In the 20-80s of the 18th century. expeditionary research in Siberia and in the waters surrounding it (the Arctic and Pacific oceans) increased immeasurably compared to the 17th and early 18th centuries. At this time, the largest expeditions were carried out and great geographical discoveries were made. The study of the natural conditions and riches of Siberia, the population, its ethnic composition, culture, life and history by various central and local institutions has expanded significantly.
Of utmost importance in the history of Russian discoveries in the northeast was the expedition of 1725-1730, carried out on the initiative of Peter I and known in science as the First Kamchatka Expedition.
On January 6, 1725, three weeks before his death, Peter I wrote to Bering, who was appointed head of the expedition, with three-point instructions: “1) One or two boats with decks should be made in Kamchatka or in another place there. 2) On these boats near the land that goes to the north and according to hope (they don’t know the end) it seems that that land is part of America. 3) And in order to look for where it came into contact with America: and in order to get to which city of European possessions, or if they see which European ship, check from it, as they call it, and take a letter and visit the shore yourself and take a genuine statement and, putting it on the line, come here.” 112
On July 14, 1728, the boat “St. Gabriel", built in Nizhne-Kamchatsk, sailed to the northeast. Bering's assistants in the voyage were A.I. Chirikov and M.P. Shpanberg. On August 11, the island was discovered and named St. Lawrence Island. "St. Gabriel" passed through the strait, later named after Bering, into the Arctic Ocean and reached 67 ° 18 / s. w. and approximately 162° W. house 113
Although the expedition did not solve all the problems assigned to it, it played a major role in the exploration of Siberia and its surrounding waters. The expedition participants discovered new islands and compiled tables geographical coordinates points along the expedition's route, interesting ethnographic material was collected. In 1729, P. A. Chaplin compiled a map that showed the outlines and geographic coordinates of the eastern coast of Siberia from Cape Dezhnev to Cape Lopatki.
Almost simultaneously with the First Kamchatka Expedition, the activities of the expedition of A. F. Shestakov-D took place. I. Pavlutsky. From Okhotsk, which was the base of the expedition, in 1729 and later three detachments were sent, operating independently. A.F. Shestakov on the ship “East Gabriel” in the fall of 1729 went to the mouth of the Penzhina. From here his path went overland to Anadyr and Chukotka. March 14, 1730 in a skirmish with the Chukchi on the river. Egache Shestakov was killed. The remnants of his detachment returned to the Taui prison. Another detachment under the command of I. Shestakov in September 1729 set off from Okhotsk on the ship “St. Gabriel" to the south, reached the Udsky fort in 1730 and went east to the Shantar Islands. The ship entered the mouth of the Amur. A description of the southern part of the Okhotsk coast and, possibly, a drawing of this territory was compiled. The third detachment of V. A. Shestakov on the ship “Fortuna” visited four islands of the Kuril ridge. Finally, in 1731, D.I. Pavlutsky from the Anadyr fort went to Chukotka. The result of his campaign, which was primarily military in nature, also provided new data on the geography of the Chukotka Peninsula.
The materials of the Shestakov-Pavlutsky expedition were reflected in the map of Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands and the Penzhinsky (Okhotsk) Sea compiled in 1733 in Okhotsk. 114
The Shestakov-Pavlutsky expedition also included the detachment of I. Fedorov and M. S. Gvozdev, who in 1732 made a historic voyage to the shores of northwestern America on the boat “St. Gabriel". The journey was made from the mouth of the river. Kamchatka to the Anadyr nose and further to the islands of Ratmanov, Kruzenshtern and to the shores of the “Main Land” (America).
On the way back we passed by the island, which later (at the end of the 18th century) became known as King's Island. Fedorov and Gvozdev were the first Russians and other Europeans to reach northwestern America. In the map of G. F. Miller, published in 1758 and dedicated to Russian explorations in Siberia and the Pacific Ocean, the inscription was rightly placed against the American coast: “This was discovered by surveyor Gvozdev in 1730.” 115
In 1733, a new expedition was organized to Siberia and the northeast, which had the official name of the Second Kamchatka Expedition, which also entered science under the name of the Great Northern Expedition (1733-1743). At the same time, some researchers (A.V. Efimov) consider the First and Second Kamchatka expeditions as two stages of the same expedition, calling it the Siberian-Pacific expedition. 116 Indeed, both expeditions were led from the same center (from the Admiralty boards), were subordinate to the same commander in Siberia (Bering) and had largely common major tasks.
Four northern detachments of the Second Kamchatka Expedition sailed across the ocean in various areas from Arkhangelsk to Cape Bolshoi Baranov. 117 The first detachment (chiefs - Muravyov and Pavlov, later - Malygin and Skuratov) marched from Arkhangelsk to the mouth of the Ob in 1734-1737. The second detachment (headed by Ovtsyn) from the mouth of the Ob came to the mouth of the Yenisei in 1734-1737. The auxiliary detachment (chiefs Pryanishnikov, Vykhodtsev) conducted route surveys on the Gydan Peninsula and in other areas of the lower reaches of the river. Obi. Later, in 1738-1742, under the command of Minin, the detachment reached Cape Sterlegov (75 ° 26 "N), named after one of the expedition members. The detachment collected valuable information about the coast east of the Yenisei, but to reach the mouth Lena could not. 118 The third detachment (chiefs - Pronchishchev, Chelyuskin) made a voyage in 1735-1736 from the mouth of the Lena to the west with the goal of reaching the mouth of the Yenisei. The detachment moved along the eastern shores of the Taimyr Peninsula and reached 77 ° 29 / N latitude. Pronchishchev and his wife died in difficult sailing conditions. In the summer of 1737, the expedition returned. In 1739-1741, a detachment led by Laptev sailed off the eastern shores of the Taimyr Peninsula to Cape St. Thaddeus and made land expeditions around the peninsula. In the winter of 1742 ". Chelyuskin walked around the peninsula along the coast from the mouth of the Khatanga River to the N. Taimyra River, for the first time visiting the cape, which was later named after him. The fourth detachment operated in the east of the Lena. In 1735, the detachment under the command of Lassenius sailed to the mouth of the Kharaulakh River. Lassenius died soon after. Under the command of Laptev, the detachment reached Cape Buorkhaya in 1736. In 1739-1741 Laptev undertook a voyage from the mouth of the Lena to the east to Cape Bolshoi Baranov. He also examined it from land sea coast from Indigirka east to Kolyma and west to Yana, and the flow of the river was also studied. Khromy and deltas of the Indigirka and Yana rivers. In 1741-1742 Laptev from the mouth of the Kolyma on sledges reached the Anadyr fort and by boat to the Anadyr Bay, described the river. Anadyr to the mouth, as well as its basin. A member of the detachment, Romanov, traveled from the Anadyr prison to Penzhina.
The voyage to the shores of America was carried out on the ships "St. Peter" and "St. Pavel" led by Bering and Chirikov. Both ships left Peter and Paul Harbor on June 4, 1741. On June 18, in heavy fog, the ships lost each other and continued their voyage separately. July 16 “St. Peter" reached the southwestern tip of the island. Kayak off the coast of America. In difficult conditions of the return voyage (a strong storm), the crew of the ship was forced to land on the island, later named after Bering, and spent the winter on it. Bering died here on December 8. On August 13, 1742, the expedition members set out on a ship built from the remains of the St. Peter", and arrived in Kamchatka on August 27. Chirikov on "St. Pavle" approached the shores of America (apparently, to the islands of Forrester, Baker and Noyes) on July 15, 1741. On July 26, he sailed back and on October 11 of the same year he returned to Peter and Paul Harbor. In June 1742, Chirikov made a second voyage on the St. Pavle" to the Aleutian Islands. 119 Voyages to Japan were carried out by Spanberg and Walton in 1738-1741. Both of them, independently of each other, reached Japan (Honshu Island) in 1739. The other two voyages were unsuccessful. Participants of the Shpanberg expedition (Shelting, Gvozdev, etc.) also explored the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk. The result of these studies was descriptions of the western and northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the coast of Kamchatka.
The study of the nature and natural resources of Siberia, the history and ethnography of the peoples of Siberia was entrusted to the academic detachment of the Second Kamchatka Expedition. It included professors Miller, Gmelin, students Krasheninnikov, Gorlanov, Tretyakov, L. Ivanov, Popov, surveyors Krasilnikov, A. Ivanov, Chekin, Ushakov, translator Yakhontov, painters Barkan and Lyursenius. Later, adjuncts Steller and Fischer, Lindenau’s translator, took part in the work of the detachment.
The detachment left St. Petersburg in August 1733 along the following route: Ekaterinburg-Tobolsk-Tara-Omsk-Zhelezinskaya fortress-Ust-Kamenogorsk fortress-Kolyvan factories-Kuznetsk-Tomsk-Yeniseisk-Krasnoyarsk-Kansk-Udinsk-Irkutsk-Selenginsk-Kyakhta- Chita-Nerchinsk-Irkutsk-Ilimsk-Ust-Kuta-Yakutsk. Miller and Gmelin arrived in Yakutsk in August-September 1736, and returned to St. Petersburg in 1743.
G. F. Miller, having examined up to 20 archives of Siberian cities and forts, collected the richest historical material from the 17th-18th centuries. and a number of most valuable Russian (including the Remezov Chronicle), Tangut, Mongolian and other manuscripts. He also collected the oral traditions of many Siberian peoples, the rituals and customs of the peoples are described, ancient buildings and inscriptions are sketched, ancient settlements and burial grounds are examined, a collection of burial grounds is collected, as well as a collection of clothing and various things.
The enormous material collected by Miller on the expedition later formed the basis for a number of his works: “General Geography of Siberia”, “Special, or Special, Geography of Siberia”, “ general description peoples of Siberia”, “Description of a journey through Siberia”, “History of Siberia”, “Description of sea voyages along the Arctic and Eastern Seas”, “History of the countries lying near the Amur River”, “News of land maps relating to Russian state with border lands”, “Description of trades taking place in Siberia”, etc. Miller did not finish the first three works (they have not been published to this day); many of his articles and materials were published in various publications of the 18th century. Of particular interest is the first volume of “History of Siberia”. 120
Naturalist I. G. Gmelin studied the nature and flora of Siberia and kept a travel diary. The materials he collected were processed in the works “Siberian Flora” and “Travel to Siberia”. 121 In his first work, Gmelin described 1178 plant species. This work was the most complete and fundamental botanical and geographical overview of Siberia for its time. The content of the second work consists of a description of the journey of the academic detachment, sketches of the life and culture of the Siberian peoples, materials about trade and crafts of Siberia, as well as a number of valuable geological and natural science observations and archaeological material.
