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THE CEUISE OF THE MAECHESA

•PERICROCOTUS MARCHESS.

THE
CRUISE OF THE MARCHESA

TO

KAMSCHATKA & NEW GUINEA
WITH NOTICES OF FORMOSA, LIU-KIU, AND VARIOUS
ISLANDS OF THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO

By F. H. H. GUILLEMARD
M.A., M.B. (CANTAB.)
FELLOW OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY; FELLOW OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
FELLOW OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, ETC. ETC.

OTttfj Maps anu numerous JEEonftcuts
DRAWN BT J. KEULEMANS, C. WHYMPER, AND OTHERS
AND ENGRAVED BY EDWARD WHYMPER

1 Ignotis errare locis, ignota videre
Flumina gaudebat, studio minuente laborem '
Ovid. Metam. iv. 294

IN TWO VOLUMES— VOL. I.
LONDON
JOHN MTJKKAY, ALBEMAELE STEEET
1886

Printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh.

Cbarles XTbomas IKettlewell

TO WHOM I OWE THIS

ONE OP THE PLEASANTEST OF MANY PLEASANT CRUISES

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK

PREFACE.

A few words are perhaps necessary by way of introduction to the
following pages.
The Marchesa, an auxiliary screw schooner yacht of 420 tons,
Mr. C. T. Kettlewell captain and owner, was commissioned in the
Clyde in November, 1881, and left Cowes on the 8th of January
following. She reached Colombo April 24th, having touched at
Socotra and Oolegaum Island, one of the Maldive group, on her
way from Aden. From Ceylon she proceeded vid Singapore to
Formosa and the Liu-kiu Islands, and thence to Japan. She left
Yokohama for Kamschatka July 29th, returning thither from the
north on the 6th of October. On the second visit to Japan four
months were spent in the country, and the yacht then proceeded
for a six weeks' cruise in Chinese waters. Leaving Hongkong at
the end of March, 1883, some weeks were devoted to exploring the
little-known islands of the Sulu Archipelago, and to visiting the
territory of the North Borneo Company. The Marchesa then
returned to Singapore to take in stores, and proceeded vid Sumbawa,
Celebes, and various other islands of the Malay Archipelago to New
Guinea. In her homeward voyage she again visited the Straits
Settlements and Ceylon, and calling at Bombay, finally reached
Southampton April 14th, 1884.
To such countries as Ceylon and Japan, and others which lie
in the beaten path of the tourist round the world, I have not
thought it necessary to allude, confining myself entirely to an

PREFACE.

account of the less-known lands and islands in which our time was
chiefly spent. " It is the fate of most voyagers no sooner to dis
cover what is most interesting in any locality than they are hurried
from it," Darwin tells us ; and the sentiment often found an echo
in our own minds when, as from various causes occasionally
happened, our stay at some of these places was but short. This
was especially the case with regard to the Liu-kiu Islands — a most
interesting group which run the risk of being left unexplored by
Europeans until the wave of Japanese civilisation has swept every
particle of its originality from the country. For this reason, in an
Appendix to Vol. I., I have incorporated such of our own notes as
are of less general interest with those of former travellers in order
to bring together the chief facts known of these islands. For their
history I am indebted almost entirely to the account of Pere
Gaubil, the Jesuit, in the well-known " Lettres Edifiantes et
Curieuses." The history of Kamschatka appeared to me to be sufficiently
interesting, and sufficiently little known to be worthy of a slight
sketch in a separate chapter.
With regard to the Marchesa' s cruise in the Eastern Archipelago
I had to contend with the fact that, in many places, that master
naturalist, Mr. A. E. Wallace, had preceded us. Nothing could be
more fortunate for a traveller, nothing more disadvantageous to an
author. The " Malay Archipelago " may still be used as the guide
book for those beautiful islands, for they have been almost un
touched by the great changes which Europe has witnessed during
the last quarter century, and I have but little to add to or take
from the descriptions of one far more fitted to treat of them than
myself. Our stay in the Sulu Islands extended over a period of about
six weeks. Mr. Burbidge's examination of the flora of the group,1
together with our collections of its fauna, show that the archipelago
is not zoographically separable from the Philippines. Westwards
1 "The Gardens of the Sun," F. W. Burbidge, p. 343.

PREFACE.

6? the island of Tawi-tawi the narrow Sibutu channel forms a
boundary-line from greatly-differing Borneo, which is almost as
striking as that shown by Mr. Wallace to exist between Bali and
Lombok. From the Malay and Papuan regions the Marchesa returned
with a large collection of objects of Natural History. Of these the
greater portion were obtained in the large islands of North-west
New Guinea. One of our chief objects was to become acquainted
with the Birds of Paradise in their native forests, and in this we
were entirely successful, obtaining no less than seventeen different
species. The collection of birds numbered about 3000 specimens,
which I have described in a series of papers in the " Proceedings of
the Zoological Society " for 1885. The Coleoptera, of which there
were some thousands, are as yet unworked. A few shells ancl
butterflies were obtained. The former were kindly named for me
by my friend the Eev. A. H. Cooke, of Cambridge. The butterflies —
of which there were about 100 different species — have been listed,
and the new species described by Mr. Oliver Janson.
The very large number of photographic negatives we brought
back rendered the choice of subjects for engraving a matter of
some difficulty. Very great care has been bestowed upon the
illustrations, and I can fearlessly claim for them that — at least in
point of accuracy — they can hardly be improved, for with a few
exceptions they are reproductions of our photographs. The en
graving of the blocks has been entrusted to Mr. Edward Whymper;
Mr. Keulemans and Mr. Charles Whymper have respectively
drawn the birds and animals, while to Mr. H. C. S. Wright, Mr.
Stacey, and others I am indebted for the interpretation of some of
my rough sketches.
In the following pages I have confined myself almost entirely
to the record of facts, leaving my readers to draw their own con
clusions and form their own theories as they please. It may be
wondered why I have not touched in any way upon the political
aspects of the British annexation in New Guinea, or spoken of the
vol. i. i

PREFACE.

probable future of our new possessions. The reason is simple. The
cruise of the Marchesa in Papuan waters was entirely confined to
the northern and western portions, which belong to the Dutch,
and the knowledge of one extremity of an island 1500 miles in
length qualifies one as little to speak of the other, as a visit to
Spain would justify one in describing Turkey.
To attempt individually to thank the numerous friends who
helped and welcomed us in our wanderings would indeed be a
herculean task. Within the limits of a preface it would be an
impossibility. English hospitality has become proverbial, but
the traveller finds that it is cosmopolitan, flourishing beneath the
Equator just as freely as in the British Isles, dispensed indifferently
by European and Asiatic. Should they read these lines, I hope
that those at whose hands we received • it will accept our most
hearty thanks.
In conclusion I must ask my readers' indulgence for the many
imperfections contained in this account of the Marchesa 's cruise.
If, however, I can give him a tithe of the pleasure we experienced
amid the magnificent scenery of Kamschatka, or in the jungles of
New Guinea, I shall be more than fortunate. In these latter
regions there is indeed but one thing that mars the traveller's
enjoyment. The book of Nature lies freely open to him, but with
out years of study he cannot read it. It is written in an unknown
language. He is confused with the unfamiliarity of the character
and the apparently insuperable obstacles it presents. Such at
least were my own feelings, although travel in tropic lands was no
new thing to me. The few sentences I have deciphered have for
the most part, I fear, been already translated by others, and in
giving them to my readers I can only express my regret that
Nature's volume has not met with a better exponent.

CONTENTS. CHAPTEE I.
FORMOSA.
Bad reputation of the coast — Treaty with the natives — Island of Samasana — Origin
of its inhabitants — Cervus pseudaxis — A national school — East coast of Formosa
— Gigantic precipices — Ascent of a gorge — Steep Island — Keelung — Filthiness
of the town — Formosan coal — Overland to Tamsui — Peculiarities of the
avifauna — Chui-teng-ka — Tamsui — Old Spanish fort — Importance of Formosa
— Its harbours — Geographical peculiarities — Products — Climate . Page 1
 CHAPTEE II.
THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS.
Uncertainties of navigation — Geographical characteristics of Liu-kiu — Former
visitors — Orthography of Liu-kiu — Kapha -kiang — Enormous crowds — Two
American waifs — Walled streets — Napha-kiang market — We interview the
Vice-Governor — The Liu-kiuan type — Peculiar method of dressing the hair —
Tattooing — Tombs and burial customs — Altars for burning hair — The inner
harbour — A sunset dance — Dinner habits of the Japanese . . Page 26
CHAPTEE III.
the liu-kiu islands (continued,).
We start for Shiuri— Dress of the natives— Old palace of the Liu-kiu kings—
Entrance-gate of Shiuri — Quaintness of the scenery — The fortress — Its three
lines of fortifications — Ruins of the ancient palace — T'skina — Country-house
and lotus-pond — Paucity of bird-life — Return to Napha — Uyeno treats us to
lemonade — A Liu-kiu crowd — We leave for Japan . . . Page 48

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE IV.
KAMSCHATKA.
We leave Japan for Kamschatka— Constant fogs— Avatcha Bay— Avatchinska,
Koriatska, and Kozelska volcanoes— Beauty of the scenery— Petropaulovsky
Harbour— The village and its inhabitants— Dr. Dybowski— Monuments to
Bering, Clerke, and De la Perouse— Defeat of the Allied Forces in 1854— Graves
of the English and French— Sledge-dogs— We make arrangements for our journey
through the country — Village and hot springs of Kluchi . . Page 64

CHAPTEE V.
kamschatka (continued).
We begin our journey — Stampede of the packhorses — The effects of vodki — Stari-
ostrog — Salmon a discretion — Large birches — More stampedes — The fur-trade —
Prices of skins — On the tUndras — Narchiki — Enormous abundance of salmon —
Mortality among the fish — A Kamschatkan interior — Ovis nivicola — Hot springs
— Uses of the birch-tree — Kamschatkan ponies — Gunal — Balagans — Sledge-dogs
— An Indian summer .... . Page 86

CHAPTEE VI.
kamschatka (continued).
Abundance of bears — Ptarmigan — The Palsearctic region — Valley of the Bolcheresk 
Arrive at the Kamschatka Eiver — Dense growth of annuals — The sable — Methods
of catching it — Puschina — Kamschatkan birds — Verglaski fishes the river —
Kamschatkan salmon — The Tchervitchi — Krasna — Haiko — Garbusa — Kisutchi
— Gultsi — Other salmon — Habits of bears when fishing — We arrive at Sherowmy. Page 110

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE VII.
kamschatka (continued).
We begin the river journey — Our rafts — Bad weather — Werchni Kamschatka —
Melcova — A fish eurral — Replenish our stores — Melcova church — Kuhlankas and
parkas — Extortionate demands of the natives — Curious mar] cliffs — Mashura —
Rows with the people — Leprosy — Piles of driftwood — Onset of the cold weather
— Tschappina — We sight the great volcanoes — Our camp -life — Wild fruits —
Renewed quarrels with the natives — An awkward dilemma — We win the game.
Page 135

CHAPTEE VIII.
kamschatka (continued).
Morning on the river — We begin the chart — Meet the first and only traveller — Bear-
paths — Land and river birds — The Kamschatkan Marsh Tit — Kojerevsky village
— The Kanuli, or Spirits of the Volcanoes — Increased coldness of the weather —
Uskovska — Fox-trap— Misfortune to our photographic plates— Sunset on the
mountains — The great volcanoes of the Lower Kamschatka — Kluchefskaya and
its eruptions — Sevelitch — Eruptions synchronous with Krakatau — A professional
brother— Cultivation at Kl-uchi— Loss of Verglaski— Kamakoffskaya— The
Tchoaki — Walrus - schooner Nemo — Thalassaetus pclagicus — We arrive at Ust
Kamschatka — A Kamschatkan dance — We rejoin the Marchesa . Page 156

CHAPTEE IX.
BERING ISLAND.
We anchor off Nikolsky— Breeding-places of the Fur Seal— We sledge across the
island — Evidences of its gradual elevation — Raids by predatoiy schooners — The
" rookery ''—Land life of Callorhiims— Arrival of the bulls— Their installation
— Arrival of the cows — Organisation of the "rookery'' — The adult animals —
The pups and holluschicki— Slaughtering— Annual take of skins— Curing the
skins— The Alaska Commercial Company— Dr. Stejneger— Relics of Bering and
his crew— Importation of reindeer— We return to Kamschatka . Page 187

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE X.
KAMSCHATKA.
Cape Klin — Walrus — Permanence of snow at the sea-level — Betohevinskaya Bay —
Hunting Ovis nivicola — Impassability of the bush — A magnificent bag — Descrip
tion and measurements of the Kamschatkan Bighorn — Natural breakwaters —
Seals and bears — Lost in the bush — Return to Petropaulovsky — Unveiling of
the monument to the affair of 1854 — Ship's pets — Leave Avatcha Bay for the
south coast — An otter-hunters' village — Method of killing the sea-otter — The
peoples of the peninsula — Lamuts in Kamschatka — We leave for Japan — South
easterly gale — Encounter a typhoon — Loss of Le Gonidec — Another gale —
Repair damages in Yokohama . . ... Page 209

CHAPTEE XI.
HISTORY OF KAMSCHATKA.
First conquests to the east — Yermac Timovieff— Conquest of Kuchum Khan — The
Russians reach the Amoor— Settle at the Anadyr— Theodot discovers Kamschatka
— Invasion and conquest of the peninsula — Mutiny of the Cossacks — Bering's
first voyage— Discovery of Bering's Straits— His second voyage abortive-
Rebellion of the Kamschatdales — Bering's last voyage— Exploration of the
Alaskan coast— Discovery of Bering Island— Wreck of the St. Peter— Death of
Bering— The survivors reach Kamschatka— Return of the St. Paul— Death, of
De la Croyere ........ page 233

APPENDIX I. Page
Notes on Liu-kiu . 253

APPENDIX II.
Birds op Kamschatka . 274

Index

279

ILLUSTRATIONS.

1. Pericrocotus Marchess .... Frontispiece
PAGE
2. Goege and Peecipice, East Coast of Formosa . . 7
3. Steep Island, Formosa . . . .10
4. On the Keelung River . . 16
5. Oue Skippee .... .18
6. A Creek on the Keelung River . . to face page 22
7. A Steeet in Napha-kiang . . to face page 33
8. Liu-kiuan of Napha-kiang . . .37
9. Liu-kiu Haie-pins . .38
10. Tattooed Hand . 39
11. Liu-kiuan Tomb . . .40
12. Liu-kiu Samisen . . 42
13. Liu-kiuan with Hachi-machi . 50
14. Enteance Gate of Shiuei . . 54
15. The Inner Foetifications, Shiuri . . . to face page 57
16. Liu-kiuan Giel, Napha-kiang . 59
1 7. Lotus-lake at T'skina . . .to face page 60

ILLUSTRATIONS.

18. Coconut Water-Jar
19. Avatcha Bat and Petropaulovskt Harbour
20. Whiskered Puffin (Lmnola cirrhata) .
21. Tufted Auk (Simorhynchus cristatelkis)
22. Petropaulovsky Haeboue
23. Paeaminka River
24. Afanasi Waben
25. BlECH-BARK BOX
26. In the Gunal Valley — A Stampede.
27. The Village of Gunal
28. Balagan and Sledge-Dogs .
29. The Belfry at Gunal
30. Reindeer Riding, Kamschatka River
31. Sable (Martes zibellina)
32. Kelt of Haiko (Oncorhynchus lagoceplialus)
33. Kelt of Garbusa (Oncorhynchus proteus)
34. Gultsi (Salmw callaris)
35. Kamschatkan Paddle
36. The Kamschatka River at Melcova
37. Our Costume on the Lower Kamschatka .
38. A Fox Trap ....
39. Kluchefskaya Volcano from the North
40. Mount Sevelitch
41. Pallas's Eagle (Tlialassaetus pelagicus)

PAGE 63
. to face page 68
70
71
73
84
87
101
. to face page 103
105 107
111
• 114 119
126
127130136
. to face page 139
143162
. to face page 166170
179

ILLUSTRATIONS.

0 PAGE
42. The Dance at Ust Kamschatka . . . to face page 183
43. Aleut Walrus-Tusk Pipe ..... 190
44. Crossing Bering Island . . . . to face page 193
45. Sledge-Dogs . . 195
46. Fur-Seals (Callorhinus ursinus) . . . 201
47. Aleut Walrus-Tusk Pin . . . 207
48. Kamschatkan Bighorn (Ovis nivicola) . . .214
49. Skull of Ovis Nivicola . . . . .215
50. Monument to the Affair of August, 1854 . . . 220
51. Arrow used in Shooting Sea-Otter . . . .225
52. Otter -Huntee's Canoe, Powell Island . . 226
53. Bow of Kurile Canoe . 228

MAPS. — * ? *
1. Track Chart of the " Marchesa's " Voyage . to face page 1
2. Map of Formosa .... „ 4
3. Map of Kamschatka . . . . . „ 67
4. Sketch Survey of Lower Part of Kamschatka River ,, 158
5. Outline Map to show Position of Seal Islands ,, 190

CEUISE OF THE YACHT MAECHESA.

CHAPTER I.
FOEMOSA.
Bad reputation of the coast — Treaty with the natives — Island of Samasana — Origin
of its inhabitants— Cervus pseudaxis — A national school — East coast of Formosa
— Gigantic precipices — Ascent of a gorge — Steep Island — Keelung — Filthiness
of the town — Formosan coal — Overland to Tamsui — Peculiarities of the
avifauna — Chui-teng-ka — Tamsui — Old Spanish fort — Importance of Formosa
— Its harbours — Geographical peculiarities — Products — Climate.
HOWEVEE olasi or dis-illusioned a traveller may have become,
there must surely be something in the first glimpse of a new land to
arouse in him a more than ordinary interest. His last expedition has
been, perhaps, a failure. He has projected a book on the religions
of West Africa, and has discovered that the gods he has intended
for illustration have been constructed in Birmingham ; or he has
been hunting in the far interior of the Dark Continent, and has
found a billiard table and a Good Templars' Lodge where he had
hoped for elephants.1 If he be a naturalist he has possibly
experienced more instances than he could wish of the destructive
powers of the white ant, or, worse fate still, he has reached his
journey's end with no collections to destroy. But, with a new
country lying before him, all these recollections vanish, and, even
if its exploration be impracticable, he none the less conjures
up the images of its infinite possibilities.
1 These two evidences of civilisation are — or rather were in 1877, actually in
existence at Molipolele, the capital of Sechele's country, more than a thousand miles
north of Cape Town by road.
VOL. I. B

FORMOSA. [chap.

It was with some such thoughts as these in my mind, that I
found myself gazing one morning in June, 1882, at the southern
point of the island of Formosa, regretting that we had but a few
days to devote to it. Day was just breaking, and our new
acquaintance seemed to wish to show herself under her most'
attractive aspect. A calm sea, brushed into crisp ripples by the
early morning breeze, led the eye up to a wide stretch of bay lying
right ahead of us. Eange after range of thickly- wooded hills, which
in England would have done duty for mountains, rose behind, and,
tinged with the flush of a tropic sunrise, seemed to belie the evil
reputation attaching to this coast. " You must know," says old
Candidius in his " Account of the Island Formosa," * " that these
natives are very wild and barbarous, and that a certain ship call'd
the Golden Lion being driven upon the coast by tempest, they
kill'd the captain and most of his crew." That they did not always
confine themselves merely to the murder of any one unlucky enough
to escape drowning is a well-known fact, and it is probable that,
even at the present day, cannibalism still exists among certain
native tribes. To the west the Chinese have held possession for
two or three centuries or more, but certain death awaited every one
shipwrecked on the eastern and southern shores of the island, for
the head-hunting propensities of some of the Formosans are as keen
as those of any Dyak. It was not, however, until the massacre of
the entire crew of the American ship Rover had occurred that
any steps were taken to mend matters. General Le Gendre, the
United States Consul at Amoy, at length succeeded, in October
1867, in concluding a treaty with Tok-e-tok, the paramount chief
of the tribes of the southern district, by which the latter engaged
to protect any stranger who might land, and to permit of the
erection of a fort as a refuge for shipwrecked mariners. A still
further point was gained in November, 1881, when, after considerable
difficulties, a lighthouse was erected at JSTan-sha, or Wo-lan-pi, the
southern promontory of the island. This part of Formosa may
1 Churchill's "Collection of Voyages and Travels," vol. i. p. 529.

!•] SAMASANA.

now be considered tolerably safe, but for any one in search of
adventure, the east coast still remains open. It is more than
doubtful, however, whether the results of the explorer's experiences
would ever be given to the world.
We ran iii towards the land to reconnoitre the fort to which I
have just alluded, ancl made out the Chinese flag which was hoisted
above it. W6 had, however, no intention of landing, and on rounding
the Nan-sha Cape altered course for the little island of Samasana.
Aided by the' Kurosiwo or Japanese current, which sweeps up the
eastern side of Formosa at the rate of from thirty to forty miles a
day, we passed the coast rapidly, ancl finally dropped anchor about
noon in a bay on the north-west side of the island.
Samasana was visited by Sir Edward Belcher in the Scmmrang
in 1845, and again by H.M.S. Sylvia in 1867, but we could not
discover that any other vessel had been there subsequently. It is
a small island, hardly two miles in length, chiefly composed of
coralline limestone, which at the western point forms curiously-
shaped pinnacles of rock, pierced in places with high arches. We
were soon in communication with the natives, who are partly the
descendants of Chinese from the Amoy province, intermixed, to
judge from the darkness of their skin and other characteristics,
with Formosan aborigines, or possibly with natives of the Meiaco-
sima, or Liu-kiu islands. They had brought off some vegetables in
their clumsy-looking sampans, which they bartered for tobacco and
handkerchiefs, and made signs to us that, if necessary, more could
be obtained. We rowed ashore through a curious httle channel
cut in the coral reef to enable boats to be launched at all states of
the tide, and found that the whole village had turned out en masse
to inspect us. The people were in many respects unlike the
Chinese in appearance, being guiltless of pig-tail, ancl wearing the
hair in a tangled mass behind. The huts were mud-built, and
roofed with the leaves of the Pandanus, which grew in abundance
throughout the island. Tied up to stakes in close proximity to them
were several of the beautiful species of spotted deer peculiar to

FORMOSA. [chap.

Formosa (Cervus pseudaxis). Almost all of these were without one
or other of the fore feet, most probably the result of having been
caught in a trap. They had been brought over to the island as pets,
and were exceedingly tame, but, somewhat to our disappointment,
the natives were unwilling to part with them. In other respects,
however, they were most eager to please us, asking us into their
huts to rest, and presenting us with eggs and vegetables. As,
however, we had more designs on the fauna than the products of
the island, we started at once for the south-east side, hoping to pick
up some birds and insects on our way. The crowd that accom
panied us unluckily frustrated all our hopes, and we arrived at our
destination empty-handed, and somewhat glad of a rest, which the
villagers who had come over with us, in their anxiety to show us off
to their friends, seemed by no means disposed to allow us. The
island appeared to be fairly well cultivated, the chief crops being
rice, Indian corn, and sweet potato, but the wilder parts, abounding
in pretty valleys clothed with thick underwood, we had unfor
tunately no time to explore. From the south-east cape a coral reef
stretches straight but to sea for a distance of two or three miles, on
which a tremendous sea was breaking — the strong south-easterly
wind of the morning having freshened into a gale.
On our return we were for the nonce appointed Inspectors of
Schools for the Eepublic of Samasana. We found the children
collected in one of the usual mud huts, in charge of the first 'true
Chinaman we had as yet seen on the island — an old gentleman of
benevolent aspect, who was evidently much pleased with our visit.
His pupils were learning their letters, but owing to our own ignor
ance of them we were unable to obtain a good deal of information
which would have been most interesting to us. It speaks well
indeed for the character of the islanders that such an institution
should exist in so desolate a spot, where communication with China
can only be of the rarest occurrence.
The wind still holding from the S.E., though somewhat stronger
than we wished, we decided to sail for Formosa, regretting that we

Stcm/ordts, Geog1. 'Etfub* Lan/forts

i.] SUNRISE ON THE EAST COAST. 5
had been unable to devote more time to this ultimate of Ultima
Thules, and wondering for how many years the remembrance of our
visit would remain an epoch in the Samasanan calendar.
When that most prosaic, but useful publication, the " China Sea
Directory" ventures upon superlatives, there is generally some
tolerably good reason for it. " The coast from Chock-e-day to the
northward," it informs us, " is the boldest, and most precipitous that
can be conceived, the mountains rising 7000 feet almost perpen
dicularly from the water's edge." Attracted by this, which may be
safely termed a very respectable height for a sea-cliff, we decided
to explore the coast and see if a tolerable anchorage and landing-
could be obtained, undeterred by the further information that " the
aborigines were nearly naked, and used threatening gestures,
brandishing their long knives and spears" when Commander
Brooker attempted to communicate with them. We set our course
northward at reduced speed during the night, and at dawn the
mountains, shrouded in an impenetrable gloom of heavy clouds,
loomed dimly through the mist on our port hand. We altered
course, and crept in slowly towards them. Slowly the sun rose,
and flushed the highest peak into a crimson glow. Beneath, the
dark pall of clouds still hung, revealing here and there in its rents
a region of still deeper gloom behind, and pouring its masses of
sombre vapour across the face of the mighty cliffs. The sun, as
yet invisible to us, had flecked the dull gray of the sky above us
with scattered lines of pink, and as our little ship heaved lazily to
the long easterly swell we gazed spell-bound across an inky sea at
a sight which, even to the most phlegmatic among us, seemed
beyond expression magnificent. Higher and higher the misty
curtain lifted, now hiding, now disclosing peak and pinnacle and
gorge. Broader and broader grew the line of rosy light, thinner
and brighter the veil of cloud. Day had conquered night, and; at
last, distinct and clear, save where, half way up its face, a thin long
line of snow-white cloud hung motionless, the highest sea precipice
in the known world lay unveiled before our eyes. It was superb.

FORMOSA. [chap.

There are few more stupendous cliffs than those of the Yosemite
Valley in California, and if any one wishes for a sensation of height,
combined with others, to a novice, of a less pleasing nature, he has
only to " Hang half-way down,
As one that gathers samphire — dreadful trade/'
in search of birds' eggs over the grand sea-wall of Hoy in the
Orkneys. I have dropped my pebble over the. edge of the 2000
feet of perpendicularity which the Penha D'aguia in Madeira
opposes to the Atlantic surges, and have admired the glories of the
iron-bound coast of Norway. But all these fade into nothingness
beside the giant precipices of Formosa. Surely the Portuguese
must have sighted the island from the north or south. Had they
made their first acquaintance with the low flat shores of the western
side, the name would never have occurred to them. Had they seen
it first from the east they could not have stopped short of a super
lative. We passed the village of Chock-e-day, or rather its supposed
position, for neither it, nor the river marked in the chart in this
latitude, were to be seen. The' short, sharp gale of the previous
day had dropped before sundown, but had left a somewhat heavy
swell behind it, which caused the Marchesa to roll steadily. We
kept close in to the land, the appearance of which, if anything,
increased in grandeur. The gigantic wall of rock is cleft every few-
miles by huge gorges, which in the rainy season must pour immense
volumes of water into the sea, as is evident from the size of the
boulders in their beds. Now, however, they were dry, or nearly so,
and looked tempting enough, forming as they did a practicable
highway into the interior, which is otherwise well-nigh inaccessible,
owing to the denseness of the vegetation. Off the mouth of one of
these, in a position that noon observations gave us as 24° 14' N.,
we ran closer in-shore, with the intention, if possible, of anchoring,
but, getting no soundings with 100 fathoms, we decided that it
would be better to keep the ship standing off and on rather than to

I.]

GIGANTIC PRECIPICE.

risk a nearer approach
to a country where,
in the event of any
thing occurring, we
were far more likely
to provide food for
others than to obtain
it for ourselves. The
lifeboat was accord
ingly lowered, and
the crew having been
armed with Martinis
and revolvers in case
of need, two of us
proceeded ashore.
The landing was very
successful, in spite of
the heavy surf, but,
that, in
case of an
attack, the
boat would

GORGE AND PRECIPICE (5000 FEET,) EAST COAST OP PORMOSA.

FORMOSA. [chap.

be better lying off a little distance from the shore, she was re
launched, an operation which took some little time, and which
resulted in her becoming more than half filled with water.
The valley was grand in the extreme. The entrance was
guarded by magnificent cliffs, which rose to a height of over five
thousand feet, the lower third being almost perpendicular. Ex
cepting on the sea face, these mountains were clothed from base to
summit with the densest vegetation, of which the rattan and
innumerable ferns formed a conspicuous feature. The river bed,
composed of large, water- worn quartz pebbles, was dry, save for the
presence of a small stream of clear and ice-cold water. It
was barely 500 yards in width, and narrowed rapidly as we
advanced, the mountains rising almost straight up on either side
for some thousands of feet, and effectually precluding any attempt
to penetrate the jungle. Continuing onwards for a couple of miles,
and rounding an abrupt bend in the valley, the river bed widened
out into a sort of circular basin, and a view of unsurpassed magnifi
cence lay before us. At the farther end the river was seen to
debouch by a narrow gorge into the pebbly amphitheatre at our
feet. The mountains had closed in, and towered above it to a yet
greater height than those we had left behind us, ridge crossing
ridge in glorious confusion; a chaotic jumble of Nature on a
Titanic scale, over which the densest tangle of tropic vegetation
ran riot. " A valley terrible
As that dim gulf, where sense and being swoon
When the soul parts ; a giant chasm strewn
With giant rocks — asleep, and vast, and still."
It was hard, indeed, at this juncture, to have to turn back. But,
alas ! the commonest prudence dictated a retreat without loss of
time. For an hour or more the strong breeze blowing up the
valley had warned us that, before long, all communication with the
ship might be cut off, a contingency that we hardly cared to
contemplate, so, reluctantly enough, we set our faces seaward.

i.J ASCENT OF A GORGE. 9
On our return we crossed our old track by the side of the little
stream, and, to our astonishment, came upon the fresh footprint of
a native who had evidently been reconnoitring our movements.
Possibly he had foreseen that there might be some difficulty in
adding the four white heads to his collection ; possibly he was not
unwilling that his friends should share in the amusement. At any
rate he had disappeared, no very difficult matter in the thick
bush around us, and we saw no further trace of any human being,
although, some little distance beyond, we came upon the ruins of an
evidently long-deserted hut. On getting to the beach we found
the surf too high to admit of bringing in the boat, and accordingly
had to swim out to it ; an operation that, with our guns and other
gear, was a somewhat protracted one, though greatly facilitated by
a life-belt and line, which had been brought in case of need. The
wind and sea had increased considerably since the morning, and
our prolonged absence caused no little anxiety to those on board.
The signal guns that had been fired for the recall of the party had
been inaudible, a contingency that had never been suspected, and
it was feared that the delay in our appearance might be due to a
collision with the natives.
From a naturalist's point of view the excursion had been a
failure. One solitary bird only had been seen, and, but for a large
snake1 which had been caught napping among the hot stones in
the bed of the valley, our game bag would have been empty. As
it was, however, it was most uncomfortably full, for the creature
measured nearly nine feet in length and was of very respectable
thickness. Other game there was none to be seen, although spoor
both of deer and wild cat appeared tolerably abundant, and
to judge by the numbers we had seen captive in Samasana, the
former must be in some parts extremely common. We had hoped
to obtain it, and possibly also Swinhoe's deer, another species
peculiar to the island, but the absence of anchorages and the
1 A very handsome species, which I have failed to identify, the under surface
golden yellow, and the back dark, shot with bright opalescent reflections.

10

FORMOSA.

[chap.

exposed nature of the coast rendered a further stay inadvisable,
and we accordingly shaped our course for the port of Keelung at
the northern end of the island, passing Steep Island, singularly
bold and picturesque in outline, on our way.

STEEP ISLAND, FORMOSA.

Keelung is Chinese ; markedly so, indeed, as far as regards the
dirt and odours of the place. That it is beautiful goes, of course,
without saying, for it is on an island which, save for its western
coast, deserves an even more flattering name than that bestowed
upon it by its discoverers. Its beauty is the beauty of a labyrinthine
mingling of sea ancl land, of the light green foliage of the feathery
bamboos, of quaintly situated huts, and of the still quainter
pinnacles and cliffs so characteristic of the limestone formation.
But its enchantment, as is the case in most places where the
Celestial has had anything to do with the landscape, is a loan from
distance, and a nearer acquaintance introduces one to a million
unsavourinesses to which the occidental barbarian is happily a
stranger. Fortunately, however, even the "most ancient and fish
like smell " can in no way affect the utility of a harbour, and the
town owes its prosperity not only to the proximity of the coal-beds,
but also to the fact that the port is one of the very few worthy of
the name throughout the whole island. The two hundred miles of

KEELUNG. 11

cliffs and precipices that face the surges of the North Pacific afford
no shelter whatever , save the solitary bay of Sau-o. The very
difference of the coast on the western side produces the same
result, and the shallow ports of Takau and Taiwan are of but
little use to European shipping. So Tamsui and Keelung to the
north alone remain to dispute the palm, and, although the former
can claim a considerably larger interior trade, Keelung can safely
rely upon her coal-fields for supremacy until electricity shall have
supplanted steam.
We found our Acting Consul the only Englishman in the port,
and, thanks to his kindness, our visit was a most pleasant one.
The country round is charming in its rich green dress of bamboo
groves and paddy, and in the enjoyment of it one momentarily
forgets the far from Arabian odours that have to be encountered
on one's return to the town. Japan in summer is unpleasant :
China more than occasionally oversteps the limit's of one's powers
of endurance. But for breadth ancl expression, for solidity, tone,
and execution, the perfumes of Keelung must rank far above those
of either. Here the Sanitary Inspector existeth not, ancl carbolic is
a thing unknown. No respectable disease can complain of not
having a fair field. By all the laws that modern science has
taught us, by all our researches in micro-organisms, by every sacred
axiom of Medicine, we can confidently predict the certain death of
every inhabitant in the course of the next two or three days,
although, with the habitual caution of a physician, we may admit
the possibility of one or two of the strongest lingering until the end
of the week. But next day everything is as usual, and the fat old
gentleman who constructs the queer little boats that in China do
duty for coffins does not seem to be suffering from any particular
press of business. It is a hard matter to have to rid oneself of long
cherished beliefs, but a prolonged residence in a Chinese city would,
I feel sure, result in shaking the convictions of the fiercest sanitarian,
and in time convert him to the advantages of the union of the main
drain and the King's highway.

12 FORMOSA. [chap.
There is, of course, a waterfall at Keelung. So charming a place
would be incomplete without one, and our visit equally so had we
omitted to see it. So, packing ourselves away with some difficulty
in the Chinese chairs provided for us, and commending ourselves to
Kwan-yin, the Goddess of Mercy, during our passage through the
town, we started on our journey. It was a Dragon Feast, and the
streets were crowded with people. In the notion that enjoynient
and noise are inseparably connected, the Chinese do not differ from
other more western nations, and the processions carrying the
emblems were surrounded by a yelhng, tom-tom-beating mass of
humanity. In the harbour below us, boat processions of a similar
nature were taking place. We struggled on through the narrow
streets, past pigs wallowing in pink mud, past half-naked men
devouring the unknown horrors of a Chinese dinner, past pools of
filth and garbage indescribable, till on the' outskirts of the town
we were once more able to breathe freely. The heat was intense,
and the cramped position necessitated by the native chairs rendered
it so oppressive that we were only too glad to get out and pick our
way on foot along the narrow paths between the rice-fields. Our
way led up a little valley, the sides of which were luxuriantly
clothed with bamboo. There are said to be no less than thirteen
varieties of this plant in Formosa, and it is certainly one of the
leading characteristics of the scenery at the northern part of the
island. In no other part of the world have I seen the plumy
foliage of so bright a green, or the sprays so light and feathery.
Here it was of no great size, but on the western coast it is said to
attain a height of nearly a hundred feet. We were not sorry to find
ourselves at our journey's end, and, buried in masses of fern and
moss, to lie and watch the little stream plunging into the cool, dark
basin below. The island has, doubtless, many a mighty fall as yet
unviewed by European eyes, deep in the heart of those magnificent
mountains that have for so long remained a sealed book to us.
But at that moment we would not have exchanged them for the
quiet little cascade tinkling at our feet, and the feeling of placid

i.] FORMOSAN COAL. 13
enjoyment, unknown to those to whom the lands of coral and of
coconut are a dead letter, was broken only by the thoughts of our
return, and a dim vision of the horrors of Keelung.
We returned to the realities of life on getting aboard, for we
discovered that the operation of coaling, which we had hoped to
avoid, was only half completed. The Formosan coal, which was
first discovered in 1847, is supposed to underlie a considerable
portion of the island, though as yet very little has been done to
determine the extent of the beds. The Keelung district is the
only locality where it is at present worked, and at no great distance
from the town there are surface outcrops at several points. It is
of a bituminous nature, and the quality, though good for domestic
and such-like purposes is not very suitable for shipping, as it
burns too rapidly and produces much smoke, while a still further
objection lies in its liability to cake the furnaces. The Chinese
for a long time worked the mines in the most primitive fashion,
and many shafts were abandoned, owing to their having become
flooded. But in 1876 English miners were imported, and at the
present time there are several engaged in the superintendence
of the collieries, and the output has been steadily increasing.
Thus the export, which in 1871 amounted to 18,671 tons only,
had risen in 1881 to 46,178 tons, and it has been estimated that
as much as 500 tons per diem could be turned out without much
difficulty. We had contemplated going overland to Tamsui if possible,
sending the yacht round to meet us at that port, and we were
pleased to find that the journey was feasible. Starting at 4 a.m.
on the morning of the 25th June we passed through the town, and
ascending the hills behind it, reached a bare ridge which com
manded a magnificent view of the harbour and islands below us.
Dawn was giving place to daybreak, and the eastern sky and sea
were flooded with streaks of blue and rosy light. The lake-like
calm of the harbour was only broken here and there where a faint
hne of rippling on its mirror-like surface showed the track of some

14 FORMOSA. [chap.
lazily-moving junk. A faint blue mist hung over the town, and
away seawards the sharp pinnacles at the harbour's entrance stood
out ink-black against the burnished surface of the water. We
watched the scene as long as we dared, for our time was limited,
and then once more continued the ascent. Before long we reached
the ridge which forms the boundary of the amphitheatre of
Keelung, and for the first time we were enabled to get a view of
the country inland. A succession of hills of peculiar formation lay
before us, sloping gradually to the eastward, but with their western
sides almost perpendicular. They bore a singular resemblance to
lines of waves breaking on a lee shore. Behind, the dark blue
masses of the Mount Sylvia range, 12,000 feet in height, were
visible in the distance, and appeared everywhere to be clothed in
thick vegetation. Our path led us down through a httle valley
deep in azaleas and ferns, ancl after another mile or two we came
upon a small creek, in which we found two boats awaiting us, for
our land journey ended here, and the rest of the distance was to be
performed by river. For this we were not sorry, as the large flat-
bottomed sampans of light draught, which are specially built for
passing the shallow rapids with which the river abounds, are very
comfortable, and a great improvement on the native chairs which
we had just left. We soon got clear of the creek ancl into the
main stream, which is here, without any apparent reason, called
the Keelung Eiver. At first shallow, and beset with numerous
rapids, it afforded us a certain amount of excitement of a mild
kind which passed off as we got farther clown stream. A large
amount of traffic appears to be carried on here, the river being
crowded with boats of all sizes, many of them deeply laden with
produce of various kinds. The river wound round the bases of
picturesque hills, covered, as usual, with bamboo, but cleared ancl
under cultivation in many places. The soil, it appears, is especially
suitable for some kinds of tea, and lately some has been grown
which has brought as much as a dollar per pound in the Chinese
markets. j^That usually produced is, however, of a much inferior

i. J ZOOLOGY OF THE ISLAND. 15
quahty, but a considerable quantity is annually exported, the
amount increasing from year to year. In 1881 ninety-six thousand
piculs of 133 pounds passed through the Customs.
Birds appeared to be numerous in the jungle by the river side,
the black Drongo-shrike (Chaptia irauniana) especially so, while
the clear note of a Barbet (Megalesma nuchalis) was audible in all
directions. Both these birds are peculiar to Formosa. They have
no representatives on the mainland of China, and their closest
allies are to be found in North India and Sumatra. A closer study
of the Formosan avifauna shows that this tendency to Indian and
Malayan, rather than to Chinese forms is most striking. The
island boasts of no less than forty-three species peculiar to it — an
enormous number when we consider the fact that the Chinese coast
is barely sixty miles distant — and, of these, twenty are representa
tives of regions other than the adjacent mainland. The same
tendency is noticeable, perhaps to an even greater degree, among the
mammals. The above facts, our knowledge of which is almost entirely clue
to the late Mr. Swinhoe, teach us firstly that, as Mr. Wallace has
shown,1 Formosa should be classed among the recent continental
islands, ancl also that, at the time of its connection with the
mainland the ancestors of the Formosan, Indian, and Malayan
forms were equally dispersed throughout the intervening and at
that time undivided continent. After the separation of Formosa
and the Malayan islands the altered geological and clhnatological
conditions were such as to cause the disappearance of many forms
of animal hfe except in localities where the required conditions,
such as dense forests or high mountain ranges, still remained. The
immense number of peculiar species, however, tend to show that
Formosa must have become detached from the mainland at some
tolerably remote period, for we know, from a consideration of our
own, as well as of other islands, that the process of formation of a
species is one of a by no means rapid character.
1 " Island Life" A. R. Wallace, p. 371.

16

FORMOSA.

[chap.

We paddled lazily down stream, glad to be protected from the
sun by the large arched bamboo awning of the boat, and landed
in the afternoon at Chui-teng-ka, a large Chinese town built along
the river side, and surrounded by trees and quaintly-shaped low
hills, which gave it a decidedly picturesque appearance. Here we

ON THE KEELUNG RIVER.

found a rather mteresting temple; the gateway of which was
formed by two large monolithic stone pillars fifteen feet in height,
and admirably carved. On the right hand was represented a dragon
in very high relief, ascending the pillar with a round fruit or ball in
his mouth, while, on the other side, the animal was descending, with
the same object in his claw. Both execution and design were ex
ceedingly good, and must have cost a considerable amount of labour,
fully two-thirds of the stone having been cut away in the carving.
The town was tolerably clean, or at any rate appeared so after

i.] CHUI-TENG-KA. 17
'Keelung, which Mr. Taintor1 has stigmatised as " the filthiest town
in the universe," and we wandered about it attended by a small
crowd to whom European manners and customs were doubtless a
novelty. However well one may know China, there is always
abundant matter for interest in the thousand and one objects and
incidents of daily life that are to be met with in its great towns.
Here is a stall surrounded by little children, who are hardly tall
enough to place their money upon it. Yet they are not buying
but gambling for the sweet-stuff that is to be had from the blear-
eyed old rascal that attends it. That small boy who has just lost,
and thereby escaped the almost certain pains and penalties that the
ingestion of the horrible-looking concoction on which he had set his
heart would have caused him, goes away muttering words of which
I am sure that his papa ought to be informed. He is young yet.
In a year or two, should we remain in Chui-teng-ka, — which may
Heaven forbid, — we should find him gambling still, but with a face
as well-bred and impassive as that of the oldest hand round the
board of green cloth at Monte Carlo. Farther on we come upon a
hat shop, where the enormously broad, conical head-coverings that
they affect in Formosa are being made. How deftly the half-naked,
greasy operator plaits the leaves of which they are constructed !
They are truly Malayan, these hats ; of a genus that is found from
Malacca eastwards to Ceram, through sweltering Borneo and Celebes,
and the smiling Moluccas. Time and locality, just as in the case
of the animal kingdom, have altered them somewhat in shape and
material — have differentiated them into a new species, as a naturalist
would put it, but the article itself is just as certainly of Malay
origin as are many of the so-called aboriginal tribes of the island.
Below the town the river widens. Bice-fields appear, and the
scenery becomes tamer, though the graceful tree-ferns and arrowy
betel-palms redeem it from absolute dulness. Smooth, stolid
Chinamen sat fishing by the river side, some wielding a rod of
1 "Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society." New series.
No. IX. "The Aborigines of Northern Formosa," by E. C. Taintor, M.A., F.R.G.S.
VOL. I. C

FORMOSA.

[chap.

bamboo, some guarding a square frame net much like that used
in England for catching sprats and other small fish. While
passing one of these, the phlegmatic owner became suddenly
galvanised into what, in a Celestial, might almost be termed a
state of excitement. He had caught a fish; but it was no sprat.
Whether he ever landed it or not I cannot say, but its splashing

^,j"te^

OUR SKIPPER.

was distinctly audible full half a mile away, and, if success
attended his efforts, the fisherman must have provided himself and
his family with dinner for a good week or more. A mile or two more
brought us to the junction with the already united To-ka-ham and
San-quai rivers, two large streams which convey all the produce
of the interior to Tamsui. Some five miles up stream is the large
town of Bang-ka or Meng-ka, a place of considerable trade, where

i.] TAMSUI. 19
^wo or three representatives of English firms reside. In the
neighbourhood, rice, sugar, indigo, and tea are grown, and camphor
is obtained from those districts where the virgin forest has not as
yet given place to cultivation. The export of the last-named
article has of late years been decreasing, possibly owing to the
amount of risk which attends its acquisition. The savages are
ever on the alert near the edge of the jungle. A Chinaman's head
is to them a sort of patent of nobility, for without one they are
excluded from the council of their tribe. Poor Johnny collects his
camphor in fear and trembling, ancl never knows but that the
setting sun may find his pigtail dangling at the knife-sheath of an
exultant savage, who is busying himself at the fire hard by in the
cooking and proper preparation of his cranium.
Tamsui is an uninteresting port, in spite of the spur of the
high northern range of Formosa which rises above it to the height
of a couple of thousand feet or more. We were relieved to find
that the Marchesa was safely at anchor in the harbour, for we had
been somewhat anxious as to the possibility of her entrance. The
bar is a very shallow one, having only eight feet of water at low tide.
At high water, however, a further rise of a little over seven feet had
just enabled her to cross it, though she could not have had more than
three or four inches to spare beneath her keel. The great draught of
the Marchesa was, in the following year, a constant source of anxiety
to us in the navigation of the little known waters of New Guinea
and the Malay Archipelago, for which a vessel of the type of an
ordinary coasting steamer would have been far better suited.
The old Spanish fort, built nearly three centuries ago, is a
conspicuous object, perched half-way up a hill on the eastern side
of the harbour. It is now turned into our Consul's office. The
red brick walls are of prodigious thickness, and, entrenched behind
'them, one could defy the grilling heat to better purpose than, in
days gone by, the Hollanders had resisted the attacks of that fine
old freebooter Koksinga, the Chinese pirate, who eventually swept
them off the island. Pleasant enough it was , to rest here, lazily

20 FORMOSA. [chap.
enjoying a cheroot, and to hear of old friends of undergraduate
days, from whom a wanderer's life had separated us for many
years ; pleasanter still to think that there was a chance of meeting
them again before long in China. But our time was limited, and
a strong sense of duty being implanted in some of us, we were
duly escorted to the sights of Tamsui. The most interesting was
the consular prison. The two rooms, of the same date as the old
fort, looked charmingly cool and quiet, and one wondered at their
being unoccupied. When one learnt further that the far niente was
the only occupation, and that tobacco was not forbidden, one felt in
deed that the morality of the place must be something superhuman.
It was a pity to spoil the thought by a further reflection that there
were barely twenty Europeans from whom to select a tenant.
We had enjoyed our visit to Formosa even more than we had
expected, ancl our regret at our departure was not lessened at
having to leave behind us one of our crew, who had been seriously
ill for some time. It must, doubtless, have seemed hard for him to
be left practically alone in such a far-off land. But we had no
alternative, as the voyage might very probably have proved fatal
to him. Happily, the result was a favourable one, for, some
months afterwards, on our return from Kamschatka, we heard of
his recovery and safe arrival in England.
In these latter days of bad trade and land-grabbing, the eyes of
Europe have been turned with ever-increasing interest to the far
East. Eussia has acquired Saghalien and its coal-fields. Japan,
anxious for the well-being of the Liu-kiu Islands, has invited the
King to Tokio, and replaced him by a Governor of their own. The
English, regardless of malaria and a poor soil, have established them
selves in northern Borneo. But it is in Formosa, " the eye of the
Empire of China," that the interest has of late been centred; and
there are few of us who did not watch with curiosity for the
denotement of the Franco-Chinese comedy, where the one country,
at peace with the other, was nevertheless bombarding its towns
and blockading its ports. For the time the danger seems to have

I.] GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. 21
passed, as it did in 1874, when the Japanese invaded the island.
But how long the unoccupied portion of Formosa will remain so is
another question, and, bearing in mind the great resources and
important position of the island, its leading characteristics are
worthy of a moment's consideration.
The island of Formosa, one-third only of which lies within the
tropic, is some two hundred and ten miles in length, and about
seventy in breadth. It is separated from the mainland of China by
the Formosa Strait, which is barely seventy miles in width opposite
Foochow, but nearly two hundred at the southern entrance. This
channel is, however, somewhat narrowed by the Pescadores Islands,
a group lying about twenty miles westward of Formosa, and pos
sessed of good harbours. The soundings in this channel show the
island to be connected with the mainland by a submarine bank
submerged to a depth of from twenty to forty fathoms only. The
eastern face of the island, however, abuts immediately upon the deep
sea, and soundings of a thousand fathoms or more are found within
a very short distance of its shores. It thus formed the eastern
limit of the vast continent with which, at no very remote geological
period, the islands of Borneo and Sumatra were also united.
Apart from the fertility of its soil, and its supposed richness
in minerals, the geographical position of Formosa is such as to
render it a possession of extreme importance with regard to Eastern
trade. Swatow, Amoy, and Foochow lie actually within the For
mosa Channel, while every vessel bound to and from the northern
Chinese ports and Japan is obhged to pass through it. The total
foreign trade of the latter country is valued at over twelve million
pounds sterling, and of this Great Britain absorbs more than two-
thirds. The foreign trade of China is, of course, considerably greater.
In 1881 it amounted to over forty million pounds, of which nearly
thirty-two million was credited to England and her colonies. The
occupation of Formosa by a nation possessing a fleet of any strength,
would therefore prove a most serious affair for England in the event
of war. The island has often been described as without harbours of

22 FORMOSA. [chap.
any value, but this is hardly correct. It is true that-Tamsui and
Keelung are the best ; that they are both exposed to the violence
of the north-east monsoon ; and that the former is not available for
vessels of a greater draught than sixteen feet. But the extensive
harbour of Ponghou in the Pescadores Islands is complemental to
them, and affords excellent shelter from northerly gales, while the
smaller anchorage of Ma*kung within it is perfectly safe during
typhoons. In both monsoons there are thus good ports available,
while from December to March good anchorage can be obtained off
Tai-wan and other places on the south-west coast.
The orographical characteristics, of Formosa are very peculiar.
The gigantic precipices of the east coast have already been alluded
to. The entire eastern half of the island is composed of lofty
. mountains covered with dense jungle, which, towards the centre of
the island, rise to a height of nearly thirteen thousand feet. At its
northern and southern parts the country is also mountainous. The
western side, however, is extraordinarily low and flat, and runs back
as a vast plain almost to the foot of the central range, which here
rises with extreme abruptness. The results of these peculiarities in
the physical features of the country are most marked. From various
causes the rainfall of the central and northern parts of the island is
excessively heavy. The gradients are so steep that erosion takes
place to a very great extent, while the soil is, for the most part, of ¦
such a nature as to disintegrate with great rapidity. We find,
therefore, that the amount of detritus brought down is enormous,
that the mouths of the rivers are blocked with sand -banks, and
that the land is gaining on the sea to a considerable extent. The
old Dutch fort Zealandia, built on an island in 1630, is now two-
thirds of a mile from the sea, and the city of Tai-wan, under whose
walls vessels could at that time lie at anchor, is now only accessible
to cargo boats by means of a narrow creek. Nature is strivino-
once more to unite the island with the mainland from which it has
so long been separated.
Although there are no active volcanoes in Formosa, there are

i.] CAMPHOR. 23
constant evidences of volcanic agency throughout the island, which
show that it forms a link in the great chain which runs from
Kamschatka southward to the Philippines. Hot springs and
solfaterras are found in the neighbourhood of Tamsui, and, in spite
of the working of the sulphur being forbidden by the Chinese
Government, a large quantity is produced and exported to Hong
kong. Mineral oil has also been discovered, but, as yet, it has not
developed into an article of export. The Chinese are not a mining
people, and the tliree or four million of them that people Formosa
are content to gain their living, for the most part, as cultivators of
the varied vegetable products that the rich soil so readily affords
them. They divide the island pretty equally with the aboriginal
savage tribes, but a mere glance at the physical features of the
country, as exemplified by the map, is sufficient to show broadly
the distribution of the two races. The aborigines, or rather the
natives sprung from Malayan stock (for there is a doubt as to
whether they are not the successors of a race now extinct),
are now confined to the rugged mountain country of the eastern
and southern districts, while the Chinese are limited to the plains
of the western part, and to a small extent of country at the north
of the island. Year by year the latter steadily advance in their
search for camphor, but the advance is slow, and the ground only
gained at the cost of many a Chinaman's head. The trees from
which this drug is obtained are of considerable size, and are only
found in the primeval forests. They are felled for the timber,
which fetches high prices in Hongkong and other Chinese ports,
and is chiefly used in the construction of boxes and chests of
drawers. The smaller wood is broken up and heated in iron
retorts, and the camphor, on subliming, is collected and packed
in barrels, and sent down to the northern seaports for exportation.
In spite of the almost inexhaustible supply that must still exist in
the dense forests of those parts of the island inhabited by the
savage tribes, it is noteworthy that the export has of late years
steadily diminished, and in 1881, 9316 piculs only passed the

24 FORMOSA. [chap.
Customs at Tamsui. But there are other far more important
articles of export than either camphor or tea. Enormous quan
tities of rice are grown in the plain country, and sugar is produced
in abundance in the same district. Jute, indigo, tobacco, grasscloth
fibre, rattans, and rice paper are other products in which a con
siderable trade is carried on. The last named, with which we are all
familiar as the substance used by the Chinese for painting on, is
the pith of Aralia papyrifera, a plant peculiar to Formosa, growing,
wild in many parts of the island. It is pared concentrically by
hand, and the thin sheets produced are moistened and joined at
the edges, and finally pressed and dried, when it is ready for the
Chinese artist to depict upon it the discords in red and green he
so generally affects.
Formosa, without being in the strictest sense of the word a
tropical island, is nevertheless extremely hot, and, although during
the winter months wheat is grown in considerable quantities in
the Tamsui district, and is of better quality than that of the
mainland, the average temperature is high as compared with that
of the same latitude on the coast of China. The rainfall in the
northern and eastern parts of the island is very heavy during the
prevalence of the North-east monsoon. Thus from November to
the end of April, over one hundred inches fall at Tamsui. This
is, without doubt, due to the eastern homologue of the Gulf Stream
— the Kurosiwo or Japanese current. The monsoon blowing over
its heated waters, and coming in contact with the great mountain
ranges in the north and centre of the island at once precipitates
its surcharge of moisture.1 Formosa thus acts as a sort of umbrella
for the eastern coasts of China, and the winter ancl spring are,
consequently, a period of almost uninterrupted sunshine in the
latter region.
During our visit to Formosa, the "typhoon season" had not
fairly set in, and the Marchesa, though destined later to come in
for the full strength of one of those extremely unpleasant natural
1 "China Sea Directory," vol. iii. p. 250.

i. J CLIMATE. 25
phenomena off the coast of Japan, experienced no heavy weather
of any kind. Storms are, however, of no unfrequent occurrence
between June and November, and the typhoons met with in the
neighbourhood of the island are not less severe than those of the
Philippines. And, although no such tidal waves and earthquakes
as have on more than one occasion devastated Manila, have ever
been recorded, Formosa is no stranger to either phenomenon, and
it is probable that, taking these and other climatic eccentricities
into consideration, the visitor, unless he be a naturalist, will sub
scribe to the opinion once expressed before the Geographical Society
by a distinguished traveller, that Formosa, like Ireland, is a very
good country to live out of.

CHAPTER II.
i
THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS.
Uncertainties of navigation — Geographical characteristics of Liu-kiu — Former
visitors — Orthography^ of .Liu-kiu — Napha-kiang — Enormous crowds — Two
American walls— Walled streets — Napha-kiang market — We interview the
Vice-Governor — The Liu-kiuan type — Peculiar method of dressing the hair —
Tattooing — Tombs and burial customs — Altars for burning hair — The inner
harbour — A sunset dance — Dinner habits of the Japanese.
We left Tamsui on the evening of June 26th, having crossed the bar
without accident. Hauling clear of the northern end of Formosa we
sighted Pinnacle Island, a lonely rock peopled with myriads of sea-
fowl, and shaped our course east for the Liu-kiu Archipelago. We
were without a general chart of these' seas, and were accordingly com
pelled to trust to the information afforded by the Sailing Directories.
The result was hardly satisfactory, and, had daylight not befriended
us, might indeed have 'proved somewhat more than unpleasant.
The Hoa-pin-su group of islands lay directly in our course, and on _
sighting them early in the morning we were surprised to find them
much farther off than we had expected. We at first attributed
this to a strong head current, but, on taking an observation, we
discovered that the islands were in reality twenty-three miles
farther, to the east than the position assigned to them. We then
altered course to pass well to the north of Ealeigh Eock, a solitary
island some hours' steaming to the eastward, discovered by a ship
of that name in 1837. It was with considerable astonishment,
therefore, that we sighted it well on the port-bow. Another ob-

chap, ii.] GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 27
servation revealed the fact that, like Hoa-pin-su, its position had
been erroneously given in the " Directory," where it is stated to be
twenty miles farther to the south than it actually is. We dis
covered afterwards that these islands are correctly marked on the
chart, but, in spite of all the virtues of " the lead and a good look
out," we were not sorry to turn in that night with the happy con
sciousness of a clear sea and no dangers.
It was with no little pleasure that we looked forward to our
visit to the Liu-kiu Islands. Captain Basil Hall's well-known
account of them in the " Voyage of the Alceste and Lyra " is so
prepossessing, that every one who has read it must long to make
acquaintance with a people so unsophisticated : a quiet and peace-
loving race to whom traders'-rum, guns, and other implements
of civilisation are practically unknown, and whose natural tendencies
seem to be towards virtue rather than vice. In these latter days
of omniscience, when no land of Arcady, no pays de Cokayne, lure the
traveller to undertake fresh hardships in their search, it is rare
indeed to find any country at all approaching one's notions of a
terrestrial paradise, but Liu-kiu and its inhabitants, as depicted by
Captain Hall in 1816, appear to attain to within an interesting
distance of one's ideal, and we were curious to know how far the
changes of three-quarters of a century had served to destroy the
many charms of the self-styled "nation that observes propriety."
Happily we were not doomed to be disenchanted.
The Liu-kiu group lie some two hundred and fifty miles to the
east-north-east of Formosa, which, in defiance of every political
and geographical reason, was, in the early days of Chinese com
merce, called Little Liu-kiu. Okinawa-sima, which is the largest
island of the archipelago, from its greater commerce and population,
was known as Great Liu-Kiu — a name it has retained to the present
day. The islands extend north and south for about three degrees
of latitude, and lie just north of the tropic, a position that permits
the growth of the crops both of temperate and sub-tropical regions.
They are partially volcanic, and thus form one of the links in the

28 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
great plutonic chain that skirts the eastern shores of Asia, and,
passing southward through the Philippines and Moluccas, joins the
southern ancl yet more remarkable belt which traverses Sumatra,
Java, ancl the islands to the eastward. Although between three
and four hundred miles distant from the mainland, they are
separated from it by a somewhat shallow sea. Immediately to the
east, however, as is the case in Formosa, soundings of great depth
have been obtained, ancl though at present our knowledge of the
fauna and' geology of the country is meagre, there is but little
doubt that at one time connection must have existed with the
mainland of Asia. Lying so far from the beaten track, it is not
surprising that the islands have remained so imperfectly known,
and the disinclination of the inhabitants to permit of the exploration
of their country has proved a still further barrier to our knowledge
of them. The first detailed account of the group in later times is
due to Captain Basil Hall; H.M.S. Alceste and Lyra having
remained at Great Liu-Kiu for a period of about five weeks in the
autumn of 1816. Dr. Macleod of the Alceste also described their
visit in another volume. In 1849, Mr. Halloran paid a short visit
to Napha-kiang, but was apparently not permitted to go beyond
the confines of the town,1 and in the following year the Bishop of
Victoria spent a week on Okinawa-sima, and visited Shiuri, the
capital. It is, however, to Commodore Perry, in his " Narrative of
the Expedition of the American Squadron to the China Seas," that
we owe the most complete and detailed account of the archipelago.
His experience extended over a period of some months, and ended
in July 1854 in a treaty or compact between the two countries, in
which the Liu-kiuans agreed to show every courtesy to ships sailing
under the American flag. Since that time little or nothing appears to
have been written about the islands, with the exception of two papers
published in the " Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan."
Early on the morning of June 28 th we sighted Komisang, the
1 A. L. Halloran. "Eight Months' Journal kept during Visits to Loochoo
Japan, and Pootoo." London, Longman and Co., 1856.

n.] ORTHOGRAPHY OF LIU-KIU. 29
westernmost island of the Liu-kius, and left it to the north, our
destination being Napha-kiang, the chief seaport town on Okinawa-
sima. This island is the only one of real importance in the Archi
pelago, the others being, for the most part, of very small size. It
is sixty miles in length, and from five to ten in breadth, and from
its irregular shape and fancied resemblance to a dragon the name of
Eiu-kiu, or Liu-kiu is, probably erroneously, said to be derived.
Few places, I should imagine, have exercised the orthographist to
a like extent. By quaint old Purchas, who, by the way, speaks of
the inhabitants as being "a well-shapen people, white, politicke,
and of good reason," the name of the island is given as Lequio.
The Spanish traveller Gualle1 talks of them as the Lequeos, and
while to the Japanese, with whom the labials I and r are inter
changeable, they are known as the Eiu-kiu Islands, they have been
variously written of and described by the English as the Liew-
kiews and Lew-chews, and finally, still more phonetically, as the
Loochoos. Kaempfer calls them the Liquejo islands, but if a
mean of these varied spellings be taken, Liu-kiu will nearly
approach the result, and is more correct if, as may justly be con
cluded, the name be of Chinese origin.
During the morning we were passing the numerous islands of
the Kerama group, which, though small, appear to be highly
cultivated, terrace rising above terrace with the utmost regularity.
The islanders are born agriculturalists, and are less dependent on
" the harvest of the sea " than might, from their apparent opportun
ities, be supposed. Napha-kiang is situated on the western coast of
Great Liu-kiu, close to its southern extremity, and the harbour,
owing to its being surrounded to a great extent with reefs, is a
tolerably safe, though somewhat restricted one. The appearance
of the town as seen on approaching is decidedly picturesque. It is
Japanese in character, yet at the same time possessed of such
marked peculiarities that the traveller feels at once that he is in a
new country. To the right a long, low, battlemented wall guards
1 "Hakluyt," vol. iii.

