92 STELLER'S JOURNAL 



shore as if they wanted to call attention to it.^os Nevertheless 

 one of them came very near to us, but, before approaching quite 

 close, he reached into his bosom, pulled out some iron- or lead- 

 colored shiny earth, and with this he painted himself from the 

 wings of the nose across the cheeks in the form of two pears, 

 stufTed the nostrils full of grass (the nose wings on each side, 

 however, were pierced with fine pieces of bone), and then took 

 from the sticks lying behind him on the skin boat one which 

 was like a billiard cue, about three ells long, of spruce wood and 

 painted red, placed two falcon wings on it and tied them fast 

 with whalebone, showed it to us, and then with a laugh 

 threw it towards our vessel into the water. I can not tell whether 

 it was meant as a sacrifice or a sign of good friendship. On our 

 part we tied two Chinese tobacco pipes and some glass beads 

 to a piece of board and tossed it to him. He picked it up, looked 

 at it a little, and then brought it over to his companion, who 

 placed it on top of his boat. After this he became somewhat 

 more courageous, approached still nearer to us, though with the 

 greatest caution, tied an eviscerated entire falcon to another 

 stick and passed it up to our Koryak interpreter in order to 

 receive from us a piece of Chinese silk and a mirror. It was not 

 at all his intention that we should keep the bird but that we 

 should place the piece of silk between the claws so that it would 

 not become wet. However, as the interpreter held the stick fast 

 and by it pulled the American, who held the other end in his 

 hand, together with his boat toward our vessel, the latter let go 

 the stick, became frightened, and paddled a little to one side, 

 and would not come so near again. Therefore the mirror and 

 silk were thrown to him, with which they both paddled towards 



[sic] great for one and the same language to be spoken in them; not to 

 maintain, that an European, particularly a Frenchman, will hardly con- 

 ceive and write the words of such a language in such a manner as to be 

 intelligible to another nation, that speaks nearly the same language." (J) 

 208 That the "it" of the published version refers to water is evident 

 from the clearer wording of the MS, which reads after "shore": "doubtless 

 in order to call attention that water was to be had there." 



