Vikings Of The Pacific - free ebook by Agnes C. Laut

BERING, THE DANE; THE OUTLAW HUNTERS OF RUSSIA; BENYOWSKY, THE POLISH PIRATE; COOK AND VANCOUVER, THE ENGLISH NAVIGATORS; GRAY OF BOSTON, THE DISCOVERER OF THE COLUMBIA; DRAKE, LEDYARD, AND OTHER SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE ON THE WEST COAST OF AMERICA

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Foreword

At the very time the early explorers of New France were pressing from the east, westward, a tide of adventure had set across Siberia and the Pacific from the west, eastward. Carrier and Champlain of New France in the east have their counterparts and contemporaries on the Pacific coast of America in Francis Drake, the English pirate on the coast of California, and in Staduchin and Deshneff and other Cossack plunderers of the North Pacific, whose rickety keels first ploughed a furrow over the trac

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CHAPTER I 1700-1743 VITUS BERING, THE DANE

Peter the Great sends Bering on Two Voyages: First, to discover whether America and Asia are united; Second, to find what lies north of New Spain—Terrible Hardships of Caravans crossing Siberia for Seven Thousand Miles—Ships lost in the Mist—Bering's Crew cast away on a Barren Isle We have become such slaves of shallow science in these days, such firm believers in the fatalism which declares man the creature of circumstance, that we have almost forgotten the supremest spectacle in life is when m

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[Illustration: Peter the Great.]

When Peter the Great of Russia worked as a ship's carpenter at the docks of the East India Company in Amsterdam, the sailors' tales of vast, undiscovered lands beyond the seas of Japan must have acted on his imagination like a match to gunpowder.[1] Already he was dreaming those imperial conquests which Russia still dreams: of pushing his realm to the southernmost edge of Europe, to the easternmost verge of Asia, to the doorway of the Arctic, to the very threshold of the { 5} Chinese capital. Al

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[Illustration: Map of Course followed by Bering.]

But with boats that carried only one hundred casks of water, and provisions for but five months, the decision to sail south-southeast was a deplorable waste of precious time. It would lead to the Spanish possessions, not to the unknown North. On Bering's boat, the St. Peter , was a crew of seventy-seven, Lieutenant Waxel, second in command, George William Steller, the famous scientist, Bering's friend, on board. On the St. Paul , under the stanch, level-headed Russian lieutenant, Alexei Chirikof

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[Illustration: The St. Peter and St. Paul, from a rough sketch by Bering's comrade, Steller, the scientist.]

The underlings now came sharply to their senses and, at the repeatedly convened and distracted councils between July 25 and August 10, decided that there was only one thing to do—sail at once for the home port of Kamchatka. The St. Peter was tossing about in frightful winds among reefs and hurricane fog like a cork. Half the crew lay ill and helpless of scurvy, { 30} and only two months' provisions remained for a voyage of two thousand miles. The whole crew signed the resolution to go home. Only

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CHAPTER II 1741-1743 CONTINUATION OF BERING, THE DANE

Frightful Sufferings of the Castaways on the Commander Islands—The Vessel smashed in a Winter Gale, the Sick are dragged for Refuge into Pits of Sand—Here, Bering perishes, and the Crew Winter—The Consort Ship under Chirikoff Ambushed—How the Castaways reach Home Without pilot or captain, the St. Peter drifted to the swirling current of the sea along a high, rocky, forbidding coast where beetling precipices towered sheer two thousand feet above a white fret of reefs, that gave the ocean the appe

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[Illustration: Steller's Arch on Bering Island, named after the scientist Steller, of Bering's Expedition.]

Suddenly Steller noticed that the ebb-tide was causing huge combing rollers that might dash the ship against the rocks. Rushing below decks he besought Bering's permission to sound and anchor. The early darkness of those northern latitudes had been followed by moon-light bright as day. Within a mile of the east shore, { 39} Steller ordered the anchor dropped, but by this time, the rollers were smashing over decks with a quaking that seemed to tear the ship asunder. The sick were hurled from thei

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[Illustration: A Glacier]

Chirikoff wished to refill his water-casks. Also, he was ambitious to do what the scientists cursed Bering for not doing off St. Elias—explore thoroughly the land newly found. The long-boat was lowered with Abraham Dementieff and ten armed men. The crew was supplied with muskets, a brass cannon, and provisions for several days. Chirikoff arranged a simple code of signals with the men—probably a column of smoke, or sunlight thrown back by a tin mirror—by which he could know if all went well. Then

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[Illustration: Sea Cows.]

By December the entire crew of Bering's castaways, prisoners on the sea-girt islands of the North Pacific, were lodged in five underground huts on the bank of a stream. In 1885, when these mud huts or yurts were examined, they were seen to have walls of peat three feet thick. To each man was given a pound of flour. For the rest, their food must be what they caught or clubbed—mainly, at first, the sea-otter, whose flesh was unpalatable to the taste and tough as leather. Later, Steller discovered

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[Illustration: Seals in a Rookery on Bering Island.]

