I requested to see some of the coin of his country, and he readily gratified my curiosity. The gold coin was a thin plate of an oval form, and of about two inches in its longest diameter. It is marked with various Japanese characters, and it appeared to be of pure gold, without any alloy, so that it readily bent in any manner you pleased. Their silver money is square, smaller, thinner, and lighter than that of gold; he however assured me that at Japan this was the superior coin. The copper coin is precisely the same as the _cache_ of the Chinese: it is round, and nearly of the size of our two _liard_ pieces, with a square perforation in the middle. I asked him some questions respecting the nature of the merchandize they had saved from their wreck, and I understood, from his answer, that it consisted chiefly in cups, plates, boxes, and other commodities of that sort, with a very fine varnish. I afterwards found they had sold a part of them at Kamtschatka. I trust I shall be forgiven this digression upon these Japanese; I can scarcely imagine that it will be thought impertinent; it will assist us in becoming acquainted with a nation that we have scarcely an opportunity to see and observe. Having spent three days at Nijenei Kamtschatka, I left it 12 February at one o'clock in the afternoon, to meet M. Kasloff, whom I was sure of finding at Yelofki. My road for some time was the same as I had already travelled in going to Nijenei, and I arrived at Tchoka early in the evening. A strong westerly wind almost always prevails in this place. The situation of the ostrog sufficiently accounts for it, which is upon a river that runs between two chains of mountains that stretch along its banks to the distance of twenty five wersts. I passed the night at Kamokoff, and the next morning I arrived in a few hours at the ostrog of Kamini, or Peter's town, where I took the road to Kartchina. In my way I passed three lakes, the last of which was very large, and not less than five leagues in circumference. I slept at this ostrog, which is forty wersts from the preceding one, and situated upon the river Kartchina[74]. I set off as soon as it was light, and notwithstanding the bad weather, which lasted all the day, I travelled seventy wersts, which brought me to Yelofki. It is upon a river of the same name, and surrounded with mountains. M. Kasloff was astonished at my expedition. I had vainly flattered myself, that the moment of our meeting would be that of our departure; but his business was not yet finished, and we were obliged to prolong our stay: he hoped also that M. Schmaleff would soon arrive. We had calculated that he would meet us at this ostrog. This expectation, which was fruitless, and the affairs of M. Kasloff, detained us five days longer. At length he complied with my impatience, and agreed to set off the 19, very early in the morning.