ABSTRACT
The memoirs of Nikolai Spafarii, onetime Russian ambassador to China, published in 1678, contain an account of Japan. In 1714 one of the latter was brought to St. Petersburg to be questioned about Japan. The Kamchatkan trader Kolesov learned from these waifs about the Kuril archipelago and about the Japanese islands of “Matsumai” and “Nippon.” He was told that the populous state of “Iesso” was on the latter and was rich in gold, silver, and copper. Silken materials, nankeens, and cotton fabrics were made on the island. In 1711 an uprising broke out in Kamchatka. The local Cossacks under the leadership of Antsyferov and Kozyrevskii killed the tax collectors and for three months roamed over the peninsula, robbing and plundering. In 1714 two men, who had no knowledge whatsoever of navigation, were put in a small boat and instructed to proceed southward along the coast of the Okhotsk sea keeping a lookout for islands.
