Ethnography of Russian America. 39 



It is now proper to give a brief notice of the more important 

 tribes, these being mentioned separately. 



1. The Tchuktchi. — This is the name of the Esquimaux of 

 Asia. It is generally accompanied by the epithet sedentary, 

 so that we speak of these people as the sedentary or settled 

 Tchuktchi. This distinguishes them from the so-called Rein- 

 deer Tchuktchi, a tribe of the Koriack family. For either one 

 or the other of these tribes the name of Tchuktchi should be 

 abolished. It is my impression that the difference between 

 the Esquimaux of Asia and America do not represent more 

 than a few centuries of separation. 



2. The Kuskokwimers. — This tribe, which occupies the banks 

 of the river from which it takes its name, may stand as the re- 

 presentative for the tribes between Cape Rodney and the 

 Peninsula of Aliaska. Its numbers are estimated at upwards 

 of 7000. Transitional in character to the tribes of the coast 

 and interior, its manners coincide with its geographical posi- 

 tion. In the use of certain so-called ornaments, it agrees with 

 the other Esquimaux tribes ; as it agrees with the Esquimaux 

 and Finn tribes in the use of the sweating-bath. The Kusko- 

 quimers count distance by the number of nights requisite for 

 the journey. Of the constellations they have a detailed know- 

 ledge, founded upon observation. The most prominent of their 

 institutions is the Kahim ; a building found in every village, 

 erected like an amphitheatre, capable of containing all the 

 males of the place, and which, over and above many peculiar 

 domestic purposes connected with its erection, serves as a 

 council-hall for the males of the population. 



3. The Tchugatches. — Natives of Prince William's Sound, 

 and closely allied to the islanders of Cadiack, with whom 

 they agree in language. Their historical traditions are, 

 that they came from the coast, and from the north ; their my- 

 thological ones, that they are descended from the Dog. 



These three divisions are not only indubitably Esquimaux, 

 but have also been recognised as such. 



Those that follow are generally referred to another ethnolo- 

 gical group. In the parts about Cook's Inlet (Bay of Kenay) 

 and Mount St Elias, a second race is said to make its appear- 



