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Title: Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America
       To which are added, the conquest of Siberia, and the history
              of the transactions and commerce between Russia and China

Author: William Coxe

Release Date: August 6, 2015 [EBook #49637]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUSSIAN DISCOVERIES ***




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General Map of the Russian Empire.

ACCOUNT
OF THE RUSSIAN DISCOVERIES
BETWEEN ASIA AND AMERICA.

TO WHICH ARE ADDED,
THE CONQUEST OF SIBERIA, AND
THE HISTORY OF THE TRANSACTIONS AND COMMERCE BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA.

By WILLIAM COXE, A. M.

Fellow of King's College, Cambridge,
and Chaplain to his Grace the Duke of Marlborough.

LONDON,
PRINTED BY J. NICHOLS, FOR T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND.
MDCCLXXX.

[Pg iii]

TO
JACOB BRYANT, ESQ.

AS A PUBLIC TESTIMONY
OF
THE HIGHEST RESPECT FOR
HIS DISTINGUISHED LITERARY ABILITIES,
THE TRUEST ESTEEM FOR
HIS PRIVATE VIRTUES,
AND THE MOST GRATEFUL SENSE OF
MANY PERSONAL FAVOURS,
THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE INSCRIBED,
BY
HIS FAITHFUL AND AFFECTIONATE
HUMBLE SERVANT,
WILLIAM COXE.

Cambridge,
March 27, 1780.

[Pg v]

PREFACE.

The late Russian Discoveries between Asia and America have, for some time, engaged the attention of the curious; more especially since Dr. Robertson's admirable History of America has been in the hands of the public. In that valuable performance the elegant and ingenious author has communicated to the world, with an accuracy and judgement which so eminently distinguish all his writings, the most exact information at that time to be obtained, concerning those important discoveries. During my stay at Petersburg, my inquiries were particularly directed to this interesting subject, in order to learn if any new light had been thrown on an article of knowledge of such consequence to the history of mankind. For this purpose I endeavoured to collect the respective journals of the several voyages subsequent to the expedition of Beering and Tschirikoff in 1741, with which the celebrated Muller concludes his account of the first Russian navigations.
[Pg vi]
During the course of my researches I was informed, that a treatise in the German language, published at Hamburg and Leipsic in 1776, contained a full and exact narrative of the Russian voyages, from 1745 to 1770 [1].
As the author has not prefixed his name, I should have paid little attention to an anonymous publication, if I had not been assured, from very good authority, that the work in question was compiled from the original journals. Not resting however upon this intelligence, I took the liberty of applying to Mr. Muller himself, who, by order of the Empress, had arranged the same journals, from which the anonymous author is said to have drawn his materials. Previous to my application, Mr. Muller had compared the treatise with the original papers; and he favoured me with the following strong testimony to its exactness and authenticity: "Vous ferès bien de traduire pour l'usage de vos compatriotes le petit livre sur les isles situées entre le Kamtchatka et l'Amerique. II n'y a point de doute, que l'auteur n'ait eté pourvu de bons memoires, et qu'il ne s'en foit fervi fidelement. J'ai confronté le livre avec les[Pg vii] originaux." Supported therefore by this very respectable authority, I considered this treatise as a performance of the highest credit, and well worthy of being more generally known and perused. I have accordingly, in the first part of the present publication, submitted a translation of it to the reader's candour; and added occasional notes to such passages as seemed to require an explanation. The original is divided into sections without any references. But as it seemed to be more convenient to divide it into chapters; and to accompany each chapter with a summary of the contents, and marginal references; I have moulded it into that form, without making however any alteration in the order of the journals.
The additional intelligence which I procured at Petersburg, is thrown into an appendix: It consists of some new information, and of three journals [2], never before given to the public. Amongst these I must particularly mention that of Krenitzin and Levasheff, together with the chart of their voyage, which was communicated to Dr. Robertson, by order of the Empress of Russia; and which that justly admired historian has, in the politest and most obliging manner,[Pg viii] permitted me to make use of in this collection. This voyage, which redounds greatly to the honour of the sovereign who planned it, confirms in general the authenticity of the treatise above-mentioned; and ascertains the reality of the discoveries made by the private merchants.
As a farther illustration of this subject, I collected the best charts which could be procured at Petersburg, and of which a list will be given in the following advertisement. From all these circumstances, I may venture, perhaps, to hope that the curious and inquisitive reader will not only find in the following pages the most authentic and circumstantial account of the progress and extent of the Russian discoveries, which has hitherto appeared in any language; but be enabled hereafter to compare them with those more lately made by that great and much to be regretted navigator, Captain Cooke, when his journal shall be communicated to the public.
As all the furs which are brought from the New Discovered Islands are sold to the Chinese, I was naturally led to make enquiries concerning the commerce between Russia and China; and finding this branch of traffic much more important than is commonly imagined, I thought that a general sketch of its present state,[Pg ix] together with a succinct view of the transactions between the two nations, would not be unacceptable.
The conquest of Siberia, as it first opened a communication with China, and paved the way to all the interesting discoveries related in the present attempt, will not appear unconnected, I trust, with its principal design.
The materials of this second part, as also of the preliminary observations concerning Kamtchatka, and the commerce to the new-discovered islands, are drawn from books of established and undoubted reputation. Mr. Muller and Mr. Pallas, from whose interesting works these historical and commercial subjects are chiefly compiled, are too well known in the literary world to require any other vouchers for their judgement, exactness, and fidelity, than the bare mentioning of their names. I have only farther to apprize the reader, that, besides the intelligence extracted from these publications, he will find some additional circumstances relative to the Russian commerce with China, which I collected during my continuance in Russia.
[Pg x]

I cannot close this address to the reader without embracing with peculiar satisfaction the just occasion, which the ensuing treatises upon the Russian discoveries and commerce afford me, of joining with every friend of science in the warmest admiration of that enlarged and liberal spirit, which so strikingly marks the character of the present Empress of Russia. Since her accession to the throne, the investigation and discovery of useful knowledge has been the constant object of her generous encouragement. The authentic records of the Russian History have, by her express orders, been properly arranged; and permission is readily granted of inspecting them. The most distant parts of her vast dominions have, at her expence, been explored and described by persons of great abilities and extensive learning; by which means new and important lights have been thrown upon the geography and natural history of those remote regions. In a word, this truly great princess has contributed more, in the compass of only a few years, towards civilizing and informing the minds of her subjects, than had been effected by all the sovereigns her predecessors since the glorious æra of Peter the Great.

[Pg xi]

CATALOGUE OF BOOKS QUOTED IN THIS WORK

In order to prevent the frequent mention of the full title of the books referred to in the course of this performance, the following catalogue is subjoined, with the abbreviations.

Müller's Samlung Russischer Geschichte, IX volumes, 8vo. printed at St. Petersburg in 1732, and the following years; it is referred to in the following manner: S. R. G. with the volume and page annexed.
From this excellent collection I have made use of the following treatises:
vol. II. p. 293, &c. Geschichte der Gegenden an dem Flusse Amur.
There is a French translation of this treatise, called Histoire du Fleuve Amur, 12mo, Amsterdam, 1766.
vol. III. p. 1, &c. Nachrichten von See Reisen, &c.
There is an English and a French translation of this work; the former is called "Voyages from Asia to America for completing the Discoveries of the North West Coast of America," &c. 4to, London, 1764. The title of the latter is Voyages et Decouvertes faites par les Russes, &c. 12mo, Amsterdam, 1766. p. 413. Nachrichten Von der Hanlung in Sibirien.
Vol. VI. p. 109, Sibirische Geshichte.
Vol. VIII. p. 504, Nachricht Von der Russischen Handlung nach China.
Pallas Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs, in Three Parts, 4to, St. Petersburg, 1771, 1773, and 1776, thus cited, Pallas Reise.
Georgi Bemerkungen einer Reise im Russischen Reich in Jahre, 1772, III volumes, 4to, St. Petersburg, 1775, cited Georgi Reise.
Fischer Sibirische Geschichte, 2 volumes, 8vo, St. Petersburg, cited Fis. Sib. Ges.
Gmelin Reise durch Sibirien, Tome IV. 8vo. Gottingen, 1752, cited Gmelin Reise.
[Pg xii]
There is a French translation of this work, called Voyage en Siberie,& c. par M. Gmelin. Paris, 1767.
Neueste Nachrichten von Kamtchatka aufgesetst im Junius des 1773^ten Yahren von dem dasigen Befehls-haber Herrn Kapitain Smalew.
Aus dem abhandlungen der freyen Russischen Gesellschaft Moskau.
In the journal of St. Petersburg, April, 1776.—cited Journal of St. Pet.

Explanation of some Russian words made use of in the following work.

Baidar, a small boat.
Guba, a bay.
Kamen, a rock.
Kotche, a vessel.
Krepost, a regular fortress.
Noss, a cape.
Ostrog, a fortress surrounded with palisadoes.
Ostroff, an island.
Ostrova, islands.
Quass, a sort of fermented liquor.
Reka, a river.

The Russians, in their proper names of persons, make use of patronymics; these patronymics are formed in some cases by adding Vitch to the christian name of the father; in others Off or Eff: the former termination is applied only to persons of condition; the latter to those of an inferior rank. As, for instance,

Among persons	of condition	Ivan Ivanovitch,	} Ivan the son of Ivan.
	of inferior rank,	Ivan Ivanoff
		Michael Alexievitch,	} Michael the son of Alexèy.
		Michael Alexeeff,
Sometimes a surname is added, Ivan Ivanovitch Romanoff.

[Pg xiii]

Table of Russian Weights, Measures of Length, and Value of Money.

WEIGHT.

A pood weighs 40 Russian pounds = 36 English.

MEASURES OF LENGTH.

16 vershocks = an arsheen.
An arsheen = 28 inches.
Three arsheens, or seven feet = a fathom [3], or sazshen.
500 sazshens = a verst.
A degree of longitude comprises 104-1/2 versts = 69-1/2 English miles. A mile is therefore 1,515 parts of a verst; two miles may then be estimated equal to three versts, omitting a small fraction.

VALUE OF RUSSIAN MONEY.

A rouble = 100 copecs.
Its value varies according to the exchange from 3s. 8d. to 4s. 2d. Upon an average, however, the value of a rouble is reckoned at four shillings.

[Pg xiv]

ERRATA.

P.	23,	Reference, for Appendix I. N^o I. read N^o II.
	24,	for Appendix I. N^o II. read N^o III.
	30,	for Rogii read Kogii.
	46,	for Riksa read Kiska.
	96,	for Korovin read Korelin.
	186,	Note—for Tobob read Tobol.
	154,	Note—Line 2, after handpauken omitted von verschiedenen Klang.
	119,	for Saktunk read Saktunak.
	134,	Line 6, for were read was.
	188,	l. 16. for pretection read protection.
	190,	l. 5. for nor read not.
	195,	for Sungur read Sirgut.
	225,	l. 13. read other has an.
	226,	for harlbadeers read halberdiers.
	234,	Note—line 3, dele See hereafter, p. 242.
	246,	for Marym read Narym.
	256,	Note—for called by Linnæus Lutra Marina read Lutra Marina, called by Linnæus Mustela Lutris, &c.
	257,	Line 5, for made of the bone, &c. read made of bone, or the stalk, &c.
	278,	Note 2—line 2, for Corbus read Corvus.
	324,	Note—line 4, dele was.
	313,	Note—line 3, dele that.
	Ibid.	Note—line 10, "I should not" &c. is a separate note, and relates to the extract in the text beginning "In 1648," &c.

Omitted in the ERRATA.

P. 242.	l. 9. r. 18, 215.
	l. 11. r. 1, 383, 621. 35.

[Pg xv]

ADVERTISEMENT.

As no astronomical observations have been taken in the voyages related in this collection, the longitude and latitude ascribed to the new-discovered islands in the journals and upon the charts cannot be absolutely depended upon. Indeed the reader will perceive, that the position [4] of the Fox Islands upon the general map of Russia is materially different from that assigned to them upon the chart of Krenitzin and Levasheff. Without endeavouring to clear up any difficulties which may arise from this uncertainty, I thought it would be most satisfactory to have the best charts engraved: the reader will then be able to compare them with each other, and with the several journals. Which representation of the new-discovered islands deserves the preferance, will probably be ascertained upon the return of captain Clerke from his present expedition.

[Pg xvi]

List of the Charts, and Directions for placing them.

CHART	I.	A reduced copy of the general map of Russia, published by the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, 1776.	to face the title-page.
	II.	Chart of the voyage made by Krenitzin and Levasheff to the Fox Islands, communicated by Dr. Robertson,	to face p. 251.
	III.	Chart of Synd's Voyage towards Tschukotskoi-Noss,	p. 300.
	IV.	Chart of Shalauroff's Voyage to Shelatskoi-Noss, with a small chart of the Bear-Islands,	p. 323.
	View of Maimatschin, Communicated by a gentleman who has been upon the spot.		p. 211.

[Pg xvii]

CONTENTS.

Dedication,	p. iii.
Preface,	p. v.
Catalogue of books quoted in this work,	p. xi.
Explanation of some Russian words made use of,	p. xiii.
Table of Russian Weights, Measures of Length, and Value of Money,	p. xiv.
Advertisement,	p. xv.
List of Charts, and Directions for placing them,	p. xvi.
PART I.
Containing Preliminary Observations concerning Kamtchatka, and Account of the New Discoveries made by the Russians,	p. 3—16.
Chap. I. Discovery and Conquest of Kamtchatka—Present state of that Peninsula—Population—Tribute—Productions,& c.	p. 3.
Chap. II. General idea of the commerce carried on to the New Discovered Islands—Equipment of the vessels—Risks of the trade, profits, &c.	p. 8.
Chap. III. Furs and skins procured from Kamtchatka and the New Discovered Islands,	p. 12.

Account of the Russian Discoveries,	p. 19.
Chap. I. Commencement and progress of the Russian Discoveries in the sea of Kamtchatka—General division of the New Discovered Islands,	ibid.
Chap. II. Voyages in 1745—First discovery of the Aleütian Isles, by Michael Nevodsikoff,	p. 29.
Chap. III. Successive voyages, from 1747 to 1753, to Beering's and Copper Island, and to the Aleütian Isles—Some account of the inhabitants,	p. 37.
Chap. IV. Voyages from 1753 to 1756. Some of the further Aleütian or Fox Islands touched at by Serebranikoff's vessel—Some account of the natives,	p. 48.
Chap. V. Voyages from 1756 to 1758,	p. 54.
Chap. VI. Voyages in 1758, 1759, and 1760, to the Fox Islands, in the St. Vladimir, fitted out by Trapesnikoff—and in the Gabriel, by Bethshevin—The latter, under the command of Pushkareff, sails to Alaksu, or Alachshak, one of the remotest Eastern Islands hitherto visited—Some account of its inhabitants, and productions, which latter are different from those of the more Western islands,	p. 61.
Chap. VII. Voyage of Andrean Tolstyk, in the St. Andrean and Natalia—Discovery of some New Islands, called Andreanoffsky Ostrova—Description of six of those islands,	p. 71
Chap. VIII. Voyage of the Zacharias and Elizabeth, fitted out by Kulkoff, and commanded by Dausinin—They sail to Umnak and Unalashka, and winter upon the latter island—The vessel destroyed, and all the crew, except four, murdered by the islanders—The adventures of those four Russians, and their wonderful escape,	p. 80.
Chap. IX. Voyage of the vessel called the Trinity, under the command of Korovin—Sails to the Fox Islands—Winters at Unalashka—Puts to sea the spring following—The vessel is stranded in a bay of the island Umnak, and the crew attacked by the natives—Many of them killed—others carried off by sickness—-They are reduced to great streights—Relieved by Glottoff, twelve of the whole company only remaining—Description of Umnak and Unalashka,	p. 89.
Chap. X. Voyage of Stephen Glottoff—He reaches the Fox Islands—Sails beyond Unalashika to Kadyak—Winters upon that island—Repeated attempts of the natives to destroy the crew—They are repulsed, reconciled, and prevailed upon to trade with the Russians—Account of Kadyak—Its inhabitants, animals, productions—Glottoff sails back to Umnak—winters there—returns to Kamtchatka—Journal of his voyage,	p. 106.
Chap. XI. Solovioff's voyage—He reaches Unalashka, and passes two winters upon that island—Relation of what passed there—fruitless attempts of the natives to destroy the crew—Return of Solovioff to Kamtchatka—Journal of his voyage in returning—Description of the islands of Umnak and Unalashka, productions, inhabitants, their manners, customs, &c. &c.	p. 131.
Chap. XII. Voyage of Otcheredin—He winters upon Umnak—Arrival of Levasheff upon Unalashka—Return of Otcheredin to Ochotsk,	p. 156.
Chap. XIII. Conclusion—General position and situation of the Aleütian and Fox Islands—their distance from each other—Further description of the dress, manners, and custom of the inhabitants—their feasts and ceremonies, &c.	p. 164.
PART II.
Containing the Conquest of Siberia, and the History of the Transactions and Commerce between Russia and China,	p. 175.
Chap. I. First irruption of the Russians into Siberia—second inroad—Yermac driven by the Tzar of Muscovy from the Volga, retires to Orel, a Russian settlement—Enters Siberia, with an army of Cossacs—his progress and exploits—Defeats Kutchum Chan—conquers his dominions—cedes them to the Tzar—receives a reinforcement of Russian troops—is surprized by Kutchum Chan—his defeat and death—veneration paid to his memory—Russian troops evacuate Siberia—re-enter and conquer the whole country—their progress stopped by the Chinese,	p. 177.
Chap. II. Commencement of hostilities between the Russians and Chinese—disputes concerning the limits of the two empires—treaty of Nershinsk—embassies from the court of Russia to Pekin—treaty of Kiachta—establishment of the commerce between the two nations.	p. 197.
Chap. III. Account of the Russian and Chinese settlements upon the confines of Siberia—description of the Russian frontier town Kiachta—of the Chinese frontier town Maitmatschin—its buildings, pagodas, &c.	p. 211.
Chap. IV. Commerce between the Chinese and Russians—list of the principal exports and imports—duties—average amount of the Russian trade.	p. 231.
Chap. V. Description of Zuruchaitu—and its trade—transport of the merchandize through Siberia.	p. 244.
PART III.
Appendix I. and II. containing Supplementary Accounts of the Russian Discoveries, &c. &c.
Appendix I. Extract from the journal of a voyage made by Captain Krenitzin and Lieutenant Levasheff to the Fox Islands, in 1768, 1769, by order of the Empress of Russia—they sail from Kamtchatka—arrive at Beering's and Copper Islands—reach the Fox Islands—Krenitzin winters at Alaxa—Levasheff upon Unalashka—productions of Unalashka—description of the inhabitants of the Fox Islands—their manners and customs, &c.	p. 251.
N^o II. Concerning the longitude of Kamtchatka, and of the Eastern extremity of Asia, as laid down by the Russian geographers.	p. 267.
N^o III. Summary of the proofs tending to shew, that Beering and Tschirikoff either reached America in 1741, or came very near it.	p. 277.
N^o IV. List of the principal charts representing the Russian Discoveries.	p. 281.
N^o V. Position of the Andreanoffsky Isles ascertained—number of the Aleutian Isles.	p. 288.
N^o VI. Conjectures concerning the proximity of the Fox Islands to the continent of America.	p. 291.
N^o VII. Of the Tschutski—reports of the vicinity of America to their coast, first propagated by them, seem to be confirmed by late accounts from those parts.	p. 293.
N^o VIII. List of the New Discovered Islands, procured from an Aleütian chief—catalogue of islands called by different names in the account of the Russian discoveries.	p. 297.
N^o IX. Voyage of Lieutenant Synd to the North East of Siberia—he discovers a cluster of islands, and a promontory, which he supposes to belong to the continent of America, lying near the coast of the Tschutski.	p. 300.
N^o X. Specimen of the Aleütian language.	p. 303.
N^o XI. Attempts of the Russians to discover a North East passage—voyages from Archangel towards the Lena—from the Lena towards Kamtchatka—extract from Muller's account of Deshneff's voyage round Tschukotskoi Noss—narrative of a voyage made by Shalauroff from the Lena to Shelatskoi Noss.	p. 304.
Appendix II. Tartarian rhubarb brought to Kiachta by the Bucharian merchants—method of examining and purchasing the roots—different species of rheum which yield the finest rhubarb—price of rhubarb in Russia—exportation—superiority of the Tartarian over the Indian rhubarb.	p. 332.
Table of the longitude and latitude of the principal places mentioned in this work.	p. 344.

[Pg 1]

PART I.
CONTAINING
I. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING KAMTCHATKA,
AND
II. ACCOUNT OF THE NEW DISCOVERIES MADE BY THE RUSSIANS.

[Pg 3]

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS
CONCERNING
KAMTCHATKA, &c.

CHAP. I.
Discovery and Conquest of Kamtchatka—Present state of that Peninsula—Population—Tribute—Productions, &c.

First Discovery of Kamtchatka.

The Peninsula of Kamtchatka was not discovered by the Russians before the latter end of the last century. The first expedition towards those parts was made in 1696, by sixteen Cossacs, under the command of Lucas Semænoff Morosko, who was sent against the Koriacks of the river Opooka by Volodimir Atlafsoff commander of Anadirsk. Morosko continued his march until he came within four days journey of the river Kamtchatka, and having rendered a Kamtchadal village tributary, he returned to Anadirsk [5].
[Pg 4]
The following year Atlafsoff himself at the head of a larger body of troops penetrated into the Peninsula, took possession of the river Kamtchatka by erecting a cross upon its banks; and built some huts upon the spot, where Upper Kamtchatkoi Ostrog now stands.

That Peninsula conquered and colonised by the Russians.

These expeditions were continued during the following years: Upper and Lower Kamtchatkoi Ostrogs and Bolcheretsk were built; the Southern district conquered and colonised; and in 1711 the whole Peninsula was finally reduced under the dominion of the Russians.
During some years the possession of Kamtchatka brought very little advantage to the crown, excepting the small tribute of furs exacted from the inhabitants. The Russians indeed occasionally hunted in that Peninsula foxes, wolves, ermines, sables, and other animals, whose valuable skins form an extensive article of commerce among the Eastern nations. But the fur trade carried on from thence was inconsiderable; until the Russians discovered the islands situated between Asia and America, in a series of voyages, the journals of which will be exhibited in the subsequent translation. Since these discoveries, the variety of rich furs, which are procured from those Islands, has greatly encreased the trade of Kamtchatka, and rendered it a very important branch of the Russian commerce.
[Pg 5]
The Peninsula of Kamtchatka lies between 51 and 62 degrees of North latitude, and 173 and 182 of longitude from the Isle of Fero. It is bounded on the East and South by the Sea of Kamtchatka, on the West by the Seas of Ochotsk and Penshinsk, and on the North by the country of the Koriacs.

Present State of Kamtchatka.

It is divided into four districts, Bolcheresk, Tigilskaia Krepost, Verchnei or Upper Kamtchatkoi Ostrog, and Nishnei or Lower Kamtchatkoi Ostrog. |Government| The government is vested in the chancery of Bolcheresk, which depends upon and is subject to the inspection of the chancery of Ochotsk. The whole Russian force stationed in the Peninsula consists of no more than three hundred men [6].

Population.

The present population of Kamtchatka is very small, amounting to scarce four thousand souls. Formerly the inhabitants were more numerous, but in 1768, that country was greatly depopulated by the ravages of the small-pox, by which disorder five thousand three hundred and sixty-eight persons were carried off. There are now only seven hundred and six males in the whole Peninsula who are tributary, and an hundred and fourteen in the Kuril Isles, which are subject to Russia.
[Pg 6]

Tribute.

The fixed annual tribute consists in 279 sables, 464 red foxes, 50 sea-otters with a dam, and 38 cub sea-otters. All furs exported from Kamtchatka pay a duty of 10 per cent. to the crown; the tenth of the cargoes brought from the new discovered islands is also delivered into the customs.

Volcanos.

Many traces of Volcanos have been observed in this Peninsula; and there are some mountains, which are at present in a burning state. The most considerable of these Volcanos is situated near the Lower Ostrog. In 1762 a great noise was heard issuing from the inside of that mountain, and flames of fire were seen to burst from different parts. These flames were immediately succeeded by a large stream of melted snow water, which flowed into the neighbouring valley, and drowned two Kamtchadals, who were at that time upon an hunting party. The ashes, and other combustible matter, thrown from the mountain, spread to the circumference of three hundred versts. In 1767 there was another discharge, but less considerable. Every night flames of fire were observed streaming from the mountain; and the eruption which attended them, did no small damage to the inhabitants of the Lower Ostrog. Since that year no flames have been seen; but the mountain emits a constant smoke. The same phænomenon is also observed upon another mountain, called Tabaetshinskian.
[Pg 7]

Productions.

The face of the country throughout the Peninsula is chiefly mountainous. It produces in some parts birch, poplars, alders, willows, underwood, and berries of different sorts. Greens and other vegetables are raised with great facility; such as white cabbage, turneps, radishes, beetroot, carrots, and some cucumbers. Agriculture is in a very low state, which is chiefly owing to the nature of the soil and the severe hoar frosts; for though some trials have been made with respect to the cultivation of corn, and oats, barley and rye have been sown; yet no crop has ever been procured sufficient in quality or quality to answer the pains and expence of raising it. Hemp however has of late years been cultivated with great success [7].
Every year a vessel, belonging to the crown, sails from Ochotsk to Kamtchatka laden with salt, provisions, corn, and Russian manufactures; and returns in June or July of the following year with skins and furs.

[Pg 8]

CHAP. II.
General idea of the commerce carried on to the New Discovered Islands.—Equipment of the vessels.—Risks of the trade, profits, &c.

Since the conclusion of Beering's voyage, which was made at the expence of the crown, the prosecution of the New Discoveries began by him has been almost entirely carried on by individuals. These persons were principally merchants of Irkutsk, Yakutsk, and other natives of Siberia, who formed themselves into small trading companies, and fitted out vessels at their joint expence.

Equipment of the vessels.

Most of the vessels which are equipped for these expeditions are two masted: they are commonly built without iron, and in general so badly constructed, that it is wonderful how they can weather so stormy a sea. They are called in Russian Skitiki or sewed vessels, because the planks are sewed together with thongs of leather. Some few are built in the river of Kamtchatka; but they are for the most part constructed at the haven of Ochotsk. The largest of these vessels are manned with seventy men, and the smallest with forty. The crew generally consists of an equal number of Russians and Kamtchadals. The[Pg 9] latter occasion a considerable saving, as their pay is small; they also resist, more easily than the former, the attacks of the scurvy. But Russian mariners are more enterprising and more to be depended upon in time of danger than the others; some therefore are unavoidably necessary.

Expences attending this trade.

The expences of building and fitting out the vessels are very considerable: for there is nothing at Ochotsk but timber for their construction. Accordingly cordage, sails, and some provisions, must be brought from Yakutsk upon horses. The dearness of corn and flour, which must be transported from the districts lying about the river Lena, renders it impossible to lay-in any large quantity for the subsistence of the crew during a voyage, which commonly lasts three or four years. For this reason no more is provided, than is necessary to supply the Russian mariners with quass and other fermented liquors.
From the excessive scarcity of cattle both at Ochotsk and [8]Kamtchatka very little provision is laid in at either of those places: but the crew provide themselves[Pg 10] with a large store of the flesh of sea animals, which are caught and cured upon Beering's Island, where the vessels for the most part winter.
After all expences are paid, the equipment of each vessel ordinarily costs from 15,000 to 20,000 Roubles. And sometimes the expences amount to 30,000. Every vessel is divided into a certain number of shares, generally from thirty to fifty; and each share is worth from 300 to 500 Roubles.
The risk of the trade is very great, as shipwrecks are common in the sea of Kamtchatka, which is full of rocks and very tempestuous. Besides, the crews are frequently surprised and killed by the islanders, and the vessels destroyed. |Profits.|In return the profits arising from these voyages are very considerable, and compensate the inconveniencies and dangers attending them. For if a ship comes back after having made a profitable voyage, the gain at the most moderate computation amounts to cent. per cent. and frequently to as much more. Should the vessel be capable of performing a second expedition, the expences are of course considerably lessened, and the shares are at a lower price.
Some notion of the general profits arising from this trade (when the voyage is successful), may be deduced from the sale of a rich cargo of furs, brought[Pg 11] to Kamtchatka, on the 2d of June, 1772, from the new-discovered islands, in a vessel belonging to Ivan Popoff.
The tenth part of the skins being delivered to the customs, the remainder was distributed in fifty-five shares. Each share consisted of twenty sea-otters, sixteen black and brown foxes, ten red foxes, three sea-otter tails; and such a portion was sold upon the spot from 800 to 1000 Roubles: so that according to this price the whole lading was worth about 50,000 Roubles [9].

[Pg 12]

CHAP. III.
Furs and skins procured from Kamtchatka and the New Discovered Islands.

Furs and Skins brought from Kamtchatka and the New Discovered Islands.

The principal furs and skins procured from the Peninsula of Kamtchatka and the New Discovered Islands are sea-otters, foxes, sables, ermines, wolves, bears,& c.—These furs are transported to Ochotsk by sea, and from thence carried to [10]Kiachta upon the frontiers of Siberia; where the greatest part of them are sold to the Chinese at a very considerable profit.

