A N

ACCOUNT

OF THE

NEW NORTHERN

ARCHIPELAGO,

LATELY DISCOVERED

BY THE RUSSIANS

IN" THE

SEAS of KAMTSCHATKA and ANADIR. By Mr. J. von S T M H L I N,

Secretary to the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg-, and Member of the Royal Society of London.

Tranflated from the German Original.

LONDON:

Printed for C. H E YD I N G E R, in the Strand.

M.DCC.LXXI V.

ADVERTISEMENT.

J_T would be an unpardonable ingratitude to let the following little treatifes appear in the world, without every proper acknowledgment to thofe resectable peribns, by whofe kind and literary affiftance I was not only encouraged, but enabled to complete the undertaking.

For the Account of the New Northern Archipelago I am indebted to Dr. Maty, who, befides fu mi th- ing the Original, fuperintended the Tranflation, znd corrected the proofs. The Map annexed to this piece, was executed by Mr. Kitchin; and it alio underwent the previous infpection of Dr. Maty.

The very lingular Narrative refpe&ing the Ruffian ^ failors, though it feems to have been written foon a after their arrival at Peter/burg, yet it was not pub- Is lifhed until the year 1768. A copy of the German ^original was tranfmitted to Joseph Banks, Efq, ^. who communicating the contents to feveral Mem- jt bers of the Royal Society, they were pleafed to * expu'fs their willies that it might appear in an Englifh drefs : thefe wiflies were accompanied with :nerous fubfeription for a considerable number of copies. Mr. Banks having commiiTIoned me with the tranllation, I have executed the talk to the

a utmoft

43 0971

9

vi A D V ERTISE M E N T.

utmofr. of my abilities ; and iufpc&ing my qualifi- cations to convey with precifion the ideas of the original in an Englifh idiom, I have prevailed on an Englifh friend to correft the manufcript before it was given to the Prefs ; and one of the learned fubferibers has moreover been fo kind as to revile the proofs.

If, notwithftanding thefe precautions, fomc errors may have efcaped me, the good-natured reader will, I hope, make every allowance to a man, who, if he hath fhewn himfelf not accurately verfed in the language, can plead in excufe, that he is not a native of this country. Befides, many pafiages in the original were prolix to an extreme : the diffi- culty, therefore, was to avoid the repetitions with- out deftroying the fenfc, or varying from the ideas of the author. This I have attempted; how far I have fuccecded the intelligent Public mufl deter- mine. At any rate I fhail deem my labours more than amply rewarded, if they can recommend me to the patronage of thofe for whofe pa ft favours I feci all that gratitude can infpire, from whole future iervices I hope all that induftry can exnecl.

C, HEYDTNGER.

The following Gentlemen have encouraged

the Publication of this Work by generou/iy

fubfcribing for a Number of Copies each.

Sir John Pringle, Bart. President of the Royal Society.

George Baker, M. D. F. R. S.

Jofeph Banks, Efq. F. R. S.

Hon. Daines Barrington, F. R. S.

Aug. Brande, M. D.

Ovv. Salufbury Brereton, Efq. F. R. S.

Sir James Burrow, Knt. F. R. S.

John Campbell, Efq. F. R. S.

Hon. Henry Cavendifh, F. R. S.

Thorn. Collinfon, Efq.

Alex. Dalrymple, Efq. F..R. S.

John Fothergiil, iM. D. F. R. S.

Ben. Franklin, LL. D. F. R. S.

AT. Garthfhore, M. D.

Will. Mann Godfchall, Efq. F. R. 3.

Sam. Harper, M. A. F. R. 8.

a 2 Will.

( viii )

Will. Heberden, M. D. F, R. 5. Rd. Buck, M. D. F. R. S. Will. Hunter, M. D. F. R. S, John Jufbmond, M. A. Rd. Kaye, LL. D. F. R. S. Nevil Mafkelyne, B. D. F. R. S. Matt. Maty, M. D. F. R. S. Hon. Conftant. Phipps, F. R. S. Matthew Raper, Efq. F. R. S. Will. Ruffel, Efq. Dan. Solander, M. D. F. R. S. James Stuart, Efq. F. R. S. Philip Van Swinden, D. D. F. R. S. Marmadukc Tunftall, Efq. F. R. S. Thomas Tyrvvhitt, Efq. F. R. S. Rodolph Valltravers, Efq. F. R. S. John Walfh, Efq. F. R. S. Rd. Warren, M. D. F. R. S. Will. Watfon, M. D. F. R. S.

PREFACE.

H

AV I N G lately received from my very learned friend and cor- refpondent Mr. Stjehlin, Coun- fellor of State to the Emprefs of Ruflia, Secretary of the Imperial Academy of Petersburg, and laft year elected one of the foreign mem- bers of the Royal Society, a fhort, and, as he calls it, preliminary ac- count, drawn up by himfelf of the new difcoveries of the Ruffians, I thought a tranflation of it would not be unacceptable to the cu- rious.

Everv

[ * ]

Every new fiep towards a more perfect inveftigation of our globe, muft be interefting to its principal inhabitant. While with unbounded curiofity he traces the courfe, mea- fures the diftances, and calculates the velocities of the Planets, his own habitation is ftill in great part unknown to him, and from the obftacles, which nature on one hand, and moral or politi- cal caufes on the other, throw in his way, will ever remain fo. A compleat map of Jupiter or Venus is perhaps more within his reach, than a compleat one of his earth.

To divert human induftry from what is really not attainable, is no lefs ufeful than to direct its purfuits

to

[ a ]

to what is fo. To this nation will in all probability be referved the glory of having afcertained the eter- nal barriers of navigation ; toRuffia that of having difcovered the true connection between the ancient and the new world.

The accounts hitherto publifhed of thefe northern exoeditions, tend to improve our geographical notions of the paflage from one continent to the other. It appears, that the in- termediate fpace between Afia and America, from the 400 to the 70% is occupied by clufters of iflands, within fight of, or at ieafl at fmall diftances from, one another ; and it is flill uncertain, whether the laft coaft difcovered by the Ruflians, and

by

[ *ii ]

by them called the Great Continent, or Stachtan Nitada, belong to the main land, or be divided from it by other fir-eights. The fuccefs which thefe Argonauts have hitherto had in their navigations, gives us little room to fufpeft that this will continue a problem much longer. If in the Britifh colonies the fame fpirit of curioiity, and perhaps in- tereft, fhould animate the inhabit- ants, the communication of the two continents will foon be followed by that of the two feas ; and we may hope to fee the globe nearly en- circled by two nations.

Naturalifts, and perhaps Anti- quarians, will be no lefs ufeful than Aftronomers in thefe extenfive re-

fearches.

[ xiii ]

fearches. From the difference in the make, drefs, and manners of the new difcovered inlanders, we might be induced to fufpeft that the moil northerly parts of the new world were peopled by the moil la- vage Afiatic Tartars, orTchuktfchi, while the inhabitants of the more moderate climates, and amon^fl them the Mexicans and Peruvians, were indebted for fome part of their induftry and civilization to theTun- gufi Tartars, or perhaps their oft- fpring, the Chine fe and Japoncfe. That thefe nations have in ancient times navigated to North America, has long been fufpeftcd(tf). This was lately afcertained by an ingenious

French

(a) De Horne. De Origin. Amer. 1652. b

[ *lv ]

French author (a), and, from the fituation of the Jefo, Kurili, and other iflands, is rendered more and more probable. Were we to trufl to fome late accounts, it is not im- poflible but fome of their defcend-

ants

((7) Mr. De Gtjignes, in a Memoir inferted in the twenty-eighth volume of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres for the year 1757, and entitled Recherches fur les Navigations des Chi- nois, du cote de V Ante ri que, & fur quelques Peuplcs fituis a Pextremite Oriental: de fJfe. From the concurrent teflimony of feveral ancient Chineic writers, he proves that their early navigators, after having followed the Afratic coaft. towards the north as far as Kamtfckatkay which they called Tahan, crofTcd the ocean in an eafterly direction, and at the diftance of 20,000 lis, or about 2000 miles, arrived nearly under the lame parallel at a country which they named Foufang ; being, ac- cording to them, the land where the fun riles. This muft have been the coaft difcovered by the Ruffians in 1741; and, from the new difcoverics, it may be inferred, that the Chinefe were directed in that Craft, by following the courfe of the iilands*.

[ XV ]

&nts may Hill fubfiit in that immenfe continent, and not far from the fame fpot (a) .

b 2 Traces

(.-7) During Mr. Blankett's, Lieutenant in his Majefty's Navy, ftay at New Orleans, (lately the French and now the Spanifh chief fettlcment upon the MiJJtJippiy) an account came that the Ilinois had difcovered a people, whole houfes made of red earth, together with fome other cir- cumftances, induced the French to conclude this to be a fettlcment originally come from Japan. Mr. Aubrey, the Commandant of the place, fent him afterwards the following account, in a letter dated June 18, 1765. It was Mr. Des Voltes, a French officer fettled fince a long time among the Ilinois, who gave Mr. Aubrey his information about thefe Aiiatic figures, as he called them. Some of the inhabitants of the river Mijfour'i, reported, that towards the weft there had been feen men quite different from the red and the white men; (under thefe de- nominations arc underftood the Americans and the Europeans) that they wore long robes, and had muikets and arm?, which, though dif- ferent from ours, had dill the fame effect. ■

"i'1 .

[

xvi

Traces of fuch a communication may, by diligent obfervers, be dis- covered,

■ — The north and north-eaft parts of the country of the Ilinois confift of a vaft continent, hi- therto almoft unknown. By following the north courfe, and going three hundred leagues up the Mijpfippiy one meets with the fall of St. An- thony; beyond which the river divides into fe- veral branches. A hundred leagues farther is found a lake, and a marfhy ground, from which the river takes its fource. This fpot is very fer- tile, and abounds in furs; but its inhabitants, called the Sious, are reported to be io ferocious and faithiefs, as to deter any traders fiom ven- turing among them. . . It is towards the north- weft that the Alijfouri takes its run acrofs the country. This is one of the largeft as well as meft rapid rivers. The French, on account of the difficulty of its navigation, have not been able to trace its courfe beyond four hundred leagues, at a village called Rlcarao. Various na- tions inhabit its borders; and a fair held fcems to be opened to intercfting discoveries, as well as to a confiderable trade. Travellers have brought from thence elephants teeth, though the animals themielves were never found there; and this in- due.,-

[ xvii ]

covered, not only among the pro- ductions of the earth, but alfo in the cuftoms of the inhabitants. I know how dangerous it is to rely too much upon fuch analogies, un- lefs they be fufficientlyprecife; fmcc a fimilarity of wants and fituations, in feveral people unconnected with each other, may have produced the fame effects. I could not avoid how- ever being ftruck with the following coincidence, which feems to indicate fomething more than mere chance, or a famenefs of circumftances. The firft conquerors of Peru reported that

the

duced Mr. Aubrey to fuipeft that the north- weft part of America is cither connected with the north-cad part of Ail?., or at leafl that the ieparation is not very coniuiorabls.

[ xviii ]

the inhabitants, infiead of letters* made ufe of certain knots upon cords, to convey their ideas, or fentiments; and the Chilians Hill preferve the fame way of aflifi- ing their memory and collecting their thoughts (a) . It likewife ap- pears from feveral authorities, that a

con-

(#) Pour tenir un compte de leurs troupeaux, &; conferver ia memoire de lcurs affaires particu- lieres, les Indiens ont recours a certains noeuds de laine, qui pax* la variete des couleurs & des re- plis, leur tiennent lieu de cara&eres & d'ecriturc. La connoiiTance de ces noeuds, qu'ils appellcnt £hiipos, eft une feience & un fecret, que les peres ne revelent a. lcurs enfans que lorfqu'ils fe croyent a la fin de lcurs jours, & com me il arrive aiTcz fouvent que faute d'efprit ils n'en connoiiTent pas le myftcre, ces fortes de noeuds leur deviennent un fujet d'erreur 8c de peu d'ufage.

Voy. De Frezier, p. 67,

[ xlx ]

contrivance not unfimilar to this was, in the earliefl times, ufed in China. In a letter fent from Pekin, in 1764, by one of the Miffionaries, in anfwer to fome queries relative to the Ghinefe characters, the author mentions, from one of their ancient books, that Fo-hi, by introduci?ig the eight koua, or elementary cha- racters, put an end to the life of knots upon cords, for the purpofes of government ; which, adds Dr. Morton, to whom this letter was directed, and who obliged the Royai Society with an abridgment of it (a),

feems

(<7) Pbilofophical TranfaSllons, vol.Hx. p. 495. This Letter has been iincc printed in French, with an Intmuiiftion by M. Tubf.rvill NEEDHAM, K.R.S. v.x Brufll-Is, in 1772.

[ xx J

feems to be analogous to what has been obferzed in America.

Care has been taken to render the tranflation of this little piece as exacl as poffible; and the Chart which precedes it has been exe- cuted with neatnefs and fidelity.

Britijli Mufeum, June 17,1774.

M. M.

A

BRIEF ACCOUNT

OF THE

New Difcovered Iflands in the Northern Seas.

