I continued to steer S.S.E., nearly in the direction of the coast, till five in the afternoon, when land was seen bearing S., 50 deg.  E., which we presently found to be a continuation of the coast, and hauled up for it.  Being abreast of the eastern land at ten at night, and in doubts of weathering it, we tacked, and made a board to the westward, till past one the next morning, when we stood again to the east, and found that it was as much as we could do to keep our distance from the coast, the wind being exceedingly unsettled, varying continually from N. to N.E.  At half an hour past eight, the eastern extreme above mentioned bore S. by E., six or seven miles distant.  At the same time, a head-land appeared in sight, bearing E. by S., 1/2 S.; and, soon after, we could trace the whole coast lying between them, and a small island at some distance from it.

The coast seemed to form several rocky points, connected by a low shore, without the least appearance of a harbour.  At some distance from the sea, the low land appeared to swell into a number of hills.  The highest of these were covered with snow, and, in other respects, the whole country seemed naked.  At seven in the evening, two points of land, at some distance beyond the eastern head, opened off it, in the direction of S., 37 deg.  E. I was now well assured, of what I had believed before, that this was the country of the Tschutski, or the N.E. coast of Asia; and that thus far Beering proceeded in 1728; that is, to this head, which Muller says is called Serdze Kamen, on account of a rock upon it, shaped like a heart.  But I conceive, that Mr Muller’s knowledge of the geography of these parts is very imperfect.  There are many elevated rocks upon this cape, and possibly some one or other of them may have the shape or a heart.  It is a pretty lofty promontory, with a steep rocky cliff facing the sea, and lies in the latitude of 67 deg. 3’, and in the longitude of 188 deg. 11’.  To the eastward of it, the coast is high and bold; but to the westward it is low, and trends N.N.W., and N.W. by W., which is nearly its direction all the way to Cape North.  The soundings are every where the same at the same distance from the shore, which is also the case on the opposite shore of America.  The greatest depth we found in ranging along it was twenty-three fathoms.  And, in the night, or in foggy weather, the soundings are no bad guide in sailing along either of these shores.

At eight o’clock in the morning of the 2d, the most advanced land to the S.E., bore S., 25 deg.  E., and from this point of view had the appearance of being an island.  But the thick snow showers, which succeeded one another pretty, fast, and settled upon the land, hid great part of the coast at this time from our sight.  Soon after, the sun, whose face we had not seen for near five days, broke out at the intervals between the showers, and, in some measure, freed the coast from the fog, so that we had a sight of it, and found the whole to be connected.