always fond, and to the improvement and embellishment of his grounds, in which he always took so much pleasure and pride. In 1825, he was appointed one of the commissioners, on the part of the State of New-Jersey, to negotiate the settlement of the territorial controversy with the State of New-York; and the very able argument, appended to the report of the New-Jersey Commissioners, was the production of his pen.

He died at Princeton, on the 7th of March, 1828, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. He was the father of nine children, none of whom, however, are now living. The "gallant son" alluded to in his speech was the late Commodore R. F. Stockton, who, after an honorable career in the navy, succeeded in identifying himself with that system of internal improvement which has contributed so much to the development of the resources of his native State.

RUSSIAN AMERICA.

THE discovery and early history of the Russian Possessions in America, until the late action of Congress, attracted but little attention; but with a prospect of its becoming a part of our na tional domain every fact connected with it becomes interesting. The object of this paper is not to describe the country as it at present exists, but to go back to the beginning and show how it was discovered and by whom. Our chief sources of information are found in An Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America, by the Rev. William Coxe; and A History of Russian Discoveries, by Gerard Frederick Müller, written in German, but translated into French and English; and both of these works as quoted by Captain James Burney, of the British Navy, in his Chronological History of North-Eastern Voyages of Discovery, and of the Early Eastern Navigations of the Russians, published in London in 1819. We are indebted also to the Voyage Round the World, by Otto Von Kotzebue, of the Russian Navy.

The desire to discover a north-east passage from Europe to Asia, was early expressed by the Russians; and this desire was very natural, first, on account of the benefit that would accrue to

that empire from an easy passage round their coasts from the European to the Indian ocean; and, secondly, on account of the greater facilities possessed by them, especially the inhabitants of Siberia, and from their being inured to the hardships of an arctic climate.

As early as 1558 the Czars of Muscovy assumed the title of Lords of Siberia, including all the northern portions of Asia. The conquests of the Russians over the nations of Siberia and Tartary opened the way for the advance of adventurers and fur hunters, and in the early part of the seventeenth century these Russian adventurers began to push their way eastward across the continent for the purposes of trade. These traders were called Promyschleni, and their great object was to gather up the rich furs which every where abounded, and the teeth of the sea-horse, which were in great demand. Forming themselves into independent companies, they gradually gained possession of the whole of Eastern Siberia.

It was not until the year 1646 that the first voyage was undertaken from the Asiatic coast, by a company of Promyschleni, under the direction of a man named Isai Ignatiew. Without chart or compass they sailed from a port in the sea of Ochotsk, rounded the point of Kamtschatka, and passed toward the north. They disembarked on a point of land, placed their merchandise on the strand, and retreated; the natives then approached and took what they pleased, leaving in return sea-horse teeth, both whole. and in carved pieces. The success of this voyage induced others, and in June, 1647, four vessels departed from the same port, on board of one of which we find the Cossack, Semoen Deschnew, who afterward became famous as a voyager; but the ice proving too great an obstacle, the enterprise was abandoned.

The next year Deschnew ventured to make another attempt in behalf of the crown, and in 1648 a fleet of seven vessels sailed from the same port. Four of these vessels returned, but the other three continued on their course. The course of these vessels was along the coasts of Kamtschatka; but on account of their small size, when the wind was strong, driving the ice in toward the shore, they were compelled to take refuge in the entrances to rivers and creeks, and could only proceed when the south wind drove the ice to sea again. Deschnew has left a journal of this voyage, which is preserved among the archives of the Russian Government at St. Petersburg, which was examined and a part

published by Müller in his Discoveries. It is not necessary to enter into the particulars of this voyage, as their only discoveries were upon the Asiatic shore.

During the succeeding five or six years, Deschnew and another Russian named Duchail Staduchim made various voyages, but with little success, worth recording. From this time until 1697 little was accomplished in the way of discovery, but in that year Wolodimer Atlassow, a Cossack officer, headed an expedition under the direction of the Siberian government, for the purpose of conquering Kamtschatka for the Russian crown. This expe

dition was made overland. Near the coast they found villages of Russians having formerly been in Kamtschatka; and it was a kind of traditional report among the natives that strangers had arrived among them who had married women of the country and settled there. These were, no doubt, traces of the expeditions sent out early in the century.

