mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i3-023

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there is no ground for anchorage and the high shores of Una-
lashka block out the light breezes from the NE all around
through the S to the NW. The captain ordered us to fire the
cannons, and in about three hours we observed three large
baidars coming toward us from the harbor, which, joining our
rowboats, took the sloop in tow and toward evening pulled it
into the harbor to the northern end of the mentioned Amaknak
Island. Here we dropped anchor until the next morning when,
with a good NE wind we made the remaining seven miles to the
Illiuliuk settlement [now the village of Unalaska ], at a half
mile distance from where we dropped anchor, and on the same
day undertook necessary repairs. We hardly had time to cast
anchor when the Company manager of the island came to see us.
All the other Russian promyshlenniki,1 numbering six persons
and the Aleutian toions, knew our captain who had been there
twice on the brig "Riurik" with Captain Kotzebue.

I consider it superfluous to describe the island and the
character and customs of its inhabitants because it would only
be a repetition of what has been said by many travelers who
were there before and after us. Having finished checking the
movements of the chronometers and having repaired the rigging,
we weighed anchor on the 15th at about noon during a light SE,
but coming to the end of Amaknak Island, from which a long
sandy spit extends into the harbor, the wind began to lessen,
and at last, with the sunset, died down altogether so that we
were forced to drop anchor again. Toward midnight, the wind