mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i6-008

- 215 -

ward appearance they did not differ in anything from the
others recognized by me as Deer Chukchi, except that some
had two small black stripes painted on their forehead, and
judging by their dress seemed poorer than [the Deer ones].
The Deer ones called these Yuut [i.e. Yuit, or Eskimo]. I
do not know exactly if this is the name of a people or only
the name of a settlement.

In both settlements, we were received cordially. The
Chukchi met us without arms, permitted us to enter their
yurts, and the chiefs escorted us, bartering, however, fewer
things than on the sloop.

"Returning to the sloop, we were once more visited by
the Chukchi, of whom one chief by the name of Paigdau or Pil-
gaigym, from the settlement, "Nutelpynut" on the south side
of the bay, understood our interpreter better than the others,
and tried constantly to understand everything well, often re-
peating the same word several times. He seemed kind and candid.
For this reason, I treated him and his wife kindly and in-
vited them to my cabin, and interrogating him there, got the
following information:

"God they call Keirgeugia, who created the whole uni-
verse and the first woman near the river Vorvarken, flowing
to the Arctic Ocean. The whale cast up a man there, and
from this started the race of Chukchi who multiplied and moved
to their present abode. Keirgeugia is a superior being, in-
visible, immortal, powerful, but he has entrusted the rule