■sf^^^T is remarkable, that at the very ^ x ^ time when the Enghfh and French * difcovered inlands in the South Seas, which till then were totally un- known to all the reft of the world, namely, in the years 1764, 65, 66 and 67, the in- trepid Ruffians difcovered new lands in the utrnoft limits of the north, and found B a clufter

[ 2 1

a clutter of inhabited iflands, unknown to them and to the whole world.

Docs it not fecm that at certain pe- riods a fpirit of difcovery arifes, which excites univerfal emulation in different parts of the world? We are naturally led into this train of thinking, when we con- sider, that, formerly, when the new he- mifphere of America was difcovered by the Spaniards, the Portuguefe and Dutch began, at the fame time, to think of na- vigating from Europe to the Eaft Indies. It is equally remarkable, that the Art of making Gunpowder was difcovered in Germany, on the Danube, jufl at the time when the Art of Printing was found out on the Rhine, and when Literature and the Polite Arts were revived in Italy, after they had lain dormant for fo many centuries.

About

[ 3 1

About, or foon after the time above- mentioned, the Czar Iwan Wasilje- witsch II. laid the foundation for the difcovery of our new iflands; which are fo many in number, that they may well deferve the name of a New Archipelago. After he had made himfelf mailer of all Siberia, he wifhed to be acquainted with the frontiers of that country to the north and eaft, and with the inhabitants of thofe parts. For that purpofe he fent fe- veral Prikaflfchicke, or Commiffaries, to the different frontiers, who, on their re- turn, after his death, during the reign of his fon and fucceflbr, the Czar Feodor Iwanowitsch, brought the firft account that Siberia was bounded by the frozen fea to the north, and by the ocean to the earn

B 2 The-

[ 4 ]

The celebrated Counfellor Miller, in his Account of the Difcoveries made by the Ruffians, has fhewn that, from the records of a town in Siberia, it ap- pears, that an important attempt to pe- netrate into the frozen fea, had already been made in the courfe of this expedition, which had failed along the coaft towards the north-call: ; and that one of the fmalleft veffels of thefe navigators had got fafe round the farthefi promontory of T/Iju- Aotjkoi-Kofs, into the fea of Kamtfchatka^ commonly called the Pacific Sea, and had landed in Lower Kamtfchaika.

The farther profecution of this dii- covery was prevented by the troubles in Rufiia, under the ufurpation of the pow- erful Czar Boris Godunoff, and the fucceeding falfe Dernetrians : they even

t 5 ] obliterated the very memory of this tran-

fadlion, for many years.

Peter the Great firfr. refumcd this important enquiry. He fent out feveral fea-officers, from the mouths of the ri- vers Lena, Indigirka and Kolyma. Some were ordered to coalt. along the north- eaft, and north of Siberia, and to try whether they could get round the pro- montories of Swetoi-Nofs, cTalatfchci-Nofs, or Tfckukotjkoi-Nofs, into the Pacific Ocean; fome others to undertake, in an oppoiite direction to the former, the na- vigation from Kamtfchatka towards the north-well, and to examine the fea in thofe parts, and obferve what lands or iflands they could difcover. Amongit the latter was Captain Be firing ; who, fooa after the death of Piter the Great, in the year 1728, got into the bay of Ana-

[ 6 ]

dirjk, in the 66th degree of northern la- titude, came back fafe to Kamtfchatka, and returned to Peterfburg in 1730, in the reign of the Emprefs Anne; where he gave the Court a circumftantial account of his expedition.

Scarce a year before his return to Pe- terfburg, the Ruffians knew fo little of thofe lands and illands, that, from an account annexed to the Supplement to the Peterfburg Geographical Almanack for the year 1729, it was impofilble to make out whether Kamtfchatka was an ifland, or a peninfula ; or whether it was not the country called jfedfo.

The Court, after having received fuch important informations from Captain Be ti- ring, immediately came to a refolution to appoint an expedition, purpofely to

examine

I 7 ]

examine farther into the ftate and fituation of Ka mtj 'chat ka, and the neighbouring fea, called the Sea of Kamtfchatka, or the Pa- cific Ocean; together with the lands and iflands lying beyond it, to the calr, the fouth, and the north. This expedition was fent out from Peterfburg, in the fum- mcr of 1734, and was called the Kamt- fchatka Expedition.

It is needlefs to treat of it at large, as a full account is to be met with in the excel- lent Collection of Ruffian Tranfaclions, publifhed in 1758, by Mr. Miller. In the third volume, which treats of voyages, &c. the author gives a circumftantial ac- count of this expedition, and how far the Ruffians had carried their difcoveries into the Pacific Ocean, to the north, the calr, and the fouth. He relates, thatBEHRiNG difcovered feveral iflands to the north- ern" ;

[ 8 1

eaft; and one in particular, on which he was fhipwrecked, died, and was buried by his fellow travellers; who gave it the name of Behring's J /land. He farther tells us, that Captain Tsc hi ri koff failed eaftward to the American coafls, and found a fhorter cut from Kamtfchatka to America, than could ever have been imagined: and that Captain Spang en- berg, who had been fent to the fouth- eafr, difcovered a multitude of iilands, called the Kurili IJIands ; and beyond theie, fome large ones inhabited by Ja- panefe, which are in fadl the outfkirts of Japan.

This important expedition, in which the Academy of Sciences at Peteiiburg had engaged a Profefibr of Agronomy, Mr. De L'isle de la Croyere, with an afuftant, named Krasilnikoff; a.

ProfeiTor

[ 9 ]

ProfefTor of Hinory, the celebrated Mr. Miller, and his aniftant, Mr. Fischer, who was afterwards ProfefTor, for the collecliino; of Facts from the Records of Siberia, and the Defcription of Nations ; and a ProfefTor of Natural Hinory and Botany, Mr. Gmelin, with two auTft- ants, Krascheninni koff and Stel- ler, fome dranghtfmen, &c. ended foon after the acceffion of the late Emprefs Elizabeth to the throne. Moft. of the perfons who had been out upon this ex- pedition, returned one after another in 1743, and the following year; but the Maps they hid drawn up, were ntft en- graved under the direction of the Aca- demy of Peterfburg in 1758, by order of the Grand Dutchefs, the prefent Emprefs Catharine II.

Tin

[ io ]

The government being now fufficiently informed of the nature and fimation of thofe feas, lands, iflands and people, the matter refted there.

Catharine II. when fhe came to the Crown, invited fome Ruffian mer- chants to extend their trade to thefe di- flant regions, offering them her pro- tection, and the afliftance of the gover- nors and commanders in the different parts of Siberia ; and in the firft years of her reign, Hie was rewarded for her zeal, by the difcovery of fome new iflands. oppoiite to the gulph of Olutora (a), which afforded choice furs of black foxes and beavers.

To

(a) This gulph, and the iflands that were dif- covered over againft it, derive their name from the river Olutora, which runs into this bay from the weft.

[ " ]

To the immortal honour of Catha- rine II. the way to new difcoveries was now opened afrefh ; but it required both refolution and perfeverancc to purfue it, to the emolument and glory of RutTia ; and to extend her trade in thofe feas, which lay at fo great a difbnee, though conti- guous to the Rnflian dominions. This refolution and perfeverance, the Emprefs found means to excite and fupport, by erecting a commercial company (a), com- C 2 pofed

(«) At firft it confiftcd of about twenty mer- chants, who, till then, had traded iingly with Si- beria and the frontiers of China, in Ruffian and other European commodities. The fund for this affociation confiftcd of ill arcs, of 500 rubles each; and two factories were erected, one at Ochoifkoi, the other in Ka?ntfcbatka. The former was under the inflection of Mr.W.vsiLEi Iwan'off Schi- loit, Merchant at Weilkhijllug; the latter, of Mr. Iwan Timofejeff Kr Asi LN'iKoF F, Mer- chant at A* l ',;<", who had attended the firft expe- dition

[ >2 J

pofed of Ruffian merchants, to whom fhe granted fpeclal privileges, for the carry- ing on their trade and navigation in the new difcovered parts : (he likewife ho- noured the twelve firit members with a gold medal, ftruck for that purpofe, which they were to wear hung to their necks by a blue ribband, as a mark of her high favour.

Farther to promote this end, the Ad- miralty-Office at OchotJkGi, on the fea of PenJInJk, or of Ochotjkoi, had orders from her Majefty to aflift this trading com- pany of Kamtfchatka, in the profecntion

ditron in a fhip of his own, and afterwards fettled in Kamtfchatka, The other principal members of this trading company were Feed r Nik:fo--rrf Ribin- Jkei, a Merchant of Mofcow; Feodor AfamfsjelFKal- krj(f\ Ivoan Lapix. and Feodor Bureuin} Merchants of Wolosod.

[ >3 ]

of their undertaking; to provide them with convoys ; and to endeavour to pro- cure all poflible information relative to the iflands and coafts they intended to vifit, to the north and north-eaft, beyond Kamtjchaika. In the year 1764, they ac- cordingly failed, from the harbour of Ochotjkoi, with fome two-mailed galliots, and fingle-niafted vefTels of Siberia, called Dofchtfehenik, a kind of covered barges, under a convoy from the aforefaid Ad- miralty-Office, commanded by the Lieu- tenant, Mr. Syndo. They pafTed the fea of OehotJJcci; went round the for.thern cape of Kamtfchatka, into the Pacific Ocean ; fleered along; the eaftern coafr, keeping northward; and at lad came to an anchor in the harbour of Peter P<ju/, and wintered in the Q/iro?, or paliifaded Village, belonging to it. The next vear they pnrfued their voyage farther north- ward

t 14 ]

ward; and in that and the following years, 1765 and i~66, by degrees difcovered a whole Archipelago of iflands of different iizes, v/hich increafed upon them the far- ther they went, between the 56th and 67th degrees of north latitude; and they returned fafe, in the year 1767. The re- ports they made to the Government's Cnancery at Irkutsk, and from thence fent to the Directing; Senate, together with the Maps and Charts thereto an- nexed, make a considerable alteration in the regions of the fea of Anadir, and in the iituation of the oppofite coafr of America; and give them quite a different appearance from what they had in the above-mentioned Map, engraved in the year 1758. This difference is apparent, by comparing it with the amended Map published la it year, 1773, by the Aca- demy of Sciences ; and is frill more vi-

I 1 Ul\.

[ >5 ] iible in the very accurate little Map of the new difcovered Northern Archi- pelago hereto annexed, which is drawn up from the original accounts. In this are delineated both the former tracks of Behrintg and Tschirikoff ; and more particularly the late voyage of our trading company of Kamtfckatka, under Lieu- tenant S^ndo, together with all the now iilands he difcovered, arc fet down ac- cording to their fuuation and apparent magnitude, fome with names, and feme without.

The original accounts, that have hi- therto been tranfmittcd to us, are not vet fufficient to enable me to give a minute defcription of each, of their nature, or of the manners of the inhabitants; parti- cularly, as no aftroncmer attended this expedition, or any adept in the know-

! . Irrp

[ '6 ]

ledge of the three kingdoms of nature, who might have given us an accurate account of the Botany, Zoology, and Mineralogy of thefe new difcovered iflands.

However, it appears, from the illiterate accounts of our fea-faring men, that there is no efTential difference, in any refpecl, between thefe feveral iflands, and their inhabitants; but that they feem to be pretty much alike.

It is needlefs to name every one of the iflands which compofe our new Nor- thern Archipelago, as they are fet down in the Map hereto annexed, with their iituation and fize.

As to the abfolnte accuracy of the two firit. articles, namely, the true iituation,

as

[ >7 ] as to geographical latitude and longitude, and their exact dimenfions, I would not be anfwerable for them, till they can be afcertained by agronomical obfervations.

In the mean time, to facilitate the de- fcription of this new clufler of iilands, we fhall reduce them to three divisions.

The firft contains the iilands firft dis- covered by Bering and Tschirikoff, in the fea of Kamtfchatka, or Pacific Ocean, between the 50th and 56th degrees of north latitude, fuch as Bering's J/Iand, Mednoi, St. Theodsr, St. Abraham, St. Ma- car ius, &c.

The fecend comprehends the iilands of Olutora, over againfr. the gulph of that name, between the 56th and 60th de- grees; together with the iilands of Aleuta, D which

[ '3 ]

which lie farther fouth-eafr, difcovered by the Ruffian trading Company, in the conrfe of their navigation.

In the third we fhall reckon the iflands of Anadir; that is, thofe difcovered in the two laft years, 1765 and 1766, farther north and eaft, from the 60th to the 67th degrees of north latitude.

Of thefe iflands we know in general, and for certain, that thofe which are iituated from the 50th to the 55th de- gree, refemble the iilands of Kurili, with regard to the weather, the productions of fea and land, beafls, fifh, and fhell-fifh ; as alfo in the figure, appearance, cloath- ing, food, way of life, and manners of the inhabitants ; whereas thofe from the 55th to the 60th degree, which are the iilands of Olutora and Aleut a, are, in

[ '9 1

all thefe particulars, very like Kamt- fchatka {a).

