WESTWARD AGAIN 119 



westerly wind we tacked between south and northwest. During 

 the forenoon the sun was seen frequently, but in the afternoon it 

 began alternately raining and hailing, and towards evening a 

 rainbow was again seen. On the 14th the sea quieted down 

 completely; the air at the same time was clear, the sun shone, 

 but it was rather cold nevertheless. On this day the talk of 

 America was again started. 2" On the 15th we had sunshine all 

 day, moderate northwest winds, and a quiet sea. 



On October 16 the weather was very pleasant and warm and 

 the sea still. Towards evening, about six o'clock, God sent us a 

 strong south wind with which at first we sailed [at the hourly 

 rate of] three, and soon after four knots. During the night the 

 wind shifted to the east, so that we made five, six, and six and a 

 half [knots]. At the break of day it veered to the northeast and 

 became so strong that we dared to run only under the lower sails. 



On October 17 it rained the whole day. For the first time we 

 now sailed twenty-four hours with a steady northeast wind, 

 though it was altogether too strong. After we had advanced 

 24 miles in twenty hours, the wind increased to such a degree 

 that from four o'clock in the evening we had to lay to. At night 

 it stormed rather hard, but in the morning it began to moderate. 



On the 1 8th of October the weather was by turns bright and 

 dark, though very cold, the sea rather quiet, and the wind NW 

 by N. We sailed all day SW by W [at the rate of] two and two 

 and a half knots. By this time we had thirty-two sick persons. 

 However, both the sick and those who of necessity were up were 

 extremely depressed because of the changeable wind. During 

 the 19th the wind, course, and weather were as on the day pre- 

 ceding. Grenadier Kiselev^^s died. — On the 20th the wind, 



267 In the MS there here follows this sentence: "But as our officers 

 constantly prate only about what gets into their heads, I am not going to 

 heed their talk until they shall reflect beforehand upon what they intend 

 to say, since up to this time I credit them with no brain work, as they 

 only think, do, and talk according to and to the extent of what they see 

 with their eyes." 



-f^s Spelled "Kisselow" in the Pallas text, which in English translitera- 

 tion would be Kisselov. 



