The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-25 00:00:00

(Continued from The Sun of yesterday.)
Her Mejesty'e Discovery ship Plover, Choris-
Peninsula, Kotzebue-sound, Sept. 25, 1849.
(Received January 21, 1850)
Sir,—Having had no opportunity of communicating
with Great Britain since my last roport to my Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty, dated August, 1848,
at Woahu (Sandwich Islands), I have the honour to ac-
quaint you, for their Lordships' information, with the
gem ral proceedings of her Majesty's ship under my
command up to this period.
After filling up water and laying in a stock of fresh
provisions, vegetables, ere., I sailed from Woahu (Aug.
25, 1848) with the N.E. trade wind, which I carried
pre'ty steadily till the 3d of September, at which time
I hai* rezeleed the parallel of 36 deg. N., and 171 deg.
W. From this date I continued to hold a course to the
S.W. (though much impeded by northerly winds), in
order that, in the event of meeting westerly winds, as
I had been led to expect, I might have the passage
through the Aleat'an Islands under my lee, On the
27th of & tornber I had the setisraetion of knowing by
the ship's reckoning that I had passed the latitude of
Atte, the westernmost island of this group, though from
the prevailing cloudy and foggy weather no indication
of my approach to land could be observed, beyond a
slight discoloured appearance of the sea, whioh had
been first noticed on the 20th, on which day I com-
menced to sound, but found no bottom till the sth of
October, in lat. 61 deg. 19 min. N., lon. 174 deg. 8
min. E.
As I had now obtained soundings, and having observed
for a day or two past a bright yellow blink, extending
from N. to'S.E. by E., I kept the deep sea lead con-
stantly going, which gave, on the Bth (October), 170
fathoms, gradually decreasing from that day till the
Island of St. Laurence was seen, on the 13th.
From the 23d of September I experienced a succes-
sion of variable and light winds, with frequent squalls
of moderate force, chiefly from N.W. and N.E., and oc-
casional calms, the weather being almost constantly thick
and cloudy, with frequent falls of rain, and subsequently
to the 3d of ,October, when the temperature had fallen
permanently below 40 deg. of Fahrenheit, sleet and snow
prevailed.
On the 13th the Island of St. Laurence was made out,
already covered with snow, causing its appearance to be
with difficulty reconciled with the delineations on the
Admiralty charts, those of Behring's Straits, together
with the "Sailing Directions" forwarded by Admiral
Lutzke, through Captain Kellett, unfortunately not
having reached me. In the evening, whilst yet in the
passige, the wind again veered to N.F., and con-
tinued to blow from that quarter, increasing in force
during the night, and, notwithstanding the utmost
vigilance of the officers of the watches, found on
the 16th I was. thirty miles to the southward of my posi-
tion on the previoas day, being several miles to leeward
of the South Cape (Asiatic shore) instead of weathering
Cape,Chaplin, as I expected. Finding the vessel thus
totally unqualified to contend against an adverse wind
and a strong current setting to the south-west (which
had been felt in some considerable degree there several
days past), I felt the necessity of reeking shelter under
the land, whilst still in my power, rather than remain at
sea under such unf4vourable circumstances. I accord-
ingly came to at 7 20 A. et. in a bay on the S.W. coast of
Siberia, open to the south and west, at a distance of four
miles from the land, in readiness to take immediate advan-
tage of any favourable circumstances that might occur. Mr.
Henry Martin, second roaster, was dispatched to ex-
amine an indentation which I observed, having the ap-
pearance of a river, who, on his return, reported the
existence of en extensive harbour, with safe anchorage,
protected from the sea by a long low spit. In the me an-
time a number of natives came off to the ship, from
whom I understood that I could conveniently procure a
supply of water near the anchorage reported by Mr.
Martin. I stood in on the f Alowing day, and anchored
at 9 45 P. as., in twenty fathoms water, the wind being
still fresh at north-east.
On the 20th, finding the direction and twee cf the
wind to continue, the ternperatare of the air to fall as
low as 23i deg. Fahrenheit, and the sea water to 28i
deg., I deemed it prudent to take the opinions of the
officers as to whether an endeavour to proceed to the
northward should be made (these opinions I have the
honour to enclose), which I beg to state were strictly
in accordance with my own sentiments—viz., that it
would be better to remain in this secure harbour for the
winter than make a useless attempt to proceed north-
ward, with a probability of being unable to regain my
advantageous position (from which Icould send out over-
lend expeditions), and on account of the advanced
season to lose the chance of wintering even in Petro-
paulski. I therefore determined that, should no
favourable change take place before the 26th, to select a
convenient spot in which to place the ship for the winter.
On the 23d a still further reduction of temperature
took place; the upper part of the harbour was reported
freezing over, and large masses of ice forming during
the night about the ship, in consequence of which, after
a personal examination of an inner harbour possessing
many advantages, I removed thither on the 24th, anchor-
ing at three P.M. at seven fathoms.
