77j0 united states coast and geodetic survey. 



June 23. — Clear weather and light SSW. wind. By observation at sunset and sunrise the 

 variation of the compass was determined to be 11° 50' and 10° 47' easterly. At noon the coast 

 was seen 13 miles NNW., the latitude was observed to be 54° 12', and the run 28 miles YV. by S. 



June 24. — Weather clear, with a light SSW. wind. The run was iu sight of the coast, 30 

 miles W. by N., and the estimated latitude 54° 15'. 



June 25. — Light airs from the SE. and SSW., with rain. The course was S. by W. 26 miles, 

 in sight of land, and the observed latitude 53° 53'. 



June 26. —Moderate wind with occasional cloudy sky. At noon the Avatcba volcano bore 

 W. § S., 20 miles distant. No latitude was observed. 



June 27, 1729. — Clear weather, with fresh wind and high sea from the westward. The run 

 was 90 miles SSW. and the observed latitude 52° 03'. 



June 28, 1729.— Clear, with light winds. At 5 a. m. saw the shore, distant about 5 miles. The 

 observed latitude was 52° 01' and the variation 7° 42' easterly. 



June 29. — Clear and calm. The run was 17 miles NW. by W., with the land in sight. The 

 estimated latitude was 52° 06'. 



June 30. — Clear, with moderate wind. The run was along the land SW. by S., and the esti- 

 mated latitude 51° 38'. 



July 1. — Thick weather and moderate wind. At noon Cape Lopatka bore NW. by N., and a 

 shoal extended seaward from it about a verst. 



July 2. — Fine weather and moderate wind. The northernmost Kurile Island, Alaida, was 

 seen [which Chaplin states on old charts was named Aufinogenaj. A high mountain was seen 

 bearing SW. by S. i S. The run this day was 70 miles N. 2° 55' W., the variation 11° easterly, 

 and the latitude 52° 18'. 



July 3. — At 5 o'clock in the afternoon the vessel entered the Bolshoia River mouth and came 

 to anchor. The Fortuna and an older vessel were already there. The party were occupied with 

 the transfer of stores and other business preparatory to departing for Okhotsk. 



[Bering made the difference of longitude between Bolcheretsk and Lower Kamchatka equal 

 to 6° 29'. According to Bergh, Chaplin states in his journal that the difference of longitude 

 between Okhotsk and Bolsheretsk was computed on the first voyage to be 13° 43' and on the 

 return 13° 14'. 



SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS. 



On the 14th of July, having been rejoined by Lieutenant Spanberg, Bering sailed for 

 Okhotsk, where he arrived on the 23d of the month. The party celebrated their return by firing 

 a salute of 51 guns, which was repeated from the shore. The vessel was beached and dismantled. 



On the 29th of July Bering started by land with horses for the Cross of Yudoma. On the 

 journey he met Afanasius Shestakoff, Hetman of Cossacks, who was on his way to open the 

 Chukchi country by force of arms, and who was, in March of the following year, routed and killed 

 near Penjinsk Gulf by a body of natives commanded by their chief, Shelagin, whose name is appro- 

 priately preserved to posterity on charts of the Arctic coast of his country, through the medium of 

 the Shelaginskoi Cape, in latitude 70° N. 



Bering reached Yakutsk, August 29, 1729, and Tobolsk in October, where he remained some 

 time, finally reaching St. Petersburg March 1, 1730. 



Chaplin, whose journal has, through the medium of Bergh, preserved many facts in regard to 

 this remarkable expedition, was recorded in 1723 as one of the most promising naval cadets. On 

 joining the expedition he was made midshipman; on their return, iu 1729, promoted to be sub- 

 lieutenant, and in 1733 to be lieutenant. He is said to have died at Archangel, in Russia, in 1764, 

 having attained the rank of Captain-Commander. The journal itself, with many other documents, 

 is deposited in the archives of the Naval College of the Admiralty in St. Petersburg. 



In order that the differences of calendar and account, and the errors of previous publications 

 may be more easily avoided, I add a carefully corrected itinerary of the expedition reduced to the 

 modern dates. In some cases, where the authorities are discrepant, I have adopted the date 

 which from all the circumstances seems most probably correct. 



