1779. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 171 



be diverted with this military parade, notwithstand- 

 ing it was attended with the most unseasonable delay. 

 At length we arrived at the house of the command- 

 ing officer of the party, into which we were ushered, 

 and after no small stir in giving orders, and disposing 

 of the military without doors, our host made his ap- 

 pearance, accompanied by another person, whom 

 we understood to be the secretary of the port. One 

 of IsmylofF's letters was now opened, and the other 

 sent oft' by a special messenger to Bolcheretsk, a town 

 on the west side of the peninsula of Kamtschatka, 

 where the Russian commander of this province usually 

 resides. 



It is very remarkable that they had not seen the 

 ship the preceding day, when we came to anchor in 

 the bay, nor indeed this morning till our boats were 

 pretty near the ice. The panic with which the dis- 

 covery had struck them we found had been very con- 

 siderable. The garrison was immediately put under 

 arms. Two small field-pieces were placed at the en- 

 trance of the commander's house, and pointed toward 

 our boats, and shot, powder, and lighted matches 

 were all ready at hand. 



The officer in whose house we were at present en- 

 tertained was a serjeant, and the commander of the 

 ostrog. Nothing could exceed the kindness and hos- 

 pitality of his behaviour, after he had recovered from 

 the alarm occasioned by our arrival. We found the 

 house insufferably hot, but exceeedingly neat and 

 clean. After I had changed my clothes, which the 

 Serjeant's civility enabled me to do by furnishing me 

 with a complete suit of his own, we were invited to 

 sit down to dinner, which I have no doubt was the 

 best he could procure, and considering the shortness 

 of time he had to provide it, was managed with some 

 ingenuity. As there was not time to prepare soup 

 and bouilli, we had in their stead some cold beef 

 sliced, with hot water poured over it. We had next 

 a large bird roasted, of a species with which I was 



