legend. Theirs was an International league of genuine conquistadors, composed of Russians, a Finn, a Dutchman, a Swede, a few Germans, and a Jew.
All over the Pacific the brigantines of these terrible bandits were familiar, setting upon the foreign merchantmen on the high seas, raiding the colonies of Russian settlers which were then being established near the seacoast.
Commander Islands, round which remained numerous herds of seals under the protection of the Petersburg Government, were often the scene of armed conflicts between the pirates and the handfuls of soldiers detached for guard. The pirates were usually victorious, and destroyed without pity hundreds of these animals, which became increasingly rare, their skins being sold to America or Germany.
On the seas of Okhotsk and Bering the bands surprised, pillaged, and killed the unprotected settlers from Japan and Alaska, who carried on barter trade with the natives of Kamtchatka, Anadir, and the Chukotsk peninsula.
The waters of the seas hid for ever the victims of the terrible tragedies, the principal actors of which were members of the bandit association. After cleaning the coast of foreigners, they usually penetrated deeper into the interior of the country and rifled the Mongolian nomads of gold, furs, precious stones, and everything else of value.
In the little gulf north of Vladivostok they had their
