^6 VITUS BERIN'G. 



used in exploring the Sea of Okhotsk in 1716 arrived, 

 and after thorough repairs was put into the service. 



Bering^s next objective point was the mouth of the 

 river Bolshoya in southwestern Kamchatka. From the 

 mouth of this river, which is navigable for small ves- 

 sels, he took the Cossack route to the interior, first up 

 the Bolshoya to the tributary Byistraya, then up this 

 to within forty versts of its source, thence across a port- 

 age to the Kamchatka, the mouth of which was his 

 real objective point. From this position he would be 

 able to fall back upon the Russian colony, which com- 

 prised a number of unimportant stockaded forts on 

 the Bolshoya and Kamchatka rivers, and could 

 also gain support from that control of the natives 

 which was exercised from this point. This change of 

 base could have been much more easily and quickly 

 accomplished by sailing around the Kamchatka Penin- 

 sula, but this was something that had never been done. 

 No accurate information was to be had in regard to the 

 waters, or to the location of any place. Possibly Bering 

 had not as yet been able to disabuse his mind of the 

 prevalent delusions concerning the great extent of Kam- 

 chatka. In the second place, he was no doubt unwilling 

 to trust his invaluable stores in the inferior vessels 

 built at Okhotsk. Hence he took the old route. 



July 1, Spangberg sailed with the Fortuna for 

 Bolsheretsk, accompanied by thirteen Siberian traders. 

 Two days later Chirikoff brought up the rear from 

 Yakutsk. Somewhat later, the quartermaster arrived 

 with 110 horses and 200 sacks of flour. A week later 

 63 horses more arrived, on July 20, one soldier with 



