|
CHAPTER XXI.
REZANOF’S VISIT.
1804-1806.
A fortnight before the Neva sailed for Canton,
the Elizaveta arrived at Novo Arkhangelsk, together with two American
ships, one of them, named the Juno, laden with provisions, calling for
repairs. A few days later the company’s brig Maria entered the harbor,
having on board as passengers lieutenants Kvostof and Davidof, the naturalist Langsdorff,
and the ambassador Rezanof, who was destined to play an important part in the
development of the Russian American colonies. Before proceeding further, it may
be well to mention briefly the voyage of the Nadeshda from the time of her parting company with her consort, and the envoy’s
operations before landing at Novo Arkhangelsk.
After a passage of thirty-five days from the Sandwich
Islands, the vessel arrived at Petropavlovsk on the 14th of July, 1804. Here
Rezanof assumed full control. The ship, after being unrigged and repaired, was
again ready for sea at the end of August, but was weather-bound until the 6th
of the following month, when she sailed from the coast of Kamchatka, Well
equipped, and with an ample stock of provisions.
Arriving at Nangasaki on
October 8th, after a rough passage, Rezanof was detained for several months by
the frivolous trifling of the Japanese authorities. At length, on the 30th of
March, 1805, a plenipotentiary arrived from Jeddo,
and “on the 3d of April,” writes Krusenstern, “it was concluded that the
ambassador should pay the representative of the Japanese emperor, a European,
and not a Japanese, compliment. This latter, indeed, is of so debasing a
nature, that even the very lowest of Europeans could not submit to it; but he
was obliged to appear without bis sword or shoes, nor would they allow him a
chair or any kind of European seat, but reduced him to the necessity of sitting
in front of the governor and the plenipotentiary, on the floor, with his feet
tucked under him, an attitude by no means the most convenient.
“On the 4th of April Rezanof had his first audience,
to which he was conveyed in a large boat adorned with flags and curtains. On
this occasion, merely an exchange of compliments took place, and a few
insignificant questions were put to him. The second audience was conducted with
the same ceremonies, and here the negotiation terminated; the necessary
documents being delivered into his hands, which contained an order that no
Russian ship should again come to Japan; and the presents, and even the letter,
from the emperor of Russia, were all refused.”
In sore disgust, Rezanof ordered the captain of thee Nadeshda to weigh anchor on the morning of the 17th
of April. After being engaged for several weeks in exploring expeditions among
the Japanese, Kurile, and Saghalin Islands, the ship
again cast anchor off Petropavlovsk on the 5th of June. Here Rezanof engaged a
passage on board the brig Maria for Kadiak, the Nadeshda sailing a month later, and after further explorations, arriving at Macao on the
20th of November.
Dismissing the members of his embassy with the
exception of Langsdorff, the plenipotentiary sailed
from Petropavlovsk on, the 24th of June, and about three weeks later landed at
the island of St Paul. Here he met with sufficient evidences of carelessness
and waste. The skins of the fur-seal were scattered about over beach and bluff
in various stages of decomposition. The storehouses were full, but only a small
part of their contents was in a marketable state. As many as thirty thousand
had been killed for their flesh alone, the skins having been left on the spot
or thrown into the sea. After questioning the Aleutian laborers and Russian
overseers, Rezanof came to the conclusion that unless an end were put to this
wanton destruction, a few years more would witness the extirpation of the
fur-seal.
On the 25th of July the Maria entered Beaver
Bay, on the eastern side of Unalaska, and thence, with a few companions,
Rezanof proceeded on foot over the rough mountain trail to the company’s
station at Illiuliuk.
From this settlement Rezanof despatched his first official letter. After making brief mention of his voyage, he writes:
“The multitude of seals in which St Paul abounds is incredible; the shores are
covered with them. They are easily caught, and as we were short of provisions,
eighteen were killed for us in half an hour. But at the same time we were
informed that they had decreased in number ninety per cent since earlier times.
These islands would be an inexhaustible source of wealth were it not for the
Bostonians, who undermine our trade with China in furs, of which they obtain
large numbers on our American coast. As over a million had already been killed,
I gave orders to stop the slaughter at once, in order to prevent their total extermination,
and to employ the men in collecting walrus tusks, as there is a small island
near St Paul covered with walrus.