Sea-Otters.

Of all these furs the skins of the sea-otters are the richest and most valuable. Those animals resort in great numbers to the Aleutian and Fox Islands: they are called by the Russians Bobry Morski or sea-beavers, and sometimes Kamtchadal beavers, on account of the resemblance of their fur to that of the common beaver. From these circumstances several authors have been led into a mistake, and have supposed that this animal is of the beaver species; whereas it is the true sea-otter [11].
[Pg 13]
The female are called Matka or dams; and the cubs till five months old Medviedki or little bears, because their coat resembles that of a bear; they lose that coat after five months, and then are called Koschloki.
The fur of the finest sort is thick and long, of a dark colour, and a fine glossy hue. They are taken four ways; struck with darts as they are sleeping upon their backs in the sea, followed in boats and hunted down till they are tired, surprised in caverns, and taken in nets.
Their skins fetch different prices according to their quality.

At Kamtchatka [12] the best sell for per skin from	30 to 40 Roubles.
Middle sort	20 to 30
Worst sort	15 to 25

At Kiachta [13] the old and middle-aged sea-otter skins are sold to the Chinese per skin from	80 to 100
The worst sort	30 to 40.

[Pg 14]
As these furs fetch so great a price to the Chinese, they are seldom brought into Russia for sale: and several, which have been carried to Moscow as a tribute, were purchased for 30 Roubles per skin; and sent from thence to the Chinese frontiers, where they were disposed of at a very high interest.

Different species of Foxes.

There are several species of Foxes, whose skins are sent from Kamtchatka into Siberia and Russia. Of these the principal are the black foxes, the Petsi or Arctic foxes, the red and stone foxes.
The finest black foxes are caught in different parts of Siberia, and more commonly in the Northern regions between the Rivers Lena, Indigirka, and Kovyma: the black foxes found upon the remotest Eastern islands discovered by the Russians, or the Lyssie Ostrova, are not so valuable. They are very black and large; but the coat for the most part is as coarse as that of a wolf. The great difference in the fineness of the fur, between these foxes and those of Siberia, arises probably from the following circumstances. In those islands the cold is not so severe as in Siberia; and as there is no wood, the foxes live in holes and caverns of the rocks; whereas in the abovementioned parts of Siberia, there are large tracts of forests in which they find shelter. Some black foxes however[Pg 15] are occasionally caught in the remotest Eastern Islands, not wholly destitute of wood, and these are of great value. In general the Chinese, who pay the dearest for black furs, do not give more for the black foxes of the new-discovered islands than from 20 to 30 Roubles per skin.
The arctic or ice foxes are very common upon some of the New-Discovered Islands. They are called Petsi by the Russians, and by the Germans blue foxes. |Pennant's Synopsis.| Their natural colour is of a bluish grey or ash colour; but they change their coat at different ages, and in differerent seasons of the year. In general they are born brown, are white in winter, and brown in summer; and in spring and autumn, as the hair gradually falls off, the coat is marked with different specks and crosses.

At Kiachta [14] all the several varieties sell upon an average to the Chinese per skin from 50 copecs to	2-2/3 Roubles.
Stone Foxes at Kamtchatka per skin from	1 to 2-1/2
Red Foxes from 80 copecs to	1 80 copecs.
At Kiachta from 80 copecs to	9
Common wolves skins at per skin	2
Best sort per skin from	8 to 16
Sables per ditto	2-1/2 to 10
A pood of the best sea-horse teeth [15] sells At Yakutsk for	10 Roubles.
Of the middling	8
Inferior ditto	from 5 to 7.

Four, five, or six teeth generally weigh a pood, and sometimes, but very rarely, three. They are sold to the Chinese, Monguls, and Calmucs.

[Pg 17]

ACCOUNT
OF THE NEW DISCOVERIES
MADE BY THERUSSIANS IN THE EASTERN OCEAN,
BETWEEN KAMTCHATKA AND AMERICA.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN.
WITH NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR.

[Pg 19]

CHAP. I.
Commencement and progress of the Russian Discoveries in the sea of Kamtchatka—General division of the New Discovered Islands.

A Thirst after riches was the chief motive which excited the Spaniards to the discovery of America; and which turned the attention of other maritime nations to that quarter. The same passion for riches occasioned, about the middle of the sixteenth century, the discovery and conquest of Northern Asia, a country, before that time, as unknown to the Europeans, as Thule to the ancients. |Conquest of Siberia.| The first foundation of this conquest was laid by the celebrated Yermac [16], at the head of a band of adventurers, less civilized, but at the same time, not so inhuman as the conquerors of America. By the accession of this vast territory, now known by the name of Siberia, the Russians have acquired an extent of empire never before attained by any other nation.
[Pg 20]

Commencement of the New Discoveries.

The first project [17] for making discoveries in that tempestuous sea, which lies between Kamtchatka and America, was conceived and planned by Peter I. the greatest sovereign who ever sat upon the Russian throne, until it was adorned by the present empress. The nature and completion of this project under his immediate successors are well known to the public from the relation of the celebrated Muller. |Their progress.| No sooner had [18]Beering and [Pg 21] Tschirikoff, in the prosecution of this plan, opened their way to islands abounding in valuable furs, than private merchants immediately engaged with ardour in similar expeditions; and, within a period of ten years, more important discoveries were made by these individuals, at their own private cost, than had been hitherto effected by all the expensive efforts of the crown.
Soon after the return of Beering's crew from the island where he was ship-wrecked and died, and which is called after his name, the inhabitants of Kamtchatka ventured over to that island, to which the sea-otters and other sea-animals were accustomed to resort in great numbers. Mednoi Ostroff, or Copper Island, which takes that appellation from large masses of native copper found upon the beach, and which lies full in sight of Beering's Isle, was an easy and speedy discovery.
These two small uninhabited spots were for some time the only islands that were known; until a scarcity of land and sea-animals, whose numbers were greatly diminished by the Russian hunters, occasioned other expeditions. Several of the vessels which were sent out upon these voyages were driven by stormy weather to the South-east; and discovered by that means the Aleütian Isles, situated about the 195th [19] degree of longitude, and but moderately peopled.
[Pg 22]
From the year 1745, when it seems these islands were first visited, until 1750, when the first tribute of furs was brought from thence to Ochotsk, the government appears not to have been fully informed of their discovery. In the last mentioned year, one Lebedeff was commander of Kamtchatka. From 1755 to 1760, Captain Tsheredoff and Lieutenant Kashkareff were his successors. In 1760, Feodor Ivanovitch Soimonoff, governor of Tobolsk, turned his attention to the abovementioned islands; and, the same year, Captain Rtistsheff, at Ochotsk, instructed Lieutenant Shmaleff, the same who was afterwards commander in Kamtchatka, to promote and favour all expeditions in those seas. Until this time, all the discoveries subsequent to Beering's voyage were made, without the interposition of the court, by private merchants in small vessels fitted out at their own expence.

The Empress promotes all attempts towards New Discoveries.

The present Empress (to whom every circumstance which contributes to aggrandize the Russian empire is an object of attention) has given new life to these discoveries. The merchants engaged in them have been animated by recompences. The importance and true position of the Russian[Pg 23] islands have been ascertained by an expensive voyage [20], made by order of the crown; and much additional information will be derived from the journals and charts of the officers employed in that expedition, whenever they shall be published.
Meanwhile, we may rest assured, that several modern geographers have erred in advancing America too much to the West, and in questioning the extent of Siberia Eastwards, as laid down by the Russians. It appears, indeed, evident, that the accounts and even conjectures of the celebrated Muller, concerning the position of those distant regions, are more and more confirmed by facts; in the same manner as the justness of his supposition concerning the form of the coast of the sea of Ochotsk [21] has been lately established. With respect to the extent of Siberia, it appears almost beyond a doubt from the most recent observations, that its Eastern extremity is situated beyond [22] 200 degrees of longitude. In regard to the Western coasts of America, all the navigations to the New Discovered Islands evidently shew, that, between 50[Pg 24] and 60 degrees of latitude, that Continent advances no where nearer to Asia than the [23]coasts touched at by Beering and Tschirikoff, or about 236 degrees of longitude.
As to the New Discovered Islands, no credit must be given to a chart published in the Geographical Calendar of St. Petersburg for 1774; in which they are inaccurately laid down. Nor is the antient chart of the New Discoveries, published by the Imperial Academy, and which seems to have been drawn up from mere reports, more deserving of attention [24].

Position of the New Discovered Islands.

The late navigators give a far different description of the Northern Archipelago. From their accounts we learn, that Beering's Island is situated due East from Kamtchatkoi Noss, in the 185th degree of longitude. Near it is Copper Island; and, at some distance from them, East-south-east, there are three small islands, named by their inhabitants, Attak, Semitshi, and Shemiya: these are properly the Aleütian Isles; they stretch from West-north-west towards East-south-east, in the same direction as Beering's and Copper Islands, in the longitude of 195, and latitude 54.
[Pg 25]
To the North-east of these, at the distance of 600 or 800 versts, lies another group of six or more islands, known by the name of the Andreanoffskie Ostrova.
South-east, or East-south, of these, at the distance of about 15 degrees, and North by East of the Aleütian, begins the chain of Lyssie Ostrova, or Fox Islands: this chain of rocks and isles stretches East-north-east between 56 and 61 degrees of North latitude, from 211 degrees of longitude most probably to the Continent of America; and in a line of direction, which crosses with that in which the Aleütian isles lie. The largest and most remarkable of these islands are Umnak, Aghunalashka, or, as it is commonly shortened, Unalashka, Kadyak, and Alagshak.
Of these and the Aleütian Isles, the distance and position are tolerably well ascertained by ships reckonings, and latitudes taken by pilots. But the situation of the Andreanoffsky Isles [25] is still somewhat doubtful, though probably their direction is East and West; and some of them may unite with that part of the Fox Islands which are most contiguous to the opposite Continent.
The main land of America has not been touched at by any of the vessels in the late expeditions; though possibly[Pg 26] the time is not far distant when some of the Russian adventurers will fall in with that coast [26]. More to the North perhaps, at least as high as 70 degrees latitude, the Continent of America may stretch out nearer to the coast of the Tschutski; and form a large promontory, accompanied with islands, which have no connection with any of the preceding ones. That such a promontory really exists, and advances to within a very small distance from Tschukotskoi Noss, can hardly be doubted; at least it seems to be confirmed by all the latest accounts which have been procured from those parts [27]. That prolongation, therefore, of America, which by Delisle is made to extend Westward, and is laid down just opposite to Kamtchatka, between 50 and 60 degrees latitude, must be entirely removed; for many of the voyages related in this collection lay through that part of the ocean, where this imaginary Continent was marked down.
It is even more than probable, that the Aleütian, and some of the Fox Islands, now well known, are the very same which Beering fell-in with upon his return; though, from the unsteadiness of his course, their true position could not be exactly laid down in the chart of that expedition [28].
[Pg 27]
As the sea of Kamtchatka is now so much frequented, these conjectures cannot remain long undecided; and it is only to be wished, that some expeditions were to be made North-east, in order to discover the nearest coasts of America. For there is no reason to expect a successful voyage by taking any other direction; as all the vessels, which have steered a more southerly course, have sailed through an open sea, without meeting with any signs of land.
A very full and judicious account of all the discoveries hitherto made in the Eastern ocean may be expected from the celebrated Mr. Muller [29]. Meanwhile, I hope the following account, extracted from the original papers, and procured from the best intelligence, will be the more acceptable to the public; as it may prove an inducement to the Russians to publish fuller and more circumstantial relations. Besides, the reader will find here a narrative more authentic and accurate, than what has been pub[Pg 28]lished in the abovementioned calendar [30]; and several mistakes in that memoir are here corrected.

[Pg 29]

CHAP. II.
Voyages in 1745.—First discovery of the Aleütian Isles by Michael Nevodtsikoff.

A voyage made in the year 1745 by Emilian Bassoff is scarce worth mentioning; as he only reached Beering's Island, and two smaller ones, which lie South of the former, and returned on the 31st of July, 1746.

Voyage of Nevodtsikoff in 1745.

The first voyage which is in any wise remarkable, was undertaken in the year 1745. The vessel was a Shitik named Eudokia, fitted out at the expence of Aphanassei Tsebaefskoi, Jacob Tsiuproff and others; she sailed from the Kamtchatka river Sept. 19, under the command of Michael Nevodtsikoff a native of Tobolsk. |Discovers the Aleütian Islands.| Having discovered three unknown islands, they wintered upon one of them, in order to kill sea-otters, of which there was a large quantity. These islands were undoubtedly the nearest [31] Aleütian Islands: the language of the inhabi[Pg 30]tants was not understood by an interpreter, whom they had brought with them from Kamtchatka. For the purpose therefore of learning this language, they carried back with them one of the Islanders; and presented him to the chancery of Bolcheretsk, with a false account of their proceedings. This islander was examined as soon as he had acquired a slight knowledge of the Russian language; and as it is said, gave the following report. He was called Temnac, and Att was the name of the island of which he was a native. At some distance from thence lies a great island called Sabya, of which the inhabitants are denominated Rogii: these inhabitants, as the Russians understood or thought they understood him, made crosses, had books and fire-arms, and navigated in baidars or leathern canoes. At no great distance from the island where they wintered, there were two well-inhabited islands: the first lying E. S. E. and S. E. by South, the second East and East by South. The above-mentioned Islander was baptised under the name of Paul, and sent to Ochotsk.
As the misconduct of the ship's crew towards the natives was suspected, partly from the loss of several men, and partly from the report of those Russians, who were not concerned in the disorderly conduct of their companions, a strict examination took place; by which the following circumstances relating to the voyage were brought to light.
[Pg 31]

Narrative of the Voyage.

According to the account of some of the crew, and particularly of the commander, after six days sailing they came in sight of the first island on the 24th of September, at mid-day. They sailed by, and towards evening they discovered the second island; where they lay at anchor until the next morning.
The 25th several inhabitants appeared on the coast, and the pilot was making towards shore in the small boat, with an intention of landing; but observing their numbers increase to about an hundred, he was afraid of venturing among them, although they beckoned to him. He contented himself therefore with flinging some needles amongst them: the islanders in return threw into the boat some sea-fowl of the cormorant kind. He endeavoured to hold a conversation with them by means of the interpreters, but no one could understand their language. And now the crew endeavoured to row the vessel out to sea; but the wind being contrary, they were driven to the other side of the same island, where they cast anchor.
The 26th, Tsiuproff having landed with some of the crew in order to look for water, met several inhabitants: he gave them some tobacco and small Chinese pipes; and received in return a present of a stick, upon which the head of a seal was carved. They endeavoured to wrest his[Pg 32] hunting gun from him; but upon his refusing to part with it and retiring to the small boat, the islanders ran after him; and seized the rope by which the boat was made fast to shore. This violent attack obliged Tsiuproff to fire; and having wounded one person in the hand, they all let go their hold; and he rowed off to the ship. The Savages no sooner saw that their companion was hurt, than they threw off their cloaths, carried the wounded person naked into the sea, and washed him. In consequence of this encounter the ship's crew would not venture to winter at this place, but rowed back again to the other island, where they came to an anchor.
The next morning Tsiuproff, and a certain Shaffyrin landed with a more considerable party: they observed several traces of inhabitants; but meeting no one they returned to the ship, and coasted along the island. The following day the Cossac Shekurdin went on shore, accompanied by five sailors: two of whom he sent back with a supply of water; and remained himself with the others in order to hunt sea-otters. At night they came to some dwellings inhabited by five families: upon their approach the natives abandoned their huts with precipitation, and hid themselves among the rocks. Shekurdin no sooner returned to the ship, than he was again sent on shore with a larger company, in order to look out for a proper place to lay up the vessel during winter: In their way they observed fifteen islanders upon an height;[Pg 33] and threw them some fragments of dried fish in order to entice them to approach nearer. But as this overture did not succeed, Tsiuproff, who was one of the party, ordered some of the crew to mount the height, and to seize one of the inhabitants, for the purpose of learning their language: this order was accordingly executed, notwithstanding the resistance which the islanders made with their bone spears; the Russians immediately returned with their prisoner to the ship. They were soon afterwards driven to sea by a violent storm, and beat about from the 2d to the 9th of October, during which time they lost their anchor and boat; at length they came back to the same island, where they passed the winter.
Soon after their landing they found in an adjacent hut the dead bodies of two of the inhabitants, who had probably been killed in the last encounter. In their way the Russians were met by an old woman, who had been taken prisoner, and set at liberty. She was accompanied with thirty-four islanders of both sexes, who all came dancing to the sound of a drum; and brought with them a present of coloured earth. Pieces of cloth, thimbles, and needles, were distributed among them in return; and they parted amicably. Before the end of October, the same persons, together with the old woman and several children, returned dancing as before, and brought birds, fish, and other provision. Having passed the night with[Pg 34] the Russians, they took their leave. Soon after their departure, Tsiuproff, Shaffyrin, and Nevodsikoff, accompanied with seven of the crew, went after them, and found them among the rocks. In this interview the natives behaved in the most friendly manner, and exchanged a baidar and some skins for two shirts. They were observed to have hatchets of sharpened stone, and needles made of bone: they lived upon the flesh of sea-otters, seals, and sea-lions, which they killed with clubs and bone lances.
So early as the 24th of October, Tsiuproff had sent ten persons, under the command of Larion Belayeff, upon a reconnoitring party. The latter treated the inhabitants in an hostile manner; upon which they defended themselves as well as they could with their bone lances. This resistance gave him a pretext for firing; and accordingly he shot the whole number, amounting to fifteen men, in order to get at their wives.
Shekurdin, shocked at these cruel proceedings, retired unperceived to the ship, and brought an account of all that had passed. Tsiuproff, instead of punishing these cruelties as they deserved, was secretly pleased with them; for he himself was affronted at the islanders for having refused to give him an iron bolt, which he saw in their possession. He had, in consequence of their refusal, committed several acts of hostilities against them; and had even formed the horrid design of poisoning them with a mixture of corrosive sublimate. In order[Pg 35] however to preserve appearances, he dispatched Shekurdin and Nevodsikoff to reproach Belayeff for his disorderly conduct; but sent him at the same time, by the above-mentioned persons, more powder and ball.
The Russians continued upon this island, where they caught a large quantity of sea otters, until the 14th of September, 1746; when, no longer thinking themselves secure, they put to sea with an intention of looking out for some uninhabited islands. Being however overtaken by a violent storm, they were driven about until the 30th of October, when their vessel struck upon a rocky shore, and was shipwrecked, with the loss of almost all the tackle, and the greatest part of the furs. Worn out at length with cold and fatigue, they ventured, the first of November, to penetrate into the interior part of the country, which they found rocky and uneven. Upon their coming to some huts, they were informed, that they were cast away upon the island of Karaga, the inhabitants of which were tributary to Russia, and of the Koraki tribe. The islanders behaved to them with great kindness, until Belayeff had the imprudence to make proposals to the wife of the chief. The woman gave immediate intelligence to her husband; and the natives were incensed to such a degree, that they threatened the whole crew with immediate death: but means were found to pacify them, and they continued to live with the Russians upon the same good terms as before.
[Pg 36]
The 30th of May, 1747, a party of Olotorians made a descent upon the island in three baidars, and attacked the natives; but, after some loss on both sides, they went away. They returned soon after with a larger force, and were again forced to retire. But as they threatened to come again in a short time, and to destroy all the inhabitants who paid tribute, the latter advised the Russians to retire from the island, and assisted them in building two baidars. With these they put to sea the 27th of June, and landed the 21st of July at Kamtchatka, with the rest of their cargo, consisting of 320 sea-otters, of which, they paid the tenth into the customs. During this expedition twelve men were lost.

[Pg 37]

CHAP. III.
Successive voyages, from 1747 to 1753, to Beering's and Copper Island, and to the Aleütian Isles.—Some account of the inhabitants.

In the year 1747 [32] two vessels sailed from the Kamtchatka river, according to a permission granted by the chancery of Bolckeretsk for hunting sea-otters. One was fitted out by Andrew Wsevidoff, and carried forty-six men, besides eight Cossacs: the other belonged to Feodor Cholodiloff, Andrew Tolstyk, and company; and had on board a crew, consisting of forty-one Russians and Kamtchadals, with six Cossacs.
The latter vessel sailed the 20th of October, and was forced, by stress of weather and other accidents, to winter at Beering's Island. From thence they departed May the 31st, 1748, and touched at another small island, in order to provide themselves with water and other necessaries. They then steered S. E. for a considerable way without[Pg 38] discovering any new islands; and, being in great want of provisions, returned into Kamtchatka River, August 14, with a cargo of 250 old sea-otter-skins, above 100 young ones, 148 petsi or arctic fox-skins, which were all slain upon Beering's Island.
We have no sufficient account of Wsevidoff's voyage. All that is known amounts only to this, that he returned the 25th of July, 1749, after having probably touched upon one of the nearest Aleütian Isles which was uninhabited: his cargo consisted of the skins of 1040 sea-otters, and 2000 arctic foxes.

Voyage of Emilian Yugoff.

Emilian Yugoff, a merchant of Yakutsk, obtained from the senate of St. Petersburg the permission of fitting out four vessels for himself and his associates. He procured, at the same time, the exclusive privilege of hunting sea-otters upon Beering's and Copper Island during these expeditions; and for this monopoly he agreed to deliver to the customs the tenth of the furs.
October 6, 1750, he put to sea from Bolcheresk, in the sloop John, manned with twenty-five Russians and Kamtchadals, and two Cossacs: he was soon overtaken by a storm, and the vessel driven on shore between the mouths of the rivers Kronotsk and Tschasminsk.
October 1751, he again set sail. He had been commanded to take on board some officers of the Russian[Pg 39] navy; and, as he disobeyed this injunction, the chancery of Irkutsk issued an order to confiscate his ship and cargo upon his return. The ship returned on the 22d of July, 1754, to New Kamtchatkoi Ostrog, laden with the skins of 755 old sea-otters, of 35 cub sea-otters, of 447 cubs of sea-bears, and of 7044 arctic fox-skins: of the latter 2000 were white, and 1765 black. These furs were procured upon Beering's and Copper Island. Yugoff himself died upon the last-mentioned island. The cargo of the ship was, according to the above-mentioned order, sealed and properly secured. But as it appeared that certain persons had deposited money in Yugoff's hand, for the purpose of equipping a second vessel, the crown delivered up the confiscated cargo, after reserving the third part according to the original stipulation.
This kind of charter-company, if it may be so called, being soon dissolved for misconduct and want of sufficient stock, other merchants were allowed the privilege of fitting out vessels, even before the return of Yugoff's ship; and these persons were more fortunate in making new discoveries than the above-mentioned monopolist.

Voyage of the Boris and Glebb.

Nikiphor Trapesnikoff, a merchant of Irkutsk, obtained the permission of sending out a ship, called the Boris and Glebb, upon the condition of paying, besides the tribute which might be exacted, the tenth of all the furs. The Cossac Sila Sheffyrin went on board this[Pg 40] vessel for the purpose of collecting the tribute. They sailed in August, 1749, from the Kamtchatka river; and re-entered it the 16th of the same month, 1753, with a large cargo of furs. In the spring of the same year, they had touched upon an unknown island, probably one of the Aleütians, where several of the inhabitants were prevailed upon to pay a tribute of sea-otter skins. The names of the islanders who had been made tributary, were Igya, Oeknu, Ogogoektack, Shabukiauck, Alak, Tutun, Ononushan, Rotogèi, Tschinitu, Vatsch, Ashagat, Avyjanishaga, Unashayupu, Lak, Yanshugalik, Umgalikan, Shati, Kyipago, and Oloshkot [33]; another Aleütian had contributed three sea-otters. They brought with them 320 best sea-otter skins, 480 of the second, and 400 of the third sort, 500 female and middle aged, and 220 medwedki or young ones.

Voyage of Andrew Tolstyk to the Aleütian Isles, 1749.

Andrew Tolstyk, a merchant of Selenginsk, having obtained permission from the chancery of Bolsheretsk, refitted the same ship which had made a former voyage; he sailed from Kamtchatka August the 19th, 1749, and returned July the 3d, 1752.
According to the commander's account, the ship lay at anchor from the 6th of September, 1749, to the 20th[Pg 41] of May, 1750, before Beering's Island, where they caught only 47 sea-otters. From thence they made to those Aleütian Islands, which were [34] first discovered by Nevodsikoff, and slew there 1662 old and middle-aged sea-otters, and 119 cubs; besides which, their cargo consisted of the skins of 720 blue foxes, and of 840 young sea-bears.
The inhabitants of these islands appeared to have never before paid tribute; and seemed to be a-kin to the Tschuktski tribe, their women being ornamented with different figures sewed into the skin in the manner of that people, and of the Tungusians of Siberia. They differed however from them, by having two small holes cut through the bottom of their under-lips, through each of which they pass a bit of the sea-horse tush, worked into the form of a tooth, with a small button at one end to keep it within the mouth when it is placed in the hole. They had killed, without being provoked, two of the Kamtchadals who belonged to the ship. Upon the third Island some inhabitants had payed tribute; their names were reported to be Anitin, Altakukor, and Aleshkut, with his son Atschelap. The weapons of the whole island consisted of no more than twelve spears pointed with flint, and one dart of bone pointed with the same; and the Russians observed in the possession of the natives two figures, carved out of wood, resembling sea-lions.
[Pg 42]

Voyage of Vorobieff, 1750.

August 3, 1750, the vessel Simeon and John, fitted out by the above-mentioned Wsevidoff, agent for the Russian merchant A. Rybenskoi, and manned with fourteen Russians (who were partly merchants and partly hunters) and thirty Kamtchadals, sailed out for the discovery of new islands, under the command of the Cossac Vorobieff. They were driven by a violent current and tempestuous weather to a small desert island, whose position is not determined; but which was probably one of those that lie near Beering's Island. The ship being so shattered by the storm, that it was no longer in a condition to keep the sea, Vorobieff built another small vessel with drift-wood, which he called Jeremiah; in which he arrived at Kamtchatka in Autumn, 1752.
Upon the above-mentioned island were caught 700 old and 120 cub sea-otters, 1900 blue foxes, 5700 black sea-bears, and 1310 Kotiki, or cub sea-bears.
A voyage made about this time from Anadyrsk deserves to be mentioned.

Voyage of Novikoff and Bacchoff from Anadyrsk.

August 24, 1749, Simeon Novikoff of Yakutsk, and Ivan Bacchoff of Ustyug, agents for Ivan Shilkin, sailed from Anadyrsk into the mouth of the Kamtchatka river. They assigned the insecurity of the roads as their reason for coming from Anadyrsk to Kamtchatka by sea; on this account, having determined to risk all the dangers[Pg 43] of a sea voyage, they built a vessel one hundred and thirty versts above Anadyr, after having employed two years and five months in its construction.

Narrative of te Voyage.

The narrative of their expedition is as follows. In 1748, they sailed down the river Anadyr, and through two bays, called Kopeikina and Onemenskaya, where they found many sand banks, but passed round them without difficulty. From thence they steered into the exterior gulph, and waited for a favourable wind. Here they saw several Tschutski, who appeared upon the heights singly and not in bodies, as if to reconnoitre; which made them cautious. They had descended the river and its bays in nine days. In passing the large opening of the exterior bay, they steered between the beach, that lies to the left, and a rock near it; where, at about an hundred and twenty yards from the rock, the depth of water is from three to four fathoms. From the opening they steered E. S. E. about fifty versts, in about four fathom water; then doubled a sandy point, which runs out directly against the Tshuktshi coast, and thus reached the open sea.
From the 10th of July to the 30th, they were driven about by tempestuous winds, at no great distance from the mouth of the Anadyr; and ran up the small river Katirka, upon whose banks dwell the Koriacs, a people [Pg 44]tributary to Russia. The mouth of the river is from sixty to eighty yards broad, from three to four fathoms deep, and abounds in fish. From thence they put again to sea, and after having beat about for some time, they at length reached Beering's Island. |Shipwreck upon Beering's Island.| Here they lay at anchor from the 15th of September to the 30th of October, when a violent storm blowing right from the sea, drove the vessel upon the rocks, and dashed her to pieces. The crew however were saved: and now they looked out for the remains of Beering's wreck, in order to employ the materials for the constructing of a boat. They found indeed some remaining materials, but almost entirely rotten, and the iron-work corroded with rust. Having selected however the best cables, and what iron-work was immediately necessary, and collected drift-wood during the winter, they built with great difficulty a small boat, whose keel was only seventeen Russian ells and an half long, and which they named Capiton. In this they put to sea, and sailed in search of an unknown island, which they thought they saw lying North-east; but finding themselves mistaken, they tacked about, and stood far Copper Island: from thence they sailed to Kamtchatka, where they arrived at the time above-mentioned.
The new constructed vessel was granted in property to Ivan Shilkin as some compensation for his losses, and with the privilege of employing it in a future expedition[Pg 45] to the New Discovered Islands. Accordingly he sailed therein on the 7th of October, 1757, with a crew of twenty Russians, and the same number of Kamtchadals: he was accompanied by Studentzoff a Cossac, who was sent to collect the tribute for the crown. An account of this expedition will be given hereafter [35].

