XI.] EXCURSION TO NAJTSKAJ AND TJAPKA. 411 



itjakcn kamdk, in order to get good net fishing. On my inquiring 

 what aj)pearance he had, Notti rephed " uinga lilapen," " I have 

 never seen him," Besides this spirit there are in his view others 

 also in streams, in the earth, and in some mountains. The 

 Chukches also sacrifice to the sun and moon. On the other 

 hand they do not appear, as some other races, to pay any sort of 

 worship to their departed friends. When I gave him a biscuit 

 and bade him offer it, he made with the heel a little depression 

 in the snow on Nutschoitjin, crumbled a little bit of the biscuit 

 in pieces, and threw the crumbs into the hollow. The rest of 

 the biscuit he gave back, declaring that kamak did not require 

 more, and that we should now have more fish in the net than 

 the first time. Notti said also that the Chukches are wont to 

 sacrifice something for every catch. Thus have probably arisen 

 all the collections of bear and seal skulls and reindeer horns, 

 which we often saw on the Chukch coast, especially on 

 eminences. 



" After we had read off the aneroid, we speedily made our way 

 to the snow-house, because during the interval a violent storm of 

 drifting snow had arisen, so that we could not see more than 

 half a score of paces before us. On the slope below " the head " 

 we had already on our way thither seen traces of two wild 

 reindeer. Notti said that there are a few of them on the hill 

 the whole winter. The greater number, however, draw farther 

 southward, and approach the coast only during summer. Johnson 

 had wounded an owl {Strix nydca), which however made its 

 escape. On the 24th snow fell and drifted during the whole 

 day, so that we could not go out to shoot. On the 25th we 

 came on board again. 



"According to the aneroid observations made during the 

 journey, the highest summit we visited had a height of 197 

 metres." 



Lieutenant Bove's Account of an Excursion to Najtskaj and 



Tjapka. 



" On the 19th April, at 4 o'clock A.M., the hunter Johnson 

 and I started on a short excursion eastAvard along the coast, 

 with a view to pay a visit to the much frequented fishing 

 station Najtskaj, where our old friends from Pitlekaj had settled. 

 We had a little sledge which we ourselves drew, and which was 

 laden with provisions for three days and some meteorological 

 and hydrographical instruments. 



" At 6 o'clock A.M. we reached Rirajtinop, where we found 

 Notti, a serviceable, talented, and agreeable youth. The village 

 Rirajtinop, which formerly consisted of a great many tents, now 

 had only one tent, Notti's, and it was poor enough. It gave the 

 inhabitants only a slight protection against wind and cold. 



