The island between Cape Shelaginski and East Cape off the northern coast, on Bering's map, is omitted by D'Anville. The Kamchatkan peninsula in latitude 56° is represented to have a width of 180 miles, while Bering made it 270 miles.
A most important contribution to the subject appeared in Müller's Historical Collections known as the "Sammlung Russische Geschichte" and published at St. Petersburg (Kayserl. Academie der Wissenschaften, 1732-64. 8°. Nine volumes.) Des dritten Bandes (erstes, zweytes und drittes Stück, pp. 1-304, 1758) contains the original account of the Russian Voyages toward America from which the work of Jefferys has, with some errors and omissions, been translated. As far as regards Bering's first voyage, there is only one error of consequence made by Jefferys, which will be noted in its place. This book is extremely rare, and the only copy in America which I have been able to find after much enquiry, is in the library of the Smithsonian Institution.
The first volume of this series has the title
"Eröffnung eines Vorschlages zu Verbesserung der Russischen Historie Durch den Druck eines Stückweise herauszugebenden Sammelungen von allerly zu den Umstanden und Begebenheiten dieses Reichs gehorigen Nachrichten. St. Petersburg, bey der Keyserl. Academie der Wissenschaften, 1732."
The succeeding volumes have the running title "Sammlung Russische Geschichte" with the number of the parts subjoined but no other title-page.
The account of the Russian Voyages is stated by Müller to have been prepared at the direction of the Empress and endorsed by the Academy of Sciences. It contains invaluable material on the early explorations, which, if it had not been for Müller's painstaking researches, would have been totally lost, as the archives of Yakutsk from whence the data were derived by Müller were subsequently destroyed by fire. The errors which occur in it are chiefly due to Müller's endeavor to utilize the inexact geographical data of the Promyschleniks and Cossacks by combining them with the less detailed but more precise observations of later observers. In this attempt he added many valuable details to the charts, but at the same time introduced several errors. The exaggerated distances reported by the first explorers who were unable to correct their estimates by observations of precision, distort those parts of the map due to their reports. The peninsula of Aliaska becomes hugely exaggerated as does the Shelagskoi promontory on the Arctic Sea. But no unprejudiced person can read Müller's account without perceiving his great caution in accepting unreservedly these imperfect contributions, the really important additions which he made to cartography, the preciousness of the facts which he rescued from oblivion, and his desire to be fair to everybody.
The insinuations of malice and of a desire to injure Bering by means of this account given by Müller, which Lauridsen attributes to the latter, appear to be entirely the product of a suspicious temperament and an excited imagination. Certainly I have seen nothing anywhere cited which lends to such suspicions any tint of probability. The facts cited in support of them can easily be otherwise explained, if one desires to view the subject judicially, and for the most part are not quite thoroughly understood by the Danish author.
One error upon which the latter lays great stress, is due to a manipulation of the record, originated or at least adopted by Bering himself, and which is incorporated in the map and report which all authors agree proceeded directly from Bering's own hand.
The next map of importance was issued by the Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg in 1754. It was made under the inspection of Gerhard Friedrich, Staatsrath von Müller, who revised and corrected it subsequently, when an edition dated 1758 was issued. This map comprised the geographical results of the great Siberian expedition sent out by the Russian government; of Bering's voyages; and of the records of the hunters (Promishleniks) and traders in northeastern Siberia preserved in the archives of Yakutsk. The sources of this map are fully explained by Müller in the "Russian Discoveries" (Jefferys' translation, p. 108 et seq.). I have not been able to examine a copy of the original map, and have therefore relied on the English version of it which is to be found in Jefferys' translation, second edition, London, 1764.
Among the improvements introduced on this map may be specified, the correction of the shores of the Okhotsk Sea, and Gulf of Penjina, the correcter location of the mouth of the Anadyr river and its estuary, the introduction of the results of the voyages of Gvosdeff, Bering and Chirikoff to the northwest coast of America, and a multitude of details relating to northeastern Siberia. The island of St. Deomid (Diomede) is not represented though its name appears on the 65th parallel in Bering Strait. The island may have been on the original map and carelessly omitted by Jefferys' engraver on his copy. Among the errors, or rather mistaken hypotheses of others, which are suggested in this map by dotted lines, are the extension westward to 174° E. of Greenwich, of the peninsula of Aliaska which is also given a wholly uncalled-for width; and the northward extension of the coast on each side of Bering Strait. In the former case the cartographer was misled by the errors of the map of Bering and Chirikoff's last voyage and rumors reported by other navigators; and in the second case he followed Bering in adopting an erroneous position and exaggerated form for the coast eastward from Koliuchin Bay, due to the uncorrected sketches of the Cossacks and traders. The northern extension of the American coast opposite, was purely hypothetical and for this Müller must be held responsible. Many of the western Aleutians are exaggerated in size and erroneous in position but the chart of Bering's last voyage, and the exaggerated reports of the hunters who followed him, must be held responsible for this, in the main.