GEORGE WILLIAM STELLER. 



S51 



their mistake soon became apparent when, on rounding a small promontory, 

 some well-known islets were missed. As they had no doubt, however, that 

 the land was really Kamchatka, and the bad weather and the small number 

 of hands fit to do duty rendering it difficult to reach the Gulf of Avatscha, 

 it was resolved to run into the bay that lay before them, and to send notice 

 from thence to Nishne-Kamchatsk of their safe arrival. 



Steller was among the first to land, and probably the very first of the 

 party who discovered the mistake of the excellent navigators to whom the 

 expedition had been intrusted. Sea-otters came swimming to him from the 

 land, and he well knew that these much-persecuted animals had long since 

 disappeared from the coast of Kamchatka. The number of Arctic foxes, too, 

 who showed no fear at his approach, and the sea-cows gambolling in the 

 water, were sure signs that the foot of man had not often trodden this shore. 

 Steller was also the first to set the good example of making the best of a 

 bad situation, instead of uselessly bewailing his misfortunes. He began to 

 erect a hut for the following winter, and formed an association with several 

 of the crew, who, whatever might await them, promised to stand by each 

 other. 



During the following days the sick were gradually conveyed on shore. 

 Some of them died on board as soon as they were brought into the open air, 

 others in the boat, others as soon as they were landed. " On all sides," says 

 Steller, in his interesting account of this ill-fated voyage, " nothing was to be 

 seen but misery. Before the dead could be buried, they were mangled by the 

 foxes, who even ventured to approach the helpless invalids who were lying 

 without cover on the beach. Some of these wretched sufi*erers bitterly com- 

 plained of the cold, others of hunger and thirst — for many had their gums so 

 swollen and ulcerated with the scurvy as to be unable to eat." 



" On November 13," continues the naturalist, I went out hunting for the 

 first time with Messieurs Plenisner and Betge ; we killed four sea-otters, and 

 did not return before night. We ate their flesh thankfully, and prayed to 

 God that He might continue to provide us with this excellent food. The 

 costly skins, on the other hand, were of no value in our eyes ; the only ob- 

 jects which we now esteemed were knives, needles, thread, ropes, etc., on 

 which before we had not bestowed a thought. We all saw that rank, sci- 

 ence, and other social distinctions were now of no avail, and could not in any 

 way contribute to our preservation : we therefore resolved, before we were 

 forced to do so by necessity, to set to work at once. We introduced among 

 us five a community of goods, and regulated our housekeeping in such a man- 

 ner as not to be in want before the winter was over. Our three Cossacks 

 were obliged to obey our orders, when we had decided upon something in 

 common ; but we began to treat them with greater politeness, calling them 

 by their names and surnames, and we soon found that Peter Maximowitsch 

 served us with more alacrity than formerly Petrucha (a diminutive of Peter). 



" N'ov. 14. — The whole ship's company was formed into three parties. The 

 one had to convey the sick and provisions from the ship; the second brought 

 wood ; the third, consisting of a lame sailor and myself, remained at homer- 



