mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i6-005
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by poles and hung with skins, forming the warmest part, the
bedroom.
"The baidars, the same as all of the inhabitants of both
shores of Bering Strait, are all almost the same size with
room for eight oarsmen and one helmsman.
"Their weapons are spears, bows and arrows. The spears
are made mostly from wood with bone hafted on both ends, one
end for animals, the other for men, but they have some of
iron as well, received from Kolyma. The bows are bound with
sinew, with arrows also from wood with bone or flint tips and
feathers at the base. The bowstring is drawn on by a special
plate of bone or iron. The quivers, sewn from deerskin,
painted, and embroidered, are very pretty. But the main
weapon is a large knife, about an arshin long, always carried
with them and kept in a case, often likewise embroidered.
Some have, in addition, one or two smaller knives, usually
hidden in a pocket or behind a sleeve. We saw on one Chuk-
chi, two muskets of English manufacture, probably received
from Americans, because it is prohibited to sell firearms at
the Kolyma fair.
"The men make small statues of men, animals, and birds
from walrus bone, rather roughly however, and from wood--also
in the likeness of men--small wooden boards which are rubbed
to obtain fire. Women sew and embroider quivers, gloves, and
other things, being much inferior in this art to the women
of the Aleutian Islands.
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