ACKNOWLEDGIVIENTS xi 



The translation is by no means all the work that Dr. Stejneger 

 has done on this volume. His footnotes to the botanical and 

 zoological references in the journal are a major contribution. 

 Naturalists will agree that there is no man so well qualified to 

 discuss these matters as he. During his repeated visits to the 

 North Pacific region, including Kayak Island, Bering Island, and 

 Kamchatka, in 1 882-1 883 (comprising an eighteen months' stay 

 on Bering and Copper Islands), in 1895 and 1896-1897 (princi- 

 pally to study the fur seal question), and again in 1922, Dr. 

 Stejneger has gone over the same ground, has studied the same 

 plant and animal life that Steller did, and has in this way been 

 able to verify Steller 's observations. 



It is a pleasure to record the encouragement and help given 

 me by American men of science. This is particularly true of 

 Dr. Charles V. Piper of the U. S. Department of Agriculture and 

 the late Dr. Alfred H. Brooks of the U. S. Geological Survey, 

 one an authority on plants and the other on the geology of 

 Alaska. In making my translation of the journal I had the 

 assistance of Professor O. C. Gebert of the State College of 

 Washington in interpreting some of the more difficult passages 

 in the German. To these and to the other scholars who have 

 given me so generously of their time and learning I am sincerely 

 grateful. 1° 



F. A. GOLDER 



10 The editor is indebted to Professor Lucien Gallois of the Universityof 

 Paris for locating DeHsIe's manuscript map of 1731 (PI. I) and having 

 it photographed, and to Professor R. DeC. Ward of Harvard University, 

 Mr. F. W. Hodge of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Founda- 

 tion, and Dr. James T. Pilcher of Brooklyn, N. Y., for comment, in- 

 corporated in the footnotes, on certain climatological, ethnological, and 

 medical questions respectively. He is also under obligation for help in 

 the elucidation of material in Russian publications to Commander 

 N. A. Transehe, Lieutenant-Colonel N. M. Kostenko, and Captain 

 Nicholas George of the American Geographical Society's staff. — Edit. 

 Note. 



