33 s 
A VOYAGE TO 
1779. fliited by them are equally deftruftive to land and marine 
■ <:>a | >1 ‘ cr ‘, animals. The Tfchutfki are reported to ufe the fame drug 
for this purpofe at prefent. 
I fhall conclude this part of the natural hiftory of Kamt- 
fchatka with an account, from the fame author, of three 
plants, which furnifh the materials of all their manufac¬ 
tures. The Aril is the triticum radice perenni fpiculis binis 
lanuginojis % which grows in abundance along the coaft. 
Of the ftraw of this grafs they make a ftrong fort of mat¬ 
ting, which they ufe not only for their floors, but for 
facks, bed-clothes, curtains, and a variety of other domeftic 
purpofes. Of the fame materials they alfo make very neat 
little bags and balkets, of different forms, and for various 
ufes. 
The plant called bolotnaia , which grows in the marfhes, 
and refembles cyperoides , is gathered in the autumn, and 
carded like wool, with a comb made of the bones of the fea- 
fwallow; with this, in lieu of linen and woollen clothes, 
they fwathe their new-born infants, and ufe it for a cover¬ 
ing next the Ikin whilft they are young. It is alfo made into 
a kind of wadding, and ufed for the purpofe of giving ad¬ 
ditional warmth to various parts of their clothing. 
There remains ffill a vulgar and well-known plant, 
which, as it contributes more effectually to their fubflftence 
than all the reft put together, muft not be paffed over in 
ftlence. This is the nettle ; which, as the country produces 
neither hemp nor flax, fupplies the materials, of which are 
made their filhing-nets ; and without which they could not 
poflibly fubflft. For this purpofe they cut it down in Au- 
guft; and, after hanging it up in bundles in the Iliade, un- 
* Gmel. Sib. Tom. i. p. 119. Tab. XXV. 
der 
