"A voyage to the Pacific Ocean, undertaken by the command of his
Majesty, for making discoveries in the northern hemisphere, [etc.],
performed under the direction of captains Cook, Clerke and Gore, in his
Majesty's ships the Resolution and Discovery, in the years 1776-1780.
London, for T. Nicol and T. Cadell, 1784-5." 3 volumes 4° and atlas
folio.
This is the edition ordered by the Admiralty. Of this celebrated work,
said to have been written from the explorers' manuscripts by Bishop
Douglas, there have been many editions. In the Bulletin of the Société
de Géographie, Paris, 1879, pp. 481-540, is a bibliography by James
Jackson.
The most interesting points in regard to Cook's explorations about
Bering Strait are comprised on the chart (vol. ii, p. 467) entitled:
"Chart of Norton Sound and of Bherings Strait made by the East Cape of
Asia and the west point of America."
On this chart the main features of the coast on either side of the
strait are correctly indicated, though several of the inlets and bays
are wanting. The Diomedes and Fairway Rock of modern charts are located
but left without names, King's Island is named; Arakam was not
recognized as an island nor was Point Chaplin (Indian Point) observed.
St. Lawrence Island was seen in foggy weather. Its isolated hills
connected by very low flat land led Cook into the error of supposing
that it comprised several islands, one of which he correctly referred
to that named St. Lawrence by Bering and the rest he lumped under the
name of Clerke's Islands. A single fictitious island, midway between
St. Lawrence and King's appears on the chart, but is not named or
mentioned in the text. St. Lawrence Bay is named and discovered. Bering
and Müller's Chukotski cape is correctly identified. East Cape is well
delineated, and the name Serdze Kamen (Heart-Rock) originally given to
a cliff or bluff point at the entrance of Holy Cross Bay is transferred
to a point on the Arctic shore of the peninsula. There is a confused
and somewhat curious history connected with the use of the names
Serdze-Kamen and Chukotski Cape. After the travels of Deshneff, Popoff
and others and the reception at various times of information from the
natives, it was pretty generally understood among the hunters and
traders of this region that the extreme of Asia was a cape or point on
or near which the Chukchi dwelt, or which they described, which was not
definitely located, and which was vaguely known as the Chukchi Cape or
the Cape of the Chukchis, Chukotski Noss in the Russian tongue. Cape
Serdze Kamen will be found on the chart of Billings' Voyage. It was the
point where the Chukchis successfully defended themselves against the
invading Russians who sought to force them to pay tribute. Beyond it,
for the Russians all was mysterious Chukchi country with an unknown
coast. This cape being their _ne plus ultra_ it is probable that it was
more or less confounded by these illiterate and ignorant hunters with
the supposed eastern Cape of Asia, otherwise the Cape of the Chukchis
as used by Müller. Admit this and it is not difficult to frame an
hypothesis which shall account for the confusion, without recourse to
the absurd charges with which Lauridsen attempts to soil the reputation
of Müller, Steller and others.
When Bering named a cape near which he met a baidar-load of Chukchi who
gave him some geographical information (among other things that the
coast made a turn after passing it) he called this cape with great
propriety the Cape of the Chukchis, as observed by Cook (ii, p. 474)
and with no reference to the legendary Cape of the Chukchis above
referred to.
But when Müller and others more familiar with the records of the
earlier explorers came to make maps, they naturally applied the
legendary name to the cape which they supposed to be the eastern end of
Asia, and beyond which the coast makes a turn to the west. Müller
believing in a great cape or peninsula on the northern coast of the
Chukchi country supposed this to be the true Cape Chukotski, and to the
eastern Cape of Bering he left the name of Serdze-Kamen, probably
knowing little about the original Cape Serdze. And as Bering, by the
ambiguity of his journal, gave color to the idea that he had rounded
East Cape and pursued the north coast west of it for a few hours before
turning homeward, what more natural than that those little acquainted
with the region should speak of his turning back from near
Serdze-Kamen? Thus Cook, following out the same idea derived from his
study of the map and journal in Harris, transferred the name to a point
in the latitude at which Bering turned back, on the coast which he
supposed him to have surveyed. There is plenty of confusion here but no
just ground for supposing malice in it.
