304 APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



Then come tlie Creoles, and last the Russians. Bnt here you must bear 

 in mind a distinction with regard to the former persons. In Spanish 

 America all born there of European parentage are " Creoles;" in Rus- 

 sian America this term is ajiplicable only to those whose parents are 

 EuroiJean and native, in other words, " half-breeds." According to 

 Wrangel, in 1839, the census of dependents of the Company in all its 

 districts was 24G Russians, 084 Creoles, and 8,882 Aleutians and Kodi- 

 acks, being in all 9,812. Of these, 4,918 were men, and 4,804 were 

 women. Here the number of Russians is small. There is another 

 Report a little later preserved by Wappiius, which is not materially 

 different. In 1851, according to the Report of the Company, there was 

 an increase of Russians and Creoles, with a corresponding diminution 

 of aborigines; being 505 Russians, 1,703 Creoles, and 7,055 aborigines; 

 in all, 9,283. In 1857 there were 044 Russians, 1,903 Creoles, and 7,245 

 aborigines; in all, 9,792, of whom 5,733 were men, and 4,059 were women. 

 The increase from 1851 to 1857 was only 500, or about 1 per cent, 

 annually. In 1800 there were •' some 100" Russians, 2,000 Creoles, and 

 8,000 aborigines, amounting in all to 10,540, of whom 5,382 were men, 

 and 5,158 were women. I am thus particular with these details that 

 you may see how stationary population has been even within the sphere 

 of the Company. 



The number of Russians and Creoles in the whole Colony at the ])res- 

 ent time cannot be more than 2,500. The number of aborigines under 

 the direct Government of the Company may be 8,000. There renuiin 

 also the mass of aborigines outside the jnrisdiction of the Com[»any, 

 and having only a temporary or casual contact with it for ])ur- 

 06 poses of trade. In this respect they are not unlike the aborigines 

 of the United States while in their tribal condition, described so 

 oftren as "Indians not taxed." For the number of these outside aborig- 

 ines 1 prefer to ibllowtlie authority of tlie recent work already quoted, 

 "Les Peuples de la Russie," according to which they are estimated at 

 between 40,000 and 50,(100. 



(2) In s])eaking of cliaraefer I turn to a dilierent class of materials. 

 The early Russians here were not pilgrims. They were mostly run- 

 aways, Heeing from justice. Langsdorf says that "the greater part of 

 the interior olticers of the ditterent settlements were Siberian criminals, 

 malefactors, and adventurers of various kinds." ("Voyages," Vol. II, 

 ]). 07.) Their single and exclusive business was the collection of furs, 

 from which they obtained the name of "Promlischleniks," or fur col- 

 lectors. Rut the name very earlv ac(juired a bad odour. Here again 

 we have the same Russian authority, who, a^ter saying that the inhabit- 

 ants of the distant islands are under the superintciulence of a Pro- 

 miischlenik, adds, "which is, in other words, under that of a rascal, by 

 whom tliey are oi)pressed, tormented, and plundered in every possi- 

 ble way." {Ibid., p. 70.) It must not be forgotten that this authentic 

 l)ortiait is not of our day. 



The aborigines are all in common language called Esquimaux; but 

 they differ essentially from the Esquimaux ol' (Irecnland, and they also 

 differ among themselves. Though iiopularly icnown by this family 

 name, tiiey have as nuiny divisions and sub(Hvisions, with as many 

 languages ami idioms, as France once had. There are large groups, 

 each with its own nationality and language, and there are smaller 

 groups, each with its tribal idiom. In short, tlie great ])roblem of lan- 

 guage is re])eated here. Its forms seem to be intinite. Scientific inquiry 

 traces many to a single root, but practically they are different. Here 

 is that confusion of tongues which yields oidy to the presence of civili- 



