Americans and Russians formed the party that listened to the brief tribute which one of our number paid to the memory of the great navigator.
In the autumn of 1854, a combined English and French fleet of six ships suffered a severe repulse from several land batteries and the guns of a Russian frigate in the harbor.

Twice beaten off, their commanders determined an assault.

They landed a strong force of sailors and marines, that attempted to take the town in the rear, but the Kamchadale sharpshooters created a panic, and drove the assailants over a steeply sloping cliff two hundred feet high.
[Illustration: REPULSE OF THE ASSAILANTS.] Naturally the natives are proud of their success in this battle, and mention it to every visitor.

The English Admiral committed suicide early in the attack.

The fleet retired to San Francisco, and returned in the following year prepared to capture the town at all hazards, but Petropavlovsk had been abandoned by the Russians, who retired beyond the hills.