resh me bodily they brought forward a wooden
tray with whale blubber. Nauseous as this food is to a
European stomach I boldly attacked the dish. This, along
with new presents which I distributed, impressed the seal
on the friendly relation between us. After the meal our
hosts made arrangements for dancing and singing, which was
accompanied on a little tambourine."[352]

As von Kotzebue two days after sailed past the north point of the
island he met three _baydars_. In one of them a man stood up, held
up a little dog and pierced it through with his knife, as Kotzebue
believed, as a sacrifice to the foreigners.[355]

Since 1817 several exploring expeditions have landed on St. Lawrence
Island, but always only for a few hours. It is very dangerous to
stay long here with a vessel. For there is no known haven on the
coast of this large island, which is surrounded by an open sea. In
consequence of the heavy swell which almost constantly prevails
here, when the surrounding sea is clear of ice, it is difficult to
land on the island with a boat, and the vessel anchored in the open
road is constantly exposed to be thrown by a storm rising
unexpectedly upon the shore cliffs. This held good in fullest
measure of the _Vega's_ anchorage, and Captain Palander was on this
account anxious to leave the place as soon as possible. On the 2nd
August at three o'clock in the afternoon we accordingly resumed our
voyage. The course was shaped at first for Karaginsk Island on the
east coast of Kamchatka, where it was my intention to stay some days
in order to get an opportunity of making a comparison between the
natural conditions of middle Kamchatka and the Chukch Peninsula. But
as unfavourable winds delayed our passage longer than I had
calculated on, I abandoned, though unwillingly, the plan of landing
there. The Commander's Islands became instead the nearest goal of
the expedition. Here the _Vega_ anchored on the 14th August in a
very indifferent harbour completely open to the west, north-west,
and south, lying on the west side of Behring Island, between the
main island and a small island lying off it.

[Footnote 344: The enmity appeared, however, to be of a very passive
nature and by no means depending on any tribal dislike, but only
arising from the inhabitants of the villages lying farthest eastward
being known to be of a quarrelsome disposition and having the same
reputation for love of fighting as the peasan