pent up in coops about the hut, to prevent their sucking at will; which is only allowed twice a day, when the mares are milked. The milk is collected in symirs, or large leather buckets, formed like a bottle, wide at bottom, and narrow at the top, each containing about an anker; into this a small piece of the stomach of a calf or colt is thrown, and some water mixed with it. It is then kept in constant agitation by a broad-ended suck, until it ferments, and acquires an arrecable acidity, which is very nourishing; and if taken in great quantities, it has an intoxicating quality. Of this drink, which they call koumis, every one collects as much as he can; and some of the chiefs obtain more than 500 ankers of it. A day is then fixed upon by each chief to consecrate his stock, which is performed as follows:

"A summer hut is built of thin poles of a conical form, covered with the inner bark of birch, on some extensive meadow. It is ornamented inside and out with branches of the birch tree, and a hearth is made in the centre. Relations and acquaintances are invited to the banquet; but all guests are welcome of every nation indiscriminately. The magicians take the head seats; others are seated according to the estimation of their seniority,

"When the hut is full, the elder shaman rises, and commands one of the socha that he knows to be qualified (namely, that has not seen a corpse within the month, and that has never been accused of theft, or bearing false witness against any body, which defiles them for ever, and renders them unqualified

for this sacred and solemn task) to take a large goblet, called a tshoron, which is used to drink out of on solemn occasions, and fill it with koumis out of the first symir; then to place himself before the hearth, with his face to the east, holding the tshoron to his breast about two minutes. He then pours koumis three times on the hot embers, as an

offering to Aar Toyon. Turning a very little to the right, he pours three times to Kuhey Chatoon; then to the south he offers in the same manner to each of the benevolent gods. With his face to the west, he pours three times to the 27 tribes of aerial spirits; and three times to the north to the eight tribes of the pit, and to the manes of their departed Sorcerers. After a short pause, he concludes his libation by an offering to Enachsys, the cowherdess. The sorcerer then turns the man with his face to the cast, and commences a prayer aloud, thanking the godhead for all favours received, and soliciting a continuance of their bounty. On concluding his prayer, he takes off his cap, with which he fans himself three times, and cries out aloud, "Oorui!" (grant) which is repeated by all present. The elder shaman then, tak ing the tshoron, drinks a little, and hands it to his brethren of the same order; from whom it passes to the company as they sit,

except such as are defiled. Women are not admitted into the hut; nor are they, or the disqualified, allowed any of the koumis out of the first symir, which they call sanctified, as possessing the power of purifying and strengthening in a divine sense.

They all now go out of the hut, and seat themselves on the strewed branches of birch, in half circles, fronting the cast. All the symirs are carried out, and placed between the branches of trees stuck in the earth, and they commence drinking; every crescent having their symirs, tshoron, and presiding shaman, who fills the goblet, and pushes it about with the course of the sun. The quantity that they drink is incredible. Tournaments now begin, wrestling, running. leaping, &c.; and if any one carry off the prize in all the achievements, he is esteemed as particularly favoured by the deities, and receives more respect and credit in his testimony than falls to the lot of a common man. When the ceremony is finished, they mount their horses, forming half circles, drink a parting draught, and, wheeling round with the sun's course, ride home."

The strangest of their superstitions is with regard to name. Every Yakut bears two names, and is never called by the right, except in cases of necessity; thus they think they evade the search of the evil spirits bent on tormenting them, as if the devil could be cheated by an alias! The more insignificant a name is, the better they think it, for an elegant

name would entice the dæmon to be perpetually about the child. They never mention the dead, except allegorically, and they leave the hut to ruins wherein any one has expired, thinking it the habitation of dæmons. Their poly. theism is less absurd than that of more polished idolaters.

