226' 



ALASKA. 



* Cliurdi--ivorkers, «S:c. 



t Tbirty-ljve souls iiidepondcut of this number went to Copper Island in 167 

 three came to Ouualashka also. 



twenty- 



" 111 1848 there were some 1,400 souls on the Alentiau Islands 

 west of the Peninsula ; the smallpox then broke out, and over 

 500 died that season, leaving some 900, about which number 

 still remain. In those days these people were very poor com- 

 pared with their i)resent condition ; they had but little money, 

 very little tea, bread, and sugar, and very few clothes." — Father 

 IShiesnclov, OunaJasJtla, September 2, 1874.* 



The following table shows the population of Eussian America 

 in 1834, as given by Bishop Veniaminov : + 



* This priest, who is a very intelligent and unassuming man, gave Lieu- 

 tenant Mnynard and myself a long and exceedingly interesting account of 

 the manner in which the Aleuuts were living under Russian rule, in order 

 that we might have a basis for comparison of the present, as we .saw it, with 

 that of the past. The testimony of this gentleman I regard as of the great- 

 est value, for he knows more of the subject than any other man living who 

 can be found, as his whole life has been passed in this country, and his char- 

 acter as a prelate and a gentleman is highly respected by all who know him. 



t Veniaminov appears to have been the only Russian who, dniing the whole 

 occupation of Alaska by that people, has given to the world anything like a 

 history of the country or a sketch of its inhabitant.s, that has ability or 

 the merit of truth. He is at present living, and ranks second to the Em- 

 peror in the Russian Empire, being the primate of the national church. Ho 

 must have been a man of lino personal bearing, judging from the descrip- 

 tion given of him by Sir Gcoi'ge Simpson, who met him at Sitka in IS^^ : 

 '' His appearance, to which I have already alluded, impresses a stranger with 

 something of awe, while, on further intercourse, the gentleness which char- 

 acterizes his every word and deed insensibly molds reverence into love; and 



