curried us over a fpit o f fand, which is thrown up by the-
rapidity o f the river, and which, they told us, was con tin u ally
ihifting. When we had eroded this ihoal, the water
again deepened and here w e found a commodious boat,
buiLt and ih ap ed .lik e a Norway yawl, ready to convey,
us up the river,, together with canoes for our baggage.
The mouth o f the Awatfka is about a quarter o f a mile
b ro ad b an d as we advanced,, it narrowed ve ry gradually.
After we had proceeded a few miles, we paiTed feveral
branches, which, we were told, emptied themfelves into
ether parts o f tire bay ; and that fome o f thofe on the le ft
hand, flowed into the Paratounca river, Its general direction
from the bay, for the flrft ten miles, is: to the North,
after which it turns to the Wef twardthi s , bend excepted, it
preferv.es, for the moil part, a ftraight courfe ; and the country,
through w hich it flows,, to the diftance o f near thirty,
miles, from the Tea, is low and flat, and fubjetft to frequent
inundations. We were pufhed forward by fix men, with,
long poles, three at each end o f the boat; two o f w h om
were coflacks, the others Kamtfchadales; and advanced
againft a ftrong ftream, at the rate, as well as.I could judg e;
o f about three miles an hour. Our Kamtfchadales bore this,
fevere labour, w ith great ftoutnefs, for. ten hours ; during-
w hich we flopped only once, and that for a Ihort time,,
whilft they took fome little refrefhment. As we had been
told, at our firft fetting out in the morning, that w e fhould:
eafily reach an OJJrog, called Karatchin, the fame n ight, we
were much difappointed to find ourfelves, at fun fet, fifteen,
miles from that place. T h is we attributed to the delay oc-
cafioned in palling the lhoals we had met with, both at the.
entrance o f the river, and in feveral other places, as we proceeded
up i t : for our boat being the firft that had palled up
the
the river, the guides were not acquainted with the fituation w -
o f the ihifting fand-banks, and unfortunately the fnow not v— »— .
ha vin g yet begun to melt, the fliallownefs o f the river was
at its extreme.
T h e fatigu e our men had already undergone, and the d ifficulty
o f navigating the river, w hich would have been
m u ch increafed by the darknefs o f the night, obliged us to
giv e up a ll thoughts o f continuing our journey that evening.
Having therefore found a place tolerably fheltered,
and cleared it o f the fnow, we ereiled a fraatl marquée, w hich
we had brought with u s ; and, by the afliftance o f a brilk
fire, and fome good punch, palled the night not very un-
pleafantly. T he only inconvenience we laboured under
was, the b e in g obliged to make the fire at fome diftance
from us. For, although the ground was, to all appearance,
dry enough before, yet when the fire was lighted, it
foon thawed all the parts round it into an abfolute puddle.
We admired much the alertnefs and expedition with which
the Kamtfchadales ereited our marquée, and cooked our pro-
vifions ; but what was molt unexpended, we found they had
brought with them their tea-kettles, conlidering it as thé
greateft o f hardlhips not to drink tea two or three times a
day.
We fet out as foon as it was light, in the morning, and Saturdays,
had not advanced far, before we were met by the Toion, or
C h ie f o f Karatchin, who had been apprized o f our coming,
and had provided canoes that were lighter, and better contrived
for navigating the higher parts o f the river. A commodious
vefifel, confiding o f two canoes, lalhed d o le together
with crofs fpars, lined with bear-lkins, and fur-
nilhed with fu r cloaks, was alfo provided for us. We now
went