waistcoat or two, a pair of breeches; a fur cap; and a pair of boots, the soles and upper leathers of which are of Russian leather; but the legs are made of some kind of strong gut. Their two chiefs, Ismyloff and Ivanovitch, wore each a calico frock; and they, as well as some others, had shirts, which were of silk. These, perhaps, were the only part of their dress not made amongst themselves. There are Russians settled upon all the principal islands between Oonalashka and Kamtschatka, for the sole purpose of collecting furs. Their great object is the sea beaver or otter. I never heard them inquire after any other animal ; though those, whose skins are of inferior value, are also made part of their cargoes. I never thought to ask how long they have had a settlement upon Oonalashka, and the neighbouring isles; but, to judge from the great subjection the natives are under, this cannot be of a very late date. All these furriers are relieved, from time to time, by others. Those we met with arrived here from Okotsk, in 1776, and are to return in 1781; so that their stay at the island will be four years at least.

It is now time to give some account of the native inhabitants. To all appearance, they are the most peaceable, inoffensive people, I ever met with. And, as to honesty, they might serve as a pattern to the most civilized nation upon earth. But from what I saw of their neighbours, with whom the Russians have no connexion, I doubt whether this was their original disposition; and rather think that it has been the consequence of their present state of subjection. Indeed, if some of our gentlemen did not misunderstand the Russians, they had been obliged to make some severe examples+, before they could bring the islanders into any order. If there were severities inflicted at first, the best apology for them is, that they have produced the happiest consequences; and, at present, the greatest harmony subsists between the two nations. The natives have their own chiefs in each island, and seem to enjoy liberty and property unmolested. But whether or no they are tributaries to the Russians, we could never find out. There was some reason to think that they are. These people are rather low of stature, but plump and well shaped; with rather short necks; swarthy chubby faces; black eyes; small beards; and long, straight, black hair; which the men wear loose behind, and cut before, but the women tie up in a bunch. Their dress has been occasionally mentioned. Both sexes wear the same in fashion; the only difference is in the materials. The women's frock is made of seal-skin; and that of the men, of the skins of birds; both reaching below the knee. This is the whole dress of the women. But, over the frock, the men wear another made of gut, which resists water; and has a hood to it, which draws over the head. Some of them wear boots; and all of them have a kind of oval-snouted cap, made of wood, with a rim to admit the head. These caps are dyed with green and other colours; and round the upper part of the rim, are stuck the long bristles of some sea-animal, on which are strung glass beads; and on the front is a small image or two made of bone.

They make use of no paint; but the women puncture their faces slightly; and both men and women bore the under lip, to which they fix pieces of bone. But it is as uncommon at Oonalashka to see a man with this ornament, as to see a woman without it. Some fix beads to the upper lip, under the nostrils, and all of them hang ornaments in their ears. Their food consists of fish, sea-animals, birds, roots, and berries; and even of sea-weed. They dry large quantities of fish in summer, which they lay up in small huts for winter use; and, probably, they preserve roots and berries for the same time of scarcity. They eat almost every thing raw. Boiling and broiling were the only methods of cookery that I saw them make use of; and the first was probably learnt from the Russians. Some have got little

The Russians began to frequent Oonalashka in 1762. See Coxe's Russian Discoveries, ch. viii. p. 80.
See the particulars of hostilities between the Russians and natives, in Coxe, as cited above.

brass kettles; and those who have not, make one of a flat stone, with sides of clay, not unlike a standing pye.

I was once present when the chief of Oonalashka made his dinner of the raw head of a large halibut just caught. Before any was given to the chief, two of his servants ate the gills, without any other dressing, besides squeezing out the slime. This done, one of them cut off the head of the fish, took it to the sea and washed it; then came with it, and sat down by the chief; first pulling up some grass, upon a part of which the head was laid, and the rest was strewed before the chief. He then cut large pieces off the cheeks, and laid these within the reach of the great man, who swallowed them with as much satisfaction as we should do raw oysters. When he had done, the remains of the head were cut in pieces, and given to the attendants, who tore off the meat with their teeth, and gnawed the bones like so many dogs.

As these people use no paint, they are not so dirty in their persons as the savages who thus besmear themselves; but they are full as lousy and filthy in their houses. Their method of building is as follows: They dig in the ground an oblong square pit, the length of which seldom exceeds fifty feet, and the breadth twenty; but in general the dimensions are smaller. Over this excavation, they form the roof of wood which the sea throws ashore. This roof is covered first with grass, and then with earth; so that the outward appearance is like a dunghill. In the middle of the roof, toward each end, is left a square opening, by which the light is admitted; one of these openings being for this purpose only, and the other being

also used to go in and out by, with the help of a ladder, or rather a post, with steps cut in it*. In some houses there is another entrance below; but this is not common. Round the sides and ends of the huts, the families (for several are lodged together) have their separate apartments, where they sleep, and sit at work; not upon benches, but in a kind of concave trench, which is dug all round the inside of the house, and covered with mats; so

Mr. Coxe's description of the habitations of the natives of Oonalashka, and the other Fox Islands, in general, agrees with Captain Cook's. See Russian Dis

coveries, p. 149. See also Histoire des différents Peuples soumis à la Domination des Russes, par M. Levesque, tom. i. p. 41.

that this part is kept tolerably decent. But the middle of the house, which is common to all the families, is far otherwise. For, although it be covered with dry grass, it is a receptacle for dirt of every kind, and the place for the urine trough; the stench of which is not mended by raw hides, or leather, being almost continually steeped in it. Behind and over the trench are placed the few effects they are possessed of; such as their clothing, mats, and skins.

