, 1857-10-23
TOM the san FIlntlscO IIeraIu, sept.
Letter from PetrOpOIOSki.

We have been permitted by a gentle.
man in this city to make the following ex.
tracts from a letter received by him yes.
terday from the above place Very little
is known about Petropoloski, or in fact any
portion of the Russian possessions on the
Pacific, and he manner and customs of a
people living in such an out-of-the-way
place, conveyed in the extract given below,
cannot fail to prove interesting
"On Monday, May Sd, ihirty-six days
from San Francisco, we made the land, and
a more dcsolate, barren.looking place the
eye never rested on, worse even than where
| was on the other side /; nearly the whole
covered with snow, and what was not,
looked like rock without sufficient vegeta-
tioh to keep a goat. After being hum
bugged close to the harbor for thirty-six
hours, we got up to it. The entrance
looks not unlike the Golden Gate only
not so wide, and has splendid anchorage
from the mouth to the town, which is
abont ten miles up at the base of high
ridge Of mountains. The harbor is very
small, but for safety the world cannot pro-
duce its equal. As l remarked before, the
town is located at the base Of the mouW
tain, and it contains about one hundred and
twenty houses, what in any other portion
Of the world would be called buts' These
huts are all built alike, and only differ as
regards size. A description Of our resi-
dence will suffice for all ; it is about forty.
Eve feet front, and about sixteen feet
lf5ieep, and divided into three rooms, all Of
course facing on the street the first is
the store-room and sleeping apartment Of
the cook, the next is the kitchen, the other
is the bed-chamber, dining-room, reception
room, ETC., Of B. and myself. The house
is built Of logs, caulked between each with
moss, only one story, aud rooted with
straw they have q loft, the floor Of which
is covered with about two feet Of earth TO
prevent the cold from coming in from
above. In the kitchen is large brick
oven, in which the cooking is done, and the
house heated it is so arranged with hues
as to heat to any temperature. The FIRE is
made once each day, aud is u thing a
Yankee could not improve on for.comfort.
When we arrived here, the entire har-
Dor was frozen over to the depth of Eve or
six feet, SO you can judge what it must be
in winter. We hauled alongside of the
ice and made fast 10 it,
If you recollect, We supposed this
country inhabited by Indians, with the ex-
ception of few officers and soldiers. 1t is
all mistake-therc is not an Indian in the
Countryside natives, or Kamsedals, as
they are called, are descendants Of the In
dians, but several generations removed.
All the officers, civil aud military, belong
to Russia proper. You, as well as myself,
have often heard and read of the semi
civilized state Of Russia, and believed them
to be a nation of barbarians, knowing moth
ing outside of the small circle Of the Court
Of St. Petersburg, nearly all slaves, ground
down below the level Of humanity by their
masters, in short-fanking with Chinese.
1t is all q mstake-you never we're so
much mistaken in your lfe-the very low
est, in point Of politeness and good breed
ing, will totally eclipse nine tenths Of
American gentlemen, and our western men
are positively savages compared with them;
the officers, and oil the educated portion Of
the population, in refinement Of manners,
surpass the French. 1t is innate-not
studied, put on for special purposes-every-
body bows, and raises bis hat to everybody
be meets, although you may meet a dozen
times a day. All have an exalted opinion
of America and Americans, and show them
every attention Our sympathy for them
during the last war, is known by every
one, and appreciated The town has a
population of about four hundred people
before the war it had about one thousand
they are coming back as fast as possible.
The whole country contains between six
and eight thousand The government con
sists Of two heads, one over the civil. and