Volume Xvii Part 16 (1/2)

I shall here conclude this article, since all we can say of this people, on our own knowledge, hath been laid before the reader in the preceding volume.

[78] It is proper to remark, that Atla.s.soff sent an advanced party, under the command of a subaltern, called Lucas Moloskoff, who certainly penetrated into Kamtschatka, and returned with an account of his success before Atla.s.soff set out, and is therefore not unjustly mentioned as the discoverer of Kamtschatka.

[79] This river empties itself into the Jenesei.

[80] Captain Krusenstern informs us, that the people in Kamtschatska, and more especially the Kamtschadales, are decreasing in number very rapidly, and from different causes. They are subject to several epidemic complaints; one of which, he says, carried off upwards of five thousand persons in the years 1800 and 1801. But the princ.i.p.al causes of depopulation, which, if not speedily removed, threaten the total extinction of the inhabitants, are not dependent on the severity, or even any peculiar maladies of the climate. It is to the excessive use of spirits, and an extraordinary disproportion in the number of females, that this serious evil is to be chiefly imputed.

The great moral defect in the character of the native Kamtschadale, is his propensity to drunkenness; in which, it will readily be believed, he finds companions amongst his neighbours; and in which, still more unfortunately, he is absolutely encouraged, for the most fraudulent purposes, by the petty agents of the American Company, and the other merchants in Kamtschatka. Nothing can be more infamous than what is related by Krusenstern on this subject. Let the following description suffice. It is applied by K. indeed to a state of matters which formerly existed without controul, but which the government, he would have us believe, has lately endeavoured to destroy. How far this interference has availed, or is likely to avail, may be conjectured, though not without some very painful emotions, from the circ.u.mstance admitted by K. himself, that there are few Kamtschadales remaining on whom its benefits can operate; and the opinion he has also given, that before many years have elapsed, these few will perhaps have entirely disappeared. ”With no other wares,” says this candid man, ”than a large quant.i.ty of very bad gin, the merchants travelled about the country to procure furs. As soon as one of them arrived in an ostrog, he treated his host with a gla.s.s of spirits. The Kamtschadales are all so unfortunately attached to strong liquors, that it is absolutely impossible for them to resist the pleasure of getting intoxicated. As soon as he has drank a gla.s.s of gin, which he receives for nothing, he instantly begs another, for which, however, he must pay; then a second, a third, and so on. Still, however, he has had his spirits unadulterated; but the moment he begins to be intoxicated, instead of pure spirits, they give it him mixed with water; and in order that the deception may be carried on with the more security, the merchants have the vessels, destined for the spirits, called _fliaga_, divided into two parts; in the smaller one of which they carry their unmixed spirits, and in the other the mixed. The merchant now continues to ply the Kamtschadale with the weaker liquor, until he becomes perfectly senseless, and then takes possession of his whole stock of sables and other furs, alleging, that they are to pay for the quant.i.ty of spirits which he has drank. Thus, in an unfortunate moment, the Kamtschadale loses the reward of many months labour and cost; and, instead of providing himself with powder and shot, and other necessary and indispensable articles, such as would have contributed to his own and his family's comfort, he has exhausted all his wealth for one debauch, which only weakens him, and renders him more helpless and dest.i.tute for the future. This wretchedness is accompanied by a depression of spirits, which must have a pernicious influence on his body, already weakened by disease, and which, at length, from the total want of substantial food, and of medical a.s.sistance, becomes unable to resist such frequent attacks upon it. This appears to me the cause of their annual decrease, a.s.sisted by epidemical disorders, which sweep them off in great numbers.” But another cause has been a.s.signed in addition to this very deplorable one, and this it may now be necessary to specify a little more particularly. Let the words of the same writer be taken in evidence, and we may say we have very little reason indeed to give ourselves any concern about the condition of the people in this distant settlement.--”The prospect of any increase of the inhabitants of Kamtschatka was very much diminished, not only by the smallness of the number of the remaining Russians and Kamtschadales, but by that of the women bearing no kind of proportion to the men. At Saint Peter and Saint Paul, where the number of inhabitants, including the military, amounts to one hundred and fifty, or one hundred and eighty persons, there are not five-and-twenty females. It frequently happens, that the company's s.h.i.+ps and transports winter here, and the number of men is often increased to five hundred; while, on the other hand, that of the women remains always the same. The consequences of this pernicious disproportion are unproductive marriages, and a total decline of all morals. I do not remember to have seen more than five or six children at Kamtschatka, and these partly belonged to the officers, and partly to such of the inhabitants as had distinguished themselves by their exemplary conduct. All the marriages, with the exception of three or four, were entirely unproductive.” It is almost needless to remark, that if the suggestions which Krusenstern has given, have not been adopted and acted on, the superiority of the diminis.h.i.+ng agents will have wrought such an effect since his visit, as may render it problematical whether or not this country ought to be reckoned amongst the inhabited regions of the earth.--E.

