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unqualified praise. Nevertheless, all of these complaints
and accusations caused Bering much trouble and vexation.
The Admiralty, hard pressed by the Senate, found it
difficult to furnish the necessary means for the continuation
of the expedition, and treated Bering severely and
unreasonably. It lacked the view which personal examination
gives. It was beset with deceitfulness and circumvention,
and its experiences led it to take the worst for granted.
Hence, it sent Bering one message after the other
reprehensive of his course. It threatened to fine him, to
court-martial him, to reduce him, and, in 1737, it even
went so far as to deprive him of his supplemental salary,
which was withheld several years.[1] Bering defended
himself with the bitterness of despair. In his reports he gave
the most solemn assurances of his perseverance and fidelity
to duty, and the most detailed accounts of all difficulties.
He declared upon his honor that he was unable to see any
other means or resources than those he had resorted to. He
even appealed at last to the testimony of the chiefs of the
various expeditions and all the subordinate officers. He
was not believed. The Admiralty showed its lack of tact
by letting Chirikoff investigate a series of charges against
him. Furthermore, in spite of Bering’s most urgent
representations, Pissarjeff continued to retain his position in
Okhotsk; and, although the government threatened the
Siberian authorities with the sternest punishments, still
the latter only very inactively participated in the work of
the expedition.
Sokoloff gives a very repulsive picture of Bering’s
assistants. On account of the discomforts of the journey
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