Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, on the cession of Russian America to the United States:

* 18
lock's voyage from London to the northwest
coast in 1786, 1787, and 1788 seems to be
honest, and is instructive. Captain Meares,
whose voyage was contemporaneous, saw and
exposed the importance of trade between the
northwest coast and China. Vancouver, who
came a little later, has described some parts
of this coast. La Pe6rouse, the unfortunate
French navigator, has afforded another picture
of the coast painted with French colors.
Before him was La Maurelle, a Frenchman
sailing in the service of Spain, who was on
the coast in 1779, a portion of whose journal
is reserved in the appendix to the volumes of
La Pe6rouse. After him was Marchand, also
a Frenchman, who, during a voyage round the
world, stopped here in 1791. The voyage of
the latter, published in three quartos, is accompanied by an Historical Introduction, which is
a mine of information on all the voyages to
this coast. Then came the several successive
Russian voyages already mentioned. Later
came the Voyage round the world by C(tain
Belcher, with a familiar sketch of life at Sitka,
where he stopped in 1837, and an engraving'
representing the arsenal and light-house there.
Then came the Journey round the world in
1841 and 1842 by Sir George Simpson, governor-in-chief of the Hudson Bay Company,
containing an account of a visit to Sitka and
the hospitality of its governor. To these I
may add The NauticalM agazine for 1849, volumne 18, which contains a few excellent pages
about Sitka; the Journal of the London Geographical Society for 1841, volume 11, and for
1852, volume 12, where this region is treated
under the head of Arctic languages and animal
life; Burney's Russian and Northeastern Voyages; the magnificent work entitled Les Peuples
de la Russie, which appeared at St. Petersburg
in 1862, on the tenth centennial anniversary
of the foundation of the Russian empire, a copy
of which is in the Astor Library; the very
recent work of Murray on the Geographical
Distribution of Mammals; the work of Sir
John Richardson, Fauna Boreali-Americana;
Latham on Nationalities in the chapters which
treat of the population of Russian America;
the Encyclopedia Britannica; and the admirable Atlas of Physical Geography by Keith
Johlnston. I mention also an elaborate article
by Holmberg, in the Transactions Of the Finland Society of Sciences at Helsingfors, said to
be replete with information on the Ethnography
of the Northwest Coast.
Perhaps the most precise and valuable information has been contributed by Germany.
T he Germans are th e best of geographers;
besides marny Russian contributions are in
German. Miuller, who recorded the discover:ies of Behring, was a German. Nothing more
important on this subject has ever appeared
than the German work of the Russian Admiral Von Wrangel, Statistische and Ethnographisehe Nachrichten ilber die Russichen
Besitzungen fnder N?ordwestkicste von Amexrica,
first publ ished by Baer i n his Russian Beitroge
in 1839. T here is-also the Verhandlungen, der
Russisch-Kaiserlichen Mineralogischen Gessellschaft zu St. Petersburg, 1848 and 1849,
which co ntains aon elaborate article, in itself a
volume, on the orography and geology of t he
northwest coast and the adjoiinng isla nds, a t
the end of which is a bibliographical lis t of the
works and materials illustrating the d iscovery
and history of the west half of Nort h Ame rica
and the neighboring seas. I may also refer
generally to the Archivfiir Wissenschaftliche
..nde von Russland, edited by Erman, but
especially the volume for 1863, containing the
abstract of Golowin's- report on the Russian
sian Colonies in North America as it appeared
originally in the Morskoi Sbornich. Besides
these there are Wappaus Handbuch von Geographic und Statistik von Nord Amerika, published at Leipsic in 1855; Peterman in his
Mittheiltungen fiber wichtige neue Erforschungen a?tf dem gesammtgebiete der Geographic
for 1856, vol. 2, p. 486; for 1859, vol. 5, p. 41;
and for 1863, vol. 9, pp. 70, 236, 277, 278;
Kittlitz Denkwurdigkeiten einer Reise nach
dem Russischen America durch Kamtschatka,
published at Gotha in 1858; also by the same
author The Vegetation of the Coasts and Islands
of the Pacific translated from the German and
published at London in 1861.
Much recent information has been derived
from the great companies possessing the monopoly of trade-here. Latterly there has been
an unexpected purveyor in the Russian American Telegraph Company, under the direction
of Colonel Charles L. Bulll-ey, and- here our
own countrymen cometo help us. To this expel
dition we are indebted for authentic evidence
with regard to the character of the country
and the great rivers which traverse it. The
Smithsonian Institution and the Chicago Academy of Sciences cooperated with the Telegraph
Com-pany in the investigation of the Natural
History of the region. Major Kennicott, a
young naturalist, originally in the service of the
Institution, and Director of the Museum of the
Chicago Academy, was the enterprising chief
of the Youkon division of the expedition.
While in the midst of his valuable labors he died
suddenly in the monthtof May last at Nulato, on
the banks ofthegreat river, the Kwichpak~which
may be called the Mississippi of the North, far
away in the interior and on the confines of the
Arctic Circle, where the sun was visible all
night. Even after death he was still an, explorer. From this remote.outpost his remains,
after descending the unknown river in an Esquimaux boat of seal skins, steered by the faithful
companion of his labors, were transported by
way of Panama to hishome at Chicago, where
he now lies buried. Such an incident cannot
be forgotten, and his name will always remind
us of courageous enterprise, before which distance and difficulty disappeared. H~e was not
a beginner when he entered into the service of
the Telegraph Company. Already he had vis
I