“they have to live on charity or by hiring themselves out”: An eyewitness account of hardships, as reported by Heinrich Von Fuch, in Dmytryshyn, Crownhart-Vaughan, and Vaughan, Russian Penetration of the North Pacific, 168. Von Fuch’s account runs to twenty-one pages and is an instructive window into the conditions in Siberia, specifically how the general corruption and hardships were exacerbated by the demands of the Great Northern Expedition.
“burden the Iakuts in every possible way to enrich themselves”: Ibid.
“prevent them from completely ruining the local population”: Ibid., 169.
“22 men were very sick, and all became emaciated”: Gibson, “Supplying the Kamchatka Expedition,” 108–109.
“It is very necessary to find a way of transporting provisions”: Ibid., 114.
“they could also have been used as projectiles”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 79.
“None were seen with trousers and all went barefoot”: Ibid., 83.
“Some of them had silver rings in their ears”: Ibid., 87.
“the treasury should not be emptied in vain”: Golder, Russian Expansion on the Pacific, 178.
CHAPTER 6. PHANTOM ISLANDS
“to assist in transporting our supplies from those two places”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 91.
“shot to pieces in the first flush of youth”: Anna Bering to her son Jonas, in Møller and Lind, Until Death Do Us Part, 69.
“I live like a nomad”: Gibson, “Supplying the Kamchatka Expedition,” 111–112.
“have I ever been exposed to such great danger as then”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 94.
“among those waves there would have been no saving us”: Ibid.
“Who believes Cossacks?”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 100.
“no idea what money was”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 98.
“given a good dose of the knout to find out the guilty ones”: Ibid., 99.
“if I should consent to go along with him”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 16.
“a miserable and dangerous sea voyage”: Ibid.
“a just dispensation exposed their unfortunately too naked vanity”: Ibid., 17.
“take counsel concerning various routes to America”: Instructions from Empress Anna Ivanovna, in Dmytryshyn, Crownhart-Vaughan, and Vaughan, Russian Penetration of the North Pacific, 114.
“it certainly would have been discovered”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 89.
“on the map of Professor Delisle de la Croyere”: Chirikov’s Report, in Golder, Bering’s Voyages, 1:312.
“the scandalous deception of which we were the victims”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 89, 103.
gunpowder, firewood, iron, spare sails, rope, tar, and more: See “The Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:48.
“the winds veered back and forth between S and E”: Ibid.
“navigate in waters which are completely blank”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 104.
“we had sailed over the region where it was supposed to be”: Chirikov’s Report, in Golder, Bering’s Voyages, 1:313.
“the tide carries them back towards the land”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 22.
“they had also acquired all other science and logic”: Ibid., 23.
“might have been decisive for the whole enterprise”: Ibid.
“a bucket of vodka and gave it to Adjunct Steller”: “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:41.
Part Three. America
CHAPTER 7. BOLSHAYA ZEMLYA, THE GREAT LAND
“separated by a narrow channel from America”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 26.
“know more than was considered advisable”: Ibid., 24.
“‘you have not been in God’s council chamber!’”: Steller, quoting ship’s officers, likely Khitrov, ibid., 26.
“when anyone mentioned anything of which they were ignorant”: Ibid., 27.
“and thus afford them the most abundant food supply”: Ibid., 32.
“the whole sea was overgrown with weeds”: Ibid., 29.
“achievements which pay interest on the outlay a thousand fold”: Ibid., 26.
“the announcement was regarded as one of my peculiarities”: Ibid., 33.
“among them a high volcano”: “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:93.
“higher mountains anywhere in Siberia and Kamchatka”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 33.
“huge, high, snow-covered mountains”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 105.
“nor are we provided with supplies for a wintering”: Steller, quoting Bering, Steller’s Journal, 34.
“than for no reason at all and only trusting to good luck”: Ibid., 36.
“flat, level, and as far as we could observe, sandy”: Ibid., 35.
“a submerged reef of rocks may be seen in low water”: “Khitrov’s Journal,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:99.
“bringing American water to Asia”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 37.
“my principal work, my calling, and my duty”: Ibid.
“all respect aside and prayed a particular prayer”: Ibid., 40.
“cooked their meat by means of red-hot stones”: Ibid., 44.
ethnographers associate with a summer camp: See editorial note in Georg Wilhelm Steller, Journal of a Voyage with Bering, 1741–1742, 194.
“the three kingdoms of nature”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 49.
or the Tlingit from the east in Yakutat Bay: See editorial note in Steller, Journal of a Voyage with Bering, 194.
“the direction of such important matters”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 50.
“was delighted to be able to test out the excellent water for tea”: Ibid.
“distinguished from the European and Siberian species”: Ibid., 59.
“they would leave me ashore without waiting for me”: Ibid., 51.
