The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-10 00:00:00

DESTRUCTION OF PETROPAULOVSKI.

In a portion of our impression on Saturday we
reported the de,truction of the fortifications of
Petropaulovski, the capital of Kamschatka, and the
flight of its Russian garrison. The correspondent
of the New York Journal of Commerce, writing on
August Ist from Sau Francisco, where her Ma-
jesty's ship Monarch and several ships of the
French Pacific fleet were at that date, says :
The allied fleet, which sailed from the Sandwich
Island in the spring to attack Petropaulovski, has
returned to San Francisco. They found that the
Russians had left Petropaulovski for the Amoor
River. The allies destroyed the fortifications on
the Bay of Avatscha, and after cruising in a vain
search for the Russian frigates came to Bau Fran-
cisco.

There are now at San Francisco the British ships
Monarch, 84 guns, and President, 62 guns ; also
the French ships La Forte, Eurydice, Alceste, and
brig Obligado.
Admiral Bruce and staff were on board the Pre-
sident, but designed transferring his flag to the
Monarch, the flag ship of the squadron.
The allied fleet, consisting of eight war vessels and
steamers, arrived off Petropaulovski on the 15th of
May,but thegarrison had already left for the Amoor
River, in the Russian frigate Aurora, corvette Dwina,
and two merchant vessels. The escape of the garri-
son was a master stroke on the part of the Russians,
who availed themselves of a dense fog which set in
on the night of the 17th of April, and so eluded the
English war steamer Encounter (screw), of 14 guns,
and Baracontre (side-wheel), of 6 'guns, which had
been blockading the harbour for 50 days previous.
The orders to evacuate were received from the Rus-
sian head-quarters in Siberia. On anchoring in the
harbour a detachment was sent on shore by the com-
manders of the fleets—Rear-Admiral Bruce, of the
English, and Rear-Admiral Fourichon (a newly-ap-
pointed and exceedingly energetic man, of only 45
years of age), of the French. They landed and
found the town deserted, save by about 100 Kams-
chatka dogs, a French naturalised American, and
two Americans, who raised the stars and stripes over
their houses when the forces landed, claiming that,
as the Russians had abandoned the place and left it
to them, they were the possessors of the soil.
These men are engaged in trading, and art, ropro_
sented as doing a good business. The dogs were in
a starving condition, and followed the invaders
about town for bits of biscuit.
The following day after the arrival of the allies
the destruction of the fortifications commenced.
These were fascines constructed of immense logs—
the
walls being 16 feet in thickness. Such was their '
strength, they resisted all efforts for sometime, and
were finally razed to the ground by the agency of
powder. It appears that the policy of the Russian
Government hall changed rather suddenly in this
matter. After the battle of last year orders came for
strengthening the fort; and, though at that time
such a resistance was made as to repel the assail-
ants, there being but one tier of guns, it was ordered
to increase it to a double tier. The destroyers
found embrasures for 51 guns of heavy calibre.
W 0 have been shown a despatch, dated in Petro-
paulovski, from Rear-Admiral ourichon,• of the
French fleet, in which he states, after briefly reca-
pitulating the facts above enumerated, that the Rus-
sian garrison, numbering (as Le Journel informs us)
some 1,200 men, had doubtless sailed for the mouth
of the Amcor River, which drains the south por-
tion of Siberia, and flows into the Gulf of Saghalien,
an arm of the Sea of Ochotsk. They left for this
point on the 17th of April, and were doubtless there
before the French and English arrived at Kam-
schatka. This river is regarde 1 as the dividing line
between China and Asiatic Russia, and at its mouth
is a very strong series of fortifications, which have
been greatly strengthened from time to time by the
Russians. It is thought by some of the officers of
the Obligado that the immense armament of Petro-
paulovski was carried there with the garrison ;
and, if this be true, there will be a western Sebas-
topol, which may puzzle the allies as much as has
the stronghold of the Crimea.
The report that Admiral Bruce had entered the
harbour of New Archangel in the British steamer
Brisk is confirmed. Whilst there he succeeded in
effecting with the Russians an exchange of a few
prisoners. Three Russians have been exchanged
for one Englishman and one Frenchman, the latter
being so severely wounded that he was not ex-
pected to recover.
Her Britannic Majesty's frigate Pique, Captain
Nicholson, had sailed for the river Amoor, in Rus-
sian possessions in Asia, and thence for China.
The British frigate Dido and steamer Brisk, were
to touch at Vancouver's Island, and thence to this
port.

