TRANSACTIONS DURING THE SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE NORTH, BY THE WAY OF
KAMTSCHATKA; AND ON THE RETURN HOME, BY THE WAY OF CANTON AND THE CAPE
OF GOOD HOPE.
CHAP. I.
DEPARTURE FROM ONEEHEOW.—FRUITLESS ATTEMPT TO DISCOVER MODOOPAPAPPA.—
COURSE STEERED FOR AWATSKA BAY.—OCCURRENCES DURING THAT PASSAGE.—
SUDDEN CHANGE FROM HEAT TO COLD.—DISTRESS OCCASIONED BY THE LEAKING OF
THE RESOLUTION.—VIEW OF THE COAST OF KAMTSCHATKA.—EXTREME RIGOUR OF
THE CLIMATE.—LOSE SIGHT OF THE DISCOVERY.—THE RESOLUTION ENTERS THE
BAY OF AWATSK.—PROSPECT OF THE TOWN OF SAINT PETER AND SAINT PAUL.—
PARTY SENT ASHORE.—THEIR RECEPTION BY THE COMMANDING OFFICER OF THE
PORT.—MESSAGE DISPATCHED TO THE COMMANDER AT BOLCHERETSK.—ARRIVAL OF
THE DISCOVERY.—RETURN OF THE MESSENGERS FROM THE COMMANDER.—
EXTRAORDINARY MODE OF TRAVELLING.—VISIT FROM A MERCHANT, AND A GERMAN
SERVANT BELONGING TO THE COMMANDER.
On the 15th of March, at seven in the morning, we weighed anchor, and
passing to the north of Tahoora, stood on to the south-west, in hopes of
falling in with the island of Modoopapappa, which, we were told by the
natives, lay in that direction, about five hours sail from Tahoora. At
four in the afternoon, we were overtaken by a stout canoe, with ten men,
who were going from Oneeheow to Tahoora, to kill tropic and man-of-war
birds, with which that place was said to abound. It has been mentioned
before, that the feathers of these birds are in great request, being
much used in making their cloaks, and other ornamental parts of their
dress.
At eight, having seen nothing of the island, we hauled the wind to the
northward, till midnight, and then tacked, and stood on a wind to the
south-east, till day-light next morning, at which time Tahoora bore east
north-east, five or six leagues distant. We afterward steered west
south-west, and made the Discovery’s signal to spread four miles upon
our starboard beam. At noon, our latitude was 21° 27ʹ, and our longitude
198° 42ʹ; and having stood on till five in the same direction, we made
the Discovery’s signal to come under our stern, and gave over all hopes
of seeing Modoopapappa. We conceived, that it might probably lie in a
more southerly direction from Tahoora, than that in which we had
steered; though, after all, it is possible, that we might have passed it
in the night, as the islanders described it to be very small, and almost
even with the surface of the sea.
The next day, we steered west; it being Captain Clerke’s intention to
keep as near as possible in the same parallel of latitude, till we
should make the longitude of Awatska Bay, and afterward to steer due
north for the harbour of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in that bay; which
was also appointed for our rendezvous, in case of separation. This track
was chosen on account of its being, as far as we knew, unexplored; and
we were not without hopes of falling in with some new islands on our
passage.
We had scarcely seen a bird, since our losing sight of Tahoora, till the
18th in the afternoon, when, being in the latitude of 21° 12ʹ, and the
longitude of 194° 45ʹ, the appearance of a great many boobies, and some
man-of-war birds, made us keep a sharp look-out for land. Toward
evening, the wind lessened, and the north-east swell, which, on the 16th
and 17th, had been so heavy as to make the ships labour exceedingly, was
much abated. The next day, we saw no appearance of land; and at noon, we
steered a point more to the southward, viz. west by south, in the hopes
of finding the trade-winds (which blew almost invariably from the east
by north) fresher as we advanced within the tropic. It is somewhat
singular, that though we saw no birds in the forenoon, yet toward
evening we had again a number of boobies and man-of-war birds about us.
This seemed to indicate, that we had passed the land from whence the
former flights had come, and that we were approaching some other low
island.
The wind continued very moderate, with fine weather, till the 23d, when
it freshened from the north-east by east, and increased to a strong
gale, which split some of our old sails, and made the running rigging
very frequently give way. This gale lasted twelve hours; it then became
more moderate, and continued so, till the 25th at noon, when we entirely
lost it, and had only a very light air.
On the 26th in the morning, we thought we saw land to the west
south-west, but, after running about sixteen leagues in that direction,
we found our mistake; and night coming on, we again steered west. Our
latitude, at this time, was 19° 45ʹ, which was the greatest southing we
made in this run; our longitude was 183°, and variation 12° 45ʹ E. We
continued in this course, with little alteration in the wind, till the
29th, when it shifted to the south-east and south south-east, and, for a
few hours in the night, it was in the west; the weather being dark and
cloudy, with much rain. We had met, for some days past, several turtles,
one of which was the smallest I ever saw, not exceeding three inches in
length. We were also accompanied by man-of-war birds, and boobies of an
unusual kind, being quite white (except the tip of the wing, which was
black), and easily mistaken, at first sight, for gannets.
The light winds which we had met with for some time past, with the
present unsettled state of the weather, and the little appearance of any
change for the better, induced Captain Clerke to alter his plan of
keeping within the tropical latitudes; and accordingly, at six this
evening, we began to steer north-west by north, at which time our
latitude was 20° 23ʹ, and our longitude 180° 40ʹ. During the continuance
of the light winds, which prevailed almost constantly ever since our
departure from the Sandwich Islands, the weather was very close, and the
air hot and sultry; the thermometer being generally at 80°, and
sometimes at 83°. All this time, we had a considerable swell from the
north-east; and in no period of the voyage did the ships roll and strain
so violently.
In the morning of the 1st of April, the wind changed from the south-east
to the north-east by east, and blew a fresh breeze, till the morning of
the 4th, when it altered two points more to the east, and by noon
increased to a strong gale, which lasted till the afternoon of the 5th,
attended with hazy weather. It then again altered its direction to the
south-east, became more moderate, and was accompanied by heavy showers
of rain. During all this time, we kept steering to the north-west,
against a slow but regular current from that quarter, which caused a
constant variation from our reckoning by the log, of fifteen miles a
day. On the 4th, being then in the latitude 26° 17ʹ, and longitude 173°
30ʹ, we passed prodigious quantities of what sailors call Portuguese
men-of-war (_holothuria physalis_), and were also accompanied with a
great number of sea birds, amongst which we observed, for the first
time, the albatross and sheerwater.
On the 6th, at noon, we lost the trade-wind, and were suddenly taken
a-back, with the wind from the north north-west. At this time, our
latitude was 29° 50ʹ, and our longitude 170° 1ʹ. As the old
running-ropes were constantly breaking in the late gales, we reeved what
new ones we had left, and made such other preparations, as were
necessary for the very different climate with which we were now shortly
to encounter. The fine weather we met with between the tropics, had not
been idly spent. The carpenters found sufficient employment in repairing
the boats. The best bower-cable had been so much damaged by the foul
ground in Karakakooa Bay, and whilst we were at anchor off Oneeheow,
that we were obliged to cut forty fathoms from it; in converting of
which, with other old cordage, into spun-yarn, and applying it to
different uses, a considerable part of the people were kept constantly
employed by the boatswain. The airing of sails and other stores, which,
from the leakiness of the decks and sides of the ships, were perpetually
subject to be wet, had now become a frequent as well as a laborious and
troublesome part of our duty.
Besides these cares, which had regard only to the ships themselves,
there were others, which had for their object the preservation of the
health of the crews, that furnished a constant occupation to a great
number of our hands. The standing orders, established by Captain Cook,
of airing the bedding, placing fires between decks, washing them with
vinegar, and smoking them with gunpowder, were observed without any
intermission. For some time past, even the operation of mending the
sailors’ old jackets had risen into a duty both of difficulty and
importance. It may be necessary to inform those who are unacquainted
with the disposition and habits of seamen, that they are so accustomed
in ships of war to be directed in the care of themselves by their
officers, that they lose the very idea of foresight, and contract the
thoughtlessness of infants. I am sure, that if our people had been left
to their own discretion alone, we should have had the whole crew naked,
before the voyage had been half finished. It was natural to expect that
their experience, during our voyage to the north last year, would have
made them sensible of the necessity of paying some attention to these
matters; but if such reflections ever occurred to them, their impression
was so transitory, that, upon our return to the tropical climates, their
fur jackets, and the rest of their cold country clothes, were kicked
about the decks as things of no value; though it was generally known, in
both ships, that we were to make another voyage toward the pole. They
were, of course, picked up by the officers; and, being put into casks,
restored about this time to the owners.
In the afternoon, we observed some of the sheathing floating by the
ship; and, on examination, found that twelve or fourteen feet had been
washed off from under the larboard-bow, where we supposed the leak to
have been, which, ever since our leaving Sandwich Islands, had kept the
people almost constantly at the pumps, making twelve inches water an
hour. This day we saw a number of small crabs, of a pale blue colour;
and had again, in company, a few albatrosses and sheerwaters. The
thermometer, in the night-time, sunk eleven degrees; and although it
still remained as high as 59°, yet we suffered much from the cold; our
feelings being, as yet, by no means reconciled to that degree of
temperature.
The wind continued blowing fresh from the north, till the eighth, in the
morning, when it became more moderate, with fair weather, and gradually
changed its direction to the east, and afterward to the south.
On the ninth, at noon, our latitude was 32° 16ʹ; our longitude 166° 40ʹ;
and the variation 8° 30ʹ E. And on the tenth, having crossed the track
of the Spanish galleons from the Manillas to Acapulco, we expected to
have fallen in with the Island of Rica de Plata, which, according to De
Lisle’s chart, in which the route of those ships is laid down, ought to
have been in sight; its latitude, as there given, being 33° 30ʹ N., and
its longitude 166° E. Notwithstanding we were so far advanced to the
northward, we saw this day a tropic bird, and also several other kinds
of sea-birds; such as puffins, sea-parrots, sheerwaters, and
albatrosses.
