Bells were set
ringing when the _Phoenix_ was towed into the harbor of Kadiak; and
when she reached Okhotsk laden with furs to the water-line in April of
1794, enthusiasm knew no bounds. Salvos of artillery thundered over
her sails, and mass was chanted, and a polish of paint given to her
piebald, rickety sides that transformed her into what the fur company
proudly regarded as a frigate. Before the year was out, Baranof had
his men at work on two more vessels. There was to be no more crippling
of trade for lack of ships.
But a more serious matter than shipbuilding demanded Baranof's
attention. Rival fur companies were on the ground. Did one party of
traders establish a fort on Cook's Inlet? Forthwith came another to a
point higher up the inlet, where Indians could be intercepted. There
followed warlike raids, the pillaging of each other's forts, the
capture of each other's Indian hunters, the utter demoralization of the
Indians by each fort forbidding the savages to trade at the other, the
flogging and bludgeoning and butchering of those who disobeyed the
order--and finally, the forcible abduction of whole villages of women
and children to compel the alliance of the hunters.
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