[12] Journal St. Petersburg.
[13] Pallas Reise. Part III. p. 137.
[14] Pallas Reise.
[15] S. R. G. V. III.
[16] The reader will find an account of this conquest by Yermac in Part II. Chap. I.
[17] There seems a want of connection in this place, which will be cleared up by considering, that, by the conquest of Siberia, the Russians advanced to the shores of the Eastern Ocean, the scene of the discoveries here alluded to.
[18] Beering had already made several expeditions in the sea of Kamtchatka, by orders of the crown, before he undertook the voyage mentioned in the text.
In 1728, he departed from the mouth of the Kamtchatka river, in company with Tschirikoff. The purport of this voyage was to ascertain, whether the two Continents of Asia and America were separated; and Peter I. a short time before his death, had drawn up instructions with his own hand for that purpose. Beering coasted the Eastern shore of Siberia as high as latitude 67° 18´; but made no discovery of the opposite Continent.
In 1729, he set sail again for the prosecution of the same design; but this second attempt equally failed of success.
In 1741, Beering and Tschirikoff went out upon the celebrated expedition (alluded to in the text, and which is so often mentioned in the course of this work) towards the coasts of America. This expedition led the way to all the important discoveries since made by the Russians.