Voyage of Durneff, in the St. Nicholas, 1754.

August, 1754, Nikiphor Trapesnikoff fitted out the Shitik St. Nicholas, which sailed from Kamtchatka under the command of the Cossac Kodion Durneff. He first touched at two of the Aleütian Isles, and afterwards upon a third, which had not been yet discovered. He returned to Kamtchatka in 1747. His cargo consisted of the skins of 1220 sea-otters, of 410 female, and 665 cubs; besides which, the crew had obtained in barter from the islanders the skins of 652 sea-otters, of 30 female ditto, and 50 cubs.

Narrative of the Voyage.

From an account delivered in the 3d of May, 1758, by Durneff and Sheffyrin, who was sent as collector of the tributes, it appears that they sailed in ten days as far as Ataku, one of the Aleütian Islands; that they remained there until the year 1757, and lived upon amicable terms with the natives.

Description of the Aleütian Isles.

The second island, which is nearest to Ataku, and which contains the greatest number of inhabitants, is[Pg 46] called Agataku; and the third Shemya: they lie from forty to fifty versts asunder. |Account of inhabitants.| Upon all the three islands there are (exclusive of children) but sixty males, whom they made tributary. The inhabitants live upon roots which grow wild, and sea animals: they do not employ themselves in catching fish, although the rivers abound with all kinds of salmon, and the sea with turbot. Their cloaths are made of the skins of birds and of sea-otters. The Toigon or chief of the first island informed them by means of a boy, who understood the Russian language, that Eastward there are three large and well peopled islands, Ibiya, Ricksa, and Olas, whose inhabitants speak a different language. Sheffyrin and Durneff found upon the island three round copper plates, with some letters engraved upon them, and ornamented with foliage, which the waves had cast upon the shore: they brought them, together with other trifling curiosities, which they had procured from the natives, to New Kamtchatkoi Ostrog.
Another ship built of larchwood by the same Trapesnikoff, which sailed in 1752 under the conduct of Alexei Drusinin a merchant of Kursk, had been wrecked at Beering's Island, where the crew constructed another vessel out of the wreck, which they named Abraham. In this vessel they bore away for the more distant islands; but being forced back by contrary winds to the same island, and meeting with the St. Nicholas upon the point of sailing for the Aleütian Isles, they embarked on that ship, after having left the new constructed vessel under the care of[Pg 47] four of their own sailors. The crew had slain upon Beering's Island five sea-otters, 1222 arctic foxes, and 2500 sea-bears: their share of the furs, during their expedition in the St. Nicholas, amounted to the skins of 500 sea-otters, and of 300 cubs, exclusive of 200 sea-otter-skins, which they procured by barter.

[Pg 48]

CHAP. IV.
Voyages from 1753 to 1756.
Some of the further Aleütian or Fox Islands touched at by Serebranikoff's vessel.—Some account of the Natives.

Three vessels were fitted out for the islands in 1753, one by Cholodiloff, a second by Serebranikoff agent for the merchant Rybenskoy, and the third by Ivan Krassilnikoff a merchant of Kamtchatka.

Cholodiloff's Ship sails from Kamchatka 1753.

Cholodiloff's ship sailed from Kamtchatka, the 19th of August, manned with thirty-four men; and anchored the 28th before Beering's Island, where they proposed to winter, in order to lay-in a flock of provisions: as they were attempting to land, the boat overset, and nine of the crew were drowned.
June 30, 1754, they stood out to sea in quest of new discoveries: the weather however proving stormy and foggy, and the ship springing a leak, they were all in danger of perishing: in this situation they unexpectedly reached one of the Aleütian islands, were they lay from the 15th of September until the 9th of July, 1755. In[Pg 49] the autumn of 1754 they were joined by a Kamtchadal, and a Koriac: these persons, together with four others, had deserted from Trapesnikoff's crew; and had remained upon the island in order to catch sea-otters for their own profit. Four of these deserters were killed by the islanders for having debauched their wives: but as the two persons above-mentioned were not guilty of the same disorderly conduct, the inhabitants supplied them with women, and lived with them upon the best terms. The crew slew upon this island above 1600 sea-otters, and came back safe to Kamtchatka in autumn 1755.

Departure of Serebranikoff's Vessel.

Serebranikoff's vessel sailed in July 1753, manned also with thirty-four Russians and Kamtchadals: they discovered several new islands, which were probably some of the more distant ones; but were not so fortunate in hunting sea-otters as Cholodiloff's crew. They steered S. E. and on the 17th of August anchored under an unknown island; whose inhabitants spoke a language they did not understand. Here they proposed looking out for a safe harbour; but were prevented by the coming on of a sudden storm, which carried away their anchor. The ship being tost about for several days towards the East, they discovered not far from the first island four others: still more to the East three other islands appeared in sight; but on neither of these were they able to land. |Shipwrecked upon one of the more distant Islands.| The vessel continued driving until the 2d of September, and was considerably shattered, when they fortunately came[Pg 50] near an island and cast anchor before it; they were however again forced from this station, the vessel wrecked upon the coast, and the crew with difficulty reached the shore.
This island seemed to be right opposite to Katyrskoi Noss in the peninsula of Kamtchatka, and near it they saw three others. Towards the end of September Demitri Trophin, accompanied with nine men, went out in the boat upon an hunting and reconnoitring party: they were attacked by a large body of inhabitants, who hurled darts from a small wooden engine, and wounded one of the company. The first fire however drove them back; and although they returned several times to the attack in numerous bodies, yet they were always repulsed without difficulty.

Account of the Inhabitants.

These savages mark and colour their faces like the Islanders above-mentioned; and also thrust pieces of bone through holes made in their under-lips.
Soon afterwards the Russians were joined in a friendly manner by ten islanders, who brought the flesh of sea-animals and of sea-otters; this present was the more welcome, as they had lived for some time upon nothing but small shell-fish and roots; and had suffered greatly from hunger. Several toys were in return distribut[Pg 51]ed among the savages. |The Crew construct another Vessel, and return to Kamtchatka.| The Russians remained until June, 1754, upon this island: at that time they departed in a small vessel, constructed from the remains of the wreck, and called the St. Peter and Paul: in this they landed at Katyrskoi Noss; where having collected 140 sea-horse teeth, they got safe to the mouth of the Kamtchatka river.
During this voyage twelve Kamtchadals deserted; of whom six were slain, together with a female inhabitant, upon one of the most distant islands. The remainder, upon their return to Kamtchatka, were examined; and from them the following circumstances came to light. The island, where the ship was wrecked, is about 70 versts long, and 20 broad. Around it lie twelve other islands of different sizes, from five to ten versts distant from each other. Eight of them appear to be no more than five versts long. All these islands contain about a thousand souls. The dwellings of the inhabitants are provided with no other furniture than benches, and mats of platted grass [36]. Their dress consists of a kind of shirt made of bird-skins, and of an upper garment of intestines stitched together; they wear wooden caps, ornamented with a small piece of board projecting forwards, as it seemed, for a defence against the arrows. They are all provided with stone knives, and a[Pg 52] few of them possess iron ones: their only weapons are arrows with points of bone or flint, which they shoot from a wooden instrument. There are no trees upon the island: it produces however the cow-parsnip [37], which grows at Kamtchatka. The climate is by no means severe, for the snow does not lie upon the ground above a month in the year.

Departure of Krassilnikoff's Vessel.

Krassilnikoff's vessel sailed in 1754, and anchored on the 18th of October before Beering's Island; where all the ships which make to the New Discovered Islands are accustomed to winter, in order to procure a stock of salted provisions from the sea-cows and other amphibious animals, that are found in great abundance. Here they refitted the vessel, which had been damaged by driving upon her anchor; and having laid in a sufficient store of all necessaries, weighed the 1st of August, 1754. The 10th they were in sight of an island, whose coast was lined with such a number of inhabitants, that they durst not venture ashore. Accordingly they stood out to sea, and being overtaken by a storm, they were reduced to great distress for want of water; at length they were driven upon Copper Island, where they landed; and having taken in wood and water, they again set sail. |Shipwrecked upon Copper Island.| They were beat back however by contrary winds, and dropped both their anchors near the shore; but the storm increasing at night, both the cables were broken, and the ship dashed to pieces upon the coast. All the[Pg 53] crew were fortunately saved; and means were found to get ashore the ship's tackle, ammunition, guns, and the remains of the wreck; the provisions, however, were mostly spoiled. Here they were exposed to a variety of misfortunes; three of them were drowned on the 15th of October, as they were going to hunt; others almost perished with hunger, having no nourishment but small shell-fish and roots. On the 29th of December great part of the ship's tackle, and all the wood, which they had collected from the wreck, was washed away during an high sea. Notwithstanding their distresses, they continued their hunting parties, and caught 103 sea-otters, together with 1390 blue foxes.

The Crew reach Beering's Island in two Baidars.

In spring they put to sea for Beering's Island in two baidars, carrying with them all the ammunition, fire-arms, and remaining tackle. Having reached that island, they found the small vessel Abraham, under the care of the four sailors who had been left ashore by the crew of Trapesnikoff's ship: but as that vessel was not large enough to contain the whole number, together with their cargo of furs, they staid until Serebranikoff's and Tolstyk's vessels arrived. These took in eleven of the crew, with their part of the furs. Twelve remained at Beering's Island, where they killed great numbers of arctic foxes, and returned to Kamtchatka in the Abraham, excepting two, who joined Shilkin's crew.

[Pg 54]

CHAP. V.
Voyages from 1756 to 1758.

Voyage of Andrean Tolstyk in 1756 to the Aleütian Isles.

September 17, 1756, the vessel Andrean and Natalia, fitted out by Andrean Tolstyk, merchant of Selenginsk, and manned with thirty-eight Russians and Kamtchadals, sailed from the mouth of the Kamtchatka river. The autumnal storms coming on, and a scarcity of provisions ensuing, they made to Beering's Island, where they continued until the 14th of June 1757. As no sea-otters came on shore that winter, they killed nothing but seals, sea-lions, and sea-cows; whose flesh served them for provision, and their skins for the coverings of baidars.
June 13, 1757, they weighed anchor, and after eleven days sailing came to Ataku, one of the Aleütian isles discovered by Nevodsikoff. Here they found the inhabitants, as well of that, as of the other two islands, assembled; these islanders had just taken leave of the crew of Trapesnikoff's vessel, which had sailed for Kamtchatka. The Russians seized this opportunity of persuading them to pay tribute; with this view they[Pg 55] beckoned the Toigon, whose name was Tunulgasen: the latter recollected one of the crew, a Koriac, who had formerly been left upon these islands, and who knew something of their language. A copper kettle, a fur and cloth coat, a pair of breeches, stockings and boots, were bestowed upon this chief, who was prevailed upon by these presents to pay tribute. Upon his departure for his own island, he left behind him three women and a boy, in order to be taught the Russian language, which the latter very soon learned.
The Russians wintered upon this island, and divided themselves, as usual, into different hunting parties: they were compelled, by stormy weather, to remain there until the 17th of June, 1758: before they went away, the above-mentioned chief returned with his family, and paid a year's tribute.
This vessel brought to Kamtchatka the most circumstantial account of the Aleütian isles which had been yet received.

Account of those Islands.

The two largest contained at that time about fifty males, with whom the Russians had lived in great harmony. They heard of a fourth island, lying at some distance from the third, called by the natives Iviya, but which they did not reach on account of the tempestuous weather.
[Pg 56]
The first island is about an hundred versts long and from five to twenty broad. They esteemed the distance from the first to the second, which lies East by South, to be about thirty versts, and about forty from the latter to the third, which stands South East. The original dress of the islanders was made of the skins of birds, sea-otters and seals, which were tanned; but the greatest part had procured from the Russians dog-skin coats, and under-garments of sheep-skin, which they were very fond of. They are represented as naturally talkative, quick of apprehension, and much attached to the Russians. Their dwellings are hollowed in the ground, and covered with wooden roofs resembling the huts in the peninsula of Kamtchatka. Their principal food is the flesh of sea animals, which they harpoon with their bone lances; they also feed upon several species of roots and berries: namely [38]cloud-berries, crake-berries, bilberries, and services. The rivulets abound with salmon, and other fish of the trout kind similar to those of Kamtchatka; and the sea with turbot, which are caught with bone hooks.
These islands produce quantities of small osiers and underwood, but no large trees: the sea however drives ashore fir and larch, sufficient for the construction of[Pg 57] their huts. There are a great number of arctic foxes upon the first island, as well as sea-otters; and the shores, during stormy weather, are covered with wild geese and ducks.
The Russians, according to the order of the chancery of Bolcheretsk, endeavoured to persuade the Toigon of these islands to accompany them to Kamtchatka, but without success: upon their departure they distributed among the islanders some linen, and thirteen nets for the purpose of catching sea-otters, which were very thankfully received. This vessel brought to Kamtchatka the skins of 5030 old and young sea-otters, of 1040 old and young arctic foxes, and of 330 Medwedki or cubs of sea-otters.
In the year 1757, Ivan Nikiphoroff, a merchant of Moscow, sent out a vessel: but we have no further account of this voyage, than that she sailed to the Fox Islands, at least as far as Umnak.

Voyage of Ivan Shilkin in the Capiton 1757.

The small vessel Capiton, the same that was built upon Beering's Island, and which was given to the merchant [39] Ivan Shilkin, put to sea September 26, 1757, carrying on board the Cossac Ignatius Studentsoff, who has given an account of the voyage.
[Pg 58]
They had not long sailed, before they were driven back to the shore of Kamtchatka by stress of weather, and the vessel stranded; by which accident they lost the rudder and one of the crew. This misfortune prevented them from putting to sea again until the following year, with thirty-nine of the original crew, several persons being left behind on account of sickness. They made directly to Beering's Island, where they took up two of Krasilnikoff's crew [40], who had been shipwrecked. They again set sail in August of the same year, and touched at the nearest Aleütian Isles, after suffering greatly from storms. They then continued their course to the remoter islands lying between East and South East; and having passed by the first, they anchored before the second. A boat being immediately sent out towards the shore, the crew was attacked by a numerous body of islanders in so sudden a manner, that they had scarcely time to secure themselves by returning to the vessel. They had no sooner got aboard, than a violent gale of wind blowing from the shore broke the cable, and drove them out to sea. |Shipwrecked upon one of the Fox Islands.| The weather became suddenly thick and foggy; and under these circumstances the vessel was forced upon a small island at no great distance from the other, and shipwrecked. The crew got to shore with difficulty, and were able to save nothing but the fire-arms and ammunition.
[Pg 59]
They had scarcely got to land, before they were beset by a number of savages, rowing in baidars from the Western point of the island. This attack was the more to be dreaded, because several of the Russians were disabled by cold and wet; and there remained only fifteen capable of defending themselves. They advanced however without hesitation to the islanders; and one Nicholas Tsiuproff (who had a slight knowledge of their language) accosted and endeavoured to sooth them, but without success. For upon their approach the savages gave a sudden shout, and saluting them at the same time with a volley of darts, wounded one person in the hand. Upon this the Russians fired, killed two of the assailants, and forced the remainder to retire: and although a fresh body appeared in sight, as if they were coming to the assistance of their companions, yet no new attack was made. Soon afterwards the savages left the island, and rowed across the strait.
From the 6th of September to the 23d of April, they underwent all the extremities of famine: during that period their best fare was shell-fish and roots; and they were even at times reduced to still the cravings of their appetite with the leather, which the waves washed ashore from the wreck. Seventeen died of hunger, and the rest would soon have followed their companions, if they had not fortunately discovered a dead whale, which the sea had cast ashore. |The Crew construct a small Vessel, and are again shipwrecked.| They remained upon this island another[Pg 60] winter, where they slew 230 sea-otters: and having built a small vessel out of the remains of the wreck, they put to sea in the beginning of summer 1760. They had scarcely reached one of the Aleütian islands, where Serebranikoff's vessel lay at anchor, when they were again shipwrecked, and lost all the remaining tackle and furs. Only thirteen of the crew now remained, who returned on board the above-mentioned vessel to Kamtchatka July 1751.

[Pg 61]

CHAP. VI.
Voyages in 1758, 1759, and 1760—to the Fox Islands—in the St. Vladimir, fitted out by Trapesnikoff—and in the Gabriel, by Betshevin—The latter under the command of Pushkareff sails to Alaksu or Alachskak, one of the remotest Eastern Islands hitherto visited—Some account of its inhabitants, and productions, which latter are different from those of the more Western Islands.

Voyage of the St. Vladimir, commanded by Paikoff, 1758.

September 1758, the merchant Simeon Krasilnikoff and Nikiphor Trapesnikoff fitted out two vessels for the purpose of catching sea-otters. One of these vessels, called the St. Vladimir, sailed the 28th under the command of Demetri Paikoff, carrying on board the Cossac Sila Shaffyrin as collector of the tribute, and a crew of forty-five men. In twenty-four hours they reached Beering's Island, where they wintered. July 16, 1759, they steered towards the South in order to discover land, but being disappointed, they bore away to the North for the Aleütian isles: being prevented however by contrary winds from reaching them, they sailed streight towards the distant islands, which are known at present under the name of Lyssie Ostrova or the Fox Islands. |Arrival at the Fox Island.| September 1, they reached the first of these, called by the natives Atchu, and by the Russians Goreloi or the Burnt Island:[Pg 62] but as the coasts were very steep and craggy, they made to Amlach, lying at a small distance, where they determined to pass the winter. They divided themselves accordingly into three parties; the first, at the head of which was Alexèy Drusinin, went over to a small island called in the journal Sitkin; the Cossac Shaffyrin led the second, consisting of ten persons, to the island Atach; and Simeon Polevoi remained aboard with the rest of the crew. All these islands were well peopled; the men had bones thrust through their ears, under lips, and gristle of their noses; and the faces of the women were marked with blackish streaks made with a needle and thread in the skin, in the same manner as a Cossac one of the crew had observed before upon some of the Tschutski. The inhabitants had no iron; the points of their darts and lances were tipped with bone and flint.
They at first imagined, that Amlach was uninhabited; but in one of their hunting parties they found a boy of eight years old, whom they brought with them: they gave him the name of Hermolai, and taught him the Russian language, that he might serve as an interpreter. After penetrating further they discovered an hut, wherein were two women, four men, and as many boys, whom they treated kindly, and employed in hunting, fishing, and in digging of roots. This kind behaviour encouraged others to pay frequent visits, and to exchange fish and flesh for goat's hair, horses manes, and glass beads. [Pg 63]They procured also four other islanders with their wives, who dug roots for them: and thus the winter passed away without any disturbance.
In the spring the hunting parties returned; during these excursions one man alone was killed upon the island Atach, and his fire-arms taken away by the natives. June 1760, the same parties were sent again to the same islands. Shaffyrin, who headed one of the parties, was soon afterwards killed, with eleven men, by the inhabitants of Atach, but for what reason is not known.—Drusinin received the first information of this massacre from some inhabitants of Sitkin, where he then was; and immediately set out with the remaining hunters to join their companions, who were left on board. Although he succeeded in regaining the vessel, their number was by this time so considerably reduced that their situation appeared very dangerous: he was soon however relieved from his apprehensions by the arrival of the merchant Betshevin's vessel at the island of Atchu [41]. The two crews entered into partnership: the St. Vladimir received twenty-two men, and transferred eleven of her own to the other vessel. The former wintered at Amlach, and the latter continued at anchor before Atchu.
[Pg 64]

Voyage of Pushkareff, 1760.

This vessel, fitted out at the expence of Betshevin, a merchant of Irkutsk, was called Gabriel; and put to sea from the mouth of the Bolshaia Reka July 31st, 1760. She was manned with forty Russians and twenty Kamtchadals, and carried on board Gabriel Pushkareff, of the garrison of Ochotsk, Andrew Shdanoff, Jacob Sharypoff, Prokopèi Lobashkoff, together with Nikiphor Golodoff, and Aphanassei Oskoloff, Betshevin's agents.
Having sailed through the second strait of the Kuril Isles, they reached the Aleütian Isles on the 24th of August. They stood out from thence in order to make new discoveries among those more remote islands, which lie in one continued chain to the extent of 15 degrees of longitude.

Reaches Atchu, one of the Fox Islands.

September 25 they reached Atchu, or Burnt Island, and found the above-mentioned ship the St. Vladimir, lying twenty versts from that island, before Amlach, in danger of being attacked by the islanders. They immediately joined crews in order to enable the enfeebled company of the St. Vladimir to continue hunting; and as it is usual in such cases, entered into a contract for the division of the profit. During that winter the two crews killed partly upon Siguyam, about 800 sea otters of different sizes, about 100 medwedki or cubs, some river otters,[Pg 65] above 400 red, greyish, and black foxes, and collected twelve pood of sea-horse teeth.

Departs from thence.

In June, of the following year, the two crews were distributed equally on board the two vessels: Krassilnikoff's remained at Amlach, with an intention of returning to Kamtchatka, and Belshevin's put to sea from Atchu in quest of other islands. They touched first at Umnak where they met Nikiphoroff's vessel. Here they took in wood and water, and repaired their sails: they then sailed to the most remote island Alaksu [42], or Alachshak, where, having laid up the ship in a bay, they built huts, and made preparations for wintering. |Winters upon Alaksu.| This island was very well inhabited, and the natives behaved at first in a very friendly manner, for they trafficked with the Russians, and even delivered up nine of their children as hostages; but such was the lawless and irregular behaviour of the crew, that the islanders were soon irritated and provoked to hostilities.
In January 1762, Golodoff and Pushkareff went with a party of twenty men along the shore; and, as they were attempting to violate some girls upon the island Unyumga, were surprised by a numerous body of the natives: Golodoff and another Russian were killed, and three were wounded. Not long afterwards the watch of[Pg 66] the crew was suddenly attacked by the islanders; four men were slain upon the spot, as many wounded, and the huts reduced to ashes.
May 3, Lobaschkoff and another Russian were killed, as they were going to bathe in the warm springs, which lie about five versts from the haven: upon which seven of the hostages were put to death. The same month the natives attempted to surprise the Russians in their huts; but being fortunately discovered in time were repulsed by means of the fire arms. At length the Russians, finding themselves in continual danger from these attempts, weighed anchor, and sailed for Umnak, where they took up two inhabitants with their wives and children, in order to shew them other islands. They were prevented however by tempestuous weather from reaching them; and were driven out to sea Westward with such violence, that all their sails were carried away: at length on the 23d of September they struck against land, which they took for the peninsula of Kamtchatka; and they found it to be the district of Stobolikoi Ostrog. Six men were immediately dispatched in the small boat and two baidars to land: they carried with them several girls (who had been brought from the new discovered islands) in order to gather berries. Mean while the crew endeavoured to ply the ship to the windward. When the boat returned, those on board were scarcely able, on account of the storm, to row to the ship, and to catch hold of a rope,[Pg 67] which was flung out to them. Two men remained with the baidars, and were afterwards carried by some Kamtchadals to New Kamtchatkoi Ostrog. The ship without one sail remaining was driven along the coast of Kamtchatka towards Avatcha, and about seventy versts from that harbour ran into the bay of Kalatzoff on the 25th of September. Their cargo consisted of the skins of 900 old and young sea-otters, and of 350 foxes.
Pushkareff and his crew had during this voyage behaved with such inhumanity towards the islanders, that they were brought to trial in the year 1764; and the above-mentioned account is taken from the concurring evidence of several witnesses. It appears also, that they brought away from Atchu and Amleg two Aleütian men and three boys, Ivan an Aleütian interpreter, and above twenty women and girls whom they debauched. Ivan, and one of the boys whom they called Moses, were the only persons who arrived at Kamtchatka. Upon their first approach to that coast, fourteen women were sent ashore to dig roots and to gather berries. Of these, two ran away, and a third was killed, as they were returning to the ship by one Gorelin: upon this the others in a fit of despair leaped into the sea and were drowned. All the remaing Aleütians, excepting the two persons above-mentioned, were immediately thrown overboard by Pushkareff's order. The account which follows, although it is found in the depositions, deserves not to be entirely credited in all particulars.
[Pg 68]

Account of the Inhabitants of Alacksu.

The natives of the above-mentioned islands are very tall and strongly made. They make their cloaths of the skins of birds; and thrust bones through their under-lips by way of ornament. They were said to strike their noses until they bled, in order to suck the blood; but we are informed from subsequent accounts, that the blood thus drawn from themselves was intended for other purposes [43]. They were accused even of murdering their own children in order to drink their blood; but this is undoubtedly an invention of the criminals, who represented the islanders in the most hideous colours, in order to excuse their own cruelties. Their dwellings under-ground are similar to those of the Kamtchadals; and have several openings on the sides, through which they make their escape when the principal entrance is beset by an enemy. Their weapons consist of arrows and lances pointed with bone, which they dart at a considerable distance.

Animals.

The island Alaksu is said to contain rein-deer, bears, wild boars, wolves, otters, and a species of dogs with long ears, which are very fierce and wild. And as the greatest part of these animals are not found upon those Fox Islands which lie nearer to the west, this circum[Pg 69]stance seems to prove that Alaksu is situated at no great distance from the Continent of America. As to red, black, and grey foxes, there is so large a quantity, that they are seen in herds of ten or twenty at a time. Wood is driven upon the coast in great abundance. The island produces no large trees, having only some underwood, and a great variety of bulbs, roots, and berries. The coasts are frequented by large flocks of sea-birds, the same which are observed upon the shore of the sea of Penshinsk.

Voyage of the Peter and Paul to the Aleütian Islands, 1759.

August 4, 1759, the Peter and Paul, fitted out at the expence of the merchant Rybenskoi by his agent Andrew Serebranikoff, and manned with thirty-three persons, set sail from the mouth of the Kamtchatka river. They steered southwards until the 20th of September without seeing any land, when they stood for the Aleütian Isles, one of which they reached the 27th of September. They remained there until the 24th of June, 1761; during which time they killed upon this and the two other islands 1900 old and young sea-otters, and obtained 450 more by bartering with the islanders. The Cossac Minyachin, who was on board as collector of the tribute, calls in his account the first island by the Russian name of Krugloi, or Round Island, which he supposes to be about sixty versts in circumference: the largest island lies thirty versts from thence, and is about an hundred and fifty round: the smallest is about thirty[Pg 70] versts from the latter, and is forty in circumference. These three islands contain several high rocky mountains. The number of inhabitants were computed to be about forty-two men, without reckoning women and children.

[Pg 71]

CHAP. VII.
Voyage of Andrean Tolstyk in the St. Andrean and Natalia—Discovery of some New Islands called Andreanoffskye Ostrova—Description of six of those Islands.

Voyage of Andrean Tolstyk in the St. Andrean and Natalia, 1760.

The most remarkable voyage hitherto made is that of the St. Andrean and Natalia, of which the following extract is drawn from the Journals of the two Cossacs, Peter Wasyutinskoi and Maxim Lasaroff. This vessel, fitted out by the above-mentioned merchant Andrean Tolstyk, weighed from the mouth of the Kamtchatka river September 27, 1760; she stood out to sea right Eastwards, and on the 29th reached Beering's Island. There she lay at anchor in a bay, from whence the crew brought all the tackle and lading ashore. Soon afterwards they were driven upon the shore by a violent autumnal storm, without any other damage than the loss of an anchor. Here they passed the winter; and having refitted their vessel, put to sea June 24, 1761: they passed by Copper Island, which lies about an hundred and fifty versts from the former, and steered S. E. towards the Aleütian Isles, which they did not reach before the 6th of August. |Reaches Ayagh, one of the Andreanoffikye Islands.| They cast anchor in an open bay near Attak, in order to procure an interpreter from the [Pg 72]Toigon Tunulgasen; but the latter being dead, they sent presents to the Toigon Bakutun. As there were already three ships lying at anchor before this Island, on the 19th they again stood out to sea in quest of the more distant islands, for the purpose of exacting a tribute. They carried on board a relation of the Toigon Bakutun, who had a slight knowledge of the Russian language. They steered N. E. and N. E. by E. and were driven, on the 28th, by a high gale of wind towards an island, before which they immediately cast anchor. The following morning the two Cossacs with a party of eight persons went ashore to reconnoitre the island; they saw no inhabitants. August 30, the vessel was brought into a safe bay. The next day some of the crew were sent ashore to procure wood, that the ship might be refitted; but there were no large trees to be met with upon the whole island. Lasaroff, who was one of the party, had been there before in Serebranikoff's vessel: he called the island Ayagh or Kayachu; and another, which lay about the distance of twenty versts, Kanaga. As they were returning to the ship, they saw two islanders rowing in small canoes towards Kanaga, one of whom had served as an interpreter, and was known to Lasaroff. The latter accordingly made them a present of some fresh provision, which the others gratefully accepted, and then continued their course across the strait to Kanaga. Soon afterwards Lasaroff and eight men rowed over to that island, and having invited the Toigon, who was a rela[Pg 73]tion of the above-mentioned interpreter, to pay them a visit at Kayachu, they immediately returned to the ship.
Near the place where they lay at anchor, a rivulet falls into the bay; it flows from a lake that is about two or three versts in circumference, and which is formed from a number of small springs. Its course is about eight versts long; and in summer several species of salmon and other fish, similar to those which are found at Kamtchatka, ascend the stream as far as the lake.
Lasaroff was employed in fishing in this rivulet, when the Toigon of Kanaga, accompanied with a considerable number of the natives in fifteen baidars, arrived at the ship: he was hospitably entertained, and received several presents. The Russians seized this opportunity of persuading the islanders to acknowledge themselves subject to the Empress, and to pay a regular tribute; to which they made no great objection. By means of the interpreter, the following information was obtained from the Toigon. The natives chiefly subsist upon dried fish and other sea animals. They catch [44]turbot of a very large size, and take seals by means of harpoons, to which they fasten bladders. They fish for cod with bone hooks, and lines made of a long and tough species of sea-weed,[Pg 74] which they dip in fresh water and draw out to the size of a fine packthread.
As soon as the vessel was laid up in a secure place, Tolstyk, Vassyutin and Lasaroff, with several others, went in four baidars to Kanaga. The first remained upon that island, but the two others rowed in two baidars to Tsetchina, which is separated from Kanaga by a strait about seven versts in breadth: the islanders received them amicably, and promised to pay tribute. The several parties returned all safe to Kayachu, without having procured any furs. Soon afterwards Tolstyk dispatched some hunters in four baidars to Tagalak, Atchu, and Amlach, which lay to the East of Kayachu: none of these party met with any opposition from the natives: they accordingly remained with great tranquillity upon these several islands until the year 1764. Their success in hunting was not however very great; for they caught no more than 1880 full grown sea-otters, 778 middle-aged, and 372 cubs.

