The climate was not intensely
cold; but it was so damp, the very clothing rotted; and the gales were so
terrific that the men could only leave the mud huts or _yurts_ by
crawling on all fours; and for the first three weeks after the landing,
blast on blast of northern hurricane swept over the islands.
The poor old ship rode her best at anchor through the violent storms; but
on November 28 she was seen to snap her cable and go staggering drunkenly
to open sea. The terror of the castaways at this spectacle {45} was
unspeakable. Their one chance of escape in spring seemed lost; but the
beach combers began rolling landward through the howling storm; and when
next the spectators looked, the _St. Peter_ was driving ashore like a
hurricane ship, and rushed full force, nine feet deep with her prow into
the sands not a pistol shot away from the crew. The next beach comber
could not budge her. Wind and tide left her high and dry, fast in the
sand.
But what had become of Chirikoff, on board the _St. Paul_, from the 20th
of June, when the vessels were separated by storm? Would it have been
any easier for Bering if he had known that the consort ship had been
zigzagging all the while less than a week's cruise from the _St.
Pages:
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76