The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. II., No. 2, May, 1890

Chapter IV: Part 4

Text size

SYNOPSIS OF THE VOYAGE.

The dates are reduced to the Julian calendar from the nautical account. The longitude is stated in degrees east from Greenwich.

June 10/21, 1728. The vessel, which was named the _Gabriel_, was launched at the Lower Kamchatka fort and loaded with a year's supply of provisions for forty men (B. C. H. M.). She resembled the packet boats used in the Baltic.

_Notes._--This vessel was constructed of the Kamchatkan spruce, a species according to Kittlitz closely resembling _Abies canadensis_ of America. There is also a smaller species, _A. mertensiana_, and by distillation of these two trees the deficiency in their supply of tar or pitch was made up. The rigging, sail-cloth, oakum and anchors had been transferred with great labor from Tobolsk. The planking and timbers were doubtless fastened with trenails and not with spikes, so the amount of iron used was much smaller than it would be in most modern vessels. The provisioning of the expedition is the subject of a fanciful paragraph garbled from Bering's original report, which has been quoted by every one of the historians of the voyage from D'Anville to Lauridsen. I transcribe it from Brooke's translation of 1736, pp. 437-8.

"The provisions consisted of Carrots for want of Corn (=grain or wheat), the fat of Fish uncured served instead of Butter and salt fish supplied the place of all other meats."

Campbell in Harris' Voyages, p. 1020, still further enlarges this statement and Lauridsen puts it

"Fish oil was his butter and dried fish his beef and pork. Salt he was obliged to get from the sea," and "he distilled spirits from 'sweet straw.'"

This gives a totally false idea of the supplies provided for the expedition. Bering received from Yakutsk over forty-two tons of flour, and large numbers, fifty at a time, of the small Siberian cattle were driven on the hoof to Okhotsk where their flesh was partly dried and partly salted. On his return he delivered surplus supplies to the proper officers in Kamchatka and at Okhotsk ever 30,000 lbs. of meal, flour and salt meat. There were at that time no carrots to be had in Kamchatka as Bering himself testifies. Salted salmon then as now, formed a staple article of diet in Kamchatka and was without doubt included in his stores. The delicate fat obtained by boiling the bellies of the salmon, is annually prepared in Kamchatka and is regarded to this day as a great delicacy (cf. Voyage of the _Marchesa_, 2d edition, p. 135.) A store of it might without any hardship be furnished to the commander for use as butter. Salt he obtained as it is usually obtained by evaporating sea-water, and the absence of strong drink of European origin was supplied by a distillation of the stalks of the bear's foot or "sweet herb" of the Cossacks (_Heracleum dulce_ Kittlitz), long used for that purpose by the Russians in Siberia and from which, even in modern times, according to Seemann, the Kamchadales secured additions to their scanty supply of syrup or sugar.

The supplies then of the expedition, were not inferior to those in common use at sea at that period, and as far as health is concerned were certainly less likely to result in an invasion of scurvy than the use of salt beef and pork alone would have been.

It must be remembered that the fare on naval vessels all over the world in those days, was rude and coarse to a degree now long unknown and that it was not until the voyages of Cook, nearly half a century later, that the antiscorbutic and varied regimen, now usually enforced by law in maritime nations, was even thought of.

The force crowded together on the little _Gabriel_ is enumerated by Lauridsen presumably from the account of Bergh.

It consisted beside the commander, of Lieutenants Martin Spanberg and Alexie Chirikoff; Second Lieutenant Peter Chaplin, Doctor Nieman, a quartermaster, eight sailors, a worker in leather, a rope maker, five carpenters, a boatswain, two cossacks with a drummer and nine marines, six servants, stewards, etc., and two Kariak interpreters, a cabin boy and a pilot, in all forty-four persons.

It is not clear from Lauridsen's account whether in the above list are or are not included the two mates, Richard Engel and George Morison, or the cartographer Potiloff, who started with Bering from St. Petersburg. Luzhin was left behind, being ill.

July 13/24. The variation of the compass was determined to be 13° 10' easterly (L.). In the afternoon (being the 14th nautical reckoning) the vessel left the Kamchatka river. (B. C. H.) They steered to the northeast along the coast, which was kept in sight to the north and west, in from nine to twelve fathoms water. As the point of departure Cape Kamchatka was determined to be in north latitude 56° 3' (M. L.)

_Notes._--The variation of the compass in 1885 was 2° 30' easterly (Schott). As will be seen by the Table of Positions, the latitude above given for the cape is not the same as that adopted by Bering on his chart. The depth mentioned shows that the _Gabriel_ must have kept within a few miles, probably not exceeding ten, from the shore and the very slow progress made, as indicated by the log, not much exceeding two miles an hour gives rise to the suspicion that, in the early part of the voyage, in order to keep their survey continuous, they probably lay to during the hours of darkness. Off Karaginski Island the variation of the compass was determined to be the same as at the mouth of the Kamchatka river.

From this date to the 27th, the accessible authorities give no data, and the expedition probably pursued its way uneventfully.

July 27/Aug. 7. This day a prominent Cape was passed at a distance of some three miles. [It was named St. Thaddeus, after the saint on whose holy day it was again seen on the return voyage.] Many grampus, porpoises, seals and sealions were seen (L.).