[81] The Tayon, or Toyon, according to Krusenstern, is a person chosen from amongst the inhabitants, and has a character somewhat similar to that of _starost_, or elder, in the Russian villages. He has an officer under him, who bears the t.i.tle of _jessaul_, the corporal of the tent, who, properly speaking, holds the executive authority of the ostrog, as the tayon seldom does more than deliver orders to him. When the tayon is absent, the jessaul a.s.sumes his place, and is supported by the eldest Kamtschadale in the ostrog, who, for the time being, becomes his subst.i.tute as jessaul. The power of the tayon is said to be considerable, extending to the infliction of corporal punishment, not, however, exceeding twenty lashes; and his duty, in addition to the internal administration of his ostrog, consists in collecting the best sables as a tribute to the government, and carrying them to town, where they are examined by certain magistrates, appointed for the purpose, and afterwards taxed by a person authorised by the crown.

Enough has been already shewn, it may be thought, for calling in question the mildness, or at least the good policy, of the government established here. A circ.u.mstance is mentioned by Krusenstern, which seems to imply something very different, though lately modified, we are told, and not without reason, as, to use his own words, it is surprising that people could have endured it for a single hour. It may be explained in a few words. The capitation tax, which is common throughout the Russian empire, is levied according to a census, or revision, which is generally taken every twenty years. Where the population is on the increase, this is manifestly an advantage to the subjects, who would necessarily have more to pay, if the imposition were accurately adjusted to the annual augmentation of numbers. But the operation of the principle becomes peculiarly oppressive, where, on the contrary, as in Kamtschatka, the population has been gradually diminis.h.i.+ng, and, during some years, had been rapidly reduced. Thus, in many of the ostrogs, we are told, that the inhabitants had declined from thirty or forty, to eight or ten; and yet the tribute continued to be levied on the remainder, according to the preceding census! This was, in reality, the _caput mortuum_ of taxation, and perhaps was never equalled, at least never surpa.s.sed, in absurdity, by the _ways and means_ of any other government. Had this system continued for any length of time, it is probable, that one or two individuals would at length have had the _supreme_ felicity of being in reality the representatives of a whole nation, and of course of paying for the extraordinary honour. This reminds one of a curious enough occurrence said to have happened after a battle in Germany, in which a regiment, belonging to the Earl of Tyrconnel, had been engaged. A general muster having taken place, his Lords.h.i.+p's regiment was of course called for, when a soldier, stepping from the ranks, immediately replied, ”I am Lord Tyrconnel's regiment!” In fact, the poor fellow was the only responsible survivor.--E.

[82] Krusenstern, who, as we have seen, is far from sparing the laity in the distribution of his censures, makes every bit as free with the clergy. ”The priest of St Peter and St Paul,” says he, ”was a scandal to his profession; in the interior, they are said to be no better, and to be particularly obnoxious to the Kamtschadales.” This is a serious evil, no doubt, but it may reasonably be expected to cease with the complaints of the paris.h.i.+oners, as it is very unlikely that at Kamtschatka as elsewhere, there should be found any shepherds without flocks. To be sure, in some other countries, where this occasionally happens, there is this important difference, that the pasture at least is worth looking after!--E.

[83] Thirty-six pounds English.