30 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
the entrance to a little river, which affords shelter to the half-dozen
or so of Japanese junks that are busily engaged in discharging
cargo. The town, half buried in trees, with the red roofs of its
houses only visible here and there, seems to have wedged itseK
between the dark green waters of the harbour and the base of the
low hills behind. Northward it is flanked by a square headland of
limestone, which, with its flat top and perpendicular cliffs, rather
resemble some gigantic box than the freak of Nature that it is.
Around it the graves of past generations lie thickly clustered,
dotting the hillsides in every direction. Clumps of bamboos and
bananas surround the isolated cottages scattered over the slopes,
and field after field of mingled green and gold stretch up as far as
the eye can reach to the craggy, pine-crowned heights of Shiuri,
the capital of the island.
We dropped anchor at 2 p.m. Few signs of life were visible
in the town. A group of long-robed natives were promenading the
cliffs, and stopped to regard us with evident curiosity. Before long
it was evident, however, that our arrival had become more generally
known, and crowds of natives flocked to the cliffs, manifesting no
little excitement. A European ship was plainly no everyday
sight to them. We rowed ashore, and landed on an excellently-
built pier in the inner harbour. The crowd had been increasing
every moment, but, though we had been watching it from the ship,
we were hardly prepared for the dense sea of human faces that-
confronted us as we stepped from the boat. There was no disorder
or horseplay, such as would have been the case in England, and
those in our vicinity bowed to us as well as their position would
allow them ; but it was with the utmost difficulty that we were
able to make our way through the dense mass of humanity sur
rounding us. Every one was bent upon getting the best view
possible, and it was somewhat ludicrous to watch the desperate
efforts of those at the edge of the jetty to retain their position on
the few inches of terra firma which were slowly but surely dimin
ishing beneath their feet. Not a single woman was visible, but

n.] NAPHA-KIANG. 31
many children, perched on their fathers' shoulders, regarded us with
solemn infantine wonder, not unmixed with quiet approval of the
sight provided for them. Some years of travel in uncivilised lands
will do much to accustom the wanderer to being stared at, but I
must confess that I had never before had the consciousness of the
peculiarities of European dress and general appearance so forcibly
impressed upon me. As we struggled slowly on, our immediate
neighbours anxiously endeavoured to make room for us, evidently
considering that contact implied a breach of good manners on their
part. Our progress, however, was not rapid, and just as we were
beginning to wonder whether we were ever destined to reach the
town, the crowd parted in front, and a Japanese official appeared.
We were the bearers of letters of introduction from Nagaoka,
formerly Japanese Minister to the United States and to the Court
of Holland, whose cousin was at the time Governor of the Liu-kius.
These we entrusted to our newly-arrived friend, but, being as guilt
less of the Japanese language as he was of our own, we were
obhged to pursue our way in silence. We were led through the
town to the police station, or what apparently corresponded to it,
but owing to the numbers of people who still accompanied us, we
had but httle opportunity of observing our surroundings. The
house, situated in a little compound, the entrance to which was
overhung by a magnificent Mcus with a quaintly gnarled and
twisted trunk, was built in Japanese fashion, entirely of wood.
The rooms were open at the sides, the sliding, paper-covered panels
having been drawn back, but the beautifully clean mats that would
in Japan have covered the floors were replaced by a red and green
carpet that could only have owed its origin to English or German
taste. A table and some chairs still further de-orientalised the
room, but, alas ! the one thing foreign that we most needed — a
European language of some kind — was apparently not forthcoming.
We accordingly drank the Japanese tea provided for us, and
smoked thimblefuls of tobacco out of the tiny pipes used alike in
Liu-kiu and Japan, until something should occur.

32 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
Before long we were considerably astonished at the appearance
on the scene of an individual whom, at first sight, we took to be an
English missionary. Dressed in a long coat of broadcloth reaching
nearly to his heels, and with his nether man encased in a pair of
buckskin breeches, he presented a somewhat extraordinary appear
ance, which was further heightened by a haggard face and a pair of
deep-set, hawk-like eyes. He informed us that he was an American,
and that he had resided at Napha for some months in company
with another "gentleman from the Western States." At a later
period of our visit the Liu-kiu authorities asked us if we could
afford them any information as to the object of their two visitors,
at the same time suggesting that it might possibly be very pleasant
if we could offer them a passage to Japan in the Marchesa. In
our reply we regretted that we were unable to afford them assistance
in either particular. Only three Europeans have, I believe,
previously resided on the islands, and in each case the most rigorous
surveillance was exercised over all their movements. A special
guard invariably attended them, and, though subjected to no insults
or annoyances, little or no liberty was allowed them. A similar
system appeared to have been followed in the case of our American
friends, and, although they had been on the island for so long, they
had never been permitted to go outside the town. The Europeans
one meets with in the holes and corners of the world are, in ninety-
nine cases out of a hundred, either scientific travellers or missionaries.
If they fall under neither of these categories one does not seek to
enquire further, ancl we were quite content in the case of our two
acquaintances to limit ourselves to the acquisition of such informa
tion on the subject of Liu-kiu and the Liu-kiuans as they were
able to afford us. They did not appear, however, to have acquired
much knowledge of the language, and we should have been reduced
to conversation by* signs had it not been for the arrival of an
amusing little Japanese doctor, who was possessed of a vocabulary
of some thirty or forty English words, and nearly as many of French.
From him we learnt that the Governor of the Liu-kius had just

Hi

w I

¦lEHlL-'f OK * " * Vi I

1

n.] STREETS OF NAPHA. 33
gone to Japan, but that his place was filled by the Vice- Governor,
who had received our letter ancl would see us in the course of an
hour. We accordingly resolved to explore the town meanwhile,
and set off in company with our little Japanese friend, whose
presence served to free us from the enormous crowds that had so
interfered with our movements on our first arrival.
The streets have a most peculiar appearance, owing to the
houses being built in little compounds, and separated from the
street and one another by massive walls from eight to fourteen feet
in height. These walls are of great thickness, and slope outwards
at the base in the same manner as those of the old feudal castles of
Japan. They are composed of large blocks of coralline limestone,
and are most beautifully built. For the most part they appear to
be of considerable antiquity, and we did not come acrbss any which
led us to suppose that the islanders continue to build them at the
present day. They were no doubt originally constructed for purposes
of defence, most probably on account of the difficulty of defending
the town as a whole ; and, in the days of the infancy of artillery,
the enemy would have gained but little had they entered the city,
while they would in every direction have been exposed to a cross
fire which must speedily have decimated them. Every man's
house is literally his castle, the entrance to which is through a
narrow and easily-defended door in the high wall. Within, however,
the scene changes, and in a second of time one is transported to
another country. The houses, built entirely of wood, and dark
brown with age, display their interior with the inviting hospitality
so characteristic of Japan. The inmates, ignorant of the chairs and
tables of Western civilisation, recline peacefully on the thick
oblong mats neatly plaited of rice straw, and play at shattering
their nerves with the contents of lilliputian tea-cups and still more
lilliputian pipes. Outside is the familiar garden that all of us,
whether from books or from actual experience, know so well. The
pebbly paths leading to miniature bridges over embryonic lakes,
the little stone lanterns, the quaintly-clipped trees — all are
VOL. I. D

34 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
Japanese ; and, as one makes a rapid passage back to the Liu-kiu
Islands through the gate, not a shadow of doubt remains in one's
mind as to the justice, ethnographically speaking, of their having
fallen under the dominion of the Mikado.
We sauntered slowly about the town under as hot a sun as I
have experienced either within or beyond the tropics, and in the
course of our rambles came suddenly upon the market-place. We
had seen but few women previously, but here we had abundant
opportunities of satisfymg our curiosity, for the whole business of
stall-keeping devolved upon the fair sex. Our appearance at first
created some alarm, and many deserted their posts and took to
flight ; but after a time they became reassured, and we were able to
walk about and inspect their wares without creating a panic. The
scene was a curious and interesting one, but it lacked the busy life
and movement that in other parts of the world are the cliief
features of a market-place. Beneath the shade of some scores of
umbrellas sat, or rather squatted, a like number of women, each
with an oblong box about the size of a small portmanteau in
front of her. The contents we found, to our disappointment, to be
of a very uninteresting character. Common crockery, apparently
imitated from Japanese designs, and not of particularly good shape,
was abundant, the chief articles being cups and small tea-pots.
There were also pipes and pipe-cases, cotton, hair-pins, coarse cloth,
cheap fans, and common lacquer trays and plates ; but these seemed
to comprise the collective stock-in-trade of the whole market, and
with the exception of the hair-pins, to which I shall have to allude
presently, there was nothing whatever to tempt us. Neither was
there any temptation to essay a lesson in Liu-kiuan from the fair
stall-keepers, who were for the most part of a certain age, and
singularly unattractive ; so, on the arrival of a message from the
Vice-Governor, we at once proceeded to his house.
We were received with some ceremony, and accommodated with
chairs. Tea and pipes were then handed, the former of excellent
quality. Japanese tea is at first much despised by Europeans,

n.] JAPANESE TEA. 35
whose palate has been spoilt by the strong black teas of China,
but after a short time the peculiarly dehcate flavour of the former
comes to be much appreciated, and the traveller would not
willingly exchange it for any other beverage he could name. It is
drunk, like coffee in Turkey, at any hour of the day or night, and
nearly as much attention is bestowed on its appearance, bouquet,
and "feeling" as a glass of '47 port receives at the hands of a
connoisseur, or a tumbler of water when tasted by a critical Greek.
Its price varies to an extent unknown in Europe, and while it is
possible for the poorer classes to obtain it for as little as twopence
per pound, the Japanese of high rank will set before his guests a
carefully-selected leaf which has perhaps cost him from eighteen
to twenty shillings, or even more.
Before calling on the Vice-Governor, we had informed Uyeno,
the Japanese doctor, that we particularly wished to visit Shiuri,
the capital ; at the same time explaining our position, and stating
that the tenor of our letters of introduction was to the effect that
every assistance should be afforded us in the event of our desiring
to explore the island. This intelligence was apparently by no
means particularly agreeable to him, and he at once suggested that
we should visit Oonting — a port some forty miles to the northward —
instead. We pointed out that the capital being only a few miles
off, it appeared to us to be more easily accessible from Napha than
Oonting. This was received in silence for some time, but at length
he abruptly exclaimed, " I say, I hope you go to Oonting to-morrow."
We then told him that we did not contemplate doing anything of
the kind, that we had come to Napha with the express purpose of
visiting Shiuri, and that we could not believe that the authorities
would act in opposition to the expressed wishes of the Minister
to the United States. With these remarks the conversation
concluded, and the discussion was deferred until our visit to the
Vice-Governor. Here we exchanged the usual civilities, and
having drunk our tea, we again brought the subject on the tapis.
We were then informed that it was against the law for any

36 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
foreigners to visit the capital ; but, on our representing the fact
that Englishmen had already done so, and delicately hinting that
we had every intention of following their example, permission was
at length rather reluctantly accorded, and we took our departure
with the happy consciousness of having gained a victory which at
one time had seemed more than doubtful.
The same enormous crowd attended us on our way to the jetty
as had greeted us on our arrival; good-humoured and quiet as
before, but bent on seeing the most of us. It was with no little
relief that we rejoined our boat and found ourselves free at last,
and with the prospect of unimpeded movement for the next twelve
hours at least. We had had abundant opportunities of observing
the physical characteristics of the Liu-kiuans. They are a short
race, probably even shorter than the Japanese, but much better
proportioned, being without the long bodies and short legs of
the latter people, and having as a -rule extremely well-developed
chests. The colour of the skin varies of course with the social
position of the individual. Those who work in the fields, clad only
in a waist-cloth, are nearly as dark as a Malay, but the upper classes
are much fairer, and are at the same time devoid of any of the
yellow tint of the Chinaman. To the latter race indeed they
cannot be said to bear any resemblance, and though the type is
much closer to the Japanese, it is nevertheless very distinct. On
first arrival in any country it is extremely difficult to distinguish
tribal peculiarities. Thus, in South Africa, the " new chum " will
be unable to tell a Basuto from a Zulu, or the latter from a Gaeka,
though in the course of a few months he can do so at a glance.
But herejin Liu-kiu, the Japanese and natives were easily recognised
by us from the first, and must therefore be possessed, of very con
siderable differences. The Liu-kiuan has the face less flattened,
the eyes are more deeply set, and the nose more prominent at its
origin. The forehead is high, and the cheek-bones somewhat less
marked than in the Japanese ; the eyebrows are arched and thick,
and the eyelashes long. The expression is gentle and pleasing,

i i

ii.] LIU-KIUANS AND THEIR DRESS. 37
though somewhat sad, and is apparently a true index of their
character. The beard, when permitted to grow, is long and black,
though not what would be termed thick by a European. In the
old men it is often snow-white and of considerable length. The

, ,,; ll;

LIU-KIUAN OF NAPHA-KIANG.
hair upon the cheeks is scanty, and is generally kept shaved, and
the moustache is also thin. A peculiar appearance is produced in
some cases by plaiting the beard, and fixing the end into a sharp
point by means of some adhesive. The mode of dressing the hair
is peculiar, and is the same for every individual, male and female,
rich and poor, throughout the country; although the custom is
not always followed among the lowest classes of field labourers and
others. A small space is shaved on the crown of the head, and the
rest of the hair, which is allowed to grow long, is gathered together

38 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
and twisted or plaited into a knot over the bald spot, which, how
ever, it only partially conceals. It is apparently dressed with some
cosmetic after the custom of the Japanese, and is then transfixed
by two hair-pins — the Jcamasashi and usisashi. The former is about
four inches long, with a depression in the centre of the pin to
prevent its falhng out, and with the head expanded into the repre
sentation of a lotus flower. The other is two or three inches longer,
and in shape exactly resembles a marrow spoon. At ten years of

liu-kiu hair-pins (Kamamshi aud woman's Usisashi).
age the boys are permitted to assume the usisashi, but the Jcamasashi
is not worn until the age of puberty. The metal of which they
are composed varies with the rank of the wearer. The lower
classes have them of brass or pewter, and the literati and higher
officials either of silver or gold, according to their position. No
one, we were informed, would be permitted to wear the pin of a
rank to which he did not belong. The women dress their hair
much in the same way, but the top knot is rather larger, and is
placed slightly to the right side. They use wooden or horn pins,
one of which resembles the usisashi, but is much larger. It is
hexagonal, and is in many cases constructed of alternate pieces of
black and transparent horn, neatly joined by glue. The bowl at
the end is as large as that of a salt-spoon, and must, one would
imagine, be intended for some special use, though what it was I
was unable to discover.
In most countries in which tattooing is practised the men are
generally far more decorated than the women, but in the Liu-kius

II.]

TATTOOING.

39

this is not the case. The men have seldom any ornament of the
kind, but the women have the hands tattooed in the manner
represented in the annexed engraving. The pattern, which is in
blue, and probably produced
by Indian ink, is apparently
similar, or very nearly so, in
all cases ; but the extent of it
appears to vary according to
the age of the individual.
Thus the children have only
the fingers ornamented, and
the whole design as here
represented is not completed
until marriage. On the wrist,
or just above it, is a Maltese
cross — a design which would
seem to have been in vogue
for a considerable period, as

TATTOOED HAND.

it is given in an illustration
in Beechey's " Narrative of a
Voyage to the Pacific" in 1827.
Our time in the islands being limited, we made the most of it
by seeing as much as we could of the town and immediate sur
roundings of Napha-kiang, a dense crowd being invariably in close
attendance during our peregrinations. One of the most striking
features in the environs of the town is the number of tombs that
everywhere meet the eye. They are usually built in the sides of
the hills, ancl are of a horse-shoe shape, not unlike those of the
Chinese. The hills, indeed, seemed set apart as cemeteries, and, in
spite of the high cultivation around, were left untouched by the
hand of the husbandman. The ground is dug away perpendicularly
on the slope in the shape of a semicircle, and in the vertical face
thus formed a small vault is constructed. The perpendicular
sides are built up with masonry, and a low wall erected in front.

40

THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS.

[chap.

This is the main design, but the taste or wealth of the. individual
constructing them will in many cases lead to considerable elabora
tion. We had not the good fortune to see the ceremony of burial
during our visit, but we were told that the corpse was placed
within the vault and left for a period of seven years. The bones
are then collected and placed in urns. In the event of an indi
vidual or family being unable to afford the construction of one of

-'*

sap?

.-,--,

.sage. > 11 mBMm&Sw&aimP&B^

*' 7^ -'V- vf " ''^-- "

Jr—

TOMB HEAR NAPHA.

these somewhat costly edifices, it appears that they join with
others and share the expense. The poorest classes in Napha are
interred in vaults cut in the sea cliffs. After burial it is the
custom, as in China, to place cups of rice-spirit and various dishes
by the side of the deceased. These are afterwards removed and
eatenA A large collection of rock-hewn tombs were discovered in
the middle of the island during the visit of Commodore Perry's
expedition, evidently of great antiquity, and similar to those
found in Egypt and Syria; and from their appearance, and certain

ii.] HAIR-ALTARS. 41
statements made by the natives, it was supposed that they belonged
to a race which had preceded the present inhabitants of the island.
The presence of a presumed emblem of Phallic worship in the
vicinity was thought to confirm the fact, but these objects are
so frequent in Japan that it is scarcely likely to have owed its
existence to any other country. It is, however, by no means
improbable that a prehistoric race did exist, if we judge from the
analogy of other islands in these seas. It is curious that dug-out
canoes should be in use at the present day in Liu-kiu, more
especially as - the materials necessary for their construction cannot
be too plentiful. They are in this part of the world almost purely
characteristic of a Malayan race, and would be more likely to
be the last relics of a bygone people than later introductions to a
much further advanced civilisation. Further exploration, however,
may perhaps set the matter at rest, for the islands are practically
terrce incognitos even at the present day ; and with the sole exception
of the short excursion made by some members of the American
expedition, the interior has as yet remained totally unvisited by
Europeans. During our rambles in the streets of Napha we several times
noticed little stone edifices about four or five feet in height, re
sembling somewhat the shape of the large stone lanterns so common
in Japan. These were full of httle rolls of human hair, — the refuse
combings from Liu-kiuan toilet-tables to all appearances. Our
friend the Japanese doctor, whom I asked about them, did not
know their use, but referred to a native. We were told that the
hair was burnt in them on certain occasions by the priests. In
China there are, I believe, small altars of a somewhat similar
nature, in which all scraps of paper with writing on them are
burnt, lest the name of any deity which may happen to be inscribed
on them should be exposed to the dishonour of being trodden in
the dirt. But what was the meaning of the burnt offerings of hair
we could not discover.
To the curio-hunter the. Liu-kiu Islands are a most unprofitable

42

THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS.

[chap.

ground. There are, practically, no shops, except for the sale' of
ordinary domestic articles and the absolute necessaries of life.
The simple tastes of the people and the little intercourse with
other countries have not favoured the development of art in any
form, and the many beautiful objects
of that kind that are found in
Japan are, it seems, quite unknown
in the islands, in spite of the many
points of similarity in other ways
existing between the two nations.
Articles of common lacquer are
made, but apparently for use rather
than ornament. The so-called Liu-

kiu lacquer — of extreme
hardness and of a beauti
fully deep rich red colour,
— sometimes, though
rarely, to be picked up in
Japan — we were unable to
procure; and its produc
tion is said to be a lost
art. No jewellery is worn,
and the dresses, made for
the most part of cotton
or coarse grass-cloth, have
no special interest. The
stuffs forming the robes
of those of higher rank are no doubt imported either from China
or Japan. Almost the only souvenirs that we brought away with
us were the peculiar silver hair-pins to which I have already
alluded, and a musical instrument much like the samisen of the
Japanese— a species of banjo with three strings, chiefly remarkable
for having the body covered with snake-skin.

liu-kiu Samisen.

ii.] NAPHA-KIANG HARBOUR. 43
The inner harbour of Napha-kiang is as pretty a spot as one
could well imagine, though from a seaman's point of view it is of
little value, owing to the shallowness of the water. The greater
part of it, indeed, is almost dry at low tide ; and as we float lazily
over the surface of the clear, still water, the endless beauties of
coral-land lie revealed beneath us with the prodigality of form and
colouring so characteristic of Nature in warmer climes ; beauties to
which no naturalist, however enthusiastic, no writer however
gifted, has ever yet succeeded in doing justice. Beyond the junk
anchorage a large and thickly-wooded island nearly blocks the
farther recesses of the estuary, the foliage almost tropically
luxuriant in its growth, yet not devoid of a certain quaintness
peculiar to Japan, — that quaintness which, after all, is not much
exaggerated by the stiff and perspective-disregarding picture of the
country. What is it, I wonder, that has made the dress, the customs,
nay, the very character of the Japanese, to assimilate so closely
with the scenery of the land in which they live ? In no other part
of the world does one realise hi the same way the fact that Nature
can, if she so chooses, be most thoroughly artificial. The Japanese
does all in his power to assist her. His leading characteristic is
his love of the grotesque, and he places it unreservedly at her
service, meeting her half way in producing what, if not by any
means always the most beautiful, is certainly the oddest scenery in
the whole world. His eye is for ever on the attainment of some
little effect. He builds a quaint temple here, and erects a Torii
in this or that unexpected spot. His notions on landscape
gardening are, we know, peculiar, but he will even carry them into
his forestry, and leave trees isolated on the sky-line of a hill from
aesthetic rather than agricultural motives. Liu-kiu is Japan just
as the Liu-kiuans are, to all intents and purposes, Japanese, but it
is Japan with its grotesqueness toned down and its stiffness softened
by six degrees of latitude. The inner recesses of the harbour which
I have just described were, indeed, as much like a scene in the
Malay Archipelago as anything else, and the little azure-blue

44 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
kingfisher1 that flitted out from time to time ahead of us was by
no means out of harmony with it, for the bird is cosmopolitan in
its habits, and ranges from Africa to New Guinea, and from Japan
to Timor. It is an Eastern representative of our own kingfisher,
and differs but little from it in plumage.
Passing the wooded islet at the harbour's entrance on our
return, we came upon a curious scene. A party of half a dozen
natives had gathered on the bare summit, and, facing towards the
west, were occupied in some sort of festal or religious ceremonial.
The sun was just setting, but the thick banks of cloud gathered
above our heads portended a heavy storm. Bathed hi a flood of
hard light, a solitary figure stood out against the evening sky,
slowly waving his arms and dancing an adieu to day. Behind
him sat the others with snake-skin guitars, chanting the weird, yet
not unpleasing, discords of some Liu-kiuan song. Presently the
music ceased, and another stepped forward to take the dancer's
place. We floated slowly on, half unconsciously under the
spell of the mournful music and the strangeness of the scene
we were watching, until both had vanished in distance, and the
fast -fading light warned us that we had better return. The
piece was ended and the curtain had fallen, but among many
scenes of travel vividly impressed upon my memory, I can recall
few more so than the Liu-kiuan sunset dance in Napha-kiang
harbour. At our interview with the Vice-Governor upon our arrival, we
had intimated to him, but in Asiatic exuberance of diction, that
we hoped we might have the pleasure of his company at dinner on
board the Marchesa. The answer, couched no doubt in equally
florid verbiage, was to the effect that he had much pleasure in
accepting. At the appointed time, accordingly, we sent the gig to
convey our guests on board. They were three hi number; the
other two being our friend Uyeno, the Japanese doctor, and a
secretary of the Governor. The conversation at first hung fire,
1 Alcedo ieiigalensis, Gm.

n.] A DINNER WITH JAPANESE. 45
but the champagne being evidently very much approved of, it be
came more lively as dinner went on, and before long everything
was progressing merrily. English being our chief medium of com
munication, Uyeno acted as interpreter, and commenced every
sentence with a fluent " I say." What followed, however, was by no
means always so easy of comprehension. Their French, unfortu
nately, was not even of the " scole of Stratford atte bowe," so we
were constrained at times to wander in the thorny paths of sign
language, or to pour libation to fill up awkward pauses. Knives
and forks were evidently almost unknown to our visitors, but they
managed them with really praiseworthy dexterity after closely
watching our movements for a time. Among the many dishes
that must have been new to them was asparagus, and it evidently
puzzled them to guess its origin. Uyeno's first essay at eating it
was not very successful. Looking nonchalantly round, he dis
covered, and doubtless made a mental note of the fact, that this was
apparently one of the few things that Englishmen eat with their
fingers, and, with the habitual good breeding of his race, en
deavoured to follow his host's example. Seizing the vegetable by
its head, he was at first somewhat dismayed to find it come off in
his fingers, but, nothing daunted, he again returned to the charge,
got a firm hold lower down, and commenced operations. There are,
doubtless, many things in the cuisine of our country which are
more interesting than the butt end of a shoot of tinned asparagus,
and he was munching it with a comical air of mingled wonder and
resignation, when one of us, whose gravity was least disturbed by
the proceeding, took compassion upon him, and mildly suggested
that, in general, there was more nutriment to be obtained at the
soft end. His advice was at once adopted, but the sudden change
of expression to one of complete satisfaction and approval was so
irresistibly comic that we were one and all convulsed with sup
pressed laughter.
However much accustomed one may be to the odd incidents of
travel, there is always something about a dinner with Japanese

46 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
which is trying in the extreme to the gravity of the most sober of
Englishmen. I am not referring to the Anglicised individual with
whom the ordinary globe-trotter is brought in contact, whose
manners are as irreproachable as his Lincoln and Bennett, but to
those whose dress is the kimono, and to whom English is an
unknown tongue. Both are equally well-bred; if anything, the
balance is in favour of the one who, as yet, is not overlaid with the
veneer of Western civilisation. But there are customs and customs,
and those of Europe are still very different from those of the
kingdom of the Mikado, in spite of the advance of the vanguard of
Swedish matches and Bass's Pale Ale. The unsophisticated
Japanese delivers liimself of no trite phrase to express his
gratification at the hospitality he has received at your hands. No
" many thanks for the charming evening I have had " (an expres
sion which Mr. Max OEell informs us is de rigueur on all such
occasions in English polite society) ever passes his lips. But he
considers it incumbent on him physically to express his sense of
the excellence of the comestibles placed before him. Is the
champagne undeniable ? — then let it be imbibed with such suckings
and swizzlings as shall manifest his appreciation of the cru. Are
the quenelles de volailh a la matador a success ? — his audible
guzzlings and smackings of the lips should show that he has
recognised the fact. Eating, as well as. reading, maketh a full
man, and repletion and content are synonymous terms in other
languages besides Japanese. " Estando contento no tiene mas que
desear," says Sancho Panza, and the fact is accordingly announced
with the accompaniment of various natural phenomena to which it
is unnecessary to allude, and which are, to say the least of it,
somewhat subversive of European decorum.
Dinner over, we took an unfair advantage of our guests, and
again approached the subject of our visit to the capital of the
island. This time, thanks to the "good familiar creature, well
used," things went smoothly, and it was arranged that we should
start on the morrow if fine. We finished the evening over

il] JAPANESE ADIEUX. 47
photographs and maps ; and after the display on the part of our
visitors of a knowledge of European history which put most of us
to shame, they bade us adieu with bows so low and oft repeated,
that our stiffer English backs suffered considerably in our vain
endeavours to emulate them.

CHAPTER III.
THE liu-kiu islands (continued).
We start for Shiuri — Dress of the natives — Old palace of the Liu-kiu kings —
Entrance -gate of Shiuri — Quaintness of the scenery — The fortress — Its three
lines of fortifications — Ruins of the ancient palace — T'skina^Country - house
and lotus pond — Paucity of bird-life — Return to Napha — Uyeno treats us to
lemonade — A Liu-kiu crowd — "We leave for Japan.
Oue, projected visit to Shiuri had apparently become generally
known, for on landing early on the following mornmg we were
confronted by an enormous crowd. Some thousands of people
must have been present, for the pier and the streets leading to it
were filled with a dense mass of human beings. Our friend Uyeno
was waiting to receive us, attended by some other officials, and
conducted us at once to the Vice-Governor's residence, where we
were supplied with the inevitable tea and pipes until the chairs
which had been ordered for us should be ready. We were shown
some maps of the country, the outlines of which, judging from our
own charts, appeared to be tolerably correct. Our inquiries as to
the natural history of the island led to the production of two books
upon the subject, written in Japanese and profusely illustrated.
The flora may have been represented with a fair amount of success,
but, on turning to the ornithology, we found plates of many
species which it was difficult, if not impossible, to recognise. The
artist had apparently given full play to his imagination, and the
results, although pictorially striking, were not such as greatly to add
to our knowledge of the Liu-kiuan fauna. Shortly afterwards we

iii.] DRESS OF THE LIU-KIUANS. 49
were informed that our chairs had arrived, and on going out we
found them the foreground of a picture which consisted for the
most part of human faces. The opportunity was too good to be
lost, and we took a photograph of the scene before starting. Our
chairs, or rather palanquins, were little, square, bamboo cages barely
three feet in height, with an opening at each side. The head
room was still further reduced by the pole being placed inside,
and for a European, who cannot be " coiled down " with the facility
of a Liu-kiuan, it was a matter of considerable difficulty to get in
without leaving some portion of the body outside. These rather
distressing conveyances were most beautifully made of plaited
bamboo slips, coloured red, black and yellow in various patterns,
and were furnished with little windows of wonderful neatness of
construction. Our bearers were of a size to match the palanquins,
but of sturdy build. They were clothed, or rather unclothed, in
Japanese fashion, most of them wearing a waist-cloth only, though
some were provided with a haori, or whatever the equiva
lent Liu-kiuan name may be, — a short upper garment made of
coarse blue cotton. The dress of the islander of every rank
appears to be nearly identical with that of Japan; almost
every one wearing the kimono — a full-sleeved, loose robe reaching
clown to the feet, and cut V-shaped at the neck. It is folded
across in front so as to bring the opening beneath the arm, and is
confined by a girdle at the waist. To this girdle are attached the
pipe-case and tobacco-pouch, by means of large netsukes or buttons,
made of bone or ivory according to the wealth of the owner, and
often very prettily carved. Like a Japanese, a Liu-kiuan would
as soon think of going out without pipe and tobacco as an
Englishman without his boots. Former writers have described
the people as wearing the JiacJii-machi, a cap of peculiar shape,
with a flat top, but with the back and front formed of overlapping
layers of silk, much as if the head were encased in a" figure-of-
eight " bandage. These caps are of different colours, according to
the rank of the individual, but they appear to be hardly ever
VOL. I. E

50

THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS.

[chap.

worn now, and almost everyone goes bareheaded, the better classes
carrying paper umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun.
The labouring population, and those of inferior rank, are invariably
barefoot, but their superiors wear the chaussure of the Japanese, —

liu-kiuan with haohi-machi.
sandals and white stockings; the latter, if the expression be
permissible, having a thumb for the great toe. The women dress
like the men, but without the girdle, and the kimono is accordingly
fastened in some way at the side.
Our bearers started off at a good pace, which rather taxed the
efforts of the crowd to keep up with them. We soon got clear of the
town, and shortly afterwards crossed one of the rivers flowing into
the harbour. The bridges in Liu-kiu appear to be extremely well
made. They are built of stone, ancl the balustrade is often a some
what elaborate affair. In this case it was of large slabs, pierced
with circular openings, between which were well-executed carvings

<>'drii--.4£

in.] THE ROAD TO SHIURI. 51
of animals, fish, shells, and flowers. Whether the island is subject
to peculiarly heavy rains or not, I do not know, but the piers were
extremely massive. The road exhibited like evidences of labour, for
it was paved the whole distance from Napha to Shiuri with small
blocks of coralline limestone, which, though well enough for booted
Europeans, must, one would have imagmed, be more than trying
to the barefooted natives. Our men, however, made nothing of it,
but trotted along at a pace that would have done credit to the best
hammock-bearers in Madeira. Our palanquins were carried in a
slanting direction along the broad road ; the angle being changed
from time to time, so as to give each shoulder the same amount of
work. It was what in military parlance would have been termed
moving to the front in echelon. By this means we were able to
get an unobstructed view of the country in front of us, and at the
same time to carry on conversation with our neighbour if we felt
inclined. The ground rises but gradually at first, and the road
leads through fields of paddy, passing every now and then some
peasant's hut half hidden in clumps of bamboo and banana. As
we increased the altitude, millet and sweet potato seemed to take
the place of rice, and we noticed with what care the land was
cultivated, and how much time and labour must have been expended
on the elaborate system of terracing in vogue, so that the some
what uncertain supply of water should be used to the utmost
advantage. No hedges break what, but for the presence of small
abrupt hills and clumps of trees, would otherwise be a rather
monotonous landscape, but their place is supplied by the low gray
side-walls of the terraces. We passed several parties of natives on
the road, who looked at us with undisguised astonishment, but
were nevertheless not prevented thereby from bowing profoundly.
Some of them were driving down ponies laden with market produce,
.but in no case were they mounted, although it seems that the upper
classes occasionally ride. These Liu-kiuan ponies are sturdy little
animals, rough-haired, and very diminutive. They have, doubtless,
been imported from the mainland, and like the oxen, and indeed

52 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
the natives also, have proportioned themselves to the size of the
island. The rapid step of our bearers — one hundred and eighty paces
per minute — carried us over the ground well, and in spite of a
broiling sun they seemed but little distressed. About an hour
after leaving Napha we approached a grove of pine-trees of unusual
size, and shortly afterwards halted beneath them, at the gate of
what we were informed was one of the palaces of the Liu-kiu
kings. By the side of the road a stone pillar was standing, green
with the moss of many a bygone year. Its inscription — " Superiors
and inferiors alike must here dismount and rest" — was still
legible, written on the one side in ordinary square Chinese
characters, and on the other in Japanese katakana. Eemote as
Liu-kiu is from the world's turmoil, and jealously as it has been
guarded from the inquisitive eyes of foreigners, it forms no excep
tion to the inevitable rule that nothing is permanent but change.
The pillar has outlasted the use for which it was intended, for the
last king of the Liu-kiuans has ended his reign, and the islands now
form a part of the possessions of the Mikado. In 1879, shortly
after they had come to terms with the Chinese with respect to the
Formosan difficulty, the Japanese, whose power in the Liu-kius had
been gradually increasing, played the last and winning card of the
game by inducing the king to visit Japan. He has never returned,
and a Japanese governor now fills his place. How he passes his time
history does not relate. Perhaps, like Cetchwayo, he is taken from
time to time to see the Zoological Gardens. England, with the
marvellous wisdom that has of late years characterised her foreign
policy, restored the African monarch to his country. Japan,
however, is still young ancl unsophisticated ; and in spite of the
pension presented to him, and the deference paid to his wishes by
the Mikado, I should be much surprised if the Liu-kiu king has not
seen the last of his native land.
Uyeno was at hand to show us the palace. It was built after
the Japanese style, and was devoid of any particular interest but

in.] PALACE OF THE LIU-KIU KINGS. 53
for a large reception-hall hung round with tablets, which our little
friend eyed with great complacency. They were of red lacquer, of
a peculiarly deep, rich colour, emblazoned in gold with the names
of the Liu-kiu kings. They date back for about two hundred years,
but though history records the dates and reigns of the sovereigns of
the islands for many centuries, this present custom appears to have
been of recent adoption. No tablet commemorates the name of
him who has closed the list for ever, and my inquiry as to its
future position was met by a smile of amusement.1
We went out and rested, watching the sturdy little beasts of
burden who had brought us up so well. They smoked and chatted
in groups, and were evidently discussing the distinguished foreigners
whom it was their privilege to carry — a doubtful honour with a
temperature near the nineties, and a hill of no ordinary steepness
before them. It was pleasant enough, however, beneath the shade
of the large pine-trees, which here formed a thick dark grove, re
calling, with its aromatic smell and soft carpet of pine needles the
scenery of more northern latitudes. This tree (? Pinus massoniana),
is one of the most characteristic features of the landscape in Liu-
kiu, and is singularly cedar -like in appearance, with its wide-
spreading horizontal branches. Below us, the waving fields of green
paddy fell away gradually to Napha-kiang, whose red-roofed houses
were here and there visible among the dark foliage. The harbour
lay hke a map beyond, calm under the sweltering heat ; and away
westwards against the horizon rose the dim outlines of the Kerama
Islands. It was, in its quiet unobtrusive beauty, as charming a
view as one could wish to see.
From the little palace — the somewhat gloomy memorial of the
mutability of dynasties — the road leads up with a steep gradient to
1 Li Ting-yuen, the Chinese envoy, sent in 1801 by the Emperor Kiaking to
invest the king with the full sovereignty, recounts how they burnt silvered paper
before these royal tablets. "Each one," he says, "is called shin-chu, deified lord,
and is known by his own name {i.e. they have no posthumous temple name, as is the
custom in China and Japan), except four, who were the most renowned, and are called
by posthumous titles. "

54

THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS.

[chap.

the capital. The scenery becomes more broken; more romantic,
in guide-book phraseology. The country is less highly cultivated,

wMSmL

¦JjO&tffi

ENTRANCE GATE OF SHIURI.

and abrupt Mils and small coppices take the place of the fields of
rice and beans. As we advanced, Shiuri became visible again ; its
fortress, crowned with pines, standing out against the sky-line.

Hi.] SHIURI. 55
Here and there we got glimpses of pretty valleys lying on either
side of our path, but, on approaching Shiuri, walls of heavy masonry
shut out all view except that immediately in front of us. The gate
of the city is more Chinese than Japanese in construction — a sort
of two-storied porch, the gable ends of wMch are slightly upturned,
supported on four enormous wooden pillars, which are strengthened
by piers after the fashion of the heavier torii in front of the Shinto
temples in Japan. The road leads hence straight up to the fort
and palace on the summit of the hill, but our destination being the
guard-house, wMch here, as at Napha, appears to serve also as a
sort of kung-kwa or rest-house, we diverged to the left. Ac
companied by a crowd which threatened before long to reach the
dimensions of the one that witnessed our start, we passed through
a broad street, and disinterring our cramped hmbs from the un
comfortable palanquins, found ourselves before one of the quaintest
scenes imaginable.
Perhaps one of the greatest charms that Japan has for Europeans,
at any rate on first acquaintance, is its unreality. As far as it
affects the natural features of the country, I confess that I think
the attraction fades with wonderful rapidity. I do not mean that
there is no scenery of real beauty in Japan, for every one who has
seen Nikko under the reddening maples, or explored the splendid
gorges of the Tenriu-gawa, must allow that their beauty is hardly
likely to be surpassed in any country. But the ordinary views of
village life, which are to the new-comer so attractive from their
very novelty, eventually become rather more than wearisome. The
scene that lay before us had this Japanese peculiarity of quaintness
and unreahty to a marked degree, but was at the same time so
beautiful that it was a great disappointment to me when I after
wards discovered that, owing to a faulty plate, my photograph of it
had been a complete failure. The house was placed at the edge of
a miniature lake, whose still, black waters were dotted with lotus
plant. The rich green leaves ancl delicate pink flowers were
mirrored on its surface with marvellous clearness, and on the

56 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
opposite bank it was hard to trace the limits of the water, so
merged was the reflection in the reality. Here a hill rose steeply,
a mass of dense vegetation, in which gnarled trunks, masses of
creeper, and feathery fronds of the tree-fern mingled in graceful
confusion. A gap in the foliage revealed the battlements of the
citadel above, weather-worn and gray with age, and over the
grotesquely-shaped stone bridge, whose open balustrading was
richly carved, a crowd of people poured from the busy street
beyond to gaze their fill at the unaccustomed sight we afforded
them. After resting a while we were conducted to the fortress, whither
none of the crowd who had hitherto surrounded us were per
mitted to follow. Our path skirted the lake, and crossing
another picturesquely-carved stone bridge, passed upward through
a shady grove of fine old trees to the fortress gate. On our way
we came upon yet another lotus-pond, its surface almost hidden
by the luxuriance of the plants. Its centre was occupied by a tiny
temple or shrine, accessible by a lilliputian causeway, but from the
rankness of the grass around the latter it did not appear to be
much visited. The gate of the fortress was guarded by two fierce-
looking stone lions and a diminutive Japanese of a most unwarlike
aspect. On entering, we were able to realise to some extent the
vast area that is included within the fortifications. It is extremely
irregular in shape, and it is evident that no settled plan has been
followed in the construction of the defences, which have been
merely adapted to the character of the ground. Eoughly speaking,
however, there appear to be three' distinct lines of fortifications,
with ample space between them for the manoeuvring of any
number of troops. Besides these, there is a perfect labyrinth of
smaller walls, among which it would have been no difficult matter
to lose oneself; while the citadel within the inner line rises here
and there into picturesque towers and battlements delightful to an
artist's eye. The masonry is almost Cyclopean in character, and
the blocks of stone are joined with wonderful accuracy. In this and

'MM.

THE INNER LINE OP FORTIFICATIONS, SHIURI.

Page bl.

in.] ANCIENT CASTLE OF SHIURI. 57
other respects, the work appeared to us to be considerably superior
to that of the Japanese. Some of the walls, for example, are up
wards of sixty feet in height, and of enormous thickness. They
are built in the form of a series of inverted arches, which, doubtless,
helps them greatly in sustaining the tremendous pressure of the
earth behind them. In the present age of large ordnance, these
wonderful defences would, of course, be reduced with the greatest
ease, but, in the old days of bow and arrow and hand-to-hand
fighting, they might justly have been considered impregnable.
Passing the outer gate, the ground dips, and, amid large planta
tions of the stiff- looking C'ycas, a number of what must at one
time have been storehouses are visible in a state of semi-ruin.
The view of the second line of fortifications from here is admirable,
and the path leading directly beneath the huge walls rendered
their height the more impressive to us. As is the case in all the
walls we saw in Liu-kiu, these slope outwards at the base in a
bold curve, which is even more pronounced than in the feudal
castles of Japan. At the foot of these walls, and close to the
second gate, we came upon a spring of water gushing from a cleft
in the solid rock, over which was carved in Chinese characters," This
water is very good ;" — a naive remark that a Chinese envoy on a
visit to the island had caused to be committed to posterity. Other
inscriptions, equally original in character, had been cut on the
rocks close by, all of wliich were the productions of the same
author, who, although perhaps not possessed of the divine afflatus,
appears at any rate to have been much pleased with all he saw.
The gateway through the second lines is of very massive stonework,
as indeed is the case with all. It is spanned by an elliptical arch,
a common feature in Liu-kiuan architecture. Within are the
barracks, or rather what serve as such at the present time, for we
discovered that about two hundred Japanese soldiers were stationed
there. In the large courtyard surrounded by these buildings we
came across a small squad of them drilling. Uyeno was evidently
rather disturbed at this incident, being apparently desirous that

58 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. , [chap.
we should remain in ignorance of the fact that the castle was
now occupied by Japanese troops. At the south end of this
courtyard was the entrance to the ancient palace of the kings of
Liu-kiu — a holy of holies into which, as far as I can discover, no
European had previously penetrated. Captain Basil Hall, Sir
Edward Belcher, and Captain Beechey were all unsuccessful in
their attempts to see the capital; and though the pertinacity
with which Commodore Perry stuck to his claim of returning the
state visit at the Castle of Shiuri was rewarded with success, the
party were apparently not admitted beyond the ante-room of the
palace. Mr. Brunton, who seems to have been the latest visitor to
the islands who has published any account of them,1 found the
inner gates closed ; and the majority of the few remaining visitors
have either never visited the capital, or if so, have not been per
mitted to enter the gates of the fortress. It was, therefore, with no
little interest that we passed between the two huge stone dragons
guarding the entrance, and found ourselves within the sacred
precincts;. A more dismal sight could hardly have been imagined. We
wandered through room after room, through corridors, reception-
halls, women's apartments, through the servant's quarters, through
a perfect labyrinth of buildings, which were in a state of indescrib
able dilapidation. The place could not have been inhabited for
years. Every article of ornament had been removed ; the paintings
on the frieze — a favourite decoration with the Japanese and Liu-
kiuans — had been torn down, or were invisible from dust and age.
A few half-rotten mats lay here and there, but the floors were for
the most part bare, and full of holes, which, combined with the
rottenness of the planks, rendered our exploration a rather perilous
proceeding. In all directions the woodwork had been torn away
for firewood, and an occasional ray of light from above showed that
the roof was in no better condition than the rest of the building.
From these damp and dismal memorials of past Liu-kiuan
1 "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan," vol. iv. 1875-1876.

III.]

THE ROAD TO T'SKINA.

59

greatness it was a relief to emerge on an open terrace on the
summit of one of the great walls, from which we got a splendid
view of the island. Here we discovered a room which was in a
tolerably good state of preservation, and enjoyed our tiffin. We
were joined by the officer of the Japanese troops, who made his
appearance laden with a large water-melon, which, with the
customary grovellings ancl abasements of his country, he deposited
at our feet. He spoke no practicable language, but in these lands
of perpetual thirst, the contents of tumblers accompanied by polite
salutations will do wonders, and before long we were getting on
swimmingly. I had a great desire to get at further particulars
of the state of the island under its new rulers, and tried our new
friend and Uyeno upon the subject, but in vain. The latter, who,
if he chose, could be intelligent enough, suddenly became hopelessly
stupid, and after a few reiterated questions ancl answers a travers,
I gave up the task in despair.
From a turret commanding extensive views of the island, Uyeno
had pointed out a hill some
two or three miles to the south
east as the site of another palace,
and readily acceded to the desire
we expressed to visit it. We
accordingly started without loss
of time, our palanquin-bearers
carrying us at a rapid pace over
broken country with atrociously
bad roads. On our way we
passed through a pretty village,
the houses of which, pleasantly
bowered in bamboo and banana,
were thatched with straw in a
peculiar fashion, the ridge of the
roof being raised into a hump and covered with thickly-plaited
bamboo. Here the women came out fearlessly to look at us, and

LIU-KIUAN GIRL, NAPHA-KIANG.

60 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
we bargained for some of the curious horn and tortoise-shell pins
with which they decorate their hair.
On arriving at our destination, which we learnt was called
T'skina,1 we found a charming house ready for us — the summer resi
dence of the late king. We reposed on the snowy mats, and drank
the excellent tea provided for us. In front, a level lawn and a
border of bright flowers gave a wonderfully home-like aspect to the
scene, the more so from its forming so marked a contrast to the rest
of the garden. The large lotus-pond beyond, like the one we saw in
Shiuri, had a little island-temple in the centre, connected by two
quaint stone bridges with the land. The scene, with its background
of dark pines, lent itself so admirably to photography, that I took
advantage of it, to the great mystification of some of the Liu-kiuans.
Being, however, even more anxious to secure ornithological speci
mens than photographs, I started on a naturalist's ramble, in the
hope that the shady groves of the garden might prove a productive
hunting-ground. Hitherto, wherever we had been, collecting had
been rendered an impossibility by the crowds of people sur
rounding us. But here, in spite of the quiet and retirement of the
spot, I was not more fortunate. Hardly a bird was to be seen,
and I returned empty-handed to the house. In the account of
Commodore Perry's expedition to the islands, the extreme paucity
of bird-life is noticed. From the Liu-kius not being truly oceanic
islands — geological and other evidences tending to show that they
were in all probability at some time or other connected with the
mainland — this would hardly be expected, but it was certainly
borne out by our own experience. The shortness of our visit,
however, and the crowds by which we were constantly surrounded,
prevented any real work in this direction, and the islands still
remain an almost virgin ground for any future explorer, both in
this as well as other branches of natural history.
Close to this summer residence of the king are the ruins of
another castle, which are said to cover a great extent of ground.
1 Probably identical with Commodore Perry's Tima-gusko ; gusJco meaning castle.

¦ I*- HI

LOTUS -LAKE AT T SKINA.

Page CO.

in.] RETURN TO NAPHA. 61
We had, however, no time to visit it, and before long were en
route for Napha-kiang by a cross-country path leading through a
succession of paddy-fields. Entering the outskirts of the town,
we were invited to tea by Uyeno, and conducted to a pretty
little house, the access to which was by a small gateway in the
massive stone wall which appears invariably to line the streets
of Liu-kiu towns. We sat in an open room looking on to the
miniature Japanese garden, which was planted with the dwarfed and
grotesquely- shaped trees beloved by the subjects of the Mikado.
Uyeno's wife presently appeared; a pleasant little body who
received us on her knees, bowing with the extravagant courtesy
of her nation until her forehead touched the ground. These
elaborate compliments over, we discussed our tea ; and Uyeno in
his capacity of physician being doubtless anxious to exhibit his
chemical skill, proceeded to construct a compound of various salts,
which, on being mixed with water, was, we gathered, intended to
represent a species of lemonade. It fell to my lot to be the corpus
vile on wMch the experiment was to be tried, and, with the prospect
of a premature decease looming before me, I raised my glass, and
pledged my host with one desperate gulp. The result, if anything,
exceeded my expectations. The beverage was not a success ;
indeed, words would fail me were I to attempt to describe the
nastiness of the concoction, so, considering I had offered a suf
ficient sacrifice on the altar of politeness, I thought myself justified
in leaving the remainder. By dint of carelessly oversetting the
glass, or of pouring the contents into the garden while admiring
the scenery, the rest of us passed through the ordeal with more or
less success ; but bearing in mind the apparent potency of the
draught, it was thought advisable to take leave of our hosts with
out delay.
The presence of our palanquins outside had revealed our where
abouts to the inhabitants of Napha, and the usual enormous crowd
had collected to wait for our appearance. The excitement on our
return was even greater than that we had caused at our departure,

62 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap.
and as we trotted along, fresh crowds joined us at every street
corner. Our sturdy little bearers put on their best pace, and we
swept along regardless of anything that might lie in our path.
Most of those we met were wise enough to run with the stream,
or to flatten themselves agamst the wall until it had passed, with
the single exception of a grave-looking old gentleman with a baby
in his arms, — of the stuff of which heroes are made. In him duty
was swallowed up in no considerations of caution, and regardless
of the advancing multitude, he calmly awaited our approach, and
executed the profoundest of bows. He never finished it. In an
instant the wave of humanity had overwhelmed him. Taken in
flank by two solemn damsels whose eyes were steadily glued on
the most ornamental of our party, he was capsized in a moment,
and the unhappy baby flew out of his arms with an impetus
which must have caused considerable discomfort in its check.
Both were, however, ahnost instantly rescued, or it might have
gone hard with them; and from my last glimpse at the old
gentleman's unmoved face, it appeared as if he regarded the affair
as one of the common incidents of life. Placidity of disposition
and imperturbable good-humour seem to be the normal condition
of this pleasant little people, and I do not think I saw a cross look
or heard an angry exclamation during the whole of our visit.
We reached the pier without further accident, and were at
length able to get free from the good-natured, though somewhat
tiring multitudes who surrounded us. Little Uyeno and the
secretary waved their fans in adieu; the bystanders executed
such obeisances as their cramped position and the insecurity of
their footing at the edge of the jetty permitted; and in a few
minutes we were once more on board, somewhat fatigued with
our exertions, but pleased with the success of an expedition
which had proved even more amusing and interesting than we
had anticipated.
Next morning we made preparations for our departure. Our
wild-looking American friend, through whose agency we had

III.]

ADIEU TO LIU-KIU.

63

obtained a few tons of charcoal, came off to pay us a visit. We after
wards discovered that he was somewhat better acquainted with the
state of the market than we were. Shortly afterwards Uyeno made
his appearance, bringing a few Liu-kiu
curiosities which he had kindly under
taken to procure for us — snake -skin
samisens, hair-pins, lacquer plates with
open-work bamboo edges, and such hke.
No old red lacquer was to be obtained,
and, more unfortunately still, he had
been unable to get me a copy of the
work on the natural liistory of the
islands which I had seen at the
Governor's house. As a parting present
from liimself he had brought us some
specimens of a large and beautifully
iridescent shell (Avicida macropteron),
which, he told us, was very rare on the
islands, and greatly valued for its beauty. Our healths having
been then duly drunk, we returned with our visitors, and paid a
farewell visit to the Vice-Governor, with whom a mutual exchange
of compliments and presents took place. Among the latter we
received some curious maps of the Liu-kiu and Meiaco archipelagos,
and a Japanese phrase-book in Liu-kiuan.
Late in the afternoon we weighed anchor, and proceeded round
the southern end of the island. We kept off the land with the
intention of examining the supposed position of the Heber reef, but
could see no signs of it. A little later and Okinawa-sima was lost
to view, and the south-west breeze was wafting us rapidly towards
Japan, laden with the mingled memories of ruined castles and the
wavings of innumerable fans.

COCONUT WATER-JAR.

CHAPTER IV.
KAMSCHATKA.
We leave Japan for Kamschatka — Constant fogs — Avatcha Bay — Avatchinska,
Koriatska, and Kozelska volcanoes — Beauty of the scenery — Petropaulovsky
Harbour — The village and its inhabitants — Dr. Dybowski — Monuments to
Bering, Clerke, and De la Perouse — Defeat of the Allied Forces in 1854 — Graves
of the English and French — Sledge dogs — We make arrangements for ourjourney
through the country — Village and hot springs of Kluchi.
A favouring wind and current bore us rapidly from the Liu-kiu
Islands towards the Land of the Mikado. Past the Linschotens ;
past the wild and rugged coast of the southern part of Nipon ; past
Simoda Harbour, where in the terrible earthquake of 1854 the
Eussian frigate Diana was lost ; and lo ! almost before we have
finished home letters, and written diaries up to date, the sharp
rattle of the cable sends a convulsive shudder through our httle
ship, ancl we are at anchor in Yokohama Bay.
Japan ! What a flood of recollections pour into the mind at the
mere mention of the word ! A pot-pourri of quaint castles and still
quainter streets, of jinrickshas ancl gloomy groves of cryptomerias,
of stately Torii and squalid huts, of " curios," lotus ponds, ancl
scarlet maple. Once more one is drinking tea round the Jiibachi,
or carrying on a flirtation under linguistic difficulties with some
bright-eyed, tittering mousmi: once more one is fighting le°ions
of fleas ancl an equal number of odours in some noisy tea-house.
And above all, ever present to our mental vision, and pre-eminently
the cosa di Giappone, Fuji, the sacred mountain, rears his snowy

chap, iv.] KAMSCHATKA. 65
cone, unchanged amid the waves of innovation that lap his
feet. N
Those of us as yet " griffins " were anxious to make acquaintance
with the country, and those of us who were no longer such were
equally ready to renew it. Few countries in the world are so taking
at first 'sight as Japan. The absolute novelty of ahnost every
surrounding object, and of every custom, is so striking that it cannot
fail to arouse the interest of even the most blase' of travellers. Most
countries have many points in common with neighbouring or othei
lands. If you know your Constantinople, even Persia will scarcely
seem strange ; if you are at home in India, you are not absolutely
unfamiliar with many characteristics of Malaysia and its inhabit
ants. But Japan is Japan, and not the most intimate acquaintance
with any other part of the globe will enable you to form any
accurate realisation of it.
I will not weary my readers by adding to the already super
abundant list of sketches of Japanese life and travel. If such a
thing were possible, the country has been described ad nauseam
already, and holds but few secrets for us to disinter. In the pages
of Sir Edward Eeed's book those who are unappalled by names of
almost impossible pronunciation may learn considerably more of
the history of the Land of the Eising Sun than they are likely ever
to remember, and in Mitford's " Tales of Old Japan " the reader is
brought back to a now bygone era with life-like vividness. But for
scenes of everyday life, for photographs of the character and
characteristics of this wonderful little people, few writers have
equalled Miss Bird ; and her book must always remain as a faithful
picture both for the amusement and instruction of future travellers.1
1 I cannot let this opportunity pass of recording the many obligations we owed,
and the numberless kindnesses we received at the hands of the late Sir Harry Parkes.
His generous hospitality, the help he was always ready to afford us, the keen interest
that he took in our cruise to Kamschatka — all these are deeply impressed on our
memories. " His death is a national misfortune," ran the telegram which announced
it. But all those who knew him, however slightly, must have felt his loss as that of
a personal friend.
VOL. I. F

66 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
On the afternoon of August 4th, we weighed and left the port
of Hakodadi in Yezo, northward -bound for Kamschatka. We
dipped our farewells to old friends of H.M.S. CJiampion and ZepJiyr,
and steamed out against a fresh easterly breeze. As we proceeded
the wind increased, ancl the weather became so thick that we
resolved on running in under the lee of Cape Siwokubi, and anchoring
for the night. Next morning it was clear, though still blowing
strong from E.S.E. ; but as we were anxious to lose no time, we put
the ship under fore and aft canvas, and beat under steam and sail
past Cape Yerimo, the southern point of Yezo, into the open sea.
The Kurosiwo or Japanese current — the Pacific homologue of the
Gulf Stream — widening as it passes the eastern coast of Japan,
runs northward as far as Kamschatka, and it is to its warmth that
the comparative freedom from ice of that coast is supposed to be due.
Between it and the Kurile Islands is a narrow counter -current
of cold water, running to the S.W. With the intention of
avoiding the latter, and obtaining what advantages we could from
the Kurosiwo, we resolved on shaping our course so as to keep at
a uniform distance of about a hundred and fifty miles to the east
ward of the Kuriles, where the current is supposed to be strongest.
The result, however, was a failure. For the first two days we
experienced a north-easterly set, but we had no sooner got fairly
out into the presumed middle of the Kurosiwo than we encountered
a southerly current. At the same time we entered the region of
fog, which, during the summer, is an almost constant phenomenon
of the northern part of the North Pacific. This fog apparently
formed a stratum of no great depth, for, although thick enough all
round us, it was often sufficiently clear overhead to enable us to get
a glimpse of the sky, ancl although morning sights were impossible,
we were always able to get a meridian or ex-meridian observation
for our latitude.
Navigation in these lonely and misty seas presents but few
points of interest even to the sailor, and it was accordingly with no
little pleasure that, on the morning of the 13th of August, we

MAP OF
KAMSCHATKA.
from, the Admirably Chart,
with ouddJiifjn>s by iK&AuDior.
Auihors route uvJted.
Scule of Nautical Miles
o 10 10 ao vx fio eo 70 bo

158JLong.Eaatofl5&°Grc<.-nwidJeO°

Standards' Geog^&igMZandon

iv.] THE SOUTH-EAST COAST. 67
emerged from the fog much as a train runs out of a tunnel,
and found that Kamschatka was in sight. The sharp peak of the
Vilutehinska volcano enabled us to make out our position, and we
steered north for Avatcha Bay. It was a magnificent morning,
ancl as the yacht rolled heavily over a dark blue sea, on whose
surface the waves broke in patches of snowy whiteness, now
plunging her bows deep' into the water with all the sense of pure
physical enjoyment of a living creature, now shaking herself free
and pouring the seas hi bright streams from her scuppers, she
formed a picture which might have aroused the admiration of even
the most apathetic of landsmen, and one which was provided with
a fitting background. Earely have I seen a wilder-looking coast
than that of south-eastern Kamschatka. The brilliant sunsMne
wMch poured upon rock and headland redeemed it from gloom,
but the wildness and desolation of the scene was indescribable.
Precipitous cliffs, at the foot of which none but a bird could land ;
deep valleys running down to the sea at whose mouths still lay the
accumulated masses of last winter's snows ; pinnacle rocks like rows
of iron teeth shown' to warn off any one rash enough to contemplate
a landing, — this was what met our gaze as we anxiously scanned
the coast with our glasses. Beyond, the land rose in abrupt humps
and irregular masses, and appeared to be clothed with a uniform
growth of low, but dense underwood, above which the distant
cones of snow stood out clear and hard against the sky. It was an
impracticable-looking country enough, but we had visited it with
the firm intention of going through it, and experience in other lands
having taught us how often difficulties disappear upon a closer
acquaintance, we did not allow ourselves to feel discouraged. An
hour or two later we arrived at the narrow entrance of Avatcha
Bay, and shaped our course over a smooth sea for the little harbour
of Petropaulovsky. Avatcha Bay is one of the finest harbours in the world, if not
actually the finest. Eio and Sydney have no mean claims for this
position of honour, but those of us who had seen both were

68 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
unanimous in awarding the palm to their Kamschatkan rival. A
nearly circular basin of some nine miles in diameter, and with a
narrow entrance opening to the S.S.E., it is roomy enough to
accommodate the navies of the world. It is entirely free from
dangers, has an even depth of ten or twelve fathoms, and owing to
its affording excellent holding ground and being well protected
from all winds, it is perfectly safe in all weathers. But the
ordinary traveller will be struck not so much with its nautical
excellencies, as with the superb scenery with which it is surrounded.
To the south rises the Vilutehinska volcano, now quiescent, a
graceful cone of about 7000 feet ; and a httle farther eastwards a
huge flat-topped mass, exceeding it in height by a thousand feet or
more, obtrudes itself as a rare exception to the rule of cone-shaped
mountains which seems to obtain throughout the country. It is
nameless in the charts, for we are in the land of volcanoes, and it
is only 8000 feet in height ! On either hand on entering are the
two secondary harbours Eakova and Tareinska — the latter nearly
five miles in length — and within them again are others on a still
smaller scale. Nature here at least has treated the mariner right
royally. The iron-bound coast without may be as bad a lee shore
as any skipper need wish to see, and the Pacific Ocean may too
often belie its name, but here he can rest quietly, and sleep sur les
deux oreilles until such time as he weighs anchor for the homeward
voyage. But if the southern part of the bay is fine, it is difficult to find
words to describe the beauty of its upper portion. We look north,
and the scenery on wMch we have just turned our backs is for
gotten, for there, shoulder to shoulder, their vast fields of snow
glittering in the sun, stand a trio of volcanoes such as one rarely
sees. From the summit of AvatcMnska, the centre peak, a delicate
streamer of white vapour floats out horizontally, sharply defined
against the blue of the clear northern sky. So closely do these
mountains seem to hedge in the bay, that it is hard to realise the
fact that they are twenty miles distant. But in Kamschatka the

»

m

iv.] THE VOLCANOES OF AVATCHA BAY. 69
scenery is on a large scale, and a reference to the chart explains the
matter in five figures.1
Mr. Frederick Whymper, in his " Travel and Adventure in the
Territory of Alaska," has given an excellent illustration of this
group of mountains. Koriatska, to the north and west, stands
alone. Avatchinska and Kozelska are somewhat less lofty, the
former being close upon nine thousand feet ; while the latter is,
according to different observers, either 5328 or 9054 feet 2 in height.
Such a discrepancy can only be accounted for by the supposition
that Avatchinska should be credited with the latter figures.
During Mr. Whymper's visit in 1865, Koriatska alone emitted
smoke, the others being apparently extinct ; but in the month of
June, ten years previously, Mr. Tronson found Kozelska in action,
sending forth dense volumes of smoke, and covering the surface of
the water with ashes.3 Since then there do not appear to have been
any eruptions, and in spite of the white pennant floating at the
peak, the grand old mountain looks calm and peaceful enough,
guarding the lonely stretches of forest and tundra at its base.
It is only with an effort that one withdraws one's gaze from the
exquisite beauty of mountains such as these. What is it that
influences us so deeply in the sight of those eternal snows ? In
what lies that wondrous charm that we experience only in the
regions of the north ? After many years of travel I think that
there is one scene which has, perhaps, remained more vividly
stamped upon my memory than any other — a placid river in
northern Lapland, down whose stream I floated, drinking in the
perfect beauties of the changing autumn. Amid all the mass of
scarlet and gold that hung above the mirror-like surface of the
water not a single leaf was stirring, — not a sound was to be heard.
1 The height of Koriatska is 11,554 feet.
2 Tronson, — "Voyage of the Barracouta," p. 109.
3 From the fact that Mr. Tronson appeared to consider Avatchinska and Koriatska
as one and the same mountain, and gave an erroneous height for Kozelska, it seems
far more probable that it was the first-named volcano that was really in eruption at
the time of his visit.

70

KAMSCHATKA.

[chap.

