BERING'S REPORT 19 



the coast did not extend farther north and no land was near the Chukchi 

 or East Cape and therefore it seemed to me that the instructions of His 

 Imperial Majesty of illustrious and immortal memory had been carried 

 out. Had we gone on and met with unfavorable winds we might have been 

 prevented from returning to Kamchatka that season, and to have wintered 

 where we were would not have been wise because there was no wood of 

 any kind and the native population does as it pleases, is not under Russian 

 control, and has nothing to do with the Russian tribute collectors. ^^ 



From the mouth of the Kamchatka River to the point from which 

 we turned back the coast is mountainous, almost as straight as a wall, 

 and covered with snow even in summer. 



On August 20 there came to our ship four boats containing 40 Chukchi 

 like those who had visited us before. They offered for sale meat, fish, 



37 On August 13, having reached 65° 30', Bering called his officers together to 

 discuss the question whether to go on or turn back. He said to them: 



"Since we have come to latitude 65° 30' N. and according to my opinion and 

 the statements of the Chukchi, we have reached and passed the most easterly- 

 point of their land, the question is now, shall we go farther north? If so, how 

 far? When should we begin to look for harbors? Where does it seem best — 

 looking at it from the point of view of best serving our country — to go for the 

 winter in order to protect men and ship?" The officers were divided in opinion. 

 Spanberg, the senior officer, said: "Having come as far north as we have, and 

 since on the Chukchi coast there are no harbors nor wood ... so that we 

 could preserve ourselves in such winter weather as we have in this region; and 

 since these natives are not peaceful ... I suggest that after we have gone 

 on the course we are on until the sixteenth of this month, and if by that time 

 we are not able to reach sixty-six degrees, we should then in God's name turn 

 about and betimes seek shelter and harbor on the Kamchatka River, whence we 

 came, in order to save men and ship." Chirikov made this argument: "As we 

 have no positive information as to the degree of north latitude Europeans have 

 ever reached in the Arctic Ocean on the Asiatic side we can not know with cer- 

 tainty whether America is really separated from Asia unless we touch at the 

 mouth of the Kolyma, or at least the ice, because it is well known that there is 

 always drift ice in the Arctic Ocean. Therefore it seems to me that according 

 to your instructions we ought to sail without questioning — unless we are hindered 

 by the ice, or the coast turns to the west — to the mouth of the Kolyma, as your 

 instructions demand [a place under European jurisdiction?] But should the 

 land continue still farther to the north, it would be necessary on the twenty-fifth 

 of this month to look for winter quarters in this neighborhood, and above all 

 opposite Chukotski Cape, where, according to the accounts of the Chukchi 

 through Peter Tatarinov, there is a forest. And if up to that time winds are 

 contrary, then look there by all means for a place to winter." {Zapiski Hydrogr. 

 Depart., Vol. 8, pp. SSO-552, St. Petersburg, 1850.) 



[For details on the sea voyage, the most important part of the expedition, 

 which Bering in this report deals with only briefly, the main source of information 

 is the midshipman Peter Chaplin's log book, an abridged version of which, with 

 map (cf. Fig. 6), was published by Berkh in 1823 and translated by Dall in 1891. 

 Polonskii's discussion of the first expedition, from which the above quotation 

 is taken, is likewise of value. A narrative based on Berkh and Polonskii will 

 be found in F. A. Golder's "Russian Expansion on the Pacific," pp. 140-147. 

 For the references, see the bibliography. — Edit. Note.] 