A publication which throws much light upon Bering's voyage of 1728 was
printed by Vasili Nikolaievich Bergh (or Berkh) a well known writer on
geographical matters in connection with Russian history. It is in the
Russian language and the title may be translated as follows:
First Sea Voyages of the Russians undertaken for the settlement of this
geographical problem--Are Asia and America united?--and performed in
1727, 28 and 29, under the command of fleet captain of the first rank,
Vitus Bering. To which is added a short biographical account of Captain
Bering and some of his officers. St. Petersburg, Academical printing
office, 1823. 8°. 3 pr. l. iv, 126 pp. 1 map. Russian text.
This book was printed, as many private books are, at the printing
office of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, but was not published or
printed by the Academy. The only copies I know of are those in the
library of the Academy and one in the British Museum library, neither
of which I have been able personally to consult. But through the kind
offices of Dr. S. Hertzenstein, of the Zoological Museum of the
Academy, I learn that Bergh found in the Archives of the State
Admiralty Department the logbook of midshipman Peter Chaplin entitled,
"Midshipman Peter Chaplin's journal of the Kamchatka expedition of
1725-1731." From this MSS and from the notes of G. F. Müller and
Admiral Nagaieff, Bergh compiled his work. Chaplin's journal is not
reprinted verbatim but only paraphrased by Bergh who adds his own
commentary on the subject matter, and occasionally gives extracts from
Chaplin whose logbook seems to have been kept in a model way.
An effort will be made to obtain a copy of the original logbook,[7] but
for the present we are obliged to be content with what of authenticity
remains to the data which have been translated or paraphrased by Bergh,
Lauridsen and Olson, necessarily submitting to more or less
modification in the process.
[Footnote 7: Simultaneously with the proofs of this paper the work of
Bergh has been communicated to me through the liberality of the
University of Upsala, Sweden. The results of a critical examination of
it will form the subject of a later paper as the present publication
cannot be delayed.]
The most authentic and important document for the history of this
voyage is naturally the official report handed in by Bering himself and
printed in the Journal of the Military Topographical Depot of the
Russian Army, volume x, pp. 67-79, St. Petersburg, 1847.
This journal is a quarto and the report is printed _verbatim et
literatim_ if one may judge by the archaic and mispelled words with
which it is adorned. It comprises Bering's report including his
instructions, a table of geographical positions, and a painfully
detailed table of routes and distances by which his position in
Kamchatka was computed. This report has never been translated in full
and unmodified, the original is thought to have been lost. The present
publication is not referred to by Lauridsen and was apparently unknown
to him. I have therefore thought it worth while to prepare an English
version of the report and geographical table which are incorporated in
this paper.
The result shows that the previous versions of the report which have
appeared were more or less mutilated or colored by the editors printing
them, probably with the view of making the report of more popular
interest to their readers but with injurious results to its historic
value for reference.
We now come to the latest contributions to the subject. If it were not
for the deficiencies in them, which seem to me serious, this paper
would not have been prepared, but it seemed to be a pity that the
sources of information in regard to Bering, accessible to those who do
not read Russian should not be both more impartial and more accurate.
Vitus J. Bering og de Russiske opdagelsesrejser fra 1725-43. Af P.
Lauridsen. Udgivet med understöttelse af den Hielmstierne-Rosencroneske
stiftelse. Kjöbenhavn. Gyldendalske Boghandels forlag (F. Hegel & Sön).
Fr. Bagges bogtrykkeri, 1885. Small 4°, six prel. l. 211 pp., 4 sheets
of charts, one plate, one wood-cut.
