THE VAKIOUS EXPEDITIONS. 165 



then on about the 51st parallel. They were of the opinion 

 that they were fourteen degrees from the Shumagins, and 

 supposed that they were 31° 39' from Avacha, which of 

 course was very erroneous^ for they were in the vicinity 

 of the present Atka. As they saw behind the islands a 

 high, snow-capped mountain, which, from the calendar 

 day, they called St. Johannes, they supposed the land to 

 be a continuation of the American continent. 



During the next seventeen days, from the 25th of 

 September until the 11th of October, they carried their 

 lower sails only, and were driven by a stormy west wind 

 five degrees toward the southeast to a latitude of 48°. 

 "The v/ind," says Steller, ''seemed as if it issued forth 

 from a flue, with such a whistling, roaring and rumbling, 

 that we expected every moment to lose mast and rudder, 

 or to see the ship crushed between the breakers. The 

 dashing of a heavy sea against the vessel sounded like 

 the report of a cannon, and even the old, experienced 

 mate, Andreas Hesselberg, assured us that during a 

 sailor's life of fifty years he had not before seen such a 

 sea,.-" No one was able to stand at his post. The ship 

 was at the mercy of the angry elements. Half of the 

 crew were sick and feeble, the other half well from dire 

 necessity, but were confused and distracted by the great 

 danger. For many days no cooking could be done, and 

 all they had that was fit to eat Avas some burned ship- 

 biscuits, and even these were on the point of becoming 

 exhausted. No one showed any firmness of purpose ; 

 their courage was as ''unsteady as their teeth.-" The 

 officers now and then thought of returning to America, 

 but their plans changed as often as the weather. 



