T h e ìait quéftion that arifes is, to what degree o f Northern
latitude this coaft extends, before it trends more d ireftly to
the Weftward. I f the fituation o f the mouth o f the Ko vyma
, both w ith refpect to its latitude and longitude, w e re
accurately determined, it would perhaps not he ve ry difficult
to form a probable conjecture upon this point. Captain
Gook was always ftrongly o f opinion, that the Northern
coaft o f Alia, from the Indigirka eaftward, has hitherto been
generally laid down more than tw o degrees to the Northward
o f its true pofition,- and he has, therefore, on the
authority o f a map that was in his poiìèffion, and on the information
he received at Oonalaihka, placed the mouth o f
the river Kovyma, in his chart o f the North Weft coaft o f
America, and the North Eaft coaft o f Afta, in the latitude o f
<58°. Should he be right in this conjecture, it is probable,
fo r the reafons that have been already ftated, that the Afiatic
coaft does not any where exceed 70° before it trends
to the Weftward ; and eonfequently, that w e were within
1° o f its North Eaftern extremity. For, i f the continent be
fuppofed to ftretch any where to the Northward o f Shelatikoi
Nofs, it is fcarcely poffible, that fo extraordinary a cir-
cumftance ffiould not have been mentioned b y the Ruffian
navigators ; and we have already ihewn, that they m a k e
mention o f no remarkable promontory between the Ko vy ma
and the Anadir, except the Eaft Cape. Another circum-
ftance, related by Deffineff, may, perhaps, be thought a
furth er confirmation o f this opinion, namely, that he met
with no impediment from ice in navigating round the N orth
Eaft extremity o f Afia ; though he adds, tha t this fea is not
always fo free from i t ; as indeed is manifeft from th e
failure o f his firft expedition, and, fince that, from thè un -
1 fucce fsfui
fucce fsfui attempts o f ShalaurofF, and the obftacles we met
with, in two different years, in ou r prefent voyage.
The continent, le ft undetermined in our chart, between
Cape North, and the mouth o f the Kovyma, is, in long itu dinal
extent, one hundred and twenty-five leagues. One
third, or about forty leagues, o f this diftance, from the
the Ko vyma Eaftward, was explored in the year 1723, b y a
Sinbojarjkoi o f Jakutz, whofe name was Fedot Am offoff; by
whom Mr. Muller was informed, that its direction was to
the Eaftward. It is faid to have been fince accurately fur-
veyed b y ShalaurofF, whofe chart makes it trend to the
North Eaft b y Eaft, as fa r as the Shelatikoi Nofs, w hich he
places about forty-three leagues to the Eaftward o f the
Kovyma. T h e fpace between this Nofs and Cape North,
about eighty-two leagues, is therefore the only part o f the
Ruffian empire that n °w remains unafcertained.
But i f the river Kovyma be erroneoufly fituated with re-
fp e it to its longitude, as w e ll as in its latitude, a fuppofition
fo r w h ich probable grounds are not wanting , the extent o f
the unexplored coaft w ill become proportionably diminiffied.
T h e reafons w h ich incline me to believe, that the mouth
o f this riv eris p laced in the Ruffian charts much too far to the
Weftward, are as fo llow : Firft, becaufe the accounts that are
given o f the navigation o f the Frozen Sea from that river,
round the North Eaft point o f Afia, to the g u l f o f Anadir,
do not accord w ith the fuppofed diftance between thofe
places. Secondly, becaufe the diftance over land, from the
Kovyma to the Anadir, is reprefented b y the early Ruffian
travellers as a journey eafily performed, and o f no ve ry extraordinary
length. T hird ly, becaufe the coaft from the
Shelatikoi Nofs o f ShalaurofF* feems to trend diredtly Sout 1
* See Chart in Coxe’ s Account o f Ruffian Difcoveries. R a f t
>779-
July