THE TCHUKTCHI. 



267 



lowed more influence, and are subjected to less labor than among many sav- 

 ages. Among other heathenish and detestable customs, is that of killing all 

 deformed children, and all old people as soon as they become unfit for the 

 hardships and fatigues of a nomad life. Two years before Wrangell's arri- 

 val at Kolyma there was an instance of this in the case of one of their richest 

 chiefs. Waletka's father became infirm and tired of life, and was put to death 

 at his own express desire by some of his nearest relations. 



Besides the wandering, or Reindeer Tchuktchi, who call themselves Tennygk, 

 there are others, dwelling in fixed habitations along the borders of the sea at 

 Bering's Straits and the Gulf of Anadyr, who differ considerably from the 

 former in appearance and language. These Onkilon, or stationary Tchuktchi, 

 belong to the wide-spread Esquimaux family, and, like most of their race, sub- 

 sist by hunting the whale, the walrus, and the seal. They live in a state of 

 abject dependence on the nomad Tchuktchi, and are poor, like all fishermen, 

 while some of the Tennygk chieftains possess several thousands of reindeer, 

 and are continually adding to their wealth by trade. Of course there is an 

 active exchange of commodities between the two ; the Onkilon furnishing 

 thongs of walrus hide, walrus-teeth, train-oil, etc., and receiving reindeer skins, 

 or ready-made clothes of the same material, in return. 



They live in small settlements or villages spread along the coast; their huts, 

 raised on frame-works of whale-rib and covered with skins, resemble a large 

 irregular cone reposing on its side, with the apex directed to the north, and 

 the base shelving abruptly to the south. Here is the small opening, closed by 

 a flap of loose skin, which serves as a door, while the smoke escapes and the 

 light enters through a round hole in the roof. At the farther or northern end 

 of this structure is a second low square tent, covered with double reindeer 

 skins, the polog, which in winter serves both as the dining and bed room of 

 the family. 



The Onkilon catch seals in a kind of net made of leather straps, which they 

 spread out under the ice, and in which the animal entangles itself with the 

 head or flippers. When the walrus, which is particularly abundant about 

 Koliutschin Island, creeps on shore, they steal upon it unawares, cut off its re- 

 treat, and kill it with their spears. Like the Esquimaux, they use dogs to drag 

 their sledges. 



The number of the Tchuktchi is greater than one might expect to find in 

 so sterile a country. According to the Russian missionaries, there were, some 

 years back, 52 ulusses or villages of the Onkilon, with 1568 tents, and 10,000 

 inhabitants ; and Wrangell tells us that the Tennygk are at least twice as nu- 

 merous, so that the entire population of the land of the Tchuktchi may possi- 

 bly amount to 30,000. 



