mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i3-030

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fat, the heat there was so great that we could not stay in
that place even for a minute. The suffocating heat and stench
surpassed all credence. The inhabitants of the island are
short, their face is wide, flat, and of a dirty yellow color
as though smoked, with protruding cheek bones, heavy lips,
wide nose, and narrow eyes. Their clothing consists of a
parka³ of deerskin with a hood, trousers and boots from seal-
skin. The women are much whiter and more handsome than the
men, and are dressed the same way, only their parkas are longer
than the men's. Of domesticated animals, they have only dogs
of the Kamchatka breed, that is, large, shaggy ones with sharp
snouts, erect sharp ears, which, just as in Kamchatka, are used
for traveling in winter. They do not have deer on the island,
and they barter their skins from neighboring Chukchi for wal-
rus teeth [tusks] and yukola, or dried fish.

Having spent about three hours on shore, we left, ac-
companied by the shouts of the inhabitants. Withdrawing to
a few sazhens, they began to throw rocks at us, but not a
single one fell on our skiff. Knowing how skillfully they
throw them, hitting seagulls in flight, we concluded that this
must be some not-at-all-hostile, but a leave-taking, custom,
and continued our trip not paying attention to it. Upon
arriving at the sloop, we lifted the skiffs and took off,
setting a course to the NE in order to round the eastern cape
of the island for further sailing toward Bering Strait. On
the next day, that is, on the 25th, we approached this cape