6 LIFE OF STELLER 



did not show him proper respect and did not consult him enough. 

 He offered advice, not only to the Siberian governors and to the 

 naval officers but also to the Senate and to the Synod, on naviga- 

 tion, military strategy, commerce, agriculture, conversion of the 

 heathen, education of the natives, building of forts, and more 

 such subjects. It is interesting to note that most of his sugges- 

 tions were good, and the reason for their rejection must be 

 sought in a large part in the manner of their presentation. 

 His very insistence to be heard and his air of wisdom aroused 

 opposition. 



His cutting remarks about the officers of the St. Peter show 

 what a poisonous pen he had; there is reason to believe that he 

 had a sharp tongue as well. In describing to the Senate^ the 

 scene that took place on board the ship, when he asked to be 

 allowed to land on Kayak Island, Steller says: "Then I turned 

 on Captain Commander Bering and in no gentle words told him 

 what I thought of him and what I would do if he did not let me 

 go." 



If Steller treated Bering in this manner we can easily guess 

 what he did to Khitrov, W'axel, and to some of the smaller fry 

 from whom he had no favors to expect. They hated him and he 

 despised them, and their life on board was as disagreeable as can 

 be imagined. It would be worse than a waste of time to sit in 

 judgment and try to decide the rights and wrongs. In the first 

 place, we have only one side of the story, Steller's; the other men 

 have left no memoirs.^ In the second place, they were all living 

 under abnormal conditions and were not altogether responsible. 

 They all suffered from disease, vermin, cold, hunger, thirst, and 

 despondency, and their actions and quarrels are psychologically 



5 Steller's report to the Senate, dated Bolsheretsk, Nov. i6, 1742, 

 published in P. Pekarski: Arkhivniya razyskaniya ob izobrazhenii 

 nesushchestvuyushchago nynye zhivotnago Rhytina borealis, Suppl. 

 No. I to Zapiski Imp. Akad. Nauk, Vol. 15, St. Petersburg, 1869, pp. 

 13-24; reference on p. 18. See also, below, footnote 67 and passage in 

 the journal to which it refers. 



6 The "Lettre d'un officier de la marine russienne," Berlin, 1753 (see 

 bibliography in Vol. i, p. 362), whose author is with great probability 



