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HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA ; seveu volumes. HISTORY OF NEVADA, COLORADO AND WYOMING; one volume. HISTORY OF UTAH; cue volume. HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST; two volumes. HISTORY OF OREGON; two volumes. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON, IDAHO and MONTANA; one volume. HISTORY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA; one volume. HISTORY OF ALASKA ; one volume. CALIFORNIA PASTORAL; one volume. CALIFORNIA INTER-POCULA ; one vo'.unie. POPULAR TRIBUNALS ; two voUim; s. ESSAYS AND MISCELLANY ; oze volume. LITERARY INDUSTRIES; one volume. CHRONICLES OF THE KINGS ; several volumes. HISTORY or ALASKA BT HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT 1730-1885 SAN FRANCISCO THE HISTORY COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 1890 Bntered according to Act of Congress In tho year 1889, by HUBERT H. BANCROFT, in the Office ol the Librarian of CoiigresB, at Washington. All BljIiU Reserved. H(l PREFACE. On the whole, the people of the United States have not paid an exorbitant price for the ground upon which to build a nation. Trinkets and trickery in the first instance, followed by some bluster, a little fighting, and a little money, and we have a very fair patch of earth, with a good title, in which there is plenty of equity, humanity, sacred rights, and star-spangled banner. What we did not steal ourselves we bought from those who did, and bought it cheap. Therein we did well, have that much more to be proud of, and to confirm us in our own esteem as a great and good nation; therein lies the great merit — the price we paid. Had it been dear, as have been some meagre strips of European soil, over which France, Germany, and the rest have fought for cen- turies, spending millions upon millions of lives and money, all in the line of insensate folly, and for that which they could not keep and were better off with- out — then we would cease boasting and hold our peace. But our neighbors have been weak while we are strong ; therefore it is not right for us to pay them much for their lands. Ignoring, as we do, the birthright of aboriginal races, that have no Christianity, steel, or gunpowder, we may say that the title to the Mississippi Valley vi PREFACE. was Kottlcd, and the Oregon Territory adjudged to be ours l)y divirie right. Texas came easily; while one month's interest, at the then current rates, on the gold picked up in the Sierra Foothills during the first five years of American occupation would repay the cost of the Mexican war, and all that was given for California and the adjoining territory. In the case of Alaska we have one instance where bluster would not win; figlitingwas not to be thought of; and so we could pay for tlie stationary icebergs or let them alone. Nor with money easy, was Alaska a bad bargain at two cents an acre. It was indeed cheaper than stealing, now that the savages receive the teachings and diseases of civilization in reservations. In 18G7 there were few who hold this opinion, and not one in a hundred, even of those who were best in- formed, believed the territory to be worth the pur- cliase money. If better known to-day, its resources are no better appreciated; and there are many who still deny that, apart from fish and fur-bearing ani- mals, the country has any resources. The area of Alaska is greater than that of the thirteen original states of the Union, its extreme lenjTjth beiufjf more than two thousand miles, and its extreme breadth about fourteen hundred; while its coast-line, including bays and islands, is greater than the circumference of the earth. The island of Una- laska is almost as far west of San Francisco as San Francisco is west of the capital of the United States; while the distance from the former city to Fort St Michael, the most northerly point in America inhabited by the white man, is greater than to the city of Panamd. PREFACE. t* With the limits of the continent at its extreme north-west, the limit ui the history of western North America is reached. But it may be asked, what a land is this of which to write a history? Bleak, swampy, fog-begirt, and almost untenanted except by savages— can a cbuntry without a people furnish ma- terial for a history? Intercourse with the aborigines does not constitute all of history, and few except sav- ages have ever made their abiding-place in the wintry solitudes of Alaska; few vessels save bidarkas have ever threaded her myriad isles: few scientists have studied her geology, or catalogued her fauna and flora; few surveyors have measured her snow-turbaned hills ; few miners have dug for coal and iron, or prospected her mountains and streams for precious metals. Ex- cept on the islands, and at some of the more accessible points on the mainland, the natives are still unsubdued. Of settlements, there are scarce a dozen worthy the name ; of the interior, little is known ; and of any cor- rect map, at least four fifths must remain, to-day, absolutely blank, without names or lines except those of latitude and longitude. We may sail along the border, or be drawn by sledge-dogs over the frozen streams, until we arrive at the coldest, farthest west, separated from the rudest, farthest east by a nanow span of ocean, bridged in winter by thick-ribbed ice. What then can be said of this region — this Ultima Thule of the known world, whose northern point is but three or four degrees south of the highest lati- tude yet reached by man? Such is the general sentiment of Americans con- cerning a territory which not many years ago was purchased from Bussia, as before mentioned, at the Hist. Ai.tw*. 9* %j vUi PREFACE. rate of about two cents an acre, and waa considered dear at the price. To answer these questions is the purpose of the present volume. This America of the Russians has its little century or two of history, as herein we see, and which will ever remain its only possible inchoation, interesting to the story of future life and progress on its borders, as to every nation its infancy should be. Though it must be admitted that the greater por- tion of Alaska is practically worthless and uninhabit- able, yet my labor has been in vain if I have not made it appear that Alaska lacks not resources but develop- ment. Scandinavia, her old-world counterpart, is pos- sessed of far less natural wealth, and is far less grand in natural configuration. In Alaska we can count more than eleven hundred islands in a single group. We can trace the second longest watercourse in the world. We have large sections of territory where the average yearly temperature is higher than that of Stockholm or Christiania, where it is milder in win- ter, and where the fall of rain and snow is less than in the southern portion of Scandinavia. It has often been stated that Alaska is incapable of supporting a white population. The truth is, that her resources, though some of them are not yet available, are abundant, and of such a nature that, if properly economized, they will never be seriously impaired. The most habitable portions of Alaska, lying as they do mainly between 55° and 60° n., are in about the same latitude as Scotland and southern Scandinavia. The area of this portion of the territory is greater than that of Scotland and southern Scandinavia combined ; and yet it contains to-day but a few hundred, and PREFACE. Is has never contained more than a thousand white inhabitants; while the population of Scotland is about three millions and a half, and that of Norway and Sweden exceeds six millions. The day is not very far distant when the coal meas- ures and iron deposits of Scotland, and the mines and timber of Scandinavia, will be exhausted ; and it is not improbable that even when that day comes the re- sources of Alaska will be but partially opened. Th« little development that has been made of late years has been accomplished entirely by the enterprise and capital of Americans, aided by a few hundred hired natives. Already with a white population of five hundred, of whom more than four fifths are non-producers, the exports of the territory exceed $3,000,000 a year, or an average of $6,000 per capita. Where else in the world do we find such results ? It may be stated in answer that the bulk of these exports comes from the fur-seal grounds of the Pry- bilof Islands, which are virtually a stock-farm leased by the government to a commercial company; but the present value of this industry is due mainly to the careful fostering and judicious management of that company; and there are other industries which, if properly directed, promise in time to prove equally profitable. Apart from the seal-islands, and apart from the trade in land-furs that is diverted by the Hudson's Bay Company, the production of wealth for each white person in the territory is greater than in any portion of the United States or of the world. This wealth is derived almost entirely from the land and pelagic peltry, and from the fisheries of Alaska; for at present her mines are little developed, and i I S PBEFAOB. her forests almost intact. And yet w« are told that the country is "without resources I It may be supposed that for the history of such a country as Alaska, whatever e^istiujtif information there might be would be quite accessible and easily obtained. I have not found it specially sa Hero, as elsewhere in my historic fields, there were three classes of mate- rial which might be obtained : first, public and private archives; second, printed books and documents; and third, personal experiences and kuowledge taken from the mouths of living witnesses. Of the class last named there are fewer authorities here than in any other part of my territory north of latitude 32°, though proportionately more than south of that line; and this notwithstanding three distinct journeys to that region by my Aff it— a man thor- oughly conversant with Alaskan affairs, and a Rus- sian by birth — for the purpose of gathering original and verbal information. All places of historical im- portance were visited by him, and all persons of his- torical note still living there were seen and ques- tioned. Much fresh information was thus obtained; but the result was not as satisfactory as has been the case in some other quarters^ The chief authorities in print for the earlier epochs are in the Russian language, and published for the most part in Russia; covering the later periods, books, liave been published — at various times in Europe and America, as will be seen by my list of authorities— a^d have been gathered in the usual way. The national archives, the most important of all PREFACE. 4 sources, are divided, part being in Russia and part in America, though mostly in the Russian language. Some four or five years were occupied by my assist- ants and stenographers in making abstracts of mate- rial in Sitka, San Francisco, and Washington. For valuable codperation in gaining from the archives of St Petersburg such material as I required, I an^ pe- cially indebted to my esteemed friend M. Pinart, and to the leadiiig t^ieii of letters and cortain officials m the R 3ian capital, from whom I have r'^ceived every courtesy. Vr^ coiirrENTS OF this volume. CHAPTER I. INTBODDCTOET. FAA* Russia's Share in America — Physical Features of Alaska — Confignratioii and Climate — The Southern Crescent — The Tumbled Mountains — Volcanoes and Islands — Vegetation — California-Japan Current — Arc- tic Seaboard and the Interior — Condition and Character of the Rus- sians in the Sixteenth Century — Serfs, Merchants, and Nobles — The Fur Currency — Foreign Commercial Relations — England in the White and Caspian Seas — Eastern Progress of the Russian Empire — The North-east Passage 1 CHAPTER n. THE CENTUBT iURCH OT THE COSSACKS. 1578-1724. Siberia the Russian Canaan — From the Black and Caspian Seas over the Ural Mountains— Stroganof, the Salt-miner — Visit of Yermak - Occupation of the Ob by the Cossacks — Character of the Conquer- ors—Their Ostrog on the Tobol— The Straight Line of March thence to Okhotsk on the Pacific — The Promyshleniki — Lena River Reached — Ten Cossacks against Ten Thousand — Yakutsk! Ostrog— Explora- tion of the Amoor— Discoveries on the Arctic Seaboard — Ivory ver- sus Skins — The Ivuid of the Chukchi Invaded — Okhotsk Estab- lished — Kamchatka Occupied — Rumors of Realms Beyond 14 CHAPTER in. THE KAMCHATKA EXPEDITIONS. 1725-1740. Purposes of Peter the Great — An Expedition Organized — Sets out from St Petersburg — Death of the Tsar — His EflForts Seconded by Cath- erine and Elizabeth— Bering and Chirikof at Kamchatka — They Coast Northward through Bering Strait and Prove Asia to bo Sepa- rated from America — Adventures of Shostakof — Expeditious of Hens, (xlU) xiT CONTENTS. tjum Fedorof, and Gvozdef — America Sighted — Organization of the Sec- ond (General Expedition — ^Bibliography — Personnel of the Expedi- tion — Bering, Chirikof, Spanberg, Walton, Croy6re, Steller, Miiller, Fisher, and Others— Rnssian Religion — Easy Morality — Model Mis- sionaries — The Long Weary Way across Siberia — Charges against Bering— Arrival of the Expedition at Okhotsk 35 CHAPTER IV. DISCOVEBT OF ALASKA. Ii4a-1741. The Day of Departure— ^\rrivBl of Imperial Despatches — ^They Set Sail from Okhotsk — The 8v Petr and the Sv Pavel — Bering's and Chirikof's Respective Cor-jnands — Arrival at Kamchatka — Winter- ing at Avatoha Bay — Embarkation — HI Feeling between Chirikof and Bering — The Final Parting in Mid-ocean — Adventures of Chiri- kof — He Discovers the Mainland of America in Latitude 55° 21' — The Magnificence of his Surroundings — A Boat's Grew Sent Ashors — Another Sent to its Assistance — ^All Lost I — Heart-sick, Chirikof Hovers about the Place— And is Finally Driven Away by the Wind — He Discovers Unalaska, Adakh, and Attoo— The Presence of Sea- otters Noticed — Sickness — Return to Avatcha Bay — Death of Croy^ra -Illness of Chirikof 63 CHAPTER V. DKATH OT BXRINO. 