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

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is as thick as the arm of a man. But what did we find? Miserable remains of a spring that had formerly existed, scarcely visible under the ashes, which covered the whole island during the eruption of the Umnak volcano in 1819. This eruption was accompanied by a severe earthquake which was felt on all the islands of the Aleutian chain and finished with the sinking of the coastal lowland on Umnak Island for a distance of seven versts in circumference.

There were several rather strong earthquakes accompanied by a subterranean rumble during our stay on Unalashka.

The impossibility of obtaining in this place fresh meat and vegetables so necessary for the renewal and upkeep of the health of the crew prompted us to rush the repairs and taking on of water, especially as by all reports, we could get nothing until California, and had to expect difficult and exhausting voyages, first to Sitka and afterward to the port of San Fran- cisco to which rushed our common longings as to the promised land. Somehow, the meat was substituted with excellent fresh fish, and vegetables with wild garlic or ramson, but this did not have the desired effect, and the crew, although improved, still ailed. Of fish, we were given a kind of salmon of excellent quality, but we caught cod ourselves in the following manner. On a pole, seven feet long, we attached about 15 fish hooks baited also with cod. In the middle of the pole, we fastened a stone [iadro] instead of a weight, and lowered it to the harbor bottom. In about two hours, pulling up the