PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 393 



our peninsular friends came off to say they were Ci ^ AF ' 

 going away ; and as I wished to see a little more of >*-^— ^ 

 them before they left us, I deferred going there A S!' 

 until the next day, by which I lost the opportunity 

 of seeing those upon Chamisso, as they decamped 

 in the evening unobserved. They were, however, 

 visited by several of the officers. Like the party on 

 the peninsula, they were on their return to winter- 

 quarters, with large heaps of dried fish, seals' flesh, 

 oil, skins, and all the necessary appurtenances to an 

 Esquimaux residence. They had four tents and 

 several baidars, which were turned over upon their 

 nets and fishing-tackle for protection. In one of 

 their tool-chests was found a part of an elephant's 

 tooth, of the same species as those which were after- 

 wards collected in Escholtz Bay. They had the 

 same aversion to our officers approaching their habi- 

 tations as the party before described on the penin- 

 sula, and in all probability it proceeded from the 

 same cause, as Mr. Osmer detected a young girl 

 eating some of our flour mixed up with oil and 

 berries. On seeing him she ran hastily into her 

 tent, and in so doing spilt some of the mixture, 

 which led to the discovery. 



The women of this party differed from the females 

 we had hitherto seen, in having the septum of the nose 

 pierced, and a large blue bead strung upon a strip 

 of whalebone passed through the orifice, the bead 

 hanging as low as the opening of the mouth. One 

 of them, on receiving a large stocking-needle, thrust 

 it into the orifice, or, as some of the seamen said, 

 " spritsail-yarded her nose." A youth of the party 

 who had not yet had his lips perforated wore his 

 hair in bunches on each side of the head, after the 