Description of the Andreanoffskye Islands.

The following is Lasaroff's description of the above-mentioned six islands [45] which lie in a chain somewhat to the North West of the Fox Islands, and must not be blended with them. The first certain account was brought by this vessel, the St. Andrean and Natalia,[Pg 75] from whence they are called the Andreanoffskie Ostrova or the Islands of St. Andrean.

Ayagh.

Ayagh is about an hundred and fifty versts in circumference: it contains several high and rocky mountains, the intervals of which are bare heath and moor ground: not one forest tree is to be found upon the whole island. The vegetables seem for the most part like those which grow in Kamtchatka. Of berries there are found [46]crow or crake-berries and the larger sort of bilberries, but in small quantities. Of the roots of burnet and all kinds of snake weed, there is such abundance as to afford, in case of necessity, a plentiful provision for the inhabitants. The above-mentioned rivulet is the only one upon the island. The number of inhabitants cannot sufficiently be ascertained, because the natives pass continually from island to island in their baidars.

Kanaga.

Kanaga stands West from Ayagh, and is two hundred versts in circumference. It contains an high volcano where the natives find sulphur in summer. At the foot of this mountain are hot springs, wherein they occasionally boil their provision. There is no rivulet upon this island; and the low grounds are similar to those of Ayagh. The inhabitants are reckoned about two hundred souls.
[Pg 76]

Tsetchina.

Tsetchina lies Eastward about forty versts from Kanaga, and is about eighty in circumference. It is full of rocky mountains, of which the Bielaia Sopka, or the White Peak, is the highest. In the valley there are also some warm springs, but no rivulet abounding in fish: the island contains only four families.

Tagalak.

Tagalak is forty versts in circumference, ten East from Tsetchina: it contains a few rocks, but neither rivulets with fish, nor any vegetable production fit for nourishment. The coasts are rocky, and dangerous to approach in baidars. This island is also inhabited by no more than four families.

Atchu.

Atchu lies in the same position forty versts distant from Tagalak, and is about three hundred in circumference: near it is an harbour, where ships may ride securely at anchor. It contains many rocky mountains; and several small rivulets that fall into the sea, and of which one running Eastwards abounds in fish. The roots which have just before been mentioned, and bulbs of white lilies, are found there in plenty. Its inhabitants amount to about sixty souls.

Amlach.

Amlach is a mountainous island standing to the East more than seven versts from Atchu, and is also three hundred in circumference. It contains the same num[Pg 77]ber of inhabitants as Atchu, has a commodious haven, and produces roots in abundance. Of several small rivulets there is one only which flows towards the North, that contains any fish. Besides these a cluster of other islands were observed stretching farther to the East, which were not touched upon.

Account of the Inhabitants.

The inhabitants of these six islands are tributary to Russia. They live in holes dug in the earth, in which they make no fires even in winter. Their clothes are made like shirts, of the skins of the [47]guillinot and puffin, which they catch with springes. Over these in rainy weather they wear an upper garment, made of the bladders and other dried intestines of seals and sea-lions oiled and stitched together. They catch cod and turbot with bone hooks, and eat them raw. As they never lay in a store of provision, they suffer greatly from hunger in stormy weather, when they cannot go out to fish; at which time they are reduced to live upon small shell-fish and sea-wrack, which they pick up upon the beach and eat raw. In May and June they kill sea-otters in the following manner: When the weather is calm, they row out to sea in several baidars: having found the animal, they strike him with harpoons, and follow him so closely, that he cannot easily escape. They take sea dogs in the same manner. In the severest weather they make no addition to their usual cloathing. In order to warm[Pg 78] themselves in winter, whenever it freezes very hard, they burn a heap of dry grass, over which they stand and catch the heat under their clothes. The clothes of the women and children are made of sea-otter skins, in the same form as those belonging to the men. Whenever they pass the night at a distance from home, they dig a hole in the earth, and lay themselves down in it, covered only with their clothes and mats of platted grass. Regardless of every thing but the present moment, destitute of religion, and without the least appearance of decency, they seem but few degrees removed from brutes.
As soon as the several baidars sent out upon hunting parties were returned, and the vessel got ready for their departure, the Toigons of these islands (excepting Kanaga) came in baidars to Tolstyk, accompanied with a considerable number of the natives; their names were Tsarkulini, Tshunila, Kayugotsk and Mayatok. They brought with them a voluntary tribute, making presents of pieces of dried salmon, and unanimously expressing their satisfaction upon the good conduct of the Russians. Tolstyk gave them in return some toys and other trifles, and desired them to recommend to the inhabitants of the other islands the like friendly behaviour towards the Russian merchants who should come amongst them, if they had a mind to be treated in the same manner.
June 14, 1764, they sailed for Kamtchatka, and anchored on the 19th before Shemiya, one of the Aleütian [Pg 79]Islands. The 21st they were forced from their anchor by tempestuous winds, and driven upon a rocky shore. This accident obliged them to send the lading ashore, and to draw the ship upon land in order to repair the damage, which was done not without great difficulty. On the 18th of August they stood out to sea and made towards Atchu, which they reached on the 20th. Having sprung a leak they again refitted the vessel; and, after taking on board the crew of a ship which had been lately cast away, they sailed for Kamtchatka. |The Vessel wrecked upon the Coast of Kamtchatka.| On the 4th of September they came in sight of that peninsula near Tzaschminskoi Ostrog; and on the 18th, as they were endeavouring to run into the mouth of the Kamtchatka river, they were forced by a storm upon the coast. The vessel was destroyed, and the greatest part of the cargo lost.

[Pg 80]

CHAP. VIII.
Voyage of the Zacharias and Elizabeth, fitted out by Kulkoff, and commanded by Drusinin—They sail to Umnak and Unalashka, and winter upon the latter island—The vessel destroyed, and all the crew, except four, murdered by the islanders—The adventures of these four Russians, and their wonderful escape.

I Shall here barely mention that a vessel was fitted out in August, 1760, at the expence of Terrenti Tsebaëfskoi: but I shall have occasion to be very circumstantial in my accounts concerning several others, which sailed during the following years: more copious information concerning the Fox Islands having been procured from these voyages, although for the most part unfortunate, than from all the preceding ones.
In 1762 four vessels sailed for the Fox Islands: of these only one returned safe to Kamtchatka.

Voyage of Drusinin in the Zacharias and Elizabeth, 1762.

The first was the Zacharias and Elizabeth, fitted out by Kulkoff, a merchant of Vologda and Company, under the command of Drusinin, and manned by thirty-four Russians, and three Kamtchadals.
[Pg 81]
September the 6th, they weighed anchor from Ochotsk, and arrived October the 11th in the haven of St. Peter and Paul, where they wintered. June the 24th, 1763, they again put to sea, and having reached, after eleven days sailing, the nearest Aleütian Islands, they anchored before Atach. They staid here about fourteen days, and took up seven Russians who had been shipwrecked on this coast. Among these was Korelin, who returned to Kamtchatka, and brought back the following account of the voyage.
July the 17th, they sailed from Atach towards the more distant islands. In the same month they landed upon an island, where the crew of the Andrean and Natalia was engaged in hunting; and, having laid in a provision of water, continued their voyage.

Arrival at Umnak.

In the beginning of September they arrived at Umnak, one of the Fox Islands, and cast anchor about a verst from the shore. They found there Glottoff's vessel, whose voyage will be mentioned in a succeeding chapter [48]. Drusinin immediately dispatched his first mate Maesnisk and Korelin, with thirty-four of the crew, to land. They passed over to the Eastern extremity of the island, which was distant about seventy versts from the vessel; and returned safe on the 12th of September. During this ex[Pg 82]pedition, they saw several remains of fox-traps which had been set by the Russians; and met with several natives who shewed some tribute-quittances. The same day letters were brought by the islanders from Medvedeff and Korovin [49], who were just arrived at Umnak and Unalashka in two vessels fitted out by the merchants Protassoff and Trapesnikoff. Answers were returned by the same messengers.

Winters at Unalashka.

On the 22d, Drusinin sailed to the Northern point of Unalashka, which lies about fifteen versts from Umnak: the crew, having laid up the vessel in a safe harbour, and brought the lading ashore, made preparation to construct an hut. Soon after their arrival, two Toigons of the nearest village brought hostages of their own accord; their example was immediately followed by several of the more distant villages. Here they received information of an hunting party sent from Trapesnikoff's ship. Upon which Maesnyk also dispatched three companies upon the same errand, one consisting of eleven men, among whom was Korelin, under the command of Peter Tsekaleff; a second of the same number, under Michael Kudyakoff; and a third of nine men, under Yephim Kaskitsyn. Of these three parties, Tsekaleff's was the only one of which we have received any circumstantial account: for not a single person of the other two parties, or of the crew remaining on board, ever returned to Kamtchatka.
[Pg 83]
Kaskitsyn remained near the haven, and the two other companies were dispatched to the Northern point of the island. Kudyakoff stopped at a place called Kalaktak, which contained about forty inhabitants; Tsekaleff went on to Inalok, which lies about thirty versts from Kalaktak. He found there a dwelling with about seventy inhabitants, whom he behaved to with kindness: he built an hut for himself and his companions, and kept a constant watch.

All the Crew, except four Russians, destroyed by the Natives.

December the 4th, six of the party being dispatched to look after the pit-falls, there remained only five Russians: namely, Peter Tsekaleff, Stephen Korelin, Dmitri Bragin, Gregory Shaffyrin, and Ivan Kokovin: the islanders took this opportunity of giving the first proofs of their hostile intentions, which they had hitherto concealed. As Tsekaleff and Shaffyrin were upon a visit to the islanders, the latter suddenly, and without any provocation, struck Tsekaleff upon the head with a club, and afterwards stabbed him with knives. They next fell upon Shaffyrin, who defended himself with an hatchet, and, though desperately wounded, forced his way back to his companions. Bragin and Korelin, who remained in the hut, had immediate recourse to their fire-arms; but Kokovin, who was at a small distance, was surrounded by the savages, and thrown down. They continued stabbing him with knives and darts, until Korelin came to his assistance; the latter having[Pg 84] wounded two islanders, and driven away the others, brought Kokovin half-dead to the hut.

The Adventures of the four Russians upon Unalaskka.

Soon afterwards the natives surrounded the hut, which the Russians had taken the precaution to provide with shooting-holes. The siege lasted four days without intermission. The islanders were prevented indeed by the fire-arms from storming the hut; but whenever the Russians made their appearance, darts were immediately shot at them from all sides; so that they could not venture to go out for water. At length when Shaffyrin and Kokovin were a little recovered, they all sallied out upon the islanders with their guns and lances; three persons were killed upon the spot, and several wounded; upon which the others fled away and dispersed. During the siege the savages were seen at a little distance bearing some arms and caps, and holding them up in triumph: these things belonged to the six Russians, who had been sent to the pit-falls, and had fallen a sacrifice to the resentment of the natives.
The latter no sooner disappeared, than the Russians dragged the baidar into the sea, and rowed without molestation out of the bay, which is about ten versts broad. They next landed near a small habitation: finding it empty they drew the baidar ashore, and went with their fire-arms and lances across the mountains towards Kalaktak, where they had left Kudyakoff's party. As they[Pg 85] approached that place towards evening, they fired from the heights; but no signal being returned, they concluded, as was really the case, that this company had likewise been massacred by the inhabitants. They themselves narrowly escaped the same fate; for, immediately upon the report of the fire-arms, numerous bodies of the islanders made their appearance, and closely pursued the Russians: darkness however coming on, the latter found means to escape over the sandy shore of a bay to a rock, where they were sheltered, and could defend themselves. They here made so good a use of their arms, that the islanders thought proper to retire: the fugitives, as soon as their pursuers were withdrawn, seized the opportunity of proceeding towards the haven, where their vessel lay at anchor: they ran without interruption during the whole night, and at break of day, when they were about three versts from the haven, they espied a locker of the vessel lying on the shore. Struck with astonishment at this alarming discovery, they retreated with precipitation to the mountains, from whence they descried several islanders rowing in canoes, but no appearance of their own vessel. During that day they kept themselves closely concealed, and durst not venture again towards the haven before the evening. Upon their arrival they found the vessel broken to pieces, and the dead bodies of their companions lying mangled along the beach. Having collected all the provision which had been untouched by the savages, they returned to the mountains.
[Pg 86]
The following day they scooped out a cavity at the foot of a mountain situated about three versts from the haven, and covered it with a piece of a sail. In the evening they returned to the haven, and found there an image of a saint and a prayer book; all the tackle and lading were taken away, excepting the sacks for provision.
These sacks were made of leather: the natives had ript them up probably to see if they contained any iron, and had left them, together with the provision, behind as useless. The Russians collected all that remained, and dragged as much as they were able to carry into the mountains to their retreat, where they lived in a very wretched state from the 9th of December to the 2d of February, 1764.
Mean while they employed themselves in making a little baidar, which they covered with the leather of the sacks. Having drawn it at night from the mountains to the sea, they rowed without waiting for break of day along the Northern coast of Unalaschka, in order to reach Trapesnikoff's vessel, which, as they had reason to think, lay at anchor somewhere upon the coast. They rowed at some distance from the shore, and by that means passed three habitations unperceived. The following day they observed at some distance five islanders in a baidar, who upon seeing them made to Makushinsk, before[Pg 87] which place the fugitives were obliged to pass. Darkness coming on, the Russians landed on a rock, and passed the night ashore. Early in the morning they discovered the islanders advancing towards them from the bay of Makushinsk. Upon this they placed themselves in an advantageous post, and prepared for defence.
The savages rowed close to the beach: part landing, and part remaining in their baidars, they commenced the assault by a volley of darts; and notwithstanding the Russians did great execution with their fire arms, the skirmish continued the whole day. Towards evening the enemy retired, and the fugitives betook themselves with their canoe to an adjoining cavern. The attack was again renewed during the night; but the Russians were so advantageously posted, that they repulsed the assailants without much difficulty. In this encounter Bragen was slightly wounded. They remained in this place three days; but the sea rising at a spring-tide into the rock, forced them to sally out towards a neighbouring cavern, which they reached without loss, notwithstanding the opposition of the islanders.
They were imprisoned in this cave five weeks, and kept watch by turns. During that time they seldom ventured twenty yards from the entrance; and were obliged to quench their thirst with snow-water, and with the moisture dripping from the rock. They suffered also[Pg 88] greatly from hunger, having no sustenance but small shell-fish, which they occasionally found means to collect, upon the beach. Compelled at length by extreme want, they one night ventured to draw their baidar into the sea, and were fortunate enough to get off unperceived.

Their Escape from Unalaschka to Trapesnikoff's vessel.

They continued rowing at night, but in the day they hid themselves on the shore; by this means they escaped unobserved from the bay of Makushinsk, and reached Trapesnikoff's vessel the 30th of March, 1764. What happened to them afterwards in company with the crew of this vessel will be mentioned in the succeeding chapter, Shaffyrin alone of all the four died of sickness during the voyage; but Korelin, Kohovin, and Bragin [50] returned safe to Kamtchatka. The names of these brave men deserve our admiration, for the courage and perseverance with which they supported and overcame such imminent dangers.

[Pg 89]

CHAP. IX.
Voyage of the vessel called the Trinity, under the command of Korovin—Sails to the Fox Islands—Winters at Unalashka—Puts to sea the spring following—The vessel is stranded in a bay of the island Umnak, and the crew attacked by the natives—Many of them killed—Others carried off by sickness—They are reduced to great streights—Relieved by Glottoff, twelve of the whole company only remaining—Description of Umnak and Unalashka.

Voyage of Korovin, 1762.

The second vessel which sailed from Kamtchatka in the year 1762, was the Trinity, fitted out by the trading company of Nikiphor Trapesnikoff, merchant of Irkutsk, under the command of Ivan Korovin, and manned with thirty-eight Russians and six Kamtchadals.

Departs from Kamtchatka.

September 15, they sailed down the Kamtchatka river, and stood out to sea the 29th, when they were driven at large for ten days by contrary winds. At last upon the 8th of October they came in sight of Beering's and Copper Island, where they cast anchor before the South side of the former. Here they were resolved to winter on account of the late season of the year. Accordingly they laid up the vessel in a secure harbour, and brought[Pg 90] all the lading ashore. |Winters upon Beering's Island.| They staid here until the first of August, 1763: during that time they kilted about 500 arctic foxes and 20 sea-otters; the latter animals resorted less frequently to this island, in consequence of the disturbance given them by the Russian hunters.
Korovin, having collected a sufficient store of provision, several skins of sea-cows for the coverings of baidars, and some iron which remained from the wreck of Beering's ship, prepared for his departure. Upon his arrival at Beering's Island the preceding autumn, he found there a vessel fitted out by Jacob Protassoff, merchant of Tiumen, under the command of Dennis Medvedeff [51]. Korovin had entered into a formal contract with Medvedeff for the division of the furs. Here he took on board ten of Medvedeff's crew, and gave him seven in return.
August 1, Korovin put to sea from Beering's Island with thirty-seven men, and Medvedeff with forty-nine. |Reaches Unalashka.| They sailed without coming in sight of the Aleütian Isles: on the 15th, Korovin made Unalashka, where Glottoff lay at anchor, and Medvedeff reached Umnak. Korovin received the news of the latter's safe arrival, first by some islanders, and afterwards by letters; both vessels[Pg 91] lay at no greater distance from each other than about an hundred and fifty versts, taking a streight line from point to point across the firth.
Korovin cast anchor in a convenient bay at the distance of sixty yards from the shore. On the 16th he landed with fourteen men, and having found nothing but an empty shed, he returned to the vessel. After having taken a reinforcement, he again went ashore in order to look for some inhabitants. About seven versts from the haven, he came to two habitations, and saw three hundred persons assembled together. Among them were three Toigons, who recollected and accosted in a friendly manner one Barnasheff, a native of Tobolsk, who had been there before with Glottoff; they shewed some tribute-quittances, which they had lately received from the Cossac Sabin Ponomareff. Two of these Toigons gave each a boy of twelve years of age as an hostage, whom they passed for their children; and the third delivered his son of about fifteen years of age, the same who had been Glottoff's hostage, and whom Korovin called Alexèy. |Lays up the Ship.| With these hostages he returned to the ship, which he laid up in the mouth of a river, after having brought all the provision and lading ashore. Soon afterwards the three Toigons came to see the hostages; and informed Korovin, that Medvedeff's vessel rode securely at anchor before Umnak.
[Pg 92]
September 15, when every thing was prepared for wintering, Korovin and Barnasheff set out in two baidars, each with nine men and one of the hostages, who had a slight knowledge of the Russian language. They went along the Northern coast of the island, towards its Western extremity, in order to hunt, and to enquire after a certain interpreter called Kashmak, who had been employed by Glottoff on a former occasion. Having rowed about twenty versts, they passed by a village, and landed at another which lay about five versts further. But as the number of inhabitants seemed to amount to two hundred, they durst not venture to the dwellings, but stayed by the baidar. Upon this the Toigon of the place came to them, with his wife and son: he shewed a tribute-quittance, and delivered his son, a boy of thirteen years of age and whom Korovin called Stepanka, as an hostage, for which he received a present of corals.
They rowed now further to a third village, about fifteen versts from the former, where they found the interpreter Kashmak; the latter accompanied them to the two Toigons, who gave them a friendly reception, and shewed their tribute-quittances. A few natives only made their appearance; the others, as the Toigons pretended, were gone out to fish. The next morning each Toigon gave a boy as an hostage; one of the boys Korovin called Gregory, and the other Alexèy. The Rus[Pg 93]sians were detained there two days by a violent storm; during which time a letter from Medvedeff was brought by an Aleütian, and an answer was returned by the same person. The storm at length somewhat abating, they rowed back to the next village, where they continued two nights without any apprehensions from the savages. At length Korovin returned in safety with the hostages to the crew.

Builds an Hut, and makes Preparations for Wintering.

In the beginning of October they built a winter-hut, partly of wood and partly of seal-skins, and made all the necessary preparations for hunting. On the 14th, two companies, each consisting of eleven men, were sent out upon an hunting party to the Eastern point of the island; they returned in four days with hostages. About sixty versts from the haven, they had met a party of twenty-five Russians, commanded by Drusinin. About the same time some Toigons brought a present of sturgeon and whale's blubber, and received in return some beads and provision.
Korovin and his company now thought themselves secure; for which reason twenty-three men, under the command of the above-mentioned Barnasheff, were dispatched in two baidars upon an hunting party towards the Western point of the island. Eight muskets were distributed to each boat, a pistol and a lance to each[Pg 94] man, and also a sufficient store of ammunition and provision. The following day two accounts were sent from Barnasheff; and letters were also received from the crew of Protassoff's vessel. From the 2d of November to the 8th of December, the Russians, who remained with Korovin, killed forty-eight dark-coloured foxes, together with an hundred and seventeen of the common sort: during this expedition one man was lost. Some of the natives came occasionally in baidars, and exchanged sea-otters and fox skins for corals. On the 8th of December letters were again brought from Barnasheff and also from the crew of Protassoff's ship. Answers were returned by the same messengers.
After the departure of these messengers, the mother of Alexèy came with a message from the Toigon her husband importing, that a large number of islanders were making towards the ship. Upon this Korovin ordered the men to arms, and soon after seventy natives approached and held up some sea-otter skins. The Russians cried out that no more than ten at a time should come over the brook towards their hut: upon which the islanders left their skins with Korovin, and returned without attempting any hostilities. Their apprehensions were now somewhat quieted, but they were again raised by the arrival of three Kamtchadals belonging to Kulkoff's ship, who flew for protection to Korovin: they brought the account that the crew had been killed by the savages, and[Pg 95] the vessel destroyed. It was now certain that the seventy islanders above-mentioned had come with hostile intentions. This information spread such a sudden panic among the Russians, that it was even proposed to burn the vessel, and to endeavour to find their companions, who were gone upon hunting parties.

The Russians attacked by the Natives.

That day however passed without any attack: but towards the evening of the 10th of December, the savages assembled in large bodies, and invested the hut on all sides. Four days and nights they never ceased annoying the Russians with their darts; two of the latter were killed, and the survivors were nearly exhausted by continual fatigue. Upon the fifth day the islanders took post in a neighbouring cavern, where they continued watching the Russians so closely during a whole month, that none of the latter durst venture fifty paces from their dwelling. Korovin, finding himself thus annoyed by the natives, ordered the hut to be destroyed: he then retired to his vessel, which was brought for greater security out of the mouth of the rivulet to the distance of an hundred yards from the beach. There they lay at anchor from the 5th of March to the 26th of April, during which time they suffered greatly from want of provision, and still more from the scurvy.
[Pg 96]
During this period they were attacked by a large body of the natives, who advanced in forty baidars with the hopes of surprising the vessel. Korovin had been warned of their approach by two of the inhabitants, one of whom was a relation of the interpreter Kashmak: accordingly he was prepared for their reception. As soon as the savages came near the vessel, they brandished their darts and got ready for the attack. Korovin however had no sooner fired and killed one person, than they were struck with a panic and rowed away. They were so incensed at this failure of success, that they immediately put to death the two good-natured natives, who had betrayed their design to the Russians. Soon afterwards the father of Alexèy came and demanded his son, who was restored to him: and on the 30th of March Korovin and his three companions arrived as it is mentioned in the preceding chapter. By this reinforcement the number of the crew amounted to eighteen persons.

Korovin puts to Sea. The Vessel stranded upon Umnak.

April 26 Korovin put to sea from Unalashka with the crew and eleven hostages. The vessel was driven until the 28th by contrary winds, and then stranded in a bay of the island Umnak. The ammunition and sails, together with the skins for the construction of baidars, were brought ashore with great difficulty. During the disembarkation one sick man was drowned, another died as soon as he came to land, and eight hostages ran away[Pg 97] amidst the general confusion. There still remained the faithful interpreter Kashmak and three hostages. The whole number of the Russians amounted to only sixteen persons; and of these three were sick of the scurvy. Under these circumstances they secured themselves between their baidar and some empty barrels, which they covered with seal-skins, while the sails were spread over them in form of a tent. Two Russians kept watch; and there being no appearance of any islanders, the others retired to sleep.

The Russians in Danger of being destroyed by the Natives.

Before break of day, about an hundred savages advancing secretly from the sea-side, threw their darts at the distance of twenty yards with such force, that many of them pierced through the baidar and the skins; others fell from above through the sails. By this discharge, the two persons who kept watch, together with the three hostages, were killed upon the spot; and all the Russians were wounded. The latter indeed were so effectually surprised, as to be prevented from having recourse to their fire-arms. In this distress Korovin sallied out, in company with four Russians, and attacked the enemy with lances: two of the savages were killed, and the others driven to flight. |The latter repulsed.| Korovin and his party were so severely wounded, that they had scarcely strength sufficient to return to their tent.
[Pg 98]
During the night the storm increased to such a degree, that the vessel was entirely dashed to pieces. The greatest part of the wreck, which was cast on shore by the sea, was carried away by the islanders. They also broke to pieces the barrels of fat, emptied the sacks of provision, and destroyed most of the furs: having thus satisfied their resentment, they went away; and did not again make their appearance until the 30th of April. Upon their retiring, the Russians collected the wretched remains which had been left untouched by the savages, or which the waves had cast on shore since their departure.
April 30, a body of an hundred and fifty natives advanced from the Eastern point of the island towards the tent; and, at the distance of an hundred yards, shot at the Russians with fire arms, but luckily without execution. They also set on fire the high grass, and the wind blew the flames towards the tent; but the Russians firing forced the enemy to flight, and gained time to extinguish the flames.
This was the last attack which was made upon Korovin; although sickness and misery detained him and his companions upon this spot until the 21st of July. They then put to sea in a baidar eight yards long, which they had constructed in order to make to Protassoff's vessel,[Pg 99] with whose fate they were as yet unacquainted. Their number was now reduced to twelve persons, among whom were six Kamtchadals.

The Russians discover the dead Bodies of their Countrymen who had been murdered by the Natives.

After having rowed ten days they landed upon the beach of the same island Umnak; there they observed the remains of a vessel which had been burnt, and saw some clothes, sails, and ropes, torn to pieces. At a small distance was an empty Russian dwelling, and near it a bath-room, in which they found, to their inexpressible terror, twenty dead bodies in their clothes. Each of them had a thong of leather, or his own girdle, fastened about the neck, with which he had been dragged along. Korovin and his companions recollected them to have been some of those who had sailed in Protassoff's vessel; and could distinguish among the rest the commander Medvedeff. They discovered no further traces of the remaining crew; and as none ever appeared, we have no account of the circumstances with which this catastrophe was attended.

Relieved from their Distresses by the Arrival of Glottoff.

