USA > Alaska > History of Alaska : 1730-1885 > Part 19
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Levashef had also met with misfortune during the winter. It is true that the natives did not attack him because the promyshleniki who had passed the preceding winter at Unalaska had left in his hands thirty-three hostages, the children of chiefs, but rumors were constantly afloat of intended attacks, making it
16 Krenitzin's journal states that during the night numerous voices were heard on the strait, and guns were twice discharged in the direction of the camp, while signals could be distinguished imitating the cry of the sea-lion. On account of the impending danger five sentries were posted. Irkutsk Ar- chives; Zup. Hydr., ix. 91.
17 The daily journal of Krenitzin contains an entry to the effect that on the night of the Ilth of April several bidars were discovered in the strait, and that they were fired upon twice by the Russians with canister. Such treat- ment certainly did not serve to pacify the natives. It seems that during the whole winter it had been the practice to fire from time to time during the night in order to 'prevent any savages skulking about fromn attempting an attack.' Three times during the winter severe shocks of earthquake were felt-on January 15th, February 20th, and March 16th. Krenitzin's Journal; Irkutsk Archives; Zap. Hydr., x. 91-2.
167
END OF THE GRAND UNDERTAKING.
necessary to exercise vigilance. Lack of food and fuel caused great suffering among the crew; it was impos- sible to live comfortably on board the ship, and the huts constructed of drift-wood were frequently thrown down by the furious gales of winter. The weather was very boisterous throughout the season, and in May the number of sick had reached twenty-seven.18 Obviously they must return; so on the 23d of June both vessels left their anchorage. During the voyage they became separated, Krenitzin arriving at Kam- chatka the 29th of July, and Levashef on the 24th of August.19
The winter was passed by the expedition at Nishe- kamchatsk, but as there were little provisions and no money the suffering was great. The only avail- able source of supply was the dried fish of the natives, which had to be purchased at exorbitant prices.20 On the 4th of July both vessels were ready for sea, when Captain Krenitzin attempting to cross the river in a dug-out, the frail craft capsized and he was drowned. Levashef assumed command, and having assigned Dudin 2d to the galiot he sailed from Kamchatka the 8th, arriving at Okhotsk the 3d of August. Le- vashef returned to St Petersburg, arriving there the 22d of October 1771; seven years and four months from his departure. The expedition was a praise- worthy effort, but miserably carried out.
Meanwhile, fresh information had reached St Peters- burg of the successes of the Russian promyshleniki on the Aleutian Islands, telling the empress and her
18 Levashef's journal under date of December 16th contains the following: 'Nearly all the men say that we are doomed to perish, that we have been abandoned by God; we have bad food, and but little of that, and we can find no shelter from the snow-storms and rain.' Levashef's Journal; Irkutsk Archives ; Zap. Hydr., x. 93.
19 Zap. Hydr., x. 94; Coxe's Russian Dis., 300; Pallas, Nord. Beitr., i. 279.
20 An entry in Krenitzin's journal states that 200 pounds of flour were sent from Bolsheretsk to his relief, but it spoiled in transmittal. Nineteen barrels of salt fish were also transported overland across the peninsula. On the 28th of September 1769, and on the 4th of May 1770, heavy earthquakes occurred, and on the latter date the Kluchevskaia volcano was in eruption. Krenitzin's Journal ; Zap. Hydr., x. 94.
168
IMPERIAL EFFORTS AND FAILURES.
