CHURCH PECULIARITIES. 
137 
xii.] 
again, came and went without hindrance among a great numbei’ 
of objects which in their hands would have been precious 
indeed. We had never any cause to regret the confidence we 
placed in them. Even during the very hard time, when hunt¬ 
ing completely failed, and when most of them lived on the food 
which was served out on board, the large d4p6t of provisions, 
which we had placed on land without special watch, in case any 
misfortune should befall our vessel, was untouched. On the 
other hand, there were two instances in which they secretly 
repossessed themselves of fish they had already sold, and which 
were kept in a place on deck accessible to them. And with 
the most innocent countenance in the world they then sold 
them over again. This sort of dishonesty they evidently did 
not regard as theft but as a permissible commercial trick. 
This was not the only proof that the Chukches consider 
deception in trade not only quite justifiable, but almost credit¬ 
able. While their own things were always made with the 
greatest care, all that they did specially for us was done with 
extreme carelessness, and they were seldom pleased with the 
price that was offered, until they became convinced that they 
could not get more. When they saw that we were anxious to 
get ptarmigan, they offered us from their winter stock under 
this name the young of Larus eburnms, which is marked in the 
same way, but of little use as food. When I with delight pur¬ 
chased this bird, which in its youthful dress is rare, and there¬ 
fore valuable to the ornithologist, a self-satisfied smile passed 
over the countenance of the seller. He was evidently proud of 
his successful trick. Some prejudice, as has been already stated, 
prevented the Chukches from parting with the heads of the seal, 
though, in order to ascertain the species existing here, we offered 
a high price for them. “ Irgatti ” (to-morrow), or “ Isgatti,” if the 
promise was given by a woman, was the usual answer. But the 
promise was never kept. At last a boy came and gave us a 
skull, which he said belonged to a seal. On a more minute 