_Notes._--This Cape St. Thaddeus is not the cape of the same name on modern charts, but the cape now known as Cape Navarin. This is evident from Bering's chart. Bering's position for the cape is in error about fifteen miles in latitude and three degrees in longitude on his chart, while in the list of positions, the error is only about five miles of latitude and half a degree in longitude.

From near Cape Thaddeus Bering stood across Anadyr Gulf, out of sight of the low land, missing Anadyr Bay, and thereby falling into the error of placing on his chart the mouth of the Anadyr River south of the cape. The error was subsequently corrected by G. F. Müller.

Lauridsen observes (American edition, p. 30), that "having sailed past the Anadyr River without quite being able to find their bearings, in regions of which they had not a single astronomical determination," etc. This is absurd. They had a compass and there is no reason why they should not find their bearings, and it is certain they were there to make observations and not to verify those already made. No apology is needed for Bering's determination to press more rapidly northward. It was in accordance with common sense, considering the lateness of the season and the uncertainty of what they had to accomplish before the season closed.

Aug. 1/12. Festival of the Holy Cross. The expedition saw land to the northward and soon after entered a great bay which they named Holy Cross Bay. This they explored to the river at its head which they named Bolshoia (Great) River, and on the western point of entrance the latitude was, Aug. 2/13, observed to be 65° 35' north, while the longitude by dead reckoning was estimated at 182° 15' east of Greenwich, and the magnetic variation ¾ of a point easterly.

_Notes._--Lauridsen says (p. 31, American edition) that in Holy Cross Bay the _Gabriel_ spent two days under sail in search of fresh water and a place to anchor. This is extremely singular, as there is an anchorage immediately at the entrance to the bay, on the starboard hand, and runs of fresh water are abundant. The application of an obvious correction[10] to the list of positions given by Campbell makes the position at the western elbow or spit, at the mouth of Holy Cross Bay, that which is given above. This position is over a degree too far west and over six miles too far south. But Lauridsen (quoting Campbell without observing the blunder?) not stating the source of his information, gives a position (N. Lat. 62° 50') which is two hundred and twelve miles too far south and the English translation improves upon this by making it 60° 50', or three hundred and thirty-two miles south of the truth, or two hundred and sixty-five miles south of the entrance to the bay as platted on Bering's own chart.

[Footnote 10: In Harris' Voy., 2d ed., ii, p. 1021, Bering's table of positions is printed:

(N. Lat.) (Lon. E. Tobolsk)
_Nischuvi Kamschatska Oostrog_ 56° 11', 98° 30'
The Mouth of the river of the Apostle
_Thadeus_ and the Cape 56° 03', 96° 10'
The Elbow of the river _Swetoi Krest_ 62° 20', 111° 32'
Eastern Point 65° 35', 115° 15'

This should read, errors and misplacements corrected:

Lat. Long.
Nizhni Kamschatsk Ostrog 56° 11', 95° 30'
The mouth of the River (Kamchatka) 56° 03', 96° 10'
The Cape of the Apostle _Thaddens_ 62° 20', 111° 32'
The western cape (or spit) of Svietoi
Krest Bay 65° 35', 115° 15'

The words in parentheses are added by the writer for clearness. It is somewhat surprising that in using this table nobody seems to have recognized these errors.]

Bering's table in his report and Bering's chart as printed by D'Anville differ from each other fifteen miles in latitude and two degrees and twenty-five minutes or nearly seventy-five miles in longitude. The chart is the more correct, but it differs more than thirty miles in latitude and nearly a degree in longitude from the modern observations of Lütké and Rodgers for the same locality. After leaving Holy Cross Bay, the voyage was continued to the southeast along the "high and rocky coast" of which Lauridsen (probably paraphrasing Bergh) says that "every indentation was very carefully explored." This is obviously a flight of fancy, since a good part of this coast is low and sandy, while there is no indication of two excellent harbors which it affords, on any of the charts of Bering or his successors in that century.

Aug. 6/17, 1728. This day, the festival of the Transfiguration, found the _Gabriel_ entering a small bay, which on that account was named Transfiguration (Preobrazhenia) Bay. Here they anchored (L.). Lieutenant Chaplin was sent ashore for water and found native huts but no people.

_Notes._--This bay has never been surveyed, and on the best modern charts is merely indicated, while on many others it is omitted altogether or the name transferred to the anchorage north of Cape Bering or to Plover Bay. Bering's position for the spit at the entrance of Transfiguration Bay is two degrees and a quarter too far east and sixteen miles too far north by the table, but his chart gives the position much more closely, with a difference from Rodgers' chart of not exceeding five miles.

Aug. 7/18. They proceeded along the coast in a south-southeasterly direction.

_Note._--The total eclipse of the moon of this date could hardly have been observed by Bering, since the moon must have been close to the horizon and first contact of the shadow occurred only about five minutes before the moon set. As Bering does not mention it, it is not likely that he noted the eclipse.