learned society a hundredfold more of Alaska than they were ever to learn from their special messengers. Tolstykh reported that during a cruise among the islands in his ship Andreian i Natalia, 1760 to 1764, he subjugated six islands and named them the Andreienof group, as we have seen. Another re- port stated that four vessels of one company had been despatched in 1762 to Unalaska and Umnak. Glottof reported that he had wintered at Kadiak in 1763. In 1766, as already stated, the merchant Shilof arrived at St Petersburg and was presented to the empress.21
An important change of government policy now took place in the treatment of the Aleuts. Upon Krenit- zin's representations the collection of tribute by the promyshleniki and Cossacks was prohibited by an
2] The information furnished by Levashef's journal was divided into four heads : A description of the island of Unalaska; the inhabitants; tribute; traffic. The description was superficial, adding scarcely anything to previous accounts. In regard to tribute Levashef stated that it was paid only by those who had given their children as hostages. The promyslileniki's mode of car- rying on trade is described as follows: 'The Russians have for some years past been accustomed to repair to these islands in quest of furs of which they have imposed a tax upon the inhabitants. They go in the autumn to Bering and Copper islands, and there pass the winter employing themselves in killing fur-seals and sea-lions. The flesh of the latter is prepared for food, and is esteemed a great delicacy. The skins of the sea-lions are carried to the eastern islands. The following summer they sail eastward to the Fox Islands and again haul up their ships for the winter. They then endeavor to procure by force, or by persuasion, children as hostages, generally the sons of chiefs; this accomplished they deliver fox-traps to the inhabitants and also sea-lion skins for the manufacture of bidarkas, for which they expect in return furs and provisions during the winter. After obtaining from the savages a certain quantity of furs as tribute or tax, for which they give receipts, the promysh- leniki pay for the remainder in beads, corals, woollen cloth, copper kettles, hatchets, etc. In the spring they get back their traps and deliver the hostages. They dare not hunt alone or in small numbers. These people could not com- prehend for some time for what purpose the Russians imposed a tribute of skins which they did not keep themselves, for their own chiefs had no revenue; nor could they be made to believe that there were any more Russians in existence than those who came among them, for in their own country all the men of an island go out together.' The most important part of Levashef's report is the description of the inhabitants, which furnishes some valuable ethnological information. See Native Races, passim, this series. The hydro- graphic results of the expedition were meagre. The navigators of this costly enterprise had no means of ascertaining the longitude, and consequently their observations were very unsatisfactory. They located Unimak, Unalaska, and Umnak between latitudes 53' 29' and 54° 3S'. Special charts were made of Unimak, the northern coast of Unalaska, and the harbor of St Paul, now known as Captain Harbor. Levashef's Journal; Irkutsk Archives; Zap. Hydr., x. 97-203; Coxe's Russian Dis., 220-2.
169
SUBSEQUENT EXPEDITIONS.
imperial oukaz.22 The business of fitting-out trading expeditions for the Aleutian Isles continued about as usual, notwithstanding the terrible risks and misfor- tunes. Of hunting expeditions to discovered islands it is not necessary to give full details.
In the year 1768 a company of three merchants, Zassypkin, Orekhof, and Moukhin, despatched the ship Sv Nikolaï to the islands, meeting with great success; the vessel returned in 1773 with a cargo con- sisting of 2,450 sea-otters and 1,127 blue foxes.23 The Sv Andreï-Sv Adrian according to Berg-belonging to Poloponissof and Popof, sailed from Kamchatka in 1769. In 1773 she was wrecked on the return voy- age in the vicinity of Ouda River. The cargo, con- sisting of 1,200 sea-otters, 996 black foxes, 1,419 cross foxes, and 593 red foxes, was saved.24 The same year sailed from Okhotsk the Sv Prokop, owned by the merchants Okoshinikof and Protodiakonof. She re- turned after four years with an insignificant cargo of 250 sea-otters, 20 black and 40 cross foxes.25 In 1770 the ship Sv Alexandr Nevski, the property of the mer- chant Serebrennikof, sailed for the islands and returned after a four years' voyage with 2,340 sea-otters and 1,130 blue foxes.26 'Shilof, Orekhof, and Lapin, in July of the same year, fitted out once more the old ship Sv Pavel at Okhotsk, and despatched her to the islands under command of the notorious Solovief. By this time the Aleuts were evidently thoroughly subjugated,
22 Berg claims that this oukaz was not issued until 1779, 10 years after Krenitzin returned. Khronol. Ist., 80. Berg's statements concerning the Krenitzin expedition are brief and vague. The best authority on the subject now extant is Sokolof, who had access to the archives of Irkutsk, and who published the results of his investigation in volume x. of Zap. Hydr. The description of Krenitzin's voyage in Coxe's Russian Dis., 221 et seq., is based to a certain extent on questionable authority, but it was translated verbally by Pallas in his Nord. Beitr., i. 249-72. The same account was copied in German in Büsching's Magazine, vol. xvi., and strangely enough retranslated into Russian by Sarychef.
