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in this barbaric country, and under the pressure of
ceaseless toil, a large number of the subordinates fell to
drinking and committing petty thefts; and the officers,
gathered as they were from all quarters of the world, are
described as a band of gruff and unruly brawlers. They
were always at sword’s points. Pronchisheff and
Lassenius, Chirikoif and Spangberg, the latter and Walton,
Plauting, Waxel, Petroff and Endoguroff, were
constantly wrangling, and at times most shameful scenes were
enacted. Our Russian author is not adverse to giving
Bering the principal blame for these dissensions which
cast a gloom on this worthy undertaking and impaired
the forces of the expedition. He repeatedly, and with
much force, accuses him of being weak, and in the
Imperial Marine this opinion seems yet to prevail.[1] Sokoloff says: “Bering was a well-informed man, eager for
knowledge, pious, kind-hearted, and honest, but altogether too
cautious and indecisive; zealous, persevering, and yet not
sufficiently energetic; well liked by his subordinates, yet
without sufficient influence over them,—too much
inclined to allow himself to be affected by their opinions
and desires, and not able to maintain strict discipline.
Hence, he was not particularly well qualified to lead this
great enterprise, especially in such a dark century and in
in such a barbaric country as East Siberia.” I do not
doubt that we here find some of the elements of Bering’s
character, but Sokoloff was much more of an archivist
than historian and student of human nature. In his long
accounts he never succeeds, by means of describing any
action or situation, in giving a psychological insight into
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