122 STELLER'S JOURNAL 



outward voyage we had forty miles to the east of us.^^s At 

 noon we were in 50° 35' north latitude. ^^^ 



On the 26th of October the sea was very quiet, the air gloomy, 

 frosty, and frequently alternating snow and hail. At noon the 

 reckoning was yet 103 miles from Avacha.^^s 



On October 27 after one o'clock in the night we got a SSW 

 wind with which we sailed northwest throughout that night 

 and day in order to make the latitude of 52° as agreed upon. 

 The calculation at noon gave still 90 miles from Avacha.^^s 

 In the afternoon the wind changed to a gale; however, now that 

 the men have become bolder and have learned to know the vessel 

 and our masts better, the topsails were kept standing all day. It 

 was now quite evident that we were in the Channel, ^^o because 

 the waves, even when a storm arose, were not so high and the 

 winds were not subject to such sudden changes. I also observed 

 now that the waves, with winds of the same force, did not rage 

 so furiously as in September, probably because now the air was 

 heavier and stronger ^si and consequently exercised a greater 



276 It is not readily evident how Steller derived this incorrect estimate. 

 According to his own statement the island lies on the 51st parallel; on 

 the outward voyage it was on June 7, at noon, that the St. Peter crossed 

 this parallel (see log book, Vol. i, p. 52). The log book gives the longi- 

 tude from Vaua of that position as 5° 05' while that of October 25 is 

 given (Vol. i, p. 198) as 13° 09'. The difference, representing the dis- 

 tance between the two points on an east- west line, would be about 8°, 

 or, in this latitude, 303 nautical miles. As compared with this, 40 

 [German] miles are 160 nautical miles. Even 8° is too little, owing to 

 the error in longitude accumulated during the voyage (see Vol. i, p. 210, 

 footnote 124) ; the real difference in longitude between the two points 

 is about 14° (see Vol. i, PI. I), or 530 nautical miles. (J) 



2" The log book (Vol. i, p. 198) gives 50° 40' by dead reckoning and 

 50° 50' by observation. On a matter bearing on the true latitude of the 

 vessel at this time see, however, Vol. i, p. 199, footnote no. 



278 The MS reads 108 miles. The log book (Vol. i, p. 199) gives iii^ 

 miles. 



279 The log book (Vol. i, p. 200) gives ioo)<£ miles. 



280 See, above, footnote 149. 



281 Instead of "stronger" the MS has "colder." 



