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                                TRAVELS
                                  IN
                             KAMTSCHATKA,
                    DURING THE YEARS 1787 AND 1788.

                     TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF
                   M. DE LESSEPS, CONSUL OF FRANCE,
                                  AND
              INTERPRETER TO THE COUNT DE LA PEROUSE, NOW
                ENGAGED IN A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, BY
                COMMAND OF HIS MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY.

                            IN TWO VOLUMES.

                              VOLUME II.

                                LONDON:
            PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL’S CHURCH-YARD.
                                 1790.




CONTENTS TO VOL. II.


                                                             Page

  Departure from Poustaretsk                                    1

  Find some concealed provisions                                4

  Painful travelling                                            5

  Am guilty of an imprudence that injures my health             6

  Cured by exercise                                             9

  Meet three convoys sent to M. Kasloff                        10

  River Penguina                                               12

  Arrival at Kaminoi                                         _ib_

  Koriacs falsely accused of rebellion                         13

  Description of Kaminoi                                       16

  Baidars, or large boats                                      17

  M. Schmaleff is obliged to quit me                           18

  Gives me a soldier named Yegor-Golikoff                    _ib_

  Tempest                                                      20

  Arrival of seven Tchouktchis                                 21

  Conversation with their chief                                22

  Account of two women who accosted me                         31

  Arrival at the camp of the Tchouktchis                       36

  Description of the camp                                      39

  Dress of the women                                           42

  Features                                                     43

  Commerce of the Tchouktchis                                  44

  Arrival at Pareiné                                           46

  History of a woman of Ingiga                                 47

  Alarmed by a Koriac chief, who wishes to detain me           49

  Departure from Pareiné                                       59

  Meet a horde of wandering Koriacs                            63

  Contest with my people respecting the weather                65

  Surprise them by the use I made of my compass                67

  Terrible hurricane                                           70

  Arrival at Ingiga                                            74

  Account of a Koriac prince called Oumiavin                   79

  Extent of the country                                        83

  Population                                                 _ib_

  Manners of the fixed Koriacs                                 84

  Their inflexible courage                                     85

  Mode of life                                                 87

  Occupations                                                  88

  Food                                                         89

  Drink                                                        90

  Features                                                     92

  Cradle in which the women carry their children               93

  Marriages                                                  _ib_

  Funerals                                                     96

  Religion                                                    100

  Idiom                                                       105

  Preparations for my departure from Ingiga                   106

  Superstition of my soldiers                                 113

  Departure from Ingiga                                       115

  Description of a Koriac sledge                              117

  Mode of travelling with deer                                122

  In danger of my life, from being my own charioteer          124

  Receive a visit and present from prince Amoulamoula         130

  Arrival at the yourt of Oumiavin’s brother                  132

  Details respecting my host                                  134

  Flocks of rein deer                                         143

  Yourts of the wandering Koriacs                             147

  Hot springs of Tavatoma                                     151

  Mountain of Villegui                                        154

  Ostrog of Toumané                                           157

  Tempest                                                     160

  Take shelter in a deserted yourt                            161

  Plan of my journey                                          168

  Bay of Iret                                                 170

  Arrival at Yamsk                                            172

  Dress of the wandering Toungouses                           174

  Mountain called Babouschka, or grandmother                  177

  Ostrog of Srednoi                                           180

  Of Siglann                                                  181

  Ola, a Toungouse ostrog                                     183

  Toungouse yourts                                           _ib_

  Coquetry of the women                                       185

  Features and character of the Toungouses                    186

  Perplexities to which we are reduced by the ice being
  broken up                                                   188

  Obliged to pass over a cornice of ice that adhered to a
  rock                                                        190

  Stop at the house of a Yakout                               197

  Fort of Taousk                                              200

  Village of Gorbé                                           _ib_

  Of Iné                                                      202

  Arrival at Okotsk                                           204

  Visit Mrs. Kasloff                                          208

  Impossibility of procuring deer                             210

  Description of Okotsk                                       211

  Departure from Okotsk                                       214

  Dangerous situation on a river                              215

  Remonstrance of one of my guides                            217

  Obliged to return to Okotsk                                 219

  News of the arrival of M. Kasloff at Ingiga                 225

  Historical details respecting the commerce of Okotsk        227

  Its government                                              242

  Expedition of M. Billings                                   246

  Breaking up of the river Okhota                             249

  Famine occasioned by the length of winter                   252

  Preparations for my departure                               254

  Description of my wretched steeds                           257

  Salt work twelve wersts from Okotsk                         259

  Particulars of my journey                                   260

  Manner of our halt                                          265

  Food of the Yakouts                                         269

  Meet a caravan of merchants                                 270

  In danger of being drowned                                  272

  Arrival at Ouratskoï-plodbisché                             277

  Custom observed by the Yakouts when they leave a horse in
  the high way                                                279

