Just before their last bird was devoured, they sighted the north of Ireland, where they landed, and later made their way to Plymouth. [Sidenote: _BAFFIN_] Following the example of Hudson, and with the purpose of further discovery, Baffin set sail in 1616 and explored the vast bay eight hundred miles long and three hundred miles wide that bears his name. He saw Lancaster Sound and brought home observations and reports of latitude and longitude, the accuracy of which was doubted for many years, but has since been verified and accredited to him. Equally tragic with the fate of Henry Hudson was the last voyage of that great Russian commander, Behring, whose life was one long record of heroic achievement. He had seen many parts of the world while serving under Peter the Great, by whom he was given the commission of lieutenant in 1707, and captain-lieutenant in 1710. In a previous voyage he had explored the straits which bear his name. These straits had been navigated nearly a century before by Deshneff, one of the early Russian explorers who made several voyages between 1646 and 1648. His great object was to round to the mouth of the Anadry River, and there form a traders’ settlement. Deshneff and his companions were the first navigators to sail from the Arctic Sea to the Pacific, and proved, at a much earlier period than is generally supposed, that the continents of America and Asia are not united. Behring set sail June 4, 1741, with two vessels from Kamtschatka in the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul. Steering eastward toward the American continent, he sighted land the 18th of July, in latitude 58° 28´ and 50° longitude, from Anatsda. Captain Tschirikov, who commanded this second boat, had seen the land a few days previously and, having determined to send some men ashore for investigation, the shallop and long-boat were manned with seventeen of the crew for this purpose. They never returned to the ship. Such a grave disaster determined Behring to send this vessel back to Kamtschatka. He proceeded on his voyage alone, hoping to reach as high latitude as 60°, but progress was slow, owing to the varied coast-line and the labyrinth of islands which border this vicinity. They fell in with a few natives, who had been on a fishing expedition, with whom they held some friendly intercourse. Progress continued to be retarded by calms and currents, and finally dirty weather set in early in September and raged in a violent storm for seventeen days. [Sidenote: _BEHRING_]