C 19 ] 



ACCOUNT 



OF THE 



RUSSIAN DISCOVERIES. 



CHAP. I. 



Commencement and progrefs of the Ruflian Difcoveries 

 in the fea of Kamtchatka — General dhijion of the 

 New Bifcovered IJlands, 



A Thirft after riches was the chief motive which 

 •^ -^ excited the Spaniards to the difcovery of America ; 

 and which turned the attention of other maritime nations 

 to that quarter. The fame palTion for riches occafioned, 

 about the middle of the fixteenth century, the difcovery 

 and conqueft of Northern A fia, a country, before that time, 

 as unknown to the Europeans, as Thule to the ancients. 

 The firll: foundation of this conqueft was laid by the ^"^a^^^"^ "^ 

 celebrated Yermac *, at the head of a band of adven- 

 turers, lefs civilized, but at the fame time, not fo inhu- 

 man as the conquerors of America. By the acceffion of 

 this vaft territory, now known by the name of Siberia, the 

 Ruffians have acquired an extent of empire never before 

 attained by any other nation. 



* The reader will find an account of this conqueft by Yermac in 

 Tart II. Chap, I. 



D a Tlie 



