§6 LOG BOOK OF THE "ST. PETER" 



July 14, 1741. 



Decision to Change Course 27 



Captain Commander Bering, Lieutenant Waxel, Fleet Master Khitrov, and 

 Navigator Andreyan Eselberg had a meeting to discuss the decision reached on May 

 4, 1741, in the Harbor of St. Peter and St. Paul. At that time and place it had been 

 agreed after leaving the said harbor to sail SE by E, true, to latitude 46° N, unless 

 land was found before; but if no land was sighted to sail from that parallel E by N 

 steadily until land was discovered. If land should be found either on a SE by E or 

 E by N course we were to coast alongside of it for as long a time as possible so that 

 we might return to the Harbor of St. Peter and St. Paul by the end of September. 

 After we left the said harbor we kept the SE by E course not only to 46 ° but even 

 to 45 without seeing any land. We then sailed E by N close to 9° of latitude 

 and 35 of longitude, but on this course we equally failed to discover land. 

 On that account we concluded to change our course one point and keep closer to N, 

 that is to go ENE, which course we are now holding as far as the wind permits. By 

 dead reckoning, we find ourselves at present in latitude 54 34' N. and longitude from 

 Vaua near 48°, a distance of more than 400 German miles. We had on board 102 

 barrels of water of different sizes, and by today, July 14, half of it has been used up 

 by the crew. What is left, even if the allowance were reduced, would not last longer 

 than August 25 or at the most until September, for we do not know whether the 

 barrels of water in the lower hold are full or whether some of the water has leaked out. 

 Taking these points into consideration we have decided to sail northward by true 

 compass on the rhumb ENE so that we might in good time examine those northern 

 regions and see whether there is not some land, as we suppose there is, judging by 

 various reports. If we were to continue on easterly courses we should be sailing 

 farther and farther from Kamchatka and, not being able to replenish our supply 

 of water, we should suffer great hardships and, may God preserve us, extreme mis- 

 fortune. But in going northerly we stand a better chance of finding water for our 

 needs. 



Bering 



Lieutenant Waxel 



Fleet Master Sofron Khitrov 



Navigator Andreyan Eselberg 



27 From Khitrov's journal, "The reasons for our action will be found in the exact 

 copy of the minutes given on the next page." (Entry under July 14, 4 p. M.) 