A significant contribution to the study of Siberia and Kamchatka was made by student S.P. Krasheninnikov. In Buryatia, he studied the nature and life of peoples (Buryats and Evenks). In 1737 Krasheninnikov was sent to Kamchatka and stayed here until 1741, studying the nature of Kamchatka, its natural resources, the life and culture of peoples, their history and languages. The result of Krasheninnikov’s selfless work under difficult conditions were his reports to Gmelin and Miller, as well as numerous descriptions and studies. Later they were summarized in the two-volume work “Description of the Land of Kamchatka,” which was a classic example of a comprehensive regional studies monograph. 122
Krasheninnikov’s work in Kamchatka was continued by G. Steller. He took part in Bering's voyage on the St. Petre" and made a number of interesting observations of the flora and fauna of the islands off the coast of America. In Kamchatka, Steller studied nature, as well as the life and culture of the population.123
Significant work on the study of geography and ethnography of the northeast of Siberia was carried out by J. Lindenau in 1741-1743. He compiled descriptions of Chukotka and the river. Anadyr, as well as ethnographic essays about the Yakuts, Tungus, Yukagirs, Koryaks and other peoples. Most of Lindenau's works, as well as materials collected by I. E. Fischer (description of a trip to Yakutia, ethnographic notes about the Yakuts, etc.), remain unpublished.
The second Kamchatka expedition made a real revolution in the geography of Siberia. She made great geographical discoveries in the “white spots” areas in the north of Siberia and in the eastern part Pacific Ocean. As a result of the study of Siberia and the islands of the seas washing it and the subsequent processing of data, descriptions of individual areas of Siberia, Kamchatka, the Kuril, Commander and Aleutian Islands were compiled. The expedition members provided exceptionally rich material for cartography. They surveyed and mapped the shores of the Arctic Ocean from Arkhangelsk to Cape Bolshoi Baranov. 62 maps were compiled, depicting many inaccessible and almost unexplored areas. The materials of the Second Kamchatka Expedition have been published and introduced into scientific circulation only partially. 124
The voyages of industrialists in the 40-60s were of great importance in the history of geographical discoveries. For 1745-1764 42 expeditions were carried out, including the expedition of Glotov and Ponomarev in 1758-1762. (discovery of the Fox Islands), voyage of Paikov, Polevoy and Shevyrin in 1758 (visit to the Andreaniv Islands group), voyage of Glotov to the island. Kodiak in 1762-1763
In their reports, expedition participants described natural conditions Pacific Islands and provided ethnographic information. Particularly interesting are the news of A. Tolstoy about the Andrean Islands and the stories of the Cossacks Vasyutinsky and Lazarev about the Aleuts.
Significant work was done during these years to study the northeast of Siberia. He carried out several expeditions in 1757-1763. Shalaurov (sailing from the mouth of the Yana to the Chaun Bay), two expeditions to the Bear Islands in 1763-1764. - S. Andreev. Leontyev, Lysov and Pushkarev went there in 1769-1771. The Yakut Eterikan traveled to the Lyakhov Islands in 1759 (1760?) and the merchant Lyakhov in 1770, who gave the first description of the islands (the islands got their name in honor of his). It should also be noted that Kurkin’s expedition to the Okhotsk coast in 1765 125
Great value for geographical study Siberia had geodetic surveys and mapping of various regions of Siberia. The first geodetic surveys were organized back in early XVIII V. and by the mid-40s they were carried out in all Siberian districts. Geodetic surveys were carried out in the 50-60s during the implementation of various government works (establishing borders, building cities, etc.), as well as during the construction of the Tobol-Ishim (1752-1754) and Irtysh (1747-1760). ) and Kolyvan (1747-1760) defensive lines. Based on geodetic surveys of southern Siberia, several maps were compiled southern Siberia in the early 60s by F.I. Soimonov, I. Weimarn and K. Frauendorf.
Significant successes in the first half of the 18th century. made cartography. Already in the 30-40s of the 18th century. Siberia was displayed on general maps of the Russian state. Thus, in 1731, the “New General Map of the All-Russian Empire and the borders, in which the position of all the fortresses of the state is assigned,” was drawn up. The map covered the entire territory of Russia, including Siberia. Up to 140 were shown in Siberia settlements. Along with accurate and correct data, incorrect names such as “Cape Tabin”, “island” were also included on the map. "Tatsata", "Lukomorye" and others 126
In 1734, I.K. Kirilov compiled a general map of the Russian state, which used data from the First Kamchatka Expedition. In the “Russian Atlas” published in 1745, consisting of 19 special maps representing the All-Russian Empire. ..” along with 13 cards European Russia there were 6 maps of Asian Russia, for which data from the Second Kamchatka Expedition was also used. Extensive work on compiling maps of the coast of Siberia and the sea voyages of the Second Kamchatka Expedition was carried out at the Maritime Academy in the 40s. In 1746, the “General Map of the Russian Empire of the Northern and Eastern Siberian Coasts” was created. Chirikov, Malygin, D. Laptev, Kh. Laptev, Ovtsyn and others took part in the work. This summary map, which most accurately reflected the discoveries made during the Second Kamchatka Expedition, was secret and published only in our time. In the same years, a number of other drawings and maps of northeastern Siberia were completed. Of these, the most important drawings and maps of Chukotka should be named by J. Lindenau (1742) and a participant in Pavlutsky’s campaigns - T. Perevalov (1744 and 1754). The summary map was made by I. Shakhonsky in 1749. It covered the entire territory of Siberia east of the river. Lena, including Chukotka, Kamchatka and the Okhotsk coast.
In the 60s, in connection with new expeditions to the northeast, maps of Shalaurov’s voyage were created (1769), map Eastern Siberia Vertlyugova (1769), map of the Aleutian Islands by Shishkin and Ponomarev, etc. Maps of the Chukchi Peninsula by Daurkin, a Chukchi Cossack in Russian service, are of great interest.
Information about the discoveries made by the participants of the Second Kamchatka Expedition became known abroad. They enriched Western European science with new data. Not always, however, in Western Europe material about Russian discoveries in Siberia and the Arctic and Pacific oceans was conscientiously presented. Thus, on the map presented to the French Academy by I. N. Delisle and in his article about this map, material related to Russian discoveries was presented in a completely perverse manner. Delisle’s “scientific publications” centered on fictitious news about the voyage of the Spanish admiral de Font to the shores of North America. Miller refuted Delisle’s materials in the brochure “Letter from an Officer of the Russian Fleet,” published abroad. 127 In connection with this pamphlet, Miller prepared a map of Russian exploration in Siberia and the Pacific.
Of great importance for the study of Siberia in the first half of the 18th century. had the works of I.K. Kirilov, V. de Gennin and especially V.N. Tatishchev and M.V. Lomonosov.
In 1727, I.K. Kirilov completed his work “The Blooming State of the All-Russian State...”, the material for which was the questionnaire information requested by the Senate under Peter I. Among other provinces, Kirilov described Siberian. The work included articles “About the Siberian Kingdom”, “About the Siberian Tsars”, “Kamchatka”, “About the Kamchatka People”, etc. Kirilov’s work contained a lot of data on the population, cities, industry, and administrative institutions. 128
In the 30s of the XVIII century. the manager of the Ural state-owned factories, V. de Gennin, created the fundamental work “Description of the Ural and Siberian factories.” This was the first work about the factories of the Urals and Siberia. It examined the history of factories, their equipment, economic condition, etc. Of the Siberian factories, de Gennin described in detail Kolyvano-Voskresensky and Nerchinsky. 129
V. N. Tatishchev worked a lot on issues of geography of Siberia. In 1734, he sent out a questionnaire containing 92 questions to Siberian cities. It raised not only questions on geography, but also on other branches of knowledge - ethnography, archeology, history.
Tatishchev prepared the work “General Geographical Description of All Siberia” (12 chapters have reached us). In 1737, he prepared the second edition of the questionnaire “Proposal for writing Russian history and geography,” which already contained 198 questions. 130 As a result of collecting data from Tatishchev’s questionnaires, an extensive fund of descriptions of cities and counties of Western and Eastern Siberia, as well as Altai, was compiled, unpublished and almost unused by researchers to this day. Interesting material on the geography and ethnography of Siberia is also contained in Tatishchev’s “Russian Lexicon...”. 131
The studies of M. V. Lomonosov were of great importance for the study of Siberia. In particular, he studied the phenomena of subsoil permafrost in northern Siberia. In “A Brief Description of Various Travels in the Northern Seas and an Indication of the Possible Passage of the Siberian Ocean to Eastern India,” Lomonosov gave a historical outline of attempts to pass the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific (including Russian voyages) and substantiated the possibility of this. In the same work, he gave a rationale for the possible location of the Central Polar Basin and formulated his theory of the origin of ice, devoting a special work to this topic, “Discourse on the Origin of Ice Mountains in the Northern Seas.” 132
Based on Lomonosov’s projects, two sea expeditions were organized into the northern waters (P. I. Krenitsyn and M. D. Levashov in 1764 to explore the “unknown islands” and V. Ya. Chichagov in 1765 to explore the “sea passage by the Northern Ocean to Kamchatka and beyond"). Chichagov's expedition of 1765-1766, sent from Kola in the direction of Spitsbergen, reached 80°30" N latitude. The further path was blocked by powerful ice.
In 1760, Lomonosov developed a questionnaire for studying the geography and economy of the Russian state, which was sent out by the Academy of Sciences. At the same time, Miller compiled a questionnaire for the same purposes (distributed by the Land Noble Cadet Corps). The materials sent from Siberia in response to these questionnaires were not published either in the 18th century or later. At the same time, they were partially used in their works by participants academic expeditions 1768-1774 Pallas, Georgi, Lepekhin and others.
Advances in the exploration and study of Siberia by the middle of the 18th century. were so great and obvious that they gave Miller the right to proudly declare that “this distant land in all its circumstances has become more known than the very middle of the German land to the local inhabitants.” 133
Second half of the 18th century. was not marked by the organization of such grandiose expeditions as the Second Kamchatka. However, the number of expeditions invariably grew, and the study of Siberia at this time made new progress. The Academy of Sciences is developing energetic work on organizing new expeditions at this time.