Thofe of the third divifion have a dif- ferent afpedl, and are iituated from the 6oth to the 67th degree of north latitude. The former, which are like Kamtfchatka, are full of mountains and volcanoes, have no woods, and but few plains. The more northern iilands abound in woods and fields, and confequently in wild beafts. As to the favage inhabitants of thefe new difcovered iilands, they are but one remove from brutes, and differ from the inha- D 2 bitants

(«) Mr. Krascheninktikoff, who went as Affiftant to the abovementioncd Kamtfchatka Expe- dition, and to Kamtfcbat&a itfelf, has publifhed a very circumflantial account of that peninfula; as like- wife of the iilands of Kurilt, in two Volume?, 4to.

Peterjburg, 1758. N. B. It has been transited

end publi 'feed in French and Englijh,

[ 20 1

bitants of the iflands lately difcovered by the Englifh and French in the fouth feas, as much in their perfons, manners, and way of life, as in their climate ; being the very reverfe of the friendly and hofpitable people of Otakeite.

To give a more diftincl: idea of thefe new iflands, we fhall here fubjoin the above-mentioned Extradl of the original Accounts delivered to the Imperial Aca- demy of Sciences, without any comment whatever, or any addition, except a few remarks and explanations, with regard to the names of fome plants, beafts, &c. which would otherwife be unintelligible. The extracl contains an artlefs defcription of the chief of the iflands whofe names and fituations occur in our little Map. From thefe we may form a tolerable judgment of the reft.

EXTRACT

EXTRACT

OF THE

REPORT

MADE TO T II E

DIRECTING SENATE,

FRO M T H E

Chanceries of the Government of Ir- fa/zk, Kamtfchatka & Bolfcherezk ;

s H E WING

What Iflands have been ciifcovered by the Promyfckkmki, or Commercial Com- pany, on their Trading Voyage beyond Kamtfchatka; what People inhabit thofe Iflands, and what Animals and Pro- ductions were found the:'.'

Extraft of the Report, &c

-\^£ 1 y ,t*^ jV^/i rtrr?" i V ^- ",' rf ■ gypir "pfe isii&ixrzttxTZtV. *%g*J nap cuii itrg t txzrti *¥gp * i±dx

I. rT""\HE ifland of Ajak is about X 150 werfts (a) in circumference. It has very high rocky mountains ; and likewife valleys, dry grounds, plains, moifr ground, turf, meadows and roads; fo that you may eaflly go all over the ifland, and along the fea-coaft. There are no woods at all upon the ifland. The fame young high grafs (Z>) grows there, as is

found

(<?) A werft is about two-thirds of an Englifh mile.

(£) A kind of lea grafs {Alga) which tr.av be ufed tor firing, inftead of wood.

[ -4 ]

found in the gulph of Kamtfchatka. The berries that grow on this ifland, though very fparingly, are the common Sc hichfa {a) and Golubel. On the contrary, the roots for food, namely, the Kutarnick (/;), and the red root, grow in fuch quantities, as to afford a plentiful provifion for the in- habitants. There is a little river, that fiows from north to fouth, and difcharges into the fea. Its courfe, from the fpring- head to the fea, meafures about feven or eight werfts ; and the breadth, from ten to fifteen, and twenty fathom. The depth, at low water, is an Arf chine (c) and

a half:

{a) Very fmall hurts, that grow brown on the heaths, but dark blue in the woods : they are otherwife called Ant-berries. Golubel is the com- mon Sloe.

(£>) We cannot pofitively fay what root this is, for want of an accurate defcription. Krasciiex- INNIKOFF makes no mention of it in his De- fcription of Kamtfchatka i confequently, it is not known there.

(c) A Ruffian yard, about three-fourths of an Englifh yard long.

[ 25 ]

a half; and, at high water, two, or two and a half. In June, this river affords red gudgeons, foles, or the large fort of halbut; in Auguft, the Kitfchug : but, in winter, there is hardly any fifh to be got. The number of inhabitants on this ifland cannot well be afcertained ; becaufe they remove from one iiland to another with their whole families, crofs the freights in great Baidars (a) between the iilands, and fettle in fuch as they find the pleafanteft and beft provided.

II. The iiland of Kan ah a is diftant from the former about twenty werfts, and is about two hundred werfts in circum- ference. Among the many high mountains in this ifland, is a remarkable one, called the Horelaai Sopka, that is, the Burning Top, where the inlanders fetch brimftone in

fummer.

(a) Baidars arc large boats, made of whales ribs, bound together with hoops, and covered over with the (kins of fca-dogs, fea-cows, and

ether lea animals.

E

[ 26 ] fummer. At the foot of this mountain there are hot fprings, where the inhabi- tants boil their meat and their Mi. There are no other rivers on this iiland. The low grounds are much of the fame nature as in the former. It contains about two hundred inhabitants of both fexes.

III. The iiland of Tschepchina lies forty werfts from the fecond, and is about eighty werfts in circumference. Among many craggy rocks, one rifes above the reft, which is called The White Cliff. In the low grounds of this iiland there are fome hot fprings, but no cold ftreams or rivers. On this account the iiland is in- habited but by a few families.

IV. The iiland of Tahalan is diftant from the third ten werfts, and may mea- fure upwards of forty werfts round. There are no considerable mountains on this iiland ; nor is there any great plenty of fifh, or other neceffarics of life. The coaft is fo rocky, that there is no landing

there

[ 27 ] there in Baidars, much lefs in other vef- fels, that are not fo flat. There are alfo but a few families on this illand.

V. The illand of Atcha lies forty werfls from the fourth, and may be about three hundred werfls in circumference. Here you find many rocks, and many rivers running from them into the fea » but they do not equally abound in flfh. The illand produces plenty of vegetable food ; fuch as the Kutarmk, the red root, and the Sarana (a). It affords conve- nient landing-places. The inhabitants may be between fixty and feventy fouls ; men, women and children.

VI. The illand of Amlai is diftant five werfts from the fifth, and may be

E 2 fome-

(;/) A kind of wild tulip, or lilly : the root has no unpleafant tade, and is of a very ftimu- iating quality. This plant is found pretty common in many parts of Siberia, particularly about Irkuzk. '

[ *8 1

fomewhat more than three hundred werfts in circumference. On this ifland are a great many rocks, and many brooks that fall into the fea; one of which, in par- ticular, abounds with what they call the red mil, wrh:ch is a kind of falmon, an arfchine and a half long. The high grafs, as alfo the Kutarnik and Sarana roots, grow there in great plenty. The num- ber of inhabitants, men, women and children, is from fixty to feventy.

Befides thefe iflands, we faw man)' more to the eaftward, at no great di* irance from each other, but did not vifit them.

The manner of living in thefe fix illands is this. i. The inhabitants on the low lands have green huts, which they call Juris, where they conftantly live. They care little for warmth, fo never kindle fires in their Juris all the winter. — 2. They wear no cloaths but what are made with the Ikins of fea-fowls, efpecially a kind

of

[ *9 ] of black duck, called Arkea and TV porka (a) which they have the art of catching by the fea-fide, with a fling made of whalebone. With the guts of the fea- cows and fea-calves, which they call S:- utfcha and Nerpa, they fow their Kam- lees, or upper garments. They ufe no- thing elfe for their clothing. — 3. For their common food, they are content with raw filh, and mofrly with what they call Val- tujinci) and other kinds of frock fifh. If they are hindered from fiming by con- trary wind, they live upon fea-kail, (Crambe Littoralis Bunias) and fea- oyfters. — 4. In May and June they go out to catch Nerpas (fea-calves) and beavers. — 5. In the depth of winter, by the fevereft cold, they go juft as in fummer, with their fifh-fkin and bird- fkin upper and under garments, without

breeches,

(a) Moft of them are a kind of fea-fowl, (called Tubtani) which are cauglit in great numbers, a hundred different ways ; they are of a very beautiful red colour, and ahnoft as lar^c as a eoofe.

[ 3° ] breeches, ftockings, caps or gloves. If now and then it fets in uncommonly cold, they kindle a heap of the hay of ftrong fea-grafs, and let the Warmth penetrate to their feet, and between their legs, into the under garment, till they are in fome meafure warm. — 6. Their women and children wear the fame cloaths as the men ; but fome have both the under garments and an upper cloak made of beaver-fkin. — 7. They ileep with their wives in their huts, in a cellar dug in the ground, which they ftrew with grafs, and prepare fo as to make a foft bed ; but have no other covering than the cloaths they wear in the day-time. — 8. They take no manner of thought about their foul; much lefs about their condition after death ; for they have not the leaf!; notion of a future ftate.

VII. Kodjak; this appears to be a pretty large ifland, on which is feen a ridge of mountains, with high tops, pro- jecting here and there. In the middle

par:

t 3' 1

part of the ifland are vallies and plains, and a navigable river, of a confiderable breadth and depth. The mouth of this river forms a bay, fit to admit fhipping. Another fmaller river ifTues from a lake to the northward, and flows fouthward, for the fpace of about four werfts into the fea. The lake feems to be about fix werfts long, a werft broad, and from ten to fifteen fathom deep. In this river many forts of fifri come .from the fea into the lake, and are caught in great quan- tities j fuch as large gudgeons, herrings, five or fix Werfchgcks (a) long, haddocks, foles, red falmon, and feveral other fpe- cies, known only in thefe waters, and called Kifchutfch, Ckaiko, Pejiraiki, Pof- tufchina, &c.

This ifland is inhabited by a people ab- folutely unknown hitherto, who call them-

felves

(rf) The fixtcenth part of an drfcbbie, or one inch and an half Englifh meafure.

[ 32 3

felves Katiagyft. To all appearance thefe iflandersare numerous; for they appeared in great numbers on the coafi:. They feem to be an obftinate and brutiiTi peo- ple, who will fubmit to no ruler, and fhew no refpect to each other. The drefs of thefe people confifts of the under gar- ment above defcribed, made of dark co- loured, brown and red fox-ildns ; as alfo of the fkins of beavers, fea-fowls and elks, and the fpeckled field-moufe, (Mus Citellus) which they call Jewrafchki or Suflik : how and where they catch thefe animals, we could not learn. In winter they wear on their feet a kind of long fnow-fhoes, called Torpafes, made of raindeer-ikin, fewred with Kamifch (a). They wear no ftockings nor breeches, but variety of caps, which they make of many different fluffs, according to their fancy. Their common weapons are bows

and

(<;) Kcmifcb is a kind of reed, the fibres of which thev draw out into thread*.

[ 33 ] 2nd arrows, lances and knives, made of raindeer's bones, hatchets of a hard black ftone, with which they likewife make the points of their lances. As foon as thefe people perceived us, they wanted to fall upon us, after their brutim cuflom,*-to rob and murder us. They are particularly fpiteful againft all people that come from the diftricl of Kamtfchatka ; and, in ge- neral, they are dangerous to all frrangers who approach their iiland. They live in yurts or cellars under ground, where there does not appear the leafc clean- linefs, as in the huts of the Kamtfchadales. By way of ornament, they bore their under lip, where they hang fine bones of hearts and birds, as other nations wear •ornaments to their ears. They commonly paint their faces with red, blue, and other colours. The men bear wooden fhields, which they call Kujaki. They go out to fea, either alone or two or three together, in their Baidars, which arc light, fmall and long boats, made of fea-dog's fkin. They have likewife large Baidars, in which 1; more

[ 34 3 more people can fit. They live chiefly upon the fifh they call Paltujina, and flock-fifh or haddock, which they catch in the fea with hooks made of bone. They are very dexterous at catching the river fifh with their T/birtugs, which are nets or bags, that they weave with firings or threads. All thefe fifh they eat raw. Be- sides thefe, they catch a good quantity of beavers, fea-cows, cat-fifh (Suitfchi) and dog-fifh; but, on the rivers, otters, brown and grey foxes, ermines, bears, and beau- tiful fpcckled and tabby mice, called Jewrafchki. As to birds, they have on this ifland all forts of ftorks, ducks, ravens, magpies, &c. but no particular kinds have been obferved. The berries that grow there in great plenty are, hurts, Schick- fas, cranberries, floes, Toloknjanka and Sarana. Their woods are chiefly the al- der-tree, birch, and feveral forts of willows.

VIII. The ifland of Umanak, which had already been difcovered in the for- mer

[ 35 ] mer navigation, is full three hundred werfts in compafs. No woods are to be found there. What grows there, is the fame thick reed, or fea-grafs, as in Kamt- fchatka. The rivers that flow from the lakes are but fmall. Both in this and the illand of Unalafchka, before difcovered, as alfo throughout our new Northern Archipelago, the inhabitants have no notion of any religion; and in their dark- nefs, only believe in witchcraft.

The men wear upper and under

garments of fkins of the Uril and Ar-

jen (a), &c. the women wear the fame

F 2 cloathing,

(#) The Uril (Corvus Aquaticus) is a kind of water-raven, not unlike the crane : it is efteemed as a dainty. See Krascheninnikoff's De-

fcription of Kamtfchatka, vol. I, p. 334. The

Arjen^ Colymbus Ar£iicusy {Lumme dicius Wormis) Hoycr. A large fort of black and white duck, which are found in innumerable flocks on the rocky iflands : their fkin ferves to make clothes and furs. Sec Krascheninnikoff, vol. 1. p. 300.

