A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xvii Part 6

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 t.i.tle to expect, but that of being strangers; a circ.u.mstance which seemed, in the opinion of this generous Livonian, to counterbalance every other consideration. In our way we pa.s.sed 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 doors, and, in a house adjoining, there was a serjeant's guard. Having shewn 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 a 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 princ.i.p.al 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 upon 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 princ.i.p.al 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 enquired of him what articles we seemed to be most in want of on board the s.h.i.+ps, 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 afterwards urged, stopped us short, by telling us, he was certain that he could not oblige his mistress more than in giving every a.s.sistance 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 s.h.i.+ps 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 of any thing of the kind alluded to.

When this matter was adjusted, he began to enquire 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 shewed, that, though a trifle, nothing could have been more acceptable. Captain Clerke had likewise entrusted me with a discretionary power of shewing 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 forborn 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 shewed 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.[19]

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 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 Bolchoireka, 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 ca.n.a.l, 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 Krascheninikoff, it is capable of admitting vessels of a considerable size. There is not 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 fas.h.i.+on, 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 pa.s.sage 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 all together, amount to between five and six hundred. In the evening the major gave a handsome entertainment, to which the princ.i.p.al people of the town of both s.e.xes 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-b.u.t.ter, 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 circ.u.mstances, 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 Anadir 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 Pens.h.i.+nsk. 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 friends.h.i.+p, 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 friends.h.i.+p 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, shewn 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 amus.e.m.e.nts, 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 immovable, excepting when the parties pa.s.sed 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 att.i.tudes 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 Paul's, that be 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 princ.i.p.al _Toions_ of the country on occasions of great ceremony; and, as I was afterward 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 m.u.f.f.

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 fas.h.i.+on. 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 strongest 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 fas.h.i.+on 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 ama.s.sed 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 grat.i.tude, 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 a.s.sured 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sistance at the different _ostrogs_ through which we pa.s.sed; and I could not but observe the pleasure that appeared in their countenances on seeing the major, and their strong expressions of sorrow, on hearing he was so soon going to leave them.

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

As Major Behm had expressed his intentions of visiting the s.h.i.+ps before he landed, as soon as we arrived off the town, I desired to receive his commands; when remarking, that from the account we had given of the very bad state of Captain Clerke's health, it might be imprudent to disturb him at so late an hour, (it being now past nine o'clock,) he thought it, he said, most advisable to remain that night on sh.o.r.e. 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 s.h.i.+ps; 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 s.h.i.+ps, he returned to dinner on board the Resolution; and, in the afternoon, the various curiosities we had collected in the course of our voyage were shewn him, and a complete a.s.sortment of every article presented to him by Captain Clerke. On this occasion I must not pa.s.s over an instance of great generosity and grat.i.tude in the sailors of both s.h.i.+ps; 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 sh.o.r.e 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, subst.i.tuted in the room of the very small quant.i.ty the major could be prevailed on to accept, the same quant.i.ty 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 s.h.i.+ps, 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 amba.s.sador at the Russian court. Our first intentions were to send only a small journal of our proceedings; but, afterward, Captain Clerke being persuaded that the whole account of our discoveries might safely be trusted to a person who had given such striking proofs both of his public and private virtues; and considering that we had a very hazardous part of the voyage still to undertake, determined to send by him the whole of the journal of our late commander, with that part of his own which completed the period of Captain Cook's death till our arrival at Kamtschatka, together with a chart of all our discoveries. Mr Bayly and myself thought it also proper to send a general account of our proceedings to the Board of Longitude; by which precautions, if any misfortune had afterward befallen us, the Admiralty would have been in possession of a complete history of the princ.i.p.al 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 pa.s.sage 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 s.h.i.+ps in the best manner we were able. On the 25th he took his leave, and was saluted with thirteen guns; and the sailors, at their own desire, gave him three cheers. The next morning, Mr Webber and myself attended him a few miles up the Awatska river, where we met the Russian priest, his wife and children, who were waiting to take the last farewell of their commander.

It was hard to say, whether the good priest and his family, or ourselves, were most affected on taking leave of Major Behm. Short as our acquaintance had been, his n.o.ble and disinterested conduct had inspired us with the highest respect and esteem for him; and we could not part with a person to whom we were under such obligations, and whom we had little prospect of ever seeing again, without feeling the most tender concern. The intrinsic value of the private presents we received from him, exclusive of the stores which might be carried to a public account, must have amounted, according to the current price of articles in that country, to upward of two hundred pounds. But this generosity, extraordinary as it must appear in itself, was exceeded by the delicacy with which all his favours were conferred, and the artful manner in which he endeavoured to prevent our feeling the weight of obligations, which he knew we had no means of requiting. If we go a step further, and consider him as supporting a public character, and maintaining the honour of a great sovereign, we shall find a still higher subject of admiration, in the just and enlarged sentiments by which he was actuated.

