26 STELLER'S JOURNAL 



very many signs of a land situated not far from us to the north, 

 along which we ran for exactly four weeks until July i8 in such 

 a way that on said day, on which we actually saw land for the 

 first time,^^ we were in north latitude 59° and some minutes 

 and 49° of longitude from Avacha, consequently nearly 500 

 Dutch miles away. 



It should cause no wonder that I have summarized the happen- 

 ings of a four weeks' voyage over such a long distance thus briefly. 

 The reason is that, running steadily along with constantly fair 

 wind and weather, we saw nothing but sky and sea and heard 

 only from the officers exclamations and expressions of amaze- 

 ment over how we could have erred so fundamentally as to be- 

 lieve Kamchatka to be separated by a narrow channel from 

 America, which now was found to be so remote. The brazen 

 and very vulgar snubs by the officers, who coarsely and sneer- 

 ingly rejected all well-founded and timely admonishings and 

 propositions, thinking that they were still dealing with cossacks 

 and poor exiles freighting provisions from Yakutsk to Okhotsk, 

 who had simply to obey and keep still without talking back, had 

 been the cause of closing the mouth of myself as well as of others 

 long ago. No matter what we observed and might discuss for 

 the benefit of the general good as well as the public interest, the 

 answer was always ready: "You do not understand it; you are 

 not a seaman; you have not^^ been in God's council chamber!" — 

 For the first time^^ I had here the sad occasion to see how it 

 happens that often the greatest and most useful undertakings 

 may in the end, in spite of all care given and great expenses 

 [involved] and although granted all possible resources, accom- 

 plish very much less, as far as the public good is concerned, than 

 was planned for originally; while on the other hand the smallest 

 beginnings, through mutual and earnest cooperation in word and 



47 Land was actually sighted on July 16, civil time (see Vol. i, pp. 93 

 and 332). Steller himself says below, p. 33, "July 16, the Thursday- on 

 which the land became for the first time clearly visible." On the chro- 

 nology of the first sightings in general see, below, footnote 58 



48 The "not" does not occur in the MS but is added by Pallas. 



49 The MS reads "For the first time in the Russian service I had" etc. 