The harbour to which I had now removed commu-
nicated with the larger one by an opening a mile wide,
firming a basin four miles long, and one and a half in
bre idth, surrounded on every side by lofty mountains,
exo-pt to the southward, where it was separated from
the sea by a tract of low land, and an extensive lagoon,
and having deep water at the entrance and middle,
with good anchorage on each side close to the shore.
On the low land, at the south was a native settlement
of seven huts, to which belonged a large herd of reindeer,
from which I hoped from time to time to obtain supplies
of fresh meat; considering it, however, safer for the
ship on account of the force and prevalence of the
north-east winds, as well as the probability of the
ice drifting, and on the whole better to be at a little dis-
tance from a people whose friendly disposition was not
yet established, I removed to the north-side of the har-
bour on the 25th, and there secured the ship for the
winter on the 28th (October).
From the 29th the people were employed dismantling
the ship, leaving nothing but the lower rigging over
the mastheads, building a house of stones fur the con-
venience of working the forge, drying clothes, &c., and
housing the ship in, all which was completed by the
Bth of November.
During this time ice was continually forming around,
and frequently broken up by squalls and strong north-
east winds, so that the ship was not finally frozen in
until the 18th, when the natives were first enabled to
visit us alongside the ship in their sledges, drawn
by doge.
It will now be necessary for me to inform their Lord-
ships of the friendly intercourse I had eucceedel in es-
tablishing with the different tribes of natives near my
winter quarters. They at first appeared to hesitate
about coming on board, but on making a few presents,
and allowing some traffic to be carried on with them,
they gained confidence, at least so far as to enter the
ship readily when invited to do so, being careful on all
occasions to guard against treachery on their part, on ac-
count of the warlike and re'entless character attached to
the people of these coasts by some authors.
During the months of November and December the
ship was daily visited, not only by those in the vicinity,
but also by others from a distance along the coast and
inland, by my intercourse with whom I was enabled to
satirly myself that they were not only peaceful, but dis-
posed to be actively friendly toward myself and the
officers and men under my command. The first difficulty
was to gain some knowledge of the language, to which
all the officers applied themselves with surprising suc-
cess, so much so that is the early part of the year I was
enabled to send them in different directions with the
confident expectation that they would be able to make
successful inquiries as to whether any vessels answering
to the description of her Majesty's ships Erebus and
Terror had visited any part of the coast, or been seen
during the past year by any of the natives.
On these expeditions every officer in the ship (except
Mr. Francis Lee, acting second master, ice) took his
turn, displaying throughout a persevering energy in en-
during fatigue and hardship, as well as firmness and dis-
cretion in their intercourse with the natives, which I
cannot sufficiently commend; which conduct I sincerely
trust will meet their Lordships' approbation and tend to
their future advancement.
Of those hardships I can confidently speak from my
own experience in travelling on several occasions on a
sledge in heavy snoss drifts, with the thermometer at 30
deg. below zero.
The following account of a party which left the ship
in February will be read with interest, I think:—
Having understood from the natives that there was to
be seen the remains ors vessel near East Cape, but the
time of the ship's wreck I could not make out, to gain
more certain information of which I sent Mr. Wm. H.
Hooper, acting mate; Mr. Henry Martin, second master;
and Mr. William H. Moore, master's assistant, with two
native guides who were familiar with that part of the
coast, and upon whom I could confidently depend,
giving them directions to proceed as far as they found
the natives 'friendly, and if practicable to cross the straits
and visit Kotzebue Sound, but on no account rashly to
trust themselves among tribes with whom their guides
were not familiar, or were in every way doubtful of. On
the second day of their journey, when about fifty miles
from the ship, they were overtaken by a violent snow
storm, by which their progress was much impeded, and,
from the thickness of the weather, all idea of the direction
in which they had travelled became lost, and at nightfall
the guides confessed they knew not where they were,
and that they must wait for clear weather, which
might be expected with the moonlight. On the second
day the guides were in some degree re-assured, and
again proceeded, but at night found themselves as igno-
rant of their position as ever, and a third day was passed
in the same manner. On the fourth day Mr. Martin,
from the fact of their having been for the greater part of
the time on the sea ice, having once only been on the
land, which they imperceptibly lost, judged that their
twe wandering d
proposed,er ing had
fbreoemn
hismade n inoei
knowledge
gcei root! et
beef
pre-
vious journey, to attempt reaching the place they hm
in the evening, when the
Hooper readily agreed, and coast moderate
in a eaxd-
that a merciful Providence bad brought them out of
efrt bye cleared
da ind
little,
l hiset
hey pocketh.adc othrisep a compass,
happiness to w itcnh
find r.
off from all hope. The slight view of the land they
obtained recovered their exhausted frames and dim-
lwtaheitaitrlhedifficulties when to every appearance they were cut