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along the coast all night, and cruisers swarmed about
them at a respectful distance. On the 22d, Spångberg
cast anchor one verst from shore, and sought to
communicate with them. The Japanese brought rice, tobacco,
various kinds of fruits and cloths, which, on very
reasonable terms, they exchanged for Russian wares. They
were very polite, and Spangberg succeeded in obtaining
some gold coins, which, however, he found were described
by Kæmpfer. Several persons of high rank visited him
in his cabin and attempted to explain to him, by the aid
of his map and globe, the geography of Japan and Yezo.
As his instructions enjoined upon him the most extreme
cautiousness, and as on the following day he found
himself surrounded by eighty large boats, each with ten or
twelve men, he weighed anchor and stood out to sea in a
northeasterly direction.
It was Spangberg’s purpose to chart the southern part
of the Kurile Islands, and, as will be seen from his chart,[1]
he sought to accomplish his task, and thus complete his
work of 1738. The casual observer will, however, find
this map unsatisfactory and inaccurate, and will not
only be quite confused in viewing these islands so
promiscuously scattered about, and which seemingly do
not correspond with the actual geography of this region
as known to us, but he will even be inclined to suspect
Spangberg of gross fraud. This is certainly very unjust,
however, and after a careful study of a modern map, I
venture the following opinion on this subject: In order
to be able to understand his chart and course, the most
essential thing necessary is simply to determine his first
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