Chap. lit. 
the R u s s i A N Difcoverieh 
the Dutch Ships employed to difcover a North-eaft Paf- 
fage in 1670, advanced far enough to have made that 
Paffage ; nor is it po/Tible to admit one Fad and de- 
ny the other, which may deferve Confideration, fince 
I think at this Day the North-eaft Paflage feems, with- 
out any juft Reafon, to be treated as a Thing known 
to be impradicable ; and as from the Difcoveries made 
by Land, we may in a great Meafure perceive, that 
this is a Judgment made at Random ; fo there is the 
higheft Probability, that if Difcoveries by Land Were 
properly puftied, the very fame Thing would appear 
with refped to the North-weft Paffage. The fadden 
Alterations of Government that have happen’d in Ruf- 
fia^ may be look’d upon as the principal Caufe why 
thefe important Difcoveries have not been profecuted to 
the utmoft 5 and yet it muft be allowed that they have not 
been altogether negleded, as appears from the fending 
Captain Behring back into thofe Parts better fupported 
than before. 
It is not in my Power to fay at what Time this was 
done, or to give any diftind Account, either of his In- 
Itrudions or his Expedition. All we know of the Mat- 
ter amounts to no more than this, That in the Month 
of January ij^o^ an Account arrived 2X Retersbourg 
from Captain Spanberg^ who ferved as a Lieutenant 
tinder Behring in his former Attempt, and who com- 
manded a Veffel now, importing, that at the Clofe of 
the Summer of 1739, he had difcovered, aiter failino- 
fifteen Days, thirty-four Iflands, fome large, and other's 
imall •, that upon his approaching them, the Inhabi- 
tants fent fix of their Veffels to obferve them; that 
however he came to an Anchor, and they fuffcred him 
to land without any Refiftance ; that in other Refpecfs 
he met with a tolerable Reception ; but as he knew no- 
thing of their Language, fo he was able to learn very 
little from them by Signs, only they fhewed him confi- 
derable Quantities as well of Gold as of Copper Coin ; 
and fome Pieces of the latter he obtained from them, 
and fent by the Courier who brought his Difpatches to 
Retersbourg. 
Mr. Swartz, who was then and is now Minifter from 
their High Mightinelfes the States General at that Court, 
gave at that time the following Account, in a Letter 
dated from Retersbourg, Jan. 13, 1740, O. S. “ On 
“ Saturday laft arrived here an Exprels from Kamf- 
chatska, with the News, that Captain Spanherg having 
“ failed from thence with four Ships, after being fix- 
teen Days at Sea, difcovered thirty -four Iflands of 
‘‘ difterent Sizes, the Inhahitants of which fent fix Gal- 
“ lies to reconnoitre him, notwithftanding which they 
fuffered him to land, and received him with great 
“ Affability ; but as he underftood not their Language; 
he could not converfe with them ; however, they 
“ fhewed him a confiderabJe Quantity of Gold Coin. 
“ This was all that Officer wOuld communicate to Com- 
modore Behring, defiring to come hither himfelf, in 
order to difcover to her Imperial Majefty Things of the 
laft Importance, which may be highly advantao-eous 
to her Interefts, and which he was refolved to difcover 
“ to no other Perfon. Upon which the Commodore 
fuffered him to return, and he is expecffed here in the 
Spring. It is believed that thefe are Hands belong- 
ing to Japan. The Courier has brought hither with 
‘‘ him fome of the Money of this Country, of whith I 
“ have feen a Piece ; it is of red Copper, round, and about 
“ the Size of a Holland Doit, but a little thicker, fur- 
rounded by a fmall flat Border, and in the Middle 
there is a little fquare Hole, on each Side of which, 
upon the Face of the Coin, there is imprinted a 
Chinefe or Japon Charader j but on the Reverfe it is 
quite fmooth. 
Captain Spanberg at the fame time wrote to one of 
his Friends, and the Reader will, no doubt; be glad to 
fee an Extradl of that Letter, which however is without 
a Date, and conceived in the following Terms. “I 
employed all the Month of Auguji in the laft Year 
‘ in cruising upon the Sea of Great Tartary. Amongft 
the Iflands I difcovered, there were many that were 
“ only full of w'ild Beafts. I anchored however near 
one that feemed more confiderabJe than the reft 
V © i., ik CXLI. 