"BURIALS. The corpse is first dressed in the best apparel of the deceased, and stretched out; the arms tied tight round the waist; then enclosed in a strong box, with the knife, flint, steel, and tinder; also some meat and butter, that the dead may not hunger_on the road to the dwelling of souls." A shaman presides; the wives and relations accompany the procession to a certain distance; the favourite riding-horse of the deceased is saddled and accoutred, with hatchet, palina, kettle, &c. and led to the place of interiment, as is also a fat mare. Two holes are dug under some trec; then the horse is killed, and buried in one, while the corpse is laid in the other. The mare is killed, dressed, and eaten by the guests; the skin suspended on the tree, under which the body lies, with the head to the west. The shaman takes his tambour, and invokes the dæmons to let the spirits of the departed rest in peace, and

finishes the ceremony by filling up the grave. A shaman is buried with the same ceremony, and his tambour with him."

It is not many years since, a madman in this country, ordered by will that his horse should be killed and buried with him, that he might be mounted at the re

surrection!

By the latter end of August both their ships were finished, and ready for sea. The largest was safely carried out of harbour. Captain Billings, with his usual obstinacy, insisted that the other vessel should come out at the spring tide. It then was a heavy swell right on shore, in consequence she struck, and was lost. The resolution was immediately taken to sail in one ship to Kamtshatka, and there build a small vessel, during the winter, of the materials of the lost ship; and not having time to break her they burnt her, as the quickest method of getting at her iron work.

up,

"The loss of this ship had been foretold by the superstitious inhabitants of the town, from the following remarkable circumstance: in the spring of the year, a flight of crows were fighting in the air, and making a dreadful noise. One of them was killed by the rest, and fell upon the deck of this ship. The whole swarm immediately descended, and entirely devoured the vanquished bird, leaving no other vestiges than the feathers behind. This very remarkable occurrence, which was related by all our officers, workmen, and inhabitants, happened while I was at Yakutsk."

On October 1, they arrived at St. Peter and St. Paul; here, says M. Sauer,

"I was very happy to meet with a number of the acquaintances of my countrymen in captain Cook's expedition. Nothing in nature could be more pleasant than the glow of friendship which animated their counte nances with the liveliest expression of sincere regard, when they mentioned the names of King, Bligh, Philips, Webber, and others; names that will be handed down to posterity by tradition in a Kamtshatka song to their ceremony, with a chorus to the tune of God save the King; which is frequently sung in perfect harmony, particularly by the family of Veroshagin at Paratounka, by the different branches of which it was made. They deeply lamented the fate of captain Clerke, whose tomb is now graced with an engraving on a sheet of copper, containing a copy of the superscription painted on the board, and suspended on the tree under which he lies buried; with this addition only, "Erected by Perouse 1787, commander of the expedition from France." Near

this place is a half-decayed wooden cross, denoting the place of interment of the naturalist De Lisle de la Croyere, who died in commodore Bering's expedition." Of this very interesting spot a beautiful engraving is given.

On the 1st of May 1790, they once more embarked. No expedition was ever more absurdly fitted out; not one of the common sailors had ever seen a ship be The officers of the three watches were fore, and only three of the petty officers. men of good sense, but knew little or nothing of navigation; and the captain himself appears to have been deficient in every quality that a sailor ought to possess.

The first place where they landed was information he could respecting the Oonalashka. M. Sauer collected what customs of the natives, but the stu pid conduct of the ship's chaplain had made them suspicious and reserved. This man hearing that some of the crew had seen a cave where many carved masks were deposited, went and burnt them all. He then threatened the natives for worshipping idols, and forced many of them to be baptized, telling them they might worship the Trinity, pray to St. Nicholas, and a cross which he hung round their necks, and that they would obtain whatever they asked for. This savage bigot flogged one of his Tartar guides to death, and another to such a degree, that he lost the use of his arm entirely. It was afterwards known that they had not stolen the provision of which they were sus pected; the priest remarked, there was na harm done, they were not christians! These people are heavily oppressed by the Rus sian hunters, who send them to the chase, when they please, and take from them such women as they like best, and as their dead with dried moss and grass. many as they choose. They embal A mother will keep the body of her child thus embalmed for some months in her hut, constantly wiping it dry; and they bury it when it begins to smell, or when they are reconciled to parting with it. They have no marriage ceremony, but purchase as many girls as they can keep; if they repent their bargain, the girl is returned, and a part of her price restored.