[84] This description, little as it may excite any high opinion of the prosperity of the place, is nevertheless nearly a contrast to that which Krusenstern has given. ”The first prospect of St Peter and St Paul might raise in the mind of a person newly arrived, and ignorant of the history of this Russian establishment, the idea of its being a colony founded a few years before, but recently abandoned. Nothing is visible here that could at all persuade any one of its being inhabited by civilized people; not only Awatska Bay, but the three adjoining ones, are entirely forlorn and uninhabited; nor is the beautiful harbour of St Peter and St Paul enlivened by a single boat. Instead of this, the sh.o.r.es are strewed with stinking fish, among which a number of half-starved dogs are seen wallowing, and contending for possession. Two baidars belonging to the port, and hauled on sh.o.r.e at a low sandy point of land, would be an additional proof of the infancy of this colony; if, at the same time, you did not perceive the wreck of a three-masted s.h.i.+p, bearing evident marks of having been in its present condition for some years. This is the Slawa Rossi, the s.h.i.+p which Captain Billing commanded, but which, after the completion of his voyage, foundered in the harbour from want of care. The appearance immediately brings to mind the celebrated Behring, who, seventy years before, commenced his voyage of discovery from this port; But not only the two baidars, but the sinking of the s.h.i.+p itself, are too clear a proof that the nautical concerns of this colony are still in a state of infancy.” Krusenstern's descriptions, we see, come after King's, somewhat in the manner of Holbein's Dance of Death, after whatever was promising or agreeable!--E.

[85] In Mr c.o.xe's work, we have accounts of three voyages subsequent to Synd's, viz. those of Shelekof, of Ismaelof and Betsharoff, and of Billings, all of which were performed betwixt 1778 and 1792. The second of these, according to Mr c.o.xe's opinion, is by far the most interesting of any yet made by the Russians. The last, which was of very long continuance, and occasioned an enormous expence to the government, did not fully answer the expectations entertained of it.

The commander, an Englishman, is not spoken highly of by Krusenstern, who tells us, indeed, that, among the Russian naval officers, there were many who would have conducted the expedition much more creditably than he did. This may, no doubt, be very true. But how comes it, that they were not known in time to be employed? Or, admitting that they were known for superiority of talents, but that some reasons, independent of any consideration of respective qualifications, decided against their being employed, who was to blame, it may be asked, in selecting an incompetent, or at least an inferior person, for the command of so important an undertaking? Captain Krusenstern may be a very able officer; indeed, no one can read his work without entertaining a high opinion of his moral and professional character.

It is shrewdly to be suspected, however, that he is somewhat deficient in that prophetic eye of wise policy, which at one glance can ascertain the effects and consequences of one's own a.s.sertions and reasonings. It is not thought advisable to enter upon the consideration of the subject now adverted to by Captain King, as a fitter opportunity will in all probability present itself for the necessary discussion.--E.

[86] Captain Krusenstern, as may have been already perceived, thinks very highly of the Kamtschadale character. In his judgment, the only objection to it applies to that superinduced propensity in which the avaricious merchant has so often found his account, though to the ruin of the unthinking individuals subjected to his temptations. Their honesty is greatly extolled; and a cheat is as rare among the Kamtschadales as a man of property. So great is the confidence placed in them in this respect, that it is quite usual, we are told, for travellers, on arriving at an ostrog, to give their whole effects, even their stock of _brandy_, &c. into the hands of the tayon, and there is no instance of any one having been robbed to the smallest extent. ”Lieutenant Koscheleff,” says K., ”with his accustomed simplicity, told me that he had once been sent by his brother, the governor, with thirteen thousand roubles to distribute among the different towns; that every evening he made over his box with the money to the tayon of the ostrog where he slept, and felt much easier, having so disposed of it, _than he would perhaps have done in any inn in St Petersburgh_.” No doubt, the superior purity of the country air would occasion some difference in his feelings! The hospitality of the Kamtschadales forms another topic of eulogium. With such moral virtues, then, in alliance with great industry, and considerable intelligence, it is not to be wondered, that Krusenstern should speak of the probable extinction of this race as a most alarming calamity.

But we have seen that hitherto little care has been manifested to prevent its occurrence. The very subject we are now on presents us with another sample of the gross impolicy, not to speak of inhumanity or injustice, that has been shewn towards these most valuable people.