The terrible danger now was not from starvation, but mutiny, murder, or massacre among the branded criminals of the discontented crew. Waxel, as he recovered, was afraid of tempting revolt with orders, and convened the crew by vote to determine all that should be done. Officers and men—there was no distinction. By March of 1742 the ground had cleared of snow. Waxel called a meeting to suggest breaking up the packet vessel to build a smaller craft. A vote { 58} was asked. The resolution was calle

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CHAPTER III 1741-1760 THE SEA-OTTER HUNTERS

How the Sea-otter Pelts brought back by Bering's Crew led to the Exploitation of the Northwest Coast of America—Difference of Sea-otter from Other Fur-bearing Animals of the West—Perils of the Hunt When the castaway crew of Vitus Bering looked about for means to exist on the barren islands where they were wrecked, they found the kelp beds and seaweed fields of the North Pacific literally alive with a little animal, which the Russians called "the sea-beaver." Sailors of Kamchatka and eastern Sibe

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CHAPTER IV 1760-1770 THE OUTLAW HUNTERS

The American Coast becomes the Great Rendezvous for Siberian Criminals and Political Exiles—Beyond Reach of Law, Cossacks and Criminals perpetrate Outrages on the Indians—The Indians' Revenge wipes out Russian Forts in America—The Pursuit of Four Refugee Russians from Cave to Cave over the Sea at Night—How they escape after a Year's Chase " God was high in the Heavens, and the Czar was far away ," as the Russians say, and the Siberian exiles—coureurs of the sea—who flocked to the west coast of A

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CHAPTER V 1768-1772 COUNT MAURITIUS BENYOWSKY, THE POLISH PIRATE

Siberian Exiles under Polish Soldier of Fortune plot to overthrow Garrison of Kamchatka and escape to West Coast of America as Fur Traders—A Bloody Melodrama enacted at Bolcheresk—The Count and his Criminal Crew sail to America Fur hunters, world over, live much the same life. It was the beaver led French voyageurs westward to the Rocky Mountains. It was the sea-otter brought Russian coasters cruising southward from Alaska to California; and it was the little sable set the mad pace of the Cossac

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[Illustration: Mauritius Augustus, Count Benyowsky.]

Benyowsky, the Pole, jumped to the bait like a trout to the fly. If "powder and hatchets and the help of God"— and an exile crew —could capture wealth in the fur trade of western America, why not a break for freedom? They didn't scruple as to means, these men. Why should they? They had been penned in festering dungeons, where the dead lay, corrupting the air till living and dead became a diseased mass. They had been knouted for differences of political opinion. They { 110} had been whisked off a

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CHAPTER VI 1562-1595 FRANCIS DRAKE IN CALIFORNIA

How the Sea Rover was attacked and ruined as a Boy on the Spanish Main off Mexico—His Revenge in sacking Spanish Treasure Houses and crossing Panama—The Richest Man in England, he sails to the Forbidden Sea, scuttles all the Spanish Ports up the West Coast of South America and takes Possession of New Albion (California) for England If a region were discovered where gold was valued less than cartloads of clay, and ropes of pearls could be obtained in barter for strings of glass beads, the modern

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[Illustration: Sir John Hawkins.]

But Hawkins feared neither man nor devil. He { 136} reefed his storm-torn sails, had the stoppers pulled out of his cannon in readiness, his gunners alert, ran up the English ensign, and boldly towed his fleet into port directly under Spanish guns. Sending a messenger ashore, he explained that he was sorry to intrude on forbidden waters, but that he needed to careen his ships for the repair of leakages, and now asked permission from the viceroy to refit. Perhaps, in his heart, the English advent

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[Illustration: Queen Elizabeth knighting Drake.]

{ 147} Five ships, this time, he led out from Plymouth in November of 1577. Gales drove him back. It was December before his fleet was at sea—the Pelican of one hundred tons and twenty or thirty cannon under Drake, Thomas Doughty, a courtier second to Drake, the Elizabeth of eighty tons, the Swan , Christopher , and Marygold no larger than fishing schooners; manned in all by one hundred and sixty sailors, mostly boys. Outward bound for trade in Egypt, the world was told, but as merchantmen, the

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[Illustration: The Golden Hind.]

Meanwhile like disaster had befallen the Golden Hind , the cable snapping weak as thread against the drive of tide and wind. Only the Elizabeth kept her anchor grip, and her crew became so panic-stricken, they only waited till the storm abated, then turned back through the straits, swift heels to the stormy, ill-fated sea, and steered straight for England, where they moored in June. Towed by the Golden Hind , now driving southward before the tempest, was a jolly-boat with eight men. The mountain

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[Illustration: Francis Drake.]

The Indian was rewarded, and a Greek pilot forced on board to steer to Lima, the great treasury of Peruvian gold. Giving up all hope of the other English vessels joining him, Drake had paused at Coquimbo to put together a small sloop, when down swooped five hundred Spanish soldiers. In the wild scramble for the Golden Hind , one sailor was left behind. He was torn to pieces by the Spaniards before the eyes of Drake's crew. Northling again sailed Drake, piloted inshore by the Greek to Tarapaca, w

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[Illustration: The Crowning of Drake in California.]

