Voyage of the Beaver to New Archangel.--A Russian Governor.--
Roystering Rule.--The Tyranny of the Table--Hard Drinking
Bargainings.--Voyage to Kamtschatka.--Seal Catching
Establishment at St. Paul’s.--Storms at Sea.--Mr. Hunt Left
at the Sandwich Islands.--Transactions of the Beaver at
Canton.--Return of Mr. Hunt to Astoria.
IT will be recollected that the destination of the Boston, when she
sailed from Astoria on the 4th of August in 1812, was to proceed
northwardly along the coast to Sheetka, or New Archangel, there to
dispose of that part of her cargo intended for the supply of the Russian
establishment at that place, and then to return to Astoria, where it was
expected she would arrive in October.
New Archangel is situated in Norfolk Sound, lat. 57deg 2’ N., long.
135deg 50’ W. It was the head-quarters of the different colonies of the
Russian Fur Company, and the common rendezvous of the American vessels
trading along the coast.
The Beaver met with nothing worthy of particular mention in her voyage,
and arrived at New Archangel on the 19th of August. The place at that
time was the residence of Count Baranoff, the governor of the different
colonies; a rough, rugged, hospitable, hard-drinking old Russian;
somewhat of a soldier; somewhat of a trader; above all, a boon companion
of the old roystering school, with a strong cross of the bear.
Mr. Hunt found this hyperborean veteran ensconced in a fort which
crested the whole of a rocky promontory. It mounted one hundred guns,
large and small, and was impregnable to Indian attack, unaided by
artillery. Here the old governor lorded it over sixty Russians, who
formed the corps of the trading establishment, besides an indefinite
number of Indian hunters of the Kodiak tribe, who were continually
coming and going, or lounging and loitering about the fort like so many
hounds round a sportsman’s hunting quarters. Though a loose liver among
his guests, the governor was a strict disciplinarian among his men;
keeping them in perfect subjection, and having seven on guard night and
day.
Besides those immediate serfs and dependents just mentioned, the old
Russian potentate exerted a considerable sway over a numerous and
irregular class of maritime traders, who looked to him for aid and
munitions, and through whom he may be said to have, in some degree,
extended his power along the whole northwest coast. These were American
captains of vessels engaged in a particular department of the trade.
One of these captains would come, in a manner, empty-handed to New
Archangel. Here his ship would be furnished with about fifty canoes and
a hundred Kodiak hunters, and fitted out with provisions, and everything
necessary for hunting the sea-otter on the coast of California, where
the Russians have another establishment. The ship would ply along the
California coast from place to place, dropping parties of otter hunters
in their canoes, furnishing them only with water, and leaving them to
depend upon their own dexterity for a maintenance. When a sufficient
cargo was collected, she would gather up her canoes and hunters, and
return with them to Archangel; where the captain would render in the
returns of his voyage, and receive one half of the skins for his share.
Over these coasting captains, as we have hinted, the veteran governor
exerted some sort of sway, but it was of a peculiar and characteristic
kind; it was the tyranny of the table. They were obliged to join him in
his “prosnics” or carousals, and to drink “potations pottle deep.” His
carousals, too, were not of the most quiet kind, nor were his potations
as mild as nectar. “He is continually,” said Mr. Hunt, “giving
entertainments by way of parade, and if you do not drink raw rum, and
boiling punch as strong as sulphur, he will insult you as soon as he
gets drunk, which is very shortly after sitting down to table.”
As to any “temperance captain” who stood fast to his faith, and refused
to give up his sobriety, he might go elsewhere for a market, for he
stood no chance with the governor. Rarely, however, did any cold-water
caitiff of the kind darken the doors of old Baranoff; the coasting
captains knew too well his humor and their own interests; they joined in
his revels, they drank, and sang, and whooped, and hiccuped, until they
all got “half seas over,” and then affairs went on swimmingly.
An awful warning to all “flinchers” occurred shortly before Mr. Hunt’s
arrival. A young naval officer had recently been sent out by the emperor
to take command of one of the company’s vessels. The governor, as usual,
had him at his “prosnics,” and plied him with fiery potations. The young
man stood on the defensive until the old count’s ire was completely
kindled; he carried his point, and made the greenhorn tipsy, willy
nilly. In proportion as they grew fuddled they grew noisy, they
quarrelled in their cups; the youngster paid old Baranoff in his own
coin by rating him soundly; in reward for which, when sober, he was
taken the rounds of four pickets, and received seventy-nine lashes,
taled out with Russian punctuality of punishment.
