RETURN TO PETROPAVLOVSK 323 



to the shore. In returning we had no small boat and could not make a 

 study of the tide. 



It took six weeks to go from Kamchatka to America; these weeks 

 were in the months of June and July (by the middle of June we were 

 in latitude 46 N), and yet it was as cold as our middle autumn. We 

 had almost continuous fogs; only occasionally about the middle of the 

 day did the sun show itself. During these six weeks we had only three 

 really fair days. The same kind of weather prevailed along the American 

 coast, for while we were there the weather was not fair. In August and 

 September, when we returned, we had many more clear days with the 

 usual strong autumn winds. In my opinion the best time to navigate 

 these seas is August and half of September and not June and July. 



The instructions of the Admiralty College require that this report be 

 sent in care of an officer who took part in the expedition. Unfortunately 

 this is not possible, as the officers are dead; and therefore I am sending 

 it in care of the marine Semeon Splavshikov, who will follow the winter 

 overland route. This route as far as Yakutsk is not very safe because 

 of the unsubdued natives living between Kamchatka and the Kolyma 

 Post, who sometimes kill, plunder, or detain Russian travelers. If I 

 were not to send it, I should be blamed for delay. For fear that these 

 papers may not reach their destination I intend, as soon as navigation 

 to Okhotsk opens in the spring, to send to the Admiralty College exact 

 copies of the report, journal, chart, list of the crew with their names, by 

 a special messenger, the midshipman Yurlov. He will also take along 

 the things we secured from the natives of the newly discovered land and 

 hand them to the Admiralty College. I beg to add that in this journal 

 the day of the month begins at noon as is customary in all naval journals. 



To the Admiralty College from its humble servant. 



Captain Alexei Chirikov 

 December 7, 1741 



Enclosures 



Instructions to Boatswain Sidor Savelev 



On the 19th of this month Acting Fleet Master and Navigator Dementiev went 

 ashore and has not been heard of since, and it is possible some harm has come to 

 him. We are now near the spot where he was sent, and I order you to go in the 

 small boat to the place where he went. Take with you a carpenter and a calker 

 and such tools as are needed for repairing the boat. When you come close to the 

 shore, if you see no hostile natives or see Dementiev or some of his men, make a 

 landing. If the boat is damaged and can be repaired, set the carpenter and some 

 of Dementiev's men to work; but do you come back at once and bring with you 

 Dementiev and as many of his men as are not needed to do the repair work. If 

 the boat is beyond repairs bring aboard as many men as your boat will hold, and 



