It was hard to say, whether the good priest and his family, or ourselves, were most affected on taking our leave of Major Behm. Short as our acquaintance had been, his noble and disinterested conduct had inspired us with the highest respect and esteem for him; and we could not part with a person to whom we were under such obligations, and whom we had little prospect of ever seeing again, without feeling the most tender concern. The intrinsic value of the private presents we received from him, exclusive of the stores which might be carried to a public account, must have amounted, according to the current price of articles in that country, to upward of two hundred pounds. But this generosity, extraordinary as it must appear in itself, was exceeded by the delicacy with which all his favours were conferred, and the artful manner in which he endeavoured to prevent our feeling the weight of obligations, which he knew we had no means of requiting. If we go a step further, and consider him as supporting a public character, and maintaining the honour of a great sovereign, we shall find a still higher subject of admiration, in the just and enlarged sentiments by which he was actuated. “The service in which you are employed,” he would often say, “is for the general advantage of mankind, and therefore gives you a right, not merely to the offices of humanity, but to the privileges of citizens, in whatever country you may be thrown. I am sure I am acting agreeably to the wishes of my mistress, in affording you all the relief in our power; and I cannot forget either her character, or my own honour, so much, as to barter for the performance of a duty.” At other times, he would tell us, that he was particularly desirous of setting a good example to the Kamtschadales, who, he said, were but just emerging from a state of barbarism; that they looked up to the Russians as their patterns in every thing; and that he had hopes they might in future look upon it as a duty incumbent upon them to assist strangers to the utmost of their power, and believe, that such was the universal practice of civilized nations. To all this must be added, that, after having relieved, to the utmost of his abilities, all our present distresses, he showed himself not much less mindful of our future wants; and, as he supposed it more than probable we should not discover the passage we were in search of, and therefore should return to Kamschatka in the fall of the year, he made Captain Clerke give him a list of what cordage and flour we should want, and promised they should be sent from Okotsk, and wait our arrival. For the same purpose, he gave Captain Clerke a paper, enjoining all the subjects of the empress, whom we might happen to meet, to give us every assistance in their power.
CHAP. III.
CONTINUATION OF TRANSACTIONS IN THE HARBOUR OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL.—ABUNDANCE OF FISH.—DEATH OF A SEAMAN BELONGING TO THE RESOLUTION.—THE RUSSIAN HOSPITAL PUT UNDER THE CARE OF THE SHIPS’ SURGEONS.—SUPPLY OF FLOUR AND CATTLE.—CELEBRATION OF THE KING’S BIRTH-DAY.—DIFFICULTIES IN SAILING OUT OF THE BAY.—ERUPTION OF A VOLCANO.—STEER TO THE NORTHWARD.—CHEEPOONSKOI NOSS.—ERRORS OF THE RUSSIAN CHARTS.—KAMTSCHATSKOI NOSS.—OLUTORSKOI NOSS.—TSCHUKOTSKOI NOSS.—ISLAND OF ST. LAURENCE.—VIEW, FROM THE SAME POINT, OF THE COASTS OF ASIA AND AMERICA, AND THE ISLANDS OF ST. DIOMEDE.—VARIOUS ATTEMPTS TO GET TO THE NORTH, BETWEEN THE TWO CONTINENTS.—OBSTRUCTED BY IMPENETRABLE ICE.—SEA-HORSES AND WHITE BEARS KILLED.—CAPTAIN CLERKE’S DETERMINATION, AND FUTURE DESIGNS.
Having concluded the last chapter with an account of our return from Bolcheretsk, accompanied by Major Behm, the Commander of Kamtschatka, and of his departure; I shall proceed to relate the transactions that passed in the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul during our absence. On the 7th of May, soon after we had left the bay, a large piece of ice drove across the cut-water of the Resolution, and brought home the small bower anchor. This obliged them to weigh the other anchor, and moor again. The carpenters, who were employed in stopping the leak, were obliged to take off a great part of the sheathing from the bows, and found many of the trunnels so very loose and rotten, as to be easily drawn out with the fingers.
On the 11th they had heavy gales from the north-east, which obliged both the ships to strike yards and topmasts; but in the afternoon, the weather being more moderate, and the ice having drifted away as far as the mouth of the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul, they warped close to the shore for the greater convenience of watering and wooding, and again moored as before, the town bearing north half west, half a mile distant, and the mouth of the bay shut in by the southernmost point of Rakowina harbour, south.
The next day, a party was sent on shore to cut wood, but made little progress on account of the snow, which still covered the ground. A convenient spot was cleared away abreast of the ships, where there was a fine run of water, and a tent being erected for the cooper, the empty casks were landed, and the sail-makers sent on shore.
On the 15th, the beach being clear of ice, the people were sent to haul the seine, and caught an abundant supply of fine flat fish for both the ships’ companies. Indeed from this time, during the whole of our stay in the harbour, we were absolutely overpowered with the quantities of fish which came in from every quarter. The Toions both of this town and of Paratounca, a village in the neighbourhood, had received orders from Major Behm to employ all the Kamtschadales in our service, so that we frequently could not take into the ships the presents that were sent us. They consisted in general of flat fish, cod, trout, and herring. These last, which were in their full perfection, and of a delicious flavour, were exceedingly abundant in this bay. The Discovery’s people surrounded at one time so great a quantity in their seine, that they were obliged to throw a vast number out, lest the net should be broken to pieces; and the cargo they landed was afterward so plentiful, that besides a sufficient store for immediate use, they filled as many casks as they could spare for salting; and after sending to the Resolution a sufficient quantity for the same purpose, they left several bushels behind on the beach.
The snow now began to disappear very rapidly, and abundance of wild garlic, celery, and nettle-tops were gathered for the use of the crews, which being boiled with wheat and portable soup, made them a wholesome and comfortable breakfast, and with this they were supplied every morning. The birch trees were also tapped, and the sweet juice, which they yielded in great quantities, was constantly mixed with the men’s allowance of brandy.
The next day, a small bullock, which had been procured for the ships’ companies by the serjeant, was killed, and weighed two hundred and seventy-two pounds. It was served out to both crews for their Sunday’s dinner, being the first piece of fresh beef they had tasted since our departure from the Cape of Good Hope in December, 1776, a period of near two years and a half.
This evening died John Macintosh, the carpenter’s mate, after having laboured under a dysentery ever since our departure from the Sandwich Islands: he was a very hard-working quiet man, and much regretted by his mess-mates. He was the fourth person we lost by sickness during the voyage, but the first who could be said, from his age and the constitutional habits of his body, to have had on our setting out an equal chance with the rest of his comrades: Watman we supposed to be about sixty years of age; and Roberts and Mr. Anderson, from the decay which had evidently commenced before we left England, could not, in all probability, under any circumstances, have lived a greater length of time than they did.