After having buried his dead countrymen, Korovin and his companions began to build an hut: they were prevented however from finishing it, by the unexpected arrival of Stephen Glottoff [52], who came to them with a small party by land. Korovin and his companions accordingly joined Glottoff, and rowed the next day to his vessel.
[Pg 100]
Soon afterwards Korovin was sent with a party of twenty men to coast the island of Umnak, in order to discover if any part of Medvedeff's crew had made their escape from the general massacre: but his enquiries were without success. In the course of this expedition, as he lay at anchor, in September, before a small island situated between Umnak and Unalashka, some savages rowed towards the Russians in two large baidars; and having shot at them with fire-arms, though without effect, instantly retired. The same evening Korovin entered a bay of the island Umnak, with an intention of passing the night on shore: but as he came near the coast, a large number of savages in an hundred baidars surrounded and saluted him with a volley of darts. Korovin fired and soon dispersed them; and immediately made to a large baidar, which he saw at some distance, in hopes of finding some Russians. He was however mistaken; the islanders who were aboard landed at his approach, and, after shooting at him from their fire-arms, retired to the mountains.
Korovin found there an empty baidar, which he knew to be the same in which Barnasheff had sailed, when he was sent upon an hunting party. Within were nothing but two hatchets and some iron points for darts. Three women were seized at the same time; and two natives, who refused to surrender themselves, were put to death.[Pg 101] They then made to the dwelling, from which all the inhabitants had run away, and found therein pieces of Russian leather, blades of small knives, shirts, and other things, which had belonged to the Russians. All the information which they could procure from the women whom they had taken prisoners, was, that the crew had been killed, and this booty taken away by the inhabitants, who had retired to the island Unalashka. Korovin gave these women their liberty, and, being apprehensive of fresh attacks, returned to the haven.
Towards winter Korovin, with a party of twenty-two men, was sent upon an hunting expedition to the Western point of Unalashka: he was accompanied by an Aleütian interpreter, called Ivan Glottoff. Being informed by some islanders, that a Russian ship, under the command of Ivan Solovioff [53], was then lying before Unalashka, he immediately rowed towards the haven where she was at anchor. On the way he had a sharp encounter with the natives, who endeavoured to prevent him from landing: of these, ten were killed upon the spot; and the remainder fled away, leaving behind them some women and children.
Korovin staid three days aboard Solovioff's vessel, and then returned to the place where he had been so lately attacked. The inhabitants however, for this[Pg 102] time, made no opposition to his landing; on the contrary, they received him with kindness, and permitted him to hunt: they even delivered hostages; and entered into a friendly traffic, exchanging furs for beads. They were also prevailed upon to restore several muskets and other things, taken from the Russians who had been massacred.
A short time before his departure, the inhabitants again shewed their hostile intentions; for three of them came up to the Russian centinel, and suddenly fell upon him with their knives. The centinel however disengaging himself, and retreating into the hut, they ran away. The Toigons of the village protested ignorance of this treachery; and the offenders were soon afterwards discovered and punished. Korovin, as he was returning to Glottoff, was forced to engage with the islanders upon Unalashka, and also upon Umnak, where they endeavoured to prevent him from landing. Before the end of the year a storm drove the baidar upon the beach of the latter island; and the tempestuous weather setting in, they were detained there until the 6th of April, 1765. During this time they were reduced, from a scarcity of provision, to live chiefly upon sea-wrack and small shell fish. On the 22d they returned to Glottoff; and as they had been unsuccessful in hunting, their cargo of furs was very inconsiderable. Three days after his arrival, Korovin quitted Glottoff, and went over with five other Russians to Solovieff, with[Pg 103] whom he returned the following year to Kamtchatka. The six Kamtchadals of Korovin's party joined Glottoff.

Korovin's Description of Umnak and Unalashka.

According to Korovin's account, the islands Umnak and Unalashka are situated not much more Northwards than the mouth of the Kamtchatka river; and, according to the ship's reckoning, about the distance of 1700 versts Eastwards from the same place. The circumference of Umnak is about two hundred and fifty versts; Unalashka is much larger. Both these islands are wholly destitute of trees; drift-wood is brought ashore in large quantities. There were five lakes upon the Northern coast of Unalashka, and but one upon Umnak, of which none were more than ten versts in circumference. These lakes give rise to several small rivulets, which flow only a few versts before they empty themselves into the sea: the fish enter the rivulets in the middle of April, they ascend the lakes in July, and continue there until August. Sea-otters and other sea-animals resort but seldom to these islands; but there is great abundance of red and black foxes. North Eastwards from Unalashka two islands appeared in sight, at the distance of five or ten versts; but Korovin did not touch at them.

Account of the Inhabitants.

The inhabitants of these islands row in their small baidars from one island to the other. They are so numerous, and their manner of life so unsettled, that their number cannot exactly be determined. Their[Pg 104] dwelling caves are made in the following manner. They first dig an hole in the earth proportioned to the size of their intended habitation, of twenty, thirty, or forty yards in length, and from six to ten broad. They then set up poles of larch, firs, and ash driven on the coast by the sea. Across the top of these poles they lay planks, which they cover with grass and earth. They enter through holes in the top by means of ladders. Fifty, an hundred, and even an hundred and fifty persons dwell together in such a cave. They light little or no fires within, for which reason these dwellings are much cleaner than those of the Kamtchadals. When they want to warm themselves in the winter, they make a fire of dry herbs, of which they have collected a large store in summer, and stand over it until they are sufficiently warmed. A few of these islanders wear fur-stockings in winter; but the greatest part go bare-footed, and all are without breeches. The skins of cormorants, puffins, and sea-divers, serve for the mens clothing; and the women wear the skins of sea-bears, seals, and sea-otters. They sleep upon thick mats, which they twist out of a soft kind of grass that grows upon the shore, and have no other covering but their usual clothes. Many of the men have five or six wives; and he that is the best hunter or fisher has the greatest number. The women make their needles of the bones of birds wings, and use sinews for thread.
[Pg 105]
Their weapons are bows and arrows, lances and darts, which they throw like the Greenlanders to the distance of sixty yards by means of a little hand-board. Both the darts and arrows are feathered: the former are about an ell and an half long; the shaft, which is well made considering their want of instruments, is often composed of two pieces that join into each other: the point is of flint, sharpened by beating it between two stones. These darts as well as the lances were formerly tipped with bone, but at present the points are commonly made of the iron which they procure from the Russians, and out of which they ingeniously form little hatchets and two-edged knives. They shape the iron by rubbing it between two stones, and whetting it frequently with sea-water. With these instruments and stone hatchets they build their baidars. They have a strange custom of cutting holes in the under-lip and through the gristle of the nose. They place in the former two little bones, wrought in the form of teeth, which project some inches from the face. In the nose a piece of bone is placed crossways. The deceased are buried with their boat, weapons, and clothes [54].

[Pg 106]

CHAP. X.
Voyage of Stephen Glottoff—He reaches the Fox Islands—Sails beyond Unalashka to Kadyak—Winters upon that Island—Repeated attempts of the Natives to destroy the Crew—They are repulsed, reconciled, and prevailed upon to trade with the Russians—Account of Kadyak—Its inhabitants—animals—productions—Glottoff sails back to Umnak—Winters there—Returns to Kamtchatka—Journal of his voyage.

Here follows one of the most memorable voyages yet made, which extended farther, and terminated more fortunately, than the last mentioned expeditions.

Voyage of Glottoff in the Andrean and Natalia, 1762.

Terenty Tsebaeffskoi and company, merchants of Lalsk, fitted out the Andrean and Natalia under the command of Stephen Glottoff, an experienced and skilful seaman of Yarensk. This vessel sailed from the bay of the river Kamtchatka the 1st of October, 1762, manned with thirty-eight Russians and eight Kamtchadals. In eight days they reached Mednoi Ostroff, or Copper Island, where having sought out a convenient harbour, they unloaded and laid up the vessel for the winter. |Winters upon Copper Island.| Their first care was to supply themselves with provisions; and[Pg 107] they killed afterwards a quantity of ice-foxes, and a considerable number of sea-otters.
For the benefit of the crown and their own use in case of need, they resolved to take on board all the remaining tackle and iron work of Beering's ship, which had been left behind on Commander's Island, and was buried in the beach. For this purpose they dispatched, on the 27th of May, Jacob Malevinskoy (who died soon after) with thirteen men in a baidar to that island, which was seventy versts distant. They brought back with them twenty-two pood of iron, ten of old cordage fit for caulker's use, some lead and copper, and several thousand beads.
Copper Island has its name from the native copper found on the coast, particularly at the Western point on its South side. Of this native copper Malevinskoy brought with him two large pieces weighing together twelve pounds, which were picked up between a rock and the sea on a strand of about twelve yards in breadth. Amongst other floating bodies which the sea drives upon the shores of this Island, the true right camphor wood, and another sort of wood very white, soft, and sweet-scented, are occasionally found.

Sails to the Fox Islands.

Every preparation for continuing the voyage being made, they sailed from Copper Island the 26th of July, 1763, and steered for the Islands Umnak and Aguna[Pg 108]lashka, where Glottoff had formerly observed great numbers of black foxes. On account of storms and contrary winds, they were thirty days before they fetched Umnak. |Arrive at Kadyak.| Here they arrived the 24th of August, and without dropping anchor or losing any time, they resolved to sail further for the discovery of new islands: they passed eight contiguous to each other and separated by straits, which were to the best of their estimation from twenty to an hundred versts broad. Glottoff however did not land till he reached the last and most Eastward of these islands, called by the inhabitants Kadyak, from which the natives said it was not far to the coast of a wide extended woody continent. No land however was to be seen from a little island called by the natives Aktunak, which is situated about thirty versts more to the East than Kadyak.
September 8th, the vessel ran up a creek, lying South East of Aktunak, through which a rivulet empties itself into the sea; this rivulet comes from a lake six versts long, one broad, and about fifty fathoms deep. During the ebb of the tide the vessel was left aground; but the return of the water set her again afloat. Near the shore were four large huts, so crouded with people, that their number could scarcely be counted: however, soon after Glottoff's arrival, all these inhabitants quitted their dwellings, and retired with precipitation. The next day some islanders in baidars approached the vessel, and accosted[Pg 109] the people on board: and as Ivan Glottoff, the Aleütian interpreter, did not well understand the language of these islanders, they soon afterwards returned with a boy whom they had formerly taken prisoner from Isanak, one of the islands which lie to the West of Kadyak. Him the Aleütian interpreter perfectly understood: and by his means every necessary explanation could be obtained from the islanders.
In this manner they conversed with the savages, and endeavoured to persuade them to become tributary; they used also every argument in their power to prevail upon them to give up the boy for an interpreter; but all their entreaties were for the present without effect. The savages rowed back to the cliff called Aktalin, which lies about three versts to the South of Kadyak, where they seemed to have habitations.
On the 6th of September Kaplin was sent with thirteen men to the cliff, to treat peaceably with the islanders. He found there ten huts, from which about an hundred of the natives came out. They behaved seemingly in a friendly manner, and answered the interpreter by the boy, that they had nobody proper for an hostage; but that they would deliver up the boy to the Russians agreeable to their desire. Kaplin received him very thankfully, and brought him on board, where he was properly taken care of: he afterwards accompanied Glottoff[Pg 110] to Kamtchatka, and was baptized by the name of Alexander Popoff, being then about thirteen years of age. For some days after this conference the islanders came off in companies of five, ten, twenty, and thirty: they were admitted on board in small numbers, and kindly received, but with a proper degree of circumspection.
On the 8th of September the vessel was brought further up the creek without unloading her cargo: and on the 9th Glottoff with ten men proceeded to a village on the shore about two hundred yards from the vessel, where the natives had begun to reside: it consisted of three summer-huts covered only with long grass: they were from eight to ten yards broad, twelve long, and about four high: they saw there about an hundred men, but neither women nor children.
Finding it impossible to persuade the savages to give hostages, Glottoff resolved to let his people remain together, and to keep a strong guard.

The Natives attack the Russians, but are defeated.

The islanders visited them still in small bodies; it was however more and more visible that their intentions were bad. At last on the 1st of October, by day break, a great number having assembled together in the remote parts of the island, came unexpectedly across the country. They approached very near without being discovered by the watch, and seeing nobody on deck but those[Pg 111] on duty, shot suddenly into the vessel with arrows. The watch found refuge behind the quarter boards, and gave the alarm without firing. Glottoff immediately ordered a volley to be fired over their heads with small arms; upon which they immediately returned with great expedition. As soon as it was day there was no enemy to be seen: but they discovered a number of ladders, several bundles of hay in which the savages had put sulphur, likewise a quantity of birch-tree bark, which had been left behind in their precipitate flight.
They now found it very necessary to be on their guard against the attempts of these perfidious incendiaries. Their suspicions were still further increased by the subsequent conduct of the natives: for though the latter came to the vessel in small bodies, yet it was observed that they examined every thing, and more particularly the watch, with the strictest attention; and they always returned without paying any regard to the friendly propositions of the Russians.
On the 4th of October about two hundred islanders made their appearance, carrying wooden shields before them, and preparing with bows and arrows for an attack. Glottoff endeavoured at first by persuasion to prevail upen them to desist; but observing that they still continued advancing, he resolved to venture a sally. This in[Pg 112]trepidity disconcerted the islanders, and they immediately retreated without making the least resistance.
The 26th of October they ventured a third attack, and advanced towards the vessel for this purpose by day-break: the watch however gave the alarm in due time, and the whole crew were immediately under arms. The approach of day-light discovered to their view different parties of the enemy advancing under the protection of wooden screens. Of these moving breast-works they counted seven; and behind each from thirty to forty men armed with bone lances. Besides these a croud of armed men advanced separately to the attack, some of them bearing whale jaw-bones, and others wooden shields. Dissuasion proving ineffectual, and the arrows beginning to fall even aboard the ship, Glottoff gave orders to fire. |The Natives are finally repulsed by the Russians.| The shot from the small arms however not being of force enough to pierce the screens, the islanders advanced under their protection with steadiness and intrepidity. Glottoff nevertheless determined to risk a sally of his whole crew armed with muskets and lances. The islanders instantly threw down their screens, and fled with precipitation until they gained their boats, into which they threw themselves and rowed off. They had about seventeen large baidars and a number of small canoes. The screens which they left behind were made of three rows of stakes placed perpendicularly, and bound together with sea-weed and osiers; they were twelve feet broad, and above half a yard thick.
[Pg 113]

The Russians winter at Kadyak.

The islanders now appearing to be sufficiently intimidated, the Russians began to build a winter hut of floated wood, and waited in a body the appearance of spring without further annoyance. Although they saw nobody before the 25th of December, yet Glottoff kept his people together; sending out occasionally small hunting and fishing parties to the lake, which lay about five versts from the creek. During the whole winter they caught in the lake several different species of trout and salmon, soles, and herrings of a span and a half long, and even turbot and cod-fish, which came up with the flood into the lake.
At last, on the 25th of December, two islanders came to the ship, and conversed at a distance by means of interpreters. Although proposals of peace, and trade were held out to them in the most friendly manner, yet they went off without seeming to put much confidence in these offers: nor did any of them appear again before the 4th of April, 1764. Want of sufficient exercise in the mean time brought on a violent scurvy among the crew, by which disorder nine persons were carried off.
On the 4th of April four islanders made their appearance, and seemed to pay more attention to the proposals: one of them at last advanced, and offered to barter two fox-skins for beads. They did not set the least va[Pg 114]lue upon other goods of various kinds, such as shirts, linen, and nankeen, but demanded glass beads of different colours, for which they exchanged their skins with pleasure. |The Natives are reconciled to the Russians.| This friendly traffic, together with Glottoff's entreaties, operated so powerfully, that, after holding a consultation with their countrymen, they returned with a solemn declaration, that their brethren would in future commit no hostilities against the Russians. From that time until their departure a daily intercourse was carried on with the islanders, who brought all sorts of fox and sea-otter skins, and received in exchange a stipulated number of beads. Some of them were even persuaded to pay a tribute of skins, for which receipts were given.
Amongst other wares the Russians procured two small carpets, worked or platted in a curious manner, and on one side set close with beaver-wool like velvet: they could not however learn whether these carpets were wrought by the islanders. The latter brought also for sale well-dressed sea-otter skins, the hair of which was shorn quite short with sharp stones, in such a manner, that the remainder, which was of a yellowish brown colour, glistened and appeared like velvet. Their caps had surprising and sometimes very ornamental decorations: some of them had on the forepart combs adorned with manes like an helmet; others, seemingly peculiar to the females, were made of intestines stitched together with rein-deer hair and sinews in a most elegant[Pg 115] taste, and ornamented on the crown with long streamers of hair died of a beautiful red. Of all these curiosities Glottoff carried samples to Kamtchatka [55].

Animals of Kadyak.

The natives differ considerably in dress and language from the inhabitants of the other Fox Islands: and several species of animals were observed upon Kadyak, which are not to be found upon the other islands, viz. ermines, martens, beavers, river otters, wolves, wild boars, and bears: the last-mentioned animal was not indeed actually seen by the Russians, but the prints of its feet were traced. Some of the inhabitants had clothes made of the skins of rein-deer and jevras; the latter of which is a sort of small marmoset. Both these skins were probably procured from the continent of America [56]. Black, brown, and red foxes were seen in great numbers; and the coast abounds with sea-dogs, sea-bears, sea-lions, and sea-otters. The birds are cranes, geese, ducks, gulls, ptarmigans, crows, and magpies; but no uncommon species was any where discovered. |Productions.| The vegetable pro[Pg 116]ductions are bilberries, cranberries, wortleberries, and wild lily-roots. Kadyak likewise yields willows and alders, which circumstance affords the strongest proof that it lies at no great distance from the continent of America. The extent of Kadyak cannot be exactly ascertained, as the Russians, through apprehension of the natives, did not venture to explore the country.

Account of the Inhabitants.

The inhabitants, like those of the Aleütian and nearer islands, make holes in the under-lips and through the gristle of the nose, in which they insert the bones of birds and animals worked into the form of teeth. Their clothes are made of the skins of birds, foxes, sea-otters, young rein-deer, and marmosets; they sew them together with sinews. They wear also fur-stockings of rein-deer skins, but no breeches. Their arms are bows, arrows, and lances, whose points, as well as their small hatchets, are of sharp flint: some few make knives and lance points of rein-deer bones. Their wooden shields are called kuyaky, which amongst the Greenlanders signifies a small canoe. Their manners are altogether rude. They have not the least disposition to give a courteous reception to strangers: nor does there appear amongst themselves any kind of deference or submission from one to another.
Their canoes are some of them so small as to contain only one or two persons; others are large baidars similar[Pg 117] to the women's boats of the Greenlanders. Their food consists chiefly of raw and dried fish, partly caught at sea with bone hooks, and partly in rivulets, in bagnets made of sinews platted together. They call themselves Kanagist, a name that has no small resemblance to Karalit; by which appellation, the Greenlanders and Esquimaux on the coast of Labradore distinguish themselves: the difference between these two denominations is occasioned perhaps by a change of pronunciation, or by a mistake of the Russian sailors, who may have given it this variation. Their numbers seem very considerable on that part of the island, where they had their fixed habitations.
The island Kadyak [57] makes, with Aghunalashka, Umnak, and the small islands lying between them, a continued Archipelago, extending N. E. and E. N. E. towards America: it lies by the ship's reckoning in 230 degrees of longitude; so that it cannot be far distant from that part of the American coast which Beering formerly touched at.
The large island Alaksu, lying Northward from Kadyak where Pushkaref [58] wintered, must be still nearer the[Pg 118] continent: and the account propagated by its inhabitants of a great promontory, called Atachtak, stretching from the continent N. E. of Alaksu, is not at all improbable.
Although the conduct of the islanders appeared more friendly, yet on account of their numbers Glottoff resolved not to pass another winter upon Kadyak, and accordingly prepared for his departure. He wanted hoops for repairing his water-casks; and being told by the natives that there were trees on the island at no great distance from the bay, he dispatched on the 25th of April Lukas Ftoruskin with eleven men for the purpose of felling wood. Ftoruskin returned the same day with the following intelligence: that after rowing along the South coast of the island forty or fifty versts from the haven, he observed, about half a verst from the shore, a considerable number of alders, similar to those found in Kamtchatka, growing in vallies between the rocks. The largest trunks were from two to four vershocks in diameter. Of this wood he felled as much as he had occasion for; and returned without having met with either islander or habitation.

Departure from Kadyak, May, 1764.

They brought the vessel down the creek in May; and, after taking in all the peltry and stores, left Kadyak on the 24th. Contrary winds retarded their voyage, and drove them near the island Alaksu, which they passed; their water being nearly exhausted, they afterwards[Pg 119] landed upon another island, called Saktunk, in order to procure a fresh stock. |Arrival at Umnak.| At last on the 3d of July, they arrived again at Umnak, and anchored in a bay which Glottoff had formerly visited. He immediately went ashore in a baidar, and soon found out his former hut, which was in ruins: near it he observed another Russian dwelling, that had been built in his absence, in which lay a murdered Russian, but whose face none of them knew. Glottoff, resolving to procure further information, went across the island the 5th of July, accompanied by sixteen of his crew. He discovered the remains of a burnt vessel, some prayer books, images, &c.; all the iron work and cordage were carried off. Near the spot he found likewise a bathing room filled with murdered Russians in their clothes. From some marks, he concluded that this was the vessel fitted out by Protassoff; nor was he mistaken in his conjectures.
Alarmed at the fate of his countrymen, Glottoff returned to the ship, and held a consultation upon the measures necessary to be taken; and it was unanimously resolved that they should endeavour to procure more intelligence concerning the vessel. In the mean time seven islanders came rowing off in baidars, and pretended that they wanted to trade. They shewed sea-otter skins at a distance, but would not venture on board;[Pg 120] and desired by the interpreter Glottoff and two of his people to come on shore and barter. Glottoff however, having sufficient cause to distrust the savages, refused to comply with their demands: upon this they immediately landed, and shot from the shore with fire-arms, but without doing any execution. They were even bold enough to get into their canoes a second time, and to row near the vessel. In order if possible to procure intelligence from them, every method of persuading them to peace was tried by means of the interpreters; and at last one of them approached the ship and demanded victuals, which being thrown to him, he came on board. He then related the fate of the above-mentioned vessel, of which the islanders had made themselves masters; and gave likewise some intelligence concerning the remaining small body of fugitives under the command of Korovin. He also confessed, that their design was to entice Glottoff on shore, and then to kill him; for which purpose more than thirty islanders were posted in ambush behind the nearest rocks. After cutting off the leader, they imagined it would be an easy matter to seize upon the ship. Upon this information Glottoff detained the islander on board, and landing with a strong party attacked the savages; the latter shot with arrows, as well as from the muskets which they had seized, but without effect, and were soon forced to retire to their canoes.
[Pg 121]
July the 14th a violent storm arose, in which Glottoff's vessel parted her cable, and was forced on shore without any other loss than that of an anchor. The crew likewise, through want of fresh provisions, began to grow so sickly, that they were almost in a defenceless state. Glottoff however, with ten men, set out the 28th of July for that part of the island, where according to information they expected to find Korovin. They discovered only parts of the wreck, but none of the crew, so that they now gave them up for lost. But on the 2d of August, as Glottoff was on his way back, five islanders approached him in canoes, and asked why the baidar had been out; to which a false answer being given, they told him, that on the other side of the island he would find Korovin with his people, who were building an hut on the side of the rivulet. Upon receiving this intelligence, Glottoff and his companions went over land to the place pointed out by the islanders, and found every thing agreeable to their information: in this Korovin had not the least share, not having been made privy to the transaction. The circumstances of his joining, and afterwards separating from Glottoff, have already been mentioned [59].
[Pg 122]

Glottoff winters upon Umnak.

Glottoff now resolved to winter upon Umnak, and accordingly laid up his vessel for that purpose. On the 2d of September Korovin, as is before related, was at his own desire sent out with a hunting party in two baidars. On his return, in May 1765, they had the first intelligence of the arrival of Solovioff's vessel, which lay before Unalashka, and of which an account shall be given [60]. None of the islanders appeared near the harbour during the winter, and there were none probably at that time upon Umnak; for Glottoff made excursions on all sides, and went once round the island. He likewise looked into the habitations of the islanders, and found them empty: he examined the country and caused a strict search to be made after the remains of the plundered vessel.
According to his account Umnak is about 300 versts in circumference. It contains several small rivulets, which take their rise from lakes, and fall into the sea after a very short course. No trees were observed upon the island, and the vegetables were the same as those of Kamtchatka.
[Pg 123]
The following summer small parties of the inhabitants were seen; but they immediately fled upon the approach of the Russians. Some of them however were at last persuaded to a friendly intercourse and to pay a tribute: by these means they got back part of the arms, anchors, and iron work, of the plundered vessel. They continued to barter with the natives during the summer of 1765, exchanging beads for the skins of foxes and sea-otters.

Departure from Umnak.

The following winter hunting parties were sent out in Umnak as well as to Unalashka; and in July 1766 Glottoff, without meeting with any more difficulties began his voyage homewards. We shall here conclude with giving a copy of the journal kept on board Glottoff's vessel, the Andrean and Natalia; from which inferences with regard to the situation of the islands may be drawn.
[Pg 124]

Journal of the Voyage.

Journal of Glottoff, on board the Andrean and Natalia.

1762.
Oct. 1.	Sailed from Kamtchatka Bay.
2.	Wind Southerly, steered between E. and S. E. three hours.
3.	Wind S. E. worked at N. E. course, 16 hours.
4.	From midnight sailed East with a fair wind, 18 hours.
5.	At Six o'clock A. M. discovered Beering's Island distant about 18 versts.
6.	At 1 o'clock came to anchor on the South East point of Copper Island.
7.	At 8 A. M. sailed to the South side of the Island, anchored there at 10 o'clock.
1763.
July 26.	Sailed from Copper Island at 5 P. M.
27.	Sailed with a fair S. S. W. wind, 17 hours.
28.	Made little way.
29.	Drove—wind E. N. E.
30.	Ditto.
31.	Ditto.
Aug. 1.	Ditto.
2.	At 11 A. M. wind N. E. steered E.
3.	Wind W. S. W. sailed 8 knots an hour, 250 versts.
4.	Wind South—sailed 150 versts.
5.	Wind ditto—sailed 126 versts.
7.	Calm.
8.	During the night gentle S. E. wind steered, N. E. at 2-1/2 knots.
9.	Forenoon calm. At 2 o'clock P. M. gentle N. E. wind, steered between E. N. E. and S. E. at the rate of three knots.
10.	Morning, wind E. N. E. afterwards S. S. W. with which steered N. E.
11.	At 5 o'clock the wind S. S. E. steered E. N. E. at the rate of three knots.
12.	Wind S. steered E. at 2-1/2 knots, sailed 50 versts.
13.	Wind S. S. E. steered E. at 4-1/2 knots, sailed 90 versts.
14.	Wind W. N. W. at 2 knots, sailed 30 versts.
15.	The wind freshened, at 4 knots, sailed 60 versts.
16.	Wind N. N. E. steered E. S. E. at 3 knots, sailed 30 versts.
17.	Wind E. S. E. and S. E. light breezes and changeable.
18.	Wind S. E. steered N. E. at 3-1/2 knots, sailed in 12 hours 22 versts.
19.	Wind S. and light breezes, steered E. at 3 knots, sailed in 8 hours 11 versts.
20.	Before day-break calm; three hours after sun-rise a breeze sprung up at S. E. steered E. N. E. at 3 knots, and sailed 20 versts.
23.	Wind S. S. E. during the night, the ship sailed at the rate of 2 knots; the wind afterwards came round to the S. S. W. and the ship sailed at 5 to 6 knots these 24 hours 150 versts.
24.	Saw land at day-break, at 3 knots sailed 45 versts.
25.	Wind W. S. W. sailed along the coast these 24 hours 50 versts.
26.	Wind N. W. steered N. E. at 5-1/2 knots, 100 versts.
27.	Wind E. N. E. the ship drove towards land, on which discovered a high mountain.
28.	Wind N. E. and stormy, the ship drove.
29.	Wind N. W. steered E. N. E. at the rate of 3 knots.
30.	Wind S. S. E. at 6 knots, steering again towards land.
31.	A violent storm, Wind west.
Sept. 1.	Wind West, steered N. E. at the rate of 3 knots towards land.
2.	Wind S. W. steered N. E. towards land at 5 knots.
3.	Wind S. W. drove N. N. E. along the coast.
4.	Wind W. N. W. steered N. E. at 4 knots, sailed 100 versts.
5.	Wind N. W. steered E. N. E. at 3 knots, and towards evening came to anchor off the Island Kadyak.
1764
May 24.	Sailed from Kadyak.
25.	Wind N. W. and made but little way W. S. W.
26.	Wind W. ship drove towards S. E.
27.	Wind W. S. W. ship drove E. S. E. The same day the wind came round to the S. when steered again towards Kadyak.
28.	Wind E. S. E. fell in with the island Alaska or Alaksu.
29.	Wind S. W. steered N. W.
30.	Wind W. N. W. the ship drove under the foresail.
31.	Wind W. drove to the Southward.
June 1.	Wind W. S. W. landed on the Island Saktunak, for a supply of water.
2.	Wind S. E. steered S. W. along the island at 3 knots.
3.	Wind N. E. steered W. S. W. at the rate of 3 to 4 knots, sailing in these 24 hours 100 versts.
4.	Calm.
5.	At 8 o'clock A. M. a small breeze S. E.
6.	Wind E. afterwards calm. Towards evening the wind S.E. steered S. W. at 3 knots, and unexpectedly discovered land ahead, which kept clear of with difficulty.
From the 7th to the 10th at anchor off a small cliff.
10.	A hard gale at S. the ship drove foul of the anchor, stood out to sea steering E.
13.	Wind S. S. W. stood out to sea and steered E. S. E.
14.	Wind W. S. W. steered S. S. E. at the rate of 1 knot.
15.	Calm.
16.	Wind S. steered W. at 1 knot, the ship drove a little to the Northward.
17.	Wind S. S. E. steered W. S. W. at 3 knots.
18.	Calm.
19.	Ditto.
20.	Wind N. E. steered S. W. and sailed this day about 87 versts.
21.	The Wind blowing right ahead, came to anchor off an unknown island, where continued till the
25.	When stood out to sea early in the morning.
26.	Wind W. N. W. afterwards W. steered S. E.
27.	Calm, in the night a small but favourable breeze.
28.	Wind N. W. continued the course, at the rate of 2 to 3 knots [61].
29.	Wind N. E. steered W. at 3 to 4 knots, and saw land.
30.	Wind N. E. steered S. W. at the rate of 7 knots.
July 1.	With the same wind and course, at the rate of 5 knots, sailed 200 versts.
2.	Fell in with the island Umnak, and came to an anchor under a small island until next day; when brought the ship into the harbour, and laid her up.
1766.
June 13.	Brought the ship into the harbour, and continued at anchor there until the 3d of July.
July 3.	Got under way.
4.	Wind E.
5.	A South West wind drove the ship about 50 versts N. E.
6.	Wind S. sailed about 60 versts W.
7.	Wind W. S. W. the ship drove to the Northward.
8.	Wind N. W. steered S. at the rate of one knot.
9.	Wind N. W. steered the whole day W. S. W.
10.	Wind S. S. W. sailed about 40 versts W. N. W.
11.	Wind S. W. continued the same course, sailing only 5 versts.
12.	Continued the same course, and sailed 55 versts.
13.	For the most part calm.
14.	Wind W. N. W. and stormy, the ship drove under the foresail.
15.	Wind S. sailed on the proper course 100 versts.
16.	Wind E. S. E. sailed W. S. W. at the rate of 6 knots, 100 versts.
17.	Wind N. N. W. sailed S. W. at the rate of 2 knots, 30 versts.
19.	Wind S. W. the ship drove under the foresail.
20.	Wind E. N. E. steered W. N. W. at the rate of 3 knots.
21.	Wind E. N. E. at the rate of 4 to 5 knots, sailed 200 versts.
22.	Wind N. E. at 4-1/2 knots, 150 versts.
23.	Wind E. N. E. steered W. at 3 knots, 100 versts.
24.	Wind E. steered W. at the rate of 3 knots, 50 versts.
25.	Wind N. E. steered W. at 5 knots 100 versts.
26.	The wind continued N. E. and freshened, steered W. at the rate of 7 knots, 200 versts.
27.	A small breeze N. N. W. with which however sailed 150 versts.
28.	Wind being W. S. W. drove 24 hours under bare-poles.
29.	Wind South, steered W. at the rate of 2 knots, 48 versts—this day saw land.
30.	Wind S. S. E. sailed, at the rate of 4 knots, 96 versts, and approached the land, which found to be the island Karaga—From the 1st to the 13th of August, continued our voyage towards the mouth of Kamtchatka river, sometimes plying to windward, sometimes driving, and at last arrived happily with a rich cargo.

