The polar and tropical worlds : a description of man and nature in the polar and equatorial regions of the globe . merchants of Jakutsk and Irkutsk to undertakenew expeditions. Generally, several of them formed an association, Avhich fitted out somehardly seaworthy vessel at Ochotsk, where also the captain and the crew, con-sisting of fur-hunters and other adventurers, Avere hired. The expenses of suchan expedition amounted to the considerable sum of about ,30,000 roubles, aspack-horses had to transport a great part of the necessary outfit all the dis-tance from Jakutsk, and the vessel general
The polar and tropical worlds : a description of man and nature in the polar and equatorial regions of the globe . merchants of Jakutsk and Irkutsk to undertakenew expeditions. Generally, several of them formed an association, Avhich fitted out somehardly seaworthy vessel at Ochotsk, where also the captain and the crew, con-sisting of fur-hunters and other adventurers, Avere hired. The expenses of suchan expedition amounted to the considerable sum of about ,30,000 roubles, aspack-horses had to transport a great part of the necessary outfit all the dis-tance from Jakutsk, and the vessel generally remained four or five years on thevoyage. Passing through one of the Kurile Straits, these exjieditions sailed atfirst along the east coast of Kamchatka, bartering sables and sea-otters for rein-deer skins and other articles ; and as the precious furs became more rare, ven-tured out farther into the Eastern Ocean. Thus Micliael Xowodsikoff discoveredthe Western Aleuts in 1745 ; Paikoff the Fox Islands in 1759 ; Adrian Tolstychalmost all the islands of the central group, which still bear his name, in 17C0;. KAMCHATKA SABLES. 202 THE POLAR WORLD. Stoplien Glottoff the island of Kudiak in 1763, and Krcnitzin the i)eninsula ofAljaska in 1 7t>>^. ^VlM?n we consider the scanty resources of these Russiannaviiiators, the bad condition of their miserable barks, their own imperfect nau-tical kiiowledi^e, and tlie iidiospitable nature of the seas which they traversed,we can not but admire their intre])idity. In the Polar Sea there are neither sables nor otters, and thus the islands ly-iwj; to the nuilli of Siberia might have renuiined unknown till the ])resent day,if the search after mammotli-teeth had not, in a similar manner, led to their dis-covery. Ill March, 1770, while a merchant of the name of Liichow was busy collect-ing fossil ivory about Cajie Sviatoinoss, he saw a large herd of deer coming overthe ice from the north. IJesolute and courageous, he at once resolved to fol
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