The following pa.s.sage from Krusenstern may be allowed to warrant the most severe opinion we can possibly form of any government, that could require such services from _its slaves_. ”The necessity of the Kamtschadales in Kamtschatka is sufficiently proved, by their being every where the guides through the country, and by their conveying the mail, which they do likewise, free of expence. In the winter, they are obliged to conduct travellers and estafettes from one ostrog to another; they supply the dogs of those who travel with jukulla; they also lodge the travellers; this, however, they are not obliged to do.

This hospitable people has, of its own accord, engaged to lodge every traveller, and to feed his dogs, without demanding any remuneration.

In every ostrog there is a supply of fish set apart for this purpose.

In general, the governor and all officers keep dogs, so that in this respect they are not burthen-some to the Kamtschadales; but a story is told of a magistrate high in office, having been here a short time since, who never travelled but in a sledge like a small house, drawn by an hundred dogs. Besides this, he is said to have journeyed with such rapidity, that at every station several of these animals belonging to the Kamtschadales expired, which he never paid for. In the summer, the Kamtschadale is obliged to be always ready with his boat to conduct the traveller either up or down the rivers; nor can the soldier be sent any where without having one of these people for his guide. Thus it frequently happens that they are absent a fortnight or more from their ostrog, and lose the best opportunity of providing themselves with fish for the winter, as, besides the mere act of taking the fish, it requires several days of fine summer weather to dry them. If the wet should set in, during this operation, the fish instantly becomes magotty, and the whole stock is rendered useless.

From the great numbers of soldiers, (as, besides the cossacks, there is a battalion of five hundred men, and about twenty officers, quartered in Kamtschatka), and the small number of Kamtschadales, it must be sufficiently evident, that the latter are frequently taken from their work, and, it may be added, almost without remuneration; for the post-money allowed by the crown, which amounts to one kopeck the werst, considering the high price of every article, is, surely, not only an inconsiderable, but an insulting reward for the service performed,” Thus far K. To some readers, it may be necessary to mention, in order to their due understanding of this reward, that 100 kopecks make a rouble, the value of which varies according to the rate of exchange from 2s. 6d. to 4s. 2d. British, having been so low as the former rate in the year 1803, and that three wersts are about equal to two English miles, so that we may fairly enough estimate this insult, as K. expresses it, at one half-penny per mile!--E.

[87] Krusenstern's description of the houses and their contents is exactly in proportion to the other parts of his very unfavourable report. Even of two of them, which he says are the very ornament of Kamtschatka, the furniture is represented as most wretchedly deficient. ”That of the anti-room consisted merely of a wooden stool, a table, and two or three broken chairs. There was neither earthen-ware nor porcelain table-service; no gla.s.ses, decanters, nor any thing else of a similar nature; two or three tea-cups, one gla.s.s, a few broken knives and forks, and some pewter spoons, const.i.tuted the wealth of the good people (two artillery officers) who were both married. But what most of all distressed me, was the condition of their windows; they had not double sashes, which, in a cold climate, are as necessary to health as to comfort; but such even as they had, were in a very wretched condition. The panes were of gla.s.s, but notwithstanding their extreme smallness, they were all of them broken, and made of pieces fitted together. They afforded no protection against the snow and frost; and I could not, without feelings of commiseration, behold the children, who, in no part of the world, are brought up so wretchedly as here.”

If such were the condition of the best houses, we shall have little reason, for the sake of any pleasure at least, to make any enquiry as to those of an inferior kind, belonging to the other inhabitants. It is perhaps enough then to say in general terms, that they are all ill built, that they are so low, as to be entirely covered up with snow during the winter, and that in consequence of this circ.u.mstance, they are throughout that period completely deprived of the fresh air, to which want, and to the badness of their provisions, it is unquestionably with perfect truth that K. ascribes the pallid hue of all the inhabitants, even, as he adds, of the youngest females. The construction of a house at St Peter and St Paul, we are further told, is very expensive, as there is no suitable timber in the neighbourhood of the town, and the people are consequently necessitated to bring it from the interior. It is in this manner that thirty or forty soldiers are employed, when any public building is to be erected. They are sent out under the command of an officer, and for several weeks, during which time, and at imminent risk, they fell the timber, and float it down the rivers. Thus says K., ”the whole garrison of Kamtschatka had been occupied during two years in building some barracks for ten or twelve men, nor were they even then completed; and the church, on which they had been several years employed, was in the same predicament!” It is, no doubt, a very natural consequence of such slow procedure, that, before a building is quite finished, some part of it falls to pieces. Some persons have suggested the use of bricks in place of timber, and it seems pretty obvious, from K.'s account, that this is quite practicable. It may well be doubted, however; if either the prejudices or the indolence of the people will yield to the innovation; and much more, indeed, may it be doubted, if the people in fact will ever require more houses than those which already exist. If they should, notwithstanding such weighty evidence as has been adduced to the contrary, the advice which K. has given on the subject, would deserve the serious consideration of the government.--E.

