New Fields for American Commerce [pp. 475-486]

NEW ARCIIANGEL-RUSSIA.
'etierallv "350 roubles a year; they have come originally on engage ~enits of se-en yeairs; lbut most of themn, by drinking or by indulg iili in other extravagance, contrive to be so regularly in debt, as to
become fixtures for life. On going the round of tle tradesmen, the
workshop of the engineer g(ratified me most, not merely because
Moore was a man of superior ingenuity, but because he had trained
fixe or six crc.)lcs and( half-bree(ds to discharge all the mechanical
duties ofi' his business nearly as well as himself. As a proof of the
cfii(in( v of this departmiLnrt, the wihoie of the machinery of a tug of
sev ca-hn,rse power w'as cast and manu-factured here, as well as of two
pleaure boats of two-horse power each, one belonging to the govern')r tantl thie ot}hr to Moore. TI'he tug is usefully employed in towing
veseils to andl fromi the anchorage; and something of the same kind
is uitclh x-ianted in the Coluln-ibia Lo save the valuable time that is
inow lIst, I mean, of course, above the bar, in the difficult navigation
of that stream.
" iMany if the servants have Russian wives; but most of the
fi-na)les of tie estalishmen t are Aleutian and Indian half-breeds.
'i'llcse nat ive woineii, lnatlu.rally no beauties, are begrimted with dirt,
}~ile maunxy of themn, like tlieie lordcs and masters, are addicted to
3drunkcieness, which, in their case, leads, as a matter of course, to
other vices. The majority of the people look sallow and unhealthy,
rather, I conceiv-e, thllroughl their intemperate habits, than through
tile eflects of the climrate. Cases of the prevailing disease of the
coast are here frequent, whiie scurvy is encouraged by the absence
({f cleaniliness, and the l(aimpness of the atmosphere, and not by the
inalitre of thec food, which is always firesh and generally nutritious.
"Of all the (!irt- an(l wretchedl places that I have ever seen, Sitka
is pre-eiminentl- the most wretched and most dirty. The common
ltoutses iarc nothing btut wooden hovels, huddled together, without
ord(ler or desirn. in nasty alleys, the htot-beds of such odors as are
themselv es sufieicinit, independently (f any other cause, to breed all
sorts of fers. In a word(l, vwhlile the inhabitants do all that they
can to poison the atmosphere, the place itself appears to have neen
pla)nnedl for the express puirpose of checking ventilation. But Goverlior Etlholine, wxhose whole management does him infinite credit, sees
the exil, anld is introduciig many imp,rovenments, which, when complete(l, will nmateiially promote the comfort and welfare of the lower classes."
NEWV ARCIhtANGEL.
"New Archlangel, notwithstanding its isolated position, is a very
ga- pl;ace. Muclh of the time of its ihmhabitanrtsisdlevotecdtofestivity;
diti-ners and balls run a perpetual round(l, and arc managed in a style
x ihich, inl tllis part of the world, ln.y be deemrned extravagant.
Among other gal-(ties, that took )lace (uring my visit, was a weddiigr betwxeen o Pautfi; niate of' ia vessel, arnd a rather good-looking creole girl, al)bou,t tiwenity tyears old(, alidl named Archiim;inLditofr'a.
ttend(l by their friends, and the )rilci)palI inhabitants of the establislhment. the happy couple proceeJ((ded about six in the ceiing to
church. where a tedious service of ant hour and a hallf, wbs solemnized by the monk. At the close of the ceremnony, which cmpprised
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