PACIFIC AND BEERING’S STRAIT. 
561 
arrival at this late period in the season, no one on board, I believe, CHAP, 
thought there was the smallest chance of it ; for, had his prospects the 
preceding year been such as to justify his wintering upon the coast, the Get 
distance remaining to be accomplished in the present season would 
have been so short that he could scarcely fail to have performed it 
early in the summer, in which case we must have seen him long before 
this date, unless, indeed, he had reached Icy Cape and found it ad- 
visable to return by his own route, a contingency authorized by his 
instructions. Upon the chance of his arrival after the departure of 
the ship, the provision that had been buried for his use was allowed 
to remain, and the billet of wood was again deposited on the island, 
containing a statement of the behaviour of the natives, and of other 
particulars, with which it was important that he should be made 
acquainted. 
On the 6th, sharp frosty weather continuing, we weighed from 
Chamisso and beat out of the sound. In passing Cape Krusenstern 
we perceived a blink in the N. W. direction similar to that over ice, and 
it is not unlikely that the westerly winds which were so prevalent all 
the summer had drifted it from the Asiatic shore, where it rests against 
the land in a much lower parallel than upon the American coast. 
As we receded from the sound the wind freshened from the N. W. 
with every appearance of a gale ; we kept at a reasonable distance froin 
the land until daylight, and then steered towards Cape Prince of Wales, 
with the view of passing Beering’s Strait. Our depth of water thus 
far had been about fifteen fathoms, but at eleven o’clock in the forenoon 
it began to diminish, and the sea being high, the course was altered 
to increase our distance from the coast ; we had scarcely done this 
when the water shoaled still more, and a long line of breakers was 
observed stfetching from the land, crossing our course, and extending 
several miles to windward. The weather was so hazy that we could 
scarcely see the land, but it was evident that we had run down between 
the coast and a shoal, and as there was no prospect of being able to 
weather the land on the opposite tack, the only alternative was to 
force the ship through the breakers ; we accordingly steered for those 
parts where the sea broke the least, and kept the ship going at the rate 
4 c 
