Occasionally the cordage was made from reindeer skins, and the sails from the same material.

Many ships were wrecked, but this did not frighten adventurous merchants.
Few of these voyages were pushed farther than the Aleutian islands.
The natives were hostile and killed a fair proportion of the Russian explorers.

In 1781 a few merchants of Kamchatka arranged a company with a view to developing commerce in Russian America.

They equipped several ships, formed a settlement at Kodiak and conducted an extensive and profitable business.

Their agents treated the natives with great cruelty, and so bad was their conduct that the emperor Paul revoked their privileges.
A new company was formed and chartered in July, 1779, under the title of the Russian-American Company.