Volume Xvii Part 10 (2/2)
&c.; and that therefore he had deferred his setting out, in daily expectation of the sloop from Okotzk; but having no tidings of her, and dreading lest we should sail, without his having paid us a visit, he was determined to set out, though with nothing better to present to us than apologies for the poverty of Bolcheretsk. At the same time he acquainted us, that our not having received the sixteen head of black cattle we had desired might be sent down, was owing to the very heavy rains at Verchnei, which had prevented their setting out. We made the best answer we were able to so much politeness and generosity; and the next day, on coming on board the Resolution, he was saluted with eleven guns. Specimens of all our curiosities were presented to him, and Captain Gore added to them a gold watch and a fowling-piece.
The next day he was entertained on board the Discovery, and on the 25th he took leave of us to return to Bolcheretsk. He could not be prevailed upon to lengthen his visit, having some expectations, as he told us, that the sub-governor-general, who was at this time making a tour through all the provinces of the Governor-general of Jakutzk, might arrive in the sloop that was daily expected from Okotzk. Before his departure, and without any interference of ours, he reinstated the serjeant in the command of this place, having determined to take the _Putparouchick_ along with him; at the same time we understood that he was highly displeased with him on account of the punishment that had been inflicted on the serjeant, and for which there did not appear to be the slightest foundation.
Captain Shmaleff's great readiness to give us every possible proof of his desire to oblige us, encouraged us to ask a small favour for another of our Kamtschadale friends. It was to requite an old soldier, whose house had been at all times open to the inferior officers, and who had done both them and all the crew a thousand good offices. The captain most obligingly complied with our request, and dubbed him (which was all he wished for) a corporal upon the spot, and ordered him to thank the English officers for his great promotion. It may not here be improper to observe, that in the Russian army the inferior cla.s.s of officers enjoy a degree of pre-eminence above the private men, with which we, in our service, are in a great measure unacquainted. It was no small astonishment to us, to see a serjeant keep up all the state, and exact all the respect from all beneath him belonging to a field-officer. It may be farther remarked, that there are many more gradations of rank amongst them than are to be met with in other countries. Between a serjeant and a private man, there are not less than four intermediate steps; and I have no doubt, but that the advantages arising from this system are found to be very considerable. The salutary effects of little subordinate ranks in our sea-service cannot be questioned. It gives rise to great emulation, and the superior officers are enabled to bestow, on almost every possible degree of merit, a reward proportioned to it.
Having been incidentally led into this subject, I shall beg leave to add but one observation more, namely, that the discipline of the Russian army, though at this distance from the seat of government, is of the strictest and severest kind, from which even the commissioned officers are not exempt. The punishment of the latter for small offences is imprisonment, and a bread and water diet. An ensign, a good friend of ours at this place, told us, that, for having been concerned in a drunken riot, he was confined in the black hole for three months, and fed upon bread and water; which, he said, so shattered his nerves, that he had never since had spirits for a common convivial meeting.
I accompanied Captain Shmaleff to the entrance of Awatska River; and having bid him farewell, took this opportunity of paying a visit to the priest of Paratounca. On Sunday, the 26th, I attended him to church. The congregation consisted of his own family, three Kamtschadale men, and three boys, who a.s.sisted in singing part of the service; the whole of which was performed in a very solemn and edifying manner. The church is of wood, and by far the best building either in this town or that of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. It is ornamented with many paintings, particularly with two pictures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, presented by Beering; and which, in the real richness of their drapery, would carry off the prize from the first of our European performances; for all the princ.i.p.al parts of it are made of thick plates of solid silver, fastened to the canvas, and fas.h.i.+oned into the various foldings of the robes with which the figures were clothed.
The next day, I set on foot another hunting party, and put myself under the direction of the clerk of the parish, who was a celebrated bear-hunter. We arrived by sun-set, at the side of one of the larger lakes. The next step was to conceal ourselves as much as possible; and this we were able to do effectually, among some long gra.s.s and brushwood, that grew close to the water's edge. We had not lain long in ambush, before we had the pleasure to hear the growlings of bears in different parts round about us; and our expectations were soon gratified, by the sight of one of them in the water, which seemed to be swimming directly to the place where we lay hid. The moon, at this time, gave a considerable light; and when the animal had advanced about fifteen yards, three of us fired at it, pretty nearly at the same time. The beast immediately turned short on one side, and set up a noise, which could not properly be called roaring, nor growling, nor yelling, but was a mixture of all three, and horrible beyond description.
