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ARCTIC ZOOLOGY-

V O L. I.

INTRODUCTION.

CLASS I. QJJADRUPEDS.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY HENRY HUGHS.
lU.DCC.LXXXiy.

ADVERTISEMENT.

"^ H I S Work was begun a great number of years pafi:,
when the empire of Great Britam was entire, and pof-
feiTed the northern part of the New World with envied fplen-
dor. At that period I formed a defign of colleding materials
for a partial Hiftory of its Animals ; and with true pains, by
various correfpondencies, made far greater progrefs in my plan
than my moft; fanguine expectations had framed. Above a
century ago, an iUullrious predecefibr in the line of Natural
Hiftory, who as greatly exceeded me in abilities as he did in
zeal, meditated a voyage to the New World, in purfuance of
a fimilar defign. The gentleman alluded to was Francis
WiLLUGHBY, Efqj who died in 1672, on the point of put-
ting his defign in execution. Emulous of fo illuftrious an
example, I took up the objed: of his purfuit ^ but my many
relative duties forbade me from carrying it to the length con-
ceived by that great and good man. What he would have per-
formed, from an ad:ual infpedtion in the native country of the
feveral fubjedts under confideration, I muft content myfelf to
do, in a lefs perfecft manner, from preferved fpecimens tranfmit-
ted to me; .and offer to the world their Natural Hiftory, taken
from gentlemen or writers who have paid no fmall attention
to their manners.

Let me repeat, that this Work was defigned as a fketch of
the Zoology of North America. I thought I had a right to

A the

ADVERTISEMENT.

the attempt, at a time I had the honor of calling myfelf a fel-
low-fubjed; with that refpe^table part of our former great em-
pire ; but when the fatal and humiliating hour arrived, which
deprived Bt^itam of power, ftrength, and glory, I felt the morti-
fication which muft flrike every feeling individual at lofing his
little fhare in the boaft of ruling over half of the New World. I
could no longer fupport my clame of entitling myfelf its humble
Zoologift : yet, unwilling to fling away all my labors, do now
deliver them to the Public under the title of the Arctic
Zoology. I added to them a defcription of the Quadrupeds
and Birds of the north of Europe and of Afta, from latitude 60
to the fartheil known parts of the ArBic World, together
with thofe cf Kamtfchatka, and the parts of America vifitcd
in the laft voyage of the illuftrious Cook. Thefe additional
parts I have flung into the form of an Appendix to each ge-
nus, and difliinguiOied by 2i Jletir de lis-, and the fpecies by
literal infliead of numeral marks, which difliinguifli thofe of
North America. Thefe will, in a great meafure, ihew the
dilatation of Quadrupeds and Birds, and the migrations of the
feathered tribe, within part of the northern hemifphere.

I have, whenever I could get information, given their refpec-
tive refldences, as well as migrations to far more northern
parts, to {hew to what very remote places the Author of Na-
ture hath impelled them to retire, to breed in fecurity. This
wife proviflon preferves the fpecies entire, and enables them
to return by myriads, to contribute to the food or luxuries of
fouthern climates. Whatever is wanting in the American part,
I may forefee, will in time be amply fupplied. The powers
of literature will foon arife, with the other fl:rengths of the
new empire, and fome native Naturalifl give perfection to that

4 part

ADVERTISEMENT.

part of the undertaking, by obfervations formed on the fpot,
in the ufes, manners, and migrations. Should, at prefent, no
one be inclined to take the pen out of my hand, remarks frorn
the other fide of the Atlanticy from any gentlemen of conge-
nial ftudies, will add peculiar pleafure to a favorite purfuit, and
be gratefully received.

I muft reckon among my moft valued correfpondents on the
New Continent, Dodor Alexander Garden *, who, by
his long reiidence in South Carolina, was enabled to commu-
nicate to me variety of curious remarks and fubjecfts, as will
appear in the following pages.

To the rich mufeum of American Birds, preferved by Mrs.
Anna Blackburn, oiOrford, near Warrington, I am indebted
for the opportunity of defcribing almoft every one known in
the provinces of Jerfey, New Tork, and ConneBicut. They
were fent over to that Lady by her brother, the late Mr.
AJhton Blackburn ; who added to the fkill and zeal of a fportf-
man, the moft pertinent remarks on the fpecimens he col-
leded for his worthy and philofophical fifter.

In the foremoft rank of the philofophers of the Old Conti-
nent, from whofe correfpondence I have benefited, I mull
place Dodor Peter Sim. Pallas, at prefent Profeflbr of
Natural Hiflory in the fervice of the illullrious Empress of
RuJJia : he not only favored me with the fuUeft remarks on
the Zoological part of that vaft empire, moft of which he
formed from adlual travel and obfervation, but colledted for
my ufe various other remarks from the manufcripts of his
predeceflbrs 3 efpecially what related to Kamtfchat-ka from thofc

• Now refident in London,

A z of

ADVERTISEMENT.

of Steller ; which have affiled me in the hiftory of parts
hitherto but very flightly underftood.

From the correfpondency and labors of Mr. Eberh. Aug.
William Zimmerman, Profeffor of Mathematics at Brtinf-
wicj I have collected moil: uncommon inftruftion. His Specimen
Zoologit^ Geographicce ^adrupedum'^ is a work vvhich gives a
full view of the clafs of Quadrupeds, and the progrefs they have
made in fpreading over the face of the earth, according to cli-
mates and latitudes. , Their limits are defcribed, in general, with
uncommon accuracy. Much is faid of the climates themfelves; of
the varieties of mankind; of the effed:s of heat and cold on them
and other animals. A moft curious map is joined to the work,
in which is given the name of every animal in its proper cli-
mate ', fo that a view of the whole Quadruped creation is placed
before one's eyes, in a manner perfed:ly new and inftrudiive -f-.

To the following foreigners, diftinguiflied for their literary
knowlege, I mufl pay my beft acknowlegement for variety
of moftufeful communications : Dod:or Anders Sparman, of
Stockholm; Dodor Charles P. Thunberg, of Upfal -, Mr,
And. J. Retzius, Profeffor of Natural Hiftory 2it Lund ',M.v»
Martin Thrane Brunnich, Profeffor of Natural Hiflory,
and Mr. Otho Muller, Author of the Zoologia Danica, both
of Copenhagen : and let me add my great obligations to the la-
bors of the Reverend Mr. Otto Fabricius, for his moil
finiihed Fauna of Greenland.

* A quarto in Latin, containing 685 pages, printed at heydeny 1777 ; fold in London
by Mr. Fadeny Geographer, St. Martin s Lane.

f A new edition of the map has been lately publiflied by the learned Author ; ths
geographical part is corredled according to the late voyages of Captain Cook, and great
additions made to the zoological part. An explanation is given, in the third volume of
the Zoologia Geograpbicaj lately publifhed in German by the Author.

To

ADVERTISEMENT.

To many of my countrymen my befb thanks are due for
literary affiftances. Sir Joseph Banks, Baronet, will, I hope,
accept my thanks for the free admittance to thofe parts of his
cabinet which more immediately related to the fubjed; of the
following flieets.

To Sir AsHTON Lever, Knight, I am highly indebted, for
the more' intimate and clofer examination of his treafures than
was allowed to the common vifitors of his moft magnificent
mufeum.

To Mr. Samuel Hearn, the great explorer by land of the
Icy Sea, I cannot but fend my moft particular thanks, for his
liberal communication of many zoological remarks, made by
him on the bold and fatiguing adventure he undertook from
Hiidfons Bay to the ne plus ultra of the north on that fide.

Mr. Andrew Graham, long a rcfident in Hiidfons Bay,
obliged me with numbers of obfervations on the country, and
the ufe of multitudes of fpecimens of animals tranfinitted by
him to the late mufeum of the Royal Society, at the inftance
of that liberal patron of fcience, my refpcdted friend the Ho-
norable Daines Barrington.

Let me clofe the lift with acknowleging the great afiiftance
I have found in the Synopfis of Birds by Mr. John Latham ;
a work now brought almofl to a conclufi^on, and which contains
a far greater number of defcriptions than any which has gone
before. This is owing not only to the afiiduity of the Au-
thor, but alfo to the peculiar fpirit of the EngliJJo nation,
which has, in its voyages to the mofl remote and moil oppofite
parts of the globe, payed attention to every branch of fcience,.
The advantages are pointed out by the able pen of the Reverend
Dodor Douglas, in his Introduction to the lafl Voyage of

our

ADVERTISEMENT.

our great navigator, publiflied (under the aufpices of the Lords
of the Admiralty) in a manner which refleds honor on our
country in general, and will prove a moil lafling monument
to the memory of the great Officer who fo unfortunately pe-
riflied by favage hands, and his two able conforts, who at
length funk beneath the preffure of fatigue, in carrying the
o-lory of difcovery far beyond the attempts of every preceding
adventurer.

Downing,
February I, 1785.

THOMAS PENNANT.

PLATES.

AXES.

V O L. I.

FRONTISPIECE, a winter fcene in Lapland, with Aurora
Borealis : the Ar^ic Eox, N" lo : Ermine, N° 26 : Snowy-
Owl, N° 121 : and White Grous, N" 183.
Title-page, with the head of the Elk, N" 3, before it was arrived at

full age.
Tab. I. The caves q( Catijie in Murray y — Introd. page xviii
II. Rocks of fingular forms near Sandfidcy — — xx

III. The DoreholMi a fmall ifle, one of the Schetlands, per-

forated with a vafb arch — — — xxvir

IV. Bird-catching in one of the Orkney ides — ■— xxx

V. Antiquities — — — — xxxiri
N** I. A Burgh of the fmalleft kind, with a fingle cell.

ir. The Burgh of Cul/iuick in Schetland, and a feflion of the wall.

III. The Burgh of Burro-ivfirth on Helififta Foe, a holme or fmall ifle

among the Schetlands. It contains eleven cells.

IV. Burgh of Snahurgb in Unji, one of the Schetlands,
V. Burgh of Hog/eier.

VI. Roman camp in Felt her.

For the drawings from which thefe Antiquities were engra-
ven, I am indebted to the Reverend Mr. Low, Minifter
o( Birja in Orkney, who, at my requeft, made the voyage
of the Orkney and Schetland ides in 1778. He hath pre-
pared his journal for the prefs : it is to be hoped, that
the liberality of the public will enable him to give this
addition to my labors, which will complete the account
of the northern part of the Britijh dominions.
Tab. VI. The Bow defcribed p. cxliv. The place it came
from is uncertain ; but doubtlefsly from the part
of the weftern coaft of America frequented by the
Walrus — . — ... psgc cxliv

Tab. VII.

PLATES,

Tab. Yll. The MuflcCow, with the head of the Bull.' See the

Zoological part — — — page 8

VIII. A/ull- grown male Elk or Moofe, with the velvet, or
young horns ; and a full-grown pair on the ground.
From a painting by Mr. Stubbsj communicated to
me by the late Dr. Hunter — — ly

VOL. II.

Title-page, the Pied Duck, N° 488.

IX. St. John's Falcon : Chocolate-colored Falcon — 200

X. Swallow-tailed Falcon — — — 210

XI. Red Owl, N° 117 : Mottled Owl, N° 118 : Barred

Owl, N° 122 — — — 234

XII. Male and Female Baltimore Orioles, N° 142 j with

the neft — — . — — 2^8
XIII. Ferruginous Woodpecker, N" 1 59 -.Nuthatch, N° 170 271
XJV. PafTenger Pigeon, N° 187 : C^rc//«^ Pigeon, N' 188 326
XV. Varied Thrulh, N° 1 97 — — — 337
XVI. Spotted Grofbeak, W 213: White-crowned Bunt-
ing, N° 221 — — — 2SS
XVII. Black-throated Bunting, N" 228 : Cinereous Bunt-
ing, N" 233 — — — 3^4
XVIII. Aculeated Swallow, N° 335 : Long-winged Goat-
fucker, N° 337 — — — 436
XIX. Efkimaux Curlew, N° 364: Little Woodcock, N°365 463
XX. Clapper Rail, N" 407 : Semipalmated Snipe, N* 380 490
XXI. American Avofet, N° 421 — — 502
XXII. Pied-billed Grebe, N° 418: Marbled Guillemot,

N''438 — — — 517

X.XIII. Falcated Duck, p. 574 ; Weftern Duck, N° 497 — 574

The Bookbinder is defired to obferve, that the Second Volume begins
at p. 187, Class II. Birds.

7 INTRO-

INTRODUCTION.

O F T H E

ARCTIC WORLD.

AKNOWLEGE of the geography, climate, and foil, md a general
view of the produdlions of the countries, whofe Zoologic Hiflory is to
be treated of, are points fo neceffary, that no apology need be made for
introducing them into a prefatory difcourfe.

It is worthy human curiofity to trace the gradual increafe of the animal world,
from the fcanty pittance given to the rocks of Spitzhergen^ to the fwarms of beings
which enliven the vegetating plains of Senegal: to point out the caufes of the local
niggardnefs of certain places, and the prodigious plenty in others. The Botanift
fhould attend the fancied voyage I am about to take, to explain the fcanty
herbage of the ArSiic regions ; or, fhould I at any time hereafter defcend into the
lower latitudes, to inveftigate the luxuriancy of plants in the warmer climates.

The Foffilift fliould join company, and point the variations of primaeval crea-
tion, from the folid rock of Spitzbergen through all the degrees of terreftrial matter:
the fteps it makes to perfe£lion, from the vileft earth to the precious diamond of
Golconda: The changes in the face of the globe fhould be attended to ; the de~
ftru<Stions by vulcanoes ; the ravages of the fea on fome coafts, and the recom-
pence it may have made to others, by the retreat of its waters.

The purfuit of thefe enquiries will alfo have a farther and more important
obje£b. Hiftory fhould be called in, and a brief account given of the population
of the more remote countries — the motives v/hich induced mankind to feek re-
treats in climates feemingly dellitute of incitements to migration. Particular
attention Ihould be paid to the means of peopling the new world, and of Hocking
it with animals, to contribute to the fupport of mankind, after the firft coloniza-
tion— the increafe of thole animals, and their ceiTation, and giving place in a
certain latitude to genera entirely different.

a Here

H ENGLAND.

Here the fine ftudy of Geography fiioulcl- flep in to our afllilance. The outline
of the terreftrial globe fhould be traced-, the feveral approximations between part
and part fliould be attended to j the nature of the oceans obferved ; the various
iflands pointed out, as the fteps, the baiting-places where mankind might have
refted in its pafTage from an overcharged continent.

The manners of the people ought not lefs to be attended to ; and their changes,
both mental and corporeal, by comparifon of the prefcnt ftate of remote people v/itb
nations with whom they had common anceftors, and who may have been difcovercd
ftill to retain their primaeval feats. Some leading cuftoms may ftill have been pre-
ferved in both j or fome monuments of antiquity, proofs of congenial habitudes,
poflibly no longer extant in the favage than in the cultivated branches of the
common ftock.
STRBtGHTs OF Let mc take my departure northward, from the narrow ftreights of Dover, the:

Doves.. fjtg of jjjg ifthmus of the once peninfulated Britain. No certain caufe can be

given for the mighty convulfion which tore us from the continent : whether it was
rent by an earthquake, or whether it was worn through by the continual dafhing
©f the waters, no Pythagoras is kft to folve the Fortuna locorum :

Vidi ego, quod fuerat quondam folidiiTima tellus
EiTe fietum

But it is mofl: probable, that the great philofopher alluded to the partial deftru£lion
of the Atlanttca infula, mentioned by Plato as a diftant tradition in his days *..
It was effedled by an earthquake and a deluge, which might have rent afunder
the narrow ifthmus in queftion, and left Britain, large as it feems at prefent, the
mere wreck of its original fize f. The Scilly ifles, the Hebrides, Orknies, Schet~
lands, and perhaps the Feroe iflands, may poflibly be no more than fragments of
the once far-extended region. I have no quarrel about the word ijland. The
little ifthmusy compared to the whole, might have been a junction never attend-
ed to in the limited navigations of very early times. The peninfula had never
been wholly explored, and it pafled with the antients for a genuine ifland.
The correfpondency of flrata on part of the oppofite fhores of Britain and France^
Chalky Strata, leaves no room to doubt but that they were once united. The chalky cliffs of
Blanc-nez, between Calais and Bologne, and thofe to the weflrward of Dover, ex-
adlly tally : the lafl: are vafl: and continued ; the former fhort, and the termina-
tion of the immenfe bed. Between Bologne and Folkjlone (about fix miles fromt

* Plaio died about the year 347 before Christ, aged 81. Pythagoras, about 4.97, aged 90.
\ See this opinion farther diJGiuffed by Mr, Somner, Ph, Tranf, Abrldg, iv. z^o.

the

N G L A N D.

ai

the latter) is another memorial of the jun£lion of the two countries ; a narrow
fubmarine hill, called the Rip-raps, about a quarter of a mile broad, and tea J^

miles long, extending eaftwards towards the Goodwin Sands. Its materials are
boulder-ftones, adventitious to many ftrata. The depth of water on it, in very-
low fpring-tides, Is only fourteen feet. The fifhermen from Folkjlone have often
touched it with a fifteen feci oar ; fo that it is juflly the dread of navigators. Many
a tall fhip has perifhed on it, and funk inftantly into twenty-one fathoms water.
In July 1782, the Belleijle oi fixty-four guns ftruck, and lay on it during three
hours i but, by darting her beer and water, got clear ofF.

Thefe celebrated freights are only twenty-one miles wide in the narroweft part. Width of the
From the pier at i)^z;^r to that at C^/a/j is twenty-four. It is conjeaured, that Streichts.
their breadth lefTens, and that they are two miles narrower than they were m
antient times. An accurate obferver of fifty years, remarks to me, that the
encreafed height of water, from a decreafe of breadth, has been apparent even in
that fpace. The depth of the channel, at a medium, in higheft fpring-tides, is
about twenty-five fathoms. The bottom, either coarfe fand or ruo-ged fears
which have for ages unknown refifted the attrition of the currents. From the
flreights, both eaftward and weftward, is a gradual increafe of depth thorough Depth.

the channel to a hundred fathoms, till foundings are totally loft or unattend-
ed to.

The fpring-tides in the ftreights rife, on an average, twenty-four feet j the
neap-tides fifteen. The tide flows from the German fea, pafles the ftreio-hts, and
meets, with a great rippling, the weftern tide from the ocean, hctwetn Fairleigh
near Hajiings, and Bologne * ; a proof, that if the feparation of the land was ef-
fefted by the feas, it muft have been by the overpowering weight of thofe of the
north.

It ismoft certain, that Britain was peopled from Gaul Similar cuftoms, as Britain.whewcb
far as can be colleded, evince this fad. The period is beyond the reach of phopled,

hiftory.

* All the intelligence refpeaing the tides, &c. in thefe parts, I received from Mr. Jams Hammond
©f the cuftom-houfe, Dover, and Mr. mUiam Coidj, a veteran pilot of the fame place.

* 2 Seyon^

iv ENGLAND.

Beyond the meafure vaft of thought,

The works, the wizard Time hath wrought !

The Gaul, it's held of antique ftory,
Saw Britain link'd to his now adverfe ftrand ;

No fta between, nor clifF fublime and hoary,
He pafs'd with unwet feet through all our land.

To the blown Baltic then, they fay,

The wild waves found another way. &c.

Collin s's Ode to Liberty.

l{, after the event by which our ifland was torn from the continent, the migra-
tion over fo narrow a ftreight might, in the earlier ages, have been very readily
cfFefted in the vltilia navig'ta or coracles, or the monoxyla or canoes in ufe in the
remote periods ; but the numerous fpecies of Quadrupeds never could have fwam
into our ifland, even over fuch a contratSled water, which at all times muft have
been polTeffed by tides fo rapid, as to baffle their utmoft efforts : their pafTage,
therefore, muft have been over the antient ifthmus ; for it is contrary to common
fenfe to fuppofe, that our anceftors would have been at the trouble of tranfporting
fuch guefts as wolves and bears, and the numerous train of lefTer rapacious ani-
mals, even had it been pradlicable for them to have introduced the domeftic and
ufeful fpecies.

Would they on board or Bears or Lynxes take.
Feed the She- adder, and the brooding Snake ?

Prior.

Quadrupeds, Men and beafts found their way into Great Britain from the fame quarter.
iJ?L^i$^^' ^^ have no Quadrupeds but what are alfo found in France-, and among our
loft animals may be reckoned the Urus, p. 2; Wolf, N°9; Bear, N" 203
Wild Boar j and the Beaver, N° 40 : all which were once common to
both countries. The Urus continued among us in a ftate of nature as late
at left as the year 1466 * : and I have fcen fome of their defcendants, fcarcely
to be called tame, in confinement in the parks of Drumlanrig and Chilling-
ham f. The Caledonian Bears were exported to Rome, and efteemed for their
iiercenefs %' They continued in Scotland till the year 1057. They exifted in
ffales, perhaps, till the fame period ; for our antient laws raoked them among the
beafts of chace §. Wolves infefted even the middle counties of England as late as
the year 1281, and continued their ravages in North Britain in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth -^ nor were they v/holly extirpated till the year 1680. The Wild

* Six Wild Bulls were ufed at the inftallation feaft of George Nevil, archbifhop of York. Leland's
Colk^o vi, z. f Tmn in Scotland, t Martial, Plutarcks § Rail Sjn, g^uad. 214.

5 Boars

ENGLAND.

Boars were common In the neighborhood of London in the reign of Henry If.
and continued in our kingdom, in a wild {late, till 1577 : they were then only to
be found in the woods of Lord Latimer^ who, we are informed by Do6lor Mou-
fet, took great delight in their chace *. Let me add, from the fame authority,
that Roebucks were found at the fame period in Wales, and among the Cheviot
hills ; they are now confined to the Highlands of Scotland. Finally, Beavers in^
habited IFales in 1188, when our hiftorian, Giraldus, made his progrefs through
the principality. Every one of thefe animals are at this time to be found in
France, the Z7rz/j excepted. Theodebert, king of France ^ perlflied in the chace of
one about the year 548 f ; but it is probable that the fpecies muft have exifted
in that vaft kingdom long after that event.

The Elk, N° 3; Genet, Hiji. ^ad. N° 224; Lynx, N» 150 j Fat Dormoufe,
Hijl. ^ad. N° 287 ; Garden Dormoufe, Hi/l. ^uad. N° 288 j and the Bats
Serotine, Pipijlrelle, and Barbajielle, HiJl. ^lad. N"' 408, 409, 410, either never
reached our ifland, or if they did, periflied fo early, that even their very names in
the Britijh tongue, have perifhed with them. The Ibex, HiJi. ^ad. N° 13, and
the Chamois, HiJl. ^tad. N° 17, inhabitants only of the remote Gaulifi Alps and
Pyreneans, probably never reached us. France, therefore, poflefles forty-nine fpecies
of Quadrupeds; we only thirty-nine. I exclude two fpecies of Seals % i^ both
reckonings ; being animals which had at all times powers of making themfelves
inhabitants of the coafts of each kingdom.

Birds, which have the ready means of wafting themfelves from place to place, Birdj*

have notwithftanding, in numbers of inftances, their limits. Climate confines
fome within certain bounds, and particular forts of food induce others to remain
within countries not very remote from us ; yet, by wonderful inftindl, birds will'
follow cultivation, and make themfelves denizens of new regions. The Cross-
bill has followed the apple into England. Glenco, in the Highlands of Scotland,
never knew the Partridge, till its farmers of late years introduced corn into their
lands : nor did Sparrows ever appear in Sihiria, till after the Rujfians had made
arable the vaft wafles of thofe parts of their dominions. Finally, the Rice Bunt-
ings, p. 360, natives of Cuba, after the planting of rice in the Carollnas, annually-
quit the ifland in myriads, and fly over fea and lai^, to partake of a harveft intro-
duced there from the diftant India,

* Health's Emprovement. f Ecole de la Chafe, clxl.

X The Common Seal, is common to the ocean and Mediterranean fea. Poffibly the Me-ilterranean
Seal, Hip. f>uad. N^ 376, may be Co likewife.— -This work is always intended, when the name of the ,
work referred to is not added to the numbers,

Frangi,

TA'IN.

vr ENGLAND.

Fravcf^ as it exceeds in variation of climate, fo it exceeds us in the number of
fpecies of birds. We can boafl: of only one hundred and thirty-one kinds of land-
birds, and one hundred and twenty-one of water-fowl. France-^ on the contrary,
has one hundred and fifty-fix of the firft, and one hundred and thirteen of the laft.
This computation may not be quite accurate; for no one has as yet attempted its
Fauna^ which muft be very numerous, in a kingdom which extends from Calais^ in
about lat. 51., to Collioure in the fouth of Ronjfilhn.^ on the Mediterranean fea, in
about lat. 42. The northern parts pofTefs the birds in common with England : and
in all probability the provinces in the Mediterranean annually are vifited by various
fpecies from northern Africa.
Coasts o? Bra- Stupendous and precipitous ranges of chalky cliffs attend the coaft, from Dover

eaftward, and, from their color, gave the name oi Albion to our illand. Beneath one
of them anchored Cefar^ fifty-five years before Christ, and fo near as to be capable
of being annoyed by the darts of the Britons. After weighing anchor, he failed up a
bay, now occupied by meadows, and landed at Rutupium^ Richborough, oppofite to
the prefent Sandwich. The walls of the former ftill evince its antient ftrength ;
and the veftiges of a quay, now bounded by a ditch, points out the anchorage of
the Roman commerce. The adjacent Thanet, the Thanatos of the antients, at pre-
fent indiftinguifliable from the main land, was in old times an ifland, feparated by
a deep channel, from a mile and a half to four miles in width, the flte of Roman
fettlements ; and, in 449, celebrated for having been the firft landing-place of the
invading Saxons ; to whom it was affigned as a place of fecurity by the imprudent
Vortigern. But fuch a change has time effeded, that Thanet no more exifts as an
ifland ; and the Britannlarum Portus, in which rdHe the Roman navies, is now filled
with marfhy meads.

After pafling the lofty chalky promontory, the North Foreland, opens the eftuary
of the Thames, bounded on each fide by low fliores, and its channels divided by
numerous fand-banks ; fecurely paffed, by reafon of the perfedion of navigation,
by thoufands of ihips frequenting annually London, our emporium, envied nearly
to impending decline.
SuTFOLK AND On the projeiling coafts of Suffolk and Norfolk, arife, in certain intervals, emi-

nences of different matter. Loamy cliffs appear about Leojloffe, Dunwich, &c.
The Crag-pits about IFoodbridge, are prodigious pits of fea-fhells, many of them
perfect and quite folid ; an inexhauftible fund of manure for arable lands. About
Tarmouth, and from thence beyond IVintertonefs, the coaft is low, flat, and com-
pofed of fbingle, backed by fand. From Hap/burgh to Cromer are a range of lofty
clayey precipices, rifing from the height of forty to a hundred feet perpendicular;
a prey to the ocean, which has effe6ted great changes in thefe parts. About
Sherringhum and Cley^ it rifes into pretty and gentle hills, floping down into a

I rough

NORf OLK.

N G L A N D.

rit

rough fliore, of little rocks and ftones. At Holkham, Wellsy and JVareham^ the
Tandy ftiores terminate in little hillocks of fand, kept together by the Arundo Jre-
narla^ or Bent^ the great prefervative againft the inundations of Aind, which would
otherwife deflroy whole trails of countryj and in particular foon render ufelefs the
range of falt-marfhes which thefe are backed with. Hunftanton clifF rifes a diftin-
guifhed feature in this flat traft. The furface is the ufual vegetable mould, about
a foot deep; beneath that are two feet of fmall broken pieces of chalk : the folid
ftratum of the fame, after having been loft for numbers of miles, here again makes
its appearance, and forms a folid bed thirty feet in thicknefs, refting on a hard red
ftone four feet deep, which is often ground and made into a red paint. Seven feet
of loofe friable dirty yellow ftone fuccecds, placed on a bafe of iron-colored plumb-
pudding-ftone, projedling into the fea, with vaft fragments fcattered over the beach.
This cliff is about eighty feet high, lies on the entrance of the waflies, the Metarii
EJiuarium of Ptolemy. From hence, all the coaft by Snettijham to Lynn is low, flat,
and fliingly.

From Holm^ the northern promontory of Norfolk^ the fea advances deeply weft-
ward, and forms the great Bay called the TFaJhes^ filled with vaft fand-banks, the
fummits of which are dry at low water; but the intervening channels are the
means of prodigious commerce to Lynn in Norfolk^ feated on the Ouze, which is
circulated into the very inland parts of our ifland, through the various rivers which
fall into its long courfe. Lynn is mentioned in the Doom/day Book j but became
confiderable for its commerce with Norway as early as the year 1284.

The oppofite fliore is that q^ Lincolnjhire. Its great commercial town, Bojion, Lirfcot^wsMiRS,
ftands on the Witham^ a few miles from the head of the bay. Spring-tides rife at
the quay fourteen feet, and convey there veffels of above a hundred tons ; but
greater fliips lie at the Scap^ the opening of the eftuary. Such is the cafe at Lynn -y
for the fluggifti rivers of thefe tame trads want force to form a depth of water.

Lincolnjhire, and part of fix other countief, are the Pais-bas^ the Low Coutitries
of Britain ; the former bounded on the weftern part by a range of elevated land,
which, in this humble county, overlooks, as JIps would the ocean, the remaining
part. This very extenfive trait, from the Scap to the northern headland oppofite
to Hully prefents to the fea a bow-like and almoft unindented front; and fo low as
to be vifible from fea only at a fmall diftance; and churches, inftead of hills, are
the only landmarks to feamen. The whole coaft is fronted with falt-marfhes or
fand-hills, and fecured by artificial banks againft the fury of the fea. Old Holinf-
head gives a long lift of ports on this now inhofpitable coaft. Waynfieet^ once a
noted haven, is at prefent a mere creek. Skegnefs^ once a large walled town, with a
good harbour, is now an inconfiderable place a mile from the fea : and the port of

Grimejhyy.

ENGLAND.

Gr'imejby-, which in the time of Edward 111, furniflied him with eleven fhips, is now
totally choaked with fand.

The Great Level^ which comprehends Holland in this county, with part of
Northampton/hire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and Huntingdon, a tra6t of fixty com-
puted miles in length, and forty in breadth, had been originally a wooded country.
Whole forefts of firs and oaks have been found in digging, far beneath the moor,
on the folid ground ; oaks fifteen feet in girth, and fixteen yards long, moftly burnt
at the bottoms, the antient method of falling them : multitudes of others entirely
rooted up, as appears, by the force of the fea burfting in and overwhelming this
whole tradt, and covering it with filt, or the mud which it carried with it from
time to time. Ovid's beautiful account of the deluge was here verified ; for under
Coningtm Down, in Huntingdonjhire, was found the Skeleton of a whale near twenty
feet long, which had once fwam fecure to this diftance from its native refidence.

Et modo qua graciles gramen carpfere capellae.
Nunc ibi defornies ponunt fua corpora phocae.

• ■ fylvafque tenent delphines, et altis

Incurfant ramis, agitataque robora pulfant.

In procefs of time this tra6t underwent another revolution. The filt or mud
gained fo confiderably as to leave vaft fpaces dry, and other parts fo fhallow as to
encourage the Romans to regain thefe fertilized countries from the fea. Thofe fen-
fible and indefatigable people firft taught us the art of embanking, and recovered the
valuable lands we now pofTefs. It was the complaint of Galgacus, that they ex-
haufted the ftrength of the Britons, in fylvis et paludibus emuniendis *, ' in clearing
woods and draining marfhes.' After the Romans deferted our ifland, another change
took place, Negle6l of their labors fucceeded,: the drains were neglected, and the
whole became fen and fhallow lake, refembling the prefent eaft fen ; the haunt of
myriads of water-fowl, or the retreat of banditti. Ely and many little tracts
which had the advantage of elevation, were at that period literally iflands. Several
of thefe in early times became the retreat of religious. Ely, Thorney, Ramfey,
Spiney, and others, rofe into celebrated abbies, and by the induftry of their i-nhabi-
tants firft began to reftore the works of the Rotnans. The country above Thorney
is reprefented by an old hiftorian f as a paradife. Conftant vifitations, founded on
wholefome laws, preferved this vaft recovered country : but on the rapid and ra-
pacious diflblution, the removal of numbers of the inhabitants, and the negle£t of
the laws of the Sewers^ the drains were filled, the cultivated land overflowed, and

* Fit a Agrkola, f Mabnjhurj, lib. iv. 294.

the

ENGLAND.

tl^e ccmntry again reduced to a ufelefs morafs *. In the twentieth of Elizabeth the
ftate of the country was taken into confideration f ; no great matters were done till
the time of Francis^ and William his fon, earls of Bedford.^ who attempted this
Herculean work, and reclamed this vaft trafi: of more than three hundred thoufand
acres ; and the laft received, under fan6tion of parlement, the juft reward of ninety
thoufand acres. I fpeak not of the reliques of the antient banks which I have {?:Qti
in Holland^ Lincoln/hire , now remote from the fea, nor yet of the Roman tumuli, the
coins, and other evidences of the refidence of that nation in thefe parts ; they would
fwell a mere preface to too great a length : and," it is to be hoped, will be under-
taken by the pen of fome native, who will perform it from his adlual furvey.

The vaft fenny tra<£ts of thefe counties were in old times the haunts of multi-
tudes of water-fowl ; but the happy change, by attention to draining, has fubilitut-
ed in their place thoufands of fheep ; or, inftead of reeds, made thofe trails laugh
with corn. The Crane, which once abounded in thefe parts, has even deferted ouc
ifland. The Common Wild Duck ftill breeds in multitudes in the unreclamed
parts; and thoufands are fent annually to the London markets, from the numerous:
decoys. The Grey Lag Goofe, Br. Zool. ii. N° 266, the origin of the Tame,
breeds here, and is refident the whole year: a few others of the Duck kind breed
here. RufFs, Redfhanks, Lapwings, Red-breafted Godwits, and Whimbrcis,
are found here during fummer; but, with their young, in autumn, difperfe about
the ifland. The Short-eared Owl migrates here with the Woodcock, and is
a welcome gueft to the farmer, by clearing the fields of mice. Knots fwarm on
the coafts in winter: are taken in numbers in nets: yet none are feen during
fummer %. The moft diftant north is probably the retreat of the multitude of
water-fowl of each order which flock our fliores, driven fouthward by the extreme
cold : mofl of them regularly, others, whofe nature enables them to brave the
ufual winters of the frigid zone, are with us only accidental guefls, and in feafons
when the frofl rages in their native land with unufual feverity.

From Clea Nefs, the land retires weflward, and, with the oppofite fhore oiTorkJJnre^
Ijounds the great efluary of the Humher, which, winding deep into the country, is
the receptacle of the Trent^ and all the confiderable rivers of that vafl province;
fome of which arife in its mofl remote parts. All thefe coafls of Lincolnjlnre are
flat, and have been gained from the fea. Barton and Barrow have not at prefent
the leafl appearance of ports; yet by Holinjhed v;ere flyled good ones §. Similar

• Compare Sir W, Dugdale\ maps of this tva6l, in its morafly and drained ftate. tilfi. Embank.
p. 375. 4.16. t Same, p. 375.

% See Tour in Scotland^ 1769 j Lmcolnjhire, where the fen birds are enumerated,
§ Defer, Britain ) 108,

. b accidents

IX

X ENGLAND.

accidents have befallen the upper part of the low tra6t of Holdernefs, which faces
the congruent Ihores. Hedony a few miles below Hull, feveral hundred years
ago a port of great commerce, is now a mile and a half from the water, and has
long given way to the rifing fortune of the latter (a creation oi Edward!, in 1296)
on account of the excellency of its port. But in return, the fea has made moft
ample reprifals on the lands of this hundred ; the fite, and even the very names of
feveral places, once towns of note upon the Humher^ are now only recorded in
hiftory : znA Ravenf per was at one time a rival to Hull*-, and a port fo very
confiderable in 1332, that Edward Bal'iol and the confederated EngUJli barons
failed from hence with a great fleet to invade Scotland-, and Henry IV. in 1399,
made choice of this port to land at, to efFeiSl the depofal of Richard II. yet the
whole of it has long fince been devoured by the mercilefs ocean: extenfive fands,
dry at low water, are to be feen in their ftead ; except Sunk IJland, which, till
about the year 1666, appeared among them like an elevated fhoal, at which period
it was regained, by embankments, from the fea j and now forms a confiderable eftate,
probably reftored to its priftine condition,
o , i^r,.T, Spurn Head, the Ocelum Promontorlum of Ptolc7n\\ terminates this fide of the Hum-

©PURN tlEAD. ^ ' ''

her^ at prefent in form of a fickle, near which the wind-bound fliips anchor fecurely. -
The place on which the lighthoufes ftand is a vaft beach near two miles long
mixed with fand-hills flung up by the fea within the laft feventy years.

The land from hence for fome miles is compofed of very lofty cliffs of brown clay,
perpetually preyed on by the fury of the German fea, which devours whole acres at
a time, and expofes on the fliores confiderable quantities of beautiful amber. Fine
wheat grows on the clay, even to the edge of the cliffs. A country of the fame
fertility reaches from Kilnfey^ near this place, as far as the village of Sprottly^ ex-
tending, in a waved form, for numbers of miles j and, when I faw it, richly cloathed
with wheat and beans.

From near Kiinfey the land bends very gently inward, as far as the great promon-
tory of Flamborough ; and is a continuance of high clayey cliff, till about the
village of Hornfey, Near it is a mere, noted for its Eels and Pikes, at prefent fepa-
lated from the fea by fo fmall a fpace as to render its fpeedy deftru£lion very proba-
ble. A ftreet, called Hornfey Beck^ has long fince been fwallowed : and of Hidey a
neighboring town, only the tradition is left.
Bripi-ingtoh The country grows confiderably lower j and, near the bafe of the promon-

Bay. tory, retires fo far in as to form Bridlington bay, antiently called Gabrantovicorum

Sinus, to which the Geographer adds Eva//<£k©-, on account of the excellency and

• M«dox. Ant, EMb, i. 422,

5 fafety

Head.

ENGLAND, 3ci

fafety of its port, where veflels ride in full fecurity under the fhelter of the lofty
head-land. Smith'ie fand, the only one between Flamhorough and Spurn Heady ftretches
acrofs the entrance into Bridlington bay, and, in hard gales from the north and north-
eaft, adds to the fecurity of that noble afylum for the coafting vefiels. Sureby, an
adjacent village, feems no more than a tranflation from the old appellation. The
Romans, in all probability, had a naval flation here ; for here ends the road, vifible in
many places betv^een this place and York, and named, from its founders, the Roman
ridge.

The head is formed of lime-ftone, of a fnowy whitenefs *, of a ftupendous Flamborough
height, and vaft magnificence, vifible far at fea. If we may depend on Richard of
Cirencejler, the Romans named it Brigantum Extrema^ and the bay Partus Felix.
The Saxons ftyled the cape Fleamhurg^ perhaps from the lights which direfred the
great Ida, founder of the Northumberland kingdom, to land here, in 547, with a
great body of their countrymen.

The vaft height of the precipices, and the amazing grandeur of the caverns
which open on the north fide, giving wide and folemn admiffion, through moft
exalted arches, into the body of the mountain ; together with the gradual decline of
light, the deep filence of the place unlefs interrupted by the ftriking of the oar,
the collifion of a fwelling wave againft the fides, or the loud flutter of the pigeons
affrighted from their nefts in the diftant roof ; afford pleafures of fccnery which
fuch formations as this alone can yield. Thefe alfo are wonderfully divcrfified.
In fome parts the caverns penetrate far, and end in darknefs ; in others are per-
vious, and give a romantic pafTage by another opening equally fuperb. Many ot the
rocks are infulated, of a pyramidal form, and foar to a great height. The bafes of
moft are folid ; but in fome pierced through and arched. All are covered with the
dung of the innumerable flocks of migratory birds which refort here annually to
breed, and fill every little projection, every hole, which will give them leave to reft.
Multitudes were fwimming about ; others fwarmed in the air, and ftunned us witk

* Soft near the top, and of a crumbling qualify when expofed long to the froft. At the foot of the
cliff it is hard, folid, andfmooth. Boats are employed every fummer in carrying great quantities ts
Sunderland, where it is burnt into excellent lime. Moft of the lime-ftone ufed at Scarborough is made
from ftones flung up by the fea. It may be remarked, that whatfoever degree of hardnefs any lime-
ftone poffeffes in the quarry, the mortar made from it, by proper management, may be made as hard,
but by no means harder. Moft of the houfes in and about London are built with lime made of chalk }
hence the many miferable cafualties there, by the fall of houfes. The workmen, fenfible of the weaknefs of
that kind of mortar, endeavour to keep the walls together by lodging frames of timber in them ; which-
being confumed in cafes of fire, the whole building tumbles fuddenly, and renders all attempts to ex-
tinguifh the fire very dangerous.— Mr. Trams.

b 2 the.

XII

ENGLAND.

BEGIN.

the variety of their croaks and fcreams. Kittiwakes and Herring Gulls, Guille-
mots and Black Guillemots, Auks, Puffins, Shags, and Corvorants, are among the
fpecies which refort hither. The notes of all fea-fowl are moft harfh and inhar-
monious. I have often refted under rocks like thefe, attentive to the various
foundsover my head ; which, mixed with the deep roar of the waves flowly fwelling,
and retiring from the vaft caverns beneath, have produced a fineefFefb. The Iharp
voice of the Gulls, the frequent chatter of the Guillemots, the loud notes of the
Auks, the fcream of the Herons, together with the deep periodical croak of the
Corvorant?, which ferves as a bafs to the reft, have often furniflied me with a con-
cert, which, joined to the wild fcenery furrounding me, afforded in an high degree
that fpecies of pleafure which refults from the novelty and the gloomy majefty of
the entertainment.

RoeKY Coasts At Flamhorough head commence the hard or rocky coafts of this fide of Great Bri-

tain^ which continue, with the interruption of a few fandy bays and low land, to the
extremity- of the kingdom.- It often happens, that the bottom of the fea partakes
of the nature of the neighboring element : thus, about the head, and a few miles
to the northward (in places) the fhores are rocky, and the haunts of lobfters
and other cruftaceous animals. From thefe ftrata a trail of fine fand, from one
to five miles in breadth, extends Hoping eaflward, and from its edge to that of the
Dogger-hank is a deep bottom, rugged, rocky, and cavernous, and in moft parts
overgrown with corallines and fubmarine plants.

This difpofition of fhore gives to the inhabitants of this coaft the advantageous
fifliery which they polTefs ; for the fliore on one hand, and the edges of the
Dogger-bank on the other, like the fides of a decoy, give a diredlion to the im-
menfe fhoals of the Cod genus, which annually migrate from the northern ocean,
to vifit, refide, and fpawn, in the parts adjacent to our coafts. They find plenty
of food from the plants of the rocks, and the worms of the fand, and fecure
fhelter for their fpawn in the cavernous part of the fcarry bottom. It is in the
channel between the banks and the fhores, in which the Cod are taken, or in
the hollows between the Doggers and Well-bank ; for they do not like the agita-
tion of the water on the fhallows. On the contrary, the Skates, the Holibuts,
Flounders, and other flat fifli, bury themfelves in the fand, and fecure themfelves
from the turbulence of the waves.

An amazing fhoal of Haddocks vifit this coaft periodically, generally about
the tenth of Decetiiber^ and extend from the fhore near three miles in breadth,
and in length from Flamhorough head to Tinmouth caftle, perhaps further north.
An army of a fmall fpecies of Shark, the Picked, Br. Zool. in. N° 40, flanks
the outfide of this flioal to prey upon it j for when the fifhermen caft their lines
, beyond

N G L A N B.

XIII

beyond the diflance of three miles from land, they never catch any but thofe vo-
racious fifh *.

Between Flamhorough head and Scarborough proje6ls Filey Brig, a ledge of Filey Brig.
rocks running far into the fea, the caufe of frequent fhipwrecks. Scarborough
caftle, feated on a vaft rock projeiling into the water, fucceeds. The fpring-tides,
at the time of the equinoxes, rife here twenty-four feet; but at other times only
twenty : the neap-tides from twelve to fixteen. Then Whitby, noted for its
neighboring all um-works, and more for its fine harbour, the only one on the
whole coaft : the admittance into which is a narrow channel between two high
hills : it expands largely within, and is kept clean by the river EJk, From
hence to the mouth of the Tees, the boundary between this county and that of
Durham, is a high and rude coaft, indented with many bays, and varied with
little fifliing villages, built ftrangely among the cliffs, filling every projedl-
ing ledge, in the fame manner with thofe of the peafants in the pidlurefque
and rocky parts of China.

The Tees, the northern limit of this great county, opens with a wide mouth Tees,'.

and mudded bottom into the fea. This v/as the Dunurn Ejluarium of Ptolemy ;
and ferves as a brief entrance for navigators into the country. Almoft all the
northern rivers defcend with a rapid courfe, from their mountanous rife and fup-
ply ; and afford but a fhort navigation. From hence the lead of the mineral parts
of Durham, and the corn of its more level parts, are imported. In the mud of
this eftuary, more particularly, abounds xh^Myxine Glutinofa of Linnaus, the Hag
of the neighboring fifhermen ; a worm, which enters the mouths of the fifh taken
on hooks, that remain a tide under water, and devours the whole, leaving only
the Ikin and bones. This alfo is the worm which converts water into a fort of
glue.

From Seaton Snook, in the biflioprick of Durham, to Hartlepool, is a feries of Dltrham,
fand-banks, and the fhore a long-continued fandy fhallow. From the Ncfs
Point of Hartlepool to Blackhalls is a rocky lime-ftone coaft, with frequent inter-
vals of fand-bank, and a ftony beach ; but Seham and Hartlepool is fo very rugged,
that no enemy could land, or evenftand off the ftiore, without the moft imminent
danger : in particular, the coafts about Hawthorn Hive are bold, excavated, and
formed into grotefque figures, for feveral miles, and the flvores rough with a broken
and heavy fea, by reafon of the hidden rocks and fpits of fands which run out far

I

* Confult vol. iii; of the Br. Zoology for an account of the fifh on'this coaft : alfo the Tour in
Scotland, 1769. To Mr, Travis, Surgeon in Scarborough, I ara indebted for the moft curious
articles.

fr.o»'

XlV

ENGLAND.

from land. From Seham to Sunderland are fand-hllls and fhallow fandy beaches.
From JVeremouth to near Cleadon^ low rocks of lime-ftone form the coaft, herb
and there interfe£led with fand-hills and ftony beaches. From thence to the
NoRTiiUMBER- mouth of the Tyne^ and even to Dunjlanhrough in Northuynherland^ the fliore is
LAMP. fandy, and the land in a few places rocky ; but from thence to Bamhorough^ the coafts

are hicrh and rocky, in many places run far into the fea, and at low tides fhew
their heads above water.

Bamborough caftle ftands on the lafl; of the range of rocky cliffs. This fortrefs
was founded by the Saxon monarch Ida. After various fortunes it, has proved
in its difmantled ftate of more ufe to mankind than when it boafted fome potent
lord and fierce warders, A charitable prelate of the fee of Durha?n purchafecl
the eftate, and left it for the ufe of the diftrefied feamen who might fuffer fhip-
wreck on this dangerous coafl:, and to unconfined charitable purpofes, at the dif-
cretion of certain truftees. The poor are, in the deareft feafons, fupplied with
corn at a cheap rate ; the wrecked, found fenfelefs and benumbed with cold,
are taken inilantly into thefe hofpitaUe walls, and reftored to life by the afliftancc
of food, medicine, and warm beds; and if the fhip is capable of relief, that alfo
is faved, by means of machines always ready for the purpofe *.
Farn Isles. The Farn ijlands^ or rather rocks, form a group at no great diftance from

Ihore ; the neareft a mile and fjxty-eight chains ; the fartheft: about feven. Thefe
probably, at fome remote period, have been convulfed from the land, but now
divided from It by a furious tide, rufhing through a channel from five to twelve
fathoms in depth. The original fea, to the eaft of the Staples, the remoteft rocks,
fuddenly deepens to forty or fifty f. St. Cuthbert firft made thefe rocks of note :
he occafionally made the largeft of them the feat of his devotion and feclufion
from the world ; expelling, fays fuperflition, the malignant fpirits, the pre-oc-
cupants. Some remains of a chapel are ftill to be feen on it. For ages paft, the
fole tenants are a few cows, wafted over from the main land in the little cobles,
or boats of the country ; and the Eider Ducks, JrSi, Zool. ii. N° 480, ftill
diftinguifhed here by the name of the Saint. Numberlefs fea-fowls, and of
great variety of kinds, poffefs the remoter rocks, on which they find a more
fecure retreat than on the low-cliff'ed fhores. To the marine feathered tribe
the whole coaft from Flamborough head to that of St. Ebb's is inhofpitable.
They feek the loftiefl: promontories. Where you -hear of the haunts of the
Razor-bills and Guillemots, Corvorants and Shags, you maybe well afiured, that

* Tour in Scotland, 1769 ; and fuller in Mr. Hutchinfon''s Northu??iberlsnd, ii. 176,
•f- Adair, Hammond. Thompfm,

the

SCOTLAND. XV

the cliffs foar to a diftlngulflied height. Where thofe are wanting, they retire to
fea-girt rocks, as fpots the left acceffible.to mankind. The five fpecies of Auks
and Guillemots appear in fpring, and vanifli in autumn : the other birds preferve
their native haunts, or fpread along the neighboring fhores.

From Bamborough to the mouth of the Tzueed is a fandy fhore, narrowing as
it approaches our fifter kingdom. Lindesfarn, or the Holy iJJand, with its ruined
cathedral and caftle, lie remote from fhore, acceflible at every recefs of tide,
and poffibly divided from North umber laitd by the power of the waves in diflant
ages. The tides do not fwell over this traft in the ufual manner of apparent flow-
ing and gradual approach; but ooze gently out of every part of the fand, which
at firft appears a quaggy extent, then, to the terror of the traveller, furrounds
him with a fhining plain of fmooth unruffled water, refleding the varied land-
fcapes of the adjoining fhores *.

The Tweed, the antient Alaunus, a narrow geographical boundary between us Scotland.

and our fellow- fubjeds the Scottljh nation, next fucceeds. After a fhort conti-
nuance of low land, St. Ebb's head, a lofty promontory, proje6ls into the fea St. Ebb's Head.
(frequented in the feafon by Razor-bills, Guillemots, and all the birds of the 5^y},
excepting the Gannet) and its lower part is hollov/ed into moft auguft caverns.
This, with Fifenefs, about thirty miles diflant, forms the entrance into that
magnificent eftuary the firth of Forth, which extends inland fixty miles ; and. Firth cf Fcrtu.
with the canal from Carron to the firth of Clyde, intirely infulates the antient
Caledonia. The ifle of May appears near the northern fide of the entrance ; the
vaft towering rock, the Bafs, lies near the fouthern. This lofty ifland is the
fummer refort of birds innumerable, which, after difcharging the firft duty of
nature, feek, with their young, other fhores or other climates. This is one
of the few fpots in the northern hemifphere on which the Gannets neftle.
Their fize, their fnowy plumage, their eafy flight, and their precipitate plunge
after their prey, diftinguifh them at once from all the reft of the feathered tenants
of the ifle, the Corvorants and Auks, the flights of whom are rapid, and the
Gulls, which move with fluggifh wing.

Near the Bafs the entrance narrows, then opens, and bending inwards, forms
on each fide a noble bay. The Firth contrads to a very narrow ftreight at
^eensferry ; then winds beautifully, till it terminates beyond Jlloa, In the river
to which it owes its name. The fhores are low, In part rocky, in part a plea-
fant beach ; but every where of matchlefs beauty and population. Edinburgh,
the capital, rifes with true grandeur near the fhore, with its port, the great em-

f l^lttHuichinfofifiu x$i*

poriumj

XVI

SCOTLAND.

porium, Letth^ beneath, where the fpring-tides fometimes rife fifteen and fixteen
feet, and to feventeen or eighteen when the water is forced up the firth by a
violent wind from the north-eaft. Almoft every league of this great eftuary is
terjninated with towns or village*s, the effe6ls of trade and induftry. The ele-
gant defcription of the coaft of Fife, left us by John/Ion *, is far from being ex-
aggerated ; and may, with equal juftice, be applied to each (hore.

FiFESHiRE, bounded by the firths of /Njr/Z> and Tay, projects far into the fea;
a country flourifliing by its induftry, and happy in numbers of ports, natural,
artificial, or improved. Coal and lime, the native produ6lions of the county,
are exported in vaft quantities. Excepting the unimportant colliery in Suther-
land^ thofe at Largo JVood, midway between the bay and St. Jndrews, are the lafl:
on this fide o(. North Britaiit. The coafts in general of this vaft province are
rocky and precipitous ; but far from being lofty. The bays, particularly the
beautiful one of Largo, are finely bounded by gravelly or fandy fhores j and the
land, in moft parts, rifes high to the middle of the county. Towards the
northern end, the river Edin, and its little bay, by fimilarity of found point out
the Timna of the old geographer.
TiRTH OF Tay. The eftuary of the Tay limits the north of Fifejhire, Before the mouth extends
the fand retaining the Britijh name of Aber-tay, or the place where the Tay dif-
charo-es itfelf into the fea. The Romans prefcrved the antient name, and Latinized
it into Tava. The entrance, at Brough-tay caftle, is about three quarters of a
mile wide ; after which it expands, and goes about fourteen miles up the coun-
try before it aftumes the form of a river. At the recefs of the tides there ap-
pears a vaft extent of fands, and a very fhallow channel ; but the high tides waft^
even as high as Perth, veflels of a hundred and twenty tons. The fhores are low,
and the ground rifes gently inland on the fouthern fide : on the north it continues
low, till it arrives at the foot of the Grampian hills, many miles diftant. In
fome remote age the fea extended on the north fide far beyond its prefent
bounds. At a confiderable diftance above the flourifhing port of Dundee^ and
remote inland, anchors have been found deep in the foil f. When thefe parts were
deferted by the fea, it is probable that fome oppofite country was devoured by an
inundation, which occafioned this partial defertion.

From thence to Aherhrothic, in the fhire of Angus, noted for the venerable re-
mains of its abbey, is a low and fandy fhore. From Aberhroth'ic almoft to Man-
trofe, arifes a bold rocky coaft, lofty and precipitous, except where interrupted by
the beautiful femicircular bay of Lunan. Several of the cliiFs are penetrated by

* Sec Tour i/! Scotland, ijjt. part ii. p. 212, -^ Douglases Eaft Coaft of Scotland, 14.

mofl

SCOTLAND. xvii

moft amazing caverns ; fome open into the fea with a narrow entrance, and ia-
ternally inftantly rife into high and fpacious vaults, and fo extenfively meandring,
that no one as yet has had the courage to explore tlie end. The entrance of
others fhame the work of art in the noblefl of the Gothic cathedrals. A mag-
*nificent portal appears divided in the middle by a great column, the bafis of
which finTcs deep in the water. Thus the voyager may pafs on one fide in his
boat, furvey the wonders within, and return by the oppolite fide.

The cavern called the Geylit-pot, almofl: realifes in form a fable in the Perfian
Tales. The hardy adventurer may make a long fubterraneous voyage, with a
pifturefque fcenery of rock above and on every fide. He may be rowed i» this
folemn fcene till he finds himfelf fuddenly reflored to the fight of the heavens:
he finds himfelf in a circular chafm, open to the day, with a narrow bottom and
extenfive top, widening at the margin to the diameter of two hundred feet. On
attaining the fummit, he finds himfelf at a diftance from the fea, amidft corn-
fields or verdant paftures, with a fine view of the country, and a gentleman's feat
near to the place from which he had emerged. Such may be the amufement of the
curious in fummer calms ! but when the ftorms are diredled from the eafi, the
view from the edge of this hollow is tremendous ; for, from the height of above
three hundred feet, they may look down on the furious waves, whitened with
foam, and fwelling from their confined paffage.

Peninfulated rocks often jut from the face of the cliff^s, precipitous on their fides,
and wafhed by a great depth of water. The ifthmus which joins them to the land,
is often fo extremely narrow as to render it impaflable for more than two or three
perfons a-breaft; but the tops fpread into verdant areas, containing vefliiges of
rude fortifications, in antient and barbarous times the retreat of the neighboring-
inhabitants from the rage of a potent invader *.

Montrofe^ peninfulated by the fea, and the bafon its beautiful harbour, flands Montros£,
on a bed of fand and gravel. The tide rufhing furioufly through a narrow en-
trance twice in twenty-four hours, fills the port with a depth of water fufficientto
bring in veflels of large burden. Unfortunately, at the ebb they mufl: lie dry j for
none exceeding fixty tons can at that period float, and thofe only in the chan-
nel of the South EJky which, near Montrofe, difcharges itfelf into the fea.

A fandy coaft is continued for a fmall difiance from Montrofe. Rude rocky
cUfFs re-commence in the county of Merns, and front the ocean. Among the
higheft is Fowls-heugh, noted for the refort of multitudes of fea-birds. Bervie
and Stonehive are two fmall ports overhung with rocks 5 and on the fummit of a

* Thefe defcriptions borrowed from my own 7ourj,

c moil

XVIII SCOTLAND.

mod exalted one, are the vaft ruins of Dunnotcr^ once the property of the warlike
family of the Keiths. The rocks adjacent to it, like the preceding, affume various
and grotefque forms.

A little farther the antient Deva, or Dee^ opens into the fea, after forming
a harbour to the fine and flourifiiing town of Aberdeen. A fandy coaft continues
for numbers of miles, part of which is fo moveable as almoft totally to have over-
whelmed the parifti of Furvle : two farms only exift, out of an eftate, in 1600, va-
lued at five hundred pounds a year.
BuLLBRS OF A majeilic rocky coail: appears again. The Bullers of Buchan^ and the noble

BwcHiiN. arched rock, fo finely reprefented by the pencil of the Reverend Mr. Cordiner *y

are juftly efteemed the wonders of this- country. The former is an amazing
harbour, with an entrance through a moft auguft arch of great height and length.
The infide is a fecure bafon, environed on every fide by mural rocks : the whole
proje6ts far from the main land, and is bounded on each fide by deep creeks ;
fo that the traveller who chufes to walk round the narrow battlements, ought firft
to be well afiTured of the ftrength of his head.
Peterhead. ^ little farther is Peterhead, the moft eaftern port of Scotlandy the common

retreat of wind-bound Ihips j and a port which fully merits the attention of go-
vernment, to render it more fecure. Ktnnaird-head, the Taizalum promontorium, lies
a little farther north, and, with the north-eaftern extremity of Cathnefs^ forms the
firth of Murray, the Tua jE/iuarium, a bay of vaft extent. Troup head is an-
Caverns and other vaft cape, to the weft of the former. The caverns and rocks of that pro-
siNGULAR Rocvs: montory yield to none in magnificence and Angularity of fliape : of the latter,,
fome emulate the form of lofty towers, others of inclining pyramids with central
HOW FORMED. archcs, pervious to boats. The figures of thefe are the effe(5l of chance, and
owing to the collifion of the v^^aves, which wearing away the earth and crumbly
parts, leave them the juft fubjects of our admiration. Sea-plants, ftiells, and va-
rious forts of marine exfanguious animals, cloath their bafes, wafhed by a deep and
clear fea ; and their fummits refound with the various clang of the feathered tribe.

From hence the bay is bounded on the fouth by the extenfive and rich plains
of Murray. The fhore wants not its wild beauties. The view of the noble cavern,,
called the rocks of CauJJie, on the fhore between Burgh-head 2,nA Lojfte mouth, drawn
by Mr. Cordmr^ fully evinces the aflTertion. The bottom of the bay clofes with the
firth of Invernefs, from whence to the Atlantic ocean is a chain of rivers, lakes, and
bays, with the interruption only of two miles of land between Loch-oich and Loch'
lochy. Unite thofe two lakes by a canal, and the reft of North Britain would be
completely infulated.