23 Berg, Khronol. Ist., app .; Grewingk, Beitr., 317.
24 Berg, Khronol. Ist., 64-6, app. The nature of the cargo proves that the voyage extended at least to Unalaska.
25 Berg, Khronol. Ist., 67. No reason for the ill-success of this venture has been transmitted.
26 Berg, Khronol. Ist., 86.
170
IMPERIAL EFFORTS AND FAILURES.
as the man who had slaughtered their brethren by hundreds during his former visit passed four addi- tional years in safety among them, and then returned with an exceedingly valuable cargo of 1,900 sea-otters, 1,493 black, 2,115 cross, and 1,275 red foxes. He claims to have reached the Alaska peninsula, and de- scribes Unimak and adjoining islands.27
The next voyage on record is that of Potap Zaïkof, a master in the navy, who entered the service of the Shilof and Lapin company, and sailed from Okhotsk on the 22d of September 1772, in the ship Sv Vladi- mir. Zaïkof had with him a peredovchik named Sho- shin and a crew of sixty-nine men.28 At the outset this expedition was attended with misfortune. Driven north, the mariners were obliged to winter there, then after tempest-tossings south they finally reached Copper Island, where they spent the second winter.
Zaïkof made a careful survey of the island, the first on record, though promyshleniki had visited the spot annually for over twenty-five years. Almost a year elapsed before Zaïkof set sail again on the 2d of July 1774, and for some unexplained reason twenty-three days were consumed in reaching Attoo, only seventy leagues distant. Having achieved this remarkable feat he remained there till the 4th of July follow- ing. The progress of Zaïkof on his eastward course was so slow that it becomes necessary to look after a few other expeditions which had set out since his de- parture.
The ship Arkhangel Sv Mikhail, the property of Kholodilof, was fitted out in 1772, and sailed from Bol- sheretsk on the 8th of September with Master Dmitri Polutof as commander, and a crew of sixty-three men. This vessel also was beached by a storm on the coast
27 Pallas, Nord. Beitr., viii. 326-34; St Petersburger Zeiting, 1782-an ex- tract from Solovief's journal. Another Sv Pavel, despatched in 1774 by a Tobolsk trader named Ossokin, was wrecked immediately after setting sail from Okhotsk. Grewingk, Beitr., 319.
28 Berg, Khronol. Ist., 87; Pallas, Nord. Beitr., iii. 274-88; Grewingk, Beitr., iii. 18.
171
POLUTOF AND ZAÏKOF.
of Kamchatka; after which, passing the tardy Zaïkof, Polutof went to Unalaska, where he remained two years, trading peaceably, and then proceeded to Kadiak. On this last trip he set out on the 15th of June 1776, taking with him some Aleutian hunters and inter- preters. After a voyage of nine days the Sv Mikhaïl anchored in a capacious bay on the east coast of the island, probably the bay of Oojak on the shores of which the Orlova settlement was subsequently founded. The natives kept away from the vicinity of the harbor for some time, and a month elapsed before they ventured to approach the Russians. They were heavily armed, extremely cautious in their movements, and evidently but little inclined to listen to friendly overtures. Polutof perceived that it was useless to remain under such circumstances. He finally wintered at Atkha, and the following year returned, landing at Nishekam- chatsk. The total yield of this adventure was 3,720 sea-otters, 488 black, 431 cross, 204 red, 901 blue foxes, and 143 fur-seals.29
Thus Polutof accomplished an extended and profit- able voyage, while the trained navigator Zaïkof was yet taking preparatory steps, moving from island to island, at the rate of one hundred miles per annum.30 The latter had on the 4th of July 1775 sailed from Attoo, leaving ten men behind to hunt during his absence. On the 19th the Sv Vladimir reached Um- nak, where another vessel, the Sv Yevpl, or St Jewell, owned by the merchant Burenin, and despatched in 1773 from Nishekamshatsk, was already anchored. Aware of the bloody scenes but lately acted there- about, Zaïkof induced the commander of the Su Yepul
