bred and fattened in the neighbourhood, that they muft
have had the advantage o f both good paftures and meadows.
For it is worth our notice, that the firil fupply we received,
confifting o f twenty, came to us juft at the clofe o f the winter,
and before the fnow was o ff the ground, and therefore
probably had tailed nothing but hay for the feven preceding
months. And this agrees w ith what is related by Krafcheni-
nicoif, that there is no part o f the country equal in fer tility
to that which borders on the River Kamtfchatka ; and that
to the North and South it is much inferior both in point o f
foil and climate. He relates, that repeated experiments have
been made in the culture o f oats, barley, and rye, in d ifferent
quarters near this river, w hich have generally fuc-
ceeded; that, in particular, fome perfons belonging to the
convent o f Jakutik, who had fettled in that part o f the
country, had fown barley there, w hich had yielded an e x traordinary
increafe; and he has no doubt but that wheat,
in many parts, particularly near the fource o f the Biftraia
and Kamtfchatka, would grow as well as in the generality o f
countries fituated in the fame latitude. Perhaps the fuperior
fertility o f the country here fpoken o f may, in a great tnea-
fure, be accounted for, from its ly in g in that part o f the penin-
fula, which is by much the wideft, and confequently fartheft
removed from the fea, on each fide. The moift chillin g fogs,
and d r izz lin g weather, which prevail almoft perpetually
along the coaft, muft necelfarily render the parts adjacent
very unfit for all the purpofes o f agriculture.
It is natural to fuppofe, that the feverity o f the climate
muft be in due proportion to the general fterility o f the foil,
o f which it is probably the caufe. The firffi time we faw this
country w as in the beginn in g o f May, 1779, when the whole
face o f it was covered w ith fnow, from fix to eight feet deep.
On
On the 6th, we had fnow, with the wind from the North 0L77b9c'r
Eaft. On the 8th o f May, at noon, the thermometer flood v——v—
at 32” ; and, the fame day, fome o f our men were fent on
ihore to try to cut w ood ; but the fnow was ftill fo deep on
the ground, as to render all their attempts fruitlefs. Nor
was it found practicable to proceed in this neceflary bufinefs,
w ith all the efForts o f a very ftout party, till the 12th, at
w hich time, the thaw began to advance gradually. T h e
fides o f the hills were now in fome places free from fnow ;
and, b y the b eginning o f June, it was generally melted
from the low lands. On the tyth o f June, the day we failed
out o f the harbour, the thermometer had never rifen higher
than 58*, nor the barometer than 30° 04'. T he winds blew
almoft invariably from the Eaftward during our ftay, and
the South Eaft was more prevalent than any other.
On our return, the 24th o f Auguft, the foliage o f the
trees, and all other forts o f vegetation, feemed to be in the
utmoft ftate o f perfe&ion. For the remainder o f this month,
and through September, the weather was very changeable,
but in no refpeCt fevere. T he winds, at the beginning o f the
month, were, for the moft part, Eafterly, after which they got
round to the Weft. T he greateft height o f the thermometer
was 65°, the loweft 40°. T h e barometer’s greateft height
30°; its loweft 29° 3'. So that, upon the whole, during this
month, an equal and moderate degree o f temperature prevailed.
But at the beginning o f OCtober, the tops o f the
hills were again covered with new-fallen fnow, the wind
continuing Wefterly.
In computing the feafons, the fpring ought certainly not
to be taken into the account. From the middle o f June, to
the middle o f September, m a y be properly faid to conftitute'
V o l . III. U u the