Part 1

TRAVELS IN KAMTSCHATKA, DURING THE YEARS 1787 AND 1788.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF M. DE LESSEPS, CONSUL OF FRANCE, AND INTERPRETER TO THE COUNT DE LA PEROUSE, NOW ENGAGED IN A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, BY COMMAND OF HIS MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOLUME I.

LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD. 1790.

PREFACE.

My work is merely a journal of my travels. Why should I take any steps to prepossess the judgment of my reader? Shall I not have more claim to his indulgence when I have assured him, that it was not originally my intention to write a book? Will not my account be the more interesting, when it is known, that my sole inducement to employ my pen was the necessity I found of filling up my leisure moments, and that my vanity extended no farther than to give my friends a faithful journal of the difficulties I had to encounter, and the observations I made on my road? It is evident I wrote by intervals, negligently or with care, as circumstances permitted, or as the impressions made by the objects around me were more or less forcible.

Conscious of my own inexperience, I thought it a duty I owed myself to let slip no opportunity of acquiring information, as if I had foreseen, that I should be called to account for the time I had spent, and the knowledge which I had it in my power to obtain: but perhaps the scrupulous exactness to which I confined myself, entailed on my narration a want of elegance and variety.

The events which relate personally to myself are so connected with the subject of my remarks, that I have taken no care to suppress them. I may therefore, not undeservedly, be reproached with having spoken too much of myself: but this is the prevailing sin of travellers of my age.

Besides this, I am ready to accuse myself of frequent repetitions, which would have been avoided by a more experienced pen. On certain subjects, particularly in respect of travels, it is scarcely possible to avoid an uniformity of style. To paint the same objects, we must employ the same colours; hence similar expressions are continually recurring.

With respect to the pronunciation of the Russian, Kamtschadale, and other foreign words, I shall observe, that all the letters are to be articulated distinctly. I have thought it adviseable, even in the vocabulary, to reject those consonants, the confused assemblage of which discourages the reader, and is not always necessary, The _kh_ is to be pronounced as the _ch_ of the Germans, or the _j_ of the Spaniards, and the _ch_ as in the French. The finals _oi_ and _in_, are to be pronounced, the former as an improper diphthong (_oï_) and the latter in the English, not in the French manner.

The delay of publishing this journal renders some excuse necessary. Unquestionably I might have given it to the world sooner, and it was my duty to have done it; but my gratitude bad me wait the return of the count de la Perouse. What is my journey, said I to myself? To the public, it is only an appendage to the important expedition of that gentleman; to myself, it is an honourable proof of his confidence: I had a double motive to submit my account to his inspection. My own interest also prescribed this to me. How happy should I have been, if, permitting me to publish my travels as a supplement to his, he had deigned to render me an associate of his fame! This, I confess, was the sole end of my ambition; the sole cause of my delay.

How cruel for me, after a year of impatient expectation, to see the wished for period still more distant! Not a day has passed since my arrival, on which my wishes have not recalled the Astrolabe and Boussole. How often, traversing in imagination the seas they had to cross, have I sought to trace their progress, to follow then from port to port, to calculate their delays, and to measure all the windings of their course!

When at the moment of our separation in Kamtschatka, the officers of our vessels sorrowfully embraced me as lost, who would have said, that I should first revisit my native country; that many of them would never see it more; and that in a little time I should shed tears over their fate!

Scarcely, in effect, had I time to congratulate myself on the success of my mission, and the embraces of my family, when the report of our misfortunes in the Archipelago of navigators arrived, to fill my heart with sorrow and affection. The viscount de Langle, that brave and loyal seaman, the friend, the companion of our commander; a man whom I loved and respected as my father, is no more! My pen refuses to trace his unfortunate end, but my gratitude indulges itself in repeating, that the remembrance of his virtues and his kindness to me, will live eternally in my bosom.

