sending one vessel annually to Nangasaki for the purposes of trade, under the same restrictions as the Dutch. Either this concession did not suit the high-spirited Catharine, or the advantages to be derived from so limited a trade did not appear equivalent to the humiliating conditions on which they were to be procured; for no farther intercourse, during her reign and that of her immediate successor, appears to have taken place with Japan.

The attempt to renew the communication was one of the early projects of the present autocrat of Russia. It was supposed that the former embassy had failed from a want of propriety in the mode of conducting it; that it was deficient in shew and parade; that Laxman was of a rank too low, and of manners too coarse, to make a favourable impression; that, instead of going into Nangasaki, the ship had entered a harbour on the coast of Jesso, a sort of colony to Japan, of which they are more jealous, if possible, than of the empire itself; and that the letter, instead of being written by the sovereign, was only from the governor of Siberia, a mark of disrespect which was supposed to have given umbrage to the haughty monarch of Japan. All these errors might be corrected by a second mission; and, as it was concluded that a closer connection with the nations of the East was now become desirable, the project of a new embassy was easily grafted on the present voyage, which, in fact, had been intended originally for commercial purposes, to the Russian settlements on the north-west coast of America. M. de Resanoff was appointed ambassador extraordinary, invested with the order of St. Aun, and made a privy counsellor. Several persons of rank and science were attached to the embassy; M. counsellor Tilesius, Dr. Horner, an astronomer, Dr. Langsdorff, a naturalist, an artist from the academy, a draftsman, a botanist, a physician for each of the ships, together with several military officers, among whom were two sons, both young, of the counsellor Von Kotzebue; to this list were added five Japanese, who, in the year 1796, had been taken prisoners at the Aleutian islands, and were still in confinement. Captain Krusenstern was selected to conduct the naval part of the expedition, which was to consist of two ships. The choice of a cominander for the second ship, as well as of all the officers and crews, was left entirely to his discretion, and he pitched upon Captain Lisianskoy to be his colleague in this new undertaking. Both these officers had been brought up, as it were, in the British navy, in which they served many years in America, and the East Indies.

It is worthy of remark that, although the Russians wish it to be understood that their navy has been progressively and even rapidly improving for the last century, all the naval arsenals of Russia could not furnish a couple of ships fit for the perform

ance

ance of the voyage in question. It was proposed, therefore, to purchase them at Hamburgh; but none were to be found there. From Hamburgh Captain Lisianskoy, accompanied by a master builder, proceeded to Loudon, the only place where the purchase of good vessels can be reckoned upon with any degree of certainty.' Here indeed two proper ships were speedily obtained, the one of 450, and the other of 370 tons, to the former of which they gave the name of Nadeshda, or the Hope, and to the latter, that of Neva. The Nadeshda was to carry the embassy to Nangasaki, and the Neva, separating at the Sandwich islands, to proceed to the settlement of Kodiac on the N. W. coast of America, from whence, or from Kamschatka, they were to proceed to Canton with a cargo of furs, and then make the best of their way to Russia.

Although this expedition round the world may be classed more properly as a voyage of experiment than of discovery, yet we cannot but deem it exceedingly important and interesting on many accounts. It is important to have ascertained in what manner the representative of the Emperor Alexander was received in a country which, for one hundred and fifty years, had seen no other Europeans than a few crouching Dutchmen. It is interesting to see how the natives of the 60th parallel of latitude, wholly unaccustomed to long voyages, bore the suffocating heat of the equinoctial regions, and the great vicissitude of climate to which they were exposed. It was not only the first time that the Russian flag was destined to be carried round the world, but the first time that a Russian ship had made its appearance in the southern hemisphere, the greatest extent of Russian navigation having never yet reached even the northern tropic. The ships too, though English, had been fitted out in a Russian port, and manned entirely with Russian seamen. Captain Krusenstern, it is true, might almost be reckoned an Englishman. He adopted all the measures taken in English ships of war for the preservation of their crews. He laid in a plentiful supply of clothes and linen and bedding for the seamen; of tea and sugar, sour crout, and the juice of cranberries in lieu of lime-juice. He purchased, in London, cakes of portable soup, essence of malt and spruce, dried yeast and mustard. He was supplied with six of the best chronometers that the metropolis could afford, and a very valuable apparatus of sextants, theodolites, &c. for astronomical, nautical, and philosophical purposes, most of them made by Troughton. In short, these Russians were not only furnished with English ships, but all their instruments, charts, books, and even their beef, together with all the comforts and conveniencies for a long voyage, were English.

