At the end of Harris’ letter, there is a mention of a captain in the harbor of Nagasaki of 1804. Based on preceding paragraphs of the letter it seemed that this was a mention of a British captain, but there is no record of any British activity in the harbor of Nagasaki in 1804. However, there is a record of Russian activity in the port of Nagasaki in that year (1). Since the captain’s last name is Rezanov, it does not seem to fit the name that is mentioned in the letter. This leads to the conclusion that either Harris was inaccurate in his referral to the year 1804, or there were relations between Japan and Britain in that year that were not documented.
1. A Russian diplomatic mission led by Chamberlain N. P. Rezanov http://www.russia-emb.jp/english/embassy/history/nagasaki.html
1. A Russian diplomatic mission led by Chamberlain N. P. Rezanov http://www.russia-emb.jp/english/embassy/history/nagasaki.html
http://www.cosmicelk.net/RussianAmerica.htm