38 VITUS BERING. 



a splendid result, when we remember that the objects of 

 the expedition were entirely of a nautico-geographical 

 character. Bering^s determinations of longitude in East 

 Siberia were the first made there, and through them it 

 was ascertained that the country extended thirty de- 

 grees farther toward the east than was supposed. His 

 observations were based on two eclipses of the moon in 

 Kamchatka in the years 1728 and 1729,* and although 

 they were not entirely accurate, they vary so little, that 

 the general position of the country was established. 

 And hence we are not surprised to find that no one has 

 given Bering a better testimonial than his great and 

 more fortunate successor. Captain Cook. He says: f *^^In 

 justice to the memory of Bering, I must say, that he has 

 delineated the coast very well, and fixed the latitude and 

 longitude of the points better than could be expected 

 from the methods he had to go by.'' Yes, Captain Cook 

 found it necessary to defend Bering against the only 

 official report of the expedition which at that time had 

 appeared, and more than once he puts in proper relief 

 Bering's sober investigations, as compared with Miiller's 

 fancies and guesses. Before the time of Cook, it had 

 been customary to depreciate Bering's work ; I but since 

 that time Admiral Liitke, a hundred years after Bering's 

 death, has defended his reputation, and Berch, who very 

 carefully perused his journals, repeatedly expresses his 

 admiration for the accuracy with which the nautical 

 computations were made. This statement is made after 

 a comparison of results with those obtained by Captain 

 Cook. 



* Note 13. t Note 14. X Note 15. 