“I take the liberty, as a faithful subject of your
imperial Majesty, of declaring my opinion that it is very necessary to take a
stronger hold of this country. It is certain that we shall leave it
empty-handed, since from fifteen to twenty ships come here annually from Boston
to trade. In the first place, the company should build a small stanch brig, and
send out heavy ordnance for her armament. This would compel the Bostonians to
keep away, and the Chinese would get no furs but ours. Secondly, the establishment
of the company’s business on so large a scale requires great expenditure, and
the trade in furs alone cannot support it. The American colonies can never be
fully developed as long as bread, the principal staple of food, has to be
shipped from Okhotsk. To this end it is necessary to intercede with the Spanish
government for permission to purchase on the Philippine Islands, or in Chili,
the produce of those countries. There we could obtain breadstuffs, sugar, and
rum at low prices for bills of exchange in piastres, and in sufficient quantity
to supply all Kamchatka; while in the mean time we are developing our colonies
in America, and after building ships there could compel the Japanese to open
their ports to our trade.
“I hope that your imperial Majesty will not consider
it a crime on my part, if, after being reenforced by my distinguished
cooperators, Lieutenants Khvostof and Davidof, and having the ship repaired and newly armed, I
push on next year to the coast of Japan, there to destroy the settlement at Matsmai, drive the Japanese from Saghalin Island, and frighten them away from the whole coast and the Kurile Islands,
breaking up their fisheries, and thereby depriving 200,000 people of food,
which will force them all the sooner to open their ports. I have heard that
they have been bold enough to erect a factory at Oorupa Island, one of our Kuriles.
“Here at Unalaska, I have succeeded in impressing the
islanders with your Majesty’s fatherly care for their welfare. I asked them if
they were satisfied with their agent Mr Larionof, and if they suffered oppression. They all
answered unanimously that he had been a father to them. I questioned also the
chiefs of more distant villages, and they all answered the same. Finally I
assembled the whole population, and persuaded them to tell me without fear
whether they had cause for complaint, informing them that my advent among them
was the consequence of your imperial Majesty’s anxiety for their well-being.
They answered that they had only one request to make, and that not of me, but
of the agent, and when I inquired what that request was, assuring them that it should
be granted, they answered that they wished him to be as good to them in the
future as he had been in the past, for they had been perfectly quiet and happy,
and received such remuneration for their labor as had been mutually agreed upon.
I gave to the agent Larionof, in the name of your
imperial Majesty, a gold medal, and to the interpreter Pankof a silver medal, and told the chiefs that these men had been rewarded solely on
the strength of their unanimous favorable answers to my questions. At the same
time I inflicted exemplary punishment upon the trader Kulikalof,
who had been summoned from Atkha Island for cruelly
beating a Native woman and her infant son. After assembling all the chiefs and
other natives, and the Russians and sailors from the vessel, I had the culprit
put in irons and sent him off to Irkutsk by the transport then about to sail,
to be turned over to the courts of justice; after which I explained to the
islanders that before your imperial Majesty all subjects were equal, and then
turning to the Russian hunters, I assured them that every act of violence would
be as severely punished. ”
On the 25th of July, the Maria sailed from Unalaska,
and a week latter anchored in the harbor of St Paul. Upon landing, Rezanof, as
the plenipotentiary of the Russian emperor, was saluted with salvos of
artillery and received with hearty welcome. His report on the condition of
affairs was satisfactory, and he speaks in high terms of Banner, who was still
in charge of the colony.
During his brief stay he took measures to improve the.
moral condition of the settlement. In a building which had been erected during
the preceding winter by Lisiansky, he laid the foundation for a library, with
books forwarded for the purpose from St Petersburg. He urged upon the
promyshleniki and natives in the service of the company the benefit to be
derived from sending their children to the school, which for some years had
been sparsely attended. At the same time he induced the wife of Banner to take
into her house a certain number of young girls to be trained in housekeeping.
Arriving at Novo Arkhangelsk near the end of August,
Rezanof and his party were provided with the best accommodation at the disposal
of the chief manager, and with such rough and scant fare as his stores could
furnish. “We all live poorly,” writes the former, a few weeks later, in his
first report to the Russian American Company; “but worse than all lives the
founder of this place, in a miserable hut, so damp that the floor is always
wet, and during the constant heavy rains the place leaks like a sieve. Wonderful
man! He only cares for the comfort of others, and is very neglectful of
himself. Once I found bis bed floating in the water, and asked him whether the
wind had not torn off a board somewhere from
the side of the hut. ‘No’ he answered quietly, ‘it is only the old leak,’ and
turned again to his occupation. I tell you, gentlemen, that Baranof is an
original, and at the same time a very happy production of nature. His name is
heard on the whole western coast, down to California. The Bostonians esteem him
and respect him, and the savage tribes, in their dread of him, offer their
friendship from the most distant regions.” Rezanof then informs the directors
that both Baranof and Kuskof desire to leave the
country, and declares that in the existing state of affairs a new man could be
of no use, for, in the time that he would require to become acquainted with his
duties, the company would inevitably suffer considerable loss, and might be
deprived of all its possessions.