Aug. 8/19. At seven in the morning a skin-boat (umiak or bidarrá) was observed to be launched from the shore, eight men getting into it and rowing toward the vessel (B.). They approached within hail, and were understood, through the aid of the Kariak interpreters on board the _Gabriel_, to enquire whence the vessel came and what was the object of the expedition in entering these waters. After much persuasion one of the natives left the skin-boat and swam, sustaining himself on two inflated seal-skins tied by a pole, to the _Gabriel_ and came on board and the others, seeing that no harm befel him, came nearer the vessel shortly afterward (M. B. C.). The interpreters had some difficulty in understanding all the natives said, but it was gathered from their conversation that these people called themselves Chukchi (or by an analogous name); that they were acquainted with the Russians, by report or otherwise, that there were numerous settlements of their people along this shore; that the Anadyr River lay far to the west (L.); that to the south and east lay an island which would soon be visible to the people on the _Gabriel_ if they continued on the course they were then steering; that in the vicinity of this island the shore of the mainland changes its direction and extends beyond to the north and then to the westward (B. M. C. H.). The man who had boarded the vessel was given some presents and sent back to the native boat, in the hope that he would persuade his comrades to come on board the _Gabriel_, but, suspecting some evil design, the natives pulled away toward the shore and disappeared. According to Bergh, Chaplin's journal expresses regret that more important information could not be obtained owing to the difficulty in interpreting what was said by the Chukchi. At noon the latitude was estimated to be 64° 30'. In the afternoon the cape mentioned by the Chukchis was seen.

_Notes._--The account given in Bering's report, and variously rendered by Müller, Brooks, D'Anville and Campbell, differs in several details from that given in Chaplin's journal and described by Bergh and Lauridsen. The various English versions of both fail in clearly rendering the important point gained by this interview with the natives, which was, that, at a short distance, the main coast changes its direction and turns to the north and west. These Chukchis pointed the way to the strait for the party on the _Gabriel_, and their account proved to be accurate in every particular.

The people of this part of the coast call themselves _Tsau-chú_, which is their tribal name. The similar name of another branch living near the Anadyr River has been corrupted into the word Chuk-chi, by the Russians, from which we derive our general name for these people. Lauridsen says "Breden var 64° 41'" which in the American edition stands, "the longitude (sic) was 64° 41'." But the original and all the variants of Bering's own report make the latitude 64° 30' which is correct. If it had been 64° 41' they would have been north of their own position for Transfiguration Bay, from which their course had been S.S.E., therefore the 41' is certainly erroneous.

On Bering's chart he refers to the point of the coast where the shore changes its direction under the name _Chukotskago Noss_, which means the promontory of the Chukchi, though this is not the same as the Chukchi Cape of the Anadyr Cossacks, who so denominated the eastern extreme of Asia, which they knew from report and by the voyage of Deshneff. There can be no reasonable doubt that Bering named his cape after the people who had described it to him, although the imperfections of the record leave this to be inferred. Bering's map gives the latitude of the south extreme of the cape as about 64° 02', and it is erroneously represented as extending south of the latitude of the northwest end of St. Lawrence Island. Its real latitude is about fifteen miles further north. Cook made it 64° 13'. Chaplin's journal (according to Lauridsen) makes it 64° 18', which would agree with the latest surveys very nearly, though the coincidence must be regarded as a happy accident in view of their imperfect tables, instruments and methods. Bering's report places its eastern extreme in 64° 25' and (wrongly) in the same longitude as the west end of St. Lawrence Island.

Aug. 10/21. St. Lawrence's day. The island referred to by the Chukchi was seen and the vessel stood toward it, about two o'clock in the afternoon. Twice, an officer with a four-oared boat was sent to reconnoiter the coast more closely, but he saw only what appeared to be huts without inhabitants (C). The island (of which only the northwest hilly portion was seen, owing to the hazy weather) was named after the patron saint of the day and the course of the vessel was changed to the northward.

Aug. 11/22. At noon the latitude was estimated at 64° 20', and at sunset an attempt was made by the determination of the magnetic variation to get the longitude (L.).

_Notes._--An illustration of the want of care with which Lauridsen has weighed his comments, it may be pointed out that he claims (p. 32, Am. Ed.) that on reaching latitude 64° 20' the _Gabriel_ was in Bering Strait, while two pages later, on her return southward, he declares her to have got out of the strait on reaching latitude 64° 27'! As a matter of fact, at the present day, the whalers and traders of this region consider that Cape Chaplin (more commonly known as Indian Point) forms the southwest point of entrance to the strait; and this point is situated in latitude 64° 25' and E. longitude 187° 40', as determined by the writer in 1880. This is perhaps the point referred to by Bering as the eastern point of his Chukotskoi Cape.

The magnetic method of determining the longitude would give correct results only accidentally, as previously explained. The result announced by Lauridsen for the present occasion is 25° 31' east from Lower Kamchatka Ostrog or 187° 51' east from Greenwich, which would be within a few miles of the latest determinations. But it is obvious from Bering's map that he could not have made his position less than 28° 45' east from Lower Kamchatka, and the position above given is perhaps an interpolation from modern sources, which has been misunderstood or mistranslated. As Lauridsen has paraphrased, not quoted, it is impossible in the absence of Bergh's original to determine who is responsible for the incongruity. An interpolation seems the more likely since Bering himself gives the longitude as 189° 55' E. Gr.[11]

[Footnote 11: A glance at Bergh shows that this statement of Lauridsen is simply a blunder. Bergh only says they obtained the magnetic variation (25° 31' easterly) by an _amplitude_ observation! Longitude is not mentioned, nor Kamchatka.]

Aug. 12/23. From noon of the 11th to noon of this day, the _Gabriel_ sailed sixty-nine miles, but the difference of latitude was only 21 miles. The wind was light to fresh and the weather overcast (L.).

