26 REPORT ON INTRODUCTION OF 



laid for Novo Arkhangelsk, the capital of Russian America — the Sitka 

 of to-day. During the winter of 1804-5 eight buildings were erected 

 and surrounded with a substantial stockade, with blockhouses and 

 mounted cannon at the angles. In the spring the ground was cleared 

 and several vegetable gardens started. But that the accommodations 

 were still far from comfortable we may see when Count Rezanof writes 

 a few months later in an official report : 



We all live poorly, but worse than all lives Baranof, in a miserable hut, so damp 

 that the floor is always wet, and during the constant heavy rains the place leaks 

 like a sieve. 



In 1809 Baranof's hut was destroyed by fire, giving place to a more 

 comfortable residence, so that Captain Golovin, of the Russian navy 

 in 1810, writes, the fort — 



consisted of strong wooden bastions and palisades ; the houses, barracks, magazine, 

 and manager's residence of exceedingly thick logs. In Baranof's house the furniture 

 and finishing were of fine workmanship and very costly, having been brought from 

 St. Petersburg and England. But what astonished me most was the large library, 

 in nearly all European languages, and the collection of fine paintings. 



In 1827 the second castle being thrown down by an earthquake was 

 removed and the summit of the rock crowned with a still larger build- 

 ing, which has since been known as the governor's palace. The building 

 was constructed of large cedar logs squared on the sides and dove- 

 tailed together at the corners. To prevent its being destroyed by an 

 earthquake, copper rods were run through the logs and bolted to the 

 rocks upon which the house stood. It was 140 by 70 feet in size, two 

 stories high, and crowned with a cupola, in which at night lamps were 

 placed to guide incoming mariners. The building was surrounded 

 by a stockade and defended by a battery of guns that extended half- 

 way around it on the seaward side. At the northwest or land side it 

 was approached by a long flight of steps. Upon a lauding halfway 

 up was another battery and a sentry. The second floor of the palace 

 was given up to state apartments, and used for receptions, balls, public 

 dinners, etc. In the center was the grand saloon 70 feet square. 

 Opening out from the saloon on the one end was a drawing-room extend- 

 ing the whole breadth of the building, 35 by 70 feet in size, and from 

 the other end a drawing-room and billiard room, each 35 feet square. 

 On the first floor were the parlor, library, bedrooms, dining room, and 

 kitchen. In the grand saloon, upon the anniversary of the Emperor's 

 birthday, and other festive occasions, the governor was accustomed to 

 give a dinner to all the officials and leading chiefs in the place. Sir 

 George Simpson, govern or- general of Rupert Land, in his journey 

 around the world, visiting Sitka in 1842, writes of the farewell dinner 

 given him by Governor Etholin : 



The farewell dinner, to which about thirty of us sat down, exceeded in sumptu- 

 ousness anything I had yet seen, even at the same hospitable board. The glass, the 

 plate, and the appointments in general were very costly ; the viands were excellent, 

 and Governor Etholin played the part of host to perfection. 