On the eleventh, at noon, we were in latitude 35° 30ʹ, longitude 165°
45ʹ; and during the course of the day, had sea-birds, as before, and
passed several bunches of sea-weed. About the same time, the Discovery
passed a log of wood; but no other signs of land were seen.
The next day the wind came gradually round to the east, and increased to
so strong a gale, as obliged us to strike our top-gallant yards, and
brought us under the lower sails, and the main top-sail close reefed.
Unfortunately we were upon that tack, which was the most disadvantageous
for our leak. But, as we had always been able to keep it under with the
hand-pumps, it gave us no great uneasiness, till the 13th, about six in
the afternoon, when we were greatly alarmed by a sudden inundation, that
deluged the whole space between decks. The water, which had lodged in
the coal-hole, not finding a sufficient vent into the well, had forced
up the platforms over it, and in a moment set every thing afloat. Our
situation was indeed exceedingly distressing; nor did we immediately see
any means of relieving ourselves. A pump, through the upper decks into
the coal-hole, could answer no end, as it would very soon have been
choked up by the small coals; and, to bale the water out with buckets,
was become impracticable, from the number of bulky materials that were
washed out of the gunner’s store-room into it, and which, by the ship’s
motion, were tossed violently from side to side. No other method was
therefore left, but to cut a hole through the bulk-head (or partition)
that separated the coal hole from the fore-hold, and by that means to
make a passage for the body of water into the well. However, before that
it could be done, it was necessary to get the casks of dry provisions
out of the fore-hold, which kept us employed the greatest part of the
night; so that the carpenters could not get at the partition till the
next morning. As soon as a passage was made, the greatest part of the
water emptied itself into the well, and enabled us to get out the rest
with buckets. But the leak was now so much increased, that we were
obliged to keep one half of the people constantly pumping and baleing,
till the noon of the 15th. Our men bore, with great cheerfulness, this
excessive fatigue, which was much increased by their having no dry place
to sleep in; and, on this account, we began to serve their full
allowance of grog.
The weather now becoming more moderate, and the swell less heavy, we
were enabled to clear away the rest of the casks from the fore-hold, and
to open a sufficient passage for the water to the pumps. This day we saw
a greenish piece of drift-wood, and fancying the water coloured, we
sounded, but got no bottom with a hundred and sixty fathoms of line. Our
latitude, at noon this day, was 41° 52ʹ, longitude 161° 15ʹ; variation
6° 30ʹ east; and the wind soon after veering to the northward, we
altered our course three points to the west.
On the 16th, at noon, we were in the latitude of 42° 12ʹ, and in the
longitude of 160° 5ʹ; and as we were now approaching the place where a
great extent of land is said to have been seen by De Gama, we were glad
of the opportunity which the course we were steering gave, of
contributing to remove the doubts, if any should be still entertained,
respecting the falsehood of this pretended discovery. For it is to be
observed, that no one has ever yet been able to find who John de Gama
was, when he lived, or what year this pretended discovery was made.
According to Mr. Muller, the first account of it given to the public was
in a chart published by Texeira, a Portuguese geographer, in 1649, who
places it in ten or twelve degrees to the north-east of Japan, between
the latitudes of 44° and 45°; and announces it to be _land seen by John
de Gama, the Indian, in a voyage from China to New Spain_. On what
grounds the French geographers have since removed it five degrees to the
eastward, does not appear; except we suppose it to have been in order to
make room for another discovery of the same kind made by the Dutch,
called _Company’s Land_; of which we shall have occasion to speak
hereafter.
During the whole day, the wind was exceedingly unsettled, being seldom
steady to two or three points; and blowing in fresh gusts, which were
succeeded by dead calms. These were not unpromising appearances; but,
after standing off and on, the whole of this day, without seeing any
thing of the land, we again steered to the northward, not thinking it
worth our while to lose time in search of an object, the opinion of
whose existence had been already pretty generally exploded. Our people
were employed the whole of the 16th, in getting their wet things to dry,
and in airing the ship below.
We now began to feel very sharply the increasing inclemency of the
northern climate. In the morning of the 18th, our latitude being 45°
40ʹ, and our longitude 160° 25ʹ, we had snow and sleet, accompanied with
strong gales from the south-west. This circumstance will appear very
remarkable, if we consider the season of the year, and the quarter from
which the wind blew. On the 19th, the thermometer, in the day-time,
remained at the freezing point, and at four in the morning fell to 29°.
If the reader will take the trouble to compare the degree of heat,
during the hot sultry weather we had at the beginning of this month,
with the extreme cold which we now endured, he will conceive how
severely so rapid a change must have been felt by us.
In the gale of the 18th, we had split almost all the sails we had bent,
which being our second best suit, we were now reduced to make use of our
last and best set. To add to Captain Clerke’s difficulties, the sea was
in general so rough, and the ships so leaky, that the sail-makers had no
place to repair the sails in, except his apartments, which, in his
declining state of health, was a serious inconvenience to him.
On the 20th, at noon, being in latitude 49° 45ʹ N. and longitude 161°
15ʹ E.; and eagerly expecting to fall in with the coast of Asia, the
wind shifted suddenly to the north, and continued in the same quarter
the following day. However, although it retarded our progress, yet the
fair weather it brought was no small refreshment to us. In the forenoon
of the 21st, we saw a whale, and a land-bird; and, in the afternoon, the
water looking muddy, we sounded, but got no ground with an hundred and
forty fathoms of line. During the three preceding days, we saw large
flocks of wild-fowl, of a species resembling ducks. This is usually
considered as a proof of the vicinity of land; but we had no other signs
of it, since the 16th; in which time we had run upward of an hundred and
fifty leagues.
On the 22d, the wind shifted to the north-east, attended with misty
weather. The cold was exceedingly severe, and the ropes were so frozen,
that it was with difficulty we could force them through the blocks. At
noon, the latitude, by account, was 51° 38ʹ, longitude 160° 7ʹ; and on
comparing our present position with that given to the southern parts of
Kamtschatka, in the Russian charts, Captain Clerke did not think it
prudent to run on toward the land all night. We therefore tacked at ten;
and, having sounded, had ground agreeably to our conjectures, with
seventy fathoms of line.
On the 23d, at six in the morning, being in latitude 52° 09ʹ, and
longitude 160° 07ʹ, on the fog clearing away, the land appeared in
mountains covered with snow; and extending from north three quarters
east, to south-west, a high conical rock, bearing south-west, three
quarters west, at three or four leagues distance. We had no sooner taken
this imperfect view, than we were again covered with a thick fog. Being
now, according to our maps, only eight leagues from the entrance of
Awatska Bay, as soon as the weather cleared up, we stood in to take a
nearer view of the land; and a more dismal and dreary prospect I never
beheld. The coast appears straight and uniform, having no inlets or
bays; the ground, from the shore, rises in hills of a moderate
elevation, behind which are ranges of mountains, whose summits were lost
in the clouds. The whole scene was entirely covered with snow, except
the sides of some of the cliffs, which rose too abruptly from the sea
for the snow to lie upon them.
The wind continued blowing very strong from the north-east, with thick
hazy weather and sleet, from the 24th till the 28th. During the whole
time, the thermometer was never higher than 30-1/2°. The ship appeared
to be a complete mass of ice; the shrowds were so incrusted with it, as
to measure in circumference more than double their usual size; and, in
short, the experience of the oldest seaman among us, had never met with
any thing like the continued showers of sleet, and the extreme cold,
which we now encountered. Indeed, the severity of the weather, added to
the great difficulty of working the ships, and the labour of keeping the
pumps constantly going, rendered the service too hard for many of the
crew, some of whom were frost-bitten, and others laid up with bad colds.
We continued all this time standing four hours on each tack, having
generally soundings of sixty fathoms, when about three leagues from the
land; but none at twice that distance. On the 25th, we had a transient
view of the entrance of Awatska Bay; but, in the present state of the
weather, we were afraid of venturing into it. Upon our standing off
again, we lost sight of the Discovery; but, as we were now so near the
place of rendezvous, this gave us no great uneasiness.
On the 28th, in the morning, the weather at last cleared, and the wind
fell to a light breeze from the same quarter as before. We had a fine
warm day, and as we now began to expect a thaw, the men were employed in
breaking the ice from off the rigging, masts, and sails, in order to
prevent its falling on our heads. At noon, being in the latitude of 52°
44ʹ, and the longitude of 159°, the entrance of Awatska Bay bore
north-west, distant three or four leagues; and about three in the
afternoon a fair wind sprung up from the southward, with which we stood
in, having regular soundings from twenty-two to seven fathoms.
The mouth of the bay opens in a north-north-west direction. The land on
the south side is of a moderate height; to the northward it rises into a
bluff head, which is the highest part of the coast. In the channel
between them, near the north-east side, lie three remarkable rocks; and
farther in, near the opposite coast, a single detached rock of a
considerable size. On the north head there is a look-out house, which,
when the Russians expect any of their ships upon the coast, is used as a
light-house. There was a flag-staff on it, but we saw no sign of any
person being there.
Having passed the mouth of the bay, which is about four miles long, we
opened a large circular bason of twenty-five miles in circumference, and
at half past four came to an anchor in six fathoms’ water, being afraid
of running foul on a shoal, or some sunk rocks, which are said by
Muller[17] to lie in the channel of the harbour of St. Peter and St.
Paul. The middle of the bay was full of loose ice, drifting with the
tide, but the shores were still entirely blocked up with it. Great
flocks of wild-fowl were seen of various species; likewise ravens,
eagles, and large flights of Greenland pigeons. We examined every corner
of the bay with our glasses, in search of the town of St. Peter and St.
