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a splendid result, when we remember that the objects of
the expedition were entirely of a nautico-geographical
character. Bering’s determinations of longitude in East
Siberia were the first made there, and through them it
was ascertained that the country extended thirty
degrees farther toward the east than was supposed. His
observations were based on two eclipses of the moon in
Kamchatka in the years 1728 and 1729,[1] and although
they were not entirely accurate, they vary so little, that
the general position of the country was established.
And hence we are not surprised to find that no one has
given Bering a better testimonial than his great and
more fortunate successor, Captain Cook. He says:[2] “In
justice to the memory of Bering, I must say, that he has
delineated the coast very well, and fixed the latitude and
longitude of the points better than could be expected
from the methods he had to go by.” Yes, Captain Cook
found it necessary to defend Bering against the only
official report of the expedition which at that time had
appeared, and more than once he puts in proper relief
Bering’s sober investigations, as compared with Müller’s
fancies and guesses. Before the time of Cook, it had
been customary to depreciate Bering’s work;[3] but since
that time Admiral Lütke, a hundred years after Bering’s
death, has defended his reputation, and Berch, who very
carefully perused his journals, repeatedly expresses his
admiration for the accuracy with which the nautical
computations were made. This statement is made after
a comparison of results with those obtained by Captain
Cook.
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