In 1768-1774. A large expedition of Academician P. S. Pallas to the Orenburg region and Siberia took place. In 1770-1773 Pallas traveled around Western Siberia, was in Altai, Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia. He collected materials on geography, studied nature, and researched the life, culture and languages of the peoples of Siberia. 134
Student V.F. Zuev, a participant in the Pallas expedition, committed independent trip to the mouth of the Ob and on the coast of the Arctic Ocean to study the life and culture of the Khanty and Nenets. He prepared the work “Description of the heterodox peoples of the Ostyaks and Samoyeds living in the Siberian province in the Berezovsky district.” 135
In 1768-1773 The expedition of I. I. Lepekhin took place. Basically, the expedition route covered the European North, but it was partially continued in Western Siberia. The travel materials were published in four volumes of diary entries. 136
Much work on the study of Siberia was carried out by the expedition of I. P. Falk in 1769-1773, which also included X. Bardanes and I. I. Georgi. The routes of Falk and Bardanes covered Western Siberia and Altai. Georgi in 1772-1774. traveled through the Urals, Altai, and Baikal region. It was especially important for him to study the lake. Baikal (bank structure, fauna, flora), as well as the nature and minerals of the Baikal region. He compiled a map of Lake Baikal. The materials of the expedition were presented in the work “Bemerkungen einer Reise im russischen Reiche in den Jahren 1772-1774” (2 volumes, S.-Pb., 1775).
Georgi’s work “Description of all the living peoples in the Russian state...” was of great importance for the study of the ethnography of Siberia. (Parts 1-3, St. Petersburg, 1776-1778). This work collected rich material on the life, social relations and culture of the peoples of Siberia.
Academic expeditions of the 60-70s, as well as the academic detachment of the Second Kamchatka Expedition of the 30-40s, carried out comprehensive work to study Siberia. Participants in the expeditions described minerals and minerals, carried out geographical observations, studied mines and factories, explored the life and culture of peoples, and collected historical materials.
Billings's Northeast Expedition of 1785-1793, organized by the Senate, played a great role in the study of Siberia. The expedition had extensive tasks. Along with the political goals of protecting Russian possessions in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, the expedition was also given important scientific goals to clarify information about the northeast of Siberia. In 1787, the expedition set out on two ships (“Pallas” and “Yasashna”) from the mouth of the Kolyma to the east, but, having passed Cape Bolshoi Baranov Kamen, was unable to advance further due to ice. In 1789-1790 On the ship "Glory of Russia" a voyage was made from Okhotsk to Kamchatka and later to the western shores of North America. The expedition reached the islands of Umnak, Unalaska and Kodiak. The voyage in 1791 under the leadership of G. A. Sarychev took place along the ridge of the Aleutian Islands. The expedition visited the islands of Unalaska and Matthew, later passed the Bering Strait and dropped anchor in the Bay of St. Lawrence. Billings at this time spent an overland journey through Chukotka, with him were Dr. K. Merck and the artist L. Voronin. In the history of geographical exploration of Chukotka and ethnographic study of the Chukchi, this journey was of outstanding importance. Work by K. Merck “Beschreibung der
and Sammlungen historischer Nachrichten fiber die Mongolische Volkerschaften, Bd. 1-2, S.-Pb. 1776-1806. The linguistic material collected by Pallas and the participants of his expedition according to a specially developed program was published in the publication: Comparative dictionaries of all languages and dialects, vol. 1-2, St. Petersburg, 1787-1789. This also included material collected by receiving answers to questions sent out by the Academy of Sciences. Tschuctschie" was the first serious study about the Chukchi, not published to date). Ethnographic drawings by L. Voronin are also of great interest.
The Billings-Sarychev expedition provided a lot of valuable information about northeast Asia. The chief cartographer of the expedition, the outstanding researcher G. A. Sarychev, compiled a number of maps based on the materials of the expedition. Already in 1802, his map was published, summing up the mapping of northeast Asia and northwestern America in the 18th century. 137
In the 80s, in connection with the division of Siberia into governorships, work began on compiling topographical descriptions of governorships. In 1784, a “Topographic Description of the Tobolsk Viceroyalty” was compiled (remained in the manuscript), on the basis of which I. F. German compiled “ Short description Tobolsk Governorship" (published in the "Historical and Geographical Monthly for 1786"). Herman’s work provides information on geography (mountains, plains, rivers, lakes), natural resources(minerals), flora and fauna and economy (agriculture, livestock breeding, crafts, trade, etc.). The work on compiling a topographical description of the Irkutsk governorship, begun in the 80s, was completed only in the 90s. In 1789, one of the members of the commission for topographic description, Langans, compiled the work “Collection of news about the beginning of the origin of different tribes in the Irkutsk province, about their legends, the most important events and customs” (not published).
Materials on Siberia (data on geography, economics, ethnography, etc.) were reflected in the 70-80s both in general maps of the Russian state and in general works on geography, statistics, and economics of Russia. Thus, a large cartographic work carried out in all regions of the Russian Empire, including Siberia, was summarized in two general maps published in the 80s. In 1785, a general map of the Russian Empire was published, prepared by the geographical department of the Senate, and in 1786, a general map prepared by the geographical department of the Academy of Sciences was published. The last card is especially important. It gives a summary of the cartographic work of the 18th century. as far as Siberia is concerned. On this map, the routes of the northern detachments of the Second Kamchatka Expedition were marked for the first time.
To summarize, it should be said that the study of Siberia in the 20-80s was a qualitatively new stage. Great geographical discoveries in Siberia and its surrounding waters in the 17th century. were committed by ordinary Russian people - “explorers” - Cossacks and service people. In the 18th century, the leading role in the great geographical discoveries (the study of the Northern Sea Route, discoveries in the Pacific Ocean, exploration of the route to America) belonged to naval officers who had undergone special training, surveyors, and scientists. Government institutions (the Senate, the Navy Department, etc.) and the Academy of Sciences also played a major role in organizing the expeditions. In the survey and study of Siberia in the 18th century. Complex expeditions were of great importance (the Second Kamchatka Expedition, academic expeditions of the 60-80s). In their scope and results, these expeditions are among the most outstanding scientific enterprises in the history of world science. This especially applies to the Second Kamchatka (Great Northern) Expedition. Already contemporaries recognized it as “the most distant and difficult and never before.” 138 A. Middendorf wrote about it as “the majestic chain of the expedition.” 139
It achieved outstanding success in the 18th century. cartography of Siberia. It took one of the first places in world cartographic science. Euler’s description of the “Russian Atlas” can rightfully be attributed to it. ..” 1745. Atlas maps, Euler noted, “are not only much more serviceable than all previous Russian maps, but many German maps are far superior.” To this he added that “except for France, there is almost no land that would best cards had." 140
The works of Krasheninnikov, Miller, Gmelin, Pallas and other researchers of Siberia became widely known in world science. Krasheninnikov’s work “Description of the Land of Kamchatka” was translated into French, English, German and Dutch. Gmelin's work on plants of Siberia became reference book for botanists around the world. K. Linnaeus wrote that Gmelin “alone discovered as many plants as all other botanists together.” Pallas's works, translated into French and English, were highly appreciated in world science.
Study by Russian scientists in the 18th century. The geography and nature of Siberia, the life, culture and history of its peoples constituted a remarkable chapter in the history of world science.
107 Ibid., p. 31.
108 N. Ya. Savelyev. Kozma Dmitrievich Frolov...
109 N. Ya. S a v e l e v. 1) In old Salair. From the history of the emergence of industry in Kuzbass. Kemerovo, 1957, p. 17; 2) Altai is the birthplace of outstanding inventors. Barnaul, 1951, p. 57.
110 GAAC, f. Office of the Kolyvano-Voskresensky mining administration, op. 1 D. 323, l. 257; N. Ya. S avelev. In old Salair, pp. 25, 26.
111 N. Ya. S a v e l e v. In old Salair, pp. 21, 22.
112 L. S. B erg. Discovery of Kamchatka and the Bering expedition. M.-L., 1946, p. 83.
113 V. I. G rekov. Essays on the history of Russian geographical research in 1725-1765. M., 1960, pp. 19-44; A. I. Andreev. Bering expeditions. Izv. VGO, vol. 75, issue. 2, 1943.
114 V. I. Grekov. Essays on the history of Russian geographical research, pp. 45-54.
115 The year in the inscription is not specified exactly. The voyage took place in 1732. See: A.V. Efimov. From the history of the great Russian geographical discoveries in the North and Pacific oceans. M., 1950, pp. 195-197.
116 Atlas of geographical discoveries in Siberia and North-West America. Ed. and with input. A. V. Efimova. M., 1964, p. X.
117 G.V. Yanikov and N.N. Zubov, following G.A. Sarychev, propose to call only these northern detachments the Great Northern Expedition, but this point of view is disputed by D.M. Lebedev.
118 In the literature, this detachment of Minin is sometimes considered a separate detachment of the Great Northern Expedition, due to which the number of northern detachments increases to five.
119 D. M. Lebedev. Sailing by A.I. Chirikov on the packet boat “St. Pavel" to the coasts of America. M., 1951
120 G. F. Miller. Description of the Siberian kingdom and all the affairs that happened in it... St. Petersburg, 1750. In 1937 and 1941. came out vol. I and II "History of Siberia". The publication, however, is not completed.
121 I. G Gmelin. Flora sibirica, sive historia plantarum Sibiriae. T. 1-4. Petropoli, 1747-1769, 2) Reise durch Sibirien. Tr. 1-4. Gottingen, 1751-1752.
122 S. P. Krasheninnikov. Description of the land of Kamchatka. St. Petersburg, 1755. Krasheninnikov’s works and some of his other works were published only in 1 in the appendix to the new edition of “Description of the Land of Kamchatka”.
123 The result of Steller’s work was a series of major works: G. W. Stel
1) De bestii marinis. Novi commentarii Academiae Scientiarum imp. Petropolitanae, t. 11. Petropoli, 1751; 2) Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka. Frankfurt-Leipzig, 1774, etc.
124 For a review of handwritten materials from expedition participants, see the book: V. F. Gnuchev. Materials for the history of expeditions of the Academy of Sciences in the 18th and 19th centuries. M.-L., 1940.
125 V. I. Grekov. Essays on Russian history geographical research. . ., ch. V, VI; Archive of Admiral P.V. Chichagov, vol. I. St. Petersburg, 1885.
126 V. I. Grekov. Essays on the history of Russian geographical research. ... pg.
127 Lettre d "un oficier de la marine russienne. Paris, 1753 (the author's name was not indicated).
130 See: V. N. Tatishchev. Selected works on the geography of Russia. M., 1950.
131 N. Tatishchev. Lexicon of Russian historical, geographical, political and civil..., vol. 1-3. SPb., 1793. (The lexicon has been brought to the letter K).
132 M. V. Lomonosov. Poly. collection soch., vol. 6, M., 1952. Brief description of various journeys on the wrong seas...; Ibid., vol. 3. Discussion on the origin of ice mountains.
133 Materials for the history of the Academy of Sciences, vol. VIII, St. Petersburg, 1895, p. 186.
136 I. I. Lepekhin. Daily notes of a trip to different provinces of the Russian state, part. 1-4. St. Petersburg, 1771-1805.