1741-1742. Discovery by Rule — ^The Land not where It ought to be — The Avatcha Council should Know — Bering Encounters the Mainland at Mount St Eliaa — Claims for the Priority of Discovery of North-westernmost America — Kyak Island— Scarcity of Water— The Return Voyage — Illness of Bering — Longings for Home — Kadiak — Ukamok — Sickness and Death — Intercourse with the Natives — Waxel's Adventure- Vows of the Dane — Amchitka, Kisbka, Semich'), and other Island* Seen — At Bering Island — Wreck of tLe Sv Petr — Death of Bering — Gathering Sea-otter Skins — The Survivors Build a Small Sv Petr from the Wreck — Return to Kamchatka — Second Voyage of Chirikof. 76 CHAPTER VI. THB 8WAKMIN0 OW TiUC PBOMTSHLKNIKI. 1743-1762. Effect of the Discovery in Siberia— Hunting Expeditions in Search of Sea-otters— Voyages of Bassof, Nevodchikof , and Yugof— Rich Har- vciits of Sea-otter and Fur-seal Skius from the Aleutian Archipelago CONTENTS. «t ttam 35 — The Conniiig Promyshleniki and the Mild Islanders — ^The Old Tale of Wrong and Atrocity — Bloodshed on Attoo Island — Early Monopolies — Chuprof's and Kholodilof's Adventures — Russians De- feated on Unalaska and Amlia — Yugof's Unfortunate Speculation — Further Discovery — The Fate of Golodof — Other Adventures VAOB I CHAPTER Vn. rn&THEB ADVBNTUaES OF THE PBOUTSHLENIKI. 1760-1767. Tolstykh's Voyage — Movements of Vessels — Staehlin's Map — Wreck of the Andreian i Natalia — Catherine Speaks — A Company Formed — Collecting Tribute — The Neiie Nachrichten — Voyage of the Zah- har % Elizaveta — Terrible Retaliation of the Unalaskans — Voyage of the Sv Troitska — Great Sufferings — Fatal Onskught — Voyage of Glottof — Ship Nomenchiture — Discovery of Kadiak — New Mode of Warfare— The Old Man's Tale— Solovief's Infamies— The Okhotsk Government — More St Peters and St Paula — Queen Catherine and the Merchant Nikoforof — End of Private Fur-honting Expeditions.... 127 ■I CHAPTER Vni. IKFEKIAL BITOaTS AMD VAII.TmE8. 1764-1779. Synd's Voyage in Bering Strait — Staehlin's Peculiar Report — The Grand Government Expedition — Promotions and Rewards on the Strength of Prospective Achievements — Catherine is Sure of Divine Favor — Very Secret Instructions — Heavy Cost of the Expedition — The Long Journey to Kamchatka — Dire Misfortunes There — Results of the Effort — Death of the Commander — Journals and Reports — More Mer- cantile Voyages — The Ships Sv Nikolai, Sv Andrei, Sv Prolcop, and Others — ^The Free and Easy Zaiikof — His Luck 157 CHAPTER IX. BXPLORATION AND ICRADK. 1770-1787. Political Changes at St Petersburg— Exiles to Siberia — The Long Weary Way to Kamchatka — The Benyovski Conspiracy — The Author Bad Euougli, but not So Bad as He would Like to Appear — Exile Regula- tions — Forgery, Treachery, Robbery, and Murder — Escape of the Exiles — Bohm Appointed to Succeed Nilof as Commandant of Kam- chatka — Further Hunting Voyages — First Trading Expedition to the Mainland — Potop ZaiLof — Prince William Sound — Ascent of Copper vri CONTENTb. PAH River— Treacherous Chugaohes— Plight of the RuBsians — Homeof th 3 Fur-seals— Its Discovery by Gerassiin Pribylof — Jealousy of Rival Companies 17S 11 CHAPTER X. OVFIOIAL EXPLORATIONS. 177»-1779. Russian Supremacy in the Farthest North-west — The Other European Powers would Know Whnt It Means — Perez Looks at Alaska for Spain — The Santiago at Dixon Entrance — Cuadra Advances to Cross Sound— Cook for England Examines the Coast as Far as Icy Cape — Names Given to Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet — Rev- elations and Mistakes — Ledyard's Journey— Again Spain Sends to the North Arteaga, Who Takes Possession at Latitude 59° 8'— Bay of La Santisima Cruz — Results Attained 101 CHAPTER XI. COLONIZATION AND THB FUB-TRADB. 1783-1787. First Attempted Settlement of the Russians in America — Voyage of Grl- gor Shelikof — Permanent Establishment of the Russians at Kadiak — Return of Shelikof— His Instructions to Samoilof, Colonial Command- er — The Historic Sable and Otter — Skins as Currency — Trapping and Tribute-collecting — Method of Conducting the Hunt — Regula- tions of the Peredovchiki — God's Sables and Man's — Review of the Fur-trade on the Coabtsof Asia and America — Pernicious System In- troduced by the Prouiyshleuiki — The China Market— Foreign Ri- vals and their Method — Abuse of Natives — Cook's and Vancouver's Opinions of Competition with the Russians — Extirpation of Ani- mals 'i-j2 CHAPTER Xn. FOREIGN VISITORS. 1786-1794. French Interest in the North-west — La P^rouse's Examination — Discov- ery of Port des Franpais — A Disastrous Survey — English Visitors — Meares is Caught in Prince William Sound— Terrible Struggles with the Scun^y — Portlock and Dixon Come to the Rescue — Their Two Years of Trading and Exploring — Ismailof and Bocharof Set Forth to Secure the Claims of Russia — A Treacherous Chief— Yakutat Bay Explored — Traces of Foreign Visitors Jealously Suppressed — Spain Resolves to Assert Herself — Martinez and Haro's Tour of In- yestigation — Fidalgo, Marcliand, and CaamaQo — Vancouver's Expe- dition 255 CONTENTS. xrU CHAPTER Xm. THE BILLINGS SCIENTinO EXFESITIOM'. 1786-1793. VAm Flattering Prospects — Costly Outfit — The Usual Years of Freparation- An Expectant World to be Enlightened — Oathering of the Expedi- tion at Kamchatka — Divers Winterings and Ship-building — Prelim- inary Surveys North and South — At Unalaaka and Kadiak — Russian Rewards — Periodic Promotion of Billings — At St Lawrence Island — Billings' Land Journey — Wretched Condition of Russian Hunters — End of the Tribute System — Result of the Expedii Ion — Sarychef'a Surveys — Shelikof 's Duplicity — Priestly Performance 282 CHAPTER XrV. OBOANIZATION OF MONOFOLT. 1787-1795. Shelikof's Grand Conception — Governor-general Jacobi Won to the Scheme — Shelikof's Modest Request — Alaska Laid under Monopoly — Stipulations of the Empress — Humane Orders of Kozlof-Ugrenin — Public Instructions and Secret Injunctions — Delarof 's Administra- tion — Shelikof Induces Baranof to enter the Service of his Com- pany — Career and Traits of the New Manager — Shipwreck of Ba- ranof on Uualaska — Condition of the Colony — Rivalry and Other Troubles — Plans and Recommendations — Engagement with the Kal- jushes — Ship-building — The Englishman Shields — Launch and Trib- ulations of the Phoenix 305 CHAPTER XV. STRIFE BETWEKM B'VAL COMPANIES. 1791-1794. The Lebede. Compaay Occupies Cook Inlet — Quarrels between the Lebe- def and Shelikof Companies — Hostilities in Cook Inlet — Comr/laints of Kolomin against Konovalof — War upon Russians ant'' Indians Alike — Life of the Marauders — Pacific Attitude of Barar of — His Pa- tience Exhausted — Playing the Autocrat — Arrest of tlie Ringleaders — Effect on the Natives — Baranof's Speech to liis Hunters — Expedi- tion to Yakutat — Meeting with Vancouver — The Lebedef Company Circumvented — Troubles with Kaljushes — Purtof's Resolute Conduct — Zaikof's Expedition 334 CHAPTER XVI. OOLONIZATION AND MISSIONS. 1794-1796. Mechanics and Missionaries Arrive at Pavlovsk — Ambitious Schemes of Colce- dition 401 CHAPTjiR XX. BITKA RECAPTtrKKD. 1803-1805. The NadesMa and Neva Sail from Kronstadt— Llsiansky Arrives aft Norfolk Sound in the .ATeva— Baranof Sets Forth from Yakutat — fiis Narrow Escape from Shipwreck— He Joins Forces with Lisianakj CONTENTS. idi PAoa — Fruitless Negotiations — Defeat of the Russians — The Fortress Bom- barded — And Evacuated by the Savages — The Natives Massacre their Children — Lisiansky's Visit to Kadiak — His Description of the Settlements — AKolosh Embassy — A Dinner Party at Novo Arkhan- gelsk — The Neva's Homeward Voyage — Bibliography » 421 CHAPTER XXI. bezanof's viaiT. 1804-1806. Voyage of the Nadeshda — A Russian Embassy Dismissed by the Japan- ese — Rezanof at St Paul Island — Wholesale Slaughter of Fur-seals — The Ambassador's Letter to the Emperor — The Envoy Proceeds to Kadiak — And Thence to Novo Arkhangelsk — His Report to the Russian American Company — Further Trouble with the Kolosh — The Ambassador's Instructions to the Chief Manager — Evil Tidings from Kadiak — Rezanof's Voyage to CaUfomia — His Complaints against Naval Officers — His Opinion of the Missionaries — His Last Journey 443 CHAPTER XXn. BSVKN HORK YBAKS ur ALASK,Alf ANMAI4. 1806-1812. Ship-building at Novo Arkhangelsk — The Settlement Threatened by Kolosh— A Plot against the Chief Manager's Life — The Conspira- tors Taken by Surprise — Arrival of Golovnin in the Sloop-of-war Diana — His Description of the Settlement — Astor's Vessel, the Enterprise, at Novo Arkhangelsk — Negotiations for Trade — Golov- nin 's Account of the Matter — Faruum's Journey from Astoria to St Petersburg — Wreck of the /wno -bufferings of her Crew, . . . 461 CHAPTER XXIII. I'OfiEION VENTURB8 AND THE BOSS COLONT. 1803-1841. Baranofs, Want of Means — O'Cain's Expedition to California—And to Japan — The Mercury at San Diego — Trading Contracts with Ameri- can Skippers — Kuskof on the Coast of New Albion — The Ross Colony Founded— Seal-hunting on the Coast of California — Ship- building — Agriculture — Shipments of Cereals to Novo Arkhangelsk — Horticulture — Stock-raising— Losses Incurred by the Company — Hunting-post Established at the Farallones — Failure of the Enter- prise — Sale of the Colony's Efiects 476^ IT- CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIV. VOKTBKR ATTEMPTS AT FOEEION COLOMIZATIOW. 1808-1818. VAaa Hagemeister in the Sandwich Islands — Baranof Again Desires to be Re- lieved — Eliot Sails for California in the Ilmtn — His Captivity — Kotzebue in the Rurik in Search of a North-east Passage — His Ex- plorations in Kotzebne Sound — He Proceeds to Unalaska — And thence to California and the Sandwich Islands — King Kamehameha — A Stonn in the North T-cifio— The Rurik Returns to Unalaska — Her Homeward Voyage— Bennett's Trip to the Sandwich Islands — Captain Lozaref at Novo Arkhangelsk — His Disputes with the Chief Manager — Sheflfer Sails for Hawaii — And thence for Kauai — His Agreement with King Tomari — Jealousy of American and English Traders— Flight of the Russians 490 CHAPTER XXV. CLOSE or BABANOF'S ADHINI3TRATI0N. 1810-1821. Hagemeister Sails for Novo Arkhangelsk — He Supersedes Baranof — Transfer of the Company's Efifects — The Accounts in Good Order — Sickness of the Ex-manager — Baranof Takes Leave of the Colonies — His Death— Remarks of Khlebnikof and Others on Baranof — Kora- sokovsky's Expedition to the Kuskokvim— Roquefenil's Voyage — ilassacre of his Hunters — Further Explorations — Dividends and In- crease of Capital — Commerce — Decrease in the Yield of Furs — The Company's Servants 510 Rtt?« HI L«\ CHAPTER XXVI. SECOND PERIOD OF THE RUSSIAN AMERICAM COMPANT'S OPERATIONS. 1821-1842. Golovnin's Report on the Colonies— The Company's Charter Renewed — New Privileges Granted — Mouravief Appointed Governor — Alaska Divided into Districts — Threatened Starvation — Chiatiakof Super- sedes Mouravief — Foreign Trade Prohibited — The Anglo-Russian and Russo-American Treaties — More Explorations — Wrangell's Ad- ministration'— He is Succeeded by Kupriauof — Disputes with the Hudson's Bay Company— Their Adjustment — Fort Stikeen — Etholen Appointed Governor — A Small-pox Epidemic — Statistical SM CHAPTER XXVn. THE RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY'S LAST TERM. 1842-1866. The Charter Renewed— Its Provisions— The Affair at Petropavlovsk— Outbreaks among the Natives— The Nulato Massacre— A Second Massacre Threatened at Novo Arkhangelak— Explorations — Tho CONTENTS. PAaa Western Union Telegraph Company — Weetdahl's Experience — The Company Requests Another Renewal of its Charter — Negotiations with the Imperial Government— Their Failure — Population — Food Supplies— The Yield of Furs— Wlialing— Dividends— Trade— Bib- liographical 568 490 CHAPTER XXVin. ALASKA AS A UNITED STATES COLONY. 1867-1883. Motives for the Transfer by the Russian Government — Negotiations Com- menced—Senator Cole's Efforts — The Treaty Signed and Ratified — Reasons for and against the Purchase — The TerritOi^y as an Invest- ment — Its Formal Cession — Influx of American Adventurers — Meas- ures in Congress — A Country without Law or Protection — Evil Effect of the Military Occupation — An ^meute at Sitka — Further Troubles with the Natives — Their Cause — Hootchenoo, or Molasses-rum — Rev- enue—Suggestions for a Civil Government — Want of MaU Facilities — Surveys and Explorations 600 610 CHAPTER XXIX. COMMERCE, BEVENUE, AND FUBS. 1868-1884. Imports and Exports — Cost of Collecting Revenue — The Hudson's Bay Company — Smuggling — The Alaska Commercial Company — It Ob- tains a Lease of the Prybilof Islands — The Terms of the Contract — Remuneration and Treatment of the Natives — Their Mode of Life — Investigation into the Company's Management — Statements of Robert Desty — And of the Secretary of the Treasury — Increase in the Value of Furs — Remarks of H. W. Elliott — Landing of the Fur- seals — Their Combats — Method of Driving and Slaughtering — Cur- ing, Dressing, and Dyeing — Sea-otters — Land Peltry 630 6N CHAPTER XXX. FISHERIES. 