The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. VII. Being the Third of the Third VoyageKing, James
History
The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. VII. Being the Third of the Third Voyage
King, James
Cook, James, 1728-1779 -- Travel; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Voyages around the world -- History -- 18th century
The 3d was the name-day of the empress, and we could want no inducement
to show it every possible respect. Accordingly, Captain Gore invited the
priest of Paratounca, Ivaskin, and the serjeant, to dinner; and an
entertainment was also provided for the inferior officers of the
garrison, for the two _Toions_ of Paratounca, and Saint Peter and Saint
Paul, and for the other better sort of Kamtschadale inhabitants. The
rest of the natives, of every description, were invited to partake with
the ships’ companies, who had a pound of good fat beef served out to
each man; and what remained of our spirits was made into grog, and
divided amongst them. A salute of twenty-one guns was fired at the usual
hour; and the whole was conducted (considering the part of her dominions
it was in,) in a manner not unworthy so renowned and magnificent an
empress.
On the 5th, we received from Bolcheretsk a fresh supply of tea, sugar,
and tobacco. This present had met Captain Shmaleff on his return, and
was accompanied by a letter from him, in which he informed us, that the
sloop from Okotsk had arrived during his absence, and that Madame
Shmaleff, who was entirely in our interests, had lost no time in
dispatching a courier, with the few presents, of which our acceptance
was requested.
The appearance of foul weather, on the 6th and 7th, prevented our
unmooring; but on the morning of the 8th, we sailed out toward the mouth
of the bay, and hoisted in all the boats; when the wind, veering to the
southward, stopped our farther progress, and obliged us to drop anchor
in ten fathoms; the _ostrog_ bearing due north, half a league distant.
The weather being foggy, and the wind from the same quarter during the
forenoon of the 9th, we continued in our station. At four in the
afternoon, we again unmoored; but whilst we were, with great difficulty,
weighing our last anchor, I was told that the drummer of the marines had
left the boat, which had just returned from the village, and that he was
last seen with a Kamtschadale woman, to whom his messmates knew he had
been much attached, and who had often been observed persuading him to
stay behind. Though this man had been long useless to us, from a
swelling in his knee, which rendered him lame, yet this made me the more
unwilling he should be left behind, to become a miserable burthen, both
to the Russians and himself. I therefore got the serjeant to send
parties of soldiers in different directions, in search of him, whilst
some of our sailors went to a well-known haunt of his in the
neighbourhood, where they found him with his woman. On the return of
this party, with our deserter, we weighed, and followed the Resolution
out of the bay.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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