THE DISCOVERY OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS.--TERRIBLE HARDSHIPS OF
THE VOYAGE.--STELLER'S FAULT-FINDING.--BERING CONFINED TO HIS
CABIN.--DEATHS ON BOARD FROM EXHAUSTION AND DISEASE.--BERING ISLAND
DISCOVERED.--A NARROW ESCAPE.
The St. Peter left the Shumagin Islands September 6, and sailed
southward to resume the direct course. The weather was very bad, with
alternating fogs, mist, and storms. A west wind prevailed almost
continuously. Now and then a regular hurricane crossed their course.
If occasionally they had a favorable breeze, it seemed to last but
a few hours. "I know no harder, more fatiguing life," says one of
the St. Peter's officers, "than to sail an unknown sea. I speak from
experience, and with truth can say that during the five months I spent
on this voyage, without seeing any place of which the latitude and
longitude had been fixed, I did not have many hours of quiet sleep. We
were in constant danger and uncertainty."
As a last resort, they even thought of returning to America, or of
reaching Japan. For several days they were swept along by a storm.
September 23, the second death occurred, and on the 24th they again
saw, to their great astonishment, land toward the north. They were
then on about the 51st parallel. They were of the opinion that they
were fourteen degrees from the Shumagins, and supposed that they were
21° 39' from Avacha, which of course was very erroneous, for they were
in the vicinity of the present Atka. As they saw behind the islands a
high, snow-capped mountain, which, from the calendar day, they called
St. Johannes, they supposed the land to be a continuation of the
American continent.
During the next seventeen days, from the 25th of September until the
11th of October, they carried their lower sails only, and were driven
by a stormy west wind five degrees toward the southeast to a latitude
of 48°. "The wind," says Steller, "seemed as if it issued forth from
a flue, with such a whistling, roaring and rumbling, that we expected
every moment to lose mast and rudder, or to see the ship crushed
between the breakers. The dashing of a heavy sea against the vessel
sounded like the report of a cannon, and even the old, experienced
mate, Andreas Hesselberg, assured us that during a sailor's life of
fifty years he had not before seen such a sea." No one was able to
stand at his post. The ship was at the mercy of the angry elements.
Half of the crew were sick and feeble, the other half well from dire
necessity, but were confused and distracted by the great danger. For
many days no cooking could be done, and all they had that was fit to
eat was some burned ship-biscuits, and even these were on the point
of becoming exhausted. No one showed any firmness of purpose; their
courage was as "unsteady as their teeth." The officers now and then
thought of returning to America, but their plans changed as often as
the weather.
During the first week in October it became very cold; heavy storms of
hail and snow swept over the ship and made the work on board almost
unendurable. On the 6th the ship's supply of brandy gave out, and, as
the storm from the southwest still continued to rage, Waxel seriously
proposed to return to America and seek a harbor of refuge, as it would
be necessary in a few days, on account of the number on the sick list,
to resign the ship to the mercy of the waves.
Bering, however, refused to entertain this idea, and exhorted the
crew to make an offering to the church--the Russians to the church in
Petropavlovsk, the Lutherans to the church in Viborg, Finland, where
Bering had formerly resided.
As elsewhere on this whole voyage, Steller was here geographically
confused, and imagined that they were sailing in a latitude of 50-53°,
while in reality they were on the 48th parallel, and hence his
complaint that the officers would not sail to this parallel to get a
better breeze, signifies nothing. Müller gives the correct position of
the ship when he says that on the 12th of October it was in latitude
48° 18', but he too is wrong when he states that the weather did not
permit them to make an observation, for just at this time they had
fair weather and sunshine, and on the 11th, at noon, determined the
latitude as 48° 15' and the longitude as 27° east of Avacha. During
the succeeding ten days the weather was somewhat more favorable. Clear
weather, with heavy frosts, prevailed; some hail and snow fell, but
nevertheless they succeeded in making ten degrees on the parallel of
49° 30'. The condition on board was getting much worse. Poor water,
lack of bread and spirits, the cold and wet, vermin and anxiety,
undermined the last remnants of their powers of resistance. On the 19th
the grenadier Kisseloff, on the 20th the servant Charitonoff, and on
the 21st the soldier Luka Savjaloff, died. Even men apparently well
were unable to stand at their posts from sheer want and exhaustion.
Then the water supply threatened to give out. They had but fifteen
casks of water, a part of which was very poor. Waxel was again thinking
of searching for land toward the north, when a strong wind carried
them so far westward that they supposed they had passed all traces of
American regions. They then determined to keep their course on the 52°
of latitude, but on the following day, to their great astonishment,
they sighted the Aleutian Islands and made some new discoveries. On
October 25, at a distance of 8-1/2 geographical miles toward the
northwest, they saw a high, snow-capped island, which they called St.
