324 REPORT ON VOYAGE OF THE "ST. PAUL" 



for the others another trip will be made. If you find his party and boat in good 

 condition, signal that fact to us by making two fires — the smoke of which we could 

 see in day time and the flames at night. If the boat can be repaired, build three 

 fires; it it cannot be, make four some little distance apart. But you are to come 

 aboard with Dementiev and as many others as the boat will accommodate without 

 overloading. Should you start back in the evening or at night, lay out the fires as 

 best you can. 



Captain Chirikov 

 July 23, 1741 



Decision to Return 



On July 26, 1741, Captain Chirikov and the undersigned officers decided, owing 

 to the loss of the two ship's boats with Dementiev and fourteen men, not to follow 

 out the original plan but to start for Kamchatka that very day. There were no 

 more small boats on board, which made it impossible to examine the shore or to 

 take on fresh water. We had only 45 barrels of water, and this i? a very small 

 amount considering the long distance to Avacha, which is nearly 2,000 knots. We 

 were not even sure that some of the water had not leaked out of the casks. We were 

 equally in doubt as to the kind of winds we might have. Because of this shortage 

 of water it was agreed not to examine the coast but to sail for Kamchatka so as not 

 to suffer some great misfortune. 



Captain Alexei Chirikov 



Ivan Chikhachev 



Lieutenants , ,. ^ 



Michael Plautin 



Navigator Ivan Elagin 



To THE Admiralty College, A [Supplementary] Report 



Captain Commander Bering's instructions required us to examine the 

 land which according to rumor lies opposite the Chukchi country, some 

 distance to the east, also the last land we saw on our voyage, 956 versts 

 from here [Agattu]. It is my humble duty as well as my great desire to se- 

 cure full information about both of these lands. Of the company that was 

 put under my command, that is to say the lieutenant, two navigators, 

 constable, boatswain, and crew, some, by the will of God, have died, 

 others were lost on the American coast (their names I have sent with my 

 first report to the Admiralty College). At the present time I have only 

 one man on board for navigating the ship, keeping the log, and mapping 

 the coast, and that is the navigator Elagin. Although on the list of officers 

 there is the name of the assistant navigator Yurlov (who was not taken 

 along on the last expedition), yet he does not know his business. (It 

 would seem that he was taken from a warehouse, where he acted as 

 watchman, and put to study navigation, being then of an age when he 

 could learn neither the theory nor the practice of it; and after a time, 

 because of length of service, he was given the rank and pay of assistant 

 navigator.) As to myself, I am quite unfit for sea duty. The scurvy is 

 sleep in my system, and this it is difficult to shake off because of the 



