The Chukchee

Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History.

Volume XI.

Part II. -- The Chuckchee -- Religion by W. Bogoras 1907

1904.

XII. -- RELIGIOUS IDEAS.

The religious ideas of both branches of the Chukchee are so much alike, that they can be described together. {The material presented in this chapter was collected principally from shamans, and aged people versed in "old tidings" (tele'nkin pi'nilte), as the Chukchee call everything relating to their mythology or history. These data were supplemented from their folk-tales, to which, in many cases, no specific references can be given, since the larger part of them are not yet published. The tales, however, were used only so far as they yielded new details regarding the characters and mythical beings known to the Chukchee. Stories like those about the creation of the world and the part that the raven and other birds and animals played in it will be treated separately.

The Chukchee conception of various supernatural beings treated of in this chapter is illustrated by a number of pencil-sketches which I requested several natives in various parts of the country to make for me. It seemed to me that graphic representation of things previously described merely in words would add new details which otherwise would be out of the reach of the investigator. Care was taken, in comparing details given by different men, to eliminate those differing from the general character of the description. Nevertheless, the sketches remain individual, and they are of scientific value only so far as they help to an understanding of the forms which present themselves to the mind of the Chukchee. I shall speak of them again when referring to Chukchee art; but I take up a few of them here to illustrate the religious ideas of the people.} Minor differences will be pointed out in the following discussion.

In studying the religious ideas of the Chukchee I gradually formed a simple theory about the first development of the religious concepts of primitive man in general. I give it here, in the beginning of this chapter, in order to make what follows easier to understand. Its value for me is the help it was to me in arranging the material in a systematic way.

Primitive man, conscious of life, which is the source of his actions, attributes similar life and inherent virtue to all surrounding objects of nature that have attracted his attention by their activity, by some striking feature of their outward appearance, or, indeed, by any other circumstance. This attribution of life similar to his own {I avoid using the term "animism," because it presupposes the conception of the human soul, which, in my opinion, belongs to a later stage. E. B. Tylor says that animism includes two great dogmas, forming parts of one consistent doctrine; first, concerning souls of individual creatures capable of continued existence after the death or destruction of the body; second, concerning other spirits, upward to the rank of powerful deities (Primitive Culture, p. 426). According to my theory, these two dogmas belong to the last stage of development. On the whole, my plan must be considered as an attempt to outline the way in which primitive man (Chukchee) reached the stage of animism.} forms the basis of his religious concepts; and primitive mythology develops from it by gradual ramification and working-up of details.

Stages of Development of Primitive Religious Concepts. -- The primary development of the attribution of life here described presents five stages, more or less distinct, which are as follows: --

The first stage relates only to that qualitative similarity of man and objects which consists in the belief that life is their common property. The form of the objects and the degree of their supposed adaptation to the actions of life are not taken into consideration, and not included as yet in the field of view. A stone, a tree, a hill, or a cloud, also phenomena of nature (wind, rain, thunder), are considered simply as living, no matter what their form may be. {Daniel G. Brinton says, "To the mind of the savage, whatever displayed movement, emitted sound or odor, or by its defined limits and form indicated unity, was to him a manifestation in personality of that impersonal spiritual Power of which he felt himself but one of the expressions. All other expressions shared his powers, and did not in essence differ from him. The brute, the plant, the stone, the wandering orbs of night, the howling wind, the crackling fire, the towering hill, -- all were his fell-creatures, inspired by the same life as himself, drawing it from the same universal font of life" (Religions of Primitive Peoples, p. 136).

This -- if we except the "impersonal spiritual Power" and the "universal font of life," which seem to be rather too abstract for the lowest stage of primitive religious thought -- is nearly what was said above.

Andrew Lang says still more definitely, "The savage draws no hard line between himself and the things in the world he regards himself as literally akin to, -- animals and plants and heavenly bodies. He attributes sex and procreative powers even to stones and rocks, and human feelings to sun and moon and stars and wind, no less than to beasts, birds, and fishes" (Myth, Ritual, and Religion, I, p. 47).} The well-known instance given by Darwin, {Descent of Man, p. 67.} of the dog which barked at an open umbrella occasionally moved by a breeze, represents evidently the same state of mind. An object moves, and is alive. Likewise, primitive man will take for living the tree that rustles, the wind that passes by, the stone that waits silently lying upon the ground, but makes the passing man stumble over itself, the lake, the river, the brook, the hill that towers over the plain and throws its shadow upon it. Man may struggle with the objects, and vanquish or kill them; he may sacrifice to them, and ask them for protection; and he may pick up the smaller ones and use them as his amulets. These, carried about his body, would insure to him safety against all hostile forces. {Compare Chapter. XIII.}

Development begins with the first effort to find points of resemblance between the forms of objects and the parts of the human body, which would make the concept of inner similarity more detailed and more plausible. Even slight resemblances of this kind are seized readily, and a mouth, a head, or arms may be recognized in the accidental forms of objects that are already believed to be endowed with life. In amulets especially, a very vague resemblance is quite sufficient to give them rank as anthropomorphous beings. A small wooden crotch, or a narrow strip of leather cut in two on the base to represent the legs, is regarded as a human-like figure. This is the second stage, which is the first attempt at transforming the primitive concept of similarity, which is amorphous and qualitative only, into a more precise objective and formal shape.

When this vague outward resemblance ceases to give satisfaction to the mind, there arises an idea that material objects have two shapes, -- their ordinary form and a transformed form more or less human-like. Both forms are material, and the objects can at will change one for the other. Thus, stone mauls of the household transform themselves into men, and shortly afterward drop on the ground in their former shape. On the other hand, men may transform themselves at will into animals or inanimate objects. In their transfigured shape, inanimate objects acquire life and are able to perform human-like actions. This view of the subject, however, adapts itself much better to animals; and instances to be given later on contain ample evidence of the idea held by the natives regarding the double nature of the animal world. This is the third stage of development of the primitive conception of nature.

As a natural deduction from the concept of the existence of objects in two forms, follows a surmise that one of the forms is exterior while the other is interior, hidden within its cover. Since it is hidden, it is supposed to be generally invisible, but also capable at will of casting off the outward shell and appearing as a human being. Thus arises the first hypothesis admitting the distinction between the material shape of the object and the life supposed to be contained in it. The latter becomes a spirit, or rather a "genius" of human-like form. He is invisible, and the material object is his usual abode, which, however, he may leave, and assume his own human-like shape. In this shape he may appear to shamans or to other persons of his own choice. This is the fourth stage. It presupposes the co-existence of the material object and its "genius," while in the third stage the two forms of the object could change only from one to the other. The separation of the "genius" from his material object is, however, potential in a degree. In leaving it the "genius" must not move too far away, and after a while he must re-enter his material abode. To him are attributed all the material and spiritual qualities of an ordinary man.

The conception of the "genius" is very well expressed by the American-Eskimo term inua, "its man" (in Asiatic-Eskimo, yu'wa). It clearly implies that a human-like spirit is supposed to live within the object. Animals, in accordance with this idea, are supposed to be men covered with skin garments, and able to lay them aside at will. Men, on the other hand, may transform themselves into animals or inanimate objects by covering themselves with skins or with garments resembling the outward appearance of the objects. Then, by casting aside their mask, they may re-assume their human shape. To this stage belongs the origin of the conception of the human soul, which is distinct from the body, and is able to leave it temporarily in sleep. In the more primitive stages, man, probably, was unable to analyze his dreams, and simply considered them as a peculiar mode of life of his person as it existed in its entirety.

In the fifth stage the "genii" gradually become free from their objects, acquire freedom of motion, and thus become actually spirits. Their human characteristics become more accentuated and acquire new details. Many of them receive individual features and enter into varied relations with one another. Thus grows up the first mythology, which forms a series of stories about spirits endowed with special power, invisible, and able to fly, but, on the whole, quite similar to men, even in their need of food and susceptibility to death. The origin of the belief that the deceased, after their bodies are destroyed, continue to exist, invisible to us, belongs to this last stage. It develops from the conception of the human soul abiding in the body, just as naturally as the conception of free-moving spirits evolves from the idea of the "genii" of the objects.

Thus gradually arises the idea of the deceased living in the "other world," in the "world beyond," having there villages, houses, families, hunting game, etc. The parallelism between the development of the conceptions of spirits and deceased men gives rise to the idea that the deceased live in one world and the spirits in another, or that there are several worlds situated at regular intervals above and below the earth, and inhabited alternately by deceased men and spirits. From another point of view the conception of the deceased is different from that of the human soul. The latter is represented as small, timid, helpless, liable to persecution by hostile spirits, and asking for the protection of those well disposed to men. The deceased one, on the contrary, is represented as an invisible spirit, great and powerful, with more power than man has. He is considered dangerous, capable of doing harm to the living, or, on the other hand, as benevolent, and willing to protect his mortal descendants. Thus the ancestral cult arises, which, however, supposes several stages of development to have supervened, and the ability to form more complicate and specialized ideas to have been acquired. {Even Herbert Spencer, who, on the whole, considers ancestor-worship to be the principal source of religion, admits in his Principles of Sociology (I, p. 305) that it arises only when the notion of ghosts passes from its first vagueness and variability into a definite and avowed faith.

The tendency to follow the example of the forefathers, which has contributed so much to the consolidation of primitive institutions, seems to have originated from ancestor-worship. I mention it here because it plays a very important part in the religious life of the Chukchee, and, other explanations lacking, is always brought forward as an explanation of various rites and performances.}

The characteristics of the five stages of primitive religious thought were necessarily given in a schematic shape. In reality, all five stages, being very elementary, spring up almost simultaneously, and co-exist side by side. Nevertheless, on a more careful study of primitive mythology, one may notice that the earlier stages gradually become extinct, while the later stages develop more fully, down to the last, which, in the present period, prevails among the most primitive tribes.

In arranging, according to the plan proposed, the material collected in connection with the religious ideas of the Chukchee, we find that the whole background is occupied by conceptions belonging to the first stage, where the attribution of life, to nature is simple, and devoid of personal form.

Material Objects considered as Alive. -- Generally speaking, the Chukchee believe that all nature is animated, and that every material object can act, speak, and walk by itself. Of such objects the Chukchee sometimes say that they are geti'nvilenat ("having a master"), but more often they call them gequli'linet ("having a voice"), implying that they are endowed with life, which, however, is not separable from them. Objects "having a voice" will keep some, at least, of their material qualities and features. For instance, a stone endowed with a voice would simply roll down and crush a man against whom it had a grudge, or it would induce another man to pick it up in order to become his amulet.

In the cosmogonical statements of the Chukchee shamans (so-called eñe'ñilina lo'зo, "things seen by a shaman"), we find that the life which they believe to be diffused throughout nature is described in its' relation to the shamanistic spirits in the following manner: --

"On the steep bank of a river there exists life. A voice is there, and speaks aloud. I saw the 'master' of the voice and spoke with him. He subjected himself to me and sacrificed to me. He came yesterday and answered my questions. The small gray bird with the blue breast sings shaman-songs in the hollow of the bough, calls her spirits, and practises shamanism. The woodpecker strikes his drum in the tree with his drumming nose. Under the axe the tree trembles and wails as a drum under the baton. All these come at my call.

"All that exists lives. The lamp walks around. The walls of the house have voices of their own. Even the chamber-vessel has a separate land and house. The skins sleeping in the bags talk at night. The antlers lying on the tombs arise at night and walk in procession around the mounds, while the deceased get up and visit the living." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 385.}

In another statement of a similar kind a small bird is practising in the hollow of the bough on a drum of grass. His sacrifice is small beetles or worms, the best of his food. The thievish raven, alighting on the top of the tree, listens to the bird's songs, and takes possession of them by drawing them in with his breath.

In still another statement of this character, everything has its own voice (ge'mge-kuli'lm) or its own master (ga'mga-êti'nvilin). Skins ready for sale have a "master" of their own. In the night-time they turn into reindeer and walk to and fro. The trees in the forest talk to one another. Even the shadows on the wall constitute definite tribes and have their own country, where they live in huts and subsist by hunting. The rainbow and sun-rays have "masters," who live above on the highest part of the rainbow and at the place where the sun's rays emanate, and descend to earth along these paths of light.

In one Chukchee story the evil spirit (ke'lE) puts his chamber-vessel near the body of a captive boy who pretends to be dead. The evil spirit defecates into the vessel, and bids it keep watch over the body. After a while the boy moves, and the chamber-vessel immediately gives alarm by its cries. The spirit, who was asleep, awakes and comes to inspect the prisoner; but the boy is again quite motionless. The spirit, angered, reproves the vessel, and urinates into it. The next time the vessel gives an alarm, its cries, coming from under the water, are quite faint. The boy gets up quickly and fills the vessel with his own excrement, smothering the remnant of the voice. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 193.} Here we have a very vivid description of a chamber-vessel as being alive without change of its material form.

The application of this simple idea to inanimate objects, however, presents many difficulties, because those objects have not the limbs and organs necessary for the actions of life. In surmounting these difficulties, the religious concept of the Chukchee passes to the second stage, and tries to point out every accidental resemblance between the outer forms of objects and the limbs of the human body.

Thus, for instance, the intoxicating mushrooms of the species fly-agaric {Compare p. 205.} are a "separate tribe" (ya'nřa-va'rat). They are very strong, and when growing up they lift upon their soft heads the heavy trunks of trees, and split them in two. A mushroom of this species grows through the heart of a stone and breaks it into minute fragments. Mushrooms appear to intoxicated men in strange forms somewhat related to their real shapes. One, for example, will be a man with one hand and one foot; another will have a shapeless body. These are not spirits, but the mushrooms themselves. The number of them seen depends on the number of mushrooms consumed. If a man has eaten one mushroom, he will see one mushroom-man; if he has eaten two or three, he will see a corresponding number of mushroom-men. They will grasp him under his arms, and lead him through the entire world, showing him some real things, and deluding him with many unreal apparitions. The paths they follow are very intricate. They delight in visiting the places where the dead live. These ideas are illustrated in a sketch (Fig. 200) drawn by a Chukchee.

The concepts characteristic of the third stage are also numerous. In this stage, as said before, objects are supposed to have two shapes, -- their ordinary form and their anthropomorphous form, in which they are suscepof human-like life. Thus, wooden amulets that lie motionless in leather bags suddenly transform themselves into herdsmen and go out in the night-time to protect the herd from the wolves. Early in the morning they return to their former places and again become pieces of wood. Such transformation does not prevent the objects from keeping some of their essential features and qualities. "People of wood" (u'tti-re'mkin) personify trees. They appear in a multitude at the call of a shaman, and while they are in his presence they continually protest that they are afraid of the fire, lest it might burn some of them. Excrement appears as a boastful old man clad in a garment of sleek brown fur. He is, however, afraid of dogs, because they may eat him. {In some Chukchee tales, even the sun, the sea, and the sky figure as beings who retain accessories of their material nature. In one tale, the Sun, while taking part in a shamanistic match with other competitors, appears with his luminary, and burns those present; the Sea drowns them (in another tale, he crushes them with ice); and the Sky also crushes them by the falling of his upper crust. It is worthy of note that such incidents occur only in shamanistic performances, while at all other times the sun, the sky, and the sea appear as actual men. They also have a double nature, which they may change at will. Compare Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 285.}

The concepts of the second and third stages, however, are much better adapted to animals than to inanimate objects.

Animals as Men. -- All kinds of wild animals are supposed to have a country and to keep households of their own. I have mentioned the fact that the hunters on the Chukchee Peninsula are unwilling to dig out young foxes, because foxes "have a household of their own" (geni'mlinet), and might take vengeance by means of their household charms.

Black and polar bears are also supposed to have households. Black bears live in underground houses, and polar bears have a country of their own on the ice in the open sea. They live by hunting seal and walrus, and engage in quite extended expeditions for this purpose. They also build snow houses, which are lighted by oil-lamps, and have other human-like pursuits.

Eagles have a separate country. One family of eagles has a slave called Riru'ltet, whom they stole from the earth a long time ago. He prepares food for all of them, and his face has become blackened with soot.

The smallest birds also have a country of their own, from which they go out in small toy-like skin boats to hunt worms and mussels. {Krasheninnikoff (I, p. 228) mentions a similar idea among the Kamchadal. They believe that, when no mice are to be seen, they have gone into the open sea for seal-hunting. Their boats are certain shells which resemble in shape human ears. These are therefore called mice-boats.}

Sea-mammals have a large country of their own far away in the open sea. It is located on both sides of the earth, and is separated from the land by a long narrow strip of water, which, they say, constantly "quakes like a bottomless mire." This is impassable for all beings that come from the land.

Animals, when personating human beings, can change their shape and size quite as easily as spirits do. The ermine, for example, appears as a stately warrior clad in white armor, while the legs of mice he has killed turn into reindeer-hams. The owl, also, becomes a warrior. Mice are people living in underground houses, who use the root of Polygonum viviparum or Polygonum polymorphum as their reindeer, and have sledges of grass. By a sudden transformation they become real hunters with regular sledges, and hunt polar bears. When they want to carry the dead bear home, the sledge returns to its former size, and the bear turns into a lemming. Some of these details, it will be observed, are the same in regard to the owner of game (Pičvu'čin). {Compare p. 286.}

A shaman who visits the land of mice finds that their ways of life are quite human. He is requested to help a woman who is suffering from a severe cold and sharp pain in her throat. When looking at her, he notices on her neck a thin noose of grass, such as Chukchee children make to catch mice. He destroys the noose, and the Mouse-Woman recovers. In return for his services, the Mouse-People give him the choicest fawn-skins. On his return to our world, however, these prove to be dry leaves and pieces of bark.

In most cases, animals, while personating human beings, retain some of their former qualities, which identify them as beings of a special class acting in a human way, but different from mankind. For instance, a whale, when carrying away a young woman, continues to be a whale, and even makes her pick out the barnacles from his skin; polar bears have diving-matches, and catch seals with their paws; Fox-Woman keeps her strong smell, and Goose-Woman, her aversion to animal food, which may soil her clean white dress.

Amulets of animal origin -- for instance, a dried skin, a head or a skull, a claw or a feather -- are also considered susceptible of like sudden transformation, in which they acquire the qualities of living animals of a corresponding species, and perform certain tasks. Afterward they return to their former shape. In one tale, a dried skin of an ermine transforms itself into a living ermine, which, in turn, transforms itself into a large polar bear. In this shape the amulet is sent by its "owner" across the sea to harm an enemy. When unable to do this, it comes back, and is blamed by its "owner." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 219.}

The next stage (the fourth), as said before, supposes a complete distinction between the two forms of the object; and the idea of the transfigured form is replaced by the conception of a certain anthropomorphous "genius," who co-exists with the object, and lives within its material shape, but may at will leave it, and appear separately. In studying this stage we must, however, distinguish between the smaller material objects (such as stones, trees, etc.) and the larger unities, as forests, lakes, rivers, mountains, and other localities.

In the development of the religious ideas of the Chukchee, the conception of smaller material objects belonged to the more primitive stages (first or second), and separable "genii" were not attached to them: at least, the development in this direction is not very clear. Thus, as mentioned before, smaller material objects are sometimes called gêti'nvilên ("having a master"); but, as will be shown, the Chukchee conception of a "master" coincides with the Eskimo "its man" (inua), and represents the "genius." In reference to smaller objects, this idea remained undeveloped, and the objects were more frequently called simply gequli'lin ("having a voice"), which corresponds to a more primitive conception.

It seems that the ideas of the American Eskimo are clearer about "masters" living within material objects. Thus among the Central Eskimo, according to Professor Boas, {Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 591.} large bowlders scattered over the country are considered to have spirits of their own. Such a spirit is represented as a woman with a single eye in the middle of her forehead. Others live in stones that roll down the hill in spring. When, however, a stone like that is met by a native, and is asked to become his supernatural assistant, it simply has to accompany him, wobbling along because it has no legs.

The idea of bowlders being the habitation of spirits of human form is foreign to the mind of the Chukchee. {In a story of Alaskan Eskimo (Nelson, p. 465), a whale has a "master" living inside its body, and controlling its motions. The whale is a female, and so is its "master," a point of similarity between the two. The idea of an animal having an "owner" spirit within its body, however, does not occur among the Chukchee.} The bowlders of their own country, numbers of which are to be met with everywhere in the mountains, are considered by the Chukchee as beings which were formerly alive, but were subsequently turned into stone. They were the first attempts of the Creator to form living beings, but they proved so clumsy in shape that he transformed them into stone, and then created actual men and animals. Those bowlders are called pê'rkat (pl. of pêrka'pêr). Some of them represent petrified houses or tents: others are animals or men (pêrka3'la'ul, "bowlder-man"). The latter are supposed to have preserved a mysterious life of their own. For instance, in one tale a shaman wants to try a wrestling-match with a Bowlder-Man, and comes very badly out of his stony embrace. In another tale a group of Bowlder-Men become alive and talk among themselves. The difference between this view and the Eskimo idea of "masters" in bowlders is very apparent.

The second Eskimo detail about stones wobbling down after a man in order to become his supernatural assistants resembles more closely the Chukchee presentation of the subject.

Owners or Masters. -- Larger material unities, such as forests, rivers, lakes, etc., have special "owners" (êti'nvit, pl. of ê'tin), who are also called "masters" (aunra'lit, pi. of aunra'lin, literally, "chief [in the] house").

Various classes of animals and trees also have their "masters," who live in the forest with them. Each species of tree has a separate "master." The birch alone has none, and for that reason, men handle it without precaution, as "their equal." The latter conception is clearly connected with the yearly expeditions of the Reindeer Chukchee into the woods to procure birch, of which they make their sledges, the shafts of spears, etc. Each species of wild animal -- fox, wolf, reindeer -- has a "master" of its own. {This latter conception has developed, perhaps, from the idea of the "master" of the forest, who owns all game living within the limits of his dominions. Thus, according to the Russo-Yukaghir belief, the "master" of the forest has absolute power over his animals. He may give them away as presents, lose them in card-playing, make them gather in herds and depart from the country, etc. Compare p. 287.}

The Chukchee often call all these "masters" simply "spirits" (ke'let). This latter term is specially applied to spirits of a harmful kind, of which I shall treat farther on in this chapter; but the Chukchee apply it also to the "masters," implying that these "spirits" are harmless.

I obtained several sketches of "spirits" of this kind. Fig. 201, я, is the "lake-spirit" (hitha'-kal) of one small lake lying near the seacoast in Anadyr Bay. He has the shape of a seal and the hands of a man. His head is shaggy, and he comes out of the lake bolt upright. Fig. 201, b, is the "spirit" of Holy Cross Bay. He has one hand with only three fingers. Fig. 201, c, is the "spirit" of the estuary of the Anadyr. His hair stands erect, and, like the last, he has only one hand with three fingers. I was told that the "spirit" of the middle course of the Anadyr has one eye and three-fingered hands. In Fig. 201, d, the "spirit" of the middle course of the Anadyr is thus represented. He has a vertical mouth, one eye, and three-fingered hands. Fig. 201, e, a "spirit" living in the sea (a'nqa-kal), has the body of a fish, with a very large shaggy head. On another sketch is represented a large sea-spirit, who has very long hair on both his head and his buttocks.

The "master" of the fish of mountain-brooks is said to have a long thin body and a face covered with hair. The "master" of the forest has a body of wood, without arms or legs. His eyes are on the crown of his head. He moves from place to place, rolling along like a log of wood.

Pičvu'čin is a special "owner" of wild reindeer and of all land-game. He lives in deep ravines, and stays near the forest-border. From there he sends reindeer-herds to the hunters; but when he is angered he withholds the supply. He is especially strict in demanding the performance of all ancient customs and sacrifices connected with the hunt, and resents every slight neglect of them. He is represented as very small, not larger than a man's finger, and his footprints on the snow are like those of a mouse. The Maritime Chukchee say that Pičvu'čin has influence with sea-game also. Sometimes he may be seen passing the entrance of a house in the shape of a small black pup. An inspection of his footprints will reveal his identity. Then the people must immediately offer him a sacrifice, and the next year a large whale will be drifted to that part of the shore. Pičvu'čin's sledge is very small, and made of grass. Instead of a reindeer, he may drive a mouse or a small root of Polygonum viviparum. He himself is sometimes represented as such a root driving a mouse. The lemming is his polar bear. He kills it, and loads it on his sledge. On the other hand, he is very strong, and can wrestle with giants, or load a real polar bear on his small sledge. He takes no solid food, and lives only on odors. All these details are repeated in several Chukchee tales.

"Mouse-Driver" (Pipe'kilha-heke'ñilin) forms one of the favorite figures of cat's-cradles among Chukchee children (Fig. 202). One of the reindeer-drivers of the constellation Lynx is also called by this name. {According to some descriptions, Pičvu'čin rides the largest bucks in his herds: therefore wild reindeer bucks are found with the hair on their shoulders all roughened up. This detail is probably borrowed from the Lamut, who also know about the small forest-spirit herding wild reindeer.}

The conception of "owners" of places is more highly developed among the Russianized Yukaghir of the Kolyma and Anadyr. This is probably because the ancient native elements have been mixed with Russian mythological ideas. According to their belief, the "masters" of the places live like men, but are more powerful. They have houses and villages, travel about the country with sledges, and drive foxes and wolves instead of dogs. Every "master" of a particular forest owns all the game living in that forest; the "master" of a river owns the fish living in it, etc.

"Masters" of the forest are, in the Russo-Yukaghir conception, exceedingly fond of drinking brandy and of playing cards. Even now those hunters who are most successful in trapping are reputed by the Russianized natives to have bought their luck from the "master" of the forest with brandy and packs of cards. The "masters" of forests are constantly playing cards with one another. The stake is some species of game, which may then have to pass from one to another after the play is over. This accounts for the migrations of game. N. Dyachkoff, whose book has already been mentioned, {See p. 18.} not only repeats these stories, but is somewhat inclined to believe them.

The "master" of the river has very white thick skin. His wife has remarkably long hair, which floats around her on the water. Whoever sees her, or hears her loud, piercing cry, goes raving mad. The "master" of the forest hunts the "master" of the river in order to obtain his skin, of which he makes for himself the "magic" boots (in local Russian, четвери, "fourfold"). These are the well-known "four-leagued" boots of the fairy-tales of the civilized world, which enable their wearers to make four miles at every step. The "master" of the river retaliates by catching the feet of the "master" of the forest, or those of members of his family who happen to cross the river upon the ice. Once, when the "master" of the forest and his pregnant wife were running a race on the ice of the Kolyma River, near the cliffs of Khandgiboy, the "master" of the river caught the wife by the feet, and dragged her down into the water. Her husband, with the assistance of his brother, tried to pull her out, but they succeeded only in tearing off her head. They placed this on the top of Khandgiboy, where it may still be seen, turned to stone.

The "master" of the river or the "owner" of the lake does not like iron tools. When an axe or an ice-pick is accidentally dropped into the water, the "master" gets angry, and stops the supply of fish for several years. In the same way, these "masters" are also very jealous concerning ancient customs connected with hunting and fishing. Both the Chukchee and the Russianized natives, when they go to a new place for a protracted stay, offer a little sacrifice to the "master" of the place, especially if they intend to hunt or fish in his dominions. Otherwise he would appear to them in their sleep, and demand the sacrifice. The best material for this sacrifice is tobacco. On the whole, the natives in many cases prefer to sacrifice imported provisions, Russian or American, supposing that the local "masters" and deities need them much more than ordinary food, which is abundant. The Russianized natives, as well as the Chukchee, often call the "master" of the place simply "the old man."

On the other hand, there are in Yukaghir folk-lore several instances in which mountains themselves, instead of having their particular "masters," act like living men, and at the end of the story they are petrified. {See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 643; Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, p. 101. Stories about the mountains, quite similar to those of the Yukaghir, were in vogue among the Aleut. Thus, according to a native story in Veniaminoff (cited from Elie Reclus, Les Primitifs, p. 59), the mountains on Unimak and Unalashka once wrestled, and threw fire and stones at one another. Several smaller volcanoes, who could not fight against the larger ones, split, and were extinguished. Only two large mountains were left, Makushin and Retcheshnoy. Stones, fire, and ashes killed every living thing. Retcheshnoy was vanquished, and, when he saw his defeat, he mustered his remaining force, and swelled himself to the utmost. Then he burst and was extinguished. Makushin went to sleep, and now only a light smoke sometimes issues from him. This tale is quite similar to that told by Jochelson.} In various parts of the territory of the Koryak, mountains, mainly detached cliffs on steep rocky capes, usually called "grandfather" (epe'pil, apa'pêl {Compare p. 19, Footnote 2.}), are pointed out. These are often considered as the ancestors of the tribe, mostly Big-Raven (Kuyqinn-a'qu), turned to stone.

The same belief exists also among the Kamchadal, who point out among the mountains their petrified ancestor Kutq, together with his house, his sledge, his hammer, etc. The Kamchadal in former times brought sacrifices to all these stones, as do the Koryak now.

Among the Chukchee the belief is less apparent. However, one cliff on the middle of the Anadyr River is called Peru'ten, which is one of the names of the sea-god Kere'tkun. It is told that the latter, when ascending the Anadyr River, was so tired that he sat down to rest, and turned to stone. Cliffs with the name Epe'pil are also found in the territory of the Chukchee. One, for instance, is situated in the north of Anadyr, not far from Mariinsky Post. I am not sure, however, that this idea is free from foreign influence. Even the word "epe'pil" is rather Koryak than Chukchee. In Koryak it signifies "little father," "grandfather:" in Chukchee it belongs to the trading-jargon, and signifies the Russian "priest." {The Russo-Chukchee trading-jargon is a kind of broken dialect, with simplified grammar and pronunciation, adapted to the use of both parties. The vocabulary is Chukchee with a slight admixture of Russian words. It uses also a few dozen other alien words, which the Chukchee call, "words of Ta'n.ñit" (Ta'n.ñin-wê'thaw), meaning, by this name, likewise the Russians. Nevertheless, these words have nothing in common with the Russian language, and, on examining them, I found that four-fifths of them belong to the language of the Koryak, who also are called by the Chukchee by the name "Genuine Ta'n.ñit" (see p. 19). Such words are, for instance: --

Meaning in Russo-Chukchee Jargon.

Meaning in Koryak.

Epe'pil, Priest,

Little father, grandfather.

Ka'mak, Death,

Evil spirit.

Kaitaka'lhln, Brother,

Brother.

Rlhna'lhm, Wolf,

Wolf.

Pañkai'pirkin, He marries by Christian rite,

He puts on a hat (nuptial crown).

}

In the last stage (the fifth) the personified vital force become completely separated from the material objects, and independent of them. There is developed a conception of supernatural beings who fill the whole exterior world, and move freely within its limits. These beings are anthropomorphous, but more powerful than men; they are invisible, but may appear at will to various persons, or are seen by shamans even, against their own will.

Stories about such beings form the greater part of the folk-lore and mythology of the Chukchee.' Most prominent among them are the ke'let (pl. of ke'lE). Of these there are several classes, all of which may do harm to mankind. Sometimes, however, all kinds of spirits, harmful or harmless, are referred to as ke'let; but, strictly speaking, this use of the term is incorrect. An accurate speaker will distinguish at least two separate classes of supernatural beings, -- the harmful ke'lE or evil spirit and the benevolent va'irgm.

Many times when witnessing sacrifices made by the common people, who know little of spiritual matters, I asked to whom the sacrifice was being proffered. The answer was, "Who knows! To the va'irgin, to the ke'lE ("Qo! vairge'ti, kalagti'"). Both names were intended for the class of beings friendly to man, because no Chukchee will openly confess to having made sacrifices to evil spirits, except under extraordinary circumstances.

The word "va'irgin'' (pl. va'irgit) signifies simply "being," and therefore ke'let may also be called by this name. In this case some additional identification is usually desired. For example, aqa'm-va'irgit indicates "bad beings;" pagčê'm-va'irgit, "meddling beings;" while va'irgit without any addition signifies "benevolent spirits."

I mentioned also that the "owners" of the rivers, lakes, etc., are also called ke'let. This is analogous to the fact that nymphs, dryads, and other genii of the Greeks and Romans, were also called gods, and were supposed to have various relations with higher deities, even to have sexual intercourse with them. All three classes of supernatural beings are also called by the Chukchee "the clever ones" (gitte'pičit), as people versed in magic are called "the knowing ones."

Comparative Notes. -- Judging from my own information and that collected by Mr. Jochelson, the religious ideas of the Koryak present many close similarities to those of the Chukchee, not only in their general character, but also in their way of development. Thus, Mr. Jochelson says that "household utensils, implements, parts of the house, the chamber-vessel, and even excrement, have an existence of their own. They may warn their 'masters' of danger, and attack their enemies." {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 117.} This, corresponds to what I call the "first stage of development." Mr. Jochelson also mentions that the "anthropomorphic ideas of the Koryak are schematic and incomplete," though, "on the other hand, the vagueness of their notions does not prevent them from being material." {Ibid., p. 115.} He points out this vagueness in regard particularly to their wooden images of a religious kind, whose outlines are very crude. I rank such vague attempts in the second stage and in the first step of development of the anthropomorphic conception. Mr. Jochelson says, also, that "all objects appear in two states. One corresponds to the exterior form of things, serving as a cover, and the other, to the interior, anthropomorphic." {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 115.} Among the numerous instances of this kind contained in his material, however, some imply a simple exchange from one form to another without indicating that the first is, to use the words of Mr. Jochelson, "cast off like a shell." Thus, the stone hammers in Tale No. 48, who act like men, retain their hard stone heads. {Ibid., p. 202.} When I'lla undertakes to bring his stone-hammer wife to his own house, he remarks in the middle of his journey, that one half of her face became human, while the other remained stone. This corresponds to what I call the "third stage." In accordance with this, transformed objects retain some of their former material properties. Thus, in one story, a man whom Big-Raven made from a rag has the peculiarity of constantly moving his bowels. In another story, Eme'mqut comes to the village of the Cloud-People, and notices that the people there, their reindeer, their houses, and the pots that hang over the hearth, expand and contract like clouds. {Ibid., pp. 117, 133.}

Other instances given by Mr. Jochelson refer to the transformation of inanimate objects into human beings by the taking-off of their outward cover. "The bear, the wolf, the ermine, the moose, the raven, and other birds and animals, are described as taking off their skins and becoming men, and vice versa. Kilu', a niece of Big-Raven, put on a bear-skin, and turned into a bear. Eme'mqut and his wives put on wide-brimmed, spotted hats, resemble fly-agaric, and turned into those poisonous fungi." {Ibid., p. 149.} I rank such transformations as the fourth stage of development.

Koryak and Kamchadal stories of such transformations of animals are numerous, and recall the tales of the American Indians, where the animal almost always is simply a man covered with a skin blanket. The Chukchee stories of animals represent them, in most cases, simply as having two shapes, animal and anthropomorphous, interchangeable (my third stage, see p. 278). In this they resemble the stories of the Eskimo. This agrees with other facts which show, that, while the Chukchee folk-lore is closely connected with that of the Eskimo, the tales of the Koryak and the Kamchadal have a closer affinity with those of the North-Pacific Indians of America. {Compare Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 683; Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 357 et seq.} The Koryak admit "owners" or "masters" of localities and of classes of animals, who are quite similar to those of the Chukchee, and, indeed, are called by the same name. Eti'nvala3n corresponds to the Chukchee êti'nvilin, an adjective from ê'tin ("master"). In the same way the Koryak ka'la corresponds to the Chukchee ke'lE.

Ke'let. -- The ke'let proper may be divided into three classes more or less distinct, though often merging into one another. The first class consists of evil spirits who walk about invisibly, bringing disease and death, and preying on human souls and bodies. The second category is made up of blood-thirsty cannibals who lived, or still live, somewhere on the distant shores, and always fight against the Chukchee warriors. The third class includes the "spirits" that come at the call of the shamans, and help them in their magic and medical practices. {Regarding deceased people who come back as "spirits," see Chapter XVII.} The first class of "spirits" are often called "genuine spirits" (li'i-ke'let), or "murderers" (tei'n.ñičit), or "meddling beings" (pagčê'm-va'irgit) because they interfere so much with human affairs. The last name is given chiefly to the "spirits" of mysterious nervous diseases "subject to shunning." {See p. 42.} They usually come from the confines of the territory occupied by the Chukchee tribe. For instance, the "spirits" of contagious diseases (such as small-pox or grippe) usually come from the sunset, out of the "country belonging to the Sun Chief" (Tirk-e'rmin nu'tenut). By this latter name the Chukchee, in common with many other tribes of Siberia, designate the Russian Emperor. Contagious diseases actually come to the Chukchee from the west. I was repeatedly asked by the natives whether all Russia was occupied by ke'let, and why the Sun Chief is unable to get rid of them. {The ideas of the Chukchee about the country of the Sun Chief present many peculiarities. Among others I will mention the belief, current among the Reindeer and the Maritime people, as to the use to which are put the tributes in peltry coming to the Sun Chief from arctic Siberia. In the country of the Sun Chief there is supposed to exist a great hole, from which boiling water continually flows, forming a whirlpool, and threatening to submerge the whole world. The "spirit" of the whirlpool has to be propitiated with sacrifice of peltries thrown into the water. The best combination is white and red foxes in equal numbers. When the latter are deficient, the whirlpool turns angrily, refusing to accept the sacrifice. Therefore, when peltries are scarce, the Sun Chief has to give, for those lacking, an equal number of cossack children. Besides this, every tenth year he must throw in either two black foxes or his eldest son.

This is the only explanation that the mind of the Chukchee was able to work out in accounting for the exceeding greed of the Russians in acquiring the smaller peltries, which, from the Arctic point of view, are much inferior to the common fawn-skins. The legend probably originated in certain Russian folk-stories heard from the cossacks or Russianized natives.}

Ke'let are also supposed to come from under ground, and sometimes even from above, where they have a separate world of their own. They never come from the sea, because, according to a proverb of the Reindeer Chukchee, "nothing evil can come from the sea." This is additional proof of the opinion expressed before, that the maritime element in former times preponderated in Chukchee life.

Within the limits of the Chukchee land, ke'let live in desert places far away from human villages. There they attack and catch the lonesome traveller, or cling to him invisibly, and are carried to human dwellings, where they can find victims in plenty. They hide in little hollows of the ground, in crevices of the rock, or in cracks along the river-banks, where they waylay the unsuspecting traveller who tries to drink from a hole in the ice, or who sleeps on the bare ground. These evil spirits will scare men into fits, or violate every woman whom they find sleeping alone in the open.

On account of these beliefs, the Chukchee are extremely afraid to travel alone, and, when passing the night in the open, protect themselves against the ke'let with various devices to be described later.

The ke'let who live in deserts are called by a common name, "ground-spirits" (nota's.qa-ka'lat) or "ground-beings" (nota's.qa-va'irgit). The fiercest and most dreaded of them is Iu'metun, who causes a nervous disease bearing the same name. {See p. 42.} He lurks in the place of his abode, ready to spring on every man who passes by without necessary magic precautions. He is represented as having a black face and a large mouth full of big strong teeth. This latter feature is common to every form of ke'lE. On some Chukchee pencil-sketches, Iu'metun (Fig. 203, a) and other "spirits" of a similar character are represented merely as faces without bodies. This is explained by the statement that their faces only pop out of their places of concealment.

Another of the "ground-spirits" is Ite'yun (Fig. 203, b), the "spirit" of epilepsy, who is represented by a face with distorted features. Ite'yun, when the shamans see him, will suddenly change his appearance and put on another face (Fig. 203, c). Among the other "ground-spirits" are "Hanging-Eyes" (Lili'lhlk), Fig. 204, a, with eyes hanging down on thin threads; and "One-Eyed" (Qon-lê'lo), Fig. 204, b, who has one eye only.

Most of the "ground-spirits" have no special names; but the Chukchee agree that they are numerous, and have faces which are "of different sort" (a'lvam-va'ht), not resembling anything else on earth. In dreams and visions they often appear as a crowd of black beings, and act collectively, even when Concluding a Special Compact with a shaman. Other "spirits, on the contrary, when appearing in dreams and contracting a league with shamans, act individually and mistrust one another. "Some of the "ground-spirits" are described as very small, not larger than a human finger, naked, and of the color of raw meat. They penetrate the human body, and break out in abscesses and ulcers. An old man who in a single week had lost all his family by small-pox, {In 1884, on the western Kolyma tundra. Compare p. 41.} and who was dangerously ill himself, told me that when he began to recover he saw the "spirit" of the disease escaping from his right side. Then another small "spirit" bright as fire entered his body. With a little silver knife he cut out the bad places of the intestines. His hand, when thrust out of the body of the patient, became so long that it reached the ground, and could wipe off the blood and pus on the grass. Other "spirits" of this class are gaunt, and black of face. They are clad in black garments of foreign material, such as cotton or broadcloth. According to a more common belief, they wear the worn-out clothes of the deceased, which the Chukchee usually cut to pieces and leave in a heap near the naked corpse. The "spirits" pick them up, and mend them with the sinew of the corpse. In the sketches drawn by natives, which were mentioned above, these "spirits" are represented by a number of strange faces and figures. Some of them have only half-bodies (Fig. 205, a), a detail which is also met with among artificial objects designed to work a spell; {See Chapter XVI.} others have the ears and tail of a dog (Fig. 205, b), or many feet, like an insect (Fig. 205, c); still others have the body of a fish, seal, dog, bird, or fox (Fig. 205, d-g), always with long hands armed with claws, and with a large mouth full of teeth.

The majority of the kelet do not stay in their own retreats. They prefer to visit human villages, and wander about seeking human prey. They live very much like human beings, and are considered a tribe by themselves. They have villages or camps, and move about the country with reindeer or dogs. They marry, and have children. Their young people go hunting and fishing, and the old men sit at home and try to read the future by the aid of divining-stones. The object of their hunts is exclusively man, whom they usually call "a little seal." Their divining-stone is a human skull, while men often use for this purpose the skull of some animal. It is said in a tale, --

"The ke'let will come in the night-time to a dwelling, put their nets across the entrance, and then poke with long poles under the sides of the tent in order to drive the little souls of the sleepers away from under the protecting cover of the inner room."

After catching a soul, they chop it to pieces, cook it in a kettle, and feed their children with it. {Taken from a Tale. It is intended to publish these Tales in Vol. VIII.} A shaman said to me, --

"We are surrounded by enemies. 'Spirits' always walk about invisibly with gaping mouths. We are always cringing, and distributing gifts on all sides, asking protection of one, giving ransom to another, and unable to obtain anything whatsoever gratuitously."

Ainanwa't, {See p. 46.} in his curious description of the "bad years of small-pox" on the western tundra of the Kolyma, says as follows: --

"Then I had a dream. A cloud came from above, like darkness. It approached slowly, like a thick fog. I saw it approaching, and all grew dark around me. It was a black crowd, a gathering of men clad in black. In the bright mid-day they darkened the sun completely. I asked those nearest, 'What are you coming for?' They answered, 'We came to devour you!' -- 'Oh,' I said, 'let me help you at first.' I picked up from the ground a piece of wood, and suddenly I saw myself soaring upwards. Then I began moving to and fro, and struck with the stick upon the top of all tents of my camp. I struck down all the tents, but these were in reality the souls of my wife and children whom I struck down. Thus I killed all of mine with my own hand. And from the time of that dream the disease could seize all of my family." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 37.}

"Spirits" like the inner organs of the human body, -- the heart, the kidneys, and especially the liver. "Ke'lE is fond of liver" (Ke'lE ponta'irinkên), says a proverb. The following tale is given as the reason for their peculiar longing for human liver: --

"Once upon a time an old woman ke'lE lived with her little son near a village of men. She had nothing to eat, and every time the villagers happened to kill a seal or a walrus, she asked for its liver, and she and her child lived on that. At last the villagers got weary of the tribute. They enticed her son to accompany them for a drive across the ice, and killed him. Then, bringing back his liver, they gave it to the ke'lE-woman. She did not recognize it, and, taking it home, roasted a portion over her lamp. The remaining portion she laid down near by. Suddenly it turned into live lice, which crawled away in all directions. After that, the ke'let, in revenge, began to seek for human liver."

The same taste for liver is ascribed by the Koryak to their ka'la. {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 295.} The ke'let are not exempt from the attacks of shamans, who can deal with them in the same way as they deal with men. The ke'let, on their part, call shamans ke'let. If a "spirit" drives with a reindeer-team and a shaman steps on the rear part of the runners of his sledge, the team will immediately stop, because the reindeer are aware of the presence of the shaman. The "spirits," unable to understand what has happened, will seek for some natural cause. The same thing happens to men whose sledges may be stopped by "spirits." I collected numerous stories about "spirits" attacking human villages, and about shamans retaliating in exactly the same way.

The ke'let are subject to sudden changes of size. Several shamans have said to me, --

"It is puzzling to understand the size of the ke'let. You look at a ke'lE, and he is smaller than a mosquito; again you look, and he is of the size of an ordinary man, and then, behold! he is sitting on a cliff, and his feet touch the sandy beach below. Look at him closely, and he is not larger than a finger: look at him at some distance through the fog, and he will loom up like a mountain."

On the Pacific side, these "spirits" are usually called re'kkeñit (sing. re'kkeñ), while in the Kolyma country a re'kken is a monster with a bear s body and very large ears. I obtained several curious details about the supposed ways of the re'kkeñ tribe. They cannot fly. Even when pursued by a shaman, they only dive underground, making the earth near them soften and give way like water. They have red canoes, in which they ascend even the shallowest waters, also large skin boats with crews of eight oarsmen and a boat-master (a3tw-e'rmečin), after the manner of men. When hunting from these boats, they lay their nets for men, who are their only game. Their houses are underground dwellings. Their kettles are made of grass. Their fire is snow-white in the day-time and blood-red in the evening, when it may be seen in the west after sunset.

The outward appearance of the re'kkeñit and of their reindeer and dogs is unlike that of man and his animals. It is "of different form" (a'lvam-va'hn). Some of them have only one eye, in their foreheads, and long braided hair. They wear loose garments with very long sleeves trailing on the ground, while their hands are thrust out through openings in the middle. These latter details are repeated in the description of other supernatural beings.

The breath of re'kkeñit, and also that of their reindeer, is thick smoke containing sparks of fire. The women are very stout, and have long loose hair reaching to the ground. The tips of the hair glow in the dark. Their breasts are under their arms.

The Chukchee sacrifice to the re'kkeñit, and to any other ke'let, any animal that is "of different form -," for example, reindeer with antlers of unusual form, or white reindeer with black ear-points, or those having a white spot on one side resembling in its outline a Chukchee drum, or newborn fawns with misshapen mouths, or black pups with white spots over the eyes, etc.

Ke'let, in their turn, when caught flagrante delicto by a shaman, often give in ransom one of their dogs. These are very small and quite black. When a ke'lE comes to a human house on a hunting-expedition, his dog (Fig. 206) slips in at his side, invisible, like a shadow, and snatches up the souls, bringing them to his master. This dog is subject to the same puzzling changes of size as is his master. If met singly in the open, he may appear as large as a bear, with a great mouth full of large teeth, ready to devour his victim. A dog to be given over to a man in ranson for his ke'lE "master" is only one born of an ordinary bitch; but when he grows up he will be distinguished by his large size, black hair,- and sullen temper. Often he has white spots over his eyes, which are considered an additional pair of eyes, capable of seeing the ke'let in the dark. He is thus "double-eyed." Such a dog will keep watch against ke'let, and drive them away from the dwelling; or, if he is afraid of their strength, he will awaken his master, and suggest by his barking either flight or other means of protection, according to circumstances. {From a tale.}

In one of the sketches a re'kkeñ is represented with a long thin tongue protruding from his mouth (Fig. 207). He is pursuing a human soul. Another sketch shows a large hairy ke'lE {In describing the sketches, I use the names re'kkeñ or ke'lE according as they were used by the native sketchers and describers.} who stole an infant from its father and mother, and is about to swallow it (Fig. 208). Another ke'lE is striving to get a share, while in the original the parents are represented above in earnest discussion.

The ke'let of several diseases have special names, and are described in detail. The "cough-spirit" (Te'ggi) is an old man driving a single white reindeer, and all the time coughing violently. In one of the sketches he is represented with a piece of cord on which are strung the souls of several mortals, who offer him a reindeer "of different form" in ransom. The "rheum-spirit" (Pi'ti) is another old man of small size

Memoirs

of the

American Museum of Natural History

Volume XI.

Part III. -- The Chuckchee - Social Organization by W. Bogoras 1909

1904.

Leiden, E. J. BRILL Ltd.,

Printers and Publishers, 1904.

New York, G, E. STECHERT & Co.

American Agents.

1904.

XVIII. -- ORGANIZATION OF FAMILY AND FAMILY-GROUP.

Man in the Family. -- The units of social organization among the Chukchee are quite unstable, excepting the family, which forms the basis of the social relations between members of the tribe. Even family ties are not absolutely binding, and single persons often break them and leave their family relations. Grown-up sons frequently leave their parents and go away to distant localities in search of a fortune. The youths of the Reindeer tribe descend to the coast, and those of the Maritime Chukchee go inland to live with the reindeer-breeders. Not a few of the Chukchee tales open with a description of the life of a lone man who does not know any other people, and who lives in a wild place. It may be said that a lone man living by himself forms the real unit of Chukchee society. Even woman, whose social position is much inferior to that of man, sometimes breaks away from father or husband and goes to live with other people, though the family may pursue her, and, if she is caught, bring her back by force. Such cases will be described later on in detail.

I do not know of any cases of this kind happening among the Tungus, where the family and clan organization are much stronger. Tungus families often separate from, the clan in search of new hunting-grounds, but a single person never leaves his family; and even an isolated family will retain the memory of its connection with the clan for a long time. The Lamut of the Chaun country, who consist of stragglers from all the clans living farther to the south, still consider themselves as belonging to particular clans; though this connection has at present no real force, because of the distance of their habitat from that of their clans. No such remembrance lingers among Chukchee who have left their families. Once separated, they are entirely separated from them.

System of Relationship. -- In the Chukchee system of relationship the paternal line preponderates to a marked degree over the maternal. The first is designated as "that coming from the old male (buck)" (kirfiai'pu-wa'lin, also kirñe'-tu'mgin, {Kirñe'-tu'mgin or kirña'-taka'lhin means also generally "older relative;" kirñe'-yi'čemit-tu'mgin, "older brother." For taka'lhun see p. 540.} "old male [buck] mate") or as "that coming from the penis" (yaêlhê'pu-wa'lin). The second is designated as "that coming from the matrix" (kiyolhê'pu-wa'lin). The paternal relatives are also called "those of the same blood" (Enne'n-mu'Lilit), meaning the blood with which the usual sacrificial anointment is administered. It has been stated before {Compare p. 360.} that at the time of ceremonials the people paint their faces with blood, and that persons of the same paternal line of descent use the same marks, which descend from generation to generation. In the same sense, people of the same paternal descent, the "old male companions," are also called "those of the same fire" (Enna'n-yi'nla3t), because they have community of fire. Paternal relationship is considered to be much stronger than maternal relationship. There is a Chukchee saying which has it that even a distant relative on the father's side is much nearer to the heart than a maternal cousin. The terms of relationship are as follows: --

Consanguinity.

A3ttu'uLѳ3n ("fore-goer") -- Forefather.

Ya'aLa3n ("behind-goer") -- Descendant.

Mi'rgin {One can also say ELi'w-mi'rgin ("paternal grandfather") and ELa'-me'rgin ("maternal grandfather"), though generally the first part of the word is omitted. Children use also the terms apai'nin ("grandfather") and epe'qäi ("grandmother"), which are, the former an augmentative, and the latter a diminutive, form from e'pl ("father"). The latter word, however, is rarely used, and belongs rather to the Koryak language. Another diminutive, epe'pil (literally, "little father"), is attributed to the Christian priest, and with this meaning it has been adopted by the Chukchee.} -- Grandfather and great-uncle.

Ñew-mi'rgin (ñe, ñew, "woman") -- Grandmother and great-aunt.

Endi'w -- Uncle, {These may be distinguished as ELi'hmdiw ("paternal uncle") and ELa'ndêw ("maternal uncle").} paternal and maternal.

Eččai'-- Aunt, {Uncles and aunts once removed are designated by the same terms.} paternal and maternal.

ELi'hm (address: a'tê, "papa") -- Father.

ELa' (address: ä'mmê, "mamma") {Ä'mmê probably means the mother's breast; ä'tê and ä'mmê are used mostly by young children, mpina'čhin and inplñe', which, according to Nordquist, were mentioned by several authors as terms for "father" and "mother" respectively, in reality have the meaning "old man" and "old woman." Both are derived from inp, the root of the adjective ni'npiqên ("he is old").} -- Mother.

ELi'hit ("fathers") -- Parents.

Yi'čemit-tu'mgin {In all derivations, only the first stem is used. Tu'mgitum (pl. tu'mgit, stem tu'mgi) means "companion," "mate," also "kinsman." A husband, speaking of his wife, calls her gumni'n tu'mgitum (my mate"). Gretu'mgilin means "one with companions," "one with kinsmen," "one with influence." It is used as a compound in several terms referring to degrees of relationship, in various combinations, sometimes only between males, at other times only between females, and even also between males and females.} ("fellow-brother") -- Brother.

Ine'elin -- Elder brother.

ELe'ñi -- Younger brother. {The terms for "elder brother" and "younger brother" are relative; i.e., all brothers older than myself are my me'elit, and all biothers younger than myself are my ELe'nyut (pl.) More detailed terms are used as follows: êna'n-Ina'alin, "the oldest brother;" êna'n-ELa'ñê, "the youngest brother;" wu'thrtče3n, "the middle (brother)." ine'elin ("elder brother") and ELe'ñi ("younger brother") are used both by males and females; but the former term is pronounced by women mi'nelin, according to the rules of female pronunciation, in which contractions are avoided. The elder sister is also called ine'elin or ine'nelin (by males and females). ELe'ñi is used for the younger brother only.}

Ča'kihêt -- Sister (said by male).

I'npiči-ča'kihêt -- Elder sister (said by male).

Wu'thitčä-ča'kihêt or wu'thitče3n -- Middle sister (said by male).

Ñe'nča-ča'kihêt ("younger sister") -- Younger sister (said by male).

Ča'kêt-tѳ'mgin ("sister-mate") -- Sister (said by female).

I'npiči-ča'kêt-tѳ'mgin ("elder sister-mate") -- Elder sister (said by female).

Wu'thitčä-ča'kêt-tѳ'mgin ("middle sister-mate") -- Middle sister (said by female).

Ñê'nča-ča'kêt-tѳ'mgin ("younger sister-mate") -- Younger sister (said by female).

Yê3'lhi-tѳ'mgin ("cousin-mate"), more rarely

Yês'lo -- Male cousin, paternal and maternal.

Ñaw-yê3'lhi-tѳ'mgin (in respect to male cousins) {Women use the term ñaw'gêl, which is the female pronunciation of ñaw-yê3'lhi.} -- Female cousin, paternal and maternal.

E'kik -- Son.

Ñe'ekik -- Daughter.

ELu'ê (pl. ELu'wgot) -- Grandson and nephew.

Ñaum'ê -- Grand-daughter and niece.

ELo'o-tѳ'mgin {Female pronunciation, ELu'wgo-tѳ'mgin. eloo and ELu'e are related.} -- Parents' cousin's son.

ÑauLo'o-tѳ'mgin {Female pronunciation, ñauLu'wgo-tѳ'mgin. Women among themselves use simply the term ñaw'gêl.} -- Parents' cousin's daughter.

Of all these terms, a collective may be formed by means of the word -ret, -rat, which signifies "collection," "set," and is used only in combination with others. Thus, yičemre't, "company of brothers;" čakê'ttirat, "company of sisters" (in regard to the male relatives); yê3'lhirat, "company of male cousins;" kret, "company of boys" (k shortened for kmi'ñin, "boy," "child").

The fourth degree of relationship is designated by means of the stem yi'lhi, which signifies "link," "junction." Thus, yi'lhi-mi'rgin, "great-grandfather;" yilh-ELu'ê, "great-grandson;" yilhiLo'o-tѳ'mgin, "male cousin twice removed," etc.

The more remote degrees of relationship are designated as čimče'kin, "the near one;" or čiče'tkin, čiče'Leñ, "kinsman." The compass of the second term is larger than that of the first.

All degrees of step-relations are designated with the suffix -lqäl, meaning "intended for." {For instance, uwä'3qučilqäl ("intended for husband"), "bridegroom;" ñe'wänliqäl ("intendedfor wife"), "bride."} Thus ELi'hilqäl, "step-father;" ELa'lqäl, step-mother," also, in polygamous families, "another wife of my father;" ñee'kkelqäl, "step-son;" nee'kkelqäl, "step-daughter;" yi'čemit-tu'mgälqäl, "step-brother;" čakê'ttilqäl, "step-sister" (in repect to the brother), etc. Even new-mi'rgilqäl, "step-grandmother," is often used in polygamous families.

Affinity is designated as follows: --

Affinity.

Mata'lin {From the verb mata'rkm ("thou takest," "thou takest to wife").} -- Father-in-law.

Ñaw-mata'lin -- Mother-in-law.

intu'ulpEr -- Son-in-law.

Inte' -- Daughter-in-law.

Aačê'w-mata'lin {Aa'čêk means "young man;" ñe'us.qät means "woman." These terms are used by both wedded parties. Sometimes they say also Endêw-mata'lin ("wife's uncle") and Eččai'ñaw-mata'lin ("wife's aunt").} -- Brother-in-law.

Ñaučhän-mata'lin {Aa'čêk means "young man;" ñe'us.qät means "woman." These terms are used by both wedded parties. Sometimes they say also Endêw-mata'lin ("wife's uncle") and Eččai'ñaw-mata'lin ("wife's aunt").} -- Sister-in-law.

Taka'lhin -- Husband of wife's sister.

Umi'rit -- Son-in-law's or daughter-in-law's father.

Ñeumi'rit ("woman umi'rit") -- Son-in-law's or daughter-in-law's mother.

Relatives by affinity are called collectively mata'lit (pl.) or mata'li-ra'mkin ("affinity people").

Men married to two sisters call each other taka'lhin. Taka'lhin more properly signifies "brace-companion;" for instance, one of the two reindeer harnessed to the sledge. Pitka'-taka'lhin signifies "twin-brother" (literally, "double-companion"). The degree of affinity thus indicated is considered to be very strong. In olden times it was considered even stronger than brotherhood. Taka'lhin kirña'-yê'čamêt-tѳmgê'pu pa'roč signifies "man of the wife's sister (is) of the old-male-brother beyond." An old proverb says, "Man of the wife's sister is on the same lake shore a fall-companion" (taka'lhin Enna'n-hi'thiliñki rilte'l-tѳ'mgin). This means that both are to fight and fall together. The Chukchee say that if one taka'lhin sees the blood of the other drawn by an enemy, he will rush forward again and again until his own body lies on the same spot. Perhaps this relation may be considered as a survival of group-marriage, although at present group-marriage between the taka'lhit exists but rarely. The group-marriage, and the degree of relationship based on it, will be described later on.

The family is designated as ra'yinn ("houseful," or simply "those in the house"), yara'-tѳ'mgit ("house-mates"); but both these terms relate, properly speaking, to the house and those living in it. The house with those living in it forms the real basis of the Chukchee family. Members of the family who have left the house (or, among the Reindeer Chukchee, the camp) lose their connection with the household and also with the family.

The system of consanguinity and affinity is represented in the following table:

For the female the system is practically the same, except that in the table of affinity the taka'lhin ("wife's sister's husband") relation is not found.

The Family Group. -- A group of kindred families is designated by the term va'rat (literally, "collection of those who are together"). Va is the root of the verb va'rkin ("thou art"), -ret, -rat, signifies "collection" (see p. 539). A member of the same family-group is called Ena'n-vara'tkên ("one of the same va'rat"). In modern times, however, this term has acquired a broader meaning, and is used in the sense of "people," "folk;" though for the latter idea there exists another word, re'mkin ("people," "folk"). Still another term for the family-group is more characteristic. It is či'n-yinn ("collection of those who take part in blood-revenge"). Cin is the stem of the word li'ñliñ ("heart" {In Chukchee phonetics č and l often replace each other.}), but is used also for blood-revenge. Li'ñilin means "blood-avenger." This term či'n-yirm is used frequently, because the vendetta still exists in full vigor.

The Chukchee va'rat may perhaps be called an embryo of a clan; it is unstable, however, and the number of families that "are together" changes almost every year. Moreover, when one va'rat picks a quarrel with another one (usually one living in the neighborhood), there will always be a few families that are connected equally with both interested parties. The centre of the va'rat forms a group of brothers, and secondarily a group of cousins, both of which are called "a group of boys." A proverb says, "The group of boys is disposed to scoff" (Kra'tičhin mko'raqên). This means that numerous brothers who keep together may abuse any of their neighbors with impunity. On the other hand, the lonesome one (kuwli'kilin) is always downcast. He speaks humbly, he lives in poverty, and is subjected to the abuse of families consisting of many people.

In cases of blood-revenge, brothers and cousins are the first to come forward. For instance, in the year 1895, among the Chukchee of the Big Anui River, two young men of different families disputed over the dividing of a mammoth-tusk which they had found in the tundra. In the ensuing quarrel one of them picked up his rifle and shot at the other, though without success. A quarrel among the families ensued. The man shot at belonged to a numerous family; he had several uncles, each of whom had sons. He had also four adult brothers. The whole number of his male companions was twenty-two, and all of them were his nearest relatives. The offender, on the other hand, belonged to a small family. Therefore, when the offended family began to talk about revenge and threatened to attack the chief camp of their enemies, the offender left the camp and travelled sixty miles to the nearest Russian village. There he spent six or eight weeks, and felt wretched all the time, for the Reindeer Chukchee do not like to stay in Russian houses any longer than necessary, because the close air of the log-cabin, and the fish diet, are unbearable to them. During this time his people in the camp negotiated with the other party, and in the end the affair was smoothed over, even without ransom, since the pride of the offended family was satisfied with the flight ,of the other man and his wretched life among the Russians. It will be noticed that the quarrel was settled between the families, not between the family-groups.

In another case of a similar kind, nine members of the offended family came to the offender to make a demonstration of their strength. All were brothers, cousins and uncles of the offended one. It came to the drawing of knives, though no blood was shed.

Once in my presence two young Chukchee wrestled, and one vanquished the other. I mentioned before that wrestling-matches lead to quarrels among this excitable people. The father of the vanquished wrestler, who was present, grew very angry, and said to the victor, "Wait a while! Do you take us for a bad family, brotherless and cousinless? This young man has seven brothers. They are quite young now, but they will grow up; and all of them will be against you."

In folk-stories, blood-revenge and retaliation for insults are also undertaken, almost always by near relatives only. {Further details will be given when dealing with blood-revenge.}

The organization of the Reindeer Chukchee camp depends upon the relations of the family-group. The Chukchee camp has a front house, the place of which is determined by the seniority of its owner. Other houses are located according to certain rules, based for the most part on the mutual family relations of the owners. For all that, the organization of the camp is unstable and loose, just as much so as that of the Chukchee family-group. {See Chapter XX.}

In former times a union of "those that are together" was of a stricter character and really formed something like a clan. A unit of this kind included ten or fifteen families, who always camped near together. In summer, when near the seashore, they formed usually one large camp. Some of the young men were with the herd, which at that time was not numerous. The others were occupied with fishing and seal-hunting. {This state of things still exists among those of the Maritime Koryak of the Pacific shore who also have reindeer-herds. Each village forms a separate family-group.} The people occupied their leisure time with athletic exercise, wrestling, running, fencing with spears, etc. They were more ready for war, which was more frequent than it is now. In war the family-group acted as a unit against all other parties.

The Russian officials of the Kolyma country, when endeavoring to bring the Chukchee under Russian allegiance, treated them in the same way as the Yakut and the Tungus of eastern Siberia. These tribes had strictly organized clans (родъ, pl. роды), which could not intermingle as readily as the Chukchee va'rat. The Cossacks and their chiefs, when subjugating these tribes, taxed each clan separately. Therefore Russian officials, when trying to levy tribute on the Chukchee, invented clans and even clan-chiefs. {Sarytcheff knew the political organization of the tribe. He wrote, "The Chukchee have no chiefs or authorities. Each community has a man who is richer than the others, or who has a larger family; but he also is little obeyed and has no right to punish anybody" (Sarytcheff, Journey in the Northeastern Part of Siberia, II, p. 107).} Baron von Maydell, who was the chief official of the Kolyma district in 1868--70, even invented a new rank and title, "The Highest Chief of all the Chukchee." This sounds almost royal; and, indeed, the Russians sometimes called the person having this rank "Chukchee King," "Black King of the Tundra," "Chukchee Czar." All this was quite imaginary. The family that was given this title was simply a rich reindeer-breeding family with some influence among its neighbors. I lived with this family for a few months, and shall speak of it later on in greater detail. {See Chapter XXIII.}

The clans introduced by the Russians were also invented, and had no standing in the aboriginal organization of the tribe. The whole territory of the Chukchee was divided into five parts; and each of these parts, with the people living in it, was called a "clan." Some rich reindeer-breeder among those friendly disposed to the Russians was called "chief," and that was all. The Chukchee living beyond the sphere of influence of the Russian officials in the tundra to the west of the Chaun River and on the Chukchee Peninsula, reindeer-breeders and maritime hunters, were called "the maritime clan." Even the tribute was nominal, -- 247 rubles from all the clans', -- though the Chukchee tribe has several thousand adult men. This tribute is paid in the following way. In the parts of the territory nearest to the Russian settlements, at least every other family pays a tribute of one ruble. It is understood that this sum represents the tribute of one man, as among the Tungus and the Yakut; {Maydell also tried to introduce among the Reindeer Chukchee a tribute of half a ruble from a boy under sixteen years, but this attempt was not successful. So the tribute which at first was settled as 316 rubles was lowered to 247 rubles. At the same time Maydell tried to take a census of the Reindeer Chukchee. The figures of his census are 476 men and 369 women; total 845. He is quite well aware, however, of the deficiencies of this census. He does not even give these figures in his book. I borrowed them from the documents of the Archives of Kolyma.} but, as I have said, it is not true. The tribute is paid by a family; and not all the families pay, either. Those that are unfriendly to the Russians do not pay anything. The Tungus, the Yakut, the Kamchadal, pay per capita, and also for all those that are dead. Since many branches of these tribes have greatly diminished in number, the tribute becomes very heavy, sometimes quite abnormal. The Russianized Yukaghir and Yakut of the Lower Kolyma, until very recently, had to pay eleven rubles for each male. No such thing is possible among the Chukchee. The greater the distance from Russian villages, the smaller the number of families who are willing to pay tribute. The largest portion of the tribute allotted to each clan is paid by the so-called "chief." It is not so very difficult for a rich Chukchee to pay thirty or fifty rubles. He takes a couple of bear-skins and some good fox-skins to the trader, and receives for them the money to pay his tribute.

Among the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo, groups consisting of family units are still smaller than among the Reindeer people. The real units of social life among the Maritime people are the family and the village. Many of the villages are of course inhabited by relatives, especially among the Eskimo, who, as mentioned before, {Compare p. 494.} are less inclined than the Chukchee to wander from village to village. Many other villages, Chukchee and Eskimo, consist, however, of elements of distinct provenience. For instance, the village of Če'čin consists of Eskimo, of Maritime Chukchee, and of a large admixture of Reindeer Chukchee who have lost their herds and have settled on the shore. Some of the villages have front houses, and others have none. On the whole, the village is a territorial unit. Neither has it any organization, beyond the fact that the inhabitants are neighbors and are friendly among themselves. Related families appear as units in the organization of the boat-crew. {See Chapter XXI.}

Family. -- The Chukchee family usually consists of a husband, with one or several wives and their children. Generally the parents of the man live near by in a lodging of their own; and with them may live younger sons and daughters, who are not yet married, or, if married, have no children. Their house is dependent on the larger one, and is considered as belonging to the "houseful."

Position of Old People. -- Old men usually enjoy great consideration. Especially is this the case among the reindeer-breeding part of the tribe, perhaps because the herd is the property of the father as long as he lives. It seems that among all nomadic tribes there is a tendency to develop strong family and family-group ties, and that with this phenomenon is connected the high position of the old men of the family. Although I cannot make the general assertion that the organization of family and family-group is more highly developed among the Reindeer Chukchee than among the Maritime tribe, it seems that in special cases this is really the case. Reindeer-raising is probably not old enough among the Chukchee to have brought about a marked difference between the two branches of the people. In many camps in various parts of the territory of the Chukchee I have met very old men, perhaps of seventy or even eighty years; at least, their hair was altogether white, which change seems to occur among the Chukchee later than among the white race. Some of these old men were almost in their dotage; still they had retained possession of the herd and the general direction of life in their camps. For instance, in a camp on the Oloi River, a man named Kau'no, who had great-grand-nephews ten years old, owned two large herds, and decided himself the most important question in the seasonal migration of the Chukchee, that of choosing the place of abode for the summer-time. Though enfeebled by age, he still made the April trip to the Wolverene River every spring for barter with the maritime traders from the Arctic villages, who come there at that time, bringing maritime products and American wares. Kau'no's own housemates told me that the old man had grown childish and often purchased things of little use in their life. Instead of sugar he took bottled molasses, because it was red, and red pleased his eye; he bought table-knives instead of hunting-knives, because they are brighter, etc. This was told, however, with broad grins, and without any visible signs of protest. "Foolish one!" (Yurgumte'q) they added quite good-humoredly. "What is to be done? He is an old man!" (Qailo'qim, mi'ñkri, inpina'čhin). And I am quite sure that Kau'no kept the direction of his house till his natural end. Another old man of sixty on the Dry Anui had a dislocation of the hip-joint, which was altogether out of service in walking. He could only crawl about with the aid of two crutches. Therefore his name was Atka'-Paña'nto ("Lame Paña'nto"). His lameness dated from a bad fall in a wrestling-match in which he took part. He was then married and the owner of a herd. He continued to be the master of his herd and the head of his family, and had several children, who grew up and took care of the herd. Every year he would go to the Anui fair for barter, carrying along peltries and reindeer-skins. He was very fond of strong liquor, bought it every time, and drank most of it himself, giving to each of the other members of his family only a few drops.

At fairs and gatherings for trade, whenever I visited a camp for the first time, those who came to meet me would say, "Let us take you to the oldest man. Talk first to him." Baron von Maydell mentions that when he travelled in the country near the Upper Anadyr, a very old man from a remote camp, who came to meet him, was carried for a long distance on the shoulders of his young relatives. {See Maydell, I, p. 520.} This happened in summer, when sledges cannot be used. This is nothing unusual among the Chukchee, though usually the old man walks as long as he can; then he is carried for a while. After that, a short rest is taken, and he walks again. Even among the Maritime Chukchee, where the old men enjoy less consideration, those that cannot walk are carried on the shoulders of their young relatives. Thus, at Mariinsky Post I saw an old man with crutches, a certain Yir'mE, who had his feet badly frozen in an accident during the winter seal-hunting. This happened some fifteen years ago. Now Yir'mE is old, and unable to move about much, even with the aid of crutches. Whenever he has to be moved, his own son-in-law carries him on his shoulders.

I mentioned just now that among the Maritime Chukchee consideration for old men is not so marked as among the reindeer-breeders. The life of the maritime people is harder. Each morsel of food has to be obtained by great exertion, by danger and hardship: therefore an old man, unable to get his store of food himself, becomes a charge on other people. There is no herd or other property worthy of much attention. The experience of an old hunter does not count for much when he remains at home, and in times of privation he is one too many to feed; therefore the old men whom I met among the Maritime Chukchee looked dull and sad, nor were they as numerous as among the Reindeer Chukchee. This was due perhaps to the hardships of maritime life, the less active hunters being often unable to meet danger, and thus losing their lives. The killing of old people, of which I shall speak later on, probably originated among the Maritime Chukchee. {I know of fewer cases of such killing among the Maritime Chukchee, as compared to those among the Reindeer branch of the tribe; but this is probably due only to my shorter acquaintance with the Maritime people.}

It seems that a similar difference, though less apparent, exists between the Reindeer and the Maritime Koryak. Mr. Jochelson, in speaking of the treatment of old people by the Koryak, remarks that among the Reindeer Koryak the new form of household economy has developed the principle of personal property more sharply. {Compare Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 759.} In an oral communication he mentioned that in reality among the Reindeer Koryak the old men have more authority than among the Maritime Koryak, because of their ownership of reindeer-herds, which remains in their hands.

In recent times, property of value obtained in trade with American whalers appeared even among the Maritime Chukchee. Almost every large village has several traders, who go inland to the reindeer camps and barter white men's ware for skins and reindeer-meat. Some of them even have storehouses of their own; others are poorer, and sometimes their capital is small indeed. The owners of this property, though ever so old, continue to hold it, and their position in life does not become lower with increasing age.

Position of Women. -- The position of women, on the whole, is inferior to that of the men. "Since you are a woman, be silent" (Ñe'us.qät tu'ri, äqu'like) -- these words are repeated every time that a woman severely reproved dares to say a word back in her own defence.

In one tale a girl who came to a ke'le proposes herself as a wife for him in the following words: "I want to be your companion and your slave. My mother said to me, 'That ke'lE there has no slave. We will raise you as quickly as possible. Go to him and serve him.'" {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 195.}

Among the Reindeer Chukchee, women work much harder than men, especially the younger ones. The man's part of the work is the herding, catching, and slaughtering of animals, the hunt, carrying of heavy logs and of the stones necessary to hold the tent firmly in place; also work on wood with axe, hatchet, and knife, etc. The harnessing of the reindeer is done by both sexes, also carrying fuel from the bush, and chopping wood and ice. The loading and unloading of sledges is performed for the most part by women. The care of the house, which in the nomadic life of an arctic climate requires almost uninterrupted hard toil, falls wholly to the share of the women, also skinning and butchering, gathering roots, preparing food, dressing skins, making garments, and much more, not to speak of the duties of the mother. Moreover, man almost never shares in the woman's part of the work; he does not even know how it is performed. Often, when wandering with a Chukchee camp, I had occasion to go to the newly chosen spot with the male members of the family. We drove on light sledges, and therefore arrived long before the women, who crept along slowly behind with the pack-sledges. Sometimes the difference of time was about two hours or two and a half; but the men would only unharness their reindeer; then they would loiter idly about waiting for the women, or begin some kind of men's work. Once in my presence a man took a snow-scraper and began to scrape the place for the tent, but after a couple of minutes he threw away the scraper. "Ugh!" he said, "this is woman's work." When I was trying to learn the Chukchee language, and took care to collect new words from every one, I found, to my great amazement, that young men did not know the names of some parts of the house-frame, house utensils, preparations for dressing skins, etc. "Ugh!" they would say, "I don't know. That is the women's business."

In the every-day life, the man, when at home, is idle, or occupies his time with the inspection of sledges, repairing their broken parts, etc. The women take care of everything in the tent and in the sleeping-room. After the reindeer is slaughtered, the woman has to skin it and butcher it; then she must carry everything to its proper place. She prepares the food, and presents it to her husband. She cuts off the best, and takes what is left, gnaws the bones, gathers all crumbs and scraps. Such delicacies as brains, marrow, etc., are eaten almost exclusively by men. Women are satisfied with licking their fingers when cutting the dainties into small pieces for the use of the men. "Being women, eat crumbs," is a saying of the Chukchee. Women eat only after the men have finished. {The same is the case among the Koryak (cf. Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 745).} Only an elderly woman, the mother of a family, having grown-up daughters or some other women under her rule, goes into the inner room with the men and eats with them. As a rule, the women, though they stay more at home than the men, still spend less time under shelter of the sleeping-room. A young woman is the first to leave it early in the morning, and the last to enter it late in the evening; and when a guest comes to pass a night, and the room proves to be too small, the woman has to go out and perhaps pass the night in the outer tent, unless she is needed by the males for special reasons. On the other side the woman also performs much of the man's work. Young women and girls help the men in herding in winter and even in summer.

When a reindeer herdsman comes home after twenty-four hours spent in running around the restive animals, he is given a change of dry clothes, takes food, and goes to sleep. A woman, though returning with him from the herd, has to prepare the food, and then take part in the household cares. When I was passing a summer among the Chukchee on the Oloi River, I staid for a couple of months in the camp of Ei'heli, whose name has been mentioned before. His elder daughter-in-law would come from the herd after a two days' absence. In summer the Chukchee herdsmen, while with the reindeer, have little time to sleep. They take their sleep when coming home. Still the young woman was not allowed to go to sleep. Ei'heli would sit down in the inner room and order her to prepare tea and food. The woman was wearied. She looked like one in a trance. She would mechanically take the teapot, but, instead of pouring the tea into the cup, she would pour it right on the eating-table. In another camp I saw another woman of nineteen, who was the second wife of the master of the front house, fall down suddenly in the middle of her work as if struck by a bullet. She was struck, not by a bullet, but by sleep.

Ei'heli, however, was considered an old man given to too much quarrelling with his female house-mates, and sometimes was for this reason laughed at by the people in the neighborhood. As mentioned before, he was the highest chief of the Chukchee; {Compare p. 73.} and the people of the neighborhood said behind his back, that, from too much intercourse with the inhabitants of Russian log-cabins, he got a liking for indoor living; and since he had nothing else to do, he quarrelled with the women. The husband of the other young woman mentioned before was also considered harsh.

Aiñanwa't, on the contrary, left the house of his son in order to avoid quarrelling with the women. He told me the following: "I should like to live with my son, but he has too many women. They make me feel bad, they talk too much: therefore I have left them, fearing lest I grow angry. In my mind I rejected them all."

Aiñanwa't, after losing his reindeer-luck in the bad year of 1884, got weary of his diminishing herd and dilapidated household, and, after his second wife had also died, he gave up the remainder of his property to his oldest son, and became himself a wandering hunter of wild reindeer. He felt restless, and probably would not stay at home even if the women had not been given to "too much talking."

Some cases of protest of women against intolerable ill-treatment by the fathers-in-law are known to me. For instance, on the Wolverene River I met an old man, Omrêlqo't by name, who was a rich reindeer-owner. He was hospitable even to strangers, but stingy with his own house-mates. Since he was quite irascible, this led to quarrels. One summer all the people in the neighborhood were short of tobacco, and he alone had a few pounds. He distributed the greater part of it among his neighbors, and left almost nothing for his own house-mates. Being himself a great smoker, he stopped the supply of tobacco of the women of his household. Now, all the people of Arctic Siberia would rather go hungry than be without a smoke. "Tobacco is shameless," is a saying of the Russian Creoles: "it makes the poorest people bold in their demands even upon the chief officer." Whoever knows the abject fear in which Russian Creoles hold officers even of inferior rank, will appreciate the significance of this saying.

I mentioned before a story of two brothers, one of whom, at the time of a tobacco famine, killed the other because he refused to share with him his tobacco-supply. {Compare p. 59.} This story is very popular among various tribes of northeastern Siberia.

In dealing with his neighbors, Omrêlqo't, to whom I have referred before, faithfully followed the general rule which requires, in case of need, that the last pipeful be divided or smoked by turns; but the women of his own household were not treated so liberally. A quarrel ensued; and one of his daughters-in-law, who was also hot-tempered, took up a lance and inflicted on the old man three wounds, -- one on the shoulder, and two others in the back. The old man drew his belt-knife and seriously wounded his assailant. The end of the quarrel was, that the woman left the camp of her husband and father-in-law, and went back to her own people. But Omrêlqo't was called ever after, to his great ire and horror, "that one pricked by a woman." I have told this story in some detail because it is very characteristic of Chukchee family life.

Another, more tragical case happened at the Anui fair in 1895, where one Chukchee was killed by Cossacks in a squabble. The Chukchee surrounded the wooden fortress and threatened to take it by assault. After some parleying, they grew less threatening, and asked for the body of the one killed, intending to come for the blood-money on the following morning. The gate was firmly shut from the inside; and it was necessary to take the body to the gate, then to open it, and, after the body had been delivered, to shut it again. None of the people in the fortress, including all the Cossacks and police officials of the Kolyma district, were willing to take part in that somewhat risky enterprise. Finally it was performed by myself and two other political exiles who happened to be present at the fair. We took it upon ourselves to open the gate and to shut it again. We did not want to carry the body; and after some hesitation, it was carried out by the Cossack manservant of the chief official. It was lying on a dog-sledge, and the man was pulling the sledge by the vertical bow. I acted as interpreter and mediator. My companions, being both very strong, heavy-set men, drew the bolts back, and opened the gate just wide enough for the sledge to pass through. A large number of Chukchee were assembled in front of the gate. They were, clamoring for admission and for the body of their friend. When the gate was opened, the wife of the one killed clutched the Cossack and wanted to drag him out; but he succeeded in jumping back, leaving a piece of his skin coat in her hands. The gate-keepers pushed her out with the sledge and the body, hastily shut the gate, and locked it. The step-father, who was the third husband of the mother of the one killed, was also there. When still very young, the mother had lost her first husband. Later on, she was sent away with her child by her second husband, but was married by the third husband, with whom she continued to live, and who was at the time an old man. He was standing in front of the gate, together with his daughter-in-law, but he made no attempt to assist the angry woman in her endeavors. She yelled, "You old good-for-nothing! When quarrelling with women in your house, you can talk! Why don't you fight now, when your son is trampled down by the Russians?"

Among the Maritime people, the women take no share in hunting; and the housework is also less burdensome, owing to the sedentary mode of life of the people. Therefore they are not so hard-worked as the women of the nomadic Chukchee.

According to the data in the census of 1897, as collected by N. L. Gondatti and myself, and published by S. Patkanov, {S. Patkanov, Essai d'une statistique et d'une geographie des peuples palseasiatiques de la Slberie d'apres les donnees du recensement de 1897 (St. Petersburg, 1903), p. 27.} the whole number of women, as compared to that of men, forms, among the Maritime Chukchee 108 per cent, among the Reindeer Chukchee 101 per cent; total for the whole tribe, 102 per cent. The difference between the Maritime and Reindeer Chukchee corresponds to the difference in male occupations in both branches of the tribe; that is to say, the Maritime hunters incur far more danger and risk of life than the reindeer-breeders. The census of Maydell of 1870 is not taken into account, being too incomplete.

The wife is often harshly treated by her husband. I have mentioned the case of a husband killing his wife with a blow of a fire-brand. Blows, though less severe, are not infrequently dealt out to women; but it also happens that a wife ill-treats her husband. I recall one man of small stature, with but little physical strength, but very irascible. Quarrels between him and his wife were not rare. When it would come to blows, his wife would throw him, and keep him down, asking, "Have you enough? Will you cease?" until he would say, "Enough, I will cease." His neighbors told me this story with much laughter, but their censure was not very harsh.

Another man, Girgo'l by name, a well-to-do reindeer-breeder, who used to maltreat his wife, was finally killed by her with a rifle. This happened in midsummer, when the family was alone with their herd on the summer pasture-ground. The family consisted of Girgo'l, his wife, and three grown-up unmarried daughters. Just what happened has never been known; but one day the youngest daughter came to the nearest camp, and said that Girgo'l suddenly felt very ill and requested to be killed, which was done by his wife. When the people went to attend the funeral, the women who assisted in dressing the body in his funeral clothes saw with surprise that the wound was on the back of the neck, although in cases of voluntary death the wound is always inflicted on the front part of the body. The daughters of the woman, however, confirmed the story that their father was killed by his own request. He had no near relatives in the country, and the murder was allowed to go without any attempt at blood-vengeance. The woman took the herd and remained its possessor. In the course of time she .took another husband, who lived on her herd, and was therefore wholly dependent on her.

The position of old women, however, is much inferior to that of old men. Among the Reindeer Chukchee a widow having children may remain the owner of the herd, and keep that position till her children are grown up. Among the Maritime Chukchee an old widow lives with one of her sons; and her voice is of no great influence, even among the occupants of the inner sleeping-room, unless she happens to be a shaman or a "knowing one." {Compare p. 472.}

The inferior position of the woman does not exclude tender love between husband and wife. Especially do marriages contracted among children develop into a very strong tie between the married couples. When I travelled on the Wolverene River, an epidemic of influenza appeared among the Chukchee. About twenty persons died within a few days. A man, Moro'n by name, lost his wife, with whom he had lived for fifteen years, from the time when he was ten years old. On the second day after her death he took his own life by stabbing himself with a knife. "I want to follow her," he said before he died. Another case illustrating the strong attachment between husband and wife is that of an old man living in the Dry Anui district, who had lived with his wife for half a century. Suddenly he declared that he wanted to take a certain girl of the vicinity for his second wife. His old wife threatened to return to her own relatives if he should take the girl. The old couple had no children living who might have prevented the dissolution of that marriage. The old man hesitated for some time; but .his desire to have children -- if not begotten by himself, then at least the issue of the customary group-marriage -- prevailed, and he took the young woman. His first wife kept her word and left the camp, going to her brother, who lived at a distance of a hundred miles. For a few months- the old man lived with his young wife; then he repined. He felt too proud, however, to go and see his old mate. Rather than do that, he requested that he be killed, which was done by strangulation with a rope. {For similar cases among the Koryak, cf. Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 745.} Thus it will be seen that the married life of the Chukchee is not exempt from strong feelings and romantic episodes.

Position of Children. -- I mentioned before that small children are an object of great care and tenderness on the part of their parents. The endearing term for children frequently used in common parlance is "little eggs" (ligliqqäiti). The children are fed with the best morsels, and fondled and caressed by all grown-up people. The tender love of parents for their children has found expression in one episode which is repeated in many tales. A young boy dies a sudden death. His parents, in great sorrow, remain in the sleeping-room. The dead body is lying before them upon the ground on a reindeer-skin. They weep day and night. Their cheeks are furrowed with tears to the very bones. Thus they stay for one year, then for another, then for a third year.

The childhood of Chukchee children is quite happy. They grow up free and fearless in the freedom of camp life. Small boys are given knives just as soon as they can grasp the handles, and from that time on they learn gradually the use of this all-important implement. I have seen a small boy try to carve wood with a knife hardly shorter than the boy himself. One time a Cossack who accompanied me teased a boy about five years of age. The little man took offence, took up a hatchet that was lying on the ground, and flung it at the head of the man. His aim was accurate enough, though the hatchet did not reach the amazed Cossack, who began to howl and stamp his feet, intending to frighten the little warrior. Nothing daunted, the boy caught up a big knife and turned upon his enemy.

The heroic tales of the Chukchee also make mention of young boys taking part in combats and coming to the assistance of their parents. For instance, in a tale about Ele'ndi and his sons, a little boy, the grandson of the hero, plays all the time at shooting with a bow, not even taking time - to sleep. One day his father says jestingly, "Here is a blade of grass. Try and hit its stem." He made for the boy a small arrow of a piece of kettle iron. The boy shot and cut the blade in two. In the morning they continued their journey and met a Ta'n.fñin. "Oh!" says the father, "you are but a child." -- "What of it?" says the boy. "And what will your mother say? Well, let us go near. Then you sit down at a safe distance. I will fight against that man with my lance. However, I may get tired. Then I shall return, and you shall string your little bow. I shall look at you, thus, and cross the road near to you. Then you shall shoot at his forehead. Try at least to cut the skin on his forehead." The father began the fight with the Ta'n.fñin, became tired, and retreated towards the place were his child was sitting. Then the boy strung his bow and shot and cut the skin on the forehead of the Ta'n.fñin. "Oh! this is how you take away our herds. You are strong through the aid of a boy. We do not act thus. Your strength lies in your union with boys." -- "Ah!" says the father, "I have created a strong man for times to come,. one who will take the property of all those living in the country around us. I must be very good indeed."

After several years, in a quarrel with his father about the distribution of tobacco, the son says, "If I had not then cut that broad forehead, we could not have smoked at this time." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 354.}

As in other hero-tales of the Chukchee, the details are given in a manner that is very true to life. Other instances of the same kind might be added.

The life of children among the Maritime Chukchee is less pleasant. Maritime villages are filthy in comparison with the ever-changing camp of the Reindeer people. The interior of the house, where the children spend a considerable part of their time, is black from smoke, and full of heavy odors. Food, too, is less abundant, and the supply less certain. On the other hand, the years of leisure and play are much longer here than among the reindeer-breeders. The reindeer-breeding Chukchee send boys of ten, and girls hardly older than that, to help in tending the herd. I remember having met one summer-time two such young reindeer-breeders, a boy and a girl. They were from ten to twelve years old. They were walking through the bushes quite alone, staff in hand, and wallet on back. They had to walk some ten miles before they could reach their herd. It was strange to see these young children wandering in the bush without any protection and shelter. While with the herd, the children have their share of all the troubles and care of guarding the restive animals. Of course they sleep more than the adult herdsmen, and do not run about so much; still their life is hard enough. When three or four years older, the young people, especially the boys, have to take up the full responsibilities of the herdsman. In winter-time, when the herd is quiet, the father of the family may not visit it for a week or more, leaving it to the care of his young sons. The father uses this time for attending gatherings, for visits to other camps, gossip, and good eating, especially when there are no snow-storms. The late autumn is therefore considered as the season of happiness and rest, especially as about that time the reindeer are fattest.

Even in the summer, young boys remain alone with the herd for several days, using their utmost efforts, notwithstanding their insufficient strength, to keep the animals together. Chukchee tales are full of incidents relating the adventures of young herdsmen. For instance, it is told that during the wars with the Ta'n.ñit, when the enemy was overpowered, the warriors killed, and the herds captured, half-grown herdsmen were spared. They had to drive the herd to the country of the victors, and remained there taking care of it. In other tales, when a warrior is killed, his half-grown sons continue to keep watch over the herd. "When my father died," one of the young Chukchee told me, "I was no higher than the back of a reindeer. I was afraid of the large-antlered bucks. Still I succeeded in preserving my herd, and even in increasing its size."

It is in accord with these conditions that the bearing of the children before their father is very respectful. When the young herdsmen come home, they give their father a detailed account of the more important animals in the herd, about the pasture, the drinking-place, mosquitoes and reindeer-flies. The father puts one question after another, and the son has to give short and clear answers without talking too much. He repeats often words like "Yes, yes! surely!" and other interjections, showing his respect for the words of his parents. He even feels it improper to sit down in the presence of his father, especially while other people are present. These relations continue while the son is not yet full grown. As soon as the young man has reached the age of about twenty-five, and his mustache begins to grow, or when he has a wife and a couple of children, he feels greater self-assurance and independence, though he may continue to watch his father's herd. He begins to bear himself towards his father, though with deference, without such extreme submission as in former years.

Among the Maritime Chukchee, boys take up their full duties considerably later than among the Reindeer people. When taken along in the boat on a hunting-expedition, they would be rather an impediment than a help. The young man does not take part in serious hunting before he is sixteen or seventeen years old. Before that time, he may be given a rifle to shoot at seals from the shore, or he may be expected to lend a hand in setting seal-nets on the nearest ice-floe which is firmly attached to the shore. Sea-hunting is largely in the hands of strong young hunters. The old men who can no longer compete with the younger, or who may even remain at home, cannot expect such marked deference on the part of the younger people as is custom mary among the reindeer-breeders;

Quarrels between father and sons occur every now and then. In this case the family ties may be broken by, either party; Thus, on the Dry Anui River, one of my acquaintances; Kelhi'm by name, expelled from his camp his son KiLe'p, a young man of twenty, accusing him of laziness, bad temper, and neglect of his duties as a herdsman. The young man, according to the words of his father, wanted to attend friendly gatherings, to play cards, and to make merry. The father declared that he himself was entitled to these privileges, insisting that it was the duty of young men to take care of the reindeer-herd. KiLe'p left his father's camp, and wandered around, trying to find a place in some family as an adopted son-in-law; but the work required in such positions seemed to be much harder than that required in his father's house, and at last he returned home. His father was short of herdsmen, and the young man was re-admitted without much difficulty. After a few weeks, however, misunderstandings began anew. We visited the camp of Kelhi'm about that time. One night the young man came home from the herd, ripped up one of our leather bags, and stole half of its contents, chiefly hard-tack and sugar. The next morning, when my companion discovered the theft and commented upon the bad manners of the camp, the young man very quietly observed, "Don't talk so much. I have taken your sugar and bread." -- "Why did you do so?" I questioned him. "Because I wanted to eat it," was the unhesitating answer. The father felt ashamed, and offered us two reindeer-tongues and a bundle of skins of reindeer-leg as a "redemption price" (ki'tkau, literally, "hard return"). This proves that the father's complaints against his son were not without reason.

In another camp of the same locality the following happened a few years ago. A man, Cei'pu by name, expelled his eldest son, Nuwa't, who was a very unsatisfactory herdsman, and made his younger son the principal heir (e'un-mi'lhilin {See p. 351.}). The disowned youth wandered from camp to camp, and at last came to a rich reindeer-breeder, Yo'nli. He married Yo'nk's daughter, and lived at his house as an adopted son-in-law. The following spring, when moving to the summer pastures, the father-in-law, who was much displeased with his work, wanted to drive him away. The young wife was with child, but among the Chukchee this forms no obstacle to the rupture of a marriage. The quarrel happened while they were travelling. The young man said nothing; but after a while he sat down on his wife's sledge, embraced her from behind, drew his knife, and cut open her abdomen. Then he jumped from the sledge and cut his own throat.

In both these cases the young men disowned by their families were, as the Chukchee say, "bad." If the fault lies with the father, a youth who is badly treated may leave of his own accord, and will seek his luck elsewhere. In poor families such cases are very frequent. Young men leave their parents' hornes displeased with the poverty and bad luck of the domestic hearth, and travel for many hundred miles to seek positions with well-to-do reindeer-owners. Even a girl may leave her father's house, if the family want to force a marriage entirely against her inclinations. Of course, such incidents are rare. Still I know of two cases of flight which were carried out with success. Both took place in summer, when pursuit over long distances is very difficult. In one case, the girl returned to her former husband, from whom she had been taken by her family, in accordance with Chukchee custom. In the other case, the girl married into a new family, and her father, after some quarrelling, left her with her husband.

Among the Maritime Chukchee, whoever wants to leave his family may go to another house and become an adopted son-in-law, or he may go away to the Reindeer people and get a position with the owner of a large herd.

Violent quarrels between father and sons may lead even to murder. I mentioned {Compare p. 45.} a case of parricide which happened near Cape Erri in the family of a rich reindeer-owner, and in which the wife, the son, and the nephew of the one killed took part. Old Cossack reports mention similar cases. Thus the Anadyr Cossack Boris Kusnetzky, who was captured by the Chukchee in 1754, mentions in his report of 1763 to Lieut. Col. Plenisner, chief officer of Okhotsk, that while in captivity he witnessed a son stab his father with a knife and a brother stab his brother out of mere spite. {Northly Archive (monthly, Russian), 1825, Part 18, p. 187.}

Adoption. -- A married couple who have no children may adopt some little child, most frequently a boy, the son of some related family, like that of a brother or a cousin; but the child may also belong to an unrelated friend or simply to a "neighbor in the camp." Such a child becomes in the house of the adopting parents their "principal heir" (e'un-mi'lhilin). When the neighbor is poor and has many children, and the foster father is rich in reindeer, the child is given away with much pleasure. The foster father, moreover, gives to the real father a "joyful present," consisting of a couple of live reindeer, mostly those suitable for driving. The ceremonial of adoption is similar to that of marriage. A reindeer is slaughtered as a sacrifice to the Morning Dawn; and the adopted child, together with his foster parents, is anointed with blood. The marks of the new family are used in anointing, which symbolizes that the child joins the new hearth, with its special charms and "luck in life." {Kinta'-va'irgin, literally, "Luck-giving Being" (cf. p. 314).} Notwithstanding this, with a boy of foreign descent, the ties of adoption are not very strong. Even after a stay of several years in the new family, he may be sent or taken away. One of my Chukchee acquaintances from the western Kolyma tundra, Aiña'irgin by name, being childless, adopted a small boy of his camp neighbor Ai'o. The boy remained with him three years. Then Ai'o died. His wife resolved to leave the western tundra and cross the Kolyma River. She had some kinsmen on the eastern shore with whom she wanted to live. Leaving the camp of her master, she took her child back and carried him along with her. Aiña'irgin, at the time of adopting the boy, had given to Ai'o a "joyful present" of two well-broken driving-reindeer. Now the woman gave them back. Her chief reason for taking her child back was that Aiña'irgin had meanwhile lost and squandered away a large part of his herd, and still continued to go downward, so that the prospects of life for the adopted child were by no means bright.

When a child has been taken from a brother or a cousin for adoption, the new tie soon becomes very strong, and almost equals the natural tie between parents and children. Thus, of the people I met, one Qora'wge adopted the little son of his younger brother Aqa'wgi, and had him as his own child; another man, Einewgi by name, adopted Aqaca'ut, the son of his second-cousin; etc. Old people who have lost their children, however, do not like to adopt new children, but prefer to remain alone in their sorrow.

On the other hand, the ties between the adopting parent and an adopted child of quite foreign origin may sometimes become very strong indeed. The remarkable tale about Ta'lo, the adopted child of a Ta'n.ñin (Ta'lo, Ta'n.ñin rimaiña'wgo), describes how the Ta'n-ñit were pursuing fugitive Chukchee. From one sledge a boy had fallen, -- a very small boy, who still wore a diaper. He fell into the snow, and lay there weeping. The last of the pursuers were two brothers. One had children at home; the other had no boys, only one single daughter. When they reached that place, the wail of the child was heard by them. "Wait a little," said the childless one, "let me go and see what voice is wailing in the snow." He found the boy. "Oh, oh, a boy! I had better return home: go on by yourself." He took the boy to his camp. There he brought him up as his own son. Ta'lo grew up very quickly. Every day he became larger and stronger. Then the adopting father said to him, "Oh, my son! I am old and weak. Now try your hand with the herd. Here is a girl, a stranger girl, whom I have brought up for you. Take her to wife, and both of you be the masters of the camp." Ta'lo left the sleeping-room and went to the herd. From that time on he did not come home. All the time, from morning till evening, he ran about without interruption, exercising with his lance, shooting with his bow, carrying weights. He became as light and nimble as a two-year-old reindeer-buck, the offspring of a wild male. At last he was able to jump up into the air like a bird. Thus lived Ta'lo. One time his supposed cousins said among themselves, "Let us go and have a look at .the adopted offspring of the hostile tribe." They came to Ta'lo's herd, and looked stealthily from behind the bushes. He was still exercising, fencing with his spear as if it were a shred of wet reindeer-skin, springing across the lake and back again, jumping up into the air like a very bird. Then they said, "It is terrible! This one must be exterminated. This stranger will want to kill all our people." Unseen by him, they came to the old man, and said to him, "After two days we shall come in a large company and slay this Chukchee offspring." They went away to assemble the people. The time was early in the fall, just after the fall slaughterings. Taio came home. The father said, "Put on some dry clothes." -- "I don't want them," said Ta'lo. "Do you hear me, put on some dry clothes. Then I will tell you something." Ta'lo entered the inner room, took off his working-clothes, and put on a dry fur shirt. He crouches in the tent, before the entrance of the inner room, covering his naked knees, tightly pressed together, with his shirt. {A herdsman come home for rest often takes such a posture after exchanging his wet clothes for dry ones.} The father stands on the opposite side of the hearth. "Listen!" says the father. "You are not my own boy: you were born of a 'white-sea woman,' {Chukchee woman (cf. p. 12).} and found on the road in a heap of snow." Ta'lo hung his head, sorrowful. "But this your wife is not a stranger: she is my r

The Jesup North Pacific Expedition

Edited by Franz Boas

Memoir of the American Museum
of
Natural History

NEW YORK

Volume VII

THE CHUKCHEE

BY
WALDEMAR BOGORAS

LEIDEN E. J. BRILL Ltd

Printers & Publishers 1904-1909

NEW YORK G. E. STECHERT

American Agents 1904-1909

CONTENTS.

Introductory

Authorities Quoted

Alphabet

I. Names and Habitat

Names

Ancient Habitat

Present Habitat

Neighboring Tribes

Character of the Country

Camps and Villages

II. General Characteristics

Appearance

Mixture with other Tribes

Fertility

Birth and Childhood

Extreme Age

The Senses

Cleanliness

Diseases

Mental Traits

Seasons

Language

III. Trade

Ancient Trade

Trade with Russians

Anui Fair

Other Fairs

Routes

Tobacco and Brick-Tea

Spirits

Trade with Whalers

Trade in Reindeer

Inland Trade

Units and Prices

IV. Reindeer-Breeding

Groups of Reindeer-Breeders

Beginning of Koryak and Chukchee Reindeer-Breeding

Increase of Chukchee Reindeer-Breeding

Domesticated Reindeer

The Herdsman's Work

Reindeer-Driving

Economical Value of Reindeer-Breeding

V. Dog-Breeding

Groups of Dog-Breeding Tribes

Domestication of the Dog

Dog-Driving

VI. Hunting and Fishing; War

Hunting and fishing

Seal-Hunting

Walrus and Whale Hunting

Sealing-Nets

Boats

Hunting of Land-Game

Traps

Bird-Hunting

Fishing

War

Bow and Arrows

Fire-arms, Lances, and other Weapons

Armor

VII. Habitations; Household Utensils

Habitations

"Genuine House"

House of the Reindeer Chukchee

The Inner or Sleeping Room

Movable House

Winter House

Summer House

House of the Maritime Chukchee

Hut

Underground House

Snow-House

Cellars and Boat-Supports

Household Utensils

Furniture

Lamp

Kettle

Bone-breaking Set

Water-Supply

Dishes, Bowls, etc.

Bags

VIII. Food

Animal Food

Methods of Cooking

Raw and Putrid Meat and Carrion

Taboos

Vegetable. Food

Dishes

Tea, Tobacco, and other Foods

Intoxicants

IX. Manufactures

Work in Stone

Work in Wood

Work in Iron

Woman's Work

Tailor-Work

Embroidery

Baskets and Trinket-Boxes

Thongs and Cords

Fire-making Implements

X. Clothing

Winter Clothing for Men

Winter Clothing for Women

Summer Clothing

Children's Clothing

Loin-Breeches

Hair-Dressing

Tattooing

Personal Adornment

Snow-Goggles

Snowshoes, Staffs, and Ice-Creepers

XI. Games

Athletic Sports

Songs and Dances

Children's Games, Toys, etc.

XII. Religious Ideas

Stages of Development of Primitive Religious Concepts

Material Objects considered as Alive

Animals as Men

Owners or Masters

Comparative Notes

Ke'let

Benevolent Beings

Directions

Sun and Moon

Stars and Constellations

Other "Beings"

Monsters

Cosmogonical Beliefs

Soul

XIII. Charms and Sacred Objects

Amulets

Wooden Spirits

Guardians

Beads

Family Charms of the Reindeer Chukchee

Hearth

Wooden Fire-Tool

Charm-Strings

Drum

House

Care of Sacred Objects

Painting with Blood

Songs

Charms of the Maritime Chukchee

Family Charms

Charms of the Boat

Painting-Ceremony

Masks

Dolls

XIV. Ceremonials

Ceremonials of the Reindeer Chukchee

Fall Slaughtering

Winter Slaughtering

Ceremonial of Antlers

Sacrifice to the Young Moon

Sacrifice to the Fire

Sacrifice for Luck in Hunting

Ceremonial connected with the Killing of Wild Reindeer-Bucks

Thanksgiving Ceremonial

Races

Ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee

Ceremonial House

Sacrifice to the Sea

Fall Ceremonial

Ceremonial of Kere'tkun

Exchanging of Presents

The Trading-Dance

Ceremonials of Asiatic Eskimo

Ceremonial of Ka'cak

Eider-Duck Ceremonial

Ceremonial of Going Around

Dance of Exchange

Ceremonial of Boats

Ceremonial of Heads

Sacrifice to the Fire

Sacrifice to Pehi'ttin

Ceremonial of Antlers

Whale Ceremonial

Tossing on Walrus-Hide

Races

Stuck-in Poles

XV. Shamanism

Family Shamanism

Individual Shamanistic Inspiration

Preparatory Period

Psychology of the Shamans

Classes of Shamanism

Pay for Services of Shamans

Preparation for Performance

Shamanistic Performance in the Inner Room

Ventriloquism and Other Tricks

Magical Advice

Trances

Shamanistic Performance in the Outer Room

Tricks performed in the Light

Sexual Perversion and Transformed Shamans

Shamanistic Garments

Magic Medicine

XVI. Protective and Aggressive Magic

Incantations

Spells

Divination

Dreams

Omens

Taboos

Translations of Incantations

XVII. Birth and Death

Birth

Blood-Painting

Protecting-Incantation

Exposure of Infants

Names

Death

Deceased as Protectors

Deceased as Enemies

Funeral, Reindeer Chukchee

Dressing of the Dead Body

Divination

Exposing of the Body

Protecting-Incantations

Visit to the Funeral-Place

Burning

Sacrifice to the Dead

Funeral, Maritime Chukchee

XVIII. Organization of Family and Family-Group

Man in the Family

System of Relationship

The Family-Group

Family

Position of Old People

Position of Women

Position of Children

Adoption

Voluntary Death

XIX. Marriage

Marriage among the Reindeer Chukchee

Chastity of Women

Violence on Women

Marriage between Relatives

Marriage between Persons of Disproportionate Ages

Serving for a Wife

Adopted Sons-in-Law

The Ravishing of Women

Marriage by Flight

Mixed Marriages

The Marriage-Rite

Marriage-Ruptures

Polygyny

Group-Marriage

Levirate

Marriage among the Maritime Chukchee

XX. Camp and Village

The Camp of the Reindeer Chukchee

The Master of the Camp

Assistants

Material Conditions

Assistants of Alien Origin

Paupers

"Idle Wanderers"

The Neighboring Camp

The Village of the Maritime Chukchee

The Boat-Crew

Distribution of Products of the Hunt

Paupers

Wanderers

Hospitality

XXI. Strong Men, Warriors, Slaves

"Strong Men"

"Violent Men"

Wars and Warriors

Ta'n'ñim Wars

War Heroes

Cossack Wars

Eskimo Wars

Tungus and Yukaghir Wars

Intertribal Wars

Slaves

XXII. Law

Council of the Family-Group

Murder and Blood-Revenge within the Family-Group

Murder and Blood-Revenge outside of the Family

Weregild

Minor Crimes

Theft

Laws regarding Property

XXIII. Contact of the Chukchee with the Russians

Discovery

Wars

Seventeenth Century Wars

Wars in the Eighteenth Century

Pavlutsky's Expedition

Cessation of War

Trade

Opening of Trade on the Kolyma

Anui Fair

Chukchee Tribute and "Chukchee Presents"

Regulations of Treskin

Maydell's Reform

Expansion of the Reindeer Chukchee and New Tribute

Chief Officers of the Anadyr

Trade in Alcohol

General Character of Russian Administration

Expenses

Extortion

Strange Reforms

Relief of Famine

Medical Succor

Schools

Scientific Expeditions

General Character of Creole Population

Greek Orthodox Mission

Present State

American Influence

General Conclusions

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

TEXT-FIGURES.

1. Map showing Ancient Distribution of Tribes, by W. Bogoras and W. Jochelson

2. Bundle of Leaf-Tobacco

3. Cake of Brick-Tea

4. Tungus Sledge

5. Lasso

6. Herdsman throwing a Lasso

7. Urine-Vessel

8. Taming-Club

9. Reindeer-Harness

10. Reindeer-Harness

11. Detail of Reindeer-Traces

12. Attachment of Traces: Detail of Attachment of Right Trace

13. Reindeer-Halter

14. Ivory Spikes

15. Implement to prevent Reindeer from jostling Each Other

16. Whips

17. Sledges

18. Family Sledges

19. Kamchadal Dog-Sledge

20. Dog, showing Harness of Northwestern Siberia; Dog showing Harness used by Asiatic Eskimo

21. Dog-Sledge, showing Methods of fastening Parts

22. Sled from Mariinsky Post; Small Sled from Indian Point; Toboggan from

St. Lawrence Island

23. Details of attaching Dog-Harness

24. Method of tying Loops in Dog-Strap

25. "Oblique" Dog-Harness; Chukchee Dog-Harness; Dog, showing Best Style of Dog-Harness

26. Ornament of Dog-Harness with Iron Swivel; Bone Swivel

27. Dog's Boot of Curried Reindeer-Skin

28. Groin-Protector for Dog

29. Dog-Whips

30. Iron Harpoon-Heads

31. Ancient Harpoon-Heads of Stone

32. Harpoon-Heads

33. Ancient Harpoon-Heads

34. Long Harpoon, Short Harpoon

35. Harpoon-Pegs to prevent Hand from slipping

36. Seal-Hunter's Cap, in Imitation of a Seal-Muzzle; Ice-Scratchers used in sealing

37. Retriever

38. Harpoon with Floats, used in Walrus-Hunting

39. Float; Details of attaching Float

40. Seal-skin Splasher

41. Lances used in Walrus-Hunting

42. Head of Whaling-Harpoon; Bone Rod of Whaling-Harpoon

43. Seal-Nets

44. Skin Boat

45. Paddle, Steering-Paddle, and Helm of Skin Boat

46. Details of attaching Stays of Mast to Skin Boat; Ivory Block used in attaching Stays

47. Double Paddle with Small Iron Spear; Kayak from the Middle Anadyr; Eskimo Kayak

48. Fox-Trap, with Spring of Twisted Sinew

49. Dead-Fall of Russianized Natives

50. Dead-Fall, showing Captured Fox

51. Eskimo Whalebone Spit for killing Wolves; Spiked Block for catching Bears

52. Automatic Bow for catching Ermine

53. Snares for catching Sea-Fowl; Snare for catching Ptarmigan

54. Sling

55. Thro wing-Balls for killing Birds on the Wing

56. Kolyma Hunter with a Bird-Dart

57. Dart-Prongs

58. Throwing-Board and Dart; Dart with Thro wing-Board

59. Fish-Net made of Sinew

60. Mesh of a Leather Fish-Net

61. Whalebone Netting-Shuttle; Wooden Netting-Shuttles; Netting-Sticks

62. Net Float and Ivory Sinker

63. Bag-Net

64. Ice-Scoop

65. Hoop-Net

66. Ancient Fish-Spear Prong

67. Fishing-Tackle for Fresh-water Fishing; Fishing-Tackle for Salt-water Fishing

68. Diagrams of "Double-wooded" Bow

69. Bow with Backing of Sinew

70. Detail of Sinew Backing of Bow represented in Fig. 69; Detail of Strengthening of Grip of Bow; Method of tipping Horns of Bow

71. Ivory Lever for twisting Sinew; Ivory Thumb-Guard

72. Child's Bow, made of Whalebone

73. Ivory Wrist-Guard, Wrist-Guard made of Hide

74. Various Types of Arrows

75. Methods of feathering Arrows

76. Quiver

77. Child's Crossbow

78. Thro wing-Whip; Darts

79. Firelock with Support

80. Powder Flask and Measure, and Bullet-Bag; Ramrod and Powder-Measure combined; Double Tube for Gun-Charges

81. Portion of an Iron Lance, showing Decoration; Portion of an Iron Arrowhead, showing Decoration

82. Lance

83. Skin Knife-Scabbards with Knives

84. Chukchee Man dressed in a Suit of Right-handed Iron Armor, Front View; Koryak Man dressed in a Suit of Left-handed Iron Armor, Back View

85. Japanese Armor, with Helmet, bought from a Chukchee

86. Gilyak Armor; Details of Chukchee Armor-Plate

87. Designs on Head-Protectors

88. Upper Part of Hide Armor; Details of Head-Protector

89. Helmets

90. Gilyak Helmet with Neck-Protector; Portion of Chukchee Helmet with Neck-Protector

91. Arm-Guards; Greave

92. Frame of Outer Tent of Reindeer Chukchee

93. Snow-Scraper for Camping-Places

94. Part of Rough Mat covering Floor of Sleeping-Room

95. Snow-Beater for Tent-Covering

96. Urine-Vessel

97. Kettle-Hook made of Antler; Wooden Kettle-Hook

98. Snow-Beater for Clothing

99. Wooden Shovel; Shovel made of the Shoulder-Blade of a Walrus; Bone Pick; Lamut Snow-Shovel

100. Plan of an Underground House, Nu'n-ligren

101. Three-legged Stool

102. Clay Lamp with Wooden Stand; Stone Lamp

103. Clay Lamp of Indian Point Eskimo; Cooking-Lamp made in Mariinsky Post

104. Clay Stand for Lamp; Clay Kettle made in Mariinsky Post

105. Bone-breaking Set

106. Dipper, Bailer, Dipper, Bowl, Tray, Dish

107. Vessel of Bent Pine for Cooked Meat, Dish of Bent Pine

108. Drinking-Cup of Sheep-Horn

109. Drinking-Tube

110. Marline-Spike with Spatula

111. Sheet-iron Spoon, Ivory Spoon, Bone Spoon

112. Meat-Ladle made of Antler, Fish-Skimmer

113. Tooth-Pick

114. Oil-Cup

115. Clothing-Bag

116. Blubber-Hook

117. Root-Digger with Iron Point, Root-Digger with Bone Point, Root-Digger made of Antler

118. Chukchee Pipe with Cleft Stem

119. Pipe with a Tin Bowl, Ornamental Pipe, Wooden Pipe

120. Wooden Mantle for casting Pipe

121. Pipes with Ivory Bowls

122. Ivory Pipe

123. Mortar and Pestle for grinding Snuff-Tobacco

124. Birch-bark Snuff-Box

125. Bag in Which to carry Strong Liquors

126. Marline-Spikes

127. Iron Adze; Gouge

128. Bow-Drill

129. Pump-Drill

130. Small Drill

131. Iron Saw

132. Crooked Knives, Long Crooked Knife of Russianized Natives in Markova, Knife for hollowing out Spoons

133. Knife for carving Ivory

134. Straight Knife

135. Slate Knife

136. Bellows

137. Saw for cutting Iron

138. Implements for drilling Eye-Holes in Broken Needles

139. Wooden Tongs

140. Woman's Knives

141. Woman's Slate Knife, Woman's Obsidian Knife

142. Drying-Rack for Peltries

143. Method of folding Seal-Skin

144. Scraper with Stone Blade, Scraper with Iron Blade

145. Scraper

146. Scraper

147. Ivory Scrapers, Scraper made of Copper

148. Fur Tassels

149. Tassel with Beads

150. Tassels used for Shamanistic Purposes

151. Women's Tailoring-Knives, Scissors

152. Sinew of Reindeer-Back

153. Pounded Sinew

154. Method of threading Needle

155. Work-Bag with Iron Thimble and Bone Thimble-Holder, Ivory Thimble, Leather Thimble with Ivory Guard, Work-Bag with Bone Thimble, Needle-Case, Iron Thimble-Holder, and Painting-Stone, Work-bag with Needle-Case, Work-Bag

156. Pouch

157. Combs

158. Fringed Bands for Family Sledge-Cover

159. Fish-Basket

160. Trinket-Box of Lamut Make

161. Implement for softening Thong

162. Method of plain ting Thong, Tent Rope of Plaited Sinew

163. Knots and Splices

164. Method of splicing Lines, Method of splicing Ends of Stick

165. Bone Eyes, Iron Toggle, Bone Toggle, Leather Trace and Wooden Toggle, Two Ends of Trace combined with a Loop

166. Fire-drill Apparatus

167. Steel of Strike-a-Light, Wooden and Ivory Sulphur-Dishes, Pouch for Strike-a-Light

168. Pattern of Man's Shirt

169. Trousers of Reindeer-leg Skin

170. Seal-skin Trousers trimmed with Tassels

171. Winter Boots

172. Mitten of Reindeer-leg Skin

173. Caps

174. Boa of Reindeer-Skin, Bib of Reindeer-Skin

175. Storm-Hood

176. Belt with Amulet

177. Pattern of Woman's Dress

178. Woman's Boot, Woman's Stocking

179. Woman's Frock

180. Dress Frocks of Seal-Gut

181. Seal-skin Summer Boot, Men's "Dry Boots," Woman's "Dry Boot

182. Seal-skin Mitten

183. Crownless Caps

184. Infant's Dress

185. Men's Loin-Breeches

186. Tattooing

187. Necklace, Necklace with Ivory Amulet

188. Necklace, Ear-Ring, Bracelet, Ear-Rings, Bracelet, Bead Braids, Necklace of Small Beads, Ear-Ring, Bead Braid

189. Bracelets, Iron Ring

190. Man and Woman with Necklaces, Arm-Bands, and Breast-Bands

191. Head-Band, Ivory Ornaments, Ivory Bead, Ivory Buttons

192. Leather Snow-Goggles, Wooden Snow-Goggles, Eye-Shades

193. Snowshoe covered with Reindeer-leg Skin, Netted Snowshoe

194. Staff of Snowshoe-Runner, Staff of Foot-Racer

195. Ice-Creeper

196. Balls

197. Game with Hoops, Top, Buzz, Top-like Implements

198. Dolls

199. Cat's-Cradle

200. Chukchee Sketch illustrating the Paths followed by Mushroom-Men

201. Chukchee Sketches representing Spirits

202. Chukchee Cat's-Cradle representing "Mouse-Driver"

203. Chukchee Sketches illustrating Ground-Spirit

204. Chukchee Sketches illustrating "Ground-Spirits"

205. Chukchee Sketches representing "Ground-Spirits"

206. Chukchee Sketch representing a Ke'le's Dog

207. Chukchee Sketch representing a Re'k-ken

208. Chukchee Sketch representing Two Hairy Cannibal Ke'let

209. Chukchee Sketches representing Disease-Spirits

210. Koryak Ivory Carving representing the "Spirit" of Contagious Diseases

211. Chukchee Sketch representing a Giant being killed by Men

212. Chukchee Sketches representing Shamanistic "Spirits"

213. Directions of the Compass

214-216. Chukchee Constellations

217. Chukchee Sketch representing Stars

218. Chukchee Sketch representing the Sky and the Lower Worlds

219. Chukchee Sketch representing the World

220. Chukchee Sketches representing the Moon with Lasso, Shamans captured by the Moon, the Moon's Wife

221. Chukchee Sketch representing Luck-giving Being in the Form of a Raven

222. Chukchee Sketch representing Dogs driving away the Walrus-Spirit who attacks a House

223. Chukchee Sketch representing a Ceremonial

224. Chukchee Sketch representing a "Being of the Sea"

225. Chukchee Sketches representing the "Assistant" of the Spirit of the Zenith

226. Image of a Helping "Spirit"

227. The Winds of the Kolyma Country

228. The Winds of the Chukchee Peninsula

229. The Winds of the Mouth of the Anadyr River

230. Chukchee Sketch illustrating the Paths followed by Mushroom-Men

231. Chukchee Sketch representing Killer-Whales hunting Walrus

232. Chukchee Sketch representing a Fabulous Bear

233. Shaman's Plank with Representation of Mammoth

234. Carving representing a Triton

235. Chukchee Sketch representing the Aurora Borealis

236. Chukchee Sketch representing Paths in the World of the Dead

237. Charm-String

238. Amulet representing a Human Being

239. Wooden Figure representing a "Guardian"

240. Leather Ornament representing a "Guardian"

241. Tattoo-Marks representing "Guardians"

242. Wooden Figures representing "Guardians"

243. Amulets

244. "Guardian" in Shape of a Dog-Man

245. Bead used as an Offering

246. Sacred Fire-Board

247. Fire-Board for Ordinary Use

248. Image from a Charm-String, representing a Fire-Board

249. Charm-String

250. Figures from Charm-Strings, representing Female "Guardians"

251. Figures from Charm-Strings, representing Male "Guardians"

252. Amulet representing Raven's Head, Amulet representing Head of Polar Bear

253. Handle Part of Drum, Drum-Stick

254. Designs of Facial Painting

255. Charm-String of Maritime Chukchee

256. Charm-String of Maritime Chukchee

257. Figures from Charm-Strings

258. Leather Figure representing Head of a Guardian

259. Charm representing Double-headed Dog

260. Facial Painting of Asiatic Eskimo

261. Wood-Carving representing a Hand, used in Sacrifices

262. Mask

263. Offerings representing Reindeer

264. Wood-Carvings representing Sausages, used as Sacrifices369

265. Sacrificial Bowl, Bow and Arrow

266. Sacrificial Bowls

267. Chukchee Sketch representing Hunting-Ceremonial

268. Chukchee Sketch representing Thanks-giving Ceremonial

269. Chukchee Sketch representing Neighbors' Ceremonial

270. Chukchee Sketch representing Sacrifice to the New Moon

271. Head-Band used in the Ceremonial of Kere'tkun

272. Net for Ceremonial of Kere'tkun, Image of Bird from Net

273. Chukchee Sketch representing Ceremonial of Kere'tkun

274. Ceremonial Paddle, Ceremonial Plank

275. Ceremonial Paddle

276. Ceremonial Plank

277. 278. Ceremonial Paddle

279. Image representing Kere'tkun

280. Net for Eider-Duck Ceremonial

281. Whistles

282. Sketch representing an Eskimo Ceremonial

283. Paddle painted in Whale Ceremonial

284. Chukchee Sketch representing a Foot-Race

285. Stuck-in Pole at Ce'cin

286. Chukchee Sketch representing a Shaman praying to the Moon

287. Shaman's Coat

288. Shaman's Cap

289. Chukchee Sketch representing the Treatment of a Patient

290. Shaman's Knife

291. Shaman's Ivorj Knife

292. Amulets

293. Chukchee Sketch representing an Incantation of Walrus

294. Chukchee Sketch representing an Incantation in a Boat

295. Chukchee Sketch representing a Whale Ceremonial

296 Chukchee Sketch representing Two "Spells"

297. Implements used for Divination

298. Shoulder-Blade used in Divination

299. Shoulder-Blade used in Divination

300. Chukchee Sketch representing a Funeral

301. Chukchee Sketch representing the Fate of the Soul

302. Envelope officially sealed

PLATES.

I. Village Uni'sak; Village Nu'nligren; Street in Village Ufii'sak

II. Anui Fair; Chukchee before the Closed Gate of the Fort in the Morning; Inside of the Fort

III. Tumanskaya Fair; Yeropol Fair

IV. Reindeer-Herd; Chukchee Corral

V. Chukchee driving Reindeer

VI. Ceremonial Slaughtering; Lamut catching Reindeer; Feeding Dogs with Dried Fish at Mariinsky Post; Dog-Teams resting

VII. Asiatic Eskimo Dog-Team of Former Times; Driftwood on the Tundra near the Mouth of the Kolyma River

VIII. Chukchee Dog-Teams under Way

IX. Chukchee Sealer; Chukchee (Ka'ka) in Armor

X. Carving a Walrus; Chukchee Man dragging a Seal; Chukchee Man carrying a Walrus-Head; Chukchee Men dragging a White Whale to the Shore

XI. Skin Boat towing a White Whale; Skin Boat leaving the Shore; Skin Boat sailing; Constructing a Boat in the Village Uni'sak

XII. Summer Tent of Reindeer Chukchee; Women mending the Tent-Covering

XIII. Woman splitting a Walrus-Hide; Sleeping-Room of Reindeer Chukchee (without the Outer Tent)

XIV. Interior of Sleeping-Room of Reindeer Chukchee

XV. Constructing a Chukchee Winter House at Mariinsky Post; Chukchee Winter House in the Village Valka'LEn; Chukchee Winter House at Mariinsky Post in Course of Construction; Inside of House shown in Fig. 2

XVI. Chukchee Winter House at Mariinsky Post; Eskimo Winter House in the Village Uni'sak

XVII. Ruins of a "Jaw-bone House" in the Village Uni'sak; Chukchee Hut at Mariinsky Post; Summer Shelter of Maritime Chukchee; Summer Shelter of Eskimo

XVIII. Boat-Supports in Uni'sak; Interior of an Underground House at Nu'nligren

XIX. Chukchee Woman digging Roots; Chukchee Woman scraping a Skin; Chukchee Man. getting Fire with a Wooden Fire-Drill

XX. Chukchee Woman making a Clay Lamp; Chukchee Man working in Iron; Chukchee Woman lousing her Husband; Chukchee Children

XXI. Covering of the Family Sledge; Ornaments of the Covering of the Family Sledge

XXII. Embroidered Quivers

XXIII. Winter Clothes of a Reindeer Chukchee Man; Winter Clothes of a Reindeer Chukchee Woman

XXIV. Maritime Chukchee Man in Usual Clothing; Maritime Chukchee Girl in her Best Clothes

XXV. Seal-skin Overcoat; Overcoat of a Chukchee Woman, with Tassels

XXVI. Chukchee Boy's Garment; Overcoat made of Seal-Guts

XXVII. Chukchee Man in an Attitude of Ease; Chukchee Herdsman with Lasso around his Shoulders; Chukchee Woman in a Typical Attitude; Chukchee Girls dancing

XXVIII. Man practising with a Stone; Chukchee Old Mеn in Heavy Winter Attire

XXIX. Reindeer Chukchee Young Man; Eskimo Girl; Maritime Chukchee Woman; Reindeer Chukchee Man

XXX. Foot-Race in Uni'sak; Maritime Chukchee travelling on Snowshoe; Shaving Eskimo; Tattooing Eskimo

XXXI. Wrestling-Match at Uni'sak; Eskimo Girls dancing

XXXII. Fire-Board used as Guardian; Ceremonial Fall Slaughtering; Ceremonial of Heads

XXXIII. Transformed Shaman; Tossingon Walrus-Hide; Divination

XXXIV. Disposal of the Dead; Remains of Boat-Supports; Pile of Antlers

XXXV. Tower in Sredne-Kolymsk; Father Victor, Chukchee Missionary; Chapel in Pokhotsk

The Chukchee.

INTRODUCTORY.

The following account of the Chukchee tribe contains chiefly the results of my own observations, made during a protracted stay in the Kolyma district from 1890 to 1898; and later during a journey to Kamchatka, Anadyr, and the Chukchee Peninsula, in 1900-01. From 1895 to 1898 the work was performed in connection with the Sibiryakoff Expedition, and part of the material was published in Russian by the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. {See list' of authorities quoted, p. 3.} The expedition of 1900-01 formed part of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition. The collections made during this period are deposited in the American Museum of Natural History.

On these journeys I visited nearly all parts of the country inhabited by the Reindeer Chukchee, from central Kamchatka and the Upper Omolon to Chaun Bay and Cape Chukotsky; but I saw only the maritime villages that are located on the Pacific coast, between the mouth of the Anadyr and Indian Point. These are inhabited by Chukchee and by Asiatic Eskimo.

In my protracted intercourse with the northern Reindeer camps I had ample opportunity to see people from Arctic villages, and was able to obtain a variety of information regarding their customs and manner of living.

The material life of the Reindeer Chukchee is quite uniform throughout all the extensive territory occupied by their camps. The same may be said of the maritime villages, which have exactly the same material culture, whether they belong to Chukchee or to Eskimo tribes.

In order to avoid repetition, I have found it advisable to describe together the main features of the material life of both Maritime Chukchee and Eskimo. The provenience of the specimens illustrated, however, is indicated in the legends to the figures.

In the psychological and sociological life of all three divisions of the population, there are many curious points of similarity and difference, which will be stated later on in this account.

The illustrations were made by Mr. Rudolf Weber; the photographs in the field, by Mr. Alexander Axelrod of Switzerland, and by myself. The drawings for Plates v (Fig. 2), vii, xiv, were made by Mr. A. E. Doring from several photographs in my collection.

AUTHORITIES QUOTED.

Georg Wilhelm Steller. Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka. Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1774. [Cited, Steller.]

Martin Sauer. An Account of a Geographical and Astronomical Expedition to the Northern Part of Russia, performed by Commodore Joseph Billings in the Years 1785, etc., to 1794. London, 1802. [Cited, Sauer.]

Г. Сарычевъ. Путешествіе флота капитана Сарычева по Сѣверо-Восточной части Сибири, Ледовитому Морю и Восточному Океану, впродолженіе восьми лѣтъ при Географической, Астрономической и Морской экспедиціи, бывшей подъ начальствомъ флота капитана Биллингеа съ 1785 по 1793 годъ. Томъ II. С.-Петербургъ, 1802.

[G. Sarytcheff. Journey in the North-Eastern Part of Siberia, the Arctic Sea, and the East Ocean during eight years with the Geographical, Astronomical, and Naval Expedition, under the Command of Captain Billings, from 1785 till 1793. Vol. II. St. Petersburg, 1802.]

Г. Сарычевъ. Путешествіе капитана Биллингса чрезъ чукотскую землю отъ Берингова пролива до Нижне-Колымскаго Острога. С.-Петербургъ 1811.

[G. Sarytcheff. Journey of Captain Billings through the Chukchee Land from Bering Strait to the Fort of Nishne-Kolymsk. St. Petersburg, 1811.]

C. Крашенинниковъ. Описаніе земли Камчатки. С.-Петербургъ 1819. Томы I, II.

[S. Krasheninnikoff. Description of the Land Kamtchatka. Vols. I, II. St. Petersburg, 1819.] [Cited, Krasheninnikoff, I, II.]

Otto von Kotzebue. Entdeckungs Reise in die Siidsee und nach der Bering-strasse. Parts I, II, III. Weimar, 1821.

Д-ръ Киберъ. Выписка изъ письма отъ 1 Октября 1822 г., въ Сибирскомъ Вѣстник", 1823 г., часть II, стр. 46-50.

[Dr. Kyber. Summary of a Letter from Nishne-Kolymsk, dated October 1, 1822, in the Siberian Messenger, 1823, Part II, pp. 46-50.] [Cited, Kyber, I.]

Д-ръ Киберъ. Извлеченіе изъ дневныхъ заиисокъ. Въ Сибирскомъ Вѣстникѣ, 1824 г., часть I, книга вторая, стр. 1-58.

[Dr. Kyber. Summary of the Daily Notes in the Siberian Messenger, 1824, Part I, Book 2, pp. 1-58.] [Cited, Kyber, II.]

Ѳ. Литке. Путешествіе вокругъ свѣта. Историческое Отдѣленіе. I, II, III части. С.-Петербургъ 1834, 1835, 1836.

[Th. Lütke. Journey around the World. Historical Section. Parts I, II, III. St. Petersburg, 1834, 1835, 1836.]

Ferdinand von Wrangell. Von dem Verkehr der Volker der Nord-West-Kiiste von Amerika untereinander und mit Tschuktschen (Beitrage zur Kenntniss des Russischen Reiches und der angranzenden Lander Asiens, Vol. I, pp. 57-65). St. Petersburg, 1839.

Ferdinand von Wrangell. Narrative of an Expedition to the Polar Sea in the Years 1820, 1821, 1822, & 1823. Edited by Major Edward Sabine, R. A., F. R. S. London, 1840. [Cited, Wrangell.]

William Hulme Hooper. Ten Months among the Tents of the Tuski, with Incidents of an Arctic Boat Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin, as far as the Mackenzie River and Cape Bathurst. London, 1853. [Cited, Hooper.]

A. Аргентовъ. Описаніе Николаевскаго Чаунскаго прихода. Въ Запискахъ Сибирскаго Отдѣла Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества, 1857, No 3, стр. 79-106.

[A. Argentoff. A Description of the St. Nicholas Chaun Parish (Memoirs of the Siberian Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 1857, No. 3, pp. 79-106).] [Cited, Argentoff, I.]

--------------- Путевыя Замѣтки священника миссіонера въ приполярной мѣстности. Записки Восточно-Сибирскаго Отдѣла Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества, 1857, Томъ IV.

--------------- Notes of a Travelling Missionary in the Polar Country (Memoirs of the East Siberian Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 1857, Vol. IV.] [Cited, Argentoff, II.]

K. K. Нейманъ Историческій обзоръ дѣйствій Чукотской Экспедиціи. Въ Запискахъ Восточно-Сибирскаго Отдѣла Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества. 1871, No 3, стр. 7-28; No 4-5, стр. 6-31.

[К. К. Neimann. An Historical Review of the Doings of the Chukchee Expedition (Memoirs of the East Siberian Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 1871, No. 3, pp. 7-28; No. 4-5, pp. 6-31).]

--------------- Нѣсколько словъ о торговлѣ и промышленности сѣверныхъ округовъ Якутской Области. Перепечатано изъ Извѣстій Сибирскаго Отдѣла Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества. Томъ III, No No 1 и 2, 1872.

--------------- A Few Words on Trade and Industries in the Northern Districts of the Yakutsk Province (Reprint from the Memoirs of the Siberian Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. Ill, Nos. 1, 2, 1872).]

A. Th. von Middendorff. Reise in den aussersten Norden und Osten Sibiriens, Vol. I, Parts 1, 2, pp. 1-1615. St. Petersburg, 1875. [Cited, Middendorff.]

W. H. Dall. Alaska and its Resources. Boston, 1870. [Cited, Dall, I.]

--------------- Tribes of the Extreme North-West and Adjacent Countries (Contributions to North American' Ethnology, Vol. I, 1877). [Cited, Dall, II.]

О. Нордквистъ. О численности и нынѣшнемъ положеніи чукчей, живущихъ по берегу Ледовитаго моря. Въ Географическихъ Извѣстіяхъ Сибирскаго Отдѣла Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества. Томъ XVI, выпускъ второй, 1880 г.

[О. Nordquist. The Number and the Modern Condition of the Chukchee living on the Arctic Shore (Geographical Bulletin of the Siberian Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. XVI, Part II, 1880).]

C. L. Hooper, U. S. R. M. Report of the Cruise of the U. S. Revenue Steamer "Corwin" in the Arctic Ocean. Washington, 1881.

J. v. Stein. Die Tschuktschen am Ufer des Eismeeres (Petermann's Geographische Mittheilungen, 1881, pp. 41-45).

Aurel and Arthur Krause. Die wissenschaftliche Expedition der Bremer geographischen Gesellschaft nach den Kiistengebieten an der Beringsstrasse (Deutsche Geographische Blatter, Vol. IV, pp. 245-281). Bremen 1881. [Cited, Krause, I.]

--------------- Die Expedition der Bremer geographischen Gesellschaft nach der Tschuktschen-Halbinsel (Deutsche Geographische Blatter, Vol. V, pp. 1-35, 111-133). Bremen, 1882. [Cited, Krause, II.]

Freiherr Adolf Erik von Nordenskiöld. Die Umsegelung Asiens und Europas auf der Vega. Autorisirte Deutsche Ausgabe. Leipzig, F. A. Brock-haus, 1882, Vols. I, II. - [Cited, Nordensköld, I, II].

W. H. Gilder. Ice-Pack and Tundra. The Search for the Jeannette and a Sledge Journey through Siberia. New York, 1883. [Cited, Gilder.]

Aurel Krause. Die Bevolkerungsverhaltnisse der Tschuktschen-Halbinsel (Deutsche Geographische Blatter, Vol. VI, pp. 248-278). Bremen, 1883. [Cited, Krause, III.]

E. S. Morse. Ancient and Modern Methods of Arrow-Release (Bulletin of the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass., October-December, 1885).

Ratzel. Über die Stabchenpanzer und ihre Verbreitung im nordpazifischen Gebiet (mit drei Tafeln). (Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-philologischen und historischen Classe der k. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Miinchen, 1886, pp. 181-216.) [Cited, Ratzel, Stabchenpanzer.

Vega Expeditionens vetenskapliga iakttagelser utgifna af A. E. Nordenskiöld, Vols. I, II. Stockholm, 1882-87. 8°.

E. Almquist. Studier ofver Tschuktschernas fargsinne, Vol. I, pp. 185-194.

F. R. Kjellmann. Om Tschuktschernas hushallvaxter, Vol. I, pp. 353-372.

O. Nordquist. Tschuktschisk ordlista, Vol. I, pp. 373-399.

--------------- Anteckningar och studier till Sibiriska Ishofkusten daggdjursfauna, Vol. II, pp. 61-117.

--------------- Bidrag till kannedomen on Tschuktscherna, Vol. II, pp. 227-246.

A. A. Ресинъ. Очеркъ инородцевъ русскаго побережья Тихаго океана. Въ Извѣстіяхъ Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества. Томъ XXIV, 1888, Вып. III, стр. 120-199.

[A. A. Resin. Sketch of the Natives of the Russian Pacific Coast (Publications of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. XXIV, 1888, Part III, pp. 120-199).] [Cited, Resin.]

John Murdoch. On the Siberian Origin of some Customs of the Western Eskimo (American Anthropologist, Vol. I, pp. 328-336). Washington, 1888.

--------------- A Study of the Eskimo Bows in the U. S. National Museum (Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884, Part II, pp. 307-316).

--------------- Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition (Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 1-441). Washington, Government Printing Office, 1892. [Cited, Murdoch.]

И. Шкловскій. Очерки крайняго Сѣверовостока. Часть I. Въ запискахъ Восточно-Сибирскаго Отдѣла Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества. Томъ II, часть I. Иркутскъ 1892.

[I. Shklowsky. Sketches of the Extreme North-East, Part I (Memoirs of the East Siberian Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. II, Part I). Irkutsk, 1892.]

Г. Дьячковъ. Анадырскій край. Рукопись Жителя села Маркова. Въ Запискахъ Общества Изученія Амурскаго Края. Владивостокъ 1893.

[G. Dyachkoff. The Country of Anadyr. The Manuscript of the Inhabitant of the Village Markova (Memoirs of the Society for the Investigation of the Amur Country). Vladivostok, 1893.] [Cited, Dyachkoff.]

Гергардъ фонъ Майдель. Отвѣты Чукотской Экспедиціи на вопросы Академика Бера. Въ Извѣстіяхъ Восточно-Сибирскаго Отдѣла Императорскаго Русскаго Общеетва. 1871 г. Томъ II. No No 1 и 2.

[Gerhard von Maydell. The Answers of the Chukchee Expeditions to the Questions of Mr. Baer of the Academy of Sciences (Memoirs of the East Siberian Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. II, 1871, Nos. 1, 2).]

--------------- Reisen und Forschungen in Yakutskischen Gebiet Ostsibiriens, Parts I, II (Beitrage zur Kenntniss des Russischen Reiches, Vierte Folge). St. Petersburg, 1893. [Cited, Maydell, I, II.]

Подъ сѣвернымъ полярнымъ кругомъ. Очерки Колымскаго края. Въ Православномъ Благовѣстникѣ. 1894, No No 1, 3, 18. 1895, No 14.

[Under the Arctic Polar Circle. Sketches of the Kolyma Country. (Orthodox Messenger, 1894, Nos. 1, 3, 18; 1895, No. 4).]

Отчетъ старшаго Совѣтника Якутскаго Областнаго Правленія Д. И. Меликова по командировкѣ его въ Колымскій округъ въ 1893 году. Рукопись. Извлеченіе было напечатано въ Памятной Книжкѣ Якутской Области за 1896 годъ подъ заглавіемъ: "Важнѣйшіе промыслы и занятія жителей Колымскаго Округа," стр. 115-146.

[Report of the Senior Counsellor of the Yakutsk Province Regency, D. I. Melikoff, on his Revision of the Kolyma District in 1893. Manuscript. Part of it was published in the Note-Book of the Yakutsk Province for 1896, under the title "Chief Pursuits and Occupations of the Inhabitants of the Kolyma District," pp. 115-146.] [Cited, Melikoff.]

A. B. Олсуфьевъ. Общій очеркъ Анадырской Округи. Въ Запискахъ Приамурскаго Отдѣла Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества. Томъ II. Выпускъ I. С.-Петербургъ 1896.

[A. V. Olsufyeff. A General Sketch of the Anadyr District (Memoirs of the Amur Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. II, Part I). St. Petersburg, 1896.]

B. I. СЪрошевскій. Якуты. Опытъ Этнографическаго Изслѣдованія. Изданіе Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества. Томъ I. С.-Петербургъ 1896.

[V. L. Sieroszevsky. The Yakut. An Ethnographical Study. Edition of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. I. St. Petersburg, 1896.] [Cited, Sieroszevsky.]

W. Hough. The Methods of Fire-Making (Report of the U. S. National Museum for 1890). Washington, 1892. [Cited, Hough, Fire-Making.]

--------------- Primitive American Armour (Report of the U. S. National Museum

for 1893). Washington, 1895. [Cited, Hough, Armour.]

--------------- The Lamp of the Eskimo (Report of the U. S. National Museum

for 1896). Washington, 1898. [Cited, Hough, Lamp.]

H. Д. Гондатти. Поѣздка изъ С. Маркова на р. Анадырь въ бухту Провидѣнія (Беринговъ проливъ). Въ запискахъ Приамурскаго Отдѣла Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества. Томъ IV, вып. I. Хабаровскъ 1898.

[N. Gondatti. A Trip from Markova Village on the Anadyr River to Providence Bay (Bering Strait) (Memoirs of the Amur Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. IV, Part I). Khabarovsk, 1898.] [Cited, Gondatti.]

Л. Шренкъ. Объ инородцахъ Амурекаго края. Издаше Императорской Академіи Наукъ. Томъ II. С.-Петербургъ 1899 г.

[L. Schrenck. The natives of the Amur country. Edition of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Vol. II. St. Petersburg, 1899.] [Cited, Schrenck, II.]

B. И. Іохельсонъ. По рѣкамъ Ясачной и Коркодону. Въ Извѣстіяхъ Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества. 1898 г. Выпускъ III.

[W. I. Jochelson. On the Rivers Yassachnaya and Korkodon (Bulletins of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 1898, Part III).]

--------------- Очеркъ звѣропромышленности и торговли мѣхами въ Колымскомъ Округѣ. С.-Петербургъ 1898.

[--------------- Sketch of the Hunting Pursuits and Peltry Trade in the Kolyma Country. St. Petersburg, 1898.]

--------------- Матеріалы для изученія юкагирскаго языка и фольклора, собранные въ Колымскомъ Округѣ. Изданіе Императорской Академіи Наукъ. Вып. I. С.-Петербургъ 1900.

[---------------- Materials for the Study of the Yukaghir Language and Folk-Lore, collected in the Kolyma District. Edition of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. St. Petersburg, 1900.] [Cited, Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials.]

Edward William Nelson. The Eskimo about Bering Strait (Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of. Ethnology, pp. 1-518). Washington, Government Printing Office, 1899. [Cited, Nelson.]

A. L. Kroeber. The Eskimo of Smith Sound (Bulletin American Museum of Natural History, Vol. XII, 1899). [Cited, Kroeber.]

Д-ръ Н. В. Слюнинъ. Охотско-Камчатскій Край. Томъ I, II. С.-Петербургъ 1900.

[N. V. Slunin. Country of Okhotsk and Kamchatka, Vols. I, II. St. Petersburg, 1900.] [Cited, Slunin, I, II.]

James Teit. The Thompson Indians of British Columbia, edited by Franz Boas (Memoirs American Museum of Natural History, Vol. II, being Vol. I, Part IV, of the Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, April, 1900). [Cited, Teit.]

Franz Boas. The Central Eskimo (Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 399-669). Washington, Government Printing Office, 1888. [Cited, Boas, Central Eskimo.]

---------------- The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay (Bulletin American Museum of Natural History, Vol. XV, Part I, 1901). [Cited, Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo.]

K. И. Богдановичъ. Очерки Чукотскаго полуострова. С.-Петербургъ 1901.

[С. I. Bogdanovitch. Sketches of the Chukchee Peninsula. St. Petersburg, 1901.] [Cited, Bogdanovitch.]

Sheldon Jackson, LL. D. Ninth Annual Report on Introduction of Domestic Reindeer into Alaska, 1899. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1900. [Cited, Jackson, I.]

---------------- Eleventh Annual Report on Introduction of Domestic Reindeer into Alaska, 1901. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1902. [Cited, Jackson, II.]

B. Г. Богоразъ. Матеріалы no изученію чукотскаго языка и фольклора, собранные въ Колымскомъ Округе. Изданіе Императорской Академіи Наукъ. Вып. I. С.-Петербургъ 1900.

[W. Bogoras. Materials for the Study of the Chukchee Language and Folk-Lore collected in the Kolyma District. Edition of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Part I. St. Petersburg, 1900.] [Cited, Bogoras, Chukchee Materials)

---------------- Очеркъ Матеріальнаго быта оленныхъ чукчей, составленный на основаніи коллекцій Н. Л. Гондатти. Въ Сборникѣ Музея по Антропологіи и Этнографіи. С.-Петербургъ 1901.

[--------------- Sketch of the Material Life of the Reindeer Chukchee, composed on the basis of the Gondatti collection deposited in the Ethnographical Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (Publications of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, St. Petersburg, 1901).] [Cited, Bogoras, Chukchee Material Life.]

----------------- The Folk-Lore of Northeastern Asia as compared with that of Northwestern America (American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, October-December, 1902). [Cited, Bogoras, Anthropologist.]

Bruno Adler. Der Nordasiatische Pfeil (Internationales Archiv fur Ethnographie, Supplement to Band XIV, 1901). [Cited, Adler I.]

---------------- Die Bogen Nord-Asiens (Internationales Archiv fur Ethnographie, Band XV, Heft I, 1902). [Cited, Adler, II.]

O. T. Mason. The Ulu, or Woman's knife, of the Eskimo (Report of the U. S. National Museum for 1890). Washington, 1892. [Cited, Mason, Woman's Knife.]

---------------- North American Bows, Arrows and Quivers (Smithsonian Report for 1893, pp. 631-679). Washington, 1894.

---------------- Traps of the American Indians (Smithsonian Report for 1901, pp. 401-473). Washington, 1902. [Cited, Mason, Traps.]

Berthold Laufer. The Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes (Memoirs American Museum of Natural History, Vol. VII, being Vol. IV, Part I, of the Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, 1902). [Cited, Laufer.]

* * * For other authorities see references in the text.

The following alphabet is used in transcribing native words: --

a, e, i, u.....have their continental sounds (in the Chukchee and the Koryak always long).

o.........like o in nor.

ä.........obscure vowel (long).

ё.........like a in make.

A, E, I......obscure vowels (short).

ê.........like e in bell, but prolonged.

ei.........a diphthong with an accent on i. It always has a laryngeal intonation, 'i8.

ѳ.........between o and u, long.

ŭ.........mouth in i position, lips in u position (short).

w, y........ . as in English.

Extra long and extra short vowels are indicated by the macron and breve respectively.

The diphthongs are formed by combining any of the vowels with i and u. Thus:

ai.........like i in hide.

ei......... " ei " vein.

oi......... " oi " choice.

au......... " ow " how.

l .........as in German.

ļ .........pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the palate a little above the alveoli of the upper jaw, the back of the tongue free.

L.........posterior palatal l, surd and exploded, the tip of the tongue touching the alveoli of the upper jaw, the back of the tongue pressed against the hard palate.

Ļ.........posterior palatal /, sonant.

r .........as in French.

ř .........dental with slight trill.

ŗ .........velar.

m.........as in English.

n.........as in English.

ñ.........nasal n sound.

n..........palatized n (similar to ny).

b, p........as in English.

b', p', d', *', g', k' have a spirant added (gehauchter Absatz of Sievers).

v......... bilabial.

g.........like g in good.

h.........as in English.

x.........like ch in German Bach

k.........as in English.

q.........velar k

g.........velar g

d, t........as in English.

d., t........palatized (similar to dy and ty).

s.........as in English.

s..........palatized (similar to sy).

š......... " German z

c.........like English sh

č......... " English ch

j......... " j in French jour

ĵ......... " j .. Joy

č.........strongly palatized c

ĵ..........strongly palatized ĵ.

& .........designates increased stress of articulation.

`.........a very deep laryngeal intonation.

-.........a full pause between two vowels: yiñe'a.

- .........is used to connect.

I. -- NAMES AND HABITAT.

Names. -- The name of the Chukchee is derived from the Chukchee word cau'cu, which signifies "rich in reindeer." The Reindeer division of the tribe call themselves by this name in distinction from other kindred people; as, for instance, the Reindeer Koryak or the Maritime Chukchee. The same word is used, too, by the Reindeer Koryak, while both tribes call each other ta'n.ñitan (pl. ta'n.ñit).

The Maritime Chukchee call themselves and other maritime people añqa'lit ("sea people"), from a'ñqA ("the sea"); or rama'glat ("seacoast dwellers"). In distinction from other alien tribes, both Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee call themselves li'i-yi'lilit ("those of genuine language"), also ora'wêĻat ("men") or li'ê-ora'wêĻat ("genuine men"), in the same way as the Asiatic Eskimo call themselves Yu'it or Yu-pi'it (yuk, "man;" yu-pi, "genuine man"). The people of the alien tribes are called by the Chukchee a'lva-yê'lilit ("those of alien language"). All other names used by various writers in connection with the Chukchee tribe are for the most part the result of misunderstanding.

Thus the assertion of so many travellers, from Krasheninnikoff to Bogdanovitch, that the maritime inhabitants of the Chukchee or Koryak shores call themselves also Cau'cu, shows only that the people with whom they; conversed, though following maritime pursuits to some extent, were originally of Reindeer stock, and probably still had some herds farther inland. The like is actually the case everywhere within the limits of the coast of the Chukchee and the Koryak.

The name Tuski, adopted by W. H. Hooper with the strange explanation that it means a confederation or brotherhood, has probably arisen from an attempt to simplify the misspelling Tchuski instead of Tchukotski (Чукотскій), the Russian adjective from the substantive Tchukcha (Чукча, "Chukchee"). Hooper writes Tchutskoi Noss instead of Tchukotskiy Noss ("Chukotsky Cape"). {The word Tchutski was employed before that by M. Sauer.}

The name Chukmari, adopted by A. A. Resin for a tribe "intermediary between the Koryak and the Chukchee," {Resin, p. 156.} is derived from the popular Kamchatkan term for 'the Chukchee, Chukhmaryo (Чухмарье). He gives this name to the people living on the Opukski and Tumanski coasts; i.e., respectively to the Kerek and the Telqä'p Reindeer Chukchee, who are in reality the rudest and most primitive branches of the Koryak and the Chukchee tribes.

W. H. Dall even considers the Kerek to be Eskimo. At least, he asserts that the Eskimo are slowly moving to the south along the coast. In the year 1879, he says, a new Eskimo colony settled at Cape Olutorsky, and another one was going to join them the next year. {Geographical Notes (Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, New Series, Vol. Ill, No. I, p. 49).} The Cape Olutorsky of Russian and American maps is in reality Cape Anannon, close to which are situated the first southwestern villages of the Kerek; while the real Cape Olutorsky lies close to Baron Korff's Bay (on the Russian maps, Cape Govensky).

In former times the Eskimo of Indian Point and other villages actually sent trading-expeditions to Capes Barykoff and Navarin, on the shores of which are situated the first northeastern villages of the Kerek, while Cape Anannon and Baron Korff's Bay were not within their reach. Furthermore, no attempts at colonization were made as recently as the eighties of the last century; nor could the country around any of the capes mentioned be found uninhabited, as Mr. Dall was told by the people of Plover Bay.

The Russians call several of the divisions of the Reindeer Chukchee -- for instance, those living around Chaun Bay and to the north of the Anadyr River -- "White-Sea Chukchee." This name is probably connected with the term êlh-a'ñqa-ñaw-yito'ot ("offspring of the white-sea-woman"), which the Chukchee apply to themselves in their heroic tales. To the Maritime Chukchee the Russians give the name "Cape Chukchee," or sometimes "Kavralin," from the Chukchee word kavra'lit ("those going around"). The Chukchee give this name to a peculiar class of traders, who travel all their lives with reindeer from East Cape and Indian Point to the fairs held on the shores of the Kolyma and the Anadyr, bartering, as they proceed on their way, among. the camps of the Reindeer people. Almost all the Kavra'lit are of Maritime descent. Many of them, in their youth, were poor seal-hunters; then they turned to reindeer-breeding, and, after obtaining a few score animals, started to travel for barter.

Ancient Habitat. -- According to the traditions of the Chukchee, they were in olden times primarily a coast people, engaged in maritime pursuits and occupations, but also carried on reindeer-breeding. Tn the modern life of the Reindeer Chukchee there are several traces of this former state of affairs. Thus their tales treat chiefly of maritime subjects, and but comparatively few refer to reindeer-breeding. Their winter habitations are arranged in the same manner as those of the maritime people. They remain in one place for three or four months, while the herdsmen move from one pasture to another with their herds.

Moreover, the inner room of the winter house is called "polar-bear skin" (umkA'-ne'lhin), though at present even the Arctic Maritime Chukchee make its covering of reindeer-skins. The tool-bag of the Reindeer Chukchee is called "whalebone receptacle" (nala'wgochin), though no whalebone is used at present for any kind of implement. The larger bags for storing food and clothing, though made of reindeer-skins, are invariably given the form of a seal-skin bag, stripped whole from the carcass, with a cross-slit in the middle for an opening.

In religious beliefs and rites the dog plays a more important part than the reindeer, though, under the present condition of life, dogs are of little use to the people; besides, dog-breeding does not harmonize well with reindeer-breeding, as will be shown later on. I was told several times by the Reindeer people, "The Russians unjustly wonder why we keep so many dogs. The dog is the guardian of man, a strong help in every misfortune, a true friend, keeping off the Evil One." In travelling, a dog as a companion frightens the evil spirit away, while a reindeer has no such power. In times of infectious disease a small pup is rubbed against visitors coming from afar. This will either frighten away the spirits that may come with the traveller, or, if they are too powerful, it will at least serve as an expiatory victim.

On the other hand, the names of the months, both in Chukchee and in Koryak, curiously enough, indicate that both of these tribes, or some parts of them, came from more southern latitudes, and that perhaps they had reindeer-herds at that time. The fact is, that some of these names do not correspond to the real change of the seasons on the northern tundra. For instance, the fifth month of the Chukchee year (from the beginning of April to the beginning of May) is called "[month] of the waters" (Imli'rilin). The rivers of the tundra, however, open only at the end of May. The third month of the Koryak calendar is called "false reindeer-birth month" (Ti'nmi-qo'ya.-yo-yê'ļhin). and the fourth, "genuine reindeer-birth month" (Lhê-qo'ya-yo-yê'ļhin). These names seem to indicate that in some former country fawns were born a month earlier than in the present home of the Koryak. The incongruity in both cases was pointed out to me by the natives, who themselves were astonished at it.

Another curious detail in the Chukchee tradition points even farther to the south. It is the description of a large worm that lives near the villages of the dead, on the. Aurora Borealis. This worm is red in color, and striped, and is so large that it can attack big game. When hungry, it is very active, and will spring from ambush upon a wild reindeer, and then, after having seleed it, will kill it with the pressure of its coils. It swallows its prey whole, since it has no teeth. After taking a meal, it becomes inert, and sleeps for several days on the same spot; and the children of the dead cannot arouse it, even by pelting it with stones. This is a very accurate description of a boa-constrictor, and is apparently of ancient origin, since its location is in the sky and with the souls of the dead. There are no snakes in any part of northeastern Siberia; and therefore this tale, if based on facts, must point toward the south as far as those warmer shores where the boa-constrictor actually exists.

Perhaps it will not be out of place to mention here another Chukchee legend which seems to be even more ancient. In olden times there lived in the Anui Mountains a large beast called Keli'lhu. {This name is probably a mispronunciation of Ke'li-lū' ("spotted face").} He was tall and long, had a huge mouth which opened wide, and long-clawed paws. A certain young herdsman wandered among the crags, looking for a lost reindeer, and was seen and eaten by Keli'lhu.

Some time afterward the young man's father started to look for him. He went among the crags, and soon met Keli'lhu. He said, "Keli'lhu, have a laugh! I am fat, you will eat me; my reindeer are fatter, you will eat them too." -- "Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Keli'lhu; and his mouth opened so wide that his upper jaw reached his back, while his lower jaw hung down to his breast. When he stopped laughing, he closed his jaws with his paws, and continued his pursuit; but the man had succeeded in gaining ground. After a while the beast approached him again; but the man repeated, "Keli'lhu, have a laugh! I am fat, you will eat me; my reindeer are fatter, you will eat them too." -- "Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Keli'lhu; and his jaws sprang as wide apart as before, and he closed them in the same manner, and continued his pursuit. At last they reached the village, where a number of young men killed Keli'lhu with spears; but he had also killed many, because he was light and nimble, jumped "high, bit with his teeth, and smote with his paws.

Present Habitat. -- The villages of the Maritime Chukchee are situated on the Arctic coast between Cape Erri and East Cape, and on the coast of Bering Sea between East Cape and Anadyr Bay, except where a few Eskimo settlements are interspersed, -- two near East Cape, and seven between Indian Point and Cape Ulakhpen (Улахпенъ). The latter is called by the natives Wute'en, the same name as the village close by.

The Reindeer camps are scattered over the whole country to the northeast of a line drawn from the mouth of the Indighirka River to Cape Anannon.

The part of the country lying to the west of the rivers Chaun and Anadyr forms the so-called "Chukchee territory" {See p. 15.} (Чукотская землица). This territory, according to the obsolete but not yet abolished paragraph of the Russian Code, is considered to be "not thoroughly subdued." Its inhabitants, as well as all other Chukchee, have the privilege of settling all their affairs according to their own customs, including even murder if committed within the limits of their own territories. Such privileges sometimes lead to strange results.

G. Dyachkoff {Dyachkoff, p. 64.} relates the following incident, that occurred among the Olutora Koryak. In 1882 a man was murdered. The brothers of the murdered man refrained from the usual revenge, and sent a complaint to the magistrate in Gishiginsk. During the whole year there was no answer; after that, the collector of the tribute, a Cossack officer from Gishiginsk, passing through Olutora, explained to the complainants that they had to deal with the offender according to their own tribal customs. Then the relatives of the victim gathered together, and, coming to the village of the murderer, covered with burning wood the underground house where he lived with his numerous family, and all the inmates were burned alive.

The reason for this unusual forbearance, lies in the fact that the last campaigns which the Russians conducted against the Chukchee, in the eighteenth century, utterly miscarried, since the Cossack captain, A. Shestakoff, was defeated and killed March 14, 1730, on the river Ega'c; and Mayor Pavlutzky, after some temporary success, was likewise defeated and killed March 21, 1747, on the banks of Mayor's Lake, not far from Markova, on the Middle Anadyr. After that, the government, tired of an expensive and useless war, withdrew its garrisons, and in 1764 even ordered the fort of Anadyrsk, the remotest Russian post in northeastern Asia, to be demolished.

Intercourse with the Chukchee, renewed in 1789, was carried on the whole time with much circumspection, and no new attempt was made to conquer the Chukchee by force. The border divisions of the tribe have gradually submitted to Russian influence. The bulk of the Chukchee territory, however, up to the present time, remains practically exe'mpt from any trace of Russianization; and there are many camps and villages where a Russian face has never been seen, nor a word of the Russian language heard.

About a century ago the territory of the Reindeer Chukchee extended beyond the limits of the so-called " Chukchee territory," {See p. 14.} -- on the Arctic side as far as the river Baranikha, and on the Pacific side to the river Opuka; but in the early twenties of the nineteenth century the Reindeer Chukchee, induced in a measure by the increase of their herds, began to extend their boundaries westward and southward. In the sixties they crossed the Kolyma River, and spread over the flat tundra between the Kolyma and the Alaseya; the people of some camps even crossed the Alaseya, and went as far as the Indighirka. At the same time, other bands went from the Dry Anui to the Large Anui, and thence to the Oloi and the Omolon, driving the original inhabitants, the Lamut, farther and farther into the woods, or settling side by side with them on the borders of the forest.

On the Pacific side, Chukchee herdsmen rapidly spread beyond their former boundaries, and occupied the lower parts of the rivers Opuka, Poqa'č (Похача), and the high flat country around the Palpal Mountains, -- lands which before had. had no inhabitants at all, on account of the continuous petty wars between the Chukchee and the Koryak. Some of the Chukchee emigrated to the Parapolsky Dol, {The high flat country between Penshina and Baron Korff's Bays.} interspersing themselves among the Koryak as far as southern Kamchatka. Most of these became assimilated to a considerable degree with the Koryak, though even in Kamchatka the older generation still speaks Chukchee. On the border-line between the Chukchee and the Koryak I came across some camps the inhabitants of which were themselves unable to decide to which tribe they belonged, since the tribal names of Reindeer Chukchee and Koryak are identical and the languages very similar.

Neighboring Tribes. -- In the early years of the Russian invasion -- that is, in the first half of the seventeenth century -- there lived on , with red inflamed eyes, and nose filled with mucus. "Syphilis-spirits" (E'tel) are small red people moving about with small reindeer, and pitching their tents on human bodies. Sometimes they hide in the red juice of the cloud-berry, and are swallowed with it. According to other information, these "spirits" have no skin, and their raw, red flesh is left bare. They wear black capes with ear-flaps hanging down to the ground. On one of the sketches, "syphilis-spirits" are represented by two red foxes walking on their hind-legs (Fig. 209, a, b). One of the foxes has lost a foot, having been caught in a steel trap, and on his escape he sought revenge by becoming a "syphilis-spirit." The "colic-spirit" (Ehre'er or E'hrip) is represented with a large beak tied to his face (Fig. 209, c). He is also described as a large wooden ball having a face one side.

An ivory carving (Fig. 210) obtained from the Maritime Koryak at Baron Korff's Bay represents the "spirit" of contagious diseases, much like that shown in the drawings of the Chukchee. The "spirit" has a very large mouth full of teeth; and his hands are armed with claws, one of wich is broken.

As a defence against a "spirit," the spoon is very efficient, because this utensil has eaten so much of the blood-soup used for sacrifice. The snow-beater is another favorite weapon, because it rattles all the time. It is especially efficacious when it has a guardian image on its handle. The "spirits" fear the chamber-vessel most of all. Human urine poured over a "spirit's" head will immediately drive him back. Urine freezes on a "spirit's" clothes, and turns to hoar-frost: therefore a "spirit" is sometimes said to have ice-covered clothes. The oil dripping from a lamp is also senting the "Spirit" of said to be highly efficacious against "spirits: therefore it is used by shamans when performing incantations, in drawing magic circles around the house.

The Chukchee have little conception of death by natural means. When a man dies, he is supposed to be killed either by "spirits," or by an evil shaman through the influence of charms. In one tale the Creator, angered by the bloodthirstiness of the "spirits," gives them a severe lesson on their own children. They repent, and for a while stop killing. Then death ceases in the whole world, until the "spirits," incited by hunger, return to their former pursuit.

One of the chief features of the funeral ceremonial with the Chukchee consists in ripping open the abdomen of the corpse, and carefully searching the internal organs, especially the liver, to discover, if possible, which "spirit" or shaman may have killed the deceased.

The second division of the ke'let, the cannibal giants who make war against the Chukchee warriors, are heard of chiefly in the folk-tales. They are described as having fabulous features, but in all cases they are earthly and mortal beings. Man can deal with them, using ordinary weapons, while against the "genuine spirits" it is necessary to use incantations, magic spells, and shamanistic power. These giants are always very poor. They have no reindeer and use dogs only to a limited extent. In several tales the "spirit" has only a single dog, used for hunting-purposes, and carries his fuel and quarry on his own shoulders, or hauls them on a sled. In the Yukaghir folk-lore these beings are simply called "legendary old men," {Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, Introductory, p. iv.} which characterizes them perfectly.

The transition from the first to the second class of ke'let is quite gradual and almost imperceptible. One shaman of the Reindeer people in the Telqä'p tundra told me that a few years before, when he was visiting at the secluded house of a Ke'rek family, {See p. 19.} a ke'lE came at dusk to the dwelling, and called from the outside for his wife to come out. He had evidently lost his way and had mistaken this for his own house. He went on to tell his supposed wife that he had caught all the fish in the nearest two rivers, and he flung down his load with such force that the ground trembled. Then he thrust a pair of boots made of stone into the sleeping-room, and asked for dry shoes. When he tried to creep into the sleeping-room, the inmates poured the contents of the chamber-vessel on his head, and he immediately fled, gibbering away at a furious rate. The fish remained behind, and afforded sufficient food for all the people of the near-by villages for half a year. It will be seen that this ke'lE is described as an unfriendly spirit and at the same time as an earthly being living by catching real fish.

Another story relates that a ke'lE tribe lived somewhere on the Arctic shore. The Chukchee led a war of extermination against them, and at last the "spirits," unable to continue the strife, made themselves invisible.

I have already spoken of the tradition according to which several human tribes are supposed to have emigrated in ancient times from the Chukchee country. {See p. 22.} These tribes correspond to the Eskimo tornit (pl. of tuneq). {See Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 634.} Cannibal giants similar to those of the Chukchee appear also in Eskimo tales. The tribes which emigrated are supposed to have been of ordinary stature.

The Chukchee also believe in the existence of a race of giants, who, unlike the ke'let, do not harm men. They are called lo'lgiht. The tales about them are somewhat similar to those found among the Eskimo. The giants are said to live on the other shore of the sea, inside of large tent-like mountains. When they make a fire, the smoke escapes through the opening on the top of the mountains.

One of the sketches mentioned (Fig. 211) represents a giant called "One-with-a-Walrus-Blubber-Skin" (Kopa'lha-hê'lhêlin). This giant came from across the sea to the land of the Ke'rek. He was so heavy that he left the footprints of his steps everywhere, and even the impression of his private parts. One night he went to sleep in an open place. Three men saw him, and succeeded in tying him with ropes to stakes driven into the ground. After that they killed him with their spears. His bleached bones may be seen even now on the Pe'qul-ñei' Mountains.

The third category of ke'let consists of the "spirits" that come at the call of the shamans. They are often called "separate spirits" (ya'nřa-ka'lat) or "separate vioces" (ya'nřa-ko'lêt), because their voices seem to come from different directions. The shamans produce these voices by ventriloquism. Another name for these "spirits" is eñe'ñît, from which the shaman is called eñe'ñilin ("having e'ñeñ"). The word "e'ñeñ" is applied also to all kinds of medicines, including the pills and powders of the civilized world. The Christian God is called E'ñeñ, and so also are the crucifix, images of saints, etc.

The shamanistic "spirits" are for the most part material objects of various kinds, -- animals, such as wolves, reindeer, walrus, whales; birds; plants; icebergs; household utensils, such as pots, hammers, needles, and needle-cases. The chamber-vessel and urine are also shamans' "spirits." I was told of an old man who met a fox defecating in the open (see Fig. 212, d). The fox ran away, and the old man took its excrement for his own "spirit." Another old man, when practising shamanism, called his own penis as a "spirit." Sometimes household objects, etc., are described as calling, without invitation, on the shaman during a manifestation. They put on mysterious airs, and assume fine-sounding names. The needle, for instance, appears as a man, and calls itself "the long one" (iwču'wgi). The work-bag is called by other "spirits" "[home] sitting bag" (wakѳ'tva-ta'-iočgin). The antler ladle appears as a ribald old man, and boasts that all women love him. The excrement boasts that he is clad in a nice black garment, but other "spirits" reveal his identity. The shamanistic "spirits" are described as very small, and timid in the presence of unfamiliar objects and surroundings. They belong to the houseless world, say the Chukchee, just as do wild animals. It is no easy matter to allure them to human houses and to tame them, even partially. They approach warily, and are ready to run away at any moment. They come only in the darkness. By listening, one can sometimes hear the tapping of their tiny feet as they trot across a drum. When moving in the dark, they produce a sound similar to the droning of a beetle or the buzzing of a mosquito. {The same, also, in tales.} Their voices are, however, strong. They are supposed to be subject to sudden changes of size, and able, in case of need, to grow to giant proportions. An ermine invoked as a shamanistic "spirit," or as a guardian spirit of an ordinary man, will, if need be, assume the shape of a polar bear. A pebble will appear as a mountain. A small wooden figure representing a supernatural dog will increase in size until it is larger than a bear. {The same, also, in tales.} Nevertheless, the shamanistic "spirits" are smaller than the "genuine spirits." In some of the native sketches where a "genuine spirit" is represented side by side with "separate spirits" invoked by a shaman to give protection against the first "spirit's," attacks, the shamanistic "spirits" are drawn considerably smaller than the "genuine spirits."

The sketches shown in Fig. 212 are copied from a native drawing representing various shamanistic "spirits," a is a man who carried his own excrement, laid on a paddle, out of the house, and it became a "spirit," b represents a man who called to himself a "spirit" in the shape of a centipede; с represents a man to whom a "benevolent being (invible on the sketch) offered the choice between two shamanistic coats, red and black (good and bad shamanism), he chose the red; d represents a man who met in the open a fox defecating, over which he brandished his spear, whereupon the fox fled, and the excrement became a "spirit."

The shamanistic "spirits" are very ill tempered, especially toward the shaman with whom they are connected. If he does not carry out implicitly all the suggestions they make about his dress, mode of living, and the details of ceremonials, they become angry and chastise him, or punish him otherwise. If he continues to disobey, they kill him. If the "spirits" are displeased with any of the listeners at a ceremony, they usually take vengeance on the shaman. For this reason, outsiders must be very quiet, and careful not to pry into the work of the "spirits."

On the other hand, when the shaman has kept faithfully his compact with the "spirits," they must come at his call, and must assist him in all troubles and difficulties. "These are my people, my own little 'spirits,'" said one shaman when I expressed a doubt as to whether his "spirits" would come or not. "They will not leave me, but will seek me all the time, as a fawn seeks its mother."

Stories of Chukchee folk-lore are full of episodes in which shamanistic "spirits" come at the call of the shaman when he is in difficulty, and deliver him from imminent peril. One old shaman, A'ñika by name, who lived in the village of Nu'nligren, told me that when he was still newly inspired, he happened to travel by sea in a skin boat with seven other men, all of whom were shamans, and each one older than himself. Suddenly the boat sprung a leak. The owner, who was steering, exclaimed, "Stop that leak, some of you!" but no one was able to do anything. Then he himself called a "seaweed-spirit" who happened to be among his supernatural assistants, and told him to stick to the leak. Thus the boat came to shore. When they were near to the landing, A'ñika exclaimed, "I have done enough in taking care of you (by stopping the leak)! Now, if you are really shamans, save yourselves from destruction!" The "seaweed-spirit" dropped off, and the boat began to sink. A'ñika and the owner of the boat were able to reach the shore by swimming, but all the others were drowned.

This story is analogous in many respects to a folk-lore story that I collected in the village of Če'čin. In that story also, a young shaman with the aid of a "seaweed-spirit" saves a boat. Then he bids defiance to those in the boat, and, suddenly turning into a hawk, seizes the boat-owner and carries him to land, while all the others perish.

Shamanistic "spirits," as a rule, do not like one another. When they meet near a shaman, they are said to quarrel and to abuse one another in a most violent manner. The shaman, however, brings about a reconciliation, and prevails upon them to act harmoniously. Thus, in the story of the "Two Rival Shamans," the house of one of them is covered on all sides with a number of "spirits," and a "spirit" of another shaman, who comes for assault, cannot find an opening through which to enter. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 217.}

Benevolent Beings. -- Supernatural beings which are benevolent in nature are called "beings" (va'irgit), as I have stated before. This word in the verb-form is t-it-va'rkm ("I exist," "I am"). The noun va'irgin signifies "existence," "being," "way of living," "acting force," "substance."

Directions. -- While there are numerous varieties of "benevolent spirits," the most prominent are the "benevolent spirits sacrificed to" (taaro'nyo va'irgit), those to whom people bring sacrifices. They live in all "directions" of the compass, or are even themselves the "directions" of the compass in their connection with a special stage of sunlight and of day-time which corresponds to each separate "direction." The Chukchee distinguish twenty-two "directions" of the compass, as represented in Fig. 213. Of these "directions," only mid-day and midnight are unchanging. All others change their positions according to change of season. The zenith and the nadir are also considered to belong to this group.

Sacrifices may be made to every one of these "directions," if it is so directed in a dream. As objects for receiving sacrifices, the "directions" of the compass are called "[directions] sacrificed to" (taaro'ngirgit). Usually only the principal "directions" are taken into consideration. That pointing to the zenith is considered to be the most important of all. It is called "being a crown" (kano'irgin), or "middle cro.wn" (gino'n-kano'n), or "middle being" (gmo'n-va'irgm). Mid-day, the sun, and particularly the polar star, around which the Chukchee well know all other stars move, are often considered identical with the "middle crown." Of all others, Morning-Dawn (Tna'irgin) is the most important. Mid-day and dawn are sometimes spoken of as identical. Together they receive nearly all the sacrifices offered to "spirits of directions."

The shamans speak about several divisions of the Morning-Dawn, -- the "Top of the Dawn" (TneVqAn), "Right-hand Dawn" (Mratna'irgin). "Genuine Dawn" (Li'ê-tña'irgin), and "Left-hand Dawn" (Ña'chi-tña'irgm). The last-named is considered to be the brother of Darkness (Wu's.quus.). The name of Dawn's wife is given as Dawn-walking-Woman (Tñe-čei'vuñe). Besides all these, two mountains are mentioned as standing at either side of the Dawn; also a little old woman, Dawn-Top-Woman (Tñe's.qA-ñe), who lives in a dwelling apart by herself, after the manner of such old women in Chukchee tales. The Chukchee -say the Dawn and the Twilight are "wife companions" (Tña'irgin е'rri gi'thilm geñewtu'mgä); that is, have a wife in common. Some of the tales describe their common life with this woman in crude detail.

In one tale a shaman ascends to their dwelling in order to rob them of their wife. He creates a girl out of snow and grass, which he pretends is his sister. The snow girl is given in exchange for the wife of the hosts, but in the morning they find that she is dissolved. Then a shamanistic contest begins. Among other feats, the contestants have to run along a thin pole over a boiling-hot river. The shaman does not wait for his turn, but starts from the opposite end at the same time as the other competitors. When he meets them, he jumps over their heads and runs on. Next they have to leap over a chasm bristling with projecting knives. The shaman, performs this feat backwards. Then a huge kettle filled with boiling water is placed by the side of a larch-tree. A thin pole with a sharp end protrudes from the water. The competitors have to catch the end of a rope which hangs from the larch-tree. Then they must jump into the kettle, alighting on the end of the pole, and finally land safely on the ground. Other trials follow. The shaman overpowers his supernatural competitors, robs them of' the woman, and finally kills them. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 227.}

The "directions" of the evening are classed together as "Darkness" (Wu's.quus.). They are not given separate sacrifices, except in special cases. After the usual sacrifice to the Dawn, the Chukchee man will often sprinkle a few drops of blood in the four principal "directions." The darkness and the midnight "directions" are frequently confused with the nadir (nota's.qa-va'irgm). Nota's.qa-va'irgin signifies literally "earth-being," and the sacrifice in that "direction" is sometimes meant as a sacrifice to the earth. {For the ke'let who are called nota's.qa-va'irgit, compare p. 293.}

Sun and Moon. -- The Sun is generally described as a separate va'iRgiN. He is represented as a man in bright garments wandering around the sky, drawn by dogs or reindeer. His reindeer are sometimes described as having antlers of copper. He descended to earth along one of his own rays, and married a girl, whom he carried with him to heaven by the same road. {From tales.} He also brought to men a herd of white reindeer. The brown and the gray reindeer come from under the ground, somewhere beyond the limits of the peltry-bearing country (ävi'n-nu'tenut), at the place where the sky touches the earth. There a large hole is bored through the ground, and through that hole herds of reindeer pass continually, followed by wolves. In this way the number of reindeer on earth increases.

The Sun goes down every evening to his wife, whose name is Walking-around-Woman (Kavra'-ñña). According to another somewhat disconnected version, Sun's wife is called Rejoicing-Woman (Ko'rgi-ñа). This name was given to her because she bore a son to her husband, and then said to him, "Rejoice, I have a son!" The son was soon stolen by Stuck-Staff-Woman (U'npIñe), who may sometimes be heard weeping in the open on very dark nights at the end of summer. The Sun-People sought for the lost boy, but the thief destroyed all traces of herself by sticking her magic staff across her trail. This is how she received the name of Stuck-Staff-Woman. This episode seems to be a fragment of some old tale.

The Moon is also considered a man, and to. a certain extent holds a position in contrast to that of the Sun. He is called the Sun of the ke'lE. The suns of lower worlds are often quite similar to our moon. Shamans apply to the Moon for evil spells and incantations. A person who looks too hard at the Moon may be bereft of his wits, or be carried away altogether. The Moon has a lasso with which he catches such people, and hauls them upward. He thus captured a boy or a girl, or both, according to different versions of the story. They may now be seen on the moon, by the side of the Moon-Man. Other informants said that the Moon carried away the boy because he was ill-treated by his step-mother. Because the Moon has a lasso, he accepts offerings of small pieces of thong. The Moon is also said to have attempted to ravish a girl, and to have been prevented by her pinioning his arms to his sides until he had to plead to be released.

In one tale a shaman named Atti'gitki went with his cousin to the sea. On the open sea they saw a small old man sitting on the water with legs crossed, and covering the entrance to the world under water. By promising to give him, on their return home, an old blind she-dog, gray with age, they were permitted to enter. Descending to the world under water, they walked along and found still another world supported in the air on the end of a long needle. They turned into mosquitoes, flew upward, and slipped through the needle's eye into that world. Then they became men again.

The owner of that world is the Earth (Nu'tenut). He sits in a large iron house surrounded by Sun, Moon, Sky, Sea, Dawn, Darkness, and World, who are suitors for his beautiful daughter. Their hands are covered with scars, because at each meal, when the tray with the meat is brought in, the master strikes with a long knife at every hand that reaches out for the food. The guests, however, being powerful shamans, immediately heal their wounds by breathing on them. Atti'gitki sits down by himself, puts his cap on his lap, and draws in his breath. Plenty of meat jumps over into the cap, and Nu'tenut has no occasion to interfere.

After the meal the suitors are sent to fetch fuel. A large tree-trunk stands up in the middle of the sea. As soon as a suitor climbs it and begins to cut its branches with an axe, the "spirit" that lives in the tree-trunk shakes it, and the wood-cutter falls down and is drowned. The suitors, being shamans, rise again, and come back to the shore. Atti'gitki and his cousin bring a quantity of food and drop it on the tree-trunk. While the "spirit" is busy eating the food, they succeed in cutting off a piece of wood as large as a house. After a while a shamanistic contest begins in the sleeping-room. The lights are extinguished. Sun brings his luminary, and scorches the people. Sea. brings the flood, and drowns everything. Moon brings the "shutting rocks," and crushes the competitors. Dawn brings two polar bears, which eat everybody. Darkness brings two black bears, which do the same. Sky makes its upper hard crust fall down and crush the people. Worlds brings a blizzard, and freezes them. After each performance, all the rival shamans come to life again. The two men remain unhurt, because they turn, now into red worms, then into ermines or into wagtails, and in this shape escape from danger. Finally Atti'gitki, in his turn, begins to perform. He lifts his staff, and touches the competitors one by one. Half of the body of each is burned, shrunken, or weakened. They fly away terrified, and Atti'gitki carries off the bride. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 235.}

Stars and Constellations. -- Stars and constellations also belong to the va'irgit. The most important is the Polar Star, which is called in the Chukchee language Ilu'kälin e'ñer or Ilu'k-e'ñer ("motionless star"), or Ä3lqe'p-e'ñer ("nail star"), or Unp-e'ñer ("the pole-stuck star"). This latter name occurs throughout Asia. It suggests the existence of a simile in which all other stars move around the Polar Star as horses or reindeer move around a pole to which they are tethered. The house of the Polar Star stands in the zenith. Directly under it is a hole through which it is possible to pass from one world to another. Through a series of these holes the Polar Star can be seen in all the lower and higher worlds, while the other constellations change with the different worlds. Carrying this idea further, the house of the Polar Star is supposed to be higher than that of any other star. It is made of a material similar to ice, {Tin-wu'rrm ("similar to ice"). The Chukchee use the same word (ti'ntin) for "ice" and "glass." The term "similar to ice" is also applied to rock-crystal.} and on the top of it is set the beacon-lamp of the star.

Next in importance to the Polar Star are Arcturus and Vega, which are called "Heads" (Le'utti). Arcturus is called "Front Head" (YanoLa'ut), and Vega is called "Rear Head" (YaaLa'ut). They are said to be brothers or cousins. In the night-time, when travelling through the open tundra, the Chukchee find their direction by comparing the position of both "Heads" to each other and to the Polar Star. The "Front Head," Arcturus, is often called the "chief" or the "guide" of the stars.

The stars Altair and Tarared of the constellation Eagle are combined by the Chukchee into a separate constellation, and are called Pehi'ttin. This constellation is believed to usher in the light of the new year, because it begins to appear above the horizon at the time of the winter solstice. The Reindeer Chukchee and most of the families of the Maritime Chukchee sacrifice to Pehi'ttin at the time of his first appearance. I was told, both on the Kolyma and the Anadyr, that Pehi'ttin was a forefather of the tribe, who, after death, ascended to heaven; but I could not procure any further details.

Other stars and constellations known to the Chukchee are not considered special va'irgit. The principal ones are described below.

Orion, which is called Rulte'nnin, is said to be an archer with a crooked back. His name is derived from the same root as the adjective niru'ltA-qin ("crooked"). Star X of the constellation forms his head; a and y, his shoulders; χ and β, his feet. Orion's belt is the crooked back of Rulte'nnin. Two large stars extending downward from the belt form his membrum virile.

Leo is called Vê'tča-ñe'ut ("standing-woman"). This name is usually given to women taking part in certain ceremonial dances. {See Chapter XIV.} The woman is considered to be Orion's wife, and she sleeps on the bare ground. In a quarrel she struck Orion on the back with her tailoring-board, causing his back to become crooked. After that he drove his wife out, and she lay down to sleep in the middle of the sky. Leo is formed of seven stars. The star ε of Leo represents the head of the woman; η, her neck; Regulus, her knee. A small star between ε and η, represents the sleeve on which rests the head of the sleeping woman. Other stars outline her body.

The Pleiades are called Ñaus.qajo'mkin ("group of women"). They are six young women waiting for husbands. Orion, after his quarrel with his wife, offered to marry one of them; but they rejected his offer, considering his membrum virile to be too big for them. The incensed suitor caught up his bow and began to shoot at the women, who turned and fled.

Aldebaran is considered to be the copper-tipped arrow of Orion, and is called Čê'lo-ma'3qim ("copper arrow"). The rear end of its wooden shaft is represented by the double star not far from Aldebaran. The arrow fell short of the fleeing women, and stuck in a mossy bog. The bow of Orion is represented by a number of stars in front of the constellation, which form a figure somewhat resembling a bow. The Kolyma Chukchee say that the "group of women" stand quiet, and protect themselves with nets, which are represented by a number of small stars. The "copper arrow" sticks in the net.

The three constellations described by the Chukchee are shown in Fig. 214. Orion is standing with shoulders squared and legs wide apart, and is bending his bow for another shot.

The star α (Capella) of the Wagoner is a reindeer-buck which is tied behind the sledge of a man (ε) who is driving two reindeer. All four stars are called čŭmña-nlete'tilin ("buck-carriers"). β of the same constellation is supposed to be a scarf lost by another reindeer-driver, who now comes back for it. This driver has behind his sledge another extra buck (star θ), which is walking sidewise. A fox is approaching the scarf from the other side. The whole constellation is represented in Fig. 215.

Ursa Major does not play a conspicuous part among the other constellations. Six of its stars are supposed to be men shooting with slings, and are called accordingly "sling-throwers" (wiyotkiña'ulit). The seventh star, which is double, is supposed to be a gray fox gnawing at a pair of antlers. Castor and Pollux are two elks running away from two hunters who are driving two reindeer-teams represented by the stars γ, κ, and λ, μ of the constellation Lynx. One of the hunters has a dog tied behind his sledge. {Both drivers are called "elk-hunters" (gu'pkA-velerkile'llt). The driver without a dog, however, is often called also the "mouse-driver" (compare p. 287).} The relative positions of these constellations are represented in Fig. 216. Corona Borealis is supposed to be the paw of a polar bear.

The constellation Dolphin is considered a seal, with the star £ representing its head, and four other stars its flippers.

The Milky Way is supposed to be a river, called Pebbly River (Cigei'-ve'em), which is believed to flow toward the west and to contain numerous islands.

The five large stars in the constellation Cassiopeia are five reindeer-bucks standing in the middle of the river.

In general, the names of constellations given by Lieutenant Nordquist {Vega Expeditionens Vetenskapliga jakttagelser, I, p. 397.} differ from mine only in the method of transcription; but he calls Cassiopeia "melotamkin," which, with a proper change of vowels in the root, {Compare p. 19, Footnote 2.} must be read milute'mkin ("group of hares"). I have never heard Cassiopeia spoken of as hares instead of reindeer.

Two small stars near Pehi'ttin are called "reindeer-dam" (veñke'nřu), the second star being a reindeer-calf. They are approaching Pehi'ttin to be sacrificed.

The Chukchee sketch (Fig. 217) represents the starry sky. Pebbly River flows across it. The Polar Star (a) is below it, exactly in the middle. Below the Polar Star, on the right, are (b) the Elks (Twins); and on the left (c), the Elk-Hunter (Lynx). Above Pebbly River, on the left, is Ursa Major (d) with its eight vertical row, three stars (e) which represent Pehi'ttin (Eagle). {The man who drew the sketch could give no reasons why he put in Pehi'ttin three stars instead of two (see p. 307). Perhaps it was only an accidental mistake.} The group on the right hand represents Orion (f) and the Pleiades (g); three stars a little above that group represent Corona Borealis (h). The stars i and j represent the "Heads." The Moon is in the first quarter.

In another sketch representing the sky (Fig. 218) the Polar Star is placed in the middle. Four lines extend from it in the main directions of the compass. The Dawn, the Evening, and the Darkness have worlds of their own, represented as large mountains. The Dawn (in the left-hand corner, below) has rays around his head. He holds in his left hand a tray, which was offered to him with a sacrifice, and in his right hand a fox, which he is going to give in exchange. From his left, another fox is approaching; and on his right a dog which had been sacrificed by men sits looking up at him. These two animals are also to be exchanged. Two other sacrificial trays lie on the ground. The Evening and his family (in the opposite corner, above) are celebrating the feast of the sea-god. They wear ceremonial headbands. A large wand stands in their midst. The Darkness is shown in the lower right-hand corner, in the form of a human being coming out of the trees with many branches. The Sun and the new Moon stand opposite each other. Among the stars can be discerned the outlines of Orion and of the Pleiades, the Milky Way, "Heads," etc. The large star in the upper left-hand corner is Venus.

On another sketch (Fig. 219) three worlds are represented by three concentric circles. Our world is the innermost. The Polar Star again stands in the centre. On the left hand are the Sun and the Moon. The latter is represented as a man holding a lasso, with two human captives standing beside him. Between the Sun and the Moon are the stars of Pehi'ttin. {See p. 307.} Beneath the Moon is located the black mountain of Darkness. At the bottom stands a house made of earth belonging to the ke'let. Two ke'let walk on all-fours. A large worm {See p. 13.} wriggles above the house, its tail armed with a long sting. The Left-hand Dawn has a low wooden house with two "murderers," {See p. 292.} one tied on each side. The Genuine Dawn has a house raised on a platform, which is supported by a single pole. Four dogs are tied on the sides of the house. In the region of the Right-hand Dawn, at the left side of the sketch, lives Dawn-Top-Woman (Tñe's'qA.ñe) {See p. 303.} in a small house, which is also supported on a single pole. Under her feet is Venus.

The next sketch (Fig. 220 a) shows the Moon with the lasso in his hand. The captive girl stands by his side. He is displeased with two shamans because of the many evil charms they have created, with his aid, to destroy other people. He paralyzes them by binding their heads and hands with invisible strings, and pulling them upward (Fig. 220, b, c). The Moon's wife is represented with her face half blackened with soot (Fig. 220, d).

In Koryak, ke'let of all kinds are called ka'la, ka'la, ka'lak, ka'mak, also ñi'nvit, ñênvê'-tičñin. The word ka'mak is used also in Chukchee for the "spirit of disease," and in the Russo-Chukchee jargon for "death" or "dying." With the Yukaghir, as noted before, a being similar to the second class of ke'let is called a "legendary old man." {See p. 299.}

The Asiatic Eskimo call the ke'lE tomirak (pl. tomirat), which is apparently derived from the same root as tornak of the American Eskimo. The second class of ke'let are called by the Asiatic Eskimo mira'xpak, evidently an augmentative. The mira'xpahit live somewhere on the seashore, although it is hard to find their places of habitation. Their footprints, however, are often visible on the snow, and are enormously large; but the mira'xpahit step no farther than an ordinary man.

The name re'kkeñ is borrowed by the Eskimo from the Chukchee, and becomes ra'kka in the second form of the stem. {See p. 19, Footnote 2.} With proper phonetical change, va'irgm of the Chukchee becomes vahi'yñm in the northwestern dialect of the Koryak. In Eskimo it is called kiya'rnarak, signifying also "being," and derived from the verb kiyar-na-ku'ña ("I exist", "I am"). Tña'irgm ("Morning-Dawn") of the Chukchee becomes Tñahi'tñin in Koryak. Pičvu'čin is known to the Koryak under the same name, and to the Kamchadal under the name of Pila'xčuč. Steller and Krasheninnikoff call him Bilukai. {See Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 105.}

In Koryak several of the stars have names similar to those in Chukchee. The Polar Star is called "nailed star" (a3lka'p-aña'i; according to Mr. Jochelson, {See Vol. VI, The Koryak, p. 123. The difference in the transcription of Koryak names by Mr. Jochelson and myself corresponds to the difference between the dialects of the localities where the notes were taken respectively. My notes come mainly from the village of Kamenskoye and the country lying southeast of it; that is, from the Pacific coast and northern Kamchatka. The notes of Mr. Jochelson belong, likewise, to the village of Kamenskoye and to the country west of it; that is, to the villages of Paren, Itkana, etc., and to the Reindeer Koryak of the peninsula of Taigonos. Now, the dialects of the eastern Koryak substitute r for у wolva'ki-r-imli'lm). The dialect of Paren substitutes t for r (Ke'tmet). The dialect of Kamenskoye substitutes a for e (Čehai'-va'yam), etc.} a3čka'p-aña'i). Rulte'nnin is called in various dialects Rulte'yet, Rulte'yelm, Yulta'yat, or Wolva'ki-r-imti'lm ("Crosswise-bow-carrier"), which suggests the same tale. For this last, Mr. Jochelson has Ulveiyinitila3n, with the same meaning. Aldebaran is called Cici'lo-xmä ("Copper-arrow-head"). This name, with slight changes, is repeated in several dialects.

Pehi'ttin is called Pa'hittm. According to Mr. Jochelson, Pe'geten, meaning "suspended breath," is the name of the morning-star. I was unable to find out the derivation of this word. Orion's Belt is called Kĭlu'-êna'nvenañ ("scraper of Kĭlu'"), Kĭlu' being the name of a mythical personage, niece of Big-Raven. {See Vol. VI, p. 116.} Corona Borealis is called Kĭlu'-pla'kilhin ("boot of Kĭlu'"). The name Ñawisqa'timkm ("group of women") is applied in different localities to the Pleiades or to Cassiopeia. The Milky Way is also called Pebbly River (Čehai'-va'yam), or Muddy River (Aru-ve'yem), or Clay River (Ya3-ve'yem). The Ursa Major, however, is ilva'-kyi ("wild reindeer-buck;" according to Mr. Jochelson, elwe'kyeñ). In most localities the Pleiades are called Kä'tmäč, Ke'rmis ("little sieve"); according to Mr. Jochelson, Ke'tmet. In some places they are considered as a group of reindeer at which the celestial archer Rulte'yet takes aim. The names of constellations and stars among the Ai'wan Eskimo are almost all literal translations from the Chukchee. For instance, Le'utti ("Heads") are called Na's-kut, which means the same; the Pleiades are called Arnaraye'it, which, again, signifies "group of women," etc.

Comets are called "smoking-stars" by the Chukchee. The word "smoke" indicates that they suppose much cooking is being done there. Planets are called "crooked-way stars," because of their irregular path. Among these, Venus has a separate name, Hito'-Lap. The first part of this name means "large," "extensive." The Chukchee could not explain the second root of this name; but probably it agrees with the Koryak word Lêla'pičan ("star"), which, in its turn, is derived from the verb lêla'pekin ("to look on"), and means literally "one looking on." The Chukchee name of Venus, therefore, means "large star." Venus, when the morning-star, is also called Kêrg-aña'LIñIn ("bright star"). The Chukchee say that Venus is mŭk-ävi'rInle3n ("with many clothes"), because she shines with changing colors. Shooting-stars are said to be stars that go coasting down hill on sleds. The Koryak suppose that they take alms to the needy in heaven. Those that shoot away from land toward the sea carry reindeer-meat, while those that move in an opposite direction carry whale-blubber. The Asiatic Eskimo say of shooting-stars, that they have diarrhoea. {Nelson (p. 449) says that the shooting-stars are termed "star-dung" by the Alaskan Eskimo.} When there is an eclipse of the moon, the Chukchee say that a ke'lE wants to swallow the moon.

Other "Beings." -- The "Beings" (va'irgit) of indefinite character -- such as T-ênan-tѳmgiñ {T-ênan-tѳmgiñ, literally, "one who induces the things to be created," from the verb tѳmga'-arkm ("to arise," "to spring to life"). T-ênan are two prefixes. In the same way, for instance, t-ênan-a3qalê'ññIñ means "one who causes [others] to become frightened," "a bugbear," from the verb ä3qäliñe'erkm ("to be frightened").} ("Creator"), Girgo'l-va'irgin ("Upper Being"), Ña'rginên ("World," literally, "the outer one"), Yai'vač-va'irgin ("Merciful Being"), Yagta'č-va'irgin ("Life-giving Being"), Kinta'-va'irgin ("Luck-giving Being") -- are but little more than names. These names may replace one another. The first name is used chiefly in cosmogonical tales; the second, and more particularly the third, in prayers and incantations.

All of these "Beings" are powerful, and just and benevolent toward man. They represent a very loose and indefinite personification of the creative principle of the world, and are similar to Great Manitou or to Wakanda of the Indians, which are quite as indefinite in meaning. The Zenith, the Midday, the Dawn, are also often considered identical with the Creator of the world. With those who have been baptized, the Christian God, under the name of E'ñeñ, {See p. 300.} has taken a place side by side with these vague superior beings. The Chukchee, however, point out that the Creator does not belong to those sacrificed to. They say there is no need to sacrifice to the Creator. Upper Being, Merciful Being, Life-giving Being, Luck-giving Being, may receive sacrifices, though these sacrifices are not included in the yearly cycle of ceremonials. More often sacrifices to Dawn, Zenith, and Mid-day are at the same time offered to the benevolent "Beings" mentioned before.

On a curious sketch (Fig. 221) which forms part of a large drawing in my collection, Luck-giving Being is represented as a raven. He looks at a man shooting at a seal, and claims beforehand a part of its meat.

The Reindeer people mention also the "Reindeer Being" (Qo'rên va'irgin), who looks after the welfare of the herds. On one hand, this name can be replaced by "Creator" or "Merciful Being," and on the other hand it is connected with special amulets and images, each of which protects a separate herd. {See Chapter XIII.}

Some of these names exist also among the Koryak. With them, Tenanto'mñi is also the Creator, though he is often identified with the Big-Raven (Kuyqimv.a'qu {The pronunciation of this name varies greatly in different localities (cf. Bogoras, American Anthropologist, p. 637). The transcription adopted here corresponds to the pronunciation in the village of Kamenskoye. Even there it is also pronounced Quyqlnn.a'qu. In Chukchee, this name is Ku'rkil on the Kolyma, and Ku'urkil on the Pacific side. Compare also p. 312, Footnote 4.}), who represents the chief Deity. In Chukchee tales, on the contrary, the Raven (Ku'urkil, corresponding to Kuyqmn-a'qu), even in his name, plays a less important part, and is almost always distinguished from the Creator. {See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 640.} In the tales collected among the camps of the Telqa'p tundra and Big-River, Ku'urkil, however, plays a more important part, owing evidently to the influence of Koryak neighbors. His sons and daughters, little known to the other Chukchee, appear on the scene with names analogous to those of the Koryak. Eme'mqut, for instance, is reputed to be the ancestor of the reindeer-breeding people. He created reindeer by kicking a heap of boughs, and taught the people the art of herding the animals. According to other tales, he married among the Reindeer Chukchee, who, on this ground, are called Va'irgi-mata'k-ra'mkin ("to the deities-allied-by-wife-people"). The "Upper One" (Gieho'lken) or the "Upper Master" (Gičhol-eti'nvilan) corresponds to the "Upper Being" of the Chukchee.

The "Beings of the Sea" (A'ñqa-va'irgit) have little connection with the others. They are known only to the Maritime Chukchee, who make regular sacrifices to them. Of the Reindeer division of the tribe, only those families sacrifice to the "Beings of the Sea" whose ancestors were of Maritime extraction.

The Chukchee know the powerful old woman, so familiar to the Eskimo, who owns all sea-game and lives at the bottom of the sea. She is called by the Chukchee the "Mother of Walrus," and is supposed to have two walrus-tusks. In recent times one of her tusks was broken. This so incensed the old woman that she has limited the supply of game. When the other tusk breaks, all sea-game will disappear from the surface. In one of the native sketches, drawn with seal-blood on a small wooden plank, the woman is represented in the shape of a large walrus with one of its tusks broken. A similar idea is expressed in another sketch, in which the "Reindeer Being" is represented with one eye closed, as a sign that he has lessened the supply of reindeer to mankind. When he closes his other eye, all reindeer will vanish.

One of the shamanistic statements of which I spoke before {See p. 281.} mentions a mighty woman who sits on an island in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by large piles of costly pelts. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 380.} Whether the Mother of Walrus is connected with Sedna of the Eskimo, I am not certain. Some Chukchee tales tell of a young girl who was thrown overboard by her father. When she tried to catch the bow of the boat, she had her fingers chopped off with an adze. After that the girl turned into a walrus, and upset the boat. This walrus girl, however, has never been identified with the Mother of Walrus, as far as I could find out.

A "sea-spirit" with walrus-tusks is also mentioned. He comes out of the sea in the night-time and crawls to human houses, intending to do harm. Fig. 222 represents this "spirit" when he wants to enter a large house on the shore, but is frightened away by dogs. Neither of these walrus "Beings" receives regular sacrifices from the Chukchee. Walruses, moreover, are very often called in as assisting ke'let by shamans of both the Reindeer and the Maritime Chukchee.

The chief "Beings of the Sea" are Kere'tkun and his wife, who is sometimes called Cinei'-new. They live on the sea-bottom or in the open sea, where they have a large floating house. They are larger than men, have black faces, and head-bands of peculiar form, and are clad in long white garments made of walrus-guts, adorned with many small tassels. In connection with this garment, Kere'tkun is sometimes called Peru'ten {Compare p. 289.} ("one clad in walrus-gut"). Kere'tkun owns all sea-game, especially walrus. When these come to the shore, a call may come suddenly from the open, making them all turn back. It is Kere'tkun's voice. He is very fierce, and feeds on the bodies of drowned men. He often takes boats and canoes from men to use them in his own dominions. In spite of this, he is counted among the "Beings," and even gives very efficient help against the ke'let. In one incantation, his house is called a "shield against ke'let." Its door is a mouth. Every ke'lE who dares to enter is eaten up, and later thrown out as excrement. He then becomes an "excrement-spirit." When Kere'tkun's wife shakes her house, ke'let fall down, like so many mosquitoes. She catches them, and drowns them in the sea.

