During my geodesic work in Aleksandrovsk Post, the young man I., in charge of the wharf and unloading steamers, and the mechanic L., visited one evening and asked me to consent to the district commander's order to go the next day to De-Kastri, on the other side of the Tatar Strait, aboard the new steamer Prince Shakhovskoi.

“Gentlemen,” I answered them, “I have nothing against this, but I should first determine its compass's deviation. Let's go try it now.”

We set off for the wharf. The Prince Shakhovskoi was there, under steam. This was a small steamer of roughly German design, intended primarily for tugboating in the mouths of rivers. There was talk of its probable cost and about fraud and rogues, but I was more interested in its speed. It turned out that, under every favorable condition, it could barely do 8 miles an hour and lost speed and foundered in choppiness, so that a bulwark had had to be installed on the bow.

We reached the middle of the bay. I tried everything. Nothing doing! The steamer was keeling to both sides from the strong waves and the compass was spinning in circles…

“Back to the wharf !” I ordered the helmsman.

My companions were dejected, but I assured them I would travel, trusting the compass only somewhat.

Next day, the weather was even worse. A fresh SW wind was turning into a storm. I put on my tall boots and waterproof hat and showed up at the wharf early in the morning. In such weather, I considered traveling towards a personally unfamiliar shoreline aboard an unproven steamer with an unreliable compass to be insane, but I kept quiet, seeing as how the officials wanted for some reason to complete the outing that day. Had I explained the risks of such a maiden voyage, I think they would have ascribed them to cowardice, so I mutely chose to embark on the journey. Having noted our course's destination on the map, I entered the open sea to meet wind and wave.

With its hatches closed, our steamer's deck seemed to be a floating barrel, over which the waves passed freely from one end to the other. Everyone on deck tightly gripped the handrail so as not to be washed away.