ther my vessel must now remain stationary at the
colony, he replied, that until the first of March of the following year
(1825), my time was at my own disposal, but that after that period my
presence could not be dispensed with. I therefore proceeded to visit
California and the Sandwich Islands, and returned to New Archangel on
the 23rd of February 1825.

The nearer we drew to the land the milder the weather became, and we
were astonished, in so northern a country, to see the mountains at this
season of the year entirely free from snow to a considerable height.
Throughout this winter, however, which had been particularly mild, the
snow in many of the vallies had never lain above a few hours together.
Here, under fifty-seven degrees north latitude, the climate is much
milder than in European countries similarly situated; as again the
north-east coast of Asia is much colder than countries of an equal
latitude in Europe.

On the morning of the 24th, after passing a stormy night on this
dangerous coast, we happily succeeded in reaching the harbour, and
anchoring before the fortress, just before another and most violent
tempest set in.

We were received with great rejoicing; and on the following day placed
the frigate in such a position, and at such a distance from the
fortress, as was most convenient to accomplish the purpose of our
mission. To explain this, we must take a short review of the Russian
settlement here, and of the affairs of the original inhabitants.

From the highest antiquity to the present day, examples are not wanting
of men trusting themselves in small and frail vessels to the perils of
the ocean, and performing astonishing voyages, without any of those aids
which the improvements in science and mechanical art place within our
reach. The children of the Sun in Peru, and the founders of the regular
political constitution which existed in Mexico before its invasion by
the Spaniards, probably floated in little canoes over the trackless
surface of the ocean, as the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands do to
this day.

The voyages of the Phoenicians and Romans are sufficiently known; as
are those of the Norman heroes who discovered Greenland, Iceland, and
even North America.

In vessels just as defective, destitute of the instruments requisite for
observing their course, and of any fixed notion concerning the
conformation or extent of the earth, often even without a compass,
ignorant Russian adventurer