BERING'S GREAT NORTHERN" EXPEDITION. 97 



Bering's character, and, as matters now stand, it is impos- 

 sible to draw any tenable line between the errors and 

 delays that were necessarily attendant upon such an over- 

 burdened enterprise, and those that were due to the pos- 

 sible inefficiency of the leader. By the authority of the 

 Senate the expedition was not a monarchical unit under 

 Bering, but a democratic association under an administra- 

 tive chief. It is not difficult to collect from the literature 

 of that day a series of expressions which accuse Bering of 

 cruelty, imperiousness, and military arrogance. Of a hun- 

 dred leaders in Bering's position ninety-nine would 

 undoubtedly have thought it wise to leave the whole expe- 

 dition. Steller has with far more delicacy and skill drawn 

 the main lines of his mental physiognomy. ''Bering 

 was," he says, " a true and honest Christian, noble, kind, 

 and unassuming in conduct, universally loved by his sub- 

 ordinates, high as well as low. Every reasonable person 

 must admit that he always sought to perform the work 

 entrusted to him to the best of his ability, although he 

 himself confessed and often regretted that his strength 

 was no longer sufficient for so difficult an expedition. 

 He deplored the fact that the plans for the expedition had 

 been made on a much larger and more extensive scale than 

 he had proposed, and he expressed a desire that, on account 

 of his age, he might be released from this duty and have 

 the task assigned to some young and active Eussian. As 

 is well known, he was not naturally a man of quick 

 resolve, but when one considers his fidelity to duty, his 

 cheerful spirit of perseverance and careful deliberation, it 

 is a question whether another, possessed of more fire and 

 ardor, could have overcome the innumerable difficulties 