In their last communication, the directors had
informed their plenipotentiary that they purposed to establish trading-posts in
Tonquin, Cochin China, Burmah, and elsewhere in the farther Indies. But
Rezanof, although a man of sanguine temperament, was of opinion that, with the
resources at his command, such a project was simply chimerical. He does not
appear, however, to have abandoned his intention of forcing the Japanese to
open their ports, although he states that the company is in no condition to extend
its operations beyond north-western America.
“The Kolosh appear to be subdued,” continues the
envoy, “but for how long? They have been armed by the Bostonians with the best
guns and pistols, and have even falconets. All along the sound they have
erected forts. The fierceness and treachery once exhibited by the natives have
taught us all the greatest caution. Our cannon are always loaded, and not only
are sentries with loaded guns posted everywhere, but arms of all kinds are the
chief furniture of our rooms. Every evening, after sundown, signals are maintained
throughout the night, and a watchword is passed from post to post until
daylight. Perfect military discipline is enforced, and we are ready at any
moment to receive the savages, who are in the habit of profiting by the
darkness and gloom of night to make their attacks.”
Rezanof’s fears were not ill-founded. About the very time that his report was
written a rumor reached Novo Arkhangelsk, which was afterward confirmed, that
the Yakutat colony had been destroyed by the Kolosh, and all the Russians,
except the commander’s wife and children, together with a number of Aleuts,
massacred. Encouraged by this success, the savages determined to attack the
Russian settlements lying farther to the north. Embarking in eight large warcanoes, they proceeded to the mouth of the Copper River,
where, leaving six of their vessels, they despatched the other two to the Konstantinovski Redoubt, on Nuchek
Island. Their chief, Fedor, a godson of Baranof, and a man well known to the
promyshleniki, appeared boldly before Ouvarof, the
commander of the station, declaring that he wished to trade with the Chugatsehes. Ouvarof gave him
permission, and witnessed the usual
preliminary dances and festivity. On one of the canoes kept in reserve there
was, however, a captive Chugatsch, who succeeded in
escaping, and informed Ouvarof of the real object of
the Kolosh. Thereupon the Russian commander seized the chief, and told him that
his plan had been revealed. In the mean time the native allies, hearing of the
matter, had taken the remainder of the Kolosh to their village under pretence of inviting them to a feast, and had there
massacred almost the entire party. Among the few that escaped was Fedor, who
carried to the party at Copper River the news of their comrades’ fate. Fearing
that the Chugatsches would soon be upon them, the panic-stricken Kolosh at once
put to sea, and while attempting to cross the bar in the teeth of a gale, the
bidarkas were dashed to pieces and their inmates drowned. Thus was the Yakutat
massacre avenged without the loss of a single man on the side of the Russians.
During a brief sojourn in London, in 1803, while the Nadeshda was lying at Falmouth, Rezanof visited Newgate prison, where he saw four hundred convicts awaiting
transportation to Botany Bay. Thus was suggested to him the idea of petitioning
the crown that a number of exiles be sent out yearly to reenforce the sparsely
peopled colonies of Russian America. He recommends that those selected be
chiefly mechanics and laborers, and that it be understood that none should have
permission to return, in order that society might be permanently rid of a
portion of its dangerous members; while the criminals, being fairly-treated and
having no hope of escape, would be of great benefit in building up the
settlements.
For several months after Rezanof’s arrival at Novo Arkhangelsk, formal councils were convened for the purpose of
discussing measures for the welfare of the colonies. At their meetings Baranof
and his chief assistants were always present, but the plenipotentiary was
doubtless the guiding spirit. At the close of their deliberations the latter
handed to the chief manager a list of instructions for his guidance, which,
though some of them were for the time impracticable, show a keen insight into
the wants of the colony. He recommends that special attention be paid to the
training of mechanics and tradesmen; that the garrison be recruited from
friendly natives and native youths reared at the company’s expense; that young
men be trained in the schools of the colony to fill positions as book-keepers,
clerks, and agents; that a fund be provided for the support of the aged and
disabled; that, in view of the scarcity of shipwrights, ships be purchased from
foreigners whenever opportunity may offer, even at a sacrifice, and that for
this purpose credits be established with banking houses in London and
Amsterdam; and that in order to insure a sufficient supply of bread-stuffs,
trade be established with California, New Albion, and the Philippine Islands.