1867-1884. Salmon Packing— Price and Weight of the Raw Fish — Yukon River Salmon — Alaskan Canneries — Domestic Consumption and Waste — The Cod-banks of Alaska — Large Increase in the Catch of Cod-fish and Decrease in its Value — The Halibut-fisheries — Herring and Her- ring-oil — Mackerel — The Eulachon or Candle-fish — Value and Pros- pects of the Alaskan Fisheries — Whaling Enterprise — The North Pacific Whaling Fleet — Gradual Decrease in the Catch — Threatened Exhaustion of the Whaling-grounds 660 i!l;i CXJNTENTS. CHAPTER XXXI. nmLXUKITTS, AOSIOULTURK, 8IIIP-BniI.Pnn}, AITD mSTHO. 1794-1884. FAOa Sitka during the Ruuian Occupation — The Town Half Deaerted — Social Life at the Capital — The Sitka Library — Newspapers — Fort Wran- gell — Tongass — Harrisburg — Settleni«;. .ta on Cook Inlet — Kudiak — Wood Island — Spruce Island — Three Saints — Afognak — The Aleutian Islands — Volcanio Bruptions and Earthquakes — Saint Michael— Fort Yukon — Agriculture— Stock-raisings — Timber — Ship-building — Coal- mining-Petroleum, Copper, Quicksilver, Lead, and Sulphur-Silver and Gold 671 CHAPTER XXXn. 0HUBCHX8, SOHOOLS, AND HOSPITALS. 1795-1884. The First Chnrches in Russian America>— A Diocese Established — Veni- aminof— The SitI Cathedral- Conversionof the Indiana — The Clergy Held in Contempt— Protestant Missions — Schools — The Sitka Semi- nary — The General Colonial Institute — Meteorological — Diseases — Hospitals — The Company's Pensioners — Creoles — Bibliographical. . . . i CHAPTER XXXni. ALASKA AS A OITIL AND JCDIOIAL DISXBIOI. 1883-1886. 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[Journal of the Admiralty Depart- ment.] St Petersburg, 1807 et seq. Zapiski Hydrograticheskago Departamenta. [Journal of Hydrographio De- partment.] St Petersburg, 1842 et seq. Zapiaki Russkago GeograHcheskago Obshestva. [ T •iblicitions of the Russian Geographical Society.] St Petersbur;*, I'MH et r;eq. Zapiski ucheuago komiteta morskago shtaba. i^Joumal of Committee on In- struction of Naval StaflF.] St Petersburr?, U'^Betseq. Zarembo (Dionia F. ), Puteshestvie iz Khronihs^d oa do Sitkhi, 1840-4! . [Voy- apo from Kronstadt to Sitka, 1840-41.] In Zapiski Hydr. viii. Zavalishin (Dmitri I.), Dielo o Koloniy Ross (Affairs of the Ross Colony). Moskow, 1866. Zclcniy (N.), Correspondence. In Sitka Archives, MS., vols, i.-vii. Zhumal departamenta narodnago prosvieshchenia. [Journal of the Depart- ment 01 Public Instruction.] St Petersburg, 1822 et seq. /^^ Ill FISTORT OF AJLASKA. CHAPTEK I. INTRODUCTORY. Rttssia's Shakb nr Ahebica — Phtsicaii Features of Alaska — Configuba- TIOK AND CUMATB — ^ThE SoDTHEEN CeESCENT — ThE TUMBLED MOUN- TAINS— VOLCANOES AND Islands — Vegetation— California-Japan Cur- rent— Abctio Seaboard and the Interior — Condition and Charac- ter OF THE Russians in the Sixteenth Century — Serfs, Merchants, and Noblss— The Fur Currency — Foreign Commercial Relations — England in rrtE White and Caspian Seas— Eastern Progress of THE Russian >i;». 1 1 tu-— The North-east Passage. In the gi sat f ^izure and partition of America by European p» -ors there was no reason why Bussia should not i^.^ (. a share. She was mistress in the east ana north .< v'.ro France and Spain in the west and south; she was as grasping ai'> Portugal and as cold and cruel as England; and because she owned so much of Europe and Asia in the Arctic, the desire was only increased thereby to extend her broad belt quite round the world. It was but a step across from one contire'it to the other, and intercourse between the prin , >ve peoples of the two had been common from til if is iraemorial. It was but natural, I say, in the gigair.'. robbery of half a world, that Russia should have a share; and had she been quicker about it, the belt might as well have been continued to Greenland and Iceland. Geographically, Alaska is the northern end of the long Cordillera which begins at Cape Horn, extends (1) INTKOT^UCTORY. I! through the two Americas, and is here joined by the Nevada-Cascade range; the Coast Range from Lower California breaking mto islands before reaching this point. It iis not always and altogether that cold and desolate region v Hioh sometimes has been pictured, and which from i >~ ^tion we might expect. Its configuration and i te are exceedingly varied. The southern seaboaiu is comparatively mild and habitable; the northern frigid and inhospitable. Standing at Mount St Elias as the middle ci a cres- cent, we see the shore-line stretching out in either direction, toward the south-east and the south-west, ending in the former at Dixon Inlet, and in the latter sweeping off and breaking into mountainous islands as it continues its course toward Kamchatka. It is a most exceedingly rough and uncouth country, this part of it; the shore-line being broken into fragments, with small and great islands guarding the labyrinth of channels, bays, sounds, and inlets that line the main- land. Back of these rise abruptly vast and rugged mountains, the two great continental chains coming together here as if in final struggle for the mastery. The coast range along the Pacific shore of Alaska attains an elevation in places of eight or nine thou- sand feet, lying for the most part under perpetual snow, with here and there glistening white peaks four- teen or sixteen thousand feet above the sea. And the ruggedness of this Sitkan or southern seaboard, the thirty-miles strip as it is sometimes called, with the Alexander archipelago, continues as we pass on, to the Alaskan Mountains and the Aleutian archipelago. It is in the Alaskan Range that nature assumes the heroic, that the last battle of the mountains appears to have been fought. The din of it has as yet hardly passed away; the great peaks of the range stand there proudly triumphant but still angry; grumbling, smoking, and spitting fire, they gaze upon their fallen foes of the archipelago, rtiaLnta like themselves, though now submerged, sunken in the sea, if not indeed led by the [•om Lower Lching this it cold and 1 pictured, meet. Its fly varied, mild and ;able. e 01 a cres- t in either aouth-west, n the latter s islands as a. It is a untry, this fragments, abyrinth of e the main- and rugged dns coming 16 mastery, of Alaska nine thou- perpetual peaks four- El. And the jaboard, the id, with the pass on, to archipelago, assumes the lins appears 3 yet hardly mge stand grumbling, their fallen Ives, though not indeed ■'i PHYSICAL FEATURES, t hurled thence by their victorious rivals. These great cowering volcanic peaks and the quaking islands are superb beyond description, filling the breast of the beholder with awe. And the ground about, though cold enough upon the surface, steams and sweats in sympathy, manifesting its internal warmth in geysers and hot springs, while from the depths of the sea sometimes belches forth fire, if certain navigators may be believed, and the sky blazes in northern lights. All along this sweep of southern seaboard Euro- peans may dwell in comfort if so inclined. Even in midwinter the cold is seldom severe or of long dura- tion. An average temperature is 42°, though ex- tremes have been named for certain localities of from 19° to 58°, and again from 58° below zero in January, to 95° in summer. Winter is stormy, the winds at Sitka at this season being usually easterly, those from the south bringing rain and snow. When the wind is from the north-west the sky is clear, and the cold nigLts are often lighted by the display of the aurora, borealis. Winter breaks up in March, and during the clear cold days of April the boats go out after furs. Yet, for a good portion of the year there is an universal and dis- mal dampness — fogs interminable and drizzling rain; clouds thick and heavy and low-lying, giving a water fall of six or eight feet in thickness. Much of the soil is fertile, though in places wet. Behind a low wooded seaboard often rise abruptly icy steeps, with here and there between the glacier canons broad patches of sphagnum one or two feet thick, and well saturated with water. The perpetual snow-line of the Makushin volcano is three thousand feet above the sea, and vegetation ceases at an altitude of twenty- five hundred feet. Grain does not ripen, but grasses thrive almost everywhere on the lowlands. Berries are plentiful, particularly cranberries, though the sun- light is scarcely strong enough to flavor them well. Immense spruce forests tower over Prince William Sound and about Sitka. Kadiak is a good grazing I'! l!:ii ;: ':!r 4 INTRODUCTORY. "> country, capable of sustaining large droves of cattle. On the Aleutian Islands trees do not grow, but the grasses are luxuriant. In a word, here in the far north we find a vegetation rightly belonging to a much lower latitude. The warm Japan current which comes up along the coast of Asia, bathing the islands of the Aleutian archipelago as it crosses the Pacific and washing the shores of America far to the southward, transforms the whole region from what would otherwise be inhos- pitable into a habitation fit for man. Arising off the inner and outer shores of Lower California, this stream first crosses the Pacific as the great northern equa- torial current, passing south of the Hawaiian Islands and on to the coast of Asia, deflecting northward as it goes, and after its grand and life-compelling sweep slowly returns to its starting-point. It is this that clothes temperate isles in tropical vegetation, makes the silk-worm flourish far north of its rightfui home, and sends joy to the heart of the hyperborean, even to him upon the strait of Bering, and almost to the Arctic seEU It is this that thickly covers the steep mountain sides f^o the height of a thousand feet and more with great growths of spruce, alder, willow, hemlock, and yellow cedar. It is the striking of this warm current of air and water against the cold shores of the north that causes nature to steam up in thick fogs and dripping moisture, and compels the surcharged clouds to drop their torrents. Chief among the fur-bearing animals is the sea- otter, in the taking of whose life the lives of thou- sands of human beings have been laid down. Of fish there are cod, herring, halibut, and salmon, in abun- dance. The whale and the walrus abound in places. Go back into the interior if you can get there, or round by the Alaskan shore north of the islands, along Bering sea and strait, which separate Asia and America and indent the eastern border with great bays into which flow rivers, one of them, the Yukon, I n RUSSIAN CHARACTER. )f cattle. , but the I the far a much up along Aleutian hing the ansforms be inhos- g oflf the is stream 3m equa- n Islands hward as ng sweep this that )n, makes fui home, ean, even )st to the the steep 1 feet and :, willow, ig of this )ld shores p in thick ircharged I the sea- 1 of thou- . Offish , in abun- in places. , there, or le islands, Asia and i^ith great tie Yukon, having its sources far back in British Columbia; ascend this stream, or traverse the country between it and the Arctic Ocean, and you will find quite a different order of things. Clearer skies are there, and drier, colder airs, and ice eternal. Along the Arctic shore runs a line of hills in marked contrast to the mountaiLd of the southern seaboard. Between these ranges flow the Yukon with its tributaries, the Kuskokvim, Sela- wik, and other streams. Mr Petrof, who traversed this region in 1880, says of it: " Here is an immense tract reaching from Bering strait in a succession of rolling ice-bound moors and low mountain ranges, for seven hundred miles an unbroken waste, to the boundary line between us and British America. Then, again, from the crests of Cook's Inlet and the flanks of Mount St Elias northward over that vast area of rugged mountain and lonely moor to the east, nearly eight hundred miles, is a great expanse of country ... by its position barred out from occupation and settlement by our own people. The climatic conditions are such that its immense area will remain undisturbed in the pos- session of its savage occupants, man and beast." Before speaking of the European discovery and conquest of Alaska, let us briefly glance at the con- dition and character of those about to assume the mastery here. It was in the middle of the sixteenth century that the Russians under Ivan Vassilievich, the Terrible, threw off" the last yoke of Tartar Khans ; but with the independence of the nation thus gained, the free cities, principalities, and provinces lost all trace of their former liberties. An empire had been wrung from the grasp of foreign despots, but only to be held by a despotism more cruel than ever had been the Tartar domination. Ignorance, superstition, and servitude were the normal condition of the lower classes. The nation rould scarcely be placed within the category INTRODUCrrORY. m I 'f ?i Hi: of civilization. While in Spain the ruling spirit was fanaticism, in Russia it was despotism. Progress was chained; if any sought to improve their lot they dared not show their gains lest their master should take them. And the people thus long accustomed to abject servility and concealment ac- 3uired the habit of dissimulation to a remarkable egree. There was no recognition of the rights of man, and little of natural morality. It was a prees- tablished and fundamental doctrine that the weaker were slaves of the stronger. In feudal times the main difference between the lowest class in Kussia and in other parts of Europe was that the former were not bound to the soil. Their condition however was none the less abject, their slavery if possible was more com- plete. And what is not a little singular in following the progress of nations, Russia, about the beginning of the seventeenth century, introduced this custom of binding men to lands, just when the other states of Europe were abolishing it. Freemen were authorized by law to sell themselves. Insolvent debtors became the property of their creditors. And howsoever bound, men could obtain their liberty only by purchase. Women, even of the better class, were held in ori- ental seclusion, and treated as beasts; husbands and fathers might torture and kill them, and sell the off- spring, but if a wife killed her husband she was buried up to the neck and left to starve. Pewter was unknown ; only wooden dishes were in use. Each man carried a knife and wooden spoon tied to the belt or sash. Bedding was scarcely used at court; among rich and poor alike a wooden bench, the bare floor, or at the most a skin of bear or wolf, sufficed for sleeping. The domestic ties were loose; since the crimes of individuals were visited upon the whole kin- dred the children scattered as soon as they were able. The lower classes had but a single name, which was conferred in baptism, consequently the nearest rela- tives soon lost sight of each other in their wandering 'filrt! - m i (v ' was none CUSTOMS OP THE RUSSIANS. 