The vast Bay of Avatscha forms several minor creeks: among others the haven of St. Peter and Paul, one of the finest natural harbors in the world, where the Russians have established the seat of their government in the small town of Petropavlosk, which hardly numbers 500 inhabitants, but has acquired some celebrity from the unsuccessful attack of the English and French forces in 1854. Mr. Knox thus describes Petropavlosk: “To make a counterfeit Petropavlosk, take a log village in the backwoods of a western state in America, and place it near a little harbor, where the ground slopes gently to the water. Arrange most of the houses along a single unpaved street, and drop the rest in a higgledy-piggledy fashion on the sloping hillside. All buildings must be but one story high, and those of the poorer sort thatched with grass. The better class may have iron or board roofs painted for preservation. The houses of the officials and the foreign merchants may be commodious, and built of hewn timber, but the doors of all must be low, and heavily constructed, to exclude the winter cold. Every dwelling must contain a brick stove that presents a side to each of two or three rooms. In winter this stove will maintain a temperature of about 68 degrees in all the rooms it is intended to warm.” [Illustration: 91. PETROPAVLOSK.] Besides some Jakut immigrants, the chief stock of the scanty population of the country consists of the descendants of the primitive Kamchatkans, who, in spite of frequent intermarriages with their conquerors the Cossacks, have still retained many of their ancient manners. They are of a small stature, but broad-shouldered, their cheek-bones are prominent, their jaws uncommonly broad and projecting, their noses small, their lips very full, their hair black. The color of the men is dark brown, or sometimes yellow; the women have fairer complexions, which they endeavor to preserve by means of bears’ guts, stuck upon their faces in spring with fresh lime, so as not to be burned by the sun. They also paint their cheeks with a sea-weed, which, when rubbed upon them with fat, gives them a beautiful red color.