Part 11

In a moment thus critical, I can only ascribe to the inspiration of heaven, the idea that suddenly occurred to me of separating myself from M. Kasloff. In reflecting upon it, I perceived every thing there was in it disobliging to him, and mortifying to me. I endeavoured to drive the idea from my mind, but it was in vain. It returned, it fixed itself there in spite of me. I thought of my country, of my family, of my duty. Their power over me was invincible, and I disclosed myself to the governor. Upon the first view it appeared to him to be a wild project, and he failed not to oppose it. The desire of executing it, furnished me with a ready answer to all his objections. I proved to him, that by continuing together, we deprived each other of the means of pursuing his journey. We could not set off together without a strong reinforcement of dogs. We had scarcely more than twenty-seven that were at all tolerable, the rest having died or being unfit for service[86]. By giving up these twenty-seven dogs, one of us would be able to proceed, and his departure would relieve the other from the difficulty of maintaining this small number of famished steeds. But, said M. Kasloff, you must still have provision for them, and what means are there of procuring it?

I was at a loss how to reply, when we were informed that our express from Potkagornoï was arrived. More fortunate than the rest, he had brought us a large quantity of the flesh and fat of the whale. My joy at the sight of it was extreme, every difficulty was now removed, and I conceived myself already to be out of Poustaretsk. I returned instantly to my argument, and M. Kasloff having no longer any thing to oppose, and applauding in reality my zeal, complied with my solicitations. It was fixed that I should depart the 18 at latest. From this moment we were employed in the necessary arrangements for executing my project with the greatest safety.

Every thing flattered me with the hope of success. With the melancholy news we had received from Kaminoi, there were some consoling circumstances. For instance, we were assured that no obstruction was to be apprehended from the Koriacs. A perfect calm was reestablished among them; and, to convince us of it, they had been desirous that some of their countrymen should accompany the soldier charged with the dispatches to M. Kasloff. Even the son of the chief of the rebels, called _Eitel_, was one of the escort. The Koriacs, he told us, had long waited with impatience the arrival of the governor, and his father meant to show his respect M. Kasloff by coming to meet him.

Charmed with the idea that we had no longer any thing to fear, at least on this side, we were eager to express our satisfaction to these Koriacs for their good will to us. We made them all the presents that our situation would permit, such as tobacco, stuffs, and various articles which I had purchased during my sea voyage, as well as others that had been left me by count de la Perouse. We gave them something also for their relations. But our principal care was to make them as drunk as possible, that they might give a favourable report of their reception. It was necessary to consult their taste; and to intoxicate them completely, they considered as the very essence of politeness.

I proposed to these Koriacs to take charge of two of my portmanteaus. They expressed at first some unwillingness, on account of the distance, which was as far as Ingiga. By means, however, of entreaties and my purse, I at last prevailed upon them to take them into their sledges. Eased in this manner of my baggage, I had nothing to think of but my dispatches. The effects which I had intrusted to the Koriacs gave me little or no concern, as the soldier sent from Ingiga would return with them, and had promised to see that the trust was faithfully executed.

To the last moment of my stay M. Kasloff had been laboriously[87] employed in preparing his letters, which I was to have the care of. With these he delivered to me a _podarojenei_, or passport, that was to serve me as far as Irkoutsk. This passport was also an order to all Russian officers and other inhabitants, subjects of the empress, whom I should meet in my way to that place, to assist me with the means of proceeding on my journey with safety and expedition. The foresight of the governor omitted nothing that was necessary for me. Had I been the brother of his heart, his attentions could not have been greater.

I must pause; for I cannot suppress the emotion I feel at the thought that I am upon the point of quitting this estimable man, rendered for ever dear to me, still more by the virtues of his heart than the accomplishments of his understanding. The generous sacrifice he made is at this moment a weight upon me, and I cannot avoid reproaching myself for having wished it. What do I not suffer upon leaving him in these frightful deserts, without knowing whether he will ever be able to come out of them! The image of his melancholy situation haunts and agitates my mind. Ah! I repeat it; it must have been the conviction that there was no other way of executing the trust reposed in me, which impelled me, in spite of the prohibition of count de la Perouse, to take this resolution. But for this motive, but for my dispatches, I could never justify to my own heart my eagerness to leave him. May the testimony which my gratitude will ever render for his goodness to me, and his zeal for the service of his mistress, contribute in some measure to his advancement and his happiness; mine will be complete, if I have ever the pleasure of seeing him again, and embracing him in my arms.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] If my pen were equal to the subject, what admirable things might I relate of these celebrated men, formed to conduct a grand enterprise with the utmost harmony? But their exploits, and the public esteem, have long placed them above my praises.

[2] Called by the Russians Petropavlosskaia-gaven.

