CHAPTER XIX

.

THE STAY ON BERING ISLAND.--FAUNA OF THE ISLAND.--A RICH FIELD FOR STELLER.--HIS DESCRIPTIONS IMMORTALIZE THE EXPEDITION.--THE SEA-COW.--ITS EXTERMINATION.--NORDENSKJÖLD REFUTED.--PREPARATIONS FOR WINTERING.--SAD DEATH OF BERING.--AN ESTIMATE OF HIS WORK.--CHIRIKOFF'S RETURN.--THE CREW OF THE ST. PETER LEAVE THE ISLAND.--THE GREAT NORTHERN EXPEDITION DISCONTINUED.--BERING'S REPORTS BURIED IN RUSSIAN ARCHIVES.--BERING HONORED BY COOK.

The island upon whose shores Bering, after a voyage of four months, was cast, was a high, rocky, and uninviting country. The snowless mountains of Plutonic rock, wild and jagged, arose perpendicularly out of the sea, and deep ravines with seething mountain streams led into the treeless interior.[86] There was snow on only the highest peaks, and on this cold November night the coast appeared to the shipwrecked unfortunates in all its naked and gloomy solitude, and hence great was their surprise on landing to find the island teeming with animal life, yet undisturbed by human habitation. The Commander Islands, as the group is now called, consist of two large islands and a few rocky islets. The most easterly of the former is Copper Island (Mednie), about thirty-five miles long and three miles wide, covered with high, steep, and jagged mountains, which lie athwart the main trend of the island, S. E. to N. W., and terminate precipitously, often perpendicularly, with a narrow strand at the base scarcely fifty feet wide. On a somewhat larger scale, the same description applies to Bering Island, which, according to Steller, is 23-1/2 geographical miles long and nearly 3-1/4 wide. It is situated about 30 geographical miles from Kamchatka, between latitude 54° 40' and 55° 25' north, and longitude 165° 40' and 166° 40' east of Greenwich. Only on the west coast, within the shelter of the Sea Lion Island (Arii Kamen) and a lesser islet, is there a fairly good harbor, where the Russians later founded the only colony of the island, consisting of a few Aleuts who cultivate some vegetables, but maintain themselves principally by hunting and fishing. For this purpose they have built, here and there on the east coast, some earth-huts which are used only temporarily. The very high mountains, having a trend from N. W. to S. E., almost everywhere extend clear to the sea, and only here and there along the mouths of the brooks do semicircular coves recede from 700 to 1300 yards into the interior. In Bering's day these coves or rookeries contained a fauna entirely unmolested by human greed and love of chase, developed according to nature's own laws, for which reason great scientific interest attaches to the stranding of the St. Peter. Of this animal life Steller gives us in his various works descriptions which are unexcelled in power and fidelity. These have made Bering's second voyage immortal. Naturalists will again and again turn to them. For this reason it would seem that Steller had no ground for complaint that Bering had taken him from his real field of investigation: Kamchatka--a complaint made in our day by O. Peschel--for on Bering Island he first found that field of labor and that material, the description of which has immortalized his name.[87]

[Illustration: STELLER'S TRIUMPHAL ARCH.]

With the exception of the Arctic fox, the higher fauna of these islands were found exclusively among the sea mammals. The most important furred animal at that time was the sea-otter (_Enhydra lutris_, Linn.), which lived in families on the coast during the whole year, especially, however, in the winter. Its velvety fur brought about 100 rubles on the Chinese border, and hence this animal later became the object of a most eager search. Nordenskjöld says these otters have been driven away, not only from Bering Island, but also from other grounds, where formerly they were slaughtered by the thousand. This statement, however, is not entirely correct. The sea-otter may still be found on Bering Island, and on the adjacent Copper Island (Mednie) it is frequently found, and is protected by just such laws as Nordenskjöld demands for its preservation.

The greatest number of marine animals here were found to belong to the family of eared seals (_Otariidoe_); namely, the sea-lion (_Eumetopias Stelleri_), from which oil is obtained, and the fur-seal (_Callorhinus ursinus_), which is still the world's most important fur-bearing animal. Since the close of the last century, the Russian government has with great care sought to protect this animal, and has built up a national enterprise which yields a large annual income, and which makes it possible for the Russo-American company which has a lease of the business, to kill annually about 30,000 seals and still increase the stock. On this point, too, Nordenskjöld's statements are unreliable and misleading. He puts the annual catch much too high, which, at the time, caused no slight trouble between the Russian government and the company.[88]

On the whole, it seems humiliating to West Europe that it is only decried and tyrannical Russia that has understood how to protect this useful animal. When Russian America, the present Alaska, in 1867 was sold to the United States, some of the best seal fisheries, the Pribyloff Islands, were a part of the purchase. The United States has found it profitable to retain the Russian regulations for seal hunting, for those small islands alone yield the interest on the sum paid for the whole territory.

The eared seals put in their appearance on the Commander Islands in the spring, and are found in the rookeries by the hundreds of thousands until August or September. They proved of the greatest importance for the support of the shipwrecked expedition, and after the sea-otter for a circuit of many miles had been driven away, they furnished a part of the crew's daily means of sustenance.

But the most interesting animal on Bering Island was the sea-cow (_Rhytina Stelleri_),[89] a very large and ponderous animal from eight to ten meters long and weighing about three tons. It was related to the dugong and lamantine of the southern seas, and the _manatus_ which occurs in Florida and along the Gulf coast. Its habitat seems to have been confined to the shores of the Commander Islands, where it was found in great numbers. Its flesh was very excellent food. Later it was eagerly sought after by the Siberian hunter, whose rapacity exterminated the whole species in less than a generation. The last specimen is said to have been killed in 1768, and hence museums have been very unsuccessful in procuring skeletons of the animal. In his "Voyage of the Vega," Nordenskjöld attempts to show that sea-cows were seen much later, even as late as 1854; but as he bases his assumption chiefly on the statements of some Aleutian natives, who, according to what Dr. Leonhard Stejneger recently has proved, confounded the sea-cow with a toothed whale (denticete), there seems to be no reason whatever for modifying the results arrived at by Baer, Brandt, and Middendorff.[90]

Without this animal wealth it would have gone hard with Bering's expedition as it did later with the unfortunate La Pérouse, whose monument has found a place in Petropavlovsk by the side of Bering's. It would have been hopelessly lost on Bering Island. None of the

## participants would have seen Asia again, none would even have survived

the winter 1741-42, for when the St. Peter stranded, there were on board only a few barrels of junk, a small quantity of groats, and some flour. The flour had been lying in leathern sacks for two years, and in the stranding had been saturated with turbid sea water, and hence was very unfit for food. How fatal, therefore, Waxel's and Khitroff's opposition to Bering might have been.

It was the night between the 5th and 6th of November that the St. Peter reached this coast. On the 6th the weather was calm and clear, but the crew were kept on board from weakness and work, and only Steller and Pleniser could go ashore with a few of the sick. They immediately betook themselves to examining the country, and walked along the coast on either side. Was this an island, or was it the mainland? Could they expect to find human assistance, and could they reach home by land? After two days of exploration, Steller succeeded in satisfying himself on these points, although it was nearly six months before he definitely ascertained that the place was an island. Unlike Kamchatka, the country was treeless, having only a few trailing willows of the thickness of a finger. The animals of the coast were entirely new and strange, even to him, and showed no fear whatever. They had no sooner left the ship, when they saw sea-otters, which they first supposed to be bears or gluttons. Arctic foxes flocked about them in such numbers that they could strike down three or four score of them in a couple of hours. The most valuable fur-bearing animals stared at them curiously, and along the coast Steller saw with wonderment whole herds of sea-cows grazing on the luxuriant algæ of the strand. Not only he had never seen this animal before, but even his Kamchatkan Cossack did not know it. From this fact, Steller concluded that the island must be uninhabited. As the trend of Kamchatka was not the same as that of the island, and as the flora was nevertheless identical, and as he moreover found a window frame of Russian workmanship that had been washed ashore, he was convinced that the country must be a hitherto unknown island in the vicinity of Kamchatka.

Bering shared this view, but the other officers still clung to their illusions, and when Waxel, on the evening of the 6th, came ashore, he even spoke of sending a message for conveyance. Steller, on the other hand, began to make preparations for the winter. In the sand-banks, near an adjacent mountain stream, he and his companions dug a pit and made a roof of driftwood and articles of clothing. To cover up cracks and crevices on the sides, they piled up the foxes they had killed. He exerted himself to obtain wild fowl, seal-beef, and vegetable nourishment for the sick, who were gradually taken ashore and placed under sail tents upon the beach. Their condition was terrible. Some died on deck as soon as they were removed from the close air of their berths, others in the boat as they were being taken ashore, and still others on the coast itself. All attempts at discipline were abandoned, and those that were well grouped themselves into small companies, according to their own pleasure and agreement. The sick and dying were seen on every hand. Some complained of the cold, others of hunger and thirst, and the majority of them were so afflicted with scurvy that their gums, like a dark brown sponge, grew over and entirely covered the teeth. The dead, before they could be buried, were devoured by foxes, which in countless numbers flocked about, not even fearing to attack the sick.

More than a week elapsed before the last of the sick were taken ashore. On November 10, the Commander was removed. He was well protected against the influence of the outer air, and was laid for the night under a tent on the strand. It snowed heavily. Steller passed the evening with him and marveled at his cheerfulness and his singular contentment. They weighed the situation, and discussed the probability of their whereabouts. Bering was no more inclined than Steller to think that they had reached Kamchatka, or that their ship could be saved. The next day he was carried on a stretcher to the sand pits and placed in one of the huts by the side of Steller's. The few that were able to work sought to construct huts for all. Driftwood was collected, pits were dug and roofed, and provisions were brought from the ship. Steller was both cook and physician--the soul of the enterprise. On November 13, the barrack to be used as a hospital was completed, and thither the sick were immediately removed. But still the misery kept increasing. Steller had already given up all hopes of Bering's recovery. Waxel, who had been able to keep up as long as they were on the sea, now hovered between life and death. There was special anxiety on account of his low condition, as he was the only competent seaman that still had any influence, since Khitroff, by his hot and impetuous temper, had incurred the hatred of all. Moreover, those sent to reconnoiter, returned with the news that in a westerly direction they could find no connection with Kamchatka or discover the slightest trace of human habitation. It became stormy; for several days the boat could not venture out, and the ship, their only hope, lay very much exposed near a rocky shore. The anchor was not a very good one, and there was great danger that the vessel would be driven out to sea, or be dashed to pieces on the rocks. The ten or twelve able-bodied men that were left, being obliged to stand in icy water half a day at a time, soon gave way under such burdens. Sickness and want were on every hand. Despair stared them in the face, and not until November 25, when the vessel was driven clear ashore and its keel buried deep in the sand, did their condition seem more secure. They then went quietly to work to prepare for the winter.

