ambassador to them, and if there were people at St. Petersburg who spoke Japanese ? I gave him suitable answers to all these questions; informed him of Resanow's death, and that we had translators of their language in Russia. I must here notice their carefully writing down all my answers. He afterwards entertained me with tea, smoking tobacco, sakku, and caviar. All were brought on separate dishes by different persons, who were all armed with daggers and sabres. When one brought any thing he remained, so that at last, we were encircled by a strong body of armed men. Among the things I had brought as presents, was some French brandy, I therefore inquired if the Japanese would not taste it? and ordered that a bottle should be brought. At the same time, I had my men again desired to hold themselves in readiness. for whatever might happen. My sense of honor did not permit me to inform the Japanese that I feared them, and wished the superfluous men to remove to a distance; besides, I would not shew that I entertained suspicion of them.

I saw

that they would not commit any violence, although they could do with us what they pleased, but certainly with some loss on their side. We smoked tobacco, drank tea, and jested. They asked the Russian names of several things with avidity, and I, in return, inquired after Japanese words. At last, I rose and asked when I should receive the provisions promised by their officers? what I should then have to pay for all? and shewed him a dollar, that he might appoint the payment himself. I heard, to my great astonishment, that he was not the chief officer of the fort, and could not come to any conclusion on this business, but he invited me to come into the fort myself to settle what was necessary with the principal officer. I did not agree to this, pretending that as I had staid so long with them, if I went to the fort now, it would excite anxiety on board the ship, and might produce hostilities. I proposed that some person of rank should go on board in my boat, as the officers would then be tranquil on my account, and I would follow them to the fort. On this proposal they immediately agreed to send off one of their number; but when they sent to the chief officer for permission, he forbade it, and said

that he would come out to us immediately. Some minutes after a boat came from him with an account that he dined at noon, and could not come so early. I would not wait longer, but promised to bring the ship nearer to the shore, and then go into the fort with them. The se cond officer did not in any way prevent me, and presented me a bottle of sakki and some fresh fish, and apologised for not having more provided now. He however shewed me a large net which was thrown out for us, and requested me to send a boat before the evening, as they intended transferring the whole quantity taken to us in the same way; he received a burning glass and some bottles of brandy, but did not permit the Kuriles to ac cept tobacco from us. He gave me a white fan as a token of friendship, which we were to wave on coming ashore as a signal of our friendly intentions. Alexei, in translating the speeches of the Japanese, often mentioned the cross, but so confusedly and unintelligibly that I could not understand him. It was not before we were in the boat, as we began to feel free again, and he had collected himself, that he explained what he particularly wished to say. It was known to the Japanese commander how much the Russians honor the cross; he therefore begged me to cross myself as an evidence and confirmation of our friendly intentions towards them. It was extremely unpleasant for me not to have been able to understand Alexei while ashore, and I lamented it very much.

Towards evening we approached the fort out of the reach of the cannon, and anchored the sloop. It was too late to go ashore to negociate; I therefore commanded the midshipman Jakushkin to take the letter from the island Itorpu, and bring away the promised fish; they were to go to the same place where I landed, but not to leave the boat for an instant. He executed my commands with the greatest punctuality, and returned at the approach of night. The Japanese had received him in a very friendly manner, and sent above a hundred large fish on board. When they heard that they might expect me soon the following morning, they requested that I would not depart in the fog, and would bring some of my officers with me. I must ac

knowledge that this invitation was calculated to awaken suspicion; yet I committed the fault of not believing Mr. Jakushkin. He was an extremely curious, and in service a very zealous officer; he wished to be every where, to examine every thing with his own eyes. I also imagined that my going ashore alone did not please him, and he had invented this invitation that I might take him with me the following day. I was still more strengthened in this opinion by his soliciting permission to accompany me in the same minute; but as I had already invited the midshipman Moor and the pilot Chlebnikow, I was obliged to refuse his request.