This work is an attempt at a life of Bering which should combine an
account of his career with a reversal of the generally received opinion
in regard to his indecision of character. It embodies a general polemic
against those who at different times have criticised the explorer. It
contains a paraphrase of some portions of Bergh's work which had not
previously been accessible in any language except the Russian, yet
which would have been much more valuable in the shape of exact
translation and quotation. The author labored under the disadvantages
of not understanding the language in which all the original records
both printed and in manuscript are written; of having little or no
familiarity with nautical surveying or cartography; and of being
apparently unacquainted with the best modern charts of the region. His
criticisms of others are couched in very heated and not altogether
parliamentary language, and he is the victim of a narrow spirit of
nationalism which is sometimes mistaken for patriotism. Nevertheless he
has brought together a great deal of information; it is evident, in
spite of his violent criticisms, that he has not intended to be unfair,
since he puts on record in several instances evidence damaging to his
own views which would not otherwise have come to light; and he has
certainly exhibited Bering's valuable qualities in a manner which will
do much towards rehabilitating his reputation.[8]
[Footnote 8: I may take opportunity in this place of replying to
certain criticisms of Mr. Lauridsen on the chronological chapter of my
work on Alaska and its Resources published in 1870.
That chapter was and was stated in its introductory paragraph to be a
compilation from the authorities on the subject. It contained no
original matter except that relating to explorations subsequent to
1865.
For Bering's two voyages I consulted the report on the Russian
Discoveries printed by order of the Empress and under the auspices of
the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, prepared by the
distinguished geographer Müller, himself a member of the second
expedition and personally acquainted with the actors in those scenes.
No more authoritative printed document exists on the subject. The
supposed errors animadverted upon by Mr. Lauridsen are either taken
directly from Müller, or are inferences drawn from his report. Some of
them the critic has misunderstood or misconstrued, which from the
necessarily extreme condensation of my table is particularly easy. The
expression of surprise that Bering passed through Bering Strait without
seeing the Diomedes, was warranted by the fact that Bering nowhere
mentions their name or speaks of seeing any islands in their location,
nor are they on his earliest printed charts. This point, however, will
be more fully dealt with later. If I were to re-write that chapter I
should probably modify the criticisms of Bering's character which
appear in it; but at the time it was written I was fresh from four
years' exploration in the same region, and was particularly impressed
with his failure to secure better results when to do so would have been
so easy, as well as directly in the line of his duty.]
Review: Bulletin of the American Geographical Society for 1885. New
York, the Society, 1885. pp. 285-298.
This review forms part of a "Reply to criticisms upon the voyage of the
Vega around Asia and Europe," by Baron A. E. von Nordenskiold,
translated from the Swedish by Vere A. Elfwing. It is addressed only
toward certain points in Lauridsen's work, and contains valuable
corrections of certain errors therein, and information in regard to the
work of Strahlenberg and the other early cartographers of Eastern
Siberia. It is a translation of a paper published in _Ymer_ for 1885,
to which for exact accuracy reference should be made.
Russian explorations, 1725-1743. Vitus Bering: the discoverer of Bering
Strait. By Peter Lauridsen (etc.). Revised by the author and translated
from the Danish by Julius E. Olson (etc.). Chicago, S. C. Griggs &
Company, 1889. 8° xvi, 223 pp., 2 cuts, 2 folding sheets of maps.
This edition is a good deal condensed, especially in the matter of
references, and does not have all the illustrations of the original.
There are also a good many slips or typographical errors, which affect
its value as a work of reference. Some of those important in connection
with the present paper are as follows: page 31, line 4, "60° 50' N."
latitude should be "62° 50'." On the last line of the same page
"longitude" should be "latitude." Page 32, after "cloudy weather" in
the second line from the bottom, the whole remaining record of August
15th is omitted altogether. The sentence beginning "From noon" relates
to August 16th, nautical reckoning. Page 33, line 5, "30° 19' east"
should be "30° 17' east;" line 20 after "half west" should be inserted
"south by east, by compass." Page 51, line 4 from bottom, "latitude"
should be "longitude."
Review: Nation (The) New York, vol. xlix, No. 1275, p. 454. Dec. 5,
1889.
I may add that a number of references to Russian articles treating of
Bering will be found in my Bibliography of charts and publications
relating to Alaska and adjacent region, published by the U. S. Coast
Survey in 1879.
REPORT OF FLEET-CAPTAIN BERING ON HIS EXPEDITION TO THE EASTERN COAST
OF SIBERIA.
To the most Serene Sovereign, the high and powerful, the Empress of all
the Russias: