85. Captain King has been so good as to communicate his instructions on this occasion, and the particulars of the fatigue he underwent in carrying them into execution:

“You are to proceed to the northward as far as the extreme point we saw on Wednesday last, or a little further, if you think it necessary; land there, and endeavour, from the heights, to discover whether the land you are then upon, supposed to be the island of Alaschka, is really an island, or joins to the land on the east, supposed to be the continent of America. If the former, you are to satisfy yourself with the depth of water in the channel between them, and which way the flood-tide comes. But if you find the two lands connected, lose no time in sounding; but make the best of your way back to the ship, which you will find at anchor near the point of land we anchored under on Friday last. If you perceive any likelihood of a change of weather for the worse, you are, in that case, to return to the ship, although you have not performed the service you are sent upon. And, at any rate, you are not to remain longer upon it than four or five days; but the sooner it is done the better. If any unforeseen or unavoidable accident should force the ships off the coast, so that they cannot return at a reasonable time, the rendezvous is at the harbour of Samganoodha; that is, the place where we last completed our water.

“To Lieutenant King.”

“Our cutter being hoisted out, and the signal made for the Discovery’s, at eight at night, on the 14th, we set out. It was a little unlucky that the boats’ crews had been much fatigued during the whole day in bringing things from the shore. They pulled stoutly, without rest or intermission, toward the land, till one o’clock in the morning of the 15th. I wanted much to have got close to it, to have had the advantage of the wind, which had very regularly, in the evening, blown from the land, and in the day-time down the sound, from the N. N. E., and was contrary to our course; but the men were, at this time, too much fatigued to press them farther. We therefore set our sails, and stood across the bay, which the coast forms to the west of Bald Head, and steered for it. But, as I expected, by three o’clock, the wind headed us; and, as it was in vain to endeavour to fetch Bald Head with our sails, we again took to the oars. The Discovery’s boat (being a heavy king’s-built cutter, while ours was one from Deal) had, in the night-time, detained us very much, and now we soon pulled out of sight of her; nor would I wait, being in great hopes to reach the extreme point that was in sight, time enough to ascend the heights before dark, as the weather was at this time remarkably clear and fine; and we could see to a great distance. By two o’clock we had got within two miles of Bald Head, under the lee of the high land, and in smooth water; but at the moment our object was nearly attained, all the men, but two, were so overcome with fatigue and sleep, that my utmost endeavours to make them put on were ineffectual. They, at length, dropped their oars, quite exhausted, and fell asleep in the bottom of the boat. Indeed, considering that they had set out fatigued, and had now been sixteen hours out of the eighteen since they left the ship, pulling in a poppling sea, it was no wonder that their strength and spirits should be worn out for want of sleep and refreshments. The two gentlemen who were with me, and myself, were now obliged to lay hold of the oars, and by a little after three, we landed between the Bald Head and a projecting point to the eastward.”

86. Afterwards Lord Grantley.

87. See the little that is known of Synd’s voyage, accompanied with a chart, in Mr. Coxe’s Russian Discoveries, p. 300.

88. The latest expedition of this kind, taken notice of by Muller, was in 1724. But in justice to Mr. Ismyloff, it may be proper to mention, which is done on the authority of a MS., communicated by Mr. Pennant, and the substance of which has been published by Mr. Coxe, that, so late as 1768, the Governor of Siberia sent three young officers over the ice in sledges, to the islands opposite the mouth of the Kovyma. There seems no reason for not supposing, that a subsequent expedition of this sort might also be undertaken in 1773. Mr. Coxe, p. 324, places the expedition on sledges in 1764; but Mr. Pennant’s MS. may be depended upon.

89. English translation, p. 83, 84.

90. A Russian ship had been at Kodiack, in 1776; as appears from a MS. obligingly communicated by Mr. Pennant.

91. Stæhlin’s New Northern Archipelago, p. 15.

92. 36lb.

93. The Russians began to frequent Oonalashka in 1762. See Coxe’s Russian Discoveries, ch. viii. p. 80.

94. See the particulars of hostilities between the Russians and natives, in Coxe, as cited above.

95. Mr. Coxe’s description of the habitations of the natives of Oonalashka, and the other Fox Islands, in general, agrees with Captain Cook’s. See Russian Discoveries, p. 149. See also Histoire des différents Peuples soumis à la Domination des Russes, par M. Levesque, tom. i. p. 40, 41.

96. History of Kamtschatka. Eng. Trans. p. 160.

97. History of Kamtschatka, p. 99.

98. It will be found, amongst other vocabularies, at the end of the seventh volume.

99. Cook’s River.

100. On the chart of Krenitzen’s and Levasheff’s voyage, in 1768 and 1769, which we find in Mr. Coxe’s book, p. 251., an island call Amuckta, is laid down, not very far from the place assigned to Amoghta by Captain Cook.

101. Though this rock had no place in the Russian map produced by Ismyloff, it has a place in the chart of Krenitzen’s and Levasheff’s voyage, above referred to. The chart also agrees with Captain Cook’s, as to the general position of this group of islands. The singularly indented shores of the island of Oonalashka are represented in both charts much alike; these circumstances are worth attending to, as the more modern Russian maps of this Archipelago are so wonderfully erroneous.

102. Captain Cook may, in part, be right in his comparison of some cordage used in the king’s service, with what is used in that of the merchants; especially in time of war, when part of the cordage wanted in the navy is, from necessity, made by contract. But it is well known, that there is no better cordage than what is made in the king’s yards. This explanation of the preceding paragraph has been subjoined, on the authority of a naval officer of distinguished rank, and great professional ability, who has, at the same time, recommended it as a necessary precaution, that ships fitted out on voyages of discovery, should be furnished with no cordage but what is made in the king’s yards; and, indeed, that every article of their store, of every kind, should be the best that can be made.