ACROSS PACIFIC OCEAN AND BEHRING SEA 23 



same weather we began to feel somewhat depressed. The ship 

 looked disconsolate, with her large sails hanging slack and 

 flapping from side to side when she moved on the broad back 

 of the swell. The creaking blocks and tackles, the grinding of 

 gaffs and booms, made a melancholy noise and fitted well with 

 the gloomy picture of a vessel becalmed at sea. And the men 

 on her deck were impatient, looking in all directions to be the 

 first to see a little wind coming. For the last two days all our 

 conversation had been about the wind, when it would come and 

 where it would come from. Not a pleasant subject, and we 

 were heartily tired of it, but nevertheless a small cloud or a 

 darkening of the water on the horizon was enough to revive the 

 talk from bow to stern, and if the wind did not reach us, the 

 expressions of the men were not of the most elegant description. 



Our only amusement was to watch the graceful seagulls which 

 were following the ship in large numbers and fighting over 

 every little morsel thrown overboard. The struggle for existence 

 rages fiercely on the high seas amongst the gulls ; every mouth- 

 ful they manage to swallow is won by dint of strenuous work 

 and of the utmost quickness in avoiding the shrieking multitude 

 which chase their more fortunate comrades. We caught some 

 of them, but set them free again with a label tied to their legs, 

 telling those who might catch the same gull about its visit to 

 the Duchess of Bedford and the position of the ship at the time. 



Mr. Leffingwell and myself thought of abandoning any attempt 

 to reach Kodiak Island, but Mr. Ditlevsen and Dr. Howe did 

 not like the idea, and their looks were far from cheerful when 

 this change in the programme was proposed, Like the rest of 

 us, they had been looking forward eagerly to this part of our 

 journey, and consequently they were unwilling to give it up, 

 but if we did not get fair wind and plenty of it before long we 

 should have to do so. The water supply was running seriously 

 low, and on the 3Oth of May we had only enough for seven days 

 more. There were 1,200 miles more to Unimack Pass, and if 

 we did not get a fair wind before long we should be forced to 

 run in earlier to find water. 



But the weather up in these latitudes is always in extremes 

 it is either dead calm, or it blows so hard that we have to run 

 with short sails. On May 31 the wind began to increase 

 in the morning. At noon we commenced to take in sail, and 



