whale carcasses on, 228–229, 246
winter (1741–1742), 214–235
Bering Strait, 48, 50, 269–270
Betge, Matthias, 154
Billings, Joseph, 138
binomial nomenclature, 90
Bird Island, 162
birds, Steller’s observations on, 247
Blane, Gil, 172
blubber
sea cow, 251
whale, 163, 228–229, 246
blue foxes. See foxes
Bolshaya River, 105–106, 206
Bolshaya Zemlya, 55, 130, 184
Bolshaya Zemlya, 130
Bolsheretsk, 44, 98, 105, 113, 265–266
Bougainville, Louis Antoine de, 3
boyars, 10–11
burda, 255
Cape Elias, 139
Cape Suckling, 131
Catesby, Mark, 142
Catherine I (Empress of Russia), 23
Academy of Sciences and, 54
death, 55
First Kamchatka Expedition, 26, 36–37
personal appearance, 8 (fig.)
Catherine the Great (Empress of Russia), 271
Centurion, 169
Chaplin, Peter, 41
Chentsov, Osip, 193
Chikhachev, Lieutenant, 116, 183
China
Amur River annexation from, 98
trade with, 31, 267, 272
Chirikov, Aleksei
addition to First Kamchatka Expedition, 36–37
charting of Pacific coastline, 48
command of St. Paul, 107, 116, 120, 146
contact with Americans, 150–151
credit given for discovering America, 267, 268
death, 262
dissatisfaction with Bering, 94, 96
Golovin’s note to, 95
Great Northern Expedition, 4, 56, 58, 64
on halting the First Kamchatka Expedition, 49
loss of shore excursion boats and men (July 1741), 148–152
Pacific voyage to America, 146–156
on phantom islands, 115, 118
promotions, 51, 59, 262
relationship with Bering, 113
relationship with Spangberg, 93–95
report of Pacific voyage by, 184–185
return to Yakutsk for supplies, 44
scurvy, 183–185, 262
search for the St. Peter, 262
from St. Petersburg to Siberia on Great Northern Expedition, 74
from Tobolsk to Yakutsk on Great Northern Expedition, 75, 78
trading with Aleuts, 181–183
in Yakutsk on First Kamchatka Expedition, 41
in Yakutsk on Great Northern Expedition, 81
from Yakutsk to Okhotsk on Great Northern Expedition, 78
Chirikov Island, 144, 146, 153
chronometers, 191
Chugach, 134
Chukchi Inuit, 48, 50, 60, 161
Clark, William, 3
classification system, of Linnaeus, 90
clavichord, 77–78
clothing, Peter the Great reforms and, 12
Cook, James, 3, 25, 48, 66, 191
Copper Island, 196
Coronation Island, 148
Cossacks, 73, 109, 112, 114
Croyère, Louis Delisle de la, 93, 147
arrival in Yakutsk, 91
in Bolsheretsk, 106, 108
death, 184, 268
joining Great Northern Expedition, 63–64
on Pacific voyage, 117
planning for Pacific voyage, 114–115
Cruys, Cornelius Ivanovich, 28
Davidov, Ivan, 193
Davidson, George, 273
dead reckoning, 174, 192, 194, 196
Delisle, Joseph-Nicolas, 64, 114, 268
Dememtiev, Avram, 148–149
Dergachev, Ilya, 201
desertions
First Kamchatka Expedition, 41–43
Great Northern Expedition, 75–76, 92
Devier, Anton Manuilovitch, 101
Dezhnev, Semyon, 48, 269
dogsled caravan, 71 (fig.)
Dolgorukov, Vasiliy Lukich, 37
Dolgoruky, Ivan Alekseevich, 79
Dutch East India Company, 15–16, 19–20, 30
Dutch Golden Age, 20
Dutch Republic, 19–21
Dutch West India Company, 15–16
earthquake, Bering Island, 235
Elizabeth (Empress of Russia), 107–108, 261
Emelianov, Ivan, 201
energy, from waterwheels and windmills, 16
England
colonies of, 30
Peter the Great’s visit to, 13, 21–22
English East India Company, 15–16, 30
Enlightenment, 11
epilepsy, of Peter the Great, 13
Eselberg, Andreyan, 201
facial tics, of Peter the Great, 13, 19
farming, Russian economy and, 16
First Kamchatka Expedition, 25–52
Bering selection to lead, 26, 32
Bering’s report on, 56
desertions, 41–43
distance traveled by, 46–47
hardships on local economy/population, 51, 73
members of, 36
objectives of, 35
rescue mission, 43
return journey, 51
river travel, 37–40, 42
from St. Petersburg to Tobolsk, 37
supplies, 37, 40, 43
from Tobolsk to Yakutsk, 37–39
travel across Siberia, 33–36
from Yakutsk to Okhotsk, 40–44, 70 (fig.)
