200 FROM KAMTSCHATKA 



along the coast, but were at first only welcomed 

 by dogs, which were not at all discomposed by our 

 presence, but came fawning up to us ; they ap- 

 peared to me to be of the same race as those used 

 in Kamtschatka, for drawing sledges. We had 

 already got upon the roof of the jurtes, without 

 meeting with any people ; fresh traces, however, 

 which we saw every where showed us, that they 

 were more fearful than their dogs, and had fled nt 

 our approach. We now examined the interior of 

 their dwelHngs, and found them cleanly and con- 

 venient. The entrance at the S.E. side was an 

 opening, three feet high, supported by wood, 

 which on the outside was prolonged on each side 

 by mud walls. We entered, first, into an apart- 

 ment ten feet long, seven broad, and seven high : 

 the walls and tlie top were covered with wood. 

 To the left-hand, in a pit which extended all along 

 the room, lay pieces of black blubber, about a foot 

 square, and beside these lay sieves with long 

 handles. To the right was a rather narrow pit, 

 two feet and a half deep, and seven long, through 

 the end of which we had to creep to get into an 

 apartment, which was, indeed, six feet high, though 

 not broader than the pit. Now we had a wooden par- 

 tition before us, in the middle of which was a round 

 opening one foot and a half in diameter, through 

 which we were obliged to creep into a spacious 

 anti-room, the four walls of which were ten feet 

 long, and six feet high j the height increased to- 