Marcus. By an observation at noon its latitude was found to be 50° 50',
but as this island is our Amchitka, and as its southern extremity,
according to Admiral Sarycheff, is in a latitude of 51° 35', it is
evident that the St. Peter's determinations of latitude were constantly
from one-half to three-fourths of a degree less than the true
latitude. Later this fact had an extremely unfortunate effect on their
resolutions. On October 28, Kiska, which Bering called St. Stephen,
was discovered, besides three (in reality four) smaller islands east
of it, and, carried along toward the north by a southwesterly wind,
they sighted, on the morning of the 29th, some low islands, which are
supposed to have been the present Semichi Islands, situated east of
Attu. These islands, which to them appeared as one, were called St.
Abraham Island. According to the ship's journal they were seen at ten
o'clock in the morning at a distance of six miles toward the west, and
at noon ten miles in a direction W. S. W. It is evident that the St.
Peter sailed north of these islands, but as the latitude on that day
was determined as 52° 31', at least 45' too far south, and as the ship
undoubtedly on the 29th and 30th of October passed the Blizhni group
(the Nearer Aleutians) it is more than probable that the strait between
the most westerly of the Semichi Islands and Attu was seen from the
ship's deck, although the officers do not mention this island in the
journal, but simply indicate it on the chart. It is, however, referred
to by both Müller and Steller. The most westerly of the Semichi Islands
and Attu must be the former's Deception Islands. Steller applies all
of his acuteness of mind to show that they were the first two Kuriles.
Nothing shows better than this assertion how confused Steller was;
hence his unsparing attacks on Waxel, and his base insinuations,
are not of the least moment. "Betrayed and sold by two unscrupulous
leaders," he says, "we sailed, after October 31, in a northerly
direction from the 51st to the 56th parallel!" How unreasonable! They
were, already on the 30th, north of the 53d parallel. A sharp southwest
wind was blowing, several deaths were occurring daily, the helmsmen
were conducted to the wheel by companions so deathly sick that they
could scarcely walk, the ship's rigging and sails were fast giving
way, the weather was raw and damp, the nights dark and long, and all
attempts at the determination of latitude and longitude had about
ceased. Under these circumstances was it not worthy of all honor that
Waxel was still able to hold the vessel up to the wind at all and
approach the Commander Islands from Attu? In a short time the wind
veered to the east, and on November 4 (Steller has it the 5th), in a
latitude calculated at 53° 30', they saw an elevated coast in the west
at a distance of about sixteen miles. It is impossible to describe
the joy occasioned by this sight. The sick and half-dead crawled on
deck to see land once more, and all thanked God for their merciful
rescue. Bering, almost completely exhausted, was greatly revived, and
all thought of how they would rest and restore their health and vigor.
Hidden brandy casks were brought out, in order that by the Vodka's
assistance they might properly celebrate the happy return. And in the
first moments of their exultation even the officers rejoiced to think
that their calculations were not entirely wrong.
All were agreed that they were off the mouth of Avacha Bay, and in
the precipitous mountain sides of Copper Island they eagerly sought
for the promontories which mark the entrance to that bay. The channel
between Copper Island and Bering Island was hidden to their view,
hence they thought they had reached Kamchatka. When, a little later,
they saw through the mist the most northerly part of the strait, they
were for a short time not indisposed to believe that they were near
their home harbor. But soon an intense feeling of doubt seized them.
According to the ship's reckoning, they were yet forty miles from
Avacha. An observation at noon informed them they were at least one
degree farther north than this place, and before evening came on, the
coast-lines assumed an appearance that compelled them to give up all
thought of having reached home. But, as Bering on his first voyage
had not found land for several days' sailing east of the mouth of the
Kamchatka River, they still clung to the belief that they were off the
coast of the mainland. During the night, they stood to the north so as
to steer clear of land, as they feared a storm. With great difficulty
the topsails were taken in, but the feeble crew were obliged to leave
the other sails. In the night a storm from the east rent the starboard
shrouds of the mainmast so that it could no longer carry sail. The
next morning, a bright and magnificent November day, the whole crew
assembled for a final consultation.
All that could walk or crawl, officers as well as crew, dragged
themselves into the chief's cabin to hear the result. I have repeatedly
called attention to the fact that Bering did not have the sovereign
power with which the chief of an expedition is now-a-days endowed. The
terrible disease that had overpowered him still further lessened his
influence; but never had the rules and regulations appeared in worse
light than on this occasion. Waxel and Khitroff, who had resolved to
make a landing, sought both before and during the meeting to induce the
crew to vote for this resolution; but Bering opposed it and put forth
the last remnants of his strength and energy to rescue the expedition.