Before us lay the peaks of dazzling snow, and it seemed as though
all Nature were hushed and worshipping at that throne of spotless
purity. Eest and purity then— the unattainable, in other words — in
these lie the charm. The fairest tropic scene holds no deeper
meanings such as these. Beauty of form there doubtless is, a far
greater beauty perhaps than that of northern climes, but, after all,
it is but soulless. The teeming life of a tropic forest, the marvellous
wealth of vegetation, the reckless sacrifice of the weakest, produce

whiskered puffin. (Lunda cirrhata. )

upon the mind the same effect as clo the streets of a crowded city.
No grandeur of " calm decay," no pathos of the changing seasons is
here. It is a fierce struggle for existence, fatal to any except the
most purely material thought.
The shores of Avatcha Bay extend to the traveller a more
smiling welcome than the iron-bound coast outside. Here, the
lower hills slope gently down to beaches dotted with driftwood, or,
covered with birch and heather, steeply overhang the sea. Behind
they are backed by higher ranges clothed with undergrowth, and
rising to the height of fifteen hundred feet or more. To the north
west only is this basin-like appearance broken, where the small

iv.] AVATCHA BAY. 71
Paraminka and Avatcha rivers have formed a delta with innumer
able mouths. Low ground also intervenes between the three great
volcanoes and the bay, but the height of the mountains annihilates
the distance. Hardly a sign of human habitation is to be seen, but
the calm surface of the water is broken by quantities of water-fowl,
whose nesting-places are the steep rocks at the entrance of the bay.
Most noticeable among them are the Whiskered Puffins (Lunda
cirrhata), and the still quainter-looking Tufted Auks. The little

TUFTED AUK. (Simorhynchus cristatellus.)
village of Petropaulovsky is invisible, hidden behind a steep pro
montory forming the western boundary of its harbour. What an
admirable harbour it is from a sailor's point of view can best be
seen by a glance at the engraving. From the end of this pro
montory a shoal extends nearly to the other shore, but leaves a
channel deep enough for ships of the largest draught. Within this
again a sand-spit, — so straight, so narrow, ancl so regular in form, that
it is hard to believe that it does not owe its existence to the hand
of man, — runs out from the opposite shore to within a stone's throw
of the promontory. We steam in steadily towards the land ; to an

72 ' KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
onlooker it would seem as if we were deliberately beaching the
vessel. " Starboard ! hard a-starboard !" comes the order. " 'Ard
a-starboard," echoes the man at the wheel. " Hard a-port !" " 'Ard
a-port it is," he sings out, clawing the wheel towards him with foot
and hand. " Well ! I'm blessed if ever I see the likes of this 'ere
place," I hear Jack mutter as we are safely berthed, and, on the
whole, I am very much inclined to agree with him.
Our arrival created no little excitement among the inhabitants
of this remote little spot: it might possibly have created even
more had we not entered the harbour almost at the moment of de
parture of the yearly fur steamer for Japan vid Okhotsk. All
Petropaulovsky had assembled to wave their adieux, ancl not a few
of them appeared torn by the conflicting desires of seeing the last
of their friends and of discovering the business of the new-comers.
The steamer was hardly under way before we were receiving our
visitors. They were but limited in number. Petropaulovsky, in
spite of the imposing letters to which it is treated in the maps, is,
after all, little more than a hamlet, and is probably stationary, if
not actually decreasing, with regard to population. Clerke, in
1779, found the settlement consisting of thirty huts built upon the
sand-spit to which I have already alluded, and consisting mostly
of yourts or balagans.1 Captain Cochrane, who in 1821 performed
the unprecedented feat of walking across Siberia from Eussia to
Kamschatka, describes it as having increased to fifty-seven buildings,
some of which were on the mainland ; and at the period of the
Crimean war it appears to have been as large as it is at the present
time, if not actually larger. The town had been transferred to the
head of the little harbour, where it now stands, and boasted of no
less than two hundred edifices of all kinds. But in Kamschatka, as
in other northern countries, winter storehouses, fish-drying sheds,
and other out-buildings are so numerous, that the actual dwelling-
1 A yourt is a semi-subterranean winter dwelling, roofed with turf. The balagans
are only used in summer : they are rough wooden buildings erected on piles. The
upper part serves as the dwelling-house, while, beneath, the salmon are hung up in
rows to dry.

IV.]

PETROPA ULOVSKY.

73

houses may be reckoned at about one-third of that number. Kittlitz,
in 1829, found the settlement to number about two hundred in
habitants, and at the time of our visit we were informed that there
were over three hundred ; a number that I should myself be inclined
to think overstated.
Standing on the now deserted sand-spit, — the natural break
water of the harbour,— the view of the little town and its surround-

PETROPAULOVSKY HARBOUR.

ings is strikingly picturesque. To the left is the wooded promontory,
the scene of the unfortunate disaster which occurred to the forces
of the Allied Fleet in 1854. On the right a hill of some fifteen
hundred feet dominates the town, whose log huts are clustered
around the shores of the little bay. Here and there a white-
painted house of greater pretension strikes the eye, and a stunted
grove of trees shelters the church, and the graveyard studded with
Eussian crosses. Behind the town, artistically filling in the gap

74 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
between the hills, rises the snowy cone of Koriatska ; and the store
house of the Alaska Commercial Company, painted the dull Indian
red that is so favourite a shade throughout Sweden, forms a
pleasing patch of colour in the foreground. It did hot take us long
to make acquaintance with Petropaulovsky, in spite of its imposing
name. The inhabitants, we found, called it Petropaulsk, and, in
short, showed every disposition to make things easy for their
visitors. Salmon and bilberries were sent off to us, and, on our
remarking upon the presence of cows, a supply of cream and
butter was not long in following. Society here is limited, the
Europeans being but eight or ten in number. Mr. Lugobil, the
local head of the Alaska Commercial Company, resides here, and
superintends the shipping of the sealskins from Bering and Copper
Islands ; as does Captain Hunter, the cheery agent of Phillippeus
and Company, another firm of fur-traders. Of stores (the American
term is in use here) there are but two. One of them was owned
by a kindly old Swede, who also acted in the capacity of Mayor.
He had not visited his native land for thirty years, ancl it was
evidently a source of the keenest pleasure to him to talk of it to
one of us who knew it, ancl loved it almost as much as he did him
self. The town is now no longer a military post, ancl the barracks
and fortifications, razed to the ground by the English in 1855, have
never been rebuilt. The entire authority is vested in the Ispravnik,
whom, in spite of the exigencies of his profession, we did not find.
averse to the seductions of trade. A Eusso-American Jew, better
known as the King of Kamschatka, of whom the Eussian Govern
ment was extremely anxious to get rid, completed, with Dr.
Dybowski, the list of Europeans of the sterner sex. The ladies
were only four in number.
With Dr. Dybowski, who has acquired a European fame as a
naturalist, it was a pleasure to make acquaintance. His life had
been an eventful one. Imprisoned in Siberia for some time for taking
part in the Polish insurrection, he had eventually been pardoned
and made government doctor of Kamschatka, in which capacity he

iv.] WE ARRANGE OUR JOURNEY. 75
had visited the greater part of the peninsula. Owing to the
difficulties of communication excepting in the winter season, he
had abundant time on his hands, which he had devoted with in
defatigable ardour to his favourite pursuits. Geology, surveying,
palaeontology, photography and ornithology, — each and all had
occupied his leisure hours, with results which were evidenced by
the richness of his collections. None of the other Europeans knew
anything of the country outside Petropaulovsky, and to him alone
we were indebted for what information we could get about our
projected route, as well as for many useful hints on Kamschatkan
travel. Our intention was, if the plan were feasible, to travel north
wards from Avatcha Bay until we struck the head waters of the
Great Kamschatka Eiver, where we were to procure canoes if
possible, or if not to construct rafts, and by this means float down
the stream to the sea. Meanwhile, the yacht was to remain in
Petropaulovsky harbour for a month or six weeks, ancl then
proceed to the mouth of the river to await our arrival. We found
that Dr. Dybowski, in spite of his extensive travels in the peninsula,
had not himself performed this journey, neither was he aware of
any other person who had attempted it. Communication often
takes place with Nischni Kamschatka — an ostrog near the mouth of
the river — in the winter, but the sledges do not, as in Lapland,
travel on the river; and though occasionally a few of the lonely
settlements upon its banks are passed, the track leads for the most
part by short cuts overland, and we had no means of judging the
distances or the length of time necessary for our journey. From
Dr. Dybowski, however, we were able to obtain all the information
that was to be got upon the subject ; and to learn that, whatever
other difficulties we might have to encounter, that of an insufficient
supply of food was certainly not one. His accounts of the really
marvellous abundance of fish, which at the time seemed almost
incredible, we were destined later to find, if anything, understated.
Whether the almost exclusive fish diet of the inhabitants of the

76 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
country has any connection or not with the leprosy prevalent
among them, it is difficult to say. Our informant described it as
being a common disease, and he must have had considerable
opportunities of judging, but it is remarkable that during our
journey through the country we met with but one solitary case.
Scurvy was, we were told, uncommon, owing no doubt to, the
abundance of the wild garlic and the sarana — a liliaceous plant
whose bulb is stored for the winter, and supplies the place of the
potato. This latter vegetable has, however, become much more
extensively cultivated of late years.
It was a matter of great regret to us that our acquaintance
with Dr. Dybowski should of necessity have been so limited. He
was on the eve of a long journey in search of fossils to the Kuril
Lake, which lies in an almost unknown region at the southern
extremity of the peninsula. It was by such pursuits alone that
he was able to mitigate the loneliness of what was, in reality,
an exile. During the winter he travelled over the country to
such, isolated spots of it as are inhabited, and saw Ms patients.
These he was supposed to supply with such medicine as would
suffice for their cure, or last them, should they be incurables,
until the time of his visit in the following year ! It is not every
parish doctor whose district is spread over the extent of one
hundred thousand square miles !
During the week that was necessary for the completion of
our preparations we had abundant time for the exploration of
Petropaulovsky and its surroundings. The numerous harbours and
lovely scenery of Avatcha Bay would take a month to become
thoroughly acquainted with, and it would be hard to imagine a
more charming place for the naturalist and sportsman. Possibly,
when the salmon rivers of Norway have reached a prohibitory
price, and the game of India and South Africa has disappeared,
some adventurous individual will recommend Kamschatka as a
new field for sportsmen. At present, it must be confessed, it is
not very easy to get there. Every year the port is visited .by a

iv.] AGRICULTURE OF THE PENINSULA. N 77
Eussian cruiser, and, if her officers should chance to be as excellent
companions as I have on every occasion found those with whom I
have been brought into contact, a traveller might possibly get
the offer of a passage, which, if he has command of the French
language, a strong head, and an unlimited capacity for sweet
champagne, should be enjoyable enough. A steamer, or steamers,
belonging to the Alaska Commercial Company make two voyages
annually to the port, to ship the furs awaiting them there and at
Bering Island. They start from Yokohama, and it would no doubt
be possible to obtain a passage. On leaving Kamschatka for the
second time, however, these ships do not return south, but proceed
direct to San Francisco.
The weather upon our arrival was pleasant and invigorating
to a degree ; the days absolutely hot, with a brilliant sun ancl
wonderfully clear atmosphere, and the nights cold, but bright.
But for the mosquitoes nothing could have been more enjoyable.
These pests, wMch render life in a northern climate almost unbear
able during the summer, were not very numerous in Petropaulovsky
itself, but in some parts of Avatcha Bay we found them abundant,
while in others not one was to be seen. As every one knows,
the- presence of these insects is ahnost always dependent on the
existence of marsh, low-lying ground, or clumps of birches and
other trees in the neighbourhood ; but here, oddly enough, we found
no such reasons to account for their erratic distribution. The little
gardens of the settlement were aglow with bright flowers, though
choked with weeds and coarse grass. But httle cultivation was to
be seen ; a few patches of potatoes, cabbages, and such like garden
produce, surround the cottages here and there, but there are no
cereals. Eye ripens in some parts of the valley of the Kamschatka
Eiver, and would probably do so here, according to Dr. Dybowski,
but its growth is not attempted. To the Kamschatkan the harvest
of the river and the sea is an affair of such supreme importance,
and demands so much of his time, that he has but little leisure for
agriculture even if he had the inclination.

78 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
There are no roads even in the little settlement itself, and,
from the irregular distribution of the houses, and the equally
irregular ground on which they are built, the traveller has to
pick his way from one to another as best he can. It is needless
to state that wheeled vehicles are, in consequence, unknown. The
church, an uninteresting-looking building, painted white, is practi
cally the only public edifice.1 Near it, and at the bottom of Mr.
Lugobil's garden, stands the little monument erected to the memory
of Bering. It is an iron column of no great size or taste, which
was sent hither years ago from St. Petersburg, and, half buried in
the lush grass which at this season of the year grows so freely in
Kamschatka, it looked melancholy enough. It is a cenotaph, for
the bones of the celebrated navigator rest far away upon the island
that bears his name. A monument to Captain Clerke, the successor
of Captain Cook, is, I believe not far from it, but we did not see it.
The town is, indeed, somewhat rich in these objects of melancholy
interest, for in a gap in the western promontory, once the site of
an old battery, the dilapidated remains of a memorial column to
De la Perouse is still to be seen; while on the sand-spit at the
entrance of the harbour, an erection less pleasing to the eye of an
Englishman is conspicuous, commemorating the success of the
Eussians against the forces of the Allied Fleet in 1854.
I must confess that, previous to our visit to Kamschatka, I had
been in entire ignorance of the affair that resulted in such disaster
to our forces. But little known or commented on at the time, it
has probably long ago passed out of the memory of most of those
of the past generation ; while, owing to the success with which the
matter was hushed up, it had but little chance of becoming known
to the present. In the action of the 24th August, 1854, we
suffered a defeat as humiliating as it was ridiculous, and one for
which, from the circumstance of our attack having been made on a
1 At the time of Lessep's visit, in 1787, there was no church in the settlement,
but he alludes to the former existence of one, and mentions that its situation was
known "by means of a sort of tomb which formed a part of it."

iv.] THE AFFAIR OF AUGUST 1854. 79
town so insignificant, we could hope to gain no sympathy at the
hands of other nations. The whole story was related to us by
Captain Hunter, who was himself an eye-witness of the occurrence,
but the details have been so clearly ancl concisely given by Mr.
Wliymper in his "Travel and Adventure in the Territory of
Alaska," that I make no apology for quoting his account.
" In the autumn of 1854 (28th August1) six vessels of war — French and
English, comprising the President, Virago, Pique, La Forte, L'Eurydice, and
Ooligado — arrived off Avatcha Bay : a gun, placed near the lighthouse at
the entrance, was fired by the Russians, and gave the inhabitants of Petro
paulovsky notice to be on the alert. Admiral Price immediately reconnoitred
the harbour and town, and placed the Virago in position at a range of
two thousand yards.
" The Russians were by no means unprepared. Two of their vessels, the
Aurora and Dwina, defended the harbour, and a chain crossing the narrow
entrance shut it in. There were seven batteries and earthworks, mounting
about fifty guns of fair calibre.
" The Virago commenced the action with a well-directed fire, and several of
the batteries were either temporarily or entirely disabled. The one farthest
from the town on the western side was taken by a body of marines landed
for the purpose. The guns were spiked. There were three batteries outside
and on the spit, two at the termination of the promontory on the western
side of the harbour, and one in a gorge of the same which opens on Avatcha
Bay. It is in this little valley that the monument to La Perouse stands.
" The town was well defended both by nature ancl art. The hills shut
it in so completely that it was apparently only vulnerable at the rear.
There a small valley opened out into a flat strip of land immediately
bordering the bay, and, although there was a battery on it, it seemed an
excellent spot to land troops.
"Our vessels having taken up a new position, and silenced the batteries
commanding it, seven hundred marines and sailors were put ashore. Half
of them were English, half French ; a large number of officers accompanied
them, while they had for guides two Americans, said to know the
ground. They appear to have expected a very easy victory, and hurried in
a detached and straggling style in the direction of the town, instead of
proceeding in compact form, in military order. A number of bushes and
1 This date does not agree with that on the monument, where it is given as the
20th-24th August.

80 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
small trees existed, and still exist, on the hill-sides surrounding this spot ;
and behind them were posted Cossack sharpshooters, who fired into our men,
and either from skill or accident, picked off nearly every officer. The men,
not seeing their enemy, and having lost their leaders, became panic-struck,
and fell back in disorder. A retreat was sounded, but the men struggling
in the bushes and underbrush (and in truth, most of them, being sailors,
were out of their element on land), became much scattered, and it was
generally believed that many were killed by the random shots of their
companions. A number fled up a hill at the rear of the town. Their foes
pursued and pressed upon them, and many were killed by falling over the
steep cliff in which the hill terminates.
" The inhabitants — astonished at their own prowess, and knowing that
they could not hold the town against a more vigorous attack — were
preparing to vacate it, when the fleet weighed anchor and set sail, and no
more was seen of them that year.''
The actual number that fell in this engagement is uncertain.
In the "Nautical Magazine" for October, 1855, it is stated that
we lost 107 killed and wounded, but we were told that the total
number of French and English who fell was 170 men. Under the
hill at the back of the town still stands a rude enclosure, whose
dilapidated white palings surround tihree crosses, beneath which
Eussians, French, and English lie side by side. Others were
buried where they fell. The bodies of some of the officers were
borne from the field by the Allied Forces, and interred at the en
trance of the Tareinska Harbour on the opposite side of Avatcha
Bay. They lie on a small promontory on the land side, opposite a
little island. We had hoped to visit the spot, but the limited time
we had at our disposal, and the preparations necessary for our ex
pedition through the interior, prevented us. We were told that,
in the spring of the preceding year, a party, of which our inform
ant formed one, had searched in vain for the graves, in spite of
that of the English admiral having been marked by a cross. The
death of this officer is by the inhabitants of Petropaulovsky at
tributed indirectly to the result of the engagement. As a matter
of fact, it occurred, I believe, upon the preceding day ; the troops
during the affair being under the command of the French admiral.

iv. RETURN OF THE ALLIED FORCES. 81
In the opmion of those who had been in Petropaulovsky at the
time, the disaster was chiefly due to the division of the forces on
landing, — one body getting ahead of, and being fired into by the
other. The thickness of the bush prevented a recognition of this
error, and the attacking party imagined themselves taken in rear.
The Cossacks took advantage of the mistake, and before long the
Alhes were in a state of confusion which the nature of the ground
rendered hopeless. More met their death by being driven over
the precipice, it was said, than actually fell before the rifles of
the Cossacks.
The victors were left in peace for the time being, but, in the
spring of the following year, the Allied Squadron once more made
its appearance. The President, Pique, Dido, Brisk, Encounter, and
Barracouta, together with the French frigate Alceste, assembled
off Kamschatka, and entered Avatcha Bay on the 31st May, 1855.
They found the town completely deserted by the Eussians. Three
foreign residents alone remained, and from them they learned that
the settlement had been evacuated by order of the Emperor upon
the breaking up of the ice. Even the natives had fled. On the
7th June the batteries and magazines, which had been strengthened
and increased in number since the engagement in the preceding
year, were blown up, and, two days later all the Government
buildings were burnt to the ground. The latter proceeding was,
in all probability, the wanton act of some English blue-jackets, and
was done without the knowledge of our authorities. It was an
unfortunate occurrence, the explanation of which could hardly be
expected to be believed by the Eussians, and the affair still rankles
in the breast of the inhabitants of the little settlement.
A few days later the Squadron left, and the inhabitants re
turned to their homes. Poor little Petropaulovsky has to rest
content on her honours of 1854, for the town has never been re-
fortified, and is now no longer a military post.
One cannot be long in Kamschatka without making the
acquaintance of that very necessary animal, the sledge-dog. When
VOL. i. G

82 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
the fact is taken into consideration, that for every inhabitant of the
peninsula there are at least five or six of these animals, it will be
understood that the effect produced is hardly inferior to that
exhibited by the streets of Constantinople. "A dog's life" is a
phrase which is here most appropriately realised. No comfort
able homes are provided for them to enable them to withstand the
rigours of the arctic climate, and the poor beast, except when
actually at work, has in most cases to "find himself." Long
experience, and the instinct transmitted to him by his ancestors,
has, however, given him all the resources of an old campaigner.
Stumbling at night about the uncertain paths of the settlements,
the traveller is not unfrequently precipitated into the huge rabbit-
burrows which the animal constructs to avoid the cutting winds.
His coat, nearly as thick as that of a bear, is composed of fur rather
than hair. As for his manners, they are, like those of the midship
man's savage, almost non-existent. He has thoroughly grasped
the fact that self-preservation is the first law of Nature, and does
not scruple to act upon it, in its widest meaning, upon every
occasion. Wonderfully well-trained, cunning, and enduring, he is
at the same time often obstinate and unmanageable to a degree,
and is apparently indifferent to the kicks and blows so liberally
showered upon him by his master. Excepting in settlements
where neighbouring stretches of ttindra render the use of sledges
possible in -summer, he has a long holiday during that season.
During this time he wanders over the country at will, sometimes
returning at night to his burrow, at others being absent for clays
together. A good hunter and fisherman, he supports himself upon
the game and salmon he catches, and it is but rarely that he deserts
his master for good. But the inhabitants have to pay a good price for
his services. Owing to his rapacity, it is impossible to keep sheep,
goats, or any of the smaller domestic annuals, and Kamschatka is
one of the few countries in the world in which fowls are unknown.1
1 In Petropaulovsky this loss is partially made up for by large quantities of sea-
birds' eggs brought from Okhotsk, and the islands at the mouth of Avatcha Bay.

iv.] EN VIRONS OF AVA TCHA BAY. 83
Bien n'est sacri pour un sapeur. Eaw hides, boots, and even babies,
it is said, occasionally vary his diet !
To our ship's crew Petropaulovsky appeared little less than a
paradise. The bright sunny weather and clear cold nights were a
pleasant change after the heat of the tropics, and the forecastle
mess was furnished with many unaccustomed delicacies. The
harbour and rivers teemed with fish ; periwinkles a discretion were
to be had for the picking, and milk and bilberries were abundant.
The wliiting and herrings were, however, left in comparative peace,
owing to the ease with which salmon were to be obtained at the
mouths of the Avatcha and Paraminka rivers. On one occasion
no less than three hundred of these fish were obtained at one haul
of the seine, and the crew occupied themselves in salting, smoking,
and otherwise preserving the spoil. Jack was in his element, and
doubtless would not have objected to passing the rest of his life in
such a fascinating spot. Our shooting excursions to various parts
of the bay were much enjoyed by the boats' crews, and the forward
part of the ship began ere long to be ornamented with bearskins
that the men had obtamed by purchase or barter from the natives.
Meanwhile we had been making arrangements with the Ispravnik,
and the individual I have before mentioned under the title of the
King of Kamschatka, for the ponies that were necessary for the
first part of our journey ; but, as there was some delay in getting
together the requisite number, a party of us started to visit the hot
springs of Kluchi,1 which lie some few miles from the shore on the
other side of the bay. Excepting during strong south -easterly
winds, which send a somewhat heavy swell into the entrance, the
passage across is generally pleasant enough even in small boats.
Though blocked with ice in the winter, the bay is, we understood,
but rarely frozen right across, although the. harbour of Petro
paulovsky is, of course, closed for some months. Landing in a bay
north-west of the entrance to Tareinska Harbour, we passed through
an extensive birch-forest, and emerged at length on the shores of a
1 Kluchi, I believe, is the Russian word for springs.

84

KAMSCHATKA.

[chap.

picturesque lake, across wMch we were conveyed in dug-out canoes
to a small village on the opposite shore. From here the road lies

across a level tundra, and
can be travelled by dog-
sledge even in the summer.
Kluchi itself is a small
village composed of a few log-built huts and balagans, but, with its
background of the Vilutehinska volcano, is prettily situated. It
stands in an open valley, in which some attempts at cultivation are
made. The hot springs— the steam from which is visible at some

iv.] KLUCHI. 85
distance — have a temperature of about 108° Fahr., and appear to be
nearly devoid of sulphur. They are much resorted to by the natives
for cutaneous and other disorders, and have huts built over them for
bathing purposes, thanks to the orders of the Ispravnik. Near the
village runs a branch of the Avatcha Eiver, down which our party
paddled to the sea ; and on arriving at the yacht we were pleased
to learn that most of the horses had been brought into the settle
ment, and that there was every prospect of our starting on our
long -planned expedition through the interior in the course of a
couple of days.

CHAPTER V.
kamschatka — (continued).
"We begin our journey — Stampede of the packhorses — The effects of vodki — Stari-
ostrog — Salmon a discretion — Large birches — More stampedes — The fur-trade —
Prices of skins — On the tAndras — rTarchiki — Enormous abundance of salmon —
Mortality among the fish — A Kamschatkan interior — Ovis nivicola — Hot springs
— Uses of the birch-tree — Kamschatkan ponies — Gunal — Balagans — Sledge-dogs
— An Indian summer.
Early on the morning of August 19th we rowed ashore with a
somewhat formidable amount of baggage, and found the horses
awaiting us. Of these there were sixteen; and four little foals,
engaged in capering round their mothers, were, we learnt, also to
join the expedition. This number, owing to our numerous personnel,
was hardly sufficient, but as we had requisitioned almost all the
available cattle in the neighbourhood of Petropaulovsky, we decided
to make a start with them, trusting to be able to pick up others
at the little village of Avatcha, about twelve versts distant.1 Our
party were ten in number, our three selves with two servants
forming the yacht contingent. These latter were old campaigners.
Louis, who had served in the Franco-Prussian War, and had been
in the army before Paris in the terrible winter of 1870-71, had
done much travelling in his master's service and elsewhere, ancl
was without exception the very best servant I ever saw. Spiridione
Zembi, a Maltese Greek, our cook, deserves no less praise. Master
alike of his profession and of many languages, he contrived to
1 A verst is two-thirds of an English mile.

CHAP. V.]

PERSONNEL OF THE EXPEDITION.

87

produce dinners under the most trying circumstances which would
not have disgraced the table of an alderman. European servants
are, in rough travel, by no means always an unmixed good, and it
is pleasant therefore to have to
record an instance to the con
trary. Nor were we much less
fortunate in our two guides.
Both were old sable -hunters
ancl good backwoodsmen. Jacof
Ivanovitch was a solemn, but
good-humoured Siberian Eussian,
who knew the country well ; and
Afanasi Waren, in whom there
was more than a suspicion of
English blood, spoke our Ian- " " ";-
guage very fairly. The latter
was a jovial soul with a merry
eye, ancl if report ran true, a
great lady-killer. Under the sobriquet of
wards became an equally great favourite with our crew. Our
complement was made up with three half-breed natives, in charge
of the packhorses, in whose favour there is but little to say. Of
the misdeeds of one of them, whom, from his partiality for the
liqiior of the country, we afterwards nicknamed Vodki, I shall
have more to say in the sequel. Lazy, untruthful, ancl apt brutally
to ill-treat their horses whenever we were not at hand to interfere,
they caused the only trouble we had during the first part of our
journey. The inhabitants of the river settlements that we were
destined to meet with later were, however, as will be seen, far worse ;
ancl in comparison with them, our horseboys came afterwards to be
regarded in a far more favourable light than they really deserved.
The pack-saddles used throughout the country are of an ex
cellent pattern, and owing to the hooks with which they are
provided, the necessity for the many lashings which are so in-

AFANASI WAREN.

Half-nasty " he after-

KAMSCHATKA. [chap.

convenient in this kind of travelling is avoided. A tMck layer of
bearskin was placed over the saddle-cloth, and - effectually pre
vented sore backs. Our personal gear, enclosed in bags made from
the skin of the hair-seal, was easily adjusted, but the photographic
apparatus and other breakable objects required more care and time,
and it was noon before we were fairly off. We bade adieu to our
friends^ and passed out through the narrow gap at the back of the
villagetowards a small lake of brackish water which hems it in to
the north. Here at one time stood the hospital mentioned hi
Captain Cook's " Voyages," but no trace of the building now remains.
Circumventing the lake, we struck off to the north-west and, before
long, the track, which had never been very well marked, became
obliterated. Our path led through a rough but picturesque country,
dotted here and there with stunted birches, and we steered across
it for a certain point in the landscape recognised by our guides.
By our side trotted one of the most ornamental members of the
expedition, whom I have hitherto neglected to introduce — Verglaski,
a magnificent bear-dog belonging to Jacof, of an aspect ahnost as
solemn as his master. Our horses had hitherto gone fairly well,
but during a short halt that we made to adjust some of the packs
a stampede occurred, and in an instant the scene was changed to
one of the wildest confusion. Kicking, plunging, colliding against
trees, and dashing wildly in all directions, it was not long before
the horses succeeded in disembarrassing themselves of their loads,
and the ground presented the appearance of having been recently-
passed by a beaten army in full retreat. The horseboys, more than
half drunk, pursued the fugitives, cursing volubly in Eussian and
Kamschatdale ; while we, to whom these little unpleasantnesses of
packhorse travel had not even the merit of novelty, lit our pipes
resignedly and proceeded to gather up the fragments. It was a
full hour ere we were again en route. These incidents, " tedious as
a twice-told tale," and trying alike to the temper and the baggage,
recurred again and again. We progressed, as it were, by a series of
stampedes, and our horseboys became almost as erratic in their

v.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE JOURNEY. 89
locomotion as their charges. At this rate of advance our journey's
end -seemed distant indeed. We pressed on, however, as well as we
could, and crossed a small plain from which the base of the
Avatchinska group of volcanoes was visible to our right. Their
summits were hidden in thick mist, and the weather, which had
hitherto been fine, now looked most threatening. Arriving at a
small stream, Vodki and his two companions halted, and declaring
that there was no water farther on, proceeded to unload the horses.
This we soon put a stop to, and telling them that, water or no
water, we had no intention whatever of camping for another hour
or more, we resumed our journey. The scenery now changed, and
we entered a gloomy birch-forest with much thick undergrowth.
This was in places six or eight feet, or more, in height, and was com
posed of coarse grass and giant umbelliferae, with an occasional blue
monkshood, varied in the more open parts with large patches of yel
lowing bracken. Before long we reached another stream, and were
thus enabled to prove the truth of our surmises ; but it was not till
some time later that we finally halted for the night, the horseboys
being by this time scarcely in a condition to proceed farther. We
were glad to pitch camp and. get a rest, as it had already begun to
rain. Before turning in we succeeded in finding Vodki's brandy
bottle, but it was perfectly empty. The man had disposed of a
pint or more of raw spirit since leaving the settlement !
In this kind of travel movement is not very rapid for the first
day or two until every one has shaken down to his work, and on
the following morning we were nearly three hours in getting break
fast and striking camp. The horseboys were depressed and inclined
to be penitent. If, like an old Kafir servant of mine, they estimated
the amount of enjoyment of the previous night by the strength of
the morning's headache, they ought, to all appearances, to have
been well pleased. We had decided to leave Avatcha on our left,
and to make for Stari-ostrog,1 a small village a little higher up the
1 The ostrogs, or small forts, were erected by the Russians in bygone days as a
protection against the natives at the time of the first settlement of the country. The
name now alone remains, all traces of fortification having long since disappeared.

90 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
Avatcha Eiver, and forty versts from Petropaulovsky. We passed
through the same monotonous forests of birch as before, wMch, like
those of other northern countries, seemed singularly devoid of
animal life. An occasional coal tit, which from its note and habits
appeared identical with the tame little freebooter of our own
gardens, or the tapping of a woodpecker,1 alone broke the almost
death-like stillness which reigned around. We had struck a well-
marked trail, and progressed in Indian file, the packhorses (tied in
fours, each to the tail of the one in front) leading the way, and
relieving the monotony by an occasional breakdown or a stampede.
Almost all these ponies are strong ancl well shaped, but from
the ill-treatment they receive at the hands of their masters, have
learned to bite, kick, and shy on all occasions, together with other
accomplishments of like nature which were somewhat apt to dis
turb our equilibrium. There was but one saddle among us, and
the "Kamschatkan Peats," as we named the combination of pillow
ancl pack-sadclle which we used as a substitute, though comfortable
enough when we ambled along quietly, were apt to become slightly
insecure when, as a naval member of our party expressed it, we
" made bad weather."
The path between Stari-ostrog and Petropaulovsky appears to
be tolerably well-travelled, to judge from the frequency with
wliich we came across the marks of old camping-grounds, but we
met with no one on our way. It was afternoon when we reached
the river, ancl crossing a small affluent, found ourselves opposite
the village. We had ridden on ahead, and were hailing the natives
for canoes in which to cross, when a tremendous clattering in our
rear caused us to turn, and we beheld the cook's horse advancing
in full stampede, but minus his rider. Beneath his belly a large
canteen swung violently from side to side, half-open, ancl discharging
a shower of tin cups, knives, forks, plates, tea ancl coffee kettles,
and other articles of like nature in all directions. We retraced
our steps sadly, picking up such articles as we could find, but
1 Picus tridactylus, considered as a distinct species (P. albidior) by Dr. Stejneger.

v.] STARI-OSTROG. 91
among them was no trace of Cook. Presently we came upon
that imperturbable gentleman, placidly smoking a cigarette. He
explained the matter in a few words: — "Very sorry, sir, but"
(indicating the horse) " I've never been shipmates along o' one of
them things before !"
We crossed the river in two dug-out canoes lashed together.
Tliese boats are as a rule small, and without attempt at elegance
in shape, such as one sees hi Borneo ancl other parts of the Malay
Archipelago. Where the rivers are shallow, long poles are used to
propel them, and indeed the natives always seem to prefer this
implement to the paddle, wherever its use is possible. The Avatcha
Eiver is here about eighty yards in breadth ; shallow for the most
part, but with a centre channel about seven feet deep. It appeared
to be teeming with salmon. Stari-ostrog, situated on the right
bank, consists of ten huts and a large number of fish-drying sheds.
The long Kamschatkan winters, during which it is difficult to
• procure food of any kind, and the consequent necessity of fish as
an article of diet for almost every living creature in the settlements
— the cows and horses even not excepted — create a need for a very
large number of these buildings ; ancl the consequence is that, to
the eye of the new-comer, the villages appear very greatly larger
than they really are. Scanty as the population of this wild country
is, the amount of salmon annually consumed is absolutely enormous.
At tMs little village, for instance, we were told that, during the
season, 20,000 fish would be no uncommon catch for a single day !
Here, however, owing to there being no other settlements higher
up the river, they are permitted to stake the stream right across
from bank to bank, and the number of fish thus obtained may
probably be in excess of that in other places. The labour expended
in gathering so abundant a harvest is, of course, very considerable,
and during the season the inhabitants work day and night to get
in a sufficient supply for the winter.
We were greeted by the headman and brought to his house,
where we were regaled with milk, sour cream, coarse rye bread,

92 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
and sour bilberries. The houses of the better class of natives are
almost all log -built. They are unpainted, and the rooms, unlike
those usually seen in the northern parts of Scandinavia, are generally
small. Of these there are usually two — rarely or never more than'
four ; and in most of the huts in the larger villages the floors are
boarded. As is the case among other northern nations, the houses
are in many places raised above the ground, either by means of a
foundation of stone, or, like a haystack, by low wooden pillars at
the corners. The hut is warmed by a huge brick or stone stove,
generally built between the two rooms. It is supplied with fuel
only once daily, and the heat thrown out is so great, and the atmos
phere, owing to the hermetically-closed windows, so stuffy, as to be
well-nigh insupportable to a European. The furniture is simple.
A few chairs, an abundance of cockroaches and other less mention-
able insects, a rough deal table, and a tawdry gilt eikon of the
Eussian Church — a sort of fetich without which no peasant would
feel comfortable — is usually a tolerably full inventory. A house
of this kind is, of course, only owned by what may be termed the
upper classes — those of Eussian blood who have migrated from
Siberia. The dwellings of the half-breed Kamschatdales, which I
shall presently have occasion to describe, are very different.
While we were superintending the passage of our horses across
the river — a somewhat lengthy operation, owing to the depth of
the stream necessitating the off-loading of the baggage — we were
astonished at being greeted in very fair English by a long, lean
cornstalk of a lad, who expressed his pleasure at meeting travellers
of that nationality in his own country. He was evidently possessed
of no little love of travel himself, and told us that he had been for
a year as cabin-boy on board an English steamer trading between
China and Japan. His advent was opportune, as through him we
were able to make arrangements for three more horses, which we
were to pick up on the road the following day. For these, which
were to accompany us until we reached the head waters of the
Kamschatka Eiver, a distance of about three hundred versts, we

v.] SALMON-SHEDS. 93
were to pay seven roubles each. The Ispravnik and the King had
not done badly ; their charge had been exactly quadruple !
In company with our English-speaking friend we went to in
spect the fish. These were drying in open sheds, much as tobacco
is dried in the Southern States of America. Split in half as far as
the tail, cleaned, washed, and deprived of its head, the salmon is
hung across a stick hi company with fifty or sixty others. These
sticks are then placed a few inches apart, with their ends resting
upon other poles which run from end to end of the shed. The fish
are thus freely exposed to the air, but protected from the sun.
They are not hung lower than about eight feet from the ground, on
account of the dogs, who are occasionally seen gazing at them with
longing eyes and watering mouths, experiencing the tortures of
Tantalus. Excepting for a sledge -dog, however, the sight is not
a tempting one. Swarming with countless millions of maggots,
which distil in a gentle but unceasing rain upon the ground be
neath, whitening it as with a shower of powdery snow, the fish
seem to be so rapidly disappearing that one wonders how any
remain till winter. Another sense beside that of sight causes the
same reflection, but neither the dogs nor their masters are particular
as to these little matters. The latter, indeed, prefer their fish in
an advanced stage of decomposition, and have the same method of
preparing it as I have seen in some parts of Lapland. The salmon
are buried for three or four months in pits, and any difficulty in
extracting them at the end of that time is overcome by means of a
ladle !
It was late in the afternoon before we were again en route, our
it
course lying north-west through the valley of the river. This bears
in many places distinct evidence of the latter having been, at some
period, of very much larger size. We then ascended the bluff of
the old left bank, and rode through an interminable forest of birch-
trees, wMch were here larger than I have ever seen them elsewhere.
Many of them must have been at least a hundred feet in height.
We began the next day with a more than usually exasperating

94 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
stampede. These occurrences, though common enough during
the earlier part of our journey, became less and less frequent as we
advanced, and before we reached our destination had altogether
ceased to trouble us. We did not regret it, for no amount of re
petition accustomed us to them, and it needed an almost super
human patience to take them philosopliically. We were now
passing along a fairly well-marked trail, and, a short time after we
were once more in marching order, we met four miserably ragged
and dirty natives who seemed to be moving house. They were
mounted, and drove before them a couple of cows. We inquired if
they had any furs for sale or barter, but they were unable to under
stand us, ancl thinking we wanted milk, produced a few drops of
that liquid tied up in a small piece of the intestines of a recently-
killed bear. This delicacy, however, we declined with thanks. A
little later we came upon the new addition to our cavalcade for
which we had arranged at Stari-ostrog — three ponies, each of which
was accompanied by her foal. We formed now a party of some
size, composed of eleven men and twenty-six horses, and the playful
gambols of the httle foals, though somewhat provocative of stam
pedes, served to counteract the gloom of the monotonous birch-
forests through which we passed. The height of the undergrowth
of grass and other coarse herbage was enormous ; such, indeed, as I
could not have conceived possible for annuals to attain in these
northern climes. In many places it was two or three feet above
our heads as we rode. There was but little game to be looked for,
or at least to be easily obtained, among such rank vegetation, and
we pressed on without delay, as our rate of progress since leaving
Petropaulovsky had been anything but satisfactory.
Our new horseboy, though in other ways a great improvement
on his fellows, was unluckily a somewhat sleepy individual, and
signalised himself during the course of the afternoon by causing
the most disastrous stampede we had yet experienced. The pack-
horses, as I have already mentioned, were lashed together in strino-s
of four, the leading animal carrying a horseboy in addition to his

v.] PACK-HORSE STAMPEDES. 95
load. The last string was in charge of our new man, who, over
come by the " damnable iteration " of a birch-forest, fell asleep and
tumbled off his horse. In his fall, unfortunately, he dislodged
some of the loose packs, which, swinging under the horse's belly,
started it off at full speed. Dashing wildly forward, the frightened
animals caught the others in rear, upsettmg Vodki and communi
cating the stampede to the whole line. We were at the time in
thick forest, and plunging into this, our cavalcade rapidly disap
peared in all directions, various ominous crackings alone revealing
their line of progress. When separate individuals of a string try
to pass on different sides of the same tree a startling effect is very
often produced, but the old ancl experienced packhorse knows that
better results may be obtained by the navigation of a three-foot
passage between two birches. We found Ivan supporting his head
in both hands, and proceeded to administer a lecture and surgical
relief. Vodki, by the really masterly and exhaustive manner in
which he was exhibiting the expletive richness of the Eussian
language, was evidently not in a condition to require attention.
There is always, happily, a comical side to these affairs, which
makes the traveller regard "the most disastrous chances" to his
baggage with tolerable equanimity.
We pitched camp about twelve or fifteen miles from Narchiki,
a little village that in bygone days was one of the palisaded ostrogs
of the Eussians ; and though close to a pretty and most likely-
looking stream, we were unable to catch any fish for supper, for
the first and only time during our ride to the river.
In most bush countries it is the hunter's rule to see that the fire
is extinguished, or at least rendered harmless, before breaking camp.
In Kamschatka the greatest care is taken about this, as bush-fires
invariably cause the sables to desert the neighbourhood for many
miles around. As my readers are perhaps aware, the fur of this
animal is the most valuable export of the country, and a very large
proportion of the inhabitants are employed for the greater part of
the year in sable-hunting only. The price obtained by the hunter

96 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
for the skins varies very much if these be sold separately. But
generally the season's catch is disposed of en masse, and a fixed
price paid per head, whether good, bad, or indifferent. By far the
greater part of the trade lies in the hands, of the individual I have
alluded to under his title of the King of Kamschatka. That he
was by no means beloved of his subjects was abundantly evident,
but his power was so great that but few were able, even if they
dared, to shake off the hold he had upon them. As the owner of
what was, practically, the only store in Petropaulovsky, the natives
became easily indebted to him, their account for goods supplied
being invariably in excess of the amount allowed for the furs
brought for disposal. They are thus, we were informed, obliged to
bring the catch of the following season to the same market, where,
owing to the absence of competition, the prices are by no means
high. If the corresponding profit upon the flour, cloth, and other
goods sold be taken into consideration, it will be seen that, with a
little capital and an elastic conscience, a fur-trader in Kamschatka
ought hot to do badly.
In St. Petersburg the price of a single sable-skin ranges from
£2 to £25. In Kamschatka the wretched peasant, living upon
half-rotten fish and exposed to the rigours of a climate which, in
its severity, surpasses that of almost every inhabited . region of the
world, receives, nominally, an average of sixteen roubles1 per
skin. In reality, as I have stated, he has to take out this value in
goods. He is wise if he does so, and can keep clear of the brandy,
which, in spite of the law which forbids its sale anywhere but
in Petropaulovsky, has proved the ruin of so many of his country
men. The price of other skins is generally settled individually. A
fairly good bear's skin fetches about three or four roubles. It is
only the very finest . and largest that will bring as much as seven
roubles. A river otter, if in good condition, is valued at the latter
1 The Russian paper rouble is worth nearly half-a-crown ; the silver rouble about
three shillings and sixpence.

v.] THE TUNDRAS. 97
price, but this animal does not exist in any numbers in the penin
sula. The most valuable skin of all is that of the sea-otter
(Enhyd.ra lutris), which is becoming rarer year by year. A good
pelt of this animal will bring even the native hunter as much as a
hundred roubles, wliile in the European market a perfect one has
been known to realise £120 !
On the mornmg of August 22d we came for the first time to a
tundra of considerable size. After the gloom of the birch-forest
these vast stretches of level ground have a most exhilaratmg effect.
The feeling of oppressive stillness which but an hour or two before
seemed to weigh upon us like a nightmare, disappeared as if by
magic, and pushing our horses mto an easy canter, we pursued our
way with a sense of freedom that is rarely or never felt except by
those who ride where fancy leads them over the level surface of an
uncultivated plain. The melancholy, the niedergescJilagenheit of
Kamschatka, of which Kittlitz gives such a long description in his
account of the country, I confess I never felt: the converse — a
purely physical feeling of delight in mere existence — we often
experienced, and a good rollicking drinking song and a loose
rem seemed a necessity in order to let off our stock of super
abundant spirits. Long wastes of almost orange-coloured grass
stretched away nearly to the horizon, only broken here and there
by a still pool, or flecked by little tufts of snowy cotton-grass. Our
course — for we were on what a native would doubtless call the
"high road" to Narchiki — was marked out by long poles, some fifteen
or twenty feet in height, which in winter serve to guide the traveller
over the dreary wastes of snow. In the forest another method is
adopted. The trees are "blazed" by a vertical slit cut in the
bark by the hunter's axe. TMs gapes with the growth of the tree
and forms a conspicuous oval mark, ten or twelve feet above the
ground — a height which forcibly impresses upon the mind the
depth of the winter snow. Other evidences which told us that the
warm sun beneath which we were travelling was an affair of days,
not weeks, were close at hand, for the snow lay in thick patches
VOL. 1. h

98 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
at the base of the low range of Mils bounding the plain, — the
finger-marks, as it were, of the icy grip of winter.
We reached Narchiki early in the afternoon, and were greeted
by the prolonged howls of innumerable dogs. Though the village
boasts of only six huts, there are over one hundred and fifty of
these animals to pull the sledges of the inhabitants by day, and
to endeavour, in combmation with other equally hungry, though
happily smaller creatures, to disturb their rest by night. The
sledge-dog, indeed, appears to do without sleep, and anything
more hideous than their nocturnal concerts it would be difficult
to imagine. Fortunately an open-air hfe and hard work are not
generally compatible with insomnia, and after a few nights the
¦traveller would be more apt to miss his music than to abuse it.
Narchiki is placed on a little branch of the Avatcha Eiver,
which is here not more than eighteen inches deep. Standing upon
its banks we began for the first time dimly to realise the vast
numbers of fish which must annually visit the country, and which
may be said literally to choke its rivers. Hundreds were in sight,
absolutely touching one another ; ancl as we crossed the river our
horses nearly stepped upon them. Their back fins were visible as
far as we could see the stream, and aground and gasping in the
shallows, and lying dead or dying upon the banks, were hundreds
more. The odour from these decaying fish was distinctly percep
tible at a distance of a couple of hundred yards or more. In weight
these salmon varied from seven to fifteen and even twenty pounds.
They were for the most part foul fish, — blotchy with patches of red"
and white, and of the kind known by the Eussians as the Garbusa ;*
but others in fair condition were to be found, and with a little
trouble I was able to pull out tirree good ten-pound fish in as
many minutes with a gaff. Any other method of fishing would
have been useless. It would have been nearly impossible to make
a cast without foul-hooking a fish, and nine-tenths, or more of them,
were in an uneatable condition. Had we wished to do so, we
1 Salmo proteus of Pallas.

v.] ENORMOUS ABUNDANCE OF SALMON. 99
could have pulled these latter out of the water with the gaff until
we were tired.
While we were engaged in procuring our supper by this simple
method, a native came down and watched our proceedings. Takmg
a spear he. went a little way up stream, and soon returned with
half a dozen fish which were a great improvement upon our own
selection, — for I can apply no better term to it. They were of three
species: — one a long charr-like fish, of a brilliant salmon-colour
beneath, but with the back dark green, and with a most peculiar
lower jaw. This closes into a sort of groove or socket in front of
the upper jaw, producing a very extraordinary under-hung appear
ance. Its native name is Gultsi.1 The other fish were a grayling
(Thymallus) somewhat like our own, but not so deep ; and a species
of trout with obsolete spots.
The vast quantities of salmon wMch fill the rivers of Kamschatka
in the manner I have described cease in course of time to astonish
the traveller, who goes down to hook Ms supper out of the stream
as naturally as he gathers the firewood to boil Ms kettle. But to
a new-comer the sight is an astoundmg one. The millions of fish
that are caught, and form the food throughout the year of almost
every livmg creature in the country, are, however, as nothing
compared with the countless myriads that perish naturally. I had
at first supposed that the rotting fish that lined the banks, and here
ancl there lay piled in little heaps " together, were the victims of
some unexpected and fatal epidemic. But I soon learnt that there
was nothing unusual in it, and that it was an annual phenomenon
of as constant occurrence as the breaking up of the ice.
We entered one of the huts in order to eat our lunch and rest
the horses before proceeding on our journey. It was combined
with the stable, through which one had to pass before entering the
only habitable room. This was tolerably clean, and boasted of a
couple of chairs and a table ; but we had already got beyond the
region of glass, and the windows were made of strips of bear-gut
1 Salmo callaris, Pall.

100 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
sewn together. They admitted enough light, however, to show us
the strange mixture of ornament that hung upon the walls. In the
corner was the usual tawdry eiJcon, and facing it, a long array of
clippings from the " New York Police News," full of the choicest
horrors of battle, murder, and sudden death ! Amid these lively
surroundings we consumed our sour milk and bilberries, and '
bargained for some potatoes and turnips, which appeared to be
grown here in some abundance. Much, no doubt, might be done in
the way of agriculture in many parts of the country were it not that
the fish-harvest and hunting take up so much of the peasants' time.
Of their success in the latter lme we had evidence in a fine pair of
horns of the Argali or Bighorn,1 which lay outside the hut, and had
only recently been shot. These animals, we were told, are not
easily obtained at this season, and do not exist in any great
numbers in the neighbourhood ; but in the wmter they descend to
the lower spurs of the mountams, and are more easily brought to
bag. We much desired to obtain a head and skeleton of tMs
sheep, but our limited time, and Afanasi's statement that we
should be able to get them on the sea-coast about sixty miles to the
eastward of Avatcha Bay, eventually decided us on relinquishing
the idea of hunting them in this neighbourhood. We were pleased,
however, to be able to prove their existence in the mterior, which
has by some previous writers been doubted.
We pursued our journey in a steady downpour of rain, our
track leading through coarse grass and other annual vegetation so
thick that from the back of a horse it was utterly impossible to see
any trace whatever of the way. Our two hunters had donned
their waterproofs, — long coats made from the intestine of the seal,
carefully sewn together with smew. These garments are tolerably
strong in a thornless country, and though not ornamental, are as
light as a feather, and most effectual in keeping out rain. We
passed to the south of some hot springs, about two versts distant from
the village, the water of which was said to be of such a temperature
1 Ovis nivicola, Eschscholtz.

v.]

USES OF THE BIRCH TREE.

101

that the hand could not be borne in it. Of these, as in Japan,
there are many throughout the country, and they are greatly used
for bathing purposes. At Malka, between Narchiki ancl Gunal,
there is a spring of sulphurous water of great heat, in close proximity
to another wMch is said even during the summer to stand steadily at
the freezing point. We were, however, unable to visit it, and turned
northward, passing across a tundra nine miles in length, ancl
uninteresting enough in such weather/^ We had the pleasure,
however, of seeing Vodki deposited in five feet of water in con
sequence of having fallen asleep upon his horse, but it must be
confessed that our amusement was somewhat clamped by discovering
that our own personal baggage had suffered a like immersion.
We camped once more in a birch-wood, and but for the
proximity of these trees we should have had no little difficulty in
makmg a fire, as the

ir

forest was dripping wet.
The birch is to the
inhabitant of northern
regions very much what
the bamboo is to the
native of the south. It
is his general-utility tree,
ancl without it he would
indeed be badly off. The
stem is used in the con
struction of the sledges, p
and the inner bark is -=§
said to be cut green and ^
used for food. From the
knotty parts of the wood
good spoons are made, while the multifarious uses to which the
smooth ancl pliant bark is adapted in the construction of dishes,
cups, and vessels of all kinds are so well known by every northern
traveller as to need no description. The boxes are often much

BIRCH -BARK BOX.

102 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
ornamented with stamped designs, and are occasionally pamted, or
rather dyed, with blue and white ; while the oval shape so commonly
seen m Scandinavia is not infrequent. To the European traveller
the tree is equally useful. Cups and other articles can be made
with the greatest readiness; fires ean.be lighted in the wettest
weather with the thin inflammable bark, and the inner layers of
the latter form excellent writing-paper, the characters on which no
quantity of rain will injure or render illegible.
The scenery some miles north of Narchiki begins to alter in
character, an alteration that is distinctly for the better. The
monotony of the birch -forests is relieved from time to time by
openings where the dense undergrowth is supplanted by little rocky
knolls covered with bright mosses. The ground becomes more
broken and the open spaces larger, and before long the country
approximates closely in character to that which, in Scandinavia,
would be designated the lower fjells. We had hitherto shot but
little game, but here ptarmigan were abundant,1 and we were able
with ease to secure as many as were necessary for the table.
Farther on, we came to a small stream, which was, most probably,
an affluent of the Great Bolcheresk Eiver, which debouches into the
Okhotsk Sea on the western coast of the peninsula. It was crowded
with dead and dying fish; and the remnants of some recently
devoured ones upon the bank, together with fresh spoor of bear
around them, told us that, in all probability, Bruin was not
far off. I had never before seen the tracks of this animal in such abun
dance, but farther north it was common enough to see the river-
banks as much trampled as if a herd of cattle had been driven down
to water. The bears at this season of the year live entirely upon
salmon. Later, when this diet fails them, they take to berries, upon
which they live until the time of hybernation, which is generally
1 Probably a sub-species of, or perhaps identical with, the Dal-ryper or "Willow
Grouse of Scandinavia (Zagopus alius). I unfortunately omittedato preserve specimens'
of this bird until it was too late, and we did not shoot any after we had once begun
the river journey.

';«iiP"

"WW

¦SiSfP'Is* asp

11*1111!

v.] THE VALLEY OF GUNAL. 103
when the first heavy snow falls, at or about the beginning of the
month of October. If in poor condition the bear is said not to
hybernate till much later. According to the natives, the annuals
are tolerably fat on emerging from their dens, ancl support them
selves on grass until the arrival of the fish.
Our road, some time after leaving Narchiki, had led to the
west, in order to avoid a range of mountains of no great height
which trends in a south-easterly direction from the village of Gunal.
We now turned north once more, and entered a beautiful valley.
To the east lay the range we had been circumventing, rising to a
height of about 4000 feet, its large patches of snow glittermg in the
bright sun.. The outlme of these mountams was most picturesque ;
and, as we advanced, we opened out a group of aiguilles so jagged
as to resemble a mass of inverted icicles. The valley was scantily
clothed with juniper-bushes and dwarf birches, and early autumn
had already touched the landscape here and there with patches
of bright yellow. As we rode over the ruddy ground, which
with its brilliant parti-coloured moss is so characteristic a feature
of northern landscapes, we put up several coveys of ptarmigan ;
and on the outskirts of a small wood we obtained our first
Capercailzie, a young bird which, like many other birds of this
region, was characterised by the presence of a good deal of white
in the plumage. The day was glorious, and so hot that we rode m
our shirt -sleeves; our enjoyment only marred by the almost
constant stumbling of our horses over the stumps and roots of the
trees. The Kamschatkan ponies, wMch are generally iron-grey in
colour, and stand about thirteen hands, are well shaped and have .
a good barrel, and are capable of a considerable amount of work.
Owing, however, to the rough usage to which they are subjected,
they are determined kickers, and obstinate to a degree ; and it is
most difficult to make them lead the way, or, if behind, to prevent
them from following in the exact track of those in front. No food
js carried for them, and not content with the nightly meal they
obtain when picketed, they one and all feed in snatches as they

104 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
go along, an annoying habit of which it was impossible to break
them. Their ordinary load is from six to seven pood.
It was not long before the presence of some large poplars ahead,
combined with certain whiffs of decaying fish, to which no description
can do justice, warned us that we were in the neighbourhood of a
river; and the howls of sledge-dogs presently greeted us as we
arrived at the settlement of Gunal. We found some of the
inhabitants engaged in making a bridge,. — really a very creditable
affair, as the river here is about twenty-five yards broad, with a
channel some six feet or more in depth. Above the village tliis
stream — the Bolchaia-reka, or Great Bolcheresk Eiver- — sphts mto
two or three branches, which reunite a quarter of a mile lower,
after having received two rapid, but shallow httle affluents from
the west.
Gunal is a most picturesquely-situated little hamlet of about
twenty huts, and has a population of ninety-four souls, who are
all, without exception, the descendants of Eussians who estabhshed
themselves here with Kamschatdale wives in the last century.
The latter people are now rare as a pure race, excepting upon the
western side of the peninsula. The Gunalians are all Christians,
and have built themselves a church, — a small log-cabin surmounted
with a cross. Within the same enclosure, but separate, just as in
Northern Sweden, is a httle belfry with a single bell, time-worn
and defaced. Owmg to its inaccessibility, we were unable to read
the inscription with which it was adorned. The church is
parsonless. There are but three popes for the whole of the vast
district lying between Petropaulovsky and the mouth of the Kams
chatka Eiver. Here the nearest is at Melcova, a hundred versts or
more away; and once in every four months he comes in, marries and
buries such of his parishioners as need it, holds service, and de
parts. He has not much to clo, for the people are both apathetic ancl
long-lived. In the httle churchyard hard by there were scarcely
twenty graves. They were marked by Eussian crosses with a little
1 A pood is equal to 36 lbs. English.

V-]

GUNAL.

105

bronze or brass crucifix roughly nailed on, but there were no
inscriptions of any kind.
We pitched our camp at the edge of what, in England, would have
been the village-green, — a little two-acre patch of real, short English
turf, at a bend in the river. It was a lovely scene. In Kams-

KS3SJBSSS. :.••;. p.-

WmZvW&&*

Iii

Tmv'mmemL

chatka all the romance of life
J^ S, appearstohaveleftitandgoneout into its surroundings.
But, however sordid and ma
terial the lives of those whose whole existence is one constant struggle
against such a climate must be, there is no doubt that nature is here
as prodigal of her beauty as she is in any part of the known world.
Farther north, in the neighbourhood of the huge volcanoes whose
very names are unknown to the vast majority of Englishmen, the
scenery is of unsurpassed magnificence. Here it was of a far less
106 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
pretentious type, but possessed, nevertheless, of a quiet beauty
so perfect in its kind that the most fastidious of critics would
have sought no alteration. Below our camp the river clattered
between its banks of yellowing birches towards some snow-capped
mountains that distance had painted a deep violet. The village,
grey, battered and weather-worn, as are all these northern hamlets,
nestled at the foot of the three peculiar peaks of the eastern range
of the valley. Not a human being was to be seen, and the smoke
of our evening camp-fire rose like a straight blue pillar into a
golden sky. Around us was a stilMess that could be felt,— the
wondrous silence of the North ; and on the summit of the little
cross above the church a crow sat motionless m the evening sun,
— a speck of steely blue against the snow beyond.
Gunal, with its enormous stores of salmon, seemed, like all
these Kamschatkan villages, a place of considerable size. A
nearer acquaintance, however, soon dispelled the illusion, and we
noticed that a large proportion of balagans seemed to be used as
storehouses rather than dwellings. These buildings, which differ
from the fish-sheds only in having a living-room at the top, and
being consequently rather more solidly constructed, are rudely
made of white poplar or birch trunks, pines being comparatively
unknown in this part of the country. There are rarely more than
two — at most three — tiers of fish drying beneath, for the sledge-
dog is an active and ever-hungry animal, and six feet would be a
dangerous height at which to suspend a salmon. The roof is high-
pitched, and the thatch secured by means of light poles tied
transversely across it. The entrance, a low door in the gable, is
reached by a sort of ladder specially contrived for the humiliation
of the unwary. It is merely a notched pole, placed loosely against
the building, and not secured in any way; and the incautious
European attempting the ascent is somewhat astomshed to find
the pole rapidly revolving, leaving Mm clinging back downwards
and discomfited. This simple arrangement, if capable of being put
in action at will, might possibly be of considerable utility to those

v.]

SLEDGE DOGS.

107

who suffer from a plethora of callers in our own country. I
commend the suggestion to the more progressive of my readers.
The inhabitants of the village had already begun to get in and
tie up their dogs in anticipation of the coming winter. There
were over two hundred of them here, and we had ample oppor
tunity of studymg their habits. Most of them are white, with

¦Sr

mm

¦HHHBI

W^mMi¥k

&m

BALAGAN A]

?SQ

black heads, or entirely of a brown-
black, and their general aspect,
owing to the sharp muzzle and prick ears, is decidedly wolf-like, —
an appearance that one is familiar with from the sketches of
North American travellers. The only food they are provided with
by their masters is salmon of the hump-backed kind — the Garbusa ;
but during the summer, as I have already said, they pick up game,
eggs, and birds m their wanderings about the country. They are
usually inspanned in teams of eight or ten, but where the sledges
are heavy or the roads bad, double that number, or even more, are
occasionally used. When the snow is hard and even, they will

108 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
draw a weight of 360 lbs. a distance of five-and-thirty or forty
miles with ease in a day's work ; and with an unloaded sledge with
a single occupant, a pace of eight versts an hour can be kept up
for a considerable time. On the road they are given one-third of
a fish twice during the day, and a fish and a half at night, which
they wash down with a few gulps of snow. The dogs are castrated
when puppies, and have their tails cut at the end of the first year.
Each has a name, which he answers to when he is driven in the
sledge just hi the same way as a Cape ox in a waggon team, for no
whips are used. If chastisement be necessary, the driver throws
his stick at the delinquent, or pounds the unfortunate creature with
any stone that comes handy. There are many ways of tethering
these animals, all having in view the one object of keepmg them
apart, as, excepting upon the road, they seize every opportunity of
fighting. One method — the one that obtrudes itself most upon the
traveller's notice — is by making a large tripod of poles, and tying a
dog at the bottom of each ; and in many villages, owing to the large
number of dogs which have to be kept, these tripods form a
characteristic feature.
We had many reasons to induce us to take a couple of clays'
rest at Gunal. Louis was suffering from a chill consequent on
the wetting of the previous day ; one of us had a slight touch of
fever caught some years before in Africa ; and at the camp kitchen
Cook sat a prisoner as a surgical patient, imperturbably smoking
cigarettes and picking up Eussian from Afanasi. A slight injury
to the ankle, combined with mosquito bites. ancl many hours of
riding, had produced an inflamed leg, — a rather awkward accident
at this juncture, as we wished to press on as rapidly as we could.
In addition, the camp gear needed drying after Vodki's exploit,
ancl as there were said to be plenty of bear in the neighbourhood,
we settled to remain.
The following clay was gloriously hot, and before long the camp
presented the appearance of a washerwoman's drying -ground.
The sun heat was, indeed, so great that we gladly took refuge in

v.] AN INDIAN SUMMER. 109
the tent, and at noon the mercury stood at nearly 80° Fahr. in the
shade. These hot days are not unusual at the end of August, and
constitute a sort of Indian summer, which, as in Lapland, is but
the immediate precursor of an autumn so short as hardly to be
dignified by the name of a season. At sunset the temperature fell
rapidly, and at night it was so cold that we were glad of four
blankets, the thermometer bemg at or about freezing point. A
range of something like fifty degrees in a single day is not often
seen, but weather of an almost exactly similar kmd is met with
during winter on the high table -lands of Southern Africa. The
Kamschatkan autumn cannot always be relied on, for, from what
we could gather from the natives, it is not unfrequently attended
with a very heavy rainfall, and occasionally with much wind.
We had hoped to find Bighorn in the mountains in the
neighbourhood, but, greatly to our disappointment, the people of
the village told us that these magnificent sheep never come down
to the lower spurs of the range before wmter, and that it was
useless to go after them. This was the second time we had to
give up the idea of hunting them. We were, however, more
fortunate with the bears, and succeeded in bringing one to bag
upon the first day after our arrival.

