A NORTH PACIFIC FOG 83 



The following day we entered a dense fog, and 

 although a fresh southerly breeze blew steadily, it 

 hardly ever lifted for three days till we were within 

 a few miles of Avatcha Bay. Now and then it would 

 creep away stealthily, allowing us a few hundred 

 yards' view ; at other times it would hang around the 

 ship and prevent us from recognising each other on 

 board. Our captain told us that these fogs are charac- 

 teristic of the Northern Pacific and Okhotsk seas, and 

 sometimes last a fortnio^ht or more durino- the summer 

 months. Besides endangering navigation, it renders 

 the journey monotonous and uninteresting. No obser- 

 vations could be taken, and the sextant remained idle 

 in its case. The loQf and direction were the onlv 

 means of fixing our position, and that only approxi- 

 mately, the speed of the current being undetermined. 

 The dull sound of the foghorn occasionally broke the 

 silence of those lonely seas. According to the log we 

 were advancing at the rate of thirty-eight knots every 

 four hours. In this murky atmosphere we spent three 

 long days. 



On the 2 I St a tufted auk {Siinor/iyiii/ius crisfafc//HS, 

 Pallas) was caught on board, indicating the proximity 

 of land. Our captain said that we had passed the last 

 of the Kuriles, and that the ship was presumably off 

 Cape Lopatka, the southernmost point of Kamchatka. 