To avert disaster for the sacrilege of the sacred touch of healing, Drake added to his prayers strong lotions and good ginger plasters. Sometime in the next five weeks, Drake travelled inland with the Indians, and because of patriotism to his native land and the resemblance of the white sand cliffs to that land, called the region "New Albion." "New Albion" would be an offset to "New Spain." Drake saw himself a second Cortés, and nailed to a tree a brass plate on which was graven the Queen's name

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[Illustration: The Silver Map of the World. Both sides of a medal struck off at the time of Drake's return to England, commemorating his voyage around the world. The faint dotted line shows the course sailed by him in the Golden Hind.]

After all the perils Drake saw in the subsequent war—Cadiz and the Armada—it seems strange that he should return to the scene of his past exploits to die. He was with Hawkins in the campaign of 1595 against Spain in the New World. Things had not gone well. He had not approved of Hawkins's plans of attack, and the venture was being bungled. Sick of the equatorial fever, or of chagrin from failure, Drake died off Porto Bello in the fifty-first year of his age. His body { 167} was placed in a leade

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CHAPTER VII 1728-1779 CAPTAIN COOK IN AMERICA

The English Navigator sent Two Hundred Years later to find the New Albion of Drake's Discoveries—He misses both the Straits of Fuca and the Mouth of the Columbia, but anchors at Nootka, the Rendezvous of Future Traders—No Northeast Passage found through Alaska—The True Cause of Cook's Murder in Hawaii told by Ledyard—Russia becomes Jealous of his Explorations It seems impossible that after all his arduous labors and death, to prove his convictions, Bering's conclusions should have been rejected

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[Illustration: Captain James Cook.]

Four years after Cook had joined the navy, he was master on the Mercury with the fleet before Quebec, making a chart of the St. Lawrence for Wolfe to take the troops up to the Heights of Abraham, piloting the boats to the attack on Montmorency, and conducting the embarkation of the troops, who were to win the famous battle, that changed the face of America. Now the Royal Society wished to send some one to the South Seas, whose reliability was of such a recognized and steady-going sort, that his

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[Illustration: The Ice Islands.]

From the Chukchee villages of Asia, Cook sailed back to the American coast, passing north of Bering Straits directly in mid-channel. It is an odd thing, while very little ice-drift is met in Bering Sea, you have no sooner passed north of the straits than a white world surrounds you. Fog, ice, ice, fog—endlessly, with palisades of ice twelve feet high, east and west, far as the eye can see! The crew amuse themselves alternately gathering driftwood for fuel, and hunting { 195} walrus over the ice.

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[Illustration: The Death of Cook.]

Meanwhile the masts of the Resolution , guarded by { 206} only six marines, were exposed to the warriors of the other village at the cocoanut grove. Protected by the guns of the two ships under the direction of Clerke, who now became commander, masts and men were got aboard by noon. At four that afternoon, Captain King rowed toward shore for Cook's body. He was met by the little leprous priest Koah, swimming halfway out. Though tears of sorrow were in Koah's treacherous red-rimmed eyes as he beg

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CHAPTER VIII 1785-1792 ROBERT GRAY, THE AMERICAN DISCOVERER OF THE COLUMBIA

Boston Merchants, inspired by Cook's Voyages, outfit two Vessels under Kendrick and Gray for Discovery and Trade on the Pacific—Adventures of the First Ship to carry the American Flag around the World—Gray attacked by Indians at Tillamook Bay—His Discovery of the Columbia River on the Second Voyage—Fort Defence and the First American Ship built on the Pacific It is an odd thing that wherever French or British fur traders went to a new territory, they found the Indians referred to American trader

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[Illustration: Departure of the Columbia and the Lady Washington. Drawn by George Davidson, a member of the Expedition. Photographed by courtesy of the present owner, Mrs. Abigail Quincy Twombly.]

If Captain Cook's crew had sold one-third of a water-rotted cargo of otter furs in China for ten thousand dollars, why, these Boston men asked themselves, could not ships fitted expressly for the fur trade capture a fortune in trade on that unoccupied strip of coast between Russian Alaska, on the north, and New Spain, on the south? "There is a rich harvest to be reaped by those who are on the ground first out there," remarked Joseph Barrell. Then the thing was to be on the ground first—that { 21

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[Illustration: Charles Bulfinch.]

The sequence was that Charles Bulfinch and the other five at once formed a partnership with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, divided into fourteen shares, for trade on the Pacific. This was ten years before Lewis and Clark reached the Columbia, almost twenty years before Astor had thought of his Pacific Company. The Columbia, a full-rigged two-decker, two hundred and twelve tons and eighty-three feet long, mounting { 213} ten guns, which had been built fourteen years before on Hobart's Landi

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[Illustration: Medals commemorating Columbia and Lady Washington cruise.]

