northward, and not long after, land bearing S.W. by W. Presently after this, more land shewed itself, bearing W. It shewed itself in two hills like islands, but afterward the whole appeared connected. As we approached the land, the depth of water decreased very fast; so that at noon, when we tacked, we had only eight fathoms, being three miles from the coast, which extended from S., 30° E., to N., 60 W. This last extreme terminated in a bluff point, being one of the hills above mentioned. The weather at this time was very hazy, with drizzling rain; but soon after it cleared, especially to the southward, westward, and northward. This enabled us to have a pretty good view of the coast, which, in every respect, is like the opposite one of America; that is, low land next the sea, with elevated land farther back. It was perfectly destitute of wood, and even snow; but was, probably, covered with a mossy substance, that gave it a brownish cast. In the low ground, lying between the high land and the sea, was a lake, extending to the S.E., farther than we could see. As we stood off, the westernmost of the two hills before mentioned came open off the bluff point, in the direction of N.W. It had the appearance of being an island; but it might be joined to the other by low land, though we did not see it. And if so, there is a two-fold point, with a bay between them. This point, which is steep and rocky, was named Cape North. Its situation is nearly in the latitude of 68° 56', and in the longitude of 180° 51'. The coast beyond it must take a very westerly direction; for we could see no land to the northward of it, though the horizon was there pretty clear. Being desirous of seeing more of the coast to the westward, we tacked again at two o'clock in the afternoon, thinking we could weather Cape North. But finding we could not, the wind freshening, a thick fog coming on, with much snow, and being fearful of the ice coming down upon us, I gave up the design I had formed of plying to the westward, and stood off shore again. The season was now so far advanced, and the time when the frost is expected to set in so near at hand, that I did not think it consistent with prudence, to make any farther attempts to find a passage into the Atlantic this year, in any direction, so little was the prospect of succeeding. My attention was now directed toward finding out some place where we might supply ourselves with wood and water; 2 and and the object uppermost in my thoughts was, how I should spend the winter, so as to make some improvements in geography and navigation, and, at the same time, be in a condition to return to the north, in farther search of a passage, the ensuing summer. SECTION X. Return from Cape North, along the Coast of Asia.-Views of the Country.-Burney's Island.-Cape Serdze Kamen, the Northern Limit of Beering's Voyage.-Pass the East Cape of Asia.-Description and Situation of it.-Observations on Muller.-The Tschutski.-Bay of Saint Laurence.-Two other Bays, and Habitations of the Natives.-Beering's Cape Tschukotskoi.—Beering's Position of this Coast accurate.-Island of Saint Laurence.-Pass to the American Coast.-Cape Darby.-Bald Head.-Cape Denbigh, on a Peninsula.-Besborough Island.-Wood and Water procured.-Visits from the Natives.-Their Persons aud Habitations.-Produce of the Country.—Marks that the Peninsula had formerly been surrounded by the Sea.-Lieutenant Kin's Report.--Norton Sound.-Lunar Observations there. -Stahlin's Map proved to be erroneous.-Plan of future Operations. AFTER having stood off till we got into eighteen fathoms water, I bore up to the eastward, along the coast, which, by this time, it was pretty certain, could only be the continent of Asia. As the wind blew fresh, with a very heavy fall of snow, and a thick mist, it was necessary to proceed with great caution. I therefore brought-to for a few hours in the night. At day-break, on the 30th, we made sail, and steered such a course as I thought would bring us in with the land, being in a great measure guided by the lead. For the weather was as thick as ever, and it snowed incessantly. At ten, we got sight of the coast, bearing S.W., four miles distant; and presently after, having shoaled the water to seven fathoms, we hauled off. At this time, a very low point, or spit, bore S.S.W., two or three miles distant; to the E. of which there appeared to be a narrow channel, leading into some water that we saw over the point. Pro VOL. XVI. bably bably the lake before mentioned communicates here with the sea. At noon, the mist dispersing for a short interval, we had a tolerably good view of the coast, which extended from S.E. to N.W. by W. Some parts appeared higher than others; but in general it was very low, with high land farther up the The whole was now covered with country. snow, which had lately fallen quite down to the sea. I continued to range along the coast at two leagues distance, till ten at night, when we hauled off; but we resumed our course next morning, soon after day-break, when we got sight of the coast again, extending from W. to S.E. by S. At eight, the eastern part bore S., and proved to be an island, which at noon bore S.W. S., four or five miles. distant. It is about four or five miles in circuit, of a middling height, with a steep, rocky coast, situated about three leagues from the main, in the latitude of 67° 45', and distinguished in the chart by the name of Burney's Island. The inland country hereabout is full of hills, some of which are of a considerable height. The land was covered with snow, except a few spots upon the sea-coast, which still continued low, but less so than farther westward. For the two preceding days, the mean height of the mercury in the thermometer had been very little above the freezing point, and often below it; so that the water in the vessels upon the