* Antiquities and Scenery of Scotland, lettw vi. plates ii. iii,

2 To

m

SCOTLAND. XIX

To the north the firth of Cromartie, and the firth of Tayne, the Vara M/lua-
rium, penetrate deep into the land. From Dornoch, the coaft of Sutherland is
low and fandy, except in a few places : one, at the water of Brora, is diftinguifh-
ed by the beauty of the rocky fcenery ; in the midft o( which the river precipi-
tates itfelf into the fea, down a lofty precipice. The Sco^ti/b Alps, which hereto-
fore kept remote from the fliore, now approach very near; and at the great pro-
montory, the Ripa Aha oi Ptolemy, the Ord, i.e. Alrd of Cathnefs, or the Height Ord op Cath-
of Cathnefs, terminate in a moft fublime and abrupt manner in the fea. The
upper part is covered with gloomy heath ; the lower is a ftupendous precipice, ex-
cavated into vaft caverns, the haunt of Seals and different fea-fowl. On the
eaftern fide of the kingdom, this is the ftriking termination of the vaft mountains
of Scotland, which form its Highlands, the habitation of the original inhabitants, Highland Alps.
driven from their antient feats by the anceftors of Lowland Scots^ defcendants
of Saxons, French, and Normans, congenerous with the EngUJh, yet abfurdly
and invidioufly diftinguifhed from them. Language, as well as ftriking natural
boundaries, mark their place. Their mountains face on the weft the Atlantic
ocean ; wind along the weft of Cathnefs ; among which Morvern and Scaraben^
Ben-Hop and Ben-Lugal arife pre-eminent. Sutherland is entirely Alpine, as are
Rofs'Jhlre and Invernefs-Jhire. Their Summa Alpes are. Meal Fourvounich, the Cory-
ayich, Benewijb, and Benevijh near Fort William ; the laft of which is reported
to be fourteen hundred and fifty yards in height. Great part of Aberdeenjhire
Jies in this tradt. It boafts of another Morvern, foaring far beyond the others :
this is in the centre of the Grampian hills, and perhaps the higheft from the fea
of any in Great Britain. jThey again comprehend the eaftern part of Perth'
Jhire, and finifh on the magnificent fhores of Loch-lomond, on the weftern fide of
which Ben-lomond rifes, diftinguiftied among its fellows. From hence the reft of
North Britain forms a chain of humbler hills; but in Cumberland, part of TVeJi- English.

moreland, Torkjhire, Lancajlnre, and Derby/hire, the Alps refume their former ma-
jefty. A long and tame interval fucceeds. The long fublime trafl of Wales Cambrian.
arifes, the antient pofleffion of the antient Britijh race. From the Ord, the great
mountains recede inland, and leave a vaft flat between their bafes and the fea,
fronting the waves with a feries of lofty rocky precipices, as far as the little creek
of Staxigo ; the whole a bold, but moft inhofpitable fliore for ftiipping. Wick and
Staxigo have indeed their creeks, or rather chafms, which open between the
cliffs, and may accidentally prove a retreat, unlefs in an eaftern gale,

Sinclair and Frefwick bays are fandy, and afford fafe anchorage : from the laft
the country rifes into lofty cliffs, many compofed of fmall ftrata of ftones, as re-
gular as a mafon could lay them j and before them rife infulated ftacks or co-

c 2 lumns

XX

S C O T L A If D.

Germain cr

riimns of lluiilar mat.«rlals, fome hollowed into arches ; others, pillar-like, afpirc-
in heights equal to the land *. Thefe are animated with birds. All their cecoi-
nomy may be viewed with eafe from the neighboring- clifFs ; their loves, incuba-
tion, exclufion, and nutrition.

Dimgfiy-head, the antient Beruhiumy terminates the eaUern fide of this kingdom,
as Far-out-head^ the old Tarvedum^ does the weftern. Strathy-head^ the Verve-
drum of Ptolemy, lies intermediate. The whole tra6t faces the north, and con^
lifts of various noted headlands, giving flielter to numerous bays, many of which
penetrate deep into the country. Let me make this general remark, — that nature
hath, with a niggardly hand, dealt out her h^arbours to the eaftern coafls of the
Britijb ifles ; but fliewn a profufion on their weftern fides. What numberlefs
lochs, with great depth of water, wind into the weftern counties o^ Scotland, over-
fhadow'ed and flieltered by lofty mountains ! and what multitudes of noble har-
bours do the weftern provinces of heland open into the immenfe Atlantic ocean !

The fea which waflies the fhores of Britain, which have pafled under my re-
NoRTa Sea, view, was originally called, by one of the antients f? Oceanm Britanniciis, form*-
ing part of that vaftr expanfe which furrounds our iflands. Pliny confined that
title to the fpace between the mouth of the Rhins and that of the Seine ; and be*
flowed on this fea the name of Septentrionalis % ; and Ptolemy called it German
nicus : both which it ftill retains. Its northern extremity lies between Dung/by-
head, in lat. 58, 35 north, and the fame latitude in the fouth o^ Norway. Be-
fore the feparation of Britain from Gaul it could only be confidered as a vaft
Tides, their bay; but that period is beyond the commencement of record. The tides flow
IXjREGTioN ; jj^tQ it from the north-eafl: to the fouth-weft, according to the dii'ediion of the
coaft ; but in mid-fea the reflux fets to the north, to difcharge itfelf through
the great chaimel between the Schethnd ifles and Norway §^ The depth of
•Q water, at higheft: fpring-tides, in the ftreights of Dover, is tv/enty-five fathoms :

it deepens to thirty-one, between Lowjloff and the mouth of the Maes : between
the Wells-bank and Doggers-bank gains, in one place only, a few fathoms. Be-
yond the Dogger it deepens from forty-eight to feventy-two : between Buchan-nefs.
and Schutnefs in Norway, within the Buchan deeps, it has. from eighty-fix to a
hundred fathoms ; then decreafes, towards the Orkney and Schetland ifleSy from
feventy-five to forty ; but between the Schetlands and Bergen, the northern end
of this fea, the depth is from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and fifty.
fathoms.

* See Mr. Cordiner''& beautiful view of a ftack of this kind^ tab. xv. t Mela^ X P^"'*^

lib. iv, c. 19. § Mr. William fergujm.

The

m

un

H

S C O T L A N D* x.^f

The coafts from Dimgjby-hcad to Flamlormgh-head ^xz bold and high, and may JsTavjcaticn.

be fcen at fea from feven to fourteen leagues : from the laft to Spurn- head is alfo a

clear coaft ; but the reft of the coaft of Norfolk and Sujfolk is low, vifible at

fmall diftancc, and rendered dangerous by the number of fand-banks projecting

far to fea. After paffing the Spurn-heed^ navigators fleer between the inner and

outer Doufings, for ihc Jioating light kept on board a fmall veiTel (confirutSled far

that purpofe) always anchored at the inner edge of a fand called Dogfljoji i Shoal^

about eight leagues from the coaft of LincoInjJjire^ in about fifteen fathom water.

From thence they make for Cromer m Norfolk -^ and from that point, till they

arrive at the Nore, their track is all the way through a number of narrow chan*

nels near the moft dangerous fands : to which, if we add foggy weather, dark

nights, ftorms, contrary winds, and very near adjacent lee-fhores, it may be very

fairly reckoned the moft dangerous of the much-frequented navigations in the

world.

But fortunately, to the north of thefe, this fea is much more remarkable for Sand-B/.nks.
fand-banks of utility than of danger, and would never have been obferved but for
the multitudes of fifties which, at different feafons, according to their fpecies,
refort to their fides, from the great northern deeps, either for the fake of variety
of food which they yield, or to depofe their fpawn in fecurity. The firft to be
taken notice of does not come within the defcription, yet fhould not be pafTed
over in filence, as it comes within the natural hiftory of the North fea. An
anonymous fand runs acrofs the channel between Buchan-nefs and the north end
of ftits-riff : the left depth of water over it is forty fathoms ; fo that it would
fcarcely be thought of, did not the water fuddenly deepen again, and form that
place which is ftyled the Buchan deeps.

The Long Banky or the Long Forty s^ bears E. S. E. {rom Buchan-nefs^ about Long Fortys.
forty-five miles diftant, and extends fouthward as far as oppofite to NewcajUe -^
is about fifty leagues in length, and feyen in breadth ; and has on it from
thirty-two to forty-five fathoms of water. The ground is a coarfe gravel, mixed
with marine plants, and is efteemed a good fifhing bank.

The Mar Bank lies between the former and the fhore oppofite to Berwick ;
is oval, about fifteen miles long, and has about twenty-fix fathom of water, and
round it about forty.

The bank called Montrofe Pits lies a little to the eaft of the middle of the Long Montrose Pits.
Fortys. It is about fifty miles long, and moft remarkable for five great pits or hol-
lows, from three to four miles in diameter : on their edges is only forty fathom
water ; yet they fuddenly deepen to feventy, and even a hundred fathom, on a foft
muddy bottom : the margins on the contrary are gravelly. I enquired whether the

9 fur face

xxii SCOTLAND,

furface of this wonderful bank appeared in any way agitated, as I had fufplclon that
the pits might have been produdive of whirlpools j but was informed, that the fca
there exhibited no uncommon appearance.
Doggers Bank, The noted Doggers Bank next fucceeds. It commences at the diftance of twelve
leagues from Flamhorough Head, and extends acrofs the fea, nearly eaft, above
feventy-two leagues, joining Horn-riff'^ a very narrow ftrip of fand which ends on
the coaft of Jutland. The greateft breadth is twenty leagues ; and in parts it has
only on it ten or eleven fathoms of water, in others twenty-four or five. To
the fouth of the Dogger is a vaft extent of fand-bank, named, in different parts, the
W£Lt Bank« jf^^ii Bank, the Swart Bank, and the Brown Bank, all covered with fufficient depth
of water j but between them and the Britijh coafts are the Ower and the Lemon,
dreaded by mariners, and numbers of others infamous for fhipwrecks. The
channel between the Dogger Bank and the Well Bank deepens even to forty fa-
thoms. This hollow is called the Silver Pits, and is noted for the cod-fifliery
which fupplies the London markets. The cod-fifli love the deeps : the flat-fifh the
lliallows. I will not repeat what I have, in another place, fo amply treated of*.
I muft only lament, that the fifheries of this bank are only fubfervient to the pur-
pofes of luxury. Was (according to the plan of my humane friend, Mr. Travis of
Scarborough) a canal formed from any part of the neighboring coaft to that at Leeds,
thoufands of manufacturers would receive a cheap and wholefome food ; infurrec-
tions in times of fcarcity of grain be prevented j our manufactures worked at an eafy
rate ; our rivals in trade thereby underfold ; and, in defiance of the probably ap-
proaching decreafe of the Newfoundland fifhery (fince the lofs oi America) contri-
bute to form a nurfery of feamen fufficient to preferve the fmall remnant we have
left of refpedt from foreign nations.

I have, to the beft of my abilities, enumerated the Britijh fifh, in the third
volume of the Britijh Zoology. The Faunula which I have prefixed to Mr. Light-
foofs Flora Scotica, contains thofe which frequent the northern coafts of Great
Britain ; in which will be found wanting many of thofe of South Britain, The
Reverend Mr. Lightfoot, in that work, hath given a moft elaborate account
of the fubmarine plants of our northern fea.

I will now purfue my voyage from the extreme fhores of North Britain through
Caleboni AN ^ ^^^ ocean. Here commences the Oceanus Caledonius, or Deucaledonius, of Ptolemy \
Ocean. a vaft expanfe, extending to the weft as far as Greenland, and northward to the ex-

treme north. This I fhould call the Northern Ocean, diftinguilhing its parts
by other names fuitable to the coafts. From Dungjby Head the Orkney iflands

* See ir, Zool, iii. Articles Haddock, Lin^, and Turbot,

* appear

O R K N r E S. xxiif

* appear fpreading along the horizon, and yield a mofl charming profpecft. Sonne Orkney

* of them are fo near as diflin^lly to exhibit the r>cky fronts of thofe bold promon- Islands.

* tories which fuftain the weight of the vaft currents from the Atlantic. Others

* fhew more faint: their diftances finely exprelTed as they retire from the eye,

* until the mountains of the more remote have fcarcely a deeper azure than the
' fky, and are hardly difcernible rifing over the furfa^e of the ocean *.

Between thefe and the main land, about two miles from the Cathnefs fhore, lies Stroma,

Stroma^ the Ocetis of Ptolemy^ a little ifland, an appcrtenance to that county, fertile
by the manual labor of about thirty families; pleafant, and lofty enough for the
refort of the Auk tribe. The noted mammies are now loft, occafioned by the doors
of the caverns in which they were depofited being broken down, and admiffion
given to cattle, which have trampled them to pieces. This catacomb flands on a
neck of land bounded by the fea on three fides. The fait air and fpray expels all
infeils, and is the only prefervation the bodies have ; fome of which had been
lodged here a great number of years. In many of the ifles, the inhabitants ufe
no other method for preferving their meat from putrefadlion than hanging it in
caves of the fea, and the method is vindicated by the fuccefs.

This ifland lies in the Pentland Firth^ noted for the violence of the tides; tre- Tid>es»

mendous to the fight, but dangerous only when pafled at improper times. They
fet in from the north-weft : the flood, on the contrary, on the coafts of Lewis, pours
in from the fouth f. The tide of flood upon Stroma (and other iflands fimilarly
iltuated in mid-ftream) divides or fplits before it reaches it. A current runs with
great violence on both fides, then unites, at fome diftance from the oppofite end,,
and forms a fingle current, running at fpring-tides at the rate of nine knots an
hour ; at neap, at that of three only. The fpace between the dividing tides, at
different ends of an ifland, is quite ftagnant, and is called the eddy. Some of
them are a mile or two long, and give room for a fhip to tack to and fro, till the
tides are fo far fpent as to permit it to purfue its voyage.

The moft boifterous parts of the ftreams are at the extremities of the ifland, and The Swelchie
a little beyond the top of the eddy, where they unite. The collifion of thefe oppo- °' Stroma^
fite fl:reams excite a circular motion, and, when the tide is very ftrong, occafion
whirlpools in form of an inv^erted bell, the largeft diameter of which may be about
three feet. In fpring-tides they have force enough to turn a veflTel round, but not to
d:oany damage : but there have been inftances of fmall boats being fwallowed up.
Thefe whirlpools are largeft when firft formed 5 are carried away with the fl:ream,
and difappear, but are q^uickly followed by others. The fpiral motion or fuition

* Mr, Cordinefi elegant defcn'ptign, p. 85, \ Machn/ifi Chart} oftht OrktiUf, p. 4-* 5-

does

xKiv O R K N I E S.

does not extend far beyond the cavity: a boat may pafs within twenty yards of
thefe whirlpools with fafety. Fifliermen who happen to find thcmfelves within
z dangerous diftance, fling in an oar, or any bulky body, which breaks the con-
tinuity of the furface, and interrupts the vertiginous motion, and forces the water
to ru{h fuddenly in on all fides and fill up .the cavity. In flormy weather, the
waves themfelves deflroy this phasnomenon. A funL rock near the concourfe of
thefe rapid tides occafions a moft dreadful appearance. The ftream meeting with
an interruption, falls over with great violence, reaches the bottom, and brings up
with it fand., {hells, fifhes, or whatfoevcr elfe it meets with ; which, with boats, or
v/hatfoever it happens to meet, is whirled from the centre of the eruption towards
the circumference with amazing velocity, and the troubled furface boils and
bubbles like a great cauldron, then darts off with a fucceflion of whirlpools from

RoujTs, fucceffive ebullitions. Thefe are called RouJIs, and are attended with the utmoft

danger tofmall boats, which are agitated to fuch a degree, that (even fhould they
not be overfet) the men are fiung out of them, to periih without any chance of re-
demption. It is during the ebb that they are tremendous, and moft fo in that of a
fpring-tide with a weft v/ind, and that in the calmeft weather j for during flood
they are paflTed with the greateft fafety. V^efiels in a calm are never in danger of
touching on an ifland or vifible rock, when they get into a current, but are always
carried fafe from all danger.

SwoN A» Swonat a little ifland, the moft fouthern of the Orknles^ Is about four miles beyond

Stroma^ and is noted for its tremendous ftreams, and in particular the whirlpools
called the Wells of Swona^ which in a higher degree exhibit all the appearances of
the former. What contributes to encreafe the rage of the tides, befides their con-
finement between fo many iflands, is the irregular pofition of the founds, and their
Depth of little depth qf water. The fame fhallownefs extends to every fide of the Orknles \

■ ATER. ^j^ evidence that they had once been part of the mother ifle, rent from it by fome

mighty convulfion. The middle of the channel, between Stroma and the main
land, has only ten fathom water : the greateft depth around that ifland is only
eighteen. The founds are from three to forty-fix fathom deep : the greater depths
are betv/een South Ronaldjha and South JVales\ for in general the other founds
are o/ily from three to thirteen ; and the circumambient depth of the whole group
very rarely exceeds twenty-five.

Tides. About thefe iflands commences a decreafe of the tides. They lie in a great

ocean, in which the waters have room to expand ; therefore never experience that
height of flood vi^hich is conftant in the contracted feas. Here ordinary fpring-
tides do not exceed eight feet ; and very extraordinary fpring-tides fourteen, even
when aited on by the violence of the winds *.

♦ Murdoch Mackenjie,

The

O R K N I E S. XXV

The time of the difcovery and population of the Orknies is unknown. Pro-
bably it was very early j for we are told that they owe their name to the Greeks.

Orcades has memorant diftas a nomine Graco *.

Mela and Pliny take notice of them ; and the laft defcribes their number and
cluttered form with much accuracy f. The fleet of Agricola failed round them,
and made a conqueft of them ; but the Romans probably never retained any part of
Caledonia. I found no marks of them beyond Orrea or InchtuthelX-, excepting at
Fortingal\\ in Breadalblne, where there is a fmall camp, poflibly no more than a
temporary advanced poft. Notwithftanding this, they muft have had, by means of
fhipping, a communicated knowlege of the coafts of North Britain even to the
Orcades. Ptolemy hath, from information colleded by thofe means, given the
names of every nation, confiderable river, and head-land, on the eaftern, northern,
and weftern coaft. But the Romans had forgotten the navigation of thefe feas,
otherwife the poet would never have celebrated the courage of his countrymen, in
failing in purfuit of the plundering Saxons through unknown Jlr eights j and a naval
vidtory obtained off thefe iflands by the forces fent to the relief of the diftrefled
Britons by Honorius.

Qiiid Sldera profunt ?
Ignofumque fretum ? Maduci'unt Saxone fufo
Orcades §.

The Orkney ifles in after times became poffefled by the PiSis ; and agaift by the
Scots. The latter gave way to the Norwegian pirates, who were fubdued by
Harold Harfargre about the year 875 <[[, and the iflands united to the crown of
Norway. They remained under the Norwegians till the year 1263, accepted their
laws, and ufed their language. The Norfe^ or Norwegian language was generally Lakguags.
ufed in the Orkney and Schetland iflands even to the lafl: century : but, except in
Fotda^ where a ftw words are ftill known by the aged people, it is quite loft. The
Englijh tongue, with a Norwegian accent, is that of the iflands j but the appearance
of the people, their manners and genius, evidently fhew their northern origin.
The iflands vary in their form and height. Great part of Hoy is mountanous Rqcks of the
and lofty. The noted land-mark, the hill oi Hoy, is faid to be five hundred and Orknies.

forty yards high; The fides of all thefe hills are covered with long heath, in
which breed multitudes of Curlews, Green Plovers, Redfhanks, and other Waders.
The Short-eared Owl is alfo very frequent here, and neftles in the ground. It is

* Claudian.^ f Mia, lib. iii. c. 6. Pirn. lib. iv. c. 16. J Tour Scotl. 1772. p. 70.

H Same p. 25. § Claudia/^ de iv. Conf. Honorii, fl Torfau: Ref. Oread, lib. i. c. 3. p. lo.

d probable

XXVI

O R K N I E S.

probable that it is from hence, as well as from Norway^ that it migrates, in the
beginning of winter, to the more fouthern parts of Britain. Mod of the Waders
mio-rate; but they muft receive confiderable reinforcements from the moft diftant
parts of the north, to fill the numbers which cover our fhores. The cliffs are of
a moft ftupendous height, and quite mural to the very fea. The Berry Head is an
Birds, exalted precipice, with an auguft cave at the bottom, opening into the fea. The

Ern Eac^les poffefs, by diftant pairs, the upper part of the roclcs : neither thefe nor
any other Falcons will bear fociety ; but, as P/z«y elegantly exprefles it, Jdultos per-
fequitur parens et longe fugat^ amnios fcilicet raping. Et alioquin unum par aquilarum
magna ad populandinn tradu^ ut fatietur, indiget *. Auks, Corvorants, and all the
tribes Vt'hich love exalted fituations, breed by thoufands in the other parts. The
Tyfte, or Black Guillemot, N° 236, fecures itfelf in a crack in the rock, or by
fcraping a burrow in the little earth it may find j there it lays a fingle egg,
of a dirty olive blotched with a darker. This fpecies never migrates from the
Orknies. The Foolifti Guillemot, N° 436, continues till November. The
Little Auk, N^* 429, a rare bird in other parts of Britain, breeds in the holes
of the lofty precipices. And the Lyre, or the Sheerwater, N° 462, burrows in
the earth among the rocks of Hoy and Eda, and forms an article of com«
merce with its feathers, and of food with its flefli, which is faked and kept
for the provifion of the winter. In that feafon they are feen fkimming the ocean
at moft furprizing diftances from land. The Stormy Petrel, N° 464, breeds fre-
quently among the loofe ftones j then takes to fea and affrights the fuperftitious
failor with its appearance. Woodcocks fcarcely ever appear here. Fieldfares make
this a fhort baiting-place : and the Snow Bunting, N* 122, often alights and covers
whole trails of country, driven by the froft fronj the fartheft north.

A few Wild Swans breed in fome lochs in Mainland -y but the greateft part of
thefe birds, all the Bernacles, Brent Geefc, and feveral other palmated birdS)
retire in the fpring to more northern latitudes. But to the Swallow tailed Duck,
the Pintail, and a iew others, this is a warm climate ; for they retire here to pafs
their winters in the fheltered bays. Any other remarks may be intermixed with
thofe on Schetland ; for there is great fimiliarity of fubjeds in both the groups.
The laft lie about fixty miles to the north-eaft of the moft northern Orkney. Mid-
P I? Isle ^^V '^ ^^^^ I/land^ a fpot about three miles long, with high and rocky fhores, in-

habited by about a hundred and feventy people: an induftrious race; the men
filhers ; the women knitters and fpinners. The depth of water round varies to
twenty-fix fathoms. The tide divides at the north end, runs with great velocity,
and forms on the eaft fide a confiderable eddy.

• HiJ}. Nat. lib. X. c. 3.

Schetland

^

^

SCHETLAND.

xxvn

Schetland cowCi&s of feveral iflands. Mainland ^ the principal, extends from Schetland.
fouth to north twenty-eight leagues, and is moft fingularly formed j confifting of
an infinite number of peninfulie connected by very narrow ifihmufes. That called
Mavlfgi'indj which unites the pariOi of North Maven, is only eighty yards broad.
But the irregular fhape of this iflknd occafions it to abound with thefineft and moft
fecure ports, called here voes \ a moft providential difpenfation in a fea which
fwarms with fifties of the moft general ufe. The adjacent iflands are in general fo
near to the mother ifland, and their headlands point fo exactly to its correfponding
capes, that it is highly probable that they once made a part of the Mainland. The
rocks andftacks afllime great variety of forms, fuch as fteeples and Gothic cathe-
drals rifing out of the water, fleets of fhips, and other fancied fhapes. The Dore-
hohn^ in the parifli of North Maven^ is very fmgular : part is rounded, the reft feems
a ruin, compofed of a fingle thin fragment pf rock, with a magnificent arch within,
feventy feet in height.

To ufe the words of Captain Thomas Prejlon, to whom we are indebted for an
excellent chart of this group, * the land is wild, barren, and mountanous i nor
' is there fo much as a bufti or a tree to be feen. The fhores are difticult, and in

* many parts inacceffible ; rude, fteep, and iron-like ; the fight of which ftrikes
' the mind with dread and horror ; and fuch monftrous precipices and hideous rocks

* as bring all Bro^bdingnag before your thoughts. Thefe iflands lie between lat. 60

* to 61. In winter the fun fets foon after it rifes, and in fummer rifes foon after it
' fets ; fo that in that feafon the nights are almoft as light as the day; as on the

* contrary, in Decefnber the day is nearly as dark as the night. About the folUice,

* we fee every night the aurora borealis, or, as they are called by the natives, the

* merry dancers, which fpread a broad glaring appearance over the whole northern

* hemifphere*.'

They are the conftant attendants of the clear evenings in all thefe northern Aurora Bore-
iflands, and prove great reliefs amidft the gloom of the long winter nights. They
commonly appear at twilight near the horizon,of a dun color,approaching to yellow:
fometimes continuing in thatftate for feveral hours without any fenfible motion j
after which they break out into ftreams of ftronger light, fpreading into columns,
and altering flowly into ten thoufand different fhapes, varying their colors from all
the tints of yellow to theobfcureft rulTet. They often cover the whole hemifphere,
and then make the moft brilliant appearance. Their motions at thefe times are
moft amazingly quick ; and they aftonifli the fpedlator with the rapid chance of
their form. They breakout in places where none were feen before, fkimming

* Phil franf. abr, xJ . 1 3 a 8 .

d 2 brifxcly

A LIS.

xxvui SCHETLANDAND

brifkly along the heavens : are fuddenly extinguiflied, and leave behind an uniform
dufky traft. This again is brilliantly illuminated in the fame manner, and as fud-
denly left a dull blank. In certain nights they afTume the appearance of vaft co-
lumns, on one fide of the deepefl yellow, on the other declining away till it becomes
undiftinguifhed from the fky. They have generally a ftrong tremulous motion
from end to end, which continues till the whole vanifhes. In a word, we, who only
fee the extremities of thefe northern pheenomena, have but a faint idea of their
fplendor, and their motions. According to the ftate of the atmofphere they differ
in colors. They often put on the color of blood, and make a moft dreadful ap-
pearance. The ruftic fages become prophetic, and terrify the gazing fpeftators
with the dread of war, peftilence, and famine. This fuperftition was not peculiar
to the northern iflands ; nor are thefe appearances of recent date. The antients
called them Chafmata^ and Trabes^ and Bolides, according to their forms or colors *.
In old times they were extremely rare, and on that account were the more taken
notice of. From the days of Plutarch to thofe of our fage hiftorian Sir Richard
Baker, they were fuppofed to have been portentous of great events : and timid
imagination Ihaped them into aerial conflicts.

Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds

In ranks and fquadrons and right form of war.

After, I fuppofe, a very long intermiffion, they appeared with great brilliancy In

England, on March 6vh, 1715-16. The philofophers paid a proper attention f.,

The vulgar confidered them as marking the introdudlion of a foreign race of

princes. The novelty is now ceafed, and their caufe perhaps properly attributed

to the greater abundance of eledrical matter.

Storms. '^^^ tempefts which reign over thefe iflands during winter is aftonifhing. The

cold is moderate j the fogs great and frequent; but the ftorms agitate the water

Herrings. even to the bottom of thefe comparatively {hallow feas. The n(h feek the bottom

of the great deeps : and the Herrings, which appear off the Schetlands in amazing

columns in June, perform the circuit of our ifland, and retire beyond the know-

lege of man. When the main body of thefe fifh approaches from the north, it

alters the very appearance of the ocean. It is divided into columns of five or fix

niiles in length, and three or four in breadth, and they drive the water before them

with a fort of rippling current. Sometimes they fink for a fmall fpace, then rife

»gain ; and in bright weather reflect a variety of fplendid colors, like a field of mofl;

• Arifol. Metecrolog. lib. i. c. 5. Plin. Nat. Hiji. lib. ii. c. 26.

•\ See various accounts of them in the Fhil. tranf, ebr, iv. part ii. 13S.

precious

O R K N I E S. XXIX

precious gems. Birds and fifh of prey attend and mark their progrefs. The
Whales of feveral kinds keep on the outfide, and, deliberately opening their
vaft mouths, take them in by hundreds. Gannets and Gulls dart down upon
them ; and the diving tribe aid their perfecution, with the cetaceous fifties *,
Mankind joins in the chace j for this ufeful fpecies gives food to millions, medi-
ately and immediately. Dutch^ French, Flemings, Danes, and Englijh, rendezvous in
Brajfa found to meet thefe treafurcs of the ocean : and return to diftribute theiF
booty even to the diftant Antilles.

Cod, Ling, and TorJk\, furnifli cargoes to other adventurers. I wifli I could CoD-prsHc.
fpeak vf'ith the fame fatisfaction of this as of the free fifliery of the Herring j but
in thefe diftant iflands, the hand of oppreffion reigns uncontrolled. The poor
vaflals (in defiance of laws ftill kept in bondage) are compelled to fla\'t, and hazard
their lives in the capture, to deliver their fifti to their lords for a trifling fum, who
fell them to adventurers from different parts at a high price.

Among other fcarcer fifties theOpah, Br.\ZsoL iii. N° loi. Is found in abundance. Gpak

It feems a fifti of the north as well as the Torjk ; the laft is not found fouth of
the Orknies ; the former extends even to the banks of Newfoundland,

The birds of thefe iflands are the fame with thofe of the Orknies, except the Birds,

Skua, p. 531, which breeds only in Foula and Unji. Among the few land-birds
which migrate to them in fummer, is the Golden-crefted Wren, N*" 153. Its
{horteft flight mufl: be fixty miles, except it fliould reft: midway on Fair i(land\,
a furprifing flight for fo diminutive a bird !

Multitudes of the inhabitants of each cluiler of iflands feed, during the feafon. Fowling^,
on the eggs of the birds of the cliffs. The method of taking them is fo M&xy
hazardous, as to fatisfy one of the extremity to which the poor people are
driven for want . of food. Copinjha, Hunda, Hoy, Foula,. ^nd Nofs head, are the
moft celebrated rocks j, and the neighboring natives the mofl: expert climbers and,
adventurers after the game of the precipice.. The height of fome is above fifty ;^

fathoms ; their faces roughened with fljelves or ledges, fuflicient only for the birds
to reft: and lay their eggs. To thefe the dauntlefs fowlers will afcend, pafs in-
trepidly from one to the other, colleft the eggs and. birds, and defcend with,
the fame indifference.. In moft places, the attempt is made from above : they are
lowered from the flope contiguous to the brink, by a, rope, fometimes made of
ft:raw, fometimes of the briftles of the hog : they prefer the laft:, even to ropes
of hemp, as it is not liable to be cut by the ftjarpnefs of the rocks.; the former
is apt to u.ntwiil. They truft themfelves to a fingle aftiftant, who lets his
companion dov^n, ai d holds the rope, depending on his ftrength alone j which,

« §ee roy Foy, tg the Hekridetf^nd Br. ZqoI. iii. for tljehiftory of th? Herring, f^Br, Zool iii. No 89 ,

ofteii

XXX SCHETLANDAND

often fails, and the adventurer is fure to be dafhed to pieces, or drowned in the
fubjacent fea. The rope is often fhifted from place to place, with the impend-
ing weight of the fowler and his booty. The perfon above receives fignals for
the purpofe, his aflbciate being far out of fight j who, during the operation, by
help of a ftaffj fprings from the face of the rocks, to avoid injury from the pro-
jecting parts.

In Foiila, they will truft to a fmall flake driven into the ground, or to a fmall
dagger, which the natives ufually carry about them; and which they will flick
into the ground, and, twifling round it a fifhing cord, defcend by that to
climbing places, and, after finifhing their bufinefs, fwarm up by it without fear.
Few who make a prailice of this come to a natural death. They have a common
faying, ' Such a one's Gz//c/;^r went over the Sneaky and my father went over
* the Sfteak too.' It is a pity that the old Norwegian law was not here in force. It
confidered this kind of death as a fpecies of fuicide. The next of kin (in cafe
the bod^could be feen) was directed to go the fame way; if he refufed, the corpfe
was not to be admitted into holy ground *.

But the mofl lingular fpecies of fowling is on the holm of Nofs^ a vafl rock fevered
from the ifle ofNofs by fome unknown convulfion, and only about fixteen fathoms
diflant. It is of the fame flupendous height as the oppofite precipice f, with a raging
fea between; fo that the intervening chafm is of matchlefs horror. Some adventurous
climber has reached the rock in a boat, gained the height, and faflened feveral flakes
on the fmall portion of earth which is to be found on the top: correfpondent flakes
are placed on the edge of the correfpondent clifFs. A rope is fixed to the flakes on
both fides, along which a machine, called a cradle, is contrived to flide ; and, bv
the help of a fmall parallel cord faflened in like manner, the adventurer wafts
himfelf over, and returns with his booty, which is the eggs or young of the
Black-backed Gull, N° 451, and the Herring Gull, N* 452.
QuADRUPEDj. The number of wild Quadrupeds which have reached the Orkney zwA Schet-

land iflands are only five ; the Otter, Brown Rat, Common Moufe, Fetid
Shrew, and Bat. Rabbets are not of Britijh origin, but naturalized in every
part. In the fandy ifles of Orkney^ they are found in myriads, and their fkins
are a great article of commerce ; but the injury they do in fetting the unflable
foil in motion, greatly counter-vales the profit.
Thise Isles once In many parts of thefe iflands are evident piarks of their having been a wooded
WOODED, country. In the parifh of 5/. Andrew in the Orknies^ in North Mavetiy and

even in Foula in the Schetlands^ often large trails are difcovered filled with the
remains of large trees, which are ufualiy found after fome violent tempefl hath

• DebeSfUiJl. Ferroe IJles, 154. t 480 feet.

3 blown

O R K N I E S. x»xi

blown away the incumbent ftrata of fand or gravel with which they have been
covered. They are lodged in a morafly ground, and often ten feet beneath the
peat. Some ftand in the pofition in which they grew ; others lie horizontally,
and all the fame way, as if they had either been blown down, or overturned by a
partial deluge. Yet at prefent no kind of wood can be made to grow ; and even
the lowed and moft common fhrub is cultivated with the greateft difficulty. The
hazel, the herbaceous, reticulated, creeping, and common willow, are the only
ihrubs of the ifland, and thofe are fcattered with a fparing hand. I (hall, in an-
othei place, confider the decreafe of vegetation in this northern progrefs.

The great quantity of turf which Providence hath beftowed on all thefe iflands,
excepting Sanda^ is another proof of the abundance of trees and other vegetables,
long fince loft from the furface. The application of this humus vegetahllis for the
purpofe of fuel, is faid to have been firft taught the natives by Einar, a Nor-
wegiariy furnamed, from that circumftance, Torf-einar^ Einar de Cefpite *. Had
he lived in Greece, he could not have efcaped deification for fo ufeful a dif-
covery.

Before I quit the laft of Britijh ifles, I fhall, as fupplemental to the antiquities Antiquities.
mentioned in my Tours in Scotland, give a brief account of others found in thefe
groups.

The Orknies, the Schetlands, Cathnefs, Sutherland, and Rofs-Jhire, with the He~
brides, were, for centuries, poflefled by the Norwegians; and, in many inftances,
they adopted their cuftoms. Of the antient monuments flill remaining, feveral
are common to Scandinavia and the old inhabitants of Britain : others feem
peculiar to their northern conquerors. Among thofe are the circular buildings,
known by the names of PiSiiJh houfes. Burghs, and Duns : the firft are of mo-
dern date, and to be exploded, as they never were the work of the PiSls \
the fecond are affuredly right, and point out the founders, who at the fame time
beftowed on them their natal name of Borg, a defence or caftle f, a Sueo-Gothic
word ; and the Highlanders univerfally apply to thefe places the Celtic name
Dun, fignifying a hill defended by a tower %. This alfo furnifties the proof of
their ufe, was there no other to be dii'covered. They are confined to the coun-
ties once fubjeil to the crown of Norway. With few exceptions, they are
built within fight of the fea, and one or more within fight of the other ; fo
that on a fignal by fire, by flag, or by trumpet, they could give notice of ap-
proaching danger, and yield a mutual fuccour. In the Schetland and Orkney

* Tsrfaus Rer. Oread, lib. i. c. 7. f See Ihre Ghffarhm Sueo-Cotkicu?n, where the

word is defined, munimentum, derived, from Berga cufiodire, ax Bjrgia claudire, t Baxter.

Clojf. Antiq. Brit, 109, .

iflands^ .

■SCXKli

sChetland and

IHands, they are moft frequently called Wart or Wardhills^ which fliews that
they were garrifoned. They had their wardmadher *, or watchman, a fort of
centinel, who flood on the top, and challenged all who came in fight. The
gackman f was an officer of the fame kind, who not only was on the watch
againft furprize ; but was to give notice if he faw any fliips in diftrefs. He
was allowed a large horn of generous liquor, which he had always by him, to
keep up his fpirits %. Along the Orkney and Schetland fhores, they almoft form a
chain ; and by that means not only kept the natives in fubjeaion, but were
fituated commodioufly for covering the landing of their countrymen, who were
perpetually roving on piratical expeditions. Thefe towers were even made ufe of
as ftate-prifons ; for we learn from Torf^eus^ that after Sueno had furprized Paul,
count of Cathnefsy he carried him into Sutherland^ and confined him there in a
Norwegian tower §. So much has been faid on this fubje<a by the Reverend
Mr. Cordiner and myfelf, that I fhall only refer to the pages, after faying, that
out of our kingdom, no buildings fimilar to thefe are to be found, except in
Scandinavia. On the mountain Swalberg \\ in Norway is one ; the Stir-hijkop ^,
^tUpfal in Sweden, is another j and Umfeborg, in the fame kingdom, is a third **.

Thefe towers vary in their inner ftrudure j but externally are univerfally the
fame ; yet fome have an addition of ftrength on the outfide. The burgh of Culf-
wick in Schetland, notwithftanding it is built on the top of a hill, is furrounded
with a dry ditch thirteen feet broad; that of Snaburgh in Unjl, has both a wet
and a dry ditch ; the firft cut, wuth great labor, through the live rock. The burgh
of Moura is furrounded by a wall, now reduced to a heap of ftones, and the
infide is cylindrical, not taper, as ufuah^vith others. The burgh of Hogfcier,
upon an ifle in a loch of the fame name, h^s alfo its addition of a wall ; a pecu-
liarity in a caufeway, to join it to the main land, and a fingular internal ftruclure.
Numbers of little Hurghs, with fingle cells, are fcattered about thef€ iflands, in the
neio-hborhood of the greater; and which probably were built by the poorer fort of
people, in order to enjoy their protedtion. A multitude of places in thefe iflands
have the addition of burgh to their names, notwithftanding there is not a veftige
of a tower near them ; the materials having long fmce been carried away,
and applied to various ufes. One was, by way of pre-eminence, called Coningf-
kurgh, or the burgh of the king. I lament its lofs the more, as it might have
proved fimilar to its namefake in York/hire, and furnilhed additional materials to

* Ihre Ginjf. Sueo-Goth. loSs- f Crit. D'ljf. by John Macpherfon, D. D. 325. % '^orfaut

Rer. Oread. 8. § Baxter, G'tojf. Antiq. Brit. 109. 1| Information by letter from Mk". Sukm

o^ Copenhagen. q[ Dalhberg, tab. 64. ** The fame, tab. 30o.--For more ample

accounts, fee Mr. Cordiner % Letters, 73, 105, n3, and my Toun in Scotland,

2 «l/

•jfit^

^^// o^Ua/j

O R K N I E S. xxxni

my worthy friend, Edward King, Efq; for his mofl elaborate hiftory of Englijh
caftles *. The plates, with explanatory accounts, fhali fupply what farther can
elucidate thefe curious antiquities.

After the expulfion of the Norwegians, the coafts of Scotland, which they
poflefled, were flill proteded by caftles; many of v/hich, fuch as Oldwick, ex-
hibit very fmall improvements on the model left by the antient Scandinavian
architefls : a few deviated from the original manner, were fquare, had great thick-
nefs of wall, furnifhed with cells like thofe in the round towers or burghs.
Borve caftle, in Cathnefs, is a little more advanced. This was the refidence of Borve Castle.
Thorkel, a famous freebooter in the tenth century. It is a fmall fquare building,
on a rock projeding into the Tea, adjoined to the main land by an ifthmus not ten
feet wide ; and beneath the caftle is a magnificent paflage for boats, which pierces
the rock from fide to fide, and is covered by a matchlefs natural arch,

I cannot but revert to the former fubjeil:, to mention the Sriaburgh in Tet-
lor one of the moft remote of the Schetland ifles. It is in the form of a Roman Roman Camp ?
camp ; and when entire, had in the middle a rectangular area furrounded by a
wall, and that by an earthen rampart of the fame figure, at fome diftance from
it. Two fides of the walled area have the additional defence of another rampart
of earth ; which commences on the infide of one of the narrower fides, and»
preferving the fame diftance from the lefler area as the two other fides of the
outward fence do, terminates at the latter, near an artificial well. That this was
Rofnan, I greatly fufpedt. The care for water was a peculiar objeft with thaC
wife nation ; but neglefted by barbarians. This is inclofed within the rampart,
«nd at a fmall diftance on the outfide, had the protedlion of a mount, which once
probably had its caftellet, garrifoned for the further fecurity f. The regular
porta are wanting ; in other refpefts it refembles a Roman camp. The fea, over
which it impends, has deftroyed one half : the entire part is given in the plate»
and the reft fupplied with dotted lines.

I know but of two periods in which the Romans vifited thefe ifiands : one at
the time when the fleet of Agricola fubdued them ; the other, when the fleet of
Honorius defeated the Saxons in the feas of Orkney. A copper medal of Vef-
pafian, with Judaa devtSia % on the reverfe, was found on the fouth fide of
Main-land, probably loft there by the firft invaders, who might venerate Vefpaftan^
under whom many of them had ferved, and who might naturally carry with them
fuch honorable memorials of his reign. The only antiquities found near

* See hiscuiious account of Comngjhorough caftle, which he juftly compares to the Scott'tjh Duns y
find judicioufly afcrihes to it a very early date. Archaologia^ vi, 234. tab. xxiii.
f Vi^eUus de re Milii. lib. iv.c. 10. X Mr. Low.

C thl3

T. XXXTa

(Z^/ltfad^U./^^ AnyJ^ ORK>^£X ;.C SHETLAXI> ' ^y.

7

'Je/yyaJi ^^(^^/6;'z^7!^/^-

'uyn^Mi^ra/v x^i ^c(>i,>t^

O R K N I E S. xxxin

my worthy friend, Edward King, Efq; for his moft elaborate hiftory of EtigUJ^
caftles *. The plates, with explanatory accounts, (hall fupply what farther can
elucidate thefe curious antiquities.

After the expulfion of the Norwegians, the coafts of Scotland, which they
poflefled, were ftill proteaed by caftles; many of v/hich, fuch as Oldwick, ex-
hibit very fmall improvements on the model left by the antient Scandinavian
architefls : a few deviated from the original manner, were fquare, had great thick-
nefs of wall, furnifhed with cells like thofe in the round towers or burgh.
Borve cz^\e, in Cathnefs, is a little more advanced. This was the refidence of Borve Castle,
Thorkel, a famous freebooter in the tenth century. It is a fmall fquare building,
on a rock projefting into the fea, adjoined to the main land by an ifthmus not ten
feet wide ; and beneath the caftle is a magnificent paflage for boats, which pierces
the rock from fide to fide, and is covered by a matchlefs natural arch.

I cannot but revert to the former fubjeft, to mention the Stiaburgh in Tet-
lor, one of the moft remote of the Schetland ifles. It is in the form of a Roman Roman Camp i
camp ; and when entire, .had in the middle a redangular area furrounded by a
wall, and that by an earthen rampart of the fame figure, at fome diftance from
it. Two fides of the walled area have the additional defence of another rampart
of earth ; which commences on the infide of one of the narrower fides, and,
preferving the fame diftance from the lefler area as the two other fides of the
outward fence do, terminates at the latter, near an artificial well. That this was
Rotnan, I greatly fufpedl. The care for water was a peculiar obje6l with thaC
wife nation ; but negleded by barbarians. This is inclofed within the rampart,
«nd at a fmall diftance on the outfide, had the protedlion of a mount, which once
probably had its caftellet, garrifoned for the further fecurity f. The regular
portce are wanting ; in other refpedts it refembles a Roman camp. The fea, over
which it impends, has deftroyed one half : the entire part is given in the plate,
and the reft fupplied with dotted lines.

I know but of two periods in which the Ro?nans vifited thefe iftands ; one at
the time when the fleet of Jgricola fubdued them ; the other, when the fleet of
Honorius defeated the Saxons in the feas of Orkney. A copper medal of Fef-
pafian, with Judaa dem£ia % on the reverfe, was found on the fouth fide of
Main-land, probably loft there by the firft invaders, who might venerate Vefpafian,
under whom many of them had ferved, and who might naturally carry with them
fuch honorable memorials of his reign. The only antiquities found near

* See his cm ions account of Con'wgporough caftle, which he juftly compares to the Scotiijh Duns }
find judicioufly afcribes to it a very early date. Archaologia^ vi. 234. tab. xxiii.
f Vi^etius de re Mllit. lib. iv. c. 10. J Mr. Loav,

C till?

XXXIV SCHETLAND AND

this place, were fix pieces of brafs, cafl into a form the neareft refembling fet*
ters. They were wrapped in a piece of raw hide j but we cannot pretend to
fay that they belonged to the occupiers of the camp.
SroNE Weapons. Flint heads of arrows, flint axes, fwords made of the bones of a whale, flones,
beads, and antiquities, muft be referred to the earlieft inhabitants, at a period in
which thefe kingdoms were on a level with the natives of new-difcovered iflands
Circles. in the South Sea. Druidical circles of ftonss, the temples of primaeval religion

of our ifland, are not uncommon. The fineft and moft entire are thofe at Stennis^
in one of the Orkney ifles. The diameter of the circle is about a hundred and ten
yards. The higheft ftone fourteen feet. The whole is fingularly furrounded
with a broad and deep ditch, probably to keep at a diftance the unhallowed
vulgar.
SEMieiRCLESt At the fame place is a noble femicircle, confifting of four vafl ftones entire,

and one broken. The higheft are twenty feet high above ground. Behind them
is a aiound of earth, conformable to their pofition. If there never was a num-
ber of ftones to complete a circle, this antiquity was one of the kind which the
learned Do6tor Borlafe calls a theatre, and fuppofes was defigned for the exhi-
bition of dramatical performances *. I fufpedt them to have been either for the
purpofes of religion, or judicial tranfaflions ; for the age was probably not fuf-
ficiently refined for the former amufements. Upright ftones, either memorials of
?LAiK Columns, the dead, or vidtories obtained on the fpot, are very numerous. The moft re-
markable is the ftone of Sator^ in the ifle of Eda. It is a flag, fifteen feet high,
five and a half broad, and only nine inches thick. Its ftory is quite unknown ;
but it probably refts over a hero of that name. Notwithftanding the long refi-
dence of the Norwegians in thefe iflands, I find only one ftone with a Runic in-
fcription, which runs along the fides. The reft of the ftone is plain, and defti-
tute of the fculptures fo frequent on thofe found in Scandinavia.
Sculptured Co- -^^ ^^^ wall of the church at Sandnefs, is a ftone with three circles, a femi-
LUiMNs. circle, and a fquare figure, engraven on it. This is the only one which bears-

any refemblance to the elegant carved columns at Meigle and Glaines, and which
extend, after a very long interval, as far as the church-yard of Far, on the ex-
treme northern coaft of Cathnefs. Several of thefe have been before attended to..
I can only remark, that they are extremely local, and were, by their fimilarity, .
only the work of a fliort period. We imagine that the firft, about which we
can form any conje<R:ure, was ereded in 994, on the defeat of Camus, the Dane: .
the laft in 1034, on the murder of Malcolm the Second.

* Antitj. Cornvjallf 195,

3 In

O R K N I E S. XXXV

In the ifle oiUrifl are twofingular circles, near each other. The largeft is fifty Sepulchrat.

, r, . r . rn c ^^ . • 1 .U ANTIQUITIES.

feet in diameter, to the outmoft ring ; for it confifts of three, concentrical ; the ^

outmoft is formed of fmall ftones, the two inner of earth ; through all of which is a

fingle narrow entrance to a tumulus which rifes in the centre. The other circle is Cjrcular.

only twenty-two feet in diameter, and has only two rings, formed of earth : in the

centre is a barrow, the fides of which are fenced with ftones. No marks of their

having been places of interment have been found, yet moft probably that was

their ufe.

The links or fands of Skail^ in Sandwich, one of the Orknies, abound in round Barrows-

barrows. Some are formed of earth alone, others of ftone covered with earth.
In the former was found a coffin, made of fix flat ftones. They are too (hort to
receive a body at full length : the fiCeletons found in them lie with the knees
prefled to the breaft, and the legs doubled along the thighs. A bag, made of
rufties, has been found at the feet of fome of thefe fkeletons, containing the bones,
moft probably, of another of the family. In one were to be feen multitudes of
fmall beetles. Whether they were placed there by defign, or lodged there by acci-
dent, I will not determine ; but, as I have difcovered fimilar infefts in the bag
which inclofed the facred Ibis, we may fuppofe that the Egyptians, and the nation
to whom thefe tumuli did belong, might have had the fame fuperftition refpecting
them. On fome of the corpfes interred in this ifland, the mode of burning was
obferved. The afties, depofited in an urn which was covered on the top with a
flat ftone, have been found in the cell of one of the barrows. This coffin or cell
was placed on the ground, then covered with a heap of ftones, and that again
cafed with earth and fods. Both barrow and contents evince them to be of a dif-
ferent age from the former. Thefe tumuli were in the nature of family vaults :
in them have been found two tiers of coffins *. It is probable, that on the death of
any one of the family, the tumulus was opened, and the body interred near its
kindred bones.

The violence of the winds have, by blowing away the fands in a certain part of Graves o*
Wejira, one of the Schetlands, difcovered an extenfive burying-place, once covered Westra.

with the thicknefs of twenty feet. This feems to have belonged to different na-
tions. One is marked by the tumuli confifting of ftones and rubbifli ; fome
rounded, others flat at top like truncated cones. Near them are multitudes of
graves, which are difcoverable only by one, two, three, four, and fometimes even
more fliort upright ftones, fet in the level fand. The corpfe was interred a few
-feet deep, and covered with a layer of fine clay, to keep the fand from touching it.

* See Mr. Zo'iv's account, and plate, Archaologia, iii. 276. tab. xiii.

e 2 Not

xxxn SCHETLAND AND

Not only human bones, but thofe of oxen, horfes, dogs, and (heep, have been
found in thefe graves. Bcfide?, were feveral forts of warlike inftruments, battle-
axes, two'handed fwords, broad fwords, brazen daggers and fcull-caps, and fwords
made of the bones of the whale : knives and combs : beads, brotches, and chains
of ornament : a metal fpooii, and a neat glafs cup greatly corroded : fmall flat cir-
cular pieces of marble: ftones fhaped like whetftones, and fpherical ftones per-
forated, fuch as were in former ufe in Scotland for turning of fpindles : but the moft
fmgular thing was a thigh-bone clofcly incircled by a ring of gold. The tumuli
feem to have been the places of fepulture of the inhabitants of the ifles : the
graves, thofe of fome foreign nation who had landed here, had a confli6l, and prov-
ed vidorious. I found my conjecture on the arms and other matters found in
them. The brafs were iV(?rw^^/<7« *, the iron belonging to the natives ; but the
weapons of conquerors and conquered were, with ceremonies refembling thofe at
the funeral of Pallas, flung into the graves of the vidlorious party,

Hinc alii fpolia occifis direpta Latinis
Conjiciunt igni, galeas enfefque decoros,
Fienaque, ferventefque rotas ; pars munera nota,.
Iplbium clypeos j et non felicia tela :
Multa bourn circa ma^lantur corpora morti.

iiiScAKaiNAViA. The antiquities of this clafs found in Scandinavia are very numerous, and of a
magnitude which evince the extreme population of the country. I difcover only
three kinds. The firfl: may be exemplified in the vaft rounded earthen tumulus in
Smaland, with a rude monumental upright ftone at top ; and near it a fpherical
ftone, beautifully carved, flung up in honor of Ingo King of Sweden, in the latter
end of the ninth century f : others in honor of Humhlus, and Laudur brother
to King Angantyr ; the lafl: furrounded at its bafe with a circle of rude ftones J.
The Rambora Rolle is a mount of earth, with three upright pillars, placed fo as tO'
form a triangular fpace |. Other tumuli confift entirely of vaft heaps of ftones.
Several of the fepulchral memorials are formed of ftones difpofed in a circular
form : fome of low ftones, like that of the Danijh King Harald Hyldeland, placed
round the edge of the flat area of a low mount. He was flain in battle by Ringo
King of Sweden §, who paid him all funeral honors, burnt his body with great
pomp, and placed around his tumulus the numerous bodies of his faithful fol-
lowers who were flain around their prince ; and their places of reft are marked by
multitudes of fmall earthen barrows, with a Angle ftone at the top of each. On

* Wormii Mon. Dan. f,o. Dalhberg Suecia Antiqtia, et Hodiernal tab. 314. f Dahlberg Suecia.

Annquut tab. 322. % The fame, 31,5. || The fame, 323. § Saxo Cramm. 147.

% the

O R K N I E 3. xxxvii

the regal mount is a flat ftone, with five hollows in it, bafons to receive the blood'
of the vidlims *. Others confift of fmall ftones with Maen-birion, as the JVelJ}> flyle
them, lofty rude pillars, intermixed. In fome the lelTer ftones depart from the circu-
lar form, are oval or oblong : their edges are often contiguous, and thofe parts are
often mariced with a lofty pillar f. Two pillars are fometimes found, with an enor-
mous ftone fet from top to top, fo as to form the refemblance of a gateway J. Co-
lumnsof great height are alfo found, furroundedat their bafe with two circksof fmall
ftones^. Finally, the ftones are difpofcd fo as to form wedges, fquares, long rows,
as well as circles. The firft denoted that armies of foot and horfe had prevaled :
the fecond, troops of warriors : the third, duels of champions: and the laft, the
burials of families §. Multitudes of fmgle obelifcs are fcattered over the country :
fome quite plain j others infcribed with Runic charadters,^ memorial of the dead,
intermixed with well-fancied ornaments ||.

In many of the tumuli are found the weapons and other matters which had
been depofited with the burnt bones of the deceafed. In thofe of the earlieft
ages are the ftone weapons, fuch as axes and fpears heads made of flint. In
others have been met with a fmall lamp, a key, and fwords of brafs of the fame
form with fome of the Roman fwords **. A fuperftition attending the fwords was
fmgular : thofe of higheft temper were fuppofed to have been made by Duergl^
dwarfs or fairies, and were thought to have been irrefiftible. The reader will
not be difpleafed with the elegant verfion ff of a Runic poem, defcribing the in-
cantations of a fair heroine, to obtain the magical fword out of the tomb of her
deceafed father.

The Runic INVOCATION of Hervor, the Daughter of Anga-NTYR,

Who demands, at her Father's Tomb, a certain Sword^
called Tirfing^ which was buried with him^

Hervor.

Awake, Angantyr ! To thy tomb, Tirfing, made by fairy hands,.

With fleep-expelling charms, I come Herior from thy tomb demands..

Break thy drowfy fetters, break ! Jiervardur, Hiora^ardur, hear !

'Tis Hewor calls — Awake ! awake ! Lift, oh lilt, my father dear !

* Dahlberg, tab. 315. f The fame, and tab. r8 1 . % Olaut Magnus. f[ Wormil Mon. Dan. p. 6 ^,
§ I do not well underftand fome of thefe dlftin6lions ; but give them from Olaus Magnus, lib. i. c. 1%.

Moft of them are exemplified at Finfa in S-,veden. See Dahlberg, tab. 104, and Perinjkiold Motium.

Sueo'Coth. p. 216,

II Wormh Monum. Dan. 64, & paflim. ** Dahlbergy tab, 314. +t ^7 '"y friend, the

Reverend Mr. W~illiams of Vron»

Each.

SXXVIII

RUNIC INVOCATION.

Each from his filent tomb I call ;
Ghofts of the dead, awaken all !
With helmet, (hield, and coat of mail,
With fword and fpear, I bid ye hail !
Where twilled roots of oak abound,
And undermine the hollow ground,
Each from his narrow cell I call ;
Ghofts of the dead, awaken all !
In what darkfome cavern deep.
Do the Ions of Angrym fleep ?
Dull and afties tho' ye be,
Sons of Angryniy anfwer me.
Lift'ning in your clay-cold beds,
Sons of Eyvor, lift your heads.
Rife, Hior-vardur, rife and fpeak;
Hervardur, thy long filence break.
Duft and alhes tho' ye be.
One and all, oh anfwer me.
Never, oh never may ye reft ;
But rot and putrefy unblefs'd,
If ye refufe the magic blade,
And belt, by fairy fingers made!

Angantyr.

Ceafe, oh daughter, ceafe to call me ;

Didft thou know what will befall thee,

Thou hadft never hither fped.

With Runic fpells to wake the dead s

"Thou, that in evil hour art come

To brave the terrors of the tomb.

Nor friend, nor weeping father, ofave

Angantyr''^ reliques to the grave ;

And Tirjing, that all-conqu'ring fword.

No longer calls Angantyr lord.

A living warrior wears it now— — .

H E R V O R.

*Tis falfe, Angantyr ; only thou.
So may great Odin ever keep
In peace the turf where thou doft fleep j
As Tirfing ftill befide thee lies,
Th' attendant of thy obfequies I
•My juft inheritance I claim ;
' Conjure thee by a daughter's name,
-Thy only child I

Angantvr.

Too well I knewr
TIiou would ft demand what thou flialt nie.
By Tirjing's fatal point (hall die
The braveft of thy progeny.
A warlike fon (hall Hervor bear,
Hervors pride, and Tirfing's heir ;
Already, daughter, I forefee
Beidrek the hero's name will be:
To him, the young, the bold, the ftrong,
Tirfing hereafter will belong.

H E R V O R.

Ne'er ftiall, my inchantments ceafe.
Nor you, ye fpirits, reft in peace.
Until ye grant what I demand,
And Tirfing glitters in my hand.

Angantyr.
Oh Virgin, more than woman bold !
Of warlike mien, and manly mould!
What has induc'd thy feet to tread
The gloomy manfions of the dead.
At this lone hour, devoid of fear,
With fword, and (hield, and magic fpear?

H E R V O R.

The caufe thou know' ft, why to thy tomb
I've wander'd thro' the midnight gloom :
Yield then the Fairies work divine j
Thou art no father elfe of mine j
But goblin damn''d.

Angantyr.

Then hear me, Maid,
That art not ev'n of death afraid !
Hialmays bane thou flialt command j
The fatal fword is in my hand :
But fee the flames that round it rife!
Doft thou the furious fire defpife ?

H E R V o R.
Yes ; I dare feize, amidft the fire,
The objeft of my foul's defire 5
Nor do thefe eyes behold with dread.
The flame that plays around the dead.

Angantyr.
Ra(h Maid ! will nothing then controul
The purpofe of thy daring foul ?

But

FEROE ISLES.

KXXIX

But hold— ere thou (houldft fall a prey
To thefe fierce flames that round it play,
The fword from out the tomb I'll bring}
Go, and the fong of triumph fing.

H E R V O R.
Offspring of kings ! I know thee now.
And thus before thy prefence bow ;
Father, Hero, Prince, and Friend !
To thee my grateful knees I bend.
Not half fo happy had I been,
Tho' Scandinavia hail'd me queen.

Angantyr.
How art thou to thy int'reft blind,
Weak woman, tho' of dauntlefs mind !
Tirjing, the objeft of thy joy,
Thy future offspring ftiall deflroy.

H E R V o R.
My feamen call ; I muft away :
Adieu, O King ! I cannot ftay.
Fate, do thy worft ! in times to come
Be what it may, my children's doom 1

A N G A N T Y R.

Take then, and keep Hialmar's bane, ,
Hy'd in the blood of heroes flain.

Long fliall the fatal pledge be thine,
Hervor, if truly I divine j
The fell, devouring, polfon'd blade.
For death and for deftru6tion made.

H E R V O R.

With joy the two-edg'd fword I take.
Nor reck the havock it will make j
Poffefling which, I little rue
Whate'er my frantic fons may do.

Angantyr.

Daughter, farewell ! as thou doll live,
To thee the death of twelve I give :
To thee, O maid of warlike mind.
What Angryrn's fons have left behind.

Hervor.

Angantyr, reft in peace ! and all
Ye ghofts, who have obey'd my call ;
Reft in your mould'ring vaults below '.
While from this houfe of death I go.
Where, burfting from the vap'rous ground.
Meteors flioot, and blaze around.

I fhall jufi: mention J that the antient Scandinavians had alfo their Cromlehs *. I
can trace but one inftance, and that on the top of a tumulus in Zealand; which,
with two other barrows, is included in a fquare of ftones.

Circles, for the purpofe of religious rites, were not wanting here. The Ettejlupa^
or circle of lofty rude columns in Weji Gothland, was celebrated for the facrifices
of the heathens t J and the great ftones at Finjlad, difpofed in form of a cell,
and called 5/. Birgitta s Oratory J, was no other than a temple of worfhip, ana-
logous, probably, to that of the Druids,

The next ftep is to the Feroe illands, a group about two hundred and ten miles to
the north-weft of the northern Schetland, between lat. 6i, 15. and 62, 30. There are
feventeen which are habitable, each of which is a lofty mountain arifing out of the
waves, divided from the others by deep and rapid currents. Some of them are
deeply indented with fecure harbours ; providence feeming to have favored mankind
with the fafeft retreats in the moft boifterous feas. AH are very fteep, and moft of

* Ifsrmii Mofi, Dan, p. 8.

t Dalhbergy tab. i8o*_

J The fame, joj.

