Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-08-30

III NtcSttS NOuCtTutu dTe dl Sundu III
and no interest is attached to them, except
for the issues involved The Black Diamond
and the Triumph are only two-masted
schooners; the revenue cutter Richard Rush
is l6l feet long, 26 feet broad, AK feet deep,
305 tons burden and was built in 1874 in
Boston. She carries four guns The schooner
Minnie and the Pathfinder, both of which
were seized after the Black Diamond and the
Triumph, were sent to Sitka- The interests
involved are national, and at this time some
thing % the sealing ground will be of
interest.
In TBS, under the commission of Peter the
Great, an expedition was organized, crossed
the continent from St Petersburg to Kan
chatka, where a vessel was constructed,
and in July, 172S, sailed for explorations to
north and east. That vessel was the Gabriel,
and her master was Vitus Behring. On the
expedition Behring crossed the waters of the
Sea of Kamchatka, and discovered and
named the island st. Lawrence. In 1888 a
second expedition was organized under the
auspices of the government and the commits
sion of Queen Anne, and with Behring, raised
to the rank of admiral, at its head, repeated
the journey across Siberia, and in June, 1741,
sailed for new discoveries, In July of that
year Behring sighted the American CONT
nent, some authorities claim at the fifty
eighth degree of north latitude, others at the
fftieth degree. The latter is probably cor
rect, as it rests on the authority of Stellar,
who accompanied the expedition, and Behr-
ing undoubtedly sailed as far south along
the American coast as the forty-ffth paral-
lei, in accordance with his Instructions He
discovered several of the Aleutian islands
and the Komanderoff group or couplet. On
the larger of this couplet, which bears his
name, he died on Dec. 10, 174l, after having
suffered shipwreck.
Behring's discoveries started an interest in
the new region, and in 1743, 1745, 1747 and
l749 a CosSack sergeant named Bossof made
four consecutive voyages from the mainland
of kamchatka to the Behring and Copper isl
ands in vessels of his own construction. In
l745 a sailor named Nevidchinof, who had
served under Behring, crossed the channel
which connects the North Pacific ocean with
the Behring sea and discovered the islands
of Attoo and Agatoo, the former of which is
now a boundary mark. In l744 a small Rus
sian merchant vessel reached the island of
Atka and some of the smaller islands sur
rounding It
Ten years later Glottoff advanced as far as
the island of Ounak, and subsequently dis
covered Ounalaska and the whole of that
group of the Aleutian chain known as the
Fox Islands He made O map Of his explora-
tons, which includes eight islands east Of
Ounalaska-
In l760 a Russian merchant, Adreian Toll
styk, landed on the island of Adak, explored
1t and some of the surrounding islands and
made a report of his discoveries to the Rus
sian crown This group was named after
him, the Adreian stands. The next year a
ship belonging to a Russian merchant named
Bechevin made the coast of the Alirska pc
ninsula, and in the autumn of 1872 Glottof,
who discovered Ounalaska and the Fox
group, reached the island of Kodiak. In l7GS
two captains of the imperial navy, Krenitzen
and Levashoff, sailed from KaInchatka in
two government veSso.a and the former
passed the succeeding winter at Kodiak and
the latter at Ounalaska. Twenty-Five years
succeeding the death of Behring the Russian
ensign waved along the entire Aleutian chain,
from Behring Island to the mainland of the
North American continent.
Then came the seal fisheries. Expeditions
stimulated by the large remuneration of the
fur traffic, were constantly fitted out at the
ports along the shores of the Sea of OkotsE
and the mouth of the AMOR river for voy-
ages of trade and exploration in the new
country. In lT2 there were not less than
twenty five companies, employing a consider
able fleet of small vessels. Under the aus
pices Of me of these companies Shekeloff, q
merchant of Bylsk, founded the first perma
nent settlement on the Island Of Kodiak il
1874. From this point exploring expedition
were sent out, one of which crossed the strait
between Kodiak and the mainland which
bears Shekeloff's name, and explored the coast
of the mainland as far as Cooks Inlet, upor
the shores of which, in 1856, a settlement wal
established.