The 2d of September was the warmest day they had had that summer, the thermometer marking 65° Fahrenheit. Late in the afternoon the "Yukon" set out on her return to Andreavsky amidst a salute from the carronades and the screaming of the steam-whistle.
On the 3d my Golovnin Bay couriers, who I supposed had started on the preceding day, and were then forty or fifty miles away on their journey, came nonchalantly to me and reported their departure. I bade them good-by, and told them not to delay on the idea that I wanted the "Alaska" next year and not this, and promising me seriously to remember this, they departed. The next day—the 4th—they returned, having forgotten their sugar, an article of luxury they had not enjoyed for months previously, and again departed. I expected to see them return in two or three days for a string to tie it up with, but their outfit must have been complete this time, for I never saw or heard of them again; but I could not help thinking what valuable messenger service the telegraph companies were losing in this far-away country.
Sure enough, on the 8th of the month the "Leo" bore down in a gale and was soon anchored in the bay, where we boarded her. Although already overcrowded for a little schooner of about two hundred tons, Lieutenant Ray kindly made room for my additional party, there being by this addition about thirty-five on board and seventeen in the little cabin. While trying to make Point Barrow, the "Leo" had been nipped in the ice and had her stem split and started, sustaining other injuries the extent of which could not be ascertained. She was leaking badly, requiring about five or ten minutes at the pumps every hour, but it was intended to try and make San Francisco, unless the leaking increased in a gale, when she was to be repaired at Oonalaska, and if matters came to the worst she would be condemned.
A few days were spent in chatting of our experiences, getting fresh water on board and exchanging signal observers, and on the morning of the 11th, at 6 A.M., under a salute of six guns, we weighed anchor and started, with a strong head wind that kept constantly increasing. This gale was from the north-west, and as we had to beat a long distance in that direction in order to clear the great mud banks off the delta of the Yukon, so little progress was made that after an all day's fight we ran back to St. Michael's in an hour's time and dropped anchor once more, to await a change in the weather. Next day we got away early and managed to beat a little on our course. The 13th gave us an almost dead calm until late in the afternoon, when we caught a fine breeze abaft and rounded the Yukon banks about midnight. This favorable breeze increased to a light gale next day and we pounded along at the rate of ten or eleven knots an hour.
On the 15th the gale continued and so increased the next day that evening saw us "hove to" for fear of running into Oonalaska Island during the night. This run across Bering's Sea in less than three days was stated by our master, Captain Jacobsen, to be the best sailing record across that sheet of water.
The morning of the 17th opened still and calm, with a number of the Aleutian islands looming up directly ahead of us in bold relief. A very light breeze sprang up about noon, and with its help at 6 P.M. we entered the heads of Oonalaska harbor, and at nine o'clock we dropped anchor in the dark about half a mile from the town. Most of us visited the place that night and had a very pleasant reception by Mr. Neumann, the agent of the Alaska Company. Here we found that company's steamer the "Dora," and the revenue-cutter "Corwin," which had been lying here since leaving St. Michael's. These two vessels and everybody generally were waiting for the Alaska Company's large steamer "St. Paul" from San Francisco, upon whose arrival the "Dora," was to distribute the material received for the various trading stations on the Aleutian Islands and the mainland adjacent; the "Corwin" would sail for some point or other, no one could find out where, and the residents would settle down for another year of monotonous life.
The last day's gale on Bering Sea had left no doubt on the minds of those in charge that the "Leo" would have to be repaired, accordingly she was lightened by discharging her load, and on the morning of the 20th she was beached near by, the fall of the tide being sufficient to reveal her injuries, and to allow of temporary repair.
We passed our time in strolling around examining the islands, while some of the party got out their fishing tackle and succeeded in securing a few fine though small trout from the clear mountain streams.
OONALASKA.