In December the whole crew was lodged in five underground huts (dug-outs) on the bank of the stream near the place of landing.[91] The ship's provisions were divided in such a way that every man daily received a pound of flour and some groats, until the supply was exhausted. But they had to depend principally upon the chase, and subsisted almost exclusively upon the above mentioned marine animals and a stranded whale. Each hut constituted a family with its own economical affairs, and daily sent out one party to hunt and another to carry wood from the strand. In this way they succeeded in struggling through the winter, which on Bering Island is more characterized by raging snowstorms (poorgas) than severe cold.

Meanwhile, death made sad havoc among them. Before they reached Bering Island, their dead numbered twelve, the majority of whom died during the last days of the voyage. During the landing and immediately afterwards nine more were carried away. The next death did not occur until November 22. It was the excellent and worthy mate, the seventy-year-old Andreas Hesselberg, who had plowed the sea for fifty years, and whose advice, had it been heeded, would have saved the expedition. Then came no less than six deaths in rapid succession; and finally in December the Commander and another officer died. The last death occurred January 6, 1742. In all, thirty-one men out of seventy-seven died on this ill-starred expedition.

When Bering exerted his last powers to prevent the stranding of the St. Peter, he struggled for life. Before leaving Okhotsk he had contracted a malignant ague, which diminished his powers of resistance, and on the voyage to America scurvy was added to this. His sixty years of age, his heavy build, the trials and tribulations he had experienced, his subdued courage, and his disposition to quiet and inactivity, all tended to aggravate this disease; but he would nevertheless, says Steller, without doubt have recovered if he had gotten back to Avacha, where he could have obtained proper nourishment and enjoyed the comfort of a warm room. In a sandpit on the coast of Bering Island, his condition was hopeless. For blubber, the only medicine at hand, he had an unconquerable loathing. Nor were the frightful sufferings he saw about him, his chagrin caused by the fate of the expedition, and his anxiety for the future of his men, at all calculated to check his disease. From hunger, cold, and grief he slowly pined away. "He was, so to speak, buried alive. The sand kept continually rolling down upon him from the sides of the pit and covered his feet. At first this was removed, but finally he asked that it might remain, as it furnished him with a little of the warmth he so sorely needed. Soon half of his body was under the sand, so that after his death, his comrades had to exhume him to give him a decent burial." He died on the 8th[92] of December, 1741, two hours before daybreak, from inflammation of the bowels.

"Sad as his death was," says Steller, "that intrepidity and seriousness with which he prepared to meet death was most worthy of admiration." He thanked God for having been his guide from youth, and for having given him success through life. He sought in every way possible to encourage his companions in misfortune to hopeful activity, and inspire them with faith in Providence and the future. Notwithstanding his conviction that they had been cast upon the shores of an unknown land, he was not disposed to discourage the others by expressing himself on this point. On the 9th of December his body was interred in the vicinity of the huts, between the graves of the second mate and the steward. At the departure from the island there was placed upon his grave a plain wooden cross, which also served to show that the island belonged to the Russian crown. This cross was renewed several times, and in the sixties, so far as is known, twenty-four men erected a monument to his honor in the governor's garden (the old churchyard) in Petropavlovsk, where a monument to the unfortunate La Pérouse is also found, and where Cook's successor, Captain Clerke, found his last resting place.

With Bering that mental power, which had been the life of these great geographical expeditions and driven them forward toward their goal, was gone. We have seen how his plans were conceived; how through long and dreary years he struggled in Siberia to combine and execute plans and purposes which only under the greatest difficulties could be combined and executed; how by his quiet and persistent activity he endeavored to bridge the chasm between means and measures, between ability to do and a will to do,--a condition typical of the Russian society of that time. We have seen how he surmounted the obstacles presented by a far-off and unwilling government, a severe climate, poor assistants, and an inexperienced force of men. We have accompanied him on his last expedition, which seems like the closing scene of a tragedy, and like this ends with the death of the hero.

He was torn away in the midst of his activity. Through his enterprise a great continent was scientifically explored, a vast Arctic coast, the longest in the world, was charted, a new route to the western world was found, and the way paved for Russian civilization beyond the Pacific, while enormous sources of wealth--a Siberian Eldorado--were opened on the Aleutian Islands for the fur-hunter and adventurer. Russian authors have compared Bering with Columbus and Cook. He certainly was for Russia, the land of his adoption, what the two former were for Spain and England--a great discoverer, an honest, hardy, and indefatigable pioneer for knowledge, science, and commerce. He led Europe's youngest marine out upon explorations that will ever stand in history as glorious pages, and as living testimony of what Northern perseverance is able to accomplish even with most humble means.

And yet he only partly succeeded in accomplishing what for sixteen years had been the object of his endeavors. His voyage to America was merely a reconnoitering expedition, which, in the following summer, was to have been repeated with better equipments.

Chirikoff, who on the expedition in 1741, about simultaneously with Bering,[93] discovered a more southerly part of the North American coast, returned to Avacha in such an impaired condition that, in 1742, he could undertake no enterprise of importance.[94] On account of the great misfortunes that overwhelmed the expedition, Laptjef was prevented from completing the charting of Kamchatka. Thus we see that on every side of Bering's grave lay unfinished tasks. These tasks were inherited from the Dano-Russian explorer by his great successor Cook, and other younger navigators. Moreover, his death occurred at an extremely fatal period; for in these same dark December days while Bering was struggling with death in the sandpits of Bering Island, Biron, Münnich, and Ostermann lost their supremacy in St. Petersburg. The Old Russian party, the opponents of Peter the Great's efforts at reform, came into power, and during Elizabeth's inert administration, all modern enterprises, the Northern Expedition among them, were allowed to die a natural death. At Avacha and Okhotsk affairs wore a sorrowful aspect. The forces of the expedition had been decimated by sickness and death, their supplies were nearly exhausted, their rigging and sails destroyed by wind and weather, the vessels more or less unseaworthy, and East Siberia drained and devastated by famine; only Bering's great powers of perseverance could have collected the vanishing forces for a last endeavor. On September 23, 1743, an imperial decree put an end to any further undertakings. Meanwhile, the crew of the St. Peter had, in August, 1742, returned to Avacha in a boat made from the timber of the stranded vessel. Chirikoff had previously departed for Okhotsk, to which place also Spangberg returned from his third voyage to Japan. Gradually the forces of the various expeditions gathered in Tomsk, where, first under the supervision of Spangberg and Chirikoff, and later that of Waxel and other officers, they remained until 1745. Thus ended the Great Northern Expedition.

But Bering's ill fate pursued him even after death. During the reign of Empress Elizabeth, nothing was done to make known the results of these great and expensive explorations, nor to establish the reputation of the discoverers. The reports of Bering and his co-workers, which make whole cartloads of manuscript, were buried in the archives of the Admiralty. Only now and then did a meager, and usually incorrect, account come to the knowledge of the world. Some of the geographers of that day insisted that the Russian government system of suppression merely aimed at excluding the rest of Europe from that profitable maritime trade through the Arctic seas for which the Northern Expedition had opened the way. Ignorance on this subject was so great that Joseph de l'Isle ventured even before the French Academy to refer to himself as the originator of the expedition,--to rob Bering of his dearly bought honor, and to proclaim to the world that Bering accomplished no more on this expedition than his own shipwreck and death. With Buache he published a book and a map to prove his statements. The name De l'Isle at that time carried with it such weight that he might have succeeded in deceiving the world for a time, if G. F. Müller had not, in an anonymous pamphlet written in French, disproved these falsehoods. But even Müller's sketch in _Sammlung Russischer Geschichte_ (1758), the first connected account published concerning these expeditions, has great defects, as we have seen, not only from the standpoint of historical accuracy, but it also shows a lack of appreciation of the geographical results obtained by Bering. Hence it would have been impossible for Cook to render the discoverer long-deferred justice, if he had not known D'Anville's map and Dr. Campbell's essay. Thus it was West Europe that last century rescued Bering's name from oblivion. In our day the Russian Admiralty has had this vast archival material examined and partly published, but much must yet be done before a detailed account can be given of the enterprises we have attempted to sketch, or of the man who was the soul of them all. We hardly feel disposed, with Professor Von Baer, to urge the erection of a monument in St. Petersburg, as a restitution for long forgetfulness, former misjudgment, and lack of appreciation. As Russia's first navigator and first great discoverer, he certainly has merited such a distinction. We shall, however, consider our task accomplished, if we have succeeded in giving in these pages a reliable account of the life and character of a man who deserves to be remembered, not only by that nation which must ever count Vitus Bering among her good and faithful sons, but also by the country that harvested the fruits of his labors.

[Illustration: BERING'S MONUMENT IN PETROPAVLOVSK.

(FROM WHYMPER.)]

FOOTNOTES:

[86] Dr. Stejneger, to whom the translator is indebted for various notes and corrections of scientific interest, says: "The mountains which Steller and his companions saw were not eruptive rocks. The whole island consists of a more or less coarsely grained sandstone or conglomerate,--Plutonic rock cropping out only in isolated spots. The mountain streams of Bering island are anything but 'seething'; on the contrary, they are as a rule very quiet."

[87] Dr. Stejneger, ever on the alert to honor Steller, says in _Deutsche Geographische Blätter_, 1885: "It was due to Steller that not only a majority of the participants survived, but that the expedition won a lasting name in the history of science. Bering left his name to the island upon which he died, and the group to which it belongs. Komandorski (Commander Islands), was named after his rank. Moreover, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, a peninsula in Asia, and a bay in America have been named in honor of him. But what is there in these regions to remind one of the immortal Steller, the Herodotus of these distant lands? Search the map of the island of which he has given such a spirited description. His name is nowhere to be found, while three capes have received the names of Bering's lieutenants and helmsmen, who were the authors of the whole misfortune: Waxel, Khitroff, and Jushin. The man that rescued and immortalized the expedition has fallen into oblivion. I consider it an honor that it has been granted to me to render long deferred justice to this great German investigator. The highest mountain peak on Bering's Island will henceforth be called Mount Steller."