  Accident that happens to Golikoff                           280

  Arrival at the cross of Yudoma                              281

  Difficulties we experience from the wretched condition of
  the boats                                                   282

  A cataract                                                  286

  Arm of the Yudoma, called the Devil’s arm                   292

  Enter the river Maya                                        294

  Meet nine boats loaded with military stores for M.
  Billings’ expedition                                        295

  A fortunate supply of horses                                296

  Yakout songs                                                298

  Particulars of my journey as far as Amgui                   299

  My reception at Amgui                                       301

  Description of a Yakout yourt                               302

  A drink called koumouiss                                    303

  Customs and manners of the Yakouts                          304

  Fables                                                      308

  Funerals                                                    310

  Wooden images of a malicious divinity                       314

  Summer habitations of the Yakouts                           315

  Arrival at Yarmangui                                        316

  Width of the Lena at Yakoutsk                               317

  Arrival at Yakoutsk                                         318

  Sup with M. Billings                                        319

  Description of Yakoutsk                                     321

  Inhabitants                                                 322

  Navigation on the Lena                                      323

  Persons employed in this service from stage to stage        324

  Town of Oleckma                                             328

  Meet a Toungouse                                           _ib_

  Toungouse canoes                                            329

  Visit a horde of these people                               330

  Particulars respecting them                                 331

  Town of Pelodui                                             334

  Of Kiringui                                                 336

  Particulars of the Bratskis                                 338

  Arrival at Irkoutsk                                         339

  Commerce carried on between Russia and China                345

  Desert of Barabniskoi-step                                  362

  Adventure in this desert                                    364

  Arrival at Tomsk                                            366

  At Tobolsk                                                  369

  At Catherinebourg                                           370

  Head dress of the Tcheremisses                              371

  Town of Casan                                               372

  An accident that endangers my life                          373

  Nijenei-novogorod                                           377

  Arrival at Moscow                                          _ib_

  At Petersburg                                               379

  At Versailles                                               381

  Vocabulary of the Kamtschadale, Koriac, Tchouktchi, and
  Lamout languages                                            383

  Vocabulary of the Kamtschadale language at St. Peter and
  St. Pauls, and at Paratounka                                404




TRAVELS IN KAMTSCHATKA, &c.


At length the 18 arrived, and I took leave of M. Kasloff. I shall
pass over our adieux; it will be supposed that they were equally
affectionate and distressing. I departed from Poustaretsk at eight
o’clock in the morning, in an open sledge drawn by seven dogs, which I
drove myself; the soldier appointed to escort me had eight harnessed
to his; and we were preceded by a guide chosen from the inhabitants of
this hamlet[1], whose sledge, loaded with the remainder of my effects,
and our provisions, was drawn by a team of twelve. I was accompanied
also by M. Schmaleff and the subaltern officers of his suite; but
instead of travelling together, as had been agreed, as far as Ingiga,
we separated a few days after.

Upon leaving Poustaretsk, we descended the gulf. We proceeded at first
with tolerable ease; the ice was solid and even, and in a few hours
we arrived at the mouth: there our progress was attended with more
difficulty. Obliged to travel upon the sea without leaving the coast,
we were every moment interrupted with piles of ice, that appeared like
so many rocks, against which we were to be dashed to pieces. It was
impossible to avoid them by turning and winding; an unequal chain of
these little mountains extended all along the coast, and intercepted
our passage; we had no resource but to attempt to surmount them, at the
risk of being overturned every step. More than once, in these falls, I
had a narrow escape from being dangerously wounded. My musquet, which
was fastened to my sledge, was bent to the shape of a bow; many of my
companions were severely bruised, and not an individual came off unhurt.

In the dusk of the evening we arrived at a hamlet situated upon the
border of the sea, consisting of two yourts and three balagans, in a
very wretched condition, and totally deserted. The only person who
lived in the yourt which we entered, had fled upon our approach[2]. I
was informed that this man was a chaman or magician: seized with terror
at the news that we were to arrive the next day, he flew immediately
for refuge to the Oluterians[3], where he would probably remain till M.
Kasloff had passed.

