oaober anc* placed in this ve ryfp ot by their god Koutkou t that they
.— v— -< are the moft favoured o f his creatures j the moft fortunate
and happy o f b e in g s ; and that their country is fuperior to
all others, affording means o f gratification fa r beyond
what are any where elfe to 'be met with t that they have a
perfect knowledge o f all the plants o f the country, their virtues
and ufes, which could not be acquired in a ih o r t time;,
that their inftruments and houfehold utenfils differ grea tly
from thofe o f any other nation, and are made with an extraordinary
degree o f neatnefs and dexterity, which implies
that they are both o f their own invention, and have been
long in a rivin g at fo great perfeftion: that antecedently to
the arrival o f the Ruffians and Coffacks among them, th e y
had not the fmalleft knowledge o f any people, except the
Koreki I that it is but o f late they had an intercourfe with,
"the Kuriles, and flill later (and happened by means o f a vef-
fel being fhipwrecked on their .coaft) that they k n ew any
thing o f the Japanefe; and, laftly, that the country was.
ve ry populous, at the time the Ruffians firit got footing;
in it.
T h e reafons he alleges fo r fuppofing them to be originally
defcended from the Mungalians a r e : That many words in
their languag e have terminations fimilar to thofe o f the
Mungalian Chinefe, fuch as, ong, ing, aing, tcking, tcha.
tchoing, kft, kfung, & c .; and moreover, that the fame principle
o f inflexion or derivation obtains in both la n g u a g e s th a t
they are in general under-fized, as are the Mungalians : that
their complexions, like theirs, is fw a r th y : that they have
bla ck hair, little beard, the face broad, the nofe fhort and flat,
the eyes fmall and funk, the eye-brows thin, the belly pendant,
the legs fm a ll; all w hich are peculiarities that are to
7 be
be found among the Mungalians. From the whole o f
w hich he draws' this conclufion, that they fled for fafety to
this peninfula, from the rapid advances o f the Eaflern conquerors
1 as the Laplanders, the Samoides, &c. were compelled
to retreat to the extremities o f the North, by the
Europeans. .
T h e Ruffians having extended their conquefls, and efta-
bliihed pofts and colonies along that immenfe extent o f
coaft o f the frozen fea, from the Jenefei to the Anadir, appointed
commiffaries for the purpofe o f exploring and fub-
je f t in g the countries ftill farther Eaflward. T h e y foon became
acquainted with the wandering Koriacs inhabiting
the North and North Eaft coaft o f the fea o f Okotfk, and
without difficulty made them tributary. Thefe being the
immediate neighbours o f the Kamtfchadales, and likewife
in the habits o f bartering with them, a knowledge o f Kamt-
fchatka followed o f courfe.
T h e honour o f the firit difcovery is given to Feodot
Alexeieff, a merchant, who is faid to have failed from the
viver Kovyma, round the peninfula o f the Tfchutfki, in
company with feven other veffels, about the year 1648.
The tradition goes, that being feparated from the reft by a
florin, near the Tfchukotikoi Nofs, he was driven upon the
coaft o f Kamtfchatka, where he wintered; and the fummer
following coafted round the promontory o f Lopatka, into
the fea o f Okotfk; and entered the mouth o f the T i g i l ; but
th a t he and his companions were cut o ff by the Koriaes,
in endeavouring to pafs from thence by land to the Ana-
dirik. T h is , in part, is corroborated b y the accounts o f
Simeon Deihneff, who commanded one o f the feven veffels,