A S I 



itliis time a navigation Ima been uninteiTuptedly kept up be- 

 tween Okliotflc and Kamtfhalka. 



Wliilc all this was traiifading, governor prince Gagarin, 

 in the year lyif), liil'patchcd colonel Jacob Agecf fin Vclt- 

 fliin, formerly voivodc at YakutHc, with a conlulcrable 

 party of oilicers and people, to the fame regions, with or- 

 ders to make diligent inqniries concerning Kamtlhatka, and 

 chiefly fuch as related to the objeiil in queftion. Kofircflky 

 . mentions, tliat (hips from Japan came to the fixth of the 

 Kurilli idaiids, Shokoki, for ores or minerals, which they 

 earned back to their ifland. This, however, feems to be 

 not quite correft, as differing widely fiom all the other ac- 

 counts, which fay, that the Japanefe (probably when 

 driven about by adverfe winds and ilorms) ufed never to 

 proceed farther than Matmai. Nor had any fubfequent 

 information confirp.ied what he advances. This therefore 

 was one of the principal matters into which the colonel was 

 inllrufted by the governor to inquire; he was likcwife to 

 proceed from Tlluikotlkoi-nofs to the oppofite iflands, a:id 

 thence to the main land. By his inllruftions alio he was to 

 gain accurate information about the iflands of Shantari ; 

 to attempt to little a regular traffic with the Japanefe, and 

 •whatever elfe he could cfTeA in confequence of his own ob- 

 fervatlons : nothing, however, of importance cnfued from 

 it. The nr<,vernor had given the colonel, a Swedilh lieute- 

 nant named Ambiorn Ivlolyn, who was to conihuct the 

 vefTels proper for tlie fevcral enterprifes at Okhotlk. This 

 man -pretended that there was no timber to be found at 

 that place fit for the purpofe. (Seealfo Strahlenbcrg, p. 17.) 

 Difputes arofc now between the colonel and the voivode of 

 Yakutn<, Ivan \'aiiilief fin Rakitin, which likcwife probably 

 threw great impediments in the way of this expedition ; and 

 the difu-race of princeGagarin happening foon atter,the whole 

 bufmcfb came to nothing. Tlie only benefit accruing from 

 it was a voyage fet on foot by Yeltfliin, in the year 1718, 

 to the Shantary iflands, and performed by the fm boyarfl<oi 

 Prokofey riiilkcicf. This perfon was Hill living when Mr. 

 Miiller was at Yakutik, and from whom he learnt the fol- 

 lowing particulars of his voyage. 



