ersburg because there was
no Gamaland. Bering, himself, undertook the voyage to America. All
the month of {19} May, council after council had been held at Avacha
Bay to determine which way Bering's two ships should sail. By the vote
of this council, Bering, the commander, was compelled to abide; and the
mythical Gamaland proved his evil star.

The maps of the D'Isles, the famous geographers, contained a Gamaland;
and Louis la Croyere d'Isle, relative of the great map maker, who had
knocked about in Canada and was thought to be an authority on American
matters, was to accompany Chirikoff, Bering's first lieutenant. At the
councils, these maps were hauled out. It was a matter of family pride
with the D'Isles to find that Gamaland. Bering and Chirikoff may have
cursed all scientists, as Cook, the great navigator, cursed savants at
a later day; but they must bow to the decision of the council; and the
decision was to sail south-southeast for Gamaland. And yet, there
could have been no bitterness in Bering's feelings; for he knew that
the truth must triumph. He would be vindicated, whatever came; and the
spell of the North was upon him with its magic beckoning on--on--on to
the unknown, to the unexplored, to the undreamed. All that the
discoveries of Columbus gave to the world, Bering's voyage might give
to Russia; for he did _not_ know that the La Verendryes of New France
had already penetrated west as far as the Rockies; and he did know that
half a continent yet lay unexplored, unclaimed, on the other side of
the Pacific.

{20}

[Illustration: Map of Course followed by Bering.]

But with boats that carried only one hundred casks of water, and
provisions for but five months, the decision to sail south-southeast
was a deplorable waste of precious time. It would lead to the Spanish
possessions, not to the unknown North. On Bering's boat, the _St.
Peter_, was a crew of seventy-seven, Lieutenant Waxel, second in
command, George William Steller, the famous scientist, Bering's friend,
on board. On the _St. Paul_, under the stanch, level-headed Russian
lieutenant, Alexei Chirikoff, were seventy-six men, with La Croyere
d'Isle as astronomer. Not the least {21} complicating feature of the
case was the personnel of the crews. For the most part, they were
branded criminals and malcontents. From the first they had regarded
the Bering expedition with horror. They had joined it under compulsion
for only six years; an