GRAPHIC ART OF THE ESKIMOS. 759 



able to land. A storm came u\) and they returned to Kamchatka. 

 This completed the exploration of Bering- Strait, which had been com- 

 menced by Deshneff and his comj)anions." ^ 



It was not until July, 1741, that Chirikolt" arrived off the American 

 Coast, near Cross Sound. Boats were sent there upon two occasions, 

 and several days later two canoes, filled with natives, came near the 

 ship, but immediately fled to the shore. Various islands were seen by 

 Chirikoff on his return to Kamchatka. During this visit 21 men were 

 lost, de la Croyere, the naturalist, dying of scurvy. 



r.ering saw land on July 2, and anchored near an island two days 

 later. 



p]milian Bassoff discovered the island of Attn, the westernmost of 

 the Aleutian group, in 1745. Glotloff' discovered the island of Kadiak, 

 or Kaniag as it was designated by some of the natives, in July, 1763. 

 These islanders were less disposed to friendliness and gave frequent 

 evidences of hostility. 



About 1764 Lieutenant Lynd was put in command of an expedition 

 which was organized under the direction of the Empress Catherine. 

 He did not leave Kamchatka until 1767, sailing from Ochotsk toward 

 Bering Strait, passing St. Matthew and St. Lawrence islands, saw 

 Diomede Island, and finally landed on the American Coast south of 

 Cai^e Prince of Wales. Further explorations of the peninsula of 

 Alaska was made by Krenitzin in 1768. 



Cook entered Bering Strait in August, 1778, and, on his returu,from 

 a voyage northward, explored Norton Sound and Bay. On October 3 

 he again touched at Unalashka, sailed for the Sandwich Islands, where 

 he was killed by the natives in 1779. 



As early as 1788, Mares and Douglas, supercargoes, sailed from 

 Macas to Nootka and to Cooks Inlet. The Spanish claimed the right 

 to sail the Pacific on the northwest coast of America. 



In 1791 Billings and Sarycheff visited Unalashka, St. Paul, St. Law- 

 rence, Aziak, and the Diomedes ; also touciied on the American Coast 

 near Cape Prince of Wales, and then anchored in St. Lawrence Bay 

 on the Asiatic side. 



In 1793 the Empress of Russia issued an ukase authorizing the 

 introduction of missionaries into the American colonies, and to the 

 works of these patient laborers we are indebted for many interesting 

 and valuable facts respecting the history of the customs and manners 

 of that time. It is singular, however, that although their accounts 

 often appear unusually concise and comprehensive, the practice of 

 engraving upon ivory and bone, seems to have been entirely over- 

 looked, or more likely may not have been in vogue among them. This 

 subject, however, will be further treated elsewhere. 



The natives of Point Barrow are said never to have seen a white 

 man until the year 1826, when the barge of the Blossom, under Captain 



' Dall. "Alaska and its inhabitants," p. 299. 



