348 VOYAGE TO THE 



chap. At four o'clock in the morning of the 25th we 

 v —v-"-' readied our appointed rendezvous at Chamisso 

 1826. Island, ten days later than had been agreed upon 

 by Captain Franklin and myself, but which, it 

 appeared, was quite early enough, as there were no 

 traces of his having arrived. On approaching the 

 island we discovered, through our telescopes, a small 

 pile of stones upon its summit ; and as every object 

 of this kind which was likely to be the work of 

 human hands was interesting, from the possibility 

 that it might be the labour of the party we were in 

 search of, it was not long in undergoing an exami- 

 nation ; there was nothing however to lead to its 

 history, but conjecture attributed it to Captain 

 Kotzebue, who visited that spot in 1816. 



The ship was anchored nearly as far up in Kot- 

 zebue Sound as a vessel of her class can go, between 

 Chamisso Island on the south, and Choris peninsula 

 on the north, with Escholtz Bay on the east, and an 

 open space in the west, in which the coast was too 

 distant to be seen. The land about this part of the 

 Sound is generally characterised by rounded hills 

 from about six hundred feet to a thousand above 

 the sea, with small lakes and rivers ; its surface is 

 rent into deep furrows, which, until a very late 

 period in the summer, are filled with water, and 

 being covered with a thick swampy moss, and in 

 some places with long grass or bushes, it is extremely 

 tedious to traverse it on foot. Early in the sum- 

 mer myriads of moskitos infest this swampy shore, 

 and almost preclude the possibility of continuing 

 any pursuit; but in August they begin to die off, 

 and soon afterwards entirely disappear. 



Chamisso Island, the highest part of which is 231 



