mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i3-028

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a cross, on which was carved the name of the sailor and the
sloop, the year, the month, and the date of his funeral. On
the other, the captain and two of our officers went out. The
sailors and we on both skiffs were armed. The sloop lay to
and we set forth. Approaching the shore, we saw that the
islanders with their children and wives were retreating to the
mountains nearby and only about ten old men remained on the shore.
They were unarmed and were holding dried fish and walrus tusks
in their hands. We landed on a sandy beach directly across
from them, and they received us amicably with their customary
greeting, that is, spitting on the palm of their hand, they
smeared us on the face. To avoid this greeting would mean
offending them, and therefore, we, with stoic indifference
endured this disagreeable and repulsive anointing. Becoming
somewhat acquainted with them, we carried out the body of the
deceased man and started to dig a grave about 200 sazhens from
shore, but this work progressed very slowly because the ground
about one arshin [28 inches] below the surface was frozen solid.
With the help of crowbars, we finally excavated about six
feet, lowered the body sewn into a hammock for the lack of a
coffin, buried it, and set up the cross. The savages, during
all that time, looked at us with amazement, and only understood
what it was all about, it seemed, when the Agalagmiut interpre-
ters 2 explained by means of sign language that this was a dead
man, who, if they did not leave him and the cross in peace,
would come out and haunt them. Of course, we had no right to