ch. xxj Russian Arctic Discoveries 187 
The Russians also made expeditions to Spitsbergen. 
Their plan was to form a depot in Bell Sound, and 
Lieutenant Nemtinoff built five houses there in 1764, 
where stores were landed. In May 1765 Captain Vassili 
Tchitschakoff sailed from Archangel in command of three 
small vessels, did battle with the ice during two months, 
but could never get further north than 8o°26'. He 
returned to Archangel, and was sent to make another 
attempt in the following year. He reached a latitude 
of 8o° 30' and then gave it up. The Russians had passed 
two winters in Bell Sound, in charge of the stores. 
The praise which Baron Wrangell bestows on the 
gallant Russian officers and sailors, who faced and over- 
came hardships and dangers of no ordinary kind, and did 
such splendid exploring work during more than two 
centuries, is justly their due. It is satisfactory to reflect 
that the Arctic discoveries of the Russians led to no 
barren results. They were the direct causes of the 
establishment of a lucrative fur trade, and of an equally 
flourishing trade in fossil ivory. Such have been the 
almost inevitable results of Arctic enterprises, which 
enrich communities while they confer great benefits on 
science. 
