SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT 325 



heavy atmosphere and especially because of the poor and insufficient 

 food. Twice on the return voyage I nearly died of the disease, the last time 

 it was October 26. Now, by God's mercy, I am just able to sit up; my 

 feet are drawn up and full of spots, and the teeth are loose in the gums. 

 The drugs on hand are so old that they are worthless. A similar state of 

 ill health exists among the crew; some of them are not fit for sea service. 

 From the enclosed lists '^ may be seen how many officers and men we still 

 have, how many were left ashore, how many we should have according 

 to the regulations of the Admiralty College, and how many we need. 

 The ship's rigging is in bad condition, and I attach the report ^^ made by 

 the lower officers on that subject. We cannot replace it because we have 

 no other rigging. Taking all these things into consideration — my illness, 

 shortage in men, food, material — it is impossible to put to sea for the 

 purpose of making a detailed investigation of the above-mentioned lands, 

 namely the one we discovered and the one opposite the Chukchi country. 

 I am going to ask help from Captain Spanberg (who is now at Bolsheretsk 

 with five ships). If he himself cannot take part in the expedition, he 

 may be willing to give us a navigator or an assistant navigator and pro- 

 visions, a list of which I have made out and sent to him. If I should 

 receive assistance, even if only enough to repair my rigging, and if I am 

 not too ill I will do my duty and go to sea. If help should not come the 

 best thing to do would be to take the men on board and go to Okhotsk 

 or Yakutsk and wait there for orders. It would perhaps be better to go 

 on to Yakutsk so as not to use up the provisions at Okhotsk, where they 

 could be used later for the expedition. 



Should it be the wish of her Imperial Majesty for us to explore the 

 newly discovered land as well as that part which is supposed to lie 

 opposite the Chukchi country and (according to the instructions to 

 Captain Commander Bering) to bring the inhabitants under Her Imperial 

 Majesty's subjection, it would be necessary to increase the number of 

 men on the ship to the full complement as laid down by the Admiralty 

 College. How many men and of what rank they should be is indi- 

 cated on the enclosed list.^^ We need also new rigging, spare parts, and 

 a number of other things. If I were at Yakutsk to hurry the material 

 along it would reach here more quickly than by my waiting for it in these 

 harbors. If I should receive no aid, I, with the assent of my officers, will 

 do the best that we can for the interests of Her Imperial Majesty and 

 will report to the Admiralty College. 



According to the instructions of the Admiralty College we were re- 

 quired to bring to St. Petersburg a few inhabitants of the newly dis- 

 covered land, or of land we might discover in the future. We could not 



15 See p. 327. 



16 Not published here. 

 1^ See p. 326. 



