THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
and to the Weft, by the fea of Okotzk. A chain of high 1779. 
mountains ftretches the whole length of the country, from l _ Q -° - cr ' 
North to South, dividing it nearly into two equal parts, 
from whence a great number of rivers take their rife, and 
empty themfelves, on each lide, into the Pacific Ocean and 
the fea of Okotzk. 
There are three rivers of much greater magnitude than 
the reft ; the Bolchoireka, or great river, fo called from bol - 
cboia , which fignifies great, and reka , a river; the river 
Kamtfchatka, and the Awatfka. The firft empties itfelf 
into the fea of Okotzk, and is navigable, for the Ruffian 
galliots, upward of five leagues from its mouth, or within 
nine miles of Bolcheretik, a town fituated at the conflux 
of the Goltfoffka and the Biftraia, which here lofe them¬ 
felves in the Bolchoireka. The Biftraia itfelf is no incon¬ 
siderable river. It derives its fource from the fame moun¬ 
tain with the river Kamtfchatka, and, by taking a dire£t 
contrary courfe, affords the Kamtfchadales the means of 
tranfporting their goods by water, in fmall canoes, almoft 
acrofs the whole peninfula. The river Kamtfchatka, after 
maintaining a courfe of near three hundred miles from 
South to North, winds round to the Eaftward, in which 
dire<ftion it empties itfelf into the ocean, a little to the 
Southward of Kamtfchatkoi Nofs. Near the mouth of the 
Kamtfchatka, to the North Weft, lies the great lake called 
Nerpitfch, from nerpi , a Kamtfchadale word, Signifying a 
feal, with which this lake abounds. About twenty miles 
up the river, reckoning from the mouth of the lake, is 
a fort called Nifhnei Kamtfchatka cftrog , where the Ruf¬ 
fians have built an hofpital and barracks, and which, 
we were informed, is become the principal mart in this 
country. 
The 
