mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i6-014

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them a few European knickknacks, which in their eyes appeared
to be treasures.

"On the morning (of the 15th) came to us two baidars in
which came from Mechigmenskaia Bay a chief of the Deer Chukchi
by the name Lei-chai-gu, son of the late chief, Imlerata,
who drove Captain Billings to Kolyma with his deer. He had
three medals on his neck, one of which, a gold one, he got
from his father, the other of bronze, and the third of pewter.

"From the behavior of this chief, it was clear that he
was already somewhat familiar with European customs. For
instance, he greeted me in the Russian way, that is, embracing
and kissing me.

"Like Lei-chai-gu, all the Chukchi who were with him
were dressed much cleaner and richer compared to those seen
by us in St. Lawrence Bay. Their bows and other things were
also finished smoother.

"I told him that a Chukchi promised to bring us deer the
next day, but had fooled us. To that, he answered that, of
course, that Chukchi wanted to fool us, because it was im-
possible to deliver any deer sooner than three days, and with
that he expressed his regret that he had not brought any deer
with him, not knowing of this need. Meanwhile, the wind
rose from the NW, and therefore, not wasting time, we weighed
anchor, and rounding the ice in the mouth of the bay, directed
our course to Bering Strait. Lei-chai-gu remained with us
until the sloop was under full sail.