NO.    I  ARCHEOLOGY   OF    ST.    LAWRENCE    ISLAND — COLLINS  IJ 
attempt  proving  fruitless,  he  drew  up  instructions  in  1724  for  a  more 
ambitious  undertaking,  an  exjx^dition  under  the  command  of  Fleet- 
Captain  Vitus  Bering.  Although  Bering's  first  expedition  (1725-30) 
fell  somewhat  short  of  expectations  and  failed  to  settle  conclusively 
the  question  of  the  relationship  between  Asia  and  America,  it  marked 
a  tremendous  advance  in  geographic  knowledge  and  provided  the  first 
map  of  northeastern  Siberia  that  could  lay  even  the  slightest  claim 
to  accuracy.  The  shores  of  the  Okhotsk  Sea,  Kamchatka,  the  Anadyr 
region,  and  the  Chukchee  Peninsula  were  all  delineated  with  a  fair 
degree  of  precision.  The  point  of  immediate  interest  in  the  present 
connection  is  the  discovery,  or  at  least  the  naming,  of  St.  Lawrence 
Island  by  Bering  on  August  10,  1728  (Aug.  21,  new  style).  Bering's 
reference  to  the  discovery  is  brief : 
A  little  later  the  boat  [an  umiak  with  Chukchees  from  the  mainland]  moved 
up  to  us  and  the  men  in  it  told  us  that  large  numbers  of  Chukshi  live  along 
the  shore,  that  a  short  distance  from  here  the  coast  turns  to  the  west,  and  that 
not  far  ahead  of  us  is  an  island.  We  located  this  island,  which  we  named 
St.  Lawrence,  in  honor  of  the  day,  and  found  on  it  a  few  huts  but  no  people, 
although  I  twice  sent  the  midshipman  to  look  for  them.    [Golder,  vol.  i,  p.  18.] 
It  seems  unlikely  that  Bering  was  the  first  European  to  have  seen 
St.  Lawrence  Island.  Deshnev  must  have  passed  close  by  it  as  he 
followed  the  coast  from  Bering  Strait  down  to  the  Anadyr,  and  in 
later  years,  but  still  before  the  time  of  Bering,  a  number  of  expeditions 
had  been  sent  out  from  the  Kolyma  and  the  Anadyr  to  collect  tribute 
from  the  Chukchees.  That  some  knowledge  of  the  island  had  been 
gained  by  Bering's  predecessors  would  appear  from  the  following 
statement  by  Miiller,  who,  as  already  mentioned,  discovered  the  origi- 
nal account  of  Deshnev's  voyage  in  the  Archives  of  Yakutz  in  1736: 
Another  Map  which  I  got  at  Jakutsk,  from  a  Dworanin,  named  Izvan  Livazv, 
who  is  the  Author  of  it,  furnishes  us  with  some  more  Accounts.  It  represents 
a  two-fold  Noss ;  the  farthermost  towards  the  North  East,  which,  from  the 
Nation  of  the  Tschutschi,  is  commonly  called  Tschukotskoi  Noss,  and  has 
there  the  Name  of  ScJicIatckoi,  from  the  Schclagcn,  who  are  a  particular  Race 
among  the  Tschuktschi.  The  other,  which  lies  South  from  this,  though  it  is 
far  enough  from  the  River  Anadir,  is  called  from  that  River  Aiiadirskpi  Noss. 
....  In  a  large  Gulph  between  Tschukotskoy  and  A^iadirskoi  Noss  lies  an 
Island,  which  is  said  to  be  inhabited  by  the  Tschuktschi,  and  another  over- 
against  Anadtrskoi  Noss,  the  one  farther  from  the  Continent  than  the  other; 
which  are  described  in  the  following  Manner:  "To  the  first  Island  is  half  a 
Day's  Voyage;  upon  it  lives  a  People  whom  the  Tschuktschi  call  Achjnchaljat ; 
these  speak  their  own  Language,  wear  Cloaths  of  Duck-skins,  and  live  by 
catching  of  Sea-Horses  and  Whales ;  and,  as  the  Island  is  without  Forests, 
they  boil  their  Provisions  with  Train  Oil.  The  second  is  two  Days  Voyage 
Distance  from  the  first;  the  Inhabitants  are  called,  in  the  Tschuktschi  Language 
Peekeli.    They  have  Teeth  set  in  through  their  Cheeks;  they  live  in  fortified 