[Pg 131]

CHAP. XI.
Solovioff's voyage—he reaches Unalashka, and passes two winters upon that island—relation of what passed there—fruitless attempts of the natives to destroy the crew—Return of Solovioff to Kamtchatka—journal of his voyage in returning—description of the islands Umnak and Unalashka—productions—inhabitants—their manners—customs,& c. &c.

Voyage of Solovioff in the St. Peter and Paul, 1764.

In the year 1764, Jacob Ulednikoff, merchant of Irkutsk and company, fitted out a ship called the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, under the command of Ivan Solovioff: she sailed from the mouth of Kamtchatka river the 25th of August. The crew consisted of fifty-five men, amongst whom were some of the owners, and thirteen Kamtchadals.
They steered at first S. E. with the wind at N. W. but on its coming southerly they afterwards shaped their course E. N. E. The 27th one of the Russian sailors died off Kamtchatka point; the 31st they made Beering's Island, which they passed leaving it on their left. The 1st and 2nd of September they were becalmed, and afterwards the wind springing up at W. S. W. they continued[Pg 132] their former course; until the 5th they sailed on with the wind at south; but on the 5th and 6th, from changeable breezes and dead calms, made no progress; from the 7th to the 13th, they sailed E. S. E. with Southerly and Westerly winds; and from that time to the fifteenth East, with the wind at West.
September 16, they made the island Umnak, where Solovioff had formerly been in Nikiphoroff's vessel. As they sailed along the Northern coast, three islanders came to them in baidars; but, the crew having no interpreter, they would not come on board. As they found no good bay on that shore, they proceeded through a strait of about a verst broad, which separates Umnak from Unalashka. |Arrival at Unalashka.| They lay-to during the night; and early on the 17th dropped anchor at the distance of about two hundred yards from the shore, in a bay on the North side of the last mentioned island.
From thence the captain dispatched Gregory Korenoff at the head of twenty men in a baidar, with orders to land, reconnoitre the country, find out the nearest habitations, and report the disposition of the people. Korenoff returned the same day, with an account that he had discovered one of the dwelling-caves of the savages, but abandoned and demolished, in which he had found traces of Russians, viz. a written legend, and a broken musket-stock. In consequence of this intelligence, they brought[Pg 133] the ship near the coast, and endeavoured to get into the mouth of a river called by the natives Tsikanok, and by the Russians Osernia, but were prevented by shallow water. They landed however their tackle and lading. No natives made their appearance until the 22d, when two of them came of their own accord, and welcomed the Russians on their arrival. They told their names, and were recognized by Solovioff; he had known them on a former expedition, when Agiak, one of the two, had served as an interpreter; the other, whose name was Kashmak, had voluntarily continued some time with the crew on the same occasion.
These two persons recounted the particular circumstances which attended the loss of Kulkoff's, Protassoff's, and Trapesnikoff's vessels; from the last of which Kashmak had, with great hazard of his life, escaped by flight. Agiak had served as interpreter to Protassoff's company, and related that the islanders, after murdering the hunting detachments of the Russians, came to the harbour, and entered the ship under the most friendly appearances. Finding the crew in perfect security, they suddenly attacked and slew them, together with their commander. He added, that he had hid himself under a bench until the murderers were gone: that since that time, he, as well as Kashmak, had lived as fugitives; and in the course of their wanderings had learned the following intelligence from the girls who were gathering berries in[Pg 134] the fields. The Toigons of Umnak, Akutan, and Toshko, with their relations of Unalashka, had formed a confederacy. They agreed not to disturb any Russians on their first landing, but to let them go out on different hunting excursions; being thus separated and weakened, the intention of the Toigons were to attack and cut them off at the same time, so that no one party should have assistance from any of the others. They acquainted him also with Glottoff's arrival at Umnak.
These unfavourable reports filled Solovioff with anxiety; he accordingly doubled his watch, and used every precaution in his power against attacks from the savages. But wanting wood to repair his vessel, and wishing for more particular information concerning the situation of the island, he dispatched the 29th a party of thirty men, with the above-mentioned interpreter, to its western extremity. In three or four hours they rowed to Ankonom, a point of land, where they saw a village, consisting of two large caves, and over against it a little island at no great distance. The moment the inhabitants saw them approaching, they got into their baidars, and put out to sea, leaving their dwellings empty. The Russians found therein several skeletons, which, in the interpreter's opinion, were the remains of ten murdered sailors of Trapesnikoff's company. With much persuasion the interpreter prevailed on the islanders to return to the place which they had just quitted: they kept however at a[Pg 135] wary distance, and were armed for whatever might occur.

Hostilities between Solovioff and the Natives.

Solovioff attempting to cut off their retreat, in order to secure if possible some hostages, they took the alarm, and began themselves the attack. Upon this the Russians fired upon and pursued them; four were killed, and seven taken prisoners, among whom was the Toigon of the little island Sedak. These prisoners, being bound and examined, confessed that a number of Korovin's crew had been murdered in this place; and the Toigon sent people to bring in a number of muskets, some kettles and tackle, which the natives had taken upon that occasion. They also brought intelligence that Korovin, with a party in two baidars, had taken shelter at a place called Inalga. Upon this information, letters were immediately sent to Korovin; upon the receipt of which he joined them the 2d of October.
At the time of Korovin's arrival, the savages made another attack on Solovioff's watch with knives; which obliged the latter to fire, and six of the assailants were left dead on the spot. The captive Toigon excused this attempt of his people by ascribing it to their fears, lest Korovin out of revenge should put all the prisoners to death; on which account this effort was made to rescue them. Solovioff, for the greater security, sent the prisoners by land to the haven, while Korovin and his[Pg 136] party went to the same place by sea. The Toigon however was treated kindly, and even permitted to return home on condition of leaving his son as an hostage. In consequence of this kind behaviour the inhabitants of three other villages, Agulak, Kutchlok, and Makuski presented hostages of their own accord.

Solovioff lays up the Vessel, and winters upon Unalashka.

From the remaining timber of the old dwelling the Russians built a new hut; and on the fourteenth they laid up the vessel. Koronoff was then sent upon a reconnoitring party to the Southern side of the island, which in that part was not more than five or six versts broad: he proceeded on with his companions, sometimes rowing in canoes, sometimes travelling by land and dragging them after. He returned the twentieth, and reported that he had found upon the coast on the further side of the island an empty habitation. That he rowed from thence Eastward along the shore, and behind the first point of land came to an island in the next bay; there he found about forty islanders of both sexes lodged under their baidars, who by his friendly behaviour had been induced to give him three hostages. These people afterwards settled in the above-mentioned empty hut, and came frequently to the harbour.
On the 28th of October, Solovioff himself went also upon a reconnoitring party along the North coast, towards the North-East end of the island. He rowed from the[Pg 137] first promontory across a bay; and found on the opposite point of land a dwelling place called Agulok, which lies about four hours row from the harbour. He found there thirteen men and about forty women and children, who delivered up several gun-barrels and ship-stores, and likewise informed him of two of Korovin's crew who had been murdered.
November 5, they proceeded farther; and after five or six hours rowing, they saw on a point of land another dwelling called Ikutchlok, beyond which the interpreter shewed them the haven, where Korovin's ship had been at anchor. This was called Makushinshy Bay; and on an island within it they found two Toigons, called Itchadak and Kagumaga, with about an hundred and eighty people of both sexes employed in hunting sea-bears. These natives were not in the least hostile, and Solovioff endeavoured to establish and confirm a friendly intercourse between them and his people. He remained with them until the 10th, when the Toigons invited him to their winter quarters, which lay about five hours sail farther East: there he found two dwelling caves, each of forty yards square, near a rivulet abounding with fish which fell from a lake into a little bay. In the neighbourhood of this village is a hot spring below the sea mark, which is only to be seen at ebb tide. From hence he departed[Pg 138] the 25th, but was forced back by storms, and detained there until the 6th of December.
Kagumaga then accompanied him to another village called Totchikala; both the Toigon and the interpreter advised him to be on his guard against the natives, whom they represented as very savage, sworn enemies to the Russians, and the murderers of nine of Kulkoff's crew. Solovioff for these reasons passed the night on the open coast, and next morning sent the Toigon before to inspire the natives with more friendly sentiments. Some of them listened to his representations; but the greatest part fled upon Solovioff's approach, so that he found the place consisting of four large dwelling caves almost empty, in which he secured himself with suitable precaution. Here he found three hundred darts and ten bows with arrows, all which he destroyed, only reserving one bow and seventeen arrows as specimens of their arms. By the most friendly arguments he urged the few natives who remained to lay aside their enmity, and to persuade their leaders and relations to return to their habitations and live on terms of amity and friendship.
On the 10th about an hundred men and a still greater number of women returned. |Renewal of Hostilities.| But the fairest speeches had no effect on these savages, who kept aloof and prepared for hostilities, which they began on the 17th by an open attack. Nineteen of them were killed, amongst[Pg 139] whom was Inlogusak one of their leaders, and the most inveterate fomenter of hostilities against the Russians. The other leader Aguladock being alive confessed, that on receiving the first news of Solovioff's arrival they had resolved to attack the crew and burn the ship. Notwithstanding this confession, no injury was offered to him: in consequence of this kind usage he was prevailed upon to deliver up his son as an hostage, and to order his people to live on friendly terms with the Russians. During the month of January the natives delivered in three anchors, and a quantity of tackle which had been saved from a vessel formerly wrecked on that coast; and at the same time they brought three boys and two young girls as hostages and pledges of their future fidelity.
January 25, Solovioff set out for the haven where his ship lay: before his departure the Toigons of Makushinsk paid of their own accord a double tribute.
February 1, Kagumaga of Makushink, Agidalok of Totzikala, and Imaginak of Ugamitzi, Toigons of Unalashka, with a great number of their relations, came to Solovioff; they acquainted him with the arrival of a Russian ship at Unimak, the sixth island to the East of Agunalashka, adding that they knew none of the crew excepting a Kamtchadal named Kirilko, who had been there on a former occasion. They likewise informed him that the natives, after having cut off part of the[Pg 140] crew who had been sent out in two baidars, had found means to overpower the remainder and to destroy the vessel. From the name of the Kamtchadal they concluded that this must have been another vessel fitted out by Nikiphor Trapesnikoff and company, of which no farther intelligence was ever received. Willing to procure farther intelligence, they endeavoured to persuade the Toigons to send a party of their people to the above-mentioned island; but the latter excused themselves, on account of the great distance and their dread of the islanders.
February 16, Solovioff set out a second time for the West end of the island, where they had formerly taken prisoner, and afterwards set at liberty, the Toigon of Sedak. From thence he proceeded to Ikolga, which lies on the bay, and consists of only one hut. On the 26th he came to Takamitka, where there is likewise only one hut on a point of land by the side of a rivulet, which falls from the mountains into the sea. Here he met with Korovin, in whose company he cut the blubber of a whale, which the waves had cast on shore; after this Korovin went across the gulph to Umnak, and he proceeded to Ikaltshinsk, where on the 9th one of his party was carried off by sickness.
March 15 he returned to the haven, having met with no opposition from the islanders during this excursion. [Pg 141]On his return he found one of the crew dead, and a dreadful scurvy raging amongst the rest; of that distemper five Russians died in March, eight and a Kamtchadal in April, and six more in May. About this time the islanders were observed to pay frequent visits to the hostages; and upon enquiring privately into the reason, some of the latter discovered, that the inhabitants of Makushinsk had formed the design of cutting off the crew, and of making themselves masters of the vessel. Solovioff had now great reasons to be apprehensive, for the crew were afflicted with the scurvy to such a violent degree, that out of the whole number only twelve persons were capable of defending themselves. These circumstances did not escape the observation of the natives; and they were accordingly inspired with fresh courage to renew their hostilities.
On the 27th of May the Russians perceived the Toigon of Itchadak, who had formerly paid a voluntary tribute, near the shore: he was accompanied by several islanders in three baidars. Solovioff calling to him by the interpreter he came on shore, but kept at a distance desiring a conference with some of his relations. Solovioff gave orders to seize him; and they were lucky enough to take him prisoner, together with two of his companions. He immediately confessed, that he had come with a view of enquiring of the hostages how many Russians were still remaining: having procured the necessary intelligence,[Pg 142] his intention was to surprise the watch at a convenient season, and afterwards to set fire to the ship. As they saw several islanders row past the harbour at the same time, and the Toigon likewise informed them, that they were assembling to execute the abovementioned design; Solovioff resolved to be much upon his guard. They separated, however, without attempting any hostilities.
June 5, Glottoff arrived at the harbour on a visit, and returned on the 8th to his ship. The captive Toigon was now set at liberty, after being seriously exhorted to desist from hostilities. In the course of this month two more of the crew died; so that the arrival of Korovin, who joined them about this time, with two of his own and two of Kulkoff's crew, was of course a very agreeable circumstance. The sick likewise began to recover by degrees.
July 22, Solovioff, with a party of his people, in two baidars, made another excursion Northwards; he passed by the places formerly mentioned as far as Igonok, which lies ten versts beyond Totzikala. Igonok consists of one dwelling cave on the side of a rivulet, which falls from the mountains, and empties itself into the sea. The inhabitants amounted to about thirty men, who dwelt there with their wives and children. From thence Solovioff proceeded along the shore into a bay; five versts[Pg 143] further he found another rivulet, which has its source among the hills and flows through a plain.
Upon the shore of the same bay, opposite to the mouth of this rivulet, lay two villages, one of which only was inhabited; it was called Ukunadok, and consisted of six dwelling caves. About thirty-five of the inhabitants were at that time employed in catching salmon in the rivulet. Kulkoff's ship had lain at anchor about two miles from thence; but there were no remains of her to be found. After coming out of the bay he went forwards to the summer village Umgaina distant about seven or eight leagues, and situated on the side of a rivulet, which takes its rise in a lake abounding with salmon. Here he found the Toigon Amaganak, with about ten of the natives, employed in fishing. Fifteen versts farther along the shore they found another summer village called Kalaktak, where there was likewise another rivulet, which came from the hills. The inhabitants were sixty men and an hundred and seventy women and children: they gave Solovioff a very friendly reception; and delivered up two hostages, who were brought from the neighbouring island Akutan; with these he set out on his return, and on the 6th of August joined his crew.
[Pg 144]
On the 11th he went over to the island Umnak, accompanied by Korovin, to bring off some ships stores left there by the latter; and returned to the haven on the 27th. On the 31st Shaffyrin died, the same person whose adventures have been already related.
Sept. 19. Korenoff was sent northwards upon an hunting party; he returned the 30th of January, 1766. Although the Russians who remained at the haven met with no molestation from the natives during his absence; yet he and his companions were repeatedly attacked. Having distributed to the inhabitants of the several villages through which he passed nets for the purpose of catching sea-otters, he went to the East part of the island as far as Kalaktak, with an intention of hunting. Upon his arrival at that place, on the 31st of October, the inhabitants fled with precipitation; and as all his efforts to conciliate their affections were ineffectual, he found it requisite to be upon his guard. Nor was this precaution unnecessary; for on the following day they returned in a considerable body, armed with lances, made with the iron of the plundered vessels. Korenoff, however, and his companions, who were prepared to receive them, killed twenty-six, and took several prisoners; upon which the others became more tractable.
[Pg 145]
Nov. 19. Korenoff, upon his return to the haven, came to Makushinsk, where he was kindly received by a Toigon named Kulumaga; but with regard to Itchadak, it was plain that his designs were still hostile. Instead of giving an account of the nets which had been left with him, he withdrew privately: and on the 19th of January, accompanied by a numerous body of islanders, made an attempt to surprise the Russians. Victory, however, again declared for Korenoff; and fifteen of the assailants, amongst whom was Itchadak himself, remained dead upon the spot. Kulumaga assured them, in the strongest manner, that the design had been carried on without his knowledge; and protested, that he had often prevented his friend from committing hostilities against the Russians.
Korenoff returned to the haven on the 30th of January; and on the 4th of February he went upon another hunting expedition toward the Western point of the island. During this excursion he met with a party sent out by Glottoff, at a place called Takamitka; he then rowed over to Umnak, where he collected a small tribute, and returned on the 3d of March. During his absence Kyginik, Kulumaga's son, paid a visit to the Russians, and requested that he might be baptized, and be permitted to go aboard the vessel; his demand was immediately complied with.
[Pg 146]
May 13th. Korovin went, with fourteen men, to Umnak, to bring off an anchor, which was buried in the sand. On his return preparations were made for their departure. Before the arrival of Korovin the hunters had killed 150 black and brown foxes; and the same number of old and young sea-otters; since his arrival they had caught 350 black foxes, the same number of common foxes, and 150 sea-otters of different sizes.
This cargo being put on board, the interpreter Kashmak set at liberty, with a certificate of, and presents for his fidelity, and the hostages delivered up to the Toigons and their relations, who had assembled at the haven, Solovioff put to sea on the 1st of June, with an Easterly wind. Before his departure he received a letter from Glottoff, informing him that he was likewise preparing for his return.

Journal of the Voyage homewards.

June 2.	The wind being contrary, they got but a small way from land.
5.	Steered again towards the shore, came to an anchor, and sent a boat for a supply of water, which returned without having seen any body.
6.	Weighed and steered W. with a S. E. wind.
7.	Favourable wind at N. E. and in the afternoon at N.
8.	Wind at N. W. and stormy, the ship drove under the foresail.
9 & 10.	Sailed Northwards, with a Westerly wind.
11.	Calm till noon; afterwards breeze sprung up at S. with which they steered W. till next day at noon; when the wind coming round to the West, they changed their course, and steered N. W.
12.	Calm during the night.
13.	A small breeze of Northerly wind, with which they steered W. in the afternoon it fell calm, and continued so till the
16.	at noon, when a breeze springing up at East, they steered W. on which course they continued during the
18.	with a S. S. E. wind.
From the 19 to the 22. The wind was changeable from the S. W. to N. W. with which they still made a shift to get to the Westward.
23.	The wind E. they steered betwixt N. & W. which course they continued the
24th, 25th, 26th, with a Northerly wind.
27.	A. M. the wind changed to S. W.
28, 29, 30. Wind at West.
July 1.	The wind changed to E. with which they steered between W. and S. W. with little variations, till the 3d.
4.	They reached Kamchatkoi Noss, and on the 5th. Brought the ship, in good condition, into Kamtchatka river.

[Pg 148]

Solovioff's Description of the Fox Islands.

Solovioff's description of these islands and the inhabitants being more circumstantial, than the accounts given by former navigators, deserves to be inserted at full length. According to his estimation, the island Unalashka lies between 1500 and 2000 versts due East from the mouth of the Kamtchatka river: the other islands to the Eastward stretch towards N. E. He reckons the length of Akutan at eighty versts; Umnak at an hundred and fifty, and Unalashka at two hundred. No large trees were seen upon any of the islands which he touched at. They produce underwood, small shrubs, and plants, for the most part similar to the common species found in Kamtchatka. The winter is much milder than in the Eastern parts of Siberia, and continues only from November to the end of March. The snow seldom lies upon the ground for any time.
Rein-deer, bears, wolves, ice-foxes, are not to be found on these islands; but they abound in black, grey, brown, and red foxes; for which reason they have got the name of Lyffie Ostrova, or Fox Islands. These foxes are stronger than those of Yakutsk, and their hair is much coarser. During the day they lie in caves and[Pg 149] clifts of rocks; towards evening they come to the shore in search of food; they have long ago extirpated the brood of mice, and other small animals. They are not in the smallest degree afraid of the inhabitants, but distinguish the Russians by the scent; having experienced the effects of their fire-arms. The number of sea-animals, such as sea-lions, sea-bears, and sea-otters, which resort to these shores, are very considerable. Upon some of the islands warm springs and native sulphur are to be found.

Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants.

The Fox-islands are in general very populous; Unalashka, which is the largest island, is supposed to contain several thousand inhabitants. These savages live together in separate communities, composed of fifty, and sometimes of two or even three hundred persons; they dwell in large caves from forty to eighty yards long, from six to eight broad, and from four to five high. The roof of these caves is a kind of wooden grate, which is first spread over with a layer of grass, and then covered with earth. Several openings are made in the iop, through which the inhabitants go up and down by ladders: the smallest dwellings have two or three entrances of this sort, and the largest five or six. Each cave is divided into a certain number of partitions, which are appropriated to the several families; and these partitions are marked by means of stakes driven into the earth. The men and women sit[Pg 150] on the ground; and the children lie down, having their legs bound together under them, in order to make them learn to sit upon their hams.
Although no fire is ever made in these caves, they are generally so warm, that both sexes sit naked. These people obey the calls of nature openly, and without esteeming it indecent. They wash themselves first with their own urine, and afterwards with water. In winter they go always bare-footed; and when they want to warm themselves, especially before they go to sleep, they set fire to dry grass and walk over it. Their habitations being almost dark, they use particularly in winter a sort of large lamps, made by hollowing out a stone, into which they put a rush-wick and burn train oil. A stone so hollowed is called Tsaaduck. The natives [62] are whites with black hair; they have flat faces, and are of a good stature. The men shave with a sharp stone or knife, the circumference and top of the head, and let the hair which remains hang from the crown [63]. The women cut their hair in a streight line over the forehead; behind they let it grow to a considerable length,[Pg 151] and tie it in a bunch. Some of the men wear their beards; others shave or pull them out by the roots.
They mark various figures on their faces, the backs of their hands, and lower parts of their arms, by pricking them first with a needle, and then rubbing the parts with a sort of black clay. They make three incisions in the under-lip; they place in the middle one a flat bone, or a small coloured stone; and in each of the side-ones they fix a long pointed piece of bone, which bends and reaches almost to the ears. They likewise make a hole through the gristle of the nose, into which they put a small piece of bone in such a manner as to keep the nostrils extended. They also pierce holes in their ears, and wear in them what little ornaments they can procure.
Their dress consists of a cap and a fur-coat, which reaches down to the knee. Some of them wear common caps of a party coloured bird-skin, upon which they leave part of the wings and tail. On the fore-part of their hunting and fishing caps they place a small board like a screen, adorned with the jaw-bones of sea-bears, and ornamented with glass beads, which they receive in barter from the Russians. At their festivals and dancing parties they use a much more showy sort of caps. Their fur-coats are made like shirts, being close behind and before, and are put on over the head. The[Pg 152] mens dress is made of birds skins, but the womens of sea-otters and sea-bears. These skins are died with a sort of red earth, and neatly sewed with sinews, and ornamented with various stripes of sea-otter skins and leathern fringes. They have also upper garments made of the intestines of the largest sea-calves and sea-lions.
Their vessels consist of two sorts: the larger are leathern boats or baidars, which have oars on both sides, and are capable of holding thirty or forty people. The smaller vessels are rowed with a double paddle, and resemble the canoes of the Greenlanders, containing only one or two persons: they never weigh above thirty pounds, being nothing but a thin skeleton of a boat covered with leather. In these however they pass from one island to another, and even venture out to sea to a considerable distance. In calm weather they go out in them to catch turbot and cod with bone-hooks and lines made of sinews or sea-weed. They strike fish in the rivulets with darts. Whales and other sea-animals thrown ashore by the waves are carefully looked after, and no part of them is lost. The quantity of provisions which they procure by hunting and fishing being far too small for their wants, the greatest part of their food consists of sea-wrack and shell-fish, which they find on the shore.
[Pg 153]
No stranger is allowed to hunt or fish near a village, or to carry off any thing fit for food. When they are on a journey, and their provisions are exhausted, they beg from village to village, or call upon their friends and relations for assistance.
They feed upon the flesh of all sorts of sea-animals, and generally eat it raw. But if at any time they choose to dress their victuals, they make use of an hollow stone; having placed the fish or flesh therein, they cover it with another, and close the interstices with lime or clay. They then lay it horizontally upon two stones, and light a fire under it. The provision which is intended for keeping is dried without salt in the open air. They gather berries of various sorts, and lily roots of the same species with those which grow wild at Kamtchatka. They are unacquainted with the manner of dressing the cow-parsnip, as practised in that Peninsula; and do not understand the art of distilling brandy or any other strong liquor from it. They are at present very fond of snuff, which the Russians have introduced among them.
No traces were found of any worship, neither did they seem to have any sorcerers [64] among them. If a[Pg 154] whale happens to be cast on shore, the inhabitants assemble with great marks of joy, and perform a number of extraordinary ceremonies. They dance and beat drums [65] of different sizes: they then cut up the fish, of which the greatest and best part is consumed on the spot. On such occasions they wear showy caps; and some of them dance naked in wooden masks, which reach down to their shoulders, and represent various sorts of sea-animals. Their dances consist of short steps forwards, accompanied with many strange gestures.
Marriage ceremonies are unknown among them, and each man takes as many wives as he can maintain; but the number seldom exceeds four. These women are occasionally allowed to cohabit with other men; they and their children are also not unfrequently bartered in exchange for commodities. When an islander dies, the body is bound with thongs, and afterwards exposed to the air in a sort of wooden cradle hung upon[Pg 155] a cross-bar, supported by forks. Upon these occasions they cry and make bitter lamentations.
Their Toigons or Princes are those who have numerous families, and are skilful and successful in hunting and fishing.
Their weapons consist of bows, arrows, and darts: they throw the latter very dexterously, and to a great distance from a hand-board. For defence they use wooden shields, called kuyakin. These islanders are, notwithstanding their savageness, very docile; and the boys, whom the Russians keep as hostages, soon acquire a knowledge of their language.

[Pg 156]

CHAP. XII.
Voyage of Otcheredin—He winters upon Umnak—Arrival of Levasheff upon Unalashka—Return of Otcheredin to Ochotsk.

Voyage of Otcheredin in the St. Paul, 1765.

