‘778- to make them underftand, that w e were Oitober. „ , EnOgliih' , the frieods
c-— .— - i and allies o f their nation.
¿Saturday 10, On the i oth, Lediard returned with three Ruffian feamen,
or fu r r ie r s ; who, with fome others, relided at Egoochihac,
where they had a dwelling-houfe, fome ftore-houfes, and a
lloOp o f about thirty tons burthen. One o f thefe men was
either Mailer or Mate o f this v e f le l; another o f them wrote
a very good hand, and underftood figures ; and they were
a ll three w e ll behaved intelligent men, and .very ready to
g iv e me all the information I could defire. But for want o f
an interpreter, we had fome difficulty to underftand each
other. T h e y appeared to have a thorough kn owledge o f
the attempts that had been made by th e ir countrymen to
navigate the Frozen Ocean, and o f the difcoveries which
had been made from Kamtfchatka, by Beering, TfcherikofF,
and Spangenberg. But they feemed to know no more o f
Lieutenant Syndo*, or Synd, than his name. Nor had they
thedeaft idea what part o f the world Mr. St®hlin’s map referred
to, when it was laid before them. When I pointed
out Kamtfchatka, and fome other known places, upon that
map, they aiked, whether I had feen the iflands rhere laid
down ; and oh m y anfwering in the negative, one o f them
put his finger upon a part o f this map, where a number o f
iflands are reprefented, and faid, that he had cruifed there
fo r land, but never could find any. I then laid before them
m y own ch a r t; and found that they were flrangers to every
part o f the American coaft, except what lies oppofite this
ifland. . One o f thefe men faid, that he had been with Beer-
ipg, in his American voyage ; but mull then have been ve ry
* See the little that is. known o f Synd’ s voyage, accoinpanied "with a ¡chart, .in Mr.
Coxe’ s Ruffian ■Difcoveries, p. 300.,
yo u n g , fo r he had not now, at the diftance o f thirty-feven »778.
years, the appearance o f being aged. Never was there 1 .
greater refpedt paid to the memory o f any diftinguifhed
perfon, than by theie men to that o f Beering. The trade
in which they are engaged is ve ry beneficial ; and its being
undertaken and extended to the Eaftward o f Kamtfchatka,
was the immediate confequence o f the fecond voyage o f that
able navigator, whofe misfortunes proved to be the fource
o f much private advantage to individuals, and o f public
utility to the Ruffian nation. And yet, i f his diftreffes had
not accidentally carried him to die in the ifland w hich bears
■his name, and from whence the miferable remnant o f his
.fhip s crew brou ght back fufficient fpecimens o f its v a lu able
furs, probably the Ruffians never would have undertaken
any future voyages, w h ich could lead them to make
difcoveries in this fea, toward the coaft o f America. Indeed,
after his time, government feems to have paid lefs attention
to th is ; and we owe what difcoveries have been fince
made, principally to the enterprifing fpirit o f private traders,
encouraged, however, by the fuperintending care o f the
Court o f Peteriburg. T h e three Ruffians having remained
w ith me all night, vifited Captain Clerke next morning; and Sunday n.
then le f t us, very well fatisfied with the reception they had
met with-; promifing to return in a few days, and to
b rin g with them a chart o f the iflands ly in g between Oona-
laihka and Kamtfchatka.
On the 14th, in the evening, while Mr. Webber and I Wed„er. ,4.
were at a village at a fmall ddfiance from Samganoodha, a
Ruffian landed there, who, I found, was the principal perfon
amongft his countrymen in this and the neighbouring
iflands. His name was Erafim Gregorioff Sin Ifmyloff. He
arrived in a canoe carrying three perfons, attended by
V o l . II. g S twenty