80 VITUS BERING. 



them farewell in the most solemn manner. She al- 

 lowed them to kiss her hand, and assured them of 

 her most gracious favor. On the succeeding day, the 

 other members of the imperial family manifested sim- 

 ilar sympathy. Then, however, the difficulties began. 

 That these heavily-laden gentlemen could not even in 

 St. Petersburg secure adequate means of transportation, 

 makes quite a comical impression. On this account 

 they were detained until late in August, and they 

 would no doubt have been unable to reach Siberia 

 in 1733, if Bering had not left for them in Tver a 

 conveniently equipped vessel, which carried them the 

 same autumn down the Volga to Kazan. They did 

 not reach Tobolsk, however, until January, 1734. 

 Bering, who was to be supplied by them with sur- 

 veyors and instruments for his Arctic expedition, and 

 who could not, before their arrival, form an estimate 

 of the size of his river transports to be used in the 

 spring, was obliged repeatedly and very forcibly to 

 urge them to make haste. Here the disagreements 

 began, and were continued concerning petty affairs, 

 which history finds it unnecessary to dwell upon. 



On May 2, 1734, the Tobol was launched amid the 

 firing of cannon, the blare of trumpets, and the merry 

 draining of goblets. The vessel had a keel of 70 feet, 

 was 15 feet wide, and 7 feet deep. It carried two masts, 

 some small cannon, and a crew of 56 men, among 

 them first mate Sterlegoff and two cartographers, 

 under the command of Lieut. Ofzyn. As the provin- 

 cial government had secured neither magazines nor pro- 

 visions, nor attended to any other preparations on the 