“Upon the fur trade alone,” he writes in a letter to
the directors, “the company cannot subsist, and it is absolutely necessary to
organize without delay a business of a general character—a trade with other
countries to which the road is open from the colony. This is all the more
necessary, as the number of furbearing animals decreases from year to year. If
Baranof had not returned to Novo Arkhangelsk, but given up the enterprise there
as lost, the effect upon the company would have been to carry the value of the
shares, not up into the thousands as in former years, but down to about 280 roubles. In that case the hunter who receives his
half-share, or 140 roubles, would work for nothing,
as his expenses for food and drink alone exceed that sum each year. According
to my calculation, the annual expenses of the hunter, at the present high
prices, cannot amount to less than 317 roubles.”
The prices of all imported commodities throughout
Russian America were, at this period, so extravagant that the promyshleniki
were always hopelessly in debt to their employers. They were not allowed to
leave the country until their obligation was cancelled; and he was considered a
fortunate man who, after many years of exile and privation, could return to his
native country to end his days, broken in health and spirit, and without a rouble in his pocket. Bread-stuffs could be brought from
Boston at lower rates than from Okhotsk, while at Petropavlovsk trade was in
the hands of a few monopolists. As an illustration of the condition of affairs
at the latter port, it may be mentioned that the mere sale of the Nadeshda’s surplus supplies, during Rezanof’s visit, caused the leading articles of consumption
to fall in price from fifty to seventy per cent.
Such was the dearth of provisions in Novo Arkhangelsk
at the approach of winter, that early in October Baranof was compelled to
purchase the Juno's cargo of provisions, which was sold, together with the
ship, for the sum of sixty-seven thousand piastres. On the 15th of the month
the vessel was despatched to Kadiak for further
supplies, and a few weeks later returned laden with dried fish and oil for the
use of the natives.
The tidings from St Paul were almost as disastrous as
was the news which Captain Barber brought from Novo Arkhangelsk to the chief
manager, some three years before. The Elizaveta, despatched to Kadiak lor provisions soon after Rezanof’s arrival, had been wrecked during a heavy storm; six large bidarkas, laden with
furs, had foundered during the same gale; of a party which had left Norfolk
Sound under Demianenkof, more than two hundred had
perished at sea; and finally the destruction of the Yakutat settlement was
confirmed.
The details of the disaster which overtook Demianenkof and his party are as follow: He had left Novo
Arkhangelsk with the intention of proceeding to Kadiak, and not many days after
his departure heard rumors of the Yakutat massacre, and of the intention of the
Kolosh to attack his party also. He at once adopted extraordinary precautions,
travelling only at night, and hiding by day in the dense forests lining the
shore. When he had reached a point about forty miles distant from Yakutat, he
timed the departure of his command so as to reach the settlement at midnight.
As they cautiously approached the shore, after ten hours of hard paddling, they
were soon convinced that the reports of disaster were true. Of all the
buildings, not one log was left standing upon another. Ashes, the remains of
destroyed implements and of other property, covered the whole village site. The
frightened Aleutian hunters, though almost exhausted, refused to land, and
after a brief consultation a majority of the force concluded to proceed without
delay to the island of Kyak, a hundred and fifty
miles away; but the inmates of thirty of the bidarkas, exhausted with their
long toil, landed on the beach near by, preferring the chances of death or
captivity to further exertion. The coast between Yakutat and Prince William
Sound consists of steep cliffs and great bodies of glacier ice, affording no
landing places, even to canoes, for nearly the whole distance. As fate
ordained, those who had chosen almost certain death at the hand of the Kolosh
were saved, and finally reached their destination without being molested; but
as soon as the landing had been effected, a terrible gale sprung up, during
which all their companions at sea perished. The following morning the shore was
lined with corpses and the shattered remnants of bidarkas.
