Was it American or British? Was it the
Beaver or the Isaac Todd? M'Dougal hurried to the waterside,
threw himself into a boat, and ordered the hands to pull with all
speed for the mouth of the harbor. Those in the fort remained
watching the entrance of the river, anxious to know whether they
were to prepare for greeting a friend or fighting an enemy. At
length the ship was descried crossing the bar, and bending her
course towards Astoria. Every gaze was fixed upon her in silent
scrutiny, until the American flag was recognized. A general shout
was the first expression of joy, and next a salutation was
thundered from the cannon of the fort.
The vessel came to anchor on the opposite side of the river, and
returned the salute. The boat of Mr. M'Dougal went on board, and
was seen returning late in the afternoon. The Astorians watched
her with straining eyes, to discover who were on board, but the
sun went down, and the evening closed in, before she was
sufficiently near. At length she reached the land, and Mr. Hunt
stepped on shore. He was hailed as one risen from the dead, and
his return was a signal for merriment almost equal to that which
prevailed at the nuptials of M'Dougal.
We must now explain the cause of this gentleman's long absence,
which had given rise to such gloomy and dispiriting surmises.
CHAPTER LVII.
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.
