BEE RING'S STRAITS. 



429 



Beerinp' the river Anadyr; opposite were two islands, on which 

 Straits. were mel i f the "chutski tribe, remarkable from ha- 

 V """"V~' ving the teeth of t he sea-horse stuck through their lips. 

 With a fair wind, Deschnew supposed it possible to 

 reach the river Anadyr in three days ; nor would the 

 journey by land probably occupy longer, as the river 

 falls into a gulf. In coasting along the point, one of the 

 barks was wrecked ; but the crew being saved, were 

 partitioned into the other two; subsequent to which 

 the adventurers had an engagement with the Tchutski. 

 Deschnew soon lost sight of his consort ; and after 

 struggling with tempests, was himself cast sway ap- 

 parently to the south of the Anadyr. He and the 

 survivors of his company underwent great hardships; 

 they wandered long in quest of the river, which, at 

 length having found, they built a pallisadoed habi- 

 tation, or ostrog, and reconnoitred the surrounding 

 country. Another troop of adventurers, marching 

 overland from the Kovima in search of the Anadyr, 

 with the same view of tribute, joined the party there 

 when least expected, in 1650. From these facts we 

 can entertain little doubt, that what has been judged 

 a diiicv rv of the seventeenth century belongs to 

 that preceding it ; and, independent of this relation 

 in particular, added to probable circumstances that 

 Deschnew's consort was wrecked on the coast of 

 Kamtschatka, there are corroborative relations of a 

 subsequent period. It appears, that the Russians and 

 the Cossacs in their service had been oftner than 

 once on Tchutski Noss, or the great promontory op- 

 posite to America, across which one party marched, 

 and describe the journey as short ; that they were 

 even aware of the islands lying in Behring's Straits, 

 and that the continent lay beyond them to the east- 

 , ward. All these things have since been proved by 

 the most modern navigators. 



Though the proposed voyage of discovery had 

 been interrupted by the death of Peter, the design 

 was speedily revived by the Empress Catharine, and 

 its execution entrusted to Captain Vitus Behring, a 

 Dane, in the Russian service. He departed from 

 Petersburg along with two lieutenants, Spangberg 

 and Tschirikow in 1725, and wintered at Tobolsk in 

 Siberia, waiting the breaking up of the ice, that he 

 might descend the rivers, and proceed to Kamt- 

 schatka. He was unable to reach this country be- 

 fore 1728, when he built a shallop, and furnished it 

 with provisions sufficient to serve forty men during a 

 year. Behring coasted along the north-east of Kamt- 

 schatka, framing, at the same time, an accurate chart 

 of his voyage, which is yet esteemed one of the best 

 extant. In latitude 64 30', he fell in with a baidar 

 or canoe, carrying eight men of the Tchutski tribe, 

 with whom he spoke, by means of a Koriak inter- 

 preter. They came on board to learn what the Rus- 

 sians had in view, and made some communications 

 concerning the direction of the land, speaking of an 

 island also which lay in their route not far from the 

 shore. On the 15th of August, after twenty-six 

 days sail, Behring made a cape in north latitude 67 

 18', beyond which, as the Tchutski had told him, 

 the coast trended to the west. He thence concluded, 

 that he had reached the north east extremity of 

 Asia; that the coast farther on would always trend to 

 the west; and this being the case, there was no con- 



nection between the Asiatic and American continents. 

 Believing therefore that he had fulfilled the object of 

 his mission, he addressed the officers and ship's crew, 

 representing, that it was then time to think of their 

 return ; should they advance farther north, they 

 might be surrounded by the ice, from which it would 

 be no easy matter to extricate themselves ; that the 

 fogs which prevailed in autumn, would embarrass 

 them; and even should adverse winds oppose their 

 progress, it was scarce possible to reach Kamtschatka, 

 and to winter in that country would endanger their 

 safety. The force of Behring's reasoning convinced 

 his people, and their course was altered to the south. 

 Nothing remarkable occurred in the voyage, except 

 their meeting with four baidars containing forty 

 Tschutkis, with whom they had an amicable inter- 

 view, and presents were mutually interchanged. 

 Behring took up his quarters a second time in 

 Kamtschatka, where the natives told him of a land 

 existing farther to the eastward ; and he saw pines 

 which did not grow on this territory floating on the 

 waves. He was thence induced to undertake a se- 

 cond voyage when the season admitted ; but unto- 

 ward incidents forced him to abandon it ; and after a 

 painful journey overland, and descending rivers on 

 rafts, he reached Petersburg in 1730. We have al- 

 ready seen the disastrous termination of the third 

 voyage, undertaken for more extensive discoveries in 

 1741, and we hear nothing more of a passage through 

 the Straits until 1764. It is reported, that a mercantile 

 company established at the mouth of the river Kovima, 

 at that time sent out some persons for the purpose 

 of traffic, who doubled Tschutski Noss, (or East 

 Cape) in 74 of north latitude. Sailing to the south- 

 ward, they passed through a strait to some inhabited 

 islands in 64 north latitude, which they supposed 

 belonged to the continent of America, and traded for 

 beautiful furs with the natives. There is probably 

 an error in the latitude, which is too high, and which 

 would have conducted the navigators to a part of Ame- 

 rica where no opening iB yet known ; but they cer- 

 tainly passed Behring's Straits, and they were met by 

 another party on a commercial voyage from Kamt- 

 schatka. 



In 1778, our celebrated navigator, Captain Cook, 

 passed the Straits, endeavouring to get farther to the 

 north ; and after his decease, Captain Clerk, in the 

 subsequent year, repeated the attempt, in which he 

 was checked by the ice, and forced to return. These 

 navigators bestowed the name on this channel which 

 it now bears, in honour of its reputed discoverer, and 

 settled what had been the subject of so much contro- 

 versy among geographers respecting the separation 

 of the two continents. Contrary to the opinion ge- 

 nerally received, they fixed the longitude of East 

 Cape in 190 22', and made the width of the Strait 

 thirteen leagues. East Cape forms a lofty peninsula, 

 connected to the continent by a narrow neck of low 

 land. Great similarity was remarked between the 

 two continents to the northward of the Straits ; both 

 being destitute of wood, the shores low, and moun- 

 tains to a great height appearing farther up the 

 country. A slight current from the westward ran 

 in the Straits, and the greatest depth of water was 

 between 29 and 30 fathoms. 



lieering's 



Straits. 