[3] After loading with civilities every individual engaged in the expedition, he was farther desirous of supplying the frigates with provisions. Notwithstanding the difficulty of procuring oxen in this country, he furnished seven at his own expence, and could be prevailed upon by no entreaties to accept any equivalent, but regretted that he was not able to procure a greater number.

[4] The navigation is sufficiently safe in summer, and is the only mode of travelling that is adopted.

[5] According to the accounts of the earliest navigators, it is the most commodious port in this part of Asia, and ought to be the general depôt for the commerce of the country. This would be so much the more advantageous, as the vessels which frequent the other ports, commonly consider themselves as fortunate if they escape shipwreck; and for this reason the Empress has expressly prohibited all navigation after the 26th of September.

I learned a circumstance at the same time, which confirms what I have said, and seems to have occasioned the first idea of these improvements.

An English ship, belonging to M. Lanz, a merchant of Macao, came to anchor in the port of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in the year 1786. Captain Peters, who commanded the vessel, made proposals of commerce to the Russians, of which the following are the particulars. By a treaty which he had entered into with a Russian merchant, named Schelikhoff, he engaged to carry on a commerce with this part of the states of the Empress, and demanded goods to the amount of eighty thousand roubles. These goods would probably have consisted of furs, which the English expected to find a market for in China, from whence they would have brought back in exchange stuffs and other articles useful to the Russians. Schelikhoff repaired immediately to Saint Petersburg, to solicit the consent of his sovereign, which he obtained; but while was endeavouring to fulfil the conditions of his engagement, he learned that the English vessel had been lost upon the coast of Copper Island (_Ile de Cuivre_) in its return to Kamtschatka from the north-west part of America, where it was probable it had sailed, in order to begin its cargo, which it expected to complete at the port of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Two only of the crew were known to have been saved, a Portuguese and a Bengal negro, who passed the winter at Copper Island, from whence a Russian vessel conveyed them to Nijenei-Kamtschatka. We joined them at Bolcheretsk, and it was M. Kasloff's intention to send them next season to Petersburg.

[6] The word _ostrog_ properly signifies a construction surrounded with pallisadoes. Its etymology may be derived, I imagine, from the entrenchments hastily constructed by the Russians to protect them from the incursions of the natives, who, doubtless, did not passively suffer their country to be invaded. The appellation of ostrog is now given to almost all the villages in this country.

[7] His name was Khabaroff, and he had the rank of a _préporchik_, or ensign.

[8] At a little distance from this spot was buried, at the foot of a tree, the body of captain Clerke. The inscription which the English placed upon his tomb, was on wood, and liable to be effaced. Count de la Perouse, desirous that the name of this navigator should be immortalised, without having any thing to fear from the injuries of the weather, substituted instead of it an inscription on copper.

It is needless to mention, that he enquired at the same time where the famous French astronomer, from the island of Croyere, had been buried. He entreated M. Kasloff to order a tomb to be erected, and an epitaph, which he left engraved on copper, to be placed on it, containing an elogy, and the circumstances of the death of our countryman. I saw his intentions carried into execution after the departure of the French frigates.

[9] There is a volcano about fifteen or twenty wersts from the port, which the naturalists who accompanied count de la Perouse visited, and which will be mentioned in his voyage. The inhabitants informed me that smoak often issued from it, but that an eruption, which used to be frequent, had not happened for many years.

[10] The excessive cold of which the English complain, may not be without example; and I pretend not to contradict them. But as a proof that the rigour of the climate is not so very piercing, the inhabitants, whom they represent as not daring to come out of their subterraneous dwellings, or _yourts_, during the whole winter, for fear of being frozen, no longer construct any of these caves in this southern part of the peninsula, as I shall have occasion to observe elsewhere. I acknowledge, however, that the cold which I experienced during my abode there, and which may be compared to that of the winter of 1779, appeared to me very similar to what is felt at Saint Petersburg. What the English must have had reason to suppose extraordinary, are the dreadful hurricanes, which bring on such thick and heavy storms of snow, that it is not possible either to venture out, or to advance, if we are on a journey. I experienced this more than once, as will be seen in the sequel.

[11] M. Schmaleff is inspector general for the Kamtschadales, or, as it is called in Russia, _capitan-ispravnik_ for the department of Kamtschatka; he is the same person whom the English had so much reason to praise, and the good offices he rendered us intitle him equally to our esteem.

[12] Secretary to the governor; he is employed in civil affairs, and ranks as an officer.

[13] M. Ivaschkin is the unfortunate gentleman mentioned by the English, and who merits in every respect the eulogium bestowed on him. The mere recital of his misfortunes is sufficient to excite the compassion of every reader; but it is necessary to have seen and observed him, to judge of the extreme interest which his unhappy lot is calculated to inspire.