In the year 1765 three merchants, namely, Orechoff of Yula, Lapin of Solikamsk, and Shiloff of Ustyug, fitted out a new vessel called the St. Paul, under the command of Aphanassei Otcheredin. She was built in the harbour of Ochotsk: his crew consisted of sixty-two Russians and Kamtchadals, and she carried on board two inhabitants of the Fox Islands named John and Timothy Surgeff, who had been brought to Kamtchatka and baptised.
September 10, they sailed from Ochotsk, and arrived the 22d in the bay of Bolcheresk where they wintered. August 1, 1776, they continued their voyage, and having passed the second of the Kuril Isles, steered on the 6th into the open sea; on the 24th they reached the nearest of the Fox Islands, which the interpreters called [66] Atchak. A storm arising they cast anchor in a bay, but saw no inhabitants upon the shore. |Arrival at Umnak.| On the 26th[Pg 157] they sailed again, discovered on the 27th Sagaugamak, along which they steered North East, and on the 31st came within seven miles of the island Umnak; where, on account of the lateness of the season and the want of provision and water, they determined to winter. Accordingly on the 1st of September, by the advice of the interpreters, they brought the vessel into a convenient bay near a point of land lying N. W. where they fastened it to the shore with cables.
Upon their landing they discovered several pieces of a wreck; and two islanders, who dwelled on the banks of a rivulet which empties itself into the bay, informed them, that these were the remains of a Russian vessel, whose commander's name was Denys. From this intelligence they concluded that this was Protassoff's vessel, fitted out at Ochotsk. The inhabitants of Umnak, Unalashka, and of the Five Mountains, had assembled and murdered the crew, when separated into different hunting parties. The same islanders also mentioned the fate of Kulkoff's and Trapesnikoff's ships upon the island Unalashka. Although this information occasioned general apprehensions, yet they had no other resource than to draw the vessel ashore, and to take every possible precaution against a surprize. Accordingly they kept a constant watch, made presents to the Toigons and the principal inhabitants, and demanded some children as hostages. For some time the islanders behaved very peaceably, until the Russians endeavoured to persuade them to become[Pg 158] tributary: upon which they gave such repeated signs of their hostile intentions, that the crew lived under continual alarms. In the beginning of September information was brought them of the arrival of a vessel, fitted out by Ivan Popoff merchant of Lalsk, at Unalashka.
About the end of the said month the Toigon of the Five Mountains came to Otcheredin, and was so well satisfied with his reception, that he brought hostages, and not only assured them of his own friendship, but promised to use his influence with the other Toigons, and to persuade them to the same peaceable behaviour. But the other Toigons not only paid no regard to his persuasions, but even barbarously killed one of his children. From these and other circumstances the crew passed the winter under continual apprehensions, and durst not venture far from the harbour upon hunting parties. Hence ensued a scarcity of provisions; and hunger, joined to the violent attacks of the scurvy, made great havock amongst them, insomuch that six of them died, and several of the survivors were reduced to so weak a condition, that they were scarce able to move.
The health of the crew being re-established in the spring, twenty-three men were sent on the 25th of June in two boats to the Five Mountains, in order to persuade the inhabitants to pay tribute. On the 26th they landed on the island Ulaga, where they were at[Pg 159]tacked with great spirit by a large body of the inhabitants; and though three of the Russians were wounded, yet the savages were repulsed with considerable loss: they were so terrified by their defeat, that they fled before the Russians during their continuance on that island. The latter were detained there by tempestuous weather until the 9th of July; during which time they found two rusty firelocks belonging to Protassoff's crew. On the 10th they returned to the harbour; and it was immediately resolved to dispatch some companies upon hunting expeditions.
Accordingly on the 1st of August Matthew Poloskoff, a native of Ilinsk, was sent with twenty-eight men in two boats to Unalashka with the following orders; that if the weather and other circumstances were favourable, they were to make to Akutan and Akun, the two nearest islands to the East, but to proceed no further. In consequence of this, Poloskoff reached Akutan about the end of the month; and being kindly received by the inhabitants, he left six of his party to hunt; with the remainder he went to Akun, which lies about two versts from Akutan. From thence he dispatched five men to the neighbouring islands, where he was informed by the interpreters there were great quantities of foxes.
Poloskoff and his companions continued the whole autumn upon Akun without being annoyed; but on the[Pg 160] 12th of December the inhabitants of the different islands assembled in great numbers, and attacked them by land and sea. They informed Poloskoff, by means of the interpreters, that the Russians whom he had sent to the neighbouring islands were killed; that the two vessels at Umnak and Unalashka were plundered, and the crew put to death; and that they were now come to make him and his party share the same fate. The Russian fire-arms however kept them in due respect; and towards evening they dispersed. The same night the interpreter deserted, probably at the instigation of his countrymen, who nevertheless killed him, as it was said, that winter.
January 16, the savages ventured to make a second attack. Having surprised the guard by night, they tore off the roof of the Russian dwelling, and shot down into the hut, making at the same time great outcries: by this unexpected assault four Russians were killed, and three wounded; but the survivors no sooner had recourse to their fire-arms, than the enemy was driven to flight. Meanwhile another body of the natives attempted to seize the two vessels, but without success; they however cut off the party of six men left by Poloskoff at Akutan, together with the five hunters dispatched to the contiguous islands, and two of Popoff's crew who were at the Westermost part of Unalashka.
[Pg 161]
Poloskoff continued upon Akun in great danger until the 20th of February; when, the wounded being recovered, he sailed over with a fair wind to Popoff's vessel at Unalashka; and on the 10th of May returned to Otcheredin.
In April Popoff's vessel being got ready for the voyage, all the hostages, whose number amounted to forty, were delivered to Otcheredin. July the 30th a vessel belonging to the same Popoff arrived from Beering's Island, and cast anchor in the same bay where Otcheredin's lay; and both crews entered into an agreement to share in common the profits of hunting. Strengthened by this alliance, Otcheredin prevailed upon a number of the inhabitants to pay tribute. August the 22d Otcheredin's mate was sent with six boats and fifty-eight men to hunt upon Unalashka and Akutan; and there remained thirty men with the vessels in the harbour, who kept constant watch.

Otcheredin receives an Account of Levasheff's Arrival at Unalashka.

Soon afterwards Otcheredin and the other commander received a letter from Levasheff Captain Lieutenant of the Imperial fleet, who accompanied Captain Krenitzin in the secret expedition to those islands. The letter was dated September 11, 1768: it informed them he was arrived at Unalashka in the St. Paul, and lay at anchor in the same bay in which Kulkoff's vessel had[Pg 162] been lost. He likewise required a circumstantial account of their voyages. By another order of the 24th he sent for four of the principal hostages, and demanded the tribute of skins which had been exacted from the islanders. But as the weather was generally tempestuous at this season of the year, they deferred sending them till the spring. May the 31st Levasheff set sail for Kamtchatka; and in 1771 returned safely from his expedition at St. Petersburg.
The two vessels remained at Umnak until the year 1770, during which time the crews met with no opposition from the islanders. They continued their hunting parties, in which they had such good fortune, that the share of Otcheredin's vessel (whose voyage is here chiefly related) consisted in 530 large sea-otter skins, 40 young ones and 30 cubs, the skins of 656 fine black foxes, 100 of an inferior sort, and about 1250 red fox skins.
With this large cargo of furs Otcheredin set sail on the 22d of May, 1770, from Umnak, leaving Popoff's crew behind. A short time before their departure, the other interpreter Ivan Surgeff, at the instigation of his relations, deserted.

Return of Otcheredin to Ochotsk.

After having touched at the nearest of the Aleütian Islands, Otcheredin and his crew arrived on the 24th of[Pg 163] July at Ochotsk. They brought two islanders with them, whom they baptized. The one was named Alexèy Solovieff; the other Boris Otcheredin. These islanders unfortunately died on their way to Petersburg; the first between Yakutsk and Irkutsk; and the latter at Irkutsk, where he arrived on the 1st of February, 1771.

[Pg 164]

CHAP. XIII.
Conclusion—General position and situation of the Aleütian and Fox Islands—their distance from each other—Further description of the dress, manners, and customs of the inhabitants—their feasts and ceremonies, &c.

Position of Beering's and Copper Islands.

According to the latest informations brought by Otcheredin's and Popoff's vessels, the North West point of Commandorskoi Ostroff, or Beering's Island, lies due East from the mouth of the Kamtchatka river, at the distance of 250 versts. It is from 70 to 80 versts long, and stretches from North West to South East, in the same direction as Copper Island. The latter is situated about 60 or 70 versts from the South East point of Beering's Island, and is about 50 versts in length.

Of the Aleütian Isles.

About 300 versts East by South of Copper Island lie the Aleütian Isles, of which Attak is the nearest: it is rather larger than Beering's Island, of the same shape, and stretches from West to South East. From thence about 20 versts Eastwards is situated Semitshi, extending from West to East, and near its Eastern point another small island. To the South of the strait, which separates the two latter islands, and at the distance of[Pg 165] 40 versts from both of them, lies Shemiya in a similar position, and not above 25 versts in length. All these islands stretch between 54 and 55 degrees of North latitude.

Of the Fox Islands.

The Fox Islands are situated E. N. E. from the Aleütians: the nearest of these, Atchak, is about 800 versts distant; it lies in about 56 degrees North latitude, and extends from W. S. W. towards E. N. E. It greatly resembles Copper Island, and is provided with a commodious harbour on the Notrh. From thence all the other islands of this chain stretch in a direction towards N. E. by East.
The next to Atchak is Amlak, about 15 versts distant; it is nearly of the same size; and has an harbour on its South side. Next follows Sagaugamak, at about the same distance, but somewhat smaller; from that it is 50 versts to Amuchta, a small rocky island; and the same distance from the latter to Yunaksan, another small island. About 20 versts from Yunaksan there is a cluster of five small islands, or rather mountains, Kigalgist, Kagamila, Tsigulak, Ulaga, and Tana-Unok, and which are therefore called by the Russians Pät Sopki, or the Five Mountains. Of these Tana-Unok lies most to the N. E. towards which the Western point of Umnak advances within the distance of 20 versts.
[Pg 166]
Umnak stretches from S. W. to N. E.; it is 150 versts in length, and has a very considerable bay on the West end of the Northern coast, in which there is a small island or rock, called Adugak; and on the South side is Shemalga, another rock. The Western point of Aghunalashka, or Unalashka, is separated from the East end of Umnak by a strait near 20 versts in breadth. The position of these two islands is similar; but Aghunalashka is much the largest, and is above 200 versts long. It is divided towards the N. E. into three promontories, one of which runs out in a Westerly direction, forming one side of a large bay on the North coast of the island: the second stretches out N. E. ends in three points, and is connected with the island by a small neck of land. The third or most Southerly one is separated from the last mentioned promontory by a deep bay. Near Unalashka towards the East lies another small island called Skirkin.
About 20 versts from the North East promontory of Aghunalashka lie four islands: the first, Akutan, is about half as big as Umnak; a verst further is the small island Akun; a little beyond is Akunok; and lastly Kigalga, which is the smallest of these four, and stretches with Akun and Akunok almost from N. to S. Kigalga is situated about the 61st degree of latitude. About[Pg 167] 100 versts from thence lies an island called Unimak [67], upon which Captain Krenitzin wintered; and beyond it the inhabitants said there was a large tract of country called Alashka, of which they did not know the boundaries.
The Fox Islands are in general very rocky, without containing any remarkable high mountains: they are destitute of wood, but abound in rivulets and lakes, which are mostly without fish. The winter is much milder than in Siberia; the snow seldom falls before the beginning of January, and continues on the ground till the end of March.
There is a volcano in Amuchta; in Kagamila sulphur flows from a mountain; in Taga-Unok there are warm springs hot enough to boil provisions; and flames of sulphur are occasionally seen at night upon the mountains of Unalashka and Akutan.

Account of the Inhabitants of the Fox Islands.

The Fox Islands are tolerably populous in proportion to their size. The inhabitants are entirely free, and pay tribute to no one: they are of a middle stature; and live, both in summer and winter, in holes dug in the earth. No signs of religion were found amongst them. [Pg 168]Several persons indeed pass for sorcerers, pretending to know things past and to come, and are accordingly held in high esteem, but without receiving any emolument. Filial duty and respect towards the aged are not held in estimation by these islanders. They are not however deficient in fidelity to each other; they are of lively and chearful tempers, though rather impetuous, and naturally prone to anger. In general they do not observe any rules of decency, but follow all the calls of nature publicly, and without the least reserve. They wash themselves with their own urine.

Their Food.

Their principal food consists in fish and other sea-animals, small shell-fish and sea-plants: their greatest delicacies are wild lilies and other roots, together with different kinds of berries. When they have laid in a store of provisions, they eat at any time of the day without distinction; but in case of necessity they are capable of fasting several days together. They seldom heat their dwellings; but when they are desirous of warming themselves, they light a bundle of hay, and stand over it; or else they set fire to train oil, which they pour into a hollow stone.
They feed their children when very young with the coarsest flesh, and for the most part raw. If an infant cries, the mother immediately carries it to the sea-side, and be it summer or winter holds it naked in the wa[Pg 169]ter until it is quiet. This custom is so far from doing the children any harm, that it hardens them against the cold; and they accordingly go bare-footed through the winter without the least inconvenience. They are also trained to bathe frequently in the sea; and it is an opinion generallly received among the islanders, that by that means they are rendered bold, and become fortunate in fishing.

Dress.

The men wear shirts made of the skins of cormorants, sea-divers, and gulls; and, in order to keep out the rain, they have upper garments of the bladders and other intestines of sea-lions, sea-calves, and whales, blown up and dried. They cut their hair in a circular form close to their ears; and shave also a round place upon the top. The women, on the contrary, let the hair descend over the forehead as low as the eye-brows, and tie the remaining part in a knot upon the top of the head. They pierce the ears, and hang therein bits of coral which they get from the Russians. Both sexes make holes in the gristle of the nose, and in the under-lips, in which they thrust pieces of bone, and are very fond of such kind of ornaments. They mark also and colour their faces with different figures. They barter among one another sea-otters, sea-bears, clothes made of bird-skins and of dried intestines, skins of sea-lions and sea-calves for the coverings of baidars,[Pg 170] wooden masks, darts, thread made of sinews and reindeer hair, which they get from the country of Alaska.
Their houshold utensils are square pitchers and large troughs, which they make out of the wood driven ashore by the sea. |Arms.| Their weapons are bows and arrows pointed with flints, and javelins of two yards in length, which they throw from a small board. Instead of hatchets they use crooked knives of flint or bone. Some iron knives, hatchets, and lances, were observed amongst them, which they had probably got by plundering the Russians.
According to the reports of the oldest inhabitants of Umnak and Unalashka, they have never been engaged in any war either amongst themselves or with their neighbours, except once with the people of Alashka, the occasion of which was as follows: The Toigon of Umnak's son had a maimed hand; and some inhabitants of Alashka, who came upon a visit to that island, fastened to his arm a drum, out of mockery, and invited him to dance. The parents and relations of the boy were offended at this insult: hence a quarrel ensued; and from that time the two people have lived in continual enmity, attacking and plundering each other by turns. According to the reports of the islanders, there are mountains upon Alashka, and woods of great extent at some distance from the coast. The natives wear clothes made of[Pg 171] the skins of reindeer, wolves, and foxes, and are not tributary to any of their neighbours. The inhabitants of the Fox-islands seem to have no knowledge of any country beyond Alashka.

Feasts.

Feasts are very common among these islanders; and more particularly when the inhabitants of one island are visited by those of the others. The men of the village meet their guests beating drums, and preceded by the women, who sing and dance. At the conclusion of the dance the hosts invite them to partake of the feasts; after which ceremony the former return first to their dwellings, place mats in order, and serve up their best provision. The guests next enter, take their places, and after they are satisfied the diversions begin.
First, the children dance and caper, at the same time making a noise with their small drums, while the owners of the hut of both sexes sing. Next, the men dance almost naked, tripping after one another, and beating drums of a larger size: when these are weary, they are relieved by the women, who dance in their clothes, the men continuing in the mean time to sing and beat their drums. At last the fire is put out, which had been kindled for the ceremony. The manner of obtaining fire is by rubbing two pieces of dry wood, or most commonly by striking two flints together, and letting the sparks fall[Pg 172] upon some sea-otter's hair mixed with sulphur. If any sorcerer is present, it is then his turn to play his tricks in the dark; if not, the guests immediately retire to their huts, which are made on that occasion of their canoes and mats. The natives, who have several wives, do not withhold them from their guests; but where the owner of the hut has himself but one wife, he then makes the offer of a female servant.
Their hunting season is principally from the end of October to the beginning of December, during which time they kill large quantities of young sea-bears for their clothing. They pass all December in feastings and diversions similar to that above mentioned: with this difference, however, that the men dance in wooden masks, representing various sea-animals, and painted red, green, or black, with coarse coloured earths found upon these islands.
During these festivals they visit each other from village to village, and from island to island. The feasts concluded, masks and drums are broken to pieces, or deposited in caverns among the rocks, and never afterwards made use of. In spring they go out to kill old sea-bears, sea-lions, and whales. During summer, and even in winter when it is calm, they row out to sea, and catch cod and other fish. Their hooks are of bone; and for[Pg 173] lines they make use of a string made of a long tenacious sea-weed, which is sometimes found in those seas near one hundred and sixty yards in length.
Whenever they are wounded in any encounter, or bruised by any accident, they apply a sort of yellow root to the wound, and fast for some time. When their head achs, they open a vein in that part with a stone lancet. When they want to glue the points of their arrows to the shaft, they strike their nose till it bleeds, and use the blood as glue.
Murder is not punished amongst them, for they have no judge. With respect to their ceremonies of burying the dead, they are as follow: The bodies of poor people are wrapped up in their own clothes, or in mats; then laid in a grave, and covered over with earth. The bodies of the rich are put, together with their clothes and arms, in a small boat made of the wood driven ashore by the sea: this boat is hung upon poles placed cross-ways; and the body is thus left to rot in the open air.
The customs and manners of the inhabitants of the Aleütian Isles are nearly similar to those of the inhabitants of the Fox Islands. The former indeed are ren[Pg 174]dered tributary, and entirely subject to Russia; and most of them have a slight acquaintance with the Russian language, which they have learned from the crews of the different vessels who have landed there.

[Pg 175]

PART II.
CONTAINING
THE CONQUEST OF SIBERIA,
AND
THE HISTORY
OF THE
TRANSACTIONS AND COMMERCE
BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA.

[Pg 177]

CHAP. I.
First irruption of the Russians into Siberia—Second inroad—Yermac driven by the Tzar of Muscovy from the Volga, retires to Orel a Russian Settlement—Enters Siberia with an army of Cossacks—His progress and exploits—Defeats Kutchum Chan—conquers his dominions—cedes them to the Tzar—receives a reinforcement of Russian troops—is surprized by Kutchum Chan—his defeat and death—Veneration paid to his memory—Russian troops evacuate Siberia—re-enter and conquer the whole country—their progress stopped by the Chinese.

First Irruption of the Russians into Siberia under the Reign of Ivan Vassilievitch I.

Siberia was scarcely known to the Russians before the middle of the sixteenth century [68]. For although an expedition was made, under the reign of Ivan Vassilievitch I. into the North Western Parts of that country, as far as the river Oby, by which several Tartar tribes were rendered tributary, and some of their chiefs brought prisoners to Moscow; yet this incursion bore a greater resemblance to the desultory inroads of barbarians, than to any permanent establishment of empire by a civilized nation. Indeed the effects of that expedition soon va[Pg 178]nished; nor does any trace of the least communication with Siberia again appear in the Russian history before the reign of Ivan Vassilievitch II. At that period Siberia again became an object of attention, by means of one Anika Strogonoff, a Russian merchant, who had established some salt-works at Solvytshegodskaia, a town in the government of Archangel.

Anika Strogonoff trades with the People of Siberia.

This person carried on a trade of barter with the inhabitants of the North-Western parts of Siberia, who brought every year to the abovementioned town large quantities of the choicest furs. Upon their return to their country Strogonoff was accustomed to send with them some Russian merchants, who crossed the mountains, and traded with the natives. By these means a considerable number of very valuable furs were procured at an easy rate, in exchange for toys and other commodities of trifling value.
This traffic was continued for several years, without any interruption; during which Strogonoff rapidly amassed a very considerable fortune [69]. At length the Tzar Ivan Vassilievitch II. foreseeing the advantages which would accrue to his subjects, from establishing a more general and regular commerce with these people,[Pg 179] determined to enlarge the communication already opened with Siberia. |Second Irruption of the Russians into Siberia in the Reign of Ivan Vassilievitch II.| Accordingly he sent a corps of troops into that country. They followed the same route which had been discovered by the Russians in the former expedition, and which was lately frequented by the merchants of Solvytshegodskaia. It lay along the banks of the Petschora, and from thence crossed the Yugorian mountains, which form the North Eastern boundary of Europe. These troops, however, do not seem to have passed the Irtish, or to have penetrated further than the Western branch of the river Oby. Some Tartar tribes were indeed laid under contribution; and a chief, whose name was Yediger, consented to pay an annual tribute of a thousand sables. But this expedition was not productive of any lasting effects; for soon afterwards Yediger was defeated, and taken prisoner by Kutchum Chan; the latter was a lineal descendant of the celebrated Zinghis Chan; and had newly established his empire in those parts.
This second inroad was probably made about the middle of the sixteenth century; for the Tzar Ivan Vassilievitch assumed the title of Lord of all the Siberian lands so early as 1558, before the conquests made by Yermac in that kingdom [70]. But probably the name of Siberia was at that time only confined to the district[Pg 180] then rendered tributary; and as the Russians extended their conquests, this appellation was afterwards applied to the whole tract of country which now bears that name.
For some time after the above-mentioned expedition, the Tzar does not appear to have made any attempts towards recovering his lost authority in those distant regions. But his attention was again turned to that quarter by a concurrence of incidents; which, though begun without his immediate interposition, terminated in a vast accession of territory.

Strogonoff forms Settlements upon the Kama and Tchussovaia.

Strogonoff, in recompence for having first opened a trade with the inhabitants of Siberia, obtained from the Tzar large grants of land; accordingly he founded colonies upon the banks of the rivers Kama and Tchussovaia; and these settlements gave rise to the entire subjection of Siberia by the refuge which they not long afterwards afforded to Yermac Timofeeff.
This person was nothing more than a fugitive Cossac of the Don, and chief of a troop of banditti who infested the shores of the Caspian sea. But as he was the instrument by which such a vast extent of dominion was added to the Russian Empire, it will not be uninteresting to develop the principal circumstances, which brought this[Pg 181] Cossac from the shores of the Caspian to the banks of the Kama; and to trace the progress which he afterwards made in the distant regions of Siberia.
By the victories which the Tzar Ivan Vassilievitch had gained over the Tatars of Casan and Astracan, that monarch extended his dominions as far as the Caspian Sea; and thereby established a commerce with the Persians and Bucharians. |Yermac is driven from the Shores of the Caspian Sea. A. D. 1577.| But as the merchants who traded to those parts were continually pillaged by the Cossacs of the Don; and as the roads which lay by the side of that river, and of the Volga, were infested with those banditti; the Tzar sent a considerable force against them. Accordingly, they were attacked and routed; part were slain, part made prisoners, and the rest escaped by flight. Among the latter was a corps of six thousand Cossacs, under the command of the above-mentioned Yermac Timofeeff [71].

He retires to Orel, one of the Russian Settlements.

That celebrated adventurer, being driven from his usual haunts, retired, with his followers, into the interior part of the province of Casan. From thence he directed his course along the banks of the Kama, until he came to Orel [72]. That place was one of the Russian settlements recently planted, and was governed by Maxim grandson[Pg 182] of Anika Strogonoff. Yermac, instead of storming the place, and pillaging the inhabitants, acted with a degree of moderation unusual in a chief of banditti. Being hospitably received by Strogonoff, and supplied with every thing that was necessary for the subsistence of his troops, he fixed his winter quarters at that settlement. |Determines to invade Siberia.| His restless genius however did not suffer him to continue for any length of time in a state of inactivity; and from the intelligence he procured concerning the situation of the neighbouring Tartars of Siberia, he turned his arms toward that quarter.

State of Siberia.

Siberia was at that time partly divided among a number of separate princes; and partly inhabited by the various tribes of independent Tartars. Of the former Kutchum Chan was the most powerful Sovereign. His dominions consisted of that tract of country which now forms the South Western part of the province of Tobolsk; and stretched from the banks of the Irtish and Oby to those of the Tobol and Tura. His principal residence was at Sibir [73], a small fortress upon the river Irish, not[Pg 183] far from the present town of Tobolsk; and of which some ruins are still to be seen. Although his power was very considerable, yet there were some circumstances which seemed to ensure success to an enterprizing invader. He had newly acquired a large part of his territories by conquest; and had, in a great measure, alienated the affections of his idolatrous subjects by the intolerant zeal, with which he introduced and disseminated the Mahometan religion [74].
Strogonoff did not fail of displaying to Yermac this inviting posture of affairs, as well with a view of removing him from his present station, as because he himself was personally exasperated against Kutchum Chan: for the latter had secretly instigated a large body of Tartars to invade the Russian settlements upon the river Tchussovaia; and had afterwards commenced open hostilities against them with a body of forces under the command of his cousin Mehemet Kul. And although both these attempts had failed of success, yet the troops engaged in them had left behind traces of havock and devastation too lasting to be easily effaced [75].
[Pg 184]

Marches towards Siberia.

All these various considerations were not lost upon Yermac: having therefore employed the winter in preparations for his intended expedition, he began his march in the summer of the following year, 1578, along the banks of the Tchussovaia. The want of proper guides, and a neglect of other necessary precautions, greatly retarded his march, and he was overtaken by the winter before he had made any considerable progress. |Returns to Orel.| And at the appearance of spring he found his stock of provisions so nearly exhausted, that he was reduced to the necessity of returning to Orel.
But this failure of success by no means extinguished his ardour for the prosecution of the enterprize; it only served to make him still more solicitous in guarding against the possibility of a future miscarriage. By threats he extorted from Strogonoff every assistance which the nature of the expedition seemed to require. Besides a sufficient quantity of provisions, all his followers, who were before unprovided with fire-arms, were supplied with muskets and ammunition; and, in order to give the appearance of a regular army to his troops, colours were distributed to each company, which were ornamented with the images of saints, after the manner of the Russians.
[Pg 185]
Having thus made all previous arrangements, he thought himself in a condition to force his way into Siberia. |His second Expedition.| Accordingly, in the month of June, 1579, he set out upon this second expedition. His followers amounted to five thousand men; adventurers inured to hardships, and regardless of danger: they placed implicit confidence in their leader, and seemed to be all animated with one and the same spirit. |Arrives upon the Banks of the Tura.| He continued his route partly by land, and partly by water: the navigation however of the rivers was so tedious, and the roads so rugged and difficult, that eighteen months elapsed before he reached Tchingi, a small town upon the banks of the Tura [76].
Here he mustered his troops, and found his army considerably reduced: part had been exhausted by fatigue, part carried off by sickness, and part cut off in skirmishes with the Tartars. The whole remaining number amounted to about fifteen hundred effective men; and yet with this handful of troops Yermac did not hesitate a moment in advancing against Kutchum Chan. That prince was already in a posture of defence; and resolved to guard his crown to the last extremity. Having collected his forces, he dispatched several flying parties against Yermac, himself remaining behind with[Pg 186] the slower of his troops: but all these detachments were driven back with considerable loss; and worried in many successive skirmishes. Yermac continued his march without intermission, bearing down all resistance until he reached the center of his adversary's dominions.
These successes however were dearly bought; for his army was now reduced to five hundred men. Kutchum Chan was encamped [77] at no great distance upon the banks of the Irtish, with a very superior force, and determined to give him battle. Yermac, who was not to be daunted by the inequality of numbers, prepared for the engagement with a confidence which never forsook him; his troops were equally impatient for action, and knew no medium between conquest and death. The event of the combat corresponded with this magnanimity. |Defeats Ketchum Chan. 1581.| After an obstinate and well fought battle, victory declared in favour of Yermac: the Tartars were entirely routed, and the carnage was so general, that Kutchum Chan himself escaped with difficulty.
This defeat proved decisive: Kutchum Chan was deserted by his subjects; and Yermac, who knew how to improve as well as gain a victory, marched without[Pg 187] delay to Sibir, the residence of the Tartar princes. He was well aware, that the only method to secure his conquest was to get possession of that important fortress. He expected therefore to have found in that place a considerable garrison, determined to sacrifice their lives in its defence. But the news of the late defeat had diffused universal consternation, and Sibir was entirely deserted. |Seats himself upon the Throne.| A body of troops whom he sent before him, to reduce the fortress, found it quite deserted: he himself soon after made his triumphant entry, and seated himself upon the throne without the least opposition. Here he fixed his residence, and received the allegiance of the neighbouring people, who poured in from all quarters upon the news of this unexpected revolution. The Tartars were so struck with his gallant intrepidity and brilliant exploits, that they submitted to his authority without hesitation, and acquiesced in the payment of the usual tribute.
Thus this enterprising Cossac was suddenly exalted from the station of a chief of banditti to the rank of a sovereign prince. It does not appear from history whether it were at first his design to conquer Siberia, or solely to amass a considerable booty. The latter indeed seems the more probable conjecture. The rapid tide of success with which he was carried on, and the entire defeat of Kutchum Chan, afterwards expanded his views, and opened a larger scene to his[Pg 188] ambition. But whatever were his original projects, he seems worthy, so far as intrepidity and prudence form a basis of merit, of the final success which flowed in upon him. For he was neither elated with unexpected prosperity, nor dazzled with the sudden glare of royalty: on the contrary, the dignity of his deportment was as consistent and unaffected, as if he had been born a sovereign.
And now Yermac and his followers seemed to enjoy those rewards which they had dearly purchased by a course of unremitted fatigue, and by victories which almost exceeded belief. Not only the tribes in the neigbourhood of Sibir wore the appearance of the most unreserved submission; but even princes continued flocking in from distant parts, to acknowledge themselves tributary, and to claim his protection. |Precarious Situation of Yermac.| However, this calm was of short duration. Insurrections were concerted by Kutchum Chan; who, though driven from his dominions, yet still retained no small degree of influence over his former subjects.
Yermac saw and felt the precariousness of his present grandeur; the inconsiderable number of his followers who had survived the conquest of Sibir, had been still further diminished by an ambuscade of the enemy; and as he could not depend on the affection of his new subjects, he found himself under the necessity either[Pg 189] of calling in foreign assistance, or of relinquishing his dominion. Under these circumstances he had recourse to the Tzar of Muscovy; and made a tender of his new acquisitions to that monarch, upon condition of receiving immediate and effectual support. The judicious manner in which he conducted this measure, shews him no less able in the arts of negotiation than of war.
One of his most confidential followers was dispatched to Moscow at the head of fifty Cossacs. |Cedes his Conquests to the Tzar of Muscovy.| He had orders to represent to the court the progress which the Russian troops, under the command of Yermac, had made in Siberia: he was artfully to add, that an extensive empire was conquered in the name of the Tzar; that the natives were reduced to swear allegiance to that monarch, and consented to pay an annual tribute. This representation was accompanied with a present of the choicest and most valuable furs [78]. |1582.| The embassador was received at Moscow with the strongest marks of satisfaction: a public thanksgiving was celebrated in the cathedral; the Tzar acknowledged and extolled the good services of Yermac; he granted him a pardon for all former offences; and, as a testimony of his favour, distributed presents for him and his followers. Amongst those which were sent to Yermac was a fur robe, which the Tzar himself had worn, and which was the greatest[Pg 190] mark of distinction that could be conferred upon a subject. To these was added a sum of money, and a promise of speedy and effectual assistance.
Meanwhile Yermac, notwithstanding the inferior number of his troops, did not remain inactive within the fortress of Sibir. He defeated all attempts of Kutchum Chan to recover his crown; and took his principal general prisoner. He made occasional inroads into the adjacent provinces, and extended his conquests up to the source of the river Taffda on one side, and on the other as far as the district which lies upon the river Oby above its junction with the Irtish.