The autumn ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee and of the Asiatic Eskimo are, for the most part, consecrated to Kere'tkun. To simulate the god, the people put on loose white garments, and narrow head-bands of a peculiar form. In one of the native sketches (Fig. 223) a ceremonial is represented taking place in a tent. A net of special form, adorned, according to the custom, with painted images of paddles, hangs above. Near it are fastened a lamp and a pair of reindeer-antlers. Three vessels filled with offerings, and two more lamps, stand on the ground. Kere'tkun and his wife are represented in the right-hand upper corner. Their faces are black, and they wear white garments and special head-bands. Kere'tkun holds a wand and a painted paddle used in the ceremony. His wife holds a vessel for sacrifices. The people in the tent have the same kind of garments and head-bands. One of them beats the drum while the woman dances to it. Another man dances bent over the lamps. Flying shamanistic "spirits" are seen on the left side of the picture. They are a "bird-spirit," a "fox-spirit," and a peculiar being composed of the two "limb-souls;" namely, souls of hands lost by a man. The significance of these will be discussed later.

On another sketch (Fig. 2 24) a female belonging representing a "Being of the to the class of "Beings of the Sea" is represented. The man who drew the sketch claimed that he met her once on the sea-ice. He represented what he believed he had seen. He said that she came running toward him, her long, fringed mantle trailing behind her on the ice. In one hand she held a staff, in the other an empty vessel. All the time she cried loudly for some tallow.

Some of the Asiatic Eskimo also bring sacrifices to Kere'tkun and to his wife. By them, Kere'tkun is called Ka'cak. Allowing for the necessary phonetical changes, it is probably the same name.

It is hard to tell with which tribe this idea of the sea Deity originated. The Eskimo at Indian Point assert that the Chukchee sacrifices to Kere'tkun are more complicated, though I am not sure that such is really the case. Furthermore, most of the religious ideas of the Maritime Chukchee are related to those of the Reindeer branch, while Kere'tkun and his ritual stand quite apart. The Reindeer people do not consider Kere'tkun a Chukchee Deity proper, and assert that he is a sea-god, and that he belongs to the Maritime people, particularly to the Eskimo. The Eskimo of Indian Point sacrifice also to the old woman living at the bottom of the sea. She is called Nuli'rahak ("big woman"). She has also another name, which it is considered sinful to pronounce outside of the ceremonials, and which I could not ascertain by any means I could devise.

"House-beings" (ya'ra-va'irgit) are the "spirits" of tents or of houses, and exist more or less independent of the family living in the house. They outlive generations of inmates of the house; but, if the house itself is destroyed, they perish with it. If the tent is forsaken by the inhabitants, and left in the open, as sometimes happens with the Reindeer Chukchee, the "house-spirits" turn into very dangerous "earth-spirits." According to the Chukchee, this is because everything that has been connected with man, and has broken away from this relation, becomes spoiled and wicked.

"House-spirits" have names that are derived from stems which mean "absence of motion." They usually live in pairs, as husband and wife, and have children, who are liable to disease and are mortal. For instance, a shaman of the country of Anadyr told me that the "spirit" of his house had the name Olva'irgm ("motionless"), and his wife was called Ve'tca-ne'ut ("standing-woman"). {See p. 308.} Both of these were young. Three years ago they had a son, whom the shaman himself unintentionally killed in the following manner. One night, hearing the sound of walking in the outer tent, and believing it to come from "ke'let," he threw out of the sleeping-room some urine from the chamber-vessel as an effective means of driving them off. Then he heard the low groan of a child, and knew that something was wrong with his own "house-spirits.". In the morning his little child, who had been slightly ailing for a few days, suddenly died. Both he and his "house-spirit" thus became childless. The "house-spirit," in order to replace his loss, had recourse to the method usual among the Chukchee, -- that of concluding a bond of friendship with another, and allowing him to have acquaintance with his wife. The wives of "house-spirits" are also supposed to have clandestine lovers among the "re'kkeñ-spirits" that roam about.

Another man, of the Kolyma country, called his "house-spirit" Wolva'3-la'ul ("motionless man"), and his wife Wu'lve-ñe'ut ("motionless woman").

"House-spirits" live in the dark storage-place in the rear of the tent (ya'ñan). At night they come out around the corners of the sleeping-room.

They receive a small share of every larger sacrifice, which is placed on the ground, near the corners of the sleeping-room.

Some of the "Beings" have so-called "assistants" (vi'yolit). For instance, the Creator, or the Spirit of the Zenith, has an "assistant," who was described to me as having a raven's head. This feature is evidently connected with the Raven myth. {See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 636.} The "assistant" receives a part of the sacrifices that are directed upward. On account of his beak he is called "Raven's-Beak" (Valviya'k). In one sketch (Fig. 225, a) he is represented as having a raven's beak painted on his face. On another sketch made on a board with a sharp instrument (Fig. 225, b) he is represented as having a raven's head and feet, one wing, and one human hand.

The Raven mentioned in different incantations is also supposed to be Valviya'k, "assistant" to the Creator or to the Zenith. According to the shamans, he usually assumes the shape of a raven, and lives in the region of the sky, near the Polar Star. This region abounds with worms of a peculiar kind (not the one mentioned on p. 311), which form a part of his food. When called by shamans to cure their patients, he devours the disease as a bird devours worms. One of the shamans, however, distinguished between this Raven and the Raven who restored to the earth the sources of light. The latter was called by him a very mighty "Being," who had dealings with mankind only at the time of the creation, but, after that, transformed himself into thunder, and became invisible.

Kere'tkun has an "assistant," who has a wife of his own. I could not ascertain his name, perhaps he has none. He is always mentioned as Kere't-kun's "assistant." He supervises the construction of Kere'tkun's boats. Special sacrifices and ceremonials are made for him. These will be described later.

Even ke'let and other spirits occasionally have "assistants." In one of the sketches, such an "assistant" is represented crawling on his knees toward a victim that he wants to kill for his master.

The name vi'yohn is also applied in incantations to various "spirits" who are called to give help. For instance, the man repeating an incantation says, "I want to employ you as an 'assistant.' To be sure, whom else can I employ? You are the best for me." From this point of view, every protecting or helping "spirit," or even its image or a protecting amulet, would be called vi'yolin. {Compare Chapter XIII.} Fig. 226, for example, is an image of a helping "spirit" belonging to Tiwhlku't, a Chukchee of the Anadyr. It has a human face, and is arranged to be used like a divining-stone; that is, it can be suspended and used for foretelling the future by the way it swings. The owner called the image his "assistant" for hunting walrus. He said that the "assistant" lived in the region of the sky, and that his name was Te'gret ("the descending one").

System of Winds. -- The winds also are classed with the "Beings," and some of them are mentioned in incantations. The Maritime Chukchee, moreover, instead of saying, "to sacrifice to all directions," say, "to sacrifice to all the winds."

The chief wind is qêra'lhin. In the Kolyma country it is the west wind; in the Chukchee Peninsula, the southwest wind. In both cases it is the most violent wind of the country. The names of the winds in the Kolyma country are given in Fig. 227.

The names of the winds on the Chukchee Peninsula are given in Fig. 228. The sketch (Fig. 229) represents the system of winds at the mouth of the Anadyr River, and is copied from a drawing made by a native. It is identical with the system of winds on the Chukchee Peninsula, though the man who drew it could, of course, represent only the approximate direction of each wind. The directions of the winds on the Chukchee Peninsula are much more accurately observed, because many of the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo are well acquainted with the use of the compass, and carry, on their travelling-expeditions in winter and in summer, compasses bought from whalers.

The apparent difference which exists between the wind systems of the peninsula and of the Kolyma country can be explained, to a considerable degree, by the different position of land and sea in the two countries. Thus, the sea-winds (añqai'hit) which on the Arctic Sea come from the north, on the Pacific come from the east. Near the mouth of Kolyma River the wind qêra'lhin comes from the large open tundra of the west: on the Pacific, near Indian Point, it is of the same nature, but comes from the southwest. The wind qaačhê'hin, which, near the mouth of Kolyma River, comes along the seashore from the northeast, on the Pacific, near Indian Point, also comes along the seashore, but from west-southwest.

The Koryak names of winds as diagrammed for me in the village of Va'ikenan, on Penshina Bay, are for the most part identical with those of the Pacific-coast Chukchee. Thus, qeya'lhin, corresponding to the Chukchee qera'lhm, signifies "southwest;" eñe'neñe signifies "southeast;" but empei'kin, probably corresponding to yamwa'ihin of the Kolyma, which refers to the same wind, signifies "northeast."

Other winds among the Koryak of that village are hisho'lan ("up-[stream wind]") for the east wind, 'e'wtelan ("down-[stream wind]") for the south-southwest wind, onm-e'wtelan ("inner down [stream wind]") for the south wind. Names like these last are used also by Russians in both Europe and Asia, and by Russianized natives everywhere in northeastern Siberia.

The Chukchee assert that, in the Arctic system of winds, qêra'lhin and eñe'neñe are husband and wife. Although they constantly desire to meet, they are prevented, and obliged to pass each other in the air. Others say, on the contrary, that, passing each other, they exchange mutual abuse.

The cold winds are said to be produced by giants who live on the border of our earth, and spend their time shovelling snow with huge shovels made of the shoulder-blades of whales. Sometimes the winds are said to have an old mistress, who causes snow-storms. by shaking the snow from her dwelling. Thunder is said to be produced by the passing of the thunder-bird. Others attribute it to the rattling noise made by girls playing on a spread sealskin. Rain is the urine of one of the girls. In one tale the lightning is described as a one-sided man who drags his one-sided sister along by her foot. She is intoxicated with fly-agaric. The noise caused by her back as it strikes the floor of heaven is thunder, her urine is rain. Obsidian is said to be the stone of the thunder, which falls from the sky in round balls, or even in roughly chipped arrow-heads and lances. Perhaps the idea of stone arrow-heads falling from the sky, so common in the Old World, is borrowed from the Tungus or from the Russianized natives.

Intoxicating mushrooms are neither ke'let nor va'irgit. They form a "separate tribe" (ya'nřa-va'rat). {Compare p. 282.} We have already noted that they are very strong, and that, when coming out of the earth, they can lift a large tree-trunk on their head, or shatter a rock into pieces. They appear to intoxicated men in strange shapes.

On one sketch (Fig. 230) there are represented the tracks of a man who is led around by mushrooms. He thinks that he is a reindeer, then he is "submerged," and after a while he comes out laboring under the same idea. The path of his tracks connects all men and all beasts seen during the trance. {The word an.ña'arkm ("to be submerged") is applied to those trances which are connected with the supernatural world; that is, trances of shamans, etc.}

Monsters. -- Besides kelet and va'irgit, we hear of several kinds of monsters. Among these are the killerwhales, which are said to be sea-werwolves. They are called ei3ñipči'kit (literally, "long-nosed birds"). No reason is given for applying this name. In summer these monsters assume the shape of killer-whales, and in winter they come to the shore, transform themselves into wolves, and hunt the Chukchee reindeer herds. In accordance with this belief, wolves are thought to be endowed with supernatural powers. {See p. 81.}

While in the sea, the killer-whales form themselves into parties of eight, who act as the crew of a boat. They hunt all kinds of large sea-game, especially walrus. On one of the sketches (Fig. 231) a hunt of this kind is represented. Killer-whales have surrounded some walruses. The large figure "master" of killer-whales, who is looking on the struggle. At the top of the sketch a killer-whale is asking for some tobacco from the human crew of a skin boat passing by on the surface.

The killer-whale plays an important part in the mythology of some other tribes of northeastern Asia. I heard in Vladivostok a Gilyak tale in which killer-whales are said to be the "assistants" of the sea-god. When they attack a whale, and tear pieces of flesh from its body, they carry them to the sea-god. They also bring to him for inspection the shoals of sea-fish that want to ascend the rivers. The Asiatic Eskimo consider the killer-whale to be protected by a taboo. Everybody who kills one may be sure of dying a violent death within a very short time. {The death of the late Missionary Campbell of St. Lawrence Island, who with his family perished in a shipwreck while returning from a trip to San Francisco, was attributed to the fact that the captain of the ship had killed a killer-whale the previous year.} Teeth of the killer-whale are considered an effective protection against headache, and especially against toothache. Krasheninnikoff says {Krasheninnikoff, I, p. 302.} that the Kamchadal sealers were afraid of killer-whales, and, on meeting one, offered it sacrifices, lest it should do them harm. Nothing is known of this at present.

The re'kken of the Kolyma country is quite different from the re'kken. of the Pacific. It is a bear-like monster with very large ears that catch even the slight sound made by the wings of a mosquito flying by.

In a tale of the Kolyma Chukchee, two such re'kkefiit are tied as doorkeepers to the entrance of the house of a ke'te. An incantation obtained in the same part of the country mentions the advantage of using the large ears of the re'kkenit for a tent, to protect the conjurer from evil spirits.

eal daughter. I gave her to you as a wife, and all my property I also gave to you. But now the anger of my people is coming upon you. They want to kill you. The hands of the angry ones are very nimble. Perhaps they will not hit the heart, will not kill you all at once. Better let me do it." Ta'lo answered nothing, only hung his head still lower. The old man took his bow, put two sharp arrows on the string, bent one knee, and shot; but at the very moment when the string vibrated, Taio deployed like an elastic trap let off by a trigger, jumped up, and touched with his head the roof of the tent; then he was back in his former place, and felt behind him with his hand the wall of the inner room. Two arrows had made in the earth wall two deep holes on a level with his breast. They entered quite deep into the earth. Only their points were visible. Ta'lo crouched as before, covering his knees with his shirt. The father too crouched on the other side of the hearth, imitating the son. "Oh, oh! you have grown up a very nimble man, to avoid an arrow so very near to you. Now cease living here among an alien tribe. Go to your own people. The trail from here leads to midnight. Far ahead stands a high rock. In the short winter days, when the sun is not visible on the earth, its top is still red with the sunlight. Beyond that rock, on the right-hand side, stand the tents of your people." He told his daughter to sew six pair of boots of thick chamois, six pair of seal-skin, and six of reindeer-leg skin. For two nights and one day the woman did not sleep, sewing these boots. She also wept these two nights and one day, till from blindness she began to prick her fingers with her needle. On the third morning Taio left. He did not take along either his bow or his spear, only a small girdle-knife of whalebone.

On the way ten Ta'n.ñin warriors fell upon him; but he slew them all, and took for himself their reindeer and one full set of arms, a suit of armor, a spear, a bow, and a quiver. When he came to the rock and turned to the right, he saw a young Chukchee man driving a reindeer-team. This one, seeing upon the new-comer the weapons and dress of an alien tribe, turned and fled. Ta'lo's reindeer were very swift. Very soon he passed the Chukchee driver, and, wishing to talk with him, barred his way. The other one turned and fled in another direction. Ta'lo again overtook him and caught hold of the bridle of the right reindeer with his hand. The Chukchee threw down the reins. "If I became like a wild reindeer for you, (then slay me!)" {This formula expresses the request for voluntary death (compare the latter part of this chapter).} -- "No, I do not want to slay you. But, tell me, who are you?" -- "I am Omrita'hin's son. We were three brothers, but the middle one was taken by the Ta'n-ñit when very young." -- "Then I am your brother," said Ta'lo. "I was brought up by Ta'n.ñit. My armor is alien, but the body under the armor was borne by a white sea-woman!" Then they greeted each other, and grew to have no fear of each other. "Where are your houses?" asked Ta'lo. "Here, near by, hidden behind the hill." -- "How many tents?" -- "Three tents,-- my brother's and mine, then that of an old 'neighbor in the camp."' -- "Well, let us go there!" -- "But I must go first. If you go before me, they will kill you." -- "No, let me go first; otherwise they will say that an enemy is pursuing you." -- "No, let me go! Whoever brings good news must go on ahead." So they go together, one sledge behind the other. They drive very fast; and the reindeer of one sledge are all the time close upon the reindeer of the other. When they began to get near the camp, the people of the camp exclaimed, "A Ta'n.ñin is pursuing our man!" Men with bows appeared, and shot a quantity of arrows at Ta'lo. Even the snow-dust flew upward as in a tempest. When the snow-dust settled down again, they saw Ta'lo standing a little apart, quite safe, and dusting the snow from his clothes. Then the brother told them. Ta'lo lived with his kinsmen, but the next year he arranged a daring invasion into the Ta'n.ñin land. He slew a great many people, took fifteen herds and eighty young slaves. One night he came to his father-in-law. "I want to tell you something," says the old man. "You take your wife and carry her to your land. As for us, better kill us with a lance. We are too old to leave our native country and adopt the ways of an alien tribe." He slew the old people and left them on that very place, with the tent and all their belongings.

Another part of this interesting tale, also very characteristic, will be given in one of the next chapters.

In a tale of Yäku'nnin, which describes the struggle of the Chukchee against the Russian Cossacks, Yäku'nnin's adopted son also figures, who fights faithfully by his father's side, and is then severely wounded or killed. Then Yäku'nnin is also taken prisoner, put to torture, and killed. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 390.}

Voluntary Death. -- Voluntary death is still of frequent occurrence among the Chukchee. It is inflicted by a friend or relative, upon the expressed wish of the person who desires to die. Though I had no occasion to witness a case of voluntary death, I know of about twenty cases which happened among the Chukchee during the time of my travels. One summer, while I was at Mariinsky Post, a large skin boat from the Telqä'p tundra arrived for trading-purposes. One of the new-comers, after a visit to the Russian barracks, felt a sudden pain in his stomach. During the night the pain became acute, the sufferer asked to be killed, and his fellow-travellers complied with his request.

From what has been related, it will be seen that the voluntary death of old men is not prompted by any lack of good feeling towards the old men, but rather by the hard conditions of their life, which make existence almost unendurable for any one unable to take full care of himself. Accordingly, not only old people, but also those afflicted by some illness, often prefer death to continued suffering; and their number is even greater than that of old people who die a voluntary death.

The position of an infirm man among the Chukchee is very hard indeed, be he young or old. On the western Kolyma tundra I met a man less than thirty years of age, A'niqai by name, who three years before was stricken with palsy, and, though partly recovered, had become feeble-minded. I saw him in February. It was cold and windy. The Chukchee of the western Kolyma tundra have no winter houses, and wander about throughout the year with their usual travelling-tent and sleeping-room. Thus did also the family of A'niqai. We visited them at a newly chosen camping-place. The women had just begun to unload the pack-sledges. The tent could be pitched only late in the evening. A'niqai lay on the snow, looking very much like a heap of old clothes. His wife put a clothing-bag under his head; but, the bag being short and round, his head almost immediately fell to the ground again. His cap also had fallen off, and the wind began to fill his hair with fine dry snow. The cold was so severe that even the Chukchee could keep warm only by continual exercise. A'niqai lay there quite motionless. I caught his look. Though dull and feeble, it was full of helpless pain, and had something of that of a dying animal.

Another tragic figure of my acquaintance was a woman of forty, who suffered from lung trouble, and whom I saw on the Dry Anui River when I had to spend a couple of days in her camp. She had been very active in her youth, a good "shaker of the tent," as the Chukchee say. Even at that time she tried to prove that she was still good for something. She continued the hard toil of the Chukchee housewife, which knows almost no interruption; but her work was not so successful as before. Her tent was full of filth, the sleeping-room was damp and cold, and she herself was black with grease and soot. She would move about in the smoke from the fire, which was fed with the damp fuel of the tundra, rattling the kettles and pans. Then a fit of violent coughing would seize her; and her figure would emerge from the smoke, and she would stand on the snow, stamping her feet, and clutching her chest with her hands. When the fit was over, she would curse her fate and sufferings, and even her own life; and her face, black with soot, became still blacker with anger.

The most peculiar cause for voluntary death is the wrath, the lack of patience, of the Chukchee, which was mentioned by Lotteri as early as 1765. {Compare p. 44.} Unable to fight against suffering of any kind, physical or mental, the Chukchee prefers to see it destroyed, together with his own life. Thus Aiñanwa't told me how some years ago his neighbor in camp, Little-Spoon by name, requested that he be killed. "He and his wife often quarrelled because they had very bad sons. From quarrelling with his wife came his desire to be killed. One day his elder son and his mother picked a quarrel with him. Then he asked to be killed." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 53.}

Other Chukchee of my acquaintance added the following explanation: "Among our people, when a father is very angry with his lazy and bad son, he says, 'I do not want to see him any more. Let me go away.' Then he asks to be killed, and charges the very son who offended him with the execution of his request. 'Let him give me the mortal blow, let him suffer from the memory of it.'

Deep sorrow on account of the loss of some near friend must also be mentioned as a reason for voluntary death. I have spoken before of a husband who wanted to follow his dead wife. {Compare p. 551.}

Last among the motives of voluntary death, toedium vitoe should be mentioned. I have related the case of a man named Ka'tik, who, when speaking with me, declared that he did not desire to live any longer. He gave as his reason that fortune did not like him, though his herd and family were prospering. I did not pay much attention to his words, but a few months afterwards I heard that he had really had himself strangled. {Compare p. 47.}

Another case of the same character refers to a widow of forty, who lived with her son and two nephews, being an owner of a considerable herd. She felt that life held no pleasures for her. She was in fear that her herd might decrease, and that she would feel ashamed to live. She died by strangulation. The case was related to me by Aiñanwa't.

It must be borne in mind that all these psychical motives lead as often to suicide as to voluntary death. The difference is, that the younger people, especially those not yet fully grown, when desiring to die, destroy their life with their own hands, while those who are older more frequently ask to be killed. I know some cases of boys and girls who were not yet twenty, and who killed themselves from spite, shame, or sorrow. {Compare p. 46.} Not one of them could have induced his house-mates to be his "assistant" in dying. For the older people, such assistance is considered more becoming than death by their own hands.

An additional source for this inclination for voluntary death is the idea that death by violence is preferable to death by disease or old age. Even the term which is used for "voluntary death" has some connection with this idea. It is called vêrê'tirgin ("single fight"). A man who feels a desire to die a voluntary death sometimes even says, "Let us have a single fight" (Minmarau'mik), or "Since like a wild reindeer I became for thee" (Če'ñet im ilve'nu ine'lhii3); and this is understood as a request to be killed. Another expression is used chiefly in folk-tales: "Since I became for thee like thy quarry" (Če'ñet-im gi'nniku ine'lhii3), or, more directly, "Like thy quarry treat me" (Gi'nniku qine'lhii3). These formulas are used by warriors when they are vanquished by an adversary and do not want to outlive their defeat. The meaning is, "Give me a mortal stroke, since I have become for you as a game-animal." The same formula is sometimes used in real life by those desiring voluntary death. The Chukchee explained the motive to me, saying, "We do not want to die through ke'let. We want to die a violent death, to die fighting, as if we were fighting with the Russians." The Russians were singled out probably for my own benefit. Death by disease, as has been explained before, is ascribed to the wiles of the ke'let. {Compare p. 298.} The tendency to desire voluntary death is more or less hereditary in some Chukchee families, not so much as a duty, as rather a fate which passes from father to son. In a detailed description of a case of voluntary death, which I noted down from the words of natives, it is said, "Since his father died this way, he wanted to imitate him." The father was stabbed with a knife; but, when death did not come immediately, he requested that he be strangled with a rope, which was done accordingly. The son also was stabbed, but the stroke was not mortal. So he went still further in imitating his father, and also requested that he might die by strangulation, which was immediately executed.

Aiñanwa't, whose name has been mentioned several times, told me that his father and elder brother died this way, and that he himself felt an inclination to end his life in the same manner, though it is by no means obligatory for a son to follow the example of his father. One of his brothers died a natural death, and so did not continue the tradition.

That voluntary death is considered praiseworthy, may be seen also from the fact, that, in the descriptions of the other world, those who have died this way are given one of the best dwelling-places. They dwell on the red blaze of the aurora borealis, and pass their time playing ball with a walrus-skull. {Compare p. 334.}

When a man shows a desire to die a voluntary death, his house-mates usually show much fear, and often try to dissuade him. This is done in good earnest, because the duty of killing, and a near relative at that, is considered something terrible. When the person has no sons and wants to die by stabbing, there is often some difficulty in having his desire executed. Nobody wants to deal the mortal blow. In two cases mentioned before, the hand of the son who had to kill his father was unsteady, and the wound he inflicted was not immediately mortal. The dispute between the man wishing to die a voluntary death and his house-mates is well represented in the tale of Ai'ginto.

Ai'ginto said, "Oh! they (the kelet) have stolen my son. How can I continue to live? I am childless. My son is stolen. Why should I live any longer? Do something to me (i. е., kill me)!" -- "No," said the master of the camp, "why should I do such a thing to (against) my spleen-companion?" {Êmño'l-tѳ'mgin (literally, "spleen-companion") is one who helps to while away time, and thus drive off the feeling of dulness. This term is used, for instance, by old men and infirm people, who have to keep to the inner room. It is applied to the guests, tobacco, etc.} -- "No, no, do it. Have you any white driving-reindeer?" -- "I have."-- "Have you white clothes?" -- "I have." -- "Have you a white cap, white boots, white mittens, a white rug?" -- "I have everything." -- "These shall be for my departure. Then do it." -- "No, no, I cannot. Let me give you one of my own sons. Let each of us have one son." -- "I do not want other men's sons. Where is my own son? Make haste!" -- "No, no! Let me give you both my sons. Let me be childless." -- "I do not want them. Where is my own boy? Here, kill me!" They quarrelled the whole day long. Ai'ginto reproved the master bitterly, so that the latter had to yield. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 265.}

Nevertheless, when the formula is pronounced aloud, no retreat is possible, because the spirits who have listened to the promise would severely retaliate at any failure to fulfil it. Thus it appears that voluntary death is at the same time considered as a preventive against death from the wiles of the kelet (i. е., against natural death), and also as a sacrifice to the kelet. This kind of contradiction is often met with in the ideas of the Chukchee. {Concerning the contradictory ideas of the Chukchee, compare also p. 336.} The two ideas refer to quite different aspects of voluntary death.

A man who is contemplating voluntary death thinks that he will free himself from death by the action of the ke'let, but, when the time of execution comes, the voluntary death cannot be considered other than a bloody sacrifice to the same ke'let; and, though it is not considered a direct means of gaining their good-will, failure to fulfil the promise of the sacrifice brings, according to the ideas of the Chukchee, severe anger and retaliation on the part of the spirits.

Three methods of voluntary death are known to the Chukchee, -- death by stabbing with a knife or spear, death by strangulation, and death by shooting. The last method is used much less frequently than the others. The bow is never used, only the rifle. It seems, therefore, that this method has come into use quite recently. The reason for using the rifle is that death is more sudden and less painful. The people who kill the person desiring to die are called "assistants" or "followers," like those in the funeral ceremony. {Compare p. 521.} When death is inflicted by stabbing, the mortal stroke must be given by men. Women are not allowed to take part in the execution. The knife of the person being killed has to be used. Then the death-stroke is less painful. After death the wound has to be sewed up with thread. The knife is carried to the funeral place and left there. A death stroke dealt by the hand of a son is not painful, that given by the hand of a complete stranger is extremely painful. Therefore, when in a strange camp, while on a journey or at a fair, voluntary death is executed by other means than stabbing. When the person is stabbed with a spear, his face is usually covered with a piece of skin or with a shawl. Often he takes his position in the inner room, close to the entrance. The executioner stands in the outer room, holding his spear forward, and the man who desires to be killed takes the spear-head with both his hands and points it against his heart. Then he gives a signal for the death-stroke. Both in stabbing with the knife and with the spear, and also in shooting with the rifle, the blow is given from the front, never from behind. While only men are allowed to execute the wish of a person who desires to die a bloody death, women may also assist in killing persons by strangling. The wife of the man who is to die holds his head on her knees wrapped in a shawl, while two men pull from both sides at a rope put around his neck. If the man struggles too much, the woman "smoothes his hands" (i.e., keeps them down with both her hands), or, if her strength is not sufficient, another woman aids her. In one or two cases I listened to a description of strangling from the lips of women who had held the heads of their dying husbands on their knees. They spoke of it with much composure, and related how the strangled man kicked with hands and feet, and how they kept him quiet. After the desire to die is proclaimed aloud, the execution must be done speedily, -- if possible, on the same day or the next one, -- for the ke'let hover about after the promise has been made, and if they have to wait too long, they may lose patience and take some other person. Previous to his last hours, the person is treated with fat meat and "alien food," and all his wishes are fulfilled. The people avoid annoying him; even though he chides them, they must keep silent. Here it should be remembered that some cases of voluntary death originate in wrath. {According to Jochelson (The Koryak, p. 760), the custom of killing old people, until recently, existed among the Koryak. Franz Boas says of the Central Eskimo, that among them it is considered lawful for a man to kill his aged parents (Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 615).}

I will add here two descriptions of voluntary death noted down from information given by the natives. The first one happened in the year 1894, on the western Kolyma tundra. The second happened on the same tundra a year later. Both were related to me by Aiñanwa't.

"One Eli'hiki had taken a great quantity of goods on credit from a merchant of Yakutsk. Several years passed, and the debt was not fully covered. One spring he left his home and went to Sredne-Kolymsk from a distant place in the tundra. At the same time all the people passed over to the other shore of the Omolon River. His brother was Rultu'wgi. They drank brandy there in the tent of U'nkuul, a Tungus. A hernia, which was an object of constant care with him, was frost-bitten, and therefore refused to go in. Thus ill-luck visited him. He suffered great pain and sorrow because he could not put his bowels in place. Therefore he began to speak, requesting his companion in marriage to give him death. U'nkuul was his companion in marriage. The neighboring camp was that of his younger brother. Eli'hiki went to the town with them, without a tent of his own. His wife had very small children, (and could not go with them.) Then he was afflicted in the manner aforesaid; and, since his father died a voluntary death, he wanted to imitate his father.

"Oh! why have I not begun with the father first? He was breaking wind badly, and could not defecate normally. In his anus was formed a white stone, a soft one, round in form and polished. They found it in his rectum after his death. That one asked to be killed. The elder son was assisting him. He seemed sighing his last, but unexpectedly tore out the knife and came to life again. Since he could not be killed by stabbing, he said, 'Tighten it on me!' So they strangled him with a rope. When he was dead, they carried him away into the tundra, and, putting his body on the ground, investigated his rectum. There they found the white stone. Still when alive, he defecated stone or sand, and who knows what not!

"His son after him came to be in the same position. Therefore, being at the tent of his marriage-companion, he asked to be killed. They listened to him, and wanted to obey him. In obedience to him, they put him on a grated sled and took him to his brother's tent. There they executed his desire. The younger brother was assisting him, but he could not do it in a proper way. His hand trembled. He himself said, 'There, turn the knife a little more aside;' but his assistant could not do it. Then he used that very word of his father, {Compare p. 563.} 'Tighten it on me!' Indeed, they strangled him with a rope and killed him. That was the end."

Another story refers to a desire for voluntary death once expressed and then revoked. The story is as follows: --

"My neighbor in the camp, Little-Spoon by name, also asked to be killed. With many words he persuaded his house-mates. Before that, he had quarrelled with his wife. They had very bad sons. His sons and their mother quarrelled with their father. For that reason he was angered. Therefore he asked to be killed. They had only driving-reindeer, almost no other reindeer. The other sons slaughtered a woman's driving-reindeer led by the halter (i. е., very well broken), because he had many more sons. But the oldest son quarrelled with him. Therefore it was necessary to kill a reindeer-buck for his last meal. We thought he was really asking to be killed. We made haste and prepared everything necessary. We replaced the broken and mended parts of the sledges with new ones, for our people consider a repaired sledge not fit for use in death. If something broken and repaired breaks again on the trail of the dead, what would he (the dead one) do?

"The dog people live halfway; and when the one who died reaches them, the dead come to meet him. They know that he is coming, and say, 'He will lose his way.' They are aware of his helplessness, because there are many paths, all leading to the relatives among the dead. For that reason the reindeer and the clothes of other people must not be used. The dead people going to and fro in their own country move windward, and catch the smell, saying, 'These clothes have an odor of our home.' Then they take them away. Therefore nothing belonging to other men must be used. Poor men will use only suits of clothes of their own. New clothes, taken from others, or received as a gift, are put aside. Things very bad, but one's own, are put into use. I must say the truth, the dead people are very bad people. They would not say, 'Leave him alone!' {Compare p. 335.}

"Meanwhile, whence do the living people know all about it? To be sure, many of our people come back from the trail of the dead. Probably they have made known the customs of the country of the dead. Many dead ones are turned back by the power of incantations. Even I, when I was rich, received several such incantations from hungry old women, gratifying their stomach with food. But I am sorry to say that at present I have lost those incantations, being so poor.

"A man going along the trail of the dead may be turned back by a dog. The shaman bites the left ear of the dog, and says to it, 'Go and bring back thy master. We will feed thee with the best food.' (He may also be brought back with an incantation.) One with a slight disease may be turned back where the trail is barred by a dog, which, springing at his face, makes him come back. One with a serious disease would not yield. When a man coming back from the dead has turned back, the dog is killed. The Reindeer people keep dogs because they are very strong in bringing back those dying ones. Is there any other use for them? We have to feed them. I cannot deny, however, that the dog is good for many other uses. In hunting big game, he has a loud voice, that is a useful protection against a bear met unexpectedly in the dark. You know it yourself, -- everybody has a dog, many of the people have dogs. When we travelled with you, nobody was without a dog. In connection with this, when a man goes along the trail of the dead, it is useless to take a reindeer for an incantation. The reindeer is full of fear. It runs from afar and exerts no influence; it is only visible to eyes. To be sure, it appears (on the trail), but only from afar.

"And when a man is quite dead and has ceased breathing, those who are living do not weep for him, -- those looking (upon the world) members of his family. They do not weep shortly after he is dead. Weeping is sinful. The one who has a slight disease is rejected by the dead. They say, 'Why did you come? Go away, go home.' Then he goes away, returns home. It appears in various ways. One may breathe, but he will lose his wits. In this case he probably has an hallucination. He says, 'I have come back from the dead.'

"Some people eat fly-agaric. Those from the Anadyr bring fly-agaric. Before eating, they say to it, 'Take me to the dead;' and, indeed, they are taken there. He sinks down, falls into a swoon, and then he is taken away, -- not his body, but only his soul. And some one who has a hidden disease may stay there forever. Therefore what has been said about the taking-away of clothes must have become known through those who eat fly-agaric. Indeed, from three sources it may become known, -- from those who are turned back by dogs, from those sent back by the Merciful Being because the dead have rejected them (these first two bring tidings), and from those who eat fly-agaric.

"Little-Spoon, however, unexpectedly stopped his preparations, although before it seemed that he had made up his mind. We had made all the necessary preparations, and were gathering our sledges and the other things required; but we were disappointed, for evening came, and we were still waiting in vain. Finally we could not wait any longer, and stopped our preparations. Evening came, night came. We were speechless. He had only gorged himself. He had eaten the best and sweetest morsels. I questioned his sons, and said to them, 'Well, what is he doing?' They replied, 'We will begin after he has eaten.' Then they said, 'He has gone to sleep.' The sledge remained behind the tent all night, as though in readiness for one really dead. The following morning, when he awoke, he would not come out of the sleeping-room. He remained there all the time. Among us reindeer-breeders it is a great sin to talk about voluntary death without executing one's intentions: therefore the next fall three of his sons died. Thus he brought a great misfortune upon himself by talking about voluntary death. I sent him away, saying, 'Do not stay here. We might become unlucky; we might lose our reindeer or have other misfortunes.' Therefore we separated. Another year he died on the western tundra. And I say once more, when somebody speaks about voluntary death, the Outer Being hears his words. Should he say ever so little about it, he has to buy it off with heavy ransom. When his house-mates induce him to retract his intented promise, he gives away whatever is nearest to his heart. He gives it in ransom to the Outer Being, on account of a single word about voluntary death, saying, 'This is my body, I have spoken foolishly.' He gives as a sacrifice, on account of his word, something that he values most. This is because many who are sick ask for death and then recover, or are restrained by words of their friends and do not go away.

"I myself once spoke thus foolishly. It is not very long ago, when I was old enough to know better. I must say also, that, for the reindeer-breeder, the wolf and the evil spirit are a pair. One spring I could not keep my herd together. It was at the end of spring. About that time the earth begins to free itself from snow, and the reindeer like to scatter in all directions. The reindeer-breeders call this time 'greedy fuss' (čipči'ñilet). This time is terrible for all. On account of my inability (to manage the reindeer), I spoke thus foolishly. When I was younger, I could assuage my anger by outrunning the reindeer. That time I spoke foolishly because I felt my weakness: 'Here wolves, catch them and eat them!' After a while I gave a ransom for these words, -- slaughtered some reindeer, and I also slaughtered one of my driving-reindeer that was very dear to me. It was the first time that I spoke such foolish words." {Compare Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 52.}

Voluntary death occurs also among the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo, and with the same details as among the Reindeer people. I know of only a few cases, however. Thus, in the village of Eu'nmum, a man of middle age, who suffered from an abscess in his side, had himself strangled with a rope.

In the year 1898, in the Eskimo village Uñi'sak, an old man was shot at his own request. He was shot from behind. This is the only case of voluntary death known to me, where the death-stroke was dealt from behind.

W. H. Dall, quoting a man named Noakum, a native of Plover Bay, describes the killing of old men in the following manner: "Old and useless people frequently ask to be put to death. The victim is taken to the place of the dead, and an oval of stones is built. A large head-stone is placed at one end, and another large stone at the foot; under these, two poles are laid with thongs attached. A deer is killed, and the blood allowed to flow on the head-stone. The victim is then placed on his back. The legs and arms of course extend over the stone oval, and are tied to the poles, so that motion is impossible. He is then asked if he is ready for death. If the answer is affirmative, his nostrils are stopped up with a substance which stupefies him. If the answer is negative, the deer-meat, which is otherwise eaten, is burned as a kind of atoning-service." Dall describes part of these doings as an eyewitness. "When we arrived, everything was ready. The women and children were cutting up the deer-meat, and the blood was on the head-stone. The victim, a blind but not decrepit man, was sitting by the head-stone," {Dall, I, p. 382.} etc. Further on Dall mentions that the natives were much disturbed at the approach of the Americans, and, fearing interference, refused to go on until the vessels had left.

I am afraid that Dall's description of these facts is due to some misunderstanding. The Chukchee have no stupefying substance. {Mr. Dall supposes, further on, that the stupefying agent may have been prepared from the wild nux vomica, which grows to the westward. No such thing is known in these regions. The Chukchee and other inhabitants, indeed, buy from the Russian merchants ready-made pills, prepared from a species of Strychnus (in Russian чилибуха) and brought from Yakutsk; but these pills are used only for baiting-purposes, wrapped in meat or fat, against foxes, wolves, etc.} It is quite difficult to catch and bring a live reindeer to such a place of sacrifice, especially in the summer. As to the killings of the old people over the stone oval, I at least could get no information about it.

XIX. -- MARRIAGE.

Marriage among the Reindeer Chukchee. -- With the Reindeer Chukchee no man can live a tolerable life without having a separate house of his own and a woman to take care of it. The sleeping-room of the Chukchee "genuine house" is exceedingly small, and there is no extra place in it even for a brother or a near relative. Thus a man living in another man's camp, and dependent on the herd of the master, must still have a house of his own; otherwise, when he comes home for a rest, he may be obliged to sleep in the open just in the worst part of the season, when nobody would be willing to change places with him. He will also have no one to mend his clothes and to see that they are dried, because the women of the master's tent will have plenty to do for their own people. If he is not married, and has a mother, she will be able to take care of his home; but even a mother's care is not sufficient. In the depth of winter, when going away with the herd from the winter quarters, he should take with him a young woman, strong of body, and light of foot, to take care of his travelling-tent, and also, in the case of need, to lend a hand with the restive animals. A sister, of course, may do that, but sisters are apt to go away to other men's houses. Sometimes one of the master's daughters may go with a young unmarried herdsman of her father, but a trip like this will lead to marriage. Among the motives for marriage must also be mentioned the idea of the necessity of continuing the family line, and of not allowing it to be broken off. This idea is well-expressed in one tale, where a sister says to her only brother, "Go seek a wife for yourself; take her and generate children, lest our family life be extinguished in later years. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 124.} Words like these are found in many tales.

Therefore each Reindeer Chukchee, when he feels himself to be "with full-grown body" (uwi'k-ipči'tkuk), endeavors to be married and have a home of his own. A man full-grown and unmarried is despised by the people, and in reality is looked upon as a good-for-nothing (tŭmñe'-lei'vulin), a lounger, a tramp, idly wandering from camp to camp. {According to E. Westermarck, on the authority of Armstrong (Discovery of the North-West Passage, p. 192), among the Eskimo a person who does not marry is looked upon almost as an unnatural being, or at any rate is disdained (E. Westermarck, History of Human Marriage, p. 136).} I shall speak of such men further on; but even among them, many have a wife, and wander about with her, or leave her for a time in another person's house. Besides this, there are men who cannot have a wife because of some grave physical defect which hinders sexual life. Thus, the Chukchee told me that sometimes, when a mother was neglectful of her infant, and did not change frequently enough the soiled moss and hair on its diaper, {Compare p. 252.} the membrum virile of the infant would swell abnormally at the end, and the swelling would often remain throughout life and make all sexual functions impossible. This kind of abnormality is expressed in the Chukchee language by a special verb, totaiño'rkin ("thou acquirest the swelling on the membrum virile"). A man with such an abnormality, of course, is incapable of sexual life, and therefore cannot have a wife and a home of his own. I have not met personally any man with such a deformity; but, when travelling on the Dry Anui River, I was told that in the year previous a man so afflicted had died from influenza. He was quite old, and lived as a herdsman in a camp of a rich reindeer-breeder. He slept in the house of his master, having neither wife nor home of his own. Sometimes, when feeling dull, he would take a drum and begin to drum and sing, "Oh, oh, oh! From the hands of my mother I got a swelling on my penis."

A family of women having no man may live in a camp, depending for their subsistence on the herd of the master. Some old women even live singly in the camp, having a little house and a few pack-sledges of their own; but such existence is hard to bear, and is avoided by younger women, who, if left alone in the world, leave their own house, and seek that of another. Thus, in an autobiographical narrative by a Chukchee, Tinpu'urgin, published in my "Chukchee Materials" (p. 60), he tells of a similar circumstance in the case of his elder sister, as follows: --

"Then [after their father had died] Ai'hinto [the master of the camp] said to my sister, 'You must throw away your tent.' . . . She said, 'Why not? I have neither father nor husband. Then for whom must I put up the tent, shake and dust the skins? Is it for you?' Then she left in the open everything that she had, -- fire-drills, sledges, and charm-strings. These last she cut up, thus wholly renouncing them for the future. Also the tent, of her father's make, the covered sledge, the tent-poles, all pack-sledges, -- everything was cut and destroyed."

Thus marriage is the normal state of Reindeer Chukchee life, and is even the basis of all economical conditions. In this respect the Reindeer Chukchee differ from all their neighbors. Among the Maritime portion of the tribe marriage is not so indispensable to life, and the unmarried state is somewhat more common. Among the Tungus, unmarried men are also more frequently met, because marriages there are strictly exogamic, and a bride may be taken only from another clan than that of the bridegroom. Moreover, a considerable price has to be paid for her.

In most striking contrast to the Reindeer Chukchee in this respect are all the clans of the Russianized Yukaghir living on the Lower Kolyma River. These clans are more or less rapidly dying out, some being nearly extinct. Others still include a few dozen people each. Among these, about one third of the adult men are unmarried. One reason for this is the heavy burden of the tribute for "dead souls," which weighs heavily on these weak, half-starving people. Besides this, however, they seem to feel a dull aversion to marrying and having a family. "It is more convenient thus," was the answer of every one of them to all my questions: "the more children, the more care."

Marriages among the Reindeer Chukchee, as will be shown further on, are concluded at every age, from very tender infancy up to the full-grown adult. Their ideal of a bride includes, in the first place, physical strength and ability to work. Even in their descriptions of womanly beauty, strength of body is mentioned before everything else, and all other characteristics are so combined as to make still more impressive the idea of greath strength. {Compare p. 37.}

Chastity of Women. -- Chastity is not considered as in any way an essential quality of an ideal bride. Indeed, the Chukchee language has no word to express this idea, not even a special word for "girl." It has only the word ne'us'qat ("woman"); in combination, also -ñew, -ñaw, -ñe, -ña. Ya'nřa-ñaw ("separate woman") is used for any woman who, for the time being, has no husband, whether she be a girl, a widow, or a divorced woman. For "chastity" only a paraphrase may be used; such as, yep ayaa'kĕlên ("not yet put in use"). This may be due in part to the extreme sensuality which is characteristic of the Chukchee, both male and female. "Best thing (in the world)" (ina'n-tam-va'irgin), every one would tell me with great persuasion concerning sexual life. The people enjoy ribald tales and lewd gestures. Many of the nick-names are very obscene. {Compare p. 37.}

In a tale about A'ñqalo's wife, when the young bride is brought to the camp in a covered sledge, the neighbors say, "Let us have a look at this young woman, A'ñqalo's wife's daughter." -- "No, it is impossible," says the bridegroom. "If you look at her, you will die!" They come to the place. People gather from all sides, -- old women with staffs, elderly people, the middle-aged, young men. The old people say, "Let us have, though, but one look!" -- "Nay, if you look at her, you will die." -- "No, no! Are we children? Are we foolish people? Make her appear. Let us have a look at the female beauty." -- "As you like." He told his wife to show from the covered sledge only one of her hands. When they saw that hand, the old people and the others, then, from the mere lustful trembling of their loins, they all died instantly. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 244.} This episode is repeated in many other tales. Some of the old men complained to me that this extreme sensuality has developed through the influence of modern times. "The people are spoiled," said these men. "Our young men have ceased to think about war and strife, and their whole attention is directed to the bosom of a woman's dress. They cease to gather together. They avoid each other like wild reindeer; but they catch the odor of the female as quickly as reindeer-bucks." I do not give much credence to such complaints. The tales show plainly enough that in the old war times the sensuality of this people was just as strong as it is at present.

Still, many of the Chukchee girls are chaste until their marriage; and, in comparison with the other tribes of this country, the Chukchee are considerably more decent. Among the Russian and Russianized natives throughout the whole northeast, from the Lena River to Kamchatka, hardly any girl remains virgin until her marriage. Most of them begin sexual life with the first traces of maturity, being but fifteen or sixteen, and sometimes only twelve or thirteen years old, and quite immature. All kinds of cases of adultery and incest also occur, even in the families of the clergy, and are participated in by monks and missionaries. Of this I shall speak later on in more detail. Among the Russian Creoles even new proverbs were created, which have reference to this sexual promiscuity: for instance, "Married is not sold for slavery" (венчалась, не продалась); "A woman is not a muffin, you cannot eat her up all alone" (баба не калачъ, одинъ не съѣшь); "A finger in a ring is not a bolt on the door" (палецъ въ кольцѣ, не замокъ на крыльце); "Whatsoever bull may have leaped, the calf is our own" (чей бы быкъ ни скакалъ, а теленочекъ нашъ).

The Reindeer Chukchee girls grow mature later than those of the neighboring tribes; {Compare p. 37.} and since the Chukchee camps are thinly scattered over the tundra, many of their girls have no chance to meet friendly young men. Being shy and proud by nature, a Reindeer Chukchee girl would avoid flirting with a man wholly unknown to her. She would prefer to become intimately acquainted with him, and then perhaps have him for a husband.

Still, not a few of the girls have lovers and bear children without being married. The language has a special term for illegitimate, illegal love, vi'n.vitkurkin ("Thou keepest up a clandestine love"), derived from the adverb vi'n.ve ("clandestinely"). Natural children are kept on the same footing as others; the more so, as frequent divorces often leave the woman with her children in the family of her father, and it is rather difficult to distinguish between these latter and the natural children. The Chukchee say, "When a child is born, we rejoice over it, no matter whether it is natural or legitimate." I once met a family on the Dry Anui River, consisting of an old father, a daughter not very young, and four grown-up sons. The daughter was considerably older than her brothers, and since their mother had been dead quite a long time, she had taken care of the house for the previous fifteen years. Moreover, when she was quite young, her father had made her the "principal heir" to the herd. {Compare p. 359.} Now, two of the brothers were already married, and each of them had a child. The girl had borne a son some five years before. This son was proclaimed the principal heir; and now it was presumed that he would inherit the oldest of the reindeer ear-marks, with which would go the bulk of the herd.

Violence on Women. -- I mentioned before that Chukchee males are often inclined to violence and rape. Thus, in the tale about Scabby-Shaman, the young Ri'ntew, when he has become a "mocking shaman," {See p. 431 of this volume.} begins to act quite shamelessly. He runs from tent to tent, from one sleeping-room to another. Wheresoever there is a woman, he violates her. Where a man is lying quietly, he catches him by the penis, shakes him, and lifts him. When he comes to a sleeping-room and finds an old man and old woman sleeping there quietly, he enters and catches the man by the penis, tears away his breeches, then shoves him here and there, and at last throws him down. After that he tears away all clothing from the old woman, takes off everything, and copulates with her. Throughout the night he runs about from one tent to another, acting in this manner. In his great speed he casts away his breeches and boots. Thus he runs about naked and violates women. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 207.}

In another tale about Lucky-Suitor, a young man wants to marry a proud girl. When she refuses him, he visits her among her herd, catches her, takes off all her clothes, then tramples her down into the snow and scratches her whole face with the point of his knife. The next year he is severely punished for this act by an accepted suitor of the girl.

I have already mentioned, that, since the young men marry early, sexual relations sometimes begin before full maturity is reached. Not infrequently very young girls bear children; and the language contains a special term for them, as êčva'k-ä3La' ("the fawn mother"), which is the same term as that applied to a fawn bearing young. {Compare p. 37.} Some female fawns bear young the first spring after their birth, being hardly a year old.

I mentioned also, that, on the whole, the Chukchee have a notion that early marriages are injurious to the health of the woman, and tend to diminish the number of births. {I. Veniaminoff mentions that among the Athka Aleuts cohabitation with one's bride or future wife before the proper time was considered as sinful (Notes on the Islands of Unalashka District, p. 8, Part III in Russian).} Therefore it is held to be equally blameworthy to have intercourse with a girl that is not perfectly mature, or, according to a Chukchee statement, with one "not having full breasts and the menses."

D. J. Melikoff, in his report, states, quoting from Ei'heli, "the so-called general chief of the Chukchee," whose name has already been mentioned, and also from his brother-in-law, Omrêlqo't, that with the Chukchee, violence on a young girl not perfectly mature is considered to be a serious crime, and therefore is severely punished by the Council of the Elders. I mentioned in the list of authorities quoted that this report was in manuscript. W. I. Jochelson, {Notes on the Population of the Yakutsk Province in Historical and Ethnographical Respects (Живая Старина, Olden Times Revived, 1895, Part II, p. 35).} in one of his papers, mentions an oral communication from D. I. Melikoff to the same purpose.

"According to an [oral] communication by Melikoff, the Chukchee have three categories of deeds which are considered as criminal and requiring punishment, -- (1) theft from one's own people, (2) violence on virgins whose breasts are not yet full-grown (the elders to be the judges as to the maturity or immaturity of the breasts of the girl), (3) murder. On all crimes of these kinds the elders pass judgment, which consists of a fine or of corporal punishment, or, finally, of death. The execution of the judgment is given to the clan to which the subject of the crime belongs. If, however, this clan refuses to execute the sentence on one of its members, then the other clan, to which the object of the crime belongs, shall have complete freedom of action. Then sooner or later the punishment is administered."

Now, the Chukchee have no such thing as a council of the elders; neither have they any idea that a trespass against the law, however serious it may be, must be punished by the people as a whole. The Chukchee law is wholly regulated by personal action; and there is no punishment as a public institution, but only private vengeance, ransom, or strife. I shall speak of this later on.

The words of Ei'heli, perhaps, may be considered only as an attempt to adapt his information to the ideas of a Russian "big official," which may have been made still worse through the mediation of ignorant interpreters with their broken Russo-Chukchee jargon. {Compare p. 289.}

I may mention here that Ei'heli tried to give other information of a similar kind, and of no better quality. For instance, he told me that in the earlier times the Chukchee were much incensed in cases of adultery. Thus, if a married woman were caught with a man, both had their noses cut off by way of punishment. The husband would say to his wife, "Your beauty is much prized by this fellow. Now see what will be left of it." This whole narration has hardly anything to do with the facts of real life. In reality, a Chukchee man, when having caught his wife with another man, will perhaps feel angry. Then he will go to the camp of the trespasser, have intercourse with his wife, and by this means form with him a tie of group-marriage. {Of the tribes of northeastern Asia, the Koryak, and partly the Kamchadal, consider adultery as a serious trespass. Perhaps the narrative of Ei'heli refers in some degree to the traditions of these tribes. It is known that among several peoples adultery is punished by cutting off the nose of the woman and of her seducer. E. Westermarck (History of Human Marriage, p. 122) mentions such a practice as existing among several tribes of North America, India, etc. Among others, Clark Wissler (Annual Archaeological Report, being the Appendix to the Report of the Minister of Education, Ontario, 1905, p. 173) mentions that with the Blackfoot Indians, women were punished for adultery by cutting off their noses, so that they might bear the mark of their shame all their lives.}

In respect to particular cases of acts of violence on very young girls, I know of several instances which were left without any punishment. One happened on the Dry Anui River in the camp of a Chukchee named Ata'to. Among his old acquaintances was one Peter Kotelnikoff, a Russian Creole from the village Sukharnoye on the Lower Kolyma. Kotelnikoff was very poor, and every spring fed his family on reindeer meat received from his Chukchee friends. At last, in the spring of 1890, when he was in greater need of food than usual, Kotelnikoff decided to give his youngest daughter, a girl thirteen years old, in marriage to Attowa'k, the eldest son of Ata'to, a big man of some twenty-five years. He did so, and in exchange for the girl he received four slaughtered reindeer. The Chukchee are fond of "alien" women, especially of Russian women, and the marriage .was decided upon. It was to be celebrated on the morning after the purchase had been made, according to the Chukchee ritual, but during the night the bridegroom tried to take his future rights by force. The girl, who had wept the whole previous day, screamed and called for help. In the camp were two political exiles, who had come to buy reindeer-meat for the exiles of the Lower Kolyma. One of them was aroused by the screams of the girl, and through his energetic intervention she was rescued from the hands of the Chukchee and taken back to the Kolyma. The bridegroom threatened vengeance, but nothing further happened. A few years later the girl was married to a Russian of the Kolyma.

Another case of the kind occurred in my presence in the year 1894 in the camp of Qergu'wgi the Lame, on the river Omolon. Qergu'wgi belonged to a rich family, that owned several large herds. Though lame in one leg, he tended his own herd with the help of two herdsmen. Other members of the family also had poor neighbors in their camp who assisted them in attending to the herd. One of them, Keute'hin by name, took his daughter to the camp of Qergu'wgi and left her for a while in the tent of one of Qergu'wgi's neighbors. The girl was about fifteen years old and very pretty, even from the point of view of the white man. As soon as her father was away, the lame master sent for her, and after a short conversation made her, then and there, his second wife. His first wife was older than he. He had married her when he was five years old.

A few days afterward I met the father of the girl in another camp. He called the lame man all sorts of names, and said that in two days he would go to settle the account. I returned to the camp of Qergu'wgi to see what would follow. Keute'hin really came, and immediately afterwards entered the sleeping-room of the lame man, who did not feel very well and kept to the sleeping-room all day. I entered behind the angry father; but nothing unusual happened. "I have come for my daughter!" said Keute'hin, with an angry look. "Eh, eh!" answered Qergu'wgi, acknowledging the demand. "Let her make her bundle and go with you." -- "I will take that girl with me," repeated the father in the same irascible tone. "Take a couple of young reindeer with you." Nothing more was said. Keute'hin took the girl and the reindeer. A few months afterwards the girl was again in the camp of Qergu'wgi. This time the father consented to leave her there.

I know of two or three cases of rape against married women. One of them led to a quarrel between the offender and the woman's husband. Another only gave cause to much laughter in the neighborhood. In a third case, a rich Chukchee by the name of Tatk-Omru'wge was accused by a Tungus from a neighboring camp of attempting to overpower his wife. The complaint was brought before the Cossack officer in the Russian settlement of Nishne-Kolymsk. It was late in the spring, and the whole Russian population of the Kolyma, as well as that of the Tungus and the Yukaghir, Russianized and non-Russianized, suffered severely from hunger. In such times rich Chukchee reindeer-breeders place their herds as far away as possible from their hungry neighbors.

Tatk-Omru'wge was quite stingy, but nevertheless he staid not farther away than forty miles from Nishne-Kolymsk. Thus it happened that a party of Cossacks made a raid on his camp, took him prisoner, and carried him to Nishne-Kolymsk, where he was put in prison. To make the impression of the imprisonment stronger, the stove was liberally heated for the night, and covered up so early that the room was filled with the fumes of charcoal. The next morning the prisoner bought his freedom with a donation of one hundred reindeer for the poorest Creoles, and of twenty reindeer for the Tungus. The officer registered this as a free gift of the Chukchee, and the quarrel was considered adjusted.

Of course, this little story has nothing to do with the customs of the Chukchee, not even with those of the Tungus, but only with the methods of the hungry Russian Creoles in getting food for themselves.

Marriage between Relatives. -- The Chukchee have several methods of securing brides and concluding marriages. One of these is through marriage between relatives, if possible in the same family, or at least in the same camp, or in the neighboring camp, where families of the same blood reside. Most frequent are marriages between cousins. {I. Veniaminoff mentions that among the Aleut the daughter of one's uncle was most frequently elected for one's bride (Notes on the Islands of Unalashka District, Part III, p. 76). The same practice existed among the Kamchadal (Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 124), also among the Eskimo at Iglulik and the Ainu (E. Westermarck, History of Human Marriage, p. 296).} Marriage between uncle and niece is considered incestuous, though I know of one case of an uncle living with his niece in clandestine love, and another one of an uncle married to his niece according to the customary ritual. He was ridiculed by his neighbors, however, on account of this marriage. Two cases of incestuous intercourse between father and daughter are also known to me. Marriage or love between brother and sister are also considered as incestuous. Still, in several tales "from the time of the first creation" (tot-tѳmga't-ta'gnêpŭ), i. е., dealing with the creation of the world and of mankind, cases of marriage between brother and sister are described with more or less detail. Thus, in one tale the first human couple are said to have, first a son, then a daughter.. The children sit near the entrance of the tent, and grow up. The mother does not nurse them. They grow up all by themselves. Then the brother marries the sister. They have children. Their son marries his aunt, another daughter of the first couple. Another son marries another aunt. Thus they grow in numbers, become a people, but remain brothers. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 160.}

Another tale mentions the country Lu3'ren, which is situated on the seashore. This country is mentioned in several tales as one of the countries of the time of the first creation. {A Chukchee village Lu3'ren exists on the Pacific shore, north from Indian Point.} The tale says that the Maritime people living in that country were exterminated by famine. Only two were left, -- a full-grown girl and her infant brother. She fed him with pounded meat. When he grew up, she asked him to marry her. "Otherwise we shall remain childless," said the sister. "We shall have no descendants, and the earth will remain without people. It cannot be peopled otherwise. And who sees us? Who will say, 'Shame'? Who will know about it in the world? We are all alone in the world." The brother said, "I do not know. I feel bad. It is forbidden." Then the sister began to think, "How can I do it? Our line of descent will break off with us."

Then follows a very vivid and detailed description of how the young woman goes to a distant place, builds a house, quite different from their own, prepares everything belonging to it, and how she makes new clothes for herself. Then she returns and tells the brother that she has seen a house somewhere on the shore. The brother goes in search of this house and finds it. The sister is already there. She has changed her clothes, the expression of her face, the tone of her voice, and he takes her for another woman. After some hesitation, he takes her for his wife. Then begins a life in two houses: the sister is here and there, and plays with success her double role. Finally, when she is pregnant, the brother ceases to think of his sister, and they live at the new place. One child is born, then another. The family multiplies and becomes a people. From them are born all the people in the camps and villages. {Compare Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 174.}

Most of the marriages between relatives are concluded at a tender age, sometimes when the bridegroom and the bride are still infants. The marriage ritual is performed, and the children grow up, playing together. When a little older, they tend the herd together. Of course, the ties between them grow to be very strong, often stronger even than death: when one dies, the other also dies from grief, or commits suicide.

Similar to these marriages are those between the members of families friendly to each other, though not connected by ties of blood. Sometimes such families agree to a marriage between their children even before the children are born. Thus, when I was on the Dry Anui River, two men of my acquaintance entered into an agreement of this kind. One had a son three years old. The wife of the other was with child, and the father was quite sure that the child would be a daughter. They agreed that this daughter, when three years old, was to be taken to the family of the boy to grow up with him. {The practice of child-betrothal seems to be universal also among the American Eskimo, as mentioned by Murdoch (Point Barrow Eskimo, p. 410). "Lucien M. Turner says, 'Children are often mated at an early age.' I have known of several instances where two friends, desirous of cementing their ties of fellowship, have engaged that their children, yet unborn, shall be mated." Nelson mentions that very young boys are mated to quite small girls (Nelson, p. 291).} The marriage ritual was to be performed the first autumn after the birth of the girl, in the time of the first fall slaughtering. {See p. 372.}

More frequently, however, agreements like this are concluded between friendly families on the basis of the exchange of one woman for another.

Marriage between Persons of Disproportionate Ages. -- The age of women thus exchanged is hardly considered at all. For instance, on the Oloi River, a man named Qi'miqai married his young son five years old to a girl of twenty. In exchange he gave his niece, who was twelve years of age, and she was married to a young man more than twenty years old. The wife of the boy acted as his nurse, fed him with her own hands, and put him to sleep. The other husband had to wait, if he so chose, till his wife should be mature. A grown-up wife who has a boy for her husband may have children from a marriage-companion, a subject of which I shall speak later. {The same practice exists also among the American Eskimo. Murdoch (Point Barrow Eskimo, p. 411) mentions, that, in one case he knew of, the bride was a girl of sixteen, and the husband a lad not over thirteen, who could barely have reached the age of puberty. The girl was living with another and older man.} When her own husband is full grown, the wife is sometimes quite withered. They may live in harmony, notwithstanding the difference of age. In other cases the young husband takes a second wife and neglects the first, as will be described later.

I was told of a boy of two, who was still being nursed, and who had lost his mother. She had died of influenza. Since the family wanted a woman worker, the infant boy was almost immediately married to a full-grown girl. In due time the bride bore a child from a marriage-companion. When she was nursing her own child, she also nursed her infant husband. Chukchee boys often are nursed until five or six years old. In this case the husband also readily took the breast of his wife. When I asked for the reason of the woman's conduct, the Chukchee replied, "Who knows? Perhaps it is a kind of incantation to insure the love of the young husband in the future." {The marriage of full-grown girls to boys occurs among many other people more civilized than the Chukchee. Among others, I will mention the Great-Russian peasants. Until recent times such marriages were frequently contracted in Great-Russian villages; but, since the Great-Russians have no group-marriage, the role of an actual husband would fall to the father-in-law. This is the so-called снохачестио (from сноха, "daughter-in-law"). Fathers-in-law acting as husbands are called снохачи. In a well-known old Russian anecdote, it is told that one time the people of a village ordered a new church bell. All the house-masters came and wanted to help hoist it to the belfry; but there was some hitch, and all efforts were without avail. Then the Pope bethought himse the large tundra west of the Kolyma some Reindeer people whom the Cossacks also called Chukchee, and with whom they were engaged in continual petty warfare. Two rivers of the tundra were named after them, -- the Large and the Small Chukchee. According to the tradition of the inhabitants, the oldest Cossack settlement on the western branch of the Lower Kolyma, the village Pokhotsk, was destroyed by them; though the story is given in an epic way, and some of the details call to mind the tales of the Central Eskimo of America, and must date back to a time prior to the appearance of the Russians. Other villages were pillaged and burned down by certain Chukchee who are reputed to have come by sea in skin boats, though at the present time there are no maritime villages within three hundred miles to the east off these places.

The Chukchee tradition calls this people, not Chukchee, but Ča'ačên, from the Ča'an or Ča'wan River ("Chaun" of the maps), whose banks were their principal territory (Fig. i). They were, however, closely connected with them, though the Ča'ačêt spoke a language of their own. I was shown some very old burial-mounds on both sides of the mouth of the Kolyma, filled with large accumulations of reindeer-antlers which had been offered to the dead. These were said to have belonged to the Ča'ačêt; the Chukchee arguing that they could not have belonged to their own tribe, because among the antlers of slaughtered reindeer were some which had been shed, and they offer to the dead only the antlers of slaughtered reindeer. Some of the piles were so old that the antlers crumbled away under one's fingers, and were large enough to indicate that a long range of years had elapsed during their accumulation. Some of the Chukchee with whom I was acquainted even claimed descent from a remote generation of Ča'ačên stock. The same claim was proffered by the Chukchee Kamakai on Cape Erri, in conversation with Wrangell. {Wrangell, p. 338.}

The Russianized natives {The Russianized natives of the Kolyma consist chiefly of Yukaghir with a strong admixture of Russian blood, and some of the Yakut and the Chuvantzy. The Russianized natives of the Anadyr concist of Yukaghir and Chuvantzy elements with some admixture of Koryak and Russian.} along the Kolyma tell of still another extinct tribe, whom they call Shelags (Шелаги), and from whom is derived the name of Cape Shelagskoy (Cape Erri) on the Arctic. These were maritime people, and lived somewhere along the Arctic shore. The remnants of the houses, on the Bear Islands, near the mouth of the Kolyma, are also supposed to be theirs. They have often been confounded with the Ča'ačêt, though nothing is known about the mutual relations of the two tribes. Both are supposed by the natives to have emigrated westward. This is also mentioned by Wrangell. {Wrangell, p. 338.}

Maydell, without any apparent reason, denies the existence of either tribe. He mentions, however, almost in the same passage, that Peter Mangol, one of his Chukchee fellow-travellers, affirmed that in former times, on Cape Erri, there had lived Maritime Chukchee who spoke a language different from that of the modern villages. {Maydell I, p. 331.}

Further on he mentions the hunter, Ivan Viligin, who lived in the latter "art of the eighteenth century. He affirmed that he knew an old man by the name of Kopai, who claimed to belong to the Shelag tribe, and who had his place on the seashore at a distance of two hundred versts (about a hundred and twenty-five miles) from the mouth of the Kolyma. Maydell regards the whole story as a misunderstanding.

I was told by the natives, however, that on the seashore, westward from the island of Ayo, some ruins similar to those on the Bear Islands still exist, and this gives support to Viligin's words.

The name Ča'ačên, in its Russianized form, would be Chavantzy or Chauntzy, which is almost identical with that of Chuvantzy. This latter tribe, almost extinct at present, in former times lived somewhere in the country between the Yukaghir and the Chukchee regions. It bred reindeer, and probably was an intermediate tribe between those two. The last remnants of the Reindeer Chuvantzy are, at the present time, assimilated with the Koryak, and speak the Koryak language; while the fisher-people of that tribe are Russianized. The few. words of the Chuvantzy language given in the curious book by G. Dyachkoff, {Dyachkoff, p. 101.} the native school-teacher of the village of Markova, on the Middle Anadyr, who comes from Chuvantzy stock, are mainly Yukaghir. There are still on the tundra to the west of the Kolyma two or three clans of Yukaghir who to some extent breed reindeer, and are intermingled with the Tungus. The oldest documents in the archives of Nishne-Kolymsk, dated about 1770, mention several Yukaghir of the Khodynsky Chttvansky clan. {Dr. Kyber, one of Wrangell's fellow-travellers, says, "The Chuvantzy are of Yukaghir stock. Their languages are very similar. I knew one Chuvantzy man who, without previous intercourse with the Yukaghir, could easily communicate with them. But the clothes of the inland Chuvantzy are like those of the Chukchee."-- Kyber, II.} Now, the single clan of Chuvantzy existing to-day is called by this same name, Khodynsky. {In the middle of the seventeenth century, Deshneff, in his well-known report to the government about his travels and discoveries, mentions, in connection with the Chuvantzy, the tribe or the clan of the Anauly... whom he exterminated on account of the resistance they offered. Nothing is known about them except their name.}

In later times the Chuvantzy were always allied with the Cossacks, and waged common warfare against the Chukchee. The latter, after the defeat of Major Pavlutsky, are said to have destroyed more than half of them. The situation in former times may have been different, since even the Yukaghir of the Upper Kolyma preserve a curious tradition that the Chukchee were once their brothers, and that they had a defensive and offensive alliance with them.

The names given by the Chukchee to their various neighbors are as follows: --

Ta'n.ñitan (Pl. Ta'n.ñit), as mentioned before, is given to the Reindeer Koryak.

Mê'lhi-ta'n.ñitan, which signifies "fire-tools Ta'n.ñitan," is applied to the Russians. The same name is given to the Russians by the Koryak. Previously it may have been Mê'lhiз-t-ta'n.ñitan (i.e., "Ta'n.ñitan with a fire-lock," or, more literally, "fire-tools-bow Ta'n.ñitan"). At present, however, on accoynt of mispronunciation, there has arisen a tale of a fire-drill which was left on a camping-place and transformed into a Russian. {In one of the reports of the Kolyma officials I came across another, even more curious mispronunciation, êlh-a'зttAm ("white bone"), with the explanation that the Chukchee wish to point out the nobler origin of the Russians, "white bone" signifying in popular Russian the equivalent of noble origin, and being applied to the gentry. I cite it here merely as a curiosity.}

A'tal-ta'n.ñitan is applied to the Chuvantzy. A'tal (e'tel) {Two forms of the same stem, which replace each other according to the rules of harmony of vowels existing in the Chukchee langunge.} is the name these people give to themselves at the present time. Krasheninnikoff gives it as the Koryak name for the Yukaghir, which certainly agrees with the data I have already given concerning the Chuvantzy.

In contrast to all these Ta'n.ñit, the Chukchee often call the Koryak Li'ê-ta'n.ñit ("genuine Ta'n.ñit") in the same way, perhaps, as they call themselves "genuine men." As to the meaning of the word Ta'n.ñitan, no explanation could be obtained, and there is no existing Chukchee or Koryak root akin to it. J. Murdoch says that even the Point Barrow Eskimo use the word ta'nning or ta'ngin for the Russians or for ships which pass by. {Murdoch, p. 53.}

On the Pacific shore the Russians are called also Ru'ssilit (from the English "Russian").

American whalers are called Lelu'зtvеt (from Lelu'зtvet, "ship;" literally, "whisker-boat;" though no reason is assigned why a ship should be associated with whiskers [perhaps the whiskers of the crews were included in the definition]). Sometimes the Russians are also called Le'lu-re'mkin ("bearded people"), whence the Asiatic Eskimo term la'lo-re'mka. Americans also are called Pnau'kuht ("file-mongers," from pnau'kun, "file" [literally, "whetting-stone"]); or they are sometimes called even Ta'n.ñit, like the Russians.

The eastern branch of the Maritime Koryak, who live on the Pacific coast from Cape Anannon to Cape Barykoff, are called Ke'rek. The origin " of this name is unknown. It can hardly have anything in common with Koryak, -- a name created by the Cossacks from qora'ki, of the southeastern Koryak dialect, which means "(being) with reindeer."

Both Lamut and Tungus are called qa'a-ra'mkit, which signifies "Reindeer tribe." More strictly speaking, the Lamut are also called qor-êmtê'-qa'a-ra'mkit, or "reindeer-carried Reindeer tribe;" and the Tungus of the tundra west of Kolyma, together with the Reindeer Yukaghir, are called o'rwu-qa'a-ra-mkit, or "sledge Reindeer tribe," because they travel with sledges. The Yukaghir have no special name, and are called ve'emiht ("river people"), the same as the Arctic Russians, because both are fishermen and live on the rivers or in their neighborhood.

The Eskimo of Indian Point and of the neighboring villages are called Ai'wan (Pl. Aiwa'nat). This name is also applied to every Maritime Chukchee who does not own a single reindeer. Many of the Maritime Chukchee have a few reindeer-does in the herds of some friend. On the other hand, not only on the Pacific coast in the immediate vicinity of the Eskimo, but also even in the language of the Chaun Reindeer-men, ai'wan cimce'kin means "a maritime relative," cimce'kin signifying "relative." {The Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo apply the name Aiwa'nat to the inhabitants of St. Lawrence Island, because the latter are comparatively poorer in reindeer-skins and other products of reindeer-breeding, and can get them only from the natives of the Asiatic coast.} The Asiatic Eskimo call themselves Yu'it (the plural of yuk, "man") in the same way as the American Eskimo call their tribe Inuit (the plural of inuk or inung, "man").

The inhabitants of the Eskimo village Nѳ'ѳkan, on East Cape, who differ in language from those on Indian Point, are called simply Nѳ'eѳalit, or, with derision, Pe'ekit. {The Population of the Anadyr District (Memoirs of the Amur Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. Ill, Part I, pp. 167, 168; quoted from Bogdanovitch, p. 64).} The inhabitants of Wute'en, the last Eskimo village on Cape Ulakhpen, to the northwest of Plover Bay, also differing in language from those on Indian Point, are called in a similar way Wute'elit. Mr. Gondatti maintains the opinion that the Nѳ'ѳkalit and the Wute'eht cannot understand the language spoken on Indian Point, and have to use Chukchee in speaking with its inhabitants. {East Cape is also commonly called Pe'ek. The origin of this name is doubtful. The Chukchee consider it to be derived from nipe'whaqen ("envious"); but according to Maydell, Cape Ro'wtln, on the Arctic Sea, was in former times also called Pe'ek. The Chukchee call Cape Ro'wtm at present also Pee'kiñei ("Mount Pe'ek"}.} Following in his footsteps, Mr. Bogdanovitch speaks of the extensive mixing of peoples on the coast of the Chukchee Peninsula. {Bogdanovitch, p. 66.} However, from comparative texts in all three dialects, which I brought with me, it is evident that the dialectic differences are not so great as Mr. Gondatti supposes. Indeed, I had occasion several times to witness the people of all three tribes conversing without difficulty, every one using his own dialect. Of course, being conversant with the Chukchee language, they can also use it for the same purpose. In any case, it is not necessary to assume for these two villages an origin from an independent and unknown stock, as Mr. Gondatti is somewhat inclined to do.

The language of the Ne'ekaht is intermediary between that of the Aiwa'nat and that of the natives of the Diomede Islands, who in their turn are connected with the Alaskan Eskimo.

The case of the Wute'elit is not so clear, because they live farther to the south. They are so seaman-like and hardy, however, that they might easily have come over from some place on the opposite shore.

The inhabitants of St. Lawrence Island are called Eiwhue'lit; and the island itself, Eiwhue'n. Their language is quite similar to that of the Asiatic Aiwa'nat; and they are plainly a colony from the nearest shore, probably from Indian Point. Tradition clearly points that way; and the immigration from the mainland is considerable, even at the present time, while the old families of the island are slowly dying out. Of course, some influence and connection with America have also existed on the island from ancient times.

The categorical assertion of Mr. Gondatti, however, that the Asiatic Eskimo came from St. Lawrence Island, seems to me highly improbable, though I also assume that the Asiatic Eskimo are not indigenous to the Pacific coast. Whether they came from the Arctic coast of Asia or that of America is another question, but, in any case, they migrated from north to south, and St. Lawrence Island is the limit of their migrations. W. H. Dall repeats a statement of a native of Plover Bay by the name of Nokum, who told that the "Bowhead [whale] men" came to Asia long ago from the Islands to the northeast (the Diomedes), and were allowed by the "Deer men" to settle on the barren, rocky coast. {Dall, I, p. 375.}

The inhabitants of the Diomede Islands are called Yikirga'ulit ("the [large] mouthed"), from yiki'rgm ("mouth"), the labrets which they wore in former times having made their mouths their most conspicuous feature. The American Continent is called Ki'imm. {Taken from the Asiatic Eskimo Kl'xmi (an inhabitant of Cape Prince of Wales, opposite East Cape). Cape Prince of Wales and the Eskimo village on it are called by Asiatic Eskimo Ki'hi (cf. p. 30): hence Kl'xmi comes to mean "the inhabitant of Ki'hi." In their own language, the inhabitants of Cape Prince of Wales call themselves Ki'nugmut.} Its inhabitants are called Ki'imilit, and also Yikirga'uht, or, again, Ro'čhiht ("opposite-shore people").

It is a question open to discussion, whether in former times there were any Eskimo villages on the Arctic coast. At present there are none except Nѳ'ѳkan; though some of the inhabitants of Uwe'len, the nearest settlement to the west, are Eskimo. The older travellers, such as Lütke and Wrangell, mention a few tribal names supposed to be Eskimo, as Onkilon and Namollo; but of these, the former resembles the Chukchee anqalin, {Plural, anqa'lit (see p. 11).} while Namollo brings to mind the Koryak word for "maritime settlers," ni'milu, which in Chukchee takes the form ni'milit ("inhabitants"), from ni'mnim ("habitation").

Wrangell, and also Nordenskiöld, following in his footsteps, {Nordenskiöld, I, p. 406.} mention an Eskimo tribe that some two hundred years ago occupied the whole Arctic coast from Cape Shelagskoy (Erri) to Bering Strait, and was driven away by the Chukchee. They base their chief argument upon the difference between the actual Chukchee dwellings and the remnants of the old underground houses found here and there. In reality, this difference means nothing more than that, with the increase of reindeer-breeding, the underground houses, being unwholesome, and requiring a great consumption of oil, were gradually abandoned by both Eskimo and Chukchee for another type of house, probably also ancient, but more similar to the tents of the Reindeer people, and with a sleeping-room made of thick skins.

The Pacific Eskimo were slower to effect this change, since they had no reindeer of their own; yet at the present time, on the whole West Bering coast, there are only five underground houses still inhabited, -- one in Uwe'len, and four in Nѳ'ѳkan. It is easy, however, to understand that to Wrangell, who approached the northern shore from the Kolyma side, the tents of the Reindeer people appeared to be typical Chukchee dwellings. The difference was the more striking, since around Kulu'ci Bay the inhabitants turned from maritime pursuits to reindeer-breeding. I know of some, whom I saw on the northern tundra, who claim that their grandfathers lived on the coast and occupied themselves with seal-hunting. This same change occurred in several other places, as will be shown farther on.

It is not my intention to deny that on the Arctic coast there was previously more of the Eskimo element, which little by little became assimilated by the Chukchee. Thus, some of the Chukchee village names, both on the Arctic and on the Pacific shores, have an Eskimo sound, and moreover, especially in their Ai'wan form, can be explained on the basis of the Eskimo language. Compare, for instance, the following village names.

On the Arctic Coast.

Chukchee.

Ai'wan.

Ne'зs.qAn.

Na's.kok ("head").

Kulu'či.

Kulu'sik ("old iceberg").

Iqä'lurun.

Iqa'luwhak (fish of the species Gadus wachna).

On the Pacific Coast.

Chukchee.

Ai'wan.

Nigi'en.

Nixci'ŗak (from ni'xcak, "ringed seal").

Nunä'зmun.

Nuna'mo ("land's end").

Če'win.

Ca'vik ("knife").

Ce'čin.

Te'sik.1

Meči'wmin.

Me'sik.

1 St. Michael's Fort, in northern Alaska, is called by the same name. In Central Eskimo it signifies "lake."

In regard to the legend cited by Wrangell, about the Eskimo chief Krachoj, who is said to have emigrated across the sea to certain islands, I may say that I too heard it among the Chukchee; but it is mythical in character, and is connected with other tales about vanished tribes, similar to corresponding tales of the Eskimo. It is true, however, that the northern Chukchee believe that in some northern land, not very far distant from the continent of Asia, there lives a race of men sprung from these ancient emigrants. This land is said to have been seen by the crew of a boat which drifted out into the open sea. It corresponds to Wrangell's Land, and I have heard from people from the same village, Kulu'ci, which was mentioned by Wrangell, a tale of seemingly still more recent origin than his, in which it was asserted that a few years ago two kayakers of the village were carried out by the wind to this land across the sea. They discovered houses and stole some provisions from the underground cellars, and finally succeeded in getting away unnoticed. All these details were given so vividly, that, if I had not known that Wrangell's Land is destitute of inhabitants, I should have had no hesitation in crediting the narrative.

The belief that there are unknown tribes still living in some remote part of the country, exists in various places in northeastern Asia. Besides the tale of Krachoj, the Chukchee tell a story about the Vai'ñê-qa'a-ra'mkit, or "twilight Lamut," and say that they, too, emigrated beyond the sea, but that they often swim back again, overcome by homesickness, and may sometimes be seen in the twilight, outlined against the last short rays of the fading day. They are supposed to be quite inoffensive, only stealing an occasional ration of food from the storehouses. From time to time the Chukchee have a chance to shoot one of them; and then it is seen that the victim looks very much like an ordinary man, except that his feet are larger and the toes are webbed for swimming. {At the mouth of the Anadyr the Chukchee call them vaзy-qa'a-ra'mkit ("grass Lamut"). They say that they are clad in grass garments. During the night-time they creep cautiously along, and occasionally kill young children when met alone, with nobody to protect them. Here the notion about the mysterious human tribe evidently comes nearer to the usual ideas concerning evil spirits.}

The Chukchee do not assimilate readily. Whenever they come in contact with another tribe, they do not learn its language, but force the other to learn theirs. The chief reason for this is that they are the greatest reindeer-breeders in the country, and other tribes have to depend upon them for food and sustenance. Thus it is that outsiders are forced to seek a means of easy intercourse with them. The Maritime Chukchee in the immediate vicinity of the Eskimo likewise learn very little of their language, while all the Eskimo men and a majority of the women speak Chukchee as fluently as they do their own language.

Again, in the same way, a few Chukchee families living on the Anadyr River, not far from, the Russianized village of Markova, have not learned much Russian, while at least all the men in Markova speak Chukchee fluently.

The Chukchee are so self-sufficient that they prefer to make words of their own for new objects coming from the civilized world, rather than adopt the foreign names. Thus they have for mustard, či'myičin ("bitterness"); flour, piñ-wu'rrin ("powder-like" [Kolyma dialect]); bread, pin-teki'čhin ("powder-meat"); brandy, ä'зq-i'mil ("bad water"); iron file, pilvi'nti-pnau'kun ("metal whetting-stone"); tea-kettle, pi'lhi-kuk ("muzzle-pot").

Character of the Country. -- The territory of the Chukchee is situated chiefly in the tundra region, and includes the northern border of the forest. In the Kolyma district, on the western side of the mountains, the climate is cold and dry. The snowfall is not so heavy, and tempests are not so frequent, in the coldest time of the year, as on the Chukchee Peninsula.

On the Pacific coast, while the temperature does not fall so low, the snowfall is much heavier; and snow-tempests, dry in winter, and damp and misty in the fall and spring, often last for several weeks without cessation. Therefore the floras of the two districts are quite different. On the Kolyma side the chief tree is the larch, which attains a great height and has a well-developed form even beyond the polar circle and as far north as latitude 69o. The limit of its distribution is quite sharp, and runs along the larger rivers, about fifty miles from the seacoast. Shrubby willows of about a man's height are found even twenty miles farther north, and their growth becomes stunted only a few miles from the seacoast. On the Pacific side -- in the valley of the Anadyr River, for example -- the larch-tree is less commonly found than west of the mountains, and thrives only in the interior portion of the country, along the river Main, a tributary of the Anadyr. The chief trees are the willow and the poplar, which are distributed about evenly. Even on the southern side of the polar circle, a hundred miles from the coast, their growth becomes stunted, but as shrubs they continue for some distance to the north. Almost everywhere some very small shrubby willows and alders are found in the river-valleys. The coast for many miles is bare of every kind of growth except reindeer-moss and a few lichens. On sandy spots, like Indian Point, the inhabitants cannot gather grass enough even for the soles of their boots, and are obliged to bring it from farther inland.

Bogdanovitch mentions that he has seen good grass on the mountain-slopes around Konyam Bay, but he does not specify how large these grassy spots were; he even expresses the opinion that the Chukchee Peninsula can be crossed with horses in the summer-time. {Bogdanovitch, pp. 51, 70.} I wish to point out, however, that even farther to the south, along the forest-line, horses used for travelling {This was the case with the merchant Trifonoff and others between Anui and Anadyr; with D. Melikoff and several Yakut traders between Okhotsk Sea and Sredne-Kolymsk; with W. Jochelson between Gishiginsk and Paren.} often starve for want of fodder.

According to the latest meteorological observations, the average temperature of the seasons in the Kolyma country is as follows: --

Nishne-Kolymsk.

Sredne-Kolymsk.

Winter

--32.79°C. (--27.00° F.)

--35.0°C. (--31.00° F.).

Spring

--13.06° " (+8.49°")

--14.6°" (+ 5.72° ")

Summer

+10.37° " (+50-67°")

+11.2°" (-j-52.160 ").

Fall

--14.66° " (-f 5.610 ")

--12.60 " (4-9.32°")

Average of the year

--12.50° C. (+9.500 F.)

--12.75° C. (+9.14° F.).

Absolute maximum, Sredne-Kolymsk, +29.4° C. (+84.92° F.).

Absolute minimum, Sredne-Kolymsk, --54.0°C. (--58.72° F.).

The Kolyma River freezes, at Nishne-Kolymsk, Oct. 12; at Sredne-Kolymsk, Oct. 11. ice breaks up, at Nishne-Kolymsk, June 15; at Sredne-Kolymsk, June. 4. {The Climate of the Province of Yakutsk (in the Note-Book of the Yakutsk Province, for the Year 1896, pp. 8, 26).}

The average temperature in the Anadyr country is as follows: --

Mariinsky Post.

Markova.

Winter

--18.8°C. (--1.84°F.)

--22.4° C. (--8.32° F.).

Spring

--13.4° " (+ 7.880 ")

--13.2° " (+ 8.24° ").

Summer

+9.0° " (+48.20° ")

+12.6° " (+54.68° ").

Fall

--4.4° " (+24.08° ")

-- 7.6° " (+18.34° ").

Average

-6.9° C. (+19.58°F.)

--7.6° C. (+18.34° F.).

Absolute maximum, Mariinsky Post, +20.2° C. (+68.36° F.); Markova, +26.6° C. (+79.88° F.).

Absolute minimum, Mariinsky Post, --42.7° C. (--44.86° F.); Markova, --47.0°C. (--52.6° F.).

The estuary of the Anadyr freezes, at Mariinsky Post, Oct. 17. The ice breaks up in the Anadyr River, at Markova, June 5; in the estuary of the Anadyr, at Mariinsky Post, June 17. {Annual Report of the Main Physical Observatory, St. Petersburg, 1900 (in Russian and French), p. 301.}

The average temperature at Pi'lhäqäi (Pitlekai), Arctic Sea, {Observations Meteorologiques, reduites par H. Hildebrand Hildebrandsson (Vega Expeditionens veten-skapliga iakttagelser, I, pp. 598-649).} is as follows: --

October

--5.20° C.

November

--16.58° "

December

--22.80° "

Average for winter months, -- 24.32° C. (--11.81°F.).

January

--25.06° "

February

--25.09° "

March

--21.65° "

Average for spring months, --15.79° C. (+3,58° F.).

April

--18.93°"

May

--6.79° "

June

--0.6° "

July (1-17)

+2.68° "

Absolute maximum, +11.5°C. (+52.7° F.); absolute minimum, --46.1°С. (--50.98° F.).

Camps and Villages. -- The camps of the Reindeer Chukchee are situated in groups, mostly along the rivers; and their grazing-grounds are divided by watersheds, which are ordinarily so devoid of vegetation and so exposed to winds as to be unfit for reindeer-breeding. In the fall the camps are moved to the border of the forest to find shelter from the winter tempests; while in the spring of the year the herds are driven to the tundra, as far as the sea-coast, in order to be freer from noxious insects, and to give them pasturage better suited for the summer season. Some of the camps near the head waters of several rivers move to the mountains instead of to the sea, and stay near some small glacier, where the insects are less numerous than in the valleys. Often these herds do not thrive so well as those which are driven down to the sea. The range of the wanderings of a Chukchee camp extends from a hundred to a hundred and fifty miles, and in most cases covers the same or nearly the same territory every year; but any camp that becomes dissatisfied with its range may pick out a new one wherever it chooses, the only condition being that it may not trespass on any ground already occupied by others for the season running.

The groups of Reindeer Ghukchee are as follows: --

The Indighirka and Alaseya Group, along the rivers of the same names, -- 13 camps, with a population of about 150 souls. This is the most westerly group, and its territory is surrounded by districts inhabited by Yakut and Tungus. Some of its reindeer-herds consist of as many as 5,000 head, and their owners reguiarly supply the Russian town of Sredne-Kolymsk and other settlements with meat.

The Western Kolyma Group, as the name indicates, on the tundra to the west of the Kolyma River, -- about 35 camps, with a population of 400 souls. This group, on account of a severe epidemic of small-pox, which in 1884 devastated it and caused one-third of the population to perish, is rather on the decrease. After the epidemic many large herds, left without guards, disintegrated, and joined the herds of wild reindeer; while some of the western camps, who formerly lived in this district, recrossed the Kolyma River and reoccupied their former territory.

The Dry Anui Group, between the Arctic Ocean and the Dry Anui River. This group is the largest of all, and its camps extend at intervals of from five to ten miles from the right bank of the Kolyma, along the Anui, to the confines of the Chaun tundra. The camps number about 100. Their herds are not very large, for the most part consisting of from 300 to 400 head, which is sufficient to supply two families (i. e., from ten to fifteen persons, the average size of a camp) with meat, clothing, and trading-skins. Several herds, however, number 2,000-3,000 animals. Farther to the east the herds of this group are of larger size.

The Large Anui Group, consisting of hardly 20 camps. Their number has been considerably depleted by migration southward to the rivers Oloi and Omolon, where at present the most southerly portion of the tribe is living. This is a group of about 45 camps, with a population of 500 souls. Some of their herds are as large as those of the Indighirka, and supply two Russian towns -- Sredne-Kolymsk and Gishiginsk -- with meat. They have no access to the sea, however, and consequently live in the mountains during the summer months, so that there have been considerable losses in reindeer among them from time to time.

The Upper Anadyr Group, which comprises about 30 camps. These also resort to the mountains in summer. Of late their herds, too, have been greatly reduced.

The Chaun Group, -- about 50 camps, living on the tundra near Chaun Bay. They are separated from the Anui Group by the mountains of the watershed. Their herds, like those of the Eastern Anui, number about 400 or 500 head, though more numerous herds also occur. The same may be said of

The Erri Group, whose territory lies farther to the east, and which is made up of about the same number (40-50) of camps.

The O'nmilin ("the inland one") Group, living between the north bank of the Anadyr River and Holy Cross Bay, -- about 60 camps. It varies considerably in the proportion and distribution of its herds. Many camps are very poor, and live on fish and seal three seasons out of four, while others are well-to-do. This whole group includes a number of Maritime Chukchee from the Pacific villages who have turned reindeer-breeders within the last thirty years. Their herds have not yet had time to become very large.

The Telqä'p Group, called by the Russians Tumanskiye Chukchee (Туманскіе Чукчи), -- about 50 camps. Their herds are of moderate size (400-500 head). These are the roughest and most indomitable of all the Chukchee, and in former times were the leaders in the wars against the Koryak.

The camps along the river Utte'gničen, a southern affluent of the Anadyr (called by the Russians Big River), and farther on along the Koryak border, including those scattered on the Parapolsky Dol {Compare p. 15.} and in Kamchatka, numbering perhaps 80 in all. Owing to the extent of territory covered by them, the strength of their herds is very unequal. Their herds also resort to the mountains in summer.

The White River Group, numbering about 25 camps; and the group in the Pe'qul-ñei Mountains, containing the same number.

On the so-called Chukchee Peninsula, between Kulu'ci Bay, Holy Cross Bay, and the Pacific Ocean, the whole number of reindeer-camps is from about 80 to 100. The herds are not very large, owing to the severity of the climate and to scanty pasturage. Almost half of these camps obtain the best part of their food from the sea; they keep dog-teams, own skin boats, etc.

Within the last thirty years the breeding of reindeer has increased gradually, and even some of the Eskimo have succeeded in gathering herds of their own; but the winter of 1900-01, when we were in the field, was so unfavorable, that the reindeer were famished everywhere, and many of the northern herdsmen especially lost about one-half of their whole stock.

It would be easy to increase the, number of the divisions, since almost every small cluster of camps, united by ties of kinship, claim to have a separate name derived from the river on the banks of which they wander with their herds. Thus Mr. Bogdanovitch gives the name Tahrait to those living around St. Lawrence Bay near the river Marich. Perhaps this is a distorted form of the word tegre'tilit ("those coming down [the river]").

According to the situation of their districts in the western or the eastern part of the country, the divisions of the Reindeer Chukchee call each other eigi's.qilit ("westerners;" literally, "those coming leeward") or aiva'Laзt ("easterners;" literally, "those coming windward"). These names have arisen from the fact that the chief wind of the country comes from the west along the Arctic shore. Perhaps the names Ai'wan and Eiwhue'n have a common origin with aiva'Lat (from ai'g-êpu, "windward"), since the inhabitants of the Pacific coast are called Aiva'Lat by all the inland and Arctic Chukchee, whom they, in their turn, call indiscriminately Eigi's.qilit.

All camps to the southeast from Chaun Bay are called by the more eastern people U'nmi-nute'kinet ("those from the inland country"). {Compare the O'nmilm Group, p. 26.}

The whole number of reindeer camps amounts to about 650, with a population of 7500-9000, rather more than less.

In compiling the list of the maritime villages, I have utilized, besides information collected by myself, the very valuable paper by Nordquist and the official "Register of the Inhabited Places of the Seacoast Province of Siberia." In the latter the data relating to the Chukchee were furnished by Mr. N. Gondatti. Unfortunately, while writing this memoir, I have not been able to use the very valuable article of Mr. Gondatti, the title of which is given on p. 20, but, so far as I can remember, it does not differ much from the Register. The journey of Mr. Gondatti from the mouth of the Anadyr to East Cape was made in the spring of 1895. Some data given by Krause, Bogdanovitch, Hooper, and Hilder, have also been taken into consideration as far as possible. I have enclosed in parentheses the statistics obtained from these authorities. Krause's geographical information, and his maps of the coast, seem to me to be quite correct; his list of villages from Holy Cross Bay to Kulu'či Bay is also accurate. {In his statistics, Krause gives for the large village Uni'sak (Indian Point) only 13 houses "from personal observation." He evidently confounds the small village Ku'kun with the larger Lu'зren, since he states that there are 20 houses in Ku'kun, and only 2 in Lu'зren, whereas in reality the numbers are the reverse.}

Only the names of the principal villages are here given, because the smaller ones mentioned by many travellers are not fixed dwelling-places. They are simply hunting-stations, that are used for a few years, and afterwards abandoned for other places a few miles away. The name belongs to the locality, not to the village. Even the larger villages are not very stable; and the population often desert one and move to another, according to the changing conditions of seal-hunting. However, those among the smaller settlements which were mentioned by several older travellers, and which happen to be inhabited at the present time, are included in the following list.

The villages on the Pacific coast are as follows: --

Chukchee.

Veзñ, in Anadyr Bay, near the mouth of the Anadyr River. {On the Middle Anadyr live about ten Chukchee families scattered in five or six places. Of these, Chikayeva has two families, and Under-the-Cliffs three. The first name has been borrowed by the Chukchee from the Russianized natives; the second name has the same meaning, both in the Chukchee and in the Russian languages. The other settlements are unstable.} The Russians subsequently founded a settlement near by, and called it Mariinsky Post. In former times the Chukchee village lay nearer the open sea, on the low sandy shore of Geek Land. Veзñ has at present 7 native houses and about 40 inhabitants.

Mi's.qAn ("hill"), on the west point of the long, narrow island Mi's.qAn, {Long, narrow islands or spits, consisting of sand cast up by the waves, are met with everywhere on the shores of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, especially at the mouths of rivers or of narrow, deeply indented bays. These islands are called by the Chukchee Te'pan in the Pacific dialect, and Te'pqän in the Arctic dialect. With the Kamchadal and Koryak, where salmon is abundant, the villages near such spits lie on the mainland shore, which is less exposed to the wind. Mouths of rivers and entrances to bays are very convenient places for catching salmon, which enter there in masses for the purpose of spawning. The Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo, on the contrary, build their villages on the outward shore of such islands or spits for convenience of sealing. The same is true of all islands lying near the shore. For instance, the Koryak village in Karagha Bay, of northern Kamchatka, lies on the mainland shore, opposite the large island Karagha. The Chukchee village in Kulu'ci Bay, on the contrary, is situated on the small island some distance away from the narrow mouth of the bay. On Kihi'ni Island the village Kihi'ni lies on its outward northwestern shore. The villages of Mi's.qAn, Rê'tkên, and Yanřa'kê-not are situated on sandy spits which lie at the entrance to the bays.} in Holy Cross Bay; and Rê'tkên ("clayish"), on the east point of the same island. During my visit in 1901 the former village had 3 houses, and, besides, 1 family was living a few miles off; while in two places there were 6 tents of some very poor half Maritime, half Reindeer people. The total population was 41 (according to the Register, 7 houses, 30 inhabitants). Rê'tkên had 6 houses with 35 inhabitants (Register, 6 houses, 22 inhabitants).

Farther along the shore, on Cape Wu'kwên ("stony"), there used to be a small settlement whose inhabitants afterwards turned to reindeer-breeding and went inland.

Valka'Ļên ("having houses of whale's jaw-bone"), which had during my visit 4 houses with 28 people (Register, 7 houses, 39 inhabitants). The underground houses alluded to in the name went out of use long ago, and the inhabitants now live in large "genuine houses" of the usual type. {The Chukchee use the expression "genuine house" for a tent-like dwelling with an inner sleeping-room made of heavy skins. For description see the chapter on "Habitations," farther on.}

E'nmilin ("craggy"), in the Ai'wan Eskimo language Tiki'vak, which lies five miles farther on, along the shore. It had 17 houses, and a mile from it 2 more, with a total population of 126 (Register, 19 houses, 104 inhabitants).

Nu'nligren (see Plate I, Fig. 2), which had 17 houses in one place, and 4 in another near by, with a population of 104 (Register, 25 houses, no inhabitants).

A'čon, the last Chukchee village, which had during my visit 5 houses with 24 inhabitants. They were very poor Reindeer people, who had turned to seal-hunting as a last resort, but were not successful even at that (Register, 4 houses, 1-9 inhabitants).

Eskimo.

Wute'en or Wu'turen (Eskimo, Čeŗi'nak), the first Eskimo village, which lies near Cape Ulakhpen. It had 8 houses with 58 inhabitants (Register, 14 houses, 77 inhabitants). {See p. 20.}

Between A'čon and Wute'en, in former times, there was a small settlement, Če'nlin, occupied by the Wute'elit and the Chukchee. The greater part of its inhabitants, however, perished in the famine of 1880. The remainder turned to reindeer-breeding or emigrated to Wute'en and to St. Lawrence Island.

I'mtun (Eskimo, I'mtuk), a few miles off, which had 12 houses with 65 inhabitants (Register, 9 houses, 43 inhabitants). Most of the people are Ai'wan, but four families came from Wute'en. I'зen (Eskimo, Ŗi'ŗak), in Plover Bay, which had only 2 houses with 9 inhabitants (Register, 4 houses, 24 inhabitants); but two families moved to Eu'nmun a little while before our coming. The people are Ai'wan, and very poor.

Eu'nmun (Eskimo, A'vak), near Cape Chukotsky, which during our visit had 12 houses with 88 inhabitants. Besides these, two families with 10 men came over from I'зen, where of late sealing has been very unsuccessful. There were then 98 inhabitants in Eu'nmun (Register, 16 houses, 101 inhabitants). The people of Eu'nmun are Ai'wan.

Če'čin (Eskimo, Te'sik), on the west shore of the bay of the same name (Čeči'kin qu'im, i.e., Če'čin Bay), {Mr. Gondatti has confounded Providence Bay with Če'čin Bay, which led him to many misunderstandings, and induced Mr. Bogdanovitch to hint that Mr. Gondatti did not visit all the places that he mentioned (Bogdanovitch, pp. 66, 67). On the Russian maps Če'čin Bay is called Tkachen Bay or Admiral Butakoff's Bay. American whalers call it Marquis Bay, of which Krause made "Marcus Bay."} which had 18 houses with 94 inhabitants (Register, 25 houses, 142 inhabitants). The people are Chukchee and Ai'wan, half and half.

Uñi'in (Eskimo, Uñi'sak), on Cape Chaplin (Indian Point) (Plate I, Figs. 1, 3), which had 61 houses with 442 inhabitants, all of them Ai'wan (Register, 51 houses, 500 inhabitants). {The decrease in population on this coast since Mr. Gondatti's visit is due undoubtedly to the epidemic of measles in the year 1899.}

North of Indian Point.1

1 Northward from Indian Point my information is reliable only for the number of houses. The Register gives the number of inhabitants in every case, but I fear the figures are often only approximate. The average of inmates in a house, according to my calculations, which agree with the data given by Mr. Gondatti, is about 61 or 7. Lieut. Nordquist allows for the villages of the Arctic shore not more than 5 to a house, but this seems to me rather too little.

Nepe'kuten (Eskimo, Napa'kutak), on the island called Ipe'kut in Chukchee (Eskimo, Ci'ŗluk {Messrs. Bogdanovitch and Gondatti call it Ettyhren.}), the last Ai'wan village: 4 houses, 37 inhabitants (Register, 5 houses, 52 inhabitants).

Kihi'ni (Eskimo, Ki'hi {Cape Prince of Wales is called by the same name (cf. p. 21).}), on an island of the same name: 3 houses (not mentioned in the Register). The people from here northward are Chukchee.

Ye'rgin (Eskimo, Ya'rga), on the southwestern end of the island Kihi'ni: 3 houses (not mentioned in the Register).

Ala'yon ("the summer place"): 3 houses (Register, 5 houses, 26 inhabitants).

Ilhi'nin: 2 houses (Register, 5 houses, 28 inhabitants).

Če'win (Eskimo, Ca'vik, "knife"): 2 houses (Register, 2 houses, 8 inhabitants).

Nigči'en (Eskimo, Nixci'ŗak, "one with seals"): 2 houses (Register, 2 houses, 12 inhabitants).

Yanřa'kê-not ("separate land"): 2 houses (not mentioned in the Register).

Meči'wmin (Eskimo, Me'sik), on the bay of the same name: 6 houses (Register, 2 houses, 18 inhabitants).

A'gritkin, on the Meči'wmin spit: 2 houses (not mentioned in the Register).

Lu'зren (Eskimo, Nu'kak): 10 houses (Register, 21 houses, 115 inhabitants).

Ku'kun: 1 house. All the other inhabitants have become reindeer-breeders. (Register, 3 houses, 23 inhabitants).

Aka'nên (Eskimo, Aka'nik): 7 houses (Register, 10 houses, 42 inhabitants).

Ya'nřa-ñai ("separate peak"): 15 houses (Register, 28 houses, 101 inhabitants, which number seems to me rather too large).

Nute'-pi'nmin ("tongue of land"): 2 houses (not mentioned in the Register).

Nunä'зmun (Eskimo, Nuna'mo, "land's end"): n houses (Register, 13 houses, 63 inhabitants).

Či'ñin (Eskimo, Si'nik): 5 houses (Register, 4 houses, 17 inhabitants).

Puo'ten (Eskimo, Puwu'xtak): 6 houses (Register, 17 houses, 40 inhabitants).

Enmita'hin ("cliff's end"): 6 houses (Register, 8 houses, 42 inhabitants). The people are Nѳ'ѳkalit Eskimo.

Nѳ'ѳkan (Eskimo, Nabu'qak), on East Cape: 48 houses (Register, 50 houses, 299 inhabitants). The people are Nѳ'ѳkalit Eskimo.

The villages on the Arctic coast are as follows: --

Uwe'len (Eskimo, U'lak, "carving-knife"): 30 houses (Register, 38 houses, 231 inhabitants; Nordquist, 40 houses). Half of the people are Chukchee, and half Nѳ'ѳkalit Eskimo.

Tu'ñqen (Eskimo, To'ñqak): 4 houses (Register, 2 houses, 17 inhabitants; Nordquist, 5 houses; Krause, 10 houses). From here westward all the villages belong to the Chukchee tribe.

Inčo'win (Eskimo, Inčo'ŗvik): 18 houses (Register, 19 houses, 142 inhabitants; Nordquist, 33 houses).

Iñe'зen (Eskimo, Inñe'rñik): 3 houses (Register, 3 houses, 21 inhabitants; Nordquist, 5 houses).

Ot-Enmita'hin ("cliff's end of U'ten"): 1 house. All the rest of the inhabitants had turned reindeer-breeders. (Register, 2 houses, 27 inhabitants; Nordquist, 8 houses.)

U'ten (Eskimo, U'tak), 12 houses (Register, 8 houses, 64 inhabitants; Nordquist, 20 houses).

Ču'lpen (Eskimo, Ču'lpak), called in the Register and by Lieut. Nordquist Ču'tpen: 12 houses (Register, 4 houses, 32 inhabitants; Nordquist, 15 houses).

I'зčen (Eskimo, I'čak): 11 houses (Register, 11 houses, 78 inhabitants; Nordquist, 13 houses).

Čei'tun (Eskimo, Ča'xtuk): 16 houses (Register, 8 houses, 56 inhabitants; Nordquist, 18 houses).

Čêča'nin (Eskimo, Čeča'nik): 10 houses (Register, 11 houses, 77 inhabitants; Nordquist, 11 houses).

Iqä'lurun (Eskimo, Iqa'luwhak): 10 houses (Register, 7 houses, 48 inhabitants; Nordquist, 5 houses).

Ke'ñičvun (signifying, with a slight modification of the last vowel, "curve"): 11 houses (Nordquist, 17 houses; it is not given in the Register, and probably the inhabitants are counted with those of Ne'te-ke'ñičvun, a hunting-station near Ne'ten).

Enu'rmin (Eskimo, Ano'rmik): 12 houses (Register, 20 houses, 125 inhabitants; Nordquist, 20 houses).

Ne'te-ke'ñičvun ("the curve of Ne'ten"): 1 house (Register, 5 houses, 29 inhabitants; Nordquist, 2 houses).

Ne'ten (Eskimo, Na'tak): 9 houses (Register, 5 houses, 33 inhabitants; Nordquist, 14 houses).

Nat-Enmita'him ("cliff's end of Ne'ten"): 2 houses (Register, 4 houses, 30 inhabitants; Nordquist, 2 houses).

Imi'lE ("the whole one"): 4 houses (Register, 7 houses, 49 inhabitants; Nordquist, 4 houses).

Mä'зmi-pi'lhin ("mouth of Mä'зmi"): 2 houses (Register, 3 houses, 19 inhabitants; Nordquist, 1 house).

Mä'зmi ("with arrows"): 3 houses (Nordquist, 7 houses; not mentioned in the Register).

Te'pqän ("low straight coast"): 8 houses (Nordquist, 9 houses; not mentioned in the Register).

Palo'nnan: 1 house. The other inhabitants had turned to reindeer-breeding. (Register, 4 houses, 28 inhabitants; Nordquist, 1 house.)

Ne's.qAn (Eskimo, Na's'kok, "head"): 8 houses (Register, 10 houses, 59 inhabitants; Nordquist, 6 houses).

Velkä'l-tinu'p ("jaw hill"): 4 houses (Register, 6 houses, 33 inhabitants; Nordquist, probably under the name Kakodla, 9 houses).

Ne's.qAqäi ("little Ne's.qAn"): 6 houses (Nordquist, 7 houses; not mentioned in the Register).

Irguзnnu'p ("pointed hill"): 5 houses (Nordquist, 6 houses; not mentioned in the Register).

Yi'nřilun ("having steep hills"): 5 houses (Register, 4 houses, 26 inhabitants; Nordquist, 4 houses).

Pi'lhm ("mouth"): 1 house. The other inhabitants had turned reindeer-breeders. (Nordquist, 3 houses; not mentioned in the Register.)

Kulu'či (Eskimo, Kulu'sik, "old iceberg"): 11 houses (Register, 14 houses, 94inhabitants; Nordquist, 20 houses).

Nute'-pi'nmin ("tongue of land"): 4 houses (Register, 4 houses, 23 inhabitants; not mentioned by Nordquist).

Wañkarê'man (derived from Wa'iika, "walrus-tusk"): 7 houses (Register, 4 houses, 28 inhabitants; Nordquist, 9 houses).

Rirkai'piyan ("walrus barred off"): 11 houses (Register, 9 houses, 52 inhabitants; Nordquist, 15 houses).

Nota'-ti'mlm ("close to the land"): 4 houses (Register, 4 houses, 28 inhabitants; Nordquist, 3 houses).

Reзn ("food"): 1 house. All the other inhabitants had turned reindeer-breeders. (Not mentioned either in the Register or by Nordquist.)

Kinma'nka-u'tir: 3 houses (Register, 2 houses, 13 inhabitants; Nordquist, 4 houses).

Ya'qan: 3 houses (Nordquist, 5 houses; not mentioned in the Register).

Enmaa'tir ("cliff-brook"): 2 houses (Nordquist, 4 houses; not mentioned in the Register).

Enmita'hin ("cliff's end"), 3 houses (Register, 2 houses, 16 inhabitants; Nordquist, 6 houses).

Uwga'rgin: 2 houses (Nordquist, 4 houses; not mentioned in the Register). Three different places on Cape Erri: 6 houses (Register, 2 houses, 10 inhabitants; Nordquist, 13 houses).

In summing up the whole population, we obtain in round numbers, for the Chukchee on the Pacific shore, 1100; for the Eskimo, 1200; {Besides these, there are about 400 inhabitants on the Diomede Islands and on St. Lawrence Island; so that the whole number of Eskimo in Asia, in round numbers, is 1600.} for the Chukchee on the Arctic shore, 1600, which should be increased to 2000, because I omitted in my enumeration some of the minor settlements the names of which I obtained, but which I was unable to identify with villages mentioned by Lieut. Nordquist. Lieut. Nordquist arrives at the same number of inhabitants, but the number of houses in his list are more than 400, as compared with 266 enumerated by me. His estimate is based, according to his own statement, on the assumption of only five persons to a house, whereas my figure is six and a half. With an equal average of inmates to a house, his census of the population on the Arctic shores would exceed mine by 600. It seems probable, therefore, as Mr. Gondatti asserts, that the maritime population has diminished of late years. His assumption, however, that the Arctic shore is more thickly populated than the Pacific, seems to me unfounded.

The total number of the Chukchee amounts to 12,000, rather more than less, of which three fourths are reindeer-breeders, and only one fourth maritime. The decrease in the maritime population may be partly accounted for by the fact that each year many families turn from maritime pursuits to reindeer-breeding.

Several villages have nearly or altogether disappeared, because all the inhabitants have gone inland and have turned reindeer-breeders. These are, on the Arctic coast, besides those of Kulu'ci Bay, mentioned above, the villages Reзn, Ot-Enmita'hm, Palo'nnan; on the Pacific coast, Ku'kun, Ce'nlin, Wu'kwen, also nearly one-half of the inhabitants of the large village E'nmilin, and others.

II. -- GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

Appearance. -- As ascertained from anthropological measurements (148 of men, and 49 of women, all adult), the height of the Chukchee is, men, maximum, 186 mm.; minimum, 150 mm.; average, 162.2 mm.: women, maximum, 168 mm.; minimum, 138 mm.; average, 152 mm. The cephalic index of the men is, maximum, 96; minimum, 75; average, 82: of the women, maximum, 88; minimum, 74; average, 81.8.

The Chukchee are well built and healthy, though rather heavy; so that the saddle-reindeer bought from the Lamut frequently prove too weak for their new masters. Nor are the Chukchee as nimble of foot as are the Lamut hunters. Stout people, however, are rare. I met only one who was rather portly, and on this account he received the nickname Um-Kutu'wgi; i. e., "Stout Kutu'wgi."

The hands and feet, as with all tribes of Arctic Asia, are small. The young men of the Reindeer division sweat copiously upon slight exertion, -- for instance, while running about the herd, -- and on this account the Reindeer Chukchee call themselves, half facetiously, "the sweating-people" (giĻo'ta-ra'mkm). Many of the women are clumsily shaped, with short waists, and legs out of proportion to the rest of their bodies. Some of the Chukchee have considerable physical strength, especially the reindeer-breeders, who have a superior diet. I saw men who were able to carry a whole reindeer-carcass on their backs for a quarter of a mile, or lift a great stone about two hundred pounds in weight. The younger Chukchee are continually bent on increasing their physical powers by lifting and carrying stones, by running foot-races for long distances, etc. The Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo even have special lifting-stones for each man. These are picked up among the crumbling rocks, and are usually cylindrical in shape, with smooth surfaces. One of my European fellow-travellers, however, was able to surpass all the men of the villages between Mariinsky Post and Indian Point in a hand-pulling contest.

The cheek-bones of the Chukchee are much less prominent than those of the Tungus or Yakut; their noses are often large, well-shaped, and even aquiline, though noses with the low Mongolian bridge are also frequently met with, especially among the women.

Many Chukchee have faces that are clumsy in outline, flat skulls, and low straight foreheads, while the lower part of the face is disproportionately large and strong. {Compare Nelson, pp. 27, 28.} A handsome head is frequently compared to a round grassy hummock. In their tales, man is sometimes called "hummocky-head." Faces strongly Mongolian in outline are more frequent among the women, though many are as fair and as well formed as the average woman of the white race.

Their eyes are straight, and frequently as large as those of Caucasians, and plica occurs but rarely among them; and their hair, as well as that of the Koryak, is often wavy or even curly, while the Kamchadal always have straight hair. Several Reindeer Chukchee that I met in various parts of their territory had the surname "curly" (ka'mči) because of their very curly hair; as, for instance, "Curly Ya'tirgin" (Ka'mči-Ya'tirgin). The hair of some people in Pacific villages even looked woolly. This effect was produced because the hair was coarse and thick, and at the same time formed tight curls.

In the interior and on the Arctic coast the color of the hair is black, but on the Pacific coast about fifteen per cent of the people have dark-brown or even light-brown hair. The growth of hair on the face is scanty, but beards are more frequently seen than among the Lamut or the Yakut. Accordingly, while the Lamut are very careful to pull out the beard-hair with tweezers, the Chukchee frequently allow their beards to grow, and are even proud of them. With the Reindeer people a mustache (or, rather, the appearance of a black down on the upper lip) is considered the crowning feature of full growth, the warrant of independence. The eyebrows are often thick and bushy, especially among old men. The growth of hair on the body is scanty. Thick eyebrows, long thick braids, and hairy pubes are counted as marks of beauty in woman. {A Chukchee proverb says, "Hairy pubes of the wife keeps the husband's hands busy." The pubes of the Lamut and Yakut women is, on the contrary, almost hairless. The women of these two tribes, moreover, shave the scanty hair of their pubes, or pull it out with tweezers.}

The color of the face is bronze, with intermediate tints varying from brick-red to blood-red. The ideal of beauty in both sexes requires that the face be "as red as blood, burning like fire." The color of the skin of the body is generally scarcely distinguishable from that of Caucasians. There are, however, numerous cases of brown or even dark-brown skin, more frequently among the Maritime Chukchee. The latter even consider the brownish complexion to be the handsomest. The breasts of women who are with child frequently assume a dark-brown color over the whole surface.

One of the marks of superiority is the ability to eat quickly. "When the young men eat quickly, the old men look on with pleasure," says the proverb. Accordingly the Reindeer Chukchee have adopted a peculiarly fierce and hasty method of eating, accompanied by sounds reminding one of the snarling of a hungry dog. One of the young herdsmen whom I saw on the Anui River acquired so much skill in this respect, that he could strip a whole joint of its flesh by taking hold of it with his teeth and pulling off first one side, then the other, -- "like a wolf," his companions remarked admiringly.

Mixture with Other Tribes. -- Notwithstanding considerable diversity in the features of the Chukchee, I doubt whether their blood is much mixed. At present the Reindeer men do not hesitate to take wives from among the Russians, the Lamut, or the Chuvantzy; but these intermarriages are of recent date. All cases of such intermarriages are on record, and they are but very few in number. Moreover, the births resulting from the marriages of Russian women (or, more strictly speaking, of Russianized Yukaghir women) with Chukchee men have not been numerous. The reason for this is probably that these women, who are not very prolific in their native environment, are still less so under the conditions of nomad arctic life.

On the Koryak border considerable intermixing with this tribe is going on at the present time. The Maritime Chukchee may have been intermixed with the Eskimo from ancient times. At the present date, in the village of Uwe'len on the Arctic, and of Če'čin on the Pacific, one half of the families are Chukchee, while the other half are Eskimo, and very extensive intermarrying is taking place. Other villages have an unmixed population, and mixed marriages are not so frequent as one might suppose. However, the question is not yet settled as to whether the Chukchee and the Eskimo belong to the same anthropological stock or not.

Fertility. -- The Chukchee are the healthiest of the tribes in northeastern Siberia. Their families contain more children than those of any of their neighbors. While taking the census in the Kolyma district in 1897, I came across several families having five, seven, and even nine children living. Ten per cent of the families had not less than five children living. One man had by two wives twelve children living. Another, by seven wives (three of them dead), had fourteen children living.

On the Pacific coast, among the Maritime Chukchee, one woman had had thirteen children (seven living and six dead); another one, eleven (three living and eight dead); still another, nine (five living and four dead); etc. Several times, chiefly among the Reindeer Chukchee, I met with twins. This degree of fertility results in the steady increase of the Chukchee, especially among the Reindeer division, in spite of the contagious diseases which ravage the country once every ten or fifteen years. It is interesting to note that even among the Kamchadal, who are steadily decreasing in numbers, I came across several women with many children. One, for instance, had eight living and two dead; another, five living and ten dead; a third, five living, two dead, and five abortions; a fourth, seven living, three dead, and three abortions; a fifth, six living, two dead, and two abortions; etc.: so that here, at least, the decrease is not produced by any reduction in the number of births.

As far as can be ascertained, the decrease of native tribes in northeastern Siberia was produced by the direct or even indirect contact with civilization, exactly as was the case in other countries. It began with extermination during the bloody wars of the early conquest by the Cossacks, and in subsequent mutinies, which were subdued by wholesale murder. After that came severe oppression; demand of tribute (hitherto wholly unknown); exactions from the officials and Cossacks, who succeeded in enslaving a number of the strongest men and women; and the fraudulent acts of the merchants, who imposed on all those that remained free the burden of interminable debts. Then came contagious diseases, which made havoc not only among the natives, but also among the conquerors, who lived under the same material conditions.

Worst of all, the natives lost their vital energy and their zest for life, which gave them the power and the will to struggle with the harsh Arctic nature. A number of them abstained from matrimony and from producing offspring. They dropped a large part of their former pursuits, and patiently submitted to regular periods of famine, considering their tribe doomed to destruction. For instance, among the vanishing clans of the Yukaghir on the Lower Kolyma the number of unmarried people is disproportionately large. The hunting of reindeer and the capturing of moulting birds to a considerable degree went out of practice, because they required too much exertion. The people live solely by fishing, and every spring suffer from the scarcity of food, often amounting to a real famine. It must not be forgotten that also under the natural condition of affairs before the arrival of the Russians, the increase of population, even among the strongest tribes, was very uncertain, and was continually checked by war and famine.

One of the old men at Indian Point said to me, "The spirits, it seems, take care that the people of this country shall not multiply. In olden times war was sent down to ward off increase. After that, in spite of the abundant variety of sea-game, famine would come and carry off the surplus. At present, with the fulsome supply of American food, the disease comes down, and the result is exactly the same."

Birth and Childhood. -- The Chukchee women are delivered with little labor. Custom strictly forbids the woman to groan, or to give way to the pain by any audible sign. Nor may help be given by other women. The woman who has been delivered has to attend to her own needs herself, and to those of the new-born infant. She cuts the navel-string and puts away the placenta. {The help that the Chukchee woman in labor gets from her assistants among the neighboring tribes is such, that, for the most part, she is better off without it. Among the northern Yakut, and even among the Russianized natives and the Russians, if the labor-pains last too long, especially with the first birth, the assisting women often take a heavy box and press one of its sharp edges against the abdomen of the laboring woman, thinking by this means to squeeze the child out.} The woman who accepts help in these operations will be mocked her whole life long, and even her husband will occasionally receive the derisive nickname "the helped one." Accordingly a large pelvis, because it eases delivery, is considered one of the chief features of womanly beauty. The Chukchee lover, in praising his beloved, will begin with her strength and stature, then state that she is fat, then mention her large pelvis, and only after that call attention to her long hair, heavy eyebrows, and ruddy face. {See p. 34.} A short formula of praise is simply, "large woman, large pelvis, long braids" (ñaus.qa'tičhim, ñoi'ñičhin, kitta'lčiñin).

The Reindeer Chukchee assert that their young people become mature later in life than do those of the Maritime Chukchee, and give as a reason for this the hardships of nomadic life. This is, perhaps, partly true. However, so far as can be ascertained among a people who do not keep any written records, full growth is attained by the Chukchee not later than by northern European races. The young men marry early, and sexual relations sometimes begin before full maturity is reached. Not infrequently very young girls bear children, and the language contains a special term for them, êčva'k-äзLa' ("the fawn-mother"). Nevertheless the Chukchee hold to the idea that early marriages are injurious to the health of the woman, and tend to diminish the number of births. It is therefore usually held to be blamable to have intercourse with a girl that is not perfectly mature, or, according to their own statement, with "one not having full breasts and the menses." Notwithstanding this, the Chukchee are sensual, and enjoy ribald sayings and lewd gestures. When refused by a woman, they are inclined to violence and rape. Many of their pet names and nicknames are very obscene.

Their endurance in undergoing cold, hunger, and various hardships, is very great. Small children are left all day in the open air in winter. I have seen infants lying on the snow attempt to get out of their fur combination-suits. The upper part of their bodies remained naked for a long time, yet they did not show any signs of discomfort, though the cold was severe and the wind blew sharply. The women work with the needle in the open air even in March, at a temperature of 30° below zero, Centigrade. Their fingers remain unprotected for several hours at a stretch. The exertion even makes them feel warm and perspire so, that they throw aside their ample fur bodices and remain half naked, or else even thrust large cakes of snow into their bosoms.

The reindeer-hunters frequently start out with very little food, depending upon future quarry for their sustenance. When unsuccessful, they get along on very little food for several days, and all the while display the utmost agility in walking about and searching for game. Reindeer herdsmen, men or women", often go without sleep for two or three days. A young girl will work for a whole day on skins, then watch the herd all night long, and in the morning return home and busy herself till evening, without any visible strain upon her strength.

Extreme Age. -- Among the Reindeer Chukchee there is a fair number of old men. Sometimes four generations live together in the same family, the great-grandfather being from seventy to seventy-five years old. Among the Maritime Chukchee the men who seem to be quite decrepit almost always prove to have become so rather from the hardships of life than from old age. Such men are speedily carried away by disease. Therefore the really old men, in my opinion, are not numerous.

The Senses. -- Of the special senses, smell seems to be more developed than with civilized races, since the Chukchee assert that every man has a smell peculiar to himself, and that his clothes, etc., can be ascertained from it. I was told that in olden times, during the wars among the Koryak, the invading Chukchee parties, finding an old camping-place, were able to ascertain, from the odor of broken bones and other remains, whether they belonged to the Koryak or to their own tribe. Accordingly mutual sniffing has the same value as kissing, as is the case with many other primitive tribes. The Chukchee father, when leaving his family for a trip, will perhaps kiss his wife; but he will usually apply his nose to the nape of his children's necks, and inhale the odor of their fur shirts.

I must note, too, the sensitiveness of the Chukchee to unfamiliar odors. Every time that I happened to open my small chest of medicines in a Chukchee sleeping-room, the inmates complained loudly of the offensive smell which came from it, and sometimes I was obliged to go away to the outer tent with my patients. Similar complaint was made against some wild onions that I brought in, though the Russianized natives use them for food and even store them in large quantities for winter use. The Chukchee name for them is tikê'-va'gliñin ("smell-grass").

The taboo against bringing into a Chukchee sleeping-room any objects connected with the hearths and households of other families is founded, in the minds of the people, chiefly upon their unfamiliar odor. I have had some curious experiences regarding this idiosyncrasy. In 1896, while travelling among the Anui Chukchee, I happened to procure a document of the year 1789,' acknowledging the loyal faith of a certain Qi'miqäi, evidently a rich reindeer-owner (the document calls him, with the usual misapprehension of the Chukchee social organization, "Chief of the Chaun Chukchee"). This document had been preserved in the family of Qi'miqäi for more than a century, and had gradually come to be considered, along with the fire-drills and strings of amulets, a part of their sacred possessions. The family became extinct, and I was able to acquire it, together with a curious wooden case adorned with beads and tassels, for a moderate price. When I brought it to the tent in which I was temporarily living, my host warned me against taking it into the inner room; but as it was bitterly cold outside, and as I wished to examine the paper, I took it in. No sooner had I produced the fatal wooden case from my bag, than the mistress of the house, a sickly woman of thirty, who sat opposite me, nursing a child on her lap, moaned and fell senseless. We had much trouble in reviving her, and afterwards I had to expiate my offence by making offerings to the household spirits. She declared that an unfamiliar odor given off by the case made her feel giddy and sick; "since it has seen so many strange countries and hearths," was added by way of explanation. On the other hand, my books and instruments, although they have been in still stranger countries, were not objected to at all; nor were the provisions of civilization -- canned meats, fruit, vegetables, sugar, etc. -- rejected on account of their foreign odor.

Regarding taste there are also some peculiar features. Thus the Chukchee generally do not care for salt; many of them have, in fact, a decided aversion to it, declaring that it is bitter and tastes of sea-water. The Lamut, on the contrary, relish salt, and, when it is at hand, often use it with their tea. Some of the Chukchee have also an aversion toward soft bread, which to them tastes too sour. They will consume only hard biscuit, especially unsalted hardtack. The Russianized natives, on the contrary, who are used to baked bread, find ship-biscuit tasteless. The desire for fat seems to be innate in the Chukchee. I saw an infant not a year old that cried every time an oil lamp was carried past his head. As the oil was very rancid, he evidently recognized it by its odor, and wanted some of it. To grown people an admixture of fat will improve the taste of all spoiled provisions: therefore putrid meat which has been stored in summer is usually consumed with oil or tallow. The consumption of fat, however, has some limitations. Many persons, especially women, cannot eat the blubber of the male rough-seal (Phoca hispida) because of its disgusting odor. Among the Reindeer people the marrow of the wild reindeer-buck is considered the best food in the world. Notwithstanding this, most of the people are not able "to break the joints" (i.e., to eat the marrow) of a whole animal, and some are contented with a single leg. There is a special term for the taste of food that is excessively fat and sweet, -- niñi'rñuqin ("too rich" or "too savory").

The Chukchee scale of colors is also somewhat peculiar. The best-known colors are white (ni'lhAqin), black (nu'uqin), red (ničê'Loqên), gray (čêva'ro). Among reindeer-skins the color "yellowish" (ipli'li) is also recognized. Occasionally this term may be applied to other skins, but never to anything else.

Other colors are not strictly defined, but are included among the preceding, or described by comparison with various existing objects. Thus we have the following: --

"Weed-like" (nŭwtiči'rrAqên), an indefinite term, that is applied to all the tints of green, yellow, or even blue when not very deep. The usual summer color of the weeds on the tundra is green for the leaves and the tip-ends of the stalks, but the lower parts of the plant are more or less yellow. When shown both green and yellow, the Chukchee are able to, distinguish between them; but generally they apply one term to both colors, and in ordinary conversation always confound the two.

"Black weed-like" (n-uwa'la-nŭwtiči'rrAqên), which is given as the color of gall. On the other hand, sprouting leaves, in the Chukchee eye, have the color of gall (ni-lêlê-pêra'qên, "gall-like").

Withering leaves look red to the Chukchee.

Light yellow ranks sometimes with white, sometimes with red.

"Ochre-like" (ni-čê'ra-pêra'qên) is applied to the straw color of reindeer-skins curried and dyed with ochre.

The color of the sky seems to them light green.

"White weed-like" (n-ê'lhi-nŭwtiči'rrAqên).

Deep blue is grouped with black.

The Chukchee are fond of singing, especially on ceremonial days. Every family, and even every individual, has several songs of his own. Some of them are hereditary, and others they compose themselves. The shamans have numerous and various tunes, some of which have a pleasant effect, even on the civilized ear. The Chukchee are likewise sensitive to the melodiousness of a fine voice; and the people often gather in the house of some young shaman, known not so much for his skill as for his pleasing voice, to enjoy his singing.

The Maritime Chukchee are said to have a larger percentage of deep and rather hoarse bass voices than the Reindeer people, by whom they are much ridiculed on this account.

Cleanliness. -- The Chukchee cannot be called a clean people, at least from a civilized point of view. They eat their own lice (Plate xx, Fig. 3), wash with urine, and allow the dogs to lick out their dishes. They consume the large larvae of the reindeer-fly, and in summer the herdsmen occasionally consume even reindeer-dung mixed with young leaves of various plants. Habits of cleanliness, however, are liable to be considered from different standpoints. For instance, many of my native acquaintances strongly objected to cow's milk on account of the unclean ways of the animal that yields it. They asserted also that beef has a peculiar and unpleasant odor, similar to that of cow-dung, and some of them even refused to enter the room where beef was being cooked. On the other hand, when we objected to the odor of seal-meat, they, in their turn, would say, "The seal is quite clean. It washes itself continually in clean water. Why do you not object rather to the meat of your own filthy animals?"

Diseases. -- Contagious diseases have repeatedly made their appearance among the Chukchee. Small-pox has several times ravaged the population of northeastern Siberia. Its latest outbreaks were on the Lower Kolyma in 1884, and on the Middle Kolyma in 1889; though the latter epidemic affected chiefly the Russians and the Yakut, and had little effect on the Chukchee.

In 1899 an epidemic of measles, brought from Vladivostok by a Russian trader, spread northwards, and in the summer of 1900 reached the Chukchee villages and camps. Everywhere its effects were most disastrous, especially as it requires the utmost caution against colds during convalescence, and the conditions of arctic life make this practically impossible. Even in the Russian settlements, such as Gishiginsk and Markova, almost a fourth of the inhabitants were carried off. The Chukchee suffered even more severely. In several Reindeer camps near the Pacific coast only a few children were left, and the masterless herds were scattered. This also happened on the Kolyma tundra in 1884, after the epidemic of small-pox. In the year 1901 the disease crossed over to America, and there also carried off many victims. The whole number of people who perished from this disease must have amounted to several thousands.

Some fifty years ago syphilis was much dreaded. The Chukchee regard it as indigenous, though its name (a'tal-va'irgm [a'tal, "Chuvantzy;" {Compare p. 18.} va'irgin, "substance"]) suggests the tribe who in earlier times were mediators between the Russians and the Chukchee, and probably, after obtaining the disease from the Russians, introduced it among the Chukchee. However this may be, one afflicted with syphilis was regarded as unclean. At home he was provided with bedding of his own, with a separate dish and bowl, and was kept aloof, lest others should contract the disease. A family having several syphilitics among its older members was considered as "subject to shunning" (ku'rgu li'n.yo). Their fire especially was regarded as tainted. They were not allowed admission into clean camps, lest the odor of their hearth and the shadow of their entrance might prove infectious to their neighbors. Nowadays syphilis has evidently decreased; but elderly men and women with deformed noses and ugly scars on their foreheads, showing the third stage of the disease, are frequently met with everywhere. Even now these are considered unclean, though the precautions against them are not observed. The outbreaks of syphilis which occasionally occur among the younger people are considered simply as a different sort of disease, milder and less contagious.

Curiously enough, among the Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma, the children have a game in which the winner each time "immerses" the loser one degree deeper into syphilis; for instance, the fourth point scored is called t-eiзñinnu'pet.-hit ("I [immerse] you to the instep"); the sixth, t-imipča'k-git ("I [immerse] you to the boot-tops"); etc. {Compare Chapter XI.}

Another contagious disease, a kind of grippe or influenza, spreads through the various parts of the country almost every year, claiming scores of victims. I found it mentioned in the archives of Kolyma as far back as a hundred years ago, and witnessed it myself two or three times among the Chukchee, the Russianized Yukaghir, and the Kamchadal. Its symptoms are those which usually occur in influenza, -- violent cough; headache; affection of various organs and parts of the body, such as deafness in one ear, partial lameness, sharp pain in the muscles, etc. It usually spreads from the south and the west, and therefore must be considered as coming from the Russian settlements. The Chukchee are very much afraid of this disease, since it occurs so often. In 1896, while I was travelling on the Upper Anui, all the Chaun people, hearing of some cases of the disease on the Wolverine River, fled from the whole western part of the Chaun tundra in order to avoid the "spirits seeking for prey."

Of nervous diseases, which are also dreaded and considered "subject to shunning," I may make mention of ite'yun, akin to epilepsy. Sometimes it occurs with the usual fits; sometimes with convulsions or with contraction of the muscles, amounting almost to a temporary catalepsy. It lasts for several hours, and the patient is unconscious during the whole time; then it gradually passes away, but in a few days returns, perhaps in a more violent form. Ite'yun progresses rapidly, and invariably ends in the death of the sufferer. Sometimes, however, it lasts for years before the fatal issue.

Another disease of a like character is iu'metun, a kind of violent nervous affection, which comes on at night like nightmare. During an attack the breath appears shortened, the blood rushes to the face, and sometimes the sufferer chokes on the spot. The Chukchee attribute both diseases to special spirits, and do not like even to mention their names. A man suddenly afflicted with such an illness while travelling, may be almost sure that he will not be allowed to enter any house, nor will he be given either fire or warm food.

The well-known form of Arctic hysteria, which is so widespread among the Yukaghir and Lamut women, is very rare among the Chukchee, especially among the Reindeer branch of the tribe. This disease develops chiefly in the form of an uncontrollable desire to repeat in a loud voice each word spoken by somebody else, and to imitate every sudden gesture or action. Even the women among the Russianized natives, and Russians, are affected with it to a considerable extent, while those of the Chukchee are practically exempt from it.

Leprosy, so frequent among the Yakut, does not attack the Chukchee, who have, however, various kinds of skin-diseases, perhaps on account of their filthy habits of living. They often call themselves "the not-washing people" (ilhiteu'kä-re'mkin).

The most common of skin-diseases is scabies, which often afflicts whole families. The Chukchee pay little attention to it. Scabby people have told me, half in joke, that they even find pleasure in spending their spare time fingering their itching sores.

More uncommon is ta'irgin, a peculiar disease that increases the pigment in the skin, so that the afflicted look like mulattoes. They do not complain of any pain, but lose in strength and agility; nor can they endure the hardships of their former pursuits, though their term of life does not seem to be shortened. I met with only five cases of this disease.

Kalê'h-ta'irgin ("spotted ta'irgin") covers the skin with large spots of a light, ashen color, often over the whole body, including the face and the hair of the head. It does not seem to affect the health. A man named Tu'rkew, who was affected by this disease, received the name of Keli'li-Tu'rkew ("Spotted Tu'rkew"). He was well known in the Anui country on account of his piebald hair. At the age of fifty years he was still active for his time of life.

I came across five deaf-mutes. Three of them were full-grown, and took part in all the daily pursuits of their camp. They communicated with other people by means of.simple signs. Sleep, for instance, was expressed by leaning the face on the palm; eating and drinking, by representative motions of the hand to the mouth; woman, by forming an imaginary braid on each side of the face; man, by pointing out the mustache; going, by a motion of two fingers on the palm; etc. These signs are similar to those used by the Chuk-chee for communicating with people who do not understand their language, though no conventional signs exist in either case.

I met two dwarfs. One of them was married, and had three well-developed children. There were several weak-minded people. One of them was a deaf-mute ; another had been struck with the palsy, and could not walk or move his left hand. But the Chukchee had no notion of supernatural power possessed by such people, as is held by the American Eskimo. Cases of violent madness also occur. I was told by a woman shaman that she was out of her mind for three years, because of a spell wrought on her by a rival. When in a fit, she would lose all feeling in her wrists, and sometimes in her whole body. At such times she would snatch a stone and pound her fingers with it, without feeling any pain. In fact, the upper joints of two of her fingers were missing. Frequently she would want to harm other people, and then her housemates would tie her hands and bind her to one of the house-poles.

In another case I heard that a man of the Reindeer division of the tribe, who for a long time was afflicted with similar fits, kept making attempts to injure his camp-companions, and ultimately was put out of the way by common consent.

Blindness occurs often, especially among old people. The young herdsmen often have sore eyes on account of loss of sleep in the seasons when the herding of the reindeer requires extra exertion, and because of the corrosive action of sweat mixed with dirt. Snow-blindness in the spring is very common among all who make journeys across the tundra. In treating inflamed eyes, the lids are sometimes turned outward and bled by being rubbed with the large hard larva of the reindeer-fly, the segments of which act like the teeth of a fine file.

Lame people use crutches of various shapes, made in the same way as those used by civilized people.

The Chukchee do not use any remedies of their own except magic, unlike the Kamchadal and Russianized Yukaghir, who apply many plants and minerals for medical purposes. Even the medicines of civilization, of which the Chukchee are often very fond, have received the name e'ñeñ, which, in the proper sense of the word, signifies "shamanistic spirit," and also "Russian (Christian) God," "crucifix," "image of a saint," etc. The civilized physician is called simply efie'nilin ("shaman").

Mental Traits. -- There exist two exactly opposite notions concerning the natural disposition of the Chukchee. The older writers,- drawing chiefly from the accounts and narratives of Russian Cossacks and other adventurers, represent the Chukchee as the inscription on Lotteri's chart of their country runs: "Tjutzchi natio ferocissima et bellicosa, Russorum inimica, qui capti se invicem interficiunt." {Nordenskiöld, II, p. 79.} All tribes in their neighborhood, even at the present day, hold a somewhat similar opinion regarding them, perhaps on account of former wars, in which the Chukchee always gained the upper hand.

Recent travellers among the Chukchee, -- Hooper, Maydell, Nordenskiöld, Gondatti, Dr. Slunin, Melikoff, -- on the contrary, describe them as quite peaceful and inoffensive. Maydell undertakes the thankless task of defending them against the former reports of the Cossacks, who, as he has it, were always deceived by the treacherous Koryak, and ascribed all their misdeeds to the Chukchee. {Maydell, I, pp. 627-680. He even asserts (p. 77) that the poor Koryak attacked the rich Reindeer Chukchee to get their herds, though the facts are quite the reverse, and also assumes that in the rebellions the Koryak would disguise themselves in Chukchee garb to lead the Cossacks astray.}

W. H. Gilder, who in 1882 made a long journey among the Chukchee villages quite alone and unarmed, and the Russian priest Benedict, who in 1898-99, without an assistant or provisions, made a still more remarkable trip among the Reindeer Chukchee, and thence through all the villages on the Arctic and Pacific, were treated very kindly and hospitably by the inhabitants, though unable to pay even for conveyance and food.

These cases indicate very clearly that the Chukchee have laid aside their former hostility toward the civilized world, and after more than a hundred years of constant trading with Russian settlers on the Kolyma, and with American whalers on the Pacific coast, have tried to show themselves friendly to the few white people who have happened to come to their villages and camps. From the visits of several men-of-war, the Chukchee have been able to form an opinion of the real power of the white people. Trade has become quite indispensable to them; and those who have come into contact with Russian officials have been willing to submit, at least nominally, to Russian authority, and even to pay tribute, however slight and precarious. "These are peaceful times," said one of the wandering Chukchee traders to me at Indian Point. "Wars have ceased, everybody thinks only of gain, and all tribes and nations intermingle." Ra'lѳ gene'Ļeet ("blended together") is the ordinary Chukchee term to describe intertribal relations on all borders. On the other hand, when in 1895, during a brawl at the Anui fair, a Reindeer Chukchee was killed by the Cossacks, the others resented the deed so much that they were almost ready to attack the fort. Notwithstanding the "weregild" paid by the officials to the family of the slain man, the Chukchee harbored a feeling of ill will for a long time afterwards; and the next winter, when travelling among the Anui camps, I had one or two rather unpleasant encounters with the people.

A considerable part of their former intractability remains at the present time, especially among the Reindeer people, and shows itself even in the minor details of every-day life. The Chukchee is easily angered; often a trifle will suffice to transform his merry laughter into the most unreasonable rage. They themselves are not unconscious of this peculiar feature of their mind. "I am a tundra wanderer," one of my Chukchee acquaintances, named Ñĭro'n, would say to me. "My anger rises suddenly. It comes and goes of its own accord." Some women bear a special name on account of their violent temper. They are called "quarrelling women" (mara'-ña.us-qattê). These are regarded as nuisances even by their housemates. Among the men, some have the very suggestive epithet "hasty" (qivr) prefixed to their names, as "Hasty Aзmu'lin" (Qivr-Aзmu'lin).

The Chukchee, when angry, growls, shows his teeth, and makes a threatening bite on his sleeve or on the handle of his knife, in defiance of his foe. Some of them, when angered, shed tears of rage, and tear their hair like unruly children.

Their language is singularly poor in abusive terms, and quarrels are immediately settled by blows or wrestling. There is no lack of murders, some of them of a barbarous character. Thus, in a camp near Cape Erri, the son and the nephew of the rich reindeer-breeder Yeku'tku, being goaded to the extreme by constant blows and abuse, cut his throat, and that with the knowledge of his wife, the mother of one of the murderers. In the summer of 1896 on the Poplar River, an affluent of the Small Anui, a young man killed his brother in order to get possession of his flock. The murderer, with his accomplice and their victim, arranged a contest of jumping over a barrier, the loser to pay the forfeit of skipping about for a while with his feet and hands bound together. When the elder brother lost, the other two men accordingly tied his feet, and coolly stabbed him with their knives. I heard the details of both deeds from the murderers themselves.

In the tale of "Elendi and his Sons," published in my "Chukchee Materials," Elendi, to avenge the treachery of his slave, kills him in a most cruel manner. With sharp stakes he fastens the slave's hands, feet, the fleshy parts of his sides, and the skin of his scalp, to the ground, and then makes both of his wives urinate and defecate into his mouth. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 350.}

Not all the Chukchee are of this irascible type. Some are quiet and good-natured, often prone to loquaciousness and to giving reasons even for obvious things; but these also are not free from occasional outbursts of anger. An old man named Aiñanwa't, who had lived with me for two years in the Kolyma country, and had patiently helped me the whole time even in the most tedious ethnographical work, told me an incident of his former life. When vexed by the unruliness of his reindeer-herd, he so lost his patience that he suddenly stopped running after the reindeer, and, turning to the setting sun, invited the wolves to come and devour the herd. According to the belief of the Reindeer Chukchee, such words amount almost to a sacrilege ; since the wolves are classed with evil spirits, and the curse, once uttered aloud, can never be revoked, because it becomes a promise of sacrifice. Within a few moments the exasperated herdsman realized what he had done, and tried to avoid the disastrous consequences by the sacrifice of his best team, but it was of no avail. His luck had turned, and his herd suffered misfortune without end.

In addition to this irritability, the Chukchee shows a peculiar obstinacy in accomplishing whatever seems of momentary interest to him. In trading, when a Chukchee has set his heart on any trifling object, he is often ready to offer thrice, or even ten times, the price of it. If his offer is not accepted, he will start a brawl rather than desist from his purpose of his own free will. The small Russian traders sometimes skilfully avail themselves of this weakness by goading their wild customers on, and then withholding the article, in order to get a larger price for it. In a wrestling-match the defeated competitor will again and again try his luck, though repeatedly thrown, until at last a fight ensues. When thwarted in his purpose, the Chukchee is ready to go to any extreme, even to committing suicide, from uncontrollable rage. I know art instance of a young girl who went out to the herd and hung herself to a tree, out of anger because her mother refused to take her along to the feast in a neighboring camp.

This motive frequently plays a part even in cases of voluntary death among old men, of which I shall speak later on. Thus in one of the texts published in my "Chukchee Materials" (p. 52), a man, Little-Spoon, having been angered by his sons, requested that he be killed. The Chukchee frequently have a lurking inclination towards suicide, which is mentioned in the words of Lotteri previously quoted, and is well known even to the Chukchee themselves. "You know our people," I was told on several occasions. "For any reason they want to kill another man or themselves." During the epidemic of influenza on the Wolverine River, before mentioned, there occurred two cases of suicide. One was that of a husband vexed at the loss of his young wife; the other, that of a mother who had lost her only son, a child of ten. There are cases of something like taedium vita. In 1895, at the Anui fair, I spoke with a man named Ka'tik, who declared that he did not want to live any longer. He gave as his reason, that fortune was adverse to him, that all his relatives had died, and that he was afraid that his herd at some time might begin to dwindle away, although at the time of speaking his reindeer were prospering. I did not pay much attention to his words, but the next winter I heard that he really had ordered himself to be strangled.

At the head waters of the river Omolon I met a family four of whose members had taken their own lives within four years without any apparent reason. Their neighbors felt much afraid, and expressed the opinion that the spirits who wanted more prey had treacherously led them on to self-destruction.

A rough kind of compassion for all suffering characterizes the Chukchee mind. Once in my presence a Reindeer man rescued a ptarmigan that was being hunted down by a hawk and had come to the camp exhausted, and angrily expostulated with some children who wanted to catch the bird. Another time a Reindeer woman paid a ransom to one of my dog-drivers to stop him from punishing one of his own dogs.

Still more remarkable is the generosity which the Reindeer Chukchee display toward everybody who is in need, even if he be of strange tribe and language. On the Chaun tundra live a small number of Lamut families, members of various clans who have wandered northward. They are a peculiar people, very poor and very indolent; and fully one-half of their food is drawn, with very little pay, from the herds of their well-to-do Chukchee neighbors.

Similar relations have existed of late between the Chukchee and the Tungus on the western Kolyma. At present, however, most of those Chukchee are poor; and the few rich breeders farther to the west have acquired a taste for trade, and have gradually adopted the ways of the Yakut or Russian dealers. In occasional times of need the starving Russian settlements on the Kolyma and Anadyr were relieved, up to a very recent time, by the neighboring reindeer-breeders, who often slaughtered several hundred animals, taking very little or no pay for them. This disposition to help the needy of a strange tribe probably sprang from the peculiar relations of both branches of the Chukchee, which in so many respects form a unit, although they differ widely economically.

The woman, as is the case among all peoples, is more compassionate than the man. In the tale of "Elendi and his Sons," quoted before, the hero reproves the wife of his foe, who had been very severe to his neighbors, saying, "Why did you not feed your neighbors in secret? Why did you not give them food yourself?" {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 346.} In reality, in the camps of rich reindeer-breeders, when the master is too niggardly toward his helpers, it is considered the duty of the mistress to make up for his shortcomings from her storerooms and clothing-bags.

I heard of no cases of cannibalism among the Chukchee, notwithstanding the fact that several cases of famine which wiped out whole villages were still fresh in the memory of the people. On the other hand, a Yukaghir family which was starved in 1895 on the Middle Omolon had recourse to the most horrible cannibalism. Nor am I aware of any cases of exposure of new-born girls, as among the American Eskimo. New-born babes, indeed, after the death of their mothers, are frequently smothered, and carried out with them to the funeral-places, but this is because of the impossibility of raising them. I have heard, too, of women just delivered, who, when feeling very ill, would smother their children as a sacrifice to the spirits.

Hospitality to travellers is much more liberal among the Maritime Chukchee than among the reindeer-breeders. The Arctic people say, that, even if a guest wants to strike his host, the latter must continue to be friendly. During my last journey along the Pacific coast, when we were several times detained in Chukchee or Eskimo dwellings by a storm, it would often happen that the master of the house, having little blubber and no wood to feed the fire, would break up his sleds, and even tear out one by one the wooden supports of his house, thus endangering its safety.

With the Reindeer people it is otherwise. First of all, they are much more superstitious about the "shunning" of diseases. In times of disease, even a healthy traveller, when he comes to a Chukchee camp from afar, especially if he arrives at night, runs the risk of not being admitted to any of the tents. This would never happen in a Maritime village. Many travellers of the Reindeer tribe are themselves averse to entering strange houses at such times, and prefer to sleep in the open, content with an incantation against the spirits, in lieu of supper. Even at ordinary times a guest arriving at the camp is considered as having no more rights than the inmates of the house. He will have to wait outside with the other people till evening, when the sleeping-room is made ready. Sometimes he will be given no food until the time of the principal meal, which is eaten in the evening. At the time of the great reindeer races, scores of people come to take part in the races or to look on. Often they are given no food at all, and, after a whole day spent in the open, return in the evening to their respective camps, scattered around at a distance of some thirty or forty miles.

Theft among the Maritime Chukchee is comparatively rare. To steal from a neighbor in the same village is considered very improper. It is customary for a stranger to place all his property in the storehouse of his host and under his personal care. In recent years, however, the increase of trade has spoiled this native honesty. Now, in all large villages, the owners of wooden storehouses, which are bought from the whalers, carefully lock their doors with steel padlocks for fear of robbers. During my stay in Indian Point a shaman woman was caught twice almost in the very act of stealing some peltries from a storehouse in order to sell them to the whalers. The skins were restored to their owner, but the thief was not punished, except with harsh words. As witnessed by Nordenskiöld, theft, and deceit toward a stranger, are not considered unlawful. I must acknowledge, however, that, during my journey among the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo, hardly any of my belongings were lost; while among the Reindeer people not a single trip would pass without almost open attempts at stealing, amounting even to robbery. "Look out for my mother!" I was once warned by my host. "Her nature is such, that she will steal even fresh excrement from under a man."

Among the Reindeer people, indeed, theft between the camps and herds is held to be an almost lawful pursuit. There is in the language, besides the usual word for stealing, ti-tule'erkin ("I steal"), still another, rather euphemistic term, ti-ngintiwe'erkin ("I abstract;" literally, "I cause [the thing] to flee"). Quarrels are continually going on between neighbors on account of mutual accusations. Several of the people that I knew were given new derisive names on account of their thieving exploits. One was called "Knee-Walker" (Ñire'-čei'vun) because he was once accused of crawling on all-fours to his neighbor's herd in the calving-season with the intention of taking away some of the newborn fawns. Another was called "Necklaced Latu'wgê" (Ê'nničhi-Latu'зwgê) because while on a visit to another camp he stole some half-cooked entrails that were boiling in the kettle, wound them around his neck, and, when pursued, continued to eat from one end thereof. These names stick so well, that at last even the persons themselves begin to use them, especially after some trouble with the spirits of disease, when the Chukchee like to change their names. During the Russian fairs small thefts take place every day in the block-houses as well as in the camps, and even inside the tents. In my presence, a young man who came into the trading-store, picked up a bunch of squirrel-skins from the floor, and tried to sell them to their real owner. When detected, he only said, "Take them, if they are yours," and then sat down on the bench, waiting for the usual hospitality. {It is usual with traders to treat their Chukchee customers to some tea and hard rye bread two or three times a day.} I have in my collection a white fox-skin roughly patched with hare-skin to make it look whole. Nordenskiöld {Nordenskiöld, II, pp. 136, 137.} relates similar tricks, chiefly of the Arctic Maritime Chukchee.

As mentioned before, quarrelling between the Chukchee and their neighbors has almost ceased. The Kerek of Cape Barykoff occasionally complain that the Telqä'p Chukchee ill-treat them, taking their peltries without paying for them, and carrying away their children to use as herdsmen; but even here a good mutual understanding usually prevails, since the Kerek obtain from the Telqä'p Chukchee reindeer-skins for garments, sinew for nets, meat, Russian wares, and American rifles and cartridges, which come all the way from Indian Point. The dog-drivers from Kulu'či complained at Indian Point that the inhabitants of the Pacific village Lu'зren had the habit of occasionally robbing the sledges which returned from trading-trips loaded with foreign wares. Between Lu'зren and the village Ya'nřa-ñai a kind of feud is kept up that was going on even two generations ago. {Hooper, p. 153.}

The inhabitants of Lu'зren, Ya'nřa-ñai, and other villages and camps around St. Lawrence Bay, are. famed for their roughness. Some of them buy from American whalers revolvers, which they carry in a special pocket up the sleeve, ready to handle. Mr. J. Kelly, the American agent for buying reindeer, who spent the winter of 1897-98 on the shores of St. Lawrence Bay, in a block-house built for the purpose near the village Ya'nřa-ñai, had considerable trouble with the natives; and I heard that an attempt was made to attack his house and to rob it.

The Chukchee cannot be called quick-witted, especially in trading-transactions, in which they are easily imposed upon by their neighbors. Their system of calculation is quinary-vigesimal, but very imperfect, and all numerical operations are performed with the help of the fingers of both hands. The word for counting means literally "I finger" (t-ri'lhirkm). The question "How many?" runs "How many fingers?" (Ter n'lhit?) The numbers proceed in the way usual to many primitive languages, so that mi'Liñên ("five") is shortened from mingi'Liñin ("hand"); mingi'tkên ("ten") signifies "belonging to two hands;" kilhi'nkin ("fifteen") is probably contracted from gitka'lhikên ("belonging to the foot"); qli'kkin ("twenty") signifies "belonging to a man." The word qla'ul ("man") is also used frequently for "twenty." The fingers and toes play such a prominent part in counting, that I doubt whether a Chukchee would be able to make a calculation without them. The larger numbers are composed of groups of "twenty" ("man"). They are also counted on the fingers, so that the limit of enumeration is "twenty scores" (qlik-qli'kkin). All numbers above this are called "knowledge limit" (giyeu'-te'hin).

This term is also applied by a few rich traders to express the idea of "one thousand." Many of the people, especially the Reindeer men, are unable to deal with as high a number as a couple of scores. Therefore when dealing in small skins, like those of fawns, squirrels, etc., which are traded in large numbers, they tie them in bunches and trade off each bunch or small group of bunches by itself. Squirrel-skins are tied in tens after the manner of the Lamut; the fawn-skins are done up in threes (the usual barter price of a piece of compressed tea, called a "brick") or in fives; then four bunches are fastened together to make a score.

In recent years the Chukchee traders, and especially the collectors of tribute, in imitation of the Russians, have begun to use small notched sticks as tallies, every notch representing one five, and the fourth notch being marked out by a deeper cut to indicate a score.

The herdsmen, of course, never count their reindeer, nor are they able to remember all their animals by their looks, as has been asserted by travellers. {Compare Melikoff, p. 136.} In the larger herds they know only the more conspicuous animals, such as breeding-bucks, old dams, harness-animals, etc. If there be any loss, they become aware of it only by the absence of one of them. Of the smaller animals they take little notice, nor do they care much about them.

The Rev. Argentoff relates that one Mai'ñi-qla'ul, a rich reindeer-breeder from the Dry Anui, tried to ascertain the number of his animals by counting them by corrals. Each corralful was represented by a chip of wood, and these were placed together in a glove. {Argentoff, II.} Operations of this kind were performed by the rich Tungus for the same purpose; but among the Chukchee they can occur only exceptionally, because every new experiment with the herd is considered to thwart the qa'a-va'irgin (literally, "reindeer substance;" i.e., the herd's good fortune).

Seasons. -- It may not be out of place to add here the Chukchee method of dividing the year. The year is divided into twelve lunar months or "moons" (yi'зlhm). The series begins with the winter solstice, the time of which is marked pretty accurately. The dark interval between two "moons" is called "moon interval" (yu'зtir). The names of the months are --

1. inp-lu'wleñ-yi'зlhin ("old-buck month"), from about the 20th of December to the 20th of January.

The origin of the name is uncertain.

2. Čačanlo'rgin ("cold udder [month]").

3. Lê'ê-lo'rgin ("genuine udder [month]").

4. Gro'-ê'зlhin ("calving month").

5. Imh'rilin ("water [month]").

6. Ta'wiñ-ye'зlhin ("making-leaves month").

7. Om-yê'зlhin ("warm month") or A'no-ye'8lhin ("summer month").

8. Nej-i'зlhin ("rubbing-off-velvet [antlers] month") or Ele'-yi'8lhm ("midsummer month").

9. Ñe'rgej-i'зlhin ("light-frost month").

10. Githa'-ê'зlhin ("autumn month"), called also ilv-ei'ne-yi'8lhm ("wild-reindeer rutting month").

n. Yara'učin, probably from Ya'raw ("muscles of the back"), because it is supposed that the muscles of a reindeer's back strengthen in mid-winter. The same name, with the same explanation, was found among the Koryak of the western shore of Kamchatka in the form yara'wučin. This month is also called by the Chukchee Tu'r-eзče ("new-snow cover").

12. Qu'ule]-i'зlhin ("shrinking [days] month").

The Maritime Chukchee use the same table of months. The Koryak in different localities have different systems of names, but for the third and the fourth month most of them have names signifying "false reindeer-birth month" and "genuine reindeer-birth month." {See p. 13.} Of course, the twelve lunar months do not exactly coincide with the solar year between two winter solstices; but the Chukchee do not care about a few extra days. In ordinary talk the names of the months are often replaced by those of the seasons, which are much more numerous than with us. The following are most frequently employed.

1. Emyi'nk ("in the extending [of the days]"). Loosely speaking, it corresponds to the first month of the year.

2. Ure'tvik ("in the lengthening"). This corresponds to the second month.

3. Niwle'wki ("during [the days] growing long"). It lasts about six weeks, until the reindeer-dams begin to calve.

4. Am-gro'kĭ ("in the calving [time]"). This corresponds more or less to our term "spring."

5. Tur-ele'tvuk ('^in the new summer growing").

6. Ki'tkitik ("in the first summer").

7. A'nok ("in the second summer").

8. E'lek ("in the middle summer").

9. Êh-i'ntok ("with the fresh air going out").

10. Ñerge'nk ("with the first light frost").

11. Tur-äзle'tik ("with the new snow").

12. Githa'k ("in the fall").

13. Läзle'ñki ("in the winter").

Yawri'na means "in the next year," and is applied to the beginning of the next fall.

Language. -- The Chukchee language is rich in words, and pliant informs; and the people are eloquent in their own way, but they do not like to be bored with questions. The Reindeer men, who are in their houses practically only when eating or sleeping, and keep in motion- all the time, were with difficulty persuaded to spend a few hours with me in the tent, giving explanations or dictating texts. Even the old men would say, "Bad thing, dotage," and would prefer to stay outside. Most of them, moreover, were quite unable to dictate. Even their curiosity is not lasting. When I came to a new camp, the inhabitants would pay close attention to my doings for a few hours; then they would gradually drop off, and finally would be interested only in barter. There were certainly exceptions, as Ainanwa't, whom I have mentioned, and a few others. In the Maritime villages, where the inner rooms are much larger, and furnished with steadily burning lamps, the old people are more used to sitting indoors, and accordingly are more tractable and more useful for scientific investigation.

III. -- TRADE.

Ancient Trade. -- Even before the arrival of the Russians, a lively traffic was carried on between the Reindeer Chukchee camps and the Maritime villages (both Chukchee and Eskimo), and also between Asia and America across Bering Strait. The Reindeer people were in need of blubber, thongs, and seal-skins, and would offer in exchange reindeer-skins and ready-made garments, just as is done at the present day. On the American side, reindeer-skins brought a much better price than in Asia: therefore Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo parties crossed over every year on trading-expeditions, occasionally, however, indulging in piracy.

In the tale of "Elendi and his Sons," the hero, coming to an American Eskimo, requests "a score of ground-seal skins, a score each of bleached and black-dyed coils of thong, the same of rough-seal skins; whatever you have, one score of each." The host asks for an equivalent, but Elendi has nothing: so a quarrel arises, and they fight. Elendi vanquishes the Eskimo, commands the people of the village to deliver up to him everything he had asked for, and returns home carrying his subdued enemy away as a slave. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 345.}

The chief part in such expeditions, however, belonged to the Nѳ'ѳkalit Eskimo of East Cape, although the Chukchee often accompanied them. It is told that as late as three generations ago large parties would start from East Cape for America. The Nѳ'ѳkalit went in their large boats, sometimes with thirty paddles in each; the Chukchee from the neighboring Arctic villages went in smaller boats. These fleets crossed to America, carrying on trade or piracy, as circumstances dictated. Similar expeditions of Eskimo and Chukchee, though on a smaller scale, went over from Indian Point to St. Lawrence Island.

Trade, even in Asia, was carried on with considerable mutual distrust. I was told that in very ancient times there was a kind of fair in Nѳ'ѳkan or in Uwe'len, which was held outside of the village, on the flat seashore, for fear of hostilities (the same custom was afterwards universally adopted in the Russian fairs, and it is persisted in at the present time in Anadyr). The people came to trade fully armed, and offered their wares to each other on their spear-points; or else they would hold a bundle of skins with one hand, and with the other a bared knife, in readiness to raise a fight upon the slightest provocation.

A mute trade took place in Asia as well as in America. In this manner a party of adventurers, who in 1646 sailed from the mouth of the Kolyma westward along the Arctic coast, carried on trade with the Maritime Chukchee. They would leave their wares on the shore and go away. The Chukchee would come afterwards, take the wares, and leave their equivalent in peltries, ivory, and ivory carvings. {Nordenskiöld, II, p. 75.}

Chukchee tradition relates the following regarding trade with America: --

"On the other side of the sea, in a large forest, live 'the invisible ones.' When they come to trade, one can see only the fox and beaver skins which they carry in their hands, and it seems as if the peltries move of themselves. They come to meet our traders on the border of the forest, and shout, 'Let us trade!' The traders take a bundle of tobacco and fling it far away. 'Tobacco, tobacco!' rings through the forest, but nobody is seen. After a while a bag filled with fox or beaver skins is flung from the forest. For one bundle of tobacco they will give a bagful of white-fox skins."

Some trade with the Koryak was also probably carried on before the advent of the Russians. I heard that in the south of the Parapolsky Dol, on the river Anapka, an ancient fair was held at which several camps of Reindeer Koryak and Chukchee, of Maritime Chukchee, and even of Kamchadal, used to gather. Perhaps a few articles of Japanese manufacture may have come to the north in this way. At least, the question of the origin and manufacture of Chukchee iron armor suggests a connection with the Japanese which does not exist at present. {See Chapter VI, section on armor.}

This armor, made of small pieces of iron with fastenings of narrow leather strips, was very common among the Reindeer Chukchee until recently. Even now, many individuals preserve their armor out of reverence for its antiquity. Besides armor, helmets and greaves were used, all of which are in some degree similar to those of Japanese production. The Chukchee, however, are not sufficiently skilled in the blacksmith's art to forge such armor. The only place where it could have been made is in the Koryak village of Poi'tin (Russian Paren, Парень), the inhabitants of which have for a long time occupied themselves with farriery; and the tradition of the southwestern Chukchee points in this direction. The question arises, whether the manufacture of this armor was really developed only after the arrival of the Russians, especially as the wars have decreased since the last half of the eighteenth century.

Not less remarkable are the armor and helmet of Japanese make which I acquired from a Reindeer Chukchee of the North Anadyr tundra. They are old and rusty, and it was asserted that they had been in the family of their owner for several generations. It is certain that in recent times no Japanese traders have visited Anadyr Bay. The Japanese probably had some intercourse with the southern Kamchadal. Steller and Krasheninnikoff mention that the Kamchadal name of the Japanese (Siihsemen according to the former, Shishaman according to the latter) was derived from the Kamchadal word siihse or shish ("needle"), because of the iron needles obtained from them. {Steller, p. 320; Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 49.}

The Cossack S. Yepischeff, sent to the mouth of the Okhota River, on the Sea of Okhotsk, in the year 1656, reports that he met "numerous natives with arms and ammunition, with bows and spears, with breastplates and helmets of bone and iron. {Slunin, I, p. 12.}

In the report of Midshipman Matiushkin, the Omoki {The old Russian name for the Yukaghir.} of the Kolyma country are supposed to have been acquainted with the use of iron before the arrival of the Russians. {Wrangell, p. 187.} The Chukchee name for the star Aldebaran is CêĻo'-ma'зqim ("copper arrow"), čê'Ļočêl signifying "something red, copper." The same word for "copper," with proper phonetic change, is repeated in several Koryak dialects; likewise it is used for the name of Aldebaran. It seems to indicate that both tribes knew copper-tipped arrows in very remote times. It is pretty sure that a name like that applied to the star could not have been created in the course of the last two centuries, since the arrival of the Russians, and spread from tribe to tribe over a space of two thousand miles.

Trade with Russians. -- The wares of civilization added to this primitive trade an importance quite unknown to it before. The natives still preserve reminiscences of the strong impression which the iron tools, tobacco and brandy, made upon the minds of their forefathers. The Yukaghir on the Lower Kolyma tell of a native who was challenged by a new-comer to a tree-cutting match, and then received an iron axe as reward for his dexterity. The Yukaghir on the Upper Kolyma report the ecstatic exclamation of one of their old men of that period concerning brandy: "Have no evil thoughts, boys! In my life I have tasted no water so delicious as this." {Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, p. 77.} The Chukchee describe how their warriors coveted the iron arrows, spears, and the glistening coats of mail of the invaders, and how much the women valued the beads, and how they would sometimes pay a good price for a single pair made into ear-rings.

Even the terms of the language applied to trade and its operations changed, and became more detailed. In olden times the Chukchee applied to the trade simply the verb Elpu'rirkin ("to exchange"), with its derivatives. The same word was applied also to the vendetta, with the meaning "to exchange revenge." The modern language has a special word, vili'urkm ("to trade"), with many derivatives, such as vilvil ("goods"), veli'tko-qla'ul ("merchant"), etc. This word, in Koryak, with the proper phonetic change, is vili'vikin, and signifies "to make peace with." The difference between the old and the new term is very striking.

The first century of intercourse between the Russians and the Chukchee was spent, however, in war, and very little is known about the trade relations of that period. I heard in the Anadyr that the bartering of iron arms to the Chukchee was strictly forbidden, but that they bought kettles and cut iron into knives and arrow-points. Even now old kettles are utilized in this manner. Firelocks taken in battle were hammered with stones into rough spears. {Compare Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 48.} At the present time the Chukchee make knives and adzes out of American files by hammering them into the desired shape.

Anui Fair. -- In 1788, forty-one years after the defeat of Pavlutsky, and twenty-four years after the recall of the garrison from the fort of Anadyrsk, Banner, the chief officer of the town of Sashiversk, on the Indighirka River, who also held command over the Kolyma country, succeeded in establishing anew peaceful relations with the western Reindeer Chukchee. As a result, a regular trade was started the following year. A few Chukchee were induced, by means of gifts and promises, to subject themselves to Russian authority and to pay tribute. The Chukchee were more anxious lf and exclaimed, "снохачи! hands off", meaning that such hands were too sinful to take part in the holy act; but immediately all the people let go, and the bell fell to the ground. They were all guilty of this sin. At this time this tale is obsolete. -Some similar cases occur also among the Chukchee, but the people talk about them not without derision. Thus, when I was travelling on the Wolverene River, I was told that one Ye'tIläqäi was living with the wife of his minor son Atkai'ñau. The people laughed at him, and gave him a nick-name, inta'irmkên ("[of the] daughter-in-law [a] fond [one]"). This is not considered to be proper, while group-marriages between a woman and men of her age are customary.}

Cases of disproportionate ages of a married couple are by no means common; for all marriages by exchange constitute only a fraction of all marriages, and cases of disproportionate age occur only in a part of this group. The terms of an exchange of women between families vary a good deal. The exchange must not by any means be immediate; but a delay, even of several years, is admissible. Sometimes, however, too much delay may lead to a quarrel and change friendship to enmity.

Serving for a Wife. -- The usual method of getting a bride is the so-called ñaund.o'urgin (literally, "for wife herdsman being;" i.e., the custom of serving as a herdsman of the future father-in-law, in payment for the bride). This institution, as its name indicates, evidently originated under the conditions of nomadic life, and the necessity of having young men care for the reindeer-herd. It reminds us of Laban, whose herd Jacob tended for years, first for Leah, then for Rachel. The term applied to this custom is so firmly established that it is used also even among the Maritime Chukchee, though they have no herds, and the bridegroom simply lives in the house of the girl's father and works for him during a certain period.

Among the Reindeer Chukchee the term has acquired a broader meaning, and is applied to all marriages in which the young man obtains his bride, not through his family connections, but exclusively through his own efforts.

Before I take up the discussion of marriages concluded through service, I must say a few words about those more romantic marriages in which a young man obtains his bride, not through serving for her, but through braving dangers and overcoming, enemies and competitors.

Marriages of this kind are very popular in Chukchee tales. Many of these tales describe with vivid and picturesque detail how a man leaves his own country and goes to a distant land in search of a bride, and what adventures he encounters. Some tales begin with a description of a single man who lives quite by himself, and who has never seen any other human being, particularly a woman. In another country lives a woman who has never seen a man. Both feel a peculiar desire, which they do not understand. When they meet, they do not know how to make love. This gives place to ridiculous and obscene details. At last they learn by experience, and become husband and wife. Other tales describe the adventures of a young man who secures his bride right in the middle of a hostile camp or village.

In these tales much attention is given to the description of the bride, which is made in two different ways. In one type of story, the bride is always described as sitting in the sleeping-room, working with her needle on new clothes of spotted skins, the best of their kind. No man ever sees her face, which is said to be so bright and beautiful that whoever looks on it is in danger of dying from the "lustful trembling of his loins." She walks only on skins. In the night-time, when she goes out for a walk, the best soft skins are spread on the ground under her tiny feet. When taken along by the bridegroom, she cannot travel on foot, because, being of a rich family, she has been accustomed to drive reindeer, "even when going out to follow the demands of nature." All this, of course, does not correspond to the details of Chukchee life, which is so plain, filthy, and democratic.

In some of these tales the bride is described as kept in a big iron box without a lid. The suitor has to find the entrance, or to open the box and free the prisoner. The parents usually do not want to give away their daughter, and meet the suitor with much harshness. They invite him to perform many difficult and perilous tasks, some of which are of shamanistic character, while others are curiously akin to those really imposed upon Chukchee suitors. One of the most frequently occurring tasks is the request to bring fuel from the woods. In the tale of Attihi'tki and his companions, the hero and his cousin come to the house of a mighty man, whose name is Earth, to ask for his daughter. Numerous suitors are in the house. They are Sun, Moon, Heaven, Darkness, World, Sunrise, Sunset. After dinner the master says, "Our fuel is at an end. Go and get some." But it is difficult to find fuel. The country is quite barren, except for one large trunk of a tree, as long as a river, which stands in the middle of the sea. It is in constant motion. Now it is out of the water, again it sinks down and is submerged. A strong ke'lE is concealed in the trunk of the tree. As soon as any one approaches with an axe and wants to chop off wood, the tree shakes him down and thus causes him to be drowned. Since all the suitors who have been sent are great shamans, they rise from the waters on the opposite shore, and reach the house, following the shore of the sea. Still none of them are able to get fuel from the tree. The hero and his cousin succeed in deluding the watchfulness of the spirit. They obtain a large quantity of wood, and carry it in triumph to the house of the bride. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 235.}

In other tales the parents conceal from the suitor the dwelling-place of the bride. They visit her in the night-time. Still he finds the place, enters in the darkness, and makes the girl his wife. She offers no resistance, and is glad to have a husband. Then the parents have to give their consent.

Although it is more than probable that most of these details in the Chukchee folk-tales are borrowed from more southern tribes, it is evident that they were congenial to the character of the Chukchee, so that they became very popular and were repeated over and over again in many tales. It is curious to note that of late years, in the families of rich Maritime merchants of the east shore, some faint realization of these ideas has come to life, partly perhaps through the influence of these tales. For instance, three daughters of Kuva'r, the Eskimo merchant of Indian Point, {See p. 62 of this volume.} had something of the character of the secluded beauty. They were kept, not in the iron box, but in the large sleeping-room of their father's house. When talked to by strange men, they pretended to be shy, and not inclined to conversation. Even the color of their face grew more delicate and white, as becomes a secluded beauty. All their time and attention were given to needle-work on soft, spotted skins. Of those skins they prepared man's clothes of the best quality. Of course these clothes were sold to American whalers in exchange for sugar, flour, and cheap brandy, which does not correspond to the description given in tales.

The other type of Chukchee bride, as described in tales, corresponds more closely to the conditions of Chukchee life. She is strong and proud. Not either of her parents, but she herself, shows resistance to the suitor. She has to be sought for and conquered by strength and courage.

In one tale the bride is described as living in a single house with her old parents. She refuses all suitors. Being very swift of foot, she invites them to a foot-race, in which they are defeated. Then they are sent home. At last a young man comes to her house. He drives his spear into the ground in front of the door, and enters. The girl is not there. Her father inquires, "Why have you come?" -- "I am a suitor."-- "We have a daughter; but she is proud, very light of foot, and she invites her suitors to a foot-race." Then the old man looks into the face of the young man, and asks him, "Is she going to outdo you too?" -- "I do not know. Maybe she will." The girl comes home from the herd. "Oh, oh! whose spear is standing here before our door?" The mother says, "Do not speak so loud!" -- "No, no, let him beat me in a foot-race!" She enters the tent. Her braids are very long and heavy. They reach to her ankles and almost sweep the ground. Immediately after her coming, she changes her clothes and puts on breeches and a racing-dress. The father says, "He is weary and cannot run just now." -- "No, no! let us race now." They go out and start. The girl is far ahead. She passes the last hill on their course. She is already on the home stretch. Both are on the home stretch, but she is still in the lead. When they are running down a slope, she teases him, saying, "Can you not outrun me at least here?" -- "No, I am too tired!" But his toes are already upon her heels. He too is light of foot.

When they are descending another slope, he overtakes her and passes her. Then he speeds forward swifter than an arrow. The long red tassel hanging on his back stretches back straight as a reed. The two braids of the girl also stretch back as straight as two arrows. He looks back over his shoulder and runs still faster. His heart grows lighter. When he looks again, she is left quite far behind. Then he takes his walking-staff by one end and points it upward like one of the antlers of the reindeer-buck, then turns it in the air as does the wild reindeer-buck in the season of rutting. The girl bites her lip, but cannot catch up with him.

Then she enters the sleeping-room, takes off her racing-dress, unties the boots of the young man, and helps him to take off boots and breeches. She gives him her own racing-dress. Then she cuts off the long tassel from his own fur shirt and pins it to her usual woman's dress. She burns the rest of his clothes in the fire. Then she says to her father, "This night I shall not go to the herd." -- "All right!" says the father. She cooks some supper and carries it into the sleeping-room. After supper she prepares their bed in the corner of the sleeping-room. She spreads some soft skins, lays out the pillow, and brings a blanket of new skins. Then she helps him to take off his clothes, and says, "Lie down to sleep." She covers him with the blanket; then she puts out the light, takes off her own clothes, and slips down under the blanket. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 251.}

In some tales of this type the parents are willing to accept the suitor, and even help him to conquer the heart of the stubborn beauty. In other tales the neighbors, the people living in the same camp or village, are hostile to the suitor, and try to take his life. Several tales describe the adventures of the suitor, who comes to an alien camp or village, and is welcomed by the people who occupy one of the poorest houses. He marries the daughter of his host. Then the master of the principal house, {"Front-house master" (cf. the next chapter).} or, in other tales, the brothers of the bride, who live in the surrounding houses, or the whole population of the village, say, "Let us have some fun with this bridegroom." Then follows a series of matches and fights, in which the new-comer usually gets the upper hand. After that he takes his wife and returns to his own country.

In olden times, marriages with people of an alien camp or village may have been accompanied by adventures and difficulties of this kind.

The practice of meeting a new-comer with some severe test of his courage and physical strength is often described in Chukchee tales, even without reference to marriage. It is arranged by the "front-house master," and performed in the "front house." The same practice is described by several authors as really existing among the American Eskimo. Dr. Franz Boas (Central Eskimo, p. 609) says, "that if a stranger unknown to the inhabitants of a settlement arrives on a visit, he is welcomed by the celebration of a great festival. The stranger approaches slowly, his arms folded, and his head inclined toward the right side. Then the native strikes him with all his strength on the right cheek, and in his turn inclines the head, awaiting the stranger's blow. While this is going on, the other men are playing ball and singing. Thus they continue until one of the combatants is vanquished. The meaning of this duel, according to the natives themselves, is that the two men, in meeting, wish to know which of them is the better man. "The similarity of these ceremonies to those of Greenland is quite striking," adds the author. No less striking is also the fact that all these details, in the same succession, are found in several most popular Chukchee, tales. The difference is, that the Eskimo ceremonies are performed in the special ceremonial house, and the corresponding Chukchee ceremonials in the "front house" of the principal family of the settlement. I have mentioned elsewhere, however, that in ancient times several villages made the same use of the front house of the principal family as of a regular ceremonial house. {Compare p. 386.}

Some marriages of a romantic character happen also at the present time. Thus, when I was travelling on the Wolverene River, I met a young newly-married couple. The mother of the bride told me, "It was a strange marriage indeed. Two years ago my son passed by their camp, driving his reindeer-team. It was in the beginning of the month of April. The sky was bright, and his mind was still brighter. His heart was full of gladness; but he had no tobacco, so he exclaimed in passing, 'Girls, give me a smoke!' One girl answered, 'No, we will not, unless you take your reindeer from the sledge and tie them to a tent-pole.' So he detached his reindeer and tied them to one of the tent-poles. 'Now give me a smoke, girls!' The same girl took the reindeer out of the harness and drove them into the woods where the herd of the camp was pasturing. So my son was obliged to stay over night. The next morning the young man and the girl went to the herd and remained there for three full days. Who knows," added the old woman, "perhaps all this happened only to lead them to a little boy!" But the brothers of the bride, who belonged to a rich family, objected to the bridegroom, who was poor. So the young pair began a rather strange life, meeting from time to time and living together, then returning to their respective camps. The brothers tried to hide the girl in distant camps of their relatives, but the young man succeeded every time in finding her, and staid with her for a day or two. The following spring the young couple fled from the camp of the girl's family, and, in their turn, tried to hide; but' they were found out. Peace was concluded through the mediation of a Russian merchant, a friend of the young man's mother. He offered to the brother of the girl two bottles of brandy. The young man had to pay for this brandy double price, but his bride was left in his possession.

A young man who wants to obtain a wife by serving. for her, first of all seeks to inform himself whether his suit will be met with favor. Sometimes he asks one of his friends to go, as if by chance, and have a talk with the older people of the family, in order to ascertain whether they have any plans for the marriage of the girl. The parents answer as little, as possible. Still, if they do not decline quite decidedly, the young man may come and try his chances.

In other cases, more direct preliminary negotiations are entered into. The father or the uncle of the bridegroom goes to the house of the bride to ask permission for the suit. This preliminary asking is expressed by means of various derivatives of the verb newe'wgirkin ("thou askest for a wife"). The suitor's representative begins by going to the woods and bringing a large bundle of fuel. This is one of the most unpleasant household duties. At the same time, it is never done by guests, but either by poor men or by those taking part in the cares of the household. Thus the young man's representative shows by his act that he is a suitor, and that he wants to share in the household duties. Then follows the first talk. The father of the bride usually shows ill-will and displeasure. He tries to recall to mind every possible reason for quarrelling and for a refusal of the suit, especially any awkward acts. For instance, Me'wet, a man from the Dry Anui, told me that before he was married, his father-in-law had bitterly reproached his father, who acted as suitor, because a few months before, while they were travelling together, Me'wet had driven faster than he had himself. Since the Chukchee are very jealous concerning the speed of their reindeer, {Compare p. 264.} it is considered rather forward, on the part of a young man, to drive faster than those who are older. For this reason young men, when they begin to think of some young girl, always endeavor to be respectful to her father.

The "asking for a wife" lasts several days or even weeks. The suitor's representative works all the time, notwithstanding his age, gathers fuel, and tends the herd, helping the herdsmen. At the same time he tries to gain the good-will of his stubborn host. He praises the bridegroom and his whole family, and does not desist, notwithstanding all the displeasure shown by his host. At last the latter relents, and says, "Well, what can I do! Go home, it is enough!" or something to the same effect. This is meant as an affirmative answer. {The sending of representatives of the bridegroom to the parents of the bride finds place also among the Tlingit (H. I. Holmsberg, tJber die Volker des Russischen Amerika, p. 314, in Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae, Tomus IV, Helsingforsiae, 1856).}

In modern times, this is in some cases considered as the end of the suit, and the young man may come and take his bride; but in most cases, even at present, the young man only acquires the right to come and press his suit himself. Still more numerous are cases in which the young man himself comes, and does not ask the mediation of his relatives. He also begins with bringing a load of fuel from the woods. He tries to make his load as large as possible, in order to show his physical strength and his power of endurance. {The gathering of fuel is the essential part of the marriage suit among all the tribes of Bering Sea. Lisiansky (Voyage around the World, II, p. 79) says that among the inhabitants of Kadyak the marriage-rite is as follows: the bridegroom passes the night with the bride; in the morning he must arise very early and bring fuel from the woods. This is considered the more important, as in many points of the island it is difficult to get fuel because the country is quite treeless.} Then begins his trial, which lasts one summer, sometimes two or even three summers. All this time the suitor leads a very hard life. He rises first in the morning, and retires last at night. Often he is not even given a place in the sleeping-room, but stays in the outer tent or in the open air. Most of his time is spent with the herd. He carries burdens, hauls heavily-loaded sledges, mends and repairs broken utensils. He has to please the girl's father, her elder brothers, and other male members of the family. If one of the old people reproaches him and calls him names, he has to bear it patiently, and is even expected to agree. When the old people are ill-tempered, -- as many Chukchee are, -- they may decline food and shelter to the poor suitor. Then he has to endure the pangs of hunger and cold while performing his work. If the girl likes him, she will try to give him some meat; or he may steal some food and devour it in haste, lest somebody should see it and report him to the father. Even then, after two or three months of continual toil, he may be driven away without any apparent reason. "This is no cause of resentment," I was told by the Chukchee, "but only a weakling consents to go. A good strong man remains and works on without food, without place in the sleeping-room, and even without hope." To desist, and return home without a bride, is considered a humiliation for a young man. His father will say, "So you are really bad. If you were good, you would not be sent away thus."

After the first few months the father of the bride usually somewhat relents, and the conditions of life of the suitor become less severe. From that time on, it is not thought becoming to send him away without serious reason. The suitor also begins to insist on his matrimonial rights. Often he acquires them after several months of struggle. Of course, this depends largely upon the woman herself. Some fathers, however, keep guard over their daughters. For instance, in the night-time, after the suitor is admitted to sleep in the inner room, the father bids the girl lie down in the corner, and takes his place by her side, so that she is inaccessible to the suitor. I was also told of cases where the suitor, in his passion, tries to take the bride 'by force from the side of her father; or where he attempts to force her after all the people are fast asleep. This, however, is not considered a serious offence.

As soon as the bridegroom becomes the actual husband, his thoughts naturally turn back to his own home and herd, and he plans to take his wife home. For this reason the girl's father delays the marriage as long as possible, especially when he is rather short of herdsmen and the help of the bridegroom is of much value to him. In some tales, "the bridegroom who came from afar," usually after having overcome all the obstacles put in his way, stays for a long time with his wife's family; and only after several years, when the couple have children, does he begin to think about returning to his own country. At this time his father-in-law usually gives him a part of his herd, and assists in taking him back to his own country. Even now, the Chukchee consider it proper for the young husband to stay with his father-in-law two or three years, "as long as his joy in his wife is still fresh." The inconsiderate young man stays with his father-in-law half a year, and then leaves him. He will stay longer only if the father-in-law has a large herd and there is any likelihood of his succeeding to part of it.

When the son-in-law takes his wife home without quarrelling with her father, he is usually given some reindeer, the number of which depends partly upon the quality of work the young man has done while serving for his bride. The better his service, the larger the reward he receives from his father-in-law. The woman also will take a few reindeer, which from her childhood on were marked for her with her own private ear-mark. I was told that a rich reindeer-breeder sometimes gives to his son-in-law the "freedom of one day;" i. е., during this one day the young man may catch reindeer from the herd and put his mark on their ears. All these become his property.

When a rich man wants to marry a girl of a poor family, the time of service is much shortened, and even dwindles down to nothing. Especially a second wife is rarely acquired through service in her family; for the man who has a wife and children, and who is often of middle age, will find it difficult to leave his own herd and home, and undertake service for a second wife, -- a custom suited only to young suitors. If he is rich, he arranges the marriage with the girl's father in an easier way. According to Chukchee ideas, however, it is improper to pay for a bride "as if she were a reindeer." The Chukchee always criticise the Tungus and Yakut, who ask and receive pay for their brides in reindeer, skins, and money. Rich reindeer-breeders arrange the terms of a marriage with the girl's father in a more decent form. The suitor gives to the girl's father a. few reindeer, but he does not call them pay for the bride, but a "joyful gift," meaning the joy it gives him to marry the young girl; or more frequently he invites the poor family of his new wife to come to his camp and to live there on his own herd. If they do not want to live in his camp, because of the possibility of quarrels with the first wife, they may stay close by, and from time to time receive from him presents of live or slaughtered reindeer. Still I know of rich men of middle age who had families, and who served for several months in the families of young girls whom they wanted to marry, undergoing all the usual hardships of the bridegroom's life.

Adopted Sons-in-Law. -- Much easier than serving a term for a bride in order to take her from her family, is being received into her family as an adopted son-in-law. Such a son-in-law is called by the Chukchee va'ta i'tilm ("continuous dweller"). I have already spoken of the poor young men of Reindeer or Maritime extraction who come to the rich reindeer-breeders and serve them as assisting herdsmen. The larger part of them marry into the family of the master and become adopted sons-in-law. Some present themselves as suitors from the very beginning. Others, who have not yet decided to sacrifice their freedom, begin as herdsmen, and try to become acquainted with the family and its life before occupying the position of suitors. {The similar practice of adopting a bridegroom into the bride's family exists also among the American Eskimo. Nelson (p. 291) says, "A young boy may sometimes choose a family containing a girl, in which he would like to live. In this case, he goes to the people whom he had adopted, and transfers the duty of every kind to his adopted father."}

As stated before, the suitor must work very hard, and undergo all kinds of privations; and, naturally enough, the young men want to look more carefully into the quality of the possible reward. Much depends also on the future prospects of the girl in question. Some masters have a daughter to dispose of; others, only a niece, or a poor kinswoman living in their family in the position of a female servant. Marriage with such a girl does not promise very bright results.

Be this as it may, the time of trial of the candidate for a son-in-law is considerably shorter than the serving-time of an, independent suitor. It changes also in accordance with the individual conditions of the adopting family. If the family has several grown-up daughters and at the same time is short of male hands, the poor suitor may be then and there adopted and given matrimonial rights over the girl. Still, after that he has to work hard and be correct and successful in everything, at least for the first two or three years. The wife is given to him in order to make his attachment stronger, but the family does not take on themselves any obligations toward him. Even after his wife has borne him a child, if he begins to give occasion for displeasure, he may be sent away without much ado; {Compare p. 556.} or, after a whole year spent in the family, he may suddenly feel displeased himself, and go away, leaving behind him his wife and even the child. Only after a stay of several years, when his work has left its mark on the common herd, and perhaps he has some reindeer marked with his own ear-mark, does his position become more stable, and then he receives a voice in the family affairs.

The tales describe with much care and detail the position of the adopted son-in-law. For instance, in the tale already quoted, {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 251; see also p. 581 of this volume.} the young new-comer, adopted as a husband by the bride vanquished in a foot-race, on the next morning goes to the herd and cares for it all by himself. The young wife, who cared for it before that time, may stay at home. The young man draws his father-in-law to the herd on a small sledge, which he drags along over the mossy ground; but the old man is too light for him, so he cuts off the stump of a tree with many thick roots, and fastens it to the sledge to make it heavier. The next year another man of the neighboring camp, who offended the girl and scratched her face with the point of his knife, {Compare p. 573.} arranges a foot-race. In that foot-race the young husband invites the offender to a wrestling-match, throws him down to the ground, and then with his knife cuts his eyelids, nostrils, lips, and ears into thin strips. Then he goes off to sea and provides for the family a plentiful supply of sea-meat and blubber. One whole carcass of a big walrus he brings on his back. During the skinning, the father says, "Oh! my daughter is lucky indeed: she has refused so many suitors, and has now found the best of all."

The Ravishing of Women. -- The ravishing of women was frequent in older, more warlike times. In the tales, however, the ravishing is almost always performed by men of other tribes, by Ta'n.ñit, {Compare p. 18.} by spirits, also by an eagle, a whale, a raven, etc.

One of the tales, that about Ele'ndi and his sons, gives a very characteristic description of the ravishing of women.

"(There were) five brothers and two sisters. When the girls were taking water, their ear-ornaments jingled, also the numerous bracelets of metal on their arms from the wrist to the elbow. They lingered, taking water, and began to laugh among themselves. Their braided hair hung down on both sides. Two young men approached stealthily along the river-bank. They caught them both: each man caught one girl. 'Go with us!' they exclaimed. The girls refused. The ravishers brandished their spears over the girls' heads. Then they were afraid and followed them. One of the Ta'n.ñin ravishers said, 'We will take this road; but mind you do not try to escape!' The girls could not walk, because, being of a rich family, they were not accustomed to go afoot. They sat down on the ground, and the men with them.

"Every one is asleep. The sisters, however, can neither sleep nor walk. Their feet are sore; they yearn for their home. The men. sleep on. Not far ahead, there is visible, under a cliff, a large snow-drift, old and hard, hardened by summer wind. One sister says to the other, 'Let us flee to that snow, and let us try to burrow in it. They can go home by themselves; otherwise they will kill us; we are unable to walk any longer.'

"The older sister took the knife from one of the sleeping men. They went to the snow, cut it through with the knife, and dug the ground under it, making a hole like a fox's burrow. The elder sister made the younger go in, then covered her with earth and snow, and effaced all traces of her work, as if the snow were quite intact. While working thus, she said, T will go with them. You at least, shall return home. While they are here, you must remain quietly in hiding; but when the sun is quite high, and we go away, all three of us, then you may come out and return home. The younger of the brothers wants very strongly to have me for his wife. Let him take me, but you go home.' She went back to the men, put the knife in its old place; then, lying down, she simulated sleep. When the spring sun began to descend, one of the men awoke, then another. 'Oh, dear! where is the other girl? She has fled, and we did not notice it.' The other girl continues to feign sleep. They try to wake her, but still she sleeps. At last she awakens too. 'Where is the other? Ah! but she was lying here close by! What have you done with her? You have slept side by side!' -- 'Oh, but you are men! Why have you not had a look for her? I was so tired, I could not even walk. But why have you slept so soundly?' The men were silent. Then one said, 'Well, let her go where she likes. We will take this one. She is at least in our hands.' -- 'Not yet,' says the other brother. 'Let us look in yonder snow.' The girl's heart trembled. 'Oh!' she said to herself, 'they will kill her.' -- 'Let us go and look at that snow!' They approached the snow. In the mean time the warm wind had caused the snow to thaw. Deep holes are seen in the snow-drift. 'What holes are these?' says one. He thrusts his spear through the snow, -- one, two, three times, -- almost wounding the girl. She is there, but wriggles like a fish, and escapes being wounded. He thrusts again; then at last he wounds her upon the buttocks. She bites her lip and almost burrows into the ground, like a wounded female fox. Her companion sits near by and weeps noiselessly. 'Ah, ah! why are you weeping?' -- 'I do not know.' -- 'Nay, she must be near by. Why is this one weeping?' -- 'You lie,' the girl says, 'unless you have put her there yourself. With what could we have made a hole like this in the snow? With our nails? Have you seen any knives in our hands?' -- 'Then why are you weeping thus?' -- 'Nay, I feel much sorrow in going to your people. Therefore I am weeping. To be among you, a speechless stranger, is very hard for me. I see the men of your people for the first time only. And also yesterday I could hardly walk for fatigue, but you drove me on. At the memory of that I am weeping. And, furthermore, I hoped at least to be with my sister, and to look on the face of my companion. Now I am quite alone. At the thought of that I am weeping.' The other girl was listening from her place of refuge. The men spoke among themselves. 'It is perhaps true. She is not here. We have thrust our spears through all this snow. Probably she has fled home. Let us go! It is useless to stay here any longer.' They went away and left the fugitive. The other one says, 'Now I will not walk in front, I will walk comfortably behind you.'

"When the sun was setting, the one concealed could not wait any longer. She said, 'They have probably gone.' She crept out of the snow and went home. Two nights she had slept in the open, lame and broken, all covered with blood. When she reached home, the youngest of the brothers was not there. He was running about in the neighborhood, looking for the girls. The other brothers began to kiss her. Where is your sister?' She says nothing, nor does she show her wound. The youngest brother came home. He caught her in his arms, hugged her many times, and could not have enough. 'Where is your companion?' Then she told him, 'They have ravished her.' The older sister, on parting, told the younger one, 'He who loves me most of all will follow me.' The youngest brother cannot sleep. 'Where is my other sister?' The wounded girl says to herself, 'About the wound I will tell him to-morrow. I do not want to deprive him of his quiet just now. Let him have some sleep just this one night.'

"The youngest brother is strong and swift of foot. In the morning she said to him, 'I am ashamed to tell it, but I cannot walk.' -- 'Why are you ashamed? Have I given you any reason to be afraid of me? Or do you say to yourself, "If I tell him, he will not listen to me"? Why are you ashamed?' Then she showed him the wound, the hole in her clothes. 'See that!' says the girl. The young man gasped. 'Oh! why have they wounded a woman? If they had wounded a man, it would be easier to bear. It is shameful to wound women.' Then he says to his companions, 'Now let us go and follow their road.' The others said, 'Not yet. We are not ready!' -- 'Oh! let us go! I cannot wait. It is too bad. Since seeing my sister's wound, I cannot stay here. I am a man. Then let me go.' The others said, 'We will sleep here this one night.' The youngest brother cannot sleep. He walks to and fro. Early in the morning he says to his brothers, 'Come, let us make haste. I call you to a war with the alien people. Great anger came into my heart. With your help I shall be strong.'"

Then follows a description of a raid of the five brothers on the camp of the ravishers. They kill every one, take the herd and their sister, and return to their home. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 339.}

As mentioned before, this tale describes the ravishing of Chukchee girls by men of an alien tribe. Besides this, according to the tradition, the ravishing of women was practised also within the Chukchee tribe, and not longer ago than forty or fifty years. There exists a special term for the ravishing of women, ñaungintewe'erkin ("thou ravishest a woman").

In the olden times, as I was told, a company of young men would seize a young girl in the open, bind her hands and feet, and carry her to the house of one who wanted to have her for a wife. Not only the men of alien families, but even the relatives and the cousins, acted so, after having been refused by the father of the girl. The assault and the ravishing, however, were not considered as a reason for implacable hatred and feuds. The parents would come afterward and ask for ransom, which was paid, not in reindeer, but one woman for another.

If the parents gave pursuit on the fresh track, the ravisher would make haste, first of all, to perform the marriage ritual with the ravished girl, anointing her, if not with the blood of sacrifice, at least with some soot and coal-powder from the family hearth. At the same time he would bid one of the women of his family get ready to go away as ransom. In this way, bloodshed might have been avoided, even after the meeting of both hostile parties.

Even at present a case of ravishment may happen now and then. Thus, I was told that on the western Kolyma tundra one E'ttihin, a rich reindeer-breeder and a "chief of the clan" chosen by the Russians, when desiring to have a second wife, ravished her by force from the camp of her father, Ki'milhin. In doing this, the ravisher and his two brothers gave the old man a sound thrashing; and, since the girl scratched like a cat, they swaddled her in a tent-cover and firmly tied it with rope. I was in the camp of E'ttihin some five years after the incident, when everything was mended and smoothed over. The ravished beauty already had two children, and lived by herself with the other herd of her husband, and the offended father lived with her. E'ttihin even tried to deny the circumstances of his second marriage; and nobody wanted to contradict him, at least in his presence.

Marriage by Flight -- More frequent than the ravishing of women, in modern times, is marriage by flight.

I should mention that the element of constraint on the part of the parents as to the choice of the bridegroom exists among the Chukchee, as almost everywhere. It even happens, and is in accord with the national character, that the bride prefers to take her own life rather than be married against her will. At the same time there are cases of love-marriages contrary to the will of the parents.

Those cases of which I know, however, happened in weak, disintegrated families. A strong family would resent an outrage like this, and strive to take the woman back, unless paid ransom in the same specie. Thus to my knowledge, in the country on the Dry Anui River, one girl left her camp and family, and fled to a travelling-camp of one of the Maritime traders. The man was already in middle life and had two other wives; but he was strong, healthy, and daring, the actual type of a travelling Chukchee adventurer. The girl had no father, only a brother (though full-grown, somewhat younger than herself) and an aunt. The seducer went away in such haste, that фе brother, even if he intended to take up the quarrel, could not have done anything.

Another case happened almost in my own presence. I was on my way from the Russian villages on the Lower Kolyma into the heart of the tundra, together with some Chukchee fellow-travellers. They had made a visit to the Russian settlements for trading-purposes, and were now returning to their camps. Among them was one Ñĭro'n, a young man of violent and disorderly temper. His name has been mentioned before. {Compare p. 45.} Instead of trading, he lost everything in card-playing, among other things some fawn-skins sent with him for sale by his neighbors in camp. Even one of his reindeer went the same way, and now he drove a single reindeer. He was a good walker, however, and during most of the time ran in front of our train as fleet and active as any reindeer-buck. One evening, when we were approaching his camp, we were told that the sister of Ñĭro'n, who usually staid at home, had left the house and gone to one Me'wet, a man with whom Ñĭro'n had had a quarrel. The young woman had already been twice divorced, and the quarrel between her brother and Me'wet, as far as I know, was on her account. Receiving this information, Ñĭro'n became so angered that he took his spear and a long girdle-knife and started that very night for the camp of Me'wet. His sledge and reindeer he left behind, and went on afoot, eager for vengeance. Nothing very terrible, however, happened. Ñĭro'n was quite poor, and Me'wet had a good-sized herd; and the next year, when I met Ñĭro'n again in a Russian village on the Kolyma, he was gambling as usual, and part of the stake were the fawn-skin& sent for sale by Me'wet, his new brother-in-law.