7 life. Subsequently the serfs were attached to the soil, but even to the present day an almost irresistible disposition to rove is noticeable among the Russian people. The nobles, reared by a nation of slaves, were scarcely more intelligent than they. But few of the priests understood Greek ; and reading and writing even among the nobles was almost unknown; astronomy and anat- omy were classed among the diabolic arts; calculations were made by means of a string of balls, and skins of animals were the currency. Punishments were as barbarous as manners. The peculator was publicly branded with a hot iron, then sent back to his place, thus dishonoring himself and degrading his office. When a person was punished for crime, all the mem- bers of his family were doomed to suffer likewise. Every Russian who strayed beyond the frontier be- came a rebel and a heathen. Nobles alone could hold land; the tillers were as slaves. True, a middle or merchant class managed amidst the general disruption to maintain some of their ancient privileges. The gosti, or wholesale deal- ers, of Moscow, Novgorod, and Pleskovo might sit at table with princes, and go on embassies; they were free from imposts and many other exactions. Even the small traders preserved some of the benefits which had originated in the free commercial cities. The priests, seemg their influence at court declining, cultivated the merchants, and married among their families. Thus all combined to strengthen the trading class as compared with the agricultural. Taxes and salaries were paid in furs ; in all old charters and other docu- ments penalties and rewards are given in furs. The very names of the early coins of Novgorod point to their origin ; we see there the grivernik grivnui, from the mane or long hairs along the back; the oushka and poloushka, ear and half-ear. This feature in the national economy explains to a certain extent the slow spread of civilization over the tsar's domiojons- INTRODUCTORY. I-' .1" I In a country where furs are the circulating medium, and hence the great desideratum, the people must scatter and lead a savage life. The same cause, however, which impeded social and intellectual development furnished a stimulus for the future aggrandizement of the Muscovite domain. For more than two and a half centuries the Hanseatic League had monopolized the foreign trade; but the decline of Novgorod, the growing industry of the Livonian cities, and the appearance of the ships of other countries in the Baltic were already threatening the downfall of Hanseatic commerce, when an unex- pected discovery made the English acquainted with the White Sea, which afforded direct intercourse with the inland provinces of the Russian empire. The Hanse, by its superiority in the Baltic, had excluded all other maritime nations from Russian commerce, but it was beyond the reach of their power to prevent the English from sailing to the White Sea. In 1553, at the sug- gestion of Sebastian Cabot, England sent three vessels under Sir Hugh Willoughby in search of a north-east passage to China. Two of the vessels were lost, and the third, commanded by Richard Chancellor, entered the White Sea. No sooner did he know that the shore was Russia than Chancellor put on a bold face and said he had come to establish commercial rela- tions. The tsar, informed of the arrival of the stran- gers, ordered them to Moscow. The insolent behavior of the Hanse League had excited the tsar's displeas- ure, and he was only too glad of other intercourse with civilized nations. Every encouragement was offered by the Russian monarch, and trade finally opened with England, and special privileges were granted to the so-called Russia Company of English merchants. The English commercial expeditions through Rus- sia, down the Volga, and across the Caspian to Persia, were not financially successful, though perhaps valu- able as a hint to the Portuguese that the latter did RUSSIAN FUR-TRADE. r medium, ople must led social Imulus for e domain. Hanseatic ; but the ry of the J ships of ireatening an unex- d with the B with the tie Hanse, 1 all other 3ut it was le English t the sug- 'ee vessels north-east 3 lost, and >r, entered that the bold face rcial rela- the stran- b behavior 3 displeas- itercourse ment was de finally !ges were f English ugh Rus- to Persia, baps valu- latter did ■"-i -;s not hold the only road to India. To Russia, also, this traffic proved by no means an unalloyed blessing. The wealthy merchants of Dantzic and other Hanse towns along the Baltic, who had enjoyed a monopoly of Russian commerce, looked on with jealousy, and it was doubtless owing to enmity in this influential quarter that Ivan failed in all his attempts to secure Esthonia and Livonia, and gain access to the Baltic seaports. On the other hand, English enterprise brought about commerce with different nations, and introduced the products of north-western Europe into the tsar's dominions. Further than this, the Musco- vites copied English craft, and became more proficient in maritime affairs. An incident connected with this traffic may be considered the first link of a long chain of events which finally resulted in Russia's stride across the Ural Mountains, and the formation of a second or reserve empire, without which the original or European structure might long since have fallen. On the return of an English expedition from Persia across the Caspian, in 1573, the ship was attacked by Cossacks, who gained possession of vessel and cargo, setting the crew adrift in a boat furnished with some provisions. The Englishmen made their way to Astra- khan, and on their report of what had befallen them two armed vessels were sent out. The pirates were captured and put to death, while the cargo, worth between 30,000 and 40,000 pounds sterling, was safely landed at Astrakhan. The tsar then despatched a numerous land force to destroy the nest of robbers infesting the Lower Volga and the Caspian. His army spread dismay. The Cossacks saw that sub- mission was death, and many leaped from the blood- stained deck of their rude barks to the saddle, being equally familiar with both. Then they banded under determined leaders and set out for countries beyond the reach of Russia's long arm. Yermak Timofeief headed one of these bands, and thus the advance of the Slav race toward the Pacific began. Rude and t,J H INTRODUCTORY. spasmodic as it was, the traflSc of the English laid the foundation of Russian commerce on the Caspian. Previous to the appearance of the English the Rus- sians had carried on their trade with Bokhara and Persia cmtirely by land; but from that time they began to construct transport ships on the Volga and to sail coastwise to the circumjacent harbors of the Caspian. Before following the tide of conquest across the Ural Mountains, it may be well to cast a brief glance over the contemporaneous eflForts of English and Dutch navigators to advance in the same easterly direction by water, or rather to thread their way between the masses of floating and solid ice besetting the navigable channels of the Arctic, demonstrating as they do the general impression prevalent among European nations at the time, that the route pursued by Columbus and his successors was not the only one leading to the in- exhaustible treasures of the Indies,and to that Cathay which the Latin maritime powers were making stren- uous efforts to monopolize. The last English expedition in search of the north- east passage, undertaken in the sixteenth century, consisted of two barks which sailed from England early in 1580, and were fortunate enough to pass bej^ond the straits of Vaigatz, but made no new discoveries and brought but a moderate return to their owners. The Russians meanwhile kept up a vigorous coasting- trade, their ill-shaped and ill-appointed craft generally being found far in advance of their more pretentious competitors. In 1594 the states-general of Holland offered a premium of twenty-five thousand florins to the lucky navigator who should open the much desired high- way. A squadron of four small vessels commanded by Cornells Nay was the first to enter for the prize. A merchant named Llnschoten, possessed of con- siderable scientific attainments, accompanied the ex- THE NORTHEAST PASSAGE, 11 pedition as commercial agent, and Willem Barontz, who commanded one of the vessels, acted as pilot. They sailed from Holland on the ISth of Juno 1594, and arrived safely at the bay of Kilduyn, on the coast of Lapland. Here they separated, Nay heading for Vaigatz Straits and Barcntz choosing a more northerly route. Tho latter discovered and named Ys Hock, or Ice Cape, the northern extremity of Novaia Zemlia, while tho other vessels passed through the straits, where they met with numerous Russian lodkas, or small craft. This southern division entered the sea of Kara, called by Linschoten the sea of Tar- tary the 1st of August. Wooden crosses were obs( at various points of the coast, and the inhab- itants uore evidence of intercourse with the Russians by their manner of salutation. The Samoiedes had come in contact with the advancing Muscovites in the interior as well as on the coast. On the 11th of August, when their astronomical observations placed the vessels fifty leagues to the eastward of the straits, with land still in sight toward the east, this part of the expedition turned back, evi- dently apprehensive of sharing the fate of their Eng- lish predecessors, who had been unfortunate in those latitudes. The two divisions fell in with each other on the homeward voyage, and arrived at Amsterdam on the 25th of September of the same year. A second expedition sailed from Amsterdam on the same errand in 1595. It consisted of not less than seven vessels. Willem Barentz was chief in com- mand, assisted by Heemskerk, Linschoten, and Cor- nelis Rijp. The departure of this squadron was for some reason delayed until July, and after weather- ing the North Cape a few of the vessels sailed di- rectly for the White Sea to trade, while the others proceeded through the straits of Vaigatz. They met, as usual, with Russian lodkas, and for the first time definite information was obtained of the great river Yenissei, which the Russians had already reached ^ ff S- I .1^1 ■:"'!^!ir » INTRODUCTORY. by land. After prolonged battling against ice and contrary winds and currents, the expedition turned back on the 15tb of September and made sail for Amsterdam. After this second failure the states-general washed their hands of further enterprise in that direction, but the city of Amsterdam still showed some faith in ultimate success by fitting out two ships and intrust- ing them respectively to Barentz and Rijp. This expedition made an early start, sailing on the 2 2d of May 1596. Their course was shaped in accordance with Barent?