Paul, which, according to the accounts given us at Oonalashka, we had
conceived to be a place of some strength and consideration. At length we
discovered on a narrow point of land to the north-north-east a few
miserable log-houses and some conical huts, raised on poles, amounting
in all to about thirty, which from their situation, notwithstanding all
the respect we wished to entertain for a Russian _ostrog_, we were under
the necessity of concluding to be Petropaulowska. However, in justice to
the generous and hospitable treatment we found here, I shall beg leave
to anticipate the reader’s curiosity, by assuring him that our
disappointment proved to be more of a laughable than a serious nature.
For in this wretched extremity of the earth, situated beyond every thing
that we conceived to be most barbarous and inhospitable, and as it were
out of the very reach of civilization, barricadoed with ice and covered
with summer snow, in a poor miserable port far inferior to the meanest
of our fishing towns, we met with feelings of humanity, joined to a
greatness of mind and elevation of sentiment, which would have done
honour to any nation or climate.
[Illustration: _View of Karakakooa in Owhyhee._]
During the night, much ice drifted by us with the tide, and at day-light
I was sent with the boats to examine the bay, and deliver the letters we
had brought from Oonalashka to the Russian commander. We directed our
course toward the village I have just mentioned; and having proceeded as
far as we were able, with the boats, we got upon the ice, which extended
near half a mile from the shore. Mr. Webber and two of the seamen
accompanied me, whilst the master took the pinnace and cutter to finish
the survey, leaving the jolly-boat behind to carry us back.
I believe the inhabitants had not yet seen either the ship or the boats,
for even after we had got on the ice we could not perceive any signs of
a living creature in the town. By the time we had advanced a little way
on the ice, we observed a few men hurrying backward and forward, and
presently after a sledge drawn by dogs, with one of the inhabitants in
it, came down to the sea-side, opposite to us. Whilst we were gazing at
this unusual sight, and admiring the great civility of this stranger
which we imagined had brought him to our assistance, the man, after
viewing us for some time very attentively, turned short round and went
off with great speed toward the _ostrog_. We were not less chagrined
than disappointed at this abrupt departure, as we began to find our
journey over the ice attended not only with great difficulty but even
with danger. We sunk at every step almost knee-deep in the snow, and
though we found tolerable footing at the bottom, yet the weak parts of
the ice not being discoverable, we were constantly exposed to the risk
of breaking through it. This accident at last actually happened to
myself; for stepping on quickly over a suspicious spot, in order to
press with less weight upon it, I came upon a second before I could stop
myself, which broke under me, and in I fell. Luckily I rose clear of the
ice, and a man that was a little way behind with a boat-hook throwing it
to me, I laid it across some loose pieces near me, and by that means was
enabled to get upon firm ice again.
As we approached the shore we found the ice, contrary to our
expectations, more broken than it had been before. We were, however,
again comforted by the sight of another sledge coming toward us, but
instead of proceeding to our relief the driver stopt short, and began to
call out to us. I immediately held up to him Ismyloff’s letters; upon
which he turned about and set off back again full speed, followed, I
believe, not with the prayers of any of our party. Being at a great loss
what conclusions to draw from this unaccountable behaviour, we continued
our march toward the _ostrog_ with great circumspection, and when we had
arrived within a quarter of a mile of it, we perceived a body of armed
men marching toward us. That we might give them as little alarm and have
as peaceable an appearance as possible, the two men who had boat-hooks
in their hands were ordered into the rear, and Mr. Webber and myself
marched in front. The Russian party, consisting of about thirty
soldiers, was headed by a decent-looking person, with a cane in his
hand. He halted within a few yards of us, and drew up his men in a
martial and good order. I delivered to him Ismyloff’s letters, and
endeavoured to make him understand, as well as I could (though I
afterward found in vain), that we were English, and had brought them
papers from Oonalashka. After having examined us attentively, he began
to conduct us toward the village in great silence and solemnity,
frequently halting his men to form them in different manners, and making
them perform several parts of their manual exercise, probably with a
view to show us that if we had the temerity to offer any violence, we
should have to deal with men who were not ignorant of their business.
Though I was all this time in my wet clothes, shivering with cold and
sufficiently inclined to the most unconditional submission, without
having my fears violently alarmed, yet it was impossible not to be
diverted with this military parade, notwithstanding it was attended with
the most unseasonable delay. At length we arrived at the house of the
commanding officer of the party, into which we were ushered, and after
no small stir in giving orders, and disposing of the military without
doors, our host made his appearance, accompanied by another person, whom
we understood to be the secretary of the port. One of Ismyloff’s letters
was now opened, and the other sent off by a special messenger to
Bolcheretsk, a town on the west side of the peninsula of Kamtschatka,
where the Russian commander of this province usually resides.
It is very remarkable that they had not seen the ship the preceding day,
when we came to anchor in the bay, nor indeed this morning till our
boats were pretty near the ice. The panic with which the discovery had
struck them we found had been very considerable. The garrison was
immediately put under arms. Two small field-pieces were placed at the
entrance of the commander’s house, and pointed toward our boats, and
shot, powder, and lighted matches were all ready at hand.
The officer in whose house we were at present entertained was a
serjeant, and the commander of the _ostrog_. Nothing could exceed the
kindness and hospitality of his behaviour, after he had recovered from
the alarm occasioned by our arrival. We found the house insufferably
hot, but exceedingly neat and clean. After I had changed my clothes,
which the serjeant’s civility enabled me to do by furnishing me with a
complete suit of his own, we were invited to sit down to dinner, which I
have no doubt was the best he could procure, and considering the
shortness of time he had to provide it, was managed with some ingenuity.
As there was not time to prepare soup and _bouilli_, we had in their
stead some cold beef sliced, with hot water poured over it. We had next
a large bird roasted, of a species with which I was unacquainted, but of
a very excellent taste. After having eaten a part of this it was taken
off, and we were served with fish dressed two different ways, and soon
after the bird again made its appearance, in savoury and sweet _pâtés_.
Our liquor, of which I shall have to speak hereafter, was of the kind
called by the Russians _quass_, and was much the worse part of the
entertainment. The serjeant’s wife brought in several of the dishes
herself, and was not permitted to sit down at table. Having finished our
repast, during which it is hardly necessary to remark that our
conversation was confined to a few bows, and other signs of mutual
respect, we endeavoured to open to our host the cause and objects of our
visit to this port. As Ismyloff had probably written to them on the same
subject in the letters we had before delivered, he appeared very readily
to conceive our meaning; but as there was unfortunately no one in the
place that could talk any other language except Russian or
Kamtschatdale, we found the utmost difficulty in comprehending the
information he meant to convey to us. After some time spent in these
endeavours to understand one another, we conceived the sum of the
intelligence we had procured to be, that though no supply either of
provisions or naval stores were to be had at this place, yet that these
articles were in great plenty at Bolcheretsk. That the commander would
most probably be very willing to give us what we wanted; but that till
the serjeant had received orders from him, neither he nor his people,
nor the natives, could even venture to go on board the ship.
It was now time for us to take our leave, and as my clothes were still
too wet to put on, I was obliged to have recourse again to the
serjeant’s benevolence, for his leave to carry those I had borrowed of
him on board. This request was complied with very cheerfully, and a
sledge drawn by five dogs, with a driver, was immediately provided for
each of our party. The sailors were highly delighted with this mode of
conveyance; and what diverted them still more was, that the two
boat-hooks had also a sledge appropriated to themselves. These sledges
are so light, and their construction so well adapted to the purposes for
which they are intended, that they went with great expedition and
perfect safety over the ice, which it would have been impossible for us
with all our caution to have passed on foot.
On our return we found the boats towing the ship toward the village, and
at seven we got close to the ice, and moored with the small bower to the
north-east and best bower to the south-west, the entrance of the bay
bearing south by east and south three quarters east, and the _ostrog_
north one quarter east, distant one mile and a half. The next morning
the casks and cables were got upon the quarter-deck, in order to lighten
the ship forward, and the carpenters were set to work to stop the leak,
which had given us so much trouble during our last run. It was found to
have been occasioned by the falling of some sheathing from the
larboard-bow, and the oakum between the planks having been washed out.
The warm weather we had in the middle of the day began to make the ice
break away very fast, which drifting with the tide had almost filled up
the entrance of the bay. Several of our gentlemen paid their visits to
the serjeant, by whom they were received with great civility; and
Captain Clerke sent him two bottles of rum, which he understood would be
the most acceptable present he could make him, and received in return
some fine fowls of the grouse kind, and twenty trouts. Our sportsmen met
with but bad success; for though the bay swarmed with flocks of ducks of
various kinds and Greenland pigeons, yet they were so shy that they
could not come within shot of them.
In the morning of the 1st of May, seeing the Discovery standing into the
bay, a boat was immediately sent to her assistance, and in the afternoon
she moored close by us. They told us that after the weather cleared up
on the 28th, the day on which she had parted company, they found
themselves to leeward of the bay, and that when they got abreast of it
the following day and saw the entrance choked up with ice, they stood
off after firing guns, concluding we could not be here; but finding
afterward it was only loose drift-ice, they had ventured in. The next
day the weather was so very unsettled, attended with heavy showers of
snow, that the carpenters were not able to proceed in their work. The
thermometer stood at 28° in the evening, and the frost was exceedingly
severe in the night.
The following morning, on our observing two sledges drive into the
village, Captain Clerke sent me on shore to inquire whether any message
was arrived from the commander of Kamtschatka, which, according to the
serjeant’s account, might now be expected, in consequence of the
intelligence that had been sent of our arrival. Bolcheretsk by the usual
route is about one hundred and thirty-five English miles from St. Peter
and St. Paul’s. Our dispatches were sent off in a sledge drawn by dogs,
on the 29th about noon. And the answer arrived, as we afterward found,
early this morning, so that they were only a little more than three days
and a half in performing a journey of two hundred and seventy miles.