137 It was published as an appendix to the classic work of G. A. Sarychev “The Voyage of Captain Sarychev’s Fleet in the North-Eastern Part of Siberia, the Arctic Sea and the Eastern Ocean over the course of eight years, during a geographical and astronomical maritime expedition, which was under the command of the fleet of Captain Billings with 178z to 1793”, part. 1-2, St. Petersburg, 1802.
138 PSZ, vol. VIII, p. 1011.
139 A. F. Middendorf. Journey to the north and east of Siberia, part I. SPb., 1o60, p. 50.
140 V. F. Gnucheva. Geographical Department of the Academy of Sciences - XVIII century. M.-L., 1946, p. 57.
Accumulation of geographical knowledge in Russia until the end of the 17th century. its successes were due mainly to the initiative, enterprise and courage of Russian people who were in no way connected with science. The famous campaign of Ermak in 1581-1584. the beginning of great geographical discoveries in Siberia and the Far East was laid. Small detachments of Cossacks and fur-bearing animal hunters expanded the borders of the Russian state from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean in a little more than half a century (1639); they reported the first reliable information about this huge region, which formed the basis for geographical maps and descriptions of Siberia.
Valuable information about plants and animals, their way of life has been accumulated in Russia since ancient times as a result practical experience and observations of farmers and hunters. This information was reflected in the “herbalists” and “healing books”, which in the 16th-17th centuries. were quite widely circulated. However, systematic research in the field of biology in Russia actually began only at the beginning of the 18th century. An important role in this was played first by the Kunstkamera, and then by the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The basis of the anatomical, embryological and zoological collections of the Kunstkamera were the preparations of the Dutch anatomist F. Ruysch and the zoological materials of A. Seb. These collections were subsequently replenished with anatomical, teratological, zoological, botanical and paleontological materials collected throughout Russia by a special decree of Peter I. The first members of the Academy of Sciences who arrived in St. Petersburg found in the Kunstkamera, which was transferred to the Academy, interesting objects for their research, and they the first works were related to the study of materials available in the Kunstkamera.
At the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century. a new period has begun in the development of research in Russia, associated with government policy Peter I. The broadly conceived transformations of the country required expanding information about nature, population and economy, drawing up geographical maps with precise designations of state borders, rivers, seas, and communications routes. In search of trade routes to India, a number of expeditions were undertaken to the areas Central Asia. The most important of them was the expedition of 1714-1717. to the Caspian Sea, to Khiva and Bukhara under the command of Peter I’s associate, the Kabardian prince Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky. The expedition made a handwritten map of the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. In the first quarter of the 18th century. The Russian government paid more and more attention to Siberia. Peter I invited D.G. from Danzig. Messerschmidt and entrusted him with the search medicinal herbs and studying the nature of the interior regions of Siberia. His journey lasted from 1720 to 1727. Messerschmidt collected and processed colossal material in ethnography, geography, botany, zoology, linguistics and other areas of science. Messerschmidt collected extensive collections of mammals and birds, for the first time describing, in particular, the wild ass (kulan), the Central Asian sheep (argali) and other animals. He described in detail the geographical distribution, lifestyle and seasonal phenomena in the life of many Siberian animals. The travel diary he compiled was used and partially published in the second half of the 18th century. Pallas and Steller, and in the 19th century. - Brandtom.
At the end of 1724 - beginning of 1725, Peter I prepared instructions and a decree on the expedition, called First Kamchatka. The expedition was to determine whether Asia is connected by land to America, determine the distance separating them and, if possible, come into contact with the population in North America, open a sea route through the Arctic Ocean to China, India and Japan. An officer of the Russian fleet, a native of Denmark, Vitus Bering, was appointed head of the expedition, and his assistants were naval officers A.I. Chirikov and Danish origin M.P. Spanberg. On January 25 (February 5), 1725, the expedition left St. Petersburg. She had a difficult and long journey ahead of her. Only on July 13 (24), 1728, on the boat "Saint Gabriel", the expedition left the mouth of the Kamchatka River and headed north, along the eastern coast of Kamchatka and Chukotka. During this voyage she discovered the Bay of the Holy Cross and the Island of St. Lawrence. On August 15 (26), 1728, the expedition reached 67 ° 18 "48 "" northern latitude. And although the expedition passed the strait separating Asia from America, the question of the connection of the continents remained unclear for its participants. This happened because Bering, fearing dangerous winter, rejected Chirikov's proposal to continue sailing to the mouth of the Kolyma River and ordered the team to return back. Because of the fog, the American coast remained unnoticed. And yet, despite the fact that the expedition could not fully solve the tasks assigned to it, its significance was great. She brought information about the islands and coast of the sea and the strait, later named after Bering, and collected material that proved that there should be a strait between the Asian and American continents.
In 1732, surveyors I. Fedorov and M. Gvozdev on the boat "St. Gabriel" sailed from Kamchatka to the northwestern coast of America and were the first researchers to put it on the map, thus truly proving the existence of a strait between the continents.
As a result of the work of the First Kamchatka Expedition, a fairly accurate map of the coast of North-Eastern Siberia was compiled, but the expedition did not resolve a number of important geographical problems: all the northern shores of Siberia remained unexplored, there was no accurate information about relative position and the outlines of the coasts of Asia and America, about the islands in the North Pacific Ocean, about the path from Kamchatka to Japan. Knowledge about the interior regions of Siberia was also insufficient.
It was ordered to clarify these issues Second Kamchatka expedition, which consisted of a naval part under the leadership of Bering, Chirikov and Shpanberg and a land part under the leadership of professors (academicians) of the newly created St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences I.G. Gmelin and G.F. Miller; Participants in the expedition also included Academy adjunct G.V. Steller and student S.P. Krasheninnikov. The expedition also included northern marine detachments that explored the coast of the Arctic Ocean, which actually worked independently (hence another name for the entire enterprise - Great Northern Expedition). Among the expedition participants were assayers, sailors, artists, surveyors, translators and technical personnel totaling up to 2 thousand people. Divided into several detachments, the Great Northern Expedition explored vast areas of Siberia, the coast of the Arctic Ocean and the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. As a result of ten years of work (1733-1743), valuable geographical, historical, ethnographic and other data were obtained about the interior regions of Siberia, Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands were explored, the shores of North-West America and Japan were reached, and some Aleutian Islands were discovered. Thousands of kilometers of the coast of the Arctic Ocean were mapped from the Kara Sea to Cape Baranov, located east of the mouth of the river. Kolyma.
Student, and later academician, S.P. Krasheninnikov, who studied Kamchatka, published a number of works, including the remarkable two-volume “Description of the Land of Kamchatka” (1756), which for the first time introduced the world to the nature and population of this distant and interesting peninsula in many respects. Krasheninnikov's book has been translated into English, Dutch and German. One of the results of the expedition was “Flora of Siberia” by Gmelin (1747-1769), which contained a description of 1178 plant species, many of which were described for the first time. Krasheninnikov, in his work “Description of the Land of Kamchatka,” characterized, among other things, the fauna of Kamchatka, describing several dozen species of mammals, birds and fish inhabiting it, reported information about their geographical distribution and way of life, the economic importance of Kamchatka animals and the prospects for livestock farming in Kamchatka. It also contained materials on the fauna of the Shantar and Kuril Islands, about spawning migrations of fish from the sea to rivers; he also collected information about the plants of Kamchatka, especially those with practical significance. The third member of the expedition, zoologist Steller, using his observations, as well as data collected by Krasheninnikov, wrote widely in 1741 famous essay“On Sea Animals,” which contains descriptions of the sea cow, sea otter, sea lion and fur seal named after him. Steller, together with Bering, reached the shores of America. While wintering on Bering Island, he compiled its first topographical and geological description. Steller is the author of such works as “Journey from Kamchatka to America with Captain-Commander Bering.” Steller also left works on ichthyology, ornithology and geography.
The expedition was not without casualties: along with many ordinary participants in the campaigns, Captain-Commander V. Bering, the head of the Olenek detachment V. Pronchishchev and his wife Maria died. The names of some expedition members are immortalized on geographical map(Laptev Sea, Cape Chelyuskin, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, etc.)
In 1741-1742 within the framework of the Great Northern Expedition V.I. Bering and A.I. Chirikov made their famous voyage from Kamchatka to the northwestern coast of America (Alaska). On June 4 (15), 1741, "St. Peter" under the command of Bering and "St. Paul" under the command of Chirikov left Petropavlovsk to search for the shores of America. On June 20 (July 1), due to heavy fog, both ships diverged out to sea and lost sight of each other. From this moment on, Bering and Chirikov's voyages took place separately. July 16 (27), 1741 Bering reached the shores of America. During the voyage, he discovered the islands of St. Elijah, Kodiak, Tumanny, and Evdokeevskie. Meanwhile, cases of scurvy were discovered among the crew, so Bering decided to return to Kamchatka. On the way back, he discovered the Shumagin Islands and a number of islands of the Aleutian chain. The voyage of "St. Peter" took place in very difficult conditions. On the way back, the ship encountered severe storms. Difficulties were aggravated by scurvy that raged among the crew, which claimed the lives of 12 people. The surviving crew members could barely control the ship. Supplies are depleted drinking water and food, the ship lost control. On November 4 (15), land was finally spotted. The plight of the ship forced the detachment to land on the shore of an unknown land. The newly discovered land turned out to be an island, which later received the name Bering. I found mine here last refuge brave commander. His surviving companions, in the spring of 1742, built a two-masted sailing ship from the wreckage of the St. Peter, on which they returned to Petropavlovsk. As for the fate of A.I. Chirikov, then he is on the ship "St. Paul", having lost sight of the "St. Peter", on the morning of July 15 (26), i.e. more than a day earlier than Bering, reached North America. Continuing to sail along the coast, Chirikov examined the American coast with a length of about 400 miles, collected valuable information about the animal and flora this territory. On the way back to Kamchatka, which, like Bering, passed in difficult conditions, Chirikov discovered part of the islands of the Aleutian ridge (Adakh, Kodiak, Attu, Agattu, Umnak) and Adek Island, which belongs to the group of Andrean Islands. On October 10 (21), "St. Paul" returned to Peter and Paul Harbor. Of the 75 crew members, only 51 returned with him.