Mixed Marriages. -- The Reindeer Chukchee, at least at the present time, are fond of marrying women of other tribes. "We want to know their taste," the aforementioned E'ttihin told me rather cynically; "we are connoisseurs." On the Koryak frontier, both Reindeer tribes -- the Chukchee and the Koryak -- easily mix together in marriage; the more so, as life and language are very much alike. Therefore some groups of families are of quite mixed blood, and cannot even tell to what tribe they really belong. The distinction is the more difficult, as the Reindeer Chukchee and the Reindeer Koryak call themselves in a similar way Čau'ču, and call each other Ta'n.ñitan. {Compare p. II.} Mixed marriages between the Chukchee and Reindeer Chuvantzy also take place freely. Mixed marriages between the Reindeer Chukchee and the Maritime Chukchee and Eskimo, as stated before, happen quite frequently. I know a couple of dozen cases of marriage between the Chukchee and the Tungus or Lamut. This comes about in two ways. According to the first method, a rich Chukchee marries a young Tungus girl, paying her price in live reindeer, according to Tungus custom. The newly-married couple, for the most part, adopt the dress and the mode of life of the Chukchee, which are very different from Tungus life. Only a few of these Tungus women hold to their former customs, and then the life of the family presents a double character. In the winter-time they live in a Chukchee "genuine house," drive reindeer in Chukchee harness, etc. In summer they live in a Tungus tent, ride Tungus reindeer, hunt wild reindeer and mountain-sheep. With a Tungus wife comes her family, hungry and careless, often the whole clan; and they expect to receive help from their new kinsman. So even a very rich Chukchee, after a few years of Tungus marriage, usually becomes poorer, and then quite poor. To refuse a Tungus kinsfolk a reindeer for slaughter is almost impossible, because the people of that tribe often stay on the verge of starvation, and the Chukchee brother-in-law has to relieve them, even almost against his will.

In the second category of such mixed marriages are the Tungus men who marry Chukchee women. A young Tungus man who is tired of the hungry life of a polar hunter may come to a Chukchee camp and be admitted, at first as an assistant herdsman, then as an adopted son-in-law. A well-to-do Chukchee family, when short of male workers, will not ask about the tribe of the new-comer, but desires only watchfulness and activity in taking care of the herd. I know a Tungus family on the Dry Anui River that consists of five full-grown brothers. All of them married into a Chukchee family; and now each has a large herd, received with the wife. Of course, such Tungus adopted by the Chukchee lead the usual Chukchee life, and their children rarely speak their father's language. Among all tribes the household life is regulated mostly by a woman; and a Chukchee woman is quite unable to abandon her national dress and her mode of living, and adopt those of alien origin. Therefore I know of hardly a single case where a Chukchee woman has married into a Tungus family in order to live the Tungus life. What has been said concerning the Tungus may also be said of Chukchee marriages with the Yukaghir of the West Kolyma tundra, who are still poorer than the Tungus, and who are only too glad to be adopted into a Chukchee reindeer-breeding family.

As to marriages between the Chukchee and Russian Creoles or Russianized natives, I know of about twenty cases, half of which belong to the past, and half to the present.

I visited, one after another, all the mixed Chukchee-Russian couples in various parts of the Chukchee territory; and in almost all cases I found that Russian or Russianized women were married to Chukchee men. All these women belonged to very poor families, and marriage with a reindeer-breeder was the only means of warding off severe hunger, at least for the time being. Some of these women were paid for with twenty or thirty slaughtered reindeer, others with only two or three. Usually the families to which they had belonged lived on the frontier of the Chukchee territory, and were in constant intercourse with the people of that tribe. It should not be forgotten that the easy ways of the Russian Creoles of the Kolyma in love affairs make Russian girls quite accessible to the young Chukchee men through some small present, or even without it.

Still, the difference between the life of Russian fishermen living in warm block-houses within the forest border, and that of the Chukchee reindeer-breeders living on the treeless tundra in cold and open tents, is very great. So in the winter-time the Russian women, clad in the shaggy clothes of the Chukchee woman's dress, are helpless enough to look upon; nor are they very good workers and housewives, in the Chukchee sense of the word ; not one of them is capable of beating the hoary cover of the sleeping-room with sufficient force and perseverance. The work of a Russian woman in the Kolyma country is incomparably easier than that of the wife of a Chukchee.

Russian relatives and neighbors make fun of women given to savages, because such marriages are considered humiliating. Perhaps to keep off jeers, all these women enter with great energy upon their new life, and talk with some disdain of their former life on the river. I remember one whom I visited in mid-winter. It was bitter cold; and since she had been staying in the open since early morning, and was clad in the strange loose combination-suit of Chukchee cut, with half-bare neck and shoulders, her face was blue, and her fingers stiff, and she was able to keep some warmth in her body only by constant movement and work. Still she praised that life. "There on the river the people are hungry," she explained, "but our food walks around us on its four legs." Nevertheless these women have confessed that the first months of their life on the tundra were very hard. "One knows neither the language nor the ways of life. One feels a yearning to go back to the river, and weeps all the time. Then comes an old 'knowing woman' and performs an incantation, which takes away the sorrow and makes one more adapted to the new life."

The Russian women on the river said about this, that the Chukchee witches, with their incantations, take out of the woman the Russian soul and put in its place a Chukchee soul. Therefore these women ever afterwards love life in the open. I must mention that I know of hardly one case where a woman like that would return from the savage tundra to the civilized "river." Indeed, one of the women told me that after the death of her first Chukchee husband, she came back to her native village, having with her a small son of three years. "But we could not live there for too long a time," she said, on account of the stifled air of the block-house. We got violent headaches. Food was scarce, only dried fish; but the boy was not accustomed to it, and asked for reindeer-meat. At last, after staying three months in the village, I married another Chukchee, and went with him to the tundra again."

Most of the marriages between the Chukchee and the Russians remain without issue. To understand that properly, one should remember (1) that the Russian and Russianized women of the Lower Kolyma, especially the latter, are of but slight fertility; (2) that even in the veins of the so-called Russian, blood really Russian and Caucasian is very scarce. The sterility of these mixed marriages has direct connection with the exhaustion of vital force among the Russianized natives of the whole Kolyma region.

I should mention also that a Russian wife and the hungry family of her father are a continual drain on the herd of her Chukchee husband, just as much as in the case of the Tungus. I mentioned above that the Reindeer Chukchee, notwithstanding all their harshness, have a kind of rough compassion for the people of alien tribes who are tormented by hunger under their eyes. {Compare p. 47.} A Chukchee reindeer-breeder, when he feels that such hungry neighbors are too much for him, changes his place of abode, and goes a score of miles farther off. Thus of late years the Chukchee camps have gradually removed to a distance of some fifty miles from the nearest Russian village, in order to limit the coming of hungry river-men with their still more hungry dogs. But it is very hard to go away from one's own father-in-law. This causes the Chukchee husbands of Russian wives gradually to descend from abundance to poverty.

There are one or two cases of Russian boys who have grown up in the tundra and married among the Chukchee. They live the Chukchee life, do not know anything about Russian ways, and do not even speak the Russian language. One or two Chukchee girls have grown up on the river, married there, and become Russianized.

I should also mention that many Russianized families of the Lower Kolyma form actual combinations of group-marriages with Chukchee families; or, properly speaking, the Chukchee consider it as a group-marriage, and the Russians rather as a kind of prostitution. The Chukchee set great value on these relations, because they consider the Russians, notwithstanding all their hunger and need, as belonging to a higher civilization; and the Russians strive to get out of these relatives some reindeer-meat free of cost, also some cheap reindeer-skins and costly peltries of the tundra. So, in several Russian families, even of clerks, merchants, and clergymen, there are children reputed to be of Chukchee blood. Thus the two eldest children of the church-beadle (дьячекъ) of Nishne-Kolymsk, a son and a daughter, are called by the neighbors "Chukchee offspring." I asked the mother about the origin of this name. "Of course, they are Chukchee," answered the worthy matron, "paid for with many reindeer. In those years I fed the whole hungry neighborhood." And this was true, because on the Lower Kolyma, in times of hunger, every piece of food is divided among all.

In contrast to all this, I do not know of any case of marriage between the Chukchee and the Yakut. The Yakut, no less than the Russians, would consider such a marriage as humiliating; but the Yakut are much stronger than the Russians psychically and economically, nor do they suffer so much from hunger as the Russian Creoles or the Tungus. Moreover, they have horses of their own, horned cattle, and even reindeer, and Chukchee reindeer are not so attractive to them.

The Marriage-Rite. -- The most important part of the marriage-rite of the Reindeer Chukchee is the anointment of the bride and groom with the blood of the sacrificial animal. This occurs either at the house of the groom, or, if the latter is to become an adopted son-in-law, at the house of the bride. The ceremony is relatively simple: the groom goes to his father-in-law to fetch his bride, and brings her to his settlement. The bride, who drives her own reindeer, is at times accompanied by her nearest' relatives.

The party arrives at the settlement of the groom, where the reindeer are unharnessed. The small pole-sledge on which the poles of the tent are carried is put behind the tent, on the spot where sacrifices are usually made; while the travelling-sledges of the bride and groom stand on both sides at some distance. Then the sacrificial reindeer is killed for the anointment. Other sacrifices, bloody and bloodless, are made to the dawn and the zenith. Fire-drills and charm-strings are placed on the sledges. Then the couple is anointed with the blood of the reindeer, one or two members of the groom's family generally also undergoing the ceremony, in order that the bride may not feel lonesome. Then the groom and the bride paint on their faces the family mark of the groom. Thus the woman renounces the sacrificial anointment of her family,-as well as her hearth and kin, and binds herself to another hearth and another kin. Further, the woman anoints the sledges with blood, and "feeds" the holy objects of the household with reindeer-marrow. She approaches the hearth, sprinkles it with sacrificial blood, takes a pinch of ashes and rubs it between her palms. Then she addresses the hearth, saying, "Nime'leu qatva'rkin!" ("Be well!")

In a few days, sometimes in two or three weeks, a second marriage-rite takes place (alaranto'urgin, "a journey out of loneliness").

The married couple, accompanied by a few relatives, start out to visit the camp of the bride's father. "We think," remarked a Chukchee to me," that she may get homesick for her old hearth; let her visit it, and see it again."' The reindeer which the bride used on her first journey to the groom's house are not used on this second journey. The bride drives the reindeer of her husband, and takes with her a number of driving-reindeer as a present to her parents. This gift is called ri'nkur; but the Chukchee insist that it is a present, and not a ransom, for it is paid after the conclusion of the marriage ceremony. The number of reindeer to be presented is not fixed. If the groom's family is poor, he gives only one team, that is, two reindeer; but it is customary to present two, and even three teams. Among these reindeer may be calves; but they must be tame, fit for harness, in a word, "lustful calves" (gi'Li-qäi'ut), -- that is, lustful for urine. The domestication of reindeer among the Chukchee is notoriously based on the reindeer's fondness for urine. {Compare p. 85.} Besides reindeer, the bride and groom take with them meat-puddings, a favorite delicacy of the Chukchee. {Compare p. 199.} The number of these puddings varies generally according to the number of the reindeer, although two and three times that number are sometimes taken. According to Chukchee ideas of the family and family-group, the groom has to be assisted by his nearest kinsnien; but this assistance is left to their individual free-will. Generally, however, one or two of the blood relatives in the male line (kirñe'-tu'mgit, "male-buck companions"), or of relatives by marriage (taka'lhit, "husbands of wife-sisters" {Compare p. 540.}). contribute each a reindeer or two. To receive assistance from more than two men is not customary. The other reindeer are given by the groom himself. With the reindeer, the relatives send an equal number of puddings, and sometimes two and three times the number. These puddings have a symbolic significance. If a relative, for instance, intends to contribute a reindeer or two, but at the time is not able to do it, he sends only the puddings, thereby assuming the obligation to furnish the reindeer to the bride's father. Thus, instead of reindeer, puddings alone are sometimes sent to the bride's home. Along with the puddings, other delicacies of the Chukchee bill of fare are brought down: such as marrow, extracted from the tubular bones of the leg, and frozen, of which up to ten pounds is sometimes brought; reindeer-brains, also frozen; tongues; fat morsels of meat. On their arrival at the bride's camp, the bride and groom are again anointed, the bride's family-mark is painted on their faces, and the bride makes a sacrifice to the hearth of her home. A feast follows, at which all the provisions brought for the occasion are consumed. On the following day the couple return home, where the rite of anointment is once more repeated, and the husband's family mark is painted on their faces. Having thus taken leave of her family hearth and its marks of anointing, the bride finally links herself to her new hearth, and becomes a member of a new family.

Marriage-Ruptures. -- Notwithstanding the accompanying sacrifice, Chukchee marriages are not at all permanent. On the contrary, the anointment with blood, and other rites, are obviously intended to strengthen marriage-ties, but fail to attain that end. These rites foreshadow the religious sanction of marriage, which in other cultures develops so powerfully. Among the Chukchee the marriage-tie is broken very easily, and for a variety of reasons, advanced by either the wife's or the husband's family. If the father or mother of the groom is not satisfied with the bride, they have the right to send her back to her home. Even in cases where the groom has worked for his bride during several months, his parents send the bride back if they do not care for her. I knew a family on the Dry Anui River, in which the eldest son had changed wives ten times in the course of three years. For one of them he had served three months, and for another four. Others came to him from friendly families attracted by the large herd of the groom's father. In such cases, however, the rupture always occurred shortly after marriage. If a couple has lived together for a year or a year and a half, it is no longer regarded as proper for the groom's family to send the bride back.

E. Westermarck, quoting from W. Hooper, mentions that among the Chukchee (Tuski), repudiated wives, with their children, are to a certain extent supported by their former husbands. {E. Westermarck, The History of Human Marriage (London, 1901), p. 19.} W. Hooper, however, speaks about those wives who have been put aside for some new favorite, and mentions that it was considered a duty of the man to afford a home and sustenance for such wives, as well as for the children by them. {W. H. Hooper, Ten Months among the Tents of the Tuski, p. 100.} In such cases the marriage is not dissolved. Nevertheless I would call even this statement somewhat exaggerated. Of course, a Chukchee husband who has more than one wife may be inclined to prefer the younger one, and to neglect the older one. I knew of cases where neglect like this gave rise to jealousy and strife between the wives. On the other hand, several husbands who were in a similar position mentioned that they considered themselves obliged to visit their wives in turn, one after the other. "Otherwise there would be trouble," they said. And really the national character of the Chukchee is such, that the complete neglect of a wife, especially if she has children, would give occasion for trouble and strife.

At the same time W. Hooper acknowledges that "repudiation" is quite another thing than such neglect. Directly after the passage quoted above he says, "But repudiation is perfectly recognized, and in instances of misconduct, and sometimes of dislike, put in force without scruple or censure. In these cases the rejected wife returns to her father's or brother's lodge, and, unless of a very bad character, does not generally wait long for another husband; very often returning to her original spouse, to be perhaps again discarded." All this is quite correct.

In the majority of cases, however, the initiative in breaking up the marriage comes from the bride's family, which retains its hold on the woman for five or six years, even if the latter has meanwhile borne two children. In case of friction between the two families, that of the bride takes the woman back, by force if necessary. Of course, it is not the old fathers who most ardently support that custom, but the elder brothers, especially if they are numerous. Occasionally, when the woman loves her husband and refuses to leave him, she is bound and carried away by force. If she has nurslings, they are taken with the mother, while the older children are left with the father. {Easy divorce exists also among the American Eskimo. Murdoch (Point Barrow Eskimo, p. 418) says, "Easy and unceremonial divorce appears to be the usual custom among Eskimo generally. The same appears to have been the case in Greenland. Cranz says, 'Such quarrels and separations only happen between the people in their young age. The older they grow, the more they love each other.'" In a similar way Lucien M. Turner (Hudson Bay Eskimo, p. 189) says of the Hudson Bay Eskimo, "A man seldom keeps a wife for a number of years. ... In rare instances, where there is compatibility of temper, the pair remain together for life." In the same way the Chukchee marriage is easily dissolved in its first period, but grows in force with the course of time. Franz Boas (Central Eskimo, p. 579) mentions also that among the Central Eskimo divorce may be easily commanded by the wife's mother.}

I have seen a considerable number of women who were thus carried off from their husbands by elder brothers. One I met in the camp of the Chukchee Ata'to on the Dry Anui River. She had lived for four years with her husband, a well-to-do, gentle, but rather sickly young man. Ata'to, on the contrary, was a spendthrift and gambler. The previous winter, having lost all his reindeer gambling, he had appealed to his brother-in-law for assistance. The latter helped him for a while; but when Ata'to made a practice of slaughtering without ceremony the reindeer of his brother-in-law, and of paying his card debts with their carcasses, the wronged man protested. Then Ata'to went to his sister's house and carried her off to his camp.

The deserted husband, after some hesitation, found his solitude unbearable, and followed his wife to Ata'to's camp. When I visited the latter, I learned that the unfortunate husband had been living there for over four weeks, doing all that was in his power to move Ata'to's heart. The woman seemed willing to go back to her husband, but Ata'to would not change his mind. "Will you promise not to refuse me your reindeer?" he would ask; and when the answer was, "That is impossible, you would eat up my herd and myself with it," he declared, "If such is the case, she shall go to a rich reindeer-owner." As far as I know, the latter decision was carried out, the first husband not being able to prevent it.

In 1897, when engaged in preparing a census of the Chukchee in the Kolyma district, I had occasion to ascertain that about one-third of all the women had had one or several divorces. Of the children born during these marriages, some were living in the husbands' families, and some in those of the wives. Such children, left without a proper home, are regarded as belonging to the entire family, and are much cared for by all its members. The same applies to natural children borne by unmarried women.

Polygyny. -- The majority of the Chukchee are monogamists; in some localities, however, one-third and more, of all the marriages, are polygynous.

The Reindeer Chukchee generally ascribe polygyny to economic considerations. "If I possess one herd, I need but one house and one wife to look after it; if, however, I own two herds, I must have two separate households and a woman for each of them." There is some truth in this assertion. Many rich reindeer-breeders who have two or more herds do keep a separate wife with each herd. Etti'hin, for example, to whom I have referred before, had two herds, and a wife attending to each. Ei'heli, on the Oloi River, who has also been mentioned before, was the owner of four herds, with as many wives looking after them. Omrêlqo't, also on the Oloi River, had three herds and three wives. Many other reindeer-owners, however, have only one wife, their surplus herds being kept by sons, brothers-in-law, brothers, and other relatives. On the other hand, many of those who have but one herd have at the same time two and more wives, all living in the same camp. It appeared from the cen ch30.jpg" width="357"/>

Koča'tko is a giant polar bear with a body of solid ivory (Fig. 232). Sometimes he is said to have eight paws. He is much stronger and fiercer than the ordinary polar bear. Mirg-u'mki (literally, "bald polar bear") is a fierce man-eating bear. During tempestuous nights he lies on his' back on an ice-floe, and swings his paws, beckoning to travellers to come to him. At the same time he calls with a wailing voice, in imitation of a distressed traveller who has lost his way. Any one who hears these calls, and approaches the monster, will be immediately caught and devoured. Black bears are generally considered akin to man, or, more directly, as men clad in bear-skin. A skinned bear is said to closely resemble a man.

Bears are believed to be shamans, able to divine the intentions of men, even at a considerable distance: therefore it is not safe to talk ill of a bear. He may catch the words and retaliate for the detraction. Likewise, it is not safe to set traps for bears or to plot for their harm.

These ideas about the black bear, however, do not seem to have originated with the Chukchee, but were probably borrowed from the Lamut and Yukaghir, with whom the black bear is an object of superstitious veneration. Thus, the northern Lamut say that the bear is the elder brother of Torga'nfa, the ancestor of the Lamut tribe. They consider him to be a shaman and a sorcerer, and in hunting him, they perform many ceremonies for the purpose of appeasing his anger.

The Russianized Yukaghir of the Kolyma, when speaking of the bear, use the words "grandfather," "old man," or, still shorter, "he." Fear of the bear, even among the cossacks and Russian Creoles, is excessive. Even the tales circulated among the Chukchee, in which the black bear figures, seem for the most part borrowed from the same source.

The conception of a supernatural animal, derived from the obscure idea of the black bear, like the agdlak of the American Eskimo, does not exist among the Chukchee, since they live too near the forest border, while even in the southern part of the tundra the bear is met with occasionally. {Compare p. 142.} Among the American Eskimo, on the contrary, several branches live so far to the north, that they have no chance to meet a black bear.

The Chukchee, on their part, notwithstanding the frequent hunts for the bear by the Arctic villagers, are inclined to a mythical conception of the animal. Thus, the Chukchee idea of the great polar bear Koca'tko is more or less parallel to the Eskimo conception of the agdlak. I will mention also, among other beliefs of the Chukchee, the curious one, that a tribe of polar bears with human faces and gentle customs lives somewhere on the American shore. This tribe is described as corresponding somewhat to the bear-clad Central Eskimo of America. This difference between the Chukchee and Eskimo ideas is quite significant, the more so as it is corroborated by other parallel facts, all of which tend to show that the Chukchee are not a tribe of such strongly developed arctic character as are the Eskimo.

The mammoth is believed to be the ke'let's reindeer. He lives underground, and moves about through narrow passages. His big tusks, which are considered horns, stand off from his shoulders, or protrude from his nose. When a man sees a mammoth-tusk protruding from the ground, he must dig it up immediately, or at least cut a notch on its end: otherwise, the tusk will sink back into the earth. A story is told of a man who saw two mammoth-tusks protuding from the ground on the shore of a lake. While he was looking at them, they began suddenly to move. He became so frightened, that he ran away as fast as he could. Soon after, he lost his wits, and died.

According to another story, some Chukchee men found two mammoth-tusks protruding from the earth. They began to beat the drum, and performed several incantations. Then the whole carcass of the mammoth came to sight. The people ate the meat. It was very nutritious, and they lived on it all winter. When the bones were stripped of all the meat, they put them together again, and in the morning they were again covered with meat. Perhaps this story has for its foundation the finding of a mammoth-carcass good for eating, as happened on the Obi in the eighteenth century, and also more recently in the Kolyma country.

Because of these beliefs, the search for ivory of the mammoth was tabooed in former times. Even now, a man who finds a mammoth-tusk has to pay for it to the "spirit" of the place by various sacrifices. The search for such tusks is considered a poor pursuit for a man, notwithstanding the high price which the ivory brings.

Several neighboring tribes consider the mammoth to be an animal used by evil spirits. In 1897 I found the dress of a shaman and several drums in an old, long-forgotten storehouse near the village of Pyatistennoye, on the Large-Anui River. The district has a scanty population, a mixture of Yukaghir and Yakut, by this time thoroughly Russianized. With the drums was a birch plank covered with drawings scratched in with the sharp point of a knife. The plank was an elongated rectangle divided into two equal parts. One part was painted with red ochre, and represented day; and the other, painted with graphite, represented night. With the drawing in proper position, the red part would be at the right hand of a person looking down on the plank, and the black at his left hand. On the border, two indentations were scraped out for the insertion of pieces of silver, according to the statement made by some old men of the village. On the red part were scratched animals, birds, and plants, and in front of them a human figure riding a reindeer. On the black part were images of a dog and a horse, and on the front of them a mammoth with a strange figure standing on its back. The figure had two birds in its hands. The plank was presented by me to the Museum of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. As may be seen from the sketch (Fig. 233), which is made from a photograph, the outlines of the figure holding the birds are zigzag. According to the explanation given by the villagers mentioned, this figure represents the being with the iron teeth which is spoken

of in several tales of the Yukaghir of the Kolyma. I was told that the board was used by shamans for calling the spirits. The red part represented white shamanism, and was used for cures; and the dark one represented black shamanism, and was used for evil charms.

It is curious that all the animals, birds, and plants with a reindeer rider in front, should represent good shamanism, while two domesticated animals of the north, the dog and the horse, together with the mammoth, should represent darkness and evil-doing. Perhaps it is significant of a desire to accentuate the contrast between the reindeer-breeders and the dog-driving fishermen. The figure of the mammoth, as represented in the sketch, has a short mane, indicated by a number of small straight lines. It also has a long tail, thick at the end. Long, extremely curved tusks, which are commonly believed by the natives to be horns, protrude from the mouth. The trunk is missing.

I mentioned the celestial worm, which is described with the features of a boa-constrictor. {See pp. 13 and 311.} On the sketch (see Fig. 219) the worm is represented as having a sting in its tail. Another "giant worm" lives in the sea. It is so strong that it can kill a whale by squeezing it between its coils. A third great worm also figures in the tales. It is owned by a ke'lE, and sent by him to drive back the captive maidens who fled from his house. Its tail is fastened in the sleeping-room of the ke'lE; but its body is so long that its head can overtake the fugitives and turn them back. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 194.} The agile monster Keli'lhu has already been mentioned. {See p. 14.}

Somewhere inside of the rocks overhanging the shores of the Arctic Ocean lives a monstrous beast with the shape of an ermine, but so large, that, when he walks into the sea, his legs reach the bottom, even in the deepest places. He sometimes emerges suddenly from the rocks, near a human village, and fiercely attacks the inhabitants. Perhaps the idea that the ermine, known as a guardian spirit, can transform itself, if need be, into a polar bear, has something to do with this belief.

A "giant thunder-bird" is sometimes regarded as the same as the supernatural Raven; but more frequently it is a kind of "giant eagle" of supernatural strength. In one tale a female "giant eagle" appears as mistress of good and bad weather. When visited in her own world by two mortals, she undertakes, at their request, to clear the sky, and begins to scrape it with a large brass scraper. Noticing that one of the visitors looks at her naked legs, she grows angry, and hurls them both back into our world. Even now the eagle is protected by a taboo, and the killing of one is supposed to bring on bad weather and famine.

The Asiatic Eskimo also say that the thunder-bird is a "giant eagle." After the death of such an eagle, Upper Being takes his heart, which is immortal, and suspends it on a thread from the sky. The suspended heart beats on, producing thunder. After a while the eagle revives. According to Koryak beliefs, the souls of deceased persons are suspended on cords, in the house of the Upper Being, till their return to earth for a new life. {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 26.}

Another "giant bird" is "middle [sea] bird" (Gino'n-ga'LE). He lives only in the open sea. He is so large, that, when floating on the billows, he can stretch his long neck so as to swallow easily a whale-boat, which will glide safely through his alimentary canal and come out again without much damage. Some features of this bird, perhaps, connect him with the albatross. At least I was told, that, on a recent occasion, seal-hunters Garried away by a storm, together with their canoe, saw this bird soaring high in the heavens, with wings so broad that they covered the sun. The ke'te-bird will be mentioned later in describing the Chukchee beliefs concerning the fate of the souls of the deceased.

On the Pacific shore, Tui'ketui signifies a pike; but in the Kolyma country it means a "giant fish" {Pike, in the Kolyma country, is called "biting fish" (Yu'utku-nnē'n).} which lives in some inland lakes. It is a man-eater, and occasionally takes people while bathing and devours them. Once it caught a young man who came to the shore to catch fish. His father, seeking revenge, loaded four sledges with deer-meat, tied them together, securing them with a very strong double-twisted hide cable, and sank them to the bottom of the lake. The fish bit into the bait; but its teeth became wedged among the broken ribs of the sledges, and it might have been hauled in by the united force of several men.

Other tribes of northeastern Asia have the same belief, -- that "giant pikes" live in some unknown lakes on the tundra. The Russianized Yukaghir, for instance, tell of a man who went out in a wooden canoe to inspect his nets, and suddenly spied in the water on either side of the canoe two large eyes. The distance between the eyes was equal to the length of the double paddle. It was a "giant pike" standing motionless in the water.

Chukchee incantations mention another "giant fish," called Kaña'olhin. The name is used to designate sculpin; but the giant Kaña'yolhin has existed as a separate fish from "the first limit of creation." It lies motionless in the middle of the sea. Its body has become an island, and moss grows on its back. The latter details have a marked resemblance to the description of a fabulous whale in the nursery tales of the Old World.

Va'amên is a kind of triton which exists apparently somewhere in the waters of northeastern Siberia, on the Arctic or on the Pacific shore, though I have never seen a specimen, but have heard a description of it from members of various tribes. An image of it, made of antler (Fig. 234), which comes from the country near the mouth of the Anadyr, gives it a human head. Many superstitious beliefs are connected with this animal. The Chukchee say that it appears only to a man who will die in a short time. If caught, it must be cut to pieces. If the cuts bleed, the luckless man is in no immediate danger; but, if they are bloodless, death awaits him. The Russianized Yukaghir have the same belief. Steller mentions {Steller, p. 282.} that the Kamchadal believed that a lizard must be killed whenever met, and as promptly as possible: otherwise death would ensue the same year.

The "mountain echo" (E'nmi-ta'añ) lives in the open, among the mountains. Its body is of stone, and its mouth and eyes are located on its breast. The "mountain echo" is also described as a young, pretty woman wandering about among the rocks. In one tale, she marries a man, but, on account of jealousy, is killed by his former wife. {From a tale.} The "echo of the wood" (ѳ'tti-ta'añ) lives in the poplar-forest. It has a wooden body, without hands or feet, and resembles the old trunk of a tree.

The "black bear" is a wife who was forsaken by her husband for another woman. She revenged herself by killing him and her rival. {From a tale.} The "mountain sheep" is also a woman forsaken by her husband. She threw herself from a steep rock, and was dashed against the stones, thus becoming a sheep. Her braided hair was turned into horns.

The "black beetle," called in Chukchee Tä'qi-ñe'ut (the name means literally "shining black woman"), affords a third story of an unfortunate wife. When her husband forsook her, she killed him by pouring into his ear water taken from a piece of old sea-ice. According to one tale, the "black beetle" overpowered the young wife of the Sun, flayed her alive, and put on her skin, but was recognized by her husband, and burnt on a pyre. After that, she was sent back to this world in the shape of a beetle to announce to mankind the coming of death. She also created and spread abroad contagious diseases.

The Spider-Woman (Ku'rgu-ñe'ut) descended from heaven on a long thin thread. She plays an important role in tales and incantations.

Butterflies were created from autumn leaves scattered by the wind; mosquitoes, out of dirt that the Creator, after finishing his work, rubbed between his palms.

Cosmogonical Beliefs. -- According to the cosmogonical beliefs of the Chukchee, there are several worlds situated one above another, in such a manner that the ground of one forms the sky of the one below. The number of these worlds is stated as five, seven, or nine. These worlds are arranged symmetrically above and below the earth, each of the lower worlds having a corresponding one above it.

According to a statement in the tale of "The Scabby Shaman," {Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 597.} which gives many curious details of the subject, there are four large worlds besides the earth. Those nearest to the earth are occupied by ke'let; the next, by men. In the upper and lower worlds there are the same number of animals on the land, birds in the air, and fish in the sea, so that the amount of life is the same above and below the earth.

According to other statements, the lowest world is occupied by those who have died twice, and therefore cannot return to earth. Some of these worlds have several suns, the number of which varies from two to eight. When it is winter in our world, it is summer in the next, and vice versa.

According to the belief of the Koryak, the spirits in the world under us have day when it is night here. {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 27.} Likewise, the Oltcha of the Amur country believe that the "land of the deceased" has winter when we have summer, and night when we have day. The inhabitants of the "land of the deceased" have, moreover, plenty of game when it is scarce on the earth, and vice versâ. {L. Schrenck, Die Volker des Amur Landes, Zweite Halfte, p. 762.}

These worlds are not very far apart. In the tale of "The Shaman with Warts," {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 220.} a shaman, while struggling with his rival, is hurled through two worlds, piercing the heaven of one head foremost, and that of the next feet foremost; then he lands in the third world on the moving ground of the clouds. In another tale, a young man bereft of his senses by an old witch rushes out of the sleeping-room, then out of the tent, each of these representing a world.

There is a tale, however, of a shaman, who, desiring to reach the sky, travelled upward for many years, until he met a gray-haired shaman who told him that he started on the same enterprise when he was a young man, and that he was now returning without having attained his purpose. These different views of the distances between worlds may be accounted for by the fact that the tale was obtained from the Reindeer Chukchee on Omolon River, who live side by side with the Lamut, from whom they may have borrowed it.

All these worlds, as said before, {See p. 307.} are joined by holes situated under the Polar Star. Shamans and spirits while going from one world to another slip through these holes. The heroes of several tales fly through them while riding on an eagle or a thunder-bird. Another way to reach the upper world is to go in the direction of the dawn, and ascend a long, steep path that leads to the sky. The hero of one tale uses a needle and thread in ascending to the upper world. He throws the needle upward, like a dart, and it sticks in the sky; then he ascends, using the thread as a rope-ladder. One may also ascend to the upper world along the path of the rainbow, or along the sun's rays. The dead ascend to 'it with the smoke of the funeral pyre. {See Chapter XVI.}

The clouds are also considered a kind of aerial ground upon which one may repose while ascending to the sky. In several tales, travellers who make a journey upward stop for a night's rest on the aerial ground of clouds, pitching there their tents, and in the morning they continue their journey. Some tales even say that the ground of the clouds is inhabited by Upper People, thus confounding the upper world of the sky with the ground of the clouds.

The inhabitants of the upper world are called "Upper People" (Girgo'r-ra'mkin) or "Dawn-People" (Tña'irgi-ra'mkin). They live exactly like men. By the inhabitants of the upper world, men are called "Lower People" (Iu'tir-re'mkin). In some tales, instead of the Upper People there is mentioned one mighty Being, {See p. 314.} called "Upper Being" or "Dawn," also "Creator," "Polar Star," "Zenith," "Noon." This Being gives protection and assistance to men, who, oppressed by their foes in their earthly life, come to him. He keeps them in his world for a while, and then sends them back with large presents and provisions. He has near his house several holes, closed with stoppers, through which he can observe all earthly doings and pursuits. In one tale, a woman who had come to the upper world is allowed to look through such a hole. She feels a yearning for her earthly home, and drops a tear through the opening. The women below, who are busy scraping skins, think it is raining, and hasten to their houses.

Besides these, there exist other worlds, for instance, one in each direction of the compass, which represent receiving-places for sacrifices, mentioned before; {See p. 303.} a separate world under water; and a small dark world, belonging to the female ke'lE-bird, situated somewhere above, and apart from all others. In one tale, the hero and his companions descend to another world through a whirlpool. In the story of Atti'gitki, {See p. 306.} two brothers wandering in the open sea descend to a special world under water.

Some of the constellations are described as distinct worlds with a separate people, or with a Supreme Being who has large herds of reindeer, etc. For instance, each of the "Heads" has a mankind of its own. Pehi'ttin has an innumerable herd in the region of the star Hito'-Lap. His reindeer have no antlers. He can inflict misfortune on man by sending down to him one of his herdsmen with a part of the herd. The reindeer cannot be shot, and, by taking the place of the earthly game in the man's neighborhood, they deprive him of any chance of killing a reindeer. Moreover, they may induce an earthly herd to join them, and lead it away. Such an incident is related of both "Heads," the Dawn and the Evening, also of the "master" of land-game, Pičvu'čin.

In our world the sky is supposed to touch the earth on all sides of the horizon. Each border of the horizon is called "Attainable Border of the Sky" (Yê3-pkêt-ta'gin). On the four corners of it, the rocks of the sky come down to the rocks of the earth, like moving gates, shutting and opening alternately. According to the Chukchee belief, the birds, when flying to their own world every fall, have to pass between these rocks: therefore the gates are called "Attainable Border of the Birds" (Ga'lha-pkêt-ta'gin). The rocks shut so quickly that birds lagging behind are caught, and crushed between them. Their incessant movement, similar to the movement of bellows, produces winds, which blow from all sides of the horizon. The ground around the rocks is covered a fathom deep with bloody mud of pounded bird-flesh; and feathers fly about like snow. These moving gates have existed from the time of the first creation. In some tales, men are said to have originated from the fragments produced by the friction of the "Attainable Border of the Sky" against the rocks of the earth. The peltry-bearing country, from which come all animals with rarefur, and also wild reindeer, lies on this side of the border of the sky.

Soul. -- The soul is called uvi'rit, or more rarely uvê'kkirgin. Both words are probably from the same root, uvi'k ("body"). Uvê'-kkirgin may mean "belonging to the body." Tetke'yuñ means the "vital force of a living being." Its seat is the heart or the liver. Animals and even plants possess it. Very little, however, is said about it, and its name even is mentioned in only a few incantations.

According to Chukchee beliefs, man has several souls besides the one pertainig to the whole body. There are special "limb-souls" for the hands and feet. Occasionally these latter may be lost, then the corresponding limb begins to ache, and gradually withers. {The Eskimo of eastern Greenland have similar beliefs. According to them, man has several souls. The largest dwell in the larynx and in the left side, and are tiny men, about the size of a sparrow. The other souls dwell in other parts of the body, and are of the size of a finger-joint. If one of them is taken away, the member to which it belongs sickens (Holm, Meddelelser om Grønland, Part X, p. 112, cited from Fritjof Nansen, Eskimo Life, p. 227).} The Chukchee call a man whose nose is easily frost-bitten "short of souls" (uviri'tkilin), meaning that some part of his vital force must have left his body unawares. The "limb-souls" stay on the spot where they were lost. A shaman, however, can call them to himself, and they become his "assistant spirits" (ya'nřa-ka'lat). The "souls" are very small. When passing by, they produce a sound like the humming of a bee or the droning of a beetle.

One or all of the "souls" of the whole person may be stolen by the ke'let, then the man becomes sick, and finally dies. The shaman can find and restore a missing "soul." The "soul," when found by a shaman, often assumes the shape of a black beetle. When put on the body of the patient, it will crawl all over his head, trying to find a hole into which to slip. Then the shaman will open the skull, and put the beetle in its proper place. The beetle may enter through the mouth, the armpit, the intestines, the toes and fingers, etc.

If the shaman fails to find the "soul," he can blow into the person a part of his own spirit to become a "soul;" or he may give him one of his "assistant ke'let" to replace the missing "soul." {The Eskimo of Greenland have similar beliefs. Compare Fritjof Nansen, Eskimo Life, p. 298.}

Ke'let, when getting possession of a "soul," often take it to their world and pinion its hands, or bind all its limbs separately with strong bands. Then they put it behind the lamp, in the place where many small things are usually kept. In the tale of "The Scabby Shaman," the female ke'lE-bird, after having brought home the "soul" of Ri'ntew, secures it with iron bands, puts it behind the lamp, and feeds it with choicest meat and tallow in order to fatten it and make it fit to be eaten.

In another tale, a ke'lE forces a stolen "soul" to watch his lamp and trim it; in still another, he uses it as a trimming-stick.

"Souls" are liable to injury even from material weapons. I know of a case where a man struck his wife with a firebrand. The woman died in two days. The relatives, after ripping up and investigating the dead body, said that none of her vital organs were injured, but that probably the man wounded her "souls" with the blow. Ke'let, also, have "souls" of their own, which may be lost, or spirited away by shamans.

Regions of the Deceased. -- There are several places where the deceased abide. They lead a life similar to that on earth. They are often confounded with the Upper People, or with the Lower People of the underground world. They say to an earthly visitor, "We are people that have lived on earth." Children that die here are born there, and vice versa. In one tale it is related how a wanderer comes to the upper world, where he is kindly received, and treated to the best of everything. After a while his host offers to get him a bride. The youth assents. His host opens a hole in the ground by pulling out the stopper, and the lower world is in full view. Five girls are playing ball near a lake. The host angles for one of them with a sharp fish-hook. He succeeds in catching her by the navel, and drags her up; but he has caught only her "soul," the body is left down below. Her companions wail because of her sudden death. The girl marries the youth, and they live for a while with their heavenly host. In the end he gives them permission to leave, and he himself lets them down to earth.

Another way for the dead to ascend to heaven is to follow the smoke of their funeral pyre. This is given as a reason for burning dead bodies. In one tale a shaman, every time he wishes to visit the upper world, is killed and burned on his pyre, and then ascends with the smoke. He comes down again in a whirlwind. The reindeer of his sleigh must be caught by the occupants of his house as he rushes by: otherwise he will pass by, and never return.

The Aurora Borealis is chiefly the place of abode for those who die a sudden or violent death. The whitish spots are the people who died from contagious diseases; the red spots are those stabbed "with a knife; the dark spots are those strangled by the "spirits" of nervous diseases; the changeable rays are deceased people running about and playing ball with a walrus-head which is alive. It roars when in motion, after it has been tossed. It wants to strike with its tusks anybody who tries to catch it. {See also Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 146.} Men who have been strangled with a slip-noose at their own request, have honorary places among the spectators; or they themselves may play, but do so in a very awkward manner, because of the rope dangling behind them on the ground. According to the belief of the Gilyak of the Amur country, the souls of those who die a violent death, including suicides, ascend directly to heaven; while those who die a natural death remain on earth, or descend underground. {L. Schrenck, Reisen und Forschungen im Amur-Lande, Vol. III, Part II, p. 650.}

One of the sketches (Fig. 235) represents the Aurora Borealis. Two cross-lines divide the sky into four equal portions. The centre is the zenith. It is surrounded by a circle, which represents its house. The region of Dawn is in the left-hand corner, below. In the lower part of the picture lies the land of Darkness. The sky is studded with stars. The Aurora Borealis is represented by several parallel bands. In the region of the uppermost band abide the "genuine dead" (li'i-vi'3lit); that is, those who died an ordinary death. The second band is heavier. There abide "[through] ke'lE dead" (ke'le-vi'lit). The third band is thin. There live the "strangled ones" (ilhi'pilit). In the region of Darkness, near the Moon, abide those killed with cudgels; for instance, black shamans caught while working spells. In the region of Dawn abide the "bloody ones" (moLi'yfiit); that is, all killed with sharp weapons, especially those who were killed at their own request.

Deceased women who have no husbands go to a world of their own. They live there, catching reindeer with nooses and nets as they come to cross Pebbly River. Their world is situated in the lower portion of the sky, and it is much less important than the first upper world.

While some of the dead are in these upper worlds, the usual place of abode for the deceased is underground. Their country is very extensive, and full of intricate paths which puzzle new-comers. The sketch Fig. 236 represents the paths in the world of the dead as they are claimed to have been seen, in a deep swoon, by the man who drew it. The circular marks represent holes through which new-comers enter. The smallest of them are intended for those who died by strangulation.

A new-comer to the world of the dead has to pass at first through a region inhabited by dogs, who live in small earth huts of their own. Men who during their lives were unkind to dogs, and habitually beat them, will be attacked by the dogs underground, and bitten severely. {The same is believed among the Koryak. See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 103.} The forefathers and relatives of a new-comer meet him, and lead him to their place: otherwise he would be unable to find his way. Other dead people will also come out to watch him, and investigate everything that he has brought. For this reason, no dead man is provided with reindeer taken from another's herd, with clothes made at a strange hearth, or with anything stolen or obtained unlawfully. In the underground world all such things would be seized by the family of their lawful proprietors. A poor man with no reindeer of his own fares best if he walks to the underground country, supporting himself with a staff and wearing clothes cut and made by his own women.

The houses of the deceased are said to be large round tents without any seams, and shining like bubbles of saliva. Their reindeer-herds are numerous, and consist of animals brought for sacrifice or slaughtered for meat, and of wild reindeer killed in the hunt. Some of the inhabitants, however, live by sea-pursuits on the shores of an ocean which abounds with walrus. The men and the walrus play a kind of game in which the walrus pop up out of the water, then dive again, while the men try to shoot them. When an animal is shot, it is hauled ashore and eaten: then the bones are thrown back into the water, and it comes to life again.

Some of the beliefs concerning the condition of the deceased in the world beyond the grave seem to be contradictory., For instance, the assertion that people, when they die, are killed by ke'let or shamans, and their souls are eaten by ke'let, is hard to harmonize with the detailed description of the life which different groups of the deceased lead in the other world. I believe, however, that these apparently contradictory ideas represent the feeling of the Chukchee, from different points of view, toward death and the world beyond the grave. Immediately after the death of a relative, under the weight of the great sorrow, the Chukchee inclines to consider it a murder, and tries to find out the one who caused the death, that he may place the responsibility for it on men or spirits. When time has weakened the first impression, he forgets the part the ke'hs is supposed to have taken in the death, and endeavors to picture to himself various features of the life the deceased lead in their own dominions.

Another important seeming contradiction refers to the influence which the deceased may have on the good or bad fortune of living human beings. One line of native thought is inclined to consider the deceased as benevolent protectors of their descendants. Some details in the arrangement of the household charm-string {See Chapter XIII.} show elements of a real cult of ancestors.

A complete stranger, even, when passing by chance a graveyard where a corpse is exposed, may assure himself of the protection of the deceased, provided he is deferential, and gives proper offerings in crumbs of meat and tobacco.

According to another belief, spread much more widely among the Chuk-chee, the deceased become, after death, a kind of ke'let hostile to man, and inclined to do harm. The ke'let in question are of course those of the first class, called "genuine ke'let."

A corpse lying in the open will stand up and give pursuit when a lone traveller passes by. The deceased is also inclined to come back to his own house, and to harm the people thereof. I shall speak of this in more detail later on.

XIII. -- CHARMS AND SACRED OBJECTS.

While the religious rites of both branches of the Chukchee tribe are comparatively homologous, their material accompaniment presents many striking differences, conformable to the material life of the maritime and inland branches of the tribe.

Thus we find that, while the individual charms of both branches of the Chukchee tribe and of the Asiatic Eskimo are quite similar to each other, the family charms are arranged according to their connection with the pursuits of their material life. The families of reindeer-breeders use charms and amulets to protect their herds; while those of the maritime people use them to secure success in hunting.

The same may be said regarding the ceremonials. The individual ceremonials -- those connected with death, burial, and marriage -- are much the same among the two branches of the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo.

The family ceremonials are arranged in a regular cycle, are celebrated from season to season throughout the year, and are directly connected with the pursuits of material life: therefore those of the reindeer-breeders differ from those of the maritime people. In this respect the difference between the Reindeer Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo is still greater. Some of the ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee bear a resemblance to those of the Reindeer people, and show only such changes as result from their diversity in material culture. Many of their ceremonials are similar to the religious rites of the Asiatic Eskimo. In this respect, as in many others, the customs of the Maritime, Chukchee occupy a middle ground between those of the Asiatic Eskimo and those of the Reindeer Chukchee. Each family, moreover, has its peculiar groups of images and ceremonials, characterized by special details, and differing from those used by neighboring families. These differences develop continually under orders received from shamans, or directly from spirits through dreams. In this way, even the chief ceremonials of the year come to be observed somewhat differently by neighboring camps and by different families in the same villages.

Amulets. -- The charms of both the Reindeer and the Maritime Chukchee are used as amulets; that is, as objects having peculiar power, which they may use for the benefit of a person who has possession of them.

It is probable that primitive man began to use amulets very early, in the first stage of religious development. Regarding all surrounding objects, animate and inanimate, as living and powerful enemies, he, from the very first, thought it necessary to propitiate the good-will of the most important of them, and to rely upon their protection against all others.

Thus originated sacrifice to the mountains, rivers, etc., and to the chief phenomena of nature, such as thunder or wind. These, however, could not be used as amulets by man, because of their size; and their protection, therefore, could not be considered as quite secure. Man from the beginning, probably, would pick up some of the smaller objects which struck his fancy by the singularity of their outward appearance or by the circumstances under which they were found in the wilderness. From this singularity he assumed, first, that they had peculiar force, and, second, that they wished him to take them for his protectors.

Thus Urey Lisiansky says of the inhabitants of Kadiak, that as soon as spring comes their whale-hunters wander over the mountains in search of eagle-feathers, bear's hair, stones of unusual shape, roots, bird-skulls, and such like, for use as amulets. {Urey Lisiansky, Voyage around the World (in Russian), St. Petersburg, 1812, II, p. 93.} The same thing is told by Veniaminoff, regarding the Aleuts, in his "Notes on the Islands of the Unalashka District."

To illustrate the primitive conception of amulets, a story from Krashe-ninnikoff may be given. It refers to a native, a member of a Maritime Koryak tribe, who lived in the village Uka, on the eastern shore of northern Kamchatka. The native in question had suffered for several years from an obnoxious disease, probably syphilis.

One day, while walking along the bank of the little river A'dka, he found a stone. When he picked it up, the stone blew on him as if with human breath. He threw it away, and his illness increased to such an extent that he kept to his bed through the summer and winter. The next year he went to look for the stone, and after a long search found it several miles distant, lying on a flat stone slab. Close to it lay another stone of smaller size. He picked up both, took them home, and made clothes for them. Shortly after that, he recovered entirely from his illness. Ever after, he kept the larger stone as his wife, and the smaller one as his son, and took the latter with him on all his hunting-trips.

I have heard stories of the same character from the Chukchee, and have met persons who had picked up amulet wives or husbands in the same way. The amulets had nothing peculiar in their outward shape; but they desired special people to pick them up, and made this clear to them by some sign or action. One man stumbled against a stone and nearly sprained his ankle, and thus learned that the stone wanted to become his amulet. Another, while sleeping on the tundra, found the amulet under his pillow, etc.

Primitive man, in selecting his amulets as well as in offering sacrifices to surrounding objects, must have adopted very early some simple rites, which were suggested at first by various accidents, but which were soon looked upon as quite indispensable. The more vague and unsettled the primitive conception of the mysterious force of surrounding objects, the greater was the tendency of man to have some stable element of his religious conceptions in the manner, at least, of carrying out the rites. Thus we find that, while the average Reindeer Chukchee is quite unable to explain who the beings are to whom he sacrifices, he is very positive about the details of the sacrifice and about various acts connected with it. There is a marked tendency to maintain the observance of these performances, which have obtained a firmer hold than the ideas they represent, and which the people continue to observe even when their original purport is greatly changed, or even wholly lost and forgotten.

Primitive magic performances include certain acts, and utterances of verbal formulas which tend to acquire an established text that is learned by heart. A verbal formula with its prescribed act forms an incantation, and one is rarely used without the other. An incantation is thought to increase the mysterious force of an amulet and make it more permanent. The Koryak give expression to this idea by calling their amulets "fixed by an incantation" (ewya'nwičō). {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 44.} They even say that the force of the amulets and of the incantations is weakened by age, and that they must be renewed from time to time. With the Chukchee, however, incantations have not such prominence, and the chief potency of amulets lies in the inherent power the natives ascribe to them. {See Chapter XV, section on incantations.}

In selecting amulets, primitive man is not satisfied with objects as they present themselves to him naturally. Actuated by a general desire to accentuate the anthropomorphous qualities of the objects of his veneration, he very early undertakes to improve them with his own hand and to give them a human-like form. In this, however, he does not go beyond the first steps, because the power of a belief once established hinders further innovation. Thus, among the Chukchee as among the Koryak, the anthropomorphous amulets are shaped very crudely, while children's toys are often made in a truly artistic manner.

We find among the Chukchee both classes of amulets, -- those of natural shape, and those worked up by man. To the first class belong stones, pieces of bone, and other objects, which are picked up under various circumstances, as was said before. For purposes of divination, stones are generally used, as will be explained in Chapter XV. Amulets of animal provenience belong to the same class. These may consist of dried skins, or be represented by a small part of a skin, by a skull, by the tip of the nose, by a single claw, or by a tuft of hair. A bird is represented by a feather.

"Wooden Spirits" -- The amulets wrought into human shape appear as small human images roughly shaped out of various material. Some are made of wood, and usually consist of a small branch- of wood forked at one end so as to represent the legs (Fig. 237, a). Sometimes two other branches represent the arms (Fig.' 238). Others are made of leather, or are painted in color on leather or wood, or are even pricked into the skin of the face or hands with a needle. All are very imperfectly shaped, and consist usually of a straight line with a mere suggestion of a head and four extremities.

Those made of wood are called ok-ka'-mak (pl. ok-ka'makit), which means literally "wooden spirit." It is interesting to note that the word "ka'mak" is Koryak, and is rarely used by the Chukchee. {See p. 289, Footnote 3. Ka'mak means in Koryak "evil spirit," and is identical with ka'ia (Chukchee, ke'lE). It is used in Russo-Chukchee jargon with the meaning "to die," "death," "devil." In genuine Chukchee also, kama'gritm ("ka'mak's tooth") means "mammoth's tusk," "mammoth ivory." Ok-ka'mak with the Koryak is the name of a large wooden pole representing the "guardian of the village."} On the whole, human images of this. shape have no special names. Some amulets are carved by the Chukchee out of wood or ivory, and with more care than these rough images. They are called "faces" (lu'3lqälti), because they consist chiefly of a head or a face. The term "face" is also applied by the Koryak to small carved amulets. They call such amulets "spirit faces" (ka'mak-lu'3u). Some of the faces also represent animals or birds.

Guardians. -- The common Chukchee name for all these Charms is "watch-keeper" (ginnre'tilin) or "guardian" (inend.u'lin). Their function is to protect objects and persons to whom they are attached. They are also called "assistant" (vi'yolin), "helper" (vinre'tilin), or "assisting companion" (vinre't-tu'mgin). {Compare p. 319.} Most of them are carried by their owners on the body, and their protection is considered especially desirable when travelling in unknown parts. They are therefore called "that used in travel" (lei'gukin), or "travelling companion" (lei'gu-tu'mgin). The form of these is practically identical with the form of those of the Koryak. {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 32 et seq.}

Each man has one or several "guardians." They are worn on the necklace, or are fastened to the belt. Among the amulets of animal provenience, preference is given to the ermine, because it is so nimble and active. Other small skins, skulls, claws, and feathers of birds, are also used. {Skins of small birds and animals are also in use as amulets among the American Eskimo. Compare Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 137.} These charms are supposed, in case of need, to turn into living animals, and to give required help. In many tales the owner puts on the skin or the feather, and turns temporarily into the animal or the bird from which they were taken. In actual life this may be done symbolically by means of an incantation.

Rude human images made of wood ("wooden spirits"), which represent the "guardians," are worn on the necklace, hidden generally in a small leather pouch. They are fastened to the collar or to the back of the dress of a new-born infant (Fig. 239). Rude figures cut out of curried leather, and similar in shape to the wooden crotches, are fastened to the clothing in various places, to the scabbard of the knife, to the walls or ceiling of the sleeping-room, to the clothes-bag, etc. They are called ki'pur or kepro'lhin. When adorned with beads, they form a conspicuous ornament (Fig. 240). Sometimes an image like this is painted or sewed on the walls of the sleeping-room, painted on the boats on both sides, near the bow, or pricked with a fine needle into a person's cheeks, forehead, or arms.

In an underground house in Nu'nligren I saw two human faces roughly scratched on top of one of the whalebone uprights near the entrance. The owner of the house called them also "guardians," and, while showing me the house, offered a sacrifice of tallow and tobacco to them. Faces of similar character were also found scratched on the top of the ladder-tree in a Koryak winter house. On the face or hands of a sick person a figure like Fig. 241 is tattooed to provide the sick one with a new "assistant." This is done especially in nervous diseases. In other maladies the aching limbs are tattooed. Tattooing is also resorted to by murderers, who will mark signs of this kind on their shoulders, hoping by this means to appropriate the soul of the murdered man, and turn it from a possible foe into an "assistant," or even cause it to become a part of himself.

I think it probable that the marks seen by Mr. Nelson {Nelson, p. 324.} on arrow and spear heads at East Cape, and supposed to represent the raven's foot, and symbolize the raven totem, were in reality simply sketches of "guardians." It is still more probable that two supposed raven-marks seen by him on a boy's forehead at Plover Bay {Ibid., p. 325, Fig. 115.} were nothing but these marks of a "guardian." Their position is quite similar to those represented in Fig. 241, though I have never seen a "guardian" mark with a round head at the top of it. It is clear, however, that they are intended for human figures.

The small circular marks tattooed on the cheeks of many male Maritime Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo are, according to the explanation by the natives, a kind of prevention against attacks by the ke'let, though originally they may have been only substitutes for labrets. {Compare p. 254.} The same custom prevails among the Aleuts. Sarytcheff mentions {Sarytcheff, I, p. 126.} that the women of the Andreyanoff Islands had on their cheeks small double circles tattooed with black. Hooper {Hooper, p. 150.} speaks of tattoo-marks which he has seen among the Asiatic Eskimo in Plover Bay. He gives a facsimile of two marks which were on the breast of a native, and which represent two fighting men. The general character of these marks is similar to those described above. The figures, however, have in their hands objects which resemble shields. No tribe of that country has ever known the use of the shield.

Some of the human images are considered as supernatural husbands or wives of their owners. At the time of ceremonials they are called "ceremonial husband" (mñi'kin uwč'quč) or "ceremonial wife" (mñi'qin ñe'wän). During the performance they are placed on the floor in an upright position. The owner steps forward and performs the usual dance opposite to his ceremonial mate, who is supposed to share in the action.

The figures of these mates are considered highly effective in cases where help is needed and for divination, especially when used by persons having skill in magic, who consider themselves shamans. A female shaman in the Kolyma country showed me a stone of a strange form, with two projections at one end, similar to the two branches of a "wooden spirit." It had a string tied around it, and could be used as a divining-stone. The woman called it her husband, and said she loved it much more than she did her living mate. She assured me that most of her children were conceived from this stone. {Compare p. 339.}

Some personal "guardians" made of wood are carved with more care than the usual crude wooden crotches. Some of these are represented in Fig. 242. The second figure has a dog attached to it for hunting. We shall find numerous figures of a similar character on the family charm-strings of the Chukchee. Among carved animal faces we find the walrus, the polar bear, the black bear, the wolf, and the raven. The dog is also a favorite, because, as I have said before, {Compare p. 13.} the dog or its image is supposed to give protection against evil spirits.

When necessary, the figures can not only acquire life, but grow to very large proportions. A woman who had two small figures of black bears told me that ordinarily she kept them in her work-bag; but whenever she thought she was in danger from spirits (for instance, if a contagious disease broke out in the vicinity), she took the bears from the bag and put them on the ground on either side of the entrance to the house. They were supposed to keep watch in the way described in the folk-tales, and represented in pencil-sketches.

A necklace to which is attached a walrus-head carved in ivory is represented in the chapter on clothing. {See p. 256, Fig. 187, b.} Another amulet of this kind is shown in Fig. 243, a. It consists of a double-headed dog carved in ivory and made like a small toggle. The image and a single bead are tied to the back of the leather belt. {Compare Fig. 259.} This is considered an especially suitable place for wearing amulets. The ermine-skin amulet which is sometimes attached to the necklace is often fastened to the back of the belt instead. {See also the belt amulet, p. 244, Fig. 176.} Fig. 243, b, is a similar amulet worn on the belt of a Chukchee. It is made of wood, and represents a canoe with paddle. The shape is quite similar to a wooden button of the Baffin-Land Eskimo described by Boas. {Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 52, Fig. 76.}

Human or animal "faces" are frequently carved on the handles of snow-beaters for the purpose of giving protection to their owners. The snow-beaters are then called "having a face" (gelu'3lqALin), Fig. 243, с. {Compare also p. 176, Fig. 98.} А snow-beater with a carved face is especially important for a man who has to live alone in the wilderness, like a herdsman or a hunter.

Fig. 244 is a "guardian" in the shape of a dog, but with a human face on the front of the muzzle. It is covered with a coat made of skin. Combinations of animal figures with additional human faces are often met with on the carvings of the American Eskimo. {Compare Nelson, p. 448, Figs. 162-164.}

Beads. -- Beads are usually substituted for small images and faces of every kind, and they are transformed into charms by means of incantations. The virtue of the bead is twofold, since it may at the same time be considered a charm and an offering to the spirits. A thin strip of leather or sinew with a bead strung on one end of it is a typical single charm.

In the chapter on clothing {See p. 258.} I spoke of the way in which beads are arranged for ornaments, while at the same time many of them serve as charms. A narrow strip of leather with a single bead fastened to it is tied as a bracelet around one of the wrists of an infant shortly after its birth, and is worn throughout life. It is called "hand-wrapper" (ming-a'ččaw). In many cases it is put on the left wrist, because the left hand is a hand of bad luck and the spirits are supposed to approach man from the left side. When the charm is put on an infant's wrist, the infant is said to be "swallowed" by it. This implies a wish to proclaim that there is nothing left for the "spirits" to swallow. Similar ideas are expressed in incantations, as will be explained later.

Many people, especially women, wear bands of similar shape tied around their arms. These are called "arm-wrappers" (ronm-a'ččaw).

Pendants made of a bead strung on a strip of leather are sewed to various parts of the clothing, especially that of women and children. Thus they are made to serve as charms and ornaments at the same time. A head-band with a few beads fastened on it, "head-wrapper" (če'wčeččew), likewise has protective power. In the Kolyma country the beads on such headbands are sometimes replaced by tiny bits of wood. This was probably the older form of this charm. They are called "manikins" (qla'ulqaitê). Whenever disease comes, it is sure to strike one of them. In several tales the hero, when fighting with a supernatural being, is saved from death by his head-band, because every blow aimed at him can only strike one of the manikins.

After the death of a near relative, if it is feared that the "spirit of disease," or that the deceased, will come for new victims, the Chukchee fasten a bead on the head, stringing it on a lock of hair without any thread or leather.

A bead which has become a charm may be put in a tiny bag, and worn in place of a necklace. Sacrifices of beads strung on leather or thread are frequently presented to "spirits" as expiatory offerings to ward off disease. On a big whale's rib stuck into the ground, which represents the local deity in the village of Če'čin, {See Fig. 285.} I found many such offerings (Fig. 245). Single beads strung on a thread are exchanged in concluding a bond of friendship between strangers. When I came to Indian Point, we concluded a bond of this character with the trader Kuwar, and exchanged a coil of thong with a bead fastened at one end.

In taking anthropological measurements, we met with cases in which the people measured declared on the next morning that they felt ill. This was, of course, ascribed to our malevolent instruments. The affected party, to prevent more serious consequences, would usually ask for a bead strung on a piece of sinew, in order to make an expiatory sacrifice of it to the "spirits." They could not tell, however, what particular kind of "spirits" it -was necessary to appease, nor did they think it of any importance, if only he required sacrifice were performed.

Some amulets consist of pieces of skin tied in various knots, without any likeness to living figures, as may be seen on the necklace of Fig. 190 (p. 258), and on the back of the belt, Fig. 176 (see p. 244). These knots are usually tied by a shaman, who imparts to them some of his magic power. They may, however, be fashioned by a man himself according to a shaman's directions, or after orders received in a dream.

There are, however, persons who do not wear amulets at all. Some are forbidden by the "spirits" to avail themselves of this kind of protection. Others abstain from following the usage on the ground of philosophical reasoning. "I do not wear anything upon my body," said such a person to me, "because I am convinced that protection by such small objects must be a mere delusion." A shaman by the name of Scratching-Woman even went further, and declared that all sacred things made by man are good for nothing. He said that the fire-tool boards, strings of images, and dolls are of no real use. "Nothing created by man has any power. On the contrary, all power is in the deity, who created man himself and the objects of his hunt."

Amulets are also attached to the various implements used in fishing and hunting. Thus, wooden images of seals are fastened to a seal-net among its floats, for the purpose of drawing to it other seals and capturing them. Sometimes all the floats of a seal-net are in the form of such images. {Compare Nelson, p. 188.} At other times a gay-colored bead forms the amulet. The large bag-net represented on p. 149, Fig. 63, has an amulet like this strung on one of its meshes. Small pieces of red cloth or curried leather, roughly fashioned like human figures, are often attached to nets, fishing-tackle, rifles, and self-acting bows. They represent "assistants," which were spoken of before.

Family Charms of the Reindeer Chukchee. -- The family charms are more complicated than the individual ones, but we shall see that they consist chiefly of amulets of the various kinds described. These amulets are joined together and form a sacred object, protecting the material welfare of the family, and guarding it against attacks by evil spirits.

I have mentioned that the family charms of the Reindeer Chukchee differ from those of the Maritime people. The family charms and sacred things in use among the Reindeer Chukchee protect their material welfare, particularly in regard to whatever affects the herd.

Hearth. -- The chief place among the sacred things of the household belongs to the hearth itself, to the fire of which a spark is added from each of the hereditary fire-tools at every ceremonial. Each family has a fire of its own, and interchange of fire is strictly prohibited. Families whose fires are derived from different lines of ancestors, even though living for years in the same camp, will carefully guard against any contact of their fires. To borrow a neighbor's fire is held to be one of the greatest sins. If a camp is pitched on the spot formerly occupied by another family, the Chukchee woman, in order to start a new fire,- will not avail herself of the coal or wood that was left. Even when camped on the treeless tundra, she will break up the sledges for fire-wood rather than take a single splinter bearing marks of an alien fire. Interchange of household utensils connected with the hearth -- like kettles, dishes, lamps, receptacles for meat, etc. -- is also strictly forbidden. It is even considered sinful to warm at one hearth a piece of cold meat which has been boiled at another. All these restrictions, however, refer only to the "genuine fire," obtained for a native hearth by means of a wooden drill and the sacred fire-board.

On the other hand, the strike-a-light, sulphur-dish, and matches may be freely borrowed and interchanged, because they have nothing to do with the sacred family fire. A Chukchee woman will also take from a neighbor of her tribe a match, or flint and steel, because these have nothing to do with the sacred family fire; but she will not take willow tinder, because it is mixed with coal, and the coal was taken from the alien hearth. She will show the same aversion to the fire of the Reindeer Koryak, who also have sacred fire-tools; but she will not hesitate to borrow a firebrand or burning coals from a Russian or from a Lamut. {I met, however, among the Anui camps, especially In the more remote parts of the country, people who would not allow even a match struck in their sleeping-room, fearing contamination of their household penates. No alien man would be allowed to busy himself around their fire, not even to put in place a brand or a kettle with food to be cooked.}

During my travels I had much trouble with women on account of the fire. Many of them had no teakettles of their own, and yet refused to boil water in mine because it had stood by an alien hearth. Sometimes their scruples would give way at the prospect of drinking hot tea. In other cases we had to make a separate fire, and drink our tea outside of the tent.

Brothers, cousins, and relatives of male descent, while living in the same camp, or at least in the same neighborhood, may freely interchange fire. If one of them has moved to a distant country, his fire gradually becomes estranged from the primary hearth, because it consumes strange fuel, and inhales alien and unseemly odors. In this way, even brothers who have been separated for a long term of years may lose the right to interchange their fires.

When there are two or more fires of different family descent in the same camp, a community fire may result, if the children playing together should happen to mix one fire with another. The respective families will then bring a common sacrifice, and for the future will keep up a common fire. The community of related people who use fire from a common source are called "those having the same fire" (Enna'n-yi'nlit). This term is equivalent to another one which designates kinship in the male line, -- "old buck-fellow community" (kirñe'-tu'mgi-ret).

Most of the camps have a common fire because their inhabitants belong to related families. Difficulties regarding the fire arise in the camps of rich reindeer-breeders, who hire poor assistants (coming often from a quite distant country), and also among very poor families, who not infrequently are heedless of the ties of relationship when they join their herds together to watch them more effectually. Sometimes near relatives, even brothers, will sever their fire from the family fire. When a house has been visited by misfortune and the anger of "spirits," -- for instance, when many grown people or male children belonging to it have died, -- it may suddenly be cast out from the community of fire. In this case the man who pronounces the protecting incantation {Compare, Chapter XVII.} may cut off the fire of the stricken family during the funeral ceremony, so that others may not share in its bad fortune. {For a description of the defiling of the family hearth by syphilis, see p. 41.}

The hearth is closely connected with the herd. The chief ceremonial of the year, held early in the fall, represents the meeting of hearth and herd after the summer's separation. A large sacred fire is built, and the animals are driven to it from the leeward side, so that the breath of the fire may drive away the for trade than the Russians. From the Anadyr came complaints that the people of the district were forgotten by the Russians and did not get any wares. A tradition of the Anui Chukchee relates that three Chukchee warriors took captive the deputy of the Czarina, {Catharine the Second.} and consented to release him only upon his promise to establish an annual fair. After this, to appease his anger, they gave him rich presents of black and blue fox-skins. The Chukchee fair was held at irregular intervals, sometimes on the Dry Anui, near Mount Obrom, and at a place called Ostrovnoye ("Insular"), sometimes on the Large Anui, near the mouth of its affluent, the Angarka. Finally Ostrovnoye prevailed, because the Chukchee were more numerous on the Dry Anui; moreover, travelling on the Large Anui was difficult for dogs and reindeer because of the heavy snowfalls; while the Dry Anui, which is contiguous to the tundra, is more open to the winds. The Russians built at Ostrovnoye, a wooden fort called Fort Anuisk. The fair grew rapidly in importance, and in the second decade of the last century its traffic amounted to two hundred thousand rubles {A ruble is equivalent to about fifty cents.} yearly, which is a considerable sum in view of the scarcity of money in that period. Some of the best peltries (such as beaver, marten, and lynx), muskrat and marten garments, also a large portion of every kind of fox and polar-bear skins and of walrus-tusks, came from the American shore. For instance, in 1837, according to data contained in the official records found among the archives of Kolyma, there were sold at the fair 100 beavers, 395 martens, 30 lynxes, 31 marten garments, 13 musk-rat garments, etc., all from America, since these animals are not found in Asia. To this must be added about one-half of the 580 red foxes, 80 gray foxes, 13 black foxes, 268 white foxes, 8 blue foxes, and 1563 walrus-tusks sold that year at the fair. These figures, moreover, must be at least doubled to reach the real trade value, because the merchants of Kolyma always greatly underestimate data for official records. The products of reindeer-breeding were then of very slight importance, while at present they amount to about three-fifths of the total Anui purchases. The fair took place in the spring, and lasted three days; it was held in the open, before the gates of the Russian fort, sometimes even farther away on the ice of the river. The Chukchee came fully armed with spears, bows and arrows, and large knives tied to their belts. Altercations and brawls, and even bloodshed, were not uncommon because of disagreements about prices. Therefore in 1812 Gen. Treskin, the governor of Irkutsk, who also ruled the Yakutsk province (i. e., northeastern Siberia as far as Chaun Bay and the Anadyr River), ordered that trade in tobacco, the principal commodity, which was bartered by the Russians for beavers, foxes, martens, and walrus-tusks brought by the natives, should be conducted on terms fixed beforehand by the chief officer, with the advice of prominent merchants. The prices were fixed annually by the common consent of the merchants, and iron and copper kettles were often included in the list of commodities with fixed price.

At the usual rate, one pud (thirty-six pounds Avoirdupois) of tobacco or of iron kettles was equal to ten red foxes, and one pud of copper kettles was equal to twenty foxes. In later years a wolverine-skin or a large kettle was given in addition to the large tobacco-bags of three puds each, which were valued at sixty fox-skins. The value of other peltries was expressed in red-fox units. For instance, four white foxes were equal to one red fox, one gray fox or one beaver was equal to two red foxes, one black fox was equal to twenty red foxes, etc. The details of these rules were oppressive to the small traders, who were punished for the slightest infraction. In several instances even the richer merchants forfeited their right to trade with the Chukchee by accepting a seal-skin as the equivalent of a single missing paw in a lot of many hundred red-fox skins. The fox-skin should have had all four paws to be worth a price in tobacco. In the sixties of the last century, with the decline of the fair, the rules began to go out of use, and in 1869 they were abolished by Baron von Maydell.

In its most flourishing time, the Anui fair drew not only numerous Reindeer-camps and Kavra'lit traders, {See p. 12.} but also enterprising men from the maritime villages as far as East Cape and Indian Point, who came with dog-sledges the whole long distance, often running the risk of losing their animals from exhaustion on the return trip. These were called A/зtti-kavra'lit, i. e., "Dog-kavralit." Their route was along the Arctic coast as far as Ya'qan or even Cape Erri, then around Chaun Bay along the line of the Reindeer-camps, and across the watershed to the Upper Anui, whence an unbroken line of Anui camps led them to the fair. As late as 1879 Nordenskiöld saw several dog-sledges passing by on their return from the fair, while during the whole of my stay in the Kolyma district (1890-98), hardly a single dog-sledge came to the fair from the maritime villages.

At the present time about six or seven hundred people gather together for the Anui fair (Plate 11, Figs. 1, 2). One-fourth of these are Russians, Russianized natives, and Yakut, from settlements on the Anadyr, Kolyma, Alaseya, and Indighirka; one-fourth are Kolyma Lamut; and the rest, Reindeer Chukchee and Kavra'lit. Commerce has fallen off greatly, because American peltries have nearly ceased to come, and part of the peltries from the Asiatic shore are bought by the whalers. Of the remainder, a large portion goes to the Anadyr. Of late the total of the Anui trade has been, according to official data, from twenty to twenty-five thousand rubles annually. Of this amount, two thirds is contributed by the Reindeer Chukchee; the remaining third belongs to the Lamut, Russianized Yukaghir, etc.

Other Fairs. -- At about the time of the founding of the Anui fair, the Anadyr and the Telqä'p Chukchee began to trade at Gishiginsk and Kamenskoye, on the Sea of Okhotsk. In the beginning of the century, simultaneously with a spring fair for the Reindeer Koryak, was established another one for the southwestern Chukchee on the Parapolsky Dol, not far from the upper part of the river Opuka. In the village of Markova, on the Middle Anadyr, a fair was held, for the Anadyr and O'nmihn Chukchee. During the last fifteen years, from the time of the institution of separate district administration in Anadyr, three more fairs were opened, -- one, the Tumanskaya fair, on the west (Plate in, Fig. 1), near the mountain Frgu-nei ("pointed mountain"), chiefly for the Telqä'p Chukchee; another in the small village of Wkarena, on the Middle Anadyr, for the O'nmilin; and a third on the Yeropol River, for the Chukchee of the Upper Anadyr and for the Lamut (Plate in, Fig. 2). The extent of trade in the Anadyr region, however, is by no means sufficient to support all these fairs, the annual receipts being about twenty thousand rubles. In 1901, on account of heavy snows, only two Telqä'p camps went to the Tumanskaya fair, and but three O'nmilm camps to the Wkarena. The annual trade at the Chukchee fair on the Opuka River amounts to not more than a few thousand rubles.

Routes. -- In former times a few Russian traders went with dog-sledges along the seashore from the mouth of the Kolyma to the Arctic villages. This route was shorter, but more difficult, than the inland one, because between the mouth of the Kolyma and Cape Erri there are no settlements whatsoever. The last of these traders was the Cossack, Ivan Kudrin, who, in 1882, brought W. H. Gilder to the Kolyma, and in a way wanted to take him captive, as Mr. Gilder relates in his book. {Gilder, p. 148.} Mr. Gilder names him Vanker, a corruption of his two names. The trouble evidently arose from their being unable to understand a single word of each other's language; though Kudrin, now deceased, had the reputation of being out of his mind. His brother, Theodore Kudrin, who is still living, is even one of the few Russian shamans of the Lower Kolyma.

The people of the Pacific villages continue to go every year with dog-teams to the Russian settlements on the Anadyr, because the route to that point is much shorter than to the Anui. The best place for meeting is not at the fairs mentioned above, but in the neighborhood of the mouth of the Anadyr, whither the journey from the nearest Chukchee village, across Holy Cross Bay, can be made, in the spring of the year, in five or six days. For half a century the meeting-place has been on the tundra, twenty miles northward from the mouth of the Anadyr, near the Hare Mountains; but for the last ten years two small fairs have been arranged instead at Mariinsky Post, -- one in the spring, and the other in the summer, about the time of the arrival of the mail-steamer. In the spring about fifty dog-sledges come from the Chukchee and Eskimo villages as far as Indian Point, and about twice as many reindeer-sledges from the O'nmilin and Telqä'p camps. In summer ten or fifteen skin boats from the same maritime villages, a few boats of the Telqä'p Reindeer Chukchee, and even some of the Kerek, visit the port.

Tobacco and Brick-Tea. -- Of all Russian wares, tobacco held the first place. The craving of the natives for it is aptly expressed in a tale well known to all tribes of northeastern Siberia.

In the time of a tobacco famine, when all the people were nearly mad because they had nothing to smoke, one well-to-do reindeer-breeder possessed a large pouch quite filled with tobacco, but would not share it with any one. At last his own brother asked for a pipeful, and was refused. The next day he overtook the owner of the tobacco on the tundra, stabbed him from behind with his spear, ripped open his breast, and took out his lungs, which he found covered with soot. He scraped away a part of this, and used it to fill his pipe. The pouch he left untouched. When caught by the Cossacks and brought before the Russian magistrate, he showed him the big pouch and the sooty lungs, and was acquitted of the charge.

Tobacco has found its way from Siberia far eastward into arctic America. The Chukchee tradition in regard to the ancient trade, previously referred to, continues as follows: --

"Farther on live men who dissever themselves at will. They stay among the trees on the shores of the lakes, cleft in halves; but, at the slightest rustling, the parts come together, and they dive into the water. These, too, have a longing for tobacco, and pay for it with large fish and otters.

"Still deeper in the woods live dwarfs not larger than the fore-arm of a man. Three of them can hardly overcome one goose. They dwell in trees, and buy tobacco with the skins of the lynx and of the muskrat.

"Then, again, there are shaggy people with the bodies of polar bears and the faces of men. These pay best of all, since for a small piece of the black deposit from a pipe-stem, not larger than a finger-nail, they will give a marten.

"And all men of that land covet tobacco throughout their lives."

The kind of tobacco traded with the Chukchee was the strong cheap tobacco of southern Russia, called Cherkassky (Черкасскій, from the old Muscovite name for the southern Russians, Черкасы). Some English authors (for instance, Nelson {Nelson, p. 229.}) misspell it "Circassian" (Cherkessky, Черкесскій). It is sold either in bundles of about a pound and a quarter each, Avoirdupois (Fig. 2) or in large and small bags. A small bag has about twenty-five bundles; a large one, three times as many. A bag of the latter size generally forms one side of the usual horse-pack. Since the arrival of the whalers on the Pacific shores, American smoking and chewing tobacco has begun to replace the Russian, because it is sold more cheaply, and is brought in abundance every summer. The natives, even as far as St. Lawrence Island, still prefer the Russian tobacco, however, and are often willing to pay a higher price for a smaller quantity of it.

Other Russian wares are sugar, iron and copper kettles, cottons, cheap warm scarfs and shawls, cheap hardware and cutlery of Yakut make (brought from Yakutsk), beads, etc. Within the last fifty years brick-tea (tea compressed into so-called "bricks"), which furnishes the favorite drink of eastern Siberia, has become of more importance than anything else (Fig. 3). It is now used in the remotest inland camps and all along the Arctic and Pacific coasts. Those few people who still have no tea-kettle are derided by their neighbors as "tea-shunners" been strictly forbidden, but in the Kolyma country it forms one of the important items in the Russian dealings with the Chukchee. The town of Sredne-Kolymsk, which has three saloons, and imports from the south three hundred barrels (eighteen thousand bottles) of unrectified alcohol, is the central point whence the spirits are carried out through the settlements and camps. The traders have numerous ruses to elude official watchfulness when, it occasionally becomes more than nominal. For instance, they put small wooden flasks of alcohol, more or less diluted with water, in among the bundles of tobacco that are placed in large bags. These bags are afterwards sealed and sold to the rich Kavra'ht. The Yakut traders disguise the flasks by covering them with a kind of whipped cream, which is much used in the north in a hard, frozen state. Petty traders of Nishne-Kolymsk sometimes soak in alcohol fresh rye bread, still hot from the oven, and prepare a kind of bitter bread, afterwards to be sold at retail. Most frequently the traders and the officials simply take large quantities of alcohol to the camps and fairs, labelled "for personal use."

The Anui brawl of 1895, of which I spoke in the preceding chapter {See p. 45.}, arose out of the trade in spririts. On the Anadyr side, strong drink is scarce; and whatever is brought there, is actually for the personal use of the traders. The Chukchee have a chance to buy it only from the mail-steamer, which, during the two weeks of her stay in Anadyr Bay, forms a retail store for the sale of every kind of provisions.

On Bering Sea, trade, as already stated, was formerly carried on by parties of Chukchee and Eskimo traders, who travelled in large skin boats along the Arctic and Pacific coasts to East Cape, and thence crossed to America, after stopping at both the Diomede Islands. American natives also went to Asia, though not so frequently, because all the products of civilization came from the Asiatic side, and the prominent part in this trade belonged to its inhabitants.

Trade with Whalers. -- Since the year 1848, and especially after the purchase of Alaska, American whalers resorting to these waters started a trade on both shores of Bering Sea. In the beginning, the articles they sold were chiefly cheap rum, rifles and ammunition. Afterwards were added all kinds of wares needed by the natives, -- flour, biscuits, granulated sugar, black molasses, drilling and muslin, hardware and cutlery, beads, etc. They took in return chiefly whalebone, making enormous profits, since the natives had large stores of it for which they had no use except to make lashings and to shoe their sledge-bottoms. It is curious that Russian traders, even at present, care little for whalebone.

The trade in spirits has somewhat decreased in the last few years, because most of the whaling-captains have ceased to consider it a very desirable way of making profit. Of ten ships which called at Indian Point during my stay there in 1901, only two carried on a regular trade in rum. Besides, the natives are not so eager for liquor as formerly, because their means of buying have rather diminished, and new and varied wants have been acquired, which they are bent upon satisfying above everything else. However, quantities of rum, put into bladders and small gut bags, are carried inland far from Indian Point and East Cape. In the traffic in the Hare Mountains it even formed one of the most important items bartered by the Chukchee to the Russians. At present similar transactions take place at Mariinsky Post every time the Chukchee and Eskimo traders come from the north. Thus the relations of the Russians and the natives toward each other are quite reversed, as often happens in remote parts of Siberia. The Russians pay in tea, tobacco, etc., also in live dogs, which last are considered to be much better than the Chukchee race, and are taken every year from Anadyr to northern native villages.

The guns sold now by the whalers are chiefly Winchester rifles of 44, 45.60, or 45.70 calibre, for the most part second-hand. They also sell cheap shotguns, and reloading-tools for both kinds of guns. At present all the natives on both the Arctic and Pacific shores are armed with these rifles, and use them for every kind of hunting. At Indian Point alone the number of fire-arms in 1901 was over four hundred in a population of four hundred and forty. The Reindeer Chukchee eastward from the Kolyma also have many Winchester rifles; while those of the western tundra and of Omolon still use firelocks, with only a small number of second-hand Berdan rifles sold by the Russian Government.

Wheat flour has become an article of regular consumption on the Pacific shore, especially in times when seals are scarce. Then, according to the assertion of the natives, it is their only means of keeping off famine. In truth, during the spring of 1901, people in the village of I'зen, on Plover Bay, and also at Indian Point, lived chiefly on flour cakes baked with a little oil. The same spring, at Indian Point alone, about five hundred sacks of flour (forty-four pounds to the sack) were bought from the whalers. On the whole coast, about twenty-five hundred sacks of flour -- rather more than less -- are sold every summer. Among the Reindeer Chukchee, cakes made of wheat flour form one of the most relished dainties, while rye flour is little cared for, even in the vicinity of the Russian settlements.

Besides these provisions and wares, the natives willingly buy second-hand whaling-boats, small whaling-guns,, exploding-harpoons, and also mineral oil and oil-stoves; in 1901 even Primus lamps, ships' compasses, the use of which is well known to the Eskimo at least, etc., were traded in.

In 1882, Kuva'r, the richest trader of Indian Point, tried to buy a schooner for the purpose of carrying on whaling and trading on a larger scale. Unfortunately a Russian warship, the "Kreisser," had been sent that very year to keep off the American whaling-ships, and to seize such of them as might be found trespassing in Russian waters or carrying on unlawful trade on the shores. I cannot tell whether the "Kreisser" seized any American ships or not, though several of them have been taken at different periods; but she met the schooner "Henrietta," just bought by Kuva'r, and carried her off as a prize, in spite of all remonstrance. The schooner was afterwards fitted with a steam-engine and used for keeping watch on the Sea of Okhotsk, where she was lost in a storm in 1895. Kuva'r applied several times to the authorities for redress, but without avail. The officials in Vladivostok maintained that the schooner was not yet paid for; but I was told at Indian Point that Kuva'r gave for it the whalebone of two whales, a large pile of walrus-tusks, three bagfuls of white-fox skins, and three polar-bear skins. During my stay, another occasion to buy a schooner presented itself, and I was asked for advice as to the possibility of a second confiscation, but withheld my opinion.

American wares generally are twice as cheap as those brought from the interior of Siberia. Even those brought from Vladivostok by sea cannot compete with them, because most of them are of American origin, and have come by a more circuitous route. American granulated sugar forms an exception. It is inferior to the well-refined, hard lump-sugar of the Russians. American cutlery is not always so well adapted to the uses of the natives as are the rough strong knives made for this purpose in Yakutsk, Sredne-Kolymsk, Markova, etc. Moreover, the whalers do not trade in brick-tea, because they do not visit any Chinese or southern Siberian ports. Once or twice they brought brick-tea from Japan; but Japanese brick-tea is of much poorer quality than Chinese, and the cakes are smaller in size.

After the native stock of whalebone became exhausted, the whalers began to accept instead walrus ivory and the skins of white foxes and of black and polar bears. Other Asiatic peltries, such as those of red and cross foxes and of wolves, also skins from America, like the beaver and marten, are taken to the Russian fairs because they fetch a much better price in Asia than would be paid by the whalers. At the present time the chief source of income of the natives are fawn-skins, which are much needed by the American natives and by the Alaskan miners for making garments; also skins of full-grown reindeer for sleeping-bags, ready-made garments even of poor quality, and, most of all, various kinds of seal-skin boots, which are used both by the whaling-crews and by the miners. Asiatic and American natives sell these boots by the thousand every summer; but the demand keeps increasing, and in 1901 the price at Indian Point was a sack of flour per pair.

The chief places for trade continue to be East Cape, and especially Indian Point, where the sea is cleared of ice by the strong currents as early as the middle of April. Two or three native traders in both places have acquired year by year a larger amount of native products, until finally they are able to obtain by exchange each summer a sufficient amount of European wares to last for the trade of the whole year. They have even bought wooden storehouses brought on purpose from San Francisco.

At the present time the whole number of such storehouses on the Pacific shore is fourteen. Indian Point has five, of which three belong to Kuva'r, now the richest man on the Chukchee Peninsula. Nѳ'ѳkan has three; Uwe'len, one. Single storehouses are found in several Eskimo and Chukchee villages.

The whalers seldom skirt the Arctic coast westward from Uwe'len, and even then almost never go beyond Kulu'či Bay. All the Maritime people who wish to take part in this trading, resort, those from the Arctic villages, to East Cape; those from the Pacific villages, to Indian Point. No positive times are set for these gatherings; but, beginning with the middle of March, the dog-teams and reindeer-caravans begin to appear one after another. They keep coming long after the appearance of the first whaling-ships, because the snow melts away only late in the spring. Travelling with skin boats begins at the end of May, and from July on wholly replaces journeying with sledges. Only skin boats are used, since it is difficult to make a landing with wooden whaling-boats, owing to the heavy surf, and because they are too heavy to be pulled ashore.

Direct trading with the American natives has fallen off, because the whalers act as middle-men. At the present time the American Eskimo have not enough peltries and seal-skins to trade with the Asiatic natives, because all such things go to the local white traders.

People from St. Lawrence and Diomede Islands often come over to the Asiatic shore, for the most part on board the whalers, carrying their skin boats with them for cases of emergency. Trading-parties from Indian Point still go over in boats to St. Lawrence Island to barter reindeer-skins for spare blubber, walrus-hides, and some whalebone, which last now forms an important item in the native trade before it is sold to the whalers. They also gather driftwood on the northern shore of the island, or buy roughly-hewn runners and parts of skin-boat frames from the natives of the island. A similar trade in wood and in roughly-hewn runners, dishes, trays, etc., is carried on across Bering Strait. Enterprising men from Indian Point and East Cape sometimes go over with the whalers to St. Michaels or to Cape Nome, carrying loads of reindeer-skins, which are sold chiefly to the white people.

Trade in Reindeer. -- Live reindeer have always formed an object of trade between different native tribes. During the last ten years the American Government, to wishing breed reindeer in Alaska and on St. Lawrence Island, has also begun to buy live reindeer from the Asiatic shore. In 1899 there were 9 herds in Alaska, with an aggregate of 2,837 reindeer, of which 1,021 had been bought on the Asiatic shore, {Jackson, I, p. 16.} 144 imported from Lapland. The remainder came from the natural increase of the herds. In 1901 there were in these herds 4,164 reindeer, of which 229 more were bought on the Asiatic shore, and 1,100 were fawns that survived from the spring. The total of those bought on the Asiatic shore was 1,300. {Jackson, II, p. 17.} The American agents paid three times the usual price of reindeer, but nevertheless could not secure enough animals, because reindeer-herds are not sufficiently numerous on the seacoast from Kulu'či Bay to Indian Point.

It is remarkable that the inland Reindeer Chukchee, especially the Kavra'lit, are very hostile to this traffic, since they are conscious that their trade with American natives is decreasing all the time, and are afraid that the newly-bred American reindeer will diminish it still more. Five years ago, while the American purchasing agents still had the good-will of the Russian Government, I heard a curious tale among the Wolverine River people, who asserted that the chief aim of the Russian cruisers was the pursuit of the ships that carried on the trade in reindeer. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, Introduction, p. XXXII.}

Apart from this apprehension, trade in live reindeer, if organized in a proper way, can only be profitable to northeastern Asia, because there the reindeer number millions, and as many animals are slaughtered for food in three days at any of the larger fairs as the American Government has purchased in ten years. The Administration in Vladivostok, during my visit there, ceased to countenance the idea of this trade, influenced partly by the last two Russian travellers on the Chukchee Peninsula, Messrs. Gondatti and Bogdanovitch, both of whom do not favor the continuance of trade in Bering Sea, at least in the way it is carried on at the present time. {Compare Bogdanovitch, Chapter V.}

Inland Trade. -- Inland trade among the Chukchee is carried on at present in much the same way as it was before the advent of civilized people. In the Reindeer branch of the Chukchee, a man more active than the others, though oftentimes not over-attentive to his herd of reindeer, of which he has but comparatively few, will want to go to the seashore for barter. There is a special term for this journey, tñirke'urkin ("I go to the country about East Cape for trade"). He will begin collecting fawn-skins for trading, and pack-sledge reindeer for the journey, his relatives and neighbors loaning him some of the latter. He will go partly as their agent, and will carry skins to sell for them on commission. These skins to be sold on commission have a special name, vi'lnuřir ("property held for sale"). He will start with a travelling-camp in February or March, and will proceed very slowly, being careful not to over-fatigue his reindeer, by routes leading from the Anui and Omolon to Chaun Bay; thence he will advance from one small watershed to another, following the general direction of the seacoast, but all the time keeping at a considerable distance from it. With the advance of the season, he will proceed eastward as far as possible, and turn to the shore only when travelling with reindeer becomes impossible. Sometimes he will reach East Cape; more often he will stop in some other village between Kulu'či Bay and East Cape. To stay west of Kulu'či is inconvenient, because in the western villages the population is scanty, and the sea-journey to East Cape presents more trouble, and even danger.

He will spend the whole summer on the seashore; he will take part in the seal-hunting, so as to have a share in the spoils without paying for it; and he will journey by boat to East Cape. In exchange for his skins, he will try chiefly to get ground-seal hides and all kinds of thongs, and American products, -- alcohol, Winchester rifles, and cartridges. In the middle fall he will start on his return journey as slowly as before, and will finally go back to his own country in the spring. He will return the borrowed reindeer, for the most part without any particular pay, and will distribute some of the wares he has bought among those whose agent he has been, retaining a considerable share of profit for himself out of every transaction of this kind. Such a journey will last a whole year, and perhaps even longer; so that a caravan leaving two months before fair-time at Anui will be back just in time for the next fair. Travelling between Indian Point and the Anadyr is much shorter, and is usually accomplished in one winter, so that a caravan starting in the fall will come back about the middle of the next spring.

When a man finds zest and profit in such journeys, he makes them his vocation, and becomes a Kavra'lit. As mentioned before, the greater part of the Kavra'lit are maritime people who first turned to reindeer-breeding and then to trade, and thus are experienced in both pursuits and in the customs of both parts of the tribe. The Kavra'lit are continually en route. In former years they were anxious to visit the Russian fairs. They went down to the seashore to meet the boats coming from the Diomede Islands and America, and often associated with them and made a trip across the sea to secure an additional supply of valuable peltries. Sometimes the father of a family would start westward with a reindeer-caravan. Meanwhile one of his sons would wait till summer and cross Bering Strait in his boat. The next spring father and son would meet, and arrange for the distribution of their wares for new journeys. Even now a few Kavra'lit traders have not restricted the range of their travels, and continue to visit both the Anui fair and the Diomede Islands. Others, however, trade chiefly in fawn-skins, and do not go as far as the Ostrovnoye market-place or the Kolyma settlements.

At the present time about ten or fifteen caravans, each consisting of six or eight tents, resort every spring to the Wolverine River, on the eastern confines of the Anui country, coming from the east. Some of these come from the Chaun tundra, others from the neighborhood of Cape Erri, Ya'qan, and Rirkai'piyan; still others from beyond Kulu'či Bay. Lively barter goes on for two weeks; then the traders start on their return journey.

In former times there were richer men among the Kavra'lit than there are at present. About forty years ago one of them bought horses and made summer trips between the Reindeer camps, carrying his wares on horseback. Another one, at his own request, was sent to Yakutsk by the officials of the Kolyma district. He visited the Russian governor at Yakutsk, and received through him a gold medal and a parade coat adorned with silver lace. At present none of them equals in wealth Kuva'r and the other Eskimo traders of the Pacific shore.

Several other regular trips, but of shorter range, are made for the purpose of trading. In the Anui country Russian traders travel among the camps, in winter with dog-teams and in summer with horses, collecting chiefly small fawn-skins and white and red foxes. The Russian traders of the Anadyr do not make such trips, and they do not go even as far as Holy Cross Bay; indeed, neither the Russian traders nor the Cossack invaders cared to go beyond the forest border, at least when travelling by land. On the other hand, petty traders go in the winter-time with dog-sledges from every native village of the Chukchee Peninsula to the Reindeer camps, collecting large fawn-skins and ready-made garments. Later in the summer whole squadrons of boats start from Indian Point on their journey to Holy Cross and St. Lawrence Bays, where the Reindeer people perform the ceremonial slaughtering of the season. They return heavily laden with skins and meat. Some of the boats go to the Anadyr and proceed upstream to take part in the large reindeer-hunts. Twenty years ago they proceeded along the seacoast to the Telqä'p summer camps, and as far as the Kerek villages. Here, near Capes Barykoff and Navarin, was the southern limit of the Chukchee-Eskimo trade on the Pacific coast.

Units and Prices. -- The Chukchee trade is carried on exclusively in barter. Money is quite unknown. The Reindeer people have not even a word for it, and call it keli'tul ("a piece of variegated"), which name may be applied also to any piece of paper with writing oil it. The Maritime Chukchee call it manê'man (from English "money" of the whalers).

The unit of value in Russian trade remains a bundle of tobacco "not tampered with," because the traders often abstract a few leaves and replace the bindings. In recent years brick-tea has also come into use as a standard of value, and is even preferred because of the uniform size of the bricks.

In the trade with whalers no particular unit is applied. Prices are very variable, according to season and place. The same commodities are sold in some places and seasons at prices two and three times as high as in others. The following are a few samples of prices from different districts: --

In the nineties of the last century, in southern Russia, a bundle of tobacco (a pound and a quarter Avoirdupois) was worth about 30 kopeks; {A kopek is equivalent to about half a cent.} in Yakutsk, 60 kopeks; in Sredne-Kolymsk, 1.80 rubles; at the Anui fair, 2.40 rubles or 3 black fawn-skins of small size; in Anadyr, 80 kopeks; on the tundra, 5 black fawns-kins; in the Chukchee Peninsula, 1 white-fox skin.

In Vladivostok or Irkutsk a piece of brick-tea is worth about 30 kopeks; in Yakutsk, 50 kopeks; in Sredne-Kolymsk and on the tundra it is equivalent to a bundle of tobacco. One Russian pound (nine-tenths of a pound Avoirdupois) of sugar is worth in southern Russia 15 kopeks; in Yakutsk, 40 kopeks; in Sredne-Kolymsk, 1 ruble; at the Anui fair, 1.50 rubles or 2 black and 1 gray fawn-skin of the smaller size.

A bottle of undiluted alcohol is worth, in Sredne-Kolymsk, from 2 to 2.50 rubles; at the Anui fair (largely diluted with water), 5 rubles or a good red-fox skin; on the tundra and in the Anadyr, any price that it will bring.

In trading with the whalers, a storehouse that is worth $100 in San Francisco, is sold for 100 slabs of whalebone (about 400 pounds), worth from $2.50 to $3.50 per pound; i.e., for $1000-$1400. A second-hand whale-boat, with equipment, is sold for 20-30 slabs of whalebone, or from $200 to $420; a shotgun or a Winchester rifle with reloading-tools, for 4-6 slabs; a small box of chewing-tobacco (6 1/4 pounds), for 2 pairs of boots; a keg of black molasses, for 1 or 2 pairs of boots; a sack of white flour, for 1 or 2 pairs of boots; etc. A good fawn-skin is equal in value to a pair of boots; a plain garment, to 2 pairs of boots; an embroidered garment, to a slab of whalebone; etc.

At the mouth of the Anadyr, American wares are bartered away by the Chukchee for. commodities that, according to our scale of prices, are worth less than what is paid to the whalers for them. One rifle is sold for from 20 to 30 pieces of brick-tea, i. e., 8 to 12 rubles; one whale-boat, for 70 pieces of brick-tea, 30 pounds of sugar, 20 pounds of tobacco, -- in all, about 50 rubles. Smaller articles, such as powder, percussion-caps, cotton goods, are bought by the Cossacks at still cheaper rates. The reason is, that in former times the Russians did not accept whalebone, and set on their wares high prices in peltries; so that the Maritime natives who barter at present for American wares with whalebone are accustomed to regard them as of lesser value in comparison with Russian wares.

In the inland trade among the western camps, prices are as follows: for a hide of a large ground-seal, from 10 to 15 fawn-skins of larger size; for a coil of white thong, 5 fawn-skins; for a large bag full of seal-oil, 3 reindeer for slaughter; for a Winchester rifle with accessories, 2 sledge-reindeer; etc. Among the Kerek a Winchester rifle with accessories is worth 2 sable-skins.

The total yearly trade between the Chukchee and the Russians, in all the three northern districts, yields about 70,000 rubles. The total amount of the whalers' trade on the seashore is uncertain. In the last few years there have come annually to the shores of Asia about ten whaling-ships, each of which carries on trade to the amount of about one or two thousand dollars; so that the whole yearly proceeds may be anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000. As stated before, this trade is carried on chiefly with the Eskimo. {Mr. Gondatti (op. cit., p. 12) mentions Tñe's.qAn of Uwe'len as being the wealthiest trader on the Arctic coast. The name Tñe's.qAn is Chukchee, as are the majority of the inhabitants of Uwe'len. A few years after the visit of Mr. Gondatti, Tñe's.qAn died. It is true, however, that the Chukchee on the Arctic coast do take a more active share in trading with whalers than those on the Pacific.}

The yearly amount of trade done in the three districts of northeastern Asia by all the tribes -- including the Chukchee, the Koryak, the Eskimo, the Lamut, the Yukaghir, the Russian settlers, the Russianized natives, and the Yakut -- does not exceed 200,000 rubles, -- 70,000 in Gishiga, 70,000 in Kolyma, 25,000 in Anadyr, and about 30,000 on the Chukchee Peninsula. Of course, even the first three figures, though based on official reports, are only approximate.

IV. -- REINDEER-BREEDING.

Groups of Reindeer-Breeders. -- The domestication of the reindeer among the tribes inhabiting the Asiatic side of Bering Sea forms the chief distinctive feature in their economic condition as compared to that of the Arctic tribes of America. Nevertheless it is difficult to say how reindeer-breeding, and the nomadic state of life entailed by it, were introduced into the extreme northeastern corner of Asia.

Along the western parts of the Arctic shores of the Old World there dwell a number of tribes who have possessed from ancient times domesticated reindeer that are harnessed to sledges and also used for food. Their herds are, or rather were, large; and their whole existence is based on the supply of meat and skins furnished by these herds. Their economic condition resembles in this respect that of the more southerly cattle-breeding tribes. These reindeer tribes are the Laplanders, Zyrians, and Samoyeds (European and Asiatic). Their methods of reindeer-breeding are somewhat uniform, and they all use the shepherd-dog in managing their herds.

The widespread branches of the Tungus and Lamut constitute the most prominent reindeer tribe of eastern Siberia. Usually they live some distance from the shore, and many bands use the saddle in place of the sledge. Their herds are so small that they can use their reindeer for riding and transportation only, not for slaughter. They have not become nomadic, but, owing to the introduction of the reindeer, have been enabled to extend their hunting and fishing expeditions over a larger extent of territory, in the same way as the North American Indians did after the introduction of horses. Several bands, however, raise large herds, so that they are able to live on their products.

Although the riding of reindeer is the most striking feature among Tungus reindeer-breeders, numerous bands have adopted a peculiar form of sledge (Fig. 4) with stanchions fitted into circular holes in the runners and fastened with thongs, and with a circular bow-like fore-part for attaching the traces, -- the same as is used throughout eastern Siberia for dog-teams.

Between the Yenisei and Indighirka Rivers the Tungus approach the seashore. In this region they are intermixed with a group of the Yukaghir, who, here at least, also used to possess some reindeer. The ethnography of this tract is still very imperfectly known; and the problems to be solved here are exceedingly intricate, owing to the invasion of the Yakut, who assimilated all the smaller tribes, and modified in many respects their original cultures. The Tungus do not use the dog with their herds. Their lean, small, and nimble-footed dogs are used only for hunting-purposes, and they retain all the ferocious habits of former freedom. They consider all reindeer, wild or tame, their lawful prey: therefore in camp these dogs are carefully tied up; otherwise they would give chase to the herd and disperse it in every direction. The reindeer are less thoroughly domesticated than among the western tribes, though tame enough to be milked, and used for regular service with post and merchant caravans.

The Koryak and Chukchee form the third group of reindeer-breeders, and live to the east and north of the Tungus. Like the tribes of the extreme west, they use reindeer only with the sledge, not for riding, and their herds are very numerous, perhaps the most numerous in the world; but the degree of domestication is very imperfect. One is almost tempted to assume that they did not introduce the tame reindeer from their neighbors, but that, in imitation of them, they attempted to domesticate the race of reindeer inhabiting their own country. This would seem the more plausible, since their reindeer is quite different from that of the Tungus. Their dogs are likewise the natural foes of the reindeer-herds, and the latter are so wild that they return easily to their former freedom. Milking is impossible; and the reindeer are difficult to manage even in harness, and are unable to endure prolonged and regular service. {G. Mortillet, in his well-known work on prehistoric man in France, asserts, on the authority of Karl Vogt, that reindeer-breeding is impossible without the use of the watch-dog (Prihistorique, p. 439). Vogt knew only about the European Reindeer tribes. It remains an open question whether reindeer-breeding was begun with or without dogs.}

Beginning of Koryak and Chukchee Reindeer-Breeding. -- Although at present the herds of the Koryak and Chukchee are numerous, it was probably otherwise in former times. Among the various Koryak bands in northern Kamchatka and around Baron Korff's Bay there are still some who combine seal-hunting with reindeer-breeding; and while one part of the band is settled in huts on the coast, fishing and hunting, the other part is wandering about with its reindeer-herds on the neighboring mountains. Usually each band has only one village on the coast, but several inland camps, each with one herd. There is a constant interchanging of the inhabitants between the village and the camps, since every fisherman possesses a few reindeer, which are in charge of one of his relatives among the herdsmen. From time to time he visits them to enjoy the freedom of a wandering life under the skin tent. The herdsman, on his part, wishes to catch fish and to spear seals, and during the hunting season descends to the shore. The herds are not numerous, however, since the attention of the people is divided between their care and the sea-fisheries.

Not more than a hundred and fifty years ago the forefathers of the people of almost every Koryak village of Kamchatka had reindeer, while now the inhabitants live solely by fishing. Similar conditions prevail among the Reindeer Chukchee around the mouth of the Anadyr and along the seacoast from Holy Cross Bay to Cape Erri. Everywhere about half of the Reindeer-camps have small herds only, and support themselves largely by seal-hunting. It was only in the last century that the herds of the Chukchee became numerous. Even at the time of the appearance of the Russians, the continuous warfare on the Koryak border was carried on by the Chukchee chiefly for the purpose of carrying away herds of reindeer. For instance, according to Krasheninnikoff, {Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 204. } the Chukchee, in 1738-39, had driven off the herds of the Koryak of the Opuka and Khatyrka; and the latter had to settle in underground huts, and lived on fish and roots. The Koryak fishermen on the River Opuka claim to be descendants of those reindeer-breeders who were robbed of their herds by the Chukchee; and in reality they speak the Reindeer-Koryak dialect, and in some respects are different from their western Maritime neighbors. Almost all Chukchee tales referring to this subject give the same reason for the beginning of their border wars. The Reindeer Koryak are described as having large herds, living exclusively on their produce, and as being unskilful in sea pursuits. The Reindeer Chukchee are represented as a semi-maritime tribe, with a decided aversion to getting too far away from the seacoast, and with an excessive liking for sea-meat (anqa'tѳl), -- whale-skin and seal-blubber, -- often ready to risk their lives to procure this relished food. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 352.} In the tale of "Elendi and his Sons," a Chukchee girl is carried away by a Koryak warrior, and forced to become his wife. She upbraids him for his way of living, in words like these: "When I lived with my brothers, they fed me with sea-meat and seal-blubber. Why do you annoy me with your everlasting reindeer-meat?" {Ibid., p. 342.}

Increase of Chukchee Reindeer-Breeding. -- The increase of the Chukchee herds has taken place chiefly during the last fifty years, and is simultaneous with their forward movement in a western and southern direction. {As early as the first part of the nineteenth century, Dr. Kyber called the Reindeer Chukchee very rich reindeer-breeders. "The poor Chukchee," he says, "has several hundred animals; the well-to-do, a thousand; the rich one does not know the number of his herd" (Kyber, II). His information, however, seems to me to be drawn from the Russian inhabitants of the Kolyma, who are inclined to exaggerate the wealth of the inhabitants of the tundra. According to the unanimous assertion of the old men of the Chukchee two generations ago, only very few herds numbered their reindeer by the thousands.} When I was visiting the country on both Anui Rivers, twenty-five years after Baron von Maydell, the natives pointed out to me that at present the families who in Maydell's time were dependent on other people's herds, had for their subsistence, as a rule, herds of their own. On the Omolon, Ei'heli, the son of Amra'kwurgm, -- the rich herdsman (now deceased) who was selected by Maydell for the position of "principal chief," -- had five large herds instead of the two of his father. {Ei'heli succeeded his father in the office of "principal chief." I spent about six months among his herds on the Middle Omolon.} His brother-in-law and one of his cousins had three each, etc. In 1901, however, I heard in Anadyr that the reindeer-herds in the Omolon country were greatly reduced by the hoof-disease.

I mentioned before that the inhabitants of several maritime villages have turned reindeer-breeders, and that even some of the Asiatic Eskimo have acquired reindeer-herds. Thus Kuvar of Indian Point had two large herds that he had placed in charge of a Reindeer-Chukchee friend, whom he kept supplied with every American, Russian, or Eskimo ware required for the use of his family.

Domesticated Reindeer. -- There are several races of domesticated reindeer. The Chukchee reindeer (timñe'-qor, "ordinary reindeer") is distinctively different from the Lamut reindeer (wa'wa-qor or wa'waq). It is undersized, its legs are shorter, body heavier, head not so long, the antlers thicker and heavier and the difference between buck and doe in this respect less marked, and the general color of the animal of darker hue. The Koryak reindeer is still smaller and darker than that of the Chukchee. The Lamut reindeer on the Sea of Okhotsk is large, and the darkest of all. The Chukchee reindeer is quite unfit for the saddle, and is not so strong in the harness, especially in heavy snow, as the Lamut reindeer; but it is much better for slaughter, since it fattens quickly, and does not lose its fat as easily. In good pasture the Chukchee reindeer accumulates so much fat that its whole body is covered with it. On the hind part, near the tail, the fat is about two inches thick.

At present a brisk trade in reindeer is carried on between the Lamut and the Chukchee. The Lamut reindeer commands about twice the price of the Chukchee reindeer. Usually a Lamut fawn is exchanged for a grown Chukchee reindeer. A broken Lamut reindeer is worth three Chukchee reindeer ; and the Lamut and the Tungus often break all the young bucks in their herds in order to barter them away to the Chukchee. Therefore the larger portion of Chukchee harness-reindeer are at the present time of the Lamut race. The Lamut, on the other hand, have stopped slaughtering their own reindeer, because they can always get Chukchee reindeer, which are cheaper, and better fitted for the purpose.

Crossing between tame and wild reindeer frequently occurs, especially in the Chukchee herds, although with the wild reindeer the rutting-season begins a couple of weeks later than with the tame one. One by one wild bucks come to the herd, righting with their tame rivals, and seeking for some doe that is still rutting. During this time the herdsmen visit the herd as little as possible, even at the risk of losing some animals. When visiting the herd, they are careful to keep on the windward side of the shy guest, in order not to frighten him away. The visits of wild bucks are considered as blessings, obvious tokens that Providence looks favorably on the herd: therefore the herdsmen, with special charms and incantations, strive to allure and to detain as long as possible the wild reindeer. After the crossing, the herdsmen try to kill the wild buck as speedily as they can, since its escape is interpreted as the recall of the blessing. If several bucks that have crossed with the herd should make good their escape, they will induce the herd the next spring to return the visit, and will keep them afterward. The offspring of the cross between tame and wild reindeer is highly valued by the Chukchee. They trace the lineage of such blood for three or four generations. All cross-breeds are broken for the harness, and used especially in racing, because they are swifter and have more mettle than any tame reindeer. The offspring of the wild buck and the tame doe is called nte'qau; and that of the rite'qäu buck and the tame doe, I'čve-tei'km ("wild reindeer made"). Sometimes the Chukchee buck, when roaming about free, will cross with a wild doe. The offspring, when caught young, can be broken, and is prized more highly than any other reindeer. The Chukchee assert that the first cross-bred generation of rite'qäu is better and even more docile than the second, in which the innate wildness returns. The crossing between the Lamut and the Chukchee reindeer does not attract any special attention.

The tame reindeer shows considerable variety in color, ranging from spotless snow-white to dark gray and hazel-nut brown (usually called by the natives black). It is darkest shortly after shedding its hair, and lightest in the spring, before shedding. Fawns are darker than the old ones, and white fawns are therefore much valued. The Chukchee distinguish the following colors of reindeer-skin: --

1. Teñ-uwe'lE ("quite black" [chestnut brown]).

2. Uu'rgilm ("black hair tipped").

3. Čêva'ro ("gray").

4. Êlhi-čêva'ro ("gray with white") or yiзh-luз' ("moon-faced," since the white is usually on the face).

5. iз'pirgm ("yellowish hair tipped" [on brown ground]).

6. Uuзpli'lE ("black yellowish" [somewhat lighter than the preceding one]).

7. iзpli'lE ("yellowish" [on gray ground]).

8. Ilh-iзpli'lE ("whitish yellow").

9. Čê'čhên-ya'qilhin ("under-leg grayish" [light-gray spots under the legs and on the groins, body brown]).

10. Uw-ya'qAčhin ("black, under-leg grayish" [same as before, belly light gray, white spot on the forehead]).

11. Ya'qilhin ("under-leg grayish" [same as before, brown parts less extended]).

12. Yi'hilhin ("whitish" [with brown stripe along the back]).

13. Ê'lhar ("white fox").

14. Ilhi-lile' ("white-eyed" [albino] {Albinos have pink eyes. Their velvet is rosy on account of the transparency of the skin. They are weak and sleepy, though very tame. The Chukchee usually kill them at an eaily age, as, on the whole, they do not like anything abnormal among their reindeer.}).

15. Elve'ek ("one hind-leg in white stocking" [body gray or brown]).

16. Ke'mgekem ("both hind-legs in white stockings").

17. eIзnit-qe'ñu ("nose-tip white" [literally, "nose-tip white mixed with brown"]).

18. Arê-qa'ño ("groin white mixed with brown").

19. Ri'ččit-qe'ñu ("belt white mixed with brown").

20. Qe'ñu ("white mixed with brown").

21. Mei'ñi-qe'ñu ("very much qe'ñu," i.e., more white than brown).

22. Keli'lin ("spotted" [white spots on brown or gray ground]).

23. Rew-ei'зtm ("ptarmigan-neck" [white body with a black head, like a ptarmigan in spring plumage]).

24. iзpli'li-qe'ñu ("yellowish gray mixed with white").

25. iзpli'li-keli'lin ("yellowish gray spotted with white").

26. Kergi'pitku-qe'ñu ("speckled with white" [on yellowish-gray ground]).

The name of the reindeer is generally taken from its color or from some peculiar feature of its antlers. Examples of such names are The-quite-Black-One, One-with-a-Cross-Branch-over-the-Forehead, etc. Some breeders give real names to a few reindeer of their herds: e. g., Young-Lamut-Reindeer (Tor-wa'waq), -- though this name was given to a Chukchee reindeer partly for the purpose of increasing its agility through the force of the word, -- Mushroom-Eater (Po'ñolin), etc.

The term of a reindeer's life is from twelve to fifteen years, though some animals live considerably longer. According to age, they are classified as follows: --

Qäyū' ("fawn"), both male and female.

Qli'kin ("male fawn") and ecve'k ("female fawn").

Pê'êčvak (both male and female), less than one year old.

Pe'nvel (male) and vañqa's.-qor (female), from one to two years old.

Krimi'nti (male) and kn'm-qor (female), from two to three years old.

Taačimi'nti (male) and ñêra'n-ign'm-qor ([literally, "two times kn'm-qor"] a female), from three to four years old.

Ñireqä'ulin (["one of the second time"] male) and tur-rewkute'tilm (["hew doe grown"] female), from four to five years old.

Ñĭroqa'ulin ([one of the third time"] male) and re'wkut (["doe"] female), from five to six years old.

Ñĭraqa'ulin ("one of the fourth time"), male only, from six to seven years old.

Čŭ'mñiñ ("buck"), more than seven years old.

The reindeer begins to shed its hair in the spring, and finishes in the middle of summer. Well-fed animals start shedding before lean ones, and grown animals before younger ones. A herd in good condition will finish two weeks earlier than a lean one. The new hair is short and sleek, but it thickens rapidly; and in September the skins of fawns are suitable for making winter garments. For this purpose skins of fawns are used almost exclusively. The fawns are killed at two set periods in early fall, according to the kind of fur desired. The late fall fawn-skins are used only for heavy overcoats; and the skins of grown animals, for sleeping-room coverings, bedding, and the like. For the Russian trade, spring fawn-skins of smaller size, called by the traders "vyporotki" (выпоротки), are required. Of these, the black skins are more highly valued, and bring almost three times the price of gray ones. Fall fawn-skins (black), called by the traders "pyshiki" (пыжики), are also traded. The full-grown skins are soft-curried before being sold to the traders. In bartering with American Eskimo, white spotted fawn-skins are most highly valued. Pure white skins are highly prized everywhere. For making garments, the Chukchee men lay equal value on white, black, and spotted skins; but the women prefer spotted ones.

In winter the reindeer feed solely on reindeer-moss, which grows in abundance everywhere on the flat tundra and on the hills. There are some seven species of reindeer-moss: --

1. Lê'ê-watta'p ("genuine moss," Cetraria Islandicd), otherwise called ê'lhu-watta'p ("white moss") or ko'o-watta'p ("large moss").

2. Qai-watta'pqai ("small moss") or ê'mu-watta'p ("fine moss"), small moss with thin tender fibres. There are two varieties of different color: (a) ki'mčir, black; and (b) lo'зqai, light green, like the ordinary large moss.

3. Kaima'-watta'p ("bald moss," Stenocaulon paschale), otherwise called aзm-tal-watta'p ("ground-bones moss"). It is light green in color, with small round rolls of fibres.

4. Koihu'-watta'p ("glacier moss"), like the ordinary large moss, but dark brown in color.

5. Mi'rgičhin, also of two colors: (a) uwa'la-mi'rgičhin, black, similar to very rough horse-hair tangled together; and (b) êзw-mi'rgičhin ("wolf's moss"), similar to wolf's hair.

6. Ka'kwêl-watta'p ("ear-like moss," Cetraria arctica), in large flaps, and light green in color.

Sprouts chiefly on burnt ground.

7. Aio'piču-watta'p ("pricking moss"), of two different colors, -- light green and dark brown.

Of all these varieties, No. 1 is the most common; No. 3 is scarce, especially on the tundra; No. 4 is very good fodder, but grows only in certain places; No. 5 is poorer fodder; Nos. 6 and 7 are good fodder, but they grow only on burnt places, and are scarce.

With the first green sprouts that shoot up through the snow, the reindeer cease to care for the moss, and scatter over considerable distances in search of new kinds of food. In summer they feed on sprouts growing on the tundra, chiefly on various species of reed-grass; also on young leaves of low willow-bushes, shore-grass, and the like, with the exception, however, of common grass, -- "horse-fodder" (ko'nên-va'зgliñin) as the Chukchee call it. Even late in the fall, reindeer require some reed-grass and withered leaves mixed with moss, and without it they will not fatten. On the other hand, toward the end of summer they require moss mixed with the grass, and without it they will not thrive. This season is the most critical one for the herdsman, since a herd that does not gather fat enough in late summer will not be able to keep in condition through the whole winter, even in the best pastures, and in the springtime will be in danger of losing all fawns on account of the exhaustion of the dams. In the fall the reindeer has a great relish for mushrooms, and seeks for them so obstinately as to neglect its ordinary fodder, and lose fat. It also consumes bird-dung with relish, quantities of which are heaped around the moulting-places of ducks. The Yukaghir on the Middle Omolon, who subsist on fish, and ride reindeer instead of driving dogs, keep their animals, especially the younger ones, during the season of insects, pent up in sheds to avoid losing them in the thick forest. They feed them all this time with willow-sprouts and fresh fish. Two small graylings (Thymallus vulgaris) is the daily allowance of a grown reindeer. Frequently the reindeer has a liking for animal food. Occasionally it catches mice in the moss, {Compare Middendorff, p. 949.} and unfledged birds among the sprouts, and picks up around the houses scraps of fish and meat. Some even steal frozen reindeer-meat from the stores; but such a reindeer is speedily killed, for it is considered to bring misfortune. The reindeer drinks water in the summer-time; but in the winter it is contented with eating snow, as are the dog and every other Arctic animal. If in the fall, after the lakes and rivers are frozen over, snow does not fall for a long time, the herd is in a sad plight, as the reindeer, on account of the peculiar position of its convex hoofs, is unable to walk on ice toward open places. The herdsman breaks water-holes in the ice near the banks. Nevertheless, without snow, the herd loses fat very quickly.

Reindeer-moss grows throughout the year, but, if too much trampled upon, it will wither and dry up. Such spoiled pastures are exceedingly slow in recovering, and they sometimes remain waste for more than twenty years. The same is true of districts that are burnt over.

Reindeer cannot remain too long at one place, since the constant scraping of their hoofs hardens the snow, and it becomes difficult to reach the moss under it. Large herds especially have to move forward after a few hours, and actually keep moving the whole winter. Therefore the animals in very large herds do not have much fat. A pasture, after having been grazed over for a day or two, is useless till the next year, and will not be resorted to again in the same season. A pasture that has been used for three or four successive years has to be given a rest for five or six years. Thus reindeer-herds will thrive only when the available grounds are large enough for a continuous change of good pastures, carefully picked out among the vast spaces of poor land and coarse fodder. The summer pastures are not so easily exhausted; and on the Arctic seashore, between the Kolyma and Chaun, although resorted to every year for half a century, they still thrive, and sprout again every spring. The best strip of pasture-land here lies close to the shore, and is usually occupied by poor people, who quite overcrowd it, -- at least in the Chukchee conception of the word. They live so close together that "the tents are visible one from the other" (am-ya'ra-wu'rra). In the spring of the year, when going to the shore, several camps often start a running-match in order to secure the best place. Their herds, however, get so tangled up at the end of the season, that it is difficult to separate them before leaving for the forest. Rich men do not care to go to this region, notwithstanding its abundant pasture, because they would lose half of their reindeer among those of their neighbors. In other, more spacious districts the reindeer-breeders keep a careful eye on the grounds around their summer camps, because they have to take the herd there for the ceremonials and slaughtering of the early fall. Therefore trespassing on these pastures is held to be a grave offence, and leads to quarrels and fighting. In the winter-time, trouble often arises, not from the encroachment upon pastures, but rather from the entanglement of the herds grazing together on the same spot, the separation of which requires considerable work and time. A rich breeder who finds a poor neighbor coming too near, always suspects that the latter wants the herds to become entangled, that he may have an opportunity of appropriating some stray animals, whose ear-marks he ca evil "spirits" that might come with the herd from the wilderness. For the same purpose, burning fire-brands are thrown against the reindeer.

Wooden Fire-Tool. -- The most important sacred objects of the household connected with the hearth and the herd are wooden fire-tools, strings of family charms (tai'ñikut), and family drums.

The wooden fire-tool has already been described. The board in which the drill revolves is roughly shaped into a human form. Usually it represents only a head and shoulders, though legs are sometimes added (Fig. 246). Eyes, nose, and mouth are indicated by cuts of appropriate form and position. At every sacrifice its mouth is greased with tallow or with the marrow of bones. This image is called "reindeer fire-tool" (in Chukchee, gi'rgir, pl., gi'rgitti;. in Koryak, gi'čgič; and also qa'a-mê'lhimêl), indicating its direct connection with the herd. The holes made by drilling are considered the eyes of the fire-board; and the squeaking noise produced by the drilling, its voice. In those camps where the wooden fire-tool is still daily employed for lighting fires, the sacred fire-boards are often reserved for ceremonials, and for regular use a substitute is made (Fig. 247). Sometimes this is merely a board; in other cases it is given the shape of a human figure, and after several years' use it is laid aside with other fire-boards. Its sacredness is derived from its daily connection with the fire of the hearth.

Many families have several fire-boards. Some of them are comparatively new; others, inherited from preceding generations, are often quite ancient. Each is associated with the ownership of a certain portion of the herd, marked with its own brand. These brands pass with the sacred fire-board from generation to generation. Each boy born to the family is given, when he is four or five years old, a fire-board and a reindeer brand from the family heirlooms. If the number of ancient fire-boards is insufficient, a new one is made and a new brand established, to be given to the son. If the forefathers were poor and the herd is beginning to increase, the owner, unwilling to unite the poor luck of his ancestors with his own prosperity, will make for his sons new fire-boards, and establish new brands for the reindeer. On the other hand, people who remain poor in reindeer do not keep all of their fire-boards, because it would be inconsistent with the lack of increase of the herd. Even those boards that are kept are assigned new functions.

One of the fire-boards, usually the most ancient, is considered the protector of the herd; another protects the hunting-pursuits; a third guards the sacrifices. Some families do not make new fire-boards for their children, even though the family has inherited but a few. Only when the family separates and the herd is divided between the heirs, when each portion must have at least one fire-board, do they make new ones.

In every case the oldest fire-board, and with it the oldest brand of the reindeer, and the house and its belongings, are assigned to one of the possible heirs, usually either to the oldest or to the youngest son. He is the principal heir, and is called "one with the principal fire-tool" (e'un mi'lhilin), or "one with the fire-tool" (mi'lhilin). He takes a prominent part in slaughtering reindeer and offering sacrifices. His place in the sleeping-room is on the left-hand side. {Compare p. 173.} The parents often move to the right-hand side, leaving the left-hand side to him, so that he may sleep there alone.

The Chukchee consider that the best time to destroy an antiquated or superfluous fire-board is in the spring, at the ceremonial of the antlers. Then the fire-board is burned in the ceremonial fire. Its head may be cut off and joined to the string of family charms; but oftener the fire-board is completely burned, and replaced in the string by a small wooden image (Fig. 248).

Fire-boards are supposed to actually keep guard over the herd. One tale relates that two wooden men without feet, who looked like fire-boards, came to a reindeer-breeder whose animals were very restive. The herdsman fed them with tallow. Before going to sleep, they said to the host, "If the herd becomes suddenly frightened and tries to run away, it would be better for you to waken us at once." When they had spoken, the master asked, "How shall I waken you?" -- "Take the bow," they replied, "and turn the drill in one of our eyes. When the drill begins to sing, the herd will stand still, and then return to the house." {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 106.}

During the calving-season the fire-boards are taken from the bag in which they are kept and placed behind the frame in the outer tent, so that they may protect the calving dams. Pieces of sinew (see Fig. 246) are put around the necks of the fire-boards to represent lassos. Sometimes these are provided with small bone rings resembling those through which the rope of a regular lasso slips in forming the noose. If the herd is divided into two parts for fawning, a separate lasso is tied around the neck of every fire-board for each part of the herd. During the ceremonial in the fall, these lassos are changed for new ones; but later in the winter they are taken off and burned in the fire. If a part of the herd goes astray, the owner will take out his fire-boards and request them to find the lost animals. Household property (extra tents, sledges, etc.) piled up out of doors may have a fire-board fastened to it in some' conspicuous place, which will act as a "guardian." Such a fire-board may be seen on Plate xxxii, Fig. 1.

When a new fire-board is made, a short ceremony is performed over it, which shows clearly that it is looked upon as a supernatural herdsman. The board is brought home and put behind the tent in the usual place of sacrifices. The master declares aloud, "I have brought a fire-tool man" (melha'3-la'ul). Then a reindeer is killed and the fire-board is smeared with blood, though usually fire-boards are smeared only with tallow or bone-marrow.

While smearing it with blood, the master says to it, "Enough! Take up your abode here!" Then other fire-boards are brought to the same place and set side by side on the ground. The master says, "Ho! These are your companions. See that I always find easily every kind of game!" Then slaughters another reindeer and says, "Hi! Since you are one of my assistants (literally, 'one of my young men'), go and drive the herd hither." After a little while he asks him, "Have you brought it?" and he himself answers, "I have." -- "Then catch some reindeer! It seems that you will keep a good watch over the herd. There, from the actual chief of the fire-boards, you may learn wisdom." This short dialogue is a good example of the dramatized incantations of the Chukchee.

Charm-Strings. -- The family charms (Fig. 249, see also Fig. 237) tied on strings are called tai'ñikut (sing., tai'ñikulhin, which, however, is rarely used). This word means literally "misfortune-protectors." The common string includes articles of a heterogeneous nature. In my opinion the charms are tied together simply to guard against possible loss during the multitudinous travels of the family.

The greater part of the string of charms is taken up with simple wooden images which are used singly as amulets, and which were described above as "wooden spirits." When tied on a family string, these wooden images are meant to be the protectors of the reindeer-herd, and in this sense they are called "masters of reindeer" (qaa'kên êti'nvit).

The tale alluded to before {Compare p. 352.} goes on to tell that the fire-tool men created several herdsmen, and sent them to watch the herd. The next morning the herdsmen vanished, and in their stead a string of charms was left. The number of wooden images corresponded to the number of herdsmen.

Another episode often occurring in the tales is that of a young man, who, desiring to create herdsmen for his reindeer, kicked a number of dry boughs lying on the ground among the bushes. Some of these branches then turned to herdsmen. This probably refers to the same idea.

The number of wooden images in a set varies from a few to a score or two. New images are cut every spring from willow-branches used in the ceremonial of the antlers. Sometimes five, or even ten, are made at once, especially when the family is about to divide the herd and the household amulets. Each party returning from a hunting or trading expedition brings with it at least one bough from the forest of the country it visited. Figures cut from these are added to the other images. If there are too many charm-strings, some of the old ones are burned during the ceremonial of the antlers.

There are also special images on the charm-strings. One of these is the "wooden woman" (u'tti-ñew), also called "mistress" (ñew-e'rmečin). This is a wooden figure having some indication of her sex, or often simply a forked bough wrapped in a piece of skin which represents the skin dress (Fig. 250). Fig. 250, c, is a wooden woman with a human face and the body of a seal. She has a skin wrapping and a ladle for receiving sacrifices. Small sacrificing-vessels are attached to several other images. This female figure was also considered the chief "mistress" of the house and the protectress of the herd.

Another special image is the "wooden man" (otta'3-a'ul or ott-ora'wêLan). This is a human figure made of wood, and regarded as the husband of the "wooden woman." It is always without clothes. The shape of the figure varies according to the fancy of its maker. Sometimes it is only a head, and is called "wooden head" (u'tti-le'ut). In other cases a forked branch is furnished with a rough face, and is then supposed to be the chief of the herd and the husband of the "mistress" (Fig. 251). Sometimes the "wooden man" and the "woman" are called kama-ta'hin and kama-ña'ut, {Concerning the stem kama (kamak), compare p. 341. See also p. 289, Footnote 3.} in imitation of the most common of the Chukchee names. These mean "spirit-border" and "spirit-woman." Other figures on the charm-strings are considered children and relatives of the chief figures. Those wrapped, in skin are female; those not wrapped are male. The latter are the more numerous. All these figures taken together are called "men of the charm-strings" (tai'ñikut ora'wêLat). Among the Reindeer people of the Kolyma I saw several times small wooden images of canoes fastened to the charm-strings. This is the more remarkable, as those people do not build canoes, and rarely buy them from the Russians, as they have but little opportunity to use them. The canoe-image of the charm-strings thus adds new proof to the conjecture that the maritime mode of life predominated in ancient times with the whole Chukchee tribe.

Ena'attê (pl. of Ena'al) are parts of the funeral clothes, which are taken from every grown member of the family shortly before the final ceremony, and added to the family string of charms. From the men's clothing are taken their belts (see Fig. 237, с) from the women's, narrow strips of the fur trimming of the collars (see Fig. 237, d). These pieces are wrapped or sewed together in a small parcel, and tied to the string. They also represent the chief masters of the herd, and are often more or less confounded with the wooden images. In connection with this, the charms are considered to represent more or less directly the ancestors of the family. As such they are called in common conversation "the ancient ones," or even "the deceased ones."

A raven's head (ve'lvi-le'ut) is used in its natural form (see Fig. 249) or as a wooden image (Fig. 252, a). А wolfs head (ei3h-le'ut) is used only as a wooden image. The real skulls of the fox (see Figs. 237 b, 249 b), hare, and wolverene, are used, or they are represented by images. The image of the head of the polar bear is also employed (Fig. 252, b). Wooden dogs are found in the shape common among various other charms of the Chukchee (see Fig. 249, c).

Among the skulls, those of the white fox are the most numerous. Rarely are all of these skulls and images joined on the same set, and each string usually includes an assortment of the various forms. Details in the form of these private charms, as in the rites, depend with the Chukchee upon chance influences, such as dreams, the meeting of wild animals, or other prophetic signs, or the command of an old man or a shaman. These variations are in accord with the vague religious views of the Chukchee, which have not taken fixed forms, and indicate in general a primitive state of religious culture.

From sacrificed reindeer, especially from those which have a strange or misshapen feature, there is taken for this string of charms a piece of the skin from the head, with part of the velvet, or one of the dew-claws. Pieces of skin covering the nose are cut from fur animals or sea-mammals, and tied to the charm-string. Stones of strange form -- for instance, those with a natural hole through them -- are also tied to the string. Occasionally a curiously shaped piece of petrified wood or bone is added.

Taken in connection with the human-like images on the string, the raven's head represents the "assistant" in the upper regions; the wolfs head, the "assistant" on earth; the head of the fox, hare, wolverene, and polar bear, and the noses of their peltries, are charms for hunting these animals. Stones (see Fig. 249, d) represent the ground upon which the men of the charm-strings walk (te'ntin, "walking-ground"). Since the skulls of animals and stones are used for divining the future, those on the string are thought to be used for that purpose by the "men of the charm-string."

A wooden image of a dog is supposed to represent the dog belonging to the chief master of the string of charms, and is used for hunting-purposes.

The part the charm-string plays in relation to the herd and the house is similar to that of the fire-boards. Both figure in all sacrifices and ceremonies. When the family want to separate, the charm-strings are cut into as many pieces as there are heirs, and a piece is given to each.

Occasionally, in times of disease, the fire-boards and the charm-strings are presented to the spirits as expiatory sacrifices. For this purpose all members of the family, one by one, shake their imaginary diseases down on their sacred objects, which are spread on the ground to receive them. Then the objects are taken away and left in the wilderness. By this act the family are considered to have given to the "spirits of disease" all the luck and protection they possessed, and they must collect new charms, which is to easily done.

Drum. -- The drum used by the Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee is of the same shape and size as that employed by the Asiatic Eskimo. Its form is markedly different from the more southern type adopted in northeastern Asia by the Yakut, Tungus, Koryak, Kamchadal, and Yukaghir.

The southern drum {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 55 et seq.} is large, somewhat oval in shape, and has a grip formed by four loose bands. These are fastened to the hoop of the drum on the inner side. The other ends meet in the middle, where they are tied to a small wheel or a cross, which is without other support. When the grip is grasped by the hand, the drum hangs loosely, and it may be shaken and its position changed at will. The drum-stick is made of wood, and covered with skin or with curried leather.

The Chukchee drum (Fig. 253) is similar to that of the American Eskimo. {Compare, Boas, Central Eskimo, Fig. 538, p. 602.} It has a wooden handle, which is fastened with sinew lashings to the wooden hoop. The diameter of the hoop is from forty to fifty centimetres; breadth of the rim, four centimetres. It is nearly circular in shape. The head is made of very thin skin, usually the dried skin of a walrus-stomach. The curried skin of a young fawn is often used by the Reindeer Chukchee of the interior, but it is not considered as good. To fasten the skin, it is moistened with water or urine, and the edge is then tied with sinew cord in a circular groove at the outer surface of the hoop. The ends of this cord are fastened to the handle. The drum is very light, some specimens weighing not more than half a pound, and others weighing from a pound to a pound and a half.

The drum-stick varies with the use to which the instrument is put. It is either a narrow, light strip of whalebone {See Vol VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, Fig. 24, p. 58.} from thirty to forty centimetres long, or a piece of wood (Fig. 253, d) from sixty to seventy centimetres long, which is sometimes adorned with fur tassels. The former is used in magical performances, when the drum is beaten inside of the sleeping-room; the latter, chiefly in ceremonials, when the drum is beaten in the outer tent.

When the whalebone stick is used, the drum is held in the left hand, and the drummer so strikes with the stick that the middle of it hits the rim of the drum or the knuckles of the hand holding the drum. The end of the stick thus vibrates lightly against the drum-head. In using a wooden drum-stick, the drum is held horizontally, with the cover upwards. The stick is grasped in the middle; and the hoop is struck from beneath, first on one side, then on the other.

The Reindeer Chukchee keep the cover on the drum only when they stay in the winter house. The drum is then usually placed behind the frame of the sleeping-room; at other times, on its ceiling, ready for use whenever wanted. When the family is moving about, the cover is removed, folded, and tied to the hoop, near the handle. When thus taken apart, the drum is put away in the family bag. It is but little work to soak the drum-head and fasten it on, so that this is not done until just before the drum is wanted. During the season of ceremonials the drum is hung on the frame of the outer tent, ready for use. It is placed near the fire-board, because it plays an important role in the performance.

With the Kolyma Chukchee the drum is considered of less importance than the fire-board and charm-string. On the Pacific side the reverse is true. There the drum is called the "voice of the hearth," and it is more difficult to obtain a drum which has been in use than to get a fire-board.

In the Kolyma and Anadyr countries, drums belonging to strange families may be brought at least into the outer tent, and there played upon. At the season of great ceremonials, as many as ten drums are sometimes beaten at once in the same tent.

House. -- The covering of the house and the sleeping-room, the poles of the frame, the bedding and the pillow-bags, and the sledges on which these things are carried, -- all are considered to belong to the hearth. They pass on to the heirs with the fire-boards and charm-strings, and with the latter are divided among the relatives.

When building a new tent, one man goes out into the woods and cuts the three principal poles. After fastening them together and bringing them home, he kills a reindeer and smears the poles with the blood of the sacrifice. Every year the poles receive a further sacrifice in midsummer, as will be described later.

The house with its belongings, the hearth with the fire-tools, and other sacred objects, are thus all regarded as a unit. It is not very sinful to part with some of these things (the Chukchee will sell, for example, a part of the tent-covering to the Russians, or even give away charm-strings to the spirits); but it is unpardonable to take any part of the home unit belonging to a stranger, and use it in one's own house. For this reason, though I was able to procure (but not without some difficulty) a few fire-tools and charm-strings, on bringing them into the tent which was my shelter for the night, I invariably had trouble with the Chukchee tent-owners, who were unwilling to have alien sacred things enter their dwelling. This peculiarity sometimes led to disagreeable consequences, as, for instance, in the episode described on p. 38. Sledges, however, may be used, provided they are not taken into the tent. If a tent-pole which some one has lost on the road is found, it may be used for fuel. No other part of the home unit can be used in any way. If a house is left without a male heir, nobody will touch it, and it is left to rot on the spot where it stands.

Care of Sacred Objects. -- All sacred objects of the household, as well as the house itself, are in the care of the women. The Reindeer Chukchee call the woman of the house the "hearth-keeper." The women prepare the sacred objects for the ceremonial, feed them with tallow, etc.: consequently the women are more expert than the men in the details of ceremonials. Even the incantations and spells which are connected with household charms are better known by the women. The same is true, also, among the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo. An old man, one of the Eskimo at Indian Point, said to me, "It is a mistake to think that women are weaker than men in hunting-pursuits. The home incantations are stronger than those pronounced in the wilderness. In vain man walks around, searching; but those that sit by the lamp are really strong, for they know how to call the game to the shore."

Among the Reindeer Chukchee, even the smallest house cannot be kept without a woman to attend to it. When a family is left without any woman, it folds up its house, and packs away the household things and the sacred objects until a female keeper of the hearth is secured by marriage.

When a woman marries into another family, she renounces her former hearth and house, and takes allegiance with those of her husband: therefore a daughter who marries into a strange family has no share in the property of her former household. Even when a house is left without any male heir, a married daughter has no right to the heritage, unless her husband and she renounce his house and acknowledge that of his father-in-law.

When a family has no male children, one of the daughters may be chosen to become the principal heir, the future possessor of the principal brand and fire-board, the permanent keeper of the family house. Then she also is called "the one with the principal fire-tool" (e'un-mi'lhihn). {See p. 351.} The mother turns over to her care all the sacred objects of the household, and in the ceremonies she plays the part of the principal heir and the female keeper of the hearth. Of course such a female heir will not be led in marriage out of her house. Her husband renounces his own hearth and house, and is adopted into her family. When a man has several wives, the oldest, who has the care of the household sacred things, is also called "one with fire-tool."

If a male child is born to the family after a daughter has been elected principal heir, they may change places, and the boy become the heir. Even then the girl will be married in her own house, and her husband will be adopted.

Poor young men often apply for the position of herdsmen to rich reindeer-breeders who have many daughters. From this position they may marry into the family and be adopted. Their own house is often brought along, and kept by a mother or aunt. When the elder brother leaves, the house is then given over to a younger brother, who becomes the principal heir.

It may happen that two families -- the one having a son, the other a daughter -- agree to have their children marry when older. If no children are born afterwards, there is some dispute as to whose house shall be renounced. Sometimes one of the houses is actually forsaken, with everything belonging to it. Much more frequently the family that gives way finds some poor relative, male or female, secures a spouse for that person, and adopts the young couple as its future housekeepers.

Painting with Blood. -- Special painted marks go with each set of sacred family objects. These are painted on the faces of all members of the family each year, during the fall ceremonial. A reindeer-fawn is slaughtered, and its blood is used for this purpose. The marks are quite simple, only a few lines or thick dots on the forehead and cheeks (Fig. 254). They are meant to make the face similar to that of the spirit protecting rein-deer-breeding (qo'rên va'irgm). {Compare p. 315.} Dots over the eyes represent its eyes. Two dots or lines on the cheeks represent ears. Lines across the cheeks are meant to enlarge the mouth, because the spirit is large-mouthed. A native sketch (Fig. 254, e) also represents the face of a Reindeer Chukchee woman with blood-marks on it. The woman is tattooed. The marks on the sketch were made with real blood.

Every family has marks of its own, which, with the sacred objects of the household, pass to the children. When the family is divided, the identity of these marks is preserved for a couple of generations, but in course of time they gradually change.

No person may paint himself. The mistress of the house usually does the painting for the whole family, beginning with her husband. Then he in turn paints her. If several adult women belong to the same hearth, they usually paint one another. Argentoff says that the wife paints her husband and children on the forehead, breast, and soles of the feet, and afterwards is painted by her husband in the same way; {Argentoff, I, p. 58.} but I have never heard of painting any part of the body except the face. Mr. Jochelson, however, was told that the Reindeer Chukchee and the Reindeer Koryak of the Palpal Mountains paint forehead and abdomen during the ceremony.

The daughter who has been made the principal heir performs the ceremony instead of her mother. When the principal heir, -- son or daughter, even though not at the age of maturity -- is married and lives in the same tent with the parents, the latter often take no part in the ceremony. Then the painting is performed by the young mistress, though she may be no more than ten years old.

Painting with the blood of the sacrifice is symbolical of the membership of all members of the family in the same hearth. For this reason it is an essential part of the marriage ceremony. A fawn is killed as usual; and the bridal pair, with at least one female member of the family, perform the ceremony of painting. The woman paints the bride and groom, and then she is painted by the groom. The same ceremony is gone through in the case of adoption.

When two men enter into a bond of brotherhood and companionship in marriage, as is often done among the Chukchee, the act is sometimes accompanied by a double painting ceremony. This is performed in the house of each party in turn. It signifies that from that time forth their hearths are united. Carrying this idea still further, the ceremony is accompanied by a free interchange of fire.

Songs. -- In connection with sets of charms and painted marks, each family has special songs, or rather tunes, which are used during the ceremonials. Part of these are hereditary, and therefore have been preserved for some time; but after a generation or two they change, or are crowded out by the tunes that each man composes for himself.

Charms of the Maritime Chukchee. -- On the whole, the charms of the Maritime Chukchee are quite similar to those of the Reindeer people. The differences discoverable are largely due to differences in their mode of life.

Family Charms. -- In olden times, both the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo used the wooden fire-drill; but at present it is never used, even for ceremonial purposes. Nevertheless, the Maritime Chukchee guard against an interchange of fire, although the observance of this interdiction is more lax with them than it is among the Reindeer people, and in recent years it is neglected to. a considerable degree. The bringing into the house of utensils or sacred images belonging to an "alien" house is likewise forbidden, as I had occasion to notice while making the collections for the Museum. Even while travelling in a skin boat it is reprehensible to take fire from an "alien" hearth, or to borrow kettles, because of the soot that covers them. So great is the value of skins and timber (the materials for house-building) among the Maritime people, in consequence of their scarcity, that a house the owner of which has died, leaving no direct heirs, is not left untouched, as is the case with the Reindeer people. Some distant relatives will surely come, tear down the house, and divide the spoils; but they will be careful not to set foot within the house while it is being demolished.

Many of the Maritime Chukchee also have the charm-strings (Fig. 255), but they do not attach the importance to them that the reindeer-breeders do. The images of their charm-strings, on the whole, are similar to those of the reindeer-breeders; but they are intended to help their owners in hunting-pursuits, not to protect their herds. These images are usually human figures roughly cut out of wood or curried leather, and similar to those previously described. Many of the charm-strings also have figures of dogs attached to them, which serve likewise for hunting-charms.

The human figures are called "guardians" or "assistants." {Compare pp. 341 et seq.} Sometimes they represent the image of the Upper Being; at other times, the image of the Sea Being, though they are not identified with Kere'tkun.

Among the symbols of game killed, there are to be found, besides the animals already mentioned, parts of the nose of the walrus, the skulls of various sea-birds (for example, of murres and eider-ducks), as well as their wooden images. Seals and other sea-animals are represented by images of wood.

The charm represented in Fig. 255 has two "guardians" (a, b), one of which is armed with a knife, a small dog (c), a small image of the fire-drill board (d), and two pieces of wood without any definite signification.

The charm shown in Fig. 256 contains a part of the upper lip of a walrus (a), a rough leathern image of a "guardian" (b), a wooden image of a sea-spirit with human head and the tail of a fish (c), a wooden bird (d), a round piece of wood representing a divining-tool (e), an image of the head of a fire-drill board charred in the fire to make the likeness more apparent (f), a piece of bone forming a divining-tool (g), a leathern image of a "guardian" (k), and three claws of a seal (i, j, k).

In Fig. 257, a and b represent an image of a sea-spirit and its dog, both parts of charm-strings; с shows a double-headed image which belonged to a charm-string of an inhabitant of Mariinsky Post, a sort of Chukchee blacksmith with very little skill. He told me that one of the heads represented himself, and the other his "assistant" in the blacksmith's craft. This "assistant," among other things, attended very carefully to securing prompt payment for the blacksmith's work. In the case of slow payments, he punished both the workman and the customer. He was apparently jealous because his activity as "assistant" was slightingly treated: therefore he was angry with both parties. In one case, when the blacksmith failed to collect the fee for mending a kettle, the "assistant" became so angry, that while the blacksmith was at work he jumped into his left eye in the form of a red spark. As a result, the eye was seriously hurt, and the dilatory customer was soon afterward stricken with palsy. I bought the charm-string, with the image tied to it, from the blacksmith; but, after accepting the price, he said he would sleep over the absence of his charm, and see in his dreams during the first : night whether the "assistant" was angry with him over the transaction. The next morning, however, the blacksmith was taken suddenly ill with influenza, which at that time prevailed in the country, and within twenty-four hours he was dead. His neighbors firmly believed that his death was caused by the revengeful "assistant." The above story is a good illustration of the way in which the Chukchee invent their own particular "assistants," and of their ideas regarding them.

In some cases the "guardian" is represented simply by a head cut out of wood or leather (Fig. 258). A simple line even, roughly stitched or cut through a piece of leather, and representing the mouth, is sufficient for an image of a "guardian." The mouth is considered the chief feature of the image, because it is needed for swallowing the sacrifice. Not infrequently the dog is represented by a small piece of wood or ivory with a head on each end (Fig. 259). The two heads are supposed to protect at the same time both the front and the rear. Sometimes the image of the "guardian" is also given two heads or two sets of hands for the same purpose.

Charms of the Boat. -- Many of the families among the Maritime Chukchee have no charm-strings. Another form of charm, however, tied on a string, is found among the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo. Such charms are connected with the hunting of sea-mammals, and belong to the family boat. They consist of old worn-out harpoon-heads, a few worn-out tools used in the construction of the boat, a couple of heads of the large gull Larus argentatus, a divining-stone, and small pieces taken from various parts of a whale's body and sewed in a small skin bag which has been used in a whale ceremonial. This string of charms is called yorê'lhin. Its use is evidently founded on the same ideas as those on which the use of the family charms of the reindeer-breeders is based, with the important difference that objects referring to deceased ancestors do not form part of it.

Painting-Ceremony. -- Among the Maritime Chukchee also, the painting-ceremony forms the chief part of the marriage-rite; but instead of blood they use red ochre. Those families who own a few reindeer in some friend's camp perform the same painting with ochre during the time of the fall ceremonial of the Reindeer Chukchee. Sometimes, if many reindeer are owned by a family of Maritime people, a friend from the reindeer-breeders, after performing the ceremonial in his own camp, will come over with his herd as near to the Maritime village as he can without encountering danger from dogs in the vicinity. There he will kill the fawn required for the sacrifice, and then repeat the ceremony in company with his Maritime friends. This is done in order to secure for them a share of the good luck in reindeer-breeding which the owner of the larger herd has received. Even those of the Ai'wan Eskimo who have reindeer perform the same ceremony carefully.

Both the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo paint with red ochre as a safeguard against contagious diseases. This painting is not done regularly, but only when danger is feared. It is generally connected with the tossing on blankets, which is a sort of ceremonial with both tribes that will be described later. After the performance, the master of the house or a special shaman paints all those present. Various marks are used, but on the whole they are quite similar to those of the Reindeer Chukchee.

As a precaution against contagious diseases, we find also that the Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee, the Asiatic Eskimo, and even the inhabitants of the Diomede Islands and of certain parts of the American shore, paint their faces with graphite. They do this also when coming to a new country, to keep off the "ground-spirits," or, if a visitor arrives at night, to ward off those "spirits" that might have come with him.

Some of the Chukchee say that ochre comes from the va'irgit, and graphite from the ke'let. Thus, in one tale, a boy and a girl, coming home from a long journey, are painted, -- the boy with ochre, and the girl with graphite. The former lives, but the latter dies.

The marks used by the Maritime Chukchee on these occasions are a simple combination of dots and lines, and are quite similar to those described as found among the Reindeer Chukchee.

A sample of the marks made with graphite, and in use among the Asiatic Eskimo and the inhabitants of the Diomede Islands, is given in Fig. 260.

I must mention here (Fig. 261), which I found in the Chukchee village of Chikayloa, on the Middle Anadyr. This image was used in various ceremonies, for throwing sacrifice into the fire. In several localities I was told of a similar custom among both the Maritime and the Reindeer people, but I had no other opportunity of seeing the image. So I think it must be nearly obsolete. The fact of its having been in existence is, however, important for comparison with the images of human hands, painted on cloth or on the skin of the human body, which are used by the Indian shamans of North America to indicate their alliance with the "spirits." Recently Captain Comer brought to the Museum, from Iglulik, a village of the Central Eskimo on Fury and Hecla Strait, a shamanistic coat of somewhat peculiar appearance, which has, among other things, images of human hands in white reindeer-skin sewed on the skirts of the garment. {See F. Boas, The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay, Part II (Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. XV).}

Masks. -- I am not aware of any use of masks in the ceremonials of either the Chukchee or the Asiatic Eskimo. I found, indeed, among the Maritime Chukchee, a couple of masks made of reindeer-skin (Fig. 262), which were called "hairy face" (rinilu'3), after the manner of the Koryak, who call their wooden masks, used in performances of a somewhat ceremonial character, "wooden face." The "hairy faces" of the Chukchee, however, have no connection with their ceremonials, at least not at the present time. According to an explanation of their owners, such masks are simply used by mothers to frighten refractory children into obedience. {The same is true among the Reindeer Koryak (see Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 86).} For this purpose the mother puts on the mask, and pretends to be a ke'lE who has come to carry away the naughty child. I witnessed a scene in which a Chukchee woman tried to silence her rebellious and crying boy by a similar method. She pretended to be a kelE, and howled like one possessed, and made frightful grimaces; but this was done without the use of a "hairy face." (For a presentation of shamanistic performances during the thanksgiving ceremonial performed on killed game, see the next chapter.)

Dolls. -- Some of the dolls with which the girls play are used also as charms to procure future fertility for their owners. Such dolls pass from mother to daughter, and are kept carefully patched and mended, so as to last for an indefinite time. The bride brings this doll to her new house, and keeps it in her bag. In due time she gives it to her oldest daughter to play with and to keep. When other daughters are born, a little stuffing is taken out of the hereditary doll and put into a new one, which is then supposed to possess all the qualities of the first doll. Dolls of this kind are usually shaped like new-born babies. Incantations are recited over them by each generation, so that their force is supposed to increase continually. {Compare p. 276.}

The peculiar feature of this kind of charm is, that it passes in the female line, and therefore continually changes from one family to another. The Chukchee women value such dolls highly. In the Kolyma country, when stopping for a night in a Chukchee tent, I bought an hereditary doll from the mistress. On the second day, after we had gone a long distance, the woman suddenly changed her mind and started to overtake us, so that she might return the price and recover her heirloom. She found us in a camp fifty miles from her home, and no persuasion could prevent her from annulling the bargain.

XIV. -- CEREMONIALS.

The ceremonials of the Chukchee, as said before, have for their chief purpose the protection of the material welfare of the family. Most of them form a yearly cycle, recurring from season to season with befitting changes. The reindeer-breeders and the maritime people have their separate cycles somewhat different from each other.

Ceremonials of the Reindeer Chukchee. -- The Reindeer Chukchee, in their ceremonials, differentiate those that are connected with the reindeer-herd from all others, and call them "sacrifices" (taaro'ngirgit) or "genuine sacrifices" (li'ê-taaro'ngirgit). Their essential feature is the slaughtering of reindeer for sacrifice. These are the only ceremonials that are considered to belong to the regular cycle. {Mr. Jochelson, in his work on Koryak religion (p. 90), points out the important difference between bloody and bloodless sacrifices. The point of view of the Reindeer Chukchee corroborates his opinion.} The other ceremonials refer to various subjects, such as giving thanks for success in hunting, the fulfilment of orders received in dreams, engaging in ceremonial sports, etc.

I shall observe the above distinction in describing the ceremonials, though I consider some of the second class fully as important as those of the first. For instance, the ceremonial of giving thanks for success in hunting is conspicuous among the ceremonials celebrated by the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo. It is likewise very important in the life of the Reindeer Chukchee, and is accompanied by sacrifices, but they are of only secondary importance.

The ceremonials connected with birth and death, which are similar among the reindeer-breeders and the maritime people, will be described in a separate chapter.

Strictly speaking, every slaughtering of reindeer is a sacrifice, and is performed according to certain rules. After the animal is stabbed, the Chukchee watch carefully to see on which side it falls. To fall on the wounded side is a less favorable omen than to fall on the other; and to fall backwards is still worse, and forebodes misfortune. The man who holds the halter often tries by a dexterous jerk to make the animal fall in a favorable position. The carcass is pointed with its head in the direction which is to receive the sacrifice, and a small branch of stunted willow is put under the hind-quarters to serve as bedding. Then blood is taken from the wound* and sprinkled, first in the direction toward which the offering is made, then in other directions. The antlers are cut away, together with the top of the skull, and the carcass is then ready to be skinned and cut up.

The antlers are placed in an upright position on the ground in front of the camp, in a line pointing in the "direction" of the dawn. When a new residence is to be made, all the antlers except the largest are left behind. Those are taken away to be used for monuments to the dead. A set of large antlers is sometimes attached to the end of a long pole made fast in the ground. This is intended as a special offering to the Upper Being or to the zenith. The antlers of wild reindeer-bucks killed on the hunt, which are larger than those of domesticated animals, are preferred for marking burial-places. All the antlers of domesticated animals slaughtered on ceremonial days must be left behind when the residence is moved.

Besides slaughtered reindeer and dogs, the Chukchee offer several other kinds of sacrifice to the "spirits." First among these should be mentioned the "substitute" offerings, which are small figures shaped like reindeer, and made of tallow, pounded meat, crushed willow-leaves, edible plants and roots (Fig. 263, a), or even snow (Fig. 263, b). The foetuses extracted from the slaughtered reindeer-dams are used for the same purpose, and a few are sometimes stored away for the greater ceremonials. {Substitution of the foetus, or of small figures of reindeer, for real animals, obtains also among the Koryak (see Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 96).} Kidneys, and sausages made by stuffing the third stomach of a reindeer, are also used. Sometimes a small wooden image of a sausage (Fig. 264) is considered sufficient for the sacrifice. This makes the of a real reindeer: therefore a sausage or a kidney is often stabbed with a knife to represent the slaughtering.

Blood-soup, which is the favorite sacrificial dish, is believed to be much relished by "spirits." Small quantities of it are poured into the fire, flung in all the "directions" sacrificed to, and smeared over the objects which happen to receive the sacrifice, as will be described further on. Small circles are cut out of curried leather, and pieces of blood-soup or tallow are placed upon them. This leather plate with its offering is laid on the snow in the "direction" receiving the sacrifice. Tallow, fat, bone-marrow, boiled meat, pounded leaves, and roots are flung in all the "directions" receiving sacrifice, or are put into the ground or the fire. The faces of fire-boards are smeared with tallow or bone-marrow. The sledges are sometimes painted with blood from the sacrifice.

All other materials which constitute a part of the food of the Chukchee are also used for the sacrifice. Most of them are, of course, of animal provenience. The "alien food" procured by trade, which is highly appreciated by the Chukchee, is also sacrificed to the "spirits." The Reindeer Chukchee value for this purpose whale-meat and walrus-blubber bought from the Maritime hunters; and the Maritime people place a corresponding value on reindeer meat and tallow bought from the Reindeer camps. Both Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee are zealous in offering to the "spirits" the products of civilization, such as tobacco, sugar, flour, or bread, and even alcohol; but of the last-named they will offer only a few drops.

Most of the sacrifices are offered to the good "beings," {Compare, p. 314.} while those to the ke'let are looked upon as reprehensible, and requiring secrecy. Evening, midnight, darkness, the ground-beings of the nadir, receive, among the other "directions" to which sacrifices are made, their share of sprinkling with blood, and scattering of meat and tallow; but the slaughtering of a reindeer to one of these "directions" is rather exceptional, and the people are very averse to speaking about it.

When a reindeer has to be slaughtered to one of the "directions" of evening or night, it is led away to a certain distance from the camp. When it is felled to the ground, the head of the animal is pointed towards the "direction" sacrificed to. Right-minded persons hurry through such sacrifices with apprehension. Evil-minded persons, evil shamans "bent on mischief," {Compare Chapter XV, Shamanism.} on the contrary, seek the protection of ke'let, especially when desiring to do harm to an adversary. They sacrifice to the ke'let black animals, reindeer or dogs which are slaughtered at night, and whose carcasses are pointed westward. From time to time, however, any well-to-do reindeer-breeder -- while slaughtering reindeer for ceremonial, trading, or household purposes -- will designate one of the animals as a sacrifice to the ke'let, and will point its carcass in a westerly direction. The Maritime hunter will do the same with a black pup.

The partial eradication of all dark and evil spirits from the usual system of sacrifices seems to be at variance with the assertion by a Chukchee shaman quoted in a previous chapter. {See p. 295.} The shaman insisted that "we are surrounded by hostile spirits who walk about us invisibly with gaping mouths, and that we distribute gifts to such spirits on all sides." Similar contradictory ideas may be found, however, among many primitive tribes. Some of them sacrifice chiefly to the evil spirits, arguing that it is of the greatest importance to disarm their ill-will. Thus, Urey Lisiansky says of the inhabitants of Kadiak, that they believe in the existence of two supernatural beings, one of which is good, the other evil. They sacrifice to the latter because they are afraid of his ill-will, and say that the former, even without sacrifice, does no harm to any one. {Urey Lisiansky, Voyage around the World, II, p. 75.} Other tribes, on the contrary, intend their sacrifices particularly as a means of securing the protection of "spirits" wishing well to the offerer. {Brinton, Religions of Primitive People, p. 186.} This is mainly the case with the Chukchee. Perhaps the regularity of the sacrifice, from season to season and from year to year, leads primitive man to suppose that naturally the recipients of all these offerings will be well disposed to the giver, and will provide special protection for the material pursuits of his life, since they always receive a share of its fruit.

For dealing with evil spirits and giving protection against them, shamanism is practised. These practices, when developed, were beyond the pale of the regular cycle of ceremonials and sacrifices, but each time they were wanted, recurrence was had to them.

As a special material used for sacrifice to the ke'let, soot may be mentioned, small pinches of which are thrown westward. The ke'let are supposed to use it in the construction of their hearths. Sacrifice of a toy-like bow and arrow (Fig. 265) placed on a small roughly hewn image of a sacrificial vessel is also offered to the ke'let, particularly at times of contagious diseases. The Vessel contains particles of meat. According to the explanation given by the natives, this sacrifice signifies that the person making it, in offering to the ke'te a bow, invites him to hunt elsewhere. The sacrifice is offered in the night-time, and it is carried westward some distance from the house, where it is left on the snow.

Sacrifices are often carried to their assigned places in ordinary vessels. A great number of sacrificial vessels are, however, in use among the Chukchee. Most of them are simple wooden bowls of usual size (Fig. 266, a). They may be recognized by their old, often dilapidated appearance. Other vessels of toy-like dimensions are also used. Sacrificial vessels of special form are used less frequently. The cut Fig. 266, b, represents a vessel intended for sacrifice to all "directions." The four receptacles of the vessel were for the sacrifice to the four principal "directions" that receive sacrifices, -- dawn, mid-day, zenith, nadir, -- proceeding from left to right. Other vessels of this kind have only two receptacles, -- one for the dawn, the other for the evening.

It is remarkable that while the women usually bring charms, and sacrifices to the hearth, and attend to all the smearing with blood, tallow, or blood-soup, the scattering-about of the sacrifice is the men's duty: perhaps this is because of the closer connection of this rite with hunting-pursuits and the herd. The woman's part in the sacrifices is described as "belonging to the sleeping-room;" while the man's part -- that is, slaughtering and throwing the food -- is called "the outward sacrifice."

The place for the sacrifice is either in front of the entrance to the tent, which usually faces toward the dawn, or close behind the tent, where a small spot for the ceremonial fire has been carefully cleared of snow. The charms are here leaned against a sledge for carrying poles, {See Fig, 17, e, p. 90.} which is easy to handle because of its small size. This place is called poya'ačên.

Fall Slaughtering. -- The cycle of "genuine sacrifices" is opened in the fall with two "reindeer slaughterings" (qaanma'tirgin). The first is called "thin fawn-skin slaughtering" (wŭ'lha-qaanma'tirgin); and the second, "making skins for wearing [in the winter]" (têêtawñi'irgin). As may be gathered from the names, the practical purpose of both slaughterings is to obtain the annual supply of skins for clothing. From the first slaughtering the thinner skins are obtained. These serve for the finer dresses used by young people, and they are also sold to the Russian traders. From the second slaughtering, thicker skins are secured for use in all kinds of winter clothing.

The ceremonials which accompany both slaughterings are intended to celebrate the re-union of the herd with the house after the summer separation, and the beginning of their journeys together. They form the chief herd ceremonial of the year. The essential features are, for the most part, the same in both ceremonials; but some of the rites are enacted only once. Most of the people perform these at the first slaughtering, although some delay them until the second; and others hold them alternately during the first and second ceremonials in succeeding years.

The first slaughtering is performed about the beginning or the middle of August, according as the fall is late or early. The family is still living at its summer camping-place, and the herdsmen bring in the herd, which has been absent during the summer. The women of each tent make a fire in front of the door. The fire may be lighted from a strike-a-light; but after that a spark drilled out with each fire-drill of the family must be added to the fire. Then the younger people, men and women, form in line before the fire of the principal tent, while the old men go around the herd and assist in bringing it nearer the house. The younger people meet the herd with loud cries, calling, "Ho hok hok hok!" which is quite like the usual call of herdsmen. Some of them, principally the children, shoot toward the herd, from their bows, sticks which have had one end burned in the fire; others fire off their guns; still others brandish their spears as if about to throw them against the reindeer. All these actions are intended to frighten away the evil spirits that may have become attached to the herd while it was on strange ground, away from the protection of the family charms.

As mentioned before, the reindeer-herd is not thought to have power in itself to repel bad spirits. Elderly men take part in the shooting and shouting, only when there are no younger members of the family to act in their stead. After this part of the ceremony is over, the first sacrifice is made with small pieces of sausage and various kinds of pudding made of pounded leaves and plant-stalks. These are thrown in all the "directions" sacrificed to, {See p. 303.} beginning with the dawn. They are also tossed toward the herd.

Next, some men walk in amidst the herd, picking out animals for slaughter. The fawns are stabbed with a knife, in the usual way. For stabbing the larger bucks a spear is used; and for each of them an extra female fawn is killed, which is laid at its side and called its wife. Most of the other fawns killed are males.

Well-to-do people slaughter a grown buck for each fire-board which belongs to a living male. The poor people kill only a couple of bucks; and the poorest, no bucks at all, and sometimes only one fawn, for the blood-painting. A dog or two is very frequently killed with the reindeer, and some families use dog's blood for painting. Each slaughtered animal has its head pointed in a special "direction," and its blood is sprinkled around in the usual way.

After the slaughtering is finished, women bring both covered sledges of the family and the pole-sledge, and put them in line before the tent at a distance from the door. A little farther away are placed two or three sledges that serve for carrying the tent-covering. The two groups of sledges are arranged with their fronts towards each other. In the space between, or upon one of the sledges, fire-drills and the family charms are placed.

A small fire is lighted near by, and the women of each house bring to their line of sledges all the slaughtered animals belonging to them. Then they begin butchering and skinning them, leaving the heads with the skins (Plate xxxii, Fig. 2). A couple of such skins are thrown upon the sledge, near the family charms. Sometimes a freshly taken skin is spread on the ground, with the head pointed toward the dawn; and an old man or an old woman, or both, pronounce an incantation (Plate xxxii, Fig. 3). Various parts of the meat are brought to the fire, but principally those that are eaten raw, -- the eyes, brains, kidneys, liver, lungs, gristle of the nose. Joints of legs are broken and the marrow is extracted. Small pieces from each part of the animal are thrown into the fire as sacrifices, and flung in all the "directions" sacrificed to. Family charms are smeared over with tallow and marrow.

Next comes the painting with blood. First the people are painted, then the sledges standing in line. Each family has its own hereditary style of painting them. Among those that I saw, one had a line on the front part of the runners, and a dot on each of the rear stanchions; another had a straight line on the middle stanchion of the right side, a cross-line on both front stanchions, and a dot on each of the runner-heads.

After the painting is done, all the meat, bones, and skins are carried into the tent and hung over the poles, so that the sleeping-room is completely screened off as by a curtain. The cross-stretchers of the tent are put in place, and the outer covering is tightened to the utmost. A leg-joint is bound with willow to the stretcher standing over the sleeping-room. To this is tied some "food of the soil;" for instance, a root of Polygonum polymorphum or Polygonum viviparum. The women cook large kettles of meat, boil reindeer-heads, and prepare the blood-soup.

After the meal, the drums belonging, to the family, all of which are hung on the tent-poles behind the curtain of raw skins, are beaten, and a shamanistic performance begins. The drums are beaten continually the rest of the day. Each member of the family is bound to have his turn. When the grown people have finished, the children take their places and keep up the beating. Many grown people, while beating the drum, call the "spirits" and try to induce them to enter their bodies. They imitate shamans, utter the cries of various animals, and make the peculiar noise supposed to be characteristic of "spirits," which is produced by a vibrating motion of the lips while the head is shaken violently. The sound is something like prrr!

The "thin [skin] slaughtering," besides being a family ceremonial, affords one of the most important social holidays. In wealthy districts, neighboring camps hold it on different days, so as to enable everybody to gather at one camp after another. The poorer camps of the Pacific coast have not the means to provide for large receptions, and perform the ceremonial in all the camps of the neighborhood on the same day. Rich reindeer-breeders at their slaughtering have guests gathered from far and near, including even members of foreign tribes, such as Lamut, Eskimo, or Russianized Yukaghir.

The invitations are sent out beforehand; and if the guests live far away, the host sends some one to bring them, so that there may be no excuse for their missing the feast. It is customary for the host, if possible, to "wrap" all the guests; that is, to make them presents of fawn-skins, killing a fawn for each. If any distinction is made, a female guest takes precedence over a male, and a stranger over a relative. Usually one fawn-skin is given to each guest, while the first-comer gets two or three skins. Any other guest who is bold enough to ask may also get more. To refuse such a demand is dangerous, because the guest might take offence, and bewitch the host. It is considered improper to make a present of meat, and keep the skin for one's own use. One who receives such a gift resents it, and may declare aloud that the fawn does not walk without the skin. On the contrary, it is quite proper to keep the larger part of the meat, and to give only the skin.

The number of fawns slaughtered at this ceremonial by a well-to-do reindeer-breeder ranges from about a hundred to a hundred and twenty. At least one third of these are distributed among the guests, while the remaining two thirds are evenly divided; one half being destined for household uses, the other for trade. Guests are not supposed to give return-presents. The poor fellow-tribesmen, in truth, give none; but the neighbors afterwards present the host with similar gifts. The visitors from foreign tribes usually return the compliment later by giving some of their products. The Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo, for example, bring their former host a little oil or a coil of thong; the Lamut give flint, and tinder made of fungus; the Russianized Yukaghir, dried fish or a quarter of a cake of compressed tea. The host has no right to grumble, should they bring little or nothing at all.

The ceremonial is accompanied by a foot-race, in which, in most cases, only the young people or children take part. The prize is furnished by the host. Wrestling-matches occasionally take place, but in these also only young people participate. Shamans gather from the neighborhood and assist in beating the drum. The occasion becomes quite a shamanistic contest when the slaughtering is combined, as is usual, with the thanksgiving ceremony. The latter is very important among the Chukchee, and will be described later in this chapter.

The guests go home the same evening, after the ceremony is ended. The next day the dams whose fawns were slaughtered are milked by sucking, sus figures that the number of men having two and more wives reached about fifteen per cent of the total number of married men, and in some localities even twenty-five per cent. At the same time, the number of rich breeders with two and more herds scarcely reaches three per cent.

Only a very small number of men have more than two wives. Some striking exceptions occur, however. Thus Ei'heli, referred to above, had four living wives, besides four who were dead, and who left him children. He had, moreover, one vagrant wife, the old Ča'kihêt, who would live in one of his camps part of the time, and would then leave for strange camps sometimes a hundred miles away. Ei'heli himself, and all his wives, were old, so that jealousy was out of the question. Ča'kihêt had no children, and therefore nothing to bind her to one place. At the same time, her fifty years did not prevent her from being a strong woman and an excellent worker. She was an expert at dressing skins and sewing garments, which made her a welcome guest wherever she went. Finally, her nature was such that she could not have been easily persuaded to stay at a place unless she herself cared to stay. Thus Ča'kihêt. Who had performed the marriage-rite with Ei'heli and had for many years been considered his wife, was still perfectly free to satisfy her nomadic instincts. The total number of Ei'heli's children by all his wives was over twenty, excluding those who had died.

The Chukchee Mêwê'tirgin, on the Dry Anui River, had at one time seven wives in three different camps; later, however, he became poor, and his wives deserted him. The Chukchee Nomga'Lê, on the same river, had three wives and fourteen children, almost all of them very young. Another rather poor Chukchee, Tomganê'ntiñ, who also lived on the same river, had for a time four wives, all living in the same camp in two tents. Other men, well-to-do as well as poor, might be cited who had three and four wives at the same time.

When a Chukchee has two wives living in one camp, he tries to give them separate tents, or at least separate sleeping-places in one tent; but I have also met bigamists who lived in one sleeping-room with both wives, and slept with them under a common cover, the husband lying between the two wives. This mode of life is described in many tales. In the tale about the "Baby," {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 212.} for instance, the hero sleeps in one sleeping-place with three wives, all being quite naked. Upon one of his arms lies the wife from the Kiče'tun village; upon the other, the wife from the Enu'rmin village; the third lies a little way off, and awaits her turn. In another tale, about the "Shaman with Warts," each wife has her own sleeping-place. During the meal, the host exclaims from the sleeping-room, "Oho! I have a visitor. Prepare another sleeping-room." Somebody is busy outside, rings with the bracelets, rattles with the necklace, knocks the poles, hurries. "Where will you sleep?" asks the host. "Decide yourself," says the visitor. "Sleep here. I will sleep in the other place." He goes out, enters the other sleeping-room. The visitor hears great laughter, frolic, the ringing of bracelets, the rattle of necklaces. He says, "They must be enjoying themselves." {Ibid., p. 225.}

The position of the several wives is different in different families. The first wife is generally much older, and has had several children when the young wife makes her first appearance in the family. In such cases the first wife is the mistress, while the second is treated almost like a maid. The first wife sits with the husband in the warm sleeping-room, while the second works outside in the cold, prepares the food, and serves it. In one tale of my new collection there is a detailed description of how the husband and his first wife make the second wife carry the chamber-pot in and out, and wash her hands in their urine. Sometimes the aged husband takes a second young wife for the express purpose of giving a helper and maid to his wife, who is getting old and cannot get through with the housework by herself. Cases have occurred where the first wife insisted that the husband should marry a young and able-bodied woman.

In other cases, where the husband has no children by his wife, he marries another woman in order to get progeny. The absence of children is considered so great a misfortune, that a good woman, if childless, herself insists that her husband take another wife, even as Sarah made Abraham sleep with one of her maids, and made her be delivered of the child into her (Sarah's) lap. Here again the second wife is generally considered as inferior to the first.

W. H. Dall mentions that, even if a Chukchee's wife bears only girls, he takes another one until he obtains a boy, and no more. {W. H. Dall, Alaska and its Resources, p. 381.} I cannot confirm this, at least as a general rule for the whole Chukchee tribe. Of course, boys are much more desirable for Chukchee parents than girls. Still I met several families who had only girls. This was the case among the Reindeer Chukchee. Some of these girls acted quite like men, kept guard over the herd, carried a lasso, slaughtered reindeer, etc. Among the Maritime people a girl is less capable of replacing a young man on sea-expeditions and in hunting-pursuits. Several tales describe a Reindeer Chukchee family having only daughters, and living alone in the camp. The girls play the part of male herdsmen. Still the desire for man's help is strongly pronounced. A family of females suffers from various disasters and ill-treatment on the part of the neighboring camps; and only the appearance of a young son-in-law, adopted by the family, improves matters. Similar tales of Maritime provenience are more scarce and indefinite. In these tales, women "living separately," without males, usually obtain their subsistence by gathering roots and berries, and hunting wild reindeer on land, also by killing seals in the wintertime upon the ice-floes. Much less frequently the women are described as hunting seals or walrus in the summer-time from the canoe or from the skin boat. This last pursuit, which gives to the Martime people the larger part of their food, is least accessible of all to women. The female families that "live separately" are often described as leading a hungry life, and as eagerly watching for a husband.

I should mention that I have met, at least among the Tungus, some widows and girls who were good shots and hunters of land-game, almost equal to men; but I had no opportunity of meeting a female hunter among the Chukchee. So, upon the whole, boys are more desirable for the Maritime families than for the Reindeer ones; and the assertion of Dall may refer more to the Maritime Chukchee. On the other hand, however, polygyny is much rarer among the Maritime Chukchee than among the Reindeer people; also cases of repudiation of wives happen less frequently, as will be described later on.

Cases are by no means rare, however, where the husband, enamored of the second wife, becomes indifferent towards the first, and even expels her from the house. Precisely such a case is described in a very popular tale, "The Bigamist." It runs as follows: --

"There lived a man with two wives, an old one and a young one. When he took the young wife, he abandoned the old one, did not love her nor sleep with her any longer. He beat her all the time. In great grief she went out into the desert and came to a bear's haunt. She entered. The bear mother was angry at her for entering. The woman said, 'Why don't you kill me? My husband always beats me. It is better that you kill me.'

"The woman stays with the bears and lives with them. When spring comes, the bears let her go, with presents and incantations. She returns home, and by means of their incantations succeeds in regaining the favor of her husband, and persuades him to drive her rival from the house. The latter perishes from hunger and cold."

I took down several versions of this tale. I was always anxious to ascertain whether jealousy existed to any extent among the Chukchee wives of a single husband. When questioned by me on that point, the women would generally answer, "We don't care, we don't think about those things;" and, more definitely, " Good and clever women don't get angry over such matters."

Nevertheless jealousy does exist among the women. I have often known wives of one husband who lived in perfect accord with one another, but these were mostly women out of their prime. On the other hand, I have seen women quarrel and even fight over the favors of their husband. Maydell describes such cases of quarrels, fights, and even murders committed out of jealousy. {Compare Maydell, I, p. 164.}

In one tale, a woman deserted by her husband is left with five children. She supports them with great difficulty, gathering edible roots for food. Wandering in the desert, she comes to a dwelling on the seashore. A woman sits at the entrance. The man returns from a sea-hunt, dragging a seal. The deserted wife recognizes her husband. She resolves to avenge herself, waits until the man leaves again, and then enters the house, makes friends with the woman, and perfidiously kills her while she is asleep. Then she returns to her own house. Her husband comes back, and, finding the woman dead, guesses that it is the work of his first wife. He grabs his spear, goes to the first wife. He arrives. She is not at home. She is wandering again in the desert. The children cry, "Father, father has come!" -- "Where did your mother go?" -- "Along that road. We shall follow her." -- "No, no! wait for me here." He goes, sees her in the valley of the river gathering roots. "I have found her; now I will kill her!" He cries, "I will kill you." She fled along the river. He overtook her. "Are you not my husband? Why do you want to kill me? I have little children." -- "Why did you mock me?" He aimed at her with his spear. She seized the spear, broke it to pieces. Drawing her cowl over her head, she became a she-bear. She squeezed the husband." Oh, I pray you, let go! Come home! I shall always work and bring meat." She only growled and squeezed him to death. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 259.} This tale is also very widely distributed. A variation of it among the Eskimo of the American shore is recorded by Nelson. {Nelson, p. 467, "The Red Bear."}

Group-Marriage. -- Marriage among the Chukchee does not deal with one couple only, but extends over an entire group. The Chukchee group-marriage includes sometimes up to ten married couples. The men belonging to such a marriage-union are called "companions in wives" (ñew-tu'mgit). Each "companion" has a right to all the wives of his "companion," but takes advantage of his right comparatively seldom, namely, only when he visits for some reason the camp of one of the "companions." Then the host cedes him his place in the sleeping-room. If possible, he leaves the house for the night; goes to his herd, for instance. After such a call, the companion visited generally looks for an occasion to return the visit, in order, in his turn, to exercise his rights.

The union, in group-marriages, is mostly formed between persons who are well acquainted (ču3-tu'mgit, "looking [on each other] companions"), especially between neighbors and relatives. Second and third cousins are almost invariably united by ties of group-marriage; brothers, however, do not enter into such unions. In ancient times this form of marriage was obviously a union between the members of a related group. In course of time, other friendly persons began to be included in the union. The rite accompanying the formation of group-marriages reflects such an origin, for it is intended to give the union the character of a tie between relatives. The persons concerned make sacrifices and anoint themselves with blood, first in one camp, and then in the other. After that they are considered as belonging to one fireside, as do the relatives in the male line. According to tradition, group-marriages with persons of high standing were much sought after by younger people. They would send their relatives as match-makers, and would even serve in a strange herd in order to enter such a union, precisely as is the custom in individual marriages.

The older people, however, were reluctant to enter the group-union with young people, especially if the latter were single. The mixing of ages in the group-marriage is not approved of. If a married man, on the other hand, has no children, but desires to have some, he is anxious to make a union with a strong single man. The aversion to including bachelors in the marriage-group is primarily based on the absence of reciprocity. The bachelor gains from entering the union, but gives nothing in return.

The inmates of one and the same camp are seldom willing to enter into a group-marriage, the reason obviously being that the reciprocal use of wives, which in group-marriage is practised very seldom, is liable to degenerate into complete promiscuity if the members of the group live too close together. However, many exceptions occur to both rules. As an illustration of group-marriage between a married couple and a bachelor, the following union, which I observed in one of the camps, may be cited. A young Chukchee, married but childless, served as a shepherd in the herd of a rich reindeer-breeder. In the marriage-union was included another shepherd, also young but single, who was a Tungus. All three lived in one tent. When the Chukchee shepherd was with the herd, the Tungus staid in the tent and slept with the woman, and vice versa.

In another camp I saw two neighbors of very unequal ages, whose tents stood side by side, and who were united by a group-marriage. I have been told that poor people, on entering the group-union, are sometimes so friendly that they live in one tent, and even in the same sleeping-room. I had no occasion to witness such cases, but I found descriptions of similar conditions in several tales. In the tale about the son of MuLu'wgi, for instance, we are told the following: --

"Then the son of MuLu'wgi caught a little sea-shrimp and brought it home. Then he brought some grass, made a large grass braid, and glued it to the shrimp's head. He finished, pushed it with his foot: it became a woman, very pretty, with thick braids. He said to her, 'Enter the sleeping-room.' She entered. Before night-fall the Morning Light and the Evening Light came together. They said, 'Oho! who is this?' -- 'Here we are.' -- 'Who are you? What did you come for?' -- 'We came to take away your wife.' -- 'Instead of my wife take this woman, my sister.' Evening Light said, 'It is well. This wife at least we shall carry off. Let us enter the sleeping-room, let us be married.' -- 'Do not enter the sleeping-room. Return home, take this sister of mine with you. Sleep with her at your own home.' -- 'Well, we agree!' The woman went out. They grabbed her from both sides, carried her home, Evening Light and Morning Light. On the way, Evening Light said, 'Let me lie down first!' Morning Light answered 'No, both together!' They came home. Said Morning Light, 'Let us cook the food first.' Evening Light answered, 'Let us lie down first; put the woman to sleep.' The other answered, 'Let us lie down then!' They went to sleep. Each one kissed her, each one embraced her, both together." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 229.}

A form of group-marriage as described in this tale is really genuine polyandry. I should also mention the fact that the relations in group-marriage, after two or three years, sometimes become complicated through an exchange of wives. Each "companion" takes another's wife, lives with her for several months, and then returns her. Sometimes, however, the exchanged wives stay with their new husbands for a longer period, or even permanently.

At the present time the unions through group-marriage {Group-marriage of a similar form exists also among the American Eskimo. Thus Nelson (p. 292) says, "It is a common custom for two men living in different villages to agree to become bond-fellows, or brothers by adoption. Having made this arrangement, whenever one of the men goes to the other's village, he is received as the bond brother's guest, and is given the use of his host's bed with his wife during his stay. When the visit is returned, the same favor is extended to the other: consequently neither family knows who is the father of the children. Men who have made this arrangement term each other kin-i-g'un; each terms the other one's wife null-u'-yuk; and the childi-en of the two families call each other kat-khun. Among people south of the Yukon, the last term is sometimes used between the children of two families, where the man has married the discarded wife of another." Lucien M. Turner (Hudson Bay Eskimo, p. 189) says also, "Exchanges of wives are frequent, either party being quite happy to be released for a time." Franz Boas (Central Eskimo, p. 579) says the same about the Central Eskimo: "A strange custom permits a man to lend his wife for a whole season, or even longer, and to exchange wives, as a sign of friendship." Murdoch (Point Barrow Eskimo, p. 413) says the same about the Point Barrow Eskimo: "A curious custom, most peculiar to these people, is the habit of exchanging their wives temporarily." This custom has been observed at Fury and Hecla Straits (Parry, Second Voyage, p. 52^)i Cumberland Gulf (Kumlien Contributions, p. 16), and in the region about Repulse Bay (Schwatka's Search, p. 197). The same custom existed among some Indian tribes of North America,-- as A. G. Morice says, "among the Denes [Athapascan]; and yet, in spite of their good qualities, the temporary exchange of wives was not deemed improper at all. It was considered rather the supreme token of friendship, an act of unsurpassed hospitality" (Annual Archaeological Report, 1905, Toronto, p. 196).} embrace practically all Chukchee families. Not to be connected with such a union, means to have no friends and good-wishers, and no protectors in case of need; for the members of a marriage-group stand nearer to one another than even relations in the male line. As pointed out above, however, these two ties often coincide.

In some cases five or six persons enter into a group-marriage, and all enjoy equal marital rights. In other cases a man may have several companions in group-marriage who do not stand in a similar relation to one another.

All Russian women who live in the tundra, married to Chukchee, must of course submit to group-marriage regulations. One of these women, an elderly widow, proudly declared to me, "My husband never lent me to ordinary people, but only to the most respected ones;" and she enumerated a large number of names. I know of only one family that lived in the tundra outside of group-marriage. It was the family of a Russian Creole, who had grown up in a Chukchee family, spoke the Chukchee language, and lived according to Chukchee customs. He was married to a Chukchee woman, but had no companions in group-marriage. "I have a jealous heart," he used to tell me. "It is better that I remain alone, without companions."

At present group-marriages are often concluded without any rite. One man simply says to another, "Let us be companions in wives" (Minñewtu'm-gämik)! After this they both exercise their rights. If a good acquaintance solicits the formation of such a union, it is improper, - even in the case of refusal, to express it in plain words, but an evasive answer must be given. On the other hand, cases occur where the husband is willing, but the proposed friend is distasteful to the wife. Sometimes the husband beats his wife into submission. Frequently, however, the wife stands for her right to select friends. I was told about one woman, who, being pressed by her husband to live with a friend whom she disliked, preferred to take her own life.

Union through group-marriage is considered equal to a blood tie. The children born in the families of a marriage-union are regarded as cousins, or even as brothers and sisters. They cannot marry each other, which is natural, for they might easily have a common father.

The strength of a group-marriage is vividly depicted thus in the tale, The Raven and the Eagle in an Exchange Marriage: "There lived a Raven and an Eagle. The Raven had a son. The Eagle was alone with his wife. The Raven's wife went to visit the Eagle. The Eagle took her from her husband and slept with her. She bore him one son. The Raven's son also came, and remained, to live with his mother." Further, it is described how the Raven's and the Eagle's sons grew up and began to fly out to hunt. During one hunt a giant Eagle caught the Eagle's son and carried him off. Then the Raven, the first father, hearing about it, went to the Eagle. His wife-companion, the Eagle, sat in the sleeping-room, sorrowful. The Raven pecked him in the shoulder. He chided him and gave him blows. "Why did you not warn the children? Why are you sitting? Let us fly, let us pursue!" And yet it was not his son that was lost, but the son of his companion. Then follows a description of their search. The Raven finally finds and rescues the Eagle's son.

Rupture of a group-marriage is regarded as possible, but I know of no cases where it occurred except those mentioned in accounts concerning syphilitics. Those syphilitics were subject to ostracism, and were excluded from the common hearth of even the closest relations. No wonder, then, that in those cases the ties of group-marriage were also severed.

At present the limits of group-marriage have widened, and allow a union with an inhabitant of another district, with a chance acquaintance during temporary trading-relations, and even with an individual belonging to a different people, -- a Tungus or a Russian. The Chukchee call such trade-acquaintances inna'lêk ("friends"). Above I mentioned a case of group-marriage with a Tungus. Wherever the Chukchee and the Tungus live in one locality, numerous families of one of these peoples are united by group-marriages to those of the other. A deviation from the common regulations may be seen in the fact that the Chukchee have marital rights to the greater part of married Tungus women; while, of the Tungus, only the most skilful hunters, or those most friendly with the Chukchee, have similar rights to Chukchee women. Many Russian families stand in similar relations of group-marriage with the Chukchee; but the Chukchee are the only ones who look upon these relations as upon group-marriage. The Russians, on the other hand, are prone to see in them nothing but the loose conduct of women anxious to receive payment in slaughtered reindeer. I should add, however, that in some of the tales referring to ancient times, group-marriages with strangers are also described; namely, with the Eskimo inhabitants of the opposite American shore. The Chukchee, since ancient times, have cultivated trade-relations with those people, such relations sometimes leading to those of group-marriage. Even to-day, when the Eskimo traders from the American shore arrive at the maritime Asiatic villages of the Chukchee and Eskimo, they find temporary wives there in the houses of their friends. Similarly the Chukchee traders have their temporary wives on the American shore.

In the tale of "The Shaman with Warts" we are told that there lived a great shaman in the village Te'pqän at the seashore. Another shaman, Kuku'lpin, lived on the continent, opposite the village Ne'ekan, on Cape Ki'imin. {Compare p. 21.} Then a description of a contest between the two shamans is given. Kuku'lpin vanquished the shaman from Te'pqän. "Says that shaman, 'Let us at least be companions in wives.' -- 'Agreed!' -- 'Where shall we go first? To you? Where is your house?' -- 'In the village Te'pqän.' -- 'How long does it take you to fly there?' -- 'About half a day.' -- 'Aha! my house is nearer; better let us go there. My two wives are at home. Let us race. The one who arrives first shall sleep with both.'" Kuku'lpin is again the winner, arriving before his rival. After supper the latter is allowed to sleep with the older wife, Kuku'lpin himself sleeping with the younger one. The visitor is dissatisfied with the arrangement, but submits after several fruitless attempts to exchange sleeping-rooms with the host. Then both shamans fly to the interior of the American Continent and carry away a young girl, the daughter of an American chief. They bring her to the tent of Kuku'lpin. Kuku'lpin says to his companion, "As we are now companions in wives, you sleep tonight with the old one, I with the young one; to-morrow you shall sleep with the young one, and I with the old one." The girl is very pretty. "Yes," says the other with downcast head. He thinks to himself, "What a scoundrel !" They went to sleep in one sleeping-room. Kuku'lpin embraced the girl with his arms and with his legs, then he fell asleep. The old wife moves nearer to the guest; he pushes her with his elbow. He looks at Kuku'lpin. Kuku'lpin sleeps. "To-day is my turn, not to-morrow!" He blew at his companion, who was carried off through the tent to a high cliff overhanging the sea. Kuku'lpin, however, succeeds in escaping from his dangerous position, and takes cruel revenge on his faithless companion and rival.

These marital ties with strangers lead us to the so-called "prostitution of hospitality." It cannot be positively ascertained whether in ancient times that custom existed among the Chukchee. According to Russian accounts of ancient times, it was customary for Russian merchants at the spring Chukchee fairs to visit the rich maritime traders. They would bring with them iron, kettles, tobacco in bags, and gave all this to the host as a present. The host, in return, offered his wife to the guest, having first covered the sleeping-place with beaver, fox, and marten furs, numerous enough to cover the value of the present. Nowadays no such custom exists.

As indicated above, Chukchee girls and women are noted for their loose conduct, and willingly comply with the wishes of Russian guests and acquaintances for an insignificant remuneration. The Chukchee, however, class even such cases under the head of group-marriage. In regard to these matters, very humorous misunderstandings occur between the Russians and the Chukchee. Thus, on one of his journeys through the Kolyma district, the chief officer Karzjn obviously had intimate intercourse with one of the wives or relatives of a rich reindeer-breeder, Omrêlqo't. When Karzin returned to Sredne-Kolymsk, the following incident occurred. Karzin's housekeeper (he was a widower) arranged a feast for the occasion. The Chukchee Omrêlqo't was among those present. From the beginning of the feast, Omrêlqo't got drunk, tried to dance, and, feeling hot, began without ceremony to throw off one piece of clothing after another. Finally he was left naked, and sat down on the floor. The host advised him to go to sleep. "I will go," replied the Chukchee; "but you must allow me to sleep with this wife of yours, just as you have slept with mine."

During all my journeys among the Chukchee, I never received an offer of "prostitution of hospitality;" but I was often asked in the most naive and shameless way to participate in group-marriages. {I. Veniaminoff (Notes on the Islands of Unalashka District, Part II, p. 60) mentions "hospitable prostitution" as existing among the Aleut. A new-comer could, by the rights of hospitality, participate in the bed of his host.}

Levirate. -- With group-marriage we find, among the Chukchee, the custom of levirate, according to which, after the death of one of several brothers, the next oldest becomes his successor. He takes care of the wife and children of the deceased, finds for them a dwelling in his camps, and acts as husband to the woman and as father to the children. The herd he unites with his own, but keeps it for the children of the deceased. When, however, the difference in age is very great, the brother does not exercise his levirate right, in order not to enter into marital relations with an old woman. In the absence of brothers, the levirate passes to cousins. It should be noted that levirate often has the character of a duty rather than that of a right. A woman left without a husband, with her children and a herd to attend to, needs a protector; and the obligation to assist her falls on the nearest relative. However, only the younger brother or cousin-german uses the right of levirate over the widow of his older relative. The older brother or cousin-german has no such right over the widow of his younger relative. In case of need, even the nephew uses the right of levirate in regard to his' widowed aunt; but the uncle is forbidden to do the same with the widow of his nephew.

I know a case on the Wolverene River where one Ča'nla married the widow of his deceased nephew. The woman was young and pretty. The next fall the elder son of Ca'nla by another wife fell from a sledge when driving his reindeer fast, and broke his neck. Public opinion, as expressed by his neighbors, considered the death of the boy as a punishment for Ča'nla's trespassing against the marriage-customs.

Such a form of levirate seems to have existed among several peoples. Thus, L. Sternberg {The Giliak of Saghalien (Ethnographical Review, 1893, II, p. 9, in Russian).} mentions that among the Gilyak "the wife of the deceased one goes over to one of his 'ruvn,' {The text reads "ruer;" but, according to a verbal commucation of L. Sternberg, this is a misprint.} usually to a younger one, according to a decision of the clan. 'Ruvn,' in Gilyak, are named brother's and sister's children' of all degrees of relationship.... When the woman is given to a 'ruvn' who is older than the deceased one, he must support her, but has no right to live with her as with his wife." This is connected with a Gilyak custom which permits the younger brother to cohabit with the wife of the older brother, but strictly forbids the converse. {L. Sternberg, The Giliak, p. 26 (Reprint from Ethnographical Review, 1905, Russian, pp. 60, 61, 63).} Among the Chukchee, however, as was said above, neither of the brothers has a right to cohabit with the wife of another brother during his lifetime.

Dr. Forsyth mentions a rule more like that of the Chukchee as .existing among the Gonds of central India: "It is the duty of a younger brother to take to wife the widow of an older brother, though the converse is not permitted. {Forsyth, The Highlands of Central India (cited from E. Westermarck, History of Human Marriage, p. 511).}

Levirate is widely spread among the American Eskimo, and is regarded more as a duty than a right. Such is the case also among the Athka Aleuts {I. Veniaminoff, Notes on the Islands of Unalashka District, Part III, p. 9. "In the case of the death of one brother, another was obliged to inherit the wife of the deceased one."} and among the Tlingit. {W. H. Dall, Alaska and its Resources, p. 416.}

Mr. Jochelson describes a form of levirate of the Koryak, called by him "two-sided levirate," {Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 748.} in which the widow must marry the younger brother, younger cousin, or sister's or brother's son, of her deceased husband; and the widower must marry the younger sister, younger cousin, or sister's or brother's daughter, of his deceased wife. He suggests, that, according to certain remarks made by Steller, the two-sided levirate seems to have existed among the Kamchadal, and he mentions indications of the same custom among several North American tribes. Westermarck states {Westermarck, History of Human Marriage, p. 309.} that the East "Green-landers and the Eskimo of northeastern America disapprove of marriage with two sisters. According to Mr. Jochelson, this custom may relate to the two-sided levirate. Thus the Chukchee seem to be surrounded by tribes having the two-sided levirate. Still I have met no trace of this form of levirate among them.

Marriage among the Maritime Chukchee. -- My information in regard to marriage among the Maritime Chukchee is rather scanty. On the whole, however, I can say that the basis of marital union among the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo is the same as among the Reindeer Chukchee. We find again marriages of near relatives; marriages through exchange between families, woman for woman; and, finally, marriages into a strange family after a term of service. A young Maritime Chukchee or Eskimo enters the service of his prospective father-in-law, and lives with him for two or three years, giving him the products of his labor, until the father finally consents to give him the bride. If the bride is too young to enter the marital union, the groom must live with his father-in-law, work diligently, and wait until the bride grows up and matures. A number of my native friends of Maritime Chukchee extraction once enumerated and estimated the value of the products of their chase which each had given to his father-in-law while serving for the bride. In this enumeration, seals, walruses, fish, and even whales (whalebone excepted), were not mentioned at all, being classed as food good only for home consumption. The list contained merely those products which could be sold to whalers or exchanged with Reindeer Chukchee. One said, "During the entire time, I gave to my father-in-law three strips of whalebone, five white foxes, five large reindeer-skins, ten pairs of walrus-tusks." Another had given his father-in-law five strips of whalebone, three pairs of walrus-tusks, two large walrus-hides, etc.

The custom of serving for a wife exists among several tribes of the adjacent countries. Thus, among the Koryak, Reindeer and Maritime, the wife is obtained by service in her family. Among the ancient Kamchadal, according to Steller, when somebody wanted to marry, he could get a wife merely by serving a term in her family. The details of the service are quite similar to those existing among the Chukchee. The young man must perform the hardest tasks of the household; and often, if he gives no satisfaction, he must go away without a word, and all his work is lost, to no purpose. {Steller, p. 343.}

Among the Aleut the young man was obliged to live with his wife's parents and to serve them. {Dall, Alaska, p. 402.} The custom of service exists also among the Ainu. {Ibid., p. 524.}

Young single men among the Maritime Chukchee, as well as among the reindeer-breeding branch of the tribe, enter as adopted sons-in-law into more prosperous families with many daughters. Finally, group-marriages and levirate are as fully developed as among the Reindeer Chukchee. Mixed marriages with persons belonging to another people are as common among the Maritime Chukchee as among the Reindeer branch. I have referred to the frequent mixed marriages between the Maritime and the Reindeer Chukchee. {W. Jochelson (The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 759) mentions, however, that the marrying of a Maritime Koryak suitor into a Reindeer Koryak family occurs quite rarely. A son-in-law from the coast will be but a poor herdsman. This is in full contrast with the Chukchee.} Marriages between the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo are almost as common. Eskimo villages are found side by side with those of the Chukchee. In some villages, like Če'čin and Uwe'len, one half of the families are Chukchee; the other half, Eskimo. The Chukchee said to me, "At the present time, with the cessation of wars, the entire population has become mixed" (Imilo' re'mkin ralѳ gene'Lin, "the entire people become a mixture"). These words are repeated by the Chukchee all over their territory. Wives from the American shores are met less frequently among the Maritime Chukchee, and vice versa.

In regard to the "prostitution of hospitality," it should be said, that, under the influence of American whalers, paid prostitution has developed among all the Maritime peoples on both coasts of Bering Sea. During the entire voyage, each ship has on board several young women from the Asiatic or the American shore. I have witnessed how, on the arrival of an American ship at the village Uni'sak, women in skin boats approached it from all sides, offering themselves quite openly. In order to be better understood, they would press their hands to their cheeks and close the eyes, symbolizing sleep.

The marriage-rite consists of a sacrifice to the hearth and a general anointment. Instead of blood, red ochre is used for anointing. Whenever I asked what marks the married couple painted on their faces, the answer, curiously enough, was invariably "Tŭmñ-a'lvalag" ("It makes no difference"). It appears that in the Maritime Chukchee family, anointment-marks had also existed; but they went out of use with the wooden fire-drills, the marriage anointment being a survival of these marks.

A marked difference between the marriages of the Maritime Chukchee and those of the Reindeer Chukchee, as compared one with the other, is the relative rarity of polygyny. It is true that in the tales of the Maritime Chukchee, men with three and four wives figure quite frequently; but in reality even bigamists are extremely rare. The Maritime Chukchee who lives by fishing and sea-hunting cannot afford to support an extra family. In fact, he is barely able to provide for one woman and her children. It is possibly due to this prevalence of monogamy, that ruptures of marriages, and cases where wives are sent back home or are carried off by relatives, occur much less frequently among the Maritime than among the Reindeer Chukchee.

Even among traders who have become rich through their dealings with whalers, monogamy is the rule. I had occasion above to describe the polygynous family of Ei'heli, a rich reindeer-breeder on the Oloi River. The family of a rich Eskimo trader, Ku'var, from the village of Uni'sak at Indian Point, whose name has repeatedly been referred to, was of an entirely different character. They may easily be compared, for both are very typical of the most prosperous Reindeer as well as Maritime Chukchee, and I have lived in both families for a long time. Ku'var's family consisted of himself, his wife, and three young daughters. They had also had two sons, who died, one from measles, the other from grippe. The old folks were always together. They grieved greatly over their dead sons. "Since their death," Ku'var told me, "I have entirely lost my senses, begun to drink whiskey. Before that, I never drank, but only attended to the drunken guests and kept watch over them. Now I twitch all over, my mind is dull, no sleep. Thus we sit, I and my wife, and cry or play cards. Throughout the winter, as soon as it becomes dark, we expect guests. The guests come, enter the sleeping-room, warm themselves, make noise, -- that's what we like. The guests are gone, and we cry again. We cannot eat. We grieve."

