186 VITUS BERIN"G. 



For blubber, the only medicine at hand, he had an un- 

 conquerable loathing. Nor were the frightful sufferings 

 he saw about him, his chagrin caused by the fate of the 

 expedition, and his anxiety for the future of his men, at 

 all calculated to check his disease. From hunger, cold, 

 and grief he slowly pined away. ^^He was, so to speak, 

 buried alive. The sand kept continually rolling down 

 upon him from the sides of the pit and covered his feet. 

 At first this was removed, but finally he asked that it 

 might remain, as it furnished him with a little of the 

 warmth he so sorely needed. Soon half of his body 

 was under the sand, so that after his death, his com- 

 rades had to exhume him to give him a decent burial." 

 He died on the 8th* of December, 1741, two hours before 

 daybreak, from inflammation of the bowels. 



'^Sad as his death was," says Steller, '^that intre- 

 pidity and seriousness with which he prepared to meet 

 death was most worthy of admiration." He thanked 

 God for having been his guide from youth, and for 

 having given him success through life. He sought in 

 every way possible to encourage his companions in mis- 

 fortune to hopeful activity, and inspire them with faith 

 in Providence and the future. Notwithstanding his con- 

 viction that they had been cast upon the shores of an 

 unknown land, he was not disposed to discourage the 

 others by expressing himself on this point. On the 9th 

 of December his body was interred in the vicinity of 

 the huts, between the graves of the second mate and 

 the steward. At the departure from the island there 

 was placed upon his grave a plain wooden cross, which 



* Old Style. 



