K A M T S C H A T K A. 



the. wood tliey make their fledges and canoes. Befides the 

 trt-es above mentioned, there are the larch, and alio firs, 

 the fervice-tree, and two Ipecies of the white-thorn. Of 

 the ftirub kind, as junipers, the iiKjuntain-arti, rofe-trees, 

 and raipberry hndus, tiie country produces great abun- 

 dance ; together with a variety of berries, which are col- 

 lected at the proper feafon, and prefcrved by boiling them 

 into a thick jam, witliout fugar. Thefe are ufed as fauce 

 to their dried and fall fiih ; and are eaten by themfelves, in 

 puddings, and various otiier ways ; and decoctions are a!fo 

 made of them for their ordinary liquor. The country fur- 

 niflies many wholefome vegetables in a m\d ftate, fuch as 

 wild celery, angelica, chervil, garlic, ai;d onions ; and upon 

 fome fpots of ground in the vallies there are excellent tur- 

 nips and turnip-radiflles. They have alfo more recently 

 ■eultivated potatoes. Major Behm exerted himfelf very 

 laudably in endeavouring to promote agriculture and graz- 

 ing, and not altogether witliout effeft ; and his fucceffbr, 

 Mr. AflefTur Reinikiii, continued thefe endeavours, info- 

 much that, in 1782, fron 68i pood of winter-rye 3416 

 flieaves, and from 594. pood of barley 24,840 flieiwes, were 

 reaped. Oats, wheat, and buck-wheat, were much injured 

 by the early frofls ; but hsrnp fucceeds very well. Tiiere 

 are two plants in this country that deferve particular notice, 

 on account of the extenfive ufe to which they are applied : 

 one, called by the natives " Sarana," is the Lilium Kum- 

 Ikatienfe flore atro rubente, of which Steller enmierates five 

 different fpecies. The roots are collected in the beginning 

 of Auguft, dried in the fun, and laid up for ufe. When 

 roailed in embers, it fupp'ies tlie place of bread ; and baked 

 in the oven and pounded, it becomes an excellent fubliitute 

 for flour and meal of every fort, and in this ftate is mixed 

 in all their foups, and molt of their other difhes. It is 

 eileemed very nourifiiing. The roots of this plant are alfo 

 applied to fimilar purpofes at Oonalaihka. The other 

 plant is called the " Sweet grafs," the Heracleum Siberi- 

 cum foliis pinuatis, Sic. Hort. Upfal. 6^. This plant was 

 formerly a principal ingredient in The cookery of moft of the 

 Kamtfchadale dillies ; but fince ttie RufGans have obtained 

 pofTeffion of the country, it is entirely appropriated to the 

 purpoles of dillillation. The hquor obtained from it is of 

 the ftrength of brandy, and is called by the natives " raka " 

 Two pood (72 pounds) of the plant yield generally one 

 vedro (2, pints) of raka. There are feveral other plants, 

 which we cannot enumerate. It is faid, that the Kanitfcha- 

 dales (before their acquaintance with fire-arms) poifoned 

 their fpears and arrows with the juice of the root of the 

 " zgate" (anemonoides et ranunculus) ; and that wounds 

 inflicted by them are equally deftrudtive to land and marine 

 animals. The Tfehuliki are reported to ufe the fame drug 

 for this purpofe at prefent. Of the draw of the " triticiim 

 radice pereimi fpiculis binis lanuginofis," which grows 

 ;ibundamly along the coaft, they make a ftrong matting, 

 which they ufe not only for their floors, but for lacks, bed- 

 clothes, curtains, and a variety of other domeflic purpofes. 

 Qf the plant called " bolotnaia," growing in the marihe.=, 

 anS refembling cypcroides, vvliich is carded hke wool, with 

 3 comb made of the bones of the fea-f wallow, they make 

 various garments, which tht-y ufe inftead of linen and wool- 

 len cloths. The nettle fupplics the place of hemp and flax, 

 and ferves in the manufafture of their fidiing-nets. 