_Notes._--If the above statement be taken literally with the assumption that they were at noon of the 11th in latitude 64° 20' and E. longitude 188° from Greenwich, it would give their position for noon of the 12th as 64° 49' and longitude 190° 45' E. Gr., which does not at all accord with the subsequently narrated course, etc. If we proceed on the hypothesis that it means that the log recorded 69 miles and that only 29 miles were made good (which might easily happen if the polar current were running strong on the west side of the strait) and that their course was parallel with the Siberian shore in a general way they would have been, at noon of August 12th, in latitude 64° 49' and longitude 188° E. Gr. or thereabouts, which agrees very fairly with the known circumstances.

Aug. 13/24. A fresh breeze and cloudy weather. The _Gabriel_ sailed the whole day with no land in sight and the difference in latitude was only 78 miles at noon, reckoned from noon of the 12th. The wind diminished toward night.

_Notes._--On the same hypothesis as to the meaning of "difference in latitude" as the words are used by Lauridsen, the _Gabriel_ at noon of the 13th would have been ten or twelve miles south from East Cape and in about latitude 65° 55'. If the words are to be taken literally, as a navigator would use them, the _Gabriel_ would have been about fifteen miles to the northward and eastward of East Cape, which agrees much less with the subsequently detailed circumstances. With the nautical day beginning at noon on the 13th according to Lauridsen the weather began to be calm and cloudy which would check their progress.

Aug. 14/25. This is the festival of Saint Demetrius of Africa. A current was experienced during this day which was estimated to have helped the vessel northward eight miles and three quarters. This current ran from south-southeast to north-northwest. From noon of the 13th to noon of this day the vessel sailed 29 miles in addition to the current drift. At noon the latitude was estimated to be 66° 41' and high land was visible astern. At three o'clock in the afternoon high mountains were observed to the southward, which, says Chaplin, "were probably on the continent."

_Notes._--Under any hypothesis either the run of the vessel was underestimated or the latitude was overestimated. Adding the estimated run to the position attained under our hypothesis for the 12th and 13th it will put the _Gabriel_ at noon, August 14th, in about north latitude 66° 24' and longitude E. Gr. 191° 30'. Chaplin's reckoning as given by Lauridsen would have put the _Gabriel_ more than fifty miles off shore when the land spoken of would have been out of sight. Our hypothesis puts her about twenty-eight miles N.E. true from East Cape when the high land of either shore, under favorable circumstances, might have been seen even if the sky were overcast. Clouds do not interfere with seeing, unless attended by fog or haze. During this day the _Gabriel_ had sailed between East Cape and the islands now known as the Diomedes; the shore being near by. Why then should it be noted in the log that "high land was seen astern" at noon? The high land of Siberia they had seen and sailed along for days in full sight of it. It seems to us that this excludes the idea that the log refers to the Siberian highland and that what was seen was the loom of land not before seen, as of the Diomedes or even of America. It may not have been clear to the commander and yet have been marked enough for the subordinate officer to have put it in his log, with the dead reckoning and daily notes.[12] On several old charts mention is made of land seen by Spanberg which is supposed to have been America, after Gwosdeff had confirmed the existence of the American mainland in that direction and Synd had landed upon it. This suggestion is not unimportant in connection with the subsequent conduct of Bering and will be referred to again in its proper connection. The further fact that all early printed versions of Bering's list of positions, refer to the modern Diomedes only as the island of _St. Demetrius_ and that this day was the festival of that obscure saint, lends further confirmation to the above suggestions.

[Footnote 12: Lauridsen gets over the discrepancy by putting the word "still" before "seen" (Am. Ed., p. 41), but there is nothing in the original sources to confirm this view of the matter.]

Aug. 15/26. The _Gabriel_ appears to have continued to sail in a northeasterly direction until three o'clock in the afternoon, having been aided by the current to the extent of 8¾ miles and sailed 65 miles; many whales were seen and the depth averaged between 23 and 36 fathoms. Since the 13th the water had appeared whitish or discolored. The wind was moderate and the weather cloudy. Between noon and three o'clock the vessel made seven miles against a head wind. The position of the _Gabriel_ at that time was estimated to be in north latitude 67° 18' and 30° 17' east longitude from the town of Lower Kamchatka (C. corrected).

_Note._--The nautical day Aug. 15 extending from noon of the 14th to noon of the 15th is altogether omitted from the American translation of Lauridsen's book. The position for the turning point estimated by Chaplin is manifestly by dead reckoning, as the sky was cloudy. It was not adopted in the list of positions published by Campbell in Harris' Voyages nor on Bering's map. In the former the longitude he adopts is 27° 37' east of Lower Kamchatka fort, and this agrees exactly with the point on the coast in Du Halde's engraving of Bering's map where the mountains cease to be put down near the shore, the point on the north coast of Siberia where Lauridsen, and Chaplin as quoted by him, say Bering did not go, and the point which has been generally regarded as Bering's farthest!

