re. A flagship was anchored
under the windows, and the proud Admiral spent much of his time on
shore. The officers' clubhouse, yonder down the grassy street, was the
favorite lounging place of the navy. The tea-gardens have run to seed,
and the race-course is obliterated, where, doubtless, fair ladies and
brave men disported themselves in the interminable twilights of the
Alaskan summer. In the reign of the Princess Maksontoff the ladies were
first shown to the sideboard. When they had regaled themselves with
potent punch and caviare, the gentlemen followed suit. But the big
brazen samovar was forever steaming in the grand salon, and delicious
draughts of caravan tea were in order at all hours.

What days they were, when the castle was thronged with guests, and those
of all ages and descriptions and from every rank in and out of society!
The presidential levee is not more democratic than were the _fetes_ of
the Princess Maksontoff. To the music of the Admiral's band combined
with the castle orchestra, it was "all hands round." The Prince danced
with each and every lady in turn. The Princess was no less gracious, for
all danced with her who chose, from the Lord High Admiral to midshipmite
and the crew of the captain's gig.

You will read of these things in the pages of Lutka, Sir George Simpson,
Sir Edward Belcher, and other early voyagers. They vouch for the unique
charm of the colonial life at that day. Washington Irving, in his
"Astoria," has something to say of New Archangel (Michael), or
"Sheetka," as he spells it; but it is of the time when the ships of
John Jacob Astor were touching in that vicinity, and the reports are not
so pleasing.

While social life in the little colony was still more enjoyable, a
change came that in a single hour reversed the order of affairs. For
years Russia had been willing, if not eager, to dispose of the great
lands that lay along the northwestern coast of America. She seemed never
to have cared much for them, nor to have believed much in their present
value or possible future development. No enterprise was evinced among
the people: they were comparative exiles, who sought to relieve the
monotony of their existence by one constant round of gaity. _Soirees_ at
the castle, tea-garden parties, picnics upon the thousand lovely isles
that beautify the Sitkan Sea; strolls among the sylvan retreats in which
the primeval forest, at the very edge of the town, abounds; fishing and
hunting exp