ONE day long after the gold excitement in California had subsided, a strange craft sailed into San Francisco bay flying a flag different from any other ship in the harbor. It was a yellow satin banner showing the imperial double eagles of the Russian Czar, and the guns at the forts fired a royal salute as the vessel passed by on its way to the wharf. On board was a man empowered by the Czar to sell Alaska to the United States, and waiting on shore to greet him was a Senator who was appointed to make an offer for the territory.  
"You are very welcome, my friend," said the Senator, grasping the hand of the Diplomat, as he came ashore. "Your arrival gives my countrymen much pleasure, and I earnestly hope that we may be able to make the ties of friendship between your people and mine very much stronger."
 
"His Majesty, the Czar, charged me to make plain to you his sentiments of good will and his desire to render your government a service."
 
The two men pushed their way through the crowd and were soon being driven rapidly toward the Senator's residence. After dinner that evening, while sitting by the fire the Diplomat said: 263
 
"Do you know the Russian story of the discovery of Alaska, the Great Land, as we called it?"
 
"No," replied the Senator, "I do not. I only know that it was a curious freak of fortune that your people should be the ones to discover the fabled 'Straits of Anian' so long sought by the Spaniards, Portuguese and English navigators. Bering's Sea is very far from India, but it is the famous northwest passage, that separates Asia from America." The Diplomat said:
 
"While Europe was exploring and settling the Americas my countrymen were throwing off the yoke that made them subjects of the Khans of Tartary. Even at that time we had a great caravan trade with China and Persia, but our merchants suffered severely from the depredations of the Cossack freebooters roaming over the steppes of Siberia. These reckless horsemen would charge down on a caravan and rob it of all its silks, spices, teas and perfumes."
 
"Then you can sympathize with the galleons of Spain that were harassed by the buccaneers and pirates infesting the high seas ready to scuttle and sink any ship that fell into their hands," said the Senator, greatly interested.
 
"Our merchants had no redress and they complained bitterly to Peter the Great, who immediately undertook to chastise the unruly Cossacks. They fled into Siberia, and it was not long before they found rich silver mines on the Amoor river, and began to traffic in the ivory and sable skins which make that vicinity notable. As they 264 advanced toward the Pacific Ocean they were able to slaughter herds of musk oxen, and before many years the fame of the ivory deposits brought hundreds of adventurers into that barren region. Diligent inquiry among the natives disclosed the fact that there was a Great Land toward the North Pole where remains of the hairy elephant were plentiful, and its beautiful tusks were heaped up in huge mounds."
 
"It was a desire for gold that brought the first white men to California," said the Senator, "and the building of the railroad across the continent is the result of having found it."
 
"Ivory and furs were the lure that nerved the Russian freebooter to brave the frozen sea and six months of night," said the Diplomat. "They went to sea in open boats made of planks tied together with rawhide straps and thongs. Their sails were of soft dressed reindeer skins, and in place of rope they used elk skin strips. The anchors were pieces of wood weighted with stones. They had no beds, and carried a wooden plate and spoon tied to the sash around their waists."
 
"They must have suffered very much from cold and hunger," said the Senator.
 
"They did; and many of them died with scurvy. They were greatly hindered by glaciers and icebergs, and would never have been able to make the journey at all except for the sleds and dogs furnished by the natives."
 
"Were the Eskimos and Aleuts always 265 friendly?" asked the Senator. The Diplomat hesitated for a moment, then said with a smile:
 
"The freebooters found it necessary to fight after they had once ill-treated the natives. At first the white men were supposed to be superior beings, but they proved themselves unworthy of confidence and then there was serious trouble."
 
"We have had a somewhat similar experience in dealing with the Indians in this country," replied the Senator.
 
"In one of the numerous attempts made by the freebooters to reach the Great Land, they fell in with some Japanese castaways who claimed to have found gold and silver there in abundance. When this was reported to Peter the Great he organized a scientific and military expedition under Bering to find Alaska, with the hope that it would lead to commercial relations with America and Japan."
 
"It seems a hard fate that Bering should die of scurvy in the winter when all was dark as night and exceedingly cold," said the Senator.
 
"Yes," answered the Diplomat, "especially after he had survived the six weary years of hardship and toil necessary to march across Siberia. It is possible that he would have failed at last had he not noted the flight of the land birds and known that there must be a shore-line not far away."
 
"Did he or his family profit by the discoveries he made?"
 
"Very little. It has been the fate of all the Russian explorers in America to die poor," 266 responded the Diplomat. "It has cost my government vast sums of money and more than two hundred years have elapsed since the first efforts were made. We have profited greatly by the seal fisheries and so will your people when once Alaska becomes a territory of the United States."
 
"It has always been a puzzle to me why the Czar recalled the Russian colonists living in peace and prosperity in California under Spanish rule," said the Senator, after a pause.
 
"It was because he wished to maintain friendly relations with the United States and he was far-sig............