except that the wind, coming from the western quarter, forced us farther to the eastward than we wished, as it was our intention to make Beering's Island. On the 17th, at half past four in the morning, we saw land to the north-west, which we could not approach, the wind blowing from that quarter. At noon, the latitude by observation was 53° 49′, longitude 168° 5', and variation 10° E. The land in sight bore north by west, twelve or fourteen leagues distant. This land we take to be the island Mednoi, laid down in the Russian charts to the south-east of Beering's Island. It is high land, and appeared clear of snow. We place it in the latitude 54° 28, longitude 167° 52'. We got no soundings with one hundred and fifty fathoms of line.

Captain Clerke was now no longer able to get out of his bed; he therefore desired that the officers would receive their orders from me, and directed that we should proceed with all speed to Awatska Bay. The wind continuing westerly, we stood on to the south till early on the morning of the 19th, when, after a few hours' rain, it blew from the eastward, and freshened to a strong gale. We accordingly made the most of it whilst it lasted, by standing to the westward under all the sail we could carry. On the 20th, the wind shifting to the south-west, our course was to the west north-west. At noon the latitude, by observation, was 53° 7', longitude 162° 49'. On the 21st, at half-past five in the morning, we saw a very high-peaked mountain on the coast of Kamtschatka, called Cheepoonskoi Mountain, from its lying behind the Noss, bearing north-west by north, twenty-five or thirty leagues distant. At noon, the coast extended from north by east to west with a very great haziness upon it, and distant about twelve leagues. We had light airs the remaining part of this and the following day, and got no soundings with one hundred and forty fathoms of line.

On the 22d of August, 1779, at nine o'clock in the morning, departed this life Captain Charles Clerke, in the thirty-eighth year of his age. He died of a consumption, which had evidently commenced before he left England, and of which he had lingered during the whole voyage. His very gradual decay had long made him a melancholy object to his friends; yet the equanimity with which he bore it, the constant flow of good spirits which continued to the last hour, and a cheerful resignation to his fate, afforded them some consolation. It was impossible not to feel a more than common degree of compassion for a person whose life had been a continued scene of those difficulties and hardships to which a seaman's occupation is subject, and under which he at last sunk. He was brought up to the navy from his earliest youth, and had been in several actions during the war which began in 1756, particularly in that between the Bellona and Courageux, where being stationed in the mizentop, he was carried overboard with the mast, but was taken up without having received any hurt. He was midshipman in the Dolphin, commanded by Commodore Byron, on her first voyage round the world, and afterward served on the American station. In 1768, he made his second voyage round the world, in the Endeavour, as master's mate, and by the promotion which took place during the expedition, he returned a lieutenant. His third voyage round the world was in the Resolution, of which he was appointed the second lieutenant: and soon after his return, in 1775, he was promoted to the rank of master and commander. When the present expedition was ordered to be fitted out, he was appointed to the Discovery, to accompany Captain Cook; and by the death of the latter succeeded, as has been already mentioned, to the chief command.

It would be doing his memory extreme injustice not to say, that during the short time the expedition was under his direction, he was most zealous and anxious for its success. His health, about the time the principal command devolved upon him, began to decline very rapidly, and was every way unequal to encounter the rigours of a high northern climate. But the vigour and activity of his mind had in no shape suffered by the decay of his body: and though he knew, that by delaying his return to a warmer climate, he was giving up the only chance that remained for his recovery, yet, careful and jealous to the last degree that a regard to his own situation should never bias his judgment to the prejudice of the service, he persevered in the search of a passage till it was the opinion of every officer in both ships that it was impracticable, and that any farther attempts would not only be fruitless, but dangerous.