Of great importance for the development of geography and biology in Russia in the second half of the 18th century. had academic expeditions in 1768-1774, which covered the most important areas of the European and Asian parts of the country. Five expeditions collected a large amount of scientific material about the nature, economy and population of the country. Much material and its analysis were contained in the works of Lepekhin, Pallas, Falk, and Georgi. The results of Lepekhin's journey - an adjunct, then an academician - are presented in an essay abbreviated as "Daily Notes..." (vol. 1-4, St. Petersburg, 1771-1805). It is distinguished by its simplicity of presentation and practical orientation of research. Of Lepekhin's theoretical conclusions, noteworthy is his explanation of the reasons for the formation of caves (under the influence of flowing waters), as well as the conviction that the earth's topography changes over time. An important role in the expeditions of 1768-1774. played by Pallas. The results of his research were presented in his five-volume work “Travel through the Various Provinces of the Russian Empire” (1773-1788) in German and Russian. Pallas deciphered the orographic features of the Crimean mountains, established the boundaries of the transition between the black earth strip and the semi-desert of the Caspian lowland, studied the nature of the soils and hydrographic features of this region; He also carried out research on the flora of Russia, zoology and zoogeography. The expeditions of 1768-1774 produced especially great results. Pallas (with the participation of V.F. Zuev, I. Georgi and N.P. Rychkov) to the Orenburg region and Siberia, Gmelin - to the Astrakhan region, the Caucasus and Persia, Georgi - to Baikal and the Perm region, Lepekhina and N .I. Ozeretskovsky to the Volga, Ural and Caspian Sea, as well as to the White Sea. Later (1781-1782) V.F. Zuev explored Southern Russia and Crimea. These expeditions attracted close attention from the scientific community.
Pallas's works "Russian-Asian Zoography", "Flora of Russia" and others contained a lot of new materials. Pallas described a large number of new species of animals, provided information about their geographical distribution and living conditions, and about the seasonal migrations of birds and fish. A lot of faunistic and ecological information related to the animal population of Western Siberia and the Ural Mountains is also contained in Lepekhin’s travel diary, published in 4 volumes in 1771-1805. He published materials concerning the fauna of southern Russia in 1771-1785. Gmelin, who described, in particular, the southern Russian wild horse - tarpana, which was completely exterminated in the second half of the 19th century.
The northeastern astronomical and geographical expedition of Russian navy officers I. Billings and G. A. Sarychev, which worked in 1785-1793, gained worldwide fame. Its main task was to explore still unknown parts of the coast of the Arctic Ocean from the mouth of the Kolyma to the Chukotka Peninsula. The results of this expedition are presented by Billings in brief notes, as well as in Sarychev’s book “The Journey of Captain Sarychev’s Fleet in the North-Eastern Part of Siberia, the Arctic Sea and the Eastern Ocean over the course of eight years during the Geographical and Astronomical Marine Expedition, which was under the command of Captain Billings’s fleet from 1785 to 1793" (parts 1-2, with atlas, 1802).
Thus, geographical and other studies of the vast territory of the Russian Empire acquired in the 18th century. big scope. It was a research assault on the remote outskirts of the country, amazing in its scale, which introduced a lot of new things into world science.
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were carried out on the initiative and under the leadership of Petersburg. AN. Their routes ran through the territory. Volga region, U., Siberia, Europe. S., Caspian region, Caucasus.
The object of examination and study were Natural resources, mines and plants, source. monuments, cities and peoples. Led by A.E. natural scientists - P.S. Pallas, I.I. Lepekhin, S.G. Gmelin, I.P. Falk, I.G.Georgi, I.A.Gildenstedt.
Contribution to scientific Nikolai Rychkov, son of P.I. Rychkov, also contributed local history. Having been in a number of lips. - Kazan, Orenb., Ufa, Vyatka, Perm. and having collected a large expeditionary material, he wrote a 3-volume work, “Daily Notes.”
The meaning of A.E. multifaceted: their goal was not only to examine and describe certain objects, but also to clarify possible ways of household management. development of natural resources; reports written based on travel materials and op. enriched many sciences and expanded the collections of the Kunstkamera; from the expeditionary squad. young talented scientists emerged who became academicians. (for example, Ozeretskovsky, Sokolov, Zuev, etc.); history ur. acad. science is closely connected with the names of these scientists; expeditions served as an impetus for the compilation of topographical descriptions of the department. lips and districts of Russia, including U.
Lit.: Gnucheva V.F. Materials for the history of expeditions of the Academy of Sciences in the 18th and 19th centuries. Sat. Proceedings of the Archive of the USSR Academy of Sciences. M.; L., 1940; Berg L.S. Geographical and expeditionary research of the Academy of Sciences // Bulletin of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1945. No. 5-6; Trutnev I.A. On the roads of the Russian Empire (To the 225th anniversary of the beginning of academic expeditions) // Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 1994. No. 1.
Trutnev I.A.
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War 1768–1774 Kuchuk-Kainardzhi world Russo-Turkish War 1768 - 74 in fact, it became the first clash between Russia and Turkey, well noticed in the West. Its results had to be taken into account by international law until the mid-19th century. The beginning of the war once again
Chapter VII Russian-Turkish War (1768–1774) Reasons that led to the war with Turkey The change in Russian policy, expressed in its close alliance with Prussia and cooling towards Austria, led to the implementation of plans for the so-called “Northern System” and especially puzzled France .
Chapter 23 Crimea in the Russian-Turkish War of 1768–1774 In 1740–1768. The Tatars continued their predatory raids on the southern regions of the Russian Empire. It’s somehow stupid to even mention this, as if writing that in 1740–1768. The wolves continued to catch hares and kill the peasants' livestock. U
§ 134. Russian-Turkish War 1768-1774 At a time when the attention of Empress Catherine was turned to pacifying the Polish confederates and the Haydamak movement, Turkey declared war on Russia (1768). The pretext for this was the border robberies of the Haidamaks (who ravaged
Section VI WAR 1768-1774
War with Turkey 1768–1774 Since the early 60s of the 18th century, the Russian military navy began to be reborn. Catherine II, having come to power in 1762 and starting a large and complex foreign policy, took into account the importance of the fleet and the need to improve and strengthen it. The states were revised
RUSSIAN-TURKISH WAR (1768 -1774) Catherine II bets on victory. - Strife in the Turkish camp. - Intelligence is “corrupting” Porto from the inside. - Three “lines” of reconnaissance are in operation. - Pavel Maruzzi “illuminates” the Mediterranean. - Catherine orders “...to send spies.” -
Russian-Turkish War 1768-1774 As we already said in the first chapter, the Russian fleet, both in the north and in the south, after the death of Peter the Great, fell into complete decline, especially in terms of personnel. The short Swedish War of 1741-1743 caused only temporary
Chapter VII Russian-Turkish War (1768-1774) Causes that caused the war with Turkey The change in Russian policy, expressed in its close alliance with Prussia and cooling towards Austria, led to the implementation of plans for the so-called “Northern System” and especially puzzled France .
The First Turkish War of 1768–1774 The cause of this war was the French cabinet inciting the Porte against Russia in order to assist the confederation. The reason for its announcement was the attack of the Haidamaks on the Turkish border town of Baltu. Sultan,
author Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky PeterRussian-Turkish War 1768–1774 Report by P. A. Rumyantsev to Catherine II on increasing the number of shops in the border zone October 17, 1768, Glukhov, Most gracious Empress! From day to day, the news received about the movements of the Ottoman Porte does not leave my note
Chapter 3 War of 1768–1774 As already noted, our historians wrote the entire history of Turkey and especially the situation in Greece in the 15th–19th centuries on the basis of Western European and Russian, to put it mildly, “wartime propaganda.” Well, in wartime, lying is not only
Russo-Turkish War 1768–1774 Report by P. A. Rumyantsev to Catherine II on the increase in the number of shops in the border zone October 17, 1768, Glukhov Most Gracious Empress! From day to day, news received about the movements of the Ottoman Porte, my note is not
Academic expeditions- a series of expeditions, organizations. AN in 1768 74, united by a common goal and a single instruction. The scale of the territories studied was so large that the study. required new methods and approaches for a holistic study of nature, population and economic prospects... ... Russian humanitarian encyclopedic dictionary
Academic expeditions 1768-1774- were carried out on the initiative and under the leadership of Petersburg. AN. Their routes ran through the territory. Volga region, U., Siberia, Europe. S., Caspian region, Caucasus. The object of survey and study were natural resources, mines and lands, history. monuments, cities and... Ural Historical Encyclopedia
The first versatile scientific. studies of nature, nature and the population of Russia. Original the idea of such expeditions belonged to M.V. Lomonosov (1760). Led by A. e. naturalists naturalists P. S. Pallas (Volga region, Siberia, Caspian region), I. I ... Soviet historical encyclopedia
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Finding new geographical objects or geographical patterns. In the early stages of the development of geography, discoveries related to new geographical objects. A particularly important role belonged to the discoveries of unknown... ...
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Wiktionary has an article “expedition” An expedition is a journey with a specifically defined scientific or military purpose... Wikipedia
The geographical discoveries described here were made by sea and land expeditions of the 18th century. Expeditions set off on long journeys from different countries, equipped for different purposes, walked and sailed along different routes. They all had one thing in common: they helped create an accurate map of the Earth.
And the Earth two and a half centuries ago seemed to geographers far from the same as it is now depicted on any geographical map. Even the contours of parts of the world could not then be mapped accurately enough. There were many “white spots” left inside the continents. The far north was fraught with mysteries, and the far south was mysterious. The Pacific Ocean kept many secrets.
In cartographers' ideas about the southern part globe and after Tasman's discoveries there remained much confusion caused by speculation about the vast continent of "Terra Australis Incognita".
The depiction of the northern part of the Earth gave cartographers no less trouble. Some depicted land at the North Pole, others - an ocean free of ice. The northern coast of Asia was mapped in different ways, sometimes by guesswork, sometimes by information received from Russian explorers of the 17th century - Cossacks, industrialists, and servicemen. About half of the Pacific coast of North America remained unknown (there was reliable information only about its southern half).
Discoveries in the Arctic and North Pacific
In creating a map of the Arctic and Pacific lands great merit belongs to Russian surveyors and sailors of the 18th century. They described all the northern shores of our Motherland, mapped the coast of Alaska, the strait separating Asia from the American continent, many islands and archipelagos.
The first decades of the 18th century. in Russia, this is the time of Peter the Great’s reforms, which contributed to the growth of industry and trade, and the development of domestic science. At that time, Peter I created the Russian navy. Russia gains access to the Baltic Sea, and an energetic search is underway for new maritime trade routes.
From the Cossack explorer Vladimir Atlasov, news comes to the capital about the almost unknown Kamchatka lands. Atlasov committed in 1697 -1699. a trip to Kamchatka, which I learned about from the Cossacks who had been there before. He founded the first Russian settlement in Kamchatka. He also reported about the islands he saw in the distance: this was the northern tip of the Kuril ridge.
A little more than ten years passed, and the Cossacks sailed from Kamchatka to the northern part of the Kuril Islands. Their chief, Ivan Kozyrevsky, visited the Kuril Islands twice (in 1711 and 1713) and compiled a rough “drawing” of an archipelago unknown to cartographers. And about a decade later, the first Russian surveyors who visited the Pacific Ocean, Ivan Evreinov and Fyodor Luzhin, drew a map on which they showed, together with Siberia, the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Ridge.