At eight in the morning, on the 11th of July, I went ashore with the before-mentioned gentlemen, Moor and Chlebnikow, four sailors, and the Kurile Alexei. I was so fully convinced of our friendly relations with the Japanese, that I did not command any person to take arms. We three had merely swords; Mr. Chlebnikow had a pocket pistol besides, more for giving a signal in case of fog than for defence. As we passed the small cask that was exposed, we looked to see if our things were taken out, but they all remained there still. again remembered Laxmann's account, and ascribed it to the custom of the Japanese not to receive any presents before the close of the negociation. At last we landed close to the fort; the Ojagoda, and the same two officers I had seen on the preceding day, came towards us, and asked us to wait a short time on the shore till every thing was ready for our reception in the fort. To eradicate all suspicion of us by my confidence in the Japanese, I left our boat half drawn ashore, and one sailor behind. I ordered the remainder to bring the chairs and the presents intended for the Japanese after us. We waited about ten or fifteen minutes on the shore, during which time I conversed with the Ojagoda and his companions. I inquired of them about the situation of the coast of Matsmai, which was in sight, and the trade of their island with the principal island Nifon, yet they did not answer my questions very willingly, as I at least conceived.

* These were Dmitry, Simanow, Spiridon Makarow, Michailo Shkajew and Gregory Wassiljew, sailors of the first rank.

We now went into the fort; as I entered the door I was astonished at the number of people collected there; of soldiers only who were armed with muskets, arrows, and lances, there were certainly three or four hundred seated in a circle round a moderately large empty space on the right of the door; on the left an innumerable multitude of Kuriles surrounded a tent of striped woollen cloth, which was pitched about thirty paces from the door. The thought that this little insignificant fort could hold so many armed men had never entered my head, and I must suppose that they had collected them from all the neighbouring places since our appearance in the harbour. They introduced us directly into that tent, where the chief who commanded sat on a chair opposite the entrance; he had on a valuable silk gown and a complete suit of armour, and two sabres in his girdle; a long white silk cord hung over his shoulders, at one end of which was a kind of tuft, at the other a steel staff which he held in his hand, and which was the symbol of his authority; his armour bearers sat on the ground behind him- one with his spear, another with his arms, and a third with his helmet, which resembled that of the second commander, except that the sun was represented on it instead of the moon. The deputy commander with his armour bearers sat on the left of the commander-in-chief, but on a rather lower seat; four officers sat on each side of the tent on the ground with their legs folded under them; these also had black armour, and each had two sabres in his girdle. At our entrance both the commanders arose; we saluted them according to our fashion, which they returned; they requested us to sit down on a bench placed on the right, but we seated ourselves on our chairs; they placed our sailors behind us on a bench. After the first civilities, they entertained us with tea without sugar, in cups that agreeably to the Japanese custom were only half filled, without saucers, which were handed round on wooden lackered salvers, previously enquiring if tea or any thing else were agreeable; they then presented pipes and tobacco, and the conversation began. They inquired our rank, our names, and the name of the sloop; whence we came, whither we sailed, why we landed there, what motives had in

duced the Russian ships to attack their villages, and whether we knew Resanow, and where he was? We answered all these questions in a manner corresponding with our former accounts; the second commander wrote them all down. They now mentioned that it was necessary they should exactly know the number of our crew, that they might send the requisite quantity of provisions on board the ship. Impertinent as this question was, they had an object in proposing it: we considered it necessary to exaggerate our strength, and mentioned one hundred and two men, which was nearly double the number we had. As Alexei could not conceive and express this number, I was obliged to make as many strokes on paper with a black lead pencil, and let the Japanese count them afterwards. They further asked if we had more ships of the same size as the Diana in these seas; very many, we answered, in Ochotsk, Kamshatka, and America. They proposed among other unimportant questions, some relating to our clothes, customs, &c. and viewed some maps of the world, some knives mounted in ivory, burning glasses, and dollars, which I brought as presents for the chief commander, with the last of which I intended paying the Japanese when the required sum was fixed. During our conversation the midshipman Moor remarked, that naked swords were distributed among the Japanese who surround. ed the open space; he informed me of this immediately, but I supposed that Mr. Moor had perhaps seen a sword unsheathed accidentally, and inquired of him laughingly if he did not err, as the Japanese always had swords by them, and had no reason to draw them now. thought he was tranquillized by this, yet some occurrences soon after excited the suspicion that something bad was certainly in contemplation. The second in command, who had absented himself for some time to convey some orders, returned and whispered something to the commander-in-chief, who arose and wished to go out; we arose also, and addressing him inquired the price of the provisions again, and if he was willing to deliver them to us. On this he seated himself again, begged us to do the same, and ordered dinner to be served up, although it was yet early; we accepted his invita