The course lay from Boston to Cape Verde Islands, from Verde Islands to the Falklands north of Cape Horn, round Cape Horn, up the west coast of South America, touching at Masafuera and Juan Fernandez, and thence, without pause, to the west coast of North America. At Cape Verde, Gray hired a valet, a colored boy, Marcus Lopez, destined to play an important part later. Crossing the equator, the sailors became hilarious, playing the usual pranks of ducking the men fresh to equatorial waters. So lon

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[Illustration: Building the first American Ship on the Pacific Coast. Photographed by courtesy of Mrs. Abigail Quincy Twombly, a descendant of Gray.]

By September, after frequent stops to trade with the Indians, they were well abreast of Nootka, where Cook had been ten years before. A terrible ground-swell of surf and back-wash raged over projecting reefs. The Indians, here, knew English words enough to tell Gray that Nootka lay farther east, and that a Captain Meares was there with two vessels. A strange sail appeared inside the harbor. Gray thought it was the belated Columbia under Kendrick; but a rowboat came out bearing Captain Meares him

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[Illustration: Feather Cloak worn by a son of an Hawaiian Chief, at the celebration in honor of Gray's return. Photographed by courtesy of Mrs. Joy, the present owner.]

The winter of 1788-1789 passed uneventfully except that the English were no sooner out of the harbor, than the Indians, who had kept askance of the Americans, came in flocks to trade. Inasmuch as Cook's name is a household word, world over, for what he did on the Pacific coast, and Gray's name barely known outside the city of Boston and the state of { 227} Oregon, it is well to follow Gray's movements on the Lady Washington . March found him trading south of Nootka at Clayoquot, named Hancock, a

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[Illustration: John Derby, from the portrait by Gilbert Stuart, by courtesy of the owner, Dr. George B. Shattuck.]

On August 11, 1790, after rounding Good Hope and touching at St. Helena, Gray entered Boston. It was the first time an American ship had gone round the world, almost fifty thousand miles, her log-book showed, and salvos of artillery thundered a welcome. General Lincoln, the port collector, was first on board to shake Gray's hand. The whole city of Boston was on the wharf to cheer him home, and the explorer walked up the streets side by side with Atto, the Hawaiian boy, gorgeous in helmet and clo

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[Illustration: Map of Gray's two voyages, resulting in the discovery of the Columbia.]

Coolidge and Ingraham now left the Columbia for ventures of their own to the Pacific. Haswell, whose diary, with Gray's log-book, gives all details of the voyage, went as first mate. George Davidson, an artist, Samuel Yendell, a carpenter, Haskins, an accountant of Barrell's Company, Joshua Caswell of Maiden, Abraham Waters, and John Boit were the new men to enlist for the venturesome voyage. The Columbia left Boston for a second voyage September 28, 1790, and reached Clayoquot on the west coast

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[Illustration: A View of the Columbia River.]

By the 14th, Gray had ascended the river twenty or thirty miles from the sea, but was compelled to turn, as he had taken a shallow channel. Dropping down with the tide, he anchored on the 19th and went ashore, where he planted coins under a tree, took { 238} possession in the name of the United States, and named the river "Columbia." On the 20th, he crossed the bar and was out again on the Pacific. The most of men would have rested, satisfied with half he had done. Not so Gray. He headed the Col

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[Illustration: At the Mouth of the Columbia River.]

On October 3 the Columbia left America for China; and on July 29, 1793, came to the home harbor of Boston. Sometime between 1806 and 1809, Gray died in South Carolina, a poor man. It is doubtful if his widow's petition to Congress ever materialized in a reward for any of his descendants. Kendrick, eclipsed by his brilliant assistant, was accidentally killed in Hawaii by the wad of a gun fired by a British vessel to salute the Lady Washington . From the date 1793 or 1795 the little sloop drops ou

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CHAPTER IX 1778-1790 JOHN LEDYARD, THE FORERUNNER OF LEWIS AND CLARK

A New England Ne'er-do-well, turned from the Door of Rich Relatives, joins Cook's Expedition to America—Adventure among the Russians of Oonalaska—Useless Endeavor to interest New England Merchants in Fur Trade—A Soldier of Fortune in Paris, he meets Jefferson and Paul Jones and outlines Exploration of Western America—Succeeds in crossing Siberia alone on the Way to America, but is thwarted by Russian Fur Traders When his relatives banged the door in his face, turning him destitute in the streets

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[Illustration: Ledyard in his dugout, from a contemporaneous print.]

What now determined him was what directs the most of lives—need for bread and butter. He became a common sailor on the ship of a friend in New London, and at twenty-five landed in Plymouth, light of heart as he was light of purse. The world was an oyster to be opened by his own free lance; and up he tramped from Plymouth to London in company with an Irishman penniless as himself, gay as a lark, to the world's great capital with the world's great prizes for those with the wits to win them. A carr

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CHAPTER X 1779-1794 GEORGE VANCOUVER, LAST OF PACIFIC COAST EXPLORERS

Activities of Americans, Spanish, and Russians on the West Coast of America arouse England—Vancouver is sent out ostensibly to settle the Quarrel between Fur Traders and Spanish Governors at Nootka—Incidentally, he is to complete the Exploration of America's West Coast and take Possession for England of Unclaimed Territory—The Myth of a Northeast Passage dispelled forever With Gray's entrance of the Columbia, the great drama of discovery on the northwest coast of America was drawing to a close.