Their household furniture consists of bowls, spoons, buckets, piggins, or cans, matted baskets, and perhaps a Russian kettle or pot. All these utensils are very neatly made, and well formed; and yet we saw no other tools among them but the knife and the hatchet; . that is, a small flat piece of iron, made like an adze, by fitting it into a crooked wooden handle. These were the only instruments we met with there, made of iron. For although the Russians live amongst them, we found much less of this metal in their possession than we had met with in the possession of other tribes on the American continent, who had never seen, nor perhaps had any intercourse with the Russians. Probably a few beads, a little tobacco and snuff, purchase all they have to spare. There are few, if any of them, that do not both smoke and chew tobacco, and take snuff; a luxury that bids fair to keep them always poor. They do not seem to wish for more iron, or to want any other instruments, except sewing-needles, their own being made of bone. With these they not only sew their canoes, and make their clothes, but also very curious embroidery. Instead of thread, they use the fibres of sinews, which they split to the thickness which each sort of work requires. All sewing is performed by the women. They are tailors, shoemakers, and boat-builders, or boat-coverers; for the men, most probably, construct the frame of wood over which the skins are sewed. They make mats and baskets of grass, that are both beautiful and strong. Indeed there is a neatness and perfection in most of their work that shows they neither want ingenuity nor perseverance.

I saw not a fire-place in any one of their houses. They are lighted as well as heated by lamps, which are simple, and yet answer the purpose very well. They are made of a flat stone, hollowed on one side like a plate, and about the same size, or rather larger. In the hollow part they put the oil, mixed with a little dry grass, which serves the purpose of a wick. Both men and women frequently warm their bodies over one of these lamps, by placing it between their legs, under their garments, and sitting thus over it for a few minutes. They produce fire by collision and by attrition; the former by striking two stones one against another; on one of which a good deal of brimstone is first rubbed. The latter method is with two pieces of wood; one of which is a stick of about eighteen inches in length, and the other a flat piece. The pointed end of the stick they press upon the other, whirling it nimbly round as a drill; thus producing fire in a few minutes. This method is common in many parts of the world. It is practised by the Kamtschadales, by these people, by the Greenlanders, by the Brazilians, by the Otaheiteans, by the New Hollanders; and probably by many other nations. Yet some learned and ingenious men have founded an argument on this custom to prove, that this and that nation are of the same extraction. But accidental agreement, in a few particular instances, will not authorise such a conclusion; nor will a disagrement, either in manners or customs, between two different nations, of course prove that they are of different extraction. I could support this opinion by many instances besides the one just mentioned.

No such thing as an offensive or even defensive weapon was seen amongst the natives of Oonalashka. We cannot suppose that the Russians found them in such a defenceless state; it is more probable that for their own security they have disarmed them. Political reasons too may have induced the Russians not to allow these islanders to have any large canoes; for it is difficult to believe they had none such originally, as we found them amongst all their neighbours. However we saw none here but one or two belonging to the Russians. The canoes made use of by the natives are the smallest we had anywhere seen upon the American coast; though built after the same manner, with some little difference in the construction. The stern of these terminates a little abruptly; the head is forked; the upper point of the fork projecting without the under one, which is even with the surface of the water. Why they should thus construct them is difficult to conceive; for the fork is apt to catch

hold of everything that comes in the way; to prevent which they fix a piece of small stick from point to point. In other respects their canoes are built after the manner of those used by the Greenlanders and Esquimaux; the framing being of slender laths, and the covering of seal-skins. They are about twelve feet long; a foot and a half broad in the middle; and twelve or fourteen inches deep. Upon occasion they can carry two persons; one of whom is stretched at full length in the canoe; and the other sits in the seat, or round hole, which is nearly in the middle. Round this hole is a rim or hoop of wood, about which is sewed gut skin, that can be drawn together, or opened like a purse, with leathern thongs fitted to the outer edge. The man seats himself in this place, draws the skin tight round his body over his gut frock, and brings the ends of the thongs, or purse-string, over the shoulder to keep it in its place. The sleeves of his frock are tied round his wrists; and it being close round his neck, and the hood drawn over his head, where it is confined by his cap, water can scarcely penetrate either to his body or into the canoe. If any should, however, insinuate itself, the boatman carries a piece of spunge, with which he dries it up. He uses the double-bladed paddle, which is held with both hands in the middle, striking the water with a quick regular motion, first on one side and then on the other. By this means the canoe is impelled at a great rate, and in a direction as straight as a line can be drawn. In sailing from Egooschshak to Samganoodha, two or three canoes kept way with the ship, though she was going at the rate of seven miles an hour.

