2 62 AVOYAOETO 



•779- noon our latitude, by obfervation, was 65* 6', and longitude 

 189 . The South point of the Bay of St. Laurence bore North 

 by Weft one quarter Weft, and was diftant feven or eight 

 leagues. In the afternoon the variation was found to be 

 22" 50' Eaft. 



Having now pafTed Beering's Straits, and taken our final 

 leave of the North Eaft coaft of Afta, it may not be improper, 

 on this occafion, to ftate the grounds on which we have 

 ventured to adopt two general conclufions refpecting its ex- 

 tent, in oppofition to the opinions of Mr. Muller. The firft, 

 that the promontory named Eaft Cape is actually the Eaftern- 

 moft point of that quarter of the globe ; or, in other words, 

 that no part of the continent extends in longitude beyond 

 190 22' Eaft: the fecond, that the latitude of the North Eaft- 

 ernmoft extremity falls to the Southward of 70 North. With 

 refpect to the former, if fuch land exift, it muft neceflarily 

 be to the North of latitude 69 , where the difcoveries made 

 in the prefent voyage terminate ; and, therefore, the pro- 

 bable direction of the coaft, beyond this point, is the quef- 

 tion I fhall endeavour, in the firft place, to inveftigate. 



As the Ruffian is the only nation that has hitherto navi- 

 gated thefe feas, all our information refpecting the fitua- 

 tion of the coaft to the Northward of Cape North, muft ne- 

 ceflarily be derived from the charts and journals of the 

 perfons who have been employed, at various times, in alccr- 

 taining the limits of that empire; and thefe are, for the 

 moft part, fo imperfect, lb confuted, and contradictory, that 

 it is not eafy to form any dillinct idea of their pretended, 

 much lefs to collect the amount of their real difcoveries. 

 It is on this account, that the extent and form of the penin- 

 fula, inhabited by the Tfchutfki, ftill remains a point, on 



which 