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[Illustration: Captain George Vancouver.]

Vancouver was still in his prime, under forty. Serving in the navy from boyhood, he had all a practical seaman's contempt for theories. This contempt was given point by the world's attitude toward Cook. Vancouver had been on the spot with Cook. He knew there was no Northeast Passage. Cook had proved that. Yet the world refused credence. For the practical navigator there remained only one course, and that course became the one aim, the consuming ambition of Vancouver's life—to destroy the { 266}

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[Illustration: The Columbia in a Squall.]

Puget and Menzies were sent to inquire about Gray's cruise. They brought back word that Gray had been fifty miles up the Straits of Fuca; and—most astounding to Vancouver's ambitions—that the American had been off the mouth of a river south of the straits at 46 degrees 10 minutes, where the tide prevented entrance for nine days. "The river Mr. Gray mentioned," says Vancouver, "should be south of Cape Disappointment. This we passed on the forenoon of the 27th; and if any inlet or river be found,

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[Illustration: The Discovery on the Rocks.]

The straits narrowed to less than half a mile with such a terrific tide wash that on Sunday, July 29, the ships failed to answer to the helm and waves seventeen feet high dashed over decks. Progress was made by hauling the boats alongshore with ropes braced round trees. By the first of August a dense fog swept in from the sea. The Discovery crashed on a sunken rock, heeling over till her sails were within three inches of water. Ballast was thrown overboard, and the next tide-rush lifted her. By

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[Illustration: Indian Settlement at Nootka.]

Donning regimentals, Lieutenant Puget marched solemnly up to the fort to inform Don Juan de la Bodega y Quadra, representative of Spain, that Captain George Vancouver, representative of England, had arrived at Nootka to await the pleasure of New Spain's commander. It was New Spain's pleasure to receive England's salute; and Vancouver's guns roared out a volley of thirteen shots to the amaze of two thousand or more savages watching from the shores. Formally accompanied by his officers, Vancouver

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[Illustration: Reindeer Herd in Siberia.]

Only once did the maze of waterways seem to promise a northeast passage. It was up Lynn Canal, where so many gold seekers have rushed to have their hopes dashed, like Vancouver. Two officers had gone up the channel in a small boat to see if any opening led to the Atlantic. Boisterous weather and tremendous tide had lashed the sea to foam. The long daylight was so delusive that the men did not realize it was nearly midnight. At ten o'clock they had rowed ashore, to rest from their fight with wave

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CHAPTER XI 1579-1867 THE RUSSIAN AMERICAN FUR COMPANY

The Pursuit of the Sable leads Cossacks across Siberia, of the Sea-Otter, across the Pacific as far South as California—Caravans of Four Thousand Horses on the Long Trail Seven Thousand Miles across Europe and Asia—Banditti of the Sea—The Union of All Traders in One Monopoly—Siege and Slaughter of Sitka—How Monroe Doctrine grew out of Russian Fur Trade—Aims of Russia to dominate North Pacific " Sea Voyagers of the Northern Ocean " they styled themselves, the Cossack banditti—robber knights, pira

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[Illustration: Raised Reindeer Sledges.]

The tide of adventure set eastward across Siberia at the very time (1579) Francis Drake, the English freebooter, was sacking the ports of New Spain on his way to California. Yermac, robber knight and leader of a thousand Cossack banditti, had long levied tribute of loot on the caravans bound from Russia to Persia. Then came the avenging army of the Czar. Yermac fled to Siberia, wrested the country from the Tartars, and obtained forgiveness from the Czar by laying a new realm at his feet. But the

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[Illustration: John Jacob Astor.]

This was Gregory Ivanovich Shelikoff, a fur trader { 304} of Siberia, accompanied to America and seconded by his wife, Natalie, who succeeded in carrying out many of his plans after his death. Shelikoff owned shares in two of the principal Russian companies. When he came to America accompanied by his wife, Baranof, another trader, and two hundred men in 1784, the Russian headquarters were still at Oonalaska in the Aleutians. Only desultory expeditions had gone eastward. Foreign ships had already

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[Illustration: Sitka from the Sea.]

