THE 



PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE. 



i. Extract of tivo Letters from Captain Von KrOsen- 

 STERN, Commander of the Rimian Expedition to Japan^ 

 dated the Harbour of St. Peter and St. Paid, July igl, 

 and August 20, 1 804. 



We arrived Ktrc on the 15th of July, and are now ac- 

 tively employed in unlading the ship and taking in ballast. 

 Agreeably to our original plan, we ought to have proceeded 

 directly to Japan ; but as it appeared to me impossible that 

 the business of the embassy could be terminated soon 

 enough to return in the course of the same year to Kamt- 

 chatka, as several months woidd be necessary only for 

 transporting the presents from Nangasaki to jedo, I re- 

 solved to proceed first to Kanitchatka in ofder to imload 

 the vessel there, and then set sail for Japan, where we 

 otherwise must have remained the whole winter. The dif- 

 ference of two months later could be of little importance 

 to the embassy ; while, on the other h«nd, if the lading, 

 respecting the value of which I had formed an improper 

 idea, as from 1 000 to 2000 per cent, may be gained on some 

 articles, had rerriairled a whole year in the ship, the half 

 of it at least must have been lost j for already some of the 

 articles have been spoiled by dampness. In regard to my 

 voyage from Brazil to Kanitchatka, which took up five 

 months and a half, during which, nine days excepted, we 

 were continually under sail, and which in every, respect 

 was exceedingly fortunate, I intended to have transmitted 

 to you a complete journal of it; but as Dr. Espenbcrg has 

 told me that he proposes to send you one, and as there is 

 reason to expect that his information will be more interest- 

 ing than mine, which would contain rather naulicul than 

 historical events, I am happy to think that vou will be in- 

 formed by him of every thing that distinguishes our expe- 

 dition from others of a similar kind. The account of our 

 residence at the island of Nukahivah, respecting the nature 

 and inhabitants of which nothing has yet been known iu 

 Europe, is the only thing new that you can expect. The 

 \'ol. 22. No. S5. Jvm 1805. A 2 vSandwich 



