Iprfi". ftruftion fo w e ll adapted to the purpofes fo r w h ich they are
v— ■— ' intended, that they went w ith great expedition, and perfect
fafety, over the ice, w h ich it would have been inapoffible
fo r us, w ith all our caution, to have paJTed on foot.
On our return, we found the boats towing the ihip toward
the v illa g e ; and at feven we go t clofe to thé ice, and
moored with the fmall bower to the North Eaft, and beft
bower to the South We ft; the entrance o f the ba y bearing
South by Eaft, and South three-quarters Eaft ; and the ojlrog
North, one quarter Eaft, diftant one mile and a half. T h e
Friday 30. next morning, the calks and cables were got upon the
quarter-deck, in order to lighten the ihip forward ; and the
carpenters were fet to w ork to flop the leak, which had
given us fo much trouble d uring our laft run. It was
found to have been occafioned by the fa llin g o f fome
iheathing from the larboard-bow, and the oakum between
the planks ha vin g been waihed our. T h e warm weather
w e had in the middle o f the day, began to make the ice
break awa y very faft, w hich, driftin g with the tide, had al-
moft filled up the entrance o f the bay. Several o f our g en tlemen
paid their vifits to the Serjeant, by w hom the y were
received with great civility ; and Captain Clerke fent him
two bottles o f rum w hich he underftood would be the moft
acceptable prefent he could make him, and received in re turn
fome fine fowls o f the groufe kind, and twenty trouts.
Our fportfmen met with but bad fuccefs ; fo r though the
bay fwarmed with flocks o f ducks o f various kinds, and
Greenland pigeons, yet they were fo ih y , that the y could
not come within ihot o f them.
Saturday’ 1. In the morninS o f ihe lft o f May, feeing the Difcovery
Handing into the bay, a boat was immediately fent to her
afliftance:
afliftance; and in the afternoon, ihe moored clofe b y us. *77»-
M a y -
T h e y told us, that after the weather cleared up on the 28th, »— „— .
the day on w hich ihe had parted company, they found
themfelves to leeward o f the bay, and that, w hen they got
abreaft o f it, the fo llow in g day, and faw the entrance
choaked u p with ice, they flood oiF, after firing guns, concludin
g w e could not be h e r e ; but finding afterward it was
on ly loofe drift-ice , th e y had ventured in. T h e next day, sunday2.
the weather was fo ve ry unfettled, attended w ith heavy
ihowers o f fnow, that the carpenters were not able to proceed
in their w ork. T h e thermometer flood at 28° in the
evening, and the froft was exceedingly fevere in the night.
T h e fo llow in g morning, o n our obferving two fledges Mondays,
drive into the villa g e , Captain Clerke fent me on ihore, to
inquire whether any meflage was arrived from the Commander
o f Kamtfchatka, which, according to the ferjeant’s
account, migh t now be expected, in confequence o f the intelligence
that had been fent o f our arrival. Bolcheretik,
b y the ufual route, is about one hundred and thirty-five
E n g lilh miles from Saint Peter and Saint Paul’s. Our dif-
patches were fent o ff in a fledge drawn by dogs, on the 29th,
about noon. And the anfwer arrived, as w e afterward
found, early this m o rn in g ; fo that they were only a little
more than three days and a h a lf in performing a journey o f
two hundred and feventy miles.
T h e return o f the Commander’s anfwer was, however,
concealed from us fo r the p re fen t; and I was told, on m y
arrival at the ferjeant’s, that w e fliould hear from him the
next day. Whilft I was on ihore, the boat, w hich had
brou ght me, together with another belonging to the Difcove
ry , were fet faft in the ice, w hich a Southerly wind had
driven