C 36 3

cloathing, only theirs are moitly made of the fkins of beafts; namely, of the beaver and cat-frfh, fewed together with the finews of the Sjutfcha. A man has as many wives as he pleafes, or as he can afford to keep ; but he often trades with them different ways: for inftance, if one man is in pofTeffion of fomething that another has a fancy for, he lets him have it for a wife or two. They do the fame with their children, efpecially with their boys. They feed upon the fiefh of feveral animals, and commonly eat it raw; fometimes they roaft or broil it. Their manner of doing it is this : they heap up fome flones, which they bind on all iides with clay, light a fire underneath, then lay fome fficks acrofs the top, on which they put their meat or fifh to broil They catch the Paltujina and flock-fifh, both in winter and fummer, with bone hooks, fattened to a firing: the larger fifh they fhoot with arrows. The whales which the fea cafts on iliore are a great addition to their provifion. Some years

the

[ 37 3 the berries called Schickfa will grow there ; and fome years none at all. When the fea fails to throw up the cuftomary fupply, they live upon the common fea- mufTels, &c. Wherever any one has fixed his habitation, nobody clfe dares to hunt or fifh in the neighbourhood, nor appropriate to himfelf what the fea has call: up, unlefs he has previoufly agreed with him for a part of the produce. If a man happens, on his way or in hunting, to come upon another man's territory, he muft take up his lodging in their Baidars, unlefs he is a relation, for in that cafe he takes him into his hut. As they do not conftantly reiide in one place, their num- bers cannot be exactly afcertained. The men, and women too, cut their hair be- fore, and fome all round, and tie it up in a bunch behind; but if they are in affliction, or meet with any mifchance, they let it hang down carelefslv. They bore the upper lip of the young children of both fexes, under the nofhils, where they hang feveral forts of fiones, and

whitened

A

NARRATIVE

OF THE SINGULAR

ADVENTURES

O F

Four Ruffian Sailors,

Who were caft away on the defert IJland of East-Spit zbergen.

TOGETHER \WITH

Some Observations on the Productions of that Ifland, &c.

B y Mr. P. L. L E ROY,

Piofeflbr of Hiftory, and Member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Peterfburg.

Tranflated from the German Original,

At the defire of ieveral Members of the

Royal Society.

INTRODUCTION.

L

ONG Voyages have frequently been productive of fuch incidents as exceed the bounds of probability; fo that however fond we may be of thofe Authors, who in this ref- pect adminifter to our pleafure, by relating adventures of the wonder- ful kind, yet we are apt to be fufpi- eious in perufmg them, left our cre- dulity fhould get the better of our judgment. It has happened never- thelefs frequently, that thofe very Writers, whofe works at firft fight ^ ere fufpefted of exaggeration or G 2 £6tiofi

[ 44 ]

fiction, have afterwards, by fome unexpected accident, been wholly cleared from fuch imputations.

The occurrences which I am now about to relate, may, in a great meafure, be clafTed with thofe which, if not utterly incredible, are at leafl improbable ; they feem- ing to have been ftudioufly em- bellifhed with fuch circumftances as would give them mofl the air of the marvellous. I mufl: con- fefs, that I myfelf was, in the be- ginning, at a lofs what opinion to form, when Mr. Vernezobre, Director of the whale - fifhery, tranfmitted to me the firft account of them from Archangel. But as the people concerned in the fol- lowing

[ 45 ]

lowing Narrative were dependents of Count Peter Iwanowitsch Schuwalow, who at that time enjoyed a grant of the whale- fifhery under the Emprefs Eli- zabeth, I requefted that Gen- tleman to fend for them from Arch- angel, that I might fatisfy myfelf by queftioning them concerning their adventures. The Count complyed with my requefl ; and moreover expreffed a defire to fee and converfe with thefe men him- felf.

In confequence of his orders, two of them were fent to Peterf- burg ; the one, Alexis Himkof, the mate, a man of about fifty years of age; the other, I wan

Him-

[ 4* J

HixMKOF, godfon to the former, of about thirty. They arrived at this city in the beginning of the year 1750; and the rlrfl converfation I had with them, was on the 8th of January. They brought with them feveral curious pieces of their wTork- manfhip, and fome productions of the defert Ifland on which they had fo long refided, as prefents for Count Schuwalow, of which things I {hall give fome account in the fequel . I examined them with all the circumfpeclion and care I was mailer of; propofing to them fuch queftions as I thought rie- ceffary to fatisfy me of the truth of this relation. The reader there- fore may fafely believe that, after having taken fuch precautions, no

room

[ 47 ] *oom is left to queftion the veracity of the following Narrative.

Another chcumftance tending alfo to authenticate the following account, is, that as foon as the unfortunate faiiors arrived at Arch- angel, Mr. Klingstadt, chief Auditor of the Admiralty of that city, fent for and examined them \ery particularly concerning the events which had befallen them ; minuting down their anfwers in writing, with an intention of pub- lifhing himfelf an account of their extraordinary adventures. This Gentleman, fome time after, came to Peterjburg, and feeing the Nar- rative which I had drawn up, he was pleafed to fay, that he pre- ferred

[ 48 ]

ferred it to his own, and there- fore gave up all thoughts of pub- lishing one himfexf. But he was fo obliging as to favour me with a fight of his manufcript, in order that I might infert (as I actually have done) fome particular inci- dents, which the failors had omit- ted to inform me of, but had re- lated to him. Both the accounts agreed to a tittle in all particulars where this Gentleman and I had put the fame queftions to the fai- lors; a circumftance which affords an almoft inconteftable proof of the truth of the whole.

THE

THE

NARRATIVE, &c.

F^^^N the year 174?, one Jeremiah ^ I ^ Okladmkof, a Merchant of k,2F j£j&£ Mefen, a town in the province of Jugovia and in the government of Archan?eL fitted out a veffel, carrying fourteen men; fhe was deftined for Spitz- berrcn, to be employed in the whalc-or fcal-iiiliery (#). For eight fucceffive days after they had failed, the wind was fair; but on the ninth it changed, fo that inllead

of

(<v) Seals arc by the Ruffians called Margin a rommodity in which they carry on a very ccn- fivierablc :rade.

II

[ 5° ] of getting to the weft of Spitzbergen, the nfnal place of rendevouz for the Dutch fhips, and thole of other nations annually employed in the whale-fifhery, they were driven eaftward of thofe iflands; and, after fome days3 they found themfelves at afmall diftance from one of them, called East- Spit z bergen; by the Ruffians, Maloy Broun-, that is, Little Broun (Spitzber- gen, properly fo called, being known to them by the name of Bolfchoy Broun, that is, Great Broun). Having approached this iiland within almoft three Werjis, or two Englifh miles, their vefTel was fuddenly furrounded by ice, and they found themfelves in an extremely dangerous iitiiatiom.

In this alarming ftate a council was held; when the mate, Alexis Himkof, informed them that he recollected to have heard, that fome of the people of Mefen, fome time before, having formed a refo- lution of wintering upon this iiland, had accordingly carried from that city timber

proper

[ 5' ] proper for building a hut, and had actually erected one at fome diilance from the fhore.

This information induced the whole company to refolve on wintering there, if the hut, as they hoped, itill exifted ; for they clearly perceived the imminent danger they were in, and that they mufl inevitably perifh if they continued in the fliip. They difpatched therefore four of their crew, in fearch of the hut, or any other fuccour they could meet with. Thefe were Alexis Himkof, the mate; Iwan Himkof, his godfon ; Stephen ScHARAfOF, and Feodor Weregin.

As the fhore on which they were to land was uninhabited, it was neceiTary that they fhould make fome provision for their expedition. They had almoit two miles to travel over loofe ridges of ice, which being railed by the waves, and driven againit. each other by the wind, rendered the way equally difficult H 2 and

[ 5* 1

and dangerous ; prudence therefore for- bad their loading themfelves too much, left, being overburthened, they might fink in between the pieces of ice ond pcrifh.

Having thus maturely confide red the nature of their undertaking, they pro- vided themfelves with a mufkct, a pow- der-horn containing twelve charges of powder, with as many balls, an axe, a fmall kettle, a bag with about twenty pounds of flower, a knife, a tinder-box and tinder, a bladder filled with tobacco, and every man his wooden pipe. Thus accoutred, thcfe four failors quickly arrived on the ifland, little fiifpe6ting the misfortunes that would befall them.

They began with exploring the country ; and foon difcovered the hut they were in fearch of, about an Englifh mile and a half from the fhore. It was thirty fix feet in length, eighteen feet in heighth, and as many in breadth. It con- tained

[ 53 ]

taincd a fmall anti-chamber, about twelve feet broad, which had two doors, the one to fhut it up from the outer air, the other to form a communication with the inner room: this contributed greatly to keep the larger room warm, when once heated. In the large room was an earthen ftove, conftrucled in the Ruffian manner ; that is a kind of oven without a chimnev, which ferves occasionally either for bak- ing, for heating the room, or, as is cuitomary amongfr. the Ruffian peafants, in very cold weather, for a place to ileep upon.

The reader mull not be furprifed at my mentioning a room without a chim- ney; for the houfes inhabited by the lower clafs of people in Ruffia are feldom built otherwife. When a fire is kindled in one of thefe ftoves, the room; as may well be fuppofed, is filled with fmoke ; to give vent to which, the door, and three or four windows are opened. Thefe win- dows are each a foot in heighth, and about

fix

[ 54 ]

fix inches wide : they are cut out of the beams whereof the houfe is built; and, by means of a lliding-board, they may, when occafion requires it, be fhut very clofe. When therefore a fire is made in the ftove, the fmoke defcends no lower than the windows, through which, or through the door, it finds a vent, accord- ing to the direction of the wind; and per- fons may continue in the room, without feeling any great inconveniency from it. The reader will readily conjecture that the upper part of fuch a place, between the windows and the cieling, mult be as black as ebony ; but, from the windows down to the floor, the wood is perfectly clean, and retains its natural colour.

They rejoiced gready at having dis- covered the hut, which had however fuf- fered much from the weather, it having now been built a considerable time : our adventurers however contrived to pais the night in it. Early next morning

thev

[ S5 ] they haflened to the fhore, impatient to inform their comrades of their fuccefs; and alfo to procure from their vefTel fuch proviflons, ammunition, and other ne- ceflaries, as might better enable them to winter on the ifland.

I leave my readers to figure to them- felves the aftonifhment and agony of mind thefe poor people mull have felt, when, on reaching the place of their landing, they faw nothing but an open fea, free from the ice, which, but a day before, had covered the ocean. A violent ftorm, which had arifen during the night, had certainly been the caufe of this difaftrous event. But they could not tell whether the ice which had before hemmed in the vefTel, agitated by the violence of the waves, had been driven c°;ainft her. and fhattered her to pieces; or whether fhe had been carried by the current into the main; a circumftance which fre- quently happens in thofe feas. Whatever accident ftad befallen the fhip, they faw

her

i i^ 3

her no more; and as no tidings were ever afterwards received of her, it is molt pro- bable that fhe funk, and that all on board of her perifhed.

This melancholy event depriving the unhappy wretches of all hope of ever being able to quit the ifland, they re- turned to the hut from whence they had come, full of horror and defpair.

Their fir ft attention was employed, as may eafily be imagined, in deviling means of providing fubfiitence, and for repair- ing their hut. The twelve charges of powder which they had brought with them, foon procured them as many rain- deer; the illand, fortunately for them, abounding in thefe animals.

Raindeer being only found in the moft northern parts of Europe, fuch as Lapland, and in the correfponding parts of Alia, a fhort defcription of thefe animals will, it is hoped, not be deemed an unpardon- able digrefiion. The

[ 57 J The raindeer much refemble the fhg, or elk. They are commonly of an ailv-colcur; but there are fome of a reddifh call. They exceed the Has; In fize, and are alfo more iiefhy. Their horns are fmooth and of a whitifh hue, with more branches than thofe of the flag, but very like the horns of the elk. The raindeer, when running, make a noife with the joints of their legs ; and this alfo ferves to diftinguifh them from the flag.

The Laplanders, the Samojedes, and a branch of the Tongufes, who, from the word Okn, which in the Ruffian language fignifies Rain-deer, are called O/eni-Tcn- gafes, ufe raindeer to draw in their iledges, inilead of hcrfes ; for, befides being of fufficient llrength, their fwiftnefs is incredible. Mofs, which in all the northern countries is produced in great abundance, is the only food on which they iubiiil. This they procure for them- elvfes, by clearing away with their feet I the

[ 5$ 3 the mow which covers the mofs ; i'o than their owners are at no expence for their maintenance.

An opinion prevails, that the raindeer cannot live in any but their native country. This however I will venture to fay is falfe; for I myfelf faw at Mofcow, twelve of thefe animals, which belonged to the High -Chancellor Count Golof- kix, feeding in a meadow adjoining to the river Taufe, which waters that noble- man's gardens: and in the year 1752, Count Peter Iwanowitsch Sckuwa- lc r, had both a male and female brought from Archangel. They fed on nothing but mofs, vet the female produced a vonne one, which throve to admiration,

o ? J

and continued in fu]l health and vigour till the year 1754. How long they lived afterwards I cannot fay, as I returned to 'Peter/o Hyp in that year,

I have before cbferved, that the hut which the failors were fo font late as to

unci.

