was SIMEON IVANOV SIN DESCHNEV; in geographical
writings he is commonly known under the name of DESCHNEV. It was
intended to search for the mouth of the great river lying towards
the east, regarding which some information had been obtained from
the natives, and which was believed to fall into the Polar Sea. The
first voyage in 1647, with four vessels, was unsuccessful, it is
said, because the sea was blocked with ice. But that this was not
the real reason is shown by the fact that a new and larger
expedition was fitted out the following year with full expectation
of success. The crews of the four boats had more probably been
considered too weak a force to venture among the Chukches, and the
ice had to bear the blame of the retreat. What man could not
reproach the conquerors of Siberia with, was pusillanimity and want
of perseverance in carrying out a plan which had once been sketched.
Resistance always increased their power of action; so also now.
Seven boats were fitted out the following year, 1648, all which were
to sail down to the Polar Sea, and then along the coast eastwards.
The object was to examine closely the unknown land and people there,
and to their own advantage and the extension of the Russian power,
to collect tribute from the tribes met with during the expedition.
Mueller states that every boat was manned with about thirty men--a
number which appears to me somewhat exaggerated, if we consider the
nature of the Siberian craft and the difficulty of feeding so large
a number either with provisions earned along with them or obtained
by hunting.

Four of the boats are not mentioned further in the narrative; they
appear to have returned at an early period. The three others, on the
contrary, made a highly remarkable journey. The commanders of them
were the Cossacks, GERASIM ANKUDINOV and SIMEON DESCHNEV, and the
hunter FEODOT ALEXEJEV. Deschnev entertained such hopes of success
that before his departure he promised to collect a tribute of seven
times forty sable skins. The Siberian archives, according to Miller,
contain the following details.[300]

On 30/20th June, 1648, a start was made from the Kolyma. The sea was
open, at least the boats came without any adventure which Deschnev
thought worth the trouble of noting in his narrative to Great
Chukotskojnos. Of this cape Deschnev says that it is quite different
from the cape at the river Chukotskaja. For it lies between north
and north-east, and bends with a