[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.