Pavel Lebedev-Lastochkin

Lastochkin volunteered for the mission, seeking the profits from either Japanese trade goods or furs from Hokkaidō.

They would set up a small colony town near Uruppu, and try to persuade some Ainu to guide them down to Japan.

It was now 1778, and the expedition met with the Lords of Matsumae clan, the Japanese guardians of the northern borders, for the first time.

The samurai informed Lastochkin's party that they did not have the authority to make such agreements on behalf of the shōgun, but that they should return the following year.

In 1779, an earthquake caused a massive tsunami, which tossed the Russian ship some distance inland.