We plainly saw that it was severely wounded, and that with difficulty it gained the bank, and retreated to some thick bushes at a little distance.
It still continued to make the same loud and terrible noise; and though the Kamtschadales were persuaded it was mortally wounded, and could get no farther, yet they thought it most advisable not to rouse it again for the present. It was at this time past nine o'clock; and the night becoming overcast, and threatening a change of weather, we thought it most prudent to return home, and defer the gratification of our curiosity till morning, when we returned to the spot, and found the bear dead, in the place to which it had been watched. It proved to be a female, and beyond the common size.
As the account of our first hunting-party will be apt to give the reader a wrong idea of the method in which this sport is usually conducted, it may not be amiss to add a few more words on the subject; and which I am the better able to do since this last expedition.
When the natives come to the ground frequented by the bears, which they contrive to reach about sun-set, the first step is to look for their tracks; to examine which are the freshest, and the best situated with a view to concealment; and taking aim at the beast, either as he is pa.s.sing by, or advancing in front, or going from them. These tracks are found in the greatest numbers, leading from the woods down to the lakes, and among the long sedgy gra.s.s and brakes by the edge of the water. The place of ambuscade being determined upon, the hunters next fix in the ground the crutches, upon which their firelocks are made to rest, pointing them in the direction they mean to make their shot. This done, they kneel, or lie down, as the circ.u.mstances of the cover require; and, with their bear-spears by their side, wait for their game. These precautions, which are chiefly taken in order to make sure of their mark, are, on several accounts, highly expedient. For, in the first place, ammunition is so dear at Kamtschatka, that the price of a bear will not purchase more of it than is sufficient to load a musquet four or five times; and, what, is more material, if the bear be not rendered incapable of pursuit by the first shot, the consequences are often fatal. He immediately makes toward the place from whence the noise and smoke issue, and attacks his adversaries with great fury. It is impossible for them to reload, as the animal is seldom at more than twelve or fifteen yards distance when he is fired at; so that if he does not fall, they immediately put themselves in a posture to receive him upon their spears; and their safety greatly depends on their giving him a mortal stab, as he first comes upon them. If he parries the thrust, (which, by the extraordinary strength and agility of their paws, they are often enabled to do,) and thereby breaks in upon his adversaries, the conflict becomes very unequal, and it is well if the life of one of the party alone suffice to pay the forfeit.[38]
There are two seasons of the year when this diversion, or occupation, as it may be rather called, is more particularly dangerous; in the spring, when the bears first come forth, after having subsisted, as is universally a.s.serted here, on sucking their paws through the winter; and especially if the frost happen to be severe, and the ice not to be broken up in the lake at that time, by which means they are deprived of their ordinary and expected food. Under these circ.u.mstances, they soon become exceedingly famished, and fierce and savage in proportion. They will pursue the natives by the scent; and as they now prowl about out of their usual tracks, frequently come upon them unawares; and when this happens, as the Kamtschadales have not the smallest notion of shooting flying, nor even at an animal running, or in any way except with their piece on a rest, the bear-hunters often fall a sacrifice to their hunger. The other season in which it is dangerous to come in their way, is at the time of their copulation, which is generally about this time of the year.
An extraordinary instance of natural affection in these animals has been already mentioned. The chace affords a variety of a similar nature, and not less affecting; many of which were related to me. The Kamtschadales derive great advantage in hunting from this circ.u.mstance. They, never venture to fire upon a young bear, when the mother is near; for if the cub drop, she becomes enraged to a degree little short of madness; and if she get sight of the enemy, will only quit her revenge with her life. On the contrary, if the dam be shot, the cubs will not leave her side, even after she has been dead a long time, but continue about her, shewing, by a variety of affecting actions and gestures, marks of the deepest affliction, and thus become any easy prey to the hunters.
