418 CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES 



stopped by the thaw, and neither be able to proceed nor to 

 return. After encountering many difficulties, which were 

 principally occasioned by the bad condition of the road, at 

 two in the afternoon we got safe to an ostrog called Nat- 

 cheekin. 



" We were received heie in the same hospitable manner 

 as at Karatchin, and in the afternoon we went to visit a 

 remarkable hot spring which is near this village. We saw, 

 at some distance, the steam rising from it as from a boiling 

 caldron ; and as we approached, perceived the air had a 

 strong sulphurous smell. The main spring forms a basin of 

 about three feet in diameter ; besides which there are a 

 number of lesser springs of the same degree of heat in the 

 adjacent ground ; so that the whole spot, to the extent of 

 near an acre, was so. hot that we could not stand two minutes 

 ia the same place. The water flowing from these springs is 

 collected in a small bathing pond, and afterward forms a 

 little rivulet ; which, at the distance of about a hundred 

 and fifty yards, falls into the river. The bath, they told 

 us> had wrought great cures in several disorders, such as 

 rheumatisms, swelled and contracted joints, and scorbutic 

 ulcers. 



" The next morning we embarked on the Bolchoireka in 

 canoes. The country on each side was very romantic but 

 unvaried ; the river running between mountains of the most 

 craggy and barren aspect, where there was nothing to 

 diversify the scene, but now and then the sight of a bear, 

 and the flights of wild-fowl. 



" At daylight on the 12th, we found we had got clear of 

 the mountains, and were entering a low extensive plain, 

 covered with shrubby trees. About nine in the forenoon 

 we arrived at an ostrog called Opatchin, which is computed 

 to be fifty miles from Natcheekin, and is nearly of the same 

 size as Karatchin. We found here a sergeant with four 

 Russian soldiers, who had been two days waiting for our 

 arrival, and who immediately despatched a light boat to 

 Bolcheretsk with intelligence of our approach. The 

 remainder of our passage was performed with great facility 

 and expedition, the river growing more rapid as we 

 descended, and less obstructed by shoals. 



" As we approached the capital, we were sorry to observe, 

 from an appearance of much stir and bustle, that we were 

 to be received in form. Decent clothes had been for some 

 time a scarce commodity amongst us ; and our travelling 

 dresses were made up of a burlesque mixture of European, 

 Indian, and Kamtschadale fashions. The manner in which 

 we were received by the commander was the most engaging 

 that could be conceived, and increased my mortification at 