The animals of this peninfula are the common fox, the 

 ftoat or ermine, the zibelline or fable, the ifatis or arftic 

 fox, the varying bare, the mountain rat or carlefs marmot, 

 the weafel, the glutton or wolverene, the argali or wild 

 (heep, rein-deer, bears, wolves, and dogs. The dogs are very 

 JWrnerous j aod ijbey are very ufeful in drawing the fledgis, 



which are the common vehicles of the country. The. coaJt 

 and bays of this country are frequented by a'moft every fort 

 of northern fea-fowl ; the rivers are ftored with numerous 

 flocks of wild ducks of various fpecies. In the woods are 

 eagles of a very large fize ; and of the hawk, falcon, and 

 bullard kind, there are great numbers. This co-,intry like- 

 wife aff"ords wood-cocks, fnipes, and two forts of groufe, or 

 moor-ganic. Swans are alfo very plentiful, and generally, 

 in their entertainments, make a part of their repaft. The 

 fea-coatt furnifhcs no amphibious animals, except feals, which 

 fwarm in the bay of AwatUca, where they purfue the falmon, 

 that are collected there in flioalsin order to afcend the rivers. 

 They are alfo found in moft of the lakes, which communi- 

 cate with the fea. The fea otters refemble thofe of Nootka 

 found; but fince the Ruffians have opened a trade for their 

 Ikins to China, where they are fold at a price above that of 

 any other kind of fur, they have been hunted almoll entirely 

 out of the country. Thofe of the Kurile iflands are of a 

 fuperior quality to thofe of Kamtfchatka, or the American 

 coall. Fidi may be confidered as the ftaple article of food, 

 with which providence hath fupplied the inhabitants of this 

 peninfula. Whales are frequently feen, both in the fea of 

 Ochotflc, and on the fide of the eaftern ocean, and when 

 caught, are converted to various ufes. Of the fli;in they make 

 the foles of their flioes, and ftrops and thongs for various 

 other purpofes. The flefli they eat, and the fat is ftored 

 up, both for kitchen ufe and for their lamps. The whif- 

 kers are ufed for fewing together the feams of their canoes, 

 and for making nets ; and with the under jaw-bones their 

 fledges are fnod. They work the bones into knives ; the 

 inteftines are cleaned, and blown like bladders, for containing 

 their oil and greafe ; and of the nerves and veins, they make 

 excellent fnares. Flat-fifli, trout, and herrings are abun- 

 dant ; the feafon for the latter begins in May, and they do 

 not remain long on the coaft ; they are fine and large. They 

 have alfo cod of a large fize ; but their principal dependence 

 is on falmon, which they lay up in flore for their winter 

 provifions. The feafon of filhing, for this fpecies, lalts 

 from the middle of May till the end of June. 



The prefent inhabitants of Kamtfchatka are of three 

 forts ; the natives, or Kamtfchadales ; the Ruffians and 

 Colfacks ; and a mixture of thofe two by marriage. The 

 true Kamtfchadales, are, according to Steller, a people of 

 very great antiquity, aad have for many ages inhabited this 

 peninfula ; and he fays, that they are originally defcended 

 from the Mungalians, and not either from the Tuiigufian 

 Tartars, as fome, or the Japanefe, as others have imagined. 

 Many words, he fays, in their language have terminations 

 fimilar to thofe of the Mungalian Ciiincfe, and the fame 

 principle of inflexion or derivation obtains in both languages. 

 They arc, in general, under-iiztd, as are the Mungalians ; 

 their complexion, like thtirs, is fwarthy ; they have black 

 hair, httle beard, the face broad, the nofe fliort and flat, 

 the eyes fmall and lunk, the eye-brows thin, the belly pen- 

 dant, the legs fmall ; all which are pecuharitics that are to 

 be found among the Mungalians. As the refult of the 

 whole he infers, that they fled for fafety to this peninfula, 

 from the rapid advances of the eaftern conquerors ; as the 

 Laplanders, Samoieds, &c. were compelled to retreat to 

 the extremities of the north by the Europeans. The 

 Ruffians, iiavipg extended their conquefts, and eilabliflied 

 ports and colonies along that immenfe extent cf coaft of the 

 Frozen fea, from the Jenefei to the Anadyr, appointed com- 

 miflarips for the purpofe of exploring anU fubjeiSling the 

 countries ftill farther eaftward. They foon became ac- 

 quainted with the wandering Koriaks inhabiting the N. and 

 N.E. coaft of the fea of Ochotflt, and without difficulty 

 5 made- 



