14 



siiii;i;i.\. 



liiinly and caielully .set liiiii>ioll ahuijl wln-ii Im- tjei/aii lljc administration of the country 

 ontnislod to idni. Tlio lirst slcj) for tlio atlaiiinicnt of this ohject was to avail hinistdf of the 

 transport <I5aikai», sent hy the (iovciiinicnt already in 1848 to carry cargoes from the Naval 

 Department to I'etnipavlovsk under the command of Captain Nevel.skoy. He aecordin^-'ly im|M)>ed 

 npon this sinrdy and enterprising' sailor the discovery and exploration of the mouth of the 

 Allium. ||;i\iiii/ icicjvcd lull an aiiiliori/aiiiiM, liniitcd liy vaiioiis ••ondilions, Muraviov found 

 in Ncvelskoy an fxccllcnt performer of his plans. Nevelskoy having landed his cargo in I'elro- 

 j)avlovsk on tlir^ 3]sl of May, 1849, started with the transpoit Baikal for the eastern 

 slioic of Sakhalin, ilicrice to begin his exi)loralioiis. II(; doubled the northern extremity of 

 the island, enteic(l tiic hay of Oimian, called it after the name of his transport, and making 

 lurllicr investigations on tli(! 28lh of June, entered the frith of the Amour. He soon found 

 the mouth of the river. A few days afterwards Nevelskoy entered the straits between the 

 Continent ami llie western shore of Sakhalin at the Capes called by him La/an-v and Mu- 

 laviov. 'rims, contrary to the oj)inion8 of J. a I'erouse, Krusenstjern ami others, Sakhalin 

 proved !(i he an island. After forty-five vain ctforts to enter with the transport Uaikal the 

 iiioiitii of the Anioiii', he tinned back northwards into the sea of Okhotsk. 



From this time the (juesUon of the auuexatiou of the Amour obtained more serious significa- 

 tion in Goveiiiment spheres. In 1850 the Amour expedition was formed, having for its chief object 

 the roiiiidaiion upon the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk near the frith of the Amour, at a point 

 for the estahlishiiiciit of iclaliniis and Hade with the Giliaks, and Nevelskoy was appointeil 

 commander (d' the Amour expedition. On the 29th of June he founded in Fortune Bay the 

 Peter winter station, and in August he first hoisted on the shores of the Amour the Russian 

 military flag, declared to the Ciliaks that they were coming under Russian protection and 

 founded at this point, iweiity-live versts Irum the mouth the post of Nikolaevsk. Between 

 1851 and 1853 were founded the posts of Ilinsk at the mouth of the river Kusnnaya, Alexan- 

 drovsk in the bay of De Castri and Mariinsk near lake Kizi. 



In 1854, thanks to his repeated requests and perseverance, Muraviov received the Imperial 

 authorization to <;navigatc the Amour». The Chinese government was warned of the intended 

 first voyage on the river ami without -waiting for any answer from it, the small but powerful 

 flotilla under the coinmaml of the (iovernor-General himself solemnly took the waters of the 

 Amour on the 18th of May, descending to this river from the Shilka. On tlie 14th of June 

 the expedition already reached the pool of Mariinsk, and thus the road was opened from the 

 Russian upper waters of the Amour to the lower reaches of this great river only just occu- 

 pied by the Russians. 



The success of this first expedition marks an important epoch lu the history of Siberia. 

 The convenience and possibility of the settlement of the shores of the Amour, on account of 

 the sparsely inhabited condition of the country, the peaceable character of the natives and the 

 w^eakness of the Chinese, were demonstrated. The importance of the acquisition of the Amour 

 was proved also by the fact that thanks to the sending in good time of provisions and arms 

 to Kamchatka the port of Petropavlovsk was saved. Near this port the Anglo-French fleet 

 stood in Avvachinsk bay with distinctly hostile intentions, and even opened fire upon the for- 

 tifications. Attempts of a simihir nature were made in the following year but also with- 

 out success. 



