ACTIVITIES AFTER THE VOYAGE 3 



Spanberg agreed to do so provided the Senate gave its consent. 

 On April 30, 1740, Steller had sent a petition to that body and 

 then proceeded to Bolsheretsk to wait for a reply. Before it 

 came, Bering, who was at Avacha Bay on the eastern coast of 

 Kamchatka, notified him that he had a proposal to make to 

 him. Steller immediately crossed the peninsula and presented 

 himself before the Captain Commander on March 20, 1741. 

 As a result of the interview Steller agreed to go to America. 

 That which happened to him on his voyage is recorded in his own 

 journal and need not be repeated here. 



On his return in August, 1742, he set about completing his 

 Kamchatkan investigation. During the winter of 1 742-1 743 he 

 made his headquarters at Bolsheretsk and worked out from there 

 in dififerent directions. In the spring and early summer months 

 of 1743 he explored several of the Kurile Islands. After that 

 he went to Lower Kamchatka Post, where he built a boat, 

 engaged a small crew at his own expense, and sailed for Bering 

 Island and wintered there, returning early in July, 1744. A 

 month later, loaded with boxes of specimens of all kinds, he bade 

 Kamchatka goodby forever and set out for Okhotsk. He stopped 

 but a short time at this post, then proceeded to Yakutsk, where 

 he spent nearly a year studying natural history, and then went 

 to Irkutsk, reaching there in December, 1745. In January, 1746, 

 he was at Krasnoyarsk, in March at Tobolsk and Tyumen, in 

 April at Solikamsk, and in the summer months at Perm and in 

 the adjoining country, making botanical researches. 



While at Bolsheretsk he had a quarrel with one of the officers, 

 who made a complaint to the Senate that Steller meddled in 

 affairs that did not concern him and that he had freed certain 

 Kamchadal prisoners who were held on the charge of rebellion. 

 That complaint came to the hands of the Senate early in 1744, 

 and at once instructions were despatched to Irkutsk to look into 

 the matter. When Steller wandered into the city in December, 

 1745, and was faced with the charges, he cleared himself without 

 trouble and was allowed to go about his business. Unfortunately 

 the officers in charge of the investigation delayed in making a 



