K A M 
6C0 
ling-houfe. This is very laborious ; and it happens fo of¬ 
ten, that no driver ever fets out without his 1'now-fnoes. 
When a ftorm of driven fnovv furprifes them, they are 
obliged with all bafte to feek the Ihelter of fome wood, and 
ftay there as long as the tenipeft lafts, which fometimes is 
a whole week. If they are a large company, they dig a 
place for themfelves under the fnow, and cover the entry 
with wood or brambles. Sometimes they hide themfelves 
in caves or holes of the earth, wrapping themfelves up in 
their furs ; and, when thus covered, they move or turn 
themfelves with the greateft caution left they fhould throw 
oft".the fnow, for under that they lie as warm as in their 
common huts ; they only require a breathing-place ; but 
their clothes mult not be tight or hard girt about them, 
for then the cold is infufferable. Another danger attend¬ 
ing travellers is, that in the fevereft froft feveral rivers are 
not quite frozen over; and, as the roads for the moft part 
lie clofe upon the rivers, the banks being very lleep, 
Icarcely a year pafi'es without many being drowned. A 
difagreeable circumftance alfo to thofe who travel in thefe 
parts, is their fometimes being obliged to pafs through 
copies, where they' run the rifle of having their eyes 
fcratched out or their limbs broken ; for the dogs always 
run moft violently in the worft roads, and, to free them- 
lelves, very often overturn their driver. The belt travel¬ 
ling is in the month of March or April, when the fnow is 
turned hard or frozen a little at top ; however, there is 
ltill this inconvenience attending it, thatfometim.es travel¬ 
lers are obliged to lodge two or three nights in defert places : 
and it is difficult to prevail upon the Kamtfchatkans to 
make a fire either for warming themfelves or dreffing vic¬ 
tuals, as they and their dogs eat dried fifti, and the men find 
themfelves lo warm wrapped in their furs, that they want 
no other heat; nay, all the people in this climate bear cold 
fo well, that they fleep in the open air as fotmdly as others 
in a warm bed, and awake next morning perfectly refrelh- 
ed and alert. This feems to be fo natural to all here, that 
fome of them have been feen to lie down with-their backs 
uncovered againlt a fire ; and, notwithstanding the fire has 
been burnt out longbefore morning,they have continued to 
lleep on very comfortably, and without any inconvenience. 
The Ruffian government eftablilhed over this country is 
mild and equitable, confidered as a military one, in a very 
high degree. The natives are permitted to choofe their 
own magiftrates from among themfelves, in the way, and 
with the fame powers, they had ever been ufed. One of 
thefe, under the title of tcion, prefides over each oftrog; 
is the referee in all differences; impofes fines, and in- 
fliifts punifliments for all crimes and mifdemeanors; refer¬ 
ring to the governor of Kamtfchatka fuch only as he does 
not choofe, from their intricacy or henioufnefs, to decide 
• upon himfelf. The toion has likewife the appointment of 
a civil officer, who is called a corporal, who affifts him in 
the execution of his office, and in his abfence afts as his 
deputy. By an edieft of the late emprefs, no crime what- 
foever can be punilhed with death ; but we are informed 
that ir. cafes of murder (of which there are very few) the 
punifliment of the knout is adminiftered with luch leve- 
rity, that the offender, for the moft part, dies under it. 
The only tribute exacted (which can be confidered as lit¬ 
tle more than an acknowledgment of the Ruffian dominion 
over them) confifts, in fome diftrifts, of a fox’s {kin, in 
others of a fable’s, and, in the Kurile Ifles of a fea-otter’s ; 
but, as this is much the moft valuable, one (kin ferves to 
pay the tribute of feveral perfons. The toions colleft the 
tribute in their refpeftive diftrifts. Befides the mildnefs 
of their government, the Ruffians have a claim to every 
pratle for the pains they have beftowed, and which have 
been attended with great fuccefs, in converting the people 
to Chriftianity ; there remaining at prefent very few ido¬ 
laters among them. The religion taught is that of the 
Greek church. Schools are likewife eftablilhed in many 
of the oftrogs, where the children of both the natives and 
Cof.tcs are gratuitoufly inftrufted in the Ruffian language. 