In 1725, the First Kamchatka Expedition set off from St. Petersburg on a long journey. Its equipment was conceived by Peter I shortly before his death. He appointed Vitus Bering, a sailor originally from Denmark, who had been in Russian service for twenty years, as the head of the expedition. Peter I himself wrote instructions for the expedition. It was prescribed to go to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, build one or two ships there and sail north from Kamchatka to find out if Asia and America were connected somewhere.
Even 80 years before the Kamchatka expedition, this geographical riddle, which had occupied European cartographers for a long time, was essentially already solved by Dezhnev and Popov. They passed the strait separating Asia and the American continent. But Fedot Popov did not return from the voyage. And the reports of Semyon Dezhnev were lost for a long time in the Yakut archive. Scientists and sailors could only hear rumors about this amazing voyage.
Peter I, equipping the expedition, wanted Russia, which had access to the Baltic, to also become a strong Pacific power. Peter was also occupied with the thought of whether it was possible to pave a route through the northern seas to India and China. A graduate of the Maritime Academy, Alexey Ilyich Chirikov, a wonderful person and sailor, was appointed Bering’s assistant. Another assistant, Martyn Petrovich Shpanberg, left a bad memory of himself: he was an experienced officer, but was distinguished by greed and cruelty.
It took a long time for the expedition to reach the Pacific coast. About a year and a half passed until all the participants gathered in Yakutsk. Then, with great hardship, they transported cargo along rivers and overland for another thousand miles - from Yakutsk to Okhotsk. Finally, on the small ship “Fortuna” we reached Kamchatka through the Sea of Okhotsk. Another ship was built there - “St. Gabriel,” on which they were to travel north. In July 1728 “St. Gabriel" set off. Day after day the ship sailed. Latitudes and longitudes were measured, and the first accurate map of the Asian coast of the sea, which was later called the Bering Sea, was created.
The English navigator Cook, who visited these places at the end of the 18th century, wrote: “I must give fair praise to the memory of the venerable captain Bering; his observations are so accurate and the position of the banks is indicated so correctly that with the mathematical aids that he had, nothing better could have been done. Its latitudes and longitudes are determined so correctly that one must be surprised at this.”
However, Bering was subsequently subjected to well-deserved reproaches. Having reached 67 ° 18 "N latitude after a month of sailing, he considered the instructions completed and ordered to turn back, without seeing American soil, and therefore without establishing how far Asia was from America. The energetic Chirikov unsuccessfully insisted on continuing the search .
During the voyage, the expedition discovered the island of St. Lawrence, one of the Diomede islands, and passed (secondary after Popov and Dezhnev) the strait separating Asia from America. But Bering did not establish then that this strait separates Asia from America, since he did not see the opposite, American shore.
The discovery of the strait, now known as the Bering Strait, was completed by navigator I. Fedorov and surveyor M. Gvozdev. In 1732 they passed this strait on the same ship “St. Gabriel”, left by Bering in Kamchatka. Based on Fedorov's travel diary, the first map of the strait separating the two continents was drawn up, with both its shores marked. Although Gvozdev and Fedorov did not land on the American coast, they came so close to its northwestern tip (now Cape Prince of Wales) that they saw Eskimo yurts on the shore.
These discoveries did not immediately become known in the capital. While they were taking place, a new expedition was being prepared in St. Petersburg. Its participants, among other tasks, were tasked with finding a way from Kamchatka to the American coast. The expedition was called the Second Kamchatka. Vitus Bering was again appointed chief, and Chirikov was appointed his assistant. In addition to sailing in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, the expedition had completely different routes ahead.
It was necessary to map the entire northern coast of the country: from Arkhangelsk to the mouths of the Ob, Yenisei, Lena and Kolyma and even further to the east, to the lands of the Chukotka region. This work continued for ten years. To carry them out, the expedition members were divided into groups.
The names of many leaders and participants of these detachments will forever go down in the history of geographical exploration and discovery. Among them
lieutenants Stepan Malygin and Alexey Skuratov, who went around the Yamal Peninsula with considerable difficulties, Dmitry Ovtsyn, who reached the mouth of the river from the sea. Yenisei bypassing the Gydan Peninsula. Among them are Vasily and Maria Pronchishchev, Khariton and Dmitry Laptev, Semyon Chelyuskin and other participants in the Great Northern Expedition (as historians often call it today).
From the many studies and discoveries made by the expedition members, we will tell you about reaching the northernmost point of Asia on the coast of the Taimyr Peninsula. A detachment was reaching the coast where this place is located, which was supposed to compile a description of the coast to the west of the Lena. The work of this detachment, like others, continued for a number of years. She demanded endurance, dedication, and perseverance from people.
The journey to Taimyr began in 1735 on the double boat “Yakutsk”. The detachment commander Vasily Pronchishchev was accompanied by his wife Maria - the first woman to participate in a scientific Arctic expedition. The voyage lasted less than a month; a hard winter near the mouth of the river took almost a year. Olenek.
The names of the participants of the Great Northern Expedition are immortalized in many geographical names. The map shows several such names on the Taimyr Peninsula. On this peninsula there is also the Khariton Laptev coast; find it in the atlas on a geographical map.
And then they sailed again to the eastern coast of Taimyr until the ship’s path was blocked by ice. Exhausted by a cruel disease - scurvy, Pronchishchev died on the way back to his previous wintering place. His wife also died, having steadfastly endured all the hardships and hardships. Navigator Semyon Chelyuskin took command of the detachment.
In 1739, the dubel-boat again went to sea with the goal of passing from the Lena to the Yenisei. The detachment was commanded by the newly appointed lieutenant Khariton Laptev, and Chelyuskin was his assistant. And again a short summer voyage and a long tedious winter (near the mouth of the Khatanga River). And again swimming, an unequal struggle with ice near the coast of Taimyr. The last, most difficult part of the heroic epic came when the double boat died. Having suffered a shipwreck, people dragged the surviving cargo ashore across the ice. It was decided to continue working. This is how the Taimyr coast line gradually appeared on the map.
Seven years after the start of work on describing the coast to the west of the Lena, the northernmost cape of the Asian continent appeared on the map. Navigator Chelyuskin reached him. He walked towards him with two companions from the mouth of the river. Khatangi. Sliding through the snow pulled by dogs
sled. Every day new entries appeared in Chelyuskin’s travel journal. “The fog is so great that you can’t see anything,” said one of them. “The great riot...” we read in another. But even in the fog, and in the blizzard, and in the severe frost, the meager words were repeated in the diary day after day: “Let’s go on our way.” Finally, on May 8, 1742, Chelyuskin wrote down that the cape had been reached, beyond which the coast turned south. In the 19th century this cape was given the name of its discoverer, and since then it has been known on the map as Cape Chelyuskin.
A great feat of the members of the Pacific detachments was the achievement of the American continent. The construction of ships for this voyage dragged on for years. Finally, in the summer of 1740, the packet boats “St. Peter" and "St. Paul". In early autumn, the ships set off for Kamchatka, rounded its southern tip and entered the vast Avacha Bay, convenient for ships, on the eastern shore of the peninsula. On the shore of this bay, during the winter, the city and port of Petropavlovsk, named after the ships, was founded.
On June 5, 1741, the ships set out on a long voyage. Packetboat "St. Peter" was commanded by Bering. On board was the naturalist Wilhelm Steller, sent to participate in this voyage by the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Packetboat "St. Pavel" was commanded by Chirikov. The ships' joint voyage lasted about three weeks. Then they lost sight of each other. Their destinies turned out differently.
"St. Pavel" reached America first. On the night of July 16 at 55°36" N latitude, after a month and a half of sailing, the sailors finally saw a mountainous coast. It was one of the islands located near the mainland. They failed to land on American soil. The boat sent with people did not return. They waited in vain return and the second (last on the ship) boat sent to search for missing people.Obviously, both boats died in the whirlpools formed by the current in these places.
Chirikov and his companions, having lost part of their crew, had no opportunity to replenish food supplies and fresh water, however, they still managed to make their way back from the American coast to Kamchatka. The journey was difficult: they had to starve, collect water flowing from the sails during the rains to quench their thirst, and fight storms and scurvy.
But the sailors made many discoveries. They saw the Pacific outskirts of America, where huge mountain ranges with steep snowy peaks approached the coast, with glaciers descending to the sea itself. They saw the uncharted Aleutian Islands and met the Aleuts on them - a people unknown to Europeans before the Second Kamchatka Expedition. Aleuts with faces painted black, wearing hats made of tree bark and shirts made from whale guts, approached the ship in sealskin-lined kayaks.
In October 1741, the ship approached Avacha Bay. It was a triumph of seamanship, courage and will of the people. Much of the credit for this belonged to the ship’s commander, Chirikov, who ensured a successful voyage. And the news about the ship “St. Peter” was not there for about a year. What trials befell the sailors on board? "St. Peter" reached the American coast on July 17, 1741 at latitude 58°14". The sailors saw mountain ranges with snowy peaks on the shore. They named the highest peak Mount St. Elijah (this is one of the highest peaks in North America). Two days the ship sailed slowly along the coast, and then the naturalist Steller landed on small island Kayak. Bering allowed him to spend only six hours on the island. The naturalist later reproached Bering for the haste with which he set off on his return voyage. But even in the few hours of his stay on American soil, Steller managed to make many observations of the vegetation and animals of the island. He also discovered an abandoned dwelling of people - a dugout in the forest.
The return voyage began, which turned out to be unhappy. The ship also fell into storms and fogs, the sailors suffered from scurvy, many of them died. The first to die was sailor Nikita Shumagin. "St. Peter" was then located near previously unknown islands. The navigators named these islands Shumaginsky in memory of the deceased. Other Aleutian islands were discovered along the way. Travelers met islanders several times. And the scurvy became more and more rampant. Sixty-year-old Bering also became seriously ill with it. The ship lost its orientation.
“... We experienced the most terrible disasters... our ship floated like a piece of dead wood, almost without any control, and went at the will of the waves and wind, wherever they thought of driving it,” - this is how Lieutenant Waxel described the tragic voyage of “St. . Petra."
Finally, we saw land that was mistakenly taken for Kamchatka. The ship crashed on underwater rocks near this land. Somehow we landed on shore. It soon became clear that the sailors had ended up on an uninhabited island. They spent a painful winter there. Bering died at the beginning of it. Subsequently, the island was named after Bering, and the entire group of islands that it is part of was called the Commander Islands. In the summer, the surviving people dismantled the damaged ship into pieces and built a small ship from them, on which they finally reached Kamchatka in August 1742.
