CRUISE OF THE STEAMER CORWIN. 7 



The whaling vessels ljrou,^-lit clown the news of the loss of the barks Gazelle and Napoleon, 

 both of which were crushed in the ice early in the spring, the latter losing- twenty-two men. 



We watered and coaled ship at Point Spencer and rendered medical assistance to those of 

 the whaling fleet that required it. 



The steam whalers Balcena and Orca, and the barks Helen Mar. Jacob A. Howland, and 

 Fleetwing, arrived at Point Spencer during our stay, and were boarded and examined by us. 



June 30 we left Point Spencer, touched at the Diomede Islands, and on July 1 anchored 

 in Kotzebue Sound, off Hotham Inlet. 



Although the ice was reported by the whalers early in the season as being heavy and farther 

 south this year on the Siberian coast than has been known for many years, the Corn- in. cruis- 

 ing much later along the Alaskan shore, did not encijuuter it imtil the afternoon of July 1, in 

 latitude 06° 47' N. , or al)out fifteen miles north of the Arctic Circle; and then, although our 

 progress was somewhat retarded, it did not prevent our entrance into Kotzebue Sound. 



The day after our arrival in Kotzebue Sound Lieutenant Cantwell and Mr. Townsend, with 

 the steam-launch and two men, left the vessel with supplies and outfit to continue the explora- 

 tion of the Kowak River, which was begun by Lieutenant Cantwell last year. 



At Sheshalik, where the natives of the coast and interior rendezvous for the purpose of 

 trading and fishing, no Indians had at that time arrived, and considerable difficulty was experi- 

 enced in obtaining a suitable boat for the use of the Kowak River expedition. One of a very 

 inferior nature was finally procured and paid for in trade goods. 



On the same day Assistant Engineer McLenegan and seaman Nelson left the vessel with 

 the skin boat received at Ounalaska to make an exploration of the Noatak, a river which up 

 to that time had never been ascended by a white man. 



After landing these expeditions and their supplies, and seeing them properly started, we 

 cruised along the coast to Point Hope, thence as far as latitude 09° 32' N., longitude 174° lo' W. 

 There we met the ice, packed solid as far as the eye could reac-h from masthead, and making 

 progress farther north impossible. On our return we fell in with a lot of walrus and two polar 

 bears, to which the surgeon and I gave chase, but did n(jt succeed in capturing any. 



The barks Abrain Barker and Sfamboul were spoken, and also lioarded and examined. 

 Medical aid was rendered to an officer of the Stainbonl who was somewhat demented, and who, 

 a few days later, committed suicide. In this connection I may state that I have noticed that 

 insanity is more frequent jjroportionally among the foremast hands of whaling-vessels than 

 among any other class of seafaring men. 



Among the rescued crews brought down at different times by the Corwin I have frequently 

 observed slight symptoms of insanity, and this has also been noticed ])y tlie surgeon of this ves- 

 sel when visiting vessels of the whaling fleet professionally. Whether these men are so afflicted 

 when they ship, or whether their affliction is superinduced by the strain to which they are 

 subjected while in the vicinity of the ice, I am unable to say, but I think the latter the more 

 probable. 



From the time of leaving the ice-pack until our return to Point Spencer, July 8, the weather 

 was extremely foggy, making our progess very slow and requiring great precaution. On 

 arriving at Point Spencer we found several additional vessels of the whaling fleet rendezvoused 

 for the purpose of shipping their oil and bone and of receiving supplies from the tender that 

 went there to meet them. Some of the whalers had also gone into Point Spencer for the pur- 

 pose of making repairs, having been damaged by coming in contact with ice. Tlie steam whaler 

 Balcena had injured her stern and bows, the steamer Thrasher had her propeller bent, and the 

 bark Aruolda was partially stove forward. The vessels were damaged by ice on the Siberian 

 coast early in the season, and all succeeded in making temporary repairs while at Point Spencer. 



The schooner James A. Garfield left for San Francisco on the morning of July 11, taking 

 the mail and a part of the catch of the Pacific steam whaling fleet. 



After coaling and watering at Point Spencer, we left there at 4 o'clock in the inorning of 

 July 13, and soon after met the whaling bark Dawn, trying to make a harbor. From the cap- 

 tain of the Dawn I learned that his vessel was very badly injured by the ice, and upon his 

 request for assistance we took the Dawn in tow for Grantley Harbor. 



