XIIL] 
ATTEMPT TO REACH THE ANADYR. 
163 
the expedition, but along with him was sent, at the request of 
the hunters, a Cossack in the Kussian service in order to guard 
the rights of the crown. His name was Simeon Ivanov Sin 
Deschnev; in geographical writings he is commonly known 
under the name of Deschnev. It was intended to search for 
the mouth of the great river lying towards the east, regarding 
which some information had been obtained from the natives, 
and which was believed to fall into the Polar Sea. The first 
voyage in 1647, with four vessels, was unsuccessful, it is said, 
because the sea was blocked with ice. But that this was not 
the real reason is shown by the fact that a new and larger 
expedition was fitted out the following year with full expecta¬ 
tion of success. The crews of the four boats had more probably 
been considered too weak a force to venture among the 
Chukches, and the ice had to bear the blame of the retreat. 
What man could not reproach the conquerors of Siberia with, 
was pusillanimity and want of perseverance in carrying out a 
plan which had once been sketched. Resistance always in¬ 
creased their power of action ; so also now. Seven boats were 
fitted out the following year, 1648, all which were to sail down 
to the Polar Sea, and then along the coast eastwards. The 
object was to examine closely the unknown land and people 
there, and to their own advantage and the extension of the 
Russian power, to collect tribute from the tribes met with 
during the expedition. Muller states that every boat was 
manned with about thirty men—a number which appears to 
me somewhat exaggerated, if we consider the nature of the 
Siberian craft and the difficulty of feeding so large a number 
either with provisions carried along with them or obtained 
by hunting. 
Four of the boats are not mentioned further in the narrative; 
they appear to have returned at an early period. The three 
others, on the contrary, made a highly remarkable journey. 
The commanders of them were the Cossacks, Gerasim 
