HOM.18
Russian Expeditions, 1808-1827, is the eighteenth volume of the History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents (HOM), compiled and edited by Rodrique Levesque.
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The History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents was complied, edited and published by Rod Levesque from 1992 to 2002. Copyrights were obtained by the Habele Outer Island Education Fund, a US nonprofit, in 2022, which digitized the content to facilitate noncommercial access to, and use of, the twenty-volume series. The PDF file for HOM.18 is roughly 65MB.
Levesque's Summary
Volume 18 contains 57 chapters, with 100 documents and 65 illustrations. The figure above is that of Kadu, a Carolinian who had drifted to the Marshall Islands and was befriended by the Russians.
The main documents deal with the first Russian scientific expedition to the Marshall Islands in 1817, led by Captain Kotzebue, and the visit to Guam of the Golovnin expedition the following year. Another significant event was the voyage of the last Manila galleon that reached Acapulco in 1816. As a result of the Mexican revolution, the Spanish colonies on the western side of the Pacific no longer received Mexican funds. The trans-Paciflc trade was opened to private shipping.
The first would-be archaeologist to do research in Micronesia was a Yankee whaleman who visited Tinian in 1818. He returned three years later to record the destruction of historical sites by the natives themselves.
“History repeats itself,” is another way of saying what Shakespeare expressed in a more poetic manner. This wise saying applies specially to the last document in this volume, Dr. Mertens’ paper on the Caroline Islands. Here is a valuable study of the local customs, before they were modified by contact with passing ships and regular visits to Guam.
This period witnessed the passage through Micronesia of the first scientific expedi-tions carried out by Russians. Firstly, there were the two voyages undertaken by Cap-tain Kotzebue, in 1816-17 and in 1824; the first voyage was financed by Count Romanzov. Kotzebue was responsible for putting the Marshall Islands “on the map.” Secondly, there was Captain Golovnin’s visit to Guam in 1818. Another Russian, Captain Hagemeister did the same the following year, but his account will appear in the next volume. There was yet another important Russian expedition that re-discovered Pohnpei and made a thorough study of the Caroline Islands, in 1827 and 1828; Captain Liitke’s visits will be covered in future volumes; however, one scientist aboard his vessel was Dr. Mertens, and his contribution is here included.
Russian expeditions were often led by German naval officers in the service of the Czar; true to their nation’s best tendencies, they made reliable observations about everything they saw. Two naturalists with French-German connections, Louis Choris and Dr. Chamisso, have also left impressive accounts. Chamisso made a special friend in the Marshall Islands: his name was Kadu and he was actually a Carolinian drifter from Woleai atoll in the Central Carolines. Kadu was taken on board and visited the frozen north, and Hawaii; his story is a romantic one for romantic times.
This period saw numerous revolutions taking place in the Spanish-American col-onies. Mexico became independent, and consequently the source of funds for subsidies to the Marianas and Philippines was cut off. The Manila galleons themselves were abolished by the Spanish Government, itself in a state of flux. The last true galleon to reach Mexico did so in 1816, and she returned to Manila in ballast in 1817. From then on, privately-owned vessels from many nations took care of the trans-Pacific trade.
In 1814, the Pope restored the Jesuit Order, but the Jesuit missionaries did not re-turn to Micronesia until modem times. At least, they were vindicated.
In 1818, a Yankee ship named Osprey stopped at Tinian and noticed the presence of a new settlement there. A would-be archaeologist among the crew also noted that the latte ruins were being destroyed even then, to build pig-pens... The same man re-turned in 1823 and saw no trace of an altar, clearly shown in the sketch published in this volume. This man recorded the destruction of archeological remains of the ancient Chamorro culture; it was done by the natives themselves. The past is prologue...
Publication Details
Lévesque Rodrigue. History of Micronesia : A Collection of Source Documents. Vol. 18 Russian Expeditions: 1808-1827. Gatineau Québec: Lévesque Publications; 2001.
ISBN-10: 0920201180
ISBN-13: 978-0920201183
LCC: DU500 .H58 2000
