LETTERS TO LONDON.

On the 14th Cook and Webber were at an Indian village a short distance from the ships, when they saw a canoe arrive containing three men and accompanied by some twenty or thirty single canoes. A tent was rigged up for one of the first three, a Russian named Ismyloff (Ismailoff) the chief trader of the district, whilst the others made shelters of their canoes and grass, and so all were independent of the Indians. Ismailoff invited Cook to join him at his meal, which consisted of dried salmon and berries, and some sort of conversation was carried on by means of signs and figures. Ismailoff proved to be well acquainted with the geography of the district, and pointed out several errors in the modern maps. He said he had been with Lieutenant Lindo's expedition as far north as Tchukotskoi Nos, and saw Clerke's Island; but when he could or would not say what else they had done during the two years the expedition was out, Cook began to have doubts. He also said the Russians had several times tried to gain a footing on the American shore, but the Indians had driven them off with the loss of two or three of their leaders. He also spoke of a sledge expedition in 1773 to three islands opposite the Kolyma River, which Cook thought might be the one mentioned by Muller, he related that he had sailed, in 1771, from a Russian settlement called Bolscheretski, in the Kurile Islands, to Japan, but the ship was ordered away because they were Christians, so they went to Canton and sailed on a French ship to France, and from thence he went to Petersburg, and was then sent out again. He was quite clear as to his dates, and put them on paper; but as he was perfectly ignorant of any French, "not even the names of the commonest articles," though he had been such a long time amongst French people, Cook was again inclined to be sceptical. He stayed all night, dining with Clerke, and returned again on the 19th, with charts, which he permitted to be copied, and some manuscripts. One chart showed the Asiatic coast as far as 41 degrees North, with the Kurile Islands and Kamtschatka, and the second, the more interesting to the English, showed the discoveries made by the Russians to the east of Kamtschatka, exclusive of the voyages of Behring and Tcherikoff. Cook found the longitudes in places were very different from those on the Russian maps, and was afraid the mistake might be carried through, but the latitudes were fairly correct. As far as he could ascertain, the instrument used for the survey had been the theodolite. Before leaving, Ismailoff gave Cook letters for the Governor of Kamtschatka and the Commandant of Petropaulowsk; and Cook, finding "he was tolerably well versed in astronomy," gave him a Hadley's octant, and though it was the first one he had seen, he soon made himself acquainted with its uses. A letter to the English Admiralty was also entrusted to him to be forwarded via Petersburg, as opportunity might offer. This letter and a chart of the northern coasts was delivered in London the following year.

On 26th October the two ships got away, and, in case of separation, Clerke was given his rendezvous, first, the Sandwich Islands, and second, Petropaulowsk in the middle of May. On 28th the discovery met with a nasty accident during a gale; the fore and main tacks carried away, killing one man, and seriously injuring the boatswain and two others. On 25th November the islands were sighted, and the customary orders as to the officers appointed to trade with the natives were issued, and no curiosities were to be purchased before the ships had received satisfactory supplies. They first called in at Mowee, where the natives soon came out and appeared friendly, and traded with less suspicion than any of the South Sea Islanders they had met with before.

Having procured a quantity of sugar-cane, Cook ordered it to be used in brewing, as he found a strong decoction of the juice produced a wholesome and palatable beer, and would enable him to save the spirits for the colder climates. However, the crews would have none of it, so Cook and his officers made use of it whenever cane was procurable, and gave himself:

"no trouble either to oblige or persuade them to drink it, knowing there was no danger of scurvy so long as we had plenty of other vegetables, but that I might not be disappointed in my views, I gave orders that no grog should be served in either ship." He then goes on to say: "Every innovation whatever, tho' ever so much to their advantage, is sure to meet with the highest disapprobation from seaman. Portable soup and sour kraut were at first both condemned by them as stuff not fit for human beings to eat. Few men have introduced into their ships more novelties in the way of victuals and drink than I have done; indeed, few men have had the same opportunity or been driven to the same necessity. It has, however, in a great measure been owing to such little innovations that I have always kept my people, generally speaking, free from that dreadful distemper, the Scurvy."

This extract shows how bitterly Cook felt the stupid ingratitude of his men for the constant care he took of them, and is one of the very few passages in his Journals in which he speaks in their disfavour. This, curiously, was erased by some unknown hand; King asserts it must have been done by Gore, as he is certain it was not by either Cook or Clerke, who took command after Cook's death.