deck was frequently covered with a sheet of ice. I continued to steer S.S.E., nearly in the direction of the coast, till five in the afternoon, when land was seen bearing S., 50° E., which we presently found to be a continuation of the coast, and hauled up for it. Being abreast of the eastern land at ten at night, and in doubts of weathering it, we tacked, and made a board to the westward, till past one the next morning, when we stood again to the east, and found that it was as much as we could do to keep our distance from the coast, the wind being exceedingly unsettled, varying continually from N. to N.E. At half an hour past eight, the eastern extreme above mentioned bore S. by E., six or seven miles distant. At the same time, a head-land appeared in sight, bearing E. by S., S.; and, soon after, we could trace the whole coast lying between them, and a small island at some distance from it. The coast seemed to form several rocky points, connected by a low shore, without the least appearance of a har bour. bour. At some distance from the sea, the low land appeared to swell into a number of hills. The highest of these were covered with snow, and, in other respects, the whole country seemed naked. At seven in the evening, two points of land, at some distance beyond the eastern head, opened off it, in the direction of S., 37° E. I was now well assured, of what I had believed before, that this was the country of the Tschutski, or the N.E. coast of Asia; and that thus far Beering proceeded in 1728; that is, to this head, which Muller says is called Serdze Kamen, on account of a rock upon it, shaped like a heart. But I conceive, that Mr Muller's knowledge of the geography of these parts is very imperfect. There are many elevated rocks upon this cape, and possibly some one or other of them may have the shape of a heart. It is a pretty lofty promontory, with a steep rocky cliff facing the sea, and lies in the latitude of 67° 3′, and in the longitude of 188 11. To the eastward of it, the coast is high and bold; but to the westward it is low, and trends N.N.W., and N.W. by W., which is nearly its direction all the way to Cape North. The soundings are every where the same at the same distance from the shore, which is also the case on the opposite shore of America. The greatest depth we found in ranging along it was twenty-three fathoms. And, in the night, or in foggy weather, the soundings are no bad guide in sailing along either of these shores. At eight o'clock in the morning of the 2d, the most advanced land to the S. E., bore S., 25° E., and from this point of view had the appearance of being an island. But the thick snow showers, which succeeded one another pretty fast, and settled upon the land, hid great part of the coast at this time from our sight. Soon after, the sun, whose face we had not seen for near five days, broke out at the intervals between the showers, and, in some measure, freed the coast from the fog, so that we had a sight of it, and found the whole to be connected. The wind still continued at north, the air was cold, and the mercury in the thermometer never rose above 35°, and was sometimes as low as 30°. At noon the observed latitude was 66° 37', Cape Serdze Kamen bore N., 52° W., thirteen leagues distant; the southernmost point of land in sight S., 41° E., the nearest part of the coast two leagues distant, and our depth of water twenty-two fathoms. We We had now fair weather and sunshine, and as we ranged along the coast, at the distance of four miles, we saw several of the inhabitants, and some of their habitations, which looked like little hillocks of earth. In the evening we passed the Eastern Cape, or the point above mentioned, from which the coast changes its direction, and trends S.W. It is the same point of land which we had passed on the 11th of August. They who believed implicitly in Mr Stæhlin's map, then thought it the east point of his island Alaschka; but we had, by this time, satisfied ourselves, that it is no other than the eastern promontory of Asia, and probably the proper Tschukotskoi Noss, though the promontory, to which Beering gave that name, is farther to the S.W. Though Mr Muller, in his map of the Russian Discoveries, places the Tschukotskoi Noss nearly in 75° of latitude, and extends it somewhat to the eastward of this cape, it appears to me, that he had no good authority for so doing. Indeed, his own accounts, or rather Deshneff's,' of the distance between the Noss, and the river Anadir, cannot be reconciled with this very northerly position. But as I hope to visit these parts again, I shall leave the discussion of this point till then. In the mean time, I must conclude, as Beering did before me, that this is the most eastern point of Asia. It is a peninsula of considerable height, joined to the continent by a very low, and, to appearance, narrow neck of land. It shews a steep rocky clift next the sea, and off the very point are some rocks like spires. It is situated in the latitude of 66° 6′, and in the longitude of 190° 22′, and is distant from Cape Prince of Wales, on the American coast, thirteen leagues, in the direction of N., 53° W. The land about this promontory is composed of hills and vallies. The former terminate at the sea in steep rocky points, and the latter in low shores. The hills seemed to be naked rocks; but the vallies had a greenish hue, but destitute of tree or shrub.* After Avec le vent le plus favorable, on peut aller par mer de cette pointe (des Tschukotschis), jusqu'à l'Anadir en trois fois 24 heures; et par terre le chemin ne peut guère etre plus long.-Muller, p. 13.-D. 2 Deshnef's voyage in 1648, is considered the only one previous to this of Cook, in which the north-eastern extremity of Asia was doubled. Some account of it is given in Coxe's work. Others have pretended to this achievement, |