Receives a Reinforcement of Russian troops.

At length the promised succours arrived at Sibir. They consisted of five hundred Russians, under the command of prince Bolkosky, who was appointed wayvode or governor of Siberia. Strengthened by this reinforcement, Yermac continued his excursions on all sides with his usual activity; and gained several bloody victories over different princes, who were imprudent enough to assert their independence.
In one of these expeditions he laid siege to Kullara, a small fortress upon the banks of the Irtish, which still belonged to Kutchum Chan: but he found it so bravely defended by that monarch, that all his efforts to carry it by storm proved ineffectual. Upon his return to Sibir[Pg 191] he was followed at some distance by that prince, who hung unperceived upon his rear; and was prepared to seize any fortunate moment of attack which might occur; nor was it long before a favourable opportunity presented itself. The Russians to the number of about three hundred lay negligently posted in a small island, formed by two branches of the Irtish. The night was obscure and rainy; and the troops, who were fatigued with a long march, reposed themselves without suspicion of danger. |Surprised by Kutchum Chan.| Kutchum Chan, apprised of their situation, silently advanced at midnight with a select body of troops; and having forded the river, came with such rapidity upon the Russians, as to preclude the use of their arms. In the darkness and confusion of the night, the latter were cut to pieces almost without opposition; and fell a resistless prey to those adversaries, whom they had been accustomed to conquer and despise. The massacre was so universal, that only one man is recorded to have escaped, and to have brought the news of this catastrophe to his countrymen at Sibir.

Death of Yermac.

Yermac himself perished in the rout, though he did not fall by the sword of the enemy. In all the hurry of surprise, he was not so much infected with the general panic, as to forget his usual intrepidity, which seemed to be encreased rather than abated by the danger of his present situation. After many desperate acts of heroism,[Pg 192] he cut his way through the troops who surrounded him, and made to the banks of the Irtish [79]. Being closely pursued by a detachment of the enemy, he endeavoured to throw himself into a boat which lay near the shore; but stepping short, he fell into the water, and being incumbered with the weight of his armour, sunk instantly to the bottom [80].
His body was not long afterwards taken out of the Irtish, and exposed, by order of Kutchum Chan, to all the insults which revenge ever suggested to barbarians in the frenzy of success. But these first transports of resentment had no sooner subsided, than the Tartars testified the most pointed indignation at the ungenerous[Pg 193] ferocity of their leader. The prowess of Yermac, his consummate valour and magnanimity, virtues which barbarians know how to prize, rose upon their recollection. They made a sudden transition from one extreme to the other: they reproached their leader for ordering, themselves for being the instruments of indignity to such venerable remains. At length their heated imaginations proceeded even to consecrate his memory: they interred his body with all the rites of Pagan superstition; and offered up sacrifices to his manes.

Veneration paid to his Memory.

Many miraculous stories were soon spread abroad, and met with implicit belief. The touch of his body was supposed to have been an instantaneous cure for all disorders; and even his clothes and arms were said to be endowed with the same efficacy. A flame of fire was represented as sometimes hovering about his tomb, and sometimes as stretching in one luminous body from the same spot towards the heavens. A presiding influence over the affairs of the chace and of war was attributed to his departed spirit; and numbers resorted to his tomb to invoke his tutelary aid in concerns so interesting to uncivilised nations. These idle fables, though they evince the superstitious credulity of the Tartars, convey at the same time the strongest testimony of their veneration for the memory of Yermac; and this veneration[Pg 194] greatly contributed to the subsequent progress of the Russians in those regions [81].
With Yermac expired for a time the Russian empire in Siberia. |The Russians quit Siberia.| The news of his defeat and death no sooner reached the garrison of Sibir, than an hundred and fifty troops, the sad remains of that formidable army which had gained such a series of almost incredible victories, retired from the fortress, and evacuated Siberia. Notwithstanding this disaster, the court of Moscow did not abandon its design upon that country; which a variety of favourable circumstances still concurred to render a flattering object of Russian ambition. Yermac's sagacity had discovered new and commodious routes for the march of troops across those inhospitable regions. The rapidity with which he had overrun the territories of Kutchum Chan, taught the Russians to consider the Tartars as an easy prey. Many of the tribes who had been rendered tributary by Yermac, had testified a cheer[Pg 195]ful acquiescence under the sovereignty of the Tzar; and were inclined to renew their allegiance upon the first opportunity. Others looked upon all resistance as unavailing, and had learned, from dear-bought experience, to tremble at the very name of a Russian. The natural strength of the country, proved not to be irresistible when united, was considerably weakened by its intestine commotions. Upon the retreat of the garrison of Sibir, that fortress, together with the adjacent district, was seized by Seyidyak, son of the former sovereign, whom Kutchum Chan had dethroned and put to death. Other princes availed themselves of the general confusion to assert independency; and Kutchum Chan was able to regain only a small portion of those dominions, of which he had been stripped by Yermac.

The Russians re-enter Siberia.

Influenced by these motives, the court of Moscow sent a body of three hundred troops into Siberia, who penetrated to the banks of the Tura as far as Tschingi almost without opposition. There they built the fort of Tumen, and re-established their authority over the neighbouring district. Being soon afterwards reinforced by an additional number of troops, they were enabled to extend their operations, and to erect the fortresses of Tobolsk, Sungur, and Tara. |Re-conquer their antient Territories.| The erection of these and other fortresses was soon attended with a[Pg 196] speedy recovery of the whole territory, which Yermac had reduced under the Russian yoke.
This success was only the fore-runner of still greater acquisitions. |All Siberia conquered and colonized.| The Russians pushed their conquest far and wide: wherever they appeared, the Tartars were either reduced or exterminated. New towns were built and colonies were planted on all sides. Before a century had well elapsed, all that vast tract of country now called Siberia, which stretches from the confines of Europe to the Eastern Ocean, and from the Frozen Sea to the present frontiers of China, was annexed to the Russian dominions.

Progress of the Russians checked by the Chinese.

A still larger extent of territory had probably been won; and all the various tribes of independent Tartary which lie between the South-Eastern extremity of the Russian empire, and the Chinese Wall, would have followed the fate of the Siberian hordes, if the power of China had not suddenly interposed.

[Pg 197]

CHAP. II.
Commencement of hostilities between the Russians and Chinese—Disputes concerning the limits of the two empires—Treaty of Nershinsk—- Embassies from the court of Russia to Pekin—Treaty of Kiachta—Establishment of the commerce between the two nations.

Towards the middle of the seventeenth century, the Russians were rapidly extending themselves Eastward through that important territory, which lies, on each side of the river [82] Amoor. They soon reduced several independent Tungusian hordes; and built a chain of small fortresses along the banks of the above-mentioned river, of which the principal were Albasin, and Kamarskoi Ostrog. Not long afterwards, the Chinese under [83] Camhi conceived a similar design of subduing[Pg 198] the same hordes. |Rise of animosities between the Russians and Chinese.| Accordingly the two great powers of Russia and China, thus pointing their views to the same object, unavoidably clashed; and, after several jealousies and intrigues, broke out into open hostilities about the year 1680. The Chinese laid siege to Kamarskoi Ostrog, and though repulsed in this attempt, found means to cut off several straggling parties of Russians. These animosities induced the Tzar Alexèy Michaelovitch to send an embassy to Pekin; but this measure did not produce the desired effect. |Albasin destroyed by the Chinese.| The Chinese attacked Albasin with a considerable force: having compelled the Russian garrison to capitulate, they demolished that and all the Russian forts upon the Amoor; and returned, with a large number of prisoners, to their own country.

Albasin rebuilt by the Russians, is besieged by the Chinese.

Not long after their departure, a body of sixteen hundred Russians advanced along the Amoor; and constructed a new fort, under the old name of Albasin. The Chinese were no sooner apprised of their return, than they[Pg 199] marched instantly towards that river, and sat down before Albasin with an army of seven thousand men, and a large train of artillery. They battered the new fortress for several weeks, without being able to make a breach, and without attempting to take it by storm. The besieged, though not much annoyed by the unskilful operations of the enemy, were exhausted with the complicated miseries of sickness and famine; and notwithstanding they continued to make a gallant resistance, they must soon have sunk under their distresses, if the Chinese had not voluntarily retired, in consequence of a treaty being set afoot between the two courts of Moscow and Pekin. For this purpose the Russian embassador Golowin had left Moscow so early as the year 1685, accompanied by a large body of troops, in order to secure his person, and enforce respect to his embassy. The difficulty of procuring subsistence for any considerable number of men in those desolate regions, joined to the ruggedness of the roads, and the length of the march, prevented his arrival at Selengisk until the year 1687. From thence messengers were immediately dispatched with overtures of peace to the Chinese government at Pekin.
After several delays, occasioned partly by policy, and partly by the posture of affairs in the Tartar country through which the Chinese were to pass, embassadors[Pg 200] left Pekin in the beginning of June 1689. Golovin had proposed receiving them at Albasin; but while he was proceeding to that fortress, the Chinese embassadors presented themselves at the gates of Nershinsk, escorted by such a numerous army, and such a formidable train of artillery, that Golovin was constrained, from motives of fear, to conclude the negotiation almost upon their own terms.
The conferences were held under tents, in an open plain, near the town of Nershinsk; where the treaty was signed and sealed by the plenipotentaries of the two courts. When it was proposed to ratify it by oath, the Chinese embassadors offered to swear upon a crucifix; but Golovin preferred their taking an oath in the name of their own gods.

Treaty of Nershinsk.

This treaty first checked the progress of the Russian arms in those parts; and laid the foundations of an important and regular commerce between the two nations.
By the first and second articles, the South-Eastern boundaries of the Russian empire were formed by a ridge of mountains, stretching North of the Amoor from the sea of Ochotsk to the source of the small river[Pg 201] Gorbitza [84], then by that river to its influx into the Amoor, and lastly by the Argoon, from its junction with the Shilka up to its source.
By the fifth article reciprocal liberty of trade was granted to all the subjects of the two empires, who were provided with pass-ports from their respective courts [85].
This treaty was signed on the 27th of August, in the year 1689, under the reign of Ivan and Peter Alexiewitch, by which the Russians lost, exclusively of a large territory, the navigation of the river Amoor. The importance of this loss was not at that time understood; and has only been felt since the discovery of Kamtchatka, and of the islands between Asia and America. The products of these new-discovered countries might, by means of the Amoor, have been conveyed by water into the district of Nershinsk, from whence there is an easy[Pg 202] transport by land to Kiachta: whereas the same merchandise, after being landed at Ochotsk, is now carried over a large tract of country, partly upon rivers of difficult navigation, and partly along rugged and almost impassable roads.

Rise of the Commerce with China.

In return, the Russians obtained what they long and repeatedly aimed at, a regular and permanent trade with the Chinese. The first intercourse between Russia and China commenced in the beginning of the seventeenth century [86]. At that period a small quantity of Chinese merchandise was procured, by the merchants of Tomsk and other adjacent towns, from the Calmucs. The rapid and profitable sale of these commodities encouraged certain Wayvodes of Siberia to attempt a direct and open communication with China. For this purpose several deputations were sent at different times to Pekin from Tobolsk, Tomsk, and other Russian settlements: these deputations, although they failed of obtaining the grant of a regular commerce, were nevertheless attended with some important consequences. The general good reception, which the agents met with, tempted the Russian merchants to send occasional traders to Pekin. By these means a faint connection with that metropolis was kept alive: the Chinese learned the advantages of the[Pg 203] Russian trade, and were gradually prepared for its subsequent establishment. This commerce, carried on by intervals, was entirely suspended by the hostilities upon the river Amoor. But no sooner was the treaty of Nershinsk signed, than the Russians engaged with extraordinary alacrity in this favourite branch of traffic. The advantages of this trade were soon found to be so considerable, that Peter I. conceived an idea of still farther enlarging it. |Caravans allowed to trade to Pekin.| Accordingly, in 1692, he sent Isbrand Ives, a Dutchman in his service, to Pekin, who requested and obtained, that the liberty of trading to China, which by the late treaty was granted to individuals, should be extended to caravans.
In consequence of this arrangement, successive caravans went from Russia to Pekin, where a caravansary was allotted for their reception; and all their expences during their continuance in that metropolis defrayed by the Emperor of China. The right of sending these caravans, and the profits resulting from them, belonged to the crown of Russia. In the mean time, private merchants continued as before to carry on a separate trade with the Chinese, not only at Pekin, but also at the head quarters of the Mongols. The camp of these roving Tartars was generally to be found near the conflux of the Orchon and Tola, between the Southern frontiers of Siberia and the Mongol desert. A kind of annual fair[Pg 204] was held at this spot by the Russian and Chinese merchants; where they brought their respective goods for sale; and continued until they were disposed of. This rendezvous soon became a scene of riot and confusion; and repeated complaints were transmitted to the Chinese Emperor of the drunkenness and misconduct of the Russians. These complaints made a still greater impression from a coincidence of similar excesses, for which the Russians at Pekin had become notorious.
Exasperated by the frequent representations of his subjects, Camhi threatened to expell the Russians from his dominions, and to prohibit them from carrying on any commerce, as well in China as in the country of the Mongols.

Embassy of Ismailoff to Pekin.

These untoward circumstances occasioned another embassy to Pekin, in the year 1719. Leff Vassilievitch Ismailoff, a captain of the Russian guards, who was sent embassador upon this occasion, succeeded in the negotiation, and adjusted every difficulty to the satisfaction of both parties. At his departure he was permitted to leave behind Laurence Lange, who had accompanied him to Pekin, in the character of agent for the caravans; for the purpose of superintending the conduct of the Russians. |Russians expelled from Pekin.| His residence however in that metropolis was but short; for he was soon afterwards compelled, by the[Pg 205] Chinese, to return. His dismission was owing, partly, to a sudden caprice of that suspicious people, and partly to a misunderstanding, which had recently broke out between the two courts, in relation to some Mongol tribes who bordered upon Siberia. A small number of these Mongols had put themselves under the protection of Russia, and were immediately demanded by the Chinese; but the Russians refused compliance, under pretence that no article in the treaty of Nershinsk could, with any appearance of probability, be construed as extending to the Mongols. The Chinese were incensed at this refusal; and their resentment was still further inflamed by the disorderly conduct of the Russian traders, who, freed from all controul by the departure of their agent, had indulged, without restraint, their usual propensity to excess. This concurrence of unlucky incidents extorted, in 1722, an order from Camhi for the total expulsion of the Russians from the Chinese and Mongol territories. These orders were regorously executed; and all intercourse between the two nations immediately ceased.

Embassy of Ragusinski.

Affairs continued in this state until the year 1727, when the count Sava Vladislavitch Ragusinski, a Dalmatian in the service of Russia, was dispatched to Pekin. His orders were at all events to compose the differences between the two courts relating to the Mongol tribes; to[Pg 206] settle the Southern frontiers of the Russian empire in that quarter; and to obtain the permission of renewing the trade with China. Accordingly that embassador presented a new plan for a treaty of limits and commerce to Yundschin, son and successor of Camhi; by which the frontiers of the two empires were finally traced as they exist at present, and the commerce established upon a permanent basis, calculated to prevent as far as possible all future sources of misunderstanding. This plan being approved by the emperor, Chinese commissioners were immediately appointed to negotiate with the Russian embassador upon the banks of the Bura, a small river which flows, South of the confines of Siberia, into the Orchon near its junction with the Selenga.

Treaty of Kiatchta.

At this conference, the old limits, which are mentioned in the treaty of Nershinsk, were continued from the source of the Argoon Westwards as far as the mountain Sabyntaban, which is situated at a small distance from the spot where the conflux of the two rivers Uleken and Kemtzak form the Yenisèi: this boundary separates the Russian dominions from the territory of the Mongols, who are under the protection of China.
It was likewise stipulated, that for the future all negotiations should be transacted between the tribunal of[Pg 207] foreign affairs at Pekin, and the board of foreign affairs at St. Petersburg; or in matters of inferior moment between the commanders of the frontiers [87].
The most important articles relating to commerce, were as follow:

Account of the Treaty relative to Commerce.

A caravan was allowed to go to Pekin every three years, on condition of its not consisting of more than two hundred persons; during their residence in that metropolis, their expences were no longer to be defrayed by the emperor of China. Notice was to be sent to the Chinese court immediately upon their arrival at the frontiers; where an officer was to meet and accompany them to Pekin.
The privilege before enjoyed by individuals of carrying on a promiscuous traffic in the Chinese and Mongol territories was taken away, and no merchandize belonging to private persons was permitted to be brought for sale beyond the frontiers. For the purpose of preserving, consistently with this regulation, the privilege of commerce to individuals, two places of resort were[Pg 208] appointed on the confines of Siberia: one called Kiatchta, from a rivulet of that name near which it stands; and the other Zuruchaitu: at these places a free trade was reciprocally indulged to the subjects of the two nations.
A permission was at the same time obtained for building a Russian church within the precincts of their caravansary; and for the celebration of divine service, four priests were allowed to reside at Pekin [88]. The same favour was also extended to some Russian Scholars [89],[Pg 209] for the purpose of learning the Chinese tongue; in order to qualify themselves for interpreters between the two nations.
This treaty, called the treaty of Kiachta, was, on the fourteenth of June, 1728, concluded and ratified by the count Ragusinski and three Chinese plenipotentaries upon the spot, where Kiachta was afterwards built: it is the basis of all transactions since carried on between Russia and China [90].
One innovation in the mode of carrying on the trade to China, which has been introduced since the accession of the present empress Catherine II. deserves to be mentioned in this place. |Caravans discontinued.| Since the year 1755 no caravans have been sent to Pekin. Their first discontinuance was owing to a misunderstanding between the two courts of Petersburg and Pekin in 1759. Their disuse after the reconciliation had taken place, arose from the following circumstances. The exportation and importation of many principal commodities, particularly the most valuable furs, were formerly prohibited to individuals, and solely appropriated to caravans belonging to the crown. By these restrictions the Russian trade to China was greatly shackled and circumscribed. |Monopoly of the Fur Trade abolished.| The present[Pg 210] empress (who, amidst many excellent regulations which characterise her reign, has shewn herself invariably attentive to the improvement of the Russian commerce) abolished, in 1762, the monopoly of the fur trade, and renounced in favour of her subjects the exclusive privilege which the crown enjoyed of sending caravans to Pekin [91]. By these concessions the profits of the trade have been considerably encreased: the great expence, hazard, and delay, of transporting the merchandise occasionally from the frontiers of Siberia to Pekin, has been retrenched; and Kiachta is now rendered the center of the Russian and Chinese commerce.
[Pg 211]

View of the Chinese Frontier Town Maimatschin with the Brook Kiachta, taken from the West.

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Book: Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America To which are added, the conquest of Siberia, and the history of the transactions and commerce between Russia and China Author: William Coxe (1780) (1 of 2)

ACCOUNT
OF THE RUSSIAN DISCOVERIES
BETWEEN ASIA AND AMERICA.

PREFACE.

CATALOGUE OF BOOKS QUOTED IN THIS WORK

Explanation of some Russian words made use of in the following work.

Table of Russian Weights, Measures of Length, and Value of Money.

WEIGHT.

MEASURES OF LENGTH.

VALUE OF RUSSIAN MONEY.

ERRATA.

ADVERTISEMENT.

List of the Charts, and Directions for placing them.

CONTENTS.

PART I.
CONTAINING
I. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING KAMTCHATKA,
AND
II. ACCOUNT OF THE NEW DISCOVERIES MADE BY THE RUSSIANS.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS
CONCERNING
KAMTCHATKA, &c.

CHAP. I.
Discovery and Conquest of Kamtchatka—Present state of that Peninsula—Population—Tribute—Productions, &c.

CHAP. II.
General idea of the commerce carried on to the New Discovered Islands.—Equipment of the vessels.—Risks of the trade, profits, &c.

CHAP. III.
Furs and skins procured from Kamtchatka and the New Discovered Islands.

ACCOUNT
OF THE NEW DISCOVERIES
MADE BY THERUSSIANS IN THE EASTERN OCEAN,
BETWEEN KAMTCHATKA AND AMERICA.

CHAP. I.
Commencement and progress of the Russian Discoveries in the sea of Kamtchatka—General division of the New Discovered Islands.

CHAP. II.
Voyages in 1745.—First discovery of the Aleütian Isles by Michael Nevodtsikoff.

CHAP. III.
Successive voyages, from 1747 to 1753, to Beering's and Copper Island, and to the Aleütian Isles.—Some account of the inhabitants.

CHAP. IV.
Voyages from 1753 to 1756.
Some of the further Aleütian or Fox Islands touched at by Serebranikoff's vessel.—Some account of the Natives.

CHAP. V.
Voyages from 1756 to 1758.

CHAP. VII.
Voyage of Andrean Tolstyk in the St. Andrean and Natalia—Discovery of some New Islands called Andreanoffskye Ostrova—Description of six of those Islands.

CHAP. XII.
Voyage of Otcheredin—He winters upon Umnak—Arrival of Levasheff upon Unalashka—Return of Otcheredin to Ochotsk.

CHAP. XIII.
Conclusion—General position and situation of the Aleütian and Fox Islands—their distance from each other—Further description of the dress, manners, and customs of the inhabitants—their feasts and ceremonies, &c.

PART II.
CONTAINING
THE CONQUEST OF SIBERIA,
AND
THE HISTORY
OF THE
TRANSACTIONS AND COMMERCE
BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA.

CHAP. II.
Commencement of hostilities between the Russians and Chinese—Disputes concerning the limits of the two empires—Treaty of Nershinsk—- Embassies from the court of Russia to Pekin—Treaty of Kiachta—Establishment of the commerce between the two nations.

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Saturday, December 30, 2017

Book: Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America To which are added, the conquest of Siberia, and the history of the transactions and commerce between Russia and China Author: William Coxe (1780) (1 of 2)

ACCOUNTOF THE RUSSIAN DISCOVERIESBETWEEN ASIA AND AMERICA.

PREFACE.

CATALOGUE OF BOOKS QUOTED IN THIS WORK

Explanation of some Russian words made use of in the following work.

Table of Russian Weights, Measures of Length, and Value of Money.

WEIGHT.

MEASURES OF LENGTH.

VALUE OF RUSSIAN MONEY.

ERRATA.

ADVERTISEMENT.

List of the Charts, and Directions for placing them.

CONTENTS.

PART I.CONTAINING I. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING KAMTCHATKA, AND II. ACCOUNT OF THE NEW DISCOVERIES MADE BY THE RUSSIANS.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS CONCERNINGKAMTCHATKA, &c.

CHAP. I.Discovery and Conquest of Kamtchatka—Present state of that Peninsula—Population—Tribute—Productions, &c.

CHAP. II.General idea of the commerce carried on to the New Discovered Islands.—Equipment of the vessels.—Risks of the trade, profits, &c.

CHAP. III.Furs and skins procured from Kamtchatka and the New Discovered Islands.

ACCOUNTOF THE NEW DISCOVERIESMADE BY THERUSSIANS IN THE EASTERN OCEAN, BETWEEN KAMTCHATKA AND AMERICA.

CHAP. I.Commencement and progress of the Russian Discoveries in the sea of Kamtchatka—General division of the New Discovered Islands.

CHAP. II.Voyages in 1745.—First discovery of the Aleütian Isles by Michael Nevodtsikoff.

CHAP. III.Successive voyages, from 1747 to 1753, to Beering's and Copper Island, and to the Aleütian Isles.—Some account of the inhabitants.

CHAP. IV.Voyages from 1753 to 1756.Some of the further Aleütian or Fox Islands touched at by Serebranikoff's vessel.—Some account of the Natives.

CHAP. V.Voyages from 1756 to 1758.

CHAP. VII.Voyage of Andrean Tolstyk in the St. Andrean and Natalia—Discovery of some New Islands called Andreanoffskye Ostrova—Description of six of those Islands.

CHAP. XII.Voyage of Otcheredin—He winters upon Umnak—Arrival of Levasheff upon Unalashka—Return of Otcheredin to Ochotsk.

CHAP. XIII.Conclusion—General position and situation of the Aleütian and Fox Islands—their distance from each other—Further description of the dress, manners, and customs of the inhabitants—their feasts and ceremonies, &c.

PART II.CONTAINING THE CONQUEST OF SIBERIA, AND THE HISTORY OF THE TRANSACTIONS AND COMMERCE BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA.

CHAP. II.Commencement of hostilities between the Russians and Chinese—Disputes concerning the limits of the two empires—Treaty of Nershinsk—- Embassies from the court of Russia to Pekin—Treaty of Kiachta—Establishment of the commerce between the two nations.

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ACCOUNT
OF THE RUSSIAN DISCOVERIES
BETWEEN ASIA AND AMERICA.

PART I.
CONTAINING
I. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING KAMTCHATKA,
AND
II. ACCOUNT OF THE NEW DISCOVERIES MADE BY THE RUSSIANS.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS
CONCERNING
KAMTCHATKA, &c.

CHAP. I.
Discovery and Conquest of Kamtchatka—Present state of that Peninsula—Population—Tribute—Productions, &c.

CHAP. II.
General idea of the commerce carried on to the New Discovered Islands.—Equipment of the vessels.—Risks of the trade, profits, &c.

CHAP. III.
Furs and skins procured from Kamtchatka and the New Discovered Islands.

ACCOUNT
OF THE NEW DISCOVERIES
MADE BY THERUSSIANS IN THE EASTERN OCEAN,
BETWEEN KAMTCHATKA AND AMERICA.

CHAP. I.
Commencement and progress of the Russian Discoveries in the sea of Kamtchatka—General division of the New Discovered Islands.

CHAP. II.
Voyages in 1745.—First discovery of the Aleütian Isles by Michael Nevodtsikoff.

CHAP. III.
Successive voyages, from 1747 to 1753, to Beering's and Copper Island, and to the Aleütian Isles.—Some account of the inhabitants.

CHAP. IV.
Voyages from 1753 to 1756.
Some of the further Aleütian or Fox Islands touched at by Serebranikoff's vessel.—Some account of the Natives.

CHAP. V.
Voyages from 1756 to 1758.

CHAP. VII.
Voyage of Andrean Tolstyk in the St. Andrean and Natalia—Discovery of some New Islands called Andreanoffskye Ostrova—Description of six of those Islands.

CHAP. XII.
Voyage of Otcheredin—He winters upon Umnak—Arrival of Levasheff upon Unalashka—Return of Otcheredin to Ochotsk.

CHAP. XIII.
Conclusion—General position and situation of the Aleütian and Fox Islands—their distance from each other—Further description of the dress, manners, and customs of the inhabitants—their feasts and ceremonies, &c.

PART II.
CONTAINING
THE CONQUEST OF SIBERIA,
AND
THE HISTORY
OF THE
TRANSACTIONS AND COMMERCE
BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA.

CHAP. II.
Commencement of hostilities between the Russians and Chinese—Disputes concerning the limits of the two empires—Treaty of Nershinsk—- Embassies from the court of Russia to Pekin—Treaty of Kiachta—Establishment of the commerce between the two nations.