BERING'S GREAT IS^ORTHERN" EXPEDITION^. 79 



and, through the utilization of the saccharine qualities 

 of the ''bear's claw/'* a distillery was also to be 

 established on the peninsula of Kamchatka. It is 

 unnecessary to say that all of these propositions were 

 buried in the Siberian government departments. 



Calculations were made for a six years' expedition. 

 The leaders of each branch of the expedition were 

 authorized to repeat any unsuccessful adventure the 

 succeeding summer. All were prepared for a long 

 stay in the extreme northeast — many, indeed, re- 

 mained there forever — hence, most of the officers, 

 among them Bering and Spangberg, were accompa- 

 nied by their wives and children. On this account 

 the expedition seemed more than ever a national 

 migration on a small scale. 



The first start was made February 1, 1733. 

 Spangberg, with some laborers and the heaviest ma- 

 rine stores, went directly to Okhotsk to expedite the 

 ship-building on the Pacific coast. Lieutenant Ofzyn 

 went to Kazan to collect supplies. Bering started 

 out March 18, in order as quickly as possible to 

 reach Tobolsk, whence the first Arctic expedition was 

 to be sent out. In the course of the summer, the 

 larger caravans arrived at this place. Simultaneously 

 heavy supplies were brought in from West Siberia by 

 Bering's men. Here, also, the construction of the 

 vessel for the expedition, the shallop Tobol, was 

 begun. Only the Academists were yet in St. Peters- 

 burg, where they were receiving the attention of the 

 official world. At an audience, the Empress bade 



* Note 7. 



