Kamchatka.

The commander was confined to his cabin by illness, and the crew
suffered severely from scurvy. "At one period," says Steller, "only
ten persons were capable of duty, and they were too weak to furl the
sails, so that the ship was left to the mercy of the elements. Not
only the sick died, but those who pretended to be healthy fainted and
fell down dead when relieved from their posts."

In this condition the navigators were drifted upon a rocky island,
where their ship went to pieces, but not until all had landed. Many of
the crew died soon after going on shore, but the transfer from the
ship appeared to diminish the ravages of the scurvy. Commander Bering
died on the 8th of December, and was buried in the trench where he
lay. The island where he perished bears his name, but his grave is
unmarked. An iron monument to his memory was recently erected at
Petropavlovsk.

No human dwellers were found on the island. Foxes were numerous and
had no fear of the shipwrecked mariners. "We killed many of them,"
Steller adds, "with our hatchets and knives. They annoyed us greatly,
and we were unable to keep them from entering our shelters and
stealing our clothing and food." The survivors built a small vessel
from the wreck, and succeeded in reaching Avatcha in the following
summer. "We were given up for dead," says the historian, "and the
property we left in Kamchatka had been appropriated by strangers."

The reports concerning the abundance of fur-bearing animals on
Bering's Island and elsewhere, induced private parties to go in search
of profit. Various expeditions were fitted out in ships of clumsy