He was not twenty years of age, when the empress Elizabeth made him serjeant of her guard of Preobrajenskoi. He already enjoyed a certain credit at court, and the free access to the sovereign, which his office gave him, opened the most brilliant career to his ambition; when all at once he saw himself not merely disgraced and deprived of all his flattering hopes, but treated as the greatest criminal; he was _knowted_, which is the severest and most degrading punishment practised in Russia, had his nose slit, and was banished for life to Kamtschatka.

The English have told us what he suffered for more than twenty years, from the rigour with which he was treated; he was denied even the first necessaries of life, and must infallibly have perished of hunger and misery, or fallen a prey to despair, if the force of his mind and the strength of his constitution had not supported him. The necessity of providing for his own subsistence, compelled him, not without disgust, to naturalize himself with the Kamtschadales, and to adopt entirely their mode of living; he is clothed like them, and by means of hunting and fishing is enabled to procure, not merely a sufficiency for his wants, but a superfluity, from the sale of which he obtains some little conveniencies that seem to sweeten his miserable existence. He resides at Vercknei-Kamtschatka, or Upper Kamtschatka. The Russians are ignorant of the cause of so severe a punishment; they are disposed to attribute it to a misunderstanding, or some indiscreet words, for they know not how to suppose him capable of a crime. It seems as if a change of sentiment had taken place respecting the pretended enormity of his offence, a proposal having been lately made of changing the place of his banishment, and removing him to Yakoutsk, a town that offers a variety of resources, both for profit and pleasure. But this unfortunate being, who is from sixty to sixty-five years of age, has refused to avail himself of this permission, not wishing, as he said, to make a show of the hideous marks of his dishonour, and to blush a second time at the dreadful punishment he has undergone. He preferred the continuing to live with the Kamtschadales, having but one desire left, that of passing the few remaining days of life with those who know his integrity, and of carrying with him to his grave the general friendship and esteem, to which he is so justly intitled.

The accounts given by the English, excited in count de la Perouse a desire to see this unfortunate man, who inspired him from the first moment with the most lively pity. He received him on board his ship, and at his table. The count's humanity was not confined to compassionating his miseries; he sought every means of softening them, by leaving him whatever was calculated to remind him of our abode there, and prove to him that the English are not the only foreigners interested in his sorrowful lot.

[14] _Baidars_ are boats somewhat similar to European ones, except that the sides are made of planks from four to six inches wide, and fastened together with withies or cords, and that they are caulked with moss. The baidars are the only vessels made use of to sail to the Kurilles islands, they are commonly rowed, but will admit of a sail.

[15] His name is _Feodor Vereschaguin_; he succeeded his eldest brother Romanoff Vereschaguin, who shewed so many civilities to captain Clerke, and whom I afterwards found at Bolcheretsk.

[16] His predecessor had informed the English that this parish was to be immediately transferred to the ostrog of St. Peter and St. Paul; but this cannot take place till the projected improvements respecting the port are carried into execution. We cannot help observing, that the English have omitted to mention that there was formerly a church at St. Peter and St. Paul's, and that its situation is known by means of a sort of tomb which formed a part of it.

[17] This river empties itself, as I have already said, into the bay of Avatscha. The shoals, which are commonly dry at low water, render its entrance impracticable; it is even difficult at high water.

[18] As I stood to examine the Kamtschadale houses, I frequently imagined to myself the disdainful surprise that our French Sybarites would express at the sight, some of whom are so proud of their vast hotels, and others so jealous of their little neat and decorated apartments, where the art of arrangement scarcely falls short of the refined luxury of superb furniture. I conceived them to exclaim--How can human beings live in these miserable huts! A Kamtschadale however, is by no means unhappy in these cabins, whose architecture seem to lead us back to the first age of the world; he lives there with his family in tranquillity; he enjoys at least the happiness of knowing few privations, and of having therefore less wants, and has no objects of envious comparison before his eyes.

[19] I met with some afterwards in the northern part, which I took care to examine, and have described in their proper place.

[20] As I shall soon be obliged to adopt this mode of travelling, I shall defer my description of the dogs till that period.

[21] They produce an effect somewhat similar to the oiled paper in the windows of our manufactories.

[22] A werst is exactly ten hundred yards. This seems not accurately to agree with the scale of wersts in the map. We leave it to the reader to follow which authority he pleases. T.

[23] A Russian name which signifies, _large river_.

[24] Formerly they dared not approach these springs, or any volcano, from the idea that they were the abode of evil spirits.

[25] M. Kasloff gave some of this gum to one of the naturalists of our expedition, the abbé Mongés, while the frigates were at Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

[26] M. Kasloff, who presided in this chace, had the politeness to make me a present of this sable, called in this country _sobol_, and promised to add it to another, that I might bring a couple with me to France.