A Reindeer Chukchee, having lost his sons, would at once marry another young woman, that she might bear him other sons.

XX. -- CAMP AND VILLAGE.

The Camp of the Reindeer Chukchee. -- The camp among the Reindeer Chukchee, and the village among the Maritime- Chukchee, form the unit of social life. Though unstable, these exist without interruption. The Chukchee camp is very small. It includes usually two or three families, and the whole number of inhabitants is ten or fifteen. Camps of four, five, or six families form but a slight minority; and a camp with ten houses is almost impossible unless formed for special reasons, like the temporary camps in trading-places. As stated before, the number of tents corresponds to the number of families, since each family has a house of its own. In most cases the camp consists of related families, -- for instance, of brothers, cousins, etc., with their wives and children. Especially is this the case among people of moderate circumstances, where the herds are not so large as to make it necessary to keep them apart. When the herd left after the death of the father contains no more than a few hundred heads, there is every reason why the sons should not divide it into small parts, but should keep it together, as before. Among the poorer people, who count their reindeer only by scores, the sons are inclined to separate, and to seek a new fortune, each on his own account. On the other hand, such small reindeer-owners often join for a while with others of similar circumstances, even though not related. "Poor people are careless of ties of relationship," say the Chukchee. Five, and even eight, of such poor people, may keep together for a while, join the few reindeer they possess in order to form a herd of decent size, spend a couple of months in the common camp, and then disperse just as easily as they had joined. On the other hand, people who are rich in reindeer have a constant tendency to divide the herd and to form two or more separate camps. Moreover, the wealthy reindeer-owners are often unable to keep their reindeer well under the supervision of their own family alone, and have need of assistants. These assistants may be either some distant relatives or poor strangers; so that the camp of a rich man may be formed of a family of owners and of one or two families of assistants dependent on the master.

The Master of the Camp. -- The master of the camp, who lives in the chief house, is called aunra'hn, which means here "one of the chief house;" {Aunra'lln generally means "master" (cf. p. 285). [612]} also e'rmečin ("the strongest one") and a3toora'lin ("one of the front house"). The inhabitants of the other tents are called nim-tu'mgit [pl. of mm-tu'mgin, "camp-companion," "camp-neighbor"); also yaarra'lin ("that of the rear house").

The position of the front house is "on the front of the others;" that is, first on the right side of the line of houses, which, as stated before, are turned toward the morning-dawn "direction." {Compare p. 386.} Often it stands really somewhat in front of the others. The right and the left side, in this case, are pointed out, according to the Chukchee fashion, with face turned toward the sacrificing-place behind the tent {Compare p. 372.} (poia'ačên). Thus the place of the front house in the camp is farthest to the northeast. The rear houses are put up southeast of the front house. All houses stand in a single line. It should not be forgotten, however, that the camp-line may be turned also to the east or to the north; also, when the ground is uneven, the camp-line may be broken, and the houses erected out of the strict order. In this case, the entrances of the rear houses are more and more turned toward the south, and the last house may face a direction quite opposite to that of the front house. In most cases the Chukchee take care that the entrance of one house shall not be directed towards the poia'ačên of the preceding one. Otherwise, in sacrificing, the odor of the hearth of the house standing in a wrong position might reach the sacrificial fire of the preceding house, and taint its fire and fire-tools. {Compare p. 348.} On the contrary, two houses having a common fire may stand "quite straight to the poia'ačên" (kit-poia'ačê-ggêt). The front house is usually the largest of all. Therefore it is called čŭmña'-pêra'lin (i. е., "buck-similar"), meaning that it appears among the other houses like a big reindeer-buck among the other reindeer.

The owner of the herd, or of the larger part of it, occupies this place by right. The eldest of the brothers, or his son, has preference over the others. Thus, sometimes a young boy may have preference over all his uncles. In the camps of the poor people, of which I have spoken before, the one who is richer or stronger than the others will have the front place. In temporary camps, -- for instance, in those formed in trading-places by casual comers, -- the front place belongs to the first comer. All the others take places according to the order in which they come; so that the last comer occupies the rear place. The occupant of the front house is considered as the chief of the camp. He orders the change of camping-place and of pasture-ground, and designates the days for bringing the herd to the camp, for slaughtering reindeer, for arranging ceremonials and sacrifices. In the everyday life of the people he assigns the working-men to duties with the herd and in the camp. It will thus be seen that his power within the precincts of this small unit of two or three houses is very real. Since the Chukchee are very impatient under other men's authority, quarrels frequently happen even among brothers. Then separation ensues, though the size of the herd would make it preferable to keep together. When the camp includes families not connected by ties of relationship, and quarrels occur, the separation of the herds leads to new misunderstandings, since the ownership of certain animals cannot always be established with certainty. Some people of poor standing and of violent temper often purposely seek to drive their few reindeer into the herd of some rich reindeer-breeder. This is more apt to be the case in summer, when the herds are pasturing too near each other. On the Arctic coast, in the Kolyma country, when a rich man comes too near the shore in summer, he always incurs the risk of such unwished-for intermingling of herds. The strip of the shore close to the water, which is cool and rich in vegetation, is occupied by the poor people; and their small herds often mix together, so that this strip of land is a ground of constant strife and quarrel. Still, among themselves the poor are able to separate without much loss. When, however, a rich man arrives with his herd, his position is more difficult. The other party then has an opportunity to slaughter his reindeer, to mark the fawns with the thief's own ear-mark, and to change the marks of grown animals.

The owner of a large herd does not know all his animals, and some of the less conspicuous may even be abstracted without his being able to detect it. Therefore the owner of a large herd always keeps at a distance from the other camps, and, besides, is on the alert against the approach of another herd. The separation of herds, even when performed without any fraud, is a long and tiresome affair; so that the herdsmen are quite ready to use physical force to prevent encroachers from coming too near. I often witnessed such mingling of herds, which ended in quarrel and squabbling. The Reindeer Tungus, when they live with the Chukchee, have a strong inclination to mix their herds, because they are poor and move with their reindeer and tents even in summer, while the Chukchee stay in the same place during that season. When separation is again accomplished, the Chukchee complain that several of their animals are missing. The Tungus, on the other hand, talk about the loss of some well-broken animal which was of especial value. Since the Tungus reindeer, though less numerous, are of superior quality and of higher price than the Chukchee animals, both contending parties have cause for mutual reproach.

It goes without saying that a man cannot join a camp if he is not' allowed to do so by its inhabitants. Even in the very temporary camps at trading-places or in those established at large reindeer-races, where many of the participants come with a travelling-tent and family, no one can pitch his tent near the others without previous permission. After this is given and the reindeer are unharnessed, the herd immediately joins the common herd, because the general rule is, one camp, one herd. Even here separation of the reindeer leads afterwards to quarrels. The reindeer brought to such gatherings are of greater value, well-broken, strong coursers, or fat animals intended for slaughter; and the loss of even one counts.

Assistants. -- Camps of rich men, as stated before, have assistants dependent on the master. The beginning of the relations between master and assistant is well described in the tale of Ai'ginto. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 263.}

"Then they continued their journey with dogs. At last they were without food. All their dogs had perished. They went afoot, drawing their sledges behind them. Almost all their strength was spent. At last they met a large reindeer-herd. One small boy herdsman was with the herd. 'Oh, oh, guests! And who are you?' -- 'We are people of Ai'ginto.' -- 'Aha! at last we have found some companions on this earth. Come to our tent.' -- 'But who is the oldest of all there?' -- 'The father, of course.' -- 'But maybe he will say "I do not want them." Let us jather stay here in this place.' -- 'Then I shall go and ask the father.'

"The old man lives in his tent with his wife and family. 'There,' says the son, 'some guests have come, quite unknown before.' -- 'Where are they? Let them come in.' -- 'They have remained with the herd, saying, "Maybe thy father will say, 'I do not want them.'"' -- 'Oh, you are the cause of the delay,' says the old man. 'Our companions-to-be are waiting in the open. Go back, and be quick!' The boy sped back like an arrow shot from a bow. 'The father chides me for your error, and says, "Why have you not brought them all at once?"' -- 'Eh, eh! then let us go there.' They came to the tent. Ai'ginto refused to enter, and told the children to stay outside. 'Maybe the old woman will look at us awry.' Only the .young herdsman has entered. 'Where are the guests?' -- They refuse to enter, saying, 'Maybe the old woman will look at us awry.' -- 'Oh, oh! You old one, now you are the cause of the delay. Go out and make them enter.' The old woman went out. 'Ah, ah! a woman guest has come. Quick, enter the sleeping-room !' She took the snow-beater and dusted their clothes, shaking off the snow. 'Go in.' -- 'Let the father enter first,' says the master from within. Ai'ginto entered. 'You came?' -- 'Yes, I came!' {"Ye'tti?" ("You came?") "Tiye'ttyä3q!" ("I came!") are the usual greetings of the Chukchee, which are exchanged when a man enters the sleeping-room. Good manners require these short formulas to be pronounced. When the new-comer is still outside, and the master, sitting in the sleeping-room, hears him coming, the first words exchanged usually run as follows: --

"Mei" -- "Wui!" -- "Me'ñin?" -- "Êlo', gŭm!"

"Halloo!" -- "Ho!" -- "Who (are you)?" -- "No, (it is) I."

Then follows the invitation to enter and exchange short greeting formulas. In the intercourse with the Russians, another greeting is used, -- toro'ma, -- which is only the Russian greeting здорово ("Your health"), changed according to the necessities of Chukchee phonetics.} He showed him to the place of honor, opposite himself, by the other side of the lamp. 'Then let the sons of the guest enter.' The boys entered. He made them sit down by his own side. 'These shall be my own dear sons.' -- 'And what shall I do (without sons),' said Ai'ginto. 'Wait a little! Let my own son enter here.' The boy entered. 'This shall be thy son, since he brought thee here.' -- 'All right,' said Ai'ginto. 'Mine are two sons, and thine only one. Let us exchange, if food from thee is included in the bargain.'

"Thus they began to live. All three boys were taking care of the herd. The old men staid at home."

This description shows well how strong may be the desire of the master to have a new neighbor and assistant for the care of the herd. Of course, it gives the ideal conditions of such relations. It will be noted that the rich reindeer-owner and the poor new-comer meet in this tale on a quite equal footing, and then they live rather as two brothers than as master and dependent.

Another tale concerning Ele'ndi and his sons describes the same relationship entered into between the master and his slave who was taken as a prisoner of war.

The tale describes how Ele'ndi sen't his prisoner to the herd, and ordered him to take care of it, together with his own two boys. The prisoner, however, spent all his time sleeping in the shade, and left the boys alone with the herd. Therefore, when it was time to carry meat to the house, the slaughtered reindeer proved to be quite lean, without any trace of fat. The master was angered at this, and asked the boys the reason of such a bad condition of the herd. "It is because the assistant is very bad," was the answer. "Why in the world did you bring such a man here? He only sleeps in the shade all the time, and, besides, he keeps thrashing both of us."

The father came to the herd, caught the assistant sleeping, and gave him a severe lesson with the aid of a heavy lash. Still the assistant continued to do as before. In a few days the master came again and repeated the thrashing, using this time a fragment of an iron chain. Then the assistant changed his behavior. He began to be active with the herd. When the herd ran, he ran still faster than the reindeer. They slaughtered a reindeer. He said to the boys, "Now you may sleep." He cut the meat and cooked it, put it into a trough, then wakened the children. "Now, sit up and eat." The youths ate of the meat, put on their boots, and wanted to go to the herd; but he said, "You may sleep again, I shall go to the reindeer." The boys slept as long as they wanted to; then they awoke and sat in the shelter, singing. He became very careful, and was with the herd all the time. The herd fattened. He became a good herdsman and very skilful in taking care of the reindeer. They slaughtered again. The fawns were fat and round, like a tallow candle. They slaughtered one young doe and two fawns. The boys said, "Now you must go home and carry the meat." He carried one carcass on his back. When he came to the camp, the master was occupied with some small handwork. "Oh, oh, you have come! There, give him some dry boots to change with." Thus he said to his wife. The master untied the bundle, and saw the fawn-carcass quite white with fat. The heart of the master felt merry. They ate of the fat meat. The assistant immediately changed his boots again and wanted to go. "Where to?"-- "To the herd!" -- "No, no, sleep here! Let the boys be alone." They slept; but early in the morning, when the master awoke, there was no trace of the assistant. He had left for the herd. So the summer passed. They brought the kettles home, and the fall slaughtering was about to begin. The assistant took so much care of the herd, that the boys had no occasion to be with it. He looked after it all by himself. The reindeer were quite fat. Their backs were flat, like boards, and the old bucks were solid with meat.

The master felt thankful to the assistant; but there was treason in the heart of the latter, and at last he succeeded in taking the master to a lonely island far from the shore, and leaving him there. Then he came to the camp and became master of it. For a few weeks he tyrannized over the boys and the wives of the master, slaughtered the reindeer, and ate of the best. Ele'ndi, however, was saved by birds, who brought him back over the sea. Ele'ndi caught the assistant and punished him with barbarous torture and death.

The man who told me this tale added, by way of explanation, "If the assistant had continued to be good and useful, Ele'ndi, of course, would have treated him with the utmost kindness, and probably would have even given him one of his sisters in marriage, or even one of his own wives. His anger was heightened by his previous disposition to generosity and kindness."

It may be said that these two very characteristic cases form almost the most divergent examples regarding the position of an assistant in the Chukchee camp, since in the first case the assistant comes of his own free will, and immediately after his coming is treated as an equal and a brother; while in the second case the assistant is brought as a prisoner, is obliged to perform hard work, is severely chastised for carelessness, and only in the end is raised to the position of a member of the family in recompense for his changed behavior and successful work. It may also be said that all the cases of actual life fall under these two examples.

There are masters who are exceedingly kind to their assistants, just as the old man was to Ai'ginto. With them the assistants gradually become like near relatives, and remain for life in the camp. In the end there is no difference between the two families; and sometimes, when the master dies, the assistant may even become the real head of the camp, although the formal right belongs to another.

Other masters, on the contrary, are harsh and stingy. With them the assistants change almost every year. But when a man of meek disposition comes to such a master, he may endure a large amount of ill treatment before he decides to go away. I know cases where the master not only abused his assistant with words, but even chastised him with a stick or a rope, almost in the same way as Ele'ndi did to his slave.

The ideal, however, requires that the family of the master should be mild and generous to their assistant. For instance, in another episode of the last tale, Ele'ndi, when taking his adversary a prisoner, kills his wife with a club before his eyes, saying, "Why have you not fed your neighbors, at least stealthily (unbeknown to your husband)? Why have you not given them some extra food?"

In reality, when a master is too severe, his wife feels herself obliged to give clandestinely to their young assistant some extra piece of dried meat or fat, that he may eke out a sufficient meal, or to make him some slight present to console him for the harsh rebuke and bad treatment of the master.

In another part of the same tale, Ele'ndi, when coming to his adversary, is asked to participate in the meal. When they began to eat, the poor neighbors wanted to eat also; but the master gave them' blows instead of food.

"You must be the last. Let these my guests be the first eaters." His custom was such that the poor neighbors did not dare to eat with him. Their throats were wishful, but they only looked on wistfully. What else could they do? Then Ele'ndi says, "Well, well, you also partake of the meat." They slip their hands under the hands of the guests and try to take something; but the master strikes them on the hands. He cuts some whale-meat just for himself, and eats it all alone. The guest says again, "All of you may eat!" The master gave a blow to the guest, saying, "Why are you giving orders here? I am the master." The guest caught up his strong hide belt and gave the master a blow upon the naked back (since, according to custom, both were naked to the waist). The whole body of the master reddened and swelled from the blow. Then the guest says to his own wife, "Cook some more meat. These poor friends of ours have not yet had their fill." The master remains on the spot, motionless. The wife of the guest is cooking meat. In the strange house she acts as if it were her own. The master says, "Wait a little. We shall soon know how to act. This is probably the well-known violent Reindeer Chukchee warrior." Ele'ndi answers, "Not I. You alone are the real violent one, because by violence you have taught your neighbors not to dare to eat in your presence. You would tear the last piece from their very mouths. You are the violent one, I feed all my neighbors, -- eat one piece myself, and give another piece to them. You are the only one who is violent. Therefore maybe I shall kill you. Nobody will be sorry for it."

Thus Ele'ndi expresses his utmost indignation at the unfair behavior of the master of the house. It should be noted that Ele'ndi is a man of Reindeer birth and life, and expresses here the feelings of the Reindeer nomads. His host, however, is of the Maritime tribe, and lives by hunting sea-animals. It should be borne in mind that among the Reindeer Chukchee the assistant is usually a strong young fellow, who is of great help with the herd. Among the Maritime people it is not assistants, but rather "poor neighbors," as they are called in the tale, who act in this capacity. These poor neighbors hjive small luck or skill in sea-hunting, and often depend for food on some morsel thrown away by one more successful than they. Therefore it is no wonder that the position of neighbors is quite different among the Reindeer tribe and the Maritime people. The words of Ele'ndi give full expression to the Reindeer point of view as opposed to the greediness and stinginess of the Maritime people.

As to the realization of this ideal in actual life, I may give here a very characteristic story of a certain Chukchee who was left an orphan while still a young boy, and who had to become an assistant from early youth up.

"Then my uncle came to me and said, 'Oh, you are my nephew, you must live with me. I will feed you. When you grow up and I become an old man, you shall take my house, and my entire herd shall be yours.' Then I lived with him for five years. All this time I was all alone with the reindeer. All this time, on coming back home, I ate very little. Still my uncle was not pleased. He said to me, 'Oh, why do you move so slowly? You are very lazy. You will grow up to be a lazy man.' And a little after that he said again, 'Let me give you a beating.' Then he began beating me with the end of the lasso, and always on the head. At last, one autumn, when all the people were going over the river, we also went with them. He still used to beat me with a stick. Then I said, 'Let me be separated from him.' I went back over the river stealthily, in the night-time. Then I came to Omru'wgê's camp on the tundra, -- Omru'wgê, the Snotty-Nosed, so called. He says, 'Oh, it is you! Stay with me for a while.' His brother, a very bad man, was all the time abusing people. I spent a part of the summer there. Then I left and went to Wu'kwuqäi's. He said, 'My herd is too small. There is no need of you here.' I answered, 'All right, let me go away again.' From there I went to Eiñe'wgi's. He said, 'Your other uncle lives near by. Let us go there!' We went to this other uncle of mine, ѳti'lhin by name. He said, 'Nephew, you have come?' -- 'Yes, I have come!' -- 'All right. To-morrow morning go to the herd.' From that place I went to Pe'ñelqut's. He is also my uncle, once removed, an uncle on my mother's side, or I do not know what. Still with him I fared very ill. He scolded me, and said, 'You take little care of the herd. At the same time you eat too greedily. Upon the whole, you are a sorry herdsman, and in the future I shall clip your ears.' Then he said again, 'If you are not careful enough with the herd, I shall kill you. Try to be a good herdsman. Make the reindeer graze well. When they become fat, we shall eat of their savory meat. We shall sell them to the merchants. Afterwards, when you become an old man, you shall still live in affluence. Then at last you will die a decent death, and your children will raise for you a good-sized heap of antlers; and every one driving by with reindeer will praise your name.'" {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 60.}

It will be noticed that most of the masters of this young herdsman were his relatives, but this does not make much difference. Several times I saw rich reindeer-owners abusing their herdsmen, kinsmen and strangers, in a similar manner.

I remember one old man with whom I was staying over night. The night was dark and windy, and the wolves succeeded in making an assault upon the herd and driving away several animals. The next morning, when the old man left the sleeping-room and came outside, he found two of the herdsmen of the camp, who told him the unpleasant story. Immediately he grew very angry, caught up his lasso, and began chastising them both. They were men of large bulk and tall of stature; and he was a small, half-decrepit fellow, who, to make his blows more effective, skipped around and tried to strike them upon the face with the iron ring of the lasso. They did not show any resistance. From the Chukchee point of view, the old man was in the right, and they in the wrong, especially since, instead of going in search of the lost animals, they came to the camp to n change.

The reindeer scrape the snow with the hoofs of their fore-feet, the sharp rims and pointed ends of which penetrate the snow, even when covered with a very hard crust. But wherever the snow is very heavy, -- for instance, in the thick of the forests, -- the reindeer soon become tired, and want to lie down before they have had enough to eat. Reindeer-breeders, therefore, do not like to go too far into the forest. The hills of the forest-border are most favorable for them, because on their slopes snow is always scarce, and moss abundant.

The females calve from the middle of March till the breaking-up of the ice; i. e., the end of May. The fawns, after a few days, begin to dig for moss. They are weak, and sensitive to frost and hunger; and hundreds of them perish under unfavorable conditions (in the average year, about fifteen per cent). The wild reindeer calves two or three weeks later, in accordance with its later rutting-season. This is favorable for the fawns, which do not perish in such numbers as in the domesticated herds. During calving-time the herdsmen resort to an open place well sheltered from north winds, and with little snow; as otherwise the females will lack milk, and the fawns will be starved. In all the larger herds the pregnant females, before calving, are separated from the bucks, harness-animals, etc.; and each part of the herd is pastured on separate grounds. Otherwise the bucks would injure the fawns in their runs, which occur several times a day. The two parts of the herd are joined again late in summer, or in the fall of the year, when they are returning from the summer pastures. The reindeer-doe begins to rut when one year old; but some begin in the same year in which they were born. The more favorable the summer, the more frequent will be the cases of half-grown fawns beginning to rut. I was told by the herdsmen of the American Government herd on St. Lawrence Island, that, on account of the rich moss-pastures without insects, almost all the fawns began to rut the first year.

This early fertility accounts for the rapid increase of the reindeer-herds under favorable conditions, although the doe rarely brings forth more than one fawn. Even twins are often born dead. One of living twins, or even both, are often killed by the Chukchee because they are afraid of anything unusual in connection with their herd. Some of the breeders, however, value twins highly, asserting that when grown up they will be very swift, and will make good racing-reindeer. Therefore when living twins are born into their herd, they look for another doe that has just given birth to a dead fawn, and carefully wrap one of the living twins into the placenta of the dead fawn to make the dam raise it as its own. Of course, this is feasible only in large herds, where in calving-time there are daily about twenty or thirty fawns born. If a suitable reindeer-dam is wanting, they will sometimes kill some new-born fawn and put one of the twins in its place. If they prefer to kill one of the twins, they keep a female one, because they believe that it will grow up to be a barren doe, fit to use for the harness. {See below.} Breeding-bucks are best at the age of three and four years; later on, their value decreases, although the bulk of the body and the dimension of the antlers continue to increase until the fifth or sixth year. The doe breeds to the end of her life. {The Rev. Argentoff (I, p. 92) says that some of the does bring forth fawns for forty years. Perhaps this is a misprint, since the average life of the reindeer is from twelve to fifteen years. See also p. 75.}

The Chukchee herdsmen are careful to select for breeding those does that bear the strongest fawns. Those whose fawns have died for several years in succession are killed first, when meat is required. The herdsman observes the lineage (yičhi'yikwin) of his animals through three or four generations in selecting the best breeding-does.

Although the Chukchee have a very imperfect system of numerals, and never know the exact number of animals in their herd, still they keep a strict proportion between its integral parts. Fertile does always form a large majority. The largest bucks, aside from those used for breeding, are usually gelded. Such geldings and a few barren does are allowed to fatten. The harness-reindeer are also geldings, with the exception of a few large barren females with large antlers. The majority of the bucks are killed for their skins in the first fall of their lives. On an average, there are in a herd, to .every hundred breeding-does, about a dozen breeding-bucks, from ten to fifteen sledge-reindeer, and from sixty to seventy half-grown fawns. In a large herd (Plate iv, Fig. i) there may be to a thousand breeding-does thirty breeding-bucks, eighty sledge-reindeer, and from three hundred to four hundred fawns. The number of fattened bucks varies from a very few to about as many as there are breeding-does. However, large bucks and barren does are highly prized, since the Chukchee assert that a herd without bucks with large antlers looks poorly, and that without barren fattened does, all signs of wealth disappear. Even in springtime, when almost every doe is with fawn, the Chukchee herdsman is often more ready to kill a breeding-doe than a large fattened buck.

During the greater part of the summer the reindeer are much worried by large and small mosquitoes, and still more by two kinds of reindeer-flies. The first one (OEstrus tarandi Nordenskiöld, Tabanus tarandinus Slunin) lays its eggs on the hair of the reindeer, fastening them to the ends of the hair. After a little while a small maggot hatches from the egg, and immediately makes its way into the epidermis. While there it grows rapidly, and finally reaches the size of a hazel-nut. When full grown, it protrudes from the skin, and is ready to fall down. The maggots evidently cause itching, since the reindeer scratches its back whenever possible. When the maggots are very numerous, the reindeer loses its fat, and sometimes even dies. Later in spring the backs of some hapless animals look as if they were stuffed over and over with maggots, and the skin is riddled with small holes. Chukchee herdsmen very dexterously pick out these maggots, when large enough, from the reindeer's back, and eat them with great relish. The Lamut sometimes gather a quantity and boil them in water. Although this fly, when laying its eggs, does not cause the reindeer any pain or discomfort, the animal is much more afraid of it than of the stinging mosquito, and the herd will not remain quiet when the flies are numerous.

Another fly, of smaller size and darker color (OEdemagena tarandi Slunin), lays its eggs in the reindeer's nostrils. The larvae go up to the throat, and penetrate the cartilage. The next year, when the maggots are full-grown, they cause a constant cough, which continues until the last one drops to the ground. The Yukaghir and the Tungus, following the example of Yakut cattle-breeders, try to protect their reindeer from obnoxious insects by a smudge of smouldering dung, or of a fire covered with green leaves. But with the wild and large herds of the Chukchee such fires are of little value, and not without danger. Thus, some five years ago, Tungus herdsmen who were tending the herd of a rich Chukchee on the Alaseya River tried to surround it with fires, and finally burned the whole pasture, and injured half of the animals.

Hoof-swelling is the most common of reindeer-diseases, and occurs almost every year to a greater or less extent in most herds. It develops where the animals walk on dry and hot ground. Large abscesses break out between the joints of the foot. Sometimes the foot swells to the size of a child's head. The disease is catching, and is more dangerous in the mountains than on the seacoast. The Chukchee believe that when an animal afflicted with hoof-disease steps on the tracks of a healthy animal, it communicates the disease to the latter. Therefore an infected herd sometimes finds trouble in moving about the country. In an unfavorable summer a third or even half of the herd may die of it; but usually the loss amounts to only a few score. The first cold rapidly restores health to those that were not seriously affected. The symptom of another disease, that is not so frequent but much more dangerous, is a scab covering the whole skin, and causing all the hair to drop off. The disease is said to proceed from a very small insect that burrows through the skin, probably a species of tick. Dr. Slunin mentions having seen it, though he does not give the name of the species. It develops in mid-winter, and the reindeer die of cold and exhaustion. This disease is also catching; and a herd, once infected, will generally be exterminated. Sometimes the disease will last for several years, disappear for a while, and then break out with renewed vigor. When it assumes a violent form, the Chukchee herdsmen often leave the whole herd, house and everything in it, even stripping themselves to the last fur shirt, as a sacrifice to the spirit of the disease. Sometimes they kill all their animals, and pile them together around the tent. According to data contained in the archives of Nishne-Kolymsk, in the spring of 1872 a Chukchee reindeer-breeder, Tiñei'mit, brought his whole herd, stricken with scabies and about three thousand head strong, to that town to be slaughtered. The inhabitants of all the neighboring villages flocked together, and all the slaughtering was done in three days. The scabies infected the dogs and the people, who had touched and eaten the diseased meat; but the results were not so fatal as with the reindeer. Dr. Slunin also mentions that scabies may be conveyed to men. Other diseases -- such as muzzle-swelling, abscesses on the sides, etc. -- are of no great importance. The Chukchee do not undertake to cure any of them, but slaughter the affected animal, and consume it as readily as they would a healthy one. Occasionally they tie up a fawn's broken leg in thin boards, or they cut open the swollen penis of a buck that is too much affected by the rut, and sometimes they even bore with a knife an extra outlet for the urine.

A number of beasts of prey are dangerous to the herds. The wolverine and the black bear will occasionally kill a stray reindeer. The polar wolf is much more dangerous, since, in the localities where the Chukchee herds are numerous, it follows them wherever they wander, and generally lives on them. The natives assert that there are two varieties of polar wolf. One is smaller and swifter than the other; it hunts the wild reindeer, and never approaches the herds, since it dreads the smell of man. The other variety is of larger size, and, since it is not swift enough to overtake the wild reindeer, it preys entirely on the domesticated herds. In winter the wolf selects for its raids dark, windy nights, or those with heavy snowfalls. Oftentimes several wolves make a joint attack from various points. In such case they may in a single night kill several scores of reindeer, and -- what is worse -- disperse the herd so widely that some of the younger animals cannot be found again. The Chukchee consider the wolf a shaman, who, among other things, possesses a charmed hood of thick hare-skin as white as snow. To make his raid successful, he will put it over the herdsman's head when snow is falling, and thus put him to sleep. In summer the wolf sometimes becomes so bold that he makes an attack in broad daylight and in the presence of several herdsmen, as I myself had occasion to witness. Possibly this may be due to the fact that the Chukchee have a taboo against the use of fire-arms on the wolf, and will use only a lasso or a trap for killing it.

The Herdsman's Work. -- On the open, stormy tundra the Chukchee herdsman, who has no watch-dog, has a considerable amount of trouble with his half-wild herd. The reindeer are only half domesticated, and ready to disperse on the first occasion. When left to themselves in the open tundra, they soon become quite wild, and even more wary than the wild reindeer, since they know the ways of man. Every now and then, when going to a fresh pasture or wandering over the tundra, some wayward animals will start in the wrong direction, and the herdsman has to head them off. The herd, therefore, progresses but slowly; and the more slowly, the larger the number of animals. The highest praise for a herdsman is to say that his herd moves along swiftly, like "the small cluster of a poor man," to employ the usual expression of the heroic tales.

During certain seasons, especially with the coming of insects, the herd requires the utmost exertion of everybody in the camp, including girls and married women. The latter, though not very active, are able to relieve the men for a little while, so as to give them their much-needed rest. The herd will not stay on the same spot, even for a short time, but wants to move against the wind to find relief from insects. When stopping for a while, only the centre of the herd stands quietly. The outer animals move swiftly around it -- now from left to right, then from right to left -- as if performing a dance, and then suddenly dash forward against the breeze, carrying along the whole herd. When the herdsmen are too few for regular watches, they may not get time to sleep for two or three days in succession, and often are so tired that they drop to the ground and fall asleep against their will. The worst weather is a heavy warm fog without wind, because then the insects are most troublesome, and the herdsmen cannot watch the movements of the distant animals. At such times a herd may easily be lost, if the herdsman should fall asleep even for a moment. To find its tracks in summer is no easy matter; and the reindeer may either disperse, small bands joining neighboring herds, or, in more lonely districts, run wild again. After the small-pox epidemic of 1884 on the western Kolyma tundra, so many domesticated herds ran free and dispersed, that their descendants may be recognized even now among the wild reindeer at the mouth of the Kolyma. The wild reindeer in Asia is uniformly gray. All those having black or white spots are descended from the domesticated race. The best qualities of a herdsman are endurance in walking, and ability to go without sleep for a long time.

A small herd is more difficult to handle than a large one; {"A small herd, like a short lasso, slips out of the hands," says the proverb.} and several poor families usually combine for the summer and form a large herd with plenty of herdsmen. Early in the fall the herds are separated; and in winter some of the poor men will join their wealthy neighbors and help them watch the herd, receiving for their pay some skins, and some animals for slaughter. Such temporary helpers generally leave in spring, before the calving-season, since at that time a large herd gives much trouble. It must'be kept moving in search of new pastures. Does with young ones are very slow. In a herd of a thousand does there are some thirty calvings daily. The herdsman has to keep his eye on every one of these. He leaves them behind, then comes back for them, and even assists the inexperienced dam.

Many poor families, especially those who want to raise a herd of their own, enter the service of one of their wealthy neighbors for several years. They are very hard-worked, and receive as pay their meat-supply and skins from the herd of their master; but in moving from camp to camp they must use their own pack and driving animals. Meanwhile their own little stock is left undisturbed to multiply. In return for good services, they may expect to receive from their master every year about ten fawns; and with the natural increase of their own animals they may secure one hundred reindeer in the course of five fairly favorable years. Such helpers are called "dwelling-mates" (nim-tu'mgit); and the owners of every large flock, when short of hands, will strive in every way to attract at least one poor family. Often these are poor relatives of the owner of the herd. If there are any young unmarried men in these families, they will be offered a girl of the master's family in marriage, and thus become relatives of his.

With the beginning of summer, when sledges become useless and tents cannot be moved around the country, the Chukchee herdsmen usually leave their families in camp, and move with the herd about twenty miles away, to the summer pastures. Boys and girls of more than ten years, and young women having no small children, usually go along for a time. While moving about with the herd, the herdsmen have to carry on their backs all necessaries, such as extra clothing, rifle and ammunition, kettles, and provisions. After they have killed a reindeer, they must carry its skin and meat until it is consumed. For this reason the herdsmen are so averse to slaughtering an animal at that season, that they sometimes go for several days on starvation rations. If the hoof-disease breaks out, they have plenty of meat, but they have to carry along additional loads of skins. Sometimes they are so heavily laden as to be hardly able to move. The burdens are carried by girls and by men who are not very agile; while the best herdsmen must remain unencumbered for moving swiftly around the herd.

The time of the first sprouting of weeds, and the mushroom season in the fall, are also hard on the herdsman; but the winter is easier, especially the coldest months, which have clear sky and calm air. If no wolves' tracks are seen in the vicinity, the herd may be left for a day, and even for a night, without any watch; and two boys are sufficient to keep watch for several weeks, with an occasional visit from their father or elder brother, who attend chiefly to the change of pasture. Thus in the winter-time the older people have more leisure for visits and amusements.

The Chukchee are supplied with meat and skins from their herds. No milking is possible on account of the wildness of the reindeer. Early in summer the herdsmen may catch one of the does with fawn, strike her to the ground, and try to suck some milk from her udder, although she may kick desperately all the while. The man has to strike her udder with his fist, just as the fawn does with its forehead, to cause a more abundant flow of milk. Sometimes the milk that has been sucked out is spit into a bladder and brought home as a rare present. The amount is rarely more than half a glassful. But these milking-operations must not be repeated too frequently, otherwise the fawn would be starved. When the herdsman is very hungry, he may also chop off a few pieces of the soft velvet of some buck with large antlers, and eat the thick, soft outer skin. The animal is released without any dressing of the wound; and the blood will sometimes continue to trickle down for hours.

Bucks are gelded in a way somewhat corresponding to the process of milking. The animal is struck to the ground, and the herdsman bites with his teeth either through the dowcets or through the spermatic ducts. This operation does not affect the reindeer much, and immediately afterward it continues to graze. Sometimes the scrotum is tied very tightly with a sinew thread, and after a while becomes atrophied and drops off. Usually the antlers of the driving-reindeer are cut short with a saw early in the fall, when they are dry and hard. The mark of the owner (vêlo'lhin, "ear"), which is a very simple one, is bitten out of the fawns' ears in late summer, or the next spring during the separation of bucks from pregnant dams. For catching reindeer the herdsman uses the long lasso (ča'at) with a knot on one end and a noose formed by means of a bone eye on the other (Fig. 5). It is made of thin seal-skin straps plaited together, sometimes of intertwined sinew cords, or of ground-seal and walrus thong carefully softened by rubbing, and well smeared with blubber to make it more pliable.

A good lasso is worth a fat buck for slaughter, or even a sledge-reindeer. The Chukchee herdsman will not go abroad without his lasso, even when far from his herd (Fig. 6; also Plate XXVII, Fig. 2). While walking, he usually carries it around his neck in a thick coil, like a huge boa. It is sometimes used in hunting wild sheep, also for catching wolves that are first hunted down with a swift sledge, and occasionally for black bear and wolverine. Once, in my presence, a man who was drowning in a large river was caught and drawn to the bank by means of three lassos tied together. Two men held the coils; the third, who was the strongest, threw the noose across the river.

After having caught the reindeer, the man tightens the line and swiftly approaches, gathering in the coils. At the same time another man seizes the reindeer by one of its antlers, and with the other hand deftly stabs it through the heart, using a long, thin knife pointed at one end, and strong enough in the back not to bend too easily. This is usually done by men. When, however, owing to lack of men, girls and young women have to tend the herd, they carry the knife in their belts, throw the lasso, and perform the slaughtering, just as well as men. For sacrifices and in ceremonials the reindeer is stabbed with a spear (Plate vi, Fig. 1). At the present time the Lamut kill the reindeer by stabbing; but I was told in the Kolyma district that in very ancient times the Lamut strangled their animals with a running noose. {Compare Slvmin, I, p. 640.}

Reindeer-Driving. -- Reindeer-fawns are usually broken in the first winter. The herdsman selects for this purpose those that seem to be the least shy. Sometimes the Lamut reindeer submits the first time it is put into harness, while the Chukchee reindeer requires considerable time to be thoroughly broken. The reindeer like the taste of urine. For this reason, every Chukchee herdsman or reindeer-driver has tied to his belt or fastened to his sledge a small leather urine-vessel (Fig. 7), which he uses to attract the reindeer that he wishes to harness. When thoroughly tame, reindeer will come and drink from the hands of their masters.

Reindeer that are to be trained for pack-sledges are usually attached to the last little sledge of the line. On this sledge the tent-poles are carried, tied I together, and the struggles of the reindeer can do no harm to the load. The' sledge is attached to the preceding ones, which are hauled by trained animals. In a few days the young reindeer, after having been dragged several times behind the line, together with the sledge, learns to bear even with, the rattling of the poles. Reindeer for driving-sledges are broken in by means of the ci'kil (Fig. 8), a heavy wooden club that is fastened to one of the reins or to the end of the halter. Whenever the reindeer wants to turn off the track, or even to turn its head, the ci'kil is violently jerked several times by the driver, causing the animal considerable pain. When the newly broken reindeer kicks too much, or, after pasturing, does not allow itself to be caught for harnessing, the herdsman will pull it for half an hour by one of its hind-legs by way of punishment. Reindeer are generally attached singly to the pack-sledge, and in pairs to the driving-sledge. Only a poor man will drive a single reindeer, and then for short distances only, because the reindeer would very soon be completely tired out. The reindeer-harness is quite simple (Figs. 9, 10). It consists of a heavy strap four centimetres wide, which forms a bight, one end passing along the right side of the animal, the other end across the left shoulder and then between the forelegs. I will call this bight the collar. The ends broaden, and a wooden toggle is inserted in a slit in each end (Fig. 11). Then both ends are passed through the eye of the trace. The harness-strap of the pack-reindeer sometimes has the middle part covered with soft skin, especially in the season of hair-shedding, when the skin of the reindeer is very sensitive and becomes sore easily. In winter little care need be given to the harness, since the reindeer does not perspire, and the harness is always dry and clean. Two thin strips of leather are fastened to each side of the collar. They reach around the chest, and are joined by means of a wooden toggle, times a stronger breastpiece is fastened in the same way.

With the driving-reindeer the collar is slung over the left shoulder of both animals; and they have separate traces, which are fastened to the middle of the sledge-front (Fig. 12). The larger reindeer is usually placed on the right side; and it does more work than the one on the left, especially in turning and changing the course. Two reins -- one on the right-hand side and one between the reindeer -- are fastened to a common halter (Fig. 13). They end with loops that are usually put around the mittened wrists of the driver. The end of the right rein is strengthened by a thin piece of whalebone wound a, Attachment of Traces: b, Detail of Attachment of Right Trace. around with thin thong, and sometimes supplied with rings of ivory or lead to give a better hold for the hand. Several sharp, notched attachments made of ivory, antler, or iron, serve in place of the bit (Fig. 14). {Compare Middendorff, p. 1275.} When the reins are pulled, these prick the animal. When one of a couple of driving-reindeer is inclined to jostle its companion off the track, a wooden implement with sharp antler prongs is fastened on the body of the latter to prick the restive animal whenever it gets too near (Fig. 15).

Pack-reindeer are tied to the preceding sledge by means of a halter without notched clasps. Pack-reindeer do not walk without being thus attached.

Collars of about the same shape as those of the Chukchee are used by the Tungus, the Samoyeds, and even by the Laplanders. The Tungus reindeer-collar (used also by the Yakut and the Russian reindeer-drivers) passes, along the left side of the left reindeer, and the right side of the right one. The trace is double, and for attachment is simply slung across the curved fore-part of the sledge, so that both reindeer are compelled to pull with equal force.

Otherwise the traces of the weaker one would become shorter, and its hind-legs would be struck by the sledge.

The driving-harness of the Tungus has only one rein, and therefore is less handy. Their draught-reindeer are attached to the sledge in twos with the same double trace, and tied to the fore-sledge with two separate halters. A Chukchee pack-reindeer hauls from a hundred to a hundred and fifty pounds on the sledge; a pair of Tungus or Yakut pack-reindeer, from two hundred and fifty to four hundred pounds; and a Lamut saddle pack-reindeer, from forty to fifty pounds.

The whip is made of a long, thin, pliant rod of willow or birch, usually broken in one or two places and fastened together with sinew thread to give it greater pliability. It has a thick antler ring on the hand-end, and an ivory cap, usually made of a molar of the walrus, with one protruding, somewhat blunt end (Fig. Reindeer from jostling 16, a-c). In experienced hands, this light and apparently inoffensive instrument can draw blood from the thick skin of the reindeer-buck, though generally the Chukchee do not strike their reindeer very hard. Maltreatment of reindeer or dogs is considered a great sin against Ya'gtac-va'irgm ("Life [giving] Being"). {See Chapter XII.} Occasionally a whip with shorter handle and thin thong is used (Fig. 16, d).

The details of the Koryak harness, whips, and sledges, are more or less similar to those of the Chukchee.

The Chukchee reindeer-sledge has double curved cross-ribs made of antler, or of strong boughs naturally curved. The fore-ends of the runners are joined to the upper rails, the whole forming a curve (Fig. 17), and the ribs are tied to the runners in shallow slots roughly hollowed out, but not exactly fitting the rib (Fig. 17, a). A hole is drilled through the upper edge of the slot on the inner side of the runner, and the line that fastens the rib passes through that hole. All joints are fastened together with thin, pliant thongs, which are drawn very tight, without any pegs or nails. The pack-sledge (Fig. 17, b) is made of larch-wood, and is of rude workmanship. The fore-ends of the rails are often straight, and tied to the runners in a very simple way (Fig. 17, c). The runners are thick; but the ribs frequently break or become unfastened under pressure. These sledges vary in size, according to their special loads. Those carrying the halves of the outer tent-cover are the largest; those for house utensils, kettles, etc., are supplied with a framework open on one side (Fig. 17, d); and the smallest ones, on which the poles are carried, often have a forked rail in the middle (Fig. 17, e). The tent-poles are attached to the arms of this fork. The driving-sledge (Fig. 17, f) is made of birch-wood, with thin, flat runners, curved ribs, and a frame of flat, slender sticks tied together with thongs. Often a hoop is fastened in the middle in an upright position, from which to suspend a bell. In the springtime, when the birch runners do not glide so smoothly over the half-melted snow, they are shod with slabs of whalebone, or with several lengths of flat pieces of bone cut from the whale's jaw and joined together (Fig. 17, g). This shoeing is fastened with thongs, which are sunk into grooves in order to avoid friction against the snow, or simply with wooden pegs, or with a combination of both. Driving-sledges are not ungraceful in shape; but they are very brittle, and can be shivered to pieces by striking against any obstacle. They vary in form and dimension. The woman's sledge is usually larger than others, and has a wider and more comfortable seat. The usual measurements for the man's driving-sledge are: length, 180-200 cm.; distance between the runners, in the middle, 30-35 cm.; height in the middle, 24 cm. The measurements for the woman's driving-sledge are: length, 220-250 cm.; distance between the runners, 35-40 cm.: height, 25 cm. The racing-sledge, on the contrary, is so small, that the driver has hardly room to sit. Even the woman's sledge is so- light, that a man can easily lift it with one hand and carry it on his back, not to speak of drawing it with a rope over the snow. The seats of driving-sledges, of whatever shape, are usually supplied with a low back.

A special sledge, larger and broader than any pack-sledge, has a square frame (Fig. 18, a) covered with skin, and is used for carrying small children when changing the abode in the cold season. The woman's driving-sledge is sometimes furnished with a small covered space on the back seat in which to carry her infant (Fig. 18, 3, c). The coverings are usually adorned with a fringe of tassels, and are embroidered along the edges (see Plate xxi, Fig. 1). A large circular piece of embroidery (see Plate xxi, Figs. 2-4), called "sun" or "moon" according to its pattern, is also fastened on the back of the sledge.

A man or a woman riding a sledge usually sits astride of it, with a piece of skin for a seat-cushion, and with feet hanging down or resting on the runners (see Plate, v.). Thus they easily direct their course with their feet, and avoid stumps, bowlders, and other obstacles. The same position is required by the dog-sledge of the Gilyak, and especially by that of the ancient Kamchadal (Fig. 19), that had also curved ribs, and, on the whole, was similar to the reindeer driving-sledge of the Koryak and the Chukchee. When gliding down a slope, the driver generally uses his feet as a brake. In the spring, when the upper snow-crust becomes hard and slippery, a brake made of antler is used (see Fig. 17, /]), that is loosely tied to the right runner, and, when required, firmly pressed with the foot against the snow.

The Chukchee driver, as a rule, does not carry anything on his sledge, for fear of fatiguing his reindeer. Even for a long journey he takes on his sledge only a lasso, a spear, an outer coat for protection against storms, and for provisions a cake of ground meat mixed with tallow, but no kettle and no cup. For subsistence he depends solely on the villages and camps along his route, or, if he fails to find these, he sleeps patiently on the snow without meals. For the most part, however, Chukchee journeys are undertaken with a train of from eight to ten sledges, a woman goes along to attend to it, and a few score reindeer drag it along.

All pack-sledges have their definite place in the travelling-line, which begins with the woman leading it, and ends with the pole-sled. One woman can lead from ten to fifteen sledges; and a well-to-do house with a large family may have forty or even sixty sledges, which travel in from four to six separate lines. When starting, the sledges are packed early in the morning, and placed in the usual order. All the lines are joined together, forming a large corral (Plate IV, Fig. 2) in the shape of a horseshoe, into which -the reindeer are driven. Most of the sledges are stood up one against another in a slanting position, and the corral is strengthened with sticks, shovels, large skins, etc., and watched in all the weaker parts by old women and children. The herdsmen bring the herd, and first of all try to catch with their lassos, or by means of the urine-tube, about ten harness-reindeer, which are placed at the entrance of the corral; otherwise no free reindeer could be induced to enter it. Then they drive the herd to and fro before the corral, picking out one by one other harness-animals and driving them into the corral. The wildest ones are caught with the lasso, which is thrown over them, or spread like a snare on their track. When all the harness-reindeer are inside, the entrance is barred with a heavy rope, and all the men and women immediately enter and secure the reindeer with halters and traces. A few usually escape, breaking through the corral, or jumping it; and sometimes the whole pack succeed in overthrowing the sledges, and running away to join the herd. This happens especially when any of the unbroken breeding-bucks have entered the corral among the harness-reindeer. When all the animals are in their places, somebody gives the signal, and all the sledges drop to position at the same moment and start on, going in their respective lines. This difficult process requires the help of several people, and occupies usually three or four hours. A small family, living by chance in a separate camp, especially when lacking young, swift men, will sometimes fail to catch their own harness-animals for two or three days in succession. The Koryak and the Lamut harness-reindeer, on the other hand, are taken without any corral, by means of a long leather rope, which is drawn around the required animals (Plate VI, Fig. 2). All those not surrounded by the rope will come in of their own will. Many can be taken by hand. The whole operation takes not more than an hour.

Lieut. Polander, {Nordenskiöld, II, pp. 17, 18.} as an eye-witness, describes one very docile Chukchee herd, about fifty head strong, that every morning came to greet their master. Then, at a signal of the master, the animals, which all the time stood in regular line, wheeled about and walked away to the pasture in the same unbroken order. I do not know the reason for this unusual docility. Possibly, since it happened early in the morning, the animals were attracted by the pieces of the large snow-clod, soaked with urine, that is carried out of the Chukchee tent every morning and eagerly consumed by the reindeer when near at hand. I can hardly imagine Chukchee reindeer, however, making turns at a given signal, "like the crew on a man-of-war," to use the words of Polander.

When driving a single sledge and stopping for the night in the open air, the Chukchee traveller cannot turn his reindeer loose, because they would probably go back to the herd, even if at a distance of forty or fifty miles, or because he would not be able to catch them in the morning. The reindeer are hobbled by means of a short noose tied loosely to one of the fore-feet of the animal, so that it keeps continually treading on it with the hind-feet.

Sometimes a medium-sized log, or a clumsy wooden implement similar in shape to a thick two-pronged fork, is tied to the animal's neck, though it hinders it from grazing properly. The reindeer, secured by the end of the lasso, are usually turned out to pasture for a short time daily; but at night the man who wants to pasture his animals well will sit up himself, holding the end of the rope in his hand, and now and then, while, dozing, take a look at his reindeer; otherwise they would become entangled, and could not graze at all.

If well pastured and not overworked, reindeer are swift; and in two days a single driver often makes two hundred miles, provided the snow is thin and hard, as it usually is on the tundra. The lightest camp makes, on an average, twenty-five miles a day; and the large camp, from ten to fifteen miles, though often, especially early in the fall, not more than from three to five miles. When tired, the reindeer, especially the Chukchee reindeer, must be given immediate rest. If compelled to make further effort, it will become quite exhausted, and oftentimes drop dead on the spot. Therefore wealthy men are always on the look-out to acquire additional harness-reindeer, either for pack-sledges or for fast driving, that they may be able to relieve frequently those in use. The Chukchee saying is, however, "The poor man's reindeer are more enduring," compelled as they are to constant exercise. In the reindeer-races, the fresh, well-rested reindeer always win;. and, to quote another saying, "All stakes are taken by the largest breeders."

Economical Value of Reindeer-Breeding. -- The possession of reindeer-herds makes the material life of the nomadic Chukchee more stable, especially when compared with the precarious subsistence of most of the fishing and seal-hunting tribes in his neighborhood, not excepting even the Russians and the Russianized natives. In the Kolyma district, where the white salmon does not come from the Arctic Sea in large numbers, and where wild reindeer are thinly scattered over a large wilderness, the Reindeer Chukchee, though in every other respect inferior to the fisher-folk of the river, play the most prominent part in the economic life of the country. The river people depend on them for skins and fur clothing; and every spring, when the fish-supply is exhausted and the usual famine is at hand, the river inhabitants, one by one, drive over the tundra with their dog-teams, carrying with them all the household things they can spare, to buy with them such animals as their half-wild nomadic friends will sell. Even the officials of the towns of Sredne-Kolymsk and Nishne-Kolymsk find themselves obliged to visit the wealthy camps, and urgently beg the reindeer-breeders to come nearer to the river with animals for slaughter, as otherwise the people of the town and the cossacks will be starved. The trade of the country at present is carried on chiefly with the produce of reindeer-breeding, such as fawn-skins, curried leather, etc. The costly peltries, before coming to the market, also pass through the hands of the wealthy reindeer-breeders, who buy them with slaughter-animals from the Tungus, Lamut, and Yukaghir. At the fairs the numerous Russian dogs, as well as their masters, subsist solely on reindeer. At the Anui fair, for instance, there are killed in three days several hundred animals, besides which there are large supplies of meat, blood, and intestines, which have been stored in skin bags from summer time. The number of reindeer killed by the breeders for the benefit of their neighbors must be counted by thousands. Every small trader, when travelling with two or three dog-teams among the camps for barter, will want three reindeer daily for his three teams. I myself, when travelling with dogs among the Reindeer Chukchee, sometimes had to buy in one month, for dog-food, from fifty to sixty reindeer. Reindeer for slaughter are very cheap throughout the whole country. The highest famine price in Sredne-Kolymsk is eight rubles (four dollars) for a large buck. The usual barter price at fair-time for an average reindeer for food is one piece of brick-tea and one bundle of leaf-tobacco. The price of these two items together varies with the locality. It is a ruble and a half at Anadyr and Gishiga; three rubles at Sredne-Kolymsk; and four rubles at the Anui fair. Dog-food is much cheaper, especially in camps, where a young, not fat, buck is often bought with half a piece of brick-tea or a few leaves of tobacco. This peculiar dependency, however, in no way hinders every river inhabitant -- from the well-to-do trader down to the poorest, half-starved dweller in' the remotest Arctic hamlet -- from striving to deceive and cheat in a hundred different ways the half-wild nomad, who cannot even count more than one or two scores.

According to Krasheninnikoff, the same relations have existed from very ancient times farther to the south, between the Maritime and the Reindeer Koryak. On the Anadyr River, which the red and pink salmon from the Pacific Ocean ascend in countless numbers, and which the wild reindeer twice cross in large herds, the Russianized fishermen are much more independent of the reindeer-breeders.

The relations between the Reindeer and the Maritime Chukchee are more complicated, since the breeders, though rich in reindeer, depend on the Maritime hunters for thongs, seal-skins, and especially for blubber and walrus-meat, which, as I said before, are considered the most palatable of the common diet. Moreover, the Maritime hunter is more daring, used to greater danger and to every kind of adventure, than the lonely herdsman living on the dull plain, always encumbered with his herd. However, a herdsman is considered to be much more amply equipped for life; and every year young men and whole families go from various Maritime villages to the Reindeer camps, often far inland. They settle as "dwelling-mates," marry into families of the Reindeer people, and gradually acquire a competency of their own. The Eskimo of the Pacific shore, some forty years ago, were, on the contrary, in a position inferior to that of the Reindeer people, notwithstanding their trading ability and their constant journeyings between the shores of Bering Strait. Even their name, Ai'wan, was used among reindeer-breeders as an expression of contempt. With the coming of American whalers, however, Eskimo traders came into possession of so many things necessary or tempting to the Reindeer people, that they could no longer be despised. With their increased trading capacity, their demand for Chukchee reindeer is much greater than ever. Every fall the squadron of Indian Point skin boats and whale-boats returns from St. Lawrence Bay or from Holy Cross Bay, where the Reindeer people are numerous, deeply laden with skins and meat, part of which is bartered off to the Eskimo of St. Lawrence Island for whale-skin and blubber.

V. -- DOG-BREEDING.

Groups of Dog-breeding Tribes. -- The origin of dog-team driving is still more obscure than that of the domestication of the reindeer. In Asia there are three groups of dog-driving tribes, differing in their methods of harnessing, the shape of harness and sledge, etc. Those belonging to the first group, who inhabit northwestern Siberia, use a peculiar circular strap that girds the dog's body about the middle, like a belt, and without bands across the shoulders, so that the dog can pull only with the hind-part of its body (Fig. 20, a). This method of harnessing does not work well: the dogs do not draw as heavy loads as the East Siberian teams, and they go more slowly.

East of the Lena River, and as far south as the Amur, all fishing and seal-hunting tribes use dog-teams with uniform sledge and harness. The sledge has three or four pairs of stanchions and a circular fore-part. {In the collections" of the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, I saw a sledge of the Alaskan Eskimo, which, curiously enough, is similar in shape to a Siberian form of sledge used by the Gilyaks of the Amur River. Its runners are bent upwards at both ends, and are joined by a horizontal bow similar to that at the front end of the Chukchee sledge (p. 105). The stanchions, too, are similar in shape, only their upper ends are bent inward and fastened to cross-pieces, in the usual Eskimo manner.} The dogs are attached in pairs to a long, thick strap, in place of a whiffletree, with about a fathom's distance between the pairs; and a full team consists of six or seven pairs. The course is directed by the voice, with special call-words. These are understood and obeyed by the leading dog, which is trained specially for that purpose. The harness is somewhat similar to the ordinary horse-harness, with a breast-piece, and two or three bands across the back.

The third group of tribes -- those of the Chukchee Peninsula -- used, up to the middle of the last century, a sledge with curved ribs, similar to the reindeer-sledge, and a peculiar kind of harness (Fig. 20, b), identical with that used by the American Eskimo. They harnessed the dogs abreast in the same way as is done in North America. Since that time, however, they have entirely abandoned the old mode of dog-driving, and have adopted the southern form of sledge and the "tandem" method of attachment. Nelson {Nelson, p. 208.} gives a sketch of a dog-sledge from Plover Bay, on the Siberian Pacific coast, which seems to me rather to be a reindeer-sledge, as it is too long and slender to be driven with dogs. It is somewhat strange that he did not see any other dog-sledge on the Siberian shore. Nordenskiöld, {Nordenskiöld, I, p. 453.} too, gives a sketch of a dog-sledge similar to a reindeer pack-sledge. Of the native drawings reproduced in his book, one represents a man driving a similar sledge with three dogs harnessed abreast and a leader ahead; and another pictures a man driving an ordinary East Siberian dog-sledge with a tandem team. Lieut. Nordquist, in his Report given by Nordenskiöld, {Ibid., p. 459.} describes likewise the old method of dog-harnessing; but Nordenskiöld says elsewhere that it was used only for short trips, and that almost all drivers that passed along the coast on a prolonged journey had dogs attached tandem fashion. The old method of harnessing has gone entirely out of use; and I have never seen it employed in Maritime villages, though poor Reindeer people along the seacoast, when using dogs, sometimes attach them to a reindeer-sledge. Among the Asiatic Eskimo there are cases (for example, in the ceremonial races in the spring) in which the dogs are still attached in the old way (Plate VII, Fig. 1).

A model made in Mariinsky Post shows that the bone eyes at the ends of the long traces were strung on a line tied across the sledge in front of the first cross-piece joining the rails. This line is more or less similar to that of the Eskimo sledge described by Boas. {Compare Central Eskimo, p. 533. The dog-sledge of the Eskimo group in the Anthropological Museum a', Chicago has curved ribs made of antler, and in all its details belongs to the ancient Siberian type. It seems to me probable that this sledge is actually of Siberian provenience. I understand, however, that it is supposed to be characteristic of the Eskimo of Port Clarence in Alaska. It would be interesting to know to what extent sledges of this shape are or were manufactured by Eskimo on the American shore.}

I met with instances among the inland Yakut where ordinary house-dogs were attached singly to small sledges by means of a wooden shaft, or even with a small wooden yoke, in a manner similar to that used for harnessing bulls to wooden sledges. This method has no connection with that employed in the common dog driving-sledge adopted by the northern fishing Yakut on the Lena and Indighirka.

Perhaps in former times the methods of dog-driving among the first and second groups of tribes were not so different as they are at present. The ancient Kamchadal sledge, to which I referred in the preceding chapter, as has been said, was similar in shape to the Chukchee reindeer-sledge; and the driver sat on it astride, with his feet hanging down. He used for a seat-cushion double bags of seal-skin, that were thrown across the sledge, and hung from each side like saddle-bags. It is curious to note, that even now, when another form of sledge has been universally adopted, the dog-driving people on the Kolyma and Gishiga Rivers still use these saddle-bags for carrying provisions, etc., though now a single bag would be more convenient. The dog-teams were not so large as they are now. Krasheninnikoff says that the average team was three pairs, while now it is twice as many. A two-pair team was also much used. The driver frequently walked before the team, especially in heavy snow, breaking the path with his snowshoes, and with voice and motion urging the team to follow. This is still done in Kamchatka, and the dogs follow obediently; while Kolyma dogs, should the driver go ahead of them, would take it as a suggestion to stop. The method of walking before the dogs, urging them to follow, is generally employed by Eskimo drivers. It is interesting to note that two terms relating to dog-driving, and used by the Russians in northeastern Siberia, -- kayu'r for the driver, and o'shtol for the brake, -- are both of Kamchadal origin. In Kamchadal the driver is called ke'yux; and the brake, o'cxtlEnañ, from the verb t-ocxta'l-ick ("I work with a brake"). This is the more curious, as the Cossacks went to Kamchatka later than to the Kolyma and to Anadyr.

Among the Yukaghir of the Upper Kolyma, who are probably the most primitive of all the tribes concerned, only a few dogs are attached to a sledge. They are placed in tandem position, -- not in pairs, but separately, {In this the Yukaghir method of attaching dogs is similar to that of the Gilyak, as described by Schrenck (II, p. 172; and Plate XXXVI, Fig. 2).} -- three or four dogs forming a team. There is no leader; but the men and women, on snowshoes, walk on both sides of the team. By means of long straps placed around the shoulders they help the dogs draw the sledge, and direct their course. The same method of dog-driving was adopted by the Yukaghir of the Lower Kolyma, of both the Anuis, and of the Omolon, as early as the fifties of the last century.

Domestication of the Dog. -- The domestication of the dog in northeastern Asia surely preceded by a considerable period of time its adoption for carrying-purposes. Lamut dogs, for instance, are now used exclusively for hunting-pursuits. They scent squirrels and sables in the woods, overtake elk and reindeer on the hard-crusted snow in the spring-time, and catch white and red foxes on the open plain. Notwithstanding their fleetness, they are not well fitted for driving, on account of their roaming disposition. On the other hand, some European dogs, bought by Kamchatka drivers from merchant-ships, prove to be well adapted for the harness, and are able to keep pace with the native team, at least for short distances.

It is an interesting fact, that, among all northern dog-driving tribes, stories are told of experiences in harnessing young wolves. One Russianized Yukaghir told me that his own "grandfather tried to harness tame wolves, but that they proved useless. They were too shy, and would frequently lie down flat and allow themselves to be dragged by the team. Moreover, the amount of food required by them daily was three times as much as is needed by the dog. According to the belief of the Russianized natives of the Kolyma, the "forest-owner," a supernatural being, {See Chapter XII.} drives, instead of dogs, foxes and wolves. Perhaps this belief accounts for the amplification of the above story.

Among the Chukchee and the Koryak the dog is also used for sacrifice, and even for food. The Maritime Koryak sacrifice so many dogs, that not enough are left for driving. The Reindeer Chukchee sacrifice both reindeer and dogs frequently, but the poorer people sacrifice principally dogs and puppies. Besides this, the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo use dogs for food in case of famine. In the winter of 1901, for instance, the Chukchee families of Mariinsky Post, at the mouth of the Anadyr, suffered greatly from famine, and ate nearly all their dogs. I know of cases where families of the Arctic shore have, in tinies of famine, eaten all their dogs. Even in times of plenty, some families occasionally kill a fat dog to feast on its head and intestines, although, on account of the jeers of Russian cossacks and American whalers, that taste has decreased rapidly, or at least its gratification is concealed from other people. However, when I wanted specimens of dog-skin, the natives who killed the animals for me were careful to take the meat home for their, own private use. Sacrificed dogs are not generally eaten. The assertion of Nordenskiöld, {Nordenskiöld, II, p. 96.} that the Chukchee do not eat dog-flesh even in times of need, evidently refers only to sacrificed dogs.

It is not necessary to speak of the races of the East Siberian team-dog, since all dogs are much alike in size and color. On an average, they are of the size of an ordinary shepherd-dog; rather smaller, however, than the dogs of the American Eskimo. Their appearance calls to mind the wolf; and the form of their heads, the jackal. They are shaggy, and have very thick, woolly tails, especially in the more exposed regions along the seacoast. Among the Yakut on the Upper Kolyma I have often met dogs of curious appearance, resembling that of the fox. They were undersized, with rather long bodies, and furry tails. Their fur was red or reddish gray. These, however, were not team-dogs.

The most frequent colors of team-dogs are brindle wolf, black, white, black with white spots, white with black spots, red, and reddish yellow (the last two chiefly on the Pacific side); in southern Kamchatka they are sometimes white with gray or red spots.

The names of dogs among the Chukchee are derived chiefly from their colors; for instance, wute'l ("brindle wolf), uwe'lE ("black"), ê'lhar ("white fox"), etc.; though other names have a different origin, for instance, kei'nin ("bear"), ve'ĻE ("raven"), nene'n ("infant"), titi'ñi ("needle"). Other names cannot be translated; for instance, pappa'lhin, which is given only to black dogs, and eli'hiki.

Dogs of the southern and western districts are considered the swiftest and the most enduring. Among the Russianized natives the large and shaggy dogs of the Indighirka River are especially valued; among the Kamchadal, those of the southwestern villages Yavina and Golyghina; and among the Koryak, those of the Poqa'č. The Chukchee dogs are considered the poorest of all, probably on account of their more scanty diet. Therefore the trade in live dogs between the Russian settlements in Anadyr and the Chukchee villages on the Pacific shore is of importance. A good dog can be bought with four or five white fox-skins, or two dogs with an American shotgun with accessories, etc.

Kamchadal, Koryak, and Russian dogs are fed exclusively on fish, -- raw, dried, or frozen, according to the season or the locality (Plate VI, Fig. 3). The Kolyma Russians often cook for their dogs a kind of porridge made of putrid fish, roe, fish-bones, refuse of human food, etc., and serve it in long wooden trays; but this kind of food is convenient only at times of rest, since the dogs feel heavy with too much liquid food. The Chukchee dogs are fed on the intestines of seals, and on seal, walrus, and whale blubber. Their share of meat is small, and consists only of kitchen refuse, since their masters want all the meat proper for themselves. However, exclusive blubber diet is insufficient for dogs. In the summer-time, in the Chukchee villages of the Pacific coast, I saw large pieces of blubber strewn all over the ground; and the dogs prowling among them did not appear to be overfed. The natives said, that, whenever the dogs were satiated, they would desist from eating blubber for a long time. On the contrary, in the fishing villages of the Koryak or Kamchadal, at the same season, when food is scattered on the ground, the dogs grow so fat that they can hardly walk. {As regards the poor quality of blubber diet for dogs, compare also Maydell, I, p. 570.}

The continuous fluctuations of success in seal-hunting, and the frequent seasons of famine, have a deteriorating effect upon the Chukchee race of dogs; but fishing among the more southern tribes is much more regular. Chukchee dogs need something to season their blubber, and are generally inclined to eat up all the dry thongs they can get; they even gnaw at the lashings of sledges, and destroy their own harness and traces, much more than do the southern fish-fed dogs. On the contrary, the Russian fish-fed dogs thrive best when they are given blubber mixed with their dried fish. The dogs are fed once a day, usually in the evening, by some of the drivers immediately after stopping; while others prefer to wait until they have had three hours of rest. A piece of blubber measuring two inches each way, and some shreds of putrid walrus-meat or whale-skin, form the daily ration of every dog. During the day's run, most drivers, when food is not scarce, give their dogs a piece of blubber by way of encouragement. The dogs can go several days without food, even on the journey. They will, of course, become very weak, and unable to carry heavy loads. When not at work, the dogs can subsist on very little. At the end of spring, when sledge-driving is over, the dogs are released for the summer, and are not fed at all, because the seal-catch is not abundant; then they live on such scraps as they can secure. During the entire summer, in certain localities, the dogs find their own subsistence. In the Kolyma country, for instance, they live on mice and spermophiles; on the southern shores of Bering Sea, on dead salmon, etc.

After the summer rest, the dogs, before being put into harness, have to be carefully tied up and kept for a day or two with very little food, or even without any, according to the amount of fat they have accumulated. Dogs harnessed too soon will be spoiled for the whole winter, being unable to endure long, fast runs. Dogs are harnessed in the first autumn of their lives, often when only two months old. Sometimes the female dog is attached in the front, and her whole litter of pups in the rear. In a few months, when the pups are quite grown, such a team will perform heavier and more uniform work than any other.

The females are good leaders; but, since they are weaker and smaller than the males, they are not good for drawing heavy loads. The males are gelded with an iron knife. The operation, contrary to that upon the reindeer, ^requires some skill, since the fat male dog will easily die from bleeding or "inflammation. On the Kolyma, the operators assert that they can cause the animal operated on to assume afterward whatever pace they like, -- trot, canter, or gallop. On the Pacific side there is no occasion for such assertion, because the dogs are not allowed to go at any swifter pace than a brisk trot. The Kamchadal and the Koryak crop the tails of their dogs, believing that this will increase their speed. Disobedient dogs often have their tails cropped on the road, and have to go till evening, the blood trickling all the while. The team-dogs serve till ten or twelve years old. After the sixth or seventh year they begin to decline. Contrary to what has been said of the Eskimo dog, the Asiatic harness-dogs are sullen, and care little about their masters. I myself had occasion to breed several generations of dogs under the ordinary conditions. Most of those that I gave away would not recognize me at all after a few months.

The same dog, however, when ungelded and rarely used in harness, is as merry and affectionate as any European dog, though perhaps more uncouth and boisterous in the display of feeling. The dog Mr. Jochelson brought with him from the Kolyma to St. Petersburg, though considered remarkably mild when in its own country, was a continual nuisance. It wanted to kill every domestic bird it happened to come across; it frightened the horses, and had to be kept carefully tied all the time. The Siberian harness-dogs are more given to howling than barking. Their howl is long and whining, and ends with an occasional yelp. On winter nights the whole canine population of the village, often several hundred head strong, will raise a chorus that will last for half an hour, subsiding several times, and then breaking out again.

Of dog-diseases, the peculiar Arctic form of rabies occurs frequently, especially in the spring. I observed that it occurred most frequently after a long course on the open tundra; and, according to native ideas, it results from the action upon the brain of the excessive brightness of the snow, analogous to the spring snow-blindness of men. Dog-rabies, however, is not so bad in northern as in southern latitudes; and, though I have known of many men being bitten by a rabid dog, I have never heard of any bad results from the bite, but I have heard of some such cases with rabid wolves. However, any dog bitten by a rabid one will itself go mad, and sometimes, when the rabid dog is not killed in time, several teams will be greatly injured. On long journeys the drivers simply muzzle the rabid dogs at first, so that they cannot bite their companions; and they continue to drive them thus for two or three successive days, as I witnessed when travelling among the Chukchee between Anadyr and Indian Point in March, 1901. Dr. Slu thus adding to the daily fare of the family for several meals. {Compare p. 84.} On the third day, all the broken bones of the leg-joints are heaped on the hearth between the sledges, and burned to ashes. The fire used for this purpose is lighted by means of a fire-drill. Any remaining particles of the leg-joint are covered with small pieces of sod; and a willow-twig, taken from those that were used in tying the leg-joint to the cross-pole in the tent, is put on top of it. The small mound of sod thus arranged is called "fireplace" (melhin). A few days later the first change of the camp-site takes place, but it is not accompanied by any particular ceremony. Some of the people merely build two fires in front of the two ends of the corral, and cause the train of sledges to pass between.

In the second slaughtering, all the details concerning the killing of the animals, arranging the sledges, painting with blood, etc., are repeated, but are done more hurriedly. The meeting of the herd with shooting and shouting is omitted. The guests gather and receive gifts in the same manner as was described before, but the shamans do not practise their arts. The thanksgiving ceremony is performed only the first time; neither are the races and wrestling-matches repeated. Immediately after the second slaughtering, the actual moving-about on the moss pastures and the winter life begin.

Winter Slaughtering. -- Other slaughtering-sacrifices during the year are less complicated and less important. The next one in point of time is connected with the establishment of the permanent winter house. Two or three reindeer are slaughtered; two usually being sacrificed to the dawn, and one to the ground (nota's-qa-va'irgin). {Compare pp. 305, 331.} The last-named sacrifice is laid by the left side of the others, with its head pointed towards sunset.

About the time of the winter solstice the "feeding" of the star Pehi'ttin is celebrated. Those who are living in winter-quarters begin by repeating the last-mentioned sacrifice, and a few days later sacrifice to Pehi'ttin. Fat bucks are selected for this purpose. Small "substitute" figures are made, corresponding to the number of fire-drill boards; and round cakes of pounded leaves are prepared. Tiny leather plates with tallow and blood-soup are offered to the east, because about this time the star begins to rise in the east. Some of the people also make a ceremonial fire for the star Pehi'ttin, and "feed" it, as already described.

Those who move about all winter celebrate the Pehi'ttin ceremonial in a simpler way. They often postpone it until the middle of the first month in the new year.

In the interval between the first and the second lunar months of the Chukchee year, a sacrifice to the sun is performed, but with no new details.

The next sacrifice is made between the "first summer" (ki'tkitik) and the "second summer" (a'nok), {See p. 52.} when the herd is being driven to summer pastures. The ceremonial opens with the last moving of the tent in the season. The women take off the covering, and, breaking down the frame, drag the three central poles off to a new camp-site, situated if possible on a hill where the ground is comparatively dry. There they lay the poles on the ground so that their tips form a centre from which the poles radiate. A reindeer is slaughtered over the poles, and the herdsmen take care that it falls exactly on them. The mistress soaks a small piece of skin in the fresh blood, and with it draws a circle on the ground, taking as the centre the place where the tips of the poles meet, and marking the poles one after another along the line.

Numerous reindeer are slaughtered to serve as provisions for the family for the greater part of the summer. For this reason there is no need of "substitute" sacrifices. A small fire, lighted by means of the fire-drill, is built in front of the door, and an offering of marrow is burned in it.

Sacrifices of reindeer may take place on any unusual occasion; for example, before beginning a journey (both going and coming), to ask the protection of "spirits," and at market-places to secure the good-will of the local "spirits."

When coming home after a long journey, the sledges are placed behind the tent, a reindeer is slaughtered in sacrifice, and a fire is built, and "fed" with fat, marrow, and blood-soup. A corral is built, and the reindeer used on the journey are penned in it. The wife of the owner enters the corral and paints each reindeer on its forehead and shoulders with soot mixed with water, or with a decoction of alder-bark. This ceremony signifies the desire to re-unite the reindeer and the family hearth.

Ceremonial of Antlers. -- The ceremonial of antlers, which in Chukchee is called ki'lvei, is celebrated without slaughtering reindeer. It is even doubtful whether it was originally connected with reindeer-breeding, since the Maritime people also perform a ceremonial under the same name and with some similar details, but of course without antlers.

In modern times this ceremonial, among the Reindeer Chukchee, is connected with laying out the shed antlers on the ground. The breeding-males lose their antlers immediately after the rut; the geldings, in the middle of winter; the older ones, later; the young bucks, early in the spring; and the does, after fawning, which happens as late as May with some of them.

All the antlers shed are picked up and kept for the ceremony, being taken along when the people move from one pasture to another. When the load becomes too heavy, a ceremonial is performed and the antlers are left on the ground. The wealthy people consequently celebrate this ceremonial three and even four times during the year; the poorer ones, only once or twice. The spring is regarded as the proper time for the performance, since most of the animals shed their antlers then.

A small fire is lighted on the customary place behind the tent. The antlers are laid on the ground in a large heap, and covered over with dry boughs. Fire-drill boards are leaned against them, and the charms hung on branches of the boughs or on antlers. Then the charms are smeared with tallow. Meat and tallow are also set on a piece of hide placed on the ground in front of the heap of antlers.

The head of the family and his sons throw the sacrifice to all the "directions" receiving sacrifice, and bury a part of it in the ground. Then they walk away a few hundred feet in the direction of the herd, and repeat the ceremony. I have already mentioned that some of the boughs used are taken from the heap and attached to the family charm-string (tai'ñikut).

Sacrifice to the Young Moon. -- Many people offer sacrifices every month to the young moon. The offering consists of blood-soup, meat, and tallow, also of small figures of reindeer made of snow or of leaf-pudding, and is made in the evening. Slaughtering is rare, and happens only in midwinter. These sacrifices are evidently directed to the evil spirits: therefore they are not regarded as belonging to the general cycle of ceremonials. The people, when talking about such ceremonials, persist in thinking that they are not quite lawful, and should be kept secret.

Sacrifice to the Fire. -- Sacrificing to the fire (enankaa'w-kurgin, literally, "inducing the fire to crack;" it is also called the "feeding of the fire") occurs as an independent ceremony during the journey from the winter pastures to the summer locations (ta'gn-tila'ma, literally, "on the descending road;" that is, descending from the mountains to the tundra and the seashore). At this time the mistress every evening, after pitching the tent for the night, lights a small fire before the entrance, and sacrifices to it with fat, tallow, marrow, etc. The sacrifice to the fire accompanies several other celebrations, such as the ceremonial of antlers, ceremonial reindeer-races, etc.

Sacrifice for Luck in Hunting. -- A man, when going alone into a strange country to hunt, or to a lake or river to fish, will offer to the place a small sacrifice from his scanty provisions. On the land he will throw the offering about; on the river or lake he will throw it into the water.

After a successful hunt of one of the larger animals, -- such as the wolf or wolverene, black and polar bear, wild reindeer, walrus, and thong-seal, -- various ceremonials are performed when the game is brought home. Their common feature is the "giving of a drink and a bed" to the animals. This is symbolized by bringing out of the house a small quantity of water, and pouring it over the head of the animal as it lies on the snow before the entrance, {A similar custom obtains among some of the American Eskimo (compare Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 147; and Captain С. F. Hall, Life with the Esquimaux, II, p. 392).} and by placing a small willow-twig under the hind-quarters of the carcass for a bed.

The Maritime Chukchee also "give a drink" to all larger animals killed on the hunt, especially to the walrus; but the "bed" -- that is, the willow-twig put under the hind-quarters of the animal --- is often omitted. The Asiatic Eskimo, however, "give a drink" only to the first-killed walrus of the season.

Ceremonial connected with the Killing of Wild Reindeer-Bucks. -- Of all animals killed on the hunt, the Reindeer Chukchee set the highest value on wild reindeer-bucks killed in the herd during the rutting-season, because their coming is thought to affect favorably the fortune of the herd. {See p. 74.} With the killing of such bucks a complicated ceremonial -- performed late in the fall, after the rutting-season is over -- is connected. The Chukchee contend that these animals are not hunted down by the personal skill of the hunter, but that they are lured within his easy reach by the influence of the herd, therefore it is only fitting that a return should be made in the form of a ceremonial and sacrifice; while, on the other hand, animals killed far from home and herd require no such ceremony.

Since the ceremonial connected with the hunt of walrus and larger kinds of seal is performed about the same season and with somewhat similar details by both the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo, it is my opinion that the purpose of this ceremonial is to celebrate success on the hunt. I believe it is connected with the bucks killed in the herd simply because they represent among the Reindeer Chukchee the most important game hunted. With the Reindeer Chukchee the ceremonial has a special name, ênatči'irgin. The Maritime Chukchee call the ceremonial connected with walrus-hunting by this name; and the Maritime Koryak apply it, with the proper phonetic change, to the ceremonial of the whale.

The details of the ceremonial with the Reindeer Chukchee are as follows. The first wild buck that comes to the herd is frequently met with incantations, the purpose of which is to make him assume for a while the ways of domesticated reindeer, so that he may serve as a successful breeder. The details of the incantations will be described later in a special chapter. After a week or ten days, when the incantations have lost their power, the owner of the herd catches the buck with his lasso and throws him down on a piece of the tent-covering. Then a young female, which is to represent his wife, is caught and thrown down by his side. The mistress puts on her overcoat, and, holding the buck's head in her lap, covers it with her overcoat. The master now stabs the buck with an antler knife made for this purpose; then he stabs the female with an ordinary iron knife. After that a little urine in a chamber-vessel is offered to the buck while he is still in the agonies of death. With the handle of the antler knife, fashioned like a spatula, the owner of the herd touches all parts of the carcass of the animal, thus taking back his incantation, and restoring the buck to his freedom. As long as the buck is under the influence of the spell, the master must abstain from untying knots, otherwise he may "untie" the incantation.

The third stomach of the animal is filled with blood, and suspended from the tip of the antlers in order to serve for divining the luck in hunting the next buck. This divination is repeated with every animal killed.

The principal hunting-ceremonial is celebrated at the conclusion of the hunt. During the ceremony the carcasses are kept behind the tent on the snow. The carcass must be butchered on the spot where it lies. The hams and shoulders may be taken for consumption. The head, back, and pelvis must be left with the skin on and uncut; and the heart and the aorta must also be left intact. The heads must be covered for the night, and uncovered in the morning. The fire-boards are kept with the carcass during the night, leaning against their covered heads.

On the morning of the ceremonial two reindeer are slaughtered, -- one as a sacrifice to the reindeer-bucks killed, and the other to the dawn. Sometimes a third reindeer is sacrificed to the nadir. The antlers of the wild bucks are adorned with festoons of sausages and dried guts. Blood-soup, meat-soup, and meat are cooked in abundance. The meal and the feeding of the charms proceed as usual. Then a female fawn is slaughtered, and the antlers painted with her blood. Those present rush up and grab for the sausages and remnants of the feast, scrambling for the best pieces. The master distributes among the guests the greater part of the meat from the reindeer-bucks. The heads are kept for the family, and taken into the tent, where they are suspended under the vent-hole over the fire of the hearth to thaw out.

The family stand around the fire. The elders beat the drums, and the others sing the oldest family tune. The master sings, "Ha, me'nin? Ha, leu'ton!" ("Ha, who [is there]? Ha, a head [is there]!") The heads as they thaw are skinned, one after another, and the antlers cut off with the top of the skull. All the heads are boiled; and the women work the entire night, preparing balls of pudding made of pounded meat mixed with tallow and edible roots. In the morning a foot-race is arranged. All the balls are suspended on the poles of the tent-frame, and the guests grab for them as they did on the preceding day for the remnants of the feast.

Fig. 267 is copied from a native drawing representing the hunting-ceremonial. Four carcasses of wild reindeer are lying on the ground. The fifth one is that of a domesticated reindeer slaughtered in sacrifice. A small fire is burning between the carcasses' and the house. Two men, one on each side of the house, throw sacrifice to the "directions." Two women adorn the antlers of the animals with sausage. A party of guests stand ready to rush on for sausage. The herd is lying on the ground not far off.

The manes of the deef are cut off, together with a narrow strip of skin. These are divided into small tufts of hair. Each of the guests pins two pieces on his back, one at each shoulder, and wears them until they drop off, as it were. A strip of the mane is also often tied to the string of family charms.

The sacrifice to the fire is performed several times, and the ceremonial ends with the "feeding" of the fire of the lamp in the sleeping-room. This last ceremony occurs but seldom in the ceremonials of the Reindeer people. After the ceremonial, the antlers are taken to the burial-places of the nearest relatives, as I shall describe later.

A wild reindeer-buck killed in the herd at any other season sometimes receives a slaughtering-sacrifice: at least, a sacred fire will be lighted near the carcass, and a small sacrifice thrown in.

The black bear, the elk, the wolverene, and the wolf are thought worthy of a brief ceremonial of the same kind. All the essential details are repeated, including the slaughtering-sacrifice, the sacrifice to the fire, the cooking of ceremonial dishes, and bringing the head into the tent, where the people greet it with songs and drum-beating. In most cases a- special thanksgiving ceremony (mñê'irgin) ends the day.

I was told that with wolves, and sometimes with black bears, the master of the house, when performing the ceremonial, takes the fresh skin and puts it on in such a way, that his head is covered with the skin of the animal's head, and the body of the skin dangles behind. The carcass of the wolf is carried into the tent. The master of the house, dressed in the wolf-skin, performs also the thanksgiving ceremonial, singing and dancing, and beating the drum, as will be described later. From time to time he also utters a howl, pretending that the spirit of the wolf has entered his body. In the wolf festival of the Koryak, likewise, one of the men puts on the wolfs skin, and walks around the hearth, while another beats the drum. {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 89.}

These ceremonials, however, are performed chiefly in the fall. If the animals named are killed in the spring, they are brought home with simply the ceremony of "giving a drink," {See p. 378.} in which a drink is offered to the carcass. Some of the Reindeer Chukchee treat in a similar manner stray seals which happen to be taken by them at this season. Others store the heads of seals, and afterwards perform the thanksgiving ceremonial over them. The Maritime Chukchee store the heads of thong-seals and walrus for summer ceremonials of a similar kind.

Thanksgiving Ceremonial. -- The thanksgiving ceremonial has no definite term or season, but each family must perform it at least once or twice a year. The unexpected killing of a high-priced animal (for example, a blue fox or a good wolverene), success in any other enterprise, whether in the hunt or in trade, or even the cutting of birch for sledges and spear-shafts, may cause the owner of the house to arrange the ceremonial. Or, again, quite as likely, its celebration may be brought about by a dream, for the Chukchee pay great attention to dreams, and, believing them to be the main source of religious inspiration, they follow them in regard to the details of rituals. As a matter of fact, several classes of ceremonials, such as the thanksgiving and all kinds of sport, are called "dream-answers," because the time and the details of their arrangement are so very often indicated in dreams. If any member of a family, even a young child, has a dream about sports, such sports must be arranged, particularly those of thanksgiving. The family is obliged to make the dream real, under penance of severe losses and misfortunes. On account of this belief, the ceremony takes on a protective character. It expresses thankfulness for the successful result of an enterprise; but, which to them is still more important, it wards off any impending assault by "spirits," and prevents future mischances in hunting or otherwise.

The thanksgiving ceremonial must have a central object. On most occasions it is a reindeer, wolverene, thong-seal, or other animal killed in hunting. Native or foreign objects of trade -- a dried seal-skin, a cake of tea, or a bundle of tobacco -- may, however, serve the purpose. The Reindeer Chukchee often slaughter a reindeer of their own herd, and perform the ceremonial over its carcass.

The ceremonial is performed indoors. Not even a fire is built outside of the tent. The object of the ceremonial is placed on a skin by the side of the fire on the hearth. A large quantity of fat meat is boiled, and the sacrificial blood-soup is prepared with fat and roots. The people gathered for the ceremonial partake of the food, while the children of the family carry plates containing meat around the outside of the tent, in the direction of the course of the sun. The principal heir, boy or girl, {Compare p. 351.} walks ahead; and all the participants shout at the top of the voice, "Yoho, yoho!" which is intended to drive away the evil spirits. After that, the young people scatter the sacrifice to all "directions" in the usual way, and bury some pieces of it in the earth. Meanwhile the women climb to the top of the tent, and carefully cover the vent-hole with skins. The fire on the hearth is kept low, nevertheless the tent is full of smoke during the whole performance. The entrance is left open. Then the mistress of the house takes a drum and goes about inside beating it, for the purpose of frightening away the "spirits." When all the "spirits" are supposed to have flown away through the entrance, and the young people who went out with the sacrifice have returned, the door is closed.

The chief features of the ceremonial which follows are singing, beating of drums, and the ceremonial dance. It affords the chief opportunity of the year to display shamanistic skill; so that shamans from the whole neighborhood gather for a performance, if possible for a contest of ability and inspiration.

The principal heir {Compare p. 351-} makes a circle around the hearth, hopping in a curious way, and keeping his heels close together. The master of the house, who sits on a skin near the sleeping-room, begins to shout, repeating many times the same loud double cry, "Yoho, yoho!" One by one the people join him; others start singing, and the tent fairly vibrates with the deafening noise. There are no rules about the singing. Each sings his own particular tune, and stops for a rest when he feels tired. Those who have drums beat them for a while and pass them to the others. The drums for the ceremony are gathered from the whole camp, and sometimes as many as ten may be used in the performance. After a while the dance begins. One name for it is "the shaking-off thin" (têwla'irgin), and it purports to shake off diseases and evil spirits from the body of the performer.

The dancers are formed into two sets, placed on opposite sides of the hearth. One set stand on the outer side of the hearth, with their backs toward the entrance: they are chiefly elderly men. The other set stand on the inner side of the hearth. They have their backs turned toward the sleeping-room, and face their partners at the entrance. These are women, who put on their overcoats, adorned with fringe and pendants. The first set are considered the more important; they are called "ceremonial movers" (mñiniču'lit). The second set are termed "the standing ones" (vêLa'lit), or "the standing women" (vê'La-ñe'us'qatti), meaning that they are standing on their feet while the onlookers remain seated.

The dance is usually opened by the master and the mistress of the house, while the others sit in their places. On this occasion the master of the house is called "road-maker," because he opens the road for the others. A skin is spread on the ground under his feet. He beats his family drum, using, instead of the whalebone, the wooden drum-stick, with which he strikes the wooden rim of the drum from underneath. He and the woman sing different tunes, each choosing what he or she likes. He usually starts with the hereditary tunes of his family, then he passes to those that he himself has composed at various times. Each tune is repeated again and again for several minutes. The woman sings those which she has learned from her mother, or has composed by herself for her own amusement. Husband and wife each perform a dance, in which their motions are more or less alike. They keep the same place, swaying their bodies and swinging their hands, now to the right, then to the left. From time to time they squat down and immediately jump up again. At length the first performers give up their places to others, who at first appear singly, taking turns one by one. After a while, several performers appear on each side. One pair of dancers, however, -- a man and a woman, -- will be more conspicuous than the rest, and their dances will harmonize with each other; while the others perform quite individually, without any attention to their fellows.

A man often summons a woman to dance with him, in which case he spreads a skin on the ground for her to dance upon. After the performance, this skin is taken by the woman. Other presents are also offered and accepted, especially when the man and the woman are cousins, or relatives of other degree.

When the performance is in full swing, the shamans begin to take part in it, generally one by one, although at the end there may be two or three acting at the same time. Their acting, of course, consists of magical arts. They beat the drum with violence and persistence, and their songs are strangely complicated, because the tunes of shamans generally admit of considerable variations. Their motions, too, are violent and irregular, befitting those who feel the approach of "spirits."

At last the "spirits" come and enter the bodies of their servants. From that time on, the shamans are supposed to assume the appearance of the supernatural beings that have entered them. They act accordingly, shake their heads violently, and produce the gibbering noise mentioned before, which is supposed to be the voice of the "spirits." {Compare p. 374.} In case some particular "spirit" of theirs is a bear, a raven, or a wolf, they try to imitate also its motions and cries. I have heard several times that powerful shamans even wrap the body in a bear-skin taken off whole for this purpose, or put a raven's beak on the face. Then they turn temporarily into bears or ravens, and act like such. This may be considered in connection with what was said about the ceremonial concerning the wolf or bear killed and brought home. Nevertheless, I had no opportunity to witness such performances: therefore I am not able to say how far the information collected corresponds to the rites actually performed.

I am not aware that any disguise in the form of special garments or masks is used. Those shamans, indeed, who have a special dress, use it on such occasions; and sometimes an ordinary person may have a special garment, made by the advice of a shaman, as a protection against disease or misfortune. This will be supplied with tassels and pendants in the nature of charms. I heard of shamans performing the ceremonial in their own family quite naked; but this is undoubtedly connected with some details of Chukchee shamanism of "which I shall speak later.

At the conclusion, those women who claim shamanistic power pass over to the men's side, and begin to practise with the drum and to call their "spirits." Even young girls imitate the actions of those possessed, stamping their feet, waving their hands, and uttering a series of shrill, grunting, or squeaky cries. The ceremonial lasts for several hours, but usually not later than evening. When it is ended, those present partake of the meat and blood-soup. Then the object which was the primary centre of the thanksgiving is sprinkled or smeared with the blood-soup.

In the evening, if it is the wish of the master of the house, most of the people enter the sleeping-room; and the regular shamanistic performance takes place, in which the contesting shamans may again show their skill. This happens frequently also after other ceremonials.

All kinds of extra sacrifices are offered to the good "beings" and to the ke'let, according to intimations received in dreams, in order to strengthen an incantation, or to ask from supernatural beings some temporary assistance. Such sacrifices may be bloody or bloodless. In bloody sacrifices, dogs and reindeer are slaughtered without distinction. An animal is often promised for such sacrifice beforehand. In token of this, a small bit of red cloth is attached to one of its ears, and the animal is called "that pinned to" (ine'tifhn). The same custom is observed among the Koryak. {Compare Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 92.} A promise, once made, cannot be taken back without incurring the risk of heavy retaliation on the part of the offended "spirits."

Races. -- Reindeer-races partake of the nature of ceremonial performances, and are considered dream-answers. The usual time for them, as I have noted, is the latter part of the snowy season, -- from January until May. A man who feels under obligation to arrange a race sends an invitation to his neighbors. When they are gathered, he provides the stake. The women of his camp meanwhile build small fires in the wilderness, and throw in the sacrifice of meat and tallow. Then the race is performed as has already been described. {Compare p. 264.}

Foot-races also form an integral part of certain ceremonials. {Compare p. 375.} There is a particular form of foot-race, much in use also among the Maritime people, which is frequently arranged in connection with the ceremonials. In this the participants run in a circle over a comparatively small area, until one by one the runners drop out from exhaustion. The most enduring remains, the winner of the contest. Sometimes there are two concentric circles, the direction of the course in one being opposite to that in the other, though both courses belong to the one contest. These circular runs are said to have been used much more in former times. Then many Maritime villages had special places for them, with a circular track worn deeply into the ground by continual exercise.

Ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee. -- The cycle of the ceremonials with the Maritime Chukchee opens with two short ceremonials in the beginning of the fall, which are often joined together. One of them is a commemorative sacrifice to the dead, which will be spoken of hereafter. The other is a sacrifice to the sea, in order to insure good-fortune in subsequent sealing on the sea-ice in winter.

Late in the fall, or rather in the beginning of the winter, the chief ceremonial of the year is performed. It is consecrated to Kere'tkun, or is made a thanksgiving ceremonial to the spirits of sea-mammals killed since the fall. Early in spring there follows the ceremonial of boats, which are made ready for the approaching season. In the middle of summer the ceremonial of "heads" is performed. This is for thanksgiving to the spirits of sea-mammals killed since early in the spring.

These four ceremonials are performed with varying similarity by both the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo. To these must be added some slight ceremonial effected while moving from the winter lodging to the summer tent.

Most of the Maritime Chukchee offer sacrifice also in midwinter to the star Pehi'ttin, {Compare p. 376.} and perform in the middle of spring a ceremonial analogous to the ceremonial of antlers of the reindeer-breeders, which is called by the same name, Ki'lvei. The sacrifice to the whale is performed, in addition, each time after a whale has been killed or has drifted ashore.

Bloody and bloodless sacrifices are offered during these ceremonials. The Maritime Chukchee of course can slaughter only dogs for their bloody sacrifices. In comparison with the Koryak, however, they are merciful to their dogs, and kill them in no very great numbers. In this, as in other respects, they occupy a middle ground between the American Eskimo, who do not sacrifice dogs, and the Koryak, who often kill almost all the animals of their single team.

Ceremonial House. -- According to information given by the natives, and also by inference from the example of Nu'nligren, most of the villages have each a special house intended for the performance of the chief ceremonial of the winter. This house, however, differs in many respects from the ka'shim of the American Eskimo. Its size is that of the houses ordinarily in use; and often it is really a house left by its owner, for some particular reasons, for another dwelling. In many instances it was the private property of a certain family, which is called, even at the present time, "one with the front house" (a3tto'oralin). This term is in full use among the reindeer-breeders, by whom it is applied to the chief family of the camp, in distinction from the poorer "neighbors" (nim-tu'mgit) who help the first family to tend their herd. The chief family really has its tent "in the front" of the others; that is, first on the right side of the line which is, as said before, turned to the morning dawn "direction." {Compare p. 172.}

In the Maritime villages it is more difficult to determine who represents the "front-house family." The natives explained to me that it is the family who have lived in a given place the longest, "from times unknown to the present generation." Other families, who came afterward, are considered as "neighbors," and they must apply for protection to the first, at least in their relations with the local "spirits."

This explanation seems plausible in regard to the smaller villages, where the population is unstable, and subject to considerable change in the course of a few consecutive years. In each of such villages there is usually one family who remains, even when all others leave on account of temporary scarcity of game, or for other reasons. Thus, at Mariinsky Post, the "front-house family" is that of Oopla'nto ("Arisen-from-the-Garbage-Place," so called from an old heap of garbage on the former site of the village). The line of this family may be traced backwards for at least four generations, and it is really the first family of the place as to success in the hunt and in general knowledge of the resources of the surrounding country.

But it is more difficult to explain the origin of the "front-house family" in the larger villages, Chukchee or Eskimo, such as Nu'nligren or Wute'en, where, in all probability, several families have lived together for all time. Perhaps the position of the "front-house family" was more definite in former times. Thus in Nu'nligren, until recent years, all the "neighbors," who performed their winter ceremonials in the underground house belonging to the "front-house family," had to leave on the spot some present for the use of the house. The present was looked upon in the light of a sacrifice to the spirits of the house and locality; but it belonged to the share of the master of the house.

The same arrangement was made in several other villages, and even in Cibu'kak, on St. Lawrence Island. Each of those villages had a separate house for ceremonials, and it was considered the property of the "front-house family." In some of those villages, -- such as Wute'en, Ye'rgin, Nu'nligren, -- the first walrus killed by the hunters of the village falls by right, even at present, to the head of the "front-house family." According to the ordinary custom of dividing the game, this person takes the head and the skin, while all the meat is divided among the participants of the hunt, and parts of it among all the inhabitants of the village. In the village of Kihi'ni the head of the first walrus killed in the fall is left on the ledge of a certain sea-cliff, and then the people perform the thanksgiving ceremonial over it. Here evidently the "spirit" of the place receives the results of the hunt; while in other places the head of the "front-house family" has the same rights, probably inferred from his familiar relations with local "spirits."

There are, however, villages, like Uni'sak and Ce'cin, which have no "front-house family." As to the village of Urii'sak, however, W. H. Hooper describes it as having a kind of large tent, which serves for public purposes. "Possibly a council-room, as well as a theatre," says he, "for in place of the usual inner arrangements, only a species of bench of raised earth ran around it, where were seated numerous spectators." {Hooper, p. 137.} No remembrance of such public tents, however, is retained at Uni'sak. Perhaps it was simply a private house in the course of partial reconstruction, as often happens with native houses. It may have been used temporarily by the people for a re-union on the occasion of the arrival of the author.

The ceremonials of different families, though performed at the same place, were rarely observed in common. On the contrary, families enacted their ceremonials one after another, even though each particular performance lasted for several days. Even at present, though the ceremonials are performed by each family in their own house, the consecutive order is still followed, and thus the winter ceremonial in the largest villages often extends over a month or even more. As a partial corrective, three or four families perform on the same day; but in this case they usually belong to opposite ends of the village, with separate circles of acquaintances and relatives.

The hunting of sea-mammals is not forbidden during this whole period. The members of the house actually performing the ceremonial must, of course, stay at home; but as soon as it is over, the family has a right to send some of their people to the sea, even though others go to take part in a ceremonial feast of some of their "neighbors."

Sacrifice to the Sea. -- The sacrifice to the sea, which, together with the sacrifice to the dead, begins the cycle of the Maritime ceremonials, is performed by the best hunter of the family. He comes to the shore accompanied by one woman. He carries his harpoon and other weapons; while she brings a vessel filled with blood-soup and sausage of reindeer-stomach. This sausage plays as important a part in the sacrifices of the Maritime people as it does among the reindeer-breeders. The Maritime people are more inclined to select "alien food" for their sacrifices than are the reindeer-breeders. The products of civilization, such as sugar or flour (thanks to the trading activity of whalers), do not appeal to them as rare dainties: therefore they give the first place, in sacrificing, to the products of the reindeer-breeders, which are their conception of what is most luscious.

While the woman brings the sacrifice, the man shows his weapons to the sea, and asks for good luck in hunting and for safety in his future wandering over the unstable ice-floes. A dog is often slaughtered in sacrifice to the sea. The time of this sacrifice differs in different families. Some perform it at the end of summer; others, on the contrary, delay it till the middle of October, when it coincides with the moving from the summer tents to the winter habitations. Connected with the sacrifice to the sea there is often another, designed for the zenith. This is offered before the entrance of the house, with some crumbs of food flung upwards.

Fall Ceremonial. -- The time of the fall ceremonial varies, in different villages and families, from the end of October to the first days of January. The fittest time, however, is thought to be at the birth of the moon after the shortest days of the winter, and it is considered the beginning of the first month. {Compare p. 51.} Moreover, in villages like Uni'sak or Uwe'len, the ceremonial lasts more than a month, and thus the celebrations of the last families come into the second half of January. Where there is a "front-house family," it begins the course. In other villages -- such, for instance, as Ce'cin, A'con, or Uni'sak -- without a "front-house family," there is no particular order for the ceremonials, and it changes from year to year by mere accident.

The Chukchee have two different methods of celebrating this ceremonial. The simpler one is called "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial" (li'ê-mñê'irgin). Even the name shows that this ceremonial is identified with the ordinary thanksgiving ceremonial which was described previously. The other method is, properly speaking, a repetition of the ceremony of Kere'tkun, Kara'tko-va'irgin. The choice of either method varies in different villages, and even among individual families. Nevertheless, as far as can be observed, the "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial" is more in use among those families which by their lineage or tastes fraternize with the reindeer-breeders; while the ceremonial of Kere'tkun predominates among the Maritime people in the proper sense of the word. There are, however, reindeer-breeding families who descended from a Maritime stock, and who have brought far inland with them the ceremonial of Kere'tkun.

The "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial" is performed with the details already described. It takes place inside of the outer tent, the entrance and the vent-hole being carefully closed for the purpose. Heads of the walrus, seal, and other animals, serve as necessary objects for the ceremony. It is not obligatory to preserve the heads of all animals killed in the hunt and even a few suffice. The sacrifice is performed outside of the tent by the younger members of the family, who throw blood-soup, meat, and all kinds of "alien food," towards all "directions" sacrificed to, {See p. 303.} or "towards all winds," as the Maritime Chukchee say.

The people inside of the tent beat the drum; and the women, clad in their ample overcoats, perform the ceremonial dance. All of them sing their particular tunes, which have no words, as is the case among the Reindeer Chukchee. Then the heads are cooked and the feast follows. The evening and a part of the night are occupied by shamanistic performances inside of the inner room.

The ceremonial usually lasts' only one day; but sometimes it is repeated the next morning, when the people say that it has lasted over night.

The arrangement of the ceremonial admits of several variations. Several combinations of heads are used in it, such as one of walrus, one of thong-seal, and one of ringed seal; or one of walrus, one of wild reindeer, and one of hare; or two of walrus and two of wild reindeer; or one of walrus, one of ringed seal, and one of white fox; etc. The heads are either placed on the ground in the centre of the house, or are hung by a string under the vent-hole. Several lighted lamps are put by their side, often a lamp for each head, etc.

In a variety called "spear ceremonial" (poi'hi-mñê'irgin), a long sharp-pointed pole is firmly fastened in the centre of the house, so that its end protrudes through the vent-hole, Various objects of thanksgiving are fastened to the pole, such as a set of antlers, a skin of peltry, several coils of new thongs, etc. During the ceremonial the male members of the family shoot towards the vent-hole with a bow, at the same time shouting loudly, "Yoho, yoho!" to frighten away the "spirits."

The same ceremonial may be arranged outdoors. Then it is called "spear-house ceremonial" (porbi-ra-mñê'irgin). Then a real spear, or a spearlike pole, is stuck into the ground, and made fast in its place by several lines supporting it from all sides, and tied to large stones lying on the ground. This is called the "spear house" (poi'hi-ran). The ceremonial is performed inside with the usual details.

The outdoor ceremonial (na'rgin-mñê'irgin) is performed also outdoors within a circle formed by a long line spread on the ground near the house. The sketch Fig. 268, copied from a native drawing, represents the outdoor ceremonial. A family is performing it on ay spot encircled by a long leather line. Three round vessels and a long tray are on the ground. A fire-board is standing between two reindeer-heads. A man is beating the drum. Two women are dancing. Four children are looking on. A man is looking on from outside. Two other men stay near the house. One, who has a stick, is sitting on

Some families arrange this sort of a ceremonial at a distance from the village, choosing for it an even spot on a ledge of rock. I know cases where the ceremonial was performed within the space between the four poles of whalebone which were left from a half-destroyed boat-support (see Plate xxxiv, Fig 3). In other cases the ceremonial was performed near the so-called "bone [pole] stuck in" (a3mi'npin), {This name is given also to the boat-supports, because in most cases they consist of "bones stuck in."} which in some villages represents a kind of votive place of which I shall speak later. Thus, for instance, in the village of .Ce'cin, two or even three families join in performing the so-called "neighbors' ceremonial" near the bone pole of the village.

For this they pitch light temporary tents on three sides of the bone pole. The place for the sacrifice is arranged in the middle, at the foot of the pole. Here each family deposits the heads of their game, while a couple of heads are suspended from the pole. I had no opportunity to witness a ceremonial of this kind; but the native drawing (Fig. 269) will give a fair idea of the whole arrangement.

It represents two tents pitched at the foot of the bone pole for the ceremonial. As the population of the village of Ce'cin is evidently descended from the reindeer-breeding camps, heads of reindeer play a considerable part in the arrangement. Thus, from the top of the pole are suspended two heads, one of reindeer, the other of walrus. Most of the heads lying on the ground are of reindeer; the others are of walrus and of seal. One person is standing on the top of his tent, pronouncing incantations; two others are standing on the ground near the pole. Each of them holds a sacrificial vessel, and in addition one holds a drum with a stick; the other, a drum-stick ornamented with red tassels.

The last-described ceremonials -- such as that of the spear and of the spear house, the outdoor and the neighbors' ceremonials -- are observed also by the reindeer-breeders, at least in the camps on the Chukchee Peninsula and along the Pacific coast more to the south. But with the reindeer-breeders they are connected with no particular season, and may be arranged at any time, as well as all other thanksgiving ceremonials.

I was told that in ancient times the "spear ceremonial" was performed before starting on a war expedition; but I am not quite sure if this is not a modern interpretation. The "peltry ceremonial" is in vogue among both branches of Chukchee and also among the Asiatic Eskimo. The details are as usual. The peltries destined for sale, which accordingly are hung around on tightly drawn ropes, appear as the object of the ceremony. A ceremonial of this kind is usually performed before starting on a trading-expedition.

Some Maritime families bring sacrifices also to the new moon, as was described for the Reindeer people. The drawing Fig. 270 represents such a sacrifice. People are slaughtering a dog. Numerous vessels with food are standing on the ground. I was told, however, that the people who brought the sacrifice were the "people of spell." {Compare Chapter XVI.} The other dog in the drawing is also a "dog of spell," made of human excrement.

Ceremonial of Kere'tkun. -- The ceremonial of Kere'tkun is more complicated, and lasts two, three, and even five days (or as many nights, the natives are wont to say) for each family. In some villages, for instances in Nu'nligren, the ceremonial of Kere'tkun alternates with that of his "assistant" every five years. The term of five years or days is mentioned also in connection with other ceremonials and rites. {Compare Chapters XVI and XVII.} The ceremonial of the "assistant" is much more simple, and lasts only over night. The details of it are similar to those of the "genuine thanksgiving."

As a general rule, the performance of the ceremonial of Kere'tkun varies greatly, according to the degree of wealth of the performers. The poorer families observe it in a very hurried way, and the performance rarely continues longer than one night; while with the richer families it lasts several days, and is an important event for the whole neighborhood. The reason for this difference is pre-eminently the fact that large quantities of food are necessary for its celebration.

This rule is applicable to all important ceremonials of the Maritime people. Only the richer people -- the boat-owners, those who have had good success in the hunt -- arrange great feasts that last several days, and attract numerous guests. The feasts of the richer families must not occur simultaneously, but so that the nearest neighbors at least can visit them all, each in turn. The time for the ceremonials of the poorer people is of no consideration. They may take place on any day, by threes or fours, and no one will notice it. On St. Lawrence Island the poorer people do not perform the ceremonials at all, but leave this duty wholly to the rich boat-owners.

The essentials of the ceremonial are as follows. All the members of the family, down to the smallest children, must put on light overcoats made of dried seal-guts. {See Fig. 180, p. 247.} The reason given for this is that Kere'tkun and his wife are dressed in such overcoats. On the Pacific coast, overcoats of this kind are prepared only by the Eskimo, the best and the prettiest of which come from St. Lawrence Island: therefore the Chukchee have to buy such overcoats from an "alien" tribe, which may imply that the whole ceremonial is of Eskimo provenience. It must not be forgotten, however, that in the "thanksgiving ceremonials" of the Chukchee, the overcoats are considered as quite necessary, at least for the women. The master and the mistress put on special head-gear (Fig. 271), which also is said to be imitated from Kere'tkun and his wife. Another essential appurtenance of the ceremonial is the so-called "Kere'tkun's net," which is made of sinew, and suspended from the vent-hole of the house. A special pole is often used for its support. This is set in the centre of the house, and the upper end projects through the vent-hole, similarly to that used in the "spear ceremonial." Sometimes there are three poles with their ends crossing in the vent-hole, resembling the three principal poles of the Chukchee tent.

The net Fig. 272, a, is spread out horizontally, and each corner of it is fastened With Strings to the house. All around the net are suspended images of birds and small toy paddles, painted ornamentally with seal-blood. The number of the paddles is about a dozen; the number of birds is considerably less. The birds (Fig. 272, b) are made of wood, clumsily enough, and are adorned with stripes of seal-blood painting. Their wings are represented either by two cross-lines or by two feathers stuck into cracks in the wood in the proper places (see Fig. 280). The birds represent probably seagulls: at least, the heads of sea-gulls figure in the boat-charms of the Maritime Chukchee. A similar net figures in the fall ceremonial of the Eskimo of St. Lawrence Island. It is spread on a wooden frame made of small paddles, with the bodies of four sea-gulls carefully preserved for the purpose. {Wooden images of birds (grebes) appear in the ceremonials of the Yakut. They are, for instance, placed on the burial-place of a shaman.} A few heads of walrus or seal are put on the ground as in the "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial."

Fig. 273, copied from a native drawing, represents the ceremonial of Kere'tkun in the house of a Maritime Chukchee. A pole protruding through the vent-hole supports a wooden image of a gull. The net with paddles and gulls is suspended in the middle. Two walrus-heads are lying on the ground. A lamp is fastened to the pole, and another lamp stands on the ground. Two sacrificial vessels stand on the right side. A man standing on the top of the sleeping-room pronounces an incantation. Two other men, before the entrance, are also pronouncing incantations. In this they point upwards wood hands. A number of men are walking on the roof of the house, in order, as I was told, to cover the vent-hole. Other men inside are walking or sitting. The dance has not yet begun. On the lower part of the drawing a whale-hunt is represented.

A paddle of large size is used in the ceremonial of Kere'tkun, and is intended to carry a painted prayer. Therefore it is called "incantation paddle." A real paddle may be used for that purpose, or even a narrow plank shaped like the blade of a paddle.

The collections of the Museum contain several paddles with painted prayers destined for the ceremonial of Kere'tkun. All of them represent various game and hunting-scenes of ordinary character. On each end of the paddle is often placed a spread net, or drawn bow pointed at the game, thus indicating the desire of the artist to capture all those animals. The painting is not infrequently done with considerable skill, and the style is similar to that of the etchings on ivory executed by the American Eskimo. Etchings are scarce in Asia, and those that I had an opportunity to observe are comparatively poor specimens of art. In some other paintings, however, the work is more clumsily done, and the style less pronounced, in accordance with the inferior skill of the maker.

Fig. 274, a, represents a painted paddle from Mariinsky Post. It has on each end a drawn bow. In the middle, three large shoals of fish, flocks of various sea-fowl, seal, and walrus are arranged somewhat symmetrically. A plank of the same provenience (Fig. 274, 6) has a large seal-net spread on one end. A big shoal of fish and all kinds of game are ^represented moving towards the net. Killer-whales are charging a group of walruses. According to the explanation by the natives, they want to drive them into the net. Three boats are pursuing a whale. A man is dragging a seal, and another one is paddling on a kayak. The part played by killer-whales is illustrated in a native sketch given before, {See Fig. 231, p. 324.} where killer-whales make a similar attack on a shoal of walrusses, while another killer-whale asks the paddlers of a boat for a little tobacco. The native artist evidently wished to represent the killer-whales as friendly to men, and as helping them in their hunt in exchange for a small sacrifice. The supernatural role ascribed to the killer-whale has been discussed previously. Fig. 275 is from the village of Nu'nligren.

It is painted on both sides. The painting represents hunting-scenes. In one a man is shooting a seal with a rifle. The seal is surrounded by rough ice represented in four big heaps made by several concentric circular lines.

The plank represented in Fig. 276 is from the village of Chika'yeva, on the Middle Anadyr. It was used by a family which trace their origin to one of the maritime villages, and therefore perform Kere'tkun ceremonials; while most of the other families in small villages on the Middle Anadyr follow the rites of the reindeer-breeders. The painting is clumsily executed, and represents a group of houses on the seashore. A man standing on the shore is hauling in a seal captured with a harpoon. Several sea-mammals and a polar bear are swimming away. A little below stands the figure of Kere'tkun, with very long arms. The sun and the moon are in the right-hand corner of the plank. The houses represented on the plank are of the genuine house type, evidently houses of the Maritime people; while the people on the Middle Anadyr live in log-huts. All the details of the picture are also maritime, and have nothing in common with reindeer-hunting, which is the chief source of subsistence for Anadyr villagers.

The painting copied on Fig. 277, a, which comes from the Eskimo of Indian Point, represents, on the contrary, land-game, reindeer, wolves, and foxes. One boat and two kayaks are pursuing them, probably in water. The family which used this plank was considered, however, as a true Maritime family. Another paddle from Indian Point (Fig. 278) represents sea-game and various hunting-scenes. At the top of the picture (Fig. 278, a) a group of men are practising shamanism. Two of them are beating the drum, and two others are performing a ceremonial dance. This evidently signifies magic influence on the sea-game, to draw it to the shore. Both ends of the picture are supplied with several semicircular lines, which probably represent conventionalized bows, though the natives were not able to tell anything about the matter. The other side of the paddle-blade (Fig. 278, b) is ornamented with a pattern of straight lines and small semicircles, in the style of the Eskimo.

The whole performance of the Kere'tkun ceremonial in the village of Nu'nligren lasts three days, and with most families is carried out with the following details. On the first day, in the morning, the outer tent is carefully swept, and a net with appurtenances is suspended above. On both sides of the hearth are spread reindeer-skins, which represent two inner rooms. The place for Kere'tkun is either on one of these skins, or inside of the real sleeping-room. A big lamp filled with the choicest oil is lighted, and placed accordingly in either of the indicated places. Kere'tkun is supposed to enter, and, taking his place on the lamp, to wait for the sacrifice. He is represented by a small wooden image (Fig. 279), which is put on the lamp, and remains there Kere'tkun. till the end of the ceremonial. Opposite the lamp, on a small patch of bare ground scraped clean for the purpose, a small fire, which has a special name ("pi'ntE"), is built. This fire is supposed to be the place where Kere'tkun desires to accept the sacrifice: therefore it is kept up all the time, from early in the morning until late in the evening. Small chips of wood, bones, and blubber, serve for fuel. The Asiatic Eskimo substitute for the fire another big lamp; or they sacrifice to Kere'tkun on the lamp where he has taken his place. This difference is significant, as the lamp in the place of the hearth, is better adapted to the woodless tundra and to arctic maritime life than the hearth of the Chukchee ceremonial.

Quantities of pudding made of edible roots and stalks mixed with oil and liver are considered necessary for the ceremonial. We find the same feature in the ceremonies of the Reindeer Chukchee, the Koryak, and, formerly, in those of the Kamchadal, who declared that Kutq was exceedingly fond of pudding.

Families of friends and relatives take part in preparing the necessary pudding, and their women come every morning to the house where the celebration is going on, bringing a new supply. The guests gather a little later, and each woman brings a vessel in which she receives part to take home. Besides the pudding, all kinds of food are distributed in profusion to those assembled, and considerable time is used in eating and in drinking tea.

The first day of the ceremonial is considered as belonging to the inmates of the house, who beat the drum, sing their tunes, and prepare ceremonial dances in a way similar to that of the Reindeer Chukchee. The drummers are men, who stand in the usual place, -- on the outer side of the hearth, facing the sleeping-room. The dancers, who are women, stand on the inner side of the hearth, facing the entrance. All the participants are singing, each his own tune. Some of the people have small whistles of wood or goose-quill, by means of which, from time to time, they send forth a short, shrill sound (see Fig. 281). This is done mainly by the children of the family, who have to skip around the hearth.

The second day belongs to the guests, and particularly to the shamans, who have to show, in turn, their skill in drumming and singing.

The third day belongs to the women, who act both as drummers and dancers. The drummers stand in the usual place of the men, -- on the outer side of the hearth, facing the sleeping-room; and the dancers, in the usual place of the women, -- on the inner side of the hearth, facing the entrance. All this is similar, even in the minor details, to the customs of the Reindeer people in the fall ceremonial and the "thanksgiving." A new detail is that of a night-watch, which must be kept for the sake of Kere'tkun, who is supposed to stay in the house all the time. This watch is kept by an old man or woman. A shaman is often invited especially for this purpose, and at the end of the watch he receives a coil of new thong in pay for his services. During his watch he sits on a whale's vertebra which is used as a stool, with his back toward the entrance, and with his face toward the hearth. All this time he sings, and beats the drum, but in a subdued key in order not to awaken the supernatural guest slumbering on the lamp. The last night a woman occupies the stool, and keeps the watch.

On the last evening, meat of a whole reindeer is cooked in a big kettle suspended over several lamps, one of which is the lamp on which Kere'tkun is placed. The cooked meat is distributed among the guests, who carry their shares home. Even comparatively poor families take care to reserve for the ceremonial a reindeer-carcass, either from their hunt or from the provisions bought from reindeer-breeders.

The image of Kere'tkun is burned over his lamp. Then the whole house is carefully swept. The rubbish, stray hair, etc., are gathered together, as well as the crumbs of sacrifice from Kere'tkun's lamp and from the small fire, and then they are thrown into the sea. This is considered as returning to the sea all the game killed up to the time of the ceremonial. The same act is performed also in the other method of celebrating the fall ceremonial, the "genuine thanksgiving," and, indeed, in almost all ceremonials of the Maritime Chuk-chee, especially in the "ceremonial of heads" of midsummer and in the "ceremonial of the whale."

Exchanging of Presents. -- In many villages, on the second day, the so-called "exchanging of presents" (čukŭ'irgin) takes place. It is performed with different details in various places. In the most common method, the female guests gather at the entrance of the sleeping-room, bringing all kinds of household things, which they thrust under the fold of the skin wall, and loudly demand the thing they want. The mistress must immediately take the offered object, and replace it with that required by the guest. Sometimes the objects offered and demanded are of no value whatever; for instance, an old woman will bring a piece of old skin, and ask in exchange for a lamp-support. This is done because the exchange is considered a part of the ceremonial and a special sign of friendliness on the part of the guests. On the other hand, if a guest asks for something of great value, it must be delivered promptly and without demur. If the mistress has not the desired object, she must borrow it from her neighbors in order to satisfy the guest. After the present has been delivered, the people standing by have the right, each in turn, to ask for it. To refuse it is unbecoming; and a desirable object may change owners two or three times before it is carried away from the house.

In some places young children are sent instead of grown persons. They come in, shout to the mistress, and say, "Do not refuse! So-a talk about the loss. One of the herdsmen was a nephew of the man; the other, an assistant of alien provenience. In this case the difference of age gave to the master an additional right to be severe to his herdsmen.

I remember, however, another case where a young master chastised an assistant of the same age as himself. The master was a strong man of daring temper, and a very good indefatigable herdsman. The assistant, on the contrary, was a rather poor herdsman, "given much to sleeping and eating," as the Chukchee say. If the opposite had been the case, perhaps a weak master would not have dared to chastise a strong and active assistant.

The Chukchee language has no special term for assistants. They are called by the common word nim-tu'mgit ("camp-companions," "camp-neighbors"), {See p. 612.} referring to all the inhabitants of the camp besides the chief. Another word used for the same purpose is gŭpi'lin, which means simply "working one," and is applied to all men active around the herd and house, including the members of their own family. A third word in usage is čawčuwa'-a3mѳ'lin. The first part of the word means, as indicated before, "Reindeer Chukchee," also "rich in reindeer;" the second part means "weak, dependent, subordinate," and implies a tinge of blame. The word ѳ3mu'lin by itself, when applied to a man, is taken almost as an abuse. With another preceding word, ciq, which means "utmost," čiq-ä3mu'lin signifies "very weak," "good for nothing," and implies an insult, leading to a serious quarrel. Ä'mu'lin, however, is used also as a proper name, which is sometimes met with among the Chukchee. Probably this term was applied in olden times to slaves and prisoners of war, of which I shall speak later on.

The words vi'yolm, vinre'telm, vinre't-tu'mgin, all signify "assistant" in the proper sense of that word ; but they are applied rather to a man who gives some special help. Therefore these terms are used also for the so-called assistants of supernatural character. {Compare p. 319.}

Material Conditions. -- The material conditions of life of assistants in the camp of a master vary according to the quality of their work and the size of the herd in the care of which they help. If the assistant has some reindeer of his own, they are joined to the herd of the camp, and stay there until the separation. In most cases, however, the assistants receive from the herd of the master at least the daily food for their families. Their tents are pitched in the camp among the "rear houses," and at most slaughterings all the houses of the camp receive one slaughtered reindeer each. Of course, the front house receives one of the best, perhaps some large buck or a fat barren doe; while the last of the rear houses may receive only a lean fawn hardly one year old. This depends also on the position of the assistant in the camp. If the master is contented with the work of the assistant, he would not presume to feed his family with poor meat. In case the number of slaughtered animals does not correspond to the number of houses, each house receives its part of the meat. The question of clothing and of material for the tent-covering is decided by these slaughterings, because the women of each house take the skins of their respective animals, and may use them at will for any wants of their family.

Tea, sugar, tobacco, iron, and other articles bought from traders, are acquired by the assistants, as well as by the masters, quite independently; for instance, in exchange for peltries obtained in hunting-pursuits. Among the Reindeer Chukchee, however, the chief articles of value used for exchange are fawn-skins gathered in spring and summer. Such skins will, of course, be in the possession of the master only, with the exception of a very few, which the assistant may have from his own reindeer. Therefore the master, after coming from a trading-place, will take some part of the wares brought home, and give to his assistants, especially if they were not successful in the hunt, and thus were short of means for making purchases. In the course of time the master will give to his assistants some of his tea and tobacco, when they have none; at least, a master who is "good" will act thus.

Not rarely is it the case that a family whose prosperity has declined, and whose herd is not large enough to provide for their subsistence, prefers, instead of continuing a half-hungry life, to join the camp of some rich reindeer-breeder short of hands. Of course, rich owners sometimes have misgivings regarding such impoverished neighbors, fearing that the bad luck of their herd may prove detrimental to their own prosperity. {Compare p. 351.} Still the need of extra herdsmen is often stronger than such fear; especially when the poorer family, after losing a part of their herds, has succeeded in allaying the misfortune and in remaining for some years in circumstances not utterly hopeless.

In combinations where large and small herds are joined together, the families of new assistants receive only a part of their subsistence from the master, and take another portion from their own herd. At each slaughtering the herdsmen slaughter such animals as the master points out, and carry them to the entrance of such and such a house, according to his order; then, if some house is left without an animal, the people catch one of their own reindeer and slaughter it. In this case, however, the connection between master and assistant is not very strong, and may in a short time be dissolved.

On the contrary, typical assistants receive from their masters, besides the food, also a few live fawns, as a yearly present. In the latter part of the summer the fawns are marked on the ear with the mark of the proprietor. When a fawn is caught and handed over to the master, the latter sometimes, instead of biting {Regarding the process of marking animals by biting them in the ear, cf. p. 84.} into its ear the lines of his own mark, tenders it to one of the assistants, and says briefly, gina'n ("yourself). Then the animal is marked by the assistant, and belongs to him. The number of such animals depends on the size of the herd, and still more on the mortality among the fawns during the preceding spring. In a good year an assistant may receive from the master three, five, and even more animals. These grow up in the common herd of the camp, and all the increase belongs also to the assistant. I have mentioned before that under favorable circumstances reindeer multiply very fast, since the doe bears fawns even from the very first year. At the next slaughtering the master will always consent to slaughter a young buck of the assistant, and give him in exchange a doe of the same age from among his own animals; the more so, as the buck is larger in size and yields more meat. So, after a few good years, an assistant who came to the master's camp empty-handed, may become the owner of fifty and even a hundred does. It has already been stated that, in speaking of the size of the Chukchee reindeer-herd, only the does are taken into account. I met on the Dry Anui River one Ta'to, who lived as an assistant in the camp of Qe'nu-kê'La3n, a rich reindeer-breeder of that country. Ta'to was with him for fifteen years. When he came to that camp, he had no reindeer at all. At the time of our meeting he had about three hundred does. The herd of the master was about three thousand or more. The family of Ta'to was still feeding from the herd of the master, and his own animals continued to increase. With the number of reindeer he had, he could have left Qe'nu-kê'La3n and formed a separate camp, but he preferred staying with the master. Both were of middle age and had sons and daughters who helped them with the herd. Both were also very alert and experienced herdsmen, with a wide knowledge of all kinds of pasturage, in summer and winter. They lived together very peacefully and friendly, in somewhat the same way as Ai'ginto and his master, in the tale before mentioned.

In other cases, however, an assistant who has succeeded in gathering about a hundred or more does, leaves his master, and forms a camp of his own. Through long years of caring for a large herd, such an assistant grows to be a good herdsman, often better than any of the men of the master's own family; so that he is also able to take care of his own herd, and to make it increase from year to year. Such new herdsmen are very economical, and take care to slaughter as few animals as possible. I remember one who lived on the Oloi River. He was endeavoring to feed his family with all kinds of substitutes in order to save the reindeer-meat. They were consuming large quantities of leaves, bark, and half-digested moss from the reindeer-paunch. In the summer, when I was travelling on the Oloi River, he left his wife in the summer camp without slaughtering any of the reindeer, and was absent with the herd for almost two months. On his return he nevertheless found courage to reprove the woman for having, in his opinion, consumed too much rancid reindeer-blood from the supply of the family.

No wonder that some of such assistants succeeded, after a number of years, in becoming quite rich reindeer-owners. Thus, from the same country on the Oloi River, I may name Ka'gno, Riko'q-Ai'wan, and several others, who in their youth had been assistants, and who later had herds of several thousand animals. In taking care of them, they were in their turn aided by poor assistants.

The richest reindeer-owners, who possess four or five large herds, such as Ei'heli of the Oloi River, Omrêlqo't of the Upper Omolon, Ara'ro of the Indighirka tundra, etc., still take care that each of their camps, corresponding to a separate herd, shall have as front-house master one of their nearest relatives. With Ei'heli each herd was looked after by an adult son; and the sons were almost the real possessors of the herd, from the very beginning of their independent life. One of them, for instance, in order to avoid being controlled in any way by the father, wandered with the herd into the distant mountains, and did not appear in the father's vicinity for three consecutive years. When I was with Ei'heli, the old man sometimes felt angry about it, and grumbled, "I will go there and take away my herd." We knew, however, that he was of a boastful disposition, and liked to exaggerate the extent of his force and influence. All the people about him were quite sure that, even if he should go and find the reprobate son, he would not think of taking the herd from him, nor would he be able to do so. With Omrêlqo't, two herds of his were under the direction of his two wives, and the younger brother of Omrêlqo't cared for the third. The same was the case with Ara'ro and the others. So, when Maydell mentions, in the words of Amra'wkurgin, that with the rich Chukchee the herds are usually given to the assistants, who live with them quite independent of the master, slaughter and sell animals, and that the only condition of their contract is that the herd must be kept in good health and must multiply in number, {Maydell, I, p. 159.} I can only attribute it to a complete misunderstanding. The herd cannot exist without the special charms, the earmark, anointing-mark, etc., of its owner's family, all of which are necessary for good-luck. And no family will trust its "reindeer-luck" to a stranger, or, what is still worse, will suffer its sacred belongings to be replaced by those of another family. All the conditions of life of the Reindeer Chukchee are such, that an assistant who would live by himself with a herd, after a few years would become master of this herd no matter to whom it originally belonged.

Still more difficult to understand are the communications of Maydell concerning the aristocracy among the Reindeer Chukchee, founded on the different sizes of their herds. {Maydell, I, p. 465.} No trace of such a thing actually exists. Maydell's opinion may be explained only by his position as a Russian official, who endeavored by every means to create "chiefs" and authority among the savage Chukchee. I will speak of this later in more detail.

Kuva'r of Indian Point, being an Eskimo, and therefore having no reindeer-herd of his own, actually bought a quantity of reindeer and gave them all to a Chukchee friend of his. This herd, however, cannot be compared with the usual herds. The animals were all acquired by purchase, and, to speak correctly, this herd formed the product of trade with the Americans. Moreover, Kuva'r was content to receive from the herd a certain amount of meat and skins, and did not look too closely into the dealings of his manager.

Assistants of Alien Origin. -- In those parts of the Chukchee territory where the Chukchee live intermixed with the Tungus or the Chuvantzy, both these tribes supply assistants for the Chukchee herds. Thus Ara'ro has Tungus assistants in all four herds belonging to him. This became possible, of course, only during the last fifty years, when peace was assured, and the tribes began to intermingle, at least on their common frontiers. The admission of Tungus assistants is quite natural, as the Chukchee herds of those localities are full of Tungus reindeer, which are more valuable, and the care and breaking of which are better known to the Tungus. Especially is this the case in the summer-time and with riding-reindeer, since the Chukchee have no experience in dealing with these. Some young Chukchee breeders take a Tungus assistant purposely for the summer-time, in order to learn from him the ways of riding reindeer and of wandering in summer. In many cases, however, Tungus assistants do not stay very long in the Chukchee camps, the character of both tribes being so different. The Chukchee does not like much wandering, but he is ever mindful of the increase of his animals. This care requires great alertness and uninterrupted attention to the herd and pasture. The Tungus is indolent, and soon wearies of camp duties. He likes travel and hunting, and is altogether of a roaming disposition. So, after a few months, he often leaves the Chukchee camp, which is heavy and too stationary for his tastes, and wanders far away to hunt wild reindeer or mountain-sheep.

Paupers. -- The Chukchee camp knows hardly any other social position than that of the master, his nearest relatives, and his assistants. Later I shall speak of the Maritime village, which is founded on another principle, that of territorial contiguity, and which is much larger than the camp. I shall indicate then the elements of population of different character; for instance, very poor families, consisting mostly of widows and orphans, who have no near relatives, and who depend for their support wholly on their neighbors. The Chukchee camp rarely knows such categories of people. All families of the Reindeer Chukchee are connected among themselves by ties of relationship. Thus a poor family without relatives is almost impossible. Nearly always some relative, however distant, will take them to his camp and give them means for subsistence. Even when an assistant living in the camp of another man suddenly dies, his family, though not at all related to the master, will be kept in the camp and provided for, however sparingly. On the other hand, a family utterly friendless, and strangers to every one, are placed in a very difficult position, since they have no place in which to live. Of course, when a stranger family happens to come to a Chukchee camp, -- for instance, during the trade-gatherings, -- if they are poor and have no reindeer of their own to slaughter, the master of the camp, when he slaughters for his people, may also slaughter an animal for the poor visitors. In times of ceremonial slaughtering, even Russian and Tungus guests receive slaughtered fawns as a present from the master of the camp.

The general rule is, that whoever lives in the camp must have food from one source or another; but after a couple of days the time arrives when all the guests and the casual comers must leave the camp, and a friendless family often does not know where to go. For instance, the man called Scratching-Woman, whose name has been mentioned before, told me the following about his own infancy. His father was a weak and shiftless little fellow, who had but few reindeer, and even those he lost one winter in a big snow-storm. This happened near the Russian village Markova, on the Anadyr River. Then the parents of Scratching-Woman came to Markova afoot, dragging behind them a sledge, on which lay their only son and their scanty belongings. They staid in Markova about two months, and could get but very little to eat; so that at the end of that time the father died, mainly from hunger, and the mother and son nearly followed his example. Some Reindeer Chukchee, who came to Markova for trading-purposes, however, took them back to the Chukchee camps; and from that time on they scarcely had any place in which to live. Nobody wanted them in his camp; and if they staid too long, nobody cared whether they had anything to eat or not. Thus they lived in constant hunger. They did not have even a single driving-reindeer, and were obliged to wander from place to place on foot. When the boy grew older, he endeavored to get something from his richer neighbors by performing various small services. He carried large bundles of fuel, carried water and ice, unharnessed driving-reindeer, and for all this received a piece of putrid meat, or a reindeer-paunch filled with rancid blood. "My growth was stunted by that hunger," said Scratching-Woman, "and that is why I am of low stature."

A woman who was left a widow with a son of five told me nearly the same. "When my husband died," she said, "his brother came and took the reindeer. He also wanted to take me; but he was so horrid of face, with a broken nose and a hole in his cheek, that I refused, and said, 'I will go elsewhere.' Then he grew angry and said, 'I will give you no reindeer on which to ride.' Therefore I and my boy left there on foot. Our life from that time on was one of constant hunger and suffering. My boy tried to act as an assistant in the strange herd; but he was too small, and the master too exacting. When my son was no higher than the reindeer's back, he had to spend sleepless nights, like the grown herdsmen. Very slowly we acquired a few reindeer, and at last succeeded in increasing our stock to a hundred does, which enables us to exist, though in a modest way."

"Idle Wanderers? -- Despite all that has just been said, there are among the Reindeer Chukchee men who live almost entirely outside of the camp and family connections, and spend their time in aimless wandering from place to place. The people call them "tŭmñe'-lei'wulit" ("idle wanderers," "tramps"). Their position, however, is not an enviable one. They have neither tent nor herd, and the conditions of life in the arctic tundra make it hard to exist without any home comforts.

I met several such wanderers. Some were still young, others were already old; some had wives who wandered with them, others were all alone in the world; some had at least a reindeer-team of their own, others had but a single reindeer, and a few had none at all, though wandering in the tundra afoot in the winter-time is quite difficult. There were men who had neither reindeer nor rifle, nor even so much as a belt-knife, which to the arctic man is almost as necessary as his right hand.

Wanderers are much neglected. Hunger is their constant companion. I mentioned before that the Chukchee eat only once a day, and even the coming of a guest of honor does not change this established rule. With the "idle wanderer" it is still worse. In the evening, when meal-time at last comes, he may, of course, according to custom, enter any house; but he will be shown a place near the entrance, behind all other guests, and from this place he is not able to reach the trough with his hands. The mistress of the house will slip into his hand a few morsels of meat of the poorer quality, and she will not expect him to ask for more. He will hardly be admitted into the inner room to sleep; his sleeping-place is in the outer tent, under some sledge, where the dogs sleep. The next day, if he stays in the camp, he receives still less food, and is treated with less ceremony. Of course, if he wants to take part in the daily work, -- chop wood, carry water, catch reindeer, etc., -- his position may be changed; but then he ceases to be an "idle wanderer." Even old men thus inclined are harshly treated. One of my acquaintances told me the following story: --

"Two years ago I was in the camp of Ginu'qai. His older brother, Tatk-Omru'wge, came from Umeke't-wui'wun ('Gathering Town,' the name the Chukchee give to Nishne-Kolymsk, because in the spring the trade-gatherings take place there). He came to his brother's camp and staid there a few days. Then they formed a corral of sledges to catch the driving-reindeer. At that time there came many guests, -- Vaa'hrgin, Ru'lti, Ê'llhm, Rultu'wgi with his wife. They drank brandy. Tatk-Omru'wge began to abuse Rultu'wgi, saying, 'Why have you. come hither? You are a poor hungry man. You wander about in your hunger, seeking of food.' Rultu'wgi answered, 'There was a time when I assisted men in catching reindeer.' -- 'Then why are you not doing it now?' Rultu'wgi said, 'I am now old. How shall I do it? In times past the old men sat quietly, well treated by the host.' -- 'No, no, you are the assisting one. Why are you sitting still? Can you give assistance sitting thus?' Tatk-Omru'wge said, 'There, stop sitting, or I will strike you on the head.' Rultu'wgi said, 'Do it, if you have no shame. Do you wish to shamelessly assault a man with an ailing back? My back causes me much suffering.' Tatk-Omru'wge grew angry, and said, 'Well, well, let us have a match.' Rultu'wgi took off his belt, also his fur shirt. Then he said, 'All right! Have a wrestling-match with me.' Both were tipsy. Tatk-Omru'wge also took off his belt with the knife. He said, 'No' I will only strike you on your head.' He struck the old man with the belt upon the head. 'Make yourself useful, quick, make yourself useful!' , The old man cried, 'Oh, oh, oh! Stop beating me! I will assist you.' He put on his shirt, took the lasso and the walking-staff, and ran to the reindeer. A little time after that, Tatk-Omru'wge asked us, 'Where is Rultu'wgi?' We said, 'He has gone to herd.' Tatk-Omru'wge roared after him, 'Rultu'wgi, Rultu'wgi, go away, go away! You will fill the whole camp of my younger brother with a stench!' Then the old man and his wife went away. The whole time they were weeping. Such was Tatk-Omru'wge, the violent, the richest reindeer-breeder on the whole tundra. The Luck-giving Being (Kinta'-va'irgin {The deity of reindeer-luck (cf. p. 314).}), in later time, however, made him poor." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 65.}

Such a wandering life is still harder for women than for men; and those of the "idle wanderers" who have wives cannot keep them for a long time, unless the woman is also good for nothing, and undesirable for any other man. Even then, in the middle of winter, the man takes care to leave the woman, at least for a month or two, in the camp of some distant relative or of a man who is of milder disposition and does not begrudge a morsel to a wretched pauper. I remember one pair, -- a man Rana'wkurgin, and his wife Anqa'nna. Both were quite young. Rana'wkurgin's father died, and left him, a young boy, with a large herd of reindeer. Before he was grown up, half of the herd was gone. The other half he squandered away himself, and lost the greater part of it through card-playing. Then he became quite poor. At the time when I saw them they both had only one reindeer and an old sledge. The woman was suffering, probably from syphilis; the man, too, was lean and weak and good for nothing, as was plain at the first glance. They even had no decent winter clothes, which is rarely the case even among the "idle wanderers." The necessity of warm clothing is so imperious, that even the most careless fellows provide themselves with it in one way or another. The woman tried once or twice to leave her husband for another man, but nobody wanted her in his sleeping-room.

Another "idle-wanderer," Yaqa'q, was already an old man. His life was much easier, because he had eight brothers, each with a "front house" in his camp. He refused to have either tent or camp. He spent his time wandering among the camps of his brothers; then he would move on and make visits among the camps of the whole neighborhood. Because of his brothers he was treated with consideration by the neighbors. Still another wanderer, Endi'w by name, was of a very happy and serene disposition of mind. Even under the most trying circumstances, he would only laugh and remain undisturbed. Another man, Ele'pqäi by name, wandered afoot among the camps, as much in winter as in summer. His power of endurance was remarkable, even among the Chukchee. In a most severe snow-storm he could sleep without a fire, burrowing into a large bank of drifting snow. He staid without food for two or three days almost as patiently as any wild animal. He spoke little. Upon the whole, he seemed a specimen of some lower type of man.

The Neighboring Camp. '-- With the Reindeer Chukchee, who live in small camps widely scattered over the tundra, the nearest camp forms the only human group with whom one may have frequent intercourse. It is called nim-taka'čhin ("neighboring camp"). Nim is the root of the noun ni'mnim ("camp"). Taka'čhin is the noun taka'lhin ("mate," "companion") with a slight phonetic change, č and 1, in Chukchee phonetics, often replace each other.

If some serious misfortune happens, the people of the nearest camp will always give help; the more so, since they are in most cases relatives, or at least good friends. As an instance may be given the following story, where the sudden death of a Chukchee while hunting wild reindeer is described.

"When he left the camp and followed the reindeer-buck, they both ran to the ice on a large lake. He slipped on the ice and fell down. Here he broke his neck and remained on the ice. Two nights he was absent from his camp. After the second night, his wife went to the neighbors and brought them the news: 'My husband is absent!' -- 'Oh, where is he?' -- 'He was following the wounded reindeer.' -- 'Oh, oh! let us go and look for him.... Well, do you know what direction we are to take?' They went together, the woman and one of the neighbors. The woman sought on the land. He took the road across the ice. Then he found him, and gave a signal to the woman, who also came. The dead man was lying on the ice." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 26.}

Neighboring camps often, in changing the pasture-grounds, follow the same route, in order to keep all the time in the same neighborhood as before. They gather their skins and peltries and give them to one man, who goes to some distant place for trading-purposes. They also assemble for ceremonials and races.

The Village of the Maritime Chukchee. -- The Maritime village is founded, not on family connection, but on territorial contiguity. Many of the villages also have the front house (a3ttoora'n, "front house;" or a'rmači-ra'n, "the house of the strongest one"). The master of such a house is called asttoora'lin ("that of the front house") or a'rmači-ra'kn ("that of the house of the strongest"). The front house belongs to the family which has lived at the place longest without interruption. I spoke before of the fluctuation of the population in the maritime villages, according as luck in hunting changed. Now, a family like this remains in its place even under the most trying conditions. Their intimate knowledge of the place makes it possible for them to provide for their subsistence in one way or another. The position of this house will be in front of the others; i. е., on the right side of the line of houses, which are all turned with the entrance towards the sea. I have already mentioned that in several villages the owner of the front house pretends to have the priority of connection with the local gods, and even receives occasionally a kind of tribute from the other families. {Compare p. 387.} Many villages, however, some of them among the largest, have no front house at all. In these, all the inhabitants are on a quite equal footing, and the houses are scattered around without any plan.

The Boat-Crew. -- The social unit of the Maritime people who have to do with sea-hunting is the so-called "boatful" (a3ttwa't-yinn), a boat's crew associated for hunting-purposes. In olden times, when people used the skin boat exclusively, a boat's crew consisted of eight men, -- one at the helm, another at the prow with harpoon and lance, and six paddlers. The man at the helm, who is the master of the boat, was sometimes considered as an extra member; and the whole crew, counting the regular number of eight, thus included nine men. The number eight was so firmly established, that even the sea-werwolves (killer-whales), of which I have spoken before, were supposed to course around in the sea in crews of eight.

At present, in many places on the Pacific shore, the American whaling-boat has replaced the skin boat for hunting-purposes. The crew necessary for the whaling-boat is smaller than that for the skin boat, consisting of only five or six men, because the number of oarsmen required is less. The boat's crew is formed of the nearest relatives of the owner. It is a kind of family co-operative group, the members hunting together and dividing the spoils.

The chief member, or head, of a boat's crew, is called "boat-master" (a3ttw-e/rmecin), and is the owner of the boat. He constructs the skin boat through the efforts of his own small family, that living in his house. For this he has to prepare, in the first place, a big walrus-hide and a sufficient quantity of fresh, strong thong. Then he collects the wood necessary for the frame, -- a rather difficult task on those treeless shores, -- or, if he is unable to find driftwood of the required quality, he may buy a ready-made frame, one of those which are made and sold on the American shore. The wooden boat-frame and also parts of it are highly valued among the Chukchee. They form objects of sale, are left as an inheritance, etc. If some part has deteriorated, it is replaced by a new one, and thus the frame may be kept in use for two generations or more. Walrus skins and thongs, on the contrary, are often changed, since every autumn, after the end of the sea-hunting season, the skin cover is taken off from the frame and kept separately.

When the master of a boat is not rich enough to get all the material necessary for a skin boat, two or three of his nearest relatives, usually brothers or cousins, help him. Then they are all considered "boat's masters." The oldest of them sits at the helm and directs the hunting-expedition; but, if his luck in hunting does not seem very great, he may give up his place to one of the others.

Whaling-boats are bought from the Americans or from local traders who deal with American whalers. Whalebone, fawn-skins (black or spotted), ready-made clothes of reindeer-skin, walrus-tusks, etc., are given in exchange for it. Since the value of a whaling-boat is considerably greater than that of a skin boat, being about twenty or thirty large slabs of whalebone, the purchase of such a boat is difficult for one man. Still the question is practically decided by the success in whale-hunting. If at least one good whale has been killed in a village, several families will be able to buy new whaling-boats the next summer. If not, no whaling-boats are bought.

Some boat-masters take whaling-boats on credit from Kuva'r of Indian Point, and from other rich native merchants. The whole amount has to be paid in two or three years. Of course, these are only second-hand boats, several years old, generally all patched up, and consequently cheaper in price. Still, without a successful catch of whales, it is quite difficult to pay even for these.

A man who has an extra boat often gives the use of it to some of his neighbors. It is contrary to the sense of justice of the natives to allow a good boat to lie idle on shore, when near by are hunters in need of one. In such a case a boat-crew is also formed, under the direction of one who is considered to be the boat-master, and responsible for the boat. Nothing is paid for the use of the boat, even when the hunt has been exceedingly successful ; as, for instance, when a whale has been killed. To pay for such use is believed to endanger the "hunting-luck." In the case of a very successful hunt, however, the boat-master will immediately buy the boat, and thus have it in his possession.

To cite an example, Kuva'r told me that one year he was making a trip to St. Lawrence Island in a boat that belonged to one of his neighbors. On the way they had the very rare chance to kill a polar bear in the water. Polar bears in the Pacific are much rarer than whales, though they bring less. On returning home, Kuva'r kept the boat in his possession, and gave its owner another boat of his own, which was much larger and of better construction than the other. Kuva'r, it is true, is an Eskimo, but the same rule exists among the Chukchee. On the other hand, when a man has killed a whale for the first time in his life, he must sell his boat and buy another. When I asked for the reason of this custom, the natives explained that it was a kind of sacrifice to the killed whale. The owner gives away the boat that has helped to kill the whale, and takes another, "still innocent."

The boat-master sits at the helm. This is the place of honor, and his by right. Among the Russians and the Russianized natives of the Kolyma, Indighirka, and other polar rivers, the place of the master is always with the hand on the helm. Even when a local trader travels on the river with hired assistants, he sits at the helm. He who leaves this place to another man, and sits idly in the middle of the boat, is considered effeminate.

The Chukchee families are so small, that the eight or six members of the crew may belong to four or even five families. Moreover, a father and son often count as but one paddler, because they replace each other. The elderly father goes only on the shorter trips; the son, on the long autumn expeditions, when the sea is rough and the cold severe. Among the families that form the boat's crew, besides the relatives, may also be included the families of friends, of close neighbors. All such families have their houses in the same part of the village. They act in friendly accord in most cases; for instance, in their trade with whalers, or in winter expeditions with dogs. The boat-crew forms an element of social life more or less lasting. "This village has three boat-crews," say the natives. I was told, for instance, that in the village of Iñe'en, in the last epidemic of measles, out of three boat-crews, only one was left. The two others had died out. Membership in a boat's crew does not establish permanent obligations, however. Occasionally a man may, after the season is spent, leave one boat's crew, and, when summer comes again, join another; or, more frequently, if he has had good luck, he may construct or buy a boat of his own and form a new boat's crew from among his relatives and friends.

A boat's crew, and a boat's master at the head of it, exist also among the Asiatic Eskimo. The master of the boat is called umia'lik (from u'miak, "boat"). The same institution seems to exist everywhere among the American Eskimo. The term umia'lik for the master of the boat is used on the whole Arctic coast of America, from Point Barrow {Murdoch, Point Barrow Eskimo, p. 428.} to Greenland. {Rink, p. 25.} Murdoch calls the umia'lik a regular and wealthy aristocratic class. Rink says only that the owner of a boat is considered as chief of the family. The masters of the boats of the Maritime Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo, notwithstanding their rights of ownership in the boats, cannot be called an aristocratic class and their influence in social affairs is very limited. I shall speak of this in more detail when treating of the Asiatic Eskimo.

Distribution of Products of the Hunt. -- The spoils of the hunt are divided as follows. Small seals are taken by those who have killed them. The Chukchee say that these seals do not form an important object of the hunt, because they may be killed singly, even directly from the shore: therefore they are not included in the common products. The master of the boat; however, is given a seal or two, even when he has killed none himself.

The meat and the blubber of thong-seals and walrus are divided in equal portions among all the members of the crew. The heads are taken by the master, and the tusks of the walrus go with the head. In due time these heads figure at the ceremonial of heads. Then the walrus-tusks are divided among those families of the crew that consist of brothers and cousins of the master. The other members of the crew receive only a part of the blubber from "under the whiskers" of the walrus; i.e., from the fore-part of the muzzle. In dividing the hides of the walrus, the master takes that of the first one caught; the man at the prow takes the second; and the following hides are taken by the paddlers, one after another. If the number of walrus killed is too small, the distribution may be continued in order the next year. Often, however, walrus-hides are split on shore, and the number of the shares is thus doubled. With thong-seals, whose hides are used for thongs and boot-soles, and also form one of the principal articles of value in trade or exchange with the Reindeer people, the rule of distribution is somewhat more complicated. When thong-seals are abundant, each man takes a hide, beginning with the master. When they are scarce, the middle part of each hide is cut up and wound into two rolls of thong of medium thickness. The rest of the hide is cut into eight parts and distributed among the crew as material for boot-soles. The thongs are given to the men one after another, beginning with the master, as described. In modern times, instead of this rule of distribution, the hides of thong-seals are often taken by those hunters who have killed the respective animals, which are thus excluded from the common stock. This new way is not approved by public opinion; still it is more and more frequently adopted.

With the whale, the meat, as has been mentioned, belongs to the whole village, generally to whoever wants to take part in the carving. The bones of the jaw are taken by the one who first noticed the whale. The whalebone is divided equally among all the participants of the hunt, and is distributed by the master, who reserves the best and longest slabs for himself. The man who dealt the mortal blow, usually the one who sits at the prow, has the right to choose his portion next after the master. When the boat comes ashore, the master will take some of the smaller slabs, which are not used in trade, and distribute them among the onlookers.

I was told that in former times, as many as fifty years ago, after each successful catch, a large part of the best whalebone was distributed among all the inhabitants of the village. The price of the whalebone was lower, and whales more abundant. The rich people had also an old supply not yet sold to the Americans. At present good whalebone is too valuable and rare to be thus distributed. This last information was given me by a native, for my guidance. In most cases, however, the whale is killed, not by a single boat, but by two, three, or several boats. One of the boats, that has acted foremost, is considered as the "principal boat," the others are only "assistant boats." Then the whalebone is divided along the middle line into two equal parts, which are called "whalebone-sides" (ti'nqäl). The principal boat takes one half. The other half is divided among the assistant boats; and each boat distributes its portion among its crew. When a whale has drifted ashore, the meat and blubber are carved and taken by all present; but the whalebone belongs, as a rule, to the one who first noticed the whale. "Be it a small girl five years old, she must take all the whalebone," thus say the Chukchee. "To act otherwise is a great wrong: he who takes the bone contrary to rule will surely die."

The same rule holds for the skin of a polar bear killed on shore. The one who first notices the animal takes the skin. Notwithstanding these rules, in actual life, the distribution of the whalebone of drifting or stranded whales leads to much quarrel and strife. Each one pretends that he noticed the whale first.

In the villages which I visited during the last ten years, no whale had drifted ashore that had whalebone fit for trade. There were some carcasses of animals killed by American whalers, who take only the whalebone, and leave the huge body floating in the ocean. Other stranded whales were of species with short white slabs, which have no trade value, so that the question of distribution of whalebone during all this time did not appear in a practical form.

Dr. Franz Boas says about similar regulations among the Central Eskimo, "A bear or a young seal belongs to the man who first sees it, no matter who kills it. A ground-seal belongs to all men who take part in the hunt, the skin especially being divided among them. A walrus is cut up at once into as many parts as there are hunters, the one who first struck it having the choice of the parts, and receiving the head. A whale belongs to the whole settlement, and its capture is celebrated by a feast." {Franz Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 582.} As to the rights of the first finder, Dr. Rink says about South Greenland, "In South Greenland, where bears are rarely seen, it is said, on a bear being killed, it belongs to whoever first discovered it, setting aside altogether the person who killed it." {Dr. H. Rink, p. 29.} As to the rarity of polar bears, the Pacific villages of the Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo are exactly in the same condition as South Greenland, for bears do not often stray into these regions.

The winter hunting on the ice is carried on individually. Still, a man who has killed a walrus or a thong-seal takes the whole carcass only in case he is all alone on the ice. If others are present, each onlooker has a right to take a part. Usually, when a man has killed one of these animals, all those who have noticed his good luck start on the run for the place of killing. The rule of distribution is as follows: Of a thong-seal, the hunter takes the hide, the head, and both shoulder-blades; the first-comer takes the pelvis; the second-comer, the right hind-leg; the third-comer, the left hind-leg; the fourth one, the brisket; the fifth, the lower ribs, with a corresponding slice of blubber all around the body; the other ribs are divided among the other claimants. The last-comers receive some piece of fresh meat of the animal. All this, of course, occasions much strife and even scuffling. If only one comes, the animal is simply cut in two, the hunter taking the upper part, and the other man the lower part. Carvings in bone, of the Chukchee and Eskimo, often represent such halves of the thong-seal, accurately cut off and loaded on a sled, ready to be conveyed to the shore. Of walrus, the hunter takes the hide, the head, and the backbone, with all the fat of the back. All other meat and fat are divided among all those present. The choicest morsels are given to the older men.

The principle of competition by running is in vogue also, under similar circumstances, among the Reindeer Chukchee. For instance, if several men are walking together, and one of them notices from afar a mammoth tusk protruding from the ground, as sometimes happens on the tundra, they all start running towards it. He who arrives first may take the find. This, too, leads to a scuffle, and even to murder. The same principle of rushing and grabbing whatever comes first to hand, is applied in the ceremonial of wild-reindeer heads. {Compare p. 380.}

Paupers. -- Families of paupers without friends or relatives are met with in the Maritime villages much more frequently than in the Reindeer camps. Maritime life is much harder, more subject to the danger of death when the hunt is going on, and to the fear of hunger when it has ceased, or has been stopped by storm. The village is more thickly populated, and the family-connection of the Maritime people is closer than among the Reindeer men. Still the charity shown by the Maritime people to their neighbors is much greater than is the case among the Reindeer men; so that poor families may support themselves through gifts received from other, better situated families of the village. A successful hunter, on coming ashore, is met by widows and orphans, to whom he throws down some morsels of the meat he has brought. Then perhaps he will even send a piece or two to those of his near neighbors who for some reason were absent from the shore. Even in times of hunger, the poorest family will receive at least a little, until death by starvation threatens the whole community. Then the last morsel is kept by everybody for his own housemates. In this of course there is much difference, according to the temper of the giver. "Bad men give nothing," say the Chukchee. "Give at least to the nearest door."

The tales, however, are full of descriptions of poor families that could get nothing from their bad neighbors, and nearly died from hunger. I will only mention the very popular tale about the orphan, which is known also among the Eskimo, Asiatic and American.

"In a maritime village were many houses. A scabby orphan lived in the last rear house all alone by himself. He found a lone old woman, always hungry, and said to her, 'Be at least my grandmother.' Then they lived together, all the time without food. Then the people killed a whale. The old woman said to the orphan, 'Go and ask them for some meat "from under the flipper." (The meat from under the flipper is considered to be of poor quality, tough to eat.) The people are coming back, all of them are carrying meat.' He went to meet them. 'What do you want?' -- 'Grandmother says, "Ask them for some flipper."'--'Nay, ask from those who are behind.' He went on farther. 'What do you want?' -- 'Grandmother says, "Ask for some flipper."' Every one repulsed him. Instead of giving him anything, they beat him. Then the Merciful Being took mercy on him, and the hindmost one gave him three small pieces of meat as large as a finger. These he put into three blubber-holes, and all were miraculously filled with meat. Then they felt happy, and hurried to cook some meat in a kettle. The neighbors noticed the smoke. 'Oh, what are the Scabby-Ones doing, cooking meat?' They rushed into their house, took the meat out of the kettle, and carried it out."

The tale proceeds to describe how the scabby orphan, under the protection of the Merciful Being, became a very strong, good-looking young man. He found much wealth, and at last married a young, pretty girl.

Then those who had but recently practised violence on him, came and said, each of them, "You are my nephew, you are my cousin." But he pushed them away and answered, "I am not yours, I am a stranger. I am an orphan. You have beaten me all the time."

Then he and his wife left the village altogether, and went to another place. The people of the village, however, were unsuccessful in hunting, and could find no food. The marrow of their bones was all dried up; and soon they died, every one of them. The orphan founded a living-place, and his family increased in number and became a village. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 118.}

In another tale it is said, that an old woman lives with her little son at the end of a village. She has nothing to eat, and asks the neighbors for some liver of the sea-animals they kill on the hunt. At last they are weary of the old woman. They kill her boy, take his liver, and give it to her in place of the liver of the seal. She does not recognize it, and roasts a portion of it over her lamp. {Compare p. 295.}

Though both tales decribe hard life and cruel doings, still they show that the existence of poor old women and orphans, strange and friendless, is possible in the Maritime village.

The tales of the Reindeer Chukchee, when describing an orphan, represent him as persecuted by a step-mother in his own family. He leaves his camp and wanders among the neighboring camps as an "idle wanderer," or goes away to a distant country in search of a fortune. The social life of the Reindeer people evidently has no place for him in his native land.

Various authors, when describing the social life of the American Eskimo, mention with praise their friendliness to those not able to provide for themselves. Hans Egede says, "They do not let those people starve, but admit them freely to their table." {Hans Egede, Description of Greenland (English translation, London, 1745), p. 127.} Dr. Franz Boas says of the Central Eskimo that poor men are adopted by strange families. Particularly bachelors without any relatives, cripples who are not able to provide for themselves, or men who have lost their sledges and dogs, are found in this position. Nor are these men less esteemed than the self-dependent providers. {Franz Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 581.} All this presents great similarity to the customs of the Maritime Chukchee. Still it would seem that the consideration of the Maritime Chukchee for their poor does not extend so far as it does among the American Eskimo.

Wanderers. -- The wandering type among the Maritime Chukchee is different from the "idle wanderer" of the Reindeer people. The Reindeer Chukchee move about the country with their houses and herds. This slow wandering is their normal state of life, but its range is not very wide, -- from forest-border in the winter, to the tundra in the summer, then back to the same places. Longer journeys are undertaken with a travelling-tent, a set of pack-sledges, and a small herd, which, after all, is but little faster than the usual way of travelling. A single man, with a couple of driving-reindeer and no luggage at all, may make a very fast trip of a hundred miles or more. Then he must stop in the house of some reindeer-breeder and put his coursers into the herd of his host, in order to give them a good rest. Thus the Reindeer Chukchee, in all his movements, is closely attached to house and herd. Therefore a man who has none, and tries to wander about with no particular aim, is an "idle wanderer," a kind of social outcast and pariah.

Maritime people are settled in permanent villages; and for this very reason -- that the villages are never moved -- they have to leave them frequently, and make long journeys in various directions. Moreover, they live on the seacoast, and the sea induces the people to travel, and at the same time makes travel easier. Many of them are given to trade, which makes constant wandering necessary throughout their lives. Therefore wanderers without any special purpose in life are more frequent, and are treated with no such harshness as among the reindeer-breeders. Chukchee tales of Maritime provenience often describe a man who, from a mere desire to see distant and unknown lands, has left his native place, and has gone far away. He travels in summer with a boat, and in winter afoot. Perhaps this last is due to Eskimo influence, because the Eskimo of America really travel afoot. The Maritime Chukchee, in actual life, travel in winter by means of dog-sledges. A man of a restless nature takes some five or six dogs, attaches them to a small sledge that has been broken and mended in several places, and leaves his village, sometimes all alone. With this sledge he goes from one village to another, passes from the Arctic shore to the Pacific, and vice versa. In the summer time he joins some large skin boat, going a hundred miles or more for trading-purposes. Trading-boats, in summer, are often short of hands, and an extra paddler is very welcome. While staying in villages, in the middle of the journey, the wanderer may take part in some hunting-expedition, and get his share of the booty. Some enlist on American whaling-ships, go with them northwards as far as Point Barrow, and farther on, roam to San Francisco, visit southern islands, then come back to their village, bringing no property, and having no care of the future.

Hospitality. -- The Maritime people are also much more hospitable than the Reindeer men. Each traveller passing through a Maritime village will receive food for himself and his dogs for one or several days. No pay is requested. Of course the traveller is supposed to have some wares or provisions brought from foreign countries and thus welcome to the people of the village. He may have tea and tobacco, reindeer-tallow, or American brandy. He is expected to give some of these to be added to the daily fare of the house he stops in. Still usually he gives but very sparingly, often only "just enough to smell," as the Chukchee say. The same rule exists among all the peoples of northeastern Asia that travel with dogs: in Kamchatka and on the Anadyr, on the Lena, Kolyma, and Indighirka Rivers; on the shore of the Okhotsk Sea, among natives as well, as among the Russian Creoles. Without such hospitality, journeying with dogs would be impossible, because the little dried food one can carry on the sledge must be kept for halts in the open country, and for other special occasions. Therefore people who live along some well-visited route have to provide food, not so much for themselves as for possible guests; and the amount required for the latter is more than that required for the people themselves. Thus the inhabitants of the village Mi's.qän -- which lies on the route from Indian Point to the mouth of the Anadyr, and, moreover, represents the last inhabited point before crossing the long and lifeless tundra, -- often have to feed some twenty complete dog-teams, with more than two hundred animals. Mi's.qän has only three houses: so this hospitality becomes a heavy burden. The same may be said of those few Chukchee families who live on the Middle Anadyr, exactly halfway between Markova and the mouth of the river. Each of these families slays every summer about three hundred wild reindeer while they are crossing the river; but the greater part of this large quantity of meat is consumed by the dogs of Russian Greoles passing to and fro for trading-purposes. Every time I asked people in Mi's.qän or in Under-the-Cliffs, on the Middle Anadyr, as to the game obtained during the preceding season, they would invariably answer, "Enough for our wants, but too little for the passers-by." Then they would undertake some extra hunting in order to increase their supply; but no complaint was ever uttered by any of them.

In other Maritime villages we were occasionally detained by a snow-storm for several days. All fuel had been consumed. We fed on raw walrus-meat. Still some fire was necessary to melt snow and to prepare the tea. In the more southern villages, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean cooking is done mostly, not with blubber, but with twigs from low bushes, small pieces of driftwood, dried grass, etc. Then the house-master would take an axe and break one of his sledges, or cut down one of the wooden house-supports at the risk of its tumbling down on our heads. When we remember how scarce wood is on the Arctic shore, and especially wood that is suitable for poles and house-supports, we can appreciate the real value of such a sacrifice. The few reindeer-breeders who live near the seacoast, scattered here and there among the Maritime villages, have learned some of this hospitality; but those living farther inland are very far from it.

When travelling among the Reindeer Chukchee, I met with many unpleasant experiences, with much bad language, and with many threats. My property was stolen, and attempts at open robbery were even made by the masters of the camps in which we stopped for the night. Nothing of this sort happened to me among the Maritime Chukchee. Everything was safe; and we lived together peacefully, with one or two exceptions, of which I shall speak later on.

The people are well aware of this difference in temper between the Reindeer and the Maritime people, and the latter are quite proud of their superiority. This seems the more remarkable, since the Maritime people are considered more daring and venturesome than the reindeer-breeders, which must really be the case, as their way of living requires more courage, presence of mind, and a more enterprising spirit.

XXI. -- STRONG MEN, WARRIORS, SLAVES.

"Strong Men." -- The word "e'rmecin" was mentioned in the previous chapter as designating the master of the camp. It signifies literally "the strongest one," and is used with several other meanings, which are of course more or less closely related. These are "the strong man," "the warrior," "the influential man," "the violent man," "the robber." The Chukchee are conscious of the difference between the meanings of the word. For instance, a quotation from the tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons," given in the preceding chapter, {Compare p. 618. [639]} contains a pun founded on this difference of meaning. The Eskimo host says, "This is probably the well-known Reindeer Chukchee e'rmecin" (meaning warrior). Ele'ndi answers, "Not I. Only you are the real e'rmecin (meaning violent man), because by violence you so taught your neighbors that they do not dare to eat in your presence." But if this quotation shows a marked difference between the two meanings of the word, another quotation from the latter part of the same tale, on the contrary, points out the common element of all these notions, -- warlike strength. "Oh, oh!" says the father, after his young son has made a very successful shot, "then I have created a future violent man, a robber of the herds of all other people, a warrior I have created. I am a good man."

In the original text the word "e'rmečin" was used in all three cases. War and warriors belong to the past life of the Chukchee tribe. Therefore they are described only in tales and other narratives of the same character. In modern life, by "e'rmecin" is meant, first of all, a man of great physical strength, daring temper, and adventurous disposition. Men with such qualities may be met among the Chukchee, both Reindeer and Maritime. Such, for instance, was one of my Kolyma acquaintances, Tumgänê'nti by name. He was of Maritime origin, but lived among the Reindeer people from early youth. Tumgänê'nti was a man of tall stature and athletic build, and experienced in all kinds of sports, wrestling, running, racing with reindeer. When I met him, he was about forty, and more or less quiet; but his previous life had been quite eventful. Being of Maritime origin he has visited most of the Arctic villages, and quite a number of camps on the route between East Cape and the Kolyma River. He tried to be a trader; but he squandered most of his wares, and had to give up his attempts. Two or three times he was the owner of a large herd, but each time it was gone again after a year or two. He was much given to drink; and when drunk, his temper was quite dangerous. Thus he was said to have killed on different occasions three men in drunken brawls or in more serious quarrels. He had also quarrels with Russian Creoles, and occasionally gave many of his Russian friends a good thrashing. The Cossacks, after one of these quarrels, in their turn, gave him such a solid thrashing, that he was near unto death, and only his strong constitution enabled him to survive it. Last, but not least, he changed wives several times, and, notwithstanding his forty years, had much success among young women and girls, and was welcomed as a group-marriage companion by many Chukchee matrons between the Kolyma and the Wolverene River.

Of the same type were two brothers, Čêpa't and Qančiu', from the so-called Kavra'lin traders. {Compare p. 12.} It has been related before that the Kavra'lin traders are of Maritime origin, but have reindeer of their own, and travel all their lives between the Maritime villages and the Reindeer camps, carrying sealskins and thongs, beaver-skins and marten-skins, and also American rifles, knives, etc., and exchanging them for fawn-skins and ready-made clothes of reindeer-skin, also for Russian brick-tea and leaf-tobacco. I have met the two brothers several times at the yearly Anui fair. Both were men of tall stature and of considerable physical strength. Čêpa't was said to have killed several men. Qančiu', on the other hand, had lost one eye in a scuffle, and bore deep scars on his breast, the results of old knife-wounds. The brothers were widely known among the Reindeer camps of the Anui country, also among the Russian traders and Cossacks. They came usually with abundant means for purchases, but a good part of their property was spent in buying brandy. They themselves drank and treated others to drink. Čêpa't was the cause of the brawl mentioned before, {Compare p. 45.} which took place in 1895.

The chief officer of the Kolyma did not go that spring to the Anui fair. Instead, his assistant went, a man quite new to the country, who did not know the methods of Chukchee trading. He brought with him some Cossacks from Sredne-Kolymsk, who were but little acquainted with the Chukchee, and gave them strict orders, first of all, to stop the sale of strong liquors. This would have been quite praiseworthy; but, at the same time, almost all traders, men and even women, and among others the commanders of the Cossacks, {The office of a so-called "private commander" (частный командиръ) is one of the positions of noncommissioned officers in the Yakut Cossack regiment. Each Cossack detachment in the small polar towns has at its head a "private commander." Sredne-Kolymsk has one, Nishne-Kolymsk has another: so at the Anui fair there were two of them.} brought a quantity of liquor for sale to the natives. It was labelled as "destined for private use." The assistant officer then ordered the Cossacks to take away all brandy seen in the hands of the Chukchee. On the next day, after the .order was given, Čêpa't, who had been drinking in the morning, came into the Russian fort and met a group of Cossacks. Then he took out from his bosom a bottle of alcohol, showed it to the Cossacks, and said tauntingly, "There, you Cossacks, come and take it from me." One of the commanders of the Cossacks came, and suddenly wrenched the bottle from Čêpa't's hand. Then he spilled the contents on the snow. Now, to spill brandy on the ground is considered in those countries perhaps worse than to spill blood. Čêpa't grew angry and gave the offender a box on the ear, which sent him spinning to the ground. A scuffle ensued. Čêpa't was arrested, and another Chukchee was killed by the Cossacks. I saw Čêpa't being dragged by several Cossacks to the block-house which was to serve as a temporary prison. He had blood on his face, but his spirits were quite undaunted. One of the Cossacks (the "private commander" of Sredne-Kolymsk) drew his revolver and pointed it at the prisoner's breast. He said, "I will kill you this instant, you dog!" -- "Do it!" retorted Čêpa't in his usual tone. "I am not afraid, and you are a bad one." All the natives were expelled from the fort, and the gate was closed; but a number of Chukchee came to the fence, headed by Qančiu', Čêpa't's brother. Very soon the Russians saw that it was necessary to free Čêpa't. Some of them invited him to make excuses to the commander of the Cossacks for the blow, but he flatly refused to do so. "You are all bad," he said quite openly, "Leave me alone." Then he jostled away the nearest Cossack, and was gone.

These men were of Maritime origin, but the Chukchee who was killed in the scuff nin {Slunin, I, p. 628.} asserts that animals bitten by a rabid dog are not infected. However, I had dogs in my own team perish from such cause. A dog suspected of being rabid is speedily made away with, for fear that it may bite some of its companions -- except on long journeys, when the driver has to utilize the whole strength of his team. I would also mention a kind of palsy -- a disease of northern dogs, that affects the head of the animal, and disables it for walking -- and a kind of cramp that often precedes the palsy. Both diseases are contagious, and may destroy a whole team in twenty-four hours, since the animal generally dies with the first fit.

Dog-Driving. -- The dog-sledge now in use in northeastern Siberia (Fig. 21) is long and narrow, and has three or four pairs of stanchions. The lower end of the stanchion is cut off square, except a rough peg which is left standing in the middle. The peg is inserted in a circular hole in the runner (Fig. 21, b). Each pair of stanchions is joined at half their height by a round stick, which is mortised into a circular hole in the stanchion. A thin, broad plank -- or rather two planks laced together -- rests on these sticks. Two rails are fastened on the upper ends of the stanchions, and are lashed to the boards with thong, which forms a kind of retaining-net all around the sledge. The runners are flat, and their front ends are strongly curved and tied to a strong wooden bow, which is fastened to the foremost stanchions with strong lashings (Fig. 21, c). Another vertical bow is fastened above the foremost stanchions; and the driver directs the course of the sledge, and prevents it from overturning, holding on to the top of this bow with his left hand, while with his right hand he works a brake (Fig. 21, a1). The length of the runners is 3-3.5 m.; breadth, 8 cm.; thickness, 3 cm.; height of the standing bow, 120 cm.; height of the sledge when heavily laden, 1 m. All joints are fastened with strong, ingeniously twisted lashings (Fig. 21, b, c). The general shape of this sledge is, as has been said, identical with the Tungus reindeer-sledge, which, however, is shorter and clumsier. The latter has only three pairs of stanchions, and no standing bow in the middle. Its planks are broader, and the lashings are stiffer and ruder.

All parts of the dog-sledge, especially the runners, are made, if possible, of birch-wood; but the Arctic Chukchee use also various kinds of driftwood, especially American pine, and even oak picked out from wreckage. On some parts of the Arctic shore driftwood is piled up in large masses (Plate VII, Fig. 2), sometimes covering an entire acre, and wreckage may be found everywhere among the wood. The Pacific people buy lumber from whalers, or even bring it themselves from St. Lawrence Island or the Alaskan shore in their boats. Birch runners are fit only for the cold season, and after the end of March will not run easily in the daytime, when the snow is damp and loose and all the sharp points of the ground protrude. The friction of birch-wood is so strong as to tire out the best dogs, and, besides, wear out the precious runners in a couple of weeks. In the Kolyma district and in the eastern Arctic villages, runners made from the outer layer of the larch, with twisted fibre (called in local Russian крень), are substituted for use in springtime. The material is obtained from the trees that grow on the mountain-slopes, and is much harder than the ordinary larchwood. In the damp weather of spring the drivers will sometimes smear the birch runners with oil, though it may spoil them for the winter; or they will tie a piece of blubber to the quirt, and every now and then, while going ahead, whip it across the track, to be passed over alternately by both runners, to make them more slippery. Much more frequently the runners are shod with whalebone, or with pieces of bone taken from the whale's jaw, sewed to the runner with sunken stitches (see Fig. 17, g) or fastened with wooden pegs. On the Chukchee Peninsula, drivers protect their wooden runners with bone shoeing throughout the winter, though it makes the sledge twice as heavy, and the bone does not run smoothly on the cold, crisp snow.

In the winter-time the birch runners are covered with a thin sheet of ice to make them run more smoothly. For this purpose they are well saturated with water in the early fall, usually by immersing them in a pool or small lake for a couple of weeks; or in winter, when the pools are frozen, by steaming them in long troughs filled with hot water or by frequently wetting the bottoms with boiling water. Only damp wood, well soaked with water, will hold the ice-sheet, which is formed by wetting the bottoms of the runners several times over by means of a small piece of skin. The colder the day, the hotter the water that is used for the process. Larch-wood holds the ice-sheet only for a short time, and bone hardly at all: therefore it is not subjected to the process. This method of covering the runners with ice is adopted by all the West Bering tribes. The people in South Kamchatka, however, on account of their damp winters with frequent thaws, do not employ it much. The Kolyma Yakut cover the runners of their reindeer and horse sledges also with ice.

Among the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo there exists also a peculiar form of small sled, -- not related to the usual Asiatic forms, but quite similar to the small sledge of the Eskimo. It has runners made of walrus-tusks or of whale's ribs, also of wood shod with ivory or with bone of the whale.

Fig. 22, a, represents a sled from Mariinsky Post, which was used by hunters on the ice of the sea for carrying to the shore walrus-meat cut into square pieces. It is similar to one from St. Lawrence Island which is illustrated by Nelson. {Nelson, Plate LXXVI, Fig. I, p. 208.} Fig. 22, b, shows a sled from Indian Point, that is used for carrying skin boats. A wooden sledge of a similar pattern is used by the Russianized natives of the Kolyma and the Anadyr for conveying tubs of water from the common "water-hole" of the village.

In former times a kind of toboggan made of whalebone was used for carrying meat over the ice, while at present the whalebone has too high a market value to be applied for any such purpose. The model in the collection (Fig. 22, c) is made of a single piece of whalebone, while the real toboggans had several slabs laced together side by side.

At the present time an ordinary dog-team has six or seven pairs of animals (Plate VIII, Figs, I, 2; also Plate VI, Fig. 4). An odd dog is attached separately, generally at the rear end; or, if the central strap is too long for the number of dogs, two or three of them are attached separately. Chukchee drivers going on a long journey borrow from their friends and relatives as many dogs as they can, and thus have teams of from sixteen to eighteen dogs. Even double teams of more than twenty dogs are used; though this does not work well, because the foremost pair will hardly do their share of work, and the whole team will lack in unity. Moreover, a double train requires two drivers wherever the road is uneven, as on the hills and in the forests.

The strap serving as whiffletree (Fig. 23) is either made of one piece, or consists of two or three lengths of thong (a), each about a fathom long, joined together with bone or iron eyes (b). The ends of each piece of thong are slung through the eyes, and sewed together with thin leather or fastened to them with toggles. The rear end is fastened to the shaft with a larger toggle (c), or simply twisted around the curved shaft and then tied to the standing bow or to the right rail (Fig. 23; see also Fig. 21, a, b). The large toggle is made of wood or iron, and. is often combined with a swivel which ends in a large eye. The rear end of the central strap and the first two traces are fastened to this eye. The rear end is thicker, and the strap gradually grows thinner toward the front end. If the strap is of one piece, loops are tied in it (Fig. 24) at distances of about a fathom. The toggles of the traces

I of each pair of dogs are fastened in one loop (Fig. 21, d). The j attachment of the dog's traces to the harness is illustrated in Figs. 21 and 23. The dogs pull on the traces somewhat obliquely, so as to leave sufficient room between the animals belonging to the same pair for them to walk without jostling. The two lines of dogs generally follow in the tracks of the runners of sledges that have preceded them. Thus on beaten trails an elevation is left between the two lines, which keeps the dogs apart.

The harness described above allows of variation. One form, the so-called "oblique" harness (Fig. 25, a), is short, and has only one band across the back. With this harness the animal pulls in a quite oblique position, and its outer shoulder has to work harder than the inner one. This form of harness was introduced from the south. It is in use among the Amur tribes, as may be seen from the description and drawings by Schrenck. {Schrenck, II, Plate XXXVI, Figs. 3, 4, 5.} It is also used everywhere in Kamchatka, and in the countries farther to the north it is therefore called the Kamchatka harness. The usual harness of northern type (Fig. 25, 6) has two cross-bands and a single or double trace (Fig. 25, c). Those of the finest style even have a third narrow cross-band (Fig. 25, d).

Iron, bone, or ivory swivels (Fig. 26) are inserted in the traces to prevent their twisting around the whiffletree-strap. Well-trained dogs, however, are extremely careful not to get their traces tangled up with the central strap. Even when a young or badly trained dog to an old one, the latter will actually prevent its companion from causing trouble, biting it severely every time it wants to leap across the strap. I had opportunity to see this many times while driving. Wily or disobedient dogs are attached nearer to the sledge, where they can be reached by the stick. Moreover, the nearer they are to the rear end, the more exertion is required, since the sledge, on every slight deviation from the track, gives the rear dogs a hard shake and a pull backward. Therefore strong animals, somewhat slow from age or from lack of mettle, are usually placed at the rear; and those that are younger and more brisk, in the front. Sometimes even the leader may be placed in the extreme rear by way of temporary punishment. While on the run, the driver changes the dogs' places from time to time, according to the change in their disposition and mettle.

The southern drivers cover their dog-harness with colored paint, and adorn it with red flannel and embroidery (Fig. 26, a). The Chukchee do not make such harness themselves, but gladly buy it from the Russianized natives of Anadyr. The Asiatic way of attaching dogs, when compared with North American methods, has its advantages for travel on land, especially in the woods, where the path is narrow and winding. With short traces fastened to a central strap, it is difficult for the animals to jump around any tree standing close to the road, as they would do with the long Eskimo traces. Even on the open tundra, the Asiatic method is more convenient, since the dogs do not entangle the traces so much, and well-trained dogs not at all. On the contrary, for journeying on rugged ice, the American method must be much more convenient; and from personal experience I can confirm the opinion of Dr. Boas, {Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 537.} that the cross-lines of the Asiatic harness would make it very difficult, and even dangerous, to travel on rugged ice.

When bountifully fed, the dogs are quite unwearying, and can make long runs for twenty successive days with but two daily rests. Their feet, however, are very sensitive. Uneven ground with clods of hard snow, for instance; a moss pasture recently left by a reindeer-herd; or rough, bare ice in late spring, -- will make their feet bleed, and rapidly disable them. Sore feet heal slowly, though a well-trained dog sometimes keeps pace with the team when all its feet are bleeding. Occasionally small boots of curried reindeer-skin (Fig. 27) are put on the sore feet, though many dogs cannot endure them, and will tear them off as soon as started on the journey. Frost-bites of the groins are still worse, since, even after recovery, the dog remains weak, and susceptible to cold. The drivers, when caught on the road by a severe tempest or even by a cold, contrary wind, protect the dogs with strips of soft skin tied around the groins (Fig. 28). The suckling females have square strips of skin tied over their bellies for the same purpose.

When resting for a night, the dogs are usually unharnessed, but are tied up with a halter. Sticks or pieces of horn about thirty centimetres long are fastened to the dog-collars. The ends of these sticks are tied by short lines to stakes or to the sledges. The sticks are long enough to prevent the dog from gnawing the thong fastenings at the other end. Iron chains bought from traders or made by the natives are also used. The dogs lie down immediately, hiding their noses in their bellies, and covering their heads with their large woolly tails, in the familiar attitude of all Arctic animals with large tails. In severe storms, however, the dogs are released altogether; otherwise, without freedom of motion, they would be in danger of being buried in the snow and stifled, especially when they are too tired to stand up every little while, and shake off the snow.

In the old method of Chukchee dog-driving, the course of the team was directed by means of a whip with a very long lash, that was made to snap either from the right or from the left, indicating to the leader to which side it was to turn. The urging call was "Ke, ke, ke!" {Phonetic spelling.} The stopping-signal was the slow and drawling "He!" In the usual East Siberian method, the driver has only a short whip, which is used occasionally for punishing the slow and the disobedient animals. The team is directed chiefly by different calls and signals. According to the various localities and tribes, they are as follows: --

To the right!

To the left!

Go ahead!

Stop!

Indighirka Russian and Yakut

Tara'x, tara'x, tara'x.

Tax, tax, or Tañim, tañim, tax, tax, tax.

Poša'.

Toy, to-oy.

Kolyma Russian

S.uta', s.uta'.

Nax, nax.

Poša; pod., pod..

Toy, to-oy.

Anadyr Russian

S.uta', s.uta'.

Q!x!, q!x!.

Ho, ho, ho.

Toy, to-oy.

Kamchadal and Koryak,

S.uta', s.uta'.

Q!x!, q!x!.

Huзy, huзy.

Dña.1

Chukchee

Čuta', čuta', or Mra.

Q!x!, q!x!.

Ho, ho, ho.

Toy, to-oy.

Asiatic Eskimo

Ti, ti.

Q!x!, q!x!.

Qu, qu, or Añ, añ, or Tu'lla, tu'lla.

Toy, to-oy.

1 The first sound is produced by drawing the set lips tightly in, and then quickly opening the mouth.

Of these calls, S.uta' or Čuta', Pod., pod., and Toy are of Russian origin. S.uta' (from s.uda [сюда]) signifies "here." Pod., pod. (подь, подь) means "Go, go!" Toy (instead of Stoy [стой]) signifies "Stop!" Q!x! is probably an imitation of the raven's cry. Mra is the Chukchee word for "right." Qu, qu; An, an; Tu'lla, tu'lla; -- are identical with the urging calls of the Point Barrow Eskimo.

When running fast, the dogs are urged forward by whistling, shouting, of the utterance of various short words suitable to the occasion; such as, "He boys!" "Home, home!" "Goose!" "Reindeer!" When tired, the leader ceases to obey the driver or to understand his calls, and accordingly looks around more and more frequently.

The training of the leader is very simple. A swift and clever young dog, perhaps two years old, is placed as one of the front pair in the team, and in a couple of months begins to learn from its companion. Well-trained dogs, when turning aside, will cast a glance towards the driver to ascertain whether they are doing right. However, dogs that look around too often are considered to be badly trained, since this habit indicates either shyness or too much fear, and always impedes the pace of the team.

With a strange driver, the dog-team is wayward and very shy. For instance, if the leader knows that some turning of the road likely to be taken by the driver is ahead of it, it will accelerate its pace to the utmost, and try to pass before the word of command is given. A dog placed in a strange team feels shy, and often refuses to work, allowing its trace to slacken.

Siberian dog-driving requires the use of a special brake, which has the shape of a strong wooden stick (Fig. 21, a {}). In Kamchatka the brake is slightly curved, while that of other countries is straight. It has a bunch of jingling rings on one end, and a sharp iron spike on the other. A short strap is tied to the jingling end. The driver holds the brake with his right hand, and when required checks the, motion of the sledge by thrusting the brake into the snow close in front of the first right stanchion. The brake is used to prevent the sledge from overturning or to raise it when overturned, to slacken the pace when the dogs go too fast, and, in connection with the word of command, to stop the team.

When a dog is disobedient on the way, the driver jingles the rings of the brake, or strikes the brake against the standing bow. Sometimes he throws it over the head of the animal, being careful, however, to hit it with the jingling end, because the spike would kill it outright. After the brake is thrown, the driver has to pick it up very quickly; otherwise the team might go ahead, leaving the driver on the road. When thus started, the team will not stop until it reaches the next village, unless the sledge should be overturned. Drivers not over-confident tie the brake to the bow with a strap, and avoid throwing it at the dogs.

Besides the brake, the Chukchee drivers use a quirt with a short wooden handle and a thick twisted lash (Fig. 29, a). The handle has likewise a bunch of rings, and the driver uses the quirt instead of the brake for intimidating and punishing his animals. This quirt is probably a modification of the former long-lashed quirt of the Eskimo. A special whip is used for punishing dogs (Fig. 29, 6). It has a longer handle and a lash with a very slender end, also similar to the end of the Eskimo quirt. Some of the dogs pull with such energy that foam flows from their mouth, their legs become strained, and they may die from over-exertion. This happens especially at the start-off, with a heavy load, and before the team is fairly under way. Other dogs are lazy and shy, and will pull the trace just enough to tighten it; they will even lean their backs against the central strap for a while. Pups, when first harnessed, often pull too obliquely, or lie down and are pulled along with the team. To prevent this, their collar-straps are fastened with a thin line to the next loop-hole ahead. The driving of East Siberian dogs is very fatiguing, and more like a race than an ordinary run. Well-rested dogs become excited at sight of the harness, and it is difficult to hold them in till everything is ready.

From the start, they go very fast, and want to go at a faster pace than they can keep up afterward. Down hill their pace is quite dangerous, since the sledge behind is liable to hit them. The sledge -- long, high, and narrow -- overturns easily; and the driver, at any unevenness in the road, has to exert the utmost care to swing the sledge, now to the right and now to the left, and to support it by hanging down from one side or by standing on one of the runners. Of course a light sledge, although it goes faster, is easier to handle than a heavy one.

In short runs, dogs may be a little slower than the best reindeer or horses; but for long distances they excel any animal used for conveyance. I once had occasion to make, with a light sledge and good dogs, a hundred and fifty miles in twenty-three hours, and two hundred miles in two days.

Maydell mentions that in 1869, in a race between the merchant Baramigin and Chief Officer Anatovsky, on the Lower Kolyma, the dogs of the former made the distance between the Anui market-place and Nishne-Kolymsk (a hundred and fifty English miles) in fifteen hours, and the dogs of the latter in sixteen hours. While on the Kolyma I also heard of this race; and, in my opinion, the speed displayed on that occasion is the highest that Siberian dogs have been known to exhibit over long distances.

In the month of March and on a good trail, a strong well-rested team can make five hundred miles in ten days, and, after two days' rest, will continue with the same speed. In the winter of 1900-01 I made from four thousand to five thousand miles with dogs, changing from time to time those that had sore feet or were over-tired. In the spring, after a continuous drive of fourteen days, our dogs were so tired that they would lie down on the slightest provocation, and we had much trouble in rousing them from sleep after even a moment's stop. However, three dogs of mine were able to make the entire journey from the mouth of the Anadyr River to the middle of Kamchatka, up and down, and farther on to Indian Point, and still looked sleek and fat in the summer, after two weeks' rest. Progress with a few weak and half-starved dogs is exceedingly slow. The opinion of Nordenskiöld, that the Chukchee dogs show much endurance, buj; little speed, is evidently based on experience at a time of famine, when the teams were weak. I saw teams that were hardly able to drag an empty sledge, although the driver walked the whole time. The animals had been ill fed in the fall, and well-nigh starved in the spring.

A good Anadyr team of twelve dogs can carry from four to five hundred pounds, {According to the local way of measuring, two "horses" of freight. A "horse" of freight is the load of one pack-horse, which is about 6 pud; i. e., 240 Russian pounds, or 216 pounds Avoirdupois.} besides a hundred pounds of their own food. Of course over a short distance a dog-team can haul much more than that. The Kamchatka teams are stronger, though the mountainous roads of that country are more trying for the dogs than the level tundra. Chukchee teams are not as strong and well trained, nor are the drivers so skilful, as are the Koryak or the Kamchadal. Maydell asserts that on the Lower Kolyma a team of from twelve to fourteen dogs can haul a load of 60 puds (2160 pounds Avoirdupois), which would average about 154-180 pounds for each dog. {Maydell, I, p. 170.} This is evidently a mistake, since even postal reindeer-teams- often carry only 6 puds on each sledge, which makes 3 puds (108 pounds Avoirdupois) for each reindeer. The dog-drivers of the Kolyma allow for each dog (according to a local saying) "I pud to carry, 1000 herrings to store" (i. e., for winter food). The "herrings" mentioned are, properly speaking, not herrings at all, but of the species Coregonus albula.

Middendorff says that on the Yenisei each dog is reckoned as able to carry not more than 100 Russian pounds' weight (90 pounds Avoirdupois). This is also too high an estimate, and seems improbable, since a few lines before he calls the system of attaching the dogs on the Yenisei undeveloped and full of defects. {Middendorff, pp. 1297, 1298.}

In dragging a heavily loaded sledge, the dogs take advantage of its impetus, for they can draw it along only at a rapid pace. When stopped, they cannot even start again without the help of the driver. When going up hill, the driver has to walk along and pull the sledge with his utmost strength, and at especially steep places he sometimes has to partially unload. Every five or six miles the dogs are given a rest of about five or ten minutes, after which they start again with renewed vigor. In the middle of the day there will be given a longer rest (Plate vi, Fig. 4), perhaps three-quarters of an hour, while the driver melts snow for drinking, and cooks food for himself.

While in harness, the dogs are perhaps still wilder than when at large. A wild reindeer, a hare, or the fresh smell of seal, is quite enough to lure them off the track, regardless of the driver. When passing by a reindeer-herd, the dog-driver may always calculate that the excited animals will carry him into the middle of the herd, and may even succeed in seizing a reindeer, notwithstanding the exertions of the driver to arrest the heavy sledge with the brake.

The dogs preserve their hunting qualities, even while in harness. A Chukchee driver, meeting a white fox on the tundra, will set free his fleetest dog in the hope of good luck. However, hunters say that the speed and acuteness of the dog for hunting are spoiled by the harness, since its back grows stiff. The Kamchadal hunters, when tracking a bear in late spring, sometimes let the team overtake the bear, and, while the struggle is going on, wait their chance for a sure shot. The bear has no advantage in this struggle, and often is so entangled with straps and traces as to become quite helpless. The keen-scented dog, able to find the seal-hole for the hunter, may also be found among the team-dogs.

VI. -- HUNTING AND FISHING; WAR.

Hunting and Fishing.

Seal-Hunting. -- The Maritime Chukchee support themselves almost exclusively by hunting sea-mammals, the most important among which are the following species of seal: Phoca hispida (English, "ringed or rough seal;" Russian Siberian, акипка; Chukchee, mê'mêl), Phoca ochotensis macrodens {Similar, on account of its spotted skin, to the "harbor-seal," but identified by Professor Allen as a new sub-species of Phoca ochotensis of Pallas.} (Russian Siberian, ларга; Chukchee, keli'lin ["the spotted one"]), Histriophoca fasciata (English, "ribbon-seal;" Russian Siberian, крылатая нерпа [winged seal]; Chukchee, ve'hil-keli'lin), and Erignathus barbatus (English, "ground-seal" or "thong-seal;" Russian Siberian, лахтакъ; Chukchee, u'зnel).

The seals are killed with harpoons, shot with fire-arms, or caught in nets, according to their mode of life in the different seasons. The varieties of harpoons used by the Chukchee in seal-hunting differ mainly in the length of the shaft and the size of the point. Short, light harpoons are used chiefly in winter in killing the animals through their blow-holes. Long-shafted harpoons are used in spring to stalk the animals on the smooth ice, and also during the summer on the open water. Now, however, this latter style of harpoon has been almost superseded by the gun in this kind of hunting. The form of the head is more or less uniform, while there are two different ways of attaching the head to the shaft, the method being the same, for short as for long harpoons. The head of the Chukchee harpoon is cut out of bone, ivory, or antler. It is from three to four inches long, and has a piece of iron inserted in a slit at the top. I obtained one harpoon-head the body of which is made of brass, with the usual slit for inserting the iron piece. Two varieties of blade are used. One, found chiefly in the smaller heads, has a lanceolate form, with lower ends curved and filed off almost close to the body of the head (Fig. 30, a); the other form is broader, with lower ends protruding on both sides in sharp, cutting angles (Fig. 30, b). These two styles of blade correspond probably to two distinct forms of stone or slate harpoon-points, which were used before the iron ones (Fig. 31).

The iron blade is firmly fastened into its slit with a wooden, bone, or iron peg. The usual hole for the line is, for the most part, parallel to the plane of the blade. The same two types occur among the Eskimo. I brought a number of harpoon-points from the Olutora and Kamchatka Koryak and northern Kamchadal, which present considerable variety in material and shape (Fig. 32). Some of the points resemble those of the Chukchee, although the hole is more frequently at right angles to the blade (Fig. 32, a). Others are made of a single piece (Fig. 32,^), bone or iron, with one, two, or several barbs (Fig. 32, d-h), which prevent their slipping out of the wound. Still another form (Fig. 32, i) has a round body. It is tipped with copper; and in the middle is a circular, scalloped notch, which acts as a combination of barbs. The Kamchadal seal-hunters consider this the most effective of all, since the slender, somewhat rounded point enters the flesh easily, and the circular notch immediately tightens its hold under the skin. Specimens found on ancient Chukchee and Eskimo village sites (Fig. 33) present, besides the usual type, also the barbed variety, made of a single piece of bone or antler. Some of the latter seem to have been worked with stone tools (Fig. 33, д, b).

Of all the contrivances employed by the Eskimo in maritime hunting, the detachable harpoon-head is most widely employed on the Asiatic country. The skin boat used extensively by the Chukchee and the Koryak is quite unknown to the Kamchadal, although all three tribes undoubtedly belong to the same stock.

A strong piece of thong or sinew, about fifty centimetres long, is passed through the hole of the Chukchee harpoon-point. The two ends of the thong are tied together, so that it forms a loop (Fig. 34, a1), and the sides of the loop are sewed or tied together very near to the hole (Fig. 34, a2). The lower end of the loop is fastened to a long line (Fig. 34, b1), which, for the most part, is free from the shaft. The body of the line is wound into a coil, sometimes held together by a few thin threads of damp sinew twisted around it, which will "easily come off when desired (Fig. 34, b3). Sometimes the line is fastened to the lower end of the shaft with a similar twisting, which is undone by the first violent pull of the game. The end of the line is usually tied into a loop. A short bone or ivory rod, or a long, slender piece of iron (Fig. 34, a3), is inserted in the upper end of the shaft, where it is held firmly with lashings. Sometimes it is also wound around with a thin strip of leather. The upper point of the rod is inserted in a circular hole in the slanting base of the harpoon-head, which fits it tightly (Fig. 34, a4). The harpoon-head is released as soon as it strikes the game.

Frequently the rod is replaced by two separate pieces. The lower piece (Fig. 34, b3), which is stout, and cylindrical in shape, is fastened firmly to the shaft. The upper piece (Fig. 34, b4) is a slender ivory rod, with a hole in the middle. Through the hole is passed a thin strip of leather, both ends of which are fastened to the lashings of the ivory cylinder, forming a loop. The lower end of the rod fits into a hole in the cylinder, and the loop, thus tightened, holds it in place, while the harpoon-head is firmly set on its top. The whole is at the same time tight and elastic. The head becomes disengaged with the blow and remains in the wound, while the movable rod separates from the cylinder and hangs down suspended by the loop.

The lower end of the shaft is furnished with a strong bone or iron point (Fig. 34, b5) firmly attached by means of a strip of leather. The old method of attachment, by passing the line through holes made with a drill (Fig. 34, b6), is still employed. The point is used as an ice-pick for breaking holes through the ice, also for testing the depth of the snow, etc. In some cases a slender piece of ivory, used for testing thin, newly formed ice, is substituted for the bone or iron point. The shaft of the long harpoon sometimes has a small wooden or bone peg (Fig. 35, a, b), halfway of its length, to allow a firmer grasp of the hand in throwing the weapon. The shaft of the short harpoon is about four feet and a half long; that of the long harpoon, eight feet and a half long. The short harpoon is used in winter for killing seals through their breathing-holes. These holes are found on the land-ice, or on. the floe nearest to the shore, whither the ringed and the spotted seals resort in the winter time. The holes are concealed, for the most part, under small snow mounds, and can be located only with the aid of a keen-scented dog selected from the team for the purpose. When the hole is found, the sealer sits down to wait patiently, sometimes for hours. He brings along a small wooden stool to sit on, or makes himself a seat of square pieces of snow piled together, covering the top with a piece of reindeer-Another piece of skin he lays under his feet to keep the cold from his He gets the harpoon ready, frees the coil from the sinew twisting, and lays it on his lap. If the snow covering of the hole is very thick, he cautiously removes a portion of the snow. As soon as the seal is heard blowing, the hunter suddenly stands up and throws the harpoon straight down into the hole with all his might (Plate ix, Fig. 1), paying out the line, but keeping hold of the loop on its end. The force of the blow detaches the shaft, which remains on the surface. The seal pulls strongly only during the first few minutes. Then it becomes tired, chiefly from want of breath, and is easily hauled in, and despatched with a blow on the nose. When a wait of several hours is expected, the sealer sometimes builds around his seat a semicircular wall of snow-blocks to keep off the wind. The harpoon is laid across two wooden pegs stuck into the snow within easy reach. The sealer covers himself with a large cloak of reindeer-skin, puts on his fur-trimmed hood, pulls his arms inside of his fur shirt, folding them over his breast, and remains motionless, waiting for the familiar sound of the blowing seal.

In the spring, when the seals come up to the surface of the. snow to bask in the sun, another method of hunting is adopted. The hunter puts on a special hunting-dress, consisting of a short shirt of reindeer-skin, worn with the fur side next to the body and the gray inner skin outside. As the Chukchee have no seal-skin coats, this serves as the nearest imitation, in appearance, of the seal. A special cap is fastened on the head, in imitation of the seal-muzzle, with two round black pieces for eyes (Fig. 36, a). The left elbow and knee, sometimes both knees, are protected by square pieces of polar-bear skin, to prevent friction, and to keep off the moisture of the melting snow. Whenever the left hand is raised, the protecting piece acts like a white screen, helping to conceal the hunter from his prey. As soon as the animal is sighted, the sealer begins to creep, towards it from the windward side, armed with a long-shafted harpoon, or, more rarely, with a gun. He proceeds very slowly, imitating the motions of the seal, and from time to time scratching the snow, as the seal does, with a wooden scratcher tipped with seal-claws (Fig. 36, 3, c). When the seal lifts its head, the hunter immediately lies still, and does not proceed until the seal lies down again. Gradually he approaches so close to the seal as to be able to play the harpoon. These two methods are quite similar to those of the American Eskimo. {Boas, Central Eskimo, pp. 477-486.}

Seals are also killed in the spring on the edges of the ice-cracks, where they like to sleep at noontime. Before the breaking-up of the ice, wherever small streams of fresh water run into the sea along an ice-crack, seals gather around their outlet to bask in the sunshine. A sealer will tie into a rough bundle some scraps of old skin and send it downstream. It will float down unobserved, but, on coming to one of the small whirlpools which form in the crack, it will pop out suddenly and frighten away the seals lying around, so that they can easily be overtaken on the ice. Seals sleeping on the ice, when suddenly frightened, will often lose their holes and crawl away in the wrong direction. Then they can easily be overtaken, especially the younger ones. Perhaps this accounts for the method of hunting of the Netchillirmiut, reported by J. Ross, {Narrative of a Second Voyage for the Discovery of a North West Passage, p. 451, cited in Central Eskimo, p. 485.} where a party of hunters slowly approach the sleeping seal, then those in front shout as loudly as they can, and the others run up to the seal and spear it. A basking seal sometimes sleeps so soundly that it may be caught by a fast-running dog-team before it wakes up. At other times it will lose its hole altogether, and will be found crawling helplessly on the ice. The natives say that this is because the seal wants to take a walk on the ice from one to another of its holes, but loses its way.

