96 VITUS BERII^-G. 



in this barbaric country, and under the pressure of cease- 

 less toil, a large number of the subordinates fell to drink- 

 ing and committing petty thefts; and the officers, gath- 

 ered as they were from all quarters of the world, are 

 described as a band of gruff and unruly brawlers. They 

 were always at sword^s points. Pronchisheff and Lasse- 

 nius, Chirikoff and Spangberg, the latter and Walton, 

 Planting, Waxel, Petroff and Endoguroff, were con- 

 stantly wrangling, and at times most shameful scenes were 

 enacted. Our Eussian author is not adverse to giving 

 Bering the principal blame for these dissensions which 

 cast a gloom on this worthy undertaking and impaired 

 the forces of the expedition. He repeatedly, and with 

 much force, accuses him of being weak, and in the Impe- 

 rial Marine this opinion seems yet to prevail.* Sokoloff 

 says: "■ Bering was a well-informed man, eager for knowl- 

 edge, pious, kind-hearted, and honest, but altogether too 

 cautious and indecisive; zealous, persevering, and yet not 

 sufficiently energetic; well liked by his subordinates, yet 

 without sufficient influence over them, — too much 

 inclined to allow himself to be affected by their opinions 

 and desires, and not able to maintain strict discipline. 

 Hence, he was not particularly well qualified to lead this 

 great enterprise, especially in such a dark century and in 

 in such a barbaric country as East Siberia.''^ I do not 

 doubt that we here find some of the elements of Bering^s 

 character, but Sokoloff was much more of an archivist 

 than historian and student of human nature. In his long 

 accounts he never succeeds, by means of describing any 

 action or situation, in giving a pscychological insight into 



* Note 45. 