flora and fauna, study of, 3, 86, 89–90
Flora siberica (Gmelin), 91
Fog Island, 144
Fortuna, 44
foxes
assaults by, 2, 203–205, 211, 215
corpses eaten by, 2, 86, 204, 229
eating of, 223, 228
furs/pelts, 203, 270
last view of by St. Peter crew, 256
mindless slaughter of by St. Peter crew, 204
on Nagai Island, 160
sea-otter pelts tossed aside to, 207, 227
shelters bolstered by corpses of, 214, 222
Steller and, 199, 203–205, 209, 215, 223, 227, 239, 247
trap washed up on Bering Island, 209
France
alliance with Ottomans, 14
colonies of, 30
Frederick III (elector of Brandenburg), 18
fur seals, 237, 239–240, 245–246, 262
furs/pelts
fox, 203, 270
fur seal, 270
gambling and, 226–227
sea otter, 247–248, 255, 270–271
tax on Siberian, 33–34, 89
trade in, 270–272
Gama Land, 114–115, 117, 120, 150, 196, 219
gambling and, 224–227
Germany, Peter the Great visit to, 18–19
Gmelin, Johann Georg
arrival in Yakutsk, 91
dissatisfaction of, 91–93
Flora siberica, 91
joining Great Northern Expedition, 63
Steller and, 88–89, 93, 265
on workers, 92
Golder, F. A., 94
Golovin, Nikolai
Bering’s report to, 97
note to Chirikov, 95
planning for Great Northern Expedition, 58, 66–67
Goodenough, Samuel, 90
Great Embassy to Europe, 10–11, 14–22
behavior of Russian ambassadors, 16
in Dutch Republic, 19–21
in England, 21–22
in Germany, 18–19
members of, 17, 63–64, 74
recruitment of artisans and tradesmen, 22, 24
return to Moscow, 22
in Riga, 18
Great Northern Expedition, 71 (fig.)
Bering’s proposal for, 55–59
command structure, 59
cost, 3
demands on local population, 73, 74, 96–97
desertions, 75–76, 92
fate of participants after the expedition, 261–270
logistical problems, 72–75, 81, 93
members of, 59, 91
objectives, 4, 58, 60, 62
planning for, 59–67
quarreling factions, 85–101
ramifications of, 270
river travel, 75
scientific goals, 3–4, 62–65, 89
secrecy concerning, 267–268
size of, 3–4
St. Petersburg to Siberia, 72–84
supplies, 59–60, 64, 75, 82, 103, 113
from Tobolsk to Yakutsk, 75–76, 78
treatment of laborers, 109–110
as venomous circle of striving, conniving, and self-interest, 4–5
from Yakutsk to Okhotsk, 97–98, 101
See also Bering Island; Pacific voyage; St. Paul; St. Peter
Great Northern War, 18, 23–24, 28
Gvozdev, Mikhail S., 60–61
Hesselberg, Andreyan, 116
illness and death of, 216
at sea council on deciding to hasten return, 155
water retrieval from Nagai Island, 158–160
hunting
on Bering Island, 2, 189 (fig.), 237–240, 245–246, 270
of fur seals, 238–240, 245–246, 270
of sea cows, 250–252, 254
of sea otters, 226–227, 237, 270–271
Icy Sea, 35, 48, 79
Iakutsk. See Yakutsk
Ilim River, 39, 75
Ilimsk, 39
Imperial Guards, 13
interpreters
Chukchi, 161
Kamchatkan, 48, 117, 162–163, 165
Irkutsk, 34, 39, 74
Irtysh River, 37–38, 75
Ismailov, Lev, 31
Ivanov, Aleksei, 206, 237, 240
Ivanov, Alexei, 211
ivory, walrus, 270–271
Japan
Bering’s proposal of trade relations with, 57
promotion of trade with, 98
Spangberg expeditions to, 98–100
Kachikov, Joseph, 183
Kamchatka
Account of the Land of Kamchatka (Krasheninnikov), 70 (fig.)