[27] These skins are not only a considerable branch of commerce, but serve as a species of money with the Kamtschadales.

[28] See Cook's Voyage, vol. III. p. 208.

[29] When these galliots are obliged to winter here, they harbour in the mouth of a narrow and deep river, which pours itself into the Bolchaïa-reka, about fifty yards from the hamlet, higher up.

[30] This guard-house is likewise used as a prison, and even as a school for children. The master of the school is a Japanese; he is skilled in many languages, and is paid by government for instructing the children of this country.

[31] Their pay is so inconsiderable, that the receipt of a whole year would not suffice to maintain them for a single month, if they had not the resource of a petty fraudulent commerce, of which I shall presently give an account.

[32] This is well known to be the ruling passion of all the people of the north; but I have had more than one occasion to observe, that the Kamtschadales are inferior in this respect to none of them. The following story, among others, was told me, that I might be able to judge of the rapacity of these vagabond traders, and the stupid prodigality of their dupes.

A Kamtschadale had given a sable for a glass of brandy. Inflamed with a desire of drinking another, he invited the seller into his house. The merchant thanked him, but said he was in a hurry. The Kamtschadale renewed his solicitations, and proposed a second bargain: he prevailed.--"Come, another glass for this sable, it is a finer one than the first.--No; I must keep the rest of my brandy; I have promised to sell it at such a place, and I must be gone.--Stay a moment; here are two sables.--Tis all in vain.--Well, come, I will add another.--Agreed, drink." Meanwhile the three sables are seized, and the hypocrite makes a fresh pretence to come away: his host redoubles his importunities to retain him, and demands a third glass: further refusals and further offers: the higher the chapman raises his price, the more the Kamtschadale is prodigal of his furs. Who would have supposed that it would have ended in the sacrifice of seven most beautiful sables for this last glass! they were all he had.

[33] A Russian measure containing from fifteen to twenty quarts.

[34] Eighteen pounds sterling, estimating the rouble at four shillings and sixpence.

[35] Nine pounds nine shillings.

[36] Articles of apparel made of the skins of rein deer are procured from the Koriacs.

[37] By the name of _lilium flore atro rubente_.

[38] The Cossacs use rye also, which makes a sort of black bread, like that of the Russian peasants. Government allows them a certain quantity of rye flour, but it is insufficient, and they are obliged to procure more at their own expence. Some of them lay it up in store in order to profit by its future sale.

[39] It is called in Kamtschatka, _tscheremscha_. Gmelin denominates it: _allium foliis radicalibus petiolatis, floribus umbellatis_. Vol. 1. p. 49.

[40] _Spondilium foliolis pinnatifidis._ See Linn. The juice of the rind of this plant is so acrid, that it is impossible to touch it without blistering the hand. In gathering it they take care to wear gloves.

[41] This brandy intoxicates much quicker than French brandy; whoever drinks it, is sure to be extremely agitated during the night, and to feel the next day as melancholy and restless as if he had committed some crime.

[42] Daria is a female Russian name.

[43] The Kamtschadales are unable to shoot without this means of resting their gun, which, from the time required to prepare it, is evidently inconsistent with the celerity of this instrument, its chief advantage to a sportsman.

[44] It is common enough also for it to take to flight, notwithstanding its wound, and conceal itself in thickets or rushes, where it is traced by means of its blood, and found either dead or expiring.

[45] I was assured that when a bear triumphs over his aggressor, he tears the skin from the skull, draws it over his face, and then leaves him; a mode of revenge which implies, according to the Kamtschadales, that this animal cannot bear the human aspect; and this strange prejudice supports them in the opinion of their superiority, and seems to inspire them with additional courage.

[46] They hunt the bear in this manner in every season of the year, except when the country is covered with snow; their method is then different. It is known that in winter the bear retreats to the den which he has fabricated during summer of the branches of trees; he continues there while the frost lasts, either asleep, or licking his paws. The Kamtschadales pursue him in their sledges, and attack him with their dogs, who oblige him to defend himself: he rushes from his lurking place to certain death; if he refuse to come out, his fate is equally certain, and he is crushed to death under the ruins of his den.

[47] These animals are all described in Cook's voyage.

[48] The flesh of bears, argali, and rein deer, is considered by them as very wholesome, the last particularly; I frequently feasted upon it.

[49] The Aleutienne islands, Schoumagine islands, Fox islands, &c.

[50] Their nets are made of pack thread, like ours; they purchase it of the Russians: there is another kind however, which they fabricate themselves from nettles, of which they take care to lay up a considerable store. They gather them in autumn, tie them in bundles, and place them under their balagans to dry. When their fishing and harvests are compleated, they prepare their nettles. They slit them, and then strip off the rind expertly with their teeth; the rest they beat and shake till the filaments are separated, and it is fit for spinning.