Having completed his voyage to American soil, Chirikov compiled a map of the North Pacific Ocean. The expedition discovered the northwestern coast of America, islands and archipelagos, laid a sea route from Kamchatka to Japan and explored the Kamchatka Peninsula. The head of the detachment to find the route to Japan was M. P. Shpanberg.
Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov, who created the work “Description of the Land of Kamchatka,” studied Kamchatka. Krasheninnikov's travels are a remarkable page in the history of exploration of our Motherland. He had the opportunity to wander alone for about four years across the vast Kamchatka Peninsula, studying its amazing nature: smoking hills, hot springs, rivers into which countless schools of fish enter from the sea. The traveler became a friend of the Itelmens, who had inhabited the Kamchatka region since ancient times. He described their life, morals, and customs in his book. Krasheninnikov's work on Kamchatka was one of the most remarkable geographical works of the 18th century. It has not lost its significance to this day.
The second Kamchatka expedition lasted a total of ten years, from 1733 to 1743. Not only in the 18th, but also in the 19th century. It is difficult to name any other expedition so important in terms of the results achieved.
In the second half of the 18th century. The map of the Arctic and North Pacific Ocean is updated with the results of new research and discoveries. The Novosibirsk archipelago, news of which was first received back in 1710-1712, is included on the map of the Arctic. from the Yakut Cossacks Vagina and Permyakova (they visited one of these islands, later called Bolshoy Lyakhovsky).
In the early 70s of the 18th century. Industrialist Ivan Lyakhov visited these islands several times. After his name, the southern part of the archipelago was called the Lyakhov Islands. At this time, discoveries were also made of previously unknown parts of the coast of another Arctic archipelago - Novaya Zemlya, the southern island of which was known to the Russian Pomors many centuries ago. Around 1760, the helmsman of the hunting vessel Savva Loshkin circled Novaya Zemlya from the north. In 1768-1769 it was studied by navigator Fyodor Rozmyslov.
The greatest scientist of the 18th century. Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov wrote about the importance of Arctic research, that Russian sailors should pave the way through the northern seas to the Pacific Ocean.
The first permanent Russian settlement in America was on Kodiak Island, founded by G. I. Shelikhov.
The great Russian scientist wrote a special work in which he substantiated the possibility of sailing from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific. It is called “A Brief Description of Various Voyages in the Northern Seas and an Indication of the Possible Passage of the Siberian Ocean to Eastern India.” This work was far ahead of its time. In it, Lomonosov first scientifically developed the idea of the discovery and development of the Northern Sea Route. He made conclusions of outstanding importance for science about the properties and origin of polar ice and other features of the Arctic nature. The only thing that was not confirmed was Lomonosov’s assumption that in the depths of the polar basin, near the pole, there is no heavy ice in the summer. Already in late XIX century, it was established that the Arctic Ocean is covered with ice in its central part.
In the history of discoveries, the memory of two voyages in the 60s of the 18th century remains. under the leadership of V. Ya. Chichagov. The idea of these voyages belongs to M.V. Lomonosov. Their goal was to go from Arkhangelsk north into the depths of the Central Polar Basin and then sail along the “Northern Ocean” into the Pacific Ocean all the way to Kamchatka. Chichagov failed to break north further than 80°30" N latitude, but this latitude was also reached for the first time by sailing ships.
In the second half of the 18th century, new lands were mapped in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. Russian sailors, one after another, hunt for arctic fox and fur seal, sailing to the Aleutian Islands. They are discovering new islands and entire island groups belonging to the huge Aleutian chain, which, as is now known, stretches for more than 1800 km. After the name of one of these sailors - Andreyan Tolstykh - a large group of islands began to be called Andreyanovsky. The discovery of the Aleutian Islands continues with the special expedition of Krenitsyn and Levashov in 1766-1769.
Russian industrialists also reach the large island of Kodiak, located off the coast of Alaska. In 1783, merchant Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov founded a permanent Russian settlement in Kodiak, and then began creating settlements in Alaska itself.
Thus began the annexation of Alaska to Russian possessions. G.I. Shelikhov, as well as Alexander Andreevich Baranov, appointed at the end of the 18th century. the main ruler of Russian America, did a lot to explore the northwestern part of the American continent, especially to create a correct geographical map of Alaska.
From 1785 to 1793, eight years, the expedition of I. I. Billings - G. A. Sarychev conducted research in the Arctic and in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. The outstanding hydrographer Sarychev compiled valuable maps and descriptions of the Aleutian Islands based on them, individual parts Bering and Okhotsk seas, the coast of northeastern Siberia and the coast of Alaska. Descriptions of the expedition's long-term labors made by Sarychev served as a model for Russian navigators of later times.
In the second half of the 18th century. English and French ships appear in the waters of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, circumnavigating the world. But we’ll tell you more about these wonderful voyages. Most of the voyages around the world in the 18th century. was accompanied by great discoveries not so much in the north as in the tropics and temperate latitudes of the Pacific Ocean.
Travels in search of the southern continent
A number of Pacific islands and archipelagos were visited by expeditions as early as the 16th and 17th centuries and were mapped. But often these lands were lost again, since their discoverers were not yet able to accurately determine the geographical location of the found islands. Latitude has long been established approximately correctly. When determining longitude, errors often reached many hundreds of kilometers.
There was a lot of confusion on the maps, especially of the Pacific Ocean. Using these maps, sailors, for example, searched in vain for about two hundred years for the Solomon Islands. They learned to accurately determine longitude only in the 18th century.
Since then, the islands lost in the Pacific Ocean have gradually taken their places on the geographical map. New archipelagos are opening up, on which no European has ever set foot.
But no matter what large island No matter how European sailors landed, everywhere they were not first, but second. They were met by islanders, long-time inhabitants of these lands. Until now, scientists have given different answers to the confusing and complex question of where man first came to the Pacific Islands. For example, Easter Island, which Europeans first visited back in the 18th century, has aroused debate among scientists ever since until our time.
In 1722, the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen, in search of the then unknown southern continent, reached the shores of a lonely island located one and a half thousand miles from the coast South America. He called this land Easter Island. With surprise, Roggeveen and his companions noticed huge statues on the shore, five to six times the height of a man. Who and when carved them out of stone and with what tools erected them on this small piece of land, lost among the water desert? And to this day this mystery has not been fully solved. These amazing monuments that have survived on the island clearly demonstrate that the history of man’s discovery of lands in the Pacific Ocean goes back many centuries and that not all pages of this history have been fully read to this day. The first voyages of Europeans are a relatively late chapter in this story. But as a result of these voyages, for the first time, a geographical map of the Pacific Ocean as a whole, with all its islands and archipelagos, was created.
In the 18th century Scientists are increasingly taking part in the most significant voyages. Astronomy equips sailors with more in precise ways determination of geographical coordinates unknown in the past to Columbus and Magellan and their closest followers.
As for the governments of European powers and trading companies equipping Pacific expeditions, the creation of maps and the discovery of new lands interests them for very specific reasons. They are driven by a thirst for profit, a desire to gain access to the riches of distant countries, still unknown to Europeans.
Circumnavigation of the world in the 18th century. were still so difficult, long and dangerous that each of them has been preserved in the history of navigation as a lasting memory. Large geographical discoveries and research, the voyages of the English navigator James Cook, as well as the French sailors Louis Antoine Bougainville and Jean Francois La Perouse, are especially remarkable.
The first French circumnavigation of the world under the command of Bougainville in 1766-1769. notable for the fact that scientists took part in it. The expedition made many discoveries in the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean. Among them was the newly discovered (200 years after its discovery by the Spaniard Mendanya) archipelago - the Solomon Islands. The largest island of this archipelago is named after Bougainville. The expedition also visited the island of Tahiti (a year earlier, the English navigator Wallis had visited it). Bougainville colorfully described the beautiful nature of the island and the unique way of life of the Tahitians.
The inhabitants of Tahiti were skilled sailors and made long voyages to other islands. “During such a voyage, the range of which sometimes exceeds 300 leagues (i.e. more than 1350 km), the land is completely lost from sight. During the day, their compass is the Sun, and at night - the stars, which are always extremely bright between the tropics,” says Bougainville.
In 1768, while the French expedition was still traveling, a small three-masted sailing ship, the Endeavor, sailed from the coast of England under the command of James Cook. This was the first of the circumnavigation voyages that made him famous. It was announced that the ship was leaving on an expedition to the Pacific Ocean for astronomical observations of the passage of the planet Venus through the solar disk.
But, in addition to this official assignment, Cook also received another, which the British government preferred not to disclose, so as not to attract the attention of rival powers to the expedition. The main purpose of his journey was to discover and join the British possessions of “Terra Australis Incognita”, the same unknown Southern continent that the Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch, and later the British, French had been searching in vain for centuries...
Cook's journey lasted three years. He completed the discovery of New Zealand, begun a hundred years earlier by the Dutch Tasman expedition. Having walked around the northern and south islands New Zealand, Cook thereby finally proved that it was an island land, and not a protrusion of the unknown Southern continent, as Tasman once thought. The expedition was the first to map the east coast of Australia south of 38° N. w. and made a number of other discoveries. But the navigator did not find the mysterious Southern continent, which had eluded persistent seekers for hundreds of years. Obviously, the search had to be conducted somewhere to the south. And so, in 1772, Cook set off again in search of the elusive continent.
In the second circumnavigation Cook was attended by German naturalists Johann and Georg Forster (father and son). They collected large collections and made many observations of the nature of the islands they encountered along the way and the customs of the islanders. Georg Forster colorfully described this voyage. Cook also left a detailed description of it. The travelers sailed on two ships. As a result of three years of expedition work, previously unknown islands appeared on the geographical map. The largest of them was named New Caledonia by Cook. Two groups of islands in Oceania were later given the name Cook. The expedition clarified the geographical coordinates of many lands already visited by European sailors and thoroughly corrected the map. For the first time in the history of navigation, expedition ships crossed the Antarctic Circle, but did not discover an unknown continent beyond its borders. Cook wrote about his journey: “I can safely say that no person will ever dare to penetrate further south than I did. The lands that may be located in the south will never be explored...” As you know, Cook was still mistaken. Antarctica was discovered half a century after his journey by the Russian expedition of Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev.
In 1776 Cook sailed on his third voyage around the world. This time, the main goal was to search for the northwest passage, that is, a route connecting in the north, bypassing the American continent, the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The expedition could not find such a path, but made many discoveries, of which the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands was especially important. Although these islands had already been reached by the Spaniards once in the 16th century, they remained almost unknown to Europeans before Cook's voyage.
On the largest of the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaii Island, Cook died in a skirmish with local residents. He was an outstanding explorer, a brave sailor, but, like many other discoverers of overseas lands, he served the colonialists, declaring the coasts of Australia and the Pacific islands he discovered to be the possession of the English crown.
