8 CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 



islands during the past winter inspired the hope that further north an early breaking up of the ice 

 would occur. On the morning of the 24th, in latitude 58° 43', longitude 171° 26', the tempera- 

 ure of the water fell to 32°, indicating the close proximity of ice; but none was seen until 2 p. in., 

 when it was sighted from the deck on the starboard beam and ahead. Finding ice so far south, we 

 gave up all hope of reaching Saint Mathew's Island, and shaped our course for Cape Thaddeus, 

 Siberia, keeping south of the pack, which we saw occasionally. 



On the 25th, we encountered a sharp southeast wind, with thick fog. Although the temper- 

 ature of the water remained at 32° all day and the ice was very close, on account of the thick 

 weather we saw none, but kept steadily on our course to the westward, with a sharp lookout 

 for ice and sails, as we were now approaching the track of whalers bound towards the straits. 



On the 26th (May), the wind changed to uortheast, with snow. No ice being in sight, we hauled 

 up to the northward under steam and sail. We again came up to it, however, and kept away to 

 the westward, steaming' through the loose drift until 8 p. in., when, after passing through a narrow 

 belt of heavy ice, clear water was reached, with a swell from the northward, indicating an open sea 

 in that direction for some distance. Taking in all sail, we hauled to the northward again, under 

 steam, making during the night about 5 miles an hour against a strong northeast wind and blind- 

 ing snow-storm. During the day, while steaming through the ice, we stopped twice to shoot seals, 

 and succeeded in getting two, a small hair-seal (Phoca vitulina), and a saddle-back seal (Phoca 

 hystricus). We ate some of each from a sense of duty, having determined to test the quality of 

 all the articles of food made use of by the natives met with. Subsequently, however, this resolu- 

 tion was found to have been exceedingly rash, and a failure to observe it on all occasions was not 

 regarded as an evidence of weakness. When offered by the natives the entrails of a seal, boiled 

 just as taken from the animal, putrid walrus, and whale meat raw, or berries floating in rancid 

 oil, our good resolutions failed. The sacrifice seemed too great, even in the cause of science; but 

 while the nature of the food offered created a feeling of disgust and nausea, which nothing but 

 dire necessity could have overcome, one cannot but be impressed with the generous nature of the 

 natives in thus offering to divide their best, and [in many cases all they have, without thought of 

 reward. We found the seals very good eating ; the meat is dark, but not tough, and has no 

 unpleasant taste or odor. 



On the morning of May 27 our reckoning placed us in the mouth of the Anadyr Gulf. The wind 

 blowing hard from the northward and snowing, with a short, heavy sea running, at 4 a. m. we 

 shaped a course for the south end of Saint Lawrence Island, and made fore and aft sail, intending, if 

 possible to reach there, to visit the settlement on the southwest point of the island, a place at which 

 the Corwin did not touch during her previous cruise in 18S0. We stood to the north and eastward 

 all day, but just before midnight again sighted the ice ahead and on the starboard beam, and 

 hauling up more to the northward, followed the edge of the ice until 7 a. m. the following day, 

 when we arrived off the settlement on the northwest point of Saint Lawrence and came to anchor. 

 The island was still white with snow and almost surrounded by ice. Our arrival was hailed with 

 demonstrations of joy by the natives, firing guns, shouting, &c. 



From the top of one of the houses an American flag was flying, the property of the schooner 

 Lolita, which was wrecked on the north side of the island in the fall of 1880 while on the way to 

 San Francisco, tinder seizure by the Corwin for violation of law in Alaska. 



The natives came on board in large numbers. They were very friendly and seemed glad to see 

 us, but inquired anxiously for "schooners." The weather during the past winter having been mild, 

 they had experienced no difficulty iu supplying themselves with food, and, in consequence, were 

 looking much better than when we visited them on our former cruise. They had taken one whale 

 (Balcena mysticetus), and as they had not yet been visited by whalers or traders, they still had the 

 bone for sale. We bought some boots, mittens, walrus tusks, and white fox skins, paying for them 

 in ammunition, tobacco, flour, molasses, and drilling. We also bought a few reindeer skins, but 

 as the natives are compelled to buy these from the Tchuktchis for their own use, they will barter 

 them only when greatly iu want of some article. 



Saint Lawrence Island lies between the sixty-third and sixty-fourth parallels of north latitude 

 aud the one hundred and sixty-ninth and one hundred and seventy-second degrees of west longi- 



