Folio 191: Jefferyes to Tilson. A ship of 90 cannon constructed by a Russian under...

Folio 191: Jefferyes to Tilson. A ship of 90 cannon constructed by a Russian under the direction of the Czar and launched last year, armed etc. at Kronslot, was this week sunk, and believed entirely lost, except that the cannon could perhaps be saved together with part of the provisions which had been loaded aboard. This misfortune is attributed partly to the builder and partly to the officer charged with the task of arming her. Vice-Admiral Gordon is not without reproach. The Czar is angry at this waste. It was to have been one of the strongest of his fleet. The ridiculous manners of an envoy sent here on behalf of the Cham of the Calmucks, living alongside the Volga, have amused the court for several days. Albeit his manners are very strange, even when drunk he resisted being interrogated and asked permission to defer discussing serious matters to a better time. The Jesuits are still here, awaiting their brethren from Astrakhan and Moscow. A certain captain Ostergarten, sent to Paris with secret dispatches, has returned. It is said he will be sent out again to another court before the Czar departs. The Czar has come back here from Kronslot where he has been giving orders regarding the vessel above mentioned. He is staying to launch a warship of 60 guns which is ready; after which he will go first to Kronslot from whence he will depart with the fleet on the first favourable wind. Subscribed. A paragraph about repayment of rent on houses in Russia and the slow system of collection. Dated StPetersburg, 29 May 1719. French. English.