Three Accounts of the Vasil'ev-Shishmarev Expedition of 1819-1822

- 34 -

Chapter 2

Berkh's Summary

Berkh wrote his account of this expedition as a summary in The Chronological History of all Voyages to the Arctic, and, therefor it is in somewhat dry, outline form. But this first and most complete account of the activities of both ships provides the context for the voyage of the Good Intent as described by Hillsen.

Captain-Lieutenants Vasilev and Shishmarev 1819

The famous reign of the Emperor Alexander I, so glorious in the annals of Russia so far as it concerns its political benefit to all of Europe, will also remain very memorable for its geographical discoveries.

Although Russia had a fleet from the beginning of the eighteenth century, her ships cruising the Baltic, the North, and the Mediterranean seas did not extend beyond the Arctic Circle. The Pillars of Hercules [at the Strait of Gibraltar] were the limits of their voyages. In 1803, they went beyond this point and made their first trip around the world. But because there are to be included in this work only voyages made to the northern arctic regions, in that case not mentioning various [other] voyages undertaken by the Russians during the period of 16 years, I direct my attention to the year 1819.

In that year a highest sovereign edict was made concerning the equipping of two expeditions. The first one, under

- 140 -

in all Catholic lands of this part of the New World. Here they lasted two days. On the first, a statue of the Mother of God, hung with all kinds of fabrics and adorned with a gold crown, was carried in a procession around the court and walls of the "presidio". At the same time at the fort they continually shot from five cannons, the only ones fit for shooting, which was also followed by [the cannons of] our sloops, and this was deeply appreciated by the Spaniards. After the dinner that followed all this, which, by the way, was entirely similar to the one described above and where the officers, the monks, the soldiers, and the guests, that is, we, sat at the common table, and drank champagne (donated by us) to the health of His Majesty, the Emperor Alexander, and to King Ferdinand the VIII. After dinner, dancing began for which the music was supplied by guitars and songs by women. A favorite Spanish dance, "fandango," was almost the only one that they danced. This ended the first day. The second started with the same procession, after which the cavalry exhibited its skills in horseback riding, in spear throwing, and throwing of lassos. As a reward, the most skillful got a complete military outfit, that is, deerskin armor, shield, spear, and lasso. This reward was won by a young soldier by the name of Bernardo Jilo. After these spectacles they started to dance, as on the previous day. Afterward, they performed some kind of play, after which they danced until the next morning. We, too, participated in all these festivities because they received us with honor not

- 141 -

only as guests, but also as hosts, for, in a community effort, we contributed much rum and wine to these festivities, from which almost all got drunk toward evening, not having had occasion to taste them for a long time.

This day did not end as happily as the first. With the commandant, Don Lui Arguelo [Luis antonio Argüello], lived his sister and her daughter, a very pretty young girl, 14 years old, who had two suitors, one of whom was preferred by the uncle, and the second, by the niece herself. It seemed to the latter [suitor] that she was treating the uncle's favorite too cordially, and jealousy flared up. He pulled out his knife, generally worn instead of a dagger at the belt, and inflicted on his rival a deep wound in the neck, fortunately not a mortal one. Our surgeon, Mr. Zaozerski, sewed it up and dressed it, so that the enamored one, even before our sailing, recovered completely. This event did not at all disturb the merrymaking of the others, and when this was reported to the commandant, he very quietly said, "Let these dogs, if they want, knife each other! What do I care?"

On December 12th, the birthday of Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, our sloops were decorated with flags, and saluted with all cannons. The Spaniards, in response to the courtesy shown them on their holiday, also fired uninterruptedly while our cannonade continued. On this day, we entertained on our sloop (the quarterdeck and cabins in which were larger than on the "Discovery") the entire local aristocracy with wives