CHAPTER V.-RETURN TO THE HARBOUR OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL.-PROMOTION OF OFFICERS.-FUNERAL OF CAPTAIN CLERKE.-DAMAGES OF THE DISCOVERY REPAIRED.VARIOUS OTHER OCCUPATIONS OF THE SHIPS' CREWS.- LETTERS FROM THE COMMANDER.SUPPLY OF FLOUR AND NAVAL STORES FROM A RUSSIAN GALLIOT.-ACCOUNT OF AN EXILE. -BEAR-HUNTING AND FISHING PARTIES.-DISGRACE OF THE SERJEANT.-CELEBRATION OF THE KING'S CORONATION DAY, AND VISIT FROM THE COMMANDER. THE SERJEANT REINSTATED.-A RUSSIAN SOLDIER PROMOTED AT OUR REQUEST.-REMARKS ON THE DISCIPLINE OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY.-CHURCH AT PARATOUNCA.-METHOD OF BEAR-HUNTING.-FARTHER ACCOUNT OF THE BEARS AND KAMTSCHADALES.-INSCRIPTION TO THE MEMORY OF CAPTAIN CLERKE.-SUPPLY OF CATTLE.-ENTERTAINMENTS ON THE EMPRESS'S NAME-DAY. -PRESENT FROM THE COMMANDER.-ATTEMPT OF A MARINE TO DESERT.-WORK OUT OF THE BAY.NAUTICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF AWATSKA BAY.-ASTRONOMICAL TABLES, AND OBSERVATIONS.

I SENT Mr. Williamson to acquaint Captain Gore with the death of Captain Clerke, and received a letter from him, ordering me to use all my endeavours to keep in company with the Discovery; and, in case of a separation, to make the best of my way to the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul. At noon, we were in latitude 53° 8' N., longitude 160° 40′ E., with Cheepoonskoi Noss bearing west. We had light airs in the afternoon, which lasted through the forenoon of the 23d. At noon, a fresh breeze springing up from the eastward, we stood in for the entrance of Awatska Bay; and at six in the evening, saw it bearing west north-west half west, distant five leagues. At eight, the light-house, in which we now found a good light, bore north-west by west, three miles distant. The wind about this time died away; but the tide being in our favour, we sent the boats ahead and towed beyond the narrow parts of the entrance; and at one o'clock in the morning of the 24th, the ebb-tide setting against us, we dropped anchor. At nine, we weighed, and turned up the bay with light airs, and the boats still ahead till one; when, by the help of a fresh breeze, we anchored, before three in the afternoon, in the harbour of Saint Peter and St. Paul, with our ensign half-staff up, on account of our carrying the body of our late Captain; and were soon after followed by the Discovery.

We had no sooner anchored, than our old friend, the serjeant, who was still the commander of the place, came on board with a present of berries, intended for our poor deceased Captain. He was exceedingly affected when we told him of his death, and showed him the coffin that contained his body. And as it was Captain Clerke's particular request to be buried on shore, and, if possible, in the church of Paratounca, we took the present opportunity of explaining this matter to the serjeant, and consulting with him about the proper steps to be taken on the occasion. In the course of our conversation, which, for want of an interpreter, was carried on but imperfectly, we learned that Professor de L'Isle, and several Russian gentlemen, who died here, had been buried in the ground near the barracks, at the ostrog of St. Peter and St. Paul; and that this place would be preferable to Paratounca, as the church was to be removed thither the next year. It was therefore determined, that we should wait for the arrival of the priest of Paratounca, whom the serjeant advised us to send for, as the only person that could satisfy our inquiries on this subject. The serjeant having, at the same time, signified his intentions of sending off an express to the commander at Bolcheretsk, to acquaint him with our arrival, Captain Gore availed himself of that occasion of writing him a letter, in which he requested that sixteen head of black cattle might be sent with all possible expedition; and because the commander did not understand any language except his own, the nature of our request was made known to the serjeant, who readily undertook to send, along with our letter, an explanation of its contents.

