Boltcheresk, the capital of Kamschatka, is about seventy miles from St. Peter and St. Paul. The communication in the winter season is by sledges drawn by dogs over the snow; in summer the intercourse is carried on by the river Awatska, which being in some places extremely shallow, boats of a particular construction are made use of. They are formed of light frames of wood, covered with tarpaulin, and are so flat in the bottom that they do not draw above six inches water; they are extremely light, and can easily be carried over the rapids.
The two remarkable mountains, St. Peter and St. Paul, which give name to the place, lie about thirty miles to the north. One of them is a volcano; and when we could see the top, which was seldom free from clouds, it was constantly smoking, and at night sparks were frequently to be seen. An eruption took place some time before our arrival, by which the whole town was covered with ashes.
There were no vessels at this place during our stay, except the wreck of a ship which had sunk in the harbour; the sails having been loosed for the purpose of drying, a sudden squall laid her on her beam-ends, when she filled and went down.[10] As the upper works were above the surface at low water, it appeared to us that she might have been raised without much difficulty; but it seems they did not mean to make the attempt, for her cordage and anchors were put on board our vessel.
Whilst we remained here we were abundantly supplied with the finest salmon, and fish of all descriptions.
Having delivered the part of our cargo which was to be left at this place, we sailed on the 8th of August for the settlements on the Aleutian Islands.
CHAPTER II.
Departure from Kamschatka—Shipwrecked on a reef of rocks, on the northwest coast of America—Author, with the rest of the crew, save themselves by the long boat—Are drifted on an island—Transactions upon the island—Prepare to build a vessel.
We left Kamschatka on the 8th of August, and proceeded on our voyage to the northwest coast of America. Nothing material occurred till the 10th of September. On the morning of that day it blew hard from the south, and the ship was reduced to close reefed topsails; about three in the afternoon, the gale increased to such a degree that it became necessary to take in the fore and mizen topsails. Whilst the men were on the yards, they discovered land off the lee bow, distant about five or six leagues; we conjectured it to be that part of the continent called Aliaska; the ship’s course was immediately altered from N. E. to E. and the weather proving more moderate in the evening, stood on, close hauled, but did not set more sail. About ten at night, the alarm was given that there were breakers ahead, and on the lee bow. Mr. Brinkman, the chief mate, who had the charge of the watch, immediately went to the mizen topmast head, and observing there was room to wear the ship, hastened below to report the circumstance to the captain. When he returned upon deck, he instantly went to the wheel and ordered us to our stations, with the intention of wearing; but the captain, who followed him, was of a different opinion; he said what we saw was only white water, and not breakers; that there was no danger, and ordered us to stand on our course. He had scarcely given this order before the ship plunged, and struck with such violence as to knock away the fore-foot, and the watch below were driven from their hammocks against the deck. The sea running very high, she beat so hard that in a few minutes the rudder was unshipped, and the stern-post forced up through the poop; as she still had way upon her, she shot over the reef into deep water: upon sounding we found seventeen fathoms. It was immediately determined to let go the anchor, and remain by the ship as long as she would swim. In case she went down, we hoped to save our lives by the long-boat, which was accordingly cleared and hoisted out, that she might be ready; seven of the guns were at the same time thrown overboard, in order to keep her above water until daylight. The carpenter attempted to sound the well, but owing to some obstacle, could not get down the sounding rod. I was sent below with him to bore a hole beside the pump thro’ the lower deck; but on taking off the after hatch, we found the water as high as the shifting boards.
Early on the morning of the 11th, to our great joy, we saw land to the leeward of us, distant about three or four leagues. It was immediately determined to watch the lull, slip the cable, and cast the ship’s head in shore, and steer her for it with the jib and fore-topsail.—After she was under way, the captain ordered that any of the crew that could not swim should go into the long-boat astern, and be ready as soon as she struck to come alongside for the rest, as he expected that she would then go to pieces. As soon as she struck, all hands came into the boat, and went for the shore, the captain taking his quadrant, until the tide should ebb, when he expected she would be nearly dry. We landed between eleven and twelve o’clock in the forenoon.
The land upon which we were thrown presented a most dreary appearance; it was an extensive plain, intersected by pools of fresh water, stretching about five miles from the sea, and terminated by two mountains. The ground was covered with heath and moss; not a tree nor a bush could be seen, neither did we observe the least trace of human habitations. As the land afforded us no sustenance, we turned our attention to the sea, and when the tide ebbed found some large muscles.—Having satisfied our hunger with some raw muscles, we prepared to go off to the ship; but on our way off we had the mortification to see her fall over on her beam ends. When we reached the ship we found that we could do nothing with her, and were preparing to leave her, when we discovered in the bottom of the long-boat the carpenter’s axe; we then cut the parrel and gear of the main-topsail yard, and let it drive clear of the wreck, while we went to cut away the topmasts, and then left her for that day. On our way ashore we found the main-topsail yard, and took it in tow, and landed again about six o’clock in the evening. The approach of night rendering some shelter necessary, we made a sort of tent with a sail, and lay down on the moss, cold and wet, and spent a most uncomfortable night.
Next morning, the 12th, we set off along shore in search of any thing that might have driven from the ship, and found, in a bay at no great distance from our tent, a barrel of rosin, the arm chest, with one or two small carbines, some swan-shot, and, what was of greater consequence to us, several calking irons and mallets; on finding these we went to the ship, but the sea was so high we could not come near her, and we returned to our tent.
On the 13th, 14th, and 15th, we were employed in repairing the boat, which had begun to get very leaky; having picked some oakum, we calked the seams as well as we could. Over the places where this was insufficient, we nailed pieces of boards, and calked round the edges. Although we could not pay the seams, having nothing to melt our rosin in, we succeeded in making her tolerably tight.
On the 16th several pieces of wreck and some sails were secured; this day was chiefly employed in preparations for going off to the wreck. We formed a grappling iron by lashing four bolts together, and bending them, and made a line out of the rigging that came ashore with the spars; this proved of great service in fishing up articles from the wreck. Every thing being ready, and the 17th proving fine, we set off at day-break, and taking the carpenter’s axe with us, we cut a large hole in her side, just before the main channels.—With the grappling irons we hooked several sails, and a number of other articles, such as boxes of silks and nankeens, and made three different trips to the wreck this day.
On the 18th we were busy in making a larger tent with the sails we had got. We set up two small spars at each end, and laid a studding sail boom across the tops of them; over this we spread a topsail, hung smaller sails at the ends, and placed planks round the bottom, to prevent them from being blown up by the wind. With the soft moss of the island for beds, and planks to sit upon, we now found ourselves pretty comfortable in every respect but one: All our attempts to kindle a fire proved unavailing, and we were obliged to eat our victuals raw. Observing a flight of large birds, resembling ravens, carrying something in their talons, we watched where they alighted, and going to the spot, found several parcels of pork and beef which they had picked up, the barrels being staved by the rocks. In this manner we procured about a dozen of pieces. We again went off to the wreck in the afternoon, to see what we could get on shore,