Em b a fly o f
Ifmailoffto
Pekin.
was held at this fpot by the Ruffian and Chinefe mer^
chants ; where they brought their refpective goods for
fete ;■ and continued until they were difpofed of. This
rendezvous foon became a lcene of riot and confulion ;
and repeated complaints were tranfmitted to the Chinefe:
Emperor of the drunkennefs and mifconduct of the Ruffians.
Thefe complaints made a ftill greater impreffion
from a coincidence of fimilar exceffes, for which the Ruffians
at Pekin had become notorious.,
Exafperated by the frequent reprefentations o f his
fubjeCts, Camhi threatened to expell the Ruffians from-
his dominions, and to prohibit them from carrying on-
any commerce, as well in China as in the country of the
Mongols..
Thefe untoward" circumffances occafioned another
embaffy to Pekin, in the year 1719. Leff Vaffilievitch
Ifmailoff, a captain of the Ruffian guards, who was fent
embaffador upon this occafion, fucceeded in the negotiation,
and adjufted every difficulty to the fatisfadliorr
of both parties. A t his departure he was permitted to-
leave behind Laurence Lange, who had accompanied him
to Pekin, in the character of agent for the caravans ; for
the purpofe of fuperintending the conduit of the Ruffians.
His refidence however in that metropolis was but
fhort; for he was foon afterwards compelled, by the
Chinefe^
Chinefe, to return. His difmiffion was owing, partly,
to a fudden caprice of that fufpicious people, and partly
to a mifunderftan di ng, which had recently broke out
between the two courts, in relation to fome Mongol tribes
who bordered upon Siberia. A fmall number of thefe
Mongols- had put themfelves under the protection of
Ruffia, and were immediately demanded- by the Chinefe;
but the Ruffians refufed compliance, under pretence that
no article in the-treaty of Nerffiinfk could, with any appearance
of probability, be conftrued as extending to the
Mongols-. The- Chinefe were incenfed at this refufal
and their refentment was ftill further inflamed by the
diforderly conduCt of the Ruffian traders,, who, freed
from all controul by the departure of their, agent, had
indulged, without reflraint, their ufual propenfity to
excefs. This concurrence o f unlucky incidents extorted,
in 172,2, an order from Camhi for the total expulfion ofp="®jnf“ *'
the Ruffians from the Chinefe and Mongol territories] '
Thefe orders were regoroufly executed ; and all inter-
courfe between the two nations immediately ceafe'd..
Affairs continued in this .Rate until the year 17 277 ®™g1”|Cy‘f
when the count-- Sava Vladiflavitch Ragufinfki, a Dalmatian
in the fervice o f Ruffia, was difpatched to Pekin'
His orders were at all events to compofe the differences
betweenthe two courts relating to the Mongol tribes to"