Feroe Isles»

therat

¥¥•

F E R O E ISLES.

ihem faced with mofl: tremendous precipices. The furface of the mountains con-
firts of a fhallov/ foil of remarkable fertility; for barley, the only corn fown here,
yields above twenty for one ; and the grafs affords abundant pafturage for {beep.
The exports are falted mutton and tallow, goofe quils, feathers, and Eider down ;
and, by the induftry of the inhabitants, knit woollen waiftcoats, caps, and (lock-
ings. No trees beyond the fize of juniper, or ftunted willows, will grow here :
nor are any wild quadrupeds to be met with, except rats and mice, originally
efcapcd from the fliipping.

t.KKD Birds. The [[{i of ]a,-,d birds is very fmall :— The Cinereous Eagle, p. 214. B ; the

Lanner, p, 225. K; the Sparrow Hawk, p. 226. N* j a fpccies of Owl; the
Raven, N°i34; and Hooded Crow, p. 251. B. are the pernicious fpecies.
Ravens were fo deflrudive to the Lambs and Sheep, that in old times every boat-
man was obliged to bring into the feiTxons-houfe, on St. Olaus's day, the beak of
one of thofe birds, or pay one fkin, which was called the Raven-fine^ in cafe of
negled. The remaining land fowl are Wild Pigeons and Stares, White Wagtails,
W^rens, and fometimcs the Swallow. The Snow Bunting only refts here in
fpring, on its paflage northward. The Heron is fometimes met with. The Spoon-
Bill is Common \. The Sea Pie, Water Rail, and Lapwing, are fcen here. The
birds of the rocks, fuch as Puffins, Razor Bills, and Little Auks, Foolifh and
Black Guillemots, fwarm here; and the Geyir-fugl^ or Great Auk, at certain
periods vifits thefe iilands. The laft, by reafon of its fhort wing incapable of flight,
neftles at the foot of the cliffs. The Skua, Ar6tic, Black-backed, and Herring
Gulls, Fulmars, Manks, Stormy Petrels, Imber and Northern Divers, Wild
Swans and Geefe, (the Swans only vernal paffengers towards the north) Eider
Ducks, Havelda or Long-tailed Ducks, Corvorants, and the Sula Gannet, form
the fum of the palmated fowl of thefe inhofpitable fpots.i
'FowLiNO. The manner of fowling is fo very ftrange and hazardous that the defcription

fliould by no means be omitted. Neceffity compels mankind to wonderful attempts.
The cliffs which contain the objeds of their fearch are often two hundred fathoms

From above. in height, and are attempted from above and below. In the firft cafe, the fowlers
provide themfelves with a rope eighty or a hundred fathoms in length. The
fowler fattens one end about his waift and between his legs, recommends himfelf
to the protection of the Almighty, and is lowered down by fix others, who place a
piece of timber on the margin of the rock, to preferve the rope from v/earirig againft
the fliarp t(\oc. They have befides a fmall line faftened to the body of the ad-
yenturer, by which he gives fignals that they may lower or raife him, or fhift him

* Tlufe on the authority of Mr. Debes, who wrote thehiftory pf jhefe iO^s in 1670.
j- Brimnkh, p. 4.6.

froni

F E R O E I S L E S: xit

from place to place. The laft operation Is attended with great danger, by the
ioofening of the (tones, which often fall on his head, and would infallibly deftroy
him, was it not protected by a ftrong thick cap ; but even that is found unequal
to fave him againft the weight of the larger fragments of rock. The dexterity of
the fowlers is amazing ; they will place their feet againft the front of the preci-
pice, and dart themfelves fome fathoms from it, with a cool eye furvey the places
where the birds neftle, and again fhoot into their haunts. In fome places the birds
lodge in deep recefles. The fowler will alight there, difengage himfelf from the
rope, fix it to a ftone, and at his leifure colleft the booty, faften it to his girdle,
and refume his pendulous feat. At times he will again fpring from the rock, and in
that attitude, with a fowling net placed at the end of a ftafF, catch the old birds
which are flying to and from their retreats. When he hath finifhed his dreadful
employ, he gives a flgnal to his friends above, who pull him up, and {hare the hard-
earned profit. The feathers are preferved for exportation : the flefli is partly eaten
frefti : but the greater portion dried for winter's provifion.

The fowling from below has its fhare of danger. The party goes on the expe- From satovr,
dition in a boat ; and when it has attained the bafe bf the precipice, one of the moft
daring, having faftened a rope about his waift, and furnifhed himfelf with a long
pole with an iron hook at one end, either climbs, or is thruft up by his companions,
who place a pole under his breech, to the next footing fpot he can reach *. He,
by means of the rope, brings up one of the boats crew; the reft are drawn up in
the fame manner, and each Is furnifhed with his rope and fowIing-ftafF. They
then continue their progrefs upwards in the fame manner, till they arrive at the
region of birds ; and wander about the face of the clifF in fearch of them. They then
aft in pairs ; one faftens himfelf to the end of his aflbciate's rope, and, in places
where birds have neftled beneath his footing, he permits himfelf to be lowered
down, depending for his fecurity to the ftrength of his companion, who is to haul
him up again ; but it fometimes happens that the perfon above is overpowered by
the weight, and both inevitably perifti. They fling the fowl down to the boat,
which attends their motions, and receives the booty. They often pafs feven or
eight days in this tremendous employ, and lodge in the crannies which they find
in the face of the precipice.

The fea which furrbunds thefe iflands is extremely turbulent. The tides vary
greatly on the weftern and eaftern fides. On the firft, where is received the un-
interrupted flood of the ocean from the remote Greenland, the tide rifes feven fa-
thoms : on the eaftern fide it rifes only three. Dreadful whirlwinds, called by the
Danes, oes, agitate the fea to a ftrange degree j catch up a vaft quantity of water,

* In Pento^pidat:"s Hift. Norway, ii. 6i, is a j)late exprelTive of this manner of fowling.

f fo

XLII

FEROE ISLES.

fo as to leave a great temporary chafni in the fpot on which it falls, and carries away
with it, to an amazing diftance, any fifhes which may happen to be within reach
of its fury. Thus great fhoals of Herrings have been found on the higheft moun-
tains of Feroe. It is equally refifllefs on land, tearing up trees, ftones, and animals,
and carrying them to very diftant places. We muft no longer laugh at the good
archbifhop*, who gravely tells us,. that at times, the Rats called Lemming are
poured down from the clouds in great fhowers on the Alps of Norway. We
afTent to the fa6l ; but muft folve the phoenomenon by afcribing it to a whirlwind,
as he does in one place ; yet immediately fuppofes they may be bred in the upper
regions out of feculent matter.

Among the numerous whirlpools of thefe feas, that of Suderoty near the ifland of
the fame name, is the moft noted. It is occafioned by a crater, fixty-one fathoms
in depth in the centre, and from fifty to fifty-five on the fides. The water forms
four fierce circumgirations. The point they begin at is on the fide of a large bafon,
where commences a range of rocks running fpirally, and terminating at the verge
of the crater. This range is extremely rugged, and covered with water from the
depth of twelve to eight fathoms only. It forms four equidiftant wreaths, with a
channel from thirty-five to twenty fathoms in depth between each. On the outfide,
beyond that depth, the fea fuddenly finks to eighty and ninety. On the fouth border
of the bafon is a lofty rock, called Sumboe Munk^ noted for the multitude of birds
which frequent it. On one fide, the water is only three or four fathoms deep ; on
the other fifteen. The danger at moft times, efpecially in ftorms, is very great.
Ships are irrefiftibly drawn in : the rudder lofes i<ts power, and the waves beat as
high as the mafts ; fo that an efcape is almoft miraculous : yet at the reflux, and
in very ftill weather, the inhabitants will venture in boats, for the fake of fiftiing.
Mr. Debes omits the times of greateft danger. It is to be hoped that attention will
be paid to the various periodical appearances of a phoenomenon, the caufe of
which is very fatisfadtorily explained by the worthy paftor \.

Mankind found their way to thefe iflands fome time before the difcovery of
Iceland. Naddodd, a Norwegian pirate, had retired here, as the only place of fecurity
he could find J. About this time, Harold Harfagre poflefi'ed himfelf of Norway^
and flung off the Dantjh yoke. A party was formed againft him ; but it was foon
fubdued, and the malecontents quitting the kingdom, retired tothe Hebrides^ Orknies^
Schetland, and Feroe, and garve rife to tht Norwegian reign in all thofe iflands.
Iceland. From the Feroe iflands, the hardy Scandinavians made the next ftep, in their nor-

thern migrations, to Iceland. I muft premife, that there is the higheft pro-
bability that this ifland was difcovered in an age moft remote to theirs : and
that it was the Thtile of Pytheas^ an illuftrious Marfeilliani at left cotemporary with

* Olflus Magmsy Afchb, of Upfal. + See his plan, p. 5a, % Iflands Landnamabok, 5.

JriJiQtU

ICELAND. xLin

Anjioth*^ and who ptifhed his difcoveries towards the north, as his countryman
Euthymenes did beyond the line. Pytheas arrived at Thule, an ifland, fays he, fix
days failing northward from Britain^ where, he informs us, was continual day and
night for fix months alternately f. He does not exaftly hit on the length of day
and night j but he could have been at no other, at that diftance from Britain, but
Iceland^ in which there was a moft remarkable abfence of light. As to Naddodd^
in 86 1, he was accidentally driven by a tempeft to the eaftern fide of Iceland^ to
a place now called Reidarfiall. He found the country covered with fnow, and
therefore named it Snceland\ yet he returned home full of its praifes. Soon after,
Gardar, a Swede, experienced the fame fortune. On a: voyage to the Hebrides, he
was tempeft-driven to the fame ifland j on which, by the advice of his mother, v/ho
was a fort of diviner, he landed at Horn. At this period Iceland was cloathed with
wood from the fhore to the very tops of the mountains. He wintered there, and
likewife returned full of its praifes %*

Floke, a celebrated pirate, was the next adventurer. He took with hiin thrpt
Ravens, and, like another Noah, made them the augury of the land. Before he
failed, he performed a great facrifice for the fuccefs, upon a vaft pile of ftones, which
he raifed for the purpofe. This points out another origin of the vaft tumuli we fo
frequently fee. He made the Schetland znd the Feroe ifles his firft fteps ; and loofed
from the laft for Iceland, the neareft point of which is about five hundred and forty-
miles diftant. His firft Raven returned to Feroe : the fecond flew back to the (hip :
the third drre<51:ed him to the wiflied-for land §. He wintered there. The cattle
he brought with him perifhed through want. The fpring proved unufually cold,
and the fea appeared full of ice ; for which reafon he beftowed on the ifland the
name it at prefent bears. Floie was fick of his voyage : returned full of difpraifes
of the country. This did not difcourage other adventurers, all of them Scandi'
navians, thruft out of the exuberant northern hive. The reft of the world, which
their countrymen ravaged, was afl!uredly too fmall for them, otherwife they never
would have colonized almoft the moft wretched fpot in the northern heraifphere.
Ambition pofilbly a£tuated the leaders, who might think it

Better to reign in hell than ferve in heaven.

Colony after colony arrived. They confederated, and formed a republic, which
exifted near four hundred years j but with as many feuds and flaughters as could

• The works of Pytheas had been read by Dicdtarcbus, a difciple of Ariftot/e's, See Sfrabo, lib. ii.

t Flin. lib. ii. c. 75, % Same, p. 7, § Same, p. 8. Torfaus< Ki^, Norveg. il. 97-

f 2 happen

XLir

ICELAND.

happen in a climate where luxury might pamper and corrupt the inhabitants. In
1261, wearied with their diffenfions, they voluntarily re-united thcmfelves to
their mother-country, Norway^ under the reign of its monarch Haqti'm. It is re-
markable, that the poetic genius of their aboriginal country flouriflied with equal
fublimity in every climate. The Scalds^ or bards, retained their fire in the inhof-
pitable climate of Iceland^ as vigoroufly as when they attended on their chieftains
to the mild air of Spaln^ or Sicily^ and fung their valiant deeds.

Every thing which furnifhed topics to the poets of other countries, was, in the
moft remote period, wanting here. Groves, verdant meadows, purling ftreams,
and gentle zephyrs, were totally unknown ; and in their {lead, Hunted fhrubs, a
thin herbage, rude torrents, and fierce gales, reign in every part. We admit the
apology of the learned Torfoeus for the prefent fiate of his country*. Violent
tempells might cover whole tracts with the unftable fand, eruptions of water from
the mountains defolate fome parts, earthquakes bury vaft extents of fertile land
with fragments of rocks, and inundations of the fea change the face of others.
But foft fcenery was not requifite to infpire poets who were to fing only the pre-
parations for warlike exploits, the flaughter of a battle, the deeds of their heroes,
and the magic folemnities of fuperftitions.

The ifland, at prefent, exhibits to the traveller amazing Hopes of lava, which
once ftreamed from the vulcanoes, and terminated in the fea. Such is the appear-
ance, about three miles from Hafnaifoird., in lat. 64. 4. of vaft mafles of lava piled
to a montanous height upon each other, broken, vitrified, fliarp, rude, and black.
In parts, fandy tra<Sts intervene : in others, a foil peculiar to the place, a tufa,
originated from the violent eruptions of impure water which rufh from the moun-
tains, attendant on the fiery eruptions. Vallies compofed of a very thin foil, afford
grafs for a numerous breed of cattle and fheep. Here is found variety of fpecies of
the beft graflTes ; of the aira^poa^fejlucay and carex. Part is harvefted againft winter ;
but not in fuch plenty, but that the farmer is obliged often to feed his flock with
the wolf-fifh, or the heads of cod-fifh beaten fmall, and mixed with a quarter part
of hay. To what food will not neceflity compel both man and beaft to recur !

Woons LONG The woods o{ Iceland have long fince vanifhed, unlefs we except a few ftunted

LOST, birch, fcarcely ten feet high, and four inches in diameter ; and a itvf fpecies of

Drift-wood. willow, fo fmall and fo rare as fcarcely to be of ufe to the inhabitants. But they
are abundantly fupplied with drift-wood from Europe and Amerlcay as appears by
the fpecies found on the fhores, efpecially on all the northern coaft, as Langanefs on
the north-ealt, and Homjirandt on the north-weft. That woods were found here

• Hifi> l^orvjeg. i. a a.

in

ICELAND. XLY

in very remote periods, Is very evident, from the quantity of futu^hand met with

in feveral parts j which ftill retains traces of its vegetable origin i the marks

of branches, and circles of the annual growth of the wood : fome pieces ^re

even capable of being planed. It is found in the fiflures of the rocks, much

comprefled by their weight, and in pieces fometimes big enough to make a

middle-fized table. This is fometimes ufed as fuel i but the want of it is fup-

plied, in fome meafure, by the drift-wood, by peat, and by feveral ftrange fubfti-

tutes, the effect of necefiity. Smiths prefer the futurlrand to fea-coal in their

bufmefs. The beds of this foffil ftrongly refute the notion of Iceland having

been entirely formed by vulcanic violence, fince the original creation ; and

raifed out of the fea in later times, as others have been known to have done.

Delos and Rhodos, in very remote ages ; Thera^ the modern Saniorini, and

ThcraJIa, in the 135th Olympiad-^ Tbiay in the time of Pliny* ; and in the beginning

of this century another fprung from the fea, by the force of fubterraneous fires, near

to Santorini f : and, while I am now writing, an ifland is forming by the fame

caufe, not remote from the Relckenes.^ part of the very iflaftd in queftion. But thefe

futur or forte brands are certainly the remains of antient forefts, overturned and

buried by earthquakes, after the golden age of the ifland. Let me add to this

another proof, from the number of its vegetables : there being found on it not Plants, numier

fewer than three hundred and nine perfe(ft, and two hundred and thirty-thfee °'*

cryptogamous plants. On the ifle of Afcenfton^ which is totally and aboriginally

vulcanic, a Flora of not more than feven plants is to be feen %.

This vaft ifland extends from 63. 15. to about 67. 18. north latitude: is
reckoned to be five hundred and fixty EngUJh miles long, and about two hundred
and fifty broad ||. It has a rugged coaft, indented deeply with fecure bays; but
faced with very ftvf ifles. It lies in the Hyperborean ocean, divided from Greenland
by a fea about thirty-five leagues wide §. The whole is traverfed with great ridges
of mountains; the higheft naked, and ufually free from fnow, by reafon of the
falineand fulphurous particles with which they abound. The lower, called Jok~
keler^ are cafed with eternal ice and fnow ; and are the glacieres of Iceland. Of thefe,
Snafiall Jokkel, which hangs over the fea in the weft part of the ifland, is far the
higheft f[. Out of thefe, at different periods, have been tremendous eruptions of fire
and water, the burft of which is attended with a moft terrific noife : flames and balls
of fire iflTue out with the fmoke : and fhowers of ftones are vomited up ; of which there
has been an inftance of one weighing near three hundred pounds being flung to the

• Hift. Nat. lib. ii. c. 87. f Moft admirably defciibed in the Ph, franf. AbriJg. v. 196, &c.

t OJbeck's Foy. ii. 98. Farjier's Foy. ii. 575. 576. I Mallet, i. 15. § Kergueliny 175.

^ See Qlaffen, i. tab. xvii.

2 diftanc*

XLVl

$<:c

ICELAND.

diftance of four miles., The heights of the mountains have not been taken ; but
that of the Hecla-fiall is not far fhort of feventeen hundred yards. Of this fpecies of
mountain, Hecla has been moft celebrated : the records of Iceland enumerate ten
of its eruptions fmce the arrival of the Norwegians. It was the hell of the nor-
thern nations ; but they feem divided in their opinions, whether the pains of the
damned arofe from fire, or, what was more tremendous to the natives of thefc
countries, from the cold *.

To bathe in fiery floods, or to refide
In thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice.

Hecla has been known to have had only ten eruptions between the years 1 104 ani
1693 ; from the laft to 1766, when it burft out in flames and lava. It emitted flames
in 1771 and 1772 j but did not overflow with Stenna^ or a ftone flood. But other
vulcanoes have, in the prefent century, proved the fpiracles to the internal fires of
Iceland. The vallies between the mountains are in general fandy and fterile. Fiery-
eruptions are not confined to the mountains. Laft year they burft out of the fulphure-
ous foil of the low parts of SJ^aftaf eld SyJ/el or province j and the lava has overflown
the country for the fpace of thirty miles, and has at laft reached the fea, deftroying
every thing in its progrefs. It dries up the rivers, and fills their beds with lava.
Moors in fome places ftop its courfej but it totally changes their nature. It has
taken to the deferts of the fame province, and begins to fpread to the eaft, or
Mule SyJJelj the moft populous and fruitful part of the ifland ; nor were there any
fiwns of its ceafing at the time when this account was fent to me f.

HuERs, OR BoiL^ The Fountains of many of the vallies are of a moft extraordinary nature;

iKG JETS D EAU ^^^ Called Huers^ and form at ixmt% jets d'eaux of fcalding water, ninety-four feet
high, and thirty in diameter, creating the moft magnificent gerhes in nature !
efpecially when backed by the fetting fun. They arife out of cylindrical tubes
of unknown depths : near the furface they expand into apertures of a funnel
fhape, and the mouths fpread into large extent of ftaladlitical matter, formed of fuc-
ceflive fcaly concentric undulations. The playing of thefe ftupendous fpouts
is foretold by noifes roarlu^ like the catarad of Niagara. The cylinder be-
gins to fill : it rifes gradually to the furface, and gradually encreafes its height,
fmoking amazingly, and flinging up great ftones. After attaining its greateft
height, it gradually finks, till it totally difappears. Boiling jets d'eaux, and
boiling fprings, are frequent in moft parts of the ifland. In many parts they
are applied to the culinary ufes of the natives. The moft capital is that which is

• Bartkoii/itM de Contempts Mortis, 359. f Letter from Mr. Brunnich, dated O^ober 31, 1783.

5 called

ICELAND. xLTii

called Geyer, in a plain rifing into fmall hills, and in the midft of an amphi- •
theatre, bounded by the moft magnificent and various-fhaped icy mountains j
among which the three-headed Hecla foars pre-eminent.

Thefe Huers are not confined to the land. They rife in the very fea, and form In the Sea.
fcalding fountains amidft the waves. Their diftance from the land is unknown ;
but the new vulcanic ifle, twelve miles off the point of Reickenes^ emitting fire and
fmoke, proves that the fubterraneous fires and waters extend to that fpace ; for thofe
aweful effedls arife from the united fury of thefe two elements *. The depth of
water between this new creation and the Geir-fugl Skier, is forty-four fathoms j
ten leagues to the weft, two hundred and five : and the bottom compofed of
black fand f j doubtlefs no other than the Pumex arenaceus, the frequent evomition
of vulcanoes. How much paft human comprehenfion muft the powers have been,
that could force up materials for an ifland, even from the medium depth I have
given ! and how deep beneath the bottom of the ocean muft have been the caufes
which could fupply ftone, or pumice, or lava, to fill the fpace which this ifland oc-
cupies, many miles in circumference^ and poffibly above a hundred fathoms in
depth !

If fomc iflands fpring out of thefe feas, others are fwallowed by the force of
earthquakes. Their foundations are undermined by the fury of the fubterraneous
elements, which carries off the materials of their bafis, and difcharges it in
lava, or different forms, through the vulcanic fpiracula. The earthquakes {hatter
the cruft on which they ftand, and they tumble into the great abyfs. Such
was the fate of the nine ifles of Gonberman, which lay about four leagues from
Sandanefsy between Patrixfiord and Cape Nort, all which fuddenly difappeared.
Their names ftill exift in feveral maps ; but their place is only diftinguifhable
by the fuperior depth of water in the fpot on which they ftood J.

The number of inhabitants in Icelandic computed not to exceed fixty thoufand. People, nitmbir
Confidering the ungenial furface of this vaft ifland, probably the number is oi'»

equal to the means of fupport. Writers apologize for the fewnefe of inhabi-
tants, by attributing it to the almoft depopulation of the place by the forte diod,
or black death, a peftilence which commenced in Cathay, or China, in 1346, fpread Pestilinck.
over all Jfia, and Africa, reached the fouth of Europe in 1347, and in 134S
fpread itfelf over Britain, Germany, and northern Europe, even to the extremity
of the inhabited north. The fmall-pox, and other epidemics, are mentioned as
contributing to thin the ifland. During the time of the plague, tradition relates,

• See Mr. Wlltehurfl" s Theory. t Sable noir comme la poiidre a canon, Foyage au NorJ^

par M. de Kerguelin, 69. X The fame, 65,, 6i,

m

xiriii

ELAND.

ill tem^s moft graphically horrid, that the perfons who efcaped to the moun-
tains, faw the whole low country covered with a thick peftiferous fog. A guefs
' may be made at the number of inhabitants in the eleventh century ; for a bifhop
of SchaJholt caufed, in 1090, all who were liable to pay tribute to be numbered :
four thoufand of that rank were found ; fo that, giving five to a family, the
fum is twenty thoufand *, Much of the labor in the northern world falls to the
female part of the family; and in thofe patriarchal times, the fons alfo fhared
the toil. I cannot therefore under-rate the number of commonalty, or untaxable
people, heads of families, at ten thoufand ; which, by the fame rule, will give
fifty thoufand of the lower rank. Befides the dearth of food in this rude illand,
other caufes contribute to prevent the increafe of inhabitants. Neceflity forces
the men to feek from the fea fubfiftence, denied by their niggardly land. Con-
ftant wet, cold, and hard labor, abridge the days of thoufands; and that labor is in-
creafed tenfold, to fupply the rapacity of their mafters. Incredible as it may feem,
a late \i\v\goi Denmark fold the whole ifland, and its inhabitants, to a company of
merchants, for the annual rent ef one thoufand pounds. This company en-
clave the poor natives; who are bound to fell their fifli, the ftaple of the ifland,
at a low price to thefe monopolizers ; who, dreading refiftance, even have taken
from them the ufe of fire-arms ! Here is given a ftronger caufe of depopulation,
perhaps, than the others ; for Hymen can have but faint votaries in the land from
whence liberty is banilhed. But for thefe caufes, here ought to be found the
genuine fpecies of the Norman race, unmixed with foreign blood ; as muft be
the cafe with every place remote from the reft of the world. Here are to be
fought the antient cufloms and diet of their original ftock, which are now pro-
bably worn out in the land of their diftant anceftors. The luxury of food has
fo little crept in among them, that their meat and drink in general is peculiar
to themfelves j and much of the former compofed of herbs negleded in other
places.
Dress. The drefs of the natives feems unchanged for a very confiderable time : that of

the men is fimple, not unlike that of the Norwegian peafants f ; that of the fe*
males is graceful, elegant, and peculiar to them, and perhaps fome very old-
fafliioned Norwegian lady. They ornament themfelves with filver chains and
rich plates of filver, beautifully wrought. On their head is a lofty flender drefs,
not unlike a Phrygian bonnet. I cannot compare this to any antient European
fafliion. Jfabel of Franee^ queen to Edward H. wore a head-drefs of an enor-

* Arngrim Jonas's Comment. Iceland, in HacHuyi, i, ^^6. f See Olaffen^ i, tab. iii. ?on-

tefpidan, ii. tab. p. 272.

mous

ICELAND, %HK

nious height, of a flender conic form * j but which, for want of the flexure at
top, gave place in elegance to the tafte of the Icelandic fair.

Mr. Trail awakens our curiofity about the Icelandic antiquities j fpeaks of
caftles, and heathen temples, and burying-places, and upright flones, and mounts.
Of the firft I am felicitous to gain fome further knowlege, for poflibly they
might diredt to the origin of the round buildings in the Hebrides, Orknies, Schet-
land, and the north of Scotland \ : others feem to me the various Scandinavian
antiquities, admirably exemplified in Baron Dahlherg's Suecia Antiqua et Moderna.

The fpecies of quadrupeds of this jfland are very few. Small horfes of a Domestjc Qua-
hardy kind j cows in great abundance, and mcftly hornlefs, the flefli and hides drupeds.

of which are confiderable articles of exportation. Sheep are met with in great
flocks in every farm ; the wool is manufailured at home, the meat falted, and,
with the fkins, much of it is fold to the Company, at the twenty-two ports al-
lotted for the purpofes of traffic. It is remarkable, that the climate difpofes their
horns to grow very large, and even to exceed the number of thofe of the (heep
of other countries; examples of three, four, and five, being extremely frequent.
Goats and fwine are very fcarce \ the firft, for want of flirubs to brouze, the laft
through deficiency of their ufual food, and the fupply which the farm-yards of
Qther countries afFord.

The dogs are ftiarp-nofed, have (hort and fliarp upright ears, bufhy tails,
and are full of hair. Here are domeftic cats j but numbers are grown wild,
and multiply among the rocks, fo as to become noxious. The reader need not be
reminded, that thefe, and every fpecies of domeflic animals, were originally in-
troduced into Iceland by the Norwegians.

An attempt has been made to introduce the Rein Deer, Ar£i. Zool. N^ ^.
Thofe which furvived the voyage have bred frequently. There can be little
doubt of their fucceeding, zs Iceland hzs, in common with Lapland, mofl of the
plants for their fummer food t» ^nd abundance of the Rein Deer lichen for
their winter provifion.

Rats and Mice feem to have been invoJontarily tranfported. Both the domeftic Rats.

fpecies are found here j and the white variety of the Moufe, called in the Icelandic,
Skogar Mys, is common in the bufhes. I fufped that there is a native fpecies,
allied, as Do£tor Pallas imagines, to the CEconomic, Arfi. Zool. p. 134, A. ; for,
like that, it lays in a great magazine of berries by way of winter- ftores. This
fpecies is particularly plentiful in the wood of Hufafels. In a country where

* Monfaucon Monum. de la Monarchie Fr. ii. tab. xlii. f Foj. Hebrides, t Cofjfer.

Olaffen, ii. 434. and Amcen, Acad. iv. 151.

g berries

ICELAND.

berries are but thinly difperfed, thefe little animals are obliged to crofs rivers to make-
their diftant forages. In their return with the booty to their magazines, they are

obliged to repafs the ftream ; of which Mr. Olafferi gives the following account :

" The party, which confifls of from Cix to ten, feled a fiat piece of dried cow-dung,
on which they place the berries in a heap in the middle ; then, by their united force,
bring it to the water's edge, and after launching it, embark, and place themfelves
round the fieap, with their heads joined over it, and their backs to the water, their
tails pendent in the ftream, ferving the purpofe of rudders *." When I confider the
wonderful fagacity of Beavers, and think of the management of the Squirrel,
which, in cafes of fimilar neceffity, make a piece of bark their boat, and tailtheir
fail f , I no longer hefitate to credit the relation.

FoxE». The Common Fox, JrSL Zool. N° ii, and the Ardic, N° lo, are frequent;

are profcribed, and killed for the fake of a reward, in order to prevent the
bavock they would make among the fheep.

Bears. The Polar Bear, N° i8, is often tranfported from G"r^^«/^«^, on the iflands of

ice ; but no fooner is its landing difcovered, than a general alarm is fpread, and
purfuit made till it is deftroyed. The Icelanders 2iXe very intrepid in their attack
on this animal ; and a fingle man, armed only with a fpear, frequently enters the
lifts with this tremendous beaft, and never fails of vidory. A perfon who lived,
rear Langenefs^ the extreme northern point, where the Bears moft frequently land,,
is ftill celebrated for having flain not fewer than twenty in fingle combat. There
is a reward for every fkin, which muft be delivered to the next magiftrate.

The Common Bat, p. 185, A. is fometimes found in this ifland, and finiflies the
lift of the land-animals of the country.

The amphibious quadrupeds, or Seals, are very numerous. Iceland, being;
blefled with domeftic animals,, has lefs ufe of this race than other Jr^ic coun-
tries ; yet they are of confiderable advantage. The fkins are ufed for cloathing •
a good one is equal in value to the fkin of a fheep, or the hide of a cow • and
the fat fupplies the lamps in the long nights with oil. The Common, during
winter, is exceffively faty and will yield fixty pounds.

Seal*, The Icelanders have two fpecies of native Seals ; the Common, N" 72 called

by them Land-Salur^ becaufe it keeps near the coaft ; the other the Great
N°73, ovVt-Salur. They are taken in nets placed in the creeks and narrow
bays, which they pafs through to get on fhore. When it begins to grow dark
the hunters make a fire, and fling into it the (havings of horns,, or any thing that,
fmells ftrong i this allures the Seals, who ftrike into the nets, and are taken,.

« Qla^m, as related to hiwi, f Unnms, Klein, Rzacxinjki, Scheffer* .

At.

ICELAND. Li

At other times, a hJer or lure is tied to a rope, and placed before the nets ; to
which the Seals, fuppofing it to be fome ftrange animal, will eagerly fwim, and
flrike into the nets, paying with their lives for their curiofity. This carries them
fometimes fo far, that they will flray to a confiderable diftance inland, attracted
"by a candle, or the fire in a fmith's forge. If they are taken young, they are
capable of being tamed : they will follow their mafter, and come to him like a
dog, when called by the name which is given them. The Icelanders have a
flrange fuperftition about thefe animals : they believe they refemble the human
fpecies more than any other, and that they are the offspring of Pharaoh and his
hoft, who were converted into Seals when they were overwhelmed in the Red Sea.

Other fpecies of Seals are migratory. Among them is the Harp, N° 77,
or Vade-Selur. Thefe quit the feas of Iceland in Jl/Iarch, and fv^^im through the
freights of Daviesy by fome unknown opening, to the fartheft north ; bring forth
their young, and return, by the north of Greenland, in JUay, extremely lean, to
the north of Iceland ; continue their route, and return to that ifland about Chrijl-
?nas^ chiefly upon the drift-ice, on which they are either fhot, or harpooned.
The Hooded Seal, N° 76, or Bladru Seal, is rarely taken here. The Walrus,
N" 71, or RoJI-unger^ is fometimes wafted here from Greenland on the ice.

It cannot be expedled, that many of the feathered tribe fhould inhabit an Birds,

ifland fo very fevere in its climate, and fo remote from the more fouthern continent
and iflands. It is, like all other Ar6tk countries, the afylum to water-fowl,
to breed and educate their young ; but, being an inhabited place, fewer refort
here than to the untrodden waftes of the more diftant north. The Guland
Duck, p. 572. E. may pofllbly be a local bird. The reft, whether land or water,
are common to Norivay, and many other parts of Europe. The Great Auks,
N° 428, are found here in greater numbers than elfewhere : they inhabit and
breed on the rocks, called from them Geir-fugl Skier, off the point of Rakenes^
the moft fouthern part of the ifland. Notwithftanding they are furrounded with
a fwelling fea, and tremendous breakers, the Icelanders venture there annually, in
order to collect the eggs, to contribute to the provifion of the year. I can only
reckon fixteen land-birds* : twenty cloven-footed water-fowl j four with pinnated

• Sea Eagle, N° 87. Raven, - - N° 134.

Cinereous Eagle, p. 214, B. White Grous, - N° 1^3.

Iceland Falcon, - 216, D. Hazel Grous ? - - p. 317, F.

Gyrfalcon, - -221, F. Stare, - - p. 331. A.

Lanner, - - 225, K. Red-wing Thrufti, p. 342. D.

Short-ear'd Owl? N^ 116 f.

f Olaffertt n, tab. xlvi, givts the figure of an Ow! refemblin^ ih's fpecies.

g 2 feet,

Leffer Field-Lark,

- P-

395-

Snow Bunting, -

. No

212.

White Wagtail, -

- P-

396.

Wheat-ear,

- P-

420,

Wien, -

- No

322.

LII

ICELAND.

feet, and forty-three with webbed feet, natives or frequenters of the ifland. I
have omitted, in the Zoologic part, the Leffer Guillemot, Br. Zool. ii. N" 235,
which is a native of Iceland^ and called there Rlnguia, It ought to have had a
place in an appendage to the Guillemots, p. 517.

The Raven holds the firft rank among the land-birds in the Scandinavian
mythology. We fee the ufe made of them by the chieftain Floke. The Bards,
in their fongs, give them the claffical attribute of 'the power of prefage. Thus
they mzkeThromundr and Thorbiorn, before a feudal battle, explain the foreboding
voice of this bird, and its intereft in the field of battle *.

Thr. Hark! the Raven's croak I hear, Thor. The Raven croaks : the warriors flain,
Lo ! the bird of Fate is near. With bk)od her dufky wings diftain ;

In the dawn, with dufky wings, Tir'd her morning prey fhe feeks,

Hoarfe the fong of death flie fings. And with blood and carnage reeks.

Thus in days of yore fhe fang. Thus, perch'd upon an aged oak.

When the din of battle rang ; The boding bird was heard to croak ;

When the hour of death drew nigh, When all the plain with blood was fpread.

And mighty chiefs were doom'd to die. Thirfting for the mighty dead.

R. W.

The Raven had ftill higher honors in the northern nations. It was facred to
Odin, the hero and god of the north. On the facred flag of the Danes was em-
broidered this bird. Odin was faid to have been always attended by two, which
fate on his fhoulders ; whence he was called the God of Ravens: one was ftyled
Huginn, or Thought ; the other Muninn, or Memory. They whifpered in his ear all
they faw or heard. In the earlieft dawn, he fent them to fly round the world,
and they returned before dinner, fraught with intelligence. Qdin thus fang their
importance :

Hugtnn and Muni^n, my delight •

Speed thro' the world their daily flight ;

From their fond lord they both are flown,

Perhaps eternally are gone.

Tho' Huginti's lofs I fhould deplore

Yet Muninti's would afflifl me more f.

R. W.

I have already fpoken of the excellent Falcons of this ifland : let me add,
that Falcons were among the animals facrificed to Odin J, being birds of the firft
courage, and which delighted in blood.

* I/land's Landnamabok, 17a. f BarthoUnus de Caufis contmpia Mortis, &c, 4.29. % Mal-
lofs Northern Antiq, ii, 132.

The

ICELAND. i-i"

The fea which furrounds Iceland is faid to be more fait than ufual in other Sea.

countries. It leaves great faline incruftations on the rocks, which the natives
fcrape ofFand ufe. I can, with no certainty, give the depth of the water, ex-
cept where Mr. Kerguelin founded, ten leagues to the weft of Geir-fugl Skier^
where he found It to be two hundred and five fathoms *. The equinoctial
tides rife as high as fixteen feet : the ordinary tides twelve f. -The coafts almoft
univerfally bold, thofe of the inlets excepted, where there appears a fmall
ftrand.

The bays, efpecially thofe of the fouth, which lie under the influence of the cold Bays frozen.
of Greenland, are annually frozen over; that of Patrixfiord Vf^?> fhut up even as ^

late as the 14th of May % : but the fea near the coafts never feels the influence
of the froft. It is in thofe places deep, and agitated by a moft turbulent motion.
The dreaded ice is what floats from Greenland and Spitzbergen, and often fills. Floating Ice.
during the whole fummer, the ftreight between the former and this ifiand ||, and even
extends along the northern coaft, covering the fea to a vaft difl:ance from land. It
confifts of the two fpecies, the mountanous ice, called Fictl-jakar ; and the fmooth
ice of inconfiderable thicknefs, ftyled Hellu-is. Thefe arrive generally in Ja-
nuary, and go away in March. Sometimes it does not touch the land till April,
when it fixes for a confiderable time, and brings to the Icelanders the moft tre-
mendous evils J a multitude of polar bears, which fpread their ravages far and
wide among the cattle ; and a cold of incredible violence, which chills the air
for many miles, and even caufes the horfes and fheep to drop down dead §. To
this is attributed the ftunted ftate of the miferable woods of the country ; which
caufe muft have exifted from the commencement of its iron age ; for there feems to
have been a period in which there had been confiderable wooded trails^.

The bottom of the fea is probably rocky ; for it abounds with greater variety of
fuel than Great Britain, which give fhelter to fiflies innumerable j a fource of wealth
to the natives (were they permitted the free ufe) as they are of food to diftant
nations, the veflTels of which annually refort here to fifti, but without any com-
merce with the Icelanders, which is ftridly prohibited. In 1767, two hundred
Dutch, and eighty French doggers, of about a hundred tons each, were employ-
ed, thofe of each nation under the orders and prote6tion of a frigate. They
keep from four to fix leagues from fhore, and fifh with hooks baited commonly
with large mufl'els, in forty or fifty fathoms water. Others go to the diftance
of fifteen leagues, and fifh in the depth of a hundred fathoms. The great cap-

* Voyage au Mer dti Nard, 6^. f Horreboiv, loi. % Kerguelm, 31,

\ Troill, 48, 49. § Kerguelin^ 20, 175. •! See p. xlv.

'I tare

iiv ICELAND.

ture Is Cod. As foon as the fifhermen take one, they cut ofFthe head, wafli,
gut, and fait it in cafks, with either rock-falt or that of Lijbon. The fifhcry
commences in March^ and ends in September. It begins at the point of Breder-
•wick^ and extends round the North Cape, by the ifle of Grim, to the point of
Langenejs.

The EngUJh have entirely deferted this fifliery fince they have been in polTefltoa
of Newfoundland. It had been, in very early times, the refort of our veflels, as is
evident by the proclamation of Henry V. in order to give fatisfaclion for the ill
condu^l of fome of his fubje6ls, in 1415, on the coafts of this ifiand *, in which
he forbids them to refort to the ifles of Denmark and Norivay^ efpecially to Iceland,
otherwi.fe than had been antiently cuftoraary. In 1429, the Engilfi p:^rJement
enforced this order, by making it penal for any of our fubje6ls to trade in the
Danijh ports, except in North Earn or Bergen. At length, the Dan'ijh monarch
wifely refolved to referve the benefits of the fifheries to his own fubjefts ; and in
1465 made it capital for any Englijhman to trade in the ports of Iceland \.
'Even thoCe o( He Igeland znd Fintnark were fhut againft them, unlefs they were
driven in by a ftorm.. I imagine that this feverity muft have arifen from fome
glaring infolence of our countrymen. But -the antient treaties were revived, which
were renewable by a freflj grant every feven years J. In later times, even
Queen Elizabeth deigned to afk leave of Chrijlian IV. to fifli in thofe feas ; but
afterwards inftru6ted her anibafiador to infift on the right of a free and univerfal
liftiery. The anfwer does not appear : but in the reign of her fucceflbr, we had
not fewer than a hundred and fifty veflels employed in this fifhery. Poflibly we
might comply with the regulations infifted on by the king of Denmark ; or perhaps
a greater indulgence was given, by reafon of the marriage of "James with his fifter
Jnne. I obferve, that the Danijh prince excepts the port of /^^;w(?«y, it being
referved for the peculiar fupply of the royal court ||.

The opprefi'ed natives fifli in the bays in boats, containing one, and never
more than four men. If they venture to fea, which they feldom do to above
eight miles diftance, they have larger boats, manned with twelve or fixteen hands;
in thefe they flave for the benefit of the monopolifts, to whom they are com-
pelled to fell their fifh at a trifling price. How weak muft be the feelings of
that government which can add mifery to mifery ; and not attempt rather to be-
fl:ow comforts on fubjeds condemned to fuch a dreadful abode !

The fpecies of fifli in thefe feas are fev/ ; but the multitudes, under feveral of
the moft ufeful kinds, are amazing ; thofe of Cod in particular. Herrings pafs by

» Kytner'sFoed.'yji. "i^rt. f Ibid. xvi. 443. J Ibid, xy. 443. \ Camhden" s Life

Qf^iCin Elizabeth, in tlie Complete H'tfl. of England, ii. 550.

this

FLANDERS AND HOLLAND. ' iv

this ifland in their annual migrations from the north, and for a fliort fpace fill
€very bay. Poveity and want of hit make thefe riches of other nations a
tantalizing appearance to the unfortunate natives. This is the moft northern
place in which the Herring is feen : they are not found in the fhallow water of
Spitsbergen ; neither is it probable that they double Greenland, and retire to the
frozen ocean, equally wanting in depth of water ; — are they not rather loft in the Vast deaths of
vaft profundity of thefe very feas, in the depth of fix hundred and eighty-three water.

fathoms, in lat. 65, between this ifland and the north of Norway; or in the un-
fathomable depths a little farther north, where the water was found bottomkfs with
feven hundred and eighty fathoms * ? The other fiflies of Iceland are in general
common to Greenland : my remarks refpeding them fliall be deferred till I treat
of that icy region.

In order to view the correfpondent fhores of the tract I have pafTed over, I fliall Straights ot
return to the ftreights of Dover. Calais is feated in a low wet tra(5l; and the whole
coaft, from thence to the extremity oi Holland^ is fandy, and fronted with fand-hills j
providentially higheft in that lovt^eft of countries, in which the ftrongcft proteilion
againft the fury of the fea is neceffary. Thecoaft of i^/(3«<:/^/v, the rich bait of ambi- Sand-banks off
tion, ftained with blood, is dangerous by reafon of frequent narrow fand-banks, landers and
difpofed in parallel rows, according to the diredlion of the land. The coalls of
Holland 2^X0. alfo greatly infefted with fands ; but between them and the land is a
clear channel. From between Dunkirk and Calais,e\'en to the Scar, at the extremity
of Jutland, is low land, not to be feen but at a fmall diftance, unlefs at Camperden
in Holland; Heilegeland, ofF the mouths of the Elbe and JVefer ; and Robjnout, and
Harijhal, in "Jutland. While the oppofite coafts of England are comparatively high,
and the channel deep, thefe are univerfally obftrudted with fand : the great German
rivers bring down by their floods amazing quantities of fand and mud, the courfe
of which is impeded at fea by the violence of the winds, blowing at fouth and weft
two-thirds of the year f. Thefe, with the help of the tides, arreft the progrefs of
the fand into the open fea, and form the numerous banks which, fatal as they may
be to mariners, are the fecurity of Holland, in particular, from naval invafions.
The fpring-tides at Calais rife twenty feet ; at the pier head at Dover, to twenty- Tides*;

five; the caufe of the variation is fuppofed, by Mr. Cowley, to be the different dif-
tances of the two piers from low- water mark, the firft being half a mile, the laft
only a hundred yards; at OJlend it rifes to eighteen 5 at Flujlnng, fixteen and a
half; at HelvoetJluyszx\A. the Texel, twelve; and on the coafts of Holjiein and Jut-
■land, where the fea expands to a more confiderable breadth^ the tides grow more
irregular, and weaken both in height and flrength ; at the Elbe they do not ex-

• Lord Mu/grave^j Foj, towards the North Pole. f YarraT.toti's England's Improvement, 4, 5.

g + ceed

IVI

FLANDERS AND HOLLAND.

LAT^D.

cecd feven Cr eight feet; on the coaft of y«//««^ only two or three; a fingular
phcsnomenon^ as they are fo greatly higher on the correfpondent coafls of England.
The flood on the weft coaft of Holland fets to the northward, contrary to the
courfe of the tides on the eaft coafts of England zn^ Scotland.
Antient Flan- Flanders and Brabant formed part of the Gallia Belgica of Cefar ; and Holland
DERs AND HoL- |.j^g Batavorum Infula. The rivers are the Scaldis, Mo/a, and Rhenus^ the modern
Scheld, Maefe, and Rhine. The two firft probably do not vary greatly in their dif-
charge into the fea : the laft has experienced a moft confiderable change. The right
branch of this river runs, for feme fpace, as it did in antient times, when it formed
the lake Flevo^ then refumed the form of a ftream, and difcharged itfelf into the fea
at a place ftill called the FUe-Jlroom, between the ifles of Flie-landt and Schellingy at
the mouth of the Zuyder-%ee. Long after that period the country was dry, firm, and
well inhabited ; a mighty inundation totally changed the face of it, and enlarged
the Flevo lacus into the prefent Zuyder-zee^ and broke the coaft into the chain of
iflands which now front the fhore, even as far as the mouth of the Wefer. The
Dutch hiftorians date this accident in 1421 : it feems to have been the operation
of a length of time ; for the paflage through t\\tTexel was forced open in 1400, and
jrave rife to the profperity of Amfierdam *. This country was firft peopled by the
^ Catti^ a German nation ; thefe were thinned almoft to extirpation by the fwarms

from the great northern hive, in their expeditions by land to other parts of Europe.
For a very long fpace Flanders and Holland vfcvc a feat of banditti : the vaft foreft
01 Ardennes gave proteiSlion to them in one country ; the morafles fecured them in
the other. Government at length took place, in Holland under its counts, in
Flanders under its forefters. Thefe provinces fell at laft under the dominion of
the dukes oi Burgundy ; from them to the houfe of ^zy?r/^ and crown oi Spain.
The revolutions from that are well known. Holland received its fecond popula-
tion from Germany, happily (for a country whofe exiftence depends on induftry) a
moft induftrious race. The Rhine annually brings down multitudes of people, to
repair the lofs of men occafioned by diftant voyages, and by the moft unwholefome
colonies in the Ea^ and IVeJl Indies. Holland is, from its climate, unfavorable to
the encreafe of mankind : it cannot depend on itfelf for the reparation of the lofs
of people, but muft look elfewhere for fupplies.
Animals. Flanders has many of the fame fpecies of animals with Great Britain',

but, from the nature of its coaft, wants moft of the water-fowl, a few
cloven-footed birds excepted, which breed on fandy fiiores. Holland has ftill
fewer quadrupeds and birds. Of the quadrupeds which we want, are a few
Beavers in the Rhine and Maefe. The Wolf is common in Flanders^ and is found

* Anderjcn" s DiSi, I. 225.
lO in

HOLLAND. LVii

in the parts of //ij//^«<:/ bordering on Germany. Both countries have a few birds
which never appear in Britain^ except forced by the violence of weather or purfuit
of fomc bird of prey.

The antient Germany next fiicceeds. Holland \nz5 a fort of neutral country, a
retreat of the German Catti, and not Germany itfelf. As at prefent, the bordering
parts were divided into petty ftates. The rivers which derive their origin far up
the country, are the Ems^ the Wefer^ and the Elb, the antient Jmifius, Vifurgis^
and Alhis.

Oppofite to the mouth of the efluary of the /F^/^r and the Eib^ is the remnant of Insula Sacra,
the Infula^ Cajlum Nemus-, celebrated by Tacitus^ with his ufual elegance, for the
worlhip of Herthum, or Mother Earthy by the neighboring nations. Ej} in
infula oceanic Castum Nemus, dicatum in eo vehicidmn vejje contecliim^ attingere
uni facer doti concejfum. Is adejfe penetrali Deam intel/igit, veofajngue bidnis fe?ninis
multa cum veneratione profequitur. Lcsti tunc dies, f^fl^ loca, qucscumque adventu
hofpitioque dignatiir. Non bclla ineunt^ non ar?nafwnunt, claufum omne ferru?Ji. Pax
et quies tunc tantum nota^tunc tantimi amata. Donee idem facerdos fatiatam converfa-
tione mortalium Deam templo reddat. Mox vehiculum et vejles^ et^fi credere velis, numcn
ipfumyfecreto lacu ahluitur. Servi minijtrant^ quos Jlatim idem lacus hour it. Arcanus
hinc terror^ fan£iaque ignorantia, quid Jit illud quod tantum perituri vidit*. The
worfhip was continued very long after that period, and the ifland was diftinguiflied
by the name of Fojlaland^ Farria^ Infula Sacra^ ox Heilgeland, or the Holy ifJe, from Heilgeland,
the facrifices made there to the goddefs Fojia, or Fofeta, the fame with Vejhi^
Herthum^ or the Earth. She was called by the Scandinavians^ Goya. The
victims to her were precipitated into a pit : if they funk at once, the facrifice was
thought to be accepted : thereverfe if they fwam any time on the furface f. This
ifland was vifited, out of refpeft to the goddefs, by people of high rank. Radbo-
thus L king of the Frifians^ was here in 690, when IVinbertus, and other Chri-
ftian miflionaries, landed, overthrew the temples, and put an end to the pagan
rites X' It ^^^ been an ifland of great extent; but by different inundations, be-
tween the years 800 and 1649, ^^^ reduced to its prefent contemptible fize§. The
great ifland of Nord/irandt (one of the Infulcs Saxonum) not remote from this, in
1634 was reduced, by the fame caufe, from twenty parifhes to one : fifty thoufand
head of cattle, and between fix and feven thoufand fouls, were fwept away. Such
are the calamities to which thefe low countries are liable.

* De Mot. German, c. 40. f Mallefs North. Antiq. Tranjl, i. 136, J Emmii Hi/}. Rer.

Friz. 11^, ed. Franc k, § BufclmgCeogr, i. 157, 167.

h Jutland

LVIII

JUTLAND.

]v^ LAND. '"Viitland^nd Holjiein, the antient Chnhrica Cherfonefus *, and Cartrh t, terminat-

ing in the l)v/ point called the Skagen^ or Scaw, ftretches out in form of a penin-
fula, bounded by the North Tea and the Kattegatie, the oblique approach into the
Baltic. It is a very narrow traft, and only the rcfting-place of birds in their way
from Scandinavia, and the farther north, the refidence of numerous fpecies.
The rich marfiies, in a climate mild from its fituation between two feas, afford
numbers of v/holefome plants, the food of a remarkably fine breed of cattle. Be-
fides the home confumption, thefe provinces fend out annually thirty-two thoufand
head. The nobility do not think it beneath them to prefidc over the dairy : and
their number of cows is princely. M. De Rantzau had not fewer than fix hundred
milch cows.

What the extent of this country might have been in very early times is un-
known: it muft have been prodigioufly great, otherwife it never could have pour-
ed out that amazing number of people it did, in their eruption into France, when
they v/ere defeated by Marius, in loi before Christ. Their army was comput-
ed to confift of three hundred thoufand fighting men (including the Teuionl) be-

CiMBRiAN fides womenand children. About feven years before, they had fuffered a great
DELVGE. calamity from an inundation of the fea, which had deftroyed great part of their

country ; and compelled the furvivors, then crouded in the narrow Cherfonefus, to
apply to the Romans for other lands. Tacitus fpeaks of the veftiges of this once
mighty people, in the lines, vifible in his time, on each flaore. I prefume that the
inundations to which this coaft is fubje£l from the fea, hath utterly deftroyed every
trace of them. The charts plainly point out their overwhelmed territories in
Jiits-riff, and the neighboring fand-banks. The firft might have been the con-
tinuation of land from the end of Jutland^ beginning at the Skaw, and running
out into the North fea in form of a fcythe, not very remote from land, and ter-
minatino- a little fouth of Bergen in Norway, leaving between its banks and that
kingdom a deeper channel into the Baltic.

The Kattegatte lies between part oi Jutland and the coaft of Sweden: the laft
covered with ifles innumerable. It is almoft clofed at the extremity, by the low
Danijh iflands of Selandznd Funen, which had in old times been (with Sweden) the
The Sound. feat of the Suionss. Between the firft and the coaft of Sweden, is the famous Sound,
the paflage tributary to the Danes by thoufands of fhips. Thefe ifles were of old
ealled Codonania^, and gave to the Kattegatte the name of Sinus Codanus. The
proper Baltic feems to have been the A<[are Suevicum of the antients j and the far-
theft part, the Mare Sarmaticum, and part of the Mare Scythicum, As a na-

* Ptokm. lib. ii. c. xi. f Plin, Nat. Hifl. lib. iv, c. 13. § Mela, lib. iii. c. 3- «•

turalift.

THE BALTIC.

LIX

turalift, I mufl; mention, that when Linn^us fpeaks of the Mar? Occidentale^ he
intends the Kattegatte. Its greateft depth is thirty-five fathoms. It decreafes as
it approaches the Sound j which begins with fixteen fathoms, and near Copenhagen
fhallows to even four.

The i?(?;«^« fleet, under the command of G^r;«a«zV«j, failed, according to P/mj, Voyage of the
round Germany.^ and even doubled the Cimbricum Promontorium^ and arrived at the Roman fleet.
iflands which fill the bottom of the Kattegatte * : either by obfervation or infor-
mation, the Romans were acquainted with twenty-three. One they called GleJ/aria,
from its amber, a foflil abundant to this day on part of the fouth fide of the
Baltic, A Roman knight was employed by Nero's mafter of the gladiators, to col-
lect, in thefe parts, that precious produdlion, by which he came perfectly ac-
quainted with this country f. I cannot fuppofe that the Romans ever fettled in
any part of the neighborhood, yet there was fome commerce between them, either
direft, or by the intervention of merchants. Many filver coins have been found
at KiviMe, in Schonen in Sweden^ of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Commodus^ and
Albinus %. Among the iflands, Pliny makes Norway one, under the name of
Scandinavia incomperta magnitudinis, and Baltia another, immenfa magnitudinis,
probably part of the fame, and which might give name to the Sounds called the
Belts^ and to the Baltic itfelf. The geographer Mela had the jufteft information of
this great water, which he defcribes with great elegance, ' Hac re tnare (Codanus

* sinus) quod gremio littorum accipitur, nunquam late patet, nee usquam mari sr-
' MILE verum aquis pajjim interjiuentibus ac fape tranfgrejjis vagum atque diffufum

* facie amnium fpargitur, qua littora attingit, ripis contentum infularum non longe dif-
' tantibus, et ubique poene tantundem, it angujlum et par FRETo curvanfque fe fubinde,

* longo fupercilio injiexum eji.' The different nations which inhabited its coafts
fliall hereafter be mentioned.

I would, like Mela, prefer giving to the Baltic the name of a gulph rather than -The Baltic a
a fea ; for it wants many requifites to merit that title. It wants depth, having in gulph.

no one place more than a hundred and ten fathoms. From the eaftern mouth of Depth.

the Sound to the ifle of Bornbolm it has from nine to thirty : from thence to
Stockholm, from fifteen to fifty : and a little fouth of Lindo, fixty. It has in this
courfe many fand-banks, but all in great depths of water. Between Alands Haff,
amidft the great archipelago, the Aland ifles, and the ifle of Ofel in the o-ulph of
Riga, the depths are various, from fixty to a hundred and ten ||. Many freih-water
lakes exceed it in that refpeft.

* P//w. lib. ii. c. 67, lib. iv. c, 13. f Lib. xxxvH. c. 3. J Forjfmus dt Monum.

Kivikenfe, p. 27, 1| Ru/^an and other charts.

h 2 It

LS

THE

A L T I C.

No TIDES.

Not salt.

Pew species of

FISH.

It Vv'ants tides, therefore experiences no difFerence of height, except when tlic
winds are violent. At fuch times there is a current in and out of the Baltic, ac-
cording to the points they blow from ; which forces the water through the Sound
with the velocity of two or three Datujh miles in the hour. When tlie wind blows
violently from the German fea, the water rifes in the feveral Baltic harbours, and
gives thofe in the weftern part a temporary faltnefs : otherwife the Baltic lof^s
that other property of a fea, by reafon of the want of tide, and the quantity of
vaft rivers it receives, which fweeten it fo much as to render it, in many place?,
fit for domeftic ufes. In all the Baltic, Linnaus enumerates but three/««*, plants
of the fea: in the gulph of Bothnia, which is beyond the reach of fait watei-, not
one f.

The fewnefs of fpecies of fifli in the Baltic is another difFerence between it and
a o-enuine fea. I can enumerate only nineteen % which are found in this vaft ex-
tent of water: and may add one cetaceous fifh, the Porpefle. No others venture
beyond the narrow ftreights which divide the Baltic from the Kattegotte't yet the
great Swedipj Fauniji reckons eighty-feven belonging to his country, which is
wafned only by thofe two waters. Let me mention the Herring as a fpecies which
has from very early times enriched the neighboring cities. There was, between the
years 1169 and 1203, a vaft refort of Chrijiian ftiips to fifti off" the ifle of Rugen,
the feat of the antient Rugii, infomuch that the Danes cloathed themfelves with
fcarlet and purple, and fine linen.

The Hornftmpa, or CoTTUs Quadricornis, Faun. Suec. N° 321, and the
Syngnathus Typhle, or Blind Pipe-fifti, N" 377, are unknown in the Britip
feas : the firft feems peculiar to the gulph of Bothnia, and is a fifti of fingular
figure, with four flat hornlike procefles on the head 1|.

The extent of the Baltic in length is very great. From Helfmgor, where it

properly begins, to Cronjladt, at the end of the gulph oi Finland, is eight hundred

and ten EngUflj fea miles. Its breadth, between Saltwic, in Snialand, and the oppo-

OF THE Gulph OF fite fhore, two hundred and thirty-feven. The gulph of Bothnia, which runs due

north, forms an extent almoft equal to the firft, being, from Tornea in Lapland, to

Length and

breadth of the

Baltic.

Bothnia,

* Flora Suec.
J Porpeffe,

Sea Lamprey,

Sturgeon,

Lannee,

Sword-fifli,

f Flora Lapp.

Striated Cod-fifh, Tiirbot, Herrirg,

Viviparous Blenny, Flounder, Sprat,

BeardlefsOphiJion, Salmon, Little Pipe-filli,

Lump, Gar-fifli, Shorter P.

Hornfimpa, Smelt, Blind P.

I find that the A/mtis Callarias is common to the Baltic and our feas, therefore muft be added to th^
lift of Britijh fifti.
£ Muf. Fr, Adolph. i. 70. tab. xxxii. %. +.

the

AND.

LXl

the fhore near Dantzic, not lefs than kvQi\ hundred and fcventy-eight : an amazing
fpace, to be fo ill flocked with iifliy inhabitants.

From the ifle of Rugen^ the courfe of the Baltic is ftrait and open, except where
interrupted by the famous ifle of Gottland, the place of rendezvous from whence the \sl-e. ok Gott-
Goths tn2^de their naval excurfions. In 8ii, on this ifland, was founded the famous land.

town of Wijbuyy the great emporium of the north : it was, for ages, the refort of
every Chriftian nation. The Englijh long traded here, before they ventured on the
diftant voyage of the Mediterranean. It became an independent city, and made its
maritime laws the ftandard of all Europe to the north of Spain. In 1361, Walde-
mar III. of Denmark^ attacked, ravaged, and plundered it of immenfe riches ;'an
which perifhed at fea after they were fhipped *. Its prefent inhabitants are huf-
bandmen and fifliermen, fecure from the calamities of war by the happy want of '
exuberant wealth.

Beyond Stockholm the Baltic divides into the gulphs of Bothnia and Finland :
the firft runs deeply to the north, and the country is compofed chiefly of granite
rock, or ftrewed over with detached malTes of the fame. Its greateft breadth is
between Gejle and Jbo, in Finland^ where it meafures a hundred and fixty-two
miles : its greateft depth a hundred and ninety-five yards f. It terminates in
Lapland, a country divided by the river Tornea^ which runs navigable far up between Lapland.

a continued mountanous foreft. It is fuppofed to have been peopled in the
eleventh century by the Finni : a fail not eafy to be admitted ; for the Finni, or
Fennones, are a brawny race, with long yellow hair, and brown irides. The
Laplanders are, on the contrary, fmall in body, have fhort black hair, and black
irides. It is certain that a party of Fins deferted their native country, Finland, in
the age before mentioned, rather than relinquifli the brutality of heathenifm.
Their ofi'spring remain converted, and in fome meafure reclamed, between Nor-
way and Sweden \\ ; but are a moft diftin61: race from the Laplanders, who poflTefTed
their country long before. In the ninth century, the hero Regner flew its king or
leader in battle § : at that period it was in a favage ftate ; nor was its conqucft at-
tempted by Sweden till 1277, when Waldemar added it to his kingdom, and in vain
attempted its converfion ff* Scarcely two centuries have elapfed fince it has fm-
cerely embraced the dodrines of Chriftianity. In confequence of which, cultiva-
tion and civilization have fo well fucceeded in the fouthern parts, that many deferts
are peopled, moraflTes drained, and the reafon of the natives fo greatly improved,
that they have united with the Svjedes, and even fent their reprefentatives to the

* HiJ}. Abrege de Nord. i. 20C. f Prof. Ritzius of Lund. \\ PI3, Tr. Abr. vii. part iv..

p. 44.. § Hiji, Abrege du Nord, ii. 59. ^ The fame, p. 3.

