TO OONALASHKA. 247 



saw his motion represented in the glass, they were 

 all seized with a shuddering, and, without speak- 

 ing a word, hastily left the cabin. Another of 

 those on deck was rendered curious by the account 

 of the others ; 1 took him down, he would not ven- 

 ture quite in, but only put his head in at the door, 

 and having perceived himself at first sight, sud- 

 denly ran up again. I have often had the opportu- 

 nity of observing in my voyage, that the northern 

 nations are afraid of a looking-glass, and the south- 

 ern, on the contrarv, behold themselves in it with 

 pleasure. 



A light N.E. wind arising in the afternoon, I 

 immediately took advantage of it, and got under 

 sail. We observed at our anchoring-place, that 

 the cm-rent ran one mile an hour to the N.E. ; 

 it was so inconsiderable, because East Cape 

 covered this part from the south. We had not 

 advanced far when the wind abated, and it carried 

 us gradually to the N.E. Thousands of morse 

 played round the ship, and roared like oxen ; 

 among them appeared several whales, which 

 spouted the water high into the air : they all came 

 as close to the Rurick as possible, and did not 

 seem to be in the least afraid of it. An enormous 

 one, covered with shells and sea-weed, spouted 

 the water so high, that the spray came into our 

 faces, a circumstance that was not at all agreeable, 

 as the water had a very offensive smell ; and he 

 remained so long above the surface, that a whale- 



R i- 



