253 -^ THE POLAR WORLD. 



* 



tlie foi-ny?r busy makiiio; a slctlge, while 1 acted as cook. As our party was 

 the first to organize a housel)ol(l, I also performed the duty of bringing warm 

 soup to some of our sick, until they had so far recovered as to be able to help 

 llKMnselves. 



"TIio barracks being this day ready to receive the sick, many of them 

 were transported under roof; but for want of room, they lay everywhere on 

 the ground, covered with rags and clothes. No one could assist the other, 

 and nothing was heard l)ut lanicntatit)ns and curses — the whole aflbrding so 

 Avretclicil a sight, as to make even the stoutest heart lose courage. On 

 November 15 all the sick were at length landed. "VVe took one of them, 

 named Boi-is Siind, into our hut, and by God's help he recovered within three 

 months. 



" Tlie following days added to our misery, as the messengers Ave had sent 

 out brought us the intelligence that we were on a desert island, without any 

 communication with Kamchatka. We were also in constant fear that the 

 Btormy weather might drive our ship out to sea, and along with it all our 

 provisions, and every hope of ever returning to our homes. Sometimes it was 

 impossible to get to the vessel for several days together, so boisterous was 

 the surge ; and about ten or twelve men, who had hitherto been able to work, 

 now also fell ill. Want, nakedness, frost, rain, illness, impatience, and de- 

 spair, wei'e our daily coni]»anions." 



Fortunately the stormy sea drove the ship upon the strand, better than it 

 could pix)bably have been done by human efforts. Successively many of the 

 scorbutic patients died, and on December 8 the unfortunate commander of 

 the expedition paid his debt to nature. 



Titus Bering, by birth a Dane, had served thirty-six years with distinc- 

 tion in the Russian navy, but age and infirmities had completely damped his 

 energies, and his death is a warning to all who enter upon undertakings 

 above their strength. 



In the mean time the whole ship's company had estayished itself for the 

 winter in five subterranean dwellings; the general health was visibly im- 

 l)roving, merely by means of the excellent water, and by the fresh meat fur- 

 nished by sea-otters, seals, and manatees; and the only care now was to gain 

 sufiicient strength to be able to undertake the work of deliverance in spring. 



In April the shipwrecked mariners began to build a smaller shij) out of the 

 timbers of the " St. Peter," and, such Avas the alacrity Avith which all hands 

 set to Avork, that on August 1.'5 they Avere able to set out. 



"When Ave Avere all embarked," says Steller, "avc first perceived hoAV 

 much Ave should be inconvenienced for Avant of room ; the Avater-casks, pro- 

 visions, and baggage taking up so much space, that our forty-tAvo men (the 

 three ship's officers and myself Averc somcAvhat better off in the cabin) could 

 hardly creep between them and the deck. A great quantity of the bedding 

 and clothing had to be thrown overboard. Meanwhile Ave saw the foxes 

 sporting about our deserted huts, and greedily devouring remnants of fat 

 and meat. 



"On the 14th, in the morning, we weighed anchor, and steered out of the 



