University of Virginia Library

XI.
Sitka: Our New Acquisition.

BY DR. BUSHWHACKER.

IN the Americo-Russian archipelago there is an
island called by the above name, on which is the
capital city of New Archangel. It is situated off a belt of
land, fringed with Russian Islands, about thirty miles wide,
and three hundred and forty-five miles long; which shuts off
one-half of British America from the Pacific; and north
of that, the great peninsula, like a shoulder of mutton,
tough, sinewy and fat with Arctic animal life, rolls up
into the mighty fore-arm of Mount St. Elias, and rolls down
in avalanches, eternal snow-storms, glaciers, fogs, and icy
rivers to the Pacific on the west side and to the Arctic Sea
on the north side. To the consumptive patient the land offers
few attractions, but to those philosophers, whose lungs
are strong enough to endure the fatigues of a lecture-room,
she has an eloquence and beauty, diversified with two
volcanoes, whose throats are in a perpetual blaze of excitement.
What splendor there is in younder Aurora Borealis,
that for myriads of years has played upon these lakes,
streams and mountain peaks! How delicious nature is
in her normal condition! I think I hear one of the Strong
Minded, say to her lovely companion in philosophy! `Ah,

Maria! let us lay aside our fans and our chignons, and put
on snow shoes, and explore! Will you go with me from
the heated atmosphere of social life into the calm sequestered
retreats of Russian America? Shall we build huts
of blocks of ice, like the hardy Esquimaux, and wrap ourselves
in the drapery of a robe of sable skins or sea otters,
worth $20,000 at least, and despise the pomp of this world?
You know, my dear, sables are very cheap there. Catherine
of Russia had to get her sables by keeping up a very
expensive military establishment at Sitka. She was a
very illustrious, strong-minded woman, to be sure; and
her morals were a little loose, and she poisoned her
husband; but what are those trifling enjoyments compared
with carrying out a great idea? It is not so cold as the
eastern side of the continent. The isothermal lines cause
a great moderation in the atmosphere there. Let us
establish a school there. There are 78,000 souls—if they
have souls—of Calmues, Creoles, native Indians, Kuriles,
Aleutians, and Kodiaks, Kamschatkians and Esquimaux;
and how pleasant it will be to teach them the rudiments!
By and by they can vote. Fly with me, dear Maria!
Do you not long for the snow shoes that will carry you
over those vast steppes to a superior intelligence? An intelligence
with nature, a communion with her visible
forms, a relief from the world, and the sweet sympathy
that we shall feel with the Aurora Borealis!'

The reason why the Czar wishes to dispose of this fertile
territory is because he cannot conquer the North

Pole, that being the only Pole that has escaped his autocratic
fist. It must be said, however, that it affords us
many fine harbors for our whalers after animal petroleum,
for heretofore we have had but one decent harbor on the
Pacific coast, and that is San Francisco. Now we shall
have plenty of them, if we are lucky enough to find them
in the fogs which are perpetual there.

The principal inhabitants of this vast territory are
mountains. There is not a tree that will risk its vegeable
life by attempting to grow there; the low lands are
covered with moss instead of grass, and the best kind of
Russian shred isinglass springs spontaneously from the
crevices of the rocks. Of the amphibious animals, the
green seal or moet is most valued there, being highly
prized by the Japanese; the Muscovy duck flies about in
a very wild state in those high latitudes, while the double-headed
eagle preys alike upon the russ and the walrus.
Most of the artificial teeth in the United States are made
from the tusks of this latter animal, so that in future we
shall get our teeth free of duty. The British having heretofore
had an exclusive treaty with the Russian government
to supply this place with food and ice-picks, no doubt this
lucrative branch of commerce will fall into our hands.
There is no doubt a vast quantity of gold hidden under
the soil, as it has never made its appearance above the
surface. It is proposed to get up a Russian Crushing
Company to extract this valuable ore from the veins of
Mt. St. Elias. Spruce trees not bigger than a wisp broom

grow in some patches. These are valuable, as a beer
is brewed from them, very useful as a remedy for the
scurvy. The castle at New Archangel is very heavily garrisoned
with 50 Calmucs and Cossacks, mounts 24 brass-mounted
breech-loaders, five seven-pounders, twelve
horse-pistols, two mountain howitzers, one Governor, one
Russian flag, two ensigns, and a fast team of Esquimaux
dogs for flying artillery practice. The diplomatic correspondence
with old Gowrowski, who is the governor of
the fort, has not been published as yet, as he asserts the
United States government cannot turn him out without the
consent of the Senate. The vivid description of this enchanting
country by Campbell will no doubt recur to the
reader. Speaking of the hardy sailor on that coast, he
says: