"No," replied the Senator, "I do not. I only know that it was a curious freak of fortune that your people should be the ones to discover the fabled 'Straits of Anian' so long sought by the Spaniards, Portuguese and English navigators. Bering's Sea is very far from India, but it is the famous northwest passage, that separates Asia from America." The Diplomat said:
"While Europe was exploring and settling the Americas my countrymen were throwing off the yoke that made them subjects of the Khans of Tartary. Even at that time we had a great caravan trade with China and Persia, but our merchants suffered severely from the depredations of the Cossack freebooters roaming over the steppes of Siberia. These reckless horsemen would charge down on a caravan and rob it of all its silks, spices, teas and perfumes."
"Then you can sympathize with the galleons of Spain that were harassed by the buccaneers and pirates infesting the high seas ready to scuttle and sink any ship that fell into their hands," said the Senator, greatly interested.
"Our merchants had no redress and they complained bitterly to Peter the Great, who immediately undertook to chastise the unruly Cossacks. They fled into Siberia, and it was not long before they found rich silver mines on the Amoor river, and began to traffic in the ivory and sable skins which make that vicinity notable. As they advanced toward the Pacific Ocean they were able to slaughter herds of musk oxen, and before many years the fame of the ivory deposits brought hundreds of adventurers into that barren region. Diligent inquiry among the natives disclosed the fact that there was a Great Land toward the North Pole where remains of the hairy elephant were plentiful, and its beautiful tusks were heaped up in huge mounds."
"It was a desire for gold that brought the first white men to California," said the Senator, "and the building of the railroad across the continent is the result of having found it."
"Ivory and furs were the lure that nerved the Russian freebooter to brave the frozen sea and six months of night," said the Diplomat. "They went to sea in open boats made of planks tied together with rawhide straps and thongs. Their sails were of soft dressed reindeer skins, and in place of rope they used elk skin strips. The anchors were pieces of wood weighted with stones. They had no beds, and carried a wooden plate and spoon tied to the sash around their waists."
"They must have suffered very much from cold and hunger," said the Senator.
"They did; and many of them died with scurvy. They were greatly hindered by glaciers and icebergs, and would never have been able to make the journey at all except for the sleds and dogs furnished by the natives."
"Were the Eskimos and Aleuts always friendly?" asked the Senator. The Diplomat hesitated for a moment, then said with a smile:
"The freebooters found it necessary to fight after they had once ill-treated the natives. At first the white men were supposed to be superior beings, but they proved themselves unworthy of confidence and then there was serious trouble."