THE ST. LAWRENCE ISLANDS. l57 



could penetrate into the basin: his endeavours 

 were fruitless; thegroup had no opening. To judge 

 from the light colour of the water, the depth in 

 the basin cannot be considerable, and, probably, the 

 whole group will soon become one island. An 

 enormous shark swallowed an iron hook as thick 

 as a finger, but was so large and heavy that the 

 hook broke exactly in the middle as we were 

 pulling it up. We soon left the islands, and steered 

 as the w^ind permitted us, to the north, to reach the 

 SOth degree of latitude, in the same point where 

 we had indications of land the year before. 



The -2 1st of March. At noon we were in lati- 

 tude 17° 56\ longitude 193° 23'; saw, at sunset, 

 the sea-birds taking their course to N. E., pro- 

 bably to the island of Wakers, which must lie in 

 that direction, but which we could not reach, on 

 account of the north wind. 



The 23d: in latitude 20° 15', longitude 195° 5'. 

 After some violent squalls from all points of the 

 compass, accompanied with rain, we suddenly lost 

 the monsoon, which now began to blow from S. E. 

 and S. We were surprised already by an albatros 

 in this latitude. 



The 29th : in latitude 31° 39', longitude 198° 52\ 

 We looked about in vain for land, and I steered 

 direct to Oonalashka. Though it was early in the 

 year, I wished to arrive there in time, to hasten 

 the completion of the Baydares, which were in« 

 tended for my voyage to the N. 