If we apply the distance and direction from Chaplin's journal to the course of the _Gabriel_ platted from his preceding data, literally, it will put the turning point of the voyage in N. latitude 67° 32' and E. longitude 193° 37' or thereabouts, which is about thirty-five miles off the American coast southwest from Cape Seppings. But if we do this the position is far from agreeing with Chaplin's. By applying the hypothetical correction which we have heretofore used, the position would be in latitude 67° 24' and E. longitude 193° 15' from Greenwich or 31° east from Lower Kamchatka fort, agreeing more nearly with Chaplin. On the other hand the position off Cape Seppings agrees better with Chaplin's figures for the remainder of the day.

At this point the commander of the expedition determined to turn homeward. The _Gabriel_ was put on a course S. by E. by compass (S. by W. ½ W. true, the variation allowed being 2½ points easterly) before a brisk seven knot breeze, making better time than is recorded for any part of her outward voyage.

_Notes._--Lauridsen says[13] that, in terminating the outward voyage, Bering "announced that as he had now accomplished his task it was his duty, according to his orders, to return." Müller and other authorities quote, more or less modified in the translation, the reasons given in Bering's report. But, as there is no reason to suppose these were uttered to the ship's company officially at the time, a consideration of them may be deferred until the total results of the voyage are discussed. The course set, according to Chaplin's journal, would, if made good, have carried the _Gabriel_ east of the Diomedes and close to Cape Prince of Wales. The northwesterly current referred to by Chaplin and recognized by most navigators who have since visited those seas, would have carried the vessel more to the westward, as was actually the result, and it was probably allowed for.

[Footnote 13: Bergh (p. 54) quotes Chaplin's journal, which says: "At three o'clock Captain Bering announced: _that it was necessary for him, in spite of his instructions, to turn back_, and put the vessel about with orders to steer S. by E. by compass." The italics are Bergh's, who adds that, in the journal of Lieut. Chirikoff, the same statement is made in the same words. I transliterate the italicized phrases according to the schedule for Russian letters published in _Nature_, Feb. 27, 1890. "Chto nadlezhit emu protiv ukazu vo ispolnenie vozvratit'sya." This plain statement, which proves that (at the moment) Bering recognized that he was not fulfilling his orders, is suppressed by Lauridsen and of course by Bering himself when he came to prepare his official report. Lauridsen however is not satisfied with suppressing the truth, which would have weighed so heavily against his hero and his argument, but, with the truth in his possession, he has inserted in his book a statement which is diametrically opposed to it as above cited.]

August 16/27. Saint Diomede's day. The _Gabriel_ had kept on her course with a free wind making more than seven knots (miles) an hour. At nine in the morning they found themselves off a high promontory on the west, where there were Chukchi habitations. On the east and seaward they saw an island, which it was proposed to call after the saint of the day. At noon the vessel had made since the previous noon 115 miles and had reached latitude 66° 02'. Continuing on their way, with a fresh breeze and cloudy weather, they sailed along the Asiatic coast near enough to observe many natives and at two places they saw dwellings. At three P.M. very high land and mountains were passed (probably the highlands near St. Lawrence Bay).

_Notes._--From 3 P.M. Aug. 15th to 9 A.M. Aug. 16th is 18 hours, which at seven knots an hour (allowing the alleged excess to be the equivalent of the drift caused by the current) would amount to 126 miles. Deduct from this the seven miles sailed between noon and 3 P.M. Aug. 15th in the opposite direction and we have remaining 119 miles made on the homeward voyage at a time when the _Gabriel_ was between the Diomedes and East Cape, or at least in plain sight of both. But three hours later, at noon, according to Lauridsen, they had made only 115 miles in all, although the breeze was fresh and fair. From Chaplin's position for the turning point to latitude 66° 02' off East Cape is 96 miles. From our hypothetically corrected position for the turning point, off Cape Seppings, the distance would be to the same place 126 miles, or thereabouts. It is evident that there is a miscalculation, or an error in the record here, which, without further data, it is not possible to correct.

It is certain that Bering with whom the right of naming any new island would have rested, did not then name the island above mentioned after St Diomede. On all copies of the earlier version of his chart it appears if at all under the name of the Island of St. Demetrius. From this we may suspect that he identified it with the high land seen Aug. 14th, St. Demetrius' day, while others on board, suspecting they were not the same proposed the name of Diomede for the present island; regarding the high land as something distinct. If the hardy and self-willed Spanberg was the one who reported the land Aug. 14th, and if he saw the high land about Cape Prince of Wales, as several old charts allege, he would have been the last to admit that the relatively small and adjacent island now seen, should be identified with his discovery.

Aug. 17/28. The breeze having been strong and fair an observation at noon indicated that the latitude was 64° 27' and that the _Gabriel_ had sailed 164 miles since noon of the 16th. In the afternoon the weather was clear and the wind became light. (The _Gabriel_ must have come out of the strait this afternoon).

_Notes._--A distance of 164 miles from the position of the previous noon would have put the _Gabriel_ in latitude 63° 38'. The distance on the general course sailed by the _Gabriel_ from 66° 02' to 64° 27' is about 107 miles. It is possible that in copying or printing 104 miles has become transmuted to 164 miles. There is an obvious error here of some kind.

Aug. 18/29. (Lauridsen does not refer to any record for this day, but it is probable that the wind continued light and the weather fair and that the _Gabriel_ was slowly working her way westward and southward in the vicinity of Cape Chukotski.)

