LOSS OF THE ST. PETER. 279 
Captain Tschirikoif took the command of the St. Paul. Two 
other vessels carried the provisions, and another had on board 
the academicians and their baggage. 
On the 27th of September, the squadron having passed the 
strait which separates the southernmost point of Kamtschatka 
from the first of the Kurile islands, and w^here the St. Peter 
was several times on the point of being lost, fortunately entered 
the port of Awatschka. Here they passed the winter, and the 
first commodore was so w^ell pleased with the advantages which 
this situation aftbrded, that he named it the harbor of St. Peter 
and St. Paul. 
A few days previous to their departure, Beerings called a 
council, in which it was resolved, first to go in quest of the 
land laid down in the chart as having been seen by John de 
Gama. It w^as likewise agreed that the two academicians 
should go on board the two principal vessels ; upon which M. 
Steller removed into the St. Peter, and M. de la Croyere in 
the St. Paul. 
On the fourth of June, 1741, the two captains set sail, steer- 
ing the direction which had been agreed upon till the twelfth 
of that month, when, being in the latitude of forty-six degrees, 
they were convinced that Gama's land did not exist, as they 
had met with none during that run. They immediately put 
the ships about, and stood to the northward, to the fifteenth de- 
gree, without making any discovery. They then agreed to 
steer eastward for the American continent, but on the twen- 
tieth the ships were separated by a violent storm, succeeded by 
a thick fog. 
This disaster was the first which the two ships had met 
with since their leaving port. The idea of being deprived, 
during the whole voyage, of the assistance they might mu- 
tually have afforded each other in an unknown sea, rendered 
this separation extremely afiiicting. It was, however, only a 
prelude to the misfortunes w^hich afterward befell them. The 
commodore neglected no means that could be employed in or- 
der to rejoin Tschirikoff: he cruised for him between the 50th 
and 51st degree, firing guns from time to time ; he even re- 
turned southward as far as the 45th degree. All his solici- 
tude was in vain, for the two captains never rejoined each 
other. 
Nothing of consequence occurred till the 18th of July, when 
Beerings, still hoping to meet with the St. Paul, and continuing 
to steer to the northward, perceived the continent of America. 
By comparing the narratives of the two commanders, it ap- 
