100 OUR ARCTIC PROVINCE. 



of rapid demoralizatiou and ruin to the profitable prosecution of liis 

 Alaskan business, and, if possible, to attemj)t a change for the bet- 

 ter. An evident decrease in furs, together with the hostile atti- 

 tude of the natives, provoked altogether by their inhuman treatment 

 at the hands of the " promishlyniks," called- for reform in the most 

 emphatic manner. After a cai-efully deliberated plan of action had 

 been determined upon between himself and his partners, the broth- 

 ers Gollikov, he at once proce.eded to 'the Okotsk Sea and fitted out 

 three small vessels for his expedition.* He did not reach Kadiak 

 until 1784, two years after, starting out, when two of his vessels 

 came to anchor in the harbor, now known, as it was then christened 

 by him. Three Saints Bfty. Shellikov was a ready and Avilling cor- 

 respondent. His numerous letters to his Siberian partners and his 

 own published ''Journey's" give us a clear idea of the hardihood 

 of his enterprise, and they have a rare ethnographic value. From 

 them we learn of the great liking which Shellikov's party took to 

 the Island of Kadiak, and how they resolved, soon after making a 

 short reconnoissance, to establish themselves permanently if they 

 could gain the confidence of its savage inhabitants. 



Shellikov sent out a scouting party and captured a Kaniag, 

 brought him into camp, and loaded the bewildered native with pres- 

 ents and kindness, then sent him back to his people; but the 

 native, though won wholly over himself, f could not prevail upon 

 his hostile countrjanen, who soon gave the Russians ample evidence 

 of their enmity. A i^arty of the latter in two of the ships' boats 

 were exploring and hunting, when they wei'e disturbed by the ap- 

 pearance of a " perfect cloud " of natives that were encamped on 

 rough and precipitous uplands of Oogak Island, a short distance 

 from the main island itself. Shellikov resolved to proceed himself to 

 the spot and endeavor to win them over to amity and trade. He ex- 



* These "galiots" where characteristically named by Shellikov's spiritual 

 advisers, viz.: The Three Saints; The Archangel Michael and Sinwon, the 

 Friend of God ; and Anna the Prophetess. Bad weather and poor navigation 

 caused the vessels to separate, so that Shellikov was compelled to winter on 

 Bering Island ; but during the following year the little fleet was reorganized, 

 and it reached Oonalashka. where repairs again were necessary. 



f Shellikov says that this man returned the following day and refused to 

 leave the Russian camp ; that he not only accompanied and served him in all 

 his voyages thereafter, but often warned the party of hostile ambuscades and 

 hidden dangers bv land and sea. 