The French sailor Francois La Perouse behaved differently during his circumnavigation of the world (begun in 1785). In his travel diary we find the following thoughts, unusual for that time: “How can such an accident as a visit to a foreign ship serve as a valid reason for taking away from the ill-fated islanders the land that their ancestors had owned since time immemorial, irrigating it with their sweat? . This custom of European sailors is extremely absurd.”
La Perouse did not follow this custom. La Perouse's expedition continued to refine the map of tropical Oceania and was engaged in research on the Pacific coast of North America and the Asian continent. The traveler sailed off the coast of Sakhalin (mistakenly taken by him for a peninsula), along the Kuril Islands, and visited Kamchatka. From Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, La Perouse sent through Russia to Paris with maps and travel notes of a member of the Lesseps expedition. This was the only person from all the expedition participants who had the opportunity to return to his homeland. The ships of La Perouse's expedition went missing in the third year after leaving France. Only 40 years later it became clear that they had crashed and died near the Pacific island of Vanikoro in the Santa Cruz Islands (southeast of the Solomon Islands). As a result of the work of circumnavigators around the world in the 18th century, dozens of oceanic islands and archipelagos took their places on the map, but the navigators had not yet succeeded in reaching the last continent of the Earth - Antarctica.
Exploration of continental interiors
On any map of the world drawn two or three centuries ago, we will find vast “white spots” inside the continents of Australia, Africa, America and in many parts of the vast Eurasia. Often these “blind spots” are not immediately noticeable. In the old days, cartographers filled them out by guesswork, randomly drawing out ridges, fantastic lakes and rivers. But with each century, the maps took on a form closer to the truth.
There is almost nothing to say about the smallest continent - Australia. In the 18th century its exploration was essentially limited only to the coasts. Only at the end of this century was it possible to complete the determination of the contours of the Australian mainland and establish that Tasmania is not a peninsula, but an island separated from Australia by a strait. The inland regions of Australia, its lakes, mountain ranges, and rivers appeared on the map already in the 19th century. Especially many discoveries were made in the 18th century. in the depths of the North American continent.
These discoveries began with French and English fur hunters and fur traders, who penetrated further and further west from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast. These “forest tramps” are colorfully depicted on the pages of the novels of the American writer Fenimore Cooper. The appearance on geographical maps of rivers and lakes previously unknown to Europeans usually meant that blood was shed on these rivers and Indian tribes were exterminated. It’s not for nothing that Cooper’s favorite hero Nathaniel Bumppo, a friend of the Delaware Indian tribe, nicknamed St. John’s Wort in his youth, and later Hawkeye and Leatherstocking, said, finding himself on the shore of one of the beautiful lakes in the forest thicket: “I’m glad that this lake doesn’t have a name yet.” ... at least the name given by the pale-faced, because if they christen any area in their own way, it always foreshadows devastation and ruin...”
Of the various travels that contributed to the creation of a correct map of the interior of the North American continent, the expeditions of Samuel Hearne and Alexander Mackenzie stand out. Both of them reached the coast of the Arctic Ocean, and Mackenzie reached the Pacific coast. Both of them were employees of the English Hudson's Bay Company, founded in the 17th century. This trading company was mainly engaged in the purchase of furs and the search for ore deposits. Its agents penetrated further and further into the continent.
In 1789, Alexander Mackenzie and a small detachment reached Great Slave Lake, which was already visited by fur traders. The travelers sailed in four boats along the river flowing from this lake. Where this river flowed was not yet known, but on some maps it was depicted as flowing into the Pacific Ocean. Sailing westward, the travelers hoped to reach the Pacific Ocean. But suddenly the river turned sharply to the north. After a long and difficult voyage, Mackenzie became convinced that they were approaching the “Great North Sea” (Arctic Ocean). Finally, in the distance they saw this sea. Provisions were running out, and Mackenzie hurried back. And the river, which ceased to be a mystery to cartographers, was later named r. Mackenzie.
In 1792, Mackenzie again set out on a long and difficult route. He crossed the entire continent from east to west, covering over five thousand kilometers. His path ran from the river. St. Lawrence to the lake. Athabasca, from there by river roads and overland to the Rocky Mountains and further west to the Pacific coast. Such a long route was not completed in North America in the 18th century. not a single expedition.
Among the trips made in South America, the large Peruvian expedition, equipped by the French Academy of Sciences in 1736, is worthy of attention. The expedition was supposed to carry out special measurements to find out how the value of the meridian degree changes at different latitudes, and thereby more accurately find out what the shape of the Earth is . Simultaneously with the Peruvian expedition, which worked near the equator, measurements in the north were carried out by another expedition sent to Lapland. After these works were completed (and they lasted a very long time - about nine years), the head of the La Condamine expedition set off on a voyage along with several companion guides along the river. Amazon from its upper reaches to its mouth. They sailed for about four months on a raft and traveled about four thousand kilometers. This was the first journey through the Amazon by a scientific explorer. In 1799, the young German naturalist Humboldt began a many-year journey in the tropics of South America.
The “white spots” on maps of Africa decreased relatively little in size during the 18th century. Cartographers knew mainly the outskirts of Africa, its coastal lands. The colonialists plundered these lands.
Europeans managed to penetrate deep into Africa only occasionally. At the end of the 18th century. European colonialists were already preparing to seize new African lands. In England, the African Association was created - a society to promote research into the interior of the African continent. The first expeditions equipped by this society date back to the end of the 18th century. The most important of them was the expedition to the river. Niger, which was made by Mungo Park, who continued his travels in the 19th century. . In conclusion, we will also tell you about the wonderful Russian expeditions that were studied in the 18th century. The Caspian Sea and many lands of our country.
The Russian expeditions sent to the Caspian by Peter I did a lot to create a correct map of the Caspian Sea. In 1715, the expedition of Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky compiled a map of the Caspian Sea that was close to the truth. Another also very valuable map of the Caspian Sea was compiled in 1719 -1720. hydrographers Karl Verdun and Fedor Ivanovich Soimonov. In 1726, Soimonov walked around the entire coast of the great lake-sea. He wrote a detailed description of the Caspian Sea.
A place of honor in the history of geographical research belongs to scientific expeditions of the second half of the 18th century, equipped by the Russian Academy of Sciences. These expeditions studied both the European and Asian parts of our country: the Russian Plain, the Ural Mountains, and Siberia. Their routes stretched from the White Sea to the Caspian Sea, from the banks of the Neva to Lake Baikal and Transbaikalia. The idea of large expeditions of this kind belonged to M.V. Lomonosov. The great Russian scientist did a lot for the development of Russian geography. For a long time, until the last days of his life, he headed the Geographical Department of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Lomonosov tirelessly called for studying the nature and economy of Russia. He persistently sought to equip the Academy of Sciences with expeditions for the geographical study of the country. But this undertaking did not meet with proper understanding and support during his lifetime. A few years after the death of M.V. Lomonosov, large academic expeditions were nevertheless equipped. The immediate reason for sending them was given by astronomers who were preparing to observe the passage of Venus across the solar disk in 1769. When preparing astronomical expeditions, it was decided to simultaneously send naturalists on long journeys to study different parts Russia, descriptions of nature, population, economy, searches for useful plants, metal ores, minerals and other natural resources.
Astronomers made observations in different parts of the country over the planet Venus on June 3, 1769 and returned to the capital.
The travels of the groups of naturalists lasted for several more years (from 1768 to 1774). Scientists traveled hundreds and thousands of miles in carriages and wagons. The most significant results achieved were the works of Ivan Ivanovich Lepekhin and Peter Simon Pallas.
Pallas, one of the greatest naturalists of the 18th century, traveled a long way from the Volga lands to the Transbaikal ridges. His companions were V.F. Zuev and P.P. Sokolov, later famous scientists. When the journey began, Pallas was 26 years old, and Vasily Zuev was only fifteen years old. This is one of the most remarkable young travelers who have ever participated in such long and difficult routes. In his travel diary, Pallas wrote that during the long expedition he lost his health and turned gray. Pallas's work tells us about the Volga region and the Urals, about Altai and the Sayan Mountains, about distant Lake Baikal and Transbaikalia.
The journey of Lepekhin and his young assistant N. Ya. Ozeretskovsky lasted about five years. Their paths ran from the Baltic Sea to the Caspian Sea, and from there to the Ural Mountains and to the far north of the country, to the coast White Sea. Lepekhin spoke about everything he saw in his extensive work “Daily Notes of a Travel to Different Provinces of the Russian State.”
Descriptions of Pallas, Lepekhin and other participants in expeditions in 1768-1774. and still retain great scientific value. They contain a wide variety of information about the Russian nature and economy of Russia in the 18th century. Ancient cities and villages come to life on their pages. Here are the Arkhangelsk region, the Volga lands, the mining Urals and Siberia, as they were two centuries ago. Travelers found many previously unknown species of plants, birds, and insects; ore deposits, rivers, lakes, and the structure of mountain ranges were described. The reports of Russian academic expeditions of the 18th century remind us, first of all, not of amazing adventures and unexpected discoveries, but of persistent research and tireless work.
bottle mail
Readers of Jules Verne's novel “Captain Grant's Children” probably remember that Captain Grant sealed the message about the sinking of the Britannia in a bottle and threw it into the sea. The bottle rushed along the waves of the ocean for a long time before it was swallowed by a shark, then the shark was accidentally killed and the “mail” was removed from its stomach.
In the days of the sailing fleet, ocean voyages lasted for years and “bottle mail” was popular among sailors. This mail was not particularly reliable and very sloppy.
In the 16th century British Queen Elizabeth created the position of “bottle uncorker.” For opening the found bottle without the participation of this official, the culprit faced the death penalty by hanging. The amazing position of “bottle opener” lasted about two hundred years!
In 1856, the brig Griften anchored off the coast near Gibraltar. The captain in the boat went ashore. As he was returning, a fresh wind blew. To make the boat more stable, the sailors placed several stones in it. Along with the stones, a barrel overgrown with shells ended up in the boat. It contained a coconut filled with resin, and in the nut was a parchment with a message from Christopher Columbus to the King and Queen of Spain about the death of the Santa Maria caravel and the riot on the Nnnya caravel. Columbus's letter came into the hands of people 363 years late.
In 1904, Baldwin's polar expedition threw a bottle into the sea calling for help. The expedition returned safely to its homeland. Baldwin died in 1933, and his bottle was discovered in 1949. Nowadays, the “bottle mail” is used to study sea currents. Ocean researchers use thousands of bottles for this purpose. A postcard is placed in each bottle with a request to send it to the sender, indicating the place and time of discovery. Knowing the starting and ending places of the bottle's journey, you can map the direction of the current and sometimes calculate its average speed.
