earth. It would be unfair to impute to these people any malicious
, intentions from this circumstance, as they must have had every reason
to suppose, from their custom of concealing provisions underground, and
from having found a cask of our flour buried the preceding year, that
they would find a similar treasure, especially as they do not inter their
dead. I he cask of flour and the box of beads, which had been deposited
in the sand, had been unmolested; but a copper coin which we nailed
upon a post on the summit of the island was taken away.
The swarms of mosquitos that infested the shore at this time
greatly lessened our desire to land. However, some of our sportsmen
traversed the island, and succeeded in killing a white hare, weighing
nearly twelve pounds, and a few ptarmigan; the hare was getting its
summer coat, and the young birds were strong upon the wing.
For several days after our arrival the weather was very thick, with
rain and squalls from the south-west, which occasioned some anxiety for
the barge ; but on the 11th she joined US, and I learned from Mr. Elson
that he had succeeded in finding the inlet, and that as far as he could
judge, the weather being very foggy and boisterous, it was a spacious
and excellent port. He was visited by several of the natives while
there, one of whom drew him a chart, which corresponded with that
constructed upon the sand in Kotzebue Sound the preceding year. On
his putting to sea from the inlet the weather continued very thick, so
much so that he passed through Beering’s Strait without seeing land;
and was unable to explore Schismareff Inlet.
The discovery of a port so near to Beering’s Strait, and one in
which it was probable the ship might remain after circumstances should
oblige her to quit Kotzebue Sound, was of great importance ; and I
determined to take an early opportunity of examining it, should the
situation of the ice to the northward afford no prospect of our proceeding
further than we had done the preceding year. In order that
Captain Franklin’s party might not be inconvenienced by such an
arrangement, the barge was fitted, and placed under the command of
Lieutenant Belcher, who was ordered to proceed along the coast as in
the preceding year, and to use his best endeavours to communicate with
the party under Captain Frankhn’s command, by penetrating to the
iii
eastward as far as he could go with safety to the boat; but he v/as on CHAP.
no account to risk being beset in the ice ; and in the event of separation
from the ship, he was not to protract his absence from Kotzebue Sound
Aug.
beyond the 1st of September. He was also to examine the shoals off
1827.
Icy Cape and Cape Krusenstern, and to explore the bay to the northward
of Point Hope.
Having made these arrangements we endeavoured to put to sea,
but calms and fogs detained us at Chamisso until the 14th, and it was
the I6th before we reached the entrance of the sound. The barge,
however, got out, and the weather afterwards being very foggy we did
not rejoin for some time. Before we left the island we were visited by
several natives whom we remembered to have seen the preceding year.
They brought some skins for sale, as usual, but did not find so ready
a market for them as on the former occasion, in consequence of the
greater part of the furs, which had been purchased by the seamen at
that time, having rotted and become offensive on their return to warm
latitudes. Our visiters were, as before, dirty, noisy, and impudent.
One of them finding he was not permitted to carry off some deep-sea
leads that were lying about, scraped off the greasy arming and devoured
i t : another, after bargaining some skins for the armourer’s anvil, unconcernedly
seized it for the purpose of carrying it away: but, much to
his surprise, and to the great diversion of the sailors who had played
him the trick, he found its weight much too great for him, and after a
good laugh received back his goods. A third amused the young
gentlemen very much by his humorous behaviour. He was a shrewd,
observing, merry fellow. Eor some time he stood eying the officers
walking the deck, and at length appeared determined to turn them
into ridicule; seizing therefore a young midshipman hy the hand, he
strutted with him up and down the deck in a most ludicrous manner,
to the great diversion of all present. They quitted us late at night,
but renewed their visit at three in the morning, and seemed surprised
to find us washing the decks. They probably expected that we
should be fast asleep, and that they would have an opportunity of
appropriating to themselves some of the moveable articles upon deck.
There was otherwise no reason for returning so soon; and from what