530 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP. Pacific ever be the scene of active naval operations, Petrapaulski must 
doubtless become of immense importance. At present it may be said 
July, to be unfortified, but a very few guns judiciously placed would fully 
protect the entrance. 
On the 18th of July, having completed the survey of the bay of 
Awatska and its harbours, we took our leave of the hospitable inha- 
bitants, and weighed anchor ; but, as on the former occasion, we were 
obliged to make several unsuccessful attempts to get out, and did not 
accomplish our object until the 20th, when M’^e shaped our course 
towards Chepoonski Noss. A long swell rolled in upon the shore as 
we crossed this spacious bay, in the depth of which the port of Awatska 
is situated, and convinced us of the difficulty that would be expe- 
rienced in getting clear of the land with a strong wind upon the 
coast, and of the danger a ship would incur were she, in addition to 
this, to be caught in a fog, which would prevent her finding the port. 
Our winds were light from seaward, and we made slow progress, striking 
soundings occasionally from sixty to seventy fathoms, until the following 
morning, when we took our departure from the Noss, and entered a 
thick fog, which enveloped us until we made Beering’s Island on the 
22d ; when it cleared aw'ay for the moment, and we distinguished Seal 
Rock. We had no observation at noon, but by comparing the reckoning 
with the observations of the preceding and following days, it gave the 
position of the island the same as before. 
W e quitted the island with a prospect of a quick passage to the 
Straits, and, attended by a thick fog, advanced to the northward until 
the 26th, at which time contrary winds brought us in with the Asiatic 
coast in the parallel of 61° 58' N. When we were within a few leagues 
of the coast the fog cleared aw'ay, as it generally does near the land, 
and discovered to us a hilly country, and a coast apparently broken 
into deep bays and inlets ; but as we did not approach very closely, 
these might have been only valleys. In this parallel the nearest point 
of land bearing N. 74° W. true, thirteen miles, the depth of water was 
26 fathoms ; and it increased gradually as we receded from the coast. 
The bottom near the shore was a coarse gravel, which, as that in the 
offing is mud or sand, is a Jiseful distinctive feature. With a northerly 