Reader, who ever thou art, pardon this involuntary effusion of my grief. Hadst thou known him whom I lament, thou wouldst mingle thy tears with mine: like me thou wouldst pray to Heaven, that, for our consolation, and for the glory of France, the commander of the expedition, and those of our brave Argonauts, whom it has preserved, may soon return. Ah! if whilst I write, a favourable gale should fill their sails, and impel them towards our shores!--May this prayer of my heart be heard! May the day on which these volumes are published, be that of their arrival! In the excess of my joy, my self-love would find the highest gratification.

CONTENTS TO VOL. I.

Page I quit the French frigates, and receive my dispatches 3 Departure of the frigates 6 Impossibility of going to Okotsk before sledges can be used 7 Details respecting the port of St. Peter and St. Paul 9 Nature of the soil 15 Climate 16 Rivers that have their mouth in the bay of Avatscha 18 Departure from St. Peter and St. Paul's with M. Kasloff and M. Schmaleff 19 Arrival at Paratounka 22 Description of this ostrog 23 Kamtschadale habitations 24 Balagans 25 Isbas 28 Chief or judge of an ostrog 31 Arrival at Koriaki 37 Arrival at the baths of Natchikin 38 Description of the baths 41 Mode of analizing the hot waters 46 Result of our experiments 50 Mode of hunting a sable 55 Departure from Natchikin, and details of our journey 59 Arrival at Apatchin 65 At Bolcheretsk, &c. 66 Shipwreck of an Okotsk galiot 68 Hamlet of Tchekafki 70 Mouth of the Bolchaïa-reka 71 Terrible hurricane 74 Description of Bolcheretsk, where I stayed till 27 January 1788 76 Population 80 Fraudulent commerce of the Cossacs and others 81 Commerce in general 84 Mode of living of the inhabitants and the Kamtschades in general 87 Dress _ib._ Food 88 Drink 93 Indigenes 94 Reflections on the manners of the inhabitants 97 Balls 101 Kamtschadale feasts and dances 103 Bear hunting 106 Hunting 110 Fishing 114 Scarcity of horses 115 Dogs _ib._ Sledges 118 Diseases 127 Medical sorcerers 130 Strong constitution of the women 133 Remedy learned from the bear 134 Religion 135 Churches 137 Tributes 138 Coins 139 Pay of the soldiers 140 Government _ib._ Tribunals 143 Successions 144 Divorces _ib._ Punishments 145 Idiom 146 Climate 147 My long stay at Bolcheretsk accounted for 150 Departure from Bolcheretsk 152 Arrival at Apatchin 155 Origin of the ill opinion the inhabitants of Kamtschatka have of the French 156 Beniouski 157 M. Schmaleff quits us 158 Arrival at Malkin 159 At Ganal 162 At Pouschiné 164 Isbas without chimneys _ib._ Kamtschadale lamp 165 Filthiness of the inhabitants 166 The roads obstructed with snow 167 Ostrog of Charom 168 Arrival at Vereknei Kamtschatka _ib._ Ivaschin, an unfortunate exile 170 Colony of peasants 172 Ostrog of Kirgann 175 Description of my dress 177 Visit the baron Stenheil at Machoure 180 New details respecting the chamans or sorcerers 181 Alarmed at a report of the Koriacs having revolted 188 Nikoulka rivers 191 Volcanos of Tolbatchina 192 Early marriages 194 I quit M. Kasloff to go to Nijenei Kamtschatka 195 Ostrog of Ouchkoff 196 Of Krestoff 197 Volcano of Klutchefskaïa 198 Klutchefskaïa inhabited by Siberian peasants _ib._ Ostrog of Kamini 201 Arrival at Nijenei _ib._ Entertainment given by the governor 204 Tribunals of Nijenei 207 Account of nine Japanese whom I found there 208 Departure from Nijenei Kamtschatka 217 I rejoin M. Kasloff 219 Overtaken by a tempest, which obliges us to halt _ib._ Manner in which the Kamtschades made their bed on the snow 221 Ostrog of Ozernoi 223 Of Onké _ib._ Of Khalali 225 Of Ivaschin 227 Of Drannki 228 Of Karagui 229 Yourts described 230 Singular dress of the children of Karagui 234 Koriacs supply us with rein deer 236 Account of the two sorts of Koriacs 237 A celebrated female dancer 240 Fondness of the Kamtschadales for tobacco 243 Departure from Karagui 246 Manner of our halting in the open country 247 Our dogs begin to suffer from famine 248 Soldier sent to Kaminoi for succour 249 Arrival at Gavenki 250 Dispute between a sergeant of our company and two peasants of the village 251 The inhabitants refuse us fish 254 Departure from Gavenki 256 Misled by our guide 257 Our dogs die of hunger and fatigue 258 We are apprehhensive of being starved to death in a desert _ib._ Obliged to leave our equipage 259 New distresses _ib._ Arrival at Poustaretsk 262 Fruitless attempts to find provisions 263 Melancholy spectacle exhibited by our dogs _ib._ Soldier sent to Kaminoi, stopt in his way by tempests 265 Sergeant Kabechoff sets out for Kaminoi 266 Description of Poustaretsk and its environs 267 Food upon which the inhabitants lived during our stay 268 Their mode of catching rein deer 269 Occupations of the women 270 Method of smoking 271 Dress 272 M. Schmaleff joins us 273 Distressing answer from sergeant Kabechoff 274 M. Kasloff receives news of his promotion 275 I resolve to leave him 276 Calm established among the Koriacs 278 M. Kasloff gives me his dispatches, and the passports necessary for my safety 280 My regret at leaving him 281

