VOYAGE OF THE "ST. PAUL" 341 



regained their strength Waxel, who had succeeded to the com- 

 mand, sent out exploring parties, which reported that they were 

 on an island and that the Kamchatka coast was not far distant. 



RETURN TO PETROPAVLOVSK 



Tn the spring they began to break up the St. Peter to build a 

 small craft to carry them to the mainland. On August 10 the 

 boat was launched, and preparations were made to leave the 

 island. This boat was 36 feet long, with a beam of 12 feet and a 

 depth of 5}i feet, sloop-rigged with a bowsprit. They named 

 her the St. Peter and in this small craft Waxel loaded his 45 men 

 together with food, water, and baggage, and set sail from Bering 

 Island on August 13. On the 15th the hooker began to leak 

 badly; but the carpenter managed to patch up the hole, and they 

 kept on. On August 27 they sailed into the harbor of Petro- 

 pavlovsk. Of the 77 officers and men who left on the St. Peter 

 fourteen months before only 45 returned, and these had suffered 

 shipwreck and untold hardships; but their misfortunes did not 

 end with their safe return, for they soon learned that they had 

 been given up as lost and that the personal property they had 

 left behind had been appropriated by the inhabitants of Avacha! 

 Truly the lot of those early explorers was not altogether a happy 

 one. 



The Separate Voyage of the "St. Paul" 



When the weather moderated on the morning of June 21, 

 Chirikov reckoned that the St. Peter was NNE from him and 

 began his search in that direction; but the wind was ahead, and 

 little progress could be made. On the 23rd he gave up the 

 search and resumed the E by N course agreed upon. On July 1, 

 no land having been sighted, Chirikov steered more to the 

 northward. Both vessels had been favored with fair winds since 

 they parted company; but, as Bering had stood south to the 45th 

 parallel before resuming the easterly course, the St. Paul was 

 considerably in advance of the St. Peter, and Chirikov's noon 

 position on July 1 was within 30 miles of Bering's noon position 

 on July 8. 



