﻿364 ESKIMOS. 



several tribes, and state that, in consequence of some 

 domestic quarrels, they emigrated in recent times 

 from the Island of Kadyak*, and they claim, as 

 their hereditary possessions, the coast lying between 

 Bristol Bay and Beering's Straits. They believe 

 that their nation originally sprung from a dog, in 

 which respect they ^gree with the Chepewyan 

 tribes, and differ from the Kolushes. 



The Tchugatchih are of middle stature, slender, 

 but strong ; with skins often brown, but in some 

 individuals whiter than those of Europeans, and 

 with black hair. The men are handsomer than the 

 women. They pierce the under lip and septum of 

 the nose, filling the apertures with corals, shells, 

 bones, and stones. Their manners were originally 

 similar to those of the Kuskutcliewak and other 

 communities living more to the north ; but in later 

 times they have carried off the women of the more 

 southern tribes, and from their intermarriages with 

 the captives, combined with their long intercourse 

 with the Russians, their opinions, customs, and 

 features have undergone a change, so that they 

 have now a greater resemblance to the inland 

 Indians than to the Northern Eskimos. 



Baer's work, which is my chief authority with 

 regard to the inhabitants of Russian America, con- 

 tains some interesting details of the habits of the 



* Kikhtak of the English maps. 