[ 59 ] find, had fuflained fome damage, and it was this : there were cracks in many places between the boards of the building, which freely admitted the air. This in- conveniency was however eafily reme- died, as they had an axe, and the beams were flill found (for wood in thofe cold climates continues through a length of years unimpaired by worms or decay) fo it was eafy for them to make the boards join again very tolerably ; befides, mofs growing in great abundance all over the iiland, there was more than fufficient to ftop up the crevices, which wooden honfes muft always be liable to. Repairs of this kind coil the unhappy men the lefs rrouble, a? they were Ruffians ; for all Ruffian peafants are known to be good carpenters: they build their own houfes, and are very expert in handling the axe.

The intenfe cold, which makes thofe climates habitable to fo few fpecies of animals, renders them equally vnU: for . ? production of vegetables. No fpecies

J 2

01

[ 6o ]

of tree, or even fhrub, is found on any of the illands of Spitzbergen ; a circum- flance of the molt alarming nature to our failors. Without fire it was impolTible to refill: the rigour of the climate ; and without wood, how was that fire to be produced, or fupportcd? Providence, how- ever, has fo ordered it, that in this par- ticular, the fea fnpplies the defects of the land. In wandering along the beach, they collected plenty of wood, which had been driven afhore by the waves ; and which at firft conlifted of the wrecks of fhips, and afterwards of whole trees with their roots, the produce of fome more hofpitable, but to them unknown climate, which the overflowing of rivers, or other accidents, had fent into the ocean. This will not appear incredible to thofe who have perufed the journals of the feveral navigators who have been forced to winter in Nova Zcmla {a\ or

any

(a) I mull ohferve here, that the true pronun- ciation of that word is not Nova Zsmbla (as men- tioned

[ 6r ]

any other country in a ftill more northern latitude.

Nothing proved of more efTential fer- vice to thefe unfortunate men, during the fir ft year of their exile, than fome boards they found upon the beach, having a long iron hook, fome nails of about five or fix inches long, and proportionably thick, and other bits of old iron fixed in them; the melancholy relicks of fome vefTels caft away in thofe remote parts. Thefe were thrown afhore by the waves at a time when the want of powder gave our men reafon to apprehend that they muft fall a prey to hunger, as they had nearly con- fumed thofe raindeer they had killed. This luckv circumftance was attended

\v i ' li

tioncd by fcveral authors) but \o\jsiay or j\:i/j Zemin. The Ruffians having taken poiienion )! this iiland, gave it the name o( Kc-joiu, or Nsvu 'Lcn:iu\ that is, K:vj Earth, or Neiu Lznd; for the wore! ZemLi, in the Ruffian language, exprefTes both thcis ideas: and thus it is called in Ruffii, on which it :> dependent.

L 6l 1 with another, equally fortunate; the-. found, on the fhore, the root of a fir tree, which nearly approached to th< figure of a bow.

■&■

As neceffity has ever been the mother of invention, fo they foon fafhioned this root to a good bow, by the help of a knife ; but itill they wanted a firing, and arrows. Not knowing how to procure thefe at prefent, they refolved upon making a couple of lances, to defend themfelve^ againft the white bears, by far the moft ferocious of their kind, whofe attacks they had great reafbn to dread.

Finding they could neither make the heads of their lances, nor of their arrows, without the help of a hammer, they con- trived to form the large iron hook men- tioned above into, one, by heating it, and widening; a hole it happened to have about its middle, with the help of one of their largfeff. nails. This received the handle-, and a round button at one end of the heok

ferved

[ ^3 ] rvcJ for the face of the hammer. A laro;

ICl'VC

pebble fupplied the place of an anvil ; and a couple of raindecr's horns made the tongs. By the means of fuch tools, they made two heads cf fpears; and after po- lilhing and fharpening them on flone?, they tied them as tall as pofiible with thongs made of raindeer-fkins, to flicks about the thicknefs of a' man's arm, which they got from fome branches of trees that had been call on fliore.

Tims enuipoed with fpears, thev re- foived to attack a white bear; and alter a moft dangerous encounter, thev killed the formidable creature, and thereby made a new fupply or provisions. The flefh of this animal they relifhed exceedingly, as ihey thought it much refembled beef in talte and flavour. The tendons they iaw with much plea fur e could, with little or no trouble, be divided into fila- ments, of what fmenefs thev thought fit. This perhaps was the moil fortunate dif-

cowo

[ 64 ] covery thefe mencouldhavemcde; for, befides other advantage?, which will be hereafter mentioned, they were hereby furnifhed with ftrings for their bow.

The fuccefs of pur unfortunate iflanders in making the fpears, and the ufe thefc proved of,encouraged them to proceed, and to forge fome pieces of iron into heads of arrows of the fame fhape, though fome- whatfmaller in iize than the fpears above- mentioned. Having ground and fhar- pened thefe like the former, they tied them, with the finews of the white bears, to pieces of fir, to which, by the help of fine threads of the fame, they fattened feathers of fea-fowl ; and thus became pofTefTed of a complete bow and arrows. Their ingenuity, in this refpect, was crowned with fuccefs far beyond their expectation ; for, during the time of their continuance upon the iiland, with thefe arrows they killed no lei's than two hundred and fifty raindeer, beilJcs a

great

[ 65 ] great number of blue and white foxes (a\ The fleiri of thefe animals ferved them alfo for food, and their fkins for cloath- ing, and other ncceflary preservatives againft. the intenfe coldnefs of a climate fo near the Pole.

They killed however only ten white bears in ail, and that not without the utmoft danger; for thefe animals being prodi- gionily itrong, defended themfelves with aftonifhing vigour and fury. The fir ft our men attacked designedly ; the other nine they flew in defending themfelves from their arTaults: for fome of thefe creatures even ventured to enter the outer room of the hut, in order to devour them. It is true, that all the bears did not fhew (if I may be allowed the expreflion) eoual in- trepidity ;

(a) The Ruffians call them Psjlziy on nccount cf their grep.tiy refembling tho'.e ifiandic clogs which the fnepherds in Germany uf\i?.lly emoioy to watch their flitep. — Trie word Fei, in the R-jflian language, figmf.es a D-cg.

K

[ 66 ] trepidity ; either owing to fume being lcfs preffed by hunger, or to their being by nature lefs carnivorous than the others ; for fome of them which entered the hut, immediately betook themfelves to flight on the firft attempt of the failors to drive them away. A repetition, how- ever, of thefe ferocious attacks, threw the poor men into great terror and anxiety, as they were in almoit a per* petual danger of being devoured. The three different kinds of animals above- mentioned, viz. the raindeer, the blue and white foxes, and the white bears, were the only food thefe wretched ma- riners tafted during their continuance in this dreary abode.

We do not at once fee every re- fource. It is generally neccflity which quickens our invention, opening by de- grees our eyes, and pointing out expe- dients which otherwife migfht never have occurred to our thoughts. The truth of this obfervation our four failors cxpe-

ucriced

[ 67 ]

rienccd in various inftances. They were for fome time reduced to the necefiity of eating their meat almoft raw, and with- out either bread or fait; for they were quite destitute of both. The intenfe- nefs of the cold, together with the want of proper conveniences, prevented them from cooking their victuals in a proper manner. There was but oneflovein the hut, and that being fet up agreeably to the Ruffian taite, was more like an oven, and confequently not well adapted for boiling any thing. Wood alfo was too precious a commodity to be wafted in keeping up two fires; and the one they might have made out of their habi- tation, to drefs their victuals, would in no way have ferved to warm them. Ano- ther reafon againft their cooking in the open air, was the continual danger of an attack from the white bears. And here I muft obferve, that fuppofe they had made the attempt, it would frill have been practicable for only fome part of the year; for the cold, which in fuch a climate K 2 for

[ 6S 3 for fome months fcarce ever abates, from the long abfence of the fun, then enlight- ening the oppofite hemifphere; the incon- ceivable quantity of fnow, which is con- tinually falling through the greatefl part of the winter; together with the almoft incefTant rains at certain feafons ; all thefe were infurmountable obftacles to that expedient.

To remedy therefore, in fome degree, the hardfhip of eating their meat half raw, they bethought themfelves of drying fome of their provifion, during the fum- mer, in the open air, and afterwards of hanging it up in the upper part of the hut, which, as I mentioned before, was continually filled with fmoke down to the windows: it was thus dried thoroughly by the help of that fmoke. This meat, fo prepared, they ufed for bread, and it made them relifh their other flefh the better, as they could only half drefs it. Finding this experiment anfwer in every refpeet their willies, they continued to

practice

[ 69 ]

pra&ife it during the whole time of their confinement upon the iiland, and always, kept up by that means a fufficient frock of provifions. Water they had in fum- mer from fmall rivulets that fell from the rocks ; and in winter, from the fnow and ice thawed: this was of courfe their only beverage; and their fmall kettle was the only vefTel they could make ufe of for this and other purpofes.

It is well known, that fea-faring peo- ple are extremely fubject to the fcurvy ; and it has been obferved, that this dif- eafe incrcafes in proportion as we ap- proach the Poles; which mull: be attri- buted either to the exceffive cold, or to fome other caufe yet unknown. How- ever that may be, our mariners, feeing themfelves quite deftitute of every means of cure, in cafe they fhould be attacked with fo fatal a diforder, judged it expe- dient not to neglect any regimen gene- rally adopted as a prefervative againft this impending evil. Iwan Himkof,

one

[ 70 1

one of their number, who had feveral times wintered on the coaft of Weji- Spitzbergen, advifed his unfortunate com- panions to fwallow raw and frozen meat, broken into fmall bits ; to drink the blood of raindeer warm, as it flowed from their veins immediately after killing them; to ufe as much exercife as pofiible; and laftly, to eat fcurvy-grafs (Cochkaria) which grows on the iiland, though not in great plenty.

I leave the Faculty to determine whe- ther raw frozen fieiTi, or warm raindeer blood, be proper antidotes to the diitem- per ; but exercife and the ufe of fcurvy- grafs have always been recommended to perfons of a fcorbutic tendency, whether actually afflicted with the diforder or net. Be this as it may, experience at Jeaft feems to have proved thefe remedies to be efTe6lual ; for three of the failors, who purfued the above method, continued totally free from all taint of the difeafe. The fourth, Theodore Weregin, on

the

[ 7' ] the contrary, who was naturally indolent, averfe to drinking the raindeer blood, and unwilling to leave the hnt when he could pofTibly avoid it, was, foon after their arrival on the ifland, fcized with the fcurvy, which afterwards became fo bad, that he pafled almoft fix years under the greateft furTbrings : in the latter part of that time, he became fo weak that he could no longer fit erect, nor even raife his hand to his mouth ; fo that his humane companions were obliged to feed and tend him, like a new-born infant, to the hour of his death (a),

I have

(a) Though I have intimated my doubts ref- pe&ing the antiicorbutic virtue of raw frozen Beth, and the warm blood of raindeer, vet thefe things are not unworthy of confederation; for, in the firfr. volume of Voyages and Difccvcries made by the Ruffian: y along the Coajis of the Frozen Sea and Eajlern Ocean, &c. publifhed by Counfeilor Miller, I find the inhabitants of North Siberia cat raw frozen fifh as a preservative againft the fcurvy. The pa> fage alluded to occurs in pages IQ4, 195. ct Cur *' people wintered at the mouth of the river Cko-

[ 7* 1 I have mentioned above, that our failcrs brought a fmall bag of flour

with

<l tujhtach. Here the fcurvy began to fpread amongft Ci them; but it was happily cured, by a decoc- " tion of buds of cedar, which there grows like " ftirubs; and, according to the cuftoin of that Ci country, by frozen nih eaten raw. By thefe <e means, feconded by continual motion and labour, " the major part of the crew continued healthy, " and the lick recovered."

The recovery of the fick may perhaps be attri- buted folely to the conftant motion in which they kept themfelves, and to the balfam contained in the cedar-buds, which properly is a kind of tur- pentine, and is uied as fuch for purifying the blood. It is however evident, from the paflage above quoted, that the inhabitants of thofe countries eat raw frozen fifh as a fpecific remedy for the fcurvy ; and this is what I meant to obferve.

The above-mentioned Counfellor Miller, in pages 205, 206, alio fpeaks of exercife, and the warm blood of raindeer, as beneficial in fcorbutic cafes. ** In this particular," fays he, " the 16 Ruffians about Archangel fliould be imitated; <c fome of whom, almofl every year, winter in fi Nova Zemla, without ever contracting the fcurvy. " They follow the example of the SamojedeSy by " frequently drinking the warm blood of raindeer

" juft

[ 73 ] with them to the ifland. Of this they had confumed about one half with their meat;

the

" juft killed." " The hunting after thefe ani-

" ma'.s requires a continual exercife. None ever " keeps in his hut during the day, unlefs the ftormy " weather, or too great quantities of fnow, hinder (( them from making their ufual excurfions."

