2 6                               Valerien Lada-.Mocarski

not for very long. In recent years Soviet scholars have devoted
much attention to the history of Russian exploration of the Pacific
and have written a number of excellent studies. Needless to say,
Deshnev's "case" has been given a thotough airing in all of these
Soviet books, with a view to proving that Deshnev passed through
Bering Strait some 80 years earlier than Bering himself. One must
admit that this "rehabilitation" of Deshnev is most convincing.

This brings us to Petet the Great and rhe first Bering expedition
of 1725-1730. How did it happen that Peter, the energetic Russian
Tsar, turned his interest in the direction of the Pacific? Explanations
arc numerous and it is clear that the question of the northeast
boundaries of Asia in relation to the notthwest limits of the ,'\mef-
ican Continent was very much in the minds of western Europeans
and that a similar interest, on a smaller scale, existed in Russia.
1 he time had evidently arrived to conic to grips with this problem
and the personality and wide interests of the Russian sovereign
made this possible.

In 1719 Peter ordered two Russian "geodesists," i.e., surveyors,
Yevreinov and Luzhin, to "Kamchatka and further, as ordered, to
describe these territoties, where and whether .America joins Asia,
which must be done very carefully, not only the south or north but
east and west, and all to be placed correctly on a map." Up to that
time raaps of Russian discoveries in the Arctic Ocean and the
Pacific were drawn free hand and were not exact. Peter's instruc¬
tions for the fifst time ordered "careful" observation and "correct"
tracing. This expedition visited and mapped a number of Kuril
Islands but it failed completely to ascertain whether Asia and
America were joined. Subsequently Peter decided on another ex¬
pedition and on January 6, 1725, only three weeks before his death,
he himself wrote instructions for this expedition, to be commanded
by Vitus Bering. His order is short and contains only three points.
These, however, admirably cover the objects in \iew:

1.   It is ordered to build in Kamchatka or in some othet place
there, one or two boats with decks.

2.   [To sail] in these boats along the land which goes to the