation; not numerous, indeed, yet speaking their own particular language." Again, "One may go in a baidare from the Noss to the island in half a day; beyond is a great continent, which can be discovered from the island in serene weather. When the weather is good, one may go from the island to the continent in a day. The inhabitants of the continent are similar to the Tschutski, excepting that they speak another language."

These two circumstances are of so striking and unequivocal a nature, that they appear to me conclusive on the point of the Tschukotskoi Noss, notwithstanding there are others of a more doubtful kind, which we have from the same authority, and which now remain to be considered. "To go," says Deshneff in another account, "from the Kovyma to the Anadir, a great promontory must be doubled, which stretches very far into the sea;" and afterwards, "this promontory stretches between N. and N.E." It was probably from the expressions contained in these passages, that Mr Muller was induced to give the country of the Tschutski the form we find in his map; but had he been acquainted with the situation of the east cape, as ascertained by Captain Cook, and the remarkable coincidence between it and this promontory or isthmus, (for it must be observed, that Deshneff appears to be all along speaking of the same thing), in the circumstances already mentioned, I am confident he would not have thought those expressions, merely by themselves, of sufficient weight to warrant him in extending the north-eastern extremity of Asia, either so far to the north or to the eastward. For, after all, these expressions are not irreconcilable with the opinion we have adopted, if we suppose Deshneff to have taken these bearings from the small bight which lies to the westward of the cape.

The deposition of the Cossack Popoff, taken at the Anadirskoi ostrog; in the year 1711, seems to have been the next authority on which Mr Muller has proceeded; and beside these two, I am not acquainted with any other. This Cossack, together with several others, was sent by land to demand tribute from the independent Tschutski tribes, who lived about the Noss. The first circumstance in the account of this journey that can lead to the situation of Tschukotskoi Noss, is its distance from Anadirsk; and this is stated to be ten weeks' journey with loaded rein-deer; on which account, it is added, their day's journey was but very small. It is impossible to conclude much from so vague an account; but, as the distance between the east cape and the ostrog is upward of two hundred leagues in a straight line, and therefore may be supposed to allow twelve or fifteen miles a day, its situation cannot be reckoned incompatible with Popoff's calculation. The next circumstance mentioned in this deposition is, that their route lay by the foot of a rock called Matkol, situated at the bottom of a great gulf. This gulf Muller supposes to be the bay he had laid down between latitude 66° and 72°; and accordingly places the rock Matkol in the centre of it; but it appears equally probable, even if we had not so many reasons to doubt the existence of that bay, that it might be some part of the gulf of Anadir, which they would undoubtedly touch upon in their road from the ostrog to the east cape.

But what seems to put this matter beyond all dispute, and to prove that the cape visited by Popoff cannot be to the northward of 69° latitude, is, that part of his deposition, which I have already quoted, relative to the island lying off the Noss, from whence the opposite continent might be seen. For as the two continents in latitude 69°, have diverged so far as to be more than three hundred miles distant, it is highly improbable that the Asiatic coast should again trend in such a manner to the eastward, as to come nearly within sight of the coast of America.

If these arguments should be deemed conclusive against the existence of the peninsula of the Tschutski, as laid down by Muller, it will follow that the east cape is the Tschukotskoi Noss of the[26] more early Russian navigators; and, consequently, that the undescribed coast from the latitude of 69° to the mouth of the river Kovyma, must uniformly trend more or less to the westward. As an additional proof of this, it may be remarked, that the Tschukotskoi Noss is always represented as dividing the sea of Kovyma from that of Anadir, which could not be the case, if any considerable cape had projected to the N.E. in the higher latitudes. Thus, in the depositions taken at Anadirsk, it is related, "that opposite the Noss, on both sides, as well in the sea of Kovyma, as in that of Anadir, an island is said to be seen at a great distance, which the Tschutski call a large country; and say that people dwell there who have large teeth put in their mouths that project through their cheeks." Then follows a description of these people and their country, exactly corresponding with our accounts of the opposite continent.

[26] I mention the more early Russian navigators, because Beering, whom we have also followed, and after him all the late Russian geographers, have given this name to the S.E. cape of the peninsula of the Tschutski, which was formerly called the Anadirskoi Noss.

The last question that arises is, to what degree of northern latitude this coast extends, before it trends more directly to the westward. If the situation of the mouth of the Kovyma, both with respect to its latitude and longitude, were accurately determined, it would perhaps not be very difficult to form a probable conjecture upon this point. Captain Cook was always strongly of opinion that the northern coast of Asia, from the Indigirka eastward, has hitherto been generally laid down more than two degrees to the northward of its true position; and he has, therefore, on the authority of a map that was in his possession, and on the information he received at Oonalashka, placed the mouth of the river Kovyma, in his chart of the N.W. coast of America, and the N.E. coast of Asia, in the latitude of 68°. Should he be right in this conjecture, it is probable, for the reasons that have been already stated, that the Asiatic coast does not any where exceed 70°, before it trends to the westward; and consequently, that we were within 1° of its north-eastern extremity. For, if the continent be supposed to stretch any where to the northward of Shelatskoi Noss, it is scarcely possible that so extraordinary a circumstance should not have been mentioned by the Russian navigators; and we have already shewn that they make mention of no remarkable promontory between the Kovyma and the Anadir, except the east cape. Another circumstance, related by Deshneff, may, perhaps, be thought a further confirmation of this opinion, namely, that he met with no impediment from ice in navigating round the N.E. extremity of Asia; though, he adds, that this sea is not always so free from it, as indeed is manifest from the failure of his first expedition, and since that, from the unsuccessful attempts of Shalauroff, and the obstacles we met with, in two different years, in our present voyage.[27]