The return of the commander’s answer was, however, concealed from us for
the present, and I was told on my arrival at the serjeant’s, that we
should hear from him the next day. Whilst I was on shore the boat which
had brought me, together with another belonging to the Discovery, were
set fast in the ice, which a southerly wind had driven from the other
side of the bay. On seeing them entangled, the Discovery’s launch had
been sent to their assistance, but soon shared the same fate, and in a
short time the ice had surrounded them near a quarter of a mile deep.
This obliged us to stay on shore till evening, when finding no prospect
of getting the boats off, some of us went in sledges to the edge of the
ice, and were taken off by boats sent from the ship, and the rest staid
on shore all night.
It continued to freeze hard during the night, but before morning on the
4th a change of wind drifted away the floating ice, and set the boats at
liberty, without their having sustained the smallest damage.
About ten o’clock in the forenoon, we saw several sledges driving down
the edge of the ice, and sent a boat to conduct the persons who were in
them on board. One of these was a Russian merchant from Bolcheretsk
named Fedositsch, and the other a German called Port, who had brought a
letter from Major Behm, the commander of Kamtschatka, to Captain Clerke.
When they got to the edge of the ice, and saw distinctly the size of the
ships which lay within about two hundred yards from them, they appeared
to be exceedingly alarmed, and before they would venture to embark,
desired two of our boat’s crew might be left on shore as hostages for
their safety. We afterward found that Ismyloff, in his letter to the
commander, had misrepresented us, for what reasons we could not
conceive, as two small trading boats; and that the serjeant, who had
only seen the ships at a distance, had not in his dispatches rectified
the mistake.
When they arrived on board, we still found, from their cautious and
timorous behaviour, that they were under some unaccountable
apprehensions; and an uncommon degree of satisfaction was visible in
their countenances, on the German’s finding a person amongst us, with
whom he could converse. This was Mr. Webber, who spoke that language
perfectly well; and at last, though with some difficulty, convinced
them, that we were Englishmen, and friends. M. Port being introduced to
Captain Clerke, delivered to him the Commander’s letter, which was
written in German, and was merely complimental, inviting him and his
officers to Bolcheretsk, to which place the people, who brought it, were
to conduct us. M. Port at the same time, acquainted him, that the Major
had conceived a very wrong idea of the size of the ships, and of the
service we were engaged in; Ismyloff in his letter, having represented
us as two small English packet-boats, and cautioned him to be on his
guard; insinuating, that he suspected us to be no better than pirates.
In consequence of this letter, he said there had been various
conjectures formed about us at Bolcheretsk: that the Major thought it
most probable we were on a trading scheme, and for that reason had sent
down a merchant to us; but that the officer, who was second in command,
was of opinion we were French, and come with some hostile intention, and
were for taking measures accordingly. It had required, he added, all the
Major’s authority to keep the inhabitants from leaving the town, and
retiring up into the country; to so extraordinary a pitch had their
fears risen, from their persuasion that we were French.
Their extreme apprehensions of that nation were principally occasioned,
by some circumstances attending an insurrection that had happened at
Bolcheretsk a few years before, in which the commander had lost his
life. We were informed, that an exiled Polish officer, named Beniowski,
taking advantage of the confusion into which the town was thrown, had
seized upon a galliot, then lying at the entrance of the Bolchoireka,
and had forced on board a number of Russian sailors, sufficient to
navigate her: that he had put on shore a part of the crew at the Kourile
Islands; and, among the rest, Ismyloff, who, as the reader will
recollect, had puzzled us exceedingly at Oonalashka, with the history of
this transaction; though, for want of understanding his language, we
could not then make out all the circumstances attending it: that he
passed in sight of Japan; made Luconia; and was there directed how to
steer to Canton; that arriving there, he had applied to the French, and
had got a passage in one of their India ships to France: and that most
of the Russians had likewise returned to Europe in French ships; and had
afterward found their way to Petersburg. We met with three of
Beniowski’s crew in the harbour of Saint Peter and Saint Paul; and from
them we learnt the circumstances of the above story.
On our arrival at Canton, we received a farther corroboration of the
facts, from the gentlemen of the English factory, who told us, that a
person had arrived there in a Russian galliot, who said he came from
Kamtschatka; and that he had been furnished by the French factory with a
passage to Europe.[18]
We could not help being much diverted with the fears and apprehensions
of these good people, and particularly with the account M. Port gave us
of the serjeant’s wary proceedings the day before. On seeing me come on
shore, in company with some other gentlemen, he had made him and the
merchant, who arrived in the sledges we had seen come in the morning,
hide themselves in his kitchen, and listen to our conversation with one
another, in hopes that, by this means, they might discover whether we
were really English or not.
As we concluded, from the commission and dress of M. Port, that he might
probably be the commander’s secretary, he was received as such, and
invited, with his companion, the merchant, to dine with Captain Clerke:
and though we soon began to suspect, from the behaviour of the latter
toward him, that he was only a common servant, yet this being no time to
sacrifice our little comforts to our pride, we prevented an explanation,
by not suffering the question to be put to him; and, in return for the
satisfaction we reaped from his abilities as a linguist, we continued to
let him live on a footing of equality with us.
CHAP. II.
SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS AND STORES AT THE HARBOUR OF SAINT PETER AND
SAINT PAUL.—A PARTY SET OUT TO VISIT THE COMMANDER AT BOLCHERETSK.—
PASSAGE UP THE RIVER AWATSKA.—ACCOUNT OF THEIR RECEPTION BY THE TOION
OF KARATCHIN.—DESCRIPTION OF A KAMTSCHADALE DRESS.—JOURNEY ON
SLEDGES.—DESCRIPTION OF THIS MODE OF TRAVELLING.—ARRIVAL AT
NATCHEEKIN.—ACCOUNT OF HOT SPRINGS.—EMBARK ON THE BOLCHOIREKA.—
RECEPTION AT THE CAPITAL.—GENEROUS AND HOSPITABLE CONDUCT OF THE
COMMANDER AND THE GARRISON.—DESCRIPTION OF BOLCHERETSK.—PRESENTS FROM
THE COMMANDER.—RUSSIAN AND KAMTSCHADALE DANCING.—AFFECTING DEPARTURE
FROM BOLCHERETSK.—RETURN TO SAINT PETER AND SAINT PAUL’S, ACCOMPANIED
BY MAJOR BEHM, WHO VISITS THE SHIPS.—GENEROSITY OF THE SAILORS.—
DISPATCHES SENT BY MAJOR BEHM TO PETERSBURG.—HIS DEPARTURE AND
CHARACTER.
Being now enabled to converse with the Russians, by the aid of our
interpreter, with tolerable facility, our first inquires were directed
to the means of procuring a supply of fresh provisions, and naval
stores; from the want of which latter article, in particular, we had
been for some time in great distress. On inquiry, it appeared, that the
whole stock of live cattle, which the country about the bay could
furnish, amounted only to two heifers; and these the serjeant very
readily promised to procure us. Our applications were next made to the
merchant, but we found the terms upon which he offered to serve us, so
exorbitant, that Captain Clerke thought it necessary to send an officer
to visit the commander at Bolcheretsk, and to inquire into the price of
stores at that place. As soon as this determination was communicated to
M. Port, he dispatched an express to the commander, to inform him of our
intentions, and at the same time, to clear us from the suspicions that
were entertained with respect to the designation and purposes of our
voyage.
Captain Clerke having thought proper to fix on me for this service, I
received orders, together with Mr. Webber, who was to accompany me as
interpreter, to be ready to set out the next day. It proved, however,
too stormy, as did also the 6th, for beginning a journey through so wild
and desolate a country; but, on the 7th, the weather appearing more
favourable, we set out early in the morning in the ship’s boats, with a
view to reach the entrance of the Awatska at high water, on account of
the shoals with which the mouth of that river abounds: here the country
boats were to meet us, and carry us up the stream.
Captain Gore was now added to our party, and we were attended by Messrs.
Port and Fedositsch, with two Cossacks, and were provided, by our
conductors, with warm furred clothing; a precaution which we soon found
very necessary, as it began to snow briskly just after we set out. At
eight o’clock, being stopped by shoal water, about a mile from the mouth
of the river, some small canoes, belonging to the Kamtschadales, took up
us and our baggage, and carried us over a spit of sand, which is thrown
up by the rapidity of the river, and which, they told us, was
continually shifting. When we had crossed this shoal, the water again
deepened; and here we found a commodious boat, built and shaped like a
Norway yawl, ready to convey us up the river, together with canoes for
our baggage.
The mouth of the Awatska is about a quarter of a mile broad; and as we
advanced, it narrowed very gradually. After we had proceeded a few
miles, we passed several branches, which we were told emptied themselves
into other parts of the bay; and that some of those on the left hand
flowed into the Paratounca river. Its general direction from the bay,
for the first ten miles, is to the north, after which it turns to the
westward: this bend excepted, it preserves, for the most part, a
straight course; and the country through which it flows, to the distance
of near thirty miles from the sea, is low and flat, and subject to
frequent inundations. We were pushed forward by six men, with long
poles, three at each end of the boat; two of whom were Cossacks, the
others Kamtschadales; and advanced against a strong stream, at the rate,
as well as I could judge, of about three miles an hour. Our
Kamtschadales bore this severe labour, with great stoutness, for ten
hours; during which we stopped only once, and that for a short time,
whilst they took some little refreshment. As we had been told, at our
first setting out in the morning, that we should easily reach an
_ostrog_, called Karatchin, the same night, we were much disappointed to
find ourselves, at sun-set, fifteen miles from that place. This we
attributed to the delay occasioned in passing the shoals we had met
with, both at the entrance of the river, and in several other places, as
we proceeded up it; for our boat being the first that had passed up the
river, the guides were not acquainted with the situation of the shifting
sand-banks, and unfortunately the snow not having yet begun to melt, the
shallowness of the river was at its extreme.