Houfe'

txij RUSSIAN EMPIRE.

Houfe of Peafants in the national diet*. But thefe were at all times the moft
cultivated of this diftincl race. They trained the Rein-deer to the fledge, domefti-
cated it from its wild ftatc, and made it the fubftitute for the Cow.

Their country, which penetrates even to the Northern ocean, confifts of favage
mountains, woods, vaft marfhes, rivers, and lakes, the haunts of myriads of water-
BiRDs. fowl, which refort here in fummer to breed, free from the difturbance of mankind.

LiNN^us, the great explorer of thefe deferts, my venerated example! mentions
them as exceeding in numbers the armies of Xerxes j re-migrating, with him, in
autumn, eight entire days and nights, to feek fuftenance on the fhores and waters
of more favorable climates f.
Fish. Their lakes and rivers abound in fifh ; yet the number of fpecies are few.

Thefe are the Ten-fpined Stickle-back, Br. Zool. iii. N° 130 ; Salmon, N* 143,
in great abundance, which force their way to the very heads of the furious rivers
of Tornea and Kiemi,, to depofit their fpawn ; Char, N° 149, are found in the
lakes in great abundance ; and Graylings, N° 150, in the rivers ; Gwiniads, N'
152, are taken of eight or ten pounds weight; Pikes, N" 153, fometimes eight
feet long; and Perch, N° 124, of an incredible fize § ; and the Salmo Albula,
Faun. Suec. N° 353, clofes the lift of thofe of the Lapland lakes and rivers.
Aland Isles. The mouth of the gulph of Bothnia is filled with a prodigious clufter of little

iflands and rocks, dangerous to mariners. Aland is the chief, an ifland of fur-
prifing rockinefs, and with all the other afpe(5ls as if torn from the continent by
Gulph of fome mighty convulfion. The gulpli of Finland extends from thence due eaft,

and has, on its northern coaft, a chain of fimilar iflands, and a few fprinkled over
the channel. All the coaft and all its ifles are compofed of red or grey granite ;
and all the coafts of Sweden are the fame, mixed in places with fand-ftones, Fiti-
land and Carelia are the bounds of the gulph on this fide : Livonia, the granary of
the north, and Jyigria, on the other. Thefe countries, with RuJJia^ made part of
the European Scythia^ or Sarmaiia-y and this part of the Baltic has been fometimes
ftyled Mare Scythicum, and Mare Sar mat iai7n\. The gulph decreafes in depth
from fixty to five fathoms, as you advance towards Cronjiadt, the great naval
Petirsburg, arfenal of RuJJia. From thence is twelve miles of fhallow water to Peter/burg^
that glorious creation of Peter the Great j the inlet of wealth and fcience into
his vaft dominions, before his time inacceflible to the reft oi Europe, unlefs by the
tedious voyage of the White fea ; and a country unknown, but by the report of the
fplendid barbarifm of its tyrants. Peter was formed with a Angular mixture of

* Anderfont'u./^i^, \ Aman, Acad.iv, ^-jo, Fl,Lap,iTi, ^ Scheffer's Lapland.

II Ptolemy.

5 endowments

RUSSIANEMPIRE. ixiii

endowments for the purpofe of civilizino- a rude and barbarous people : his mind
was prec^nant with great defigns, obftinate perfcverance, and unrelenting feverity in
the exertion of punifliment on all who dared to oppofe the execution of his fyftem
for the good of the whole. A mind filled with the milkinefs of human nature,
would never have been able to deal with the favage uninformed RuJJians. Peter
hewed his work into fhape : for the laft polifh, Heaven formed another Cathe-
rine, the admiration of Europe^ the blefling of an empire which forms at left one
eleventh of the globe, extending from the northern point of Nova Zemlja^ in the
frozen latitude of near 78, to the influx of the Terek into the Cafpian fea, in the
warm latitude of about 43 and a half j or, to give it the fliorteft breadth, from the
coaft of the Frozen ocean, at the extremity of the country of the Tfchutki^ lat. 73,
to the mouth of the Aimakan^ in the gulph of Ochotz^ in lat. 54. Its length is ftill
more prodigious, from Peter/burgh as far as the Afiatic fide of the ftreights of
Bering.

In the following work, I have, by the afTiftance of that celebrated naturalift
Dodor Pallas, given a defcription of the Qiiadrupeds and Birds of this vaft em-
pire, as far as was compatible with my plan, which was confined between the higheft
known latitudes of the northern hemifphere, as low as that of 60. The remainder
will be comprehended in the great defign formed by the Imperial Academy, and ex-
ecuted by profeflbrs whofe glory it is to prove themfelves worthy of their illuftri-
cus and munificent patronefs, under whofe aufpices they have pervaded ^vtx^j part
of her extenfive dominions in fearch of ufeful knowledge.

To Peter/burg^ this corner of the empire, is brought, as to a vaft emporium, the
commerce of the moft diftant parts ; and from hence are circulated the European
articles to fupply even the remote China. The place of traffic is on the Chinefe
borders, at Kjackia, a town without women ; for none are allowed to attend their
huftjands. By this route the furs oi Hudfons-Bay find their way to warm the luxuri-
ous inhabitants of Pekin, the animals of the neighboring Tartary and Sibiria being
inadequate to the increafed demand. The want of a maritime intercourfe is no
©bftacle to this enterprifing nation to the carrying on a trade with India. It has
encouraged above a hundred Banians, all males, from Multan, to fettle at Jjiracan;
and their number is kept up by a fupply of young unmarried relations from home.
Thefe fupport the moft important trade of AJlracan, by carrying through Ajirabad
to the inland parts of the Mogol empire. I ftray a little from my plan ; but it may
be excufed on account of the novelty of the relation, and becaufe it points out a
more fouthern inland road than was known in the middle ages, when the merchants
went by the way of Bochara and SamarcandiQ the northern cities of India, Candahar
and CabuL

In

hKiv FINLAND.

Sarmat^. In my return to the German fea, let me review the antient Inhabitants of the

Baltic. The wandering Sarmat^Sy of Scythian defcent, pofiTefled all the country
from lake Onega to the Vi/lula ; and part of the vaft Hercyn'ian forelt, famous of old'
for its wild beafts, occupied moft of this country. Bifons with their great manes:
Uri with their enormous horns, which the natives bound with filver and quaffed at
their great feafts : the Aloes, or Elk, then fabled to have jointlefs legs : and Wild
Horfes, were among the quadrupeds of this tracTt *. I fmile at the defcription of
certain birds of the Hercyn'ian wood, whofe feathers flione in the night, and often
proved the guide to the bewildered traveller f. The refplendent plumage of the
Strix Nydtea, the Snowy Owl, N° 121, might probably have ftruck the eye of the
benighted wanderer, and given rife totheftrange relation.
Enjngia. Eningia was the oppofite fliore, and the fame with the modern Finland^ inhabited

by people of amazing favagenefs and fqualid poverty; who lived by the chace,
headed their arrows with bones, cloathed themfelves with fkins, lay on the ground,
and had no other (helter for their infants than a few interwoven boughs J. They
were then, what the people of Terra del Fuego are now. There is no certainty
OoNiE. refpecling the Oona ; iflanders, who fed, as many do at prefent, on the eggs of wild

fowl and on oats || ; but moft probably they were the natives of the ifles of Aland,
and the adjacent archipelago; for Mela exprefsly places them oppofite to the
HippopoDi^. Sarmata;. We may add, that the Hippopodcs and Panotl might be the inhabitants
of the northern part of the Bothnian gulph ; the firft fabled to have hoofs like
horfes, the laft ears fo large as to ferve inftead of cloaks. The Hippopoda were
certainly the fame fort of people as the Finni Lignipedes of Olaus, and the Skrlde
Finnus of Ohthere. They wore fnow-fhoes, which might fairly give the idea of
their being, like horfes, hoofed and fliod. As to the Panoti, they baffle my ima-
gination.

The Bothnian and Finland gulphs feem to me to have been, in the time of Ta-
citus^ part of his Tkfare pigrum ac immotMn, which, with part of the Hyper-
borean ocean, really infulated Scandinavia, and which he places beyond the
Suiones^ or modern Sweden, Pliny gives, I fuppofe from the relation of Briiijh or
other voyagers, to part of this fea, probably the moft northern, the title of Mo-
rimarufa, or Dead Sea, and Cronium. The learned Forjler, with great ingenuity,
derives the word from the Gaelic and Celtic language. The firft, from the Weljh^
mor, fea, and marw, dead ; the other from the Irijh, muir-croinn, the coagulated,
i. e. congealed fea. Tacitus adds to his account, that it was believed to encir-

* Cefar Bell. Gall. lib. iv. Plin. lib. viii. c. 15. -f Solinus, c. 3a, Plin, x, c. 47.

J Tacitus de Mor. Germ, H Forjlefs Obf. 96,

cle

A N T I E N T S T R E I G H T S. txr

cle the whole globe, and that the laftjightof the fetting fun continued fo very vivid
as to obfcurc the ftars themfelves. There is not a fingle circumftance of exag-
geration in all this : every winter the gulph is frozen, and becomes motionlefs.
Many inftances may be adduced even of the Baltic itfelf being frozen*. The
ftars are frequently loft in the amazing fplendor and various colors of the aurora
horealis. The Hilleviones., an antient people of Sweden, ftyled Scandinavia, al-
terum orbem ierrarum, and their defcendants, long carolled the junction of the
Bothnian gulph with the northern ocean, traditionally rehearfed in old Swedijh
fongs. Tacitus ufes the two laft words to exprefs the world furrounded by this
fea. In the days of the geographer Mela, there certainly was a ftrong tide in
this upper part of the Bahic ; for, fpeaking of the iflands off Finland, he fays,
^' Quse Sarmatis adverfa funt, ob alternos acceflus recurfufque pelagi, et quod
** fpatia quels diftant, modo operiuntur undis, modo nuda funt; alias infulae
■*' videntur, alias una et continens terra." With propriety, therefore, in
another place, does he compare it to a ftreight, par freto, notwithftanding
•he was ignorant of its other entrance. Do(Stor Pallas moft juftly afcribes Antient

the formation of not only the Baltic, but its former communication with Strfights be-
the White Sea, to the effedls of a deluge. The whole intermediate country is
a proof; the foundation being what is called the old rock, and that covered
with variety of matter; fuch as beds of pebble and gravel, and fragments of
granite, torn from the great mafs. Parts of the channel which formed the the Baltic and
infulation of Scandinavia, are the chain of lakes, from that of Ladoga to the ^"'"^^^ ^^-^^
White Sea, fuch as Onega, and others, often conneiSled by rivers, and lying
in a low country, filled with the proofs above-mentioned. This was the ftreicrht
through which the tide poured itfelf from the Byperhorean ocean, and covered, at
its ilux, the iflands defcribed by Mela. This, like the other northern feas,
5vas annually frozen over, and could be no obftacle to the flocking of Scandinavia
with quadrupeds. There is no fixing the period in which this paflage was ob-
ftruded. An influx of fand, or an earthquake, might clofe it up. As foon as
this event took place, the Baltic fek the want of its ufual feed : it loft the pro-
perty of a fea ; and, by a conftant exhalation, from that time decreafed in the
■quantity of water. Modern philofophers have proved the great lofs it has fuf-
tained, and that it decreafes from forty to fifty inches in a century : that, near
Pithea, the gulph of Bothnia has retired from the land half a mile in forty-five
years ; and near Lulea, a mile in twenty-eight. Notwithftanding its prefent
ftate, when we confider the accounts given by the antients, the old Siuedijh tra-
ditions, and the prefent veftiges of the former channel, we can, without any

* Forjier's Obf, go.

i force

LXVI

NORWAY.

force of fancy, give full credit to the infulated form of Scandinavia^ given ire
one of Cluverius's maps * j which, he fays, is drawn from the erroneous ac-
counts of the antients.
SuiONEB. The Suiones pofTefTed the modern Sweden^ and extended even to the ocean ^

and were a potent naval power. Their {hips were fo confcrudled, with prows
at each end, that they were always ready to advance. Thefe people, in after
times, proved, under the common name of Nort}nans^ the peft and conquerors of
great part of fouthern Europe \ their (kill in maritime affairs fitting them for
diftant expeditions. In the fixth century they were called Suethans^ and were
famous for their cavalry. In their time, the Sable, N° 30, was common in
their country: Jornandes, therefore, obferves, that notwithilanding they lived
poorly, they were moft richly cloathed : he alfo informs us, that they fuppjicd'
the Ro7nans with thefe precious furs, through the means of numbers of interven-
ing nations -j-. Scandinavia^ in that period, had got the name of Scanzia ; ami
as it was then called an ifland, and by Jornandes J, a native of the country,,
there is all the reafon to imagine, that the pafTage into the Hyperborean ocean was.
not in his time clofed.

After repaffing the Sound, appear Schonen^ Halland^ and Bohiijland^ Swedijh pro-
vinces, bounded by the Kattegatte. Halland, from fome fimilitude of found, is
fuppofed to have been the feat of the Hilleviones, a raoft populous nation ; perhaps
the fame with the Suites of Tacitus ; for beyond them he places the Sitones, or the
NbRWAY. country oi Norway^ who were a great naval people; as the hiftorian fays that they

diff'ered not from the SuioneSy except in being under a female government. The pro-
The Naze. montory of the Naze^ vifible at eight or ten leagues diftance, with the low land of

Bevenbergen in Jutland^ forms the entrance into the German fea. The Bommel,
and the Dronunel^ h'gl^ mountains to the eaft of it ; and the high land of Leji^ a
vaft mountain, gradually rifing from the fhore, to the weft, are noted guides to
mariners. It is reafonably fuppofed, that P//«)' intended this vaft region by his
idand of Nerigon, from whence, fays he, was a paflage to Thule. He fpealcs alfo of
Bergos, vi^hich, from agreement of found, is thought to be the prefent province of
Bergen. The promontorium R.ub£as is guefled to be the North Cape, between which
and the Cimbri, Philamon § places the Mare Morimarufa^ or the Dead Sea, fo
called from the clouded iky that ufually reigned there.

Our firft certain knowlege of the inhabitants of this country, was from the
defolation they brought on the fouthern nations by their piratical invafions,

* At the end of his fecond vol. of Germania Antiqua. f Jornandes de Reb. Geticis, c. iii<

J; The fame, e. iv. § As quoted by Plmj) lib, It. c. 13.

Theirr

NORWAY. LKvii

Their country had, before that period, the name of Nortrnannaland, and the in-
hubiiants iVi?;-?;?2^ffj; a title which included other adjacent people. Great Britain Nortmans.
and Ireland were ravaged by them in 845 ; and they continued their invafion
till they efFecfted the conqued: of England, under their leader, Canute the Great.
Th-^y went up the Seine as far as Paris., burnt the town, and forced its weak monarch
to purchafe their abfence at the price of fourteen thoufand marks. They pluu-
deied Spain, and at length carried their excurfions through the Mediterranean to
Italy, and even into Sicily. 'J'hey ufed narrow vefTiils, like their anceflors the
Sitones j and, befides oars, added the improvement of two fails : and victualled
them with faked provifions, bifcuit, chcefe, and beer. Their fliips were at
• firft fmall ; but in after times they were large enough to hold a hundred or a
hundred and twenty men. But the multitude of veflels was amazing. The fleet
of Harold Blaatand conCiRed of feven hundred*. A hundred thoufand of thefe
favages have at once fallied from Scandinavia, fo juftly fl-yled Officina Gentiu?n,
aut cert} velut vagina nationum f. Probably neceflity, more than ambition, caufed
them to difcharge their country of its exuberant numbers. Multitudes were
deftroyed ; but multitudes remained, and peopled more favorable climes.

Their king, Olaus, was a convert to Chriftianity in 994 ; Bernard, an Eng-
lijhman, had the honor of baptizing him, when Olaus happened to touch at one
of the Scilly iflands. He plundered with great fpirit during feveral years ; and
in 1006 received the crown of martyrdom from his pagan fubje£ts. But reli-
gious zeal firft gave the reft of Europe a knowlege of their country, and the fwcets
of its commerce. The Hanfe towns poured in their miflionaries, and reaped
a temporal harveft. By the year 1204, the merchants obtained from the wife
prince Siur every encouragement to commerce ; and by that means introduced
wealth and civilization into his barren kingdom. England, by every method,
cheriflied the advantages refulting from an intercourfe with Norway ; and Bergen
was the emporimn. Henry III. in 1 217, entered into a league with its monarch
Haquin, by which both princes ftipulated for free accefs for their fubjeils into their
refpeclive kingdoms, free trade and fecurity to their perfons. In 1269, Henry
entered into another treaty with Magnus, in which it was agreed, that no goods
fhould be exported from either kingdom except they had been paid for^ and
there is befides a humane provifion on both fides, for the fecurity of the perfons
and efFefts of the fubjeits who fhould fufFer fhipwreck on their feveral coafts. -■-

This country extends above fifteen hundred miles in length, and exhibits a Coass-i.

^oft wonderful appearance of coaft. It runs due north to Cape Staffs the

* MalUfs Introd. j. 137, f Jornandcs, c. 4.

i ^ weflera

Lxviii NORWAY.

weftern point of Sondimr^ then winds north-caft to its extremity at the NorA
Sth, Cape. High and precipitous roclcs compofc the front, with a fea generally from

one to three hundred fathoms deep waftiing their bafe *. Multitudes of narrow
creeks penetrate deep into the land, overfhadowed. by ftupemlous mountains. The
fides of thefe chafms have depth equal to that of the adjacent fea ; but in the
BvBRF-NDEs. middle is a channel called Dybrendes, i. e. deep courfes, from fifty to a hundred fa-
thoms broad, and of the difproportlonable depth of four hundred f, feemingljr
time-worn by the ftrength of the current from the torrent-rivers which pour
into them. Fifti innumerable refort to their edges. Thefe creeks are, in many
places, the roads of the country ; for the vallies which traverfe it are often fo
precipitous as to be impervious, unlefs by water. Some, which want thefe con-
veniences-,, are left uninhabited by reafon of the impoflibility of conveying to
and from them the articles of commerce.
Chain of Is- Millions of iflands, large and fmall, fkerries, or rocks, follow the greateft

LANDS. part of this wondrous coaft. The iflands are rude and mountanous, and foar corre-

fpondent to the Jlps of the oppofite continent. Thofe of Loeffort^ on the north-
fide of the dreadful whirlpool Maeljirom^ engraven by Le Bruyn^ give a full
idea of the nature of the coafts X, The fea near the iflands is fo deep and rocky,
that the Norixxegian kings caufed vafi: iron rings to be fallened with lead § to the
fides, to enable (hips to moor in fecurity, or to aflift: them in warping out. A
few of the former give fhelter to the fifliermen and their fmall ftock of cattle ;
the reft: rife in columns of grotefque forms. On the outfide of thefe natural
counterfcarps, are multitudes of haubroe, or fea-breakers, longitudinal banks of
fand, running north and fouth, from the diftance of four to fixteen leagues
from the continent,, and from ten to fifteen fathoms below the furface of the
water ; the haunts of myriads of ufeful fi{h.
TiBES. The tides off the Naze^ and moft: of the coafts oi Norway y are very inconfider-

able. At the North Cape, the fpring tides have been obferved to rife to the
height of eight feet one inch j the neap to fix feet eight inches ||. Mr. JVil-
Ham Fergufon, zn able pilot, who had often the condu£l of our fleets in the
North fea, informed me, that on the Naze, and many other parts of Norway, the
tides were hardly perceptible, except with ftrong wefterly winds, when they rofe
two or. three feet, and fell with the eafterly winds.
RirKRS. Into the ends of moft of the Dybrendes rufh the furious rivers, or rather tor-

rents, of the mountains j ufelefs for navigation, but moft Angularly advantageous

• Ponteppidan, J. ■}■ The fame, 5.68. J Le Bruy'n's Voyages, i.tab, i. § Olaus

Magnus, Cent, Septentt, lib. ii. c. xi. B Mr. Eayley, in PbihTrofif. lix, ajo*

3. ^cir

N O R W

Y.

XXIX

Lentzbs.

for the conveyance of the great article of commerce, the marts and timber of the
country, from the otherwife inacceflible forefts. The trees are cut down, and at
prefent conveyed from fome diftance to the rivers, down which they are precipi-
tated over rocks and ftupendous catarad^s, until they arrive at the Lentzes or
booms *, placed obliquely in the ftream in fit places. To them the owners of the
timber refort; and, on paying a certain rate to the proprietors, receive their
pieces, which are all marked before they are committed to the water j but numbers
are injured or deftroyed in the rough paflage.

The fpecies which is of fuch great value to Norway, is the Fyr or Pure, our
Scotch Pine, and the Pinus Sylvejins of Linnaus. It grows in the drieft places,
and attains the vaft age of four hundred years f j and is of univerfal ufe in the
northern world. Such trees as are not deftined for mafts are fquared, and arrive
in England under the name of Balk : the reft are fawed on the fpot, in hundreds
of mills, turned by the torrents, and reach us in form of planks. An immenfe quan-
tity of tar is made from the trees, and even from the roots, very long after they
have been divided from the trunk. The Gran, Pinus Abies, or what we call Nor-
way Y\r, is in little efteem. Thousands are cut down annually by the peafants,
who feed their cattle with the tender fboots. It is the talleft of European trees,
growing to the height of a hundred and fixty feet. In winter, the branches are
depreffed to the ground with fnow, and form beneath them the dens of wild beafts.

I muft here mention the adventitious fruits, fuch as nuts and other vegetable
produdlions, which are brought by the waves to thefe fhores, thofe of Feroe, and
the Orknies, from 'Jamaiea and other neighboring parts :|:. We muft have re-
eourfe to a caufe very remote from this place. Their vehicle is the gulphrftream Gulph-stream.
from the gulph of Mexico. The trade-winds force the great body of the ocean
from the weftward through the Antilles into that gulph, when it is forced back-
ward along the fhore from the mouth of the MiJJiJfipi to Cape Florida; doubles
that cape in the narrow fea between it znd Cuba, and from Cape Florida to Cape
Cannaveral runs nearly north, at the diftance of from five to ("even leagues from
fliore, and extends in breadth from fifteen, to eighteen leagues. There are re-
gular foundings from the land to the edge of the ftream, where the depth is ge-
nerally feventy fathoms j after that no bottom can be found. The foundings •
ofF Cape Cannaveral are very fteep and uncertain, as the water fhallows fo quick, ,
that from forty fathoms it will immediately leffen to fifteen, and from that tq
four, or lefs j fb that, without great care, a fhip may be in a few minutes on
ftiore. It muft be obferved, that, notwithftanding the gulph-ftream in general

Exotic fruits
found on the

SHORES. .

*-Pontofpiiiaa, i« 93. tab. vS.

t AmceH, Acad^ iv.

X Foj, Htbridei,

J&-

tjcx G U L P H . S T R E A M.

is faid to begin ■where foundings end, yet its influence extends feveral leagues
within the foundings ; and veflels often find a confiderable current fetting to
the northward all along the coafl-, till they get into eight or ten fathom water,
even where the foundings ftretch to tv/enty leagues from the fliore ; but their
current is generally augmented or lefTened by the prevaling winds, the force
of which, however, can but little afFe£l the grand unfathomable ftream. From
Cape Cannaveral to Cape Hatteras the foundings begin to widen in the extent
of their run from the fiiore to the inner edge of the ftream, the diftance being
generally near twenty leagues, and the foundings very regular to about feventy
fathoms near the edge of the ftream, where no bottom can be afterwards found.
Abreaft of Savannah river, the current fets nearly north ; after which, as if from
a bay, It ftretches north-eaft to Cape Hatteras 5 and from thence it fets eaft-
north-eaft, till it has loft its force. As Cape Hatteras runs a great way into the
fea, the edge of the ftream is only from five to feven leagues diftant from the
cape ; and the force and rapidity of the main ftream has fuch influence, within
that diftance, over (hips bound to the fouthward, that in very high foul winds, or
in calms, they have frequently been hurried back to the northward, which has often
occafioned great difappointment both to merchant fnips and to men of war, as was
often experienced in the late war. In December 1 754, an exceeding good failing fliip,
bound from Philadelphia to Charlejlown^ got abreaft of Cape Hatteras every day
during thirteen days, fometimes even with the tide, and in a middle diftance be-
tween the cape and the inner edge of the ftream ; yet the fhip was forced back
regularly, and could only recover its loft way with the morning breeze, till the
fourteenth day, when a brifk gale helped it to ftem the current, and get to
the fouthward of the Cape. This {hews the impoflibility of any thing which
has fallen into the ftream returning, or ftopping in its courfe.

On the outfide of the ftream is a ftrong eddy or contrary current towards the
ocean; and on the infide, next to Jfnerica^ a ftrong tide fets againft it. When
it fets off" from Cape Hatteras^ it takes a current nearly north-e4i^; but in
its courfe meets a great current that fets from the north, and probably comes
from Hudfons Bay, along the coaft of Labrador, till the ifland of Nevj^oiindland
•divides it ; part fetting along the coaft through the ftreights of Belleip, and fweep-
' ing paft Cape Breton, runs obliquely againft the gulph-ftream, and gives it a

more eaftern direction : the other part of the northern' current is thought to
join it on the eaftern fide of Newfoundland. The influence of thefe joint cur-
^ rents muft be far felt ; yet poffibly its force is not fo great, nor contracTted
in fuch a pointed and circumfcribed diredion as before they encountered. The
,|)revaling winds all over this part of the ocean are the weft and north-weft, and con-

J fequently

NORWAY. txxr

feqtiently the whole body of the weftern ocean feems, from their influence, to
have what the mariners call a fet to the eaftward, or to the north-eaft by eaft.
Thus the produaions of Jamaica, and other places bordering on the gulph of
Mexico^ may be firft brought by the ftream out of the gulph, inveloped in the
fargajfo or alga of the gulph round Cape Florida^ and hurried by the current ei-
ther along the American (bore, or fent into the ocean in the courfe along the
ftream, and then by the fet of the ftream, and the prevaling winds, which generally
blow two-thirds of the year, wafted to the fiiores of Europe, where they are
found *.

The maft of the Tilbury man of war, burnt at Jamaica, was thus conveyed to
the weftern fide of Scotland-^ and among the amazing quantity of drift-wood, or
timber, annually flung on the coafts of Iceland^ are fome fp.ecies which grow in.
Virginia and Carolina \. All the great rivers of thofe countries contribute their
fhare ; the Alatamaha, Santee, and Roanok, and all the rivers which flow into the
Chefapeak, fend down in floods numberlefs trees % ', but Iceland is alfo obliged to
Europe for much of its drift-wood ; for the common pine, fir, lime, and willows,
are among thofe enumerated by Mr. Troille \ all which, probably, were v/afted
from Norway.

The mountains of Norzvay might prove a boundlefs fubjecl of fpeculation to Mountains*.
the traveller. Their extent is prodigious, and the variety of plants, animals,
an4 fifties of the lakes, are funds of conftant amufement. The filver mines, Metals.

wrought ever fince 1623, are fources of wealth to the kingdom, and afi'ord the
fineft fpecimens of the native kinds yet known. Gold was found in a confider-
able quantity in 1697. ChriJtianV . caufed ducats to be coined with it j the in-
fcription was the words oi Job, von mifternacht komt gold, out of the north
comes GOLD ||. Copper and iron are found in abundance; lead in lefs quantities:
tin does not extend to this northern region. It is diflicult to fay which is
the beginning of this enormous chain. In Scandinavia it begins in the great
Koelen rock at the extremity of Finynark. It enters Nortvay in the diocefe of
Drontheim, bends weftward towards the fea, and terminates at a vaft precipice, I
think, the Heirefofs, about three Norwegian miles from Lijier. Another branch
of this mountain divides Norway from. Sweden, fills Lapland^ and rifes into

• For this curious account, I am indebted to Doaor Garden, who, by his long refidence in Charles-
ioivn, is extremely well acquainted with the liibje6l.

t TroilWs Fqy. to Iceland, 47. J "DoSioy: Garden.

II Pontoppidan, i. 179. Mufeum Regium Havnia, pars ii. fe6l, V. tab. XX. N" 18. —With more
truth, perhaps, our verfion has it, ont of the^ north comeib cold*

thsL-

IXXII

NORWAY.

the diftlngulfhed fammits of Horrikalero, Avafaxa^ and Kitthy and ends in fcat-
tered mafies of granite, in the low province of Finland. It inclofes Scandinavia
in form of a horfe-fhoe, and divides it from the vafl plains of Rujfia. The an-
tient name of this chain w^as Sevo mons^ to this day retained in the modern name
Seveherg. Pliny compares it to the Riphaan hills, and truly fays, it forms an
immenfe bay, even to the Cimhrian promontory *.

The mountains and iflands break into very grotefque forms, and would furnifh
admirable fubje6ls for the pencil. Among the defiderata of thefe days, is x
tour into thofe parts by a man of fortune, properly qualified, and properly at-
tended by artifts, to fearch into the great variety of matter which this northern
region would furnifh, and which would give great light into the hiftory of a
RoMAKTic race, to which half Europe owes its population. Among the views, the moun-
ViEvvs. ^^jjjg Qf ^^g Seven Sijiers in Helgeland t> and the amazing rock of Torg-hatten %%

rifmg majeftically out of the fea, with its pervious cavern, three thoufand
ells 11 long, and a hundred and fifty high, with the fun at times radiating through
it, are the moft capital. Not to mention the lops of many, broken into imagi-
nary forms of towers and Gothic edifices, forts, and caftles, with regular walls and
baftions.
Heights of I agree with the Comte Z>f Buffon^ in thinking that the heights of the Scan-

MOUNTAINS. dinavian mountains, given by Biftiop Pontoppidan, and Mr. Browallius^ are ex-
tremely exaggerated §. They are by no means to be compared with thofe of
the Helvetian Alps, and lefs fo with many near the equator. The fober accounts
I have received from my northern friends, ferve to confirm the opinion, that
there is an increafe of height of mountains from the north towards the equato-
rial countries. M. Jfcanius, profeflbr of mineralogy at Drontheim, aflures me^
that from fome late furveys, the higheft in that diocefe are not above fix hun-
dred fathoms above the furface of the fea ; that the mountains fall to the weftcrn
fide from the diftance of eight or ten Norwegian miles ^ ; but to the eaftern,
from that of forty. The higheft is Dovre-fial in Drontheim^ and Title in Ber"
gen. They rife flowly, and do not ftrike the eye like Romf dale- horn ^ and Horn-
alen, which foar majeftically from the fea. In Sweden., only one mountain has
been properly meafured to the fea. Profeflbr Ritzius of Lund, acquaints me,
,that Xinnekulle in Wejlro-Gothia is only eight hundred and fifteen Englijh feet

* Senji mons ibi immcnfus, nee Ripkats jugis minor, immanem ad Cimbrorum ufque promonto-
rjum efficit rinum, qui Codanus vocatur. Lib. iv. c. 13.

f Pontofpidan, i. 46. tab, iii. X The fame, i. 47. tab. iji. U Of two Danijh feet each.

;% Epoquei de.la Nature, Suppl, tom. vi. p. 136, edit, Am^irdam, ^ Of j8,oo» feet each,

above

NORWAY. ixKin

above the lake JVenern, or nine hundred and thtrty-one above the fca. He adds,
the following have been only mcafured to their bafes, or to the next adjacent waters :
Jorfkata, a folitary mountain of JcS7ntland^ about four or five Swedi/h miles from
the hio-heft Alps^ which feparate Norway and Siueden^ is faid to be fix thoufand one
hundred and fixty-two Englijh feet above the neareft rivers: Swuckiijhl,-vi\th\t\
the borders of Norway^ four thoufand fix hundred and fifty-eight above lake
Famund; and that lake is thought to be two or three thoufand above the fea : and ~
finally, 5y/;f^//f«5 on the borders of y<p;/7f/^«^, is three thoufand one hundred and
thirty-two feet perpendicular, from the height to the bafe. Pontoppldan gives the
mountains of Norway the height of three thoufand fathoms: BrowaUlus thofe of
Sweden two thoufand three hundred and thirty-three, which makes them nearly
equal to the higheft Jlps of Savoy, or the ftill higher fummits of the Peruvian
Andes.

In F'lnmark^ the mountains in fome places run into the fea: in others recede far, p

3nd leave extenfive plains between their bafes and the water. Their extreme height
is on the Fiall-ryggen, dorfum Alpium, or hack of the Alps^ a name given to the higheft \

courfe of the whole chain : the fummits of which are clad with eternal fnow* Thefe
are fkirted by lower mountains, compofed of hard fandy earth, deftitute of every
vegetable, except whereit is mixed with fragments of rock,on which appear the Saxi- p-

frages of feveral kinds ; D'lapenfta Lapponica, Fl. Lapp. N* 88 j Azalea ProcumbenSy
N" 90; the Andromeda Carulea, "N^ 164; and Hypnoides, N** 165, thinly fcatter- 1

ed. Lower down are vaft woods of Birch, N° 341, a tree of equal ufe to the
Laplanders, and the northern Indians of America. On the lower Alps abound the
Rein-deer Lichen, N° 437, the fupport of their only cattle ; the Dwarf Birchy
N° 342, the feeds of which are the food of the White Grous beneath the fnow,
during the long and rigorous winter ; the Arbutus Alpina, N' 161 ; and Arbutus
Uva Urfa, N" 162 ; and, finally, the Empetrum Nigrum, or Black Heath Berries,
ufed by the Laplanders in their ambrofial difh the Kappifialmas*.

The Scotch Pine, N° 346, and Norway Fir, N° 347, form the immenfe forefts of
Lapland, aflbciated with the Birch : the Pine affefts the dry, the Fir the wet places,
and grow to a vaft fize j but, being inacceftlble, are loft to the great ufes of man-
kind. On their northern fides they are almoft naked, and deprived of boughs by the
piercing winds ; the wandering Laplander remarks this, and ufes it as a compafs
to fteer by, amidft thefe wilds of wood. Whole trafts are oft-times fired by light-
ning ; then proftrated by the next ftorm. The natives make, of the under part of
the wood (which acquires vaft hardnefs by length of time) their fnow-fhoes j and

* F/. Lapp, p. 108.

k form

txxiY SCANDINAVIA.

form their bows for fhooting the fquirrel with pieces united with glue, made front.
the fkin of the perch. Their fragile boats are formed of the thinneft boards : their
ropes of the fibrous roots : and finally, the inner bark, pulverized and baked, is the
fubftitute for bread to a people deftined to this rigorous climate. Thefe three trees,
the Dwarf Birch^ N" 341, the Alder ^ N° 340, and not lefs than twenty-three fpecies
of Willows, form the whole of the trees of Lapland, Every other Swedijh tree
vanifhes on approaching that country.

There is a great analogy between the plants of thefe northern Jlps^ and thofe of

the Scottijh Highlands. A botanift is never furprized with meeting fimilar plants

on hills of the fame height, be their diftance ever fo great. It may be remarked,

that out of the three hundred and feventy-nine perfe<Sl plants which grow ia

Lapland, two hundred and ninety-one are found in Scotland; and of the hundred

and fifty cryptogamous, ninety- feven are to be met with in North Britain.

QuADKuyEDs CK The Alps, the woods, and marlhes of the vaft region of Scandinavia (for I will

ScANPiN/iViA. confider it in the great) give fhelter to numbers of quadrupeds unknown to Britain.

Thofe which brave the feverity of the extreme north of this country are diftin-

guifhed by the addition of the Lapland name. The Elk, N° 3 of this Work, is-

found in many parts : the Rein, Godde, N° 4, is confined to the chilliefl places : the

Wolf, Kumpi, N" 9, is a peft to the whole : the Ardic Fox, Njal, N" 10, fkirts

the fhores of all the northern regions: the Crofs Fox, Raude, N*' 11. /?, and the

Black Fox, N° 11. «. is fcattered every where : the Lynx, Jlbos *, N° 15, inhabits^

the thickeft woods : the Bear, Guouzhia^ N° 20, and Glutton, Gjeed'k, N° 21,

have the fame haunts: the Sahle, N° 30, which continued \n Lapland till the

middle of the laft century, is now extin6l : the Lefler Otter, or Masnk, of the

Swedes, is confined to Finland : the Beaver, Majag, N° 9c, is ftill found in an un-

fociable ftate in feveral parts: the Flying Squirrel, p. 124, the Orava of the Fin-

landers^ is found in their forefts f, and thofe oi Lapland : the Lemmus, Lumenik,

p. 136, is at feafons the ^^t^ oi Norway, iffuing like a torrent from the Z^i?^/?»

chain : The Walrus, Morjh, N° 71, is fometimes found in the Finmark feas : the

Harp Seal, Dielja, N° 77, the Rough Seal, N" 74, the Hooded, Oanide? N° 76,

and the Little Seal, Hiji. ^uad. ii. N" 386, omitted by me in this Work, inhabit

• I have no proof of this but the name. T\iQ Lynx inhabits Nor^vay and S-iveJen, and all the
■wood}' parts of Sibiria ; a circumftance I omitted in p. 50, of this Work. I Icarcely know whether I
ftiould apologize for the omifiion of the Fitchet, Hift. £>uaJ. i. N° 195 ; the Mujiela Putoriusy N" j6,
Taun. Suec. Linn^us fpeaks with uncertainty of its being found in Scania, and that is a latitude
rather too far fouth for my plan.

t See Mr. Gabriel Bonfdorff's account of the animals of FinloJK^, p. 24,.

the

SCANDINAVIA. txx?

the fame place *. The lafl:, fays Bifhop Gunner^ is eaten falted, not only by the
Laplanders, but by the better fort of people in Fin?nark.

Of animals found in Britain^ the Fox, Ruopfoky N° ii j Pine Martin, Neette^
N° 27 ; Ermine, Boaaidf^ N° 26 ; Weefel, Seibujh, N° 25 5 Otter, Zhieonaresy
N°34; Varying Hare, Njawnely N° 37 j Common Squirrel, OrrCy p. 122. A ;
Moufe, N-^ 60; Field Moufe, N° 61 ; Water Rat, N<* 59; and the Shrew,
Vandes and Ziebaky N° 67, are feen as high as Finmark : the Common Seal,
Nuorrojhy N° 72, and the Great Seal, N° 73, alfo frequent the ihores. All the
other quadrupeds, common to Scandinaviay ceafe in Norway y and feme even in
Sweden. Scandinavia received its animals from the eaft; but their farther progrefs " •

was prevented by the intervention of the North fea betvi^een that region and Britain.
Our extiniSl fpecies, the Bear, the Wolf, and the Beaver, came into this ifland, out
of Gaul, before our feparation from the continent. Some of the northern animals
never reached us : neither did the north ever receive the Fallow Deer, Br. Zool.
N' 7 ; the Harveft Moufe, N' 29 j the Water Shrew, N° 33 j nor yet the Brown
Rat, N° 57, of this Work j notwithftanding it familiarly goes under the name of
the Norivay %,

This great tradl has very few birds which are not found in Britain. We may BiRoe.

except the Collared Falcon, p. 222. Gj the Scandinavian Owl, p. 237; Rock
Crow, p. 252. F i Roller, p. 253 ; Black Woodpecker, p. 276 ; Grey-headed,
p. 277 i Three-toed, N° 168 ; the Rehufak Grous, p. 316. B j and the
Hazel Grous, p. 316. F. The Ortolan, p. 367. D ; the Arctic Finch, p. 379, A ;
and the Lulean F. p. 380. B. The Grey Redftart Warbler, p. 417. C j the
Blue Throat W. p. 417. E ; Bogrufh W. p. 419. I j Fig-eater, 419. K ; and
Kruka W. p. 422. U. All the cloven-footed water-fowl, except the Spoon-bill,
p. 441. A ; the Crane, p. 453. A j White and Black Storks, p. 455, 456. C. D ;
Finmark Snipe, p. 471. D; Striated Sandpiper, N° 383 ; Selninger, p. 480. C ;
Waved, p. 481. E ; Shore, p. 481. F ; Wood, p. 482. G ; Alwargrim Plover, N*
398 J and Alexandrincy p. 488. B. And all the web-footed kinds, except the Harle-
quin Duck, N°490> and Lapmark, p. 576. M. are common to both countries ; but
during fummer. Fieldfares, Redwings, Woodcocks, and moft of the water-fowl,
retire from Britain into Scandinavia, to breed in fecurity : and numbers of both
]and and water-fowl quit this frozen country during winter, compelled, for want
of food, to feek a milder climate.

• Confult Leems Lapm. 214, 215, 216. Alfo for the Moufe, &c, which want the Lapland nzmts,

"f Leems, 220.

J It is a native of the Eaji Indies^ See Hifl, ^ad, ii. N» 44,

k a The

Lxxvi

NORWAY.

CURIOUI FISHES.

TnOlI OF USE.

Hf RR

ING5.

The fiflics of this extenfive coaft amount to only ou€ hundred and eleven, and
are inferior in number to thofe of Britain by twenty- eight. The fpecies of the
North Sea which differ from the Britijh, are not numerous. The depth of water,
and the forefls of marine plants which cover the bottom of the Norwegian feas,
are affuredly the caufe of the preference of certain kinds, in their refidence in
them. Infinite numbers of rare Vermes, Shells, Lithophytes, and Zoophytes, are
found there, feveral of which, before their difcovery by Biftiop Pontoppidan^ were
the fuppofed inhabitants of only the more remote feas *. Among the fifhes which
have hitherto fhunned our fhores, are the Raia Clavata, Mullery N*^ 309 ; Squalui
Spinax, 312 t; Sq. Centrina, 313, which extends to the Mediterranean y Chimera
Mon/irofa^ 320, a moft fingular fifli ; Sygnathus Typhle, and /Equoreus, 324, 3283 the
RegalecusGlefue^ 335, Afcan. Icon. tab. xi.; Gadus Brofme^ 341 ; G. Dypterygius^ or
Byrke-lange^ 346; Blennius Raninus^ h Fufcus, 359, 360; Echeneis Reinora^ 361 j
Coryphana Novacula^ k Rupejiris, 362, 363; Gobius Jozo^ 365; PlearoneSies
Cynoglojfus^ Limanda, h Linguatula^ 372, 375, 377 ; ^arus Erythrinus^ 380 ; Labrns
Suillus, 381 ; Perca Nor-vegica, and Lucio-perca, 390, 391 j Scomber Pelagicus, 398 j
Sihirus Jfotus^ 404 ; Clupea Villofa^ 425.

Thefe are not the fifties of general ufe. Providence hath, in thefe parts, beftow-
ed with munificence the fpecies which contribute to the fupport of mankind ; and
made thereby the kingdom of Norway a coaft of hardy fifnermen. The chain of
iflands, and the fhores, are the populous parts. It is the fea which yields them a
harveft ; and near to it ftand all the capital towns : the ftaples of the produce of
the ocean on one hand, and of the more thinly inhabited mountains on the other.
The farther you advance inland, the lefs numerous is the race of man.

The Herring, the Cod, the Ling, and the Salmon, are the maritime wealth c^
this country. The Herring has two emigrations into this fea : the firft is from
Chrijimas to Candlemas^ when a large fpecies arrives, preceded by two fpecies of
Whales, who, by inftin6t, wait its coming. The fifliermen poft themfelves oa
fome high cliff, impatiently waiting for the cetaceous fifti, the harbingers of the
others. They look for them at the moon Torre, or the firft new one after Chriji-^
mas, and the moon Gio, which immediately follows.

Thefe Herrings frequent the great fand-banks, where they depofit their fpawn.
They are followed by the Spring Herrings, aleffer fifh, which approach much nearer
tothefhore; after which arrive the Summer Herring, which almoft literally fill
every creek : the whole fifhery is of immenfe profit. From January to OSiohtr^

• Seethe Plates in Pontoppidan's Hiji. Norivay.

•f In the Briti/b Zoology, iii. N* 4.0, the trivial Spinaf( is inferted inftcad of Acanthias»

i7Sa»

NORWAY.

JLXXVIX

1752, were exported, from Bergen alone, eleven thoufand and thirteen lafls ; and
k was expected that as many more would be (hipped ofF before the expiration of
the year. The Herrings which vifit this coaft are only part of the vaft northern
army which annually quits the ^reat deeps, andgives wealth and food to numbers
oi European nations.

The Cod yields another fifliery of great profit. They firfl: arrive immediately Coo.

after the earlieft Herrings, and grow fo pampered with their fry, that they rejeft a
bait; and are taken in vaft nets, which are fet down in fifty or feventv fathom
water, and taken up every twenty-four hours, with four or five hundred great fifh
entangled in them. As the Herrings retire, the Cod grows hungry ; and after that
is taken with hook and line, baited with Herring. In more advanced feafon, other
varieties of Cod arrive, and arc taken, in common with Turbot and other fifh, with
long lines, to which two hundred fhort lines with hooks are fattened : the whole is
funk to the bottom ; its place is marked by a buoy fattened to it by another line of
fit length. The extent of the Cod-fifhery may be judged of on hearing that
40,000 tonder^ of four bufhels each, of French and Spanijh fait, are annually im-
ported into Bergen for that purpofeonly.

The Ling is taken on the great fandbank during fummer, by hook and line, Lino

and, being a fifti noted for being capable of long prefervation, is much fought after
for diftant voyages.

The Salmon, a moft univerfal northern fifli, arrive in tht Norwegian rivers, and Salmon,

vaft quanties are fent, fmoke-dried or pickled, into various countries.

The praefedure of Nordland^ Is the fartheft part of the kingdom of Norway. In Nordland
it is the diftrid: of HelgelaJid^ remarkable for that uncommon genius, OSIher^ or
Ohthere, who, in a frozen climate, and fo early as the ninth century, did Of Octher.
(hew a paiTion for difcovery, equal perhaps with that of the prefent. His country
was at that time the laft in the north which, had the left tindure of humanity.
In the year 890 he was attradled by the fame of our renowned Alfred. He vifited
his court, and related to him his voyages. He told the monarch that he was deter-
mined to prove if there was any land beyond the deferts which bounded his country.
It appears that he failed due north, and left,. on his ftarboard fide, a watte, the pre-
fent Finmark, occafionally frequented by the Finnas, or wandering Laplanders, for
the fake of fifhing and fowling. He went as far as the Whale-fijhers ufually ven-
tured : a proof that the men o^ Norway pradlifed that fifhery many centuries before
the Englijh. He doubled the North Cape^ and entered the Cwen Sea, or White Sea, and
even anchored in the mouth of the Dwina. He was to thefe parts what Columbus
was to America : but the knowlege of this country was loft for centuries after the
days of Oiiher^ He mentioned the Sgride Fimasy /who lived to the north-welV of

the

ixxviH NORWAY.

the Cijuen ^ea^ and who wore fnow-flioes. The country about the Dwina was well
inhabited by a people called Beormas, far more civilized than the Finnas. The
map attending Alfred'^ Orofius places them in the country of the Samoleds^ a race
at prefent as uncultivated as mankind can be: we therefore muft fuppofe thofe
Beormas to have been Rujjians. OSfher fays, that in this fea he met with Horfe-
Whales' (TFalrufes) and produced to the prince fpecimens of their great teeth,
and of thong-ropes made of their fkins ; a mark of his attention to every thing
curious which occurred to him *.
NoRwiGiAMJ I muft not leave Norway without notice of its chief of animals, Man. ^candi^

A FINE RACE. naviffy in the courfe of population, received its inhabitants by colonies of hardy
Scythians^ who, under the name of Sartnatians^ extended themfclves to the coafts
of the Baltic, In after-times their virtue was exalted by the arrival of their coun-
tryman, Odin, and the heroes he fettled in every part of the country. The feverity
of the climate has not checked the growth, or diftorted the human form. Man
here is tall, robuft, of juft fymmetry in limbs, and (hews ftrcngly the human face
divine. Their hair is light: their eyes light grey. The male peafants of the
mountains are hairy on their breafts as Bears, and not lefs hardy : active in body :
LoKGEViTT. clear and intelligent in their minds. Theirs certainly is length ofdaysj for out of
fix thou fand nine hundred and twenty-nine, who died in 1761, in the dioccfe of
ChrijUana, three hundred and ninety-four lived to the age of nintey ; fixty-thrce to
that of a hundred ; and feven to that of a hundred and one f. The Norwegiam
juftly hold themfelves of high value; and flightingly call their fellow-fubjedls, the
the Danesy Jutes X- The Danes tacitly acknowlege the fupcriority, by compofing
almoft their vi^hole arm.y out of thefe defcendants of the all-conquering Normans.

I fliall here fupply an omiflion in my account of the Scandinavian antiquities,
p. xxxvi. by mentioning the famous tomb, about feven Swedijh yards long and two
broad, found at Kivike, a parifh of Schonen in Sweden, in the centre of a vaft tumu-
lus of round ftones. It was oblong, and confifled of feveral flat ftones, the infide
of which is carved with figures of men and animals, and the weapons of the age,
axes and fpears heads. A figure is placed in a triumphal car ; cornets feem found-
ing : captives with their hands bound behind, guarded by armed men ; and figures,
fuppofed to be female, form part of the conquered people. It is fuppofed that the
Roman fleet made an accidental defcent here, had a fuccefsful fkirmifh with the
natives, might have loft their leader, and left this mark of their vidory amidft the

* The Tranjlation of Orofius, by the Hon. Daines Barrington, p. 9, &c. and Haciluyt, i. 4.
f Phil. Tranf. vol. lix. 117. % Lord MeUfworth's Account oi Denmark, 25,

barbarous

F I N M A R K.

tXXIJS

FlNMARICc

barbarous conquered. The tomb had been broken open by the country people,
and whatfoever it might have contained was ftolen away and loft *.

Within the ^r^Kcircle, begins Fhrnark, a narrow traft, which winds about the
fhores eaftwards, and bends into the White Sea: a country divided between Nor-
way and Ru/Tia. The view from the fea is a flat, bounded, a little inland, by a cham
of lofty mountains covered with fnow. The depth of wateT ofF the fhore is from a
hundred to a hundred and fifty fathoms f- The inhabitants quit their hovels in
winter, and return to them in the fummer : and, in the middle of that feafon, even
the Jlpine Laplanders vifit thefe parts for the fake of fifhing ; and, like the antient
Scythians, remove with their tents, their herds, and furniture, and return to their
mountains in autumn %. Some of them, from liviiog near the fea, have long been
called Sia Finni, and Soe Lappernes.

In this country begins inftantly a new race of men. Their ftature is from four
to four feet and a half: their hair fhort, black, and coarfe : eyes tranfverfely nar-
row : irides black: their heads great: cheek-bones high: mouth wide: lips
thick : their chefts broad : waifts flender : fkin fwarthy : fnanks fpindle 1|. From
ufe, they run up rocks like goats, and fwarm trees like fquirrels : are fo ftrong la
their arms that they can draw a bow which a ftout Norwegian Q^n hardly bend;
yet lazy even to torpidity, when not incited by neceffity ; and pufillanimous and
nervous to an hyfterical degree. With a few variations, and very few exceptions,
are the inhabitants of all the Jr£lic coafts of Europe, Afia, and America, They are
nearly a diftina fpecies in minds and bodies, and not to be derived from the ad-
jacent nations, or any of their better-proportioned neighbors.

The feas and rivers of Finmark abound with fifh. The Alien of Wejl Finmark, Salmx>n^k .sh-
after a gentle courfe through mountains and forefts, forms a noble catara^, which
tumbles down an immenfe rock into a fine bafon, the receptacle of numbers of
veffels which refort here to fifh or traffic for Salmon §. The Tana, and the Kola
of the extreme north fwarm with them. In the Alien they are taken by the natives
in weirs built after the Nortvegian model; and form, with the merchants of Bergen,
a great article of commerce. Thefe fifheries are far from recent : that on the
Kolavf2.s noted above two centuries ago for the vaft concourfe of Englijh and Dutch,
for the fake of the fifti-oil and Salmon ^.

The moft northern fortrefs in the world, and of unknowa antiquity ft, is Ward- Ward.'iv r,.

* See Mr. for/?n;«j's curious dificrtatlon on this antiquity, printed ^t Lund, 17 So.
t Anth. Jenkinfon-s Voy. in Hacklujt, i. 311. % Leems, 169. |1 Scheffer, la, and L;«.

faun. Suec. i» § Leems, 34a. « Hacklujt, i. 416. tt '^^'■>' ^'J^' ^*'"^'^^'''' '' ^^'

LXXX

CHERIE ISLAND.

huys^ fituated in a good harbour, in the ifle of IVardoe^ at the extremity of Fbimark \
probably built for the protedion of the fifhing trade, the only objed it could have
in this remote place.
WiL- A little farther eaftward, in Mufcovitijh Finmark^ is Arzina^ noted for the fad

.iBY. fate of that gallant gentleman. Sir Hugh Willoughhy^ who, in 1553, commanded the
firft voyage on the difcovery by fea of Mufcovia^ by the north-eaft ; a country at that
time fcarcely known to the reft oi Europe. He unfortunately loft his pailage, was
driven by tempefts into this port, where he and all his crew were found the fol-
lowing year frozen to death. His more fortunate confort, Richard -Chancellor
captain and pilot major, purfued his voyage, and renewed thedifcoyery of the
White Sea, or Bay of St. Nicholas; a place totally forgotten fince the days of
OSiher. The circumftances attending his arrival, exadly refemble thofe of the firft
difcoverers of -(^^/zmr^. He admired the barbarity of the i2z/^<sn inhabitants : they
in return were in amaze at the fize of his fliip : they fell down and would have
kifled his feet ; and when they left him fpread abroad the arrival of 'a ftrange
nation, of fnigular gentlenefle and courtefie *.' He vifited in fledges the court of
■Bafdowit'z, II. then at Mojcow^ and layed the foundation of immenfe commerce to
this country for a feries of years, even to the remote and unthought-of Perfia.

I fhall take my departure from the extreme north of the continent of Europe, or
rather from i^s (battered fragments, X^a^x'^^oi Maggeroe, and other iflands, which lie
North Cape. cff'the.coaft, in lat. 71. 33. At the remote end of Maggeroe is the North Cape,
high and flat at top, or what the failors call Table-land \, Thefe are but the con-
tinuation of the great chain of mountains which divides Scandinavia, and finks
and rifes through the ocean, in diff'erent places, to the Seven Sijlers, in about lat.
80. 30, the neareft land to the pole which we are acquainted with.
Cherie Island. Its firft appearance above water, from this group, is at Cherie Ijland, in lat. 74.
30. a moft folitary fpot, rather more than midway between the North Cape and
Spitzbergen, or about a hundred and fifty miles from the latter. Its figure is nearly
round : its furface rifes into lofty mountanous fummits, craggy, and covered with
perpetual fnow : one of them is truly called Mount Mifery. The horror of this
ifle to the firft difcoverers muft have been unfpeakable. The profpe<5l dreary,
black, where not hid with fnow, and broken into a thoufand precipices. No
founds but of the dafhing of the waves, the crafhing coll ifion of floating ice, the
difcordant notes of myriads of fea-fowl, the yelping of yfr^/V Foxes, the fnorting
of the Walrufes, or the roaring of the Polar Bears.

* Hackluyt, i. 246. f See a view of thefc iflands In Phil, Tranf. vol. lix. tab, xiv.

This

SPITZBERGEN.

LXXXI

This ifland was probably difcovered by Stephen Bennet in 1603 *, employed by
Alderman Cheney in honor of whom the place was named. The anchorage near
it is twenty and thirty fathoms. He found there the tooth of a TValrus, but faw
none of the animals, their feafon here being paft : this was the 17th oi Jugu/t.
Encouraged by the hopes of profit, Bennet made a fecond voyage the next year, and
arrived at the ifland the 9th oi July; when he found the Walrufes lying huddled Walruses.
on one another, a thoufand in a heap. For want of experience, he killed only a
hvfy but in fucceeding voyages the adventurers killed, in i6c6, in fix hours time,
feven or eight hundred j in 1608, nine hundred or a thoufand in feven hours ; and
in 1610, above feven hundred. The profit, in the teeth, oil, and (kins, was very
confiderable f ; but the {laughter made among the animals frightened the furvivors
away, fo that the benefit of the bufinefs was loft, and the ifland no more frequented.
Eut from this deficiency originated the commencement of the Whale-fiftiery bv the
Englijh,

It is remarkable that this ifland produces excellent coals J ; yet none are known Coals.

nearer than the diocefe of Aggerhuys^ in the fouth of Noriuay, and there in very
fmall quantities. Lead ore is alfo found, both in Cherte IJland and a little one Lead.

adjacent, called GullIJland\.

About a hundred and fifty miles almoft due north, is South Cape, north lat. Spitzbergen.
76. 30, the extreme fouthern point of Spitzbergen, the largeft of the group of
frozen iflands which go under that name, or New Groenland. From this to Ver-
legan-hook, north lat. 80. 7, the northern extremity, is above three hundred miles ;
and the greateft breadth of the group is from Hackluyfs Headland to the extreme
eaft point of North Eajiland, comprizing from 9. to near 24. eaft longitude.
The fliores are ragged and indented. A very deep bay runs into the eaft fide from
fouth to north j and a large trifurcated one from north to fouth. Stat's Forland is
a large ifland rent from the fouthern part of the eaft fide. North Eajiland is
divided from the north-eaft fide by the Waygat and Hinlopen ftraits, ufually
blocked up with ice, and fo fhallow as to be, in one part, only three fathoms deep §.
The long ifle of King Charles lies parallel to the weft fide. At the fouthern end is
Black Point; thecoaft high, black, and inacceffible; in parts feeming foaring above
the clouds J and the interjacent vallies filled with ice and fnow. Fair Foreland,
or Vogel-hook, is the northern headland, made by failors. And due north of it, at
the weftern point of Spitzlergen, is the fmall lofty ifle of Hackluyt's Headland, ano=
ther objedl of the mariners fearch.

To the north of the great group is Mofen's Ip, in lat. 80, oppofite to the Moffen's Isle.
mouth of Leifde bay. This ifland is very low, and fufpeded to be a new creation,

* Purchas, iii. 566. f Thefame, pp. 560, 565. % The famej 564.

II The lame, 558, 564. § Barrhigtons Mijcel. 35.

1 bv

LXXXII

SPITZBERGEN.

by the mfeting of the ftreams from the great ocean, rufliing along the weft fide of
Spitzbergen, and through the IVaygat^ and forcing up the gravelly bottom of this
fhallow part, where the lead touches the bottom at from two to five fathoms water,
at half a mile from its weftern fide *.

Low Island. To the eaftward of this is another low ifland, almoft oppofite to the mouth of the

Basaltic. Waygat : it is remarkable for being part of the Bafaltic chain, which appears in fo

many places in the northern hemifphere. The columns were from eighteen to
thirty inches in diameter, moftly hexagonal, and formed a moft convenient pave-
Plants. ment. The middle of the ifle was covered with vegetables, Moffes, Sorel, Scurvy

Animals. Grafs, and Ranunculufes in bloom on July 30th. Of quadrupeds, the Rein-

deer fattened here into excellent venifon ; the Ar£lic Fox j and a fmall animal
larger than a Weefel, with fliort ears, long tail, and fpotted with black and white,
BiRBs. were feen. Small Snipes, like Jack Snipes; Ducks, then hatching; and Wild

Gt^{Q feeding, helped to animate this dreary fcene f .

The beach was formed of an antient aggregate of fand, whale-bones, and old

Drikt-wood. timber, or drift-wood. Fir-trees feventy feet long, fome torn up by the roots,
others frefh from the axe, and marked with it into twelve feet lengths, lay con-
fufedly fixteen or eighteen feet above the level of the fea, intermixed with pipe-
ftaves, and wood fafhioned for ufe ; all brought into this elevated fituation by the
iwell of the furious furges.

The appearance of drift-wood is very frequent in many parts of thefe high lati-
tudes : in the feas of Greenland^ in Davis^ ftreights, and in thofe of Hudfon ; and
again on the coaflis of Nova Zemlja. I have only two places from whence I can
derive the quantity of floating timber which appears on the coaft of Nova Zemlja
and thefe iflands : the firfl is from the banks of the Oby, and perhaps other great
rivers, which pour out their waters into the Frozen ocean. In the fpring, at the
breaking up of the ice, vaft inundations fpread over the land, and fweep away whole
forefts, with the aid of the vaft fragments of ice ; thefe are carried ofr, rooted up,
and appear entire in various places. Such as are found marked into lengths,
together with pipe-ftaves, and other fafhioned woods, are fwept by the Norwegian
floods out of the rivers, on the breaking of a lentze J, a misfortune which fometimes
happens, to the bankruptcy of multitudes of timber-merchants. At fuch times
not only the trees which are floating down the torrents, but the faw-mills, and all
other places in which bufinefs is carried on, undergo the fame calamity; and the
timber, in whatfoever form it happens to be, is forced into the ocean, and con-
Teyed by tides or tempefts to the moft diftant parts of the north,

* Phtpi} 54. t The fame, 58. % Purchas, iii, 527.

SPITZBERGEK.