Later, in 1812, when the Russian coasters were refused watering privileges at San Francisco, the Russian American Company bought land near Bodega, and settled their famous Ross, or California colony, with cannon, barracks, arsenal, church, workshops, and sometimes a population of eight hundred Kadiak Indians. Here provisions were gathered for Sitka, and hunters despatched for sea-otter of the south. The massacres on the Yukon and the clashes with the Hudson's Bay traders are a story by themselve

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CHAPTER XII 1747-1818 BARANOF, THE LITTLE CZAR OF THE PACIFIC

Baranof lays the Foundations of Russian Empire on the Pacific Coast of America—Shipwrecked on his Way to Alaska, he yet holds his Men in Hand and turns the Ill-hap to Advantage—How he bluffs the Rival Fur Companies in Line—First Russian Ship built in America—Adventures leading the Sea-otter Hunters—Ambushed by the Indians—The Founding of Sitka—Baranof, cast off in his Old Age, dies of Broken Heart No wilder lord of the wild northland ever existed than that old madcap Viking of the Pacific, Alexa

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[Illustration: Alexander Baranof.]

Yet in person Baranof was far from a hero. He was wizened, sallow, small, a margin of red hair round a head bald as a bowl, grotesque under a black wig tied on with a handkerchief. And he had gone up in life much the way a monkey climbs, by shifts and scrambles and prehensile hoists with frequent falls. It was an ill turn of fortune that sent him to America in the first place. He had been managing a glass factory at Irkutsk, Siberia, where the endless caravans of fur traders passed. Born at Karg

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A

Adakh Island, Chirikoff at, 51 . Admiralty Inlet, explored, 270-271 . Adventure , first American ship built on Pacific, 233 , 234 , 238 , 325 . Alaska, Bering's expedition on coast of, 26 ff.; Chirikoff's arrival at, 50-51 ; Benyowsky's visit to, 125 ; Cook explores coast of, 189-194 ; Gray's trip to, 238 ; Vancouver's survey of southern coast of, 286-290 ; Baranof's career in, 318-337 . Aleutian Islands, Bering's voyage of discovery among, 26-41 ; sea-otter's habitat on, 42 , 53 , 56 , 63 , 66-

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B

Baker, lieutenant in Vancouver's expedition, 266 , 270 . Baker, Mount, 270 . Balboa, 134 , 144 . Baltimore, Benyowsky visits, 127 . Bancroft, Hubert Howe, cited, 241 , 290 , 295 . Baranof, Alexander, governor of Russian American Fur Company, 67 , 167 n., 288 , 301 , 304 , 306 , 310 ; character of, 316-317 ; personal appearance of, 317 ; early career of, 317-318 ; sails to America (1790), 318 ; wrecked on Oonalaska, 319-320 ; builds boat and reaches Kadiak, 321 ; defeats hostile Indians at Nuchek

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C

California, Drake's visit to, 160-165 , 169-171 ; Vancouver's visit to, 281-282 ; Russian American Fur Company in, 315 . California , vessel for exploration, 174 . Callao, Drake sacks, 155-156 . Campbell, Dr., quoted, 172-173 . Cannibals, Cook's stay among, 187 ; on Portland Canal, 230 . Cape Adams, 280 . Cape Addington, 46 . Cape Disappointment, 224 , 235 , 267 , 269 , 279 , 280 . Cape Douglas, 191 . Cape Elizabeth, 191 . Cape Flattery, 185 , 223 , 224 , 235 , 270 . Cape Foulweather, 184 . Cape

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D

Daedalus , Vancouver's supply ship, 266 , 282 ; seized by Sandwich Islanders and two officers murdered, 284 . Da Gama, Vasco, 134 . Dall, cited, 11 n., 295 . Dartmouth College, courses for missionaries at, 244-245 . Davidson, Dr. George, x, 47 n., 162 n., 168 , 290 n. Davidson, George, member of Gray's second expedition, 230 , 240 , 241 . Dawson, cited, 290 n. Dementieff, Abraham, 47-48 . Derby, John, 211 , 229 . Derby Sound, 228 . Deshneff, explorer, vii, 296 . Deshon, Captain, 253-254 . Discov

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E

East Cape, 195 , 208-209 . Elizabeth , Drake's vessel, 147 , 148 ; returns to England, 152 . Elizabeth, Queen, and Drake, 146 . Elliott, cited, 72 n., 295 . Ellis, explorer, 174-175 . Equator, rites on crossing, 182 , 216 . Eskimo Indians, Russian explorers hear about, 6 . Kolosh Indians....

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F

Fages, Don Pedro, cited, 241 . Fairweather Mountains, 189 . Fletcher, Francis, Drake's chaplain, 149 , 154 n., 167 ; chronicle of, quoted, 161 , 165 , 167 n.-171 n. Foggy Island (Ukamok), 29 , 192 . Folger, sailor with Gray, 230 . Formosa, Benyowsky in, 127 . Fort Defence, 233 , 325 . Franklin, Benjamin, Benyowsky's meeting with, 128 n. Fraser River, Vancouver misses discovering, 272-273 . Friendly Cove, 276 , 278 . Frobisher, Martin, 159 . Fuca, Juan de, 173 , 174 , 184 , 264 , 272 ; account of