TRAVELS IN KAMTSCHATKA, &c.

I have scarcely completed my twenty-fifth year, and am arrived at the most memorable æra of my life. However long, or however happy may be my future career, I doubt whether it will ever be my fate to be employed in so glorious an expedition as that in which two French frigates, the Boussole, and the Astrolabe, are at this moment engaged; the first commanded by count de la Perouse, chief of the expedition, and the second by viscount de Langle[1].

The report of this voyage round the world, created too general and lively an interest, for direct news of these illustrious navigators, reclaimed by their country and by all Europe from the seas they traverse, not to be expected with as much impatience as curiosity.

How flattering is it to my heart, after having obtained from count de la Perouse the advantage of accompanying him for more than two years, to be farther indebted to him for the honour of conveying his dispatches over land into France! The more I reflect upon this additional proof of his confidence, the more I feel what such an embassy requires, and how far I am deficient; and I can only attribute his preference, to the necessity of choosing for this journey, a person who had resided in Russia, and could speak its language.

On the 6 September 1787, the king's frigates entered the port of Avatscha, or Saint Peter and Saint Paul[2], at the southern extremity of the peninsula of Kamtschatka. The 29, I was ordered to quit the Astrolabe; and the same day count de la Perouse gave me his dispatches and instructions. His regard for me would not permit him to confine his cares to the most satisfactory arrangements for the safety and convenience of my journey; he went farther, and gave me the affectionate counsels of a father, which will never be obliterated from my heart. Viscount de Langle had the goodness to join his also, which proved equally beneficial to me.

Let me be permitted in this place to pay my just tribute of gratitude to the faithful companion of the dangers and the glory of count de la Perouse, and his rival in every other court, as well as that of France, for having acted towards me, upon all occasions, as a counsellor, a friend, and a father.

In the evening I was to take my leave of the commander and his worthy colleague. Judge what I suffered, when I conducted them back to the boats that waited for them. I was incapable of speaking, or of quitting them; they embraced me in turns, and my tears too plainly told them the situation of my mind. The officers who were on shore, received also my adieux: they were affected, offered prayers to heaven for my safety, and gave me every consolation and succour that their friendship could dictate. My regret at leaving them cannot be described; I was torn from their arms, and found myself in those of colonel Kasloff-Ougrenin, governor general of Okotsk and Kamtschatka, to whom count de la Perouse had recommended me, more as his son, than an officer charged with his dispatches.

