On the 25th, at one o’clock in the afternoon, being in latitude 59° 12ʹ, longitude 168° 35ʹ, the wind freshening from the same quarter, a thick fog succeeded; and this unfortunately just at the time we expected to see Olutorskoi Noss; which, if Muller places it right in latitude 59° 30ʹ, and in longitude 167° 36ʹ, could only have then been twelve leagues from us; at which distance land of a moderate height might easily have been seen. But if the same error in longitude prevails here, which we have hitherto invariably found, it would have been much nearer us, even before the fog came on; and as we saw no appearance of land at that time, it must either have been very low, or there must be some mistake of latitude in Muller’s account. We tried soundings, but had no ground with one hundred and sixty fathoms of line.
The weather still thickening, and preventing a nearer approach to the land, at five we steered E. by N., which is somewhat more easterly than the Russian charts lay down the trending of the coast from Olutorskoi Noss. The next day we had a fresh gale from the S. W., which lasted till the 27th at noon, when the fogs clearing away, we stood to the northward, in order to make the land. The latitude at noon, by observation, was 59° 49ʹ, longitude 175° 43ʹ. Notwithstanding we saw shags in the forenoon, which are supposed never to go far from land, yet there was no appearance of it this day; but on the 28th, at six in the morning, we got sight of it to the N. W. The coast shows itself in hills of a moderate height; but inland, others are seen to rise considerably. We could observe no wood, and the snow lying upon them in patches, gave the whole a very barren appearance. At nine, we were about ten miles from the shore, the southern extremity bearing W. by S., six leagues distant, beyond which the coast appeared to trend to the westward. This point being in latitude 61° 48ʹ, longitude 174° 48ʹ, lies, according to the Russian charts, near the mouth of the river Opuka. At the same time, the northern extreme bore N. by W.; between which and a hill bearing N. W. by W. a quarter W., and at this distance appearing to us like an island, the coast seemed to bend to the westward, and form a deep bay.
About eight miles from land, we perceived ourselves in a strong rippling; and being apprehensive of foul ground, we bore away to the N. E., along the shore; notwithstanding, on heaving the lead, we found regular soundings of twenty-four fathoms, over a gravelly bottom; from whence we concluded, that this appearance was occasioned by a tide, at that time running to the southward. At noon, the extremes of the land bearing W. S. W. three quarters W., and N. N. E. three quarters E., distant from the nearest shore four leagues, we were abreast of the low land, which we now perceived to join the two points, where we had before expected to find a deep bay. The coast bends a little to the westward, and has a small inlet, which may probably be the mouth of some trifling stream. Our latitude, by observation, was 61° 56ʹ, and longitude 175° 43ʹ, and the variation of the compass 17° 30ʹ E.
We continued during the afternoon to run along the shore, at the distance of four or five leagues, with a moderate westerly breeze, carrying regular soundings from twenty-eight to thirty-six fathoms. The coast presented the same barren aspect as to the southward, the hills rising considerably inland, but to what height the clouds on their tops put it out of our power to determine. At eight in the evening, land was thought to have been seen to the east by north, on which we steered to the southward of east, but it turned out to be only a fog-bank. At midnight, the extreme point bearing north-east a quarter east, we supposed it to be Saint Thadeus’s Noss; to the southward of which the land trends to the westward, and forms a deep bight, wherein, according to the Russian charts, lies the river Katirka.
On the 29th the weather was unsettled and variable, with the wind from the north-east. At noon of the 30th, our latitude by observation was 61° 48ʹ, and longitude 180° 0ʹ, at which time Saint Thadeus’s Noss bore north-north-west, twenty-three leagues distant, and beyond it we observed the coast stretching almost directly north. The most easterly point of the Noss is in latitude 62° 50ʹ, and longitude 179° 0ʹ, being 31⁄2° more to the east than what the Russians make it. The land about it must be of a considerable height, from its being seen at so great a distance. During the two last days, we saw numbers of whales, large seals, and sea-horses; also gulls, sea-parrots, and albatrosses. We took the advantage of a little calm weather to try for fish, and caught abundance of fine cod. The depth of water from sixty-five to seventy-five fathoms.
On the 1st of July at noon, Mr. Bligh having moored a small keg with the deep-sea lead in seventy-five fathoms, found the ship made a course north by east half a mile an hour. This he attributed to the effect of a long southerly swell, and not to that of any current. The wind freshening from the south-east toward evening, we shaped our course to the north-east by east for the point called in Beering’s chart Tschukotskoi Noss, which we had observed on the 4th of September last year, at the same time that we saw to the south-east the island of Saint Laurence. This Cape and Saint Thadeus’s Noss form the north-east and south-west extremities of the large and deep Gulf of Anadir, into the bottom of which the river of that name empties itself, dividing as it passes, the country of the Koriacs from that of Tschutski.
On the 3d at noon the latitude, by observation, was 63° 33ʹ, and the longitude 186° 45ʹ; half an hour after which we got sight of the Tschukotskoi Noss, bearing north half west, thirteen or fourteen leagues distant, and at five in the afternoon saw the island of St. Laurence, bearing east three quarters north; and another island a little to the eastward of it, which we supposed to be between Saint Laurence and Anderson’s Island, about six leagues east-south-east of the former. As we had no certain account of this island, Captain Clerke was desirous of a nearer prospect, and immediately hauled the wind toward it; but unfortunately we were not able to weather the island of Saint Laurence, and were therefore under the necessity of bearing up again, and passing them all to the leeward.
We had a better opportunity of settling the longitude of the island Saint Laurence when we last saw it, than now. But seeing it at that time but once, and to the southward, we could only determine its latitude so far as we could judge of distances, whereas now the noon observations enabled us to ascertain it correctly, which is 63° 47ʹ. Its longitude was found to be 188° 15ʹ, as before. This island, if its boundaries were at this time within our view, is about three leagues in circuit. The north part may be seen at the distance of ten or twelve leagues; but as it falls in low land to the south-east, the extent of which we could not see, some of us conjectured that it might probably be joined to the land to the eastward of it; this, however, the haziness of the weather prevented our ascertaining. These islands, as well as the land about the Tschukotskoi Noss, were covered with snow, and presented us with a most dreary picture. At midnight, Saint Laurence bore south-south-east, five or six miles distant, and our depth of water was eighteen fathoms. We were accompanied by various kinds of sea fowl, and saw several small crested hawks.
The weather still continuing to thicken, we lost all sight of land till the 5th, when it appeared both to the north-east and north-west. Our latitude, by account, was at this time 65° 24ʹ, longitude 189° 14ʹ. As the islands of Saint Diomede, which lie between the two continents in Beering’s Strait, were determined by us last year to be in latitude 65° 48ʹ, we could not reconcile the land to the north-east with the situation of those islands. We therefore stood toward the land till three in the afternoon, when we were within four miles of it, and finding it to be two islands, were pretty well satisfied of their being the same; but the weather still continuing hazy, to make sure of our situation, we stood over to the coast of Asia till seven in the evening, at which time we were within two or three leagues of the east cape of that continent.
This cape is a high round head of land, extending four or five miles from north to south, forming a peninsula, and connected with the continent by a narrow neck of low land. Its shore is bold, and off its north part are three high detached spiral rocks. At this time it was covered with snow, and the beach surrounded with ice. We were now convinced that we had been under the influence of a strong current setting to the north, that had caused an error in our latitude at noon of twenty miles. In passing this strait the last year, we had experienced the same effect.