mSABITANTS OF THE KURILS. 19 



bear-feasts or dances, or the custom of raising the moustache with a 

 stick when drinking^ so universal in the south. 



The dwellings of these people were constructed by hollowing out 

 a shallow pit, usually in a sandy soil, planting posts around it, and, 

 if they could be got, making an inside lining of boards. Poles were 

 laid across the top, forming a flat roof, and more poles again laid at 

 an angle from the edge of the roof, so as to give the sides a sharp 

 slope. The whole Was then covered with reeds or grass, on which 

 was placed earth And turf. The entrance was closed by a roughly 

 made wooden door, which opened into a small lobby and low 

 narrow passage, with another door opening into the main compart- 

 ment. Around the sides of this bunk-like recesses were constructed 

 under the lean-to side walls. These were thickly strewn with 

 dried grass, and used as sleeping-places. 



Sometimes these dwellings consisted of two or three rooms, each 

 one being separated by a short, low, narrow passage, with a door 

 at each end. These larger houses are found more particularly on 

 Shumshir, where the natives were much better off than those of the 

 central Kuril s. In the house of the chief man on Shumshir, which 

 was one of three rooms, I saw plates, cups, and saucers, and was 

 invited to take some tea — an almost unheard-of luxury with the 

 natives of Ushishir and Rashau, etc. Rough tables, seats, and shelves 

 were fitted up inside the better houses, and each one had a kind of 

 small altar, on which was placed a brilliantly coloured picture of 

 our Lord and the Virgin Mary, and in some a picture of the Czar. 



Their worldly possessions were very limited ; some pots and 

 pans, a few tools, a knife or two, an old muzzle-loading rifle, and 

 a few odds and ends, completed their outfit. Some of them had 

 dogs, and there were usually at each settlement a couple or more 

 boats, which appeared to be common property. Even amongst 

 these poor people there were different grades, certain families 

 taking precedence of others. 



The food of these people consisted of the flesh of the seal, sea- 

 lion, sea-otter, sea-fowl and their eggs, berries, a few roots, and fish. 

 They did not, however, appear to be large eaters of the last named. 

 Food was plentiful during the summer, but, being improvident and 

 very lazy, they were often hard pushed during the winter and 

 spring, sometimes having to subsist on the few limpets and mussels 

 they could gather around the rocks on the beach. This usually 