The winter was passed by Rezanof and his companions in
great discomfort, on account of constant rain and snow storms, and though the
stores of the Juno had appeared ample for the season, a scarcity of
provisions was felt by the Russians as early as the beginning of February. At
length the envoy, tired of his dismal abode, ordered the Juno to be
again made ready for sea, having resolved to proceed to the coast of
California, there to negotiate with the governor for a constant exchange of
commodities. With difficulty a small crew was mustered from a command weakened
by disease and privation, and even these were so emaciated that Rezanof would
not allow them to be seen by the Californian officials until they had been
plentifully fed and brought into better condition. The details of Rezanof’s visit to San Francisco, which after lengthy
negotiations resulted in the accomplishment of its object, are related
elsewhere. It is sufficient to state, at present, that the Juno returned
to Novo Arkhangelsk on the 19th of June, with a cargo of 671 fanegas of wheat,
117 of oats, 140 of pease and beans, and a large
quantity of flour, tallow, salt, and other supplies, valued at 5,587 piastres,
payment having been made chiefly in Russian manufactured goods.
Rezanof had now fulfilled his mission to the best of
his power, and five days later sailed for Okhotsk on board the Juno, intending
to proceed thence overland to St Petersburg, and report in person to the
emperor his achievements and his plans for the future, and to ask of his
sovereign permission to bring to its legitimate end his romantic episode with
Dona Concepcion de Arguello, of which mention is made in another volume. His
sojourn in the north-west had wrought many changes for the better, and though his
relations with Baranof and his subordinates were always friendly, the envoy was
even more bitter than the chief manager in his complaints of the treatment
which he received at the hands of the naval officers. Describing an interview
with one of them, he says: “A man dressed in a black coat and vest approached
me and shook hands. I asked him, ‘Who are you? ’ He answered, ‘I am Lieutenant Sookin of the Russian navy, commanding the ship Elizaveta.’
I replied that I was chamberlain of the Russian court and commander of all
America. I expressed my displeasure at his appearance, and ordered him to
return to shore and present his report to me, dressed in proper uniform. He
complied with my orders very unwillingly.” For this conduct Rezanof threatened
to send the lieutenant back to Russia, but Baranof asked that he be allowed to
remain and earn his pay, for he had already received for doing nothing the sum
of five thousand roubles, “of which amount,” says
Rezanof, “he had expended three thousand roubles in
rum. I saw him but five times during the whole winter, always in his room,
dividing his time between sleeping and drinking, though his quiet consumption
of the liquor disturbs nobody and injures only his own health. He is so
unobtrusive that we scarcely notice his presence. His log-books and reports
will convince you of the insufficiency of his nautical knowledge. On shore he
spends much time inditing ungrammatical letters to the chief manager, and thus
far has spent eighteen months’ salary in purchasing rum. He is like a useless
sea-sprite, to whom, however, the chief manager does not dare to intrust a vessel; therefore I have concluded to send him
back to you, leaving it to you to settle his accounts.”
The next officer discussed is Lieutenant Mashin, “who,” says Rezanof, “has asked to be relieved. The
history of his services has been given to you by the chief manager. I will only
remark that by his consumption of brandy he has contributed considerably to the
profits of the company, and therefore gratitude prevents me from keeping him in
the service. He lives in the same house with Sookin.
Their tastes and recreations are the same, but I am told that they live in a
very original and independent way. They do nothing together. They sleep by
turns; they promenade one after the other, and care so little about past,
present, or future, that they find no topics upon which to converse.”
Of the missionaries and their labors Rezanof has
little good to report. He remarks that their so-called conversion was merely a
name, and that the ceremony of baptism had not affected their morals or
customs. He states that the Russian priests did not follow the example of the
Jesuits in their missionary work, that they did not enter into the plans of the
government and the company, that they lived in idleness, or busied themselves
only in meddling with the company’s affairs, often causing disturbance between
officers and servants at the various stations. He complains that through lack
of zeal few took the trouble to acquire the native language, and states
incidentally that the late bishop Ioassaf had
received fifteen shares of stock in the Russian American Company—a circumstance
which explains the tenor of the prelate’s reports.
On the 24th of September, 1806, Rezanof left Okhotsk
on his homeward journey. Prompted by remarkable activity of mind and body, he
travelled rapidly; but, weakened as he was by the hardships, anxiety, and
trouble of the past three years, the journey had a fatal effect upon his
health. While crossing rivers, over the thin ice just forming, it frequently
happened that he was not only drenched, but obliged to camp in the snow
afterward. About sixty miles east of the
Aldana, he was attacked with a violent fever and carried unconscious into a Yakout hut. A few days after he became convalescent, he
pushed on to Yakutat before recovering his strength. Here again he was
prostrated, and again continued his journey; but his career was now at an end,
and on the 1st of March, 1807, the plenipotentiary breathed his last at
Krasnoyarsk, in eastern Siberia.
|