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but did not venture an attack or approach within range of the small arms with which the crew were provided. Having no more boats with which to effect a landing, Chirikoff was powerless so far as attempting a rescue was concerned, and on the 27th weighed anchor and set sail for Petropaulovsky, leaving the unfortunate men to their fate. He sighted numerous islands on his way back, undoubtedly those of the Aleutian chain, and on the 9th of October re-entered the harbor whence he had sailed, having lost twentyone of his less than a hundred men, among them both of his Lieutenants and de la Croyere, the last of whom died of scurvy the last day of the voyage.

The chronicler of the voyage relates that Bering in the St. Peter was driven blindly through fog and tempestuous seas till, on the 18th of July he found himself in calm water near shore at the foot of a low, desolate bluff, beyond which was a range of towering mountains, probably the St. Elias Alps. Here he remained only six hours, not permitting any of his people to go ashore, and then sailed westward, into Prince William Sound, where he refitted his ship, took on a supply of fresh water, and then sailed through what has since been named Shelikoff Strait, on the west side of Kadiak Island, to the Shumagin group, so named in honor of one of his crew, who, having

died at sea, was buried there. In the meantime, Bering, being afflicted with scurvy, had surrendered the command to his Lieutenant, Waxel. Soon after leaving Shumagin Island a terrific storm drove the ship far out to sea, and for weeks all on board, many of whom were suffering with the disease which had prostrated the commander, endured almost incredible hardships. The supply of water and provisions in the meantime ran short, and the men became so weakened by hunger and disease that they were unable to manage or direct the course of the ship, which for weeks drifted helplessly under bare poles, first in one direction and then in another, until on the 4th of November a yet more violent gale drove them ashore on an unknown and uninhabited coast. The vessel was completely wrecked, but those on board succeeded in saving themselves and a few articles which were afterwards found indispensable to their final escape. Pits were dug in the sand and partially covered with parts of the sails secured from the wreck, and in one of these, on the 8th of December, Bering breathed his last. They had been cast ashore on one of the islands of the Commander Group, so named by Waxel in honor of his commander, while at the same time he gave the name of Bering to the island on which he died. Here they remained all winter, subsisting at first on

the carcass of a whale which had been cast ashore, and subsequently on the flesh of sea-otters, a considerable number of which they succeeded in taking, with occasionally a sea-cow, an animal then plentiful in those waters, but now extinct.

In the spring they began the construction of an open boat from the timbers of the wrecked ship, and on the 16th of August set sail for Petropaulovsky, which place they reached ten days later. During the time they were on the island Steller succeeded in collecting nearly 1,000 seaotter skins, which he sold for one hundred roubles each. This greatly excited the cupidity of the Russian and Siberian traders and led to the fitting out of numerous other expeditions planned to secure the rich trade thus brought to their attention.

In 1742 Chirikoff made a second voyage and discovered the Island of Attu, the most westerly of the Aleutian chain.

Yakoff Chuproff, in 1745, visited Agatu Island, where on the slightest pretext his men killed two natives, in acknowledgment of a kindly reception which had been accorded him. Sailing thence, he returned to Attu, where a party of ten of his men went ashore and discovered several habitations, in one of which their commander picked a quarrel, killed fifteen of the natives, and then took possession of the women.

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