Aug. 19/30. In the afternoon being in the vicinity of the place where they had met the Chukchi boat on the outward voyage, four baidars were seen with their crews pulling for the vessel, which accordingly lay by for them to come up with her. There were ten natives to each baidar, or forty in all. They brought reindeer meat, fish, and fresh water in large bladders for sale for which they were suitably rewarded, while the crew of the _Gabriel_ obtained from them skins of the red and the polar foxes and four walrus teeth, which the natives bartered for needles, flint-and-steel for striking fire, and iron. These Chukchi told them that they went over land to trade at the Kolyma River, carrying their goods with reindeer, and that they never went by sea. They had long known the Russians and one of them had even been to the Anadyrsk fort to trade. From this man they had hopes of gaining valuable information but he could tell them nothing more than they had learned from the first Chukchis who had been questioned.

Aug. 20/31 to Aug. 29/Sept. 9. (For this period the documents accessible to me give no information, but the _Gabriel_ was doubtless pursuing her homeward way uneventfully along the coast of Kamchatka.)

Aug. 30/Sept. 10. A heavy storm arose with fog and the _Gabriel_ finding herself dangerously close to the shore anchored near the land to ride it out. A note in Harris indicates that they may have been near Karaginski Island.

Aug. 31/Sept. 11. At one P.M. the storm had abated, but in weighing anchor the cable had been so chafed by the rocky bottom that it parted and they lost the anchor, and were obliged to put to sea without recovering it.

Sept. 1/12, 1728. At five o'clock in the afternoon they approached and at seven the next morning entered the mouth of the Kamchatka river, thus ending the voyage.

_Note._--The _Gabriel_ was secured in a slough of the river and the party went up the river to the fort of Lower Kamchatka where Bering passed the winter.

It is certain that the residents of Kamchatka and others more or less familiar with the reports of Cossack explorations in Chukchi-land were not altogether satisfied with the summary manner in which exploration had been given up by Bering, and his apparent assumption that there was no adjacent land to the eastward except small islands. More or less such discussion and criticism could hardly have failed to reach his ears, and his reflections may have led him to think that, after all, he had been too hasty. Trees not indigenous to Kamchatka had been seen floating near the shores, no heavy breakers ever proceeded from the eastward and it was even alleged that land or the loom of land might be seen to the east from the coast mountains in very clear weather. On account of these and other reasons[14] which were urged by residents of the country, Bering determined to make a new trial. Instead of proceeding directly to Okhotsk across Kamchatka he fitted out the _Gabriel_ for another voyage. Beside the fact that Luzhin, one of his cartographers, had explored the Kurile Islands lying next to Kamchatka, the vessel _Fortuna_ during Bering's absence had doubled Cape Lopatka and was anchored in the Kamchatka River when Bering entered it on his return. It was therefore evident that the straits were navigable and the return voyage might be made that way. Spanberg was ordered to Bolsheretsk "on account of illness" (L.), and it is possible he took the _Fortuna_ back there since she had already returned to Bolsheretsk when Bering reached that port, on his way to Okhotsk.

[Footnote 14: The natives even claimed that a man had been stranded on the coast of Kamchatka in 1715, who stated that his own country lay to the eastward and contained forests with high trees and large rivers. (Lauridsen, op. cit. Am. ed. p. 51). Bering himself states that he made the search of 1729 at the instance of the Kamchatkan residents.]

Lauridsen has ascribed to Bering's own initiative the willingness to make another search for land as if these ideas were original with him. It is evident that this is unjustified and fanciful. Müller's account shows that the incitement to a second attempt proceeded from the residents of the country and that Bering complied with their suggestions; and Bering says so himself in his report.

On June[15] 5/16, 1729, the _Gabriel_ left the mouth of the Kamchatka River and stood to the eastward, directly off shore. She continued on this course about forty-eight hours, sailing a distance variously estimated at from ninety to one hundred and thirty miles. The weather was foggy, no land was seen, the wind shifted to dead ahead at east northeast, and on the third day Bering gave up the search and steered for the southern coast of Kamchatka, the extreme of which is marked by the point known as Narrow (Ooskoi) Cape, or more generally as Shovel (Lopatka) Cape, from its low square termination. He determined the latitude of this cape, and passing through the strait south of it reached Bolsheretsk on the west coast of the peninsula on the second of July. Most of this time was probably spent in tracing the form of the southern part of Kamchatka. Half way between the Kamchatka River and the coast the variation was observed to be one point easterly, and off Avatcha Bay three-quarters of a point easterly.

[Footnote 15: Lauridsen says July, which is erroneous.]

In the American translation of Lauridsen it is said (p. 51) that Bering fixed the difference of latitude (for which one should read longitude) between Bolsheretsk and Lower Kamchatka Ostrog at 6° 29'. But on Bering's maps the difference is only 3° 50', while in his list of positions no longitude is assigned to Lower Kamchatka post. In Campbell's list it stands at 8° 39', which the correction of an evident error of 98° for 95° reduces to 5° 39'. The true difference of longitude according to the latest charts is about 5° 25'. Where Lauridsen got his figures he does not state. Campbell, in Harris, states that Bering was the first navigator to double Cape Lopatka, but the _Fortuna_ had made this voyage in 1728, though her commander is not known.