'But,'

'But,' says Captain Krusenstern, the greatest treasure we possessed, and for which we were indebted to the laudable liberality of the Baron Von Zach, consisted of a perfect copy of the new lunar tables by Bürg. It was reserved for our expedition to make the first use of these tables, which were corrected up to April of the current year (1803). Their surprising minuteness enabled us to ascertain our longitude within a few minutes, while the Ephemeris, calculated according to Mason's lunar fables, occasioned an error, even in our best observations, of nearly half a degree.'

Mason's tables profess not to come much nearer the truth than half a degree; and if this statement of Captain Krusenstern be correct, (and we are not inclined to question it,) the tables of Bürg must prove a valuable acquisition to navigation.

On the arrival of the two ships at Cronstadt, they were visited by his Imperial Majesty, who, on this occasion, assigned the revenues of an estate of the annual value of 1500 roubles, for twelve years, to the wife of Captain Krusenstern, in order that his mind might be set at ease, during his absence, with regard to the welfare of his family; a gift that was not more grateful to the feelings of this excellent officer, than it was generous and considerate on the part of Alexander,

On the 7th of August the two ships left Cronstadt, and on the 20th anchored at Copenhagen, to take in brandy, unstow their holds, and re-pickle some salted beef which had been purchased at Hamburgh. On the 15th September they again put to sea, and arrived at Falmouth on the 28th, where it as deemed prudent to purchase six months' provision of Irish beef, not caring to trust too much either to that of Hamburgh or Petersburgh.

On the 5th of October the ships left Falmouth with a fair wind, and soon lost sight of the Lizard. Being now fairly launched into the ocean, and no surrounding object to draw off their attention, Captain Krusenstern began to feel strongly the weight of the enterprize in which he had engaged. The evening was fine, and all the officers had retired about midnight, when he gives vent to the following reflections, extremely natural for a man engaged in an arduous and important undertaking, the issue of which was extremely doubtful.

This beautiful night, on our entering the ocean, was hailed by all as a favourable omen for our long voyage. To whom could the idea be of such importance as to me! I began to fancy that the eyes of the civilized part of Europe were fixed upon me; that my reputation was to be decided by the success or failure of the present expedition; and that the latter would cast a shade on my name which would in some degree be extended to my country. At that moment, when I could no longer perseive the light upon the Lizard, I was overwhelmed by feelings which

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I had

I had not the power of resisting. I could not, without the most poignant grief, bring to my recollection my dearest wife, whose tender afection for me was now the source of all my uneasiness. At length these painful sensations gave way to the hope that our voyage would have a successful issue. The idea that I should be the means of adding to the reputation of my country,-the prospect, too, of that happy hour in which I should again behold the darling of my heart and my child;— these cheering ideas restored me to firmness and composure."

Nothing of moment occurred till, in latitude 37° 40′ N. longitude 14° 5′ W. a remarkable fire-ball, passing in a horizontal direction, attracted their attention by lighting up the ship with its extreme brilliancy during the space of a full half minute. The inflammable matter of which it was composed was so strong as to leave visible a luminous belt for an hour afterwards, extending the whole length of its track, of about one fourth of a degree in width, and at the height of about 15° above the horizon.