"The service in which you are employed," he would often say, "is for the general advantage of mankind, and therefore gives you a right, not merely to the offices of humanity, but to the privileges of citizens, in whatever country you may be thrown. I am sure I am acting agreeably to the wishes of my mistress, in affording you all the relief in our power; and I cannot forget either her character, or my own honour, so much, as to barter for the performance of my duty." At other times he would tell us, that he was particularly desirous of setting a good example to the Kamtschadales, who, he said, were but just emerging from a state of barbarism; that they looked up to the Russians as their patterns in every thing; and that he had hopes they might in future look upon it as a duty inc.u.mbent upon them to a.s.sist strangers to the utmost of their power, and believe that such was the universal practice of civilized nations. To all this must be added, that after having relieved, to the utmost of his abilities, all our present distresses, he shewed himself not much less mindful of our future wants; and as he supposed it more than probable we should not discover the pa.s.sage we were in search of, and therefore should return to Kamtschatka in the fall of the year, he made Captain Clerke give him a list of what cordage and flour we should want, and promised they should be sent from Okotsk, and wait our arrival. For the same purpose, he gave Captain Clerke a paper, enjoining all the subjects of the empress, whom we might happen to meet, to give us every a.s.sistance in their power.[20]

[15] Mr Dugald Stewart has not neglected to avail himself of this incident, to ill.u.s.trate his observations on the power which certain perceptions or impressions on the senses possess to awaken a.s.sociations.--E.

[16] Even so lately as Captain Krusenstern's visit, the number of horned cattle at Saint Peter and Saint Paul's amounted to no more than ten cows and as many young heifers; of course, he remarks, there was no b.u.t.ter, and very little milk. But it is his opinion, that it would be extremely easy to support some hundred head there, as the place abounds in the finest gra.s.s. Elsewhere he informs us, that it is calculated there are about six hundred cattle in the whole of Kamtschatka; a number which, for obvious reasons, he thinks may and ought to be increased.--E.

[17] Extraordinary as this may appear, Krascheninikoff, whose account of Kamtschatka, from every thing that I saw, and had an opportunity of comparing it with, seems to me to deserve entire credit, and whose authority I shall, therefore, frequently have recourse to, relates instances of this kind that are much more surprising. "Travelling parties," says he, "are often overtaken with dreadful storms of snow, on the approach of which they drive with the utmost precipitation into the nearest wood, and there are obliged to stay till the tempest, which frequently lasts six or seven days, is over; the dogs remaining all this while quiet and inoffensive; except that sometimes, when prest by hunger, they will devour the reins and the other leathern parts of the harness."--_History and Description of Kamtschatka, by Krascheninikof_.

[18] Captain King does not seem to have heard or inferred any thing as to the danger usually encountered in the summer excursions on the river, from the nature of the vessels employed. This, according to Krusenstern, infinitely more resembles a trough than a boat, being, in fact, the hollow trunk of a tree, and exceedingly apt to be upset by the rapidity of the stream. Thus, he says, scarcely a year pa.s.ses in which several people are not drowned, both in the Kamtschatka river and the Awatscha; a serious loss any where, no doubt; but in this country, where population is so scanty, and so uncertain, incomparably more important in a political point of view.--E.

[19] On this occasion Major Behm permitted us to examine all the maps and charts that were in his possession. Those relating to the peninsula of the Tschutski, were made in conformity to the information collected by Plenishner, between the years 1760 and 1770. As the charts of Plenishner were afterwards made use of, according to Mr c.o.xe, in the compilation of the General Map of Russia, published by the Academy in 1776, it may be necessary to observe, that we found them exceedingly erroneous; and that the compilers of the General Map seem to have been led into some mistakes on his authority. Those in which the islands on the coast of America were laid down, we found to contain nothing new, and to be much less accurate than those we saw at Oonalashka.

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

SECTION III.

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

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

On the 11th, they had heavy gales from the N.E., which obliged both the s.h.i.+ps 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 sh.o.r.e for the greater convenience, of watering and wooding, and again moored as before; the town bearing N. 1/2 W., half a mile distant, and the mouth of the bay shut in by the southernmost point of Rakowina harbour, S.

The next day a party was sent on sh.o.r.e 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 s.h.i.+ps, 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 sh.o.r.e.

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 s.h.i.+ps'

companies. Indeed from this time, during the whole of our stay in the harbour, we were absolutely overpowered with the quant.i.ties 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 s.h.i.+ps the presents that were sent us. They consisted in general of fish, cod, trout, and herring. These last, which were in their full perfection, and of a delicious flavour, were exceedingly abundant in this bay. The Discovery's people surrounded at one time so great a quant.i.ty 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 quant.i.ty 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 quant.i.ties, was constantly mixed with the men's allowance of brandy.

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

This evening died John Macintosh, the carpenter's mate, after having laboured under a dysentery ever since our departure from the Sandwich islands; he was a very hard working quiet man, and much regretted by his messmates. He was the fourth person we lost by sickness during the voyage; but the first who could be said, from his age and the const.i.tutional 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 circ.u.mstances, 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 b.u.t.ter, and fowls, though his house was sixteen miles from the harbour where we lay.

On our first arrival, we found the Russian hospital, which is near the town of St Peter and St Paul, in a condition truly deplorable. All the soldiers were, more or less, affected by the scurvy, and a great many in the last stage of that disorder. The rest of the Russian inhabitants were also in the same condition; and we particularly remarked, that our friend the serjeant, by making too free with the spirits we gave him, had brought on himself, in the course of a few days, some of the most alarming symptoms of that malady. In this lamentable state, Captain Clerke put them all under the care of our surgeons, and ordered a supply of sourkrout, and malt, for wort, to be furnished for their use. It was astonis.h.i.+ng 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 princ.i.p.ally to the effects of the sweetwort.[21]

On the 1st of June we got on board two hundred and fifty poods, or nine thousand pound weight of rye-flour, with which we were supplied from the stores of St Peter and St Paul; and the Discovery had a proportional quant.i.ty. 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 s.h.i.+ps, 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.