The commerce of this country, as far as concerns the 
KAN 
exports, is entirely confined to furs, and carried on prin¬ 
cipally by a company of merchants, inltituted by the em- 
prefs. The articles of importation are principally. Euro¬ 
pean, but not confined to Ruffian manufactures ; many are 
Englifh and Dutch ; feveral likewife come from Siberia, 
Bukharia, the Kalmucs, and China. They confift of coarfe 
woollen and linen cloths, yarn ftockings, bonnets, and 
gloves ; thin Perfian filks, cottons, and pieces of nankeen ; 
lilk and cotton handkerchiefs, brafs coppers and pan's, 
iron ftoves, files, guns, powder and fliot ; hardware, fuel), 
as hatchets, bills, knives, feiffars, needles, and looking- 
glaflfes ; alfo flour, fugar, tanned hides, boots, &c. There 
are fix veflels (of forty to fifty tons burthen) employed by 
the emperor between Ochotzk and Bolcheretlk ; five of 
which are appropriated to the tranfporting of ftores and 
provifions from Ochotlk to Bolcheretlk ; except that once 
in two or three years fome of them go round to Avatfka, 
and the Kamtfchatka river; the frxth is only ufed as a 
packet-boat, and is always kept in readinefs, and properly 
equipped for conveying difpatches. Lat. 51. 1,0. to 61. N. 
Ion. 176. 48. to 180. 50. E. according to the Ruffian map ; 
according to captain King, the Ion. of the fouthem ex¬ 
tremity is 156. 45. E. lat. 52. to 61. N. 
KAMTSCHAT'KA, a river of Ruflia, which runs into 
the North Pacific Ocean twenty miles fouth of Niznei 
Kamtfchatlkoi. 
KAMTSCHAT'KA SEA lies between the continents 
of Alia and America. In lat. 66. N. they are feparated 
by a ftrait only eighteen miles wide. Captain Cook, in 
his laft voyage, eftablilhed the certainty of this near ap¬ 
proximation of the continents beyond a doubt; and that 
the inhabitants of each continent are iimilar, and fre¬ 
quently pafs and repafs in canoes from one continent to 
the other. From thefe and other circumftances it is ren¬ 
dered highly probable that America was firft peopled 
from the north-eaft parts of Alia; but, fince the Efqui- 
maux Indians are manifeftly a leparate fpecies of men, and 
bear a near relemblance to the northern Europeans, it is 
believed that the Efquimaux Indians emigrated from the 
north-weft parts of Europe. 
KAMTSCH AT'KOI, a cape of Ruffia, on the eaft 
coaft of Kamtfchatka: forty miles eaft of Niznei Kamt- 
fchatkoi. 
KAMTSCH AT'KOI (Niznei, or Lower), a town of 
Ruffia, and capital of Kamtfchatka, on the ealt fide of the 
peninfula, about twenty miles from the river Kamtfchat¬ 
ka. It contains two churches and about 150 houfes. It 
has a citadel with magazines, an arfenal, guard-houfe, and 
barracks; and'is the feat of two tribunals, one for mat¬ 
ters of government, the other for commercial affairs: 14a 
miles eaft-louth-eaft of Ochotlk. Lat. 56.40. N. Ion. 
160. 14. E. 
KAMTSCH AT'KOI (Verclinei, or Upper), a town of 
Ruffia, in the peninfula of Kamtfchatka. It is governed 
by a ferjeant, and contains about one hundred houfes: 
fixty miles north-north-eaft of Bolcheretlkoi. Lat. 
53. 50. N. Ion. 157. 39. E. 
KAM'YCK, a town of Bohemia, in Beratfn: feven 
miles fouth-eaft of Przibrarn. 
KAN. f. See Kh.<n. 
KAN, a river of Ruffia, which runs into the EnJfei 
near Balchutzko, in the government of Kolivan. 
KAN, a town of China, of the third rank, in Chen-li: 
720 miles weft of Pekin. Lat. 39. 1. N. Ion. 100. 29. E. 
KAN, a river of China, which riles in the fouth part 
of Kiang-fi, and runs into the lake Po-yang twenty miles 
north of Tchang. 
KAN-HIA-TCHIN, a town of China, in Quang-tong: 
fixty-two miles fouth-eaft of Hoei-tcheou. 
KAN-NGAN, a town of China, of the third rank, on 
the weft coaft of the illand of Hai-nan : fixty-two miles 
fouth-weft of Tchen. 
KAN-SIUEN, a town of China, of the third rank, in 
the province of Chen-fi, on the river Los leventeen miles 
fouth of Yen-ngan. 
KAN-TCHEOU'j, 
