430 cook's voyage to sept. 



rica. The greatest depth we found in ranging along 

 it was twenty-three fathoms. And, in the night, or 

 in foggy weather, the soundings are no bad guide in 

 sailing along either of these shores. 



At eight o'clock in the morning of the 2d, the 

 most advanced land to the south-east, bore south, 25 

 east ; and from this point of view had the appearance 

 of being an island. But the thick snow- showers, 

 which succeeded one another pretty fast, and settled 

 upon the land, hid great part of the coast at this time 

 from our sight. Soon after, the sun, whose face we 

 had not seen for near five days, broke out at the in- 

 tervals between the showers ; and, in some measure, 

 freed the coast from the fog, so that we had a sight 

 of it, and found the whole to be connected. The 

 wind still continued at north, the air was cold, and 

 the mercury in the thermometer never rose above 

 35, and was sometimes as low as 30. At noon, 

 the observed latitude was 66 37'. Cape Serdze 

 Kamen bore north, 52 west, thirteen leagues distant ; 

 the southernmost point of land in sight south, 41 

 east j the nearest part of the coast two leagues dis- 

 tant, and our depth of water twenty-two fathoms. 



We had now fair weather and sunshine ; and as 

 we ranged along the coast, at the distance of four 

 miles, we saw several of the inhabitants, and some of 

 their habitations, which looked like little hillocks of 

 earth. In the evening we passed the Eastern Cape, 

 or the point above mentioned ; from which the coast 

 changes its direction, and trends south-west. It is 

 the same point of land which we had passed on the 

 11th of August. They who believed implicitly in 

 Mr. Staehlin's map, then thought it the east point of 

 his island Alaschka ; but we had by this time satis- 

 fied ourselves, that it is no other than the eastern 

 promontory of Asia ; and probably the proper Tschu- 

 kotskoi Noss, though the promontory, to which 

 Beering gave that name, is farther to the south- 

 west. 



