Trip on Seniavin, a Russian ship, to survey coasts of Kamchatka, the Okhotsk Sea, and the Shanter Islands. Traveled from Kronstadt to Portsmouth, Rio, Cape Horn, Valparaiso, Sitka, & Kamchatka. Stopped in Sitka to observe the Russian colonies there under the Russian-American Company in New Archangel. Baron Wrangell was governor and the fort itself had been rebuilt after being destroyed by the Americans:
p. 48: If I say that we passed our time in Sitka very pleasantly, it should not be assumed that we found it a place of charm…. The vast distance from Europe and thus the dearth and difficulty of communication is one of the inconveniences of the place. Mail arrives once a year in August-September on vessels which come from Okhotsk bringing letters, newspapers and new company employees…. The library founded by Chamberlain Rezanov, which is enlarged every year, is also a great resource. [Litke has quite a bit on the “savage American tribes” near Sitka, with several interesting plates on natives of Sitka at the end of the volume.]