CHAPTEE VI.
kamschatka (continued).
Abundance of bears — Ptarmigan — The Palsearctic region — Valley of the Bolcheresk —
Arrive at the Kamschatka River — Dense growth of annuals — The. sable — Methods
of catching it — Puschina — Kamschatkan birds — Verglaski fishes the river —
Kamschatkan salmon — The Tchervitchi — Krasua — Haiko — Garbusa — Kisutchi
— Gultsi — Other salmon — Habits of bears when fishing — We arrive at Sherowmy.
We left Gunal on the mornmg of August 27th. Our two days'
rest had clone us all good, and Cook's disabled leg, which had at
one time caused us some anxiety, was sufficiently well to risk
going on. The injured member had not prevented Ms super
intending the making of some most excellent bilberry jam. We
had killed a fatted calf, of which, after much haggling, we had
become the possessors for the sum of twelve roubles ; and the
carcase had been duly converted into veal and a good supply of
stock. From our saddles hung several couple of mallard, and the
larder on the whole was in as satisfactory a condition as it well
could be. We had woke to a heavy mist, which rendered even
near objects distinguishable with difficulty, but it lifted gradually
under the rays of a bright sun, and before we were well off, and
had turned to catch the last glimpse of the beautiful scenery
around our late camp, the clay had become all that the most
exigeant of travellers could desire. Under hot suns like these the
signs of autumn appear with wonderful rapidity, and we noticed
that the tints were distinctly brighter than they had been but
three days before.

chap, vi.] BEARS. Ill
We passed two of the level seas of marshy ground that for lack
of a better name I have hitherto called tundras. The term is,
strictly speaking, applied only to the vast stretches of ground of
this nature that are so wearisome to Siberian travellers. Here,
however, the only difference lies in the size, and as we have no
corresponding English word, I have preferred to retain the Eussian
name. The thick forests of birch were no longer to be seen, and
the country, though still wooded, was more open, large clearings

BELFRY AT GUNAL.

being not infrequent. The familiar monkshood, too, whose spikes
of flower are in Kamschatka snowy white, as well as of the
ordinary shade of violet that our English gardens exhibit, had
almost entirely disappeared, and we saw but little more of it
during the rest of our journey. The number of bilberries was
enormous, but the cranberry was much less abundant, and its
berries as yet were hardly ripe.
Eiding quietly along in advance of our party, we suddenly
came ahnost upon the top of two very fine bears, with a young
cub between them. We were unfortunately without our rifles at
"the time, and before we could get them the animals had made off,

112 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.-
greatly to our disgust ; and, though we spent some time in following
them up, we did not succeed in getting sight of them agam. They
had doubtless got scent of us, and were far away. Bears are
always much more disturbed by getting wind of human beings
than by any noise the latter make, or even by their appearance ;
and the hunter, although his movements are by no means those of
the stealthy-footed Malay, knows that unless. he works to windward
his trouble is in vain. The number of these creatures in Kams
chatka must be enormous. Afanasi told us that there are hunters
who have killed over four hundred in their lifetime, and we heard
that at a little hamlet on the Bolcheresk Eiver more than ninety
had been shot and trapped during the summer. July, August, and
September are the best months for them, as they haunt the river-
banks at that season for the fish, and are in most excellent
condition. The heat at noon was nearly as great as it had been on the
previous day, and the business of supplying our larder with
ptarmigan for the many mouths we had to feed involved a very
considerable amount of exertion ; and, as we ploughed tlirough the
soft moss, sinking up to our knees at every step, " larding the lean
earth as we walked along," it was difficult to realise that at night
fall we should be back agam in an Arctic climate. The birds were
luckily tolerably abundant, and we had obtained a sufficient
number on pitching camp for the night. Capercailzie apparently
were rare. We had seen but few, and up to this period had only
succeeded m obtaining one, and our game-birds were consequently
limited to the Willow Grouse.
The Englishman travelling in Kamschatka who has reached his
destination, not by the desert steppes of lonely Siberia, but by way
of Ceylon and sweltering Singapore, where almost every bird
he sees is unfamiliar to him, cannot fail to be struck, however
unobservant he may be, with the resemblance of the avifauna of
the new region in which he finds himself to that of Ms own country.
He disturbs a Turnstone or a Golden Plover as he lands, perhaps,

vi.J KAMSCHATKAN BIRDS. 113
and notices a familiar-looking wagtail running along the well-
trodden paths of the settlement. Overhead, maybe, hovers some
bird of prey, which he may recognise as an Osprey or a Hobby ;
and as he shoots his first grouse, or notes a woodpecker tapping
at a tree hard by, he identifies them, or at least thinks he identifies
them, with like species he has met with m his own or some
Norwegian wood.
In the majority of cases he is right. In others he is, at all
events, not far wrong. For, in consequence of the similarity of
the fauna which extends over the whole of Europe and Northern
Asia, zoologists have been led to group these countries together
under the name of the Palsearctic Eegion, and the species which are
common alike to Great Britain and Eastern Siberia are numerous.
Kamschatka abounds with birds of wide range with wMch the
European traveller is quite familiar, but its peninsular position has
at the same time had a certain influence towards the creation of
representative forms, among which those of the Great and Lesser
Spotted Woodpecker,1 the Capercailzie, and the Marsh Tit may
especially be instanced. In all these the differences consist for the
most part in the greater predominance of white in the plumage,
and this tendency to albidism is noticeable, as I have already
mentioned, in other animals besides the birds ; the dogs and horses
likewise showing it in a marked degree.
We wasted some time of the morning of August 28th m track
ing a large bear that Afanasi had wounded on the previous evening.
1 Picuspipra, the eastern form of our P. minor, is found over the greater part of
Siberia, and even in Japan. Kamschatkan individuals are noticeable as exhibiting
the characteristics of the species in a more marked degree than those of the adjoining
continent. In the same way the P. major of the peninsula differs from that of
Europe, and has recently been raised to specific rank by Dr. Stejneger as Dendrocopos
purus. It differs "in having the breast and upper abdomen very pure white, the
white of the lateral rectrices without, or almost without, dark markings, and
possessing a white spot on the outer web of the longest primaries near the tip." The
specimens that we obtained in our journey through the country bear out this descrip
tion except in the last-named particular. Both these woodpeckers were comparatively
common in the country round Gunal.
VOL. I. I

114

KAMSCHATKA.

[chap.

He had been hard hit, and marks of blood were plentifully visible
as we took up the spoor. The vegetation was, however, so thick,
and everywhere so overrun with the trail of these animals, that
before long we had to give up the search, in spite of the aid of
Verglaski. We therefore returned, and striking campWoceeded
up the valley of the Bolcheresk Eiver, as on the previous day.
The river here runs due south through a flat plain covered with
yellow grass and about three or four miles in width. It is hemmed

REINDEER RIDING, KAMSCHATKA RIVER.

in by mountains which are at first of no great height, but as the
head of the valley is approached the scenery becomes finer. We
rode towards it under heavy rain, but before long the weather
cleared, and disclosed- to view a gloomy gorge on our right, about
eight miles distant, from which the river evidently debouched. At
the same time another valley became apparent, joming in from
a north-north-westerly direction, and the stream which flowed
through it appeared to have the same source as the Bolcheresk, or
at least to rise at no great distance from it. We had got at last
to the head waters of the Kamschatka Eiver !

vi.] WE REACH THE KAMSCHATKA RIVER. 115
Early in the afternoon we arrived upon its banks, and it was
with no little interest that we inspected the river that -was to bear
us some four or five hundred miles upon its bosom before we
reached the sea. It was a httle stream barely fifteen yards across,
and not more than a foot or eighteen mches in depth. The
Bolchaia-reka, which we had just left, had been teeming with fish,
but here not one was to be seen, and the disgusting smell of decay
ing salmon that is in Kamschatka the almost invariable sign of
the proximity of a river, was conspicuous by its absence. In a
small grove of trees close by we found two rough log-cabins, which,
had doubtless been the wmter quarters of some sable-hunters.
They were deeply sunk in the ground, and by their dilapidated
condition, had evidently been built many years ago. We were not
sorry to find them, as it was our intention to camp here and try for
bear, and at the same time, if possible, to explore the source of the
two rivers. To our great disgust, however, the presence of a kettle
hanging on a stick, and the yet warm ashes of a camp-fire, spoke in
unmistakeable terms of the ground having been so recently disturbed
as to render our chance of sport in the immediate neighbourhood
but a poor one. We accordingly pushed on, and after ridmg for a
couple of hours, struck the river once more at a most picturesque
bend in its course. The ground in the vicinity was covered with
fresh bear-tracks, and thinking we could not do better, we once
more prepared to camp. At this juncture Vodki appeared, and
begged us to try farther on, where the ground was everything that
was perfect, and the bears in incalculable multitudes. " Just one
verst more, little father." For the first and only time we yielded
to his advice, and resumed our march. Verst after verst was passed
and still it was " one verst more." Two hours and more elapsed
before we began to realise that we had been befooled. To be
befooled by Vodki ! — the thought was too galling. Not in the best
of tempers, we altered our course for the river at once, debating
what form of punishment we should adopt. Our trouble, however,
was saved us: Vodki, m no better temper than we at his plans

116 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
having failed, kicked one of the packhorses violently in the belly
while unloading it. The effect was excellent. The poor animal,
who, like the Pope's mule in Daudet's charming little story, had
many an old score to pay off, turned round and bit Ms aggressor so
successfully in the face as to leave him with a portion of his cheek
hanging down. Here we interfered to prevent reprisals, and
while the conqueror was led off to a patch of the most succulent-
looking grass we could find, Vodki retired to Ms tent to nurse his
wound for the next two days.
Accustomed as we had become during the earlier part of our
journey to the wonderfully dense growth of the annual herbage,'
especially in the birch-forests and in the vicinity of the rivers, I do
not think we had ever seen it in more rank luxuriance than we
found it here. Our camp was pitched on a httle eminence two or
three hundred yards from the river, but the latter would have been
almost unapproachable had it not been for the numerous bear-tracks
that led in every direction through the forest of grass. As it was,
the vegetation rose three or four feet above our heads, and was in
places so thick that we could never be sure that our next footstep
would not precipitate us into one of the Mdden streams with wliich
the marshy ground abounded. In such ground shooting is almost
impossible, and the only plan is to lie up in concealment on the
banks of the river, on the chance of a bear coming out hi the
neighbourhood to fish.
We spent the remaining two or three hours of daylight in this
monotonous and chilling amusement, and rose wet and stiff with
cold without any success having attended us. The bears had in all
probability deserted this part for some other place where fish were
more numerous, and the only recent spoor we saw was that of an
otter, an animal that is apparently far from common in the
peninsula. The following morning, since there appeared to be no fish in
the river, we put our rods together and tried a fly in Kamschatkan
waters for the first time. Paradoxical as it may seem, a river of

vi.] THE SABLE. 117
tMs kmd presents the only condition under which this sport is
feasible, at least at this season. With the river choked with foul
and dying fish, where every cast would foul-hook a fish that would
be uneatable on landing, it is of course an impossibility. Here
the stream was free from salmon, but though we hoped to obtain
some trout or graylmg, it seemed to be equally devoid of these also ;
and havmg spent an hour or two without getting a rise, we returned
to camp. We found that one of our party who had been out after
capercailzie had been fortunate enough to shoot a sable. The
animal had been found by Verglaski, who had chased and treed it,
and in spite of its not being, from a hunter's point of view, m full
condition, it had been duly added to the bag. Our hunters told
us that it was extremely rare to see sable at this time of year.
The winter coat had begun to grow, and was, indeed, of tolerable
length ancl quite fast. In spring, although the winter fur may be
still on, the pelts are said to be quite useless, as the hair drops out
even after the skin has been prepared. The animal measured
twenty-seven inches in extreme length ; the tail, which was not
furnished with the thick brush so characteristic of the winter skms,
seven inches ; and the value of skin in the Petropaulovsky market
was estimated by Afanasi at four roubles. The price given for
winter sables is, as I have already stated, sixteen roubles.
The sable is always skinned from the tail — bag-shaped — and
while performing tMs operation in the approved fashion of the
country, we listened to a sermon on sables and sable-huntmg from
Afanasi. They are, he told us, for the most part of nocturnal
habits, and, though they occasionally feed by day, generally spend
that period of the twenty-four hours in holes at the roots, or in
the trunks of trees. They dislike the presence of man, and are
rarely to be found in the neighbourhood of the villages ; their
favourite resort being the depths of the forests least frequented by
the natives. It is considered that the most inaccessible and least
known parts of the country are the best huntmg-grounds. They
live on hares, birds of all kmds, and in short, almost any living

118 KAMSCHATKA. ¦ [chap.
thing they can kill, but they are also said to eat berries, and even
fish. There are, indeed, but few animals, apparently, wMch do not
live on salmon in Kamschatka. They have only one htter during
the year, generally in the month of April, and bring forth four or
five young at a birth in a nest in the holes of trees. When the
hunter is bitten for the first time by one of these animals, the bite
is almost invariably followed by severe illness ; but on subsequent,
occasions no ill effects, with the exception possibly of slight
inflammation of the wound, are produced.
There are various methods employed in catchmg sables, but a
less number are trapped now than used formerly to be the case.
Dogs are almost invariably employed, to run them down in the
deep snow or to tree them ; and they are also smelt out by these
framed animals in their holes at the roots of trees. The great
object is to tree the sable if possible. The hunter then surrounds
the base of the tree with nets, and either shakes down Ms quarry
or knocks it off the boughs with sticks. If it does not fall into
the net it is run down by the dogs, or compelled again to take
refuge in a tree. Should the tree be too Mgh for this method to
be successful, it is cut down, or the sable is shot ; but the hunters
generally avoid the use of the gun if possible, as it is apt to spoil
the skin.
The hunters usually start on their winter's expedition towards
the end of September, if their destination be a distant one. If it
be in better known country and closer at hand they wait until the
first snows have fallen, and do not leave before the middle of
November. They train clogs especially for the purpose, and a good
sable dog is one of the most valuable of a Kamschatkan hunter's
possessions. A catch of twenty sables in a season is considered ex
ceptionally good. Jacof Ivanovitch and one of our horse-boys, in
company with two other hunters, had on the preceding winter tried
some new ground on the shores of the Kronotsky Lake, and had been
particularly successful. Jacof had only succeeded in killing fifteen,
but our horse-boy had bagged no less than forty ; and the total

VI.]

PUSCHINA.

119

number killed by the party was close on one hundred and twenty
skins. The Kronotsky Lake, which has never yet been visited by
Europeans, lies south of the great group of volcanoes at the mouth
of the Kamschatka Eiver, and some sixty miles east of Melcova.1
It is now completely deserted by the natives, but, as far as we

could gather from our hunters, it has remains of ancient lake-
dwellings on its shores, with deposits of shells and other objects of
like nature resembhng the kjokken-moddings of Northern Europe
which, as far as I am aware, are unknown in the country at the
present day.
Of the number of sables killed annually in Kamschatka it is
1 Both Melcova and the lake are wrongly placed on the Admiralty chart ; the
former is nearly ninety miles north of its assigned position !

120 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
difficult to form an estimate. The greater portion no doubt are
exported vid Petropaulovsky, this port draining the large extent
of country in the region of the Kamschatka Eiver, but a good
many must find their way to Bolcheresk, and some others to Tigil, a
settlement m the northern part of the peninsula which has only a
difficult communication with the villages on the lower part of the
Kamschatka. In Petropaulovsky almost all the skins pass through
the hands of the " King of Kamschatka," and the number exported
by him for the season of 1882 was over two thousand. The profit
on each skin probably averaged at least forty shillings, and it must
be allowed that, however gloomy the outlook in Hudson's Bay and
elsewhere may be, there is at least one part of the world where the
fur-trade is not " played out."
We left camp again on the mormng of August 30th, and after
two hours' travelling came to the little village of Puschina, if
village indeed it can be called. It now appeared that Vodki's plan
had been to get us on to this place if possible, partly because he
preferred a hut to tent life in wet weather, and partly, according to
Afanasi, because he was afraid of the bears. Puschina consists of
three huts only, with the usual proportion of fish-drying sheds,
and boasts of a population of fifteen souls. In 1787, according to
Lesseps, it was larger than Gunal. The inhabitants appeared dirty
and miserable creatures, and were more of the true Kamschatdale
type than any others we had yet come across. One or two of the
huts or storehouses were raised above the ground on pillars, and
much resembled a Norwegian stdbur in appearance, except that
there was a complete absence of carving. It is rare to see any
settlement in Kamschatka which is not placed actually on the
banks of a river, but Puschina, standing two or three hundred
yards away, is one of the exceptions, probably owing to the fact
that the banks of the stream are here very low, and the rise of the
river during the period of the melting of the snows is often very
considerable. We rested our horses and obtained a draught of fresh milk

vi.] BIRD-LIFE ON THE RIVER. 121
before resuming our march, for at almost all these settlements cows
are kept. The milk is generally very rich, and is one of the few
luxuries the country affords the traveller, unless, indeed, the cows
should happen to have been feeding on the wild garlic. What
effect the diet of half-rotten fish on which the poor animals feed in
winter may have, I do not know. We noticed, however, that many
of the birds we shot and preserved on the expedition smelt strongly
of decaying salmon.
During the land journey the actual number of species of birds
we met with was but limited, although individuals of some kinds
were sufficiently abundant. The Capercailzie (Tetrao parvirostris,
Gray), though not unlike the European species with which Scotch
ancl Norwegian sportsmen are familiar, differs from it in several
particulars. It is markedly smaller in size, shows a strong tinge
of grey on the upper surface, and is especially characterised by the
tendency to white in the plumage. The feathers of the wing
coverts and those of the prolonged upper and under tail coverts
are broadly tipped with this colour, and the general appearance of
the bird is very handsome. The forest districts are poor in bird-
life; the woodpeckers I have before described, small flocks of
buntings (E. rustica), bramblings, and two species of the genus.
Parus were almost the only noticeable kinds. One bird, however,
wMch I have not yet mentioned, appeared tolerably common—
the sober-coloured, but graceful dark ouzel (Merula obscura, Gmel.)
I met with it many months later, amid very different surroundings,
in the depths of a Bornean jungle. It is migratory in its habits,
nesting in Siberia and passing the winter in the Malay Islands.
By the rivers there is more life. Many of the so-called sea-
birds haunt the streams for a considerable distance inland, and at
Stari-ostrog we found large flocks of a gull closely resembling our
own Kittiwake (Bissa tridactyla). A graceful tern (S. longipennis,
Nordm.) was almost equally numerous at the same place, but we
did not again meet with it for some time, and on our return to
Petropaulovsky it had already departed for the warmer regions of

122 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
the south. Corvine birds are abundant wherever there are fish,
and large flocks of the common crow (0. cor one) are always to be
found perched on the trees in the vicimty of the rivers, or pecking
at the piles of dead fish rotting on the banks. The familiar chatter
of a magpie, which differs but slightly from our own bird, is as
common a sound in Kamschatka as it is in England, and the
rigours of an Arctic winter appear to have had no sobering effect
upon his character.1 Eavens too are here, and by the side of the
stream runs the Wood Sandpiper (T. glareola), almost the only bird
of this genus that we noticed on our journey. The surface of the
water is dotted with various species of duck, of which mallard and
teal 2 are perhaps the commonest. Like everything else, they too
seem to regard the dead salmon as a source of food, for in many of
those we shot the crop was full of maggots.
We halted for our mid-day meal on the banks of a httle stream
a few versts beyond Puschma, and while engaged in discussing our
wonted dish of cold grouse a fine eagle flew over us, wMch we were
fortunate enough to secure. It was only winged by the shot, and
made such a determined resistance to our efforts to secure it, that
we eventually had to give it the contents of another barrel. It
proved to be a female Erne (Saliaetus albicilla) in not quite mature
plumage, measuring six feet eight inches across the wmgs. The crop
contamed the remains of salmon, and the bird smelt so atrociously
from its prolonged fish diet, and was so fat, that the operation
of skinning it was anything but a pleasant one. It was the first
example we had obtained, but we afterwards found the species
common towards the lower part of the Kamschatka Eiver. The
magnificent Pallas's Eagle (TJialassaetus pelagicus) we did not meet
with until we had reached the neighbourhood of the great volcanoes.
While we ate our meal we watched Verglaski, slow-moving
•
1 This species is another instance of the tendency to white in the birds of this
region. It has the extension of that colour on the wings characteristic of the Central
Asian Magpie (P. leucoptera, Gould), but even more developed.
2 The Teal were of two species — Q. crecca, and another, of which we did not
preserve any specimens. It is, I believe, Q. falcata of Pallas.

vi.] SALMON. 123
and solemn as ever, occupying himself in securing Ms own dinner.
He waded leisurely into the stream, just as a bear would, and stood
placidly watcMng the water for his prey. He was evidently an
old hand at the business, and would have sniffed disdainfully at
any ordinary kelt. No miserable half-dead Garbusa, such as sledge-
dogs are fed on, would have contented him. As a bear-dog, he felt
such diet to be beneath him, and, like a true fisherman, looked out
for the clean fish. There were not many of them, although the
half-rotten corpses on the bank spoke of the numbers of salmon
that had at an earlier part of the year frequented the stream. I
cannot hope to convey to my readers any idea of the enormous
multitudes that yearly visit the rivers of Kamschatka. Krashen-
inikov, writing more than one hundred years ago, says, " The fish
come from the sea m such numbers that they stop the course of
the rivers, and cause them to overflow the banks ; and when the
waters fall there remains a surprising quantity of dead fish upon
the shore, which produces an intolerable stink ; and at this time
the bears and dogs catch more fish with their paws than people do
at other places with their nets."1 We had no opportunity of seeing.
the advent of the salmon, owing to the lateness of our visit ; and the
death of the fish is of course not due to the subsidence of the
water, as he seems to imply. But that the rest of the statement
is devoid of exaggeration we had abundant opportunities of provmg.
None of us, unfortunately, were ichthyologists, and the rapidity with
which we were obliged to travel through the country, combined
with difficulties of transport and the want of spirit and receptacles,
prevented our preserving specimens. In the following paragraphs
I have embodied my notes upon the salmon of Kamschatka with
the statements we obtained from our hunters.
Every year the various kinds of salmon arrive at the mouths of
the Kamschatkan rivers with surprising regularity. The date of
the advent of these different species extends from May to mid-
1 " The History of Kamschatka," translated by James Grieve, M.D., Gloucester,
1764, p. 143.

124 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
August ; but each has its own time of arrival, which, from its con
stancy, appears to be more or less independent of seasonal
influences. A few fish apparently remain at or about the river
mouths during the summer, and eventually return to the sea, but
these are so few as to be scarcely worthy of mention. The vast
majority — practically all, in fact — ascend the streams to spawn, and,
having once done so, die. In the case of some species every fish
appears to perish ; in others, to which I shall refer, a few get back
to the sea.
The kelts of these salmon exhibit, though in a far more
intensified degree, the changes that are noticeable in our own
salmon after spawning. The jaws are prolonged and hooked, and
the teeth much developed. The back becomes somewhat humped —
in one species enormously so — and the skin of that region so hyper-
trophied and spongy as to conceal the scales. Simultaneously the
colour of the body surface changes, becoming livid or dusky, and
blotched with red patches, or even entirely red. The flesh gets
paler in colour and tasteless, and the whole aspect of the fish
denotes its unfitness for food. As they ascend the river the
salmon keep close together in large shoals, each fish keeping to
the shoal of its own species and not mmgling with others. Later
in the year, after spawning-time, they of course become indiscrimin
ately mixed.
During our visit to, and journey through the country, we met
with at least six different species of the Salmonidse in abundance.
That there were others I am quite sure, but in the following list I
have limited myself to noticing those only about which we personally
obtained mformation : —
1. OncorhyncJius orientalis (Pall.) — Known to the Kamschatkans
as the Tchervitchi, this fish is the king of the Salmonidre both as
regards size and flavour. On first arrival the Tchervitchi is silvery,
the back ancl upper surface dark, and marked with dark spots, which
also extend on to the dorsal fin and tail. The fish may have a
length of four feet or more, and are rather broad : their extreme

vi.] THE TCHERVITCHI. 125
weight was given by Afanasi as " over two poocls," which would be
72 lbs. We did not see any fish of this, size, but a salmon, most
probably of this species, was caught by the Dido's men in 1855, the
weight of which is given by Tronson as 76 lbs. There is no doubt
that they commonly run to as much as fifty or sixty pounds. The
Tchervitchi is proper to the Kamschatka and Okhotsk Seas, ap
parently not being found elsewhere. Accordmg to Steller, it only
frequents the larger rivers, and does not exist to the north of the
56th parallel. He gives the date of its arrival as April 20th for
the Kamschatka Eiver, May 10th for the Bolchaia-reka, and June
for the rivers in Avatcha Bay. Accordmg to Afanasi, it comes up
the Kamschatka Eiver " early in May," and gets out of season
in July. It certainly appears, as far as we could learn from
the natives, to wait for some days at the mouths of the rivers
before ascending them, which it does in shoals so large that,
as Pallas tells us,1 a little wave of water is driven up in front of
them. We did not meet with the Tchervitchi until we got to the
Kamschatka Eiver in early September. The inhabitants had then
long since ceased catching them, and very few remained in the
river. The balagans and drying sheds were, however, full of them,
and many seemed not to have been in quite clean condition at the
time of catching. As a kelt, the fish becomes marked with red on
the sides, producing a streaked appearance, and the rostrum be
comes hooked, especially in the male, though apparently not nearly
to the same extent as in the Garbusa and other species. From the
time of entering the river the Tchervitchi is said by Pallas never
to feed. We made no mquiries of the people as to this point, but
they told us that a certain, though very small proportion of this
species do not die, but manage eventually to regain the sea. The
flesh is of a rather pale red in colour, and is esteemed by the natives
above that of any other fish.
2. OncorhyncJius lycaodon (Pall.) — This salmon is known to
1 " Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica," vol. iii. p. 368.

126

KAMSCHATKA.

[chap.

Kamschatkans x as the Krasnaya riba or red fish, but the name is
invariably shortened to Krasna. In shape and general appearance
it resembles our own salmon. On its first appearance in the rivers
it is silvery, the belly white, the back dark with a bluish shade and
almost without spots. In length it reaches three feet or more, and
large examples would, I should think, scale over thirty pounds.
It is found in the Okhotsk and Kamschatkan seas, and extends
across to the American coast.2 In the peninsula it seems to frequent
large and small rivers alike, ascending the streams about the end
of May or beginning of June, later than the Tchervitchi, but before

KELT OF haiko. (Oncorhynchus lagocephaliis.)
the Haiko and Garbusa. Towards the end of August the Krasna
is completely out of condition. It becomes a bright red all over
like a gold fish, and both jaws get prolonged and hooked, while at
the same time the teeth are wonderfully enlarged. None of the
fish ever reach the sea after spawning — at least so we were informed
by the natives ; — ancl as tMs species is one of the most plentiful of
all the Kamschatkan salmon, their bodies strew the banks in nearly
as great numbers as the Garbusa.
3. Oncorhynchus lagocephalus (Pall.) — The trivial name of this
fish is given by Steller 3 as Kaiko, but we found it invariably known
as the Haiko. It is not unlike the preceding species (0. lycaodon),
¦ 1 I have here and elsewhere used this term comprehensively as " an inhabitant of
Kamschatka.'- It should not be confounded with Kamschatdale — the name applied to
one of the original races inhabiting the peninsula
2 Steller, " Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka. "
3 Op. cit. p. 157.

vi.] THE GARBUSA. 127
the back being dark greenish, the sides silvery, and the belly white,
but it differs in the greater bluntness of the rostrum and the pale
colour of the flesh. It appears, as a rule, to run smaller than the
Krasna : its area of distribution is said to be similar. It arrives at
the mouth of the Kamschatkan rivers some httle time after the
Krasna and Tchervitchi, but its advent coincides more or less with
the Garbusa or Hump-backed Salmon. About mid- July1 this
species ascends the streams, and is caught m great numbers. Later,
the kelts show much the same changes as those of the Krasna, the
jaws becoming much hooked ; but they never acquire the deep and

kelt op garbusa. (Oncorhynchus proteus.)
generally-diffused red of the latter species, that colour being usually
confined to small patches on the belly and under surface. A species
of bread is said by Kittlitz and others to be made of the Haiko, but
we did not see it.
4. Oncorhynchus proteus (Pall.) is known to the inhabitants of
the country as the Garbusa or Hump-back. On arrival from the
sea tMs fish is said to be without any trace of the extraordinary
development of the back from which it takes its name. It is with
out spots, except upon the tail — which is deeply forked — and is
very silvery. It is said to frequent the rivers of the Okhotsk Sea
and those of some of the Aleutian Islands, as well as Kamschatka.
EougMy speaking, its length is from eighteen to twenty-four mches,
1 I have also got "mid- June" in my notes, but I think the date given above is
probably the correct one.

128 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
and its weight seldom above fifteen pounds. As a rule it is
considerably less.
The Garbusa swims up the rivers in company with the Haiko,
and is the most abundant of all the Salmonidae in Kamschatka.
According to Pallas, the hump begins to appear even before the fish
has spawned, and is generally supposed by the natives to result
from the efforts made in ascending the stream ! Its enormous
development in the kelts can best be realised by reference to the
annexed illustration. Both jaws become hooked at the same time,
more so, perhaps, than in any other species, and in consequence, in
an old kipper the mouth does not nearly close. Until the death
of the fish the gibbosity increases, and the colour of the body-
surface becomes more and more livid and brown, the sides and
under part being irregularly blotched with blood-red. The vast
majority of this species die in the month of August, and though
some few live till the middle of September, the natives told us that
none return to the sea. The flavour of the flesh is said to be very
good when the fish first come up the river, but the Garbusa is
looked upon almost as the dogs' private property, and is not much
eaten by the natives. In the balagans and drying sheds it in
variably occupies the lowest tier of all. The female fish is described
by Pallas as much smaller than the male, and very much less
numerous ; the hump does not become so largely developed and the
mandibular hooks are absent or slight. We did not, however, meet
with many individuals agreeing with this description.
5. Oncorhynchus sanguinolentus (Pall.) is the Kisutchi of the
Kamschatkans. The clean fish is silvery, and devoid of red
colouration, despite its specific name. The dark greenish-brown
back is marked with rather large black spots, ancl the snout is
blunt, becoming afterwards developed in a most peculiar manner.
Pallas says that the largest measure three feet and weigh from ten
to twelve pounds,1 but it is evident that a fish of this length would
weigh considerably more. Most of those that we saw towards the
1 "Zoographia Rosso- Asiatica, " vol. iii. p. 379.

vi.] THE GULTSI. 129
lower part of the Kamschatka averaged, I should think, about
twelve or fifteen pounds ; the extreme weights, at a rough guess,
being eight and twenty-five pounds.
The Kisutchi is the last of all the salmon to ascend the rivers.
It arrives about the 10th or 12th of August, and in consequence is
in good condition when most of the other species are uneatable.
In the middle of September we found the majority of them clean
fish, and it is not till the following month that they usually acquire
the blood-stained tinge of the under surface, and the extraordinary
snout to which I have just alluded. The latter presents a smoothly
rounded protrusion about as large as a sixpence, over-hanging
the lower jaw, and giving the fish a very comical expression. We
learnt from our two hunters that the Kisutchi were caught until
November, and Krasheninikov tells us1 that they are found " during
the whole winter in those springs that run into the Kamschatka
from the south," which is possibly due to the fact that the water of
some of these streams is warm. It appears to be a generally-
distributed species, occurring in all the rivers of the penmsula. The
flesh is very pale, almost white.
6. Salmo callaris (Pall.) is the Goletz or Gultsi of the natives.
Krasheninikov says2 that " the largest fish of this species, which
lives sometimes five or six years, comes from the sea into the Eiver
Kamschatka, out of which it goes into the rivers that run into it,
'and by them to the lakes, where it grows almost as big as the
Chavitsi (Tchervitchi), though it seldom weighs more than twenty
pounds. They are found likewise very large m the Bistroy Eiver ;
there their length is commonly twenty-eight inches, and breadth
ten ; they are of a dark colour, have large teeth, and the lower jaw
is crooked with a knob : it seems indeed of a different species.
Those of three years old, which have been one year out of the sea,
have a long head, are of a silver colour, with small scales, and
1 "The History of Kamschatka," p. 148.
2 Op. cit. p. 149.
3 Steller also says,"auf dem Bauch und Plossen Zinnober-roth."
VOL. I. K

130 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
small red spots ; and such as have been two years out of the sea
are round and longish, with small heads ; and their flesh, which is
reddish wMte, is hard and well tasted. With regard to their size,
the first year they are long and small ; the second they grow more
in breadth than m length ; the third the head grows considerably ;
and the fourth, fifth, and sixth years their breadth and thickness
increases greatly: in the fourth year also the lower part to the
snout becomes hooked."
Pallas adds that " these fish enter the rivers from the Eastern
ocean in great numbers ... in order to-hybernate, bemg still with
out spots. They are said to remam torpid during the winter in the

gultsi [Salmo callaris.)
depths of rivers, in shoals of thousands, until at the return of spring
they seek the sea again, from about the 10th to the 20th of May.
They surmount cataracts of whatever height by leaping, and in the
same manner escape from nets one fathom deep. They force their
way into the Kuril Lake near the Eiver Kamschatka,1 notwith
standing a very high cataract, and hybernate in it in large numbers.
Many remain for a long time in the rivers and lakes, but the
greater number return in spring to the sea. When they come up from
the sea they are without the red tint and spots, and shine with
a silvery lustre ; during the ascent they become gradually spotted
with red, while they acquire a more or less red tint beneath the
belly and on the fins, according to the comparative rapidity of the
river currents."
Both the above accounts are very difficult to reconcile with that
1 It is difficult to understand what lake is here meant. The Kuril Lake is at
least 170 miles distant from the nearest point of the Kamschatka River.

vi.] SALMON A LA CHASSEUR. 131
given us by the natives of this fish. In the first place the Gultsi,
as pointed out to us, was a long fish with somewhat rounded sides ;
the under surface of a most beautiful salmon-colour, the body
marked with pink spots, and the back ancl upper surface dark
greenish. The fish were in perfect condition, the coloration being
evidently normal, and not clue in any way to disease. To a
piscatorial, though un-ichthyological eye they were Charr ; a fish
with which I was quite familiar in Lapland lakes and rivers,1 but
they differed hi having the curious, upturned lower jaw to which I
have already alluded.2 The fish that Steller mentions, with their
great breadth (depth) of ten inches, cannot well be of this species ;
and their migratory habits, and the fact that when they come from the
sea they are " without the red tint and spots," is, I believe, opposed
to what is as yet known of the life history of the Charrs. The
natives distinctly told us that the Gultsi remains in the rivers
throughout the year.
Two other species of salmon are mentioned by Steller as
occurring in Kamschatka : — the Kundsha (S. leucommnis) and
Mykysha (S. purpuratus), but we did not meet with either of them.
Late m the afternoon we arrived at some open grassy pools, the
head of a small affluent of the Kamschatka Eiver. Mallard and teal
were abundant, ancl having refilled our larder, we turned our
attention to the numerous salmon that were splashing about in the
shallow water. Whether owing to the fact that the stream was
slightly warm or not I cannot say, but the majority of the fish were
in better condition here than we had hitherto generally found them,
and were m consequence less easy to gaff. After a few minutes'
waiting we were, however, able to obtain our supper in the shape
of two or three fine Kisutchi of from ten to fifteen pounds weight.
Salmon is never eaten to such perfection as in camp-life, where the
interval between its death and digestion is reduced to a minimum ;
1 In some of the lakes in Lapland the Charr grows to a very large size. I have
seen one which scaled over fourteen pounds.
" Vid. ant. p. 99.

132 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.

and whether boiled or fried in steaks, the fish has a dehcacy of
flavour that is rarely met with at a civilised dmner-table. But, of
all methods of cooking it, one is pre-eminent in its excellence.
Cleaned, split, and gutted, the salmon, which should be a small one,
is impaled upon a Y-shaped forked stick, and placed half over the
fire, so that it may be exposed to the occasional action of both
smoke and flame. A certain amount of attention is necessary to
see that it does not get too much of either, and care should be
taken to turn it tolerably frequently. But if properly done — and,
those who have tried it will bear me out — the dish is one fit for the
gods, and loses nothing from the simplicity of the necessary
apparatus. We broke camp at noon on the following day, being witMn
easy distance of Sherowmy, where we calculated on beginning our
river journey. A heavy shower fell as we were striking the tents,
wetting much of our baggage and our ormthological specimens
before we could get them under cover, but the weather soon cleared,
and we continued our march. Our long cavalcade proceeded in
Indian file over the desolate and monotonous stretches of bilberry-
covered open and stunted birch-tMcket, — a type of country wMch,
however exhilaratmg beneath a bright sun, is depressing to a
degree under grey skies and drivmg ram. The wind held steadily
from the west, however, and having made sure of the direction in
which Sherowmy lay, we left the party, and turning our horses
towards the river, devoted the remamder of the day to a search for
bears. We had no sooner taken up our positions by the river-side
than the wind shifted, fell light, and then shifted again, and all
hopes of getting a shot vamshed. Of there being bears m the
vicinity we had abundant evidence, for the banks of the river were
trampled in all directions with their fresh footmarks, among which
it was easy to recognise those of an old animal of great size.1 The
1 Some of these Kamschatkan bears are enormous. One skin in my possession
measures eight feet three inches in length, in spite of the greater part of the head
being wanting.

vi.] SHEROWMY. 133
remams of many half-eaten fish lay on the banks. The bears are
said by Kittlitz and others only to eat the head and upper part
when the salmon are plentiful, but in almost every case we found
that, though the head had been crunched up, it had, together with
the tail and intestines, invariably been rejected. We were never
fortunate enough to witness these animals fishing, but we were
told that they walk slowly mto the water where it is about eighteen
inches in depth, and facing down stream, stand motionless awaiting
their prey. The incautious fish, swimming heedlessly up the river,
doubtless mistakes the bear's broad legs for a rock or tree-stump,
and those who have once witnessed the almost lightning-like
rapidity of a stroke from Bruin's fore-paws will have no difficulty
whatever in completing the drama for themselves. The fish is
apparently always taken to the bank to be devoured, for even
the small ones do not seem to be eaten whole.
Sherowmy, or Sherowm, — for the Kamschatkans are fond of
clipping the exuberance of their words, and turn Kamakoffskaya
into Kamaki, — is a pretty little village of nine houses and forty-
three inhabitants, situated on a branch of the Kamschatka Eiver
close to its junction with the latter. To the south lie a few acres
of level grass and land enclosed by rough fencing, which give a
home -like effect and an air of permanence which is wanting in
most Kamschatkan settlements ; while to the west and north flows
the river, its banks thickly clothed with trees. The people,
although a more or less mixed race, as are those of all the villages
we had hitherto visited, nevertheless exhibited strong evidences
of their Kamschatdale origm, and the high cheek-bones and
general duskiness of complexion were in some cases very notice
able. They were very civil and willing to help us ; and later in
our journey we learnt to hail the preponderance of the Kamschat
dale element with pleasure, for we then felt sure of meeting with
none of the surliness of demeanour and barefaced extortion that
seemed to be the leading characteristics of the half-breed Siberian
Eussians.

134 KAMSCHATKA. [chap. vi.
We held a palaver with the Toyune, or head-man of the village,
shortly after our arrival, and gave him a letter from the Ispravnik,
desiring them to supply us with canoes and men, and to help us to
the utmost of their power. He was probably unable to read it,
as I afterwards discovered Jacof expounding it to him with great
solemnity. I have no doubt, however, that the document lost none
of its force in the rendering, for we were shortly afterwards
supplied with some more cream in addition to that they had
already sent us, and were informed that arrangements should be
made for our start upon the morrow, as we desired. Much as we
all wished to linger on our way, and to yield to the abundant
temptations in the way of sport and natural history that the
country offered us, we felt that we could not do so. We knew
nothing of the length of the river journey that lay before us, and
no one at Sherowmy was able to give us any information on the
subject. The signs of approaching wmter had already begun to
make their appearance. The woods were aglow with autumn
colouring ; the new snow had already fresMy powdered the lower
slopes of the mountains, and the clear frosts to which we now woke
every morning warned us that we had better not delay. On board
the yacht, which was to meet us at the mouth of the river, there was,
of course, no means of knowmg the date of our arrival, and to keep
the ship knocking about a dangerous coast, of which all we knew was
that it was unsurveyed and exposed, would be in late September or
October a decidedly risky proceeding. We accordingly gave up the
plan we had formed of remaining for a short time in the neighbour
hood of Sherowmy, ancl resolved to push on without delav.

CHAPTER VII.
KAMSCHATKA (continued).
We begin the river journey — Our rafts — Bad weather — Werchni Kamschatka —
Melcova — A fish eurral — Replenish our stores — Melcova church — Kuklankas and
parkas — Extortionate demands of the natives — Curious marl cliffs — Mashura —
Rows with the people — Leprosy — Piles of driftwood — Onset of the cold weather
— Tschappina — We sight the great volcanoes — Our camp -life — AVild fruits —
Renewed quarrels with the natives — An awkward dilemma — We win the game.
On the mornmg of September 1st our horse-boys departed on their
return journey to Petropaulovsky. Whether it is owing to the
depression peculiar to the country, so enlarged upon by Kittlitz, I
cannot say, but there seems to be an utter lack of geniality among
these people. They took their wages resignedly, and bade us an
unceremonious adieu. Handshakmg — the kindly custom m Scan
dinavia and other nothern countries on the termination of an
engagement between master and man — appears to be unknown in
Kamschatka. Perhaps after all it was better, for I do not suppose
that any of us felt any great degree of affection for Vodki, and at
a later period of our journey, fist-shakings would have better
expressed our feelings towards the greater proportion of the people
with whom we were brought m contact.
Having despatched a letter to the yacht with instructions as to
the date of departure for the rendezvous at the mouth of the river,
we went down to the stream to make the necessary preparations
for our voyage. The only species of boat used in the interior of
the country is the dug-out canoe, — a clumsily-shaped craft made

136

KAMSCHATKA.

[chap.

from the trunk of the topoyina or poplar-tree. They are generally
about twenty -five or thirty feet long, by two feet in beam and
depth, and are made to a great extent by burning out the mterior
of the tree-trunk selected, the finishing only being done by means
of axes. We were able to procure five of these boats,
and by their aid constructed two rafts in the foUowing
manner. We lashed three together side by side, with
an interval of about one foot between each, taking
care to place the weakest in the middle, and on tMs
foundation placed a platform of poles and axe-hewn
planks amidships, for a length of twelve or fourteen
feet. Over this platform we constructed a rough
shelter -hut, with a birch -bark roof sloping away
behind, and the back and sides composed of water
proof sheets which could easily be furled or removed
when necessary. The other raft, which carried Louis,
Cook, and our two hunters, was made in the same
way, but without the hut ; and owing to its havmg but
two canoes as a foundation, was laden fully up to
where its Plimsoll-mark should have been. Our
natives sat at the head and stern of each canoe, wielding paddles
with a spade-like handle. They were also provided with poles, the
use of which, wherever the river was sufficiently shallow, they
seemed greatly to prefer. Shortly before noon our preparations
were completed, our men waved their adieux to the remaining
tiiree-fourths of the inhabitants of Sherowmy, and pushmg out into
mid-stream, we began our descent of the river.
Immediately below the settlement the branches of the Kams
chatka reunite to form a stream nearly as wide as the Thames at
Hampton Court, but scarcely more than a foot or two in depth.
The current is rather swift, but without rapids, and the only
dangers to be apprehended are the snags beneath the surface of
the water. In the upper part of the river there are not many,
but, lower down, the tremendous freshets which occur on the

vn.] WE BEGIN THE RIVER JOURNEY. 137
melting of the snows carry down trees of large size, piling them
in enormous masses upon the banks, and depositing the water
logged trunks in the shallower parts of the river, a collision with
which would probably result in the sinking of the canoe, from the
liability of these craft to split. We progressed with tolerable
rapidity, averaging about six versts an hour, rejoicing that
stampedes were now tilings of the past, and that there was at
least a possibility of some of our possessions reaching the journey's
end unbroken. The river in its earlier course is very winding,
and Werchni Kamschatka, the next settlement we expected to
reach, although only twelve versts from Sherowmy by land; is
more than six times that distance by river. As far as our own
feelings were concerned, however, we would willingly have pro
longed it yet more, for weather and scenery were alike lovely. The
river ran between pebbly banks lined with birches, whose white-
barked stems contrasted with the brilliant gold of their foliage.
Eeach after reach of still water opened out to us its quiet beauty,
and here and there a little gap revealed a Hobbema-like scene of
sunny distance, whose clearness was unbroken by the waver of a
single leaf. Far away in front rose a range of deep blue hills,
jagged and peaky, patched only with snow, for their southern
slopes had been thawed by the heat of the summer sun. The
calm surface of the water was covered by little packs of duck,
which rose in long lines as our rafts approached, and the smoke of
our guns formed miniature clouds in our wake which hung motion
less above the stream until the rounding of a corner hid them from
our view. We paddled on silently, our natives talking but little.
Now and again the warnmg na pravo, na levo (to the right, to the
left) told of the neighbourhood of a snag, or a shallow bank
necessitated the use of the poles ; but for the most part our progress
was one of uninterrupted quiet, and the laziest of Nature's lovers
could have asked for nothing better than to sit and be paddled
thus for the rest of his natural life.
We saw no four-footed game, with the exception of a couple of

138 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
yellow foxes ( Vulpes fulvus), who sat inspectmg us curiously as we
floated down, and were none the worse for their temerity. Ac
cording to our hunters, these animals are not nearly as common
now as formerly, though from what reason it is difficult to say, as
the skin is of no great value, and they are in consequence not
much hunted. Ducks of the kinds I have already mentioned
were in great numbers, and the Merganser (M. serrator) also
seemed fairly abundant. It was of course impossible for us to
reach Werchni Kamschatka before nightfall, so, having made
about forty versts, we landed on one of the broad pebbly beaches,
where the spring freshets had already collected abundant firewood
for us, and pitched our camp. The Sherowmy men had a simple
but effective plan of cooking duck that I had never seen before. The
bird is plucked with care, so as to leave the skin unbroken, and
is not drawn. A stick is forced down the throat, and the other
end stuck into the ground close to the fire. The effect produced
when a party of a dozen are thus cooking their suppers is not a
little absurd: it is as if the camp-fire had burst into a perfect
girandole of naked ducks, who fly quacking from it m open-
mouthed alarm.
We had hitherto been favoured with far finer weather than
that usually to be expected during late autumn, but the next day
dawned threateningly, and before long fulfilled its promise to the
utmost. A pall of thick leaden clouds with ragged edges hung
over us, and a steady downpour that showed every prospect of
continuance soon commenced. Hour after hour we paddled on
through the driving rain, and it was not until after mid-day that
we stepped ashore, wet and cold, at the hamlet of Werchni Kams
chatka. Like most of these places, it is composed of a bare dozen
of huts, with a total population of less than fifty souls; but it
enjoys the distinction of being the only settlement on the Kams
chatka Eiver that is marked on the English chart of the country.
In bygone days it may have merited it, for it was one of the first
ostrogs established by the Eussians after their conquest of the

IBs

Vii.] A FISH CURRAL. 139
peninsula. Now, however, Melcova must be regarded as the
chief town of the interior, and its proximity — for it is only fifteen
versts distant — must always effectually keep its rival in check.
We were glad to get warm and partially dried at the house of the
head-man before starting again for this latter place. Some few
signs of cultivation were apparent : a few potatoes and turnips,
and a small field of rye, the first cereal we had met with since
our arrival in the country. It looked miserable enough under the
pouring rain, and probably had little if any chance of ripening.
Three more hours of rain and paddling brought us to Melcova.
It was ahnost too wet for shooting, but we noticed two or three
small parties of the red-necked Phalerope (L. hyperboreus) on our
passage. Those that we obtained were in autumn plumage, and
were most probably on their way to warmer latitudes. But few
duck were to be seen. They had m all probability betaken
themselves to the marshes at the onset of the rain, and the river
was devoid of hfe. Before reaching the village an elaborate
arrangement of fishing -stakes gave warning of the presence of
what in Kamschatka may be termed civilisation. The stakes
stretched right across the stream from bank to bank, but we
found a small gap at the side sufficient to admit of the passage of
a single canoe, and capable of being still further enlarged by
pressing down the stakes. The arrangement for taking the fish
consisted in the construction of small currals at intervals of about
fifteen yards. These were long bottle -shaped baskets on the
lobster -pot principle, furnished with doors opening at the lower
end, by means of which the fish could be secured by gaff or
otherwise. We learnt that there were very strict rules with
regard to the complete barring of the river at this spot. The
inhabitants are obliged to leave a free passage for the fish at the
time of their first arrival in the spring, and also on certain days in
the week or month at a later period. But for this arrangement
the people of Sherowmy and Werchni Kamschatka would of
course be without means of subsistence during the winter months.

140 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
The head-man of the village received us on landing — a person
of far higher class than any we had hitherto met, and apparently
of unmixed Eussian blood. He was the keeper of a small store,
and owned a capital little log -built house, which we found un
inhabited, and apparently intended for the reception of passing
travellers. This he at once placed at our disposal. Tired and
wet as we were, the prospect of pitchmg camp in a sea of mud
was not a pleasant one, and breaking through our usual rule, we
accepted his offer with pleasure. Before long we were enjoying
the unaccustomed luxury of a chair, and were able to skin our birds
in tolerable comfort for the first time smce leavmg Petropaulovsky.
Melcova owes its origin to an experiment. With the view of
encouraging the cultivation of the land and of making something
more of the country than a mere hunting district, where the in
habitants caught enough salmon during the summer to enable
them to go after the sables in the wmter, a small colony of Eussian
peasants were settled here in 1743, who were to devote themselves
entirely to agriculture. The result has been to a certain extent
successful, for the community is a tolerably flourishing one,
and with its population of over two hundred, is the most im
portant settlement in Upper Kamschatka. It may, nevertheless,
be doubted if the cultivation of the land has contributed to any
great extent to its success, for, from the severity and uncertainty
of the climate, the prospects of the farmer are as little encouraging
here as they are anywhere, and there are probably the full average
of sable -hunters in Melcova. But there are small fields and
gardens, and a number of cows, which combine to give the place
a more home-like ancl settled aspect than is usual in most Kams
chatkan villages.
A great portion of our own interest in the place centred, I must
confess, in the store. Here, in a space of about twelve feet by
eight, we found flour, tea, sugar, candles, axes, and a few odds
and ends for sale, but there were no sables or other furs as we
had hoped. We had run short both of tea ancl sugar, and were

vn.] MELCOVA. 141
glad to be able to get them. The so-called brick-tea is, of course,
the only kind m use here, as in other parts of Siberia. It is made
in cakes about ten mches by five, and three-quarters of an inch in
thickness, squeezed flat by hydraulic pressure, and stamped with
large CMnese characters; and were it only of better quality,
it would be admirable for rough travel from its portability, and
the impossibility of its becoming spoilt by wet. Brick-tea is to
a Kamschatkan what coffee is to a Lapp. It is found in the
very poorest and most miserable hut, and is regarded as just as
much a necessary of life as tobacco. That sugar should also be
highly esteemed by the natives is only what might be expected
in these latitudes, but its price places it beyond the reach of most.
We obtained some at the rate of eighteenpence a pound, but when
Dobell visited Kamschatka in 1812 it was sold for as much as five
roubles. Melcova boasts of a resident pope and a church ; the latter a
log-built edifice, which was moved many years ago from Werchni
Kamschatka. It is not ornamental, and is painted red on one side
only. The pope received us at the porch, and showed us the interior
with evident pleasure ; while we, as in duty bound, did our best to
assume the necessary air of charmed approval. It must be confessed
that it was no easy matter, for the building was completely bare
inside, and the walls were covered with English bedroom paper of
the commonest kind, set off by an occasional breadth of another
pattern, in wMch pink roses on a bright blue ground displayed
themselves in the full atrocity of the early Victorian epoch. Over
the altar were a few oil-paintings of saints, one or two of which
were passably good.
In the same inclosure as the church, but apart from it, as is the
usual custom, stands a little square belfry containing seven bells of
peculiarly sweet tone. One is inscribed with the date 1761 ; the
others are more recent. The church itself, we were told, was so
old as to be beyond repair, and another one was in course of
erection close by, the logs of which were of very large size. The

142 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
whole of the labour and material necessary for its construction was
being gratuitously given by the inhabitants. I am obliged to record
the fact that the building did not appear to be progressing with
very great rapidity.
The weather of the previous day showed little signs of improv-
ment. A biting wind with ram and sleet at intervals made us not
sorry that we had settled to take a Sunday's rest here. Some
fifteen miles or so to the eastward is a fine range of mountains
about five thousand feet in height, which the downpour of the day
before had covered to the lower slopes with fresh snow. Here ancl
there a passing touch of sunlight fell upon the peaks and threw
them out in bold relief against the leaden sky. But, late and cold
as it was, the fishing had not ceased, and by the river-side they
were cleaning and preparing Kisutchi — the latest salmon that
visits Kamschatkan waters. Numbers of the King Salmon (0.
orientalis) hung drymg in the balagans; many of very large size.
The current of the river is rather swift here and at Werchni, and
we learnt that it does not usually freeze completely over until the
end of January. It would seem as if the severity of the frost were
never very great until that month. The snow invariably falls
throughout the country in October, or even earlier, but it is seldom
fit for sledge-travelling until November.
While at Melcova we tried to get some of the remdeer-skin
dresses of the country, as we had already felt the cold considerably
in European clothes, and knew that at tMs season the thermometer
would sink steadily from day to day. They had none for sale in
the settlement, and we had to send over to Werchni Kamschatka
for them. These dresses are of two kinds, the kuklankas and parkas,
and are merely loose sacques composed of pieces of remdeer-skin
beautifully dressed, and sewn together with thread made from the
sinew of the animal, just as are the "karosses" of South Africa.
They are provided with a large bearskin hood, and are put on over
the head without fastening of any kind. The rest of the costume
is composed of a pair of breeches of like nature, and boots almost

VII.]

KUKLANKAS AND PARKAS.

143

exactly resembling those m use in Lapland, — made of soft leather
throughout, the sole included. The toe is slightly turned up,
probably to keep the feet in place when in snow-shoes, and the

OUR COSTUME ON THE LOWER KAMSCHATKA.

boot is tightly stuffed with fine hay, which is intended to supply
the place of stocking and sole combined. The kuklanka is merely
a double parka, having the fur both outside ancl inside.
On the morning of the 4th September we left Melcova and

144 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
resumed our journey down the river. We had hitherto only been
able to buy one canoe, and in consequence were in need of four
others with which to make our rafts. These they refused to sell
us, but offered to lend them, together with men to take us on to
Mashura, the nearest settlement, for fifty roubles ! The silver
rouble being nearly three and sixpence, and the distance only sixty
versts — rather less than forty miles — we at once refused, regarding
the demand merely as one of the common incidents of bargaining,
and expecting it very soon to be considerably reduced. We were
rather astonished that there was no sign of anything of the kmd,
and after waiting some time we had ourselves to return to the
charge. In vain we threw the Ispravmk at their heads : we had a
discussion of an hour and a half's duration, which at last ended in
our agreemg to pay forty roubles, but under protest. At the same
time we informed them that we should lay the matter before the
Ispravnik on our return to Petropaulovsky.
It was two or three hours after sunrise before we got fairly
under way. The weather was gloomy and cold, but with the
exception of one heavy shower, we escaped without much ram.
Shortly after leaving Melcova the character of the river scenery
changes. For • the first time on our journey we noticed the pine
and spruce, and welcomed them with pleasure, as a relief from the
wearisome monotony of poplar, birch, and alder. Here and there
curious mud cliffs bank in the stream ; often eighty feet or more
in height, and nearly perpendicular.1 The men begged that we
would not fire while passing under them, lest a landslip should
occur ; and apparently with reason, for the soil appears to be con
stantly crumbling away, and little cascades of dust poured un-
brokenly from the face of the banks as we paddled beneath. In
one place we noticed a chalybeate spring welling up close to the
water's edge, while others of pure water seemed abundant at the
base of these earthy cliffs.
1 These hanks of reddish marl, known by the name of yar, appear to be not un
common in Siberia. The town of Krasnojarsk on the Yenisei is thus named from
their existence in the vicinity.

vn.] MASHURA. 145
Losing sight of the range near Melcova no more mountains are
seen, and Mashura, a village of fourteen houses and eighty-eight
inhabitants, has but little to recommend it in the way of scenery.
Excepting at the settlements no boat is ever met with, and voyaging
on the Kamschatka is regarded by the natives as an affair of some
moment. Our approach was accordingly heralded by numerous
discharges of blank cartridge from the guns of our raftmen, and as
we stepped ashore shortly after sunset we found the head-man
awaiting us, together with a considerable proportion of the inhabit
ants. Anxious to prevent a "ring" between them and the men
we had brought from Melcova, we approached the subject of canoes
for our further journey as quickly as we could. But we had been
anticipated, and we began to see that henceforward extortion was
to be the order of the day in every case in which we were brought
in contact with these people. They refused to sell us canoes, and
demanded sixty roubles to take us on a distance of as many versts,
— a rate which would have left us with empty pockets before we
had got half way down the river. For a small birch-bark jar of
milk they asked half a rouble, and charged in like proportion for
other articles. In. these cases, however, our line of action was
simple. We took the firings at once, placed them inside the tents,
and paid what we considered the proper sum. They refused the
money, and when we turned m for the night without having come
to any definite settlement for the following day, the relations
between us had become considerably strained.
Mashura was, in bygone days, one of the largest Kamschatdale
settlements in the centre of the peninsula, but smallpox — the
disease so fatal on its first mtroduction among uncivilised nations —
broke out in 1767, and ravaged the country to such a frightful
extent that it is said to have killed nearly three-quarters of the
natives, and the village has smce dwmdled down to its present
insignificant size. The people were short, but strong-looking men,
with scanty beards and straight hair, which was either light or dark,
according to the preponderance of Eussian or native blood. Most
VOL. I. L

146 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
/1o*t± 
of them were clothed in leather breeches and the boots I have
already described, with the ordinary loose blue shirt of the Eussian
peasant, but some had already commenced to wear the parka.
These are not all of reindeer, which is not a common animal except
among the Koriaks, but are also made of bear and dog fur, although
the dogs are not grown for the purpose, as is the case in Lapland.
If leprosy be in any way connected with a diet in which fish is
one of the cMef constituents, as is by some supposed to be the case,
in no country in the world should it be more prevalent than in
Kamschatka. Dr. Dybowski had assured me that it was very
common, and had shown me photographs in which the expression
of the disorder appeared identical with that unfortunately so
frequent in Norway. But the only case wMch came under our
notice was at this place, and smce the sufferers do not appear to be
secluded in any way, it is only fair to conclude that, in the interior
of the country at least, the disease cannot be very prevalent.
Syphilis is, unhappily, very general, but its effects are now far less'
terrible than on its first introduction.
We paddled merrily down stream in spite of the still unsettled
arguments as to the price we were to pay our men. Below '
Mashura the pines become more numerous, and the perpendicular
mud cliffs are a characteristic feature of the river. Beneath these
we found the depth of the stream to be often as much as eighteen
or twenty feet, but the mean depth is probably not more than half
as great. Huge piles of driftwood block the banks of every low
promontory, and testify to the enormous force and volume of the
stream upon the breaking up of the ice, — a phenomenon which can
dimly be realised from the wonderfully graphic description of Mr.
Seebohm in his " Siberia in Asia." Owmg to the increased depth
of the water, snags became less frequent and navigation easier ; but
the size of our rafts prevented us from making more than five
versts an hour, a rate that our log, frequently heaved and with
corrections applied for the current, told us to be fairly constant.
Hitherto we had been able with the greatest ease to shoot as

vn.] BIRDS. 147
many cluck as were daily required for our party. At this part of
the river, however, there were much fewer, but the birds of prey
had considerably increased in numbers. The Ernes (IT. albicilla)
and Hobbies (H. subbuteo) were most common, and we procured a
fine pair of the former. Neither of these species was shy, but it
was only with considerable difficulty that we were able to get
withm shot of the Ospreys, which we found hawking the river in
pairs, but less abundantly. We also shot a specimen of the Bed-
throated Diver, but our ormthological collection progressed but
slowly, the number of species presenting themselves being ex
tremely limited. In spite of the apparent absence of fish — for here
but few lay dead upon the banks — the spoor of bear was as plentiful
as ever, and an occasional one was more than once visible as we
floated down. But unfortunately our journey had now resolved
itself mto a race against time, and delay was out of the question.
We broke camp long before dawn on the mornmg of the 6th
September, and were afloat once more at 6.30 a.m. The morning
was fine, but bitterly cold, ancl as the sun rose, the trees and long
dank grass, glittering with the thick hoar frost, presented a rather
more wintry scene than we desired. We were glad enough to
seize the paddles and get what exercise was possible, and after two
or three hours' sharp work we arrived at a bend in the river where
a birch-bark hut and two or three canoes appeared to indicate the
neighbourhood of a settlement. Not a soul was to be seen, but we
learnt that Tschappina — a little hamlet of six houses — lay some
five or six versts distant from the river, and at once despatched
Afanasi to get what men he could. In three or four hours he
returned, accompanied by four natives, but only two canoes were
fit for use. The Mashura men, after some talkmg, offered one of
theirs for the modest sum of forty roubles, and after half an hour's
wrangling, we eventually became the purchasers for thirty. Its
actual market value was less than ten, but we felt that if we could
only get two more, we should be entirely independent of the natives,
and considered it cheap. A further row then took place with

148 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
regard to the price to be paid for the distance we had already gone,
and when we eventually got off we discovered that we had lost
five hours and a certain amount of temper to boot.
We floated silently down stream for a couple of hours or more,
thmking over the discussions that, we knew only too well, would
be renewed at the earliest opportunity, when, turning a sudden
corner, we found ourselves face to face with a view that banished
all thoughts of past and future annoyances in a moment. Before
us, eighty miles or more away, stood one of the grandest groups of
volcanoes in the known world. Others there are, it is true, that
are higher, although in most cases the elevation of the ground from
which they take their rise detracts in no little degree from their
apparent height. But here, from a base elevated scarce a hundred
feet above the sea, a series of cones of the most exquisitely-
symmetrical shape rose in heights varying from twelve to seventeen
thousand feet. They were three in number. Nearest us was
Tolbatchinska, dog-toothed in shape, with its apex on the western
side, a long thin puff of white smoke drifting from its shoulder ;
and beyond, apparently in close proximity to one another, rose the
twin peaks of Kojerevska and Kluchefskaya, perfect m their outline,
— pyramids of the purest snow, before which one felt how poor was
all language to express the sense of their perfect beauty. 'Snow
mountains were no novelty to us. We had seen the Andes and the
Alps, and had watched the sun rise on Cotopaxi, on Etna, on
Fujiyama, and a dozen other mountains of equal note. But here
all questions of comparison would have been a sacrilege, and
floating noiseless over the unruffled surface of the river we sat
spellbound, drinking in the view. The sun sank slowly as we
crept along, and slope and peak, at first a dazzling white, turned
slowly to a glowmg gold. On either hand the fast-approachmg
night had changed the glories of the autumn tints to a sombre
shade of violet, and behind us the river was a mere streak of b>ht.
The bright glow of the fire upon the other raft lit up the bearded
faces of our Eussian guides around it, and when the daylight had

vn.] LIFE IN CAMP. 149
fairly waned, the head of Kluchefskaya stood out a pale greenish
white, — a spectral mountain against the fast darkening sky. Come
what might, even if we were never again to get a glimpse of them,
we had seen the great volcanoes, and we felt that the sight was
one that we should not easily forget for many years to come.
Constant practice, together with the " division of labour," had
by this time rendered the pitchmg of our camp an affair of a few
minutes only. Pressed as we were for time, we had to continue
paddling until it became too dark to see. the snags or sunken rocks
ahead. The rafts were then run ashore at the nearest beach and
the site for the tents selected. In this we had the choice of two
evils — the rough ground and rank vegetation of the forest above,
and the stony or sandy beach by the water's edge. We always
chose the latter, owing to the difficulty of clearing the forest, but it
must be confessed that the greater cold and damp of the river-
banks almost outweighed their advantages. The cooking of the
dinner, which the indefatigable Spiridione had nearly completed
on the raft, received its finishing touches at the new fire, and
almost before the tents were pitched the usual menu awaited our
approval. It was not a varied one certainly, but it was the most
luxurious I have ever experienced in camp -life. Soup a la
cJiasseur, boiled salmon, stewed capercailzie or grouse, teal a la
Kamschatdale, bilberry jam, and tea or coffee form a very respect
able meal for a traveller whose appetite has been sharpened by the
keen air of a northern autumn ; and it was but seldom that we
failed to do justice to it. And when the journals had been written
up and the birds skinned, and we smoked our last pipe at the
enormous fire before turning in, we felt that, but for the natives,
Kamschatka was as pleasant a country for camping as we had ever
experienced. We were usually afloat again before six o'clock, but our
departure was somewhat delayed on the following morning by the
unmtentional cold bath of one of the members of our party. It is
doubtless something of a surprise to the system to find oneself at