Such was the old grizzled bear with whom Mr. Hunt had to do his
business. How he managed to cope with his humor; whether he pledged
himself in raw rum and blazing punch, and “clinked the can” with him as
they made their bargains, does not appear upon record; we must infer,
however, from his general observations on the absolute sway of this
hard-drinking potentate, that he had to conform to the customs of his
court, and that their business transactions presented a maudlin mixture
of punch and peltry.
The greatest annoyance to Mr. Hunt, however, was the delay to which he
was subjected, in disposing of the cargo of the ship, and getting the
requisite returns. With all the governor’s devotions to the bottle,
he never obfuscated his faculties sufficiently to lose sight of his
interest, and is represented by Mr. Hunt as keen, not to say crafty,
at a bargain, as the most arrant waterdrinker. A long time was expended
negotiating with him, and by the time the bargain was concluded, the
month of October had arrived. To add to the delay he was to be paid for
his cargo in seal skins. Now it so happened that there was none of this
kind of peltry at the fort of old Baranoff. It was necessary, therefore,
for Mr. Hunt to proceed to a seal-catching establishment, which
the Russian company had at the island of St. Paul, in the Sea of
Kamtschatka. He accordingly set sail on the 4th of October, after having
spent forty-five days at New Archangel boosing and bargaining with its
roystering commander, and right glad was he to escape from the clutches
of “this old man of the sea.”
The Beaver arrived at St. Paul’s on the 31st of October; by which time,
according to arrangement, he ought to have been back at Astoria. The
island of St. Paul is in latitude 57deg N., longitude 170deg or 171deg
W. Its shores, in certain places, and at certain seasons, are covered
with seals, while others are playing about in the water. Of these, the
Russians take only the small ones, from seven to ten months old, and
carefully select the males, giving the females their freedom, that the
breed may not be diminished. The islanders, however, kill the large
ones for provisions, and for skins wherewith to cover their canoes. They
drive them from the shore over the rocks, until within a short distance
of their habitations, where they kill them. By this means, they save
themselves the trouble of carrying the skins and have the flesh at hand.
This is thrown in heaps, and when the season for skinning is over,
they take out the entrails and make one heap of the blubber. This, with
drift-wood, serves for fuel, for the island is entirely destitute of
trees. They make another heap of the flesh, which, with the eggs of
sea-fowls, preserved in oil, an occasional sea-lion, a few ducks in
winter, and some wild roots, compose their food.
Mr. Hunt found several Russians at the island, and one hundred hunters,
natives of Oonalaska, with their families. They lived in cabins that
looked like canoes; being, for the most part formed of the jaw-bone of
a whale, put up as rafters, across which were laid pieces of driftwood
covered over with long grass, the skins of large sea animals, and earth;
so as to be quite comfortable, in despite of the rigors of the climate;
though we are told they had as ancient and fish-like an odor, “as had
the quarters of Jonah, when he lodged within the whale.”
In one of these odoriferous mansions, Mr. Hunt occasionally took up his
abode, that he might be at hand to hasten the loading of the ship. The
operation, however, was somewhat slow, for it was necessary to overhaul
and inspect every pack to prevent imposition, and the peltries had then
to be conveyed in large boats, made of skins, to the ship, which was
some little distance from the shore, standing off and on.
One night, while Mr. Hunt was on shore, with some others of the crew,
there arose a terrible gale. When the day broke, the ship was not to be
seen. He watched for her with anxious eyes until night, but in vain. Day
after day of boisterous storms, and howling wintry weather, were passed
in watchfulness and solicitude. Nothing was to be seen but a dark and
angry sea, and a scowling northern sky; and at night he retired within
the jaws of the whale, and nestled disconsolately among seal skins.
At length, on the 13th of November, the Beaver made her appearance;
much the worse for the stormy conflicts which she had sustained in those
hyperborean seas. She had been obliged to carry a press of sail in heavy
gales to be able to hold her ground, and had consequently sustained
great damage in her canvas and rigging. Mr. Hunt lost no time in
hurrying the residue of the cargo on board of her; then, bidding adieu
to his seal-fishing friends, and his whalebone habitation, he put forth
once more to sea.
He was now for making the best of his way to Astoria, and fortunate
would it have been for the interests of that place, and the interests of
Mr. Astor, had he done so; but, unluckily, a perplexing question rose
in his mind. The sails and rigging of the Beaver had been much rent and
shattered in the late storm; would she be able to stand the hard gales
to be expected in making Columbia River at this season? Was it prudent,
also, at this boisterous time of the year to risk the valuable cargo
which she now had on board, by crossing and recrossing the dangerous
bar of that river? These doubts were probably suggested or enforced by
Captain Sowle, who, it has already been seen, was an over-cautious, or
rather, a timid seaman, and they may have had some weight with Mr. Hunt;
but there were other considerations, which more strongly swayed his
mind. The lateness of the season, and the unforeseen delays the ship
had encountered at New Archangel, and by being obliged to proceed to St.
