X PREFACE 



my knowledge.^ The translation was made from the printed 

 account; wherever there were essential differences in the manu- 

 script these variants were translated and added as footnotes. 

 The present translation therefore has the advantage of whatever 

 clarification and improvement Pallas imparted to the narrative, 

 while, at the same time, it retains the full text of the journal as 

 written by Steller. A translation was at first made by me from 

 the printed version which, while not literally accurate, attempted 

 to render its spirit. I then had the good fortune to enlist the 

 cooperation of Dr. Leonhard Stejneger of the U. S. National 

 Museum. Dr. Stejneger, retaining as much as possible of the 

 phraseology of the first translation, made another which is as 

 near to the original wording as it is possible to make it. It is 

 this translation which is published herewith. 



London, 1803, pp. 30-93 octavo impression, pp. 24-72 quarto impres- 

 sion, omits certain passages. The author himself says (p. 30, octavo; p. 

 24, quarto): "As it [Steller's journal] contains the only circumstantial 

 relation of that expedition, rectifies several errors in Muller's account, 

 and as it has never made its appearance in English, I deemed it neces- 

 sary, for the complete elucidation of the Russian Discoveries, to submit 

 to the public a translation of those parts which detail the principal events 

 of the voyage; but have omited several prolix accounts of his disputes 

 with the officers, and some of his frequent digressions concerning the 

 supposed situation of America." The inclusion of Steller's journal in the 

 edition of Coxe's book that followed the publication of the journal (the 

 third edition of the "Account" was published in 1787; see Bibliography, 

 Vol. I, p. 363) is only additional evidence of Coxe's acquaintance with 

 the essential records on the Russian explorations of that period which he 

 acquired through his sojourn in St. Petersburg and contact with such men 

 as G. F. M tiller. However, the progress in science and in the knowledge of 

 the region in the intervening century and a quarter afford ample justifica- 

 tion, if any were needed, for offering the present translation. — Edit. Note. 

 •According to H. C. Bolton: A Catalogue of Scientific and Technical 

 Periodicals, 1665-1895, 2nd edit., Smithsonian Misc. Colls. 1076, Wash- 

 ington, 1897, p. 1205, there were at that time sets of the Neue Nordische 

 Beytrdge in the libraries of Harvard and Yale Universities, the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass., and the Philadelphia 

 Academy of Natural Sciences. There are also sets containing Vols. 5 

 and 6 in the libraries of Dr. C. Hart Merriam of Washington and the 

 American Geographical Society. Copies in book form are in the Library 

 of Congress and the New York Public Library. 