150 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
early dawn, with the thermometer below freezing, struggling in
an icy river with all one's furs on, but the unlucky bather was
soon ashore, and a sharp rub-down at the camp-fire soon restored
both Ms circulation and his equanimity. The day was once more
bright and clear, and the distant peaks looked magmficent in the
morning sun. As we drew nearer, the mountains opened out, and'
the western slopes of Tolbatchinska no longer hiding Kojerevska,
the latter volcano appeared, from this point of view at least, as a
perfect cone of regular shape, which half concealed the equally
regular and still higher peak of Kluchefskaya, the king of the
volcanoes of Kamschatka. Other mountains too had come in view.
To the north and west of Kluchi,1 but in close proximity to it, the
smoothly-rounded summit of Uskovska rose above the dark line of
forest, and far away to the eastward two isolated and nameless
cones of graceful shape appeared on the horizon, which, in spite of
their eight or nine thousand feet, are recorded in no map.2
At this part of the river the conspicuous marl cliffs disappear,
and the pmes are replaced by aspens, a tree of which we had
hitherto seen but little. Landmg in the afternoon to take photo
graphs and observations, we came upon quantities of the cherunka
or wild cherry. The fruit is black, and of the size of a large
black currant ; very sweet, but -with a peculiar sloe-like astringent
after-taste. The delicious Scandmavian moltebceer we did not
meet with, but our common raspberry and red currant are in some
places plentiful. The latter fruit is, in our- English gardens,
scarcely worth eating, but in the wild state it is very sweet and
palatable. Eleven hours' steady paddling brought us, at 6 p.m., to three
deserted balagans, without fish, and with nothing to indicate the
presence of a human being save four canoes hauled high and dry
upon the bank. We learnt that Tolbatchik, a village that we
1 To the natives, with their love of contractions, the great mountain is thus
invariably known.
2 These we have since named Mount Gordon and Mount Herbert Stewart.

vn.] QUARRELS WITH THE NATIVES. 151
expected to find here, is not situated on the Kamschatka, but upon
a tributary stream which joins the main river some forty versts
lower down. There is a short cut overland, however, and we
settled to camp and despatch Jacof Ivanovitch to the village at
daybreak on the following morning for a fresh relay of men.
Close to the camp we shot a large blue hare, the pats of which
were very much developed, and clothed with the thickest fur.
This, curiously enough, was the only one we met with during the
whole journey. The sunset was strikingly beautiful. The eastern
sky was a deep purple, and the snowy peaks so bright a rose-colour,
that no painter would have dared to transfer them to canvas. But
the appearance of the weather was unmistakeable, and we set to
work at once to dig deep trenches round the tents in anticipation
of the coming ram.
The morning broke as we had foreseen. The wind had shifted
to the south, and the rain descended with a steadiness that boded
a long continuance. The dull leaden sky reminded us of our
native land, and the heavy mist seemed to render even the inside
of the tents almost as wet and chilly as the sopping grass without.
The natives had retired to their tent, and Verglaski alone, slow and
imperturbable as ever, seemed unaffected by the weather. Jacof
had started early for Tolbatchik, and there was nothing to be done
until Ms return. We went in search of birds, either for preserva
tion or the pot, but hardly a living creature was to be seen, and a
hobby, an owl (Surnia ulula), and a small thrush (T. fuscatus, 6m.)
were, the only specimens we obtained. The afternoon, however,
was relieved from dulness by our natives, though in a manner that
was anything but agreeable, for we found ourselves involved in a
renewal of the endless wranglings and discussions of which we had
already had more than enough. The Mashura men applied for
their money, stating that they wanted to return. Four of them
had gone back at Tschappina, but the other four had come on with
us, and to these we tendered a sum exactly proportionate to that
they had already received for the first part of their journey. This,

152 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
with a very offensive manner, they refused to take, and after some
discussion among themselves, retired again to their tent. The
conduct of these men had been anything but agreeable in every
particular. They had always refused to help us in any way with
the ordmary work of the camp, such as getting wood or carrying
the baggage from the rafts; and on our sending Afanasi in the
morning to cross the river and mspect two canoes upon the farther
bank, they would not lend him one of their boats unless he paid
them something. We also discovered that the canoe which we
had bought from them only two days before had been split from
stem to stern, — though whether by accident or design it was
impossible to say, — and would probably prove quite useless after a
few more hours' work.
After some more discussion in their camp — for the natives
always pitched their tent at some distance from ours, and held no
communication either with ourselves or our two Eussian hunters
unless it was absolutely necessary — the Tschappina men now
appeared in a body to say that they must be paid for the distance
they had already accomplished, or they would not accompany us
any farther. This was a most transparent ruse, and we at once
flatly refused their request, knowing that if we gave up our only
hold on them, we should not be able to obtain their canoes for the
farther journey, except by yielding to demands even more ex
orbitant than those they had already made. Our position was not
a very pleasant one. We were getting anxious about the yacht, as
the distance down the river proved to be considerably greater than
we anticipated, and even if we got on without further delay, it
seemed probable that we should still be some days late. Our
stores were getting rather low, and the weather, we knew, would
not hold much longer. Yet here we were, in the very middle of
the country, and as far as regarded our means of transport,
completely at the mercy of the natives, who were perfectly aware
of the strength of their position, and were using it to bleed us to
the last kopeck. Had time been no object to us, we might, no

vn.] AN AWKWARD DILEMMA. 153
doubt, have constructed a couple of tree-trunk rafts of sufficient
buoyancy to float our baggage, but here there were no pines, and
as we had but little rope, we should have had to make use of
willow fastenings. It would have cost us five or six days' hard
work, and grudging almost every hour of delay, we only looked
upon it as a last resource.
— In the evemng Jacof's dripping form appeared at the door of
the tent, where, as philosophically as we could, we sat skinning a
very fat and extremely fishy eagle. He had brought four men with
him. We had thus natives from no less than three settlements in
the camp ; from Mashura, Tschappina, and Tolbatchik ; and as we
got under our reindeer skins for the mght, it was with the feeling
that at least there was abundant material for a very pretty row
upon the morrow.
We were up early, anxious to get the affair over as soon as
possible, for we had settled on our line of action, and had no inten
tion whatever of yielding a single kopeck. The ball was opened by
the Mashura men, who again claimed an exorbitant sum. We
replied by once more making our original offer, which they
refused. They had, it appears, made arrangements with the
Tschappina people, and thinking that by their co-operation they
had got us m a corner from which there was no means of escape
except by our yielding to their demands, they took to their canoes
and paddled away, doubtless thinking that before long we should
be obliged to send after them. The Tschappina men were still
talking among themselves, when a fresh difficulty arose with the
four new-comers from Tolbatchik, who demanded to know what
we were going to give them. We told them that one rouble per
diem was our settled pay for each man, counting three days for
every one day in order to allow for the return journey, but in this
case, as the work would be harder, we would give a rouble and a
half. This offer, wMch was in reality far more than they ought to
have had, — for six shillings a day is, it must be admitted, very
tolerable pay, — they refused, but eventually agreed to go as far as

154 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
the hamlet of Kojerevsky, which, accordmg to them, was over two
hundred versts distant, for the sum of seventy-five roubles.
The Tschappina men now returned to the charge, but we cut
short all discussion by telling them that if they did not accept
our terms, and prepare to come on with us without delay, we
should not pay them a single kopeck for the distance they had
already brought us. Our ultimatum was, however, of no effect, for
they felt quite secure of us, havmg no idea of the plan we had
resolved on; ancl accordingly they retired to their tent to sleep
away the rest of the morning, until we had made up our minds
to yield. We had, nevertheless, one trump card left. It was after all
but a poor one, but we determmed to see what could be done with
it. We had four canoes at our disposal, two belonging to our
Tolbatchik men and two to ourselves. Of the first, one appeared
to be in good condition, the other was patched and leaked in all
directions, and our own craft were in still worse condition. The
split one was expected to founder at any moment, and the other
was so old and rotten that we could in many places push our
fingers through it. Our plan was to lash all four together, and on
the raft thus constructed to pack our party of eleven men and aU
our baggage. We worked with a will, and m a couple of hours
the affair was finished. In point of security it was, perhaps, not
all that could be desired, and contact with a snag would no doubt
have placed us in no very pleasant predicament, but we were thankful
to find that it held together and was capable of supporting us.
We had won the game after all.
We pushed out into mid-stream and shouted a sarcastic good
bye to our enemies. It must have been a bitter moment for them
as they emerged from their tent and saw their legally-earned, as
well as their prospective, roubles rapidly disappearing from their
view, and we forgave them the harmless curses they bestowed upon
us. They were wise enough not to resort to stronger measures,
although all were armed, and in another minute or two we

vn.] WE WIN THE GAME. 155
rounded a corner, and the scene of our late squabbles was lost
to sight. In justice to ourselves I should add that we deposited
the money actually due to these men with the Ispravnik on our
return to Petropaulovsky, but I believe that we should all have
been glad to think that they never got it.
We had patched up our canoes as well as we were able before
starting, and were glad to find that they made but little water,
although the large, and as we had supposed, sound one, proved after
all to be quite as leaky as the others. The weather, which had
been gloomy and threatening, now showed some signs of improve
ment, and our spirits rose with the more promising condition of
our surroundings. The size of our raft was against fast travelling,
but we paddled steadily on, and had made forty versts before
camping for the night. At 6 p.m. we passed the mouth of the
Tolbatchik Eiver, coming in on the right bank ; a tolerably deep
stream with a breadth of about thirty yards at its junction with
the Kamschatka. We held a consultation as to the possibility of
going on all night, but the cold was so great and the passage down
the river so risky from the snags, that we eventually decided
agamst it. An accident to our raft in its present state would have
been something more than a misfortune; it would have meant
little less than absolute disaster.

CHAPTER VIII.
kamschatka (continued).
Morning on the river — We begin the chart — Meet the first and only traveller — Bear-
paths — Land and river birds — The Kamschatkan Marsh Tit — Kojerevsky village
— The Kanuli, or Spirits of the Volcanoes — Increased coldness of the weather —
Uskovska — Fox-trap — Misfortune to our photographic plates — Sunset on the
mountains — The great volcanoes of the Lower Kamschatka — Kluchefskaya and
its eruptions — Sevelitch — Eruptions synchronous with Krakatau — A professional
brother — Cultivation at Kluchi — Loss of Verglaski — Kamakoffskaya — The
Tchoaki — Walrus-schooner Nemo — Thalassaetus pelagicus — We arrive at list
Kamschatka — A Kamschatkan dance — We rejoin the Marchesa.
Our journey of the previous day had made a very perceptible
difference in the appearance of the great volcanic ranges we were
approaching. When we pitched camp it had been too dark and
cloudy even to catch sight of them, and the uncertainty of the
weather rendered it more than probable that we should never
have another opportunity of seeing the peaks in the cloudless
magnificence in which we had been fortunate enough to sight them
for the first time. Before starting on our journey Dr. Dybowski
had cautioned us against being too sanguine in tMs respect, warning
us to take photographs whenever the slightest chance presented
itself, and adding that he had been a fortnight at the base of Kluchi
without ever catching a glimpse of it. We were destined, however,
to be far more fortunate. The camp was astir long before dawn,
and as the first blush of light appeared m the east, we looked up,
and lo ! almost over our heads, as it seemed, there stood the mighty
peaks of Kluchi and Kojerevska, ink-black against the morning

chap, viii.] MORNING ON THE RIVER. 157
sky, their shoulders sMouded in a thick mantle of cloud. An
impenetrable dark mass to our right showed us the position of
Tolbatehinska, as yet unroused from Ms slumbers by the dawn;
and as we sat drinking our morning coffee at the fire, and trying to
get some warmth into our limbs before starting, the day broke, and
the dense fog over the river moved uneasily before the faint puffs
of the morning air. We were soon afloat, and at first the wall of
vapour shut out all but the nearest objects from our sight, but as
the sun rose and projected the huge shadow of the mountains over
the country far ahead, the mists vanished as if by magic before its
warmth. Only the icy dress with which they had clothed each
leaf and twig remained, lending an unwonted beauty to every
common object and a yet further grace to the drooping foliage that
overhung the river. The breeze of the early morning had died
away, and Nature seemed frozen into silence. Aspen and birch
alike were as still as death. But every bough sparkling with the
hoar frost, each grass-blade glittering in the sun, was an argument
against Kittlitz's " niedergeschlagenheit" that was not to be over
come. Even Afanasi seemed insensibly to be affected by the beauty
of the scene, and crooned some quaint and fitful song beneath his
breath as he wielded Ms frosty paddle.
Ah ! those mornings of the far north ! Does not the current of
our blood, tMckened by the fogs of a London November, or languidly
pulsating under the sweltering heat of a tropic sun, quicken at
the very thought of them ? Do we not all feel young again as
we recall the sound of our footsteps ringing on the frozen ground,
and picture the wondrous beauty of the combination of pine-tree, sun
light and snow ? The difficulties and worries of life are forgotten ;
we are content with the mere pleasure of actual existence, and
morally, as well as physically, we are better men. No morbid
introspection, such as is begotten of the more sensuous beauty of
warmer climes, is possible under such circumstances. We have all
of us, I suppose, some pages in the past history of our lives to
which we do not care to turn. But here they are as though they

158 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
were not. Hope, action, content, have come to us in place of the
profitless regret of the past, and life is once more before us with
as fair a promise as it held out in days long since forgotten. I
have neither the wish nor the ability to describe the scenery of the
Kamschatka Eiver and its great volcanoes. In these days of
carelessly-used superlatives it is best left alone. But the memory
of it will always remain with me, — the memory of scenes far more
beautiful than anything I had conceived possible.
Our observations had hitherto been of a rather disconnected
character, but at this period of our journey we commenced a rough
chart of the Kamschatka, which we continued for a distance of over
two hundred miles to its mouth. As this involved the recording
of the exact length and direction of every reach of the river, which,
it should be added, was conspicuous for the multiplicity of its
windings, it may be imagined that the task was one requiring no
little trouble and attention. Soundings of the river were taken
from time to time, together with observations of the Various peaks
and their bearings ; and, at the end, we found ourselves in the
possession of sufficient data to construct a plan of the Kam
schatka and its neighbouring volcanoes from Kojerevsky village to
the sea.
We paddled on without incident for some hours, when, rounding
a corner, we came upon a canoe — the first that we had met since
starting on our river journey at Sherowmy. It contained a youno*
man of what, in Kamschatka, might be termed the upper class of
society. He was " three days out " from Kluchi, and was bound for
Melcova. We ranged our raft alongside and exchanged greetings,
and we learnt from him that we should be able to reach Kojerevsky
that night without difficulty. It was thus evident that our Tolbatchik
men had, in plain words, lied to us about the distance, as it was of
course impossible for us to go two hundred versts in less than two
days. The character of the half-breed Siberians in Kamschatka is
more contemptible than that of any other natives with whom I have
ever been brought in contact, and our oft-recurrmg feuds with them

Crater acfav© ¦.£»,

Sgye/itch 10.750 feet

¦bert Stewart
io, Approcc pos
vrfty ea±mcl)

Gordon
?ano,Approx pos
ioid 8,000 -C-
larentky zaimch}

Plan of part of the
KAMSCHATKA RIVER

LIEUT. R.ff. POWELL R.N.
and
F.H.H.GU1LLEMARD M.D.
Statute Mitea
H, 1 1 ¥ 9

Staidbrdls Gvog L JUstab1; Xondort/.

Fold out

Fold out

viii.] IMPENETRABILITY OF THE COUNTRY. 159
during our river journey nearly spoilt what was otherwise a very
pleasant expedition.
We landed for a meridian altitude, and improvised an artificial
horizon by means of a bucket of water. The banks were low and
flat, and frequently intersected by muddy creeks, while the birches
and firs had almost disappeared, giving place to the willow and
wild cherry. I have rarely seen more impassable ground than that
close to the river. The coarse grass rose high around us, preventing
the possibility of seeing anything — a condition which obtains in
almost every part of the country; but an additional and far
more effectual barrier to our progress existed in the shape of a
tirick tough brushwood which clothed the irregular ground with a
network of small boughs, catching our feet firmly at every step.
Later, at Cape Shipunsky on the south-east coast, we found the
country even more impracticable. The bears, however, manage by
their great weight to force themselves through this thick cover
with little apparent difficulty. Just inside the forest, at a distance
of six or eight feet from the river-bank, is a firmly-trodden path
some two feet m width, made entirely by these animals ; and as
these paths are to be found without a break on either side of the
river in its whole course through the forest country — a distance of
about 500 miles — it will be understood why bears' skins do not
command any very high price m the peninsula.
The procuring of a sufficient quantity of duck for our daily
needs became at this period a rather difficult matter, the main river
bemg deserted by them for smaller streams and marshy pools in its
vicinity. Sea-birds became more numerous ; a tern (Sterna longi-
pennis), two or three phaleropes, or the Bed-throated and Black-
throated Divers (0. septentrionalis and C. areticus), were to be met
with from time to time. We also shot a Podiceps, wMch seemed to
be identical with our own Eed-necked Grebe.1 On the banks an
1 According to Mr. Seebohm, the eastern form of P. rubricollis is conspicuous for
its larger size, and especially for the greater length and stoutness of the bill ; and
the measurements of the above-mentioned specimens certainly bore this out.

160 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
eastern form of the Pied Wagtail (Kittlitz's Motacilla lugens) was
extremely numerous ; the Yellow Wagtail much less so. But of all
the land birds the Kamschatkan Marsh Tit (P. kamschatkensis) was
at this part of the river by far the most abundant. Eor two or
three days we saw them in flocks of from fifty to a couple of
hundred individuals, streaming northward along the bank from tree
to tree. Shortly after mid-day we passed the mouth of a river joining the
Kamschatka on the right bank. The natives knew it as the
Kojerevska. It is a stream of some size, being apparently of
considerable depth, and havmg a breadth of forty yards at its
junction with the main stream. As far as we could gather, it
drains the opposing slopes of the Tolbatchinska and Kojerevska
volcanoes. We reached the little hamlet of Kojerevsky at nightfall. The
distance from Tolbatchik, the scene of the last rows we had had
with the natives, is only ninety-one versts instead of two hundred^
and we might with perfect justice have reduced our payment to half
of the sum we had promised. . But, to tell the truth, we had become
so wearied of the endless wranglmgs m which we had been
involved in all our dealings with these wretched people that we
paid them without a word. It was better to let them think that
they had deceived us than for them to imagme that we had
weakly yielded to what we knew to be an imposition. We were
pleased to find that the Kojerevskans exhibited strong evidences of
their Kamschatdale descent. We were received by the head-man,
a little brown fellow with bright eyes ; and under his direction the
people did everything in their power to help us, carrying up our
baggage, bringing us wood, and altogether showing us an amount of
civility that was as new to us as it was agreeable. They provided
us with wild cherries, cranberries, potatoes, turnips, milk, cream,
and butter, and last, but by no means least, with a loaf of coarse
rye bread, which, we heard, had been specially prepared for the
Kluchi pope, who had been expected to pay the settlement a visit.

viii.] KOJEREVSKY. 161
We felt that we had got among friends once more, and managed by
the aid of all these luxuries to pass a very pleasant evening, in
spite of the cold. At mght the beacon flame of Kluchi, now
brilliantly illuminating the clouds of smoke that hung around the
crater, now sinking almost to extinction, shoue out far above our
heads. There was an angry look about the volcano, and we were told
that its activity had of late been somewhat increased. The explana
tion was simple. The Kanuli, or Spirits of the Mountains, whose
home is in the bowels of the volcanoes, had merely been more
fortunate than usual. It is hardly necessary, in these days of
omniscience, to explain that it is to these beings that all volcanic
disturbances are due. They go to the sea at night to catch whales,
which are their favourite food, and the roasting of several of these
animals within the crater is, as may be imagined, an operation which
requires the consumption of no inconsiderable amount of fuel.
The weather had become steadily colder from day to day, and
as we turned out on the morning of the 11th September we
regretted that the Spirits of the Mountains had not seen fit^o do
their cooking in closer proximity to our camp. Our moustaches
were frozen to the blankets, and the water in the bucket inside our
tent was a sheet of ice. Morning observations and photography are
always interesting, but they are certainly best appreciated when
the thermometer is well above freezing.' The view from our camp
was glorious, and the mountains, cloudless from base to summit,
towered above us with the startlmg clearness of outline so charac
teristic of northern regions. Kojerevsky — a village of ten huts and
sixty-three mhabitants — lies at the foot of Uskovska, a mountain
of nearly 13,000 feet, whose summit from this aspect presents the
appearance of a uniformly rounded dome of snow. It is in reality
twenty -tMee miles off as the crow flies, but the giant scale on
which Nature works in these regions belittles space to an extent
that is inconceivable, until the hard facts of actual measurement
are before one. A little farther to the south and east is Kluchi,
whose sharp peak rises to a vertical height of 3| miles above the
VOL. I. M

162

KAMSCHATKA.

[°

river, guarded on the right by Kojerevska, which is inferior to it in
altitude by fifteen hundred feet. To the extreme right lies
Tolbatchinska, and above the intervening stretch of flat forest land
the solitary peaks of the two isolated volcanoes I have before
mentioned are visible some fifty miles away.
We had but little difficulty in getting the canoes requisite for

y

FOX TRAP.

constructing our raft upon somewhat less risky principles than
the one that had, thanks to our good fortune, borne us the last
seventy miles of our journey in safety. We reverted once more
to our old plan of dividing forces, and late in the morning recom
menced our voyage amid the firing of many salutes from the guns
of the Kojerevskans, to whom we were really sorry to have to
bid adieu. At 4 p.m. we reached Uskovska, a hamlet containing

viii.] LOSS OF OUR PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATES. 163
thirty souls only. Landing to rest, we noticed here, for the first
time, a fox trap of simple construction, wMch is said nevertheless
to be very effective. A broad mortice is cut in an ordmary rough
log, and in the longitudinal Jiole thus produced a spring is placed,
composed of two pieces of raw hide twisted together, which impels
a barbed prong. This is discharged by means of a trigger, to which
a string is attached leading across the animal's usual track.
Although Kamschatka is a country which would appear to be
peculiarly adapted for trapping, it seemed to us that it was not
undertaken to anything like the extent that might be expected.
We camped eighteen versts below Uskovska, in good spirits at
the improved condition of our affairs and our rate of progress down
the river. We had need of them, for after dinner, on inspectmg
our last case of photographic plates, which had been packed with
all possible care in blankets, we found that the greater number of
them had been broken to atoms. Such are the results of pack-
horse travelling ! Of the whole lot but two remained, and these,
with one or two we had left over from another case, were all we
had to last us for the rest of our journey ! It was a cruel dis
appointment. We were in the midst of scenery which for magni
ficence was almost without parallel, and which we could never
have a hope of seeing agam. For some days the volcanoes,
which at this season of the year are often invisible, had shown
themselves without a cloud. And now, just as we were approach
ing them, and arriving at the very part of our journey of which we
most desired to have a record, we were doomed to failure — a failure
the harder to be borne from the fact that our limited time pre
cluded any possibility of sketching.
It was blowing hard from the W.S.W. as we embarked at
daylight on the following mornmg, and before long the wind had
freshened considerably. The thermometer was not lower than usual,
but the keen wind penetrated our garments and froze us to the bone.
It was in our favour, ancl hoisting a portion of one of the tents as
a sail, we sped along merrily. Soon, however, it became evident

164 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
that we could no longer continue our journey. Everything is
comparative ; and to our craft, with its low free-board and heavy
load, the three-inch waves became more formidable than the heavy
seas in a gale in "the Bay" appear to an ocean steamer. It would
have been too absurd to founder in such a tea-cup storm, so^we
made for the shore, and set to work to cut down trees till we had
to some extent restored the circulation in our limbs. An hour or
two later the wind dropped, and we were able to proceed. We
noticed the signs of some old forest fires near this spot, but they
seem, happily, to be very rare. In Scandinavia, in a journey of
the length that ours had been, we should have seen fifty or more.
Here the great precautions that are taken agamst their occurrence
are no doubt the chief reasons for their infrequency. Our hunters
told us that the sables do not return to these spots for many years
after, even if the forest has been but slightly injured by the fire.
Late in the afternoon we passed the hamlet of Kristovsky, or
Kristi as it was called by our men, and a few versts farther came
upon some people encamped upon the banks. It is curious how-
little the rivers are used as highways either during the winter or
summer. The natives can hardly be said to travel at all, excepting
in their wmter excursions after sable. This was only the second
party we had seen away from the settlements, and we were
told that no one had passed down the river from Melcova that
year. We shouted greeting as we passed, but there was no time
to stop, as we wished to reach Kluchi that night. Our Kojerevsky
men worked their paddles with a will, and before long we reached
the mouth of the Yelofka Eiver, a large stream, eighty yards or
more in width, which joins the Kamschatka on its left bank. It
flows due south, draining the western slopes of the great Sevelitch
volcano, and is used as a road to Tigil, a settlement on the river of
that name in the north-west part of the peninsula, which is, or used
to be, a trading station of some importance to which the Koriaks
and Tchukchis bring in their furs for sale. The river' is ascended
by canoes for fifty or sixty miles, the watershed is then crossed by

viii.] THE GREAT VOLCANOES. 165
a march of two or three clays' duration, and the traveller, striking
the^upper waters of the Tigil, reaches his destination by canoe.
At or about Kristovsky the Kamschatka, whose direction,
roughly speaking, has been due north, bends suddenly to the east,
and circles round the base of the stupendous volcanoes that guard
its mouth. The aspect of the peaks alters considerably. Were
not such a thing almost impossible, one would say that the scenery
had mcreased.in its sublime magnificence. Uskovska, Kojerevska,
and -Kluchi alone are visible, and of the two latter it is hard to say
which is the finer. Kluchi is, and had been from every point
from which we had Mtherto beheld it, a cone of absolutely perfect
shape, and Kojerevska is but little less regular in its outline.
Now, as we advanced, the base of the latter was hidden in dense
cloud, but its summit — a peak of extreme sharpness — stood out bare
against the sky, the northern face a vertical wall of black rock on
which no snow could rest. The river here is much increased in
size, and is from three to four hundred yards broad. The depth is
very uncertain, varying from a mere shallow intersected with
deeper channels to twenty feet or more.
A few versts above the village of Kluchi four canoes pushed
out from the banks and joined our party. Fully one-half of their
occupants were women, who seemed to use the paddle with as
great dexterity as the men. The boats were laden almost to the
gunwale with the Kisuchi salmon, almost all of which were in
good condition, though some had the peculiar rounded snout
developed to a most extraordinary extent. One of the women — a
most repulsive-looking creature — was dressed in man's clothes, but
another had distinct pretensions to good looks, and ranging her
canoe alongside, was soon deep in a flirtation with Afanasi, of whose
reputation as a lady-killer we had all heard. The sun was setting
as we rounded a corner, ancl came in sight of the village, its smoke
hanging as a blue haze in the still evening air. To our left the
HarcMnska Mountains, furrowed with deep gorges, looked almost
black against the amber sky. The huge cone of Kluchi caught the

166 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
last rays of the sun and flushed a pale pink, while at the lip of the
crater a fleecy puff of smoke hovered for an instant as if in doubt,
and then floated out a long thin streamer to the east. Around his
shoulders hung a thick belt of cloud, gathering rapidly with the
fast-approaching night, and beneath, slope after slope rose steadily
up to meet the pyramid above. Kojerevska showed here and there
a patch of glistenmg snow tirrough rifts in the dense veil that hid
him from our sight, and on the lake-like surface of the river below
our little fleet of boats paddled merrily homewards to the rough
and mournful cadences of a Kamschatkan love-song. Suddenly
the flame of the first salute shot out from the other raft, the signal
for a general fusillade. It was answered by a flash and a report
from the village ; and a little later we stepped ashore at Kluchi,
and were welcomed heartily by the head-man and a little crowd of
the inhabitants.
The morning of September 13th broke with hardly a cloud;
and the view of the mountains, which now lay nearly due south '
of us, was so magnificent that I did not hesitate to devote one of
my last plates to it. We crossed the river in a dug-out, and
landed on a sand-bank near the opposite side. The stream is here
six hundred yards in breadth, and forms a fitting foreground to the
picture. Behind the village, whose weather-worn huts hne the
banks for nearly a quarter of a mile, — for Kluelri may be regarded
almost as a city in this part of the world, — the even slopes of
ruddy vegetation rise smoothly upwards, till, at the height of two
or three thousand feet, the snow is reached. The outline of the
mighty volcano was as perfect here as before, and its exquisitely
graceful slope as unbroken. Near the summit, oh the side immedi
ately facing us, a deep furrow, as yet untouched by the rays of the
mormng sun, showed the remains of some past eruption — a huge
scar which the snows of many winters had done their best to
obliterate. From the crater light puffs of smoke drifted slowly
away to the east, far whiter than the snow which lay below, for on
all sides, and especially near the summit, a sprinkling of ashes had

m^mz

itas

KLUCHEFSKAYA VOLCANO (16,988 FEET).
(From the North.)

Page 166.

viii.] HEIGHTS OF THE VOLCANOES. 167
dulled its purity almost to a grey. The rounded half-dome of
Uskovska to the west showed a vast field of unbroken snow, and
on the side towards Kluchefskaya appeared to have been completely
blown away by some great eruption in past years, leaving a huge
open crater, the western walls of which alone were standing. The
upper part of these, which was all that we were able to see, seemed
to be almost vertical upon the inner face. Between the two
mountains was a lesser cone, which, like Uskovska, appeared
extinct. To us it was known as Little Kluchi, though whether
we obtained this name from the natives or not I do not now
remember. The opportunity was an excellent one for taking further ob
servations on the heights, the river forming a good base. We
accordingly took advantage of it ; and from the results of this and
other work the following may be given as fairly accurate altitudes
for the four chief volcanoes lying to the south of the lower part
of the Kamschatka Eiver : —
Kluchefskaya . 16,988 feet.
Uskovska . . . 12,508 „
Kojerevska . . 15,400 „
Tolbatchmska . . 11,700 „
Mount Gordon and Mount Herbert Stewart — the two volcanic
cones lying to the south-east, to which I have alluded on a previous
page — are probably both about 8000 feet in height.
It was late when we returned to breakfast, and found a visitor
awaiting us. He was a poor old fellow nearly seventy years of
age, who had spent tliree-and-thirty years of his life in this one
spot, acting as a sort of doctor. What diplomas, if any, he
possessed I do not know, but he seemed to have had sufficient
ability at some remote epoch of his existence to have forgotten
sometMng. Half in dog-Latin, with a word or two of English, and
half through Jacof and Afanasi, he gave us some few scraps of
information. It seemed that tliree years previously — in 1879 —

168 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
an eruption of Kluchi had occurred. There had been no previous
warnings, although the mountam is always more or less in a state
of activity, but on the morning of August 14th, dense clouds of
smoke appeared above the crater, and at mid-day the sky was as
dark as night. Before long ashes began falling, and in a few hours
the ground was covered with them to the depth of tihree inches.
There was no earthquake, but, on the followmg morning, a small
stream of lava poured from the lip of the crater on the north side.
It descended but a short distance, however, and, shortly after, the
mountain returned to its usual state of threatening quiescence.
With this exception there have been no eruptions within the
memory of man, or at least none of any magnitude. A few ashes
often fall, and had done so not long before our visit, but the recent
falls of snow had done much to hide them.
KlucM appears to have been still more active in the middle of
the last century. Krasheninikov, in the work I have mentioned,
says that " it throws out ashes twice or tlrrice yearly, and sometimes
in such quantities, that for 300 versts around the earth is covered
with them to the depth of a vershoke (nearly two inches). From
the year 1727 to 1731 the inhabitants observed that it burnt
almost without interruption, but they were not under such appre
hensions as in the last conflagration in the year 1737. TMs
terrible conflagration began the 25th of September, and lasted one
week with such violence, that to the people who were fishing at
sea near the mountain it appeared one red-hot rock, and the flames
which burst through several openings sometimes showed like rivers
of fire with a shocking noise." On the 6th of October there was
an earthquake of tremendous violence in the Avatcha district and
the southern point of Kamschatka; regions which, it should be
observed, lie in a direct line between Kluchi and the volcanic
chain of the Kuril Islands. An enormous tidal wave occurred,
"overflowing the shore 200 feet high," and killing many of the
inhabitants ; but the country in the immediate neighbourhood of
the volcano did not appear to suffer much, although a violent

viii.] SEVELITCH. 169
earthquake was experienced at Nischni Kamschatka on the 23d of
the same month.
In 1762 and 1767 outbursts again occurred, though of very much
less severity, but subsequent to that time no accounts of other
eruptions have, as far as I am aware, been published, with the
exception of that of Professor Adolph Erman, who, in 1829, found
the peak " in picturesque ancl sublime activity, and approached the
burning lava, which poured forth a continuous stream," till he
reached the height of 8000 feet above the sea.1
Upon the northern side of the Kamschatka Eiver, 59 miles
NE. by N. of Kluchefskaya, rises the irregular mass of Sevelitch,
of wliich we had hitherto seen but little. Its height is probably
between ten and eleven thousand feet, but we were not able to take
any measurements to correct this estimate. It is highest and most
conical at its eastern side, and at the time of our visit was sending
forth considerable volumes of smoke, which appeared to come from
a crater low down on the south-west aspect, but owing to the
extreme irregularity of the mountain, it was difficult to ascertain its
exact position. Nothing indeed can be more striking than the
difference between this volcano and Kluchi. The latter, with its
wonderful steepness of slope ancl its unbrokenly conical shape, is
probably one of the best instances that could be given of a
mountain that owes its entire height ancl form to the slow piling
up of the ashes ancl lava ejected from its crater. But in Sevelitch
it is evident that the method of formation has been very dissimilar,
and not of gradual occurrence, excepting as regards the secondary
craters that have formed on the original mass. Hr. Erman, who
passed several days on the mountain and the plains below, regarded
it as having been forced from beneath the surface at a single
eruption, since its bulk was composed of crystalline rock "re
sembling lava as little as the granitic rocks of the Alps." It would
seem as if some giant power had upheaved the thin crust of the
1 "Journal Eoy. Geogr. Soc," vol. ix. p. 509. In the map accompanying this
letter, Uskovska is placed some miles to the south of its real position.

170

KAMSCHATKA.

[chap.

earth's surface, and that through the openings thus formed the
liquid rock had poured, retaining the uptilted fragments in their
new position.

SEVELITCH VOLCANO, FEOM THE SOUTH.

About nine months after our departure from Kamschatka a
series of eruptions appear to have taken place, which in grandeur
must have rivalled those described by Krasheninikov in 1737.
Of these no particulars seem ever to have been published, for two
years later the very fact of their occurrence was unknown both to
the Eoyal and Eoyal Geographical Societies. But, from the fact
of their having been synchronous with the terrible catastrophe at
Krakatau, they present features of such interest that I here quote
the cutting of the " Japan Gazette," to which I am indebted for the
only information I can obtain upon the subject : —
" The Java Eruptions. — We are indebted to Mr. T. E. Green, who has
just returned from a prolonged journey in Northern Asia, for some highly

viii.] THE ERUPTIONS OF 188$. 171
interesting information respecting volcanic disturbances in that region. The
particulars given taken in connection with the recent volcanic eruptions in
Java, seem to indicate that the active agency extended over an immense area.
The disturbance of Mount Krakatau began early in August last, culminating
on the 26th. At the beginning of July a cone, from 8000 to 10,000 feet
high by estimation, not marked on the chart, but situate near the Kamschatka
River, supposed to be inactive if not entirely extinct, suddenly split in two,
emitting immense quantities of lava, which poured down its slopes. This
phenomenon was not, however, accompanied by any very great local disturb
ance. Mount Siveluch (of Keith Johnston's map), the highest peak of the
Kamschatkan range, 17,000 feet high, was in active eruption throughout the
whole month of July, the pillar of flame in calm weather being distinctly
visible at distances of from 200 to 250 miles ; giving, after allowance for
refraction, an altitude above the summit of the cone of 8000 to 10,000 feet.
When the air was still, smoke, steam, etc., rose vertically to an elevation of
15,000 feet, where, meeting with a northerly air current, it abruptly took,
at right angles, a southerly direction in a thin direct line. Captain Hubbard,
of the M.B.S.S. Toyoshimamaru, recently described an eruption which took
place at Shibotaru, one of the Kuriles, in the early part of June last. A copy
of his letter addressed to Professor John Milne was, by the kindness of the
latter, published in the 'Japan Gazette' of 30th June. Mr. Green further states
that in April last the ice in the neighbourhood of the Kuriles was discoloured
with volcanic ashes for miles in every direction, indicative of eruptions of
unusual violence, probably in the north, but of which we have no note. Mr.
Green was enabled to make some very interesting observations on cloud
formations in the vicinity of the Kronotsky Peak. He describes this as,
perhaps, the most perfect cone in the world, because it tapers to a fine point,
and is of greater elevation than Fujiyama. At 2 a.m. to sunrise it would
show perfectly clear and distinct from the sea like an unplumed cocked-hat
As the sun rose the snow would soften, evaporation no doubt begin, and
mists would slowly gather around the summit, giving the mountain the
appearance of a gigantic plumed field-marshal's cocked-hat. At daylight
on the next morning there was not a vestige of the plume, but the process
of its formation proceeded with unvarying regularity. This information
will probably attract the attention of the Seismological Society. There
certainly now seems an opportunity rarely offering for collecting and
digesting the data respecting recent volcanic disturbances which should be
availed of."1
1 The above paragraph needs explanation. What the " cone not marked on the
charts, but situated near the Kamschatka Eiver " may be it is impossible to say, but

172 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
Kluchefskaya and his fellows have led me mto a longer digres
sion than I had anticipated, ancl I must return to the poor old
doctor who, had we been better acquainted with his language,
would doubtless have proved an interesting companion. He told
us that we were the first travellers he had ever known to come
clown the Kamschatka Eiver. We appeared to be a source of
almost childish delight to him, and his pleasure was still further
increased by discovering a professional brother. He was becoming^
bhnd he thought, and asked me to look at his eyes, which showed^
signs of advancing cataract. Operation would have been inadvis
able at the stage they were in, and I told him that I feared I could
do nothing for him. He kissed my hand and raised it to Ms fore
head, saying that it was of no consequence, and that he loved all
doctors, no matter of what nationality. There is a law against
selling liquor in the interior of the country, and Ms eye glistened
half with sorrow, half at the aspect of a bottle of Hennessey that
stood at hand. We offered him a glass, and it disappeared as if by
magic, and as he made Ms bow and do suidania, he absently helped
himself to another bumper. He had asked me to go with him to
Ms house, as he had a present for me. On arriving we found his
granddaughter, a pretty little child of five or six, playing^with a
young blue hare which lolloped up in a most confiding way. to
have its ears scratched. This was the present, but it was evidently
such a pet of the little girl that it would have been a crime to
have taken it. The old gentleman, however, apparently wished to
make some return for a lancet I had given him, and was rather
disappointed at my refusal until he suddenly bethought himself of
a skull of a Kamschatdale, which he had found laid bare by a
by "Mount Siveluch " there is, I think, but little doubt that Kluchefskaya and not
Sevelitch is meant. It is evident that Mr. Green did not himself visit the neigh
bourhood of the great volcanoes, or he would not have described the Kronotsky
Peak as the most perfect cone in the world. The height of this mountain, which
lies immediately to the east of the lake of the same name, is given by Findlay as
10,610 feet, while that of Fujiyama has been variously estimated at from 12 234 to
12,365 feet.

viii.] THE POPE OF KLUCHI. 173
flood at one of their ancient burial-places, — a treasure that I
joyfully accepted.1
We had taken up our quarters at the house of the head-man,
and on my return thither I found that the pope had arrived to
pay us a visit. His appearance was not prepossessing, and un
kempt hair, a very fully-developed squint, and a total absence of
conversation rendered him decidedly uninteresting as a companion.
^ut he brought us two remarkably fine cabbages as a present, for
/which unaccustomed luxury we felt very grateful. We learnt
that there were only nine priests or popes m the whole of
Kamschatka. Like the doctors, they are paid by the Government,
but they also receive tithes in kind from the people. They come
for the most part from Siberia, and socially rank little, if at all,
above the peasantry. This gentleman, for example, had married
the sister of one of the horse-boys we had brought with us from
Petropaulovsky to Sherowmy, who had been sable-huntmg with
Jacof Ivanovitch at the Kronotsky Lake during the preceding
winter. We called on her to thank her for the present, and found
her a homely litttle woman with a much larger fund of conversation
than her husband. On leaving the house a grey -bearded old
man rushed out upon me, seized and kissed my hand, em
braced • me, patted me an- the back, and poured out a torrent
of unintelligibility which led me to the extremely English
conclusion that he was drunk. I had wronged him. Afanasi
was at hand, ancl gave me a pricis rendering of Ms speech.
He was merely expressing his delight at meeting with a Euro
pean traveller !
The doctor had arrived to pay us another farewell visit when I
again reached our house. We had many attractions for him ;
some of them in bottle. Poor old fellow; his sorrow at parting
with us was too much for Mm, and when we turned round and
discovered the Hennessey at the lowest ebb, it gave us almost pain
to have to sign to Louis to remove it.
1 Vide "Journal Anthrop. Inst," Vol. xvi., No. 1, p. 21.

174 KA MSCHA TKA . [chap.
Our original intention had been to leave Kluchi in the forenoon,
but many things conspired to prevent it. We had bought some
of the little birch-bark barrels that they make so cleverly throughout
the country, and there was a great discussion as to whether we
had paid for them or not, — easy to be explained by the fact that
the inhabitants of the village are the descendants of Siberian
Eussians brought from the Eiver Lena, and settled here about the
year 1735. Wearied with the constant recurrence of these
" impositions, I wandered out at the back of the village to inspect
the fields, which are of larger extent here than in any other place
we had yet visited. Eye is cultivated, though apparently not to
any very great extent, although the valley of the Kamschatka
is said to be the only place where there is any chance of its
ripemng. It is sown in the middle of May, and the harvest,
when there is one, is at the middle or end of August. Potatoes
and turnips were grown in some abundance, but there was little
else in the way of cultivation except a few poor attempts at
garden produce. The catholic tastes of the sledge-dogs prevent
the inhabitants from keeping the smaller domestic animals, but
cows are numerous, and almost every house had poles placed
around the front to keep off these animals, which are permitted to
wander about at will.
The discussion on the birch-bark barrels had subsided on my
return to the house, but we found that our landlord had mserted
the pope's cabbages in the bill — or what would have been the bill
did such things exist in the country — and more difficulties arose
before we finally got afloat. At the last moment the doctor again
appeared, with two boxes and a loose razor which he begged us to
take to his son in Petropaulovsky. In his hand he bore the Kams-
chatdale skull, reverently tied up in an old handkerchief. We
paid our landlord, and included the pope's cabbages ; we paid twice
for our birch-bark barrels ; we slung up the skull at the back of
our hut; and bidding do suidania to the united population of
Kluchi, who were drawn up on the bank to watch our departure,

viii.] THE LOWER KAMSCHATKA. 175
we paddled out into the current, and in another ten minutes the
village was lost to view.
In Findlay's " North Pacific Directory " it is stated, though upon
what authority is not clear, that the Kamschatka Eiver " is said to
be capable of admitting vessels of 100 tons about one hundred ancl
fifty miles up the stream." This, however, is not correct, or at any
rate is very misleading, for the river is beset throughout with sand
banks which in many places apparently lie completely across the
stream. Thus, opposite Kluchi village there was only an average
of seven feet of water, while both above and below we got depths
of twenty or thirty feet and more. The sand-banks also are very
unexpectedly placed, and the navigation of the stream by a
large vessel, even if possible, could only be accomplished by the
aid of an elaborate system of buoys, which, I need hardly say, is
not likely to be instituted for many a year to come. From some
versts above Kluclii to the mouth of the river, except at the
Tchoaki or narrows, to which I shall have occasion to refer presently,
many islands are formed by the bifurcation of the stream, some of
them of large size, and the river mcreases considerably in breadth.
Opposite the village it is said never to freeze entirely over, a fact
the people attribute to the existence of hot springs in the river bed.
They also told us that salmon remain here throughout the winter,
though not in any great numbers.
Among these islands there appeared to be more duck than we
had been lately accustomed to see in the lower part of the river,
and we here obtamed the Shoveller (S. clypeata) for the first time.
Landing to replenish the larder at some small lakes towards the
hour of sunset, we remarked both snipe and wild geese, neither of
wMch we had previously met with, but it was too dark to dis
tinguish the species. Verglaski followed us on occasions such as
these with the stohd expression and steady gait he always affected.
Nothing short of a bear, I believe, eyer roused him to any less
dignified pace than a walk, and as he slowly followed us, I had a
lurking suspicion that he regarded our occupation as a rather

176 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
childish one. I had too much belief in his moral character to
attempt to account for his peculiarities by any such physical reasons
as " the rheumatics " — a cause that one of us profanely suggested.
As a retriever he was inimitable. We had shot a duck that fell
far out into the shallow lake, and while looking at it, and calcu
lating the possibilities of its drifting ashore, Verglaski came up and
realised the situation. He glanced at us in a way that said plainly,
" This is not my business, but if you will wait here, I will see if I
can get it out for you," and proceeded to do so with a tlrree-yards-
a-minute pace, and a concentration of purpose that was irresist
ibly ridiculous. Poor old dog; it was the last service he ever
rendered us.
We had contemplated sleeping on the rafts, and continuing our
journey through the night, as the river is at this part free from
dangers, but as it would have made it impossible for us to go on
with our observations, we eventually decided not to do so. We
accordingly paddled on until it was too dark to see, and making
the rafts fast to the bank, slept as well as we could at the bottom
of the canoes, so as to be in readiness for starting at dawn upon the
morrow. In the way of saving time the experiment was successful,
ancl we were off again at 4. 45 a.m., reaching the hamlet of Kama-
koffskaya after three hours' steady paddling. Just before arrivino-
we awoke to the distressing fact that Verglaski was not with us,
ancl as no one had seen him since leaving the camp of the previous
night, there was but little doubt that he had been left behind.
Jacof at once borrowed a canoe and went in search of him, hopino-
to catch us up before nightfall. Meanwhile we had breakfast and
inspected the village, which, in spite of its imposing name, is a
miserable, bleak-looking place, with a population of barely fifty.
Perhaps it is with some latent feeling of modesty that the inhabit
ants have shortened Kamakoffskaya to Kamaki. The day was
wretchedly cold and gloomy, and the aspect of two half-starved
Kamschatdale children, clad in a tattered rag of furs, who sat
shivering on a rotten old canoe which lay half-buried in the mud,

viii.] / THE TCHOAKI. 177
did not serve in any way to render it less depressing. The village
appeared nearly deserted, and as there was nothing to detain us we
resumed our journey without loss of time. Before noon we arrived
at the Tchoaki (lit. cheeks). These are narrows, about seven miles
in length where the river passes through a range of hills from two
to tixree thousand feet in height. Both entrance and exit are very
sharply defined, and the stream, which above and below is about"
eight or nine hundred yards broad, is here narrowed to between
tliree and four hundred. The scenery is decidedly picturesque after
the monotonous miles of willow-hned banks that weary the travel
ler's eye in the lower part of the Kamschatka ; and we were
reminded somewhat of the Iron Gates on the Danube, which
geographically — I do not say geologically — the Tchoaki closely
resemble. But the former are on a grander scale, and the river
here, m spite of its contracted width, exhibits none of the tumultu
ous rush of water which makes the passage of the Iron Gates so
difficult to a Danube steamer.
In the Tchoaki we met two or tliree canoes coming up from
Nischni Kamschatka, and learnt from them that a schooner, pamted
wMte, and with a steam launch, was lying at Ust Kamschatka — the
settlement at the mouth of the river. This was a piece of mforma-
tion wMch astonished us considerably. That there should be a
ship of any kind there other than the Marchesa was most im
probable, for, as they told us, she was the first vessel that had visited
the river for three years. More improbable still was it that she
should be a stranger when the fact of her bemg pa'inted white was
taken into consideration; while the existence of a steam launch
seemed finally to put the matter beyond a doubt. But on the other
hand, the fact that she was said to have arrived many days before
was greatly against it, and as the bar was very shallow, it seemed
hardly likely that the Marchesa, with her draught of fifteen feet,
would be able to cross it. The natives could not give us any further
information, as they had not seen the vessel, and we were left in a
state of doubt which no amount of discussion helped to enlighten.
VOL. I. N

178 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
Emerging from the eastern entrance of the narrows we found
ourselves passing through a flat, unmteresting plain which extended
as far as the sea. Here the scenery is scarcely more interesting
than that at the mouth of the Thames. A cold wind swept over the
dreary reaches of the river, and belrind us an mk-black sky gave
warning of approaching bad weather. At 4. p.m. we passed Nischni
or Lower Kamschatka, once the capital of the peninsula, a village
of some importance with twenty houses and a church, and a popula
tion of 150. It lies a little way off the main river upon a smaller
stream, and just opposite, upon the other bank of the Kamschatka,
the Eaduga, a river about forty yards wide at its mouth, flows in
from the south. A canoe shot out to mtercept us as we passed,
bringing a letter for Petropaulovsky from the Kluchi pope, who had
left that village just before us on the preceding day, and shortly
afterwards we saw another boat paddling hard after us. We
stopped to let it approach, and soon recognised Jacof, whose gloomy
face told us that Verglaski had not been found. He had apparently
gone down the river for some distance, and had then turned back
and proceeded towards Kluchi. Here the track had become
obliterated, and Jacof had been obliged to give up the search.
Poor old Verglaski ; Ms quiet methodical ways had endeared him
to all of us, and Jacof was much distressed at his loss. In the
summer he would have had no difficulty in finding enough to subsist
on, but at this season hardly any fish were left, and the settlements
being so far apart, and upon the other side of the river, it was more
than doubtful if he would ever have a chance of reaching one of
them. Paddles were once more resumed, and we were discussing the
advisability of proceeding to the mouth of the river without
stopping, when we perceived the smoke of a steam launch in the
distance. By our glasses we soon made her out to be a stranger,
and all doubts as to the arrival of the MarcJiesa were thus at an
end. She proved to be the launch of the walrus-schooner Nemo,
bound to Nischni Kamschatka. She had on board the first officer 

VIII.]

PALLAS'S EAGLE.

179

a Swede — an agent of Mr. Phillippeus the fur-trader, and a crew of
four Japanese. They told us that nothing had been seen of the

pallas's eagle. (Thalassa'etus pelagicus.)

yacht, and could give us no news of the civihsed world, having
been for some time lying in the river ; so, after wishing them bon
voyage, we continued our journey.

180 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
Since leaving Kluchi we had spent a good deal of time in
trymg to obtain a specimen of Pallas's Northern Sea Eagle
(Thalassaetus pelagicus) — a species which, at this part of the
river, is by no means uncommon. It is a magnificent bird, and
is especially conspicuous from the large white shoulder -patches
and tail, but owing to its shyness it is extremely difficult to ap
proach. We were, unfortunately, not provided with a rook rifle,
and the few long shots we obtained were unsuccessful. Once
only did we get a bird fairly within shot, and the two barrels of
No. 2 that he received at a distance of thirty yards seemed to
have no effect whatever upon him. This eagle appears to be
chiefly confined to the lower part of the Kamschatka Eiver, for
we did not meet with it before reaching the neighbourhood of the
great volcanoes.
The natives are prevented by law from barring the river in the
lower part of its course, and here the salmon are taken cMefly with
seine and drift nets. The V-shaped curral-frap of stakes, with
baskets on the lobster -pot principle, is also frequently seen; a
system which, as I have already stated, is used to bar the river
right across at Melcova. The fat of the Kisuchi salmon is regarded
as a great delicacy, and is prepared in considerable quantities at this
season. A canoe is filled with water, and a number of the fish
placed in it. Into this large red-hot stones are dropped, thus
boilmg the contents, which are meanwhile constantly stirred.
The fat is then removed as it rises to the surface.
The low and muddy shores of the river in tMs part of its
course are in many places intersected with small creeks, at the
mouths of which two tall poles may often be noticed. These are
used for taking ducks at flight time, by a plan which is not un
common in other parts of the world. A fine net is hung between
the two poles, which the hunter lets fall as the birds fly
against it. By this means we were told ' that large numbers are
often caught.
We woke on the morning of September 15th to a most miser-

vin.] ARRIVAL AT UST KAMSCHATKA. 181
able day. We had not dug the trenches round our camp un
necessarily ; the rain was coming down in torrents with a bitter
wind, and we deferred our start till nearly noon. After four
hours' paddhng, the river, which here averages from twelve to
fourteen hundred yards in breadth, widens still further opposite
to the entrance of the arm leading to the Nerpitchi Lake, and
sweeps round sharply to the south. Just beyond hes the village
of Ust Kamschatka, in the dreariest situation it is possible to
conceive; and here, cold and tired, we pulled up at 5 p.m. and
established ourselves in a comfortable httle hut belonging to Mr.
Phillippeus, the fur-trader. Our journey was practically at an end,
for we were but four miles distant from the bar at the mouth of
the river.
A small look-out tower is built a little to the south of the
village, and we at once ascended it to see if there were any signs
of the Marchesa. Nothing was to be seen at first, but before long
we made her out approaching from the south ; and thus, after an
absence of a month, we had hit off the time of meeting with an
exactness as curious as it was fortunate. We were anxious ¦ to get
off without delay, and the captain of the Nemo, with whom we
had made acquaintance, offered to take us. We were soon afloat
in his whaler, wMch was manned by a Japanese crew, and with
the oars double-banked, we got over the water at a pace that was
somewhat different to that to which we had been accustomed on
the rafts. As we neared the river's mouth the thunder of the
surf was not reassuring, and we landed to reconnoitre on the left
bank, where the river, making a sharp turn before debouching mto
the sea, runs close to and parallel with the beach. Our men, who
had preceded us with the baggage, had made a large fire of drift
wood, of wMch we were glad enough to take advantage, for our
teeth were chattering with the cold, and the rain had recommenced.
But what we could see of the bar through the darkness was not
such as to induce us willingly to attempt it, and we at once
decided to return.

182 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
The captain of the Nemo, who was a Swede, and spoke English
with perfect fluency, enlivened our row home with his accounts of
Saghalin, from which island he had just come. It is now a Eussian
penal settlement, which is only used for criminals of the worst
kind. The discipline adopted, according to his account, was of
extreme severity, and many of the prisoners preferred to take
their chance of escape, and the almost certain risk of death by
starvation in the bush, rather than endure it. In one case he
mentioned, two of these unfortunate wretches escaped. One was
caught almost immediately, and the other returned of his own
accord at the end of some days, nearly dead from starvation. He
was fed up until he recovered, and 100 lashes were then ad
ministered every day until one of the men died.
In Ust Kamschatka, it is hardly necessary to say, there are
neither gas lamps nor pavements,1 and the state of the paths about
the settlement — if paths indeed they can be called — is mdescrib-
able at this season. The captam, who was as good an amateur
doctor as he was a Samaritan, had asked me to come and see a sick
woman he had been looking after, and we accordingly started at
once in search of the hut. / It was by no means easy to find it,
and we stumbled about over stones and through swamps for some
time in vain. In one of the latter my compamon lost his boot,
ancl though we expended all our matches in hunting for it, we
never saw it agam, and he had to see his patient m a conclition
that was, to say the least of it, unprofessional.
We had been bidden to a feast in the evenmg. To have one
ship in the port was rare enough, but the presence of two was
so unprecedented that it was felt that something must be done to
commemorate it. A ball was accordingly resolved on. The Swedes
sent various intoxicating drinks, as became their nation; and the
supper -table groaned with Kamschatkan delicacies — cranberries,
brick -tea, ancl cold ducks. The ballroom was not lofty, and the
1 Perhaps I may be wrong. I was once asked by a lady, in all seriousness, if the
hotels in New Guinea were tolerably good !

THE DANCE AT UST KAMSCHATKA.

Page 183.

viii.] A KAMSCHATKAN DANCE. 183
two Swedes, who stood about six feet three in their stockings, had
their heads among the dried fish and other odds ancl ends hanging
to the rafters. A number of empty bottles served in lieu of
candlesticks, and the illumination was conducted on a scale that
must have appeared little short of reckless to the Kamschatkans,
to whom a candle is an expensive luxury. In one corner was
stationed the band — an old fiddler, who, if hardly up to the
latest Strauss or Gung'l, was nevertheless able to give us the
dance-music most in vogue at Ust Kamschatka for an unm-
terrupted period of six hours.
All the rank and fashion of the, village were present. Around
the room sat fourteen individuals of what, m Europe, is termed
the fair sex. Here, I regret to say, they were so only in name.
No mean advantage, such as is obtained from the combined effect
of champagne, wax rights, and gauzy dresses, had been taken of
the unsuspecting male, and it is curious how little false glamour is
thrown over an object by the aid of cranberries and corn brandy.
We gazed around the room and felt that for once our hearts were
safe. Our partners were — dare I whisper it ? — just a wee bit
fishy. Blush not, fair reader; the papas and mammas of the
young ladies were there to chaperon them, and the dance was
everythmg that was proper and correct, but Kamschatka is Kams
chatka, and in heu of the suspicion of " White Eose " or " Ess " of
western civilisation, an extrait double of dried salmon lent its not
uncertain perfume to the ball-dresses of our partners.
We performed our duty to society by gomg round the room
and solemnly shaking hands with everybody, wMch, we were told,
is the correct thing upon these occasions ; and then, posting our
selves in the doorway, we took stock of our surroundings before
embarkmg upon the serious business of the evening. The whole
of the Nemo's party were present. Above them all towered E 
the captain, and his first officer, who had been a lieutenant in the
Swedish Navy, and was one of the handsomest men I ever saw.
The seal-hunter attached to the schooner, a Hudson's Bay man,

184 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
was conspicuous for the lively colouring of his hair, the effect of
which he had considerably heightened by a bright green tie.
Long pursuit of his quarry, and the conviction of the hollowness
of all earthly pleasures with the exception of rye -spirit and
tobacco, had given him an almost preternatural solemnity of
expression, and oblivious to the charms of his partner he shuffled
round the room with a calm consciousness of the excellences of
seal -hunters as exemplified m his own person, which evidently
produced a great effect among the ladies. The walrus -hunter,
Ms companion, was no dancer ; and had not even the compensating
attraction of a green tie. Originally a gold-digger in Califorma
in the " roaring times of '49," he had left that somewhat unhealthy
occupation and, according to his own account, had chased the
walrus in most parts of the Arctic Ocean. He was hardly re
garded as a " ladies' man " even by the Kamschatkans, and as he
sat furtively watching the dancmg, a short black pipe half-buried
in Ms enormous bushy beard, one felt that he had the makings of
a very pretty scoundrel about him. We were as strange a mixture
of nationahties as of individuals. A Eussian fur-trader of more
than doubtful sobriety, an American negro steward of the Nemo,
our two hunters, and a few of the ehgible youth of the settlement
completed the party; and round the door the crew of the Nemo — a
group of bright -eyed little Japanese — watched the performance
with evident amusement.
A dance had just ceased as we arrived, and we took our seats
in placid ignorance of what was in store for us. Presently the
squeak of the fiddle was heard, and instantly the ladies rushed in
search of partners. There was a great move in the direction of
the two Swedes and the rest of the party, and as became a modest
old bachelor I prepared to /aire tapisserie with the papas and
mammas. But it was destined to be otherwise, for on raising my
eyes I found that two fair damsels were suing for the honour of
my hand. Now, were I of a romantic nature, I might enlarge
upon the position; the bewitching glances of my two would-be

viii.] REJOIN THE MARCHESA. 185
partners, their beseeclring tones of entreaty, the natural diffidence
that I felt in such an unaccustomed situation, and the coyness
with which I was eventually induced to bestow the dance upon the
most persistent of the fair ones. But truth compels me to relate
a different story. Even the brilliancy of the bottle-candelabra'd
room failed to throw a halo of romance around the affair. The
young women were not beautiful, and, as a matter of fact, I would
just then have hailed the appearance of my old college bed-maker
as a third suitor with dehght. However, there was no time to be
lost; the seal-hunter, the American nigger, and the tall Swede
were already hard at it, and shpping my arm around the waist of
the nearest fair one, I plunged bhndly into the dance.
The affair was simple enough at first. The dance merely con
sisted in shuffling slowly round the room side by side, the gentleman
with his left arm free, the lady accompanying the music with a sort
of monotonous chant. Time was of no particular object, and smokmg
was permitted, and as we had partaken neither of the cranberries
nor the com brandy, we felt as well as could be expected under
the circumstances. It was not for long, however. Suddenly the
music stopped; everybody clapped their hands; and, short
and stern, the order rang out m Eussian — "Kiss." There are
moments in wlrich even the stoutest spirit quails. I turned a
despairing glance on my partner and my heart sank witMn me.
All hope was gone ! We all know how in moments of supreme
emotion the most trivial details become indelibly stamped upon
the mind. The scene is before me now. I saw the red-haired
seal -hunter bend down to meet his fate like a hero, Ms green tie
danglmg in the air ; I saw a gallant officer who had served Her
Majesty in many climes struggle nobly to the last. Slowly my
partner's arms dragged me down . . . the lips stole upwards. I
nerved myself for a final effort . . . and all was over ! Before the
next dance I had fled.
About noon on the following day we again rowed down to the
mouth of the river, and as we neared the bar we saw that to have

KAMSCHATKA. [chap. viii.

attempted iit on the previous night would have been foolhardy in
the extreme. *Ab ordinary high tides it appears that there is
between ten and eleven feet only in the deepest part, and E  told
us that he had had a narrow escape m getting the Nemo, wlrich had
a draught of ten feet six inches, into the river. She had bumped
heavily once or twice. The entrance shifts constantly, and in bad
or indifferent weather the bar is doubtless a very dangerous one.
We arrived at the best time of the tide,1 and were fortunate enough
to get over the three big waves without even a wetting. A few
minutes later we boarded the Marchesa, after an absence of exactly
a month. We found all well, ancl the day passed quickly in chat
ting over our various adventures. The Swedes bade us adieu
towards evening, and the sun was setting in a blaze of gold behind
the giant pyramids of Kluchi and Kojerevska as we fired a farewell
gun ancl stood away for Bering Island.2
1 It appears that there is only one tide here in the twenty-four hours.
2 I have adopted this, the correct orthography of the celebrated navigator's name,
instead of the more usual Behring, a piece of bad spelling which, I believe, we
originally borrowed from the Germans.

