Sir George Simpson, Governor-in-Chief of the Honourable, the Hudson's Bay Company, visited Sitka in 1841 and in 1842. He describes the settlement, the natives, and the fur trade, and was entertained at the Castle by Chief Manager Etolin. During his stay he indulged in a Russian steam bath. His humorous description of the details ends with a promise never again to undergo such a castigation. The account of his stay at the Hot Springs is enlivened by a story of how a rosy cheeked Russian damsel, each time she passed his chair, made a profound obeisance, which he attributed to his personal attraction until he discovered her doing the same when the chair was empty, and then saw that a saintly ikon occupied a place on the wall directly over it, which dispelled the illusion. Thirteen ships were in the harbor, and he remarks that the bustle was sufficient to have done credit to a third rate port in the civilized world. Sir George sailed for Okhotsk on the Russian ship "Alexander," then crossed Siberia overland on his return to England from a journey round the earth. There were eighty cannon mounted in the batteries which commanded the bay or which looked down on the Kolosh village. These cannon were of different make, some being cast in Sitka, others purchased of English or Americans, which were purchased on the ships on which they were mounted, as on the "Juno" and the "Brutus;" and other ordnance was brought from Kronstadt, Russia, as in 1804 on the "Neva," and in 1820 on the "Borodino." Teahouses were situated on the little knoll in the center of the town where the public Gardens were located; the museum, and the library offered instruction to the workers who occupied this lonely post halfway round the world from the Russian Fatherland. There were fourteen chief managers who directed the affairs of the Company at Sitka between the date of the founding in 1804 and the surrender to the United States in 1867.[21] Many of the officers resided long in the colonies and their record would establish their right to be denominated as "Sourdoughs." Baranof was manager 28 years; Zarembo was rewarded in 1844 for 25 years' service; Krukof, the manager at Unalaska, was rewarded in 1821 for 40 years' service; Banner remained at Kodiak for at least ten years, and he and his wife both died there; while Kuskof came with Baranof in 1790 and returned to Russia in 1821. [Illustration: Sitka in 1869--During the Time of the Military Occupation.] CHAPTER VIII SITKA UNDER UNITED STATES RULE