Manners and
Cuftoms.
Ill their perfonS we fhould reckon them extremely
nafty. They eat the vermin with which their bodies,
are covered, and fwaflow the mucus from the liofe.
Having ~ walked themfelyes, according to cuftom, firft
with urine,, and then with water, they fuck their hands- •
dry. When they are lick, they lie three or four days
without food ; and if bleeding is neceffary, they open a
vein with lancets made of flint,, and fuck, the blood..
Their principal nouriihment is fifh. and whale fat.,
which they commonly eat raw. They allb feed upon
fea-wrack and roots, particularly the faran, a fpecies of-
lily ; they eat a herb, called kutagp, on account of its,
feitternefs, only with filh or fat. They fometimes kindle;
fire by catching a fpark among dry leaves and powder- of.
fnlphur hut the moft common method is by rubbing-
two pieces of wood together, in the: manner pradtifed at
Kamtchatka, and which Vakfel, Beerings lieutenant,,
found to be in ufe in that part of North America which
he faw in 1741. They are very fond of Ruffian oil.
and butter,, but not of bread.. They could not be pre-
'* The inftrumcn-t made ufe of b.y tbe-Kamtchadals,, to-procure fire,,,
ii-a board with feveral holes in. it, and a flick;, the latter is, put inton
e holes, and turned about fwiftly, until the wood, within., the holes,
beo-ins to burn, where, there is. tinder ready to catch the fparks.
S. R .G .U I .p . 205.
vailed;
vailed upon to tafte any fugar until the commander
(hewed the example; finding it fweet, they put it up
to carry it home to their wives.
The houfes of thefe iflanders are huts built precifely
in the manner of thofe in Kamtchatka, with the entry
through a hole in the middle of the roof. In one of
thefe huts live feveral families, to the amount of thirty
or forty perfons. They keep themfelveS warm by
means of whale fat burnt in (hells, which they place
between their legs. The women fet apart from the
men.
Six or feven of thefe huts or yourts make a village,
of which there are fixteen in Unalafhka. The iflands
feem in general to be well inhabited,- aS may be con-
jedtured from the great number of boats which are feen
continually plying' along the fhore. There afe upwards
of a thoufand inhabitants on Unalafhka, and they fay
that it was formerly much more populous. They have
fuftered greatly by their difputes with the Ruffians, and
by a famine in the year 1 7 6 2 ; but moft o f all from
a change in their way of life. No longer contented
with their original fimplicity, they long for Ruffian
luxuries : in order therefore to obtain a few delicacies,
which are prefetitly confumed, they dedicate the greateft
part of their time to hunting, for the purpofe of pro-
L 1 2 curingO