mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i4-008
Facsimile
Transcription
- 117 -
[Bodega], the place whre our California colony by the name
of "Ross Settlement" was situated. All the people were saved;
[---] the ship, the cargo, and the time were lost. With the
greatest dispatch he began building a new ship, and in a short
time, from August to December, succeeded in this, loaded the
ship in Port San Francisco with wheat and salt beef, and, as
stated, arrived in Sitka in January. To ward off hunger in
such cases, it should have been possible to engage in cattle
breeding, but it was hindered, on the one hand, by lack of
pastureland and hayfields, and on the other, by Koloshi, who
suddenly broke the concluded peace and had no mercy even for
the people, not to mention the cattle belonging to the settlers.
Thes people, by nature most brutal and crafty, lead a
nomadic life, coming in spring and summer to the seashores to
catch herring and other fish, and withdrawng in winter to
the interior of the land. When we arrived at Sitka, only two
tribes remaind near the fort. Their leaders or toions by
the names of Katlian and Saginak4 often visited us, each in a
separate boat hollowed out of a huge tree, which carried ten
or more people. Coming on deck, they immediately began to
dance and to sing, when sat down in a circle and waited in
order to be served with a glass of rum and a few leaves of
tobacco. Having eaten and drunk, they returned to shore, each
chief to his own settlement, one on one side of the fort, and
the other, on the other side. Katlian's settlement, which we
visited now and then, was located on the seashore a few hun-
dred sazhens from the hospital blockship and consisted of
Notes and Questions
Nobody has written a note for this page yet
Please sign in to write a note for this page