We could not help remarking, that, although the country was much improved in its appearance since we were last here, the Russians looked, if possible, worse now than they did then. It is to be owned, they observed, that this was also the case with us; and as neither party seemed to like to be told of their bad looks, we found mutual consolation

in throwing the blame upon the country, whose green and lively complexion, we agreed, cast a deadness and sallowness upon our own. The eruption of the volcano, which was so violent when we sailed out of the bay, we found had done no damage here, notwithstanding stones had fallen at the ostrog, of the size of a goose's egg. This was all the news we had to inquire after, and all they had to tell; excepting that of the arrival of Soposnikoff from Oonalashka, who took charge of the packet Captain Cook had sent to the Admiralty, and which, it gave us much satisfaction to find, had been forwarded.

In the morning of the 25th, Captain Gore made out the new commissions, in consequence of Captain Clerke's death; appointing himself to the command of the Resolution, and me to the command of the Discovery; and Mr. Lanyan, master's mate of the Resolution, who had served in that capacity on board the Adventure in the former voyage, was promoted to the vacant lieutenancy. These promotions produced the following farther arrangements: Lieutenants Burney and Rickman were removed from the Discovery, to be first and second lieutenants of the Resolution; and Lieutenant Williamson was appointed first lieutenant of the Discovery. Captain Gore also permitted me to take into the Discovery four midshipmen, who had made themselves useful to me in astronomical calculations, and whose assistance was now particularly necessary, as we had no Ephemeris for the present year. And, that astronomical observations might continue to be made in both ships, Mr. Bayley took my place in the Resolution. The same day we were visited by the Pope Romanoff Vereshagen, the worthy priest of Paratounca. He expressed his sorrow at the death of Captain Clerke in a manner that did honour to his feelings, and confirmed the account given by the serjeant, respecting the intended removal of the church to the harbour; adding that the timber was actually preparing, but leaving the choice of either place entirely to Captain Gore.

The Discovery, as has been mentioned, had suffered great damage from the ice, particularly on the 23d day of July; and having, ever since, been exceedingly leaky, it was imagined that some of her timbers had started. Captain Gore therefore sent the carpenters of the Resolution to assist our own in repairing her; and accordingly, the forehold being cleared, to lighten her forward, they were set to work to rip the damaged sheathing from the larboard bow. This operation discovered that three feet of the third strake, under the wale, were staved, and the timbers within started. A tent was next erected for the accommodation of such of our people as were employed on shore; and a party were sent a mile into the country, to the northward of the harbour, to fell timber. The observatories were erected at the west end of the village, near a tent, in which Captain Gore and myself took up our abode.

The farther we proceeded in removing the sheathing, the more we discovered of the decayed state of the ship's hull. The next morning, eight feet of a plank in the wale were found to be so exceedingly rotten, as to make it necessary to shift it. This left us for some time at a stand, as nothing was to be found, in either ship, wherewith to replace it, unless we chose to cut up a top-mast; an expedient not to be had recourse to, till all others failed. The carpenters were therefore sent on shore in the afternoon in search of a tree big enough for the purpose. Luckily they found a birch, which I believe was the only one of sufficient size in the whole neighbourhood of the bay, and which had been sawed down by us when we were last here; so that it had the advantage of having lain some time to season. This was shaped on the spot, and brought on board the next morning. As the season was now so far advanced, I was fearful lest any delay or hindrance should arise, on our parts, to Captain Gore's farther views of discovery, and therefore gave orders that no more sheathing should be ripped off than was absolutely necessary for repairing the damages sustained by the ice. This I did, being apprehensive of their meeting with more decayed planks, which, I judged, had much better remain in that state, than be filled up with green birch, upon a supposition that such was to be had. All hands were, at present, busily employed in separate duties, that everything might be in readiness for sea, against the time our carpenters should have finished their work. We set apart four men to haul the seine for salmon, which were caught in great abundance, and found to be of an excellent quality. After supplying the immediate wants of both ships, we salted down near a hogshead a-day. The invalids, who were four in number, were employed in gathering greens, and in cooking for the parties on

shore. Our powder was also landed, in order to be dried; and the sea-horse blubber, with which both ships, in our passage to the north (as has been before related), had stored themselves, was now boiled down for oil, which was become a necessary article, our candles having long since been expended. The cooper was fully engaged in his department: and in this manner were both ships' companies employed in their several occupations, till Saturday afternoon, which was given up to all our men, except the carpenters, for the purpose of washing their linen and getting their clothes in some little order, that they might make a decent appearance on Sunday.

