122 VITUS BERIN^G. 



along the coast all night, and cruisers swarmed about 

 them at a respectful distance. On the 22d, Spangberg 

 cast anchor one verst from shore, and sought to commu- 

 nicate with them. The Japanese brought rice, tobacco, 

 various kinds of fruits and cloths, which, on very reason- 

 able terms, they exchanged for Russian wares. They 

 were very polite, and Spangberg succeeded in obtaining 

 some gold coins, which, however, he found were described 

 by Kaempfer. Several persons of high rank visited him 

 in his cabin and attempted to explain to him, by the aid 

 of his map and globe, the geography of Japan and Yezo. 

 As his instructions enjoined upon him the most extreme 

 cautiousness, and as on the following day he found him- 

 self surrounded by eighty large boats, each with ten or 

 twelve men, he weighed anchor and stood out to sea in a 

 northeasterly direction. 



It was Spangberg's purpose to chart the southern part 

 of the Kurile Islands, and, as will be seen from his chart,* 

 he sought to accomplish his task, and thus complete his 

 work of 1738. The casual observer will, however, find 

 this map unsatisfactory and inaccurate, and will not 

 only be quite confused in viewing these islands so pro- 

 miscuously scattered about, and which seemingly do 

 not correspond with the actual geography of this region 

 as known to us, but he will even be inclined to suspect 

 Spangberg of gross fraud. This is certainly very unjust, 

 however, and after a careful study of a modern map, I 

 venture the following opinion on this subject: In order 

 to be able to understand his chart and course, the most 

 essential thing necessary is simply to determine his first 



*See Appendix. 



