EXPLORATION IN KAMSCHATKA.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3598, 23 January 1883, Page 4

EXPLORATION IN KAMSCHATKA.

Mr. G. T. KottlcAvell, whose steam yacht Marchesa sailed from Cowcs on 11th Jaimarv, 1882, on a- A'oyagc round the Avoiid, brought his vessel back to Yokohama, on sth October, after a cruise of some eight weeks in northern Avaters, during Avhich time, accompaniod by Lieutenant Ffoll'ott Poavcll, R.N., and Dr Guillemard, lie traversed Kamschutka almost from end to end. From an interesting letter recently received from Dr Guillemard avc gather the folioAving particulars:— Leavingllakoda.di on 4thAugust, a voyage of nine days under steam and sail brought the Marchesa to refropauloA-sk\% a toAvn of some 300 inhabitants, situate on the shores of Avatika Bay. This is a perfectly land-locked harbor, containing, like Sydney harbor, numerous minor harbors, and pronounced to excel both Sydney and the Bay of Rio in the beauty and grandeur of its surroundings, five grand mountains, a-01----cauocs, ranging from 7000 to 11,000 feet in altitude, toAvering above the placid Avaters of the bay. A Aveck was spent here in organising'the expedition to the north, and on! oth August tho party started, accompanied by two Russian guides and interpreters, and five Kamschatdalcrs in charge of the 27 horses and foals Avhich Avere required for the journey. Riding nine hours a day. and stopping two days en route, on one of which they hunted, but only obtained one bear, the party travelled north for 14 days, at. the end of' Avhich time they struck the headAvatcrs of the great Kamsohatka River, the distance to which had been much under estimated by the guides. Having made arrangements for the yacht to meet them on the "coast, and not Avishing her to be longer than was necessary in unsurveyed Avaters, all ideas of hunting had to_ be abandoned, and the A-oyage down the river Avas coninicnced Avithout delay. Rafts Avere built over dug-out canoes, and on these the expedition floated down to the sea, a distance of 400 miles. The scenery, Avhich Avas that of birch forests bordering long lake-like reaches of river for a great part of the voyage, became of a grander type as the coast Avas nearcd. At one point six magnificent mountains were in sight at the same time, one, Klootchefskoiia by name, a superb volcano, absolutely conical and nearly 17,000 feet in height.' Autemn had by this time had its effect upon the landscape, and the coloring of the forest is described by Dr Guillemard as equal in richness of scarlet, crimson and gold to that of tho forests of birch, rowan' and aspen iv Laplaud and Norway. The expedition camped nightly on tho "hanks of the riAXT : the ay cat her was brilliant but A-cry cold after sunset, so much so, indeed, that the mercury fell heloAV the freezing point in the tents, but it was a perfectly dry cold, and the whole party reached the coast in rude health. Boars sAvanned in the forest, and at one hamlet passed on the voyage as niany as 90 had been killed in a month. Duck and capercailzie abounded aud afforded plenty of sport, Avhile in places the riAer Avas so full of salmon that the banks were lined Avith thousands of fish iv a dead or dying condition. Dr Guillemard made out six or seven varieties of salmon, but expresses an opinion that there are even more than this. Photographs of the principal mountains were taken, and their positions and altitudes obtained by observation, and soundings were taken of the river with its course from the head waters to the sea. Joining the Marchesa at the mouth of the river, Mr Ketflewell took her across to Bohring's Island, where the Alaska FinCompany's seal " rookery "' Avas visited, the party travelling across the tundras in sledges drawn by twelve dogs each. The "rookery" was found to consist of some 50,000 fur seals basking on the low shores of one of the most desolate islands in the Avorld. Hence the Marchesa proceeded to Cape Shipunsky, Avherc the party made a good bag of big-horn, and after a short stay at Petropaulovsky a visit Avas paid to the south of the promontory, Avherc the Aleuts hunt the sea. otter, the skins of Avhich fetch such high prices iv the London market. On the return voyage to Japan the Marchesa encountered the full fury of a typhoon, in the height of which one of the hands Avas unfortunately lost; overboard. The yacht behaved Avell, but two boats Avere smashed and part of the bulwarks carried aAvay. Yokohama was reached on sth October, and Mr Kettlcwoll and his friends left for the interior of Japan.