In the afternoon of that day, we paid the last offices to Captain Clerke. The officers and men of both ships walked in procession to the grave, whilst the ships fired minute-guns; and the service being ended, the marines fired three volleys. He was interred under a tree, which stands on rising ground, in the valley to the north side of the harbour, where the hospital and storehouses are situated; Captain Gore having judged this situation most agreeable to the last wishes of the deceased, for the reasons abovementioned; and the priest of Paratounca having pointed out a spot for his grave, which, he said, would be, as near as he could guess, in the centre of the new church. This reverend pastor walked in the procession, along with the gentleman who read the service; and all the Russians in the garrison were assembled, and attended with great respect and solemnity.

On the 30th, the different parties returned to their respective employments, as mentioned in the course of the preceding week; and on the 2d of September, the carpenters having shifted the rotten and damaged planks, and repaired and calked the sheathing of the larboard bow, proceeded to rip off the sheathing that had been injured by the ice, from the starboard side. Here, again, they discovered four feet of a plank, in the third strake under the wale, so shaken, as to make it necessary to be replaced. This was accordingly done, and the sheathing repaired on the 3d. In the afternoon of the same day, we got on board some ballast, unhung the rudder, and sent it on shore, the lead of the pintles being found entirely worn away, and a great part of the sheathing rubbed off. As the carpenters of the Resolution were not yet wanted, we got this set to rights the next day; but finding the rudder out of all proportion heavy, even heavier than that of the Resolution, we let it remain on shore, in order to dry and lighten.

The same day, an ensign arrived from Bolcheretsk with a letter from the commander to Captain Gore, which we put into the serjeant's hands; and, by his assistance, were made to understand, that orders had been given about the cattle, and that they might be expected here in a few days; and moreover, that Captain Shmaleff, the present commander, would himself pay us a visit immediately on the arrival of a sloop which was daily expected from Okotzk. The young officer who brought the letter was the son of the Captain-lieutenant Synd, who commanded an expedition on discovery, between Asia and America, eleven years ago, and resided at this time at Okotzk*. He informed us, that he was sent to receive our directions, and to take care to get us supplied with whatever our service might require; and that he should remain with us, till the commander was himself able to leave Bolcheretsk ; after which he was to return, that the garrison there might not be left without an officer.

On the 5th, the parties that were on shore returned on board, and were employed in scrubbing the ship's bottom, and getting in eight tons of shingle ballast. We also got up two of our guns, that had been stowed in the fore-hold, and mounted them on the deck, being now about to visit nations, our receptions amongst whom might a good deal depend

See all that is known of his voyage, and a chart of his discoveries, in Mr. Coxe's Account of Russian Discoveries between Asia and America. We were not able to learn from the Russians in Kamtschatka a more perfect account of Synd than we now find is given by Mr. Coxe; and yet they seemed disposed to communicate all that they really knew. Major Behm could only inform us, in general, that the expedition had miscarried as to its object, and that the commander had fallen under much blame. It appeared evidently, that he had been on the coast of America to the southward of Cape Prince of Wales, between the latitude of 64° and 65°; and it is most pro

VOL. II.

bable, that his having got too far to the northward to meet with sea-otters, which the Russians, in all their attempts at discoveries, seem to have principally in view, and his returning without having made any that promised commercial advantages, was the cause of his disgrace, and of the great contempt with which the Russians always spoke of this officer's voyage. The cluster of islands, placed in Synd's chart between the latitude of 61° and 65°, is undoubtedly the same with the island called, by Beering, St. Laurence's, and those we named Clerke's, Anderson's, and King's Islands; but their proportionate size, and relative situation, are exceedingly erroneous.

