105 



Sillier, in liis journey from St. LaAvrence Bay to the Ivol}'ma IJiver, 

 saw Tuski still living in the ancient nnderyround houses, which were laiilt 

 of driftwood. According to later travelers, and from the best inform;. tion 

 accessible, these huts are now entirely abandoned, and have formed subjects 

 for speculation in most works relating to the region. From information, 

 derived principally from masters of vessels in the whale-fishery, I conclude 

 that at present the Asiatic Innuit range from Koliuchin Bay to the eastward 

 and south to Anadyr Gulf At the last-mentioned i)lace, a party of them 

 plundered the hut of the International Telegraph explorers during their 

 absence in the spring of 1866. I have a portrait of a couple of them, taken 

 from life, at the mouth of the Anadyr River, by the artist of the exploring 

 party. Subsequently the robbery of the hut occurred, and one of them, 

 mistaking a bottle of liniment for liquor, drank it, and passed to those 

 regions where liniment is unnecessary. After this the explorers saw no 

 more of them. 



The Innuit are everywhere at a standstill or diminishing. To the 

 retlux of the great wave of emigration, which no doubt took place at a very 

 early period, we may owe the numerous deserted huts reported by all 

 explorers on the north coasts of Asia, as far east as the mouth of the Indi- 

 girka. At one time, I thought the migration to Asia had taken place within 

 a few centuries, but subsequent study and reflection has convinced me that 

 this could not have been the case. No doubt successive parties crossed at 

 different times, and some of these may have been comparatively modern. 



With regard to the disappearance of the Siberian tribes, of which Mr. 

 Markham makes so much, I think we shall not be far wrong- in accepting 

 the views of Wrangell, that they were carried away chiefly by famine, 

 internecine strife, and the contagious diseases introduced by the Russians. 

 If the tradition be true that some of them departed for Wrangell's Land, it 

 is not improbable that they chose that course rather than that to the 

 eastward across the Straits, because the pressure of the invading Innuit 

 interposed an effectual barrier against their progress in the latter direction. 



Whether the views I have expressed be considered as well founded or 

 not, it seems to me that they are on the side of probability; and if my 

 remarks shall be the means of invitin"- attention to the region of which I 



