10 CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 



The settlement at Marcus Bay consists of half a dozen houses of walrus hide stretched over a 

 number of poles, the ends resting on the ground and curved so that the upper ends unite, giving 

 the house the appearance of a huge umbrella of perhaps 25 feet in diameter by 12 or 15 feet high, 

 the whole structure being held in place by a regular net- work of wire, the latter material beiugsome 

 of that left by the Western Union Telegraph Company upon the abandonment of the Bering Strait 

 cable project. Inside the house are a number of square shaped rooms about 6 feet in length and 

 breadth and 5 feet high, called "pologs." These are made of reindeer skins drawn over a frame 

 and suspended by thongs from the top of the house like an inverted box. The polog has no door 

 and can only be entered by raising the edge and crawling under. They are almost entirely air- 

 tight and are warmed and lighted by a bit of moss, which is burned in a wooden or stone dish 

 of oil. At first this method of heating sleeping apartments might seem unhealthy, but it does not 

 appear that the natives suffer any ill-effects from it. The pologs looked warm and comfortable, 

 and, what was most astonishing in view of the surrounding filth, they looked clean and had no 

 bad smell. 



Leaving Marcus Bay we proceeded north, steaming through drift ice, and passed Indian Point 

 (Cape Tehapliu) just after midnight, when we shaped a course for Saint Lawrence Bay, where we 

 arrived about noon (May 29) in a thick snow-storm and strong southeast wind. The inner bay 

 was still filled with unbroken ice, and the north side of the outer bay so packed with drift ice that 

 we could not make a landing there. A good anchorage was found on the south side of the bay off 

 a small settlement, where we tried to procure more dogs either by purchase or hire. In this, 

 however, we failed. The natives brought on board a number of walrus tusks and some sealskin 

 boots, and because we would not purchase these at prices much above their value, refused to let 

 us have dogs on any terms. They had heard the report of the wreck of the whalers and the 

 discovery of the wrecks by the Cape Serdze natives. When asked to relate all they knew about 

 it, one old man, seating himself on deck, after calling for a drink of water, became quite eloquent. 

 He described the manner in which the wrecks (he claimed there were two) were discovered, and 

 gave, with many violent gestui'es, a vivid description of their appearance, how the masts had been 

 broken off by the ice, the boats stove, the bulwark crushed in, the hold and cabin filled with 

 water, the decks and ice iu the vicinity strewn with ghastly corpses, among which that of Captain 

 Nye had been recognized, with many minor details, all of which were related in such an earnest 

 and impressive manner that it would be difficult for any one unacquainted with Tchuktchi character 

 to realize that the most of it was manufactured on the spot, for the sake of the reward which was 

 expected to follow, as I soon became convinced was the case. However, at the bottom of all, after 

 making due allowance for the effect of Tchuktchi imagination, there seemed to be a foundation of 

 truth, and I became more than ever convinced that some discovery had been made by the natives 

 to the north that would throw light on the fate of one at least of the missing vessels. This 

 eloquent old man, called Jarucha, proved to be, according to the report of his compatriots, one of 

 the worst old rascals in the country. His two sous who accompanied him were of the same 

 general character as the father ; they were the terror of the natives for miles around. When 

 shown a chart and asked if he knew of the existence of Wrangel Land, he said, " Oh, yes; many 

 white foxes there," and endeavored to give us the impression that the natives from the north shore 

 went there regularly to procure them. But when pressed hard with questions he could not answer, 

 he acknowledged that he had never known any one to cross there, but had heard such things in 

 his youth. 



Finding that we could get nothing but lies from the Saint Lawrence Bay natives, and the weather 

 having cleared up a little, we got under way at midnight for the Diomedes. Soon after snow com- 

 menced to fall again and continued through the night, with a strong breeze from the southeast. 

 At C a. in., May 30, we came to anchor off the west side of the west Diomede, close iu shore, iu ten 

 fathoms of water, where we remained all day, quite comfortable, with large fields of drift ice pass- 

 ing by outside of us, setting to the northward about two knots per koiu\ The natives came on board 

 in large numbers, and were very anxious to trade. One called for whisky, and, upon being told 

 that we did not sell whisky, answered promptly, " I believe you lie." As soon as it became known 

 to them that we wished to purchase dogs, a raid was made on all the aged female and useless dogs 