“returning at sunset with various observations and collections”: Ibid.
“The island is sheltered from many winds”: “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:97.
“in summer to catch fish and other sea animals”: Khitrov’s Journal, in ibid.
“left in the cabin for the natives”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 106.
“conclude that we had intended to poison them!”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 52.
“glass beads, tobacco leaves, an iron kettle and something else”: Martin Sauer, Account of a Geographical and Astronomical Expedition… by Commodore Joseph Billings in the Years 1785 to 1794, 194.
“nothing but a detached head or a detached nose”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 36.
“satisfied for this year with the discovery already made”: Steller, quoting Bering, ibid., 61.
“it was our intention to follow the land as it went”: Waxell, The American Voyage, 107.
“ten hours were devoted to the work itself”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 54.
“Stormy, squally, rainy”: “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:100.
“continuous stormy and wet weather”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 61.
“is notably better than that of the extreme northeastern part of Asia”: Ibid., 54.
“densely covered to the highest peaks with the finest trees”: Ibid., 55.
“as a protester I myself took up too much space already”: Ibid., 57.
“proved to me that we were really in America”: Ibid., 60.
“to produce anything outside of marcasites and pyrites”: Ibid., 57.
“sail N and W in order to observe the American coast”: “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:103.
“we eventually came out into deep water”: Waxell, The American Voyage, 107.
“got into a slight altercation on the subject”: Steller, Steller’s Journal 62.
“to let it go at that”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 8. CURIOUS ENCOUNTERS
“a sea nettle which is washed ashore in large quantities”: “Journal of the St. Paul,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:289.
“parts of America that are well known”: “Report of the Voyage of the St. Paul,” in ibid., 314.
“a fine growth of timber and in places were covered with snow”: Ibid.
“mountains extending to the northward”: “Journal of the St. Paul,” in ibid., 293.
“the misfortune of July 18th”: “Report of the Voyage of the St. Paul,” in ibid., 314.
now called Takanis Bay: See Frost, Bering, 143.
“a true and good servant of Her Imperial Majesty”: “Report on the Voyage of the St. Paul,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:316.
“owing to the heavy fog we could not identify the landmarks”: Ibid.
“therefore supposed that the country was uninhabited”: Ibid.
“the men did not row as we do but paddled”: Ibid.
“under and above water on which the surf was playing”: “Journal of the St. Paul,” in ibid., 295.
“some misfortune had happened to our men”: “Report on the Voyage of the St. Paul,” in ibid., 317.
“made us suspect that they had either killed our men or held them”: Ibid.
“That is how it must have been”: Waxell, The American Voyage, 162.
“perhaps even the intention of taking the ship”: Ibid., 161.
“scarcely able to manage the ship”: Waxell, The American Voyage, 107.
“now utilized fruitlessly tacking up and down”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 63.
“the more furious was the subsequent gale”: Ibid., 64.
“in the water, however, the whole animal appeared red, like a cow”: Ibid.
a full-grown bachelor fur seal or a young northern fur seal: See Dean Littlepage, Steller’s Island: Adventures of a Pioneer Naturalist in Alaska.
“‘by the shortest road but in the longest way’”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 68.
“drizzly,” “wet,” “heavy,” “rainy,” “foggy,” and “thick”: “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:121–127.
“no one should say anything about having seen land”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 69.
“the quantities of kelp floating from that direction”: Ibid.
“a depth of 90 fathoms at the most”: Ibid., 75.
“they could see no farther than nature and experience permitted them”: Ibid., 74.
“in case of head winds we should not suffer extremely”: “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:138.
“the honor of the expected discovery”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 77.
“finally through standing become salt water”: Ibid.
“The water is good, fill up with it!”: Ibid., 78.
“could at any rate use it for cooking”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 109.
“so that we might sail out back into the open sea”: Ibid.
“answerable in the future for not investigating it”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 110; Müller, Bering’s Voyages, 106.
“I had been kept away from his company”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 87.
“had gone wrong and had brought misfortune”: Ibid., 88.
“Americans received with great pleasure”: “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:148.
“a sacrifice or a sign of good friendship”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 92.
“strong and stocky yet fairly well proportioned”: Ibid., 96.
“and I am sure the most eminent of them all”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 113.
“Kamchadals, however, consider such delicacies”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 94.
“where it would have been wrecked on the rocks”: Ibid.
“letting go of everything in their hands”: Ibid., 95.
“ordered not to use force against them in any way whatever”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 119.
“the nostalgia of the naval men would not permit”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 99.
CHAPTER 9. THE SCOURGE OF THE SEA
“drifted on the rocks and been wrecked”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 87.
“serviceable against scurvy and asthma, our commonest cases”: Ibid., 85.
