Three Accounts of the Vasil'ev-Shismarev Expedition of 1819-1822

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rock on which is seen not the slightest vegetation. On its low banks lay thousands of sea lion-seals and sea otters, which at our approach, with noise and roaring plunged into the water, crowding each other. Toward the northwest at a distance of six miles from Amchitka, Semisopochnoi Island present itself to sight, a sight unique in the world. It received its name from seven conically-shaped volcanoes of almost the same height, called sopki in these regions. Three of these volcanoes smoke constantly, and according to the Aleuts on Unalashka only recently had strong eruptions.

With our entrance into the Kamchatka Sea, the constant SW winds left us, and changeable weak ones blew more from the SE and E instead of them, which slowed down our sailing considerably, and we were able to approach Bogoslof Island only on the first of June.

This island appeared from the water and rose to its present height of about 250 feet above the surface during a violent earthquake and eruption of the Umnak and Unalaskan volcanoes in 1797 [1796]. Since it had not been more closely explored by anyone as yet, and the weather was quiet and clear, the captain ordered us to lower the tender for a trip there by our naturalist. The management of the tender was entrusted to Lieutenant Lazarev, who was assisted by the junior pilot, Vedeneev. Stocking up with provisions and water for seven days in the event of fog or other unforeseen events preventing his

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rejoining the sloop, and his having to go directly to Unalashka,a distance of 40 miles from Bogoslof Island; and taking a map of the Kamchatka Sea, a compass, a chronometer, a sextant, and the log, they left at six-o'clock in the morning. Toward nine o'clock they approached the island, and rounding its eastern end, disasppeared behind it. At ten o'clock the previously quiet SE changed to a NE and brought a thick fog. The situation of our tender became very unpleasant. We, on our side, used all possible means to lead it out of this predicament. We came closer to the island, lay to, and started to beat the drums, to ring the bells, and fired the cannons every ten minues to indicate our position to him. But as these means are very inexact near high shores, and the noise reflecting from them may be heard from various sides, the captain decided to remain lying to until the clearing of the fog, and after that, to take measures suitable for the situation. The fog began to lift about three o'clock, and we saw our tender coming directly toward us, and in one hour it joined us.

Lieutenant Lazarev reported that, before the fog, they came so close to the island that they could have landed on the long low sandspit extending from the eastern end almost a mile into the sea if they had not been prevented by an infinite quantity of sea lions settled down on it. It is very dangerous to approach these sea monsters when they are on land. The sea lion attacks people when they bar his way to the water, and is able, with his terrible jaws filled with pointed round

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teeth, to snap off a hand with one bite as it happened a few years before to an Unalashkan toion [leader]. Seeing the impossibility of landing on the spit, Mr. Lazarev went along the shore to find another suitable place, but everywhere the banks rose perpendicularly above the water, and the surf did not permit approaching them. Under these circumstances they were obliged to be satisfied with what they could see from the tender. The island is about three miles in circumference and forms a round mountain of clay and rocky soil, covered in places with thick layers of congealed lava. On top is a crater constantly spewing a black column of smoke. Nature does not provide anything from the plant kingdom here except moss. The Unalashkan and Umnak Aleuts often come here to hunt sea lions, whose meat and fat they use for food and the guts for kamleis [waterproof coats], whiskers for the decoration of their wooden hats, bones for arrows and for fuel [sic] instead of wood, and finally, the skin to cover their baidars.

Noticing the approaching fog, Mr. Lazarev abandoned his fruitless attempts to land on the island and started back to the sloop, which soon disappeared from him, but following the given direction, upon approaching he could distinguish the direction clearly from the noise of the shots, and aiming toward it, as we have seen, safely reached the sloop.

Continuing light changeable breezes brought us only on the third to the entrance of Captains Bay on Unalashka, which we, however, did not dare enter because until Amaknak Island

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boat. In the meantime, the savages, following our route, also approached the end of the sandspit and sat down in a semicircle from one side of the shore to the other, putting all their weapons on the ground behind them. Lieutenant Lazarev, who was wearing high hunting boots, forded from the boat, but we crossed in the baidar. When the lieutenant stepped ashore, a chief rose from the circle and greeted him with a long speech, of which our Aleuts and Kadiak Islanders understood nothing. Then, exactly the same way as on St. Lawrence Island, he spit on the palms of his hands, not touching them to his face, but leading them through the air. The Indians seemingly rejoiced at our arrival and constantly shouted in chorus, "toki! toki!" The trading started at once. They did not at all want tobacco and knickknacks highly valued by other peoples at all, but asked only for knives, hatchets, needles, scissors, cast-iron kettles, and especially gunpowder and lead. But seeing that they could not obtain them, they stopped asking, and were satisfied with the above articles for which they gave their weapons, clothing, and marten, otter, bear, and fox furs; but generally, priced them very high.

Meanwhile, our sailors put up tents, made a fire, and started to cook dinner, and we, in company of the chief to whom we explained our intentions through sign language, went toward the ice mountains, where it was necessary to walk the length of the sandspit past the settlement. It consisted of a hundred and one conical tents of a rather neat finish,