A memoir on the geography of the North-eastern part of Asia, and on the question whether Asia and America are contiguous, or are separated by the sea

• Published in: Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 1833
• Subjects: Kamtschatka; Siberia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspl.1815.0073; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspl.1815.0073

The opinion that the continents of Asia and America are separated by the sea, seems first to have been inferred in 1736 by Professor Muller, and to have been founded upon some papers found at that time in Siberia, relating to the celebrated voyage of Deschneer, who in 1648 first discovered the sea east of Kamtschatka. The question, however, seems to have been undecided at the period of Behring’s voyage, as we learn from his instructions given by Peter the Great; and the Asiatic side only of Behring’s Strait was discovered by that navigator: for the coast of Asia being there found to take a western direction, it had the effect of giving an impression of the total separation of Asia and America. After noticing several other attempts to determine the north-eastern limits of Asia previous to the arrival of Captain Cook in the sea of Kamtschatka, Captain Burney proceeds to the observations of that navigator. The first extraordinary circumstance was a sudden disappearance of the tides in Behring’s Strait. Thence Captain Cook coasted the land of America to the north and north-east till stopped, in 70° 40' north latitude, by a floating body of ice. He then stood westward from the coast of Asia, keeping in as high a latitude as the ice would permit. The deepest soundings in this sea did not exceed 30 fathoms in latitude 68° 45', mid-way between the coasts of Asia and America. The soundings decreased to the northward, and did not increase in running from the coast of America westward, as is usual in running from land. These, and other peculiarities, gave so much the character of a mediterranean sea, that some on board, says the author, were of opinion that we were inclosed by land to the north, and that Asia and America were there united.