THE VARIOUS EXPEDITIONS. 163 



Khitroff had his way, and left the ship with the 

 yawl and five men. He was gone four days, during 

 which time the St. Peter was forced to lie at anchor, 

 while a favorable east wind might have carried them 

 several hundred miles toward home. The yawl was 

 dashed to pieces off one of the neighboring islands, and 

 no more came from the expedition than that Lieutenant 

 Waxel, under great difficulty, found it necessary to res- 

 cue the six shipwrecked adventurers. Moreover, they 

 experienced a somewhat uninteresting clash with the 

 Innuit (Esquimo)* inhabitants of the Aliaska peninsula, 

 of which Miiller and Steller both give a detailed account. 



* For a full description of these people see H. H. Bancroft, Native Races, 

 Vol. I.-TB. 