"We have still the foremast," he said, "and six casks of water. After
having endured so much suffering and hardship, we must risk everything
in order to reach Avacha." Waxel and Khitroff immediately endeavored
to counteract the influence of this good advice, but the subordinates
were in doubt, and would not sign any resolution except on the
condition that the officers expressly assured them of the fact that the
adjacent coast was Kamchatka. This Khitroff finally took upon himself
to do, and so partly through compulsion and partly through persuasion
the lieutenants succeeded in securing a majority for their proposition.
But even yet Bering sought to save his convictions, and appealed to the
reduced Lieutenant Ofzyn, who had had charge of the explorations from
the Obi to the Yenesei and was now serving as a sailor on board the
St. Peter; but as he immediately expressed his agreement with Bering,
he was in most abusive language driven from the cabin. Under these
circumstances Steller found it useless to support Bering. He confined
himself to certifying to the very great enervation of the crew. Before
the council adjourned, it was resolved to make for the coast, where the
lieutenants, in an open bay, expected to find a harbor.
Before an easy northeast breeze, the St. Peter drifted toward the
coast, without helmsman or commander. The chief lay at death's door
in his cabin, Waxel and Khitroff were seeking rest and quiet, and
not until the ship lay about four miles from land did Steller induce
Bering to order them on deck. They soon began to sound, and one verst
from shore they cast anchor. Night came on with bright moonlight. The
ebb-tide receded over the rocky beach, producing heavy breakers. In
these the ship was tossed about like a ball, until finally the cable
snapped. They now expected to be dashed against the rocks at any
moment. The confusion became indescribable. In order not to have a
corpse on board, the dead bodies of two of their companions were thrown
overboard. It had been the intention to take them ashore for burial.
At this juncture the second anchor was lost; but at the last moment,
just as the third was on the point of being cast, Ofzyn succeeded in
establishing order and keeping the anchor on board. The vessel glided
safely across the reefs, and in a few moments the boatswain and Ofzyn
were able to anchor in a sheltered place. The St. Peter was safe for
the time being. In this still and bright November night (the night
of Nov. 6, 1741) the ship was riding at anchor off the center of the
northeast coast of Bering Island, scarcely 600 yards from shore. Thus
ended this frightful adventure. Very fortunately, the ship had happened
to strike the only navigable channel on the east that leads to the
coast of the island.
It yet remains to determine with more exactness the place of stranding.
On this point literature offers no reliable information. I am aware
that Steller says that the vessel stranded on the northern coast of
the island, but this is not to be taken literally. After the St. Peter
had passed the northern point of Copper Island, which lies parallel
with the trend of Bering Island, it was carried west and southwest
by a northeasterly wind, and hence would strike the coast of Bering
Island off, or a few minutes north of, the northern extremity of Copper
Island. At this point the eastern coast of Bering Island recedes to
the west and forms that bay which the officers saw ahead. From this
it is evident that the place where the vessel ran ashore was four or
five miles north of the present Cape Khitroff. In Waxel's journal the
geographical position is entered as 55° 5' north latitude, but Fr.
Lütke gives it as latitude 54° 58' and longitude 193° 23' west from
Greenwich. On his large map of a part of the Aleutian Islands, with
Russian and French text, he marks the place of landing at this point
with these words: "_C'est près de cet endroit que le commandeur Bering
a fait naufrage_"[84] (_i. e._, in the vicinity of this place Bering
stranded). This place is at about the center of the eastern coast of
the island, which extends at least 28' farther north to Cape Waxel, and
hence only from a local point of view, just as it must have seemed to
Steller as the vessel approached land, can this receding part of the
coast be designated as the northern side of the island. The view here
set forth is further corroborated by many places in Steller's diary,
and by other accounts of the stay on the island.[85]
FOOTNOTES:
[84] Map III., Appendix.
[85] My view has been most strongly confirmed by the excellent
Norwegian naturalist, Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, of the Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, who in the years 1882-'84 passed eighteen
months on Bering island and circumnavigated it. In _Deutsche
Geographische Blätter_, 1885, he describes his trip and gives a good
contour map of the island, as well as of Bering's stranding-place,
which in honor of him is still called "Komandor," and is situated
in the place described above, on the northeastern coast of the
island.--_Author's Note to American Edition._
For Dr. Stejneger's final remarks on this point the reader is referred
to Note 64, in the Appendix, where will be found a letter to the
translator.