When I read to Mr. S. Batigne the account which I now lay before the public, he told me, he was inclined to believe that the blood of raindeer, if drunk quite warm, might be a great prcfervativc againft, and even a cure for the fcurvy, preventing anddifperfing, by its refolvent nature, all thofe vif- cuous concretions, which give rife to a diforder that proceeds chiefly from a want of proper circulation in the juices; which at length brings on putrefaction, and infecls the whole mafs of the blood. Among other proofs, he grounded his opinion on what fome voyagers to the Weft-Indies relate, that when the fcurvy rages amongft a fhip's crew, they dire&ly make for one of the Torture, or Turtle I/lands, fo called from the great number of thofe animals found there. The patients feeding plcntifullv on them, from the quantity of their blood, and its balfamic quality, find them remarkably wholcfomc. — This is farther confirmed by a prevailing cuftom in the

A'-

L

[ 74 j the remainder they employed in a dif- ferent manner, equally ufefnl. They foon faw the necefTity cf keeping up a con- tinual fire in fo cold a climate, and found that if it fhouid unfortunately go out, they had no means of lighting; it a^ain ; for though they had a freel and flints, yet they wanted both match and tin- der.

The American favsges have hit on an expedient for procuring fire, by rubbing a fquare piece of hard wood between two pieces of a fofter kind; which being prefled clofe by the knees, are at length heated by the friction, and focn after

fmoke

Alps and adjacent country, where thofe afflicted with a pleurify, or other diibrders occafioned by an obftruction in the circulation of the fluids, are or- dered to take the blood of Bouquetins, cr Wild Goats ; which though it be a dry fubflance, yet retains fo much of its volatile nature, as to produce the moft happy efFecls, in bringing on firft a gentle perfpi ration, then copious fweats.

r ^5 ]

/.

fmoke and take fire (a). It is not to be pre fumed that our unfortunate failors were

L 2 ac-

(a) Sec what Lab at •• on this '> jeft, in his

New Voyages to the Am - ...r Ijlands, when (peaking

of the Cay-ribs. But I — od here ad;!, that

this is not the only in inner ct procu; ug a fire, in ufe amongft the Americans. Some i f them have fallen on another expedient, which is a lingular contrivance, a machine peculiarly adapted to *he purpofc; and what is more remarkable, cvr- he inhabitants of Kamtfchatra ufe the fame inflrumenf. Here I beg leave to lay before the reader what Counfellor Miller has faici on this fubicct in his Account of the Difcoveries made by the Riijiaris, before quoted, page 257. " Mr. Steller " came to a place where the Americans had but il juft dined, but the inftant he approached they " retired. He there found an arrow, and a wooden " inftrument for making fire, exaclly fimilar to

" thofc ufed for that purpofc in Kamtfcbatka"

In a note fubjoincd, he gives the following defcrm- tion of it : " This is a piece of board with leveral " holes in it, and a ftick, the one end of v. hich " is thruft into one of thefe holes, whilft the " other end is whirled round between the hands, " until the fvvift gyration fets tlie hole on fire; " then the fparks are caught on fume fubftancc

" like

[ 76 ]

acquainted with this American practice; they knew, however, that by rubbing together two dry {ticks, the one hard, the other foft, the latter would take fire ; for befides that this is the method praclifed by the peafants in fome parts of Ruflia when in the woods, there is alfo a re- ligious ceremony, firictly obferved in every Ruffian village where there is a church, in which the fire employed is called Givoy Agon, that is, Living Fire, and which mult be kindled in the like manner (a).

" like tinder, eafily combuftible, and the fire is " kindled by the help of dried grafs, or other ma- " terials tit for the purpofc."

(<?) An account of this fingular ceremony may probably not prove unentertaining to my readers, though it have no immediate connection with this Narrative.

Tiie eighteenth of Auguft, old ftile, is by the Ruffians called Frol i Lavoir, from two martyrs, who, in the Roman calendar, are known by the names of Florus and Laurus. According to the Ro- man chronology, this day falls on the twenty-ninth of Auguft, the fame day on which the church com- memorates

[ 77 1

The Knowledge however of this could be of little ufe to them, for they were at a Iofs for the materials necefTary to per- form the experiment. They had no other wood but fir, which, as it was brought them by the waves, was much too wet

for

memorates the dccolation of St. Jch:-i. On this day the Ruffian pcafants lead their horfes to the church of the village, rear to the fide of which they have the evening before dug a cavity under ground, with two openings, one for entering, the other (or going out. Each horie having a bridle made of the rind of lime-tree, is made to enter this cavity in proccffional order; at the outlet Hands a prieft, with a brufh in his hand, to fprinkle the creatures with holy water; and as they fucceffively come out, the bridle of each is taken off, and the horfes arc then made to walk between two fires, kindled, by what the Ruffians call Givey Agont that is Living Fire: into one of thefe fires the peafants throw their bridles, where they are con- fumed. The manner of kindling this Givoy Agr,n3 is as follows. Tlicv take a branch of the mapie- tree, which is prcvioully dried, and about fix feet Ion-;,; tins they rub hard on a piece of birch, which is alio thoroughly dried; but being fofter than the former, it is toon let on [ire bv the trichwn, and ici'ves for makiii*! the two f:: :s. beioi . v. :ntioiKcl.

[ /5 J for the pnrpofe. The difficulty therefore was, by what means to fecure themfelves againft. fo difmal a calamity as the want of fire? After revolving this hard pro- blem in their minds, they had recourfe to the following contrivance. In their ex- enrfions through the ifland, they had met with a flimy loam, or a kind of clay, nearly in the middle of it. Out of this they found means to form a utenfil which might ferve for a lamp ; and they pro- pofed to keep it conlhntly burning, with the fat of the animals they fhould kill. This was certainly the moil rational fcheme they could have thought of; for to be without a light, in a climate where, dur- ing winter, darknefs reigns for feveral months together, would have added much to their other calamities. Having there- fore fafhioned a kind of lamp, they filled it with raindeer's fat, and ftuck in it fome twifted linen, lhaped into a wick. But they had the mortification to find, that as foon as the fat melted, it not only foaked into the clay, but fairly

run

t 79 ]

run through it on all fides. The thing therefore was to devife fome means for preventing this inconveniency, not arifing from cracks, but from the fub- fiance of which the lamp was made be- ing too porous. They made therefore a new one, dried it thoroughly in the air, then heated it red hot, and after- wards quenched it in their kettle, wherein they had boiled a quantity of flour down to the confidence of thin ftarch. The lamp being thus dried and filled with melted fat, they now found, to their great joy, it did not leak. But for greater fecurity, they dipped linen rags in their pafte, and with them covered all its outiide. Succeeding in this attempt, they immediately made ano- ther lamp, for fear of an accident, that in all events they might not be defli- tute of light; and when they had done fo much, they thought proper to fave the remainder of their flour for fimilar pnrpofes.

[ So 1 As they had carefully collected what- ever happened to be caft en fhore, to fnpply them with fuel, they had found amongfr. the wrecks of veffels fome cor- dage, and a fmall quantity of oakum (a kind of hemp irfed for calking fhips) which ferved them to make wicks for their lamp. When thefe ftores began to fail, their fhirts, and their drawers (which are worn by almoft all Ruffian peafants) were employed to make good the defi- ciency. By thefe means they kept their lamp burning without intermiiTion, from the day they firft made it (a work they fet about foon after their arrival on the ifland) until that of their embarkation for their native country.

The nccefiitv of converting the mofr. effential parts of their cloathing, fuch as their fhirts and drawers, to the ufe above fpecified, expofed them the more to the rigour of the climate. r« hey alio found themfelves in want of fboes, boots, and other articles of drefs; and as winter

was

[ s. ]

was approaching, they were again ob- liged to have reco'urfe to that in- genuity which neceiTity fuggeils, and which feldom fails in the trying hour of diflsrefs.

They had fkins of raindeer and foxes in plenty that had hitherto ferved them tor bedding, and which they now thought of employing in fome more efTential fer- vice ; but the queftion was how to tan theim After deliberating on this fub- jecl, they took to the following method. They foaked the ikins for feveral davs in frefH water, till they could pull off the hair pretty eafily ; they then rubbed the wet leather with their hands till it was nearly dry, when they fpread fome melted raindeer fat over it, and again rubbed it well. By this procefs the lea- ther became foft, pliant and fupplc, pro- per for anfwering every' purpofe they wanted it for. Thofe fkins which they deiigncd for furs, they only foaked for one dav, to urcoare them for being: \I wrought,

[ 82 ]

wrought, and then proceeded in the man- ner before mentioned, except only that they did not remove the hair. Thus they foon provided themfelves with the necef- fary materials for all the parts of drefs they wanted.

But here another difficulty occurred. — They had neither awls for making fhoes or boots, nor needles for fewing their garments. This want however they foon fupplied by means of the bits of iron they had occaiionally collected. Out of thefe they made both; and by their tnduitry even brought them to a certain degree of perfection. The making eyes to their needles gave them indeed no little trouble ; but this they alfo performed with the affiftance of their knife; for having ground it to a very fharp point, and heated red hot a kind of wire forged for that purpofe, they pierced a hole through one end, and by whetting and fmooth- ing it on itones, brought the other to a point, and thus gave the whole needle

a very

[ 83 ]

a very tolerable form. I myfelf examined fome of thefe needles, and could find fault with nothing except the eye, which being made in the manner abovemen- tioned, was fo rough that it often cut the thread drawn through it ; an imper- fection they could not poffibly remedy, for want of better tools.

Sciflars, to cut out the flans, were what they next had occafion for ; but having none, their place they fupplied with their knife : and though there was neither taylor nor fhoemaker amongft them, yet they contrived to cut out their leather and furs well enough for their purpofe. The finews of the bears and the raindeer, which, as I mentioned be- fore, they had found means to fplit, ferved them for thread; and thus provided with the necefTary implements, they proceeded to make their new cloaths.

Their fummer drefs coniiAed of a kind

of jacket and trowfers, made of fkins

M 2 pre-

[ Si ] prepared as I have mentioned above , and in winter they wore Ion?* fur-^owns. like the Samojedes, or Laplanders, fur- nifhed with a hood, which coveted their head and neck, leaving only an opening for the face. Thefe gowns were fewed clofe round, fo that to put them on, they were obliged to bring them ove:

• CO

their heads like a fhirt,

Excepting the uneafinefs which gene- rally accompanies an involuntary foli- tude, thefe people, having thus by their ingenuity fo far overcome their wants, might have had reafon to be contented with what Providence had done for them in their diftrefsful fituation. But that melancholy reflection, to which each of thefe forlorn pcrfons could not help giving way, that perhaps he might fur- vive his companions, and then perifli for want of fubfiitence, or become a prey to the wild beafts, inceiiantly diftnrbed their minds. The mate, Ale x i s Hi m kof, more particularly futfered, who having

[ *5 ') left a wife and three children behind, forely repined at his being feparated from them : they were, as he told me, constantly in his mind, and the thought of never more feeing them made him

very unhappy. But I will now give

lome account of the iiland, and relate what the failors told me about it.

In the fea-chart of the northern parts of Europe, drawn by Gerhard van Keulen, and corrected by John Pe- tersen Stuurman, this iiland of Eafl- Spitzbergen, the Maloy Brown of the Ruffians, is placed between 770. 25'. and 78°. 45'. of north latitude, and confe- quently between the end of the third, and the beginning of the fourth climate ; iiQncc the longeil: duration of day-li^ht there, mud be four months in the year. According to the above Map, this iiland forms a kind of pentagone : its length, from eaft to wrefr, is about one hundred and twenty, and its breadth, from north to fouth, about one hundred and fifteen

Endifli

[ 86 ]

Bngliiri miles. As I had forgotten to queftion our failors concerning the lize of the ifland, fo for fome information I was obliged to confult the Map which had been laid before them on their return home, and which has been fince fent me from Archangel. In this they had pointed out the place of their exile, fhewed the very fpot where they conceived their hut to fland, and had marked it with the itroke of a pen.

As a proof that our mariners had not- been mistaken in the fituation of this ifland, I fhall lay before my readers what Mr. Vernezobre communicated to me in one of his letters.

" The captain of a galliot, called the ** Nicholas and Andrew, belonging to " Count Peter Iwanowitsch Schu- iC walow, Wintered in Malay Brown, in Kl the year 1749. As he arrived there " foon after the departure of our failors, " he found the hut in which they had

"'lived

[ 87 ]

' lived, knowing it to be the fame by a c wooden crofs, which the mate Alexis ' Himkof had ere&ed before the door, c as a memorial of his having taken pof- c feflion of the country, which, from his 6 own name, he called Akxeyewjkoy Oftrow, that is, Alexis' I/land." — He further fays, in the fame letter — cc Some ' Samojedes, having heard of the adven- ' tures of thefe failors, and queftioned c them very circumstantially concerning : the country, lately font me a mef- £ fage, expreffing their defire to make a : fettlement upon this iiland, provided £ a free paffage were granted to them, * their wives, children, and their rain- < deer."

Before I enter on a circumstantial ac- count of the nature of this iiland, it may not be improper to introduce it with the following; obfervation. Some authors main- tain, that the country known by the name of Nova Zemla, is n:j iiland, nor, as others affirm, a part of our continent; but only

an

[ 55 ]

an afTemblage of ice, which had gradu- ally accumulated. They fupport their opi- nion, by faying, that you will meet with ice on digging to the depth of one or two feet into the fuperficial earth., which they pretend has been carried thither by the wind from the coafl: of Ana, and depo- fited on this ice.

