INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 29 



Near by i.s a monument to Capt. Charles Gierke, who, upon the 

 death of Captain Cook, February 14, 1779, at the Sandwich Islands, 

 succeeded to the command of the expedition. The exposures and 

 hardships of the expedition in search of the straits between Asia and 

 America were so great that his health gave way, and on the 22d of 

 August he died at sea off the coast of Kamchatka. He was buried at 

 Petropavlovsky. On a ridge separating the inner from the outer har- 

 bor is a monument in memory of the French arctic explorer. La 

 Perouse, who visited this place in the summer of 1787. He sailed 

 from this harbor over a hundred 3'^ears ago, called at Botanj'^ Bay, and 

 disappeared with crew and ship. His monument consists of a large 

 rough l)owlder set upon a pedestal. Into this bowlder has been deeply 

 carved the name, "La Perouse, 1787." A real anchor and anchor 

 chain have been placed across the face of the stone, and the anchor 

 chain encircles the base of the pedestal. 



The remaining objects of interest are the remains of the earthworks 

 and batteries which were destroyed by the allied fleets of England and 

 France in 1851r and 1855. In 1851: the fortifications were shelled and 

 silenced by the allied fleet. Marines and sailors were then landed from 

 the ships and an attempt was made to capture the place. As the 

 attacking party was advancing through the woods their oflicers were 

 nearly all killed by sharpshooters, and the troops, thrown into confu 

 sion, were slaughtered, and a number of them driven over a precipice 

 and (lashed to pieces. The English and French lost 170 in killed and 

 wounded. Hoisting anchor, the fleets sailed away. Returning, how- 

 ever, in 1855, they found the village abandoned l)y order of the Czar. 

 They then destroyed the fortifications and burned the Government 

 buildings. The fortifications have never been rebuilt. A few troops 

 are kept there as a local police force. On a sand spit in the harbor the 

 Russian Gov^ernment has erected a monument in honor of the victory 

 of 1851. This oV)elisk, '25 feet high, is built of stone, painted black, 

 and surmounted with a gilt star and cross. Oti the eastcn-n side is this 

 inscription in Russian: 



]ii iiH'iiiory of the fullcii 



at the 



liopulsc (if till' attack of the Anglo-Freiicli Meet, 



20tli and 24tli Au<;ust, 185-4. 



On the reverse^, side: 



Erected in ISSl. 



In the outskirts of the village there is a well-kept i)lat of ground in 

 which three crosses (one English, one FrencG, and one Russian) mark 

 the spot where the men of the three nations were buried. Upon the 

 anniversar}^ of the battle r(>ligious services are held at the graves. 

 The grounds are kept in better order than any of the yards of the 

 citizens. 