“such quantity of antiscorbutic herbs as would be enough for all”: Ibid.
“the preservation of my own self without wasting another word”: Ibid., 86.
“as to draw their limbs close to their Thyghs, and some rotted away”: George Anson, A Voyage Round the World in the Years 1740–1744, 91.
“restoring us to our wonted strength”: See ibid., 76–83.
“vegetables and fruit his only physic”: Heaps, Log of the Centurion, 132.
“putrid gums, the spots and lassitude, with weakness of their knees”: James Lind, A Treatise of the Scurvy, 191. The discussion of his experiment is contained on pages 191–193.
“do not know whether they are going too quickly or too slowly”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 120.
“any moment something might come to finish us off”: Ibid.
“altogether exhausted from scurvy”: See “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:167–194.
“expecting every moment the last stroke and death”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 115.
“very many were heard to complain of hitherto unwonted disorders”: Ibid., 106.
“unable to move either their hands or their feet, let alone use them”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 121.
“that it could be greater or that we should be able to stand it out”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 115.
“often from opposite directions”: Ibid., 116.
“the curses piled up during ten years in Siberia prevented any response”: Ibid.
“always in danger and uncertainty”: Waxell, The American Voyage, 120.
“kept the men in fairly good fettle”: Ibid., 121.
“rather die than let life drag on in that wretched fashion”: Ibid., 123.
“died of scurvy the grenadier Andrei Tretyakov”: “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:167.
“the cold, dampness, nakedness, vermin, fright, and terror”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 121.
“which we may have sailed past at night and in foggy weather”: Ibid., 124.
“would assuredly all together have found our graves in the waves”: Ibid., 125.
“hither and thither at the whim of the winds and waves”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 123.
“he had to be replaced by another in no better case than he”: Ibid., 122.
“always been scorned before the disaster”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 125.
“find the means to continue our voyage”: Waxell, The American Voyage, 123.
“we were utterly wretched”: Ibid.
“the tar bitterness cured them of scurvy”: “Report on the Voyage of the St. Paul,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:319.
“the crew should have daily two cups of wine”: Ibid.
“so much noise that we could not make out what was said”: Ibid., 320.
“no harm might come to them from us”: “Journal of the St. Paul,” in ibid., 303.
“they were afraid we might attack them”: Ibid., 304.
“holding them up, I invited them to come near”: Ibid.
“the third man, who equally insisted on a knife”: Ibid., 305.
“proves that their conscience is not highly developed”: Ibid.
“we attempted to get away from where we stood”: “Report on the Voyage of the St. Paul,” in ibid., 320.
“It was a narrow escape”: Ibid.
“the color of the water was green”: “Journal of the St. Paul,” in ibid., 306.
“my mind did not leave me”: “Report on the Voyage of the St. Paul,” in ibid., 322.
“For that purpose a larger crew is necessary”: Ibid., 326.
“as the officers are dead”: Ibid., 323.
“my teeth are loose in my gums”: Ibid.
no means to replace or repair any of the deficiencies: See ibid.
Part Four. Nowhere
CHAPTER 10. ISLAND OF THE BLUE FOXES
“scarcely possible to manage the ship”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 129.
Siberian soldier Ivan Davidov perished: See “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:208.
“we think this land is Kamchatka”: Ibid.
“all thanked God heartily for this great mercy”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 129.
“they were going to care for their health and take a rest”: Ibid.
“we are not half a mile off”: Ibid., 230.
“while Avacha is two degrees farther south”: Ibid., 131.
“[W]e have little fresh water”: “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:209.
“our provisions and water were gone”: Ibid., 210.
“he would let his head be cut off”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 133.
“therefore I would rather not say anything”: Ibid., 134.
“in order to save the ship and men”: “Log of the St. Peter,” in Bering’s Voyages, by Golder, 1:210.
“Perhaps God would also help us to keep the ship”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 125.
“not knowing whither their fumbling will lead them”: Ibid., 124.
“threatened to strike against the bottom”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 135.
“[T]wice the ship bumped on rocks”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 125.
“seized with the fear of death”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 135.
“A disaster has befallen our ship!”: Ibid., 136.
“without ceremony, neck and heels into the sea”: Ibid., 137.
“as if death in fresh water would be more delightful!”: Ibid., 135.
“all at once quiet and delivered from all fear of stranding”: Ibid., 137.
“he himself was as pale as a corpse”: Ibid., 136.
“God’s miraculous, merciful assistance”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 126.
“most important thing now is to save the men”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 137.
“even do something to help our own recovery”: Waxell, The American Expedition, 200.
“we were on an island surrounded by the sea”: Steller, Steller’s Journal, 140.
“the unjust conduct of various persons”: Ibid., 141.
Island of the Blue Foxes Page 29