In speaking of a description by Steller of some rock formations on the western coast that resembled ancient ruins, Dr. S. says in the same article: "I landed at the only remaining one of these arches, under which Steller had probably walked. It is a fine specimen of a natural triumphal arch, standing quite by itself. In honor of Steller I called it Steller's Triumphal Arch. No monument marks his resting-place on the desert steppes of Siberia; Russia has never forgiven him for his ingenuous criticism of the injustice of her courts; but Steller's name will nevertheless live. His Triumphal Arch, gaily decked with the variegated lichens _Caloplaca murorum_ and _crenulata_, and adorned with the lovely white golden-eyed blossoms of the _Chrysanthemum arcticum_, is a monument that does fitting honor to the great naturalist."--TR.

[88] Dr. Stejneger, in "Contributions to the History of the Commander Islands," published in Proceedings of U.S. Nat. Museum, 1882, p. 86, calls attention to Professor Nordenskjöld's erroneous statement, and gives the exact figures.--TR.

[89] The correct name of this animal, Dr. Stejneger informs me, is _Rhytina gigas_.--TR.

[90] Dr. Stejneger says, after a very careful and exhaustive discussion of this question: "It may thus be regarded as fairly proved that the unknown cetacean, which in 1846 was observed near the southern end of Bering Island, was a female narwhal. But, whatever it may have been, one thing is absolutely sure: _it was not a sea-cow_!" For references see Note 65.--TR.

[91] These pits or earth huts lay in a direction from north to south. Next to Steller's hut was the miserable pit in which Vitus Bering, a hundred and forty-eight years ago, drew his last breath. August 30, 1882, Dr. Stejneger visited this place, of which he gives the following description in _Deutsche Geographische Blätter_, 1885, pp. 265-6: "I was first attracted to the ruins of the huts in which the shipwrecked crew passed a winter a hundred and forty-one years previous. On a projecting edge of the western slope of the mountain, in the northern corner of the valley, stands a large Greek cross. Tradition says that Bering was buried there. The present cross is of recent date. The old one, erected by the Russian company, was shattered by a storm, but the stump may still be seen. No one thought of erecting a new one, until Hr. von Grebnitski attended to the matter. Directly southeast of the cross, close to the edge of a steep declivity, about twenty feet high, lie the fairly well preserved ruins of the house. The walls are of peat, about three feet high and three feet thick. They were covered with a very luxuriant growth of grass, and, moreover, swarms of mosquitoes helped make investigation very unpleasant work. * * * The floor was covered with a thick turf, the removal of which was out of the question. I probed the whole surface with a bayonet, but nothing of significance was found. * * * A part of the crew were undoubtedly lodged in the sandpits under the barrow, of which Steller speaks. And in fact traces of the pits still exist, although they no longer have any definite form, being, moreover, so overgrown with vegetation that nothing could be ascertained from them. Some Arctic foxes had burrowed there. At our approach the whole brood came out, and in close proximity stood curiously gazing at us. Steller and his companions are gone, but the Arctic fox, which played them so many tricks, is still there. The pits, now merely an irregular heap of sand filled with burrows, lie close to the brook, where it curves sharply toward the west, cutting into the declivity on which the house stands."--_Author's Note to American Edition._

[92] Old style

[93] Bancroft, who, strange to say, calls Chirikoff "the hero of this expedition," gives a detailed account of the voyage of the St. Paul after its separation from the St. Peter. Lauridsen does not do this, for the obvious reason that he considers Chirikoff's expedition of but comparatively little importance, although he doubtless would be willing to second Bancroft's estimate of Chirikoff as a man "who, amongst Russians, was the noblest and most chivalrous of them all." There seems to be no reason to doubt that Chirikoff sighted the coast of Northwest America about thirty-six hours before Bering did. On the 11th of July signs of land were seen, and on the 15th land was sighted in latitude 55° 21', according to Bancroft, who, at this point in his narrative, exclaims: "Thus was the great discovery achieved." Chirikoff's return voyage was fraught with hardships and suffering. Before the expedition reached Avacha Bay, October 8, twenty-one were lost. The pilot Yelagin alone of all the officers could appear on deck, and he finally brought the ship into the harbor of Petropavlovsk. Croyère, the astronomer, died as soon as he was exposed to the air on deck. Chirikoff, very ill, was landed the same day. Eventful as the expedition in some respects was, it nevertheless possesses no particular geographical or scientific interest, for there is great doubt even as to where landings were made and what islands were seen. Bancroft speaks very cautiously on these points. Sokoloff, however, declares emphatically that the land first discovered by Chirikoff was a slight projection of the coast between Capes Addington and Bartholomew of Vancouver's map. Moreover, the lands in these regions received no names from the St. Paul, whereas the St. Peter forged, along the islands of the North Pacific, a chain of names, many of which are still the permanent possession of geography. When it is furthermore remembered that Chirikoff was one of Bering's assistants, that the fitting out of the expedition was under the charge of Bering, and that upon him rested all responsibility to the government, it is certainly impossible for any fair minded person to accept the statement that Chirikoff "must ever be regarded as the hero of this expedition." Bancroft does not, however, approve of Sokoloff's vainglorious expressions concerning "the achievements of Chirikoff, a true Russian, as against Bering the Dane." Principally in the one fact of a few hours' priority of discovery, Solokoff finds proof of "the superiority of the Russians in scientific navigation!" Bancroft occasionally reminds the reader that "Russian historians are perhaps a little inclined to magnify the faults of Bering the Dane," and in this instance administers to Sokoloff the following reproof: "So the learner is often apt to grow bold and impudent and despise the teacher. The great Peter was not above learning navigation from Bering the Dane." In speaking of Bering's death, Bancroft further retrieves himself--indeed, seems quite to supersede his former opinion--by saying: "Thus passed from earth, as nameless tens of thousands have done, the illustrious commander of the expeditions which had disclosed the separation of the two worlds and discovered north-westernmost America." See History of Alaska, p. 68 _et seq._--TR.

[94] Note 66.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

BERING'S REPORT TO THE ADMIRALTY FROM OKHOTSK, DEC. 5, 1737.[95]

From the instructions forwarded to me by His Imperial Highness, I learn that the Imperial College of Admiralty is inclined to the opinion that the expedition is lingering along idly on account of my heedlessness. This arouses in me no little anxiety for fear that I may incur undeserved wrath; yet in this matter I await the will of his Imperial Highness and the most gracious resolution of the Imperial College. For although, from the time the expedition was put in my charge until the present time, I have faithfully and diligently sought as quickly as possible to build vessels, put out to sea, and begin the execution of my work proper, everything has suffered delay on account of unexpected obstacles over which I have had no control. Prior to our arrival in Yakutsk, not a single pood of provisions had been sent to Okhotsk for the crew there, not a single vessel had been built for transporting these provisions and supplies, and not a single magazine had been built at the stopping places on the Maya and Yudoma rivers. No laborers were to be had, and no arrangements whatsoever had been made by the Siberian government officials, notwithstanding the fact that an imperial ukase had ordered these things. We have done all this. We built transports, demanded laborers from Yakutsk, and with great difficulty brought our provisions in these transports to Yudomskaya Krest,--yes, with superhuman efforts our command and these laborers--since even upon my demand but very few were sent--also brought the supplies at Yudomskaya Krest (12,000 poods of flour and rice) to Okhotsk. Moreover, at the stopping place on the Maya, at the mouth of the Yudoma, at the Cross, and on the Urak, we erected magazines and dwellings for the forces, and also built four winter-huts between Yudomskaya Krest and Urak as places of refuge during the winter. Furthermore, in accordance with our plans, we built, in 1736, at the stopping place on the Urak, fifteen, and during this year, 1737, sixty-five vessels on which to float the provisions down the Urak. Of these, forty-two are still at the place of construction, the remaining thirty-seven having departed with provisions in 1735. All of this has been done under my orders, not by the government officials of Siberia.

In Yakutsk, where I was at that time staying, we built two vessels, the boat Irkutsk and the sloop Yakutsk, and in 1735 sent them out on the expeditions assigned to them. We took pains to provision them well, and furthermore sent four barges to the mouth of the Lena with additional provisions for them. In 1736 the Yakutsk had the misfortune to lose its chief, Lieut. Lassenius, and many of the crew. Others were hopelessly ill, and hence, as I feared that the work assigned to this expedition would not be accomplished, I was obliged to man the vessel anew from Yakutsk. The sick were taken to Yakutsk to be nursed. I did all that was possible for them, and by the help of God they were saved. For these same two ships I sent, in 1736, from the provisions of my command, two lighters with provisions, and during the present year, 1737, I have likewise sent a boat to the mouth of the Lena, as the provisions sent in 1735 were nearly exhausted. But from the voivode in Yakutsk we received no support whatever. From this it is evident that my stay in Yakutsk was necessarily prolonged. Nor was it possible for me to go to Okhotsk with my men until I had sent some provisions ahead. Otherwise I should have taken the risk of starving them to death, putting an end to all hopes of accomplishing anything, and thus incurring a heavy responsibility. Some of my men remained in Yakutsk in charge of the affairs of the expedition there, and to forward provisions. Others remained at the Maya harbor, Yudomskaya Krest, and at the Urak landing, to guard the magazines and attend to the transportation of necessaries to Okhotsk, for it is not yet possible to feed so many at Okhotsk. The fact that the voivode in Yakutsk made such long delay in appointing commissioners to receive and send me supplies, prevented me from keeping my men together and availing myself of their assistance. As early as June 2, 1735, I demanded the appointment of three commissioners and such assistants as I thought necessary, to be stationed along the route. The authorities at Yakutsk did not comply until the present year, 1737, and then only after repeated demands on my part. But if I had neglected to attend to these matters, and had hastened the departure to Okhotsk, the voivode--in my absence--would have done nothing, and it remains to be seen how the transportation to Yudomskaya Krest will be attended to. * * * As the difficulties with which we have had to contend are very obvious, and although as a consequence the immediate starting out of the expedition is improbable, I can, nevertheless, conscientiously say that I do not see how I could have in a greater degree hastened the work of the expedition, or how I could have intensified the zeal with which I have worked from the very beginning. Through this report I therefore most humbly seek at the hands of the Admiralty a considerate judgment, and hope that it will show that matters have not been delayed through my carelessness.

It is on account of these obstacles, together with the fact that there was much work to be done in Okhotsk, that I have been unable to prepare, in a short time, the ships necessary for the voyage. My command has had to work at Spangberg's ships, which are now ready. But also in Okhotsk, on the "Cat" (Koschka), where these vessels and packet-boats are being built, everything was bare and desolate. There was not a building there,--nowhere to stay. Trees and grass do not grow there, and are not found in the vicinity on account of the gravel. In spite of the fact that the region is so barren, it is nevertheless very well suited for ship-building. It is a good place for launching, for starting out, and as a harbor of refuge for these ships. There is, in fact, no better place on this coast. Hence, according to Spangberg's directions, a house was built on the "Cat" for the officers, and barracks and huts for the men. For these buildings our men hauled the clay, made the tiles, brought wood from a distance of three to four miles, and carried fresh water from a distance of about two miles; for although the Koschka is situated at the mouth of the Okhota, the water in the river is very salty on account of the tide-water. Moreover, we have built storehouses and a powder magazine. I enclose three diagrams, showing what has been done in the years 1735, 1736, and 1737. My men in Okhotsk are now preparing ship-biscuits for the voyages, and are floating the necessary timber for the boats twenty miles down the river. They burn the charcoal used in forging, and the necessary pitch must be prepared and brought from Kamchatka, as there is no pitch-pine in the vicinity of Okhotsk.

In addition to this we are obliged to make our own dog-sledges, and on these bring our provisions from Yudomskaya Krest to the Urak landing. There is, too, much other work in Okhotsk that must be done in preference to ship-building, for it is quite impossible to get anything in the way of food except the legal military provisions, consisting of flour and groats. I must state, in this connection, that in the summer some cattle are sent with the transports from Yakutsk. These are obtained at the regular price and are distributed among the crews; but on account of the great distance, and the reluctance of the Yakuts to sell to others than the yassak collectors, except when in great need, the supply has been limited.

Notwithstanding the fact that the authorities at Okhotsk were directed to prepare fish for the expedition, I found that nothing whatever had been done in this regard; but, on the contrary, they monopolized the supplies of the Tunguses, who furnished my first expedition with an abundance of fish, and upon whom I had depended. For this reason we are forced to give the men leave of absence in the summer, so that they may obtain food by fishing, thus causing a loss of time and neglect of the work of the expedition. Our force might be divided into different parties, for ship-building, fishing, and miscellaneous work, but we have not found it expedient to do this. Especially on account of the fact that many have been assigned to the work of transportation, there are not as many engaged in ship-building as necessary, or as was ordered by the Imperial College of Admiralty. Lack of sufficient provisions has prevented this. Here in Okhotsk we have but a small number of laborers. The rest, for whom there will be no provisions until in the spring, we have sent to Yudomskaya Krest to bring provisions and other necessary supplies on dog-sledges to the Urak landing, and to construct at this place twenty new barges for use in the spring of 1738. New barges must be built every year, for those that are floated down the Urak can not be returned on account of the swiftness of the current. They are, however, used for other purposes in Okhotsk. It takes four men ten days to build a barge, and four or five to man one. I most respectfully ask the Imperial College of Admiralty to consider the number of men employed at this work, and what they are accomplishing. All of this, too, is being done by my forces. From the government officer in Okhotsk, Skornjakoff-Pissarjeff, we have not, since the day of our arrival here up to the present time, received the slightest assistance in transportation, ship-building, or anything else whatsoever. Nor have we any hope of obtaining any such assistance in the future. And even if we should demand support from him, we would only have long and fruitless negotiations with him, for while in Yakutsk, he sent me a written notification (February 28, 1737), refusing to assist in the transportation from Yudomskaya Krest to Okhotsk.

In addition to the facts here adduced, together with my earlier reports to the Imperial College of Admiralty, wherein I have given an account of my efforts for the progress of the enterprise and shown the impossibility of an early consummation of the main object of my expedition, I appeal to the testimony of all the officers of my command. All of which is respectfully submitted.

BERING, _Commander_.

FOOTNOTES:

[95] Abridged from the Russian.

NOTES.

1. List of Russian Naval Officers. St. Petersburg, 1882.--V. Berch: The First Russian Admirals.--Scheltema: _Rusland en de Nederlanden_, III., p. 287.--L. Daae: _Normænd og Danske i Rusland_.

As Berch hints that Bering had many enemies in the Department of the Marine, I have made inquiries on this point. Admiral Th. Wessalgo informs me that Berch's account is entirely without foundation. Bering demanded and got his discharge in 1724, because he was dissatisfied with the regulations governing promotions.

2. _Sammlung Russ. Geschichte_, III., p. 50.--P. Avril's Accounts of America, collected in Smolensk, 1686.--Vaugondie: _Memoires_, p. 4. _Les géographes des 16' et 17' siècles ont toujours pensé que la mer separait l'Asie de l'Amérique._

See also a very interesting essay on the first Russian accounts of America: The Great Land, Bolshaia Zemlia, in the Memoirs of the Department of Hydrography (_Zapiski_), Vol. IX., p. 78.

The name Anian Strait has arisen through a misunderstanding of Marco Polo's book (lib. III., cap. 5). His Ania is no doubt the present Anam, but the Dutch cartographers thought that this land was in Northeast Asia, and called the strait that was said to separate the continents the Strait of Anian. The name appears for the first time on Gerh. Mercator's famous maritime chart of 1569.

Dr. Soph. Ruge: Fretum Aniam, Dresden, 1873, p. 13.

3. G. F. Müller, in _Schreiben eines Russ_. _Officiers von der Flotte_ p. 14, seeks to take to himself all the honor for our knowledge of Deshneff's journey, but this is not tenable. See _Beiträge zur Kenntniss des russischen Reiches_, XVI., 44. Bering did not collect his information concerning Deshneff in Kamchatka, but in Yakutsk, and referred Müller to this matter.

A. Strindberg: _P. J. v. Strahlenberg_, in the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, 1879, No. 6.

4. V. Berch: The First Voyage of the Russians, pp. 2-5.

5. Bering's report to the Admiralty, in The First Voyage of the Russians, p. 14, together with his original account in _Description géographique, historique de l'empire de la Chine. Par le Père_ J. B. Du Halde. La Hague, 1736, IV., 562.

6. G. W. Steller: _Beschreibung v. dem Lande Kamtschatka_. Frankfurt, 1774.

Krasheninikoff: The History of Kamtschatka. Glocester, 1764.

7. A species of bears-foot, _Sphondylium foliolis pinnatifides_. Cleff.

8. Bering's fear of the Chukchees may seem in our day to put him in a bad light; but they who are familiar with the history of this people know that at the time of Bering they were very warlike. Both Schestakoff and Pavlutski fell in combat with them. _Neue nordische Beiträge_, I., 245.

J. Bulitsheff: _Reise in Ostsibirien_. Leipzig, 1858, p. 33.

9. The ship's journal, kept by Lieut. P. Chaplin, is the basis of this presentation. The first Voyage of the Russians, pp. 31-65. Von Baer has used it to some extent, but no other West European author.

In Bering Strait there are two Diomede islands. The boundary line between Russia and North America passes between them. The Russian island is called Ratmanoff or Imaklit, the American Krusenstern or Ingalisek. Sea W. H. Dall: Alaska, Boston, 1870, p. 249.

10. That Bering himself was the author, would seem to be shown by the fact that Weber who knew and associated with Bering, uses _verbatim_ the same expressions concerning the first expedition. See Weber: _Das veränderte Russland_, III., 157.

11. Cook and King: Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. III., 244.--The only place where I have found any testimony to show that America was seen from the Gabriel is a chart by J. N. De l'Isle: "_Carte Génerale des Découvertes de l'Admiral de Fonte_," Paris, 1752, on which chart, opposite the Bering peninsula, a coast line is represented with the words: "_Terres vues par M. Spangberg en 1728, frequentées à présent par les Russes, qui en apportent de très belles fourrures_."

12. The Academy's map, 1737.--Müller's map, 1758.

13. See A. Th. v. Middendorff: _Reise in den Aeussersten Norden und Osten Sibiriens_., IV., 56.

Concerning Bering's determinations of longitude and latitude, O. Peschel says: "_Auf der ganzen Erde gibt es vielleicht keine wichtigere Ortsbestimmung, als die von Petropaulovski, insofern von ihr die mathematischen Längen in der Beringsstrasse abhängen, welche die Erdveste in zwei grosse Inseln trennt. Mit lebhafter Freude gewahrt man, dass schon der Entdecker Bering auf seiner ersten Fahrt trotz der Unvollkommenheit seiner Instrumente die Längen von Okhotsk, die Südspitze Kamchatkas und die Ostspitze Asiens, bis auf Bruchtheile eines Grades richtig bestimmte."--Geschichte der Erdkunde_, pp. 655-56.

A list of Bering's determinations is found in Harris's Collection of Voyages, II., 1021, London, 1748.

About the middle of the eighteenth century there was a violent attack on Bering's determinations. Samuel Engel, Vaugondie, and Bushing tried to show that according to these Asia had been put too far east. S. Engel: _Remarques sur la partie de la relation du voyage du Capt. Cook qui concerne le détroit entre l'Asie et l'Amérique_. Berne, 1781.--M. D. Vaugondie: _Mémoire sur les pays de l'Asie_, etc., Paris, 1774.--Bushing's Magazine, VIII., IX.

14. Cook and King: Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, III., 473: "In justice to the memory of Bering, I must say that he has delineated the coast very well, and fixed the latitude and longitude of the points better than could be expected from the methods he had to go by. This judgment is not formed from Mr. Müller's account of the voyage or the chart prefixed to his book, but from Dr. Campbell's account of it in his edition of Harris's Collection and a map thereto annexed, which is both more circumstantial and accurate than that of Mr. Müller." The chart which Cook refers to is a copy of Bering's own chart as given by D'Anville.

Concerning East Cape, Cook says: "I must conclude, as Bering did before me, that this is the most eastern point of Asia," p. 470.

16. See Steller's various works, especially the introduction to the one on Kamchatka, where it is stated that Bering returned "_ohne doch das geringste entdeckt zu haben_." This introduction was written by J. B. S. (Scherer).

16. In Petermann's _Mittheilungen_, 1879, p. 163, Dr. Lindemann says that Bering turned back "without having seen, strange to say, either the Diomedes or the American coast." The author's authority is evidently W. H. Dall, an extremely unfortunate historian. The latter says: "Bering, naturally timid, hesitating, and indolent, determined to go no farther for fear of being frozen in, and returned through the Strait--strange to say--without seeing the Diomedes or the American coast." See Dall: Alaska and its Resources. Boston, 1870, p. 297.

17. _Geschichte der Entdeckungen im Norden_, p. 463.

18. C. C. Rafn: _Grönlands historiske Mindesmærker_. Copenhagen, 1838, III.

19. Hazii: _Karten von dem Russ. Reiche_, Nürnberg, 1788.--T. C. Lotter: _Carte géogr. de Siberie_, Augsburg.

20. Harris's Collection of Voyages, II., 1021, Note 34.

21. V. Berch: The First Voyage of the Russians.

22. _Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Russ. Reiches_, XVI.

23. The name appears earlier on the chart which accompanies Gmelin's _Reise durch Sibirien_, IV., 1752, and in Steller's _Reise von Kamtschatka nach Amerika_. But both of these authors must here be considered an echo of Müller.

24. See Müller's own review of the Russians' early knowledge of the peninsula in Vol. III. of _Sammlung Russ. Geschichte_. Even as late as 1762 the Cossacks could travel among the Chukchees only in disguise.--Pallas: _N. Nord. Beiträge_, I., 245.--During Billings's expedition hostilities were still smoldering.--East Cape is 600 miles from Anadyrskoi Ostrog.

26. J. D. Cochrane has, in Narrative of a Pedestrian Journey, London, 1825, App. p. 299, attempted to establish Pavlutski's route, unsuccessfully, however, we think. On the whole, accounts and opinions concerning Pavlutski are so uncertain, that it is impossible by means of the literature on this point, to give a final opinion. See Fr. Lütke: _Voyage autour du monde_, II., 238. "_Sauer dit que Pavlovtsky vint jusqu'au détroit de Bering; ce qui, au reste, n'est pas en lui même vraisenable_."

26. Pallas: _N. Nord. Beiträge_. I. Chart.--Martin Sauer: An Account of Com. Billings's Geog. and Astr. Expedition. 1785-94. Chart.

27. M. Sauer: An Account, etc., p. 252, Note.--Fr. Lütke: _Voyage autour du monde_, II., 238. Note and chart: _Carte de la Baie de Sct. Croix. Levée par les emb. de la Corvette le Seniavine_, 1828, where the original Serdze Kamen is found in its proper place with the original Chukchee name, _Linglingay_.

28. Steller: _Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka_, p. 15. Steller sways back and forth between Müller's views and the account that he himself obtained of the real state of affairs. He met Müller in West Siberia in 1739, when the latter was filled with his supposed epoch-making discoveries in Yakutsk archives. In _Reise nach Amerika_, p. 6, Steller says: "_So verblieb es nichts desto weniger auf Seiten der damals gebrauchten Officiere bey einer kurzen Untersuchung des Landes Kamtschatka, von Lopatka bis zu dem sogenannten Serze Kamen, welche bey weitem das Tschuktschiske Vorgebirge noch nicht ist._" He has so little knowledge of Bering's work that he can immediately go on to say: "_Gwosdew ist viel weiter und bis 66 Grad Norderbreite gekommen_."

29. How varying the views on this subject have been even in the narrowest academical circles may be seen from the following: In a German edition of _Atlas Russicus_, 1745, Serdze Kamen appears as a mountain in the center of the Chukchee peninsula. (By Calque, placed at my disposal by A. Thornam, of St. Petersburg. In the French edition the name is not found at all.) On the maps which accompany J. E. Fischer's _Sibirische Geschichte_, 1768, and Ginelin's work, Serze Kamen and Kammenoie Serdze are found, but in different places of Bering Strait, both different from Müller's.

30. Cook and King: Voyage, etc., I., 469: "Thus far Bering proceeded in 1728, that is, to this head, which Müller says is called Serdze Kamen on account of a rock upon it shaped like a heart. But I conceive that Mr. Müller's knowledge 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 of a heart.

"At four in the morning the cape, which, on the authority of Müller, we have called Serdze Kamen, bore S. S. West." III., 261.

31. Gvosdjeff's _Reise_. Note 121.

32. _Beiträge zur Kenntniss, etc._, XVI., 44. Note.

33. Philip Johann Tabbert, ennobled in 1707 and called Von Strahlenberg, was born at Stralsund in 1676, and taken captive after the battle of Pultowa as captain in the army of Charles XII. He was banished to Tobolsk, traveled some years with Dr. Messerschmidt in Siberia, and together with other Swedish officers he made several maps of Siberia, which, without his knowledge or consent, were published in Holland by Bentinck, 1726, in _L'Histoire des Tartares_, etc., and reprinted in various works such as _La Russie asiatique, tirée de la Carte donnée par ordre du feu Czar_. In 1730, Strahlenberg's own work appeared in Leipsic; it is marked by its minute knowledge of details. His representation of the Chukchees peninsula deserves attention as evidence of the knowledge the Cossacks had of this region, whereas there is nothing original in his representation of the coast-lines of Eastern Asia. Baer says that Strahlenberg's book and map was made by a Leipsic student, and that whatever it contains that is of value is taken from Messerschmidt. _Beiträge_, XVI., 126. Note 18.

34. This map is reproduced in Nordenskjöld's Voyage of the Vega.

35. Steller: _Reiss von Kamtschatka_, etc., p. 6, where a very erroneous and unreasonable account of the result of Bering's first expedition is given.

36. Kiriloff's map is found in _Russici imperii Tab. Generalis et Specialis_, Vol. XLIII.

37. Strangely enough, no original copy seems to have remained in the archives of the Admiralty. Berch insists that no such copy exists. I investigated the matter in 1883, and later Mr. A. Thornam has examined the archives for this purpose, but without result.

38. Du Halde writes: _Ce Capitaine revint á Sct. Petersburg le premier jour de Mars de l'année 1730, et apporta une relation succinte de son voyage, avec la Carte qu'il en avoit dressée. Cette Carte fût envoyée au Sérénissime Roi de Pologne, comme une présent digne de son attention et de sa curiosité, et Sa Majesteté a bien voulu qu'elle me fût communiquée en me permettant d'en faire tel usage qu'il me plairot. J'ai cru que le Public me scauroit quelque gré de l'avoir ajoutée à toutes celles que je lui avois promises._

In the Swedish geographical journal, "Ymer," 1884, there is an interesting account by E. W. Dahlgren of the copies of Bering's chart in Sweden.

39. Gmelin: _Reise durch Sibirien_. Introduction.

40. Bering's proposition was formulated as follows: (1) As the waves, according to my observation, are smaller east of Kamchatka [than in the open ocean], and, moreover, as I have on Karaginski Island found large fir-trees washed ashore, which do not grow in Kamchatka, it is my opinion that America or some intervening land can not be very far from Kamchatka (150-200 geographical miles). In case this is so, commercial relations with that country that would be to the advantage of the Russian empire could be established. This matter can be investigated, if a vessel is built of from 45 to 50 tons burden. (2) This vessel ought to be built at Kamchatka, as at this place more available timber is found than at other places [on the east coast]; moreover, provisions for the crew, fish and other animals are easily obtained. Besides, greater assistance can be obtained from the Kamchadales than from the inhabitants of Okhotsk. (3) It would not be without advantage to find out the sea-route from Okhotsk or Kamchatka to the mouth of the Amoor and farther on to the Japan Islands, as we there have hopes of finding inhabited regions. It would be well to establish commercial relations with them, especially with the Japanese, which promises the Russian empire no small advantage in the future. For this purpose a ship of the same size or a little smaller than the first might be built. (4) The expenses of this expedition in addition to the salaries and the materials, which could not be secured there, but would have to be taken along from here or Siberia, would, including the transport, amount to ten or twelve thousand rubles. (5) If it is considered advisable to chart the northern coast of Siberia, especially from the mouth of the Obi to the Yenisei and hence to the Lena, this can be done by sailing down these rivers or by expeditions by land, as these regions are under Russian rule.

VITUS BERING. April 30, 1730.

These propositions were first published by Berch in "The First Russian Admirals," and later reprinted by Sokoloff in _Zapiski Hydrograficheskago Departamenta_ (Journal of Hydr. Dept.), St. Petersburg, IX., Appendix.

41. Part II. is based upon the works of Von Baer, Middendorff, and Sokoloff.

42. General List of Russian Naval Officers, St. Petersburg, 1882.

43. _Zapiski_, IX., 250.--_Beiträge zur Kenntniss_, etc., Introduction.--Sokoloff: "Chirikoff's Voyage to America," St. Petersburg, 1849.--Bering's wife was suspected of having acquired goods illegally, but there is no proof of this. When she, in the year 1738, returned from Siberia, the Senate, influenced by the numerous denunciations of her conduct, issued an ukase that her goods should be examined. At the inspection on the borders of Siberia it was found that she had a suspiciously large quantity of furs and other things. She rather overawed the authorities, however, and returned to St. Petersburg unmolested. Sokoloff gives no information as to whether the furs were illegally obtained or not. She was very much younger than Bering; in 1744, on making application for a widow's pension, she gave her age as 39 years.

44. The author is indebted to Admiral Th. Wessalgo for the following archival accounts.

_The Admiralty to Captain Bering, Feb. 26, 1736._

Your expedition is a very protracted one, and apparently it is being conducted somewhat carelessly on your part, which is shown by the fact that it has taken nearly two years to reach Yakutsk. Moreover, it appears from your report that your stay in Yakutsk will be too long; in fact, there seems to be no reason to hope that you will succeed in getting any farther. As a consequence of all this the Admiralty is extremely dissatisfied with your arrangements, and will not let matters go on without an investigation. If in the future any negligence whatever occurs, an investigation will be instituted against you for insubordination to the decrees of His Imperial Highness and for negligence in an affair of state.

_The Admiralty to Captain Bering, Jan. 31, 1737._

Inasmuch as you--in spite of the express orders of the Admiralty, wherein it is stated that your expedition is protracted and is carelessly conducted--have not reported to the Admiralty the cause of your delay, and say nothing about when you intend to leave Yakutsk, you are hereby deprived of your supplemental salary, and will receive only the regular salary, until you send such a report, and until you continue on the expedition which has been entrusted to you.

_The Admiralty to Captain, Bering, Jan. 23, 1738._

From Captain Chirikoff there has been received by the Admiralty a report from Okhotsk with an accompanying copy of a proposition laid before you by Chirikoff, suggesting measures for a more speedy completion of the Kamchatka expedition under your charge. As no steps had been taken by you in this direction as late as May 8 of the same year, the Admiralty has concluded to demand an answer from you, if any plans have been made on the basis of Chirikoff's proposition, and if, contrary to our expectations, nothing has been done, we desire to know _why_,--since, according to the orders issued to you Feb. 21, 1737, you were instructed to show zeal and solicitude for the activity of the expedition, and that any neglect on your part would make you liable to the same punishment as that suffered by Lieutenants Muravjeff and Pauloff for negligence in conducting expeditions entrusted to them.[96]

(These officers were reduced to the rank of ordinary sailors.)

According to Bering's reports there were engaged in the Great Northern Expedition, excluding the Academists and the crew on the White Sea expedition, the following number of men:

In the year 1737 1738 1739

From the Admiralty 259 254 256 From Siberia 324 320 320 --- --- --- Total 583 574 576

45. To an inquiry directed to the Russian Admiralty asking the reason for Bering's long stay in Yakutsk, Admiral Th. Wessalgo has given me the following information:

"In Yakutsk, which was the base of operations for the whole expedition, Bering was to secure wood, iron, and other materials for the building of the necessary ships, and, what is most important, he was to secure provisions, of which a yearly supply of 16,000 poods was necessary. Although the furnishing of provisions had been assigned to the Siberian authorities, they did nothing, in spite of urgent and repeated demands; hence Bering had to undertake this work himself. Moreover, the immense amount of materials and provisions collected here was to be sent to Okhotsk, a task which presented insurmountable obstacles: the country was a wild and desolate region, the local authorities refused their co-operation in promoting the enterprise, there was constant contention and disagreement among the various officers in charge, who were more concerned in their own personal interests than in the common weal, and Bering himself--was a weak character."

46. Stuckenberg: _Hydrographie des russischen Reiches_, II.--Krasheninikoff: _Kamtschatka_.--Pallas: _N. Nord, Beiträge_, IV.--Sarycheff: _Reise_, etc.--_Zapiski_, etc.: IX., 331.--Schuyler: Peter the Great, II., 544.

47. On account of the Chukchee war, D. Laptjef was to go from Kolyma to Anadyr and from there send word to Bering for a vessel or to go himself to Kamchatka for it,--in either case he was to sail around the northeast point of Asia, and reach the mouth of the Kolyma. When he, in 1741, arrived at Anadyr, Bering had departed for America, and hence he could do no more than build some boats, by means of which he, in 1742, charted the lower course of the Anadyr, and returned in 1743 to Yakutsk. _Zapiski_, etc.: IX., pp. 314-327.--_Beiträge_, XVI., pp. 121-122.

48. Baer says: _Es hätte dieser Expedition auch die volle Anerkennung nicht fehlen können, die man ihnen jetzt erst zollen muss, nachdem die verwandte Nordküste von Amerika nach vielfachen Versuchen noch immer nicht ganz bekannt worden ist. Auch hätten wir den Britten zeigen können, wie eine solche Küste aufgenommen werden muss, nämlich in kleinen Fahrzengen, zwar mit weniger Comfort, aber mit mehr Sicherheit des Erfolges.--Beiträge_, XVI., 123.

Middendorff: _Reise_, etc., IV., Part I., 49, says: _Mit gerechtem Stolze dürfen wir aber in Erinnerung rufen, dass zu seiner Zeit Russland im Osten des Nordens durch seine "Nordische Expedition" nicht minder Grosses vollbracht, als die Britten im Westen_.

Petermann's _Mittheilungen_, 1873, p. 11: _Der leitende Gedanke zur Aussendung jener Reihe grossartiger Expeditionen war der Wunsch * * * eine nordöstliche Durchfahrt zu entdecken_.

49. A. Stuxberg: _Nordöstpassagens Historie_. Stockholm, 1880.--Th. M. Fries: _Nordöstpassagen_. Nær og Fjærn 1880, No, 417.

A. E. Nordenskjöld: The Voyage of the Vega.--In a long and favorable review of Nordenskjöld's book in _Beiträge zur Kenntniss des russ. Reiches_, St. Petersburg, 1883, VI., 325, the Academist Fr. Schmidt expresses himself in the following manner concerning Nordenskjöld's presentation of the history of the Northeast passage: _Die dritte Gruppe bilden endlich die russischen Reisen im Eismeer und an den Küsten desselben, die ebenfalls ausführlich behandelt werden. Hier fällt es uns nun auf, dass im Bestreben, jedem das Seine zukommen zu lassen, die weniger bekannten Mitarbeiter an der Erweiterung unsrer Kenntniss, denen wir gewiss ihre Verdienste nicht absprechen wollen, fast möchte ich sagen auf Kosten unsrer berühmten gelehrten Forscher hervorgezogen scheinen, von denen namentlich Wrangell und auch Baer an mehreren Stellen Angriffe zu erdulden haben, die wir nicht für gerechtfertigt halten können. Auch Lütke * * * kommt sehr kurz weg._

This criticism might be applied to other parts of Nordenskjöld's historical writings.

50. St. Petersburg Academy's Memoirs (Bull. phys. math. Tom. III., No. 10.)

51. _Beiträge_, etc., IX., 495. Baer says: _Es ist höchst erfreulich, die mit schweren Opfern erkämpften Verdienste unserer Marine-Officiere vom vorigen Jahrhundert von dem neuesten Reisenden in vollem Maase anerkannt zu sehen.--Nach Herrn v. Middendorf ist nun gerade Tscheljuskin der beharrlichste und genaueste unter den Theilnehmern jener Expedition gewesen. Wir wollen ihn also gern vollständig in integrum restituiren._

52. _Zapiski_, etc., IX., 308. Chelyuskin's original account is found in the same volume, pp. 61-65. The German translation appears in Petermann's _Mittheilungen_, 1873, p. 11.

53. Cook and King: Voyage, etc., III., 391: "For the group of islands, consisting of the Three Sisters, Kunashir and Zellany (which in D'Anville's Atlas are placed in the track we had just crossed) being, by this means, demonstratively removed from that situation, an additional proof is obtained of their lying to the westward, where Spangberg actually places them, between the long. 142° and 147°. But as this space is occupied, in the French charts, by that part of the supposed Land of Jeso and Staten Island, Mr. Müller's opinion becomes extremely probable that they are all the same lands; and, as no reasons appear for doubting Spangberg's accuracy, we have ventured in our general map to reinstate the Three Sisters, Zellany and Kunashir, in their proper situation, and have entirely omitted the rest."--Cf. O. Peschel's account, p. 467, 2d Ed.

54. W. Coxe: An Account of the Russian Discoveries. London, 1781.

55. The pre-Bering explorations of Northwest America did not extend beyond the northern boundary of California, and had not succeeded in ascertaining a correct outline of the country. In the oldest maps of the new world, that of Ortelius (1570), Mercator (1585), Ramusio (1606), and W. Blaew (1635), California is represented as a peninsula; but on the maps of later cartographers as W. Samson (1659), Wischer (1660), J. Blaew, Jansen (1662), Fr. de Witt (1666), and Nic. Samson (1667), the country is represented as an island, and this view was held until G. de L'Isle (1720) adopted in his atlas the old cartography of the peninsula.

Gvosdjeff's expedition to Bering's Strait in 1732 is but slightly and very imperfectly known in West Europe. It was undertaken by Ivan Fedoroff, Moschkoff, who had accompanied Bering on his first expedition, and the surveyor Gvosdjeff. Fedoroff is thus the real discoverer of America from the east, and the world has given Gvosdjeff the honor simply for the reason that the reports of Fedoroff and his associate were lost and he himself died the year after. There is an interesting account of this enterprise in _Zapiski_, etc., IX., 78.

56. G. W. Steller: _Reise von Kamtschatka nach Amerika_. St. Petersburg, 1793.

57. R. Greenhow: History of Oregon, California and the Northwest Coast of North America, 3d ed., New York, 1845, p. 216.--W. H. Dall: Alaska and its Resources. Boston, 1870, p. 257.--Milet-Mureau: _Voyage de la Pérouse autour du Monde_, II., 142-144 and Note.--Vancouver: Voyage, etc.--Oltmann's: _Untersuchungen über die Geographie des neuen Continentes_. Paris, 1810, II.

58. A. J. v. Krusenstern: _Hydrographie_, etc., p. 226,--O. Peschel: _Geschichte der Erdkunde_, 2d ed., p. 463 and Note.

59. According to Wrangell, Dall and others, both Indians and Eskimos inhabit this region. Clans of the great Tinné tribe, Ugalenses, stay during the summer on the Atna River, and during the winter on Kayak Island; but on the coast of the continent from Ice Bay to the Atna River there are also found Innuits, the Ugalakmuts.--See Vahl: Alaska, p. 39. The people that Bering found on the island must, according to Sauer, have been Chugachees, Eskimos that live about Prince William's Sound.

See also H. H. Bancroft, Native Races, San Francisco, 1882, Vol. I.--TR.

60. Gavrila Sarycheff: _Achtjährige Reise im nordöstlichen Sibirien, auf dem Eismeer und dem nordöstlichen Ocean_. Leipzig, 1806, II., 57.--Sauer: An Account, etc., p. 198. "This perfectly answers to Steller's account of the Cape St. Elias of Bering, and is undoubtedly the very spot where Steller landed, and where the things above mentioned were left in the cellar. Thus it is very plain that Cape St. Elias is not the southern point of Montague Island, but Kay's Island."--G. Shelikoff: _Erste und Zweite Reise_. St. Petersburg, 1793.

61. _Zapiski_, IX., 303.--The Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1882. Maps.

62. Dall: Alaska and its Resources, p. 300.--Vahl in his work on Alaska repeats Dall's opinion in a somewhat milder form.

63. Krusenstern: _Recueil de Mémoires Hydrogr._, II., 72.--Cook and King: Voyage, III., 384.--The Geodetic Coast Survey, 1882.

64. Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, under date of June 9, 1889, writes the translator: "The locality indicated in Lütke's map is correct. It is consequently on the eastern side of the island. Steller's statement that it was on the northern side is easily explained as follows: The valley where he landed opens toward the northeast, and the corresponding valley on the other side of the island runs southwest; this side consequently became the southern side. At the time of the shipwreck the magnetic deviation was much more easterly than it is now, so that _by compass_ the direction of the eastern coast was much more E.-W. than at present. Throughout his description of Bering Island, Steller says north and south, where we would say east and west.

