20 AMOUNT OF POPULATION. 



The chief drew a long knife from a sheath 

 at his side, presented it to the ambassador, 

 making him observe that it had a broken point, 

 and addressed him as follows: " When my 

 father died he gave me this knife, saying, ' ^ly 

 son, I received this broken knife from my 

 uncle, whom I succeeded in the dignity of Ta- 

 jon, and I promised him never to sharpen it 

 against the Russians, because we never prosper 

 in our combats with them ; I therefore enjoin 

 thee also to enter into no strife with them till 

 this knife shall of itself renew its point.' You 

 see that the knife is still edgeless, and my fa- 

 ther's last will is sacred to me." 



According to an accurate census taken of the 

 population of Kamtschatka in the year 1822, it 

 amounts, with the exception of the Tschuktschi, 

 who cannot be computed, to two thousand four 

 hundred and fifty- seven persons of the male, and 

 one thousand nine hundred and forty-one of 

 the female sex. Of these, the native Kamt- 

 schatkans were only one thousand four hundred 

 and twenty-eight males, and one thousand three 

 hundred and thirty females ; the rest were Ko- 

 riaks and Russians. They possessed ninety- 