The Cossac who gave me this information, had been sent forward the
evening previous to our departure from Poustaretsk, by M. Schmaleff,
with orders to stop at this hamlet till we should arrive, and endeavour
in the mean time to discover some concealed store of fish. This
precaution was very serviceable to us. The Cossac, upon our arrival,
conducted us to a cave which we found to be well stocked. I took a
tolerable portion, having brought from Poustaretsk only provision
enough for two days.

The 19, early in the morning we pursued our route. This day’s journey
was still more fatiguing than the preceding one. The way was terrible.
Twenty times I saw my sledge ready to be shattered to pieces, which
would certainly have been the case, if I had not at last determined
to proceed on foot. I was compelled to this, in order to guard myself
against the danger of being overturned, and thus was I obliged to walk
almost the whole day; but I only avoided one misfortune to fall into
another.

In a few hours I felt myself so fatigued that I was going to remount
my sledge, when a sudden jolt instantly turned it upon its side, and
effectually cooled my desire. I had no resource but to drag myself
on as well as I could. My legs bent under me, I was in a profuse
perspiration, and a burning thirst still added to my weariness. The
snow was a poor relief, and I had nothing else with which to quench my
thirst. Unfortunately I perceived a little river; absolute necessity
conduced my steps to it, and, without reflecting upon the consequences
of my imprudence, I instantly broke the ice, and put a piece into my
mouth. This precipitation was purely mechanical, and I soon repented
it. My thirst was relieved; but from the excessive heat of which I
before complained, I passed to the contrary extreme; a universal chill
seized me, and all my limbs trembled.

The sharpness of the night increased my agueish feeling, and my
weakness at last was so extreme, that I was unable to proceed a step
farther. I entreated my companions to halt in the midst of this desert.
They complied out of pure civility to me, for the difficulty of
procuring wood was otherwise a sufficient reason to determine them to
proceed. Scarcely could they collect enough to place under a kettle;
it consisted of a few little shrubs, so green that it was almost
impossible to make them burn. How happy were we to succeed so far as to
be able to make tea!

After drinking a few cups, I retired to my tent[4], where I lay
down upon a small mattrass spread upon the snow, and covered myself
up with a number of furs, in order to revive perspiration. It was in
vain; I did not close my eyes during the whole night. To the anguish
of a dry and burning fever, were added a continual oppression, and
all the restlessness peculiar to the first symptoms of a disorder. I
conceived myself, I acknowledge, to be dangerously ill, particularly
when I found, upon getting up, that I could not articulate a single
sound. I suffered infinitely both in my breast and throat; the fever
was not abated; nevertheless the idea that a longer halt in this place
would be of no benefit to me, and that I could only hope for succour
by proceeding, determined me to conceal my extreme illness from M.
Schmaleff. I was the first to propose going on, but in this I consulted
my courage more than my strength.

I had advanced but a few wersts, when my sufferings became
insupportable. I was obliged to drive myself, and consequently to be in
continual motion; frequently also I was compelled from the badness of
roads, either to run by the side of my sledge, or call to the dogs to
make them proceed. My hoarseness prevented their hearing me; and it was
only by efforts that exhausted my strength, and tortured my lungs, that
I at last succeeded. This exercise however, painful as it was, proved
salutary to me; by degrees it created a perspiration; in the evening I
could breathe more freely; the fever left me; I had no complaint but
a violent cold, which was removed in a few days. Fatiguing exercise
was the only remedy I used. I took particular care to continue the
perspiration it occasioned, and to this I am persuaded I owe the
rapidity of my cure. My breast however was so sore, that I felt the
effects of it for a considerable time.

During this interval I had nothing to suffer from the rigour of
tempests; the air was calm, and the weather clear. We were blessed with
the finest days of winter, or I should perhaps never again have seen my
native country. Heaven seemed to favour my journey, that I might forget
my sufferings.

The most lively joy soon succeeded to the sorrow that had depressed
me. We met, in different detachments, three convoys sent by sergeant
Kabechoff to M. Kasloff. This unexpected succour gave me the more
pleasure, as the deplorable state in which I had left the governor,
was continually recurring to my mind. What a sudden change in his
situation! He was upon the point of receiving a supply of provisions,
together with an hundred and fifty dogs well fed and well trained. He
will be able, said I to myself, to proceed immediately on his journey;
and if I cannot flatter myself that I shall see him again, I know at
least that he will be extricated from his embarassment. This certainty
relieved the anxiety which I had felt on his account.

