INHABITANTS OF K A MTSCII ATK A. 
23 
aki, and Kuriles. The KamtSchatkans live on the south side of the 
promontory of Kaintschatka ; the Korehi inhabit the north parts on 
the coast, of the Penschinska sea, and round the eastern ocean almost 
to the river Anadir, whose mouth lies in that ocean almost in 60° N. 
lat. The Kuriles inhabit the islands in that sea reaching’ as far as 
that of Japan. 
The Kamtschatkans endeavour to give every thing a name in their 
language which may express the property of it ; but if they do not 
understand the thing themselves, then they take a name from some 
foreign language, which perhaps has no relation to thing itself : e. g. 
they call a priest hoghog^ because probably they use the word hoghog, 
God ; bread they call brightatin augsh, that is, Russian root ; and 
thus of several other words to which their language is a stranger. 
It is supposed that the Kamtschatkans lived formerly in Mungalia, 
beyond the river Amur, and made one people with the Mungals ; 
which is farther confirmed by the Kamtschatkans having several 
words common to the Mungal Chinese language, as their terminations 
in ong, ing, oang, chin, cha, ching, ksi, ksung. The Kamtschatkans 
and Mungals are both of a middling stature, and swarthy, have black 
hair, broad face, a sharp nose, with the eyes falling in, eye-brows small 
and thin, a hanging belly, slender legs and arms; they are both 
remarkable for cowardice, boasting, and slavishness to people who 
use them hardly, and for their obstinancy and contempt to those who 
use them with gentleness. The Kamtschatkans in outward appearance 
resemble the other inhabitants of Siberia, but differ in this, that their 
faces are not so long ; their faces stand more out, their teeth are 
thick, their mouths large, the4r stature middling, and their shoulders 
broad, particularly those who inhabit the sea coast. Before the Rus- 
sian conquest, they lived in perfect freedom, having no chief, being 
subject to no one, nor paying any taxes; the old men, or those re- 
markable for their bravery, bearing the particular authority in their vil- 
lages, though none had any right to command and inflict punishment. 
Their manner of living is slovenly to the last degree ; they never wash 
their hands or face, or cut their nails ; they eat with the dogs out of 
the same dish, which they never wash ; they never comb their heads, 
but both men and women plait their hair in two locks, binding the 
end with small ropes. When any starts out, then they sew it with 
threads to make it lie close, by which means they are swarming with lice. 
Those that have not natural hair sufficient, wear false locks some- 
times as much as w'eigh lOlbs. They place their chief happiness in 
idleness, and satisfying their natural appetites, which incline them to 
singing, dancing, and relating of love stories ; and they think it more 
eligible to die than to lead a disagreeable life, wffiich often leads them 
to suicide. This was so common after the conquest, that the Russians 
had great difficulty to put a stop to it. They have no notion of fame, 
riches, or honour, therefore covetousness, ambition, and pride are not 
known among them. On the other hand, they are careless, lustful, 
and cruel ; these vices occasion frequent quarrels among them, some- 
times with their neighbours, not wdth a desire of increasing power, 
but to carry off provisions, or their girls, which is often practised as 
the most summary method of procuring a wife. 
