mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i5-033

- 193 -

These are the beliefs of the littoral or sedentary Chuk-
chi. Whether the nomadic ones have the same beliefs is not
known to me.

At dawn on the 11th we weighed anchor with a light NE
wind, but had as yet not passed the sandspit from which a
shoal extends rather far, when it became calm and the current
carried us to the shoal. The sloop was grounded. To get off,
as soon as we were ready to reel in the stream-anchor, a light
breeze began to blow from the NE. We immediately braced the
yards. The wind hit it from the front, and the sloop soon
sailed backwards from the shoal without any further trouble.
But here again the wind died down, and to avoid the repetition
of the same event we were forced to drop anchor in the middle
of the bay. Soon after that we saw a large baidar coming
toward us from the back of the bay. Among the arriving Chuk-
chi was a chief by the name of Paigdau and a baptized native.
This one promised to bring us a few deer the next day without
fail. Receiving presents, he returned to shore, but Chief
Paigdau liked our life so much that he remained on the sloop.
Fresh food was almost indispensable for the crew because
scurvy started to appear again, and the captain decided to
wait until the next day. But instead of one [day], the calms
detained us here for another three days. In vain we waited
for the return of Ivan (as we called the baptized Chukchi),
and for this reason on the second day, on the advice of Paigdau,
a skiff was sent ashore, but it returned empty, not having