The fatigue our men had already undergone, and the difficulty of
navigating the river, which would have been much increased by the
darkness of the night, obliged us to give up all thoughts of continuing
our journey that evening. Having therefore found a place tolerably
sheltered, and cleared it of the snow, we erected a small _marquée_,
which we had brought with us; and, by the assistance of a brisk fire,
and some good punch, passed the night not very unpleasantly. The only
inconvenience we laboured under was, the being obliged to make the fire
at some distance from us. For, although the ground was, to all
appearance, dry enough before, yet when the fire was lighted, it soon
thawed all the parts round it into an absolute puddle. We admired much
the alertness and expedition with which the Kamtschadales erected our
_marquée_, and cooked our provisions; but what was most unexpected, we
found they had brought with them their tea-kettles, considering it as
the greatest of hardships not to drink tea two or three times a day.
We set out as soon as it was light in the morning, and had not advanced
far, before we were met by the _Toion_, or chief of Karatchin, who had
been apprized of our coming, and had provided canoes that were lighter,
and better contrived for navigating the higher parts of the river. A
commodious vessel, consisting of two canoes, lashed close together with
cross spars, lined with bear-skins, and furnished with fur cloaks, was
also provided for us. We now went on very rapidly, the _Toion’s_ people
being both stout and fresh, and remarkable for their expertness in this
business. At ten we got to the _ostrog_, the seat of his command, where
we were received at the water-side by the Kamtschadale men and women,
and some Russian servants belonging to Fedositsch, who were employed in
making canoes. They were all drest out in their best clothes. Those of
the women were pretty and gay, consisting of a full loose robe of white
nankeen, gathered close round the neck, and fastened with a collar of
coloured silk. Over this they wore a short jacket, without sleeves, made
of different coloured nankeens, and petticoats of a slight Chinese silk.
Their shifts, which had sleeves down to the wrists, were also of silk;
and coloured silk handkerchiefs were bound round their heads, concealing
entirely the hair of the married women, whilst those who were unmarried,
brought the handkerchief under the hair, and suffered it to flow loose
behind.
This _ostrog_ was pleasantly situated by the side of the river; and
consisted of three log-houses; three _jourts_, or houses made under
ground; and nineteen _balagans_, or summer habitations. We were
conducted to the dwelling of the _Toion_, who was a plain decent man,
born of a Russian woman, by a Kamtschadale father. His house, like all
the rest in this country, was divided into two apartments. A long narrow
table, with a bench round it, was all the furniture we saw in the outer;
and the household stuff of the inner, which was the kitchen, was not
less simple and scanty. But the kind attention of our host, and the
hearty welcome we received, more than compensated for the poverty of his
lodgings.
His wife proved an excellent cook; and served us with fish and game of
different sorts, and various kinds of heath-berries, that had been kept
since the last year. Whilst we were at dinner in this miserable hut, the
guests of a people, with whose existence we had before been scarce
acquainted, and at the extremity of the habitable globe, a solitary,
half-worn pewter spoon, whose shape was familiar to us, attracted our
attention; and, on examination, we found it stamped on the back with the
word _London_. I cannot pass over this circumstance in silence, out of
gratitude for the many pleasant thoughts, the anxious hopes, and tender
remembrances it excited in us. Those who have experienced the effects
that long absence and extreme distance from their native country produce
on the mind, will readily conceive the pleasure such trifling incidents
can give. To the philosopher and the politician they may perhaps suggest
reflections of a different nature.
We were now to quit the river, and perform the next part of our journey
on sledges; but the thaw had been too powerful in the day-time, to allow
us to set out till the cold of the evening had again made the surface of
the snow hard and firm. This gave us an opportunity of walking about the
village, which was the only place we had yet seen free from snow, since
we landed in this country. It stood upon a well wooded flat, of about a
mile and a half in circumference. The leaves were just budding, and the
verdure of the whole scene was strongly contrasted with the sides of the
surrounding hills, which were still covered with snow. As the soil
appeared to me very capable of producing all the common sorts of garden
vegetables, I was greatly surprized not to find the smallest spot any
where cultivated. If to this, we add that none of the inhabitants were
possessed of cattle of any sort, nothing can be well conceived more
wretched than their situation must be during the winter months. They
were at this time removing from their _jourts_ into their _balagans_,
which afforded us an opportunity of examining both these sorts of
habitations; and they will be hereafter more particularly described. The
people invited us into their houses with great good humour; a general
air of cheerfulness and content was every where visible, to which the
approaching change of season might probably not a little contribute.
On our return to the _Toion’s_, we found supper prepared for us, which
differed in nothing from our former repast; and concluded with our
treating the _Toion_ and his wife with some of the spirits we had
brought with us, made into punch. Captain Gore, who had great generosity
on all occasions, having afterward made them some valuable presents,
they retired to the kitchen, leaving us in possession of the outward
room, where spreading our bear-skins on the benches, we were glad to get
a little repose; having settled with our conductors to resume our
journey as soon as the ground should be judged fit for travelling.
About nine o’clock the same evening, we were awakened by the melancholy
howlings of the dogs, which continued all the time our baggage was
lashing upon the sledges; but, as soon as they were yoked, and we were
all prepared to set out, this changed into a light cheerful yelping,
which entirely ceased the instant they marched off. But, before we set
out, the reader may expect to be made more particularly acquainted with
this curious mode of travelling.
I brought over with me one of these sledges, which is now in the
possession of Sir Ashton Lever. The body is about four feet and a half
long, and a foot wide, made in the form of a crescent, of light tough
wood, strongly bound together with wicker work; which in those belonging
to the better sort of people is elegantly stained of a red and blue
colour, and the seat covered with bear-skins, or other furs. It is
supported by four legs about two feet high, which rest on two long flat
pieces of wood, five or six inches broad, extending a foot at each end
beyond the body of the sledge. These are turned up before in the manner
of a skate, and shod with the bone of some sea animal. The fore-part of
the carriage is ornamented with thongs of leather and tassels of
coloured cloth; and from the cross bar, to which the harness is joined,
are hung links of iron, or small bells, the jingling of which they
conceive to be encouraging to the dogs. They are seldom used to carry
more than one person at a time, who sits aside, resting his feet on the
lower part of the sledge, and carrying his provisions and other
necessaries, wrapped up in a bundle behind him. The dogs are usually
five in number, yoked two and two, with a leader. The reins not being
fastened to the head of the dogs, but to the collar, have little power
over them, and are therefore generally hung upon the sledge, whilst the
driver depends entirely on their obedience to his voice for the
direction of them. With this view, the leader is always trained up with
a particular degree of care and attention, some of them rising to a most
extraordinary value on account of their docility and steadiness;
insomuch, that for one of these, I am well assured, forty roubles (or
ten pounds) was no unusual price. The driver is also provided with a
crooked stick, which answers the purpose both of whip and reins; as by
striking it into the snow, he is enabled to moderate the speed of the
dogs, or even to stop them entirely; and when they are lazy, or
otherwise inattentive to his voice, he chastizes them by throwing it at
them. Upon these occasions, their dexterity in picking it up again is
very remarkable, and forms the principal difficulty of their art. But it
is indeed not surprising, that they should labour to be skilful in a
practice upon which their safety so materially depends. For they say,
that if the driver should happen to lose his stick, the dogs will
instantly perceive it; and unless their leader be of the most sober and
resolute kind, they will immediately run ahead full speed, and never
stop till they are quite spent. But as that will not be the case soon,
it generally happens that either the carriage is overturned, and dashed
to pieces against the trees; or they hurry down some precipice, and all
are buried in the snow. The accounts that were given us of the speed of
these dogs, and of their extraordinary patience of hunger and fatigue,
were scarcely credible, if they had not been supported by the best
authority. We were indeed ourselves witnesses of the great expedition
with which the messenger who had been dispatched to Bolcheretsk with the
news of our arrival, returned to the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul,
though the snow was at this time exceedingly soft. But I was informed by
the commander of Kamtschatka, that this journey was generally performed
in two days and a half; and that he had once received an express from
the latter place in twenty-three hours.
The dogs are fed during the winter on the offals of dried and stinking
fish; but are always deprived of this miserable food a day before they
set out on a journey, and never suffered to eat before they reach the
end of it. We were also told, that it was not unusual for them to
continue thus fasting two entire days, in which time they would perform
a journey of one hundred and twenty miles.[19] These dogs are in shape
somewhat like the Pomeranian breed, but considerably larger.
As we did not choose to trust to our own skill, we had each of us a man
to drive and guide the sledge, which, from the state the roads were now
in, proved a very laborious business. For, as the thaw had advanced very
considerably in the valleys through which our road lay, we were under
the necessity of keeping along the sides of the hills; and this obliged
our guides, who were provided with snow-shoes for that purpose, to
support the sledges, on the lower side, with their shoulders, for
several miles together. I had a very good-humoured Cossack to attend me,
who was, however, so very unskilful in his business, that we were
overturned almost every minute, to the great entertainment of the rest
of the company. Our party consisted, in all, of ten sledges; that in
which Captain Gore was carried, was made of two lashed together, and
abundantly provided with furs and bear-skins; it had ten dogs, yoked
four abreast; as had also some of those that were heavy laden with
baggage.
When we had proceeded about four miles, it began to rain; which, added
to the darkness of the night, threw us all into confusion. It was at
last agreed, that we should remain where we were till day-light; and
accordingly we came to anchor in the snow (for I cannot better express
the manner in which the sledges were secured), and wrapping ourselves up
in our furs, waited patiently for the morning. About three o’clock we
were called on to set out, our guides being apprehensive, that if we
waited longer, we might be stopped by the thaw, and neither be able to
proceed, nor to return. After encountering many difficulties, which were
principally occasioned by the bad condition of the road, at two in the
afternoon, we got safe to an _ostrog_, called Natcheekin, situated on
the side of a small stream, which falls into the Bolchoireka, a little
way below the town. The distance between Karatchin and Natcheekin is
thirty-eight wersts (or twenty-five miles); and had the hard frost
continued, we should not, by their account, have been more than four
hours in performing it; but the snow was so soft, that the dogs, almost
at every step, sunk up to their bellies; and I was indeed much surprised
at their being at all able to overcome the difficulties of so fatiguing
a journey.