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G

Galiano, Don, 272-273 . Gama, John de, 6 n. Gamaland, mythical continent, 6 , 9 , 168 , 173 ; Bering's conclusion concerning non-existence of, 12 , 18 ; on D'Isles' map, 19 ; Bering's second voyage in search of, 22-23 ; search for, relinquished, 24-25 ; Cook demolishes myth of, 181 . Garret, John, 141 . Glory of the South Seas , Spanish galleon, 155 , 156 , 157 ; captured by Drake, 158 . Glottoff, Stephen, 88 , 96 ; Korovin rescued by, 104 . Gmelin, scientist, 14 n., 295 n. Golden Hind , Drake r

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H

Hagemeister, Lieutenant, 335-336 . Hall, Sir James, and Ledyard, 256 . Hancock, Clayoquot renamed, 227 . Hancock, Governor, 229 . Harriman Expedition, the, 72 n. Haskins, member of Gray's second expedition, 230 . Haswell, Robert, in Gray's expeditions, 214 , 216 , 220-222 , 228 , 230 , 234 , 240 , 241 . Hatch, Captain Crowell, 211 . Hawkins, Sir John, 135-139 , 166 . Hearne, Samuel, 174 , 175 , 181 . Heceta, Captain Bruno, 219 , 241 ; quoted regarding Columbia River, 235-236 . Henriquez, Don Mar

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I

Icy Cape, Cook names, 195 . Inalook Island, 90 . Indians, Californian, and Drake, 162-165 , 169-171 . Ingraham, Joseph, 214 , 230 , 240 , 322 . Isle, Louis la Croyére de l', 19 , 20 , 209 ; death of, 52 . Isle of Pinos, 141 . Ismyloff, Russian trader-spy, 118 , 119 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 127 , 128 n.; Cook meets, 196 ; treacherous letters of, 208 ; Ledyard's encounters with, 251 , 253 , 258 , 260-261 ; in service of Russian American Fur Company, under Baranof, 322 , 323 ....

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J

Japan, charted by Martin Spanberg, 18 ; laws to protect the sea-otter moved by, 67 ; Benyowsky's adventures in, 126-127 . Jefferson, Thomas, Ledyard and, 255 , 261-262 . Jervis Canal, 274 . Johnstone, with Vancouver, 266 , 271 , 273 , 275 . Jokai, Maurus, Benyowsky's life told by, 127 . Jones, Paul, and Ledyard, 255 . Juan Fernandez, Columbia repaired at, 217 ....

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K

Kadiak Indians in California, 315 . Kadiak Island, otter-hunting headquarters, 69 , 79 ; Ochotyn at, 124 ; Benyowsky visits, 125 ; Baranof at, 321-329 . Kakooa, Sandwich Islands, 203 , 206 . Kalekhta, Aleutian village, 90 , 94 . Kamchatka, Bering sails from, 11 ; Benyowsky in, 113-122 . Karakakooa Bay, Cook at, 197-205 . Kendrick, Captain John, 213 , 214 , 216 , 217 , 225 , 226 , 228 , 229 , 264 , 272 , 322 ; adventures of, on Queen Charlotte Island, 230-232 ; death of, 238 . Kendrick, Solomon,

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L

Lady Washington , the, Gray sails on, to Pacific coast, 213-219 ; Captain Kendrick in command of, 228 ; last mention of, 238 . Langsdorff, cited, 295 . La Salle, vii, 60 . Lauridsen, Peter, authority on Bering, 12 n., 61 n. La Vérendrye, vii, 7 , 19 , 60 , 177 . Ledyard, Dr., 243 n. Ledyard, John, corporal of marines with Cook, 181-182 , 195-196 , 200 , 203 , 205 , 247-252 ; authority for Cook's voyage, 209 n.; early career of, 242-244 ; authorities for life of, 243 n., 262 n.; student at Dartmo

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M

Macao, Benyowsky in, 127 , 128 . Macfie, Vancouver Island by, 295 n. Mackenzie, Alexander, 219 . Madagascar, Benyowsky's adventures and death in, 127 . Magellan, explorer, 134-135 . Magellan, Hyacinth de, 128 n. Makushin Volcano, 86 , 96-97 , 105 n. Maquinna, Indian chief, 276 , 277-278 . Marquette, Père, vii, 7 . Martin, Hudson's Bay Territories by, 295 n. Martinez, Don Joseph, 227 . Marygold , Drake's vessel, 147 , 148 ; loss of, 151-152 . Massacre, of Russians at Oonalaska and Oomnak, 100-105

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N

Naplavkof, conspirator, 334-335 . New Albion, Drake's, 164 , 173 , 182 , 183 , 184 ; Gray expedition off, 218 ; Vancouver's expedition sights, 267 ; Vancouver takes possession of, 271 . New Archangel, modern Sitka, 314 , 333 . New Zealand, explored by Cook, 181 . Nicholson, William, edits Benyowsky's memoirs, 128 n. Nilow, governor of Kamchatka, 116-120 . Nombre de Dios, storehouse of New Spain, 140 ; Drake's raid, 141-142 . Nootka, Cook's vessels at, 186-189 , 248 ; Gray at, 223-227 , 232 , 238

