16 FROM THE SANDWICH ISLANDS 



was this : Lieutenant Schischmareff went with a 

 stream anchor to the reef, fastened it to it, and 

 when he had given a signal that he had succeeded, 

 I steered thither with the Rurick, brought it 

 within 50 fathoms of the place, took in all the 

 sails, and then the ship was fastened to the stream 

 anchor with a cable of 17<5 fathoms in length. 

 The die was cast, and as long as the monsoon 

 continued to blow from N.E. there was no dangei', 

 but had it turned to the S.E., which is frequently 

 the case, our fate would have been inevitable. 

 The Rurick now stood in the middle of the ocean, 

 fastened to a coral reei] under the protection of 

 God, in whom I trusted 5 a strange feeling seized 

 me in this singular situation ; a look on the raging 

 sea made me shudder ; but when 1 again turned 

 my eyes towards the channel, the most pleasing- 

 hope animated me, to w^hich I willingly resigned 

 myself. The reefs consist principally of dark 

 coral, which is mixed with but a little red ; at low 

 w^ater the rocks are visible for about two feet, 

 which was the case when we fixed the stream 

 anchor ; but all was soon covered by the rising 

 tide. We had, at a small distance fi'om it, 40 

 fathoms' depth, but which increased a little further 

 so much, that we could find no bottom. On the 

 east side of the channel a little sandy island has 

 formed itselfj but which will certainly extend in 

 time, and when covered with vegetation, will 

 assume the form of the other islands. A number 