/ theory that more to the north there was a better chance of finding an open sea. On the 9th of June they discovered Bear Island in latitude 74° 30'. Still keeping on their first course they again encountered land in latitude 79° 30', Spitzbergen, and in July the two vessels separated in search of a clear channel to the east. On the 26th of August Barentz was forced by a gale into a bay on the east coast of Novaia Zemlia, on which occasion the ice seriously damaged his vessel. Here the venturesome Hol- landers constructed a house and passed a winter full of misery, a continued struggle with famishing bears and the deadly cold. Toward spring the castaways constructed two open boats out of remnants of the wreck, fitted them out as well as they could, and put to sea on the 14th of June 1597. Six days later Barentz died. In July the unfortunates fell in with some liussian lodkas and obtained provisions. They finally reached Kilduyn Bay in Lapland, one of the rendezvous of White Sea traders. Several Dutch vessels were anchored there, and one of them was commanded by Bijp, who had returned to Amster- dam and sailed again on a private enterprise. He extended all possible aid to his former companions and obtained passage for them on several vessels. This put an end in Holland to explorations in search of a northern route to India, until the attempts of Hudson in 1G08-9. The problem was partially solved by THE FEAT ACCOMPLISHED. It nst ice and tion turned ide sail for eral washed ,t direction, )nie faith in md intrust- Rijp, This I the 22d of accordance north there Ba. On the in latitude 3 they again ibergen, and sh of a clear ^ust Barentz ast coast of ice seriously esome Hol- 1 winter full lishing bears le castaways lants of the uld, and put i days later } fell in with lions. They [, one of the veral Dutch )f them was to A^mster- arprise. He ipanions and Bssels. This search of a :s of Hudson y solved by Deshnefs obscure voyage in 1648, and after another failure by Wood in 1676, Russia made the attempt, Vitus Bering starting from Kamchatka; afterward were the efforts of Shalaiirof and of Billings. Finally a Swedish expedition under Nordenskjold accom- plished the feat in 1879, after wintering on the Arc- tic coast. > KVJill 1 p ' nl' ' ! r ' m i 1 1 : 1 CHAPTER II. THE CENTURY-MARCH OF THE COSSACKS. 1578-1724. Siberia the Russian Canaan— Prom the Black and Caspian Seas over THE Ural Mountains — Strooanop, the Salt-miner — ^VisiT of Yer- MAK — OcOtrPATION OF THE OB BY THE COSSACKS — CHARACTER OF THE Conquerors — Their Ostroo on the Tobol — The Straight Line of March thence to Okhotsk on the Pacific— The Promyshleniki— Lena River Reached — Ten Cossacks against Ten Thousand — Ya- KUTSKI OSTROG — EXPLORATION OF THE AmOOR — DISCOVERIES ON THE Arctic Seaboard — Ivory versus Skins — The Land of the Chukchi Invaded — Okhotsk Established — Kamchatka Occupied — Rumors of ReaIjMS Beyond. "While the maritime nations of north-western Eu- rope were thns sending ship after ship into the Arctic ice-fields in the hope of finding a north-eastern passage to India, the Russians were slowly but surely forcing their way over Siberian rivers and steppes, and even along the Arctic coast from river-mouth to river- mouth, and that not in search of any India, or other grand attainment, but only after skins, and to get far- ther and farther from parental despotism. Their an- cient homes had not been abodes of peace, and no tender reminiscences or patriotic ties bound them to the soil of Russia. It was rather a yearning for per- sonal freedom, next after the consideration of the sobol, that drew the poor Slav farther and farther through forests and swamps away from his place of birth; he did not care to band for general indepen- dence. Rulers were of God, the church said, and he would not oppose them, but he would if possible es- cape. In view of these pecuhar tendencies the open- (U) A CENTTjilY SABLE-HUNT. 15 ing of the boundless expanse toward the east was a blessing not only to the oppressed but to the oppress- The turbulent spirits, who might have caused ors. trouble at home, in early times found their way to Siberia voluntarily, while later the * paternal ' govern- ment gathered strength enough to send them there. A century sable-hunt half round the world this re- markable movement might be called. It was at once a discovery and a conquest, which was to carry Cos- •gack and Russian across the vast continent, and across the narrowed Pacific to the fire-breathing islands, and the glistening mountains and majestic forests of Alaska. The shores of the Black and Caspian seas was the starting-point. Russia's eastern bound was then the Ural Mountains. Anika Stroganof set up salt-works there, and the people at the east brought him furs to trade. They were pretty little skins, and yielded the salt-miner a large profit; so he sent his traders as far as the great river Ob for them. And the autocrat of the empire smiled on these proceed- ings, and gave the salt-merchant lands, and allowed his descendants to become a power and call them- selves counts. In 1578 the grandson of the first Stroganof received a visit from a Cossack chieftain or ataman, named Yermak Timofeief, who with his followers had in Cossack fashion led a life of war and plunder, and was then flying from justice as administered by Ivan Vassilievich II. Yermak's mounted followers numbered a thousand, and Stroganof was anxious they should move on; so he told them of places toward the east, fine spots for robber-knights to seize and settle on, and he sent men to guide them thither. This was in 1578. At the river Ob the Cossacks found a little Tartar sover- eignty, a fragment of the great monarchy of Genghis Khan. The warlike spirit with which Tamerlane had once inspired the Tartars had long since fled. Their httle kingdom, in which cattle-herding, the chase, and 16 THE CENTURY-MARCH OF THE COSSACKS. traffic were the only pursuits, now remained only because none had come to conquer them. The Cos- sacks were in the full flush of national development. They had ever been apt learners from the Tartars, against whom they had often served the Muscovites as advance guard. Now Yermak was in a strait. Behind him was the wrathful tsar, to fall into whose hands was certain death. Though his numbers were small, he must fight for it. Attacking the Tartars, in due time he became master of their capital city, though at the cost of half his little army. And now he must have more men. Perhaps he might buy friendship of the tsar. A rich gift of sables, with in- formation that he had conquered for him the kingdom of Kutchum Khan, accomplished the purpose. Re- enforcements and confirmation of rulership were the response. Thus was begun the long journey of the Russians across the continent. i>) Vast as is the area of Siberia its several parts are remarkably similar. Plants, animals, and men; cli- mate, conditions, and customs, are more alike than on the other side of the strait of Bering. The country and its contents are upon a dead level. A net-work of navigation is formed by the upper branches of rivers flowing into the frozen sea through the tundras, or ice-morass, of the north, so that the same kind of boats and sledges carry the traveller across the whole coun try. The fierce and cunning Cossacks of Russia were in marked contrast to the disunited semi-nomads of Siberia, busy as they were taming the reindeer, hunt- ing with dogs, or fighting with the bow and arrow and lance ; and if they could conquer the Tartars of the Ob there was no reason why they could not march on to the Pacific. They were a singular people, brave as Spaniards and tough as gypsies. Their weapons, the later Eu- ropean kind, of iron and gunpowder, gave them a vast Bupericrity over the tribes of Siberia, and their boats t . THE SIBERIAN LINE OF OSTROGS. 17 and horses seem to have been made for the purpose. The latter were small and enduring, adequate to the long day's march, and like their masters accustomed to cold, hunger, thirst, and continuous fatigue. Like the chamois and reindeer they would scrape oflF the snow from their scanty nourishment, or if grass was wanting they were glad to get frozen iish to eat. The invaders found it well to divide their forces, and advance in small scattered bodies, a dozen war- riors sometimes subjugating a tribe; then again some hundreds were required for the occupation of a river- territory or a kingdom. There was no need of a large united army, or of any great discipline. This also suited Cossack ideas and habits, as they were repub- lican in their way. Born equal, they everywhere met on a common footing. They chose their atamans and sotniks, or centurions, who, if they did not rule to suit, were quickly deposed and others elected. The highest position was open to the humblest aspirant. It was on the Tobol that the (dossacks and Rus- sians built their first ostrog, or fort, which later became Tobolsk, the head-quarters of their organized govern- ment, and the starting-point of their expeditions. Thence their conquering march was straight through : the middle of Siberia, the line being equidistant from the mountains of the south and the morasses of the north, and it later became the principal line of traffic. I On this line, cutting through the various river ro- jgions, the chief colonies of the country were founded. [Eastward from Tobolsk, in the territory of the river I Ob, the city of Tomsk; eastward from this, on the lYenissei, the city of Yenisseisk; then Irkutsk and Yakutsk in the Lena district, and finally, on the shores of the Pacific, Okhotsk, which stands upon about the same parallel as that of the starting-point. These cities grew successively or 3 out of the other, and for every new river province the last served as a jioint d'appui for the various enterprises, military Hut, al^ka. a ': I' I :; / i M THE CENTURY-MARCH OF THE COSSACKS. ■' the Chukchi call a large country, and they say that the people livinc there liave large teeth in their mouths, projecting through the clieeks. Popoi fjund ten of these men, prisoners among tho Chukchi, with their c'.eeks still disligurcd by the projecting ivory. In summer time they sail across to tlie Great Land in one day, and in tho winter a swift reindeer team can make it in one day over the ice. In the other land there are sables, wolves, and bears. The people are, like tlie Chukchi, without any government. They have the wood of cedar, larch, and fir trees, which tho Cluikchi sometimes obtain for tlicir bidars, weapons, and huts. About 2,000 people live at and near the cape, but tho inhabitants of the other country are said to be three times that numlier, whicli is confirmed not only by prisoners but also by one of tho Chukchi, who has often been tiiere. Another statement was essentially as follows: Opposite tho capo lies an island, within sight, of no great extent, devoid of timber, and innabited l)y people resembling tho Chixkchi, though they speak their own language. It is half a day's voyage to the island from the cape. IJoyond the island there is a largo continent, scarcely to be seen from it, and that only on very clear days. In calm weather one may row over tho sea to the continent, which is inhabited. There are largo forests, aiiil great rivers fall into tho sea. The inhabitants have fortifii I dwellings with ramparts of earth. Their clothes are the skins of sable and fox. The Cluikchi are often at war with them. Yeihemiastiaclmaia Sochinenia, 17SG, 152-0; Muller'g Toy., 24-6. ! ih m THE CE^fTURY-MARCH OF THE COSSACKS. how large the islands were and how distant from the continent." The commanders and Cossacks ordered to those regions were all commissioned with such in- quiries, with the promise of special rewards for such service from the emperor, who should be informed of any discoveries by express as soon as any authentic report was forwarded to Yakutsk. ' Orders had been issued as early as 1710 to the commanders of Ust-Yana and Kolima to give these discoveries their special attention. In answer, a dep- osition was sent in by the Cossack Yakov Permakof of Ust-Yana, stating that he once sailed from the Lena to the River Kolima, and that on the east side of Sviatoi Noss he had sighted an island in the sea, but was unable to ascertain if it was inhabited. There was also an island situated directly opposite the river Kolima, an island that might be seen from the conti- nent. Mountains could be seen upon it, but it was uncertain whether it was inhabited. The voivod Trauernicht was further encouraged,* and prepared two expeditions, one from the mouth of the river 'i! ana and one from the Kolima, simultane- ously to search for the supposed island; for which purpose the men were either to go in boats or travel on the ice till it could be definitely ascertained if such an island existed. Concerning the first-named expedi- tion, which was begun by Merkuri Yagiu, a Cossack, Miiller found several reports at Yakutsk, but in liis opinion the documents did not deserve much consid- eration. Vagin departed from Yakutsk during the autumn of 1711, with eleven other Cossacks, and in May * Knias MatveY Gagarin wrote to the voivod, under date of January 28, 1711, aa follows: 'I have heard by Cossacs and Dworancs from Jakutzk that you intend to send a party of Cossacs and voltinteers to the new coun- try or island opposite the moutli of the river Kolima, but that you hesitated about doing it without orders; therefore I have found it necessary to tell you that you should by "-o means neglect to do it; and if other islands may l«' discovered, you will be pleased to do the same with respect to them. ]5ut above all things the expedition is to bo made this present year, 1711- This I vr-ito to you by order of his Czarieh Majesty.' Mutter's Voy., Intr., : xv.-xvu 3. I from the :s ordered h such in- s for such iformed of authentic 10 to the give these ver, a dep- Permakof L from the e east side in the sea, :ed. There ie the river I the conti- but it was ncouraged,* e mouth of , simultanc- for which ,ts or travel ined if such lied expedi- , a Cossaclc, ;, but in his luch consid- the autumn ,nd in May ,te of January 28, 1C8 from Jakutzk to the new cmui hat you hesitated cessary to tell you er islands may li> ect to them. But year, 1711. This oy.,Intr,, xv.