The President captured at Awotska the Russian
whale bark Aina, stripped her, took from her a
quantity of oil, and then burned her. At Sitka,
no American vessels were seen in port.
The Port of Archangel has not been deserted by
l the Russians, and no hostilo proceedings against
the garrison were contemplated or attempted
during the late visit of the allies to the coast of
Sitka. The compact between the Russian and
British Governments, whereby the Russian-Ameri-
can Company and the Hudson Bay Company were
mutually to he exempt from an assault on land
from either of the two belligerent powers, was
completely respected by the allies. The object of
their visit seems merely to have been to ascertain
whether any naval force belonging to the Czar was
to be found in that quarter ; and satisfied upe4„
this point, the admirals did not think proper lig
exercise a right reserved in the compact—that of
blockade.
On arriving off the harbour, the allied ships did
not enter, but the English and French admirals,
with their suites, embarked on board the English
steamer Brisk, and entered the port. They were
waited upon by a boat from shore, containing the
governor's secretary, who communicated the infor-
mation that, in accordance with the spirit of the
treaty between England and their government, no
preparations for defence had been deemed neces-
sary, and that none had been made. If the French
admiral should think proper to assail the town, no
resistance would be offered, and they could only
ask that they be taken on board the men-of-war as
prisoners, for if their defences against the hostile
Indians were destroyed and the town burnt, the
whole population—men, women, and children—
would be at the mercy of the savages, who sur-
rounded the place in such numbers that their de-
struction would be inevitable.
We believe an understanding of the best nature
has always existed between the Russian and the
English trading companies, and that in case of
emergency, arising from any difficulty with the
Indians, either on the main land or the islands, the
one company holds itself in readiness to aid the
other. Hence the pacific treaty which we have
already referred to.
The inhabitants of Sitka had an abundance, but
as they had not for a long while heard from the nu-
merous trading posts on the adjacent islands, they
were apprehensive that those who filled them were
suffering.

(Prof, the San Francisco Herald.)

In the early part of last May the allied fleet,
augmented by the arrival of other vessels of war,
appeared before the devoted town, and cc mraenced
preparations for the attack. When they approached
sufficiently near to be able to discern objects on
the shore, they wore greatly surprised to find
that the American flag had been substituted for
the Russian, and that a most extraordinary
stillness reigned around. On landing they found
that the town had been deserted, and not a sin-
gle human' being remained save two Yankees
and a Frenchman who acted as their servant.

From them they learned that orders had come from
Siberia for the removal of the Russian troops to the
garrison at the mouth of the Amoor River, and
that the inhabitants had also fled to the village of
Avatscha, some miles dAstant. Immediately after
the desertion of the place the American flag was
hoisted by the two Americans, who remained be-
hind, as a signal to the allied fleet, which it appears
was expected The town, after the desertion of the

•
garrison and the inliabitaiits,•presented of course a
very lonely appearance. Packs,of dogs seourcd
through the. silent streets in search of food. The
houses were all tenantless, and a solemn stillness

- reigned around. It appears that, on the repulse of
the allies last fall, it was determined to strengthen
: the fortificaiions of the place, in order that they
i n thickness,
omfiglohgtsbeoable to give tThem a warmer reception on their
areance. hefortificationswere composed
1 second
f wood,shstieltfaehaysaniceines and earth, about 15 feet
and the embrasures indicated the
fact that
451egaulinbsrew;erebumtoisitiartaenteantdo
1 these of the
they arrived there
say, not one of e
rievivine
roa,ryo.arny
buried. o f the
Tammuni-
tionpro-
bability and stores
last
found by the allies when
zines, &c.,
is that they They were either
magazines,
of in the latter
property
burned down by
dbelonging
which were
way. The arsenals,
principally frame buildings,
was destroyed.
the allies, and all the prop
exodus of
Government which could be fouyn
scrupulously The store s and
respected.private
From
the allies learned the particulars of
the garrison and the inhabitants. It appears
on the receipt of the news of the defeat, e u that
the
first attack, in England, the English screw-steamer
Barracouta, 14 guns, and the steamer Encounter 6r
guns, were ordered from China to Petropaulovs'ki
to watch the movements there. Both lay off the
coast, about 60 miles from Petropaulovski, during
the whole spring ; but on the lith April the whole
arrison embarked on board the Aurora and the
Iwina and 4 merchantmen, and, taking with them
all their otares and ainnitinition, set cad' for the
the
twthoAmetroicatnhse

Amoor River. The movement was not perceived
on board the English steamers in consequ(-nee of
the thickness of the weather, occasioned by the
snow and fogs. The inhabitants all moved to the
village of Avatscha, where the wife of the com-
mandant also remained, not being able to proceed
with the troops in consequence of the delicate state
of her health at that time. Before leaving the
allies destroyed all the fortifications, and erected a
fence around the graves of Admiral Price and the
English and French who fell on that occasion,
having been drawn into an ambuscade while
marching upon one of the ba,teries by which the
harbour was protected. It is difficult to divine
what were the reasons of the Russians in abandoning
the place. It was well fortified both by nature and
art, and the result of the first attack showed that
the place could be successfully defended even
against a larger force than the allies could muster
in the Pacific.