CHAPTEE IX.
BERING ISLAND.
We anchor off Nikolsky — Breeding-places of the Fur Seal — We sledge across the
island — Evidences of its gradual elevation — Raids by predatory schooners — The
' ' rookery " — Land life of Callorhinus — Arrival of the bulls — Their installation
— Arrival of the cows — Organisation of the "rookery" — The adult animals —
The pups and holluschicki — Slaughtering — Annual take of skins — Curing the
skins — The Alaska Commercial Company — Dr. Stejneger — Relics of Bering and
his crew — Importation of reindeer — We^eturn to Kamschatka.
Eastwards from Kamschatka stretches the curious chain of vol
canic rocks known as the Aleutian Islands. A vast series of
steppmg-stones, as it were, to the dreary fog-bound coast of Alaska,
they correspond geologically as well as geographically to the equally
lonely, but less known chain — the Kuriles — connecting Yezo with
the peninsula we have just left. All but the two most westerly
belong to Alaska, and are in consequence American, but Bering
ancl Copper Islands, together known to the Eussians as the
Komandorskis,1 form part of the dominions of the Czar.
A glance at the map tells us nothing with regard to the im
portance of these two islands. There seems to be no reason why
they should not be just as valueless as the other islands of the
chain. Dreary, barren, and treeless ; covered with great stretches
of Mndra, lake, and marsh ; exposed to the full force of the terrific
gales which rage in those latitudes during the autumn and spring ;
hidden in fog throughout the short summer, and partially ice-bound
1 So called after Commander Bering, who perished there in 1741.

188 BERING ISLAND. [chap.
through the long inclement winter, one would hardly suspect them,
to be of any very great commercial value, yet they are the breeding-
grounds of the Fur Seal (Callorhinus ur sinus), whose skms clothe
the fashionable fair sex of half Europe and America, and will
probably contmue to do so for centuries to come, now that the
reckless war of extermination formerly waged against the ammal
has at length been put a stop to.
It was with the intention of visiting these breeding-grounds, or
"rookeries" as they are termed, that, on the 16th September, we
cleared Cape Kamschatka and set our course eastwards for Bering
Island. The voyage is not a long one, and by noon on the following
day, having run a distance of 105 miles, we found ourselves m
sight of land. The mornmg was bright and sunny, a rare enough
event in these regions, but there was little to attract m the shores
we were rapidly approaching. A vast extent of brownish-yellow
flat lost itself in the distance, rising here and there into table-
topped hills of no great height. Other features in the landscape
there were none. Not a tree or a sign of human habitation was to
be seen, and the only trace of life and movement apparent lay m
the long white lines of breakers that thundered upon the coast.
The settlement is placed at the mouth of a small river on the north
west side ; and in a couple of hours more we had taken advantage
of what little shelter the so-called harbour affords, and let go our
anchor in five fathoms off the south part of the bay.
We were soon boarded by an individual in the service of the
company to which the islands are leased, and I doubt whether he
was ever more mystified in Ms life before. Poaching schooners
from San Francisco who cruise around in the fogs in the hope of
making unseen raids upon the rookeries — these he was doubtless
well acquainted with ; and the fur-steamer which calls twice yearly
for the pelts was also within his comprehension. But our raison
d'etre and intentions were quite beyond him. He probably did not
know what a yacht was, and even if he did, we felt that it would
be altogether too much to expect him to believe it likely that

ix.] NIKOLSKY. 189
any one would leave England to cruise in Bering's Sea for amuse
ment. He left the sMp with evidently no little distrust as to our
designs, but condescended to supply us with two pieces of informa
tion before Ms departure : the first, that we had taken up the best
anchorage m the bay, and the other, that we were the only British
ship that had ever visited the island. For the truth of the latter
statement I cannot vouch; with regard to the former we could
only say that we were sorry it was not better.
The little village, in spite of the utter bareness of its surround
ings, looks neat and not unpleasmg from a distance, with its care
fully-fenced compounds and red-roofed houses. This improved
appearance — for not long ago the people lived in miserable under
ground yourts like those in use among the Kurile islanders — is due
in great measure to the Alaska Commercial Company, who rent the
islands from the Eussian Government, and have the sole right of
kilhng the seals. Many turf-built houses still remain, inhabited
by the Aleuts employed in the seal-industry, but they are being
gradually replaced by the more healthy wooden tenements, all the
materials for wMch, m consequence of the complete treelessness of
the island, have to be brought over from Kamschatka. The
condition of the islanders has no doubt improved in every way
since the Company has been in possession. There is a Eussian
church and a good school for the children, and the ills to wMch
Aleut flesh is heir are looked after by a surgeon. With the ex
ception of one or two Eussian officials who check the annual take
of skms, administer justice, and lead as meditative an existence as
the chmate will permit, every soul upon the island is m the service
of the Americans.
The Komandorskis, and, for that matter, other islands in these
out-of-the-way regions to wMch I shall presently refer, would be
valueless without the fur seal; and just as in Kamschatkathe salmon
and sables are the be-all and end-all of life, so here this extra
ordinary animal, whose congener of the Antarctic Ocean is now
nearly extinct, supplies either directly or indirectly the means of

190 BERING ISLAND. [chap.
support to the inhabitants, and at the same time a fund of conver
sation to enable them, in conjunction with tea and tobacco, to sus
tain life through the wmter until the
|f^pjj|jjjji| "killing season " commences. Before my
' rtlBillli reader accompames me across the
tundras to the rookery on the other
' Wkr,,simk side of the island, a glance at the
habits and distribution of the animal

Nf'/: is necessary to enable Mm to under-
pS stand the system upon which the
--»:»-; ; -vs^fi^. annual " take " is worked.
The fur seals, or more accurately
speaking, the breeding-places of the
fur seals, are in the North Pacific confined to five islands. On
Masafuera and Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of South
America a few skins are still taken, and in bygone days the South
Shetland, Crozet, and Falkland Islands were the resort of countless
thousands of these ammals. But they are now nearly extmct, and
almost every sealskin that finds its way into the London market is
obtained upon one or other of the islands rented by the Alaska
Commercial Company. Copper and Bering Islands are by no means
the most important. By far the largest export is made from the
Pribylov group, two islands (St. Paul and St. George) in Bering's
Sea to the east and north of the Komandorskis, on wMch 100,000
skins are taken annually. Last, ancl of least importance, is Eobben
Island, the chief interest of which lies in its somewhat abnormal
situation as a breeding-ground — it being nearly 1000 miles distant
from the other seal islands. It is close to Cape Patience, on the
eastern shores of Saghalin, and the number of skins yearly obtained
from it is very small as compared with the yield of the Bering and
Pribylov groups.
The sea-cat or sea-bear, as CallorJiinus has been familiarly
named by the seal-hunters, is a gregarious animal which disports
itself in the waters of the Pacific throughout the winter, and durin°"

StcunJcTcl',s : &eoq': Estab1 London-

is.] THE FUR SEAL. 191
that time is seldom or never seen. Impelled by unerring instinct,
it steers northward in the spring, and reaches, by a power that
seems little short of miraculous, one of the five islands I have just
mentioned. It seems that the seal almost always returns to the
island upon which it has been born, although not necessarily to the
same rookery, and the date of its appearance is one of considerable
regularity. In Bermg Island the 12th May was, we were informed,
the usual date of the arrival of the bulls. The cows are later by
three weeks or more, but by the middle of June the rookeries
are crowded, and the land existence of these curious animals has
fairly commenced for the year. Here they remain for four or five
months or longer, during which time the inhabitants of the island
are hard at work slaughtering and preparing the skins to a number
previously regulated by the Company. The departure of the
animals is not so regular as their advent. If a cold winter is to be
expected they go earlier ; if the reverse they remain considerably
longer, but their usual date of leaving is about November 20th.
Early on the niormng after our arrival we landed for our
expedition across the island. As we walked through Nikolsky, as
the httle settlement has been recently christened by the captain
of H.I.M.S. Afrika, numerous stolid-looking Aleuts turned out to
stare at us and to wish us drastia. Nature havmg altogether
declined to supply them with wood, they have overcome this
obstacle to the construction of boats in the same manner as the
Esquimaux ancl other northern tribes, — by the use of skins ; and
beautifully-modelled canoes, not unrike Greenlanders' kayaks, and
similar in every way to some we saw afterwards among the Kurile
islanders near Cape Lopatka, were lying near many of the huts.
The bidarraJis, open boats of very large size, are made in like
manner by stretcMng skins over a wooden framework, but though
capable of being sailed, and of carrying a considerable quantity of
cargo, their shape by no means commends itself to a sailor's eye.
The agent of the Alaska Commercial Company had kindly provided
us with dog-sledges, and we found them "mspanned" and waitmg for

192 BERING ISLAND. [chap
us on the banks of the little river, mto which the dogs were kicked
with scant ceremony to find their way across to the farther side.
Halfway over they got entangled with the sledges and one another,
and when to the ignorant European bystander they appeared three-
parts drowned, an Aleut who had been placidly watching matters
from the bank walked into the icy water and drew therefrom a
sledge with a large bunch of dogs attached. I have seen a Cape
cart ancl six horses " demakaar " with a mixed harness composed of
raw hide, rope, and leather, the whole an indistinguishable
mass of kickmg legs ; but I do not think I have ever seen a prettier
mess than our teams exhibited on gammg the bank. Without the
aid of a knife it looked hopeless, but sledge-travelling is, I beheve,
full of little incidents of this kind, and it was not long before the
dehnquents were unknotted and we had commenced our journey.
However wearisome it may be for blasts Arctic explorers, there
is no doubt that, with the proper accompaniments of a bright sun
and sharp air, travelling by dog -sledge is one of the most ex
hilarating of all forms of locomotion. Somewhat back-breaking it is,
no doubt, for the sledge — a mere framework of planks six feet by two,
elevated some six inches from the ground — is without any support
for the occupant to lean against, and the tyro has to keep his
position as best he can by means of the small side rail. The driver
runs by the side, steering the dogs by word of mouth, and throwing
his stick with unerring aim at any lazy or obstreperous member of
the team. The sledge-dogs in Kamschatka have on the whole a
hard time, but the Long Vacation which all of them enjoy during
the summer atones for it. But here the wretched animals have to
work throughout the year, and are treated with no tender hand by
their master. If they can be kicked into their proper places, this
seems to the unsophisticated mind of the native by far the simplest
method to adopt ; and the mode of chastisement in use — that of
holding the dog down ancl pounding him on the head with a heavy
stone — is most certainly effectual, though to an Englishman it is
by no means a pleasing sight.

r**^w

Mirnii—yMj- m

CROSSING BERING ISLAND.

Page 193.

ix.] SLEDGING ACROSS THE ISLAND. 193
There are two rookeries upon Bering Island, and of these we
resolved on visiting that at the northern end. The country to
the south is mountainous and broken, but here our way led over
great stretches of plateau land and tundra, through whose level
sea of yellow grass we hissed, exposed to a perfect shower-bath
of dewdrops. Our six sledges followed each other in Indian
file, and m the distance looked like a string of huge caterpillars
crossing the extensive plains. In every direction sheets of water
from a few yards to a mile or more in length lay around us,
sparsely dotted with wild duck ; and curious hills, low, flat-topped,
and isolated, stood up abruptly from the level surface of the marshy
flats. The land, rising from the sea in a succession of terraces of
singular regularity, bears the strongest evidences of gradual but
discontinuous elevation. These terraces have very abrupt edges,
ancl clown these httle cliffs of ten to twenty feet in height the
sledges shot from time to time with a velocity not a little startling
to the occupant, who was generally in total ignorance of their
proximity. Now and then we crossed shght elevations, partakmg
rather of the character of the Kamschatkan f jells, and covered
with bilberries and Empetrum, and occasional patches of the
" remdeer-horn " moss. Such ground is most exhausting to walk
upon, the pedestrian sinkmg up to the knees into the soft mossy
hummocks at every step.
We had taken our guns m the hopes of securing some ornitho
logical specimens, but, with the exception of the Lapland Buntings
(F. lapponica), which were numerous, few birds were to be seen.
About six or seven miles from Nikolsky we came to a httle stream
with overhanging banks, where with a small hand-net, and also
with our own unaided hands, we caught some beautiful little trout
of a quarter to half a pound m weight. Close by was a small
pool, whose connection with the stream was of the faintest descrip
tion; but it must nevertheless have been sufficient to permit of
the passage of some large salmon which we found there. They
were kelts of the Haiko and Garbusa (0. lagocepJialus and 0. proteus),
vol. i. o

194 BERING ISLAND. [chap.
but although a few were still alive, the greater number were
dead and rottmg on the banks, and none were fit for food. Near
here we shot some snipe and teal, and shortly afterwards came
to a long yellow plam like an unbroken expanse of September corn,
which stretched away in a gentle slope to the rookery some five
or six miles distant.: Here, for fear of disturbing the seals, the
order " cease firing " was given.
A small settlement of about twenty huts stands at no great
distance from the rookery. These are only used in the summer,
while the seals remain upon the island, and are inhabited by a
strong force of Aleuts under the command of a Cossack. These
men are all armed with American rifles, and guard the rookery
clay and night against the raids of predatory schooners. Every
year a small fleet of these vessels leaves Yokohama, ostensibly for
fislring or walrus -hunting, but it is well known that this is not
their real business, and that advantage is taken of the fogs so often
met with in these northern seas to make descents upon the seal
islands. The Alaska Commercial Company are not by any means
shy of using force upon these occasions, and in more than one instance
the depredators have been severely handled. In October, 1881, two
of the crew of one of these vessels were killed, and seven or eight
wounded. Among the latter was an Englishman or American, who
was afterwards landed at Petropaulovsky with no less than thirteen
bullet wounds. Strange to say, he eventually recovered. After
our departure from Bering's Sea we heard that the schooner Nemo
which we had left at Ust Kamschatka had been shortly afterwards
seized as a suspected craft by a Eussian cruiser, and taken to
Vladivostock. Here she was detained throughout the wmter, and
the crew kept prisoners, but what eventually happened to them
we could not learn. That the lessees of the islands should have
some means of checking the poaching on their shores, and in the
surrounding waters within a distance of three miles or so, seems
fair enough, but it is more than doubtful whether such Mgh-handed
measures as have lately been taken should be permitted. In an

IX.]

THE SEAL "ROOKERIES."

195

Act of Congress passed in 1870 for the protection of the Pribylov
Islands the extent of the preserved waters is not defhritely specified
— the phrase " and the waters adjacent thereto " being employed.
Our dogs were unharnessed and tied up, and, taking the
precaution of keeping well to leeward, we walked down to inspect
the rookery. Although familiar with the description of a former
visitor, I confess that I was utterly unprepared for the sight that

SLEDGE DOGS.

met my eyes. For a distance of about three-quarters of a mile
along the coast was spread a seething black mass of animal life,
the individuals of which seemed almost "as the sand upon the
sea-shore for multitude." There were, we were told, about seventy
thousand of them, but had our informant said seven hundred
thousand I do not think I should have been astonished. Beyond
a certain limit the eye is incapable of estimating numbers. Ex
cepting in the case of the human species, I had never before seen
such an enormous collection of living creatures gathered together

196 BERING ISLAND. [chap.
in such a restricted area, and indeed no other instances of a like
nature are known in the animal world. Sprawling about in all
manner of attitudes, fighting, sleeping, fanning themselves, making
love, and splasMng in and out of the water m shoals, these densely-
packed creatures exhibited a ceaseless activity of movement which
remmded me strongly of a mass of maggots in a piece of carrion.
The ground upon which they had "hauled up" — for this is the
term in use to express the animals' landing — was a long stretch
of low -lying black rocks, backed and interspersed with coarse
pebbly beach, and upon the summits of the Mgher eminences some
huge old bulls were easily distinguishable. A shore of this nature,
we were told, is always much preferred to sand, which adheres to the
creature's fur, and, getting into its eyes, is apt to mduce inflammation.
From the fact that we saw young seals with ophthalmia in this
rookery, it would seem, however, that tMs, although possibly one,
is not the only cause of the disease.
Approaching as near as we dared without disturbmg our
" sitters," we took photographs of the strange scene before us. It
was as noisy as it was restless. The united vocal efforts from the
many thousands of throats produced a dull, continuous roar that
resembled nothing so much as the sound that greets the ear at
" the finish " on a Derby day. This noise is said to be audible at a
distance of three miles or more, and is one of the signs by which
the proximity of the island is recognised by sailors during a fog.
For the most part it is an evenly-blended volume of sound, but now
and again the lamb-like bleat of a pup is audible above the rest, or
the deep, hoarse bellow of an old bull. The din is constant, for the
animals take their rest in short uneasy dozes at any time in the
twenty-four hours, and life on the rookeries by night is as ceaseless
in its activity as by clay.
The land life of the fur seal is as peculiar ancl interesting as
the distribution of the species. Morally, I am afraid, it is not
instructive, for the animals are all confirmed polygamists, run away
with as many of their neighbours' wives as they can, and spend

ix.] SYSTEM OF THE ROOKERY. 197
their time in continual fighting. But with all these peculiarities
they are essentially law-abiding individuals, as must be the case
in all large communities. The rookery, with the extent of its area
as sharply defined as that of a sheep pen, is portioned out upon a
certam plan which is rigidly adhered to, dependent mainly upon
the fact that the young males are not permitted to engage m the
responsibilities of matrimony until they have reached their sixth
year, although they are actually adult before that time. These
happy individuals, known by the natives as the JwlluscJiicki or
bachelors, are allotted a playground to themselves where, in
company with the pups of the other sex of one and two years old,
they sport unconscious of the parental cares and sangumary battles
that another season or two will find them engaged in. These
playgrounds are either in rear or at the side of the rookery, the
remainder of which is allotted to the old bulls, their wives and
the newly-born pups. Into this part even the boldest holluschack
dares not penetrate, for if he does so he probably pays the penalty
with his hfe.1
The old bulls, as already stated, are the earhest arrivals, and
immediately proceed to select a good position for the reception of
their future wives. They " peg out a claim" as it were, into which
none other mtrudes save at his peril. To the defence of tMs little
space, which is perhaps not larger than a small room, the whole
energy of the ammal is devoted. He neither rests nor eats, and
his whole time is occupied in savage encounters with other later
comers who endeavour to oust Mm from his post. It is only the
biggest and strongest that can retain the coveted positions next the
sea, and even these, worn out in time by the severe wounds that
they have received, have occasionally to yield to younger and fresher
antagonists, and literally, as well as metaphorically, to take a back
seat. The seal even at this period then is scarcely to be held up
1 For a great part of my information upon the subject of the seal rookeries I am
indebted to Mr. Oasche, an employe of the Company, and to the elaborate "Mono
graph on the Seal Islands of Alaska " of Mr. H. W. Elliott.

198 BERING ISLAND. [chap.
as an example of brotherly love, but the effect produced by the
appearance of the fair sex upon the scene can be imagined. They
have been long expected, and the position of their future lords
and masters having by this time been pretty well settled, the
rookery has relapsed into a somewhat more peaceable condition.
But with the advent of the cows, who, poor thmgs, have but a
sorry time of it, all is changed, and the fighting again commences
with redoubled ardour. The fortunate animals who have secured
the positions next the sea have, of course, the first choice as the
new arrivals " haul up " upon the beach, and they waste no time over
the matter. The bull seal has as little romance about him as a last
year's " Bradshaw," and he does not idle away Ms hours in sighing
at Ms mistress's feet. Should any cow come within reach he seizes
her by the scruff of the neck, and having deposited her witlrin Ms
" claim," at once turns his attention to the annexation of another.
Meanwhile perhaps his neighbour, struck with admiration at the
graceful proportions of the bride, has quietly transferred her to his
own harem wliile her husband's back is turned, and a pitched
battle ensues upon the injured bridegroom's discovery of Ms loss,
during which the unfortunate cow for whose possession they are
fighting is either seized upon by a third party, or gets severely
mauled by the combatants. Mr. Elliott relates a case witnessed by
himself, in wMch the disputed fair one, while tugged in opposite
directions by her admirers, had the skin completely torn off her
back to the extent of a foot or more. These injuries are borne by
the sufferers without a groan, and apparently heal with great
rapidity. Before long the cows have all landed ; the attitude of the bulls
towards each other becomes more peaceable, and their domestic
arrangements more settled. The number of wives with which each
is eventually provided varies very much, and depends chiefly upon
the position and strength of the master of the harem. Mr. Elliott
tells us that he has known of one unhappy individual who guarded
as many as forty-five ; but such instances are rare, and from twelve

ix.] BREAKING UP OF THE ROOKERY. 199
to fifteen is said to be an average number. Those who are weaker,
and compelled to take up outlying posts at the back of the rookery,
have very much fewer, and among these it is but seldom that more
than three or four are seen. But although after a little while all
prospect of adding fresh beauties to his seraglio is gone, the
matrimomal duties of the unhappy Benedict still keep hhn closely
imprisoned to the httle plot of ground upon which he commenced
housekeeping. He dares not leave his charges for a moment,
or they would be instantly appropriated by his neighbours ; and
thus, cut off from the sea and from food of every kind, he endures
a fast so protracted and absolute that at the end of his three months
of married life he is reduced to a mere shadow of his former self.
Even we, with all the advantages of civilisation, cannot show greater
incentives to the contmuance of a bachelor life !
By the beginnmg or middle of August the rookeries lose all
trace of the careful organisation they previously displayed. The
pups go down to the water's edge and make their first essays in the
art of swimming, — an art which seems, curiously enough, to be not
natural but acquired. The bulls, emaciated and scarred with their
many fights, regain the sea and swim about in the neighbourhood of
the island, though for the most part they do not land again upon the
rookeries. Some of them are not so fortunate, and either perish
in the fighting, or become so injured that they are forced to leave.
The latter, we were told, generally herd together by themselves in
some undisturbed spot to recover from their wounds, — an hospital,
in short, where Nature, the most successful of all physicians, in
most instances effects a cure.
The male fur seal differs in a most strikmg manner from the
female. For the first two or three years they are much ahke in
size ancl appearance, but after that age the female practically ceases
to grow. It is far otherwise with the bull, who apparently gains
in weight until his death, and thus becomes enormously greater than
the female in size. This increase in bulk is chiefly noticeable in
the fore quarters of the animal, the throat and shoulders especially,

200 BERING ISLAND. [chap.
and the effect is such as almost to give Mm the appearance of a
different species. According to Mr. Elliott, the weight of a three-
year-old male is about 90 lbs. and its length 4 feet 4 inches, but a
full-grown one of the largest size would weigh as much as 600 lbs.
and measure over seven feet. Such monsters as these are of course
useless so far as their skins are concerned, but in the rookery their
authority is proportionate to their weight, and few antagomsts
would care to dispute a holding ground with them. The immense
masses of fat wlrich these old seals carry render their movement on
land an affair of more or less difficulty, but the action of the females
and young holluscJiicki is much freer, and they get about with a
tolerable amount of ease. A pet one presented to us during our
visit, which lived for several days on board the yacht, gave me
abundant opportunity of studying its habits. The fore nippers are
used with considerable power, and the animal progresses almost
entirely by their means, the hind quarters, which appear as if they
were semi-paralysed, being drawn up awkwardly after them. De
spite its evident unfitness for life on land, the seal is, however, a
very fair climber, and is often found some distance inland, and m
places by no means easy of access.
The female, or cow as she is always termed, comes on to the
breeding-ground at the begmning of her third year, and at that age
weighs little over 70 lbs. The older ones sometimes mcrease to as
much as 120 lbs. but the majority are considerably under that
weight. They are thus just one-sixth of the size of the bull. Their
length from tip to tip, as given by Mr. Elliott, is from four to four
and a half feet. Very soon after their arrival — at most not more
than a day or two1— they give birth to a single pup, whose life,
amid all the desperate fighting that ceaselessly takes place between
the ponderous bulls, runs no little risk of extinction during the
first few days. The cows go through no period of lengthened fast
like their consorts, but after a little while pay regular visits to the
From this and other facts it seems that the period of gestation is almost exactly
twelve months.

IX.]

THE HOLLUSCHICKI GROUND.

201

sea, and often leave their pups unattended for a day or more. The
latter do not seem to suffer from this neglect, and the mother, able
to obtain a sufficiency of fish, remains sleek ancl in good condition
throughout the summer. The pup is born with the eyes open, and
is nearly black in colour.

the FUK SEAL. {C'allorhinus ursinus.)

There are few sights more fascinating to a naturalist than the
vast sea of animal life which one of these great rookeries presents.
The fur seal, though possessed of the keenest powers of scent, cannot
see well, or, more accurately speaking, does not become so readily
cognisant of danger by sight as by smell, and in consequence, if
the observer only keep to leeward, he may watch the animals
playmg within a few yards of him at his leisure. We were on the

202 BERING ISLAND. [chap.
edge of the holluscJiicki ground, and the various gambols and
attitudes exhibited by them were most amusing. Some engaged
in mimic warfare, ancl rolled over and over like young kittens ;
others sat fanning themselves slowly with their long hmd flippers.
Whether this is really done for the sake of keepmg themselves
cool I do not know, but that they are extremely sensitive to heat
is certain, for sunny weather invariably sends them into the sea
in large numbers. Eain appears equally to be disliked by them,
but a cold, foggy day, we were told, is their beau ideal of weather.
Mr. Elliott doubts if the animals will vacate their present breeding-
places, since no other shores in Bering's Sea are properly adapted
for their requirements as regards ground and climate. Certainly if
their idea of enjoyment consist in lying on a wet rock m a fog,
exposed to an icy breeze, their present choice of locality seems
admirably suited to them. Yet in spite of these insamtary rash
nesses they are said to live to the age of twenty-four years or
more. What better argument, I wonder, could a lady possibly
advance for the absolute necessity of a sealskin cloak !
We were tqo late in the season to see the rookeries in their
fully organised condition, but a great number of old bulls remamed,
and were conspicuous by their large size and by the elevated positions
they had assumed. They were most likely those that had returned
from a holiday of a month or so at sea after the squabbles and
anxieties of their married life. They are the first to take their
departure and do not usually return, but the cows and holluscJiicki
remain much later, and leave about the same time — in the earlier
part of November, or even in October. The agent of the Alaska
Company told us that, as a rule, the shores were practically
deserted by the 20th of November, but that a few stragglers
were occasionally to be found even later. They are usually the
more weakly pups, who perhaps are unwilling to trust them
selves to their ocean life until they have gained a sufficiency of
strength. There are certain disadvantages attaching to bachelorhood even

ix.] THE HOLLUSCHAGK. 203
in seal life. Among ourselves, some careful statistician has, I
beheve, conclusively proved that what is called the expectation of
hfe is considerably greater among the married than the unmarried.
Through the instrumentality of the Alaska Commercial Company
the same rule holds good for the unhappy fur seal. Nature, from
the lowest to the highest of its species, abounds, so naturalists
inform us, with " useless bachelors," but as one of the class myself,
I cannot help sympathismg with the fate of the holluschicki. Not
even the alternative of a wife is offered them, but they are tapped
on the head with little ceremony and converted into sealskin
jackets. The place of slaughter, where the unburied bodies of the
victims lay rotting in the damp air, aroused other feelings besides
those conveyed through the medium of the nose; ancl bearing in
mind the coming reign of utilitarianism, I could not help con
gratulating myself on the fact that man is not a fur-bearing
animal. The hollusehaek is, from his habit of life, unconsciously the
author of his own misfortunes. As I have already stated, the
playgrounds are always perfectly distinct from, the breeding-
ground, and often lie at a considerable distance from them. It is
a rule, to which no exceptions are permitted, that the latter should
never be disturbed. Beyond the age of six years — the breeding-
age in short — the skin of the male fur seal is useless from a
commercial pomt of view, and that of the pup, even were it of the
best quality, is far too small to realise its highest value. The
cows are, of course, preserved with the greatest care, none being
ever permitted to be killed, and hence it happens that the
bachelors alone, and even among them only those of a certain age,
supply the skms that are annually taken for the European market.
The method of killing them is simple, and is much facilitated by
the tameness and slow movements of the animal. Eunning quickly
between the playground and the sea the natives are able to cut off
the escape of as many as are wanted, and those thus separated are
driven slowly up to the killing -grounds. They are guided far

204 BERING ISLAND. [chap.
more easily than a flock of sheep would be ; a few men stationed
on the flanks and rear of the column bemg all that is necessary.
Arriving at the place of slaughter, the animals are killed in batches
by bemg knocked on the head with a leaded club some five feet in
length. A knife is then plunged into the heart, and the skin
removed without loss of time, for any delay in this operation often
causes the fur to rub off. The majority of the seals thus killed are
at the commencement of their third or fourth year of existence,
when the fur is at its prime. The few useless old ones, or any
young pups that may get mixed up with the drove, are spared, and
permitted to return to the sea.
The number of skins annually taken upon each island is
regulated with the greatest care, and is so arranged that the
animals shall under no circumstances suffer any reduction m
number from year to year — in other words, that the breeding
stock shall always remain undiminished. Keepmg this object
carefully in view, the Alaska Company find that they can take as
many as 100,000 pelts every year upon the Pribylov Islands. The
Komandorski group is not nearly so productive. Bermg Island
furnishes a varying number which may perhaps be averaged at
lS^OO,1 but more are obtained from Copper Island, where the
number usually reaches 20,000. I have no information with
regard to Eobben Island, but, roughly speaking, the total number of
skins annually sold in the English market (for they are all brought
to London) cannot be much less than 150,000.
The first process of curing that the skins are subjected to is
simple in the extreme. They are merely packed together with salt
between and around them, and having been left thus for a few
weeks, they are ready to be tied together and tossed into the hold
of the steamer that takes them to San Francisco. The after
processes of curing, unhairing, and dyeing are too complicated
to give at length. Upon the care with which they are per
formed depends the quality of the skin ; seldom, as is generally
1 In 1881 16,078 were exported ; in 1882 about 19,000.

ix.] COLOUR OF THE SEAL. 205
' supposed, upon the condition of the animal from which it was
obtained. Most ladies, if the truth were known, and I daresay not a few
of the sterner sex also, imagine that the fur seal (as to whose
identity with the hair seal they are perhaps somewhat hazy) dis
ports itself in its native element with its jacket in exactly the
same condition as those which grace their own fair figures. This,
however, is by no means the case. The natural colour of the
animal is a dark greyish or brownish black upon the upper surface
of the body, shading into a steely grey over the shoulders, while
beneath it is much lighter, becoming pale yellowish, or even almost
white, upon the chest. The whole of the true fur, which in the
prepared skin is all that is allowed to remain, is covered with a
thick layer of coarse, slimy hairs, and the appearance of the natural
skin, though pretty enough upon the animal, would be anything
but pleasmg if made into a garment.
We watched the rookery until we were tired, and then, anxious
to see the process of slaughtering and skinning, asked that a few
seals might be driven up for that purpose. But either from its
being contrary to custom, or from a distinct unwillingness to obhge
us, our request was abruptly refused; and it was only with the
greatest difficulty that we got the overseer to allow some to be
separated and driven up in order that we might photograph them.
It was in vain, after this was over, that we begged to be allowed
to take away two or three of the animals ; they were to be counted
by tens of thousands close at our feet, yet permission was un
ceremoniously refused us. We were, however, determined, by fair
means or foul, to get hold of a specimen for museum purposes, and
at length, after much discussion, we were given a weakly two-year-
old suffering from ophthalmia, with which we had to be content ;
and making Mm as comfortable as we could upon one of the
sledges, we started on our homeward journey.
Before leaving the subject of the fur seals and their rookeries, a
word or two anent the Alaska Commercial Company is necessary.

206 BERING ISLAND. [chap.
Started in 1869 by two energetic Americans who alone recognised
the value of the seal islands at the time of the occupation of Alaska
by the United States Government, it has saved a most valuable
animal from extinction, and the Pribylov and Bering groups are now
neither more nor less than stock-farms where every care is taken for
the preservation of the breeding animals. It is impossible to visit the
North Pacific without hearing the Company abused, but, as it seems
to me, entirely without justification. Their action, with the excep
tion of the more than vigorous measures which they have occasionally
taken for the defence of their property, appears to have always been
most moderate, and to tend quite as much to the benefit of their
successors as themselves.- The profit upon the skins is by no means
excessive so far as can be gathered from Mr. Elliott's work. The
rental of the Pribylov Islands is $50,000, ancl, as has been stated,
the number of seals killed annually is about 100,000. Upon each
pelt a duty of $2 is paid to the United States Government, and as
each costs 40 cents for skinning, it will be seen that the actual sum
disbursed for every sealskin leaving the islands is twelve shillings,
— an amount' that is further augmented by the addition of the
general expenses of the Company. The Bering group is, I believe,
held from the Eussians upon rather more advantageous terms. The
lease of all the islands expires in 1890.
It was with much surprise and pleasure that we found Dr.
Leonard Stejneger, the accomplished and well-known naturalist,
established in Nikolsky. He had come to investigate the natural
history of the Komandorskis, and was prepared to devote hhnself to
an eighteen months' exile from civilisation in this dreary spot.
Surrounded by the large collections he had already made, it was
pleasant to chat over subjects in which we had a common interest,
and to learn many details of the island which he alone could give.
He had just returned from an expedition to the spot where Bering
and his crew had wintered in 1741, and had been successful in ob
taining a quantity of bones of Steller's sea-cow — the huge mammal,
as far as we know peculiar to the island, which has been extinct

ix.] FAUNA OF THE ISLAND. 207
for more than a hundred years.1 He had also found some grape-
shot, a few iron bolts and some glass beads — the relics of Bering's
ill-fated party.
According to Dr. Stejneger, none of the species either in the
fauna or flora of the Komandorski group are indigenous,
but are the results of immigration after the emerging of
the islands from the sea. This immigration has taken
place chiefly from the west, and the anhnal and vege
table life consequently agrees very closely with that
of Kamschatka. There are, of course, but few land
mammals upon the islands. The blue or Arctic fox
(Vulpes lagopus) is still tolerably common, although it
no longer exists in the enormous numbers in which
Bering found it, but as many as fifteen hundred were
killed in the season of 1881-82. The most abundant
animal appears to be the field-mouse (Arvicola rutilus),
whose introduction took place barely a decade ago. It
now swarms in Bermg Island throughout its whole
extent, but as yet has not gained a footing upon Copper
Island. The only domestic animals are chickens and cows,
for up to the present horses have not been introduced
as they have upon the Pribylovs, and all transport work
is effected by means of dogs. At the period of our
visit we found the whole community greatly interested
in an experiment which, in its first steps, had been very
successful. Fifteen reindeer, four of which were stags,
were landed on the island in the month of July, thanks ALEUT PIN.
to the joint efforts of Dr. Dybowski and the Alaska
Commercial Company. That they will become fairly established
m their new home there is little reason to doubt, for the fjell
1 Mliytina gigas (Temm. ) For the description and history of this animal vide
Nordenskiold's "Voyage of the Vega,"'Emg. trans, p. 361. According to Dr. Stejneger,
the accounts given to Nordenskjold by the natives with regard to the supposed ex
istence of the animal up to a much later period are not to be relied upon.

208 BERING ISLAND. [chap, ix-;
country to the south is especially suitable for them, and food is
abundant. Should this prove to be the case, the enterprise will be
eventually of the greatest benefit to the islanders.
It was with much regret at our inability to make a more
lengthened stay that we bade adieu to Nikolsky and its inhabitants.
The season was getting far advanced, however, and we had decided
on revisiting Kamschatka ere we finally set our faces southward.
We had not as yet obtained the Kamschatkan Bighorn, of wMch
we had so long been in search, and we were also anxious to secure
some walrus ; so getting on board our pet fur seal and the other
natural history curiosities we had collected on the island, we
weighed anchor and stood away to the SW. for Cape Kim on the
coast of Kamschatka.

CHAPTEE X.
EAMSCHATKA.
Cape Klin — Walrus — Permanence of snow at the sea-level — Betohevinskaya Bay —
Hunting Ovis nivicola — Impassability of the bush — A magnificent bag — Descrip
tion and measurements of the Kamschatkan Bighorn — Natural breakwaters —
Seals and bears — Lost in the bush — Return to Petropaulovsky — Unveiling of
the monument to the affair of 1854 — Ship's pets — Leave Avatcha Bay for the
south coast — An otter-hunters' village — Method of killing the sea-otter — The
peoples of the peninsula — Lamuts in Kamschatka — We leave for Japan — South
easterly gale — Encounter a typhoon — Loss of Le Gonidec — Another gale —
Repair damages in Yokohama.
The eastern shores of the peninsula of Kamschatka are broken by
three well-marked promontories : — Capes Kamschatka, Kronotsky,
and Shipunsky ; and it was for the latter — the southernmost — that
we shaped our course. Our friend E  , the captain of the schooner
Nemo, had recommended this part of the coast as being the best
ground for wild sheep and walrus, and though he had Mmself
hunted it on his voyage to the mouth of the Kamschatka Eiver,
we hoped that a sufficient time had elapsed for the animals to have
returned to their old quarters. Nearing the land a httle to the
north of Cape Shipunsky, it soon became evident that the outline of
the chart of this part of the coast had been traced according to the
fancy of the cartographer. Instead of a nearly straight shore
devoid of dangers, we found ourselves at the entrance of a fine bay
nearly two miles in depth, running in a south-westerly direction.
The scenery was wild and lonely-looking to a degree, but the
jagged precipices and rocky islets of which it was in great part
vol., i. p

210 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
composed were less pleasing to a sailor's than an artist's eye ; and
it was with a certam relief that, on the return of the lifeboat we
had sent to coast the shores of the bay, we learnt that no trace of
walrus was to be seen. With the prospect of bad holdmg-ground
and no shelter to speak of, we resolved on trying farther to the
north, and therefore, without anchoring, made at once for Cape
Klin, our origmal destination.
We kept within a mile or twb of the land, expecting to arrive
in an hour or less, for the distance between Capes SMpunsky and
Kim was barely twelve miles by the chart. We found, however,
that the distances were as little to be relied on as the outline of the
coast, ancl we had logged thirty-six miles before stopping the
engines abreast of the cape. We rowed along the beach m vain in
search of the game. Not a walrus was to be seen, but on nearing a
little group of rocks we noticed a large mass lying upon the beach,
and landed to find ourselves in the midst of a scene of slaughter
which sufficiently accounted for the absence of our quarry. The
crew of the schooner had evidently had good sport, for the shore
was dotted here and there with the bodies of the slain, wMch were
blown out to a gigantic size by decomposition. That there were
still plenty of walrus in the neighbourhood was evident, for on our
return to the ship the animals played in numbers around the boat ;
but, unlike the fur seal, they will not " haul up " on the shores
where others of their species have been killed, and we had therefore
to give up all hope of obtainmg them at Cape Klin. The walrus
restricts itself more or less to certain favourite spots for landing,
and a random search for them along the coast would have been
attended with but little success. It is nearly impossible to kill
them in the water except by harpooning, for the only fatal shot 
a small spot at the nape of the neck — is very rarely obtainable,
and the animal, if struck there, usually sinks at once.
Our search having thus proved fruitless, there was nothing left
for us but to return to the neighbourhood of Cape Shipunsky, in
the hope of obtammg some of the bighorn or mountam -sheep

x.] BETOHEVINSKAYA BAY. 211
0
which, according to Jacof Ivanovitch, were to be found there in
abundance. A few years previously he hacl visited Betchevins-
kaya Bay, a deep mlet ten miles to the west of the cape, and had
shot several ; and since, according to his account, both anchorage
and shelter were to be had — a not unimportant consideration on
such a coast — we again steered southward, and keeping a good
offing during the night, ran in to the land and picked up our
position off Cape Shipunsky at daybreak. The coast is steep -to,
and as we passed close to the fine cliffs and headlands wMch
oppose the by no means tranquil Pacific, there lay the neiges
d'antan bewailed of Maistre Francois Villon, — huge patches of last
year's snow, choking the gullies down to the water's edge. That
they should have remained throughout the hot summer in a south
east aspect was astonishing, ancl gave some idea of the severity of
the climate in these latitudes, but the absence of the usual autumnal
rains no doubt in great measure accounted for it.
Before reachmg our anchorage just within the entrance of the
bay, we could distinctly make out small herds of the animals of
which we were in search on the slopes of the cliffs, which here rose
to a height of five or six hundred feet, precipitous in some places,
but in others forming a sort of under-cliff covered with brushwood.
We lost no time in settling our plan of action. Judgmg that the
bighorn were confined to the promontory near which we had
anchored, we resolved upon surrounding it, sending four guns to
the top of the cliff, whose sea-face extended east and west for a
distance of about three miles, and posting two others upon the
beach below. The former, ascending in rear from the shores of the
bay, reached their destinations with some difficulty, the undergrowth
bemg so dense and strong that, but for the bear-paths with which
it was cut up in all directions, it would have been impenetrable.
At the edge of the cliff progression was somewhat easier, and on
looking over we found ourselves in close proximity to the game.
Owmg to the excitability of Jacof, who had got some distance ahead,
we began the day in a manner I hardly like to recall. The

212 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
wretched Eussian, totally obhvious of the fact that the bighorn
were possessed of qmte as good eyes and ears as ourselves, danced
wildly at the cliff's edge, shouting and gesticulating for us to come
on. Strugghng madly through the dense brushwood, hot, panting,
minus portions of our clothing, and with rage at our hearts, we
arrived just in time to get a couple of ineffectual shots as the game
disappeared round a corner. My sporting readers will have httle
difficulty in realising our feelings ; and as it was evident that Jacof's
forte lay rather in hunting sables than other game, we at once sent
him, like the unlucky commoner in Mr. Punch's aristocratic
battue, to " take the chance of a hare back." We felt that after
such a fiasco we could hardly expect or deserve success.
The fates, however, were more propitious than the most sanguine
of us had dared to hope. Before mid-day I had bagged tixree big
horn, and, as I afterwards learnt, most of the other guns had been
nearly as fortunate. Anxious to get the game on board before
nightfall, I started for the yacht, and wislring to save myself the
long round by the top of the cliff, attempted to cross an intervening
belt of fir-scrub in order to reach some open grassy ground farther
inland. I soon found that the task was far more difficult than I
had imagined. The thicket was of old growth, and covered the
ground breast-Mgh, the surface everywhere bemg perfectly level.
Contrary to what is usually seen near a coast, the branches grew
seawards, and interlacmg m every direction, formed a dense mat
through which it was almost impossible to force one's way. I had
barely gone ten yards before I became jammed in a position from
which I extricated myself only with the very greatest difficulty.
As I progressed the bush became, if anything, more impassable.
Cumbered with a heavy rifle, and already somewhat tired with the
morning's exertions, I got gradually more and more exhausted. My
legs became constantly wedged in the forks of the branches wlrich
were too tough to break, and with my feet scarcely ever upon the
ground, I fell again and again, lying where I fell from sheer
fatigue. The little strip of bush was barely a hundred yards

x.] BIGHORN SHOOTING. 213
across, yet, absurd as it may seem to those of my readers who have
had no experience of the denseness and impassability of the vege
tation in these and similar regions, I more than once wondered if I
should ever get through. I have certainly never been more com
pletely exhausted than when I finished the last yard and rolled
helplessly upon the grass on the other side,
After a rest on board the yacht I rowed along the coast to pick
up the game, two of wlrich had rolled down five or six hundred
feet upon the beach below. Passing beneath the cliff at the
entrance of the bay, we witnessed the death of a bighorn under
unusual circumstances, for the animals are in general as sure-footed
as a chamois. A couple of them had been driven into a corner by
some of our party at the top of the cliff, but one broke back almost
immediately. The other, perched on a little pinnacle at the edge
of the precipice, seemed about to follow its comrade, but hesitated,
turned, ancl ran back. As it did so its foot slipped. It checked
itself for a moment, slipped again, made one desperate effort to
regain its footing, ancl was over in an instant. The creature never
moved a muscle as it fell, ancl hit the rocks four hundred feet below
with a dull scrunching thud, breaking one of the massive horns
short off, ancl converting the hind quarters into a shapeless, bleeding
pulp. Before dusk we had got on board no less than nine bighorn,
and the yacht's decks were more like a butcher's shop at Christmas
than anytMng else. We were busily engaged in measuring,' skin-
mng, ancl weighing during the evenmg, and when, wearied with
the clay's exertions, we turned in for a well-earned night's rest, we
looked forward to the prospect of equally good sport on the
morrow. The general colour of the Kamschatkan Wild Sheep (Ovis
nivicola, Eschscholtz) is a browmsh grey, and the hair of those we
obtained was very long and thick, so much so that we concluded
that the animals had assumed their winter coat. The head ancl
neck are more distinctly grey than the rest of the body, the forehead

214

KAMSCHATKA.

[chap.

is marked with an ill-defined dark patch, and the lips are nearly
white. On the anterior aspect the legs are of a dark glossy brown,
but posteriorly a narrow white line runs down the entire length

kamschatkan bighorn. (Ovis nivicola.)

of the limb. The tail is short and dark brown ; the rump and the
centre of the belly pure white. The ears are remarkably short.1
The Bighorn in Kamschatka appears especially to frequent the
1 Sir Victor and Mr. Basil Brooke in their article on Asiatic Sheep in the "Pro
ceedings of the Zoological Society " (1875, p. 509), remark on the resemblance of the
horns of this species to those of the American Bighorn (Ovis montana), with which,
indeed, it has by some naturalists been regarded as identical. But the uniformly
smaller size of the head, the shortness and great breadth of the skull in its anterior
aspect, the slight development of the pre-orbital fossa, and the protuberance of the
orbit itself, serve markedly to distinguish the Kamschatkan species. The horns are
less rugose than those of 0. montana; their frontal surface is convex ; the orbital
surface at first concave, then flat, thus causing the fronto-orbital edge to be very
sharp. The nuchal surface is convex, and afterwards flattened, and the two re
maining edges are rounded.

X.]

OVIS NIVICOLA.

215

precipitous slopes of the sea-cliffs, though it is met with in some
numbers in the interior of the peninsula. We had evidence of its
occurrence in the mountam ranges near Gunal and Narchiki in the

skull ot Ovis Nivicola.

The following are the measurements obtained from a series of nine skulls :

Inches.

Length of skull ....

104

104

9|

r10i

10|

9|

104

101

Breadth between orbits .

51

5|

4|

54

5|

54

54

5±

Length of horns round curve .

35

34|

24

32J

354

38

324

264

35

Circumference of horns at base

13J

144

13

14

14

134

13|

124214

13*
254

Horns from tip to tip .

21

25

174

21

264

26

224

Measurements in the flesh of twelve specimens, all of which were adult males,
were also taken, and are as follows : —

Supposed age (years)

3

3

5

5

5

5

6

6

6

6

6

6

Extreme length

654

63

62

64

64

66

66

65

66

66

67

67

Greatest girth .

53

53

56

54

55

56J40
41
5440
5337
54404
55 39
Height at shoulder .
38
39
38
394
37
216 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
Bolcheresk Valley, and it probably exists at low altitudes on the
great volcanoes near the mouth of the Kamschatka Eiver. Every
one of those we shot was a male, — their ages ranging, as far as we
could judge, from three to six years. They kept in small herds of
from three to nine individuals. As in the case of others of the
same genus, the females and young males doubtless keep apart,
but we were not fortunate enough to discover their habitat, neither
could we obtain any information about them from the natives.1
Early next morning the most enthusiastic of our party proceeded
in the lifeboat to the ground of the preceding day, hoping to add
still further to the bag, while two of us started to explore the
magnificent harbour at the entrance of which we lay. Betohe
vinskaya Bay, the position and extent of wMch is but roughly
indicated in the Eussian charts, is a narrow inlet some five miles
in depth, girt with precipitous cliffs of three or four hundred feet
for the seaward third of its extent. At this pomt two low and
narrow strips of beach run out from the base of the cliffs on either
side, leaving a passage barely fifty yards in width in the very centre
of the fjord, but deep enough to admit a vessel of the largest size.
Within this the cliffs disappear, and an extensive and perfectly land
locked basin is entered, surrounded by high hills sloping gradually
to the water's edge — as good a harbour as it is possible to imagme.
Of the mode of formation of the two promontories I have just
alluded to I can offer no explanation. They are so unnatural in
appearance, and so closely resemble artificial breakwaters, as at
once to attract the notice of the most careless observer. The long
spit of beach runnmg out at the entrance of Petropaulovsky
harbour is of exactly similar formation, and the same phenomenon
is said to occur at other places along the coast. Nature is not
very lavish of her harbours on these shores, but the few that exist
are excellent.
As we entered, the placid surface of the inner basin was dotted
in every direction by the square black heads of seals, of which
1 Cf. article by the author On Ovis nivicola, "Proc. Zool. Soc," 1885, p. 675.

x.] A HEAVY BAG. 217
 (  : 
there appeared to be enormous numbers. But as we intended to
try for bear at the head of the bay we left them in peace. The
wind, however, sprang up and blew directly inland, and all chance
of sport being under these circumstances reduced to a minimum,
we reluctantly returned. That bear were very abundant in the
neighbourhood was evident from the numberless fresh tracks, and
from the fact that we saw seven in two days, but owing to their
shyness and the dense undergrowth they frequent, they are not easy
to shoot. We had therefore to turn our attention to the seals,
whose skins Jacof seemed anxious to obtam. They were the
ordinary Phoca vitulina of our own coasts, or a very closely-allied
species. Landing on the natural breakwater on our way back, we were
astomshed to find- a spring of fresh water close to its extremity.
The pools formed by it were covered with teal and other duck, and
with these and a stray golden plover or two we had good sport.
The place seemed to be a favourite resort of bears, who had formed
numerous paths to the spring ; but ill-fortune once more attended
us, and we had to be content with a distant view of one of these
animals, who made off at full speed. We returned to the Marchesa
to find that considerable additions had been made to the bag by
the other party. Four more Ovis nivicola and a walrus had been
killed, the latter carrying very fine tusks, nearly two feet in length.
Hunting these creatures is after all but a sorry business. In order
to afford sport an animal should either fight or run away. The
poor walrus does neither — at least to any purpose — and having once
killed one, no sportsman would care to repeat the performance.
I have been led to describe the events of our two days'
visit to Betchevinskaya Bay as an illustration of the abundant
sport to be obtained in Kamschatka. Our total bag consisted of
one walrus, fourteen bighorn (one, falling in an inaccessible place,
was not brought in), and some seals, besides teal, duck, ancl golden
plover. Had we been ordinarily fortunate we should also have
obtained two bears, which, though badly hit, managed, owing to the

218 KAMSCHATKA [chap.
denseness of the scrub, to escape. We found the bighorn meat
delicious ; it was declared on all hands that no such mutton had
ever been tasted before. Our men were in their element salting
down and preserving, and were unanimously of opinion that there
was no country like Kamschatka, where salmon, grouse, and mutton
were to be had for the killing. The ship was hung with carcases,
which some facetious individual had labelled with placards " First
Prise, Petrepaulski Cattle Show"; "Prime, lljd. per pound";
" Cuttings, 6|d." and so on, and steaming joints of mutton graced
the board at every meal in the forecastle mess.
It was on the evenmg of our second day's stay that one of our
party came m for an adventure that was near having a very
unpleasant ending. After bringmg home the bighorn, he had
started late in the afternoon for the sea-chffs on the other side of
the bay, with the intention of inspecting the ground for those
animals and walrus rather than with any defimte idea of shooting.
The sea being quite calm, he had taken the skiff with only one
hand, intending to return shortly after sunset. At nightfall they
had not arrived, and after waiting a little while longer the lifeboat
was manned and sent across the bay in search. An hour or so
later, having heard nothing further, we proceeded in the cutter in
the same direction, with extra hands in case of need. On our way
we met the skiff returning, and learnt that, as we feared, our
companion had no doubt lost his way in the bush. He had climbed
a difficult cliff just after landing, and not liking to risk the descent,
had tdld the coxswain of the skiff to row along the shore until he
came to an easier part, and to wait for him there. It was then
growing dusk, and although he had waited several hours and rowed
up and down the coast firing signals— for the rifle had been left in
the boat — nothing had smce been seen of him. In any ordinary
country we should have felt but little anxiety, as, with the sea to
the S.W. and the inlet to the S.E., it would have been difficult to
take a wrong course. But knowing the almost impenetrable nature
of the bush upon the other side of the bay, we feared lest he should

x.] LOST IN THE BUSH. 219
succumb to exhaustion and exposure, for the night was bitterly
cold. It was surmised that he would most probably attempt to make
his way across to the inlet — a distance of about two miles — as in
land the bush was less tirick, and if he could succeed in reaching
the cliff he would be within sight of the ship, and would be able
to make signals. Accordingly a search party of six men, provided
with lanterns and ropes, started to scale the cliff, which was about
400 feet in height. It was a task requiring all the nerve of an
experienced chmber. Dangerous enough by day, it was ten times
more so by the uncertain right afforded by the lanterns, and it was
with the keenest anxiety that we watched the specks of right
slowly workmg up the face of the precipice before us. Half way
they came to a part so difficult as to be almost msurmountable,
and here an accident occurred to one of the party which was
within an ace of provmg fatal. While sprmgmg on to a Mgher
ledge he missed his footmg and shpped back, and had it not been
for the pluck and presence of mind of one of Ms comrades, who,
although himself on a most insecure foothold, leant forward and
managed to check Ms descent, nothing could have saved Mm.1
At length, after what seemed an interminable time, they reached
the summit, and the rights immediately disappeared.
It was now early morning, and we were discussing the ad
visability of starting with another party or of waiting until day
light, when we noticed a light at the edge of the cliff farther up
the inlet. It had, however, been sighted some time previously
from the ship, and a boat arrived almost mmiediately afterwards
with another party to aid m the search. Our anxiety as to our
friend's whereabouts was now at an end, but getting at him was
another affair, for the cliffs at this spot were almost perpendicular,
and we were forced to go some distance farther before finding a
1 The name of the man who so pluckily risked his life deserves to be recorded.
Samuel Scarff, who at a later period of the voyage became boatswain, was a universal
favourite, and when in the following year he succumbed to the effects of the climate
during our cruise to rTew Guinea, his loss was very keenly felt by all of us.

220

KAMSCHATKA.

[chap.

place where the ascent was practicable. Half an hour later we
found him, very cold and exhausted, trymg to warm himself at the
fire which, fortunately for himself, he had been able to light.
It appeared that, after leaving the skiff, he had sought in vain

^v^;^r '>p''<-
MONUMENT TO THE AFFAIR OF AUGUST, 1854.
for any spot where a descent was practicable, and darkness having
come on, he had lost his way in one of the dense thickets I
have described. After this he had steered south-east for the
inlet, fighting his way through thick bush for the greater part
of the distance. Although much exhausted, he dared not rest
At length, after a seven hour's

for long on account of the cold.

x.] UNVEILING OF THE MONUMENT. 221
Struggle, he reached the cliffs of Betohevinskaya Bay, and knew
that he was safe. Fortunately there were no fir- thickets to
contend with such as I had found on the other side of the bay, or
the adventure would probably have had a different ending, but it
will probably be many years before he forgets the night he spent
when lost in the Kamschatkan bush.
On the evening of September 23rd we found ourselves once
more in Petropaulovsky harbour. The Eussian man-of-war Afrika,
employed in the protection of the Komandorski group, and in
surveymg" the coast, was in port, and also the Alexandria, a San
Francisco steamer which pays an annual visit to Petropaulovsky
to take away the furs. During our expedition through the pemn-
sula the Afrika and Vestnik had consecrated the monument in
memory of the affair of August, 1854. This monument, an obelisk
about twenty-five feet Mgh, was erected in the previous year by
the Vestnik on the spit of land forming the natural breakwater of
the harbour, the materials having been brought from Eussia. It is
of stone, painted black, and surmounted with a gilt "mornmg star"
and cross. On the eastern side is the following inscription in
Eussian : — IN MEMORY OF THE FALLEN
AT THE
REPULSE OF THE ATTACK OF THE ANGLO-FRENCH FLEET,
20th & 24th AUGUST, 1854.
And on the reverse side : — ERECTED IN 1881.
Before the consecration the blue-jackets were marched to the
little pahsaded enclosure, where, under three crosses, the Eussian,
French, and English dead lie buried side by side. Here a long-
prayer was offered over the Eussian grave ; but when the Captain
of the Vestnik, in deference to the presence of some of the yacht's
party, desired that the pope would perform the same ceremony

222 KAMSCHATKA. [chap

over those of the French and English, he utterly declined I1 Latei
in the day the monument was unveiled ; the crews of the Eussian
vessels being drawn up in line, and the royal salute fired. The
affair was wound up by a dejeuner given on board the Vestnik, and
some hard drinking by the Petropaulskians, which resulted in the
death of a Cossack next day.
Nowhere has one a better opportunity of watching the habits
of pet animals than on board ship, ancl on the Marchesa, where they
were permitted to roam at large, causing occasionally no small
amount of astonishment and alarm to our visitors, they were
seldom out of our sight for long. On our return from New Guinea
the yacht was little more than a floating menagerie, — a happy
family of cassowaries, wild pigs, kangaroos, and a host of other
creatures ; but northern regions are not very productive of pets, and
our chief favourites at this period of the cruise were only tiiree
in number, — the fur seal ; Misky, a large, but not fully adult beai
presented to us by the Eussian officers ; and a charming httle
Sinhalese mongoose. The fur seal, known to the sailors as Tommy.
flopped about the deck with the ungainly semi-paralysed gait
peculiar to his species, choking ancl spluttering with mingled feai
ancl rage when any one approached him. Every day we lay in
harbour a long line was fastened to his hind flipper, to the end oi
which a life-belt was attached, and thus buoyed he was put
overboard to swim about or go ashore as he pleased. His mannei
of feeding was curious, any fish he was provided with not being.
snapped up immediately, but played with and mouthed all ovei
for a quarter of an hour or more, when it suddenly disappeared as
if by magic. Poor Tommy was in a very feeble state of health
when he came into our possession, and his death, which took place
just before we left Kamschatka, was not unexpected. Though dead
he yet lives — in spirit.
1 I should mention that the Russian officers were much annoyed at this act o:
discourtesy, and came on board to apologise for their countryman, whom thej
described as being " only an ignorant peasant. "

x.] MISKY. 223
Misky, though a great favourite with every one, was perhaps not
altogether a source of unmixed pleasure to us. To an unsuspecting
visitor the sight of him bearing down at a loose trot to investigate
matters was anything but reassuring, ancl it was in vain for us to
tell our guests that it was " only his fun." A gallant lieutenant
coming on board one day in full dress proved too great a temptation
for Bruin, who immediately seized Mm by the coat-tails. It was
found impossible to make him let go until the discomfited officer
had reduced Mrnself to his shirt-sleeves, when, delighted with
his success, the delinquent shuffled off. He was apparently almost
indifferent to pain. A smell of burning being one day discovered
forward, one of the crew proceeded to investigate the cause, and
found Misky standing upright on the top of a nearly red-hot stove,
engaged in steahng cabbages from a shelf above. He was growling
in an undertone ancl standing first on one leg and then on the other,
but he nevertheless went on slowly eating, heedless of the fact that
the soles of Ms feet were burnt entirely raw. Endless were the
stories about Mm, and the scrapes he got into, but punishment was
apparently in vain, for he got worse as he grew older ; ancl after
having devoured portions of the cabin skylight and a man's thumb,
and finished by drinking the oil out of the binnacle lamp, he was
sMpped to England, and found a new home in the bear-pit in tlie
Zoological Gardens.
Misky's sworn enemy was the mongoose, into whom seven
devils at least had entered. His sole object in hfe was mischief,
and it must be confessed that he never idled for a moment.
Whether biting one's toes as one lay asleep in the early morning,
capsizmg the ink-bottle, or bolting surreptitiously with some coveted
morsel from the dinner-table, he was never still, but his greatest
happiness, — for it was attended with that spice of clanger which
gives the true zest to sport, — was to " draw " Misky. When that
unsuspecting ammal was rolling his unwieldy body about on deck,
ignorant of the proximity of Ms enemy, the mongoose would
approach noiselessly from behind and nip him sharply in the foot.

224 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
Long before the huge paw had descended 'in a futile effort at
revenge the httle rascal was safely under cover, on the look-out for
another opportunity, and the bear might just as well have attempted
to catch a mosquito. A more thorough httle pickle never existed,
but, hke all pickles, he was very popular, and when one morning he
disappeared never to return there was great lamentation among our
men. We never learnt his fate. . Probably Misky had caught his
tormentor after many months of vain endeavour, and had dined
off him. We left Petropaulovsky on September 26th with the inten
tion of visiting the coast towards Cape Lopatka. Even as far
south as Avatcha Bay the nights had become bitterly cold, and
warned us to take our departure if we meant to avoid the heavy
gales that visit these latitudes at the onset of winter. We steamed
out of the harbour over a sea so calm that the glare of golden light
which ht up the western sky was reflected in its surface as in a
mirror. Never had the bay and its grand volcanoes looked more
beautiful, and we stood watching the blaze of colour fading over
the yellow ^torch-clad hills and the lonely pyramids of snow beyond
until the last ray of daylight had disappeared and the full moon
had turned the landscape to a harmony in black and silver.
, Next morning a thick fog hid the coast from view, but cleared
as the sun got up, and we were able to pick up our position. About
noon we found ourselves off an island abreast of the Itterna
Volcano, and steaming into a bay close by, we scanned the coast
for signs of a sea-otter-hunters' village, of whose existence we had
heard through Afanasi. Not a trace of it was to be seen, and we
were beginning to think that we had misinterpreted our directions
when a couple of little canoes shot out from behind a point and
paddled towards us at a great rate. As these neared the ship we
saw that they were built somewhat on the model of a Greenlander's
kayack, although not broader than the narrowest of Thames cedar-
wood canoes. How they can live in any ordinary sea is little short
of «iiraculous, but we afterwards learnt from the people that two

' -n: m

x.] SEA-OTTER HUNTING. 225
or three boats invariably proceed in company when engaged in
hunting the sea-otter, and that during heavy weather they
lash them together with the paddles, by which means even
a moderate gale can be safely encountered. j& I
The natives piloted us into a small bay which, protected
as it was by an island 1 and a long reef running out from the
mainland, afforded fairly good shelter in all winds. At the
head of it stood the village, almost mvisible at a httle
distance, composed entirely of underground yourts, whose
smoke-begrimed interiors were not inviting to a European.
We had hoped to find many skins of the sea-otter here, but
were disappointed, the whole village only producing two ; we
became possessors, however, of what, though less valuable,
was of more interest, — the bow and arrows with which these
animals are killed. The former is a tough piece of wood five
or six feet in length, which is enormously strengthened by a
band of plaited Mde on the outer face, so tightly fixed as to
give the bow when unstrung a curve in the opposite direction.
The arrows are of wood for three-quarters. of their length,
fitted with feathers attached diagonally along the shaft, so
as to produce a rotatory motion. The remaimng portion
is of walrus ivory, provided at the end with a socket, into
wMch a barbed copper point is inserted. This is connected
to the arrow by a long string of plaited sinew wound
around the shaft. When the otter is hit, the barb, which is
very loose, becomes at once detached, and if the animal gain
the sea, its whereabouts is revealed by the arrow floating
above it.
The canoes used by these people are of extremely
graceful shape, and so light that they can be lifted in one SEA_
hand with ease. They are constructed of a wooden skeleton

OTTER
AKBOW.

1 This island, which is not marked in the chart, was named by us after Lieut.
R. ff. Powell. It is in Lat. 51° 33' N., Long. 157° 50' E., and is about two miles
in length. The coast at this part is placed too far to the eastward.
VOL. I. Q

226

KAMSCHATKA.

