his sledge on the anvil; but from the anvil of their hardships, from
the clash of the {338} primordial warfare between the Spirit of the
Elements and the Spirit of Man, struck out some sparks of the Divine.
There was the courage as dauntless in the teeth of the gale as in the
face of death. There was the yearning to know More, to seek it, to
follow it over earth's ends, though the quest led to the abyss of a
watery grave. What did they want, these fool fellows, following the
rushlight of their own desires? That is just it. They didn't know
what they sought, but they knew there was something just beyond to be
sought, something new to be known; and because Man is Man, they set out
on the quest of the unknown, chancing life and death for the sake of a
little gain to human progress. It is the spirit of the heroic ages,
and to that era belongs the history of the Vikings on the North Pacific.

[1] See Chapter XI.

INDEX

A

Adakh Island, Chirikoff at, 51.

Admiralty Inlet, explored, 270-271.

_Adventure_, first American ship built on Pacific, 233, 234, 238, 325.

Alaska, Bering's expedition on coast of, 26 ff.; Chirikoff's arrival at,
50-51; Benyowsky's visit to, 125; Cook explores coast of, 189-194; Gray's
trip to, 238; Vancouver's survey of southern coast of, 286-290; Baranof's
career in, 318-337. _See_ Sitka.

Aleutian Islands, Bering's voyage of discovery among, 26-41; sea-otter's
habitat on, 42, 53, 56, 63, 66-67, 69-70, 82-83; fur hunters of the,
67-78, 81-84, 321-323, 328-330.

Aleut Indians, as otter-hunters, 69-78; harsh treatment of, by Russians,
79, 8l-88; Russian hunters massacred by, 91-95, 100-104; punishment of,
105; in Sitka massacre, 307-310, 332; accompany Baranof on voyage of
vengeance, 311-314; with Baranof in Prince William Sound, 322 ff.

Alexander Archipelago, Chirikoff in the, 46-52.

Alexis, Aleut Indian boy hostage, 98, 99, 102.

Anderson, Dr., with Cook, 193.

Anian, Straits of, 9, 279 n.

Anton, Juan de, captain of _Glory of the South Seas_, 158 n.

Apraxin, Count, 8 n.

Archangel Michael, modern Sitka once named, 306; founding of, by Baranof,
306, 331-332; massacre at, 307-310, 332.

Arguello, Don Joseph, 241.

Aricara, Drake at, 155.

Astor, John Jacob, 65, 212, 303, 318, 322, 333.

Athabasca Lake, attempt to identify, with Northwest Passage, 174, 175.

Atka, otter grounds at, 69.

Atto, Hawaiian boy, 229, 233, 240.

Attoo, village in, destroyed by