I

tion, and waited with curiosity for the re sult, as it was too late to extricate our selves from the snare in a satisfactory manner; but the friendly reception accorded by the Japanese, and their assurance that we need fear nothing unpleasant from them, tranquillized us again, so that we did not now suspect any treachery. They entertained us with rice, fish in a green sauce, and other palatable dishes, whose ingredients were unknown to us, and with sakki. The chief officer again wished to go out to relieve a natural ne cessity, as he stated; I now declared that I could wait no longer, and must return on board. He sat down again directly, and had us informed that he could not furnish us with any thing without orders from the governor of Matsmai whose dependent he was, and that one of us must remain as a hostage in the fort till the arrival of the decision on his report. The Japanese now began to unmask them selves. To my question, how many days were required for sending a report to Matsmai and receiving an answer, he answered fifteen. I considered it dishonorable to leave an officer as a hostage; besides, I believed that it was impossible to see the end of the affair with such a people as the Japanese: the governor would certainly engage in nothing without the government, and 1 should probably have to wait till winter for a positive decision. I told the Japanese that I could not wait so long, or leave an officer as hostage without consulting the officers on board the sloop, and arose to depart. The commander now suddenly changed his tone, which had hitherto been low and gentle, spoke very loud and warmly, often mentioning Resanoto (Resanow) and Nichola Sandrejetch (Nicolai Alexandrowitsh, so he called Chwostow, the commander of the Company's ship) and struck his sword se veral times; he delivered a long speech in this manner, of which the terrified Alexei could merely repeat what follows:-the commander said, that if he permitted one of us to leave the fort, he would lose his life. This was short and convincing; we sprang up directly to make our escape; the Japanese raised a loud cry, but not daring to attack us, threw oars and pieces of wood after us, to knock us down. When we reached the door they fired at

as several times, but did not hit any of us, although some shots hissed by Mr. Chlebnikow's head, yet they succeeded in taking Mr. Moor, the sailor Makarow and our Kurile Alexei in the fort. We however escaped, and ran to our landing place, where I saw with horror that the ebb had left our boat near five fathom from the water on shore during our nearly three hours stay in the fort. The Japanese immediately saw that we should not be able to float it, and having previously seen that no arms were concealed in it, became bolder, and sallied out with large drawn swords held in both hands,

muskets and spears, and surrounded us by the boat. I cast another glance at it, and said to myself; my fate ends here, there are the last means of deliverancedestruction is unavoidable, and surrendered. The Japanese seized me under the arms and conducted me to the fort where they also dragged my unfortunate companions; one of the soldiers struck me several times with a small iron staff on the shoulder while on the way, but on one of the officers speaking to him with a stern mien, he immediately discontinued it. (To be continued.)

:

WHEN we arrived, the Niti river, about ten yards broad and from two to four feet deep, sent down a rapid stream of greenish but clear water. The two following days were very hot the stream was on the 3d at least a foot deeper, and considerably broader; and the water is clay coloured and turbid. I have frequently observed that the water-mark early in the morning upon the stones in the river was a foot and even eighteen inches above the level of the stream at that time of the day, and that the river always rose considerably towards the evening. This is easily explained by the cold of the night produced by the snow on the mouutains suspending the melting process, and of course interrupting the supply until the heat of the following day quickens it again. Such a surface of mountainous country, in such a state, along with the vast declivity of the beds of the rivers, will afford a more satisfactory explanation of the real sources of the Ganges, than the deriving it from a lake which must have some continual source of supply itself.

The birch trees upon the sides of the mountains, as well as the small rose bushes, are just breaking into leaf; the Asiatic Journ.No. 25.

furze is just coming into blossom. The natives have some barley, of which a few blades appear, and they are engaged in getting into the ground the awa jou, pháphur, and chua. This is, it is presumed, their spring; and our rains must be their summer, as their harvest is cut before the middle of September, when the people go in search of a milder climate.

