It appeared by the chart, as well as by the testimony of Ismyloff and the other Russians, that this is as far as their countrymen have made any discoveries, or have extended themselves, since Beering’s time. They all said, that no Russians had settled themselves so far to the east as the place where the natives gave the note to Captain Clerke; which Mr. Ismyloff, to whom I delivered it, on perusing it, said, had been written at Oomanak. It was, however, from him that we got the name of Kodiak[[90]], the largest of Schumagin’s Islands; for it had no name upon the chart produced by him. The names of all the other islands were taken from it, and we wrote them down as pronounced by him. He said, they were all such as the natives themselves called their islands by; but if so, some of the names seem to have been strangely altered. It is worth observing, that no names were put to the islands which Ismyloff told us were to be struck out of the chart; and I considered this as some confirmation that they have not existence.
I have already observed, that the American continent is here called, by the Russians, as well as by the islanders, Alaschka; which name, though it properly belong only to the country adjoining to Ooneemak, is used by them when speaking of the American continent in general, which they know perfectly well to be a great land.
This is all the information I got from these people, relating to the geography of this part of the world; and I have reason to believe that this was all the information they were able to give. For they assured me, over and over again, that they knew of no other islands, besides those which were laid down upon this chart; and that no Russian had ever seen any part of the continent of America to the northward, except that which lies opposite the country of the Tschutskis.
If Mr. Stæhlin was not grossly imposed upon, what could induce him to publish a map, so singularly erroneous; and in which many of these islands are jumbled together in regular confusion, without the least regard to truth? And yet, he is pleased to call it a very accurate map[[91]]. Indeed, it is a map to which the most illiterate of his illiterate sea-faring countrymen would have been ashamed to have set his name.
Mr. Ismyloff remained with us till the 21st, in the evening, when he took his final leave. To his care I entrusted a letter to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty; in which was enclosed a chart of all the northern coasts I had visited. He said there would be an opportunity of sending it to Kamtschatka, or Okotsk, the ensuing spring; and that it would be at Petersburgh the following winter. He gave me a letter to Major Behm, Governor of Kamtschatka, who resides at Bolscheretsk; and another to the commanding officer at Petropaulowska. Mr. Ismyloff seemed to have abilities that might entitle him to a higher station in life, than that in which we found him. He was tolerably well versed in astronomy, and in the most useful branches of the mathematics. I made him a present of an Hadley’s octant; and though, probably, it was the first he had ever seen, he made himself acquainted, in a very short time, with most of the uses to which that instrument can be applied.
In the morning of the 22d, we made an attempt to get to sea, with the wind at south-east, which miscarried. The following afternoon, we were visited by one Jacob Ivanovitch Soposnicoff, a Russian, who commanded a boat, or small vessel, at Oomanak. This man had a great share of modesty; and would drink no strong liquor, of which the rest of his countrymen, whom we had met with here, were immoderately fond. He seemed to know more accurately what supplies could be got at the harbour of Petropaulowska, and the price of the different articles, than Mr. Ismyloff. But, by all accounts, every thing we should want at that place was very scarce, and bore a high price. Flour, for instance, was from three to five roubles the pood[[92]]; and deer, from three to five roubles each. This man told us that he was to be at Petropaulowska in May next; and, as I understood, was to have the charge of my letter. He seemed to be exceedingly desirous of having some token from me to carry to Major Behm; and, to gratify him, I sent a small spying-glass.
After we became acquainted with these Russians, some of our gentlemen, at different times, visited their settlement on the island; where they always met with a hearty welcome. This settlement consisted of a dwelling-house, and two store-houses. And, besides the Russians, there was a number of the Kamtschadales, and of the natives, as servants, or slaves, to the former. Some others of the natives, who seemed independent of the Russians, lived at the same place. Such of them as belonged to the Russians were all males; and they are taken, or, perhaps, purchased from their parents when young. There were, at this time, about twenty of these, who could be looked upon in no other light than as children. They all live in the same house; the Russians at the upper end, the Kamtschadales in the middle; and the natives at the lower end; where is fixed a large boiler for preparing their food, which consists chiefly of what the sea produces, with the addition of wild roots and berries. There is little difference between the first and last table, besides what is produced by cookery, in which the Russians have the art to make indifferent things palatable. I have eat whale’s flesh of their dressing, which I thought very good; and they made a kind of pan-pudding of salmon roe, beaten up fine, and fried, that is no bad succedaneum for bread. They may, now and then, taste real bread, or have a dish in which flour is an ingredient; but this can only be an occasional luxury. If we except the juice of berries, which they sip at their meals, they have no other liquor besides pure water; and it seems to be very happy for them that they have nothing stronger.
As the island supplies them with food, so it does, in a great measure, with clothing. This consists chiefly of skins, and is, perhaps, the best they could have. The upper garment is made like our waggoner’s frock, and reaches as low as the knee. Besides this, they wear a waistcoat or two, a pair of breeches; a fur cap; and a pair of boots, the soles and upper leathers of which are of Russian leather; but the legs are made of some kind of strong gut. Their two chiefs, Ismyloff and Ivanovitch, wore each a calico frock; and they, as well as some others, had shirts, which were of silk. These, perhaps, were the only part of their dress not made amongst themselves.
There are Russians settled upon all the principal islands between Oonalashka and Kamtschatka, for the sole purpose of collecting furs. Their great object is the sea beaver or otter. I never heard them inquire after any other animal; though those, whose skins are of inferior value, are also made part of their cargoes. I never thought to ask how long they have had a settlement upon Oonalashka, and the neighbouring isles; but, to judge from the great subjection the natives are under, this cannot be of a very late date.[[93]] All these furriers are relieved, from time to time, by others. Those we met with arrived here from Okotsk, in 1776, and are to return in 1781; so that their stay at the island will be four years at least.
It is now time to give some account of the native inhabitants. To all appearance, they are the most peaceable, inoffensive people, I ever met with. And, as to honesty, they might serve as a pattern to the most civilized nation upon earth. But from what I saw of their neighbours, with whom the Russians have no connection, I doubt whether this was their original disposition; and rather think that it has been the consequence of their present state of subjection. Indeed, if some of our gentlemen did not misunderstand the Russians, they had been obliged to make some severe examples[[94]], before they could bring the islanders into any order. If there were severities inflicted at first, the best apology for them is, that they have produced the happiest consequences; and, at present, the greatest harmony subsists between the two nations. The natives have their own chiefs in each island, and seem to enjoy liberty and property unmolested. But whether or no they are tributaries to the Russians, we could never find out. There was some reason to think that they are.