170 COOK'S VOYAGE TO MAY, 



to him the Commander's letter, which was written in 

 German, and was merely complimental, inviting him 

 and his officers to Bolcheretsk, to which place the 

 people, who brought it, were to conduct us. M. 

 Port at the same time, acquainted him, that the Major 

 had conceived a very wrong idea of the size of the 

 ships, and of the service we were engaged in; Ismoloff 

 in his letter, having represented us as two small 

 English packet-boats, and cautioned him to be on 

 his guard; insinuating, that he suspected us to be no 

 better than pirates. In consequence of this letter, 

 he said there had been various conjectures formed 

 about us at Bolcheretsk: that the Major thought it 

 most probable we were on a trading scheme, and for 

 that reason had sent down a merchant to us; but 

 that the officer, who was second in command, was of 

 opinion we were French, and come with some hostile 

 intention, and were for taking measures accordingly. 

 It had required, he added, all the Major's authority 

 to keep the inhabitants from leaving the town, and 

 retiring up into the conntry; to so extraordinary a 

 pitch had their fears risen, from their persuasion that 

 we were French. 



Their extreme apprehensions of that nation were 

 principally occasioned, by some circumstances attend- 

 ing an insurrection that had happened at Bolcheretsk 

 a few years before, in which the commander had lost 

 his life. We were informed, that an exiled Polish 

 officer, named Beniowski, taking advantage of the 

 confusion into which the town was throwm, had siezed 

 upon a galliot, then lying at the entrance of the 

 Bolchoireka, and had forced on board a number of 

 Russian sailors, sufficient to navigate her: that he 

 had put on shore a part of the crew at the Kourile 

 Islands; and, among the rest, Ismyloff, who, as the 

 reader will recollect, had puzzled us exceedingly at 

 Oonalashka, with the history of this transaction; 

 though, for want of understanding his language, we 



