Anadyr in 1650. The two groups spent the next year quarreling, exploring and collecting tribute from the Anaul natives. Sea of Okhotsk In February or March 1651 he set off south and reached the Penzhina River. After the thaw he built a boat, sailed west along the coast and wintered at the mouth of the Gizhiga River. In the fall of 1652 he wintered on the Yama River east of Magadan and some time later on the Tauy River (on the west side of Magadan bay). In 1657 he appeared at Okhotsk. In 1659 he was at Yakutsk and later went to Moscow where he was appointed an ataman. He returned to Yakutsk and died in 1666. Given the poor records, it is not clear what he was doing in the 6 years it took to go from the Penzhina to Okhotsk. It is possible that he explored some part of western Kamchatka Peninsula and may have crossed the northern neck to a point where he could see the Pacific. The story that he sailed completely around the peninsula is probably a legend. He seems to have a fairly rough fellow. Many of the surviving documents record his quarrels with other Russians and mistreatment of the natives. He is not to be confused with Taras, Garasim and Yakob Stadukhin, probably his two brothers and his son respectively, who were also in Siberia at this time. References Raymond H Fisher, The Voyage of Semen Dezhnev in 1648, The Hakluyt Society, 1981. Burykin, A.A. Pokhody Mikhaila Stadukhina i otkrytiye Kamchatki Explorers of Siberia Russian explorers Year of birth unknown 1666 deaths