Works of A.P. Chekhov, Vol. 10: Sakhalin Island

He sailed along the eastern shore and, having rounded the northern capes of Sakhalin, entered the strait itself, keeping a north-to-south direction. It seemed he was very close to solving the riddle, but the gradual decrease in depth to 3 1/2 fathoms, the specific gravity of the water, and, above all, his preconceived notion forced him, too, to acknowledge the existence of an isthmus he had not seen. Yet, a worm of doubt still gnawed at him. "It is highly probable," he writes, "that Sakhalin was once, and perhaps even in recent times, an island." He returned back, apparently with an uneasy soul: when he first saw Broughton's notes in China, he "rejoiced not a little" symbol: *.

The error was corrected in 1849 by Nevelskoy. The authority of his predecessors, however, was still so great that when he reported his discoveries to Saint Petersburg, he was not believed; his action was considered audacious and subject to punishment, and they "concluded" that he should be demoted. It is unknown what this would have led to if not for the intercession of the Tsar himself, who found his action valiant, noble, and patriotic symbol: **. This was a man of energetic, hot temperament—educated, self-sacrificing, humane, imbued to the marrow with an idea and fanatically devoted to it, morally pure. One of those who knew him writes: "I have not happened to meet a more honest man." On the eastern coast and on Sakhalin, he made a brilliant career in a mere five years, but he lost his daughter, who died of hunger, and he aged; his wife, a "young, pretty, and pleasant woman" who heroically endured all privations, also aged and lost her health symbol: *.