J.XXXIII

Let no one be ftaggered at the remotenefs of the voyage : I have before fiiewn
nftances, but from a contrary courfe, from vi^eft to eaft. Part of the marts of
the Tilbury, burnt at Jajna'ica^ was taken up on the weftern coaft of Scot-
land-y and multitudes of feed or fruits of the fame ifland, and other hot parts of
America, are annually driven on fhore, not only on the weftern fide oi Scotland \,
but even on thofe of more diftant Norway +, and Iceland.

The iflands of the Seven Sijiers, laft of known land, lie due north from North- Ea/i-
land: the extreme point of the moft remote is in lat. 8o. 42. They are all high
primaeval ifles : from a high mountain on the fartheft, the hardy navigators of
1773 had a fight of ten or twelve leagues of fmooth unbroken ice to the eaft and
north-eaft, bounded only by the horizon ; and to the fouth-eaft certain land laid
down in the Dutch maps. Midway between thefe iflands and North- Eajlland^
Lord ^/M/^rtf-z/^, after every effort which the moft finifhed feaman could make to Voyage by
accomplifh the end of his voyage, was caught in the ice, and was near experiencino- Lord MutcRAVf,
the unhappy fate of the gallant Englijhman, Sir Hugh JVilloughhy, who was frozen ^^ ^771'

in 1553, with all his crew, in his unhappy expedition.

The fcene, divefted of the horror from the eventful expedation of change, was
the moft beautiful and pidturefque : — Two large ftiips becalmed in a vaft bafon,
furrounded on all fides by iflands of various forms : the weather clear : the fun
gilding the circumambient ice, which was low, fmooth, and even ; covered with
fnow, excepting where the pools of water on part of the furface appeared cryftalline
with the young ice |j : the fmall fpace of fea they were confined in perfedlly
fmooth. After fruitlefs attempts to force a way through the fields of ice, their
limits were perpetually contra6ted by its clofing; till at length it befet each
veffel till they became immoveably fixed §. The fmooth extent of furface was foon
loft: the preffure of the pieces of ice, by the violence of the fwell, caufed them
to pack J fragment rofe upon fragment, till they were in many places higher than
the main-yard. The movements of the fhips were tremendous and involuntary, in
conjundlion with the furrounding ice, a>5luated by the currents. The water fhoal-
ed to fourteen fathoms. The grounding of the ice or of the fhips would have been
equally fatal : the force of the ice might have crufiied them to atoms, or have
lifted them out of the water and overfet them, or have left them fufpended on the
fummits of the pieces of ice at a tremendous height, expofed to the fury of the winds,
or to the rifque of being daflied to pieces by the failure of their frozen dock ff. An

* P. 21. of this Work. -|- Foy, to the Hebrides. % Amoen. Acad, vii. Kariore

Nor-vegia, i^-jj. \\ Phips Foy. ta.b.iv. § Same, tab. iii.

^ See thefe diftiefsful fituations in tab. B, of Fr, Marten's Foyage, and Gerard le Fer, Foy. au Nord^
^. 19, edition 1606.

1 2 attempt

Lxxxiv SPITZBERGEN.

attempt was made to cut a paflage through the ice j after a perfeverance worthy
of Britons^ it proved fruitlefs. The commander, at all times mafter of himfelf,
direded the boats to be made ready to be hauled over the ice, till they arrived at
navigable water (a tafk alone of feven days) and in them to make their voyage to
England. The boats were drawn progrefiively three whole days *. At length a
wind fprung up, the ice feparated fufficiently to yield to the preflure of the full-
failed fhips, which, after laboring againft the refifting fields of ice t» arrived on the
1 0th of Augiift in the harbor of Smeeringherg^ at the weft end of SpitzUrgen, be-
tween it and Hackluyfs Headland.

It was the hard fortune of Lord Mulgrave^ at this feafon, to meet with one of
thofe amazing fhoals of ice which cover, at times, thefe feas, for multitudes of
leagues. He made the fulleft trial, from long. 2 to 21 eaft, and from about lat.
80. 40, as low as about 78. 30, oppofed by a face of ice without the leaft opening,
and with all the appearance of a folid wall. It is well known, that the coafts of
Sibiria are, after a northern tempeft, rendered inacceiTible for a vaft extent, by the
polar ice being fet in motion. It is as well known, that a ftrong fouthern wind
will again drive them to their former feats, and make the fhores of the Frozen ocean
as clear as the equatorial feas. A farther difcovery on this fide was denied to the
noble navigator. His misfortune will for ever redound to his honor, as it proved
his fpirit, his perfeverance, and a foul fertile in expedients among the greateft dif-
ficulties !

That navigators have gone into higher latitudes I cannot deny : the authenticated
inftances only fhew their accidental good fortune, in having the ice driven towards
the pole, and in making a retreat before they were enveloped in the returning ice.
The RuJ/ians, under vice-admiral T^itjhaghef, within thefe very few years, made an
attempt to fail to the pole by the eaftern fide of Spitzbergen ; but after fufFering
great hardlhips, returned without effecting any difcovery. Curiofity has been
amply fatisfied : and I believe we may reft fully content with the common paf-
fage to India, on the conviction of this trail being totally impradlicable.
JcE. The forms afloimed by the ice in this chilling climate, are extremely pleafing to

even the moft incurious eye. The furface of that which is congealed from the
fea-water (for I muft allow it two origins) is flat and even, hard, opake, refembling
white fugar, and incapable of being Aid on, like the Brltljh ice J. The greater
pieces, or fields, are many leagues in length : the lefler, are the meadows

* Phips Voy. tab. v.
■ ^ -j- Same, tab. vi.-

X Cranio, i. 31. ^

SPITZBERGEN.

LXXXV

Of the Seals, on which thofe animals at times frolic by hundreds. The motion of
the lefTer pieces is as rapid as the currents : the greater, which are fomeUmes two
hundred leagues long, and fixty or eighty broad *, move How and majeft.cally ; often
fix for a time, immoveable by the power of the ocean, and then produce near the
horizon that bright white appearance, called by mariners the bhnk of the reef.
The approximation of two great fields produces a moft finguiar phaenomenon ; it
forces the lefler (if the term can be applied to pieces of feveral acres fquare) out of
the water, and adds them to their furface : a fecond, and often a third fucceeds ; fa
that the whole forms an aggregate of a tremendous height. Thefe float in the fea
like fo many rugged mountains, and are fometimes five or fix hundred yards thicic % j
but the far greater part is concealed beneath the water. Thefe are continually
encreafed in height by the freezing of the fpray of the fea, or of the melting of
the fnow, which falls on them. Thofe which remain in this frozen climate, re-
ceive continual growth ; others are gradually wafted by the northern winds into
fouthern latitudes, and melt by degrees, by the heat of the fun, till they wafte away,
or difappear in the boundlefs element. , • u

The collifion of the great fields of ice, in high latitudes, is often attended with, a
noife that for a time takes away the fenfe of hearing any thing elfe ; and the leffer
with a grinding of unfpeakable horror.

The water which dafiies againft the mountanous ice freezes into an infinite
variety of forms; and gives the voyager ideal towns, ftreets, churches, fteeples,
and every fhape which imagination can frame ||.

The Icebergs, or Glacieres of the north-eaft of Spitzbergen, are among the ca- [^Icebergs.
pital wonders of the country ; they are feven in number, but at confiderable
diftances from each other : each fills the vallies for trads unknown, in a region
totally inacceffible in the internal parts. The glacieres of Switzerland feem con-
temptible to thefe ; but prefent often a fimilar front into fome lower valley. The
laft exhibits over the fea a front three hundred feet high, emulating the emerald
in color: catarads of melted fnow precipitate down various parts, and black fpir-
ing mountains, ftreaked with white, bound the fides, and rife crag above crag,
as far as eye can reach in the back ground §.

At times immenfe fragments break ofF, and tumble into the water, with a moft
alarming dafliing. A piece of this vivid green fubftance has fallen, and grounded
in twenty.four fathoms water, and fpired above the furface fifty feet **. Simi-

• Crantz, i. 31. t Phip, m- X ^^^"'-^ ^?>" "7- H ^^'''''\ 57- Crant%V

i. 31. § See the beautiful plate in ?h\p'i Voy, tab. vii. ** P^^'Ph p. 70.

Lxxxvi S P I T Z B E K G E N_.

lar icebergs are frequent in all the JrSIlc regions j and to their lapfes is owing the
folid mountanous ice which infefts thofe feas.

Froft fports alfo with thefe icebergs, and gives them majeftic as well as other moil
fingular forms. MafTes have been feen, afTuming the fhape of a Gothic church,
with arched windows and doors, and all the rich tracery of that ftyle, compofed of
what an Jrabian tale would fcarcely dare to relate, of cryftal of the richeft fap-
phirine blue : tables with one or more feet ; and often immenfe flat-roofed temples,
like thofe of Luxxor on the Nile^ fupported by round tranfparent columns of cae-
rulean hue, float by the aftonilhed fpedator *.

Thefe icebergs are the creation of ages, and receive annually additional height
by the falling of fnows and of rain, which often inftantly freezes, and more than
repairs the lofs by the influence of the melting fun f.

Snow. The fnow of thefe high latitudes is as Angular as the' ice. It is firfl: fmall

and hard as the fineft fand % j changes its form to that of an hexagonal fhield,
into the Ihape of needles, crofTes, cinquefoils, and ftars, plain and with ferrated
rays. Their forms depend on the difpofition of the atmofphere; and in calm wea-
ther it coalefces, and falls in clufters §.
Seasons. Thunder and lightning are unknown here. The air in fummer is generally

clear ; but the iTcy loaden with hard white clouds. The one night of this dread-
ful country begins about Odiober 20th, O. S. ; the fun then fets, and never appears
till about the 3d of February |1 ; a glimmering indeed continues fome weeks after
its fetting ; then fucceed clouds and thick darknefs, broken by the light of the
moon, which is luminous as that In England^ and {bines without intermiflion during
the long night ^. Such alfo Is the cafe in Nova Ze?nlja **. The cold, according
to the Englijh proverb, ftrengthens with the new year ; and the fun is ufhered in
with unufual feverity of frofl. The fplendor of that luminary on the fnowy
fummits of the mountains was the moft glorious of fights to the fingle party who

Bears. furvived to relate the account. The Bears flalk forth at the fame time from their

dens, attended by their young cubs. By the beginning of March, the chearful

Foxes. ijgj^t grows ftrong: the ^r^/V Foxes leave their holes, and the fea-fowls refort

Fowls. -^^ gxQZi multitudes to their breeding-places ff.

* Marten, A.'i,. f The fame. J The fame. § The fame, 51. || Relation of

Eight Englijhmen, Sec. CkurchiWs Coll. Iv. 818. — Relation of Seven Dutchmen, &c. Churchill, ii. 430.

^ Narrative of Four Rujfian failors, 94. ** De Ver, troiiVoy, au Nord, zz, b. "ff Relation
of E]g\\t Englijhmen, &c. 817, 818, Sig.

c The

SPITZBERGEN. ixxxvii

The fun, in the height of fummer, has at times heat enough to melt the
tar on the decks of fhips. It fets no more after the third of May ^ O. S. Diflinc- Day and Night.
tion of day and night is loft ; unlefs it be fail what Fr. Marten aWcges, that
during the fummer night of thefe countries, the fun appears v^'ith all the faint-
nefs of the moon*. This is denied by Lord Mulgrave \. From Augujl the
power of the fun declines, it fets faft ; in September Azy is hardly diftinguifliable;
and by the middle of October takes a long leave of this country ^ the bays be-
come frozen j and winter reigns triumphant.

Nature, in the formation of thefe iflands, preferves the fame rule which fhe Mountains.
does in other places : the higheft mountains are on the weilern fide j and they
gradually lower to theeaft. The altitude of the moft lofty which has been taken by
Lord Mulgrave^ feems to have been one a little to the north oi Black Point, which
was found by the megameter to be fifteen hundred and three yards % : that of a hill on
the little ifle, the Norways, a fmall diftance to the north-eaft of Spitzbergen, was two
thoufand four hundred feet : one on Vogel Sang, fixteen hundred and fifty; an-
other, on the ifle near Cloven Cliff, in about lat. 80, eight hundred and fixty-
five ; a third on that near Cook's Hole, feven hundred and eleven ; and one on.
Hackluyt's IJland, only three hundred and twenty-one §. Thefe are the- moft
northern lands which ever were meafured \ and the experiments favor the i^^dizm:
of the decreafe of the heights of the mountains toward the poles.

Earth and foil are denied to thofe dreadful regions ; their compofition is ftone,
formed by the fublime hand of Almighty Power ; not frittered into fegments by
fiflures, tranfverfe or perpendicular, but at once caft into one immenfe and folid
mafs ; a mountain is but a fingle ftone throughout, deftitute of fiffures, except in
places cracked by the refiftlefs power of froft, which often caufes lapfes, attend-
ed with a noife like thunder, fcattering over their bafes rude and extenfive ruins.
The ftone is granite, moftly grey and black ; fome red, white, and yellow. I
ftrongly fufpeit, that veins of iron are intermixed ^ for the meltings of the fnow
tinge the rocks frequently with a ferruginous ochre. A potter's clay and a gypfum
are to be met with on the eaftern part of the iflands ||.

The vallies, or rather glens, of this country, are filled with eternal ice or Vaihss.

fnow ; are totally inacceffible, and known only by the divided courfe of the
mountains, or where they terminate in the fea in form of a glaciere. No ftreams
water thefe dreary bottoms j even fprings are denied 3 and it is to the periodical

• Marteny 48. ^ Voy.-ji. % fhips Voy. 33. h The fame, on tab. viii.

I Narrative of Four /?/#«« fai lor s, 78, 89.

cataracts

Lxxxvni SPITZBERGEN.

cataracts of melted fnow of the fhort fummer, or to the pools in the middle of
the fields of ice, to which the mariners are indebted for frefh water.
Harbours. The harbours on the weft fide are frequent ; penetrate deep into the ifland of

Spitzbergen j and are the only channels by which the flight knowlege of the interior
parts is attained. North Harbour is a fcene of pidlurefque horror, bounded by
black craggy Jlps^ ftreaked with fnow ; the narrow entrance divided by an ifland ;
and at feafons affording a land-locked ftielter to multitudes of ftiips.
Tide and Sea. The tide at the Vogel Sang flows only four feet, and the flood appears to come

from the fouth. The depth of the fea is very irregular : near the fhore it is
generally fhallow : off Low Ijland only from ten to twenty fathoms; yet fud-
denly deepens to a hundred and feventeen : off Cloven Cliff from fourteen to
twenty-eight, and deepens to two hundred. The (hallows are ufually on rock ;
the great depths on foft mud : the former I look on as fubmarine iflands , but,
from the fmall number of fifh, the bottoms muft be univerfally barren.
Soil ! The grit worn from the mountains by the power of the winds, or attrition of ca-

tarads of melted fnow, is the only thing which refembles foil, and is the bed for
the few vegetables found here. This indeed is aflifted by the putrefied lichens of the
rocks, and the dung of birds, brought down by the fame means.
P LA3(T«t Even here Flora deigns to make a (hort vifit, and fcatter over the bafes of the

hills a fcanty ftock. Her efforts never rife beyond a few humble herbs, which flioot,
flower, and feed, in the fhort warmth o( June and July ; then wither into reft till
the fucceeding year. — Let me here weave a flender garland from the lap of the
goddefs, of fuch, and perhaps all, which fhe hath beftowed on a country fo repug-
jiant to her bounty. Let the falubrious Scurvy Grafs, the refource of diftempered
feamen, be remarked as providentially moft abundant in the compofition.

Let me firft mention its only tree, the Salix Herbacea^ or Dwarf Willow, de-
fcribed by Marten^ p. 65, Phips, 202, which feldom exceeds two inches in
height, yet has a juft title to the name. The plants are, a new fpecies of Grafs,
now named Jgrojlis Algida : Tillaa Jquatica, Sp. PI. 186. Fl. Suec. 156: Juncus
Campejlris^ Fl. Sc. i. 186 : Sibbaldia Procumbens? Fl. Lap. iii. ; Marten's Spitz,
tab. H. fig. b : Polygonum Viviparum^ Fl. Lap. 152^ Marten's Spitz, tab. L fig. a:
Saxifraga OppofitafoUa, Fl. Lap. 179, 222 : Sax. Cernua^ Sp. PI. i. 577 ; Fl. Lap.
172: Sax. Rivularis^ Sp. PI, 577 ; Fl. Lap. 174: Sax. Cafpitofa^ Sp. PI. 578;
Fl. Suec. 376: Sedum Jnnuum F Sp. PI. 620; Marten's Spitz, tab. F. fig. c:
Cerajiimn Jlpinum, Sp. PI. 628 ; Fl. Lap. 192 : Ranunculus Sulphurc-us, Phips
Voy. 202; Mart. Spitz. 58 : R. Lapponicus, Fl. Lap. 461, 503 : R. Nivalis? 232;
Mart. Spitz, tab. F. fig. a: CochUaria Danica, Sp. PI. 903 j Fl. Suec. 578, 579 :

CochI,

SPITZBERGEN. lxxxix

Cochl. Grofnlandica, Sp. PI. 904 : Polytrichum commune, FI. Lap. 395 ; Bryum
Hypnoides, Fl. Lap. 396 : Bryum Tr'tchoides? Dill. 391 ; Mufc. tab. 50, fig. 61 :
Bryum Hypnoides ? Dill. Mufc. 394, tab". 50, fig. 64, C : Hypnum Aduncum, Sp.
PI. 1592 ; Fl. Suec. 879, 1025 : yungermannia Julacea, Sp. PL 1601 : Jung.
like the Llchenajlrum Ramofms, fol. tr'if. Dill. Mufc. 489, tab. 70, fig. 15: Li' ''
chen Ericetorum, Fl. Lap. 936, 1068 : L. IJlandlcus, 959, 1085 : L. Nivalis^
446: L. Caninusy 441 : L. Polyrhizos, Sp. PI. 1618 ; Fl. Suec. 1108: L. Pyxi^
daiuSf Fl. Lap. 428 : L. Cornutus, 434 : L. Rangiferinusy 437 : L. GlobiferiiSy
Lin. Mantiff. 133 : L. Pafchalis, Fl. Lap. 439 : L. Chalybeiformis, Sp. PI. 1623 ;
Fl. Suec. 988, 1127 : and the Fucus Saccharinus ? Fl. Lap. 460; Mart. Spitz.
tab. F. fig. 6.

It is matter of curiofity to trace the decreafe of vegetables from our own irtand
to this fpot, where fo few are to be found. They decreafe with the numbers
of herbivorous animals, and the wants of mankind. The following catalogue
may not be quite juft, but is probably pretty near the truth ;

Perfea. Intipcrfea. Total.

England has — I5I24 — 590 — Ij7I4
Scotland — 804 — 428 — 15232

The Orknies — 354 — 144 — 498

Sweden — 933 — 366 — l>299

Lapland — 379 — 1 55 — 534

Iceland — 309 — 233 — 542

Thofe of Spltzbergcn are given above.

The three terreftrial quadrupeds of thefe iflands are confined here without Quadrupbd*.
poflibility of migration. The Polar Bears pafs the greateft part of the winter in
a torpid ftate : appear in numbers at the firft return of the fun, when, probably,
they take to the ice, in queft of their prey, Seals, or dead Whales.

It is difficult to account for the means which the Foxes find for fupport, as
the ifland is deftitute of birds during the whole winter; and, the bays being totally
frozen up, they can find no fubfiftence from the fea. Perhaps they lay up pro-
vifion for winter, on which they fubfift till the arrival of the birds in March j at
which feafon they have been obferved firft to quit their holes, and appear in
multitudes *. The Rein Deer have at all times their favorite lichen^ which they
can readily get at, by help of their palmated horns.

Walruses and Seals are found in great abundance ; the latter are often the
obje^ of chace, for the fake both of oil and fliins : the Rujftans make voyages on

* Churchill, iv. 819.

to. purpofc.

xc S P I T Z B E R G E N.

purpofe. In 1743, four unhappy mariners of that nation were accidentally left oitr
fhorc on North Eajlland., called by the Ruffians Maloy Broun. Here three (the fourth-
died in the laft year) lived till Auguji 15th 1749 ; when they were providentially
relieved by the arrival of a fliip, after pafling fix years, realizing in ingenious
contrivances the celebrated EngUJh fable of Robtnfon Crufoe *;

In the year 1633 feven Dutch failors were left voluntarily on the weftern part
of Spitzbergen., to pafs the winter, and form their remarks. They were fur-
nifhed with medicines, and every requifite to preferve life ; but every one perifhed
by theefFe£ls of the fcurvy. In the next year, feven other unhappy men devoted'
themfelves, and died in the fame manner. Of the firft- fet,. it appeared by his
journal, that the laft was alive the 30th of Jprll 1634 ; of the fecond, the life of
the laft furvivor did not continue far beyond the 28th of i^V^r^^ry 1635+- Yet
eight Englijhmen^ left in 1630 in the fame country, by accidenti and unprovided
with every thing, framed themfelves a hut from fome old materials, and were
found by the returning fhips, on May 2%t\\ 1631, in good health J. Thus RjiJJlan
hardinefs and 5r;V//Z) fpirit. braved a climatCj. which the phlegmatic conftitution
of a Dutchman could not refift..
Biros. To meet with the Snow Bunting, N? 222j a bird whofe bill, in common with -■

the reft of that genus, is calculated for granivorous life, is a. kind of miracle.
The country has- a very fcanty provifion of feeds, j the earth yields no worms, the
air no infects ; yet the fe birds are feea in flocks innumerable, and that chiefly
on the ice around Spltzh^rgen : .2iS it breeds early, poflibly the old and young may
have quitted the land, and coUefted on the ice at the time of the arrival of. the.
jlhips.

Of cloven-footed water-fowl, the Purre, N" 390^ alone is feen here.
Of web-footed, the Puffin Auk, N° 427 ; the Razor Bill, N° 425 ; the Little
Auk, N° 429.; the Foolifh Guillemot, N° 436 ; the Black Guillemot, N° 437 ;
the Northern Diver, N° 439 ; the Ivory Gull, N° 457 ; the Herring Gull, N° 452 ;
the Ardic Gull, N^i* 459 j the Kittiwake, N? 456; and the Greater Tern,
N" 448 : thefe, with the Eider Duck, N° 480, complete the fhort lift of the
feathered tribe of Spitzbergen. All thefe breed in the froft-rent cracks of the
mountains, and appear even in thefe regions before the i6th oi March §. .
FasHft '^^^ Whale is lord paramount of thefe feas ; and, like a monftrous tyran^

feems to have terrified almoft every other fpecies of fifh away. A few Coal Flflj,
Br. Zool. Hi. N° 78, and two of the unftuous Suckers, N' 58, were the whole
Wvhich were taken by Lord Ji«/^r<2iy^, aftej feveral trials by hook and by net.

• See the curious Narrative* t;C/6«rcA?7rj Co//, 11,415^4*7. t Thc;fame,iv*?«8i.'

§ Th§ feme, p. 838.

I

S P I T Z B E R G E N. xci

I -can never Imagine that the {hallow, barren, and turbulent (hores of the polar
regions receive, as is popularly thought, the immenfe fhoals of Herrings and Cod
which annually repair to other more fouthern feas. Their retreat muft be in the
great depths before defcribed *, where they are fecure from the greateft ftorms,
and probably enjoy a bottom luxuriant in plants and vermes.

The Whale which inhabits thefe feas, and occafions the great refort of fliip-
ping, is the common fpecies, Br. Zool. iii. N*" i6. I have in that Work given
its hiftory ; therefore fhall add no more, than that during fpring thefe animals
keep near Greenland and the ifland of John Mayen \ and towards fummer they ap-
pear in the feas oi Spitzbergen. The Fin Fifh, Br, Zool. iii. N° i8, is another
fpecies : on their appearance, the Common Whale makes its retreat. The Beluga
or White Whale, p. 183 of this Work, is feen here in fummer, and prognofti-
cates a good fifhery.

The infedls, vermes^ and fliells, of Spilzbergen, are very few. The Prawn,
Br. Zool' W. N° 28, and Sea Flea, N** 33, are found there. The Cancer Boreas^ Am-
pulla., and Nugaxy are three new fpecies t, added to the genus by the noble na-
vigator.

Of the known fpecies of vermes, the Afcidia Gelatinofa, Lin. Syft. 1087 : the
Afcidia Rujlica, 1087, 5 : the Lernea Branchialls, 1092 : and theC//^ Helicina, the
fmall Slime Fifh of Marten., p. 141, tab. Q. fig. e ; and the Clio Limacina., the Sea
May Fly of the fame, p. 169, tab. P. fig. 5 : the Sipunculus Lendix, a new fpecies,
Phips, 194, tab. xiii. are found here: the two laft, the fuppofed food of the Com-
mon Whale, are met with in vaft abundance % '• the Medufa Capillata, the Ajlerlas
Pappofa, Lin. Syft. 1098 : Ajl. Rubens, 1099 ; Ajl. PeSiinata, iioi ; Br. Zool. iv.
N" 70 : A/l. Ophlura., iioo j Br. ZooL iv. N° 62 : and Aji. Caput Medufa, Lin.
Syft. IIOI ; Br. Zool, iv. N° 73. And of Shells, the Chiton Ruber, 1107 ; Lapet
Tiniinnabulum, 1168 : the My a Truncata, 1112; Br. Zool. N° 14 : znd My tilus
Rugofus, 1 1 56; Br. ZjOoI. iv. N° 72 : the Buccinum Carinotum, a new fpecies, Phips,
197, tab. xiii : Turbo Helicinus of the fame, 398 : the Serpula Spirorbis, Lin.
Syft. 1265 ; Br. Zool. iv. N" 155 : Serpula Triquetra, 1265 ; Br. Zool. iv. N° 156:
and the Sabella Frujlulofa, Phips, ig8, complete the lift of this clafs. Among the
Zoophytes \s the Millepora PolymorplAi, Lin. Syft. 1285 ; and Millep. 1286 j and a
moft curious new genus, difcovered in the voyage, named the Synoicum Turgens,
199, tab. xiii: the Flujlra Pilofa, Lin. Syft. and Fl. Membranacea, 1301, 3* 5 :
and, to conclude, that very curious Zoophyte, the foundation of the foffil Encrini,

• Seep. f Phips Voj' 190, kc, tab. xii. % The fame, p. 194., 195.

m 2 the

xcii SPITZBERGEN.

the Vorticella Encrlnus, Lin. Syft. N** 131 7, engraven in our Tranfadions,
vol. xlviii. p. 305, and taken in lat. 79, off this coatt : two of them being drawn
up with the founding-line, in 236 fathom water.
Discovery cv Th^ priority of difcovery of thefe iflands has been a great matter of controverfy

^''*^'' * between the EngliJJ} and the Dutch. We clame it from the fight which Sir

Hugh IVilloughby is pretended to have had of it in his unfortunate voyage j
but if what he faw, in lat. 72, was not a fog-bank, we muft fuppofe it to
have been either John Mayen\ ifle, or part of EaJ} Greenland. The abfurd
zeal of the Engl'ifo compilers makes Stephen Boroughs the fecond difcoverer of this
country, in 1556 ; but it is very certain, that he never got higher than lat.
70. 42, nor ever meant any difcovery but a paflage to the river Ob *. It doubt-
lefsly was firft difcovered by the Dutch Barentz; who, in his third voyage, in
1596, for the finding out the north-eaft pafiage, met with a land in lat. 79 f>
and anchored in a good road, in eighteen fathom water. He afterwards failed as high
as 80, and found two of the iilands of which Spitsbergen is compofed f . Embar-
rafled with ice, he took a fouthern courfe, and was foon after wrecked on the
coaft of Nova Zernlja : but the Engl'ijh and Dutch purfued the hint ; and the
Whale-filhery, which before was chiefly carried on by the Blfcayeners in the bay of
5/. Laurence^ was commenced here with great fuccefs. So aflive were we, that
our Ihips frequented the place within two years after its difcovery.

I now return to the North Cape on the coaft of Finmarh ; and after paffing by
the fcveral places mentioned in pages Ixxix. and Ixxx. enter a ftreight, bounded by
MuJcovHiJh Finmark, confifting of low hills, and the flat province of Mejen^

¥/hite Sea. on the eaft. This leads into the B'loele Mari^ or White Sea^ or, more pro-
perly, gulph ; for its waters are fhallovv', its bottom full of mud, brought by
the great rivers which difcharge themfelves into it, which almoft deprive it
of faltnefs. This was the Civen fea of OSlher ; but had been forgotten fince
his time. The Diulna., or Double River, is the greateft, v.'hich takes
its name from being formed by the Suchona and the Tug, very remote from its
mouth. It is navigable to a great diftance, and brings the commodities of the

Archangel, interior parts of the empire to Archangel, a city feated on its banks, about fix miles
from the fea. It rofe from a caftle built there by Bafiloivitz II. to protect the in-

* Hackluyt, i. 274, 280.

i' Troii Voyages au Nord, Sic, par Cirard de Fer, p. 14, 15.

creafing

ARCHANGEL. xciii

creafing trade brought here on the difcovery of the TVhite Sea by the Englijh j for
fliips of all nations reforted to this port, even as far as from Venice, Its exports, in
. 1655, amounted to three hundred and thirty thoufand pounds *. Peter the Great,
intent on aggrandizing his creation, Peterjburg, prohibited all trade to Archangel.^
except from the neighboring provinces. Still its exports of tar vi^ere confiderable :
in 1730, to the amount of forty thoufand lafts, of eleven barrels each f. It fends,
during v^^inter, great quantities of the Nawaga^ a fmall fpecies of three-finned
Cod J, to Peterjburgt frozen, as Kola does Herrings in the fame ftate.

The White Sea is every winter filled with ice from the Frozen ocean, which brings
with it th^ Harp Seal, N° 77 ; and the Leporine, N° 75, frequent it during fum-
mer. Whoever furveys the maps of the provinces between this fea and the gulphs
of Bothnia and Finland^ will obferve them to be more occupied by lakes than land,
and be at once fatisfied of the probability of the once-infulated ftate oi Scandinavia.
As foon as thefe ftreights were clofed, the White Sea loft its depth, and is at prefent
kept open only by the force of its great rivers.

On the eattern fide of the entrance into the ftreight is the ifle of Kandinos^y often
fpoken of by our early navigators in their way to the WaygatZy. in their fearch for a
north-eaft paflage. Between it and the main land is a very narrow channel. After
doubling the cape of Kandinosy the fea forms two great bays. A confiderable part
of the ftiore to the eaft confifts of low fandy hills ||, Into the moft remote bay flows,
in lat. 68. 30, by many mouths, the vaft river Peczoray a place of great trade before
the time of Peter I. Thoufands of Samoieds and other favages reforted to the
town, with feathers of White Grous,and other birds; Sables, and the moft valuable
furs J flcins of Elks and other deer; the oil from the Walrus, N° 71, from the
Beluga, p. 182; and different fort of fifh§. Here was,, in 16 lis, a great fifhery of
Beluga: above fifty boats, with three men each, were employed to harpoon them«[.
The entrance iato the river is dangerous, by reafon of a fandy fhoal. The tide
rifes there only four feet.

The coafts eaft of Archangel, even as far as the river Oby are inhabited by SAMOiErrs-.

the Samoieds ; a race as fhort as the Laplanders y more ugly, and infinitely more
brutalized ; their food being the carcaflTes of horfes, or any other animals.
They ufe the Rein Deer to draw their fledges, but are not civilized enough to

• Auderfori's Dia. i. 97. f The fame, 328. % Nov. Com, Petrop, xiv. 4.84. tab. xii. Its

length does not exceed eleven Inches. || Hackluyt, i. 277. § Purchas, i. 546.

% The lame, 549.

m 3 make

xciv URALtlAN CHAIN.

make it the fubflitute for the Cow. Thefe are in fad the Hottentots of th«
north.

To the eaft of the Peczora commences the continent of

ASIA,

Which has moft natural and firongly-marked limits. Here appear the Wercho^
Urallian turian mountains, or famous Vrallian chain, which begins diftindlly (for it may be

Chajn. traced interruptedly farther fouth) near the town of Kungur, in the government of

Kdfan, in lat. 57. 20, runs north, and ends oppofite to the Waygat% ftreight, and
rifes ao-ain in the ifle of Nova Zetnlja. The RuJJians alfo call this range Semennoi
Poias, or the Girdle of the World, from a fuppofition that it encircled the univerfe.
Thefe were the Riphai monies : Pars niundl damnata a natura rerum, et denfa merfa
Galigine *, of which only the fouthern part was known to the antients, and that fo
little as to give rife to numberlefs fables. Beyond thefe were placed the happy
Hyperborei, a fiction moft beautifully related by Pompon'ius Mela f. Moderns have
not been behind-hand in exaggerating feveral circumftances relative to thefe noted
hills. TJhr and Ides, who crofTed them in his embaffy to China, aflerts that they are
five thoufand toifes or fathoms high ; others, that they are covered with eternal fnow.
The laft may be true in their more northern parts j but in the ufual paffages over
them, they are free from it three or four months.
Its height. The heights of part of this chain have been taken by M. I' Jbbe d' Juteroche ; who,

with many affurances of his accuracy, fays, that the height of the mountain /fjr/^,
near Soltkarnjkaia^ in lat. 60, does not exceed four hundred and feventy-one toifes
from the level of the fea, or two hundred and eighty-fix from the ground on which
it ftands %. But, according to M. Gmelin, the mountain Pauda is much higher, be-
ing feven hundred and fifty- two toifes above the fea j[. From Peterjhurg to this chain

* Vlimi HiJI. Nat. lib. iv. €. la,

f In A/iatico littore primi Hjperborei, fuper aquilonem Ripbaofque montes, fub ipfo fiderum cardine
jacent ; ubi fol non quotidie, iit nobis, fed primum veino JEquinoflio exortus, autumnali demum occidit ;
et ideo fex menfibus dies, & totidem aliis nox ufque continua eft. Terra aiigufta, aprica, per fe fertilis.
Cultores juftiffimi, et diutius qiiam uUi mortalium & beatius vivunt. Qiiippe fefto femper otio Iseti, non
bella novere, non jurgia ; facris operati, maxime Apollinis; quorum primitias Delon mififfe, initio per
virgines fuas, deinde per populos fubinde tradentes ulterioribus ; moremque eum diu, & donee vitio
gentium temeratus eft, fervaffe referuntur. Habitant lucos fylvafque ; et ubi eos vivendi fatietas magis
quam taedium cepit, hilares, redimiti fertis, feniet ipfi in pelagus ex certa rupe praecipiti dant. Id eis
funus eximium eft. Lib. iii. c. 5,

X Voyage de laSiberie, ii. 605, {] Preface to Flor. Sibir. I, 54..

-i is

A L T A I C C H A I N. xcv

,'S a vaft plain, mixed with certain elevations or platforms, like iflands in the
midft of an ocean. The eaftern fide defcends gradually to a great diftance into the
wooded and morafly Sibiriay which forms an immenfe inclined plane to the Icy Sea.
This is evident from all the great rivers taking their rife on that fide, fome at the
amazing diftance of lat. 46 i and, after a courfe of above twenty- feven degrees,
falling into the Frozen ocean in lat. 73. 30. The Talk alone, which rifes near the
fouthern part of the eaftern fide, takes a fouthern direction, and drops into the
. Cafpian fea. The Dwina, the Peczora^ and a few other rivers in European RuJJtay
fliew the inclined plane of that part : all of them run to the northern fea ; but
their courfe is comparatively fhort. Another inclination direfts the Dnieper and
the Don into the Euxine^ and the vaft Wolga into the Cafpian Sea.

The Altaic Chain, its fouthern boundary, which begins at the vaft mountain Altaic Chain.
Bogdoj pafles above the head of the Irtifch, and then takes a courfe rugged, precipi-
tous, cloathed with fnow, and rich in minerals, between the Irtifch and Ob; then How distri.
p,roceeds by the lake Telezkoi^ the rife of the Ob ; after which it retires, in order to buted.

Comprehend the great rivers which form the Jenefei, and are locked up in thefe
high mountains ;. finally, under the name of. the Sainnes^ is uninterruptedly con-
tinued tathe lake of Baikal*. A branch infinuates itfelf between the fources of
the rivers Onon and Ingoda, and thofe of 7<:/'//^(j/, accompanied with very high moun^
tains, running without interruption to the north-eaft, and dividing the river of.
Amur, whichdifcharges itfelf into the eaft, in the Chinefe dominions, from the river
LenaznA \akeBaikaI. Another branch ftretchesalong the Olecma, crofCes the Lenahelow
jfahutjky andis continued between the two rivers Tongoujka to thejenefei^ where it
is loft in wooded and morafly plains. The principal chain, rugged with fliarp- point-
ed rocks, approaches and keeps near the fhores of the fea of Ockhozt^ and palling by
the fources of the rivers Outh, Aldan, and Maia, is diftributed in fmall branches,
which range between the eaftern rivers which fall into the Icy Sea ; befides two
principal branches, pne of which, turning fouth, runs through all Kamtfchatka, and
19 broken,' from the cape Lopatka, into the numerous Kurile ifles, and to the eaft
forms another marine chain, in the iflands which range from Kamtfchatka to
America', moft: of them, as well as Kamtfchatka itfelf, diftinguiflied by fierce vule
canoes, or the traces of vulcanic fires. -The laft chain forms chiefly the great ;
cape Tfchutfki, with its promontories and rocky broken fliores. — —I havefo far
pillaged the labors of my friend f, to trace the boundaries of the vaft region which .
has fo amply furnifhed my Zoologic part.-— To that, and the Table of Quadrupeds'^ ,
I 'refer the feveral peculiarities of their fituations,

• Ohfervationsfur UFormation des Montegnes, par P. S. Palxas, p. 18 . f Doflor Palias,

At.

«cvi RIVER OB.

At the northern end of the great Urallian chain, is the Waygatz flreight, which
cuts them from Nowyia Zcmlja, Nova Zemhla, or the New Land. The paflage is
narrow, obftru£led by iflands, and very frequently by ice. The flux and reflux is
here uncertain, by reafon of the winds j but the tide has been obferved to rife only
four feet * : the depth from ten to fourteen fathoms. It was difcovcred by Stephen
Boroughs^ in 1556 ; and the navigation was often attempted by the Dutch, in hopes
of a pafi'afje that way to China. Continual obfl:ru6tions from the floating ice
baffled their defigns, and obliged them to return.

Nova Zemlja confifts of five iflands ; but the channels between them are always
filled with ice f* It is quite uninhabited, but is occafionally frequented by the
people of Mefen^ who go there to kill Seals, Walrufes, Ar£lic Foxes, and White
Bears, the fole xnimals of the place, excepting a few Rein Deer. Attempts have
been made to find a way to the Eaft Indies to the north of it ; but with equal bad
fuccefs as through the JVaygafz. Barents, juft doubled the eaftern end in 1596;
fuffered fhipwreck there with his crew; and pafl'ed there a moft: miferable winter,
continually befieged by the Polar Bears : feveral of the crew died of the fcurvy or
excefs of cold j the furvivors made a veflfel of the remains of their (hip, and ar-
rived fafe in Europe the following year; but their great pilot funk under the
fatigue X'

The fduthern coafls of thefe iflands are in a manner unknown. Between them
and the continent is the Kara fea, which forms a deep bay to the fouth, in which
the tide has been obferved to flow two feet nine inches. Filhing people annually
come here from the Peczora through the Waygat%, for the fake of a fmuggling trade
in furs with the Samoieds of the government of ToholJki\. In the reign of the
Emprefs Anne attempts were made to double the great cape Jalmal, between the
gulph of Kara and that of the Ob; one of which (in 1738) only fucceeded, and
that after encountering the greatefl: difSculties §. Had the difcovery of Sibiria
depended on its approach by fea, it might have ftill remained unknown. M

Thb river Ob. The mouth of the Ob lies in a deep bay, which opens into the Icy Sea, in lat,
73. 30. This is the firfl: and greatefl: of the Sibirian rivers : it rifes from a large
lake in lat. 52, has a gentle courfe through eight hundred leagues of country,
navigable almoft to its fource^ : is augmented by the vafl: river Irtifch, in lat.
61, which again receives on each bank a multitude of vafl: rivers in its extenfive pro-
grefs. Toboljki, capital of Sibiria, lies on the forks, where it takes in the Tobol. The

* Hackh'jt. i. 282. t Do£lor Pallas. % See this curious voyage, as related

by De Veer. UPallas. § Coxe''s Ruffian D'lf cover les, 306. ^ Gmelin hitrod. Fl. Sib.

vii. XXX. By Leu c a ke feems to mean a ferj}, of which 104 1 make a degree. See cxxiii. and
Mr. Coxg's Ruffian Difco'veries, htrod. xiii.

5 banks

RIVER JENESEL LAKE BAIKAL. xcvii

banks of the Irtifch and Ob, and other Sibirian rivers, are, in many places, covered
with immenfe forefts, growing on a foft foilj which being torn up by the refiftlefs
force of the vafl fragments of ice brought down by the torrents occafioned by the
melting of the fnows, are conveyed into the Icy and other feas, and form the drift-
wood I have before fpolcen of. The channel of the Ob, from its fource to the Ket,
is ftony : from that river to the mouth it runs through a fat land. After it has
been frozen fome time, the water grows foul and fetid. This is owing to the vaft Its annual
morafles it in fome places goes through, to the flownefs of the current, and to the stench.

earth- fait (erdfaltz) with which fome of the rivers which run into it are impregnated.
, The fifh therefore ihun the waters of the Ob, and refort in vaft flioals to the mouths
of thofe rivers which rufh into it from ftony countries, and in fuch places are taken
in great abundance. This ftench continues till the river is purified in the fpring
by the melting of the fnow. The TaZj another river which empties itfelf into the
eaft of the gulph of Ob, is liable to the fame impurity.

The Jenefei next fucceeds. Mr. Gtnelin, as a naturalift, would confider this as Jenesei river,
the boundary between Europe and Jfia. From its eaftern banks every thing puts
on a new appearance : a certain new and unufual vigour reigns in every thing.
The mountains, which to the weftward, as far as theUrallian chain, appeared only
fcattered, now take full pofleffion, and are interfperfed with moft beautiful vallies.
New animals, fuch as the Jrgali, p. 12, and Mujk, p. 34, and feveral others, begin
to (hew themfelves. Many European plants difappear, and others peculiar to Jfta,
gradually mark the alteration *. This river is fcarcely inferior to the Ob. It
rifesfrom the two rivers t//«-;^£'/K and Bei-kem, in north lat. 51. 30, long, m, and
runs due north into the Icy Sea, forming a mouth filled with multitudes of iflands:
its channel for the moft part ftony or gravelly : its courfe fwift : its fifties moft:
delicate : its banks, efpecially the eaftern, mountanous and rocky j but from the
fort of Saiaenes to the river Dubtches, rich, black, and cultivated. It is fed by
numbers of rivers. The Tungufca, and the lower Tungufca, are the moft noted.
The firft ruflies, near Irkutz, out of the great lake Baikal, under the name of the Lake BAik/^i:,
Angara, between two vaft rocks, natural, but with all the appearance of being cut
through by art, and tumbling over huge ftones in a bed a mile wide, and for a
fpace nearly the fame f. The collifion of the waters againft the ftones is attended
with a moft dreadful noife, which, with the magnificence of the fcenery, forms the
moft awful approach imaginable to this facred water. A deity prended over the
lake; and no one dared call it by that degrading name, for fear of incurring the pe-
nalty of the difrefpedt. Inftead of lake, the borderers ftyle it the Holy Sea; and
its vaft mountains, the Holy Alountains. St. Nicholas prefides over them, and has

* Pref, Fl, Sibir, xliv. \ BeWs Tra'veh, Svo. ed. i. 279.

n here

xcviii TOWN OF MANGAZEA.

here his chapel. The mountains are cloathed with forefts : of large trees on the
lower parts ; with fewer and lefler as they gain the heights. Thefe are the retreat
of the Wild Boar, and variety of game. Its depth of water is very great : its
clearnefs perfect : free from iflands, except the Olchon and Saetchia : navigable in
all parts : and in ftorms, the waves like thofe of the fea. Its length is a hundred
and twenty-five common leagues : its breadth from four to feven *. The Com-
Seals. mon Seal abounds In this lake. It is a fmall variety, but fo fat as to appear almoft

fhapelefs. Thefe animals muft have been here aboriginally ; for, befides the vaft
diftance from the fea, their pafTage muft have been entirely obftru6led by the cata-
ra6ls which intervene. I am got eight degrees beyond my plan ; but I could not
refift the defcrlptlon of this prince of lakes.
Town of Man- The Angara runs nearly due north for a great way ; then aflumes the name of
€AzEA, Tungufca, turns weftward, and joins the Jenefel in lat. 58. The lower Tungufca

rifes far to the fouth-weft, approaches very near to the Lejia^ and falls into the
Jenefei in lat. 65. 40. Above its jun6tion ftands l\\t tov^n oi Mangazea, cele-
brated for its great fair of furs of every kind, brought there by the furrounding
pagans, who pafs the long winter in the chace. Mzny RuJ/tans have alfo migrated,
and fettled here for the fame purpofe, and draw great profit from the fpoils of the
animals. This neighborhood is, during fummer, the great refort of multitudes of
fpecies of water- fowl. About the feaft of St. Peter^ here Flora begins to difclofe her
beauties : the country is covered with the moft beautiful Sibirian flowers ; many of
which enliven the gardens of our more fouthern climate. The fowls now exult,
and unite in emitting their various notes ; none particularly melodious in them-
felves, but together form a concert far from difagreeable f ; perhaps from the hear-
er being confcious that they are the notes of happinefs, at the enjoyment of the
reviving rays of the fun.

In antient times, Mangazea^ or, as it was then called, Mongozeyy and Mongolmy^
was feated near the mouth of the Taz % ; but was removed by the inhabitants Into
a milder climate, ;'. e. juft to the fouth fide of the ArSlic circle. Before that
period it was a place of great trade, and was eagerly vifited from Archangel^ through
a complication of difficulties, by fea, by rivers, by land, by rein-drawn fledges,
and by drawing the vefl'els from river to river over frequent carrying-places |1.
Thefe trafts were certainly Le pais prefque inaccejfible a caufe de bouesy Ss* de glaces^
and, Le pais de tenebres^ fpokcn of by Marco Polo §, as the regions from whence the
Chams of Tartary procured the richeft furs.
Cape Taimura, From the mouth of the Jenefei^ the immenfe promontory Taimura flretches

* Voyage en Siberie, i. 213. f Same, ii. 56. J Same, 57, jf Same, and

Pur das f iii. 539. § In Bergeroti's Colleiiiortf i&o, 161,

3 - fartheft

RIVER LENA, COAST OF THE ICY SEA. jfciT

fartheft north of all this region Into the A;; 5^^, nearly into lat.yS. To the eaft of it the

Chatunga, Anahara^ and Oleneh^ rivers little known, fall into the fea, and have before

the mouth of each a confiderable bay. Remarks have been made on the tide which

flows into the Katanga^ that at the full and new moon it rifes two feet j at other times

is much lefs*. We may conclude, that if it flows no higher in this contradted place,

and that of the gulph of Kara^ its encreafe muft be very fmall on the open (hores

of the Icy Sea. The coafts are in general (hallow, which has proved a fafety to

the few fmall v^flels which have navigated this fea; for the fhoalnefs of the water

preferves them from the montanous ice, which grounds before it can reach them.

Beyond the Olenek^ the vaft Lena., which rifes near lake Baikaly after a gentle River Lena.

and free courfe over a fandy or gravelly bottom, difcharges itfelf by five great mouths,

the eaflern and weftern moft remote from each other. The middle, or moft northerly,

is in lat. 73. 20. To form an idea of the fize of this river, I muft remark, that at

lakutjk, in lat, 61, twelve degrees from its difcharge, the breadth is near three

leagues f. Beyond this river the land contrails itfelf, and Is bounded to the fouth.

by the gulph of Ochotz. The rivers yana^ Indlgirjka, and Kolyma or Kowyma, have

a comparatively (hort courfe. The laft is the moft eafterly of the great rivers

which fall into the Icy Sea. Beyond it is a woodlcfs tra6t^, which cuts off the Bea- . „

■' ^ . Arctic Flats

ver, the Squirrels, and many other animals to whom trees are eflential in their oeco- woodless,

nomy. No forefts can exift farther north than lat. 68 ; and at 70, brufh-wood

will fcarcely grow. All within lat. 68, form the ArHic Flats., the fummer haunts

of water-fowl j a bare heath or moor, mixed with rocky mountains : and beyond

the river Anadyr., which in lat. 65. falls into the Kamtfchatkan Sea, the remainder of

the traft between it and the Icy Sea has not a fmgle tree J.

I (hall now take a review of the vaft extent of fiiore which borders on the Icy Sea.

The Jouratzkaine coaft, which lies between the Ob and the Jenefei, is high but not

mountanous, and almoft entirely compofed of gravel or fand ; but in many places

there are low tradls. Not only on thefe, but on more elevated fituations, are

found great fragments of wood, and often entire trees, all of the fame fpecies j Fir,

Larch, and Pine, green and frefh ; in other places, elevated beyond the reach of the

fea, are alfo great quantities of Jloaied woody antient, dried, and rotting §. This

is not the only proof of the lofs of water in the Icy as well as other feas ; for in thefe

places is feen a fpecies of clay, called by the RuJ/ians, II, which is exadlly like the

kinds ufually depofited by the water : and of this there is, in thefe parts, a bed about

eight inches thick, which univerfally forms the upper ftratum ||, Still farther to

• Fqy. en Siberle, ii. 30. f PoTibly VerJIs. See Voy. en Siberie, i. 407. J Doaor Pallas.
§ Voj. tu Siberict ii. »7, 28. | Same, ii, 362.

n 2 the

c. . I C Y S E A.

the eaft, It grows mountanous, covered with ftones, and full of coal. On the
fummit of the chain, to the eaft of Simovie Retch'moie, is an amazing bed of fmall
Muflels, of a fpecies not obferved in the fubjacent fea. I think them brought there
by fea-fow!, to eat at leifure ; for it is not wonderful that numbers of obje^Sls of
natural hiftory fliould efcape the eye in fuch a fea as this. Many parts again are
lov/ J but in mofl places the fea near the fliore is rugged with pointed rocks. The
coaft about the bay of cape Tfchutfki^ the moft eaftern extremity of Afia^ is in
fome places rocky, in others floping and verdant ; but within land rifing into %
double ridge of high mountains.
Freezing of the About the end of Auguji^ there is not a day in which this fea might not be frozen;
Icy Sea. I^^j. Jj^ general it never efcapes later than the firft of O£fober. The thaw commences

about the twelfth of June^ at the fame time with that of the mouth of tne Jenefei*.
From the great headlands, there is at all times a fixed, rugged, and mountanous
ice, which proje6ls far into the fea. No fea is of fo uncertain and dangerous navi-
gation : it is, in one part or other, always abundant in floating ice. During fum-
mer, the wind never blows hard twenty-four hours from the north, but every part
of the fhore is filled for a vaft diftance with ice ; even the ftreights of Bering are
obftru6led with it f. On the reverfe, a ftron* fouth wind drives it towards the
pole, and leaves the coaft free from all except the fixed ice. During winter, the fea
is covered, to the diftance of at left fix degrees from land. Markoff"^ a hardy Coffac,
on March 15th, O. S. in the year 1715, attempted, with nine other perfons, a
journey from the mouth of the Jana^ in 71 ncrth lat. to the north, over the ice, on
fledges drawn by dogs. He went on fuccefsfully fome days, till he had reached
lat. yy. or 78 : he was then impeded by moft mountanous ice. He climbed to the
fummit of one of the Icebergs -y and feeing nothing but ice as far as his eye could
reach, returned on April '2^6^ with the utmoft difficulty: feveral of his dogs died,
and ferved as food for the reft %,

I fliall juft mention fome of the attempts made to pafs through the Icy Sea to
that of Kamtfchatka. The firft was in 1636, from the fettlcment of Takutzk. The
rivers from the Jana to the Kolyma were in confequence difcovered. In 1646 a
company of Ruffian adventurers, called Promyfchleniy or Sable-hunters, made a
voyage from the Kolyma to the country of the Tfchutjki^ and traded with thofe peo-
ple for the teeth of the Walrus. A fecond, but unfuccefsful voyage was made in
the next year j but in 1648 one Defchnew^ on the 20th of June^ began his memo-
rable voyage, was fortunate in a feafon free from ice, doubled the Tfchutjki-nofs^
arrived near the river Olutora, fouth of the river Anadyr^ where he fuiFered ihip-

* Voy. en Siberie, ii. 29, f Pallas : Alfo Narrative of four Ruffian failors caft away on

Eaji Spitzbergen, 55. \ ForJiefiObf, Zi,

wreck.

I C Y S E A. ti

wreck, but efcaped to enjoy the honor of his difcovery. Many other attempts wert
made, but the moft which the adventurers have done was to get from the mouth of
one great river to another in the courfe of a fummer. I find very few names, ex-
cept of rivers, in a tracSl fo vaft as it is, on account of its being fo little frequented.
To the eaft of the promontory Taimura^ that of St. Transfiguratlonis bounds the
eaft fide of the bay of Chaianga, in lat. 74. 40, long, from Ferro 125. Swaitol-nofs^
or the Holy Cape,, in lat. 73. 15, is a far-proje<Sling headland, and, with the ifles
of the Lena, and another intervening headland, forms two vaft bays. Out of the
moft caftern, into which the River Tana difcharges itfelf, one Schaburof, a broken
i2!tt^^« merchant, took his departure for an eaftern difcovery. He began his voyage
in July 1760 from the Lena,, but was fo obftruiled with ice that he was forced into
the Tana, where -he was detained the whole wjnter, by the famecaufe, i\\\July2Cft\\^
1 761. He doubled the Swaitoi-nofs September the 6th ; according to fome, faw to
the north a montanous land, pollibly an ifland. He was eight days in getting
through the paflage between the continent and the ifle of St. Diomede, which lies
a little to the fouth-eaft of the Nofs. He pafled with a favorable wind the mouths
of the Indigirka and JIazeia, and getting entangled among the ice between the
Medviedkie Ojlrova, or Bear IJJands, was obliged to lay up his veflel in one of the
mouths of the Kolyma during winter, where he fubfifted on rein-deer, which fre-
quented thofe parts in great herds during the fevere feafon ; and on various fpe-
cies of falmon and trout, which were puftiing their way up the river before it was
frozen. After this he made two other attempts. In the year 1763 he pafTed the
Pef%canoi-nofs, and got into a deep bay, called Tfchaoun Skaja Gouba, with the ifle
of Sab e del zthsmoxxth \ ih^gxezt Schalatjkoi- nofs to the t^L^i ; and at its bottom the
little river Tfchaoun, which difcharges itfelf here out of the land of the Tfchutfki,,
fome of whom he faw on the ftiore, but they fled on his appearance. He found no
means of fubfifting in this bay, therefore was obliged to return to the Lena, and
was greatly aflifted in his paflTage by the ftrength of the current, which uniformly
fet from the eaft. In 1764 he made his laft attempt, an*J was, as is conjetSlured,
flain by the Tfchutfkl; but whether he doubled the famous cape of that name is
left uncertain. A MS. map, which Do(ftor Pallas favored me with, places the
montanous ifle before mentioned in lat. 75, oppofite to the cape Schalatfkoi*,
Thus clofes all the accounts I can colle£l of the voyages along this diftant

• This was fuppofed to have been part of the continent of America; but in 1768, M. Tchitfcherifif
governor of Sibirja, put the matter out of doubt ; for he fent there three young officers in the winter,
on the ice. They found fome fmail defart illes, without the leaft appearance of land on the north j
tut on one they met with s- fort of defence, formed of floating wood, on the fsde of a precipice, but by
■whom formed, or againft what enemy, is hard to guefs. Pallas. MS.

o coaft.

en

ICY SEA.

coaft. Part is taken from Mr. Coxe's RuJJian D'lfcoverles *, and part from
a manufcript for which I am indebted to the learned Profeflbr before men-
tioned.

The wind which pafles over the ice of this polar fea, has rendered Sihiria the
. coldeft of inhabited countries : its effedls may perhaps extend much farther. At
Chamnanning^ in Thibet^ in lat. 30. 44. (according to Major Rennel'?, claflical
map) Mr. Bogle found, during winter, the thermometer in his room at 29° be-
low the freezing point. In the middle of Jpril the (landing waters were all
frozen, and heavy fnows perpetually fell \. I have heard of ice even at Patna,
in lat. 25. 35 ; and of the Seapoys who had flept on the ground being found in the
morning torpid. Near the fort of Argun^ not higher than lat. 52, the ground
feldom thaws deeper than a yard and a half J. At lakutjk, in lat. 62, the foil is
eternally frozen even in fummer, from the depth of three feet below the furface.
An inhabitant, who by the labor of two fummers funk a well to the depth of
ninety-one feet, loft his labor, and found his fartheft fearches frozen §. Birds
fall down, overcome with the cold ; and even the wild beafts fometimes perifti.
The very air is frozen, and exhibits a moft melancholy gloom ||.

A,Tn«i, A •R^DCA The Aurora Borealis is as common here as in Europe^ and ufually exhibits

iis. fimilar variations : one fpecies regularly appears between the north-eaft and eaft,

like a luminous rainbow, with numbers of columns of light radiating from
it ; beneath the arch is a darknefs, through which the ftars appear with fome
, brilliancy. This fpecies is thought by the natives to be a forerunner of

ilorms. There is another kind, which begins with certain infulated rays from
the north, and others from the north-eaft. They augment little by little, till
they fill the whole fky, and form a fplendor of colors rich as gold, rubies, and
emeralds ; but the attendant phaenomena ftrike the beholders with horror, for
they crackle, fparkle, hifs, make a whiftling found, and a noife even equal to

" artificial fire-works. The idea of an eledrical caufe is fo ftrongly imprefled by

this defcription, that there can remain no doubt of the origin of thefe appear-
ances. The inhabitants fay, on this occafion, it is a troop of men furioufly mad
which are pailing by. Every animal is ftruck with terror j even the dogs of the
hunters are feized with fuch dread, that they will fall on the ground and become
immoveable till the caufe is over ^.
p^jjj^ I am flightly acquainted with the fifli of the ley fea, except the anadromous

kinds, or thofe which afcend from it into the Sibirian rivers. The Ob, and other

* P. 323 to 329. + Ph. Tranf. Ixvii. 471- % Pref. Flora Sib. 78. § Vorfter's

Qbf. 85. quoted from CmeHn> B P«f. Flare Sib, 73. If Foy. en Siberie, ii, 31, 52.

Sibirian

J

I C Y S E A. cm

Stblrian rivers, are vlfited by the Beluga Whale, the common Sturgeon, and the

Sterlet or Actpenjer Ruthenus, Lin. Syft. 403; but I am informed by Dodor

Pallas, that they have neither Carp, Bream, Barbels, nor others of that g^nus,

nor yet Eels, Silurus Glanis, Lin. Syft. 501 ; Perca Lucioperca, 48 i ; or common

Trout : all which are found in the Amur, and other rivers which run into the

eaftern ocean : in the latter, our common Cray-fifh is found. In return, the 5;-

Urian rivers abound in vaft variety of the Salmon kind, and many unknown to

us in Europe, which delight in the chilly waters of thefe regions. The common

Salmon, Br, Zool. iii. N° 143, is one of the fcarcer kinds : the Salmo Nelma, Pallas

Itin. ii. 716, or Salmon Leucichthys of Guldenjiaedt, Nov. Com. Petrop. xiv. 531,

is a large fpecies, growing to the length of three feet : the head greatly protraded :

the lower jaw much the longeft : the body of a filvery white : fcales oblong : tail

bifid. P. D. Rad. 14. The Salmo Tai'meny or Hucho, Pallas, ii. 716, grows to

the weight of ten or fifteen pounds, and the length of a yard and a half : the

color of the back is dufky ; towards the fides filvery : the belly white : fpotted

with dufky on the back : anul fin of a deep red : tail bifurcated : flefli white :

Salmo Lavaretus, iii. 705, or Gwinlad, Br. Zool. iii. N" 152 : Salmo Albula, Lin.

Syft. 512 : Salmo Schokur, Pallas Itin. iii. 705 ; a fpecies about two feet long, not

unlike xh^Gwiniad : the Salmo Pidfchian, Pallas Itin. iii. 705; about two fpans long,

broader than the Gwiniad, and with a gibbous back : Salmo Wimba, Lin. Syft.

512 : and Salmo Nafus, Pallas Itin. iii. 705 *, are extremely common in the Ob.

Others fhun that ftill river, and feek the Jenefei, and other rapid ftreams with

ftony bottoms. Such are the Sabno Lenoky Pallas Itin. ii. 716 f : Salmo Oxyrhyn-

ehus, Lin. Syft. 512 : and Salmo Autumnalis, or Omul, Pallas Itin. iii. 705; which Surprizins Mj-

annuaily force their way from the fea, from lat, 73. to lat. 51. 40, into lake p

Baikal, a diftance of more than twenty-one degrees, or near thirteen hundred

miles. The Omul^yzn croflTes the lake, and afcends in Augujl the river Selingay

where it is taken by the inhabitants in great quantities, and is preferved for the

provifion of the whole Year. After dropping its fpawn in the ftony beds of the

river, it again returns to the fea. The Salmo ArHicus, Pallas Itin. iii. 206 ; and

S. Thymallus, or Grayling, Br. Zool. iii. N° 150 ; may be added to the fifli of the

Sibirian rivers. The Salmo Cylindraceus, or Walok of the Rujfians, is a fifti very

(lender, and almoft cylindrical, with a very fmall mouth, large filvery fcales, and

the under fins reddilh. This is found only in the Lena,tht Kowyma, and Indigirjka.

