532 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP. 
XVIII. 
preceding day. Part of this ditference was evidently owing to the ces- 
sation of the northerly wdnd and our proximity to the land ; but part 
must also have been occasioned by one coast being naturally colder than 
the other. 
During the time we were at anchor there was a regular ebb and 
flow of the tide, and there appeared by the shore to be about three or 
four feet rise of the water. The flood came from the S. E., and ran with 
greater strength than the ebb, which showed there was a current setting 
towards Beering’s Strait. Captain Cook noticed the same circumstance 
off this part of the coast. 
The equipment of our little tender was always a subject of in- 
terest, and preparations for hoisting her out seemed to give the greatest 
pleasure to all on board. She was again placed under the command of 
Mr. Elson, who received orders to examine the coast narrowly between 
our station and Kotzebue Sound, and to search for an opening to the 
eastward of Cape Prince of Wales, of which the Esquimaux had ap- 
prised us the preceding year by their chart upon the sand. Mr. Elson 
was likewise ordered to look into Schismareff* Inlet, and afterwards to 
meet the ship at Chamisso Island. This little excursion was nearly 
being frustrated by an accident. In hoisting out the boat the bolt in 
her keel gave way, in consequence of the copper having corroded the 
iron of the clench ; a circumstance which should be guarded against in 
coppered boats. F ortunately she was not far off the deck, or the ac- 
cident might have been of a very serious nature, as her weight was as 
much as our yards would bear when shored up. 
As soon as she was equipped, Mr. Elson proceeded in shore ; and, 
a breeze springing up shortly afterwards, the ship weighed, and entered 
the channel between King’s Island and the main, d’he depth of water 
from the anchorage off* Point Kodney decreased gradually as she pro- 
ceeded, until nearly mid- channel, when the soundings became very 
irregular ; the alternate casts occasionally varying from nine to six 
fathoms, and vice versa. As it was blowing fresh at the time, the sud- 
den change of soundings occasioned overfalls ; and the channel having 
been very indifferently explored, it w'as unpleasant sailing. But although 
I do not think there is any danger, it would still be advisable in passing 