They have dresses to wear at sea or in wet weather, made of the intestines of sea animals, the bladder of the halibut,

er the skin of the whale's tongue. This has a hood for the head, and is fastened

sc closely round the neck and wrists that no water can penetrate. Their needles are made of the wing bone of the gull, with a very nice cut round the thicker end instead of an eye, to which they tie the thread so skilfully, that it follows the needle without any obstruction. They make thread from the sinews of the seal, from the fineness of a hair to the size of a moderate cord. All their instruments are made with uncommon skill and symmetry; but their baidars or boats are constructed with wonderful ingenuity, and are far superior to those of any other island.

"If perfect symmetry, smoothness, and proportion, constitute beauty, they are beauuful; to me they appeared so beyond any thing that I ever beheld. I have seen some of them as transparent as oiled paper, through which you could trace every formation of the inside, and the manner of the natives sitting in it; whose light dress, painted and plumed bonnet, together with his perfect ease and activity, added infinitely to its elegance. Their first appearance struck me with amazement beyond expression. We were in the offing, eight miles from shore, when they came about us. There was little wind, but a great swell of the sea: some we took on board with their boats; others continued rowing about the ship. Nearer in with the land we had a strong rippling current in our favour, at the rate of three miles and a half, the sea breaking violently over the shoals, and on the rocks. The natives, observing our astonishment at their agility and skill, paddled in among the breakers, which reached to their breasts, and carried the baidars quite under water; sporting about more like amphibious animals than human beings. It immediately brought to my recollection, in a very forcible light, Shakespeare's expression-

"He trod the water, Whose enmity he flung aside, and breasted The surge most swoln that met him."

"These baidars are built in the following manner: a keel 18 feet long, four inches thick on the top, not three inches deep, and two inches, or somewhat less, at the bottom. Two upper frames, one on each side, about an inch and a half square, and 16 feet long, join to a sharp flat board at the head, and are about 16 inches shorter than the stern, joined by a thwart which keeps them about 12 inches asunder. Two similar frames near the bottom of the boat, six inches below the upper ones, about one inch square. Round sticks, thin, and about six inches distant from each other, are tied to these frames, and from the sides; for the top thwarts, very strong

sticks, and nearly as thick as the upper frames, curved so as to raise the middle of sides. There are 13 of these thwarts or the boat about two inches higher than the

beams: seven feet from the stern is one of

them; 20rches nearer the head is another ; a hoop about two inches high is fastened between them, for the rower to sit in. This is made strong, and grooved to fasten an open skin to, which they tie round their body, and it prevents any water getting into the boat, alwith the skin of the sea lion, drawn and though it were sunk. This frame is covered

sewn over it like a case. The whole is so

extremely light, even when sodden with water, that it may be carried with ease in one hand. The head of the boat is double the lower part, sharp, and the upper part flat, resembling the open mouth of a fish, but contrived thus to keep the head from sinking too deep in the water; and they tie a stick from one to the other to prevent its entangling with the sea weeds. They row with ease, in a sea moderately smooth, about 10 miles in the hour, and they keep the sea in a fresh gale of wind. The paddles that they use are double, seven or eight feet long, and made equally neat with the other articles."

They next touched at one of the Aleutan islands, where the Russians have an establishment. The population of this and the neighbouring islands consists of about 1,300 grown males, and 1,200 youths, with about the same number of females, now under the direction of Delareff, a Greek, who informed our voyager that he had then 600 double boats of the natives out on the chace for the benefit of the company, each boat containing two or three nien, the whole divided into about six parties, each directed by a single Russian. Besides these, small parties are sent out daily to fish. The ing fish, in digging, washing, and drying women are employed in curing and dryedible roots, in collecting useful plants and berries, and in making dresses for the natives and their Russian master. The men are little satisfied with this state of vassalage, but Shelikoff, who formed the settlement, when he found that they were disposed to resist him, surprised their women as they were gathering berries, and took about 200 as hostages.