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“ There we thought fit to go on Shore; arid fobn after 
‘‘ met with Inhabitants, who from their Figure and Drefs 
appeared to be Savages. As foon as they faw uS 
they made their Efcape into a Wood. WTe did all 
that was in our Power to furprize fome of them,, but 
found it impoflible tofucceed in that Defign. When 
they faw themfelves purfued, they fled into the 
thickeft Part of the W^ood and fet up the moft dread- 
“ ful Cries. The Inhabitants of fome of the neitrh- 
“ bouring Iflands were more communicative, as I have 
“ ffiewn in former Relations. I fourid the Country 
“ every where extremely fertile, and embarked on 
board my Ship large Quantities of the Fruits and 
“ other Produdions of thofe Iflands. The Journal 
which I ffiall publiffi of my Djfcovery, will contain 
Matters very fatisfadory to the Curious, at the fame 
“ time that it will render it evident, that the Com- 
merce of the RuJ/ians with the Inhabitants of Chind 
and Japan, will receive great Benefit thereby. 
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It is probable, that after this Captain returned td 
Kamfehatska, Commodore Behring continued his Voy- 
age, of which all that we know is this, that he failed 
Southward to the Ifles of Japan, and from thence Eaft- 
ward about eighty Leagues. At that Diftance from 
Japan he difcovered Land, which he coafted North- 
weft, ftil/ approaching towards the North-eaft Cape 
without going affiore until he came to the Entrance of 
a great River, where fending his Boats and Men affiore 
they never returned, being either loft, killed, or de- 
tained by the Natives, which made his Difeovery in- 
compleat, his Ship being ftranded, and he afterwards 
died in an uninhabited Ifland. Without doubt, the- 
Rujpans are endeavouring to improve and extend thefe 
Diicoveries, and we very well know that Members of 
the Academy, Perfons of great Knowledge; and ani- 
mated by the Defire of Glory, and fupported by what- 
ever Affirtance they can defire from the Government 
have been employed in this far diftant Country • and' 
as I have befqre obferved, Deferiptions of it thus ob- 
tained have been aarually compofed, and may very 
prqbaoly be pubhffied at Retersbourg before this Time 
here is no Queftion that this is a very right, as well 
as a very regular Method ; for without knowing exaeffjv 
ffie Situation and Bounds, the Climate and Soil the 
Mountains and Rivers, in any Country, it is Amply 
Notion ffiould be formed^of 
the Means by which it may be render’d ufeful ; but ffiat 
notwithftanding all this Care and Caution, and notwith- 
ftanding all the Lights they may have received from 
hence, and from any Accounts they may have had of 
ublequent Attempts, they are n©t yet very far advanced 
the*^ Dfleoveries, may be eafily ffiewn from 
e Notions that they ftill entertain about them ffup- 
pofing them m earned in what they fay) which mav C 
C leaHy demonftrated to be akogeC/iain andS 
have aff "/T ‘a" themfelves 
affoMed, and from the Fadls which they infift 
upM as Proofs in Support of thole Notions.^ 
• ^ Multitude of Inftances, that there 
IS no Weaknefs t© which the human Mind is more fub- 
Errors by running away from 
the old, notwithftanding that both Reafon and Expe- 
rience teach us, that Truth feldoin lies in the Extremes, 
u ^ S^^^tally fpeakingj in the Middle, When firft 
the RiJ^ns began to enquire carefully into the Extent 
of that Part of their Empire which lies in Ada, they found 
It went much farther to the Eaft than they had ever 
imagined; and the further and the more carefully thev 
ftarched, the greater Certainty they obtained of this 
Fa< 5 l, and were ftill carried farther and farther In 
order to underftand this dearly, it may not be amifs to 
obferv^that according to the beft Maps of Ru/da made 
thirty Years ago, the Town of Jahutsbi upon 4 e River 
Lena was placed in the Latitude' of 64 Degrees 40 Mi- 
nutes; and m the Longitude of 120 Degrees, the firft 
Mercian being placed in Fero ; but according to the la- 
teft Obfervations, this Place adually ftands m the Latid 
tude of 62 Degrees $ Minutes, and in the Longitude 
of 143 Degrces, 53 Minutes, It was at that Time be- 
lieved, that Cape JVo/s, or the Icy Cape, laid down in 
*2 D 
