PACIFIC AND BEERING’S STRAIT. 
573 
Oct. 
1827. 
up a river to the westward of Keturn Eeef. The copper kettles, in all CHAP, 
probability, come from the Eussians, as the Tschutschi have such an 
aversion to utensils made of that metal, that they will not even use one 
when lined with tin*. From the cautious manner in which the whole 
tribe dispose of their furs, reserving the most valuable for larger prices 
than we felt inclined to give, and sometimes producing only the in- 
ferior ones, we were induced to suspect that there are several Esquimaux 
acting as agents upon the coast properly instructed by their employers in 
Kamschatka, who, having collected the best furs from the natives, cross 
over with them to the Asiatic coast, and return with the necessary 
articles for the purchase of others. 
I regret that we never had an opportunity of seeing the Esquimaux 
in pursuit of their game, or any way actively employed, except in 
transporting their goods along the coast. One cause for this is that 
they relinquished all occupation on our appearance to obtain some of 
the riches that were on board the ship. It may, however, be inferred 
from the carvings upon their ivory implements, that their employments 
are numerous, and very similar to those practised by the Greenlanders. 
Of these, rein-deer hunting appears to be the most common. If we may 
credit the sculptured instruments, they shoot these animals with bows 
and arrows, which, from the shyness of the deer, must require great 
skill and artifice to effect. The degree of skill may be inferred from 
the distance at which some of the parties are drawn shooting their 
arrows, and the artifice is shown by a device of a deer’s head and 
horns placed upon the shoulders of a person creeping on all-fours 
towards the animal, after the manner of the Californian Indians, and of 
some of the inland tribes of North America. We found the flint head 
of an arrow which had been used for this purpose broken in a haunch 
of venison that was purchased from the inhabitants near Icy Cape. In 
some of the representations the deer are seen swimming in the water> 
and the Esquimaux harpooning them from their caiacs, in the manner 
represented in the plate in Captain Parry’s Second Voyage, p. 508. 
As an instance of their method of killing whales, we found a 
* Captain Cochrane’s Journey in Siberia. 