I I

on the respectability of our appearance. The Resolution hauled on shore on the 8th, to repair some damages, which she had also received among the ice, in her cutwater; and our carpenters, in their turn, were sent to her assistance.

About this time we began to brew a strong decoction of a species of dwarf-pine that grows here in great abundance, thinking that it might hereafter be useful in making beer, and that we should probably be able to procure sugar or molasses to ferment with it at Canton. At all events, I was sure it would be serviceable as a medicine for the scurvy; and was more particularly desirous of supplying myself with as much of it as I could procure, because most of the preventives we had brought out were either used or spoiled by keeping. By the time we had prepared a hogshead of it, the ship's copper was discovered to be very thin, and cracked in many places. This obliged me to desist, and to give orders, that it should be used as sparingly, for the future, as possible. It might, perhaps, be a useful precaution for those who may hereafter be engaged in long voyages of this kind, either to provide themselves with a spare copper, or to see that the copper usually furnished be of the strongest kind. The various extra services in which it will be found necessary to employ them, and especially the important one of making anti-scorbutic decoctions, seem absolutely to require some such provision; and I should rather recommend the former, on account of the additional quantity of fuel that would be consumed in heating thick coppers.

In the morning of the 10th, the boats from both ships were sent to tow into the harbour a Russian galliot from Okotzk. She had been thirty-five days on her passage, and had been seen from the lighthouse a fortnight ago, beating up toward the mouth of the bay. At that time, the crew had sent their only boat on shore for water, of which they now began to be in great want; and the wind freshening, the boat was lost on its return; and the galliot, being driven out to sea again, had suffered exceedingly. There were fifty soldiers in her, with their wives and children; and several other passengers, besides the crew, which consisted of twenty-five; so that they had upward of an hundred souls on board; a great number for a vessel of eighty tons, and that was also heavy laden with stores and provisions. Both this galliot, and the sloop we saw here in May, are built like the Dutch doggers. Soon after she had come to anchor, we received a visit from a Put-parouchick, or sub-lieutenant, who was passenger in the galliot, and sent to take the command of this place. Part of the soldiers, we understood, were also designed to reinforce the garrison; and two pieces of small cannon were landed, as an additional defence to the town. It should seem, from these circumstances, that our visit here had drawn the attention of the Russian commanders in Siberia to the defenceless situation of the place; and I was told by the honest sergeant, with many significant shrugs, that, as we had found our way into it, other nations might do the same, some of whom might not be altogether so welcome.

Next morning the Resolution hauled off from the shore, having repaired the damages she had sustained by the ice; and in the course of the day we got from the galliot a small quantity of pitch, tar, cordage, and twine; canvas was the only thing we asked for with which their scanty store did not put it into their power to supply us. We also received from her an hundred and forty skins of flour, amounting to 13,782 pounds English, after deducting five pounds for the weight of each bag. We had a constant course of dry weather till this day, when there came on a heavy rain, accompanied with strong squalls of wind, which obliged us to strike our yards and top-masts.

The 12th, being Sunday, was kept as a day of rest; but the weather unfortunately continuing foul, our men could not derive the advantage from it we wished, by gathering the berries that grew in great quantities and varieties on the coast, and taking other pastime on shore. The same day, Ensign Synd left us to return to Bolcheretsk with the remainder of the soldiers that came in the galliot. He had been our constant guest during his stay. Indeed, we could not but consider him, on his father's account, as in some measure belonging to us, and entitled, as one of the family of discoverers, to a share in our affections.

We had hitherto admitted the sergeant to our tables, in consideration of his being commander of the place; and, moreover, because he was a quick sensible man, and comprehended better than any other the few Russian words we had learned. Ensign Synd had very