i68 STELLER'S JOURNAL 



sion was possible than that Kamchatka must be a short distance 

 from here. 



On January 29 [1742] our company killed the first sea lion.392 

 The meat was found to be of such exceptional quality and taste 

 that we only wished soon to get hold of more. The fat was like 

 beef marrow, and the meat almost like veal. 



On February i a violent northwest gale and very high tide 

 carried our ship so far up on the beach that we experienced no 

 little hopes of being able to float it off to sea at high water, if 

 only we could succeed in raising the anchors again in the spring, 

 because we believed that, as the ship held the water it had taken 

 in, the bottom could not be much damaged. This erroneous 

 belief was due to the fact that the vessel was almost filled with 

 sand inside, so that the water could not run out. Nevertheless, 

 this setting of the ship so high up on the beach saved us much 

 trouble later when we came to break it up. 



On February 25 the hitherto mild w^eather tempted us to 

 send out a third expedition to examine the land to the westward. 

 For this purpose the assistant navigator Yushin and four men 

 were sent off. In six days, however, they only got as far as the 

 headland projecting to the north, sixty versts from our dwell- 

 ings,393 and, after the whole exploration had turned into a sea 

 otter hunt, they returned, as the weather by March 8 had again 

 become worse, with the report, afterwards found to be false, that 

 because of the precipitous cliffs extending into the sea they had 

 not been able to go farther.^^-* 



On March 10 we held another council and decided to order the 

 boatswain, Alexei Ivanov, who was unanimously nominated, to 



392 See, below, footnote 422, especially the last paragraph. 



393 Probably Cape Waxel, the northeastern point of the island, is 

 meant (see map, PL II). (S) 



394 In the MS this passage reads: "and, after they had turned the 

 whole exploration into a bobr [sea otter] hunt, they returned on March 8 

 with the bad report, afterwards found to be false, which they now gave 

 out as the cause of their return, that . . ." 



The log book confirms March 8 as the date of the return of the party 

 (see Vol. I, p. 232, under that date). 



