Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America

The book by William Coxe is an account of the Russian discoveries between Asia and America, to which are added the conquest of Siberia and the history of the transactions and commerce between Russia and China. The preface says the late Russian Discoveries between Asia and America have, for some time, engaged the attention of the curious.

The text says the Peninsula of Kamtchatka was not discovered by the Russians before the latter end of the last century, and that the first expedition towards those parts was made in 1696, by sixteen Cossacs, under the command of Lucas Semænoff Morosko. The text on Siberia says the court of Moscow sent a body of three hundred troops into Siberia, who penetrated to the banks of the Tura as far as Tschingi almost without opposition. The text says that, being soon afterwards reinforced by an additional number of troops, the troops were enabled to extend their operations and to erect the fortresses of Tobolsk, Sungur, and Tara. The contents list an entry on Tartarian rhubarb brought to Kiachta by the Bucharian merchants, and on the method of examining and purchasing the roots.