-xvi. EASTERN EXPLORATIONS. 29 1712 he made a voyage from Ust-Yanskoie Simovie to the frozen sea. Ou this occasion the Yakov Per- makof, previously mentioned, served as his guide. The party used sledges drawn by dogs, and after fol- lowing the coast to Sviatoi Noss, they emerged upon the frozen ocean and travelled directly north. They came to a desert island, without wood, which Vagin estimated to be from nine to twelve days' travel in circumference. From this island they saw, farther to the north, another island or land, but as the spring was already too far advanced, Vagin dared not pro- ceed, and his provisions running short the whole party returned to the continent, to provide themselves with a sufficient supply of fish during the summer. The point where he reached the coast was between Sviatoi Noss and the river Khroma. A Cossack had formerly erected a cross there, and after him it was named Ka- taief Krest. Being out of provisions, they failed in an attempt to reach the Khroma, and were compelled to eke out an existence on the sea-coast, devouring even the sledge-dogs. Vagin, however, still intended to prosecute his explorations; but his Cossacks, remem- bering their sufferings, to prevent a repetition, rose against their leader and murdered him, his son, the guide Permakof, and one promyshlenik. The crime was revealed by one of the accomplices and the of- enders were brought to justice. During the trial it appeared that the guide Yakov Permakof did not believe the supposod large island to be really an island, but only vapor. The other expedition, that from the Kolima, met with no better success. It consisted of a single vessel commanded by the Cossack Vassili Stadukhin, with twenty-two men. He merely observed a single prom- ontory, extending into the sea to the east of Kolima, =^ surrounded by ice, impenetrable by their vessels.^ ^ ' They used shitiki, or boats, the planks of which were faatened together "•fU with lawhido straps and thongs. They measured about 30 feet in length and 12 fout bronil , with a Hat bottom, calked with moss. The sails consisted of soft, ! •!il til Iff II 1 1 II '4 a ; j n 80 THE CENTURY-MARCH OF THE COSSACKS. ^:ir- ■ ■ Another expedition was undertaken by a Cossack named Amossof. He started in 1723 with a party to search for an island reported to extend from the mouth of the Yana beyond the mouth of the Indigirka. He proceeded to the Kohma, and was prepared to sail in July 1724. According to his account he found such shoals of ice before him that he changed his course and sailed along the coast eastward to the so- called habitation of Kopai, which he reached on the 7th of August. Here again ice drove him back, and he returned to the Kolima. The dwelling of Kopai was about two hundred versts east of that river. Amossof also mentioned a small island situated near the conti- nent, and during the following winter he made another journey, with sledges, of which he sent an account to the chancellery of Yakutsk. The report was to the effect that on the 3d of November 1724 he set out from Nishnoie Kolimskoie Simovie, and met with land in the frozen sea, returning to Kolima on the 23d of the same month. Upon this land he saw nothing but old huts covered with earth; it was unknown to what people they belonged, and what had be- come of them. Want of provisions, and especially of dog-food, had obliged him to turn back without making any further discoveries. This journey was also impeded by ridges of ice piled to a great height, which had to be crossed with the sledges. The place where Amossof left the continent to go over to the island is between the Chukotcha and the Aliscia rivers. It was an island, in circumference about a day's travel with dogs, and about the same distance from the continent, whence its high mountains can easily be seen. To the north were two other islands, likewise mountainous and separated by narrow straits. These he had not visited and did not know their ex- tent. The first was without trees ; no tracks of animala dressed reindeer-akin, and in place of ropes, straps of elk-skin were used. The (4 ancboro were pieces of wood, to which heavy stones were fastened. Multer't Voy., latrud., xviii. KAMCHATKA REACHED BY SEA. 9] were seen but those of reindeer, which live on moss. The old huts had been constructed of drift-wood and covered with earth. It is probable that they had been made by Yukagirs or Chukchi, who had fled before the first advance of the Russians, and subse- quently returned to the continent.® Kopai, mentioned in Amossofs narrative, was a chief among the Shelages, living at the mouths of the Kolima and Aliseia rivers. He first paid tribute to Russia at the request of Vilegin, a promyshlenik, and in 1724 he paid tribute to Amossof. Subsequently, however, he broke his allegiance and killed some of Amossofs party. Tht) first passage by sea from Okhotsk to Kam- chatka took place in 1716. One of the sailors, a native of Hoorn in Holland, named Bush, was alive when Mtiller visited Yakutsk in 1736, and he related to him the circumstances. On the 23d of May 1714 a party of twenty Cossacks and sailors arrived at Ok- hotsk under command of Kosma Sokolof. These were followed in July by some carpenters and shipwrights. The carpenters built a vessel for sea-service, resem- bling the Russian lodkas in use between Arkhangel, Pustozersk, and Novaia Zemlia. The vessel was du- rable — fifty-one feet long, with eighteen feet beam, and drew when laden only three and a half feet of water. Embarking in June 1716, they followed the coast north-easterly till they came to the mouth of the river Ola, where a contrary wind drove them across the sea to Kamchatka. The land first sighted was a promon- tory north of the river Tigil, where they cast anchor. Some went ashore, but found only empty huts. The Kamchatkans had watched the approach of the vessel and fled to the mountains. The navigators again set sail, passed the Tigil, and arrived in one day at * Mflller does not seem to have placed much faith in Amossofs report. He expresses the opinion that it was framed to serve private purposes and subsequently altered to suit ciicumstances. Voy., Introu., xx. m i r'm III' ll'lnl I' HI 'f i 92 THE CENTURY-MARCH OF THE COSSACKS. the mouth of the little river Kharinzobka, in the vicinity of two small islands. From Kharinzobka they went the following day to the river Itcha, keep- ing the sea at night and making for the land in the morning. Here, again, some men were put ashore, but they could find neither inhabitants nor houses. They soon returned and the vessel sailed down the coast till they came to the river Krutogorova. They intended to make this river, but missed its mouth, and finding a convenient bay a little to the south they anchored. On searching the country, they met with a girl who was gathermg edible roots in the field, and she showed them some huts, inhabited by twelve Kamchatka Cossacks, stationed there to receive tribute. The Cossacks were sent for, and served as guides and interpreters. The vessel was then brought to the mouth of the river Kompakova, and it was resolved to winter there.^ Early in May 1717 they put to sea, and on the fourth day became lodged between fields of ice, and were held there for over five weeks. At last they regained the coast of Okhotsk between the river Ola and Tanisky ostrog, where they stayed several days, and then returned to Okhotsk about the middle of July. From that time there was constant navigation between Okhotsk and Kamchatka. In 1719 the Russian government sent two naviga- tors or surveyors, Ivan Yevreinof and Fedor Lushin, to make geographical observations, and specially to find, if possible, among the Kurile Islands the one from which the Japanese were said to obtain gold and silver. They arrived at Yakutsk in May 1720, crossed over to Kamchatka the same summer, and returned to Yakutsk in 1721." Yevreinof left Lushin in Sibe- ' During the stay of Sokolof and Bush on the Kompakova, a whale was cast ashore, which had in its body a harpoon of European make, marked with Roman letters. Mulkr's Voy., lutrod., xlij. * The results were kept secret and Miiiler could not get access to their in- structions, so that nothing more is known about this voyage. MuUer's Voy., Introd., xliii. THE AMERICAN SIBERIA. 33 ria and proceeded to Rassia to report to the tsar, tak- ing with him a map of the Kurile Islands as far as he had explored them. For the next three years, that is to say to 1724, rumors and ideas concerning the east assumed more and more definiteness in Kamchatka, and at Okhotsk, Yakutsk, and other Russian settle- ments, at last reaching Moscow and St Petersburg, there to find attentive listeners." Obviously the Great Land opposite, if any such there was, would present aspects quite different to the tough Cossacks and to the more susceptible Europeans from the south. The American Siberia, this farther- most north-west was once called, and if to the Amer- ican it was Siberia, to the Siberian it was America. The eastern end of Asia is lashed by the keen east- ern tempests and stands bleak and bare, without vegetation, and the greater part of the year wrapped in ice and snow. The western shores of America, though desolate and barren enough within the limits of Bering sea, are wonderfully different where they arc washed by the Pacific and protected from the east by high chains of mountains. Here they are open to the mild westerly winds and warm ocean currents; they have a damper climate, and, in consequence, a more vigorous growth of trees and plants. In com- paratively high latitudes they are covered with fine forests down to the sea-shore. This is a contrast which repeats itself in all northern countries. The ruder Sweden in the east contrasts in a like manner I with the milder Norway in the west; the desolate * Miiller relates ' that in the year 1715 there lived at Kamchatka a man of a foreign nation, who, upon account of the Kamchatkan cedar-nuts and tlio low sluubs on which they grow, said that he came from a country to the caat where tliero were large cedars which bore bigger nuts than those of Kam- chatka ; that his country was situated to the east of Kamchatka ; that tliere [were found in it great rivers where he lived which discharged themselves I westward into the Kanicliatkan sea; that the inhabitants called tliemselvea ITontoli; they rcsemhhid in their manner of living the people of Kamchatka land miule use of skiu boats or haidares like those of the Kamchadales. Tliat jmaiiy years ago he went over with some more of his countrymen to Karag- jiiiskoi ostrow where liis companions were slain by the inhabitants, and he Jaloue made his escape to Kamchatka.' Voy., Introd., xxviii. Qui. AiiiBKA. 3 I i' V'> f'fl ll i ^ 1 ■ El I •■ 84 THE CENTURY-MARCH OP THE COSSACKS. eafltern coast of Greenland buried in polar ice, with its western coast inhabited, and at times gay with flowers and verdure. Thus the great eastern coun- try, the bolshaia zemlia, rich in harbors, shelter, woods, and sea and land animals, might well become by report among the north-eastern Asiatics a garden of paradise. m CHAPTEE III. THE KAMCHATKA EXPEDITIONS. 172^1740. Ptoposks of Pbtee the Great— An Expedition Organized — Sets out FROM St Petkrsburq — Death of the TaAR— His Efforts Seconded BT Catherine and Elizabeth— Berino and Chirieof at Kamchat- ka—They Coast Northward through Bering Strait and Prove Asia to be Separated from America — Adventures of Shestakof — Expedition of Hens, Fedorof, and Gvozdef — America Sighted— Or- ganization OF THE Second General Expedition — Bibliography — Personnel of the Expedition — Bering, Chirikof, Spanberg, Walton, CROYiRE, Steller, ML'ller, Fisher, and Others— Russian Religion — Easy Morality — Model Missionaries — The Long Weary Way across Siberia— Charges against Bering — Arrival of the Expedition at Okhotsk. The excessive curiosity of Peter the Great extended further than to ship-building, astronomy, and general geography. Vast as was the addition of Siberia to the Russian empire there lay something more beyond, still indistinct and shadowy in the world's mind, and the astute Peter determined to know what it was. The sea of Okhotsk had been found, and it was in the same latitude as the Baltic; the ostrog of Okhotsk had been built, and it stood upon almost exactly the same parallel as St Petersburg. Might not there be for him an American Russia, as already there was a European and an Asiatic Russia? And might not this new Russia, occupying the same relative position to America that the old Russia did to Europe, be worth more to him than a dozen Siberias? He would see. And he would know, too, and that at once, whether the continents of Asia and America joined. til': 1 ^f I i ^i '-=1 Mm :i-i: 88 THE KAMCHATKA EXPEDITIONS. This would be a good opportunity likewise to try his new ships, his new discipline, and see what the skilled fentlcmen whom he had invited from Austria, and *russia, and Holland could do for him. There were many around him whom his enthusiasm had inspired, and who wished to try their mettle in strange ad- venture. Such were the thoughts arising in the fertile brain of the great Peter which led to what may be called the two Kamchatka expeditions; that is, two prin- cipal expeditions from Kamchatka, with several sub- ordinate and collateral voyages, the first of which was to ascertain whether Asia and America joined or were separate, and the second to thoroughly explore eastern Siberia, to discover and examine the American coast opposite, and to learn something more of the Kurile Islands and Japan. Both explorations were under the command of Vitus Bering, a Danish cap- tain in the Russian service, who was engaged on the first about five years, the second series occupying some sixteen years, not wholly, however, under this commander. For the guidance of his admiral. Count Apraxin, the tsar drew up instructions with his own hand. Two decked boats were to be built at Kamchatka, and, to assist Bering in the command, lieutenants Mar- tin Spanberg and Alexeii Chirikof were appointed. Other officers as well as ship-builders and seamen were chosen, and on February 5, 1725, the expedition set out overland through Siberia. Three days there- after the monarch died; but his instructions were faithfully carried out by his successors, Catherine the wife and Elizabeth the daughter. Much trouble was experienced in crossing the con- tinent, in obtaining provisions, and in making ready the ships; so that it was not until the 2l8t of August 1727 that Bering with Chirikof set sail in the Fortuna, from Okhotsk, for the southern end of the Kamchat- kan peninsula, where by July of the following year -i-^i. BERING'S FIRST VOYAGE. 