Travels in Kamtschatka (Vol. 1&2). Jean-Baptiste Barthélemy de Lesseps

rest not having kept pace with us.

      We were no sooner landed, than the governor conducted me to his house, where he had the civility to give me a lodging, which I occupied during the whole time of my stay at Bolcheretsk. He not only procured me all the conveniences and pleasures that were in his power, but furnished me with all the information which might contribute to my advantage, and which his office permitted him to give. His politeness often anticipated my desires and my questions; and he contrived to stimulate my curiosity, by presenting to it every thing which he thought was calculated to interest me. It was with this view he proposed, almost immediately upon our arrival, my going with him to view the galliot from Okotsk, that had been unfortunately just shipwrecked at a little distance from Bolcheretsk.

      We had learned something of this melancholy news in our journey. It was said that the bad weather, which the galliot had encountered at its arrival, obliged it to come to anchor at the distance of a league from the coast; but finding that it still drove, the pilot saw no other means of saving the cargo than by running the vessel aground upon the coast; accordingly he cut the cables, and the ship was dashed to pieces.

      Upon the first intelligence of this event, the inhabitants of Bolcheretsk flocked together to hasten to the succour of the vessel, and to save at least the provisions with which it was freighted. Immediately upon our arrival, M. Kasloff had given all the orders which appeared to him to be necessary; but not satisfied with this, he would go himself to see them carried into execution. He invited me to accompany him, which I accepted with cheerfulness, promising myself much pleasure from having an opportunity of viewing the mouth of the Bolchaïa-reka, and the harbour which is formed by it.

      We set off at eleven o'clock in the morning, upon two floats, of which one, that which carried us, was formed of three canoes. Our conductors made use of oars and sometimes of their poles, which frequently in difficult and shallow passages, enabled them to resist the impetuosity of the current, by keeping back the float, which would otherwise have been carried along with rapidity and infallibly overturned.

      The Bistraïa, another very rapid river, and larger than the Bolchaïa-reka, joins it to the west, about the distance of half a werst from Bolcheretsk. It loses its name at the conflux, and takes that of the Bolchaïa-reka, which is rendered very considerable by this addition, and empties itself into the sea at the distance of thirty wersts.

      We landed at seven o'clock in the evening at a little hamlet called Tchekafki. Two isbas, two balagans, and a yourt almost in ruins, were all the habitations I could perceive. There was also a wretched warehouse, made of wood, to which they give the name of magazine, because it belongs to the crown, and first receives the supplies with which the galliots from Okotsk[29] are freighted. The hamlet was built as a guard to this magazine. We passed the night in one of the isbas, resolving to repair early in the morning to the wreck.

      At break of day we embarked upon our floats. It was low water; we coasted along a dry and very extensive sand bank, at the left of the Bolchaïa-reka, as we advanced towards the sea, and which leaves to the north a passage of only eight or ten fathoms wide, and two and a half deep. The wind, which blew fresh from the north-west, suddenly agitated the river, and we dared not risk ourselves in the channel. Our boats also were so small, that a single wave half filled them; two men were constantly employed in throwing out the water, and were scarcely able to effect it. We advanced therefore as far as we could along this bank.

      At length we perceived the mast of the galliot above a neck of low land that extended to the south. It appeared to be about two wersts from us, south of the entrance of the Bolchaïa-reka. At the point of land just mentioned, we discovered the light house, and the cot of the persons appointed to guard the wreck: unfortunately we could only see all this at a distance. The direction of the river, from the place where it empties itself into the sea, appeared to me to be north-west, and its opening to be half a werst wide. The light-house is on the left coast, and on the right is the continuation of the low land, which the sea overflows in tempestuous weather, and which extends almost as far as the hamlet of Tchekafki. The distance of the hamlet from the mouth of the river is from six to eight wersts. The nearer we approach the entrance, the more rapid is the current.

      It was not possible to pursue our voyage; the wind became stronger, and the waves increased every moment. It would have been the height of imprudence to quit the sand bank, and cross, in such foul weather and such feeble boats, two wersts of deep water, which is the width of the bay formed by the mouth of the river. The governor, who had already met with some proofs of my little knowledge of navigation, was very anxious however to consult me upon this occasion. My advice was to tack about, and return to the hamlet where we had slept; which was executed immediately. We had great reason to be pleased with our prudence; scarcely were we arrived at Tchekafki when the weather became terrible.

      I consoled myself with the idea, that I had at least obtained my end, which was to see the entrance of the Bolchaïa-reka. I can assert with confidence, that the access to it is very dangerous, and impracticable to ships of a hundred and fifty tons burthen. The Russian vessels are too frequently shipwrecked, not to open the eyes both of navigators who may be tempted to visit this coast, and of the nations who may think of sending them.

      The port, besides, affords no shelter. The low lands with which it is surrounded, are no protection against the winds which blow from every quarter. The banks also which the current of the river forms, are very variable, and of course it is almost impossible to know with certainty the channel, which must necessarily, from time to time, change it direction as well as its depth.

      We passed the rest of the day at Tchekafki, being unable to proceed to the shipwrecked vessel, or to return to Bolcheretsk. The sky, instead of clearing up, became covered on all sides with still blacker and thicker clouds. Soon after our arrival, a dreadful tempest arose, and the Bolchaïa-reka became agitated to an extreme violence, even so high up as our hamlet. Its billows surprised me, because of the little extent and depth of the river in this place. The point north-east of its mouth, and the low land, which this gale of wind extended, formed but one breaker, over which the waves rolled with a horrible noise. The gale was not likely to abate, but I was on shore, and thought myself able to brave it. I took it into my head therefore, to go a hunting in the environs of the hamlet. I had scarcely advanced a few steps, when the wind seized me, and I felt myself stagger; my courage however did not fail me, and I persevered; but coming to a stream, which it was necessary to cross in a boat, I ran the most imminent risk, and returned immediately, well punished for my petty presumption. These dreadful hurricanes being very common at this season, it is not be wondered at that shipwrecks are so frequent on these coasts: the vessels are so small as to have but one mast; and, what is still worse, the sailors who manage them, if report may be credited, have too little skill to be confided in.

      The next day we resumed our journey, and arrived at Bolcheretsk in the dusk of the evening.

      As I forsee that my stay here will probably be long, from the necessity of waiting till sledges can be used, I shall proceed with my descriptions, and the recital of what I have seen myself, or learned from my conversations with the Russians and Kamtschadales. I shall begin with the town, or fort of Bolcheretsk, for so it is called, in Russia (ostrog, or krepost).

      It is situated on the border of the Bolchaïa-reka, in a small island formed by different branches of this river, which divide the town into three parts more or less inhabited. The most distant division, and which is farthest to the east, is a kind of suburb called Paranchine; it contains ten or twelve isbas. South-east of Paranchine, is the middle division, where there is also a number isbas, and among others, a row of wooden huts that serve for shops. Opposite to these is the guard-house, which is also the chancery, or court of justice[30]; this house is larger than the rest, and is always guarded by a centinel. A second branch of the Bolchaïa-reka again separates, by a very narrow stream, this group of habitations, built without order, and scattered here and there, from another at the north-west, nearer the river. The river in this part flows in the direction of south-east and north-west, and passes within fifty yards of the governor's house. This house is easily distinguished from the rest; it is higher, larger, and is built like the wooden houses of St. Petersburg. Two hundred yards north-east of this house, is the church; the construction of which is simple, and like that of the village churches in Russia.