CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE DISCOVERY OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. — TERRIBLE 

 HARDSHIPS OF THE VOYAGE. — STELLER'S FAULT-FIND- 

 ING. — BERING CONFINED TO HIS CABIN. — DEATHS ON 

 BOARD FROM EXHAUSTION AND DISEASE. — BERING 

 ISLAND DISCOVERED. — A NARROW ESCAPE. 



THE St. Peter left the Shumagin Islands September 6, 

 and sailed southward to resume the direct course. 

 The weather was very bad, with alternating fogs, mist, and 

 storms. A west wind prevailed almost continuously. 

 Now and then a regular hurricane crossed their course. 

 If occasionally they had a favorable breeze, it seemed to 

 last but a few hours. " I know no harder, more fatiguing 

 life," says one of the St. Peter's officers, '^^than to sail 

 an unknown sea. I speak from experience, and with 

 truth can say that during the five months I spent on this 

 voyage, without seeing any place of which the latitude 

 and longitude had been fixed, I did not have many hours 

 of quiet sleep. We were in constant danger and uncer- 

 tainty." 



As a last resort, they even thought of returning to 

 America, or of reaching Japan. For several days they 

 were swept along by a storm. September 23, the second 

 death occurred, and on the 24th they again saw, to their 

 great astonishment, land toward the north. They were 



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