FIRST MEETING WITH NATIVES 91 



Islands.206 As they now came gradually nearer constantly shout- 

 ing while paddling, they began to talk to us intermittently, but, 

 as nobody could understand their language, we only beckoned 

 with our hands, that they might come nearer without being 

 afraid of anything. They, in turn, however, pointed with the 

 hand towards the land that we should come to them there, 

 besides pointing with their fingers to the mouth and scooping up 

 sea water with their hands as if to indicate that we could have 

 food and water with them. We beckoned them again over to us, 

 and, as we shouted to them the word "nichi," which occurs in 

 Baron Lahontan's description of North America and means 

 water,2<'7 they repeated it many times and pointed again to the 



206 The MS here adds: "as may be seen in detail in my historical 

 description of the Kuriles." The reference is presumably to one of the 

 numerous manuscript reports which Steller prepared, which are hard to 

 trace at the present day. This report is not in the list by Krasheninnikov 

 of those of Steller's papers that were delivered to the Academy of Sci- 

 ences by Berckhan, painter of the expedition, as published in Pekarski's 

 life of Steller (Historiya Akademii Nauk, Vol. i, St. Petersburg, 1870), 

 pp. 613-616. 



207 Mr. Hodge comments: "Lahontan (Nouveaux Voyages dans 

 I'Amerique Septentrionale, 2 vols.. The Hague, 1703; reference in Vol. 

 2, p. 204; English edit., London, 1703, Vol. 2, p. 297) correctly gives nibi 

 or nipt (not nichi) as the Algonquian term for water (Natick, nippe; 

 Chippewa, nebbi, neebi, nipi, according to the vagaries of orthography; 

 Abnaki, nebi, etc.). In addressing the Aleut, however, Bering's men 

 might as well have used a Greek or a Zulu word, as it would not have 

 been less intelligible." 



Mtiller had already perceived the incongruity of this assumption. 

 On this point he says (Sammlung Russischer Geschichte, Vol. 3, 1758, 

 p. 220; Jefferys' translation, p. 48): "What might be farther added here 

 is only this, that a certain person maintains that he made himself under- 

 stood, in some measure by these people by the list of words, which La 

 Hontan has subjoined to his description of North America. For having 

 pronounced according to the said list, the words water, or wood, the people 

 had pointed to such parts where these things are found; but, I think, this 

 they may have done by chance, or the gestures, which accompanied the 

 words, may have contributed to render them intelligible; for La Hontan 

 is not to be placed among the conscientious and credible writers of 

 travels. But, setting aside this, the distance between the countries is two 