Nor is the sagacity of the bears, if the Kamtschadales are to be credited, less extraordinary, or less worthy to be remarked, than their natural affection. Of this they have a thousand stories to relate. I shall content myself with mentioning one instance, which the natives speak of as a well- known fact, and that is, the stratagem they have recourse to in order to catch the bareins, which are considerably too swift of foot for them. These animals keep together in large herds; they frequent mostly the low grounds, and love to browse at the feet of rocks and precipices. The bear hunts them by scent, till he come in sight, when he advances warily, keeping above them, and concealing himself amongst the rocks, as he makes his approaches, till he gets immediately over them, and nigh enough for his purpose. He then begins to push down with his paws pieces of the rock amongst the herd below. This manoeuvre is not followed by any attempt to pursue, until he find he has maimed one of the flock, upon which a course immediately ensues, that proves successful, or otherwise, according to the hurt the barein has received.[39]
I cannot conclude this digression, without observing, that the Kamtschadales very thankfully acknowledge their obligations to the bears for what little advancement they have hitherto made either in the sciences or polite arts. They confess that they owe to them all their skill both to physic and surgery; that, by remarking with what herbs these animals rub the wounds they have received, and what they have recourse to when sick and languid, they have become acquainted with most of the simples in use among them, either in the way of internal medicine, or external application. But, what will appear somewhat more singular, is, they acknowledge the bears likewise for their dancing-masters. Indeed, the evidence of one's senses puts this out of dispute; for the bear-dance of the Kamtschadales is an exact counterpart of every att.i.tude and gesture peculiar to this animal, through its various functions; and this is the foundation and groundwork of all their other dances, and what they value themselves most upon.
I returned to the s.h.i.+ps on the 28th, very well pleased with my excursion, as it had afforded me an opportunity of seeing a little more of the country, and of observing the manners and behaviour of the Kamtschadales, when freed from that constraint which they evidently lie under in the company of the Russians.
No occurrence worth mentioning took place till the 30th, when Captain Gore went to Paratounca, to put up in the church there an escutcheon, prepared by Mr Webber, with an inscription upon it, setting forth Captain Clerke's age and rank, and the object of the expedition in which he was engaged at the time of his decease. We also affixed to the tree under which he was buried, a board, with an inscription upon it to the same effect.[40]
Before his departure, Captain Gore left orders with me to get the s.h.i.+ps out of the harbour into the bay, to be in readiness to sail. We were prevented from doing this by a violent gale of wind, which lasted the whole day of the 1st of October. However, on the 2d, both s.h.i.+ps warped out of the harbour, clear of the narrow pa.s.sage, and came to anchor in seven fathoms, a quarter of a mile from the _ostrog_.
The day before we went out of the harbour the cattle arrived from Verchnei; and, that the men might receive the full benefit of this capital and much- longed-for supply, by consuming it fresh, Captain Gore came to a determination of staying five or six days longer. Nor was this time idly employed. The boats, pumps, sails, and rigging of both s.h.i.+ps, thereby received an additional repair. And Captain Gore sparing me some mola.s.ses, and the use of the Resolution's copper, I was enabled to brew a fortnight's beer for the crew, and to make a farther provision of ten puncheons of strong spruce essence. The present supply was the more acceptable, as our last cask of spirits, except a small quant.i.ty left in reserve for cases of necessity, was now serving out.
The 3d was the name-day of the Empress, and we could want no inducement to shew 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 s.h.i.+ps' 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 dominion 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 Okotzk 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 burden 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.
Having at length taken our leave of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, I shall conclude this section with a particular description of Awatska Bay, and the coast adjoining; not only because (its three inlets included) it const.i.tutes, perhaps, the most extensive and safest harbour that has yet been discovered, but because it is the only port in this part of the world capable of admitting s.h.i.+ps of any considerable burden. The term Bay, indeed, is perhaps not applicable, properly speaking, to a place so well sheltered as Awatska; but, then, it must be observed, that, from the loose undistinguis.h.i.+ng manner in which navigators have denominated certain situations of sea and land, with respect to each other, bays, roads, sounds, harbours, &c. we have no defined and determinate ideas affixed to these words, sufficient to warrant us in changing a popular name for one that may appear more proper.
The entrance into this bay is in 52 51' north lat.i.tude, and 158 48' east longitude, and lies in the bight of another exterior bay, formed by Cheepoonskoi Noss to the N., and Cape Gavareea to the S. The former of these head lands bears from the latter N.E. by N. 3/4 E., and is distant thirty-two leagues. The coast from Cape Gavareea to the entrance of Awatska Bay, takes a direction nearly N., and is eleven leagues in extent. It consists of a chain of high ragged cliffs, with detached rocks frequently lying off them. This coast, at a distance, presents in many parts an appearance of bays or inlets, but, on a nearer approach, the head-lands were found connected by low ground.
Cheepoonskoi Noss bears, from the entrance of the bay, E.N.E. 1/4 E, and is twenty-five leagues distant. On this side the sh.o.r.e is low and flat, with hills rising behind to a considerable height. In the lat.i.tude of Cape Gavareea there is an error of twenty-one miles in the Russian charts, its true lat.i.tude being 52 21'.
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