26 
THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
[chap, 
contains thirteen tents, some of which are more roomy and 
better built than any Chukch tent I have previously seen. 
We lodged in a tent which belonged to Erere, a friendly man 
with a face that was always cheerful. His sleeping-chamber 
was so large that it could hold more than one family. We 
found the inmates there completely naked, Erere's wife, 
Kedlanga, not excepted. Kedlanga was well formed, her 
bosom full, her stomach somewhat projecting, the thighs poor, 
the legs slender, the feet small. The men appeared to have 
a greater disposition to stoutness than the women. Some of the 
children had disproportionately large stomachs. Both men and 
women wore copper rings on the legs, the wrists, and the upper 
arms. On festivals they decorate themselves with iron rings, 
with which some reminiscence appears to be connected, to judge 
by the fact that they will not part with them. 
“ Erere’s family was very numerous, according to the prevailing 
state of matters here. He had five children, whose names, 
according to their age, were, Hatanga, Etughi, Yedlat, Uai, and 
Umonga. In all the tents which 
I visited I have inquired the 
number of children. Only two 
or three wives had more than 
three; the average may be esti¬ 
mated at two. 
The children are from their 
tenderest years set apart for 
each other; thus Etughi, Erere’s second son, who was little 
more than eight, was set apart for Keipteka, a girl of six or 
seven. Etughi and Keipteka slept under the same roof, though 
apart. “ When they grow bigger,” said Erere to me, their 
sleeping-places will be put alongside each other.” At what 
age this takes place I have not ascertained, but I suppose that 
it is very early, as is common with all Oriental races. 
“ Eight opposite Tjapka lies a small island, by the natives 
called Idlidlja, which is about 800 metres in circumference. Its 
shores rise perpendicularly on all sides except that which is 
opposite Tjapka, in which direction it sinks with a steep slope. 
On the north end of it we found three or four whales’ bones 
and some pieces of driftwood, but nothing to indicate that 
there had been any Onkilon dwellings there. The island 
swarmed with hares, which the inhabitants of Tjapka hunt with 
the bow. For this hunting they are accustomed to build 
circular walls of snow, pierced with loopholes, through which 
they shoot the unsuspecting animals. 
BRACEI.ET OF COPPER. 
Half the natural size. 
