Journey of the sloop Good Intent to explore the Asiatic and American shores of Bering Strait, 1819 to 1822. Part one

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that shot does not penetrate it. They constitute the main part of the trade of the Aleuts who are settled on [St.] George Island. They are caught with nets stretched opposite their nests in rocky cliffs facing the sea. The eggs and the meat are used for food. It is very tasty when roasted without the skin; with it, it retains a very unpleasant fishy flavor.

At dawn of the 20th, we saw the tall bare cliffs of the island and soon approached it, but as the wind was rather strong, we could not carry out our intention of going ashore, and only checking our chronometers with the longitude of the island, we continued our trip and held for St. Lawrence Island in order to survey it as much as possible.

Having light changeable breezes, we slowly moved ahead. The weather was clear, which is a rarity in this sea. Its inhabitants, the whales, played on the surface, and we saw them by the several thousands. They jumped out of the water, and falling with the whole body, caused a vascillation on the surface like a wake caused by a paddle steamer. Spurting from the nostrils whole clouds of water spray, they imparted an unbearable stench to the air. The local whale has a sharp snout and is much smaller than the sperm whale.

St. Lawrence Island

On the 23rd we had the misfortune of losing our cook from a stroke. Hoping to reach St. Lawrence Island the next day, the captain ordered us not to throw the body into the sea,

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wishing to bury it on shore.

When the fog lifted at five o'clock in the morning, we saw a shore in the NNE at a distance of 15 miles. It was St. Lawrence Island presenting itself to our eyes in all of the majesty of its wild and infertile nature. Rather high interior mountains were covered, even at this time of year, with snow almost to their feet. Their slopes, extending from the southern side of the island to the shore, presented a dismal view, infertile, wild, and not obscured by the least vegetation. When the sun, on its oblique heavenly journey rose a few degrees from the horizon, a thick fog rose with it, concealing this view from our eyes. We had despaired of the possibility of giving our dead one a small place of rest from earthly burdens in its bosom, but about ten o'clock, the fog started to lift, and forming thick black clouds, covered the whole heavenly dome. Meanwhile, we approached the southern cape and when we rounded it, there was exhibited to our sight in the depth of the open bay, a multitude of yurts [dwellings], from which ten or twelve stood at a little distance, also along the | shore, one situated close to the other. The latter were the summer abodes of the island's inhabitants, and consisted of conically-shaped tents covered with walrus skins. The other ones were earthen huts similiar to those of Unalashka, except that they were more spacious inside.

Nearing the shore at a distance of a half mile, we lowered two skiffs. On one we loaded the body of the dead cook and

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a cross, on which was carved the name of the sailor and the sloop, the year, the month, and the date of his funeral. On the other, the captain and two of our officers went out. The sailors and we on both skiffs were armed. The sloop lay to and we set forth. Approaching the shore, we saw that the islanders with their children and wives were retreating to the mountains nearby and only about ten old men remained on the shore. They were unarmed and were holding dried fish and walrus tusks in their hands. We landed on a sandy beach directly acorss from them, and they received us amicably with their customary greeting, that is, spitting on the palm of their hand, they smeared us on the face. To avoid this greeting would mean offending them, and therefore, we, with stoic indifference endured this disagreeable and repulsive anointing. Becoming somewhat acquainted with them, we carried out the body of the deceased man and started to dig a grave about 200 sazhens from shore, but this work progressed very slowly because the ground about one arshin [28 inches] below the surface was frozen solid. With the help of crowbars, we finally excavated about six feet, lowered the body sewn into a hammock for the lack of a coffin, buried it, and set up the cross. The savages, during all that time, looked at us with amazement, and only understood what it was all about, it seemed, when the Agalagmiut interpreters ² explained by means of sign language that this was a dead man, who, if they did not leave him and the cross in peace, would come out and haunt them. Of course, we had no right to

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protect the peace of our dead one by such means, but we certainly could not abolish all the superstitions they had concerning this matter in our short stay.

Having performed this duty, a barter trade began between us and the inhabitants. We proposed to them various small things, but they did not take them very willingly, not even the axes and cast iron pots. These things were of less value to them than ordinary leaves of tobacco. Knowing its name, they were constantly shouting tabago, tabago, and for a leaf of it gave away all they had: walrus teeth, their arms, consisting of spears and bows with arrows, sleds, and even their deer parkas. They do not smoke or snuff tobacco, but simply eat it; chewing it up, they do not spit it out, but swallow.

In the meantime, the whole crowd that had gone to the mountains, observing our peaceful conduct, returned to their yurts. Wishing to see the inside of their dwellings, we communicated this to the chief, who immediately led us to his winter abode, that is, into the earthen hut. It had about two square sazhens of space inside, and the entrance was set through the only opening at the very top, serving as a door, a smoke hole, and window. One half of this yurt was covered with the skins of polar bears; the other was behind a curtain from the ceiling or, better to say, from the dome of the hut to the floor. Behind this curtain, the whole family generally sleeps, undressing to nakedness, and in winter spends all its time. From the stifling air and the constantly burning walrus

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fat, the heat there was so great that we could not stay in that place even for a minute. The suffocating heat and stench surpassed all credence. The inhabitants of the island are short, their face is wide, flat, and of a dirty yellow color as though smoked, with protruding cheek bones, heavy lips, wide nose, and narrow eyes. Their clothing consists of a parka³ of deerskin with a hood, trousers and boots from sealskin. The women are much whiter and more handsome than the men, and are dressed the same way, only their parkas are longer than the men's. Of domesticated animals, they have only dogs of the Kamchatka breed, that is, large, shaggy ones with sharp snouts, erect sharp ears, which, just as in Kamchatka, are used for traveling in winter. They do not have deer on the island, and they barter their skins from neighboring Chukchi for walrus teeth [tusks] and yukola, or dried fish.

Having spent about three hours on shore, we left, accompanied by the shouts of the inhabitants. Withdrawing to a few sazhens, they began to throw rocks at us, but not a single one fell on our skiff. Knowing how skillfully they throw them, hitting seagulls in flight, we concluded that this must be some not-at-all-hostile, but a leave-taking, custom, and continued our trip not paying attention to it. Upon arriving at the sloop, we lifted the skiffs and took off, setting a course to the NE in order to round the eastern cape of the island for further sailing toward Bering Strait. On the next day, that is, on the 25th, we approached this cape