480 '- THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chap. 



Kolymsk, was after his return rewarded with a red shirt, a 

 gun, caps, powder and ball, he wished to exchange the gun and 

 ammunition for an axe. 



The principal livelihood of the Chukches is derived from 

 hunting and fishing. Both are very abundant at certain seasons 

 of the year, but are less productive during the cold season, in 

 which case, in consequence of the little forethought of the 

 savage, there arises great scarcity both of food and fuel and 

 the means of melting snow. Of their hunting and fishinsf 

 implements I cannot give so complete accounts as I should 

 wish, because they very carefully avoided taking any of the 

 Vega's hunters with them on their hunting excursions. 



The rough seal is taken with nets, made of strong' seal-skin 

 thongs. The nets are set in summer among the ground-ices 

 along the shore. The animal gets entangled in the net and is 

 suffocated, as it can no longer come to the surface to breathe. 

 In winter the seal is taken partly with nets in " leads " among 

 the ice, partly with the harpoon when it crawls out of its hole ; 

 it is also taken by means of a noose of thongs placed over its 

 hole. In order to avoid the loss of the valuable seal-blood, 

 which is considered an extraordinary delicacy by the Cliukches, 

 the animal is never killed by an edged tool, if that can be 

 avoided, but by repeated blows on the head. The bear is killed 

 by the lance or knife, the latter, according to the statement of a 

 Chukch, being the surest weapon ; the walrus and the largest 

 kind of seals with the harpoon (fig. 1, p. 477), or a lance 

 resembling the Greenlander's. Even the whale is harpooned, 

 but with a harpoon considerably larger than the common, and 

 to which as many as six inflated seal-skins are fastened. In 

 order to kill a whale a great many such harpoons must be 

 struck into it. Birds are taken in snares, or killed with bird- 

 javelins, arrows, and slings. The last mentioned (fig. 3, p. 477) 

 consist of a number of round balls of bone fastened to leather 

 thongs, which are knotted together. Some feathers are often 

 fixed to the knot in order to increase the resistance of the air to 

 this part of the sling. When the sling is thrown the bone balls 

 are thereby scattered in all directions, and the probability of 

 hitting becomes greater. Every man and boy in summer carries 

 with him such a sling, often bound round his head, and is 

 immediately prepared to cast it at flocks of birds flying past. 

 Common slings are also used, consisting of two thongs and a 

 piece of skin fastened to them. The bird-dart (fig. 5, p. 477) 

 completely resembles that used by the Eskimo. A kind of 

 snare was used by the boys at Yinretlen to catch small birds 

 for our zoologist. They were made of whalebone fibres. 



Fish are caught partly with nets, partly with the hook or with 

 a sort of leister (fig. 6, p. 477). The nets are made of sinew- 



