120 LOG BOOK OF THE "ST. PETER" 



August 10, 1 741 

 Decision to Hasten Return 63 

 Captain Commander Bering, Lieutenant Waxel, Fleet Master Khitrov, and 

 Navigator Eselberg met to discuss the agreement reached by us, together with 

 Captain Chirikov and the officers of the St. Paul, on May 4, 1741, in the Harbor 

 of St. Peter and St. Paul. It was then agreed that while at sea we should keep in 

 mind to return to the above-named port towards the end of September. Now it is 

 August 10, which is regarded as already autumn, and according to all calculations 

 we are not very far short of 400 German miles [from our destination]. Although, 

 according to our former decision, we should still spend some time in examining the 

 discovered American coast, yet we find this to be dangerous because of the violent 

 autumn storms and continuous heavy fogs. It is not safe to approach the land, for 

 we do not know the lay of it. There are many sand banks and islands, as may be seen 

 from the chart which we have drawn up. We do not even know where to look for 

 shelter. The assistant surgeon, Betge, has submitted a report in which he says 

 that there are five men on the sick list, totally unfit for duty and that, of the others, 

 sixteen are badly affected with scurvy and if we continue at sea until the late 

 autumn these men too will be unfit for service. 



On examining the log book we notice that up to now the winds have been easterly, 

 and we fear lest the westerly winds may set in soon and prevent us from reaching 

 port before the late autumn. We summoned before us Ensign Lagunov and all 

 petty officers, namely, Assistant Navigator Yushin, Assistant Skipper Khatianintsov, 

 Assistant Constable Roselius, Boatswain Nils Jansen, Boatswain's Mate Alexei 

 Ivanov and read to them our arguments just mentioned. They agreed with them; 

 also in the idea that we should steer for the Harbor of St. Peter and St. Paul along 

 the 53rd parallel of latitude, or as near to it as the winds will permit, because the 

 last we saw of the American coast was on the 55th parallel and by going to the 53rd 

 we may learn if the coast extends that far. 



Bering 



Lieutenant Waxel 

 Fleet Master Sofron Khitrov 

 Navigator Andreyan Eselberg 

 63 Khitrov's journal. 