37 they had ready another vessel, the Gavril, or Gabriel. Leaving the river Kamchatka the 20th of July, they coasted the eastern shore of the peninsula northward, till on the 8th of August they found themselves in latitude 64° 30', at the river Anadir. The Chukchi there told them that after rounding East Cape the coast turned toward the west. Continuing, they passed and named St Lawrence Island, and the IGth of August they were in latitude 67° 18', having passed the easternmost point of Asia, and through the strait of Bering. There the coast turned abruptly westward, as they had been told. If it continued in that direction, as was more than probable, Asia and America were not united.^ Bering's mission was ac- complished, and he therefore returned, reaching Kam- chatka in September. In connection with this first voyage of Bering, two expeditions were undertaken in the same direction under the auspices of Afanassiy Shestakof, a chief of the Yakutsk Cossacks, This bold man, whose energy was of that reckless, obstinate type that knows no defeat, went to St Petersburg and made several pro- posals to the senate forthe subjection of the independent Chukchi and Koriaks and the unruly Kamchatkans. The eloquence with which he advanced his scheme procured him applause and success. He was appointed chief of an expedition in which to accomplish his heart's desire. The admiralty appointed a Hollander, Jacob Hens, pilot; Ivan Fedorof, second in command, Mikhail Gvoz- def, "geodesist," or surveyor; Herdebal, searcher of ores, and ten sailors. He was to proceed both by land and by sea. From the arsenal at Catherineburg, Siberia, he was to be provided with small cannons and mortars, and ammunition, and a captain of the Siberian regiment of dragoons at Tobolsk, Dmitri Pavlutzki, ' Miiller, Voy. 4, is in error when he says that 'the circumstances on which the captain founded his judgment were false, he IxjinR then in a bay which, although one shore did trend to the west, the opposite shore ran again to the east.' Bering'* suppositions were correct iu every particular. 38 THE KAMCHATKA EXPEDmONS. !|. ! [■ ;.il I I was ordered to join him, each receiving command over four hundred Cossacks, while at the same time all the Cossacks stationed in ostrogs and simovies, or winter-quarters, in the Chukchi district, were placed at their disposal. With these instructions Shestakof returned to Siberia in June 1727. At Tobolsk he re- mained till late in November, wintered on the upper Lena, and arrived at Yakutsk the next summer. There a dispute arose between Shestakof and Pavlutzki, which caused their separation. In 1729 Shestakof went to Okhotsk and there took possession, for the purposes of his expedition, of the vessels with which feering had lately returned from Kamchatka. Ou the 1st of September he despatched his cousin, the syn- hotjarski, or bastard noble, Ivan Shestakof, in the Gavril to the River Ud, whence he was to proceed to Kam- chatka and begin explorations, while he himself sailed in the Fortuna. This vessel was wrecked near Taniski ostrog, and nearly all on board perished, Shestakof barely saving his life in a canoe. With a small rem- nant of his men and some friendly Tunguses and Kor- iaks he set out for Kamchatka on foot, but on the 14th of March 1730 he was overpowered near the gulf of Penshinsk by a numerous body of Chukchi and received a mortal wound. Only three days before this Shestakof had sent orders to Taniski ostrog that the Cossack Tryfon Krupischef should embark for Bolsheretsk in a sea-going vessel, thence make his way round the southern point of the peninsula, touch at Nishekamchatsk, and proceed to the river Ana- dir. The inhabitants of the "large country lying opposite to this river" he must ask to pay tribute to Russia. Gvozdef, the navigator, was to be taken on board if he desired, and ^hown every respect. After battling with adverse winds and misfortunes for about two years, the explorers passed northward along the Asiatic shore, by the gulf of Anadir, noting the Diomede Islands, and perhaps catching a glimpse of the American shore. The leaders were quarrelling WHAT MIKHAIL QVOZDEF SAW. 89. 'pfi 'i .; ' I 1^ ■ ' ^ THE KAMCHATKA EXPEDITIOlSrS. continually, and Fedorof, the navigator in command, was lame and confined to his bed during nearly all the voyage. On their return to Kamchatka they made the most contradictory statements before the author- ities. From Gvozdef s report we are told that at some time during the year 1730 he found himself between latitude 65° and 66°, **on a strange coast, situated opposite, at a small distance from the country of the Chukchi, and that he found people there, but could not speak with them for want of an interpreter."^ The land expedition was more successful. In Sep- tember 1730 Jacob Hens, the pilot, received intelli- gence from Pavlutzki, dated at Nishnekolimsk, to the effect that Shestakof's death would not delay the expedition. Hens was to go with one of the ves- sels loft at Okhotsk by Bering, to the river Anadir, to the head-waters of which Pavlutzki was shortly to march. Whereupon Hens proceeded in the Gavril to the mouth of the Kamchatka, where he arrived in July 1731, and was told that a rebellious band of Kamchatkans had come to Nishnekamchatsk oscrog, killed most of the Russians there, and set fire go the houses. The fe^^' remaining Russians took shelter in the vessel, and Hens sent men and reduced the Kam- chatkans to obedience. This, however, prevented his going to the Anadir River. 'Mvller's Voyages, 8-11. Of the commander of this expedition, Ivan Fedorof, we have but little information beyond the fact tliat he died in February 1733, and that !)«• had been with Shestakof's expedition in 1727; that he had been ordered to join him together with the mate Hens, and the surveyor Gvozdef. His companion and assistant, and finally successor in conmiand, Mikhail Spiridonovich Gvozdef, began liis education in 1716, at the scliool of navigation and in 1719 attended the St Petersburg Naval Academy, being in the surveying class. In 1721 he was sent on govcnnnent duty to Novogorod, where he remained till 172i). In 1727 he graduated as surveyor, and was sent to Siberia to join Shestakof. After liis exploration in Bering Strait, he was arrested in 1735 by the governor of Siberia at Tobolsk, upon an erroneous accusation, and sent back to Okhotsk in 1730. In 1741 lie explored and surveyed the Okhotsk coast for 200 versts southward, and in 1742 he accompanied midshipman Schelting to the Shantar Islands, at the mouth of the Amoor. After the disbandment of the Kamchatka expedition he remained in Siberia till 1704, when he was appointed teacher in the uav-il corps of c-ulets. The date of his death is not known. Zapinki, llydro{ 7/i- chenkaijo Dc/iarlamciita, ix. 7S-87. It is possible that Gvozdef's voyage was of greater importance tlw. t;io ostrol iinde] chi. bis CI and somei thon[ Aftel ten lutzl^ of a the This an Gi of Ji HENS AND PAVLUTZKI. 41 Meanwhile Pavlutzki had arrived at Anadirskoi ostrog in September 1730, and the following T>oai' he undertook a campaign against the obstinate Chuk- chi. On the 12th of March 1731 he put in motion his column, composed of 215 Russians, IGO Koriaks, and GO Yukagirs, moving along the head- waters of some of the northern tributaries of the Anadir, and then turning northward to the coast of the Arctic. After marching two months at the rate of about ten versts a day, stopping frequently to rest, Pav- lutzki arrived at the frozen sea, near the mouth of a river. For two weeks he travelled eastward along the coast, mostly upon the ice and far from the shore. This was done, probably, for the purpose of avoiding an encounter with the natives, but at last, on the 7th of June, a large body of Chukchi was seen advancing, writers of that period ascribed to it. In the year 1743 Captain Spanberg of Bering's expedition was commissioned by the imperial government to inves- tigate tlie results of this voyage. Iii -ise oi a failure to obtain satisfactory information, Spanberg was to tal c (xi.n ;and of auotlier expedition to review and correct the work of Gvozdef and Feaorof. Spanberg evidently entered upon this duty with his usua' eLi;rgy, and as upon his report the order for a new expedition was countcvi. landed from St i'etersbui^', we may suppose that Spanberg at least was satisfied that the information obtained by Gvozdef and Fcdorof was satisfactory. Spnuberg found in addition to twodcpositiona made to Gvozdef on the subject an original journal kejit by Fcdorof alone, ' for his own personal remembrance. ' VVith the help of this document a chart was compiled by Spanberg under Gvozdef's supervision, illustrative of the voyage in question. The chart was finally transmitte(l to the admiralty coilego, where cojjiea were executed, but the original can no longer bo found. In his journal we find, after a detailed accurate description of the Dionicdo Ishmds, leaving no room for doubt as to their identity, an entry to the eirect that after sailing from the mouth of the Anadir River they steered in an east- erly direction, and after sailing five days with favorable wind, they saw land on their left side (nortlierly side), and hoped to find it an island. They made directly for this land, but when they had approached within half a verst, they saw tliat it was not an island, but a continent. Tlie joast was nand and there were dwellings on the shore, and a number of peoj .e. T'here was nlso timber on this land, spruce and larch. They coasted along this laud, keeping it on the left side for live days, and then, not seeing the end of it, they dici not dare to go any farther in that direction because the water became too Bhallow for their small craft. Tlie same statement wa« confirmed in the deposition of Shurikhin, a member of the expedition, also examined by Spau- berg. Gvozdef, Fcdorof, and Shurikhin agree in the statement that the natives (if the 'continent' used skin boats covered on top or the Kakimo'a kiak, which is found only on the American side of the strait. The descrip- tion of the land would fit well the country about Norton Sound, the only point on all that coast where the timber approaches the shore. The shallow water found going to tin.' southward, wimlil also indicate that they approached the I'cmarl .able shoals lying off the mouths of the Yukon liiver. Sokolof, Jutoria; Morskoi tivbornifc, passim. Jtr THE KAMCHATKA EXPEDITIONS. and as they ^vould not listen to Pavlutzki's summons to obedience, he attacked and put them to flight. About the last of June another battle was fought and with the same result. After a rest of three days the march toward Chukotskoi Noss was resumed, but another larger body of natives was met with there and a third battle ensued, during which some articles were recovered which had been in possession of Shestakof. Pavlutzki claimed this engagement, also, as a victory and declared his total loss in the three battles to have been but three Russians, one Yukagir, and five Ko- riaks killed. But the Chukchi were by no means subdued. After reaching the cape the expedition re- turned across the country in a south-easterly direction and in October reached ostrog Anadirskoi." Pav- lutzki finally died at Yakutsk with the rank of voivod. His explorations were carried on with indomiiilaible courage and rare ability, and altogether his achieve- ments furnish a worthy prelude to those of Bera^ and Chirikof a few years later The feat of marchiong across the country of the warlike Chukchi was not repeated till half a century later, when a party undnr Billings, not as an army defying interference, but as an humble expedition, were suffered to pass by the insolent natives, who robbed them at every step with impunity. The second Kamchatka expedition, under the auspices of the empress Elizabeth, was the morv, brilliant effort toward scientific discovery which up to this time had been made by any government.