* The Schokur and Nafus are two fpecies of Coregoni, or Salmons, with very fmall teeth.
■f- Foy. en Siberie, i. 237. It alfo afcends through the Jenefei 3Xi^ the "Tuba to the Madjhar, a lake
an amazing diftance in the mountains.

o 2 M. Gmelin

CIV

ARCTIC COASTS.

M. GmeJIn 2nd the JhbeD'Juteroche 2i{{'nve us, that Pikes, Perch, RufFs, Carp,
Bream, Tench, Crucians, Roach, Bleaks, and Gudgeons, are alfo met with in the
Ob, and diiFerent rivers of this country *. I cannot reconcile this to the former
account given me by f© able a naturalift, to whom I owe this hiflory of the Jr^^ic
iifh. The Salmo Kundjha, Pallas Itin. iii. 706, abounds in the gulphs of the Icy
fea, but does not afcend the rivers j and the PleuroneSies Giacialis, Pallas Itin. iii.
706, is frequent on the Tandy (hores.

To review the inhabitants of the Jr^lc coafts, I ftiall return as far as Finmark.
I refer the reader to p. lxxix. for what I have faid of the Laplanders. The
Samoieds line the coafts from the eaft fidcof the White fea, as far (according to the
Ruffian maps) as the river Ob, and even the Anahara, which falls into the Icy fea
in lat. 73. 30 ; and poffefs the wildejft of countries inland, as low aslat. 65. After
them fucceeds, to the eaft, a race of middle fize ; and, extraordinary to fay, in-
flead of degeneracy, a fine race of men is found in the Tfchutjki, in a climate
equally fevere, and in a country equally unprodu£live of the fupports of life, as
any part of thefe inhofpitable regions. The manners of all are brutal, favage,
and nearly animal ; their loves the fame ; their living fqualid and filthy beyond
conception : yet on the fite of fome of thefe nations Mela hath placed the elegant
Hyperborei : and our poet, Prior, giving free loofe to his imagination, paints the
manners of thefe >4'r^/V people in the following beautiful fidion, after defcribing
sthe condition of the natives of the torrid zone.

And may not thofe whofe diftant lot is eaft Haft'ning from morn, and headlong driven from

North beyond Tartar/ s. extended Wafte ; noon,

Where, through the plains of one continual day, Half of our daily toil yet fcarcely done ?

Six ftiining months purfue their even way. May they not juftly to our climes upbraid

And fix fucceeding urge their duflcy flight, Shortnefs of night, and penury of fhade ?

Obfcur'd with vapors, and o'erwhelm'd in night ; That, ere our wearyM limbs are juftly bleft

May not, I aflc, the natives .'f thefe climes With wholefome fleep and neceflary reft,

(As annals may inform fucceeding times) Another fun demands return of care.

To our quotidian change of heaven prefer 1 The remnant toil of yefterday to bear ?

Their own viciffitude, and equal fhare V Whilft, when the folar beams falute their fight,,.

Of day and night, difparted thro' the year ? J Bold and fecure in half a year of light.

May they not fcorn our fun's repeated race. Uninterrupted voyages they take

To narrow bounds prefcrib'd, and little fpace, To the remoteft wood, and fartheft lakej-

* Foy. en Siberie, par Gtaelini 5. 84., S9, 241, ii. 167, J70, 219.— roy. en Siberie, Tpzrl'Abbe
D^Amrocbtj'uzoo, Engl*Ed,%iu

ARCTIC COASTS.

cv

Manage the fi/hing, and purfue the courfe

With more extended nerves, and more continued

force ?
And when declining day forfak.es their fky ;
When gathering clouds fpeak gloomy Winter nigh,
With plenty for the coming feafon bleft,
Six folid months (an age) they live released
From all the labor, procefs,. clamor, woe.
Which our fad fcencs of daily ailion know :

They light the fluning lamp, prepare the feaft.
And with full mirth receive the welcome gueft
Or tell their tender loves (the only care
Which now they fuffer) to the liit'ning Fair ;
And rais'd in pleafure, or repos'd in eafe,
(Grateful alternates of fubftantial peace)
They blefs the long nofturnal influence fhed
On the crownM goblet, and the genial bed.

With greater reality fpeaks that juft obferver of nature, the naturalift's poet,
of the inhabitants of this very country, as a true contraft to the foregoing
lines :

Hard by thefe fhores, where fcarce his freezing

ftream
Rolls the wild Oby, live the laft of men ;
And half enlivened by the diftant fun.
That rears and ripens man as well as plants.
Here human nature wears its ruded form.
Peep from the piercing feafon, funk in caves,
Here, by dull fires, and with unjoyous chear.

They wafte the tedious gloom. Immers'd in:

furs,
Doze the grofs race. Nor fprightly jeil, nor fong.
Nor tendernefs they know ; nor aught of life.
Beyond the kindred bears that llalk without.
Till morn appears, her rofes dropping all.
Sheds a long twilight bright'ning o'er the fields,
And calls the quiver'd favage to the chace.

Thomson^

This amazing extent of the Jjiaiic RuJJian dominions remained undifcovered
to a very late period. The Czars, immerfed in fenfuality, or engaged in wars,
had neither tafte or leifure to explore new countries. A plundering excurfion
was made into it in the reign of Bafthvifz. I ; a fecond was made under his fuc-
ceflbr : but a ftranger, the celebrated Coffac^ Yertnac, driven from his country on
the {hores of the Cafpian fea, pufhed his way with a refolute band as far as Orely
near the head of the Kama, on the weftern fide of the Uralllan chain. There he
met with one Strogonoff, a RujJian merchant, recently fettled in thofe parts for the
fake of the traffic of furs. He continued in that neighborhood the whole winter,
and was fupplied by the Ruffians with all neceiTaries. In the fpring he turned his
arms againft Kutchum Chan, one of the moft powerful ©f the petty princes of the
country which now forms part of the government of Toboljki. In 1581, he fought
adecifive battle with the Chan, overthrew him, and feated himfelf on the throne.
Finding his fituation precarious, he ceded his conquefls to Baftlovltz, who feized
on the opportunity of adding this country to hiS dominions. He fent Yermac a<
fupply of men. But at length his good fortune forfook him. He was furprized
by the Chan ; and, after performing all that a hero could do, perifhed in attempt-
ing to efcape,.

Ihe

cvi ARCTICCOASTS.

The Rujjiansy on the death of their ally, retired out of Sibiria i but they fooft
returned, recovered the conquefts made by Termac^ and, before the middle of the
following century, added to their antient poffeflions a territory fourteen hundred
and feventy leagues in length, and near feven hundred in breadth (without in-
cluding the RuJJian colonies on the ifland oi Oonalajhka, on the coaft of America *)
yet is fo thinly peopled, and with fuch barbarians, as to add no ftrength to the
empire by any fupplies to the army or navy. They are almoft torpid with inac-
tion J lazy to the higheft degree, from their neceflary confinement to their ftoves
during the long winter of the country.' In that feafon the ground is clad with
deep fnow, and the froft moft tremendoufly fevere. The fpring, if fo it may be
called, is diftinguifhed by the muddied torrents of melting fnows, which rufli from
the mountains, and give a fea-like appearance to the plains. Mifts, and rain, and
fnow, are the variations of that feafon, and they continue even to the fourth of
June. The fhort fummer is hot, and favorable to vegetation. Corn may be feen
a foot high by the 22d of June j and the grafs is moft luxuriant. Culinary plants
will fcarcely grow about Toboljhi, Fruits of every kind, except a currant, are un-
known. A fingle crab-like apple, raifed in a hot-houfe, was once produced
there, fliced in a large dilh, at a great entertainment, and ferved up with as much
oftentation as we would in England a pine-apple.

The animals of Sibiria, the furs of which were the original object of its con-
queft, are now fo reduced, that the Rujftans are obliged to have recourfe to Eng'
land for a fupply from North America^ which they add to their own ftock of furs
exported into China. Metals feem the ftaple trade of the country. Thofe of
iron and copper are abundant and excellent. Gold and filver are found in feveral
places, and in fuch abundance as to form a moft important article in the reve-
nues of RuJJia. The copper mines of Kolyvan, from which thofe pretious
metals are extracted, employ above forty thoufand people, moftly colonifts. The
{\\vtv mmts oi Nertfchinjk^ beyond \zke Baikal, above fourteen thoufand. The
whole revenue arifing from the mines of different metals, is not lefs than
j^. 679,182. 13J. t
PiANTs. Next to the difcovery of the new world, no place has added more to the en-

tertainment of naturalifts than Sibiria. As has been before obferved, nature
there affumes a new appearance in the animal world : it does the fame in the
vegetable j at leaft, very few trees are found common to Europe and A/ia. Let
me juft mention the nobler kinds : the Oak, frequent as it is in RuJJia and in
Ca/an, is not to be kzn in this vaft region nearer than the banks of the Argun

* D^Auterocbe, Foj. en Siberie^ i. S3. f Coxe't travels,

and

ARCTIC COASTS. cm

and Amur^ in the Chinefe dominions. The White Poplar, Populus alba ; and the
Afpen, Populus tremula., are extremely common. The Black Poplar, Populus
nigra; the Common Sallow, Salix caprea ', Sweet Willow, Salix pentandra \
White Willov/, Salix alba, are very frequent. The Hazel, Corylus Avellana, is
circumftanced like the Oak. The Common Birch, Betula alba, is moft abundant;
and, as in all northern nations, of univerfal ufe. The Dwarf Birch, Betula
nana, is confined to the neighborhood of lake Baikal. The Alder, Betula Jlnus.,
is very frequent. The Pinafter, Pinus Pinea; the Pine with edible feeds, or
Pinus Cembra ', and Larch, Pinus Larix ; all trees of the firft ufe, medicinal or
oeconomical, cover many parts of the country. The Norway Fir, Pinus Jbies,
and the Silver Fir, Pinus Picea, form, in moft parts of the country, great forefts :
the firft grows in this country not farther north than lat. 60 ; the laft not higher
than lat. 58 ; yet the former flouriflies in Europe, and compofes \\\ Lapmark, far
beyond the Ar£iic circle, woods of great extent : a proof of the fuperior rigour of
cold in the Afiatic north. Thefe form the fum of European trees growing in
Sibiria. Of other plants, common to both continents, M. Gmelin gives the reader,
in p. xciv. of his Preface, a flender lift of fuch which fell under his obferva-
tion.

The trees or fhrubs peculiar to Sibiria and Tartary, are the Acer Tariaricum^
Sp. PI. ii. 1495 : the Ulmus pumila, 327 : Prunus Sibirica, Amman. Ruth. 272*
tab. 29 : Pyrus baccata, 274 : Robinia Caragana, frutefcens, and pygmaa, Sp. PI,
ii. 1044. I may alfo obferve, that the Taccamahacca, or Populus balfamiferOy
1463, common alfo to North America, abounds about the upper part of the L^w^/,
the Angara, and Jenefei, and between the Onon and Aga. An infufion of its buds
is ufed by the natives as an excellent remedy for an infamous diforder, frequent in
this great country.

Europe is obliged to Sibiria for that excellent fpecies of Oat, the Avena
Sibirica, Fl. Sib. i. 113. tab. 22. Lin. Sp. PL i. 117 ; and our gardens are in
a moft peculiar manner enlivened with the gay and brilliant flowers introduced
from that diftant and fevere climate. I fliall only feleit a few out of the mul-
titude *. Veronica Sibirica, Iris Sibirica, Fl, Sib. i. 28. Eryngium planum, i. 185.
Lilium bulbiferum, i. 41. L. pomponium, i. 42. L. Martagon, i. 44. Delphi-
nium grandiflorum, Sp. Pi. i. 749. Erythronium Dens cam's, i. 39. tab. 7,
Hemerocallis flava, i. 37. Saxifraga crajftfolia, Sp. PI. i. 573. Lychnis chalce-
donica, Sp. PI. i. 625. Pyrus baccata, Lythrum virgatum, Sp. PI. 642. Amyg"

• This lift was communicated to me by an able botanift j but I think fome of the plants are alfo
fpund in Europe,

daltOi

cvns TSCHUTSKI.

dolus nana i S p. PI. 677. Pcsonla ienutfoUa^ Sp, PI. i. 748. Clematis integr'tfdtai
Sp. PI. i. 767. Adonis vernalis^ Sp. PI. i. 771. AJiragalus alopecuroides., Sp.
P]. ii. 1064. i^y^eruum Afcyron^ Sp. PI. ii. ii02. Echinops Ritro, Fl. Sib. ii. lOO.
Veratrum nigrum.^ Fl. Sib. i. 76.

TSCHUTSKI.

After the conqueft of Stbirla^ the Tfchutjki were the firft people difcovered by
the Ruffians^ who were indebted to the adventure of Defchneiv for the knowledge
.of them. They are a free and brave race, and in fize and figure fuperior to every
neighboring nation ; tall, ftout, and finely made, and with long and agreeable
countenances j a race infulated ftrangely by a lefTer variety of men. They wore
•no beards. Their hair was black, and cut flaort, and covered either with a clofe
cap, or hood large enough to cover the ihoulders. Some hung beads in their
ears, but none had the barbarifm to bore either nofes or lips. They wore a fhort
and clofe frock, breeches, and fhort boots : fome had trowfers. The materials of
their cloathing was leather admirably drefled, either with or without the hair *.
It is faid that at times they wear jackets made of the inteftines of whales f, like
the EJkimaux ; probably when they go to fea, for they excel their neighbors in
fifhing, and ufe open boats covered with fkins J, and like the women's boats of
the Greenlanders, They have alfo the lefler or kajak. They make ufe of fledges,
and have large fox-like dogs of different colors, with long foft woolly hair, which
are probably defigned for the draught. Some fay that they ufe rein-deer, of
which they have vafl: abundance, but neither milk them nor kill them for food,
preferring the flefh of fea animals, except one dies by chance, or is killed by the
wolves.. They are a brave and warlike people; are armed with bows and arrows;
the laft pointed with ftone or bone. They had fpontoons headed with fteel, pro-
cured by traffic from the Rujfians ; thefe they ufually flung over their right fhoul-
der ; and a leathern quiver of moll elegant workmanfhip hung over the left §.
The Ruffians have often gained dear-bought victories over this brave people, but
never were able to efFeil their conquefl:. They retained an high fenfe of liberty,
and conftantly refufed to pay tribute ; and the ambitious European mifcalled them
rebels. They will not on any confideration part with their weapons ; pofllbly a
Tfchutjki may think a difarmed man difhonored. Captain Cook, in his three
hours vifit to them, found their attachment to their arms, notwithflanding they
willingly parted with any thing elfe, and even without the profpedl of exchangCt
They treated him with great civility, but prudent caution : faluted him by bow-

* Voyage, ii. 450, tab. 51. f Hiji. Kamtfchatka, Fr. J Voyage, ii. 452,

(§ See tab. 5 1 of the Voyage,

I ing

TSCHUTSKI.

CI

ing and pulling off their caps, pofTibly a piece of politenefs they learned from the
KuJTums. They treated him with a fong and dance, and parted friends ; but not
without a moft remarkable and confequential event : — A year after the interview
between Captain Cook and the Tfchutfki^ a party of thefe people came to the
frontier poft of the RuJJlans^ and voluntarily offered friendfiiip and tribute. Thefe
generous people, whom fear could not influence, were overcome by the civility
and good condu(5i: of our illuftrious commander : they miilook him and his people
fov RuJJtans^ and, imagining that a change of behaviour had taken place, tendered
to their invaders a lading league *. Poffibly the munificent emprefs may blufii
at the obligation conferred by means of Britijh fubjedls, in procuring to her empire
a generous ally, at the inftant her armed neutrality contributed to deprive us of
millions of lawful fubje6ts.

From the fliortnefs of the interview little knowlege could be gained of their
cuftoms. I fliall only obferve, that they bury their dead under heaps of flones, or Tumuli

carnedds : feveral were feen here with the rib of a whale on the top inftead of a
pillar t; a proof of the univerfality of thefe memorials of the dead.

The country of the Tfchutjki forms the moft north-eafterly part of Jf,a. It is a
peninfula, bounded by the bay of Tchaom^ by the Icy Sea, the freights of Bering,
and the gulph and river of Jnadir, which open into the fea of Kamtfchatka. It is a
mountanous tra6l, totally deftitute of wood, and confequently of animals which re-
quire the fhelter of forefts. The promontory Schalotjkoi, before mentioned, is the
moft wefterly part. Whether it extends fo far north as lat. 74, as the Ruffians
place it, is very doubtful : there is the opinion of our great navigator againft it.
From his own reafonings he fuppofed that the tradl from the Indigirjka^ eaftward, is Corrections in
laid down in the maps two degrees to the northward of its true pofition J, From a Geography et
map he had in his pofleffion, and from information he received from the Rujftans, he
places the mouth of the Koivyma, in lat. 68, inftead of lat. 71. 20, as the Peterjburg
map makes it. It is therefore probable, that no part of Jfta in this neighborhood
extends further than lat. 7©, in which we muft place the Schalotjkoi Nofs ; and
after the example of Mr. Campbell^ who formed his map of this country chiefly
from the papers of Captain Bering §, give the land which lies to the eaft of that
promontory a very fouthern trend. As Captain Cook had caufe to imagine that
the former charts erred in longitude as well as latitude, it is probable that he
reached within fixty miles of the Schalotjkoi Nofs\\. There we find him on
Auguji 29th, 1778, and from this period are enabled, from his remarks, to pro-
ceed fecurely accurate.

• Voy. iii, 217.

f Ellu^s Narrati've, i

. 332.

J Foyage iii. 268,

Wn

Barns' i Toy. ii. 1016.

II yQjcgen\. ayo.

P

After

ex

ICY SEA,

After croffing the Icy Sea from the moft extreme part of the coaft of America
which he could attain, he fell in with land. It appeared low near the fea, and
high inland ; and between both lay a great lake. To a fteep and rocky point,
nearly in lat. 68. 56, and long. iSo. 51, his ne plus ultra on the Jftatic fide, he
Capr North. aave the name of Cape North ; beyond v/hich he could not fee any land, notwith-
flandinrr the weather was pretty clear. . The fea, at three miles diftance from the
fnore, was only eight fathoms deep : this, with a rifmg wind, approaching fog,
and apnrehenfion of the corning doy/n of the ice, obliging him to defift from
farther attemnts in thcfc parts, he proceeded as near to the coaft as he could v/ith

Burney's Isle, prudence, towards the fouth-eaft, and found it retain the fame appearance. In
lat. 67. 4,5, he difcovered a fmall ifle, about three leagues from the main, with
fteep and rocky fhores, on which he beftowed the name of Burney, in honor of
one of his officers ; gratefully immortalizing the companions of his voyage, in this
and other inftances. After pafung the ifland, the continent inland rofe into
mountains of confiderable height, the termination of the great chain I before
defcribed.

Serdze Kamek. ^" '^t. 67. 3, long. 188. 11, he fell in with Serdze Kamen *, a lofty promontory,
faced towards the fea with a fteep rocky clifF. To the eaftward the coaft continues
high and bold, towards the horth Cape low, being a continuation of the Ar^lc
ilats. This was the northern limit of the voyage of another illuftrious navigator,

Capt. Bering. Captain Vitus BhRiNG, a Dane by birth, and employed on the fame plan of
difcovcry in thefe parts as our great countrym.an was in the late voyage. He
was in the fervice of Peter the Great; who, by the ftrength of an extenfive
aenius, conceiving an opinion of the vicinity of ^?«(?nVa to his ^^//V dominions,
laid down a plan of difcovery worthy of fo extraordinary a monarch, but died
before the attempt was begun ; but his fpirit furvived in his fuccefibr. Bering,
after a tedious and fatiguing journey through the wilds of Sihiria^ arrived in Kamt-
fchatka^ attended with the fcanty materials for his voyage, the greateft part of
which he was obliged to bring with him through a thoufand difficulties. Several
of the circumftances of his adventures will be occafionally mentioned f . I fliall
only fay here, that he failed from the river of Kamtfchatka on July 15th, 1728 ;
on the 15th o'l Jugujl faw Serdze Kamen, or the heart-ftiaped rock, a name be-
ftowed on it by the firft difcoverer.
East Cape, From Serdze Kamen to a promontory named by Captain Cook EaJI CapeXi the

land trends fouth-eaft. The laft is a circular peninfula of high cliffs, projecting

* See tab. 84 of tlie Voyage. f The account of the voyage is extremely worthy of perufal,

and is preferved by the able Do6lor Campbell, in Harrises Colle^m, n, loi'i. | See tab. 84.

of the Voyage.

far

BERING'S STREIGHTS. cxi

far into the ft-a clue eall, and joined to the land by a long and very narrow iftlimu?,
in lat. 66.6. This is theTy?/6«^/A^(9/} of our navigators, and forms the beginning
of the narrou' freights or divifion of the old and nevi' world. Thediftanco between * Bering's
JfiaznA America mthh place is only thirteen leagues. The country about the cape, Streights*
and to the north-weft of it, was inhabited. About mid-channel are two finall iflands,
named by the Rujjia?is the ides of St. Dio?nedes ; neither of them above three or
four leagues in circuit f. It is extremely extraordinary that Bering fliould
have failed through this confined paffage, and yet that ihe object: of his miflioa
fhould have efcaped him. His misfortune could only be attiibuted to the foggy
weather, which he muft have met with in a region notorious for mifts J ; for he
fays that he Aiw land neither to the north nor to the eaO: §. Our generous
commander, determined to give him every honor his merit could clame, has dig-
nified thefe with the name of Bering's Streights.

The depth of thefe ftreights is from twelve to twenty-nine or thirty fathoms. Depth.

The greateft depth is in the middie, which has a flimy bottom ; the (halloweft
parts are near each fliore, which confilh of fand mixed with bones and {hells.
The current or tide very inconllderable, and what there v/as came from the weft. Current.

From Eajl Cape the land trends fouth by weft. In lat. 65. 36, is the bay in
which Captain Cook had the interview with the TfchutJkL Immediately beyond
is the bay of St. Laurence^ about five leagues broad in the entrance, and four deep,
bounded at the bottom by high land. A little beyond is a large bay, either
bounded by low land at the bottom, or fo extenfive as to have the end invifible.
To the fouth of this are two other bays ; and in lat. 64. 13, long. 186. 36, is the
extreme fouthern point of the land of the Tfchutjki. This formerly was called
the Anadirjko'i Nofs. Near it Bering had converfation with eight men, who
came off to him in a baidarj or boat covered with the fkins of feals ; from which
Bering and others have named it the Tfchutjki Nofs. A few leagues to the
fouth-eaft of this point lies Clerke^s ifland, in lat 63. 15, difcovered by Capt. Cook; Isles of Clerk.e
and immediately beyond a larger, on which Bering beftowed the name of St. « ^^^

T y. ^ rL \. r c y cr-ri n- • y ■ rn ■ ■ -n. ^T. LAURENCE.

Laurence: the laft, the refort of the Tfchutfii in their nlhmg parties ||. Both
of thefe confift of high clifFs, joined by low land. A fmall ifland was {etn about
nineteen leagues from St. Laurence'^ in a north-eaft by eaft half eaft direftion j

I fufpe£t it to be that which Capt. Cook named Jnderfon's, in memory of his
furgeon, who died off it, and from his amiable charadter feems to have well

* See the chart of them, Voyage, vol. ii. tab. 53. f Voy. ii. 44.5. iii. 243. % Fojage ii.

470. and Meteorolog. Tables, iii. App. 51s, 513, 520, 521. § Harris's CoU, ii. 1020.

II Muller-s Voy. des Rufes, i. 148.

P 2 merited

€xn K A M T S C H A T K A.-

merited this memorial. It lies in lat. 63. 4, long. 192. An anonymous iflet,
imperfeftly feen, and lying in lat. 64. 24, long. 190. 31, in mid-channel, com-
pletes the fum of thofe feen remote from land between the ftreights and the ille of
St. Laurence. As to thofe named in the chart given by Lieut. Synd, who in
1764 made a voyage from Kamtfchatka towards Bering's Streights, they feem to
exift only in imagination, notwithftanding the Rujfian calendar has been exhaufted
to find names for them. St. Agathon^ St. Titus^ St. Myron^ and many others,
fill the fpace pafTed over by Capt. Cook, and which could not have efcaped thiS
notice of his fucceffor *.

The land from Bering's Tfchutjkl Nofs trends vaflly to the weft, and bounds
on that fide the vaft gulph o^ Anadir ^ into the bottom of which the river of the
fame name empties itfelf ; and limits the territory of the Tfchutjki.

From thence is a large extent of coaft trending fouth-weft from Cape St. Thad'
deus^ in lat. 62. 50, long. 180, the fouthern boundary of the gulph oi Anadir, to
Oljiitorjkoi Nofs^ beyond which the land retires full w*eft, and forms in its bofom a
gulph of the fame name. Off Thaddeus Nofs appeared, on June 29th, abundance
of walrufes and great feals ; and even the wandering albatrofs was feen in this high
latitude \. Between this and the Penginjk gulph, at the end of the fea of Ochotjk^
is the ijlhmus which unites the famous peninfula of Kamtfchatka to the main
land, and is here about a hundred and twenty miles broad, and extends in length
from 52 to 61, north lat. The coafts are often low : often faced with cliiFs, in
many parts of an extraordinary height ; and out at fea are rude and fpiring rocks,
the haunts of leonine feals, whofe dreadful roarings are frequently the prefervation
of mariners, warning them of the danger, in the thick fogs of this climate %,
The coaft has but few harbours, notwithftanding it juts frequently into great
headlands. The moft remarkable are, the North Head^ with its needle roeks, at
"" the entrance of the \i2i-^ oi Awatcha {Voyage^ vol. iii. tab. 58); Cheepoonfkoi Nofs,

ftill further north, engraven in vol. ii. tab. 84; and Kronotjkoi Nofs, with its lofty
cliffs. The peninfula widens greatly in the middle, and lefTens almoft to a point
at Cape Lopatka, which flopes into a low flat, and forms the fouthern ex^
tremity of the country. The whole is divided lengthways by a chain of
lofty rocky mountains, frequently covered with fnow, and fhooting into
VuLCANOS conic fummits, often fmoking with vulcanic eruptions. They have broken out
in numbers of places : the extindl are marked by the craters, or their broken tops.
'The vulcano near Awatcha^, that oi Tolh at chick, and that of the mountain of
Kamtfchatka jj, are the modern. They burft out fometimes in whirlwinds cf flames,

* Coxe's Ruffian Difcovery Map, p. loo.—Voy. iii. 503. f, FoyageWi, 241. J Defer.

Kamtfcb. ^.zg. §^ee tab. 85, foya^e^ vol. iii. j and defcviption of its eruption, p. 235.

I See Defer. Kamtfchatka, tab. xv. ?• 34-a.

aod

KAMTSCHATKA.

CXIII

and burn up the neighboring forefts ; clouds of fmoke fucceed, and darken the

whole atmofphere, till difperfed by fhowers of cinders and afhes, which cover the

country for thirty miles round. Earthquakes, thunder, and lightning, join to

fill the horror of the fcenery at land ; while at fea the waves rife to an uncommon

height, and often divide fo as to fhew the very bottom of the great deep *. By

an event of this kind was once expofed to fight the chain of fubmarine mountains

which connedled the Kuril ifles to the end of this great peninfula. I do not learn

that they overflow with lava or with water, like the vulcanos of Europe. There

are in various parts of the country hot fprings, not inferior in warmth to thofe of Hot Springs.

Iceland \ : like them they in fome places form fmallyV/j d'eaux, with a great noife,

but feldom exceed the height of a foot and a half if.

The climate during winter is uncommonly fevere ; for fo \ovf z% Bolcheretfk^ Climate.
lat. 521 30, all intercourfe between neighbors is flopped. They dare not flir out
for fear of being frofl-bitten. Snow lies on the ground from fix to eight feet
thick as late as May \ and the florms rage with uncommon impetuofity, owing to
the fubterraneous fires, the fulphureous exhalations, and general vulcanic difpo-
fition of the country. The prevaling winds are from the wefl-, which pafUn^^
over the frozen wilds of Sibiria and Tartary, add keennefs and rigour to the winters
oi Kamtfchatka. Winter continues till the middle of y««^ ; from that month to
the middle of September may be called fummer, if a feafon filled with rain, and
mifts, and ungenial fkies, merits that name. Rye, barley, and oats, are committed
to the earth, but feldom come to perfedlion. The fubfiflence of the Riijftans and
Coffacks depends therefore on importation from Sibiria. In fome parts grafs grows
to a great height, and hay of uncommon nutriment is harvefired for the fattening-
of cattle §. Grain is a luxury for the colonifls only : the natives have other
refources, the effedls of necefiity. Excepting in f^-w places, this is a land of in-
corrigible barrennefs. As foon as the fea otters and other pretious furs are ex-
haufted, Kamtfchatka will be deferted by the Rujfians^ unlefs they fhould think fit
to colonize the continent of Jmerlco, which the furs of that country, or the
profpeft of mineral wealth, may induce them to attempt.

Few ores have as yet been difcovered in this peninfula : not that it wants either Ores.

copper or iron ; but every necefTary in thofe metals is imported at fo cheap a
rate, that it is not worth while for a people ignorant in mining and fmelting to
fearch for them in the almof!: inaccefTible mountains.

From the climate and the barren nature of Kamtfchatka, the reader need not be Plants.

• Defer. Kamtfch. Fr. 340, 341. f Foyage iii. 206, 332. J Defer. Kamtfch. Fr.

34«, and tab. iv. v. in which aregiven the courfe of the \varn\ftieams. § roy. iii. 327.

furprized

cxiv

KAMTSCHATKA.

I'urprized at the poverty of its i^/(5m. It muft not be fuppofed that the fcanty enu-
meration of its plants arifes from a negle6l of fearch, or the want of a botanift to
explore its vegetable kingdom. Steller, a firft-rate naturalift o'i Germany, \n\\o
attended Bering in his laft voyage, refided here a confiderable time after his
efcape from that unfortunate expedition, exprefsly to complete his remarks in
natural hiftory. The refult of his botanical refearches was communicated to
Doclor Gmel'in, another gentleman fent by the Rujjian government to examine into
the natural hiftory of its dominions. Europe has from time to time been ranfacked
for men of abilities to perform this meritorious miflion, and the fruits of their
labors have been liberally communicated to a public thirfting for knowlege.
The names of Muller, Gmelin, Steller, De L'Isle, Krashaninicoff,
Guildenstaedt, Lepechin, and Pallas, will ever be held in refpedl:, for adding
to the ftock of natural knowlege. But how much is it to be lamented that Eyigland
wants a patron to encourage the tranflation of their works, locked up at prefent
in Rjijfian or German, concealed from the generality of readers, to the great fup-
prefiion of knowlege !

I here give a lift of the plants of Kamtfchatka in fyftematic order ; and from it
annex an account of the ufes made of them by the natives of the peninfula. I
muft not omit my thanks to the Rev. Mr. Lightfoot, and the Rev. Mr. Hugh
Dav'ies of Beau7nariSf for the great affiftance I received from them. Let me
premife, that the plants marked A. are common to America and Kamtfchatka ,
with B. to Bering's Ifle; with E. to England or Scotland; and with Virg. thofe
which extend to Virginia, or the eaftern fide of North America *. It is remarkable,
that the European plants, which had deferted Sibiria about the Jenefei, appear here
in great abundance.

Veronica. Gmel Sib. iii. 219. N" 33. Sanguiforba canadenfis. A. ,

V. incana. Cornus fuecica.

V. ferpyllifolia. E. ■" Pulmonaria virginica. A. Am. Acad. ii.

Iris fibirica. 310.

Iris. Gm. Sib. i. 30. N° 28. Cerinthe major. A.

Dadtylis. Gm, Sib. i. 130. N° 68. Cortufa Gmelini. Am. Acad, ii, 313,

Bromus criftatus. Amoen. Acad. ii. 312. Anagallis. Gm. Sib. iv. 87, 37.

Triticum. G;«. 5/3. i. iig. N° 56. Azalea procumbens. E.

Plantago major. A. E. Virg, Phlox fibirica. Am. Acad. ii. 314,

Pi, afiatica. Convolvulus perficus. Ibid,

* Taken from Doflor For/?fr'j Flora America Septentrionalis. It is highly probable that
many, not noted as fuch, may be common to both fides of the continent, notwithltanding they efcaped
the notice of Stelkr or our navigators,

7 Polcmonium

KAMTSCHATKA.

cxr

Polemonlum casruleum. A. E*

Lonicera Xylofteum. A?

L. cserulea.

Ribes alpinum. A. E.

R. rubrum. Virg.

R. grofTularia. A. Virg.

Claytonia virginica. A. Am. Acad.W. 310.

Salfola proftrata - - 318.

Anabafis aphylla. - - 319.

Heuchera americana. - - 310.

Svvertfia dichotoma. - - 317.

Sw. corniculata. - - ibid,

Gentiana amarella. E.

G. aquatica. Am. Acad. ii. 316.

Heracleum panaces. A.

Angelica archangelica.

Ang. Sylveflris. E. Virg,

Cicuta virofa.

Chserophyllum Sylveftre.

Chaer. aureum ?

Sambucus racemcfa.

Tradefcantia. Virg P

Allium urfinum. E. Virg,

Allium triquetrum.

Lilium martegon.

L. Camfchatcenfe. A. Virg, /^tii.Acad. ii.

320.
Uvularia perfoliata. - - 310.
Convallaria bifolia.
Juncus filiformis. E. Virg.
J. campeftris. E.
Rumex acetofa. Virg,
Melanthium fibiricum. A7n. Acad.W. 2,10,
Trillium ere£lum. - - ii.310.

Alifma plantago aquatica. E.
Alfinanthemos. Gm. Sib, iv. i j 6. N° 86.
"Epilobium latifolium.
Vaccinium myrtillus. A. E,

Vaccinlum uliginofum. E,

Vac. vitis idaea. A. E.

Vac. oxycoccos. E. Virg.

Erica. G?«. Sib. iv. 130. N° 21. B,

Er. G;;2. -S/^. iv. 131. N° 22. A.

Bryanthus. Gm. Sib. i\\ 133. N° 23.

Polygonum biflorta. E.

Pol. viviparum. E,

Adoxa mofchatellina. A. E.

Sophora Lupinoides. Am. Acad, ii, 321.

Ledum paluftre.

Andromeda. G?n. Sib. iv. 121. N° 9.

Chamaerhododendros. G?n, Sib. iv. 126.

N° 13. B. ,
Arbutus uva urfi. E. Virg.
Pyrola rotundifolia. E. Virg.
Tia'rella trifoliata. Am. Acad. ii. 322.
Sedum verticillatum. ii. 323.

Prunus padus. E.
Sorbus aucuparia. E, Virg.
Crataegus oxyacantha. Voyage^ iii, 334.
Spiraea hypericifolia. Atn. Acad. ii. 310.
Sp. Sorbifolia. - - 324.

Spiraea. Gm. Sib. iii. 192. N° 55.
Spiraea. - - 192. N° 56.

Sp. aruncus.
Rofa alpina.

Rubus Idaeus. A, E, Virg.
R. Caefiu*. E.
R. fruticofus. E. Virg,
R. arclicus. Virg.
R. chamsemorus. E.
Fragaria vefca. //. E.
Potentilla fruticofa. E.
Dryas pentapetala.

A6laea cimicifuga. Am. Acad. ii. 325.
Papaver nudicaulc.
Aconitum napellus.

Anemone

cxvi

KAMTSCHATKA.

Anemone narclfllfolia.

Anem. ranunculoides.

Anem. Dichotoma. Am, Acad. ii. 310.

Thalidlrum flavurn. E>

Ranunculus.

Troillius europeus. E.

Helleborus trifolius. Am. Acad. ii. 327.

Bartfia pallida. _ - - ihid.

Pedicularis verticillata.

Linnsea borealis. Virg.

Myagrum fativum. E.

Thlafpi burfa paftoris. E. Virg.

Arabis o;randiflora.

Turritis hirfuta. E.

Geranium pratenfe. E.

Lathyrus. Gm. Sib. iv. 85.

Aftragalus alopecuroides. Am. Acad. il.

330-
Aftr. alpinus.

Aftr. Gm. Sib. iv. 44. N° 58.

Aftr. phyfodes. Am. Acad. ii. 329.

Hypericum. . Gm. Sib. iv. 279- N° 3.

Picris hieraciodes. E.

Sonchus. Gm. Sib. ii. 13. N* 13.

Prenanthes repens. Am. Acad. ii. 331.

Scrratula noveboracenfis. Virg.

Circium. Gm. Sib. ii. 69. N° 49.

Cacalia fuaveolens. Am. Acad. ii. 310.

Artemifia vulgaris. A. E.

Gnaphalium margaritaceumt E. Virg.

Erigeron acre, A. E.

Tuflilago. B. Gm. Sib. ii. 145. N" 125.

Senecio. B. - - 136. N° 118.

After. A,B> Gm.Sib.Vu 175. N^ 145.
After. - - 186. N° 152.

Solidago virga aurea. A. B E.
Solidago. Gm. Sib, ii. 170. N° 190.
Cineraria ftbirica.
Pyrethrum. A. B. Gm. Sib. ii. 203*

N° 170.
Orchis bi folia. E. Virg.
Orchis latifolia. E.
Ophrys Camtfcatca. Am. Acad. ii. 332.
Drachontium Camtfcatcenfe. Am. Acad%

ii. 332.
Carex panicea. E. Virg.
Carex. Gm. Sib. i. 139. N° 77.
Betula alba. E.
Betula nana. E. Virg.
Betula alnus. A. E. Virg.
Urtica dioica. E.
Sagittaria latifolia. E.
Pinus cembra.
Pinus Larix. A. Virg.
Pinus picea.
Salix retufa.
Salix viminalls. E.
Empetrum nigrum A. E. Virg.
Populus alba. E.
Juniperus communis. E.
Equifetum hyemale. E. Virg.
Afplenium Rhyzophyllum. Am.Acad.W.

311. Virg.
Lycopodium rupeftre. Virg. ibid,

Lycop. Sanguinolentum. ii. 333,

Uses. The Kamtfchatkans boaft of their fkill in the knowlege of the application of the

vegetable kingdom to the ufes of mankind. Tht Sibiriam cure the venereal difeafe
by a deco6tion of the root of the Iris Sibirica, which a6ls by purging and vomiting.
They keep the patient eight days in a ftove, and place him in a bed of the leaves

of

KAMTSCHATKA.

of the ArSiium Lappa^ or common Burdock, which they frequently change till tlic
cure is efFecSled.

T\\t HeracleumPanaceSy or Siveet grafsyWZ%2i plant of the firft ufe with the Kamtf-
chatkanSj and formerly made a principal ingredient in all their difhes ; but fo
powerful does the love of hot liquors fway with the RuJJtans, that, fince their ar-
rival, it is entirely applied to diftillation. The beginning of Jtdy the more fuc-
culent (talks and leaves are gathered j after the down is fcraped off with fliells,
they are layed to ferment ; when they grow dry, they are placed in bags, and in a
hvi days are covered with a faccharlne powder : only a quarter of a pound of
powder is colledted from a pood, or thirty-fix pounds of the plant, which taftes like
liquorice. They draw the fpirit from it by flceping bundles of it in hot water j
then promote the fermentation in a fmall veflel, by adding the berries of the
Lonicera Xylojleum^ Sp. PI. i. 248, and Vacctnium uViginofum^ 499. They con-
tinue the procefs by pouring on more water, after drawing ofFthe firft: they then
place the plants and liquor in a copper ftill, and draw ofi^, in the common manner,
a fpirit equal in ftrength to brandy *. Accident discovered this liquor. One
year, the natives happening to colle£l a greater quantity of berries of feveral kinds,
for winter provifion, than ufual, found in the fpring that a great quantity had
fermented, and become ufelefs as a food. They refolved to try them as a drink,
and mixed the juice with water. Others determined to experience it pure; and
found, on trial, the Ar£llc beatitude, drunkennefs f. The Rujfiaiis caught at the
hint, introduced diftillation, and thus are enabled to enjoy ebriety with the pro-
dudion of the country.

Th-e Moucho-more of the RuJJians^ the Agaricus mufcarius, Sp. PL 1640, is an-
other inftrument of intoxication. It is a fpecies of Toadftool, which the Kaintf-
chadales and Korlaks fometimes eat dry, fometimes immerfed in a fermented
liquor made with the Epilobium, which they drink notwithftanding the dreadful
efFe£ls. They are firft feized with convulfions in all their limbs, then with a
raving fuch as attends a burning fever ; a thoufand phantoms, gay or gloomy
(according to their conftitutions) prefent themfelves to their imaginations : fome
dance; others are feized with unfpeakable honors. They perfonify this mufti-
room ; and, if its effeds urge them to fuicide, or any dreadful crime, they fay
they obey its commands. To fit themfelves for premeditated afl'affinations,
they take the Moucho-more. Such is the fafcination of drunkennefs in this-
country, that nothing can induce the natives to forbear this dreadful potion % !

•Foyage, iii. 337.. f Cmelin^ Fl. Sib. i. 217. % Hiji. Kamtfchatha, 99, ico.

q As

CXVII

«xvin KAMTSCHATKA.

S.^RANNE. As a food, the Saranne., or Lilium Kamtfchatcenfe^ is among the principal. Its

roots are gathered by the women in Augujly dried in the fun, and layed up for
ufe : they are the beft bread of the country ; and after being baked are reduced
to powder, and ferve inflcad of flour in foups and feveral difhes. They are
fometimes wafiied, and eaten as potatoes ; are extremely nouriftiing, and have a
pleafant bitter tafie. Our navigators boiled and eat them with their meat. The
natives often parboil, and beat it up with feveral forts of berries, fo as to form of
it a very agreeable confedion. Providentially it is an univerfal plant here, and
all the grounds bloom with its flower during the feafon*. Another happinefs re-
marked here is, that while fifh are fcarce, the Saranne is plentiful ; and when
there is a dearth of this, the rivers pour in their provifions in redoubled profufion.
It is not to the labors of the females alone that the Kamtfchaikans are ^.ndebted
for thefe roots. The (economic Moitfe, p. 134. A. faves them a great deal of
trouble. The Saranne forms part of the winter provifions of that little animal :
they not only gather them in the proper feafon, and lay them up in their ma-
gazines, but at times have the inftindt of bringing them out, in funny weather, to
dry them, leafl; they fhould decay f. The natives fearch for their hoards; but
with prudent tendernefs leave part for the owners, being unwilling to fuffer fuch
ufeful caterers to perifli.

Let me add, that Steller enumerates other fpecies of the Lilly genus, which
I believe are edible. Every fpecies of fruit, except berries, is denied to this un-
kind climate ; but the inhabitants ufe various forts of them as wholefome fubfti-
tutes, which they eat frefh, or make into palatable jams, or drefs with their fifh,
cither frefh or when preferved for winter ufe : fuch are thofe of the Lonicera Xylo-
fciim or Gimoloji^ a fort of Honeyfuckle : the Rubus Chamamorus, Morochka^ or
Cloudberries : the Vaccimum Myrtillus^ Uliginofum, Vitis Idaa^ and Oxycoccos^ or
Bilberries, Marfla Bilberries, Red Bilberries, and Cranberries : the Empetrum
Nigrum, or Heathberries : the Prunus Padusy or Bird Cherry : Cratagus Oxyacan-
tha, or White Thorn with red and with black berries : the Juniperus Communis^
or Common Juniper : and finally, of thofe of the Sorbus Aucuparia, or Common
Service.

Of the Epilobium LatifoUum, Sp. PI. 494, or Kipri, is brewed a common beve-
rage ; and, with the afliftance of the Sweet Plant, is made an excellent vinegar:
the leaves are ufed as a tea, and the pith is mixed with many of the diflies, and
ferved up green as a defert. When the infufion of it is mixed with the Sweet Herb
in the diftillation, much more brandy is procured than if water alone is ufed J,

• Defc. Kamtfcb. 363. f Pallas, Nov. Sp. Mur. 3130. X Defc, Kamtfcb, 368.

The

KAMTSCHATKA.

cxix:

The Polygonum Bi/iorta, Snake-weed, or J'tkoum^ is eaten frefli or dried, and ofcen
pounded with the Caviar. The Charophyllum Sylvejire, Wild Chervil, or Cow-weed,
the Morkavai of the natives, is eaten green in the fpring, or made into four
krout. The Solidago Itfchltfchu, Fl. Sib. ii. 170, is dried and boiled with fifli ;
and the broth from it taftes as if the flefti of the Argali or wild fheep had been
feethed in it. The root of Kotkonn'ia^ a fpecies of Tradefcantia, is eaten either
frefh, or ufed with the roes of fifh ; the berries have an agreable acidity, like aa
unripe apple, but will not keep, therefore they muft be eaten as foon as they
are gathered. Allium Urfinum^ Tcheremcha^ our Wild Garlic, is very common, and
ufeful in medicine as well as food ; both Rujftans and natives gather it in great
quantities for winter fervice : they fleep it in water, then mix it with cabba^-e,
onions, and other ingredients, and form out of them a ragout, which they eat
cold. It is alfo the principal remedy for the fcurvy. As foon as this plant appears
above the fnow, they feem to put this dreadful diforder at defiance, and find a cure
almoft: in its worft ftages. The Fotentilla fruticofa^ Sp. PL i. yog, or Shrubby
Cinquefoil, is very efficacious in the dyfentery, or in frefh wounds. The Dryas
pentapetala, Sp. PI. i. 717, or Ichaghan^ is employed infwellings or pains of the limbs.
That dreadful poifon the Cicuta virofa^ Sp. PI. i. 366, Water Hemlock, the Omeg, is
applied toufe, by the bold praditionersof this country, in cafes of pains in the back.
They fweat the patient profufely, and then rub his back with the plant, avoid-
ing to touch the loins, which, they fay, would bring on immediate death.

The trees of ufe are a dwarf fpecies of Pinus Cembra^ or Pine with edible Treej,

kernels; it grows in great quantities on both the mountains and plains, covered
with mofs. It never grows upright, but creeps on the ground, and is therefore
called by the Rujftans, Slanetz. The natives eat the kernels, with even the cones,
which brings on a tenefmus ; but the chief ufe of the tree is as a foverei»n medi-
cine in the fcurvy. Bering taught the Kamtfchatkam to make a decodion
of it : but they have negleiled his inftruaions, notvvithftanding they faw num-
bers of his people reftored to health in a fhort time, and fnatched, as it were, from
the jaws of death *. Even at this time the RuJJian colonifts perifli miferably
with the diforder, notwithftanding the remedy is before their eyes.

The Pinus Larix, or Larch-tree, grows only on the river of Kamtfchatka, and
the ftreams which run into it. This tree is of the firft ufe in the mechanical
fervices of the country : with it they build their houfes, their fortifications, and
hoats.^^JThey make ufe of the Populus alba^ or White Poplar, for the fame pur-

• Voyagey iii. 332 — Gm.Fl.Sib. i. 181. Refpeaing the trees, confult f''ojage, iii. 332. Dejc._

Kamtfckatka, i^<j, and the preceding catalogue.

q 2 pofes.

«jcx KAMTSCHATKA.

pofcs. Of the Betida alba^ or Common Birch, a tree fo ufeful to thefe northern
nations, they make their fledges and canoes ; and cut the frefti bark into fmall
flices like vermicelli, and eat it with their dried caviar : they alfo tap the trees,
and drink the liquor without any preparation. With the bark of the alder they
dye their leather ; but that, and every tree they have near the coaft, is ftunted,
fo that they are obliged to go far inland for timber of proper fizc.

I mufl: add, as a vegetable of ufe in ceconomics, the Trit'icum^ Gm. Sib. i. iig,
N" 56, which grows in great quantities along the fliores, which they mow, and
work into mats, which ferve for bed clothes and curtains; into mantles, fmooth
on one fide, and with a pile on the other, which is water-proof. They alfo make
with it facks, and very elegant bafkets ; thefe, as well as the mats, they ornament
with fplit whale-bones, and work into variety of figures *. The XJrtica dioicay or
Common Nettle, is another plant of great ufe : this they pltick in Augujl or
Septemhsry tie in bundles, and dry on their huts : they tear it to pieces, beat,
and clean it ; then fpin it between their hands, and twift the thread round a
fpindle. It is the only material they have to make their nets ; which, for waat
of fl<:ill in the preparation, will rot, and laft no longer than one feafon f.
(Quadrupeds. In rcfpeit to the quadrupeds of this country, I have reafon to think, from the

great affiftance I have received from the Rujjian academifl:?, or their labors, that
my account of them, in my zoological part of this Work, can receive little addi-
tion. I rcqueft that the Brown Bear^ N° 20, may be fubftituted inftead of the
Black, N° 19, as the native oi Kamtfchatka. I was led into the miftake by the
fufpicions of a moft able naturalift. I am fince informed, by the beft authority
(that of Captain King %) that it is the brown fpecies which is found there ; that
they are carnivorous §, and prey at times on the Jrgali or wild fheep ; but do
not attack man, except urged by extreme hunger, or provoked by wounds, or by
the flaughter of their young ; when nothing but their death can fecure the fafety
of the perfons who fall in their way. In the firft cafe, they will hunt mankind
by the fcent, and facrifice them to their v/ant of food, which ufually is fifti or.
berries. — The Kamtfchatkans never read Pope, but obferve his advice :

Learn from the Beafts the phyfic of the field.

The Bear is their great mafter; and they owe all their knowlege in medicine ami
furgery, and the polite arts, to this animal. They obferve the herbs to which he
has recourfe when he is ill, or when he is wounded, and the fame fimples prove

* Hif. Kamtfchatka, 373. f Same, 375. | SeeFay. iii. 30410308, whereMr.

King gives a full account of the prefent method of hunting. § The reader is requefted, at

p. 58, 1. a6, to change the word carni-vorous into animal,

equally

KAMTSCHATKA. cx^

equally reftorative to the two-legged Urfine race. The laft even acknowlege the
Bear as their ^ancing-mafter, and are moft apt fcholars in mimicking his attitudes
and c^races *. I was informed by one of the gentlemen who was on the voyage,
that the Sea Otter^ N° 36, was feen on the firft arrival on the American coaft ; but,
as it is not mentioned in that excellent and magnificent work till the arrival of the
{hips in Nootka found, I will not infift on the accuracy of its latitude.

The Argali yields a difh of moft excellent flavor. The natives work the horns Arc Air.

into fpoons, fmall cups, and platters; and have frequently a fmall one hang-
ing at their belts, byway of a drinking horn, in their hunting expeditions \.

The Dogs are like the Pomeraniafr, but vaftly larger; the hair rather coarfer, Docs,

and the ufual color light dun, or dirty creme-color. Bitches are never ufed for
the draught, but dogs alone; which are trained to it from their puppy-hood, by
being tied with thongs to flakes, with their food placed at a fmall diftance beyond
their reach ; fo that by conftant laboring and ftraining, they acquire both flrength
of limb and habit of drawing %.

The leonine and urfine Seals, and the Manati, muft have been on their mi- Seals,

grations during the time the navigators vifited this peninfula ; for they faw not
one of thofe curious animals. The common Seals, being ftationary, were
met with in great numbers. The bottle-nofed Seal, or Sea-Lion of Lord Anfon^
is totally unknown in thefe feas. I refer the reader, for a view of the quadrupeds
and birds of Kamtfchatka^ to the catalogue which Captain King honored with a
place in the third volume of the Voyage §. I (hall only add, that the clafs of
Auks is far the moft numerous of any, and contains fix fpecies unknown to Eu-
rope-^ that the only bird which has efcaped me is a fmall Blue Petrel \^ feen in
numbers in about lat. 59. 48, off the northern part of the peninfula.

Kamtfchatka is deftitute of every fpecies of ferpent and frog. Lizards are very Reptiles,

frequent, and are detefted by the natives, who believe them to be fpies fent by the
infernal gods to examine their actions, and predift their deaths. If they catch one,
they cut it into fmall pieces, to prevent it from giving any account of its miifion:
if it efcapes out of their hands, they abandon themfelves to melancholy, and
expedl: every moment their diftblution ; which often happens through fear, and
ferves to confirm the fuperfiition of the country ^. The air is very unfavorable Insects,

• Voy. iii. 308. f Same, 344. % Same, 345.

§ By fome typographical miftake, the greater part of the nuebhed-footed birds are, in the firft edition,
placed under the divifion of clo-veji-fooied. The naturalift reader will eafily Tee, that the birds, from
Grane, p. 357, to PiBD Otster-Catcher, ought to be placed in the divilion of f/o'o'd>z-_/o5/^^; and
from Great Tern, p. 356, to Red-faced Corvorant, p. 357, (hould be put after Redthroat-
SO DiYER, p. 358, the luebbedftoted. \ Narrati-ve, ii. 246. ^ Defer. Kamtfch< Fr. 509.

tO'

^xxn KAMTSCHATKA.

to infe£ls, except lice and fleas, which are in all their quarters ; and, filthy to
relate ! are eaten by thefe beaftly people *. Bugs are acquifitions of late years,
imported into the bay of Jiuatcha.
Fish. Tht 9iih oi Kamtfchatka are with difficulty enumerated. There does not feem

to be any great variety of genera ; yet the individuals under each fpecies are
found in moft aftonifhing abundance. Providence hath been peculiarly atten-
tive to the natives of this peninfula, by furnifliing them in fo ample a manner,
who for the greater part muft for ever be deprived of fupport derived from
grain and cattle. The vegetables they have are fufficient to corre<5l the putrefcent
quality of the dried fifli, and often form an ingredient in the diflies ; which are
prepared different ways. The Joukola is made of the falmon kind, cut into fix
pieces, and dried either in the open air or fmoked : the roes are another difti in
hio^h efteem with them, either dried in the air, or rolled in the leaves of different
plants, and dried before the fire. They can live a long time on a fmall quantity of
this food, and eat with it the bark of birch or willow trees, to aflift them in
fwallowing a food fo very vifcid j but their ambrofial repaft is the Huigul^ or fifli
flung into a pit till it is quite rotten, when it is ferved up in the flate of carrion,
and with a ftench unfupportable to every nofe but that of a Kamtfchatkan f.
Whale. The Fin Whale, Br. ZooL iii. N° 18, is very frequent, and is of Angular ufe

to the inhabitants. They eat the flefli j preferve the fat for kitchen ufe and for
their lamps; with the corneous laminae they few the feams of their canoes, and
make nets for the larger fort of fifli j they form the Aiders of their fledges with
the under jaw-bones, and likewife work them into knives ; with the blade-bones,
worked down to a {harp edge, they form fcythes, and moft fuccefsfully mow the
grafs. The Tfchutjki verify the relation of Pliny 1, and, like the Gedrofi of old,
frame their dwellings with the ribs § ; with the ligaments they make excellent
fnares for different animals j with the inteftines dried, cleaned, and blown, they
make bags for their greafe and oil; and with the (kins the foles of their fhoes, and
flraps and thongs for various purpofes. The Tfchutjki take thefe animals by har-
pooning ; the Oloutores-i in nets made of thongs cut out of the fkins of the JVaU
rusy and the Kamtfchatkans, by (hooting them with darts or arrows, the points of
which, having been anointed with the juice of the Zgate^ a fpecies of Anemone and
Ra7iunculus y, are fo noxious as to bring fpeedy death from the flighteft wound,
• like the celebrated poifon of the Paragua Indians. The vaft animals in queition,

* Defer. Kamifcbatka, Fr. 507. f Hifl. Kamtfchatka, Engl. 194.. Fr. 46. % Hi/}. Nat,

lib. ix. c. 3. § Voyage, iii. 450. H I cannot difcever the fpecies. Cmelin, in his

Flora Sibirica, does not give the left account of thefe plants.

8 when

KAMTSCHATKA. cxxin

when flruck with it, are infetSted with fuch agonies that they cannot bear the fea,
but rufh on fhore, and expire with dreadful groans and bellowing.

The Kafatka or Grampus, Br. Zool. iii. N'' 26, is very common in thefe feas : G ramp vs.

they are dreaded by the natives, who even make offerings to them, and entreac
their mercy, leaft they fhould overfet their boats ; yet, if thefe fifh are thrown on
(hore, they apply them to the fame ufes as the Whale *. ^

The Motko'ia or Akoul, or White Shark, Br^ Zool. iii. N" 42, is among the
ufeful fifh. They eat the flelh, and form of the inteftines and bladder, bags to
hold their oil. In the chafe of this fifh they never call it by its name, for fear
of provoking it to burfl: its bladder f-

Lampries, Br. Zool. iii. N° 27 ; Eels, — 57 ; Wolf-fiih, — 65 ; common Cod-
fifli ? — 73; Hadock, — 74; and Kake, — 81, are found in the Kamifchatkan
fea : and I alfo fufpe6t, that the three-bearded Cod, — N" 87, is alfo met with :
it is called there Morjhie NalhniX. An elegant fpecies of Flounder, of excellent
flavor, was taken here in abundance by our navigators : the back was ftudded
with prickly tubercles, and marked longitudinally with lines of black on a
brown ground. The Jerchei, poflibly our Ruffe, — N° 127, is among the fifli
of the country ; as is a fpecies of the Englijh Sticklebacks.

But the fifh of the firft importance to the Kamtfchatkans, and on which they de- Salmon.

pend for fubfiftence, are the anadromous kinds, or thofe which at ftated feafons afccnd
the rivers and lakes out of the fea. Thefe are entirely of the Salmon g^nus, with
exception to the common Herring, which in autumn quits the fait water. It
is fayed, that every fpecies of Salmon is found here. I may with certainty adjoin,
that feveral of the Sibirian fpecies, with variety peculiar to this country, afcend
the Kamtfchaikan rivers in multitudes incredible. The inhabitants dignify feme
of their months by the names of the fifli. One is called Kouiche^ or the month
of Red Fijkes ; another, Jjaba, or that of Little White F'ljh ; a third, Kaiko^ or of
the fifh Katko ; and a fourth, Kijou, or the month of the Great l^hite Fifi §. It is
obfervable, that each fhoal keeps apart from others of different fpecies, and fre-
quently prefers a feparate river, notwithftanding the mouths may be almofl con-
tiguous. They often come up in fuch numbers as to force the water before them,
and even to dam up the rivers, and make them overflow their banks ; infomuch
that, on the fall of the water, fuch multitudes are left on dry ground, as to
make a flench capable of caufing a peflilence, was it not fortunately difperfed
by the violence of the winds 3 befides, the bears and dogs affift, by preying otv
them, to leffen the ill effeds.

* Defer. Kamt/cb.^6%, f Same, 466. J Br. Zool. iii. zGi, § H//?. Ka^nlfch. 21?.

Every

cxxiv KAMTSCHATKA.

Every fpecies of Salmon dies in the fame river or lake in which it is born, and to
which it returns to fpawn. In the third year, male and female confort together,
and the latter depofits its fpawn in a hole formed with its tail and fins in the
fand ; after which both fexes pine away, and ceafe to live. A fi(h of a year's
growth continues near the place, guards the fpawn, and returns to the fea with
the new-born fry In November* . The Salmons of this country fpawn but once in
their lives : thofe of Sibiria and Europe^ the rivers of which are deep, and abound
with infecSl food, are enabled to continue the firft great command of nature
during the period of their exiftence. In Kamtfcbatka the rivers are chilly,
fhallow, rapid, full of rocks, and deftitute of nourifhmcnt for fuch multitudes:
fuch therefore which cannot force their way to the neighborhood of the tepid
ftreams, or get back to the fea in time, univerfally perifh ; but Providence
has given fuch refources, in the fpawners, that no difference in numbers is
ever obferved between the returning feafons. It is fingular, that neither the
lakes or rivers have any fpecies of fifli but what come from the fea. All the lakes
(for this country abounds with them) communicate with the fea j but their en-
trance, as well as that of many of the rivers, is entirely barred up with fand
brought by the tempeftuous winds, which confine the fifh moft part of the winter,
till they are releafed by the florms taking another diredlion.
TsHAWYTSCHA. The fpecies which appears firft is the Tjhawytfcha. This is by much the

largeft ; it weighs fometimes between fifty and fixty pounds, and its depth is very
great in proportion to the length. The jaws are equal, and never hooked : the
teeth large, and in feveral rows : the fcales are larger than thofe of the common
•f P. D. 12. Salmon; on the back dufky grey, on the fides filvery : the fins bluifh white,
V* lo* ^"^ ^^^ parts unfpotted : the tail is lunated : the flefh, during its refidence in the
A. 15. fea, is redj but it becomes white in frefh waters. It is confined, on the eaftern
fide of the peninfula, to the river of Kaintjchatka and Awatcha 5 and on the wefiiern
to the Bolchaia-reka^ and a few others ; nor is it ever feen beyond lat. 54. It enters
the mouths of the rivers about the middle of May^ with fuch impetuofity as to
raife the water before it in waves. It goes in far Icfs numbers than the other
fpecies; is infinitely more eftcemed ; and is not ufed as a common food, but re-
ferved for great entertainments. The natives watch its arrival, v/hich is an-
nounced by the rippling of the water j take it in ftrong nets; and always eat
the firft they take, under a notion that the omiffion would be a great
crime.

