WINTERING ON BERING ISLAND 279 



Many times when the weather was clear some of our men saw, from 

 the west side of the island, what seemed to be snow-covered volcanoes, 

 but on account of the great distance we could not be sure about that, 

 but our reckoning on the 1742 voyage leaves no room for doubt that the 

 volcanoes in question were those of the Kamchatka coast. From the 

 American side there floated over to us big pine trees, arrows, and paddles 

 such as are not found in Kamchatka. While on the island we lived very 

 poorly because our dwellings were holes made in the sand covered over 

 with sail. The gathering of wood was particularly difficult, for we were 

 obliged to search for it along the beach and carry it on our backs as far 

 as 10 or 12 versts. While we were there we and nearly all the men in our 

 command suffered greatly from scurvy and for such a long time that some 

 did not fully recover before spring when there were found some greens 

 which could be used for food. During the whole winter our food, because 

 we had no other provision, was, we might say, very poor, difficult to 

 obtain, and not fit to eat. We had to hunt along the beach sometimes 

 as far as 20 and 30 versts in the hopes of killing a sea animal, sea otter, 

 sea lion, or hair seal, which is commonly called tulen. Having killed 

 the beast we had to carry it on our backs the same long distance back to 

 our camp. If we could not find live animals to kill we had to content 

 ourselves with dead ones that were washed ashore, such as sea cows and 

 whales. By spring the game was frightened away, and we had to live 

 on the fur seals which came here at that time to breed. Their meat was 

 especially nauseating; and, as it became more so as time went on, we took 

 to hunting sea cows, huge animals, weighing no less than two hundred 

 poods. One may form an idea of the appearance of these animals — fur 

 seal, sea lion, and sea cow — from the sketches of them made on the map 

 which I send to the Admiralty College."* From this time on we lived on sea 

 cow meat, which is better than that of the other animals aforementioned. 



On the island where we lived there were violent winds and even bliz- 

 zards during the winter. It may be said that between December and 

 March there was seldom a fair day. From March and during the spring 

 and summer months there was almost continuous fog and dampness and 

 little pleasant weather. 



The delay in the construction of our vessel was due in part to the dis- 

 agreeable atmospheric conditions just mentioned and in part to the 

 poor health of the men and the great distance from the source of author- 

 ity, which made it unsafe to hold them strictly to their work, and nothing 

 could be done without the consent of all concerned. Adjunct Steller, 

 who was with us, prospected the island for metals and minerals but found 

 none. When with God's help the new ship was finished, I, with Fleet 

 Master Khitrov and all the men, had a meeting to discuss what we should 



■* Reproduced by W. H. Dall as PI. 70, Appendix 19, U. S. Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey Rept. for i8qo. 