At Bolsheretsk Bering left a crew for the _Fortuna_ which had returned thither; turned over some of his surplus stores to the local authorities and on the 14/25 July sailed from the Bolshoia River for Okhotsk. Here he arrived July 23/Aug. 3 and after some days spent in turning over government property to the local officials and procuring his horses and outfit, he left Okhotsk July 29/Aug. 9 on the overland journey to St. Petersburg. The second eclipse of the moon for the year occurred on this day, but during hours of daylight, and hence was invisible in this part of Asia.

After an uneventful but successful journey Bering arrived in St. Petersburg Mar. 1/12, 1730, bringing with him, according to Du Halde, the map and report he had prepared upon his explorations.

TABLE OF GEOGRAPHICAL POSITIONS DERIVED FROM BERING'S FIRST VOYAGE,
REDUCED TO GREENWICH, E. LONGITUDE.

---------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Meridian used in the | Tobolsk. | Tobolsk. | Tobolsk. | Greenwich.
original, | | | |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Amount used for | +67°. | +67°. | +67°. |
reduction, | | | |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Source of the data, | Bering[16]| Campbell. | Du Halde. | Modern
| MS. | [17] | | charts.
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Date, | 1730? | 1730? | 1736. | 1852-88.
---------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
| ° ' | ° ' | ° ' | ° '
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Okhotsk | 58 54 | 59 13 | 58 54 | 59 20[18]
| 141 30 | 143 07 | 141 20 | 142 40
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Bolsheretsk, | 52 35 | 52 42 | 52 40 | 52 51
Kamchatka | 155 28 | 156 51 | 155 25 | 156 50
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Upper Kamchatka | 54 10 | 54 48 | 54 10 | -- --
settlement | 157 10 | 158 00 | 157 15 | -- --
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Lower Kamchatka | 55 46 | 56 11 | 55 50 | 56 15
settlement | 159 28 | 162 30[19]| 159 15 | 162 15
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Cape, at Kamchatka | 55 52 | 56 03 | 55 40 | 56 00
river-mouth | 162 05 | 163 10[20]| 162 10 | 163 05
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Cape Thaddeus | 61 50 | 62 20 | 62 00 | 62 15
(Navarin) | 176 05 | 178 32[21]| 176 00 | 179 02
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
West point, entrance | 65 16 | 65 35 | 65 15 | 65 28
Holy Cross Bay | 179 40 | 182 15[22]| 180 00[23]| 181 12
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Mouth of river, Holy | 66 00 | -- -- | 65 50 | 66 22
Cross Bay | 179 40 | -- -- | 179 50 | 180 45
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Transfiguration Bay | 64 45 | 65 01 | 64 40 | 64 45
(east entrance) | 185 15 | 187 30 | 185 10 | 185 15
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Cape Chukotski, of | 63 55 | 64 25 | 64 02 | 64 14
Bering | 186 55 | 189 55[24]| 186 10 | 186 50
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
N. W. point St. | 63 50 | 64 00 | 64 02 | 63 52[25]
Lawrence Id. | 187 00 | 189 55 | 187 20 | 188 27
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
St. Demetrius Id. | 65 42 | 66 00 | -- -- | 65 50
(Big Diomede) | 189 05[26]| 192 42[27]| -- -- | 190 25
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
East Cape of Asia | 66 40 | 67 18 | 66 45 | 66 05
| 189 40 | 193 07[28]| 189 45 | 190 30
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Bering's farthest | not | 67 18 | -- -- | -- --
| indicated.| 193 07[29]| -- -- | -- --
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Petropavlovsk, | 53 10 | 53 12 | 53 15 | 53 02
Avacha Bay | 160 02 | 159 50 | 157 00 | 158 39[30]
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Cape Uskoi, or | 50 50 | 51 10 | 51 10 | 50 52
Lopatka[31] | 155 05 | 156 51 | 155 10 | 156 47
---------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------

(_table continued_)
---------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Meridian used in the | Tobolsk. | Ferro. | Ferro. | Greenwich.
original, | | | |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Amount used for | +67°. | -18°. | -18°. |
reduction, | | | |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Source of the data, | Bering[16]| D'Anville.| Müller. | Modern
| MS. | | | charts.
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Date, | 1730? | 1753. | 1758. | 1852-88.
---------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
| ° ' | ° ' | ° ' | ° '
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Okhotsk | 58 54 | -- -- | 59 20 | 59 20[18]
| 141 30 | -- -- | 141 15 | 142 40
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Bolsheretsk, | 52 35 | 52 40 | 52 54[32]| 52 51
Kamchatka | 155 28 | 155 30 | 156 30[33]| 156 50
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Upper Kamchatka | 54 10 | 53 40 | 54 28 | -- --
settlement | 157 10 | 156 30 | 156 55 | -- --
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Lower Kamchatka | 55 46 | 56 05 | 56 20 | 56 15
settlement | 159 28 | 159 00 | 159 30 | 162 15
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Cape, at Kamchatka | 55 52 | 56 00 | 56 10 | 56 00
river-mouth | 162 05 | 159 20 | 160 20 | 163 05
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Cape Thaddeus | 61 50 | 62 05 | 62 25 | 62 15
(Navarin) | 176 05 | 171 14 | 175 20 | 179 02
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
West point, entrance | 65 16 | 65 15 | 65 30 | 65 28
Holy Cross Bay | 179 40 | 175 10 | 178 45 | 181 12
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Mouth of river, Holy | 66 00 | 65 45 | 66 15 | 66 22
Cross Bay | 179 40 | 175 00 | 178 15 | 180 45
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Transfiguration Bay | 64 45 | 64 25 | -- -- | 64 45
(east entrance) | 185 15 | 180 00 | -- -- | 185 15
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Cape Chukotski, of | 63 55 | 64 10 | 64 35 | 64 14
Bering | 186 55 | 181 10 | 185 10 | 186 50
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
N. W. point St. | 63 50 | 64 00 | 64 15 | 63 52[25]
Lawrence Id. | 187 00 | 181 20 | 186 05 | 188 27
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
St. Demetrius Id. | 65 42 | 66 00 | -- -- | 65 50
(Big Diomede) | 189 05[26]| 183 20[26]| -- --[34]| 190 25
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
East Cape of Asia | 66 40 | 66 30 | 66 45 | 66 05
| 189 40 | 184 00 | 187 25 | 190 30
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Bering's farthest | not | -- -- | 66 45[35]| -- --
| indicated.| -- -- | 187 25 | -- --
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Petropavlovsk, | 53 10 | 52 50 | 52 55[36]| 53 02
Avacha Bay | 160 02 | 158 55 | 158 13 | 158 39[30]
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Cape Uskoi, or | 50 50 | 51 20 | 51 20[37]| 50 52
Lopatka[31] | 155 05 | 156 00 | 157 00 | 156 47
---------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------

