500 
THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
[chap. 
It no^v throws itself backwards and forwards in its attempts to 
escape, and drags after it for some moments the man who holds 
the noose. The other man in the meantime endeavours to 
approach the reindeer, catches the animal by the horns and 
throws it to the ground, killing it afterwards by a knife-stab 
behind the shoulder. The reindeer is then handed over to the 
women, who, by an incision in the side of the belly, take out 
the entrails. The stomach is emptied of its contents, and is 
then used to hold the blood. Finally the skin is taken off. 
“ About 10 o’clock A.M. we commenced our homeward journey. 
At nightfall we sought to have a roof over our head in a 
wretched Chukch tent on the shore of Lake Utschunutsch. It 
was partly sunk in one of the small mounds which are found 
here along the shore, and which are probably the remains of 
old Onkilon dwellings. The present inhabitants, two old men 
and an old woman, had their habitation arranged in the follow¬ 
ing way:—In the bottom of a cylindrical pit, one metre deep 
and three and a half to four and a half metres in diameter, a 
vertical pole was erected, against the upper end of which rested 
a number of obliquely placed bars, rising from the edge of the 
pit, which were covered with skins. The enclosure or bed¬ 
chamber, peculiar to the Chukch tent, was not wanting here. 
Otherwise the whole dwelling bore the stamp of poverty and 
dirt. The food of the inmates appeared to be fish. Of this, 
besides the fish we obtained here, the nets hanging in front of 
the tent afforded evidence. Some clothes, an iron pot, two 
wooden vessels, and a Shaman drum were the only things I 
could discover in the tent. 
'‘Next morning we continued our journey. On the other 
side of Lake Utschunutsch we saw two dwellings, which 
only consisted of boats turned upside down with some hides 
drawn over them. The rest of the way we came past Najtskaj 
and through Irgunnuk, where we were received in an exceed¬ 
ingly friendly fashion. By 7 o’clock in the evening of the 11th 
October we were again on board the Vega’’ 
From Lieutenant Hovgaard’s report, which principally relates 
to the topography of the region passed through, we make the 
following extract relating to the endurance which the Chukches 
and their dogs showed :— 
“ During our outward journey, which lasted twenty-one and a 
half hours, Menka’s attendant, the before-mentioned reindeer 