"My visit to this locality in 1882, I have described in detail in _Deutsche Geographische Blätter_ (1885), where you will also find a sketch map of it, as well as a plan of the house in which the survivors wintered.

"Since I wrote my account, I have been able to consult Steller's own description of the wintering, and I find that the house which I have described and given the plan of, was the one they built in the spring, after the freshet which drove them out of the dug-outs (_Gruben_) on the bank of the creek, traces of which are still visible. I also found a number of relics at a place which I took to be the point where they rebuilt the vessel. In a letter Mr. Lauridsen suggested to me the probability that I had found not this place, but the locality where the store-house was built, in which the men left what they could not carry on the new vessel, and that the latter must have been built near the southern end of the bay. After reading Steller's own account, however, I feel absolutely certain that the ship was built at the northern end, near the huts and dug-outs, at the place where I found the relics. It is quite probable, however, that the store-house was built in very close proximity, if not on the very spot."

65. Leonhard Stejneger: _Fra det yderste Osten_. Naturen, Vol. 8. Kristiania, 1884, pp. 65-69.--Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 1884. Investigations Relating to the Date of the Extermination of Steller's Sea-Cow, by Leonhard Stejneger.--Henry W. Elliott: A Monograph of the Seal Islands of Alaska, Washington, 1882.--_Neue N. Beiträge_, II., 279.--G. W. Steller: _Ausf. Beschreibung von sonderbaren Meerthieren_. Halle, 1753.--E. Reclus: _Geographie_, etc., VI., 794.

66. Concerning Chirikoff, full information is given in Sokoloff: Chirikoff's Voyage to America, St. Petersburg, 1849 (Russian). He died in 1748 at Moscow.

See also H. H. Bancroft, History of the Pacific States of North America, Vol. XXXIII., History of Alaska. San Francisco, 1886.--TR.

FOOTNOTES:

[96] The author gives extracts from other reports of the same tenor, which the translator has seen fit to omit, referring the reader for further information on this subject to Bering's own report, p. 195 of this volume.

INDEX.

A

Academists, 70, 78; leave Tobolsk, 81.

Academy of Science, Russian, 57.

Addington, cape, 189.

Admiralty Bay, 145.

Admiralty, Russian, dissatisfaction with Bering, 95.

Afgonak, island, 156.

Aïno, 124.

Akischis, strait, 124.

Alaska, 178.

Aldan, river, 23.

Aleutian Islands, 134, 140; discovery of, 167, 187.

Aleutians, Nearer, 168.

Aliaska, 161.

Amassoff, 18.

Amchitka, 167.

America Pars, 14.

Anadyr, fort, 42.

Anadyr, river, Cossacks at, 16; the Gabriel at, 30.

Anadyrsk, 46.

Anian, strait, 13, 15.

Anjou, 110.

Anna Ivanovna, 63.

Apraxin, 9.

Archangel Michael, ship, 100.

Arctic Coast, charting of, 62, 83.

Arctic expeditions, 107.

Arctic explorations, work of Russia and England in, 3.

Arctic foxes, 181.

Arii Kamen, 175.

Asia and America, boundary between, 13.

Atka, island, 165.

Atna, estuary, 148.

Attu, island, 168.

Avacha, 127, 134, 170, 190.

B

Baikal, lake, 91.

Balshaya, river, 26.

Bancroft, H. H., note on, 64; note from, 73, 140; note on identity of Kayak and St. Elias, 149; note on, 188.

Baranoff Cliff, 109.

Barents, map of, 14.

Bartholomew, cape, 189.

Bear Islands, 18, 67.

Bellini, map by, 20, 118.

Berch, V., authority, 41; opinion of Bering, 52, 61.

Bering Bay, 144; incorrect location of, 146.

Bering Island, 51; discovery of, 169; description of, 174.

Bering Haven, 149.

Bering Peninsula, 67.

Bering, Rivière de, 145.

Bering Strait, discovery of, 32; Gvosdjeff in, 130.

Bering, Vitus, first expedition, 2; nativity, 6; in Baltic fleet, 9; in Sea of Azov and Black Sea, 10; promotions, 10; in Archangel, 10; home of, 11; discharge and re-appointment of, 11; plans for first expedition, 12; knowledge of Siberian geography, 19; starts on first expedition, 21; at Irkutsk, 22; at Yakutsk, 22; in relation to Serdze Kamen, 40; return to St. Petersburg, 42, 52; winters at the Fort, 50; recognition in West Europe, 57; map by, 57; plans for Great Northern Expedition, 61; recommendations to Senate, 65; instructions to, 66; chief of Great Northern Expedition, 72; estimate of, 76, 94; Russian name of, 77; report to Admiralty, 89, 195; accusations against, 94; wife of, 94; at Okhotsk, 99; at Avacha, 128; plans for expedition to America, 129; orders from Senate, 131, 134; taken ill, 140; discovers American coast, 140; stay off Kayak Island, 150; defense of, 152; determinations of lat., 158; removed from the St. Peter, 182; sickness of, 183; death of, 186; monument of, 187, 192; results, 187, 190; reports of, 190.

Betge, surgeon, 135.

Billings, map by, 45, 145, 148.

Biron, 64, 189.

Blanco, cape, 14, 37.

Blizhni Islands, 168.

Bolsheretsk, 26, 52, 119.

Borkhaya Bay, 92.

Boussale Channel, 120.

Brandt, 180.

Bredal, Peter, 9.

Broughton, Capt., at Kuriles, 120, 123.

Buache, 191.

Byistraya, river, 26.

Bykoff, river, 92.

C

California, 37.

Campbell, Dr., opinion of Bering, 29, 47, 57.

Chamisso, 137.

Chaplin, Peter, 21.

Charitonoff, 167.

Charlesvoix, Peter, _Histoire du Japan_, 20.

Chegatchoff, 135.

Chekin, 81.

Chelyuskin, 81, 109, 114, 116.

Chelyuskin, cape, 114.

Chirikoff, A., in first expedition, 21; instructions to, 66, 75, 77, 81, 95, 96, 103, 129, 131, 134, 135; on Pacific expedition, 139; results, 188; at Okhotsk, 190.

Chirikoff Island, 158.

Chi-Shima Islands, 119.

Chukotskoi, cape, doubled by Bering, 32, 44.

Chuckchee Peninsula, 40, 44, 133.

Chukli, island, 145.

Clerke, Capt., 187.

Commander Islands, 169; description of, 175; seals on, 179.

Controller Bay, 146.

Cook, Capt., 30; in Bering Strait, 36; opinion of Bering, 38, 39, 47, 48, 53, 57, 67, 112, 125, 137; Bering's place of landing, 144, 147, 156, 158, 191.

Copper, estuary, 148.

Copper Island, discovery of, 169; description of, 175; sea-otters on, 178.

Corea, 126.

Cossacks, 16.

Coxe, W., 125.

Cruys, C., made vice-admiral, 8.

D

Dall, W. H., opinion of Bering, 151.

Dalrymple, A., 39.

D'Anville, atlas of, 57.

Deception Islands, 168.

De l'Isle, G., 53 _et seq._; sketch of, 130.

De l'Isle, J. N., 18, 53, 56; sketch of, 130, 191.

De Löwenörn, Danish admiral, 39.

Deshneff, 16, 20, 110, 111.

Diomede Island, discovery of, 33; latitude of, 41.

Dixon, 144.

Dolgoruki, 64.

Du Halde, 32, 40.

Dwina, 67, 112.

E

Eared Seals, 178, 179.

East Cape, 32.

Endoguroff, 96.

Engel, Richard, 21.

Euratchey Island, 157.

F

Fairweather, Mt., 144, 145.

Figurnyi, island, 123.

Foggy Island, 158.

Forster, R., 39.

Fortuna, ship, launching of, 25, 100.

Franklin, 21, 68.

Fries, T. M., Prof., 112.

Fur Company, Russo-American, 178.

G

Gabriel, ship, 29, 41, 100, 119.

Gama, Juan de, 55, 133.

Gamaland, 55, 121, 130; situation of, 133, 134; search for, 139.

Germans and Frenchmen in Russian service, 53.

Gmelin, J. G., 68; opinion of Lassenius, 82, 91, 93.

Golovnin, 73.

Gordon, Admiral, 9.

Gore, Capt., 120.

Great Northern Expedition, 72; leaves St. Petersburg, 77; transportation of stores, 87; discontinuance of, 190; at Tomsk, 190.

Grib, Peder, 9.

Guanahani, 144.

Gvosdjeff, M., discovery of American coast by, 130.

H

Hammond, cape, 148.

Harris, P., 57.

Hartelpol, 135.

Hazius, 40.

Herzenberg, 9.

Hesselberg, 135, 166; death of, 185.

Holy Cross, bay, 31.

Homann, 16.

Hondius, J., 15.

Hondo, 54.

Hope (Nadeshda), ship, 100.

I

Ilarion, Rev., 21.

Ilim, river, 22.

Ilimsk, 22.

Innuit, 163.

Irkutsk, 72, 74.

Irkutsk, boat, 81.

Irtish, 21.

Iturup, 117, 124.

Ivanoff, 114.

J

Japan Islands, 62, 111; Spangberg's expedition to, 117 _et seq._

Jeço, 124, 133.

Jefdokjejefski Islands, 159.

Jelmerland, 109.

Jerimo, cape, 124.

Jushin, 135.

K

Kadiak Island, 157.

Khariulakh, river, 92, 93.

Kamchadales, 74.

Kamchatka, conquest of, 17, 118; charting of, 189.

Kamchatka, fort, 27.

Kamchatka, river, 30.

Kara Sea, 62, 109.

Kasanssoff, 94.

Kayak Island, 144; identity with St. Elias, 146.

Kazan, 78.

Ket, river, 22.

Khatanga, river, 116.

Khitroff, 135, 137, 141, 148, 156, 161, 170.

Khitroff, cape, 173.

Kiriloff, J. K., 52, 57, 65, 69; support of Bering, 73.

Kiska, island, 167.

Kisseloff, 167.

Kolessoff, 128.

Kolyma, 20.

Kompagniland, 54, 117, 133.

Konosir Island, 124.

Kosyrefski, I., explorations of, 17; as monk, 19, 52; at Kuriles, 118.

Kotzebue, 137.

Krasheninnikoff, 92.

Krassilnikoff, 66, 131, 156.

Krusenstern, 125, 146, 157; essay by, 158.

Kunashir, 123.

Kur, 12.

