They reach
Bccnng’s
I lk mi;
and Copper
Ifland«.
mitted in the chart of that expedition. Thefe traders,,
who for fome years paft were accuftomed to ramble to
the diftant iflands in queft of furs, faid that they were
fituated much more to the South, and farther Eaft than!
was imagined. On the 2.7th they faw Commodore’s or
Beering’s Ifland, which is low and rocky, efpecially to
the S. W. On this fide they obferved a fmall harbour,
diftinguifhed by two hillocks like boats, and not far
from it they found a frefh water lake.
To the S. E. lies another ifland, called by the Ruffians.
Mednoi Oflroff, or Copper Ifland, from a great quantity
of copper found upon its N. E. coaft, the only fide whichs
is known to the Ruffians. It is waffied up by the fea,
and covers the ffiore in fuch abundance, that many ffiips
may load with it. Perhaps an India trader might make-
a profitable voyage from thence to China, where this-
metal is in high demand. This. copper is moftly in a-
metallic or malleable ftate, and many pieces feem as if’
they had formerly been in fufion. The ifland* is-not
high, but has many hillocks* each of which has the-
appearance of having formerly been the funnel of a
volcano. We may here, once for all, obferve, that all the,
iflands reprefented in thi9 chart« abound with fuch.
funnels, called in Ruffian Sopka, in fo much that no
ifland, however fmall, was found, without one; and.
* N a m e l y , , the chart which is-prefixed to this journal..
many
many of them confifted of nothing elfe. In fliort,
the chain of iflands here laid down may, without any
violent ftretch of imagination, be confidered as thrown
up by fome late volcanos. The apparent novelty of
every thing feems to juftify this conjecture : nor can
any objection be derived from the vegetable productions
with which thefe iflands abound ; for the fiummer after
the lower diftridt of Zutphen in Holland was gained
from the fea, it was covered over with wild muftard.
All thefe lands are fubjedt to violent and frequent earthquakes,
and abound in fulphur. The writer of the
journal was not able to inform us whether any lava was
found upon them; but he fpeaks of a party-coloured
ftone as heavy as iron. From this account it is by no
means improbable, that the copper abovementioned has-
been melted in fome eruption-
After leaving Copper Ifland, no land was foen from-
either of the ffiips (which had parted company in a fog)
till on the S. E. quarter of their tract, was difcovered;
the chain of iflands or head-lands laid down in the
chart. Thefe in general appeared low, the ffiore bad,
without creeks, and the water between them very fhal-
low. During their courfe outwards, as well as during
their return, they had frequent fogs. It appears from,
the journal, as- well as from the relation-of the hunters,.
that