LAVING IN PROVISIONS i6i 



in seal fat or whale oil, but towards the end in manati [sea cow] 

 fat, and distributed among the men one by one. Not until nearly 

 twelve months after, when just before our departure we suc- 

 ceeded in putting up two ovens, did we experience the luxury of 

 once more eating bread. ^^^ Game we could have had plentifully 

 without much effort had not our men, by raging among the ani- 

 mals without discipline and order, often only to amuse each 

 other, driven them quite early from our neighborhood and, later 

 on, for the purpose of sacrificing the skins to their covetousness 

 and gambling passion, killed the sea otters and thrown their 

 flesh away, so that towards the end we were obliged to go to the 

 most distant parts of the island to hunt.^^^ 



3S1 The MS has in addition: "I and a few others who were suppHed 

 with our own provisions added them jointly to the naval stores and re- 

 ceived thereafter even share with the others." 



3 82 In the MS this section is much more detailed, as follows: "As far as 

 our principal food, viz. the meat of the sea animals was concerned, we 

 were sufficiently supplied, yet not without amazing trouble and labor, 

 which we could have dispensed with if we had had any order among us 

 and had not been living in statu naturali [a savage state], on account of 

 envy and ill-will, making the animals shy by constant pursuit both day 

 and night, and from the beginning driving them from the neighborhood. 

 In the chase of these animals everyone tried to defraud everybody else 

 and in every way and manner to cheat the more the nearer spring ap- 

 proached and the hope rose of being able to transport the skins to Kam- 

 chatka with great profit. In addition, the sickness had scarcely sub- 

 sided, when a new and worse epidemic appeared, I mean the wretched 

 gambling with cards, when through whole days and nights nothing but 

 card playing was to be seen in the dwellings, at first for money, now held 

 in low esteem, and, when this was gambled away, the fine sea otters had 

 to offer up their costly skins. In the morning, at inspection, no other 

 topic of conversation was heard than: this one has won a hundred rubles 

 or more, and that one has lost so and so much. He who had totally 

 ruined himself tried to recoup himself through the poor sea otters, which 

 were slaughtered without necessity' and consideration only for their skins, 

 their meat being thrown away. When this did not suffice, some began to 

 steal, and stole the skins from the others, whereby hate, quarrels, and 

 strife were disseminated through all the quarters. Though on many occa- 

 sions [I] remonstrated with the officers about the unfairness of this and 

 that they should prohibit it, I could accomplish nothing, inasmuch as the 

 officers themselves were devotees and tried to stimulate the passion with 