On the 19th they got sight of Teneriffe, and on the following day came to anchor in the bay of Santa Cruz, where the Captain de clined saluting the fort, as he would not expose the Russian flag, which now waved there for the first time, to the affront of being refused that which it had a right to demand.' They were very civilly received by the Spaniards, who seemed to regard with astonishment those hyperboreans who, they soon found, would bear a comparison, and that not a disadvantageous one, with the lively inhabitants of the south of Europe.' It seems, indeed, that Captain Krusenstern was less satisfied with the Spaniards of Teneriffe than they were with the Russians. He describes them generally as a very miserable set of men, and the women as remarkably depraved. The streets were filled with beggars of both sexes and of all ages, clad in rags, and afflicted with disease, mingling with fat monks, meagre and deformed thieves, drunken sailors and lewd women; and wretched, indeed, in his opinion, must be the lot of him who is here doomed to the caprice of the Inquisition, and of a governor who has an unlimited power of life and death over every

citizen.

Two other subjects gave our honest Russian considerable annoyance. The one was, that an alameda, or public walk, had been formed at the public expense, yet at the entrance of it was placed a centinel, for the expre-s purpose of preventing the public from making use of what was their own;-the other was the marble pillar in the great square, erected in honour of the Virgin de la Candelaria, who, with a lighted candle in one hand and a crucifix in the other, led on the Spaniards to the conquest of the island. He thinks that, in this enlightened age, it would be far more proper for them to erect an obelisk to the memory of that auspicious

day,

day, on which the gallant Nelson was compelled to abandon his daring enterprize, than, by continuing the present monument, to keep alive a senseless superstition, and give the stamp of truth to au absurd fable. All this in a Russian is extremely amusing.

Having laid in a stock of sheep, fowls, and wine, and refreshed the ships' companies with fruits, onions, potatoes, and other vegetables, they left Santa Cruz, and made the island of St. Antonio on the 6th November, when the sparkling phosphorescence of the sea induced the naturalists to make some experiments on this well-known, but hitherto unexplained phenomenon. The results were unsatisfactory, and we forbear to copy them.

They now caine into those regions of squalls, heavy rains, and a close, damp atmosphere, which are almost invariably experienced within eight or ten degrees on either side of the equator. For several days the sun was hid from their sight.

'The thermometer was constantly between 79° and 84° of Fahrenheit, the air damp and oppressive; yet with all the uneasiness which I felt for the health of our people, I had not a single invalid during the whole of the time. Every precaution indeed was taken by lighting fires, and fumigating the ship. Our supply of citrons, pumpkins, and potatoes, laid in at Teneriffe, carried us even as far as St. Catharine's. Instead of brandy I caused a pint of Teneriffe wine to be issued to each man, and every evening and morning they had weak punch served out, made very sweet, and mixed with a considerable portion of citron juice. We availed ourselves of every moment of sunshine, to air and dry the clothes and bedding, which the constant rains gave us a good opportunity of washing. The heat did not appear to affect our people so much as I had expected.'

On the 26th of November they crossed the equator in 24° 20′ W. longitude, between which and 20 W. the commanders of ships in the East India Company's service agree that those calms, so harassing to ships bound to the southward, may be best avoided.

'Here, under a salute of eleven guns,' says Captain Krusenstern, 'we drank the health of the Emperor Alexander, in whose glorious reign the Russian flag first waved in the southern hemisphere.'

In skirting the coast of Brazil, Captain Krusenstern endeavoured to discover the existence of the island of Ascension, in quest of which La Perouse spent several days, and on whom the editor of his voyage has passed a censure, for having dropped the search, at the very moment when he must have been close upon it. The grounds of this conclusion are; 1. That D'Après de Manivillette has determined its longitude to be 38° W. of Paris, and that La Perouse did not sail so far; and 2d. That Lepine, a French naval officer, had in 1791 touched at both Trinidad and Ascension; that the latitude of the latter was 20° 38′ S. and its distance from the AA 2 coast