* Defer, Kamtfch, 471. | Numbers of rays in the dorfal, pe<5^oralj ventral, and anal fins.

The

KAMTSCHATKA.

cxxv^

I^

J^RKA.

p.

D.

II.

P.

i6.

V.

lO.

A.

'S-

K.YSUTCH.

P.

, D.

1 1.

P.

14.

V.

10.

A.

14.

The Narka is another fpecies, called by the RtiJJlans^ Krafnaya ryha^ from the intenfe
purplifh rednefs of the flefh. It is of the form of the common Salmon ; but never
exceeds fixteen pounds in weight. When it firft enters the rivers it is of a filvery
brightnefs, with a bluifh back and fins : when it leaves the fea the teeth are
fmall, and jaws ftrait ; but after it has been fome time in the freft water, the
jaws grow crooked (efpecially in the male) and the teeth large. It begins to
afcend the rivers in vaft numbers in yune \ penetrates to their very fources ; and
returns in September to the fea, firft refting for fome time in the deep parts of the
intervening lakes. It is taken in nets, either in the bays, as it approaches the
rivers, or in the rivers, after it has quitted the fea *.

The Kyfiitch^ or Bjelaya ryba^ or White Fifli of the JiiiJJians^ afcends the rivers
in "July, particularly fuch as are difcharged from the inland lakes, and remain
till December t when all the old fifti perifh, and the fry take to the fea. The
upper jaw of the male, in its laft period, becomes crooked. This fpecies has
the form of a common Salmon, but never attains three feet in length. It is of
a filvery glofly color, fpotted about the back ; but in the rivers acquires a reddifh
caft : the jaws are long and blunt : the teeth large: the flefli is reddifli before
it quits the fea; but in the frefh water grows white. It is reckoned the moft
excellent of the light-colored fifh.

The Keta or Kayko, in form and fize refembles the laft ; but the head is fhorter Keta.

and more blunt : the tail is lunated : the flefh white : the color of the fcales a
filvery white : the back greenifti ; and the whole free from fpots. It afcends the
rivers in July, and the fiftiery continues till OSiober. This fpecies is found in
great abundance j and is fo common, that the Joukola made with it is called
houjhold bread.

The Gorbufcha^ or Plunch-back, arrives at the fame time with the laft. In
form it refembles the Grayling ; never exceeds a foot and a half in length : is of
a filvery color, and unfpotted : the tail forked : the flefh white. After it has been
fome time in the frefh water it changes its ihape (the male efpecially) in a moft \' '°'

furprizing manner. The jaws and teeth grow prodigioufly long, efpecially the
upper, which at firft is ftiorteft, but foon Ihoots beyond the under, and grows
crooked downwards ; the body becomes emaciated, and the meat bad : but
what is moft charadleriftic, an enormous bunch rifes juft before the firft dorfal fin,
to which it owes its name. Its flefh is bad ; fo that this fifh falls to the fhare of
the dogs.

• This fpecies Is defcribed (^l^oyagey ili. 351) under the nam* of Red Fijh 5 the preceding, in p, 350,
under that of Tchavitji.

r The

P.

D.

14.

P.

IS-

V.

ii<

A.

18.

GORBUSCHA.

P.

D.

12.

P.

15-

V.

10.

M

ILKTSCHITSCH.

P.

D.

II.

P.
V.

14.
10.

A.

^3-

Mykiss.

p.

D.

12.

P.
V.

14.

IO«

A.

12.

cxxn KAMTSCHATKA.

Malm A. The Malma^ or Golet of the Rujfians, grows to the weight of twenty pounds, and

P, D. 1 2. to the length of about twenty-eight inches. It is the moft flender and cylindrical of

!*• H' all the genus. The head refembles that of a trout : the fcales are very fmall : the

^^ jQ* back and fides bluifh, with fcattered fpots of fcarlet red : the belly white : ventral

and anal fins red : tail flightly forked. This and the two following are fporadic,
going difperfedly, and not in (hoals. It afcends the rivers with the laft, and at-
tains their very fources. It feeds on the fpawn of the other fpecies, and grows very
fat. The natives fait thofe they take in autumn, and preferve frozen thofe which
are caught when the frofts commence*.

The Mtlktfchitfch is a fcarce fpecies, in form like a young Salmon j but the
fcales larger in proportion, and the body more flat : it never exceeds a foot and
a half in length : is of a filvery white, with a bluifh back : nofe conical : jaws
equal : tail flightly forked.

The Mykifs^ appears at firfl; very lean, but grows foon fat : it is very voracious:
feeds not only on fifli, but infe6ls and rats, while fwimming over the rivers ; and is
fo fond of the berries of vaccinium vitis idaa^ that it will dart out of the water, and
fnatch at both leaves and berries, which hang over the banks f. In Ihape it re-
fembles a common Salmon : feldom grows above two feet long : has large
fcales, blunt nofe, and numerous teeth : the back is duflcy, marked with black
fpots ; and on each fide is a broad band of bright red : the belly white. It is a fpecies
of excellent flavor; but is fcarcer than the other kinds. Its time of arrival is not
known : M. Steller therefore fufpe6ts that it afcends the rivers beneath the
ice^ J.
KuNSHA* The Kunjha, mentioned in page civ, frequents the bays of this country,

but never advances inland ; and grows to the length of two feet : the nofe is fliort
and pointed : the back and fides dufky, marked with great yellowifh fpots, fome
round, others oblong : the belly white : the lower fins and tail blue : the flefli
white, and excellent. It is a fcarce fifti in thefe parts j but near Ochotjk afcends
the rivers in great (hoals.

I conclude this divifion of the tribe with the common Salmon, which is frequent

here, and, like the others, afcends the rivers, equally to the advantage of the

natives of the country.

Inchaghitsh. Of the Salmon which Linnji:us diftinguifhed by the title of Coregoni is the

P. D. 8, 9 InghaghitJ}}^ which has the habit of a fmall carp, with very large fcales : the jaws

yj *^* nearly of equal length : the eyes very great, and filvery : the teeth very minute :

A. 12, the body filvery, bluiih on the back: tail forked: it does not exceed five inches

* Defer* Kamtfch. 482. f Same, 43z. % Same, 4S2.

in

KAMTSCHATKA.

cxxvn

in length. It arrives in fpring and autumn, and in both feafons is full of fpawn,
and fmells like a fmelt.

The Innyagha is another fmall kind, about five inches long, and not unlike Innyagha,
the S. Albula of LiNNiEUs. It is a rare fpecies, and found but in few rivers.
P.D.9. P. II. V.8. A. 16.

The moft Angular is the Outki, or Salmo Catervartus of Steller. It belongs to Ouiki.

the Ofmeri of Linnjeus. Swims in immenfe fhoals on the eaftern coaft of Kamtf-'
chatka, and the new-difcovered iflands, where it is often thrown up by the fea to the
height of fome feet, upon a large extent of fliore : is exceflively unwholefome as
a food, and caufes fluxes even in dogs. It never exceeds feven inches in length.
Jufl: above the fide-line is a rough fafcia, befet with minute pyramidal fcales,
ftanding upright, fo as to appear like the pile of Ihag : their ufe is moft curious —
while they are fwimming, and even when they are flung on (hore, two, three, or
even as many as ten, will adhere as if glued together, by means of this pile, info-
much that if one is taken up, all the reft are taken up at the fame time.

To conclude this lift oi Kamtfchatkan Salmon, I muft add the Salmo Tbymallusy or
Grayling; the 5. Cylindraceus, before defcribed ; the Salmo Albula, Lin. Syft. 512 ;
and the Salmo Eperlanus, or common Smelt, to thofe which afcend the rivers.—
For this account I am indebted to Dodlor Pallas, who extraded it from the
papers of Steller, for the ufe of this Work.

The Herring, both the common and the variety, found in the gulph of Herrin«.

Bothnia, called the Membras, and by the Suedes, Stroeming, Faun. Suec. p. 128, vifit
thefe coafts in fhoals, perhaps equal to thofe of Europe. There are two feafons,
the firft about the end of May, the fecond in O^ober, The firft fpecies are re-
markably fine and large * ; they afcend the rivers, and enter the lakes : the autumnal
migrants are clofed up in them by the fliifting of the fand at the mouths of the
entrance, and remain confined the whole winter. The natives catch them
in fummer in nets ; and in winter in moft amazing numbers, by breaking holes
in the ice, into which they drop their nets, then cover the opening with mats,
and leave a fmall hole for one of their companions to peep through, and obferve
the coming of the fifli ; when they draw up their booty : and ftring part on pack-
thread for drying ; and from the remainder they prefs an oil white as the butter
•f Finland f.

The fea, on which thefe people depend for their very exiftence, is finely 52^^

adapted for the retreat and prefervation of fiih. It does not confift of a level
uniform bottom, liable to be ruffled with ftorms, but of deep vallies and lofty

* Voyage, iii, 350. t J^^f'^r. Kamtfch, 485.

r 2 mountains.

CXXVIII

KAMTSCHATKA.

mountains, fuch as yield fecurity and tranquillity to the finned Inhabitants.
We find the foundings to be moft unequal : in fome places only twenty-two
fathoms, in others the lead has not found a bottom with a hundred and fijcty
fathoms of line. On fuch places the fifh might reft undifturbed during the
rage of the tempefiuous winters. I do not find the leaft notice of fhells be-
ing met v/ith in thefe feas : either there are none, or they are pelagic, and
efcape the eyes of the navigators. But nature probably hath made ample pro-
vifion for the inhabitants of the fea, in the quantity of fea-plants which it yields ;
Steller, the great explorer of this region, enumerates the folloy/ing, many of
which are of uncommon elegance :

Fucus peucedanifolius, Gm. Hijl, Fucor, 76

Fucus turbinatus

-

- 97

Fucus corymbiferus,

E.

- 124

Fucus dulcis, E.

-

- 189

Fucus tamarifcifolius

* E

Fucus bifidus

.

- 201

Fucus polyphyllus

-

- 206

Fucus clathrus

-

- 211

Fucus myrica

-

- 88

Fucus rofa marina -

Fucus crenatus

Fucus fimbriatus

Fucus anguftifolius -

Fucus agarum

Fucus quercus marina f

Fucus veficulofus, Sp. PL 1626, E.

Ulva glandiformis - - 232

Ulva Priapus . - _ 231

- 102

- 160

- 200

- 205

- 210

Of thefe the ^ercus marina is ufed as a remedy in the dyfentery ; and the fe-
males of Kamtfchatka tinge their cheeks with an infufion of the Fucus tamarifci'
fol'ius in the oil of Seals.
Tides. In the harbours of Sts. Peter and Paul the greateft rife of the tides was five

feet eight inches at full and change of the moon, at thirty-fix minutes paft four,
and they were very regular every twelve hours %. The RuJJian philofophers
obferved here a fingular phaenomenon in the flux and reflux of the fea twice in the
twenty-four hours, in which is one great flood and one fmall flood ; the laft of
which is called Manikha, At certain times nothing but the water of the river
is feen within its proper channel ; at other times, in the time of ebb, the
waters are obferved to overflow their banks. In the Manikha, after an ebb of
fix hours, the water finks about three feet, and the tide returns for three hours,
but does not rife above a foot; a feven-hours ebb fucceeds, which carries off
the fea-water, and leaves the bay dry. Thus it happens three days before and

HiJl, Kamtfchatka, 43^

f Same, 124.

X f^ojage, iii. 323.

after

KAIVTTSCHATKA.

CXXIX

after the full moon ; after which the great tide diminlflies, and the Manikha, or
little tide, increafes *.

The rivers of the country rife in the midfl of the great chain of mountains,
and flow on each fide into^the feas of Ochotjk^ or that of Kamtfchatka. They'fur-
nifh a ready pafTage in boats or canoes (with the intervention of carrying-places)
quite acrofs the peninfula. As has been mentioned, the waters yield no fifli of their
own, but are the retreat of myiiads of migrants from the neighboring feas.

This peninfula, and the country to the weft, are inhabited by two na- Natives.

tions ; the northern parts by the Koriacs, who are divided into the Rein-deer
or wandering, and the fixed Kortacs ; and the fouthern part by the Kamtf- Koriacs.

chatkans, properly fo called : the firft lead an erratic life, in the tracSl bounded WanderinGi
by the Penfchinfka fea to the fouth-eaft ; the river Kovoyma to the weft; and the-
t\stx Anadir to the north f. They wander from place to place with their Rein-
deer, in fearch of the mofs, the food of thofe animals, their only wealth %•
They are fqualid, cruel, and warlike, the terror of the fixed Koriacs^ as much
as the Tfchutfiii are of them. They never frequent the fea, nor live on fifli.
Their habitations ztq jourts^ or places half funk in the earth : they never ufe ba-
lagans, or fummer-houfes elevated on pofls, like xh^ Kamtf chatkans : are in their
perfons lean, and very fhort : have Imall heads and black hair, which they
(have frequently : their faces are oval : nofe fliort ; their eyes fmall : mouth large : *

beard black and pointed, but often eradicated.

The fixed Koriacs are likewife fhort, but rather taller than the others, and Fixed.

ftrongly made : they inhabit the north of the peninfula : the Anadir is alfo their
boundary to the north j the ocean to the eaft j and the Kamtfchatkans to the fouth.
They have few Rein-deer, which they ufe in their fledges ; but neither of the
tribes of Koriacs are civilized enough to apply them to the purpofes of the dairy.
Each fpeak a different dialect of the fame language; but the fixed in moft
things refemble the Kamtfchatkans \ and, like them, live almo.ft entirely on
fifh. They are timid to a high degree, and behave to their wandering brethren
with the utmoft fubmiffion ; who call them by a name which fignifies their Jlaves.
Thefe poor people feem to have no alternative j for, by reafon of the fcarcity of
Rein-deer, they depend on thefe tyrants for the effential article of cloathing. I
cannot trace the origin of thefe two nations ; but from the features may pronounce
them offspring of Tartars^ which have fpread to the eaft, and degenerated in
fize and ftrength by the rigour of the climate, and often by fcarcity of food.

» Defer. Kamtfch. 510. f Hifl, Kamtfcb. 136, J See p. 25 of this Work.

The

cxxx KAMTSCHATKA.

Kamtschat- The true Kamtfchatkans * poflefs the country from the river Ukoi to the fouthern

.extremity, the cz^q Lopatka. They are fuppofed, by M. Steller, to have been
derived from the Mongolian Chinefs^ not only from a fimilarity in the termina-
tion of many of their words, but in the refemblance of their perfons, which are
fhort. Their complexion is fwarthy : their beard fmall : their hair black : face
broad and flat : eyes fmall and funk : eye-brows thin : belly pendent: legs fmall—-
circumftances common to them and the Mongaliam. It is conjeftured, that in
fome very remote age they fled hither, to efcape the yoke of the eaftern conque-
rors, notwithftanding they believe themfelves to be aboriginal, created and placed
on the fpot by their god Koutkou.
llsLiciON. In refpe£l to their deity, they are perfedl minute philofophers. They find fault

with his difpenfations ; blafpheme and reproach him with having made too many
mountains, precipices, breakers, flioals, and catarads j with forming florms and
rains j and when they are defcending, in the winter, from their barren rocks,
they load him with imprecations for the fatigue they undergo. In their morals
they likewife bear a great fimilitude to numbers among the moft polifhed rank in
the European nations — they think nothing villous that may be accomplifhed with-
out danger ; and give full loofe to every crime, provided it comes within the
pale of fecurity.
Genii. They have alfo their lefTer deities, or genii. Each of them have their peculiar

charge ; to thefe they pay confiderable veneration, and make offerings to them, to
divert their anger or enfure their protedion. The Kamouli prefide over the
mountains, particularly the •vulcanic j the Ouchakthou, over the woods ; Mitgy
over the fea ; Gaetch^ over the fubterraneous world ; and Foulla is the author of
earthquakes. They believe that the world is eternal ; that the foul is immortal j
that in the world below it will be reunited to the body, and experience all the pains
ufual in its former ftate ; but that it never will fufFer hunger, but have every thing
in great abundance : that the rich will become poor, and the poor rich ; a fort of
juft difpenfation, and balance of former good and evil f. But almoft all thefe fuper-
ftitions are vanifhed by the attention of the Rujfians to their convcrfion. There
are few who have not embraced the Chriftian religion. Churches have been built,
and fchools eredled, in which they are fuccefsfully taught the language of their
conquerors, which has already almoft worn out that of the native people.

Numbers of The country was very populous at the arrival of the Rujftans ; but, after a dread-

ful vifitation of the fmall-pox, which in 1767 fwept away twenty thoufand

* The moft proper word for the natives of this country is Kamtfcbadales ; but as I have oh many
occafions -ufed this, I wifh to continue it. -J- Hifi, Kamtfcb. 68, 71.

9 fouls,

People.

KAMTSCHATKA. cjftxt

fouls*, at prefent there are not above three thoufand who pay tribute, the Inha-
bitants of the JSTj^r/V ifles included. Here are about four hundred of the military
Ruffians and Cojfacks-, befides a number of Rujfian traders and emigrants perpe-
tually pouring in, who intermix with the natives f in marriage, and probably
in time will extingulfh the aboriginal race. The offspring is a great improvement j
for it is remarked, that the breed is far more adtive than the pure Rujfftan or
Cojfack. Sunk in lordly indolence, they leave all the work to the Kamtfchatkans,
or to their women; and fufFer the penalty af their lazinefs, by the fcurvy in its
moft frightful forms.

The Kamtfchatkans feem to retain the antient form of their drefs ; but during Dress.

fummer it is compofed of foreign materials ; in the warm feafon both fexes ufe
nankeen, linen, and filk ; in winter, the ilcins of animals well dreflVd : the
drefs of men and women refembles a carter's frock with long fleeves, furred at
the wrifts, the bottom, and about the neck. On their head is a hood of fur, fome-
times of the fliaggy fkin of a dog, and often of the elegant fkin of the earlefs
Marmot. Troufers, boots, and furred mittens, compofe the reft. The habit of
ceremony of a Toion or chieftain is very magnificent, and will coft a hundred
and twenty rubels : in antient times it was hung over with the tails of animals,
and his furred hood flowed over each fhoulder, with the refpedability of a full-
bottomed perriwig in the days of Charles 11. The figure given in the Hijiory
of Kamtfchatka, tranflated into French^ exhibits a great man in all his pride of
drefs X > t>ut fo rapidly has the prefent race of natives copied the Ruffians^ that
polTibly in fo fhort a fpaceas half a century, this habit, as well as numbers of other
articles and cuftoms, may be ranked among the antiquities of the country.

Bows and arrows are now quite difufed. Formerly they ufed bows made of Arms,

larch-wood, covered with the bark of the birch. The arrows were headed with
ftone or bone, and their lances with the fame materials. Their armour was
either mats, or formed of thongs cut out of the fkins of Seals, and fewed toge-
ther, fo as to make a pliable cuirafs j which they fixed on their left fide ; a board
defended their breaft, and a high one on their back defended both that and the
head.

Their favage and beaftly hofpitality is among the obfolete cuftoms. Former- Hospitality.
ly, as a mark of refpedl to a gueft, the hoft fet before him as much food as
would ferve ten people. Both were flripped naked : the hoft politely touched no-
thing, but compelled his friend to devour what was fet before him, till he was

* Voyage, iii. 366. f Same, 367. % See E'lji. Kamtfchatka, tab. vi.— It differs

much from the habit ©f ceremony defcribed by Captain King, iii. 377.

quite

cxxxii K A . M T S C H A T K A.

^uite gorged ; and at the fame time heated the place, by inceffantly pouring
water on hot ftones, till it became unfupportable. When the gueft was crammed
up to the throat, the generous landlord, on his knees, fluffed into his mouth a great
flice of whale's fat, cut off what hung out, and cried, in a furly tone, Tana^ or There f
by which he fully difcharged his duty ; and, between heat and cramming, obliged
the poor gueft to cry for mercy, and a releafe from the heat, and the danger of being
choaked with the noble welcome : oftentimes he was obliged to purchafe his dif-
miffion with moft coftly prefents ; but was fure to retaliate on the firft oppor-
tunity *.
DwELiiKCs, From the birds they learned the- art of building their balagans or fummer-

houfes. They feem like nefts of a conic form, perched on high poles inftead
of trees ; with a hole on one fide, like that of the magpie, for the entrance.
Their jourts^ or winter refidences, are copied from the ceconom'ic Moufe, p. 134;
but with lefs art, and lefs cleanlinefs. It is partly funk under ground ; the fides
and top fupported by beams, and wattled, and the whole covered with turf. In
this they live gregarloufly, to the number of fix families in each ; in a ftate in-
tolerable to an European^ by reafon of fmoke, heat, and ftench, from their ftore
of dried or putrid fifli, and from their lazinefs, in never going out to perform
their offerings to Cloacina f.

Inftigated by avarice, the RuJJians made a conqueft of this favage country;
and found their account in it, from the great value of its furry produdlions.
They have added to their dominions this extremity oi Jfia, diftant at leaft four
Roads toKamts- thoufand miles from their capital. The journey to it is ftill attended with
CHATKA. great difficulties, through wild and barren regions, over dreadful mountains ;

and poffibly impradticable, but for the multitude of Sibirlan rivers, which, with
fhort intervals of land, facilitate the paffage. Travellers ufually take their de-
parture out of Sibiria from Jakutz, on the river Lena, in lat. 62 : they go
either by water along the river, to its conflux with the Aldun, along the Aldun
to the Mai, and from that river up the Judoma ; and from i?ear the head of that
river to Ochotfk, the port from whence they embark, and crofs the fea of
Ochotjk to Bolfchaia-reka, the port of the weftern fide of Kamtfchatka. The
whole journey ufually takes up the fhort fummer : that over the hills to Ochotjk
(and which is moft convenient) v/as performed by Steller in thirty-four days,
excluding feven of reft J.
Kuril Isles. The Kuril ox Kuriljki ifles, which probably once lengthened the peninfula of

Kamtfchatka, before they were convulfed from it, are a feries of iflands running

* mf,Kamtfcb,ioT io io<i', f Ellis's Nar.u. 217. % Defer. Kamtfch. Soz.

foath

KURIL ISLES. BERING'S ISLE.

cxxxiri

fouth from the low promontory Lopatka^ in lat. 51 j between which and Bhoomjlia^
the moft northerly, is only the diftance of one league. On the lofty Paramoufer,
the fecond in the chain, is a high-peaked mountain, probably vulcanic * : on Vulcanic.
the fourth, called Jraumakutan, is another vulcano f ; on Urufs is another ; on
Storgu two J and on Kunatir^ or Kaunachir, one. Thefe three make part of the
group which pafs under the name of the celebrated land of Jefo %' Japan
abounds with vulcanoes § ; fo that there is a feries of fpiracles from Kamtfchatka
to Japan, the lafl: great link, of this extenfive chain. Time may have been,
when the whole was a continuation of continent, rent afunder before the labor-
ing earth gave vent to its inward ftruggles, through the mouths of the frequent
vulcanoes. Even with thefe difcharges, Japan has fufFered confiderably by earth-
quakes {{. Vulcanoes are local evils, but extenfive benefits.

The Rujpans foon annexed thefe iflands to their conquefts. The fea abound-
ed with Sea Otters, and the land with Bears and Foxes ; and fome of them
ftieltered the Sable. Temptations fufficient for the Rujpans to invade thefe iflands ;
but the rage after the furs of the Sea Otters has been fo great, that they are
become extremely fcarce, both here and in Kamtfchatka.

The iflands which lie to the eaft of that peninfula, and form a chain be-
tween it and America, muft now engage our attention. They lie in the form of
a crefcent, and are divided into three groupes ; the Aleutian, the Andreanoffikie^
and the Fox\'^z% : but mention muft firft be made of Bering's ifle, and that of
Mednoi, and one or two fmall and of little note. Thefe lie about two hundred
and fifty verfts to the eaft of the mouth o^ Kamtfchatka river. Bering's is in Bering's Isle.
lat. 55, where that great feaman was fhipwrecked in November 174IJ on his return
from his American difcoveries ; and, after enduring great hardftiips, periftied mifera-
bly. Numbers of his people died of the fcurvy, with all the dreadful fymptoms at-
tendant on thofe who periflied by the fame difeafe in Lord Anfon's voyage ^ ; the
furvivors, among whom was the philofopher Steller, reached Kamtfchatka in
-(/«^z^ 1742, in a veiTel conftrufted out of the wreck of their {hip. The ifle is about
feventy or eighty verfts long j confifts of high granitical mountains, craggy with
rocks and peaks, changing into free-ftone towards the promontories. All the vallies
run from north to fouth : hills of fand, formed by inundations of the fea, floated
wood, and flseletons of marine animals, are found at great diftances from the
fliore, at thirty fathoms perpendicular height above the high-water level ; which
ferve as a monument of the violent inundations that the vulcanoes before mentioned

* l^oyage, iii. 388. | Decowvertes des Kujfes, i. 113. % Thtfe ifles are marked in a

Rujfian map, commumcated to me by Doaor Pallas, with MS. notes. § Kamffer Hiji. Japan.

i. 305. II Same, 304. f Book i, ch. x. and Decouvertcs, &c. ii. 293.

s produce

cxxxiv

M E D N O I.

produce in thefe feas. Farther, the efFedl of the meteoric waters, and of th«
frofts, caufes the rocks very fenfibly to fliiver and fall down, and precipitates
every year feme great mafs into the fea, and changes the form of the ifland.
The others are in the fame cafe; fo nothing is more probable than their gradual
diminution, and, by confequence, the more eafy communication formerly from one
continent to the other, before the injuries of time, the effects of vulcanoes, and
other cataflrophes, had infenfibly diminifhed the fize, and perhaps the number of
thefe ifles, which form the chain ; and had eaten in the coafts oi Jfia, which every
where exhibit traces of the ravages they have undergone *.

The ifland fwarmed with Sea Otters, which difappeared in March. The
Urfine Seal fucceeded them in vaft numbers, and quitted the coaft the latter
end of May. The Leonine Seal, the Lachtach or Great Seal, and the Manati,
abounded, and proved the fupport of the wrecked during their flay. Jr£Jic
Foxes were fcen in great multitudes, and completed the lift of Quadrupeds.
The fame fpecies of water-fowl haunt the rocks, and the fame fpecies of fifh
afcend the rivers, as do in Kamtfchatka. The tides rife here feven or eight feet.
The bottom of the fea is rocky, correfpondent with the ifland.

The few plants of this ifland, which have not been difcovered in Kamtfchatka^
are as follow :

Campanula, Gm. Sib. iii. i6o, 28. Senecio, Gm. Sib.'n. 136, N" 118.

Leontodon taraxacum, J. E. Virg. Arnica montana.

Hieracium murorum, /3. E. Chryfanthemum leucanthemum, A,

Tanacetum vulgare, E, Virg.

Gnaphalium dioicum, A.

Thefe with a few creeping Willows, added to thofe in the Kamtfchatkan FlorOy
form the fum of thofe obferved in Bering's ifland.
MiDNOi, Mednoi, or the copper ifland, lies a little to the fouth-eafl:. A great quantity

of native copper is found at the foot of a ridge of calcareous mountains on the
eaftern fide, and may be gathered on the ftiores in vaft mafles, which feems
originally to have been melted by fubterraneous fires. This ifland is full of
hillocks, "hearing all the appearance of vulcanic fpiracles ; which makes it pro-
bable, that thefe iflands were rent from the continent by the violence of an earth-

* I am indebted to Do6lor Pallas for the whole account of this chain of iflands, except where I
make other references. — My cxtrafts are made from a French Memoir, drawn up by my learned friend,
and communicated to me.

. quake*

ALEUTIAN, ANDREAN, AND FOX ISLANDS. cxxxv

quake. Among the float-wood ofF this ifland is camphor, and another fweet
wood, driven by the currents from the ifle of Japan.

The Jleutian group lies in the bend of the crefcent, nearly in mid-channel be- Aleutian Isles.
tweeny^^and Jmerica, lat. 52. 30, and about two hundred verfts diftant from The nearest.
Medf2oL It confifts of Jtiok, Schemija, and Semltchi. The firft feems to fur-
pafs in fize Bering's ifle ; but refembles it in its component parts, as do the
other two. Jttok feems to be the ifland which Bering called Mount St. John.
Thefe are inhabited by a people who fpeak a language different from the northern
Jftatics ; they feem emigrants or colonifls from America, ufing a diale£t of the
neighboring continent. They were difcovered in 1745, by Michael Nevodtfikoff,
a native of Toboljki, who made a voyage, at the expence of certain merchants,
in fearch of furs, the great objecSl of thefe navigations, and the leading caufe of
difcoveries in this fea. This voyage was marked with horrid barbarities on the
poor natives. The marine animals muft have fwarmed about this period, and
for fome time after. Mention is made of adventurers who brought from hence
to Kamtfchatka the Ikins of 1,872 Sea Otters, 940 females, and 715 cubs. Another,
on a fmall adjacent ifle, killed 700 old, and 120 cub Sea Otters, 1,900 blue Foxes,
5,700 black Urfme Seals, and 1,310 of their cubs *. The blue Foxes abound in
thefe iflands, brought here on -floating ice, and multiply greatly. The blue
variety is ten times more numerous here than the white ; but the reverfe is ob-
ferved in Sibiria. They feed on fifti, or any carrion left by the tide. The natives
bore their under lips, and infert in them teeth cut out of the bones of the Walrus ;
and they ufe boats covered with the (kins of fea animals.

At a great diftance from the firft group is the fecond, or fartheft Jleutian ifles : Aleutian Isles.
of thofe we know no more than that the natives refemble thofe of the firft. By ^he farthest.
the vaft fpace of fea which Do6lor Pallas allows between the two groups.
Captain Cook is fully vindicated for omitting, in his chart, the multitude of
iflands which, in the RuJJian maps, form almoft a complete chain from Bering's
ifle to America. Dr. Pallas's information muft have been of the beft kind ;
and he and our illuftrious navigator coincide in opinion, that they have been
needlefsly multiplied, by the miftake of the RuJJian adventurers in the reckoning,
or, on feeing the fame ifland in different points of view, putting it down as
a new difcovery, and impofing on it a new name. T\\q Andreanoffskie, (o called Andrean Isles.
from their difcoverer (in 1761) Andrean Toljiyk, fucceed. On two of them are
vulcanoes. Laftly, are the Fox iflands, fo called from the number of black, grey, Jq^ Isles.

and red Foxes found on them j the fkins of which are fo coarfe, as to be of little

* Ctxe^s Kuff. Dtfc.

s 2 value.

cxxxvi CALIFORNIA.

value. The natives bore their nofes and under lips, and infert bones in them
by way of ornament. Among the laft in this group is Oonolafcha, which was
vifited by Captain Cook. This lies fo near to the coaft of J?nerica, as to clame"
a right to be confidered as an appurtenance to it. I fhall therefore quit thefe de-
tached paths for the prefent, and, in purfuance of my plan, trace the coafts of
the northern divifion of the great continent, from the place at which it is di-
vided from South America*

California. After traverfing obliquely the Pacific Ocean, appears California.^ the moft

foutherly part of my plan on this fide of the new world. This greateft of pen-
infulas extends from Cape Blanco, lat. 32, to Cape St. Lucas, lat. 23; and is
bounded on the eafl: by a great gulph, called the Vermillion fea, receiving at its
bottom the vaft and violent river Cokrado. The weft fide is mountanous, fandy,
and barren *, with feveral vulcanoes on the main land and the ifles f : the eaftern,
varied with extenfive plains, fine vallies watered with numbers of ftreams, and
the country abounds with trees and variety of fruits. The natives, the moft in-
nocent of people, are in a ftate of paradifaical nature, or at left were fo before
the arrival of the European colonifts among them. The men went nearly naked,
w^ithout the confcioufnefs of being fo. The head is the only part they pay any
attention to ; and that is furrounded with a chaplet of net-work, ornamented
with feathers, fruits, or mother of pearl. The women have a neat matted apron
falling to their knees : they fling over their fhoulders the (kin of fome beaft, or
of fome large bird, and wear a head-drefs like the other fex. The weapons
of the country are bows, arrows, javelins, and bearded darts, calculated either
for war or the chace. In the art of navigation, they have not got beyond the
bark-log, made of a few bodies of trees bound parallel together ; and in thefe
they dare the turbulent element. They have no houfes. During fummer they
flielter themfelves from the fun under the fhade of trees ; and during nights fleep
under a roof of branches fpread over them. In winter they burrow under
ground, and lodge as fimply as the beafts themfelves : fuch however was
their condition in 1697 ; I have not been able to learn the eiFecl of European
refinement on their manners. Numbers of fettlements have, fince that time,
been formed there, under theaufpices of the Jefuits. The Order was of late years
fupported by the Marquis de Valero, a patriotic and munificent nobleman ;{:, who
favored their attempts, in order to extend the power and wealth of the Spanijh

dominions j

* Shel'voke, in Harris's Cell. i. 233. f Ilackhiyt, iii. 401.— H//?. CaUfortna, i. 14.0.

X This is the nobleman whom the writer of Lord Anfo-ns, Voyage fligmatifes with the epithet of

munificent bigot. It wrs not by a reverend author, as is generally fuppofed, but by a perfon whofe

principles were unhappily in the extreme of Another tinaure.— Having from my youth been honored

with

CALIFORNIA.

CXXXVII

dominions ; and I believe with fuccefs. The land and climate, particularly
Monterey^ in lat. 36, is adapted for every vegetable produ6lion ; and a good wine
is made from the vines introduced by the colonifts.

The natives are a fine race of men, tall, brawny, and well made ; with black
hair hanging over their flioulders, and with copper-colored fkins. We have a
moft imperfedt account of the animals of this peninfula. It certainly poflefles
two wool-bearing quadrupeds. As to birds, I doubt not but the Jefuits are
right, when they fay, that it has all that are found in New Mexico and New
Spain. The capes of i^/(jr/Wtf and cape St. Lucas lie nearly under the fame lati-
tudes, and form the fouthern extremities oi North America ; but our ignorance of
the productions of the vaft provinces of New Mexico, will leave ample fubjedt to
a future naturalift to fupply my deficiencies.

This country was difcovered under the aufpices of the great Cortez, and Don
Antonio de Mendo^a^ cotemporary viceroy of the new conquefts : each, actuated by a
glorious fpirit of emulation, fent out commanders to advance the welfare of their
country to the utmoft ; and Francifco Ulloa, in 1539, and Fernando Alarchon^ in
1540, foon difcovered this peninfula, and other adjacent regions, fources of im-
menfe wealth to their country *. The Spanijh adventurers of thefe early times
failed as high as lat. 42 ; and named, in honor of the viceroy, the fartheft point
of their difcovery Cabo di Mendo^a.

Our celebrated navigator. Sir Francis Drake, on yune 5th 1578, touched on
this coaft, firfl: in lat. 43 j but was induced, from the feverity of the cold, to fail
to lat. 38, where he anchored in a fine bay. He found the natives to be a fina
race of men, naked as the Californians, with the fame kind of head-drefles ; and
the females habited like their fouthern neighbors. He was treated like a deity.
The chief of the country, by the refignation of his crown or chaplet, . his fceptre,
/. e. calumet, and other infignia of royalty, vefted in Sir Francis the whole
land J which he named New Albion, from its white cliffs, and took formal poflef-

with the fiiendfhip of the ^»_/o« family, I can give a little hiftory of the compilation of the Voyage : — A
Mr. Paman firft undertook the work. It was afterwards taken out of his hands, and placed in thofe
of the reverend Mr. IValters, chaplain of the Centurion \ but he had no fhare in it, farther than
col]e(Sling the materials from the feveral journals : thofe were delivered to Mr. Benjamin Robins, a-
moft able mathematician, and the moft elegant writer of his time. He was fon of a quaker-taylor
at Bath, whom I have often feen : a moft venerable and refpeflable old man. Mr. Robins unfortu-
nately forgot that he was writing in the chara6lcr of a divine ; and it was not thought proper to
affront Mr. Walters, by omitting his name in the title-page, as he had taken in fubfcriptions : this,
therefore, will account for the conftant omiftion of the word Providence, in a voyage which abounded
with fuch fignal deliverances.
* A full account of thefe voyages may be feen in Hackhjt, in. 397, (^c.

flott

Natives,

Sir Francis
Drake.

cKxxviii CALIFORNIA.

fion of in the name of his royal miftrefs. We may be thankful that we never
clamed the ceffion : it forms at prefent part of New Mexico j and probably is re-
ferved for future contefts between the Spaniards and the offspring of our late
colonifts. Sir Francis found this country a warren of what he calls, *a ftrange

* kind of Conies, with heads as the heads of ours ; the feete of a Want, i. e. a

* Mole, and the tail of a Rat, being of a great length : under her chinne is on
' either fide a bag, into the which fhe gathereth her meat when fhe hath filled her
' bellie abroad.' The common people feed on them, and the king's coat was made
of their fkins *. This fpecies is to be referred to the divifion of Rats with pouches
in each jaw j and has never been obferved from that period to this.

Captain Cook. Exa6lly two hundred years from that time the coaft was again vifited by an
Englijhman^ who in point of abilities, fpirit, and perfeverance, may be compared
with the greateft feaman our ifland ever produced. Captain James Cook, on
March yth 1778, got fight of New Albion^ in lat. 44. 33 north, and long. 235. 20
eaft, about eight leagues diftant. The fea is here (as is the cafe the whole way
from California) from feventy-three to ninety fathoms deep. The land is mode-
rately high, diverfified with hills and vallies, and every where covered with
wood, even to the water's edge* To the moft fouthern cape he faw he gave the
name of Cape Gregory., its latitude 43. 30 : the next, which was in 44. 6, he
called Cape Perpetua ; and the firft land he faw, which was in 44. 55, Cape
Foul-weather. The whole coaft, for a great extent, is nearly fimilar, almod:
ftrait, and harborlefs, with a white beach forming the fhore. While he was
plying off the coaft, he had a fight of land in about lat. 43. 10, nearly in the
fituation of Cape Blanco de St. Sebajlian^ difcovered by Martin d'Jguilar in
1603. A little to the north, the Oregon, or great river of the /F^/?, difcharges
itfelf into the Pacific Ocean. Its banks were covered with trees ; but the vio-
lence of the currents prevented D' A guitar from entering into it f. This, and the
river oi Bourbon, or Port Nelfon, which falls into Hudfon^ sBay j that of St. Laurence^
which runs to the eaft j and the MiJJifipi, which falls into the bay oi Mexico, are faid
to rife within thirty miles of each other. The intervening fpace muft be the
higheft ground in North Ajnerica, forming an inclined plane to the difcharges of
the feveral rivers. An ill-fated traveller, of great merit, places the fpot in lat.
47, weft long, from London 98, between a lake from which the Oregon flows,
and another called White Bear lake, from which the MiJJifipi %.

* Hackluyt, iii, 738. f Hiji. California, il. 292.

X Carver^s Tra'veh, j6, 121.— — Mr, Car'ver, captain of an independent company, penetrated
far inland into America } and publifhed an interefting account of his travels. This gentleman was
fufFeredto perifh for want, in London f the feat of literature and opulence.

This

CHAIN OF ALPS IN AMERICA.

CXXXIX

This exalted fituation is part of the Shining Mountains, which are branches of Chain op Alps
the vaft chain which pervades the whole continent of Jmerica. It may be fairly in America.
taken from the fouthern extremity, where Staten Land and Terra del Fuego rife
out of thefea, as infulated links, to an immenfe height, black, rocky, and mark-
ed with rugged fpiry tops, frequently covered with fnow. New Georgia may be
added, as another, horribly congenial, rifing detached farther to the eaft. The
mountains about the ftreights of Magellan foar to an amazing height, and infi-
nitely fuperior to thofe of the northern hemifphere, under the fame degree of la-
titude. From the north fide of the ftreights of Magellan, they form a continued
chain through the kingdoms of Chili and Peru, preferving a courfe not remote
from the Pacific Ocean. The fummits, in many places, are the higheft in the
world. There are not lefs than twelve which are from two thoufand four hun- /
dred toifes high, to above three thoufand. Pichincha, which impends over
^ito, is about thirty-five leagues from the fea, and its fummit is two thoufand
four hundred and thirty toifes above the furface of the water; Cayambe, imme-
diately under the equator, is above three thoufand ; and Chimborazo higher than
the laft by two hundred. Aloft of them have been vulcanic, and in different
ages marked with eruptions far more horrible than have been known in other
quarters of the globe. They extend from the equator, through Chili ; in which
kingdom is a range of vulcanoes, from lat. 26 fouth, to 45. 30*, and poftibly
from thence into Terra del Fuego itfelf, which, forming the ftreights of Magellan,
may have been rent from the continent by fome great convulfion, occafioned by
their laborings ; and New Georgia, forced up from the fame caufe. An un-
paralleled extent of plain appears on their eaftern fide. The river of Amazons runs
along a level cloathed with forefts, after it burfts from its confinement at the
Pongo ol Borjas, till it reaches its fea-like difcharge into the Atlantic Ocean.

In the northern hemifphere, the Andes pafs through the narrow ifthmus of
Darien,, into the kingdom of Mexico, and preferve a majeftic height and their
vulcanic difpofition. The mountain Popocatepec made a violent eruption during
the expedition of Cortez, which is moft beautifully defcribed by his hiftorian,
Antonio de Solis f. This, poflibly, is the fame with the vulcano obferved by
the Abbe d'Auteroche, in his way from Vera Cruz to Mexico, which, from the na-
kednefs of the lavas, he conjectured to have been but lately extinguifhed %-
From the kingdom of Mexico, this chain is continued northward, and to the
eaft of California ; then verges fo greatly towards the weft, as to leave a very

• (k^alli, Hi/}. Chili, in Churchill": Coll. iii. 13. f Cgnqueft of Mexico, book iii; ch. iv.

X Voy, to California, 33.

nconfiderable

CXI. CHAINOFALPSINAMERICA. ^

inconfiderable fpace between it and the Pacific Ocean ; and frequently detached
branches jut into the fea, and form promontories ; which, with parts of the chain
itfelf, were often feen by our navigators in the courfe of their voyage. Some
branches, as we have before obferved, extend towards the eaft, but not to any
great diftance. A plain, rich in woods and favannas, fwarming with Bifonsor
Buffaloes, Stags, and Virginian Deer, with Bears, and great variety of game,
occupies an amazing tra6t, from the great lakes of Canada^ as low as the gulphof
Mexico ; and eaftvvard to the other great chain of mountains, the Jpalachiany
which are the Alps of that fide of northern America. I imagine its commencement
to be about lake Champlain and lake George^ with branches pointing obliquely to
the river St. Laurence eailward, and rifing on its oppofite coafts: others extending,
with lowering progrefs, even into our poor remnant of the new world. Nova Scotia.
The main chain paffes through the province of New York, where it is diftinguifh-
ed by the name of the Highlands^ and lies within forty miles of the Atlantic,
From thence it recedes from the fea, in proportion as it advances fouthward ; and
near its extremity in South Carolina is three hundred miles diftant from the water.
It confifts of feveral parallel ridges *, divided by moft enchanting vallies, and
generally cloathed with variety of woods. Thefe ridges rife gradually from the
eaft one above the other, to the central j from which they gradually fall to the
weft, into the vaft plains of the MtJJifipi. The middle ridge is of an enormous
bulk and height. The whole extends in breadth about feventy miles ; and in
many places leaves great chafms for the difcharge of the vaft and numerous rivers
which rife in the bofoms of the mountains, and empty themfelves into the Atlantic
ocean, after yielding a matchlefs navigation to the provinces they water. In
p. xcv, I have given a view of the immenfe elevated plain in the RuJJjan em-
pire. Beyond the branch of the Apalachian mountains, called The Endlefs, is
^ another of amazing extent, nearly as high as the mountains themfelves +. This
plain, (called the Upper Plains) is exceedingly rich land j begins at the Mohock's
river ; reaches to within a fmall diftance of lake Ontario j and to the weftward
forms part of the extenfive plains of the Ohio^ and reaches to an unknown diftance
beyond the MiJJifipi. Vaft rivers take their rife, and fall to every point of the
compafs ; into lake Ontario, into Hudfons river, and into the Delawar and Suf-
quehanna. The tide of the Hudfon's river flows through its deep-worn bed far
up, even to within a fmall diftance of the head of the Delawar j which, after a

• Doflor Garden. See alfo Mr. Leivis Evatis^s Effays and map. Pbtiadefphia, zded. p. 6, &c.
f Mr, Lei.vis Evans, p. 9, and map.

furious

CHAIN OF ALPS IN AMERICA. cxl£

furious cotr(e down a long defcent, interrupted v/ith rapids, meets the tide not
very remote from its difcharge into the ocean *.

Much of the low grounds between the bafe of the Jpalachian hills and the Low Grounds.
fea (efpecially in Virginia and Carolina) have in early times been occupied by the
ocean. In many parts there are numbers of fmall rifings, compofed of (hells,
and in all the plains incredible quantities beneath the furface. Near the Mijpfipt
again, in lat. 32. 28, from the depth of fifty to eighty feet, are always found, in
digging, fea-fand and fea-fhells, exacStly fimilar to what are met with on the
fliores near Penfacola f. This is covered with a ftratum of deep clay or marie,
and above that with a bed of rich vegetable earth. All this proves the propriety of
applying the epithet of new to this quarter of the globe, in a fenfe different
to that intended by the novelty of its difcovery. Great part oi North America at
left became but recently habitable : the vaft plains of the MiJJifipi^ and the
trail between the Jpalachian Jlps and the Atlantic, were once poiTelTed by the
ocean. Either at this period America had not received its population from the
old world, or its inhabitants muft have been confined to the mountains and their
vallies, till the waters ceafed to cover the trails now peopled by millions.

The compofition of the northern mountains agrees much with thofe of the north Componekt
ol Afia, and often confifts of a grey rock, ftone or granite, mixed with glimmer tart*.

and quartz; the firft ufually black, the laft purplifh. Near the river 5^. LaU'
rence, a great part of the mountains refts on a kind of flaty limeftone. Large
beds of limeftones, of different colors, are feen running from the granitical
mountains, and are filled with Cornua A?7unonis, and different forts of fhells, par-
ticularly with a fmall fpecies of fcallop, together with various forts of corals,
branched as well as ftarry. The ftrata of limeftone alfo appear near the bafe of
different parts of the Jpalachian chain J. Without doubt, the fchiftous band,
confifting of variety of ftone, fplit and divided by fiffures horizontal and perpen-
dicular (in Afia the repofitory of metallic veins) is alfo found attendant on the
granitical mountains of North America, and like them will be found rich in ores § :
but that country has not yet been furveyed by a philofophical eye. The labor
will be amply repayed to the proprietors, by the difcovery of mineral fources of
wealth, perhaps equal to thofe already difcovered in the fimilar fecondary chains
of mountains in the Rnjftan empire H-

Captain Cook continued his voyage to the northward ; but, by reafon of
fqually weather and fogs for a few degrees, or from lat. 50 to 55. 20, was deprived

• Mr, Leivis Evans, p. 9, and map. ' f J. Lorimer, efq. J Kalm, ill. ai, 19S,

ai6. — BartraTTi'i Travels, 10, 38. § In fuch feem to be lodged the lead and filver ores found

'in Camiia, S^eKalm, iii. aiz. D SeeDr, Pallas's Ob/, fur la formation de Montagnes, &c.

t of

CKLii NOOTKA SOUND.

of the opportunity of making the obfervations he wifhed. In lat. 48. 15, he in
De Fuca's Pas- vain looked for the pretended ftreights of Juan de Fuca, who impofed on a Michael
SAGE. Lock, an Englijhman he met with at Venice, an account of having found, in 1592,

an entrance in this latitude, and failed through it, till he arrived in the North
fea, i.e. Hudfori's Bay *. Of equal credibility is the pretended paflage of Ad-
miral de Pontes, in 1640, which is placed in lat. 50. i ; and, according to one
map, falls into that of De Fuca : according to another, into a vaft inland fea,
called Mer de VOueJl f. Diligent fearch was alfo made after this in the Spanijh
expedition of 1775 j which ended in difproving thefe ftrange fidlions J. It had
likewife the farther importance of filling up the gap in the charts, by furnifhing
us with a furvey of that trad^ of coaft which Captain Cook was obliged to quit.
NooTKA Sound. In lat. 49, Captain Cook found a fecure fhelter in an harbor called by him

King George's Sound j by the natives, Nootka. The fhores are rocky § ; but
within the Sound appears a branch of the range I before mentioned. It is here
divided into hills of unequal heights, very fteep, with ridged fides, and round
blunted tops j in general cloathed with woods to the very fummits. In the
few exceptions, the nakednefs difcovers their compofition, which is rocky, or
in parts covered with the adventitious foil of rotten trees or moiTes.

The trees v;ere the Finns Canadenfis, or Canada Pine ; the P. Syhejiris, or
Scotch Pine, and two or three other forts ; Ciiprejfus Thyoides, or the White Cedar.
The Pines of this neighborhood are of a great fize : fome are a hundred and
twenty feet high, and fit for marts or {hip-building || ; but the dimenfions of fome
of the canoes in Nootka Sound beft (hew their vaft bulk — they are made of a
lingle tree, hollowed fo as to contain twenty perfons j and are feven feet broad, and
three deep. They are the fame with the monoxyla of the antient Germans and
Gauls%, but conftruited with much more elegance. The old Europeans were con-
tent if they could but float. They probably were formed on the fame rude model
as thofe of the old Virginians **, or of the antient Britons, fimilar to one I have
feen dug up in a morafs in Scotland, ^.•s, artlefs as a hog-trough ff. Thofe oi Nootka
Sound are at the head tapered into a long prow, and at the ftern they decreafe in
breadth, but end abrupt.

The day-tides rife here, two or three days after the full and new moon, eight

• North-weft Fox, 163. f ^ttjefferies''s Obf. on the Letter of Adm. de Pontes, and his

map ; alfo de Lljle's map. J MaurelWiVoy. in 1775, in Mr. Barrington" s Mifcellanies, 50S5.

§ Voyage, ii. 290. tab. 86, 87. U Barrington' s Mifcell. 290. ^ Polyxn. Stratageh.

lib. V. c. 23. — Vel. Paterc. lib. ii. c. 107. ** Brevis et fida Narratio Firginia, in which are

engraven the canoes of the country, taken from the drawing of John With 5 fent therewith Tho. Harriot
for that purpofe, by Sir Walter Raleigh, who communicated them to De Brj.'-^Sci tab. xii. and xlii.
©f the Account 0/ Florida. ff Tour Sfotl, ii, p. 106,

2 feet

NOOTiCA SOUND. cxliii

feet nine inches. The night-tides, at the fame periods, rife two feet higher.
Pieces of drift wood, which the navigators had placed during day out of the reach
(as they thought) of the tides, were in the night floated higher up, fo as to
demonftrate the great increafe of the nodturnal flux *.

I have defcribed, to the beft of my power, the quadrupeds and birds of the Jme"
rican part of this voyage. In p. 12 I have given my fufpicions of certain animals
of the Sheep kind being natives of this neighborhood and California ; but am not
fufficiently warranted to pronounce them to be the fame with the Jrgali or wild
Sheep. Woollen garments are very common among the people of this Sound, and
are manufadurcd by the women. The materials of many of them feem taken
from the Fox and the Lynxj others, I prefume, from the exquifite down of the
Mufk Ox, N° 2. The only peculiar animal of thefe parts is the Sea Otter, N° 36 :
it extends fouthward along the coaft, as far as lat. 49, and as high as 60 f. The
other quadrupeds obferved by the navigators are common to the eaftern fide of
North America.

I may mention, that fmall Perroquets, and Parrots with red bills, feet, and
breafts, were feen by M. Maurelle about Port Trinidada^ in lat. 41. 7 ; and great
flocks of Pigeons in the fame neighborhood J. This was in yime : poflibly they Birds.

were on their migration when our navigators reached the coafls, which was on
March 29th. As to the Parrots, it is pofiible that thofe birds may not extend fo
far north as Nooika ; for on the eaftern fide of the continent they do not inhabit
higher, even in fummer, than the province of Virginia^ in lat. 39 ; or, in the mid-
land parts, than lat. 41. 15, where they haunt in multitudes the fouthern fides
of the lakes Erie and Michigam^ and the banks of the rivers Illinois and Ohio.
Another delicate fpecies of bird was feen here in plenty, a kind of Honey-fucker or
Humming-bird^ anew fpecies ; which I have defcribed, N^ 177, under the title of
the Ruffed. Among the water-fowl were feen the Great Black Petrel, p. 536. A. or
the ^ebrantahueffos, or Bone-breaker of the Spaniards^ which feems to be found from
the Kuril ifles to Terra del Fuego j the Northern Diver, N° 439 ; a great flock of
Black Ducks with white heads; a large fpecies of White Ducks with red bills;
and Swans flying northward to their breeding-places : common Corvorants were
alfo very frequent.

The inhabitants of this Sound alter in their appearance from thofe who live Men.

more fouthern. They are in general below the middle ftature ; plump, but not
mufcular : tlieir vifage round, full, and with prominent cheeks j above which the
face is compreflTed from temple to temple : the noftrils wide : nofe flat, with a
rounded point ; through the feptum narium of many is introduced a ring of iron,

* Voyage, ii. 339. t In p. 89, for lat. 44., read 49. J See Barringtotis

Mi/cell, 489, 50a.

t 2 brafs.

CXLI?

N O O T K A SOUND.

brafs, or copper : eyes fmall, black, languifhing : mouth round: lips large and
thick : hair of the head thick, ftrong, black, long, and lank ; that on the eye-
brows very thin : neck fhort and thick: limbs fmall and ill-made : fkin a pallid
white, v/here it can be viewed free from dirt or paint. The women are nearly of
the fame form and fize as the men, but undiftinguifhable by any feminine foft-
nefs. Many of the old men have great beards, and even muftachios ; but the
younger people in general feem to have plucked out the hair, except a little on the
end of the chin.

Their drefs confifts of mantles and cloaks, well manufa6lured among themfelves,
and either woollen, matting, or fome material correfpondent to hemp. Over
their other cloaths the men frequently throw the fkin of fome wild beaft,
which ferves as a great cloak. The head is covered with a cap made of matting,
in form of a truncated cone, or in that of a flower-vafe, with the top adorned
with a pointed or round knob, or with a bunch of leathern taflels. Their whole
bodies are incrufted with paint or dirt, and they are a moft fquallid offenfive race;
filent, phlegmatic, and uncommonly lazy ; eafily provoked to violent anger, and
as foon appeafed. The men are totally deftitute of ihame ; the women behave
with the utmoft modefty, and even baflifulnefs *. I fliall not repeat what has
been faid of the infinite variety of hideous mafques this nation poireffes, and feems
particularly fond of, was not the ingenious Editor of the Voyage at a lofs for their
intent, whether for religious or for mafquerading purpofes f. Mr. Bartram %
proves that thefe mafques extend to the eaftern fide of the continent, and that
their ufe was fportive ; for he was plagued part of a night with the buffoonery
of a fellow, who came into his lodgings while he was on his travels, and,
after playing a thoufand antic tricks, vaniflied in a manner as if he meant to be
taken for a hobgoblin. The OJiiaks have exactly the fame cuftom §.

Thefe people have made fome progrefs in the imitative arts j for, befides their
fliill in the fculpture of their mafques, which they cut into the fliape of the heads
of various fpecies of beafts and birds, they are capable of painting with tolerable
cxa<3:nefs : accordingly, they often reprefent on their caps the whole progrefs of the
Whale-fifhery. I have feen a fmall bow made of bone, which was brought by the
navigators from this fide of North America^ on which was engraven, very intel-
ligibly, every objeil of the chace. I have caufed this fingular bow to be engraven,
and in the fame plate, that moft terrific Tomahawk of Nootka Sound, called the
Taaweejht or Tfujkeeah. The offenfive part is a ftone projeding out of the mouth
©f a fculpture in wood, refembling a human face, in which are ftuck human and
other teeth : long locks of fcalped hair are placed on feveral parts of the head,

• foy(^e,\i,%i^. t Same, 367. J Travelf, /^i, ^ Rujian Iktkns, i. 193.

waving-

P.CXLJV.

^/a?9ia

/u>y>'/- /{'J'^.

cr/i^

\l

T.Miae?/ fczi^.

N O O T K A S O U N D'. cxlt

warino- when brandifhed in a moft dreadful manner. I could dlftinguifti the Elk,
the Rein, the Virginian Deer, and the Dog; birds, probably of the Goofe kind; the
Whale-fifliery, theWalrus, and the Seal. — With what facility might be reclamed and
civilized a people fo ftrongly poffelTed with a difpofition towards the liberal arts !

From lat. 55. 20, towards the north, the country increafes in height, efpecially
inland, where a range of very lofty mountains,, moftly covered with fnow, is ken
nearly parallel v/ith the coaft, a branch of thofe I have before mentioned. Above
lat. 56 the coaft is broken into bays and harbours. In this neighborhood Captain Russian Voyage.
TfchirikoWy confort to the great navigator Bering, who was feparated from his
commander by a ftorm, was fo unfortunate as to touch on an open part of the
coaft, in about lat. 55, in which he anchored in a moft dangerous fituation, full
of rocks. Having loft his fhallop, and after that his fmall boat, with part of his
crew, which he had fent on fhore to water,, and which were deftroyed by the na-
tives, he was obliged to return from his ineffedlual voyage *. A vaft conic moun- Mount
tain, called by Captain Cook Mount Edgecumbe fy rifes pre-eminent above all the t-OGECuMss.
others. This is in lat. 57. 3, long. 224 7. Not remote from hence is the Bay
of IJIandsy the fame as the Port los Remediosy nearly the ne plus of the Spanijh ex-
pedition of lyjS' The adventurers comforted themfelves with having reached
lat. 583 and having attained the higheft latitude ever arrived at in thefe feas:{;.
This coaft, as well as the reft, continued covered with woods.

A high peaked mountain, Mount Fair-weather, and the inlet Crofs Sound, next
appear. The firft is the higheft of a chain of fnowy mountains, which lie inland
about five leagues, in lat. 58. 52. The land between them and the fea was very
low, for the trees feemed to arife ou-t of the water. Several fea-birds, with a
black ring round the head ; the tip of the tail, and upper part of the wings, marked
with black; the body bluifh above, white beneath, came in view; and on the
water fat a bsownifh Duck, with a deep blue or black head §,.

In lat. 59. 18, is a bay, with a wooded ifle off its fouth point, named by Captain
Cook, Bering's j in honor of the illuftrious Dane who firft difcovered this
part of America, and, as was conje<Slured, anchored there for a fmall fpace. The
appearance of the country was terrific ; it confifted of lofty mountains (in July)
covered with fnow: but the chain is interrupted near this port by a plain of a few
miles in extent; beyond which the view was unlimited, having behind it a con-
tinuance of level country, or fome great lake. He had not leifure to make obfer-
vations j he only named a cape, which advanced into the fea. Cape Elias || ; this is
not at prefent known j but the name of Mount Elias was beftowed by Captain

• FoyM Decowvertes de Rujes, i. 250. f Cook'j Foj. ii. 344, tab. 86. % Barringtonj

Mi/cel. 507. § CookV Foj, ii, 347. (| Foj, & Defouvnta, i. 254,— Cook, ii, 347, 383.

CoOK-

CXLVl

NOOTKA SOUND.

Cook on a very confpicuous mountain *, which lay inland to the north-wefl of
the bay, in lat. 6®. 15.

