Two ships came sailing over the North Pacific Ocean more than a century and a half ago. One was named St. Peter and the other was named St. Paul. Over both flew the broad blue cross of St. Andrew. They had been blessed and prayed for in churches and cathedrals, after the fashion of those times, for their errand was to carry civilization and Christianity to regions unexplored and unknown. They had been sent by the government of Russia, to continue explorations begun by order of Peter the Great, to ascertain the extent of his vast dominions, and to find out whether Asia and America were connected by land or separated by water. Captain Vitus Behring was in command.
In the long days of June they crossed the narrow Sea with a favoring wind. Soon a lofty mountain was seen in the distance over the St. Paul's bow. To right and left and all around it were a myriad of islands and rocky islets, partially covered with evergreens. No white man had ever seen them before. Now they were discovered by Russians, and so they would henceforth be Russian soil. He cruised along the shore to north and east, far into the Arctic Ocean. Then storms assailed his craft. Sickness attacked his crew. He sought to return, but was wrecked on a desolate island, and Behring's life ended in Behring's Sea.
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