I fhall not undertake to decide this quefrion, as I have not perufed all the authors who efpoufe or controvert this opinion j nor is it to my prefent purpofc But thus much I will venture to affirm, that the iiland of Eaji-Spitzbcrgen has not been formed by the ice, but that it is certainly real land ; and the account given me of it by thefe failor?, puts this matter beyond all doubt.

According to their relation, the iiland of Eaji-Spitzberptn has many mountains and fteep rocks of a fmpendous height,. which are conftantly covered with fnow and ice. Not a tree, nor even the

pooreft

[ «9 1 pooreft fhrub is to be met with; and of plants, fcurvy-grafs is the only one which grows there, and that but in fmall quan- tities ; it produces no grafs, but plenty of mofs in every part. About the middle of the ifland they found, as I have men- tioned before, a fattifh loam or clay ; whence we may reafonably infer, that iron ores have exifted, or will be formed there : perhaps a careful fearch would difcover fome even now. It has no river, but a great number of fmall rivulets, which rife amongft the rocks and moun- tains, and afford plenty of water. Be- sides pebbles, which are met with in abundance, this ifland produces another kind of llone that will burn to lime, and which is found on the furface of the earth. In RufTra it is called Plit, and is taken from quarries, and ufed for making quick lime, to cement the foun- dation of houfes. It has the appear- ance of a kind of free-Aone, but when long expofed to the air, it fcales and falls to pieces like flates. The fhores of N the

L 9° the iiland are covered with fand and gravel, of which laft a little is alfo found towards its center.

I further questioned our failors concern- ing the appearance and abfence of the fun, the temperature of the climate, the feveral viciflTitudes to which the air was expofed, and in fhort all the phenomena they might have obferved during their fby on the iiland.

The anfwers they gave me relating to the firft appearance of the Cun, its courfe round the horizon, and its total dis- appearance, were as follows. The fun, they faid, firft appeared in the begin- ning of Lent; but as this varies much, according as Eafter happens to fall, and as thefe illiterate failors were quite unac- quainted with the manner of calculating Eafter, or had perhaps never obferved that this feftival falls fometimes later than others, fo I could not from this anfwer determine the time of the fun's firft ap- pearance

[ 9' ] pearance above the horizon, with any degree of certainty. The time of their obferving the fun to begin his courfe round the horizon was more exadl ; this, they faid, was on the feaft of St. Athanafius, which is the fecond day of May, old ftyle; from that day they had fcen it perform the circuit during ten or eleven weeks, which (fuppoiing the latter to be the true time, as is moil: probable from the fituation of the ifland) would be to the fifteenth of July. They added, that the fun then rofe and fet every four and twenty hours, till the feflival of St. Demetrius- that is, till the twenty-fixth of October, old ftyle, when it totally difappeared.

This account however of our failors is, I fufpc6t, not exa6l ; for if we fuppofe the iiland on which they were, to be in lati- tude feventy-feven and a half decrees, as laid down in the map above-mentioned, the fun mufl make its firft appearance on the horizon on the fourth of February; it ought to be fecn performing its circuit N 2 from

[ 92 J from the eleventh of April till the eighth of Auguft, and mud difappear on the fixr teenth of Oftober.

But though thefe good people might err as to the rifmg and fetting of the fun, and the time of its circuit round the he- mifphere, by taking the church-kalendar for their guide, yet it is not to be in- ferred from thence that they fell into any considerable miftake about the time of their abode in that place; for the verTel which brought them home, arrived off the ifland on the fifteenth of Augufr, which is the day of the Afcenfion of the Virgin Alary ; but our failors, who had always obferved the great church holidays, as well as they could remember them, ima- gined it to be the thirteenth of Auguit, and had not yet celebrated that fcait. So that there was a difference of two days only, which is ealily pardonable, when we confider that in fummcr they faw the dm moving round the horizon for four months together, and in winter were as long in

total

[ 93 ]

total darknefs ; that the thick and cloudy weather, the great quantities of fnow, and almofr inceffant rains at certain feafons, frequently interrupted the fight of the liars.

I could not conceive how thefe men, who had neither clocks nor watches, nor fun-dial, nor nocturnal, had been able to determine the length of a natural day, at the time when the fun was conftantly moving round them, and efpecially when they had no longer any fight of him. On this head I was very particular in my quef- tions; fo that the mate Alexis Himkof, furprized at them, anfvvered me withfome warmth. " What a fine pilot, Sir, would u you think me to be, if I knew not how " to take the altitude of the fun when he " is before my eyes, or not to regulate " myfclf by the courfe of the ftars on the fe fun's not appearing, and by that means *:: to determine the period of twenty-four iC hours? I had for this purpofe made a -f ftafT, like that which I had left behind

" in

t 94 1 *• in our vefTel, which I employed for tC making my obfervations." From hence I conceived this inftrament to have been what we call a Jacob's ft a jf3 or fome thing like it.

When I queftioned them concerning the appearance of the moon, they told me, that fhe fhone in winter for almoft two months continually, and that fhe rofe higher above the horizon in proportion as the days grew fhorter. I am not Aftronomer enough to determine whe- ther they told me the truth in this par- ticular; but I find that the Dutch, who wintered in the year 1576 in Neva Zemta, in the feventy-fixth degree of north la- titude, give a fimilar account of the moon's courfe above the horizon during the fun's abfence, which I will here lay before the reader.

" On the firft of November, in the :; evening, we faw the moon rife in the '' eafr, and the fun was fuiriciently raifed

11 above

[ 95 ] " above the horizon to be wholly viiible. " — On the fecond, the fun rofe in the " fouth-fouth-eait, and fet in the fouth- " fouth- weft; but moved on the horizon, " fo that the whole difk was never viiible. <£ — On the third, the fun rofe between cc the fouth and the fouth-fouth-eaft, but <c fomething more towards the fouth, and " fet between the fouth and fouth- fouth- " well, but alfo nearer the fouth, and we " could only fee the upper part of his body, <c though the place from whence we made " our obfervations was as high as the " main-mail: of the fhip, which lay clofe " by. — On the fourth, the fun was no " longer to be feen, though the weather " was fair. — When the fun had left the ho- " rizon, the moon took his place, and " continued to fhine day and night with- " out fetting, when in her greateft nor- " thern declination (#)." — This account

pe

fectiv

(o) See Recucil des Voyages qui ont fervi 5 retabliiTement 6c aux progrcs de la eompagnie des Indes Orientales, fomiee dan; les Pro\:inccs-Unies

I 96 ) perfectly agrees with that of our iailorS; as to the moon's fhining day and night, though it does not mention how long fhe continued fo*

They further told me, that the aurora borealis was pretty frequent in winter, and greatly contributed to lelTen the gloominefs of fo long a night.

One would imagine, that in a country fo near the Pole, where the heat in fum- mer is very moderate, though the fun fhines for fome months without inter- ruption, the cold mull: be very intenfe during the whole winter; but the facl is otherwife; for from about the middle of November to the beginning of January, a- period about which thefe good people fatisfied me, by defining it, in their ufual manner, by two holidays; namely, the

beginning

des Pays-Bas. Troifieme Voyage des Hollandoi* pat le Nord, p. 66, 67,

f 97 ]

Beginning of St. Philip'?, Fafr, which falls on the fifteenth of November; and the day for confecrating the holy water, which among us is the Twelfth-Day, or iixth of January. During thefe feven weeks they faid it generally rains hard and con- tinually On the ifla'nd, and all that time the cold is very moderate; but after this rainy feafon it becomes intolerably fe- vere, efpecially when the wind is fouth. This will appear extraordinary, as in moll countries this is a warm wind, whilfl its oppofite the north wind is cold; but here it rauft be confidered, that the fouth winds came to our iflanders over Europe, and particularly the northern parts of it^ which in winter are generally covered with fnow and ice, whence it contracts this cx- ceffive coldnefs. The north wind, on the contrary, came to them from the ocean, and inilead of increafing the cold, carried along with it the vapours from the lea, which are always lefs frigorific than thofe from fnow. It is indeed a fact well known on the fea-coafts, that the O land-

[ 9? J

land-winds are ufually colder than fuch as blow from the fea : and what confirms this account is, that ail who have been on the Riphaan mountains, or that chain called Poias Semnoy (which divides Eu- ropean Ruilia from Siberia) agree with our failors in faying, that the coldnefs of the fouth winds there far exceeds that of the north winds.

The fnow fell on this ifland in fuch great quantities during the winter, that it wholly covered their hut, and left them no way of getting out of it, but through a hole they had made in the upper part of the roof of their anti- chamber.

On my afking thefe people about me- teors, tempefts, &c. they told me, that during the whole time of their abode on the ifland, they had not heard it thunder more than once.

Excepting

C 99 ]

Excepting the white bears, the foxes, and the raindeer, with which, as I have already obferved, the iiland abounds, it is as void of every other kind of ani- mals as of the human fpecies. A few birds are indeed feen in fummer; but thefe are only geefe, ducks, and other water-fowl. Nor is the fea that furrounds it better flocked ; fo that under fuch a dearth of fifh, our failors, who otherwife very flriclly attended to the ceremonies prefcribed by their religion, could neither obferve their Lent, nor other fingle faft- days. But had the fea even abounded with fifh, they would have been of little fervice to them, unprovided as they were with every kind of falling-tackle ; unlefs neceiTity had likcwife taught them to make hooks, lines or nets.

The whales feldom approach the fhore ; but iea-dogs and feals are there in great abundance : and hence we need not wonder at the Ruffians having formerly provided necefTaries and wintered there; O 2 for

[ 100 J

for they carry on a very considerable trade with the fkins, the teeth, and the blubber of thofe animals, efpecially of the latter. So that we have reafon to be furprized, that not a iingle verlel with that view touched at the ifland during the whole time which thefe men pafTed upon it : and from this circumstance I am led to think, that the fiHierv turns out far more profitable on JVeJi-Spitzbergen, whither b feems they generally direct their courfe.

Our men told me, that they had fre- quently found on the beach fome teeth, and even whole jaws of the feals, bm Ttever an entire' fkeleton of them.-' This is not'tb be wondered at, for when any of •thefe animals die upon the fhore, the white bears immediately eat the carcafe, and the foxes perhaps come in for a fharc.

But the common food- of the white bears 5f> me" dead whales, which are frequently JdSff* -floating about,- and fometimes arc •■wlft- onshore in' thefe polar regions. When

thip

[ ioi ] this provision fails, they fall npon and de- vour the feals, or other fea-animals, when Sleeping on the beach. The raindeer livre entirely on rriofs, of which thefe defert countries produce an incredible plenty. But what provifion there is for the foxes we do not know. Thefe creatures are known to be carnivorous, and on the continent they fubfift by catching poultry and hares; but as nothing of this kind is to be met with on that iiland, it is probable that they feed upon the remains of the animals killed, and partly confumed by the white bears ; as they are not fufficiently frrong to cater for themfelves, and to mafter fuch crea- tures as are as little able to withfland the bears.

Before I come to the no lefs fortunate than unexpected deliverance of our failors from their forlorn abode, at a time when they thought of nothing butmiferably end- ing their days there, I muft mention a cir- eumftance which had almoft efcaped me, andyet fecms net unworthy of notice. It is

remark-

[ 102 }

remarkable, that thefe men w-ere neither troubled with fleas nor lice, during the whole time they remained on the ifland, though on their return home they were again vifited by them. It is a pretty general observation, that failors, who otherwife are very fubject. to vermin, and who, it is faid, for that reafon wear flhirts of blue linen, get quite free from them on palling the equator ; but no fooner do they repafs the line on their return, than thofe vermin fwarm among them as before. Now thefe two cir- cumflances, namely, the crofTing the equi- noctial line, and getting beyond the po- lar circle, being attended with the fame effects, one would naturally imagine, that there mnft be fomething in common between them ; and it were to be wifhed that naturalifls would make that a fubject of their inquiry.

When our four mariners had pafTed nearlv fix years in this difmal place, Fe odor We r e g i n, whofe illnefs we

had

[ i°3 ] had occafion to mention above, and who all along had been in a languid con- dition, died, after having in the latter part of his life fuffered moll: excruciating pains. Though they were thus freed from the trouble of attending him, and the grief of being witnefTes to his mi- fery, without being able to afford him any relief, yet his death affected them not a little. They faw their number lefTened, and every one wifhed to be the firfl: that fhould follow him. As he died in winter. they dug a grave in the fnow as deep as they could, in which they laid the corpfe, and then covered it to the beft of theii power, that the white bears might not get at it.

Now, at the time when the melan- choly reflections occafloned by the death of their comrade were freih in their minds, and when each expected to pay this laft duty to the remaining companions of his misfortunes, or to receive it from them, they unexpectedly got light of a

ivuii.ai>

[ '04 J Ruffian fhlp : this happened on the fif-» teenth of Anguft, 1749.