Natcheekin is a very inconsiderable _ostrog_, having only one log-house,
the residence of the _Toion_; five _balagans_, and one _jourt_. We were
received here with the same formalities, and in the same hospitable
manner, as at Karatchin; and in the afternoon we went to visit a
remarkable hot spring, which is near this village. We saw, at some
distance, the steam rising from it, as from a boiling caldron; and as we
approached, perceived the air had a strong sulphureous smell. The main
spring forms a bason of about three feet in diameter; besides which,
there are a number of lesser springs, of the same degree of heat, in the
adjacent ground; so that the whole spot, to the extent of near an acre,
was so hot, that we could not stand two minutes in the same place. The
water flowing from these springs is collected in a small bathing pond,
and afterward forms a little rivulet; which, at the distance of about an
hundred and fifty yards, falls into the river. The bath, they told us,
had wrought great cures in several disorders, such as rheumatisms,
swelled and contracted joints, and scorbutic ulcers. In the
bathing-place the thermometer stood at 100°, or blood heat; but in the
spring, after being immersed two minutes, it was 1° above boiling
spirits. The thermometer in the air, at this time, was 34°; in the river
40°; and in the _Toion’s_ house 64°. The ground where these springs
break out, is on a gentle ascent; behind which there is a green hill of
a moderate size. I am sorry I was not sufficiently skilled in botany to
examine the plants, which seemed to thrive here with great luxuriance;
the wild garlic, indeed, forced itself on our notice, and was at this
time springing up very vigorously.
The next morning, we embarked on the Bolchoireka in canoes; and, having
the stream with us, expected to be at our journey’s end the day
following. The town of Bolcheretsk is about eighty miles from
Natcheekin; and we were informed, that, in the summer season, when the
river has been full and rapid, from the melting of snow on the
mountains, the canoes had often gone down in a single day; but that, in
its present state, we should probably be much longer, as the ice had
broken up only three days before we arrived; and that our’s would be the
first boat that had attempted to pass. This intelligence proved but too
true. We found ourselves greatly impeded by the shallows; and though the
stream in many places ran with great rapidity, yet every half mile, we
had ripplings and shoals, over which we were obliged to haul the boats.
The country on each side was very romantic, but unvaried; the river
running between mountains of the most craggy and barren aspect, where
there was nothing to diversify the scene; but now and then the sight of
a bear, and the flights of wild-fowl. So uninteresting a passage leaves
me nothing farther to say, than that this and the following night we
slept on the banks of the river, under our _marquée_; and suffered very
much from the severity of the weather, and the snow which still remained
on the ground.
At day-light on the 12th, we found we had got clear of the mountains,
and were entering a low extensive plain, covered with shrubby trees.
About nine in the forenoon, we arrived at an _ostrog_, called Opatchin,
which is computed to be fifty miles from Natcheekin, and is nearly of
the same size as Karatchin. We found here a serjeant with four Russian
soldiers, who had been two days waiting for our arrival; and who
immediately dispatched a light boat to Bolcheretsk, with intelligence of
our approach. We were now put into the trammels of formality; a canoe,
furnished with skins and furs, and equipped in a magnificent manner, was
prepared for our reception, in which we were accommodated much at our
ease, but to the exclusion of the rest of our fellow-travellers. It was
with much regret we found ourselves obliged to separate from our old
companion Monsieur Port, whom we had observed to grow every day more shy
and distant, as we drew nearer the end of our journey. Indeed, he had
himself told us, before we set out, that we paid him a respect he had no
title to; but as we found him a very modest and discreet man, we had
insisted on his living with us during the whole of our journey. The
remainder of our passage was performed with great facility and
expedition, the river growing more rapid as we descended, and less
obstructed by shoals.
As we approached the capital, we were sorry to observe, from an
appearance of much stir and bustle, that we were to be received in form.
Decent clothes had been, for some time, a scarce commodity amongst us;
and our travelling dresses were made up of a burlesque mixture of
European, Indian, and Kamtschatdale fashions. We therefore thought it
would be too ridiculous to make a parade in this trim through the
metropolis of Kamtschatka; and as we saw a crowd collected on the banks
of the river, and were told the commander would be at the water-side to
receive us, we stopped short at a soldier’s house, about a quarter of a
mile from the town, from whence we sent Port with a message to his
Excellency, acquainting him, that the moment we had put off our
travelling dresses, we would pay our respects to him at his own house;
and to beg he would not think of waiting to conduct us. Finding,
however, that he persisted in his intentions of paying us this
compliment, we lost no farther time in attiring ourselves, but made all
the haste in our power to join him at the entrance of the town. I
observed my companions to be as awkward as I felt myself, in making our
first salutations; bowing and scraping being marks of good-breeding that
we had now, for two years and a half, been totally unaccustomed to. The
manner in which we were received by the commander, was the most engaging
that could be conceived, and increased my mortification, at finding,
that he had almost entirely forgot the French language; so that the
satisfaction of conversing with him was wholly confined to Mr. Webber,
who spoke the German, his native tongue.
In company with Major Behm, was Captain Shmaleff; the second in command,
and another officer with the whole body of the merchants of the place.
They conducted us to the commander’s house, where we were received by
his lady with great civility, and found tea and other refreshments
prepared for us. After the first compliments were over, Mr. Webber was
desired to acquaint the Major with the object of our journey, with our
want of naval stores, flour, and fresh provisions, and other necessaries
for the ships’ crews; and at the same time to assure him, that we were
sensible, from what we had already seen of the condition of the country
about Awatska Bay, we could not expect much assistance from him in that
quarter; that the impossibility of sending heavy stores across the
peninsula, during the present season of the year, was but too apparent,
from the difficulties we had met with in our journey; and that, long
before any material change could take place, we should be under the
necessity of proceeding on our voyage. We were here interrupted by the
commander, who observed, that we did not yet know what they were capable
of doing; that at least it was not his business to think of the
difficulties of supplying our wants, but only to learn what were the
articles we stood in need of, and the longest time we could allow him
for procuring them. After expressing our sense of his obliging
disposition, we gave him a list of the naval stores, the number of
cattle, and the quantity of flour, we were directed to purchase, and
told him, that we purposed recommencing our voyage about the 5th of
June.
Our conversation afterward turned upon different subjects; and it will
naturally be supposed, that our inquiries were principally directed to
the obtaining some information respecting our own country. Having now
been absent three years, we had flattered ourselves with the certainty
of receiving intelligence from Major Behm, which could not fail of being
interesting; and I cannot express the disappointment we felt, on
finding, that he had no news to communicate of a much later date than
that of our departure from England.
About seven o’clock, the commander, conceiving we might be fatigued with
our journey, and desirous of taking some repose, begged he might conduct
us to our lodgings. It was in vain that we protested against a
compliment which we had certainly no title to expect, but that of being
strangers; a circumstance which seemed, in the opinion of this generous
Livonian, to counterbalance every other consideration. In our way, we
passed by two guard-houses, where the men were turned out under arms, in
compliment to Captain Gore; and were afterward brought to a very neat
and decent house, which the major gave us to understand was to be our
residence, during our stay. Two sentinels were posted at the door; and
in a house adjoining, there was a serjeant’s guard. Having shown us into
our apartments, the major took his leave, with a promise to see us the
next day; and we were left to find out, at our leisure, all the
conveniences that he had most amply provided for us. A soldier, called a
_putpropersckack_, whose rank is between that of a serjeant and
corporal, along with our fellow-traveller Port, were appointed to be our
male domestics; besides whom, there was a housekeeper and a cook, who
had orders to obey Port’s directions in dressing us a supper, according
to our own mode of cookery. We received many civil messages, in the
course of the evening, from the principal people of the town,
purporting, that they would not add to our fatigues, by paying their
respects to us at that time, but would wait on us in the morning. Such
well-supported politeness and attention in a country so desolate and
uncultivated, formed a contrast exceedingly favourable to its
inhabitants; and to finish the piece as it began, at sun-set the
serjeant came with the report of his guard to Captain Gore.
Early in the morning, we received the compliments of the commander, of
Captain Shmaleff, and of the principal inhabitants of the town, who all
honoured us with visits soon after. The two first having sent for Port,
after we were gone to rest, and inquired of him, what articles we seemed
to be most in want of on board the ships; we found them prepared to
insist on our sharing with the garrison under their command, in what
little stock of provisions they had remaining. At the same time they
lamented, that we had arrived at a season of the year, when there was
always the greatest scarcity of every thing amongst them; the sloops not
being yet arrived, with their annual supply, from Okotsk.
We agreed to accept the liberality of these hospitable strangers, with
the best grace we could; but on condition, that we might be made
acquainted with the price of the articles we were to be supplied with;
and that Captain Clerke should give bills to the amount, upon the
Victualling-Office in London. This the major positively refused; and
whenever it was afterward urged, stopped us short, by telling us, he was
certain, that he could not oblige his mistress more, than in giving
every assistance in his power to her good friends and allies the
English; and that it would be a particular satisfaction to her, to hear,
that in so remote a part of the world, her dominions had afforded any
relief to ships engaged in such services as ours; that he could not
therefore act so contrary to the character of his empress, as to accept
of any bills; but that, to accommodate the matter, he would take a bare
attestation of the particulars, with which we might be furnished; and
that this he should transmit to his court, as a certificate of having
performed his duty. I shall leave (he continued) to the two courts, all
farther acknowledgments; but cannot consent to accept any thing of the
kind alluded to.
When this matter was adjusted, he began to inquire about our private
wants, saying he should consider himself as ill-used if we had any
dealings with the merchants, or applied to any other person except
himself.