crossing of peninsula, 44–45
dogsled caravan across, 71 (fig.)
new St. Peter as transport vessel to and from Okhotsk, 256
population, 45–46
promoting Russian settlement of, 4
terrain and climate, 45
See also First Kamchatka Expedition; specific locations within
Kamchatka River, 50, 57
Kayak Island, 131–138, 157
Ket River, 38
Kharitonov, Nikita, 177
Khitrov, Sofron, 116
Alaska coast and islands, 143–144, 152
assessment of St. Peter (Jan 1742), 23, 233
Bering Island and, 205–206, 208–209, 211–212, 254
Bering Island sketch, 123 (fig.)
on fur seals, 246
gambling and, 226
Kayak Island, 131
Nadezhda command, 105, 107, 109, 111
return voyage, 178, 194–195, 197–198
sea council meetings, 139, 155, 194–195, 221
shore party at Turner and Nagai Islands, 158, 160–162
sketch of Bering Island, 123 (fig.)
Steller and, 161–162, 198, 202, 208, 212, 221, 226
Wingham Island, 132–134, 137
Khotyaintsov, Nikita, 211
Kiakhta, 272
Kirilov, Ivan, 58, 67, 95
Klyuchevskoy volcano, 47
Kodiak Island, 144, 152
Kolesov, Yakutskian, 108
Kolyma River, 48
Korb, Johann Georg, 16
Krasheninnikov, Stephan Petrovich
Account of the Land of Kamchatka (Krasheninnikov), 70 (fig.)
assigned to accompany Croyère, 93
on terrain from Yudoma Cross to Okhotsk, 81
working with Steller at Bolsheretsk, 108
Kremlin, 9 (fig.)
Kuril Islands, 60, 98, 100, 106, 114
Lagunov, Ivan, 120, 229
Lake Baikal, 39, 74, 78
Laptev, Kharlam, 80
Larinof, 101
Lassenius, Peter, 80
latitude, calculation of, 190
Lefort, Johann, 55
Leibniz, Gottfried, 54
Lena River, 38–39, 42, 57, 75–76, 78, 80
Lepekhin, Thomas, 142
on Bering Island, 198–203, 206–207, 239
hike from Avacha Bay to Bolsheretsk, 265
on Kayak Island, 133–136
on Nagai Island, 158
relationship with Steller, 206–207
scurvy, 206
sea cow dissection, 123 (fig.)
Steller’s Cave discovery, 239
Lewis, Meriwether, 3
Lind, James, 171–172
Linnaeus, Carolus, 90
London, Peter the Great’s visit to, 21–22
longitude, calculation of, 191–192
Lopukhina, Eudoxia, 11, 23
Louis XIV (King of France), 14
Lower Kamchatka Post, 45, 51, 195
Magellan, Ferdinand, 128
Maja River, 42
Makovsk, 38
Malaspina, Alessandro, 3
Messerschmidt, Brigitte, 88
Mikhailov, Peter. See Peter the Great
Misty Islands (Smeeton), 154
Mount Cgiginagak, 152
Mount St. Elias, 129–130, 129n
Müller, Gerhard Friedrich, 88
arrival in Yakutsk, 91
dissatisfaction of, 91–93
joining Great Northern Expedition, 62–63
official account of Great Northern Expedition, 268
on Steller’s importance to expedition, 217
Munker, 28
Nadezhda, 98, 105–107, 109
Nagai Island, 158, 161–162, 167
Narozhnitski, Antonij, 266
nature, cataloging of, 89–90
navigation, 190–192
Navy, Russian
Bering and, 28, 32
decision making, 113
Peter the Great and, 14, 16, 24, 26–28
Northeast Passage, 79
northern Manatee. See Steller’s sea cow
Ob River, 37–38, 57, 75, 78–79
Okhota River, 98, 105
Okhotsk, 270
First Kamchatka Expedition, 4, 34–35, 40–44, 51
Great Northern Expedition, 78, 82–84, 98, 100, 102–105
growth of, 272
new St. Peter as transport vessel to and from Kamchatka, 256
population of, 82
sailing by St. Paul and St. Peter to Avacha Bay, 106–107
sailing by St. Paul from Petropalovsk (July 1742), 262–263
shipbuilding at, 43–44, 98, 102–103, 244
Skornyakov-Pisarev as administrator in, 61–62, 65, 78, 82–84
Okhotsk River, 57
Okola-vaem River, 110
The Origin of Species (Darwin), 89
Orthodox Church, 11, 23, 34, 272
Osterman, Andrey, 58
ostrogs, 34, 46, 108
Ostvin, Nikita, 201
Ottoman Empire, 14
overhunting, on Bering Island, 226–227, 270
Ovtsin, Dmitry
on Bering Island, 224, 226, 232–233, 241–242
as Bering’s adjuvant, 195, 224
career after the expedition, 264–265
demotion of, 79, 94, 195
exploration of rivers and Arctic coast, 79–80
Pacific voyage to America
commemorate stamp, 189 (fig.)