In some places large numbers of seals are killed while trying to go over a narrow strip of land between the sea and the inner bay. Occasionally the seals make quite long trips overland. Thus they ascend the largest rivers, like the Kolyma and the Anadyr, for more than a hundred miles. During my stay in the Kolyma country a seal was even caught on the middle course of the Dry Anui, about two hundred miles from the mouth of the Kolyma. Trustworthy people relate that the seals which ascend the Anadyr after the salmon-shoals often turn into its affluents, the Kanchalan and Big Rivers. If belated for return by river, on account of low water or early frosts, they start on a quite wonderful overland journey on impracticable roads among the hills. I was shown the skin of a rough-seal killed on such a journey in the Kanchalan Hills.

All through the winter, wherever the open water is not far from the shore, the natives go sealing and walrusing at the edge of the land-ice. The animals are shot in the water or on the drifting ice. Then, if feasible, they are secured by means of a special implement (Fig. 37), which is made of wood, is round and somewhat spindle-shaped, and has several iron hooks, and a long stout line at the bottom. It is flung at the passing body, and, if the aim was correct, one of the hooks will catch into it. When the body is too far away, the hunter will pick out a small cake of ice, and, using his spear for an oar, will push forward to the body, and then drag it to the land-ice with the harpoon-line.

In summer, seal-hunting is done chiefly with guns from the shore or from large skin boats. Kayaks are used on the Arctic, while on the Pacific shore they are employed only in reindeer-hunting on the Middle Anadyr, as will be described later. The Maritime villages on the Pacific have but very few kayaks. I saw one in the Eskimo village Wute'en (see Fig. 47, c), which was about fifteen feet long, and obtained a model of a kayak made at Indian Point. I had no opportunity of seeing the Arctic kayaks, but, according to the natives, they are of various sizes, sometimes have two seats, and are used for seal-hunting and travel, as mentioned many times in Chukchee tales. These kayaks are so large, that sometimes a man creeps into one and lies down, to be carried as a passive passenger. I was told of one case where three men set out in a kayak across Chaun Bay. Two of them fastened themselves in the manholes, and the third lay down in the hold. A tempest suddenly arose and capsized the kayak, so that the paddlers were drowned; but the man inside remained safe and sound, and on the second day drifted ashore in the kayak, together with his dead companions, and was able to get out and go away. Perhaps this is only a fragment of some folk-tale.

In hunting from boats, the harpoon is thrown at the animal, 34 cm and the shaft becomes detached from the point in the same way as described. Then the animal is hauled in, and the floating shaft picked up. At present, however, seals do not allow the boat to come near enough for the use of the harpoon. With the rifle they are shot at wherever they come out of the water, no matter how far away they may be. The native hunters are pretty good marksmen, but of course many shots go amiss. The animals that have been killed sink so rapidly that they are often lost before the hunter can secure the body. Especially is this true in shooting from the shore, though the small boat stands ready to hand. Only fat seals, mostly the younger ones, do not sink after death.

Hunting on open water is more successful early in the season, when the drift-ice is abundant, because all kinds of sea-animals go along with it, basking all the while on its surface. Later on, when the ice has drifted away, the animals become more scarce and the hunt difficult. Then the seal-hunters go far out to sea in search of game. The Arctic hunters in their large boats sail off with fair wind, and go so far that the highest mountain-tops near the shore are out of sight. They remain in the open sea for two or three days, waiting for a change of wind to get back to land.

Walrus and Whale Hunting. -- The long harpoon used in walrus-hunting has the same shape as the harpoons already described; but the end of the line has one or two floats tied to it (Fig. 38). These are thrown into the water after a successful blow. Floats (Fig. 39, a) consist of a whole seal-skin skilfully removed from the carcass of the animal. The mouth is enlarged by an oblong cut down the neck, and the skin is pulled off like a stocking. The head is carefully sewed up, the fore-flippers often cut off, and the openings firmly tied up. One of them is used for inflating the float, which is done without an inflating-pipe such as is used by the Eskimo. The skin of the hind-flippers is carefully stitched; and when the body is inflated, the flippers stand out, furnishing a hold for the separate loops on the end of the line (Fig. 39, b). At the present time, however, walrus-hunting is done almost exclusively with rifles, especially on the Pacific. Thirty years ago American whalers applied themselves to a great extent to walrus-hunting, and the number of walrus on the Pacific consequently began to decrease rapidly. Later on, the whalers desisted from the pursuit, asserting that prices were too low, and that the whole business was not remunerative enough. Then the decrease slackened, although even now the reckless shooting of walrus by the natives continues to work disaster. To the south of Anadyr the walrus have greatly diminished in numbers. That is the reason that the Kerek on the southern shore of Anadyr Bay, who in former times subsisted on walrus, are now rapidly starving to death. Farther to the south walrus became very rare in the vicinity of most of the villages, and are now met with only on the shores of some islands, as Karagha Island, for instance. To the north of Anadyr, beginning at the northern shore of Holy Cross Bay, considerable numbers of walrus are still killed. For some villages, as Mi'sqan and Rê'tkên in Holy Cross Bay, also Ye'rgin and Kihi'ni, on the isiand of Kihi'ni, they still form the staple food of the inhabitants.

On the Pacific shore the walrus is killed chiefly during its migrations from Holy Cross Bay to East Cape and back again (Plate X, Figs, I, 3).

The first shoals pass northward in May with the drifting ice. The later ones begin to leave their winter places in Holy Cross Bay about a month after the first migration, and go northwards all along the shore. At the end of June, when returning from Indian Point to the mouth of the Anadyr, we met in one day, near the village E'nmilin, a great many of these shoals, containing perhaps more than a thousand animals. Their course lay a few miles from the shore; and the natives everywhere would open on them a most wanton shooting, killing a few, and wounding many more. Next day we saw on the shore in different places three large walrus-carcasses. The animals had evidently died from wounds, and were carried by the tide to the shore. One was already in a quite putrid state. On the whole, at least half of the wounded sea-animals -- seals, walruses, and white whales -- escape the hunter, and are afterwards drifted ashore in a putrid state. Any animal of this kind that is found by the people is used

for dog-food, and the blubber is tried out for lamp-oil, but of course the greater number are wasted. Several times I saw a man who was shooting from the shore use about three dozen cartridges in three hours. Although nearly every shot was well aimed, he would secure but a. single seal. Of the others, two or three would occasionally be found afterwards by other people, twenty or twenty-five miles off, but without benefit to the hunter.

In the middle of September the walrus start on the return -journey. The natives assert that at this time the walrus are most easily killed, since they are quite unmindful of the hunter's presence until the shooting begins. Several boats join in the hunt in order to cut off the retreat of the animals. A peculiar kind of splasher (Fig. 40), made of seal-skin and about three feet long and four inches wide, is used to frighten the animals. Every time the walrus dive, several splashers from various boats are struck against the water, making a sharp sound, similar to the report of a gun. The walrus are so much frightened that they hasten to come out again, and are shot. After diving and emerging a few times, they become quite confused, and cannot discern which sounds are connected with the real danger. The wounded walrus are despatched by means of a long lance with an iron point (Fig. 41).

Whaling was done in former times chiefly by the Arctic Chukchee, and on the Pacific coast by the Eskimo. For this purpose a large harpoon, with a heavy head perforated at right angles to the blade, was used. The line was very long and stout, and floats were attached to it in pairs at several places. Altogether there were two, three, or even four pairs. Now, on the Pacific, but little whaling is done, and that exclusively by the Eskimo of Indian Point, of Cape Chukotsky, of Cape Ulakhpen, and also by the inhabitants of Čibu'kak on St. Lawrence Island. They all use explosive harpoons. On the Arctic the number of whales has also considerably dwindled. Thus the natives of Ya'qan told Maydell that they had hardly caught a whale in later years. The whalers ceased going along the Arctic shore of Asia, because whales became too scarce in that region. The single harpoon-head that I was able to procure at Indian Point is old and worn, showing that it is the remains of an old, now unused weapon (Fig. 42, a, b).

The white whale is killed in the same way as the walrus, with the rifle, and sometimes with the harpoon. The natives eagerly pursue it, because its meat and blubber taste better than those of any other sea-animal (Plates X, Fig. 4; XI, Fig. 1). I did not find current among the Chukchee the notion, peculiar to some American Eskimo, that white whales must be struck with a flint. {Murdoch, p. 240.} It is curious that this idea re-appears among the Koryak on the Okhotsk Sea, in the villages of Kamenskoye and Paren.

Sealing-Nets. -- Sealing-nets are perhaps still more efficient than harpoons, especially in the winter-time. They are made of thin strips of seal-skin or reindeer-skin, with buoys of wood or of inflated pieces of gut, and stone or ivory sinkers. A peculiar net used on the Arctic and on portions of the Pacific coast is square in shape, and is fastened beneath the seal's breathing-hole like a cradle (Fig. 43, a). {In this figure the ice is represented only on one side, in order to show the position of the net.} For this purpose four wooden poles tied to the mouth of the net are put through the hole and arranged underneath the ice so as to form a square. The net hangs by the corners on short cords, allowing the seal a free passage into the hole from all sides. The seal, arriving at the hole, may see perfectly well that something unusual has happened, but, as it is its breathing-time, it slips in between the net and the ice, and rises to the surface. That done, it will, as is its wont, plunge down head foremost; but instead of diving, it lands in the net, where its flippers easily become entangled, and it is drowned. Often the animal, with the net, comes out of the hole and dies on the ice. This net can be used only in the spring, when the ice is several feet thick and blow-holes are less numerous.

The more common kind of seal-net has a shape similar to that of the straight fish-net, only that its meshes are much larger (Fig. 43, b). The specimen obtained is twenty-seven meshes long and ten meshes high, each mesh being six inches square. It has large wooden buoys and stone sinkers. It is set under the ice between the breathing-holes or along the cracks, and during the summer in those places to which seals frequently resort. Thus, in the small bay of E'nmihn, near the village of the same name, the nets are set under the water very near the shore. The place abounds in seaweed, quantities of which gather near the shore. Numbers of small fishes live in this weed, and seals are all the time hunting for them. Therefore the net-catch is abundant; and while we were in E'nmilin every owner of nets secured daily one or two seals.

Ivory plugs for stopping the wounds of seal are known to the Chukchee, and have nearly the same shape as those of the American Eskimo. Seal-drags, however, are not used, but the seal is dragged along by means of a rope passed through a cut in his nose (Plate X, Fig. 2).

Boats. -- The large skin boats used by the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo are very similar to those of arctic America in shape' and in details of construction. The differences are not greater than those between boats of the western and eastern Eskimo, especially since whole frames and parts of them have been carried from ancient times across Bering Strait as objects for sale. The Koryak boats, with their flaring sides and semicircular stern and bow, on the contrary, form a quite separate type; while the Kamchadal have no skin boats, but use instead dug-outs with planks fastened to the -upper edges.

The reason for this does not rest exclusively with the difference of the natural surroundings of the tribes mentioned. It is true, that with the Chukchee the scarcity of wood sufficiently explains their predilection for the skin boat, but the Koryak shore abounds in large trunks of driftwood suitable for building wooden boats. On the other hand, the shores of Kamchatka are probably even richer in sea-mammals than those of the Chukchee Peninsula, and thus afford every convenience for constructing skin boats. The Kamchadal, nevertheless, remain a fishing tribe, with clumsy wooden canoes; and they have never shown much skill in maritime pursuits, although they crave blubber and hides as much as do their northern neighbors.

The Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo cover their boats with walrus-hide, which is split for the purpose, one thin strip being left intact for joining the halves. The walrus-hide is so large that a skin and a half suffice to cover the largest boat. The specimen in the American Museum of Natural History is thirty-five feet long, and is covered with less than two skins. Ground-seal skin, though quite suitable for boat-coverings, is never used because of its great value for thongs and soles. The Koryak, on the contrary, cover their boats with skins of the Okhotsk variety of ground-seal, having indeed no other material. I have never heard of large Chukchee boats-being made of skins of smaller seals. The Koryak, and especially the Kerek, sometimes have no better material, though such boats are weak, and tear very easily when landing in rough weather.

Besides the large boats, others of lesser dimensions are used, especially on the Pacific, where no kayaks are employed. They may have three or two thwarts, and sometimes only one thwart with two oars. The smallest carry but a couple of men, and are used for short trips within the village range; for instance, to catch dead seals floating on the surface or sunk to the bottom, to go shooting water-fowl along the shore, to inspect the fish and seal nets, etc.

The frame of the large boat resembles that described by Nelson, {Nelson, Plate LXXVIII, Fig. 38, p. 218.} except that the ribs and the cross-pieces of the bottom are set much closer together (Fig. 44). The dimensions of the boat secured for our collection are, length, 35 feet; breadth in the middle, between the gunwales, 4 1/2 feet; breadth of bottom in the middle, 21 feet; height, 2 feet 8 inches. It has 21 cross-pieces, and as many ribs on each side; 4 thwarts; 5 large oars and as many paddles. It requires a crew of from six to eight men, and can carry freight up to two tons. The central timber, strips and gunwales, according to the man who sold me the boat, were brought from America in a rude state. The frame was constructed on East Cape, and taken thence to Meči'wmin, and afterwards to Indian Point. At the last-named place it was covered with skin and used for several years; so that, from the very circumstances regarding its construction, it must be called typical for the Asiatic coast (Plate xi, Fig. 4). The homemade boats of the Pacific villages between Indian Point and Anadyr, however, are clumsier, and their sea qualities poorer.

The skin cover is unfastened for the winter and safely hidden from the dogs. Late in the spring it is taken out and soaked for several days in some pond or in the sea, though in the latter case the owner is obliged to keep a sharp lookout for drifting ice and for the force of the current, which may break the thongs by which it is secured and carry away the skin. The work of covering is done by several persons; the boat's crew, in order to hasten matters, calling on their acquaintances and relatives to aid them. The wet cover is pulled around the frame as tightly as possible, and its edge is bent over the gunwale and laced to the middle strip with stout leather thongs. After a while, when the lacings have dried a little, they are tightened by means of walrus-tusks, which serve as marline-spike and hand-lever. Every little hole in the skin is carefully patched and the boat turned bottom-side up and allowed to dry for twenty-four hours. During this time it receives two or three coatings of oil, and the patches are smeared around with thick oil-drippings, at present more frequently with oil paints bought from whalers.

In former times boats were propelled by paddles (Fig. 45, a), and a large broad-bladed paddle was used for steering (Fig. 45, b). At present, along with the paddles, long narrow oars are used (Plate XI, Fig. 1). These are imitations of the American nd-so asks for such-and-such a thing." The mistress gives the required object, exclaiming, "Та ha! ta ha!" After that she has the right to send her own child immediately to ask for an equivalent. In most cases, however, she will wait till the observance of the ceremonial by the other party, when she will seize this opportunity to obtain an equivalent of her gift.

This method resembles that of the Pacific Koryak, where the young people cover their faces with wooden masks and go from house to house, asking in pantomime for various things. The givers have the right either to send their children immediately for an equivalent, or to wait till the next ceremonial, when their young people may, in their turn, ask for presents.

On St. Lawrence Island, young boys and girls arrange themselves in small processions, which go from house to house, dancing, and asking for gifts, mostly of food. This is done some time in winter and has no connection with the regular ceremonials, and the practice strongly resembles the customs of the Pacific Koryak as described above.

I must also mention that a similar performance has been in favor among the Russians from very remote times. In the first days of Christmastide, at dusk, young persons of both sexes go from house to house, singing, dancing, and asking for presents. They bedeck themselves in fantastic attire, and wear masks. The songs are called "koliada," and the whole performance is thought by ethnographists to be a remnant of a winter ceremonial of Russian Slavs in honor of the deity Koliada. This name is associated with the Roman calends. Be this as it may, the same practice is found also in northeastern Siberia, among the cossacks and Russian Creoles; for instance, in the Russian villages of the Kolyma, Anadyr, and Kamchatka, and even among the Russianized natives in the same localities. It must be assumed, however, that the performances of the Koryak and St. Lawrence Eskimo are quite independent, notwithstanding their resemblance to those of the Russians.

In arctic Chukchee villages the exchange is often arranged in the following manner. On the first day of the ceremonial, at the height of the drumming and singing, every guest who desires something belonging to the master must strike his left palm with his right fist, and exclaim, "I see such-and-such a thing!" The master must immediately give it away; and after the ceremonial is finished, he may ask for an equivalent. Should the thing asked for be something of exceeding great value, the master may refuse the demand, lifting his right thumb to his throat, and exclaiming, "I would (rather) cut my throat!" This, however, is considered a great offence, and may even lead to bloody vengeance.

Many families arrange the exchange between relatives only, and especially between those joined by the bond of compound marriage, literally "wife-companions" (new-tu'mgit). A man sends his wife to another man with whom he is connected by such a bond to ask for certain wares, and after a while the other man sends his wife to ask for an equivalent.

The Trading-Dance. -- This brings us to another variety of the ceremonial exchange, which may be called "trading-dance." It is performed during the second day of the ceremonial by couples, a man and a woman each, who are connected by the bond of compound marriage. Frequently the man looks on only, while the woman dances before him. He must provide a reindeer skin, however, to spread on the ground under her feet while she is dancing. While the dance is being performed, the other dancers remain quiet, and look on together with the spectators. After the dance, the man must give some present to the woman; and the following night they sleep together, leaving their respective mates to arrange matters between themselves. On the next day, the husband of the woman, and the wife of the man, perform a similar dance, in which the man gives an equivalent of the present of the day before; and each newly-mated couple sleeps together for another night. Such dances are arranged chiefly among cousins or other relatives, who, among the Chukchee, frequently assume the bond of compound marriage. Conversely, a new bond of compound marriage may be concluded through a trading-dance. This is closely analogous to the customs of the Alaskan Eskimo as described by Nelson; {Nelson, p. 360; compare also p. 384.} but with the Chukchee an exchange of wives leads, as a rule, to the lasting bond of compound marriage, or to what is so called. So often is this the case, that even the women who mix with the sailors from whaling-ships consider them their husbands by compound marriage. Among the Chukchee, clandestine intercourse with another man's wife is called by the same name. When the affair first comes to the knowledge of the husband, a quarrel may ensue; but an amicable adjustment is soon brought about by a bond of compound marriage.

Ceremonials of Asiatic Eskimo. Ceremonial of Ka'cak. -- Among the Asiatic Eskimo the ceremonial of the winter is connected in most villages, not with Kere'tkun, but with the Big-Woman. Some families in the villages Wute'en and I'wtun, however, connect the ceremonial with Kere'tkun, who is called by them Ka'cak. The name of Ka'cak as identical with Kere'tkun is known also in Uni'sak and on St. Lawrence Island. In Ufii'sak, some families are said to perform a simple "genuine thanksgiving" ceremonial analogous, to that of the Maritime Chukchee. The ceremonial of Ka'cak or of Big-Woman is performed with the same details as that of Kere'tkun among the Chukchee. Even the net, the wooden birds, and the painted paddles {Compare Fig. 277, p. 397.} are of exactly the same character. The differences have already been referred. The most important of them is the complete replacement of the ceremonial fire by the lamp.

Eider-Duck Ceremonial. -- There is also the so-called "eider-duck ceremonial," in which, besides the usual net with wooden sea-gulls, is a net (Fig. 280) supported by a long pole painted over with patterns of straight lines. Wooden images of eider-ducks (Fig. 280, a), which, however, do not differ markedly from the sea-gulls mentioned before, may move on a special loop along separate lines of leather. Each line is held by one person, who, by a simple jerk of the hand, may make the bird soar aloft or descend the line. Very simple whistles (Fig. 281) made of goose-quill or of wood, with

a thin tongue of whalebone, are used to produce from time to time a shrill sound, which is called the "eider-duck's voice." As said before, these whistles are used by the Eskimo and the Chukchee also in the usual form of the ceremonial; but my informants asserted that they were specially connected with the eider-duck ceremonial. I found whistles quite similar in shape to Fig. 281 among the collections at Washington, D.C. One of them (Cat. No. 7457) is marked "Fort Anderson, R. MacFarlane," and belongs to the Central Eskimo. Two other whistles, probably from the same region, are without any mark. Nelson, however, does not mention the use of such whistles among the natives of Alaska.

Ceremonial of Going-Around. -- Another ceremonial encountered among the Asiatic Eskimo is the so-called "ceremonial of going-around," which is considered as a kind of thanksgiving ceremonial. A native drawing (Fig. 282) represents the celebration of it in an Eskimo house. A long pole is fixed in the middle of the house, the upper end of which protrudes from the vent-hole. On it are two double tassels and a seal-skin float, to the flippers of which are fastened the pelt of a fox and an iron kettle. A square frame made of paddles surmounted by several wooden images of manned boats and whales is suspended halfway up the pole. A wooden wheel is fastened to the base of the pole, by means of which people may turn the pole with the frame. Several walrus-heads represent the object of the thanksgiving. The wheel is turned around as quickly as possible, and in the direction of the sun's course, by people of both sexes; while several other persons beat the drum. All sing various tunes of their own choice. At last those turning the wheel stop; and the men, still running in the same direction, begin to seize women from all over the house. Every man has the right to sleep that night with the woman he has caught. The similarity of all this to the customs of the Alaskan Eskimo is very striking. {Compare Nelson, p. 360.}

Other varieties of this ceremonial extant among the Asiatic Eskimo, in which wheels, images of whales and of manned boats, also figure, will be described in a separate publication.

Dance of Exchange. -- The dance of exchange occurs also among the Asiatic Eskimo and the inhabitants of St. Lawrence Island. Besides being connected with the usual ceremonials, it may be arranged independently. Among the Asiatic Eskimo, the woman performs the dance, wearing only her loin-breeches; but the man is clad as usual. On St. Lawrence Island, the man puts on a head-band resembling that worn by the Chukchee in the ceremonial of Kere'tkun; while the woman wears very short breeches of old-fashioned cut. These were in former times a part of the usual female dress of all Asiatic-Eskimo. Further details will be given in a special publication treating of the Asiatic Eskimo.

Ceremonial of Boats. -- The ceremonial of boats takes place early in spring, in the third or fourth month of the Chukchee year. {Compare, p. 51.} It is performed only by the families of boat-owners. The members of the crew and the older members of their families take part in the ceremonial, while the younger people stay at home. The ceremonial is performed by each company separately, with considerable variation, especially from village to village, as to the day of the observance, according to the time when the sea becomes navigable along different parts of the coast-line.

In the morning of the chosen day, men and women gather before the house of the boat-owner and go to the winter boat-support to get the boat. The winter boat-support is constructed of heavy pieces of bone of whale planted firmly high up on the shore; and there the boat rests the whole winter through, firmly fastened to the. cross-poles, and protected from snowstorms and the attacks of hungry foxes.

The whole company sacrifice sausage of reindeer-meat to the sea; then they bring the boat close to the house and put it on the ground, on its west side, and again offer sacrifice of sausage in the "direction" of the sea. Then the whole party go around the house, following the course of the sun. At the head walks the oldest woman of the family, then follow the owner of the boat, the steersman, the paddlers, and after them come the other participants. It is considered important that the woman who walks in front shall really be the oldest of all, and know the necessary details of the ceremony: therefore families who have no such woman among their housemates often send to their relatives, or even to another village, for one. Old men, on the contrary, are not considered necessary for the ceremonial.

After the procession is arranged, it enters the house, and the people take their places around and begin singing their tunes. The singing, accompanied with dancing and beating the drum, lasts several hours, and ends with a shamanistic performance in the evening. On the next morning the boat is taken back to the sea and put on the summer support, which stands close to the water. This latter is of slight build, and made of wood; and it may be carried from place to place, according to the needs of the landing. The floats of the boat are taken along and placed within. On the next morning the participants in the ceremony bring to the shore a great amout of food. This is distributed among the guests, who, with their housemates and women, come by boat-loads. A sacrifice is offered to the sea, and then the boat is launched to try the first course of the year, which is necessarily short, and conducted with caution.

On the morning of the night when the boat is still lying at the side of the house, there is performed a divination with lumps of tallow which were left for the night in the boat. By the cracks found in them the people try to divine whether the boat will have good luck in the pursuits of the next season, especially in regard to the whale and the polar bear. Cracks resembling marks left by scratching with nails foretell good fortune and prosperity. Cracks resembling marks left by touching with the finger-tips augur bad luck and even death. Divination with tallow is used by the Maritime Chukchee on other occasions also. In the fall, when the boat is taken to the winter supports, the Chukchee do not perform any particular ceremonial, arguing that the great ceremonial of the fall answers for all such purposes.

Ceremonial of Heads. -- Early in summer, as soon as the catch of the seals on the drifting ice is finished, the ceremonial of heads takes place. This, likewise, is performed by the boat-owners with the participation of the crew, and the details have many points of resemblance to the ceremonial of wild reindeer-heads among the Reindeer Chukchee. {Compare p. 379.} It is even called by the same name, ênatči'irgin.

The heads of the walrus and of the thong-seal are the only ones stored for this ceremonial, while of the smaller seals only a couple or so are taken for the exhibition. When walrus-heads are scarce, the ceremonial is considered very poor, and even of no importance. In the morning of the day, all the heads are brought from the blubber-hole, and exposed on the skins in the middle of the house. A large lamp, placed on a flat stone, stands with them; and a little at one side a small pi'ntE fire {Compare p. 397.} is arranged, which is wanting in the ceremonial of the Asiatic Eskimo. All kinds of "alien" food -- sausage, reindeer-tallow, tobacco, flour -- are produced for the sacrifice and put near the heads. Then the old woman presiding over the ceremonial sits down before the heads and begins to sing, one by one, the tunes of the family; while the male members of the family go around the heads, exclaiming, "Yoho, yoho!" in the usual manner. The old woman feeds the lamp, and keeps up the fire; while the men, with plates filled with provisions, go out to offer sacrifice to all the directions, beginning, as usual, with the morning dawn, then passing to the zenith, to the nadir, and after that to the other "directions."

The other members of the crew stay in the house and are the onlookers. When those who performed the sacrifice are returning, the largest walrus-head is tied up with a long rope, which all the men grasp, pretending to haul in the captured walrus. This symbolizes a successful catch for the future. The old woman gives of the provisions which served for the sacrifice to the women present, who, as said before, are the oldest representatives of the families of the crew.

The ceremonial dance is performed in the usual way. A man with the drum stands on the outer side of the group of heads, having his back turned to the entrance; while the women dancers stand opposite to him, on the inner side of the heads. The movements of the dancers are of the usual character; that is, they make a short courtesy, then stand erect and turn their bodies to the right and to the left, all the while never stepping aside from their place. Among the Asiatic Eskimo, however, this dance alternates from time to time with a more active form, in which the dancer performs a series of jumps, swinging violently both his arms over his head. This latter variety of dance is, however, considered an imitation of the dance of the natives of St. Lawrence Island and Alaska. A dance like this is often performed on the spur of the moment by young men or boys for the amusement of spectators, and without reference to the ceremonials; then it is called the dance of the "opposite-shore people," or the dance of the "large mouthed." {Compare p. 21.}

In the ceremonial described (Plate xxxii, Fig. 4) all those present, down to the very small children, have to perform some exercise on the drum; while the women and the younger boys appear in turn as dancers. Then a feast follows, in which the men eat freely of the raw meat of walrus-heads, slicing it off with their knives. The ivory of the walrus and the remainder of the meat are divided among all the members of the crew, in accordance with the usual rules, which will be spoken of in the third part of this work.

At the end of the ceremonial, all of the participants, particularly the women and children, shake off, over the big lamp, all diseases to which they may be liable, and, in general, their bad luck. The lamp, however, is covered with a wooden plank to protect the fire from contamination. The particles of rubbish, and especially the hair which has fallen from the fur clothes down on the plank, are picked up and burned, together with the plank, in a separate fire. The ashes of the fire are afterward carefully collected, and carried out of the house to be left in the wilderness. The bones and crumbs of the feast are gathered up and thrown into the sea to semi back the animals, as was described before.

Sacrifice to the Fire. -- The pitching of the summer tent, which takes place shortly after the ceremonial of the heads, is accompanied by a simple sacrifice thrown into a small fire built up before the entrance of the tent. This sacrifice is still more simple than the corresponding one of the Reindeer Chukchee.

Sacrifice to Pehi'ttin. -- I mentiofled that the sacrifice to the star Pehi'ttin and the ceremonial of antlers are performed also by the Maritime Chukchee. The sacrifice to Pehi'ttin has no features peculiar to the Maritime Chukchee.

Ceremonial of Antlers. -- The ceremony of antlers (kilvei) is performed with boughs, which are gathered in a heap on the place of sacrifice, behind the house. Then a fire is arranged and sacrificed to with tallow or meat. Those who have a few reindeer, with some reindeer-breeding friend, take care to have a few antlers on the top of their heap of boughs. Only those Asiatic Eskimo who have succeeded in acquiring reindeer-herds {Compare p. 73.} celebrate this ceremonial. These, as remarked before, consider themselves obliged to perform all the ceremonials connected with reindeer-breeding life: at least, to the same extent as do their neighbors of Maritime Chukchee origin.

Whale Ceremonial. -- The ceremonial of the whale is performed any time that a whale is killed by any of the villagers. On the Pacific shore, where polar bears are scarce, a ceremonial similar to that of the whale is performed over killed bears, both of which, of course, belong to the thanksgiving festivals. The essential features are as follows.

The boats that took part in the hunt pass around the carcass while it is still in the water, following the direction of the sun's course. The owners of the boats exclaim, "Yoho, yoho!" the usual cry at the Chukchee ceremonials. When the carcass is landed on the shore, another procession is formed, which likewise passes around the animal. The owner of the boat from which the whale received the fatal stroke heads this procession, and after him comes the man who gave the death-blow to the whale. All the men who chance to be on shore during the landing take part in the parade, and each one exclaims, "Yoho, yoho!" Then the women appear and join in the procession, which passes again around the carcass. The women repeat incantations having for their aim the conciliation of the whale and the acquisition of his influence in inciting his mates to come to the shore in future.

After that the general carving of the meat follows, in which the inhabitants of all neighboring villages and camps may take part, if they arrive in season to do so. Meanwhile, however, the women comprising the household of the owner of the boat from which the whale was killed cut bits from the ends of his flippers, his nose, and both lips. They take also his eyes and some of the shortest whalebone, not good for sale, and they chop besides a few pieces from the longer bone. All these are placed on a skin, and are supposed to represent the whole of the whale.

The skin with the scraps on it is brought up to the house, where "the whale" is "given a drink" before the entrance; that is, it receives a libation of warm water, as is usual with larger game. Sacrifice is also offered to it with sausage and reindeer-meat. Then the skin and the particles are carried inside the house and put on the roof of the sleeping-room, near its front.

In the case of a bear the carcass is skinned; but the head, the neck, and the shoulders are left with the skin. This receives a "drink" before the entrance, and a sacrifice of sausage, and then is brought into the house and into the sleeping-room, where it is put on the master's side and in the place of honor.

A big lamp burns all the time near the symbolized game; also a pi'ntE fire, which figures in all the ceremonials of the Chukchee. The "whale" and the "bear" remain in their respective places five days and nights, and all this time the most careful attention is lavished on them. Men and women make them presents of their bead necklaces, which are hung over the "bear's" neck, or laid at the side of the "whale." They receive frequent libations of water, and sacrifices of various meats; and neither of them is left alone for a moment in the house. The natives say, "The guest will feel lonely." Every kind of loud noise is forbidden, lest "the guest should be awakened from his repose." All the drums are hung in the outer tent, near the entrance; and if, perchance, a loud sound is occasionally given forth by one of them, it is immediately beaten lightly with the drum-stick, as if in punishment. The children, likewise, must not cry or be boisterous; and, should any of them be noisy, a drum is immediately beaten lightly in expiation of the "uncivil behavior toward the guest." {Compare Nelson, p. 383. Steller says likewise that among the Kamchadal it is forbidden to sing aloud when a fresh sable-skin is brought into the house.}

After the five days, the head of the polar bear is cooked in a big kettle, and then a feast is arranged, to which all the neighbors are invited. The meat'of the head must be entirely eaten.

An analogous custom in regard to the brown bear is found among the Lamut. The meat of this likewise must be boiled all at once and eaten by the neighbors of the hunter gathered for the feast, without reserving any for the future.

A feast, accompanied with a ceremonial dance and shamanistic performances both by day and by night, is also arranged for a whale. After the feast, all the crumbs, stray hair, etc., are gathered and thrown into the sea, which act restores the killed whale to life and to the sea.

The eyes of the bear and the whale are pierced; and the viscous fluid from them, mixed with soot, is used for painting the paddles of the boat in a special manner (Fig. 283). This painting lasts some time, until it wears off by use. The pupils of the eyes are wrapped in leather and then joined and added to the string of amulets belonging to the boat. Hunters who are fortunate in the pursuit of the whale often have a whole string of pairs of pupils so wrapped up. The man who gave the last stroke, if this happens to be his first whale or bear, has the skin near all his joints pierced with the tattooing-needle, leaving a simple but indelible mark. With the Eskimo of the Diomede Islands, the killer of the whale has on his face, near the upper lip, a simple dot marked with the tattooing-needle for each animal killed. Some of the luckiest hunters have two lines of dots extending across both cheeks, -- a visible enumeration of the number of animals actually killed by them.

In some of the villages, the family of the chief hunter, after a successful hunt of the whale, arrange for a thanksgiving ceremonial at the time of the new moon in every month. This lasts during the whole season, for four or five consecutive months. On St. Lawrence Island, the successful hunter of the whale offers during the ceremonial a sacrifice of the hair of his head, which is thrown into the fire of the hearth, and is said to be directed to the giver of whales.

The Koryak ceremonial of the whale has many points of similarity to that of the Chukchee. {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 65 et seq.} Even for the less important game, the Koryak arrange ceremonials with details closely resembling some of those described. Thus, in the Pacific Koryak, and Kerek villages, the carcass of a killed fox is brought into the house and deposited near the fire. The master says, "Let the guest warm himself. When he feels warm, we will free him from his overcoat." In the mean time the placing of the carcass near the fire has a very real purpose. As foxes are killed almost exclusively in winter, the carcass is always frozen, and it must be thawed out before it can be skinned. In due time the fox is skinned. Two broad strips of long, soft grass, which grows on the seashore, are wrapped around the bare carcass. One strip serves as a belt; the other, as a boa. The mouth of the carcass is filled with fish-eggs. The mistress gashes the flesh in several places, and puts into the cuts more fish-eggs or dried meat, pretending that the cuts are pockets of the fox, which she wants to fill with provisions. Then the carcass is carried out of the house, and the people say, "Go and tell your friends that it is good to visit yonder house. Instead of my old coat, they gave me a new one still warmer and with longer hair. I have eaten my fill, and had my pockets well stored. You, too, go and visit them." It is believed by the natives that any neglect of this ceremonial will destroy all chance of further luck in hunting foxes.

Jochelson {See also Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 90.} gives details of a ceremony among the Koryak of the Okhotsk shore very similar to those relating to the fox-carcass. Steller {Steller, p. 331.} mentions almost identical practices among the Kamchadal. In the ceremonial arranged after a successful hunt of the bear, when the bear-meat is cooked and eaten, the master brings in the head of the bear, adorns it with grass, hangs around it bits of various meats, and then asks the bear not to be angry with the hunters, because the last stroke was given by the Russians. He also asks him to inform his relatives of this, that they may come to the same place without any misgivings, etc.

Krasheninnikoff also mentions {Krasheninnikoff, I, p. 261.} similar details in the Kamchadal ceremonial of seal-heads. The heads, he says, are fed with pudding. A large stone is deposited on the floor of the hut, which symbolizes the sea, and it is surrounded with smaller ones, which represent the pebbles on the shore. The seals are dragged upon these stones to give them an idea that it is very agreeable to visit the Kamchadal huts, where even the sea is surrounded with pebbles. In doing this, the people cry, "Come oftener! we feel dull without you." Krasheninnikoff also mentions {Ibid., I, p. 300.} that the natives of Alutora, in their whale ceremonial, carry a wooden image of a whale to the seashore, exclaiming, "The whale is gone to the sea!"

I must mention also a special performance of the walrus-hunt, which is performed without preparation, and generally on the last day of the great winter ceremonial. In this the men and the women sit down opposite each other, in two rows, and beat their palms, exclaiming, "Ha, ha, ha!" The men, from time to time, swing their arms, as if brandishing an imaginary spear.

I had no opportunity to witness a performance of this kind, which is considered by the people as having the character of a play or a dance. Among the Kamchadal, not more than forty years ago, there were observed various performances of a similar character, in which the hunting of the whale, the wolf, and the bear, was represented. Krasheninnikoff mentions such performances in even. earlier times. He had the good-fortune to witness them in several villages. In modern times these performances have been thoroughly Russianized, and blended with popular dramatic performances of the cossacks, brought by them from Russia. I had an opportunity of witnessing a performance of such a kind in the village of Tighil. It represented a trip of cos-sack pirates in a boat, and was almost devoid of local features.

Tossing on Walrus-Hide. -- The "tossing on walrus-hide" forms among the Maritime Chukchee, and especially among the Asiatic Eskimo, an extra ceremonial (Plate хххш, Fig. 3), which is arranged in early or middle summer in order to ward off danger from contagious diseases or to assuage too long and violent tempests. The "tossing on the walrus-hide" is considered akin to the races, and the family who arrange the ceremonial are called simply "racers" or "masters of the race" (ire'lit).

Oh the day chosen for the ceremonial, numerous guests gather at the house of the "racers." The women of the family bring sacrifices to "all the directions." Then a feast follows, at the end of which the house-master, or still better a shaman from among his nearest relatives, if there be any such, paints with red ochre the faces of all those who have recently been taken ill; also those who look sickly, and concerning whom there might be apprehension of an attack by ke'let. Small children, with hardly an exception, are painted. The marks of the painting are varied, and closely resemble those of the painting with reindeer-blood in the "slaughtering-ceremonials" of the Reindeer Chukchee. After that, the tossing begins. Men and women seize a big walrus-hide (split in two to make it thinner), grasping it firmly by loops cut around its outer edge, and lift it from the ground. Then the young men and girls, one by one, or in pairs consisting of a man and a woman, try their skill. For this, the performer plants himself firmly in the middle of the hide, and with a sudden jerk those who hold it send him upward, often to the height of five metres. After that involuntary jump, he falls back on the skin, and is safe from harm. The greatest skill is in coming down on the feet without losing one's equilibrium. Women are more clever than men at this, and there are those who can keep upright for three successive jumps.

The "tossing on walrus-hide" often assumes the character of a contest, in which a prize is offered to the winner. Every one who has taken three jumps successfully may stop, and wait his turn to compete with a performer who has achieved a similar success. I was told by the people that the "tossing on walrus-hide" is said to be copied from the ke'let, after a certain shaman had seen them perform this exercise. This was put forth in explanation of the efficacy of such an exercise to ward off attacks by the ke'let, or protect the people against disease.

Like the reindeer-races of the Reindeer Chukchee, the "tossing on walrus-hide" of the Maritime people takes on the character of a sport, and is frequently arranged merely for amusement, without connection with any religious or superstitious purpose. From the Maritime people the "tossing on walrus-hide" spread to the Reindeer Chukchee, among whom it is, however, much less in use, and serves only for a merry social exercise.

Races. -- Racing with dogs by the Maritime Chukchee is much less frequent than reindeer-racing by the Reindeer Chukchee. The dog-races occur chiefly in spring, and have no connection with the ordinary ceremonials. The race is accompanied with a small sacrifice thrown into a small fire and towards the principal "directions." It is followed by a foot-race of men and women and by a wrestling-contest. The Asiatic Eskimo arrange the dog-races similarly, but they still attach the dogs in the old way, -- several abreast, with a leader in the front on a long trace. {See Plate vii, Fig. I.}

Fig. 284, copied from a native sketch, represents a foot-race of Maritime Chukchee, which was performed in connection with the "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial." Six young men are taking part in the race. Two "masters of the race" are looking on. A coil of thong and a bunch of leaf-tobacco are suspended on two short sticks as prizes for the race. Three heads and two sacrificial vessels are set on the ground. The heads are those of the walrus, a white fox, and a hare.

Stuck-in Poles. -- I have already mentioned the "stuck-in poles" (a3m-i'npin) of bone of whale, {Compare p. 391.} which represent in some villages a kind of votive place.; The village of Če'čin has one of these poles (Fig. 285). It is very old, and the bone nearly crumbles between the fingers. It is hung all over with votive offerings made by sick persons, as it is supposed to have special virtue for curing rheumatism in the arms or legs, which ailment is very common among the Maritime people. The offering consists of a small bead strung on a piece of sinew. Some of them, as I was told, were previously bracelets, and were given by their owners as a substitute for the ailing limb. Among the Maritime Koryak, the "guardians of the village" resemble these Chukchee poles, but are made of wood instead of bone of whale. They are called "wooden spirit" (ot-ka'mak or ok-ka'mak), the name applied in Chukchee to small wooden amulets. Mr. Jochelson says {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 37.} they are a kind of protector of the villages. They receive sacrifices of a more important kind than those hung on the Chukchee bone poles. According to Krasheninnikoff and Steller, poles of a similar character were in use also among the Kamchadal. They had grass tied around them, and received frequent sacrifices. {Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 103.}

XV. -- SHAMANISM.

Family Shamanism. -- Shamanism among the Chukchee, as has been said before, {Compare p. 374.} is in large measure affiliated with the family ceremonials. Each family has one or more drums of its own, on which its members are bound at specific periods to perform; that is. to accompany the beating of the drum with the singing of various melodies. Almost always, on these occasions, one member at least of the family tries to communicate with "spirits", after the manner of shamans. Such a one will usually, with violent shouting and continuous exercise on the drum, work himself up to the highest pitch possible, and in this condition pretend that the "spirits" have entered his body. In proof of this, he acts in exactly the same way as do the shamans, -- jumping about, twisting his body in the most violent contortions, and uttering gibbering sounds and unintelligible words supposed to be the voice and the language of the "spirits." Oftentimes he essays soothsaying and foretelling the future, though such attempts do not usually receive much attention. All this is done in the outer tent, where all the ceremonials are performed, and mostly in the day-time.

The acts of real shamanism, on the contrary, are for the most part performed in the sleeping-room, at night-time and in perfect darkness. They are performed without preparation, on varied occasions, though usually the days of the ceremonials are terminated by a performance of this kind carried out during the night in the sleeping-room. The shamanistic acts, however, are by no means restricted to the ceremonials, but accompany the activity of the shaman proper in his own special calling. Nevertheless almost every third or fourth person arrogates to himself the right and the skill to act as a shaman.

Besides this, every adult Chukchee will occasionally take his drum, especially in the winter, and beat it for a while under the warm shelter of the sleeping-room, with the light or without it, singing his melodies to the rhythm of the beats. This- he does merely for his own pleasure. The transition from such songs to shamanistic performances is quite imperceptible, and in this way it is fair to say that every Chukchee may play the shaman in all branches of the craft as far as his skill and inclination permit him to do so.

Family shamanism, being quite simple and primitive, probably antedated the shamanism of individuals having special skill and vocation, and the latter seems to have grown up based on the former. Family shamanism exists among the Koryak and the Asiatic Eskimo, and probably existed also among the Kamchadal and the Yukaghir. Each Koryak family has a drum of its own, {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 54.} and performance on it to the accompaniment of songs is obligatory on days of certain ceremonials. I was told that the same custom existed among the ancient Kamchadal. {Krasheninnikoff (II, p. 80) says that every woman, especially an old one, and every "transformed man," is considered a shaman and interpreter of dreams. See also Steller, p. 277.} Among the Yukaghir, also, each family has its own drums.

While travelling in the country of Omolon and on both Anui rivers, I found drums half worn-out on every dwelling-site of the former inhabitants, who were starved out in the first decades of the nineteenth century, because the wild reindeer almost ceased their yearly wanderings in that country. My fellow-travellers, who were Russianized natives from the Kolyma country, felt very uneasy on account of this abundance of drums, and repeatedly insisted that the people must have been great sorcerers, and that it was no wonder that God took them away from this world. These drums, however, were only the old family belongings, which probably were used in a way similar to that peculiar to the Chukchee.

Besides this general resemblance, it is difficult to say whether the shamanism of the neighboring tribes had any direct influence on that of the Chukchee. The latter, indeed, treat "alien" shamans with as much veneration as they do their own. In the western part of the territory of the reindeer-breeders, many people apply to the Tungus shamans for advice, and some of the Chukchee go so far as to procure for their own use large drums of the more southern type employed by the Tungus. {Compare p. 356.}

The old women of the Ke'rek tribe have the reputation of being very skilful in working spells, and this skill is mentioned even in tales. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 210.} The shamans of the American Eskimo of the nearest shore of Alaska also enjoy the respect of their Asiatic neighbors, both Maritime Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo. In one tale a contest between two shamans -- one an American, one an Asiatic -- ends with a full victory for the American, although the shaman from the Asiatic shore resorts even to treachery, and is severely punished for it. {Ibid., p. 221.}

The direct influence of "alien" shamanism on the shamanism of the Chukchee may be traced only in the shamanistic garment, of which I shall speak in the latter part of this chapter.

Individual Shamanistic Inspiration. -- In modern times the importance of family shamanism is losing ground among all the tribes named, with the exception of the Chukchee, and there is a tendency of its being replaced on all occasions by individual shamanism. Individual shamans among the Chukchee are called "those with spirits" (eñe'ñilit, from e'ñeñ, {Compare p. 300.} "shamanistic spirit"). Shamanism is not restricted to either sex. The gift of inspiration is thought to be bestowed more frequently upon women, but it is reputed to be of a rather inferior kind, and the higher grades belong rather to men. The reason given for this is, that the bearing of children is generally adverse to shamanistic inspiration, so that a young woman with considerable shamanistic power may lose the greater part of it after the birth of her first child. She will recover it only after several years, -- with the ending of the period of her maternity. It is also considered that all material objects in any way connected with the birth either of animals or of mankind may be detrimental to the shamanistic force, not only in women, but even in men who happen to come in contact with them. Thus, the grass which served for bedding to a woman in labor may be used to destroy the shamanistic power of any young man slowly "gathering inspiration" (eñe'ñitvilin). It need only be rubbed against the forehead of the young shaman during his sleep, and he will "come back" (to the usual life). A female shaman, by name Te'lpiñä, complained to me, in her description of "things seen by her," {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 379.} that her mother-in-law, seeing that she would be a great female shaman, gave her to drink of the amniotic fluid of a bitch. This injured her vitals, and the soul of the dog entered her own soul.

Since female shamanism is thought to be of an inferior order, it is considered to require a shorter period for "gathering inspiration," and to be attended with less pain, than male shamanism. Female shamans, however, may acquire a high degree of skill in almost any branch of shamanistic action, with the single exception of the ventriloquistic art, which is considered entirely beyond their reach.

Preparatory Period. -- The shamanistic call begins to manifest itself at an early age, in many cases during the critical period of transition from childhood to youth. It is also the period of rapid and intense growth; and it is well known that many persons of both sexes manifest during this time increased sensitiveness, and that the mind often becomes unbalanced. It is easy to understand that this critical period of human life, which is always full of unexpected changes and developments, is peculiarly adapted to the first implanting of shamanistic inspiration.

Nervous and highly excitable temperaments are most susceptible to the shamanistic call. The shamans among the Chukchee with whom I conversed were as a rule extremely excitable, almost hysterical, and not a few of them were half crazy. Their cunning in the use of deceit in their art closely resembled the cunning of a lunatic.

The Chukchee say that young persons destined 'to receive shamanistic inspiration may be recognized at a very early age, even in their teens, by the gaze, which, during a conversation, is not turned to the listener, but is fixed on something beyond him. In connection with this, they say that the eyes of a shaman have a look different from that of other people, and they explain it by the assertion that the eyes of the shaman are very bright (nikê'raqên), which, by the way, gives them the ability to see "spirits" even in the dark. It is certainly a fact that the expression of a shaman is peculiar, -- a combination of cunning and shyness; and by this it is often possible to pick him out from among many others.

The Chukchee are well aware of the extreme nervousness of their shamans, and express it by the word niñi'rkilqin ("he is bashful"). By this word they mean to convey the idea that the shaman is highly sensitive even to the slightest change of the psychic atmosphere surrounding him during his exercises. For instance, the Chukchee shaman is diffident in acting before strangers, especially shortly after his initiation. A shaman of great power will refuse to show his skill when among strangers, and will yield only after much solicitation: even then, as a rule, he will not show all of his power. He is shy of strange people, of a house to which he is unaccustomed, of "alien" drums and charms which are hidden in their bags, and of "spirits" that hover around. The least doubt or sneer makes him break off the performance and retire.

The shamanistic "spirits" are likewise described as "fleeting" (nin'nAqên), meaning that they want, to flee before every unusual face or voice. When too many strange visitors come to the shaman, the "spirits" are shy of appearing, and, even when they do come, they are all the time anxious to slip away. Once when I induced a shaman to practise at my house, his "spirits" (of a ventriloquistic kind) for a long time refused to come. When at last they did come, they were heard walking around the house outside and knocking on its walls, as if still undecided whether to enter. When they entered, they kept near to the corners, carefully avoiding too close proximity to those present.

"Ke'let belong to the wilderness," say the shamans, "just as much as any wild animal. This is the reason that they are so fleeting." Ke'let of the animal kind have this shyness to an extreme degree. When coming at the call of the shaman, they sniff and snort, and finally, after some short exercise on the drum, flee back to the freedom of the wilderness. All this, of course, is brought about by ventriloquism, as will be described later. Even the ke'let of diseases, especially those who cannot harm man much, -- as, for instance, rheum or cold, -- are described as very "fleeting." Thus, in one tale, the rheum, before mustering sufficient courage to enter a human habitation, makes several attempts, and each time goes back overcome by its shyness. When caught on the spot, it manifests the utmost fear, and in abject terms begs for freedom.

The Chukchee generally are highly susceptible to any physical or psychical impressions of a kind to which they are unused; as, for instance, to unfamiliar odors. {Compare p. 38.} This is especially the case in regard to diseases; and the saying, "The Chukchee people are 'soft to die' (nuthiwi'qin), is frequently heard among them. Thus, though they are able to endure excessive hardships, they succumb quickly to any contagious disease brought from civilized countries. This sensitiveness is shared by other native tribes of northeastern Siberia, and even by the Russian Creoles, who are just as susceptible to psychic influences of an unusual character; for instance, to warning received in dreams or from strange people, to threats on the part of shamans or high officials, etc. During the last epidemic of measles, a creole in Gishiga lived but one night after having been told by an official, who meant no harm, that in a dream he had seen him die. There have been several instances of suicide among the cossacks and Russianized natives as the result of reproof on the part of officials. In other cases, native guides of Lamut or Yukaghir origin, travelling with parties of Russian officials on exploring expeditions, have, on losing their way in the uninhabited country, run away from fear and despair, and every trace of them thereafter has been lost. Suicides are also frequent among the Chukchee.

It seems to me that Mr. Jochelson has in mind the same high degree of susceptibility when he calls attention to the fact that the young men of the Yukaghir were said in ancient times to be exceedingly bashful, so much so that they would die when a sudden affront was given them, even by their own relatives. {See Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, Introduction, pp. VI, XIII.} The shamans possess this nervous sensitiveness in a still higher degree than other people. This finds expression in the proverb that shamans are even more "soft to die" than ordinary people.

While speaking of this subject, let me add, that the slightest lack of harmony between the acts of the shamans and the mysterious call of their "spirits" brings their life to an end. This is expressed by the Chukchee when they say that "spirits" are very bad-tempered, and punish with immediate death the slightest disobedience of the shaman, and that this is particularly so when the shaman is slow to carry out those orders which are intended to single him out from other people.

On the other hand, apart from the displeasure of his ke'let, a shaman is said to be "resistant to death" and especially "difficult to kill," even when vanquished by enemies. Thus, in a description of a murder which took place in the Anui country in the nineties of the last century, the native, whose words were written down verbatim, says, --

"With an incantation of theirs they made him sleep. While he was sleeping, they attacked him from both sides. One cut his throat; the other stabbed him in the direction of the heart, the source of life and death. Nevertheless he jumped up. But he had no arms. They were also 'knowing people;' and thus they induced him, likewise by incantations, to leave the camp unarmed. If he had had only a small knife, perhaps he would have been able to overpower them. Now, though he (being a shaman) stood up, with what could he fight them, except with his teeth and nails? Thus they stabbed him; but his wounds immediately healed and he was as before. For a very long time they could not kill him. At last they fell upon him from both sides, and, throwing him down, scooped out his eyes, pierced the eyeballs with a knife and flung them far away. Then they cut his body here and there; also the heart they tore away and cut to pieces. All these pieces they buried in the ground in separate places, because they were afraid to bury them together, lest he should revive." {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 19.}

Another account of similar kind says, --

"She [the murderer] came to her neighbor, a woman, who was busy with her fireboard, trying to make a fire. She stabbed her from behind. But the girl continued to work on the fire, because she was a shaman-girl, a woman able to stab herself (in shamanistic performance). Therefore she could not kill her, but only severed the tendons of her arms and legs." {Ibid., p. 32.}

A third account, referring to the small-pox epidemic of 1884 in the country of the western Kolyma, says, --

"Then A'mčê began to think about his son-in-law, because his daughter left him ill in the vacant camp. A'mčê said, 'Let us go and visit him.' He said, 'He is one able to resist death, he is a shaman.'" {Ibid., p. 40.}

The shamanistic call manifests itself in various ways. Sometimes it is an inner voice, which bids the person enter into intercourse with the "spirits." If the person is dilatory in obeying, the calling "spirit" soon appears in some outward, visible shape, and communicates the call in a more explicit way. For instance, Aiñanwa't, whom I have mentioned before, says that at one time, after a severe illness, when his soul was ripe for inspiration, he saw several Spirits," but did not give much heed to the fulfilment of their orders. Then a "spirit" came to him. He was gaunt, and black of color, and said that he was the "spirit" of reindeer-scab. {Compare p. 81.} Ainanwa't felt himself very much drawn toward that "spirit," and wanted him to stay and become his constant companion. The "spirit" hesitated at first, and then refused to stay. He said, however, "I may consent, if your desire for my company is strong enough, -- if you wish me enough to take the drum, to handle it for three days and three nights, and to become a shaman." Ainanwa't, in his turn, refused, and the "spirit" immediately vanished. {Ibid., p. 385.}

The shamanistic call is also manifested by various omens, such as meeting a certain animal, finding a stone or a shell of peculiar form, etc. Each of these omens has in itself nothing extraordinary, but derives its significance from its mystical recognizance in the mind of the person to whose notice it is brought. This process resembles the finding of amulets; and, indeed, the stone found, or the animal met, becomes the protector and the assistant "spirit" of the person in question.

Young people, as a rule, are exceedly reluctant to obey the call, especially if it involves the adoption of some characteristic device in clothing or in the mode of life. They refuse to take the drum and to call the "spirits," leave the amulets in the field, from very fear, {Compare also the story in Krasheninnikoff, mentioned before (p. 339), in which it is told that a Koryak found an important amulet on the bank of the river, but left it there from sheer fright. He became very ill, and his illness was ascribed to the anger of the amulet. After a considerable lapse of time he came back to look for the amulet, and at last carried it away with him.} etc.

The parents of young persons "doomed to inspiration" (eñe'ñitvu li'nyo) act differently, according to temperament and family conditions. Sometimes they protest against the call coming to their child, and try to induce it to reject the "spirits" and to keep to the ordinary life. This happens mostly in the case of only children, because of the danger pertaining to the shamanistic call, especially in the beginning. The protest of the parents is, however, of no avail, because the rejection of the "spirits" is much more dangerous even than the acceptance of their call. A young man thwarted in his call to inspiration will either sicken and shortly die, or else the "spirits" will induce him to renounce his home and go far away, where he may follow his vocation without hindrance.

On the other hand, it is entirely permissible to abandon shamanistic performances at a more mature age, after several years of practice; and the anger of the "spirits" is not incurred by it. I met several persons who asserted that formerly they had been great shamans, but that now they had given up most of their exercises. As reason for this, they gave illness, age, or simply a decrease of their shamanistic power, which in the course of time manifested itself. One said that because of illness he felt as if his arms and legs were frozen, and that thereafter they did not thaw, so that he was unable to "shake himself" well upon the drum. Another said that he and his "spirits" became tired of each other. Most of the cases, probably, were simply the result of recovery from the nervous condition which had made the persons in question fit subjects for the inspiration. While the shaman is in possession of the inspiration, he must practise, and cannot hide his power. Otherwise it will manifest itself in the form of bloody sweat or in a fit of violent madness similar to epilepsy (ite'yun). {Compare p. 42.}

There are parents who wish their child to answer the call. This happens especially in families rich in children, with large herds, and with several tents of their own. Such a family is not inclined to feel anxious about a possible loss of one of its members. On the contrary, they are desirous of having a shaman of their own, -- made to order, so to speak, -- a special solicitor before the "spirits," and a caretaker in all extraordinary casualties of life.

A shaman by the name of Tei'ñet, in the country near the Wolverene River, told me that, when the call came to him and he did not want to obey, his father gave him the drum and induced him to begin the exercise. After that, he continued to feel "bashful" for several years. On days of ceremonials he even fled from the camp and hid himself, lest his relatives should find him out and bring him back to camp, to show to the assembled people his newly acquired and growing skill.

For men, the preparatory stage of shamanistic inspiration is in most cases very painful, and extends over a long time. The call comes in an abrupt and obscure manner, leaving the young novice in much uncertainty regarding it. He feels "bashful" and frightened; he doubts his own disposition and strength, as has been the case with all seers, from Moses down. Half unconsciously and half against his own will, his whole soul undergoes a strange and painful transformation. This period may last months, and sometimes even years. The young novice, the "newly inspired" (tur-eñe'ñitvillin), loses all interest in the ordinary affairs of life. He ceases to work, eats but little and without relishing the food, ceases to talk to people, and does not even answer their questions. The greater part of his time he spends in sleep. Some keep to the inner room and go out but rarely. Others wander about in the wilderness, under the pretext of hunting or of keeping watch over the herd, but often without taking along any arms or the lasso of the herdsman. A wanderer like this, however, must be closely watched, otherwise he might lie down on the open tundra and sleep for three or four days, incurring the danger, in winter, of being buried in drifting snow. When coming to himself after such a long sleep, he imagines that he has been out for only a few hours, and generally is not conscious of having slept in the wilderness at all. The accounts of such prolonged sleep are, of course, greatly exaggerated.

The Chukchee, however, sometimes, in case of sickness, fall into a heavy and protracted slumber, which may last many days, with only the necessary interruptions for physical needs, and which may, perhaps, end in death, though this is by no means assured. For instance, two years before my coming to the Anadyr, one Rike'whi, a Chukchee living at Mariinsky Post, and his wife, both had an attack of grippe, which, as I have said before, ravages the country at short intervals. The woman died. The man slept it out for more than two months. During this time he took but little food, mostly dried fish, and very rarely could he have a hot meal prepared for him by sympathetic women among his neighbors. All this was corroborated by the Russian cossacks living at Mariinsky Post, in close proximity to the natives.

The before-mentioned Ainanwa't also told me that in 1884 he lost his whole family by small-pox, but slept it out himself for two weeks, during which time he conversed with "spirits." It is also believed that the "spirits" communicate with novices during their slumbers, and gradually assert their power over their minds and their whole persons.

The process of gathering inspiration is so painful to young shamans, because of their mental struggle against the call, that they are sometimes said to sweat blood on the forehead and the temples. Afterwards every preparation of a shaman for a performance is considered a sort of repetition of the initiative process: hence it is said that the Chukchee shamans during that time are easily susceptible to hemorrhage and even to bloody sweat. I myself witnessed two cases of bleeding from the nose among Chukchee shamans before their performances. As regards the bloody sweat, I knew of only one case, and even in that I was suspicious that the shaman in question, having an attack of nose-bleed, had happily thought to smear his temples with blood in order to increase our respect for his shamanistic powers. At least, he kept repeating that he was not like the modern shamans, but that he was the equal of the ancient "genuine" shamans, who sweated blood from the strain of their inspiration. He was, however, a typical specimen of a Chukchee shaman, -- a very unsteady, excitable nature; and after all, I am not quite sure that he tricked us with his bloody sweat.

The preparatory period is compared by the Chukchee to a long, severe illness; and the acquirement of inspiration, to a recovery. There are cases of young persons who, having suffered for years from lingering illness (usually of a nervous character), at last feel a call to take to shamanistic practice, and by this means overcome the disease. Of course it is difficult to draw the line of demarcation, and all these cases finally come under one and the same class. The preparatory period of inspiration is designated by the Chukchee by a special term, meaning "he gathers shamanistic power" (the verb tewiti'ñirkin and its derivatives). With weaker shamans and with women, the preparatory period is less painful, and the call to inspiration comes mainly in dreams.

To people of more mature age the shamanistic call may come during some great misfortune, dangerous and protracted illness, sudden loss of family or property, etc. Then the person, having no other resource, turns to the "spirits," and claims their assistance. It is generally considered that in such cases a favorable issue is possible only with the aid of the "spirits:" therefore a man who has withstood some extraordinary trial of his life is considered as having within himself the possibilities of a shaman, and he often feels bound to enter into closer relations with the "spirits," lest he incur their displeasure at his negligence and lack of gratitude.

This is evidenced in the case of Aintanwa't, mentioned above. He was not careful enough to obey the instructions of the "spirits," who came to him with benevolent intentions, and even performed upon him with a supernatural silver knife of their own an operation which freed him from all diseased matter. Hence, though he recovered from his illness, he had no further good-fortune in life. He was unable to increase his diminished herd, and after a few years of useless struggle found himself forced to bequeathe it, with the hereditary charms, to his elder son. He even left his house, and lived the last years of his life as a wandering hunter of wild reindeer. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 385.}

On the contrary, another Reindeer Chukchee, Niro'n, {Compare p. 45.} had a shamanistic call during his search for the herd which had run away in a thick fog. The search lasted for several months, during which time Niro'n suffered severe hardships. He was without food for days, had no shelter in which to sleep, was drenched with rain, and was even without any fire to dry his clothes. In this plight he met several animals who acted like men, and played various tricks on him. At last he met a Wolf who was eating from a carcass of a newly killed reindeer. The Wolf took compassion on him, saying that he knew well what hunger was. He bade him cut off the legs of the carcass, and feed on the sinew and the marrow, which the Chukchee, as said before, eat raw. The carcass, on its part, begged Niro'n not to touch it, promising to bring his herd as ransom. The Wolf sneered at the proposition, saying that the Reindeer was too slow, since it had allowed itself to be caught. Then Niro'n ate from the carcass. The Wolf then promised to find the herd. After two weeks he again met Niro'n, and told him where to find the reindeer.

Immediately after the recovery of the herd, Niro'n slaughtered a fat doe and sacrificed it to the Wolf. From that time on, Niro'n considered himseli as "one with spirits" (eñe'ñilin). His claim, however, was generally ridiculed by his neighbors on account of his character. He was a spendthrift, much given to card-playing, and cared little for his herd and home, and the Chukchee refused to believe that such a good-for-nothing could amount to much in the eyes of the "spirits." Niro'n himself, however, often beat his drum, sang his tunes, and called to the "spirits," not so much for any real purpose, but simply to keep up the useful relation with them and to avoid their displeasure.

Still another acquaintance of mine, by the name of Ka'tek, from the village of Uñi'sak at Indian Point, entered into relations with the "spirits" when he was of mature age, during a terrible adventure he had while hunting seal. While walking on the ice-floe, along a wide crack, he happened to harpoon a seal, which came out of the water at some distance from the edge of the ice. With the ice-pick on the butt of his harpoon, he broke off a piece of ice large enough to support his body, and ventured on it out toward the seal, using the shaft of his harpoon as a paddle. Maritime hunters, lacking a canoe, often do the same. Meanwhile a strong gale came from the land and carried away the outer part of the ice-floe. Ka'tek, who had already reached his seal, was carried a le was a Reindeer man. He was from the Chaun River, had some influence over his neighbors, but even by them he was called "bad." The day before his death he came to the fort and boldly tried to rob a Russian creole of some iron knives and spear-heads. This was prevented, but he was left unmolested. The next morning he was first to take part in the brawl after the arrest of Čêpa't. Then the Russians, in their turn, saw their chance, took advantage of it, and he was killed.

Akimlu'kê, from the Wolverene River, was also a reindeer-breeder of the e'rmečin type. He was good at all kinds of sport, quick-tempered, dexterous, and none of his neighbors cared to pick a quarrel with him. The influence of a Reindeer Chukchee e'rmečin among the neighboring camps, however, is of a rather indefinite kind, because each camp lives its own independent life, and has little to do with any of the others.

In the Maritime villages, where the people live in closer contact, the influence of an e'rmečin is more real. When passing with our dogs through the Chukchee village Valka'Lên, we wanted to rest our teams, and therefore made a stay of two days. One of the inhabitants, Ča'nla by name, made our acquaintance, and offered to sell us a large bag of seal-blubber, with which to season the food of our dogs. Being Russians and considered as "rich," we had to buy the larger part of the food for our dogs. The poorer men usually get it from their hosts without pay. Moreover, we fed our dogs better than the Chukchee usually do, and therefore were in need of a larger quantity of food. We paid for food with compressed tea and leaf-tobacco in very moderate proportion, as is usually done in such cases. Ča'nla, however, wanted no tea or tobacco. He wanted to buy the leader of one of our dog-teams, a white female, uncommonly large, whose name was Arrow. Russian dogs are highly valued among the Maritime Chukchee. In payment for the dog, he offered a beaver-skin, two fox-skins, and this bag of blubber. The peltries were not as yet in his possession; but he intended to acquire them in the course of the summer from the Alaskan Eskimo traders, and promised to deliver them on our return journey in a couple of months or so. The owner of the dog, who was one of my Cossacks, refused to sell it on credit. Then Ča'nla, offended at this lack of confidence in him, took back his bag and returned to his home. Shortly afterward it appeared that we could not buy any other food in that village. "Ča'nla is the e'rmečin," explained the inhabitants, "and he says 'no traffic!'" So our dogs had but a scanty meal, given by the master of the house we stopped in. In the end we had to yield; and the dog was handed over to Ča'nla, who, by the way, in due time faithfully delivered the promised peltries.

We took the bag with blubber, and also a quantity of walrus-meat from the other inhabitants, and everything was smoothed over. When I asked some of the people afterwards whether the word of Ča'nla was really of such weight with them, they answered, "He is our neighbor and a great wrestler." Ča'nla was not yet thirty. He was tall of stature and strongly built. lie wore breeches adorned all over with red tassels, {Compare p. 287.} and held himself always ready for a wrestling-match. The house we stopped in was the "front house;" and the master of it was richer than Ča'nla, though the influence of Ča'nla seemed to be greater among the inhabitants. I should mention, however, that in the Maritime villages, as a usual thing, the strongest man is also the richest, because, on account of his physical resources, he is more successful in hunting than others. Moreover, the front-house family is generally the strongest and the richest, and its head plays the e'rmečin among the other people. From this also sprang the maritime term for the front house, a'rmači-ran ("the house of the strongest"). Among the Reindeer Chukchee, wealth in reindeer does not depend so much on physical strength, and there are cases where the "strongest man" is also the poorest, as will be shown presently.

"Violent Men." -- In the sense of "violent man," "robber," the term "e'rmečin" is used as much by the Reindeer Chukchee as by the Maritime; but as to the social position of the "violent men," I would call attention to a very interesting difference between both branches of the tribe.

The most prominent among the "violent men" of the Reindeer Chukchee is the poor assistant, who uses his physical advantages as means of violence against the "front" family of the same camp. I will relate a very characteristic story, which happened in the Chaun country in the year 1894, and was told to me by a man who knew the participants. I give it in his own words: --

"A reindeer-breeder lived in a lone camp in the middle of the tundra. He had an assistant in the camp. This man, Amonai'hin by name, had a wife with a very active tongue. He was a great e'rmecm, but a poor herdsman, too lazy to run around the herd. Therefore the mastejr almost stopped slaughtering reindeer for him. In reality, the master said to himself, 'This one is quite worthless.' Moreover, Amonai'hin did not like to listen to remonstrances, and the master felt uncomfortable about telling him anything. Then Amonai'hin's wife began to reproach him. 'We suffer from hunger, living with such a wealthy reindeer-breeder. We are just on the verge of dying a shameful death. I say, I should have him killed.' At first the husband would not listen. At last, however, he paid attention to these words. Then he followed the master to the reindeer-herd. They remained together with the herd. There was a hill there. The assistant said, 'Let us climb the hill and look around for better pasture.' -- 'All right,' said the master. They climbed the hill. The master walked in front, and the assistant a little behind. Amonai'hin caught the master from behind. He had a knife ready in his sleeve. With this knife he cut open his master's abdomen. Then he loosened his grip: and the wounded master tried to run, but fell to the ground. Amonai'hin left him there, still alive, and went home. The night passed. Not until morning did he say to his wife, 'Well, I have finished with my quarry. Now it is your turn to do something with yours.' The wife said, 'Ugh, do it all!' -- 'Nay, but your plain words were, "Let every one of us have a quarry of his own."' The woman sighed. 'Then let it be so!' She sharpened her knife, and hid it in her sleeve. Then she went to the front house. The woman of the front house, who was a girl, was making fire. She stabbed her from behind, but could not kill her, the girl being a shaman. Therefore the murderess cut all the ligaments on her arms and legs. The girl became bereft of all power of motion. Her little brother, who still wore a combination-suit, tried to flee. The murderess ran after him and stabbed him. Then she broke the front house, cut to pieces all the poles and sledges, and made of this wood a large pile, adding some branches of bushes. After that she put the two bodies on the pile, and they were burned. Amonai'hin appropriated the herd.

"The air was quite motionless, as is often the case in spring. The smoke rose upward in a long column, and was seen from afar. The Maritime traders travelling with dogs happened to pass by just at this time, and saw the smoke. So they turned in to see, and beheld the pile. Amonai'hin felt uneasy. He could not even deny anything. 'Well, well, such a thing has happened here. Maybe I shall also slay both of you. Truly, you would not be able to hold your peace, would you?' -- 'Oh, yes! we should.' They began to make bows to him quite low, as to a great officer. 'We shall keep quiet. Only give us some provisions.' They spent a night there. All the time they talked in this way. The next morning he slaughtered reindeer and gave them as much as their dogs could carry. When they came home, they caused a great sensation with their tale. The next year the kinsmen of the slain man found the murderer and slew him. His wife and his son were left untouched. The woman's name is Tñe-čei'vuñe." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 21.}

In another case of a similar kind, the assistant, with the aid of his cousin, killed the master of the camp. Then he staid with the family of the slain man and slaughtered reindeer for his own use. For a long time the murderer slaughtered their reindeer, until the family became quite poor, and finally lost their entire herd. Then he left them and went elsewhere. {Ibid., p. 31.}

The folk-stories also contain similar cases. Most characteristic is one described in the tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons:" --

"The Eskimo slave whom Ele'ndi made his assistant in the camp at last perfidiously succeeded in leaving his master on a lone island in the open sea. Then he came back and took possession of all his wealth. He ceased to be a good assistant, and spoke with his old harsh voice.

"He remained in the sleeping-room the whole time, and defecated there in a chamber-vessel. The wives of the master refused to live with him; they did not enter the sleeping-room, but staid on the beach, weeping. The next morning the slave said to the boys who went to the herd, 'Bring me tomorrow a young fawn that has recently shed its coat. My excrement has a bad odor from this old, tainted meat. From now on I will feed only on reindeer-tongues.' They thought, 'He is going to kill us,' so they brought the fawn.

"The children wept every day in the herd. Each time when they brought a fawn, they asked one another, 'Will he chastise us, or not? Perhaps we have grown stronger by this time.'

"Ele'ndi was miraculously saved by birds, and came to the camp. He met one of his wives in the open, and said to her, 'Go and say to the boys, "The next time when that one asks for a fawn, give for answer, 'You slave! Where have you gotten the habit of eating fawns and of feeding on tongues?"" Hearing this, the Eskimo roared with anger. He bounded out from the inner room quite naked. The woman said to him, 'At least put on your breeches!' He put on his breeches. Then he caught the handle of a scraper and pursued the boys. But Ele'ndi suddenly sprang upon him, caught him from behind, and shortly afterwards made him die a cruel death." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 349.}

I know of no cases in actual life among the Maritime Chukchee, similar to those described above, and occurring among the Reindeer people. It seems that, on the whole, the Maritime Chukchee, though more daring in character, are of a more peaceful disposition than the Reindeer-breeders. "Nothing ever happens among us," the people in the Chukchee and Eskimo maritime villages told me, "though we have no officers. At times of drinking, some of those who do not drink act like your police, and quiet down those who become aggressive, even binding them if necessary." Among the Maritime people I have even met men who refused to drink brandy; while among the Reindeer-breeders such a thing is almost unknown, even among the women, with the exception of those in the most remote parts of the country, on the border-line of Kamchatka, where no brandy has ever been sold. On the whole, the Reindeer Chukchee drink less than the Maritime Chukchee, because brandy is more scarce with them; but drunken brawls happen among them much more frequently.

In the folk-stories of Maritime provenience, however, "violent men" appear quite often; and, in contrast to the Reindeer stories, the violent man is, for the most part, the richest man of the village, the front-house master. He is successful in his hunt, and has plenty of provisions; but he refuses to give food to his poor neighbors, and this is the chief violence he does to them. Moreover, he beats them, turns them out of his house, and in every way and manner shows them his superiority and brutal contempt. The Eskimo of the Ele'ndi tale is described as such a character.

In another tale, a "violent man" of the village is described as a very strong man. He goes to sea in a skin boat and kills walrus by the dozen. Then he ties them all behind his boat and paddles home, towing them along. When he comes near to the beach, he throws the end of a rope to the other people who are standing there, and roars, "Draw me up with the game!" If they are too slow, he chastises them afterwards. In a number of tales the owner of the front house is described as strong and violent; and the people of the rear house, as little old men, poor, but mild-tempered and hospitable. Among the occupants of the front house and the rear houses there exists a kind of estrangement, nearly a silent quarrel, which seems to the narrator to be something quite natural, understood per se. The second part of the story almost always contains the coming of some young hero, who vanquishes and chastises the "violent man," takes for himself the best of the peltries and hides, and leaves the rest to the poor neighbors. Thus, in the tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons," the victorious warrior severely chastises the vanquished front-house master, and then says, "Now, who has a grudge against him?" Every one comes forward. All kick him, because they are angry at him (even a mouse may have anger). Then the guest says, "Well, well, help me to arrange for my departure. You may take this house, with all its wealth, but the object of my request bring here instantly." They bring twenty large hides and twenty coils of thong. These he carries to his sledge. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 346.}

In the Maritime folk-stories a "violent man" of poorer standing appears less frequently. He is strong but "lazy," and, instead of going himself to hunt, prefers to rob his neighbors of their game. One of these has two wives and only one big dog. When his neighbors go to the floe-ice to inspect their seal-nets, he waits on the shore; then, on their return, he takes from them one or two seals.

I do not see how a thing like that could have really happened, unless in a very small village, where the hunters are so few that they cannot resist the assaults of one violent man. The tale, however, proceeds to describe how the neighbors, annoyed by the tribute, kill the "violent one." In course of time his little boy grows up and takes revenge on the murderers.

Wars and Warriors. -- As already stated, the word "e'rmečin" is also used in the sense of "warrior." . Tales about past wars are numerous among the Chukchee, and form, to a certain degree, a separate division of folk-stories, which is called äqälile'tkin pi'ñilte ("[from those who led] war tidings"). Wars are described as a series of surprises, nightly attacks, and murders of the sleeping. In some cases, on the contrary, the attacking party openly defies the enemy, and invites them to come in equal numbers, so that both sides may be in an equal position. Thus, in the tale of "Ta'lo the Ta'n.ñin Nursling," the hero meets ten Ta'n.ñit, covered with armor, and kills nine of them with his small whalebone knife. The tenth tries to flee, but Ta'lo catches him by the back of his clothing. "Stay a while! I do not want to kill you, I want to ask you a question: How many people in your houses are fit for fighting?" -- "None. There are only old men and youngsters." -- "When will these youngsters become warriors? Shall I come next year?" -- " All right, come next year. Meanwhile they will grow and become stronger, some at least." The episode is repeated in other tales. I must mention also that the Chukchee are described as less perfidious, and as dealing more frankly with their enemies, than the other tribes; so that it would seem that treachery at least is not considered as one of the virtues of war.

I was told that all kinds of incantations were used in war, but none have been preserved in the memory of the people. A tern (Tringa Temmincki) was considered to be a sentinel of the Chukchee tribe (či'čin, "looking one"), because, on the approach of the enemy, it would fly up with a warning cry. Therefore a party of warriors, when stopping for a night on the open tundra, would apply to that bird, and ask it to guard them against a sudden attack.

A battle is a series of single fights. To be fit for fighting, every warrior undergoes hard training, and spends all his leisure in various exercises. The tales abound in descriptions of such exercises. The hero must run for long distances, drawing heavily-loaded sledges. He carries stones and timber, jumps up in the air, but, above all, he fences with his long spear. He performs this exercise quite alone; and the chief feature of it is the brandishing of the spear with the utmost force, so that it bends like a piece of raw reindeer leg-skin. He also practises shooting with the bow, and uses for this purpose various arrows, sharp and blunt. From all these exercises he acquires great skill and agility. He can kill twenty men, darting from one to the other with the swiftness of an ermine. When he is shot at, he avoids the arrows by springing to one side, or parries them all with the butt-end of his spear, or simply catches them between the fingers and throws them back. Only when quite exhausted from the fatigue of fighting, can he be wounded and vanquished.

The best warriors of other tribes -- for instance, of the Yukaghir -- are described in corresponding tales as catching arrows between the fingers, and as avoiding the blows of the spear by the quickness of their motions. The Chukchee ideal warrior is so skilled in jumping that he is almost able to fly in the air with the birds. When paddling in a kayak, he keeps pace with a flying gull. His build is athletic. When lying on his back, he touches the ground only with his neck, buttocks, and heels, so thick and heavy are his muscles. A number of Chukchee warriors are described individually. The details of these descriptions will be given later on.

Ta'n.ñin Wars. -- Tales of wars may be divided into two unequal groups. The larger group refers to the wars of the Reindeer Chukchee with Ta'n.ñit. These wars took place in the interior of the territory, and the Maritime people took little part in them. The smaller group refers to wars on the sea-coast between the Chukchee and the Eskimo. Several interesting stories belong to the first group, and some are even epic in character. The whole may perhaps be considered as an embryo of a Reindeer Chukchee epos.

The Ta'n.ñit of these stories are either the Russian Cossacks, or more frequently, the Reindeer Koryak. The Reindeer Chukchee were obliged to defend themselves against the invasion of the Cossacks, and even succeeded in defeating Major Pavlutsky and his troops. {See Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 789, and Chapter XXIII of this volume.} Still the remembrance of this war is not so strong as might be expected; and the tales relating to it are mostly short, and poor in details. Those that relate to Koryak wars, on the contrary, abound in vivid episodes. Some of the tales relating to the wars with the Russians represent simply the stories of the Koryak war-cycle, changed and adapted to a new use. The details relating to the arms and the ways of the new enemy are inserted; but the Chukchee heroes are described in the same manner, and even their names are unchanged.

War Heroes. -- I have already mentioned that in war-stories a number of warriors figure who are described individually. Their names are quite popular, and appear in various combinations. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, pp. 336 et seq.} All these belong to the Koryak war-cycle. The most remarkable thing is, that one of them is mentioned as the chief and leader. His name is Lau'ti-liwa'lin, which means "head-nodder." This name is given to him because he gives the signal for attack by a nod of his head. It is curious to know that this explanation is half-forgotten. Sometimes I received the answer that the name of Head-Nodder sprang from the habit of nodding his head while moving with reindeer over the rough ground of the tundra. The wars with Ta'n.ñit evidently tended to develop the office of a military chief, though the ordinary conditions of Chukchee life are too simple for such an institution. The development did not proceed very far; and as soon as the wars ceased, it vanished, and even the significance of the name was forgotten.

Head-Nodder is described as one who gathers warriors for an expedition. His voice is thick and strong. When the women of a Ta'n.ñin fortress besieged by Chukchee hear his voice, they speedily kill their own children, and the young girls kill themselves. His companions are E3le'nnut and Aiña'irgin. The latter name means "the clamoring one," and even now is frequently met with among the Chukchee. E3le'nnut is described as the assistant of Head-Nodder. "Who will be my (in-the)-armpit-being-little-bird [čêe'čhi-va'lin pičê'kalhin]?" (i.e., "who will be my assistant?") asks Head-Nodder; and E3le'nnut answers, "I will be thy in-the-armpit-being-little bird." After that, they rush to the assault, shoulder to shoulder.

In another story, "Who shall begin?" asks the little old man. "Let me be first," says Aiña'irgin. Head-Nodder nodded. "Yes, let it be you." -- "No, no!" exclaimed E3le'nnut, "let me do it! I am also quite a sharp point of the antlers of Head-Nodder. Let them break it first. Head-Nodder's antlers are full-sized."

In still another story, E3le'nnut is described with the following details. "E3le'nnut has long arms: they hang down lower than the knee. His fists are like large round bowls made of the excrescences of a larch-tree. His hands are stronger than iron. E3le'nnut is higher by a head than all other people. His shoulders loom up in the middle of a throng, visible from afar, like the shoulders of the wild reindeer-buck in a Chukchee reindeer-herd. He runs in bounds over the deep snow, throwing up his legs. His track over the snow is not double, but forms only one line. He eats with great haste, gulping down piece after piece. All food is slippery for his throat. After battle he is found in the sleeping-room. He is lying there with a young woman. His legs are protruding from under the front part of the cover of the room. Only the trembling of his hind part is to be seen." Aiña'irgin, the Clamoring-One, is described as springing forward and clamoring for battle.

To the same group of warriors belongs young Ci'mkil. He is of modest disposition. "There are four strong men," says the story, -- "Head-Nodder, E3le'nnut, Aiña'irgin, and Či'mkil. In front of Či'mkil sits his father. The strong man silently waits till the old man speaks his words."

Of other warriors should be mentioned Nankacha't, -- "a big, heavy man, clad throughout in the hide of a thong-seal. The head of his spear is a cubit long. In the time of drifting ice on the Omva'an River, he lies down across the river and stops the ice. The drifting floes are stopped, his body forms a bridge, and the caravans of reindeer-sledges pass over him as on firm ground." These exaggerated details surpass the usual style of Chukchee description.

In another tale he drives his spear into the bottom of the river. The moving ice is stopped. The ice forms a temporary bridge, over which pass the Chukchee caravans. The latter version comes nearer to the usual style of the stories.

In still another tale appears the strong man A3ttimlu or A3mlu3, which means "bony face." He is called so because his face is quite hard. The arrows of the Ta'n-ñit cannot hurt it. E3le'nnut lives with him as a companion in group-marriage.

"Bony-Face quarrelled with Head-Nodder, and slapped him on the head with his open hand. From this slap the other suffered throughout the summer. After that the offended one wanted to have revenge. He exercised for two consecutive years, in order to equal Bony-Face in strength. Then he called his brother and went to visit the offender. His brother's name was Yirkitowa'La3n; i.e., 'having soft buttocks.' Bony-Face proposed to pay them for the offence; first two thong-seal skins, then two beaver-skins; .but they refused. Then all four went out of the house. E3le'nnut sat down upon a sledge as an onlooker. Bony-Face turned up his sleeves. The two adversaries caught him from both sides. 'What! both of you?' -- 'Yes, both of us.' -- 'Ah, all right!' He caught them both by the nape of the neck and pushed them together face to face, then threw them upon the ground. The snow was covered with blood, as from a reindeer newly slaughtered. Then he turned away and entered his house again."

The story breaks off at this episode. It is probably only a fragment of a fuller tale. The name Bony-Face is well known among story-tellers. They say that he was one of the strongest warriors; but all tales in which his name is mentioned are only short fragments. It is interesting to note that this tale represents Head-Nodder as no great hero, and even gives him a brother with the ridiculous name of Soft-Buttocks. The last name is formed perhaps in contrast to the hard cheeks of Bony-Face. Bony-Face vanquished them without difficulty at one time or another. Perhaps these tales are the reminiscences of some ancient local rivalries, or else an attempt at parody of the old traditions. In the parallel case of the Russian epic legends of ancient warriors, these have given rise to the formation of certain parodies, which are also quite ancient.

Teme'ereč, or, in diminutive form, Temeere'čeqäi, is a young man light of foot and quick of motion. His parents were killed by Ta'n.ñit, and he was left a little orphan.

"One time the Ta'n.ñit made inroads on the Chukchee territory. The people fled, driving with reindeer. The little boy was walking ahead. The first driver overtook him. 'Take me with you!' -- 'Let the rear drivers take you.' The rear drivers overtook him. 'Take me with you!' -- 'Let the last ones take you.' Then the very last one came to him. 'Take me with you!' -- 'No, let them that are behind take you! -- 'Ah me! There is no one behind.' {All this is only a variation of a well-known episode met with in the folk-stories of many peoples.}

"The last man went away, and the boy was left alone. He followed the tracks of the drivers. A small boy he was, but a clever one. He carried in his hands a child's bow and one arrow with a copper head. The line of the pursuing Ta'n.ñit was approaching from behind, the strongest warrior was far ahead. The boy looked back and thought, 'What shall I do?' He ran and fell down, jumped up and ran again. The Ta'n.ñin warrior saw him running and jumped down from the sledge. Then he took off his armor and put it on the sledge, and also the spear. The spear was a very strong one. The handle was thicker than a man's arm. He ran, leading the reindeer by the bridle. The boy thought, 'This one will crush me with his nail as he would a little louse.' "He looked back again. The Ta'n.ñin warrior was getting nearer. In a few moments he would overtake him. The fur shirt of the Ta'n.ñin was very short: it hardly covered his abdomen. The boy shot his bow and wounded him in the abdomen. The warrior sat down upon the snow. 'Stop, boy!' said the warrior. 'Come here!' The boy was afraid to come. The Ta'n.ñim stood up, took the spear from the sledge, and put it on the ground. He also took off his armor and put it down. 'Come here! I will not hurt you. It is for your benefit.' Then the boy came. 'There, take the bow and spear and armor. Put on all of it, take the sledge, and drive on. Do not be afraid of our people. They will find my body and turn back, because I am the strongest.' {* This episode is popular among the Chukchee, and repeated in several stories. As to boys' taking part in fights, compare p. 552.}

"After that the boy came home and lived with his uncle. He was growing fast, and all the time performing exercises. One time when the people arranged a reindeer-race, the young hero offered to draw his uncle's sledge, acting in place of a reindeer-buck. He prepared the sledge and attached the traces and put on the breast-collar. Then he said to his uncle, 'Put the bridle on me!' -- 'No need of it,' said the uncle. 'Go along!' He rushed forward. 'Wait, wait!' cried his uncle. 'The sledge jolts too much.' He put the bridle on the young man and took the reins. 'Now everything is all right.'

"The trail was quite crooked. He said, 'Let us go straight ahead!' There was no trail. The snow was knee-deep; but he ran on as if there were no snow.

"Then they came to the place where the race was to be held, and he outran all the drivers and took the prize. Afterwards, when fighting he used the bow and the arrow as he did in his boyhood. He shot all at once, and killed his adversary."

Another hero, Ê'irgin, is also described as a young archer, light of foot and quick at shooting. Near the entrance of a narrow passage between the mountains, young Ê'irgin is standing. He is drinking water from a wooden bowl. He sees a Cossack warrior clad in full armor coming to him. "Drink your fill," says the Cossack. "That is your last drink on earth." The Cossack brandishes his spear. Ê'irgin takes his bow, and puts on the string a small arrow of whalebone. The face of the Cossack is covered all over with iron, only two holes are left for the eyes. He shoots and hits him in the right eye through the hole of the visor. The Cossack falls down and is taken prisoner.

Other warriors are also mentioned, but they do not play an important role. Those whose names han been given are known in various parts of the Chukchee territory. I met families who claim descent from one or the other of these ancient heroes. "We count nine generations (sometimes eight, rarely less than that) from such and such a one," is the usual expression. "We trace our lineage." And the families with such a lineage claim a certain superiority over others, though by the other people these pretensions are but little heeded.

The Ta'n.ñit of these tales are, as stated before, Reindeer Koryak. They are always described as very rich in reindeer, considerably more so than the Chukchee. They have certain fortresses (wui'wun, pl. wui'wut, a term used at present for single block-houses, and also villages of the Russians and Russianized patives, composed of such block-houses). It is not easy to understand what kind of fortresses these wui'wut may have been. The details of the description are insufficient to form any judgment. For instance: "Then the Ta'n.ñit shut themselves up in the wui'wun. They broke down another wui'wun, and covered the walls of the first with its wood. On the roof, near the vent-hole, is a second story. The best archers stand there and shoot downwards on the assailants." Perhaps it is simply the underground house of the Maritime Koryak, {See W. Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 454.} with the wooden storm-roof around the vent-hole. Such houses are quite suitable for use as strongholds. The Russian accounts of the wars with the Koryak, in the first half of the eighteenth century, mention quite frequently small fortresses in which the Koryak used to defend themselves, and which were taken by the Russians. The same may be said of the Kamchadal. All such fortresses, however, belong to the Maritime people.

According to an oral communication of Mr. Jochelson, among the Maritime Koryak traditions still exist concerning the invasions and assaults of the Reindeer Chukchee. The Maritime Koryak had fortified villages. Such villages were placed on high cliffs, on narrow promontories and points of land, or on lone islands not far from the shore. Access was shut off by a stone wall or by wooden palisades. The Reindeer Koryak also prepared fortified places at points similar to those mentioned. The herd was gathered together and pent up in a corral made of sledges, or it was driven away to far-off pastures. The people remained in a chosen place behind the bulwark, ready to hold out. {See Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 795.} Some of the Kamchadal villages were also surrounded by bulwarks of stones or earth. On ancient village sites in northwestern Kamchatka I have still found the remnants of such bulwarks. They were in the form of a large quadrangle, with an entrance from the sea-side. Chukchee stories referring to the wars with the Cossacks also mention such fortified strongholds, built by the Chukchee. One story mentions that the Reindeer Chukchee fled from the Cossacks to a very remote place, and took up their position under a cliff. The Cossacks came and climbed the cliffs; then, pushing down heavy stones, they broke up the fort and exterminated the people. Some other people made a fort in the land Ne'ten, near Cape Pe'ek. They built it under an overhanging cliff, so that it was impossible to roll stones down upon it. In this fort they defended themselves with success against the Cossacks.

Cossack Wars. -- The Cossacks, as related before, are also called Ta'n.ñit. The adjective mê'lhi ("fire-tool") {Compare p. 18.} is added but rarely. Among the Anadyr people the name qa'čak ("cossack") is also used. Qačau'mêl ("cossack-like") means also "badly, cruelly."

One tale mentions the first impression of the coming of the Cossacks: --

"When they first, came, our people were very much afraid of them, because they were of quite unknown appearance. Their whiskers stood out like those of the walrus. Their spearheads were a cubit long, and so broad that they obscured the sun. Their eyes were of iron, round and black. All their clothing was of iron. They dug the ground with the butt-ends of their spears, like angry reindeer-bucks, inviting our warriors to single combat."

According to the Chukchee tales, the Russians treated the natives most cruelly, they exterminated the people, and murdered all prisoners; with their axes they cleft the men in twain, striking them between the legs; and they tore the women in two like dried fish. They would put a prisoner in a sitting position. Then they would put a rope around his neck, and the other end of this rope they would tie to his membrum virile. After that they would poke him in the face with a bar of red-hot iron. The man would bound up, and his membrum virile would be torn away.

The Chukchee fled from the Cossacks in all directions. Then they came to a stand. Resistance was organized, which led to a successful repulsion of the invaders.

Some of the tales describe the Russians with a manifest intention of derision.

"There was a small girl Yi'nki-ñe'ut by name. Some people had gathered in a tent to perform a thanksgiving ceremonial. They darkened the vent-hole, and began to sing. Still they were not men, but dogs. Some sang, 'Koo, koo, koo!' Others howled, 'Koon, koon, koon!' {These sounds are represented as long, wailing, monotonous. They are intended to characterize the manner of singing of the white people. The Chukchee manner of singing is different, and consists of short, rolling, trembling, ever-changing sounds of guttural character. The Chukchee often say that the white people sing as dogs howl.} Then the house mistress said to the girl, 'Look there! Who are those singers? Why have they closed the entrance and darkened the vent-hole?' The girl found a crevice, and peeped through it. They were all dogs. The Chukchee people came hastily and gave them blows. The dogs fled to the, west and became Russian people. Some of them, however, remained dogs, and were used by the others for driving. Those that were beaten got angry at the blows and began a war. О dear! we did not know. Our people chastized the dogs, and they became a people." {Greenland tradition also mentions erkigdlit, fabulous and hostile inlanders with faces like those of dogs. Dall, Murdoch, and others translate this name as "children of a louse's egg" (Murdoch, Point Barrow Eskimo, p. 51). The Reindeer Chukchee call the Maritime dog-breeders, in a somewhat similar way, "born from dog-excrement."}

A story like this, of course, could be found only among the reindeer-breeders, in opposition to the Russian dog-drivers.

Almost all tales mention the name of Yäku'nnin, the chief of the Cossacks. This name is given to Major Pavlutsky. {Argentoff mentions the name Pavluchka as used in Chukchee traditions. I could not find this mentioned in the papers of Argentoff, but have met with it in an article in a Russian review, that related to one of my own papers. The article mentions that the paper by Argentoff in question here is very rare, and has appeared in Siberia. I have not come across the name Pavluchka in Chukchee stories and traditions. The Chukchee, upon the whole, are inclined to substitute for alien names new compositions of their own.} Its origin could not be ascertained. It is allied to the Russian name Яковъ, pronounced Yakov ("James"); but the first name of Pavlutsky was Theodore, not James. Yäku'nnin is described as strong and tall, clad in glistening iron, shining white like a large white gull (Larus argentatus). He stands before a crowd of Chukchee in full armor, springs up as high as the highest tree, and brandishes his spear. He has a step-son, or an adopted son, from the reindeer-breeding people, either Koryak or Chukchee, -- a good warrior, who aids Yäku'nnin in many ways. The defeat of Yäku'nnin is preceded by the misadventure of his assistant. In some versions the adopted son of Yäku'nnin, who is called Young Yäku'nnin, is taken prisoner and killed. In other versions, when taken a prisoner, he consents to commit treason, and brings Chukchee scouts to the Russian camp. In still other stories he gives information which makes it possible for the Chukchee to lay hold of the provisions of the Russians. Some of the details correspond in a certain degree to the real facts. Pavlutsky and his Cossacks, as well as many other Cossack expeditions, had an auxiliary detachment of Tungus, Chuvantzy, and even Koryak, driving reindeer and conveying food. They took part in the campaign half against their wills, and afterwards broke out in open mutiny, or simply left the Cossacks at an opportune moment. In the detachment of Pavlutsky there was even some quarreling among the Cossacks of local birth and the infantry that he brought along from Yakutsk. Local Russian tradition states that part of the Cossacks, annoyed at the hardships of an aimless and endless campaign, left Pavlutsky and returned to the Kolyma. As the leader of this act, the name of Krivogornizyn is mentioned, who was pyatidesyatnik (literally, "chief of fifty men," the second degree of commissioned officer in the Cossack regiment). During the time of my travels, a man of that name still lived on the Lower Kolyma, in the village of Pokhotsk, which is the centre of the ancient Cossack population. He was reputed to be a descendant of the "traitor." He was quite blind and extremely poor. The people said that he was being punished for the sins of his ancestor. In Chukchee tales Pavlutsky is represented as very cruel. The cruelties I mentioned before are all connected with his name. He is therefore given an additional name," Aqä-tei'ññilin Yäku'nnin" ("cruelly-murdering Yäku'nnin"). He wanted to exterminate the whole Chukchee people. When murdering people, he would gather up the fur caps of the killed men. Twenty sledges loaded with caps he sent to the Sun Chief (the Emperor). He said, "No more are left. I exterminated them all." The Sun Chief answered, "There are still numerous little birds hidden in the grass." -- "Then I will go and finish them." Therefore, when he is defeated and taken prisoner, the Chukchee, in their turn, torture him and put him to a cruel death. Russian and Tungus tradition also mentions that Pavlutsky was taken prisoner and tortured to death. He was wounded and fell to the ground; but the Chukchee for a long time could find no place in his armor through which to deal a mortal blow. Only when the armor was untied and opened, was be stabbed in the neck. Chukchee tradition says that he was wounded in the right eye, then killed with a knife thrust into the abdomen under a joint of the armor. Another version says that he was stripped of armor and slowly roasted over a big fire, and that the roasted meat was cut off piece by piece and thrown away. Still another version mentions that he was stripped naked and made to run around on the snow, being urged on like a young reindeer with a heavy wooden club tied to his head. {Compare p. 76.} All this time he was beaten with whips and tent-dusters, and every blow drew blood. So he died.

A very interesting tale collected on the middle course of the Anadyr relates how two Reindeer Chukchee brothers, Ma'nê and Mana'qtun, fought against the Russians. Mana'qtun was taken captive. Ma'nê, in his turn, captured single-handed a Russian ship on which a great commander was travelling up the river. This was done in the following manner. At some rapids several Cossacks were walking along the shore, towing the ship. Ma'nê concealed himself among the bushes and awaited their approach. They were making great efforts, because the ship was very heavy, and they were unarmed. All their arms were aboard the ship. When they came quite near, Ma'nê rushed out and attacked them. They were nearly exhausted, and offered little resistance; so he killed them all with his spear. After that he seized the tow-line. The commander was alone in the ship, holding the rudder. Ma'nê held the tow-line." You there! All the arms that you have on the ship throw into the water. Otherwise I shall let go of the tow-line." The commander took all the rifles and long knives (swords) and threw them into the water, etc.

All the details of this episode belong to an old Cossack tale which describes the early exploits of Yermak, the conqueror of Siberia, on the Lower Volga. The tale was carried by Cossacks to the Anadyr, then borrowed by the Chukchee and adapted to the description of their own heroes.

I shall speak about the tradition relating to the conclusion of peace between the Chukchee and the Russians, and the beginnings of trade, in the last chapter of this volume.

Maritime People, as stated before, took little part in the Ta'n-ñin wars. Tradition, however, mentions the dog-drivers now and then as joining the reindeer-drivers; but the dog-drivers are always represented as of little account. They come in at the end of the fighting, and are referred to in very few words. Moreover, it seems that the dog-drivers were not Maritime settlers, but only the poorest "of the inland inhabitants, who, owing to lack of driving-reindeer, travelled with dogs. In ancient times some of the inhabitants of the interior were poor in reindeer, and so kept some dogs.

Eskimo Wars. -- The wars of the Chukchee with the Eskimo are preserved in the memory of the people with less distinctness, perhaps, because they are more ancient. In some tales a cruel and implacable war between two Maritime peoples is referred to. The one are described as the Chukchee; the other, according to the details of their material life, must be the Eskimo. They live by hunting seal, and have never seen a domesticated reindeer. They travel with dogs, and even these are few in number. Their houses are underground, and steadied from within with jaw-bones of whales. The people, however, are not the Eskimo: they are evil spirits (ke'let), and war with them is prosecuted chiefly by magic.

In other tales dealing with the same subject, but of a less fantastic nature, two peoples also wage war against each other. These are the Reindeer men (Čawčuwa't, or Ča'wču) against the Ai'wanat, -- "those of this side" (wotênqa tkênat) against "those of that side" (En.ke'kinet); the westerners ("those coming leeward," eigi'sqilit) against the easterners ("those coming windward," aiva'La3t). {Compare p. 27.} Usually under the first name are understood the Chukchee, and under the second the Eskimo; but this is not quite certain. A large part of the Maritime people must have been Chukchee, even in ancient times; but their role in those wars is not represented with much distinctness. On the other hand, even among the Eskimo, those of the Asiatic shore, in contrast to those of St. Lawrence Island and to those of America, call themselves "Reindeer tribe" (Čawčuwa't), meaning by this that they are nearer to the reindeer-herds than "those of the other shore" (Ro'čhilit), and the name Ai'wanat, given to them by the inland reindeer-breeders, they apply in their turn to the people of the other shore. {The Chukchee name for St. Lawrence Island, Eiwhue'n, is probably connected with the name Ai'wan (cf. p. 27).} They give as a reason for this, that in their traffic with "those of the other shore," they offer the products of reindeer-breeding (reindeer-meat, fawn-skins, ready-made clothes of reindeer-skin), while "those of the other shore" bring the products of Maritime pursuits (seal-skins, thong, blubber). Though this is quite true, still the contrast is much exaggerated.

One of the most frequent episodes of this tradition refers to a struggle between a Ča'wču warrior and a Maritime Ai'wan. In the summer-time the reindeer-breeder goes to the seashore, and finds there the Ai'wan carving a whale and hauling to the shore a quantity of walrus killed on a sea-hunt. The reindeer-breeder is longing for the sea-meat. He visits the Ai'wan, or sends to him some member of his family, and asks for blubber. In some versions the request is granted, and the Reindeer-man goes home peacefully with the object of his desire. Thus, for instance, in the tale of "The Happy Suitor," the hero visits the Ai'wan, and sees a walrus-carcass lying whole on the ground. He says, "I come for blubber!" They answer, "Here is the carcass: we will carve it, and cut a piece for you." He says, "Better not carve it. It is just a good carrying-load for my shoulder." -- "Oh, no! Will you be able to carry it?" -- "Oh, yes! if only you do not grudge it." He lifted the carcass on his shoulder and carried it home. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 253.}

Much more frequently, however, the Ai'wan refuses the request. This refusal is contrary to the customs of arctic life, which require liberality on the part of a successful hunter, and, in case a whale has been captured, grant the right to everyone to take part in the carving of the meat. So after the refusal a wrestling-match ensues, in which the Reindeer-breeder vanquishes and kills the Ai'wan. Then he carries away the object of the strife. Thus, in the third chapter of the tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons," two sons of Ele'ndi send their old father to an Ai'wan neighbor to ask for some whale-skin. The Ai'wan, in derision, fills with blubber the upper part of the old man's breeches. The young men get angry and run to the place. A whale's carcass is lying on the beach. The Ai'wan's working-people are busy carving whale-meat. The two young men jump to the whale, and, raising their spears, drive away all the people. The Ai'wan calls to them, "Stop that! First kill me, then take my whale!" But they pay no heed to his words. He says, "Bring the requisites for a wrestling-match." A walrus-hide is brought, and also some thigh-bones of walrus. He spreads the hide upon the ground, breaks the bones into sharp-pointed splinters, and fastens the splinters all around the edge of the hide with points upward. Then he smears the hide all over with blubber. This done, he takes a stand in the middle of the hide, and calls out, "Come on!"

The brothers are still carving whale-meat. They chop off piece after piece as large as a thong-seal carcass, flinging it over the shallow water towards the shore. The Ai'wan stands firmly, as if riveted to the ground. "Come on, you good-for-nothings! What kind of men are you!" The younger one made a leap high up to the shore. His feet hit just the middle of the hide. He stands there, as if glued to the spot. The Ai'wan says, "Who will begin?" -- "You begin!" -- "No, you begin, if you are the robber." -- "All right!" He wants to catch hold of the Ai'wan, but, no matter what he does, the other one stands his ground. He tries to grasp him by the neck; but it is stiff, like wood. He moves his hands all around him, takes his aim, and watches for an opportunity.

All at once he sets his hand like an axe-blade, strikes him upon the neck; and the head is cut off and flies away, spinning like a top. The body is still standing. The Ai'wan's people are looking on in silence. The body falls down. The Ai'wan's wife flees to the open tundra. The Chukchee jumps back to his mate on the whale. When they have finished with the meat, they carry it home. Oh, what a load they carried! {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 351.}

The details are quite popular, and are repeated in several tales. Some others are added; for instance, the victor simply cuts the whale-carcass in two, takes one half in each hand, and carries it home. Then he flings the pieces down upon the ground before his tent, and exclaims, "Here, eat your fill!"

There is one very characteristic tale relating to the war between the Maritime people of this shore and those of the American side. {See Vol. VIII of this series, pp. 7 et seq.} It refers to the struggle between the people of Indian Point and those of St. Lawrence Island. Both are Eskimo; but the tale is popular among the Maritime Chukchee, and I collected it among them. I should mention that the other Asiatic point which is the nearest to the "shore of the other side," the village Nѳ'ѳkan, on East Cape, is also inhabited by Eskimo. East Cape and Indian Point, of course, served as starting-points in all the wars of Asiatic natives against those of the American shore.

"Two men of Indian Point, one of them a shaman, were carried away by a tempest, in the winter-time, with the ice floes. They were taken to St. Lawrence Island, and arrived at a village. The people caught them and killed one of them, piercing his skull with a sharp drill. The shaman was left alive and made a slave. He only slept once with them, then he called to his walrus-spirits. A number of walrus came, and formed single file, so that he was able to walk upon their heads. After he had stepped on a walrus, it would dive into the water and join the file in front. After several adventures he returned to Indian Point and told the people there of the fate of his companion. The people resolved to take revenge. The following summer, warriors from every village gathered on the shore. They came in boats. The whole fleet of big boats sailed across the straits to St. Lawrence Island. They saw a village on the shore, and in a thick fog landed not very far away from it. The greater part of the people moved inland in order to attack the enemy from behind. Some few went directly to the village under cover of the fog. One old man said, 'Give voice, like wolves howling.' They howled like wolves. Then among the £t. Lawrence people another old man started, and said, 'Oh, they are here!' The younger people answered, 'Is it possible? But we are on an island.' -- 'Oh, yes! Give answer, you also.' Then they roared like walrus. Meanwhile the larger troop of assailants, those that were behind, were slowly approaching. All of a sudden they attacked the islanders, and began to kill them. The women, from sheer fright, strangled themselves. Others carved walrus-meat, with which to treat the victors. A great slaughter ensued. Numerous women were taken prisoners and carried to Indian Point.

"After four years the St. Lawrence people, in their turn, sought revenge. They came in the night-time, and succeeded in surprising the people in their sleep. They killed them simply by thrusting their spears through the skin walls of the sleeping-room. One small orphan-boy, however, fled in time, and wakened the people. Then the assailants fled to the open sea. The next year the old men of St. Lawrence said, 'It is enough. Let all the people make peace among themselves.' The summer came, and a number of the islanders came to the shore. They brought a large number of wooden vessels, and gave them to the people of this land. An old man of our shore said, 'How will you answer them? Give them skins.' They gave them soft skins. 'What skins are these?' -- 'Reindeer-skins!' -- 'What is a reindeer?' -- 'They are with antlers!' -- 'What are antlers?' So they showed them a part of some skin from the head of a reindeer. They looked at it, and said, 'Oh, how wonderful! The nose is like the holes in the hide cover of a boat.' -- 'You had better try the meat!' They cooked some reindeer-fat. -- 'Oh, well! it is like blubber.' Then they ate of it. 'Oh, it tastes good!' They went away and left one man. He was a shaman; and the people of this shore made him a prisoner in the same way as the islanders did four years ago to one of our people."

This is a very typical description of a war between two Maritime people living on opposite shores of Bering Sea.

Tungus and Yukaghir Wars. -- Chukchee intercourse with the Tungus is quite recent, and almost nothing of it is reflected in the folk-stories. One or two tales relating to it are quite short, and poor in details. The tales of the eastern Tungus, on the contrary, contain a number of details about the coming of the Chukchee and their struggle with the Tungus inhabitants of the land. As to the Yukaghir, the Chukchee tales hardly mention them. Yukaghir tradition, on the contrary, asserts that the Chukchee and the Yukaghir were friendly among themselves; and one time, when a certain Chukchee was killed unintentially by the Yukaghir, and they saw his face, they exclaimed with much sorrow, "Sun, look on, we have killed a brother." {Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, p. x.} But the Chukchee tales contain nothing about the Ve'emilit ("river-settlers''), the name used for the Yukaghir.

Intertribal Wars. -- As to wars among the various parts of the Chukchee tribe, the tales mention some cases of such. Among the Reindeer Chukchee certain remote groups are even now looked upon with much distrust: such as the people of Chaun, by those of the whole Kolyma country; and, by the Pacific part of the tribe, those of the Telqä'p tundra {Compare p. 27.} and the so-called Ye'lkelit of the Upper Anadyr River and of its tributary the White River. These branches of the Reindeer Chukchee are generally spoken of as "bad" people, poor and reckless. They pay back in kind, and even scuffles often arise on the ground of mutual taunting.

One tale relates how Head-Nodder, E3le'nnut, and Aiña'irgin, set off against the Koryak.

"On the way they visited the Aiva'La3t. {Easterners. The Chukchee of the Telqä'p and of the Anadyr River are called by this name (cf. p. 27).} They were living on the shore of a lake. The lake was large, and the ice on it quite thick. One water-hole was cut in the middle of the lake. 'Go and fetch some water!' said Head-Nodder to the younger people. Some went for water. Across the water-hole stands `Ta've with wide-spread legs, the big man, the strong one. "What do you want?' -- 'We want water.' -- 'You shall not have it.' -- They went back. 'Why have you not brought water?' cries E3le'nnut. 'Ta've did not let us! Now go yourself.' -- 'I will go!' cries Aiña'irgin. He took the kettle and descended from the shore. Then he came to the water-hole. 'Go away!' -- 'You shall not have it!' He came quite close, put the kettle on the ice, caught Ta've and turned him head over heels. He broke with his head the thin ice over the water-hole, then he hurled him down on the ground. After that he filled his kettle and went back. 'Oh, oh!' The Easterners seized their spears. 'Stop that!' cries Head-Nodder. 'What strife is this, since we are of one tribe? Better let us go and try our anger on some other tribe.' Then peace was made among the people, and all of them set forth against the Ta'n.ñit."

During the scuffle at the Anui fair in the year 1895, which I mentioned before, Ei'heli, "the highest chief of the Chukchee," happened to pick a quarrel with the people of the Chaun country. A man from Chaun was killed there. Ei'heli, who was drunk at the time of the scuffle, as usual, saw the corpse, and said aloud, "Oh, a man from Chaun! A dog dies a dog's death!" He even pushed the corpse with the toe of his boot. All this became known to the Chaun people, and they wanted to make Ei'heli rue his words. So the next morning they met him on his way to the Russian fort, and wanted to seize his reindeer. He succeeded in getting loose from them. Then they declared that they would kill Ei'heli just as the Russians had killed one of their number. Ei'heli felt uneasy, and the next morning left, and made for his own country. I was then with him. The first five days we travelled quite fast, from fear of pursuit. Three years before, Ei'heli and his people had had a quarrel with the people from Chaun, and had nearly come to blows.

Minor quarrels sometimes arise in connection with conflicting claims to the best reindeer-pastures. The tale of "The Happy Suitor" contains a curious episode of this kind.

"Two sons of the hero came back from the reindeer-pasture. The elder said to the father, 'A man of the neighboring camp is pasturing his reindeer on our grounds.' The father said, 'Why is he angry at us, that he acts in such a manner? This is our fall pasture. Is there not room enough farther on? What has angered him?' Then he said, 'Take that, and stick it into the ground there.' He gave them a large arrow with a wooden head. 'With this I want to recover my pasture. This is the sign of interdiction of use.' They went to the pasture and put the arrow there. In the fall they drove their herd towards that pasture. Then they could not find the arrow. The other man had taken it away, and the pasture was quite trampled down. At last they found an old fireplace, and there a remnant of the arrow, all charred. The man had used it to boil some soup for himself, so large was the arrow. Some time after that, they pitched their tents in a new place. Then they saw the other man passing by with a caravan of sledges. The pack-sledges were following one behind another in a long file. The old man took his bow and five arrows and killed five reindeer one after another, so that five sledges were left without driving-animals. The people of the offender had to attach their own driving-reindeer to the sledges, and to walk slowly afoot. So the old man had his revenge for the burnt arrow."

As to the Maritime Chukchee, I mentioned a feud between the villages Lu3'ren and Ya'nřa-ñai, which lasted through more than ten generations, and has not been smoothed over even at the present time. {Compare p. 50.}

Slaves. -- The term for a male slave was pu'rel, and for a female slave na'uchin. The latter is simply a variation of the word ne'us-qat ("woman''). Other synonymes of the word pu'rel are ä3mu'lin, vi'yokn, gŭpi'lin. Properly speaking, pu'rel was a captive of another tribe, or perhaps a man of the same tribe who was enslaved, in lieu of blood-revenge. I shall treat of this later on. Äsmu'lin signifies also "weak one," "weakling," and is used as an invective, especially with the superlative prefix ciq (ciq-a3mu'lin, "a very weak one"). Vi'yolm signifies "assistant," and is used even for some of the benevolent spirits. Gupi'lin signifies "a working-man," and is applied to all workers, male or female, even those belonging to one's own family. Nevertheless all these terms are used in a contemptuous sense, and may be used as invectives. They are applied also to the real slaves almost without discrimination.

In modern life slaves hardly exist. The remembrance of them, however, is fresh. For instance, two of my acquaintaces -- one Ara'ro, a very rich reindeer-breeder of the western tundra; and the other, Aiñanwa't -- still declared themselves to be descendants of captive slaves of Ta'n-ñin origin; and even their neighbors sometimes taunted them with the fact, and called them pora'lčiñin ("piece of a slave"). The line of descent was removed several generations. Still Aiñanwa't asserted that he himself was a Ta'n.ñin, though of course even his great-grandfather spoke only Chukchee and lived among that tribe. Even the special incantations which Aiñanwa't possessed, as does almost every Chukchee reindeer-breeder, mentioned his Ta'n.ñin and A'tal-Ta'n.ñin (Chuvantzy) origin.

The tales often make mention of slaves, male and female, taken as prisoners of war. The tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons" gives a detailed description of an enslaved prisoner of Ai'wan origin. The hero vanquishes him in single fight. Then, in order to weaken his future powers of resistance and to break his spirit, he beats him with a heavy club all over the muscles and fleshy parts of the body. After that he ties him firmly to a pole, and carries him away like a log. The slave is suffering, and cries, "I am thirsty!" One time they give him water-, another time they do not care to do so. When brought to the house of the victors, he is made a reindeer-herdsman; and when he does not give full satisfaction, the master severely chastises him. The slave repays him with treachery, and is finally killed by the master.

Half-grown boys and girls were considered as-best fitted to be taken as slaves. Sometimes numbers of them were taken with the herds and kept with them, especially as they knew their own herd better than the victors. Thus, in the tale of "Ta'lo, the Ta'n.ñin Nursling," the hero, after vanquishing the Ta'n.ñit, takes fifteen herds, and with them eighty young slaves. All other prisoners are deprived of life. In the tale of "The Transformed Shaman" the hero takes a number of herds and combines them. Each herd had its own young herdsmen, who formed quite a throng. When coming home, the hero divides the booty into two parts, -- the reindeer as well as the herdsmen, -- and gives one part to his brother. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 241.} In the course of time, such captives mixed with the Chukchee people, the herds were slaughtered and consumed by the victors, and a part of them fell into the possession of their herdsmen. In the tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons," it is said that even the treacherous Ai'wan slave, if he should behave properly, would ultimately receive from the master a portion of the herd, though it was not even acquired in war and was the master's old property. Captive women were hard-worked, and were made the wives of their masters. Sometimes they were sold from one camp to another; but, on the whole, their position was little different from that of the Chukchee women.

The price of a grown woman was a large bag of tobacco (72 or 108 pounds Avoirdupois). {Compare p. 57.} Young girls were cheaper. I shall show in the last chapter that captive women from the American shore were sold by the Chukchee traders even to Russian settlers.

I mentioned before, that in modern times no slaves have existed among the Chukchee. I was told in the village of Valqa'Lên that some years ago, in one of the reindeer-camps of the vicinity, an old woman died who had been captured by the Maritime Chukchee on a free-booting expedition to the American shore, and then sold to the Reindeer-breeders. In a camp on the Wolverene River I met another old woman who was also of American Eskimo origin. She was said to have been bought by a Maritime Eskimo trader, and also sold to the Reindeer-breeders. At the time, she was an old widow without children, and lived in the camp of the brother of her former husband. The other women, when speaking of her, called her, with a shade of contempt, "the slave-woman" (ña'učhin).

I was told that in cases of murder, blood-revenge may be replaced b whale-boat oars, and are often simply bought from the whalers. Rowlocks, also copied from civilized designs, are fastened to the skin covering. Each thwart has, for the most part, only one man, who rows in civilized fashion. A rude helm (Fig. 45, c) has gradually replaced the steering-paddle. It is curious that the oars of the Koryak boats, rest in loops instead of rowlocks, after the manner of American Eskimo; also their gunwales are furnished with wooden guards to prevent friction of the oars.

Wherever the shore will allow, the boats are towed by a long thin rope. Dogs are used for the purpose; and with a well-trained leader, they will go by themselves, if the shore is straight enough, and has no sharp, projecting bowlders that will catch the rope.

On our journey from Indian Point to the mouth of the Anadyr, eight dogs were strong enough to tow the heavily laden boat; and when the weather was favorable, we made about a hundred miles in twenty-four hours of uninterrupted travel.

The skin boat has a mast, which is set on the central timber between the two foremost thwarts, more rarely between two middle thwarts. A small piece of wood serves as its socket (Fig. 44, c2). The mast is supported by four stays fastened its top or passing through a hole in it. The forestays are joined together and simply slung over the end of the bow. The back-stays are fastened to the middle strips by means of ivory blocks (Figs. 44, a1; 46, a1; 46, b), which are occasionally replaced by loops of thong (Fig. 46, a2). Sometimes, when the weather is rough, two extra stays are fastened, one on the right, and the other on the left side.

The sail is large and square, and is fastened by loops to a yard. It is hoisted by means of a stout seal-skin thong which is passed through a hole in the top of the mast, sometimes with the aid of a pulley. Four slender lines extend from the ends of the sail and yard to the stern, where they are tied to the inside strip-lashings. By means of these lines the position of the sail can be changed, enabling the boat to go with a side wind. The boat I obtained has two sails, one above the other, with separate halyards and lines. At the present time the square sail is gradually being superseded by a triangular one, copied after that of the whalers (Plate xi, Figs. 2, 3), which enables the boat to beat to windward. With the wind aft, however, the square sail is much more effective; and even with a side wind it keeps the boat much steadier.

In former times sails were made of curried reindeer-skins sewed together. Nowadays white and blue drilling is used in the trading-villages, while in more remote places numerous pieces of cotton and skin are patched together to form a large sail. In rough weather, if the wind is fair, two large floats are fastened on both sides of the boat, below the railing; while with a side wind the boat itself is too buoyant to allow the floats to be added. The sides of many boats are provided also with flaps of skin or drilling, which in rainy weather are used for covering the cargo, and in rough weather are raised, and held in place by sticks or simply by inverted paddles. These are very convenient, and keep off the dashing spray even in very rough weather.

The skin boat has many advantages over the wooden whale-boat.

It is much lighter, and, while it carries more freight, can be propelled or towed along the shore with less labor. For the windward motion the skin boat is not so convenient, because it is too buoyant, and, moreover, has no outer keel. Much more important is the advantage the skin boat possesses in being able to land through heavy surf. Both on the Arctic and on the Pacific shore the sea is very rough, especially in the fall; and sudden squalls are frequent. The skin boat, when caught in a storm, does not seek the harbor, but makes for the first sandy spot free from stones, and screened from the rushing wind in some way by coast cliffs. The landing is effected in a peculiar way: the boat, propelled by oars, boldly makes for the shore, and in a favorable moment the end of a rope is thrown to the shore, or, when there is nobody to catch it, a man will jump out with it. The boat, while free on the water, is made by the steersman to turn in alongside the shore, and then the end of another rope is thrown from the stern, or another man jumps out with it. By pulling the ropes tight, the men on the shore make the water side of the boat stand up high against the breaking surf, and the first incoming wave catches the boat -- crew, cargo, and all -- and casts it ashore. The flat, slippery boat acts like a live fish; and the stronger the wave, the farther on shore will the boat be carried. Then all the crew jump out and begin to unload, the first two men all the time pulling the ropes, and making the boat, as it becomes lighter and lighter, bound farther and farther toward the shore. To prevent the skin from rubbing against the ground, oars are thrown under the boat and secured with separate lines, so that they cannot be carried away by the waves. When the boat is lightly laden and the people are numerous, -- as, for instance, on a village shore, -- they simply seize the boat by the lashings and carry it along, cargo and all. These methods of landing, quite impracticable with the ordinary wooden whale-boat, look strange to a civilized eye; but when, in the first heavy surf encountered on our journey, we tried to land with the bow forward, in the ordinary way, the boat filled with water and nearly capsized; and it would have been completely wrecked had it not been for the extreme toughness and elasticity of its frame.

Of the wooden boats I had occasion to see, the "sampan" of northern Japanese fishermen with flat bottom and smooth sides, more nearly resembles the skin boat. Like that, it is able to land through surf, when ordinary European boats are threatened at every attempt with capsizing.

For setting out from shore, the skin boat is put close to the water, with bow foremost but out of reach of the larger waves. Two or three inflated floats are laid under it, with long lines tied to their flippers. Then the boat is loaded, and with one effort pushed into the water; while the crew, with oars and poles, prevent it from being hurled against the shore.

On narrow strips of land between two shores the boats are unloaded and taken across. Six men can easily carry on their shoulders an empty boat, even when soaked with water. Sometimes only part of the freight is taken out, and the boat is pushed across on the floats, which act like rollers and prevent its contact with the ground.

One of the drawbacks of the skin boat is the fragility of its cover. Every sharp stone is liable to cut a hole through it, especially when it has been soaked and softened with water. At every landing it is necessary to look carefully over the whole skin surface, to clean away from under the central timber every small pebble, and to patch even the minutest hole; otherwise the boat may suddenly spring a leak while on the water,. and necessitate an extra landing. When in good repair, the boat is water-tight, and requires no bailer; on the other hand, I know of cases where, on account of an overlooked gap, boats were almost sunk before a landing could be effected. While on shore, the boat is turned upside down, pebbles and sand are shaken off by repeated blows with the oar, and the cover is allowed to dry. If not dried for a long time, the boat will warp and get out of shape. To prevent warping, the boat has several sets of special lashings (see Fig. 44, c1), which connect the gunwales with the Central timber, and can be lengthened or shortened.

The Reindeer Chukchee living near the seashore also use skin boats; and the boats of the Telqä'p people, for instance, are just-as large as those of the Maritime villagers. The inland Reindeer people have no boats, and hardly need any. A few of them buy from the Russianized Yukaghir or from the Yakut small wooden canoes, and drag them along to use in summer on the lakes and larger rivers.

Camps travelling late in spring, especially those of the Kavra'lit, are often hampered while on the road by the breaking-up of the ice. In order to cross the mountain rivers, suddenly swollen by floods, they sometimes construct a peculiar device, consisting of several sledges tied together in a pile, and protected from beneath by the cover of the outer tent. This is used as a raft to carry over men and household things. {Compare May dell, p. 211.}

Hunting of Land-Game. -- Of land-game, the wild reindeer is the most important. It is nevertheless not so abundant in northeastern Asia as the caribou in America, because the best pastures are occupied by domesticated herds. Only the depths of the forests and the higher slopes of the mountains are left quite undisturbed for the wild breed, because they are unsuitable for the breeding of domesticated animals. Wild reindeer, however, are met everywhere in northeastern Asia, in single heads or in small herds.

The wild reindeer is larger than any of the domesticated varieties. Its step is wider, and its footprint longer, because its hoof-joints are more supple. Its antlers are more or less similar to those of the Lamut reindeer, but generally the ends are bent up in a hook-like shape. Also the difference in size of antlers between buck and doe is still more marked than with Lamut reindeer. The color of the skin is uniformly dark gray, somewhat lighter on the belly and lower part of the neck. Those living on the northeastern tundras and close to the ocean are smaller, but accumulate more fat. In this respect, however, all varieties of the wild reindeer are superior, even to the Chukchee breed.' Late in summer, when insects cease to swarm around the pastures, a wild buck often takes on three inches of tallow on his hips, so that he is no longer able to run with his usual swiftness.

Some wild reindeer always live in the same places. They are called "resident reindeer." Others gather every year in large herds and migrate considerable distances, from the forest border to the tundra and back again.

In former times there were two different trails in northeastern Asia for these migrations. One led from the Kolyma Mountains across the Omolon and the two Anui Rivers to the Chaun tundra; the other, from the high country of Palpal, across the Anadyr River, to the Chukchee Peninsula. About fourscore years ago the reindeer migration over the former trail began to lessen, and finally ceased altogether. Several Yukaghir villages which depended on wild reindeer for their subsistence were starved out in consequence, and the remainder went to the northwest and settled in the Russo-Yukaghir fishing-villages on the Kolyma River. In the year 1896, when descending the Omolon on a raft, I passed several of these deserted or starved-out hamlets. The houses of some were still standing. Others had completely fallen in, and only a grassy patch that interrupted the continuous line of the forest along the bank indicated the former dwelling-place of humanity. For the abandonment of this trail by the reindeer, Yukaghir hunters blame the Lamut, who every spring came from the south and followed the reindeer-herds to the very river's edge, although, according to ancient Yukaghir custom, hunting was strictly forbidden on land, and allowed only on the river. The old men of both tribes attributed this calamity to the increase of sinfulness in the world. There is an old Yukaghir legend which aims at branding the wanton extermination of game and fish. It relates how some men, in most versions some Russian cossacks, tired of killing reindeer on the water, caught one, flayed it alive, and allowed it to escape to the shore. Afterwards, in the fishing-season, they took out the eyes of a live salmon, and in the same manner let it go free. The next year, in hunting-time, the flayed reindeer was seen on the herd's trail, causing the herds to turn away from the river. Likewise the injured salmon made the salmon-shoals go back to the sea, and a frightful famine ensued. Up to a late period, when reindeer-herds or salmon-shoals were not forthcoming, it was considered by the old people as a just punishment for the reckless extermination of the game. It is true even at present, that the Chukchee or Markova hunters, when successful, will kill much more than they want, and afterwards take only the skins, at least from the lean animals, leaving their carcasses to rot. The real reason that reindeer ceased to migrate in the direction of Omolon and the two Anuis, however, probably lies in the fact that the Reindeer Chukchee spread to the west, occupying the tundra pastures, and so there was no place left for wild reindeer. On the upper course of the Omolon the Lamut hunters complain, too, that the "resident" wild reindeer retreated before the Chukchee herds farther into the forest. On the contrary, the hunters on the banks of the Kolyma within the forest border assert that the "resident" reindeer even increased in number, perhaps after their retreat from the tundra, only the animals ceased to gather in herds and to move northwards in certain seasons.

On the Anadyr River the crossing-places of the reindeer are situated on the middle part of the river, between the mouth of the Mam and the small Chukchee settlement Chikayeva. The reindeer leave the Palpal Mountains about the middle of March, and keep crossing the river in bands of varying numbers till the end of June. The greater portion, especially the pregnant dams, cross before the ice breaks up. After having crossed the river, the reindeer scatter all along the tundra. A large number remain in the Pe'kul-ñei Mountains, to the north of the Anadyr. At the end of July the reindeer begin to assemble and come back to the river; then the most important hunting-season begins. Reindeer-herds take the same trail every year, and cross the river at the same places. There the hunters, in separate groups, lie in ambush and wait for the game, each tribe by itself. The Russianized natives keep watch more to the west, chiefly near the mouths of the Main and White Rivers. The Chukchee take their places farther downstream, as far as Chikayevo. Both tribes hunt in a similar manner, only the western natives use the wooden canoe, constructed of three very thin and flexible boards, or dug out of a hollow poplar-trunk, while the Chukchee use the skin canoe. The hunters occupy a place a little downstream from the trail, and keep very quiet. They even refrain from making a fire, in order that the animals may not be frightened away by the smell of smoke. The reindeer come to the river, one (usually a young active doe) running ahead as leader, and begin to swim across, being all the while carried downstream by the current. When the animals are not far from the middle of the river, the hunters rush out in canoes and boats, and try to impede their progress. The frightened animals turn upstream, and exhaust their strength in a vain struggle with the force of the running water; then one or two canoes go around the herd in order to cut off their retreat to the opposite bank, and slaughtering begins. The reindeer huddle together, and float quite helplessly in the middle of the stream. Men in canoes approach the herd and stab the reindeer with spears, which have a very long and slender shaft, a small iron point, and are not used for any other kind of hunting. One side of the double paddle is also often furnished with a small iron spear, which, though not so long, is much handier to use (Fig. 47, a).

The killing is done with incredible rapidity, a man being able to kill as many as a hundred animals in one hour. The wound is inflicted on the lower part of the body, and the wounded animals immediately turn on the side and are carried away by the stream. Most of them do not attempt defence. Young strong bucks, however, often try to kick at the canoe, though the hunter easily avoids their attack. Those hunters who are most skilful with the paddle penetrate into the middle of the herd, and, placing their canoe close between two large bucks, spear all the animals within reach, beginning with those farthest away; while the nearest, not being disturbed, keep quiet, and their bodies shield the canoe from the surrounding commotion. Old men, women and children, row in boats farther down the river, and intercept the game. All animals, when brought to the shore, are skinned. The fattest bucks are carved, and some of the meat is hung up to dry. All other carcasses are simply deposited in storehouses or in temporary hunting-huts, and are used chiefly for dog-food in the winter. A score of Chukchee families living in wooden huts on the Middle Anadyr have no herds, and do very little fishing, but live exclusively on the produce of the chase; and in a successful season one family will have as their share from a hundred and fifty to two hundred reindeer. For their own food they use the animals killed late in the season, especially those shot on the ice of the river, because the reindeer continue to cross late into the fall, and a few stragglers are met on the river even as late as the middle of November.

The Anui and Omolon Yukaghir, who had only a few dogs, were more careful to preserve the meat. They usually cut all the meat in long thin strips, drying it on special drying-racks in sun and wind.

The later the season, the better is the meat, because the animals are no longer worried by insects, and can feed undisturbed. The meat of young animals killed in midsummer is so lean and tasteless, that it is really only fit for dog-food. The buck-skins are valued for summer bedding and as the best material for curried leather. The fawn-skins, on the contrary, are poor, since the hunter cannot choose his own time for killing. Only the poorest people use them for garments, while all others buy fawn-skins from the reindeer-breeders.

At the places where the migrating reindeer crossed the Kolyma and its affluents, the Yukaghir inhabitants used to set long rows of snares on both banks of the river, spreading them out on the trees and among the bushes. These were still more efficient than hunting on the water; but bush and forest on the Middle Anadyr are too scanty to allow of this method of hunting. At the mouth of the Kolyma, where the migration of reindeer still continues to some extent, a few score reindeer are killed every summer on the water, and in some places single snares are still spread on the reindeer-trail.

The frame of the kayak used by the Chukchee for hunting reindeer on the rivers (Fig. 47, 6) is similar to the common Eskimo form, but it is covered with reindeer-skin instead of seal-skin. The manhole in the middle remains open, because there is no need of making it water-tight for use on the river. The kayak is employed because of its lightness as compared to that of the wooden canoes of the Russianized Yukaghir. The type of the Maritime Chukchee kayak is represented in Fig. 47, c. The double paddle (Fig. 47, a) is similar to that of the Yukaghir, and has a stem that is straight or somewhat curved, with blades in the shape of a poplar-leaf. In shallow waters two slender sticks about 150 cm. long and 1 cm. thick are used, both with the dug-out and with the skin canoe, for punting. The sporadic occurrence of the kayak all along the Asiatic shore is very curious. It exists on the Arctic, then almost disappears on the Pacific, again appears on the waters of the Middle Anadyr, then disappears for a long stretch of space, to appear finally on the Okhotsk Sea among the Maritime Koryak.

The hunting of "resident" reindeer is done with the gun, and sometimes even now with the bow. For instance, bucks that go to the Chukchee herds in rutting-time may be killed only with the bow or with the lasso. The Lamut, and, following their example, also the Reindeer Chukchee, take advantage of the well-known curiosity of the reindeer, to lure it within shooting range by means of a special decoy-reindeer, which is put to pasture in the open field, on the end of a very long and thin line. When wild reindeer are espied at a distance, the hunter hides behind some tree or large stone. The Lamut on the open plain will crouch behind the back of his riding-reindeer. Thus the hunter patiently awaits the oncomers, directing the course of his decoy-animal by dexterous pulls and jerks of the line. The best decoy-animal is a cross with a wild reindeer, -- in the rutting-season a young doe, or a buck with large antlers, that is taken by the wild bucks for a rival.

The Lamut hunt reindeer in the spring, running on snowshoes over the hard-crusted snow, but this is possible only in a wooded country. On the tundra the snow is always too hard-beaten by winds to give a man with snowshoes any advantage over the reindeer.

To the Maritime Chukchee the wild reindeer cannot be so important as to the American Eskimo, because most of the hunt is done by the Reindeer Chukchee and other inland tribes; and the maritime people, for the most part, can only have a share in their large hunts. Thus, as already mentioned, people from Pacific villages in former times used to go up the Anadyr River to take part in the reindeer-killing on the water. On the tundra between the Anadyr and Indian Point the chief reindeer-hunters are Maritime Chukchee, who have acquired a few reindeer, and who for this reason spend much time inland, scouring the country the whole time far and wide. The same is true for the whole Chukchee Peninsula.

The elk, in former times, lived in the Kolyma country, close to the seashore; and the Kolyma Yukaghir derived from it a considerable part of their food. Around old dwelling-places at the mouth of the Kolyma I could always find an abundance of elk antlers and bones; and the jacket of a Yukaghir corpse that Mr. Jochelson found in a wooden burial-box on the lower part of the Dry Anui was made of elk-skin. In the last two centuries the elk has retreated into the forest, and does not go to the tundra. The Chukchee, therefore, hunt the elk but little, though in former times they were familiar with that animal, as is indicated by the frequent use of its name. Among the constellations, Castor and Pollux are called "elks;" a stray reindeer coming into a strange herd, and unlawfully appropriated by its master, is called "elk;" etc.

The mountain-sheep is eagerly pursued by all Reindeer Chukchee on account of its meat, which is considered the best of all game; also for its horns, which are used for manufacturing spoons, pronged clasps for the reindeer-harness, cups, etc. Its skin is very soft and warm, and is considered more valuable than reindeer-skin.

The mountain-sheep is very cautious, and lives only on rugged mountains. When caught on the plain, it immediately makes for the nearest hill, however low and easy to climb. In this case the dogs hold the sheep at bay, and the hunter is able to catch it with his lasso.

Of fur-bearing animals, the most important are the white and the red fox. The former are much more numerous, though the red variety also lives all along the Arctic and Pacific coasts, and is even met with and killed on the sea-ice while searching for young seals, or picking up bones left over from the feast of the polar bear. The Maritime and Reindeer Chukchee have several methods of hunting the fox. The most simple is to run it down on a sledge with a swift team of dogs or reindeer. The best hunting-time is after the first snow has fallen, which discloses every trace of the animal, and makes it hard for it to escape. Swift reindeer are able to overtake a fox after two or three hours of hard pursuit. When accustomed to that kind of hunting, they become so excited that they try to trample the fox down. The reindeer is also used in hunting down the wolf, and will be just as eager to catch it and to strike it on the head with the hoof. In fox-hunting the reindeer-driver often does not rely exclusively on the swiftness of his team, but sends a hunting-dog after the fox, replacing it by another when the run has lasted for a couple of hours (a dog-driver simply releases the swiftest dogs of his team one after another for the purpose: the fresh dog will be sure to catch the tired animal). When possible, the fox leads the pursuit to some large lake where the ice keeps bare of snow for a long time, and therefore is too slippery for the reindeer. The short feet of the fox, on such ground, give it advantage even over the dog, facilitating sudden turns and retreats. A good dog, however, would not give in, but would obstinately keep on with the pursuit. Sometimes the two adversaries are so tired that they lie down on the ice opposite each other, and rest for a couple of minutes, keeping a close watch on each other's motions. An old wily fox, when pursued, does not go into its burrow, for it knows that it can be dug out from the shallow ground with but little difficulty. On the Arctic shore the crust of the unfrozen soil is so thin, that the ramifications of the burrow extend directly under the surface, and sometimes the roof can be broken in simply with the foot. Foxes, therefore, often prefer to lodge in hollow logs of driftwood or among stones rather than burrow in the ground. If the fox is in the burrow, the hunter often enlarges the entrance with an axe or an ice-pick; then the fox is extricated with a split stick that catches in some of the hair of its coat, or even simply with the hands, the animal having been dazed with smoke beforehand. In the Kolyma country the Reindeer Chukchee, like other inhabitants, are very assiduous in digging out the young of the white fox, though their skin has hardly any value; and this imprudent extermination has already decreased the number of foxes. In trade, seven qualities of white-fox skin are distinguished, according to age; and the first three are valued at not more than from ten to fifteen cents apiece. In the Kolyma country the Russianized Yukaghir and the Yakut often capture the young of the red fox, and raise them in willow baskets or wooden cases. The animals are half starved, because, if well fed, they would have thin and uneven fur. They are generally killed early in the fall. The Chukchee are too indolent to go to the trouble of raising young foxes in this way, and, moreover, they consider it as tabooed. In, the eastern part of their territory, the Chukchee consider it unfair "to break into the house of any resident, even if it be a fox," because every resident, though but a fox, is supposed to have a drum and charms in his house, and vengeance through "magic means might ensue. Thus only a fox hunted down in the burrow is dug after, especially since often it does not hide in its own hole.

Traps. -- Traps with a spring of twisted sinew (Fig. 48), of the shape common throughout the northern part of the Old World and possibly brought thither by the Russians, were much used in northeastern Asia, and even came to America; {For description, see Nelson, pp. 122, 123.} but on the Pacific they are at present superseded by steel traps bought from the whalers, while on the Kolyma and along the Arctic shore the sinew-twisted trap still prevails. This trap strikes the animal from above; and the blow, though prompt and strong, is not quite sure, since the fox is often quick enough to dodge away in time. Then, instead of being killed, it is only hurt, and may be able to escape, breaking the trap, or biting through the sinew cords. On the other hand, this kind of trap is not very safe for the owner, and when visited may occasionally strike him on the feet, since under the snow it is not easy to ascertain the actual place of the releasing-string and the trigger.

On the Pacific shore some native blacksmiths, Chukchee and Eskimo, hammer traps of their own out of the bar-iron bought from whalers. They have usually but one spring; since traps with two springs work too strongly, and often cut off the paw, instead of holding it. Both kinds of spring-traps, especially the larger ones of steel, are used also for other animals, -- hares, wolverines, wolves, and even swans and geese. When set for the" wolf, the steel trap is fastened with a strong chain to a wooden block weighing from twenty to twenty-five pounds, so that the wolf may be able to drag it along on the snow. If the block should be too heavy, the wolf would snap the chain and carry away the trap. Sometimes the wolf that carried away the trap is able to live for several months on the tundra, preying on hares, moulting ducks, etc. Once in the winter I was shown, on the fresh trail of several wolves, the footsteps of one that evidently had only three paws; the fourth paw probably having withered, and dropped down with the trap. Another time a trap carried away by a wolf in the fall was found in the spring far away in the tundra, with the withered paw of a wolf in it.

Dead-falls are used only by a few Chukchee, in imitation of the Russians, who have large rows of them everywhere in the forest and on the tundra. On the Chukchee Peninsula, among the Maritime people, however, wood is too scarce for constructing dead-falls; and the Reindeer Chukchee in other parts of the country do not care very much about them, since they are not very skilful with the axe.

A common fox dead-fall (Fig. 49) consists of a double fence made of thin poles ten feet long and two feet high, with a space between about two feet and a half broad. The flooring is laid loosely; and the roof is formed of two or three strong beams split at the front end, and having a cross-pole jammed into the cleft. The rear end simply rests on the ground or on a special, very low support. Sometimes a large stone is put on the roof to make it heavier. The roof is quite free, and so fitted that in falling down it will not be interfered with by the side-fences. The long end of the cross-pole touches the ground. The short end is supported by a sweep, which rests on a stake firmly set into the ground. One of the ends of the sweep is connected by a willow withe or by a strong sinew cord with a trigger in the middle of the fence. This trigger is held in place by a short wooden stick, to which the bait is so tied that the first strong pull of the animal sets the trigger free, and the roof, loosened from its support, falls heavily down and crushes it (Fig. 50). For bait a dried salmon-head is used, or the wing-bone of a goose, or something of that kind, usually in the most putrid state, to attract the animals by its pungent smell.

On the tundra, dead-falls are often raised on special supports to prevent them from being blocked by snowstorms. They are of slight build, being intended chiefly for white foxes, and usually have two dropping-beams. Those within the forest border, being intended for red foxes, are more strongly built, and have three dropping-beams. However, the larger animals, such as wolverines and wolves, are caught in them only when the flooring is made with spaces between the poles. Then the feet of the animal will slip through, and the sudden pain and pressure on its back will deprive it of most of its strength. For hares a lighter dead-fall is used. It has only one stout beam; and the fence is made simply of small stakes stuck in a row around the fall. Pieces of willow-bark, or a few tender sprigs of willow or poplar, serve as bait, and are tied to the bait-stick.

On the Arctic shore the inhabitants make dead-falls of blocks of ice, which work on the same principle as the wooden ones. Sometimes, in the deep snow among the rough ice, a pit is dug and covered with a large block of ice. This is well poised on its axis, and will swing on slight pressure; so that the animal stepping on it falls into the pit, and the ice-block comes to its former place by its own weight.

Strychnine pills, procured from Russian or American traders, and wrapped in blubber or tallow, are also occasionally used for killing animals.

The self-acting bow was probably copied from the Russians, together with the sinew spring-trap. At the present time, of all the tribes of northeastern Asia, the Yakut and the Lamut use it most frequently. They secure with it even elk and reindeer. The Chukchee employ it for small animals, such as foxes and hares.

Till recent times the well-known spit of whalebone {Its name in Chukchee is wa'pak, which means literally "fly-agaric" (an intoxicating mushroom). The Chukchee and the Koryak are very fond of this mushroom; and when they find it in the woods, they pick it off just as eagerly as the wolves snatch after the greased whalebone spits. The Chukchee believe, moreover, that mice, when gathering roots for the winter, bring in some unknown intoxicating herbs which they use in their ceremonials. These herbs also serve to protect their stores from intruders, because they are said to act as poison on most other animals, including man. These herbs are called by a name derived from that of the intoxicating mushroom, -- ê'lhi-wa'pak ("white agaric"), -- and a similar name is given to the whalebone spit on account of its power of killing the animal that swallowed it.} (Fig. 51, а), identical with that of the American Eskimo, was used to catch wolves. It consisted of a slender rod of whalebone, with sharp-pointed ends, folded together several times, and bound with a thin thread of sinew well saturated with oil. Afterward it was several times soaked in water and allowed to freeze. The whole object was then well covered with blubber, tallow, meat, or such like. These folded spring-spits were often joined in strings of five or six, and hung on a bush on the wolf's trail, but so high as to be out of reach of foxes; or they were laid in a hole in the ice and water was poured over them, so that it would freeze to a transparent protecting cover strong enough to resist the attacks of smaller animals. The wolf would break through the ice and swallow all the spits, which would unfold in the stomach, and, breaking through its walls, cause the speedy death of the animal. But with only one or two spits it was able to walk away for a considerable distance, even so far that it would never be found by the hunter.

Polar bears are sought on the sea-ice with dog-teams. When the animal is espied, two or three of the best dogs are released. The bear is easily overtaken by them, and, when held at bay, is speared with a lance, or shot with a rifle. The pregnant bear lies down in some convenient spot on the rough ice, and allows the snow to cover her over. She is killed in her snow den, together with her young, much in the same way as are brown bears in more southern latitudes. The polar bear of northeastern Asia is not dangerous, and rarely defends itself. When wounded or hunted down, it simply thrusts its head into the snow, and waits for the blow.

Brown bears are occasionally killed by the Reindeer Chukchee, chiefly during their winter sleep, because that is the least dangerous method. The entrance to the den is sometimes blocked with logs, and the animal is speared or shot through a hole made in the roof. The Maritime Chukchee occasionally have a chance to kill a brown bear, because in the summer-time bears go to the tundra far away from the forest border. Thus on the Arctic coast, near the Kolyma, brown bears are met on the seashore between the mouth of the Kolyma and Brown Bear River (Kei'ñu-we'em). On the Lower Kolyma brown bears even hibernate on the steep banks of some brook, well protected from the wind, but beyond the border of the forest. On the Pacific coast I met a brown bear in Holy Cross Bay, in June, 1901, that was feeding on seaweed along the land-ice piled on the shore.

On the edge of the forest the Reindeer Chukchee sometimes catch the bear with small thin wooden blocks spiked on their upper surface (Fig. 51, <5), and left on the pathway among fallen leaves. When the bear steps on one of these, the spikes penetrate the sole of its foot. A wound of this kind rapidly disables it for walking, especially since, in trying to tear away the block, the bear only makes the wound worse. This implement seems to have been copied from some tribe living within the forest limit, though I am not aware that any of the neighboring tribes use it at present. {For the use of this implement among the Aleuts, see Mason, Traps, p. 472.}

The Maritime Chukchee catch hares in winter by cornering them and finally driving them into a spot surrounded by nets. Women and children join in the battue with rattles and sticks to drive the hares in the desired direction. I was told that in one successful battue several scores might be caught. In times of famine poor families often escape starvation by this kind of hare-hunting.

Small animals -- like marmots, ground-squirrels, etc. -- are caught with snares; house-mice, with special mouse-traps; ermines, with a kind of self-acting bow (Fig. 52), probably copied from the Russianized natives. It consists of a small but strong bow fastened in a vertical position to a wooden frame of narrow rectangular shape. The "arrow" is tied at one end to the middle of the string, while on its other end is a cross-piece which runs up and down in grooves, between the vertical sides of the frame. In stringing the bow, the arrow with the attached cross-piece is pulled upward. Then the string is held in position by means of a trigger, which is connected by a sinew cord with a slender chip of wood. The latter is propped against the bottom of the frame, and holds the cross-piece in place. It is braced by another very slender cross-piece, the ends of which are held by the grooves. The bow is set on the ermine's track, so that the animal has to pass through the lower part of the frame, beneath the bow. A light touch pushes off the wooden prop, releases the trigger, and the arrow with down, catching the animal and strangling it to death.

Bird-Hunting. -- Sea-fowl, such as eider-ducks, guillemots, and puffins, are caught with various kinds of snares. These are made of whalebone and sinew thread, and some of them (Fig. 53, a) are quite similar to those of the American Eskimo. {Boas, Central Eskimo, Fig. 452, p. 511.} Many snares of this kind are joined together and furnished with wooden buoys (Fig. 53, b, c), then tied to a very long rope and thrown from the shore into the sea as far as possible. The catch is best during long-continued tempests, when the sea-fowl come near the shore. Other snares are spread on the land, close to lakes and rivers, on nesting-rocks for auks and puffins, around entrances to nests, or in bushes for ptarmigan.

The snare represented in Fig. 53, d, has two nooses made of whalebone and fastened on both sides of a small stick. They are spread by placing a portion of each noose into small tubes made of goose-quills. The snare has a long line fastened to the middle of the cross-piece, by means of which captured birds are hauled in.

Another kind of snare (Fig. 53, e) is set across the entrance to nests of sea-fowl, already mentioned, so that they are caught when passing through.

A ptarmigan-snare is represented in Fig. 53, f. Its end is tied to a branch, while the noose is spread on the ptarmigan-track. It is identical with that represented by Nelson, {Nelson, Plate li, Fig. 4, p. 122.} which he says is used for marmots.

Sitting birds are killed with stones hurled from a common sling (Fig. 54). When on the wing, they are hit with throwing-balls, which have been described many times by travellers both in Asia and America. At the present time, throwing-balls have gone completely out of use, even on the Arctic shore, because with the introduction of the shotgun the birds ceased to come within throwing range of the balls. Therefore all specimens that could be secured are old and worn (Fig. 55). Besides bone and ivory balls, wooden ones were also used. These had the advantage of not sinking when they fell into the water.

The bird-dart is used along the Arctic shore for the killing of moulting ducks and geese, on the Kolyma, alike by the Chukchee and by the Russianized Yukaghir (Fig. 56); on Bering Sea, only by the Russianized natives of the Middle Anadyr, who brought it over from the Kolyma. However, on old house-sites in Wute'en and Eu'nmun I found a few dart-prongs made of bone (Fig. 57). At Indian Point I came across a small dart and a throwing-board; but it was said that they came originally from the American side (Fig. 58, c). The Koryak of Penshina Bay in the Okhotsk Sea, however, use throwing-boards and darts of somewhat different shape for hunting both birds and small seals. Those used on the Anadyr (Fig. 58, #, 6) and Kolyma have a shaft about seven or eight feet long, slender at the rear end, and thick at the head. They have one central prong and three circular prongs made of iron, and fastened with sinew or twine. The Anadyr throwing-board has a hole on the right side for the forefinger; that of the Kolyma region has the hole more frequently in the middle. The Chukchee on the Chaun tundra often use the bird-dart without the board, sending it off simply from the hand.

The dart is used for ducks and geese, but it is too weak for the swan. A kayaker, finding a moulting swan on a lake, usually tires it by long pursuit, making it dive frequently. The swan is not a good diver, and, because of its white plumage, can generally be seen while swimming under water. Finally the kayaker overtakes the swan when it comes to the surface. He seizes it by its long neck, which he breaks close to the head. Ptarmigans and ducks are also caught by means of a drop-net fastened to a hoop. The birds are allured with bait strewn on the ground, and at a favorable moment the net is lowered by means of a long line.

Fishing. -- Fishing is of comparatively less importance, because the coast of the Chukchee Peninsula is not very rich in fish. On the Pacific coast the mouth of the Anadyr is the last place to the north to which large shoals of Salmonidoe resort every year to spawn. Farther on, their number rapidly diminishes. On the Arctic shore, Coregonidoe begin to be abundant from Chaun Bay, and especially from the mouth of the Kolyma westward. Fish-nets of sinew are used everywhere by the Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee. Their length varies greatly, according to whether they are employed on the seashore, or in the rivers and lakes of the interior. The small net of the Reindeer people, used in catching graylings, is made of from ten to fifteen pieces of sinew. A larger net of the Pacific fishermen (Fig. 59) requires from twenty to thirty pieces. The length of the latter varies from fifteen to twenty-five feet; the meshes are from two to four inches square. Other nets are made of thin strips of leather (Fig. 60), and in former times they were made also of whalebone. The Reindeer people often make their nets without a shuttle, though the process is very slow. The Maritime Chukchee use shuttles of whalebone (Fig. 61, a), wood (Fig. 61, b, c), or bone, with netting-sticks of the same material (Fig. 61, d-g). Large pebbles are used for sinkers. They are strung on loops of thin leather, and, having no notch, easily fall off. Pieces of bone or of walrus-ivory, with a strip of leather fastened through a hole on the upper edge (Fig. 62, <5), are also used for the purpose.

Floats are made of wood, or of pieces of seal-intestines inflated with air and carefully tied up (Fig. 62, a). The nets of the Russianized settlers on the Kolyma and Anadyr, made of hemp or horsehair, are eagerly bought, also Russian or American twine, cord, etc. On the small rivers the nets are put across shallow places, and the fishes driven into them by men and boys shouting, and by splashing the water a short distance farther along the stream. Often two nets are joined together and used in seine fashion. Even parts of tent-coverings are used to make the seine longer. Occasionally the whole seine will consist of a skin covering with a piece of net in the middle, in which to catch the fish. These methods are used chiefly by the Reindeer people.

The Maritime Chukchee push their nets into the sea by means of a long pole made up of two or three pieces joined together. A large stone is fastened to the water end of the net with a strong piece of leather. The shore end is tied to some stones or to a stake. These nets are used on the Pacific for catching several species of Salmonidoe, such as humpback salmon (Oncorhynchus horbusha), red salmon (O. lycaodon or niarka), and pink salmon (O. lagocephalus or keta); on the Arctic, for catching various species of Coregonus, such as Coregonus omul, C. leucichtys, C. maksun, C. nasutus, etc.

These nets are also set in the winter through holes cut in the ice with ice-picks having stout iron points (formerly the points were made of bone). However, no Chukchee has patience enough to cut six feet of ice, as the Russianized fisherman of the Kolyma does in setting his net.

Bag-nets fastened to a square frame made of thin stakes (Fig. 63) are used in shallow water. The vertical stakes of the frame have sharp points, and are driven into the ground.

The ice-scoop used by the Chukchee (Fig. 64) is of the well-known Eskimo form, chiefly of small size, and has a circular hoop of antler netted across with whalebone strings or thin strips of leather. A round hoop-net made of whalebone (Fig. 65), with one large stone beneath for a sinker, is used for catching wachna. {Russian, Вахня; Chukchee and Koryak, ve'qan. This name is applied to various species of Galii; such as Boreogatius potarte in the Arctic, Micregudus proximus and Eleg'mus navaga (Gadus icackna Pall.) in the Pacific Ocean.} It is identical with the American Eskimo net. {Compare Nelson, Plate LXX, Fig. 12, p. 184.}

Nordenskiöld {Nordenskiöld, Vol. II, p. 103.} gives a picture of a fish-spear made of bone. On the Pacific coast I met with the fish-spear only among the Kerek near Cape Anannon, and in several places among the Kamchatka Koryak. Their spears, however, are more or less similar to that given by Nordenskiold. The specimen represented in Fig. 66 probably formed one of the prongs of a fish-spear. {Compare Nelson, Plate LXVIII, Fig. I, p. 176.} It is made of bone, and was found on an ancient house-site in the Eskimo village Wute'en.

The Chukchee make hardly any fish-weirs, because of the lack of proper material for constructing fences and fish-traps. On the Arctic coast, at the mouth of some of the smaller rivers, weirs are occasionally constructed of square pieces of sod piled up across the river in the form of a low wall. Fish-traps are made of willow-branches brought from the south, or they are simply bought from the inland fishermen, particularly from the Yakut and. Russian.

The simplest kind of fishhook is that used for catching burbot. It consists of a wooden peg pointed at both ends, with a line tied around its middle. It is baited with small fish of any kind; for instance, with Coregonus albula. When swallowed by a burbot, the peg works like a harpoon-point. A similar hook is sometimes used also by children for catching burgomaster gulls. I have seen fish-hooks of similar shape among the collections of Alaskan Eskimo in the United States National Museum at Washington. {Compare also Nelson, Plate LI, Fig. 7, p. 122.}

The ordinary form of hook used in fresh water is represented in Fig. 67, a, b. It is inserted in an ivory or lead body, and furnished with small pieces of red stuff, which serve as bait. The line is made of sinew or twine. It is used for catching grayling, also various kinds of trout and other fresh-water species of Salmonidce, A short rod is sometimes used.

The fishing-tackle used in salt water (Fig. 67, c) is employed chiefly for various gadoid species, such as wachna and tomcod, also for sculpin, {Russian, быкъ рыба; Chukchee, qaña'yolhln. This name is applied to various species of Cotti, such as Coitus niger. Coitus quadricornus, etc.} flounder, etc. Three or four hooks are fitted together into an ivory stem, and several implements of this kind are fastened with short strips of whalebone to a common ivory or iron support. If the support is of iron, it serves also as a sinker. No rod is used. The line is of sinew or of thong. Small hooks employed in salt water are represented in Fig. 67, d, e.

Angling is done throughout the year, whenever opportunity offers. In winter and spring it is done through holes in the ice; on the rivers, more frequently on the edge of some open place, whither every kind of fish run in shoals to get a little fresh air. In this way the Omolon and the Anadyr Chukchee angle for grayling, the Chaun Chukchee for salmon-trout, etc.

Hooked poles are used both by the Reindeer people for catching grayling and trout and by the Maritime Chukchee for catching various kinds of salmon. The hook at the present time is made of iron, and is either firmly set in the shaft or is detachable. It is used also by the Russianized Yukaghir, the Koryak, and the Kamchadal.

War.

Bow and Arrows. -- For shooting, the bow was used until recently, and in some remote places it is still used by a few people. In former times it was the favorite weapon of the Chukchee; and as late as the thirties in the nineteenth century, the official reports of the Anui fair, speaking of the number of Chukchee comers, say that there were so and so many camps, with so and so many Chukchee men "versed in archery."

The epic tales are full of descriptions of shooting-bouts and contests. Ability to split a blade of grass with the point of an arrow was proof of the greatest skill of the archer. Nowadays only the toy-bows of children are put to their full use; and shooting with small arrows is practised much in the same way as in former times, the children beginning at a very early age.

Two varieties of bow are used in northeastern Asia. One is the "double-wooded bow," so called by the Russians. It was composed of two pieces of wood, mostly birch and larch, which were glued together. The outer piece (Fig. 68, a) was much thinner than the inner one (Fig. 68, b). The horns often consisted of separate pieces, and were spliced to the body of the bow (Fig. 68, c). The back of the bow was almost always covered with a thin layer of sinew pasted over with fish-glue (Fig. 68, d). Over that was glued a covering of birch-bark, often wound around the body of the bow in a spiral, to increase its resisting power. This bow was used by the Yukaghir, the Lamut, the Koryak, the Yakut, and, in fact, by all the tribes of northeastern Asia, besides the Chukchee and the Eskimo. The Reindeer Chukchee bought bows of this shape from their neighbors, and had quite a number of them in actual use.

The other variety of bow (Fig. 69) was made of a single piece of wood, mostly larch, but occasionally birch or pine, found among the driftwood on the coast. It was strengthened by a wrapping of birch-bark or sinew, and in addition had a plaited-sinew backing. Occasionally even a "double-wooded" bow would have a sinew backing, not only among the Chukchee, but also among the Yukaghir and the Lamut.

The lashing (Fig. 70, a) was of the western type, so called by John Murdoch, with a single sinew cable secured about the body of the bow in half-hitches, with extra strengthening on both bends. This type of lashing has been described by John Murdoch as characteristic of the bow of northeastern Siberia, with the occasional mixture of the so-called Arctic type. {Murdoch, Eskimo Bows, pp. 313, 314.} Small ivory levers (Fig. 71, a) were used in twisting up the cords of sinew on the back of the bow, making them into a cable. In shape they are identical with those used by the American Eskimo and represented by Nelson {Nelson, Fig. 30, p. 111.} and Murdoch. {Murdoch, Eskimo Bows, Plate X, Fig. 27; Plate XI, Figs. 28, 29.} Like the latter, they were used in sets of two. The set in the collection was bought, together with one of the quivers. It has both levers tied together with a cord of sinew passing through holes at their middle points. Sometimes the belly of the bow was strengthened with a smooth flat piece of whalebone fastened to it with glue, or with an extra piece of wood lashed to the middle, beneath the grip (Fig. 70, 5). This kind of bow was in use among the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo.

The bows of the Gilyak, as may be seen from specimens in the collections of this Museum, are strengthened with whalebone on the inside in much the same way as the Chukchee bow. They have a layer of sinew glued to the back, and over that a birch-bark covering, but no backing of plaited sinew. According to Schrenck, the finer specimens of Gilyak bows were strengthened with whalebone on the back and with elk-hide on the belly. {Schrenck, II, p. 245.}

The two forms of bow were alike in shape: they had recurved ends, a body flat on the outside, and flat or rounded on the inside. The grip was in the middle, and narrower than the arms. The bow became thicker and narrower towards the ends, which were almost triangular in cross-section. When unstrung, bows of both types assume a peculiar position, with the belly slightly curved, but with horns so much turned back that sometimes the bows look as if curved outwards.

The string was made of plaited sinew or of thong. The notches for the reception of the string were cut either on the back of the bow or across the ends of the horns (Figs. 69, 70 c). In bows without separate horns, each end was often tipped with a long piece of bone (Fig. 70, c) as a protection against the impact of the string. Small wooden supports (Fig. 69, a) were frequently fastened to the horns to make the string stand off. Some of the Chinese bows -- as, for instance, those in the collections recently sent to the Museum by Dr. Berthold Laufer -- have many details in common with the Chukchee bow. They are strengthened on the belly with a thin strip of hard black wood, have supports for the string in exactly the same places; their nocks are tipped with iron; and their whole appearance resembles that of the Chukchee bow.

Both varieties of bow were strong, and sometimes could be strung only with the help of the feet, as mentioned in many traditions.

One of the Chukchee bows brought by the expedition from the mouth of the Anadyr is 160 cm. long, and another measures 155 cm. {Dr. Adler (II) gives for the length of the Chukchee bows (ancient), 142-159 cm.; for the length-of the Chuvantzy bow, 185 cm.} Both are similar in shape, but the former (Fig. 69) is made of a single piece of wood, strengthened from inside with a piece of whalebone reaching to the nocks and neatly fitted in. The back of this bow has the usual layer of sinew glued on, and over that a layer of birch-bark. This is overlaid with a backing of plaited sinew. The cable of sinew is fastened to the body of the bow with a few half-hitches, then it is firmly lashed to the bends and its ends fastened around the horns, not reaching the nocks by two inches. The string is of sinew, and the notches are on the horns of the bow.

The other bow is made of two pieces of wood glued together, as described before. The sinew layer is absent, but it has the usual backing of plaited sinew. The cable of sinew is fastened to the bow by a method similar to that used in the first specimen; but the cable, after being lashed to the bends, extends directly to the nocks. A loop of thong is slung around each nock, and meets the cable halfway, where they are tied together. The bow is covered with bark that is glued on, and adorned on the back with black cross-lines similar in description to those found by Dr. Adler {Adler, II, p. 10.} on a Chuvantzy bow from the Middle Anadyr. The string is of thong. Notches are cut across the ends of the bow, which are tipped with bone (Fig. 70, c). One horn was broken, and afterwards spliced and secured with bone wedges and a strong sinew lashing.

Bows were also made of one piece of wood, without backing or covering, and shaped in a single curve. Such bows occur among the Lamut or Yukaghir, but they were used only temporarily, in the absence of weapons of better make; or they may be degenerate forms of the better type that developed after the introduction of fire-arms.

Among the Chukchee, however, plain bows without recurving ends have always been in use side by side with those of better workmanship. The plain bows consisted of a single piece of wood, without elastic cover, but they were supplied with a heavy sinew backing of the combined Arctic and western types of John Murdoch. I found such bows among the Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma country.

The bow is held vertically, and the arrow is on its left. The so-called Mediterranean arrow-release was used, in which the first two fingers were employed for drawing the string, and the arrow was held between them. Arrows were often flattened around the nock, to make them better adapted to the position between the fingers.

The secondary release was also in use, at least among the Reindeer Chukchee, and perhaps also the Mongolian release, if we may judge from the occurrence of the thumb-guard. Specimens of thumb-guards were found among the Chukchee (Fig. 71, d), though the owners could not exactly tell their use. Perhaps they were used similarly to those of the Mongolian archers.

Tradition speaks also of bows that were made wholly of whalebone, although this material could not make a strong bow. However, children still use small bows made entirely of whalebone (Fig. 72). Wrist-guards (Fig. 73) made of ivory or of strong leather served for protecting the hands from the rebounding string.

In recent times arrow-points were made of iron, bone, ivory, wood, and of all these materials combined (Fig. 74). They were fastened to the shaft in various ways, -- wedged in and occasionally wrapped with sinew, or inserted in a hole in the tip of the shaft. I was told that some were simply slanted and tied to the shaft, though among the specimens obtained not a single splice of this kind is found. However, this method of splicing is well known in northeastern Siberia, and is used, for instance, in lashing a man's crooked knife to its slender handle, and especially in joining two pieces of broken stick, as in canes, arrow-shafts, sledge-rails, etc.

Many of the points had fur sheaths to protect the sharpened edges. Those with heavy blunt heads were intended to stun birds and small animals. The ends of the shafts were often tipped with bone or wrapped with sinew to prevent the nock from splitting. Arrows were generally feathered, and the feathers were either glued on along their whole length, or only their tips were caught in a slit in the rearshaft, and the bases were tied to the nocks with sinew, while the middle remained free. There were arrows with one, two, or three feathers (Fig. 75). The length of the arrows was from 60 to 85 cm. {According to Adler (I), 51 to 78 cm.}

I could find no indications whatever that poisoning of arrows was known to any of the tribes of northeastern Asia, though Steller and Krasheninnikoff mention it as existing among the Kamchadal. The latter, they say, smeared their arrow-points with the juice of some kind of Aconita, numerous species of which are found in Kamchatka.

Arrows were usually put into quivers. These were rectangular in shape, and embroidered on the outer side. They were carried on the back, supported by shoulder-straps, like a knapsack (Fig. 76; see also Plate ххи). Sometimes, to protect the quiver from rain, an extra covering was used, which was frequently also embroidered. A covering f way on his piece of ice. Seeing his danger, he wound the line around his waist, and fastened its ends to the points of his ice-block, in front and behind. Then he drove the harpoon firmly into the ice, and clutched it with both hands, trying to stand his ground against the sea. The sea was rough, the waves rolled over his head, and he was thoroughly drenched. After several hours of such suffering, Ka'tek rebelled against his fate, and he was about to end the ordeal by stabbing himself with his belt-knife, when a large walrus-head suddenly popped out of the water quite close to him, and sang, "O Ka'tek, do not kill yourself! You shall again see the mountains of Uni'sak and the little Kuwa'kak, your elder son." Then, quite unexpectedly, Ka'tek saw a large iceberg, which drew the block on which he stood towards itself. Most icebergs are quite steep and inaccessible, but on this one he found a gentle slope where he could easily land. He took his harpoon along, and, hauling in the line, found the harpoon-point still fast to the seal-carcass. After that he climbed the iceberg, and, finding a suitable place, constructed a temporary shelter of the blocks of rough ice lying about. Then he skinned the seal, and, creeping under the shelter, spread the skin for a floor-covering, and, crouching down, took off his clothes piece by piece, carefully wringing out the water, and scraping it off with his knife. He ate of the seal-blubber, and swallowed a few pieces of ice, which tasted like fresh water. Then the wind changed and the iceberg drifted to land. At last, after more than twenty-four hours spent on the water, he came to land near the village of Ce'cin. When he reached his own village, he found his family were already bringing sacrifice of seal-oil to his manes. He bade them direct the sacrifice to the walrus-head, and from that time on he was a shaman. He had some renown among his neighbors, and his art was in requisition in the village of Uni'sak.

There is a limit, however, as to the age at which a person may become a shaman, even with due call and occasion. In the case of Ainanwa't, he was more than forty, and felt his soul unfit for a change.

In a Koryak tale, when Quikmn'a'qu unexpectedly makes for himself a drum out of a small louse, and becomes a shaman, his neighbors say sceptically, "Has the old Quikinn'a'qu really become a shaman? From his youth up he had no spirits within his call." {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 291.}

Though this instance is taken from the Koryak, and that of Ka'tek from the Aiwan Eskimo, both answer the purpose equally well, since the shamanism of the Chukchee and of these two tribes has similar features.

It is also considered perfectly natural that a young boy visited by some great misfortune should try to call to the "spirits." If they deign to come to his assistance, their fellowship with the boy is likely to become very intimate, and he has the chance of being a really great shaman.

Thus a shaman, by name Scratching-Woman, told me that his father was a small, sickly fellow, who had but a few reindeer, which he finally lost in a thick fog, not far from the Russian village of Markova. He and his wife, dragging behind them a sledge with their boy, and with a few belongings, went there afoot. The Russians, however, gave them so little food that after a few days the father died. The boy and his mother lived on, but were nearly starved, when their relatives came to fetch them to their camp. After that they suffered severely for several successive years. The boy hauled fuel on a sledge for the richer people, and was paid with a few small bits of meat or with putrid blood. The food was so scanty that he could not grow, and remained sickly and weak. Then he began to beat the drum and to call for the "spirits," and one by one he saw all the supernatural beings (va'irgit), and he made himself a shaman. The va'irgin of the Motionless Star came to him in a dream and said to him, "Cease to be such a weakling! Be a shaman and strong, and you will have plenty of food."

Soon he acquired some reindeer which took to breeding. At last he reached manhood, and then he married into a family which had a good-sized herd. When his father-in-law died, he became the head of the family, his wife being the eldest of the children of the deceased one. He was no longer an orphan, and the herd at his disposal grew to be "awkward to count." I saw the herd in question, and it did not number more than twenty scores (qlik-qli'kkin); but, as has been said before, this number is about the limit of the Chukchee knowledge of counting. {Compare p. 50.}

Another man, Ye'tilm by name, who belonged by birth to an Arctic Maritime village, but afterward married into a reindeer-breeding family on the Dry And River, and joined its camp, told me that in his early childhood his family perished from a contagious disease (probably influenza), and he was left alone with his small sister. Then he called to the "spirits." They came and brought food, and said to him, "Ye'tilin, take to beating the drum! we will assist you in that also."

When I saw Ye'tilin, he was a man of fifty, but the recalling of those early memories so worked upon his excitable nature, that he jumped up and chanted his recital to one of his favorite tunes. As a shaman he had much renown in the vicinity, and was generally called by the name the Russians gave him to designate his special art and calling. This name was Shamanchik (Шаманчикъ, "Little Shaman").

In the same way a number of Chukchee tales tell of young orphans, despised and oppressed by all their neighbors, who call to the "spirits," and with their assistance become strong men and powerful shamans.

The single means used by the Chukchee shamans, novice or experienced, for communication with "spirits," is the beating of the drum and singing. As said before, the usual family drum is employed with a drum-stick of whalebone, while a wooden drum-stick is used chiefly in ceremonials. Some drums have two whalebone drum-sticks, of which the extra one is supposed to be intended for the use of "spirits," when they approach and want to "shake themselves;" that is, to beat the drum.

The beating of the drum, notwithstanding its seeming simplicity, requires some skill, and the novice must spend considerable time before he can acquire the desired degree of perfection. This has reference especially to the power of endurance of the performer. The same may be said of the singing. The manifestations continue for several hours, during all which time the shaman exercises the most violent activity without scarcely a pause. After the performance he must not show any signs of fatigue, because he is supposed to be sustained by the "spirits;" and, moreover, the greater part of the exercise is asserted to be the work of the "spirits" themselves, either while entering his body, or while outside his body. The degree of endurance required for all this, and the ability to pass quickly from the highest excitement to a state of normal quietude, can, of course, be acquired only by long practice. Indeed, all the shamans I conversed with said that they had to spend a year, or even two years, before sufficient strength of hand, and freedom of voice, were given to them by the "spirits." Some asserted that during all this preparatory time they kept closely to the inner room, taking up the drum several times a day, and beating it as long as their strength would allow.

The only other means of training for inspiration, of which I am aware, is abstention from all fat and rich foods, as well as great moderation in eating. The same strictness is observed ever afterwards in the preparation for each individual performance, in which the shaman tries to abstain wholly from food.

Various tricks performed by the Chukchee shamans, including ventriloquism, have to be learned in the preparatory stage. However, I could obtain no detailed information on this point, since the shamans, of course, asserted that the tricks were done by "spirits," and denied having any hand whatever in proceedings of such a character.

In some cases, evidently, the old men have taught the younger generation, who are said to have received their power from them. The transfer is final, and cannot be revoked. The man who gives a part of his power to another man loses correspondingly, and can hardly recover the loss afterwards. To transfer his power, the older shaman must blow on the eyes or into the mouth of the recipient, or he may stab himself with a knife, with the blade of which, still reeking with his "source of life" (tetke'yuñ), he will immediately pierce the body of the recipient. These methods are also supposed to be used by shamans in the treatment of their patients.

Most of the shamans I knew claimed to have had no teachers, but to have acquired their art by their own individual efforts. I am not aware of a single instance of the transfer of shamanistic power in the whole domain of Chukchee folk-lore. Among the Eskimo, I met women who had learned their shamanistic performances from their husbands, and children who had been taught by their parents. In one family on St. Lawrence Island, the shamanistic power has been retained for a succession of generations, evidently having been transferred from father to son. This is connected with the more complicated performances which pertain to Eskimo shamanism, and of which I shall speak at another place.

Psychology of the Shamans. -- I have already said that most of the Chukchee shamans are very nervous, highly excitable persons, often almost on the verge of insanity. To make this statement clearer, I will try to give instances of this in more detail.

A shaman from the Telka'p tundra, by name Kele'wgi ("Ke'lE-man"), with whom I made acquaintance in the Mariinsky Post, had, even among the Russians, the reputation of an odd customer, of one who seeks a quarrel on the slightest provocation. Once he came to a Russian cossack, bringing a couple of half hairless reindeer-skins, and peremptorily demanded to be paid for them a price quite out of proportion to the real value of even the best skins ot that kind. On the refusal of the cossack, he instantly drew his knife, intending to strike, but happily the cossack turned aside the blow with a stick. Immediately afterwards the too exacting trader was turned out of the barracks where this incident had taken place.

Shortly after my arrival, Kele'wgi came to me and declared his intention of giving me valuable material in relation to the abode of "spirits" and their ways with men. His accounts, however, were too incoherent and contradictory to be of any great value. Among other things, he gave me his biography. He was a grandson of a great shaman, Tilu'u, long since deceased. When he was still quite a young lad, a voice said to him, "Go into the wilderness: there you will find a tiny drum. Try it and prove its qualities." He found the drum and began to exercise on it. Then he saw all the world, -- both shores of the Anadyr River and the whole tundra. After that, he ascended to the sky and pitched his tent on the ground of the clouds. From that time on, he took to the practice of shamanism. Soon he equalled his grandfather in power, and then surpassed him.

All this was evidently borrowed from various tales and incantations. For instance, a tiny drum made of the skin of a beetle, or even of a small louse, figures in several stories, Chukchee and Koryak. When found in the wilderness, and shown to be of a supernatural kind, it gives to its possessor immense shamanistic power. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 211.} The same may also be said about the ground of the clouds. {Compare p. 331.}

Kele'wgi professed to be so sure of the great value of his information and of the corresponding high pay he should receive for it, that he brought to the fair nothing but this treasure of his mind. For all the provisions and wares he wished to take to his home, he relied wholly on my generosity and my common sense. After that I had trouble with Kele'wgi for several months, because no pay seemed to him adequate for the sacrifice of his knowledge.

The shaman Scratching-Woman manifested symptoms of a nature even more excitable. He could not sit long in one place, but every little while he would jump up with violent gestures. At one time he came to me with complaints of a pain he felt "somewhere inside his back," and I tried to help him with a cataplasm. He proved, however, quite unable to endure the burning, and began to shout that the fire of Russian shamanism was consuming his whole body: so I had to remove the poultice. Two other Chuk-chee who came at the same time with rheumatic complaints, and were treated in a similar way, declared only that they felt warm, as in a Russian sweat-bath, and requested the application of an extra cataplasm.

Notwithstanding his youth, Scratching-Woman had already quarreled with many neighbors of his own age, and had generally been worsted, because he had no peculiar strength or skill at wrestling. His temper was exceedingly bad when under the influence of liquor, however slightly. Once, when we were sitting in my house and he was on the point of beginning a narrative about his "spirits," another acquaintance of mine and a distant relative of his, by name Giyewte'hin, entered unexpectedly. We saw that he had been drinking, having procured the liquor, probably, from a Russian schooner then at anchor in the bay near Mariinsky Post. Giyewte'hin declared that he felt, lonely, and he also would listen to the words of the shaman.

Now, Scratching-Woman was exceedly "bashful," the more so as the subject of our talk was concerning his ideas about the "spirits." Up to this time, when acting in the presence of spectators, he had given no explanation of his actions or of their significance: therefore he was averse to having another listener, particularly from his own people. An altercation ensued, and Giyewte'hm threatened to "count the ribs" of Scratching-Woman, should he ever again come to his camp. The shaman scowled, and answered with a broad allusion to the "spirits" at his command. At last Giyewte'hin declared that he was ready to go if I would treat him to some alcohol. This, of course, had been his sole purpose from the beginning. Seeing that the shaman was trembling from excitement, and was on the point of pitching into his adversary, I hastened to quiet Giyewte'hm and to send him from the house. There could be no question whether to use violence or persuasion, since he unhesitatingly declared that, rather than go away without his allowance of liquor, he would permit himself to be killed, and I gave him full credit for the sincerity of his words. {The passion of this man for strong liquor was something extraordinary, even among the Chukchee. He even attempted to steal our bottles in which mice and small birds were preserved, though I made him believe that the alcohol in them was poisoned. He would say with great earnestness, "Mice be...! Better take me, and immerse me in alcohol in a similar manner. Let me be drowned in strong liquor."} When at last he was off with his large green bottle, which now contained two ounces of undiluted alcohol, Scratching-Woman picked a quarrel with me.

"See now," said he, "how foolish I am! Other people receive the precious liquor in my very presence, but you give none to me." There was nothing else to be done but to offer him also a drink of alcohol. To my great surprise he was silent for a while, and then suddenly refused the treat. This was to my knowledge the first instance of a Chukchee refusing a drink of liquor.

"See now," said Scratching-Worn an by way of explanation, "I will be frank with you. Drink really makes my temper too bad for anything. Usually my wife watches over me, and puts all knives out of my reach. But when we are apart, I am afraid." With this he showed me a long scar on his shoulder, which he said was the result of a drunken brawl when his wife could not watch over his actions. Only those who know the strength ot the passion the Chukchee have for alcohol will appreciate the force of will shown by the shaman in this case, or will realize the danger.

This is only one incident characteristic of Scratching-Woman. By the way, the threats interchanged between Qiyewte'hm and himself did not amount to much, and were forgotten the next morning.

The shaman Ye'tilin, before mentioned, had an incessant nervous twitching in his face, and the Chukchee said laughingly that he was probably "with an owl ke'lE" (tile'3kele'lin), comparing his affliction to the jerking motion of the owl's head when it devours its prey. Another shaman, by name Ki'miqäi, whom I met on the Large Anui, and who belonged to a family of suicides, suffered from the same cause. {Compare p. 47.}

I have before spoken of the female shaman Te'lpifia, who, according to her own words, had been violently insane for three years, during which time her household had taken such precautions, that she could do no harm to the people or to herself.

In contrast to all this was the shaman Kora'whe, whom I met in the Anui country. He was a good-looking, well-proportioned man of rather quiet manners, though an ill-advised word might throw him into intense excitement. He excelled in shamanistic devices which apparently required great physical strength and dexterity. At the same time, however, he declared that he did not consider himself a shaman of a high order, and that his relations with the "spirits" must not be taken very seriously. To explain this he said that when he was young he suffered severely from syphilis. To heal himself, he had recourse to spirits, and after two years, when he had become skilful in shamanistic practices, he was completely restored by their help. After that he maintained intercourse with the ke'let for several years, and was on the point of becoming a really great shaman. Then suddenly his luck was gone.

One of his dogs bore two black pups; and when*he saw them both sitting side by side on their haunches, looking into his face, he took it as a sign that the time had come for him to withdraw from shamanistic practices. He suffered a relapse of his illness, and his herd was visited by hoof-disease. Fearing that worse things might happen, he dropped all serious pursuits of shamanism, and practised only the tricks, which were completely harmless. As far as I could learn, he had been a magician employing especially the powers of evil, or practising the black art; and after the return of his disease, he abandoned those practices, considering them detrimental to his health and well-being.

There can be no doubt, of course, that shamans, during their performances, employ deceit in various forms, and that they themselves are fully cognizant of the fact. "There are many liars in our calling," Scratching-Woman said to me. "One will lift up the skins of the sleeping-room with his right toe, and then assure you that it was done by 'spirits'; another will talk into the bosom of his shirt or through his sleeve, making the voice issue from a quite unusual place."

Of course, he was ready to swear that he never made use of any of these wrong practices. "Look at my face," he continued; "he who tells lies, his tongue stutters. He whose speech, however, flows offhand from his lips, certainly must speak the truth." This was a rather doubtful argument, but I refrained from making any such suggestion.

Some of the people even are aware of the deceit of the shamans. Several men, when talking of shamanistic feats, said that, though the tricks performed were very wonderful, they were by no means real, but were produced only through illusion on the part of the observers. Others went even further. Thus, the trader Kuva'r at Indian Point, of whom I have spoken several times, assured me that even the most renowned shamans are only clever deceivers. "When I witness their best trick," he asserted, "even then, with proper attention, I can discover the fraud. He [the shaman] will pretend to cut with a knife the abdomen of the patient; but I can follow the direction of the knife, and see that it glances off without hurting the skin, and that the blood comes from the mouth of the operator."

This scepticism, perhaps, is the result of intercourse with civilized people. With some of the shamans, fraud is not restricted to jugglery. We caught Scratching-Woman in the very act of stealing our washing from the line. The woman who, during our stay at Indian Point, was caught thieving, {Compare p. 48.} was also a shaman.

However, in giving directions and answers to persons seeking advice, Chukchee shamans often display much wisdom and circumspection, especially when they have to deal with matters out of the reach of their knowledge and understanding. This is the case when the inquirer is of a different stage of culture; for instance, with Russian officials or merchants, who sometimes do not despise the help of the native "spirits." Thus the assistant of the chief official of Anadyr asked Scratching-Woman, during a shamanistic seance, whether his Second Interior Loan bond, with prizes, would draw a lucky number in the yearly lottery. It was no little trouble to explain to the shaman what was meant by "an Interior Loan bond;" but, when he understood it, he immediately answered that he saw that the foundations of the wealth of the questioner, which were in his own country, were going to increase. To a cossack who wanted to know whether the yearly mail steamer would bring him a furlough, the shaman answered, "The big boat brings change and joy to all people in this country." I could cite other answers not less worthy of the oracle of Delphi. To my own questions of this kind, the shamans usually answered that my country was too far away, and the feet of their ke'let too small, to go there. Furthermore, the ke'let are too shy of the manners of the unknown dwellers in those distant localities. I saw similar circumspection displayed also in regard to the native questions. A shaman of the interior refused to give advice about the maritime pursuits of the people of the coast, explaining that his "spirits" were good only for walking upon the land, and that they were afraid of the sea.

Classes of Shamanism: -- The Chukchee divide all acts of shamanism into three categories, more or less distinct, though merging into each other. Under the first category comes "communication with the spirits" (kalatko'urgm). This includes all kinds of intercourse'with the "spirits" which becomes apparent to the listeners; that is, the voices of "spirits" talking through the medium of the shaman, ventriloquistic performances, {Ventriloquism plays an important part in the shamanistic performances of other tribes of the same region. David Crantz tells of it among the shamans of the Greenland Eskimo (D. Crantz, History of Greenland, English translation, 1820, I. p. 195).} and other tricks, -- generally speaking, the whole spectacular part of shamanism, which forms the main content of the shamanistic seances. As said previously, all this is often considered only as a kind of jugglery. For performances of this sort, young people are said to be better adapted than older ones. With increasing years, some of the shamans discontinue most of these tricks.

Constituting the second category is what is known as "looking into" (hêtola'tirgin). This branch of Chukchee shamanism is held in the highest veneration, because the shaman possessing it has the faculty of seeing the danger lying in wait for the people, or the good in store for them, and accordingly he is able to advise them how to avoid the first and to secure the second. Most of the instructions given are of a ritualistic kind, and refer to certain details of such and such a ceremonial, which must be arranged in a certain manner in order to secure the desired result. The directions are usually given by the "spirits" in the second part of the shamanistic performance, which may be called "magical."

There are, however, as I said before, many shamans, though they have many ke'let at their disposal, whose predictions are wrong, and their advice worse than useless, and there are those even to whom the aid of conjury and divination is wholly denied. On the other hand, there are shamans who claim very little outward communication with the "spirits," but give magical advice as a kind of internal, subjective inspiration, after self-communion for a few moments. These, notwithstanding the simplicity of their proceedings, usually enjoy the highest consideration of their neighbors.

For instance, one shaman, by name Galmu'urgin, whom I met in the Anui country, declined to talk openly with "spirits," and nothing was known about his connection with them. The Chukchee said that he was "[with] only his [own] body" (em-uvi'kilin); that is, that no other beings were seen to assist him in his actions. When giving a seance, he began by beating the drum and singing; but in a few minutes he would leave off the exercise, and drawing a few long, almost hysterical breaths, would immediately proceed to foretell the future. He talked to many people present, one by one. When he was through with one case, he would stop for a while, as if recollecting himself, and then, after several deep-drawn sighs, would pass on to the next applicant.

The third category embraces the "producing of incantations" (êwganva'-tirgin), which includes the more complicated practices of shamanism. The incantations, together with the spells, form the greater part of Chukchee magic, to which I shall devote a special chapter.

There are incantations both of a benevolent and malevolent character. The Chukchee have some idea of the difference between "well-minded" (teñ-či'mñulm) shamans, who ply their art in order to help the sufferers, and "mischievous" (kurg-eñe'ñilit or ku'ñičh-eñe'ñilit, literally "mocking shamans") shamans, who are bent on doing harm to people.

For instance, in a statement by a female shaman, Te'lpiñä, she says, speaking of herself in the third person, "On her way the old women with many spells come to her, invisible to the others, and offer her their spells one by one. She sees in her dreams the quality of the gifts. Some of them she rejects, saying, 'These are too evil-minded.' The others, which are benevolent, she deigns to accept." {See Bogoias, Chukchee Materials, p. 381.}

On a sketch previously given, {See Fig. 212, p. 301.} good and bad shamanism are represented as two shamanistic coats, red and black, the choice of which is offered to a shaman by a deity. I have also referred to a shamanistic plank of Yukaghir provenience, {See Fig. 233, p. 327.} one half of which was dyed red and the other half black, to designate good and bad shamanism.

The shamans, however, combine in varying degrees all. these categories of Chukchee shamanism; that is, they converse with spirits, and make them play various tricks before the spectators; then they make the spirits answer the questions and give the necessary directions. If need be, they pronounce incantations, and perform other magical acts. They also perform the magical art in the treatment of various diseases.

Pay for Services of Shamans. -- It goes without saying that Chukchee shamans are paid for their services, and, besides, try. to get for them as much as possible. It is a common saying among them, that shamanistic advice or treatment, when given gratuitously, amounts to nothing. The "spirits" are too jealous of their power to spend it without pay, and they even become angry for such doings, both with the shaman and with his patients. {Compare p. 363.} Even when, prompted by friendship or compassion, the shaman does not ask for recompense, some symbolical remuneration must nevertheless be given to him to make his treatment more effective. This, for the most part, consists of a piece of sinew with a bead fastened to one end of it.

Usually the shamans and the "spirits" do not hesitate to express their full opinion about this matter. Once, at a shamanistic seance given by Scratching-Woman in my presence, a woman from a neighboring camp asked whether she might hope to have a child in the near future. The voice of a ke'lE who had already spoken a little before answered roughly, "I will not speak without fresh meat." The woman meekly promised to kill a reindeer. "Then we shall see," said the ke'lE.

The substance and the amount of the payment vary, of course, in different cases. Meat, thong, skins, garments, living reindeer, "alien food" of civilized origin, -- all are indiscriminately given by way of recompense for a shaman. In the tale of the Scabby Shaman, Mee'mhin pays for the services of the shaman with a large reindeer-herd of his possession, {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 207.} but I much doubt whether cases like that happen in actual life. A reindeer-breeder of the Omolon told me, however, that he paid a Lamut shaman who cured him of a severe illness three large bucks and some skins besides. Sometimes a man cured by a shaman has to give him in payment something that from personal motives he prizes exeedingly high; for instance, his own reindeer-team. This may be compared with a similar sacrifice to the "spirits." {Compare p. 46.} I have never met shamans, however, who could be said to live solely on the profits of their art: it had only been to them a source of additional income.

Preparation for Performance. -- As said before, preparation for each shamanistic performance is similar to the preparatory period of inspiration which is so painful to the novice shaman as to be considered almost a peculiar kind of sickness. In conformity to this, most of the shamans show marked nervousness before the commencement of the performance. If a shaman tries to decline an invitation to act, alleging his weak power and small skill in communicating with "spirits," when once his consent is given, he becomes impatient, and hurries his assistants and listeners. He wishes to begin and to be through as soon as possible.

I was told that the application of cold water to the head of a shaman in the very heat of his performance would suddenly bring his inspiration to an end. Therefore sometimes, during the ceremonials, if some performer is practising too long, or seems to be excited to a somewhat dangerous pitch, his neighbors may sprinkle him with water in order to bring him back to himself.

The performance itself is considered as a recovery from illness. The same shaman who was nervous before the performance regains after it his self-possession, and looks really as if he were braced up by some strong tonic. Even the physical fatigue is in most cases quite unnoticeable. "Why should I feel fatigued?" asked a Chukchee shaman in regard to this subject. "I do nothing. The 'spirits' make all the exertion." Accordingly, the former, constraint gives place to an exaggerated self-conceit, and even the most "bashful" of the young shamans are wont, after a performance, to magnify their own 'faculties and shamanistic powers. Every one of them is ready to offer a repetition of the seance, and, if taken at his word, will really again go through all the violence and madness. In some cases, especially in the matches between rival shamans, the performance will last for more than twenty-four hours, and finally the listeners will withdraw, perhaps, earlier than the actors.

Shamanistic Performance in the Inner Room. -- The typical shamanistic performance is carried out in the following manner. After the evening meal is finished and the kettles and trays are removed to the outer tent, all the people who wish to be present at the seance enter the inner room, which is carefully closed for the night. Among the Reindeer Chukchee, the inner room is especially small, and its narrow space causes much inconvenience to the audience, which is packed together in a tight and most uncomfortable manner. The Maritime Chukchee have more room, and may listen to the voices of the spirits with more ease and freedom. The shaman sits on the "master's place," near the back wall; and even in the most limited sleeping-room, some free space must be left around him. The drum is carefully looked over, its head tightened, and, if it is much shrunken, it is moistened with urine and hung up for a short time over the lamp to dry. The shaman sometimes occupies more than an hour in this process, before he is satisfied with the drum. To have more freedom in his movements, the shaman usually takes off his fur shirt, and remains quite naked down to the waist. He often removes also his shoes and stockings, which of course gives free play to his feet and toes.

In olden times, shamans used no stimulants; but at present they often smoke a pipeful of strong tobacco without admixture of wood, which certainly works like a strong narcotic. This habit is copied from the Tungus shamans, who make great use of unmixed tobacco as a powerful stimulant.

At last the light is put out and the shaman begins to operate. He beats the drum and sings his introductory tunes, at first in a low voice; then gradually his voice increases in volume, and soon it fills the small closed-up room with its violent clamor. The narrow walls resound in all directions.

Moreover, the shaman uses his drum for modifying his voice, now placing it directly before his mouth, now turning it at an oblique angle, and all the time beating it violently. After a few minutes, all this noise begins to work strangely on the listeners, who are crouching down, squeezed together in a most uncomfortable position. They begin to lose the power to locate the source of the sounds; and, almost without any effort of imagination, the song and the drum - seem to shift from corner to corner, or even to move about without having any definite place at all.

The shaman's songs have no words. Their music is mostly simple, and consists of one short phrase repeated again and again. After repeating it many times, the shaman breaks off, and utters a series of long-drawn, hysterical sighs, which sound something like "Ah, ya, ka, ya, ka, ya, ka!" After that, he comes back to his songs. For this he draws his breath as deep as possible in order to have more air in his lungs, and to make the first note the longest.

Some of the tunes, however, are more varied, and are not devoid of a certain grace. Not a few are improvised by the shaman on the spot; others are repeated from seance to seance. Each shaman has several songs of his own, which are well known to the people; so that if anybody uses one of them, for instance at a ceremonial, the listeners recognize it immediately, and say that such and such a man is using the particular song of such and such a shaman.

There is no definite order for the succession of the songs, and the shaman changes them at will, sometimes even returning to the first one after a considerable interval has elapsed. This introductory singing lasts from a quarter of an hour to half an hour or more, after which the ke'let make their first appearance.

The shaman sings all alone, and the auditors take no part in the performance. From time to time, however, some one of the listeners will cry out, "Hik, hik!" or "Hie, hie!" (interjection of wonder) or "Qai'vo" ("of course") or " Emno'lik" С certainly"), -- all of which are meant to express the full approbation by those present of the doings of the shaman. The Chukchee have a special word for these exclamations, -- o'čitkѳk ("to give answering calls"). Without an očitkѳ'lin (participle), a Chukchee shaman considers himself unable to perform his calling in a proper way; therefore novices, while trying to learn the shamanistic practices, unsually induce a brother or a sister to respond, thus encouraging the zeal of the performer. Some shamans also require those people who claim their advice or treatment to give them answering calls during the particular part of the performance which refers to their affairs. The story-tellers of the Chukchee also usually claim the assistance of their listeners, who must call out the same exclamations.

Among the Asiatic Eskimo, the wife and other members of the family form a kind of chorus, which from time to time catches up the tune and sings with the shaman. Among the Russianized Yukaghir of the lower Kolyma the wife is also the- assistant of her shaman husband, and during the performance she gives him encouraging answers, and he addresses her as his "supporting staff."

In most cases the ke'let begin by entering the body of the shaman. This is marked with some change in his manner of beating the drum, which becomes faster and more violent; but the chief mark is a series of new sounds, supposed to be peculiar to the ke'let. The shaman shakes his head violently, producing with his lips a peculiar chattering noise, not unlike a man who is shivering with cold. {Compare p. 374.} He shouts hysterically, and in a changed voice utters strange, prolonged shrieks, such as "O to, to, to, to," or "I pi, pi, pi, pi," -- all of which are supposed to characterize the voice of the ke'let. He often imitates the cries of various animals and birds which are supposed to be his particular assistants. If the shaman is only a "single-bodied" one, -- that is, has no ventriloquistic power, -- the ke'let will proceed to sing and beat the drum by means of his body. The only difference will be in the timbre of the voice, which will sound harsh and unnatural, as becomes supernatural beings.

Ventriloquism and Other Tricks. -- With other shamans the ke'let appear all at once as the "separate voices." They manifest themselves with sounds and shrieks of the same harsh and unnatural character, and these are located outside the body of the shaman. After that a varied exhibition begins, in which the performance of the shaman far transcends anything attainable by a person of ordinary powers.

The Chukchee ventriloquists display great skill, and could with credit to themselves carry on a contest with the best artists of the kind of civilized countries. The "separate voices" of their calling come from all sides of the room, changing their place to the complete illusion of their listeners. Some voices are at first faint, as if coming from afar; as they gradually approach, they increase in volume, and at last they rush into the room, pass through it and out, decreasing, and dying away in the remote distance. Other voices come from above, pass through the room and seem to go underground, where they are heard as if from the depths of the earth. Tricks of this kind are played also with the voices of animals and birds, and even with the howling of the tempest, producing a most weird effect.

I heard a voice which professed to be an echo. It repeated faithfully all sounds and cries which we chose to produce in its presence, including phrases in English or Russian. The foreign words were, of course, slightly mispronounced, still the reproduction proved the "spirit" to be possessed of a fine ear, catching quickly the sounds of an unknown language. The only way in which the "spirit" could imitate the clapping of our hands (another test to which we put him) was by clacking his tongue, which caused much mirth even among the native listeners. I heard also the "spirits" of a grasshopper, horsefly, and mosquito, who imitated exceedingly well the sounds produced by the real insects.

In proof of his accuracy as to the location of the sounds, the shaman Qora'wge, previously spoken of, made one of his "spirits" shout, talk, and whisper directly into my ear, and the illusion was so perfect that involuntarily I put my hand to my ear to catch the "spirit." After that he made the "spirit" enter the ground under me and talk right in between my legs, etc. All the time that he is conversing with the "separate voices," the shaman beats his drum without interruption in order to prove that his force and attention are otherwise occupied.

I tried to make a phonographic record of the "separate voices" of the "spirits." For this purpose I induced the shaman Scratching-Woman to give a seance in my own house, overcoming his reluctance with a few extra presents. The performance, of course, had to be carried out in utter darkness: and I arranged my machine so as to be able to work it without any light. Scratching-Worn an sat in the farthest corner of the spacious room, at a distance of twenty feet from me. When the light was put out, the "spirits," after some "bashful" hesitation, entered, in compliance with the demand of the shaman, and even began to talk into the funnel of the graphophone. The records show a very marked difference between the voice of the shaman himself, which sounds from afar, and the voices of the "spirits," who seemed to be talking directly into the funnel.

All the while, Scratching-Woman was beating the drum incessantly to show that he was in his usual place, and occupied with his usual function, that of beating the drum without interruption. He brought some of the entering "spirits" to my special notice. One was a fawn of a wild reindeer, found by him in the wilderness beside the carcass of its mother, which had been killed by a wolf. The fawn, when he found it, was trying to suck the carcass. The strange sight had evidently struck Scratching-Woman, and he took the fawn for one of his assisting ke'let. The "spirit" manifested his presence by characteristic short snorts, peculiar to the fawn when calling for its mother. Another "spirit" entered with a dismal howl. This was the wolf who killed the reindeer-dam.

Scratching-Woman explained that when he desired to wreak his vengeance on some one of his foes, he transformed himself into this wolf, taking care beforehand to turn the other party into a reindeer. Then, of course, he was quite certain of victory. The idea that shamans, in case of need, not only may send their "spirits" to a destined place, but also may turn themselves into any of their "spirits," and carry out their intentions, appears in many tales.

For instance, in the tale of the Shaman with Warts (Kuku'lpin), this shaman, during a shamanistic contest, asks his adversary, "Which ke'lE are you going to employ?" The other answers, "The small hawk." -- "And you?" -- "The great diver." Then they turn into these birds, and the contest begins. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 223.}

Those episodes of the tales in which men in distress have recourse to their animal amulets -- either reviving them and bidding them fight their enemies, or transforming themselves into their living likenesses -- are evidently quite analogous.

Still another of the ke'let introduced by Scratching-Woman was a raven, who cawed lustily. The shaman used him when working with magic medicine, because the raven could devour all germs of sickness and disease. Still another was a little mouse, who could travel very fast underground, and was employed on errands requiring haste.

There followed the leather bucket, which forms a part of a "bone-breaking set," and is used as a receptacle for pounded bones. {Compare p. 188. Fig. 105.} Once when Scratching-Woman was hunting wild reindeer, he succeeded in wounding a strong buck in the right fore-leg, but still he could not overtake it. Then he called for the Skin Bucket, bade it overtake the buck and entrap its head. After that the reindeer was easily caught.