29 Berg, Khronol. Ist., app.
30 From papers furnished him by Timofeïf Shmalef, Berg heard of another vessel belonging to the merchants Grigor and Petr Panof, which sailed for the islands in 1772. Khronol. Ist., 96-7; Grewingk, Beitr., 319. Another voyage undertaken in 1772 is described by Pallas in Nord. Beitr., ii. 308-24, under the following title: 'Des Peredofschik's Dimitry Bragin Bericht von einer im Jahre 1772 angetretenen einjährigen Seereise zu den zwischen Kamtschatka und Amerika gelegenen Inseln.' Since Grewingk describes this voyage as oc- cupying the four years from 1772 to 1776, it is rather doubtful whether the description applies to the one year voyage of Bragin.
172
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IMPERIAL EFFORTS AND FAILURES.
o Kygichtan Leglelachtoch
173
GREAT HARVEST OF FURS.
to hunt on joint account.31 The agreement was that the Sv Yevpl should remain at Umnak with thirty- five men, while the Sv Vladimir, with sixty men and fully provisioned, was to set out in search of new discoveries. On rejoining, the furs obtained by the two parties were to be divided. Zaïkof sailed eastward on the 3d of August, and in three weeks reached the harbor where Krenitzin wintered with the Sv Ekaterina. Here the commander of the expe- dition considered himself entitled to a prolonged rest, and consequently he remained stationary for three years, making surveys of the neighborhood while his crew attended to the business of hunting and trap- ping.32
On the 27th of May 1778 the Sv Vladimir put to sea once more, steering for the bay where the com- panion ship was anchored. Upon this brief passage, which at that time of the year can easily be accom- plished in three days, Zaïkof managed to spend fifty- three days. At last, however, the juncture of the two ships was effected and the furs were duly divided, but after attending to these arduous duties the captain concluded to wait another year before taking his final departure for Okhotsk. Not until the 9th of May 1779 did Zaïkof sail from Umnak, and after brief stoppages at Attoo and Bering islands the Sv Vladi- mir found herself safely anchored in the harbor of Okhotsk on the 6th of September.33
31 The Sv Yevpl sailed for the islands in 1773, and returned in 1779. In the cargo were 63 land-otters, the first shipped by the promyshleniki, and proving that this vessel must have reached the continent. Berg, Khronol. Ist., 97, app. A comparison of this cargo with the furs carried back by the Sv Vla- dimir would indicate that Zaïkof must have taken the lion's share on closing the partnership.
32 Berg thought it improbable that Zaïkof should have known anything of astronomical observations (he was a master in the navy !), but he acknowl- edged that Zaïkof did discover an error committed by Captain Krenitzin in placing his anchorage five degrees too far to the westward. Khronol. Ist., 98.
33 With all his apparently unnecessary delays, Zaïkof in his report to the owners of the vessel made a very good showing compared with the results of other voyages. During an absence of more than 7 years he lost but 12 out of his numerous crew, and his cargo consisted of 4,372 sea-otters, 3,949 foxes of different kinds, 92 land-otters, 1 wolverene and 3 wolves-the first brought from America-18 minks, 1,725 fur-seals, and 350 pounds of walrus ivory, the
174
IMPERIAL EFFORTS AND FAILURES.
Two of the owners of the Sv Vladimir, Orekhof and Lapin, proceeded to St Petersburg with a present of three hundred choice black foxes for the empress. The gift was graciously received; the donors were en- tertained at the imperial palace, decorated with gold medals, and admitted to an interview with Catherine, who made the most minute inquiries into the opera- tions of her subjects in the easternmost confines of her territory. The indebtedness of the firm to the gov- ernment for nautical instruments and supplies, timber, and taxes, was also remitted.34
It has been elsewhere mentioned that the promy- shleniki and traders occasionally ventured upon voy- ages from the coast of Kamchatka to the eastward islands in open boats or bidars. Two of these expe- ditions took place in 1772, under the auspices of a merchant named Ivan Novikof. The voyage of over a thousand miles from Bolsheretsk around the south- ern extremity of Kamchatka to the islands was twice safely performed, the whole enterprise netting the owners 15,600 rubles. Considering the higher value of money in those times and the insignificant outlay required in this instance, the enterprise met with en- couraging success.
