Auguft. make the beft o f mY w a y t0 the harbour o f St. Peter and
<— 1, f St. Paul. At noon, we were in latitude 53° 8' North, longitude
160° 40' Eaft, with Cheepoonfkoi Nofs bearing Weft.
We had ligh t airs in the afternoon, w hich lafted through
y 3 the forenoon o f the 23d. A t noon, a fre lh breeze fp r in g in g
u p from the Eaftward, we flood in for the entrance o f Awat-
fka B a y ; and at fix in the evening, faw it bearing Weft
North Weft h a lf Weft, diftant five leagues. A t eight, the
lig h t houfe, in w hich w e now found a good light, bore
North Weft b y Weft, three miles diftant. T he wind about
this time died away ; but the tide being in our favour, we
fent the boats ahead, and towed beyond the narrow parts o f
the entrance; and, at one o’clock in the morning o f 'the.
Tuefday 24. 24th, the ebb tide fetting againft us, w e dropped anchor.
At nine, w e weighed, and turned up the bay with ligh t airs,,
and the boats flill ahead till o n e ; when, by the h e lp 'o f a
fre lh breeze, we anchored, before three in the afternoon
in the harbour o f St. Peter and St. Paul, with our enfign
h a lf ftafF up, on account o f our carrying the body o f
our late Captain 3 and were foon after followed by the Dif-
covery.
We had no fooner anchored, than our old friend, the
Serjeant, who was flill the Commander o f the place, came
on board w ith a prefent o f berries, intended for our poor
deceafed Captain. He . was exceedingly afFefted when we
told him o f his death, and ihewed him the coffin that contained
his body. And as it was Captain Gierke’s particular
requeft to'be buried on fhore, and, i f poffible, in the church
o f Paratounca, we took the prefent opportunity o f explainin
g this matter to the Serjeant, and confulting with him
about the proper fteps to be taken on the occafion. In the
courfe o f our converfation, which, for want o f an interpre-
6 ter,
ter, was carried on but imperfectly, w e learned that Pro- I779*
feiTor de L ’lfle, and feveral Ruffian gentlemen, who died here, «■
had been buried in the ground near the' barracks, at the
ejirog o f St. Peter and St. Paul’s ; 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 ihould wait fo r the arrival o f the Prieft o f Paratounca,
whom the Serjeant advifed us to fend for, as the
only perfon that could fatisfy our inquiries on this fubjetft.
T h e Serjeant having, at the fame time, fignified his intentions
o f fending o ff an exprefs to the Commander at Bol-
cheretfk, to acquaint him w ith our arrival, Captain Gore,
availed h im fe lf o f that occafion o f w ritin g him a letter; in
w h ich he requefted that fixteen head o f black cattle might
be fent with all poffible expedition. And becaufe the Commander
did not underftand any language except his own, the
nature o f our requeft was made kn own to the Serjeant, who
readily undertook to fend, along with our letter, an explanation
o f its contents.
We could not help remarking, that, although the country
was much improved in its appearance fince we were laft
here, the Ruffians looked, i f poffible, worfe now than they
did then. It-is to be owned, they obferved, that this was-
alfo the cafe with us ; and as neither party feemed to lik e
to be told o f their bad looks, we found mutual confolation
in throwing the blame upon the country, whofe green and
live ly complexion, we agreed, eaft a deadnefs and fallow-
nefs upon our own.
The irruption o f the volcano, which was fo violent when
w e failed out o f the bay, we found, had done no damage
here, notwithftanding ftones had fallen at the a/frog- o f the
fize