ces, being always well received by the natives,
who appeared to be very willing to have dealings with the
foreigners. During the return voyage Spangberg landed in 43 deg.
50' N.L. on a large island north of Nippon. Here he saw the Aino
race, enigmatical as to its origin, distinguished by an exceedingly
abundant growth of hair and beard which sometimes extends over the
greater part of the body. Spangberg returned to Okotsk on the 9th
November/20th October. Walton sailed along the coast in a southerly
direction to 33 deg. 48' N.L. Here was a town with 1,500 houses,
where the Russian seafarers were received in a very friendly way
even in private houses. Walton subsequently landed at two other
places on the coast, returning afterwards to Okotsk, where he
anchored on the 1st September/21st August.[328]

The very splendid results of Spangberg's and Walton's voyages by no
means corresponded with the maps of Asia constructed by the men who
were at that time leaders of the Petersburg Academy. Spangberg
therefore during his return journey through Siberia got orders to
travel again to the same regions in order to settle the doubts that
had arisen. A new vessel had to be built, and with this he started
in 1741 from Okotsk to his former winter haven in Kamchatka. Hence
he sailed in 1742 in a southerly direction, but he had scarcely
passed the first of the Kurile Islands when the vessel became so
leaky that he was compelled to turn. The second expedition of
Spangberg to Japan was thus completely without result, a
circumstance evidently brought about by the unjustified and
offensive doubts which led to it, and the arbitrary way in which it
was arranged at St. Petersburg.

8 _Journeys in the interior of Siberia_ by Gmelin, Mueller, Steller,
Krascheninnikov, de l'Isle de la Croyere, &c.--The voyages of these
_savants_ have indeed formed an epoch in our knowledge of the
ethnography and natural history of North Asia, but the north coast
itself they did not touch. An account of them therefore lies beyond
the limits of the history which I have undertaken to relate here.

The Great Northern Expedition by these journeys both by sea and land
had gained a knowledge of the natural conditions of North Asia based
on actual researches, had yielded pretty complete information
regarding the boundary of that quarter of the globe towards the
north, and of the relative position of the east coast of Asia and
the west coast of America, had discovere