After having entered the room and produced a few sounds, by way of making his presence known, the "spirit" usually offers to "try his breath;" that is, he beats the drum for a while, singing a tune in the special harsh voice peculiar to the "spirits." This, however, lasts only a short time, after which the "spirit" declares that his breath is ebbing away. Then he either begins to talk, or straightway takes his departure with characteristic quivering sounds somewhat similar to the buzzing of a fly. These sounds are called by the Chukchee "gibbering" (moomga'tirgm), and are always associated with the "spirits." The same name is applied to the chattering alluded to before. {See pp. 374, 435.}

Often the shaman declares to the "spirit" first entering, that the sound of his drum is bad, or even that the cover of it is broken, and this is corroborated by a few dull strokes. The "spirit" must then mend the drum by breathing upon it, which he does accordingly. This treatment is resorted to especially in cases of magic medicine. After the drum is mended, the shaman explains to the patient that it is a good sign. He says also, that, if the "spirit" were not able to mend the drum, it would forebode a bad turn in the disease.

I must again repeat that the animal "spirits" produce their own characteristic sounds. The walrus and the bear roar, the reindeer snorts, the wolt howls, the fox bays, the raven caws. The last three, however, are able to talk, but use a particular timbre of voice, and intersperse among their words, from time to time, their peculiar cries.

In most cases the ventriloquistic performance soon takes on a dramatic character. A number of "spirits" appear in succession. They talk to the shaman and to one another, pick quarrels, abuse and denounce one another. It is superfluous to add that only one voice may talk at a time, so that even the most lively dialogue consists of a series of interpolations following each other in succession. The talk of the "spirits" is often carried on in strange, quite unintelligible words, such as "papire kuri muri," etc. To make it understood, the shaman has to call for an interpreter, who from that time on takes part in all conversations, and also explains to the auditors the words of the other "spirits." Thus the shaman is supposed to be unable to understand the language of the "separate spirits."

The same idea obtains among other neighboring tribes. The most curious case of all is that of the shamans of the Russians and the Russianized natives of the Kolyma and the Anadyr, who know no other language than the Russian. The "spirits," however, even when speaking through the mouth of the shaman, employ only the usual unintelligible gibberish mixed with some distorted and mispronounced phrases in the Koryak, Yakut, and Yukaghir languages. After a while the shaman calls for an interpreter, and at last, after some controversy, the "spirits"' send for one who can speak Russian and who translates the orders of the "spirits."

The Chukchee shamans have no special language of their own, with the exception of a few words and expressions. Thus the drum is called a'3twet ("canoe"), which is an additional proof of the preponderance of maritime pursuits in the former life of the people. The idea of shamanistic ecstasy is expressed by the word an.ña'arkin ("he sinks"), which refers to the belief that the shaman, during the period of ecstasy, is able to visit other worlds, and especially that underground.

Among the northwestern branch of the Koryak, the "spirits" are said to use a special mode of pronunciation, similar to that used by the southeastern Koryak and the Chukchee. A few words are also said to be peculiar to them. Among the Asiatic Eskimo the "spirits" are said to have a special language. Many words of it were given to me by the shamans, and most of them are analogous to the "spirit" language known to various Eskimo tribes of America, both in Alaska and on the Atlantic side.

Tricks of various kinds break up the monotony of the performance, which may last for several hours. The "spirits" wi}l scratch from the outside at the walls of the sleeping-room, running around it in all directions, so that the clattering of their feet is quite audible. In contrast to this, the motion of the ke'let inside of the room produces but slight noise. The rustling of their flight is similar to the buzzing of a mosquito, and the rattling of their tiny feet as they run over the surface of the drum is hardly perceptible.

Often, however, a mischievous "spirit" suddenly tugs at the skin spread in the centre of the room with such force that things lying on it fly about in all directions. Therefore the housemates of the shaman usually take the precaution to remove kettles and dishes from the room. Sometimes an invisible hand seizes the whole sleeping-room by its top, and shakes it with wonderful strength, or even lifts it up high, letting in for a moment the twilight from the outer tent. This, of course, is possible only with the movable tent of the Reindeer people, where the sleeping-room is fastened none too firmly. Other invisible hands toss about lumps of snow, spill cold water and urine, and even throw blocks of wood, or stones, at the imminent risk of hurting some of the listeners.

All these things happened several times in my presence. The "spirits" would ask me, through the shamans, whether I really felt afraid; and, when I did not give a satisfactory answer, the "spirits" would try to increase my respect for them by such material manifestations. I must mention that the audience is strictly forbidden to make any attempts whatever to touch the "spirits." These latter highly resent any intrusion of this kind, and retaliate either on the shaman, whom they may kill on the spot, or on the trespassing listener, who runs the risk of having his head broken, or even a knife thrust through his ribs in the dark. I received warnings of this kind at almost every shamanistic performance. In some cases the shaman would lay a bare knife within his own reach as an additional warning against any infringement.

The size of the sleeping-room is so small that it is really wonderful how a shaman can keep up the illusion, even under cover of the dark and with the protection of his resentful "spirits." Many times I sat so near the performer that I could almost touch him with my outstretched hand, and the warning against too great inquisitiveness on my part was of course quite necessary.

All these tricks strangely resemble the doings of modern spiritualists, and without doubt they cannot be carried out without the help of human assistants.

Magical Advice. -- The second part of the shamanistic performance is of a magical character. To give a clearer idea of it, I will describe a few instances.

The shaman Tilu'wgi, of whom I shall speak again, after some preliminary intercourse with the "spirits," called a peculiar ke'lE of his, who said she was an old maid, living alone in her house, and she expressed apprehension lest we should laugh at her talk with the peculiar feminine pronunciation. After that, however, she proceeded to' give the magic instructions and explanations.

She told one of those present, Enmu'wgi by name, who had recently been vanquished in a wrestling-match, that his defeat was caused by the use of malignant incantations by his adversary, and she advised him to take the matter into his own hands.

This female "spirit" reproached one of my fellow-travellers, a great hunter, with ill treating those "walking afoot," which is the usual periphrasis for the bears. When he tried to defend himself, the female "spirit" reminded him of a hunting expedition, in which he took part about two months before, which was directed against a bear sleeping in its den. From the old Chukchee point of view, this certainly was a rather dangerous pursuit. {Compare p. 283.} In the end the "spirit" said that the man in question, because of his offences against those "walking afoot," was in danger of losing his powers of endurance in walking. To his question as to the means of warding off the danger, the female "spirit" answered that he must procure for himself the skin of the nose of a newly killed bear, and perform a thanksgiving ceremonial over it. That, probably, would appease those "walking afoot."

Afterward she told another listener that she saw that in the last autumn he had killed a wild reindeer-buck. Though this happened far away from his herd, he should have made a sacrifice to the buck, which he omitted to do: {In this he followed the usual custom, which does not require sacrifices to a wild reindeer killed far from the herd "by the exertions of the hunter" (compare p. 379). The shaman's advice represented a special prescription, which, if used in time, would ward off the oncoming bad luck.} therefore the following winter he was visited by bad luck, in that the wolves attacked his herd, and killed nine fat bucks. To check the recurrence of such a misfortune, it is necessary to take a small crotch of willow {Compare p. 342.} cut on the place of the attack by wolves, and perform over it the required ceremonial.

Galmu'urgin, the soothsaying shaman already spoken of, who gave a prescription at the very beginning of the seance, predicted in my presence to the master of the tent that the next fall many wild reindeer would come to his house. "One buck will stop on the right side of the entrance, and pluck at the grass, attracted by a certain doe of dark-gray hair. This attraction must be strengthened with a special incantation. The reindeer-buck, while standing there, must be killed with a bow, and the arrow to be used must have a flat rhomboid point. This will secure the successful killing of all the other wild reindeer."

After that the shaman recollected himself for a while, and addressed the brother of the master, who, with one companion, lived in a separate camp. This companion was married to one of his relatives. The shaman said that, before the fall, they would part company, nor would they look at each other with clear eyes; and, by the way, his prediction was fulfilled much earlier than the time designated.

To still another of the listeners he said that he feared lest the "bad beings" might conceive a desire to approach his house. By this he meant the "spirits of disease." In order to thwart their intentions, the man was told to go through some special preventive ceremonies during the celebration of the ceremonial of the antlers, which was then at hand. The ceremonies consisted in drawing several lines across the snow near the tent, and putting some small stones before the entrance. These were supposed to transform themselves into a large river, and high, inaccessible cliffs, on the route of the "bad beings."

In this way the usual shamanistic performance is carried on in the inner room, and with the light put out.

Trances. -- In other cases the shaman actually "sinks;" that is, after some most violent singing, and beating of the drum, he falls into a kind of trance, during which his body lies on the ground unconscious, while his soul visits "spirits" in their own world, and asks them for advice. Chukchee folk-lore is full of episodes referring to such shamanistic trances; but in real life they happen very rarely, especially in modern times, when shamans are so much less skilful than of old. Even the word an.ña'arkin ("to sink"), from the explanation of modern shamans, has reference simply to the immersion of the perfornier into the depths of shamanistic ecstasy without its literal fulfilment.

In folk-stories the shamans sink into the other worlds, chiefly for the purpose of finding one of the missing souls of a patient who claims their power for his treatment. In important cases, even at the present day, the shamans, when treating a well-to-do patient, will at least pretend to have sunk into the required unconsciousness. On one or two occasions I had an opportunity of witnessing such a state, but the whole performance was of a rather poor kind.

It began, as usual, in the dark; but when the shaman suddenly broke off beating the drum, the lamp was again lighted and the face of the shaman immediately covered with a piece of cloth. The mistress of the house, who was the wife of the shaman, took up the drum and began to beat it with light, slow strokes. This lasted the entire time that the shaman lay under the cloth, or about a quarter of an hour. Then he suddenly awoke, and, removing the cloth from his face, sat up in his place, took the drum from his wife, beat it for a while, and sang a few tunes as in the beginning. After that he began to give the patient magical advice regarding his illnessr which, however, was nothing else than an elaborate incantation in dramatized form, like those of which I shall speak in the next chapter.

Shamanistic Performance in the Outer Room. -- As we have seen, the performances in the outer tent take place only at the time of ceremonials. The acts of the shamans do not differ essentially from those of the other people, except that their drumming is more violent and the tunes of their songs more complex and varied.

The Chukchee shamans do not practise the ventriloquistic art in the outer tent in daylight. I did indeed hear one or two shamans boast of their ability to call "separate voices" in the outer tent, and that some of these voices talked to them out of the fire of the hearth; but they were never able to make good these pretensions. One shaman, since dead, was said to have performed such a feat-; but the "separate voices" of his calling were heard all the time very near to his knees, and he had even to stoop down to talk with them. The hearth, however, is considered to be a fit entrance for ke'let. In Koryak tales the ka'mak (evil spirit) comes into the house out of the fire of the hearth: {See Vol. VI, Jochels'dn, The Koryak, p. 140} therefore the hearth is surrounded with a circle of stones, which are supposed also by the Chukchee to keep off the ke'let. When a ke'lE wants to enter, the stones turn into inaccessible mountains, and enclose the fire as a small world apart.

The "spirits" called by the shamans during the ceremonials in the outer tent can manifest themselves only through the body of the shaman, who in due time begins to utter the same gibbering noises and hysterical cries that have already been described. The shamans also imitate the voices of animals and birds, stamp the ground with their feet, and jump about violently, foaming at the mouth, and even breaking such things as may come within reach of their hands. A shaman whose body is entered by a ke'lE loses the faculty of human speech, and may express his wishes either by gestures or by gibbering unintelligible noises. When the ke'lE is an animal, the shaman tries to act accordingly. He crawls on all-fours, grunting, and gnashing his teeth. I was told several times that some of the shamans even put on a bear or a wolf skin, taken off with the claws and the skull. {Compare p. 384.}

Sometimes a ke'lE who entered the body of a shaman on the day of the ceremonial is bent on mischief, and, among other things, seeks to destroy the life which is under his temporary power.

Among the Reindeer Chukchee on the Wolverene River 1 knew a man by the name of Aki'mUke ("Marrowless"), who gave himself out as a shaman, though the people usually did not pay much attention to his claim. At the times of ceremonials, Aki'mlAke would pretend that a ke'lE had entered his body and was bent on destroying his life. He would usually spend a part of his time crawling about in search of a knife. The women of his house, however, well aware of this holy-day custom of his^ usually took care to conceal all knives and other sharp weapons. Once, at a thanksgiving ceremonial at which I was present, he began his usual search, and came to me, among others, explaining with signs his desire for a knife, in order to be able to destroy himself. The "spirit" who possessed his body could not speak' the human language. I really had a knife on my belt; and a Russian cossack who sat; next me proposed laughingly that I give it to Aki'mlAkê. Hearing this, the women of the; house raised a frightened cry. Aki'mlAkê, however, who doubtless was stung by the taunt implied in the words of the cossack, suddenly picked up from the ground a long, sharp-pointed chip of wood, and, baring his abdomen, put one end of the stick on his body, and the other against my breast. Then he made a thrust forward with the whole weight of his heavy body. The chip, of course, was snapped in two. One end flew up and hit me on the brow very near to the left eye, leaving an ugly gash. The other end cut a deep scratch entirely across the abdomen of Aki'mlAkê. I wonder that it had not been driven in. All this was done so quick that nobody had time to interfere.

Aki'mlAkê with much coolness picked up a handful of snow, and, wiping off the blood from his abdomen, quietly went to another tent. In half an hour, when he was no longer thirsting for blood, I asked him about his actions; but he disclaimed all knowledge, and expressed the utmost wonder when showed the bloody scratch ononis own abdomen.

This incident is quite characteristic of the shamans of all primitive people, because it represents a blending of ecstatic excitement with daring and Cool deceit, which is able to lead them to quite unexpected actions.

We have already mentioned {Compare p. 385.} that in the thanksgiving ceremonial, as in many others, the day performance in the outer tent, with its special incidents, ends during the night-time in the inner room, with the usual shamanistic seance, which lasts frequently until broad daylight. Whenever several shamans are present, a contest takes place in both the outer and the inner tent. The shamans' present must show their ability one by one, and in the end they receive presents from the host, according to their apparent skill and presumed power.

Chukchee folk-lore is full of detailed descriptions of such contests, and even of extemporaneous matches to which two men of power invite each other, and which are said to last often for several months.

Incidents of a similar kind are numerous also in the folk-lore of the Russianized natives. The details of all these stories, however, are mostly of a fabulous character. Those shamanistic contests which I had an opportunity of witnessing did not differ from the usual seance, with the single exception that there were several participants in the contest, who took their turn one after the other.

Tricks performed in the Light. -- Besides those tricks described above as being carried out in the dark, various others are performed by shamans in the light, either in the sleeping-room or in the outer tent, and even in the daytime. Some are done clumsily enough; others, on the contrary, display wonderful skill, which would do credit to a prestidigitateur of the first rank in civilized countries. I must mention, moreover, that I had no chance of meeting a shaman of the first rank, -- a man of such ability that, in the words of the Chukchee, "his renown would fully equal that of the ancient people," because shamans like that are not to be met with every day in modern times.

One Eskimo shaman of Uni'sak at Indian Point enjoyed a great reputation in the surrounding country; and his neighbors, desirous of explaining to me his great strength, said that he was like a ke'lE, and that they were afraid of him, as we Russians are afraid of the Sun Chief (Czar). {Compare p. 292.} To my regret he died a year before I reached Indian Point. Mr. Gondatti certainly had an opportunity of meeting him, though he does not mention him in his papers. I met only his wife, U'pune, who acknowledged that she had acquired only a small part of his great art. Some of the feats effected by her were, however, quite wonderful. For instance, while we were sitting in the inner room of her house, with the lamps burning, she took the drum, and, after practising on it for a little while, passed over to the characteristic cries and violent motions ascribed to the ke'let, thus conveying to us that one of them had entered her body.

After that she took a large round pebble of the size of a man's fist, set it upon the drum, and, blowing upon it from all sides, began to mumble and snort in the same ke'lE-like manner. She called our attention with signs, -- being in the possession of the ke'lE, she had lost the faculty of human speech, and then began to wring the pebble with both hands. Then a continuous row of very small pebbles began to fall from her hands. This lasted for fully five minutes, till quite a heap of small pebbles was gathered below, on the skin y the taking of a man from the family of the murderer. This man must wholly replace the murderer. He must perform his work and all his duties. Thus, in the case of the Chukchee killed in a scuffle at the Anui fair in the year 1895, of whom I have spoken before, the kinsmen of the one killed came to the fair the next year, and asked for retribution. They were offered tea, sugar, and tobacco. They took all this, but then declared that they wanted the Cossack who killed the man, or at least any other of the Cossacks. He was to be taken to the tundra, and to live there in the family of the killed man, to be a husband to his widow, a father to his small children. Then only might the feud be considered as wholly settled. They repeated the request the following year, and were again paid in tea and other valuables.

In this case a man taken from the family of the offender had to be adopted by the family of the victim, and in every way took his place. I know of another case of similar character. Pe'qul, a man of Maritime origin, had a cousin who was an assistant herdsman in a large tundra herd on the. Wolverene River. After a couple of years, the young herdsman was killed in a scuffle. Pe'qul came to the Wolverene River to seek for indemnity and revenge. He took from the family of the murderer a number of reindeer by way of ransom (ki'tkaw); then he also took a young boy, the son of the sister of the murderer, and carried him to his own house. The boy was treated very harshly, so that he even tried to commit suicide. Then he was released in exchange for a new payment in live reindeer. Pe'qul also threatened to take a certain young woman from the same family. The woman also declared that she would rather destroy her own life.

I know of no other cases of such replacing of dead kinsmen by a living enemy; but I was told that in former times such cases were frequent, and that the men taken from the family of the murderer were treated like slaves, and had to obey their masters blindly. Otherwise the master had the right to kill them in his turn. I suspect, however, that this is a rather exaggerated statement, or at least that slaves of this kind were not frequent among the Chukchee.

I will also mention the tradition of a war between the people of Indian Point and those of St. Lawrence Island, of which I spoke before. There, too, after peace was concluded, a man was left as a voluntary prisoner to replace another one killed in the beginning of the strife. In modern times I know of no other cases besides those mentioned here.

XXII. -- LAW.

Council of the Family-Group. -- I was told that in olden times, when some awkward case in law (akau'ka-va'irgin, "inconvenient substances," the usual Chukchee expression for trouble, trespass, crime {The Chukchee have no other general term covering the concept "crime." Two roots, taiñ and qäs.m, several derivations of which are used in reference to crime, express only a trespass against religious prescriptions, mostly of ceremonial character, and the "bad luck" which is the result thereof. Thus the adjective nita'inqên means "bringing bad luck." The opposite of it is niki'ntaqên ("bringing good luck," "favorable"). The noun tai'ñIkut (pl.) with the meaning of "misfortune-protectors," is used as a designation for charm-strings (cf. p. 353). The noun qas-mu.urgin means "bad luck" coming from the influence of ke'let, etc.} happened within the limits of a family-group, the old men and the young men would hold a council. The old men would sit down and talk about the case. The young men would stand behind and listen. Likewise, when any trouble arose between two different family-groups, men from both sides would assemble. The old men of each side would elect one or two speakers, who had to speak in turn, one side after the other. The old men spoke "for the softness" (am-yêrkê'ti), and the younger men had to obey their decision. If, however, an agreement could not be reached, or the parties particularly interested in the case refused to listen to reason, the old men would say, "Let them [have a little] play" (nuučve'erkinet). {F. Boas mentions that among the Central Eskimo there exists a kind of temporary chief, who may give orders, but that there is not the slightest obligation to obey his orders (Central Eskimo, p. 581). In the same way among the Chukchee the advice of the old men was not binding upon the interested parties.} Then the interested parties, armed with spears, would have an encounter. Of course, even such a duel would have been better than the unorganized bloodshed of vendetta; but I am unable to say how far the above description of the council corresponded to actual life: at least, in the modern life of the Chukchee tribe, I do not know of anything similar to such councils and their deliberations.

I mentioned previously that the Chukchee are eloquent in their own way; so that, when anything happens, at the next gathering of the people -- for instance, during some ceremonial or on the occasion of a reindeer-race -- it is much talked about; and in this discussion, as is the custom, only the older and more esteemed people take an important part. From this to a regular council, however, is a long way. I mentioned in the chapter on marriage a similar assertion by D. J. Melikoff, {See p. 574.} concerning the "council of elders." This assertion even pretended to refer to modern times. I expressed then also my opinion that in modern times, so far as I know, no such councils are held among the Chukchee. The law is regulated by personal action, and no public institutions have anything to do with the judgment or punishment of the crime.

Murder and Blood-Revenge within the Family-Group. -- The principal crime is of course murder, and the punishment thereof blood-revenge. In the beginning of my acquaintance with the Chukchee tribe I was astonished to find that all murders are divided into two categories, those committed within the family-group, and those committed outside of it. Only those of the second category are liable to blood-revenge. Those in the first category were exempt from it, or indeed from any punishment at all. In explanation of such a state of things, the Ghukchee would even quote something like a formula of customary law: "as one of their own he was treated" (čini'tu li'gnin), "as a kinsman he was treated" (čiče'tu li'gnin). This is meant to express that each family-group knows their own circumstances best, and is able to decide about them. The Chukchee would add, "Is he destined to live on? All the same, he would be killed by a stranger" (Yäqqäi' ye'g telelqäl? Tŭmg-a'lvalag ečve'čä ni'nminên). This implies that only "bad men" are murdered within the limits of the family-group. In reality, I know this to be true in some cases. For instance, in the country of the Oloi River, a couple of years before my visit there, a Chukchee by the name of Leivite'hin was killed by his own kinsmen. He was a man of spiteful temper. He ill-used his housemates, and was even cruel to his own driving-reindeer. The Reindeer Chukchee consider the driving-reindeer as first among things "dear to the heart" (li'ñliñkin). The terms for blood-revenge (li'ñilin, "blood-revenger;" liñile'erkin, "to seek blood-revenge") are derived from the same root (liñ). This root belongs to the noun li'ñliñ ("heart").

One day, Leivite'hin, while on some journey, happened to kill one of his reindeer by a misdirected blow. After that his kinsmen resolved to take his life. They said, "Otherwise he will be killed by somebody else, and we shall have a feud on our hands." So his own brother came to his camp, and at a favorable moment stabbed him in the back with a knife. This act was approved by the common consent of all neighbors, because he was a "bad one, a source of torment to the others" (e3'tqi tawêmin.ñi'irgin), as they expressed it. {The common consent of the neighbors for the killing of a bad man is of very great importance also among the Eskimo (compare, Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 582).} In another case I mentioned, {Compare p. 45.} a father was killed by his son and nephew, with the knowledge of his wife, also for his extreme cruelty. Outside of such cases, however, I know of several others where the victims were not "bad ones" at all, and the murderers were acting for their own material interest. Such was the case of fratricide mentioned above. In still another case, a man of the Chukchee country, Ya'yaq by name, was murdered by his nephews in the early nineties of the last century. He was a rich reindeer-breeder, and the young men simply wanted to get possession of his large herd. On the other hand, Ya'yaq, a few months before his death, had himself committed a barbarous murder on a family of Maritime people at Cape Erri. His deed was of such a character that it could not pass without punishment; so that the murderers could allege for themselves that the killing of Ya'yaq by his own people would destroy all grounds for blood-revenge, and prevent further trouble. In still another case that I know of a man named Qa'vrêtto was killed by his cousin in a quarrel. After the deed, the murderer married the wife of his victim, and joined the two herds together. The victim left a small son, who had to live in the camp of the murderer. Nobody protested against the deed. The Chukchee who told me the details of the affair said, "What is to be done? This is their own business" (Qailo'-qim mi'ñkri. E'rng-li'i; literally, "Of course how, their knowledge").

I will also mention a couple of cases of a somewhat different character, although they happened within the family.

A mother killed her boy with a blow of a heavy stick. The boy was about seven years old. The father was, as the Chukchee says, "a soft one" (yi'rkum-va'hn), and nothing further happened. In two cases men killed their wives, -- one with a fire-brand, and the other with a kick of the foot in her abdomen. Moreover, the second woman was with child. Both murders remained without consequences. In a third case, however, a rich reindeer-breeder on the western Kolyma tundra, Qitu'wgi, who happened to murder his wife, had to pay a heavy fine to the brother of the one killed. He gave nine reindeer, among them two driving-teams and a number of the best fawn-skins. I was told, however, that even this fine was moderate, the killed one being a woman and not very young.

Still another case, also previously mentioned, {Compare p. 551.} where, on the contrary, a wife killed her husband with the concurrence of her daughters, remained without consequences for the lack of avengers; that is to say, the victim had no kinsmen in the neighborhood.

Murder and Blood-Revenge outside of the Family. -- A murder committed outside of the family-group rarely remains unavenged. "It is a bitter shame to leave blood unpaid for," say the Chukchee. "Even the remote kinsmen have to take it to heart. A friend, too, must avenge his friend, and, much more, his group-marriage companion."

I have already mentioned that the union of those who have to take part in blood-revenge is designated by a special term, či'n-yinn, "heart-company" (from the root čiñ, identical with lift). These are, first of all, kinsmen in the father's line ("those from the old-buck side"). It is said that kinsmen in the mother's line ("those from the matrix side") have to appear as avengers only when there is nobody to undertake it in the father's line. The son-in-law, who lives in the house of his wife as an adopted son, is considered as a member of his wife's father's family, and takes an active part in the blood-revenge. The son-in-law, living separately, is equivalent to a kinsman in the mother's line. He undertakes revenge only in the absence of paternal kinsmen. On the whole, in all strife and cases of revenge the rights of the paternal line are decidedly preponderant over those of the maternal. In case the interests of other groups come into collision, a man has to stay with the paternal line. The same is true for the Asiatic Eskimo. The people at Indian Point declared, "In the case of a quarrel, the father's kin becomes near, and the mother's remote." Still, the saying, that, in case of need, even the remotest relation may appear as an avenger, is occasionally put into practice. For instance, when a Chukchee man was killed by the Russians at the Anui fair in 1895, an incident, of which I have already spoken, the wrong was taken up, first of all, by the step-father of the killed one; i.e., by a man who was not connected with him on either the paternal or maternal side. He negotiated with the officials, and even received the first portion of the pay for the blood. It seemed, however, that he was conscious of having no right to that pay: at least, some of it was stolen from him almost immediately by the other Chukchee. He offered to return the remainder to the Russians under the pretense that they should keep it for the brother of the slain. In the end, of course, he took it for himself.

From this moment, day after day, various Chukchee from the Chaun country came to the Russian officials. Some of them declared themselves to be cousins of the killed one, how many times removed nobody could ascertain. The others simply said that they were his fellow-countrymen. They explained, "We have trodden the same ground as he. This is sufficient to make us feel compassion at his death." Most of them also declared that it was their intention to get some part of the pay for blood; but the others only offered a lot of invective, even threatening the Russian officer to his very face. After that they would go. Still all of them declared that all these doings were quite useless, and that revenge would not begin until the next year, when the brother of the victim would come to the fair.

Nevertheless, there are cases where no kinsman wants to appear as an avenger of blood. Of brothers and cousins there may be none; and the more remote relations do not care to take up the quarrel, especially if the hostile family is strong enough to sustain the fight. If the slain one has left youthful sons, however, the duty of revenge falls upon them, and sooner or later will ' be accomplished.

A good description of the way in which blood-revenge was practised, was given to me by Aiñanwa't. I knew personally some of the people mentioned and described in his story; and the information they gave corresponded in all essential points to that obtained from Aiñanwa't. The most remarkable of the family of brothers mentioned in the story was the oldest. His name was Va'lirgin. He was about forty years old, well built, strong, and active. He had the reputation among his neighbors of being dangerous in times of trouble; but in ordinary life he was of a quiet nature, and abused nobody.

"One rich reindeer-breeder was killed by his camp assistant while with the herd. He had left three sons, all of them still young boys. The eldest boy, however, was not very small: he had already begun to help with the herd during the daytime. There was, besides these, a little brother of the one killed. He was of just the same age as the second boy. After the murder, the camp assistant, being the strongest man in the camp, slaughtered reindeer as he liked. Then the wife of the murdered man began to abuse her eldest son, who slept too long in the morning. {With the Reindeer Chukchee late sleeping is considered a great disgrace for a young man occupied with the herd.} The woman said, 'Your father has been murdered, and notwithstanding this you sleep so long in the morning!'

"All this time the boys were shooting with their bows, spurred on by their mother. Their little uncle, the young brother of the murdered one, was doing the same. The murderer continued slaughtering their reindeer. Very soon he made them poor, and at last their entire herd had been butchered. Then the murderer separated from them and went away to a distant locality. The boys continued their exercises. At last they grew up to young manhood. The next year they were full grown, and became strong men. The murderer went away to the windward side. {Eastwards (cf. p. 27).}

"Now the boys went in search of him. They had become great archers. They would take aim at a blade of grass, and would hit it. Therefore they sought for the murderer. They travelled eastward from camp to camp, declaring that they were going to East Cape to trade. The camps were numerous in that country, and, after asking among the camps, they at last acquired the necessary information. The inhabitants said to them, 'He left his winter place, and is going with a light tent to the seashore to get blubber from the Maritime people. His house-mates are travelling slowly behind, waiting for his return.' These young men were without a tent, having only their own bodies; i. е., travelling with single sledges, without women and other house-mates. They reached the place. Then they began to go every day to watch the trail of the murderer, and every evening they came back. They walked on foot, leaving their reindeer in the herd of their host. The whole time they carried their bows and quivers upon their backs, ready for action. At last, one day, they saw a man coming along the trail with a reindeer-team. Behind him, but at a great distance, the usual line of pack-sledges was moving toward them. At last he came nearer and recognized them. At the same time he understood their intention, because all of them had bows in their hands. Then at last he made a halt. They said, 'Now we have found you!' He said, 'Oh! so it is. Oh! better in the camp!' They answered, 'Did you commit the deed on our man also in the camp?' So one strung a bow and shot at him. Being an expert archer, he hit him right in the middle of his liver. {That is, in the abdomen.} It was pierced through. Still he jumped up and ran away, not heeding the wound. Another one shot at the running one, and hit him ri^ht in the back. Then he fell down. They rushed toward him. He was still living, and his eyes looked like those of a living person. They hacked him with their large knives upon the head, and broke his skull. The pack-sledges were coming. Then they left him, and shouted to those who arrived, "Now we leave to you your wild reindeer [killed by us!]' They started home, running. The wife of the killed man had to pitch camp on that spot. Thus they achieved their revenge.

"After that they left and went home. Then they travelled in this direction, because they had lived far inland. When seeking the murderer, they falsely declared in the camps, 'We are going to East Cape;' and their real intention was to commit murder. Only on the sly did they inquire from their own kinsmen concerning the man whom they intended to kill, 'Where is he?' To the other people they said, 'We are going to East Cape.' After the deed, they, in their turn, left with a feeling of fear.

"They travelled in great haste. Still summer overtook them, and they had to remain through the summer-time. When the next fall came, with the first cool weather they moved right on here. They went somewhere on the other side of the Kolyma River, and spent one year there. The next year they crossed the Kolyma. They stopped at last just on the border of the western camps, in the country of the Indighirka. It seemed almost as if they wanted to pass on to the land beyond the Chukchee (i.e., to the Russian) territory. Only there they resolved to make a halt. So they remained on the leeward (western) side. Ten years they spent in that country; and after many years the 'knowing men' among the kinsmen of the murdered one made them (by magic) entirely forget the past, and leave off their watchfulness. Then the youngest brother was murdered by means of a spell from a great distance (by those 'knowing men')."

Then follows the episode of the spell. The youngest brother wounded a wild reindeer-buck that came to his camp. While pursuing it on the ice of the lake, he broke his own neck. Thus the reindeer proved to be a spell. This part of the story has been mentioned elsewhere. {Compare p. 482.} The narrator pointed out that this man, one of the recent avengers, perished through an accident connected with the shooting; and when dying had his bow in his hand, ready to shoot. He had the same bow ten years before, when taking an active part in their blood-revenge. Notwithstanding the incident of the spell, the narrator, when speaking of the flight of the avengers westwards, added some remarks of his own deprecating their lack of courage after the deed. His remarks are quite interesting: --

"They fled without reason. Their deed was not a murder. Why have they left their own country? They have only avenged their kinsman. And if they had staid there, they would have met no annoyance, since they were only 'exchangers.' It is rather sinful to answer [the avengers] with murder. Some such even live together, become friends and group-marriage companions; for they may dwell in union, since they have accomplished their intention, as they would finish some great work. {A similar practice exists' among the American Eskimo. Thus Franz Boas says about the Central Eskimo. "Their method of carrying on such a feud is quite foreign to our feelings. Strange as it may seem, a murderer will go to visit the relatives of his victim, though he knows that they are allowed to kill him in revenge, and will settle with them. He is kindly welcomed, and sometimes lives quietly for weeks and months. Then he is suddenly challenged to a wrestling-match, and, if defeated, is killed: or, if victorious, be may kill one of the opposite party; or when hunting, he is suddenly attacked by his companions and slain." (Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 582). All this may have place also among the Chukchee.} The others, however, may indeed feel afraid when the murderer has kinsmen who are hot-tempered. Some also do not kill the murderer. They kill somebody else, a son or a brother, or another man dear to his heart. They make the murderer suffer from sorrow. They say, 'You also suffer and repine.' The man who has recently committed a murder feels the utmost fear; but when retribution has been accomplished, he may cease to be afraid." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 23.}

From all this the conclusion may be drawn that Chukchee blood-revenge in most cases stops with the first case of retribution, and that the repaying of revenge with further deeds of violence happens less frequently. On the contrary, families having a feud, after the first act of revenge, may conclude peace, and even form ties of friendship. I cannot say that I know of cases of such friendship in actual life; but, on the other hand, the continuation of blood-revenge through a series of return-cases does not correspond to the general condition of Chukchee family life. The Chukchee family connection is not strong enough to sustain a prolonged feud: at least, among the Reindeer Chukchee, in all cases of vendetta of which I know, revenge was taken by the first party wronged, and after that in return by the second party wronged. In this latter case it consisted almost always in the payment of were-geld or in the use of magic influence. Then the vendetta would cease, and even the enmity would be at an end. As to the Maritime Chukchee, I mentioned a prolonged feud between two villages, but the feud was of a different character; and no particular family blood-revenge; so far as I know, formed the basis of it.

In folk-tales, cases of vendetta are described almost with as much detail as the episode of actual life narrated above. Thus, for instance, in the tale of "Violent-One Murdered" (E'rmec in ti'myo), the man is performing violence on his neighbors and robbing them of the products of their seal-hunt. They feel annoyed at this, and finally kill him. I mentioned this tale because of its description of a violent man among the Maritime people. {Compare p. 644.} In the second part of the tale it is said that the killed one left two wives. One of them was with child, and soon brought forth male twins. The boys grew up quickly; but the family suffered many hardships, and often they had nothing to eat. The women, however, incited the boys to continual exercise, in order to prepare them for revenge. They said to them, "Our hunger comes from the fact that your father was killed by his enemies. While he was living, we always had plenty. So you are bound to avenge his death, and make the families of his murderers also repine and starve." The boys obeyed. They were running all the time, hauling large trunks of trees, and fencing with spears. Thus they became strong and active men. One day they killed ten wild reindeer-bucks, and fed the two old women, their mother and her companion, who were almost starved to death. Then they had a quarrel with their neighbors, who had killed a whale. The old woman said, "Your father perished with many wounds in his body. Go now and repay that." They went, and had a fight with their neighbors. All the men were killed. Everything that moved on the shore was exterminated. The young children of the killed men were reduced to starving orphans. {Hogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 373. A part is taken from another variant not yet published.}

It is curious to note that the idea of blood-revenge appears even in connection with hunting and fishing pursuits. Thus the Chukchee say that the trapping of foxes, otters, etc., is influenced by the desire of blood-revenge on the part of animals. One of the trappers told me that every time his traps catch a fox, he sees the fox in a dream beforehand. The animal attacks the hunter, and wants to hurt him. {Another hunter used in similar cases to dream of love-making. The fox would appear to him as a woman who wanted to make love to him; but when he would come near to her, he would find her fast asle'ep. By this he knew that a fox was caught in his traps and had died there.} In speaking of foxes, he called them "avengers" (li'ñilit). Another hunter explained to me that among men and beasts there exists an eternal feud and desire for blood-revenge. When a man has killed a fox, another fox wants to avenge its death: so it rushes to a trap, and is killed in its turn. The fiercer this enmity on the part of the animals, the better will be the hunting. For this reason also, in angling, the angler sends a derisive challenge to the fishes in order to make them come. Thus, in angling for grayling through holes in the ice, when the fishes are seen in the water, but do not want to bite at the hook, the angler uses an' incantation as follows: --

"Vai, vai, vai, ELa'naw-mê'rga qamê'-lo3-ti'npik gagtimmca'w-ê-hit;"

"There, there, there, (from) mother, woman- in eating face-kicking having received a lesson-art grandparent thou;"

that is, "Well, well, from your mother's mother, who kicked you in the face, during a meal you have received a lesson of prudence." Another incantation used is: --

"Yo, yo, tan.ñina'qut e'mi?"

"Oh, oh! ta'n.ñit big where (are they)?"

that is, "Oh, oh! Where are those big ta'n.ñit?" The fishes are equivalent to the ta'n-nit, the ancient enemies of the Chukchee tribe.

When the fish has bitten and been caught, the angler uses still another incantation: --

"Gik, gik, gik, kirña-taka'lhin qäine'wkun;" -

"Oh, oh, oh! old male mate call him;"

that is, "Oh, oh, oh! call your elder companion."

This last incantation is the most effective of all. He who neglects to pronounce this short formula after every successful catch, in a short time will lose all his "fishing-luck."

Weregild. -- Weregild may be accepted either for murder, or, much more frequently, for any lesser crime perpetrated on person or property. The Chukchee language has several expressions for weregild. One of these is qäl-vil (literally, "misfortune-value"). This term is applied to weregild for more serious crimes; i. е., for murder and for great robberies.

Pu'urm (literally, "exchange") is applied to cases of minor robberies and of corporal damages not followed-by death. The same stem, however, is also used for all kinds of retributions, even for blood-revenge. Puun'tkulm ("the exchanger") is employed in the same sense as the term li'ñilin ("the avenger"), mentioned before. Ki'tkau (literally, "hard return") is also used for all kinds of retaliation in blood, and also for weregild. Ñi'rkičvai ("shame-pay") is used where some personal insult has been inflicted, chiefly in cases of rape on women, also in those of retribution for blood, and sometimes even for bad words. Weregild may be accepted for murder when the offender is either rich or has many strong kinsmen who are likely to defend him, or under both circumstances. The Chukchee, notwithstanding their quick temper, still have in their character a streak of soberness. "Large profits are always preferable to blood," they say. I have described above in some detail the Anui-fair murder, where the Russians paid weregild for the killed man. The Chukchee, even in the hottest of the quarrel, did not express a direct craving for the blood of the murderer. I should, however, mention that the scuffle was so sudden and disorderly, that the natives did not notice who of the Russians dealt the mortal blow to the victim. The Russians knew, but of course kept it a secret. The next year this man avoided going to the Anui fair. Not knowing the name of the murderer, the Chaun people were disposed to wreak their vengeance on the "chief," Ei'heli, as I have already mentioned. The next year Ei'heli also refused to go to the Anui fair; but the visit could not be avoided because of his official duties. He, however, left all his reindeer far away, and was conveyed to the fair by the Russians on a dog-team. He lived within the Russian fort, and avoided appearing in the trading-camps. Some days after his coming, the brother of the killed man met him at the house of the Russian chief officer, and promised to pay him a personal visit. A few hours later Ei'heli asked to be taken away from the fair, and carried to Nishne-Kolymsk. "Otherwise they will kill me," he persisted. "This time I shall not escape." So this case also might have ended in blood-revenge.

I mentioned another case where a Maritime Chukchee whose cousin had been murdered in a reindeer-camp on the Anui River, took as weregild a young boy of the family of the murderer, and also a large part of his herd. The next year he came again and took another part of the herd of reindeer. He gave as his reason for doing so that weregild must be taken three consecutive years. Otherwise the spirit of the victim would not be appeased. His demands were considered exorbitant. When he was driving the reindeer back to his country, one of the kinsmen of the one killed crossed his path, and requested that half of the animals be given back. The Reindeer man had other people with him, and they immediately proceeded to* divide the herd. "After that close asking," said the last comer, "we shall have enough of this. The next year we shall fight you." The brother of the man killed by the Russians also mentioned three years of payment of weregild, but the third year he got nothing. The whole value given to his step-father and to himself reached about three hundred rubles. It consisted of tea, sugar, tobacco, kettles, colored calico, etc. He asked also for some brandy; but this time the authorities had brought none, and refused to grant the request. Thus, in these two cases the weregild paid by the murderer was heavy enough.

In a third case of which I know, the weregild was much smaller. The affair took place also at the Anui fair, in the year 1894. A man came there with a single driving-team (qun-geke'ñä), and staid at a camp of one of his acquaintances from the Anui country, who had come to the fair with a number of his cousins. Some people from the Wolverene River accused this man of having murdered one of their friends in a drunken brawl two years before: so they wanted to punish him for that. They came to the camp of the Anui people armed with rifles and knives, but the master of the camp declared that he was ready to defend his guest. His people were more numerous. An altercation ensued. The offended party wanted at least to take the team of the murderer, since it was the only thing there "dear to his heart" (li'ñliñqin); but the accused one flatly refused to part with the team. "I will rather die," said he. So, after some quarrelling and mutual threats, the assailants saw the necessity of contenting themselves with fawn-skins, which the murderer had brought for sale to the Russians. The skins were twenty in number, valued at fifteen rubles. A Chukchee single driver cannot carry much on his small sledge. Some time afterwards I saw one of the assailants. He said, "Well, after all, he had to go back to his family empty-handed. The tea and tobacco, the 'desire of his heart,' were taken from him with these fawn-skins." From the Chukchee point of view, this reasoning was more or less true. The force of the desire is taken into account independently of the real value of the object, in peaceful trading; and a Chukchee is ready to pay a threefold price for any trifle that may take his fancy, and could not be acquired otherwise. The Russian traders are well aware of this disposition of the Chukchee, and make full use of it in all commercial transactions. So in this case tea and tobacco were really "dear to the heart" of the accused man.

Minor Crimes. -- Minor crimes, on the whole, are followed either by personal chastisement or by the payment of weregild. The personal chastisement is usually preceded by a challenge to a wrestling-match, and inflicted after the victory in the dance. I mentioned before {Compare p. 573.} the tale of the " Lucky Suitor," in which such an incident is described with characteristic details.

"The hero married a proud girl, who had previously refused all her suitors. One of them, who lived in a neighboring camp, met her outside, threw her to the ground, and scratched her face with the point of his knife. The lucky suitor came to her camp shortly after the incident, vanquished her in a running-match, and was accepted. The next fall the neighbor who had scratched the woman's face invited the people, saying, 'Let us again have races and running-matches!' All the people assembled, and all took part in a running-match. The newly married one did not take off his outer fur shirt. He ran in his usual clothes. Nevertheless he came back first. All the others were behind. Then he sprang forward, and said, 'Well, come on [for a wrestling-match].' His face was inflamed with anger. 'Who wants to try? Hurry up!' -- 'Who knows?' answered the others. 'Let this one wrestle with me!' and he pointed out the neighbor who in the past year had scratched his wife's face. 'No,' says the neighbor, looking down. 'Hurry up!' said the other. He continued to refuse. Then at last the lucky suitor sprang toward him and kicked him in the face. The other one fell down and swooned. After a while he sat up on the ground. 'Hurry up!' He rose, but continued to refuse. Then the lucky suitor caught him, threw him down, and pressed him with his knee to the ground. Then he took out his girdle-knife, and cut his nostrils all over, also his eyelids and his cheeks. His whole face he cut into strips, in revenge for the treatment of his wife."

Cases like this happen in modern life, and I will describe some later on. Of course, in order to inflict a chastisement of such a kind on the offender, one must be able to overcome him in a struggle. Whenever I mentioned this to my Chukchee friends, they would instantly answer, "A wronged man will be victorious." This is the leading idea of all ordeals and of single combats for the sake of law. In actual life some encounters of this kind have issues of exactly opposite character. Thus one of the three brother-avengers of whom I spoke before, Vaatu'wgê by name, while still quite young, had a drunken brawl with another young Chukchee, whose name was Peñe'wgi. They had a wrestling-match; and Vaatu'wgê, who was by far the stronger, threw his adversary down, and, seizing one of his legs, pulled it violently and drew it out of the socket. In consequence of this act, Peñe'wgi remained lame until his death. Now, Peñe'wgi was of a meek disposition; and his cousin Peñelqu't, though cross-tempered enough, was but an indifferent fighter. The offender, on the contrary, was one of the three brothers who had prepared for murder from their youth up, and all three were strong and nimble men; so that the wrong of Peñe'wgi was left without retaliation.

Another case within my knowledge happened in the country of the Upper Anui River, while I was travelling there. One man, U'mkuum by name, took a liking to a young woman, the wife of another Chukchee, O'oqai, who lived in a neighboring camp. The young woman refused his courtship; but at last he came to her house in the absence of her husband, caught her in the entrance of the outer tent, and violated her. This was done in broad daylight and in the middle of the camp. He promised to give her for this a new seal-skin, but failed to fulfil his promise. Then she complained to her husband, who challenged the offender to a wrestling-match; but both men proved to be of equal physical strength. The wronged man belonged to a strong family; and the number of his brothers, all full-grown and active, was seven. Shortly after that, four of the best reindeer of U'mkuum were lost. The people in the camps around laughed, and said that they were sold off for a single seal-skin.

In a camp of the Anui country, two young men had a quarrel while playing cards. A wrestling-match followed, and the one who considered himself wronged threw his adversary to the ground. The vanquished one sprang up and seized a large piece of wood that had been prepared to be fashioned into a sledge-runner. He wanted to strike the victor upon the head with the wood; but the latter succeeded in catching hold of it by the other end, and in wrenching it from the hands of his assailant. He threw it away; then, incensed by the attack, he kicked his adversary in the face, just as described in folk-lore. The other one fell down, his face bleeding. Now, the young man belonged to a strong family, with a number of uncles and cousins: so the next day some of his people came to the camp of the offender.

Knives were drawn and they threatened to cut the sinews of the legs of the offender, that he might not be able to kick again. Nevertheless they did not come to blows. A few days afterwards, when the passions of both parties had cooled down, the young man who was threatened declared that he was in the right when he wrenched the piece of wood from his assailant and kicked him; and he therefore wanted to have reparation for the unsheathing of iron in his camp. Finally he was actually given as ki'tkau ("hard return," i.e., reparation, see p. 669) a set of reindeer leg-skins. The value of the gift was insignificant, and it had chiefly a moral effect.

Shortly after my first arrival at the Anui fair, I had a visit from Ei'heli, Qitu'wgi, and other chiefs of the Chukchee. They bade me welcome in a manner rather ceremonial, but they were really wishing for a drink of brandy as a token of welcome on my part, which they accordingly received; There were five or six of them. Then more people came and asked for the same, and at last I stopped the supply. One of the later comers, who had had nothing, insisted also on having a sip of the liquor. Soon he became so importunate, that I lost patience and asked him to leave me in peace. He sat down in his place, grumbling to himself. A couple of hours afterwards I was standing in the gate of the fortress, talking with the people who were passing to and fro, and making occasional notes in a little note-book that I held in my hands. Suddenly my recent guest came up from behind and struck me with his fist on my right wrist, so that my note-book fell to the ground. "You so and so!" cried he, "you come here and hobnob with the people for hours and scribble notes on a paper, but one cannot get a draught of brandy in your blessed house." After that he retreated a little, stripped off his fur shirt, and was quite naked down to his waist. Then he requested me to do the same, and to have a wrestling-match with him. "I am standing on my own ground," added he, "and I may challenge you to a test." He was right, in so far as even officially only the interior of the fortress was considered to be Russian territory, and all the space outside of it was admitted to belong to the Chukchee. Every evening all the Chukchee were turned out of the fortress and the gate locked, so that the difference was more than theoretical. A young boy of about ten years kept tugging at the clothes of this man with all his might, trying to persuade him to be off to the house. This was his son. But the father was firm in his intention. My adversary was a man of fifty, of Maritime extraction, Ri'nto by name. He was of slender frame, but his temper was undaunted. As a result of this, he had two ugly scars in the region of his abdomen. I felt no desire, however, for the unexpected wrestling-match. At the same time I. did not like the idea of openly retreating before my adversary, though he stood on his own territory, and I stood on mine. The difficulty resolved itself, however, by the arrival of one of my friends, a political exile like myself, who was a man of powerful build and of great physical strength. Without paying any attention to the difference in the territories, he stepped over to Ri'nto, caught him by the head, and lifted him from the ground up in the air. Then he put him down. "Now, say, what do you want?" he asked with a smile. His temper was quite sweet and peaceful, and he did not want to hurt anybody. Ri'nto said nothing, and went away to his own house. The next day he came into the fortress, and brought with him expiatory presents, -- a reindeer-tongue for my friend, as being the stronger of us two; and a piece of ordinary meat for me. "I was ugly yesterday," said he. "Take this ki'tkau, {Compare p. 669.} as is the custom; and now give me my draught of alcohol." This was so ingenuous, that my friend was quite charmed, and insisted on having Ri'nto's wish gratified.

Theft. -- As I have stated before, thefts frequently occur among the Chukchee, especially among the reindeer-breeders. The chief objects taken are reindeer. Retribution for theft is of the same nature as that for more serious crimes, -- either wrestling-matches and personal chastisement, or the payment of damages and a fine. I was told that the common rule required that the amount paid shall equal the value of the stolen article, together with a certain surplus as a fine for-the deed. This, however, may happen when the thief confesses his action and expresses a desire to make it good, -- "compelled by shame," as the Chukchee say. If the thief persists in denying his guilt, however, it is difficult to make him return the stolen property. Thus the result depends much on the strength and the temper of the contesting parties. I will mention a few such cases within my knowledge.

One reindeer-breeder, a man of peaceful temper, lost a group of reindeer, nine in number, which strayed away from the herd, as reindeer often do, and could not be found. It appeared afterwards that they had gone to the herd of one of the neighboring camps, and had been appropriated by the master. His own camp assistant gave information of the fact; but the offender was obstinate, and denied it till the end. Then the wronged man became angry, and sent his people to seek retribution. His son and one of his neighbors visited the herd of the offender in the latter's absence, and took from it two strong driving-reindeer, one young buck well broken, and three reindeer of the average sort. They said to the herdsmen, "Go and tell the master that we did this." Still this was not enough. The next day they visited the camp of the unfortunate thief. The nephew was of a quarrelsome disposition, and said before departing, "Maybe he will show his anger. Then we will give him a thrashing." They came to the camp, and spent some time there talking with the house-mates of the offender. He, however, sat quite silent and looked at the ground. He had not the courage to pick a quarrel. I should also mention that the quarrelsome nephew belonged to a strong family, and the number of his brothers was six. After the visit, they went home and divided the spoil. The young buck was given to the nephew. The son took the team, and the father the remainder. The neighbors said, "It is enough for him, because he lost something dear to his heart, the driving-reindeer." I have this description from one of the participants.

Another case ended more peacefully. In the summer-time another group of reindeer had strayed from their own herd and gone to that of a neighbor. The herdsmen saw that one of the animals was quite fat, and wanted to slaughter it for their own private use. They threw a lasso; but it snapped in two, and the reindeer escaped with a fragment of the lasso wound around its antlers. Two hours later the master of the first camp came to the other herd, bringing with him the fragment of thong. The reindeer came back to him, and he rightly guessed who were the authors of this attempt to steal. "Whose lasso is this?" asked he, laughing. He was an old man, and no further trouble arose from the incident. Moreover, the herds were too near to each other. Under such conditions, the reindeer frequently become intermingled, and the herdsmen consider it no great crime to slaughter a strange reindeer when it comes to their herd. Sometimes they will even slaughter a reindeer, and then, of their own free will, confess to the owner, "Oh, I stole your reindeer." Then, of course, they give him a good reindeer from their own herd. I mentioned before that on the Arctic seashore, in the summertime, the mutual stealing of reindeer comes to be a serious annoyance.

One of my acquaintances, Leu'tiqai by name, said to me concerning the matter, "It is too bad for one to stay in summer on the Palau' River. The herdsmen steal too much. When I was staying there, in almost every hollow I found the carcasses of my reindeer. The legs were cut off and consumed, and everyhting else was left to rot; {The Chukchee herdsmen, when they have no cooking-kettle and no fuel, but feel keen hunger, sometimes slaughter a reindeer and feed on its four legs. The hard sinews and the marrow of the bones are eaten raw. The rest necessarily has to be left on the spot.} and whomsoever you asked, 'Who left that carcass here?' the answer was always, 'I do not know.' One time I caught Qopti'irgin, son of Ti'qo, sitting by a slaughtered reindeer, gnawing at a thigh-bone. I asked him, 'Why did you not carry the carcass to your father, who is also hungry, since you slaughtered it?' He said nothing. 'Or perhaps, if you desire it, I shall give you my whole herd.' We both took off our fur shirts. He was a young man, but could not do anything, because great anger overcame me. I threw him down, then seized my thick rawhide girdle, and struck him with that upon his bare back until it was all covered with blood. After that I resolved never again to go to that land of thieves." Leu'tiqai was a man of about fifty and of mild temper; but the wrong had been repeated too often to let it go unpunished.

"Chief" Ei'heli and the Maritime trader Čêpa't also had a quarrel over the stealing of reindeer. Čêpa't, being of Maritime origin, had not had any too much experience in keeping reindeer. His herd, too, consisted, for the most part, of new animals just bought from strange herds, and the mutual attachment of these reindeer was less strong than in an ordinary herd: so Čêpa't lost a few animals almost every summer. One year, quite a large group of reindeer, more than three hundred, strayed off and were lost. Then news came from the Oloi River that the reindeer had gone to Ei'heli, and had been appropriated by him. After that, every time they met at the spring fair, Čêpa't asked Ei'heli about his reindeer, but Ei'heli most stoutly denied having any knowledge of them. In the year 1895, Čêpa't even talked about his intention of robbing the camp of Ei'heli on his return home. Then followed the scuffle already described, and the thoughts of Čêpa't were drawn elsewhere.

Theft among the Maritime Chukchee is less frequent than among the Reindeer tribes, perhaps on account of the absence of valuable objects. I know of some cases of robbery, however. One had already been mentioned. {Compare p. 50.} It refers to the people of Qulu'či, who complained of the inhabitants of Lu3'ren. The latter robbed the dog-drivers of Qulu'či when they were returning to their country from the Pacific shore with a load of foreign wares.

Another case refers to a Chukchee of Mariinsky Post, Qopla'nto by name. This man, in the winter of 1898, met in the open country two young men of the village Valqa'Len, who were going to Mariinsky Post with a supply of brandy for trading-purposes. Qopla'nto joined them, spent a night with them on the snow, bought some liquor of them with fur-skins he had with him, and in the end robbed them of more of their brandy, and went away. They were two, but, being in a strange land, they did not offer much resistance; the more so, as Qopla'nto was the master of the front house of the Chukchee settlement on the north shore of the Anadyr estuary, opposite the Russian post. When Qopla'nto was leaving, however, they said to him, "Now, you too be careful not to come to our country. We shall take our chance then." In the winter of the year 1900, when I wanted to go to the northern villages, Qopla'nto at first offered his assistance in transporting my load; but when the time for departing drew near, he declared that he was afraid to visit the village Valqa'ben on account of that affair; so he had to stay at home.

Laws regarding Property. -- I have already stated that with the Reindeer Chukchee the paterfamilias is considered to be the owner and the master of the herd, even though he be of extreme old age and infirm. I have noted down some facts within my knowledge referring to this subject. On the other hand, I was told by my Chukchee informants that when the son becomes full-grown and able to take care of the herd, the father, often of his own free will, transmits to him the direction of the herd, and himself takes the position of an assistant, even though he still be strong and able to work. Also when the son marries, and they have only a single sleeping-room, the father cedes to the son the master's side (aegis.qaoro'n, "the left one.") {Compare p. 112.} If, however, they should prefer to have separate houses, the father gives over to the son the front house, and puts up for himself a new house in the rear. Still I found but few facts corroborating this information. Everywhere old men ruled, and disposed of their property; and the houses of the sons were in the rear, not those of the fathers. When a man like Aiñanwa't really does cede his house and herd to his son, it is because of personal motives, mostly referring to the "reindeer-luck" which the old man is supposed to have lost, while the young one hopes to acquire it again.

In the family of Ei'heli, with his numerous sons a latent and wary struggle against the father's authority really took place; but the old man jealously watched every encroachment upon his rights; and, so far as I know, he was in full possession of them until his death, which followed a couple of years after I left the Kolyma country.

The family or the family-group has no formal rights over the property of its individual members. Still a man who becomes impoverished may be reasonably sure that his nearest kinsmen will give him essential support, unless they are too poor or too stingy. Brother applies to brother, or cousin to cousin, and receives a good part of the latter's herd, so that he may be able to start anew with his own reindeer-breeding. Thus, in the year 1894, three brothers, sons of Ta'tko, though the eldest of them was reported to be close-fisted, still gave to a cousin of theirs five scores {The Chukchee count by fives, which are called "hands;" and by scores, which are called "men" (compare, p. 50).} of their reindeer-does. This cousin, in former times, also had owned a large herd, but he had squandered it away. Now he was older, and expressed his intention to reform.

Another acquaintance of mine, Aiña'irgin, whose name has been mentioned before, also became poor. Then his kinsmen on the Indighirka tundra gave him a hundred and fifty does, so that he was able to begin anew. In other cases impoverished kinsmen are accepted as assistants under favored conditions, with the promise of being given, after a while, a certain part of the herd.

The chief part of the inheritance goes to the "principal heir" (e'un-mi'lhilin). He receives the house, and becomes the front-house master. He takes with the house the principal ear-mark, the oldest in the herd, with which always the greater part of the animals are maked. Other sons, and also daughters, receive animals marked with their own ear-mark, which is assigned to them by the father himself. When a well-to-do reindeer-breeder has no sons, and no daughters either, he will make every effort to procure an heir during his lifetime. For this purpose he will invite some kinsman to his camp as an assistant, and then leave him the herd. A childless man, feeling that his end is approaching, sometimes even calls in a kinsman or a friend, who lives alone, and hands over his property to him, More frequently such a childless man will adopt some boy or girl, also from one of his kin, have him or her married, and then he makes him the principal heir of the house and the herd. It sometimes happens that a rich reindeer-breeder leaves his herd without any definite heir. This may occur, for instance, because of some disease which, has taken away the only son and heir. The old father, from mere sorrow, may follow soon after, since the Chukchee are "soft to die." {Compare p. 41.} In such cases, the kinsmen come; and by counting the degrees of kinship decide who is the nearest to the deceased. There exist, however, no settled rules about this matter. I was told that in earlier times the family-group. would gather and come to a decision, but of late no such gatherings are known to me. Kinsmen of the same degree may divide the inheritance into equal shares, or the poorer man will receive a larger share. On the other hand, I know of cases where those of the kinsmen who were at hand took the whole, and the other relatives, though nearer to the deceased, could get nothing. Thus, for instance, while I was on the Wolverene River, a quarrel took place about such an inheritance. An old Chukchee of Maritime extraction, who had a good-sized herd, died heirless. His herd was taken by a third cousin (parent's cousin's child), who came with him from their parental village, and now was the front-house master of the neighboring camp. Nobody protested, and a few years passed away without incident. The man who received the inheritance died also, and the herd passed to his son, Akimlѳ'ke. Then two young men came from the Arctic shore, who said that they were sons of a first-cousin of the deceased: so they had a better right to the property than Akimlѳ'ke. They requested restitution. Akimlѳ'ke was a "strong man" (e'rmečin), always ready for strife: so he refused to comply with the request. The younger of the two brothers, however, whose name was U'mki ("polar bear"), was a large fellow of considerable strength and temper. He declared that he would rather die than go back empty-handed. While I was there, they met at a large reindeer-course, and nearly came to blows, but were prevented by the others present. I left the country before the matter came to a final issue.

When the principal heir is a daughter, who stays in the father's house, even after she is married, her rights to the inheritance are the same as those of a male heir. A daughter who is married elsewhere receives only the animals marked with her private ear-mark. Some of these remain in her father's herd, even after her marriage. On the division of the inheritance, they fall to her possession, anyway. A female relation of more remote degree has no part in the inheritance of a childless man, and cannot contend with male relatives. A childless widow has no part in the inheritance, and has to leave the house and has no claim to any utensils. She may take only the reindeer marked with her own private ear-mark. With these she returns to her own family. In the same way the adopted son-in-law has to go, after the death of his wife, leaving everything behind him, unless he marries another woman of the family.

A young widow with small children becomes part of the heritage left by a man. With the herd she passes to the heir of the deceased, and becomes his wife. Otherwise she must go to her own family, leaving everything behind. She may take the children to her own family, but then they forfeit every right to the inheritance. An elderly widow with youthful sons retains the herd after her husband's death, and may hold possession of the property. {Compare p. 551.}

Among the Maritime Chukchee, until recent times, there was but little property to be inherited. After the death of the father, the sons divide his arms, nets, and seal-skins. The older son has a better share than the others; for instance, the best rifle. The house also is frequently divided into parts, because every son, when married, wants to have a house of his own. As soon as he finds enough timber, he proceeds to construct a separate house. With the Reindeer Chukchee, to divide the house into parts is a great wrong. They would rather desert the house entirely. The Maritime Chukchee simply break down the house, take away the skins, poles, etc., divide them among themselves, and use them for their own purposes.

XXIII. -- CONTACT OF THE CHUKCHEE WITH THE RUSSIANS.1

1 The historical sketch contained in this chapter is based on data collected by the author in the Archives of Sredne-Kolymsk, Nishne-Kolymsk, Markova on the Anadyr, also extracted from old documents of the same provenience, which are in the possession of the author. Besides the sources enumerated in the list of authorities (p. 3), several other works and editions of documents have been used. Almost all of them are Russian, and their titles are given with English translation.

1. Историческіе Акты, собранные и изданные Археографической Коммисіей, III, IV, V.

Historical Acts, collected and edited by the Archeographical Commission, III, IV, V (cited Acts, III, IV, V).

2. Дополненія къ Историческимъ Актамъ, собранный и изданный Археографической Коммиссіей, III, IV, V. Supplements to the Historical Acts, collected and edited by the Archeographical Commission, III, IV, V (cited Supplements, HI, IV, V).

3. Памятники Сибирской Исторіи XVIII Вѣка, I, II.

Monuments of the History of Siberia in the XVIII Century, I, II (cited Monuments, I, II).

4. Сводъ Законовъ Россійской Имперіи. Изданія 1857, 1876, 1892, 1899. Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. Editions 1857, 1876, 1892, 1899.

6. Сенатскій Архивъ, Томъ II. Archive of the Senate, Vol. II.

6. Дополненія къ Твореніямъ Святыхъ Отцовъ, Части 9, 11. (Москва, 1850--52). Supplements to the Works of the Holy Fathers, Parts 9, II (Moscow, 1850-52).

7. Русскій Паломникъ 1887. Russian Pilgrim (monthly), 1887.

8. Словцовъ, П. Историческое Обозрѣніе Сибири, С-Петербургь, 1886. Slovtzov, P. Historical Survey of Siberia, St. Petersburg, 1886 (cited Slovtzov).

9. Сѣверный Архивъ, 1825. North Archive (periodical), 1825.

10. Журналъ Министерства Народнаго Просвѣщенія, 1890. Journal of the Department of Education (monthly), 1890.

11. Собраніе сочинений изъ мѣсяцеслововъ различныхъ лѣтъ, С-Петербургъ, 1790. Collection of Papers selected from Monthly Records of Various Years, St. Petersburg, 1790.

12. Fischer, Johann Eberhard, Sibirische Geschichte, I, II, St. Petersburg, 1768.

13. Müller, G. F. Description of the Siberian Kingdom, St. Petersburg, 1750.

14. Приклонскій, В. Л. Хроника Якутской Области, составленная по оффиціальнымъ и историческимъ даннымъ, Красноярскъ, 1896. Priklonsky, V. L. Chronicle of the Country of Yakutsk, arranged from Official and Historical Data, Krasnoyarsk, 1896.

15. Щегловъ, И. В. Хронологически перечень Важнѣйшихъ Данныхъ изъ исторіи Сибири, Иркутскъ, 1883. Shcheglov, I. V. Chronological List of the Most Important Data of the History of Siberia, Irkutsk, 1883 (cited Shcheglov).

16. Андріевичъ, В. К. Исторія Сибири, I, II, С-Петербургъ, 1889. Andriyevich, V. К. History of Siberia, I, II, St. Petersburg, 1889 (cited Andriyevich).

17. Титовъ, А. Сибирь въ XVII Вѣкѣ, Москва, 1890. Titov, A. Siberia in the XVII Century, Moscow, 1890.

18. Маныкинъ-Невструевъ, А. И. Завоеватели Восточной Сибири, Якутскіе Казаки, Москва, 1883. Manykin-Nevstruyev, A.I. Cossacks of Yakutsk, Conquerors of East Siberia, Moscow, 1883.

19. Историческая Записка о Чукотскомъ народѣ (Вѣстникъ Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества, 1856, V). Historical Sketch of the Chukchee People (in Messenger of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 1856, V.).

20. Карта Чукотской земли, составлена Плениснеромъ (Записки Гидрографическаго Департамента Морского Министерства 1852, Часть X). The Chart of the Chukchee Land, projected by Plenisner (in Memoirs of the Hydrographical Department, 1852, Part X).

21. Барамыгинъ, М. Путевой Журналъ во время поѣздки въ Анюйскую Крепость (Записки Сибирскаго Отдѣла Императорскаго Русскаго Географическаго Общества, 57, кн. 4). Baramygin, M. Diary of the Voyage to Anui Fair, 1855 (in Memoirs of the Siberian Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 57, Vol. 4). For other authorities see references in the text.

Discovery. -- The first information concerning the Chukchee was brought by the Cossack Michael Stadukhin, who, in 1644, went to the Kolyma River and founded the winter hamlet (зимовье) of Nishne-Kolymsk.

Manykin-Nevstruyev says that the Kolyma River was discovered in the year 1638. Maydell mentions as the discoverer of the Kolyma the Cossack Ivan Erastov, with his companions. He says that in 1644 three winter hamlets were founded on the Kolyma River, -- Nishne-Kolyrrisk, Sredne-Kolymsk, and Verkhne-Kolymsk (Lower Kolymsk, Middle Kolymsk, and Upper Kolymsk). {Compare Maydell, II, p. 73.} I am not sure that all three hamlets were founded as early as that, and all in exactly the same year. On a copy of a chart of Siberia, made in the year 1672 all three winter hamlets are mentioned, -- the Lower, the Middle, and the Upper. Nishne-Kolymsk in some documents was called "Dog Fortress," doubtless because of the dogs used for driving. It was the largest of the three settlements. From Michael Stadukhin we have a report of the 2 2d of April, 1647, taken down, as was the custom, from his own words, by the Government clerk in the assembly-room (съезжая изба), in the presence of the two governors of the Yakutsk Province, Pushkin and Suponev. {The Russian governors (воеводы) of the Moscow period were often sent in pairs, partly with the idea that one would prevent any misdemeanor of the other.} In this report it is said that "the public-service official (служилый человѣкъ), {Thus were called all categories of soldiers and lower officials in the service of the Government.} Michael Stadukhin, who, in the past 154th year (1646), went from the Kolyma River with the Czar's tribute, relates that he was on the Kolyma River two years for collecting the Czar's tribute. The Kolyma is a great river of the size of the Lena, It runs in the same direction, east and north. On this Kolyma River or the bow was employed for the same purpose.

At present bow and arrows are used everywhere by children in playing. Besides the usual bow, crossbows are much used, with some variations in the shape of the trigger, etc. (Fig. 77). Sticks small round stones, and small arrows are shot from them. The crossbow was probably copied from the Russians, since the Cossacks were armed partly with bows and arbalets as late as the forties of the nineteenth century. Whips of peculiar shape, for throwing light darts (Fig. 78), are also used by children.

Fire-arms, Lances, and other Weapons. -- Fire-arms of every possible description are used by the

Chukchee. From the Russians they receive, even at the present time, clumsy firelocks (Fig. 79), while the Americans bring percussion-guns and breach-loaders.

All fire-arms are furnished with supports {Compare Nelson, Plate LXIII, Fig. 31, p. 164.} and gun-cases. A piece of cloth is tied around the lock to keep off moisture. To the firelock belong two flasks, -- one for powder, and one for bullets (Fig. 80, a), -- a powder-measure, a ramrod (the latter two often combined as in Fig. 80, 6), and sometimes a small double tube (Fig. 80, c) with a partition in the middle, each part closed at the end with a small plug, and containing a charge ready for use. The plugs are held in place by a string, which passes through the middle of the tube, and is slung around the belt of the hunter.

The lance, with the Chukchee, was chiefly a weapon for defence and war; and among the Reindeer people it still partially retains its former importance. Since the arrival of Russians, iron has been utilized for the point, which was formerly made of flint or bone. Iron lance-points are forged by blacksmiths of all the neighboring tribes, and sold to the Reindeer people, though recently but few new lances have been sold, the people being contented with the old ones.

The points of lances, and sometimes the best arrows, are often adorned with various designs (Fig. 81), and inlaid with brass and copper, but not with gold, as Nordenskiöld presumes.

The pattern on the lance found by him in a burial-place near Pitlekaj is quite common on the Kolyma, and is probably inlaid in brass. On the Anadyr side, brass inlays are rare, and engraving is done with less care, especially at the present time.

The style of the designs is common to all tribes of northeastern {Nordenskiöld, II, p, 105.} Asia. It is also similar to that in use among the native tribes of the Amur country, as represented by Schrenck {Schrenck, II, Plate XLVI, Figs. 4, 5.} and Laufer. {Laufer, Plate III, Fig. 2, and others.} The latter style has been largely influenced by Chinese art. In the case of northeastern Siberia, however, it seems possible that the style of ornaments was obtained from Russian sources. The Russian style of ornamentation is also of Asiatic origin, and is similar to the Chinese. We may even find in Russian carvings and embroideries the cock pattern described by Laufer. Therefore it cannot be decided whether the style of this art is due directly to southern influences, or whether it has been introduced indirectly by the Russians.

The point of the lance is often fastened to the shaft with iron or brass wire, which is sometimes coiled around down the middle of the shaft (Fig. 82). Frequently the lower end of the shaft is supplied with a bone knob. A special loop of thong fastened to the latter serves to suspend it from the railing of the sledge when travelling (see Fig. 17, f, p. 90). The lower end of the shaft is supported by a large ring of sheep-horn tied to the sledge. The point is provided with a skin sheath, and often small rings of sheep-horn (Fig. 82, a) are slipped over the point to keep the edge from being blunted.

The lance is hardly used in hunting, except for polar bear; but the herdsman usually takes it along on every trip, especially in the inland country. Even a firelock is not so handy for self-defence, because it takes too long to handle it in moments of surprise, and it cannot be used at all in rain or with a strong contrary wind.

In times of war a fight with lances was a most common occurrence, {} as may be inferred from episodes in several tales. A certain degree of skill was displayed in such fights, and young men would assiduously practise fighting with the lance as well as running and carrying heavy stones. However, the chief aim of this practice was to increase the strength of the arms. "He practised so long, that the shaft of the lance became, in his hands, as pliable as a strip of skin," says one tale about a hero. As recently as fifty years ago, fighting with lances, as well as wrestling and racing, were practised for sport in ceremonials. May-dell relates that Amrak'wurgm, already mentioned, was famous for his skill in fighting.

Large knives (rê'sqAn-va'lE, "a cutlass") are carried on the hip% or sometimes on a separate strap slung over the shoulder. Elaborate scabbards are made by the Maritime Chukchee of thin fawn-skin, adorned with fringe (Fig. 83, a). These knives are used chiefly as weapons of defence, in the same way as spears. Some of the older cutlasses were quite long. One obtained from a Maritime Chukchee is two feet long, including the handle (Fig. 83, 5).

Slung-shots were used for braining seals, and possibly also as weapons. However, I saw only one specimen, which was collected by Mr. Gondatti, and now belongs to the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia. It looks ancient, and is quite similar to that of the American Eskimo, as represented by Murdoch {Murdoch, Fig. 173, p. 191.} and Nelson. {Nelson, Plate LII, Fig. 1, p. 126.}

Regarding its use as a weapon, my Chukchee informants told me that in former times warriors would fasten a slung-shot around the waist like a belt, the stone serving as a button and being always ready for use. A belt of this kind, with a small pebble in place of a clasp, is sometimes improvised by careless persons; but of course the stone used for this is very small, and unfit to serve as a weapon.

Armor. -- Armor was made of walrus ivory, ground-seal hide, and iron. Of ivory armor, an incomplete specimen is in the collections of the Geographical Society at St. Petersburg. Another was obtained by Nordenskiöld. Judging from the picture in his book, it is also an incomplete one, because it has only three rows of plates and no wooden head-protector. Two specimens are in the Museum of Ethnography and History, Helsingfors, Finnland, of which one is in fairly good condition, judging from the figure in Ratzel's paper on the subject. {Ratzel, Plate n, Figs. 5, 6, p. 216.}

A number of specimens of ivory armor, chiefly from the American side of Bering Sea, are in the possession of the United States National Museum in Washington, but all of these are incomplete. Those represented in the valuable paper by Walter Hough on primitive American armor come respectively from Cape Prince of Wales and Diomede Island. {Hough, Armor, Plates 2 and 3.} Apparently there is no difference between them and the specimens brought from the Asiatic shore. Mr. Hough mentions, besides, four armor-plates of fossil ivory from Cape Wañqarê'man, on the Arctic shore; also nine iron plates found together with the ivory armor in a bog at Cape Prince of Wales. According to a communication of Capt. E. P. Herendeen, quoted by Mr. Hough, {Hough, Armor, p. 634.} the Chukchee of Plover Bay, i. e., probably the Ai'wan Eskimo, wore a cuirass made of long strips of baleen; but from Capt. Herendeen's words it is not clear whether he saw this kind of armor or only repeats the words of the natives. At the present time no trace of armor made of whalebone can be found on the spot.

One specimen of armor made of hide is represented in my description of the Chukchee collection of the Museum of Anthropology, St. Petersburg. {Bogoras, Chukchee Material Life, Plate XII, Fig. 1.} Another one, also from Siberia and quite similar in shape, is represented on Plate 4 of Hough's paper.

This kind of armor is evidently an imitation in skin of plate armor. It is made of horizontal bands of seal-skin instead of rows of ivory plates, the rings telescoping together like the hoops of a farthingale when the armor is not in use. Mr. Hough compares this type of armor to the banded mail of the middle ages.

A stiff hide head-protector is fastened above the armor. It evidently served to protect the neck from behind and from both sides. Mr. Hough compares it to the neck-fender of the Kingsmill Island {In the Pacific Ocean, near the Equator.} armor.

The specimen of hide armor now in St. Petersburg is made of ground-seal skin. According to Mr. Hough, the armor in Washington is made of sea-lion hide; but I should think rather that it also is made of ground-seal skin, because sea-lions are scarce near the shores of the Chukchee Peninsula.

As stated before, {See p. 54.} iron armor has of late been very common among the Chukchee as well as among the Koryak. The expedition obtained two sets of armor from the Chukchee (Fig. 84, a) and three from the Koryak (Fig. 84, b), also parts and separate plates of several other sets of armor, besides the armor of Japanese make {See p. 54.} mentioned before (Fig. 85). In the region of the Palpal Mountains and on the upper course of the Big River, which is a southern tributary of the Anadyr, many of the Reindeer Koryak and Chukchee still carefully keep such armor as heirlooms from their ancestors, and do not want to part with it at any price. One rich reindeer-breeder by the name of Ka'ka gave as a reason, that he might have need of it in strife with some of his neighbors. The specimens brought back, as well as others seen in the possession of the natives, consist of several rows of narrow iron plates, laced together with strips of leather and easily folded. The shape of the plates, and the manner of connecting them, are quite similar to those observed on the curious remnants of Gilyak armor collected by Schrenck {Copied from Schrenck, II, Plate XLIV.} (Fig. 86, a). The number of rows ranges from six to ten. Sometimes the plates have rounded edges, which are adorned with small notches (Fig. 86, 6).

The measurements of a single plate are, breadth, 2-4 cm.; length, 6-13 cm. The armor opens atone side, and the edges are tied together with narrow strips of leather. Of five suits of armor obtained, three open on the right side, and two on the left side. A square piece of tough hide, or a piece of board covered on both sides with thin curried reindeer-skin, is laced to the front of the armor. It has toggles, which are fastened to the straps passing from the back over the shoulders. These straps support the whole weight of the armor, which, when quite complete, must have weighed not less than fifty pounds.

A head-protector made of thin wooden boards, likewise covered on both sides with curried skin, was firmly laced to the upper edge of the armor from behind and from the sides. All the specimens obtained by the expedition or seen in the field have a head-protector consisting of a central piece and one side-wing; but, judging by traces of the fastening, they formerly had two wings, as indeed Mr. Jochelson has been told by his Koryak informants. The whole was arranged in such a way as to protect the head and the neck from the rear and from both sides. The central piece consists of a square board about I cm. thick. Its outer surface was decorated with geometrical designs in black and red (Fig. 87; see also Fig. 84, b), or with pieces of tin fashioned after Russian patterns. The side-wing consists of several narrow parallel boards sewed between two layers of skin, so that the wing is movable. My Chukchee informants, both on the Kolyma and on the Anadyr, insisted that the armor was one-sided, and had only one wing, destined to protect the left hand, like a shield; while the. right hand, armed with a spear or a bow, did not need a shield. Mr. Gondatti, according to his verbal communication, was told the same. It is remarkable that, of the four specimens having a wing on the head-protector, two from the Chukchee have it on the left side, and two from the Koryak have it on the right side, but, according to Mr. Jochelson's informants, the latter were used by left-handed men, who evidently wanted to have their left hand free for the use of the bow or the spear. Thus the Koryak informants seem partly to share the idea that the head-protector was one-sided. The specimen of hide armor in the collection at Washington (Fig. 88, as), however, has two wings of equal size. Both have loops fastened from the inside, which evidently were slung across the arms. Each wing had two loops; but one of those on the left wing has been destroyed, and indistinct traces of its fastening are the only indication of it. When the armor was used, the left arm probably had one of the loops around the elbow and the other around the wrist, and was somewhat raised for covering the face with the left wing. The right arm probably had one loop near the shoulder and the other near the elbow, thus leaving the lower part free for handling the bow. In trying on the specimen, I found that this method was quite in conformity to the position of the wings. The wings of the head-protectors on the specimens in the collections of this Museum also have loops (Fig. 88, 5) fastened from the inside. On the sketch of Mr. W. Alexander made in 1797, representing a Chukchee warrior in hide armor, {Hough, Armor, Plate 5, copied from Sauer, Plate XIV, p. 321.} the head-protector has two wings, but the left hand is concealed within the armor, probably behind the shield-like part, while the right hand is quite free, and the right wing serves only as a neck-fender. The ivory armor of Helsingfors, represented by Ratzel, has only a narrow neck-fender and no wings. Perhaps there were several ways of arranging the head-protector on the armor.

Two photographs taken in the field show the modern ideas of the natives as to the manner of wearing armor. One was taken at Mariinsky Post (see Fig. 84, a) of a man who claimed to have learned the way from his father. The latter died in 1900 at a very old age. Another is that of Ka'ka, whose name was mentioned above, and who claimed to have actual occasion for using his armor (Plate IX, Fig. 2, p. 119.).

Several helmets were brought by the expedition both from the Koryak (Fig. 89, a, b) and from the Chukchee (Fig. 89, c). That represented in Fig. 89, c, is quite similar in shape to the helmet of the Gilyak (Fig. 90, 0), although it has two iron ear-flaps hanging down on both sides, and no neck-fender. Another helmet of the Chukchee, in the collections of the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg (Fig. 90, b), has a neck-fender quite similar to the Gilyak specimen.

Greaves and arm-guards were also used. They were made of hide and of iron. The expedition obtained two iron arm-guards (Fig. 91, a, b) bought with one of the suits of armor, and evidently used with it for protecting both arms. They are quite Japanese in pattern, with special hand-protectors which were held in place by small loops slung over the thumb and little finger. A greave made of thick skin (Fig. 91, d) was obtained with another suit of armor. My informants insisted that usually only the left hand and the left leg were protected by these guards.

The lance was used, together with the armor, as a weapon of defence. Thrusts were made over the head-protector, as shown in Fig. 84, a. For attacks on the opponent the bow was used. On some of the head-protectors the marks of arrows shot at them in ceremonial or real fights may still be traced. Both kinds of fighting are described in several tales, though the combatants are represented as displaying more agility than would seem consistent with the armor. In other tales the action of the combatants is said to be slow and wary. They cover their faces with the head-protector and discharge one arrow after another, which certainly agrees more nearly with the probable facts.

Habitations.

"Genuine House." -- The general type of the Chukchee habitation is that of a large, round, skin tent, with a square inner room, which during the winter forms the dwelling-room, and is carefully protected against the cold. This type of house has several variations, and is always called "genuine house" (li'ê-ran). {In the same way the Chukchee language is called li'i-yi'liil ("genuine language"); the village or the camp, li'i-ni'mnim ("genuine habitation"); and the people themselves, li'ê-ora'wêLat ("genuine men"). See p. II.}

House of the Reindeer Chukchee. -- The tent (yara'ñi) of the Reindeer Chukchee (Plate XII, Fig. I) is round with flaring sides. Its height in the centre is from ten to fifteen feet; and its diameter, from fifteen to twenty-five feet.

The framework of the outer tent is of the same construction for both winter and summer (Fig. 92). Its central supports are three large, stout poles (a), which are tied together through holes in their tops, so that they can be set up firmly on the ground to form a tripod. These poles are considered as the foundation of the tent, and belong to the sacred objects of the household. Therefore, when a new house is founded, this set of three poles (te'wriril), after being prepared and tied together, receives a separate sacrifice, and is anointed with blood. A number of short thin stakes (va'rêt) joined in pairs or threes (6) are placed around the central poles, forming a wide circle. They support cross-bars (učvi'čit), c, the ends of which are tied to them. Long thin roof-poles (u'ttAmit), d, are tied at one end to these points of junction, while their other ends simply rest on the top of the central tripod, supported by it, and in turn bracing it upon all sides. The whole frame is firm and elastic at the same time. The poles are stronger, and the lashings are more carefully made, than in the frames of the Lamut tents, though the construction is essentially the same in both.

When the skin cover is on, three large stretchers are used to tighten its sides (Fig. 92, e). The stretcher consists of a thin, slightly curved cross-piece fastened in the middle to the end of a long pole. The cross-piece is set against one of the roof-poles (d), and the butt-end of the pole is firmly propped against the ground; then it is pushed outward as far as possible by successive jerks. The tent, propped with the stretchers on all sides, looks like a highly inflated bladder, and is able to resist a strong wind. To make it still more solid, the central poles and some of the most important joints of the frame are strengthened by means of heavy stones tied to them with ropes, or by loaded sledges, which are pushed from inside against the skin cover, the lower end of which is secured under the runners. The sledges are connected with the upper part of the frame by taut cords. Fastened with thongs and secured with stones and sledges, the Chukchee tent is able to withstand the fiercest wind-storms of the open tundra. I had occasion, however, to witness a snowstorm which very quickly battered the frame, and almost caused the collapse of the tent. The deep masses of snow which drifted against one side of the tent gradually bent the poles out of shape.

The cover (rette'm) is made in two pieces: only in small tents is it in one piece. It is thrown over the frame with the hair side out, and is then fastened with cords which have been sewed to its ends. A circular openirTg is left at the top for purposes of ventilation. The strongest of these cords are drawn across the tent inside, and fastened to the bottome of the central poles or to heavy sledges. An entrance is left between the two halves of the cover, so that one end of the flap may be turned aside and then fall back by its own weight. The cover is made of skins of full-grown reindeer, which have previously done service as covers of the inner room. The thick hair of these, however, is closely clipped off to make them lighter. In front, a piece of walrus-gut or of well-scraped thin reindeer-skin is sometimes inserted to admit light." The Chukchee generally have two tent-covers in use at the same time, -- one for winter, made of new skins, in which every small hole is carefully patched (Plate XII, Fig. 2); and an old one for the summer. In summer the new cover is carefully folded up and preserved for the next year.

The Chukchee pick out for camps flat places without too much snow. After the places for the tents, have been designated, the women scrape off the snow with adze-shaped scrapers of antler or of bone (Fig. 93). They pull up all the small shrubs, and then fill.in the holes with loose earth or snow.

The Inner or Sleeping Room. -- The inner room (yoro'ñi) has the shape of a large rectangular box: set on the floor with its bottom-end up (Plate XIII, Fig. 2). Its dimensions vary considerably. In the smallest there is hardly room enough for four people to sleep side by side, while the largest is high and wide enough for a person to walk about. The usual dimensions are about 4.5 feet in height, 7 feet in breadth, and. 12 feet in length. The entrance is in the long side, which faces the flap of the outer tent.

The cover of the inner room is held in position by numerous loops which are sewed to it, and are passed over two long horizontal poles. The rear pole is fastened to the frame of the outer tent. The front pole is supported by two forked stakes of sufficient size. These stakes are called "thumbs" (e'tti). The floor is covered with willow twigs or with a coarse matting (Fig. 94) made of these, and then with thick skins. The lower ends of the sides of the cover are tucked under the outer edge of the bedding. At the entrance are the bed-pillows, which are made up of one or two oblong bags filled with odds and ends of skins and clothing. These extend along the whole front cover, which can be tucked under them.

The material out of which the cover of the inner room is made varies considerably, according to the season. In the cold season, while the family is still moving with the herd, it is made of the thickest skins with the hair side in, and must be renewed every other year, because each bare spot on the surface of the skins interferes with the comfort of the inmates. These inner rooms, covered with heavy skins, are in use throughout the fall and spring, and among several divisions of the tribe -- for instance, the people of the Kolyma tundra -- throughout the whole winter. They are lighted by a single lamp, but heated almost exclusively by the animal heat of the dwellers (Plate xiv). Each room is of a size proportionate to the number of inmates, and becomes habitable only after all of them are inside and the loose lower ends of the cover are tucked in so as to exclude all ventilation. During the night the vapor of the breath and the exhalations from the bodies, having no way of escape, settle down on the fur of the cover. In the morning all the people have to go out; and the women break up the room, and leave its covering to freeze on the snow for an hour or two; then they beat the frost out of the hairy folds with heavy snow-beaters, and afterwards spread the cover on the ground to dry, or hang it up on a tree.

The snow-beater (Fig. 95) is made of antler or wood, and has a somewhat curved shape, often wider toward the end, and more slender toward the handle, which is rounded, and has a knob to give a better grip for the hand. Its length is from 50 cm. to 70 cm. The women, when using it, lift it high over their heads, and then suddenly bring the end down with force upon the spread skin. They work alternately with the right and left hands, rapidly changing from one to the other. Usually two women work on the same cover, since one alone would find it difficult to stretch and manage the heavy skin cover. The beating-out of the frost requires considerable strength, and during the whole winter forms the most difficult task of the Reindeer Chukchee woman. However, in the coldest season it is hardly possible to omit a single day's beating, because, if the sleeping-room is not beaten out, it will become damp the next night, and even drip with moisture. This continual change from damp to frost, and the severe daily beating, cause the cover of the inner room to wear down rapidly.

In the fall and spring, especially during thaws, the sleeping-room may be left undisturbed for two or three days, and thin and worn covers may be used without causing inconvenience.

The two halves of the outer cover require about forty large skins. The cover of the inner room is made of from twelve to fifteen skins. For the beds ten large skins are required. Each sleeping-room is occupied by a separate family, and belongs to one woman, who takes care of it. There are sometimes two sleeping-rooms in the same tent, but this is not very often the case. Usually the sleeping-room is in the rear of the tent, facing the entrance, which is generally toward the northeast (Morning Dawn {See Chapter XII}), occasionally toward the north or east. Thus the square walls of the sleeping-room have a fixed position with respect to the compass. The left side faces the northwest, and is called "leeward room" (aigrI's.qa-ron). The right side is toward the southeast, and is called "windward room" (aiwa'Lon). These names call to mind the combinations of winds and points of the compass referred to previously. {Compare, p. 27.}

Because of the position of the sleeping-room, the tent often has a somewhat oval shape, the rear bulging out under pressure of the poles used in the construction of the inner room. The rear side (ki'nmen) of the sleeping-room has a lamp fixed in the middle, quite near the wall (Plate XIV). Above it, near the ceiling, a line is stretched, which serves for hanging up small articles of dress that require drying over the lamp. The left side of the sleeping-room is always occupied by the master and his wife, and is therefore also called "master's place;" while the right side is given up to the younger members of the family, and, when necessary, to guests and strangers. The Chukchee sleeping-room, however, affords little room for the stranger. A few extra men crowd it considerably, and are compelled to sit crouching in the strangest postures while eating or conversing. When there are a number of guests, they can only thrust their heads in, and must keep the rest of their bodies outside of the room, lying flat on their stomachs, and raising themselves up, like so many seals, from under the tent-cover, which is fastened around their shoulders. As these gatherings are usually accompanied by a common meal, and trays of steaming meat and kettles of boiling tea are brought inside, the temperature becomes quite unbearable. The guests strip to the waist, the inmates even farther than this, and their naked bodies are, flushed with heat and covered with perspiration. The only way to improve the situation is to lift up the front of the inner tent-cover for a while, and let in a wave of fresh cold air, which almost instantly lowers the temperature several degrees, and causes the moisture to condense in thick white clouds. Such changes of temperature, which occur several times during the evening, are trying to the most hardened constitution, and the natives often catch cold from the sudden frosty draughts. After the visitors have departed, the temperature quickly goes down, and the inmates must be careful not to let in any more cold air. Therefore, after the evening meal, nobody is allowed to go outside; and so, to satisfy the demands of nature, every person is supplied with a special vessel (Fig. 96), which the mistress pushes with one hand out from under the room cover, and empties on a large slab of snow which lies near & at hand in the outer room.

The people, like the American Eskimo, sleep with their heads to the entrance, reclining on the common pillow. They cover themselves with blankets made of several heavy skins sewed together, similar to those of the Eskimo. Each blanket serves for a. whole family.

The fire is made in the centre of the outer room, right under the vent-hole, and the hearth is surrounded by stones laid side by side. Sometimes the fire and the vent-hole are placed nearer to one side, so as to leave more space in the tent. Pots and kettles are suspended from hooks which are fastened with a piece of thong to one of the central poles. The hooks vary in form, most of them being similar to those used by the Lamut and Russianized natives. They are made of wood, iron, bone, or antler (Fig. 97, a). I collected a hook made of a pair of antlers taken off with the top of the skull, as is usual among the Chukchee. Another kind of hook (Fig. 97, b), made of wood, is used with an adjustable attachment to the kettle, so that its height over the fire can be regulated. This form of hook occurs throughout northern Asia and Europe as far west as Finland. Within the borders of the forest the fire is made outside the tent, to avoid filling it with smoke. On the tundra, where fuel is scarce, and often brought from a distance of thirty miles, the fire is always made inside the tent, because it is thus protected from the wind and there is less waste of fuel.

When kindling a fire, the Chukchee women split logs into slender chips. They keep the fire as low as possible, and -take care to put it out as soon as the cooking is done. They are so accustomed to economize in their fuel, that they continue to stint themselves even within the forest, so that the remains of a Chukchee fire can be easily distinguished from those of other tribes. On the whole, the Chukchee do not use the fire of the hearth for heating-purposes. The temperature inside of the outer room, even while cooking is going on, is almost the same as that outside. The herdsmen or hunters, when sleeping in the open, although they may have an abundance of fuel, are often content to make a small smouldering fire from which to light their pipes, or do not make any fire; whereas the Lamut and the Yukaghir send up a blaze that wards off the cold from a space of several yards around, and often keep it up during the whole night in order to get a chance to sleep comfortably.

Movable House. -- The type of tent and sleeping-room here described is especially used in moving about with the herd. That used by the family is very heavy, and requires -- with poles, cover, and bedding -- six or seven sledges. Whenever the herdsmen leave their principal camp, they carry with them a small sleeping-room, with a light tent, which is often not properly pitched, but only loosely thrown over the sleeping-room to keep off the snow. In this type of house it is difficult to dry damp clothing. Fur clothing generally becomes damp quickly, even in dry, cold weather, especially when it is worn directly on the skin, without any underclothing. When damp, it does not protect the body from the cold: therefore it must be dried every night while its owner is asleep. In the sleeping-room of the Reindeer Chukchee the only place for drying things is directly over the lamp. Only small articles, such as mittens, socks, and boots, can be placed there. Large pieces of clothing, such as shirt or trousers, are dried in a way similar to that used in drying the sleeping-room cover; i. e., by freezing the dampness out, then shaking it off with the snow-beater, and finally drying for a long time in the cold dry wind. The Chukchee herdsman sometimes walks for a fortnight in damp clothes without a chance to dry them, and takes off his undershirt only when it is quite spoiled and unfit for further use. On this account the Reindeer Chukchee are always anxious to avoid the damp. For instance, before coming into the inner room, the whole dress, from the cap to the shaggy boot-soles, is well beaten with the beater to remove the slightest trace of snow, which otherwise would melt in the warm interior and cause additional trouble. In the evening, when the sleeping-tents are put in place ready for occupancy, the entire camp begins to resound on all sides with the short rapping of the snow-beaters, which lasts for half an hour before all the people are ready to retire. Travellers and herdsmen often have beaters of their own, which are carried on the belt or are attached to the sledge-grating.

The snow-beaters for clothing (Fig. 98) are more slender than those used for the room-covers. The knob is often fashioned in the shape of a human or dog's head, which then plays the role of the protecting spirit, the so-called "travelling-companion" (lei'hu-tu'mgin). {See chapter on charms.}

Winter House. -- Late in the fall most of the families, especially those who have small children, cease to move about, and settle down for three or four months within the forest border, and construct a special winter dwelling (see Plate v, Fig. 2). This consists of three parts. The entrance formed of a few stakes tied together, and loosely covered with an old tent-cover. It serves chiefly to keep off the wind and snow from the entrance. It often has no door; and in order to get in, one has to crawl in under the tent-cover. The main tent is constructed in the ordinary way, only, for the most part, an old cover is used, because it is likely to be damaged by the hearth-fire within. This fire is kept up all day long; and on this account, as well as on account of the well-sheltered entrance, the temperature of the tent is not very low, usually 10°-12° above zero Fahrenheit, while outside it may range from 50° to 60° below. The sledges are piled up near the tent, high enough not to be covered by the drifting snow, and after this are tied with thongs to prevent the wind from throwing down the pile. Only a few driving-sledges are left free for daily use.

The sleeping-room is much larger than that of the movable tent, and bears marked similarity to that of the Maritime Chukchee, only it is dirtier and is made more carelessly. The usual dimensions are 5 feet in height, 8 feet in breadth, and 14-16 feet in length. It occupies the whole rear of the tent, leaving only a small space on the sides for storing provisions. The skin cover is made of fawn-skins taken late in the fall, the hair side out. It is drawn tightly across a rectangular frame made of flat, narrow sticks. On the outside it is covered with a thick layer of dried grass tied up in sheaves and fastened side by side. The frame is so strong that a man can walk on top of it. The whole structure is covered with a piece of tent-covering, with the ends carefully tucked in below. The floor is covered with skins of the thong-seal or of the walrus, and over them some scraps of reindeer-skin are put for seats, while the bedding is rolled up and taken away during the day.

One or two lamps burn constantly within, to keep the place dry. There is no kind of ventilation whatsoever: therefore the sleeping-room, although warm enough, in course of time becomes very unclean, and acquires an odor offensive even to the inmates. Notwithstanding the burning lamp, the skin cover becomes damp and covered with mildew. When newly constructed, the sleeping-room is dried by carrying in a pile of burning coals on an iron pan. The same method is sometimes applied afterwards, though it is dangerous, because the small, low room is filled with charcoal-fumes, which will not entirely disappear for a day or two.

The winter sleeping-room serves also for only a single small family. Sometimes two inner rooms are joined together at an angle. There is no partition between, and a separate lamp is lighted by each family in its own part. This large double sleeping-room is quite similar to that of the Maritime Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo, as will be described later. In my opinion, the stationary winter house is the typical form of the Chukchee dwelling, while the movable tent is a variety comparatively new, and not even very well adapted to the exigencies for which it is used. It is cumbersome, and requires many reindeer to carry it, especially when compared to the Lamut tent. When under way, it hampers considerably the progress of a Chukchee family.

Summer House. -- The summer habitation is arranged in about the same way as the movable winter tent, except that its place cannot be changed till the first snow is on the ground. Therefore all the sledges are piled together for the summer. The best driving-sledges are untied, and the lashings and wooden parts carefully gathered in bundles and concealed in the middle of the pile.

The whole is protected with parts of old tent-covers not in use. These generally serve as tarpaulins. For the summer tent and for the summer sleeping-room, old worn-out covers are used, and the people also wear old clothing which was discarded in winter. The sleeping-room cover is closely cropped with a sharp knife, and is usually put up with the hair side out. A large piece of tent-cover tarpaulin is stretched over it above, resting on several sticks fastened to the outer frame. This serves to keep off the rain, which would come through the vent-hole and through the small holes of the outer tent.

The place of the camp cannot be changed during the whole summer; but in the middle of June, in connection with the first summer ceremonial, the tents are broken up and shifted some fifty or sixty feet. This change is very desirable, because the house is exceedingly unclean. Sometimes at the end of July the family will again change to avoid the offensive smell of their old surroundings. Even in winter the people are often driven out of their warm habitations by the same cause, and resort to the use of the movable tent much earlier than usual.

An or-ra'n ("wooden house") is a lodge made of poles, used by the Reindeer Chukchee inside the border of the forests as an annex to the large winter house. Some kinds of work -- the boiling out of tallow from bones and the scraping of skins -- are done in this lodge. In its simple conical shape, it occurs also among the Russianized Yukaghir as a summer dwelling or as a dog-shelter. Long logs that are collected for fuel in winter are often put in the same position to prevent them from being blocked with snow.

The Reindeer Chukchee have no particular storehouses or cellars. The space in the tent behind the sleeping-room (called ya'fian) serves for storing meat, tallow, etc.; while blood, oil, and the like, are stored in large bags that are kept outside.

For the summer a small hole is dug in the middle of the tent, and meat is kept there to preserve it from decay. The opening of the hole is covered with skins and grass; and it is usually only two feet deep, its bottom reaching the frozen layer of soil, which the Chukchee, with his primitive tools, cannot penetrate.

House of the Maritime Chukchee. -- The winter lodging of the Maritime Chukchee is more or less similar to that of the Reindeer people. The frame, however, is constructed differently, chiefly on account of the scarcity of wood for poles. One great pole forms the central support (Plate XV, Fig. 1). It is placed upright, its lower end being firmly stuck into the ground, while the other end has a cross-piece tied to it to support the roof-poles. Stakes of wood or of bone" of the whale replace the va'rêt. They are planted in' the ground, and form the frame for the walls. The cross-pieces and long poles are tied on as usual, but occasionally whales' ribs are used instead of wood. The whole structure is often surrounded by a low wall of sod (Plate XV, Fig. 3) or of stones, and the cover drawn over the frame is fastened to it by stones and pieces of sod. The stretchers with cross-pieces are also used for tightening the cover. The entrance faces the sea. It is often sheltered by a small structure of sod (Plate XVI, Fig. 1) or of stones, or by a piece of tent-covering thrown over a few stakes, as in the case of the winter houses of the Reindeer people.

For cutting the sod, digging the loose earth, and levelling the spot intended for the house, shovels of wood and of walrus shoulder-blades (Fig. 99, a, b), and picks of bone (Fig. 99, c), are used, though nowadays these are gradually being superseded by iron implements. The forms of those made of bone or wood are similar to those used by the American Eskimo. {Compare Nelson, Fig. 22, I, 2, p. 78.} Fig. 99, d, represents a shovel collected among the Lamut, though the Kolyma Reindeer Chukchee use exactly the same form. It also resembles the shovel used in Alaska and represented by Nelson. {Compare Nelson, Fig. 22, I, 2, p. 78.}

The covering of the house is for the most part sewed together out of worn-out pieces of tent-covering bought from the Reindeer people. In front a large walrus-skin- is placed, in order to give protection against the storms, which usually come from the sea. In more recent years old sail-cloth has begun to be used instead of old reindeer-skins, especially in the Eskimo settlements. Every part of the cover is well fastened with thongs, and weighted down by means of heavy stones and loaded sledges, and even iron chains (Plate XV, Fig. 2). The inner room is almost always double, both sections meeting at an angle. It has three or even four lamps of various sizes, which are used not only for light, but also for cooking (Plate XV, Fig. 4).

It is usually larger, than the inner room of the tents of the Reindeer people; and among well-to-do families it may be about 30 feet in length, 10 feet in breadth, and 6 feet in height. The outer tent is also larger than that of the Reindeer Chukchee. I saw one house which was forty feet in diameter and had eleven stretchers to support the frame. In the outer tent, on both sides of the sleeping-room, are placed two huge seal-skin bags, which are used for purposes of storage.

The bottom of the sleeping-room is covered with a large walrus-hide, forming a hard and smooth floor to tread on. The steadily burning lamps make the room warm and dry, and even afford a chance for ventilation, which is effected either by lifting the front or by opening a special hole in the wall, which may be closed by a round stopper made of a piece of reindeer-skin. Damp clothes are dried by hanging them on pegs or by stretching them on strings tied along the walls.

At the end of May the winter abode is usually abolished, and the summer tent is pitched adjacent to it. The cover of this is made of walrus or thong-seal skins, to afford protection against rains and rough weather. The sleeping-room is similar to that of the Reindeer people, but its cover is also made of tough walrus-hide.

The Eskimo of the Asiatic shore and of St. Lawrence Island nowadays arrange their winter houses in a quite similar way, only the outer cover is almost always made of sail-cloth and has a wooden door, -- often the door of a boat's cabin picked up from wreckage or received from the whalers (Plate XVI, Fig. 2).

In the summer, besides the double tent (lI'ê-ran) before described, sheds of irregular form are sometimes constructed of poles, and covered with walrus-skins (Plate XVII, Figs. 3, 4). Sometimes the shelter consists only of a tent-cover thrown over a few stakes joined together. Tents of cloth bought from whalers are also used.

Hut. -- The small village that in former times existed in Anadyr Bay, had huts constructed of wood and covered with earth and sod.

Two families of those living in Ve3ñ (Mariinsky Post), not far from the site of the village mentioned, still construct for their winter lodges small huts with wooden frames covered over with earth and stones. The hut has a hole in the roof for the escape of smoke, and within is a sleeping-room of the usual shape. The hut has a square wooden door covered with scraps of reindeer-skin for greater warmth. Plate XVII, Fig. 2, represents one of these huts. The poles in the front serve for hanging dried fish on.

A few Chukchee families of the Middle Anadyr live in wooden huts somewhat similar to the Yakut "yurta." These were copied from the yurtas of the Anadyr Russians, who of late years, however, have replaced their yurtas with log-cabins of the usual Northeast-Siberian type. In ancient times wooden huts of this type may have been in more common use in this territory. Remains of huts found on the Bear Islands are more or less of this type. In the deserted villages of the Yukaghir situated on the Middle Omolon, and inhabited about seventy-five years ago, I have seen huts of the same type. It is not easy to decide whether this type of dwelling is due to Yakut influence, or whether it is an ancient type that developed independently. The construction of the fireplace differs in all of them from that of the Yakut houses. They had no stove with wooden chimney, but simply a central hearth;. with a square hole in the roof just above it. In modern times the Yakut. arrangement of the fireplace has been copied by most of the Russians and Yukaghir in their log-cabins and huts, and the Chukchee of the Middle Anadyr have also adopted it.

Underground House. -- In all the Chukchee and Eskimo villages that I visited on the Pacific coast, ruins of the so-called "jaw-bone houses" (Plate XVII, Fig. i) (wa'lkar; pl., wa'lkarat) are found. These ruins seem to be ancient, and are either circular holes or flat mounds, with some battered rafters and beams of bone of the whale. In some villages -- as, for example, in E'nmilm -- the inhabitants have forgotten the exact location of most of the ruins, because the village has been shifted several times since. In Eu'nmun and Wute'en the "jaw-bone houses" overhanging the flat sandy shore were gradually destroyed by the weather, and crumbled down, together with the ledge of rock on which they stood. In other villages, for instance, in Če'čin and at-Indian Point, they are in the immediate vicinity of the present habitations, and the villagers still remember to what families most of the ruins belong. As before mentioned, they claim that these houses went out of use three generations ago. At the time of Hooper's visit in 1848, houses of the modern type were already in use, and he mentions having seen half-ruined underground houses which were in no better condition when I found them, fifty-two years later. The wa'lkar of the Maritime Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo had a frame made of jaw-bones. Heavy pieces were set in the ground in an upright position at intervals all around the house, and were held in place by earth and stones. Sometimes there were about sixteen of these supports, so that they formed a regular fence. Large pieces of jaw-bone or of whale's ribs were superposed as rafters, and smaller pieces were inserted to make the structure more compact. The floor, or at least the middle part of it, was paved with flat pieces of bone. Then the whole structure was covered with sod, and a thick layer of loose earth was strewn around the bottom. Often the wa'lkar was started with a circular excavation, and, after being well covered with earth, appeared to be a half-underground house, with only the roof protruding above the surface. Even the "jaw-bone houses" built above ground, in the course of a long period of time, assumed the shape of small hillocks, with a human lodging-place inside. Of all the wa'lkarat that I have seen on the Pacific coast, only one, in the village of Nu'nligren, retains its original shape. A comparison with other ruins shows that it is a typical underground "jaw-bone house." It is a large rectangular apartment, 20 feet long, 14 feet wide, and 7 1/2 feet high in the middle. A strong "jaw-bone" frame incrusted in the hardened earth supports its walls (Fig. 100). Most of the uprights which support the side-walls are formed of two parts, the upper being thinner than that below. The upper parts are not fastened to those below, but are firmly implanted on their top. The pressure of the rafters, and the weight of the soil which covers the structure, help to hold them in place. The roof is formed of several curved beams, which rest on other uprights, short and stout, leaned against the front and the rear wall (Plate XVIII, Figs. 2, 3). Like the underground house of other tribes, it has two entrances. One is through a long underground passage, and could be used only in winter, because in summer it was filled with water. The level of the floor of the inner room was above the level of the passage, so that the water could not injure the living-room. The other entrance, in the upper part of the wall, was a circular hole, which could also be shut by means of a shoulder-blade. It was used only in summer; in winter it was stuffed with grass, then covered with the shoulder-blade and secured with stones. The lower passage was cleared of snow and ice and used till the next spring. {In the Koryak underground house the lower passage is used in summer, and the top hole in winter.}

In the centre of the living-room a large flat stone served as a support for a large lamp, which burned day and night. Over the lamp, in the roof, was placed a vertebra of a whale, and its opening served as an air-hole. The floor was raised on all four sides, and on the low platforms thus made four sleeping-rooms of the usual shape were arranged. These were occupied by four families, so that the house had about twenty inmates. This" house at Nu'nligren, however, was the largest in the whole village. Underground houses of the usual size had only two platforms, -- one on the right and one on the left side of the entrance, each with one sleeping-room.' Thus, in the modern houses with double sleeping-room, the same number of families are found as in the ancient houses. The underground houses were constructed with the aid of all the neighboring families, and were strengthened and enlarged during many subsequent years. They were occupied generation after generation, till at last the accumulation of dirt and stench within would become so great as to drive away the inhabitants. The natives say that the un-wholesomeness of these abodes, fixed forever on the same spot, was the chief reason why the population left them altogether and turned to the skin houses. On St. Lawrence Island the natives of Cibu'kak, who, as mentioned before, have adopted the Asiatic type of skin house for their constant abode, still use the old underground houses in the other parts of the island during their sealing expeditions in winter.

The Rev. Lerrigo, who is also a physician, told me that these underground houses are veritable breeding-houses for the microbes of consumption and of several other diseases, and expressed the opinion that the decrease in the population of the island was due, for the most part, to the unwholesome condition of the houses.

So, upon the whole, we must admit for this part of northeastern Asia two principal types of house. One is the "jaw-bone house," which in ancient times existed in many places along the Arctic and the Pacific shores, but which at present has almost altogether gone out of use. It is more or less similar to the habitations of the Eskimo in America, and of the Koryak and Kamchadal in Asia. Another type is the double skin house, the "genuine house" of the Chukchee. It is also ancient, and the Chukchee consider it as characteristic of their tribe. {See also Nordenskiöld, I, p. 405.} Outside of the Chukchee territory, setting aside its recent adoption by the Asiatic Eskimo, it occurs only among the Reindeer Koryak.

Snow-House. -- The vaulted snow-house, which is typical for the Eskimo tribes, does not occur anywhere on the Asiatic coast. Of all the tribes of northeastern Asia, only the Kerek, who have no sufficient supply of wood or skins to construct adequate winter houses, utilize snow as building-material. Their half-underground house has a frame roughly constructed of such poles and pieces of wood as they can find on the shore. Crooked branches of stunted willow and birch trees are placed between to fill in the spaces, and the whole is lined, from within with such skins as they can scrape together, and from without with sod and loose earth. A long, low, narrow passage made of similar material forms the entrance. It is divided into three parts, closed by skin curtains. This structure is used in spring and summer as it is; but in the fall it is covered with a thick layer of snow several feet deep, and fashioned into a well-defined round or rectangular form, which gives to this house some outward likeness to the Eskimo snow-house.

The interior arrangements are much like those of the houses of other branches of the Maritime Koryak. The lack of a roof-entrance with its characteristic tree-ladder, however, gives it a peculiar feature. On that part of the shore no logs fit for the purpose can be found. Thus the use of the tree-ladder ceases suddenly on this part of the Asiatic shore for want of material. Farther to the northward and eastward, across Bering Strait, along the American shore on the Arctic and Pacific Oceans, are found various types of houses. Still farther to the south, in America, after the forest border is reached again, the square roof-entrance and the notched tree-ladder re-appear in exactly the same shapes as among the Koryak and Kamchadal in Asia.

Cellars and Boat Supports. -- Underground cellars were and are used in all Chukchee villages for storing provisions. They also have supports made of bone of the whale in their walls, and the entrance consists often of a square frame with a shoulder-blade cover. Sometimes a vacant underground house is used for a cellar. {See also Nordenskiöld, I, p. 405.}

Supports for boats, spare tent-covering, etc. (Plate XVIn, Fig. 1), also racks for drying seal-meat and fish, are still constructed of bone of the whale, or the people make use of old structures of this kind, because jaw-bone will last for a very considerable time, even in the open air.

Such frames usually consist of four stout uprights firmly embedded in the ground, with cross-bars tied to their upper ends, and a platform made of poles, or of bone of whale, laid across the bars. Some of these simple structures were erected on the cliffs overhanging the sea. During the wintertime, if any of the seal-hunters were overtaken by a storm on the open ice, these platforms served as beacons: the women ascended them, carrying burning lamps under their transparent overcoats of walrus-gut, and stood there for hours, shouting, and displaying their lights to guide the wanderers. Over the platform a light bunch of feathers, called paggo'lhin ("vane"), was suspended from a thin staff. It was consulted by the hunter in observations of wind and weather. Such vanes are still in use among the Maritime Chukchee, and even among those who are settled on the Middle Anadyr.

Household Utensils.

Furniture. -- The Chukchee houses have little furniture. In the outer tent as well as in the inner room the people sit on outspread skins with their legs crossed, and crouch or lie flat on their stomachs, as described above. Sometimes three-legged stools (Fig. 101), fashioned in one piece from the butt of a tree with its roots or from a pair of large reindeer-antlers cut off with the top of the skull, are used in the house or outside, as, for instance, when sealing in winter. Tables consisting of large square wooden boards with four legs about three inches in height are used. These, however, are copies of the tables seen in Russian houses.

Lamp. -- The chief appurtenance of the inner room, of both the Reindeer and Maritime divisions of the tribe, is the lamp, which gives light and heat. The lamp used by the Reindeer people is small and round in shape, and is made either of clay (Plate XX, Fig. I; also Fig. 102, a1) or of sandstone hollowed out with an adze (Fig. 102, d). Since the appearance of iron, old saucepans and pieces of cast-off kettles, battered into the shape of a bowl, are used for the same purpose. Wooden bowls having one edge covered with sheet-iron are also used as lamps. The lamp is usually placed in a shallow wooden bowl, standing, in its turn, on a tray (Fig. 102, a3). Sometimes this bowl and tray are made of one piece (Fig. 102, a2). Another; tray serves as a support for the whole. All these vessels serve to catch the drippings of oil. The material used for lighting is either blubber, or, in all inland regions, the tallow tried out of the reindeer-bones, which have been crushed with a stone hammer. The latter material is the better, because reindeer-tallow is very hard and! contains a large proportion of stearine. It burns with a soft bright light, without smoke or odor. The wick is made of sphagnum! thoroughly dried and spread in a thin narrow layer across the front edge of the lamp. To burn properly it requires continual trimming, which is done with a slender chip of wood. Instead of sphagnum, rotten wood or thin half-burnt shavings may be used. The lamp inside has a bridge, flat and inclined backwards. Its edges do not reach the sides of the lamp, and the middle has a deep cleft almost to the level of the bottom. The fuel, blubber, or tallow is placed behind the bridge, and the lamp is set in its wooden bowl somewhat obliquely. The slant causes the oil oozing from the blubber, or the melting tallow, to flow down to the wick along the walls of the lamp or through the cleft in the dividing ridge. Pounded blubber is sometimes used in the lamp to make the extraction of the oil easier. Oftentimes the lamp is simply filled with oil, and placed on the tray in a horizontal position, though it is then much more apt to smoke. The seal-oil lamp also gives off a strong unpleasant smell, offensive even to the natives.

The ordinary lamp of the people, both Maritime Chukchee and Eskimo (Fig. 103, a), is larger than that used by the Reindeer people. It has an oval, almost rectangular shape, and is made of clay. The bridge is vertical. For cooking, still larger lamps, with two bridges (Fig. 103, b) and moss wicks arranged on both sides of the lamp, are used. The bridges are often divided in the middle. The lamp is placed horizontally on a large wooden dish, and the kettle suspended over it from a peg. Round lamps of clay and sandstone are also used, and sometimes are put in a large round kettle-shaped vessel of clay, with one side cut out in a half-circle (Fig. 104, a) to give a better support to the oblique position of the lamp. {Compare the illustration in Hough, Lamp, Plate 15, Fig. 3.}

Kettle. -- The old women still have a vivid recollection of the clay kettles which were used in former times, and two of these were made for me, -- one in Mariinsky Post (Fig. 104, 5), and the other in Indian Point. They are similar in shape to the soapstone kettles of the Am . The larger pebble, however, remained smooth and intact, as was quite natural that it should be.

I sat quite close to the juggler, and followed attentively all her movements, and I could not discover where all these pebbles came from. She wore the usual combination-suit of women of that country, but the broad waist was thrown open together with the sleeves; and all the upper part of her body, including arms and hands, was quite naked, and accessible to inspection. After a few moments I suddenly requested U'pune to repeat the trick, meaning to try if I could not catch her unawares; but she immediately took up her stone, and without more ado wrung out of it a stream of small pebbles still larger than the first.

Another of her tricks referred to the special methods used by shamans in their magic medicine. They pretend to be able to rip up with the knife the abdomen of a patient, in order to find and remove the cause of suffering. To show her skill in this respect, U'pune told her son, a boy of fourteen, to strip completely and lie down on the ground with his abdomen upward. Then, after some performance with the drum, she took a knife, and, placing the point between the first two fingers of her left hand, she put it on the top of the boy's stomach, and pretended to rip up the abdomen, holding the knife by the handle with her right hand, and guiding the point all the time with the fingers of her left. It certainly looked as if the flesh was really cut open. On both sides, from under the fingers of U'pune, flowed little streams of red blood, quickly increasing, and trickling down to the ground. The boy lay motionless; but once or twice he moaned feebly, and complained that the knife had touched his entrails.

At last the performer removed her hands, and we saw on the abdomen of the patient a fresh wound filled with blood. U'pune, however, gave us very little time to look at the wound. She pretended to insert both her thumbs far into it, which made it look still more natural. All the time she mumbled frantically, shaking her head, which she held quite close to the patient's body. At last she pressed her face close to the wound, and began to lick it swiftly, grunting something which was intended to represent incantations in the ke'lE's manner of speaking. After some moments she lifted her head, and we saw the boy's body quite sound and whole, just as it was before the operation. To the best of my comprehension, this trick was carried out in the following manner: --

During the operation, U'pune several times gave us to understand that she felt hot, and then her daughter would bring her a lump of snow from the big kettle, where quantities of snow and ice -were melting for the daily supply of water. It is quite usual for all the inhabitants of those countries to swallow snow and ice when feeling hot. Some of the lumps, however, must have contained fresh-frozen seal-blood coated with snow. A supply of seal-blood was at that time in every native house, because the seal-catch was going on. Of course, the snow and the blood melted in the mouth of the performer, who could have let out the latter on the abdomen of the patient, quite unperceived by the lookers-on. The boy was emaciated, and I noticed that his skin lay in folds over all the joints of his body. He had probably been trained, by the proper exercise of his muscles, to form the skin of his abdomen into a vertical fold, which, when filled with the seal-blood from U'pune's mouth, looked exactly like a fresh wound. The children of U'pune acted as her assistants, and must have had special training for helping her in the performance of these tricks.

Two or three times I saw Chukchee shamans perform similar tricks on their own bodies, but of a more simple kind. For instance, a shaman would pretend to thrust a knife through his own breast. This, however, he did with his fur shirt on, and of course the knife had abundant room to slide under his arm between the ample folds of the fur garment.

Scratching-Woman, however, offered to stab himself on the bare body. For this purpose he obliged me to give him a new knife, which, after the feast, was to become his property and to be used in magic medicine. The knife must be keen-edged and sharp-pointed. Then Scratching-Woman started beating the drum, in order, according to his explanation, to "heat" the knife and to warm his body to a degree at which stabbing becomes harmless. He explained naively that the performance with the shirt on might be executed without "heating" the knife. The women of his household, however, protested violently all the time against the performance. They even reproached me with wanting to shorten the shaman's life, because, according to their words, feats like this, even when ending without immediate harm, are nevertheless highly destructive to the vital forces of the shaman.

At last, when Scratching-Woman was almost ready to proceed with his experiment, and beat the drum for the last time, there suddenly appeared on the scene a "separate voice," which claimed to belong to a female "spirit" among the acquaintances of Scratching-Woman. This new party declared that Scratching-Woman, conformably to a promise given a year ago, owed her a sacrifice of a reindeer, and she requested her due, forbidding the performance of any shamanistic feats till after the liquidation of the debt.

Since it was summer-time, and the herds were away from the houses and would join them only in the fall, the interdiction by the female "spirit" put the whole matter of stabbing out of the question. Scratching-Woman, however, did not wish me to think he was merely boasting of his exploits, and, to prove his veracity, he showed me two deep scars on his abdomen, one of which, he asserted, was produced by the knife, and the other by a bullet from a rifle in a tour de force like those described.

In tales and other relations of a similar kind, the exploit of stabbing one's self with a knife is one of the most common achievements of the shamanistic art, and it is so generally practised that the spectators are said to ascribe little importance to it. A wooden imitation of a knife is said to be often used, which evidently makes the simulation still more apparent. Thus the account of a family feud {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 32; compare also p. 418.} makes mention of a young shaman-girl, a "woman able to stab herself" with impunity. This ability, however, did not prevent her being murdered.

A tale collected among the Chukchee of the Anui mentions two rival wives of one man. One of them, who had been driven from her home, succeeded in going back with many rich peltries obtained by supernatural aid and by the protection of a great black bear. The other was skilful in stabbing herself with a wooden knife. But, on seeing the peltries, nobody would even look at the tricks of the shaman-woman, and she, in her turn, was expelled. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 257.}

Similar practices existed among the Yukaghir. Thus, for instance, in the village Pyatistennoye I found, together with the wooden painted plank before mentioned, {Compare pp 326, 327.} drums, shamanistic dress, and other appurtenances of the shamanistic practice. Among other things was an old wooden knife covered with dark spots, which were said by the natives to be the shaman's blood, which flowed down when he stabbed himself through the abdomen.

Krasheninnikoff describes a Kamchadal shaman, who likewise stabbed himself with a knife while having the fur shirt on, and then drew from under its cover handfuls of blood, which he swallowed. {Krasheninnikoff, II. p. 158.}

Sarytcheff tells the same of a Yakut shaman, who not only stabbed himself through the abdomen, but even ordered his assistant to drive in the knife with a log up to the handle. After that the shaman came to the hearth, took three burning coals, and swallowed them with much composure and without any visible pain. {Sarytcheff, Voyage, I, p. 30.}

To describe any considerable number of tricks carried out by the shamans, both Chukchee and Eskimo, would require too much space. U'pune, for instance, pretended to draw a cord through her body, passing it from one spot to another. Then suddenly she drew it out, and immediately afterward pretended to cut in two with it the bodies of several of her children, who sat in front of her. These and other tricks resemble to a surprising degree the feats of jugglers all over the world. Before each performance, U'pune would even open her hands, in the graceful manner of a professor of magic, to show us that she had nothing in them.

It was said that her deceased husband had been able to wander underground with his drum and all, that is, to "sink" in a quite literal manner. During a seance in the dark, .he would require two of his neighbors to put their hands upon his head, then he would gradually sink into the earth until they lost the last touch of his hair. After a while, some one would be-heard rapping at the outer entrance of the house, some twenty feet from the inner room. When the entrance was opened, the shaman would appear, quite naked, with the drum in his' hand.

At first, on hearing this account, I was disposed to ascribe it to the imagination of my Eskimo friends; .but, after having seen the legerdemain practised by U'pune and her children, I came to the conclusion that the words of my Eskimo informants might have been nearer to the truth than I supposed. Indeed, the house of the shaman could have had an underground passage similar to the cellars which are # sometimes dug under the houses and tents, and the shaman might have passed through it to the outside.

In a manuscript diary tor the year 1898, by Mr. W. F. Dody, missionary on St. Lawrence Island, I found a rather curious description of a similar kind of legerdemain, in which Mr. Dody took an active part, so far as to keep his hands on the head of the performer. Mr. Dody says that the head of the shaman really began to move downward; but he ascribes this to a change in the position of the shaman, which he adroitly executed in the dark.

While I was on St. Lawrence Island, I witnessed a performance by the same shaman. His name was Assu'narak, and he belonged to a family renowned for shamanistic skill through several generations. Among other tricks, he made me throw a skin coverlet over his bare shoulders while he kept his arms tightly crossed over his breast. This was done by the full light of the lamp. The coverlet immediately stuck fast to his back, while I held it by the free ends. The shaman was able, notwithstanding my resistance, to haul me into the outer room of the house. He said, however, that he was no longer able to sink into the ground, because, according to his words, "this is not a time for great shamanistic acts."

The trick of undoing the hands tied up with a cord is said to be common among shamans, but all the performances I witnessed were rather clumsy, and the leather line used for the purpose seemed to be capable of extension. Such tricks were performed in the inner room, in total darkness, as an extra feat after the regular seance.

The pretence of suicide is carried out with a rifle, or even with a rope, which is wound around the shaman's neck, and the ends of which are drawn tight by two of the spectators present. The shaman, of course, remains safe all the while. Of these last-mentioned tricks I can speak only by hearsay, as I never witnessed any of them.

I have gone at length into the preceding details in order to show that the shamanism of the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo, though still in a primitive stage of development, comprises, nevertheless, a number of complicated tricks performed with the help of assistants. All of these have developed more or less independently of foreign influence, although they present such striking resemblance to the feats performed by the sorcerers and magicians of so many other peoples.

Sexual Perversion and Transformed Shamans. -- A separate branch of Chukchee shamanism, dealing with the perversion of sexual sense, has acquired a somewhat peculiar form. The sexual organs play a part in various branches of Chukchee shamanism. Especially do the malignant spells acquire additional force through the performing of certain prescriptions regarding the organs of sex, male and female. Thus, a "mischievous shaman," when he desires to make an especially powerful incantation, must strip himself naked and go out of his house at night, while the moon is shining. Then he must call to the moon and make an incantation, saying, "O moon! I show you my private parts. Take compassion on my angry thoughts. I have no secrets from you. Help me on such and such a man!" Saying this, the shaman tries to weep in order to win the compassion of the moon. He also makes peculiar movements with his mouth, as if catching something, and drawing it inward. This symbolizes his desire to catch and eat up the victim.

Incantations of this kind are often mentioned by the Chukchee. Scratching-Woman confessed having used them once against a foe of his, who shortly afterward became dangerously ill.

Fig. 286, made by a native of Mariinsky Post, represents a shaman who crawls on all-fours to invoke the moon. He is supposed to be naked, his head only being covered with a large shamanistic cap. Scratching-Woman affirmed that he performed his incantations of this kind without any clothing, but with a shaman's cap on his head. A similar incantation, with the mention of genital parts, is used by the Chukchee hunters of wild reindeer on the Middle Anadyr. {Compare Chapter XVI.}

I was also told that some shamans arrange, every year or every other year, a special thanksgiving performance, to take place on the day of some yearly ceremonial of their family. In this performance they appear naked, and pronounce an incantation with the mention of the genital parts, which is addressed to their assistant "spirits."

The branch of shamanism, however, of which I am about to speak, is of a more special character, and refers to that shamanistic transformation of men and women in which they undergo a change of sex in part, or even completely. This is called "soft man being" (yirka'3-la'ul-va'irgm); "soft man" (yirka'3-la'ul) meaning a man transformed into a being of a softer sex. A man who has changed his sex is also called "similar to a woman" (ñe'učhičä), and a woman in similar condition, "similar to a man" (qa'čikičhêča). Transformation of the first kind is much the more frequent; indeed, I had no opportunity of seeing personally an instance of the second kind, and my information is gathered only from hearsay.

Transformation takes place by the command of the ke'let, usually at that critical age of early youth when shamanistic inspiration first manifests itself. It is, however, much dreaded by the youthful adepts; and in most of those cases in which I spoke of the young shamans preferring death to obedience to the call of the "spirits," there was connected with the call a reference to change of sex. There are, however, various degrees of transformation of this kind.

In the first stage, the person subjected to it personates the woman only in the manner of braiding and arranging the hair of the head. This usage is widespread among the Chukchee, and is adopted not only by shamans at the command of the "spirits," but also by sick persons at the bidding of shamans. In the latter case the aim is to change the appearance of the patient so as to make him unrecognizable by the "spirits."

The second stage is marked by the adoption of female dress, which is also practised either for shamanistic or for medico-magical purposes. It does not imply complete change of sex. For instance, Ki'miqäi, {Compare p. 428.} who claimed for himself shamanistic powers, wore woman's clothes, which he assumed in his early youth. He was afflicted with a strange illness, which caused him to sleep in his inner room day after day, almost without interruption. At length a ke'lE appeared to him in his sleep and ordered him to put on woman's dress, which he did accordingly. Notwithstanding this, Ki'miqäi had a wife and four children, one of which was still nursing when I saw him. The cheeks of Ki'miqäi were also covered with a stubby black beard, and there could be no misunderstanding about the sex to which he really belonged.

A young man, by name Čaivu'urgm, a native of Indian Point, whose picture is given on Plate хххш, Fig. 2, was told by a shaman to put on a woman's dress in order to relieve him from a chronic disease to which he had been subjected from childhood.

The instances of such practices, however, are by no means frequent, since the adoption of the dress, although the most conspicuous feature of the transformation, does not confer the extraordinary power which is considered to be the rightful appurtenance of the change.

The third stage of transformation is more complete. A young man who is undergoing it leaves off all pursuits and manners of his sex, and takes up those of a woman. He throws away the rifle and the lance, the lasso of the reindeer herdsman, and the harpoon of the seal-hunter, and takes to the needle and the skin-scraper. He learns the use of these quickly, because the "spirits" are helping him all the time. Even his pronunciation changes from the male to the female mode. At the same time his body alters, if not in its outward appearance, at least in its faculties and forces. He loses masculine strength, fleetness of foot in the race, endurance in wrestling, and acquires instead the helplessness of a woman. Even his psychical character changes. The transformed person loses his brute courage and fighting spirit, and becomes shy of strangers, even fond of small-talk and of nursing small children. Generally speaking, he becomes a woman with the appearance of a man.

Of course it is difficult to find out how far auto-suggestion is responsible for the change in a person transformed in such a manner, and which of these changes are merely assumed by. him in order to make an impression on the public mind.

The most important of the transformations is, however, the change of sex. The "soft man" begins to feel like a woman. He seeks to win the good graces of men, and succeeds easily with the. aid of "spirits." Thus he has all the young men he could wish for striving to obtain his favor. From these he chooses his lover, and after a time takes a husband. The marriage is performed with the usual rites, and I must say that it forms a quite solid union, which often lasts till the death of one of the parties. The couple live much in the same way as do other people. The man tends his herd and goes hunting and fishing, while the "wife" takes care of the house, performing all domestic pursuits and work. They cohabit in a perverse way, modo Socratis, in which the transformed wife always plays the passive role. In this, again, some of the "soft men" are said to lose altogether the man's desire and in the end to even acquire the organs of a woman; while others are said to have mistresses of their own in secret and to produce children by them.

The transformed men, however, keep their former masculine names. All of the "soft men" I met, or of whom I knew, had men's names. One only was called "Woman's-Dress-Amo'3len" (Ker-Amo'3len), the latter part being a male name. In contrast to this, some of the ordinary people even are given women's names by shamans, {Compare Chapter XVII.} either at the time of their birth, or later on.

The state of a transformed man is so peculiar that it attracts much gossip and jests on the part of the neighbors. Such jests are of course interchanged only in whispers, because the people are extremely afraid of the transformed, much more so than of ordinary shamans.

In a tale widely circulated among the Chukchee, a "soft man," clad in a woman's dress, takes part, with other members of the family, in corralling the reindeer-herd. The wife of his brother taunts him, saying, "This one with the woman's breeches does not seem to give much help." The "soft man" takes offence, and leaves the family camp. He goes away to the border-land of the Koryak, who assault him in his travelling-tent. He, however, snatches his fire-board implement, and with its small bow of antler, shoots the wooden drill at his adversaries. Immediately it turns into a fiery shaft and destroys all of them one by one. He then takes their herds, and, coming back to his home, shows his newly acquired wealth to his relatives, saying, "See now what that of woman's breeches was able to procure for you."

Moreover, each "soft man" is supposed to have a special protector among the "spirits," who, for the most part, is said to play the part of a supernatural husband, ke'lE-husband (ke'le-uwä'3quč), of the transformed one. This husband is supposed to be the real head of the family and to communicate his orders by means of his transformed wife. The human husband, of course, has to execute these orders faithfully under fear of prompt punishment. Thus in a household like that, the voice of the wife is decidedly preponderant. The husband often takes the name of his wife as an addition to his own name; for instance, Têlu'wgê-Ya'tirgin ("Ya'tirgm, husband of Tilu'wgi)". Otherwise the same is done by the children with the name of their father; as, Koko'lê-Ya'tirgin ("Ya'tirgin, son of Koko'lê").

The ke'lE-husband is very sensitive to even the slightest mockery of his transformed wife, because he knows that the "soft man" feels exceedingly "bashful," and also because he is doubtless conscious that the position of the latter is ridiculed on account of his obedience to his own orders.

Speaking further of the marriage-relation with supernatural beings, some shamans of untransformed sex are said also to have ke'lE-wives, who take part in the every-day life of their house. Thus, in the tale of a contest of two shamans, {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 216.} one of them is said to have a ke'lE-wife. Her face looks on him from the wall of his sleeping-room. Whenever he wants to take a meal, his human wife brings him meat and begins to cut it into small pieces. He eats them one by one, and during the meal the face of the ke'lE-wife keeps watch on him from the wall. Notwithstanding this watch, another shaman succeeds in spiriting him away. This one also has a ke'lE-wife of his own, but he takes also that of his vanquished rival; and now the faces of his two ke'lE-wives watch over him from both walls while his human wife cuts meat for his meal. He also sleeps very comfortably with his three wives.

In the tale of Kuku'lpin, the Shaman with Warts, {Ibid. 3. p. 222.} the latter bids his ke'lE-wife pitch the sleeping-room. He enters it, and from thence is heard merry talk, laughing, jingling of bracelets and of necklaces. Another shaman, who is visiting Kuku'lpin's house, feels a desire to pass the night with this merry female, but she is invisible to him. After several attempts on his part, the other wife of Kuku'lpin, the human one, asks him reproachfully, "Are you sure that you can sleep with an 'alien' ke'lE-wife?"

"Soft men," of course, are supposed to excel in all branches of shamanism, including the ventriloquistic art, notwithstanding the fact that they are supposed to be women. Because of their supernatural protectors, they are dreaded even by untransformed shamans, who avoid having any contests with them, especially with the younger ones, because they are exceedingly "bashful," and readily stand back before the pretensions of other people; but afterward the supernatural husband retaliates for the slight.

Of all transformed shamans whom I have chanced to know, the most remarkable was Tilu'wgi (Plate xxxiii, Fig. i), of whom I spoke in an earlier part of this chapter. I met him at a small trade-gathering among the camps of Reindeer people on the Wolverene River. He, together with a party of traders, came from the Chukchee Peninsula. He was of Maritime origin; but his family had some reindeer, and spent most of their time tending the herd. Tilu'wgi was young, and looked about thirty-five years of age. He was tall and well developed. His large rough hands especially exhibited no trace of womanhood.

I staid for two days in his tent, and slept in his small inner room, which was hardly large enough to accommodate four sleepers. Thus I had a chance to observe quite closely the details of his physique, which, of course, were all masculine. He refused obstinately, however, to permit himself to be fully inspected. His husband, Ya'tirgin, tempted by the offered price, tried to persuade him, but, after some useless attempts, was at last silenced by one scowling look from his peculiar "wife." He felt sorry, however, that I had been baffled in gratifying my curiosity, and therefore offered me, to use his own words, his eyes in place of my own.

He described the physique of Tilu'wgi as wholly masculine, and well developed besides. He confessed that he was sorry for it, but he hoped that in time, with the aid of his ke'let, Tilu'wgi would be able to equal the real "soft men" of old, and to change the organs of his sex altogether, which would be much more convenient than the present state. Notwithstanding all this, and even the brownish down which covered his upper lip, Tilu'wgi's face, encircled with braids of thick hair arranged after the manner of Chukchee women, looked very different from masculine faces. It was something like a female tragic mask fitted to a body of a giantess of a race different from our own. All the ways of this strange creature were decidedly feminine. He was so "bashful," that whenever I asked a question of somewhat indiscreet character, you could see, under the layer of its usual dirt, a blush spread over his face, and he would cover his eyes with his sleeve, like a young beauty of sixteen. I heard him gossip with the female neighbors in a most feminine way, and even saw him hug small children with evident envy for the joys of motherhood; but this even the ke'lE-husband could not place within the limits of transformation.

The human husband of Tilu'wgi was an undersized fellow, shorter than his "wife" by at least half a head. He was nevertheless healthy and strong, a good wrestler and runner, and altogether a normal, well-balanced person. He was a cousin of Tilu'wgi, as generally the transformed shamans prefer to choose a husband from among their nearest relatives.

The division of labor between the two followed, of course, the usual rules. In the evening, Ya'tirgin would sit idly within the inner room, while Tilu'wgi busied himself outside with the hearth and the supper. Ya'tirgin received the best pieces of meat, and the transformed "wife," according to custom, had to be content with scraps and bones. In the more serious affairs of life, the voice of the "wife" was, however, dominant.

I heard also from their neighbors a curious story, that one time, when Ya'tirgin was angry at something and wanted to chastise his giant wife, the latter suddenly gave him so powerful a kick that it sent him head foremost from their common sleeping-room. This proves that the femininity of Tilu'wgi was more apparent than real.

The transformation in Tilu'wgi began in his very early youth, after a protracted illness from which he freed himself by the song and the drum. He gave a shamanistic seance in my presence, which had no peculiar features, except that the ke'lE-husband often appeared and talked to the public, extolling the shaman. In the very beginning, Tilu'wgi called him and asked him to mend the drum, which, as he pretended, had not the proper ring. {Compare p. 437.} We heard the ke'lE-husband blow with great force over the cover of the drum, after which its sound at once improved.

Another shaman of transformed sex was E'chuk, whom I met at the Anui fair. He was a person of about forty, tall and strong, of rather indecent behavior and strongly peppered talk. He boasted even that he had been able to bear two sons from his own body, through the assistance of his ke'lE-protector.

Kee'3ulin, of the village of A'čon, was an old man of sixty, a widower, whose wife had borne him several children. At the same time the people asserted that he had a male lover with whom he had lived for more than twenty years. Now his male lover was also dead, so he was doubly widowed. He wore female dress, but his face was covered with stubs of gray beard, and his head was too bald to leave enough hair to be arranged in braids. He was quite poor, and even the shamanistic power had gone from him to a considerable degree. He was said, however, to have a new lover, -- another old man who lived in the same house with him.

Two other cases that I met personally were very young men living with their parents. One was a nimble young fellow and a very able herdsman; but the people accused him of perverting all his young companions, who beset him with their courtship, to the great detriment and offence of the lawful beauties of the camp. The other one was a sickly fellow, who, however, was told to look seriously for a husband. Both were so "bashful" that they carefully avoided giving me time or opportunity for any annoying questions.

I heard, also, of another "soft man," who was woman-like in face, talked in a thin, piping voice, and had very long hair. He changed his sex completely from the very beginning of his "shamanistic" call.

The perversion of the sexual functions, resulting from psychical or physical causes, may happen, of course, among primitive peoples as well as among civilized ones. I met among the Russian Creoles of the Lower Kolyma, who do not differ practically from the Russianized Yukaghir of the same locality, an old man who had a bearded face and the outer genital organs of a male. Notwithstanding this, he acted like a woman throughout his whole life. He wore woman's dress, performed woman's work, and even in his conversation applied to himself the feminine gender, for which the Russian language presents numerous occasions. The neighbors called him Supan, (Жупанъ Супанъ), which is a local Russian term for a man of transformed sex, and is likewise applied to native cases. {The term "supan" is derived, probably, from the Kamchadal word "shopo'nach," which signified the entrance-door of the Kamchadal winter hut. This entrance was tabooed to men, and only women and transformed men were allowed to pass through it, while the men always used the roof-entrance (see Steller, p. 35, footnote).}

The case of qa'čikičhÊča, that is, of a woman transformed into a man, is still more remarkable than that of the "soft man." I obtained detailed information of only two or three instances. One was of a widow of middle age, who had three half-grown children of her own. She received at first an "inspiration" of a more usual kind, but later the "spirits" wanted to change her to a man. Then she cut her hair, donned the dress of a male, adopted the pronunciation of men, and even learned in a very short time to handle the spear and to shoot with a rifle. At last she wanted to marry, and easily found a quite young girl who consented to become her wife.

The transformed one provided herself with a gastrocnemius from the leg of a reindeer, fastened to a broad leather belt, and used it in the way of masculine private parts. I have said before that the gastrocnemius of a reindeer is used by Chukchee women for the well-known unnatural vice. After some time the transformed husband, desiring to have children by her young wife, entered into a bond of mutual marriage with a young neighbor, and in three years two sons were really born in her family. According to the Chukchee interpretation of mutual marriage, they were considered her own lawful children. Thus this person could have had in her youth children of her own body, and in later life other children from a wedded wife of hers. Another case was that of a young girl who likewise assumed man's clothing, carried a spear, and even wanted to take part in a wrestling-contest between young men. While tending the herd, she tried to persuade one of the young herdswomen to take her for a husband. On closer acquaintance, she tried to introduce the same implement, made of a reindeer gastrocnemius tied to a belt, but then was rejected by the would-be bride. This happened only a few years ago; the transformed woman is said to have found another bride, with whom she lives now in her country on the head-waters of the Chaun River.

Of other tribes of northeastern Siberia, persons of a changed sex were found among the Koryak, the Kamchadal, and the Asiatic Eskimo. Thus Krasheninnikoff says {See Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 158.} that the Kamchadal men lived with so-called koyekchuch, who wore female dress, performed the work of women, and avoided mixing among men. The Kamchadal kept them as their concubines, side by side with their real wives.

Steller calls such men koiach or kojachtschitsch. He says that in former times almost every Kamchadal had, besides his wife, such a koiach in his house. {See Steller, p. 289, footnote; and p. 350, footnote.} The Koryak had also similar concubines, which in their language were called keiew or kewew. This, with proper phonetic change, is the same word as the Kamchadal koiach. The memory of persons of the transformed sex, as well as both terms mentioned, still lingers in the minds of the Kamchadal and the Koryak, but the custom as described has long since disappeared.

Sarytcheff mentions the same habit among the Kadyak-islanders. He says that among those who visited the Russian ship, was one man of forty, repulsive of face, but clad in female dress. His cheeks were tattooed like those of a woman, and he had a nose-ring of beads. He was reputed to live as a wife with one of the islanders. {See Sarytcheff, II, p. 33.}

Schelechow, one of the founders of the Russo-American Trading Company, speaks of the same thing among the inhabitants of other neighboring islands. {Compare A. Erman, Ethnographische Wahrnehmungen an den Kiisten des Berings Meeres, in Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie, зег Band, 1871, p. 165.} Mamia Rinso, the well-known Japanese traveller of the beginning of the nineteenth century, tells {P. T. v. Siebold, Nippon, VII, p. 169.} of seeing on the Island of Saghalin, among the people of Smerenkur (Gilyak), several men living in the same house with one woman. He describes their relations as those of polyandry. Von Siebold compares them with the koyekchuch of Kamchatka, and ventures the suggestion that the information by Steller and Krasheninnikoff is incorrect, and that the peculiar marriage-form of the Kamchadal and Koryak may also have been polyandry. What was said before will be sufficient to corroborate Steller and Krasheninnikoff. Schrenck, on his part, denies the existence of polyandry among the Gilyak, and supposes that the several men living with one woman, of whom Mamia Rinso speaks, were in reality the slaves of the family. {See Schrenck, Volker des Amur Landes, Zweite Halfte, p. 650.} Among the Chukchee a form of marriage much like polyandry exists at the present time.

Among the Asiatic Eskimo, transformed persons are found even now, as may be seen from what was told {Compare p. 450.} about Čaivu'urgm of Indian Point. Mr. Gondatti asserts in his paper on the Population of the Anadyr District {Compare p. 20.} (and also in a verbal communication), that at Indian Point the transformed shamans have a great and baleful influence, which he, on his arrival, tried to counteract, and succeeded in partly overcoming. Mr. Gondatti was the chief official of the Anadyr country, and the curtailment of the unhealthy influence of the shamans lay evidently within the province of his duties (of course, from a Russian official point of view). When, however, I visited Indian Point, the only transformed person I found there was the sickly Čaivu'urgm. Another "soft man," of greater age, whom Mr. Gondatti had probably met, died from measles in 1900. Other inhabitants did not undertake to follow his practices, remembering, perhaps, the reproofs of Mr. Gondatti.

Shamanistic Garments. -- The shamanism of the Chukchee has not reached a stage of development high enough to have drums or clothing of peculiar form, or, indeed, any special belongings characteristic of itself. The Chukchee shaman uses the ordinary drum of his family, or perhaps he may make an extra drum for his own use; but this drum will have exactly the same form, and, moreover, it will probably be employed in all the family ceremonials, where additional drums are used for making as much noise as possible.

As to the shamanistic garb, the Chukchee have nothing similar to the well-known type of coat covered with fringes and images, which is in general use among the Yakut and Tungus, and which probably was borrowed from the latter by the Yukaghir, and perhaps also by the Kamchadal, if we may judge by the representations in Steller's book. {See Steller, p. 284. The shamanistic costume is represented there in three different positions, but Steller gives no explanations of details, fn modern times there are no shamanistic dresses among the Kamchadal, which fact, however, may be explained by the severe prohibition by the Russian clergy of all practices of such a kind. Nevertheless, among various drawings done for me by natives in Kamchatka there are two representing shamans, male and female, in special dress, which much resembles the figures given by Steller. They were said to be drawn from the memory of what existed in olden times.} To understand the reasons for the absence of a peculiar shaman's dress among the Chukchee, we must remember that their shamans perform most of their practices in the inner room of the house, in total darkness, where the outer appearance of the shaman is of no consequence. The atmosphere, too, is so close, that the shamans, instead of putting on a special garment, are accustomed, on the contrary, to take off their coats, or, in the case of women, to throw back the upper part of their ample fur waist. Thus, in both cases, they practise with the upper part of the body quite naked. The same is true of the Asiatic Eskimo.

Shamanistic spirits often show a tendency to attach some external marks to their followers in order to make them distinguishable from ordinary people. This, however, is applied only to the men. As far as I know, also among the other neighboring tribes, female shamans have no external marks, nor do they use the special shamanistic garb, which is assigned only to the male shamans. In contrast to this is the custom, which I have spoken of among Chukchee shamans, of adopting the clothes and the ways of a woman.

Another means employed for the purpose of shamanistic distinction is a man's coat of usual cut with a white fringe. This fringe is placed around the sleeves a little above the openings, or around the neck a little removed from the collar (see Fig. 287). It is usually so narrow as to be quite inconspicuous. But this is adopted only in extraordinary cases by the shamans and also by their patients.

Sometimes the Chukchee shamans adopt some old coat brought from the American shores, arguing evidently that its appearance is sufficiently unusual to distinguish them from other people. In a few other cases the shamans prepare a coat of their own. That represented in Fig. 287, collections of the Museum, was acquired from the shaman Scratching-Woman, and is a characteristic specimen. It is a reindeer-skin coat of the usual Chukchee pattern, with the hair turned inward. It looks rather poor and threadbare. This, however, in the eyes of its owner, only increased its value. The neck and sleeves are adorned with white fringe, and there are, moreover, slits cut along the sleeves and in the front of the skirt below. These slits are ornamented with fringe made of curried leather. The cuts and the fringe are considered the characteristic features of the coat, and all shamanistic coats of which I heard were described as garments ripped up all around and adorned with fringe. The shamanistic garment represented in my "Chukchee Material Life" {Plate II, Fig. 3.} belongs to the same type. These slits and fringes are usually said to represent the curves and zigzags of the Milky Way. It is quite possible, however, that both the slits and the fringes are simply the best imitation possible to them of the Tungus specimens.

Except when used by shamans, the Chukchee always ridicule garments of "alien" shape; and the clothes of the Tungus, which they say are all ripped up, are the special butt of their derision. "Alien" shamans, however, as mentioned before, are acknowledged by the Chukchee to have considerable power, and they are often consulted by their Chukchee neighbors. On the southwestern border of the Chukchee territory, some of the people, pretending to have shamanistic powers, have adopted the Tungus drum, which is larger than their own and of different shape. It is also in exclusive use among the Koryak, at least in modern times. This goes to prove that imitation of the Tungus in regard to the shamanistic coat is also quite probable.

The garment represented in Fig. 287 has in the front an image of tetke'yuñ (that is, of vital force), residing in the heart, and therefore having its form. It is made like a leather ball, and filled with reindeer-hair. The other figure, likewise of leather, represents a re'kkeñ, who was an "assisting" spirit of the shaman. The shamanistic cap which belonged to the garment (Fig. 288) is also supplied with fringes, with a tassel on the top and a long double tassel on the left side. The tassels are of the type adopted for magic purposes; {Compare Fig. 150, p. 222.} that is, they are formed of alternating including tassel, 89 см. pieces of white and black fur. Another cap, with the opening on top, and likewise fringed and tasselled, was used by the shaman as a remedy against headache. For this purpose he put it on the heads of his patients, strengthening its action with proper incantations. This latter detail brings us to the question of magic medicine as practised by the Chukchee shamans.

Magic Medicine. -- The Chukchee, as said before, ascribe all maladies to the influence of "genuine" ke'let, the murderers. {Compare p. 292.} Of these, the ke'let of contagious diseases -- such as small-pox, influenza, and measles -- are so terrible that the shamans are almost powerless to check them. "Against those it is no use to begin," said Scratching-Woman to me naively, "lest they grow angry and retaliate upon ourselves."

Another Chukchee explained that even sacrifices are of little avail with those ke'let. The people on the western tundra on the Kolyma explained to me that in the "bad year" (1884), the year of the small-pox epidemic, some of the people tried to propitiate the ke'lE with sacrifices. Because he was killing people in the inner room, women sacrificed to him with oil from the lamp and with warm blood-soup from the cooking-kettle. These they would put on small round pieces of curried leather, and then set them on the snow pointed to the west, whence the ke'lE used to come. But he wanted more than that, and did not relent in the least, even after receiving these offerings.

The sacrifice of something that is very personal, and highly valued by the owner, -- as the Chukchee say, "taken to the heart" (li'ñliñkin), -- is considered an effective means of warding off an assault by ke'let. The best reindeer-team, the gun, or the clothes from the body, may serve for the purpose. If a man once loudly proclaims his readiness to give to the ke'let any such object, it is very dangerous for him to go back on his promise. The ke'let would be sure to avenge heavily their disappointment at the loss of the sacrifice. {Compare p. 46.}

In a similar manner, when a man has once proclaimed a desire to die, be it from spite or rashness, he must fulfil it, otherwise his whole family will be exterminated by revengeful ke'let. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 52.} Against the ke'lE of contagious disease, however, all sacrifices of even the most valuable things are of no avail. The only means of escape from the ke'lE of contagious disease is by immediate flight, in order to leave between the ke'lE and the human people large tracts of uninhabited country. Then he may not care to follow, being afraid of hunger on the solitary way, and therefore may choose another direction.

A flight like this is possible chiefly to the Reindeer people, among whom it is often carried out by the entire population of a district on the first news of the coming disease. Thus, in 1897 the Reindeer camps of the Chaun district, in order to avoid influenza, coming as usual from the west, retreated for several days' journey from the nearest camp of the western people on the head waters of the Anui.

While a contagious disease is raging, the "shunning" of everybody suspected of being followed by the "spirit" is carried to the greatest extent. Even a visit to a camp tainted by disease is considered as a kind of trespass, a desire to tempt the ke'lE, who otherwise might have passed by and hurt nobody.

According to an account by Ainanwa't, during the small-pox epidemic of 1884, some sick people, while still alive, were left by their house-mates, who tried to flee from the anger of the ke'lE. At the same time, some of the camps which stood quite apart escaped unharmed. One A'mčê, a rich reindeer-breeder, lived with many daughters, all of whom were married. One of his sons-in-law, also a well-to-do breeder, lived by himself. His camp was visited by the ke'lE; and all the family, except the daughter of A'mčê and one young boy, died. These two had fled to a neighboring camp, leaving the husband dangerously ill. After a while the woman was visited by her father, who took her to his own camp.

The disease passed over, and the people began to live without fear. Then A'mčê thought about his son-in-law. They both were shamans, and A'mčê argued that the other might have escaped, after all. At last he resolved to visit the stricken camp. They started, a party of five, two other sons-in-law of A'mčê being of the number. When they reached the camp, A'mčê, brandishing his spear, went toward the tent of his daughter, and ripped the wall, taking care not to touch it with his bare hands. This is one of the usual precautions against contact with the "spirits." After that, A'mčê ripped also a wall of the inner room, and saw the corpse of his son-in-law. "Oh!" said he, "then you are really dead. What can I do for you? It is of no use to carry you into the wilderness. You have here the whole tent at your command. Well, I have seen you, at least. Good-by! I am going."

When they reached home, however, the two sons-in-law of A'mčê who had been of the party suddenly grew ill and died. Two others fled from the camp and thus saved their lives. But none of A'mčê's own offspring were attacked by the disease.

The narrator told all this, attaching the greatest blame to A'mčê for his conduct, who acted as though he desired to find a ke'lE and draw him to his own place. The explanation offered by the teller of the story as being the possible one was, that A'mčê, being a shaman, foresaw some bad luck for his family, and wanted to sacrifice to the ke'let the people of "alien blood," though they were his sons-in-law. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, pp. 36--41.}

In contrast to the conduct of A'mčê, in the same year several fugitives from stricken camps, especially those who had no near relatives among the neighbors, were forbidden by the people of other camps, rifle in hand, to approach their dwellings, under danger of immediate death. One Pe'plu told me that, when he was only fifteen, his camp was visited by disease, and that all the people died. Then he fled and went to his uncle's, but the latter met him, rifle in hand, and bade him immediately return. "Go and strangle or stab yourself!" cried the old man from a safe distance. "You belong to the ke'lE. Go away!"

Exactly the same thing happened among the Yakut, and in some measure likewise among the Russianized natives of the Kolyma.

I have alluded before to the precautions taken against syphilis. In reference to this I was told by my Chukchee informants that in ancient times trespass against those prescriptions was accounted a greater sin than murder, because the murderer kills only one man, and that one of an "alien" origin, while the trespasser against the "shunning" endangers the lives of his closest relatives and acquaintances.

Shamans also in their medical practice do not like to enter into direct communication with the "genuine" ke'let of other diseases, but prefer to inquire about the causes of such and such illness from their own assistant ke'let. Therefore the "genuine" ke'let are not called by the shaman in his performances. They come, however, of their own accord, and usually remain silent in a corner till the ke'let of the shaman denounce them. Then the assistant ke'let take to abusing them in every possible manner. This makes the "genuine" ke'lE leave off, although he has to keep watch over his human prey which is undergoing the magic cure of the shaman.

In the native sketches of the performance of magic medicine, the "genuine" ke'lE is represented as a being of a larger size than the "assistant" ke'let of the shaman, perhaps to set off his dreadful power. Thus, in Fig. 289, copied from a native sketch, a shaman in a sitting position is practising, in the inner room of a tent, over a sick boy. Two assistant ke'let are coming to his, while a ke'lE of disease is standing in the corner. All ke'let are represented with wings, and resemble insects somewhat. Two men are listening, one in a sitting position and the other reclining on his elbow. A small boy, frightened, has jumped up and is about to flee.

I must mention here that the shaman is considered able to treat the sickness of other people, but not his own. On the other hand, persons feeling unwell take to shamanistic exercises without any particular aim other than to give vent to their frenzy, or with a half-unconscious purpose of drowning the feeling of sickness in the noise and nervous excitement of the practice. "I am no shaman," I heard from such an occasional practitioner; "but with our people the power of singing comes voluntarily with every danger or illness. Then it passes away, but I cannot tell where its house is. It is the same with the power of drumming. It comes in time of need, then it passes and returns to its own house." Once in my presence a boy of seven, who had been ill for several days, kept repeating to his father, "Please beat the drum, sing songs! I want noise!" as if it were a special kind of remedy for his illness.

During the long winter nights some people resort to drumming and singing simply to while away the time, or perhaps to counteract the depression of the long period of cold and darkness. Of course, in all these cases the improvising singers try, half unconsciously, to imitate the songs and gestures of real shamans.

Among the Russianized natives and Russian Creoles, women feeling unwell take to singing in a shamanistic manner, which is said to greatly relieve their suffering. Sometimes this singing is accompanied with unintelligible words, which are believed, however, to belong to the Yukaghir or Yakut language, and which are unknown to the sufferer in her normal state. Sometimes she even receives the gift of foretelling the future in this state. All this is considered a special suffering, called laconically "a fit," and liable to attack any woman of the settlement.

There are several methods of administering magic medicine used by the Chukchee shamans. One of the most common deals with the soul (uvi'rit) of the patient, a part of which is supposed to be stolen by the ke'let. {Compare p. 333.} Some shamans even say similar things in regard to themselves. "I cannot practise here," shaman Kele'wgi {Compare p. 426.} said to me at Mariinsky Post. "I feel that the greater part of my soul is at home staying with my separate ke'let. My mind is somewhat wandering, and I am using but a small section of it, the remaining part being carried away by 'separate spirits.'"

The shaman's search for the stolen soul of his patient was formerly effected in a shamanistic trance, which nowadays is replaced by the usual sleep over night, since dreams are considered by the Chukchee one of the best means of communicating with spirits. When the search is successful, the shaman returns, bringing the soul, and tries to put it back into the body of the patient. This is done in various ways. The shaman will set about a great performance with the drum and song. Then he will pretend that he is blowing the soul into the body of the patient through the breast, or through the ear, or through the crown of the head. He may also present it like a small insect, which will be heard buzzing around. Then he will suddenly proclaim that it has entered the head of the patient.

The souls, as well as the ke'let, are said to produce a buzzing sound when flying. In one of the magic performances at which I was present, the shaman asked the patient, "Do you hear that buzzing sound? It is your soul that is passing by." After a moment he asked again, "Do you hear that rapping noise? It is your soul that is running over the drum-cover with its tiny feet." A shaman of sufficient power, who cannot find the lost soul of the patient, may blow into his body a part of his own soul. The patient is then said to become a son of the shaman.

I saw a shaman trying to recall to her senses a sick woman who had fallen into a heavy swoon. To do this he began to beat the drum with the utmost force. Then he pretended to catch something from the drum and to swallow it hurriedly. Immediately afterward he appeared to spit it out into the hollow of his hand, and then in the quickest possible way pretended to empty his palm over the head of the patient. After that, he began to mumble and gibber over the crown of the patient's head. In order to prevent the soul from leaving, he breathed into the hollow of his hand, and then applied his palm to the breast of the patient. At intervals he pretended to suck out the source of the suffering from the crown of her head. For this he made sucking motions with his mouth at some distance from her head. From time to time he made grimaces, and pretended to be choking, evidently for the purpose of showing that something bad had entered his mouth. At last he spat violently, and then began again the whole process.

From my own observation I know that a real insect is sometimes used in treatments of such a kind. This is brought near to the breast or to the head of the patient, and then vanishes, deftly abstracted by the shaman, who pretends that it has entered the body. The supposed process of shamanistic search for the soul of the patient, and then of putting it back into the body, is described very vividly in the story of the Scabby Shaman. {See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. IV, p. 599.} I will cite only the part relating to the latter process.

He [the shaman] called his ke'let and gave them the boy's soul to hold, and then looked hard at the decayed heap [of the half-decomposed corpse], and gulped it down, spattering the putrid fluid about. Then he shouted, "Bring a new white skin!" He vomited, and spat out the boy's body. All the bones were in their right places, and the flesh stuck to the bones again. Then he swallowed the body a second time and spat it out again. It was covered with new skin, all sores were smoothed down. He swallowed it a third time and spat it out again: blood mounted to the cheeks, and the lips almost wanted to speak. Scabby-One shouted, "Give me the soul!" He swallowed it and spat it out on the body. The soul passed through the body and stuck in the wall of the house. "The body is too cold," said Scabby-One; "it will not hold together." He swallowed the body a fourth time, warmed it in his stomach, and spat it out again on the skin. Then he flung the soul at it. "Oh, oh, oh!" sigbed the boy, and then sat up on the skin.

Instances of the swallowing of souls and bodies of men by shamans frequently occur in Chukchee tales. Thus Kuku'lpin, in one of the tales, when visiting the interior of America, swallows his companion and a young girl, and, turning into a bird, carries them to his home. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 293.} In the tale of the Contest of Two Shamans, a small bird, Perru'per (Uria Brunnichi), acting as an assistant ke'lE of one of the shamans, comes to the house of the other one, which is watched by a host of his ke'let. The bird dives under ground and succeeds in pushing the point of its beak through the middle of the floor, then with one drawn-in breath, one whoop, it pulls him down and swallows him under the very eyes of his house-mates. {See Ibid., p. 217.}

During the process of bringing back the lost soul of the patient, the soul is spoken of as a "little fellow" (tu'mgAqäi), and the shaman is called the "restorer of a little fellow" (tumge-neli'lin).

Sometimes, however, the shaman refuses to put the soul back personally, and, instead of that, orders the mother or the sister of the patient, or, in their absence, the father or the brother, more rarely the wife, to go out at dawn the next morning, and to pick up a blade of grass somewhere near by, repeating, "Here, here, here, I found the 'little fellow,' be you under my power!" This grass represents the "little fellow," and it must be tied to the collar-strings of the patient.

Another method of shamanistic treatment of diseases may be called "magic surgery." In this the shaman pretends to operate on the diseased part of the body and to set it right, removing the pus and the bad blood, and sometimes even recasting the whole limb. The shaman acts in a way sbmewhat similar to that described in regard to the recovering of a lost soul; that is, he puts his face close down to the body of the patient, blows on it, or sucks for some time a fold of the skin. It is supposed that the ke'lE who assists him is able to extract and to eat up the source of the illness. Some of the rubbing and sucking has the character of massage, especially in the treatment of swellings and bruises. The shaman often produces a beetle, a thorn, or even a small stone, which he pretends to have extracted from the body. The same cure may be carried out also by means of various incantations, which will be described in the next chapter.

Besides this, the shaman pretends to possess the power to open the abdomen of the patient in order to inspect the internal organs, to remove the stricken parts, and then to make the wound whole again. This can be done only with a special knife strengthened by various incantations. Moreover, the knife has to be "heated" by long and violent shamanistic exercise. A knife not "hot" enough might kill the patient on the spot. I have already described tricks of this kind performed by the female shaman U'pune, and have also quoted the story of Ainanwa't about a ke'lE having entered his body, and cleaned his interior with a small silver knife.

The shaman Scratching-Woman also pretended to treat his patients all the time in this way. For this purpose he used a special knife, represented in Fig. 290. This is an ordinary iron knife set into an uncouth block of wood with two circular notches and a double tassel of curried leather. A bead of blue glass almost as large as a hen's egg is also tied to the handle. The bead looks quite old, and Scratching-Woman asserted that it was received by his grandfather directly from the ke'let. The handle of the knife has some rusty spots, which were said by the shaman to be produced by the blood of patients operated upon with the knife. Together with the knife a small flat piece of ivory (Fig. 291) was used, which was said to be employed, as a rule, in cutting open the body. The shaman said it was a present from the Milky may. {Compare p. 459.} Three leather images were fastened to the ivory. One was said to represent a ke'lE from the "direction" of the darkness, with the arms longer than the legs. The middle image -- with only one arm and one leg, and the eyes standing one over the other -- represented the ke'lE Iu'metun. {See p. 42.} The third image represented a crawling "spell," which one of the enemies of the shaman sent to attack him; but he intercepted it on the way and thoroughly subdued it, so that it began to do his bidding. With the aid of these instruments, Scratching-Woman pretended to have cut open and put to rights internal organs, backs, shoulder-blades, and several other parts of the bodies of many patients, although, according to his neighbors, he was too young to claim so many successful cases of treatment.

The supplementary method of magic medicine, after the treatment of shamans, consists in changing the appearance of the patient in order that the "spirits" may not recognize him again. I have already spoken of the assumption of women's dress by men. The same purpose is accomplished by a change in the cut of the hair; for instance, by arranging a double fringe around the crown, closely cropped according to the Chukchee mode, or with the addition of an extra tuft on the crown or on the nape of the neck.

A change of a similar nature is adopted by others also; for instance, by a murderer when he wishes to escape the vengeance of his victim, who might easily come back in the shape of a ke'lE. If not kept back, this ke'lE will possess himself of the murderer and induce him to do further violence in order to have him punished by his neighbors for his crimes. The mind of the Chukchee can conceive of no other retribution for a crime unavenged by the relatives of the victim. The Greek conception of the Furies pursuing the unpunished criminal, and driving him to madness and despair, was probably also developed from a similar idea of the revengeful "spirit" of the victim pursuing its murderer. Besides this, I was told that the murderer must not cut his hair at all, but pull it out hair by hair. This process will act as a preventive against the return of the "desire to kill," which otherwise is sure to come back and incite him to other murders. The "desire to kill," in this case, is probably derived from the same idea of the revengeful "spirit" of the victim possessing itself of the mind of the murderer.

Another measure of like nature is a change of name, which is effected by the Chukchee very readily on several occasions of their life. The way in which the new-born infant receives its name will be described in a later chapter. Then, after a few years, the parents -- if they are afraid that the name does not suit the little one, making him suffer, "making his bones heavy" -- proceed to the first change of the name, after which, during later life, several other c live the natives, Kolyma men of their own tribe, driving [Reindeer] and walking [sedentary], {The Maritime (sedentary) Chukchee usually are called in the reports "walking," in contrast to the Reindeer division of the tribe. Among the Reindeer Chukchee each member of the family has a team of its own: so all can drive. Among the Maritime Chukchee a family usually has but one team, and most of the people have to walk. It seems that in earlier times the dog-teams of the Chukchee were still more unfit for swift and efficient driving than they are now, in comparison with the dogs of the Maritime Koryak and Russianized natives. So in a campaign the warriors of the Reindeer Chukchee were usually driving reindeer, while the warriors of the Maritime Chukchee had to walk.} -- numerous people, -- and they have a language of their own; on this Kolyma, and also on a separate river, the Chiukhcha (чюхча), -- and this river Chiukhcha flows directly to the sea, and its mouth lies on this side of the Kolyma River on our way (from the west),-- on this Chiukhcha River live natives of their own tribe. They are called 'Chiukhchee,' the same as the Samoyed, Reindeer and sedentary. He had a woman captive from the Kolyma, Kaliba by name. That woman had lived among the Chiukhcha for three years. She told him about the island which is in the sea, -- when going by ship to the Kolyma River, on the left hand. Those Chiukhcha, in the winter-time, go in one day from their dwelling-place on their river to that island, and there they kill walrus and bring home the walrus-heads with the tusks; and, according to their custom, they pray to those walrus-heads." Stadukhin himself had not seen any walrus-tusk, but the Russian hunters (промышленные люди) {Parties of hunters and traders used to go with the first conquerors of the new countries, Cossacks, and and other public-service men. They were also armed, and often took part in war-expeditions.} had told him that they had seen walrus-tusks in the possession of the Chiukhcha. He continues: "The runners of their reindeer-sledges are made of the same walrus-tusk. These Chiukhcha have no sables, because they live on the tundra near the sea, and the best and the darkest sable comes from the Kolyma." {Supplements, III, Mo. 24, p. 99.}

This report is very interesting. The name "Chiukhcha" is mentioned in it for the first time; and from the words of Stadukhin it follows that in that time, on the Chukchee River, to the west of the Kolyma, there lived natives called Chukchee, Reindeer and sedentary. I mentioned before that those natives were probably of Ča'ačên stock. {Compare p. 18.} Still more remarkable are the details concerning the walrus-hunt of those natives on one of the Bear Islands. Walrus, even in modern times, migrate to the northern shores of the Bear Islands; and the Reindeer Chukchee sometimes go over to those islands for the purpose of hunting them, just as described in the report. In the time of Stadukhin, however, walrus-hunting was evidently carried on more extensively. The natives brought home walrus-heads and prayed to them; that is, they arranged a certain ceremonial with walrus-heads. Up to the present, walrus-heads have played a prominent part in the principal ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee. {Compare p. 389.}

Wars. Seventeenth Century Wars. -- Soon after the discovery of the Kolyma, in 1647, the Cossack Basile Kolesnikov founded the fortress of Anadyr, though, according to other information, it was founded by Semen Deshnev in 1649. {Compare Plenisner, Chart of the Chukchee Land, drawn in 1763 (Memoirs of Hydrographical Department, 1852, Part X, p. 119). Plenisner was the chief officer of the country of Okhotsk in the sixties of the seventeenth century, and had much valuable information from the Cossacks and natives.} Semen Deshnev, with Theodote Alexeiev and Gerasim Ankudinov, after a first ineffectual attempt in the year 1647, succeeded a year later in rounding East Cape. Most of their ships were lost. Two stranded somewhere to the south of Anadyr. {The reports of Deshnev about this journey are well known in literature.} The year 1649 actually found several parties of Cossacks and service-men on the Anadyr. One party was headed by Semen Deshnev and the inspecting service official (служилый приказный человѣкъ) {An official of this kind was added to cossack parties to collect tribute and to take care of it.} Semen Motora. Another party was headed by Michael Stadukhin, who had come from the Kolyma River. Stadukhin made attempts to subjugate to himself all other parties, and to be the chief leader of the public officials of Anadyr. The strife brought forth several reports, which were presented to the Governor of Yakutsk. {Supplements, IV, pp. 9-27.} All these reports are just as interesting as the report of Michael Stadukhin concerning the Kolyma.

Thus one Theodore Vetoshka, in a report of 1655, says, "In the past 157th year (1649) it became known on the Kolyma River -- from the lips of Angara, the hostage of the Khodyntzy, {Compare p. 18.} whom we, your slaves [the report is formulated as a direct address to the Czar], took on the upper stream of the Anui River, and from other captives in the same raid of ours -- that a new trans-mountain river, the Anadyr, {In these oldest reports Kolyma is often called "Kovyma", and Anadyr is called "Anandyr."} comes quite near to the upper course of the Anui. By reason of these facts we have gathered together among ourselves volunteer hunters, and we have struck the ground (i. е., petitioned) before you, О Czar! because we desired to go to that new country with the intention of bringing down the tributeless tribes under your high hand, and we had to give into your treasury forty sables. Then we were given leave to undertake that service, together with the public officials Semen Motora and comrades.... And in the same 157th year, in the month of July, the service-men Michael Stadukhin and comrades made an attempt to go by sea from the Kolyma River to the new river Pahycha, {The name "Pahycha River" is repeated several times in the reports. The Pahycha River is said to be rich in sables. Some recent scientists have suggested that this name may have referred to the Amur River, which in reality, even up to the present, abounds in sables; but the natives of the Kolyma hardly knew anything of the distant Amur. They had knowledge only of the nearest rivers, such as the Anadyr and the Penshina. Of these rivers, the Anadyr is mentioned as being, even at that time, poor in sable. The next large river is the Poqa'č, which forms the northern boundary-line of the sable territory, and which even now, when the sable is rapidly vanishing in the north, still has some of the darkest and most valuable sables. It is quite probable that the natives of the Kolyma, when speaking of Pahycha, had in mind this Poqa'c River; and also the Kolyma Cossacks, in their search for sable, wanted to find the said Poqa'č, the boundary-line of the sable territory.} but came back from the sea to the Kolyma on Sept. 7. When we came over the mountain to the Anadyr River, and he (Michael Stadukhin) was going down the Anadyr and passed by our camp, he sent to us, requesting that we come to him and ask to be accepted into his regiment, and stating that if we did not consent, he would order all of us to be exterminated. Then he took from us .by force the inspecting official Semen Motora, and put him into the stocks for nine days, and extorted from him a paper promising to remain under his (Michael's) command.''

It seems that Michael Stadukhin could not accomplish his purpose. So in the next year, the 158th (1650), on April 23, according to another report, Semen Motora and comrades went to the winter hamlet of Semen Deshnev, founded for tribute purposes. Then follows in the report a description of the continuous warfare against the natives.

"The Anadyr River is populous," say the Cossacks, "and the men in the public service are too few. In the 159th year (1651) we went against the people of Anauli, {Compare p. 18. 2 Half of verst is about a third of a mile.} and God helped us to take their fortified hamlet (острожекъ). They had stakes prepared for the purpose, axes' put on long handles, and knives. We fought with them hand to hand. They killed four of our men and wounded many with those stakes; and in the 160th year (1652), Dec. 7, in a similar fight, they shot at us, and killed Semen Motora, the inspecting official."

The Cossacks asked for sables: but the Anauli men said, "We have no sables, because we do not live in the woods. The Reindeer people come to us. When they come, we shall buy sables from them and bring the tribute to the Czar." And in this 163d year (1655), adds the report, Kolupai and Lok, the Anauli hostages, went to the mountains to buy sables from the Reindeer- Khodyntzy men for tribute.

This report shows that the Anauli and the Khodyntzy were friendly among themselves. The former lived on the river; the latter had reindeer, and wandered with them on the mountain with wood and sables: i.e., to the south from the Anadyr River. Both tribes were probably of Chuvantzy stock, though the latter are mentioned separately as a Reindeer people. At the same time the tribute hostages, Chekchoi and brothers, presented a petition: "Over the mountain from the Penshina River there have come to us numerous unpeaceful Koryak men. They have murdered our kinsmen, plundered our houses, captured our wives and children, and driven away the reindeer. We suffer pillage and abuse all the time from those people, and we cannot abide it any longer." The Koryak frontier lay somewhere along the upper course of the Penshina River, nearly as it is at present. The country on the Anadyr River and its affluents was occupied by several branches of the Chuvantzy stock, Reindeer and sedentary, such as the Khodyntzy, the Anauli, and the Chuvantzy proper.

In another report Semen Deshnev and his comrades say, "And in the 160th year (1652) we went by ship to sea, and at the mouth of the Anadyr River we found a spit. It came into the sea beyond the bay. On that spit the walrus come out, and on that spit may be found the tusks of the dead walrus. They come in great numbers, and their place on the cape is all around for more than half a verst, {210-280 feet.} and upshore for thirty or forty sashen. {A sashen is equivalent to 7 feet.} All the game does not come from the water to the shore. Much of it is in the water near the shore; and the hunters who are from the Russian Arctic Sea say that game is less numerous in the Russian Sea."

The spit mentioned here is probably Geek Cape, on the south end of Anadyr Bay, called in Chukchee Gi'ggrin. Even nowadays walrus are in the habit of going to that low sandy shore, and the Anadyr Chukchee and Cossacks visit it for hunting-purposes; but the walrus-herds of the ancient time have dwindled down to little groups, and no tusks of dead animals can be found on the shore.

At the time of the first conquest, walrus were so numerous, that one party of public-service men presented to the Treasury fifty puds {2000 Russian pounds; i.e., 1600 pounds Avoirdupois.} of walrus-ivory. The report of that party says, "We found on the spit near the mouth of the Anadyr River ivory of dead walrus. We gathered that ivory, put away for the Czar three puds of it, {120 Russian pounds, or 96 pounds Avoirdupois.} and the remainder we divided among ourselves. Altogether, we gathered for the Czar a great profit, -- fifty puds of walrus-ivory, the first pud three tusks, the second pud four tusks, etc." So the tusks of the first pud each weighed twelve pounds Avoirdupois. The same report states, "In the 1626. year (1654), when we were on that spit for the purpose of gathering those walrus-tusks, close to that spit lived also some Koryak people, who slunk along with the intention of murder. Then I, Yuriy, and my comrades, and the service-men Semen Deshnev and comrades, went against those men, and found their hamlet, fourteen large houses. And their place was fortified; but with the aid of God we took that fort, and also women and children. The best men, however, escaped, and took with them their wives and children. Because they were quite numerous, each house had ten families and more. We, on the contrary, were not many, -- twelve men in all."

The Koryak in question could have been no other people than the Ke'rek from Cape Navarin. Though at the present time quite wretched and rapidly dying out, the Ke'rek, according to their own traditions, were in former times much more numerous, had large boats, and lived on walrus. They also may have been in the habit of going to the Anadyr spit for hunting. Nowadays almost the whole number of the Ke'rek tribe hardly equals the population of that single ancient village, which, according to the report, had fourteen large houses, with ten families and more in each house. {For the present villages of the Ke'rek compare Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 440. The data were collected by myself. The largest village has three houses and fifty inhabitants. Other villages have mostly one single house and some twenty or twenty-five inhabitants.}

In this way the Kolyma and the Anadyr Rivers were occupied by the Russians. The chief desire of the Cossacks was for sable peltries, and everywhere they asked the natives for these. As mentioned above, the Kolyma River, which for the last fifty years has known no sables, abounded at that time, on the contrary, in the best, very dark sable. According to Slovtzov, in the eighteenth century the fair of Sredne-Kolymsk brought to the treasury as the usual tithe ninety doublescores {Sables were counted by doublescores.} of sables. Therefore the whole number of sables brought to the fair was about thirty-six thousand.

The Anadyr River, on the other hand, as may be seen from the reports quoted above, even in earlier times, had no sables because of the scarcity of wood. In the first years, however, the Cossacks succeeded in extorting from the natives a considerable number of sable-skins, whole and split, probably acquired by the natives from their southern neighbors. On the Anadyr River and to the north of Kolymsk, the Cossacks turned their attention to walrus-tusks, which were also of great value. According to a record contained in one of the reports mentioned, fourteen sables were equivalent to one pud of walrus-ivory; so that the fifty puds of walrus-ivory mentioned above were equivalent to seven hundred sables; i.e., to seventeen double-scores and a half of sable-peltries. Numerous decrees of the Government were issued in reference to the quality of the tribute to be collected from the natives. Most of them say, "You have to take good and whole sables, without bare spots, with tails and with bellies; and you must not take as Czar's tribute sables not whole, and with bare spots, or rotten and torn ones, and not full-haired. You have to take the tribute and presents and enter them in the tribute-books, year after year, and one name after another. You have to take of walrus-tusks, as tribute, only the best, and of medium size. Small tusks, weighing less than one pound each, you must not take for tribute."

A great number of natives were exterminated by the conquerors. The reports are full of remarks like the following: "The village was taken, and all the people put to death." The natives defended themselves with the courage of despair; but in the contests, they could do no more than kill a few of the assailants. Then they had to give way before steel blades and fire-arms. Those that were left alive promised to pay tribute, and gave the best men as hostages. The Cossacks, however, were quite far from enjoying their position. The northern clime and the conditions of life were too severe even for those adventurers. Thus one report says, "We live on dead red-fish [several species of Oncorhyncus, such as O. keta, O. niarka, O. gorbtisha! Of white-fish we catch but little, because we have no good nets. We do not dare to feed the Czar's hostages with that dead fish, lest they die from scurvy: so we spare the white-fish and feed them with that." Another report says, "We are starving to death, we feed on cedar-bark. Whatever fish was left we spared for the hostages, and portioned that off to them."

Along with war came trade with the natives. Thus, in the year 1.646 a certain Isai Ignatyev went by sea from the mouth of the Kolyma eastwards. He was passing between the ice-fields and the shore, and went as far as Chaun Bay. There he carried on traffic with the Chukchee, and then returned to the Kolyma. {Shcheglov, p. 96.}

In 1649 a public-service man of the Yakutsk fortress, Timothy Bulgakoff, was sent to the Kolyma. He left the mouth of the Lena, and reached the Omoloi River. There be staid for four weeks, because of the ice and the unfavorable weather. After that he went farther, but could not reach the Kolyma: so he turned back toward the mouth of the Lena. On the way he met eight galiots (galleys) full of the Czar's serving-men, traders and adventurers, who also were waiting for a favorable wind. At last the south wind cleared off the ice. So they joined forces and set off for the open sea. At sea they met four other ships going from the Kolyma. Near the Bay of Khroma all of them were caught in the ice. The ships were crushed; but the people escaped on ice-floes, and after many hardships succeeded in landing at the mouth of the Indighirka River. {Shcheglov, p. 101.}

This lively movement of the Russians in the Arctic waters of eastern Siberia presents a strange contrast to their modern inactivity. The Russian Creoles, the descendants of the first conquerors, forgot the art of constructing ships and their use. One of the reasons of this was that those ships were too helpless and unwieldy to be used for travel among the ice of the Arctic Ocean, and almost every other voyage ended in ruin.

The ships used by the Cossacks were called "cocha" (коча, pi. кочи). They were large and uncouth, made of wooden planks tied together with split willow-roots. These were fastened in the drill-holes with wooden pins. Sphagnum was used for caulking. A heavy stone served for an anchor. The sails were made, for the most part, of curried reindeer-skins sewed together. Up to the present time the small river-boats of the Kolyma River have been built in the same way by Russian Creoles and by the Yukaghir of the Upper Kolyma. By the way, the Yukaghir far surpass the Russians at present in their skill in making boats, and their boats are eagerly bought by Russians in Sredne-Kolymsk and Nishne-Kolymsk, though there cannot be the slightest doubt that the Yukaghir learned the art of boat-making from the Russians.

The art of constructing those clumsy ships was almost lost as early as the beginning of the eighteenth century. Thus, in one of the reports of the first years of the. eighteenth century, the Cossacks say, "Our ships are small, and the sails weak. We are unable to make larger ships, as in former times."

For the next half-century we have only one historical date, 1690. In this year the Cossack officer Basile Kusnetzov went on an expedition to the country of the Koryak, and then to the country of the Chukchee. There he was murdered by the Chukchee, together with all his followers. {Acts, V, p. 353.}

Wars in the Eighteenth Century. -- From the first years of the eighteenth century we have again a series of interesting reports of Cossacks and service-men. One of these reports, of March 14, 1710, runs as follows: {Compare p. 18, also p. 684.}

"In the year 1701 the tribute-men of Anadyr, the Yukaghir of the Khodynsky clan, {Monuments, II, No. 122, p. 524.} Nekrasko and his kinsmen, petitioned the official of Anadyr, the boyar-son (боярскій сынъ) {Thus were called the members of a large class of gentry. They must be distinguished from boyars proper, who belonged to the nobility. In origin the boyar-sons were probably the descendants of those boyars who had lost the greater part of their wealth and influence.} Semen Chernyshevsky, asking him to send service-men against the unpeaceful Chukchee of Anadyr Cape, who assaulted them, -- the Yukaghir, -- in the time of reindeer-hunting, with murder and depredation. According to that petition Semen sent the narrators -- twenty-four Russians and one hundred and ten Yukaghir and Koryak -- against the Chukchee. They left in the month of April, and were on the expedition twenty-eight weeks. They found on the seacoast thirteen houses of the walking (sedentary) Chukchee, and requested them to bow down under the high hand of the great Czar and to pay tribute; but the Chukchee gave no tribute, and retreated into their houses. The Cossacks made an attack. Ten men were killed, and their wives and children taken captive. Many of the captives strangled themselves and stabbed each other to death. Other Chukchee escaped, and all of them began to gather in one place on the cape. The Cossacks going back from the battle-place met them, about three hundred, and fought again and killed two hundred and more. The others escaped. The next day they met the Chukchee again in great numbers, Reindeer and walking (sedentary) Chukchee, three thousand and more. They fought the whole day until evening, and killed many; but the Chukchee also wounded seventy men among the Cossacks and the tribute-paying Yukaghir. After that the Chukchee retreated and staid not far away. The Cossacks were besieged by them for five days, and then fled to the Anadyr."

According to another report, the public official Ivan Lokosov, in the year 1709, was sent against the unpeaceful Chukchee. He brought one Chukchee man, who consented to pay tribute, also the Cossack son Ivan Ankudinov, who was captured by the Chukchee and lived in captivity twelve years and a half. {Полтретьядцзть; i.e., half of the third to ten. V. Andrieyevich states erroneously "one and a half" (Andrieyevich, I, p. 121).}

In still another report, some public-service men -- Ivan Zerkalnikov. Athanase Troizkoi, Cyril Jaravlev -- say, "We were going by sea from the fortress of Zashiversk fon the Indighirka River] under Daniel Busormanov, along the coast, off the ice. The water was shallow and difficult; the weather, unfavorable. God gave us no way. We had many halts, and could not reach the mouth of the Kolyma River, and Daniel Busormanov remained on the shallow coast near the mouth of the Konkova River. We were starving. So he, Daniel, sent us by tundra to the winter hamlet (зимовье) of the Lower Kolyma. We lost our way and fed on weeds, and reached the Kolyma on the tenth day, where we found Cossacks occupied with fishing. There we have staid until this present year 1710. In January of this year some Chukchee robbers came with deceit to the Lower Kolyma winter hamlet. One of them was taken captive, Ni'tkal, according to his Chukchee name. The said Ni'tkal said that Daniel Busormanov, going by sea, did not recognize the mouth of the Kolyma, and passed beyond as far as the mouth of the Big River; and there the Shelag Chukchee murdered him and his comrades." {Monuments, II, No. 123, p. 527.} This is the first direct mention of the unknown Shelag, much earlier than that by Wrangell. {Compare p. 17.}

Still more interesting is the report of Sept. 2, 1711, presented in the fortress of Anadyrsk, in the judicial chamber (судная изба), to the officer Matthew Skrebykin by the serving-man Popov, who was sent to the Chukchee Land to collect information concerning the Chukchee, and also to invite them to pay tribute.

The report says, "He [Popov] and the Anadyr hunter George Toldin, and the newly baptized Yukaghir Ivan Tereshkin, went from the mouth of the Anadyr to Chukchee Cape. And those unpeaceful Chukchee said that before that the Russian men had come to them by sea, {Probably Semen Deshnev and his men, in 1648.} but they had paid them no tribute. Likewise at the present time they would not pay anything, nor would they give hostages... And from that cape he came with his comrades to the Anadyr River, and collected tribute from the River Chukchee Nokon and his comrades, -- five red foxes, ope fox from every man. The Reindeer Chukchee live on the cape along the hills. The 'walking' Chukchee live on both sides of the cape, in earthen houses along the spits, near the sea, where the walrus dwell... According to their custom, the Chukchee, when concluding an agreement, call on the Sun as a witness.

"And opposite that Anadyr Cape, on both sides of the Kolyma Sea and of the Anadyr Sea, there is to be seen an island. About that island, the Cape Chukchee Makachkin and his kinsmen have told him for quite certain that there live upon that island (large) toothed people. Their religion and customs and language are different from those of the Chukchee, and since ancient times there has been no peace between the Cape Chukchee and those island people. They attack each other and fight. The fighting of the islanders is with bows, and of the Chukchee the same. Of those island people he has seen among the Chukchee about ten or more taken captive. Besides their natural teeth, they have small pieces of walrus-ivory put in through the cheeks close to the natural teeth.

"And from the Cape to that Island it is possible to go in the summertime in one day, in a baidara with oars; and in the wintertime, with reindeer, also in one day. Upon this island are game of every kind, sables and martens, foxes, polar foxes, wolves, wolverenes, polar bears, marine beavers (sea-otters). They feed on, sea-game, roots and berries, and weeds. Upon this island also are trees of every kind, -- cedar, pine, fir, larch. And the wood of those island trees they (Peter and his comrades) have seen in the houses, on the baidaras and canoes of those Chukchee. And those island people live in the same way as the Chukchee, and they have no authorities. And on the Cape there are no peltries besides wolves and red foxes, and even those are few, because there is no wood at all. And these Chukchee, Reindeer and walking [sedentary] have bow-men, approximately about two thousand, besides those of the Anadyr River, who have fifty bow-men and more. As to the island people, Makachkin and the captive islanders said to him, to Peter and his comrades, 'They are three times as numerous as the Chukchee;' and he (Makachkin) has been visiting that island on war-expeditions during many years. And the Chukchee call that island a large land." {Monuments, I, No. 108, p. 456.}

This description of polar America adjacent to Bering Sea is quite clear and detailed. One must not forget that it was made seventeen years earlier than the voyage of Bering. "(Large-) toothed" is evidently a translation of the Chukchee "(large-) mouthed" (yikirga'uht). {Compare p. 21.} Semen Deshnev, in his reports of 1648, also mentions the (large-) toothed men living on two small islands, evidently on the Diomede Islands. Not without interest is the mention of the River Chukchee of the Anadyr, Nokon and his comrades, who paid tribute for five men. Up to the present time the River Chukchee of the Middle Anadyr pay about the same amount of tribute. Much in use among them is the name "Nikon." This name is of Greek origin, and belongs to the Greek-Orthodox calendar; but it may have some connection with the name "Nokon" of the beginning of the eighteenth century.

From all this information it may be seen that the war against the Chukchee was carried on almost without interruption, and certainly without mercy. The Chukchee, however, in this respect, did not remain behind the Russians.

I collected in the village Pokhotsk, on the Lower Kolyma, several interesting tales of the inroads and raids of the Chukchee against the Russian settlements on both the Kolyma and the Anadyr. Pokhotsk, for example, is a large village at the western mouth of the Kolyma. It is inhabited by the descendants of the ancient Cossacks, who in 1876 were transferred to the burghess class (мещане). The former Cossack race has preserved itself in that village comparatively in its purest form. The tales probably refer to the first decades of the eighteenth century: --

"It was in the Chukochya (adjective from Chukchee) hamlet. This hamlet lies forty miles to the west of Pokhotsk. It is now uninhabited, save that some fishing is done there early in the fall. There was a watch-tower there. Now it has fallen down, and lies on its side. It happened long ago. The tower was built to watch from there for the Chukchee. It was quite large. Every wall was four sashen (twenty-eight feet) high. Its top was on exactly the same level as the church in the town (of Nishne-Kolymsk). It had two floors, one below and another above. One time an old man stood on the top of the tower watching. The morning was dawning. He looked over the river (a tributary of the Kolyma, the so-called 'Chukchee Channel,' quite narrow and quiet). The trunk of a tree, lying on its side, was visible, and all at once it appeared to him as if a man clad in a Chukchee overcoat, -- an overcoat made of seal-intestines, similar to our window-covering,-- were stepping over that trunk. The old man said to the younger people, 'Look here, boys! It seems as if the Chukchee were stealing about and wanted to attack our village.' The younger people did not believe him. He took a bag on his back, a walking-staff in his hand, and walked away to Pokhotsk. They staid there for the summer, then for the fall also. When the nights grew longer, the Chukchee came, surprised them in their sleep, and killed all of them. As soon as any one ran out of the house, they would kill him then and there. Two brothers, however, were so nimble that the Chuckchee could not, in spite of all their efforts, either stab them with spears, or hit them with arrows. So they ran about. At last the older brother passed by an old Chukchee woman sitting on a reindeer-sledge, -- so old she could hardly walk. She threw a bone arrow at him and hit him under the knee. He fell down, and exclaimed, 'Oh, you, my brother! Do you want to live in the world all alone by yourself? How could you live like that?' The other immediately surrendered, and both were killed. Still another young man fell down among the dead with face upwards, simulating death. He lay there thus, and looked on. They dressed one brother in an overcoat of white reindeer-skins, and on the other one they put an overcoat of spotted reindeer-skins. They laid the first one on bedding of white skin, and the other on bedding of spotted skin. The old woman, unable to walk, crept along from corpse to corpse, and looked into each face. When she reached the one feigning death, she took her tailoring-knife. It was of iron and very old, with no edge, because the Chukchee in that time had hardly any iron. With that blunt-edged knife she began to chop him quite slowly across the forehead. Tap, tap! tap, tap! She broke all the middle portion of his forehead; but he uttered not a sound, God granted him such patience. When they had gone, he arose and went to Pokhotsk with the news. The report was sent to the fortress of Nishne-Kolymsk. At that time the Cossacks in the fortress were as numerous as mosquitoes. The magazines, at present empty, were filled with flour up to the ceiling. So a party was sent, properly armed, to overtake the Chukchee. They came to the Chukochya hamlet, and saw smoke off the ridge of hills, -- the so-called 'Chukchee Ridge,' to the west of the Kolyma. Still they did not want to have a fight. In those days they were afraid of the very name of the Chukchee. So they played false, and said nothing about the smoke. They came back and said, 'We have seen nothing.'

"In after times the Chukchee related the following: 'We came from over the river upon the ice, and spent the summer on the Chukchee Ridge. When the Russians came to hunt moulting geese, we tried to throw our grass insoles {The grass insoles of the Chukchee boot are more obtuse and rounder at the toe than those of the Russians. An experienced eye can distinguish without much trouble one from the other (compare p. 239).} across the path of those who were friendly to us, in order to make them think of it; but they paid no attention.' After that the Chukchee wandered in various directions. One party reached the Indighirka River. Some young men went to hunt geese. There was an old man, Portniaghin, on the Portniaghin fishing-coast. They came to him, and said, 'It is very strange! When we are hunting geese, Chukchee bone arrows come over to us from somewhere. One of our number has already been killed. Still, when we land on the shore and look for the enemy, we are unable to find anything.' He said, 'Take me to that place. Perhaps I can find them.' So they went together. 'Where is the place?' -- 'This here.' They landed, and ascended the bank, but nobody was there. Only a number of hummocks were to be seen on the swampy plain, -- very many of them, and quite big ones. 'There!' said the old man, 'shoot at those hummocks!' They shot at the hummocks. With every shot a Chukchee man falls down. The Chukchee would tear up a hummock, and dig out a place under it. Then they would sit down and cover themselves with hummocks, {This episode is perhaps connected with the name the Chukchee sometimes give to themselves in their folk-stories, "Hummocky-Heads" (cf. p. 33).} looking through the long grass hanging around. Thus they killed them all, and they were more than twenty.

"Another party went across the tundra, and arrived at the hamlet Duvannoye, on the Kolyma River. It-was in the night-time. Numerous people lived there. The Chukchee killed them all. Previously they had pierced with knives the bottoms of the boats lying on the shore, so that when the people tried to flee to the river with these boats, the boats sank and the people were drowned. From there the Chukchee went to the mouth of the Omolon River, but the Yukaghir of Omolon drove them back. They tell that tale themselves. Many other Chukchee dispersed on the tundra. The ancient Yukaghir used to put beads into their dead-falls for bait. They would string them on a thread and hang them inside, and connect them with the trigger. The Chukchee would creep in for these beads, and then be caught under the falling weight. The owner would come and see the blockhead lying there still alive. Then the Chukchee would try to speak Russian: 'Kotora topora, shita, bita!' The Russian would thereupon treat the guest to whatever he had in his hand, were it axe or spear. So after a while all of them were exterminated."

Another tale is as follows: --

"On the Anadyr side there were also numerous people, and the Chukchee exterminated all of them. There was a town there. People lived in that town early in the fall. Then in the evening ravens began to gather from all sides, croaking incessantly. The old men and the old women would say, 'Why are they croaking so? It seems as if the Chukchee wanted to attack us again!' Some gave credence, and others did not. Then the Chukchee really came at early dawn, attacked them in their sleep, killed the men, and took the women captive. One woman had a babe at the breast. She fled with that child in her arms. After a while she heard pursuers coming. Looking back, she saw two men driving reindeer and following her. When she looked back, one shot at her and hit the baby. So it was killed. The mother fell over the little one with a loud wail. They caught her and carried her away. She had a knife, so she drew it forth and killed herself. Three other women were led away by the Chukchee. On the way one escaped. There was a steep, overhanging river-bank partly fallen down. She crept into the hollow, and they could not find her. They thrust their spears into the hollow, pierced her coat in several places, but were unable to hit her body. They spent a whole day there, and at last went away. Two other women were carried away. Their husbands were absent. Both were rich. When they came back and found no wives, they began to prepare something by way of ransom. They bought tobacco. Those Chukchee lived on an island across the strait. The two husbands went in a boat to that island. One woman, seeing her husband, began to cry. The other was quite insensible. At the same time both had nursing infants in their arms. The men offered ransom, -- a bagful of tobacco for each head. The Chukchee said, 'We will give back the women, but the children we will not give back.' So they put the women into the boat and rowed away. The Chukchee husbands stood on the shore with the babes in their arms. As soon as the women left, one of the Chukchee wailed aloud and slapped himself on his thighs with open palms. 'Oh, but I am a fool! I took the tobacco and lost the woman! Where shall I find another one like her!' The other was silent, as if insensible; and lo, the other woman three times fled back to the Chukchee. Twice she was rescued betimes; the third time she was lost altogether. Doubtless the Chukchee altered her soul by means of shamanistic magic."

It is not easy to distinguish in these stories the element of fiction from possible historical events. The watch-tower in the Chukochya hamlet really existed. When visiting the place, I have seen its ruins on the ground. The watch was probably directed against the western people living on the Big Chukchee River. We find thereabouts a number of geographical names connected with the Chukchee, -- Chukchee Channel, Chukchee Ridge, Chukochya Hamlet. {Compare p. 16.} Still the story mentions that the Chukchee came over from the other side of the river.

The attack of the Chukchee on the hamlet Duvannoye is also an historical fact. Even the name Duvannoye ("Spoil Shared") is connected with the attack. In front of the hamlet stands a high wooden crucifix, as is the custom in many Russian villages of the Kolyma. The inhabitants show the traces of Chukchee arrows that were shot at that crucifix during the assault. A number of other names of villages and localities of the Lower Kolyma have reference to the atrocities supposed to have been perpetrated by the Chukchee invaders, -- the village Pogromnoye ("Destroyed One"), the river Ubiyenna ("Murdered One"), the river Tomilina ("Languishing"). {According to tradition, a young girl, wounded by the Chukchee, was languishing on the shores of that river.}

In the story referring to the Anadyr, some episodes are clearly borrowed from Chukchee folk-tales. Thus the episode of the woman who concealed herself in the hollow and escaped the thrusts of the spear is met with in the Chukchee tale about "Ele'ndi and his Sons" which has been mentioned several times before. In that tale it concerns a Chukchee girl captured by Koryak invaders. The episode of the ransoming of captive women from an island across the strait must have been taken from a Chukchee tale referring to a war with the American Eskimo.

Pavlutsky's Expedition. -- I presume that the Chukchee raids may have been one among other causes which led to the organization of the military expedition of Shestakov and Pavlutsky, the most important of all that ever had place in those countries. It began in the year 1729; and in the next year Shestakov was defeated, and perished. {These were the years in which the great expedition of Bering took place. Krasheninnikoff mentions that the ship "Gabriel," which was at the disposal of that expedition, also took part in the war against the Chukchee. This ship visited Chukchee Cape. The inhabitants fled, and left their houses; and the Cossacks took from them various things, among other objects a chain cut from a whole walrus-tusk, Koryak fashion (Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 51).} Pavlutsky undertook several more expeditions; but he also was defeated, and perished in the year 1747. Mr. Jochelson {Vol. VI of this series, p. 789.} has given most of the details of those expeditions, and has also discussed the strange theory of Maydell, who wanted to prove that most of the Chukchee fighting was treacherously done by disguised Koryak.

I have mentioned some details in regard to the death of Pavlutsky, taken chiefly from local tradition. A few more facts may be added from historical sources. According to Slovtzov, the first expedition of Pavlutsky started in 1731 from the fortress of Anadyrsk, and proceeded northward to the Arctic Sea. He had two hundred and fifteen Russians and about two hundred Koryak and Yukaghir. After two months of marching, he reached the seashore, and travelled along it for two weeks. Then he had an encounter with the Chukchee. Three battles were fought in the course of a month. The Chukchee were defeated. Pavlutsky turned to the Bay of Anadyr, and reached Anadyrsk on Oct. 21. According to other information, Pavlutsky took a great number of reindeer, also about three hundred Chukchee women, who, however, all perished on the way to Yakutsk. Notwithstanding all such captures, Chukchee female prisoners are but rarely mentioned in the lists of population of those districts, of which we have several referring to the period spoken of. Thus, in the register of 1762, among the population of Nishne-Kolymsk is mentioned one captive woman, a Chukchee native, Lili'ña. In the documents of 1811 is mentioned an old Cossack widow, Krasnoyarov, born a Chukchee woman, Shishukha (probably Ci'čeñe), etc.

