Page:Voyages in the Northern Pacific - 1896.djvu/90

72 squaring out a place for a fort, under the direction of Mr. Shefham. They even hoisted the Russian colours. Mr. John Young, the white man before mentioned in this narrative, who had resided on these islands about 36 years, communicated this intelligence to the king and chiefs, all of whom were on Owhyhee. The chiefs were immediately sent down to Woahoo with orders from Tameameah (Kamehameha) that the Russians should quit the islands instantly, and if they did not depart quietly that force must be used. The Russians not finding themselves strong enough to resist went peaceably off. The Islanders then built the fort under the direction of John Young. A party was kept constantly on shore curing the pork, which was done in the following manner:—We killed the pigs late in the evening, bled them well, and hung them up in the tent; next morning, before sunrise, we cut them up in four-pound pieces, and took out the back-bone; the pieces were then well rubbed with salt, and packed in a puncheon, with holes in the lower head for the pickle to drain off; they remained in this manner till the next day, under a good press; they were then taken out, resalted, and packed in another cask, where they remained for a week; at the end of which they were finally packed and pickled, putting a small quantity of salt-petre in each cask; in this manner we even salted the heads; we cured about one hundred barrels and never lost a piece. While we lay here we gave half the people leave to go on shore each night; our carpenter had frequent occasion to go into the woods to cut timber, which he did