He had borne eight years of nagging from court and senate and
academy. He had been criticised for blunders of others' making. He
had been set to accomplish a Herculean task with tied hands. He had
been threatened with fines and court martial for the delay caused by
the quarrels of his under officers to whom he was subject. He had been
deprived of salary for three years and accused of pilfering from public
funds. His wife, who had by this time returned with the wives of the
other officers to Russia, had actually been searched for hidden
booty.[12] And now, after toils and hardships untold, only five
months' provisions were left for the ships sailing from Kamchatka; and
the blockhead underlings were compelling a waste of those provisions by
sailing in the wrong direction. If the worst came, could Bering hold
his men with those tied hands of his?
The commander shrugged his shoulders and signalled Chirikoff, the
Russian, on the _St. Paul_, to lead the way. They must find out there
was no Gamaland {23} for themselves, those obstinate Russians! The
long swell of the Pacific meets them as they sheer out from the
mountain-girt harbor.
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