624 



Cochrane s Journey to the Frozen Sea and Kamtchatha. 



tho otlicr, meaning myself, iimlorslood 

 tlie lanj;iiages of most maritime nations. 

 The commissary desired, ns from the 

 emperor, that all due care slioidd be 

 taken of, and all due respect paid to us, 

 especially to myself, who was one of tiie 

 cliief interpreters of the em|)ire." After 

 (liis opening harangue was completed, 

 the turn of which inspired me witli some 

 degree of iiope, one of the most respect- 

 aljle of the Tehnktelii got up, and said, 

 that " he was in want of no interpreter, 

 and therefore would not take one." Tiiis 

 laconic reply completely disconcerted 

 us. The next, an old and cunning 

 fellow, called Kacharga, said " that 

 boys and girls should not be attended tu 

 in a case of such importance ; that he, 

 a chief, had not demanded an inter- 

 preter, although a nephew of his had 

 done so." He expatiated upon the im- 

 propriety of takin;? from those youths a 

 communication of such importance as 

 kIiouUI alone have come from a chief. 

 I could not but approve tho justice of 

 the remark, and began to suspect tho 

 whole was a hoax, and that they had 

 not made any demand of an interpreter. 

 It was therefore told them (iiat " two 

 nartes woidd be of no great conse(|uenee 

 to them, and that, as the emperor had 

 so sent, lliey ought to take us, for that 

 ■wo dared not return to merit his dis- 

 pleasure." A fresh consultation was 

 hereupon iield by the savages, and tliey 

 came to a determination, " that as the 

 great emperor himself wished to send 

 two interpreters to Behring's Straits, of 

 course he could have no objection to 

 pay for the transport of sucli pcoj)le." 

 Upon inquiring what demand they 

 would make, tlioy said " fifty bags of 

 tobacco," a quantity equalling one 

 hundred and twenty poods, or near five 

 thousand |>ounds weight. To mako 

 such a present in advance was madne.ss 

 in me to think of, and the jjrojcct ap- 

 peared, as indeed it proved, to be wholly 

 lost, for they added, that " lie i-ould be 

 no great emperor who couhl not make 

 so small a present, seeing that he could 

 command the riehes of .dl his people." 

 They also observed that " I must Iks a 

 poor interpreter if I could not satisfy 

 the demand myself." 



1 next day visited their camp, distant 

 alR)ut two miles and a half. It con- 

 sisted of three large and three small 

 tents. The former contained the bulk 

 of the Tehukskoi people, and the latter 

 were appropriated to the chiefs and 

 inyr« considerable people. The large 



tents were tlisgustingly dirty and oflTen- 

 sive, cxhiliiting every spei-i<s (if gross- 

 ness and indelicacy. J>ut (he smaller 

 were, on the contrary, very neat, clean, 

 and warm, although witlmtit a liie, in 

 ?.b" of frost. Indeed they were to nit: 

 almost suHocating, be.ins I'idy eijiht feet 

 h)nir, five broad, and about three feet 

 high ; and eoiitaiiiintr three or four 

 people huddled togelhcr in one bed, 

 which is madi! of lein-tieer skins, and 

 the coverings lined ivitli white-loxes. 

 'J'hc small teiils are made also of the old 

 and hard skins doubled, so that tiie hair 

 is both on the inside and on I ; a largo 

 lamp with whale oil or I'at, whit h serv;s 

 them for a light, communicales also 

 considerable warmth. On entciiiig one 

 of llieir dwellings, I lounil the chief and, 

 his wife [lerfcetly naked, as was also a 

 little girl, their daughter, of aliont niiio 

 years old, — nor did they seem to ugrud 

 our presence (Mr. Matiushkin was with 

 me), but ordered the daughter to pro- 

 ceed and prrpare some rein-deer's meat 

 fur ns ; wliieh she did, in that stale of 

 nirditv, by a lire close U\ the tent. 

 Having iolUd upon the bed about a 

 quarter of "U hour, we were treated 

 with the rein-deer meat half boiled, of 

 which we of course jiartook out of coiu- 

 pliment. I v*as, however, obliged to 

 cut short my visit from want of air, and 

 tiie most oC'ensive smell I had ever en- 

 dured for so long a time. The 'J'oion, 

 or chief, was a little angry willi me for 

 (prilling him, and imputed it to his 

 having the previous day opjiosed my 

 design of troing through his country. 

 Their furniture consists of a largo 

 kettle, knife, wooden bowls, plaiii rs, 

 spoons or ladles, and an axe — with 

 flint and steel. Having thus informed 

 myself of the savage stale in which they 

 live, I returned to tl:e fortress, dri\en 

 by one of the chiefs in a neat narle, 

 drawn by a couple of rein dier in a 

 pretty style. They use regirlar reiirs, 

 made of leather thongs. ai)<l a long 

 springing cane with an ivory nob to it, 

 of the tooth of a sea-horse ; the latter is 

 exercised oceaslonally upon the rump 

 of the animal, on which ii is capable of 

 inflicting a prelly severe blow. I must, 

 however, <lo jnsliee to the Tchuklr-hi, 

 in their very kind trealnient and con- 

 duct to their brutes, wlicllier ilo*rs or 

 rein-deer' — ajipearing quite to consider 

 them as pels. Nay, tosogreat a defirec 

 is this fi.'eling carried, that among this 

 savage nation it is considered uumariiy 

 even to ride u horse: in all ordinary 



ca&cs 