In 1738 about two thousand Chukchee, armed with bows, made a raid against the Koryak of the Anadyr district, killed many, and drove off their reindeer-herds. In 1741 the Cabinet Council of Russia resolved to increase the garrison of Anadyrsk and to renew the war. The Cossack party soon gained such a victory over the Chukchee, that the Cossacks were able to replace the hard bread for three months and a half with dried meat captured from the Chukchee. The garrison included four hundred Cossacks and one hundred other men, besides the exiled criminals who also were sent to Anadyr until March of the year 1764. In the year 1747 the Chukchee began again to make inroads into the Koryak territory. On March 21, Pavlutsky went in pursuit of a large Chukchee party. He bade the main body of his soldiers to follow behind, and he himself went forward, having with him only eighty men. Soon he overtook the enemy, who were very numerous, standing on the hill, The Russians held a council. One lieutenant proposed to wait for the other party; but the other lieutenant, Gornitzyn, said angrily, "It seems that our Cossacks are warlike only at home, and in battle they are weak-hearted. The present is the time to strike the enemy." So they rushed onward, but a part of the Chukchee caught them from behind. A part of the Cossacks fled with driving-reindeer, and escaped the peril. Pavlutsky and some others fought valiantly, but were all killed. The hill here mentioned is, according to tradition, the Yukaghir Hill not far from Markova. The other stories mentioned before agree well with this historical account, and give even the same name of the lieutenant, who goaded the Cossacks on to battle. According to the tradition, he was the first to flee from the Chukchee. {Compare p. 653.}

The war continued after Pavlutsky's defeat. The next year, 1748, there came to Anadyrsk a company of soldiers and some more Cossacks. In the year 1752 a hundred soldiers were sent to Anadyrsk under Major Shmalev. In the year 1759 the Chukchee besieged the fortress of Anadyrsk. The people were starving. At last Lieutenant Kekurov, with three hundred men, sallied forth through the besieging multitude, and secured provisions from a successful reindeer-hunt.

Further details of the first expedition of Pavlutsky are contained in the report of eleven of its members, presented to Lieut-Col. Plenisner, the commandant of Okhotsk in the year 1763. {North Archive, 1825, Part 18, p. 176.} They vary slightly from the preceding account as to the number of soldiers and the dates of battles; and I should consider them quite trustworthy were it not for the fact that the report was written tnirty-two years after the events described. According to that report, Pavlutsky's party was made up of 236 Russians, and 280 Koryak and Yukaghir. They went across the desert to the Arctic Sea, and on reaching it, turned to the east. On May 9 they found a house of the Maritime Chukchee and murdered all the people. Shortly afterwards they found another house, and also murdered its inmates. Then they had a battle with a large party of Reindeer Chukchee, in which about four hundred and fifty of the enemy were killed, and a hundred and fifty women and children taken captive. On the Russian side two were killed and about seventy wounded, but none severely. After that they found a Chukchee fortress which was constructed of driving-sledges and pack-sledges, covered with walrus-hide and strengthened with large stones, hummocks, and earth.

All this was bound around with thong. They took it and destroyed everything. Inside of it were five houses. {This fortress evidently belonged to the Reindeer Chukchee. All the details of the description are quite plausible, and correspond to the conditions of Reindeer Chukchee life. The people evidently constructed around their camp a kind of corral with all their sledges, and strengthened it by such means as are used against the fury of the tempest; but the Russians proved to be stronger than the tempest.} On the 29th of June there was a second battle. The Chukchee were about one thousand strong, and the battle lasted from morning until dinner-time. About three hundred were killed, but only ten were captured. All others escaped. At the same time large herds of reindeer were captured; in all, about forty thousand heads. In a third battle about five hundred Chukchee took part, about forty of whom were killed, and all the others escaped. One Cossack was also killed. They came to the Anadyr in the first days of November. In the summer-time they travelled on foot, carrying their flintlocks and ammunition. The provisions were carried on pack-reindeer. They had enough food, but several died on the expedition from various diseases.

Another report of 1763 describes an expedition of Pavlutsky that was undertaken in 1744, and began on the 4th of February. Pavlutsky had with him four hundred Russians. The party went along the Pacific shore as far as Meči'wmin Bay, and then returned. Several Chukchee houses, of the Reindeer tribe as well as of the Maritime people, were destroyed, and the people exterminated. The Russian party suffered from want of fuel and also from starvation, and could hardly reach the shores of the Anadyr again. To the same year, 1763, belong three other reports, {North Archive, 1825, Part 18, p. 164.} taken down, one from Chukchee visitors to the Anadyr River; another from a Cossack who was taken captive by the Reindeer Chukchee and spent about two years with them; and the third from a captive woman, a native of America, who was taken by the islanders when ten years old, then sold to Reindeer Chukchee for an iron-headed spear and two white fawn-skins, and by her last owner given to a Cossack of Anadyr in exchange for a copper kettle. All these reports contain interesting details concerning the Chukchee and also about America. Regarding the Chukchee, the Russian captive mentions that he has seen how a father killed his son, and a brother killed another brother. Then he describes how the Yukaghir of the Anadyr came to the Chukchee to ransom off their captives. The Yukaghir brought tobacco, kettles, knives, axes, bows and arrows, and beads. They ransomed off nine people. The Chukchee were quite contented, and gave to the Yukaghir fawn-skin coats, white fawn-skins, white reindeer-leg skins, coats of marten-skin, red foxes. As to America, the Chukchee visitor, in the first report, mentions that the people living there are called Kykhmyn. {Compare the Chukchee term Ki'imin and Asiatic Eskimo Ki'xmi (p. 21). The exactness of this name shows how correct must have been also all the other information.} They have needles of copper. This copper is red, and they get it in their own country, but in which way they procure it he does not know. In the winter and in the spring those American people arrange large hunts for wild reindeer. They cut down for this purpose large abatis and arrange fences so that the reindeer are caught by thousands. They bring sacrifices to the sun and to the sea, saying, "I give you here a sacrifice from my labor. You also be my assistant in my need" (this short incantation is quite Chukchee, both in sense and in style). {Compare p. 474.}

It may not be out of place to mention here several expeditions of Demetrius Laptev, the marine lieutenant who in 1739-42 surveyed the Arctic coast from the Lena River to the Large Baranov Cape, though his expeditions were purely scientific, and had no reference to Chukchee wars. Laptev, with his assistants, had to pass a winter in the desert, on the eastern branch of the Kolyma River, near the ocean. They built there, on Thick Cape, large wooden barracks and a high tower, standing apart, on the cape. Both are still standing at the present time. The tower is called by the people "Laptev's Beacon)." They say that a fire was burning on the top of this tower as a beacon for Laptev's people straggling in the desert, though the top of Thick Cape is much higher than the top of the tower, and more open to view, so that there was no need of a special wooden tower.

I will also mention two merchants of Yakutsk, Shalaurov and Bakhov, who in 1755--64 went on several expeditions from the mouth of the Lena River eastwards. They went for trading-purposes, and got as far as Cape Erri. There they perished, with all their companions. The so-called Shalaurov barracks, which they built for use during one of those winters, are also still standing on the Lower Kolyma shore, near the ocean.

Cessation of War. -- The expedition of Pavlutsky was the last military enterprise of the Russians against the Chukchee. Shortly after that the Government decided to abandon a plan which turned out to be so difficult and expensive, and which did not promise any valuable results.

Mr. Jochelson's surmise that the cessation of Russian expeditions to the country of the Chukchee was due to the fact that the latter were poor in objects of tribute, {Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 785.} may be corroborated by evidence.

Thus numerous reports of the Cossacks and public-service men, some of which I have already quoted, repeat always, "There [in the country of the Chukchee] is no game except wolves and red foxes, and even these are scarce because of the lack of wood." In answer to these reports, the Government issued orders as follows: "You are to. go there to the unpeaceful Chukchee, and request them to bow down under the Czar's high hand, to the eternal payment of tribute, and to take from them an oath of allegiance to arrange register-books and to have them taxed with tribute according to those books; and if in that country sables and foxes are really scarce, take for tribute walrus-ivory." {Walrus-ivory was costly enough, but that of the Bear Islands and at the mouth of the Anadyr was soon exhausted. The Reindeer Chukchee, who were the nearest to the Russian forts, and against whom the war was chiefly directed, did not even have walrus-tusks.}

Seventeen years after the death of Pavlutsky began the breaking-up of the Russian military reign in the extreme northeast of Siberia. The fortress of Anadyrsk was given up in the year 1764. The Governor-General of East Siberia says in his report of Nov. 24, 1792, "The fortress of Anadyrsk, which existed during the years 1710-64, cost the Treasury 539,246 rubles, and it also caused a loss of 841,760 rubles to various peoples who had to carry Government freight, the total expenses being 1,381,607 rubles: revenue for the whole time, 29,152 rubles. For this reason it was abandoned in 1764." {Historical Sketch of the Chukchee People (Messenger of Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 1856, V.).} The total expense for one small arctic fort is almost incredibly large, especially when account is taken of the utter destitution of the inhabitants of Eastern Siberia; and when we consider the value of money in the eighteenth century, this total should really be trebled. As to the exact year of the abandonment of Anadyrsk, some historians give it as 1771. I found in the Archives of Nishne-Kolymsk, however, quite certain indications that this happened in 1764. The church of Anadyrsk was dismantled, and its, bells and utensils taken to Gishiginsk and Sredne-Kolymsk, in 1766. In 1774 the Anadyr bells were transferred from Sredne-Kolymsk to Gishiginsk.

In 1769 the greater part of the military garrison of Nishne-Kolymsk was also recalled. {Archives.} According to the Register of 1762, the entire population of the fortress was, full-grown men, 585 ; children, 53; women, 236. Most of the people were soldiers, Cossacks, and "public-service men." Only a part of these Cossacks were left in the country. A century later the whole number of Russian full-grown men in the whole country of the Lower Kolyma was 128 (data taken from my census in 1895). The remaining Cossacks were used for various local needs, chiefly for guarding the Government store-houses and for carrying mail, also as orderlies, servants, and guides assigned to all officials of somewhat higher rank. Fig. 302 represents the envelope in which a package was sent by an extra messenger with the utmost speed. A swan-feather fastened to the paper with sealing-wax indicated to every one that the messenger had to fly onward like a bird, and no delay was to be suffered. A package of this kind is called "flying post."

Perhaps it would be interesting to mention that some of these Cossacks were Fig. 302. Envelope officially seated. armed with bows as late as the thirties of the nineteenth century. Thus I have the list of Cossacks who were sent to the Anui fair in the year 1837. It runs as follows: "S. Kotelnikov, bow; Miron Popov, flintlock; Ivan Kyprianov, bow;" etc.

These remaining Cossacks were divided into two parts. 1. Settled Cossacks (станичные казаки) lived in the village Pokhotsk, at the western mouth of the Kolyma and its dependencies. They had to perform only local service. In 1876 the settled Cossacks were partly dismissed, and partly transferred to the position of common citizens of the burghess class (мѣщане). 2. The serving Cossacks proper were scattered all over the country, chiefly in the towns of Sredne-Kolymsk and Nishne-Kolymsk. They formed two companies or "commandoes." Together with other Cossack companies scattered in various towns and districts of the Province of Yakutsk, they formed the Cossack regiment of Yakutsk, the single Cossack regiment belonging to the infantry, and governed, as an exception to the military rule, by the Minister of the Interior.

Settlement on the Anadyr began again in the year 1784, but the new settlers were not so much Russians as Russianized natives. The village was moved to Markova, seven miles distant from the former site.

The settlement of Nishne-Kolymsk was moved in 1773 to its present site. Before that it was situated fifteen miles away, on the so-called Stadukhin Channel. This channel was formerly a large branch of the river, but gradually it became shallow. The new settlement was founded on the main river, opposite the mouths of both Anui Rivers, which enter the Kolyma River almost at the same place. The new place had some houses before this transfer. It had no strategic advantages, but was excellently chosen for purposes of traffic. The old fort was surrounded by palisades. The new one had no palisades, though, according to a former tradition, it was also called a "fortress." Sredne-Kolymsk, on the Middle Kolyma, was also fortified in olden times. One small wooden tower still stands on the corner of the church courtyard on the hill in the middle of the town (see Plate xxxv, Fig. 1).

The captive woman said that the American people had houses made of green wood, poplar, larch, and aspen, beam to beam standing aslant. Their form is round. They are covered with earth. The summer lodges are also of round form, covered with reindeer-skins and walrus-hide. The store-rooms are dug into the ground. The people have no iron, with the exception of a few iron knives bought from the Chukchee. They obtain erican Eskimo, {Compare the illustration in Hough, Lamp, Plate 9, Fig. 4.} except that the clay walls are necessarily thicker and clumsier. Some clay kettles from St. Lawrence Island, also of the same shape, are among the collections of the National Museum in Washington. Some fragments which I found on Baron Korff's Bay demonstrate that the Koryak of the Pacific coast must have used similar kettles. Some of these fragments have the same texture as the Chukchee kettles described above. The others, as well as some fragments from the ancient "jaw-bone houses" of the Asiatic Eskimo, are too thin to be considered as parts of such kettles, and indicate that other shapes were also in use.

The kettles and the lamps of my collection are not baked. When being manufactured, they are covered with a coating of reindeer or seal blood, sometimes mixed with ochre, and well dried before the fire. After this they are filled with oil and left to stand for several days, during which time the oil penetrates the pores of the clay. This makes the kettle less brittle. In ancient times the kettles and some of the lamps may have been baked. At least, some of those from St. Lawrence Island, mentioned above, are well baked, and I was told by Mr. W. Hough that some of them which he had occasion to test display baking not less complete than any earthenware of American make. Some of the fragments from Baron Korffs Bay seem also to have been baked.

I am not aware of the occurrence of any soapstone kettles or lamps on the Asiatic side, {W. Hough, in Lamp (Plate 17), calls one of the Siberian specimens of the National Museum a soap-stone lamp, but on closer investigation it proved to be also sandstone.} but the customs of the Chukchee concerning the taking from the cliffs of pieces of sandstone fit for the manufacture of lamps correspond to those of the American Eskimo regarding soapstone. Thus every piece of sandstone has to be "bought" from the cliff with a little blubber or with a small piece of tobacco-leaf. The man going for sandstone has to strip to the waist, or in winter at least to take off his outer coat, or else the displeasure of the "owner of the place" {See Chapter XII; cf. also p. 101.} will bring on a heavy storm.

The clay kettle of northeastern Asia, as well as the soapstone kettle of arctic America, is evidently one of the contrivances of the Maritime people. Its elongated rectangular form is adapted to the shape of the lamp over which it was hung in cooking. Perhaps in former times a square frame of poles connected by cross-bars was used to suspend it, as is the case with the American Eskimo. The Chukchee woman, when cooking out of doors, often builds, instead of the wooden tripod generally used in Siberia, a square frame of sticks with cross-pieces at the top. Nowadays, however, the clumsy clay vessels have long been superseded by copper and iron kettles and teapots. No special frame is used for them in the sleeping-room, and the kettles are suspended simply on a peg or a hook fastened to the wooden frame of the wall.

I have already spoken about the hooks used for hanging the kettle in the outer tent. The Reindeer Chukchee of the Omolon employ for this purpose a special pole, which is fastened in an upright position near the hearth, with the upper end protruding through the vent-hole. The pole is made from the slender trunk of a larch-tree, and one of the branches is retained. The line of the kettle-hook is tied to it. The pole is called "single Jack," "single man" (yanřaз-la'ul), and is used also in some of the Koryak camps.

Bone-breaking Set. -- Another important household utensil, especially with the Reindeer Chukchee, is the bone-breaking set (Fig. 105), which consists of several stone mauls (Fig. 105, b), a large flat stone upon which to lay the bones, and a flat cylindrical vessel made out of walrus-hide, and serving as a receptacle for the broken bones (Fig. 105, a).

The stone maul (ri'pe'ñi) is oblong in shape, with a groove in the middle, and a short handle tied to it by means of strong lashings. It has exactly the same form among the Markova Russianized natives, who call it manga'uda, a word which is supposed to belong to the old Chuvantzy language. It is one of the most familiar of the kitchen tools, and is especially used for splitting marrow-bones to extract the marrow from them; it is also used for breaking all kinds of bones from which tallow is to be extracted, and for crushing all kinds of frozen meat, fish and blubber, which form some of the standard items of Chukchee fare.

Water-Supply. -- One of the great needs of the Chukchee household in winter-time is a sufficient supply of water for cooking and drinking, especially at present, when the drinking of hot tea has almost entirely superseded the eating of hard snow, which was usual in former times. Cooking over the lamp, even in an iron kettle, is at best a slow process, particularly so if the kettle is filled with snow or ice that must be first melted and then heated. The process is considerably shortened when begun with water instead of ice or snow. When a river or lake is near by, and the ice is not too thick to be broken through, water is taken from a hole in the ice. Otherwise the largest vessel in the house is kept full of ice all the time. This dissolves gradually. The vessel is usually hung up to escape casualties, and a large wooden dish is put under it to catch the drippings.

The movable sleeping-room of the Reindeer Chukchee is not suitable to melt ice in. For the night-time a kettleful of ice-cold water or of broth cooled with pieces of hard snow is put inside for the benefit of the inmates. Its place is on the skin in front of the lamp, where nobody is allowed to sleep. Because of the general lack of room, the kettle is often upset by the foot of one of the inmates, and the contents are spilled over the sleepers. This arrangement presents another proof that the movable type of sleeping-room is a comparatively recent variation from the stationary type, and is not thoroughly adapted to the conditions it has to meet.

Dishes, Bowls, etc. -- Wooden trays and dishes, bowls, and dippers (Fig. 106, a-f) of various sizes are made of wood, and used by the Chukchee for the purpose of serving food and drink. Those with sides of bent pine-wood sewed together, and fastened with pegs to a flat bottom (Fig. 107), are brought from Alaska across Bering Sea or from St. Lawrence Island. In several tales there appears, as an object of luxury, a carved drinking-cup of sheep-horn (Fig. 108). Such cups are even now valued more highly than the imported hardware. Drinking-tubes made of the leg-bones of swans (Fig. 109) are also used chiefly as a measure of precaution against diseases "subject to shunning." {See p. 41.}

Spoons were unknown in former times, broth being drunk from small cups of various shapes, while mush was taken simply with the fingers or with small spatulae cut out of the rear end of a marline-spike (Fig. 110). At the present time, spoons (Fig. 111, a, b, c) are fashioned of wood, sheep-horn, bone, or ivory; or a piece of cast-off sheet-metal is wrought into the required shape by hammering or by simply bending it with the teeth. Many spoons have capacious bowls and short handles, calling to mind the original form of the drinking-cup. As a rule, all these utensils are similar in shape to those used by American Eskimo.

A stout branch of antler, with a spade-like end and several points curved upwards, is used for taking boiled meat out of the pot (Fig. 112, a). Fish-skimmers (Fig. 112, b) are usually made of wood, and their form is copied from the forms of those used by the Russianized fishermen. Tooth-picks of whalebone are sometimes met with. The specimen represented in Fig. 113 was perhaps used also as tweezers for pulling out the hair of the mustache. To prevent its being lost, it was stuck through a hole in the belt. Cups of walrus-hide (Fig. 114), for holding oil or mush, are occasionally used.

Every kind of cheap hardware is bought from the traders, especially cups, glasses, and saucers, for tea-drinking. When these are broken into pieces, the Chukchee have a clever way of mending them by keeping the pieces together y means of a combination of iron clasps. This is done, however, in imitation of the Russianized natives. When a man travels alone, he carries his cup and saucer, often incased in a small round wooden box closely fitting the chinaware. The cups and saucers of the Reindeer people's household are carried along in square wooden boxes, for the most part bought from the Russianized natives or from the Maritime Koryak. The Maritime Chukchee, on the contrary, have little opportunity to work and deal in boxes, on account of the scarcity of wood.

Bags. -- The bags for storing food usually consist, in the case of the Maritime Chukchee, of a complete seal-skin, with all the natural openings carefully sewed up. A rip across the breast forms the mouth of the bag. This kind of bag is used for several purposes, -- for floats of harpoon-lines, for holding putrid meat for dog-food, etc. The inland reindeer-breeders, who have little seal-skin, make storage-bags out of old reindeer-skins, but always give them an oblong form with a mouth across the middle. These bags are usually so large that a single bag filled with putrid meat, or with blood mixed with pounded leaves, forms a sledge-load for one reindeer.

Similar bags (Fig. 115) are used for storing clothes and old scraps of skin. The flat narrow pillow-bag of the movable sleeping-room has a similar shape.

The bags filled with oil or blubber, on the contrary, are rounded, with a short slit for a mouth. The blubber is pulled out of the bag with a hook

VIII. -- FOOD.

Animal Food. -- The staple food of the Reindeer Chukchee is reindeer-meat, and that of the Maritime people, "sea-meat," -- the meat of sea-mammals. On the whole, the latter is more relished by the whole people, because it is fatter, and because it formed the chief food of their forefathers. The reindeer-breeders have quite a liking for sea-food. This peculiarity may also be observed in the traditions of the tribe. In the tale of Elendi and his sons the old man and his wife risk the safety of their herd in sending their sons to procure some sea-food. After a while, when the enemies have been defeated, the old man is described as sitting in the sleeping-room, eating blubber, the oil dripping down from both sides of his mouth. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 353.}

I myself witnessed that Reindeer Chukchee who had not had any blubber for a long time develop a craving for it, and are ready to pay extravagant prices for it. For this reason every spring, when the traders from the sea-coast visit the Reindeer camps, a continual feasting begins, and blubber and meat of sea-animals are offered to every one as the best of. dainties.

On the other hand, the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo value reindeer-meat very highly, and call it the "sweet food of reindeer-breeders." In their tales it is often praised beyond any other kind of human food. The Maritime people undertake long expeditions by sea and land to obtain a supply, and occasionally trade some of it to the Eskimo of St. Lawrence Island and of the Diomede Islands. Although the meat is usually in a very poor state, it brings quite a good price. Generally it is bartered for the meat of sea-mammals, because one of the principles of trade in those countries is the interchange of similar articles whenever possible. Cotton is traded for skins, sugar for reindeer-tongues, ready-made shirts for ready-made skin coats, etc.

The Reindeer Chukchee have no opportunity to consume fish in any considerable quantity. The Russianized natives, on the other hand, live almost solely on fish; and therefore the Chukchee who live near these settlements utilize fish, which they reckon as belonging to what is called "alien food." {See p. 201.} The Maritime Chukchee also consider fish as rather poor diet. {Compare p. 146.} They consume it, however, whenever they have a chance to obtain it, and also gather oysters and shells on sandy beaches or in shallow waters.

Methods of Cooking. -- At present most of the meat is eaten boiled. It is hard to tell how food was prepared in former times. I collected one tradition among the Reindeer Chukchee, according to which, in olden times, their forefathers had no clay kettles, and the meat was roasted on large flat stones heated for the purpose. The Lamut tell the same story of their ancestors; but such a method of cooking is possible only within the borders of the forest, where the supply of fuel is abundant. On the tundra and on the treeless coast a method of cooking that requires less fuel must always have been in use. Therefore it seems probable that the lamp and the kettle were in use in former times as well as now.

The Yukaghir and the Kamchadal used to boil their meat and fish in bark or wooden vessels by means of heated stones. This method of boiling meat is still used occasionally by the hunter, who carries no kettle, and who may boil his meat in the old way. The Kamchadal of Central Kamchatka extract the fish-oil of Salmo sanguinolentus by trying out the fish in a dug-out with heated stones.

At present the Chukchee use little roasted meat. They hardly know how to roast it properly. Fish and lungs, which are sometimes roasted near the fire, are always covered with ashes, charred from without, and quite raw within. The Yukaghir and Kamchadal roast fish and meat very well on thin wooden spits stuck into the ground near the fire.

Raw and Putrid Meat and Carrion. -- Raw, frozen meat is eaten by the Reindeer Chukchee and all the neighboring tribes. The Arctic people consider meat that is raw and hard-frozen just as palatable as cooked meat. I must acknowledge that I soon learned to eat it and to like its taste. Especially when we had to live for a long time exclusively on fat fish, with not so much as a pinch of salt to season it, we found this diet more tolerable when the fish was eaten raw and frozen hard.

Liver and kidneys, heart, tendons of the legs, gristle of the nose, eyes, and marrow are consumed raw summer and winter, immediately after the reindeer has been slaughtered. Blood is also consumed raw, fresh, or half-putrid. The Chukchee are averse to eating other parts of the animal raw; and I know of cases where a herdsman who had no kettle killed one buck after another, and ate only those parts that are considered fit to be eaten raw, leaving all the rest of the meat to spoil.

The Reindeer Chukchee, and especially the herdsmen, however, are not very particular as to their food. They eat the maggots of the reindeer-fly, and various herbs which taste to us unsavory or repugnant. In exceptional cases they gather toadstools and the green, half-liquid dung of the reindeer that has taken to eating leaves in the spring. This is mixed with herbs and a little blood or putrid liver, and eaten raw.

The herdsmen among the Telqä'p people are accused by their neighbors of catching mice and eating them raw, after removing the intestines. During calving-time, when short of drinking-water, they are said to drink the birth water of dams. In a similar way the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo, while killing a walrus in the summer-time, far "away on the open sea, open it, and squeeze out the liquid contained in the intestines.

The Maritime Chukchee eat more raw meat than the reindeer-breeders, because of the difficulty of procuring fuel. Especially in the spring, when the supply of fuel runs short and the snow is very deep, they live almost exclusively on raw meat or blubber, frozen or not frozen, with the addition of some dried meat which is half putrid and tastes bitter. The meat of animals that have died of disease is eaten without aversion. For instance, the Reindeer Chukchee consume reindeer that die of the hoof-disease, fawns that perish from starvation in an unfavorable spring, etc. Late in the spring and early in summer, well-to-do families live almost exclusively on the meat of reindeer that have died of disease, because there is always plenty of it, and it is considered sinful to throw away any kind of food unless absolutely compelled to. During this period, the poor people, who do not lose so many animals, live on slaughtered reindeer. Animals killed by wolves are eaten, but not as freely as those that have died of disease, and children are forbidden to eat of their hearts or marrow.

In former times the meat of reindeer killed by wolves was tabooed, because it was believed that a man who had eaten of such meat would become an easy mark for his foes; but at the present time this custom has lost much of its force.

The Maritime Chukchee consume the carcasses of all sea-animals that are drifted ashore by the currents, so long as they are not too putrid.

Although it would be easy to construct storerooms in the frozen ground, in which meat could be preserved in good condition, the Chukchee are satisfied with their ill-protected cellars, in which the provisions soon begin to become putrid. Therefore both the Reindeer and the Maritime Chukchee live on putrid meat throughout the summer and part of the winter.

When the Reindeer people drive their herds to the summer pastures, ten or fifteen animals are slaughtered for summer provisions. The meat is simply hung in the tent, where it is easily accessible to carrion-flies and other insects. After several days it is placed in a pit dug in the centre of the tent, and covered with sod. Later on, when the pit is opened, the stench is so strong that it is disagreeable to the natives themselves, who avoid staying in the tent until the pit is covered over again.

The Reindeer Chukchee do not let any part of the carcass of the reindeer go to waste. They eat the gristle, and consume the half-digested moss of the paunch.

Blood is eaten fresh, mixed with herbs or dried meat. It is also preserved in large bags. It is frozen in winter, and fermented in summer. The ears, the gristly part of the nose, and the rims of the hoofs, are singed over the fire, cut into pieces, and thrown into the blood. The guts are also chopped and thrown into the blood. The same is done with fish-heads and such bits of meat as are not consumed immediately. This mixture does not readily become putrid, on account of the fermentation that is going on in the blood. Bags filled with fermented blood, and putrid meat of slaughtered or dead animals, are stored up by thrifty families for winter use. These stores are gradually consumed during the cold season, although the Chukchee prefer to use fresh meat, and sell them at a low price to the Russians for dog-food.

The Maritime Chukchee store away bags of seal-blood prepared in the same manner, but their supply is not so abundant as that of the reindeer-breeders. Walrus-meat, whale-skin, and the like, are cut into square pieces and stored in underground cellars. Whole carcasses of seals and walruses are often stored for several months, and afterwards eaten or used for dog-food, although they generally become quite putrid. Blubber is stored in bags. Oil is extracted from chopped or pounded blubber by protracted boiling. The blubber is not chewed, as is done by the Central Eskimo in America.

In spring, about the middle of April, the Reindeer Chukchee dry some of their meat in the open air. Under the combined action of the warm breezes of noon and the frost of night, quite large pieces become thoroughly dry, and keep much of their savor and softness. The dried meat is slightly smoked over the hearth in the tent. Unlike the Lamut and the Yukaghir, the Reindeer Chukchee do not care to dry meat in summer, because at that season the meat must be cut into thin strips and strung on lines, which is considered too much work. The Maritime people dry some seal-meat in summer. It is sliced thin and hung on long poles, which form a drying-rack. Whenever a whale drifts ashore, quantities of whale-meat are sliced thin and hung on poles or strung on lines, or, if the weather is favorable, spread on skins or on dry smooth rocks. The Chukchee fishermen at the mouth of the Anadyr dry their fish on racks made in imitation of those of their neighbors, the Russianized natives.

The drying is done very carelessly. The meat or fish is seldom protected from rain. It becomes soft, and so full of maggots that often they can be gathered by the handful on the ground below. When it is at last dry, it is as hard as wood, and almost as tasteless.

Taboos. -- There are several restrictions connected with animal food. The Reindeer Chukchee abstain from the meat of the wolverene and black bear, of all the species of Cams, and of most birds of prey. The large owl of the tundra (Strix nyctea) and its large eggs are eaten. Milt of reindeer is supposed to cause the impotency of men and the flabby breasts of women, and is tabooed for young people of both sexes. The same taboo exists concerning the tongue and the gastrocnemius muscle of the sacrificed fawn.

The Maritime Chukchee eat all kinds of animals except a few birds, such as the eagle and the raven. To kill the former would bring a dense fog. In times of want, meat of foxes and wolves is often eaten, and the popular saying for a man born of a poor family is that he has been raised on fox-meat. {For the eating of dog-meat, see p. 101.}

Vegetable Food. -- Vegetable food of various kinds is used by both branches of the tribe, though rather as a substitute in cases of scarcity of meat than as a relished change.

I have already mentioned the moss extracted from the paunch of the reindeer. It is a soft greenish mass of the consistency of thick gruel. The women strain it through a piece of old net. The coarse shreds of moss that remain in the strainer are placed back in the paunch, and smoked for a long time over the hearth. This method of preparation, however, is used principally by the Tungus. The Chukchee throw away the shreds and keep the green gruel, which they use for preparing a soup by boiling it with some blood, fat, and chopped guts of reindeer. In former times this soup formed the usual breakfast of the Reindeer people. The moss-gruel was stored in great quantities and used throughout the summer, but at present tea is gradually superseding the old moss-porridge.

Poor people still store a couple of bags for winter use every year, but the greater part is left unused. In the fall, when the Chukchee have their great slaughtering, the poor fishing-people of the Russian and Yakut settlements of the Kolyma take some of it for dog-food without pay. With it they thicken the fish-soup prepared for the dogs.

Leaves of stunted willows are gathered early in summer, pounded into a pulp, mixed with moss-gruel, and put into bags, in which the mixture is allowed to ferment. After fermentation it tastes sour, and is eaten with putrid meat, like a salad, though not in large quantities.

Leaves of Polygonum polymorphum, Oxyria digina, Claytonia acutifolia Willd, and several other plants, are used for the same purpose, or are eaten raw, mixed with blood or putrid liver, or some animal food of similar kind. The Maritime Chukchee pound these leaves and store them for winter use, without admixture of moss-gruel. They eat also several kinds of seaweed which are found on the seashore. This is gathered only when animal food is scarce, but children eat it raw while playing on the beach.

The inner bark of the thickest roots of stunted willow is also utilized as food. In olden times it was much more important than at present, as may be judged from an ancient saying: "The people come to life in spring because the roots of the willow begin to thaw." The bark is stripped off, thoroughly pounded, and then mixed with fresh or putrid blood, and eaten raw or boiled as a kind of soup. The women also put some of this bark into the fermenting blood, which is stored for winter use.

The roots of Claytonia acutifolia Willd, Hedisarum obscurum, Polygonum viviparum, Polygonum polymorphum, Pedicularis sudetica, Potentilla fragi-formis, Oxytropis, various species of Carex, and several others, are used by the Chukchee. They are the only vegetable food that is really relished. During the summer women often go digging roots (Plate xix, Fig. 1). They use a digging-pick, which in former times consisted of a handle with bone point (Fig. 117, b) or simply of a sharp-pointed piece of antler (Fig. 117, c), while at present it has an iron point tied to a wooden handle (Fig. 117, a). Nests of mice are also robbed. It is considered dangerous, however, to take all the roots from the nests, because the owner might retaliate by means of magic. Moreover, the Chuk-chee believe that some of the roots and herbs found in the storehouses of mice are poisonous, and are gathered by the mice partly for the purpose of poisoning the robbers, partly as an intoxicant, like fly-agaric (Agaricus muscarius), {See p. 141, footnote.} which is used by man.

Roots are eaten raw, added to meat-soup as vegetables, or pounded fine, together with the choicest meat and tallow, and made into a pudding, which is considered the most delicious dish of the Chukchee bill of fare.

Berries are gathered and eaten on the spot. They are very seldom stored, since the tundra is not very rich in berries. Those occurring most frequently are Empetrum nigrum and Rubus chamcemorus.

On the whole, vegetable food is much more used by women and children than by men. In tales, men living in solitude are always described as hunting animals and procuring animal food. A solitary woman is more frequently described as gathering herbs and roots, laying in stores of vegetable food, and often it is told how she brings up on it several small children. {See, for instance, Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 258.}

Dishes. -- The Chukchee bill of fare is not very varied. Boiled meat forms the staple food, and the brisket is considered the best part of the animal. The head of the animal is generally eaten first; and the other parts are prepared in order, going backward along the body. There are a few more elaborate dishes. First of all is ki'vlet, a kind of soup, which is made of blood mixed with fat, chopped guts, and edible roots if on hand. This soup is cooked in large quantities at all the principal ceremonials. It is used for sacrifices, and eaten by the guests as the chief course of the feast. Another dish is made of pounded flesh mixed with fat and roots and boiled with a small quantity of water into porridge.

Pounded meat mixed with fat, and sometimes also with edible roots, is boiled in water, and then well kneaded and formed into large round balls, which in winter are frozen hard, and form the chief travelling-provisions of the Chukchee. A man going alone on an expedition of any kind will take along a ball of frozen meat-pudding and a few sticks of frozen marrow. Meat-pudding is prepared in quantity for ceremonials of a social character; for instance, for weddings. It is the customary present which is interchanged between the families of the groom and of the bride.

The Chukchee women do not care to prepare these dishes for every-day consumption, especially because boiled reindeer-meat is, after all, the dish best to their liking. Among the Koryak and the Kamchadal, puddings are prepared chiefly of roots, stalks of herbs, and berries pounded and mixed with oil; but the country of the Chukchee is too poor to yield vegetable food in sufficient quantities. For sacrificial purposes, however, puddings are made of pounded leaves and herbs of the plants named, and on these occasions some such pudding is eaten by the people.

The ordinary meals of the Chukchee consist of solid food only. Like all the other tribes of northeastern Siberia, they drink tea after the meal. Broth is taken afterwards as a cold drink, for which purpose it is often cooled with slabs of snow. According to reports of former travellers, they ate much snow to quench the thirst; but, owing to the introduction of tea, this custom has fallen off to a great extent.

Tea, Tobacco, and other Foods. -- The people of northeastern Siberia use compressed "brick tea" almost exclusively, and drink it very strong and black, when their supply is sufficient. They have no milk, and practically no sugar; nor do they add tallow or rye-meal, as do the people of southern Siberia. Roasted rye-meal is sometimes used in the north as a substitute for tea, but it is not much liked by the people. They drink tea in large quantities three or four times daily, sometimes as much as forty large cups a day; but it does not seem to affect their nervous system. This is due to the fact that compressed tea, being prepared of the refuse leaves mixed with sheep or ox blood, contains but small quantities of the alkaloid. Europeans travelling in that country generally consume nearly as much tea without ill effects. Tea is considered by the people as a substitute for food. Its chief importance, however, is that it presents an excellent means of restoring heat after travelling or walking out of doors in the cold. It is considered to be healthy; and the natives believe that in the summer-time, when camping on the damp tundra, plenty of hot strong tea keeps off cold- and fever. For all these reasons, scarcity of tea is considered almost everywhere as nothing short of a calamity, which, however, befalls the people almost every year for several weeks, whenever the arrival of the merchant caravans is retarded by blizzards or by swollen rivers.

As substitutes for tea, leaves of the sweet-brier, of Epilobium angustifolium and of various berries, such as Rubus chamczmorus. and Rubus arcticus, are used.

As stated before, the principal meal of the Chukchee is in the evening, after all the people have entered the sleeping-room. At this time the Chukchee eat much and ravenously. They swallow large quantities of meat, gnaw the bones, and try to outdo each other in quickness. Nevertheless the Chukchee do not seem to be greater eaters than their neighbors; and my cossacks and other companions, after a long day spent in travelling through the cold weather, ate just as swiftly and ravenously as the natives. There are some exceptionally great eaters among the Chukchee, although I myself met such a one only among the Russianized Yukaghir of the Kolyma. I was told about one Reindeer Chukchee of the Telqä'p tundra who was able to consume at one eating a two-year-old reindeer-buck. I was told that before a meal the skin on his stomach lay in large folds, which he gathered up with his belt. He could stay without food for two or three days. Then, after a sumptuous meal, his stomach would be enormously distended, so that the skin would* look quite smooth, and he would spend a whole day motionless digesting.

The Reindeer Chukchee, as well as the Lamut and the Koryak in Kamchatka, occasionally use as food a kind of white clay, which is called nu'te-e'čen ("earth-fat"). This, of course, is eaten only in moderate quantities, mixed with broth or with reindeer-milk.

Pitch from the larch-tree is used as chewing-gum, as is done by many other tribes. For the same purpose the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo make a preparation of seal-oil by boiling the dregs from the oil till they become quite ductile and sticky. A small piece is steeped in fresh seal-oil just before chewing it.

The Chukchee like to try every kind of "alien food," and even become accustomed to condiments, like mustard and pepper. They even offer sacrifices of sugar, bread, etc., to the spirits, supposing that they are also fond of new kinds of food. In cases of voluntary death, the self-doomed man often declares his last wish to be to taste "alien food." In the next world, he argues, there will be no place for other tribes, so this will be his last chance to taste foreign foods.

I have already mentioned the passion for tobacco among the native tribes of northeastern Siberia. It is stronger in the Kolyma country, possibly because tobacco is more difficult to get there. Among the Chukchee very few people are met in that region who do not use tobacco in some form. Even children three years old, who are just toddling about, are seen smoking. Mothers give their pipes to suckling babes to quiet their crying.

"The tobacco-weed knows no shame," says a proverb of the Russianized Yukaghir. Of the same nature is another common saying in this tribe, which refers to their girls selling their virtue for a stem of tobacco.

Scarcity of tobacco is felt as keenly as a food or tea famine. The same term is used to express all three ideas in local Russian and in the native languages. When tobacco gives out, the people use the black deposit which gathers inside of the pipe-stem. Indeed, one of the reasons for making pipes with cleft stems is for the convenience of extracting this nicotine deposit, which is stored in a bag for future use. It is considered especially suited to chewing, and during prolonged hard work it drives away drowsiness and fatigue more effectually than genuine tobacco. More commonly they use for chewing small pieces of tobacco-leaf without any preparation. The stamens are considered to be less desirable than the broad part of the leaf.

Tobacco for smoking is cut fine with an ordinary knife on a small board of the same shape as a woman's tailoring-board. Two parts of tobacco are then mixed with one part of wood to weaken it properly. The wood used is dry poplar or aspen bark, or pieces of young willow, which are scraped fine and rubbed with the fingers. The Russian leaf-tobacco is too strong, though a few people use it without mixture. The so-called "Turkish" tobacco, which in reality is grown in southern Russia and in the Crimea, is used pure, because it is much weaker. The same may be said of Manchurian tobacco and the lighter American tobaccos. All strong American tobaccos are smoked with a mixture of wood.

The receptacle for tobacco in the bowl of the pipe is extremely narrow, and each dose for smoking is therefore very small. The smoker consumes a pipeful at once by several prolonged puffs. The northern smokers, in consequence, refill their pipes almost every ten minutes. After a long period of abstinence, a passionate smoker, on consuming his first pipe in this hasty manner, often becomes so giddy that he falls unconscious. This is particularly noticeable among the young men and women.

Tobacco-pipes of various shapes are used. The oldest and simplest pattern (Fig. 118, a, 5) has the stem made of two parts, unequal in size, the narrower

part forming the bottom. The stem is' held together by being wound with a strip of leather. The bowl (Fig. 118, 6) is made of tin or pewter, and is more or less similar to Chinese patterns. Indeed, brass pipes of Chi-nese make are found widely distrib-uted among all tribes of eastern Siberia, and have undoubtedly influ-enced the native manufacture. Other pipes have a bowl of tin or pewter, with a round wooden stem. They are joined in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 118, a, but the stem consists of a single piece (Fig. 119,"). It has a hole in the butt-end, closed with a stopper, which allows the deposit to be extracted.

A few pipes in the collection have bowls of the same shape made of bone, or stone roughly hollowed out with a chisel. Other pipes (Fig. 119, d) are made of a single piece of wood, with a very small bowl and bulging stem. All along their lower side are round holes closed with stoppers. Through these holes the black residue from the pipe is extracted. Some of these pipes are quite large. On the Kolyma I saw an old woman who carried her pipe on her shoulder like a club, and indeed it might have been used, as a weapon. A Koryak pipe in Mr. Jochelson's collection is about 60 cm. long.

Some single-piece pipes are ornamented with patterns inlaid with pewter (Fig. 119, b, c). The bowl and the mouth-piece are of pewter, and are cast in wooden mantles (Fig. 120). The wooden part of the pipe, with its sur-face grooved for inlaying, is interposed between the end moulds, which are connected by a paper tube. The metal parts are thus all cast, at the same time, the pewter being poured into the bowl-end of the mould. The pipe is afterwards finished with a knife and a file.

One style of pipe (Fig. 121 a, 6) has an ivory bowl, and a stem made of wood. Its shape is nearer to that usual among Europeans, and may be an imitation. The bowl is adorned with very clever carvings. This work is rare among the Chukchee, but the Koryak pipes display a great variety of carved patterns.

With the pipe are kept a stout iron pin to clean the bowl, and a small to-bacco-pouch made of leath-er and sometimes adorned with crude embroidery.

All the pipes described resemble the pipes of the Alaskan Eskimo. This may be seen by compari-son with Nelson's plates. {Nelson, Plates LXXXVIII and LXXXIX; also Fig. 94, p. 281; and Fig. 95, p. 284.} Some of the Alaskan Eski-mo pipes, however, have the body of the bowl higher, and the rim wider and more flattened. The difference was pointed out to me by the natives. Furthermore, American pipes carved of ivory retain the same form as the simpler pipes; while the Asiatic carved pipes, as noted before, resemble the civilized form. The Asiatic Eskimo have pipes quite similar to the Chukchee patterns. The ivory pipes of St. Lawrence Island, on the other hand, already show quite an American shape. Their stems, more-over, are engraved with pictographic etchings (Fig. 122), while on the Asiatic side the pipe-makers use only relief-work.

The use of snuff is found rather among the Russianized natives than among the Chukchee. To-bacco for this purpose is ground in a very small wooden mortar (Fig. 123) by means of a long, heavy, wooden pestle. The around with the hand. Mortars used by various tribes of northeastern Asia resemble those used by the Alaskan Eskimo. Some white ashes of poplar-wood is added to the tobacco, and often a pinch of pulverized glass, to increase the irritation of the snuff. On the Pacific coast, ground tobacco is used very generally, but for chewing rather than for snuffing.

The Chukchee buy snuff-boxes from the Russianized Yukaghir or the Maritime Koryak. These boxes are made of birch wood or bark (Fig. 124), and sometimes are ornamented with geometrical designs scratched in with a knife or impressed in the soft bark with sharp stamps. The Chukchee use these boxes for holding snuff, chewing-tobacco, and any small objects which they are afraid of losing. Occasionally a lump of sugar gets in with the mixture, and its sweetness is improved, to their taste, by the additional tobacco flavor. The Koryak, the Kerek, the Russianized Yukaghir, and also the Chukchee of the Kolyma, make snuff-boxes of the same styles, using wood, antler, and ivory. The same is true of the Alaskan Eskimo. Many of the shapes represented by Nelson {See Nelson, Plate LXXXVI, Figs. 5, 6, 20, 23, p. 270.} have their counterparts in Asia.

I have met men and women who used tobacco in all three ways at the same time. Usually, however, snuff is only used when smoking cannot be continued because it causes a cough, or for some other reason. Taking snuff is considered a cure for rheum, weakness of the eyes, and even dulness of hearing. In the Kolyma region, smoking and chewing are of equal importance, but on the Pacific chewing is much more general.

Intoxicants. -- Fly-agaric is the only means of intoxication discovered by the natives of northeastern Asia. Its use is more common in the Koryak tribe, as agaric does not grow outside of- the forest border. For the same reason only the Southern Pacific Chukchee -- e. g., those around the Anadyr, Big River, and Opuka River -- are supplied with the intoxicating mushroom. They do not compare with the Koryak, however, in their passion for agaric.

The Russianized natives of the Anadyr until recently shared in the consumption of this intoxicant, but now they have almost wholly given up its use. The reason of this change is that they consider the strong intoxication produced by this stimulant as shameful for a Christian. They also realize that the consumption of fly-agaric involves some danger. With a person unaccustomed to its use it may even cause death. The abstinence from agaric is also noticed among the northern Kamchadal, and to some degree among the Maritime Koryak of northern Kamchatka, though all of these people gather it assiduously in order to trade it to their less civilized reindeer-breeding neighbors.

Fortunately for the tribes consuming the fly-agaric, it grows only in certain places, and the supply is often limited. The mushrooms are usually dried up and strung together in threes, that number being an average dose. Some of the natives of course require much more to produce any effect. The intoxication may be followed by sickness, or the after-effect may be very slight. When eaten, the mushrooms are torn to small shreds, and these are chewed piece by piece, and swallowed with a little water. Among the Koryak the woman chews the mushroom, and offers the ready quid to her husband to swallow.

I witnessed a few times the progress of intoxication by means of agaric. The symptoms are analogous to those produced by opium or hasheesh. The intoxication comes on rather suddenly, in about a quarter of an hour after the consumption of the mushrooms. Usually the person remains awake; but the natives say that if a person falls asleep immediately after eating mushrooms, they will work more effectively, and in a short time he will awaken more thoroughly under their influence. The intoxication has three stages. In the first the person feels pleasantly excited. His agility increases, and he displays more physical strength than normally. Reindeer-hunters of the Middle Anadyr told me that before starting in canoes in pursuit of animals, they would chew agaric because that made them more nimble on the hunt. A native fellow-traveller of mine, after taking agaric, would lay aside his snow-shoes and walk through the deep snow hour after hour by the side of his dogs for the mere pleasure of exercise, and without any feeling of fatigue. During this period the agaric-eater sings and dances. He frequently bursts into loud peals of laughter without any apparent reason. It is a state altogether of noisy joviality. His face acquires a darker hue and twitches nervously, his eyes are now contracted, and again almost bursting from their sockets; his mouth puckers and grins or spreads into a broad smile.

Flashes of the second stage often appear early, shortly after the first traces of intoxication become visible; indeed, all three stages are frequently intermingled. This is noticeable especially among elderly inveterate agaric-eaters. During the second stage the intoxicated person hears strange voices bidding him perform more or less incongruous actions; he sees the spirits of fly-agaric and talks to them. He still recognizes surro.unding objects, however, and when talked to is able to answer. All things appear to him increased in size. For instance, when entering a room and stepping over the door-sill, he will raise his feet exceedingly high. The handle of a knife seems to him so big that he wants to grasp it with both hands.

The spirits of fly-agaric have an outward appearance similar to that of the actual mushrooms, and the agaric-eater feels impelled to imitate them. For example, I saw one man suddenly snatch a small narrow bag and pull it with all his might over his head, trying to break through the bottom. He was evidently imitating the mushroom bursting forth from the ground. Another walked around with his neck drawn in, and assured every one that he had no head. He would bend his knees and move very quickly, swinging his arms violently about. This was in imitation of the spirits of fly-agaric, who are supposed to have no necks or legs, but stout cylindrical bodies which move about swiftly.

The spirits of fly-agaric are fond of playing practical jokes on men under their influence. They begin with asking for homage either for themselves or for surrounding objects, -- the hills, the river, the moon, etc. Then they show some of the objects under a delusive aspect. When asked why this strange change has occurred, the spirits answer that it portends danger to the man's life unless he makes obeisance in a particular way. To illustrate. An intoxicated man, while talking to me reasonably enough, suddenly leaped aside, and, dropping on his knees, exclaimed, "Hills, how do you do? Be greeted!" Then he stood up, and, looking at the full moon, asked, "O Moon! why are you waning so fast ?" He told me that the spirits answered, "Even so will your life wane, unless you show the moon your bare buttocks." This he did, and then, suddenly recovering his senses, began to laugh at his foolish actions.

In the third stage the man is unconscious of his surroundings, but he is still active, walking or tumbling about on the ground, sometimes raving, and breaking whatever happens to come into his hands. During this period the agaric spirits take him through various worlds and show him strange sights and peoples. Then a heavy slumber ensues, lasting for several hours, during which it is impossible to rouse the sleeper. How persistent are the spirits' commands is shown by the following instance of a man, who, when about to retire, was ordered to lie down in the midst of his dog-team. Although he was attacked by the dogs, we could not keep him away from them. He finally succeeded in staying with the dogs all night.

On awakening, a general weakness and heavy headache ensue, accompanied by nausea, often violent vomiting. The drunken state can be renewed by a single mushroom. In this manner inveterate agaric-eaters keep up their intoxication day after day.

Drinking the urine of one who has recently eaten fly-agaric produces the same effect as eating the mushroom. The passion for intoxication becomes so strong that the people will often resort to this source when agaric is not available. Apparently without aversion they will even pass this liquor around in their ordinary tea-cups. The effect is said to be less than from the mushrooms themselves.

I have already spoken about the amount of trade in strong liquors carried on in northeastern Siberia. The Chukchee, as well as all other inhabitants of the country, are eager for a chance to drink spirits. In all my journeys through these countries I met people in only two places who knew nothing about strong liquors. In one case they were some Maritime Koryak in small villages on the northern border of the Kamchatka district. These people were far from the Kamchatka towns and from Gishiginsk trading-settlements. At the same time, they were so poor that nobody sought to bring liquors to them. The other case was that of the Kerek of the southern shore of Anadyr Bay.

On the other hand, I hardly met a single adult man or woman among the Chukchee who would refuse a drink of spirits. Younger people, of course, have little chance to taste them. When offered drink, they consider it their duty to pass the treat to their elders. Occasionally they will moisten their lips with the liquor to indicate that they have partaken. With the older people the offering of a single drop when liquor is scarce is considered a quite acceptable treat. They feel that it adds to the general enjoyment. The Chukchee do not approve of diluting alcohol with much water. I have witnessed them drink large glasses of 95% alcohol, one drop of which was sufficient to make my mouth burn for several minutes. Even the unrefined alcohol of the Kolyma country is drunk undiluted when possible. The so-called "principal chief of the Reindeer Chukchee, previously mentioned, {Nelson, p. 73.} died suddenly in 1898 on the day of his arrival at the town of Sredne-Kolymsk, after a generous drink of unrectified alcohol.

The Reindeer people are more eager for liquor than the Maritime. This may be because they have less chance to satisfy their craving. When they know that there is some strong liquor within their reach, most of them are ready to pay an exorbitant price for it. I was assured by many that if necessary they would be quite ready to give a piece of their own flesh for a drink.

Small wooden kegs, in which the liquor is brought from the Russian settlements, are carefully washed with hot water, and if possible boiled in large kettles. I have seen people sitting around a keg, which finally refused I to yield any more, weep bitter tears over the end of their festivity.

Between the native villages and camps the liquor is carried in bags made of the stomachs or bladders of various animals (Fig. 125). The bags resemble those used by the Alaskan Eskimo for carrying water or oil, {See p. 73.} but they do not have an ivory nozzle, and are merely tied around the neck with a string.

The Maritime Koryak and the Kamchadal sometimes distil a kind of brandy from berries of Vaccinium uliginostim. They use for this a large iron kettle with a wooden cover pasted over with dough. An old gun-barrel serves as a condenser. This art was learned from the cossacks, though at present the latter are strictly forbidden to distil in private any strong liquor. The Chukchee, however, do not have enough berries for this purpose, or the skill to thus distil them.

IX. -- MANUFACTURES.

Work in Stone. -- Stone tools and weapons are no longer used in northeastern Asia by the men. The more conservative women have preserved some of the implements, and even sought to increase their importance by connecting them with religious ceremonies. This was the case with the kitchen stone hammer among the Chukchee.

In the remotest parts of the country, -- for example, among the Kerek, -- stone adzes and knives were discarded within the remembrance of the living generation, not more than fifteen or twenty years ago, according to statements of older people made to me in villages of that tribe.

Among the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo stone implements of this class disappeared more than half a century ago. Their character can be ascertained only from specimens found in old houses and on burial-places.

By comparing these implements with those found in other parts of northeastern Asia, it seems that the harpoon-heads, spears, and arrows of the whole region were usually made of flint, slate, obsidian, and sometimes of quartz. The pieces of obsidian occasionally found in the country at the present time are regarded as lightning arrows and balls which from time to time drop from the sky. The arrow-points made of obsidian are generally ruder than those made of flint. By carefully chipping off thin pieces the natives seem to have often made the flint arrow-heads with quite symmetrical outlines and sharp edges.

The slate implements were flat, and had their edges rubbed down with another stone. To assist in fastening these to the shaft, the Chukchee made holes in the slate, using a slender drill, and working alternately on opposite sides until the blade was pierced. One of the slate specimens in the Museum has a circular mark on each side, showing how they had started to drill holes.

The slate blades were rather weak and ineffectual. I was told by the older people that a fresh blade was usually placed in the whaling-harpoon after each blow, on account of the old one being spoiled. Slate was more appropriate for knives, and fragments of these are found in almost every old "jaw-bone" house. Regarding stone implements used at present in woman's work, see p. 217.

Bone, ivory, and antler were used also for all kinds of weapons, such as harpoons, arrows, etc. After the appearance of iron, they held their ground much better than the stone tools. Of the specimens found in old Chukchee and Eskimo houses, only a few bear traces of having been made with stone tools. Most of them were fashioned with iron knives. Even now the bodies of harpoon-points are cut out of bone almost exclusively. The same is true of the butts of harpoons which are used for breaking ice. Bone arrow-heads are also common in those parts of the country where the bow is still used.

A bone instrument still in universal use is the marline-spike (Fig. 126).

It has several variations in shape. Some show two-pointed branches {Compare the Ainu marline-spike (70/973 g) in the collections of this Museum.} (Fig. 126, b); others, a small spatula at the rear end. {See Fig. 110, p. 190.}

Since iron nails are not used, and everything about the sledges, boats, etc., is fastened by lashing and tying with thong, the marline-spike is a very important tool, and is required whenever knots are to be untied.

Work in Wood. -- Of the instruments now used for working wood, the iron adze (ga'tti) serves for chipping and hewing. In contrast to the Lamut and the Yukaghir, the Chukchee are unskilful with the axe, and use it only for felling trees and preparing wood for fuel. The adze is used in all joiner's work, even fashioning runners and hewing out tailoring-boards. The strokes are light, and not very effective.

The adzes in general use (Fig. 127, a) are made chiefly by the Russianized Yukaghir blacksmiths, and I are sold to the Chukchee. The rear end is bent into a tube, forming a socket, in which the wooden handle is inserted. Those used in the maritime villages are sometimes made from old American files beaten flat with a hammer and lashed to the handle.

Adzes, as well as other iron tools of the Chukchee, often have a protecting sheath of wood over the blade, to prevent blunting when not in use. The form of the sheath is not like that of the Alaskan Eskimo represented by Nelson {Nelson, Plate lXV, Fig. 2, p. 108.} as adapted to arrow-heads, harpoon-points, and working-knives. For long, slender weapons and tools the Chukchee use sheaths of skin, often simply the leg-skin of a fawn taken off like a stocking (see Fig. 74, k, p. 156.).

The gouge (lu'зmine) is used chiefly for scooping out shallow mortises in the sledge-runners, in which the ends of the ribs are inserted. The edge of the gouge (Fig. 127, b) is protected by a wooden sheath.

The bow-drill was an instrument much used before the appearance of iron to make holes in shafts for fastening spear-points, etc. To cut in two a piece of ivory or hard wood, a number of holes were drilled side by side in a straight line. Curiously enough, this method is still used by civilized peoples for dividing steel armor-plate. The reason is evidently the same as with the primitive man, -- a lack of other tools adapted to cutting through the solid material.

At the present time the Chukchee bow-drill (Fig. 128) always has an iron point. It is set in a stout wooden shaft, the top of which forms a strong pin. This passes through a circular hole in the middle of the head-cap, so that the latter can be held fast while the shaft revolves in it. Another pin prevents the cap from slipping off.

The bow may be straight or curved, but, unlike that of the Alaskan Eskimo, is always without carving or other ornament. It is made of wood or antler, and arranged so that the string passes two or three times around the shaft of the . drill. Sometimes the string is put through a hole at about the middle of the shaft. The operator places his left hand on top of the head-cap of the shaft, and saws with the bow with his right hand. The forward-and-back movement of the bow causes the drill to revolve rapidly.

In the so-called pump or weighted drill (Fig. 129) the bow is a straight wooden stick, narrow at the ends, and broad in the middle. The shaft of the drill is thinner, and passes through a hole in the middle of the bow. The string runs through a hole in the upper end of the shaft, so that the bow hangs below the middle of the shaft. On the lower end of this shaft, between the bow and the iron' point, is fastened a flat block of wood. The drill is rotated by pressing down on the bow after the string has been twisted around the shaft. The momentum partially rewinds the string. This drill is more effective than the ordinary bow-drill described before. It is used for drilling bone and even for sheet-iron. The Eskimo at Indian Point and on St. Lawrence Island until recently used another drill, which was turned between the palms without any bow (Fig. 130). Two drills of this kind were obtained. Notwithstanding their iron point, they are suited only for soft wood, not for bone or ivory. Small saws are made in imitation of the Russian and American forms (Fig. 131). They are used for cutting antler and bone, while wood is usually cut with a knife.

For whittling, carving, and finishing all kinds of wood-work, the "crooked knife" is used by the Chukchee, the Koryak, the Yukaghir, and the Eskimo. The blade is made of a thin tapering piece of iron or steel from three to ten centimetres long, set in a slender wooden or ivory handle. It is fastened to the handle with a peg, or simply tied to it by a thin strip of leather (Fig. 132, a, b, c).

This knife is similar to the crooked knife of the Alaskan Eskimo. {Compare Nelson, Plate xxXVm, Figs. 21, 23, p. 94.} It is used with the same characteristic motion of the hand toward the body which the Chukchee employs when using the ordinary knife. The Russian and the Russianized Yukaghir, on the contrary, move the knife away from the body.

A knife quite similar in shape to the Chukchee crooked knife (Fig. 132, a?) is used by the Russians on the Kolyma and Anadyr for the special purpose of finishing the hollowed tree-trunks scooped out for canoes. This knife is often grasped with both hands, and it is moved away from the body, as are the other knives used by these tribes. An adze of peculiar shape is used by the Russians for the rougher part of this work. One variety of this crooked knife (Fig. 132, e) is commonly used by all tribes of northeastern Asia for scooping out spoons.

Neither the Chukchee nor the other tribes have special tools used only for carving or engraving ivory or bone. This work is done with various knives, crooked or straight, but those with short slender blades are preferred.

Fig. 133 represents a knife used for carving ivory from the village Ti'ļļiran of the Olutora Koryak. It has a double-edged blade, rather thin and broad, inserted in a slender piece of wood, and wound all around with leather.

With most tribes of northeastern Asia the stout straight knife (Fig. 134), carried in the belt or tied to the hip, furnishes the chief tool, because it is adapted to so many uses. The Chukchee, however, prefer to use the crooked knife for regular work. The straight knife serves for ordinary cutting, or is used by reindeer herdsmen for slaughtering-purposes. It is also used for carving and cutting meat at meals. The kind of meat usually consumed by the Reindeer and by the Maritime Chukchee is so tough that it is quite impossible to get along without a knife.

Every adult member of a Chukchee family, and each child after he is about five years old, has his own eating-knife. Often these knives are simply small bits of iron, rudely set in a handle, and unfit for many uses.

The knives used by the Chukchee differ chiefly in size. The smaller one is called rê'ččêt-va'lE ("belt-knife"). hanges may follow. The names thus assumed are of the most varied character. Sometimes they are taken from among the usual Chukchee names, but more often they are chosen with the view of giving protection to the person concerned.

Some of these are names of animals, such as A'3tEn ("dog"), A'3tEqäi ("small dog"), Kei'ñin ("bear"), Ê'3hilhin ("wolf"), etc. Others refer to the "alien" tribes, such as Ai'wan, E'tel, Ta'n.ñitan, {Compare p. 18.} Ro'čhilê3n (that on the other shore). Proper names taken from the "aliens" are also used for the purpose. Some names are even those of spirits, -- Kele'wgi (ke'lE-man), Ke'le-ñe'ut ("keiE-woman"), Kama-ta'hin ("spirit's limit"); among the Koryak, Ka'mak ("spirit"), etc. Female names are given to men, and vice versa. Shamans themselves often assume a name from one of their favorite spirits. Thus one of the shamans was called Ñaw-n'rkA ("she-walrus"); another, Valv-inpina'čhin ("raven old man"), etc.

The most effective supplementary means against diseases is, however, the use of amulets, which are prepared and given by the shamans. These consist of various pendants and tassels made of skin and beads, and fastened to various parts of the body or dress, often also made into rings, bracelets, and necklaces to be worn for personal adornment. {Compare Figs. 198, 189, pp. 257, 258.} In addition to these, I will mention the round patches of skin, often with a tassel in the centre (Fig. 292). which are considered as highly effective amulets among the Chukchee, {Compare Fig. 149. р. 221} the Pacific Koryak, and the Astatic Eskimo. They are sewed to the coat, on the breast or on the shoulders, and. if possible, against that part of the body where the pain is felt, or at least is supposed to be; for example, against the top of the stomach in all internal sufferings, against the shoulderblade in rheumatic affections of the back. etc. A rough image of the "guardian" is fastened in the centre. Often, however, the figure takes an ornamental character, and the "guardian" is replaced by a woman's figure, by a man dancing, or by a warrior clad in Chukchee armor, all of which, of course, may not be considered as images of "spirits," The whole object serves both magic and ornamental purposes, as is the case with many other pendanst and tassels.

Incantations. -- Belief in the significance of magic formulas, often accompanied by certain actions prescribed for the occasion, has a firm hold among the Chukchee. According to a verbal communication of Mr. Jochelson, incantations among the Koryak form almost the main substance of their practical religion, rites are incantations put into practice, and amulets derive their force from the formulas which were pronounced over them, and they are called simply "things enchanted."

In his work on the Koryak religion and mythology, Mr. Jochelson says, however, "It seems to me. that there are two elements which participate in this transformation into a guardian, of a piece of wood shaped into a crude likeness of a human figure. First, there is the conception of a concealed vital principle in objects apparently inanimate. Second, there is the mysterious influence of an incantation upon the vital principle; i.e., the power of the words of man to increase the force of the vital principle, and to direct it to a certain activity." {Vol VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 32. [469]} This statement makes the predominance of incantations in the Koryak conceptions of "guardians" less absolute.

In consonance with this latter assertion, perhaps, incantations are held in hardly less esteem among the Chukchee. Magic formulas must be pronounced during their ceremonials, and with them certain prescriptions must be carried out. Ignorance of these requirements, or neglect in the performance of them, menaces the power of the ceremonial, and may cause a withdrawal of the protecting forces and an attack by hostile "spirits." Most of the younger people, of course, on being asked about such formulas, declared that they had no knowledge of them, and that they performed only the outward part of the ceremonials, according to the example of their forefathers. They ascribe this ignorance to their own foolishness and to the tendency of modern times to a disbelief in the mysterious, or even to the ridicule of it as mere superstition. In this, however, they are not quite sincere, because, on the whole, it is considered advisable to conceal everything about the incantations. Usually one of the older members of the family will know at least a few of them, which he will use to make his ceremonials more effective. It is true that some of the more careless people do actually perform their ceremonials without incantations, but this state of things continues only till some misfortune befalls them. The latter would at once be imputed to such unprotected state, and the family would have to apply to a shaman or some other competent person to acquire an incantation for future use.

I have already spoken of the way in which amulets are selected. They certainly acquire a great part of their power from incantations pronounced over them. The natives explained to me that the ancient charms and amulets are very powerful, because of the number of incantations which were pronounced over them in a succession of years. Among the Koryak, according to Mr. Jochelson, amulets lose power with the lapse of time, and the incantations must be repeated over them at stated intervals. {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 44, 118.}

Success in the most important pursuits of life is also considered to be acquired from incantations, which are pronounced at various times. Thus, for instance, success in reindeer-breeding is always ascribed exclusively to powerful incantations which belong to the owner, and insure the prosperity of his herd. A man well to do must make it his constant care to buy from divers people additional incantations good for reindeer-breeding. A poor man, on the contrary, is said to be foolish and to have no incantations insuring luck in reindeer-breeding. A man whose herd is on the decrease believes that his incantations have lost their power, and, if he finally becomes poor, he usually throws aside some of his incantations, and loses the remaining ones, forgetting the order of the words and actions necessary for their effect. The incantation is said to force the owner to lose it.

In the same way, incantations, among the Maritime people, insure a lucky issue in the hunting of sea-mammals. In these the women are considered more skilful than the men. Sitting at home, and practising incantations near the hearth, they draw the animals toward the shore. {Compare p. 359.} For instance, on a sketch (Fig. 293) which forms a part of a large drawing, with all kinds of sea-pursuits represented upon it, a person making incantations on the shore, at the point of the cape, causes a herd of walrus to come from the open sea and approach the shore with all speed.

Besides this, a number of incantations of every possible kind exist among the Chukchee. There is no moment of life and no action too trifling to have its special incantation. A man driving reindeer will make use of an incantation to shorten the distance ahead. In like manner, a hungry person eating with others, from the same dish, will try by an incantation to make the motions of his rivals slower than his own. Women apply incantations to their sinew-thread in order to make it stronger. A man who has forgotten a magic formula will resort to another incantation which is helpful in recalling to one's mind things which are forgotten.

A number of incantations relate to matters of love. Those referring to birth, death, and funeral-rites, will be treated in a separate chapter. A large proportion of incantations refer to the cure of diseases. As may be seen from this enumeration, incantations are usually benevolent in their purport toward man. In this they are at variance with another series of magic acts, which always portend harm to some one.

These latter are called in Chukchee ui'wel. Most of them are supposed to have a capricious material shape created for them by the person performing the incantation. They may be animals, monsters, or even inanimate objects. In this shape they are sent to the person "doomed to anger," to lure him in some way to danger and destruction. After that they come back, and are themselves destroyed, or simply disintegrate on the spot. I call them "spells," in the absence of any more adequate word.

Conformably with this difference between incantations and "spells," the "Old Women of the Time of the First Creation," mentioned in several formulas, are there called also "Women of Incantation," signifying that their performance is beneficent to the applicant. The small old woman of Ke'rek stock, mentioned in the tale of the Scabby Shaman, {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 210.} who did much harm to the hero of the tale, is called, on the contrary, an "Old Woman of Spells." There are, however, several branches of incantations which are also harmful in their purpose. These are called "Spell Incantation" (oiwa'čirg-ê'wgan) or "Anger Incantation" (a'nñêna-ê'wgan). Of these I shall speak later on.

Some of the incantations have a very short formula, consisting often of but a few words. Others are more elaborate, and are directed to various stars and "Beings," with an application to every one for some spirit assistance. Many of them are contrived in the form of a dialogue between the performer and the powers to whom application is made.

Incantations may be inherited from parents, who, dying or growing old, transfer to their heirs their spiritual as well as their material property. Or they may be received in dreams from various va'irgit or ke'let, or may even be bought from competent persons. These are, of course, mostly shamans; but, besides the shamans, there are also those who know a great many incantations, and, moreover, know how to apply them, and who, therefore, are able to give advice and assistance in various cases of trouble. Such persons are called the "knowing ones" (hiule't-re'mkin, "knowing people"). The same expression is used in the languages of the neighboring tribes and even in local Russian.

To transfer an incantation is, however, no easy matter. Incantations are given by supernatural protectors to a special person only, because the protector had compassion for that person's particular trouble. Therefore the incantations are intended for the personal use of the one to whom given, and the supernatural powers will be angry on the application of them to the use of another person. Hence, even though a person is perfectly willing to transfer an incantation, it may take several days of urging and persuasion before this person will agree to proceed to the transmission. Through this method the supernatural powers may see how serious is the need of the applicant, and take compassion upon him also, which, of course, would assure the special effectiveness of the incantation. Thus, in the case of incantations protecting the life of small children, even the nearest relative, when he lives at a distance, will repeatedly refuse to come to the house in need, and will consent only after several attempts on the part of the parents of the child.

A shaman, however, is less scrupulous about giving his help. He asks his "spirits" for a new incantation on behalf of the person applying, which, in most cases, consists, not in words, but only in special prescribed actions. On the contrary, he will try to keep for himself the "genuine incantations," the fruit of his knowledge, and will not transfer any of them without a special demand, and payment.

The transference of incantations must not be made without pay of real or at least of symbolical character, or the supernatural powers will be angry with both parties, and the incantation will lose its force. Moreover, the receiving party will be unable to keep in mind the words of the formula. The transfer must be made without witnesses; otherwise, the incantation will lose its power, or the third person, although unwillingly, will become possessed of it.

The shaman, or any other person who wishes to practise the incantation for his own use or in behalf of others, pronounces the formula in an inaudible whisper; for, should even a stone hear the mysterious words, it would deprive the owner of their possession, and gain them for itself. After finishing the incantation, the person practising must spit at his left side-, which is supposed to fasten the incantation to the object in view. The same thing is done when transferring the incantation to another person. The spitting indicates that the possessor renounces the incantation, and gives it over to the other party. According to a similar idea in a Koryak tale, Big-Raven sells his daughter to a seal for a song, which the last-named spits into the mouth of Big-Raven. {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 152.} The incantations in dialogues, however, are pronounced aloud, and it is supposed that the supernatural party, who answers the questions of the performers through their own mouths, will take care to protect their possession of the formula.

From all this it may easily be concluded that it is no light matter to collect the formulas of incantations from the Chukchee. I succeeded on various occasions and in different localities in collecting about forty incantations, which are given at the end of this chapter. Some of them are simply formulas to be pronounced: others, evidently, are a kind of description as to how the formula must be pronounced and acted upon.

The language of the incantations, on the whole, is the usual Chukchee: but there are some obsolete words used in them, and there is even one the meaning of which is already lost by the people. This proves that the words of the formula have an equal importance with the action, and that, from ancient times, there was a tendency toward consolidation and the exclusion of any possible change. The general character, and even the details, of the incantations, are the same throughout the whole Chukchee territory. Of the reindeer-breeding incantations, those of the Kolyma country closely resemble those of the Anadyr. The same may be said of the incantations relating to the cure of diseases, to the protection against the coming-back of the dead, etc.

The supernatural powers mentioned in the incantations are the Upper Being, the Sun, the Moon, various stars, among others the Pebbly River (the Milky Way). The last was mentioned also in connection with shamanism, though I could not collect any tales having a bearing on the personal character ascribed to it, such as exist, for instance, regarding Orion or the Pleiades.

Some of the short formulas are of a general character, and could have been called simply prayers. For instance, a Chukchee, while sacrificing to any of the spirits or "Beings," will say, "Oh, let me look on (the world) for a while!" or, "Let me walk around for a while!" or, "Receive my offering and give me luck!" or "Let me take you for an assistant in my pursuits!" or, "Be good!" or, "Let us live well!" or, still more simply, "There, come and eat!"

The Chukchee, however, consider these formulas also as incantations, because the conception of the latter is with them more general, and the power of such a prayer is considered to lie, not in the meaning of the words, but in a certain prescribed order in which they are pronounced and acted upon. On account of the reasons given before, the short formulas are, in most cases, pronounced in a low whisper.

In the collection of incantations given at the end of the chapter, the first two (No. i, a, 6) deal with wild reindeer coming to the herd, which, as said before, is considered a manifest sign of the "reindeer-luck" {Compare p. 74.} of the owner. On p. 379 the details of the manner in which an incantation like this is put into practice were given. The incantations request the supernatural forces to send down various objects of their possession, through the influence of which the person pronouncing the incantation may transform the wild reindeer into a tame one.

Incantation No. 2 is used by the Chukchee inhabitants of the Middle Anadyr in hunting wild reindeer crossing the river. {Compare p. 133.} I have already said that this hunt is of great importance to the people, who live solely by its produce. Therefore a number of incantations and methods of divination are used to secure a plentiful arrival of the game, and to make the hunters invisible to it. Some of the formulas include the employment of the sexual parts in a manner similar to that described in connection with shamanism. For instance, in order to foretell the chances of the incoming hunt, the hunter descends to the river-bank, and, taking off his clothing, sits down on some flat, even spot covered with thick compact sand. Then he stands up and looks at the impression left by his body upon the sand. If the private parts are clearly imprinted there, it is considered a good omen: if not, the spirits are unpropitious to the hunt. Then the house-charms are taken to the shore and a sacrifice is made to them in order to secure anew their protection in the incoming pursuit.

Of not less importance are the incantations for hunting sea-mammals. Of these, however, I could secure only one. In hunting from a boat (Fig. 294) the incantation of this kind is pronounced by the steersman, who at the same time is the owner of the boat. For this purpose he stands, and raises the steering-paddle aloft in a horizontal position. The same gesture, according to Mr. Hoffman, is used by the Alaskan Eskimo as a signal of the lug. 294. chukchee sketch representing discovery of game. {W. T. Hoffman, Graphic Art of the Eskimos (Report of the United States National Museum for 1895, p. 903), Washington, Government Printing Office, 1897.} In Fig. 273 (p. 395), men, pronouncing an incantation, point upward wooden drum-sticks which they carry in their hands. This gesture is repeated in several other drawings. It seems to be used on land, while the lifting horizontally of the paddle is used on sea in sealing-pursuits. Nevertheless, in Fig. 295, which represents the whale ceremonial, the steersman of the last boat, who is performing an incantation, likewise points upward the paddle he holds in his hands. Another man, who meets the whale, has in his hands a sacrificing-vessel and a long drum-stick adorned with tassels.

Incantations for improving bad weather apply for the help of supernatural forces against wind and tempest. The first one of this kind (No. 4, a) was given to me by a native fellow-traveller of mine during the great snow-storms in the fall of 1899, which had considerably hampered our progress on the Middle Anui. The owner of the incantation was so sure of its effectiveness that he proclaimed himself ready to bet on it a sound whipping against a drink of alcohol. After the incantation was duly pronounced, the weather began to improve, and he was about to proclaim his triumph when the storm came back with redoubled violence. When I asked him afterward about the matter, he answered artlessly, "It is the great big world around. How can I cover it all with this small incantation of mine?"

Incantation No. 4, b, was used several times in my presence by the people of Mariinsky Post, who have great faith in its effectiveness. Still another incantation requires that a young boy. quite naked, shall be sent out of the house during the storm. He must run three times around the house, following the direction of the sun's course, repeating all the while, "O storm! leave off. I have no place to dry my clothes."

Steller mentions a very similar requirement among the Kamchadal. {Steller, p. 270.} He also says that they were forbidden to go out of their house in the winter-time with bare feet, because it would cause snow-storms. A somewhat similar custom exists among the Chukchee in regard to a woman newly delivered from her labor. {See Chap. XVII.}

The Russianized natives of the Kolyma and Anadyr, in order to repress the wind, "catch" it in a big overcoat spread windward, and then speedily tie up the garment. The wind "tied up" may be quiet for twenty-four hours, but after that time it must be let loose. If it should be kept captive longer than that, it would, when finally freed, become a severe and prolonged storm. This method of subduing the wind is known also to the Chukchee.

A number of incantations are used for defence against the coming of the ke'let (Nos. 5, a-e). In these the person pronouncing the incantation, instead of asking assistance of the supernatural forces, tries to frighten away the harmful "spirits" by various means and devices. He pretends to have fierce bears or other monsters tied up to his door, which make the entrance of ke'let impossible (No. 5, a); {The old woman who gave me incantation No. 5, a, actually had two small figures of heats made of wood. In the time of a contagious disease, she took them out of the bag each night and set them to watch on each side of her sleeping-room (compare p. 344).} or he declares to the ke'let that his house is transformed into iron, and that the entrance is protected by a sharp knife that will cut up any intruder (No. 5, b). If there is no house to secure, the man pronouncing the incantation will proclaim that he is hidden in various places not accessible to the ke'let (No. 5, c-e). Besides those incantations the texts of which are given, I will mention a few more.

Thus, a lone man driving reindeer, who stops for a night in the wilderness, proclaims that he is hidden in the left ear of his left reindeer, or even in its anus, or, again, under the lining of his large outer cap. A man sleeping in a strange house will pronounce similar formulas in order to defend himself from the "house-spirits," who, as a rule, are hostile to all "alien" people. Even a prospective bridegroom, who, in order to win his bride, serves his term of work with her family, takes similar precautions, because he supposes the "house-spirits" are averse to his purpose.

There are a number of other methods to prevent the admission of the ke'lE to the person or to the house under protection. The person casting the spell will draw a line on the snow, and thus create a chasm or a deep river; he will put a small stone or a piece of ice before the entrance, and proclaim it transformed into a high mountain or an iceberg, etc. These methods are used especially in funeral ceremonials, of which I shall speak later on.

In connection with this group of incantations must be mentioned also those which are used by reindeer herdsmen to protect the herd against the spirits of disease (No. 6), or against wolves (No. 7). The latter, as has been said, range with the "spirits."

A number of incantations are used for purposes of magic medicine. Some of them, as related before, are of a dramatic Character (No. 8, a-c). In them application for help is made to some supernatural "Being," whose descent and whose assistance to the patient are then acted. The supernatural "Being" is represented by a blade of grass growing upon a hummock, by a splinter of wood, etc.; while the person performing the incantation talks both for himself and for the "Being" called to help, often even changing his voice to make the performance more vivid.

Among the supernatural beings applied to in these incantations must be mentioned an Old-Woman-of-the-Time-of-the-First-Creation, a Woman-of-Light, and a Hummock-Woman who lives on the top of the hummock with a female neighbor who also has a hummock-house. Their names are given as Ra'učha-ña'ut and Ku'ča-ña'ut. The first one, who is called the "Chief Woman," is probably the same as the old Dawn-Торса Woman {Compare p. 303.} who lives in a separate house in the direction of the morning.

It must be mentioned also that the person performing the incantation is called the "Father" of the patient. This person refers to the patient as to his child, evidently in order to induce the supernatural powers to have compassion on his sorrow (No. 8, c). {Compare also p. 464.}

In other incantations (Nos. 8, d--m) used in magic medicine, the person performing calls to his aid some beast or monster; or, more often, he pretends to transform himself into that monster or beast. In this shape he treats the diseased part of the body so roughly that the source of the disease concealed within it is destroyed or frightened away. Often the limb affected, or the source of the disease, is declared to be transformed into such material shape as to make more convenient the cleansing or the destroying operation described in the formula. For instance, an ailing stomach is made into a bay of the sea, and the big sea is called to send a strong current to the shore and to clean away all the rubbish. Or the illness is transformed into a flock of ptarmigan, which are destroyed by a supernatural bird with iron quills and claws. Or a swollen limb is supposed to be a mound of snow, and a sturgeon is made to flop about in it and cut it up with his sharp fins, etc.

In one of the incantations (No. 8, i), help is demanded from a little flying spider, which, under the name of Spider-Woman, figures also in several stories. {Compare p. 330.} The incantation requests it to come down and to sew up the freshly cut wound, which is bleeding profusely. Other incantations mention the Raven Ku'rkil (No. 8, g), the Magic Woman, and the Spermophius-WToman (No. 8, m), -- all of which figure in the folk-lore of the Chukchee.

Special incantations (Nos. 9, a--c) are intended to intercept dying persons on their way to the other world. So great is the Chukchee belief in their efficacy, that they suppose they can even bring back to life persons really dead. Most of these incantations (No. 1, a, b) are similar in character. The person pronouncing the incantation asks the supernatural force to send down its dog, or pretends to transform himself into that dog. In this shape he intercepts the patient on his way, and makes him return, barking, and snapping at his face.

Besides the two incantations of this kind which were collected on the Pacific shore, another somewhat similar one is mentioned in a story from the Kolyma country. The story deals with a case of actual suicide which happened on the western tundra of the Kolyma in the nineties of the last century. Relative to bringing back the dead, it says, "A man going away along the trail of the dead may be turned back by a dog. To do this the performer must whisper an incantation into the dog's left ear, and send it in pursuit. The performer says, 'Go and bring back the man. We will feed you with the choicest morsels!' The dog intercepts the patient on his way, and makes him turn by jumping at his face. After the patient has been restored to life, the dog is immediately killed." The story adds naively that the less difficult cases vield to the incantation, but the more dangerous ones are hard to deal with. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 53.} In another story collected in the same country, and also dealing with an incident of real life, a man was killed by a neighbor. The body was cut in pieces, and these were buried one by one in separate places. The family of the victim thought he was lost somewhere in the country around. In order to find him, they performed an incantation upon a dog, which was then sent on the search. The dog found all the pieces one by one, and brought them to the camp. They were put together by the relatives and burned on the funeral pyre. After that the dog was killed in sacrifice to the World (Ña'rgmên). {Ibid , p. 20.} Then the family found the murderer and killed him. I have mentioned also the important role of the dog in frightening away the "spirits of disease." {Compare p. 13.}

Incantation No. 9, c, which also was given to me as having a special power to bring back the dead, is one of the usual incantations of magic medicine. It calls down the Pebbly River, and then proclaims that the patient is transformed into the rapid of its stream, and thus cleansed of all rubbish, that is, of disease.

The love-incantations are of the usual symbolical type. In one (No. 11, a) the performer watches the woman in question as she passes water, and then pretends that the heart and intestines of the woman fall down together with the water. After that he demands ice-creepers from the Morning-Dawn, and tramples with them on the intestines of his victim.

In another incantation (No. 11, b) the performer proclaims that he is about to extract the internal organs of the woman, whom he pretends to entangle in a seal-net. Then he pretends to turn the husband of the woman into a seal's carcass, and the woman into a doe, which flees from the offensive odor of the carrion.

In still another incantation (No. 12) a jealous woman pretends to turn her rival into carrion. She transforms the man in question into a big bear, which eats of the carrion, but soon vomits it up.

It may be seen that, though the incantations were collected in different and often quite distant localities, the methods used in them are similar even fn details.

The so-called "Raven Incantation" (No. 13) stands apart from the other specimens of the kind. It was said to be used by shamans in order to acquire power to harm other people. It is, however, only a dramatized form of a tale well known to the Chukchee and to the Eskimo, both on the Asiatic shore and in Alaska. {Compare Bogoras, American Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. IV, p. 656.} It may be compared also with the actions of mischievous shamans when they come out in the night-time and ask the supernatural forces to give them power to harm their enemies.

Among the malign incantations, some are of the same symbolical character. In one, the text of which is not given, the performing person proclaims his victim to be transformed into a seal-skin, and then requests the shrimps to come from the sea and to eat it. In another incantation of this kind, given to me by Scratching-Woman, the person performing asserts that he has taken the victim, and put it into a cooking-pot, there to be wrung through a piece of old net, like half-digested moss from the reindeer-stomach. {Compare p. 197.} Then the performer pretends to take the stuff out of the pot and to put it into a hole dug for that purpose in the ground. The hole is covered with a bird's wing. Then the stuff within is transformed into a dog, who, attracted by the scent from the camps, as dogs are wont to be, goes from camp to camp. The same incantation is also used for the creation of an artificial dog to be employed for a "spell."

Two groups of harmful incantations have special names. One is called ei'3ut, and has for its purpose the reduction of the speed of a rival in a race on foot or with reindeer, the loss of his strength in wrestling, etc. In one of the formulas (No. 14, a) the performing person ties his adversary with the line of the Spider-Woman. In another formula of this kind (No. 14, b), the performer hampers the swiftness of his rivals by pretending to put a many-branched tree-trunk across their trail. The incantations for bringing back the dying are also called ei'3ut, because they have for their purpose the curbing of the speed of the dead on their last trail.

The other group of harmful incantations in question are called nine'wget. It includes various manipulations carried out with the flesh of corpses. The flesh is taken from the corpses, which have been recently left on a burial-place. For this the person acting comes in the night-time to the corpse. He stops at a distance, takes off all his clothes, and then creeps to the corpse on all-fours, quite naked, and pretending to be a fox. To increase the resemblance, he even drags one of his legs, in imitation of a fox-tail, and cries, "Ka, ka, ka!" imitating the barking of that animal. He carries a knife in his teeth, and, approaching the corpse, cuts off a small piece of the flesh of the left shoulder, and, if possible, takes also some of the brain. Then he goes back to his clothes in the same animal-like manner. The piece of flesh is dried in the open air, far from the house. To make it effective, a small particle must be mixed with food, and given to the person "doomed to anger." It is believed to work like poison. After the victim has swallowed it, his mouth will be completely covered with burns, his stomach will burst, and he will speedily die.

Some persons, in procuring the flesh, even dispense with the knife, and use their teeth for tearing away the desired pieces. This greatly increases the effectiveness of the charm. Another way of doing the same is for the person acting to pretend to be a raven. He hops to the corpse, holding the knife between his teeth, and pretending that it is his beak, and he also caws like a raven. When he is close to the corpse, he bends down and pretends to peck at it with his knife-beak, after which he may cut off the desired piece. This method calls to mind the Raven Incantation mentioned before, and also some details of the funeral ritual, in which, also, participants pretend to be ravens.

In another method of doing the same thing, the person acting pretends that the corpse is a seal on the ice, and stalks it in the well-known characteristic manner. When he is close enough, he thrusts his knife at the corpse, pretending that he is throwing the harpoon. After that, the performer is free to take his piece of flesh.

The chief purpose of all these methods is evidently, not so much to intensify the power of the "spell," as to defend one's self against the revenge of the dead person whose corpse is being despoiled.

It is supposed also that a human skull may be used as a vessel in which to cook certain magic preparations, though no details regarding this custom are known. Several tales, however, mention old "women of spell," who mix their decoctions in a human skull: therefore our attempts to collect skulls of the natives were discouraged, and even caused us to be suspected of the worst practices.

Similar methods of sorcery were used by other neighboring peoples. Thus Sarytcheff mentions {Sarytcheff, II, p. 142.} that, while he was on the Andreyanoff Islands, a native (Aleut) shaman said to one of his female patients, that her malady was caused by her father, who, when in pursuit of sea-mammals, used to take the brains out of dead men's skulls in order to smear his harpoon-points with them.

Spells. -- In the preparation of "spells" some typical methods, well known among many tribes, are used also by the Chukchee. Thus, to prepare a "spell," one must procure some particle belonging to the victim's body, -- a lock of hair, a scraping of the nails, or one must pick up a piece of snow freshly impregnated with its urine. If any one of these are dried, wrung, or put near the fire, the victim will undergo an analogous process. Figurines representing the victim are made of wood, of grass, or of pounded leaves. These may be stabbed, or dried, or beaten, and the process will likewise be transmitted to the person "doomed to anger."

The person performing a "spell" may also injure his victim by throwing its image, made of grass, between his own legs, which he has spread apart for the purpose. The person doing this must bend for the action so as to touch the ground with his head, and then throw the image with the greatest possible force. The image must be left on the spot, exposed to the open air. In the same measure that it is damaged by the progress of time, the victim also sickens, and finally dies.

A blade of grass, a splinter of wood, or even a lump of earth taken out of the fresh footprint of the person "doomed to anger," may also be used to perform upon it magic operations of the kind described.

According to another method, the performing person pretends to become a wolf, and smears his mouth with fresh blood, proclaiming it to be the blood of the victim. This may be compared with Incantation No. 8, d. In still another case the performing person slaughters a reindeer in sacrifice to the Moon, and then cuts off the head and puts it on a stake, asking the Moon to make the victim similar to this reindeer. Then the victim is struck with palsy.

In a "spell" of the Maritime Chukchee, the performer places before the entrance of the victim's house a few long leaves of a species of seaweed. The leaves are pierced with numerous holes, and therefore may serve as a net, in the meshes of which the soul of the victim is captured. This may be compared with an analogous action by the ke'let. {Compare p. 294.}

But the most characteristic of all the "spells" used by the Chukchee are the artificial creations, which are materialized, and then sent to destroy the enemy. The same peculiar conception is to be met with among the American Eskimo. {Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, pp. 153, 363.}

The idea of such "spells" is so familiar to the Chukchee, that they try to represent even the malevolent incantation as something likewise materialized. For instance, in the tale of "The Scabby Shaman," Ri'ntew catches the malign incantations of all his enemies, one by one, and ties them up separately in a number of mittens. In the morning he distributes the mittens among the baffled would-be wizards, and tells them in turn, "These are your words, -- and these are yours, -- and these, yours." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 207.}

A "spell," once materialized, must be sent immediately in search of the victim. It may, however, be intercepted and made ineffectual by some magic power greater than that of its particular owner. Then it may be appropriated by the victor, and, indeed, it will insist on being appropriated by him and sent against its former owner. If rejected by the new wizard, it will, notwithstanding, of its own accord, go back to its former owner and retaliate on him for its failure.

Thus I mentioned in the preceding chapter the image of such a "spell" which was intercepted by the shaman Scratching-Woman, and then appropriated by him for his own use. Similar ideas are to be found in the folk-lore of civilized peoples. Thus the demons mastered by a wizard are said to clamor constantly for more work, and that of a character harmful to others. If they remain unoccupied, they may fall on their master and tear him to pieces: therefore, when no victim is assigned to destruction, the wizard makes his demons twist ropes of sand, drain the sea with a bailer, etc.

The artificial "spell" may appear in various shapes, and also may change its appearance at the will of its creator. Often it is an animal, or even a group of animals, or, on the contrary, only some part of the carcass, -- for instance, the upper half of a ground-seal, a fox-head without body or legs, -- also a man or a woman, or even any inanimate object, such as a stone or a tree. In some cases the first sight of the materialized "spell" makes the victim lose his reason, and die raving mad. In other cases, on the contrary, the victim believes that he has before himself a real animal, a fit object for hunt; and the ultimate catastrophe happens quite naturally as an accident of the hunt. Thus I obtained a very characteristic story about two Chukchee families between whom an old feud existed. At last one family left the country, and settled at a distance of several hundred miles. After a number of years, a wild reindeer-buck came to the camp of one of the members of this family, and began to graze in sight of the houses. Of course, it was only a materialized "spell," because a real reindeer would not dare to come so near a human habitation. It was sent by the "knowing people" of the other family, who had not forgotten that the last bloodshed was effected by their adversaries.

The time was well chosen, because, of all the men of the camp, only the master was present. On seeing the reindeer, he shot at it with his bow. The reindeer took to flight, but ran rather slowly, being evidently wounded by the arrow. The man, who was fleet of foot, followed in pursuit. This was the last time he was seen alive by any person. After two days, his wife, alarmed by his prolonged absence, went to a neighboring camp several miles distant, and asked the people to help her in her hunt for the missing man. After a few hours' search, they found him on a large lake in the vicinity. It was early in the fall, and the ice of the lake was not yet covered with snow. The fleeing reindeer had lured him upon the ice, and there in a swift chase the man fell down and broke his neck. Of course, no trace of the reindeer was to be seen. It had fulfilled its mission, and without doubt had returned to the "knowing people" who had sent it on its errand. I had this story from the brother of the man who perished, and his death was scored up as a new case for revenge against the other party. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 24.}

In a Chukchee tale, several versions of which were collected, a man or a woman desiring to have revenge on a female foe creates a dog of snow, of brindle-wolf color, and transforms it into a young man. The "spell" is immediately sent to the camp of the victim, where it acts like a real young man, and succeeds in making love to the woman "doomed to anger." The owner of the "spell," however, is able to guide its actions from afar, and at the required moment he calls lightly, "Wute'l, Wute'l!" this being the name usually given to dogs of this color. {Compare p. 101.} Under the action of the call, the man again becomes a dog, and drags away the woman as dogs usually do. The body of the woman is torn to pieces, and only a small part of the pelvis is brought to the house of the master of the "spell." The dog, after coming home, vanishes. The details about the dog-man cohabiting with a woman, after the manner of dogs, occurs also in the tales of the American Eskimo, {Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 166.} but the dog is not represented as a materialized "spell."

In the collection of Chukchee sketches, the materialized "spell" is represented by several drawings. Now it is a half-bodied seal sent by a mischievous shaman to frighten a seal-hunter; again it has the form of two bears who have caught a woman "doomed to anger," and are torturing her, tossing her body to and fro between themselves like a ball (Fig. 296). The malicious incantations are believed to work sometimes in the same way as do the materialized "spells;" that is, by inducing the person "doomed to anger" to meet the harm in a quasi-natural way. For instance, while travelling on the Wolverene River, I met a man by the name of Pe'tki, who formerly was one of the fleetest runners in the whole neighborhood. His rivals, desirous that his speed should be impaired, sent an incantation to him by which he was induced, while in his own sleeping-room, to sit down on a bare knife, and in such a manner that half of the blade entered his thigh. When I saw him, he was still suffering from the wound, and it was impossible to say whether that leg would not be permanently lame as the result of the accident.

The people are excessively afraid of all kinds of "spells" and harmful incantations; but, on the other hand, they often wish to retaliate on the suspected wrong-doer. Even a great shaman of the mischievous kind is not safe from the revenge of his neighbors, who by common consent may cause his death." {Mr. Gondatti also says, referring to the same matter, that among the Pacific Chukchee, when shamans are believed to cause too much harm, they are killed by their neighbors, and that even special methods are used in the execution of such murders. I cannot tell, however, what he intends us to understand these special methods are. (The Population of the Anadyr District, Memoirs of the Amur Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. Ill, Part I. I mentioned this paper on p. 20, but at that time I was unable to get it. Since that time I have been able to consult it in the library of the Geographical Society in Paris).} Thus, in the tale of "The Scabby Shaman," the people wronged by young Ri'ntew make complaint to his father, and then the whole village plans the destruction of the young shaman.

Even in modern times, when harm of an unexpected character is ascribed to the pernicious influence of an unfriendly neighbor, the latter runs the risk of paying for the suspected witchcraft with his life. Thus, in the year 1896, during the spring fair on the Wolverene River, I was present at a series of reindeer-races in the camps of the richest inhabitants. Two persons were all the time striving against each other for the victory. Their names were To'liño and Ya'tirgin. The reindeer of To'liño, however, were better than those of his rival, and he was victor several times. Then, at one race, the right reindeer of his team suddenly stumbled and fell, not fifty feet distant from the goal, which gave to Ya'tirgin the chance to snatch the prize first. Of course, the accident was ascribed to a harmful incantation of the kind known as ei3ut. {Compare p. 479.} In my presence the uncle of To'liño, frightened by the accident, tried to persuade him to stop racing and prepare for the return journey to his camp, which was two hundred miles distant. To'liño was obstinate, and determined to continue. Two days later, to the horror of all, To'liño died suddenly. The death, of course, was ascribed to the witchery of his rival; the more so, as the latter with his family left the country hastily on the next day, and went eastward in the direction of the Chaun River. In his haste, he even left behind a part of his large herd of reindeer, which were taken by the family of the deceased. The brother of the latter promised to visit, the next fall, the country of Chaun in order to settle the blood-score.

In another case, which happened the same year at the Anui fair, one Chukchee accused his neighbor of killing his son by witchcraft a few months before that time. The two families were not very friendly, and it seems that the supposed wizard, when under the influence of brandy, was wont to boast of his magic skill. Be that as it may, the father, thirsting for revenge, watched for the wizard as he was passing on a trail among the camps, and shot him down with a rifle. The brothers of the murdered man wanted to have blood for blood; but even they felt that the wronged father was within his right, and after some controversy the affair was settled without even weregild.

Divination. -- Of the methods of divination, the most common is that with a suspended object. The Chukchee and the Eskimo alike use for this the so-called "divining-stone" (yitko'mk-u'kwun, literally, "swinging-stone"). Any pebble with a string tied around it may serve the purpose, although stones somewhat bizarre in form are preferred. Often the skull of an animal (Fig. 297, a) is used for the purpose, a "wooden spirit" {Compare p. 341.} (Fig. 297, b), a rough image of a "guardian," or even a piece of wood cut off under peculiar circumstances. On the other hand, the divination may be performed without a special implement by using the boot or cap of the person interested, or even the body of the person himself.

The method employed with any divinatory object is to suspend it by a string from the hand, or, better still, from the end of a stick; for instance, a walking-staff or the long handle of a scraper. The soothsayer asks his questions aloud or mentally, and then raises the object in the air. If the answers are favorable, the object will begin to swing; if unfavorable, it will remain motionless, and, even when pushed, will persistently return to its original position and remain quiet (Plate xxxiii, Fig. 4).

When the body of a living man is used in divination, his head is bound around with a string, the other end of which is tied to a stick. Then questions are asked and the stick is lifted. If the answers are favorable, the head will feel so light that it will apparently be lifted of itself. In the contrary case, the soothsayer will be unable to lift it from the ground. In this latter method the person whose head is being lifted may ask his questions mentally, so that nobody can hear them. This method of divination is identical with that used by the American Eskimo. {Compare Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 363.} The same method is resorted to with bodies of the dead to obtain information as to the various details of the funeral, or the future of the remaining members of the family.

Another method is that of tying the dead body, dressed for the funeral, to the rails of a sledge. The sledge is then placed across two long smooth poles lying side by side on the ground, so that the runners can easily slide on them. Then the soothsayer asks his questions, and tries to pull the sledge along. If the answers are favorable, the sledge will run ahead smoothly: if unfavorable, some hitch will prevent it from moving. The principle is evidently the same as that of head-lifting.

At variance with this, the answers given before as favorable -- spontaneous swinging of the object suspended, easy and smooth motion of human bodies suspended or of sledges resting on rollers -- are sometimes taken only as affirmative, no matter whether favorable or not to the questioner; and those given as unfavorable are, on the other hand, taken only as negative. To avoid misunderstandings, however, the questions are, for the most part, put in such a way that the affirmative would coincide with the favorable, and vice versa.

As an instance of the contrary, an extract from a description of a Chukchee funeral, taken down from the mouth of a native, may be cited.

"Then they lay down rollers under the sledge and try to draw it. (They ask the deceased) 'Of all those present here, say straightly whether anything ill shall befall them. Tell that about all, one by one, not hiding anything.' If, on asking about some particular person, the sledge runs smoothly and without hitch, he will surely die." {Bogoras, Chuckchee Materials, p. 83.}

The method of divination by suspension is widely spread among both the Reindeer and the Maritime Chukchee, and is employed in almost all cases of life. Once, while in a camp on the Wolverene River the night before a great race, I was weighing some medicine on a small brass balance. A man who sat close by wanted to have a look at the balance, and when he took it from my hand, of course it began swinging. The Chukchee took this as a sign that the balance wanted to be used for soothsaying. He took advantage of this to ask it about the arrangement of the race for the morrow.

"Shall we arrange it together, or separately?" asked he. "Give a good sign! Give a favorable omen!" There were two men desiring to arrange the race, and it was a question whether they should join their stakes, or not. The balance gave an answer in the required sense. The man asked several other questions, which were all answered favorably, because the unstable thing swayed to and fro with the slightest motion of the hand of the performer. Suddenly, when he put forward a question about the foot-race, the balance stood still. One of the cords supporting the plates became hooked to the end of the lever, and its free motion was disturbed. "Desist, desist!" cried the other people, frightened; but it was too late. Now, when the balance did give an unfavorable answer, it was necessary to coax it to change it, and to answer more acceptably in its new, entangled position. The experiment took over half an hour, and still the balance would not answer satisfactorily.

Divination with suspended objects is well known also among the Asiatic Eskimo and among the Koryak. Those on the Pacific side use their amulets, known by the name of "grandmother" (a'n.ai), for this purpose. In a Koryak tale, a spirit-woman makes her husband use for this purpose his own penis. By its motion they are able to determine the movements of human people, who flee before their approach. Many Chukchee tales also mention the custom of ke'let trying to foretell the success of their man-hunting by swinging a human skull. This serves them as a divining-stone equally as well as the skull of an animal serves man for the same purpose.

Among the Kamchadal, according to Steller, {Steller, p. 277.} a woman shaman used to sit in a corner, and, winding a red thread around one of her legs, try to lift it from the ground. If the leg seemed heavy to lift, a negative answer to the question was implied: if it seemed light, the answer was in the affirmative. Nelson {Nelson, p. 433.} tells of a similar method of divination among the Eskimo southward from the mouth of the Yukon. For divination by head-lifting among other Eskimo of America, I will refer to Dr. Boas. {Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, pp. 135, 363.}

Another method of divination, nearly as much in use as the one just spoken of, is that with a shoulder-blade, the centre of which is kept over a small fire till it is partly carbonized, and cracks in all directions. The details of the cracks determine the meaning of the answer. This method, however, cannot be applied to every circumstance of life, because the indications of the cracks are necessarily limited. Among the Reindeer Chukchee its chief use is for determining the direction of the next moving of the camp. It is also employed to foretell the success of a hunt or of a journey, the approach of the wind, the imminent danger of a contagious disease, or of an attack on the herd by wolves.

The Reindeer Chukchee use for divination only the shoulder-blade of the domesticated reindeer. The animal, in most cases, is killed for this particular purpose, though the bones of every reindeer brought for sacrifice, or slaughtered for meat, are also fit to be used. The bone is taken raw, and the meat carefully cleaned from it. Then a small piece of burning coal is kept close to its centre. It is fanned, by means of blowing or light swinging, till the bone is carbonized, and gives the first crack. After the performance, the burned place is immediately broken through and reduced to crumbs, but the bone itself is added to the common kitchen-stock used for trying tallow. During the fall, the shoulder-blade of the left side is used for divination in personal or family affairs, while that of the right side is called "alien," and used for divination in the affairs of other people. During this period, divination is employed, first, when changing camp after the first fall of snow, then again about two months afterwards, when moving into winter-quarters.

In the winter time, divination is seldom used, but it is resumed in the spring, when moving from the winter-pastures to the summer abode. This moving is considered as "returning," the tundra being the principal country for the Chukchee people. It is called "descending road" (ta'hn-têla'n), meaning the descent from the wooded hills to the open tundra and to the sea. {Compare pp. 25--27, 378.} Even the families who ascend the mountains in the direction of the glaciers of the watershed call it by the same name. During this time, divination is used for every new move; but now the bone of the right side is used for the affairs of the family, while that of the left side is considered "alien." However, for all journeys made without reference to the moving of the herd, -- for instance, for trading-trips or for hunting-expeditions, -- the left shoulder-blade is used throughout the year.

In explaining the lines of the cracks, the shoulder-blade must be kept with the broad part upwards (Fig. 298). The ridge in the middle is called "mountain" (ičvui'gin), and is considered to represent the mountains and the inland generally. All the lower part of the shoulder-blade beneath the burned spot is called "bottom of bone" (a'3mhê), and is considered to represent the underground countries. The outer edge of the shoulder-blade, all around the broad part and down to the very bottom, is called "sea" (a'ñqA), and is considered to represent the sea-coast.

Usually one vertical crack is formed, with various ramifications above and below. The following principles are applied for their explanation. Everything that comes from the sea is good, even though it be from under the supposed level of the ground: "Nothing evil comes from the sea." Indications from the underground, or "bottom of the bone," on the contrary, are of evil character. From the mountain above the level, there may appear indications of either in kind, good or evil.

If there jg produced only one vertical line, it is a favorable indication; but if this line is short, or, on the contrary, if it reaches the very edge of the bone, the indications are unfavorable. Should the bone burn too quickly, it is likewise unfavorable. The small cross-lines not reaching up to the principal crack, when in the upper region, foretell only news of something; while the longer lines, crossing the principal crack, foretell the arrival of the thing. A large cross zigzag line foretells greatness of the thing which will come. For instance, a detached cross-line from the "mountain" may signify news about wild reindeer; a longer line, the coming of wild reindeer; and a zigzag line, the abundance of the wild reindeer; etc. A cross-line from the "bottom of the bone" foretells an attack by wolves, or the arrival of the "spirit of disease," or even death. A line formed on the top of the principal crack signifies a snow-storm; a semicircular line on the same place signifies unexpected death. A detached line in the region of the "sea" signifies some unexpected news. Thus, for instance, cracks on the shoulder-blade represented in Fig. 298 indicate (1) abundance of some game coming from the mountain, evidently reindeer, because it was the season for the reindeer-hunt; (2) the coming of wolves to the herd of the camp.

In performing divination regarding the direction of moving, the person must first select a direction, and then inquire about it. If the indications are unfavorable, -- that is, if some evil is indicated as likely to happen on the journey, -- the proposed direction is abandoned. In this case the shoulder-blade itself is immersed in a mass of stuff emptied from the reindeer-paunch, which is generally considered as highly effective for ceremonial cleansing of this kind. While immersing the bone, the person says, "This is not my shoulder-blade: this is an 'alien' shoulder-blade." Then the bone is left sticking in the stuff. On the next day another reindeer is killed and the divination resumed for a changed direction of the route. This is watched with the keenest attention, lest, through some carelessness, the true meaning should be misunderstood.

An unfavorable indication of a shoulder-blade may be tested by divination with the sinew of a reindeer-leg. A piece of sinew is wound tightly around a splinter of wood several times. If it unwinds quite smoothly, this is considered a favorable sign, and the indication of the shoulder-blade may be rejected. If, on the contrary, it becomes entangled, this corroborates the indication of the shoulder-blade, and some reverses are likely to happen. Then another shoulder-blade may be tried for some other direction of moving.

The Maritime people use the shoulder-blades of the seal for purposes of divination, but this is done less frequently, chiefly because there are no questions to decide regarding the choice of direction of moving. The attention of the people is naturally directed, not so much to the possible result of hunting-expeditions, as to procuring help and protection from the supernatural forces, so as to obtain a favorable issue for the hunt. The Chuvantzy and even the Lamut of the Anadyr country have also adopted this way of foretelling the future, and the latter probably imitated it from their Chukchee neighbors. The explanation of the lines, adopted by the Lamut, is, however, simpler than that of the Chukchee. The Lamut, for instance, do not distinguish between the sea and the mountain side of the shoulder-blade. They do not even pay attention to the position in which the blade is held, but are occupied exclusively with the lines. Among the collections of the Museum there are several shoulder-blades of Lamut provenience, which were burnt over the fire for divination. One of the most characteristic is represented in Fig. 299. The vertical line on it signifies the route of the Lamut; one branch of the bifurcated line coming from the left side signifies the coming of the reindeer; and the body of the line signifies the joint way of the Lamut and the reindeer after having come together. Evidently the hunt will be successful, because the line signifying the way in common is exceedingly long. The detached line on the other side of the principal line signifies the reindeer which will succeed in passing by the hunters and reaching the mountains. {The distribution of "Scapulimantia" has been discussed by Professor Richard Andree in Boas Anniversary Volume (New-York, Stechert, 1906), pp. 143-165.}

There are several other methods of divination; for instance, the person puts an amulet or a splinter of wood into his left mitten, and shakes it violently till the small object flies out of the mitten. It is a good sign if it falls to the right: the contrary is a bad sign. Divination with blades of grass is very common. The person takes eight blades of grass, and, forming a slender sheaf, ties it in the middle; then he ties consecutively the ends of the grass-blades which touch one another, after which the sheaf is undone. If the blades were so tied as to form an uninterrupted circle, the indication is favorable: if not, it is unfavorable. Such a method seems almost sure to prognosticate bad luck. Many persons, however, succeeded in my presence in forming a circle of blades tied together. I cannot tell whether this was the result of good luck or of cleverness, though they assured me that the thing was done quite honestly without any trick. In a former chapter {See p. 404.} I alluded to the use, among the Maritime Chukchee, of lumps of tallow for purposes of divination.

Dreams. -- I have already spoken of the influence of dreams in the arrangement of the various details of Chukchee ceremonials. {Compare p. 382. } In arranging the thanksgiving ceremonial and the races, dreams are especially important. These two are even called "dream-echoes" (rê'ti-taa'ññirgin), showing how often they are arranged solely on indications of a dream. Indeed, even if a small boy should see in a dream that his family performed a thanksgiving ceremonial, it would be considered necessary to fulfil the dream under dan fire by striking one stone against another. They cook their food in earthen pots manufactured for the purpose.

Even these facts show that the Chukchee war ceased altogether. The Chukchee, when let alone, changed with surprising rapidity from an "unpeaceful" to a "peaceful" people.

Trade. -- One might suppose that some relation still existed between the Chukchee and the Russians. Thus, in the year 1779, the Cossack lieutenant, Ivan Kobelev, was sent from Gishiginsk to Chukchee Cape. {Papers selected from calendars, 1784.} This Kobelev afterwards accompanied Billings in his journeys through the country of the Chukchee. In the succeeding half-century he served as the first official interpreter of the Chukchee language. He lived to a very old age, more than. a hundred years, and his name is mentioned as late as 1849.

Some trade was carried on by barter on the Middle Anadyr, near the mouth of the Red River, one of its affluents. There the summer hunting of wild reindeer was participated in by all the tribes of the vicinity: and along with the Yukaghir and the Chuvantzy, the Reindeer Chukchee also came there, and even the Maritime Chukchee in their skin boats. We have information of such a visit of the Chukchee on Aug. 5, 1763. {North Archive, Part 18, p. 164.}

Opening of Trade on the Kolyma. -- Intercourse with the Chukchee was renewed on a large scale in 1788 by Banner, the chief officer of Zashiversk. Zashiversk was a town on the Indighirka River. After the recall of the garrisons, the Kolyma officer was made subordinate to the Indighirka officer, the one nearest to the west. At the present time, Zashiversk has ceased to exist, the Kolyma is again a separate district, and the Indighirka is subordinate to the town of Verkhoyansk. The Chukchee were quite eager to trade with the Russians. They wanted Russian wares; above all, iron and tobacco: so the Russians and the Chukchee agreed to meet every year in the spring-time for trading-purposes, in some place to the east of the Kolyma. At first a place on the Large Anui, at the mouth of its affluent the Angarka River, was selected for this purpose. In the year 1805 Zashiversk was deprived of its governing position, and the official centre of the Kolyma country removed to Sredne-Kolymsk. A few years after that the Chukchee spring fair was also removed to the Dry Anui.

Anui Fair. -- A wooden fort was built and surrounded by palisades, as was usual with the forts of former times. The Russians were still afraid of the Chukchee, and wanted to be protected against sudden attacks; but the attacks never occurred, and other fairs were arranged in the country of the Gishiga, without any palisades, in a cluster of block-houses built for the purpose, or even in the open tundra on the snow.

I obtained from the Chukchee a curious story about the beginning of the Anui fair. According to that story, the Chukchee wanted trade so badly, that they were ready to force the Russians to open it, even by personal constraint. "Many years after the murder of Yäku'nnin [Pavlutsky {Compare p. 652.}] the spring fair on the Anui Fiver was opened for the first time. Numerous people gathered, -- Chukchee, Russians, Chuvantzy, -- and wanted to begin bartering at once. An officer from the Czarina (Katherine the Second) also came and declared, 'My heart is full of anger. You have killed so many men of the Czarina, I will not permit this traffic.' The Chukchee people began to deny the accusation. 'We did not do it. The people of Anadyr did it.' Four strong men walked around in the Russian fortress. There is nothing to do. They peep into the house of the officer through a chink in the door quite attentively. .There he sits, clad in red, -- red cap, red coat, red boots. One says, 'Let us break down this door and seize him!' They broke the door, caught the red man, and carried him to one of the camps. He cried out, calling for rescue, but nobody heard his voice. The next morning the Russian people made an outcry. The local officer requested that they give back the officer of the Czarina. 'No,' said the Chukchee, 'we must first open up trade.' The four strong men released the captive, and, to appease his anger, they gave him two black foxes. Then the people said, 'We cannot trade without an interpreter.' So they found Ke'ka, a man of Chuvantzy stock, who lived on the Big River, and made him their interpreter." {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 391.}

Another tale referring to the same time states, "After a while they ceased fighting. The people of E'tel (Chuvantzy) who used to be killed by both parties became their interpreters. They all became friendly, and the war ceased. Then Nute'wgi, a man of Chuvantzy stock, went to a Chukchee strong man, Eeñei'vu, and carried a paper relating to the stopping of the war. Along with that paper he took a large medal of silver."

The paper in question, together with the medal, were actually preserved in a Chukchee family on the Large Anui River. The owners put them in a flat wooden box, and used this box in the ceremonial as one of the family charms. I bought it from them. The paper proved to be a document dated Feb. 8, 1789. It was directed to a "Chukchee Chaun Chief, Khamakhei, who in the year 1788 expressed his desire to become a subject of her Majesty, and to pay tribute, together with his kinsmen. For that promise he was presented with a crimson coat, and with a parade dagger bearing the inscription 'Russian true subject.' Thus all authorities would thereafter have to meet him as a true subject and a slave of her Majesty."

Khamakhei is the Chukchee name Qi'miqäi ("Little Worm"). Another man of this name, whom Wrangel met on Cape Erri, may have been the descendant of this first "true subject." It may be seen from this document that the Russian officials sought again to induce the Chukchee to become subjects, and to pay tribute; but from this time on, it was done with great caution, by means of persuasion and without any constraint. This policy has not changed up to recent times, notwithstanding the fact that efforts were made by a few officers to force the Chukchee into more real subjection. The most active of all in this respect was Maydell.

Even the Russian Code contains special articles referring to "natives not wholly subjugated." {Russian Code, edition of 1857, IX, Articles 1251-1256.} Of these articles, the 1254th says. "They are governed and judged according to their own customs and usages, and are subject to Russian law only in case of murder or pillage committed on Russian territory." I mentioned before that at the Anui fair only the inner space of the fort is considered to be Russian territory. Outside the gate begins the free territory of the Chukchee.

Article 1256 says, "The Chukchee pay tribute in quantity and quality according to their own free will." This article, however, was excluded in the next edition of the Code, in 1876.

Chukchee Tribute and "Chukchee Presents." -- In order to induce the Chukchee to consent more readily to the payment of tribute, Banner obtained from the Government a yearly assignment for the so-called "Chukchee presents." The sum was.assigned from funds of his Imperial Majesty's own Cabinet, in accordance with the fact that tribute from the natives was turned likewise into the same Cabinet. The sum varied greatly from year to year. Thus, in the year 1791 it was 500 rubles; in the next year, only 85 rubles; a century later, in 1861, and after that, it was 150 rubles. Maydell mentions 143 rubles as the probable sum for the year 1869. With this money were bought tobacco, kettles, and knives, which were then taken to the fair and given to the Chukchee as if in payment for their tribute. The tribute was, as in earlier times, from each man one fox, mostly red, but sometimes also white, though the white fox is considerably cheaper than the red one. It seems that in the beginning the Chukchee, in their eagerness for trade, were even ready to pay some real tribute.

Thus, the tale about the opening of the Anui fair, cited before, continues as follows: "The officer from the Czarina said again, 'My heart is angry. Why have you killed so many of the Czar's people?' -- 'Control your anger,' said the Chukchee. 'Stop asking about the murdered men. Better assign a chief to count all the people. Let the chief, with the people, pay to the Czarina tribute in restitution for the murdered men.'"

I have this tale from a member of the family of Ei'heli, whose name has been mentioned several times; and probably it reflects knowledge of the more recent measures carried out by Maydell. Still most of it refers to an earlier time. The Russians certainly could have succeeded in exacting some kind of trade-tax, to be collected at the fair. Instead of that, they tried to introduce again tribute by subjection, the same as that which led to all the earlier wars. This tribute was paid very irregularly, -- one year (1835) by twenty-seven men, another year (1837) by twenty men, and still another year (1838) by only eight. And with the presents of the Government the paying of tribute soon became quite similar to traffic. The Chukchee wanted to get the most possible, the Russian officer wanted to give less, and thus haggling over the tribute ensued. Still, in most cases the present given represented the current price of the furs brought for tribute. Thus in 1806 the Chukchee tribute was ten red foxes; as an equivalent in presents, 27 pounds of tobacco, valued at 40.5 rubles, were given. The Governor of the Yakutsk Province, however, was displeased with the transaction, because the value of the foxes was equal to the value of the tobacco, plus transportation. In 1832, for each red fox, three pounds of tobacco and an iron spear-head were given, which was still less favorable for the Russians. In 1837, for each red fox, two pounds and a half of tobacco, a large knife, some beads, needles, also candy, hard tack, etc., were given.

The so-called "complimentary tribute" (поклонный ясакъ) {Compare Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 799.} also appeared from time to time. Thus in 1812 there were presented to the Czar seven black foxes on the part of seven different men. In 1814 there were presented to the Czar by the Chukchee seventy puds of walrus-ivory and seventeen puds of peltries. This last present is uncommonly large. I presume that it was simply the result of traffic carried on by officials with Government property for the benefit of the Treasury.

Some of the Chukchee tribute was paid by the Reindeer Chukchee, another portion by the Maritime Chukchee traders (kavra'lit), who played such an important role in the Russo-Chukchee trade. The presents, consequently, were distributed between these two groups of tributaries. The Maritime group was much more important, because all the best peltries of American provenience were brought by the traders of this group.

Regulations of Treskin. -- Trade at the Anui fair was carried on more or less uninterruptedly until 1811. In that year General Treskin, Governor of Irkutsk, introduced a set of rules which were to regulate with the utmost strictness trade with the Chukchee. These rules were put into force in 1812, and observed, until 1869, when they were repealed by Maydell. Treskin, even for his time, was famous for his cruelty and corruptness, and his career terminated by his being officially prosecuted in court. Among his other qualities was his constant desire to regulate strictly the whole course of life, which is so characteristic of all the bureaucracy of the St. Petersburg period of Russian history. The most essential feature of his rules and regulations was the fixed table of prices for all the more expensive objects of sale brought to the fair; such as beavers, all kinds of foxes, martens, and walrus-ivory, and, as the Russian equivalent, tobacco, and often also kettles, iron, and copper. The staple article of value offered for sale by the Chukchee was the red fox; and that offered by the Russians, tobacco. Objects of minor value, such as reindeer-meat and seal-thong, were sold at free prices in exchange for iron-work, sugar, etc. In some years fawn-skins were included in the table, but for the most part these were sold free. In some years Cossacks and the common citizens were given the right to carry on some small traffic with the Chukchee to the amount of one pud of tobacco, but only for the necessaries of life, such as meat and clothing. In other years even that right was taken away.

The table of prices had to be established every year by deputies of traders, in accord with the chief officer and the principal Chukchee traders; but usually it ran on from year to year without change, as follows: --

1 pud (36 lbs. Avoirdupois) tobacco, or 1 pud of iron kettles, or 1 pud of copper kettles -- Chukchee Equivalent. -- 10 red foxes.

1 black fox -- 20 red foxes.

1 gray fox -- 2 red foxes.

1 beaver or otter -- 2 red foxes.

1 lynx -- 3 red foxes.

1 overcoat of marten -- 5 red foxes.

1 bear-skin -- 1 red fox.

3 martens -- 1 red fox.

4 white foxes -- 1 red fox.

4 average walrus-tusks -- 1 red fox.

4 fawn-skins -- 1 red fox.

1 parkee -- 1 red fox.

The foxes and all other peltries had to be full-haired and whole, with a tail and all four paws. Before the opening of the fair, all the tobacco was divided, under the inspection of deputies, into piles of one or two puds, put into leather bags, and then sealed. It had to be quite dry and of good quality. Sprinkling with water, which adds to the weight, was forbidden. Trade with objects of fixed value was permitted but one day. After that the less important trade began, which was free. Thus the chief object of value offered in trade by the Russians was made, like money, quite uniform among all the traders. The kettles, iron or copper, were also of about the same quality. The peltries of the Chukchee, on the contrary, varied considerably in quality and value. This unequal position of the two trading-parties led to the strange scenes described by Wrangell. {Wrangell I, p. 282, German edition, Report of Matiushkin.} For instance, trade was opened on the ice of the river near the fortress. When the signal was given, the Chukchee quietly remained by their sledges; while the Russians would rush ahead, dragging their tobacco and doing their utmost to outrun each other and to secure the best peltries.

The merchants as a body were inclined to support these regulations, because they hoped by their means to keep the price of Russians articles of value on a certain level, sufficiently high, and purposely so fixed; or, as it is stated in the first draught of the regulations drawn up in the year 1811, " Nobody has a right to make exchanges under value. On the contrary, every one must take care to raise the price as high as possible, so that the traffic shall be more profitable for our side."

This is plain enough. Still in the course of time some changes in the table became necessary. They appeared in the shape of so-called "supplements," added to the fixed prices. Thus in the forties of the nineteenth century iored foxes were worth 1 pud of tobacco, and a kettle as supplement; 20 foxes brought 2 puds of tobacco, a kettle, and a wolverene-skin. Individual traders, on the contrary, were all the time trying to elude the regulations, underselling the others, buying articles of lesser value with tobacco, selling to the Chukchee traders on credit, which was also forbidden. Some merchants had a secret agreement with their Chukchee friends, and put into their sealed tobacco-bags some special "supplement." One merchant, for instance, found a way for many years of putting into each large bag of tobacco a small flask of alcohol. His trade was quite prosperous. All this brought on continuous trouble, mutual complaints, denunciation, and endless chicanery. The trespassers were punished with the utmost severity, especially those of the poorer class. Thus in the year 1838 a trader named Bereshnov was deprived of the right of trading for ten years because he exchanged with one Chukchee ten pounds of tobacco for such reindeer-skins as were not included in the table. He wanted those skins for his sister's clothing. In bartering for foxes, he was short by three-fourths of a fox-skin. In the year 1842 Miastukov, a poor man, underwent the same penance for thirteen years, because in bartering for foxes he was short one paw. On the other hand, the merchants, acting as a body, were bent on monopolizing the whole trade with the Chukchee at the yearly Anui fair, to the exclusion of every other way and place. Thus in the year 1849 the merchants of Kolymsk entered a complaint against the Yakutsk merchant Basile Trifonov because he wanted to re-open the disused trail to Anadyr and Gishiga. This Trifonov was very active. He made several attempts to find the trail. One time, guided by the official chart, he lost his way, and returned to Omolon. On the way he visited the camps of the Chukchee and the Lamut, and the merchants complained to the authorities that this was an infringement of the regulations of the Anui fair.

In the year 1859 a similar complaint was entered against another merchant, Nicholas Bereshnov, by his three cousins, Paul, Lucas, and Gabriel Bereshnov, and it had immediate effect. I could give a long series of such examples from the Archives of the Kolyma. Earlier than that, in the year 1834, the Cossacks of Nishne-Kolymsk made a complaint even against the Yukaghir of Yelombal, on the Large Anui River, because, in order to get food for themselves, they worked on iron and traded off the products of their work to the Chukchee; and this was immediately forbidden.

Nevertheless, in the year 1826, the whole body of merchants complained of the restrictions on trade. They accused the officials of having put a restraint on trade for their own private interests, since they themselves carried on considerable trade. In accordance with these complaints, the Siberian Committee, in 1831, tried to establish free trade. The Report of the Committee points out that because of these restrictions, the prices of imported wares are exeedingly high. Thus tobacco, which is valued in Yakutsk at eighteen rubles per pud, is valued in Verkhoyansk at five rubles per pound; i. е., at more than ten times the original price. An axe is valued at ten rubles. It is remarkable that the permission given by the Siberian Committee for free trade had no effect at all. On the contrary, in 1837 the order forbidding merchants to go to the camps and settlements of the natives was reiterated. The same was repeated several times, in 1839, 1840, 1847. The restraint was evidently stronger than the permission to exercise freedom in trading.

Maydell's Reform. -- This condition of affairs lasted until 1859, when Maydell repealed the regulations, and established free trade. At the same time he tried to abolish the custom of giving to the Chukchee presents in exchange for tribute, and to introduce a real tribute. He accomplished this, together with a curious administrative reform in regard to the nearest groups of the Reindeer Chukchee, while the Maritime Chukchee remained outside of his sphere of influence. Still, in 1869 he gave no presents at the Anui fair, not even to the Maritime traders, for their tribute. I have already spoken of Maydell's reform, which was based on the attempt to create official clans for the purpose of exacting tribute; these clans were to have chiefs at the head, with a "Highest Chief of all the Chukchee," as a kind of hereditary prince, ruling the whole tribe. The family to whose lot this dignity fell was in reality one of the richest reindeer-breeding families in the whole country. The head of this family, in Maydell's time, was Amra'wkurgin, a man of great personal ability, both physical and moral. His father's name was Ya'tirgin; and Ya'tirgin's father was Gela'irgin ("Marmot"). In a document of 1812 this "Marmot" is called the "Chaun Chukchee Chief." Khamakhei, in the document of 1789 cited above, was also called "Chaun Chukchee Chief." The western limit of the Chukchee in that time lay near the Chaun River.

I mentioned before that the Russian authorities, from the very first years, tried to find chiefs among the Chukchee, in order, through their mediation, to exert an influence over the whole tribe. Since the Chukchee had no chiefs, the Russian officials addressed their attentions simply to the more wealthy and influential persons, and bribed them with presents, -- gave them gaudy coats, bright medals, and daggers inlaid with silver, -- although usually without practical result. Amra'wkurgin inherited from his father two such medals and one coat. He was given several others besides; so that his son Ei'heli was able to hang form his neck, when in full parade dress, five ponderous disks in yellow and white. Amra'wkurgin was very modest about displaying his strange rank; but Ei'heli, who had far less good sense than his father, often presented quite a foolish appearance. I will quote the official report of the chief official of the Kolyma for 1884: "This funny man came to me in full parade, saying, 'I am the Chukchee chief. Г am the Czar.'"

I witnessed a meeting of Ei'heli with another official newly come from Yakutsk, and inexperienced in local affairs. Ei'heli was quite drunk, and his crimson coat was all besmeared with filth. Still, when he hiccoughed out his usual "I am the Chukchee Czar," the haughty official hastily stood up and did obeisanse. After that, when Ei'heli was going, he sped forwards and opened the door with his own hand for the Chukchee majesty. Following this example, the other Russians often called Ei'heli "the black Chukchee czar" or "the tundra czar." I was witness to another occurrence, when a well-to-do trader fell upon his knees before this dignitary with a complaint against some Anui Chukchee who had charged too high a price for their slaughtered reindeer. Ei'heli said nothing: he had no influence with the people in question. Other chiefs, supposed to rule their clans, have just as little influence as the first dignitary. After a while, all the "clans" became mingled. The supposed clansmen changed their abode, and quite forgot their former relations. I remember that in the year 1895 one To'lIño, an acquaintance of mine, was made an assistant to the chief of the Anui clan. He told me very judiciously, "Now I am a chief, and I have this dagger and a package of papers as signs of my dignity. Still where in the world are my people? I am unable to find any."

Expansion of the Reindeer Chukchee and New Tribute. -- As one reason for the introduction of the new tribute among the Reindeer Chukchee, Maydell cited the circumstance that from the time of the cessation of hostilities they were slowly but incessantly moving westward and southward. In the time of the Russian war their western frontier was somewhere west of the Chaun River and on the upper courses of both Anui Rivers. In the thirties of the nineteenth century their camps extended to the Large Baranikha River, although this country was considered as having belonged, from times of old, to the Yukaghir of the Anui. In the fifties of the nineteenth century the Chukchee proceeded first to the Labugen, then to the Pohinden, both affluents of the Dry Anui River. Their onward movement was connected with the vanishing of the Yukaghir. These last died out, or receded to the Kolyma, because the wild-reindeer herds were turned away from their yearly migratory route across the Anui and Kolyma Rivers. This last circumstance was probably due to the increase of the Chukchee herds. Thus the pacification of the country proved unfavorable to the lower material culture of the Yukaghir hunters, and quite favorable to the nomad culture of the Chukchee, which was higher than that of the Yukaghir, though in other respects the Chukchee were more primitive.

In the end of the fifties of the nineteenth century the foremost Chukchee camps crossed the Kolyma River to the west, and were approaching the Omolon River on the south. All this territory was formerly occupied by the Yukaghir, who were already half extinct; but the Chukchee were conscious that the land was not theirs, and considered themselves under obligation to pay at least something for those new pastures. Maydell asserts that he was the first to give permission to the Chukchee to cross the Kolyma River, but this is not the case. Some Chukchee crossed the Kolyma as early as 1859 with the permission of one of the predecessors of Maydell. Another party crossed the Kolyma River in 1866. As to the tribute, Maydell had good sense enough to abolish the former standard of one red fox per head as too high, and not easily obtained by the reindeer-breeding Chukchee on their treeless tundras. He established a new standard, low in price and easily procured, -- one reindeer-skin scraped and worked into soft leather. A considerable number of such skins are prepared by all the tribes of the country. Some of them are used for clothing; others are exported to Yakutsk, there to be used by the Yakut also for clothing. Each Chukchee family has, besides, a number of spare reindeer-skins. Thus the women are able at all times to prepare soft curried leather. Still the collecting of soft skins as tribute proved a failure. Many of the Chukchee brought skins of bad quality or none at all; and the deficiency was paid by Amra'wkurgin and the other chiefs. Here Maydell again showed his good sense by substituting a money equivalent for the tribute of skins, one ruble for every single skin. This standard is the lowest, in comparison with that of all other native tribes of East Siberia; and the whole amount of tribute was put at 247 rubles. From that time on, this tribute was paid every year by the Reindeer Chukchee, although a goodly portion of it was not paid by the tributaries, but was furnished instead by the rich chiefs of the clans. From that time, the Reindeer Chukchee also ceased to receive presents for their tribute.

May dell forbade the giving of tribute-presents to the Maritime traders also. This might have been the last of the Chukchee presents had not a new factor come into play, -- the loss of importance of the Anui fair, and the desire of the authorities to give it some support. The chief reason of this decrease in importance was the diminution in the number of American peltries brought to the Kolyma market. Before this, all beavers and martens and fully half of the foxes, sold on the Kolyma, were of American provenience. A large portion of the iron and tobacco also went to the American shore, even far inland, through the mediation of the Chukchee. In more recent times these peltries have found their way from Alaska to the United States. Some of the beavers and martens, which bring quite a good price in Asia, were still going the former way, but chiefly those of inferior quality. Even a large part of the peltries from the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo went to America through the medium of whalers. The Maritime traders (kavra'lit) would take American wares and carry them inland to the Reindeer camps to be exchanged for fawn-skins and ready-made garments. Thus this branch of the trade, also, did not reach the fairs of the Kolyma. {See pp. 57, 66.}

The number of Maritime Chukchee who attended the Anui fair, which in former times usually amounted to a couple of scores, fell to ten and even less. Then the authorities thought to attract them again by restoring the tribute-presents. This was done very soon after Maydell's time. In the year 1889 the Governor of Yakutsk, Svetlitzky, ordered that these presents be increased as the only means of attracting the Maritime Chukchee. Every one who should bring a companion with him would be entitled to special recompense. According to this order, each individual share was more than doubled. In the year 1889 twelve Maritime Chukchee paid tribute at the fair, and received for one red fox, for instance, one large kettle, one knife, one spear-head, several pounds of tobacco, beads, candy, and hard-tack. The value of the presents was much higher than that of the tribute. In the official papers of that time these presents are called "return presents to the Chukchee, not subjected to Russia." This state of things lasted up to very recent, times. Four or five of the Maritime tributaries would come to the fair every year, bringing a dozen tribute-foxes, their own and those of their absent friends' "entered in the register." A few new-comers would also ask to be put on the tribute-list; but the chief official would usually refuse to do so, because new bargains of such a kind would be of little use. The tributaries would come to the Anui fair without a large amount of peltries for trade, only with their tribute and a few skins for buying liquor; and the whole transaction degenerated into a complete sham. I was informed that for the last two or three years the Chukchee presents have been withheld again, but I am not quite sure about this.

On account of hard times, when the fortress of Anadyrsk was abolished, the Russian authorities were under the impression that in dealing with the Chukchee the utmost caution and prudence are required. This idea has been retained up to quite recent times. I have spoken before of the Anui-fair riot of 1895, the details of which are so characteristic. Another interesting incident happened ten years before, in 1884. A Russian creole of Nishne-Kolymsk, Semen Drushinin, while on a trading-trip to Cape Erri, had some difficulties with the Maritime Chukchee of that place about a seal-carcass that was offered for sale. He paid a "false price" for it, and the seal was taken back from him against his will. Angered by this, Drushinin declared that the Governor of Yakutsk would come to the Kolyma in order to punish the Chukchee, for which purpose he would bring powder and ammunition to the amount of ten pack-horse loads. When the Chukchee made light of this threat, he added, pointing up to the sky, where the aurora borealis was shining with uncommon brightness, "See that flame! Have you seen the like before? God is warning you! That is your blood Г

The whole affair sprang from a denouncement by another creole, hostile to Drushinin, and seems to be grossly exaggerated. Nevertheless it caused great commotion among all the Russian authorities of the country. Drushinin was arrested and put into jail. An extra messenger was sent to the Governor of Yakutsk; another was sent to the Chukchee "chiefs" with the solemn declaration that the Russian Government had no part in the words of Drushinin. The chief .official even proposed to the Chukchee, that, if required, he would come himself and assure them of the peaceful intentions of the Government. The Russian Creoles were warned that they must take care not to give the Chukchee even the slightest reason for displeasure, under heavy penalty according to martial law, etc. I do not know the result of all this, nor whether Drushinin was really court-martialled.

Chief Officers of the Anadyr. -- The Anadyr country, after the abolishment of the fortress in 1764, had no officials, and was governed from Gishiginsk. The first official was appointed in 1889, at the time of the opening of the steamship-line from Vladivostok to Mariinsky Post once a year. This first official was Grinevitsky, a doctor of medicine, who died there a year afterward, having asked in vain for a furlough to more civilized countries. He also made a request in his official report for permission to be called, not the chief official, but only the doctor, because the Chukchee are a freedom-loving people, and must first become accustomed to the idea of authority. His request, however, was not granted. After that, for three years Anadyr again had no representative of the official authority. Only a few Cossacks, from Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka, were sent to stay at Mariinsky Post. Life there was quite wearisome. Thus one year no fuel was left for them by the state steamer, and they were obliged to gather driftwood throughout the winter from under the snow. They had no dogs, and had to drag their fuel themselves on a sledge. They would go for fuel, and lose their way in a snowstorm. Some of them told me, in speaking about this." We knew nothing about the country, and were sent against our will. We left our families in Kamchatka. So, when we were in the greatest trouble, some one of us would fling himself on the ground, and wail aloud (in old Russian fashion), 'Oh, my mother! why have you borne me for this trouble? О God! why have you brought me to this country? Oh, we are wretched!' etc."

Then, in 1894, N. Gondatti -- at present Governor of the Tobolsk Province -- was appointed chief officer of the Anadyr. He staid there three years. Mr. Gondatti, who, like Maydell, was partly moved by scientific interests, tried to imitate him also in his administrative activity. Thus he sent his assistant, Ankudinov, to the Ke'rek to induce them to pay tribute. The Ke'rek are the most wretched tribe of all northwestern Siberia, perhaps even more wretched than the Yukaghir; and they are rapidly vanishing, partly through starvation. It is only just to say that no violent means were used, and that the timid Ke'rek were rather coaxed into paying a few fox-skins into the Russian Treasury. In a report by Mr. Gondatti the exaction of this tribute is extolled as "the subjection of a tribe heretofore quite independent." It should be added that the Ke'rek paid their tribute once or twice. Then they ceased to come to the Anadyr and also to pay tribute. When on a visit to Indian Point, Mr. Gondatti also displayed much official zeal, as he himself has described partly in his papers, {The Population of the Anadyr District (Memoirs of the Amur Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. Ill, Part I). When writing Part I of this volume in New York, I had not this paper at hand (cf. p. 27), but I found it afterwards in St. Petersburg.} partly in conversation. Thus he sealed in the village of Uñi'sak, with the sealing-wax of the Russian Crown, one of the native storehouses filled with strong liquors; and the seals were not broken until the time of his departure, which, however, happened shortly afterwards. He also tried to counteract the supposed influence of the "transformed shamans," going so far as to employ chastisement personally inflicted ad hominem. He selected also three trustworthy men, and appointed all three elders or chiefs of the village Uñi'sak. With each of these chiefs he left a duly written paper and a Russian flag, with instructions to hoist the latter as soon as a Russian ship should come into the harbor. This happened so rarely that the whole ceremony very soon fell into desuetude. In the same spirit Mr. Gondatti, during the three years of his stay at Anadyr, kept a detailed account of all sales and purchases, debits and credits, of the Russianized natives. {After the energetic activity of Mr. Gondatti, there came for the Anadyr a period of quiet. So the Governor in Vladivostok said to the successor of Mr. Gondatti, "You must remember that we gave to Grinevitzky two thousand rubles for the investigation of the country, and to Gondatti fifteen hundred rubles. Now we consider that the country is thoroughly investigated. And you are to be, not an investigator, but a simple chief of the district." I may agree with the idea expressed in these words, in so far as the less active the representative of the Russian authority is, the better it is for the inhabitants of the country.}

I know another official who at the very same time held sway on the Lower Kolyma, and who, in order to exterminate syphilis, kept another account, not less detailed, of all sexual intercourse between men and women, hoping in this way to find the bearers of the original disease. Both records were failures, but they are very characteristic for the whole system of the administration of the country.

Trade in Alcohol. -- I made mention before of the brisk trade in strong liquor which is carried on in the Kolyma country between the Russians and the Chukchee. {Compare p. 61.} A few more words regarding this matter may be interesting. In the thirties of the nineteenth century, liquor was still very scarce at the Anui fair. Only the aged interpreter Kobelev, whose name has already been mentioned, was able to sell some at retail. The price of the liquor was a marten-skin for a small glassful. One of the documents adds, that because of this traffic, he was greatly loved by all the people. At the same time, however (1827), Nishne-Kolymsk had a regular saloon, where even fruit-brandy (five barrels {A barrel of the kind in question forms one-half of the load of a pack-horse. It contains 3 vedros ("buckets") of 20 bottles each. A Russian vedro is equal to 3249 gallons.}) was sold. In 1842 there was a great famine on the Lower Kolyma, and some cases of death by starvation on both Anui Rivers. In the same year the saloon above mentioned sold thirty barrels of undiluted alcohol, and in 1847 even fifty barrels. In 1864 the price of alcohol at the Anui fair was two beaver-skins for one bottle.

From that time on, the imports of alcohol into the Kolyma country increased quite regularly until they reached three hundred barrels yearly. At the same time the price regularly decreased. During my stay on the Kolyma, the price of alcohol in the saloons of Sredne-Kolymsk was two or two and a half rubles per bottle. The saloon of Nishne-Kolymsk was abolished, but plenty of liquor was to be had on the Lower Kolyma. The price at the Anui fair was a red fox-skin per bottle, which is five times cheaper than the price in 1864. In .1895 the Cossack commander of Sredne-Kolymsk, by official order, sent a man to the Reindeer Chukchee of the western tundra to buy reindeer for alcohol, only in the order the alcohol was called simply "liquor." The man brought with him one barrel of this liquor, and slaughtered twenty-two reindeer. I was a witness to the whole transaction. I was informed recently that the importation of alcohol into the Kolyma country has lately been forbidden. It remains to be seen how strictly this prohibition will be enforced; but of course some such law, however slack, is much better than to allow the importation to go on unhindered. If the trade in liquor could also have been stopped from the American side, the vanishing of native tribes of this country would probably proceed at least more slowly than at present.

General Character of Russian Administration. -- Such is the history of the official influence of the Russians upon their Chukchee neighbors. To understand it properly, one must bear in mind the general character of the Russian Administration in the far east of Siberia. The rule of the Moscow Government, which lasted in European Russia until the beginning of the eighteenth century, continued in Siberia half a century longer. Thus all the Chukchee wars, and those who took active part in them, the Cossacks and public-service men, the boyar-sons, their reports, and all the search for tribute, belong wholly to the old period of Russian history. The Government of this period was at least frank and plain in its dealings. The Cossacks and their chiefs wanted tribute and submission of the natives. Their principal means of enforcing their desires was by the use of fire-arms (огненный бой), by taking hostages, by torturing on the rack, and by executions.

In the latter part of the eighteenth century the St. Petersburg method of administration was extended also to Siberia. German terms took the place of Russian ones in all branches of the Administration, the ample coats of the old style were exchanged for foreign-looking uniforms, and the system of bureaucracy developed to its full vigor. For the next century and up to the present time it has remained in Siberia almost without change. Kolyma, Yana, and other remote districts of the arctic zone, are the worst governed of all.

Expenses. -- As an example, the expenses of administration of the Kolyma district may be given. The personnel of the Administration consists of five people, who receive yearly, in round numbers, a total of ten thousand rubles salary and three hundred pud of flour. Each "serving" Cossack also has a right, from his seventh year of age up to his dismissal after twenty-five years of service, to a single "ration" (паекъ), which is equal to a hundred and fifty rubles and twelve pud of flour each year. The whole number of such rations is about one hundred: so that the total of merely the salaries of members of the Administration is about twenty-five thousand rubles and fifteen hundred pud of flour. If we count the flour at only eight rubles and a half per pud, as it was in the early nineties of the nineteenth century, the total for salary would be thirty-seven thousand five hundred rubles. Moreover, the priests, of whom there are seven, receive eight thousand rubles salary, and five hundred pud of flour. The total expenses of the State for administration thus reach probably about fifty thousand rubles. {At least another fifty thousand rubles should be added to cover the expenses, legal or illegal, falling directly upon the shoulders of the population; such as the conveying of officials from village to village, the rebuilding of government houses, the carrying of loads, though in theory this has to be paid for; also various extortions, requisitions, bribes, presents, etc., should be included.} All this is spent for a population of three thousand who are more or less sedentary, and of another three thousand wandering natives; i.e., more than eight rubles per man. The total revenue of the Government from the Kolyma country is less than ten thousand rubles per year.

As a rule, the officials are sent to remote districts such as the Kolyma either as punishment for some trespass, or they go tempted by the comparatively high salary and the short term of service (ten years) necessary for a full pension. They enjoy the full freedom of their administrative position, which leads them very soon to indulge in excesses. After two or three years a higher official is sent from Yakutsk to inspect and to verify the accounts. This often ends either in the district official heavily bribing the inspector, or in his being deprived of his position and impeached before the court. Fully one half of the chief officials of the Kolyma have ended their careers and even their lives while under impeachment. Some of them, too, have been adventurers from the very beginning. Even criminals sent from European Russia to Siberia have then been accepted again into service and sent as far as the Kolyma! I may mention here Vinogradov, who was in service in the thirties of the nineteenth century. In the year 1837 a member of the Provincial Council, Ring, was sent to inspect his office. Almost immediately the two got into a violent quarrel, which ended all of a sudden in the death of Ring. Local tradition says that Vinogradov caused Ring to be poisoned; and I have found in the Archives an order, directed by Vinogradov to the private commander of the Cossacks of Nishne-Kolymsk, referring to the death of Ring, and of rather doubtful significance. Another document referring to 1839, when Vinogradov was dismissed and impeached before a court, mentions his attempt to murder his wife, for which he was legally prosecuted. His wife was the daughter of a local priest. He accused her of improper conduct, "too improper even for the Kolyma," as it is stated in the document. I might mention more episodes of a similar character and of more recent date.

It is no wonder that the doings of such an Administration present forms quite strange, to say the least. I will give a few instances. The inquiries for all persons wanted by the courts or police throughout the immense empire are sent, as a rule, to every district, however remote. Thus the mail, which up to very recent times came only three times a year, would bring piles of such orders, and all local archives are full of them: as, for example, the order of the chief secretary of military affairs inquiring for the dismissed Lieut-Col. von Stempel and his step-daughter Eugenie Krumones, in reference to their petition for the acceptance of the said Eugenie Krumones into the Institution for the Education of Gentle-born Girls; another order inquiring for a banker, Matthias Leibion, from The Hague in Holland; and many more; not to speak of the political refugees who fled abroad, and none of whom of course might wish to go to the Kolyma of their own free will. These orders are followed by circulars, not less numerous,. concerning the collection of "free-will offerings" of official character, chiefly for building monuments, -- for the monument to Count A. A. Bobrinsky, for which 3.35 rubles were collected; for the monument to the composer Glinka in Smolensk, for which 1.50 rubles were collected from the Yukaghir in 1822; for the House of Good Intention in Nishne-Kolymsk, for which 225 rubles were collected (this was to have been a kind of club-house; the plan probably originated with Wrangell, but the house was never built). There are also collections for the hospital in Constantinople, for the Voluntary Fleet, etc. After that follow long tables of local statistics, which year after year are compiled in the following manner: --

Asses and mules -- 000

Camels and buffaloes -- 000

Catholics -- 000

Protestants -- 000

Corn sowed -- 000

Corn gathered -- 000

Tanneries -- 000

Tallow-boileries -- 000

Pay to a working-man per day -- 000

Pay to a working-woman per day -- 000

and so on for scores of pages. If any of these 000 are not sent in time to Yakutsk, there comes from there an angry reproval, with a threat of punishment by law. I have in my collection several samples of such official correspondence. I should mention also that, though not an official in the service of the Government, still even I have received an official circular from the Russian Society of Sericulture, with the offer to undertake the same in the Kolyma country. A promise of a moderate subsidy was added at the end. I must confess that I did not answer the circular. So in due time (after nine months) I received from the same society a letter the purport of which was politely put with much insistance to remind me of the former offer.

When the local official scientists want to produce some original statistics, they turn out to be original indeed. Thus, in the Archives of a settlement in Kamchatka I found a copy of a statistical report, which, among other items, included the following account: --

Peter Rybin -- 52 years old.

Semen Bereskin -- 43 years old, etc.

Total the whole village -- 2236 years old.

Extortion. -- Under piles of such fantastic documents are concealed oppression and extortion of every kind, very real, and often not bereft of cunning. Thus salt is taken from Yakutsk to the Kolyma at the expense of the Government, to be sold there to all the inhabitants. The expense of transportation is 8.50 rubles per pud, and more. The price is established once for all, 1.20 rubles per pud. The difference is over 7 rubles. Thus the merchants who undertake every year to carry the salt allowance from Yakutsk to the Kolyma prefer to carry one tenth of the quantity agreed upon; for the other nine tenths they get the receipts from the chief officer at Sredne-Kolymsk. The salt of the previous years remains in the storehouse, and only a small quantity is sold to the people. The large profit is divided among the merchant contractors and the officials interested in the transaction. It is needless to mention that all the state provisions in the care of such keepers are subject to constant reduction and destruction by mice, wind, inundation, moisture, mildew, fire, partly real, partly fictitious, for the benefit of the supervisors. I found in official reports paragraphs in which even sheet-lead is mentioned as subject to desiccation.

I will give still another example. In all clans and communities of natives and Creoles, besides the ordinary tribute and taxes, there is collected also the so-called "dark collection" (темный сборъ), which is spent without any account being kept of it. It goes to all the officials, from the lowest clerk up to the chief of the district. I know also of cases where the chief of the district would lose at card-playing the whole amount of the taxes of some community, and then would make the accounts so complicated that they had to pay it again the next year as arrears.

Strange Reforms. -- When administrators of this kind undertake certain reforms, still worse things than extortion result. Thus the chief officer of the Kolyma, in the year 1888, suddenly conceived the idea that he would introduce into his district the smoking of herrings. It must be borne in mind, first of all, that there are no herring in the Kolyma River; but there is a small fish there, Coregonus albula, the meat of which is soft and very tender, which goes under the name of herring. The places for smoke-drying were selected, as if purposely, up the river, where even this species of Coregonus is quite scarce. The inhabitants built the sheds and undertook the smoke-drying. Of course they knew just as little about it as did the official instigator of the experiment. As may have been expected, the result was that some of the "herring" were charred to coals, others dropped off from the rods, and some of the remaining ones were quite bitter and unfit for eating. It should not be forgotten that the people on the Kolyma River live on fish as their staple food, without bread or vegetables. Only freshly caught or frozen fish is suitable for such a diet. Fish dried in the sun and slightly smoked afterwards, as is done by the inhabitants, and fish slightly salted (three pounds of salt to a hundred pounds of fish, the proportions used among the Russian Creoles of the Kolyma in salting), are also eaten by them. Strongly salted fish, on the other hand, or fish smoked in the usual civilized way, is almost unfit for the local diet.

One year the catching of spawning fish was suddenly prohibited, though fish-roe forms one of the important items in the diet of the inhabitants, and is used, mixed with flour, for baking a special kind of cakes. Moreover, the fish come into the rivers full of roe for the purpose of spawning. To catch no spawning fish is to catch almost nothing. The next year the same official ordered the Russian Creoles of the Lower Kolyma to undertake another experiment, that of making salt. A party was sent to the seashore. They took with them a large kettle, gathered some fuel, and tried to extract the salt from the water by boiling it. All these experiments, too, were undertaken in the summer-time, when every pair of working hands and every hour of time are of exceeding value to the population.

Two years before that the Governor of Yakutsk also was possessed by the idea of reforms. So he ordered the chief officer of Kolymsk to exterminate immediately all the team-dogs of the Kolyma country, and to replace them with driving-reindeer. Each house-master had to receive five reindeer. The order says, "The dogs consume the food of men. Therefore famine comes so often." This order, however, was not put into execution. Otherwise the whole fishing population of the Kolyma River, Russian, Yakut, and Yukaghir, who know nothing about reindeer-breeding, would be left "walking," as they say on the Kolyma. It is needless to add that this population literally could not exist without their dog-teams. Reforms of this kind have not ceased up to the present time. Thus I was informed that in the year 1906 a new one was undertaken. In this year, after the well-known revolutionary outbreaks, an order was issued in St. Petersburg for the confiscation of arms throughout the country. This order duly reached the Kolyma. Then the assessor of the district went up the river, taking the firelocks from the Tungus hunters, and even the belt-knives {A man in these countries literally cannot exist without his belt-knife. "Man without knife," in local Russian, is an expression of utter contempt and derision.} from the whole sedentary population.

Relief of Famine. -- It is at least the duty of an Administration that costs so much, both to the state and to the population, to assist the people in times of public calamities, which in these countries occur almost yearly as regularly as the seasons change. The Administration has to lend assistance in times of famine, and to afford medical succor in times of disease. Only those that pay tribute have a right to this official assistance. Famines occur on the Kolyma at least every other year. Their usual season is during the months of March and April, when all the stored provisions are exhausted, and fresh supplies have not yet come to hand. To relieve famine, the Administration has arranged for the collection of supplies of dried and frozen fish. Each community has its separate stores, and the members of some are obliged to turn over yearly one tenth, and even one seventh, of the whole product of their fisheries. Accordingly the stores must increase from year to year in a very large measure. The trouble is, however, that the fish cannot be preserved in good condition for too long a time. Therefore, when a famine comes, it happens too often that the fish-stores are either gone or quite putrid and not fit for use. In cases of great need, the Administration distributes among the starving population some of the rye-flour from the storehouses of the Crown. This is given as a loan, which is to be covered afterwards, and the heavy official price paid in full. In some years this is as high as fourteen rubles per pud (twenty cents in American money per pound Avoirdupois). All this (i.e., fish and flour), however, falls to the share only of the Russian Creoles and the Russianized natives. The others, especially those that dwell too far from Russian towns, receive no succor, and are not rarely reduced to death by starvation and to cannibalism. I am informed that in the last few years, when fishing on the Kolyma has not been fairly successful, cases of starvation and cannibalism among the Tungus and Yukaghir have happened quite frequently. The latter tribe is dwindling away quite perceptibly.

The Chukchee, who for the most part pay no tribute, have no right to official assistance, but it seems they do not feel themselves much the worse for that. I mentioned before a Russian creole who grew up among the Chukchee and lived the same life as they do in a nomadic camp, and with a herd of reindeer. His name was Alexis Kasanov. Still, being a Russian creole, and moreover a member of the Russian community on the Lower Kolyma, which is burdened to the utmost with taxes, collections, and requisitions, he had to bear a goodly share of all these payments. When he was in arrears, his fellow-citizens contrived to seize him at the Anui fair or in Nishne-Kolymsk; and he was released only after full payment. His Chukchee neighbors paid nothing. Naturally he was not well contented with his Russian origin. One time in my presence he came to the chief official of the Kolyma and wanted to enter a petition to the Czar, asking to be released from the rank of a Russian creole, and to be lowered to the position of a tributary Chukchee. "They pay only one ruble per year," said he. The chief official declared that this was impossible. "Then you would forfeit any right to the assistance of the Administration," added he. "Do not bother me with your exactions," said the poor Russian nomad, "and I will never ask for your assistance." Kasanov married a Chukchee woman according to Chukcbee rites. He refused to have the Christian rite performed. "Then my children would be entered as Russians," he explained. "I prefer to have them illegal and Chukchee, as their mother is." The whole mode of thought of this man is quite Chukchee. Thus he says that if the authorities will continue to be so severe on him in the payment of arrears, he will settle the question by destroying his own life. All this took place in the year 1895-96. I do not know whether Kasanov is still alive.

Medical Succor. -- Medical succor is another branch of official assistance. The Kolyma country is ravaged by various dis The blade has a stout back and a long pointed end. The other end has a slender round stem, which is deeply embedded in a wooden or antler handle, usually without pegs to hold it in place. The handle is often notched to afford a better grip. Most of the knives are of Russo-Yukaghir make; some also are hammered by the Chukchee out of American steel files of small size (cf. Fig. 132, a). A sheath or scabbard is usually made of a piece of ground-seal hide folded together and roughly sewed or laced with a thin strip of leather (see Fig. 83, p. 161).

Knives made by the southern Yakut and brought over to the Kolyma by merchants are the most convenient for the Reindeer Chukchee, because their narrow blades make them fit for stabbing animals, while a deep groove along the blade allows the blood to flow freely from the wound. The Maritime Chukchee use American cutlery chiefly.

The Chukchee usually carry their knives in their belts, while the Lamut and the Russo-Yukaghir have the scabbard fastened to the hip by means of a loop of leather, and a toggle formed simply by a knot of the string.

The double-edged knife of the usual Eskimo form does not exist at present in northern Asia. Among the more ancient stone blades there are some which clearly belong to this type. The blade represented in Fig. 135 is from the village Wute'en of the Asiatic Eskimo. It is made of slate, and is slightly convex on both sides. One side has a slight ridge near the point. Two holes are drilled in the bottom for fastening it to the shaft. They were probably made with a stone drill-point.

Knife-sharpeners are made of slender pieces of sandstone of fine grain. At Indian Point I found such a sharpener, made of jade, and pierced through at one end for convenience in fastening it to the belt. It was said to have come from King's Island. In the Koryak villages of western Kamchatka, knife-sharpeners are made of pieces of petrified wood, which is frequently found on the seashore near the mouths of rivers.

Large whetstones for sharpening tools are made of square blocks of smooth-grained sandstone, which is found in various places about the country. A few revolving grindstones have been bought from the Russians and Americans.

The Chukchee have little chance to split logs in their treeless country, and indeed they prefer simply, to hew wood with their light adzes, though sometimes it takes a day to cut a single sledge-runner. They have learned, however, from the Yukaghir, who have more skill in handling wood, how to split wood by means of wedges made of the same material.

Work in Iron. -- Work in iron has been but little developed up to the present time. This is explained by the difficulty in preparing charcoal, an indispensable material for the smith. The Chukchee work chiefly on cold iron with file and hammer (Plate XX, Fig. 2). A few clay forges with large bellows have been observed. Their form is directly copied after that used by Russianized natives.

The Chukchee bellows in the collection (Fig. 136) are made of seal-skin, with boards on the top and bottom. A barrel of an old gun is inserted for a nozzle. The bellows are worked simply with the hands. Among the Russianized natives and the Koryak a string is sometimes tied to an iron eye fastened to the handle of the bellows. This string is passed over a smooth beam; and the operator can thus work the bellows by pulling the string, and does not need to bend over. The eye on the side of the specimen illustrated in Fig. 136, however, is hardly placed in the proper place for such an arrangement. Iron is cut with files bought from traders. Sometimes a stout iron saw of native make is also used for this purpose (Fig. 137).

The Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma are quite unable to mend their iron tools and articles they use. They are compelled to seek the Lamut or the Russians for the most trifling cases. Rein-deer-Chukchee blacksmiths are exceedingly few in number, and throughout the tribe the craft of the smith is esteemed as the height of human cleverness.

In one of the Chukchee tales {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 324.} borrowed from the Russians, and curiously adapted to their own ideas about the civilized world, the hero is a young son of the great Sun chief; i. e., a prince. He is described as handsome and clever, with a face "like that of a blacksmith."

The Maritime Chukchee on the Pacific side are better acquainted with methods of working iron. I met one who was able to turn broken Winchester rifles into firelocks, to mend gun-barrels, and to forge steel springs and traps.

A distinct branch of iron-work is drilling out new eye-holes in broken needles. It is accomplished with a very slender drill (Fig. 138, b), turned either by hand or by a light bow. A small head-piece of ivory (Fig. 138, c) is used with it. The needle is held in position by a small awl-holder (Fig. 138, a), and wedged tight with a piece of wood. According to Steller, {Steller, p. 320.} the art of drilling needle-eyes was known to the Kamchadal before the appearance of the Russians.

For tongs I have seen the Chukchee use a piece of wood whittled in the middle and then folded together (Fig. 139). The ends served as prongs, with which they picked small pieces of iron out of the coals.

Woman's Work. -- The work of women consists chiefly in skinning and carving the carcasses of animals, preparing the skins, cutting and sewing garments. The butcher-knife used by the Maritime Chukchee and Eskimo women is similar to the semilunar woman's knife of the American Eskimo. It is called among the Chukchee pe'qul, and among the Asiatic Eskimo u'laq. Modern specimens (Fig. 140, a, b) are all of iron; but in ancient dwelling-sites I found a few blades of slate and obsidian, which evidently were used for the same purpose (Fig. 141, a, b). The butcher-knife is used chiefly for cutting and chopping blubber. Its shape is not adapted to carve reindeer carcasses with their long, thick bones. The women of the reindeer-breed-ers, therefore, use for this purpose a stout knife of the common straight form.

In putting up a reindeer-carcass, the antlers are taken off with the top of the skull by means of an adze or an axe. Then a long cut is made in the skin from the lower lip backward along the under side of the animal. The skin is peeled off with the hands, beginning with the abdomen. Afterwards the head and the legs are cut off, and the intestines and blood removed. The carcass is then divided into seven parts, -- two hams, two shoulders, the brisket, the back together with the pelvis, and the neck. The brisket is considered the best part of the deer.

When taken off from the animals' bodies, all skins are cleaned of bits of meat or sinew with a knife. The inner membrane is also removed. Then the skins are stretched by various methods, and allowed to dry. The peltries are always taken off whole. They are turned inside out, i. e., the hair side in, and pulled over a wooden drying-rack, sometimes simply over a wooden block roughly fashioned to the proper shape.

The drying-rack in use among all the tribes of northeastern Asia is formed of two sticks tied at their tops in such a way that they can be easily brought together (Fig. 142). A third stick is attached across the lower portion of the rack. One end of the cross-stick may be easily untied, allowing the rack to be folded and inserted in the skin. After that, the rack is stretched within the skin, and the cross-piece retied in its former position.

Reindeer-skins are stretched on the ground, and their edges are held with stones. Sometimes they are pinned to the ground with wooden pegs, which allow more strain in stretching, and make the skin larger when dried. Seal and walrus skins are stretched with cords on rectangular frames quite similar to those used in Alaska. {Nelson, Fig. 32, p. 116.} Cords are passed through holes cut in the edge of the skin. When dry, they are folded in compact elongated packages (Fig. 143), for the most part identical with those represented by Nelson. {Ibid., Fig. 33, p. 117.} Reindeer-skins are simply folded in two or rolled together and tied with a piece of cord.

Tools for scraping the skins have the same shape among the Chukchee, the Koryak, the Yukaghir, and the Kamchadal. The typical one has a blade of a round flat piece of flint (Fig. 144, a) or obsidian. The edge is roughly flaked, while the butt is firmly fastened in a hollow scooped out of the middle of a curved wooden stick. The scraper is very strong. It is worked with both hands over a skin, a portion of which is spread on a smooth narrow board resting against the knees (Plate XIX, Fig. 2).

Along with the stone scraper there has come into use an iron instrument of exactly the same shape (Fig. 144, b). Originally adapted for finer work, the iron scraper is now gradually superseding its stone prototype in general use.

The women of the Lamut and Russianized Yukaghir use iron scrapers of two different forms, -- one of them probably an imitation of a stone scraper (Fig. 145); and the other, of one made of bone (Fig. 146). Both forms also occur among other tribes. {Compare Teit, Fig. 127, p. 185; and Fig. 128, p. 186.}

An ivory scraper, oval or semilunar in shape, and hollowed in the middle (Fig. 147, a, b), is used by the Chukchee as well as by the neighboring tribes for squeezing out the guts of sea-animals, which they use as material for various kinds of coats. The form of the scraper is similar to that used by the American Eskimo. {Compare Nelson, Plate L, Figs. 9, 10, p. 118.} The Koryak and the Kamchadal use for this purpose a piece of sheet iron or copper bent or beaten into the same shape (Fig. 147, c). This implement also serves for squeezing the juice out of the stalks of fire-weed (Epilobium angustifolium) and other edible plants. Various shells are likewise adapted by the people in Kamchatka to these uses.

Skins are prepared with or without the hair on. For rubbing the skins the Chukehee women use mainly reindeer-dung and human urine, and sometimes meat-broth. Other tribes apply oil, putrid liver, fish-eggs (fresh, putrid, or dried, and subsequently soaked in water), bran, etc. Nevertheless the reindeer-skins of Chukehee make are softer and better dyed than those of any of their neighbors. The usual process begins with folding a fresh skin with the flesh side in, and leaving it in this state over night. If dry, the skin is previously soaked in water. In the morning the flesh side of the skin is scraped with the iron scraper and trampled with the feet, the right heel being covered with the back part of a short summer boot, the toe of which has been cut off at the instep to allow freer motion of the foot. The skin is then smeared over with reindeer-dung, and again left over night. After that, it is scraped a second time' and trampled with the heels. A vessel filled with urine and some alder-bark cut fine is warmed for an hour over an ordinary lamp. When the liquor is sufficiently saturated, the inside of the skin is well rubbed with it, and the skin is hung up in the sleeping-room to dry. After drying, it is again gone over with the scraper, and all tough places are dampened with urine, scraped, and dyed anew.

With the largest skins the scraping is repeated several times. Each time the skin is left to dry over night. The scraping is begun with the stone scraper, and continued with the iron one. The more scrapings the skin has undergone, the softer and finer it becomes in the end.

The dyeing with alder-bark is considered quite indispensable for every part of the reindeer-skin, even for the tough strips taken from the legs, which are used for boots and mittens. This process makes the skin softer, and corresponds somewhat to tanning. The dyed skins will keep off dampness much better than those with a white inner side. The skins prepared by women among the Russianized natives, which have the inner side either left white or dyed with alder-bark dissolved in water instead of urine, are much poorer in quality than those of the Chukchee.

The chief drawback with all these skins is their complete unfitness to stand moisture. Even slightly damp skins, when drying, will become crumpled and as hard as wood. Faults of this kind can be partially corrected by fresh scraping and dyeing, but even then the skin is in much worse condition than it was before.

In currying reindeer-skins the Chukchee women do not manifest much skill. This work is neglected because the curried leather is comparatively little used among the Chukchee. For currying, the skin is soaked and left for twenty-four hours folded together. Then the hair is scraped off and the skin is dried. Such scraped skins are brought by the Chukchee to every fair, because they are much lighter than those with the hair on. In the further process of preparing the skin, it is smeared with any one of the materials mentioned above, then scraped again, and bleached in the wind or dyed with yellow ochre. The Russianized natives even wash the finest curried skins with soap, and then dry them in the air, giving them a snow-white appearance.

Most of the curried skins are smoked for a couple of days over the hearth or in a special shed which is employed for extra cooking, scraping of skins, etc. The women among the Russianized natives often make a temporary tent of a few sticks, covering them with skins they are going to smoke, and build a smouldering fire inside. A structure of this kind is called a "bath," in reference to the fact that the Russians in that country still take sweat-baths inside of the tent sometimes, much in the same way as the American Indians do.

The best curried leather of Chukchee make is the rette'm, {See p. 170.} i. e., the covering of the outer tent, especially the upper parts, which get a continuous smoking from the hearth inside. This leather does not shrink after rain, and is waterproof to a considerable degree. The tent-covering has the hair closely cropped. In making clothes, this hair, if necessary, is scraped off with an iron scraper. Because of the previous smoking, it comes off easily. Often, however, it is left on.

The dressing of seal-skins has not developed to the same degree as that of reindeer-skins, because the former are utilized only for boots, bags, and purposes which do not require so much care in preparing the material as is necessary for clothing. Walrus and thong-seal skins, after they are dried, do not undergo any further process. The thong-seal skin is used with the hair on for soles of boots, to make the boot warmer. The walrus-hide is split in two with a thin broad knife, while the hide is tightly stretched on the drying-rack (see Plate XIII, Fig. I, p. 170).

When used for covering a boat, the walrus-hide does not receive any additional preparation. It is simply soaked in water, then cut and sewed in the shape required, and pulled over the frame. The skins of small seals that are used with the hair on are prepared by merely scraping their inner side with an iron scraper. A little blubber which is left on the skin helps to make it softer. These skins are not dyed, and are used for spring boots and trousers, also for bags of every kind. The seal-skin trousers and boots are very tough, and wear much better than those of reindeer-skin, especially in damp weather, for they are not spoiled when dried after being wet.

The skins prepared for summer boots are folded wet, with the hair side in, and allowed to lie for a night or two. Then they are well scraped on both sides. To make the skin black it is rubbed with coal mixed with oil, or sometimes with the black dust gathered from whetstones. Often the skins, when scraped, have the epidermis left on, which has a natural black color, and does not need artificial blackening.

The snow-white, parchment-like leather used for ornamental purposes is obtained by bleaching the well-scraped skins in the air for a long time. The best season for this is the early spring. Sometimes such leather is dyed with alder-bark, and then it takes on a deep russet color. The best white and russet parchment is obtained from the gullets of large seals, which are treated in the same manner.

The soft fur of the young of the spotted seal is dyed a handsome red color by using the inner bark layer of the larchtree, boiled with alderbark. This skin is cut in narrow strips, which are sewed together in long thin tassels for the adornment of clothes, sledge-coverings, etc. (Fig. 148, a, b), often with a bead or two on the upper or lower end, as shown in Fig. 149.

A small round piece of skin to which a tassel is fastened is used as an amulet.

Long tassels made of strips of brown leather, with white ringlets sewed on at intervals (Fig. 150, a), or tassels of small strips of fur alternately white and black (Fig. 150, b), are likewise used as amulets or to adorn objects connected with shamanism. {See chapter on shamanism.}

Tailor-Work. -- For cutting skins in making garments a special knife is used. This knife is called the "woman's knife" (ña'wan-wal, a word which resembles the name of the Eskimo knife used for the same purpose). In recent times this knife is made of iron. The blade is curved, and rather broad in the middle. The handle end of the blade projects as a small stem, which is set in wood (Fig. 151, a) or fashioned into a handle (Fig. 151, b). This knife probably developed

from the same stone implement as the butcher's knife. It may have been copied, however, from the Russians, whose women on the Kolyma and Anadyr use the same kind of knife for tailoring, and have a special Russian name for it, падемка (palemka), diminutive form of пальма (palma), which means a peculiar small-sized lance with a one-sided blade of palm-leaf shape, much in use among the Russians and the Yakut. The tailoring-knives in use among the Reindeer Chukchee are either of Russo-Yukaghir or of Maritime Koryak make. The Maritime Chukchee generally employ American cutlery for this purpose.

Scissors used throughout northeastern Asia are of a peculiar pattern, common to the Amur tribes, and originating in China, as may be seen by comparing Fig. 151, £, with specimens in the Chinese collections of this Museum. Tailoring-boards of various sizes, and rather long and narrow in shape, are used. The smaller among them are also employed to cut tobacco-leaves and wood-fibre on, in preparing a convenient mixture for smoking. They are almost always plain among the Chukchee, while those belonging to the Lamut or the Yukaghir are often decorated with engraved designs.

Only iron needles are used at present. In sewing hard leather, especially the soles of boots, needles with three edges are preferred, because they pierce the leather more easily. When short of these needles, the women soften the steel of the large round needles, and then hammer them with a stone into the required shape.

Thread is made of sinew of the reindeer's back, which is dried (Fig. 152), then pounded with a hammer, and separated or combed into thin shreds not unlike the fibres of hemp (Fig. 153). The shreds can be easily twisted to a neat strong thread of any length desired. One end of the thread is tied in a knot, and the other worked out very fine for inserting into the eye of the needle. The needle is threaded in Eskimo fashion with a kind of loop, the thin end of the thread being pulled through the eye only a short distance, and twisted around the main thread (Fig. 154).

The women usually sew by pulling the thread towards them, and make an overcast seam.

The thimbles used at present are for the most part made of iron (Fig. 155, a1), and are bought from traders. They are of the plainest kind, and are open at the ends. Ivory thimbles of the same pattern are made by the Chukchee, the Koryak, and the Kamchadal (Fig. 155, b, dl). Leather thimbles in similar shapes are also used (Fig. 155, cl).

Needle-cases are made in Eskimo fashion, but always of iron or copper. They are long, thin tubes {Compare Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 524.} (Fig. 155, d2, e1) inside of which the needles, thrust into a piece of. rag or of thin leather, are kept.

The thimble is slipped on a thin strip of leather fastened to the needle-case, and prevented from falling by a thimble-guard generally made of iron (Fig. 155, d3), but sometimes of ivory (Fig. 155, a3, c1).

Rude work-bags are made of the curried leather of the leg-skins of reindeer or of plaited grass (Fig. 155, a, d, e), occasionally adorned with a few pendants of beads or of iron. Their patterns are in general similar to those used by the American Eskimo. The Russianized Yukaghir have work-bags similar in shape to those of the Alaskan Eskimo. Both may be imitations of Russian patterns. Some are made in the Russianized settlements of Anadyr and Kolyma for sale to Chukchee women at the small fairs, and these are now and then imitated by them. A work-bag is represented in Fig. 155, f, which should be compared with one figured by Nelson. {Nelson, Plate XLV, Fig. 14, p. 108.} When folded, it has a shape similar to another represented by the same author; {Ibid., Plate XLV, Fig. 15.} but in place of a buckle a small round pebble is used.

Pouches for holding snuff-boxes and sundry small implements are often worn on the belt (see Plate xxiii, Fig. 1). Their shape resembles that of American Eskimo specimens. For instance, that represented in Fig. 156 is similar to specimens from Alaska in the National Museum at Washington. Other pouches and small bags are made of a seal's flipper or of a swan's foot. Instances like this are met also on the American shore.

Bone or ivory combs are used for shredding grass needed for insoles, and for preparing sinew to be used as thread. Usually the combs have two prongs Fig. 157, a), and are shaped quite like those used in Alaska. {Ibid., Plate XLVIII, Figs. 3, 4, p. 104.} Some, however, have several prongs (Fig. 157, b) or a circular head with prongs around it and a wooden handle inserted (Fig. 157, c). These are more like other kinds of Eskimo combs used for removing loosened hair from skins. {Compare Murdoch, Fig. 301, p. 301.}

Embroidery. -- Skin clothes are ornamented in two ways, -- either with embroidery or with applique work, formed, like a mosaic, of small squares of black and white skin cut out for the purpose and sewed together piece by piece (see Plate XXI, Fig. I). In both branches of this ornamental work the women of the Chukchee have but little skill, while those of the Koryak and of the Russianized Yukaghir display considerable taste and great patience. Embroidery is done with the long hair of the reindeer-mane, which is white in color. Often it is dyed red with alder-bark. Thin sinew thread is used for the same purpose, as are also long narrow strips of soft white leather. Koryak women and Russianized native women also use woollen thread and silk bought from traders.

The embroidery patterns used by Chukchee women consist of a few very simple geometrical figures, chiefly straight lines, crosses, and circles, single or double. The circles are said to represent stars. All these figures may be seen on various pieces of embroidery (Plate XXI, Figs. 1-4; also Fig. 158, a-c). Occasionally they embellish the trimming of the "dry-shoes," the opening of the sleeves, or the backs of women's frocks, where tassels are fastened.

The Reindeer Chukchee women embroider the covers of their family sledges according to their skill. These covers have around their lower part a broad band of leather embroidered with various geometrical designs, and trimmed with fringe and red-dyed fur tassels (Fig. 158, a-c).

The triangles seen in Plate XXI, Fig. 1, and in Fig. 158, c, were said to represent mountains; and the zigzag-like lines in Fig. 158, c, were explained as rivers. A part of the design in Fig. 158, c, is apparently copied from the engraving on the iron spear-points, the pattern of which, as noted before, came from the south.

I could not find a single woman able to give full explanations of her own patterns; so that, if they ever had a meaning, it is forgotten by this time.

Above the band on the back part of the cover is fastened a circle about twenty-five or thirty centimetres in diameter, covered all over with embroidery. This is called "the sun," the same name which the Lamut women give to the round metal breastplates that form part of their festive costumes. This round piece clearly represents the sun, which is often embroidered in the middle, and is easily recognized by the prominent rays spreading out from the centre of the circle (Plate XXI, Figs. 3, 4). The tassels which are sewed on in the centre of the sun or all around the disk also represent the rays. The sun is surrounded with many concentric circles, which indicate different worlds. In some of these worlds are seen flying birds and shining stars. The birds are> represented by crosses; and stars, by small circles (Plate XXI, Fig. 4). Once in a while a sun-picture is replaced by a moon-picture, which is made in white or red, and crossed with several diagonal lines.

The Asiatic Eskimo adorn their fur shirts with a band of embroidered trimming, but this is only a clumsy imitation of the fine work of the Russianized natives. The cartridge-pouches and belts of the Eskimo are also embroidered, while those of the Chukchee are for the most part plain. The quivers of the Reindeer Chukchee, of which there are several in the collection, are also decorated with elaborate embroidery (Plate xxn). The meaning of these figures could not be ascertained, because the work belongs to a former generation. No quivers are made now. These embroidered designs, in their general character, resemble the drawings of the Chukchee, which relate to religion and ideas of creation; {See Chapter XII.} and it is possible that the embroidered patterns in question have reference to some cosmogonical ideas.

As to patterns formed of square pieces of skin, the Chukchee women make but very few, using them to decorate caps, hoods, leg-openings of trousers, the upper edges of boots, ear-laps (see Fig. 183, a), etc. Among the square pieces of skin they may insert a small bit of red flannel. The whole work is crude and irregular. The patterns made by the Koryak women are much more elaborate. The collections include a coat of Koryak make, with a large band around the skirt formed of several thousand small squares sewed together with untiring patience.

Embroidering with beads is practised very little. Pouches for tobacco and strike-a-lights are often adorned with beads, but most of these pouches are bought either from Lamut or from Alaskan Eskimo. I found among the Reindeer Chukchee a pouch which undoubtedly came from the Athapascan Indians. Chukchee work of this kind is a mere imitation of foreign patterns.

Baskets and Trinket-Boxes. -- The work of the Chukchee in mats and baskets is exceedingly limited. I have mentioned rough mats made by the Reindeer Chukchee for covering the ground in their sleeping-rooms. At the mouth of the Anadyr River baskets almost as crude are made of willow-branches, for carrying fish (Fig. 159). One or two of the Chukchee living make better baskets of willow-roots, but the style is wholly copied after the work of the Russianized natives of Markova.

Small trinket-boxes are occasionally made of birch-wood, but for the most part are bought from the Lamut or the Russianized natives. Fig 160 represents a trinket-box of Lamut make, in the shape most common among all the tribes of north-eastern Asia. It is covered with geometrical designs, and its form is quite similar to that figured by Nelson. {Nelson, Plate LXII, Fig. 10, p. 162.}

Thongs and Cords. -- Thongs and lines of various kinds are made of skins, which are generally cut in a spiral from the circumference to the centre, so that the whole skin makes one long line.

The poorest of the larger reindeer-skins, those not fit for any other purpose, are clipped of hair with a sharp knife, and then cut into a narrow strip less than half and inch broad. The skins are cut when fresh, or, if dry, they are dipped in water to make them softer and more pliable. The line is stretched out of doors, made as taut as possible, and allowed to dry. This kind of line is called a "leather line" (ñilhi'lhin). Among the Reindeer Chukchee it is used for almost every kind of lashing. The best line of this kind is made of the skin of old wild reindeer-bucks. The neck part is so thick that it might be used for boot-soles, and the line made of it is quite strong. When plaited, it is used for lassos (see Fig. 162, a). The Maritime Chukchee prepare a similar kind of thin line of the skins of smaller seals. It is called "seal-skin leather" (mêmičê'čhin), and it is better in quality than the reindeer-skin line.

The skill of the natives in cutting the skin into narrow lines is very remarkable. Usually one man holds the hide and the line near the cut, and pulls them toward himself, while another makes the cut by steadily drawing towards himself a knife held in an upright position. For a hundred feet of line the hand of the cutter will not change its regular motion or swerve from the proper direction. The entire line seems of exactly the same width.

Stouter line is made of the skin of the ground-seal and of walrus-hide. These are cut in the manner described, either fresh or dry. The line is usually from an inch to an inch and a half broad. The line made of ground-seal skin (uзneči'čhin, "ground-seal leather") is best in quality. That of the walrus-hide (rirka'-ñê'lhin, "walrus-line") becomes flabby with moisture, and wears out more rapidly. The hide of young walrus gives a line of much better quality. The ground-seal skin line is often dyed black with soot mixed with oil, to make it stand the dampness better. When freshly cut and dried, the line is almost as hard as wood. To make it more pliable it has to be chewed all over, in which process it usually increases in breadth. After that, it is drawn with considerable force across the edge of some immovable object, like the runner of a heavily loaded sledge or one of the larger tent-poles. A special implement of bone or antler is sometimes used in this process (Fig. 161). It contains a hole with sharp edges, through which the line is repeatedly drawn. By means of another hole in the top, the implement is suspended from the house-frame.

For lassos, tent-ropes, and various kinds of cord, the Rein-deer Chukchee and the Lamut often use thin plaited "leather line" (Fig. 162, a) or plaited sinew (Fig. 162, 5). The sinew of the legs is chiefly used, because it is too coarse for making thread, but it wears better than the sinew of the back. The twisting is done by hand. The sinew or reindeer-skin rope is often smeared with oil and smoked over the hearth for a day or two to make it less susceptible to moisture.

Most of the knots in use among the Chukchee are either identical or very similar to those used by the American Eskimo. For instance, those represented in Fig. 163, a-d, are identical with those figured by Boas. {Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, Fig. 44, a, c-e, p. 34.} In Fig. 163, e is the same as d, with the addition of the peculiar tied-in toggle on the free end of the line, which is a characteristic feature of many Eskimo knots. In Fig. 163, f is a variation of d; g is a splice identical with Fig. 44, n, of "Baffin-Land Eskimo." Fig. 163, i, is a variation of Fig. 44, m, of "Baffin-Land Eskimo." Fig. 163, h, represents a thong eye spliced with a line in true Eskimo fashion.

Fig. 164, a, shows the way to splice a thin line with a thicker piece of thong. It is employed on reindeer-halters to make their inner side -- the part touching the forehead -- rougher, thus assisting the action of the ivory prongs in making the animal turn around.

Fig. 164, b, shows the method of splicing two ends of a broken stick. It is used on reindeer-whips, and is mentioned also on p. 157.

Fig. 165, a-f, shows patterns of buttons and eyes used for various purposes. For other buttons and eyes see Figs. 5, 11, 23, 25.

Fire-making Implements. -- The fire-drill, even at the present time, offers one of the chief means of kindling fire among the Chukchee. It is not certain, however, whether the people of northeastern Asia did not formerly also use pyrites and flint for the same purpose. Yukaghir tradition says that the "first ancestor" used to get fire by striking together two stones. One old man related to me that the spark was caught in a tiny sulphur-dish in the same way as is now done. The sulphur at present is bought from Russians, but the natives say that in former times sul-phur was found in the Anui Mountains and near Baron Korff's Bay. In a Chukchee creation-myth the Raven first drills fire out of his right foot, by means of his forefinger, then strikes it out of his two thumb-nails. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 168.} At the present time, however, the strike-a-light, though quite prevalent among the Chukchee, is made of steel and flint, and bought from Russians or Americans.

Among the Maritime. Chukchee the fire-drill (u'tti-mi'lhimil, "wooden fire-tools") has gone out of use. Among the Reindeer Chukchee it is still the only means of starting the sacred fire used in many ceremonials. It is also em-ployed in remote places in ordinary life, when the house-hold finds itself without touch-wood, which is necessary for use with flint and steel.

The fire-drill has the same shape both among the Rein-deer Chukchee and the Rein-deer Koryak (Fig. 166). It consists of a board roughly shaped, usually in human form (gi'rgir), a round wooden drill (ñi'läq), an upper piece (ñirgičičo'čin), and a bow (tiñu'čin) separate from the drill.

I am not aware of a pump-drill being used for making fire by the Chukchee, as is stated by W. Hough. {Hough, Fire-Making, p. 397.} The fire-drill board for every-day use sometimes has no particular shape, the real gi'rgir being kept for ceremonials. The board and the drill are usually made of the same wood, on the Arctic coast more frequently of Canadian pine, which is found everywhere along the shore in the driftwood. In the interior they are made of poplar and aspen. To work successfully, both parts must be completely dry. Therefore in damp weather the Chukchee women sometimes have considerable trouble in obtaining fire with this implement.

The board has several rows of holes, marked at first with a knife, and then made deeper by means of the drill. The upper piece is almost always made of the astragalus of a reindeer, while the Koryak use also wood and stone. It is held in position with the left hand or with the breast. The board is kept in place with the foot, while the right hand moves the bow, the string of which winds around the drill (see Plate XIX, Fig. 3 opp. p. 198).

Too hard pressure on the top of the drill makes the process slower. While turning in the hole, the drill produces a shrill sound, which is regarded as the voice of the gi'rgir.

When the wood is dry, smoke begins to rise out of the hole after a few seconds. To produce a flame, however, requires considerable skill. Often to increase the friction, a little coal is put into the hole under the drill. The lighting of the spark is indicated by a rapid increase in the density of smoke, not unlike the steam from boiling water. Then the drill is laid aside, and the board gently swung in the air to keep the spark alive. After that a minute portion of burning charcoal is quickly taken out of the board and put among some dry coals; and the fire is rapidly kindled by swinging it about and blowing it, at the same time feeding it with little chips and splinters of dry wood. The whole process, when the operator is experienced, requires not more than five minutes. The fire-drill, together with the chips and coals necessary for the process, is always kept carefully wrapped in dry skins and hidden in the depths of some voluminous bag to preserve it from dampness.

At present the fire-tools in most common use are the flint and steel (Fig. 167, a). They are bought from the Russians or the Lamut, who, while wandering across large territories, usually take the trouble to find the best pieces of flint, and to keep them for barter with the Chukchee. The touch-wood is made of a kind of fungus which is found on the poplar and aspen. This is the same as that used by the Alaskan Eskimo, and represented by Nelson. {Nelson, Fig. 93, p. 271.} The fungus is well boiled in water, and when dried affords excellent tinder, which is very easily ignited. Beyond the timber-line the Chukchee make touch-wood of young willow-catkins, dried, and mixed with powdered charcoal.

The continuous use of the strike-a-light for lighting pipes requires so much tinder that no amount seems suf-ficient for the winter's supply.

The sulphur-dish is made of wood or ivory (Fig. 167, b, c), and has the same shape among all the tribes of northeastern Asia. It renders the process of making fire much easier, because the sulphur catches the slightest spark, which can then be immediately transmitted to the tinder. The sulphur is rapidly con-sumed, and the dish must be frequently refilled. All tools and materials for producing fire -- i. e., the flint, the steel, the sulphur-dish, and tinder -- are kept together in a small pouch (Fig. 167, d), often embroidered and adorned with pendants and tassels. Careful people carry the pouch on a slender strip of leather around the neck, like a talisman, hanging down under their clothing over the breast. During a heavy rain they even place it under the armpit to keep it free from moisture. Others carry it on the belt or fasten it to their pipe with the tobacco-pouch.

Among the Maritime Chukchee, American matches (ke'we-mi'lhimil, "chafing fire-tool") are much used, and on the Pacific shore they have almost superseded other means of lighting fires.

X. -- CLOTHING.

There is no particular difference between the clothes of Reindeer and those of Maritime Chukchee, except that the former use better reindeer-skins, while the latter use seal-skins more frequently. Skins of reindeer-fawns are highly prized as material for clothing, because they are very warm and at the same time so light that a man clad in double garments is able to bustle around in the open quite freely. When Middendorff {Middendorff, IV, Part 2, p. 1105.} says that in his opinion a good sheep-skin coat is to be preferred for travel, it may be ascribed to the fact that he travelled only with the Tungus. The latter select for clothing either the thinnest summer skins for making their holiday garments, or the heaviest winter skins for making short overcoats, which are put on over the usual clothes for riding-trips in the middle of winter. Moreover, the Tungus usually have only small herds of reindeer, and cannot very well choose their time for slaughtering or pick those animals whose skins are best fitted for clothing, as the wealthy reindeer-breeders of the extreme northeast do. Skins of the wolf, and perhaps also those of the wild sheep, surpass those of the reindeer in their wearing and protecting qualities, but both are too rare to be used regularly as material for clothing.

The Maritime people in these regions, unlike the American Eskimo, use seal-skin but little for coats. This is because seal gives but slight protection against the cold, while, on the other hand, it brings a much better price in exchange for reindeer-skins. For this reason we find that only reindeer-skin is used for winter coats. Seal-skin is more useful for trousers, because it wears better, especially in the damp weather of spring. For spring and summer boots, seal-skin is most serviceable. It is tough, wears extremely well, and affords better protection against dampness and water than any other hide known to these natives.

While the Maritime Chukchee depend on reindeer-breeders for their winter clothes, the latter obtain boots and sole leather from the coast tribes. Late in the spring, when short of seal-skin, the herdsmen will use it only to patch out the uppers of a pair of ordinary reindeer-skin boots, so that they will wear better in the damp snow.

Winter Clothing for Men. -- The style of clothes used by Chukchee and Koryak men in winter is admirably adapted to its purpose. It therefore prevails among most of the tribes of northeastern Asia, including the Russians. Even the northern Lamut, who in ordinary life wear narrow coats, and aprons of a peculiar cut common among the Tungus tribes throughout eastern Siberia, put on the heavy fur shirts of the Chukchee when they drive a reindeer-sledge. Their own clothing does not sufficiently protect them from the heavy wind blowing against their faces, and from the lumps of snow thrown up by the reindeer-hoofs and the runners of the sledges.

Each part of the Chukchee winter garments for men or women is made in two pieces, an inner and an outer one, the former with the hair side in, and the latter with the hair side out. These pieces are worn without being sewed together, in order that they may be separated for drying, but they fit together so exactly as to form practically a single garment. The inner part is usually made of very soft-haired material, so that it will not irritate the skin, and can be worn without underclothing even by a European.

The chief piece of clothing is a heavy fur shirt almost reaching to the knees, with no hood attached, and with a rather large opening in the collar (Plates XXIII, Fig. 1; XXIV, Fig. 2; also Fig. 168). Koryak shirts are longer, and often have a hood; but among the Chukchee only the shroud has a hood, which is drawn over the face of the dead body. The shroud is therefore called by them "the hooded garment." The collar of the Chukchee shirt is bound with a narrow piece of skin folded over so that a stout sinew string may be pulled through to tighten the collar as much as desired. The ends of the string come out on the breast. The Chukchee assert that the string is added to strengthen the neck of the shirt in case of a scuffle; otherwise it would give way when pulled hard in wrestling.

The shirts of the Maritime people, (Plate XXIV, Fig. 1) are of the same cut as those of the reindeer-breeders. They often wear cast-off clothing of the Reindeer people, because the herdsman wears his coat only one winter, often only half of this time. After that, the women of his family make him a new coat, and the old one is sold to the Maritime neighbors. It is still fairly warm and appears well, but in reality the leather has deteriorated and the hair thinned out, so that it offers appreciably less protection from the cold.

The neck of the inner shirt is often trimmed with a broad strip of dog's or wolf's fur, as shown on Plate XXIV, Fig. 2. This may be folded back, forming a thick and warm collar. The lower edges of both parts of the shirt are trimmed with narrow pieces of fur. The inner shirt is a trifle longer, so that the garment appears to have a double row of trimming around the bottom. This trimming is usually of dog-skin, but in the best shirts wolf, fox, and wolverene trimming is used. The last-named is considered the prettiest, wolverene-skin being highly prized among the Chukchee and among the Eskimo on both shores of Bering Sea.

The Koryak fur shirt is trimmed below with a broad strip of fur of the same material as the body of the shirt, but different in color. This strip is commonly bordered with a narrow piece of dark-colored reindeer-skin, and with beaver or otter in garments of the well-to-do. The same method of trimming fur shirts is adopted by the Russianized Yukaghir and Kamchadal, as well as by some of the Chukchee on the Pacific side. On the whole, however, a characteristic feature of the Chukchee shirt, distinguishing it from that of the Koryak, is the absence of this lower strip.

The sleeves of the shirts are full at the shoulder, and narrow at the wrist. The opening is slightly gathered in, and bordered with a narrow strip of fur. If desired, the arms can be drawn out of the sleeves into the bosom of the shirt. Indeed, this is a favorite position with the Chukchee when taking their ease (see Plate xXVII, Figs. 1, 2). The shirt is so ample, that when the arms are drawn in, the man can without difficulty turn in the garment, which then looks more like a small tent. When sleeping in the open without an overcoat, a Chukchee man makes full use of the shelter of his ample shirt. He tightens the belt and then draws in his arms, turns up his fur collar, and draws his head inside, and then pulls the front of his thick fur cap up to the neck-opening. Fortified in this manner, he can sleep snugly in the most severe cold or during a heavy fall of snow. In the morning he will shake off the snow just like an animal after sleeping in the open.

The young people make their upper shirt of thin fawn-skins from the first fall slaughtering. These look smoother and neater than the others. The inner shirt, of course, has to be made of thicker skins. With the simpler clothes the reverse^ is the case. I have already noted that for colors, dark brown, spotted, and pure white are preferred. The young people, too, have their shirts short, while those of old men reach sometimes considerably below the knees, and are made of the thickest autumn skins. They then look more like heavy overcoats than mere shirts.

The outer trousers (Fig. 169) are made chiefly of the leg-skins of the reindeer, the hair running downward. By this arrangement the snow does not stick at all to their sleek surface. For the middle of winter the outer trousers are made of thick fawn-skins (Plate ххш, Fig. 1). Among other advantages, these skins require fewer seams than those made of leg-skins. Since the cold comes in through each seam, this makes a very marked difference in the amount of protection afforded. On the other hand, the leg-skin trousers are not so susceptible to dampness, and are therefore better for spring than those of fawn-skins. Well-to-do people have their trousers made of the leg-skins of the wolf, which combine great toughness and warmth.

The inner trousers are made of soft fawn-skins of varying thickness, according to the season. The Chukchee trousers have no regular belt and are short in the waist, scarcely reaching the navel (see Fig. 170). They are held in place by a sinew string which passes through a hem at their upper edge. Notwithstanding this, they always have a tendency to slip down. The Chukchee men habitually give a peculiar jerk to their bodies to throw the trousers back to the proper place. The trousers are narrow, and fit the calf of the leg tightly. On the lower edge they have the usual gathering-string, which can be drawn tight around the ankle.

The short legs of the Chukchee boots are always put inside the trousers, so that, when the latter are tied, the whole is impervious to snow.

Trousers of seal-skin are worn in spring and in summer by the Maritime people, and by reindeer-breeders who live near the coast. Their cut is exactly the same as that of the trousers of reindeer-skin, and they are often adorned their full length with narrow stripes dyed purple. Those worn by young men often have numerous tassels of the skin of a seal-pup dyed red {Compare p. 221.} (Fig. 170). Trousers with many tassels indicate the claim of their owner to a wrestling reputation, from which fact they are called "wrestler's trousers." Wealthy people sometimes have dress trousers, likewise tasselled, and made of the skin of fur-seal, which is extremely rare on these shores.

Winter boots are made of reindeer-leg skin with the hair side out (Fig. 171, a). They vary in thickness according to the season. The Chukchee are very particular about this, and change their boots almost every month. The boots are generally made of black skin, with a narrow strip of white in the vamp. The legs of men's boots are usually short. Around the edge of the sole is an upright strip of skin, to which is attached the piece covering the top of the foot (Fig. 171, 6). This gives more room for the toes, and at the same time makes the boot fit the foot more snugly. On account of this peculiar vamp, the Chukchee winter boot has a square-shaped toe. The same shape is used for the summer boots of seal-skin or curried leather, though the vamp in the latter consists of a plain piece sewed to the sole. Other tribes of northeastern Asia neighboring on the Chukchee generally wear boots with pointed toes. In the Yakut boots the toes even bend upward with a long curved strip, somewhat resembling the well-known mediaeval form. The natives are well aware of the peculiar square shape of the toe of the Chukchee boot. In one of the legends of the local Russians about their early war with the Chukchee, a party of the latter is discovered by means of the square-shaped grass insoles which they had thrown into the river flowing past their camp. The soles for the coldest time of the year are made of patches of very tough skin taken from between the four toes of the reindeer's foot. These patches are covered with thick tufts of hair, dirty white in color, and almost as stiff as bristles. They are sewed together, fashioned into a sole, and then well dried. The sole has the hair side out, so that the whole covering of the man, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, literally bristles with hair, like the skin of an animal.

In former times the Maritime Chukchee on the Arctic shores used the leg-skins of the white bear for making winter boots, including the soles. This fact was also noted by Nordenskiöld. These parts of the bear-skin are exceedingly tough and covered with thick white hair, so they serve the purpose well. Nowadays, however, the skin of a polar bear brings a very good price either from Russian or American buyers, so the natives have ceased to use it for shoes. Only the elbow-protectors, that form part of the seal-hunter's dress, {See p. 119.} continue to be made of polar-bear skin. For all other seasons, covering about nine months of the year, the soles of boots are made of thong-seal hide with the hair side in, or of split walrus-skin. The latter is not so durable as ground-seal skin. Notwithstanding the extreme toughness of these hides, the herdsmen wear them- out quickly, especially in summer. The inland camps are always in want of hides for making soles. In the Kolyma country thong-seal hides sell for twenty fawn-skins apiece. Even cow's hide, furnished by Yakut traders, is gladly bought at the rate of three reindeer-bucks for one hide. Poor people, unable to procure enough hide for soles, make them of pieces of skin taken from the neck of old reindeer-bucks. This leather is tough enough for soles, especially when taken from wild animals, but it is more susceptible to damage by dampness.

The boot-string is made of strips of curried leather, which are sewed to the boot on both sides, a little behind the ankle (Fig. 171, 6), and taper towards the ends. In fastening the boot they are crossed over the heel, and then wound around the ankle and tied with a simple knot on the front side of the boot.

Short socks, made of fawn-skin in mid-winter and of reindeer-leg skin in other seasons, are similar in cut to the boots. They have the same strip passing around the edge of the foot. They are always worn with the hair side in, so that here again the boot and sock form the usual double article of clothing. The Chukchee do not use for their socks very thick fawn-skin, not even in the depth of winter, because it is supposed that a man keeps his feet warm chiefly by motion. Indeed, a herdsman can use only thin leg-skin socks, else his feet will perspire too much. As noted before, this lowers to a considerable degree the protecting-power of clothes. A Yakut, when travelling on horseback, requires extra covering for his feet, because they are exposed to the cold from all sides. He therefore' wears over the stockings of fawn-skin short socks of the thick fluffy skin of the polar hare. His boots are often made of the thick curried hide of a horse or an elk. Although these are not so warm as leg-skin, they are better proof against dampness. Russian merchants, officials, and other travellers wear double socks of thick fawn-skin. Their boots are made of leg-skins, have soles of reindeer-sole, and thick grass insoles. They are often extremely large. One pair in the collection has soles 33 cm. long, 15 cm. wide, and 40 cm. around the foot, near the instep. Sometimes travellers wear over each boot a kind of furry bag to further protect them from the cold. These are copied from the Tungus, who, when sleeping in the open, protect their feet by this means.

Insoles of grass are used in all seasons, even with light summer boots, which are worn without socks, because the native boots, with their thin, pliable soles, are unfit to be worn without a grass insole. Tough, long-bladed grass is selected for this purpose. The villages on the most exposed shores procure this grass from the inland country by barter. Grass only partly dried is good for insoles. In the fall women gather quantities of it to last their families throughout the year.

Boots with long legs, reaching to the knee and fastened over the trousers with a gathering-string around the top, are often worn by men, although they really belong to the woman's attire. In many cases men wear them, on the order of a shaman, as a means of concealing their identity, or at the bidding of spirits, as the first step in transforming their individuality from male to female. {See Chapter XV.} Leggings of reindeer-leg skin are also used occasionally.

Mittens are made of reindeer-leg skin of various thicknesses. Their cut is the same among all the tribes of northeastern Siberia (Fig. 172). Winter gloves are almost ger of most serious misfortunes. The ke'let and va'irgit also appear to people in dreams to give them warning, or even to ask them for sacrifices. I mentioned in the preceding chapter the "spirits of disease" who came to Aiñanwa't in a dream, before the breaking-out of real danger. {Compare pp. 418, 421.}

Once when I was travelling with a party of Chukchee in the country of the Dry Anui, we stopped over night on the shores of a certain lake. In the morning one of the natives told us that the owner of the lake came to him in a dream and asked him for a sacrifice. "You are a new-comer to this country," said the owner of the lake. "You must give me a present." The man was actually a new-comer to that part of the country. Accordingly he sacrificed to the lake a piece of tobacco-leaf and a small lump of sugar. But the "spirit" had in mind some other thing. The native had with him a little brandy in a glass bottle, which he was carrying as a present to his old father. At first there were two full bottles of the brandy, but a small portion was all that was now left, and the dutiful son wished to keep that little till he came to the house. The "spirit," however, appeared to him again the next night, "almost in his waking moments," and unceremoniously tugged at his sleeve. "Friend," said he, "I want that liquor. I have not tasted any for a very long time."

