A New Voyage Round the World, in the years 1823, 24, 25, and 26, Vol. 2Kotzebue, Otto von
History
A New Voyage Round the World, in the years 1823, 24, 25, and 26, Vol. 2
Kotzebue, Otto von
Discoveries in geography; Predpriiatie (Ship); Voyages around the world; Zoology
On the arrival of Captain Blanchard's ship in port, the whole crew, he
himself not excepted, were in a state of intoxication; and it appeared
to be mere good luck that they had escaped the dangers of so many rocks
and shallows; but the North Americans are such clever sailors, that even
when drunk they are capable of managing a ship. It is also probable,
that these had lived more soberly during the voyage, and had been
tempted by the joy of completing it, to extraordinary indulgence. On my
visit to the ship, I could not help remarking the great economy of all
its arrangements: no such thing, for instance, as a looking-glass was to
be seen, except the one kept for measuring the angle of the sextant, and
that, small as it was, assisted the whole crew in the operation of
shaving.
On the 30th of July, the ship Helena, belonging to the Company, arrived
in New Archangel from Petersburg, bringing an ample provision of
necessaries for the colony. To us this ship was particularly welcome,
as the bearer of permission to leave our station and return to Russia.
We immediately set to work to get our vessel in sailing order; and the
11th of August was the long wished-for day, when, favoured by a fresh
north wind, we bade adieu to New Archangel, where we had passed five
months and a-half surrounded by a people calculated only to inspire
aversion, and without relief to the wearisomeness of our mode of life,
except in the society of Captain Murawieff and the few Russian
inhabitants of the fortress.
I determined to return to Kronstadt by the Chinese Sea and the Cape of
Good Hope. But having no intention of following Captain Blanchard's
example, in wearing out my crew by a voyage of unreasonable length
without any relaxation, I appointed Manilla, in the Philippine island of
Lucon, for their resting-place, after having made another attempt to
find the Ralik chain of islands.
The medium of the astronomical observations made during these five
months, gave, as the geographical longitude of New Archangel, 135 deg.
33' 18", and the latitude as 57 deg. 2' 57"; the declination of the
needle as 27 deg. 30' east. According to this, the promontory of Mount
Edgecumbe is in the longitude 136 deg. 1' 49"; consequently about 20'
more westerly than appears on Vancouver's map.
We found a similar difference between our observation of St. Francisco
and his; I therefore believe that his whole survey of the north-west
coast of America represents it more easterly than it really is. Our
longitudes have the greater claim to confidence, as they were the
results of repeated observations on land, while his were merely taken on
shipboard _en passant_.
The medium of our observations at New Archangel upon the difference in
high tides at the new and full moon, gave thirty minutes for the time,
and sixteen feet for the greatest difference in the height of the
water.
CALIFORNIA,
AND THE RUSSIAN SETTLEMENT OF
ROSS.
CALIFORNIA, AND THE RUSSIAN SETTLEMENT OF ROSS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account