ospital, which is near the town
of St Peter and St Paul, in a condition truly deplorable. All the soldiers
were, more or less, affected by the scurvy, and a great many in the last
stage of that disorder. The rest of the Russian inhabitants were also in
the same condition; and we particularly remarked, that our friend the
serjeant, by making too free with the spirits we gave him, had brought on
himself, in the course of a few days, some of the most alarming symptoms of
that malady. In this lamentable state, Captain Clerke put them all under
the care of our surgeons, and ordered a supply of sourkrout, and malt, for
wort, to be furnished for their use. It was astonishing to observe the
alteration in the figures of almost every person we met on our return from
Bolcheretsk; and I was informed by our surgeons, that they attributed their
speedy recovery principally to the effects of the sweetwort.[21]

On the 1st of June we got on board two hundred and fifty poods, or nine
thousand pound weight of rye-flour, with which we were supplied from the
stores of St Peter and St Paul; and the Discovery had a proportional
quantity. The men were immediately put on full allowance of bread, which
they had not been indulged in since our leaving the Cape of Good Hope. The
same day our watering was completed, having got on board sixty-five tons.

On the 4th we had fresh breezes and hard rain, which disappointed us in our
design of dressing the ships, and obliged us to content ourselves with
firing twenty-one guns in honour of the day, and celebrating it in other
respects in the best manner we were able. Port, who was left with us on
account of his skill in languages, behaved himself with so much modesty and
discretion, that as soon as his master was gone, he was no longer Jean
Port, but Monsieur Port, the interpreter; and partook, as well as the
serjeant (in his capacity of commander of the place), of the entertainment
of the day. Our worthy friend, the priest of Paratounca, having got
intelligence of its being our king's birth-day, gave also a sumptuous
feast; at which some of our gentlemen were present, who seemed highly
delighted with their entertainment, which consisted of abundance of good
eating and drinking, together with dancing.

On the 6th, twenty head of cattle were sent us by the commander's orders,
from the Verchnei _ostrog_, which is situated on the river Kamtschatka, at
the distance of near a hundred miles from this place, in a