"
No Northeast Passage here! So out they ply again for open sea through
misty weather; and when it clears, they are in the green treeless
region west of Cook's Inlet. Past Kadiak, past Bering's Foggy Island,
past the Shumagins where Bering's first sailor to die of scurvy had
been buried, past volcanoes throwing up immense quantities of blood-red
smoke, past pinnacled rocks, through mists so thick the roar of the
breakers is their only guide, they glide, or drift, or move by inches
feeling the way cautiously, fearful of wreck.
Toward the end of June a great hollow green swell swings them through
the straits past Oonalaska, northward at last! Natives are seen in
green trousers {193} and European shirts; natives who take off their
hats and make a bow after the pompous fashion of the Russians.
Twice natives bring word to Cook by letter and sign that the Russians
of Oonalaska wish to see him. But Captain Cook is not anxious to see
the Russians just now. He wants to forestall their explorations
northward and take possession of the Polar realm for England.
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