* It • MvUnr's Voy., 11-15; CoaseV Rtimian Ditcoveriw, 237; Bumey's Chnm. Hist., ]2S-<37, 196et!H9q. * The warces uf iaionnation conccmLug this expedition &r<- numeroua, but not altogetiter satiBtactory. The llrst account, lirief and wholly uureliable, wttH publiafaed by the Fariaian geographer Do L'Ifile, in 1752, in >\ painphlet entitled ExpliccUian de la Carte den Nvuvelti'ii Decouverten om Norii (U Ui Mer du Sud. In I'jS thtare was printed at Berlin, also in Frunch, and iminedi- ately traimlated into Engliah and Geniian, though never published -.u Russian, a Letter of a liutHtcai. A'aval OJiiier, whicli was ascribed Uj Miiller, who v« m: , ^, iiii ftmu i L ARCTIC GEOGRAPHY. 43 must be borne in mind that Siberia, discovered and named by the Cossacks in the sixteenth century, was in the earHer part of the eighteenth but httle known to European Russia, and the region round Miiller to be t^e author of the letter. In 1758 Miiller published a volume entitled Voyages and JJiacoveries of the Russians in the Arctic Hea, and the Eastern Ocean, in both German and Russian, which was translated into Eng- lish in li71, and into French in 1776. The volume is accompanied by maps, and covers the entire ground, without, however, going into minor details, and without doing justicu to the vast work performed by the attendant scientists, Thi . ^he chief authority until Sokolof took up the subject in a lengthy coir, I '1' '1 -ion to the Zapiski Hydrograficheskago Departamenta in 1831. lu -■ D another brief description of the expedition was furnished by Sarychef, under the title of Voyages of Russian Nartd Officers in the Arctic Sean, from 1734 to 1743, printed in vol. iv. of the publications of the Russian admiralty department. In the mean time other publications connected M-ith or resulting from the expedition, though not treating of it, appeared at vari- ous tim'd, such an the Flora Sibericn., by Gmelin, published serially between 1749 ;ind 17(51); A Voyage throiif/h Siberia, also by Gmelin, in 1752; A his- tory ot Siberia, under the title of Sammlung russischer geschichten, by Miiller, in 1732-6; Description of the Kamchatka Country, by Kraslicnnikof, in 1755; History of Siberia, by Fisher, in 1768 (this was in German, the Russian translation appearing only in 1774); Description of the Kamchatka Country, by Steller, in 1774; Journal qf a Voyage from Kamchatka to America, also by Steller, published in 1793, in Fellas, Neue Nord. Jleitr. ; A Detailed Dcscrip- ti'U of the Voyages from the White Sea to tlie Gulf of Obi appeared in the Four Voyage.' of Lutke, in 1826; in 1841 Wrangell published a Voywje in Siberia, with frequent allusions to the second Kamchatka expedition. A few articles on the results of the expedition Ln the fields of natural history, astronomy, and history appeared in pajjors of the Imperial Academy of Sci- ences, and the documents collected by Mulle- from the Siberian archives for his historv of Siberia have been published from time to time in the proceed- ings of the imperial Russian historical and arclifeological commission. The most reliable source of information upon this subject has been found in the archives of the Russian naval department. The documents concerniiifj; tlio doings of the Bering expedition comprise 25 large bundles of over 30,000 pages; these documents extend over a period of 17 years, between 1730 and 1747. The archives of the hydrographic department of the Russian navy contain the journals of navigation of nearly all the vessels engaged, all in copies only. The original journals and maps were sent in 1754 to Irkutsk and placed in the hands of Miatlef, governor of Siberia, with a view to a resumption of the labors of the expedition; thence the papers were trans- ferred in 1759 to Governor Saimonof at Tobolsk, and they were finally given to Sokolof, above mentioned, by N. N. Muravicf, governor general of eastern Siberia, for the purpose of writing an account of the expedition. The greater part of these documents were copies made by pupils of the naval corps of cadets and of the nautical academy, and though written clearly and care- fully, they are full of egregious errors. The collection comprises over CO manuscript volumes. The copies of the original maps accompanying tho journals were also cflrclessly made. In the archives and library of the imperial academy thc-e exists the so-called 'Miiller Portfolio,' containing a largo numljer of reports, lettera, and journals of members of tho academy accompanying the expedition, written in Russian, French, German, and Latin. The only naval journal found in this collection was kept by Master Khilrof, and is the most valuable thing in tiie portfolio. Sokolofs account of tlie second Kamchatka expedition i)ogins with the following dedication of his work to Peter the Great: 'To thee I dedicate this work, to thee without "'My!, m ' m m^ mri U THE KAMCHATKA EXPEDITIONS. Kamchatka scarcely at all. The maps of the day were problematical. The semi-geographical mission of the surveyors Lushin and Yevreinof to the Kurile Islands in 1719-21 had been barren of results. The first expedition of Bering from 1725 to 1730 had advanced along the river routes to Okhotsk, thence by sea to Kamchatka, and northward to the straits subsequently named after him, but made few discov- eries of importance, determining the astronomical positions of points and places only by latitude without longitude, but revealing the trend of the Kamchatka coast to the northward. The expedition of Shestakof from 1727 to 1732 was more of a military nature, and resulted in little scientific information. The ex- ploration of Hens, Fedorof, and Gvozdef, made about the same time, was scarcely more satisfactory in its results, though it served to confirm some things re- ported by Bering during his first voyage. Russia wished to know more of this vast uncovered region, wished to map its boundaries, and mark off her claim. The California coast had been explored as far as Cape Mendocino, but over the broad area thence to the Arctic there still hung the great North- ern Mystery j** with its Anian Strait, and silver moun- tains, and divers other fabulous tales. The northern provinces of Japan were likewise unknown to the enlightened world; and now the Muscovite, who had sat so long in deep darkness, would teach even the Colt and Saxon a thing or two. Soon after the return of Bering from his first expe- dition, namely, on the 30th of April 1730, the com- mander presented to the empress two letters called by him, " Proposals for the Organization of the ■whom it would not exist, since the discoveries described in the same are the fruit of the gi'eat idets conceived by thee, the benefactor, father, and organizer of this vast empire; ) thee are tliy subjects indebted for law, oood order, and influence within and without, aa well as for morality, knowledge, and every- tliinf; else tliat makes a nation fortunate and important.' ZapLtli Hydrograji- chenhaijo Departamenta, ix. 199. '• For a full e.xposition of which see Hist. Northwest Coast, i., and Hist. Cat., i., passim, this series. SCIENTISTS IN SIBERIA. 43 Okhotsk and Kamchatka country," and advised an immediate discovery of routes to America and Japan for the purpose of establishing commercial relations with these countries. He also recommended that the northern coast of the empire between the rivers Ob and Lena be thoroughly explored.* The organization of the country already known, commanded the first attention of the empress, to which end she issued, on the 10th of May 1731, an oukaz ordering the former chief prokuror, or sergeant-at-arms of the senate, Skorniakof Pisaref, then in exile, to assume control of the extreme eastern country, and be furnished with the necessary means to advance its interests. The residence of the new official was to be Okhotsk, to which point laborers and settlers were to be sent from Yakutsk, together with a boat-builder, three mates, and a few mechanics.'^ The exile-governor did not however long hold his position. Scarcely had he assumed office when the second Kamchatka expedi- tion was decided upon and Vitus Bering received the supreme command of all the territory included in his explorations. At that time several circumstances combined to carry forward the plans of Bering to their highest consummation. The empire was at peace and the imperial cabinet was presided over by Count Oster- mann, who had formerly been secretary of Admiral Cruce, and had devoted considerable attention to naval affairs. In the senate the expedition was earnestly supported by the chief secretary Kirilof; in the ad- miralty colk^ Co«nt Golovin presided as the ruling 'Appendix to Sokotac^ Se>.-ond Expedition. Zapiski Hydrograficheaka/jo Departamenta, ix. 4;W. 'Grigoi- Sk<'niiak<»i Pisaref was apiwinted tu commiind Okhotsk as an in- dependent dis»»rict. His liiiuu&l salary was fiv^ii at 300 rubles. 100 bushels of rye n)e«I, mi^I 100 buokets of brandy. ThiB individual hud a check red carpoa lu 17li he was a captain in tho Preobrashenski lifeguard? and atWhe¥i Mrchtum^ >• 17"2i be w is tn.-nle 'chief proknn)r' of the Ei-nato; in 17*23 he wm rtfcu^wA itumt die acii<*owy by Captain Narislikin: in 17'27, he waa puutaJi«t Vllk !•* iBMM and n*ut to Sibt.-ria m ad exile. Morskoi ■■Hmr- ni-fc. i. li. a» ■MJi. I »', 46 THE KAMCHATKA EXPEDITIONS. k» . spirit, while the prokuror was Saimonof, the rival of Kirilof. The foreign members of the Academy of Sciences, in order to preserve their prestige, were looking about for fields of activity, anxious to serve their new fatherland. The spirit of Peter the Great was yet alive among the leading subjects of the empire; his plans were still fresh in the memory of men, and all were eager to execute his progressive purposes. And soon all Siberia was flooded with men of science searching out things both larger and smaller than sables, and throwing Cossack and promyshlenik completely into the shade. By toilsome processes the necessary means of subsistence and materials were collected at the central stations throughout Siberia, and along the thirteen hundred leagues of Arc- tic sea-coast were placed at various points magazines of supplies for explorers. From six to seven months were sometimes occupied in transporting from the forest to the seaports trees for ship-building. And many and wide-spread as were the purposes, every man had his place. To every scientist was given his work and his field, to every captain the river he was to reconnoitre, or the coast he was to explore. And when the appointed time came there set forth simultane- ously, from all the chief river-mouths in Siberia, like birds of passage, litfle exploring expeditions, to begin their battle with the ice ar.u the morass. Some brought their work to a quick and successful issue; others encountered the sternest difficulties. But the adventures which chiefly concern u«» are those pointing toward the American continent, "w hich were indeed the central idea of all these undertakings, and by far the most important outcome from this Siberian invasion by the scientists. Before embark- ing on the first great eastern voyage of discovery, let us glance at the personnel of the expedition. Laptain-commander Ivan Ivanovich Bering, so the Russians called him, notwithstanding his baptismal name of Vitus, was a Dane by birth, as I have said, who I PETER'S INSTRUCTIONS. «r had been in the Russian naval service about thirty years, advancing gradually from the rank of sub-lieuten- ant since 1704. He was strong in body and clear of mind even when nearly sixty; an acknowledged man of intelligence, honesty, and irreproachable conduct, though in his later years he displayed excessive care- fulness and indecision of character, governed too much by temper and caprice, and submitting too easily to the influence of subordinates. This may have been the effect of age, or of disease; but whatever the cause, he was rendered thereby less fit to conimand, especially so im- portant and hazardous an adventure in so inhospitable a region as Siberia at the beginning of the eighteenth century. He had been selected by Peter the Great to command the first expedition upon the representa- tions of admirals Seniavin and Sievers, because '* he had been to India and knew all the approaches to that country."^ After his return he had advanced gradu- • In the archives of the admiralty council in St Petersburg there is still preserved a manuscript copy of the original instructions indited by Peter the Great for the first Bering expedition. The instructions were finally promul- gated by the admiralty college, or perhaps by Count Apraxin, and had been corrected in the great tsar's own handwriting, to read as follows: '1. To select such surveyors as have been in Siberia and ha'c returned thence; upon which, at request of the senate, the following surveyors were ordered to the province of Siberia: Ivan Evreinof (died), Feouor Lushiu, Peter Skobeltzin, Ivan Svostunof, Dmitri Baskakof, Vassili Siietilof, and Grigor Putilof. ' 2. To select from naval lieutenants or second lieutenants, such as are fit to be sent to Siberia and Kamchatka. In the opinion of Vice-admiral Sievers and Contre-admifal Seniavin, the most desirable individuals of that class were lieu- tenants Stanberg (Spanberg?), Zveref or Kessenkof, and the sub-lieutenants Chirikof and Lapticf. It would not be bad to place over these as commander either Captain Bering or Von Verd ; Bering has been to East India and knows the routes, an