July 25, 1787
A letter from Petersburgh, dated June 20, says, that that Government is busily occupied in establishing its power on the Black Sea, and has likewise formed the project of extending it, if possible, on the other seas at the extremity of the empire. With this design they have ordered a frigate of 36 guns and three other vessels to be fitted out, besides a small squadron, destined particularly to take the soundings and examine the coasts of China and Japan, and afterwards those of Kamschatka, that new and correct charts may be made of those coasts, in order to render the navigation of them more secure, or to procure an exact knowledge of those parts. These vessels will proceed by the way of the India Sea, and will sail directly from Cronstadt for the Cape of Good Hope. Capt. Maulowsky has been to receive his instructions from the Empress herself at Kiow.
Text courtesy of Robert King. This article appeared also in The Whitehall Evening Post, 26 July 1787 and in The London Chronicle, 26 July 1787.
Updated: June 13, 2018