Paul’s, had put her so much back in her calculated time, that there was
a risk of her arriving so late at Canton, as to come to a bad market,
both for the sale of her peltries, and the purchase of a return cargo.
He considered it to the interest of the company, therefore, that he
should proceed at once to the Sandwich Islands; there wait the arrival
of the annual vessel from New York, take passage in her to Astoria, and
suffer the Beaver to continue on to Canton.
On the other hand, he was urged to the other course by his engagements;
by the plan of the voyage marked out for the Beaver, by Mr. Astor; by
his inclination, and the possibility that the establishment might need
his presence, and by the recollection that there must already be a large
amount of peltries collected at Astoria, and waiting for the return of
the Beaver, to convey them to market.
These conflicting questions perplexed and agitated his mind and gave
rise to much anxious reflection, for he was a conscientious man that
seems ever to have aimed at a faithful discharge of his duties, and to
have had the interests of his employers earnestly at heart. His decision
in the present instance was injudicious, and proved unfortunate. It was,
to bear away for the Sandwich Islands. He persuaded himself that it was
a matter of necessity, and that the distressed condition of the ship
left him no other alternative; but we rather suspect he was so persuaded
by the representations of the timid captain. They accordingly stood for
the Sandwich Islands, arrived at Woahoo, where the ship underwent the
necessary repairs, and again put to sea on the 1st of January, 1813;
leaving Mr. Hunt on the island.
We will follow the Beaver to Canton, as her fortunes, in some measure,
exemplify the evil of commanders of ships acting contrary to orders;
and as they form a part of the tissue of cross purposes that marred the
great commercial enterprise we have undertaken to record.
The Beaver arrived safe at Canton, where Captain Sowle found the letter
of Mr. Astor, giving him information of the war and directing him to
convey the intelligence to Astoria. He wrote a reply, dictated either by
timidity or obstinacy, in which he declined complying with the orders of
Mr. Astor, but said he would wait for the return of peace, and then come
home. The other proceedings of Captain Sowle were equally wrongheaded
and unlucky. He was offered one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for
the fur he had taken on board at St. Paul’s. The goods for which it had
been procured cost but twenty-five thousand dollars in New York. Had he
accepted this offer, and re-invested the amount in nankeens, which at
that time, in consequence of the interruption to commerce by the war,
were at two thirds of their usual price, the whole would have brought
three hundred thousand dollars in New York. It is true, the war would
have rendered it unsafe to attempt the homeward voyage, but he might
have put the goods in store at Canton, until after the peace, and have
sailed without risk of capture to Astoria; bringing to the partners at
that place tidings of the great profits realized on the outward cargo,
and the still greater to be expected from the returns. The news of such
a brilliant commencement to their undertaking would have counterbalanced
the gloomy tidings of the war; it would have infused new spirit into
them all, and given them courage and constancy to persevere in the
enterprise. Captain Sowle, however, refused the offer of one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, and stood wavering and chaffering for
higher terms. The furs began to fall in value; this only increased
his irresolution; they sunk so much that he feared to sell at all; he
borrowed money on Mr. Astor’s account at an interest of eighteen per
cent., and laid up his ship to await the return of peace.
In the meanwhile, Mr. Hunt soon saw reason to repent the resolution he
had adopted in altering the destination of the ship. His stay at the
Sandwich Islands was prolonged far beyond expectation. He looked in
vain for the annual ship in the spring. Month after month passed by,
and still she did not make her appearance. He, too, proved the danger of
departing from orders. Had he returned from St. Paul’s to Astoria, all
the anxiety and despondency about his fate, and about the whole course
of the undertaking, would have been obviated. The Beaver would have
received the furs collected at the factory and taken them to Canton, and
great gains, instead of great losses, would have been the result. The
greatest blunder, however, was that committed by Captain Sowle.
At length, about the 20th of June, the ship Albatross, Captain Smith,
arrived from China, and brought the first tidings of the war to the
Sandwich Islands. Mr. Hunt was no longer in doubt and perplexity as to
the reason of the non-appearance of the annual ship. His first thoughts
were for the welfare of Astoria, and, concluding that the inhabitants
would probably be in want of provisions, he chartered the Albatross for
two thousand dollars, to land him, with some supplies, at the mouth of
the Columbia, where he arrived, as we have seen, on the 20th of August,
after a year’s seafaring that might have furnished a chapter in the
wanderings of Sinbad.