XI.] THE NERCHINSK TREATY. 235 



The liistoiy of the further conquest of Siberia is of no very 

 great interest. Shortly after the arrival of the Czar's forces 

 Yermac was surprised by a body of Kuchum Khan's adherents, and 

 was drowned in his attempt to escape, and the Paissians were for 

 the time being driven out of the country. It was only for a brief 

 period. They returned in greater strength, and rapidly reduced 

 the Tartars to submission. Thenceforward their progress eastward 

 was almost unchecked. The rude tribes were unable to stand agjainst 

 the superior discipline and arms of the more civilised nation, and 

 in less than a century the Muscovite and the Celestial faced one 

 another in the provinces of the Amoor. The hostilities that ensued 

 were not of long duration. The Czar was wise enough to foresee 

 that a protracted war with such a powerful nation as the Chinese 

 could by no possibility end in his favour, and ultimately a treaty 

 was signed at Nerchinsk in 1689, by which a system of commerce 

 was established between the two nations, and the advance of the 

 Eussians checked in south-east Siberia. 



No such check had, however, occurred in the north-east, and 

 even before the Nerchinsk Treaty the Eussians had established 

 themselves at Anadyrsk, — practically, although not actually, the 

 Ultima Thule of the Asiatic continent. Here a fort was built, and 

 a governor appointed, who was instructed to collect the tribute of 

 furs from the natives, and to inform himself of the countries beyond 

 and to the south of his district. At that time the half-fabulous 

 Strait of Anian was the supposed boundary of Asia, and Kam- 

 schatka, of which the Eussians had only dimly heard through the 

 medium of the natives, was believed to be joined to the northern 

 portion of Japan. The existence of Bering's Straits was not proved 

 until nearly forty years later, but hardly a tenth of that time had 

 elapsed before the Cossack troops had penetrated the peninsula 

 and built a fort at Werchni Kamschatka, in the very heart of the 

 country. 



To whom the honour of the actual discovery of Kamschatka is 

 due is a disputed point, but the claims of one Theodot, a Eussian 