In the morning the Chukchee was very angry at that demand of the "spirit." "I am no resident of these places," repeated he. "I am simply a passer-by. He has never given me anything." And he kept the brandy in spite of the thirsty "spirit" of the lake. Two days afterward, when we had gone fifty miles from the lake, he suddenly caught cold and fell ill. The cold proved to be influenza, and he was obliged to stop at the next camp, which, fortunately for him, was already arranged for the winter. The camp also had been stricken by influenza; but it was on the decrease, and the people were now out of danger. I heard afterward that the man with the brandy likewise recovered, and, after a week or so, proceeded on his way, but I very much doubt his ability to keep the brandy for his old father.

Another time, in a Maritime village, the mistress of the house where I stopped suddenly became indisposed. In the morning, her husband said that some one came to him in a dream and asked him for his spotted dog. He offered another dog, because the spotted one was the best of the whole team; but the visitor insisted, repeating that "spirits," like men, fancy spotted things. Accordingly, in the morning the spotted dog was stabbed with the spear, and offered to the "direction" of the evening.

Omens. -- In the course of the preceding pages I have mentioned several times the Chukchee belief in omens; for instance, should a slaughtered reindeer fall upon the wound, this is considered as less favorable than to fall on the opposite side, especially if the reindeer had been slaughtered for a definite sacrifice. For the animal to fall backward forebodes misfortune. Therefore, in the very process of slaughtering, the people try by dexterous jerking of the halter to make the reindeer fall with the wound upward. It is not good, however, to exaggerate this tendency, otherwise the sacrifice will not count in the eyes of the divinities.

To dream of the loss of a tooth may presage illness or death, the tooth symbolizing the soul, which is in danger of being lost. The yawning of reindeer during a journey bodes the coming of evil spirits. The crackling of the fire on the hearth foretells the coming of guests. The last sign, as is well known, is widespread among various peoples.

Taboos. -- I did not find many taboos among the Chukchee, Reindeer or Maritime, nor among the Asiatic Eskimo. In this, these tribes differ greatly from the American Eskimo, whose whole life and whose pursuits are closely interwoven with numerous taboos.

Regarding the taboo in reference to a woman's menses, the Reindeer Chukchee consider that during that time the husband and wife must sleep apart, or the woman will grow sickly, and soon become sterile. A like result is represented as following the infraction of other taboos connected with sexual life. {Compare p. 37.} I was told, however, that several "who are foolish" transgress this interdiction, and have intercourse with their wives during the time of the menses. Among the Maritime people, both the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo, the taboo concerning the menses is much stronger. A woman at the time of her courses must carefully avoid even to approach her husband. Even her breath is considered as impure: should it touch her husband or any other man; it would contaminate him, and destroy his chance in sea-hunting pursuits. He would even run the risk of being drowned at sea. In these latter details we see a resemblance to the ideas of the American Eskimo.

The chief taboo among the Maritime people, both Chukchee and Eskimo, is a strict prohibition against the use of wood for fuel during the winter. The time during which this taboo is in force is marked by the going-away and the coming-back of sea-fowl, since all other indications are not sure. The cold continues almost throughout the year, and the ice-floes change their position with a change of winds, and may be drifted off from shore even in the middle of winter. The reason given for the taboo is, that the smell of the smoke will "frighten away" the seals and the walruses. A coal-fire is admissible: nevertheless, the Maritime people feel much disturbed by the attempts of civilized people to settle for the winter in their vicinity. They assert that, on the American shore, the sea-mammals have greatly decreased because of the infraction of the taboo by numerous white settlers who have come to the native villages.

Another very important taboo refers to the precaution relative to scraping skins, and especially to rubbing them with alder, when the carcass of a killed whale is hauled to the shore. Any use of alder is forbidden till the whole amount of meat and blubber is stored away by the villagers. A woman who has her hands stained with alder-juice makes the "noble guest" suffer. If she washes her hands in sea-water, she causes all the whales to leave the shore.

The same proscription existed among the Yukaghir of the Lower Kolyma in regard to the reindeer-hunt.

Women must take no part whatever in the preparations for the hunt of wild reindeer; for instance, it is forbidden to send a woman to fetch a forgotten object. While on the watch for wild reindeer, it is forbidden to call it by its name, or to point toward it with a finger. It is forbidden to cook seal-meat, fish, and reindeer-meat in the same pot while the hunt is going on and all these are fresh from the slaughter. When taken from the storehouse, the various kinds of meat may be cooked indiscriminately in the same pot.

A restriction like this exists among the Yukaghir and Yakut, and also among the Kamchadal. {Steller, p. 274.} The rules of the American Eskimo regarding the same matter are much more strict and complex. {Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 595.}

The owners of the lakes, rivers, and sea-bays, have an aversion to iron^ If, in fishing or sealing, any iron tool is dropped into the water, the catch will be immediately cut off. The same belief exists among the Russianized Yukaghir. It is forbidden to kill a living fish fresh from the water with an iron weapon. It is forbidden to kill the eagle and a sea-bird of the species of Synthliborhamphus antiquus Gm. The killing of an eagle brings storm; and the killing of the other species, fog. The birds of this latter species,, however, may be killed singly from time to time. When a mother-bird with her little ones is met by a hunter, he may kill the latter, but he must immediately take to flight, lest the mother-bird revenge on him the death of her young. If she gives pursuit, he must show her a talisman in the shape of a dried carcass of a bird of the same species, which is often carried for this purpose on the boat. Then she will be frightened, and will desist from pursuit. The bodies of young birds killed under such conditions may serve as amulets, insuring luck in sea-hunting. With the appearance of shot-guns bought from the Americans, the taboo against this bird became less strict, because the bird-hunters simply shoot down anything that flies by. Notwithstanding this, when, during our stay in the village of Uni'sak, we wanted to-kill a few birds for our zoological collection, the inhabitants constantly asked us not to kill top many, lest fog and bad weather should come to the shore, and cause starvation and suffering.

When stopping over night on a journey, the stick stuck obliquely into the ground for supporting the kettle over the fire must point in the direction of the journey. Some taboos and proscriptions about food will be found in the chapter on food. {See pp. 193 et seq.} The proscription about the necessity of stripping and bringing sacrifice, when hewing off a piece of sandstone for manufacturing a lamp, has also been mentioned. {See p. 187.}

Among both the Reindeer and the Maritime people it is forbidden to throw away crumbs and remnants of food. The Reindeer people connect it with success in reindeer-breeding; for instance, they say that, if a reindeer-bone is not entirely gnawed up, the reindeer will be stricken with some disease. If the same thing happens with a bone of a leg, the herd will be visited by hoof-disease, etc. Therefore housewives gather carefully all remnants of food, especially bones, and burn them in the fire. The Maritime people believe that the "Being" of the sea will be angry for any neglect of scraps of the meat which he gives to the people; but they are not so careful about the scraps, especially in time of plenty. It is forbidden to sing or whistle while eating, also to laugh while an animal is being skinned.

I have previously mentioned the taboo about interchange of fire. Another taboo of a similar kind is directed against trading off to another person anything of long and intimate possession, -- things "clinging to the heart" (li'ñliñqin), be they of much or of trifling value. Thus, a man may trade off a driving-sledge when it is newly made, but not after it has been in his possession for a long time. Likewise a man must not sell the driving-reindeer belonging to the team that he is chiefly using; but he can freely trade off the other reindeer and the pack-sledge reindeer. This explains somewhat the seeming contradiction between the words of Kennan, who says that he was unable to buy live reindeer from the Chukchee, {Kennan, Tent-Life in Siberia (Russian edition, 1896), p. 194.} and the fact that the trade in live reindeer exists everywhere in the Chukchee territory. Kennan without doubt wanted to buy good driving-reindeer for his personal use, which, of course, was no easy matter. When selling a live reindeer, it is well to pull a tuft of hair from its mane or head. If this hair is thrown into the fire of the family's hearth, it will prevent any part of the reindeer-luck from departing with the reindeer.

A taboo existing among the Asiatic Eskimo forbids staying away from one's native land longer than five consecutive years. Here, again, the number five has peculiar importance. {Concerning the number of five years, compare p. 392.} By "native land" is understood the natal village and the surrounding territory. But the territories of more remote Eskimo villages are considered as "alien" land. I was told by the natives, that families who have lived for five years away from their native country must either return, or consider themselves expatriated. In that case they must try to establish close relations with the "spirits" of their new dwelling-place. Indeed, though many families of Asiatic Eskimo often move from place to place, in accordance with the vicissitudes of seal-hunting, {Compare p. 28.} they rarely go very far, and even then they try as soon as possible to return to their native village. Thus, most of the inhabitants of I'3en, in Providence Bay, go almost every spring to the village of Eu'nmun, lying not far off on the shore, where the seal-catch is more abundant, but after that they return to their own territory. As to more distant villages, I know cases where families from Uni'sak, who had staid for four years in the village of I'mtun, returned to their native country in the summer of the fifth year, and vice versa.

I do not know whether similar customs prevail among the American Eskimo. Among the Maritime Chukchee a taboo like this could hardly obtain, because the whole tribe is more unstable, almost half nomad, and the reindeer-breeding section, moreover, has too much attraction for the Maritime villages to allow them to hamper their movements by similar customs.

Another taboo of the Asiatic Eskimo forbids long migratory journeys with household and family, to be performed on dog-sledges. Such journeys must be performed exclusively in summer-time and with the large skin boat of the family.

Still another taboo existing among the Asiatic Eskimo refers to the boats going to the open sea for hunting sea-mammals. They are forbidden to take with them provisions and fresh water, and especially fuel for cooking. Indeed, to make a fire in a boat in the open sea is considered as a grave trespass against the hunting-chance of the party. The hunters, therefore, can assuage their thirst only by sucking sea-ice, when pieces of a proper quality can be found, or by swallowing the viscous fluid from the intestines of walrus or thong-seal before mentioned.

For provisions, the hunters usually take only raw or dried meat. To take along cold cooked meat is permitted only after the coming of puffins, which for this reason are often called simply the "cooked." To cook a meal in the boat is, however, strictly forbidden. To cut off and eat a piece of raw meat from one of the animals freshly killed by their exertions is considered most fitting for the hunters. As the Maritime people consume the gristle, the intestines, and the blubber, -- raw as well as cooked, -- this proscription does not seem to be very inconvenient for them.

I cannot say what may be the cause of this strange taboo. The natives themselves are conscious that it seriously hampers their hunting-expeditions, since it makes it impossible for them to go far out to sea. They say, however, that the Sea-Being instituted this taboo through his care for the people, lest too many of them perish in the open sea. The Sea-Being gave to the Maritime people an explicit command not to venture out in the open sea beyond the limit where the line of the shore-hills could be seen, and for further security he instituted this taboo.

The arctic Chukchee, however, have no such taboo. They take with them cooked meat, water, fuel for fire, skins, and covering for their beds. While in the open sea, they make a fire in the boat on a large piece of sod or on a flat box filled with sand, and cook their meat on that improvised hearth. Therefore they are able to go out into the open sea far beyond the limit of sight of the shore-hills. There they eat and sleep, and often stay for two or three days, which, of course, gives them more chance for hunting. For their return they rely on the north wind, which blows there frequently, and brings their boats in toward the shore.

The Maritime Chukchee of the Pacific shore are not, however, so daring on the sea, and their sea-expeditions are by no means the equal of those of the Eskimo. {For other taboos see Chapter XVII.}

TRANSLATIONS OF INCANTATIONS.1

1 Compare p. 332.

I. Incantations for taming Wild Reindeer-Bucks who have joined the Herd of Domesticated Animals.

(a) It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I tugged at your heart's life (tetke'yuñ), {Compare p. 303.} together with the aorta. I drew it out of your anus, and appropriated it to myself. (The person practising the incantation picks up from the footprint of the animal two splinters or blades of grass, and puts them into his left mitten. On coming home, these must be wrapped in a piece of leather, and suspended in the inner room, over the lamp.) It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I drew out your psalterium, I took it out of your anus and put it over your nose, like a bag. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I make you into a tame doe. How is it? Go and look for a husband among the people of the Morning-Dawn! It is a wonder, it is a wonder. You have brought the son of the heaven's crack. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. You have brought the son of the Morning-Dawn's top. {Compare p. 307.} It is a wonder, it is a wonder. You have brought the son of the "separate clouds." It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I have put you on a broad rock. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I have put you on a large rock. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I have put you in a large ravine. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. With the stones falling down from both sides, I made your eyes unseeing. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. With the stones falling down from both sides, I made your ears unhearing. How is it? I fastened stones to the points of your hair. How is it? О Zenith! give me your striking-stone. (The person practising the incantation appears as if about to take something with his left hand.) I will put it on this one's crown, among the antlers. How is it? I have put you on a large lake. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I put you with unseeing eyes on a glacier which is splitting with great noise. How is it? О Zenith! give me your forked wood; I will put it on this one's neck. It is to be trampled upon by the herd from both sides.

I ask an incantation from the World (Ña'rginên). I beg from the Front Head (the star Arcturus)8 the right-side reindeer of his team and that most thoroughly broken reindeer that leads the train of his sledges. I tie the aorta of the wild reindeer-buck to these two. From the top of the Zenith I haul down the heart's life (tetke'yuñ), and with this I strike you on the head. After that I cry out, "Ka, ka, ka!" but he cannot fly, being tied up. The Pebbly River (the Milky Way) I make for my road. I call the East and the West Wind to bring me smoke from every camp around. Then I build a big fire before the entrance of my tent, and I say, "You are my chief guest! Come in! Let us feast at my house; let us eat. What is the best? You are my chief son-in-law. Take a wife from my people." After that, the wild reindeer becomes quite tame, and even comes to the train of the sledges. After a while, however, it must be killed, and all the elements of the incantation returned to their owners. The right-side reindeer is returned to the Front Head. Meat puddings also are prepared with which to feed the Winds. They are scattered (in crumbs) in all directions. The end. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 143.}

Told by Aiñanwa't, a Reindeer Chukchee man of the Kolyma Country.

(b) When a wild reindeer-buck that has just shed his hair joins a domesticated herd, the owner says, "Let us try it and make of him a tame reindeer! Let him create offspring for us!" He goes to the herd and pronounces an incantation. He talks to the Being of the Zenith. "Listen to me, you there above! I am in great need. This one wants to go away, and he is the first of his kind that I have seen here. Give me your wooden stake! I will stick it into his foot and fasten him to the ground; I will thrust it in between his antlers; I will pierce his lower jaw, and bring it down to the level of the ground. With what else will I pin to the ground this fleet-footed reindeer-buck? I will gather bowlders from all sides, and pile them up between his antlers. How will he move his head? I will wrap his ears with sod. I will gather withered sedge-grass and cover his nose with it. Let all bad odors from every part of the earth enter into his nose! I make him into a fawn newly born. О Va'irgm! do not despise my demand. Let me get possession of him! I will give you in exchange something equally worthy of desire." Then he spits, to fasten the incantation. After that he says, "Bring the herd to the house!" The wild buck is very tame. They drive the herd windward, so that he will smell the odor of the house, and hear the noise of the people. But he is heavy, and less shy than before. The end.

Told by Ke3ute'hin (man) on the O'nmilin Tundra, 1901.

2. Incantation used on the Middle Anadyr in hunting Wild Reindeer.

I call every game, every living thing, from the very first limit of creation. A young pintail duck I use for my leader, it is so clever in hiding from everybody. I call an old pintail duck to be my leader. The lone reindeer-buck I make to wade into the water. Oh! let us try to adopt it for the leader! Let him give his call before the reindeer! Now I sing, "Just so, just so! Oh! who are you?" I use the distance (to the game) of yesterday, I use the distance of to-day. I make them appear before me! I cover my face with the soot; to every kind of game I become unknown; to every species of animal I become unrecognizable. Only the soot of my face appears before their eyes. Taking off my breeches, I stand on the ground without any precautions. My buttocks have three eyes, and they keep watch for me. They see every hidden ke'lE, and they make the ke'lE's eyes to close. The foremost reindeer I make very slow, using the two legs of the small pintail duck, forked in two from its buttocks. Everything difficult to smell of I am using all the time. I enter the confines of every place without any precaution. I may sleep without care. All game have a liking for me; every kind of game has a great love for me. Thus I have almost acquired a good careless sleep. The thing lying under my pillow I have for my protector. Blowing over it, I make it rebound backwards. I make it scatter downwards. The end.

Told by Nikon Tahra'tirgin (man) in the village Chika'yeva, on the Middle Anadyr, 1900.

3. Incantation for hunting Sea-Mammals.

When the hunters, having gone out in a boat, have found a herd of walrus sleeping on the ice, and the boat makes a noise striking against the small ice around, the man who practises the incantation says, "O walrus! I put your ears on a broad iron pan, lest you should be able to hear the rapping noise." Then the hunters are able to approach, and kill all of the herd.

Told by Wiyê'nto (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

4. Incantations for improving Bad Weather.

(a) I am crying to the Zenith, straight windward. "Old woman, scrape the sky all over with your little copper butchering-knife! A huk! You have great breasts. I beat my hands three times, then I fall backward. I put my left mitten on my right hand." The end.

Told by Rite'hrew (man) in the village Chika'yeva, on the Middle Anadyr, 1900.

(b) "Western Wind, look here! Look down on my buttocks. We are going to give you some fat. Cease blowing!" (The man pronouncing the incantation lets his breeches fall down, and bucks leeward, exposing his bare buttocks to the wind. At every word he claps his hands.)

Told by A'niqai (man) in Mariinsky Post, 1900.

5. Incantations against the coming of Ke'let.

(a) When evening comes, I tie up two big bears, one on either side of my entrance, and I speak thus: "You are so big and strong! At your side, nothing ill can befall me." If the ke'let try to enter, the bears would catch them, because they are quite fierce. It is difficult to pass them by, or to make an assault while they are there. Then there is a small old woman, quite blind, and armed with an iron whip. She swings her whip all night long, here and there before my entrance. It frightens away the ke'let, and prevents them from making an attack. After that, two big polar owls are put on the watch around this house. They have iron beaks and iron wings. Their beaks are very sharp. When the ke'lE, the murderer, who is wont to make assaults, comes to the house and wants to enter it, they strike at him with their beaks, wound him severely, and peck out his eyes. His blood flows away far into the wilderness. Then he feels afraid, and leaves off.

Told by Ve'lvuñe (woman) in the village of Če'čin.

(b) I make the house of human people into a closed iron ball. It has no entrance and no windows, and there is only a small vent-hole on top. I put around this hole a sharp knife-blade. No ke'lE can enter through it; no source of death knows anything about it. In the evening, in the time for sleep, something bad will try to attack the house. One will say, "Let us enter this house!" -- "Yes, let us do it!" They go around the house, looking for the entrance. There is no entrance, and they cannot find it. "Oh! what side shall we try? It is wonderful. We cannot find the entrance. Let us do it from below. We will enter it through the ground of the outer tent!" They dive into the ground, but have to re-appear on the other side. It is impossible to enter, because the house is all iron. They come again to the front. "Where shall we try it, oh! I hear the people's voices inside. There now! Let me try and climb to the roof." One of them climbs to the roof and sees the vent-hole. "Oh! I have found it! Here is a place to make an attempt. Come, now! lower me down this hole, upon a rope." They lower him down; but the hole is narrow, and armed with a sharp blade. It cuts him all over. The blood spurts out, even the intestines come out, and he cannot endure the pain. "Oh! oh! Haul me up! I shall die! I have bruised and lacerated my whole body." They haul in the rope. His bowels and intestines are all out, and he is covered with blood. "Oh! let us go away! It is too bad. My body is all cut to pieces. I have nearly met my death here. We do not want it." They leave the game and go away.

Told by Ke'3ulin (man) in the village of Mi's.qAn, 1900.

(c) If I am afraid to sleep alone, I say that I have cut off the left half of a female dog's body, and I gather the dog's blood in the hollow of my hand. In this blood I go to sleep. Who can see where I am? That's all.

Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

(d) When I am afraid of ke'let, while sleeping alone, I say, "I make myself into a small stone. I enter the stone. It is lying on the seashore. Every wind is blowing upon it; every wave is washing over it. I am safe." It is good also to swallow a small stone. Then, when the ke'lE comes, he cannot find the man among the pebbles on the shore.

Told by Aiñanwa't, a Reindeer Chukchee man, in the Kolyma Country, 1895.

(e) If I am afraid of ke'let, when travelling alone in the night-time, I take the throat of a re'kken {Compare p. 296, 324.} for my road. He has a long neck. Travelling inside of it, the other ke'let would not be able to find me.

Told by Qo'têrgin (man) in the village of Mi's.qAn, 1900.

6. Incantation used to protect the Herd from the Hoof-Disease.

I ask from the Master of the Pebbly River a big iron box. I put into it my herd, and then turn the key. How can he (that is, the ke'lE) enter there?

7. Incantation against Attack Ьу Wolves, to be used by a Herdsman.

To protect my herd from wolves, I surround it with a long line suspended in the air. Upon this line I hang a number of clothes, which swing in all directions, and frighten the wolves. Thus they cannot approach the herd.

Nos. 6 & 7 told by Scratching-Woman at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

8. Incantations of Magic Medicine.

(a) I went out into the open air. At some distance from the house there are hummocks, -- two hummocks covered with grass. One of them is the nearer, although it is no great distance away. I suppose that I have travelled as far as the region beyond the skies. Coming quite close to the nearer hummock, I cry out, "Halloo!" I say it to myself, but it is as if the hummock called to me. Then I answer, "No, it is I !" -- "How wonderful! Where from?" -- "No, I come from the people below!" -- "How wonderful! For what have you come? You have come from a very long distance." It is a little old woman who talks to me, -- a Woman of the First Creation, Ku'čä-ñe'ut by name, who is sitting in the inner room of her house. The other hummock is her neighbor, the chief inhabitant of the place. She is a woman of many incantations: her name is Ra'učha-ña'ut. {Ñe'ut (ña'ut) means "woman." It is an obsolete word, used only in composition with the names. The meaning of the first half of each name was unknown to the speaker.} "Well, let us hear what the other woman will say, -- Ra'učha-ña'ut, the possessor of the incantations. Go to her!" I start as if about to go farther on to the chief house. Again a conversation, as the first time. "Halloo!" -- "Who is there?" -- "No, it is I!" -- "How wonderful! Where from?" -- "I belong to the people below." -- "How wonderful! What for?" -- "Now listen! A man of my people is sick. He suffers greatly. Therefore I come to you for help." -- "Ho! It is wonderful! And what says the other woman?" -- "She says, 'Go and see what the chief inhabitant will say!'" -- "Indeed! Wait a moment till I come out. It cannot be that you have travelled such a long distance without any result." Then I gather a weed from the top of that hummock, as if it were the old woman whom I am taking with me. We come back to the first house. "Halloo!" Now there are two of us. My companion cries out, "O mother! let us go! It must not be that this man has come hither without any good result." -- "Ay, ay! Wait for me! I am coming!" Now I gather another blade of grass, and I carry both of them to the house, as if I had returned from a land very far off, from beyond the sky. All the people of the house are waiting for me. I put the two old women beside the suffering man, close to his pillow. In the morning we prepare two tiny bags with little pieces of skin. Small bits of fat are put into them, and shreds of sinew into each bag separately. This represents the payment to the old women in meat and thongs. Then I take them back to their former place, and I leave each of them at their respective hummock house. After that I come back, pretending again to return from beyond the sky. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 132.}

(b) When I am sick, I demand assistance from the Right Side of the Morning-Dawn. "Oh, help my need; look down upon me with the Godly Substance (aña'ñ-va'irgin)!" The Right Side of the Morning-Dawn answers, "I refuse!" -- "O you, the Top of the Dawn, help my need; look down upon me with the Godly Substance!" The Top of the Dawn answers, "I refuse!" From the Left Side of the Morning-Dawn I ask for assistance. "Help my need; look down upon me with the Godly Substance!" The Left Side of the Morning-Dawn answers, "I refuse!" I ask the Front Head (the star Arcturus), "Help my need; look down upon" me with the Godly Substance!" The Front Head answers, "Ask the Rear Head (the star Vega). Near the right corner of thy house there abides a Woman of Light, a Hummock-Woman, an Old Woman from the Time of the First Creation: ask her for an incantation!" I visit her. "What have you come for?" -- "I am suffering! Look down upon me with the Godly Substance!" -- "Well, I will try!" She gives me a blade of grass, an iron blade, which is an iron hawk. I rub my body with that grass, and draw out the disease, which I turn into a flock of ptarmigan. These are to be caught and eaten by the iron hawk. {Ibid., p. 138.}

(a) and (b) told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.

(c) When a man is suffering, they call the Man from the Upper Region, and they speak thus: "Come down! I want to use you for my 'assistant.'

Indeed, what shall I do? Where shall I find any other help? I do not know. With your permission I will take you for my 'assistant.' Search for me. Here I am without any help at all!"

Then the man pronouncing the incantation picks up any small thing, for instance, a splinter of wood, and pretends that it is the Man from the Upper Region. Then he demands from the Front Head (the star Arcturus) its reindeer-team, and says, "O Front Head! give me your best reindeer-bucks. This man will use them for his team." He demands also from Rulte'nnin (the constellation Orion) his whip. Then the Man from the Upper Region starts on his searching journey. First of all he visits the "Ground Beings." He arrives there, and they say, "You have come?" (but in reality the man does not leave the place) -- "Yes, I have come!" -- "Who are you?" -- "Oh! I am employed only for an 'assistant.' I come to ask where that man is. He is here, probably!" -- "But we do not know anything. It is wholly unknown. We cannot tell!" Then he goes away (of course, the man is standing motionless), and begins to talk again, and he says, "Oh! where shall I go? Where is he?" He goes to the Upper Being (Girgo'l-va'irgm). "Oh! you have come." -- "Yes!" -- "What do you want?" -- "I am only on a search. I am an 'assistant' for those people." -- "Indeed! But we do not know. That man did not come to us. It is quite unknown!" -- "You say so! But where may he be?"

He comes home and finds the patient, who is now dead. He says, "Oh, I could not find him! The people yonder do not know about him. Oh, it is hard! Where shall I find him? I will go and look among the people of Darkness." He comes to the Darkness. "You have come?" -- "Yes! Oh, oh! There he is!" Here at last he is found by the seeker. "Then you are here?" -- "Yes! I have come here. Here I am abiding!" -- "Oh, let us go home! I am assisting those people. Indeed, for that they have called me! Let us return! I will take you with me." And he really takes him along. (For this the man picks up another small splinter, holding it with his left hand. This means that the Man from the Upper Region brings back the soul, and makes it retrace its way.) At the same time the person pronouncing the incantation blows into the right ear and scratches the head of the patient. The splinter of wood is put under the pillow of the patient. At last the dead one recovers his breath, then his voice comes back to him, and then he is able to take a sitting posture. Then the man practising the incantation demands from the Morning-Dawn some clothes for the patient. He says, "See here! This one is without clothes, this child of mine here! {The person pronouncing the incantation usually calls himself the father of the patient.} Give me some clothes, and I will put them on his body." (He stretches his hand upward, as if taking clothes from above.) Then he puts on the clothes, and says, "I have put upon you clothes which are unassailable (by the ke'let)." After that they carry the patient back into the house, because, for the last performance, they took him out of the sleeping-room. Now they restore him to his place. Before entering the house, his whole body must be smeared over with ochre. After that, he recovers completely.

Told by Qo'têrgin (man) in the village of Mi's-qAn, 1900.

(d) If a man is suffering, there is an old bear, a Big Bear of the Time of the First Creation. I make myself into that bear. All his hair is completely white, though he is no polar bear. I lick over my own fingers, and catch with them the suffering man. At every spot where he feels pain I clutch him tightly. Then I blow with force over his whole body, quite naked. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 135.}

Told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.

(e) If I want to cure some one from disease, I transform him into earth, and transform myself into a huge bear. I am strong; I am clawing the earth, and scattering it around. Then I put the disease into the hole, and cover it with the earth again. Thus I make everything tight.

Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

(f) "The bird Karpai'ñin! there comes Karpai'ñin with iron quills, which are very sharp. {This bird is mentioned also in one tale as having iron feathers; but nothing else is known about it.} He enters the mouth of the patient, and makes his dwelling-place inside of him. Inspect the liver, scratch it all over with your iron paws, stab it all over with your sharp iron quills! Let the disease go out from the neck, from the breast, from the stomach, from the whole body." After that, the patient paints his body all over with soot, which represents the feathers of the iron bird. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 137.}

Told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.

(g) For Pains in the Stomach. I call Ku'urkil (the name of the Raven). This- abdomen of mine I make into a bay of the sea. The bay is frozen, altogether bound with ice. Plenty of rubbish is frozen there in the ice of the bay; the rubbish is the disease of my stomach. "Oh! you, my stomach, you are full of pain. I make you into a frozen bay, into a bad ice-floe, into a very old ice-floe. Ho!" I call to Ku'urkil. "You, Ku'urkil, you travel around from very remote times. I want your assistance. What are you going to do with this bay? It is frozen. Mischievous people made it freeze. You have a strong beak. What are you going to do?" Then the Raven breaks the ice through, but in reality it is the disease which is broken. Everything that has stuck under the water I cause to be carried away; it is floating on the surface. Then he comes {The man who told me this incantation spoke alternately in the first and in the third person.} to the man who asked for assistance, and says to him, "I have finished!" -- "All right!" -- "Now I call to the great Sea, 'O Sea, you are great! Turn back the great river that flows to the seashore!' There comes the wind from the sea, great storm, high billows. I call to all of you!" He catches the patient by the skin of the abdomen. The man who pronounces the incantation keeps his hands on the stomach of the patient, pretending that his palms are the billows. With these he kneads the abdomen, and massages it. While doing this he says, "Here I am cleaning away all rubbish; I make it to be drifted away by the water." Then he falls backward, as if the breath of the great wind from the sea had dragged him away. Then the sea begins to ebb; the tide is at the lowest. The pebbles, which have been here since very long ago (these are in reality his intestines) are bare of water. There is no water near them. "I make you into a very dry place; I make you into a dry sandy shore. A hairy maggot is rolling on the sand, it rolls into its hair all the rubbish from the ground." Then the man who pronounces the incantation blows with all his strength. He smears over with saliva his right palm. He brings snow from outside, and makes it melt in his mouth. Then he brings a blade of grass, and fastens it to the necklace of the patient. Then he wipes the saliva from his palm. Then the people bring the payment. They make a diminutive skin bag, and put into it crumbs of sausage, dry leaves instead of skins, a little piece of meat, and a tiny strip of thong. The shaman takes all these, and carries them home. He carries them to the sacrificing place behind his own tent. There he takes out everything. He stabs the pieces of sausage with his knife: {Compare p. 369.} these are his reindeer for slaughter. He scatters the sacrifice to the Being of Incantation (êwga'nvu-va'irgin), -- the thong, the beads, and the tobacco; then he comes back. The evening comes, and they enter the inner room. The next morning they visit the patient again. "Halloo! how are you?" -- "Indeed, I am a little better!" Then the other one fetches a small river, {That is, some water, which by the incantation is considered to be transformed into a small river.} and puts it into the chamber-vessel to be also used afterwards for washing and sweeping the illness. From that time on, he begins to improve, and gradually recovers altogether. That is all.

Told by Ke'3ulin (man) in the village of Mi's'qAn, 1900.

(h) For Pain in the Abdomen. When my belly is ailing, I call the bear from the Rear Head (the star Vega), and tie him on my belly as a belly-protector. Then I say, "O bear! you are strong. Lick my belly; lick it and bite it! With your biting allay my pain." That is all.

Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

(i) То cure Cuts and Wounds. If I have cut myself, or if another person has hurt his foot with an axe, or has severed a vein, so that blood spurts out like a jet of urine, it is a cause of great fright. If the flow of blood is not stopped right away, it will cause death. I have an incantation for such an occasion. One must demand help from the Zenith. The person says, "Come down, you flying spider, who are the Spider of the Time of the First Creation." Then he appears to be taking the spider in his left hand. "There, now! sew this together." He appears to sew the wound, and then bandages it with scraps of skin. When, after some time, the bandages are undone, the cut is closed and looks quite like an old scar. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 137.}

(j) For curing a Swelling. To reduce a swelling which is slow in bursting, I have a special incantation. I say, "There is a Little Seal of the Time of the First Creation. I have transformed myself into that seal, and I have pierced the thick ice above!" Then I breathe three times over the swelling, which bursts after a while, or perhaps on the next day. {Ibid., p. 136.}

(i) and (j) told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.

(k) Another Cure for a Swelling. Inside of the swelling there lies a boneless fish, -- a Sturgeon. He moves his sharp fins, and cuts up the swelled place. On the top of the swelling there lies a Hare. He makes the snow under him melt with warmth. Between the two, the swelling bursts.

Told by Hiyewte'hin (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

(l) For curing an Ailing Limb. Taking a piece of cloth, I go out of the house early in the morning, and, turning to the Dawn, say, "O Dawn! this is my sea. Give upon my sea a wing of the butterfly." With this wing I rub the patient. This is not an ailing limb; this is the ground. I rub it with the wing from the upper earth of the Dawn, then it will stop ailing.

Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

(m) For curing Pain in the Legs. This is not a leg: it is a place chosen by the Raven for its night's repose. The Mouse-Woman and the Spermophilus-Woman scrape off the snow. The Raven asks of his wives, "Why is that stranger suffering so from pain in his leg?" -- "We do not know." The Raven goes to the Pebbly River. "I will bring some of its water, and I will rub it over the ailing place: let it cease to feel pain." Then he goes away to the Northeast Wind. "Halloo!" -- "Halloo!" -- "Why is this stranger suffering so from his leg? I could not do anything. My single incantation was spoiled by my own wife!" -- "Well, go home!" After a while there comes the Northeast Wind, which carries away the fallen leaves and the rubbish, and thoroughly cleans the ailing spot.

Told by Hiyewte'hin (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

9. Incantations to bring back the Dying.

(а) When a man has just died, and the body is lying in the inner room, another person leaves the house, goes into the wilderness, and talks to the Upper Being, to the Morning-Dawn. He says, "My mind is uncertain. Enough (stop doubting). Whom else may I ask for help? You are the fittest. Oh! give me your dog. I will also use it as a dog for myself. I am sorrowful for my child: it is gone away to a far-off place. Therefore let me use that dog for my assistant." He makes a motion with his left hand, as if receiving the dog from somewhere. Then he comes back and blows into the ear of the dead person, and howls like a dog, "Uu, uu, uu!" Then this dog starts on, pursuing the dead man. It follows him, barking and howling, "Haw, haw, haw!" Soon it passes ahead of him, and meets him on the road with fierce barking. It snaps at him, and intercepts his way in every direction. At last it makes him come back from his long journey. Then he must enter the body and put it on again. After that he begins to breathe, and gradually improves, and finally he, though dead, revives again.

Told by Rike'wgi (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

(b) If I want to retard one going away, I will transform, of my five fingers, the little one into the dying man, and hold it tightly in my palm. When he walks onward, Г will intercept his way. I will bark like a dog, and make him come back. I will make his soul into a drifted tree; I will blow as a high wind, and I will call it to the shore; I will draw it with my breath toward the land: "Kamo, kamo, kamo, kamo!" I will catch the tree by its roots, and draw it to the shore.

Told by Kamenva't, a Reindeer Chukchee, man, in the Kolyma Country, 1897.

(c) When a man suffering from disease becomes quite weak, and is about to die, he is carried out of the house, and his body is rubbed over with something, for instance, with snow. Then another man talks to the Upper Regions. He calls to the Pebbly River, and speaks thus: "O Pebbly River, come down! I will use you for my assistant!" At the same time he calls also the East Wind. Then comes a great fall of rain. The river is greatly swollen. The patient becomes the rapids of the stream; everything is carried away. He becomes quite clean, and the water takes with it all rubbish. Then the sufferer becomes better, and is carried back into the house.

Told by Rike'wgi (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

10. Harmful Incantation (Oiwa'čirg-Ê'wgan).

To whatsoever person has incurred my anger, I say, "You are not a man! you are an old seal-skin!" I call the shrimps from the sea. "O Shrimps! scratch at the skin, and make it full of holes. Be your anger as great as is mine! Destroy him speedily, before the coming of the fall!" Indeed, in a few days he is dead. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 142.}

Told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.

11. Love-Incantations.

(а) If I want to have any woman, I follow her all the time. When she urinates, I see her urine falling down, and then I say, "This is not urine that falls down; this is your heart and liver and kidneys, that fall down together." I go to the Morning-Dawn, and I ask him to give me boots with iron ice-creepers. With these boots I trample on that woman's heart and intestines, and hurt them with the iron ice-creepers. Then she will have a liking for me, and her heart will be hurt with it.

Told by Hiyewte'hm at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

(b) If I want to have this woman, I take out her heart and liver, then I go towards the Evening "direction," and hang her organs on both sides of the Evening. Then I say, "Here is the heart and the liver of that woman. Make them entangled in a seal-net! Let her be without her intestines! let her pine away with desire for me! -- This man is not your husband. This is a seal's carcass drifted to the seashore, rotting upon the pebbles. Every wind blows upon it, and its bones are bared. And you are not a woman; you are a young reindeer-doe. The smell of the carrion comes to you, and you flee away, and come into my possession."

Told by Ke'3ulin (man) in the village of Če'čin, 1900.

12. Incantation used by a Jealous Woman against her Rival.

"Then you are this woman! You have so much of my husband's love that he begins to lose all liking for me. But you are not a human being! I make you into carrion lying on the pebbly shore, -- old carrion inflated with rottenness. I make my husband into a big bear. The bear comes from a distant land. He is very hungry; he has been starving for a long time. He sees the carrion; seeing it, he eats of it. After a while he vomits it out. I make you into the stuff vomited. My husband sees you, and says, 4 do not want it!' My husband takes to despising you."

At the same time I make this body of mine into a young beaver that has just shed his hair. I make smooth every hair of mine. My husband will leave his former liking, and turn again to me, because she is repugnant to look upon. (She spits, and with the saliva smears her whole body from head to foot. Indeed, the husband begins to be drawn towards her.)

"I, who was till now neglected, I turn myself back towards him; I make myself into a deadly pain for him. Let him be attracted by the smell from here, and have a desire for me. If I reject him, let him be still more insistent!" And really the husband leaves off his former passion.

Told by Äqä'ñña (woman) in the village of Če'čin, 1901.

13. Raven Incantation.

The Raven sees carrion lying in the wilderness. "Let me go and call the neighbors. I have found game that is lying quite motionless." A crowd of ravens come to the carrion and alight on it. "Stop there! Let the chief come here!" The chief comes, -- the Raven chief. "I will begin from the spot around the eyes." (He alights, and, turning up his sleeves, takes out his knife. The others do the same. Their knives glisten in the sun. Nevertheless, they are only raven-beaks.) I spread an enchanted noose. One knife is entangled in it. Nevertheless, it is a raven-beak. The Raven wants it back. "Give me back my knife!" says he. "How can I live without my knife?" But the fact is, that it is only his own beak. "Give me back my knife, my only one." -- "I will not." -- "What shall I give to buy it off?" -- "Give me the power on such and such a man!" Then the Raven, in order to regain the knife, will give one of his incantations to be used for my own purposes. {Compare Bogoras, American Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. IV, p. 656.}

Told by Hryewte'hin (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

14. Incantations against the Rivals in a Foot-Race.

(a) I get the line of the Spider-Woman, and make of it my Jasso. This I throw on the person "doomed to anger." His whole body becomes wound around and around with it, and then he soon tires, loses his strength, and wants to sit down. If he does not, he becomes heated quickly, is covered with sweat, and blood spurts from his nose. He spits out blood, and cannot keep up with his rival. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 142.}

Told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.

(b) If I desire to rob somebody of swiftness in running, I bring the trunk of a tree from across the sea. I keep the trunk in my teeth. The trunk has many branches. These I put down across the road of my adversary. He will stumble over them, and his speed will be hampered.

Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.

Birth.

The regulations bearing upon birth begin, of course, when the woman is first aware that she is with child. From that time on, both the husband and the wife must every morning, on awaking from sleep, put on their clothes as quickly as possible, go out of the tent, and take a look in the direction of the morning dawn. Some make a hasty tour around the tent, following the direction of the sun's course. Not until after that may the woman re-enter the inner room to light the lamp. It is desirable that both parties should leave their bed together. The woman, however, may go out alone; but, if the man wishes to appear first, he must take with him one of the boots belonging to his wife. Neglect of any of these particulars will make the offspring come slowly, and will cause its flesh to be flabby. Moreover, the married couple must not transgress the customary rule that places the pillow of the Chukchee bed on the entrance-side of the sleeping-room, and which is often ignored by the people.

The garments for the new-comer are prepared in secret, lest some one of the "alien" people should see them. When the clothing for the prospective infant is spoken of, it is called "belly-protector," in order not to use the real word.

The mother works up to the very last hour. The more active she herself is, the stronger and healthier will be her child.

The husband and the wife sleep together till well nigh the labor-time, and there is no restriction against their conjugal life during this period. After birth, it is considered more fitting for the husband to have no intercourse with the woman for ten days, because, before the expiration of that time, the traces of the birth must still remain in the body of the mother. On the other hand, if the married couple are desirous of having another child as soon as possible (in the event of the first one having died shortly after the deliverance), they will have intercourse before the end of this term, and this is believed to be conducive to another conception.

When the time of labor is at hand, no stranger is allowed to enter the inner room of the family; and even near relatives of the male sex must keep far away, especially if they roam about in the day-time. It is feared that some invisible but evil influence will cling to them, and try to approach the lying-in woman. When the time of labor begins, all males, not even excepting the small children, must leave the sleeping-room, and they must not return until after all traces of the birth are removed. {Among some of the American Eskimo, the husband is not allowed to be present at the delivering of his wife, who is attended only by one or more of her own sex (Captain Ch. F. Hall, Life with the Eskimo, II, p. 313).} They may remain in the outer tent, but' they must keep very quiet. The female members of the family may stay inside, though it is thought more judicious that there should be as few people as possible present. An old woman -- a mother or an aunt -- usually stays with the woman in order to give her a hand in arranging matters.

I have spoken before of the tendency of the Chukchee women to reduce all assistance at this time to the strictest minimum. Nevertheless, when help is necessary, it is given to the woman. I know cases where, in the absence of female relatives, the husband has ministered to his wife in her first labors.

When the child has come into the world, the mother ties up the navel with a string of sinew into which a few of her own hairs have been plaited. This string, of course, has been prepared beforehand, and kept ready at hand. She cuts the navel with a sharp stone, which will serve her for that purpose during her whole life. The stone is simply taken from one of the skin-scrapers, and ever after that is kept in the clothes-bag of the woman. The navel is left unwrapped, but is kept rubbed all the time with dry powdered coal, till at last it falls off. The child is rubbed over with urine from the mother, which has been kept for the purpose; and the bunch of grass that was used in the rubbing is immediately burnt on the hearth.

With the Reindeer people a young doe is slaughtered, and, in the largest kettle of the household, a plentiful supply of strong broth is prepared from its brisket. The water or snow for the broth is brought by the husband. While filling the kettle, he puts the wooden drum-stick across the upper rim of the kettle, and repeats three times a short formula like the following: "O Sun! give us warm water." The woman in child-birth puts a large robe on over her bare body, and places under its folds the kettle full of warm broth. Over the steam of the broth she warms her breasts, believing that this process will make them soften. Then she eats some meat, and drinks of the broth as much as she is able to take. She alone must empty the full kettle, and the sooner this is done, the better. During the first two weeks she feeds on the choicest meat, always carefully boiled, and drinks large quantities of strong broth. The broth is considered well adapted to produce a flow of milk into her breasts.

Immediately after the delivery, the body of the woman is tightly bound around the hips with a cord in order to bring the bones of her body into their former position. The Chukchee believe that, without this, the woman will become sickly, and that her life will be shortened. The binding must not be undone for three days, during which time the woman keeps mostly in the inner room, though she may for a short while creep out into the outer tent. On the fourth day the cord is untied, and the woman may then stay in the outer tent, busying herself about her household duties.

Blood-Painting. -- On the fifth day, the ceremony of blood-painting is performed. For this the woman with the child is put into the family sledge, with one reindeer attached, and is carried around the outer tent, following the direction of the sun's course. The sledge is brought to a stop at the sacrificing-place behind the tent, {Compare p. 377.} where all the charms and images are arranged, ready for the sacrifice. The reindeer that drew the sledge is slaughtered; and the mother with the child, and at least two other members of the family, paint on their faces the usual blood-marks. The charms, and also the three central poles of the tent-frame, are also painted with blood. The woman takes the sinews out of the legs of the reindeer, and stores them away to be used as her boot-strings. Neglect to do this brings on pains in the legs, and rheumatism.

The ceremony of blood-painting is in many cases performed sooner, even on the second day after delivery. This haste is attributable to the idea that, before the ceremony, the new-born child is highly susceptible to evil influence; while after that, it is under the protection of family charms and sacred things.

Before the ceremony is performed, no person coming from outside is allowed to enter the house, especially in the evening. Even the father of the child, should he come from a visit to the herd, must first enter a neighbor's house, or at least rub against his body a small pup, which, as said before, {See p. 13.} will overcome the evil influence. After the ceremony, these precautions are not in force, and are renewed only when contagious diseases are prevalent, or when the child is suffering. In this latter case it is also forbidden to sell, or give away to strangers, anything belonging to the house, as the child's health might be given away with the object.

It so happened that several times, on my arrival at a Chukchee camp, I was refused admission to the houses, in order to protect the children from evil influences; and some of these experiences were not extremely happy.

The woman must not leave the outer tent before the blood-painting ceremony is performed. Should she do so, her walking on the snow would bring on violent snow-storms. {Compare p. 475.}

The after-birth is placed on the ground in the corner of the tent. Three small sticks are tied together, in imitation of the three principal poles of the tent-frame, and are set over the after-birth. They represent a tent. After the camp is left, a piece of leather is wrapped around them to represent the tent-covers.

The Maritime Chukchee and the Koryak place the after-birth, together with its small tent, outside of the house, in the open country. {See Vol. VI, p. 97, Plate XII, Fig. 2.}

After the ceremony, the mother proceeds to find a name for the child. This is done by divination with a suspended object, which may be the divinatory stone, or some part of the mother's or child's dress, such as a boot or a cap. The mother, while holding the suspended object in her hands, enumerates, one by one, the names of all deceased relatives, saying with each name, "This and this has come?" When the object loses its balance and begins to swing, the name is selected. Then the people say aloud, "Such and such a one has returned to us."

This is more than a mere verbal formula. For instance, I met on the Wolverene River a Reindeer Chukchee family who, two years before, had lost their chief, who was much beloved by his sons and nephews. Immediately afterward the wife of the oldest son of the deceased man gave birth to a son, to whom was given the name of his grandfather. He was considered, in a way, as a reincarnation of the deceased one, and therefore was always spoken of as the house-master. At one time, when the youngest and favorite daughter of the deceased one -- but who, nevertheless, had a violent temper -- began to abuse her oldest sister, the mother said, "Tell the house-master [meaning the small boy]. Let him try and make her silent. She is his favorite child."

In other cases the name is selected in quite different ways, frequently from indications received in dreams. Thus, the mother accepts for the child the name of the first object that comes to her sight after her delivery, or the name of the first animal that crosses her path after leaving the tent. The intention of this method is probably to mislead the "spirits," who will not be able to recognize the child under the incidental name of the first thing seen, selected by chance. Nevertheless, even in this case, the name selected is often the name of a deceased relative, which, in days gone by, was chosen in the same manner. Similar methods of naming children are used also by the Asiatic Eskimo.

Often the name fixed upon does not agree with the child, who then grows slowly, and is sickly, or, as the Chukchee say, "It has heavy bones." Then a shaman, or a "knowing person," is invited, who proceeds to change the name. This process is sometimes repeated five or six times during the first few years of the child's life.

Protecting-Incantation. -- If the parents are afraid that the child will die, a special kind of incantation is used, which is called "Child-protecting Incantation" (keimi'tkin ê'wgan). It is performed by means of one or several pieces of red hematite, which must be picked up on the seashore, close to the water. The Chukchee call it "liver-stone." In cases of necessity -- for instance, in winter-time, and especially among the Reindeer people of the inland country -- any other red stone may be used; but it must be taken from the side of the hill lying in the direction of the sea.

When the first child has died young, it is considered to have traced the way for the following ones. In order to stop this fatal succession, the incantation must be performed as soon as possible. The care of the matter falls on the fathe eases, among which syphilis and leprosy have attracted most of the attention of the authorities, perhaps for the reason that their external forms are so horrible and shocking. The town of Sredne-Kolymsk even had a hospital destined for the poorest people suffering from these two diseases. No words are adequate to represent fully the horrors of this hospital. It stood in the middle of the so-called " Hungry Ward" of the town, and was in the shape of a large hut of Yakut style. Not only its walls, but even the ground all around it, were soaked with filth. The patients were mostly Yakut, all suffering from the worst forms of the disease. Only such were brought to this hospital. All the others, if there was still a single ray of hope for them, were kept out. I witnessed a case where a man suffering from syphilis was brought in from the country. He had made a journey of a hundred miles crouched on a small Yakut sledge, which was drawn by a saddle-horse attached by means of long traces fastened to the saddle-bow, in Yakut fashion. When the assistant surgeon bade him strip, he tucked up his fur shirt and showed us a round birch-bark vessel tied up to his loins, and filled with completely destroyed tissues. When these were cut off, he did not even feel any pain.

I should add also that the better half of the food destined for the sustenance of the sufferers was appropriated by the warden; so that they had to apply for alms to private individuals. Sometimes, when their diet ran too short, they would send in a threat that they would leave the hospital in a body and crawl around from house to house (most of them were unable to walk). Then the citizens would pay a ransom to keep them quiet. {I was informed that two years after my departure, in the first year of this century, this hospital was at last pulled down and a new one built in its place through the exertion of the new district surgeon, a political exile.}

This is the sort of medical assistance that is given to the population in the Kolyma country. A surgeon is included on the official staff of the district, but his place almost always remains vacant. Those that are occasionally sent from Russia find employment much nearer than the Kolyma. Even the southern part of eastern Siberia has so little medical assistance, that a real graduated physician is not allowed to pass through into the arctic desert. Thus in the Kolyma district there are only non-graduated assistant surgeons without knowledge and experience, who go there either on account of the short time of service that entitles them to a pension, or half crazy from drinking and sent to the Kolyma as a punishment.

Vaccination has been practised in the Kolyma district for a full century, ever since 1806. Young men specially selected for the purpose, the so-called "vaccination-boys," received brief instructions from the assistant surgeon, and travelled from village to village, vaccinating the young and the old. In 1884, as soon as the first news came of the small-pox epidemic having broken out in the neighboring districts, a small-pox committee was organized, and the vaccination-boys were sent to inspect the population. They found that nearly everybody had been vaccinated. Those that were not, were vaccinated this time. Immediately after that, the small-pox came, and destroyed about one third of the whole population. It proved afterwards that the vaccine sent from Irkutsk sealed in small tubes was worthless, and the vaccination-boys kept their lancets in such a state, that they were more suitable for inoculating syphilis than for simple vaccination. Exactly the same occurrences were repeated in 1889, at the second outbreak of the small-pox.

The first graduated physician visited the Kolyma in 1817. He was Dr. Reslein, chief physician of the province of Yakutsk. He was, according to Gedenstrom, one of the most charitable men of his time, but at the same time he was of a quite eccentric character. He would receive no payment or presents for his medical assistance. The greater part of his salary he left in the Treasury, and took only as much as he thought necessary for his scanty sustenance. Any cynic of modern times could hardly surpass him in his mode of life. In the winter-time, during the most severe cold, he used to wear summer clothes, a light uniform, a hat, rarely an overcoat of broadcloth. In the year 1817 he received an order from the Government to send some physician from Yakutsk to Zashiversk and Sredne-Kolymsk, on account of syphilis and leprosy, which were ravaging those countries. Reslein, who was about seventy years old, chose to go himself. He left Yakutsk in October, notwithstanding the cold, clad in broadcloth. On the way he used to alight from his horse, run about, or even turn somersaults, in order to keep himself warm. In this way he made fifteen hundred versts, and then his feet were frost-bitten. He was taken to Sredne-Kolymsk on a litter, wrapped in skins. There he amputated several of his toes himself, and after six months he died. He lies buried in Sredne-Kolymsk. He left a great number of manuscripts, which came into possession of his heirs. {Gedenstrom, Siberian Fragments (Russian), p. 117.}

The strange fate of Dr. Reslein has served as the basis of a tale, which I collected on the Lower Kolyma. The old doctor is described as a young courtier of very high blood, who was sent to the Kolyma for political reasons, and preferred to destroy his own life. "The Kolyma is not worthy of such a man," he would say before his death. All this, of course, is pure fiction.

Since this first medical visit of Reslein, I am aware of but one other graduated surgeon, Dr. Nekrasov, who lived in the Kolyma district during the seventies of the nineteenth century, and died there. Another one came during our stay in the early nineties. He seemed not to be in his full mental health, and had to leave very soon. In the last years of the nineteenth century, Dr. Mitzkevich, a political exile to one of the southern districts of the Yakutsk Province, proposed to go to the Kolyma as a district surgeon, and was allowed to do so. When his term of exile expired, he was replaced by another exiled physician, Dr. Popov, who also went to the Kolyma of his own free will, and remained there more than two years.

Schools. -- A few words will not be amiss regarding the Kolyma schools. There are schools in Sredne-Kolymsk and Nishne-Kolymsk, and even in Piatistennoye on the Large Anui River. All of them are parish schools. The teaching is of such a kind, that the children have to be brought there by requisition; although at the same time every private attempt at teaching (by political exiles) finds pupils enough, and even pays. Among others, the Yakut clans of Sredne-Kolymsk are obliged to send pupils to the school of the town. They send orphans and children of the poorest people. Some of these somehow learn to read and write without having learned the Russian language; so that on the Kolyma one may sometimes see the strange sight of a half savage man reading aloud a letter in a language almost wholly unknown to himself, for the benefit of a Russian creole who knows the language, but is illiterate.

Scientific Expeditions. -- Even scientific expeditions arranged by the Government, when going to these remote countries, too often only served to increase the oppression of the inhabitants, Russians and natives. Slovtzov mentions one of the first instances of this. Gmelin and Miiller, in 1735, when leaving Irkutsk for Lake Baikal with light baggage, were not contented with the thirty-seven horses assigned to them by the authorities, but sent their men to the market-place and ordered them to capture more horses. They started from the station Goloustnaia with a hundred and fifty horses. All these horses were not paid for. They were delivered on requisition. For the expedition of Bering, enormous quantities of provisions and ammunition were dragged by the Yakut through the whole Yakutsk Province to Okhotsk. Most of the horses perished on the way. To this Slovtzov adds, "No expedition of such greatness and fame had, up to that time, gone through all Siberia. God grant that, out of compassion for the poor country, future times may never know a fame so ruinous!" {Slovtzov, I, p. 255.} Of all the expeditions of former times that visited the Kolyma country, that of Baron Wrangell (1820-24) seems to have been the most scrupulous and sober-minded. Still local tradition looks upon this expedition in a light very similar to that given in the opinion of Slovtzov, cited above. I collected this tradition on the Lower Kolyma, among the Russian Creoles.

"In the olden times there came an expedition. Its chief was a baron; and another one was a steersman, Anjin (Anjou). They brought with them a large boat, and put it in the middle of the river; and neither wind nor tempest could do anything to it. It was only rocking slightly under it. The steersman ordered his bedding to be hung up like a baby's cradle. In this cradle he slept usually, rocked by the wind. He would awaken only when the wind subsided and ceased rocking the cradle.

"They visited all the villages, and in every village they would arrange a feast. To that feast they invited the people, -- husbands with young wives, fathers with grown-up daughters. All night they sang and danced and played, till the time came to go home. Then they would choose such women or girls as suited their fancy, and would detain them, of their own free will or by force. A husband who came with a wife would return alone, or a father without his daughter, or a brother without his sister. The women and girls had to stay with them as long as they remained in the village. After a while they would leave the village, and everything in their houses would be left to the women. Some of the husbands would receive them back, and some would not. In the latter case the women had to live alone and be wretched. Oh, these husbands! How foolish they were! It was not their will nor the woman's will. The superiors gave the order, and what could be done? Thus they lived in our country through the spring and the summer. When fall came, they went to the sea with their dogs. They took with them the best men of all the country, -- those that knew the sea and were clever in travelling. When driving on the sea, they saw an island. There were churches with golden tops, houses and people all of purest gold. When they came nearer, an old woman came to meet them. The baron was a pipe-smoker, so she gave him a golden pipe. Anjou took snuff. She gave him a snuff-box. Then she said, 'I know you are seeking the passage to America. Better go back. This is the limit of human travel. If you want to pass on, you shall never go back.' They held a council, and then turned from the island and went across the sea. After a while they found open water. In the middle stood a tree, high up to the very sky. This tree would bend down and enter the water. After a while it would emerge from the water full of fish. And while it was swinging up high, all the fish were being consumed. They felt afraid of this tree, and turned off to the right, toward the land. After a while they found another island. It was quite deserted. Tobacco was growing there; and the leaves were so large, that each one would suffice to swaddle a man's head in it. They took some and left the island, going to the land. At the place where they stopped the first night, a thundering noise came suddenly from the direction of the island. The drivers were frightened, and woke them up. They sat down upon the sledges, and the dogs ran away at a furious rate. Still the noise grew nearer and nearer. Finally the ice began to heave and roll like billows. They drove on without sleeping or eating, and at last reached the land. There they stopped to rest. When they awoke in the morning, they saw that all the ice was broken, and gathered into icebergs. They came to the fortress (of Nishne-Kolymsk), went to the church, and took a solemn oath to keep silence corcerning the things they had seen on the sea, because they knew that if they should disclose these secrets, all the people in the country must perish. So they kept their oath, and not until many years later did some old men relate a part of their adventures."

General Character of Creole Population. -- The manners and the ways of the Russian Creole population, who represent on the Kolyma the race of the conquerors, fully correspond to the kind of government they have. I have mentioned before the extreme looseness as regards sexual life which reigns in all Russian settlements of the arctic part of eastern Siberia, from the mouth of the Yana to the southern part of Kamchatka. The people on the Kolyma say, "Our water is of such quality that we cannot do otherwise." Perhaps in reality this easy excitability is influenced, not by the water, indeed, but by the diet of fat fish which prevails on the Kolyma. Mr. Jochelson, believes that the sexual looseness of the Russians has arisen under Yukaghir influence, and even asserts that the Russian term "maiden-children" is a term adopted from the Yukaghir ma'rxid-u'o (i.e., "child born by a maiden"). {Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 736.} It cannot be denied that the Yukaghir influence on the Russian population was quite considerable. Still for such things as illegal children, the Russians had their own terms, quite ancient, and brought over from across the Ural Montains. Thus, besides the "maiden-children," the Russian Creoles have also "widow-children," and the joint number in both categories forms about thirty per cent of all the Russian infants. Exactly the same proportion exists among the Chukchee. Some Russian families, numerous and well-to-do, have at their head an old female who bore all her children in the maiden state. Even the family names are derived from a Christian name of such a maiden patriarch, or rather matriarch; for instance, Наташонки ("sons of Nathalie"), Катьконки ("sons of Kate"), etc. There are families in which aversion to marriage has even acquired a morbid character. The people say that in such families old mothers will take an oath from their sons that they will never marry. "You may live in fornication, if you desire it; but to your marriage I shall not give my blessing." Their aim is to extinguish their name. The daughters are allowed to marry. The two rich families, Chertkov and Uvarovsky, are said to have stood under such an oath in the last generation. The first family has already vanished. The second one contains two brothers. Both have paramours and children; but, since they are not married, their children bear another name. All this is told on the Kolyma from mouth to mouth with many comments, though I cannot tell how far it is true. Still, I have noticed also among the Russianized Yukaghir of the Lower Kolyma, who are rapidly dying out, the same morbid aversion to marriage, though in connection with other facts. "Too much trouble," say these wretched people in reference to marriage. {Compare p. 36.} The Russian Creoles are dying out only a little more slowly than the Yukaghir.

Syphilis has also taken quite deep root among the Russian Creoles. The blood of new generations is tainted, and the remnant of their vigor is dying away. Card-playing in its worst forms is also widely spread among the Russian Creoles. Games of hazard prevail; and regular cheating, even among the upper crust, is almost considered a lawful means of winning a fortune. Social relations are harsh and egotistic. All the people who are a little better off than others lend money or food in small quantities at fabulous rates; two hundred per cent yearly, and even more, being charged; and even the poorest people consider this as quite natural. "Why," explained one of the poorest debtors to me, "since he had a chance, he pressed me dry. If I could, I should do the same to him." On the Lower Kolyma such mutual relations assume an almost artless character. All are quite poor, all charge each other large percentages and demand heavy payments, and in the end nobody receives anything. The amounts are credited, and the credits balance very nearly. Even taxes and other exactions are hardly paid by the community.

The Creoles are of one accord in the belief that the natives of all the various tribes may be oppressed and bled in every manner possible. In common parlance, they do not call them "men," but "beasts," "creatures." Their tribal names are used in diminutive terms of derision, as is proper in the Russian language: чукчишки, "(those) small Chukchee;" якутишки, "(those) small Yakut."

Greek Orthodox Mission. -- The Russian Orthodox Church has always been merely a branch of the Russian Government. Its missionary work in Siberia was performed solely at the expense of the State and under the control of the Administration. One of the influential participants in this work even goes so far as to say, "Most of all, they [the natives] point to the fact that there does not exist a direct order of the Czar for the adoption of the Russian creed. They say, 'If the Czar should desire that all of us become Russians, he would certainly send an order to that effect.' They understand by instinct that the adoption of the Russian Creed is not only an affair of the Church, but also that of the State." {Veniamin, Archbishop of Irkutsk (The Live Questions of the Greek Orthodox Mission in Siberia, St. Petersburg, 1885, p. 7). In some discordance with this high-flowing assertion, the chief official of the Kolyma says in his report of 1884 (i.e., just about the time when the Archbishop Veniamin wrote his book), "And they [the Chukchee] declared that they are afraid to adopt the Russian Creed, lest the chief Russian devil should strangle them immediately." I mentioned before the Chukchee tradition about tribute of the same disrespectful kind (cf. p. 292, footnote).} On the other hand, and in direct connection with this position, the history of the activity of Greek-Orthodox missionaries among the tribes of Siberia, as Mr. Waldemar Jochelson justly remarks, {Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 807.} cannot be considered honorable, with the exception of a few noble personalities, like the Aleut missionary Veniaminov or the Altai missionary Verbitzky.

The first attempt to baptize the Chukchee was probably made immediately after the first encounter of the Russians with that tribe. In the first half-century, however, this was rather difficult, because of the absence of priests or missionaries. Thus, Argentov mentions that in the chapel of the Kolyma, in the absence of priests, the service was performed by laymen. Even later laymen would perform baptism. Nil, Archbishop of Irkutsk, even as late as 1848, ordered the priests to denounce and extirpate this evil. {Argentov, in Memoirs of Siberian Sections of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 1875, Part IV.}

The first church in the Kolyma district was built in Nishne-Kolymsk during the first years of the eighteenth century. In 1704 a communion-cloth was sent from Tobolsk in western Siberia to Dog Fortress. In 1771 Sredne-Kolymsk had also a church, that of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin, but this church was a "black" one. {Block-houses, which are called black, have stoves without pipes; so that when burning, the smoke has to come out into the room, and escapes through the opened door. This system gives much warmth, but still more soot and charcoal-fumes.} In the same year Sredne-Kolymsk had only three houses. About the same time Verkhne-Kolymsk had only a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas. The Anadyr Church, according to Argentov, was built in 1743. The next year the first missionary, the monk Flavian, with three assistants, was sent to this country; but all of them were murdered by the Koryak in 1745. The first priests in both countries belonged to the family of Trifonov. Thus, we find in Nishne-Kolymsk, in the year 1753, the priest Michael Trifonov. This priest was the sole one for the whole country, and had to visit all three of the Kolyma towns; and before that he was priest of the Anadyr Chukchee. In 1757 we find another priest, Procope Trifonov, who was transferred to Anadyr in 1758; but in 1764, after the abolishment of the fortress of Anadyrsk, he was restored to his former place.

In 1812, with the new trade-regulations, the priest of Nishne-Kolymsk received a new nomination as a Chukchee missionary. The name of this first missionary was Gregory Slieptzov. He remained in his former parish, however, and only had to visit the Anui fair once a year. Argentov mentions that in 1811--12 Slieptzov made a trip to the Chaun country. The next "parish missionary," A. Trifonov, who went to the Kolyma in 1816, has never visited the Chukchee. In his time the Archbishop of Irkutsk, Michael, wrote an epistle to the Chukchee, exhorting them to adopt Christianity (1818). I wonder how many Chukchee have read the said epistle!

In 1848, at the instance of Archbishop Nil, a small church was built on the Arctic shore at the mouth of Big River (Large Baranikha River), two hundred miles from Nishne-Kolymsk, and A. Argentov was appointed the first missionary. It seems that before that he had been an ordinary priest on the Lower Kolyma for more than four years. He says in his diary that the place was selected not very happily, because the Chukchee do not live there continually, but only come from time to time. This, of course, is quite true. Nevertheless Argentov went to his church along the seacoast with five boats of the usual Kolyma type. These boats are so clumsy and fragile that it is a matter of wonder that the expedition did not meet with some catastrophe. The people who came in the boats built a block-house for Argentov, and then went back, leaving him with his wife and a maid-servant. A few months after that Argentov was obliged to flee from his mission, because the Chukchee neighbors wanted to compel him to enter with them into a bond of group-marriage. The story is well remembered on the Kolyma among the Russians as well as among the Chukchee. Argentov, who travelled much among the Chukchee, and visited Chaun River and Cape Erri, was tempted to conclude friendship with one Chukchee, Ata'to, and also with his wife. Probably at that time he did not know the rules of the Chukchee group-marriage; but after a short time Ata'to returned the visit, and asked for reciprocity. He had some companions with him, and so refusal was of no avail. At the critical moment, however, the maid-servant consented to take the place of the mistress. The Chukchee probably did not know the difference; and, moreover, according to Chukchee ideas, the family has a right, in marriage complications, to substitute one woman for another. Some of these details I have from Ata'to himself, who in 1895 was still living. Shortly after that, Argentov left his lonely church. This was the first and the last attempt of the Chukchee missionary to live among the Chukchee in the desert. Maydell, in 1870, undertook to build a church on the Yelombal River, an affluent of the Large Anui River. This church was to be the centre of the Christian propaganda among the Reindeer Chukchee. Amra'wkurgin donated to the church four hundred reindeer for slaughter. These were eaten by the Russian Creoles; and the church, and the house for the priest, were built, but nobody ever lived there.

The next missionaries -- probably owing to the unhappy episode told above -- were selected among the monks. Their number gradually increased. At the close of the nineteenth century three of them were already on the Kolyma, -- one as head of the mission in Nishne-Kolymsk; another in the village Piatistennoye, on the Large Anui River; and the third in the Yakut settlement Sen-quel, on the outskirts of the western tundra. The place for this missionary was selected personally by the Bishop of Yakutsk, Dionisius; and it was to be on the Big Chukchee River, in the middle of the desert. The bishop says in his order, "The very name of the river shows that this place has served from ancient times as a habitation of the Chukchee." Bishop Dionisius evidently wanted by his order to solve the ethnographic problem of the Big Chukchee River, which has not yet been solved by scientists. The place has really served as a habitation in times far remote, but serves no longer as such. Since the country about the Big Chukchee River is so thoroughly a desert, the new missionary had to remain on the outskirts of the tundra, in one of the outlying Yakut settlements.

At the present time the Kolyma country has seven priests, with a corresponding number of churchmen, -- four with parishes, and three Chukchee missionaries. For a Christian population of about four thousand, including the baptized Chukchee, this number is perhaps a little too large. Verkhne-Kolymsk, Sredne-Kolymsk, and Nishne-Kolymsk have wooden churches. Other villages have only rough wooden chapels, where services are held once or twice a year by the priest, who comes for the purpose. Plate xxxv, Fig. 3, represents the chapel of the village of Pokhotsk, on the Lower Kolyma. The Anadyr country has one parish priest, who at the same time acts as missionary to the Chukchee.

It is not my plan to speak about the parish priests of the Kolyma. Incidentally I will mention only one fact. In the eighties of the nineteenth century there was in the province of Yakutsk one single priest of pure Yakut blood, newly ordained at that time. Now, in the whole province of Yakutsk there is a single parish, where the inhabitants do not know anything of the Yakut language, and rather despise the Yakut national element. This parish is Nishne-Kolymsk. The single Yakut priest was appointed to the single anti-Yakut parish, I do not know whether purposely or not. After a few years spent in his parish, the Yakut priest became consumptive and died in the middle, of the nineties.

I mentioned before that the manner and customs of the clergy of the Kolyma do not differ much from those of the other Russian creole population. Not to speak of modern times, the Archives are full of historical indications to that effect. I will cite only some of those that are connected with the mission.

Thus in 1821 the priest of Sredne-Kolymsk, Michael Sivtzov, was impeached before the court because he took from a newly baptized Lamut his wedded wife, and forced her to remain in his house. Many more accusations were added. In 1826 the priest Basile Trifonov was impeached before the court on account of his traffic in alcohol with the Chukchee. In 1837 the above-mentioned chief official, Vinogradov, wrote a letter to the preacher of the Chukchee mission of that time, saying that the said preacher had brought from the Anui fair "a pile of Chukchee sins, to the amount of four pack-horses" (twenty-four puds). The preacher answered, "This letter shows your lack of zeal for the building-up of the church and for service to the fatherland." The missionaries received funds and wares for presents to the Chukchee, and distributed them in the same way as the civil authorities of the country. Thus each newly baptized heathen received sugar, tobacco, and other things of value, the same as when paying allegiance to the Czar. Both acts, however, usually went together; and, as one of the missionaries writes in his report to the bishop, "To be baptized for the heathen means to pay the tribute to the Czar of heaven." This method of encouraging people to be converted by bribing them with presents led to many strange scenes. One of them is described by Matushkin in "Wrangell's Voyage." {Wrangell, I, p. 282 (German edition).} It happened at the Anui fair, where a young Chukchee suddenly jumped out of the baptismal font and ran stark naked around the room, crying, "Enough! I do not want any more of it! Where is my tobacco?"

It seems that sometimes the missionaries, even, were at the same time the collectors of the "tribute. Thus, in the year 1814 the before-mentioned Gregory Slieptzov, when on his visit to the Chaun Chukchee, induced seventy-six Chukchee men to take the oath of allegiance. Some of them were also baptized. On this occasion he brought to Nishne-Kolymsk eighty-seven puds of walrus-ivory and of various peltries; and all this he turned into the Treasury. {Northern Post (daily), 1814, No. 91.} The Chaun Chukchee, it seems, attempted to take his life on account of these peltries and walrus-tusks; and he was saved only by the assistance of a rich Chukchee, Valetka, who persuaded them to desist. {Philaret Gumilevsky, History of the Russian Church (St. Petersburg, 1888), Period IV, p. 52.} In modern times the conditions are just the same. I have seen an official paper sent from the consistory of Yakutsk to the head of the church mission on the Kolyma. It referred to the question of keeping Lent by newly christened Chukchee, who live exclusively on meat diet. On the margin was added in pencil, "Send me some good dried fish. I like it very much." The request was signed "Father Dorimedont." Perhaps this private request for dried fish had some connection with the question of Lent. The fish was duly sent to the amount of three "bundles" (one hundred and twenty large fishes), and was never paid for, as is the custom in such matters between superiors and inferiors.

Present State. -- Of the three Chukchee missionaries who were on the Kolyma in the nineties of the nineteenth century, during my stay there, one, Father Victor (see Plate xxxv, Fig. 2), lived constantly in Nishne-Kolymsk. He was the missionary for the Maritime Chukchee, and the head of the mission. The chief interest of his life lay in dog raising. He spent all his salary on his team, though he could not drive it himself, but kept a special driver. As to the interests of the mission, year after year he made preparations for some far-off trip, but somehow every year his plans were frustrated. The nearest Maritime Chukchee lived on Cape Erri, and at one time a voyage to Cape Erri was actually undertaken by him. He found the people in the first Chukchee settlement all murdered, and fled back, horror-stricken. I have referred to this episode before. Father Victor knew nothing of the Chukchee language, or even of the trade jargon. {Compare pp. 22 and 299.}

Father Venedict was the missionary for the western Reindeer Chukchee. He lived, as already mentioned, on the western tundra, in a Yakut settlement, Sen-quel. Some of the Reindeer Chukchee of the western tundra would occasionally come to his place, and he would try to have intercourse with them. For this purpose he had to employ two interpreters. One translated from Russian into Yakut. All the Russian Creoles from the Middle Kolyma can do as much. The other interpreter, usually one of the Yukaghir of the tundra who wander thereabouts, translated from Yakut into Chukchee. Through this double medium Father Venedict had to preach the Gospel to his Reindeer Chukchee flock. One may imagine the success he would have in this enterprise. His stay at Sen-quel was interrupted by an unpleasant official investigation concerning a certain kettle that was spirited away from one of his neighbors. The accusation was not proved, and so came to nought. After that, however, he did not care to stay at Sen-quel. Father Venedict was a man of many eccentricities. He was said to have come from Russia to Yakutsk on foot. While on the Kolyma, he wrote several letters to the civil and spiritual authorities, denouncing other priests of the Kolyma, and also various laymen. His denunciations were quite groundless, and without result. He also boasted aloud of having promised the Bishop of Yakutsk, that, unlike the other missionaries, he would make the rounds through all the villages and camps of the Chukchee, and bring them all to holy baptism. For this purpose he received from the bishop two thousand rubles. His enmity towards the other priests and missionaries led him to act very strangely at times. Thus he would pay no attention to religious ceremonials performed by other priests, and would perform the church marriage-ritual for a Chukchee man already married, etc.

After the affair of the kettle, Father Venedict suddenly resolved to make good his promise to the bishop, and he actually went away with some Reindeer Chukchee who were going toward East Cape. He travelled about two years, and visited all the Chukchee villages along the coasts of both oceans. Of course, he had to suffer many hardships. All his provisions were exhausted, and during the last part of his journey he lived completely the life of the natives. I met him on the Wolverene River, when he had fairly started on his voyage. This was in the spring of 1897.

While on another journey through the Chukchee villages on the Pacific shore, three years afterwards, Kila'ti, a Chukchee in the village of Valka'Lên, gave me some interesting details about his return to the Anadyr. Father Venedict went to see Kila'ti with some Maritime Chukchee, and staid with him for eighteen days. Before that he had lived some days in the American log-cabin on St. Lawrence Bay. The Americans were acting as agents of the American Government for buying reindeer. Mr. I. Kelly was one of them. They showed much kindness to the travelling priest, gave him some provisions, a rifle, a knife, a hatchet, etc. Kila'ti related the story thus: --

"Our place is not very windy; but farther on to the south, halfway to the village Rê'tkên, near the river Iru'-ve'em, the wind blows all the time: so it was impossible to go there. We told him so. He would not believe us, and, after a few days of waiting, left on foot, quite alone, and without provisions. He was much afraid to stay with our people for another winter. We said to him, 'The Russian settlement is not far, you will have time to reach there;' but he thought we were deceiving him, so he left on foot along the shore. I caught him, however, and brought him back. He left again, and this time gained quite a little headway. The wind was cutting; but I harnessed my team and went in pursuit. After some time I saw him on the shore. Then I stopped my dogs, and began to steal along towards him as one steals up to a wild reindeer, because he was greatly agitated, and I was afraid that he would run away. Then all of a sudden I stepped out in front of him. Then I said, 'Now, do come back! You see it is impossible to go. We have no chiefs or authorities. So, if the wind should blow you into the sea, your people would not believe it. They would say that we killed you. It would be a bad thing, a great calamity, and interrupt the traffic' He said nothing, but lay down on the ground and turned away from me. All at once a white fox jumped out from the stones. The dogs followed. I caught hold of the sledge, but was unable to stop it: so I tried at least to direct it properly; but we were so near to the brink, that I expected every minute to fall into the water. At last I succeeded in stopping the dogs. The water was as if boiling underneath. I felt very angry, and said to the priest, 'See, now! For your sake I nearly lost my life by being drowned in the water. Sit down on the sledge! Otherwise I shall bind you.' So I brought him back. In a week after that the wind subsided. Then I said, 'Now let us go!' So we went, and reached Mariinsky Post."

At Mariinsky Post, Kila'ti was rewarded with some tea and tobacco. Father Venedict himself had no shirt on, and his fur clothes were full of insects. He proceeded to Markova, and thence to Kolyma. On this last journey he again had bad luck. He and his companions lost their way in the snow, and were almost starving, when some Tungus who were passing by saw their tracks and came to their rescue. Shortly afterwards Father Venedict left the Kolyma and went to Yakutsk. I do not think that he will ever come back. The journey of Father Venedict is quite remarkable. I do not think, however, that he has done much for the spread of the Gospel. When starting on his journey, he knew absolutely nothing of the Chukchee language. In his camp was a young Russian woman who was married to a Chukchee. This woman acted as an interpreter for him. They parted somewhere on the Arctic shore. After that he had to give all his attention to the mere necessities of life and to the continuation of his journey; at least, Kila'ti and the other Chukchee said nothing about Venedict's preaching. On the contrary, they related that he was silent for the most part, but all of a sudden began to cry "like a little baby." His trial was too hard.

The third missionary of this time was Father Michael. This one was not a monk. He was a deacon for a long time, and wanted greatly to be ordained as a priest. For this purpose he began to visit the Chukchee camps, though he was occupied, not with preaching, but with trading. He also tried to write a dictionary of the Chukchee language. The people of the Kolyma said laughingly, "He writes his dictionary on fawn-skins, and sends it to Nishne-Kolymsk by large bagfuls;" and, indeed, there was much truth in this. For instance, he brought with him some small pictures representing images of the saints, printed on paper, which he received free of cost from Yakutsk. He sold these pictures to the pious Lamut and Yukaghir at the rate of a squirrel-skin for each piece.

At last he was ordained. Then, not needing his dictionary any longer, he gave it to me. I have it now among my papers. It is a small quire of paper, quite greasy, unbound, and written in pencil. Father Michael's system was the following. He copied all the words from a small printed Russian-German dictionary, and then tried to translate them into Chukchee with the aid of an interpreter. Among other words translated were "duke," "governess," etc. Apart from this attempt at scientific work, he knew very little of the Chukchee language. He was made Chukchee missionary because at the time of his ordination there was no parish unoccupied. He was appointed for work among the Reindeer Chukchee to the east of the Kolyma. He made frequent journeys among the camps, but chiefly for trading-purposes.

With such preachers, it is no wonder that most of the Chukchee, with the exception of those who live nearest to the Russian settlements, have remained until now unbaptized. Even those that have, properly speaking, been baptized, cannot be called Christians even in name. Not one of them knows so much as the name of Christ. They do not care to remember the new Christian names given to them. They live as they have lived, bring sacrifices to the "good beings" and to the "evil spirits," practise magic and shamanism. I may mention here that the Russian Creoles, even in this respect, do not differ very much from the Chukchee. During my stay on the Kolyma, I brought back from the Large Anui River the ancient dress of a Yukaghir shaman, along with his drum and other appurtenances. About this time a well-to-do merchant, Nekhoroshev, who had come from Yakutsk a few years before, suddenly had an attack of some mental disease. His wife invited a Yakut shaman to practise some magic for his recovery. The shaman declared that he wanted to use my shamanistic dress. The woman, afraid of the consequences, applied to the priest of Sredne-Kolymsk, who performed the duties of superintendent. He said with great prudence, "If it can be of any use, I permit you to use both the shaman and the dress." A few years afterwards, in 1902, a large sum of money (28,000 rubles) was spirited away from the Board of Police of the Kolyma. After some ineffectual searching, the chief officer, acting on the advice of the same superintendent of the church, applied to shamans. At first a Yakut shaman was invited, then a Tungus shaman; but both proved to be more sober-minded than the members of the Administration. They declared that the paper moneys of the Government have water-marks in their tissue, so their assistant spirits cannot look for them. Two years after that it appeared that the money was stolen by the sacristan of the church. These two episodes may give an idea of the actual state of Christianity among the Russian Creoles on the Kolyma.

American Influence. -- The Maritime Chukchee keep almost wholly beyond the reach of Russian influence. Instead of that, on the Pacific shore, chiefly in the Eskimo villages, American influence is felt in some degree. This influence has come about through trade with the whalers. I have spoken of it before. After half a century of commercial intercourse with American whalers, not a few of the younger people speak some English. They have learned civilized methods of counting, the use of the calendar,- of watches, and of the ship's compass. Some of them are employed on whaling-ships as extra hands, being good seamen. Occasionally they visit Cape Nome, St. Michaels, and even San Francisco. When I was at Indian Point, some of my younger native friends expressed a warm desire to learn reading and writing. One of them, Če'lqar by name, had succeeded by his own efforts in telling the letters of the alphabet when printed in large type. I have a letter of his, written in large printed characters, with barbarous spelling curiously phonetic. The letter runs as follows: "I WLTL YUO ALASNEIT ME CAM POORESSEB ME NO KERDT NETD. MERAKN MAN. NOO . GOOD . MAI POOL CEREI AYN PEIEB E LIKM ROOSEN MAN GOOD MAN SOOBBOS E KVTM MAI POOI PEIEB MEI VEL GOOD." This signified, "I will tell you. Last night me came board o' ship. Me no got nothing. American man no good. My boy cried (to have a) pipe. He like him. Russian man good man. Suppose he gave it him my boy pipe, my feel good." The letter was signed "Salker." {Another native boy, half Chukchee and half Eskimo, who lived at Mariinsky Post on the Anadyr, was taught by the Cossacks to read and write Russian, and also some arithmetic. He could work out fairly well problems coming under the first four rules, even with numbers of several figures.} After such a letter, I had to give the boy a pipe to prove that his judgment was not at fault and that I was a good man.

The young men even went so far as to reproach me for the absence of a school at Indian Point, saying, "The Americans on St. Lawrence Island teach the children: why do not you do the same here?" All this produced a pleasant impression, the more so, as it came quite voluntarily and unconstrained.

Another result of American influence, far less pleasant, is that due to the great destruction of animal life in the waters of Bering Sea, chiefly that of whales, and partly also of walrus. Thus, the whalers take the whalebone, and leave the carcass floating on the water. This wanton extermination of the largest species of animal on earth brings with it the gradual restriction of resources for all the natives living along the coast. The Ke'rek are starving, because the walrus have ceased to visit the coast south of Anadyr Bay.

It is fortunate for the Maritime Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo that the whalers of late have ceased to hunt walrus, because it does not pay. The walrus plays so important a part in the diet of these tribes, that without it they might have gone the way of the Ke'rek. One of my Eskimo acquaintances put it in the following simple way: "When the Americans came to us, we had a talk with them, and we said, 'Take the whales, but leave us the walrus. We also want something to eat. We shall give you all the walrus-tusks.' And they consented."

From the native point of view, the decrease in animal life on the seashore is brought about, first of all, by the infringement, on the part of the Americans, of the well-known taboo against the burning of fuel during the whole winter season. {Compare p. 492.} For this reason the natives are generally averse to the idea of having an American settlement in their vicinity. As another of my Eskimo acquaintances expressed it in his broken English, "Russian king big captain. American king big captain, not very. Speak em, sell em, twelve miles this shore, twelve miles that shore. Twenty-four miles land down on the beach. American man speak: 'Give you ten thousand dollar.' -- 'No!' -- 'What is the matter?' -- 'No!' -- 'American man plenty fire, smell im by and by, walruses, seals, come away. Indian Point men seek em, hunt em, no, nothing. By and by die. No! American man trade em whiskey plenty. Indian Point men drink em, fight. No good. American man plenty s-- of b-.'"

This is a description of how a "Russian king," being asked by the Americans to sell them twelve miles of the seashore in Asia, declined to do so out of regard for the well-being of the Asiatic coast dwellers. Human nature is everywhere the same. "Indian Point men" know quite a good deal of the Americans, and very little of the Russians: so they denounce the former, and represent the latter in a romantic light. The Reindeer Chukchee from the shores of both Anui Rivers, and even from Anadyr, do exactly the reverse. Thus one of the Anadyr Reindeer Chukchee told me about the matter: "The Americans are very good. They come with steamers, and they have everything. They sell cheap, and give without any pay. They bring rifles and ammunition, and say, 'You shoot game, and the peltry bring to us, and we will buy it.' They kill a whale and take only the whalebone. The meat they give to the people. They are clever hunters, hardy seamen, they kill every living thing. You Russians are quite bad. You sit down at home. You do not know how to hunt. You have nothing. Your sale is heavy. You would not give without pay even a tobacco-quid. Therefore we do not love you, but love them."

General Conclusions. -- In conclusion, I must repeat, in the first place, that the Russianization of the Chukchee has made no progress at all during the two centuries of Russian intercourse with the Chukchee. The Chukchee kept the language, all their ways of living, and their religion. Even the few families of the river Chukchee of the Middle Anadyr have not adopted the Russian language. They have adopted the Russian chimney on their huts; and under Russian influence there have sprung up among them riddles and proverbs, partly translated from the Russian, and of a character different from that of the other folk-lore of the Chukchee; and that is all.

As to the question of what was brought into the life of the Chukchee through Russian influence, I should say that the first thing brought by the Russians was a request for tribute and war. The fate of the Chukchee, however, was different from the fate of all other native tribes, in that they successfully repelled the first, and held their ground in the second; and, when the war at last ceased, they preserved intact all their national vigor, and so they could avail themselves of peace. This explains the spread of the Reindeer Chukchee westward and southward, and the subsequent increase of their herds.

In modern times, the same as two centuries ago, Russianization for this nomadic and primitive people would mean destruction and death. It is their good fortune that the latest contrivances of the Russian Administration, like the "clans" and the "chiefs," and the voluntary tribute, are mere outward forms, and do not produce much change in their material or special life.

Russian influence has brought to the Chukchee tools and instruments of iron, flintlocks and powder, iron kettles, and hardware. These are real acquisitions. Colored beads, and overcoats of gaudy calico, are also to be counted among such acquisitions, since they satisfy the aesthetic sense much better than the corresponding native objects. I wonder whether such a thing as a calico shirt should also be added to the total number of useful innovations. Even the Russian Creoles use a single shirt without change, and keep it on their backs until it drops off in old greasy rags. The Reindeer Chukchee occasionally put on an old shirt bought from the Russians. They call it "louse-catcher" (miču'kwun), and assert that its chief purpose is to attract the lice from the skin, so that they can be easily destroyed.

Along with all these acquisitions were also brought contagious diseases, alcohol, and card-playing, and their influence certainly equals that of the newly introduced inventions. I will repeat once more the words of Kuva'r, the Eskimo trader at Indian Point (see p. 36), in reference to this very circumstance: "The spirits, it seems, take care that the people of this country shall not multiply. In olden times war was sent down to ward off increase. After that, in spite of the abundant variety of sea-game, famine would come and carry off the surplus. At present, with the fulsome supply of American food, the disease comes down, and the result is exactly the same."

From all that has been said, the general conclusion may be drawn that the Chukchee tribe, Reindeer or Maritime, being very primitive, may continue to exist in its barren desert only if left alone by civilization. As soon as the latter comes too near, the Chukchee must follow in the way of so many other primitive tribes, and die.

unknown among the Chukchee. At present the Eskimo women at Indian Point make very clumsy gloves in imitation of those of the American whalers. The winter gloves that were formerly made were chiefly connected with the performance of magio. Thus a very rude shamanistic dress {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, Plate II, Fig. 3.} has a left-hand glove attached to it.

In funeral ceremonials gloves with only three fingers are used. They are worn by the woman who cuts up the body, in order to keep her hands free from contamination.

Mittens are not made double, because the tough reindeer-leg skin of which they are made would make it impossible to handle anything with a double mitten. During a journey the hands are always kept in motion sufficiently to remain warm. The working-people of other tribes of the country have mittens of the same shape and material. The Russians, on the other hand, have adopted, besides the type described above, another style of mitten, which is made of curried skin, lined inside with soft fawn-skin, and trimmed around the wrist with a narrow strip of fluffy beaver-skin. A little above' the wrist the mitten has a cross-slit through which the hand may be conveniently thrust for any special work requiring the use of the fingers. The slit is trimmed with fluffy fur, squirrel or beaver, to keep the cold out. These mittens are really better suited for short walks within the village than for real work or for travelling.

The Russian merchants and officials have adopted still another style of mitten, a combination of the two above described. It is double. The outside is made of the soft leg-skins of the white, red, or gray fox; and the inside, of the belly-skins of the same animals. The palm and the inner surface of the thumb are of cloth or curried leather, which makes the mitten fairly flexible in spite of its excessive thickness. The cross-slit above the wrist is usually present, but the mittens are so heavy that no cold enters it. These mittens, I think, are the largest in the world. Those in the collection are 32 cm. long and 15 cm. wide. The thumb is 8 cm. long. The Koryak and the Kamchadal, and even the Gilyak and the Tungus of the Amur River, have, in their turn, imitated in native material various patterns of mittens and gloves made by the Russians. These show a mixture of native and Russian elements. Thus the Koryak have mittens and gloves of curried leather, lined with fur, with a cross-slit under the wrist. The Tungus of the Amur (see specimen, Cat. No. 70/915) have mittens of the leg-skin of the reindeer, with palms of curried leather and a cross-slit bordered with fur; also mittens of curried leather lined with fur (see specimen, Cat. No. 70/923).

The Chukchee cap (Fig. 173) fits the head closely, and its triangular flaps snugly enclose the ears. These ends are joined by a band of cloth or curried leather of such length that when they are crossed under the chin the band will hold them in place by being pulled over the crown of the head (see Plate XXVIII, Fig. 2).

The cap of this shape is worn by all the tribes of the country, including the Tungus. The Russians have, besides this cap, a combination of it and of the round shaggy cap of the cossacks, which, in its turn, is derived from a style worn by the nomadic tribes of the West Asiatic prairies. The Chukchee cap is double, like other parts of their clothing. It is generally made of the leg-skins of various animals, -- reindeer, fawns, dogs, wolverenes, etc. It is trimmed on the front with a strip of some handsome fur, and on the back with a narrow strip of thinner skin or leather. Sometimes the front is adorned with a few rows of gay-colored beads. The heaviest cap, worn over this ordinary one in winter travelling, is made of thick reindeer-skin or of the head part of the wolf's skin, arranged in such a manner that the ears stand up on top. These ears are often decorated with small tassels of red-dyed seal-skin or of crimson cloth.

Poor people protect the neck with a kind of short boa (Fig. 174, a) made of a narrow piece of reindeer-skin folded together and sewed. The wealthy use scarfs and shawls bought from the traders. Boas of squirrel-tails, made by the Lamut, are much worn by Chukchee men and women, who trade them for reindeer-skins.

The Chukchee men also wear under their chin a kind of square bib (Fig. 174, b) made of thin reindeer-leg skin, and fastened around the neck. This protects the shirt from the frost that collects from the breath. All the overcoats of men and the frocks of women are supplied with a similar square piece in front for the same purpose.

A large hood (Fig. 175) of thick reindeer or wolf skin is worn in stormy weather. It covers the head and the shoulders. Many people prefer it to the overcoat, because it may be put on or taken off more readily.

The overcoats worn by the Chukchee are made of various materials, such as reindeer-skins, curried leather, calico of bright pattern, white and blue drilling, flannel, broadcloth, etc. Their chief purpose is to give protection; against the wind and to keep the snow from; their fur garments. The overcoat of the Koryak and the Russianized Yukaghir, on the contrary, is intended to protect the wearer from the cold. The Chukchee depends for! that solely on his regular clothes.

On the whole, the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo are more hardened to the cold than their neighbors on the southwest, because they live in far more exposed regions, with no fuel for fire. They do not even supply themselves with heavy overcoats, and while travelling sleep in the open without extra covering. The Koryak and the Kamchadal, on the contrary, during a night passed in the open, have a cheerful fire, and protect themselves with heavy double overcoats and sleeping-bags made of thick skins. The Chukchee seldom use fawn-skins for their overcoats, because the hair and skin are not sufficiently tough and durable. Summer skins of full-grown reindeer, with their short slick hair, are most suitable. Thicker skins, employed for this purpose, have their hair previously cropped short. They are worn with the hairy side in. The outside is usually dyed yellow with ochre, or dark red with alder-bark.

Chukchee overcoats are made in the form of long ample frocks reaching far below the knees, with a loose hood, and very full sleeves gathered at the wrists. The lower edge is often bordered with narrow strips of fur or leather. Near the edge the overcoat is trimmed with a band of leather, usually of different color, the reverse side of the skin being turned out.

The overcoats of the southwestern tribes are trimmed along the lower edge with much broader strips of cotton or cloth of bright colors, -- white, red, or blue. These are embroidered in various designs.

The belt is made of a piece of tough leather, with a clasp of ivory or of iron. It is sometimes rudely adorned with buttons, bells, or other jingling objects. Fig. 176 represents a Chukchee belt with a big iron clasp. Strips of leather tied into knots and sewed on the back of the belt form an amulet, as will be described later. The simplest form of belt is made of an odd piece of thin leather thong, with a small stone that serves as a button. The other end of the belt has a loop which slips over the stone button. In other cases pieces of sinew string or thong, without clasp, are simply tied around the waist to serve as a belt. Winter Clothing for Women. -- The dress of the Chukchee woman does not seem so well adapted to its purpose as that of the man. Its main part, a combination-garment, is found in the same style also among the Koryak and the Kamchadal. Indeed, the curious cut of this garment, with its full, dangling sleeves and somewhat low neck, suggests a remote origin in a milder climate than Arctic Asia (see Plate XXIV, Fig. 2).

The combination-garment (see Plate XXIII, Fig. 2; also Fig. 177) consists of a bodice, large at the shoulders, but rather close-fitting at the waist, and passing into baggy trousers that reach a little below the knees. The neck of the bodice is cut quite low both front and back, especially for younger women. To keep off the cold it is bordered with a double or even a triple row of trimming of the thick fur of the dog, fox, or wolf. On the suits of young women these strips of fur are of different hues, contrasting strikingly with each other. Of course this does not prevent the cold winds of the tundra from penetrating under the bodice. The sleeves are very full, and so long that they interfere with the work of the woman. Moreover, they are not gathered in at the opening. On account of these sleeves, the woman, when occupied in several branches of work, has to thrust her right arm and shoulder out of the bodice, while the sleeve is left dangling down the back. This attitude, with half of the bust bare, is one of the most typical for Chukchee women (see Plate XXVII, Fig. 3). The front of the garment opens a short distance down from the neck, and may be fastened with curried leather bands attached to both edges. The garment is without any opening to allow the women to attend to the requirements of nature. For such purposes the body must be entirely removed, allowing the garment to fall down on the knees. In winter the women then cover their naked bodies with overcoats thrown over their shoulders, but in summer they, may be seen about the camps quite uncovered. The leg-openings of the. breeches are fastened over the boots with a gathering-string.

The boots reach to the knee. The upper edge either has a hem through which a string is pulled (Fig. 178, a) or is left rough as in the boots of men. This is because the boot-legs are generally tucked under the legs of the breeches. The stockings (Fig. 178, b) are also long, and fit the leg snugly. The foot of the stocking is made of fawn-skin, while the leg is often made of the thick skin of the full-grown reindeer. The calves of women bulge out with these stockings and boots. Their baggy trousers also hamper free movement, especially while walking through deep snow. I have heard young girls who have to tend to the herd complain about the inconvenience of the female garb of their tribe. In several cases I knew of herdswomen adopting man's dress. Even the gait of Chukchee women is influenced by their clothing. The Lamut describe them as walking with legs spread apart. The Chukhee retaliate by saying that the Lamut girls are chained like dogs because their aprons are decorated with iron chains and various metal ornaments.

The material for women's dress is the same as that for the men's; viz., fawn-skins of different thicknesses. The garments are likewise made double, with the hair of the inner piece touching the skin, and that of the other turned outward.

The color preferred is brown with small white spots in the region of the knees. White skins are used but seldom by women.

The woman's overcoat is shaped something like that of the man. Only it is comparatively shorter and fuller than the latter (Plate XXV, Fig. 2). It is made of thin summer skins of grown reindeer. The flesh side is worn outside, and is dyed red with alder-bark. The overcoat is adorned with fringe and with patches of fur scattered over the front and back. Sometimes the back is further decorated with strips of colored cloth and rude embroidery (Fig. 179). It shows some similarity to the back of the Samoyed coat pictured by Middendorff. {Middendorff, p. 1458.}

The Chukchee women wear this overcoat over their usual dress when going for a walk or ride in the open air. It must also be put on in ceremonial dances and performances. The Koryak women wear the overcoat with their ordinary costume, and consider the combination-suit as underclothing.

The Chukchee women sometimes have overcoats made of cotton, but do not wear these so frequently as the men. In the Pacific villages the Chukchee and the Eskimo young women also have overcoats made of thin guts of seal and walrus carefully bleached and quite transparent. They are exceedingly light, and not ungraceful in appearance (Fig. 180). The guts are neatly stitched together in long bands, and the coat is trimmed with tassels and small red tufts of feathers from the heads of crested auks. It is probable that this frock or coat belonged originally to the Eskimo costume. Even now the best are brought from St.Lawrence Island, where seals are plentiful and crested auks also abound.

The Maritime Chukchee, however, have adopted it as a dress for the great fall ceremonial. They believe that the sea-god Kere'tkun and his wife wear overcoats of exactly the same shape. Therefore while bringing sacrifices to Kere'tkun, the whole family, down to the small children, don this garment in imitation of the deity. At all other times these coats are kept in bags.

Women's caps and mittens are quite similar to those of men. The women also tie bright cotton handkerchiefs around their heads, after the manner of the Russians.

Summer Clothing. -- The Chukchee have no special summer garments, properly speaking. Indeed, there is little need for them in those latitudes. Fur clothes are used all the year round; the old, half-worn clothes, which are of little use in the coldest season, being worn during the summer months. Dampness and rain are much more destructive to fur clothing than the dry snows of winter. So the Chukchee, who in mid-winter is clad in clean and handsome furs, in. the summer wears the worst clothing he has. Even the well-to-do reindeer-breeders then look exceedingly shabby. The people, who have accustomed themselves to severe cold, apparently consider it not worth while to prepare for the milder, damp weather of the short summer months.

In the summer-time coats are worn either single or double. If single, they are always worn with the hair side in. Among the Reindeer Chukchee, trousers and shoes are made of strongly smoked tent-covering (rette'm), which has the advantage of not shrinking after having been wetted. {Compare p. 220.} The trousers have the usual cut. The soles of the boots are made of hard thong-seal hide. The boots often have small guards around the front to keep the toes from being hurt by striking against stones and roots that lie exposed during the summer. These shoes are worn with thick grass insoles, but without socks. They fit the foot closely, so that when walking ankle-deep in the numerous bogs and mountain brooks, very little water can remain in the shoe. The soles, moreover, are pierced with two rows of small holes made with a bodkin, to facilitate the outlet of the water. Even after a long walk through water, when a stretch of dry ground is reached, the shoes dry very rapidly under the pressure of the foot. As there are no stockings inside, the feet will be quite dry in half an hour's time.

The summer trousers and boots of the Maritime Chukchee, as has been noted before, are made of seal-skin, which is much more suitable for this purpose than any kind of reindeer-skin. The seal-skin is curried and the epidermis is left on, or the skin is well scraped and blackened with soot. Thanks to the thickness and oiliness of seal-skin, they are nearly impervious to water.

The typical boot reaches to the knee (Fig. 181, "), and has clumsy, rather full legs. The large soles are crimped around the edge. This latter process is quite similar to that used by the American Eskimo. Since the Asiatic women have no special boot-sole creasers, they use their teeth for this purpose.

The Koryak women have small ivory knives which are similar to the boot-sole creasers of the Alaskan Eskimo; but, curiously enough, they do not use them in boot-making, but only for tracing patterns on soft curried leather" or cloth for the embroidered fringe of the overcoat. Boots of the style just described are made on both shores of Bering Sea by the Maritime Chukchee, the Asiatic Eskimo, and the American Eskimo of Alaska. Whaling-crews and miners use them in preference to the civilized form of foot-gear. In Asia they are traded off to the inland camps of Reindeer people, and some of them reach even the market-places of the Kolyma. Some of the seal-skin boots are much longer. Boots and trousers combined, made of curried sealskin, are occasionally seen. These are useful for seal-hunters and fishermen, who walk constantly through cold water.

Besides the boots and shoes already described, the Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee have the so-called "dry boots" (ke'rgi-pče'kit), which are worn at home when resting from the fatigue of travel and work. These boots are of various shapes. One of the most common forms has the legs made of thin slick reindeer-leg skin, and the feet of brown, smoked, and curried rette'm leather. {Compare p. 220.} The tops of these are trimmed with narrow strips of crimson-dyed seal-skin or red cloth. Others are made entirely of curried leather and adorned with rude embroidery (Fig. 181, b, c). The "dry boots" of women (Fig. 181, d) bear a close resemblance to the patterns used by the Koryak, the Kamchadal, and the Russianized Yukaghir. This form of boot thus appears to be spread over a very large area.

With most forms of summer boots the strings are attached in the same way as among the Alaskan Eskimo. They are fastened to both sides of the instep, and in tying are crossed in front, passed through two loops placed on each side of the boot near the sole, then crossed behind the heel and wound around the ankle, and finally tied in front. This method of fastening the strings is used for curried reindeer-skin shoes of the Reindeer herdsmen, for seal-skin boots of the Maritime hunters, and, among the Koryak, on "dry shoes" and short summer boots made of rette'm.

Mittens (Fig. 182) for summer use are made of seal-skin or curried rette'm leather, and are similar in shape to those worn in winter. Gloves of curried leather are sometimes worn, but are probably copied after Russian and Lamut patterns.

Caps are made either of the thinnest leg-skins of fawns or of curried leather. Large hoods of the latter material, similar in shape to the storm-hoods for winter use, are worn for protection from insects. They are often trimmed with leather fringe around the face and all along the lower edge.

In the spring-time the herdsmen wear light caps without crowns (Fig. 183, a). These are more common in the inland camps. The Maritime young men, while footracing and indulging in other athletic exercises, sometimes wear crownless caps of a somewhat different pattern (Fig. 183, b). A third style is worn by Lamut hunters. This combines the crownless cap with a protector for cheeks and chin. The illustration (Fig. 183, c) represents a cap of this last style, seen from the front. Two leather bands -- one running across the fore-head, and the other passing under the nose -- prevent the cap from slipping off. The pattern in vogue among the Alaskan

Eskimo (represented in Nelson's book) does not resemble any of the forms mentioned, but reminds one rather of the ear-laps used by the Russian cossacks on the Kolyma, which are worn under the parade fur cap to protect Crown Less the ears from the cold of winter. These, however, are made of plain cloth, and are not adorned with embroidery, as in Alaskan specimens.

The summer overcoats worn by herdsmen are chiefly made of the skin of reindeer killed in spring, when the hide is thinnest, and the fur is half-shed and in its poorest condition. The hair is scraped off, but the skins are prepared very roughly, because extra care would not show after the coat had passed through the first rainstorm. These overcoats are so stiff that they can be put on only when moistened with water. At the same time, they are very light and convenient for herdsmen.

Overcoats made of rette'm leather (Plate XXVIII, Fig. I), are also worn in summer, but are heavier than those described here. They do not shrink after being exposed to rain, and, if made of the thickest leather, are waterproof to a considerable degree. The Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo wear waterproof coats made of seal or walrus guts (see Plate XXVI, Fig. 2), quite similar to the American Eskimo patterns. Seal-skin overcoats are used very rarely because of the high value of that material (see Plate XXV, Fig. 1).

Children's Clothing. -- The child's dress is a combination-suit (Fig. 184; Plate XX, Fig. 4), and is called in Chukchee ka'lhê-kê'r ("joint-suit"). It has a large hood trimmed with fur. The sleeves and breeches have no openings at all, so that the child's feet and hands are kept warm inside. A square diaper (ma'ki) is sewed on at the back (Fig. 184, a). It can be tucked between the child's legs, and its ends fastened in front by strings. With small infants this diaper is filled with a mixture of reindeer-moss and hair, which absorbs the excreta and is changed several times a day. This diaper with moss has been adopted by all the tribes of northeastern Siberia, including the Russians, because of its practical convenience. Its Russian name, мака (ma'ka), is taken from the Chukchee. The combination-suit of new-born infants is made of the softest fawn-skins, the hair side in. Since at this early age babies are kept out of the open air, the doubling of the suit is unnecessary. A little later double suits made of thicker fawn-skins are used.

The garments of children are trimmed with all kinds of charms and pendants made of beads and strips of leather. As the children grow, the combination-suit undergoes gradual changes. Sleeves are supplied with slits cut on the side some distance from the end (Plate XXVI, Fig. 1). Through this slit the hand may be thrust out and easily drawn back again. When the child begins to walk, the breeches of the suit are also supplied with openings, and short-legged boots of fawn-skin are worn. The use of the breech-cloth is continued after the moss matting becomes unnecessary. Small boys up to -about three years of age, walking around with the strings of this diaper untied and dragging behind them in the snow, is a familiar sight in Chukchee or Koryak camps.

At the age of about six or eight years, both boys and girls receive garments of the usual cut; but the latter retain the diaper piece considerably longer, because the regular female garment is not adapted to the child's needs. Loin-Breeches. -- The Maritime people, both Chukchee and Eskimo, when in the inner sleeping-room, are accustomed to strip naked except for short loin-breeches. These are used by both men and women. They are made of curried leather (Fig. 185, a, и) or (in modern times) also of calico or cloth. Many of them are adorned with leather fringe. The men also wear crownless caps (see Fig. 183, b). Young boys and girls, when in the inner room, often strip off all their clothing, the girls having only a few strings of beads around their waist as a suggestion of a breech-cloth.

In the Chukchee villages on the Arctic shore, and also in those on the Pacific which lie nearest to East Cape, the inhabitants are familiar with the use of the loin-breeches. The Chukchee in the villages southwest of the Asiatic Eskimo, however, do not wear this garment, and consider it of Eskimo origin. The Reindeer people wear no loin-breeches, since they do not strip naked while in their houses.

Hair-Dressing. -- Many of the Chukchee men cut the hair on the crown of the head as close as possible, so that it looks almost as if shaven, forming a kind of tonsure (see Plate XXIX, Fig. 4). The hair around the tonsure is trimmed to look like fringe, sometimes in a double row (Plate xxx, Fig. 3). On top of the head, on both sides of the tonsure, two long locks are left by some of the men. These locks look not unlike the ears of an animal. The fashion of wearing a tonsure is in use also among the Koryak and among the Asiatic and American Eskimo. Among the Chukchee it is of late years gradually being superseded by the ordinary style of hair-cut.

The tonsure and fringe are resorted to whenever it is thought necessary, for superstitious reasons, to change one's appearance. For instance, a person thus protects himself from the spirits of contagious diseases, or a murderer conceals his identity from the revengeful soul of his victim. From the same motive, usually on command of shamans, men may allow their hair to grow, and plait it in braids after the fashion of women, or leave a few locks on the temples or on the back of the neck, to be plaited into a small braid. A single white bead is sometimes braided in with the hair at the front of the head (Plate XXIX, Fig. 3). This is supposed to serve as a protecting charm, and will be referred to later. On Plate XXIX, Fig. 1, will be noticed a small piece of perforated iron.

Women sometimes plait into their hair in front a number of small gay-colored beads merely for ornament. In dressing the hair, the women form two braids on the sides of the head, quite near the temples (Plate xxix, Fig. 2). The braids are adorned with strings of small beads and buttons (see Fig. 188, g, h, k). Married women arrange their braids at the back of the head in a coil, and cover them with a cotton neckerchief in Russian style (Plate XXVII, Fig. 3). Young women and girls leave their braids hanging down over the shoulders, and join their ends together with a narrow band.

The Chukchee allow the mustache and whiskers to grow. Only a few young men pull them out with tweezers, which are probably copied after those of some neighboring tribe. In this respect the Koryak are similar to the Chukchee, while the Lamut and the Eskimo pull out the scanty growth of hair on their faces very carefully.

Tattooing. -- Tattooing is done with a needle, by means of which a thin thread, blackened with soot or with powder, is drawn through the skin. It is practised on girls of ten years or even younger, though it requires considerable endurance (see Plate XXX, Fig. 4). The women of the Reindeer Chukchee are contented with only a few lines (Fig. 186, a). Two of these run vertically on both sides of the nose. On account of these tattoo-lines several tales speak of a heroine with a punctured nose as a Chukchee woman par excellence. Several vertical lines adorn the chin. Childless women tattoo on both cheeks three equidistant lines running all the way around. This is considered one of the charms against sterility. I know of cases, however, where young women and girls have adorned their cheeks with such lines with no reference to child-bearing. Many women of the Reindeer branch have no tattooing at all.

Of the Maritime people, the Eskimo women, both on the mainland and on St. Lawrence Island, adorn their faces and hands with more or less elaborate tattooing (Fig. 186, b-e).

The Chukchee of the Pacific villages south of Indian Point practise tattooing similar to that of the Reindeer people, while in the northern villages more elaborate designs are occasionally used (Fig. 186, f-k). In the Arctic villages, so far as I am aware, the tattooing is like that of the Reindeer people.

Men are not tattooed, except in the Eskimo villages and the nearest Chukchee settlements, where a great many have two small marks tattooed on both cheeks near the mouth (Fig. 186, i). Nelson suggests that they may be substitutes for labrets, which possibly were worn by the people in olden times. {Nelson, p. 52.} This is probably true, though their position does not quite correspond to the usual position of the labret. These marks are now intended only as charms against spirits. The same is true of other marks, representing human figures, of which I shall speak later. I heard from the Kolyma Chukchee that in ancient times a man, after killing an enemy, tattooed a dot on the back of his right wrist. For each similar performance a dot was added, sometimes in this way forming quite a line of dots running from the wrist toward the elbow. In modern times, among the Maritime people, the hunter who succeeds in killing his first whale or polar bear has a simple mark tattooed near every joint of his limbs.

Personal Adornment. -- Chukchee men and women, embellish their persons with various adornments of rudest fashion, most of which are regarded as protecting charms or amulets. Most prominent among these are necklaces. The ordinary type is a slender leather band (Fig. 187, a), much soiled, often broken in one or two places and retied with ungainly knots (see Fig. 190, a). In front is fastened a tiny pouch for the tobacco-quid. An amulet sewed up in a piece of leather may be added, or even a small figure carved of ivory (Fig. 187, b). At present, however, beads are considered best suited for this purpose. Some of those who have been baptized add a brass crucifix.

Necklaces of this shape are worn by most of the people (see Fig. 790, a), and are put on at an early age. Women wear, in addition, necklaces made of beads of various sizes and colors, strung together on sinew thread and wound around the neck in several coils (Figs. 188, a, i: 190, b) also Plate XXVII, Fig. 3). These necklaces are often embellished with buttons of brass and porcelain, bottoms of cartridges, heads of brass nails, handles of broken china cups, etc. These trinkets are arranged with poor taste and without any symmetry. Often the necklace of a woman represents a mass of different strings hopelessly entangled. Among the Maritime Chukchee and Eskimo many men wear necklaces of a string of large beads.

The bracelet of the most usual type is made to match the necklace. It is a narrow strip of leather, with a single bead tied to one of the ends (Fig. 189, a; Fig. 190, a, b). Very few Chukchee are seen without these bracelets on at least one of their wrists. Some add an extra bead or wind the band around twice. Arm-bands of a similar style are also worn (Fig. 190 a, b). More ornamental bracelets are made of a string of large beads or of small beads sewed in several rows on a strip of leather (Fig. 188, c, f). Bracelets of iron and brass are also used (Fig. 189, b), though these are generally bought from the neighboring tribes. The same may be said of brass, copper, and iron finger-rings (Fig. 189, c).

Women often wear around the wrist or over the chest, under their clothing, a string with a few beads on it (Fig. 190, b). The men simply use a thin strip of leather or a cord of sinew for the same purpose (Fig. 190, a).

Middle-aged men often wear a kind of head-band (Fig. 191, a) similar in style to the leather necklace. It is made of a very narrow strip of leather, adorned at intervals with a few large beads and having a few strings of smaller beads hanging from it. These ornaments are also amulets. In olden times the attachments consisted of small blocks of wood. These represented protecting spirits, and were called "wooden manikins" (otta'з-la'ulqaitê). I saw one head-band of this kind worn by an old man among the Reindeer people on the Wolverene River. Head-bands with wooden images attached are mentioned in several tales. Similar wooden manikins, forked at one end, may be seen on the breast-band of the women (Fig. 190, b). Their shape represents one of the typical images of guardian and assistant spirits, which are much used by the Chukchee. They will be discussed at length, in Chapter XIII.

Ear-rings are usually made of small beads strung on leather or sinew (Fig. 188, e, j). A larger bead or a disk of silver battered out of a small coin is added at the end (Fig. 188, b). Ear-rings of thin silver wire in combination with a few beads strung on leather (Fig. 188, d) are also used. The latter two forms are characteristic of the Lamut. Ear-rings of silver wire are similar to those of the Gilyak figured by Schrenck. {Schrenck, II, Plate XXIX, Fig. 6.} Ear-rings are fastened by passing a string, through a hole in the lobe of the ear and tying a knot in the end of the string to prevent it from slipping out (see Plate XXIX, Fig. 3). This method of holding the ear-rings in place is used by most of the tribes of this region. Even the ear-rings of thin silver wire are thus fastened to the ear with a short strip of leather. For greater safety the two rings are often joined by a fine thread passing around the back of the head.

Many men also wear ear-rings, generally by order of a shaman. These, however, are sometimes fastened simply with a loop slung over the ear.

Single beads on long leather strings are sewed to the clothes at various places, serving at the same time both as a charm and as an ornament. Women frequently have a long pendant dangling from the front of their bodice down as low as the knees.

In earlier times ivory beads and pendants were used for ear-rings and other ornaments. I could find but a few of these, all of which are very care-fully made, and seem to be only imitations of glass beads (Fig. 191, d). Others (Fig. 191, b, c) resemble the ivory ornaments for women's jackets used by the Central Eskimo. {Compare Boas, Central Eskimo, Fig. 509, a, p. 555; and Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, Fig. 75, p. 52.} It is uncertain whether, before the arrival of Europeans, the Chukchee used necklaces made of small objects strung together.

I have heard that necklaces of the vertebrae of fish were worn by children. One of the dolls I collected had a necklace of tiny stones of irregular form tied together on a sinew thread.

Buttons are little known to the Chukchee, since their garments do not require any. Some buttons carved out of ivory are used for clasping belts or for buttoning pouches and work-bags (Fig. 191, e, f). They may be compared to the buttons belonging to the Gilyak, and illustrated by Schrenck. {Schrenck, II, Plate XXIX, Figs. 4, 5.}

Snow-Goggles. -- Snow-goggles of leather and wood (Fig. 192, a, b) are used by the Chukchee, the Asiatic Eskimo, the Lamut, and other tribes of northeastern Asia. They have narrow slits similar to those in the specimens from the American Eskimo. The Lamut sometimes fashion snow-goggles of the same shape out of thin sheets of silver hammered out of silver coins. Nowadays snow-goggles of Yakut make, covered with a net of horsehair, are bought from Russian traders. Glass goggles from civilized countries are also eagerly purchased. The Chukchee sometimes imitate European snow-goggles, but in place of smoked glass or hair-netting they use round bits of iron pierced with numerous holes.

I once saw among the Reindeer Chukchee an eye-shade used by a man who had weak eyes. It was made of thick leather, and fastened with strings around the back of his head. Among the Maritime people, owners of boats, who usually sit at the stern steering, put on eye-shades during their hunting-expeditions. The harpooneer also wears an eye-shade. The eye-shades which I collected belong to the Asiatic Eskimo. All of them represent masks at the same time. One has on it the image of a killer-whale and two walruses (Fig. 192, c), another, the face of a walrus without tusks (Fig. 192, d); a third has two eyes, which are said to represent whale's eyes.

Snowshoes, Staffs, and Ice-Creepers. -- The snowshoes used in northeastern Asia are of two varieties, in accordance with the character of the ground on which they are to be used. Those used within the forest-border, where the snow is soft and abundant, are made of long, thin boards. Those used by the Yakut are narrow, and are not covered with skins. They are therefore called "bare snowshoes." Those used by the Lamut are broader, and covered underneath with slick reindeer-leg skins, the hair turning backward to assist in ascending hills and yet glide along smoothly on the level or down grades. Their length is from 125 cm. to 130 cm.; and breadth, from 24 cm. to 26 cm. The Kamchadal snowshoes are more clumsily made, and covered with seal-skin, which does not serve nearly as well as reindeer-skin. Snowshoes covered with leg-skins (Fig. 193, a) are known also among the Reindeer Chukchee on both the Arctic and the Pacific shores (see Plate xxx, Fig. 2). They are bought either from the Lamut or from the Russianized natives, and are used in winter for travel in the forests. They are very useful in hunting reindeer on the hard-crusted snow, because their large surface prevents the foot from breaking through the thin crust of the snow.

Nordenskiöld {Nordenskiöld, II, p. 101.} obtained a specimen of these snowshoes from the Arctic Chukchee, and considered them hopelessly clumsy. He says that he could not even admit any possible use for them until he saw a Japanese picture representing an Ainu man driving a reindeer while on such snowshoes (i. e., the snowshoes served as a sledge). The title of the Japanese book from which the picture is taken is given by Nordenskiold as "Journey to the Northern Part of Japan (Yezo)." It is to be regretted that no more details are given. It is almost needless to say, that, however attractive the picture may be on the pages of the Japanese book, it is altogether fantastic. Ainu do not drive reindeer either with snowshoes or in any other way. My own experience and the opinion of the natives both contradict Nordenskiold when he speaks of the clumsiness of these snowshoes. The Lamut, who are the best snowshoe-runners in northeastern Asia, achieve wonders with this partic-ular kind of shoe. Several times I had Lamut runners wearing such snowshoes who accompanied my dog-team for miles and miles without any visible strain. The dogs ran in the deep, hard-beaten track. The Lamut runners glided by their side over the surface of the snow. Races on such snowshoes are also run among the Lamut runners, in which they attain a speed equal to that of the fastest race-reindeer.

The other variety of snowshoe, and the one typical of the Chukchee (Fig. 193, b), is the so-called "raven feet" (ve'lvi-ye'hit; in local Russian, лапки, "paws," which is evidently a translation of the same term). They are made with a wooden frame, rather small in size (60-70 cm. by 16-20 cm.), and inter-laced with thongs. The frame is rounded between the two pointed ends. The foot rests on the middle of the net, and is fastened with a loop. The loop for the foot is the same on both kinds of snowshoes.

Netted snowshoes are used by natives when walking on uneven ground, where the other kind of shoe would be quite useless. Herdsmen, for example, wear them when tending the reindeer in the pastures, where the snow is scraped and ploughed up by the feet of the animals. Seal-hunters also wear them in walking on the outskirts of the rugged ice.

Snowshoes having a similar name are in use also among the Koryak. Their construction is essentially the same, only the frame is more elongated. Snowshoes of this kind are also well known in America among the Eskimo and the northern Indians from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.

The runner on snowshoes steadies himself with a long staff. On the end it has a small hoop supported by spokes of whalebone or thong (Fig. 194, a), which prevents it from sinking through the snow. The staff with the hoop is well known among the American Eskimo. In Asia, however, it is used chiefly with the broad snowshoes in walking on soft snow. When travelling with netted snowshoes on hard ground, there is much less need for support. The staff of this form is known through all the Arctic country of the Old World as far west as Lapland.

Foot-racers and even herdsmen in the summer-time use a short staff (Fig. 194, b), the lower end of which is tipped with spikes made of antler. Often a couple of nails serve for spikes. While running, the man thrusts the staff as far ahead as possible, and supports himself on it, trying to lengthen his steps. Instead of this staff, runners will often use plain wooden sticks.

Another kind of staff is used in climbing mountains. It has a head of antler or iron, with two large, slightly curved spikes not unlike walrus-tusks. These spikes are used for catching to rocks in the most difficult places. This staff is used mainly among the Kamchadal in hunting sheep or bears on the rugged mountains. A similar form is found among the Lamut hunters. I have also seen specimens among those Chukchee of the Kolyma who live farther to the south.

Chukchee and Koryak, when walking over smooth ice, use ivory creepers identical in shape with those of the American Eskimo (Fig. 195). These are fastened to the sole crosswise to prevent slipping.

XI. -- GAMES.

Athletic Sports. -- The Chukchee are fond of all kinds of sports, and indulge in them whenever opportunity is offered. Many of their games are connected with religious ceremonials, as will be described later.

Among the Reindeer Chukchee the chief sport is reindeer-racing. Once a year almost every camp arranges a race. These races are held in circuits, so that the whole neighborhood can visit all in their vicinity. The principal man of the camp, who figures as the host of the race (ire'lin), has to supply the prize, wbich varies from a couple of leaves of tobacco to a beaver-skin or a pack-sledge reindeer. The prize is tied to a tree-branch, which is stuck into the snow. For this reason it is called "the thing stuck in" (ri'pyo). The larger the prize, the greater will be the concourse of people at the race, and the longer the stretch to be covered by the contestants, sometimes ten miles and upwards.

There are no particular rules about starting the race. The participants gather in front of the prize in an irregular group. The host gives the signal, and all start off. While some keep to the road, others strike off through the deep snow, trying to intercept the leaders. The race is to a distant point and back again. Until the contestants are on the return stretch they spare their animals. The race begins in earnest on the way back, and becomes very exciting as they near the prize.

The onlookers are very enthusiastic, and meet the racers with encouraging cries or hootings. The winner snatches the prize, and the race is over. Often one or two minor prizes are also put up by other people of the camp. These are taken by the next comers in order. Sometimes there is also a small stake for the last comer, partly in derision, partly (according to a native saying) "to console him for his disgrace." The host takes part in the race, but it is regarded as discourteous if he seriously tries to beat his guests out of the prize. If he comes in first, he will not touch the prize; or, if there is more than one prize, he will take the smallest, leaving the others for his guests.

The Chukchee are passionately fond of reindeer-racing. In the spring, which is the usual season for the sport, some of the young people undertake long journeys to try their reindeer against a possible rival. Doubtful races often lead to quarrels, and even to feuds. I had a chance to observe one of these in 1896 in the East Anui camps on the Wolverene River. Two rivals of several years standing met in a race. When one had almost reached the goal, one of his reindeer suddenly stumbled and fell, thus allowing the other man to capture the prize. A quarrel ensued; and the winner, who had the reputation of being a shaman, was accused of laming the reindeer by means of secret incantations. The quarrel was quieted down by the other guests. After two days the loser suddenly died. Of course, the other one was accused of using further incantations to kill his rival. He fled in the night to his native country, about five hundred miles away. Two brothers of the dead man followed his tracks in the morning, but were unable to overtake him. It was understood, however, that one of them would seek the supposed criminal the next fall in order to settle the blood score.

The Maritime Chukchee have races with dogs, or, in summer, with skin boats; but both are of little consequence compared with the racing-contests of reindeer-breeders. Chukchee dogs, as I have already mentioned, are of inferior quality. Paddling in skin boats is rather too irregular to allow a spirited contest for any long distance. The Russianized natives frequently arrange private dog-races, with a bet to be paid to the victor. In these races the contestants are allowed to use any means, fair or unfair, even to cutting the traces of their adversaries. The excitement approaches that in reindeer-races.

Foot-races and wrestling usually take place at the reindeer-race meets. The foot-race follows the reindeer contest, over the same track through the snow loosened by the hoofs of the deer. The race is always for a long distance, and often covers several miles. The participants remove their outer clothes, or else they take off their underclothes and wear the outer trousers and short boots without stockings. They carry staffs or sticks, which they rest on the ground to assist them in taking long steady strides.

The Chukchee are not so swift of foot as they are enduring, especially the members of the Reindeer division. I doubt if very many runners among civilized peoples could run several miles, through loose deep snow, wearing heavy fur clothing.

A fair amount of swiftness combined with endurance, however, is peculiar to all tribes of the area described. Some of the Chukchee herdsmen are able to overtake a reindeer-buck running at full speed, while the swiftest of the Lamut hunters claim to be able to keep up with a wild reindeer fleeing for its life. The Russianized Yukaghir of the Kolyma are able to keep pace with a swift-running dog-team for ten or fifteen miles. I saw one man run behind a dog-sledge for forty miles. At the end the dogs were only half an hour ahead of him.

On the spring journey of the chief official of the Kolyma from Nishne-Kolymsk to the Anui fair, the dog-driver is picked out from the best young men of the country. The journey is about two hundred and fifty versts (a hundred and sixty-six miles) long, and is usually covered in about twenty-two or twenty-four hours. The road has many difficulties, being full of long inclines and running through several clearings on the woody hills. The driver has almost no chance to sit down, and has to run all the time by the side of the swiftly driven sledge, keeping it from tipping over. After twenty-four hours of this painful exercise, the driver is often so tired, that, on reaching the place, he reels like one drunk, and has to be helped into the house.

Of two drivers who took part in the dog-race of 1869, which I mentioned before, the victor so impaired his health by the strain that he never recovered.

The young girls and women among the Chukchee have foot-races of their own, which they are as eager to win as the men. Often foot-races are run by boys, who compete with fellows of their own age.

Wrestling usually takes place after the foot-race, because the wrestlers strip naked to the waist, and they like to have their bodies heated by the previous exercise. If there is no foot-race, the wrestlers will run a couple of miles to get warmed up for their contests. While the couples are wrestling, the rest of the people sit or stand around to judge the matches. Sometimes two or three pairs wrestle at the same time. After stripping, the men, just before the contest, rub their bodies all over with snow.

The rules of the contest require that one man shall assume a posture of passive defence, and the other try to throw him. The first is called "motionless" (u'lvilin); the second, "the attacking one" (viri'tilin). If the latter proves unsuccessful, the positions are reversed. Finally there usually follows a rough-and-tumble scramble, in which each of the contestants tries every means to get the better of his adversary. Custom requires that one of the parties be made to touch the ground with both of his shoulders, and kept in this position in spite of his struggles. Three bouts are regarded as settling the match, but the vanquished one often desires to keep on trying his chances. Frequently he becomes greatly excited, and then a violent scuffle may ensue. The victor has to meet the winner of any other contests: but, lest he should become too tired, he will step back after a few matches and return in a half-hour or so to try his chance once more. This continues until the best man is determined, and he takes the stake if there is one. The passions are aroused quite enough, however, without stakes, so that prizes are seldom put up for this sport. Several Chukchee tales describe a peculiar wrestling-match that takes place on a spread walrus-skin, slippery with blubber and made dangerous by having sharp splinters of bone or wood stuck around its edge. Similar details are mentioned also in Eskimo and Indian tales. {Bogoras, Anthropologist, p. 617.}

A wrestling-match is the usual method of settling quarrels among the Chukchee. A man having a grudge against another one will either openly challenge him for a match or he will seek a chance to encounter him in a general contest. In either case, the match sometimes ends in bloodshed, or even death, if the spectators do not interfere in time.

Women also wrestle, but their matches generally end in scratching and pulling hair. Members of alien tribes are also allowed to take part in all of the sports described; but if a stranger should be so imprudent as to take the best prize, the people are likely to resent it, and might even try to retaliate in some way.

The Maritime Chukchee and Eskimo have foot-races (Plate xxx, Fig. 1) and wrestling-matches (Plate xxxi, Fig. 1) of the same character as those above described, as well as nearly all the other sports which we shall now take up.

I have already noted the fighting-contests of former times and the physical exercises with stones (Plate XXVIII, Fig. 1) and trunks of trees. {Compare pp. 33, 161.} In all exercises long and continuous running plays the most important part. The common expression for these exercises is "becoming lighter of foot" (inetvi'rkin). Even at the present time, if a young man is vanquished by an unfriendly rival in a wrestling-contest, he will sometimes train for a whole year, dragging heavy loads, running, carrying burdens, etc., in order to acquire more agility and strength for another contest. Cases of this kind are often mentioned in tales. For instance, in the legend of Talo {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 364.} it is stated that the hero lies idle in his tent for about a year, eating an enormous amount and storing up fat and muscle. Then suddenly he starts training. At first he is so slow in dragging a small sledge behind him, that the moving train of his family gets far ahead of him, and he reaches the camping-place only late the next morning. He perseveres, however, in his exercises, and from day to day increases his speed and the load he is drawing. On the twentieth day he is able to pull six loaded sledges, and still keep ahead of the moving train. All this time he eats nothing and does not enter his tent, sleeping for only a few hours each night out in the open on the snow. After that he practises other exercises. For whole days he will throw his lance or jump over the tents, across the lakes, or over large forests from one border to the other, until he feels ready to conquer the Ta'n.ñit.

Tossing in blankets is a kind of religious performance with the Maritime Chukchee and Eskimo, and will therefore be described later, in the chapters dealing with this subject. Other amusements of less importance are practised by grown people and children whenever occasion presents, without prizes being offered and without general gatherings.

Jumping-matches are often arranged on the spur of the moment by young people in camps or villages. Each tries to make the longest jump possible, keeping his heels together, and getting a start by a few preliminary jumps.

Arm-pulling, finger-pulling, neck-pulling, and stick-pulling are practised in pairs. For these the contestants lock arms or fingers, have a rawhide loop passed around their necks, or put their feet sole to sole and grasp the same stick, holding it horizontally above their knees. Then they strain and pull until one gives way.

Young women amuse themselves with a game similar to our skip-rope. Two women hold the ends of a line, and swing it around regularly, while a third jumps over the middle of it, keeping her knees and heels together. I have not noticed any particular rules about the order of the jumps, like those found by Parry among the Iglulik Eskimo. {Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 573.}

Another game is a contest in crawling on the knees, which is rather difficult for women, on account of their clumsy breeches. In one sort of race the contestants move around while bending forward and taking hold of the toes of their boots with their hands. In another they crouch on the ground, imitating the motion of the seal.

Songs and Dances. -- The dances performed at ceremonials by men or women will be described farther on. Young girls have dances of their own, which are meant to imitate the motions of various animals or certain human actions. They are accompanied by peculiar songs, or rather rhythmical guttural sounds produced by alternately drawing in and letting out the breath. The act of making these sounds is termed "to call with the throat" (pič-eiñe'rkin). Two or more girls take positions opposite each other or in a circle (see Plate XXVII, Fig. 4) and in succession produce the sounds, keeping time carefully, and quickly taking their turns one after the other. The singing is begun with low hoarse notes. Imitative sounds are introduced later in a much higher key. While singing, the girls sway the upper part of their bodies back and forth, and then go through various imitative motions in connection with the sounds uttered (Plates XXXI, Fig. 2; XXVII, Fig. 4). Young boys taking part in the dance hold up their hands and snap their fingers, at the same time producing a peculiar clicking sound with their tongues. Each song, with the accompanying dance, has the name of the animal represented.

The most frequently performed are the Raven and The-One-eyed-One dances. The imitative sounds of the former represent the croaking of the Raven. The girls for a while also keep repeating, "Raven, Raven!" in hoarse sounds produced while drawing in the breath. While dancing, the girls hop around, pretend to seek for something, peck at the ground, etc. The song of The-One-eyed-One is accompanied by a few words sung in the same manner as "Raven." It runs like this: "The-One-eyed-One called with his throat till his other eye got out (of the socket)" (Kowla'iñm piče'iñei npe't pi'tqa-lêlanto'ê). The dancers make faces and squint their eyes alternately, representing The-One-eyed-One. He is supposed to have been an old man who wanted to have a contest of "calling with the throat" with some young girls. In the contest his only eye came out of the socket under the strain.

Among other songs may be mentioned "The Song of the Fox." It is a kind of dialogue between the fox and the bear, and reproduces a widely known tale, in which the fox pretends to heal the bear's wounds with red-hot stones, and finally kills him. The fox speaks in a thin treble voice; the bear answers in a deep bass voice, which gradually weakens. A similar theme occurs in Indian tales. {Compare Boas, Indianische Sagen, p. 317; see also Bogoras, Anthropologist, p. 655.}

In the dance and song of the geese the motions and cackling of the white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) are imitated. In "The Song of the Fighting Sandpiper" (Totanus pugnax) are imitated the quaint motions of those birds in their social gatherings during the early nesting-season. {The Chukchee call this bird "ceremonial bird" (mñe-ga'LE). The name originated from these social assemblies of the birds, which are regarded by the Chukchee as ceremonial performances.}

Songs of the long-tailed duck (Fuligula glacialis), swan, walrus, seal, and of reindeer-rutting, are either imitative songs or are accompanied by imitative dances. One dance is an imitation of the scraping of skins. Another is called "The Boneless One." Its song has the following words: "I became boneless!" (A'ni vai! a'ni vai!). The dance is accompanied by violent jerking motions of the head and arms to pretend that "the dancers have no bones at all.

Another class of these songs represents the act of copulation, with a rather queer dance and even with imitative sounds. The dance often ends in two girls lying on the ground imitating sexual intercourse. Frequently young boys also take part in the performance.

Children's Games, Toys, etc. -- Boys and half-grown young men of the Reindeer people have a few simple games of their own. Of these may be mentioned swinging on a rope suspended from two trees or around an upright pole, like a merry-go-round. The Maritime people are without these games because they live on a treeless tundra. In another game a block of wood is suspended from a tree by a rope, and the youth try to catch it with their small lassos. Although the block is kept constantly swinging, a good marksman almost never misses his throw.

The scoring runs like this: "1. I saw an elk's track; 2. I overtook the elk; 3. I killed it." The fact that elk-hunting is represented, shows that the play must be of ancient origin. {Compare p. 136.}

A rather curious game represents the Raven chasing a group of small children. At first a mother stands holding on to the children, with the Raven opposite her. He scrapes the ground with his hands, and the following conversation takes place: --

Mother. What are you doing?

Raven. I am digging a hole.

Mother. What for?

Raven. To put pebbles in.

Mother. What do you want the pebbles for?

Raven. To shoot at your children.

Mother. Why will you shoot?

Raven. They have spoiled my corral.

Then the Raven runs after the children, who scatter, shouting, "The Raven's eyes are lean, our eyes are fat!"

A game with almost identically the same details exists among the Russians of t r of the child, and it is most propitious if he himself is able to perform the ceremony. If he is not able, he invites some of his experienced relatives, who can name several "knowing people" possessed of the incantation in question. These latter are more frequently male than female. The choice of the performer is indicated by divination with a suspended object, in the usual way. Then the husband goes to seek the designated person, who may be more than fifty miles away. As said before, the "knowing man" must at first refuse, and he may persist in this refusal for even three or four days, to avoid the displeasure of the Deity. The negotiations are carried on in whispers, in the strictest secrecy, and only inside of the sleeping-room.

The best time of all for performing the ceremony is during the first three days of the young moon, but, nevertheless, in the day-time. For this a small fire is built up before the entrance, and a number of plates laden with various meats, cooked or dried, are placed on both sides of it. The performer gives each of the parents a small piece of red stone wrapped in leather formed into a necklace. Then he pronounces an incantation, of which the following may serve as a fair specimen: --

"You are not on this earth; you are within this stone. No wind may reach you; no iceberg may crush you, but it will break into pieces against the edges of the stone. You are not on this earth. In the open ocean there lies a big sea-animal born at the same time with the earth and the world. This animal is a sea-lion. Its back is like an island, it is covered with earth and stones. You are on its back." {Compare Incantation 5 (d), р. 499.}

A similar necklace is put, with the same incantation, on the child's neck. The performer takes the child in his arms, and makes three rounds among the plates of meat, stepping over them forward and backward, and retracing his steps, in order to make his trail more intricate. Then the fire and the principal "directions" are fed from the plates. What remains of the meat is eaten by those present. The lobes of the child's ears are pierced, and ear-ornaments, each made of three small colored beads, are inserted. Several additional figures of "guardians," made of leather, are sewed to the child's garment. Its name is also changed.

Exposure of Infants. -- Sarytcheff says that in his time the Chukchee exposed their misshaped infants. {Sarytcheff, II, p. 109. Steller mentions that the Kamchadal women of his time had many ways of producing abortion, but that, not satisfied with this, they often also smothered their babes, and then gave the corpses to the dogs, or exposed them alive in the middle of the wood (p. 349).} I have said before, that I know of no such practice in modern times. {See p. 48.} But in the case of a lying-in woman dying in her labors, the babe is often smothered and exposed, together with the mother, in a common funeral. {D. Crantz says, in his History of Greenland, that, "with the Greenland Eskimo, a suckling babe which has lost its mother and has no one else to nurse it is soon after buried alive by the desperate father" (I, p. 218). The Eskimo of America, moreover, exposed their new-born babies whenever they pleased.} The people, however, more frequently try to raise the child, either on the milk of another suckling woman, if there is any at hand, or by feeding it with broth, and, in the Maritime villages, with thin pap prepared from American flour bought from whalers, which is mixed with a little oil.

I also gathered among the Asiatic Eskimo, in various villages, some curious information about the method which is applied to feed and raise babies born prematurely. A baby of this kind is put into the soft skin of a big sea-bird. This skin, taken off whole and turned, has the feathers inside. Then it is tied up very securely, and hung over a big lamp in which a small flame is kept constantly burning. Of course, in doing this, they take care that the child's head shall be in a proper position. In this position the babe is kept for from a week to four weeks, during which time it is fed with small quantities of oil, as well as with mother's milk drawn from her breasts. Little by little the portion of milk is increased, and at last the babe is allowed to suckle. I had no opportunity of witnessing an operation of this kind, but I was told that two young men-whom I saw in Uni'sak were raised by their mothers in this way.

Names. -- I will give here a few details as to the significance of Chukchee names, male and female, which is in a great measure influenced by the ideas and ceremonies described in the preceding pages. A great part of the names have reference to the idea of the return of the deceased from another world. Such are, for men, --

Ye'tilin,

The One Coming.

Ro'čhilin,

The One from Another Shore.

Notalqo't,

The One Standing up from the Ground.

Penelqu't,

The One Standing up after having Rested.

Pe'lqAnti,

The One Coming Back.

Vaa'lirgin,

The One who has Rested.

Girgo'l,

The Upper One.

Atči'irgin,

The Hidden One.

Re'mkilin,

Guest.

Ra'htilin,

The One Coming Home.

Omnlqo't,

The One Standing up Strong.

Kitilqu't,

The One Standing up Suddenly.

Nuva't,

The One Brought Back.

Pañа'nto,

The One Restored from Fatigue.

Hi'uqai,

The Unknown One.

Names of the same class for women: --

Yetye'ut,

The One Coming.

Ro'čhiña,

The Woman from the Other Shore.

Hi'uñe,

The Unknown Woman.

Qutye'ut,

The One Standing up.

Ra'htiña,

The Woman Coming Home.

In another group, more embellished but also relating to the coming from the other world, are male names like these: --

Tñe'ntegrew,

The One Descending from Dawn.

Tñečei'vun,

The One Coming Afoot from Dawn.

Qê'rgmto,

The One Coming out from the Light.

Tñe'nmtm,

The One Thrown from Dawn.

Tñeru'ltin,

The One Going Aside from Dawn.

Qêrgukwa't,

The One Sticking in the Light.

Names of the same class for women: --

Tñeñe'ut,

The Woman from Dawn.

Qêrgu'kwa-ña'ut,

The Woman Sticking in Light.

Qê'rgiña,

The Woman from Light.

The combinations with "Dawn" and "Light" are numerous, and remind one somewhat of the ancient names of Aryan peoples, among whom similar combinations are often met with. Some names refer to the pronounced characteristic of the person. Such are, --

Omri'irgm,

The Strong One.

Rana'wkurgin,

The Straight One.

Rana'wñaw,

The Straight Woman.

Aiña'irgin,

The (Loud) Crying One.

Q'mriña,

The Strong Woman.

The class of protecting names given by the shamans was mentioned in the chapter on shamanism. {See p. 467.} Among them are the names of "alien" tribes, Ai'wan, T'an.ñitan, E'tel; the names of animals, A'3ttEn ("dog"), Kei'ñin ("bear"), Yile'il ("marmot"), E'3hilhin ("wolf"); and the corresponding names for women, A'ttiñe ("dog woman"), Yi'leñe ("marmot woman"); also Kele'wgi (a man's name) and Ke'leññä (a woman's name) from ke'lE; Ä3qä'wgi, Ä3qä'ñña, from ä'3qä ("evil").

For the same purpose, protection from evil spirits, female names are given to men; for instance Ve'hitki-ñew (Scratching-Woman), the male shaman who has been mentioned several times before. Steller speaks {Steller, p. 353.} of the same practice obtaining among the Kamchadal. The names taken from material objects are less numerous. Such are, --

Wu'kwun,

Stone.

U'ttäqäi,

Splinter.

Poi'hin,

Spear.

Titi'ñA (fem.),

Needle.

Wu'kwuqäi,

Little Stone.

U'ltAñA,

Wooden Woman.

Va'lE,

Knife.

From most of the names mentioned above, derivatives are formed by means of suffixes. In names of males we find -tegin -ta'gin (in other compounds signifying "limit"), -n.qew -n.qaw (probably from ni-nqe'w-qin, "[he is] strong"), -wgi -wgê (origin unknown); in female names, -ñe'ut -ña'ut, -ññe -ñña, -ñe -ña (all signifying "woman"), -tva'al (verbal stem signifying "repose"). For instance, Oora'wgê, from qora'ñi ("reindeer"), Nuten.qe'w ("strong on the ground"), Nutete'hin ("ground-limit"), etc. Other instances have been previously given. The derivative names are more numerous than the primary ones. It is customary to have all the names of the family, or the greater part of them, derived from the same stem; for instance, Notalqo't, Nuten.qe'w, Nute'wgi, Nutete'hin, Nu'te.ñe'ut, Nota'tvaal.

Several names are selected without reference to these rules. Such are, Qla'ul ("man"), Ča'kihêt ("sister"), E'ndiw ("uncle"), etc.

A large class of names have no significance in the Chukchee language, such as Če'quin, Qa'pleq, Qa'tik, Peri'. Such names are more numerous among the Maritime Chukchee, and some of them at least were probably taken from the Eskimo; for instance, Če'ple (Chukchee), Ča'plak (Eskimo). The identical form of this name appears, however, also among the Koryak. On the other hand, many of the Chukchee names are assumed by the Asiatic Eskimo. I have also said that shamans sometimes assume a name from the principal of their protecting spirits; for instance, Ñaw-ri'rkA ("she-walrus"), Valv-inpina'čhin ("raven old man"), etc.

Pet names and nicknames are used freely among the Chukchee, some of them being quite obscene; such as, Lolo'qai ("little penis"), Rih-ño'iñin ("hairy anus"). Others refer to some notorious act of the person designated. I have already mentioned the names of Knee-Walker and Necklaced Latu'wgê. {Compare p. 49.} One man had the very suggestive name of Complete-Liar; another, of Separate-Soup-Eater, etc. A man of my acquaintance was nicknamed Frozen-Carcass; because, several years before, he had stolen the frozen carcass of a reindeer; another, who stole a steel trap, was called Trap. Sometimes, at first, the nicknamed persons take offence at being thus named; but such an epithet takes root gradually, and finally supersedes the original name. Thus the majority of the persons mentioned had discarded their name received at birth, and gave the derisive appellation as their only name.

Pet names given in infancy cling with especial tenacity to their possessors. Some of them -- such as Lo'lo ("penis"), Lolo'qai ("little penis") -- become real names, which are given after the divinatory process.

The name of the father is sometimes added to the name of the son, thus forming the beginning of the family name. Instances of this are found in Koko'lê-Ya'tirgin, that is, Ya'tirgîn, son of Kuku'li; Tatk-omru'wgê, that is, Omru'wgê, son of Ta'tko; etc. Less frequently the wife assumes the name of her husband; for example, Notai'mê-ñaw, the wife of Notai'men. Regarding Tilu'wgê-Ya'tirgin (Ya'tirgin, husband of Tilu'wgê), the transformed shaman, see chapter on shamanism. {See p. 452.}

Death.

Deceased as Protectors. -- As has been said before, deceased persons are regarded by the Chukchee as working in a twofold capacity, -- that of benevolent protectors and assistants, and that of dangerous beings, very near to the ke'let, who, even when they mean well, may cause only harm to the living. {Compare pp. 292, 366.}

The elements of the cult of ancestors, which exists in the Chukchee ceremonials, comport with the first point of view. Such is the usage of adding to the string of household charms small bits of fur taken from the clothing of the deceased. {Compare p. 355.} I would mention here that I was told that in olden times it was customary to eat the flesh of the one deceased, which, for that purpose, was distributed among the nearest relatives. This flesh was eaten mixed with tallow. Among the Yukaghir of the Kolyma, the flesh and the bones of the deceased were also distributed among the relatives;, but, instead of being eaten, they were made into family amulets. Judging by the accounts of the oldest inhabitants, leather bags filled with human bones and dried flesh formed, up to comparatively recent times, the principal sacred things of the family, even among the Russianized Yukaghir.

A bag of bones was called simply "grandfather," and this "grandfather" was supposed to afford to his descendants the most effective assistance. His descendants appealed to him in the various affairs of their life, especially when asking for success in hunting or for protection against an attack, by evil spirits. Similarly among the Chukchee, people in disastrous circumstances sometimes seek relief from one of their dead. For instance, a Reindeer family, a large part of whose herd has gone astray, will apply to the most respected of all their dead ancestors, and the one who consequently receives most of the sacrifices. They will request him to bring back the reindeer, and they will promise him a fat buck or two in payment for his good services. "The dead are always with us. They look upon us, and they may give us protection," said a Chukchee to me.

Deceased as Enemies. -- Every variety of precaution and all the protective incantations performed at the time of the funeral have had their inception from the second point of view. These contradictory ideas about the deceased are nevertheless very natural, and exist among many primitive peoples. The natives, however, are conscious of the discrepancy between the two points of view, and tried to explain it to me in their own way.

They said to me, "The deceased one, while he lies in the tent, is not dangerous. He becomes bad, only when he is taken out into the wilderness, whence he may come back a spirit." And again: "The material objects connected with the deceased are not harmful. Only when he himself comes back will he do harm. On the other hand, the deceased people come back to us over and over again, countless times, through the womb of the woman."

Others said, "Not all deceased persons will do harm. Only a part of them bear ill-will toward living people: those will come back for harm. The most dangerous are the double dead, the completely dead. They are beyond being re-born into this world, and hence they become evil spirits in the other world. They live on the very border of the country of the deceased people, and walk along the water's edge together with ke'let. During the funeral ceremony, some such dead are overturned with the sledge, and fall face downward. This is the surest sign by which to recognize their particular properties. The other deceased persons are good."

The idea of persons doubly dead exists also among other primitive tribes. {See E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture, II, p. 22.} "The Greenlanders pitied- the poor souls who must pass in storm the dreadful mountains where the dead descend to the other world; for then a soul is like to come to harm, and die the other death, where there is nothing left." {D. Crantz, Greenland, p. 259.}

The distinction between the good and bad classes of deceased persons drawn by my Chukchee informers does not correspond, however, to other conceptions, and only accentuates the contradictory state of ideas that exists about this matter. The idea of deceased people being harmful is much more common than the belief in the protecting powers of deceased ancestors. {Compare p. 336, where, according to information from the natives, even the spirit of the nearest relative, though coming back with the best intentions, can only scare and harm the living.}

Fear of the dead and the idea of the necessity of taking precautionary measures against their return are so deeply implanted in the Chukchee mind that they appear even in the children's plays. In the Maritime villages I saw young boys amusing themselves among the ruins of underground houses with a peculiar play of this kind. One boy would pretend to be dead. Then his companions would bind him up with thong, and carry him away to the place of pretended funeral. After a while he would turn to а ke'lE, and come back to the house with frightful cries and grimaces. One of the boys would act as a shaman, and beat the imaginary drum. Then the ke'lE would act like a shamanistic spirit, and answer to the songs and calls of the improvised shaman with various "separate voices."

Especially harmful is the dead body, even the merest fragments of it, which, as said before, are used in preparing the much-dreaded "spells." A man who, walking alone in the country, suddenly meets a corpse lying in the open, incurs great danger. If he turns back and tries to retrace his steps, the corpse will follow, and soon will pass ahead of him, barring his way. From that time he will have hardly a chance of escape, and finally the dead one will act on him as a ke'lE of Iu'metun, throwing him into the much-dreaded fits and convulsions. {Compare p. 42.} This belief evidently arises from the fact that Iu'metun is also supposed to live in the open country, where he watches the victims occasionally passing by, and then pursues them, following leisurely but very obstinately behind. Nevertheless, even in the matter of corpses, I obtained information of quite a contrary kind.

The deceased one is called in Chukchee "the ancient one" (pene'elin {In Koryak, with the necessary phonetic change, peni'nelin. This also coincides with the female Chukchee pronunciation. The Chukchee language has two different methods of pronunciation, -- one used by the men, and one by the women. The latter, in many cases, approaches the Koryak.}) or "principal inhabitant" (e'un-re'mkin). The place where his body lies is considered his permanent dwelling. To pitch a camp close to this dwelling leads to no harm. A lonely traveller who stops for a night near the funeral place, far from being harmed by the "principal inhabitant," may, on the contrary, be protected by him from attacks by ke'let. In several tales the "principal inhabitant" wards off from the people of a camp an imminent attack of this kind, and teaches the occupants the necessary precautions against the danger. Presumably it is an ancestor or near relative of the campers, who helps his own people.

In one tale a young man goes to the dead body of his father for protection. But the corpse says, "I cannot keep you near me. I am disintegrated, and my house is very cold." After that the "spirit" instructs the young man how to win the young daughter of a rich reindeer-breeder. In still another very characteristic and widely known tale, a young girl finds in the country a bare skull, and takes it home. She conceals it in her clothes-bag, and from time to time takes it out and laughs at it. And the bare skull returns the laugh. At last her mother takes notice of something unusual in her behavior, and finally discovers the skull. The whole family are panic-stricken. They flee, leaving the girl alone and without any means of subsistence. The girl begins to lament before the skull, and, in a paroxysm of despair, she even kicks it with her toes. The skull departs in search of its body, and soon comes back in the shape of a fine young man, bringing along a large herd and a long train of sledges. After that they lived happily. This tale represents the corpse as being at the same time something much dreaded and also as having the capacity of giving protection to a chosen person.

Funeral, Reindeer Chukchee. -- Immediately after death, the body is stripped of all its clothing, including necklace and amulets, and laid in the sleeping-room between two skins with the leather side turned inward, so that one serves as bedding and the other as covering. It is considered more or less sinful to "show to the daylight" the dead body, especially its face and genitalia. The inmates of the house must leave the room; but one man at least must stay all the time with the body, because, should it be left alone, it might revive, and do harm. This, by the way, refutes the previous assertion by the natives, that the deceased while in the house is "good."

The funeral ceremony is performed on the day after death; and during the night there must be two watchers, for fear that, in the darkness, one man might be roughly handled by the corpse. As soon as a man is dead, and so long as his body is in the house, one of the inmates must act as a special enchanter against the evil influence of the deceased. This person is called the "fortifier" (tano'mñAlin), meaning that he fortifies the people, and especially the house, against the deceased one. Either a man or a woman may act; often a special "knowing one" is invited for the principal part of the ceremony.

On the first day the "fortifier" only supplies each of the inmates with a new amulet, which is usually made of a scrap of sinew, and must be wrapped either around the little finger of the right hand, or around the right wrist. The ceremony begins with the dressing of the body in the funeral clothes, which, for the most part, are prepared beforehand, especially by the older people. Or at least the skins for that use have been stored in the clothing-bags. Then all the women of the family take to cutting and preparing the clothes with the utmost possible speed. New, unused clothes from the common stores of the family may be employed for the funeral dress; but to leave the body in its former every-day clothes is considered a slight to the deceased, and is done only in the case of very poor people, or under extraordinary circumstances; for instance, when death happens while on a journey in a strange country, among "alien" people.

For male dress, no overcoat is used. For the dress of women, the old overcoat of every-day wear may be used, but all tassels and fringes must be taken off. No woven stuff bought from civilized people may form any part of the funeral dress. In selecting skins for the funeral dress, preference is given to the white ones, both for men and for women. The soles of the boots must be of ground-seal skin, but not from the rough skin of the reindeer's foot, {See p. 239.} because the latter is not fit to wander in the regions of the deceased. The cap forms no part of the funeral dress. In the dress of the women, the head is covered with the hood of the overcoat; in the dress of the men, an extra hood is sewed on to the fur shirt, contrary to the ordinary cut of this garment among the Chukchee, but resembling the style of the Koryak. The Chukchee, on the other hand, fashion this hood after the style of an infant's garment, which is also supplied with a large hood, {Compare p. 251.} and they sometimes call a deceased man "one with a hood." This, name is also applied to infants. The garments, for the most part, are double, but not necessarily so. The stockings and the under trousers are often omitted.

The skins for the funeral dress must not be dyed with alder, which calls to mind the proscription against the use of alder at the time of the hunt of various animals. {Compare p. 492.} The garments must be sewed with unblackened sinew-thread, whereas the thread for the garments of the living must be blackened with soot. No knots must be tied in the thread, as every knot tied forebodes danger to the life of some member of the family. The funeral garments are spread on the skin covering the body. To them are added, for a man, a knife in a new sheath, a spear, a bow with arrows, a small whetstone in a skin sheath, a pipe and a tobacco-pouch with a few bits of tobacco in it, a cup or a drinking-tube, and also three toy bags for provisions. For a woman, the spear and the bow are omitted, but there are added scraper and work-bag with needle-case and thimble.

Among other taboos connected with the funeral must be mentioned the interdiction against beating the drum for three nights during the time of the ceremony. The day on which the remains are carried away to the funeral place is especially dangerous. The beating of the drum might call the deceased back to the house. In corroboration of this idea I was told several stories, in which a shamanistic performance brought a deceased person back to the house, and the corpse dropped through the roof to its former place. Then the ceremonial, with all the incantations, had to be repeated, again. Another prescription forbids any kind of woman's work with needle and scraper, during the same period of time as in the first case, and especially in the evening. Both rules refer to all houses of the camp or the village, and even to all other settlements in the vicinity.

Dressing of the Dead Body. -- Among the reindeer-breeders, two reindeer are slaughtered in the morning, and a small fire is made before the entrance of the tent, which receives the usual sacrifice. Then two, three, or four couples of nearest relatives of the deceased, men and woman in equal number, enter the inner room and proceed to dress the body for the funeral. They are called "followers." Ameal is spread upon the skin covering the body. The part of the skin close to the mouth of the departed one is ripped, and crumbs of meat and tallow are thrust in under, in order that he may have his part of the food. Then the "followers" take off their shoes and stockings, and turn up their pantaloons as high as possible. They sit down on both sides of the body, and thrust their bare legs under the corpse, so that it is entirely lifted from the lower skin, and rests on the legs of the "followers." After that, they proceed to bid the last farewell to the deceased. This is begun by the husband or wife, the father or mother, and is then repeated by every one of the "followers."

For this, the acting party takes one of the hands of the deceased, and chafes with it his bare waist and buttocks. After that, the party touches in the same manner the buttocks of the deceased, repeating words of improvised farewell. For instance, a husband said in my hearing, to his deceased wife, "Well, well! What can I do? We have lived together for so many years, and now you are going away! Do not keep an evil mind against me! My head was never very strong. If I acted unfairly towards you, have no bad feeling against me!".

After the farewell, the "followers" wash the body! This is done symbolically, from a tiny wooden cup made for the purpose, and with a small bunch of grass like that used by the Chukchee for wiping their fingers after meals. Every one of the "followers" dips the bunch into the cup, and then passes it over the body, and hands it on to the next person. Then they proceed to put the clothes on the body, which -- considering that the body is covered with a heavy skin, and that no part of it must be laid bare to the gaze of those present -- is a work of no little difficulty. At every hitch in this task, the "followers" admonish the dead one, saying, "Leave off! make haste! You have to go away. Do not be so obstinate!" The face of the dead person is carefully covered over with the bib {Compare p. 242.} of the fur shirt, and the hood is drawn over and tied around the head. The belt of the man's dress, and a small piece of the collar-fringe of the woman's combination-suit, are taken off to be added to the household charms under the name of ena'al. {Compare p. 355.} Some families, however, take simply a small piece of reindeer-skin and sew to it a narrow strip of dog-skin. This represents a fur shirt trimmed with dog-skin, and, by further association, the dead man himself. During the preparations for the funeral this is added to the clothes of the dead spread in the sleeping-room, as described before, and afterward taken off for the household charms. It, also, is called ena'al.

Divination. -- After being dressed, the body is moved over to the centre of the sleeping-room or to the outer tent, having its head, all the time, directed to the exit; and the "fortifier," or, less frequently, the nearest relative of the deceased, proceeds to divining by the method of suspension. This, for men, is done with a walking-staff, and for women, with the long handle of a skin-scraper. The position of the body is the same as in the similar process with living persons. The divinatory performance takes about two hours, being repeated two or three times, at first in the inner room, then in the outer room, and then again out of doors, before the entrance of the tent. One of the first questions refers to the manner in which the body shall be disposed of.

For this the Chukchee generally have two methods, -- either by burning the body on a funeral pyre, or by carrying it away and leaving it on the ground in the wilderness. Most of the Maritime people and of the reindeer-breeders of the Chukchee Peninsula use, of course, the second method; while the villages lying close to large accumulations of driftwood -- as, for instance, those on Cape Erri and also those of the reindeer-breeders of the Anui and Anadyr -- both burn and expose their corpses. Each family, however, uses one and the same method from generation to generation. Thus a family in the habit of burning its dead will, when solemnizing a funeral on the open tundra, send two or three sledges to bring fuel from a distance of even thirty or forty miles. Several pack-sledges will be taken apart and broken, and tent-poles split up, to increase the size of the pyre. Nevertheless, the deceased one must be "asked" which method he personally chooses for himself, and his funeral may be arranged differently from that ordinarily used by the family. For instance, the remains of a person belonging to a family wont to burn their dead may be exposed in the open country if the body gives plain indications to that effect through the divinatory process. Cases of replacing exposure of the body by cremation are less frequent, because of the scarcity of fuel. The bodies of those who have died from syphilis must not be burned, lest the fire may be contaminated. Of course, this refers only to "genuine syphilis;" that is, to those cases of syphilis which are acknowledged as unclean, and "subject to shunning." {See p. 42.} During the spread of contagious diseases, all the dead bodies are generally left unburnt, because of the desire to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Exposure is, on the whole, prevalent among the Chukchee, and must be considered as their fundamental method of funeral. The Koryak living more to the south, where there is an abundance of fuel, have, on the contrary, adopted exclusively cremation of bodies. The Ke'rek, in whose country, again, there is a dearth of fuel, throw their dead into the sea from some steep rock on the shore.

After the method of disposing of the body has been decided, the deceased person is asked about the place he chooses for the funeral. Hill-slopes, and, in general, all higher places well dried in summer by the sun, are considered fittest for the purpose. Several of these are mentioned aloud before the dead body, till the sudden feeling of lessened weight makes the performer move the staff upward, which, as explained before, {Compare p. 484.} renders the answer affirmative. Then the method of the last journey is chosen. Every man who has reindeer will, of course, "desire" to use them for his funeral journey, because it is necessarily very long and tiresome. But a very poor man, who has no reindeer of his own, has to perform this journey on foot. The reindeer of another man -- newly bought, or borrowed for the purpose -- are of no use in these circumstances.

The approaches to the country of the dead are very intricate; and while the new-comer wanders about, seeking the abode of his own family, the former owners of the reindeer will recognise them, even from afar, by their smell, and will immediately intercept the wanderer in order to take from him their belongings. The same apprehension is felt respecting newly borrowed clothing or skins. Therefore a man who dies suddenly in a strange country -- for instance, on a trading-expedition -- must be taken to the funeral place in his ordinary clothing, even though there are people around who would lend him a new suit. In a former work {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 59.} I have given a description, taken down from a native, of such a funeral in a strange country. The deceased had no relatives in the place, nor had he any team of his own with which to perform his last journey: therefore he had, perforce, to renounce the use of reindeer on this occasion. The description continues, --

"Then they asked the corpse, 'How do you wish to go away? Do you want to take a team?' But the dead man answered, 'No!' They asked him, 'Maybe you want to walk?' He said, 'I will walk, but you must give me a walking-staff."' Of course, the last answer was procured by means of divination.

In another relation of a similar kind, the narrator ventured to express his severe disapproval of the stinginess of those among the dead who would grudge a poor man a few clothes borrowed from their successors. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p 53.}

A person who has several teams is asked about them one by one, and the choice between them is determined in the way described above. The corpse is often asked also about the man who will direct his reindeer on the last journey, and thus be the leader of the funeral cortege, and also about -an extra "fortifier" to be invited. Then the questioner proceeds to inquire the cause of the death and of means warding off further attacks by the ke'let. The future fate of every person present is also made the subject of inquiry, as is described in another account of this kind: --

"They ask the corpse, 'Will the disease come again afterward?' and then they draw the stick. The corpse answers, 'The disease will not come back, the evil state of things.' -- 'Tell us plainly about all those standing around, whether to any of them there will happen some evil or misfortune. Tell it of them one by one.' If, while they ask about some one of the bystanders, the weight is light in drawing, that one will surely die soon." {Ibid., p. 83; compare also p. 485 of this volume.}

Then follow questions concerning the coming fortune of the herd, about the hunting-pursuits, etc. For instance, in a case I mentioned before, the husband proceeded personally to question his deceased wife. He lifted the stick which supported by a strap the head of the dead body, and began with the divination. His first question was, "What place do you want to choose for your funeral?" But the body was as heavy and motionless as ever. "Oh!" said the old man, "my mind is not very strong: perhaps I offended you with something. You must not hold ill-will to me. You know that you have to go away." But the body obstinately refused to answer. "Perhaps you are angry," said the old man, "that I brought you here from Chaun; but this is your own country, the mountains and the rivers all are your own. It is quite becoming that you should lie here." {The death happened on the shores of the Wolverene River, where the couple had gone on a trading-expedition. The deceased woman was born there, but had married a man of the Chaun tundra.} But the body was motionless, as before. "Alas!" complained the old man, "I am sure you are angry. Now I see that you have sent us this snow-storm because your mind is not at rest." [The snow was falling thick outside of the tent.] His hand suddenly felt the changing of the weight, and the head of the dead body moved upwards. "Woe is me!" exclaimed the old man. "It was not my fault that our son grew ill because of the reindeer incantation. Had you not to pay his debt yourself?" The stick moved upwards again.

There had been an incantation about wild reindeer, in the application of which the son of the old couple made some grave mistake. Because of this he was immediately taken ill. Now it seemed that the ke'let took the mother in the place of the son. The old woman was evidently displeased, and therefore continued to refuse to answer about the funeral place. The old man tried to admonish her, repeating, "Be reasonable! Let this have an end! You hamper the ceremony." When at last the corpse gave a satisfactory answer, the people were afraid to ask the angered old woman about the future, but immediately took the body out of the tent.

In most cases the body is carried out of the tent, not through the entrance, but through the roof, which is untied for the purpose, or from under the folds of the tent-cover, somewhere on the back side of the tent. Every trace of this improvised exit is immediately obliterated; and thus the deceased one, if he should come back, would not be able to recognize the way. A small pup is often sacrificed near the place where the body was carried out, and is left lying there for three days, until the funeral performance is ended.

When the dead body is out of the tent, it is carried to the real entrance, and put on a sledge which has been placed at the left side. With a new thong it is carefully tied to the sledge. The head of the sledge is pointed toward the entrance of the house; and the rear of the sledge, in the direction of the way to be taken.

If possible, an entirely new sledge is used; but, that failing, the best one obtainable is selected for the purpose. All broken and mended parts are, as far as possible, replaced by new ones, which are considered more suitable for the long journey of the dead person. Two long round poles are put crosswise under the runners, so that the sledge, with the body tied on it, may easily be drawn forward and backward, the poles acting as rollers. Then the divinatory questioning is often performed again from the very beginning. A hitch in the motion of the sledge is considered as disclosing a negative answer; and a smooth, easy motion shows that the answer is in the affirmative.

The things destined for the private use of the deceased are also fastened on the sledge, and the reindeer are attached to it. The chief of the train sits down on the sledge, astride of the body, and then the procession starts. The funeral cortege of a man well to do will consist of from fifteen to twenty sledges, while a poor man will be followed by only one or two of his nearest relatives. A corpse which has to "walk afoot" will be drawn on the sledge by the chief of the cortege. The other people, of course, must likewise follow on foot.

Exposing of the Body. -- On arriving at the place indicated by divination, the people choose some level spot for the funeral, and, laying off on it a portion about the size of the body, they encircle it with stones in the form of an elongated oval. (Plate xxxiv, Figs i, 2). One end of the oval is pointed toward midnight, and the opposite end is left partly open. This enclosure of stones is called "enclosure of the dead one" (pala'wkun). Sometimes three stones are considered sufficient to form the enclosure. One is placed near the head of the corpse, and the other two, one near each shoulder. In this case the stones selected must be larger than usual. When stones are scarce, as in the interior and far from the river-banks, the enclosure may be formed of three short logs, laid out in the same order as the three big stones of the "enclosure of the dead one."

The sledge with the corpse is pointed with its head toward midnight. Then the reindeer are unhitched, and with four knives they are stabbed simultaneously from the right and from the left side. As soon as they have fallen, the harness is put on again; but the collars are now placed over the right shoulder, the reverse of the usual way. The chief of the cortege, sitting in his place astride of the corpse, jerks the reins violently, and urges the reindeer with the whip, pretending that he is going fast to the country of the dead. The other people encourage him, exclaiming, "Hurry up! go faster!" When the slaughtered reindeer kick about in the last agonies, the people exclaim, "Oh, they are going fast!" The chief of the cortege says, "I have reached the confines of the country of the dead." When the reindeer cease kicking, the chief of the cortege says, "We have arrived." If the reindeer micturate before their death, it is considered a very good sign for the living people.

The harness is taken off the dead reindeer, the corpse is lifted from the sledge, and put, still all wound up with thong, upon the ground within the "enclosure of the dead one." Its head is pointed toward midnight. The place has been previously strewn with bits of tallow and sausage brought for that purpose. The reindeer are skinned, and their meat is cut off in large, thin slices. The bones of the legs are broken with an adze, and the antlers chopped off together with the top of the crown. Two tent-poles are placed on the ground near the feet of the corpse, pointed in the direction of its legs. These poles are its wooden legs, to be employed in the country of the dead. Usually they are the same poles that were laid under the runners of the sledge, near the entrance, at the time of divination. In case of necessity, the tent-poles may be replaced by long sticks cut off in the woods. Then several of the "followers" approach the corpse and proceed to prepare it for the next step in the ceremony. Previous to that, all of them caw like ravens, or bark like foxes, three times. This is done to conceal their identity and to make it appear that they are ravens or foxes.

Then they begin to break the thong and to cut the clothes of the corpse, replacing each piece with a slice of meat, until the whole body is incased in this new covering. The face is covered with the duodenum. A long piece of the thong is untied. This the "fortifier" winds around his waist, and takes home to perform an incantation over it. Last of all, the pieces of clothing are pulled from beneath the corpse. All the pieces cut off are laid together at the right side of the body. The things brought along for the personal use of the dead -- such as the pipe, the knife, etc. -- are also left on the ground near the body. It is interesting to note that, among other things, a small wooden image of a canoe is often left there. The Chukchee say that it serves the deceased for. that part of his journey which must be made by water. The Reindeer Chukchee in actual life, however, have very little occasion to use the canoe, at least in the interior of the country.

The sledge, the harness, and the traces are also cut and broken, and the pieces are added to the heap. I was told that the sledges might be left whole, but that they were broken lest the Russians or the Tungus should take them away from the funeral place. Indeed, I know of cases where whole sledges and other objects which were left near the corpse were really appropriated by the people of "alien" tribes. One cossack on the Lower Kolyma told me that, in one of his travels over the tundra, he took from the funeral place of a Chukchee woman a cup and saucer of cheap china and an iron scraper. The next night the woman appeared to him in a dream and begged for her property. He was so affected by that dream, that he returned to the funeral place, from which he had already travelled thirty miles, and restored the stolen goods. The Russianized natives of the Kolyma who accompanied me always showed an inclination to rob the Chukchee funeral places of everything useful, but without any such scruples as those described above, and it was difficult for me to prevent them from so doing. On the other hand, in the camps on the Chukchee Peninsula and in the Maritime villages, where there is no danger of theft from the funeral places, the things left with the deceased are nevertheless very frequently broken or spoiled, as, indeed, is done by many other tribes at funerals.

The carcasses of the reindeer are left on the spot, and the two sets of antlers are placed at some distance from the body, one on either side of the head. Then the "fortifier," or the nearest relative of the deceased, proceeds to rip up the body. He does it with a long knife, carefully avoiding to touch the body with his hands, though they are protected with mittens or with gloves of special form; that is, those with three fingers only. With two strokes of the knife, which cross each other, the "fortifier" opens the breast, and lays bare the internal organs. Of these, the liver and the heart are also split with the knife; and the "fortifier," on inspecting them closely, will proclaim to the by-standers the probable reason of the death. For instance, once in my presence it was said, "The liver is quite diseased, the heart is full of pus. With organs in such a state, it was evidently impossible to live any longer." Another time it was said, "The liver looks dry; the heart is shrunken to a small lump. It shows that the deceased one died from fear, from despair at the attack of the ke'let."

I was told that sometimes indications are found of the harmful influence of evil "spells," created by some human enemy of the deceased; but I had no opportunity of witnessing a case like that.

At last the "fortifier" cuts the throat of the corpse, and leaves the body. This last stroke is to prevent the spirit of the deceased from following the people of the cortege, and it is considered quite indispensable. A murderer, even, after despatching his victim and before leaving the body, cuts the throat, in order to prevent the spirit of the victim from pursuing him. A desire to free the soul of the dead, which will escape through the cut and fly away with such impetus as to make it difficult for it to come back again, is given as the reason for these actions.

Protecting-Incantations. -- After the ceremony is ended, the participants arrange themselves again, but the order of the cortege is reversed. It passes now around the body from left to right, and proceeds on its return to the camp. The changing of the order is, of course, a defensive measure to ward off pursuit by the dead. On the return journey, the "fortifier" and the chief of the cortege, who now close the rear, perform several incantations, all of which, so to speak, belong to the cycle of the "magic-flight" tales.

Thus the chief of the cortege, having with him a snow-beater, now traces with its point at several localities, after the procession has passed by, a line across the road. This line is to be transformed into a chasm or into a deep river. The "fortifying" person will leave behind one or several small stones, which will be turned into steep mountains. He will bring along a small cup and the bunch of grass which served for washing the corpse, and will hide these objects separately in the snow on his return journey. The cup will transform itself into a sea, and the grass into a dense forest. Similar incantations are repeated at home, before the entrance of the tent.

The skins of the slaughtered reindeer are taken to the house and spread in the sleeping-room, where they must remain for five days. The "fortifying" person enchants a piece of sheet-iron having many holes pierced in it. This iron is placed under one of the skins of the bedding in the sleeping-room. If the deceased should try to enter the sleeping-room from under ground, he would be caught in the holes in the sheet-iron, which would act like an iron net.

The oldest two women of the tent must meet the cortege on its arrival. They present to the returning people a bunch of newly twisted sinew-thread which has been strengthened with incantations. Each member of the cortege carries a small twig of willow, around which he winds a piece of thread received from one of the old women. Then he removes the thread, and winds it around his right wrist, but neither ties nor fastens it. The twig is put on the hearth as a purifying sacrifice, destroying any unclean influence caused by contact with the dead body. The thread wound around the wrist is worn there till it drops off, which will happen after a day or two.

All the members of the procession, holding one another by the hand, form a large ring, which is encircled by that part of the thong that was taken home from the funeral. Each of the members takes hold of it, and each one cuts off the part nearest to himself. This severs all connection between them; and the spirit of the deceased, if it should ever come back, would have to find them out one by one. The pieces of the thong are generally wound around the waist for a belt, though any other use is also admissible.

Fig. 300 is copied from a native drawing representing death and burial. In the house on the left a man dies. The shaman gives his drum to another man in token of his impotence. A ke'lE goes away, carrying in both hands the souls of the man, in much the same way as men carry small game. Above, on the left, three men return from a burial-place where the corpse was left exposed. A small stone is left by them on the road as part of an incantation. The chief of the cortege traces a line on the ground, making another incantation. On the right a corpse is being burned. A woman standing by weeps.

In Fig. 301, which is of similar provenience, the house of the "Upper Being" is represented near the upper right-hand corner. He stands before the entrance with his wife. From below, two sacrificed animals ascend to him. One is a dog, the carcass of which is lying below, with the guts drawn out according to custom. The other is a sacrificial substitute for a reindeer, made of pieces of sausage. Dawn-Woman is standing on the right-hand side, in the middle, near a dry tree with roots bared from the soil. Sacrifices ascend toward her also. They are an image of a reindeer made of leaf-pudding, and three beads strung on a thread of sinew. In the right-hand corner, below, a house of deceased people is represented. A shaman tries to lead away one man. He has in his hands a coil of thong and a pelt, which represent the payment given in advance. Two spirits are assisting him, -- one in the shape of a bird, the other human. Farther to the left a ke'lE and another shaman draw in opposite directions the soul of a dead man. The shaman carries a staff with a long tassel. The trail of the dead man runs in a zigzag course, and he must pass on his way a forest and two round lakes.

Visit to the Funeral Place. -- On the second day after the funeral, the relatives and friends of the dead one visit the corpse. This visit is called "fetching of iron," because most of the iron objects left with the deceased are taken away, and replaced by wooden reproductions. Perhaps this name has been devised in modern times, because, in conjunction with it, the ceremony is also called "visiting the dead." Besides fetching the iron, one of its objects is to see whether beasts of prey have disturbed the body. If this happens very soon, the relatives of the deceased feel secure. On the contrary, any prolonged delay in the destruction of the body by beasts signifies that the dead one is waiting for a companion. Another object of the "visit" is to offer sacrifices, and to leave antlers with the dead.

The people who take part in "visiting the dead" are much more numerous than the "followers" of the funeral procession. The inhabitants of the camp, even the small children, go in a body; and guests come from a circuit of fifty miles, especially if the deceased was a wealthy reindeer-breeder. The herd, or a part of it, is brought along. Each of the visitors must bring to the dead some little present, -- a piece of sausage, some marrow from a bone, a lump of sugar, a leaf of tobacco. The women of the camp prepare and bring along quantities of sausage and meat-pudding, also all the marrow from the reindeer slaughtered on the day of the funeral.

On reaching the corpse, the "fortifier" pretends to catch it with a lasso brought for the purpose. Then the noose of the lasso is arranged on the ground so as to encircle the head of the corpse and all the objects deposited for the use of the deceased one on the day of the funeral. Then the corpse receives an offering from each member of the party. The remainder of the food is spread on the stones near the dead body, and the guests partake of it. This is considered as a meal offered by the deceased. Then the slaughtering begins. If the family is rich, each of the guests will receive a slaughtered reindeer. The poor or the avaricious kill only a few animals, and distribute the meat among their friends; but then there will not be such a multitude of guests. The legs of the reindeer are broken and the marrow is extracted. The heads are cooked in large kettles, and the feast begins, during which the corpse receives its share of all the courses.

The antlers are hewn off, as usual, with the tops of the crown, and are burned for a few seconds in the fire to make them secure against harm by wild beasts, which the odor of the smoke will frighten away. After that, the antlers are arranged in a line extending from the head of the corpse toward the direction of midnight. The antlers of each set are pointed upward, and their bases are pressed firmly into the ground, and made fast with stones or logs. The heap of antlers is called "antlers' store" (ti'nmai). All the contents of the paunches of the slaughtered animals are emptied on the ground, and the iron objects left with the corpse are purified by immersing them in this mass. Then they are taken out and carried home. In their places are left, partly wooden substitutes, partly equivalents of inferior quality; for instance, a splinter of bone instead of iron needles, evidently as material of which to make bone needles, a stone scraper in the place of an iron scraper, etc. Other objects -- as cups, pipes, pouches -- are not exchanged. The bow also, as well as the iron arrows, are left in their places. Other iron objects also are sometimes left with the corpse. I saw, for instance, iron knives and adzes on funeral places, though, as a rule, they were old and much used, and evidently had been given to the deceased in place of implements of a better quality. I saw even old rifles, but they were always broken.

After the purification of the iron, the "fortifier" proceeds to the divining, using either a special stone or any object suitable for suspension from a stick. The details and the questions are similar to those on the day of the funeral. The magic precautions against pursuit by the spirit are also repeated with many variations. I saw, for instance, at one funeral at which I was present, an old man urinate close to the head of the corpse, which astonished even the other participants in the ceremony. His purpose was to create a river between the corpse and himself.

On coming home, another feast follows, during which the piece of skin taken from the clothes of the dead is put in the place of honor in the inner room, and receives its share of the food. This is repeated at every meal for five days, after which the piece of skin is added to the household charms. The number of days which must elapse between the first and the last performance is the same as in the birth ceremonial. After five days, the people visit the corpse again to see if wild beasts have at last mutilated the body. On the return from this visit, the whole camp arranges the feast of antlers, even though it may be quite out of season. If antlers are scarce, they gather together all the loose ones that can be found, though the use of such antlers for the antler ceremonial is generally forbidden.

On coming back from the second visit, the family move their tent to another place, though it be only five or six feet distant. Especially is this the case if the dead one was carried out, as sometimes happens, through the usual entrance of the tent.

Still later the chief of the funeral procession must perform additional incantations in order to protect himself from being pursued by the deceased. To give an illustration of this, he will some time during the following summer wade through the water in a pool, proclaiming aloud, "I am not a man: I am a white gull, I am an eider-duck." If he should fail to do this, a dangerous illness would be sure to attack him.

Such is a typical performance of the funeral ceremony of a Reindeer Chukchee, with exposure of the corpse in the open country, and with much slaughtering for sacrifice. For the poorer people, of course, all the details are much simplified. The bodies of the deceased who "go away afoot" will not be covered with meat. After the cutting of the clothes, two pieces will be left on the body, -- one covering the face, and the other covering the genitalia. The bodies of small children are sometimes cut to pieces and scattered in all directions. The purpose of this is to show to the World (Ña'rginên {Compare, p. 314.}) the extreme grief of the parents, and to reproach him for his severity towards the child.

Burning. -- The details of the ceremony of burning the dead are more or less similar to those previously described. The reindeer slaughtered on the day of the funeral are left unskinned on the spot, with the legs broken and the antlers chopped off. Neither the clothes nor the tho he Kolyma. In fact, games similar to this are known throughout the civilized world. It is hard to tell whether in this particular case it was conceived under Russian influence or whether it sprang up independently in connection with numerous Raven legends which play an important part in the mythology of all the tribes living around Bering Sea.

Some of the children's games have an elaborate method of counting the points scored. Thus the curious game of "immersing into syphilis," which I mentioned before, {See p. 41.} has twenty-four points to score. It is played by two persons, or by two groups of two or three persons each, who try to lasso a block of wood lying on the ground or thrown into the air. Each successful throw counts one. The counting runs thus: "1. I cover you with eruption; 2. I immerse you to the sole; 3. I immerse you to the vamp; 4. I immerse you to the instep; 5. I immerse you to the ankle;" and so on until all the points corresponding to parts of the human body have been named, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head. The points may be won back one by one, or they may be doubled.

A still more complicated system of counting refers to the succession of various incidents of the reindeer-breeding life. It goes like this: "1. I moved to the first summer quarters; 2. I castrated the bucks; 3. I moved on to the mid-summer quarters; 4. I slaughtered; 5. I prepared boots; 6. I drove (the herd) inland; 7. I carried away the kettles; 8. On the grass border; 9. I got entangled in the grass; 10. I came out of the grass; 11. In the lower bush; 12. I got entangled in the bush; 13. I came out of the bush; 14. In the thickness of the bush; 15. I got entangled in the thickness of the bush; 16. I came out of the thickness of the bush; 17. On the clearing; 18. I prepared inner trousers; 19. I sucked a reindeer-dam; 20. I burned bones." This point forms the climax, and from here begins the return journey, though the names of the stages are generally different from those preceding. The total number of points is thus thirty-nine. They are often followed by syphilitic counting or by another counting having six points and referring to the hunting of wild reindeer or seals. Other' plans of scoring refer to the slaughtering of reindeer and to various hunting-pursuits.

Games with elaborate countings are of a lively character. Those who are backward are goaded on with jeers. For instance, in the syphilis play the winners will assert that the losers have lost their noses withal; or in the hunting-play they will taunt the loser with, "You must be hungry [on account of the unsuccessful hunt], cut off your boy's diaper-strings and eat them!" This derision often causes games of this character to end in quarrels.

Playing ball is more common among the Maritime Chukchee, who live in settled villages, and whose life is more regular than in the scattered, ever-moving camps.

The Chukchee employ both hand-ban's and foot-balls, which differ chiefly in size (Fig. 196, a-d). The word used for the ball (qe'pel), however, signifies "kick," "kicked thing," and therefore is connected more closely with the football. The outward appearance of the balls resembles very much that of the balls used by Alaskan Eskimo. There are no particular rules for ball-playing. The participants, mainly young boys and girls, are divided into- two parties. The ball is thrown or kicked by one party, while the members of the other party try to catch it. Often the girls take one side, and the boys the other. Still more frequently they all run about, trying to catch the ball as it flies from side to side.

Sometimes a whole reindeer-skin is folded and fashioned into a large clumsy-looking foot-ball, and almost the entire population of the village joins in tossing and kicking it about.

A game which is called o'kkal is played with a slender stick and a number of small wooden hoops of various sizes (Fig. 197, a). The hoops are thrown upwards in a bunch, and one of the party tries to catch on the stick as many hoops as possible. The hoops caught are taken off in pairs and returned to the general bunch. If there is an odd hoop left over, it is said to be "killed." It is left out of the lot thrown up, and counts one for the lucky catcher. This odd hoop also gives him the right to try again. If no hoop, or an even number of hoops, is caught, the turn is forfeited, and the next party begins to play. After all the hoops have been "killed," the winner has the right to give the loser a stroke on the palm of his hand with the stick used in the game, for every point he has gained on him. The game is sometimes varied by throwing a bundle of sticks into the air and catching them with the hand as they fall. The scoring and the ultimate reward are identical with those of the hoop-game.

Gambling-games are little known among the Chukchee. I was told that among the Maritime Chukchee on the Arctic shore there is a simple game played for stakes, which consists in throwing a small piece of gristle against a large flat stone so that it will rebound high in the air. The one who catches the gristle gets the stakes, which are usually matches, copper caps, and similar small objects.

At the present time many camps and villages have learned to play cards from their Russian neighbors or from American whalers. Among the Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma, passionate gamblers may now be met who have lost their all in play against more clever Russian neighbors.

Children have various toys, most of them small imitations of objects of every-day life, such as little boots, sledges, wooden or ivory dogs and reindeer with the proper harness, snowshoes, bows and arrows. Grasping in each hand a slender willow branch having many offshoots to represent antlers, the boys will gallop up and down, playing reindeer.

Tops (Fig. 197, 5) are favorite toys. Their shape is similar to that of the American Eskimo top. Buzzes (Fig. 197, c) are made of various materials, -- ivory, wood, tough skin, and even a piece of dried fish. Much of the ivory carving is also used by children for toys. An implement exactly like that represented by Nelson {Nelson, Fig. 31, p. 112.} is used by the Chukchee as a kind of top. A specimen of it was obtained on Anadyr Bay (Fig. 197, d). It consists of a horizontal antler handle with one end broadened and containing a hole, through which passes the rod of the. top to be spun. This is kept from slipping out of the handle by a knob at the upper end and a square piece of wood at the bottom. The latter forms the body of the top. In spinning the top, a cord is wound around the rod above where it passes through the handle and just under the knob. By holding the top vertically and pulling the string off quickly, it will spin rapidly for a short time with the knob resting on the handle.

I obtained from the Kerek three specimens of the same implement (Fig. 197, e). They are made of ivory and adorned with various geometrical designs. The handle is bent slightly downwards. The hole and the knob are serrated, so that in revolving the constant chafing produces a sort of buzzing noise. The knob has four sides, with similar face designs on opposite sides. The implement is used for a kind of game in which four persons take part, two on a side. Two of the faces on one specimen have big round eyes; on the other specimens they are marked with a curved line across the cheeks. These are called "faces of the spirits." Two other faces are called "the faces of men." The participants stand in a circle, with partners facing each other. The rod is spun in the middle by somebody. When the top stops spinning, the party that is faced by the spirits has lost. The stakes are small, and consist usually of pieces of sinew, single beads, or matches.

Nelson obtained his specimen from St. Lawrence Island. He considers it a cord-spinner, or, rather, a cord-twister, and suggests that the idea of it was borrowed from the whalers, because no other specimen was seen by him anywhere in the regions visited.

Among the collections in the National Museum at Washington, however, I found another specimen of this implement (Cat. No. 63382), labelled "Diomede Island," and collected also by Nelson. In the sketch in his book the piece with the hole is represented in a vertical position, while the ivory weight is represented as grasped in the hand of the operator for the purpose of setting the implement rotating. In the specimens of my collection the weight does not have a shape adapted to be grasped by the hand.

The implements of the Mexican and Zuni Indians having a similar shape serve for twisting grass-fibre and horsehair. In this case they have no weight attached, and the piece with the hole in it is no longer used as a handle, but is much longer and heavier, apparently for the purpose of being revolved for twisting cords.

Perhaps the Northern implement has degenerated from some borrowed form primarily used for twisting; but whalers could hardly have had anything to do with the introduction of such an implement. The connection is evidently older, and is yet to be traced.

The girls of the Chukchee have small lamps and dishes, and dolls of various sizes (Fig. 198, a, b), sometimes almost as big as a very small baby. The dolls have clothes that are carefully made, and represent grown persons and children of both sexes. The favorite one is that representing a small infant wearing a diaper and baby-clothes. Some of the dolls pass by inheritance from generation to generation. They are even supposed to be connected with the fecundity of women.

The women and children are fond of making figures by skilfully winding loops of thread around the fingers of both hands. The game is called yu'зut, and is somewhat analogous to cat's-cradle of civilized people. It exists among the Eskimo tribes of America, and is mentioned by Boas as occurring among the Central Eskimo, {Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 569.} and by Kroeber among the Eskimo of Smith Sound. {Kroeber, The Eskimo of Smith Sound (Bulletin American Museum of Natural History, J 899, Vol. XII, p. 298).} In Asia it existed among the Chukchee from the Kolyma to the Pacific coast. In former times it was also known among the Kamchadal and the Koryak. Some of the devices in my collection are very similar to those represented by Boas and Kroeber; for instance, compare Fig. 199, a, representing the wild reindeer, with Fig. 525, a, in Boas's Central Eskimo, p. 569; Fig. 199, b, representing a fox, with Kroeber's Fig. 52, a, a dog; Fig. 199, c, representing a whale, with Kroeber's Fig. 53, a, a narwhal; Fig. 199, d, representing a man in a canoe, with a specimen from Smith Sound (Cat. No. 60/4892a) in the Eskimo Hall of this Museum.

*** Names of native villages and other localities are given in aboriginal form with phonetic spelling. Names of Russian and Russianized villages are printed in the English transcription of the Russian form. In a few cases a literal translation of the Russian name is given. Russian equivalents of native names or of English translations are given in the following lists.

Northern Kamchatka and Adjacent Pacific Shore.

Chukchee Peninsula.

Ki'čhin

Кичиги

Indian Point

Мысъ Чаплинъ

Qare'ñin

Kapara

East Cape

Мысъ Дежневъ

Ewle'wun

Пусторѣцкъ

Če'čin Bay

Чечинская губа or Заливъ Адмирала Бутакова

Pitka'heñ

Подкагерно

Ti'ļļiran

Тилечики

Kulu'ci

Колючинъ

I'lir

Култусно

A'lut

Олюторскъ

I'lpi

Хатырка1

The Lower Kolyma.

Qa'yilm

Хаилино

Forest Border

Край Лѣсовъ

Cape Alutorsky,

Cape Anannon2

Kei'ñu-we'em3 (R.)

Медвѣжья рѣка (Bear River)

Gishiga Bay.

With the Mosquito

У Комарка

Poi'tm

Парень

Large Chukchee River

Большая Чукочья рѣка

Vai'kenan

Каменское

Small Chukchee River

Малая Чукочья рѣка

Ega'č R.

Шестаковка

Two Brooks

У Двухъ Високъ

Wolverine River

Россомашья ръка

Anadyr Country.

The Middle Omolon.

Under the Cliffs

У Утесика

Karbaschan4

Small Boat

Hare Mountains

Ушканій хребетъ

White River

Бѣла рѣка

Red River

Краснина or Красная

The Upper Kolyma.

Pike River

Щучья рѣка

Shoudon5 River

Лаудонъ or Сухая

Big River

Большая рѣка

1 The Russians call by this name the village and the river I'lpi, and also the whole country occupied by that division of the Kerek. The proper river Хатырка, however, lies farther to the east. Its Kerek name is Hati'ykan or Hati'rkan. On the map the Chukchee variety of the name (Vati'rkan) is given.

2 On Russian and English maps, Cape Anannon, through a general misunderstanding, has been called Cape Alutorsky; and the real Cape Alutorsky, Cape Govensky.

3 Chukchee. The meaning is the same as in Russian.

4 This name, although belonging to a Yukaghir village, is Lamut. It comes from a mountain near by, which has the shape of a boat.

5 Yukaghir, meaning "stony." The first Russian name is probably a corruption of it. It is, however, unknown even to the Russian inhabitants of the country, though it appears on most of the maps. The second Russian name means "dry river." The Lamut name of the river is Buks'unda, which means "icy river." Of this last some travellers have made, through mispronunciation, Buyunda, though the real river of this name lies much farther to the south.

ngs are taken from the body, which is laid on the pyre upon its back, and covered with logs. The entrails, for the most part, are not inspected, and only the throat is cut. The parts not consumed by the fire are left among the embers of the pyre.

The fire for the pyre is kindled with matches or with a strike-a-light. The fire-drill of the family must not be used for this purpose, as so doing would contaminate the hearth. In the absence of matches or of a strike-alight, a special fire drill and board are prepared, which must be left on the funeral place after the ceremonial. On the other hand, a dead woman often receives, among the objects given to her for her last journey, a model of a fire drill and board, with accessories.

Sacrifice to the Dead. -- The next year the family, when passing with their herd near the place of the funeral, visit the deceased and leave with him more antlers. The same thing is done afterward year by year, as often as time and occasion permit. The "antlers' store" is considered to represent the dwelling of the deceased; and the Chukchee say that, if it is not in good order, the dead one feels cold: therefore they take care to add to it as many antlers as they can. As soon as the "antlers' store" has enlarged considerably, the people put all the antlers into one heap, which gradually increases to vast proportions.

Year after year the family store away a part of the antlers from the slaughter of their reindeer, to be added to the mounds of their dead (see Plate xxxiv, Fig. 4). For this, only the best antlers, taken from an animal actually killed, are used. Antlers that fall off are considered unfit for the purpose. The antlers of wild reindeer, and also the many branched or palmated antlers of large domesticated bucks, are considered the most desirable for the purpose.

Of course, only the most respected among the dead receive such proofs of consideration. If there are several of these in the family, each is supplied with antlers in turn, or as the family passes near the various funeral places. On the other hand, antlers destined for a particular mound are often carried along for two or three months before they reach their destination.

Besides this, nearly every year, during one of the great ceremonials of the fall, separate commemorative sacrifices are performed in honor of the dead. In a sacrifice of this kind, a reindeer is slaughtered and laid on the ground at the left side of the entrance, with the head pointed toward the direction of the funeral place. Then some small mound of earth near the sacrifice is considered to represent the funeral mound in question. It is sprinkled with blood, and small pieces of marrow and brain are scattered over it. Those who perform the sacrifice exclaim, "Yo ho! come here and eat!" in the same way as is done in the usual sacrifice. In other cases the sacrifice is buried in the ground, close to the entrance of the tent. All of the flesh of the slaughtered animal is cooked and eaten, while the dead one receives his share on his symbolical mound. Afterward the antlers are either taken to the actual place of the funeral, or are left on the ground near the mound of sacrifice. Whoever has several dead of equal importance must bring a sacrifice to each of them, or, if he wants to apportion his offerings, he must designate the sacrifice of each year for one of the dead. On the funeral places of the respected dead belonging to wealthy families, or on those of renowned shamans, large heaps of antlers gradually accumulate. For instance, the "antlers' store" of Amra'kwurgin, {Compare p. 73.} the chief of the Reindeer Chukchee, is higher than the stature of a man.

On the large island of A'čon, near Chaun Bay, is an ancient mound of antlers which is connected with the name of Qe'eqi, a female shaman whose funeral had been held at that place. The mound is said to be very old, and is partly sunk into the ground. The part exposed is still more than a fathom high and five fathoms in diameter. I saw also in the Anui country heaps which, perhaps, had been more than half a century in accumulating, and which already contained several hundred sets of antlers.

In contrast with the commemorative sacrifice, which is almost always personal, the "antlers' store," as soon as it reaches the proportions of a heap, partly loses its personal character, and may commemorate all members of the family. Thus, in the funeral places of the Maritime people, where all the dead of the village are exposed, the antlers are gathered into several large heaps, in commemoration of all the dead whose bodies were disposed of near it. New sets of antlers are brought in by individual families for their dead, but after a while they are added to one of the common heaps.

I know of cases among the Reindeer people where whole families were swept off by famine or disease, and the relatives, unwilling to leave them without funeral, would bring a collective sacrifice for the whole family, and then build up an "antlers' store," without even caring to find the place where the bodies of the dead were lying.

In some cases a person dying in a strange country, as while on a trading-expedition, will express a desire to be laid in his native land. This desire may be made known either before the end, or, as happens more frequently, afterward, by divination. However, the body of the dead is very rarely taken to his home, but is disposed of on the spot. Then, when his people return to their own country, they arrange another ceremony, which is performed with the same details as if they had the body. Even an "enclosure of the dead one" is made of stones or logs, and an "antlers' store" is arranged close to it. From that time this place is considered as the actual funeral place of the deceased person, and it receives from year to year its share of antlers.

Funeral, Maritime Chukchee. -- The Maritime people are unable to offer sacrifices to the dead in such abundance, and therefore with them the whole ceremony is less complicated. The chief features, however, are the same. They expose the bodies on the ground, cutting and pulling away the clothes, and covering the face and the genitalia with a few strips of skin. Sometimes thin flat stones are used for the purpose. The body is surrounded with an enclosure, which may be replaced by three stones. {} Near the feet of the body are laid one or two long sticks to serve as legs in the land of the dead. {See p. 526.} Sometimes the sticks are placed apart, or even near the head of the corpse. These sticks are not necessarily taken from the house-frame. Since wood is scarce, the people take it wherever they find suitable material. The antlers are begged or bought from the nearest reindeer-breeders, and those of wild reindeer killed on the hunt are also used.

All corpses are exposed on the same place by the whole village, so that a kind of cemetery is formed. Broad and even mountain-slopes are selected for this in some villages; while in others, on the contrary, the funeral place is chosen on the very shore, near the water. To give an illustration, the dead of the village of Uñi'sak are exposed on the point of the spit, about half a mile from the village. The spit is in the form of a low ridge sloping on both sides. The continuation of the ridge forms the chief street of the village, separating the houses into two groups. This street is considered to be the way by which the dead and the spirits go to the village, and nobody dares to select a house site on it, so that it remains unoccupied all the time.

In winter the corpses are taken to the funeral place on a sledge drawn by dogs or by the house-mates of the dead. In summer they are carried suspended from the pole which is to be left with the body, being firmly "tied to it, the face directed towards the pole. The carriers of the corpse often change places, or are replaced by others, evidently for the purpose of circumventing the deceased in the case of pursuit. On reaching the spot, the pole is untied, and deposited in its usual place, near the feet of the corpse. In other cases the body is tied all around with thong, three pairs of loops being left on each end, by which the "followers" carry it. A dog is killed on the funeral place, and the guts are drawn out and laid on the ground, forming a loop.

All kinds of sacrifices are given to the dead. I found scattered everywhere on the funeral places, besides dry bones and skulls, heaps of antlers, broken rifles, empty brandy-bottles, playing-cards, etc. Kuva'r, a trader of Uñi'sak, whose name has been mentioned several times, left on the funeral place of one of his sons even a graphophone and an old whaling-boat. All these objects were also broken. Here evidently there was no fear of theft. The breaking of the things, as explained by the natives, has for its purpose the separation of their soul (uvi'rit), which may then be taken along by the deceased one.

The commemorative sacrifice is performed early in the fall, a little later than the first fall ceremonial of the reindeer-breeders. Indeed, the Maritime people, who as a rule visit the camps about that time, have to carry back to their villages the reindeer-meat and antlers necessary for the sacrifice. They carry the latter to their dead, and arrange a feast, in which the dead also receive their part.

Each family has a special place for the sacrifice to the dead, which is in the cemetery, and is called "hearth enclosure" (pênu'kwun). If, during the ceremony, there are close by corpses of those who have died recently, various precautions are taken. Some of those who are sacrificing bring harpoons and lances, and use them as if stalking the dead, and striking them with their weapons. Others bring thongs, and spread slings before the corpses. After finishing the ceremony, the people repeat their hostile demonstrations and then run away in a most hurried manner.

Among the Maritime people it often happens that persons die at sea whose bodies are never recovered. Those who have perished in this manner receive a special sacrifice offered at the very edge of the water. In the feast, the share of the dead is thrown into the water. One and the same place on the shore serves for all commemorative sacrifices of this kind, and each family has two "hearth enclosures" in which to offer them, -- one in the village cemetery for those who died on land; and another on the shore, close to the water, for those who perished at sea.

A man who is supposed to have perished at sea, but who in the end escapes and lands on shore, must undergo a purifying ceremony. For this he is girded with a piece of thong. Then a dog is sacrificed to the sea, on the shore. After that the man is taken to the refuse-heap used by his family, where he must lie down on the ground and wallow in the rubbish. This resembles the purification, among the Reindeer people, of the objects connected with the funeral, through immersing them in the refuse from the paunches of slaughtered reindeer.