etc., while
four fire engines provided against loss by conflagration. Some rare
weapons were also found there. A saber set with gems valued at 560
rubles; a Persian carbine of a value of 450 rubles; two Persian
yatighans, silver mounted; a Damascus saber, and two Persian pistols,
silver mounted.

The soldiers' guns were for a great part of French or English
workmanship; rockets and false-fire for signalling ships were made each
year.

Tallow for candles was brought from California, moulded at the port and
distributed so many candles to each employe according to their presumed
needs each month.

Liquors, generally rum, were served by the Company, a drink twice a
week, extra allowance being made on difficult work and also for
holidays. All kinds of devices were resorted to by individuals in order
to get rum, and one author says that a pair of boots for which the
makers would demand ten rubles might be secured in barter for a bottle
of rum worth three rubles.

The soldiers stationed at the fort when not on duty were employed by the
Company and given a special compensation for their labor. Some of the
soldiers and hunters by their industry and thrift accumulated
considerable money which the Company held to their account and either
paid to them on their discharge or sent home to Russia for them. Others
spent their earnings, were continually in debt to the Company, and as
their contract provided that they were not to be discharged while in
arrears of debt, some of them served the remainder of their lives with
no hope of return to Russia.

Around the hill ran a parapet and sentries walked their beat night and
day. On the stockade which enclosed the town from the beach at the edge
of the "Ranche" to the shore beyond the sawmill, making with the shore
line an irregular rectangle, also walked the sentinels on their vigil,
for the Thlingit at the gates was at all times an enemy to be feared.
Strict military discipline was maintained at all times. At the foot of
the hill were clustered barracks, storehouses, bakeries, warehouses,
etc., for the use of the garrison and workmen. The old structure which
was used as a bakery, and for shops, was later known as the Sitka
Trading Company's building, and has recently been removed. The barracks
are at present the jail, and the Russian counting house is today the
postoffice of the United States. The fur warehouse stood to the west of
the hill and was torn down in 1897-8, while the lan