I accompanied Captain Shmaleff to the entrance of Awatska River; and having bid him farewell, took this opportunity of paying a visit to the priest of Paratounca.  On Sunday, the 26th, I attended him to church.  The congregation consisted of his own family, three Kamtschadale men, and three boys, who assisted in singing part of the service; the whole of which was performed in a very solemn and edifying manner.  The church is of wood, and by far the best building either in this town or that of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.  It is ornamented with many paintings, particularly with two pictures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, presented by Beering; and which, in the real richness of their drapery, would carry off the prize from the first of our European performances; for all the principal parts of it are made of thick plates of solid silver, fastened to the canvas, and fashioned into the various foldings of the robes with which the figures were clothed.

The next day, I set on foot another hunting party, and put myself under the direction of the clerk of the parish, who was a celebrated bear-hunter.  We arrived by sun-set, at the side of one of the larger lakes.  The next step was to conceal ourselves as much as possible; and this we were able to do effectually, among some long grass and brushwood, that grew close to the water’s edge.  We had not lain long in ambush, before we had the pleasure to hear the growlings of bears in different parts round about us; and our expectations were soon gratified, by the sight of one of them in the water, which seemed to be swimming directly to the place where we lay hid.  The moon, at this time, gave a considerable light; and when the animal had advanced about fifteen yards, three of us fired at it, pretty nearly at the same time.  The beast immediately turned short on one side, and set up a noise, which could not properly be called roaring, nor growling, nor yelling, but was a mixture of all three, and horrible beyond description.  We plainly saw that it was severely wounded, and that with difficulty it gained the bank, and retreated to some thick bushes at a little distance.  It still continued to make the same loud and terrible noise; and though the Kamtschadales were persuaded it was mortally wounded, and could get no farther, yet they thought it most advisable not to rouse it again for the present.  It was at this time past nine o’clock; and the night becoming overcast, and threatening a change of weather, we thought it most prudent to return home, and defer the gratification of our curiosity till morning, when we returned to the spot, and found the bear dead, in the place to which it had been watched.  It proved to be a female, and beyond the common size.

As the account of our first hunting-party will be apt to give the reader a wrong idea of the method in which this sport is usually conducted, it may not be amiss to add a few more words on the subject; and which I am the better able to do since this last expedition.