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appeal to the Admiralty to recall the expedition. Here
was a situation that Bering’s enemies thought favorable
for their intrigues. The departments of the Admiralty
were deluged with complaints and accusations. The
Siberian authorities, of whom Bering so justly had
complained, answered with counter-charges. He was not
familiar with the country, they said; he made unreasonable
demands, and did not know how to avail himself of means
at hand. Pissarjeff told the government that Bering and
Spangberg had undertaken this expedition into Siberia
simply to fill their own pockets,—that they accepted
bribes, carried on a contraband liquor traffic, and had
already accumulated great wealth. The exiled naval
officer, Kasanssoff, reported that there was entire lack of
system in the enterprise; that everything was done at an
enormous expenditure, and that nothing at all would be
accomplished. Lieutenant Plauting, one of Bering’s own
officers, who had been reduced for neglect of duty, accused
Bering of being arbitrary, extravagant, and fond of show
at the expense of the government. He accused him,
furthermore, of embezzlement on his first expedition, in
1725, and alleged that Bering’s wife had returned to
Kussia with a fortune, and had in Yakutsk abducted two
young women.[1]
History has not confirmed a single one of these charges.
As for sacrifice, disinterestedness, and zeal, Bering not
only rises far above his surroundings—which is, perhaps,
not saying very much—but his character is clean and
unsullied. Even so petty a person as Sokoloff, who, in
other respects, does not spare him, has for his character
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