This morning (the 9th) I saw a beautiful crop of rock crystal shooting out of an exposed layer of quartz, which had formerly been a vein in a mass of very hard stone. These mountains, which are primordial, would, if examined by an able and careful lithologist, throw great light upon the natural history of the mineral kingdom; for here, at almost every stop, he might come in sight of the surfaces of rock which have never been altered by the hand of man, but have alone been subject to the laws of composition and of destruction, induced by the operation of natural causes.

With the exception of grain of various kinds, which is to be obtained at an exorbitant rate, little eatable is to be procured in Niti. The only animal food which we have had has been two or three lean goats. There was no want of kids VOL. V. E

or lambs; but the owners would only sell such as were ill or extremely old. This country, at the present season, gives no fruit. The inhabitants have no gardens, and the only esculent vegetables which we could find, were the Bathua (Che nopodium album), a small quantity of self-sown pháphar about three inches high, and some rhubarb, the leaves of which were only just springing from the ground; yet, even in this early state of vegetation, the flowers were thrown out on the sides of short finger-like processes and yielded a sweet smell. The vital principle seems to be most rapidly called into action amongst the vegetables of this climate, to compensate for the long period during which they remain in a torpid state. Our diet was certainly of a very frugal kind, and would not have been considered luxurious even in the cell of an anchorite : but our beverage was water of so excellent a quality as to make up for the scantiness and uniformity of it. We had been promised by the Pandit, that we should have an opportunity of seeing and probably of killing some Barals. The first part was verified; for they made their appearance amongst the furze bushes, almost immediately above our heads, and at the foot of the bare rocks, but never came within gun shot. Although we were told that the richer Marchás sometimes ate animal food, I believe that this occurs very seldom. They are much subject to fevers from derangement of the intestines, brought on from vegetable diet little seasoned; and several have the Gegha or Goitre.

13th. This day two Uniyas arrived at Niti with a letter to the Sihána, which neither they nor he could decypher. However, a meeting was held upon the substance of the message which they brought, by the head persons of the principal villages in this neighbourhood. The letter was supposed to be a formal rejection of our desire to enter the country. This conclusion was drawn from the refusal of the Déha to accept our present, and from the verbal notification to us of the decease of the Lama, and of large bodies of troops having been detached to all the passes leading from the mountains into the Undés, to prevent the entrance of any white people, or persons wearing white clothes, into the country, until

after the election of another Lama. This message was of course very disagreeable to us; however, we were resolved not to return without having made every effort in our power to succeed in our original project. The people of Niti confessed that they were alarmed at the reports which had been circulated respecting us, previously to our arrival; but that on seeing more of us, they had sent a Funiá or Vakil to the Deba of Dábá, stating, that they believed we were meu of character really intending to go to Mansarówar, having merchandize to dispose of, and not harbouring any evil design against the general welfare of the country. We knew that the Vakil had been dispatched two days subsequently to the departure of the first two Uniyas, but we placed little dependence upon the impression he would make. The commencement of his missiou certainly took off much from the accustomed dignity of his post; for, in attempting to ride upon a bullock, he with difficulty mounted, in consequence of being very drunk, and fell off four times before he was able to reach the top of the mountain.

16. Another great meeting took place. The Uniyas insisted upon our not being permitted to pass; and the Seyánás of Niti and Gomasalė, Arjun and Gujar Mall, were decidedly against us, especially the latter. Hardeb was sent back with money to the brother of Nathu, a relation of Ramkishen Seyána of Malári, who had shewn an inclination to assist us, to bring bullocks immediately, that we might attempt proceeding by the road of Kieulang, and we laid in ten days provision for all our men, in order that we might not lose any time at Malári in collecting it. Ramkishen acquainted us with the opinion of the council, said he would hasten all our operations at Malári, and Hardeb was ordered to bring a Jowári (who had made an offer to us of conducting us in three days from Malári into the Undes) with promises of safe conduct to Niti and back, and of reward for his services. Hopes were entertained, that in some way we should still succeed by persuasive means with the people of Niti. However, we thought it right to take all such measures as might appear likely to gain our point without loss of time.