From Captain Chirikoff there has been received by the Admiralty a report from Okhotsk with an accompanying copy of a proposition laid before you by Chirikoff, suggesting measures for a more speedy completion of the Kamchatka expedition under your charge. As no steps had been taken by you in this direction as late as May 8 of the same year, the Admiralty has concluded to demand an answer from you, if any plans have been made on the basis of Chirikoff's proposition, and if, contrary to our expectations, nothing has been done, we desire to know why,—since, according to the orders issued to you Feb. 21, 1737, you were instructed to show zeal and solicitude for the activity of the expedition, and that any neglect on your part would make you liable to the same punishment as that suffered by Lieutenants Muravjeff and Pauloff for negligence in conducting expeditions entrusted to them.[96]
(These officers were reduced to the rank of ordinary sailors.)
According to Bering's reports there were engaged in the Great Northern Expedition, excluding the Academists and the crew on the White Sea expedition, the following number of men:
| In the year 1737 | 1738 | 1739 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From the Admiralty | 259 | 254 | 256 |
| From Siberia | 324 | 320 | 320 |
| Total | 583 | 574 | 576 |
45. To an inquiry directed to the Russian Admiralty asking the reason for Bering's long stay in Yakutsk, Admiral Th. Wessalgo has given me the following information:
"In Yakutsk, which was the base of operations for the whole expedition, Bering was to secure wood, iron, and other materials for the building of the necessary ships, and, what is most important, he was to secure provisions, of which a yearly supply of 16,000 poods was necessary. Although the furnishing of provisions had been assigned to the Siberian authorities, they did nothing, in spite of urgent and repeated demands; hence Bering had to undertake this work himself. Moreover, the immense amount of materials and provisions collected here was to be sent to Okhotsk, a task which presented insurmountable obstacles: the country was a wild and desolate region, the local authorities refused their co-operation in promoting the enterprise, there was constant contention and disagreement among the various officers in charge, who were more concerned in their own personal interests than in the common weal, and Bering himself—was a weak character."
46. Stuckenberg: Hydrographie des russischen Reiches, II.—Krasheninikoff: Kamtschatka.—Pallas: N. Nord, Beiträge, IV.—Sarycheff: Reise, etc.—Zapiski, etc.: IX., 331.—Schuyler: Peter the Great, II., 544.
47. On account of the Chukchee war, D. Laptjef was to go from Kolyma to Anadyr and from there send word to Bering for a vessel or to go himself to Kamchatka for it,—in either case he was to sail around the northeast point of Asia, and reach the mouth of the Kolyma. When he, in 1741, arrived at Anadyr, Bering had departed for America, and hence he could do no more than build some boats, by means of which he, in 1742, charted the lower course of the Anadyr, and returned in 1743 to Yakutsk. Zapiski, etc.: IX., pp. 314-327.—Beiträge, XVI., pp. 121-122.
48. Baer says: Es hätte dieser Expedition auch die volle Anerkennung nicht fehlen können, die man ihnen jetzt erst zollen muss, nachdem die verwandte Nordküste von Amerika nach vielfachen Versuchen noch immer nicht ganz bekannt worden ist. Auch hätten wir den Britten zeigen können, wie eine solche Küste aufgenommen werden muss, nämlich in kleinen Fahrzengen, zwar mit weniger Comfort, aber mit mehr Sicherheit des Erfolges.—Beiträge, XVI., 123.
Middendorff: Reise, etc., IV., Part I., 49, says: Mit gerechtem Stolze dürfen wir aber in Erinnerung rufen, dass zu seiner Zeit Russland im Osten des Nordens durch seine "Nordische Expedition" nicht minder Grosses vollbracht, als die Britten im Westen.