[Footnote 16: This column is taken directly from Baron Klinckofström's manuscript copy of Bering's chart.]

[Footnote 17: Date of Campbell's Harris' Voy., 1748; date of table of positions, 1728; fide Campbell, 1021, col. 2.]

[Footnote 18: The positions in this column are taken from the most recent charts of the U. S. Coast Survey and the U. S. and Russian Hydrographic bureaux.]

[Footnote 19: Campbell has 98° 30' E. of Tobolsk, an error(?), for 95° 30' (=162° 30' E. Gr.). Bering omits this position.]

[Footnote 20: Campbell's confusion of two entries is here corrected from Bering's Report.]

[Footnote 21: Confused with preceding entry by Campbell.]

[Footnote 22: Campbell's confusion here corrected.]

[Footnote 23: Bering gives both east and west points of entrance in his table.]

[Footnote 24: The southern end of the cape is assumed to be meant.]

[Footnote 25: U. S. Coast Survey, 1880, Marcus Baker, observer; his position is reduced to the N. W. extreme of the island by adding 5' of latitude and deducting 30' 35" in longitude. See Bull. Phil. Soc. of Washington, iv, p. 133, 1882, and U. S. Coast Survey Report for 1880, App. No. 16.]

[Footnote 26: St. Diomide on the chart.]

[Footnote 27: The island is omitted by Du Halde and Müller, but appears on Campbell's version of Bering's chart.]

[Footnote 28: Campbell, p. 1024; omitted by Bering from his report.]

[Footnote 29: Campbell, p. 1022; also Bering's Report.]

[Footnote 30: Lieut. Onatsevich in Report Russ. Hydrographic office, 1878.]

[Footnote 31: Oskoi (error for Ooskoi), on most early charts; sometimes Osnoi (error for Uzhnoi=southern).]

[Footnote 32: Determined in 1741 by Krassilnikoff to be 52° 55' and 156° 24' E. Gr.]

[Footnote 33: From the chart; on p. 114 Müller has 156° 10'.]

[Footnote 34: Name St. Deomed on chart, but no island represented.]

[Footnote 35: From Jefferys' copy of the chart; on p. 47 of text N. Lat. 67° 18' appears but no longitude is given.]

[Footnote 36: From the chart; on p. 114 of text it is given as 53° 01' 45". Krassilnikoff (see note 32), made it N. Lat. 53° 01' and 158° 10' E. Lon. from Greenwich, from eclipses of Jupiter's satellites.]

[Footnote 37: From the chart; the text, p. 114, makes it 51° 03'.]

RESUMÉ OF THE RESULTS.

Bering had brought a party, together with supplies and material, over the rough and difficult but long-traveled routes to Okhotsk. Wherever he went he found settlements and roads such as they were. He transported his material to Bolsheretsk and from there across the peninsula to Lower Kamchatka settlement. It would have been much easier and shorter to have doubled the peninsula and taken his stores by sea; one of his party had already explored the straits near Cape Lopatka, but there was the chance of disaster in this plan and, with his stores on _terra firma_, Bering cannot be blamed for taking the land route; especially as the difficulties would not inconvenience him personally. He succeeded in getting his stores and shipwrights to the place designated and there prepared himself for the voyage. In all this there was difficulty and trouble enough of a certain kind. That it all was surmounted with success is very creditable to Bering and his officers. But to call it exceptionally heroic or extraordinary, is to forget the hundreds of others who preceded Bering, without the strong arm of the government at their backs, who made the trails he followed, who founded the settlements at which he rested, who raised the dogs, the horses and the cattle which were used or consumed by his party.

Whatever praise we may feel due to Bering and his companions, and it is certainly no stinted allowance, the appreciation of their struggles cannot fail to include with justice, the still more remarkable and nearly forgotten pioneer labors of the undaunted Siberiaks, who paved the way, not only for Bering's weary journey, but for the slow yet never ceasing march of civilization.

Previous Next

Comments

The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. II., No. 2, May, 1890Chapter IV: Part 4

0%36 min left in chapter