[chap.

framework of the slightest possible description, covered with the
skin of the Sea-Lion (Eumetopias), beautifully sewn. The circular
opening for the occupant is very small, and the ingress of water
is prevented by a sack-like skin apron which is tightly tied beneath
the arms. These craft are astonishingly crank, so much so that one
of our party, by no means a tyro in such matters, found the greatest

OTTEH-HUNTER's CANOE, POWELL ISLAND.

possible difficulty in sitting one, even in smooth water. They are
made in three sizes, — for one, two, or three persons.
We entered into negotiations for the purchase of one of these
boats, as well as our want of a common language permitted. Vodky
— the curse of Kamschatka — was the one idea of the natives, and we
might doubtless have bought the craft, furnished with bow and
arrows and all necessary gear, for three or four bottles of this spirit,
had we felt inclined, for these people would sell their very souls
for brandy were they only marketable commodities. The bargain
was concluded eventually for thirty roubles, but though the dealing
in money saved our consciences, it probably came to much the same
in the end as if we ourselves had supplied the natives with spirit.
Directly the snow was sufficiently hard for sledging, the owner of

x.] THE PEOPLES OF THE PENINSULA. 227
the roubles would no doubt start for Petropaulovsky, and turn
them into vodky without loss of trine.
We could make out nothing about the nationality of the people
of this village. We had been told that some Aleuts from the Bering
group had settled in tMs neighbourhood, but it seems that the
Kurile islanders have also passed northward, and estabhshed them
selves on the coast near Cape Lopatka. To us it appeared that
they did not differ appreciably from the Kamschatdale type, but
the opririon of a mere passer-by on these matters is usually
valueless. NotMng certain is -at present known of the origin of the
Kamschatdales ancl Koriaks — the aboriginal tribes of the pemnsula.
Both appear to have become greatly reduced in numbers since the
Eussian conquest. As a pure race the Kamschatdales are now rare,
except on the western side of the country. The Koriaks rarely or
never come south of the Tigil Eiver. They are a nomad race hke
the Lapps, owning reindeer and riving in movable tents, and, like
them, coming down to the lower ground in winter. Both these
tribes belong to the "Hyperborean" unclassified group, and Mr.
Keane1 considers the Koriak as probably the parent stock of the
sub-arctic races of this part of the globe. Their language as shown
by the vocabulary of M. de Lesseps, although bearing but a faint
resemblance to the Kamschatdale, is closely alhed to that of the
Tchuktchi tribe in the region of the Anadyr, and it is possible that,
ethnically as well as geographically, they form a connecting rink
between these two latter peoples.2
I am not aware that the presence of Lamuts in Kamschatka
has ever been recorded by previous writers, but while on our
journey through the country we were told by Afanasi War en
1 "Asia." Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel.
2 The accidental immigration of Japanese must be regarded as a not unimportant
factor in the composition of the Kamschatdale race. Short as is the period that has
elapsed since the Russian conquest, it has furnished several instances, recorded by
Krasheninikov, of Japanese junks having been driven from their course and wrecked
on the shores of the peninsula. This chance peopling of the country has, no doubt,
been going on for centuries, and it is probable that but few of the immigrants ever
regained their native land.

228 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.

BOW OF KURILE CANOE.

who was well acquainted with both the Koriaks and Kamschatdales,
that a small number of tMs race lived in the mountains in the heart
of the peninsula. He described them as a fjell people, great
hunters of Ovis nivicola, and owning reindeer, which they occasionally
brought in for sale to
Melcova and other places
on the Kamschatka Eiver.
That the Lamuts, who are
of Tungus race, should
have established them
selves in such an isolated
position is curious, but
we had no reason to doubt
the accuracy of Afanasi's hiformation. De Lesseps in Ms " Travels
in Kamschatka " gives a vocabulary of the Lamut language, but, as
he mentions notMng of this people in the peninsula, it is most
probable that it was obtained in passing through their country
in the neighbourhood of Okhotsk and the Judonia Eiver, on his
return to St. Petersburg.
On the 27th we bade a final adieu to Kamschatka. We had
more belief in the cold southerly current than in the continuation
northwards of the Kurosiwo, of wMch we had vainly endeavoured
to take advantage in our voyage from Japan ; and we accordingly
set our course for that country so as to keep a few miles only to
the eastward of the Kurile chain. Had we known what was before
us we should probably have given the land a wider berth. We had
no idea that we were destined to come in for two gales and a
typhoon before we reached the welcome shelter of Yedo Bay.
We steamed on quietly enough against right to moderate
southerly winds until the mormng of September 29th, when we
experienced a gale from the south-east, which increased in force as
the day wore on. At 6 p.m. we altered course, and stood in towards
Simusir Island until midnight ; a high sea running and the vessel
pitching heavily. The wind then slackemng somewhat, and veering

x.] TYPHOON OF OCTOBER 2nd, 1882. 229
to south-west, we kept away on the other tack. By the afternoon of
the 30th the gale had practically blown itself out, and we resumed
our original course with a fresh breeze from the north-west.
Early next morning the wind had fallen so light that we had to
recommence steaming. At noon we were in Lat. 44° N. ; Long.
148° 44' E. ; the barometer standing at 3042 inches. In the
afternoon we sighted Eturup or Staten Island, the penultimate and
largest island of the Kuriles. It had fallen a " clock calm" in sailor
language, and all hands found it a great relief after the knocking
about we had experienced during the two preceding days. It was
not for long, however. During the afternoon a uniform grey haze
came over the sky, and a large halo was noticed round the sun.
An ominous, long swell came up from the southward, and at 8 p.m.
an easterly breeze, accompamed by sharp showers of rain, prepared
us for the onset of a dirty night. The barometer had begun to fall
at 4 p.m. We had hoped to reach AldsM Bay, on the coast of Yezo,
early the following day, but through the night the weather grew
steadily worse, and at 5 A.M., the wind having increased to a strong
gale, and the weather being far too thick to attempt to make the
land, we altered course to SW. by W., being then, by dead
reckomng, 16 miles off Cape TJsu, the easternmost promontory of
Yezo. An hour later the wind backed to E. by N., the rain
descending in sheets ; and taking everything into consideration, we
concluded that we had fallen in with a typhoon travelling north
eastwards, an unusual phenomenon in such Mgh latitudes.
By 8 o'clock the Marchesa, under storm canvas, was running
before the heaviest gale she had yet encountered, in the endeavour
to get as much sea-room as possible. The law of these circular
storms is so well known and so invariable that, under ordinary
circumstances, there is no difficulty in handhng a ship so as to
bring her as quickly as possible out of the track of the hurricane.
But here our proper course — west — was impracticable on account
of the land, and we were driven into the unpleasant alternative of
having, in all probabihty, to meet the centre of the storm.

230 KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
Just at this time an accident occurred which cast a gloom over
the whole ship. The jaw-rope had carried away, and Charles Le
Gonidec, a Frenchman from Havre, and one of our best hands, was
engaged in overhauling the throat halyards when, getting hold of
the wrong part, and the rope overhauling too rapidly, he came down
with a run, and hung suspended for a moment about fifteen feet
above the deck. The sMp was rolling heavily, and a sudden lurch
to port loosening Ms grasp, he fell, and striking the bulwark, was
overboard in an instant. From the very moment of the occurrence
it was evident that no human power could save him. No boat
could have been launched in such a sea, and although we shortened
sail and put the helm over without delay, we could not even get
the vessel head to wind, and in spite of the engines being at full
speed, were driven back into the wash of our own screw. The
spin-drift on the water was so great, and the weather so thick, that
objects could not be seen at the distance of the ship's length, and
the poor fellow had been lost sight of immediately. Eeluctantly
therefore we gave up all hope, and the safety of the yacht having
to be considered, — for we ran considerable risk of having our decks
swept, — she was again kept away, her course being altered to S.W.
byS. The loss of a man at sea always comes with more or less of a
shock to the most thoughtless of us, even if we be merely passengers
on an ordinary hner. But when it occurs among those who have
been comrades for months together, and we realise that there will
be a gap among the familiar faces that greet us as we walk forward
to the fo'c'sle every morning, we feel it far more than many who
regard a sailor as being merely an animated unit of the ship's
machinery would imagine. It was long, I think, before any of us
began to grow accustomed to the loss of poor " French Charlie."
We had other things to think of at the moment, however. At
10 a.m. the wind had backed still further to E.N.E., and the glass
was falling more rapidly. We concluded that we were probably
not far from the storm centre, and a couple of hours later, as we

x.] MARCHESA TRAVERSES THE STORM CENTRE. 231
Tiad anticipated, the wind which was by that time N.E. had
moderated considerably. In a short time it had fallen almost to a
dead calm. A tremendously confused sea was running, apparently
from the meeting of waves from the N.E. and S.E., and the
water shot up in all directions in huge fountains in a most
extraordinary manner.
At 1.30 the calm was broken by a fresh breeze which sprang
up from the S.E., gradually backing to N.E., and blew so steadily that
it might have led a landsman to the conclusion that the hurricane
was over. But the still falling glass told another story, and we
knew that, in all probability, the worst was still to come. Both
the aneroid and the mercurial barometers at this period exhibited
a curious phenomenon which is occasionally noticed at the time of
a typhoon. The needle of the former flickered constantly, and the
mercury rose and fell in a peculiar manner not due in any way
to ordinary " pumping," and Mtherto not seen during the earlier
part of the storm. It was a suggestive and not very pleasing sight,
and indeed the period of calm during wMch we awaited the
commencement of the second act of Nature's performance was any
thing but agreeable.
At 5.30 p.m., the vessel being as nearly as we could judge in
Lat. 42° N., Long. 144° 46' E., the barometer stood at its lowest
point (28'77 inches), and shortly afterwards began to rise. The
N.E. wind had died away, and the weather was somewhat clearer.
Suddenly, however, a thick black haze appeared in the NW.
advancing with great rapidity, and in less than two minutes we
were in a gale. By a quarter past six it had increased to a hurri
cane. No defined limit between air and water seemed to exist.
At first the terrific violence of the wind seemed amiost to beat
down the confused but heavy sea that was rumring from the east
ward, but it was not long before we were flymg through the water
before a tremendous following sea. The wind appeared to hurl off
the tops of the waves en masse, covering the yacht from stern to
stem with continuous sheets of water, and as it was evident that

232 KAMSCHATKA. [chap. x.
we could not long continue runmng before the gale without great
risk, the ship was at once hove to, — an operation which was for
tunately accomphshed without accident. At 9 p.m. the barometer
was rising steadily, and the wind had moderated to a strong gale,
which blew throughout the mght from between N.W. and W. by
N. On the morning of October 3d it had dropped still more, and
although still blowing heavily, we were able to resume our course
for Yokohama, thankful that the typhoon was over.
We were not destined to reach port without further misadven
ture, for on the 6th we came in for some bad weather and heavy
overfalls, which carried away still more of our already damaged
bulwarks. The steadily-falhng barometer made us fear another
gale, which, with the little sea-room we had, would have caused us
some anxiety. Fortunately, however, we escaped it, and anchored
off the Enghsh hatoba on the evening of the same day. The
Marchesa, though showing evident traces of the severe weather she
had experienced, was not materially the worse for it, but it was
evident that some httle time would be necessary for repairs.
Besides minor damages to the sails and rigging, the bulwarks on
the port bow had been carried away for the distance of thirty feet
or more, and we had lost our lifeboat, — the heavy iron davits
supporting it being twisted like a piece of wire. The bridge had
become loosened, and it was found necessary to replace it by
another; and various repairs of less importance had to be undertaken.
It was with no little pleasure, accordingly, that we prepared our
selves for four months' travel in the less visited parts of the
kingdom of the Mikado.

CHAPTER XI.
HISTORY OF KAMSCHATKA.
First conquests to the east — Yermac Timovieff — Conquest of Kuchum Khan — The
Russians reach the Amoor — Settle at the Anadyr — Theodot discovers Kamschatka
— Invasion and conquest of the peninsula — Mutiny of the Cossacks — Bering's
first voyage — Discovery of Bering's Straits — His second voyage abortive —
Rebellion of the Kamschatdales — Bering's last voyage — Exploration of the
Alaskan coast — Discovery of Bering Island — Wreck of the St. Peter — Death of
Bering — The survivors reach Kamschatka — Return of the St. Paul — Death of
De la Croyere.
It is a singular circumstance in the annals of Geography, that at the
very begimring of the sixteenth century the far distant Spice Islands
should have been in the hands of the Portuguese, and New Girinea
already discovered, while Siberia proper remained utterly unknown,
in spite of its proximity to civilisation. Yet, at the' present day,
after a lapse of three centuries and a half, when the interior of
New Girinea is still a sealed book to us, Siberia, notwithstanding
the severity of the climate and the difficulties of travel, offers few
problems to the explorer that have not long ago been solved.
The history of the conquest of Siberia is interesting from its
extreme rapidity. At the time just mentioned the Tartar tribes
extended to the north-west almost as far as the district of Arch
angel, and traded in furs with Eussian merchants who, more
adventurous than the rest, had settled themselves on the outskirts
of the territory of the Czar. The large fortunes amassed in this
commerce attracted attention, and shortly afterwards an expedition
was despatched during the reign of Ivan Vassihvitch II., the effect

234 HISTORY OF KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
of which was to render tributary many tribes between the Petschora
and the Obi. Although the invadmg force scarcely passed the
Ural range, and its effect was rapidly lost by the second conquering
of the same tribes by a descendant of Yenghis Khan, the Czar was
more fortunate to the south, and having subdued the Tartars of
Astrakhan and the Volga, he somewhat prematurely assumed the
title of Lord of all Siberia in 1558.
About this time a certain Yermac Timovieff came into notice.
He was a Cossack of the Don, and at best httle more than a robber
cMef, who, at the head of six thousand men, had been beaten by the
forces of the Czar and driven from the country. Eetiring to the
north and east, he came into contact with Kuchum Khan, whose
dominions extended over a vast tract of country in the region of
the Irtish and the Obi ; and though his forces had been considerably
reduced, he formed the bold project of conquering that monarch
and estabhshmg for himself a new kingdom m western Siberia.
The result was a complete success. The deciding battle was fought
close to where the town of Tobolsk now stands, and though
Yermac's forces numbered scarcely fifteen hundred men, Ms victory
was complete, and the Tartars were routed with great slaughter.
From tMs moment the tide of fortune was uninterrupted. The
neighbouring tribes at once submitted, and in 1579, after barely
two years' wanderings, the exiled robber found himself transformed
into a powerful monarch.
His further action shows him to have been as far-seemg as he
was bold. Backed by a mere handful of his own men, he could
not hope to retain the crown without assistance, and that assistance
could only be obtained from the Czar. To him accordingly he
offered his new kmgdom, stipulating for immediate aid. The Czar
accepted, pardoned Yermac, and sent a body of five hundred troops
to the Irtish, where Kuchum Khan was still giving some trouble to
his successor ; and thus Eussia laid the eastern foundation of the
vast empire which now bounds one half of the circumference of the
Polar Sea.

xi.] THE NERCHINSK TREATY. 235
The Mstory of the further conquest of Siberia is of no very
great interest. Shortly after the arrival of the Czar's forces
Yermac was surprised by a body of Kuchum Khan's- adherents, and
was drowned in his attempt to escape, and the Eussians were for
the time being driven out of the country. It was only for a brief
period. They returned in greater strength, and rapidly reduced
the Tartars to submission. Thenceforward their progress eastward
was almost unchecked. The rude tribes were unable to stand against
the superior discipline and arms of the more civihsed nation, and
in less than a century the Muscovite and the Celestial faced one
another in the provinces of the Arnoor. The hostilities that ensued
were not of long duration. The Czar was wise enough to foresee
that a protracted war with such a powerful nation as the Chinese
could by no possibility end in his favour, and ultimately a treaty
was signed at Nerchinsk in 1689, by which a system of commerce
was established between the two nations, and the advance of the
Eussians checked in south-east Siberia.
No such check had, however, occurred in the north-east, and
even before the NercMnsk Treaty'the Eussians had estabhshed
themselves at Anadyrsk, — practically, although not actually, the
Ultima Thule of the Asiatic continent. Here a fort was built, and
a governor appointed, who was instructed to collect the tribute of
furs from the natives, and to inform himself of the countries beyond
and to the south of Ms district. At that time the half-fabulous
Strait of Aman was the supposed boundary of Asia, and Kam
schatka, of wMch the Eussians had only dimly heard through the
medium of the natives, was believed to be joined to the northern
portion of Japan. The existence of Bering's Straits was not proved
until nearly forty years later, but hardly a tenth of that time had
elapsed before the Cossack troops had penetrated the peninsula
and built a fort at Werchni Kamschatka, in the very heart of the
country. To whom the honour of the actual discovery of Kamschatka is
due is a disputed point, but the claims of one Theodot, a Eussian

236 HISTORY OF KAMSCHATKA. [chap.

trader, seem to rest upon something more than mere tradition.
This individual is said to have sailed down the Bova Eiver to the
Polar Sea, and to have made Ms way thence by way of Bering's
Straits to Kamschatka. Here he wintered, and in the following
summer rounded the southern point of the peninsula, and entered
the Sea of Okhotsk. He is said to have been killed by the Koriaks
on Ms return overland to Anadyrsk, or to have died of scurvy, but
the accounts of the expedition are both scanty and uncertain, and
notMng was known of the country he was said to have discovered
until the end of the seventeenth century.
In 1697 Vladimir Atlasov was sent from Yakutsk to take the
command of the district of Anadyrsk, and in the following year he
despatched Luke Moroskoi, a Cossack, with a guard of sixteen
friendly natives, to collect the tribute from the country lying to
the south. On their return they reported that they had penetrated
the north of Kamschatka, and Atlasov, tempted by their description
of the country, resolved on conquering it without delay. He
accordingly started with a force of sixty Cossacks and about the
same number of natives, and sending halT under Moroskoi towards
the Pacific, he marched southwards to the Eiver Tigil. He met
with but shght resistance from the Kamschatkans themselves, but
his own natives revolted, and killing three of Ms Cossacks and
wounding several others, they were with difficulty overpowered.
Atlasov effectually prevented the recurrence of such an event by
putting the remaining rebels to death, and notwithstanding the
greatly reduced number of his followers, eventually reached Tigil,
where he effected a junction with the second party under Moroskoi.
The indomitable courage and resolution with which this mere
handful of men ventured into the midst of a hostile nation, in a
country which is one of the wildest and most impassable in the
world, is worthy of the highest admiration. In spite of having
reduced the tribes at the north of the peninsula, they had no thought
of return. From Tigil they marched to the Kamschatka Eiver,
and ascending it almost to its source, built a fort upon its banks,

xi.] THE RUSSIANS REACH AVATCHA BAY. 237
where the village of Werchni Kamschatka now stands. This was
garrisoned with fifteen Cossacks, and the remainder of the force
returned in safety to Anadyrsk after an absence of two years.
The tribute obtained as the result of tMs expedition was a very
valuable one, consisting of over three thousand sables in addition
to other furs. TMs booty Atlasov himself conveyed to Moscow,
and, as a reward for Ms- services, was made Chief of the Cossacks
at Yakutsk, and ordered to return at once to Kamschatka. Unfor
tunately for him, he fell into temptation by the way. A Eussian
merchant was unlucky enough to meet his party, and proved too
tempting a morsel for the conqueror of the peninsula. The pre
datory instinct prevailed, and Atlasov eased him of the Chinese
goods with wMch he was returning laden. Justice, however, seems
in this case to have overtaken the delinquent rather more rapidly
than is usual in the dominions of the Czar. He was at once seized
and thrown into prison, where he remained for nearly five years.
During this period affairs in the newly-conquered country were
by no means progressing as smoothly as might have been expected
from the ease with wMch it had been annexed. Forts had been
built both on the Yelofka Eiver and where Nischm Kamschatka now
stands, but the natives had given much trouble, and had killed
several of the tax-gatherers, while the garrison of the upper fort,
after remaining there for tiiree years, had been murdered to a man
on their homeward march to Anadyrsk. Upon the return of
Atlasov, however, — for he had been invested with full authority, as
before, on Ms release from prison in 1705, — a force was at once
despatched to punish the rebels, and the Cossacks for the first
time appear to have reached Avatcha Bay, where they encountered
a body of eight hundred Kamschatdales. Certain of victory, the
latter had provided themselves with ropes to secure their prisoners,
but though the Cossacks were taken by surprise and greatly out
numbered, they eventually gained the day, and the natives were
put to flight with great slaughter.
The Eussians were now permanently estabhshed in the

238 HISTORY OF KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
peninsula, and as they had been much increased in strength by
reinforcements sent from Yakutsk, the tribute levied on the natives
became more valuable. But the lawless nature of the Cossacks
effectually prevented a peaceful settlement of the country. Atlasov,
who was probably no worse a character than his subordinates,
openly appropriated the Government tribute, and was guilty of
such gross cruelties to the natives and his own Cossacks that the
latter seized and imprisoned him in 1707. Intelligence of the
rebellion having reached the Yakutsk authorities, Peter Tcherekov
was at once despatched to restore order, but the difficulties of
travel and other causes combined to delay him, and it was not
.until two years later that he reached Kamschatka. Shortly
afterwards he was joined by Joseph Mieronov, who had been
sent to supersede him; and thus, in 1711, there were no less
than three governors in the country at the same time. TMs
embarras of rulers did not trouble the mutineers long. Tcherekov
and Mieronov were murdered by their Cossack guard, and Atlasov
met his fate at the hands of his own men — a pmrishment which, it
must be confessed, he only too richly deserved.
The mutiny was mdireetly the cause of further discoveries in
the peninsula. The Cossacks became so afraid of the consequences
of their crimes that they resolved, if possible, to expiate them m the
eyes of the authorities by marching against the natives in the
south-west, who had hitherto refused to pay tribute. At the same
time they sent a letter to Yakutsk, accusing the murdered men of
having systematically embezzled the tribute. Their expedition was
completely successful. They descended the Bolchaia-reka, destroyed
several of the fortified villages, killed great numbers of the natives,
and finally built a fort upon the present site of the settlement of
Bolcheresk. The natives were thus completely reduced, and the
mutineers added further to the knowledge of the country by visitinc
the most northern of the Kurile Islands — on which no Eussian had
ever previously landed — and compelling the inhabitants to pay
tribute.

xi.] BERING'S FIRST EXPEDITION. 239
Onsiforov, the ringleader of the mutineers, returned to the
Kamschatka Eiver in 1712, and partly in consequence of these
services, partly, no doubt, because of the strong force by which he
was attended, his various misdeeds were passed over in silence, and
he was again employed in expeditions against the natives. The
country was at this time in a condition of the greatest insecurity.
The Cossacks, under httle or no control, killed and pillaged the
Kamschatdales at every opportunity, and the tax-gatherers were
constantly murdered in retahation. Frequent mutinies took place,
ancl from the state of anarchy into wMch the country had fallen, no
tribute reached Yakutsk between the years 1707 and 1714. The
exploration of the country nevertheless continued. More of the
Kurile Islands were discovered, and in 1715 communication by sea
was estabhshed between the ports of Okhotsk and Bolcheresk,
wMch led to the discontinuance of the overland route to Yakutsk
vid Anadyrsk. Not only was the former far more direct and rapid,
but it was also attended with much less risk ; the attacks of the
hostile Koriaks and TchuktcMs, wMch rendered the sledge journey
extremely dangerous, being thereby avoided.
Hitherto the attention of the Eussians had cMefly been en
gaged in the investigation of the country lying to the south of
Anadyrsk. But the question of the continuity of Asia and America
had long been occupying the mind of Peter the Great, who was at
that time Czar, and he resolved that an expedition should be
undertaken with that aim. Accordingly, with his own hand, he
drew up instructions, in which he ordered that ships should be
constructed hi Kamschatka, that they should direct their course
northwards with the object of setting at rest the question of the
existence of a strait between the two continents, and that they
should endeavour to extend the Eussian dominions wherever
possible. Before further action had been taken the reign of Peter
the Great was terminated by death, but the Empress Catherine, on
coming to the throne, at once proceeded to carry out the instructions
of the Czar. In 1725 the first expedition started, and Bering

240 HISTORY OF KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
commenced his career as a discoverer, which was destined sixteen
years later to be brought to such a melancholy end on the island
that now bears his name.
Vitus Bering, a Dane born in Jutland in 1680, who had been
for many years in the Eussian service, was chosen as leader of
the expedition. He had already made voyages both in the East
and West Indies before seeking his fortune under the Czar, and had
afterwards made himself conspicuous during the Swedish war, for
which he had been promoted. Martin Spangberg and Alexei
Tschirikov accompanied him as lieutenants, and the party, havmg
been provided with a number of skilled workmen for the construc
tion of the vessels upon their arrival in Kamschatka, set out from
St. Petersburg on the 5th of February, 1725. The spring and
summer were passed in making their way eastward by the Irtish,
Obi, and Yenisei, and they finally went into wmter quarters at Ihmsk
to the north of Lake Baikal, where they collected stores in readiness
for the continuing of their journey on the breaking up of the ice.
The spring of 1726 found them at Yakutsk, where, owing to the
difficulties of the roads and lack of sufficient transport, they were
obhged to divide forces in order to reach Okhotsk. Spangberg
took the river route by the Aldan, Maja, and Judoma with the
heavy baggage; Bering went by land; and Alexei Tschirikov
followed later with the rest of the enormous supply of provisions,
with which the nature of the country whence, they were to sail
obhged them to burden themselves. Bering reached Ms destination
safely, but misfortune befell the river party from the very beginmng.
Owing to the weight of their baggage and the rapidity of the
current, the ascent of the stream was a matter of much greater
difficulty than had been anticipated, and at the end of October
Spangberg was caught by the ice in the Judoma Eiver, and com
pelled to undertake the rest of the journey by land. Not only
was the duration of the expedition thus much lengthened, but the
party underwent such terrible privations that they were reduced to
living upon their boots and leathern belts. It was not until July,

xi.] DISCOVERY OF BERING'S STRAITS. 241
1727, that the whole of the personnel and baggage of the expedition
were once more together in Okhotsk.
MeanwMle Bering, who had arrived in the previous summer,
had not been idle. The route by sea across the Gulf of Okhotsk to
Bolcheresk had been decided on, but there was no vessel in which
to make the passage. Undaunted by the difficulties wMch en
countered him, Bermg set to work to build a craft with the aid of
the carpenters he had brought with him from Eussia. It was
christened the Fortune, and at the end of June was ready to convey
the first detachment of the expedition to Kamschatka. This con
sisted of the shipbuilders and others needed for the construction of
the vessel intended for Ms great voyage, and on their arrival at
Bolcheresk they at once proceeded to the mouth of the Kamschatka
Eiver, where she was to be built. Bering Mmself followed later, and
travelling by dog-sledge, ultimately reached Nischni Kamschatka
at the close of the year. The winter was employed in the prepara
tion of timbers for the vessel ; her construction proceeded rapidly
during the spring, and on the 20th of July, 1728 — three years and
a half after the expedition had left St. Petersburg — Bering's first
voyage of discovery commenced.
The results of that voyage are too well known to need a lengthy
repetition. Clearing the mouth of the Kamschatka Eiver, the
course of the Gabriel was set to the north-east along the Asiatic
coast, -wMch was roughly charted. On the 10th of August the
island of St. Lawrence was discovered, and five days later they
rounded a cape in Lat. 67° 18' N, — now Cape Serdze Kamen.
Here the coast trended suddenly to the west, and concluding from
this, and from the fact that no land was to be seen to the north,
that he had proved the existence of a strait between the two great
continents, Bering ordered the return. On the 20th of September
the Gabriel once more entered the mouth of the Kamschatka
Eiver. For the second time the members of the expedition went into
winter-quarters at Nischni Kamschatka, resolving, if possible, again
VOL. I. E

242 HISTORY OF KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
to examine the shores of the supposed straits as soon as they should
be free of ice in the following summer. They left the river for this
object on the 5th of June, 1729, but owing to the continued
prevalence of strong north-east winds, against which the Gabriel
could make no headway, the main idea of the voyage was abandoned,
and Bering made for Okhotsk, whence he proceeded overland to St.
Petersburg. His second voyage was thus neither successful nor
disastrous. The third, and final one, was both.
It was during the absence of Bering that an event occurred
wMch, but for a fortunate accident, would in all probability have
resulted in the murder of every Eussian in Kamschatka. The
natives had for a long time cherished the idea of ridding themselves
of their conquerors by a preconcerted rising throughout the country.
In 1731 a more favourable opportunity presented itself than they
could have anticipated. The departure of Bering and his people
had cleared the Kamschatka of the most formidable body of their
enemies, and the Eussian forces in the pemnsula had been still
further weakened by the absence of a great number of Cossacks,
who, under Captain Paulutsky, had been sent to the north to
suppress a rebellion of the TchuktcMs. At the same time the
commissary Shacurdin sailed from the Kamschatka Eiver for
Anadyrsk in charge of the annual tribute. The moment was
seized by the Kamschatdales, who throughout the country were in
readiness for the revolt. They sailed up the river, killing every
Cossack they encountered, and Nischni Kamschatka was carried in
the mght by surprise. Every soul was massacred, with the ex
ception of two or three who made their escape under cover of the
darkness, and paddhng down the river, eventually reached the
coast. Here, to their great joy, they found the two vessels which
had left for Anadyrsk, but had been compelled to return by
strong head winds. Measures were immediately taken to regain
possession of the fort. The leaders of the rebellion were Harchin
— a Toyune or chief of the Yelofka Eiver district — and a Kluchi
Kamschatdale named Chugotchi. The village of Nischni had fallen

xi.] BERING'S LAST EXPEDITION. 243
to Harchin's forces, and Chugotchi, having murdered all the Eussians
in his own district, marched to join hhn. Hearing of the return of
Shacurdin's ships, they entrenched themselves in the fort and
awaited the Eussian attack. It would have been better for them
had they accepted the terms offered by their opponents, but they
refused to surrender. The place was retaken with great slaughter.
Hardly a man escaped ahve, and thus the revolt, which at one trine
bid fair to spread throughout the peninsula, was checked almost at
its outset. It was the last struggle engaged in by the natives, and
thenceforward the country remained in a condition of uninterrupted
peace. It was not until 1732 that proposals were made for the despatch
of another exploring expedition to the far east. They emanated
from Bering himself, who, with his two lieutenants Spangberg and
Tschirikov, was anxious to push across to the American coast, and
trace it northward to the strait that now bears Ms name. Another
point too remained to be elucidated. To the south-east of Kams
chatka in the charts of Delisle and others of that day an appear
ance of land was indicated, and described " Terre vue par Jean de
Gama, Lndien, en allant de la Chine a la nouvelle Espagne." It was
intended to search for this mythical land before proceeding to
America, — an intention that, unluckily for the fate of the explorer
and Ms comrades, was ultimately carried out, — and emboldened by
the success of Ms earher voyages, Bering ventured to lay Ms pro
posals before the Empress.
They were at once acceded to, and Anne, who appears to have
been as anxious to extend the dominions of Eussia as her pre
decessor, resolved upon a simultaneous system of exploration over
a vast extent of country. Special attention was to be directed to
the possibilities of a north-east passage along the coasts of the
Polar Sea. Eight additional lieutenants were appointed, of whom
tiiree were to be engaged in tMs work. Spangberg was to proceed
to Okhotsk, where two ships were to be built to enable Mm to reach
Japan, while the two needed for Bering's voyage were also to be

244 HISTORY OF KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
built at the same place. Meanwhile Central Siberia was to be
explored as much as possible until all was ready for the final
departure of the ships from Okhotsk, and a strong staff of scientific
men were appointed by the Imperial Academy of Sciences, together
with six students to assist them. Few expeditions have been so
favoured in this respect. Gmelin, the celebrated naturalist, then
Professor of Chemistry, undertook the various branches of natural
Mstory; Louis Delisle de la Croyere, Professor of Astronomy,
offered himself in the interests of that science ; and Mtiller, to
whom we owe the narrative of the expedition, charged himself
with the ethnology and Mstory of the several countries it was
intended to explore.
The various individuals engaged in this extensive, and, as it
seemed, almost hopeless task, left St. Petersburg early in 1733.
To the work of those detailed for the investigation of the north
east passage I need not here allude. It is sufficient to say that
it was for the most part unsuccessful, and that the attempt to
reach Kamschatka from the mouth of the Lena, by way of Bering's
Straits, also resulted in failure. Spangberg proceeded without delay
to Okhotsk, and commenced building the vessels. Bering remained
in Yakutsk to hasten the progress of the stores, and during the long
period that was necessary for the completion of the preparations
for the two voyages, the scientific staff occupied themselves in the
investigation of the lesser known parts of Central Siberia. De la
Croyere remained for some time in the region to the south of Lake
Baikal, while Miiller and Gmelin worked in the Upper Lena district.
Neither of the latter, however, was destined to accompany Bering
in his final voyage. The years crept slowly on, and seven had
passed away since the departure from St. Petersburg before the
vessels were finished, and ready to put to sea. Meanwhile Gmelin,
wearied of the delay, had demanded his recall. He was replaced in
1738 by Steller,1 ancl as Miiller's impaired health early forbade
1 Steller, who was born in 1709 at Winsheim in Franconia, early showed an
inclination in tho direction of natural science. He studied at Leipzic, Jena and

xi.] FOUNDATION OF PETROPAULOVSKY. 245
Ms risking the hardsMps of exploration in Kamschatka, which was
Ms original destination, the student Krasheninikov proceeded
thither in his place. It is to him that we owe the first scientific
account of the newly-conquered country.
In the month of June, 1738, Spangberg set sail from Okhotsk
with two sMps — the Hope and Archangel Michael — on his voyage
to Japan. Two years more elapsed before the departure of Bering,
and the St. Peter and St. Paul leaving Okhotsk September 4th,
1740, had barely time to reach Kamschatka before the onset of
winter. Steller and De la Croyere were left at Bolcheresk with
the greater part of the stores, while the two ships rounded the
southern point of Kamschatka, and went into winter-quarters in
Avatcha Bay. It was thought too hazardous to attempt to bring
the smaller provision vessels by the same route, and the transport
of the goods was therefore undertaken by land — an affair of the
greatest labour and difficulty, which, but for the employment of an
enormous number of dogs, could scarcely have been accomphshed.
The present port of Petropaulovsky was selected as being the most
suitable in wMch to winter ; huts and storehouses were built and a
church erected, and the httle settlement thus estabbshed was
named in honour of the two ships forming the expedition.
On the 4th of June, 1741, the two commanders took their final
departure on the voyage which was destined to end in such
disaster and suffering as have but few parallels in the annals of
naval Mstory. Bering commanded the St. Peter and was accom
panied by Steller, while De la Croyere sailed in the St. Paul
under Tschirikov. The course was at first shaped to the south-
Halle, and distinguished himself greatly in his examinations at Berlin. In 1734 he
joined the Russian army as surgeon at the siege of Dantzic, and was afterwards
appointed to Bering's expedition. To his dauntless courage and unlimited resources
the survivors of that ill-starred undertaking in great measure doubtless owed their
lives. It was characteristic of the man that during the frightful sufferings they
underwent on Bering Island, in the winter of 1741, Steller patiently continued his
natural history investigations. "Steller cured the mind as well as the body,"
Miiller tells us, and his early death at Tiumen in Siberia in November, 1746, robbed
the world of science at that time of one of its brightest ornaments.

246 HISTORY OF KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
east, in the hope of discovering the land said to have been sighted
by Gama, but on reaching the 46th parallel of latitude without
result, it was resolved to steer due east for the American coast.
It had been arranged that the ships should not part company, but
on June 20th heavy weather and fog came on, and they became
separated. It was in vain that Bering cruised in search of his
companion : he had been driven too far to the north, and though
he again returned to the 45th parallel, his efforts were unsuccessful.
The great navigator and his old comrade and heutenant were
destined never to meet again.
After their separation both ships continued their easterly
course, and on July 18th Bering sighted the American coast m
Lat. 58° 28' N. Three days previously Tschirikov had achieved
a similar success one hundred and fifty miles farther south.
Both occupied themselves in tracing the coast northwards, as had
been agreed on previous to their departure from Avatcha, but
Bering was before long much embarrassed by finding that the land
led to the south-west for an apparently interminable distance. His
search for the fabulous land of Gama was the indirect cause of the
disasters that ultimately befell him. He had become embayed in
the great gulf between Sitka and Kodiak Island, instead of passing
to the northward of the Aleutian chain and striking the American
coast far to the west at the entrance of the straits now known by
his name ; and the constant south-westerly gales, to the full force of
which his vessel was exposed, rendered his position one of the
greatest peril. The numerous rocks and islands and the dangerous
coast under the lee increased their anxieties, and in the month of
August scurvy broke out among the crew. Bering himself became
early affected with the malady, and the condition of the invahds
was aggravated by bad water. Throughout August they beat
steadily to the west and south, encountering head winds without
intermission, and on the 30th of that month they reached and
landed upon the Schumagin Islands, which were named after the
first of the crew who perished from the disease that was ere long

xi.] SUFFERINGS OF THE CREW. 247
to decimate their ranks. Bering himself was now confined to his
cabin, and the command was taken by Lieutenant Waxel.
The condition of the vessel and her crew had now become
serious. Day by day the scurvy gained ground among the hard-
worked and ill-nourished sailors, and the fogs that are so constant
a characteristic of these seas added still further to their difficulties.
For days together they were unable to take an observation, navi
gating at random along a coast of which they knew nothing save
that it abounded in dangers. The greater part of September had
passed, and to the ill-fated crew it must have seemed as though
they were destined never to clear the coast that from day to day
so pitilessly barred their northward course. On the 24th they
sighted the islands to the south of the Alaska pemnsula, but the
following morning a gale arose which exceeded in violence any that
they had Mtherto encountered, and lasting for seventeen days, drove
them far to the south-east. When the weather had moderated
they estimated themselves to be in Lat. 48° 18' N, but fogs and
overcast skies prevented their checking the dead reckomng by
observation. A council was held to decide whether they should
go into winter-quarters on the shores of the American continent, or
attempt to regain Kamschatka, and the latter course was ultimately
decided on. It was a fatal resolution, for, bad as their chance
would undoubtedly have been on shore, it was a far preferable
alternative to the confinement and bad water of the St. Peter.
During October they sailed slowly westward along the southern
shores of the Aleutian chain, sighting many islands on their way ;
and at length, on the 29th, they found themselves approaching
two others, closely adjacent, which they mistook for the two most
northern of the Kuriles. In reality these were Attou and Agattou
— the Brijm group of the Aleutians. Had they continued their
westerly course they would in all human probabihty have reached
Avatcha Bay in a few days, and the lives of Bering and his
gallant crew might have been saved. Acting, however, upon their
wrong departure, they steered to the north and east, and it was

248 HISTORY OF KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
not long before they realised the complete uncertainty of their
position. The scurvy had terribly increased. Scarce a day passed
without claiming its victim, and the hope of reaching a port with
the season already so far advanced seemed faint indeed. The
sufferings of these unhappy people are best realised in Muller's
words:1 "The wretched crew, emaciated and diseased, worked
almost without remission in the cold and wet. To such straits were
they come, that the steersman had to be supported to the helm
in the arms of two of his comrades who were still strong enough
to be able to stand, and when he was neither able to sit nor steer
any longer, he was replaced by another who was but httle more
able to perform the duty than Mmself. They dared not put the
vessel under any press of sail, as in case of need they had not
sufficient hands to reduce it. The sails were so worn out that
the first strong wind would have blown them to rags, yet they
had not strength enough to replace them by the spare ones they
had in reserve. To the continual rain that they had hitherto
experienced, succeeded hail and snow. The nights became longer
and darker, and their danger correspondingly increased, for there
was hardly an hour when shipwreck was not to be feared. At the
same time the water began to fail them. The excessive labour
became insupportable to the few who were still able to stand.
Death, wMch they felt to be inevitable, seemed to them as though
it would never come to deliver them from their misery."
Such was the state of affairs when, on November 4th, land
was sighted ahead. It was the last discovery that Bering ever
made, — the island which has since, most fittingly, been named
in his honour. The course of the St. Peter was immediately
directed towards it, and in spite of the barrenness and desolation
of its shores, they resolved to quit the ship and pass the winter
as best they might upon the land. After a most narrow escape
from shipwreck, which, had it occurred, would have resulted in the
loss of every soul on board, they succeeded at last in bringing the
1 "Samlung Russiseher Geschichte," trad, par C. G. F. Dumas.

xi.] DEATH OF BERING. 249
vessel to anchor off the south-east coast. It was not a moment too
soon, for the main rigging had parted on both sides, and the vessel
was as hopelessly disabled as her crew. Waxel and Steller landed
on the 6th. A stream of water as yet unfrozen was found, but not
a trace of even the smallest brushwood was to be seen. It was
decided to enlarge the trenches between some sandhills they
discovered in the neighbourhood, and to roof them in with canvas.
These wretched substitutes for huts were prepared upon the follow
ing day, and on November 8th they commenced to land the invalids.
Of the horrors of that awful time the survivors have left us a
detailed account. Of those who had been confined to their hammocks
below deck not one eventually escaped. Some died immediately on
breathing the cold air, others as they lay on deck waiting to be
carried into the boats. Men who had left the ship alive expired
ere they reached the land, and others before many hours of
the long-looked-for hfe ashore that was to give them back their
health had passed. Each day those who were able to undertake
the task continued the landing of the dead and dying until all had
been brought ashore. Each day their number was diminished by
death. The survivors had scarce strength enough to bury their
comrades ; and to add to the horrors of their situation, bands of
foxes, with which the island appeared to swarm, haunted the
encampment, and fed upon the corpses before they could be
interred. On November 9th Bering was brought on shore. He
had been long ill, and his condition was evidently hopeless.
Towards the end he became mistrustful of everybody, even of
Steller, with whom he had been on terms of the closest friend
ship. His death, which occurred on December 8th, was touching
in its misery. The sides of the ditch in which he lay had gradually
crumbled down, and his feet became buried in the sand. He
would not permit it to be removed, saying that it kept him warm,
and thus, little by little, it accumulated until it had covered the
abdomen. He was buried almost before he died.
Shortly before the death of their commander the survivors had

250 HISTORY OF KAMSCHATKA. [chap.
sustained what, at the time, appeared to them the most terrible
blow that had yet befallen them ; a disaster that seemed to deprive
them of their last hope of ever regaining Kamschatka. On the
night of the 28th of November, during a heavy gale from the
E.S.E. the cable parted, and the St. Peter came ashore. Next morn
ing she was found buried in the sand to the depth of eight or nine
feet, and with her back broken. If the rives of the rest of the crew
were to be saved it could only be by means of a boat constructed
from the wreckage, but as yet no thought could be entertained of
their future plans, and all their energies were directed to the
support of hfe throughout the long and dreary winter. Thanks to
the abundant animal hfe upon the island, this was an affair of no
great difficulty. At first the Sea-otter (Enhydra lutris) formed
their chief means of sustenance, and of the greatly-prized skins of
tMs animal they preserved no less than 900 during their stay
upon the island.1 Later they were able to kill many of the now
totally extinct Bhytina or Sea-cow (B. gigas), whose flesh was far
more palatable ; and by tMs means they succeeded in saving their
remaining stock of flour and other provisions until the time came
for their final attempt to reach Kamschatka.
At the end of March, the snow having nearly melted, a consul
tation was held as to the best means of escape. Death had again
reduced almost by half the number of those who first went into
winter-quarters on the island, and of the whole crew but forty-five
survived. The frightful sufferings they had gone through had
obliterated all considerations of rank, and Waxel no longer
attempted to take command. A proposal was made to deck the
open boat which still remained in their possession, and to send
her to Kamschatka for help, but this was rejected, and it was
resolved to break up the stranded St. Peter, and to construct a
small craft out of the material. The task was one of no ordinary
1 According to Dr. Stejneger (" Proc. of U.S. Nation. Mus." 1883), this species is
now practically extinct upon the island. It is, however, still found upon the Kurile
Islands, and on the shores of the southern part of Kamschatka.

xi.] RETURN OF THE SURVIVORS. 251
difficulty with the means they had at command, but it was
rendered still harder by the loss of all their carpenters. Fortu
nately a Cossack of the party had some knowledge of shipbuilding,
and under Ms directions they commenced their vessel on the 6th of
May. Three months later she was launched, and on the 27th of
August, 1742, after a voyage of eleven days, the survivors of the
ill-fated expedition safely arrived at Petropaulovsky.
The voyage of the St. Paul, under Tschirikov, was hardly less
calamitous than that of the St. Peter as far as regards the sickriess
and disease that attacked her crew. The unfortunate loss of their
two boats prevented them from landing on the coast, and they were
reduced to indifferently distilled salt water, and such rain as could
be collected in the ship's sails. The same contrary winds retarded
their progress, and scurvy soon appeared among the crew. One by
one it carried off its victims, and had it not been for the better — or
at least the more successful — navigation of the St. Paul, the
mortahty on board Tschirikov's vessel would no doubt have been
as great as that among Bering's men. Fortunately they were able
to regain Kamschatka before the winter. They entered Avatcha
Bay on the 9th of October, and on the following day De la Croyere,
who had long been ill, resolved to land. He was destined never to
do so ahve. The keen air and unwonted exertion had the same
effect as in the landing of the St. Peter's crew, and he fell dead on
reaching the deck. Of the crew of seventy persons twenty-two
had perished. The annals of exploration furnish few stories more
tragic than that of Bering's Last Voyage.1
J For further information on Kamschatka the reader may consult Kittlitz's " Reise
durch Kamschatka"; J. D. Cochrane's "Narrative of a Pedestrian Journey"; P.
Dobell's "Travels in Kamschatka"; Coxe's "Russian Discoveries''; Steller's
" Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamschatka"; Langsdorffs "Travels"; Lesseps'
"Travels in Kamschatka"; "Voyage of De la Perouse"; Krusenstern's "Japan";
" Captain Cook's Third Voyage"; Krasheninikov's " Kamschatka " ; G. P. Midler's
" Samlung Russicher Gesehichte"; Belcher's "Voyage of the Samarang" ; Erman
in "Journ. Roy. Geog. Soc." vol. ix. ; Tronson's "Voyage of the Barracouta'' ;
Whymper's "Travels in Alaska"; and Bush's "Reindeer and Snowshoes."

APPENDIX I.
— ?+• —
NOTES ON LIU-KIU.
The Liu-kius are the central links of the chain of islands which connect the
Satsuma province — the most southern district of Japan — with Formosa.
To the north are the Linschoten Islands, practically unknown to Europeans ;
to the south the Meiaco-simas, inhabited by the same race as the Liu-kius,
and for as long a period as history relates, subject to their kings. They
have been visited ancl described by Belcher in the " Voyage of the Samarang "
and also by the U.S.S. Saratoga in 1853, who found their inhabitants the
same timid and inoffensive people as the Liu-kiuans. Whatever derivation be
adopted for the word Liu-kiu, there is little doubt that the name originated in
the peculiar appearance this chain of islands presents when figured in a chart.
Li Ting-yuen tells us1 that in the Sui dynasty (a.d. 580) the islands were
first mentioned by Chu Kwan, who called them Liu-kiu or the "floating
dragon." The second character was soon changed, and the name became
" that which is sought floating." Later it appears as Liu-kivei or the "floating
demons," ancl finally in the Ming dynasty slight alteration of both characters
resulted in the name at present used — "the pendent ball" — a possible
allusion to their acknowledgment of China as a supreme power.
The position of the Liu-kiu group — their latitude, 26° N., is very nearly
that of the Canary Islands — is such as to render the climate almost tropical.
Frosts are unknown, and since the islands cannot boast of a higher altitude
than a couple of thousand feet, snow rarely or never falls. During Mr.
Brunton's visit in the month of December the thermometer registered 73°
Fahr. in the shade, and the advantages of solar topees and light clothing were
unquestionable. In summer the heat in Napha appeared excessive, as far as
the shortness of our visit enabled us to judge, but inland, among the pine-
groves and gardens in and around Shiuri, the temperature was delightful.
The result of this equableness of climate is that crops can be grown at any
1 "Shi Liu-kiu Ki : Journal of an Envoy to Liu-kiu," translated by G. Wells Williams,
LL.D. "Journal of N. China Branch Roy. Asiat. Soe.," new series, No. VI.

254 APPENDIX I.

season, and two harvests of rice produced within the year. But in spite of
the steady and somewhat high temperature, there is but little of the tropical
element in the appearance of the islands themselves. The dull monotonous
green of the mangroves is wanting on their shores. The exuberant vegetation
of the true tropic island has given place to pine-crowned hills and a park -like
country which in many places is almost English in character. Both Beechey
and Perry, it is true, have described the coco-palm as existing in the neigh
bourhood of Napha, but none were seen during our visit. Even if it has not
died out, however, its presence is quite abnormal, for the position of the
islands is beyond the latitude in which it is possible for its fruit to ripen. It
is not even cultivated in Formosa — nearly one-half of which island, as we
have seen, lies actually within the Tropic. The characteristics of the vegeta
tion are for the most part those of temperate regions, and though the
pandanus and that gigantic laurel, — the camphor-tree of Formosa, — both of
which have their true homes in the moister and warmer regions farther south,
are found in the Liu-kius, the abundance of northern fruits, vegetables, and
cereals, together with the lovely nympheea, the hedges of dwarf bamboo, the
camellias, mallows, and peach-trees, remind the traveller strongly of Japan.
Possibly when the word health-resort has been admitted into the vocabulary
of Tokio physicians, and the advantages of the choice of twelve hundred
miles of latitude realised, we shall find Liu-kiu transformed into the Madeira
of the East, and the daimios and their families, tall hats and black frock-coats
included, flocking to Napha with the same regularity with which the fashion
able poitrinaire of New York seeks health and high life in Jacksonville. There
is but little doubt that, as a winter residence for those with delicate lungs, the
islands would be infinitely superior to many Mediterranean and other towns
where the patients from our own land of damp and fog in many cases vainly
await amelioration of their symptoms. Malarial fevers are apparently rare
or even unknown, and the population appears remarkably healthy. "With the
exception of a single case of elephantiasis, no invalids were seen during the
Marchesa's visit, and though several individuals were noticed who had suffered
from smallpox, — a very common disease in Japan — deformed people and
cripples were conspicuous by their absence.
Good as the climate of the Liu-kiu group undoubtedly is, there is a thorn
attaching which is common to all the pleasant islands in these latitudes.
They too, like Formosa, have a typhoon season, ancl though the strength of
these sudden but terrific gales appears to be less here than in the Bonin
Islands, or on the China coast, they are sufficiently severe to cause considerable
damage to the crops, ancl to expose the shipping to no little risk. Napha-
kiang, on these occasions, is by no means a safe harbour, but Oonting, or Port
Melville, as it was named by Captain Maxwell during the voyage of the

NOTES ON LIU-KIU. 255
Alceste and Lyra, affords perfect shelter in all winds. This harbour is described
as being as beautiful as it is secure, but excepting during the months of
August, September, and October, there is, from a precautionary point of view,
but little necessity for visiting it. For the rest of the year the islands, lying
as they do within the limits of the north-east and south-west monsoons, are
troubled with but little bad weather. From October until March northerly
winds prevail, but by May the south-west monsoon has set in, and blows
steadily. A period of settled fine weather then follows ; from July to Sep
tember the winds are somewhat variable, and finally, at the beginning of
the latter month, the north-east monsoon commences, and for two or three
months is attended by unsettled weather and rain.
The zoology of the islands has, unfortunately, been very little investigated.
Commodore Perry's visits, though extending over a period of some months,
were productive of almost no results in this branch of science, and the short
stay of the Marchesa in Okinawa-sima, and the dense crowds of people that
surrounded us wherever we went, combined to prevent investigation in our
own case. During the short expedition made by the Americans towards the
north of the island, the existence of the wild boar was verified, but no deer
or monkeys were seen, although both have been said to be found upon the
islands. In Hakluyt a passing mention of the Liu-kius is made, in which
deer are alluded to. " The Chinar sayd likewise that they (the Liukiuans)
did often come with small shippes and barkes laden with bucks and hartes'
hides, and with Golde in graines and very small pieces to traffique with them
of the coast of China, which hee assured me to bee most true." On the
other hand the Jesuit missionary, Pere Gaubil, in his account of the islands 1
says that Okinawa-sima " est assez heureuse pour n'avoir ni loups, ni tigres,
ni ours ; elle n'a non plus ni lievres, ni dains." Nothing, however, is said
of monkeys, though Mr. Satow in his "Notes on Loochoo"2 writes, "Among
wild animals the deer, ape, and wild boar are mentioned." It is quite
possible, if not most probable, that both the former exist. The islands, so
far as can be judged from the scanty data afforded us at present, are connected
both with China and Japan, and probably Formosa, by a submarine bank
with soundings of not much over one hundred fathoms. A Macacus is found
in both of the latter countries,3 which are also inhabited by a species of
Axis deer and a Goat-antelope (Nemorhasdus), and though in each case the
1 " Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses," torn, xxiii. p. 232. This paper, which appears to
be on the whole wonderfully correct, is a translation by the learned father, then missionary
at Pekin, of an account of the islands written in 1721 by Supao-kwan, who was sent in
1719 by Kang-hi, Emperor of China, as ambassador to the King of Liu-kiu.
2 "Trans. Asiat. Soc. of Japan," vol. i. p. 3.
3 M. speciosus of Japan is remarkable for having the most northern range of any
monkey.

256 APPENDIX I.

Japanese and Formosan species are distinct, it is very likely that these genera
may also be represented in the intervening islands. It is, at all events, an
interesting point for the next naturalist who visits the country to elucidate.
The abundance of limestone throughout Liu-kiu is noticed in Com
modore Perry's account of the visit of the American squadron. As I have
already stated, this rock is largely used for building purposes, and for paving
roads, owing to its lasting power and the comparative ease with which it is
worked. Masses of coralline limestone are found far inland, and at a very
considerable elevation, — even at as great a height as Shiuri ; and it is thus
evident that upheaval must have taken place to a very considerable extent.
Northward from Napha-kiang the American expedition found a talcose slate
at Barrow's Bay, succeeding to the argillaceous surface-rock noticeable in the
vicinity of Napha ; and in the northern part of the island granite was met
with, very soft in character, and almost white, rising into a hill of some
elevation.1 The steep promontories along the coast, it was remarked, were
generally composed of gneiss of a very coarse nature, which supplants the
limestone rock of Capstan Head, and the other cliffs round Napha-kiang.
By far the most important result of the Americans' visit to the north of
the island was the discovery of coal, or rather of tolerably certain indications
of it, at Shah Bay on the north-west coast. Here, in a bluff close to the
water, was an outcrop of black bituminous slate in strata alternating with
.Seams of iron-stone. This was also visible at several places in the neighbour
hood, and although no borings could be undertaken, its presence is strong
presumptive evidence in favour of the existence of coal.2 The locality, how
ever, has never been visited since, so that no opportunity has occurred of
verifying the discovery.
Gold and copper have been stated by various authors to exist in the Liu-
kiu Islands. According to Purchas, "they abound in Golde more then others
of that Sea ;" and Gualle, as we have just seen, talks of the " Golde in graines
ancl very small pieces " brought thence to China, at the same time alluding to
the existence of gold-mines. The metal, however, was most likely obtained
from the Japanese, with whom trade has been carried on for centuries.
Whether the copper in use on the islands owns a like origin is another
question. In the list of presents sent by the Liu-kiu King Chang-cheh to
the Tartar Emperor, occurs the item of 3000 pounds of copper, in addition
to the sulphur previously mentioned ; and Gaubil states that the King's
revenues were drawn from the salt, the sulphur, and the copper. It would
thus appear that there are actually copper-mines on the island, though their
1 Commodore Perry's " Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the
China Seas," p. 184.
2 Perry, op. cit. vol. ii. p. 54.

NOTES ON LIU-KIU. 257

exact situation is apparently unknown. Neither Perry nor Beechey make
any allusion to the subject, and while at Napha we forgot to obtain
particulars from the Japanese Vice-Governor, as we had intended. On the
whole, the existence of this metal on the islands would seem probable,
although in a petition presented to Captain Cracroft of H.M.S. Reynard, who
visited Napha in 1850, the fact is denied.1 Caution, however, has ever been
a leading characteristic of the Liu-kiuans, and the statement is as likely to be
incorrect as others which have been furnished with equal readiness by the
authorities in such documents.
The population of Okinawa-sima, if not of all the islands, is very dense.
Mr. Brunton states it to be 150,000,2 which, supposing the island to have an
area of between four and five hundred square miles, would give an
average of three hundred to the square mile ; a thickness of population
which, as he states, is so great as to be hardly conceivable. The latest
Japanese census (1874) gives the entire population as 167,073. During our
stay at Napha we were informed that the inhabitants of that town numbered
nearly 35,000 (of whom 2000 were prostitutes), and those of Shiuri 20,000.
Of these the greater part are of the poorer class, but it seems that, previous
to the Japanese annexation, if not now, large numbers of those of a higher
rank, almost corresponding to the now extinct samurai of Japan, lived in a
condition of absolute idleness, supported indirectly by the Government.
Besides the practical condition of slavery of the field labourer resulting from
this arrangement, there was, at the time of Bishop Smith's visit in 1850, an
actual class of public slaves — the Oo-bang — who possessed no civil rights of
any kind, and were under the absolute control of their masters. Japanese
rule, as far as we could discover, has modified a good many of these conditions,
and will probably in time completely change them ; but at the date I have
just mentioned an individual of the Oo-bang class was a marketable commodity,
at prices ranging from two to ten dollars.
We obtained no information as to the condition of the agricultural class
during our visit, but if Commodore Perry's account be correct, their lot is
anything but an enviable one. The land belongs to the Government, who
sub-let it to the literati — the higher classes to which I have already alluded.
The peasants employed in its cultivation get but one-fifth of the produce ;
one-half to three-fifths goes to the landlord, while the remainder is expended
in paying for the cost of collection and other items. Should the labourer
work for daily wages, the rate varies from three to eight cents per diem, — a
remuneration so scanty as entirely to obviate the possibility of rest from
year's end to year's end.3 The peasant is thus bound to a life of poverty,
1 "Lew-chew and the Lew-chewans," George Smith, D.D., p. 33.
3 "Trans. Asiat. Soc. of Japan," vol. iv. p. 77. 3 Perry, op. cit. vol. i. p. 226.
VOL. I. S

258 APPENDIX I.

and owing to the caste system which prevails, his children are born to an
inheritance of little else but toil, for there is but slight chance of ever rising
to a higher class. From his point of view then the system probably appears
a wrong one, as indeed it undoubtedly is, but, agriculturally considered, it
may be questioned whether better results could be produced under other
conditions. Under the metayer system obtaining in Madeira — an island
closely resembling Liu-kiu in its dense population, its need for terracing and
irrigation, and its similar crops — it is to be doubted whether the Madeirense
is any the less absolutely the slave of the landlord than is the Liu-kiuan
peasant. Yet it is equally a matter of question whether the conversion of
the caseiro into an owner would in any way improve his condition. In
few countries in the world is such high cultivation seen as in these two
islands. The most elaborate system of irrigation and the most careful
terracing are practised, and it is probable that the best results that the land
is capable of affording are obtained. Much of Liu-kiu apparently still
remains uncultivated, and there is no doubt that the island is well
able to support an even larger po23ulation than it does at the present
time. One of the chief beauties that strikes a stranger's eye upon his first
arrival in the country is the varying shade of green or yellow in the waving
fields of cereals that carpet the valleys or clothe the hills of the island. It
is at once evident that there is no strict division of the seasons into seed-time
and harvest, as in our own and other less favoured lands. Here the ear is
ripe and ready for harvesting, while the next patch, perhaps, has barely
commenced to sprout. The three most important crops are undoubtedly
rice, wheat, ancl sweet-potatoes. The former is planted for the most part on
the lower ground, or where the supply of water is sufficient for its growth,
and its mode of cultivation appears to be similar to that practised in China.
We noticed but little wheat upon the western side, but on the northern
part of the island, near Deep Bay, vast fields of it were seen by the American
Expedition, apparently extending uninterruptedly for miles. Owing to the
smallness in size, both of the head and of the grain itself, the yield is said to
be poor, and not to average more than about eight bushels to the acre.
Barley we did not see, but it is mentioned by Perry as having been met with
upon the island. By far the most important crop, however, as far as regards
he support of the vast majority of the inhabitants, is the sweet-potato, which
appears to be grown in every part of the island hitherto visited, and in
almost every soil. Its usual mode of cultivation is not in ridge and furrow,
as is most commonly seen elsewhere, but in a succession of large beds, slightly
raised, or, 'in other words, separated by shallow ditches. Peas or beans are
very commonly seen planted together with it ; the latter especially being a

NOTES ON LIU-KIU. 259
most abundant crop. The sugar-cane is small, hardly more than four feet in
height, and with short internodes.
Tobacco appeared to be largely grown. Its use is certainly almost as
general among the Liu-kiuans as it is with the Japanese, ancl large quantities
of it may be seen in the market at Napha-kiang. It is apparently of the
same nature as the leaf cultivated in Japan, — mild and somewhat aromatic,
but very little care seems to be spent on its preparation. It is chiefly sun-
dried, but owing to its being often exposed to rain, its flavour is frequently
completely spoiled, and a great deal of the leaf we saw in Napha market
was what, in. America, would be termed "funked."
Yam, millet, ancl cotton are all to be found in Great Liu-kiu, according
to Perry. The latter, however, cannot be very abundant. We did not see it,
neither does it appear that the members of the American Expedition found it
actually growing, though it was noticed on the simple looms and spinning-
wheels of the natives. The banana is largely used for the manufacture of
coarse textile fabrics. It seems to be a species closely allied to Musa textilis,
though slightly lighter in the leaf. The true banana is, apparently, more
rarely grown : its fruit at least is not often seen, ancl what we were able to
obtain was of very coarse quality. Many kinds both of fruit ancl vegetables
exist on the island, but during our visit it was only with considerable
difficulty that anything of this description could be procured. Among the
former are oranges, figs, peaches, and water-melons. A very large turnip is
grown, apparently identical with the Japanese daikon, and carrots, parsnips,
pumpkins, onions, and brinjals are also cultivated. All these are, however, only
secondary to the enormous quantities of beans and sweet-potatoes which form
so large a part of the ordinary diet of the natives. The so-called " sago-
palm " (Cycas), which is not to be confounded with the true sago-palm of the
Malay Archipelago and New Guinea, is very abundant. A large quantity of
it grows within the outer gates of the castle at Shiuri, and it is also planted
on' steep and rocky hill-sides in various parts of the country — a situation
which would be impossible for almost any other plant or tree affording food,
but which, nevertheless, appears to be well suited for it. The trees grow but
slowly, and it must be several years before they are sufficiently large to be
worth anything.
On the whole, the Liu-kiuans are more than well off in the way of crops
and vegetable products generally, and though the soil is for the most part not
particularly good, the immense amount of care and labour expended on the
land to a great extent counterbalances this disadvantage. The climate is an
excellent one, as I have already stated, but the farmer, here as elsewhere, has
his foes. The principal of these are droughts and typhoons. The elaborate
system of irrigation enables him to combat the former with more or less

260 APPENDIX I.

success, but the latter constitute a force majeure against which he can do
nothing. Happily they are not very frequent, for, when they do occur, the
amount of damage occasioned by them is often very considerable.
Having got in and threshed his corn, the Liu-kiuan proceeds to store it
in granaries of a peculiar shape, reminding one rather of the style of buildings
constructed by Lapps or Siberians than of what is usually seen in these more
southern latitudes. They are wooden structures, generally square, with the
walls leaning out considerably at the top, and are raised on posts to a height
of six feet or more above the ground. The roofs are covered with thick
thatch, and the posts are guarded by pieces of wood nailed round them on the
reversed cup principle, by which means the depredations of rats and mice are
avoided. There are said to be great numbers of the former upon the island,
but they have no doubt been introduced from China, as have their domesti
cated animals — pigs, goats, black oxen, fowls, ducks, ancl geese. The leading
characteristic of almost all the above-named quadrupeds, as well as of the
horses, is their small size. We know that this diminution in size is an almost
necessary result of the introduction of the domestic animals into islands from
the mainland, but it appears to be especially well marked in Liu-kiu.
While the Marchesa lay at Napha-kiang some half a dozen junks were at
anchor in the inner harbour or alongside the jetty, and the- scene during the
discharge or stowage of their cargo was a busy one. These vessels are built
after the Japanese model, and have the high pioop and depressed bows which
are so unsightly to English eyes. Most of them, no doubt, do not trade
beyond the limits of the archipelago, but the commerce with Japan has most
probably increased as much since the annexation as that with China has
diminished. In past days not much in the way of trade appears to have been
carried on with either of the two countries. Tribute was paid to both,
either annually or biennially, but as a rule there appears to have been little
communication with other nations. The Liu-kiuans have been throughout
their history a retiring and somewhat anti-progressionist people, and it was
not until later that the advantages of commerce began to be realised. Pkre
Gaubil, in the memoir to which I have alluded, speaks of the traffic with
China and other countries, which at that time appears to have been fully
established. " There are a good many vessels, not only engaged in plying
between island and island, but also to China, and sometimes to Tonquin, Cochin
China, and even to other still more distant places, — to Corea and Satsuma."
Kaenrpfer1 tells us that the Liu-kiuans were allowed to visit the Satsuma
province, but were not permitted to go elsewhere. Their annual trade was,
nominally, limited to 125,000 taels,2 but it actually exceeded this amount
1 " History of Japan," p. 354.
2 The value of the tael varies with the dollar, but it may be taken roughly at 6s. 8d.

