226 General A. W. Greely — Bering's First Voyage. 



oil the island of Yeco, as M. de I'lsle erroneouslj' states. He thought he 

 had sufficiently complied with his instructions without doing so, and re- 

 turning to Ochozk, passed the winter at Yakouzk. As soon as a detailed 

 account of this voyage was seen in St. Petersburg they concluded by the 

 route which M. Spangenberg had followed that he must have passed near 

 the coast of Corea, and he was therefore ordered to make a second voyage 

 in order to confirm the first. He started in 1741 and 1742, but his ship, 

 built hastily and of unseasoned wood, leaked and obliged him to return. 

 " MM. Bering and Tschirikow left Ochozk the 4th of September, 1740. 

 They both had the same destination ; the second was to follow the track 

 of the first. They only took different vessels so as to be able to assist each 

 other niore efficaciously in case of any accident. Without entering the 

 Rolschaia-Eeka river, as is customary in coming from Ochozk, they im- 

 mediately rounded the southern point of Kamshatka and anchored at 

 Avatscha, or port of St. Peter and St. Paul, as they caUed it. While 

 wintering in these places, they made all their preparations for commenc- 

 ing in spring their principal voyage, which was to have America as its 

 object. Owing, however, to the uncertainty as to the route which they 

 were to follow, M. Bering assembled a naval council on the 4th of May, 

 1741, and it was resolved to endeavor first to discover the land of Don 

 Juan de Gama, a fatal resolution which was the cause of all of our 

 disasters. The 4th June we put to sea. M. Bering had on his vessel, sent 

 by the xlcademy, an adjutant, M. Steller, physician by profession, but 

 above all well versed in all that pertained to natural history. M. de la 

 Croyere was with M. Tschirikow. Although M. Bering and M. Tschiri- 

 kow were not to separate, according to their instructions, they could not 

 avoid it, for eight days after sailing they were separated by storms and 

 fogs. The search for the pretended land of Gama caused them to direct 

 their course southeast ; they continued to sail in that direction as far as 

 the 46th degree without, however, finding the slightest vestige of it- 

 They then changed their course to the northeast and both reached the 

 coast of America, but in different places and without knowing of the 

 whereabouts of the other. M. Bering and we who accompanied him saw 

 land for the first time after being six weeks at sea. We then calculated 

 that we were about five hundred Dutch leagues from Avatscha. We pro- 

 vided ourselves with fresh water. We saw indications of inhabitants, but 

 could perceive no one. After being at anchor three days, M. Bering con- 

 sulted with his officers, and it was resolved to return. The 21st July we 

 weighed anchor before sunrise. There was nothing to do but to follow 

 the coast, which stretched westward ; but navigation was seriously em- 

 barrassed by frequent islands, and when we tried to put to sea we were 

 met by storms and contrary winds, which caused us new delays every 

 day. In order to procure fresh water, we returned towards the coast, 

 from which we had kept as far as possible. Soon it was in sight, seem- 

 ing about ten miles distant. We anchored between the islands, and the 

 one where we landed was Schoumagin-Ostrow. The water was good, but 

 although' taken from a lake, there was, nevertheless, some sea water in it 

 brought by the tide, which sometimes inundated the island. Afterwards 