The Obligado, Captain De Rosencourt, left at
Petropaulovski the British vessel of war Trinco-
malee, on board of which two Russian prisoners had
been placed for the purpose of exchanging them for
a French sailor who had both his arms cut off in
the Attack made on the place by the allies last fall,
and was afterwards captured by the Russians. It
is stated that he received the kindest treatment.
The British frigates Pique and Amphitrite, after
the destruction of the works at Petropaulovski,
sailed for the Ochotsk Sea, and the remainder of
the fleet for Sitka. The English vessels will pro-
ceed to Vancouver's Island, and the French to this
port. A portion of the fleet will remain at the
north for the present, and will cruise around the
Aleutian Islands. The French steamer Prony may
be expected here in a few days. The population of
Petropaulovski, previous to the arrival of the allied
fleet, is estimated by Capt. Rosencourt, of the
Obligado, to whom we are indebted for the above
information, to have been about 1,200.
Capt. Rosencourt brought back with him as tro-
phies a sledge used by the inhabitants in travelling
over the snow with dogs, an anchor found in Pe-
tropaulovski, a deer, and a Russian dog. The
Obligado mounts 12 guns, 32 pounders, and two
mountain howitzers, such as are used against the
Indians in this country, and generally carried on
the backs of mules. These were intended to be
used on land, and all the vessels of the fleet were
provided with them.
The principal object of the visit of the allied fleet
to Petropaulowski was to dismantle that place, and
deprive the Russian men-of war and, merchantmen
of a shelter in case the allies should get in pursuit
of them. Heretofore, there have been about sixty
Russian merchantmen which met yearly at Petro-
paulovski, after having traded along the coasts of
Northern Asia and America, on which latter coast
the Russians have a number of trading posts.
These vessels collect very valuable furs and walrus
teeth, whalebone, some precious stones, and other
less important articles of traffic—the total value
of the merchandise collected annually being about
2,000,000 dollars. This trade was the life of
the Russian American Company, and this year
it has been entirely destroyed. Tile vessels
have disappea-rw.Waking shelter probably in small
inlets of the sea in ,remote points. The allied fleets
searched diligently Itcling the Aleutian Islands,
where the vessels are usually the most numerous,
but not one was to be found. It is supposed that
the allied squadron for the Chinese Seas, which
went to visit the Amcor, will likewise visit Ivan,
a port upon the Sea of Ochotsk, which next to
Petrodaulovski was the most important Russian
trading station on the Pacific.
The following description of the town of Petro-
paulovski, from a work entitled the "Directory of
the Pacific Ocean," by A. G. Findlay, may hot
proVe uninteresting :—" The town of Petropaulov-
ski, which is now at the head of the harbour,
stands in an amphitheatre on the slope of two bills,
which form the valley, and is simply composed of
a group of small wooden houses covered with reeds
or dry grass, and surrounded by courts and gar-
dens with palisades. At the lower part of the
town, in the bottom of the valley, is the church.
It is remarkable for its fantastic construction,
and for its roof, which, painted green, seems to
add considerably to the effect of the picture,
surrounded as it is with lofty mountains. Arrived
at the bot.orn of the port, you land on a plank
which holds the place of a mole, and pas
directly before a guard-house, near which is a small
battery. Turning to the left, down a good street,
broad and macadamised, after passing the Govern-
ment workshops in the centre of Petropaulowski,
and turning to the right after passing them, and
oeossing a woodon bridge, you pass the church on
the right hand, and then you reach the Govern-
ment offices. These two streets are all that merit

the name. The greater part of the houses outside
of them are placed without any arrangement and
without any attempt at convenience or comfort.
The general appearance of Petropaulovski greatly,
resembles the French establishment at Newfound-
land. The appearance of the fish dryers' houses,
and the strong smell of fish, give a greater degree
to the similitude. The houses are generally alike
and are called Isbas (log houses), the windows are
sometimes of glass, but more generally of talc from
Ochotsk. When La Perouse visited it the inhabi-
tants generally lived on balagnans ; now there
is not a single one so used. There is not a
monument in Petropaulovski except one,
a simple column surmounted by a globe,
surrounded by a railing, which bears an inscrip-
tion To Capt. Vitus Behring,' in Russian. No
edifiee demands particular attention: In the church
the rites of the Greek Church are conducted with
great richness and solemnity. Tin-ire is, besides,
an hospital and a school."