T H E P A C I F I C O C E A N. 333 



the time he lay in that harbour, firft taught them the ufe of 1779- 

 the decoction of thefe pines, and that it had proved a moil 

 excellent remedy for the fcurvy ; but, whether from the 

 great fcarcity of fugar, or from what other caufe, we could 

 not learn, we were forry to find, that it was no longer in ufe 

 amongft them. 



The birch was by far the mod common tree we faw ; and 

 of this we remarked three forts. Two of them fit for tim- 

 ber, and differing only in the texture and colour of the bark; 

 the third of a dwarfifh kind. This tree is applied to a great 

 variety of ufes by the inhabitants. The liquor which, on 

 tapping, it yields in great abundance, they drink without 

 mixture, or any preparation, as we had frequent opportuni- 

 ties of obferving, upon our journey to Bolcheretfk ; and 

 found it, ourfelves, pleafant and refrefhing, but fomewhat 

 purgative. The bark they convert into vefTels, for almofl: all 

 their domeftic and kitchen purpofes; and it is of the wood of 

 this tree the fledges and canoes are alfo made *. 



The birch, and every other kind of tree in the neighbour- 

 hood of the bay, were fmall and ftunted; and they are 

 obliged to go many miles up into the country, for wood of 

 a proper fize to work into canoes, for the principal timbers 

 of their balagans, and the like ufes. 



Befides the trees above mentioned, KrafcheninicofF relates,, 

 that the larch grows on the banks of the River Kamtf- 

 chatka, and of thofe that fall into it, but nowhere elfe; and 

 that there are firs in the neighbourhood of the River Bere- 



* KrafcheninicofF fays, that the natives likewife convert the bark into a pleafant 

 wholefome food, byftripping it off whilft it is young and green, and cutting it into 

 long narrow ftripes, like vermicelli, drying it, and frcwing it afterward along with 

 their caviar* 



z.owa j 



