SETTLEMENT OF ROSS. 121 



free consent of the natives, who were very useful 

 in furnishing materials for the buildings and 

 even in their erection. 



The intention in forming this settlement was 

 to pursue the chase of the sea-otter on the coast 

 of California, where the animal was then nume- 

 rous, as it had become extremely scarce in the 

 more northern establishments. The Spaniards 

 who did not hunt them, willingly took a small 

 compensation for their acquiescence in the views 

 of the Russians ; and the sea-otter, though at 

 present scarce even here, is more frequently 

 caught along the Californian coast, southward 

 from Ross, than in any other quarter. The 

 fortress is a quadrangle, palisaded with tall, 

 thick beams, and defended by two towers which 

 mount fifteen cannons. The garrison consisted, 

 on my arrival, of a hundred and thirty men, of 

 whom a small number only were Russians, the 

 rest Aleutians. 



The Spaniards lived at first on the best terms 

 with the new settlers, and provided them with 

 oxen, cows, horses, and sheep ; but when in pro- 

 cess of time they began to remark that, notwith- 

 standing the inferiority of soil and climate, the 



VOL. II. G 



