he sailors
then took on themselves the care of the deserted orphans. They removed
them from the nest where the parents warmth was necessary, to another
lined with cotton, and fixed in a warm place, and fed them with flies,
which seemed to please their palates very well. The system at first
appeared to have perfectly succeeded, and we were in hopes of carrying
them safely to America; when, in spite of the most careful attention,
they fell sick, and on the eighth day, to the general sorrow, not one
of our nurslings remained alive.

They however afforded an additional proof how kindly the common people
of Russia are interested in all that is helpless.

NEW ARCHANGEL.

NEW ARCHANGEL.

The swallows brought us no good fortune. The very day after we left
Kamtschatka, one of our best sailors fell from the mast-head into the
scuttle, and immediately expired. He had climbed thither in safety in
the most violent storms, and executed the most difficult tasks with
ease; now, in fine weather, on a tranquil sea, he met this fate.

These accidents happen most frequently to the best and cleverest
sailors: they confide too much in their own ability, and consider too
little the risks they run. It is impossible to warn them sufficiently.

This fatal accident produced a general melancholy among us, which the
cloudy, wet, cold weather we soon encountered perpetually increased,
till we reached the coast of America. Fortunately, we had all the time a
strong west wind; by its help we passed the southern coasts of the
Aleutian Islands, and on the 7th of August already approached the
American coast. On this day the sun once more smiled on us; the sky
afterwards continued clear, and the air became milder and pleasanter as
we neared the land.

From our noon observation we were in latitude 55 deg. 36', and longitude
140 deg. 56'. In this region, some navigators have imagined they observed
a regular current to the north; but our experience does not confirm the
remark. A current carried us from twenty to thirty miles in twenty-four
hours, setting sometimes north, and sometimes south, according to the
impulse of the wind; close to shore only the current is regularly to the
north. The inhabitants concurred in this observation.

We now steered direct for the bay called by the English Norfolk Sound,
and by the Russians Sitka Bay, and the island at its back, which the
natives call Sitchachan, whence the Russian Sitka. This island, ca