ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 189 



intense cold. Life was well-nigh insupportable on ship then, and 

 they determined to make for the land to save their lives, and, if 

 possible, safely beach the St. Peter. 



The small sails were alone set; the wind was north; the depth of 

 water 36 fathoms, sand bottom ; two hours after the}^ decreased it to 

 12; they now contrived to get over an anchor and run it at three- 

 quarters of a cable's length; at 6 p. m. the hawser parted and tre- 

 mendous waves bore the helpless boat through the darkness and the 

 storm in to the coast, where soon she struck twice ui^on a rocky reef. 

 Yet in a moment after they had 5 fathoms of water; a second anchor 

 was thrown out and again the tackle parted ; and while in the energy 

 of wild despair they were preparing a third bower, a huge combing 

 wave lifted that ark of misery, of superlative human suffering, safely 

 and sheer over the reef, where in an instant she lay in calm water. 

 The last anchor was put out, and the voyage of Bering came to an 

 end in 4 fathoms of water over a sandy bottom and only 300 fathoms 

 from the beach. In the morning they found that ihey had drifted in 

 here at the only spot where they possibly could have been carried 

 over a ridge of rocks — that 20 fathoms distance right or left of their 

 course high basaltic bowlders and jagged pinnacles arose from the 

 sea, against which they must have perished had they struck during 

 the fury of tiie gale and the darkness of the night. 



The EXHAUSTED Russians land. — Winter was now at hand. The 

 crew, worn down with excitement, fatigue, and disease, reposed until 

 midday, then lowered the boat; on the 6th of November Vachtel 

 landed. They found the country barren and covered with snow. A 

 clear stream of excellent water, not frozen, ran down from the hills 

 to the shore ; no trees or even shrubs were visible ; firewood was drift- 

 wood on the beaches, so it had to be dug from under snow and icy 

 fetters; shelter there was none, but they found near the open mouth 

 of the little creek some sand walls and deep wind-scraped hollows 

 therein; these they cleared out and covered over with the ship's sails 

 to serve as a temporary shelter until they could build a wooden cabin. 

 On the 8th of Noveml3er the sand caves were prepared and the sick 

 taken from the St. Peter and placed in them. SteUer, the undaunted 

 surgeon and naturalist, tells us that some of them died on being 

 brought up from the wardroom below, others in the boat, and others 

 soon after landing — the violent change of air snapped the slender 

 threads remaining that bound them to this life. The bodies of the dead 

 were instantly attacked by foxes, Vulpes lagopus, which came down 

 suddenlj^ to their strange prey without fear, apparently never having 

 seen man, and were so bold that they actually mangled the feet and 

 heads of the dead Russians ere the living could bury them. 



Melancholy incidents of Bering's death. — On the 9th of 

 November Bering himself was brought ashore, well shielded from the 

 atmosi)here and put into a sand hollow all by himself; of the officers, 

 he alone died. His age and temperament inclined him to inactivity; 

 he became delirious and cunning, taking his friends to be his ene- 

 mies, some of whom, including SteUer, could not come into his pres- 

 ence during his last illness. He used to amuse himself by detaching 

 the sand from the sides of the place where he lay, so that he soon 

 covered his lower limbs entirely with it. Those who attended him 

 cleared it away at first, but finally he would not suffer them to do so, 

 and showed impotent anger while they made the attempt. When he 

 died at last, just thirty days after being brought ashore, he was 

 almost buried by his own hands in the sandy bed of his death. They 



