In 1829 two Russian ships visited Australia. One of them was "Elena" (a ship of Russian-American Company - RAC) commanded by V.S. Khromchenko, which already visited Sydney in 1825, the other - the naval transport "Krotkiy" commanded by L.A. Gagemeister - captain of the first Russian ship "Neva" which called in Australia in 1807. As before the ships were en route to the Russian America and stopped to give the crews a rest and to replenish provisions of food and water. By the time of this visit the political mood in Australian and the attitude of the Australians towards Russia had changed considerably. First of all, by that moment the free settlers had begun to dominate over convict population. A civil society and its own public opinion, somewhat different form the British one, began to form in the country. Of course, the British political mood kept influencing the Australian minds, and the Australians certainly knew about the abrupt deterioration of relations between Russian and the British Crown in the light of the continuing Russo-Turkish war (1828-29). Simultaneously it was apparent that the Australians worried about the French, Russian and American presence in the Pacific region and they began to express their fears about possible attempts of these naval powers to take part in colonial division of the fifth continent. One way or another but the Australian attitude towards the Russian seamen cooled down. On the official level both ships were received with the utmost courtesy. All rules envisaged by the protocol - greeting salutes upon arrival and departure of the ships, exchange by visits between the Governor R. Darling and the captains of "Krotkiy" and "Elena", coloring by flags and Salute of Nations to honor the King George IV birthday. The tone of the media publications related to the Russian naval visitors was quite friendly. On the 30th of April the Sydney Gazette published an ode consisting of 14 strophes. It was dedicated “To the Commodore of the Russian Squadron Bound for Kamtschatka, Now Lying in the Harbour of Port Jackson”.  The ode in grandiloquent expressions glorified the friendly contest between the Britons and the Russ’ over the conquest of the endless number of the Pagan Isles scattered amidst the roaring waves of the Great Ocean. The author of the ode J.D.Lang was an ardent Russophile and many years ago, in 1873, re-published the ode in his collection dedicated to the 50th anniversary of his life in arts. On this occasion the author noted: «It is scarcely necessary to state that few Englishmen would write in such terms as these of Russia now.  But I have always thought that England was deeply culpable in giving her moral and physical support so long to so infamous a government as that of Turkey. The Crimean war I have always regarded not only as a national blunder, but a national crime”.  Nevertheless, some quite different notes were heard during the reception of the Russian ships. On the 31st of March the "Australian" newspaper asserted in a piece referred to the arrival of "Elena" that after the RAC ship two more ships would arrive in Sydney: one of them - "Krotkiy" and the other - a big one armed with 74 cannons, on which the Governor of "Siberia or Kamchatka" would arrive. On the 8th of April "The Australian" thus commented this information: «No doubt, should hostilities at no distant day happen to ensure between Russia and Great Britain the former power would not fail to take advantage of the unprotected state of Port Jackson»  as its decorative fortifications «could not for one hour oppose an armed force of any power, Russian or American». Thus for the first time the idea of a possible military conflict between England and Russia in which Australia would have been entangled began to take roots in the Australian public conscience. From then on this notion would almost always be exaggerated during the Russian naval visits to Australia, and the freight before the Russian invasion would become one of the most leading factors in the development of the Russo-Australian relations in the second half of the XIX century. It was evident from the piece of "The Australian" that the information on the arrival of the 74-cannon naval ship had been obtained by then newspaper directly from the crew members of "Elena". What for would the Russian seamen have provided this rather doubtful information? The history keeps silent on the reasons of these rumors and their sources which could have been non-Russian at all... It was still far from the openly hostile attitude towards the Russians though. On the 9 April 1829 the Governor of the colonies R. Darling wrote in his report to London about the Russian stay in Sydney: «I have seen nothing in their proceedings to excite suspicion that they have any view to colonization in New Holland. They have conducted themselves with much propriety».  Several more years would have gone before the Russophobia in Australia became common and the Russian seamen would have to try it on themselves.

 

 A.Ya. Massov. Andreevskii flag pod Yuzhnym krestom. St Petersburg, 1995

                                                                               

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