TO GUAIION. 207 



SchischmarefF Strait, to our friends in tlie group. 

 But fate would have it otherwise. When we were 

 within only five miles of Otdia, which lay to the 

 west of us, the clouds covered tlie whole sky, the 

 rain poured down in torrents, and a violent wind 

 obliged us to take in the top-sails. 



Our situation was critical, because the wind, 

 which was too violent to reach the high sea by 

 tacking, drove us towards the land. I still hoped tliat 

 it would decrease, and we should be able to with- 

 draw from the cliffs, when suddenly a second gust 

 arose with the fury of a hurricane, by which the 

 mast would, without doubt, have gone over board, 

 if we had not quickly taken in all the sails. These 

 gusts, accompanied with rain, lasted for above an 

 hour. We saw the dangerous cliffs near us, and 

 when we could already calculate the moment of 

 our destruction, the fury of the wind abated. We 

 did not neglect instantly to set all the sails, to 

 stand off from the shore. W^hile our situation was 

 the most dangerous, a whale sported round our 

 ship, which seemed to wait for our near destruc- 

 tion with impatience. It was one of those rapa- 

 cious animals, with their enormous jaws and teeth, 

 which the Aleutians call Plawiin. How this 

 fish, which is generally found in the north, had 

 come so near the equator, I cannot conceive. 



The bad weather had no influence on the baro- 

 meter. The wind, after a few hours, again veered 