The soldier who conducted the convoys, offered me part of his
provisions; but I refused them. He had no profusion, and we were not in
want. I detained him therefore as short a time as possible.

Before he quitted us, he told me that prince Eitel, or chief of the
Koriacs of Kaminoi, who had been accused of rebellion, was advancing to
undeceive the governor, and prove the falsehood of the charge.

In pursuing our route, we perceived, beyond a small river bordered
with some shrubs, a chain of steep mountains, which it was necessary
to climb one after the other, in order to descend upon another river,
called Talofka. Its banks diverged as it approached the sea; they
were well wooded, and I perceived some trees of a tolerable size. We
left this river at a distance from Kaminoi, in order to traverse an
extensive heath, then a considerable lake; at length we crossed the
river Pengina, almost at its mouth, and in a direction from south-east
to north-west. Its breadth is striking, and the aspect of the heaps of
ice that covered it, and which were of an extreme height, would have
been still more picturesque, if we could have taken a more convenient
way; but we had no choice, and were reduced to the necessity of
hoisting, as I may say, our dogs and our sledges from heap to heap.
The difficulty and slowness of this manœuvre is easily conceived; it
required my utmost exertion and care to get off unhurt.

It was still near two hours before we reached Kaminoi, where we
arrived the 24 before noon. We were received by the inhabitants with
the utmost civility. In the absence of Eitel, another prince called
_Eila_, had the command. He came to meet us with a Russian detachment,
and we were conducted to the yourt of Eitel, which had been cleaned and
prepared a long time for the reception of M. Kasloff.

Eila conferred upon us every mark of respect; we had constantly a
centinel at our door, whose orders were to open it to such persons only
as we had no reason to distrust.

This was not owing to any doubts we entertained respecting the report
that had been spread of the rebellion of the Koriacs; it was evidently
false[5]. Their behaviour to us, and the reception they had prepared
for the governor, plainly proved what was their disposition at present.
Nor is it to be presumed that this was the effect of the arrival of
the soldiers sent from Ingiga[6]. Their wretched condition was little
calculated to awe men like the Koriacs, who are too little attached
to life, I understand, to be ever intimidated; and whom nothing can
restrain, if they have the least ground for discontent.

The sight however of the cannon, and of the Cossacs in arms, who had
entered the village without announcing any hostile intention, gave
them at first some alarm. Immediately advancing towards the subaltern
officer who commanded the troop, they called upon him to declare,
whether he was come to strike a blow at their liberty, and extirpate
them; adding, that if such were the project of the Russians, the
Koriacs would all die to a man, rather than submit. The officer removed
their fears, by artfully answering, that the occasion of his embassy
ought not to alarm them; that he was sent to meet M. Kasloff, which was
an honour due to his rank, and prescribed by the military regulations
of Russia towards their governors. This explanation was sufficient to
remove their suspicions; and the Koriacs and Russians lived together
upon terms of the best understanding. The confidence of the Koriacs was
so great, that they took no precautions against a surprise, and would
have paid no attention to the continued abode of these soldiers among
them, but for a famine, which began to render such guests burthensome.

I had intended to stay no longer at Kaminoi than was necessary to
rest my dogs; but on the night of the 24, the sky became obscured, and
frequent gusts of wind threatened an approaching tempest; the fear of
encountering it in the open field, made me defer my departure.

This ostrog is three hundred wersts from Poustaretsk, and is situated
upon an eminence near the sea coast, and at the mouth of the river
Pengina. It contains a great number of balagans and twelve yourts,
all of them very large, and built in a similar manner to those I have
already described. Though very near to one another, these habitations
occupy a considerable space of ground. The palisades which surround
them are fortified with spears, bows and arrows, and musquets. They are
thicker and higher than those placed round the Kamtschadale yourts.
Within these wretched fortifications the Koriacs consider themselves
as impregnable. Here they repel the attacks of their enemies, and
among others, the Tchoukchis, who are the most formidable of their
neighbours, both in point of number and courage[7].

The population at Kaminoi scarcely exceeds three hundred persons,
including men, women, and children. I shall say nothing of the manners
of the inhabitants till my arrival at Ingiga, which will I hope be in a
few days.