Kayak Island, 131–138
preparation for, 110–117
St. Paul, 115–120, 146–152
St. Peter, 124–145
Paul I, 272
pelts, See furs
Peter II, 55
Academy of Sciences founding, 23, 53–54
beard laws and tax, 22
beard-trimming incident (1698), 9 (fig.), 11
currency reforms, 22
dislike of official or formal functions, 17
dress and personal-grooming reforms, 12, 22
exploration of Siberia, 30–32
Great Embassy to Europe, 10–11, 14–22
Great Northern Expedition, 3
Great Northern War, 18, 23–24
great purge, 12–13
illness and death, 24–26, 32, 36
interest in geography, 25
modernization/Westernization of Russia, 10–12, 14–16, 22–25, 53–54
navy and shipbuilding, 14–15, 19–22, 24, 26–28
personal appearance, 8 (fig.), 13–14, 23
personality traits, 11, 15, 22, 53
as Peter Mikhailov, 15, 17
St. Petersburg founding, 9 (fig.), 24
tobacco legalization, 23
Petropavlovsk, 262–263
Chirikov in, 185, 262
evolution of town, 112
fur trade and, 270
growth of, 272
naming of, 107
return of new St. Peter to, 257–259
St. Paul return to (October 1741), 177
St. Peter and St. Paul initial arrival at, 107
Waxell in, 263
“phantom Islands,” 115, 118
Piilse, Anna Christina, 29
Piilse, Eufemia, 29
Plautin, Lieutenant, 116, 183
playing cards, 224–226
Plenisner, Friedrich, 117
on Bering Island, 198–199, 201–204, 207, 239, 252
hike from Avacha Bay to Bolsheretsk, 265
on Nagai Island, 158
on Nagai island, 168
sea cow dissection, 123 (fig.)
sketches by, 252
Popkov, Vasili, 201
Popov, Alexei, 193
post offices, 105
Pronchishchev, V. M., 80
Prussia, 18
Riga, 18
river travel
First Kamchatka Expedition, 37–40, 42
Great Northern Expedition, 75
Romanov, Peter Alexeyevich. See Peter the Great (Emperor of Russia)
Roselius, Boris, 211
Russian America, 271–273
Russian America Company, 272
Russian court
under empress Anna, 55
western European view of behavior, 16–17
Safavid Empire, 14
salmonberry, 142
Sarychev, Gavril, 138
saturnan, 245
Saumarez, Philip, 171
Saunders, Thomas, 29, 66, 95
Savelev, Sidor, 150
science, in western Europe, 16, 20
scurvy, 167–173
in Age of Sail, 170–171
on Anson’s circumnavigation (1740–1744), 169–170
antiscorbutic plants, 168, 175, 198–200, 215, 217, 236
Bering and, 154, 167, 175, 218–219, 269
Bering Island and, 2, 86, 201, 206, 210–219, 223, 225–226, 228–231
causes and cures, 171–173
Chirikov and, 183–185, 262
fear of, 128, 171, 206
Hesselberg and, 216