19th Century

June 3rd, 1811. The city of New York lies in a broad river estuary whose wooded slopes give no hint of what will appear around the corner. The river is divided into several channels, forming [more…]

April 24th, 1811. Our wanderings have brought us to Trinidad, the largest and almost the easternmost of the chain of islands which dot the edge of the Caribbean Sea. Skirting the western edge of the [more…]

February 22nd, 1811. Late last night, as we were heading north-west in a moderate wind, a tremendous grinding crash threw the whole ship askew, and we found ourselves drifting with the sails flapping dangerously, threatening [more…]

December 25th, 1810. We celebrate our first Christmas at sea – or at least, the English humans and bears of our party do, for the Russian crew prefer to wait until their laggard calendar produces [more…]

December 1st, 1810. We have crossed the Equator again, in the opposite direction. Our polar bears Boris and Beaivi must be the first of their kind to have ventured into the Southern Hemisphere, if only [more…]

November 15th, 1810. We have just crossed the Equator. Only one sailor on board, Misha, has been in the southern hemisphere before. He told us that it is customary for those who ‘cross the line’ [more…]

October 12th, 1810 (September 30th O.S.). We sail on, occupied by many small repairs necessary after the storm. Damaged blocks have to be replaced, and lashings that have worked loose need remaking. Yet all in [more…]

August 28th, 1810 (August 16th O.S.). Finally we are through the strait between Asia and America. After our long sojourn in a region where the chart shows only pictures of sea monsters, we are again [more…]

June 13th, 1810 (June 1st O.S.). We have left Novaya Zemlya, to general relief, and are sailing down the west side of the island to resume our eastward course. No one enjoyed our sojourn in [more…]