TO OOMALASHKA. 259 



who tried to dispose of their goods amidst constant 

 singing and capering. A boy in particular distin- 

 guished himself by his lively dancing; and when I 

 gave him several tobacco-leaves for some hazardous 

 leaps, he repeated them again, for which he also 

 demanded to be paid, and made the most frightful 

 grimaces when he was refused. Several of them 

 ventured into the cabin, where tlie looking-glass fill- 

 ed them with terror: they considered the portrait of 

 my father as the image of a saint, bowing and cross- 

 ing themselves before it like the Russians. One 

 of them wore apiece of gold-embroidery, which he 

 affirmed to have received from a friend at Colima. 



August 25th. My intention of leaving St, Law- 

 rence Bay to-day was disappointed by a south wind; 

 the barometer also fell, and indicated continual bad 

 weather. We received many visits during the day, 

 and, towardsevening, five more baydares came down 

 the bay from the south, which we afterwards learnt 

 came from Metschigmenski Bay; these were also 

 with us, and promised, as they only meant to pass 

 the night on shore, to repeat their visit in the 

 morning. They had women, children, and their 

 whole household with them; their chief j an elderly 

 man, had a gun, but it was in a miserable con- 

 dition. We found the flesh of the rein-deer ex- 

 tremely good. 



The Tschukutskoi brought us several times a 

 kind of Sarana, resembling that of Kamtschatka, 

 only it is larger, and has quite the taste of good 



s 2 



