412 VOYAGE TO THE 



chap. U p very fine, being drawn into the mouth with the 

 ^w smoke. The tobacco which they used had pieces of 



fS". wood cut U P fine with it? a CLlstom wnicn is no 

 doubt derived from the Tschutschi, who use the 

 bark of the birch-tree in this manner, and imagine 

 it improves the quality of the herb* The pipe 

 being charged with about a pinch of this material, 

 the senior person present took his whiff and passed 

 the empty pipe to the next, who replenished it and 

 passed it on, each person in his turn inflating him- 

 self to the fullest extent, and gradually dissipating 

 the fumes through the nostrils. The pungency 

 of the smoke, and the time necessary to hold the 

 breath, occasioned considerable coughing with some 

 of the party, but they nevertheless appeared greatly 

 to enjoy the feast. 



On the 8th, Spafarief Bay, which had been but 

 little explored by Captain Kotzebue, underwent a 

 satisfactory examination, and was found to terminate 

 in a small creek navigable a very short distance, and 

 that by boats only. Its whole extent inland is about 

 three miles, when it separates into a number of small 

 branches communicating with several lakes, which, 

 in the spring, no doubt, discharge a large quantity 

 of fresh water into the sound, though at this dry 

 season of the year they were of inconsiderable size. 

 A little to the northward of the creek there is a 

 pointed hill just 640 feet high by measurement, 

 from whence we surveyed the surrounding country, 

 and found that this side of the sound also was covered 

 with a deep swampy moss. The summit of this hill, 

 and indeed of all the others that were ascended in the 

 sound, was the only part destitute of this covering. 



* Dobell's Travels in Siberia. 