Kuriles, early knowledge of, 18; location of, 51; Spangberg's expedition to, 117, 118; charting of, 122.

Kurile Strait, 121.

Kushka, 99.

L

La Croyère, L. (L. De L'Isle), 66, 69, 78, 103; sketch of, 131.

La Pérouse, 67; at Kuriles, 120, 125, 144, 145.

La Pérouse Strait, 54.

Laptjef, C., 109.

Laptjef, D., 93, 109, 114, 189.

Larionoff, Lieut., 102.

Lassenius, Peter, arctic expedition of, 82, 92; death of, 93, 96.

Lau, surgeon, 135.

Lauridsen, Peter, reply to Nordenskjöld, 15.

Le Mesurier, cape, 146.

Lena River, 107, 109.

Liakhov Island, discovery of, 16.

Linglin Gaï, 45.

Lopatka, cape, 51.

Losseff, 89.

Lushin, 17; in Yakutsk, 19, 52, 119, 132.

Lütke, Admiral, defense of Bering, 38, 113.

M

Mackenzie, 21.

Malespina, 144.

Malygin, 109.

Marmot Island, 152, 157.

Martinier, 114.

Matmai, cape, 124.

Maya River, 23.

McClure, 113.

Mednie (Copper Island), 175.

Melnikoff, 67.

Menshikoff, 9, 86.

Mercator. G., 15.

Mexico, 66.

Middendorff, 110, 114, 115, 180.

Minin, 109.

Montague Island, 145, 148.

Monti, Bay de, 145.

Morison, George, 21

Müller, G. H., 32; opinion on Serdze Kamen, 42; at Yakutsk, 44, 53, 68, 91, 93, 118; refutes De L'Isle, 191.

Munk, Jens, 92.

Münnich, 189.

N

Nadeshda, island, 120.

Nertchinsk, treaty of, 16.

Niakina Cove, 127.

Niemann, Dr., 21.

Nipon, island, 54, 118, 121. Nordenskjöld, review by, 15, 110, 113-115; note on, 116, 177-179.

Northeast passage, 13, 14; Bering's opinion of, 35; charting of, 36, 110, 125.

Northwest passage, 113.

Norwegians and Danes in service of Peter the Great, 7.

Notske, cape, 123.

Novaia Zemlia, 109, 111.

Novgorod, 78.

Nystad, peace of, 11.

O

Obdorsk, 81.

Obi River, 21, 107.

Obi, gulf, 100.

Ofzyn, Lieut., 79; at Obdorsk, 81; in Gulf of Obi, 93, 109; saves the St. Peter, 171, 172.

Okhotsk, arrival at, 24, 62, 79; building of, 99; fleet in, 103.

Okhotsk, sea of, explorations in, 26.

Olenek, 34, 92.

Ostermann, 64, 73, 189.

Ostrog, Kamchatka, 27.

Othere's, 114.

P

Pallas, 45.

Patience, bay, 123.

Patience, cape, 54.

Patiloff, 21.

Pavlutski, Capt., 43, 45, 83.

Peschel, O., 117, 118, 146.

Petchora, 107.

Peter the Great, Scandinavians in service of, 7; death of, 21, 63.

Petroff, 96, 119.

Petermann, Dr., 111, 116.

Petropavlovsk, founding of, 127.

Pissarjeff, 65, 83; quarrel with Bering, 84; sketch of, 85, 95; removal of, 103, 126.

Plauting, 93-96, 135.

Plenisner, 153.

Pontanus, J. J., 14.

Popoff, Cossack, on Chuckchee peninsula, 17, 66.

Preobrashensky, bay, 31.

Pribyloff Islands, 178.

Prince William's Sound, 145, 148.

Pronchisheff, 81, 92, 93, 96, 109.

R

Reclus, 67.

Remesoff, atlas of, 16.

Ruge, Prof., 117, 119.

Russian fleet, founding of, 9.

S

Saghalin, island, 54; charting of, 125.

Sarycheff, Admiral, at Kuriles, 120, 146, 148.

Sauer, M., 146; description of St. Elias, 147.

Saunders, Vice-Admiral, 11.

Savjaloff, 167.

Schaep, H. C., 54.

Schelagskii, cape, 110.

Schelting, Lieut., 119.

Scurvy, 182.

Schwatka, 21.

Sea Cow, 179: correct scientific name, 179; extermination of, 179; importance of, 180.

Sea Lion, 178.

Sea Lion Island, 175.

Sea Otter, 177.

Seljonyi, island, 123.

Semichi Islands, 167.

Semidi Islands, 159.

Senate, Russian, orders of, 64.

Serdze Kamen, cape, 30 _et seq._

Shafiroff, 85.

Shantar Islands, 65.

Shestakoff, 18, 56.

Shumagins, discovery of, 161; stay at, 162, 164.

Siberia, determinations of longitude in, 38; scientific exploration of, 68.

Sievers, Peter, 9.

Sikotan, island, 123.

Skeving, 9.

Skuratoff, 109.

Soimonoff, 73.

Sokoloff, K., 75; opinion of Spangberg, 84, 94; Bering's assistants, 95; opinion of Bering, 96, 100, 116; qualifications of, 137, 159; reproved by Bancroft, 189; note.

Spangberg. M., in first expedition, 21; at the Kut, 22; winter at the Yudoma, 24; sets sail, 26, 50; instructions to, 66, 77, 82; nativity of, 84; accusations against, 94, 96; at Okhotsk, 100; expedition to Japan, 102, 117; return to Bolsheretsk, 120; results of expedition, 125; return to Yakutsk, 126; at Kirinsk, 126; return from third expedition to Japan, 190.

Spangberg's Island, 123.

Staaten Eiland, 54, 117, 133.

St. Abraham Island, 168.

Stanovoi Mts., 84, 89.

St. Elias, island, 141 _et seq._

Stejneger, L., Dr., translator's preface; note on, 173, 178; note by, 174; description of Steller's Arch, 176; concerning sea-cow, 179, 180.

Steller, G. W., opinion of Bering's first expedition, 46, 57, 92; estimate of Bering, 97; at Okhotsk, 103; joins the Pacific expedition, 135; nativity and sketch of, 136; diary of, 137; on American soil, 141; description of St. Elias, 147, 150; ridicules Bering, 151; 165; description of animal life, 176; honored by Stejneger, 176, note; care of the castaways, 181; account of Bering's death, 186.

Steller, Mount, 176, note.

Steller's Triumphal Arch, description of, 176, note; representation of, 177.

Sterlegoff, 80, 109.

St. Hermogenes, island, 152; discovery of, 156.

St. Johannes, island, 165.

St. Kresta Bay, 31; the Gabriel at, 31, 46.

St. Lawrence Island, 34, 41.

St. Marcus Island, 167.

St. Paul, ship, building of, 100, 102; crew of, 135; course of, 139.

St. Peter, building of, 100, 102; crew of, 135; journals of, 137; course of, 139; return voyage, 156 _et seq._; at Shumagins, 164; determinations of latitude by, 167; stranding of, 172.

Strahlenberg, 18; outline maps by, 20, 118.

St. Stephen, island, 158, 167.

St. Thaddeus, cape, 30.

Stuxberg, A., Dr., 111.

Suckling, cape, 146.

T

Tabbert (Strahlenberg), 55.

Taimyr, peninsula, 82, 93, 109; cartography of, 114, 115.

Taroko, islands, 123.

Texeïra, 55.

Three Sisters, islands, 124.

Tigil, 128.

Tobol, 79; launching of, 80.

Tobolsk, arrival at, 21.

Tolbukhin, Lieut., 102.

Tordenskjold, Peter, note on, 9.

Trane, Thure, 9.

Tumannoi Island, 158.

Tunguska River, 22.

Tuscarora, 139.

U

Udinsk, 62.

Ukamok, island, 158.

Urak, river, 23.

Ural Mts., 68.

Urup, island, 117.

Ustkutsk, 22.

Ust Maiskaya, 88.

V

Vancouver, 67, 144, 148.

Vancouver's Island, 158.

Van Dieman, 54.

Vangondie, R. de, 39.

Van Haven, 78.

Varkhoiansk, 102.

Vega expedition, 109, 113-115, 179.

Viligin, 18.

Vlaming, 112.

Volga, 80.

Von Baer, 36, 41, 48, 72, 98, 111, 115; concerning sea-cow, 180, 192.

Voyage of the Vega, 113-115, 179.

Vries, M. de, 54, 117, 124.

W

Walton, 96, 120, 121, 126.

Walvisch Bay, 123.

Waxel, Lieut., 96, 135, 137, 152; in command of the St. Peter, 161, 167, 169, 170.

Wilster, D., Admiral, 9.

Wingham Island, 146, 147.

Witsen, N., 15.

Wrangell, 110, 113.

Wrangell Island, 18.

Y

Yablonoi, Mts., 16.

Yakutat Bay (Bering Bay), 146.

Yakutsk, 62; foundry at, 83.

Yakutsk, sloop, 81.

Yelagin, 127.

Yenisei, 22, 107.

Yevrinoff, 17, 119, 132.

Yudoma, river, 23.

Yudomskaya Krest, 23.

Yezo, 14, 117.

[Illustration: BERING'S CHART OF HIS FIRST VOYAGE

I.

_Efter D'Anville's Atlas 1737_

_Axel E. Aamodt's lith. Etabl._

_Reautograferet af W. Lynge._]

[Illustration:

II.

SPANGBERG'S CHART OF THE KURILES AND NORTH JAPAN 1738-39.

The dotted coast-lines are inserted according to the astronomer De l'Isles Chart 1732.]

[Illustration:

III.

BERING'S AND CHIRIKOFF'S EXPEDITIONS TO AMERICA, 1741.

From Sketches by Bering, Chirikoff and Chitrof.

_Efter Zapiski Gidr. Depart. IX B._

_Axel E. Aamodt's lith. Etabl._

_Reautograferet af W. Lynge._]

[Illustration:

IV.

KAIAK ISLAND

Discovered by Bering in 1741 and called ST. ELIAS.

From Chitrof's Journal.

_Efter Zapiski Gidr. Depart. IX B._

_Axel E Aamodt's lith. Etabl._

_Reautograferet af W. Lynge._]

Transcriber's Notes:

Simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were corrected.

Punctuation normalized.

Anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed.

Italics markup is enclosed in _underscores_.

P. 31 changed longitude to latitude as 64° 41' latitude would be in the Bering Sea but not 64° 41' longitude.