[88] Spanberg places the island here spoken of in 43 50' N. lat.i.tude, and mentions his having watered upon it; and that this watering-party brought off eight of the natives; of whom he relates the following circ.u.mstances: That their bodies were covered all over with hair; that they wore a loose striped silk gown, reaching as low as their ankles; and that some of them had silver rings pendant from the ears; that, on spying a live c.o.c.k on deck, they fell down on their knees before it; and likewise, before the presents that were bronght out to them, closing and stretching forth their hands, and bowing their heads, at the same time, down to the ground; that, except the peculiarity of their hairiness, they resemble the other Kurile islanders in their features and figure, and spoke the same language. The journal of the s.h.i.+p Castricom also mentions this circ.u.mstance, of the inhabitants of the country discovered by them, and called Jeso, being hairy all over the body.

[89] This accounts for what Krascheninnikoff says, that he got from Paramousir a j.a.panned table and vase, a scymeter, and a silver ring, which he sent to the cabinet of her imperial majesty, at Petersburg.

And if what Mr Steller mentions, on the authority of a Kurile, who was interpreter to Spanberg in his voyage to j.a.pan, is to be credited, that nearly the same language is spoken at Kunas.h.i.+r and Paramousir, it cannot be questioned, that some intercourse has always subsisted between the inhabitants of this extensive chain of islands.

[90] The vessel here spoken of was from Satsma, a port in j.a.pan, bound for another j.a.panese port, called Azaka, and laden with rice, cotton, and silks. She sailed with a favourable wind; but, before she reached her destination, was driven out to sea by a violent storm, which carried away her masts and rudder.

On the storm's abating, not one of the crew, which consisted of seventeen (having probably never made any other than coasting voyages), knew where they were, or what course to steer. After remaining in this situation six months, they were driven on sh.o.r.e near the promontory Lopatka; and having cast out an anchor, began to carry on sh.o.r.e such articles as were necessary to their existence. They next erected a tent, and had remained in it twenty-three days without seeing a human being; when chance conducted a cossack officer, called Andrew Chinnikoff, with a few Kamtschadales, to their habitation. The poor unfortunate j.a.panese, overwhelmed with joy at the sight of fellow creatures, made the most significant tenders, they were able, of friends.h.i.+p and affection; and presented their visitors with silks, sabres, and a part of whatever else they had brought from the s.h.i.+p.

The treacherous Chinnikoff made reciprocal returns of kindness and good-will; and, after remaining with them long enough to make such observations as suited his designs, withdrew from them in the night.

The j.a.panese, finding that their visitors did not return, knew not what course to take. In despair they manned their boat, and were rowing along the coast in search of a habitation, when they came up with their vessel, which had been driven ash.o.r.e; and found Chinnikoff and his companions pillaging her, and pulling her in pieces for the sake of the iron. This sight determined them to continue their course, which Chinnikoff perceiving, ordered his men to pursue and ma.s.sacre them. The unfortunate j.a.panese, seeing a canoe in pursuit, and which they could not escape, apprehended what was to follow. Some of them leaped into the sea; others, in vain, had recourse to prayers and entreaties. They were all ma.s.sacred but two, by the very sabres they had presented to their supposed friends a few days before. One of the two was a boy about eleven years old, named Gowga, who had accompanied his father, the s.h.i.+p's pilot, to learn navigation; the other was a middle-aged man, the supercargo, and called Sosa.

Chinnikoff soon met with the punishment due to his crimes. The two strangers were conducted to Petersburgh, where they were sent to the academy, with proper instructors and attendants; and several young men were, at the same time, put about them for the purpose of learning the j.a.panese language.