Gazeta de madrid

August 12, 1785

Petersburgh 28 June. H.M. the Czarina has ordered an enterprise directed at removing the doubt that still remains concerning the extent and position of the coasts of eastern Siberia, and of those of that part of the American Continent opposite them, as well as of the Islands situated in the intermediate seas. The Officer, to whom this charge has been committed, is Mr. Billings, companion of Captain Cook in his last voyage. He has orders to go overland to eastern Siberia, to determine the true position of the River Kolyma, and of the coasts of the country inhabited by the Chukchis, who have voluntarily submitted themselves to the sceptre of Catherine II. Afterwards he will embark at Okhotsk for the purpose of completing the chart of the Islands tributary to Russia, and maps of the ports or harbours of America, whither go the vessels from Okhotsk for trafficking in furs; and finally to fill in the gaps that remain from the former navigators concerning various coasts and Islands of the eastern Ocean. Six years will be spent on this expedition; and the commander, who will be accompanied by an able Botanist, goes with all the aids and instruments proper for perfecting Geography and the physical knowledge in general of the terraqueous globe.

Translated by Robert King

Spanish Original

Updated: June 13, 2018