Up to this time the Russian government in Europe had taken but little interest in the affairs of this remote region; but after the beginning of the eighteenth century, Peter the Great sent directions to the governor of Iakutzk, the capital of Siberia, to prosecute the discovery of new lands in the Arctic Sea, but little seems to have resulted from this order. Passing by the numerous independent voyages undertaken during the next twenty years, which are devoid of special interest, we strike upon the name of one whose discoveries were highly important— Captain Vitus Bering, a Dane by birth, but in the service of the Russian Czar. Toward the close of the reign of Peter the Great, the question which had early engaged the attention of navigators, whether the continents of Asia and America were united or separated by water, again arose. In order to ascertain this point, Peter, who entered warmly into the question, drew up with his own hands a set of instructions, which he delivered to Captain Bering, who assumed the command of the projected expedition. But the first attempt was unsuccessful, one of the vessels employed being disabled by the ice, and the other was never heard of after her departure. It was only a few days after the departure of Captain Bering that the Czar died. The instructions which he drew up for this expedition were included under these three heads:

1. To construct at Kamtschatka, or other commodious places, one or two vessels.

2. With them to examine the coasts to the north and toward the north-east, to see whether they were not contiguous to America.

3. To see whether there was any harbor belonging to Europeans in those parts, and to keep an exact journal of all that should be discovered.

In 1728, Captain Bering started upon another voyage, with two vessels built on the bay of Okutzk; one was called the Fortunata, the other the Gabriel. They sailed on the 14th of July, and in September arrived in the river of Kamtschatka. From the fact that the coast of Asia, in the most northern part of this discovery, trended toward the west, Captain Bering came to the conclusion that the continents of Asia and America were certainly separated by water. Neither in going nor returning did he catch even a glimpse of the American shore.

While this expedition was in the northern seas, another was started by the Russian government, under the command of Colonel Schestakow. A part of the plan was the same with that of Captain Bering, namely, to discover the American coast. On his arrival at Ochotsk, he found the vessels Fortunata and Gabriel, lately returned from the expedition under Captain Bering. Placing his men on board these vessels, he set sail; but shortly after leaving Ochotsk the Fortunata was driven on shore a hopeless wreck. Schestakow, who escaped with one hundred and fifty men, proceeded toward the north by land, but, in a skirmish with the natives, he was killed by an arrow, and his men routed. Three days previous to this event, Schestakow had dispatched a messenger to one of the Russian settlements in the south, to a Cossack officer named Krupischew, directing him to equip a vessel, and sail northward along the coast of Kamtschatka. Schestakow associated with him in this enterprise a Russian named Gwosdew, and, having repaired the wreck of the Fortunata, set sail. these two men is due the honor of first discovering the northwest coast of America. When in latitude 65° 67′ north, they came upon an unknown shore opposite to Asia, which they found inhabited, but could hold no intercourse with the natives for lack of an interpreter. This, therefore, was the first sight of the continent in the north-west by Europeans.

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The discovery, when it became known at St. Petersburg, caused a great sensation. Bering and the other officers engaged in the discovery were promoted, and various plans were formed for new

expeditions. The Academy of Sciences was consulted, and men eminent for science were appointed to proceed to the new world. The persons thus chosen were denominated Le Société des Savans. Müller, to whom we are indebted for much of the information in this paper, was one of the corps, and the province undertaken by him was to write a civil history of Siberia, to describe the manners and customs of the inhabitants, to search for and examine records, to describe the antiquities, and also to write a history of the expeditions undertaken. The members of this expedition were long delayed after their arrival at Ochotsk; but at last, in September, 1740, set out in two vessels called respectively the St. Peter and the St. Paul, under the command of Captain Bering; but owing to the heavy ice, they were obliged to winter in Awatcha Bay, on the coast of Kamtschatka, and it was not till June, 1741, that they really directed their course toward the American continent. On the 4th of the month they were in lat. 46° N.; but not finding the expected land, Bering directed the course north-east to lat. 50° N., and then east. On the 20th the ships parted company. Captain Bering, in the St. Paul, cruised near the spot for several days, hoping to fall in with his consort, but at length determined to advance alone. On the 15th of July, they caught an indistinct glimpse of the land; and on the 18th, the low coast line of the American continent showed itself before them in lat. 60° N. Far inland they saw the snow-capped summit of a lofty mountain, to which they gave the name of Mount St. Elias, and a projecting point of the coast they named Cape St. Elias; another cape to the westward they called St. Hermogenes; the bay lying between these two points has since been called Prince William Sound. One armed boat was sent to examine the bay, and another to seek fresh water. Among the islands that studded the bay they found a secure anchorage in very deep water. Upon the shore were discovered a number of cabins built of smooth boards; and in one which they entered, they found pieces of cordage; a whetstone, upon which copper instruments had been sharpened; an arrow; some articles of household furniture; a hollow ball of baked clay, in which a stone rattled, and which was probably a toy for children; and, in the cellar, some dried salmon; but the inhabitants had all taken flight upon their approach.

Captain Bering did not think it advisable to enter the bay with his vessel, but, having procured a fresh supply of water, he