INTRODUCTION. 33 



the west coast of Kamtschatka requires a new 

 survey, or at least the astronomical determination 

 of some points : our knowledge of tlie east coast 

 of Kamtschatka is still more imperfect ; from Cape 

 Shipunskoy to Beering*s Straits, excepting some 

 capes seen by Captain Clerke, we know neither tlie 

 latitude nor the longitude of any point on the 

 whole coast. As little are we able to state accu- 

 rately the extent and situation of the bays of Olu- 

 tora or Anadyr. We know, indeed, the grand 

 outlines of the coast of Kamtschatka, but the de- 

 tails are wholly unknown to us, except from the 

 bay of Awatska, to the south point of the peninsula ; 

 and as we are acquainted with the smallest inlet of 

 the coasts of America, inhabited by savages, of 

 New Holland, New Zealand, and New Caledonia, 

 it seems to be a duty to obtain an equally accurate 

 knowledge of the coasts of north-eastern Asia, in- 

 habited by Russian subjects. We have further no 

 survey, that can be depended upon, of the Aleutian 

 islands : the position of only a few islands of this 

 extensive archipelago is accurately known. An 

 exact acquaintance with these islands, such as we 

 have obtained of the Kurile isles, by the operations 

 of the Nadeshda and the Diana, would require alone 

 the labours of a whole summer : and then, would 

 it not be desirable to make another attempt to 

 penetrate further into Beering's Straits than has 

 yet been done, in order to double Cook's ley 

 Cape ? and to try whether the projected examiii- 



VOL. I. D 



