INHABITANTS OF THE ISLAND OF SEGALIEN. 17 
of two inclined planes, which are from ten. to twelve feet high at their 
junction, and three or four on the sides ; the breadth of the roof is 
about fifteen feet, and its length eighteen. These cabins are con- 
structed of frame-work, strongly put together, the sides being filled 
up with the bark of trees, and the top thatched with dry grass, in the 
same manner as our cottages are. On the inside of these houses is 
a square of earth, raised about six inches above the ground, and 
supported on the sides by strong planking. On this they make the 
fire ; along the sides of the apartment are trenches 12 or 13 inches 
high, which they cover with mats, on which they sleep. The uten- 
sils which they employ in cooking their food consists of an iron pot, 
shells, vessels made of wood and birch bark, of various shapes and 
W'orkmanship; and, like the Chinese, they take up their food with 
little sticks ; they have generally two meals in the day, one at noon, 
and the other in the evening. 
The habitations in the south part of the island are much better 
built and furnished having for the most part planked floors ; our 
author saw in them some vessels of Japan porcelain. They cultivate 
no kind of vegetables, live only on dried and smoked fish, and what 
little game they take by hunting. Each family has its own canoe, and 
implements of fishing and hunting. Their arms are bows, javelins, 
and a kind of spontoon, which they use principally in bear hunting. 
By the side of their houses are the magazines in which they lay up 
provisions for wqnter. These consist of dried fish, garlic, wild celery, 
angelica, a bulbous root called ap6,or the yellow lily of Kamptschatka, 
and fish oil, which they preserve in the stomachs of bears. These 
magazines are made of planks strongly put together, on stakes about 
four feet high. 
Dogs are the only domestic animals ; they are of a middling size, with 
shaggy hair, pricked ears, and a sharp long muzzle ; their cry is loud, 
but not savage. These people, who are of a very mild and unsuspecting 
disposition, appear to have commercial intercourse with the Chinese 
by means of the Mantchou Tartars, with the Russians to the north of 
their island, and the Japanese to the south ; but the articles of trade 
are of no great consequence, consisting only of a few furs and whale 
oil. This fish is caught only on the southern coast of the island. 
Their mode of extracting the oil is by no means economical ; they drag 
the whale on shore on a sloping ground, and, suffering it to putrefy, 
receive in a trench at the foot of the slope, the oil, which separates 
spontaneously. The island is well w^ooded and mountainous towards 
the centre, but is fiat and level along the coast, the soil of w hich ap- 
pears admirably adapted to agriculture. Vegetation is extremely 
vigorous ; forests of pine, willow, and birch, covered nearly the whole 
surface. 
The sea abounds with fish, as w^ell as the rivers and brooks which 
abound in salmon and trout of an excellent quality. The weather is 
in general foggy and mild. All the inhabitants have an air of health 
and strength, which they retain even to extreme old age : nor did our 
author observe among them any instance of defective organization, 
or the least sign of contagious or eruptive disorders prevailing among 
them. 
c 
