PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 341 



them a ridiculous appearance, and may probably 

 have occasioned the report of the Tschutschi, re- 

 corded in Muller, that the people of this country Jjjjs. 

 have " tails like dogs." 



It was at SchismarefT Inlet that we first saw the 

 lip ornaments which are common to all the inha- 

 bitants of the coast thence as far as Point Barrow. 

 These ornaments consist of pieces of ivory, stone, or 

 glass, formed with a double head, like a sleeve-but- 

 ton, one part of which is thrust through a hole bored 

 in the under lip. Two of these holes are cut in 

 a slanting direction about half an inch below the 

 corners of the mouth. The incision is made when 

 about the age of puberty, and is at first the size of a 

 quill ; as they grow older the natives enlarge the ori- 

 fice, and increase the dimensions of the ornament ac- 

 cordingly, that it may hold its place-: in adults, this 

 orifice is about half an inch in diameter, and will, if 

 required, distend to three quarters of an inch. Some 

 of these ornaments were made of granite, others of 

 jade-stone, and a few of large blue glass beads let 

 into a piece of ivory which formed a white ring 

 round them. These are about an inch in diameter, 

 but I afterwards got one of finely polished jade that 

 was three inches in length, by an inch and half in 

 width. 



About noon, a breeze springing up, the natives 

 quitted us for the shore, and we pursued our course 

 to the northward without waiting to explore further 

 this deep inlet, which has since been a subject of 

 regret, as the weather afterwards in both years pre- 

 vented it being done. I could not, however, con- 

 sistently with my instructions, wait to examine it 

 at this moment, as the appointed time of rendezvous 



