FOOTNOTES:
[23] Perry’s “History of the De Wolf Family,” p. 50.
[24] Three months before this vessel had brought into Bristol the first cargo received from a Chinese port.—Ed.
[25] Ever since Captain Robert Gray of Tiverton, R. I., master of the ship Columbia of Boston, had, in 1792, sailed his vessel into the great river to which he gave the name of his ship, the trade of the northwest coast had been almost entirely in the hands of Boston merchants. The natives called all traders “Boston Men.” So, in the days of the Crusades, the Saracens called all Crusaders “Franks” because of the overwhelming predominance of the French nation. The Crusades were the “Gesta Dei per Francos.” Captain Gray’s act laid the foundation for the American title to Oregon.—Ed.
[26] Cooper seized upon this well known fact for some striking passages in his novel “Afloat and Ashore.”—Ed.
[27] Duffel, a coarse woollen cloth named from the town near Antwerp in which it was manufactured.—Ed.
[28] Leather canoes. They consist of a skeleton of wood, over which is stretched a covering made of the skins of sea-lions. They are long and narrow, and hold from one to three persons. Each person sits in a round hole just fitted to the size of the body.—[Author’s note.]
[29] George von Langsdorff was born in Heidelberg in the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1774, his father being at that time Chancellor of the University of Heidelberg. Having taken the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University of Göttingen, he shortly afterward went with Prince Waldeck to Lisbon as his physician. On the death of the Prince he returned by way of England to his home. At the age of thirty he accompanied Admiral Krusenstern, as botanist, on a voyage around the world. Emperor Alexander I of Russia made him a Knight of the Order of St. Anne with the rank of Aulic Councillor, and also made him a Baron. Later he appointed him Consul General at the port of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a post which he held with honor for many years. He died at Freiburg, Baden, in 1852, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. Besides other volumes he published an account of his trip around the world under the title “Bemerkungen auf einer Reise um die Welt in den Jahren 1803 bis 1807 von Copenhagen nach Brasilien, der Sudsee, Kamtschatka, und Japan.” The second volume treats of his journey “Von Kamtschatka nach der Insel St. Paul, Unalaska, Kodiak, Sitcha, Neu Albion, Kamtschatka, Ochotsk und durch Sibirien nach St. Petersburg.” Captain DeWolf must have had a translation of this volume at hand when he wrote his own story. The German naturalist and the American sea captain were evidently “two of a kind.” How highly the American esteemed his friend may be judged from the fact that he named his only son John Langsdorff. The boy was always called Langsdorff.—Ed.
[30] In the Russian Church all the priests are called Popes, i.e., Fathers, Papa = Father. So in the Latin Church all priests were Popes until the supremacy of the Pope of Rome was established. Cf. the development of the English “Parson.”—Ed.
[31] Dr. Langsdorff in his “Reise” devotes much space to the treatment of the Arctic dogs.—Ed.
[32] Even in the great Cathedral of Kazan, in Petrograd, the arrangements for a christening seem, to a foreigner, somewhat primitive. There not a tub is used for the immersion but an iron basin supported upon a tripod. Captain De Wolf had forgotten many features of the beautiful ceremony.—Ed.
[33] Dr. Langsdorff’s account of this incident shows Captain De Wolf’s character in a very beautiful light: “I cannot pass over in silence an affecting scene which occurred just before his departure. The three Aleutians whom I have frequently spoken of as serving as sailors on our ship, came to Captain De Wolf, and, with tears running down their cheeks, threw themselves at his feet and begged him to take them with him to his native land. ‘We will serve you without pay. We will ask only for a little bread and fish. We will follow your horses, even though we must go on foot a great part of the way. We would rather go with you than return to our own country.’ Mr. De Wolf was greatly troubled because he could not grant their request.” Langsdorff, Reise, vol. 2, page 292.—Ed.
[34] A verst is 212⅕ rods, or, roughly, five eighths of a mile.—[Author’s note.]
[35] It will be noted that Captain De Wolf nowhere speaks of vodka.—Ed.
[36] Our traveller was as much impressed with this habit of kissing as was Erasmus on his first landing in England. The Dutch scholar was pleased with the English fashion, which is, on the whole, far superior to the Russian style.—Ed.
[37] Flying ferry boats not unlike these may be seen on some California rivers today.—Ed.
[38] At least 448,000 pounds.—Ed.
[39] This was five years before the burning of Moscow in the Napoleonic War.—Ed.