94 VITUS niERiiq^G. 



appeal to the Admiralty to recall the expedition. Here 

 was a situation that Bering's enemies thought favorable 

 for their intrigues. The departments of the Admiralty 

 were deluged with complaints and accusations. The 

 Siberian authorities, of whom Bering so justly had com- 

 plained, answered with counter-charges. He was not fa- 

 miliar with the country, they said; he made unreasonable 

 demands, and did not know how to avail himself of means 

 at hand. Pissarjeff told the government that Bering and 

 Spangberg had undertaken this expedition into Siberia 

 simjily to fill their own pockets, — that they accepted 

 bribes, carried on a contraband liquor traffic, and had 

 already accumulated great wealth. The exiled naval 

 officer, Kasanssoff, reported that there was entire lack of 

 system in the enterprise; that everything was done at an 

 enormous expenditure, and that nothing at all would be 

 accomplished. Lieutenant Planting, one of Bering's own 

 officers, who had been reduced for neglect of duty, accused 

 Bering of being arbitrary, extravagant, and fond of show 

 at the expense of the government. He accused him, fur- 

 thermore, of embezzlement on his first expedition, in 

 1725, and alleged that Bering's wife had returned to 

 Kussia with a fortune, and had in Yakutsk abducted two 

 young women. * 



History has not confirmed a single one of these charges. 

 As for sacrifice, disinterestedness, and zeal, Bering not 

 only rises far above his surroundings — which is, perhaps, 

 not saying very much — but his character is clean and 

 unsullied. Even so petty a person as Sokolofi, who, in 

 other respects, does not spare him, has for his character 



* Note 43. 