In return for such singular generosity, we had little to bestow but our
admiration and our thanks. Fortunately, however, Captain Clerke had sent
by me a set of prints and maps belonging to the last voyage of Captain
Cook, which he desired me to present in his name to the commander, who
being an enthusiast in every thing relating to discoveries, received it
with a satisfaction which showed that, though a trifle, nothing could
have been more acceptable. Captain Clerke had likewise entrusted me with
a discretionary power of showing him a chart of the discoveries made in
the present voyage; and as I judged that a person in his situation and
of his turn of mind would be exceedingly gratified by a communication of
this sort, though out of delicacy he had forborne to ask more than a few
general questions on the subject, I made no scruple to repose in him a
confidence of which his whole conduct showed him to be deserving.
I had the pleasure to find that he felt this compliment as I hoped he
would, and was much struck at seeing in one view the whole of that
coast, as well on the side of Asia as on that of America, of which his
countrymen had been so many years employed in acquiring a partial and
imperfect knowledge.[20]
Excepting this mark of confidence, and the set of prints I have already
mentioned, we had brought nothing with us that was in the least worth
his acceptance; for it scarce deserves noticing that I prevailed on his
son, a young boy, to accept of a silver watch I happened to have about
me, and I made his little daughter very happy with two pair of
ear-rings, of French paste. Besides these trifles, I left with Captain
Shmaleff the thermometer I had used on my journey, and he promised me to
keep an exact register of the temperature of the air for one year, and
to transmit it to Mr. Muller, with whom he had the pleasure of being
acquainted.
We dined this day at the commander’s, who, studious on every occasion to
gratify our curiosity, had, besides a number of dishes dressed in our
own way, prepared a great variety of others, after the Russian and
Kamtschadale manner. The afternoon was employed in taking a view of the
town and the adjacent country. Bolcheretsk is situated in a low swampy
plain, that extends to the sea of Okotsk, being about forty miles long,
and of a considerable breadth. It lies on the north side of the
Bolchoi-reka (or great river), between the mouth of the Gottsofka and
the Bistraia, which here empty themselves into this river; and the
peninsula on which it stands has been separated from the continent by a
large canal, the work of the present commander, which has not only added
much to its strength as a fortress, but has made it much less liable
than it was before to inundations. Below the town the river is from six
to eight feet deep, and about a quarter of a mile broad. It empties
itself into the sea of Okotsk, at the distance of twenty-two miles,
where, according to Krasheninicoff, it is capable of admitting vessels
of a considerable size. There is no corn of any species cultivated in
this part of the country, and Major Behm informed me, that his was the
only garden that had yet been planted. The ground was for the most part
covered with snow; that which was free from it appeared full of small
hillocks, of a black turfy nature. I saw about twenty or thirty cows,
and the major had six stout horses. These and their dogs are the only
tame animals they possess; the necessity they are under in the present
state of the country of keeping great numbers of the latter, making it
impossible to bring up any cattle that are not in size and strength a
match for them. For during the summer season their dogs are entirely let
loose, and left to provide for themselves, which makes them so
exceedingly ravenous that they will sometimes even attack the bullocks.
The houses in Bolcheretsk are all of one fashion, being built of logs
and thatched. That of the commander is much larger than the rest,
consisting of three rooms of a considerable size, neatly papered, and
which might have been reckoned handsome if the _talc_ with which the
windows were covered had not given them a poor and disagreeable
appearance. The town consists of several rows of low buildings, each
consisting of five or six dwellings connected together, with a long
common passage running the length of them, on one side of which is the
kitchen and store-house, and on the other the dwelling apartments.
Besides these are barracks for the Russian soldiers and Cossacks, a
well-looking church, and a court-room; and at the end of the town a
great number of _balagans_, belonging to the Kamtschadales. The
inhabitants taken altogether amount to between five and six hundred. In
the evening the major gave a handsome entertainment, to which the
principal people of the town of both sexes were invited.
The next morning we applied privately to the merchant Fedositsch, to
purchase some tobacco for the sailors, who had now been upward of a
twelvemonth without this favourite commodity. However this, like all our
other transactions of the same kind, came immediately to the major’s
knowledge, and we were soon after surprised to find in our house four
bags of tobacco, weighing upward of a hundred pounds each, which he
begged might be presented, in the name of himself and the garrison under
his command, to our sailors. At the same time they had sent us twenty
loaves of fine sugar, and as many pounds of tea, being articles they
understood we were in great want of, which they begged to be indulged in
presenting to the officers. Along with these, Madame Behm had also sent
a present for Captain Clerke, consisting of fresh butter, honey, figs,
rice, and some other little things of the same kind, attended with many
wishes that, in his infirm state of health, they might be of service to
him. It was in vain we tried to oppose this profusion of bounty, which I
was really anxious to restrain, being convinced that they were giving
away not a share but almost the whole stock of the garrison. The
constant answer the major returned us on those occasions was, that we
had suffered a great deal, and that we must needs be in distress.
Indeed, the length of time we had been out since we touched at any known
port, appeared to them so very incredible, that it required the
testimony of our maps, and other corroborating circumstances, to gain
their belief. Amongst the latter was a very curious fact which Major
Behm related to us this morning, and which he said but for our arrival
he should have been totally at a loss to account for.
It is well known, that the Tschutski are the only people of the north of
Asia, who have maintained their independence, and resisted all the
attempts that have been made by the Russians to reduce them. The last
expedition against them was undertaken in the year 1750, and terminated,
after various success, in the retreat of the Russian forces, and the
loss of the commanding officer. Since that time, the Russians had
removed their frontier fortress from the Anadyr to the Ingiga, a river
that empties itself into the northern extremity of the sea of Okotsk,
and gives its name to a gulf, situated to the west of that of Penshinsk.
From this fort, Major Behm had received dispatches the day of our
arrival at Bolcheretsk, containing intelligence, that a tribe, or party,
of the Tschutski, had arrived at that place with propositions of
friendship, and a voluntary offer of tribute; that on enquiring into the
cause of this unexpected alteration in their sentiments, they had
informed his people, that toward the latter end of the last summer, they
had been visited by two very large Russian boats; that they had been
treated by the people who were in them with the greatest kindness, and
had entered into a league of friendship and amity with them; and that
relying on this friendly disposition, they were now come to the Russian
fort, in order to settle a treaty, on such terms as might be acceptable
to both nations. This extraordinary history had occasioned much
speculation, both at Ingiginsk and Bolcheretsk; and had we not furnished
them with a key to it, must have remained perfectly unintelligible. We
felt no small satisfaction in having, though accidentally, shown the
Russians, in this instance, the only true way of collecting tribute, and
extending their dominions; and in the hopes that the good understanding
which this event hath given rise to, may rescue a brave people from the
future invasions of such powerful neighbours.
We dined this day with Captain Shmaleff, and in the afternoon, in order
to vary our amusements, he treated us with an exhibition of the Russian
and Kamtschadale dancing. No description can convey an adequate idea of
this rude and uncouth entertainment. The figure of the Russian dance was
much like those of our hornpipes, and was danced either single, or by
two or four persons at a time. Their steps were short and quick, with
the feet scarce raised from the ground; the arms were fixed close to the
sides; the body being all the while kept upright and immoveable,
excepting when the parties passed each other, at which time the hand was
raised with a quick and awkward motion. But if the Russian dance was at
the same time both unmeaning and ridiculous, the Kamtschadale joined to
the latter quality the most whimsical idea that ever entered into any
people’s heads. It is intended to represent the awkward and clumsy
gestures of the bear, which these people have frequent opportunities of
observing in a great variety of situations. It will scarcely be expected
that I should give a minute description of all the strange postures
which were exhibited on these occasions; and I shall therefore only
mention, that the body was always bowed, and the knees bent, whilst the
arms were used in imitating the tricks and attitudes of that animal.
As our journey to Bolcheretsk had taken up more time than we expected,
and we were told that our return might prove still more difficult and
tedious, we were under the necessity of acquainting the commander, this
evening, with our intention of setting out the next day. It was not
without the utmost regret we thought of leaving our new acquaintance;
and were therefore most agreeably surprised, when the Major told us,
that if we could stay one day longer, he would accompany us. He had, he
said, made up his dispatches, and resigned the command of Kamtschatka to
his successor Captain Shmaleff, and had prepared every thing for his
departure to Okotsk, which was to take place in a few days; but that he
should feel great pleasure in putting off his journey a little longer,
and returning with us to Saint Peter and Saint Paul’s, that he might
himself be a witness of every thing being done for us, that it was in
their power to do.
In return for the few trifles I had given to the children of Major Behm,
I was next morning, the 15th, presented by his little boy, with a most
magnificent Kamtschadale dress, which shall be described in its proper
place. It was of the kind worn by the principal _Toions_ of the country,
on occasions of great ceremony; and, as I was afterwards told by
Fedositsch, could not have been purchased for one hundred and twenty
roubles. At the same time, I had a present from his daughter of a
handsome sable muff.
We afterward dined with the commander, who, in order to let us see as
much of the manners of the inhabitants, and of the customs of the
country as our time would permit, invited the whole of the better sort
of people in the village, to his house this evening. All the women
appeared very splendidly dressed after the Kamtschadale fashion. The
wives of Captain Shmaleff, and the other officers of the garrison, were
prettily dressed, half in the Siberian, and half in the European mode;
and Madame Behm, in order to make the stronger contrast, had unpacked
part of her baggage, and put on a rich European dress. I was much struck
with the richness and variety of the silks which the women wore, and the
singularity of their habits. The whole was like some enchanted scene, in
the midst of the wildest and most dreary country in the world. Our
entertainment again consisted of dancing and singing.
The next morning being fixed for our departure, we retired early to our
lodgings, where the first things we saw were three travelling dresses,
made after the fashion of the country, which the major had provided for
us, who came himself to our house soon after, to see all our things
packed up, and properly taken care of. Indeed, what with his liberal
presents, and the kindness of Captain Shmaleff, and many other
individuals, who all begged to throw in their mite, together with the
ample stock of provisions he had sent us for our journey, we had amassed
no inconsiderable load of baggage.