NOTES ON LIU-KIU. 261
considerably. They brought Chinese silks and other articles of Chinese
manufacture, as well as rice, corn, tortoise-shell, mother-of-pearl, and other
produce of their own country, and, possibly, the beautiful red lacquer 1 have
already mentioned, the manufacture of which is apparently a lost art. From
China they obtained pottery, glass, silver and iron, nails, tea, ancl various
other articles, most of which are imports of the present day. The silks worn
by the upper classes are also of foreign make, but they have a Japanese
rather than a Chinese appearance, and most probably come from the former
country. Their own manufactures are few and poor. Both textile fabrics
and pottery are coarse, and their lacquer very inferior. Smaller articles are
of rather better construction, such as pipes, hair-pins, fans, and such like,
and the basket-work is in many cases extremely good. But a great change is
on the eve of passing over the country. The Japanese are daily increasing in
numbers, and will bring their industries with them. The Mitsu bishi line of
steamers from Yokohama now visit the islands every two months, and before
many years have gone by the country will, in all probability, have little to
distinguish it from an ordinary province of Japan.
Up to quite recent times the Liu-kiuans are said to have had no money,
and an equal doubt at one time existed as to their possessing arms. Captain
Hall saw none,1 and was inclined to the belief that there were none. That
they were armed in some way in days gone by is evident from the history of
the country. From the beginning to the end of the fourteenth century civil
wars appear to have prevailed in Okinawa-sima. The governors of the north
and south provinces revolted under the misrule of Yut-ching, and the island
was divided into three kingdoms, which were continuously at war with one
another until their reunion in 1430. In the war with Japan in the sixteenth
century Liu-kiu lent its aid to China against the great Japanese commander
Fashiba, and there are other instances in which the islanders appear to have
been actuated by a more bellicose spirit than that they have exhibited during
the present century. Their castles are in themselves sufficient to show that, at
one time at least, the arts of war were not unknown. But it seems equally
probable that in later years they became completely forgotten, ancl that swords
and spears alike were, figuratively at least, and even perhaps literally,
converted into ploughshares and reaping-hooks. The use of gunpowder was
probably never familiar to them. We saw no cannon in the fortress of
Shiuri, and there was no provision for mounting them, but the greater part
of the building is, of course, of a period antecedent to their introduction. Had
arms been in general use in recent times, some examples ought easily to have
been obtainable. Such articles, for instance, have become a perfect drug in the
market in Japan, but in Liu-kiu we were unable to meet with a single specimen-
1 " Account of a Voyage of Discovery . . . to Great Lew-chew,'' p. 151.

262 APPENDIX I.

As in China and Japan, there is no established religion in the islands.
Buddhism appears to have been introduced 816 a.d., but its tenets are more
in favour with the lower than with the upper classes of society. There are
said to be two sects, — the Shingon-shiu and the Rinzai-shiu, — both of which
also exist in Japan, and their closely-shorn priests are often to be seen among
the people, by whom they do not appear to be held in much respect.1
Confucianism is apparently the religion of the upper classes, and is also mingled
largely with the beliefs of the lower. It was introduced by the Chinese who
came over to Liu-kiu in the reign of Hong-ou, founder of the Ming dynasty,
towards the end of the fourteenth century, and was in great favour during the
time of Supao-kwang, who did not fail, at the ceremony of the investiture of
the Liu-kiu king with the full sovereignty, to perform the necessary religious
rites connected with that faith. The Tartar Emperor Kang-hi (the monarch
of whom Supao-kwang was the representative) had also introduced the worship
of a Chinese deity, — Tien-tsei, — and Gaubil informs us that at Shiuri there
was a splendid temple erected in her honour, which the ambassador duly
visited to offer his prayers. In Dr. Williams' translation of the " Shi Liu-kiu
Ki " already referred to, Li Ting-yuen notes, during his residence on the island
in 1801, that " the priests worship Heaven under the name of the Full, Great,
Self-existent heavenly God. They bar the doors, and the worshippers all kneel
outside. When the common people worship this God, they offer slips of
incense but do not burn it. Those who wish to be very devout scatter several
pinches of rice before it and go away. In this temple there is a Buddhist
hall dedicated to the God Puh-tung (i.e. the Unmoved, the Unconcerned), and
another god having three heads and six arms, black as ink, whom the attend
ants told me was 'Heaven's grandson who founded the kingdom.'"
Beechey says that the Liu-kiuans " are extremely superstitious," a phrase
we are somewhat too apt, with the magnificent contempt of Britishers for
those who happen to think differently from us on any point, to apply to those
who have a strong faith in what we do not ourselves believe. If by super
stition we understand empiricism in religion, which, I take it, is its real
meaning, then the invocation of the deities upon every occasion, and the
offerings of written prayers instanced by that author, can hardly be regarded
as such. The existence of a species of wayside shrine — stones, before which
they burn incense and offer fruits, and make vows or repeat prayers — is
mentioned by Gaubil ; and at the present day the same custom is in vogue, ancl
slabs, before which " joss-sticks " are burnt, are common enough. That a belief
in fairies or genii also exists is evident from a story given us by Li Ting-
yuen. It relates how, once upon a time, a poor peasant named Minglitsz,
of unblemished character, but without any family, had a well of delicious
1 Satow, " Trans. Asiat. Soo. of Japan," vol. i. p. 7.

NOTES ON LIU-KIU. 263
water near his house. On going to draw water one day he perceives a bright
light at the well, and discovers a woman washing, who has hung her clothes
on a neighbouring pine-tree. These he carries off, and in spite of her
entreaties, refuses to return. Being thus unable to resume her former con
dition, she consents to remain and become Minglitsz's wife, telling him that
the gods have seen his irreproachable character, and wish to magnify his
family. She bears him two children, — Chinkoh or True Heron, and Kwei-niue
or Tortoise Year, — and when the oldest has reached the age of nine, she feels
that her fate is fulfilled, and that she must go. She accordingly dresses her
self in the original garments, mounts a tree, and disappears. The king hears
of the story, and confers favours on the children, at the same time making
a present of land to the bereaved widower, to console him for his loss. This
story, as Dr. Williams remarks, is almost identical with one related in the
" Arabian Nights," and legends of a similar nature exist in many countries.
Castren a relates a story prevalent among the Samoyedes, in which a hunter
of that nation steals the feather dress of one of seven swan-maidens who are
bathing in a lake. The myth was a favourite one with Scandinavian peoples,
but Mr. Baring-Gould 2 shows that it was also Teutonic. That it should
exist in so remote a corner of the world as the Liu-kiu Islands is a fact as
curious as it is interesting.
When at Napha-kiang I was unaware of the existence of two colossal stone
figures which have been described and figured by Mr. Halloran 3 in his diary
of a visit to the Liu-kius. They are twenty feet or more in height, and from
their being described as placed on either side of a gate leading to a temple, it
is probable that they correspond to the Ni-o, — the fantastic and hideous
images which guard the temples sacred to the religion of Buddha in Japan.
Their appearance, however, as represented in the illustration above referred
to, does not much resemble that of these figures. Mr. Halloran speaks of them
as " very ancient idols, formed of a stone resembling quartz, and of so great
an age that all tradition of their original construction is lost, and their features
obliterated." The temple in the neighbourhood of which they stood was, for
a period of nearly eight years — from 1846 to 1854 — the residence of a
certain Dr. Bettelheim, whose labours as a missionary during that time were,
contrary to what might have been expected from the character of the natives,
an almost absolute failure.
In the year 1845 some English naval, officers formed themselves into a
society under the name of the " Lew-chew Naval Mission," the most prominent
member of which was Lieutenant Clifford, who had visited the islands with
1 " Ethnologische Vorlesungen iiber die Altaischen Vb'lker," p. 172.
2 " Curious Myths of the Middle Ages," p. 573.
3 "Eight Months' Journal during visits to Looehoo, Japan, and Pootoo,'' p. 19.

264 APPENDIX I.

Captain Basil Hall, of whose well-known book he was, in fact, joint author. In
the following year they sent out Dr. Bettelheim, a German or Hungarian by
birth, and a converted Jew. He had married an Englishwoman, and was
himself a naturalised British subject. Though a most zealous and indefatig
able worker, he was not in holy orders, but his knowledge of medicine was
doubtless of great use in enabling him to obtain an influence over the natives.
His efforts at first seemed likely to be successful ; free communication with the
people was permitted, and no obstacles were put in the way of his teaching
them. In a short time, however, probably owing to the action of the Japanese,
who were no doubt virtually masters of the country even at that time, their
attitude towards him became entirely changed. Difficulties arose as to his
teaching, and he was requested to leave the island. This he declined to do,
and thenceforward, though he was subjected to no persecution or actual ill-
treatment, every effort was made by the authorities to get rid of him. The
lower classes were apparently not permitted to hold communication with him,
and a system of constant espionage over his movements was instituted.
Petitions were sent to Hongkong, begging that the English Government might
see fit to remove him,1 but it was in vain, and the missionary still remained
at his post, in spite of the result of his labours being, to say the least of it,
unsatisfactory. The conduct of the Liu-kiu authorities must not be too hastily
condemned, for if the matter be regarded without bias from their own stand
point, it must be admitted that the very residence of Dr. Bettelheim upon the
island was, if not contrary to their laws, at least in defiance of their wishes.
At that time the exclusive policy followed by the Japanese was in force in
1 One of these documents, presented to the commander of H.M.S. Reynard, when
Bishop Smith visited the island in 1850, is perhaps worth giving, from its amusing style
of in forma pauperis pleading, which appears to have been characteristic of the attitude
usually assumed towards foreigners: —
"The dutiful petition of Ma Leang-tsae (and others), the Vice-Governor-General of
Lew-chew, entreating his Excellency to look down in compassion, and take away Bettel
heim and his family to his home, that our little country may be at rest. We lie hid in
a corner of the sea ; the soil is barren ; and the people are destitute. During the period
of Bettelheim's residence here, both officers and people have been employed in procuring
his supplies, to the neglect of their avocations ancl the prejudice of public business. The
upper classes are liable to expenses on account of sacrificial oflerings and public granaries,
and the common people are at the expense of providing for themselves their daily supportj
which things greatly impoverish us. If Bettelheim do not soon return to his home, our
distress must increase still further, and the country will not be able to stand erect. On
a previous occasion, in the eleventh month of last year, when the English sent an envoy
hither, we transmitted a special dispatch, requesting that Bettelheim might be removed.
As yet no answer has come. But as your honourable ship has just arrived while we are
in expectation of the reply, we beg your Excellency to receive Bettelheim and his family
on board your honourable ship, and take them to their home. Thus not only will your
humble servant ever be thankful, but also the whole country, both officers and people
will be everlastingly obliged by your high favour.
" An urgent petition.
"In Taou-kwang's reign, the thirtieth year, the first day of the ninth month."

NOTES ON LIU-KIU. 265
the Liu-kius, and with more reason, since they were a nation destitute of
arms, and incapable of defending themselves ; and there was no doubt that the
presence of Dr. Bettelheim was regarded by them from a purely political
point of view. Just previous to his. arrival two Roman Catholic missionaries
had also settled upon the island, but perceiving that under the existent con
ditions there was no chance of success, they shortly afterwards left. At the
time of the visit of the American squadron Dr. Bettelheim was found to be
living in a state of undisguised hostility with the natives of the island, and
as it was evident that no more good could possibly be done by his continued
residence, he left in one of the American ships in February 1854, and the
" Lew-chew Naval Mission " dropped into oblivion.
Few descriptions could be more widely different than those of Captain
Basil Hall and Commodore Perry of the character of the Liu-kiuans. To
the English they appeared contented and happy, and the most cordial feelings
of respect and esteem existed between the islanders and their visitors. " God
pity these poor creatures," says Commodore Perry ; " I have seen much of
the world, but never, unless I may except the miserable peons in Mexico,
have I looked upon such an amount of apparent wretchedness." They are
allowed to be well disposed, but are characterised as ignorant, cunning, ancl
insincere. " The description of Captain Basil Hall," continues the Com
modore, " is a mere romance ; the production of the inventive brain of a
writer not very scrupulous of historical truth, and the account of Dr. M'Leod
of the Alceste is not much nearer to accuracy." Yet a perusal of the Com
modore's large quarto will, I think, leave in the mind of an unbiassed reader
a yet stronger impression of the unvarying good-nature, kindness, and for
bearance of the people than he would gain even from Captain Hall's narrative.
The Americans adopted what may euphemistically be described as a very
forward policy. The country was closed to foreigners, and it was begged
that the officers would not extend their walks beyond Napha. The Americans
therefore arranged a little armed expedition to the north of the island. The
Liu-kiuans paid a visit to the ships, and on their departure were informed
that it would be returned at Shiuri, the capital of the island. Thither,
accordingly, the Commodore proceeded, with two field-pieces, and a company
or two of marines. These and other actions of the Americans were, it need
hardly be said, eminently successful. "We are but a little nation," the
Liu-kiuans pathetically remark in one of their petitions ; and it is amusing
to read of the feeling of dismay aroused in the breasts of " the people who
observe propriety" when brought for the first time in contact with the
progressiveness of Western policy. But it is a little hard for them to be
abused into the bargain, and it is to be questioned whether the quiet methods
of ingratiation adopted by Basil Hall and Maxwell were not infinitely to be

266 APPENDIX I.

preferred to the field-pieces and go-ahead action of Commodore Perry. With
regard to the " wretchedness " of which the latter speaks, I can only say that,
whatever may exist beneath the surface, none at least appeared to view
during our own visit. A more happy and laughter-loving people I have
rarely come across, and if the facial expression of the multitude is any guide
to its state of feeling, then the Liu-kiuans are probably, to use the expression
of a recent writer on the country, one of the few happy peoples still pros
pering on the face of the earth. The question of absence of enforced labour
as a necessary factor in human happiness is best solved by those who are
acquainted with the present condition of the Southern States of America.
That it cannot always be answered in the affirmative, especially in the case
of races which are of an admittedly low type, is certain. Whether the Oo-
bang are ready for immediate emancipation is a different affair, but the
Japanese are not hard taskmasters, and as one of the most Radical nations in
the world, are likely to render them such justice as they do not appear to
have experienced at the hands of their own literati.
There have been many conjectures as to the origin of the present inhabitants
of the islands. To the possibility of a former race having existed I have
already alluded. The curious rock tombs discovered by the Americans
towards the north of the island were called by their guides " the houses of
the devil's men," and were apparently regarded as the work of some people
of whom they had no knowledge. The dug-out canoes still to be seen in the
islands are, without doubt, of Malayan origin, — a further corroboration of
which is evident from their being provided with wooden anchors weighted with
a large stone, which is a method identically similar to that employed in most
of the islands of the Malay Archipelago. The language at present spoken is
not sufficiently well known to prove the existence or absence of any words of
the Bisayan or other Philippine tongues. Broadly speaking, it appears to be
a dialect of the Japanese spoken in the Satsuma province, — a district with
which intercourse is known to have been existent for centuries. Such at least
is Mr. Satow's opinion 1 after consulting a Liu-kiuan vocabulary ; and he also
mentions the fact that some of the embassy to Japan, with whom he had an
opportunity of conversing while in Yedo, spoke Japanese with perfect cor
rectness. In Lieutenant Clifford's vocabulary given in Captain Basil Hall's
book, all the numerals, and many of the words, are certainly Japanese.
According to Li-Ting-yuen, private letters, accounts, and proclamations were,
in those days, written in the language of the country, — in Japanese characters ;
while the books on medicine, history, and science were in the Chinese
syllabary. We ourselves saw both characters employed, and in a Liu-kiuan-
Japanese phrase-book given to me during our visit the one column was in
1 "Trans. Asiat. Soo. of Japan," vol. i. p. 8.

NOTES ON LIU-KIU. 267
the square character, while the Liu-kiuan was written in Japanese katakana.
According to Dr. Smith,1 the spoken language is very rich, and owes much
to the great number of Chinese terms which have been' introduced. These
occur especially in the conversation of the literati, as well as in technical
descriptions ; and it is evident that the immigration of the thirty-six Chinese
families which we read of as having occurred towards the end of the fourteenth
century, exerted no little influence upon the language, as well as upon the
customs and religious beliefs of the islanders.
I have already spoken of the resemblance, both of their houses and dress,
to those of the Japanese. These, indeed, are practically identical, but, in some
instances, the architecture has been modified by Chinese influence. The gate
at the entrance of Shiuri (page 54) is a good example of this, and the peculiar
tombs that form so marked a feature in the landscape bear a great resem
blance in general form to those of China. Some of the games are purely ¦
Japanese, such, for instance, as go-ban ;2 and the game of chess played on the
island is, according to Li, different to that known in China : — " The people
are very fond of the game, and never allow a move to be recalled ; they
have also a chess champion. They reckon that the player who shows the
most empty squares has won, unlike the Chinese who say he has beaten who
has the most men left." Unfortunately, Li does not treat us to further
details, and I did not see the game while on the island. The tea ceremonies
are said to be the same as those in Japan, and the samisens I have described
only differ in having the body of the instrument covered with snake skin.
On the whole, therefore, it seems not unjust that this most interesting
little people should fall under the dominion of the Mikado rather than into
the hands of the Chinese, with whom they have so much less racial affinity.
Not even the most casual observer would fail to notice their physical likeness
to the Japanese, but no one, I feel sure, would ever mistake a Liu-kiuan for
a Celestial. Few countries are furnished with traditions of origin of such wonderful
accuracy as those of Liu-kiu. In the year 16,615 B.C. we are informed, the
two ancestors of the race came into being, and were named Omo-mei-kiu.
Three sons and two daughters were the result of their union. The eldest
son, Tient-sun or the Grandson of Heaven, became the first king of the
islands ; from the second son were descended the tributary princes, and from the
third the rest of the people. The eldest daughter, Kun-kun, was called the
Spirit of Heaven, and the other, Tcho-tcho, had the title of the Spirit of the Sea.
1 "Lew-ehew and the Lew-chewans," p. 80.
2 For the benefit of such of my readers as have not visited Japan I may state that
this game is the one lately introduced into England under the misspelt name of Go Bang.
Its meaning is " Number five," and it is so called from the game consisting in trying to
get five men in a row.

268 APPENDIX I.

Here, however, the tradition stops, luckily for the youth of the country,
to whom the Mrs. Markham of Liu-kiu and the names and dates of the
kings of a hundred and eighty-five centuries would otherwise be indeed a
burden grievous to be borne. As it is, we are merely informed that twenty-
five dynasties occupied the throne until the time of Chun-tien, who com
menced his reign in 1187, and is the first king with whom the consecutive
history of the island, as given to us by Gaubil, begins.
Of the previous history but little is known. The first mention of Liu-
kiu by the Chinese is made by Chu Kwan during the Sui dynasty in the
year 580, and a little later the emperor, wishing to know something about
the country and its products, sent an expedition there, which returned a.d.
605 without having accomplished much. A Japanese envoy, who happened
to be at the Court of China at the time, gave the emperor some information
upon the subject, and on his learning that the main island was distant only
five clays' sail from Foochow, he at once fitted out another expedition, caused
various learned people to accompany it, and finally despatched it with a
message to the Liu-kiu king that he expected him to recognise the sovereignty
of the Emperor of China, and to come ancl do him homage. The unfortunate
king, however, did not view the matter in the same light, and was rash
enough to say so in reply. It would have been better for him to have
submitted with the best grace he could. The enraged emperor, on receiving
the news, despatched ten thousand of his picked troops as soon as they
could be got together. In vain the King of Liu-kiu placed himself at the
head of his army to resist the enemy. They effected a landing, and, by
their superior numbers and discipline, gained the day. The king was slain,
and his army routed, and having pillaged and burnt the royal city and
captured over five thousand slaves, the victorious Chinese departed.
The Chinese history of the Liu-kiuans at that period informs us that
they were unacquainted with writing ; that the king ancl people alike lived
in the simplest manner, and that they were unprovided even with chop
sticks. They had fixed laws concerning marriage and burial, were particular
in observing mourning, and treated the memory of their ancestors with great
respect. Human beings were sacrificed to the spirits, but this custom was
soon afterwards abolished. Felons were beaten according to the gravity of
the offence, and if the crime was considered worthy of death, the condemned
man was beaten to death with clubs.
It would have been imagined that, after the conquest of Liu-kiu by the
Chinese, the latter would have enforced the payment of a tribute and the
periodical rendering of homage to the emperors. This, however, was not
the case. The islands were left in peace, and, on the whole, the affair was
rather an advantage than otherwise to their inhabitants, as Chinese trade

NOTES ON LIU-KIU. 269
became regularly established, aud a considerable amount of business was
yearly transacted between the two countries. No events of any importance
occurred before the accession of Chun-tien in 1187. This monarch was a
descendant of the ancient kings of Japan, but it is uncertain at what period
his family settled in Liu-kiu. He is said to have been the son of the famous
warrior Tametomo, who, after the defeat of his party in the civil war of
1156, was exiled to Vries Island, and fled some years later to Liu-kiu.
Before his succession he had been Governor of Pou-tien, a town in the southern
part of Okinawa-sima, and his crown was at first disputed by Li-yong, a rival
prince who was afterwards defeated and killed. Chun-tien's reign was
memorable for the introduction of writing, — the characters having been
apparently borrowed from the Japanese.
Of Chun-tien's son we hear little, but his grandson, who succeeded in
1249, was unfortunate in having his country ravaged by famine and pestilence.
Afraid lest he might be considered in some measure to blame, or anxious
that everything should be done to alleviate his subjects' sufferings, he called
a meeting of his nobles and offered to abdicate. They proposed Ynt-sou, a
descendant of the ancient kings of Liu-kiu. The king at once made him
prime minister, and having satisfied himself as to his fitness, yielded him
the crown. The choice of the nobles was a successful one, for Ynt-sou
appears to have made useful laws in connection with agriculture and taxes,
and to have been generally beloved. Under his rule the islands to the north —
Tatao (the present Oo-sima), Kikaiga-sima, and probably Kakirouma — were
added to the kingdom, and his reign was further marked by a fortunate
escape from another Chinese descent. Chit-sou, Emperor of China at that
time, bearing in mind the successes of his imperious predecessor Yang-ti,
fitted out a fleet with the intention of reconquering the Liu-kius in the year
1291. The expedition, however, does not seem to have been a popular one.
The Tartars and Chinese had been so roughly handled in their descent on
the Japanese about this time, that they began to regard these predatory
excursions as not always quite such simple affairs as they should be. There
was therefore but little warlike ardour on board the ships that left the
Fokien ports, and after cruising for a short time in the Formosa Channel,
and making a descent on the Pescadores Islands, they returned home, having
never even been within sight of their destination.
Ynt-sou was succeeded by his son and grandson, and in 1314 Yu-ching,
the fourth son of the latter, commenced a reign of war and disorder, in which
the island became ultimately divided into three distinct kingdoms, — San-nan,
Chiusan, and San-pe or Sanboku — in which state they existed for nearly a
century. Yu-ching retained the middle kingdom, which had Shiuri 1 for its
1 The word Shiuri merely means "chief city,'' as does also its Chinese appellation

270 APPENDIX I.

capital, and for many years civil wars raged throughout the island. The
castle I have described as existing at T'skina, about two or three miles to the
south of Shiuri, and another named Nagagusko, discovered by the members
of the American Expedition a day's journey to the north, are probably the
remains of the strongholds of the rival kings.
On the death of Ynt-sou's son Tsay-tou was elected king in 1350. He
was merely a mandarin of high rank, but the, people had suffered so much
during the long minority of their previous king that they were anxious not
to repeat the experiment. Tsay-tou's reign was an important one, as it was
with him that the payment of tribute to China began. This custom remained
almost unbroken for five centuries ; and the Liu-kiu king did not merely confine
himself to his offerings of horses, sulphur, copper, and camphor-wood, but
declared himself a vassal of the Chinese Emperor Hong-ou, at whose hands,
in 1373, he received his investiture. The two other kings of Liu-kiu had
no sooner learnt what had occurred than they also followed his example.
Hong-ou received their envoys, and sent them a golden seal, as he had done
to Tsay-tou, at the same time advising them to put an end to the miserable
civil wars that had for so long devastated the country. He also sent over
thirty-six Chinese families from the Fokien province, whose influence on the
language and customs of the Liu-kiuans I have already alluded to. Tsay-tou
received them well, assigning them revenues, and settling them in the town
of Kumi near Napha. They introduced Chinese characters, books on the
arts and sciences, and Confucianism, and to this day the interpreters are
chosen from their descendants. In this reign the Meiaco-simas appear to
have recognised the sovereignty of Liu-kiu ; commerce was solidly established
with China, to the profit of both nations ; and the islands became more
prosperous than they had been for many years.
The two following reigns were devoid of interest, but in that of Chang-
pa-chi the three kingdoms were, in the year 1430, once more reunited.
The king was held in great esteem by the Emperor of China, from whom he
received considerable sums of money, and, in addition, the surname of Chano-
which the royal family of Liu-kiu has ever since retained.
The year 1451 is memorable as being the first in which an accurate
record exists of intercourse between Japan and Liu-kiu, although it seems
probable that the islands had been known to the former country for a lon<*
period previously. In that year the king sent a present of a thousand strings
of cash to Asikaga Yoshimasa, the ruling Shogun ; doubtless a very valuable
gift, since but little copper money was at that time coined in Japan. Three
years later Chang-tai-kiu mounted the throne, which was at first contested
King-ching. It has been variously spelt Shui, Scheudi, and Cheouli. What we term
Seoul, the capital of Corea, is probably the same word.

NOTES ON LIU-KIU. 271
with him by his brother. The Emperor of China having lent him his aid,
the quarrel was soon terminated, ancl commerce with that country was again
resumed with great vigour. So great a quantity of silver and cash had found
its way into Liu-kiu that the Fokien province was put to considerable in
convenience, and henceforward regulations were adopted by the Chinese in
order to check to some extent the export of money. That a tolerably high
state of civilisation existed at this time in the islands is evident from the fact
that they cast bells for the temples, and possessed cups of gold and silver.
As neither of these metals exists on the islands, it is probable that they were
obtained from Japan. At the end of the fifteenth century the vessels from the
port of Napha traded to Satsuma and other provinces in Japan, to Formosa,
to many parts of the coast of China, and to Corea ; and it is said that a Liu-
kiu ship about this time even succeeded in reaching Malacca. The islands
became the entrep6t of the commerce then existing between China and Japan,
and in any cases of misunderstanding between these two nations the Liu-kiu
king acted as mediator. His services were first called into requisition on the
occasion of a remonstrance addressed to the reigning Tycoon by Kiat-sing,
the Chinese emperor, concerning numerous acts of piracy on his coasts. It
seems that the Japanese of the Goto and Hirado Islands — groups lying to the
westward of Kiusiu — armed great numbers of vessels, and acting in concert
with Chinese pirates, landed on all parts of the coast, plundering ancl
slaughtering, and spreading the greatest consternation as far south even as
Canton. Their principal stronghold was Keelung in Formosa, on which
island they were held in such dread that the people deserted the seaboard
and took refuge in the mountains. The Tycoon professed himself unable vto
exterminate these marauders, but, through the Liu-kiu king, he returned a
great number of Chinese captives and vessels retaken from the pirates.
Hicleyoshi — one of the greatest men that Japan has ever produced — was at
that time at the zenith of his fame. Throughout the length and breadth of
the land he had fought and conquered, and no new worlds except those
beyond the seas remained for him against which to keep his generals and
troops employed. While meditating before the shrine of a temple in Kioto,
the project of subduing both Corea and China occurred to him, and he
resolved at once upon its execution. Anxious, however, that his design should
not become known through the Liu-kiuans, he sent a message to the king of
that people, recommending him to acknowledge the supremacy of the Emperor
of Japan, and to pay tribute to him alone. Chang-ning, who was then on
the throne, saw through his plot, and at once gave warning of it to the
Chinese Emperor and the King of Corea. The latter refused to take any
steps for the defence of his kingdom, believing that the war preparations of
Japan were directed against China rather than himself. He was soon un-

272 APPENDIX I.

deceived. Hiddyoshi landed almost unopposed, captured and burnt the city
of Seoul, the capital, and departed with much plunder, having made two of
the princes prisoners. He was on the point of marching against China when
he died, and the war came abruptly to an end.
Chang-ning, however, was destined not to escape the anger of the
Japanese, in spite of the death of Hideyoshi. The tribute he had paid to
the Prince of Satsuma up to the time of the invasion of Corea had not been
resumed, and on his refusal to renew it the prince, acting in concert with a
Liu-kiu noble who had revolted and retired to Satsuma, fitted out an
expedition against the islands, and landed his troops in the spring of 1609.
The result might have been foreseen. The invaders were completely victori
ous, and having sacked the palace and killed the father of the king, they
brought the latter back to Satsuma as a prisoner. The Chinese were unaware
of this occurrence in time to render any assistance, and would in any case
hardly have been able to lend them efficient aid, owing to the extremely un
settled state of their own country. The Liu-kiu king accordingly remained
in captivity for two years, but his conduct so won the hearts of the Japanese
that at the end of that time they restored him once more to his people and
his throne. On his arrival in his own country so little was his independent
spirit broken by captivity, that one of his first acts was to render homage to
the Emperor of China, and to warn him that his late captors contemplated a
descent upon Formosa. But he was nevertheless wise enough to resume the
payment of tribute to the Prince of Satsuma, and we thus find Liu-kiu once
more in the anomalous position of being subject to two hostile nations at one
and the same time.
A little later, in the year 1643, occurred the great revolution which
placed the Tartars in possession of the throne of China, and the Liu-kiu king
had to bow to the force of circumstances, and to send in his submission with
the rest. The Tartar emperor was happily well disposed towards him, and
it was agreed that the tribute should thenceforward be paid biennially.
Twenty years later the great Emperor Kang-hi succeeded his father, and
during his reign the islands throve and prospered. Kang-hi loaded the
Liu-kiu king with presents, built a palace in honour of Confucius, and
instituted a college for the study of Chinese arts and letters ; and when, in
1708, the towns of Napha and Shiuri were ravaged with fires, typhoons, and
pestilence, he came so quickly and generously to their aid that he gained
the lasting gratitude and affection of the islanders. The length of his reign
(1663-1736) was so great that he lived to see four Liu-kiu sovereigns on the
throne, and in the year 1719 he sent Supao-kwang, one of the learned
doctors of the empire, as ambassador to Chang-king, who was then monarch
with instructions to gather all the information possible with regard to the

NOTES ON LIU-KIU. 273
people. It is to his careful record that we owe most of our knowledge of the
past history of these most interesting islands.
At the beginning of this century, when the Chinese emperor invested
Chang- wan with the full sovereignty, two envoys left Pekin on the mission,
one of whom was Li Ting-yuen, the author of the " Shi Liu-kiu Ki," to
which I have several times referred. He gives a naive and amusing account
of his experiences, besides much information that is really valuable. It is
curious to note that during his visit, which lasted over a period of six or
seven months, the agents of the Prince of Satsuma were resident in Napha.
Yet so well was this fact concealed that Li does not appear ever to have had
the least suspicion of it. Of the later visits of Basil Hall, Beechey, Perry,
and others I have already spoken. The American plan of making Napha a
port of call fell through on the breaking clown of the exclusive policy of the
Japanese, and the islands lying, as they do, remote from the world's traffic,
have been but little visited since. Gradually the hold of China relaxed, while
that of Japan tightened. All tribute to the former country seems to have
ceased in 1850. I am unaware whether there is any exact Chinese rendering
of the term " suzerainty," a word that in our own language has of late years
acquired a meaning of extreme delicacy. But if so, it was doubtless in use
among Celestial politicians to express the relations existing between their
country ancl Liu-kiu subsequent to that date. These relations the Formosan
difficulty still further attenuated, and in 1879 they may be said to have been
completely severed by the bold step ventured on by the Japanese, who
quietly deposed the Liu-kiu king, and took over the Government. Finally,
during the Franco-Chinese War in 1885 the formal recognition of the
sovereignty of Japan was claimed — I believe successfully — at the Court of
Pekin.

VOL. I.

APPENDIX II.

BIRDS OF KAMSCHATKA.
During our visit to Kamschatka I drew up a list of the birds shot or
observed by our party, being at that time unaware that Taczanowski had already
published a paper upon the subject. Subsequently another list appeared,1 and in
1885 Dr. Stejneger published a "Synopsis of the Birds reported to inhabit
Kamtschatka." 2 As our own notes add nothing to this list (which also includes
the birds of the Commander Islands) I give it here, retaining Dr. Stejneger's
nomenclature, and occasionally adding the English names for the benefit of non-
ornithological readers.

1. Colymbus holbselli (Reinh.)
American Red-necked Grebe.
2. Colymbus auritus (Linn.) Horned
Grebe.
3. Urinator adamsi (Gray).
4. „ arcticus (Linn.) Black-
throated Diver.
5. „ lumme (Gunn.) Red-
throated Diver.
6. Uria lomvia arra (Pall.)
7. „ . troile californica (Bryant).
8. Cepphus columba, Pall.
9. „ carbo, Pall.
10. Brachyramphus marmoratus (Gm.)
11. „ kittlitzi, Brandt.
12. Synthliboramphus antiquus (Gm.)

13. Simorhynchus pygmasus (Gm.)
Pigmy Auk.

14.

15.

cristatellus (Pall.)
Tufted Auk.
pusillus (Pall.)

Least Auk.
16. Cerorhinca monocerata (Pall.)
17. Cyclorhynchus psittaculus (Pall.)
Parrot Auk.
18. Lunda cirrhata, Pall. Whiskered
Puffin.
19. Fratercula corniculata (Naum.)
Horned Puffin.
20. Larus glaucescens, Naum.
21. „ glaucus, Brtinn. Glaucous
Gull.

1 Liste des Oiseaux du Kamtschatka et des lies Comandores, par le Dr. B. Dybowski et L.
Taczanowski : "Bull, de la Soc. Zoolog. de France," tome ix. 1884.
2 "Bull. U.S. Nation. Mus." No. 29, p. 313.

BIRDS OF KAMSCHATKA.

275

22. Larus schistisagus, Stejn.
23. „ cachinnans, Pall. Laughing
Gull.
24. „ kamschatchensis (Bp.)
25. „ canus, Lin. Common
Gull.
26. „ ridibundus, Lin. Black-
headed Gull.
27. Rissa tridactyla pollicaris, Stejn.
Pacific Kittiwake.
28. „ brevirostris (Bruch.) Red-
legged Kittiwake.
29. Gavia alba (Gunn.)
30. Sterna camtschatica, Pall, (longi-
pennis). Kamschatkan Tern.
31. „ paradisaea, Briinn. Arctic
Tern.
32. Stercorarius parasiticus (Lin.)
Skua.
33. „ longicaudus, Vieill.
Buffon's Skua.
34. „ pomarinus (Lin.)
Pomatorhine Skua.
35. Diomedea albatrus, Pall. Albatross.
36. Fulmarus glacialis glupischa, Stejn.
Pacific Fulmar.
37. Puffinus tenuirostris (Temm.)
38. Oceanodroma leucorhoa (Vieill.)
Leach's Petrel.
39. „ furcata (Gm.)
40. Hsematopus osculans (Swinh.)
Eastern Oystercatcher.
41. Arenaria interpres (Lin.) Turn
stone.
42. Charadrius squatarola (Lin.) Grey
Plover.
43. „ dominicus fulvus (Gm.)
Eastern Golden Plover.
44. iEgialitis mongolica (Pall.)
45. Gallinago gallinago (Lin.) Snipe.
46. „ hyemalis (Ewers.)

47. Arquatella couesi (Ridgw.)
48. Actodromas acuminatus (Horsf.)
49. „ damacensis (Horsf.)
50. „ ruficollis (Pall.)
51. „ temmincki (Leisl.)
Temminck's Stint.
52. Pelidna alpina pacifica (Coues).
53. Calidris arenaria (Linn.)
Sanderling.
54. Limosa lapponica baueri (Naum.)
Eastern Bar-tailed Godwit.
55. „ segocephala melanuroides
(Gould.) Eastern Black-tailed
Godwit.
56. Pseudototanus guttifer (Nordm.)
57. Totanus nebularius (Gunn.)
Eastern Greenshank.
58. „ ater (Sander.)
59. „ glareola (Linn.) Wood
Sandpiper.
60. Pavoncella pugnax (Linn.) Ruff.
61. Actitis hypoleucus (Linn.) Common
Sandpiper.
62. Terekia cinerea (Giild.) Terek
Sandpiper.
63. Heteractitis incanus (Gm.)
64. „ brevipes (Vieill.)
65. Nunienius cyanopus (Vieill.)
66. „ phseopus variegatus
(Scop.) Eastern Whimbrel.
67. Phaleropus lobatus (Linn.) Red
necked Phalerope.
Crymophilus fulicarius (Linn.)
Grus grus orientalis (Blyth) ?
Crane.
Anser segetum middendorffi
(Severtz.) Eastern Bean
Goose.
„ albifrons gambeli (Hartl.)
White-fronted Goose.
72. Chen hyperboreus (Pall)

68.
69. 70.

71.

276

APPENDIX II.

73. Branta canadensis hutchinsi
(Rich.)
74. „ nigricans (Lawr.)
75. Cygnopsis cygnoides (Pall.)
76. Olor cygnus (Linn.) Swan.
77. „ columbianus (Ord.) Whistling
Swan.
78. Anas boschas (Linn.) Mallard.
79. Chaulelasmus streperus (Linn.)
Gadwail.
80. Dafila acuta (Linn.) Pintail.
81. Nettion crecca (Linn.) Teal.
82. Querquedula qiierquedula (Linn.)
Garganey.
83. Eunetta falcata (Georgi.) Falcated
Teal.
84. „ formosa (Georgi.)
85. Mareca penelope (Linn.) Widgeon.
86. „ americana (Gm.)
87. Spatula clypeata (Linn.) Shoveller.
88. Aythya marila (Linn.) Scaup.
89. „ fuligula (Linn.) Tufted
Duck.
90. Clangula clangula (Linn.) Golden-
Eye.
91. Charitonetta albeola (Linn.)
Buffle-headed Duck.
92. Histrionicus histrionicus (Linn.)
Harlequin Duck.
93. Harelda hyemalis (Linn.) Long-
tailed Duck.
94. Eniconetta stelleri (Pall.) Steller's
Western Duck.
95. Somateria V-nigra, Gray. Pacific
Eider.
96. „ spectabilis (Linn.) King
Eider.
97. Oidemia americana (Sw. and
Rich.)
98. „ deglandi, Bp. Eastern
Scoter.

99. Merganser merganser (Linn.)
Goosander.
100. „ serrator (Linn.) Red-
breasted Merganser.
101. ,, albellus, Linn. Smew.
102. Phalacrocorax perspicillatus, Pall.
103. „ urile (Gm.)
104. „ pelagicus, Pall
105. Urogallus parvirostris kams-
chaticus (Kittl.) Kamschatkan
Capercailzie.
106. Lagopus lagopus (Linn.)
107. „ mutus (Montin)?
Ptarmigan.
108. „ ridgwayi, Stejn.
109. Falco rusticolus, Linn.
110. „ islandus, Briinn. White
Gyrfalcon.
111. „ pealei, Ridgw.
112. „ peregrinus, Tunst. ?
Peregrine.
113. „ subbuteo, Linn. Hobby.
114. Astur candidissimus, Dybow.
115. Accipiter nisus (Linn.) Sparrow-
hawk.
116. Archibuteo lagopus (Briinn.)
Rough-legged Buzzard.
117. Aquila chrysaetos (Linn.) Golden
Eagle.
118. Haliseetus leucocephalus (Linn)
Bald Eagle.
119. „ hypoleucus, Ridgw.
120. „ albicilla (Linn.) Erne.
121. Thalassoaetus pelagicus (Pall.)
Pallas's Eagle.
122. Pandion haliaetus (Linn.) Osprey.
123. Asio accipitrinus (Pall.)
124. Nyctea nyctea (Linn.) Snowy
Owl.
125. Surnia ulula (Linn.) Short-eared
Owl.

BIRDS OF KAMSCHATKA.

277

126.

Cuculus canorus telephonus
(Heine.) Eastern

149.

Cuckoo.

150.

127.

„ peninsulas, Stejn.

128.

Dryobates purus, Stejn. Great
Spotted Woodpecker

151.

(Eastern form).

152.

129.

„ immaculatus, Stejn.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
153.
(Eastern form).
130.
Picoides albidior, Stejn. Three-
toed Woodpecker (Eastern
154.
form).
155.
131.
Micropus pacificus, Lath. ?
156.
132.
Alauda blakistoni, Stejn.
133.
Nucifraga caryocatactes (Linn.)
157.
Nutcracker.
158.
134.
Corvus corax, Linn. Raven.
159.
135.
„ beringianus (Dybow.)
136.
„ corone levaillanti (Less.)
160.
Eastern Carrion Crow.
161.
137.
Pica camtschatica, Stejn. Kams
162.
chatkan Magpie.
163.
138.
Hypocentor aureolus (Pall.)
164.
139.
„ rusticus (Pall.)
165.
140.
„ variabilis (Temm.
and Schl.)
166.
141.
Emberiza schoeniclus (Linn.)
167.
Black-headed Bunting.
168.
142.
Plectrophenax nivalis (Linn.)
Snow Bunting.
169.
143.
Calcarius lapponicus (Linn.)
Lapland Bunting.
170.
144.
Acanthis linaria (Linn.) Redpoll.
171.
145.
„ „ holbselli (Brehm.)
172
146.
„ hornemanni exilipes
173.
(Cones).
174.
147.
Leucosticte brunneonucha
(Brandt.)
175.
148.
„ griseonucha
(Brandt.)
176.
Pine
Sand
Fringilla montifringilla (Linn.)
Brambling.
Chloris kawarahiba (Temm. and
Schl.)
Coccothraustes coccothraustes
(Linn.) ? Hawfinch.
Pyrrhula pyrrhula kamtschatica
(Taczan.) Eastern Bullfinch.
Carpodacus erythrinus grebnitski,
Stejn.
Pinicola enucleator (Linn.)
Grosbeak.
Loxia sp. ?
Clivicola riparia (Linn.)
Martin.
Chelidon tytleri (Jerdon).
„ kamtschatica (Dybow.)
Ampelis garrulus, Linn. Wax-
wing.
Lanius cristatus (Linn.) ?
„ sibiricus (Bogdan.)
Butalis sibirica (Gm.)
Erythrosterna albicilla (Pall.)
Anthus gustavi, Swinh.
„ japonicus (Temm. and
Schl.)
„ cervinus (Pall.)
Pipastes maculatus (Hodgs.)
Budytes flavus leucostriatus
(Horn.) Eastern Yellow Wagtail.
Motacilla melanope, Pall. Grey
Wagtail.
„ ocularis, Swinh.
„ lugens, Kittl.
Troglodytes pallescens (Ridgw.)
Parus ater, Linn. Coal Tit.
„ kamtschatkensis (Bp.)
Kamschatkan Marsh Tit.
jEgithalus caudatus (Linn.) Long-
tailed Tit.
, Sitta albifrons, Taczan.
278

APPENDIX II.

177. Acrocephalus ochotensis (Midd.)
178. Locustella hendersoni (Cass.)
179. Phyllopseustes borealis, Bias.
Arctic Willow
Warbler.
1 80. „ xanthodryas (Swinh.)

181. Phyllopseustes homeyeri, Dybow.
182. Turdus eunomus, Temm.
183. Turdus obscurus, Gm. Dusky
Ouzel.
184. lanthia cyanura (Pall.) Bluestart.
185. Cyanecula suecica (Linn.)
186. Melodes calliope (Pall.)

INDEX.

Agriculture in Liu-kiu, 51, 257; in
Petropaulovsky, 77 ; on Kamschatka
River, 174.
Alaska Commercial Company, 206.
Alcedo bengalensis, 44.
Allied Forces defeated at Petropaulovsky,
78.
Altars in Liu-kiu, 41.
Americans at Napha-kiang, 32.
Anadyrsk, first fort built at, 235.
Annexation of Liu-kiu, 52, 273.
Aralia papyrifera, 24.
Architecture, Liu-kiuan, 50, 55, 57.
Atlasov invades Kamschatka, 236 ; defeats
Kamschatdales, 237 ; is murdered, 238.
Auk, Tufted, 71.
Avatcha Bay, 67, 68.
Avatchinska volcano, 68.
Avicula macropteron, 63.
Balagans, 106.
Bamboo in Formosa, 12.
Battle of Petropaulovsky, 79.
Bears, 102, 111, 132, 159 ; catching fish,
133.
Bering, 240 ; explores Siberia, ibid.; builds
the Gabriel, 241 ; discovers Bering's
Straits, ibid.; second voyage, 242 ; last
voyage, 245 ; is attacked with scurvy,
246 ; discovers Bering Island, 248 ; dies,
249 ; monument to, 78.
Bering Island, 187 ; features of, 193.
Bering's Straits, existence conjectured,
239.

Betchevinskaya Bay, 211, 216.
Bettelheim's, Dr., Mission to Liu-kiu, 264.
Bidarrahs, 191.
Bighorn, 100, 109, 211; description of,
213 ; resemblance to O. montana, 214 ;
Measurements, 215.
Birch-tree, uses of, 101- ; great size of,
93.
Birds in Liu-kiu, paucity of, 60 ; of Kams
chatka, 112, 121, 159, 274.
Boats, of Bering islanders, 191 ; of Kurile
islanders, 224, 225.
Bolcheresk established, 238.
Bolcheresk River, 104 ; valley of the,
114.
Bows and arrows used to shoot sea-otter,
225.
Brick-tea, 141.
Bridges in Liu-kiu, 50.
Brunton, Mr., on population of Okinawa-
sima, 257.
Burial customs, Liu-kiuan, 39.
Callorbines ursinus, 190, 195, et seq. ;
arrival at Bering Island, 191, 197 ; the
male, 199 ; the female, 200 ; departure
from Bering Island, 202 ; killing, 203 ;
annual take of skins, 204 ; curing, ibid. ;
profit on skins, 206.
Camphor, 19, 23.
Canoes, dug-out, in Liu-kiu, 41 ; in Kams
chatka, 135.
Cape Klin, 210.
Cape Shipunsky, 209.
Capercailzie, 103, 121.

280

INDEX.

Cervus pseudaxis, 4.
Chaptia brauniana, 15.
Chart of Kamschatka River, 158.
Cherry, wild, 150.
Chui-teng-ka, 16.
Church at Melcova, 141.
Chock-e-day, 5, 6.
Citadel of Shiuri, 58.
Clerke, Captain, monument to, 78.
Cliffs, marl, on Kamschatka River, 144.
Climate, of Formosa, 24 ; of Kamschatka,
109; of Liu-kiu, 253, 255.
Coal, in Formosa, 13 ; in Liu-kiu, 256.
Consecration of monument at Petropau
lovsky, 221.
Copper in Liu-kiu, 256.
Croyere, De la, 244 ; sails with Bering,
245 ; death of, 251.
Current, Kurosiwo, 3, 66.
Current, southerly, west of Kurosiwo, 66,
228.
Cyeas, plantations of, in Shiuri, 57.
Dance, Liu-kiuan, 44 ; at Ust Kams
chatka, 182.
Dendrocopos purus, 113.
Dinner habits of the Japanese, 46.
Dog catching fish, 122.
Dogs, sledge, 82, 98, 107, 192.
Domestic animals of Liu-kin, 260.
Duck on the Kamschatka, 138, 159 ;
method of catching, 180.
Dybowski, Dr., 74, 76.
Eagle, Pallas's, 122, 179.
Enhydra lutris, value of skin, 97 ; former
abundance in Bering Island, 250.
Erman, Prof. A., on Kluchefskaya and
Sevelitch, 169.
Erne, 122, 147.
Eruptions of Kluchefskaya, 168, 169 ; in
1883, 171.
Exports of Formosa, 24.
Faloo subbuteo, 147.
Fish-curral at Melcova, 139.
Fog, prevalence of, between Yezo and
Kamschatka, 66.
Forest-fires in Kamschatka, 164.

Formosa, 1 ; the east coast, 5 ; harbours,
11, 19, 22 ; coal-beds, 13 ; export of tea,
15 ; zoology, ibid. ; products, 19 ; im
portance of its position, 21 ; geographi
cal features, 21, 22 ; hot springs and
solfaterras, 23 ; Chinese and aborigines,
23; exports, 24; climate, ibid.
Fortress of Shiuri, 56.
Foxes, 138.
Fox-trap, Kamschatkan, 163.
Fringilla lapponica, 193.
Fur seal, 190, 195, et sea.; breeding-places,
190 ; arrival at Bering Island, 191, 197 ;
the male, 199 ; the female, 200 ; de
parture from Bering Island, 202 ; killing,
203 ; annual take of skins, 204 ; curing
of skins, ibid. ; profit on skins, 206 ;
tame, 222.
Fur-trade in Kamschatka, 96.
Gale off Simusir Island, 228.
Garbusa, 98, 127, 193.
Gaubil, Pere, on Liu-kiu, 255, et seq.
Gonidec, Le ; loss of, 230.
Gordon, Mount, 150.
Granaries in Liu-kiu, 260.
Graves of French and English at Petro
paulovsky, 80 ; of the English officers at
Tareinska Harbour, ibid.
Grayling, 99.
Grouse, Willow, 102, 112.
Gultsi, 99, 129.
Gunal, 104 ; belfry at, 111 ; valley of, 103.
Hachi-macbi, 49.
Haiko, 126, 193.
Hair-pins, Liu-kiuan, 38, 60.
Haliaetus albicilla, 122.
Hall, Captain Basil, on Liu-kiu, 261.
Halloran, Mr., on images in Liu-kiu, 263.
Harbour, Keelung, 11 ; Petropaulovsky,
71 ; Ponghou, 22 ; Tamsui, 19 ; Tareinska
and Rakova, 68.
Harbours of Formosa, 11, 22.
Harchinska Mountains, 165.
Heber reef, existence doubtful, 63.
Height of the Kamschatkan volcanoes, 69,
167, 172.

INDEX.

281

Hobby (F. subbuteo), 147.
Holluschicki, 197, 202, 203.
Hot-springs, at Kluchi, 84 ; at Narchiki,
100 ; at Malka, 100 ; in bed of Kams
chatka River, 175.
Houses, Kamschatkan, 92, 99.
Images, ancient, in Liu-kiu, 263.
Japan, 64 ; annexation of Liu-kiu by, 52,
273.
Japanese books on Liu-kiu, 48.
Japanese tea, 34.
Kamakofeskaya, 176.
Kamasashi, 38.
Kamschatdale skull, 173.
Kamschatdales, 227.
Kamschatka, 64 ; south-east coast, 67 ;
leprosy in, 76 ; communication with, 77 ;
annual herbage of, 89, 94, 116 ; climate,
109, 142; birds of, 113, 274; crops, 139,
174 ; denseness of vegetation, 212 ; natural
breakwaters, 216 ; peoples of, 227 ; dis
covery of, 235 ; first entered by the
Russians, 236 ; rebellion in, 242 ; biblio
graphy, 251.
Kamschatka River, source of, 114 ; hydro
graphy, 175 ; breadth near mouth, 180 ;
bar, 185.
Keelung, 10 ; harbour of, 11 ; waterfall
near, 12.
Keelung River, 14.
Kerama Islands, 29.
Kisutchi, 128, 165, 180.
Kittiwake, Pacific, 121.
Kjokken-moddings, 119.
Klin, Cape, 210.
Kluchefskaya Volcano, 148, 150, 156, 161,
165, 166.
Kluchi (Avatcha Bay), 84.
Kluchi (Kamschatka River), 166.
Kojerevska River, 160.
Kojerevska Volcano, 148, 150, 156, 165.
Kojerevsky, 160.
Koriaks, 227.
Koriatska Volcano, 69.
Kozelska Volcano, 69.
Krasna-riba salmon, 126.

Kristovsky, 164.
Kronotsky Volcano, 171, 172.
Kuchum Khan defeated by Timovieff, 234.
Kuklankas, 142.
Kundsha salmon, 131.
Kurile Islands first visited, 238.
Kurosiwo or Japan Current, 3, 66.
Lacquer-work, Liu-kiuan, 42.
Lagopus albus, 102, 112.
Leprosy in Kamschatka, 76, 146.
Li-ting-yuen' s account of Liu-kiu, 253 ; of
the royal tablets, 53.
Little Kluchi, 167.
Liu-kiu Islands, 26 ; geographical features,
27 ; former visitors, 28 ; derivation of
name, 253 ; orthography, 29 ; houses,
33 ; interview with Vice-Governor, 35
tombs, 39 ; resemblance to Japan, 43
Japanese books on, 48 ; bridges, 50
palace of the kings, 52 ; Japanese annexa
tion, 52, 273 ; paucity of bird-life, 60
climate, 253, 255 ; zoology, 255 ; geology
256 ; population, 257 ; granaries, 260
communication with, 261 ; mission to
263 ; history, 267.
Liu-kiuans, physical characters of, 36
mode of dressing the hair, 37 ; tattooing.
39 ; burial customs, 40 ; dance, 44
dinner with, 45; dress of, 49; character.
62, 266 ; religion, 262 ; myths, 263
language, 266 ; games, 267.
Lobipes hyperboreus, 139.
Losses of the Allies at the battle of Petro
paulovsky, 80.
Lotus-pond at Shiuri, 56 ; at T'skina, 60.
Lunda cirrlutta, 71.
Magpie, Kamschatkan, 122.
Marchesa caught in typhoon, 229 ; damages
to, 232.
Market at Napha-kiang, 34.
Marl-cliffs on the Kamschatka, 144.
Mashura, 145.
Masonry of Shiuri fortress, '56.
Megalcema nuchalis, 15.
Melcova, 140.
Merula obscura, 121.
"Mission, Lew-chew Naval, " 263.

282

INDEX.

Monument to Bering, 78 ; to Captain
Clerke, ibid. ; to De la Perouse, ibid. ; to
the Affair of August, 1854, 78, 221.
Mosquitoes in Kamschatka, 77.
Motacilla lugens, 160.
Mount Sylvia, Formosa, 14.
Mount Gordon, 150, 167.
Mount Herbert Stewart, 150, 167.
Musical instruments of Liu-kiuans, 42.
Mykysha salmon, 131.
Myths of Liu-kiu, 263.
Nan-sha Cape, 2.
Napha-kiang, 29 ; Americans in, 32 ; street
architecture, 33 ; environs, 39 ; inner
harbour, 43.
Narchiki, 98.
Nelumbium in ponds at Shiuri, 56.
Nemo schooner, 178, 194.
Nerchinsk Treaty, 235.
Nikolsky, 189.
Nischni Kamschatka, 178 ; Russians first
established at, 237.
Okhotsk-Boloheresk route discovered,
239.
Okinawa-sima, 27, 29 ; population, 257.
Oncorhynchus lagocephalus, 126, 193.
Oncorhynchus lycaodon, 125.
Oncorhynchus orientalis, 124, 142.
Oncorhynchus proteus, 127, 193.
Oncorhynchus sanguinolentus, 128.
Oo-bang caste, 257.
Ostrogs, 89.
Ovis nivicola, 100, 109, 211 ; description
of, 213 ; resemblance to 0. montana,
214 ; measurements, 215.
Pack-horse travelling, 88, 94.
Palace, of Shiuri, 58 ; on the road to Shiuri,
52.
Palanquins, Liu-kiuan, 49.
Parkas, 142.
Parkes, Sir Harry, 65.
Parus kamschatkensis, 160.
Peoples of Kamschatka, 227.
Perouse, De la, monument to, 78.
Perry, Commodore, on the Liu-kiuans,
, 257, 265 ; on geology of Liu-kiu, 256.

Petition presented by Liu-kiuans, 264.
Petropaulovsky, 72 ; founded, 245 ; har
bour, 71 ; Europeans in, 74 ; agriculture
in, 77 ; defeat of Allies at, 79 ; evacu
ation of, 81 ; consecration of monument
to the Russian victory, 221.
Pets on the Marchesa, 222.
Phalerope, Red-necked, 139.
Phallic emblem in Liu-kiu, 41.
Fhoca vitulina, 217. »
Picus tridactylus, 90 ; P. pipi-a, 113 ;
P. major, 113.
Pinus massoniana, 53.
Poaching in the Seal Islands, 194.
Ponies, Liu-kiuan, 51 ; Kamschatkan, 103.
Pope of Kluchi, 173.
Popes in Kamschatka, 104.
Powell Island, 225.
Prehistoric race, evidences of, in Liu-kiu,
41, 266.
Pribylov Islands, take of skins on, 204.
Ptarmigan, 102.
Puffin (Lunda cirrJiata), 71.
Puschina, 120.
Quarrels with the Kamschatkan natives,
144, 147, 151, 153.
Querquedula crecca, 122.
Querquedula falcata, 122.
Raduga River, 178.
Rafts for descent of the Kamschatka, 136.
Rakova Harbour, 68.
Rebellion of the Kamschatdales in 1731,
242.
Reindeer introduced on Bering Island, 207.
Rissa tridactyla, 121.
Robben Island, 190 ; take of skins on, 204.
Rock tombs in Liu-kiu, 40.
" Rookery " on Bering Island, 195, et seq. ;
plan of, 197 ; de-organisation of, 199.
Rye cultivation in Kamschatka, 77, 174.
Sables, 95 ; price of skins, 96 ; shoot one,
117 ; habits, ibid.; method of catching,
118 ; number of skins exported, 119.
Saghalin, 181.
Salmo callaris, 99, 129 ; S. leucomainis,
131 ; S. proteus, 98 ; S. purpuratus, 131.

INDEX.

283

Salmon, abundance of, in Kamschatka, 83,
91, 98, 99, 123 ; catching, 139, 180 ;
cooking, 132 ; method of drying, 93 ;
species found in Kamschatka, 124.
Samasana Island, 3.
Samisen, Liu-kiuan, 42.
Sarana lily, 76.
Satow, Mr., on Buddhism in Liu-kiu, 262;
on language of Liu-kiu, 266.
Scurvy uncommon in Kamschatka, 76.
Seal, Fur, see Callorhinus.
Seal, Hair, 216.
Sea-otter, 97 ; bow and arrow used in
hunting, 225.
Sea-otter-lmnters' village, 224.
Sevelitch Volcano, 169.
Sherowmy, 133.
Shipunsky, Cape, 209.
Shiuri, expedition to, 48 ; road to, 51 ;
entrance gate of, 54, 55 ; fortress of, 56 ;
citadel and palace, 58 ; meaning of the
word, 269.
Shoveller Duck, 175.
Siberia, conquest of, 233 ; explored by
Gmelin, Miiller, and De la Croyere, 244.
Sirnorhynchus cristatellus, 71.
Simusir Island, gale off, 228.
Sledge-dogs, 82, 98, 107, 192.
Sledging across Bering Island, 192.
Smallpox, ravages of, in Kamschatka,
145.
Snake shot in Formosa, 9.
Snow permanent at sea-level in Kams
chatka, 211.
Spatula clypeata, lib.
Sport in Betohevinskaya Bay, 217.
Springs, chalybeate, 144.
Stari-ostrog, 90.
Steep Island, 10.
Stejneger, Dr., 206 ; on fauna and flora of
Bering Island, 207 ; on Kamschatkan
birds, 274.
Steller, 244; accompanies Bering on last
voyage, 245.
Sterna longipennis, 121.
Surnia ulula, 151.
Tablets, memorial, of Liu-kiu kings,
53.

Tamsui, 19 ; Spanish fort at, 19, 20.
Tareinska Harbour, 68.
Tattooing in Liu-kiu, 39.
Tchervitchi salmon, 124.
Tchoaki or Narrows of the Kamschatka,
177.
Tea, Formosan, 14 ; Japanese, 35.
Teal, 122.
Tetrao parvirostris, 103, 121.
Thalassae'tus pelagicus, 122, 179.
Thatching of Liu-kiu houses, 59.
Theodot discovers Kamschatka, 235.
Tigil, 164.
Tima-gusko, 60.
Tok-e-tok, treaty with, 2.
Tolbatchik River, 155.
Tolbatchinska Volcano, 148, 150, 156.
Tombs of the Liu-kiuans, 39.
Totanus glareola, 122.
Trade of Liu-kiu, 260.
Trap for foxes, 163.
Treaty with Formosan chiefs, 2 ; of Ner
chinsk, 235.
Tschappina, 147.
T'skina, 60.
Tundras, character of the, 97, 111.
Turdus fuscatus, 151.
Typhoon off Yezo, 229 ; centre traversed,
231 ; damages to the Marchesa, 232.
Usisashi, 38.
Uskovska village, 162.
Uskovska Volcano, 150, 161, 165, 167.
Ust Kamschatka, 181.
VlLUTCHINSKA VOLCANO, 67, 68.
Volcanoes of Kamschatka ; Avatchinska,
68; Kluchefskaya, 148, 150, 156, 161,
165, 166, 168 ; Kojerevska, 148, 150,
156, 165 ; Koriatska, 69 ; Kozelska, ibid.;
Kronotsky, 171, 172 ; Mount Gordon,
150, 167 ; Mount Herbert Stewart, ibid. ;
Sevelitch, 169 ; Tolbatchinska, 148,
150, 156 ; Uskovska, 150, 161, 165,
167 ; Vilutehinska, 67, 68.
Voyages of Bering, first, 241 ; second, 242 ;
final, 245.
Vulpes fulvus, 138.

284

INDEX.

Walrus, 210, 217.
Waterfall at Keelung, 12.
Waterproofs, seal-gut, 100.
Werchni Kamschatka, 138.
Whiskered Puffin, 71.
Whymper, Mr., account of defeat of Allies
in 1854, 79.
Williams, Dr., translation of " Shi Liu-kiu
Ki," 253.

Willow Grouse, 102, 112.
Woodpeckers, Kamschatkan, 113.
Wood Sandpiper, 122.
Yelofka River, 164 ; first fort built on, 237.
Yermac Timovieff, 234 ; death of, 235.
Zoology of Bering Island, 207 ; of Formosa,
15 ; of Liu-kiu, 255.

END OF VOL. I.

Printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh.

YALE UNIVERSITY

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