POLAR REGIONS. 



29 



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the Kovimn, or Kolvrm. Tl:ey too are of Mongol! an 

 Descent, but are ruder than their southern lin-thn n. 

 When they suhmiiU-d to Russia in 1(>3{), they had not 

 seen horses ; although those animal* were, at that time, 

 we'll known to the Yakuts. 



The Koriaks inhabit the country west and north of 

 Kamtschatka. They nre divided into two nations, the 

 wandering and fixed Koriaks. The first occupy the 

 tract bounded on the east by the Sea of I'enachinsk, on 

 the south by the Slanovi Mountains, on the west by the 

 river Kovima, and on the north by the Anadir, and 

 the Anughi. They are a fierce and cruel people, who 

 wander with their herds of rein-deer, but never ap- 

 proach the sea, nor use fish as food. Their persons 

 are lean and short, their eyes, as well as their heads, 

 small, their mouths large, their hair black, their beards 

 pointed, and often eradicated. Their dress is squalid. 

 They are much dreaded by the fixed Koriaks, who in- 

 habit the northern part of the Kamtschatskan peninsu- 

 la. These last have a few rein-deer, which they use 

 for sledges, but never for their milk. They are a mild 

 and timid race ; yet speak a dialect of the same lan- 

 guage as their ferocious brethren. This branch of the 

 Koriaks are also called Techuki. They dwell in rude 

 fixed tents, which, like their dress, are of deer skins ; 

 their manners are filthy and disgusting ; their features 

 are coarse ; but they have not the flat visage, and little 

 eyes, of the Mongolian race. The two tribes of Kori- 

 aks together are rated at not more than 3000 families. 



The Kamtschatkadales are evidently of Chinese or 

 Mongolian descent, as is indicated by their swarthy 

 complexion, broad flat faces, small oblique eyes, slender 

 eyebrows, and scanty beards. The Kamtschatkadales 

 have pendulous bellies, and slender limbs. They are 

 not numerous, only 3000 paying tribute to Russia, in- 

 cluding the inhabitants of the Kurile Isles. In 1717, 

 the whole peninsula submitted to Russia. This moun- 

 tainous and sterile desert is the seat of volcanic fires of 

 great activity ; yet it has, on account of the value of 

 the trade in the fur of the sea otter, and for the excel- 

 lence of its harbour, been colonized by Russia. 



The last of the Asiatic Cations we shall mention, are 

 the Tschutski, a brave and fine race of men, occu- 

 pying the vast peninsular extremity of north-eastern 

 Asia. In person, the Tschutski are tall and stout, 

 with long faces, an agreeable physiognomy, and are 

 considerably more civilized than their neighbours. 

 Some of them wear ear-rings, but do not pierce their 

 noses like some other rude tribes. Their dwellings 

 are suited to their boisterous climate and a country 

 destitute of forests, being principally subterraneous. 

 Their dress consists of a jacket, trowser?, and half 

 boots, of neatly dressed leather: and for prosecuting 

 their fishery, which is an important concern, they have 

 water-proof dresses made of the intestine of the whale. 

 They have rein-deer, but use them neither for draught 

 nor for their milk : they employ dogs in their sledges. 

 Their weapons are neatly made bows and arrows, 

 usually carried in an ornamented quiver. They al- 

 ways carry long spears ; and are so attached to their 

 arms, that they will not sell them on any terms. 



These people have high notions of liberty ; and 

 have hitherto resisted all attempts of the Russians to 

 subjugate their country; yet they were courteous and 

 hospitable to Cooke, whose manners so pleased them, 

 that in the next season they oflered tribute to the Rus- 

 sians, whom they supposed to be his countrymen. 



Several of the islands, which lie between the north- 

 ern parts of Asia and America, were inhabited by colo- 

 nists from Asia, when discovered by the Russians. 



The Kurile island* are peopled from Kamtschatka; the 

 Aleutian isles by K<>ri-ik. Hcgon. 



III. The American Inhabitants nf the Arctic Reliant 

 are still more imperfectly known than those of A^ia: 

 but, as far as native tradition and recent philological * IC ' 

 discoveries have thrown light on the subject, there can 

 be little doubt that the American Indians of those re- 

 gions have passed from the north-eastern extremity of 

 Asia into the new world. The Tchutski twice an. 

 nually witness the migration of innumerable rein, 

 deer on the ice, to the American continent ; and the 

 narrow strait of Behring, rendered more easily passable 

 by the intervention of many island*, which afford food 

 to the deer, would but present a slight obstacle to the 

 enterprize of a nation of hunters. On this subject, 

 however, we can only offer conjectures; and we shall 

 proceed to notice the various tribes met with in the 

 frigid regions of America. 



Of alt the tribes of the north who retain such a si- 

 milarity of manners that characterizes them at once a* 

 the same people, the Esquimaux is the most exten- 

 sively distributed. Our most particular acquaintance 

 with this people, is derived from our intercourse with, 

 and from the residence of the missionaries among, the 

 Greenlanders. But people of almost precisely the 

 same character and habits occupy the shores of La- 

 brador, some of the coasts of Hudson's Bay ; parti of 

 the northern face of north America, various portions 

 of the north-west coast of the same continent, and 

 some of the islands on the north-east of the Tschutski 

 Noss. They are found as low down on the western 

 shores of America as Prince William's Sound, and 

 Unalashka, between Lat. 54 and 60. They occur also 

 about Norton Sound, in Lat. 64, and have been again 

 found on Mackenzie's River, in the Icy Sea, in Long. 

 128 W., and on Copper Mine River in Long. 116 W. 

 Traces of them were discovered by Captain Parry, on 

 Melville Island, in Long. 110 W. Lat. 75 N. as well 

 as on other islands in the Icy Ocean. 



The persons and manners of this widely-extended 

 race preserve a considerable similarity, even in their 

 most remote settlements. They are all" addicted to fish- 

 ing, and the use of a long and slender canoe, of peculiar 

 construction. They occupy subterranean dwellings, 

 and bury their dead under barrows', like the natives of 

 the north of Europe and Asia. In winter, some tribes 

 form houses of frozen snow, which Captain Franklin de- 

 scribes, in his very perilous and fatiguing expedition to 

 Copper Mine River, (p. 265.) as very comfortable. Their 

 language seems to have much uniformity, or to differ 

 less than might have been expected from their widely- 

 scattered situation. This unfortunate race have been 

 persecuted by all their neighbours. The Scandinavian 

 colonists of Greenland dread and hate the Skrllings, 

 (so called from their low stature,) whom their fears or 

 hatred have falsely transformed into cannibals ; and 

 the most deadly enmity subsists between the Esqui- 

 maux and all the tribes of American Indians. Yet, 

 when well treated, the Esquimaux appear a kind and 

 well-disposed people ; but a long series of oppression 

 and treachery has rendered them suspicious, and pro- 

 bably vindictive. Of their descent, we cannot speak 

 with confidence ; but their form and features, as well 

 as their manners, approximate to some of the north- 

 eastern tribes of Asia. 



These people being more peculiarly Arctic than 

 almost any oilier, we shall enter into a more particular 

 consideration of tticir appearance and habits. 



The Esquimaux, like the Arctic inhabitants in gene- 

 ral, are of a low suture ; few of them exceeding the 



