The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. II., No. 2, May, 1890Various
Science
The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. II., No. 2, May, 1890
Various
Geography -- Periodicals
existence of the American mainland in that direction and Synd had
landed upon it. This suggestion is not unimportant in connection with
the subsequent conduct of Bering and will be referred to again in its
proper connection. The further fact that all early printed versions of
Bering's list of positions, refer to the modern Diomedes only as the
island of _St. Demetrius_ and that this day was the festival of that
obscure saint, lends further confirmation to the above suggestions.
[Footnote 12: Lauridsen gets over the discrepancy by putting the word
"still" before "seen" (Am. Ed., p. 41), but there is nothing in the
original sources to confirm this view of the matter.]
Aug. 15/26. The _Gabriel_ appears to have continued to sail in a
northeasterly direction until three o'clock in the afternoon, having
been aided by the current to the extent of 8¾ miles and sailed 65
miles; many whales were seen and the depth averaged between 23 and 36
fathoms. Since the 13th the water had appeared whitish or discolored.
The wind was moderate and the weather cloudy. Between noon and three
o'clock the vessel made seven miles against a head wind. The position
of the _Gabriel_ at that time was estimated to be in north latitude 67°
18' and 30° 17' east longitude from the town of Lower Kamchatka (C.
corrected).
_Note._--The nautical day Aug. 15 extending from noon of the 14th to
noon of the 15th is altogether omitted from the American translation of
Lauridsen's book. The position for the turning point estimated by
Chaplin is manifestly by dead reckoning, as the sky was cloudy. It was
not adopted in the list of positions published by Campbell in Harris'
Voyages nor on Bering's map. In the former the longitude he adopts is
27° 37' east of Lower Kamchatka fort, and this agrees exactly with the
point on the coast in Du Halde's engraving of Bering's map where the
mountains cease to be put down near the shore, the point on the north
coast of Siberia where Lauridsen, and Chaplin as quoted by him, say
Bering did not go, and the point which has been generally regarded as
Bering's farthest!
If we apply the distance and direction from Chaplin's journal to the
course of the _Gabriel_ platted from his preceding data, literally, it
will put the turning point of the voyage in N. latitude 67° 32' and E.
longitude 193° 37' or thereabouts, which is about thirty-five miles off
the American coast southwest from Cape Seppings. But if we do this the
position is far from agreeing with Chaplin's. By applying the
hypothetical correction which we have heretofore used, the position
would be in latitude 67° 24' and E. longitude 193° 15' from Greenwich
or 31° east from Lower Kamchatka fort, agreeing more nearly with
Chaplin. On the other hand the position off Cape Seppings agrees better
with Chaplin's figures for the remainder of the day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account