GREAT EXPLORER WHO GAVE NAME TO BERING SEA

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6806, 9 January 1929, Page 5

GREAT EXPLORER WHO GAVE NAME TO BERING SEA

Discoveries in the Frozen North

REMARKABLE VOYAGE OF VITUS BERING

In the thrilling story of early geographical discovery in the frozen North, no name stands out more conspicuously than that of Vi*us Bering, the Danish-born navigator after whom the Bering Sea, as well as the strait separating the continents of Asia aid America, were fittingly christened (writes T. B. Fowler, in The Nav-.) Bering, who first, came into prominence as a seaman in the navv of Peter the Great, made the sea of Kamchatka, as the Bering-Sea was commonly known, peculiarly his own, in the sense that it constituted the centre of his explorations, and it was from there that he sailed on the great voyage which -resulted in the discovery of the Strait in 1728, exactly 200 years ago. Among the notablo anniversaries of the year, the bicentenary of this event claims particular attention bv virtue of the scientific and geographical importance of the achievement which it serves to commemorate.

Until Bering was entrusted with the command of this expedition by Tsar Peter from his death-bed, as a reward for his ability and daring in the navy, all that was known of this part of the northern seas was, for all practical purposes, comprised in what was regarded as the fable of a Cossack named Deschney, who, sailing from a. harbour in Siberia as early as 1648, claimed to have discovered that the two continents were not connected. Bering, setting out from a portion the east of Kamchatka, and following the coast northwards until, from the westward trending of the land, he believed that he had reached the northeast point of Asia, had the distinction of converting the supposed fable into fact.

From a very early period the mysterious frozen seas of the north had attracted the attention of adventurous mariners. Bering added potency to the lure, tho news of his discoveries capturing the imaginations of navigators and Governments alike, imparting to vhc fascination of voyages of discovery the stimulus of intensified rivalry. Fifty years later, the ('.nest for the long-discussed North-West passage, to which tremendous importance was at* tachcd, entered upon a new. phase with the appointment of Captain Cook tf the command of an expedition for the explicit purpose of endeavouring to find a way through from the northern Pacific to" the Atlantic. On this voyage, his third, and, unhappily, his last, Cook explored and accurately described the Bering Strait. One of the incidents of Cook's expedition stands out m clear historical perspective. He had to a considerable extent been compelled to rely upon Staelilin’s map of the new Northern Archipelago, but found it difficult to reconcile the drawings with his own observations. Especially was this the case with Tegard to what. Stachlin circumstantially described as the island of Alaschkn. At one time Cook confessed to having been led into the belief that ho had mistaken some part of the supposed island for the American continent and had missed the channel that separated them. “Restoring” America.

But lie was too sound a seaman, too thorough in his methods, and too much of a scientist, impressed with the imperative need for the strictest accuracy, to leave such a vital point open to' doubt, so he adopted prompt measures to determine the question, and, as he records in his journal, “restored the American Continent to- that spas.c which Stachlin had occupied with his imaginary island of Alaschka. Cook, in spite of his courage, determination and superlative skill, failed in his main purpose of finding the North-West Passage. It was left to the gallant McClure to accomplish this feat in 1850; but Cook penetrated further north through the Bering Sea than any previous known navigator, and it. is a remarkable fact that it was not until IS2G that Captain Bcechey eclipsed his wonderful record. Bering spent several busy years in explorations on the coasts of Kamchatka, Okhotsk, and Northern Siberia, braving fearful perils, suffering the severest handicaps, and adding considerably to existing geographical knowledge. But, like Franklin, he was doomed to perish at last on the scene of his proudest triumphs. In 1741 he left Okhotsk on his la.-.t voyage. Sailing towards the American continent and sighting land, he followed the coast-line northwards for some distance. His hopes of new discoveries ran high, but sickness among his crew, and a succession of severe storms which badlv buffeted his ship, compelled him to curtail his voyage. To crown his misfortunes he was wrecked on the desolate island of Avatcha, since known as Bering Island, and there died on December 19, 1741. Only a few of his crew escaped by means of a boat constructed from the wreckage of his shattered ship.

Seal Fishing Centre.

Bering found a grave befitting bi» reputations. He was buried in a veritable Viking’s tomb on a ridge of high Java rocks forming the western butt ress of the curved bridge of the Aleutian chain thrown by the volcanos of Alaska across the water to the great Kamchatka. Since his day the lands and seas he discovered have come into great prominence as affecting both America and Asia. Bering Island, bleak, barren, and inhospitable though it be, has long been one of the most important stations of the Alaska fur industry. Bering Sea has developed into one of the world’s chief seal centres; while Bering Strait, on the other hand, appeals to scientists as an important oceanic region respecting the regulation of winds and currents, and tlicre-

Core figures conspicuously in tho problems which are increasingly absorbing the attention of modern mcterologists. Situated geographically in the centre of the vast semi-circle which extends f„r a distance of 21,900 miles from Capo Horn to the Cape of Good Hope, it serves as a sort of deflecting station for currents ot. air. wind, and water. Specialists explain the phenomenon presented very explicitly. Here, they sav, the wind arrested on the Asiatic and American continents by plateaux and mountain ranges find a free passage. Here, too, the masses of hot air drifting in from the Pacific and the cold atmospheric currents from the Pole, move in opposite directions, contending for the upper hand, and at it,he same time in the Strait two oceanic streams meet. From the coast of Japan the stream of tropical waters from the southern seas surges steadily northward?, flushing between the Aleutian Islands until it reaches the submarine banks connecting Alia and America, whence it is turned back along The North American seaboard. *

On the other hand, the cold waters from the frozen ocean, arrested at the northern end of the Strait, arc diverted for the most part along the Asiatic coast. The influence of these diverse currents of wind, air and water upon the weather is considerable, and by careful observation here and elsewhere, meteorologists aro hoping to bo able to collect data which will enable them to perfect the science of weather pro diction. Tho prominence acquired by the Boring Strait in this connection alone helps to cast the shadow of the navigator very strongly over contemporary hi.storv. Bering thought only to serve the dying Tsar when he carried the flag of Russia into the unknown seas. But, liko the whole race of explorers who have risked their lives for the extension of human knowledge, he rendered even better service to succeeding generations than to his own. Cook, -who provided the most reliable charts of the Bering waters in his own dav, would, in spite of the value of his own -work, have been the last to begrudge the credit -which is justly due to the man who first placed Bering Strait upon tho map.