At this moment commenced my obligations to the Russian governor. I knew not then all the sweetness of his character, incessantly disposed to acts of kindness, and which I have since had so many reasons to admire[3]. He treated my feelings with the utmost address. I saw the tear of sympathy in his eye upon the departure of the boats, which we followed as far as our sight would permit; and in conducting me to his house, he spared no pains to divert me from my melancholy reflections. To conceive the frightful void which my mind experienced at this moment, it is necessary to be in my situation, and left alone in these scarcely discovered regions, four thousand leagues from my native land: without calculating this enormous distance, the dreary aspect of the country sufficiently prognosticated what I should have to suffer during my long and perilous route; but the reception which I met with from the inhabitants, and the civilities of M. Kasloff and the other Russian officers, made me by degrees less sensible to the departure of my countrymen.

It took place on the morning of 30 September. They set sail with a wind that carried them out of sight in a few hours, and continued favourable for several days. It will readily be believed, that I did not see them depart without offering the most sincere wishes for all my friends on board; the last sad homage of my gratitude and attachment.

Count de la Perouse had recommended diligence to me, but enjoined me, at the same time, upon no pretext to quit M. Kasloff; an injunction that was perfectly agreeable to my inclinations. The governor had promised to conduct me as far as Okotsk, which was the place of his residence, and to which it was necessary that he should repair immediately. I had already felt the happiness of being placed in such good hands, and I made no scruple of surrendering myself implicitly to his direction.

His intention was to go as far as Bolcheretsk, and there wait till we could avail ourselves of sledges, which would greatly facilitate our journey to Okotsk. The season was too far advanced for us to risk an attempt by land, and the passage by sea was not less dangerous; besides there was no vessel either in the port of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, or of Bolcheretsk[4].

M. Kasloff had his affairs to settle, which, with the preparations for our departure, detained us six days longer, and afforded me time to satisfy myself that the frigates were not likely to return. I embraced this opportunity of commencing my observations, and making minutes of every thing about me. I attended particularly to the bay of Avatcha, and the port of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in order to give a just idea of them.

This bay has been minutely described by captain Cook, and we found his account to be accurate. It has since undergone some alterations; which, it is said, are to be followed by many others; particularly as to the port of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. It is possible indeed, that the very next ship which shall arrive, expecting to find only five or six houses, may be surprised with the sight of an entire town, built of wood, but tolerably fortified.

Such at least is the projected plan, which, as I learned indirectly, is to be ascribed to M. Kasloff, whose views are equally great, and conducive to the service of his mistress. The execution of this plan will contribute not a little to increase the celebrity of the port, already made famous by the foreign vessels which have touched there, as well as by its favourable situation for commerce[5].

To understand the nature, and estimate the utility of this project, nothing more is necessary than to have an idea of the extent and form of the bay of Avatscha, and the port in question. We have already many accurate descriptions, which are in the hands of every one. I shall therefore confine myself to what may tend to illustrate the views of M. Kasloff.

The port of St. Peter and St. Paul, is known to be situated at the north of the entrance of the bay, and closed in at the south by a very narrow neck of land, upon which the ostrog[6], or village of Kamtschatka is built. Upon an eminence to the east, at the most interior point of the bay, is the house of the governor[7], with whom M. Kasloff resided during his stay. Near this house, almost in the same line, is that of a corporal of the garrison, and a little higher inclining to the north, that of the serjeant, who, next to the governor, are the only persons at all distinguished in this settlement, if indeed it deserves the name of settlement. Opposite to the entrance of the port, on the declivity of the eminence, from which a lake of considerable extent is seen, are the ruins of the hospital mentioned in captain Cooke's voyage[8]. Below these, and nearer the shore, is a building which serves as a magazine to the garrison, and which is constantly guarded by a centinel. Such was the state in which we found the port of St. Peter and St. Paul.

By the proposed augmentation, it will evidently become an interesting place. The entrance was to be closed, or at least flanked by fortifications, which were to serve at the same time as a defence, on this side, to the projected town, which was chiefly to be built upon the site of the old hospital; that is, between the port and the lake. A battery also was to be erected upon the neck of land which separates the bay from the lake, in order to protect the other part of the town. In short, by this plan, the entrance of the bay would be defended by a sufficiently strong battery upon the least elevated point of the left coast; and vessels entering the bay could not escape the cannon, because of the breakers on the right. There is at present upon the point of a rock, a battery of six or eight cannon, lately erected to salute our frigates.