270 cook's VOYAGE TO APRIL, 



have not as yet found their way to this place. Nor 

 do the natives seem to have any knowledge of our 

 brown rats, to which, when they saw me on board 

 the ships, they applied the name they give to squir- 

 rels. And though they called our goats eineetla, 

 this, most probably, is their name for a young deer 

 or fawn. 



The sea animals seen off the coast were whales, 

 porpoises, and seals. The last of these seem only of 

 the common sort, judging from the skins which we 

 saw here ; their colour being either silvery, yellowish, 

 plain, or spotted with black. The porpoise is the 

 phocena. I have chosen to refer to this class the sea- 

 otter, as living mostly in the water. It might have 

 been sufficient to have mentioned that this animal 

 abounds here, as it is fully described in different 

 books, taken from the accounts of the Russian adven- 

 turers in their expeditions eastward from Kamtschat- 

 ka, if there had not been a small difference in one 

 that we saw. We for some time entertained doubts, 

 whether the many skins which the natives brought, 

 really belonged to this animal ; as our only reason 

 for being of that opinion was founded on the size, 

 colour, and fineness of the fur ; till a short while be- 

 fore our departure, when a whole one that had been 

 just killed, was purchased from some strangers who 

 came to baiter ; and of this Mr. Webber made a 

 drawing. It was rather young, weighing only twenty- 

 five pounds, of a shining or glossy black colour; but 

 many of the hairs being tipt with white, gave it a 

 greyish cast at first sight. The face, throat and 

 breast, were of a yellowish white, or very light brown 

 colour, which, in many of the skins, extended the 

 whole length of the belly. It had six cutting-teeth 

 in each jaw ; two of those of the lower jaw being 

 very minute, and placed without, at the base of the 

 two middle ones. In these circumstances it seems 

 to disagree with those found by the Russians ; and 

 also in not having the outer toes of the hind feet 



