James Grieve (1703 63), physician to Catherine the Great of Russia, and translator of this book, published posthumously in English in 1764, apologises in his 'Advertisement' for the crudeness and rambling nature of Stepan Krasheninnikov's original work, which nevertheless contains 'many very useful remarks, greatly contributing to the improvement of the trade, geography, and natural history, of the country he describes'. In 1755, Krasheninnikov (1711 55) had published his account of an expedition to Kamchatka between 1733 and 1743, under Vitus Bering, to increase knowledge of regions to the...