Their fishing and hunting implements lie ready upon the canoes, under straps fixed for the purpose. They are all made in great perfection of wood and bone; and differ very little from those used by the Greenlanders, as they are described by Crantz. The only difference is in the point of the missile dart; which, in some we saw here, is not above an inch long; whereas Crantz says that those of the Greenlanders are a foot and a half in length. Indeed these darts, as well as some other of their instruments, are so curious that they deserve a particular description; but as many of them were brought away on board the ships, this can be done at any time, if thought necessary. These people are very expert in striking fish, both in the sea and in rivers. They also make use of hooks and lines, nets and weirs. The hooks are composed of bone, and the lines of sinews.

The fishes, which are common to other northern seas, are found here; such as whales, grampusses, porpoises, sword-fish, halibut, cod, salmon, trout, soals, flat-fish; several other sorts of small fish; and there may be many more that we had no opportunity of seeing. Halibut and salmon seem to be in the greatest plenty; and on them the inhabitants of these isles subsist chiefly; at least they were the only sort of fish, except a few cod, which we observed to be laid up for their winter store. To the north of 60°, the sea is, in a manner, destitute of small fish of every kind; but then whales are more numerous. Seals, and that whole tribe of sea-animals, are not so numerous as in many other seas. Nor can this be thought strange, since there is hardly any part of the coast, on either continent, nor any of

the islands lying between them, that is not inhabited, and whose inhabitants hunt these animals for their food and clothing. Sea-horses are, indeed, in prodigious numbers about the ice; and the sea-otter is, I believe, nowhere found but in this sea. We sometimes saw an animal with a head like a seal's, that blew after the manner of whales. It was larger than a seal, and its colour was white, with some dark spots. Probably this was the sea-cow, or manati.

I think I may venture to assert, that sea and water-fowls are neither in such numbers, nor in such variety, as with us in the northern parts of the Atlantic Ocean. There are some, however, here that I do not remember to have seen anywhere else; particularly the Alca monochroa of Steller, before-mentioned; and a black and white duck, which I conceive to be different from the stone-duck described by Krasheninikoff*. All the other birds seen by us are mentioned by this author, except some that we met with near the ice; and most, if not all of these, are described by Martin in his voyage to Greenland. It is a little extraordinary that penguins, which are common in many parts of the world, should not be found in this sea. Albatrosses too are so very scarce, that I cannot help thinking that this is not their proper climate. The few land-birds that we met with are the same with those in Europe; but there may be many others which we had no opportunity of knowing. A very beautiful bird was shot in the woods at Norton Sound, which, I am told, is sometimes found in England, and known by the name of chatterer. Our people met with other small birds there, but in no great variety and abundance; such as the wood-pecker, the bull-finch, the yellow-finch, and a small bird called a tit-mouse.

As our excursions and observations were confined wholly to the sea-coast, it is not to be expected that we could know much of the animals or vegetables of the country. Except mosquitoes, there are few other insets, or reptiles, that I saw, but lizards. There are no deer upon Oonalashka, nor upon any other of the islands. Nor have they any domestic animals, not even dogs. Foxes and weasels were the only quadrupeds we saw; but they told us that they had hares also, and the marmottas mentioned by Krasheninikoff †. Hence it is evident that the sea and rivers supply the greatest share of food to the inhabitants. They are also obliged to the sea for all the wood made use of for building, and other necessary purposes; for not a stick grows upon any of the islands, nor upon the adjacent coast of the continent. The learned tell us, that the seeds of plants are, by various means, conveyed from one part of the world to another; even to islands in the midst of great oceans, and far remote from any other land. How comes it to pass that there are no trees growing on this part of the continent of America, nor any other of the islands lying near it? They are certainly as well situated for receiving seeds, by all the various ways I have heard of, as any of those coasts that abound in wood. May not nature have denied to some soil the power of raising trees without the assistance of art? As to the drift-wood upon the shores of the islands, I have no doubt that it comes from America. For although there may be none on the neighbouring coast, enough may grow farther up the country, which torrents in the spring may break loose, and bring down to the sea. And not a little may be conveyed from the woody coasts, though they lie at a greater distance.

There are a great variety of plants at Oonalashka; and most of them were in flower the latter end of June. Several of them are such as we find in Europe, and in other parts of America, particularly in Newfoundland; and others of them, which are also met with in Kamtschatka, are eat by the natives both there and here. Of these Krasheninikoff has given us descriptions. The principal one is the saranne, or lily-root; which is about the sive of a root of garlic, round, made up of a number of small cloves, and grains like groats. When boiled, it is somewhat like saloop; the taste is not disagreeable, and we found means to make some good dishes with it. It does not seem to be in great plenty, for we got none but what Ismyloff gave us.

We must reckon amongst the food of the natives some other wild roots; the stalk of a plant resembling angelica, and berries of several different sorts; such as bramble-berries, cran-berries, hurtle-berries, heath-berries, a small red berry which, in Newfoundland, is

* History of Kamtschatka. Eng. Trans., p. 160.

History of Kamtschatka, p. 99.