Before I left the village, I saw a dozen baidars, or boats, of
different sizes, similar to the one I mentioned upon coming out of
Khaluli[8], except that they were better constructed, and from their
superior lightness, had the advantage in sailing. I admired also their
remarkable breadth. Many of these baidars would hold from twenty-five
to thirty persons.

From the moment of our arrival, M. Schmaleff had foreseen that he
should not be able to accompany me from this village. Beset evening
and morning by the whole detachment of soldiers, who came to acquaint
him with the urgency of their wants, he considered it as his duty not
to abandon them, but to employ all the means which his office and
his perfect knowledge of the country afforded him for procuring them
assistance. He was equally impatient with myself to get to Ingiga,
where his brother had long expected him: but he resolved nevertheless
to let me depart without him.

He informed me of this circumstance with regret, and gave me at the
same time a confidential soldier, named _Yegor-Golikoff_[9]. He made
me, he said, in this man a valuable present; and we shall find in the
sequel that he was not deceived.

This kindness increased the reluctance I felt at being obliged so soon
to leave this good and gallant officer. My gratitude would lead me to
repeat in this place, what the English have written of his humanity
and politeness; but I leave to count de la Perouse the pleasure of
acquitting the debt which every individual in the expedition owes to M.
Schmaleff, for his assiduity in rendering it, while at Saint Peter and
Saint Paul’s, all the services that were in his power.

I came out of Kaminoi at eight o’clock in the morning of the 26, the
weather being tolerably calm[10]. At the distance of fifteen wersts, I
again met with the chain of mountains which I had before passed on this
side of the village. I traversed them a second time, and then crossed
a river called _Chestokova_, from a subaltern officer of that name,
who had been killed there at the head of a detachment sent to keep
the revolted Koriacs in awe. Under advantage of the night the Koriacs
had taken them by surprise upon the border of this river, and had not
suffered an individual to escape: all the Russians were massacred. I
halted in the same place.

I was roused from my sleep by the gusts of wind that blew with extreme
violence. The clouds of snow obscured the air to a degree, that it
was not easy to distinguish if it were day. In spite of this dreadful
hurricane I resolved to proceed; but I could not prevail on my guides
to make even the attempt. They persisted in not quitting the place,
from the apprehension of losing their way, and encountering other
dangers in such bad weather.

Opposed on all sides, I retired to my tent in no very pleasant humour.
At noon I was agreeably consoled by the arrival of seven Tchoukchis.
They were in sledges, similar to those of the wandering Koriacs, and
drawn in like manner by rein deer. I received them under my tent, and
invited them to remain till the storm was dissipated. Nothing could
have flattered them more, as I judged from the air of satisfaction
which my offer imparted to the countenance of every individual.

Among these Tchoukchis was the chief of the horde, called _Tummé_. He
addressed himself to me in order to express the gratitude they felt
for the reception I gave them. He assured me that ever since they had
heard of me, they had desired nothing so ardently as my acquaintance,
and had been greatly alarmed lest they should lose the opportunity. He
added, that they would never forget either my person or my kindnesses,
and that they would give an exact account of every thing to their
countrymen. I answered with a profusion of thanks, informing them that
I had been already made acquainted with their obliging curiosity, and
that I had not been less desirous of the present interview.

After this preface, we talked upon general subjects, particularly upon
their country and mine. My curiosity was equal to theirs, and the time
passed in perpetual questions. As I told them that, in returning to
France, I must pass through the town that was the residence of their
sovereign, they begged me to give her a faithful account of them, and
to lay at her feet the tribute of their respect and submission. They
added, that they were by so much the more happy in being tributaries
of Russia, as they every day found the Russians more easy of access,
and more affectionate in their behaviour. They spoke with particular
commendation of M. Gaguen, governor of Ingiga.

The kindness they had experienced, made them regret the want of
opportunity to maintain a more frequent intercourse with the Russians.
The only mode, they said, of surmounting these difficulties, would be
for the subjects of the Czarina to form afresh their establishment
upon the river Anadir. They promised for the future that, far from
giving any interruption to the settlers, they would exert themselves
by every office of friendship to make them forget the injustice of
their past conduct. That conduct had originated in an error, under
which they laboured as well as the Koriacs, in having formerly figured
to themselves the Russians as consisting only of that small number of
individuals, who came in this adventurous manner to plant themselves
in their territory and neighbourhood. By a natural sentiment of
jealousy, they had regarded these emigrants as so many adversaries,
whose industry and activity were the objects of their suspicion; and
they conceived that nothing could be of more importance to them than to
rid themselves of the intruders, persuaded that in exterminating the
settlers they should destroy the race.

