8 CRUISE OF THE STEAMER CORWIN. 



On May 22 I returned to Ounalaska, and beinj;; in a safe place employed the time to May 29 in 

 taking on board lorty-six tons of coal in bags and doing much work about decks that had become 

 absolutely necessary in order to prci)are the vessel for an extended sea cruise to the northward. 



May 22 the services of the Coririv were called into requisition by the bark //. W. Almi/, 

 Captain Smith, a vessel which iiad anchored in llio outer harbor, and after two unsuccessful 

 attempts to go to sea, had been obliged to anchor in a dangerous position and requested our aid 

 in extrication. 



May 2!), having completed the most necessary repairs, we got under way and after touching 

 at Bogoslov on the 30th, stood for the seal islands. At 9 a. m. of the Slst we anchored off St. 

 (leorge Island. From Mr. George Wadman, United States si)ecial agent, stationed at this island, 

 1 learned lliat tlie. svhoouer Alcuander, a, vessel ostensibly engaged in sea-otter hunting, visited the. 

 island under i)retext of filling water casks, but Mr. Wadman was quite convinced that the master 

 conteniplated a raid on the seal rookeries. Though no seal had been taken on the island by the 

 Ncliooiier, tlu'ee hundred skins were found on boaril. No other vessel open to the susi)icion of 

 being a marauder had been seen in that vicinity. At 10 a. m. we got under way and ])roceeded 

 to Otter Island, where we lauded twenty five bags of coal for the use of the ollicer to be stationed 

 there. At 7 p. m. we anchored oil' St. Paul. 



On .June 1 Lieut. J. E. Lutz was lauded with a detail of two men to take up his residence on 

 Otter Island during the sealing season. The usual instructions to the officer detailed for this duty 

 were given him. 



At 4 p. m. of the same day we got under way and resumed our northern course. 



At 9 a. m. of June 2 floating ice was first sighted, and by G p. ni. it had become so heavy as to 

 prevent the vessel approaching nearer than ten or twelve miles to St. Mathew's Island, where I 

 had intended visiting. From this time up to June 7, when we anchored near St. JlichaelV, the 

 vessel was being worked through heavy drift and field ice, following up leads where they were 

 l)resented, or tracking along the pack ice in search of favorable openings, sometimes under sail 

 alone, or steam, or both, as weather and occasion demanded, the object in view being as early an 

 arrival as possible at the Indian villages in order to prevent traflic in illicit goods. 



\Vhile thus cruising among the ice several banded seal were shot, with the intention of pro- 

 curing specimens for the Smithsonian Institution, but they sank as soon as thoy were killed. 



At St. Jlicliael's the ice was so heavy as to prevent our entering the harbor, and we were 

 obliged to land on the outside of the island and cross it to the village. Here I took on board a 

 native interpreter and a Mr. Miller, a practical miner, who desired to accompany the proposed boat 

 expedition up the Kowak River. Mr. Miller was to receive no compensation other than his rations. 



I would respectfully state that the sheathing and ice breaker placed u[ion the vessel last sjuing 

 stand the severe test to which they have been put admirably, and have enabled us to work through 

 ice that otherwise would have been inipassable. 



Last year the Golowin P.ay j\Iining Comi)any, of San Francisco, sent a schooner, the A/rt.s7w, 

 with twenty men on board, to Golowin JJay, a small arm of Norton Sound, for the purpose of work- 

 ing a silver mine up the Fish River, a tributary to the bay. No news had been heard from them 

 up to the time of the departure of the Conciti on this cruise. Just previous to sailing I received 

 a conununication from the secretary of the comjiany, recjuesting me to ascertain, if jiossible, their 

 fate or condition. Having this important matter in view, at ^^ ]>. ni. of June S I left St. Michael's 

 for Golowin Hay, arriving at that place at 2 a. m. of June 9. Lieutenant Hall was immediately 

 dispatched to the mining camp for the purpose of obtaining all possible information. He found 

 at the camp four men who had wintered there, and from them learned the following facts: The 

 schooner Alaska left Golowin Bay for San Francisco October 21, 18S3, with a cargo of seventy-five 

 tons of galena ore. The following persons were on board : 



Cre«-. — Master, William P. (ialhigher; mate, Walter IbK'pfner; second mate, W. Marston ; 

 seamen, Arthur Eaton, James Muir, George, Tom — surnames of last two not known. 



Passengers.— John Lowrie, Andrew Doulson, Charles Thompson, Samuel Marston, Charles 

 Babb, George Eastman, R. B. Hart, James Thompson, W. II. Cardinell. 



Diligent search during our cruising revealed nothing concerning the schooner's fate. Subse- 

 quent inquiry among the whalemen, however, resulted in the information that a schooner was seen 