From this time to the visit of Captain Cook, single traders and small companies continued the traffic with the islands in much the same manner as before, though a general tendency to consolidation was perceptible.35
whole valued at 300,416 rubles. Berg declares that at the prices established by the Russian-American Company at the time of his writing, 1812, the same furs would have been worth 1,603,588 rubles. Khronol. Ist., 91-3.
34 Berg also states that this present was made after the return of the Sv Vladimir from the islands, but he speaks of the journey of Orekhof and Lapin as having taken place in 1776. The discrepancy may be owing to a typo- graphical error. Khronol. Ist., 93-4.
35 In 1774 the merchants Protodiakonof and Okoshinikof fitted out the ship Sv Prokop for the second time, but on her return from a fourth cruise the owners refused to engage again in such enterprises, having barely covered expenses during a period of eight years.
CHAPTER IX.
EXPLORATION AND TRADE.
1770-1787.
POLITICAL CHANGES AT ST PETERSBURG-EXILES TO SIBERIA-THE LONG WEARY WAY TO KAMCHATKA-THE BENYOVSKI CONSPIRACY-THE AU- THOR BAD ENOUGH, BUT NOT SO BAD AS HE WOULD LIKE TO APPEAR- EXILE REGULATIONS-FORGERY, TREACHERY, ROBBERY, AND MURDER- ESCAPE OF THE EXILES-BEHM APPOINTED TO SUCCEED NILOF AS COM- MANDANT OF KAMCHATKA-FURTHER HUNTING VOYAGES-FIRST TRAD- ING EXPEDITION TO THE MAINLAND-POTOP ZAIKOF-PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND-ASCENT OF COPPER RIVER-TREACHEROUS CHUGACHES-PLIGHT OF THE RUSSIANS-HOME OF THE FUR-SEALS-ITS DISCOVERY BY GERAS- SIM PRIBYLOF-JEALOUSY OF RIVAL COMPANIES.
IT was a time of rapid and sweeping political changes at the imperial court. All along the road to Siberia, to Yakutsk, and even to Okhotsk and Kamchatka, one batch of exiles followed another, political castaways, prisoners of war, or victims of too deep diplomacy, as much out of place in this broad, bleak penitentiary as would be promyshleniki and otters in St Peters- burg. In one of these illustrious bands was a Polish count, Augustine Benyovski by name,1 who had played somewhat too recklessly at conspiracy. Nor was Siberia to deprive him of this pastime. Long before he reached Yakutsk he had plotted and organ- ized a secret society of exiles with himself as chief. The more prominent of the other members were a Doctor Hoffman, a resident of Yakutsk, Major Wind- blath, Captain Panof, Captain Hipolite Stepanof, Colonel Baturin, and Sopronof, the secretary of the
1 Sgibnef states that Benyovski did not call himself count or baron in Kamchatka, but simply beinosk or beinak. Morskoi Sbornik, cii. 51.
(175 )
176
EXPLORATION AND TRADE.