Early in the morning, every thing being ready for our departure, we were
invited to call on Madame Behm, in our way to the boats, and take our
leave of her. Impressed, as our minds were, with sentiments of the
warmest gratitude, by the attentive, benevolent, and generous treatment
we had met with at Bolcheretsk, they were greatly heightened, by the
affecting scene which presented itself to us, on leaving our lodgings.
All the soldiers and Cossacks belonging to the garrison, were drawn up
on one hand, and the male inhabitants of the town, dressed out in their
best clothes, on the other; and, as soon as we came out of the house,
the whole body of the people joined in a melancholy song, which, the
major told us, it was usual, in that country, to sing on taking leave of
their friends. In this manner we marched down to the commander’s house,
preceded by the drums and music of the garrison, where we were received
by Madame Behm, attended by the ladies, who were dressed in long silk
cloaks, lined with very valuable furs of different colours, which made a
most magnificent appearance. After partaking of some refreshment, that
was prepared for us, we went down to the water side, accompanied by the
ladies, who now joined the song with the rest of the inhabitants; and as
soon as we had taken leave of Madame Behm, and assured her of the
grateful sense we should ever retain of the hospitality of Bolcheretsk,
we found ourselves too much affected, not to hasten into the boats with
all the expedition we could. When we put off, the whole company gave us
three cheers, which we returned from the boat; and, as we were doubling
a point, where for the last time we saw our friendly entertainers, they
took their farewell in another cheer.
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, apprizing 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 toward 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 adviseable 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
shown 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 from 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 our 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 a 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
showed 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 Kamschatka 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.
CHAP. 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 SHIPS’ 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.—
KAMTSCHATSKOI NOSS.—OLUTORSKOI NOSS.—TSCHUKOTSKOI 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 chapter 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 north-east, 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 north half west, half a mile distant,
and the mouth of the bay shut in by the southernmost point of Rakowina
harbour, south.
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 flat 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 ships’
companies 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
mess-mates. 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 sour krout, 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 sweet wort.
On the 1st of June we got on board two hundred and fifty poods, or nine
thousand pounds’ weight of rye flour, with which we were supplied from
the stores of St. Peter and St. Paul’s, 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 north-east, 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 south-east, 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 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 north by east
half east, two miles and a half distant; the needle rocks on the east
side of the passage south south-east half east, and the high rock, on
the west side of the passage, south.
On the 13th, at four in the morning, we got under weigh 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 south-east by south, and
the tide having turned, we were again obliged to drop anchor in seven
fathoms; the Three Needle Rocks bearing south half east; and the
_ostrog_ north half east, 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 west one quarter
south, 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 north north-east, 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 north north-east, 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 north-west to north north-east, 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° 42ʹ; but in longitude we differed from them considerably, they
placing it 1° 48ʹ E. of Awatska; whereas, our reckoning, corrected by
the time-keepers and lunar observations, makes it 3° 34ʹ E. of that
place, or 162° 17ʹ 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 any appearance of
inlets or bays. We had not been long gratified with this sight of the
land, when the wind freshened from the south-west, and brought on a
thick fog, which obliged us to stand off to the north-east by east. 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° 52ʹ, and longitude
(deduced from a comparison of many lunar observations, taken near this
time, with the time-keepers), 163° 50ʹ; the extremities of the land
bearing N. W. by W. three quarters W., and N. by W. three quarters 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 N. and S. 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°
3ʹ, longitude 163° 20ʹ; 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’s Straits, 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.[21]
On the 25th, at one o’clock in the afternoon, being in latitude 59° 12ʹ,
longitude 168° 35ʹ, 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°
30ʹ, and in longitude 167° 36ʹ, 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 appearance 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° 49ʹ, longitude 175° 43ʹ. 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 shows 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° 48ʹ, longitude 174° 48ʹ, 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. a quarter 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. three quarters W., and N. N. E. three quarters 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° 56ʹ, and longitude 175°
43ʹ, and the variation of the compass 17° 30ʹ 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 east by north, on which we steered to
the southward of east, but it turned out to be only a fog-bank. At
midnight, the extreme point bearing north-east a quarter east, 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 north-east. At noon of the 30th, our latitude by observation was 61°
48ʹ, and longitude 180° 0ʹ, at which time Saint Thadeus’s Noss bore
north-north-west, twenty-three leagues distant, and beyond it we
observed the coast stretching almost directly north. The most easterly
point of the Noss is in latitude 62° 50ʹ, and longitude 179° 0ʹ, being
3-1/2° more to the east 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
north by east 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 south-east toward evening, we shaped our course to
the north-east by east 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 south-east the island of Saint
Laurence. This Cape and Saint Thadeus’s Noss form the north-east and
south-west extremities of the large and deep Gulf 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 Tschutski.
On the 3d at noon the latitude, by observation, was 63° 33ʹ, and the
longitude 186° 45ʹ; half an hour after which we got sight of the
Tschukotskoi Noss, bearing north half west, thirteen or fourteen leagues
distant, and at five in the afternoon saw the island of St. Laurence,
bearing east three quarters north; 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 east-south-east of the former. As
we had no certain account 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° 47ʹ. Its longitude
was found to be 188° 15ʹ, 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 low land 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 south-south-east, 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 north-east and north-west. Our
latitude, by account, was at this time 65° 24ʹ, longitude 189° 14ʹ. 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°
48ʹ, we could not reconcile the land to the north-east with the
situation of those 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 north by east.
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.
At noon on the 6th, the latitude, by account, was 67° N., and the
longitude 191° 6ʹ 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 north-east by east to east, and lying, by
observation, between the 68° and 68° 20ʹ 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 north north-west, keeping the ice close on board, and got round
its western extremity by noon, when we found it trending nearly north.
Our latitude at this time was, by account, 68° 22ʹ, and longitude 192°
34ʹ. We continued our course to the north north-east, 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 north-west; 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° 21ʹ,
longitude 192° 42ʹ. 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 north-east by the north to west south-west. 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 north north-west, with heavy
showers of snow and sleet. The thermometer was in the night-time 28°,
and at noon 30°. We continued to steer west south-west 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° 12ʹ, and
longitude 188° 5ʹ. The variation in the afternoon was found to be 29°
30ʹ 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 north for
the present, Captain Clerke resolved to bear away to the south by east,
(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
St. 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° 1ʹ, longitude 188°
30ʹ. 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 sprung 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 south-west south-east and north-east, 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° 49ʹ, and longitude 188° 47ʹ.
On the 12th, we had light winds, with thick hazy weather; and, on trying
the current, we found it set to the north-west, 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° 37ʹ; our position nearly in the mid channel between the two
continents; and the field of ice extending from east north-east, to west
south-west.
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 north
north-west, to north-east. 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 west south-west, 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 south-east, 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° 8ʹ 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 west
south-west. At noon, we were in latitude, by observation, 69° 55ʹ,
longitude 194° 80ʹ. 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
east north-east, 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° 26ʹ, and longitude 194° 54ʹ; the depth of water
twenty-three fathoms; the ice stretched from north to east north-east,
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 west
north-west to east, 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° 20ʹ 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 north-east, 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° 33ʹ; and this was five leagues
short of the point to which we advanced last season. We held on to the
south south-west, with light winds from the north-west, 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°
11ʹ, our longitude 196° 15ʹ 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.
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:
Feet. Inches.
From the snout to the end of the tail 7 2
From the snout to the shoulder-bone 2 3
Height of the shoulder 4 3
Circumference near the fore-legs 4 10
Breadth of the fore-paw 0 10
lb.
Weight of the four quarters 436
Weight of the four quarters of the smallest 256
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 fishy 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 south south-east, when we hauled our wind, which was
easterly, toward it, in the expectation of making the American coast to
the south-east, and which we effected at half past ten. At noon, the
latitude, by account, was 69° 33ʹ, and longitude 194° 53ʹ, and the depth
of water nineteen fathoms. The land extended from south by east, to
south south-west half west, 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 east
south-east, 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 east north-east, 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 south-east, 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° 34ʹ 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 north-east 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
choked with ice, that a passage, I fear, is totally out of the
question.”
CHAP. 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 STRAITS.—INQUIRY 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 STRAITS.—HISTORY OF THE VOYAGE RESUMED.—PASS THE
ISLAND OF SAINT LAURENCE.—THE ISLAND OF MEDNOI.—DEATH OF CAPTAIN
CLERKE.—SHORT ACCOUNT OF HIS SERVICES.
Captain Clerke having determined, for the reasons assigned at the
conclusion of the last chapter, 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 west north-west, 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 south south-west, 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° 30ʹ, and
longitude 187° 30ʹ. In the afternoon, we again came up with the ice,
which extended to the north-west and south-west, 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 expectation 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 a 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 north-west, a fresh gale from the south-east driving more
ice to the north-west, and increasing the body that lay between us. Our
latitude, by account, was 69° 8ʹ, 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 answers to ours; and
soon after, being hailed by her, were informed, that upon the change of
the 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 north-east, 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 the 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 south-west, with hazy weather,
and kept running to the south-east till eleven in the forenoon, when a
large body of loose ice, extending from north north-east, round by the
east, to south south-east, 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° 53ʹ, longitude 188°; the variation of the compass
22° 30ʹ 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 south-west, along the edge of the ice, which
extended in a direction almost due east and west, till four in the
morning of the 25th, when observing a clear sea beyond it, to the
south-east, 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 south-east, without any ice in sight. At noon, our latitude, by
observation, was 68° 38ʹ, longitude 189° 9ʹ, and the depth of water
thirty fathoms. At midnight, we tacked, and stood to the westward, with
a fresh gale from the south; and at ten in the forenoon of the 26th, the
ice again showed itself, extending from north-west to south. 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° 10ʹ 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° 47ʹ, longitude 188°. At
two in the afternoon, we saw the continent to the south by east; and at
four, having run, since noon, with a south south-east wind to the
south-west, we were surrounded by loose masses of ice, with the firm
body of it in sight, stretching in a north by west, and a south by east
direction, as far as the eye could reach; beyond which we saw the coast
of Asia, bearing south, and south by east.
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 inquire 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.