daughters and younger children. The He exchanged wives for chiefs were thus held in obedience, and the women are perfectly satisfied with the treatment they receive. Formerly every considerable dwelling-place of the natives had large baidars, capable of containing 40 or 50 men. Shelikoff pure chased all these, and the nation have now

with many entrances to it. I repeatedly asked the question, and could not be mistaken in the answer; and I would most willingly have stayed on the coast alone, to explore these unknown parts from tribe to tribe, until I had lost myself, or found my way to Europe through some of these cranny passages. I an aware that I was thought a madman for it; but this madness, this enthusiastic confidence, would, I am certain, have assisted

my success; nor would I have left unexplored a river of which we had such confirmed accounts, without good reason for it; for I never met with any men that would refuse assistance to one individual, who, without the means of being their enemy, was at all times in their power. Over and above all this I declare, that I have complete confidence in a Supreme Being, who governs every thought, and inspires means of expression to secure the devotee in exploring his

wisdom.

"I hope that my rhapsodies will not offend my readers: they are notes penned at the instant when my feelings were most acute, and not with a view of making them known to the public on a future day.

"Capt. Billings had received intelligence of this river from Mr. Delareff, the director of Shelikoff's companies at Kadiak, Afognak, and Cook's river; who gave the natives the character of good people; and said, that they ate, drank, and slept together in the most friendly manner; and I firmly believe what he said.”,

The captain now resolved to return to Kamtshatka to forward the building of the other vessel, without which he did not think it safe to navigate seas so little known. He proposes to employ the whole of the next summer and winter in surveying Cook's river and the continent south of it, and also the chain of islands between America and Asia. The summer following might be appropriated to explore the more northern parts. Mr. Sauer was very reluctant to quit this coast. He offered to remain there alone, and meet Captain Billings the ensuing summer at any part of the coast that he would appoint. This permission the captain very properly refused.

"If I may be allowed to hazard a conjecture of my own concerning the land that he saw, it is, that I do not think any one place, except Mount Saint Elias, constitutes any part of the continent; not even Cape Elizabeth; and I have my doubts of Alaksa itself. I think that the whole is formed of a close connected chain of islands, separated by straits from the main land. I observed no change in the colour of the water, however close within shore; which must have been the case had any considerable rivers

fallen into it; but we saw none, and our enquiries do not justify the supposition that rivers exist, except beyond the straits; for the rivers were spoken of by the natives as lying behind the islands. I could not perceive any alteration in the taste of the water, not cven where we were at anchor, and it was exceedingly pellucid."

In May 1791 they again set sail from St. Peter and Paul. Captain Hall, who was appointed to the command of the new vessel, which had been built at Neishui, was directed to join them at Bering's Island; but in case they should not meet there by the end of that month, then to proceed to Oonalashka. On their arrival at this latter island they did not find him. Captain Billings then declared that he would give up all thoughts of revisiting the American coast, and make directly for the bay of St. Laurence, where the Russians had been sent from Achotsk in 1789 to wait his arrival, and he left orders for Captain Hall to follow him.

Nothing in the world could have afforded me less satisfaction than this resolution, which I regarded as the conclusion of an expedition that was set on foot with unbounded liberality by the most magnanimous sovereign in the world; which had raised the expectation of all nations to the highest pitch, and to induce mankind to anticipate the satisfaction of obtaining the most complete knowledge of the geography of this unknown part of the globe, together with a conviction of the existence or non-existence of a north-west passage. But, alas! after so many years of danger and fatigue; after putting the government to such an extraordinary expence; after having advanced so far in the in hourly expectation of our consort, and, as attempt, even at the very time when we were appeared to me, being just entering upon the grand part of the undertaking, thus to abandon it, was the most unaccountable and unjustifiable of actions.

"The remonstrances of captain Saretsheff at the Kovima, on the Icy Sea, &c. &c. and had hitherto presumed to have an opinion, in fact the representations of every officer who were always treated by the commander with petulant and illiberal retorts. I have, indeed, had too frequent opportunities of observing, that rank and power intoxicate the possessor, unless they have been the reward of real merit, or the consequences of seniority in actual service; in which cases, the value of the authority is known, as wealth gained by labour, and not used as the accidental and unexpected inheritance of a prodigal.

Excepting captain Billings, Mr. Saretsheff was the only naval officer on board; and I can affirm, that the latter was the only sci