society.2 'The object of this association very naturally was to get its members out of limbo; or in other words mutual assistance on the part of the members in making their escape from Siberia. The chief exacted from each his signature to a written agreement, done in the vicinity of Yakutsk, and dated the 27th of August 1770. After a month of tedious progress through the wastes of eastern Siberia, the count's party was overtaken by a courier from Yakutsk who claimed to have important despatches for the com- mander of Okhotsk; at the same time he reported that Dr Hoffman was dead. The suspicions of Ben- yovski and his companions were aroused. Persuad- ing the tired courier that he needed a little rest, they feasted him well, and after nightfall while he slept they ransacked his satchel, and took therefrom a formidable-looking document which proved to contain an exposé of their plans, obtained from Hoffman's papers. Benyovski was equal to the emergency. He wrote another letter upon official paper, with which he had provided himself at Yakutsk, full of the most sober recommendations of the exiles to the commander of Okhotsk. This document was inserted into the pilfered envelope, and carried forward to its destina- tion by the unsuspecting messenger.3
The forged letter did its work. When Benyovski and his companions arrived at Okhotsk they were received with the greatest kindness by Colonel Plen- isner,4 the commandant, who regarded them as unfor- tunate gentlemen, like himself, not for a moment to be placed in the category of criminals. Hence he granted them every privilege, and supplied them freely with food, clothing, and even arms. Being a man of little education and of dissipated habits, Plenisner was
2 Benyovski's Memoirs and Travels, i. 67.
3 Benyovski's Memoirs and Travels, i. 72; Morskoi Sbornik, cii. 97.
" This man was probably the same mentioned in connection with the second expedition of Bering and Shestakof's campaign in the Chukchi country, and who was appointed to the command of Kamchatka in January 1761, for a term of five years. Sgibnef, in Morskoi Sbornik, cii. 37-8.
177
THE BOASTFUL BENYOVSKI.
easily deceived by the plausible tongue of the courtly Pole, who quickly perceived that he had made an egregious mistake in framing his forged letter. He saw that residence at Okhotsk promised favorable opportunity for escape in view of the confidence re- posed in him by the commander, though he had thought that Kamchatka offered the best facilities, and had urged in the letter early transportation of the exiles to that locality. Though willing to oblige his new friends, in every possible manner, Colonel Plenisner did not dare to act in direct opposition to his orders, and in October a detachment of exiles, embracing all the conspirators, was sent by the ship Sv Petr i Su Pavel to Bolsheretsk, Kamchatka, where they were transferred to the charge of Captain Nilof, commandant of the district.6
5 Benyovski describes this craft as of 200 tons burden, armed with 8 can- nons, and manned with a crew of 43, commanded by Yesurin and Korostilof. The vessel was laden with flour and brandy. Benyovski's Memoirs and Travels, i. 79-80.
6 Benyovski claims that the passage was an exceedingly stormy one, and that the ship was on the verge of destruction, owing to the incapacity and drunkenness of both officers and men, when he, a prisoner in irons, took com- mand and by his ' superior knowledge of navigation succeeded in shortening sail and bringing the vessel into its proper course, thus saving the lives of all on board.' As the passage was a short one we may doubt the statement of the boastful Benyovski. The count also claimed that the privileges subse- quently granted him by Nilof were based upon his heroic action on this occa- sion. Nilof had formerly been the commandant of the Cossack ostrog of Ishiga, but Zubritski when recalled to St Petersburg summoned him as his successor in 1769. He was given to drink, and easily deceived, and had already been victimized by an exiled official named Ryshkof. The latter hav- ing failed in various attempts to trade with the natives, prevailed upon Nilof to advance sums from the public funds for the purpose of engaging in agricult- ural experiments. Of course the money was lost and the experiments resulted in failure. Sgibnef, in Morskoi Sbornik, cii. 51-69. Shortly after their arrival the following regulations concerning the exiles were promulgated at Bolsheretsk: Ist. The captives were to be liberated from close restriction and furnished with food for three days; after which they were to provide their own subsist- ence. 2d. The chancellery was to furnish each exile with a gun and lance, one pound of powder, four pounds of lead, an axe, some knives, and other utensils with which to build themselves a house. They were at liberty to select a location within half a league of the town; each man was to pay to the gov- erninent 100 rubles during the first year in consideration of the advance, payments to be made in money or skins at the option of the exiles. 3d. Each exile was bound to labor one day of each week for the government, and they were not allowed to absent themselves from their location over 24 hours without permission of the commandant. Each was also to furnish the treasury of Bolsheretsk with 6 sables, 2 foxes, 50 gray squirrels, and 24 ermines annually.
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