Philkcief was provided with able feamen, the better to 

 cnfure fuccefs : when they were out at fea, thcfe men de- 

 clared to him that they were refolved to vifit not only the 

 Shantary, but all the other iflands lying in thofe feas, as 

 far as the Kurilly ; which done, they would winter on the 

 largeft of the Shantai7 iflands, which by way of eminence 

 is denominated Shantar. This not being agreeable to PhiU 

 keief, he caufed himfelf, with a couple of Kozaks, to be 

 put on fliore at the mouth of the river Tugur. The reft 

 accompliflied their defign, pafled the winter on the ifle of 

 Shantar, and had a rich capture of fables. Having negli- 

 gently, however, left a fire they had been ufing, the flames 

 caught the trees, fo that the whole foreft of the ifland was 

 in a blaze, by which they alfo loll their fable?. The next 

 fummer they returned to the continent, where, intending 

 to fifli along the coail between the Tngur and the Amoor, 

 the greater part of them were flain by the Giliaks. They 

 computed the ifle of Shantar to be from foulh to north 

 about twenty verlls, and three or four verfts in breadth, 

 without any mountain upon it. How then were thcfe 

 iflands to be feen from the mouth of the river Ud ? This 

 therefore feems to confirm Philteitf '3 aflertion, that they 

 are fituatc in the proximity of the Tugur, and that it re- 

 quires eight days to pafs from the Ud to the Tugur, in lod- 

 kas or fmall craft. If we admit the fituation of the coaits 

 to be as they appear upon the maps, namely, as ftrctching 

 direftly fouth from Okhotflc to the Amoor, then the difli- 

 £ulty is much increafed ; becaufc in that cafe there mull be 



A S I I 



fevcral promontones projefting fo far as to conceal thcfe 1 

 iflands from the view. But various reafons may be found 

 for believing that the coaft from Okhotlk to the river Ud 

 runs fouth-wrftwards, and from the Ud to the Amoor 

 fouth-eaft wards. If fo, as it is highly probable it will here- 

 after be found, then the Shtnt;yian iflands may lie in fuch 

 a manner as to follow one another in fucceffion northwards 

 from the river Tugur. There may be more of them than 

 we imagine, fincc the number of them is by no means af- 

 certained. In that cafe, the neareft may unqueiUonably be 

 difcerned from the liver Ud. 



In 1718, a tribe of Tflmktfhis came voluntarily to fiir- 

 render themfelvcs at the Anadirlkoi oftrog, declaring that 

 they inhabited the promontory between the Anadyr and 

 the Kovyma ; that they were in n\imber about 3500 men ; 

 that this promontory was covered with rocks and moun- 

 tains, but that the flat country confifttd of turf-land ; that 

 oppofite to the cape T>-as feen an ifle of moileratc dinicnfions, 

 the inhabitants whereof bore a refemblance to the Tfhukt- 

 fhis, but f])oke a different language ; that from the point they 

 could go over to the ifle in half a day ; that beyond it was 

 a large continent which might be feen from the ifland in fair 

 weather ; that its inhabitants likewife refembled the Tflinkt- 

 (bis, had a dificrent dialed, numerous forefts, &c. (giving 

 an exaft defcription of the great ifland mentioned above) ; 

 that with their baidars, or boats, by coafting the promon- 

 tory, they could make the voyage from the bottom of the 

 bay of Anadyr, to the extreme point of the promontory, 

 in three weeki, and often in lefs time. , 



Peter the Great, defirous of obtaining a more accurate 

 knowledge of thcfe parts and pafiages ; and unable to in- 

 duce the Dutch Eaft India Company to take np the matter, 

 refolved hiuifclf to profecute the defign with vigour. Ac- 

 cordingly, in 1727, he fent two geodcfills, or geometers, to 

 Kamtfliatka. Of what they executed or difcovered nothing 

 ever came to the ears of the public. It is only known, 

 that on their return, the tzar gave them a very gracious re- 

 ception ; whence it may be prefumed, that they acquitted 

 thcmfelves of their truft to his fatisfaflion. 



In flioit, the tzar being refolved to fatisfy his curiofity 

 by caufing thefe latitudes to be explored, and above all to 

 be certified whether Afia was contiguous to America on 

 the north-eaftern fide, towards Tfhuktflii-nofs, fincc on the 

 north fide it undoubtedly was not ; lie made choice of 

 Vitus lieering, an expert Danifli mariner, for that purpofe, 

 to whom he joined lieutenants Spangberg and Tfliirikof. 

 Peter had this bufinefs fo much at heart, that though con- 

 fined to his bed by the difeafe that put an end to his life, 

 he converfed with Bcering, and even drew np with his own 

 hand a fet of inftrnftions for his guidance, which paper 

 was dchvered to him five days after the demife of that 

 great monarch. 



He fet fail the 14th of July 1728, from the river 

 of Kamtfliatka, and fteered northeaftwards, following the 

 land fo as fcldom to lofe fight of it. Of this he drew a 

 chart fo accurate as to be ftill the beft extant. 



The 8th of Auguft, being in lat. 64° 30'. a baidar 

 having eight men on board, came up to his vtflel. Thefe 

 proved to be Tfliuktflii, who told him that the coaft was 

 covered with the dwellings of their people, and gave him 

 to underlland that not far off the land trended towards the 

 weft ; they alfo pointed out an ifle at no great diftanee, 

 which Leering came up with on the lotli of Augult, 

 and gave it the name of Saint Lawrence. 



On the 15th of the fame month, in 67° 18'. lat. per- 

 ceiving that as theTftiuktfhi had faid, theeoaft bent towards 

 the weft, and no longer to the north, it is faid that he drew 



this 