The veiTcl belonged to a trader, of the feci called by its adherents Stara Fieva, that is, The Old Faith (a), who had

come

(<?) Thefe are looked upon as a fet of heretics by the Ruffians, who give them the name of Rafkol- chiki) or Ra/kohiikiy which fignifies BackfAders, of Apojlates,

Though the particular religion of the mailer of the veflei be a circumftance indifferent in itfelf, and in no ways connected with the fubject of my nar- rative, yet I hope fome account of it will not be unacceptable to thofe who delight in fearching into the hiflory of nations, and more particularly into the Ruffian hiftory, and every thing relating to it. Another reafon for my mentioning it, is, that I find thefe people rnifreprefented by ieveral au- thors. Some have defcribed them as a diftinct nation, and others have taken them to be a fet of hermits, or monks ; but they are neither one nor the other; for the inhabitants of the northern coafU of Rulha, who bear the name of RuJJians, arc as fuch eftcemed profcfTors of the pure Greek reli- gion; whereas thefe fe&aries arc, in oppofition to them, diftinguiihed, as I faid, by a nick-name

of

[ "°5 J tbme with it to Archav.rel, propofing it fhould winter in Nova Zemla-, but for-

tunatcl)'

of ridicule and reproach. The appellation they give ihemfelves is Starrs Vievi, that is, Prcfcjfovsoftbe Old Faith,

Thefe heretics, in order to make thcmfelves fcnown, are obliged to wear a large yellow collar, bordered with red, which hangs a great way down the back, and ends ahnoft in a point. Upon con- dition of wearing this difunguifhing badge, what- ever their other drels be, and under the promife of not attempting to fpread their doctrine, or raifing disturbances in the empire, Peter the Great gave orders that tlicy lhould be tolerated, and live un- rholefted, after having been cruelly perfecuted for Some time before:

This feci originated about the vear 1 6 6 6 , upon the following occafion. The patriarch Nicov, who may well be called the Hildebrand, or the Gre- gory VII. of the Ruffian church, as he plainly ap- pears to have bad the genius of that Pope, [<:c:u his ilifjmtes with the Emperor Alexey Michael- owitz (who at laft had him iolcmnh depefed from his dignity by the patriarch-:, bilhops, metropo- litans and other Rufiian prelates affembled tor that purpofeat Mofcon ) this Nico.v, I lay, had obicrved that manv obsolete avoids occurred in th.e Sclavonian

Lit

tur

[ io6 ]

tunately for our poor exiles, Mr. Ver- nezobre propofed to the merchant to

let

Liturgy ufed in the Ruffian churches, which were neither underftood by the priefts, nor by the people; thefe he changed for others of the fame fignification, but more modern and intelligible.

A great number of priefts, efpecially about Archangel and in Siberia, with one Jacob at their head, protefted againft this alteration of the ex- preflions, which they confidered as the grcateft crime againft religion. They obftinately perfifted in re- taining the old words, which according to them had been fanctified by a long feries of ages, and could not be changed without great impiety. They there- fore diffented in certain articles from the Ruffian church, and afferted, that they alone maintained the old and pure religion. However, many of the moft learned and fenfible Ruffians have affured me,' that thefc articles only relate to matters of little confequence. Thus, as an outward mark of their profeffion, they make the fignof the crofs, by join- ing the thumb and the two laft fingers of the right hand, holding up the index and middle linger. The Ruffians, on the contrary, ioin the thumb with the index and the middle linger, and pvc!« the two laft fingers down into t'.e palms of their hand:;.

I hem

[ !°7 1 let his velTel winter at IVcfl-Spkzbergen, which he at lair, after many objections,

agreed to.

The contrary winds they met with on

their paflage, made it impoflible for them

to reach the place of their destination.

The vefTcl was driven towards Eafl-

P 2 Spitsbergen,

From the beginning of this fchil'm, to the time when Petek. the Great abolifhed the patriarchal dignity in Ruffia, during the fpace of about fifty years, the Rajkolniki were inhumanly ufed, and hence many of them lied to the woods ror fafctv; but they never were a fct of hermits, as affertedby the author of the Nouveau Diftiomialre imivcrffl ■pour f Intelligence Acs Affaires (VEtat, ties N~ouz'e:lc> Jiubliqucs, he. under the article Raskolnikes. Many of them are merchants and people of great property, and are thought to be more honeft in their dealings than the other Ruffians. There are hermits in Ruffia, known bv the name of Pcu(l:n::iki: thelc arc commonly trades-people, who, being tired of the world, ailbciate and retire in fmall companies into the wood:,, where they build huts and a church, live upon alms, and pais their days in penance and prayer; but they nmfi have leave of their ibve- reiffn for this uurnofe.

[ io8 ] Spitzbergcn, directly oppcfitc to the re- iidence of our mariners, who, as foon as they perceived her, haftened to light fires upon the hills ncarefr. their habi- tation, and then ran to the beach, wav- ing a flag made of a raindeer's hide fattened to a pole. The people on board feeing thefe fignals, concluded that there were men on the ifland who implored their afilflance, and therefore came to a;i anchor near the fhore.

It would be in vain to attempt deferr- ing the joy of thefe pcor people, at fee- ing the moment of their deliverance fo near. They foon agreed with the mailer of the fhip to work for him on the voy- age, and to pay him eighty rubels on their arrival, for taking them on board, with all their riches ; which confifted in fifty pud, or two thoufand pound weight of rain- deer fat; in many hides of thefe animals, and ikins of the blue and white foxes, together with thefe of the ten white bears 'hey had killed. They took care not to

forget

[ 109 3 forget their bow and arrow?, their fpears, their knife and axe, which were almoft worn out, their awls, and their needles which they kept carefully in a bone-box, very ingenioully made with their knife only ; and, in fhert, every thing they were porTefTed of.

Some of thefe tilings they brought with them to Peterjburg; others they after- wards font by Mr. Vernezobre from Archangel, as prefents for Count Schu- walow, who was pleafed to commit them to my care. This gave me an op- portunity of examining them at lcifure, and to lay them before many curious and ingenious per Tons, who could not fufli- ciently admire them.

One day, when I fhewed the bone needle -cafe above-mentioned to fome of thofe gentlemen, and told them the jailors had, according to their account, made it with their knife, they anfwered me that it could not be; that it was im- port! blc

[ no ]

poiTible they could have given it fo re- gular a form with a knife, that the box had undoubtedly been turned in a lathe, and that the men had deceived me in pretending it to be their work : hence they directly inferred, that thefe men, affirming a falfity in this point, might have done it in others ; fo that the whole account of their adventures on the defert iiland was not to be credited. I de- fended them, and during our difpute Mr. Homann, a very fkiiful ivory-turner, cafually entered the room. We prefently agreed to abide by his decitfon; and turning to him, I gave to the queftion a quite different turn, that Mr. Homann might not be thought to have decided in my favour only out of civility. " Be fo " kind," (aid I, " to determine a fmall " difference between thefe srentlcmcn " and me : I fay that this box is turned, " and they maintain the contrary." Mr. Homann having carefully examined it, anfwered, " The Gentlemen are in the cc right; this box was never made by a

■: turner;

"I ]

" turner; it is a bone which has been cc (craped to this form." — The anfwer fiienccd my opponents, and gave me a right to conclude, that as the failors had not deviated from truth in this particular, fo they deferved credit for their narrative in general.

b

I mnft indeed confefs, that I mvfclf have often been tempted to doubt the truth of feveral circumfrances, and have therefore carefully and impartially con- sidered every thino; thefc men related to me. But though I put the fame quefHons to them at different times, and on dif- ferent occasions, often obi eel: ed to their anfvvcrs, and by crofs examination en- deavoured to find them in contradiction?; yet their anfwers were always perfectly confident with one another, and thereby removed the fufpicions I had before en- tertained about their veracity.

As a further proof of my having taken ever}' neceffury lie;: t, fati?fv myfelf about

the

[ "2 ]

the truth of their relation.; I fibril her?. lay before the reader a letter of Dr. Kratzenstein, Profeffor and Member of the Imperial Academy at St. Peterjburg; whom I consulted about the account given by our inlanders, concerning the riling and fetting of the fun, and every thing they had mentioned to me relating to that luminary. Now, though the remarks con- tained in this letter feem in fome meafure to invalidate fome part of what was told me by the failors, yet they are not a hi- ficient proof againit the veracity of the' reft; for their miftake in a few particulars might arife from the very natural caufes.

which we afligned before. Here

is the letter:

" I beg your pardon for having fu long " delayed returning the written queftions " which }'ou fent me, and to which I " have added my remarks ; the multitude " of affairs, and the long continuance " of the rainy weather, have hindered " me from doing it iooner."

li I"i'ivini-r

[ "3 ]

*' Having carefully examined all cir-

(i cumfiances, I found that what ProfefTbr

£C Gr isc how accounts a proof of the

" juitncfs of the calculation of thefe fhip-

" wrecked failors, namely, that they

" computed two days later than thofe

" who took them off Lhat defert ifland,

" was certainly the very reverfe; for, if a

" perfon in leap-year reckons the twenty-

" ninth of February, he who knows

" nothing of the leap-year reckons the

" firil of March, and after two fuch years

<c reckons the fecond of March ; confe-

" quently, fuppoflng the failors to have

iC omitted taking notice of the leap-years

" 1744 and 1748, they would of courfe

" have reckoned in 1749 the feventeenth

" of AuguiT, whereas with their dcli-

" vercrs it was only the fifteenth. Thus

IC it is clear, that if they were acquainted

" with the leap-years, they have been

cc miitaken by two days; and if they

iC were not acquainted with them, they

" have been mistaken by four days ;

(i which indeed might caiiiy happen in

[ "4 1

" fo long a night, or dark and cloudy " weather, efpecially being without any " help to calculate the length of a re- " gular day.

" Farther, in the years when they " placed the total difappearance of the " fun on the tvventy-lixth of October, c: their calculation muft have been ten " days too early; or they rauft have lived " in latitude 740 41 '. which cannot be,. c£ unlefs we fuppofe them to have re- " fided on Bear-I/Ianci, which lies in " that latitude.

" If we fix the place of their abode, Ci according to the Map, in latitude fe- ct ventv-feven and a half decrees, the " fun there would appear on the horizon cc for the fir ft rime on the fourth of Fe- " brnary, would friine continually from " the eleventh of April to the eighth of " Auguft, and totally difappear on the 4* lixteenth of October.

If

[ "5 1

<c If they lived on Bear-IJIand, they " muft have (con the fun for the fir ft xc time on the twenty-eighth of January; " as he there performs his circuit above " the horizon from the twentieth ot " April to the thirty-firft of July, and " difappears on the twenty -third of £: Ocloher.

c- Now, from the obfervations of thefe <£ failors, it would appear more probable tc that they were on the laft mentioned " iiland ; but the darknefs of the horizon, <e a circumftance very ufual in thefe nor- " thern countries, may have occailoned " their mifhke in obferving the fun ten *' days later than they would have done " with fair weather and a clear fky ; and " from the fame caufe they may have " loft light of him ten days before the " period of his difappearance.

Ci If we date the beginning of this Iumi-

" nary's courfe round the horizon on the

" fecond of May, its end mull have been

QjJ " on

[ n6 ]

" on the nineteenth of July ; and this £C would pre-fuppofe them to have been " in latitude feventy-one and a half de- " grees, which from other circumftances " in their relation feems impofiible.

" I could have wifhed that you had

iC examined the account of the adven-

" tures of thefe failors drawn up by

" Mr. Kl ingstadt, who examined

" them foon after their arrival, as this

" might have made up what is wanting

" in your's. I have no doubt but that,

cc on making application to him, he would

ic with pleafure have gratified your de-

" fire*. "He difcharges with honour the

" poft of Chief Auditor of the Admiralty

" at Archangel, and lives in Air. Ver-

" nezobre's houfe.

" I am, &c."

This was accordingly done, to the fntisfadlion of that gentleman; as I have informec! the reae'e. in page 47.

[ 1 1-7 ] Our adventurers arrived fafe at Arch- angel on the twenty-eighth of September, 1749, having fpent fix years and three months in their rueful folhude.

The moment of their landing was nearly proving fatal to the loving and beloved wife of Alexis Himkof, who, being prefent when the vefTel came into port, immediately knew her hufband, and ran with fo much eagernefs to his em- braces, that fhe flipped into the water, a nd very narrowly cicaped being drowned.

All three on their arrival were ilrong and healthy ; but having lived fo long without bread, they could not reconcile themfelves to the ufe of it, and complained that it filled them with wind. Nor could they bear any fpirituous liquors, and there- fore drank nothing but water.

Before I conclude, I cannot help fub- joining a reneclion of A^r. Verne- zobrf, with which he concludes one or

his

[ J'S 3

his letters. " I make no doubt, bnt

fome of your readers will confider the adventures of thefe failors In the fame light as they do the Englifh hi- ftory of Roblnfon Crufoe. But however ingenious that composition is, a compa- rifon with this Narrative will prove much in your favour ; as the former is all fiction, whereas your fiibjecl. confifls of fa els fufficiently authenticated. And Crufoe is reprefented as having almoft loft what knowledge he had of Chris- tianity; but our failors carefully retained their religious principles, and, as they affured me, never wholly departed from their confidence in the g;ooc!nefs of God, to be exerted in their behalf, even in this world."

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