[27] It ought, however, to be recollected, that though Shalauroff is conceived never to have doubled Shelatskoi Noss, he nevertheless does not appear to have considered there was any particular difficulty in doing so. In his first attempt to sail from the Kovyma to the Eastern Ocean, he was necessitated, by contrary winds, and the too far advanced season of the year, to seek for a watering-place, before having reached that cape. In the following year, again, he was frustrated by want of provisions, and a mutiny of his crew, which forced him to return to the Lena. The progress of his last enterprise is somewhat uncertain, as neither he nor any of his crew ever returned. But there are tolerably good reasons for believing, that, at all events, he had surmounted the navigation of this cape, if not for the opinion, that he actually accomplished the chief object of his voyage, by bringing his vessel to the mouth of the Anadir, where, it is on the whole, most probable, they were killed by the Tschutski. This last circumstance, however, it is to be allowed Mr Coxe, affords no decisive proof that they had doubled the eastern extremity of Asia, for it is possible they might have reached the Anadir by a journey over land. After all, then, we are forced to revert to Deshneff's voyage as the solitary evidence, and that too but imperfectly elucidated, of the practicability of reaching the Eastern Ocean from the north coast of Asia.--E.

The continent left undetermined in our chart between Cape North, and the mouth of the Kovyma is, in longitudinal extent, one hundred and twenty-five leagues. One-third, or about forty leagues, of this distance, from the Kovyma eastward, was explored in the year 1723, by a sinbo-jarskoi of Jakutz, whose name was Feodor Amossoff, by whom Mr Muller was informed, that its direction was to the eastward. It is said to have been since accurately surveyed by Shalauroff, whose chart makes it trend to the N.E. by E., as far as the Shelatskoi Noss, which he places about forty-three leagues to the eastward of the Kovyma. The space between this Noss and Cape North, about eighty-two leagues, is therefore the only part of the Russian empire that now remains unascertained.

But if the river Kovyma be erroneously situated with respect to its longitude, as well as in its latitude, a supposition for which probable grounds are not wanting, the extent of the unexplored coast will become proportionably diminished. The reasons which incline me to believe that the mouth of this river is placed in the Russian charts much too far to the westward, are as follow: First, because the accounts that are given of the navigation of the Frozen Sea from that river, round the N.E. point of Asia to the gulf of Anadir, do not accord with the supposed distance between those places. Secondly, because the distance over land from the Kovyma to the Anadir is represented by the early Russian travellers as a journey easily performed, and of no very extraordinary length. Thirdly, because the coast from the Shelatskoi Noss of Shalauroff[28] seems to trend directly S.E. to the East Cape. If this be so, it will follow, that as we were probably not more than 1° to the southward of Shelatskoi Noss, only sixty miles of the Asiatic coast remain unascertained.[29]

[28] See chart in Coxe's Account of Russian Discoveries.

[29] Here, it is not unlikely, some readers will feel regret, that a greater sacrifice was not made, or a longer continued effort practised, or a renewed attempt hazarded, in order to overcome so inconsiderable a space, and so to double Shelatskoi Noss, whence, it may be thought, there could have been comparatively little difficulty in prosecuting the object of the voyage. The feeling is not unreasonable, provided it be not made the basis of any thing like censure on the management of the undertaking; in which case, it must soon give way to the conviction of the superior good sense, and the higher interest (excluding altogether, which is manifestly inhuman, every concern for the persons immediately engaged in the enterprise) displayed by the determination to abandon the attempt. To the force of this conviction, it may be necessary to add the very material consideration, that, even had it been any way practicable to double the cape in question, and to reach the Lena in the same track as Shalauroff, there would have still remained the space betwixt that river and Archangel, which, though undoubtedly to a great degree explored, does not appear to have been ever altogether navigated. To the merely fanciful caviller at the result of this attempt, it would be a prostitution of time and patience, even if one had both in the requisite quantity, to offer a reply. But the observations which Captain King immediately makes on this subject, will probably obviate any objection which the most sanguine mind will be disposed to entertain, and perhaps there was little occasion to subjoin a single remark to his opinion.--E.

Had Captain Cook lived to this period of our voyage, and experienced, in a second attempt, the impracticability of a N.E. or N.W. passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, he would doubtless have laid before the public, in one connected view, an account of the obstacles which defeated this, the primary object of our expedition, together with his observations on a subject of such magnitude, and which had engaged the attention and divided the opinions of philosophers and navigators for upward of two hundred years. I am very sensible how unequal I am to the task of supplying this deficiency; but that the expectations of the reader may not be wholly disappointed, I must beg his candid acceptance of the following observations, as well as of those I have already ventured to offer him, relative to the extent of the N.E. coast of Asia.