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O

Ochotyn, Saxon exile, 123-124 . Ofzyn, Bering's lieutenant, 36 , 38 , 40 . Okhotsk, Bering's expedition at, 16 . Olympus, Mount, 235 . Olympus Range, 222-223 , 268 . Oomnak Island, 84-85 ; sulphur at, 92 ; sea-otter on, 98 ; Korovin's adventures at, 102-103 ; Medvedeff and crew massacred at, 104 . Oonalaska, otter-hunting headquarters, 69 , 79 , 82 , 98 ; sulphur at, 92 , 103 ; Korovin's experiences at, 98-101 ; Cook at, 195-196 ; Ledyard's visit to, with Cook, 250-253 . Oregon and California ,

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P

Pacha , Drake's vessel, 141 . Pacific Company, 212 . Pallas, Northern Settlements by, 295 n. Palliser, Sir Hugh, 179 . Pareea, Hawaiian chief, 198 , 203 . Pelican , Drake's vessel, 147 , 148 ; renamed Golden Hind , 150 . Perpheela, Ledyard's guide, 249 . "Peso," defined, 154 n. Peter the Great, 4-10 ; analogy between Cook and, 176 . Petroff, Ivan, cited, 105 n., 295 . Philippine Islands, Benyowsky's visit to, 126 ; Drake passes by, 165 . Phillips, marine with Cook, 204-205 . Phoenix , Baranof bu

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Q

Quadra, Don, 238 , 240 , 273 , 322 ; Vancouver's conference with, 277-279 . Quebec, Cook with Wolfe at, 180 . Queen Charlotte Island, discovered, 227 ; Captain Kendrick at, 230-232 ....

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R

Radisson, vii, 7 , 239 . Resolution , Cook's ship, 181-209 . Reward offered by Parliament for discovery of Northeast Passage, 174 . Rezanoff, Nikolai, 306 , 311 , 314-315 . Robert Anne , Benyowsky's vessel, 127 . Roberts, Gray's surgeon, 214 , 216 . Ross, Russian California colony, 315 . Russian American Fur Company, 67 , 128 n.; chartered, 306 ; early vicissitudes of, 307-314 ; at New Archangel (Sitka), 314 ; in California, 315 . Ryumin, Ivan, Russian account of Benyowsky by, 129 ....

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S

Saanach coast, sea-otter on, 69 . St. Lawrence Island, 11 , 12 . St. Paul , Bering's vessel, 17 ; Chirikoff in command of, 20 , 22 , 24 ff., 60 ; voyage of, 45-53 . St. Peter , Bering's vessel, 17 , 20 , 23 ff.; wreck of, 44-45 . St. Peter , the second, 58-59 . St. Peter and Paul , the, 113 , 117 ; Benyowsky's cruise in, 122-126 . Sands, Mr., of New York, 254 . Sandwich Islands, Cook's visit to and death at, 196-205 ; Gray stops at, 228-229 ; conduct of fur traders who visited, 283-284 ; Vancouv

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T

Taboo , the, 198 . Tarapaca, Drake calls at, 154-155 . Terreeoboo, King, 197-206 . Texeira, map-maker, 6 n. Three Saints, Kadiak, Baranof's arrival at, 321-322 . Tillamook Bay, Lady Washington in, 219-222 . Toledo, Don Francisco de, 155-156 . Treat, fur trader in Gray's expedition, 214 . Tribute collectors, Cossack, 5 , 107 , 114 , 294-296 , 299 ....

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U

Ukamok (Foggy Island), 29 ....

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V

Valdes, Don, 272-273 . Valparaiso, Drake's raid on, 153-154 . Vancouver, George, vii, 105 , 161 ; midshipman with Cook, 181 , 198 ; authority on Cook's voyage, 209 n.; meeting with Gray, 235 , 268-270 ; Gray contrasted with, 239-240 ; as captain in British navy, sent to explore Pacific coast of America, 265 ; ideas on Northeast Passage question, 265-266 ; sights Drake's "New Albion," 267 ; misses Columbia River, 267-268 , 235 ; explores Puget Sound, 270-272 ; misses Fraser River, 272 ; explores

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W

Walrus, the Pacific, 73 ; Cook's men hunt, 194-195 . Waters, Abraham, 230 . Waxel, Lieutenant, 20 , 24-25 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 35-36 , 37-38 , 41 , 42 , 57-58 , 60 . Williams, Orlando, cited, 4 n. Woodruff, mate in Gray's expedition, 214 , 216 . World Encompassed, The , by Francis Fletcher, 167 n.-171 n....

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Y

Yakutat Bay, sea-otter in, 66 , 79 . Yakutsk, Bering's second expedition winters at, 15 ; fur traders' rendezvous near, 107 , 259 ; Ledyard's arrival at, 259 . Yelagin, Chirikoff's pilot, 52 . Yendell, Samuel, 230 . Yermac, Cossack robber, 294 . Yukon, Russian traders on the, 314 , 315 ....

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Z

Zarate, Don Francisco de, quoted regarding Drake, 150 n....

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