The Tchoukchis professed to have discovered their mistake, and their
folly as soon as they had been properly acquainted with the Russians.
It was in vain that they were now persuaded to revolt, they being
on the contrary disposed to counteract the seditious intrigues of a
prince, or chief of the Tchoukchis, whose residence was fixed, by name
_Kherourgui_, either by curtailing his authority, or even by delivering
him up to the Russians.

Not being able to conceive in what part of the world I was born,
they asked me if my country were not on the other side of the great
river. Before I answered them, I desired to know the meaning of their
question; and I found they imagined that beyond Russia, with which
country itself they had little acquaintance, there was a very large
river that divided them from another country inhabited by different
people.

It was not easy to instruct them upon this subject. I talked a long
while without their understanding a single word of my geographical
dissertation. They had no accurate idea either of number or extension.
It was not less difficult to give them a notion of the strength of
a state, or the riches and power of its sovereign. They had never
attempted an estimation even of that of Russia. That I might enable
them to judge of it, I was obliged to illustrate the abundance of its
commodities, its money, and its population, by comparisons drawn from
the number of animals they hunted, and the quantity of fish they caught
every year, without destroying the breed. This explanation, which I
exerted all my ability to make level to their capacities, extremely
pleased them. I adopted the same method to give them a notion of the
way measure extension. I began with the ground that my tent covered,
and the taking a sheet of paper, drew a sort of geographical chart, in
which I marked pretty nearly the situation and distances of Russia and
France, with respect to their country.

It was not without some labour that I made myself understood. But
for this I was indemnified by the eagerness and attention with which
they listened to me. In general I was astonished at the solidity of
their understanding, and the thirst they felt for the acquisition of
knowledge. Superior in these respects to the Koriacs, they appear both
to respect more upon what they say themselves, and what they hear
and behold. These two people have nearly the same idiom; the only
difference is, that I found in the Tchoukchis a habit of prolonging the
final syllables of words, and a pronunciation slower and sweeter than
that of the Koriacs. With the assistance of my guide, who served me for
an interpreter, I kept up the conversation tolerably well.

The attention with which I examined their dress, inspired them with a
desire of seeing the French habit[11], and I ordered my uniform to be
taken out of my portmanteau. At sight of it they expressed admiration
in every part of their attitude. Every one was eager to touch it,
every one exclaimed upon its singularity and its beauty. My buttons,
marked with the arms of France, were particularly inspected, and it was
necessary anew to exert my ingenuity to describe to them intelligibly,
what this figure represented, and what was its use. But they did not
allow me to finish. They eagerly reached out their hands, and intreated
me to divide them among them. I consented, upon the promise they gave
me to preserve them with extreme care. Their object in keeping them,
was to employ them as a mark of affection, which they might shew to all
the strangers that touched upon their coast, in hopes that among the
rest there might possibly arrive a Frenchman.

Their countrymen had seen the English some years before. “Why, said
they, do not the French also visit us? They might depend upon being
received by us with cheerfulness and cordiality.” I thanked them for
their obliging disposition, and represented to them that the distance
was an insuperable obstacle, and would not permit us to put their
kindness often to the proof. Meanwhile I promised to give a faithful
representation of it upon my arrival in France.

After regaling them in the best manner I could with tobacco, having
nothing that could afford them greater pleasure, we parted upon the
best terms of friendship. Upon leaving me, they said, that I should
probably soon met their equipages and their wives, whom they had left
behind in order to make the greater haste.

The wind became calm shortly after the departure of these Tchoukchis,
and I pursued my journey.

The next day, at the very moment when I was about to stop, upon seeing
a convenient place by the side of a wood, I perceived farther on before
me a numerous troop of rein deer browsing at liberty upon the top of a
mountain. Upon examining them more attentively, I distinguished some
men who appeared to be guarding them. I hesitated at first whether I
should avoid, or join them; but curiosity at length prevailed, and I
advanced to reconnoitre them.

By proceeding along the skirts of the wood I was told I should come up
with them. I conceived however that at the extremity I should be still
separated from them by a river, a small arm of which I had crossed a
quarter of an hour before: at this place it was tolerably wide. While I
was examining these people from one bank to the other, I was approached
by two women who were walking about. The eldest accosted me