Bering, during the fhort flay he made on the coafl:, fent his boat on fhore to
procure water. That great naturalift, Stelter^ companion of the voyage, took the
opportunity of landing. The whole time allotted him was only fix hours ; during
which he collecSted a few plants, and fhot that beautiful fpecies of Jay, N^ 139,
to which I have given his name. He returned on board with the regret a man of
his zeal muft feel at the neceflity of fo flight an examination in fo ample a field.
What he could have done, had circumfl:ances permitted, is evident from the ex-
cellent collection he formed of natural hiftory refpeding Kamtfchatka^ and fome of
its iflands f.
Plants. Among the plants found by him on the American continent were, Plantago ma-

jor^ Sp. PI. i. 163; Great Plantane, Fl. Scot.i. 117. K. Firg. : Plantago Afiatica^
Sp. PI. i. 163. K.'. Folemonhim Ccsruleam^ Sp. PI. i. 230: Greek Valerian, Hud-
fon^ i. 89. K. : Lonicera Xylojieum, Fl. Sib. iii. 129. K. : Rtbes Jlpinutn^ Sp. PI. i.
291. Fl. Scot. i. 146. K, : Ribes grojfularia, Sp. PL i. 291 ; Goofcberries, K. Firg. :
Claytonla Firginica? Sp. PI. i. 294. K. Firg.: Heuchera Americana f Sp. PI. i.
328. K.: Heraclemn Panaces^ Sp. PI. i. 3585 or Cow Parfnep, K. which he found
in one of the habitations of the natives, tied up in bundles % ready for ufe. (T have
mentioned, at p. cxvii. the application of it in Katntfchaikay for the purpofes of dif-
tilling an intoxicating liquor j but the Americans are fortunate enough to be
ignorant of that art, and only ufe it as a food.) Facciniiim Myrtillus, Sp. PI. i.
498; Bilberries, Fl. Scot. i. 200. K. : Faccinium Fitis Idaa, Firg. Sp. PI. i. 500;
Red Whortle-berries, FL Scot. i. 202. K.'. Eriea, Fl. Sib. 131, N° 22. K. :
Adoxa MofchatelUna, Sp. Pi. i. 527 ; tuberous Mofchatel, FL Scot. i. 209. K. :
Rubus Idaus, Sp. PI. i. 706; Rafberry-bufh, FL Scot. i. 263. K. : Fragaria Fe/ca,
Sp. PI. i. 708 J Wood Strawberry, FL Scot. i. 267. Firg. K. : the Leontodon Ta-
raxicum, Firg. B. Sp. PI. ii. 1122; or common Dandelion, FL Scot. i. 433 : Ab-
fmthium^ Sp, Pi. ii. 1 188; or common Wormwood, Fl. Scot. i. 467 : Artemijia
FuUarisy Sp. PI. ii- 1 188 j or Mugw^ort, Fl. Scot. i. 468; Gnaphalium Dioicum^
Sp. PI. ii. 1 199 ; Mountain Cudweed, or Cat's-footj FL Scot. i. 470.' K. : AJier
feu potiUs Helenium fruticofum^ Fl. Sib. ii. 175, B. K. with beautiful yellow
flowers: Erigeron acre^ Sp. PI. ii. I21ij Blue Fleabane, FL Scot. i. 474. K. :
Chryfanthemum LeucanthemumyW. 1251 ; Great Daify, or Ox-eye, FL Scot. i. 488.
B. K. Firg. : Pyreibrum, Fl. Sib. ii. 203, N** 170. B. K. : Achillea Millefolium^

* Cook, ii. tab. 86. t %• & Decouveries, i. a57« t Decounjertes feiitei

^orleiRiifes, i. aj6. — Voyage, ii, tab. 8$.

KAYE'S ISLAND. PRINCE WILLIAM'S SOUND. cxlvii

Sp. PI. ii. 12675 Milfoil or Yarrow, Fl. Scot. i. 490. K. Virg. : Empetrum nigrum^
Sp. PI. ii. 1450 J Black-berried Heath, Crow-berries, Fl. Scot. ii. 612. K. Vir'g.:
Menifperrnum Canadenfe? Sp, PI. ii. 1468. K. Virg, — I retain the mark o'i Brh'i/J)
vegetables, to ftiew the vaft dilatation of plants j and that oi Virg. to (hew thofe
which fpread to the eaftern fide of America,

To thefe may be added a {q^ trees and plants obferved by our navigators ; fuch
as the Pinus Strobus, Sp. PI. ii. 1490, the vi^hite or PVeymouth Pine, which grows
to an enormous fize; Pinus Canadenjis, Sp. PI. ii. 1421, the Canada Plnej three
or four other Pines, which we cannot determine ; the Cuprejfus Dijiicha ? Sp. PL ii.
1422, the deciduous Cyprefs ; CupreffusThyoides^ Sp. PI. ii. 1422, or white Cedar;
fome Birch, Alders, and "Willows ; wild Rofe-buihes ; and feveral plants, the
fpecies of which are unknown to us. Probably that ufeful Lily, the Lilium
Kamtfchatchenfe, or Saranne, extends to the continent, for it is found in abun-
dance in the adjacent ifland Oonalafchka^ where it ferves as a food, as it does in
Kamtfchatka *.

In this neighborhood, in lat. 59. 49, about Kaye'% ifland f, ofFCape Sucklings Kaye's Islamb^
Captain Cook obferved variety of birds j among them fome AlbatroiTes, the
fnowy Gulls, and the com.mon Corvorant : and in the poor woods which encircled
the ifland like a girdle, were feen a Crow, the white-headed Eagle, and another
fpecies equally large, of a blacker color, with a white breafl:, which proves to be
the kind defcribed by Mr. Latham^ i. p. 33. N* 72, under the name of the white-
bellied Eagle X'

After doubling a cape, called by our great navigator, Hinchinhroke §, he anchored PrinceWilliam*s
in a vaft found, named by him Prince William^ s, in lat. 61. 30, fecured by a long Sound.

ifland, called Mountague' s, ftretching obliquely acrofs from north-eaft to fouth-
weft. The land round this harbour rofe to a vaft height, and was deeply covered
with fnow ',|. Vegetation in thefe parts feemed to lefl'en. The principal trees
were the Canadian and Spruce Firs, and fome of them moderately large.

Befides the quadrupeds found at Nootka^ there is a variety of Bear of a white Quadrupeds.
color ; I will not call it the Polar, as that animal inhabits only the fevereft cli-
mates, where it can find dens of fnow and ifles of ice. An animal of the er-
mine kind, varied with brown, but the tail fcarcely tipt with black. Wolve-
renes were here, of a very brilliant color; and the earlefs Marmot, N° 47, was
very common. None of thefe were feen living, but their fkins were brought

* Voyage, W. 501. f Same, tab. 85. % Same, p. 352, § Same, tab. %S.

I' Sec the piftuyefciu* view of Sufcg Corner Cove, tab, 45.

in

c^Lviii PRINCE W I I, L I /, M ' S S O U N D.

in abundance as articles of commerce. The fk'm of tlie head of the male leonine
Seal was alfo offered to fale : in the Voyage it is called the Vrfme; but from the
great fhagginefs of the hair I prefume I am not wrong in my conjedure. Thi«
is the only place in the northern hemifphere in which it was found by the navi-
gators *. *
^jRDS^ Amon» the birds were the black Sea Pies with red bills, obferved before in
Van Diemen i Land and New Zealand, A Duck, equal in fize to our Mallard,
with a white bill tinged with red near the point, and marked v/ith a black fpot
on each fide near the bafe : on the forehead a large white triangular fpot, and a
larger on the hind part of the neck : the reft of the plumage dufky : the tail fnort
and pointed : the legs red. The female was of duller colors, and the bill was far
lefs gay. Another fpecies refembled the fmall one found at Kerguelkh' s Land.
A Diver (Grebe?) of the fize of a Partridge; with a black comprefied bill:
head and neck black: upper part of the body deep brown, obfcurely waved with
black ; the lower part dufky, fpeckled minutely with white. Honey-fuckers,
probably migratory in this high latitude, frequently flew round the fliips f.

To give all the additions I am able to my zoologic part, I fhall here mention
certain fpecies of Petrels, obferved on the weflern coaft of North America : fuch
as numberlefs brown Petrels near the entrance of Cook's river, flying round a
remarkable fugar-loaf hill %. A fpecies feen near N&otka Sounds about eleven
inches long, with the noftrils fcarcely tubular : bill and plumage above dufliy,
beneath white: legs back. This is common to Turtle IJIe, lat. 19.48, fouth,
long. 178. 2, weft; and Chrljimas IJle^ lat. i. 59, north, long. 202. 30, eaft.
Another, about thirteen inches long, with the forehead, fpace between the eyes
and bill, the chin, and throat, of a greyifti white, varied with fpecks of dufky:
crown and upper part of the body dufky: under parts hoary lead-color; legs
pallid §. I may add a fourth, feen off* the coaft of Kamtfchatka^ which Mr. Ellis
mentions as being fmall, and of a bluifh color jj.

Mankind here Ihew a variation from the laft defcribed. The natives are ge-
nerally above the common ftature, but many below it : fquare-built or ftrong-
chefted : their heads moft difproportionably large ; their faces flat, and very broad :
their necks fhort and thick : their eyes fmall, in comparifon to the vaft breadth of
their faces: their nofes had full round points, turned up at the end : their hair
long, thick, black, and ftrong : their beards either very thin, or extirpated ; for
feveral of the old men had large, thick, but ftrait beards: their countenances
generally full of vivacity, good-nature, and franknefs, not unlike the Crtjlinaux,

* Foy.\\. 377. f Same, 37?. % Ellis'' s Narrative, i. 251, § This, and

jhe preceding, in the Leverian Mufeum, Ij Narrative, ii, 246,

a people

L£N*

PRINCE WILLIAM'S SOUND. cxlix

a people who live far inland, between the little and the great lakes Ou'njcptquc. On
the contrary, the inhabitants of Nootka in their dulnefs refemble the Ajjlnihouehi
v/ho live on the weftern fide * : and thefe tvv''o nations may have been derived from
a common fiock with the maritime tribes whom we have had occafion to mention.
The fkins of the natives of this found were fwarthy, polTtbly from going often
naked ; for the fkins of many of the women, and the children, were white, but
pallid. Many of the women were diftinguifliable from the men by the delicacy of
their features, which was far from the cafe with thofe "of Nootka.

In thefe parts, within the diftance of ten degrees, is a chan2;e of both drefs and
manners. The cloak and mantle are here chano-cd for a clofe habit, made of the
ikins of dilFerent beafls, ufually with the hair outwards ; or of the flcins of birds,
with only the down remaining j fome with a cape, others with a hood : over
which, in rainy weather, is worn a garment like a carter's frock, with large fleeves,
and tight round the neck, made of the inteftines probably of the whale, and as
iine as gold-beater's leaf. On the hands are always worn mittens, made of the
paws of a bear ; and the legs are covered with hofe, reaching to midway the thigh.
The head is generally bare ; but thofe who wear any thing, ufe the high truncated
conic bonnet, like the ^to'^Xz o{ Nootka \. In this place only was obferved the
Calumet ; a ftick about three feet long, with large feathers, or the wings of birds,
tied to it. This was held up as a fign of peace.

I leave the reader to amufe himfelf in the Voyage, by the account of the flrange
cuftom of the natives in cutting through their under lip, and giving themfelves
the monftrous appearance of two mouths J : in the orifice they place a bit of
bone or fhell by way of ornament. This cufl:om extends to the diftant Mofqiihos^
and even to the Brajilians §, but feems unknown in other parts of America. — I
endeavour to confine myfelf to paflages which may lead to trace the origin of
the people. Thefe paint their faces, and pundlure or tattow their chins. They
are mod remarkably clean in their food, and in their manner of eating it, and even
in the keeping of their bowls and vefl'els. In their perfons they are equally neat
and decent, and free from greafe or dirt [j ; in this they feem an exception to all
other favagcs.

They have two kinds of boats ; one large, open, and capable of containing Boats.

above twenty people. It is made of the fkins of marine animals, diflended on
ribs of wood, like the vit'ilia navigia of the Britons^ at the time in which they
were on a level with thefe poor Americans \ or like the woman's boat of the Green-
landers and EJkhnaux. The canoes are exadtly of the fame conftru6lion with thofe
of the latter; and the difference of both is very trivial. The canoes of thefe

* Dobbsy 24. f Voyage, ii. 368, 369. J Same, 369, tab. 46, 47. \ Darnpiery i. 32,

de Bry. Brafil, 165. || Voyage^ ii. 374.

u Americans

CL COOK'SRIVER.

Americans are broader than thofe of the eafiern fide of the continent ; and fome
have two circular apertures, in order to admit two men *. Every weapon which
thefe people have for the chace of quadrupeds or fifli, is the fame with thofe ufed

by the Greenlandcrs : there is not one wanting.

From Prince Williani's found the land trends north-well:, and terminates in two
Cape Bede. headlands, called Cape Elizabeth and Cape Bede ; thefe, with Cape Banks on the
oppofite fhore, form the entrance into the vail eRuary of Cook's river; in the
midft of which are the naked ifles, dillinguiflied by the name of the Barren.
Within, to the weft, is a lofty two-headed mountain, called Cape Douglas ; which
is part of a chain of a vaft height, in which was a vulcano, at the time this place
v/as vifited, emitting white fmoke : and in the bottom of a bay, oppofite to it, is
an ifland, formed of a lofty mountain, on which was beftowed the name of Mount

R'l'cuNT St.Au- St. Augujiine\. The eftuary is here of a great breadth, owing to a bay running
GUSTiNE. oppofite to M-Ount Augujiine deeply to the eaft.

Cook's River. The eftuary of Cook's river is of great length and extent. The river begins

between Anchor Point and the oppofite {hore, where it is thirty miles wide : the
depth very confiderable, and the ebb very rapid. Far within, the channel con-
trafis to four leagues, through which rufhes a prodigious tide, agitated like
breakers againft rocks. The rife of the tide in this confined part was twenty-one
feet. It was examined feventy leagues from the entrance, as far as lat. 6i. 30,
long. 210, and its boundaries were found to be flat, fwampy, and poorly wooded,
till they reached the foot of the great mountains. Tov/ards the north, it divides
into two great branches, or perhaps diftin6t rivers. That to the eaft is diftin-
guifhed by the name of Turn-again river. The firft is a league wide, and navi-
gable, as far as was tried, for the largeft fliips, and continued very brackifli j
there is therefore the greateft probability of its having a very long courfe, and be-
ing, in after times, of confiderable ufe in inland navigation : that it is of fome even
at prefent is very certain ; for here, as v/ell as in Prince PFilliam's found, the Indians
were pofiTefi'ed of glafs beads and great knives of Englijh manufadure, which the
Hudfrn^ bay company annually fend in great quantities^ and exchange for furs with
the natives, who travel to our fettlements very far from the weft. The company
alfo fend copper and brafs vefi'cls ; but neither copper or iron in bars. There
does not feem to be any dire6l dealings with the Indians of this coafl : the traffic
is carried on by intermediate tribes, who never think of bringing furs to a people
fo amply fupplied as the Indians are who deal with our fa<5lories. Nations who
ufe the moft pretious furs merely as a defence from the cold, make no diftin6iion
of kinds : if they could get more beads or more knives for the fkins of Sea Otters

• Voyage^ ii. 371, \ See the chart, ii. tab. 44..

8 thaa

• ' A L A S C H K A, cli

than any other, they would inftantly become articles of commerce, and find their
Way acrofs the continent to the European fettlements.

From Turn-again river to the neareft part of Hudfon's bay, is fifty-five degrees,
or about fixteen hundred miles ; but from the moft wdftern part of Jrapathefcozo
Jake (which is intermediate) is only twenty-fix degrees, or about izvtn hundred and
fifty miles. There is no difcharge out of that vaft water but what runs into
Hudfons bay. We have fome obfcure accounts of rivers * which fake a weftern
courfe from the countries eaft of this coaft : fome of which may be thofe which
have been feen by our navigators, and which, by means of lakes or other rivers
falling into them, may prove a channel of intercourfe between thefe Indians and
the Hud/oil's bay company, as foon as our friendly Indians become acquainted with
the value of thefe maritime furs.

The inhabitants o^ Cook's river differed very little from thofe of Prince fFilliam's
found. They had Dogs, which were the firft feen on the coafts ; Sea Otters, Dogs.

Martins, and white Hares : and they were plentifully fupplied with Salmon and
Holibut.

After leaving the entrance into the river, appears Cape St. Herniogenesy difco- Cape St. FIermo-
vered firft by Bering. It proved a naked lofty ifland, about fix leagues in cir- genes.

cult, and divided from the coaft by a channel a league broad. 7'his lies in
lat. 58. 15, off the vaft peninfula ^/^Zj^^, which begins between the eftuary of Alaschka, cok-
Ccok's river and Brijiol h&y, which bound its ifthmus. It points fouth-weft, and "^'^'^"^ of Ame-
continues the crefcent formed by the iflands which crofs the fea from Kamtfcbatka.
Alafchka is the only name given by the natives to the continent of America. The
land to the weft of Cook's river rifes into mountains, with conoid tops thickly
fet together. The coaft is frequently bold, and the rocks break into pinnacles of
pidlurefque forms : the whole is fronted by groups of ifles and clufters of fmall
rocks. In a v/ord, the country and fhores are the moft rugged and disjointed
imaginable, and bear evident marks of having undergone fome extraordinary
change.

Among the ifles, thofe of Schoumagin are the moft important, which received
their name from having been the place of interment of one of Bering's crew, the
firft which he loft in thefe feas. The principal lies the farthcft to the weft, and
is czWed Kadjak : it is about a hundred verfts long, and from twenty to thirty Kadjak.

broad ; and, from the account of Demetrius Bragin, who vifited it from Oonalajhka
in 1776, is very populous. The inhabitants fpoke a language different from thofe

* Particularly from one Jofeph de la France, who in 1739 made a very lorg Jouiney to the weft,
and was a very obfervant man. See Dobbs, Hud/oil's Bay, 21, 34, 35.

U 2 of

CLii fl O L I B U T ISLE.

of that illand i it feeaied a dicilefl of the Greenlandtrs. They called their wooden
iliields Kuyakyy probably becaufe they refemble a kaiak^ or a little canoe, a Green-
land wQxA for that fpecies of boat; and themfelves Kanagijl^ as the others ftyle
themfelves Karalit. They have likewife the woman's boat, like the people of
Prince William\ found : in fa<5t, they feem to be the fame people, but more refined.
They were armed with pikes, bows and arrows, and wooden fhields. Their fhirts
were made of the fkins of birds ; alfo of the earlefs Marmot [Ar£l. Zool. i. N° 47),
Foxes, and Sea Bears, and fome of fifiies ficins, Dogs, Bears, common Otters,
and Ermines, were oblerved here. Their dwellings were made with timber, and
were from fifteen to twenty fathoms long, covered with a thatch and dried grafs.
Within they were divided into compartments for every family, and every com-
partment lined neatly with mats. The entrance was on the top, covered with
frames, on which were (tretched the membranes of dried intellines inftead of glafs*.
Thefe people feemed to have made far greater progrefs in the arts than their neigh-
bors. They worked their carpets in a very curious manner ; on one fide clofe fet
with beaver wool. The Sea Otters fkins which they brought for fale were in
fome parts fhorn quite clofe with fharp ftones, fo that they gliftened and appeared
like velvet. They fhewed fi:rong proofs of genius in their invention to preferve
themfelves from the effevSls of the RiiJJian fire-arms. They had the fpirit to make
an attack, and formed (kreens with three parallel perpendicular rows of fi:akesj
bound with fea-weeds and ofiers j their length was twelve feet, and thicknefs
three : under the {belter of thefe they marched ; but their fuccefs was not cor-
refpondent to their plan f : a fally of the Rujfians difconcerted them, and put them
to the rout.

The ifland confifts of hills mixed with lowlands. It abounds with bulbs, roots,
and berries, for food j with fhrubs, and even trees fufficiently lar^ to be hollowed
into canoes capable of carrying five perfons J. In this kind of boat they differ
from thofe of the GreenJanders,

HoLiBVT Isle. OfF the extremity of the peninfula of Alafchka is Holihut ifland, in lat. 54,

rifing into a lofty pyramidal mountain, lying oppofite to the narrow fhailow
flreight which lies between the ifle Oonernaka and Alafchka. The chain on the
continent is {<zzv. to rife into ftupendous heights, covered with fnow : among
them feveral of the hills appear to rife infulated, and of a conic form. One

* From a MS. communieated to me by Dr. Pallas, Bragln was commander of a veflel which
was fitted out by the merchants on a voyage to the iiew-difcovered iflands, and failed from Ochotjk in
^ • 177^. About ten years prior to this, another voyage was made ioKadjali hy St epheii Clottcff.—

See Coxe's Difc. loS. t Ccxfs Ruff. Qifc. 12. X MS.

was

OONEMAK AND OONALASHKA. cliii

was a vulcano, flinging up volumes of black fmoke to a great heiglit *, then
streaming before the wind with a tail of vaft length and pi6lurefque appearance.
It often took a direction contrary to the point the wind blew from at fea, not-
withftanding there was a frcfh gale. It lies in lat, 54. 48 north, long. 195. 45 W.
and is evidently a link in the vulcanic chain, which extends, in the fouthern he-
mifphere, as low at left as that of St. Clement in ChUi^ in lat. 45. 30.

The extremity of j^A?/2-/;i(^ ends abrupt, and has oppofite to it an ifland called Oonemak.

Oonemak or Unmak, of nearly a correfpondent breadth, fcparated from it by a
very narrow and fhallow channel, fituated in lat. 54. 30, and leading into Bi'lfiol
bay, pervious only by boats or very fmall veflels. The iHe is a hundred verfts
long, and from feven to fifteen broad > and has in the middle a vulcano. In the
low parts feveral hot fprings burft forth, to which the iflanders carry the fifli or
flefti they want to boil ; and they are alfo fond of bathing in the temperate
parts f.

To the weft are the fmall ifles o^ Oonella and Acootan : at a fmall diftance from nnv*T acuv
■ them is Oonalajhka or Aghoun-alaifka J, a name evidently referring to the continent.
My MS. calls its length a hundred and twenty verfts, its breadth from ten to.
eighteen. It is the moft remote of the RuJJian colonies, who have nov/ made fet-
tlements on moft of the ifles between Afta and America ; all under the care of pri-
- vate adventurers. The voyage from Ochotjk or Kamtfchatka lafts three or four
years; and is folely undertaken for the fake of the fkins of Sea Otters. Poffibly
other reafons will, in a little time, induce them to attempt the colonization of
the continent. Timber may be one; for their northern A/iatic dominions and.
their iflands yield none. I forefee docks and timber-yards in all convenient
places. At prefent, the natives of thefe ifles have only the {kin-covered canoes §, Natives..

and even for the ribs they are obliged to the chance of drift-wood. In thefe, in
drefs, and in w> apons, they refemble the Ejkimatix. The language is a dlaletSl
oiihtEJk'nnaux. They are rather of low ftature.. They have fhort necks, fwarthy
chubby faces, black eyes, and ftraig^ht long black hair. Thefafliion of wearing fea-
thers or bits of fticks in their nofes isufed mOonalaJIika. Both fexes cut their hair
even over their foreheads : the men wear theirs loofe behind ; the females tie theirs in
a bunch on the top of their had : the hrft wear long loofe frocks, of the fkins of
birds ; the laft of the fkins of Seals. The men fiiag over their frocks another, of
the guts of the cetaceous animals, dried and oiled, to keep out the water || ; and tcL

* See the plate, No 87, vol. li. for the feveral views. f Bragin's Fqy. MS. X T?o«5^or

J^ALLAS, MS. § See theiv boats, tab. 50. Il See thsir drcTes, tab. a5, 45, 56, 57.

defend

cLiv BRISTOL BAY AND RIVER.

defend their faces from the weather, they wear a piece of v;ood, like the front of
the bonnet of an Englijh lady *. Son:ie ufe the bonnet in the form of the trun-
cated cone. The women flightly tattow their faces, and often wear a firing of
beads pendent from their nofesj both fexes perforate their under lip, but it is
very uncommon to fee any except the females fticlc in it the ornamental bone.
The nofe-ornaments extend far inland on the continent; for the Americans^
who trade with the Hudfons bay company, ufe them : but from the figures given
by De Brie, they do not feem ever to have reached the people of Virginia and
Florida. They inhabit jourts, or fubterraneous dwellings, each common to many
families, in which they live in horrible filthinefs : but they are remarkably civilized
in their behaviour j and have been taught by x.\\c Riijfians to pull ofF their caps, and
to bow, in their falutations.
Barrows; They bury their dead on the fummits of hills, and raife over the fpot a barrow

cf ftones f , in the manner cuftomary in all the north of Europe in very early
days.

On the north fide of the promontory Alafchka, the water decreafes confiderably in
depth, and the mountains recede towards the bottom far inland, and leave a large
trait of low land between them and the fca. Here it forms a great bay, called
EristolBay AND Brijlol ', with a vaft river at the end, with an entrance a mile broad, feated in
KiVER. j^j.^ ^g_ ^^^ Cape Newenham, lat. 58. 42, a rocky promontory, is the northern

horn of the bay, eighty-two leagues from Cape Oonemak, its fouthern : an uni-
verfal barrennefs, and want of vegetation, appeared in the neighborhood of the
former. The Walrufes (N° 71) began, the 15th o^ July, to fhew themfelves in
great numbers about this place : a proof that ice is not elTential to their exiftence.
The inhabitants of this coaft were drefled much more fqualidly than thofe before
feen ; but, like the others, deformed their nofes and lips. They fhaved their
head or cut the hair clofe, and only left a few locks behind or on one fide, fomc-
what in the Chinefe faflilon. From Cape Newenham, the continent runs due north.

Gore's Isle. To the weft is Goreh ifland, diftinguifhed by a vaft cliff, in lat. 60. 17, long. 187.
30, called Poi7it Upright ; and near it a moil rugged, high, rocky iflet, named the
Pi?jnacles J. Myriads of the Auk tribe haunted thefe precipices. This feems the

Sea Otters; extreme northern refort of the Sea Otter.

From Shoal-nefsy in lat. 60, long. 196, there is a gap in the American geography,
as far as Point Shallow Water, laf. 62. 50 ; and not far from thence were the fymp-
toms of the difcharge of fome great river, from the uninveftigated part. Be-

* Voya^e^u, 510. f Same, 511. % See tab, 87, ,

yond

CAPESTEPHENS. CAPEDARBY. clv

yond Point Shallow, in lat. 63. 33, is Cz^q Stephens , and before it, at a fmall Cape Stephens.
diftance, Stuart's ifle. Thefe make the fouthern points of Norton's Sound, formed
by a vaft recefs of the land to the eaft. AH the land near the fea is low and bar-
ren, bounded inland by mountains. The trees, which were Birch, Alder, Wil-
low, and Spruce, very fmall ; none of the laft above fix or eight inches in diameter : '
but the drift-wood, which lay in plenty on the fliore, much larger ; having been
brouo-ht down the rivers from land more favorable to its growth. Towards the
bottom of the found, Cape Denbigh juts far to the weft into the water, and forms
a peninfula. It has been an ifland ; for there are evident marks on the ifthmus,
that the fea had once poffefled its place : a proof of the lofs of the element of water
in thefe parts, as well as in other remote parts of the globe.

The found, from Czpe Denbigh, is fuddenly contradled, and is converted into a
deep inlet, feemingly the reception of a large river. The continent, in thefe parts,
confifts of vaft plains, divided by moderate hills ; the former watered by feveral
rivers meandering through them. Vegetation improves in proportion to the dif-
ftance from the fea, and the trees increafe in bulk. A promontory, called Bald
Head, bounds the northern entrance into this inlet. Farther to the weft Cape Cape Darby.
Darhy, in lat. 64. 21, makes the northern horn of this great found.

Numbers of people inhabit this coaft. The men were about five feet two Natives.

inches high ; and in form and features refembled all the natives feen by the navi-
gators fince they left Nootka Sound. They had, in their under lip, two perfora-
tions. The color of their fkin was that of copper : their hair fhort and black :
the beard of the men fm-all : their language a dialetSl of the Efkimaux. Their
clothino- is chiefly of Deer fkins, with large hoods, made in the form of loofe
jackets, fcarcely reaching lower than half the thigh ; where it was almoft met by
a great wide-topped boot. The Efkimaux occafionally ftick their children in the
top : the women of this country place them more commodioufly v/ithin the upper
part of the jacket, over one ftioulder *. In language there feems confiderable con-
formity. They had, like them, the woman's boat, and the Kaiack : the firft they
fometimesmade ufeof as a protection from the weather, by turning itupfide down,
and fheltering beneath. But their hovels were the moft wretched of any yet feen ;
confifting of only a iloping roof (without any fide-walls) compofed of logs ; a
floor of the fame ; the entrance at one end, and a hole to permit the efcape of the
fmoke. Thefe poor people feem very fufceptible of feelings for the misfortunes Their Sensibi-
of each other, which would do honor to the moft poliftied ftate. A family ap-
peared, one of which was a moft diftorted figure, with fcarcely the human form :

* See tab. 54,.

another.

LITV.

cLvi CAPE DARBY. SLEDGE ISLAND.

another, feemingly the chief, almoft blind : the third, a girl : the lafl-, the wife.
She made ufe of Captain King to a6l as a charm to rcftore her blind hufband to
his fight*. He was firft directed to hold his breath j then to breathe on, and af-
terwards to fpit on his eyes. We are not without fimilar fuperflitions. The Ro-
mans ^ applied the fame remedy to difeafes of the fame part: but I doubt whether
they, or our polifbed nation, ever expreffed the fame feelings as this poor woman
did. She related her ftory in the moft pathetic manner; fhe prefTed the hands
of the Captain to the bread of her haiband, while fhe was relating the calamitous
hiilory of her family ; pointed fometimes to the hufband, fomctimes to the crip-
ple, and fometimes to the poor child. Unable to contain any longer, flie burfl
into tears and lamentation. She was followed by the reft of her kindred in an
iinifon, which, I trufl-, filled the eyes of the civilized beholders, as their relation
has mine.

From Cape Darly the land trends to the weft, and ends in Point Rodney \ lovT
land, with high land far beyond, taking a northerly direction inland. Off* this
point, in lat. 64. 30, is Sledge ijland, fo called from a fledge being found on it,
rcfembling thofe which the Riijftans ufe in Kamtfchatka to carry goods over the
fnov/. It was ten feet long, tv/enty inches broad, with a rail on each fide, and
fnod with bone ; all neatly put together, in fomc parts with wooden pins, but
moftly with thongs of whalebone : a proof of the ingenuity of the natives. Whe-
ther it was to be drawn with dogs or rein-deer, does not appear j for the ifland was
deferted, and only the remains of a few jourts to be feen. In lat, 64. 55, long.
192, is King's ifland, named in honor of the able and worthy continuator of
the voyage. The continent oppofite to it bends towards the eaft, and forms a
(hallow bay; then fuddenly runs far into the fea, and makes the moft weftern
extremity yet known, and probably the moft weftern of all. On it were feveral
huts ; and ftages of bone, fuch as had been obferved in the Tfchutjki country.
This cape forms one fide of Bering's ftreights, and lies nearly oppofite to Eaji
Cape, on the Jfiat'ic fhore, at the fmall diftanceof only thirty-nine miles. This
lies in lat. 65. 46; is named Cape Prince of Wales j is low land, and the heights,
as ufual, appeared beyond; among which is a remarkable peaked hill. It would
be unjuft to the memory of paft navigators, not to fay, that there is thegreateft
probability that either this cape, or part of the continent adjacent to it, was dif-
covered, in 1730, by Michael Gwofdew^ a land furveyor attendant on the CoJJhck,

* See Fojage, 11.481. f Mulleiis falivam quoqxie jejunas potentem dijudicant oculis

cjucntatis. — Plin. Hifi, Kat. lib. xxviii. c. 7.

colonel

MULGRAVK POINT, ICY SEA. avii

Colonel Sche/fakowy in the unfortunate expedition undertaken by him tO' render
the Tfchutjki tributary *.

Here begins the ley Sea or Frozen Ocean. The country trends ftrongly to the eaft,. Point Mul-
and forms, in lat. 67. 45, long. 194. 51, Point Mulgrave ; the land low, backed crayh.

inland with moderate hills, but all barren, and deftitute of trees. From hence
lit makes a flight trend to the weft. Cape Lijburn lies in lat.. 69 ; and Icj Cape, the
moft extreme land feen by any navigators on this fide, was obfervcd in lat. 70. 29,
long. 198. 20, by our illuftrious feaman, on Augiiji i8th 1778. The preceding
day he had made an advance as high as 70. 41 ; buty baffled by impenetrable ice,
■upon the jufteft reafoning was obliged to give up all thoughts of the north-eaft
paffage : which reafons were confirmed, in the following year, by his fucceflx>r in
command. Captain Clerke. All the trials made by that perfevering commander
Gould not attain a higher latitude than 70. 11, long. 196. 15. He found himfelf
laboring under a lingering difeafe, which he knew muft be fatal, unlefs he could
gain a more favorable climate ; but his high fen fe of honor, and of his duty to his
orders, determined him to perfift, till the impoffibility of fuccefs was determined
by every officer. He gave way to their opinion,^ failed towards the fouthward on
"July 21ft, and on Augujl 22d honorably funk, at the age of thirty-eight, under a
diforder contraded by a continued fcene of hardfhips, endured from his earlieft
youth in the fervices of his country f.

To fuch charadters as thefe we are indebted for the little we know, and pro- Of ths Icy Sea*
bably all that can be known, of the Icy Sea. The antients had fome obfcure
notion of its coafls, and have given it the name of Scythicum Mare ; a cape jutting
into it was ftyled Scythicum Promontorium ; and an ifland at the bottom of a deep
bay to the weft of it, Scythica Infula. It is following the conjedlures of the inge*
nious to fay, that the firft may be the Cape Jalmal, and the laft. Nova Zemlja^
which fome will make the Infula Tazata of Pliny^ as it refembles in name the ri*-
ver Tas^ which flows almoft oppofite to it into the gulph of Ob J. The know^
lege which the antients had. of thefe parts muft have been from traffic. The old
Ladoga was, in very early times, a place of great commerce, by affiftance of rivers
and feas, even from the fartheft parts of the Mediterranean j the coins of Syria^
jirahioy Greece^ and Rome, having been found in the burial-places adjoining to
that antieot city §. Another channel of knowlege was formed from the great
traffic carried on by the merchants, from even the remote India, up the Fo/ga
and the Kama, and from thence to Tfcherdyn, an emporium on the river Kolva,

* Decowvertesy Sec. i. 166. f See the particulars of his fervices, %fl^^, iii. a8o.

XStrabhnbergHtJi^Ruffia,iii, § Same, uo.

3t fcated

cLviil ICY SEA,

r&ated in the antlent Pennla or Biormla, and not far fouth of the river Pcczorai
From thence the Bior?::aSj who feem to have been the fa6lors, embarked with the
merchandize on that river, went down with it to the coafts of the Frozen Sea ; and,
after obtaining furs in exchange, they returned and delivered them, at Tfcherdjtiy to
the foreign merchants* : and from them the antients might pick up accounts.

The Icy Sea extends from Nova Zemlja to the coaft of America, We have
feen how unable even the RuJJians have been to furvey its coafts, except by in-
terrupted detail, notwithftanding it formed part of their own vaft empire. To
our navigators was given the honor not only of fettling parts of its geography
with precifion, but of exploring the whole fpace between the moft northern pro-
montory of Jfia and the fartheft acceifible part of America. This was a tradl
of one hundred leagues f. The traverfing it was a work of infinite difficulty
Depth. and danger. The fea {hallow j and the change from the greateft depth, which did

not exceed thirty fathoms, to the left, which was only eight, was fudden : the
bottom muddy, caufed by the quantity of earth brought down from the vaft ri-
vers which pour into it from the Afwtic fide. We fufped that it receives but
few from the American^ their general tendency being eaft and weft. The Icy Sea
is ftiallow, not only becaufe its tides and currents are very inconfidcrable ; but its
outlet through the ftreights of Bering very narrow, and even obftru6led in the
middle by the iflands of St. Diomedes : both which circumftances impede the
carrying away of the mud. The current, fmall as it is, comes chiefly from the
fouth-weft, and is another impediment. The land of each continent is very low near
the fhores, and high at a fmall diftance from them : the former is one inftance of
a correfpondent fhallownefs of water. The^oundings off each continent, at the
fame diftances from the fliore, were exactly the fame. ^
Igg. The ice of this fea differs greatly from that o^ Spitxbergen. It probably is en-

tirely generated from the fea-water. The Icy Sea feems to be in no part bounded
by lofty land, in the valleys of which might have been formed the ftupendous
icebergs^ which, tumbling down, form thofe lofty iflands we had before occafion
to mention. The ice here is moveable, except about the great headlands, which
are befet with a rugged mountanous ice. It is notorious, that a ftrong gale
from the north in twenty-four hours covers the whole coaft, for numbers of miles
in breadth ; will fill the ftreights of Bering, and even the Kamtfchatkan feas ;
and in fmaller pieces extend to its iflands. In the Icy Sea it confifts chiefly
of field ice. Some fields, very large, and furrounded with leflTer, from forty

* i^icbols's Rujfian Nations J i. 176, t Voyage, m. itj,

to

ICY SEA. ' cLix

to fifty yards in extent, to four or five ; the thicknefs of the larger pieces was
r.bout thirty feet under water ; and the greateft height of others above, about
fixteen or eighteen. It was tranfparent, except on the furface, which was a little
porous, and often very rugged : the refl compact as a wall. At times it muft
pack; for the mountanous ice which the Cojpick Morkoff afcended (fee p. c.)
muft have been of that nature. The deftruflion of the ice is not effeded by the
fun, in a climate where fogs reign in far greater proportion than the folar beams ;
neither v/ill the ftreights of Bering permit the efcape of quantity fufficient to
clear the fea of its vaft load. It muft, in a little time, become wholly filled with
it, was it not for the rage of the winds, which daflies the pieces together, breaks
and grinds them into minute parts, which foon melt, and refolve into their ori-
ginal element.

The animals of this fea are very ^tv^, and may be reduced to the Polar Bear^ Animals,

N° 18 ; the Walrus^ N° yj ; and Seals. The firft does not dift^er from thofe of
other ar6lic countries : it is beautifully engraven in tab. LXXIII. of the Voyage.
Amidft the extraordinary fcenery in tab. LII. is given the only accurate figure of
the Walrus I have ever feen. I cannot but fufpeii it to be a variety of the fpecies
found in the Spitzbergen feas. The tufks are more flender, and have a flight dif-
tinguifliing flexure : the whole animal is alfo much lefs. The length of one
(not indeed the largeft) was only nine feet four inches ; its greateft circumference
feven feet ten ; weight, exclufive of the entrails, about eleven hundred pounds.
They lay on the ice by thoufands; and in the foggy weather cautioned our navi-
gators, by their roaring, from running foul of it. They are ufually feen fleeping,
but never without fome centinels to give notice of approaching danger : thefe awa-
kened the next to them, they their neighbors, till the whole herd was roufed.
Thefe animals are the objedls of chace with the Tfchut/ki^ who eat the flefli, and
cover their boats and hovels with the flcins. Whales abound in this fea. Fifti, Fism.

the food of Seals, and partly of the polar Bears, muft be found here, notwith-
ftanding they efcaped the notice of the navigators. Shells and fea-plants, the
food of the WalruSy cannot be wanting.

Many fpecies of birds (which will occur in their place) were feen traverfing Birds,

this fea. Geefe and Ducks were obferved migrating fouthward in Anguft \ whether
from their breeding-place in a circum-polar land, or whether from the probably
far-extending land oi America^ is not to be determined. Drift-wood was very
feldom feen here. Two trees, about three feet in girth, with their roots, were
once obferved, but without bark or branches ; a proof that they had been brought
from afar, and left naked by their conteft with the ice and elements.

The fea, from the fouth of Bering's ftreights to the crefcent of ifles between

X 2 Afia

CLX

POPULATION OF

Afia and America^ is very {hallow. It deepens from thefe ftreights (as the Br'iUJk
feas do from thofe of Dover) till foundings are loft in the Pacific Ocean ; but that
does not take place but to the fouth of the ifles. Between them and the ftreights
is an increafe from twelve to fifty-four fathom, except only off* St. Thaddeus Nofs,
where there is a channel of greater depth. From the vulcanic difpofition I am
led to believe not only that there was a feparation of the continents at the ftreights
of Bering, but that the whole fpace, from the ifles to that fmall opening, had once
been occupied by land ; and that the fury of the watery element, a6luated by that
of fire, had, in moft remote times, fubverted and overwhelmed the tradi, and left
the iflands monumental fragments.

Whether that great ev.ejit took ,place before or after the population of America^
is as impoflible, as it is of little moment, for us to know. We are indebted to
our navigators for fettling the long difpute about the point from which it
was efFefled. They, by their difcoveries, prove, that in one place the dif-
tance betv/een continent and continent is only thirty-nine miles, not (as
a celebrated cavilift * would have it) eight hundred leagues. This narrow
ftreight has alfo in the middle two iflands, which would greatly facilitate
the migration of the Aftatla into the New Worlds fuppofing that it took
place in canoes, after the convulfion which rent the two continents afunder.
Befides, it may be added, that thefe ftreights are, even in the fummer, often filled
with ice j in winter, often frozen : in either cafe mankind might find an eafy
pafl^age ; in the laft, the way was extremely ready for quadrupeds to crofs, and
ftock the continent o{ America. I may fairly call in the machinery of vulcanoes
to tear away the other means of tranfit farther to the fouth, and bring in to my
aflliftance the former fuppofition of folid land between Kamtfchatka and Oonalafchoy
inftead of the crefcent of iflands, and which, prior to the great cataftrophe, would
have greatly enlarged the means of migration ; but the cafe is not of that difficulty
to require the folution. One means of paflTage is indifputably eftabliftied.

But where, from the vaft expanfe of the north-eaftern world, to fix on the firft
tribes who contributed to people the new continent, now inhabited almoft from
end to end, is a matter that baffles human reafon. The learned may make bold
and ingenious conjectures, but plain good fenfe cannot always accede to them.
As mankind encreafed in numbers, they naturally protruded one another forward.
Wars might be another caufe of migrations. I know no reafon why the Afiatic
north miffht not be an offclna ■virorum, as well as the European. The overteeming
country, to the eaft of the Riphaan mountains, muft find it neceflTary to difcharge
its inhabitamts : the firft great wave of people was forced forward by the next to

• Xhe author of Rechercbes Philojbphiquts fur Us Amerkains, i. 136.

It,

M E R I C A.

CLXl

it, more tumid and more powerful than itfelf : fuccefllve and new impulTes con-
tinually arriving, fliort reft was given to that which fpread over a more eaflern
tradl ; difturbed again and again, it covered freih regions ; at length, reaching the
fartheft limits of the Old World, found a new one, with ample fpace to occupy
unmolefted for ages; till Columbus curfed them by a difcovery, which brought
again new fins and new deaths to both worlds.

The inhabitants of the New do not confift of the offspring of a iingle
nation : different people, at feveral periods, arrived there ; and it is impoiTible to-
fay, that any one is now to be found on the original fpot of its colonization. It
is impoffible, with the lights which we have fo recently received, to admit that
America could receive its inhabitants (at left the bulk of them) from any other
place than eaftern Afta. A itvf proofs may be added, taken from cuftoms or drefies
common to the inhabitants of both worlds : fome have been long extindt in the
old, others remain in both in full force.

The cuftom of fcalping was a barbarifm in ufe with the Scythians^ who carried Customs common
about them at all times this favag^e mark of triumph : they cut a circle round the to America and

= ^*Ai-i- "^^^ NORTH OF

neck, and ftripped oft the Ikin, as they would that of an ox *. A little image, Asia.
found among the Kalmucs, of a Tartarian deity, mounted on a horfe, and fitting on
a human fkin, with fcalps pendent from the breaft, fully illuftrates the cuftom of
the Scythian progenitors, as defcribed by the Greek hiftorian. This ufage, as the
Europeans know by horrid experience, is continued to this day in America, The
ferocity of the Scythians to their prifoners extended to the remoteft part of Afta.
The Kamtfchatkans^ even at the time of their difcovery by the Ruffians f, put their
prifoners to death by the moft lingering and excruciating inventions ; a practice in
full force to' this very day among the aboriginal Americans. A race of the Scythians
were ftyled Anthropophagi t, from their feeding on human flefti. The people of
Nootka Sound ftill make a repaft on their fellow creatures § : but what is more
wonderful, the favage allies of the Britijh army have been known to throw the
mangled limbs of the French prifoners into the horrible cauldron, and devour them
with the fame relifti as thofe of a quadruped ([.

The Scythians were fayed, for a certain time, annually to transform themfelves
into wolves, and again to refume the human ftiape^. The new-difcovered Ame-
ricans about Nootka Sound, at this time difguife themfelves in drefTes made of the
fkins of wolves and other wild beafts, and wear even the heads fitted to therr

♦ Herodotus, lib. iv. — Compare the account given by the hiftorian with the Tartarian icuntulus, in
Dr. PallasV Travels^ i. tab. x. a. f Hift. Kamtfchatka, 57. J Mela, lib. ii. c. i.

§ f^ojage, ii. II Cohien's Five Indian Nations, i. 1^5. fl Hertdotus, lib. iv.

own.

cLxii CUSTOMS,

own *. Thefe habits they ufe In the chace, to circumvent the animals of the
field. But Wvould not ignorance or fuperftition afcribe to a fupernatural meta-
morphofis thfefe temporary expedients to deceive the brute creation ?

In their marches the Kamtfchatkans never v/ent abreaft, but followed one another
Jn the fame track f. The fame cuftom is exactly obferved by the Americans.

The Tiingufi, the moft numerous nation refident in S'lhiria^ prick their faces
with fmall pundlures, with a needle, in various fhapes ; then rub into them char-
coal, fo that the m.arks become indelible |. This cuftom is ftill obferved in fc-
vcral parts of -^//7<77r<7. The Indinfis on the back of Hudfon's bay, to this day
perform the operation exactly in the fame manner, and pundture the fkin into
various figures j as the natives of New Zealand do at prefent, and as the antient
Britons did with the herb Glajlum^ or Woad § ; and the Virghuans^ on the firft dif-
covery of that country by the Englijh \,

The Tung uji u{e canoes made of birch-bark,. diftended over ribs of wood, and
nicely fewed together <[[, The Canadian, and many other Jmerican nations, ufe
nc other fort of boats. The paddles of the Tungiifi are broad at each end j thofe
of the people near Cook\ river, and of Oonalafcha, are of the fame form.

In burying of the dead, many of the American nations place the corpfe at full
length, after preparing it according to their cuftoms ; others place it in a fitting
pofture, and lay by it the moll valuable cloathing, wampum, and other matters.
The Tartars did the fame : and both people agree in covering the whole with earth,
fo as to form a tumulus, barrow, or carnedd **.

Some of the American nations hang their dead in trees. Certain of the Tunguji
obferve a fimilar cuftom.

I can draw fome analogy from drefs : conveniency in that article muft have been
confulted on both continents, and originally the materials muft have been the
fame, the (kins of birds and beafts. It is fingular, that the conic bonnet of the
Chinefe fhould be found among the people of Nootka. I cannot give into the no-
tion, that the Chinefe contributed to the population of the New World; but I can
readily admit, that a (hipwreck might furnifh thofe Americans with a pattern for
that part of the drefs.
iiMii AR TEA- I» refpeil to the features and form of the human body, almoft every tribe found

TUREs. along the weftern coaft has fome fimilitude to the Tartar nations, and ftill retain

the little eyes, fmall nofes, high cheeks, and broad faces. They vary in fize,

* Voyage, ii. 311, 329. — A very curious head of a Wolf, fitted for this ufe, is preferved in the
Leverjan Mufeum. f HiJ}. Kamtfch. 61.. J Bell's Tra'vets, 0(5l. ed. i. 240.

§ Herodian in f^ita Sever't, lib. iii. || De Brj, rirgima, tab. iii. in. ^ YjbranJt

IdeS) in Harris's Coll. ii. 929. ** Compare Colde/iy 1.175 LaJitaUf i. 416 5 and Archueologia,

ii. 222, tab. xiv,

7 from

E S K I M A U X.

CLXIIl

from the lufty Calmucs to the little Nogalans. The internal Americans^ fuch as
che Five Indian nations, who are tall of body, robuft in make, and of oblong
faces, are derived from a variety among the Tartars themfelves. The fine race of
Tfchutjki feem to be the flock from which thofe Americans are derived. The Tfchutjki
again, from that fine race of Tartars, the Kabardinfki, or inhabitants of Kabarda.

But zhont Prince William'' s Sound begins a race, chiefly diftinguiflied by their E.kimau:

drefs, their canoes, and their inftruments of the chace, from the tribes to
the fouth of them. Here commences the EJkimaux people, or the race known
by that name in the high latitudes of the eaftern fide of the continent.
They may be divided into two varieties. At this place they are of the largeft
fize. As they advance northward they decreafe in height, till they dwindle
into the dwarfifh tribes which occupy fome of the coafts of the Icy Sea*^
and the maritime parts of Hudfons bay, of Greenland, and Terra de Labrador.
The famous Japanefe map f places fome iflands feemingly within the ftreights of
Bering, on which is beftowed the title of Ta Zue^ or the kingdom of the dwarfs.
Does not this in fome manner authenticate the chart, and give us reafon to fuppofe
that America was not unknown to the Japanefe, and that they had (as is mentioned
hy Kampfer znd-CharlevoixX) made voyages of difcovery, and, according to the
laft, adlually wintered on the continent ? That they might have met with the
EJkimaux is very probable ; whom, in comparifon of themfelves, they might juftly
diftinguifli by the name of dwarfs. The reafon of their low ftature is very ob-
vious : thefe dwell in a mod fevere climate, amidfl penury of food ; the former in
One much more favorable, abundant in provifions; circumftances that tend to prevent
the degeneracy of the human frame. At the ifland of Oonalafcha a dialect of the
EJkimaux is in ufe, which was continued along the whole coaft, from thence north-
ward. I have before mentioned the fimilarity in the inftruments between the
Americans of this fide of the coaft and the Efkimaux, which is continued even to
Greenland.

I cannot think the accounts well fupported, that America received any part of Welsh«

Its firft inhabitants from Europe, prior to the fifteenth century. The TVelJh fondly
imagine that our country contributed, in 1170, to people the New World, by the
adventure of Madoc, fon of Owen Gwynedd, who, on the death of his father, failed
there, and colonized part of the country. All that is advanced in proof is, a quo-?
tation from one of our poets, which proves no more than that he had diftinguiflied
himfelf by fea and land. It is pretended that he made two voyages': that failing
weft, he left Ireland Co far to the north, that he came to a land unknov/n, where

* See Mr. Hearne^s Difco'veries. -J- Given by Kampfer to Sir Hafis Sloane, and now preferred

.^i\xi BritiJ}} Mufeum J Hifi, Japan, \, 6-j,'-'Chfirlevoix,faJlesChronologiquest ann. 168.

"'■ he

cLxiv NOT PEOPLED FROM EUROPE.

he hw many firange things : that he returned home, and, making a report
of the fruitfulnefs of the new-difcovered country, prevaled on numbers of the
l^e/Jh of each fex to accompany him on a fecond voyage, from which he never
returned. The favorers of this opinion aflert, that feveral IVelJh vi'ords, fuch
as gwrando, to hearken or liften ; the ifle of Croefo or welcome; Cetpe Bre-
ton, from the name of our own ifland ; gwynndwr, or the white water j, and
pengwin, or the bird with a v/hite head j are to be found in the American lan-
guage *. I can lay little flrefs on this argument, becaufe likenefs of found in a few-
words will not be deemed fufficient to eftablifh the fa<5l j efpecially if the meaning
has been evidently perverted : for example, the whole Pinguin tribe have unfor-
tunately not only black heads, but are not inhabitants of the northern hemifphere ;,
the name was alfo beftowed on them by the Putch, a Pinguedtne, from theic
exceflive fatnefsf: but the inventor of this, thinking to do honor to our country^
inconfiderately caught at a word of European: origin, and unheard of in the New
World. It may be added, that the fVelJh were never a naval people j that the
age in which Madoc lived was peculiarly ignorant in navigation ; and the moft
which they could have attempted muft have been a mere coarting voyage.
Norwegians. The Norwegians, put in for fhare of the glory, on grounds rather better than ths

Weljh. By their fettlements in Iceland and in Greenland, they had arrived within
fo fmall a diftance of the New World, that there is at left a poflibility of its having
been touched at by a people fo verfed in maritime affairs, and fo adventurous, as the
antient Nortmans were. The proofs are much more numerous than thofe produced
by the Britijh hiftorians ; for the difcovery is mentioned in feveral of the Icelandic
manufcripts. The period was about the year 1002, when it was vifited by one Biorn;
and the difcovery purfued to greater efFedl by Leif, the fon of Eric, the difcoverer of
Greenland, It does not appear that they reached farther than Labrador; on which
coaft they met with EJkimaux, on whom they beftowed the name of Skralinguesy
or dwarfifti people, from their fmall ilature. They were armed with bows and
arrows, and had leathern canoes, fuch as they have at prefent. All this is pro-
bable ; nor fliould the tale of the German, called Turkil, one of the crew, invar
lidate the account. He was one day miffing ; but foon returned, leaping and
iinging with all the extravagant marks of joy a bon vivant could fhew, on difco-
vering the inebriating fruit of his country, the grape % : Torfaus even fays, that
he returned in a ftate of intoxication §. To convince his commander, he brought
feveral bunches, who from that circumftance named the country Finland, I do

» PoweVsHiJi. Wales i aal, 1*9. f C/m/. Exot. 101. t Malkfi Nortbern Antiq.

F.ngh ed. i. zS*. § Hiji, rinlandia antiq. per Tborm, Torfaunif p. 8.

not

(QUADRUPEDS OF THE NEW WORLD. clxv

not deny that North Jmerua produces the true vine*; but it is found in far
lower latitudes than our adventurers could reach in the time employed in their
voyage, which was comprehended in a very fmall fpace. I have no doubt of the
difcovery; but, as the land was never colonized, nor any advantages made of
it, it may be fairly conjectured, that they reached no farther than the barren country
of Labrador.

The continent which flocked America with the human race, poured in the
brute creation through the fame pafiage. Very few quadrupeds continued in the
peninfula of Katntfehatka* I can enumerate only twenty-five which are inhabitants
of land J for I muft omit the marine animals, which had at all times power of
changing their fituation : all the reft perfifted in their migration, and fixed their refi-
dence in the New World. Seventeen of the Kamtfchatkan quadrupeds are found
in America : others are common only to Sibiria or Tartary^ having, for unknown
caufes, entirely evacuated Kamtfchatka, and divided themfelves between America
and the parts of Afta above cited. Multitudes again have deferted the Old World,
even to an individual, and fixed their feats at diftances moft remote from the fpot
from which they took their departure ; from mount Ararat, the refting-place of
the ark, in a central part of the Old World, and excellently adapted for the
difperfion of the animal creation to all its parts. We need not be ftartled at
the vaft journies many of the quadrupeds took to arrive at their prefent feats :
Might not numbers of fpecies have found a convenient abode in the vaft
Alps of Af.a, inftead of wandering to the Cordilleras of Chill? or might not
others have been contented with the boundlefs plains of Tartary, inftead of tra-
velling thoufands of miles, to the extenfive flats of Pampas F — To endeavour to
elucidate common difficulties is certainly a trouble worthy of the philofopher and
of the divine 3 not to attempt it would be a criminal indolence, a neglect to

Vindicate the ways of God to man.

But there are multitudes of points beyond the human ability to explain, and yet
are truths undeniable : the fails are indifputable, notwithftanding the caufes
are concealed. In fuch cafes, faith muft be called in to our relief. It would
certainly be the height of folly to deny to that Being who broke open the great
fountains of the deep to efFeit the deluge — and afterwards, to compel the difperfion
of mankind to people the globe, diredled the confufion of languages — powers in-
ferior in their nature to thefe. After thefe wondrous proofs of Omnipotency,

* Clover's Account of Virginia^ Phil* Tranf, Abr. iii. 570.

y it

QtTADRUPEDS OF THE NEW WORLD.

it will be abfurd to deny the poflibility of infufing inftina: into the brute creation.
Deus ejl an'ima hrutorum \ God himfelf is the foul of brutes: His pleafure
mull have determined their will, and direded feveral fpecies, and even whole
genera, by impulfe irrefiftible, to move by flow progreflion to their deftined re-
^rions. But for that, the Llama and the Pacos might ftill have inhabited the
heights o'i Armenia and fome more neighboring Alps^ inftead of laboring to gain
the diflrant Peruvian Andes ; the whole genus of Armadillos^ flow of foot, would
never have abfolutely quitted the torrid zone of the Old World for that of the
New J and the whole tribe of Monkies would have gambolled together in the
forefts oi India ^ inftead of dividing their refidence between the fhades oi Indojlan
and the deep forefts oi tht Brafils. Lions and Tigers might have infefted the
hot parts of the New World, as the firft do the deferts of Africa, and the laft the
provinces of Afta ; or the Pantherine animals of South America might have re-
mained additional fcourges with the favage beafts of thofe antient continents.
The Old World would have been overftocked with animals ; the New remained an
unanimated wafte ! or both have contained an equal portion of every beafl: of
the earth. Let it not be objeiled, that animals bred in a fouthern climate, af-
ter the defcent of their parents from the ark, would be unable to bear the froft and
fnow of the rio-orous north, before they reached South America^ the place of their
final deftination. It muft be confidered, that the migration muft have been the
work of ages ; that in the courfe of their progrefs each generation grew
hardened to the climate it had reached ; and that after their arrival in America,
they would again be gradually accuftomed to warmer and wanner climates, in
their removal from north to fouth, as they had in the reverfe, or from fouth to
north. Part of the Tigers ftill inhabit the eternal fnows of Ararat, and mul-
titudes of the very fame fpecies live, but with exalted r^ge, beneath the Line, in
the burning foil of Bortieo or Sumatra ; but neither Lions or Tigers ever mi-
crated into the New World. A few of the firft are found in Ind.ia and Perfia,
but they are found in numbers only in Africa^ The Tiger extends as far north
as weftern Tartary, in lat. 40. 50, but never has reached Africa. I fhall clofe
this account with obferving, that it could be from no other part of the globe
except Afia, from whence the New World could receive the animal creation.

The late voyage of the illuftrious Cook has reduced the probable conjedures of
philofophers into certainty. He has proved that the limits of the Old and New World
approach within thirteen leagues of each other. We know that the intervening
freights are frequently frozen up ; and we have great reafon to fuppofe, that the two
continents might have been once united, even as low as the Aleutian iflands, or lat.
52. 30. Thus are difcovered two means of paflTage from Jfa to A?mri(a ; the laft
5 '^

QUADRUPEDS OF THE NEW WORLD. CLXvn

iri a climate not more rigorous than that which feveral animals might very well
endure, and yet afterwards proceed gradually to the extreme of heat.

In fa£t, every other fyftem of the population of the New World is now over-
thrown. The conjedures of the learned, refpedling the vicinity of the Old and
New, are now, by the difcoveries of our great navigator, loll: in convidtion. The
{trained fyftems of divines, laudably indeed exerted in elucidating Sacred
Writ, appear to have been ill-founded; but, in the place of imaginary hypothe-
fes, the real place of migration is uncontrovertibly pointed out. Some (from a
pafTage in Plato) have extended over the Jtlantlc, from the ftreights oi Gibraltar to
the coaft of North and Soiith America^ an ifland equal in fize to the continents of
Afia 2.\\^ Africa \ over which had pafTed, as over a bridge, from the latter, men
and animals ; wool-headed Negroes, and Lions and Tigers *, none of which
ever exifted in the New World, A mighty fea arofe, and in one day and night
engulphed this ftupendous tradl:, and with it every being which had not com-
pleted its migration into America. The whole Negro race, and almoft every
Quadruped, now inhabitants of Africa^ perifhed in this critical day. Five only
are to be found at prefent in America ; and of thefe only one, the Bear f , in South
America, Not a fingle cuftom, common to the natives of Africa and America^ to
evince a common origin. Of the Quadrupeds, the Bear, Stag, Wolf, Fox,
and Weefel, are the only animals which we can pronounce with certainty to be
found on each continent. The Stag :{:, Fox, and Weefel, have made alfo no
farther progrefs in Africa than the north ; but on the fame continent the Wolf is
fpread over every part, yet is unknown in South America^ as are the Fox and Weefel.
I fufpeft, befides, that the Stag hath not advanced farther fouth than Mexico,
In Africa and South America the Bear is very local, being met with only in the
north of the firft, and on the Andes in the laft. Some caufe unknown arrefted
its progrefs in Africa^ and impelled the migration of a few into the Chilian AlpSy
and induced them to leave unoccupied the vaft tradt from North America to the
lofty Cordilleras.'— ^My promifed Table of Quadrupeds will at once give a view
of thofe which inhabit North America.^ and are either peculiar to it, or are met

* Catcott on the Deluge, edit. ad. p. 139, 15, &c.

•f- On the reafoning of Mr. Zimmerman {Zool. Geogr. 476), and the opinion of Mr. Erxlehen {Syfl.
Regn. An. 508), I give up my notion of the Panther (Hiji. Sluad. N° i53)> being a native oi South
America. It is moft probable, that the Ikin which I faw at a furrier''s (hop, which was faid to have
been brought from the Brafds, had originally been carried there from the vveitern coaft of ^r/ra,
where the Portuguefe have connderable fettlements, and a great flave-trade for their American colonics,
and where thofe animals abound.

X Shan-v's Travels, 243. Quere ? vyhether exactly the fame with the European.

y 2 with

CLXVIII

TABLE OF Q.UADRUPEDS.

with in other countries. It certainly will point out the courfe they have taken
in their migration ; and, in cafe mifnomers are avoided, will reduce to the fingle
continent of Afta the original country from whence they fprung. Men of the
firft abilities, and firft in learning, who have negledled the ftudy of natural
hiftory, will give Lions and Tigers to America^ raifled by the ignorance of tra-
vellers, who miftake the Puma, N" 14 of this Work, for the firft j and the fpotted
wild beafts, allied to the Pantherine race, for the fecond.

TABLE OF Q^U ADRUPEDS.

H

D.

GENU S.

I. Ox.

IL Sheep.

in. Deer.

Bifon,

Muflc,

Argali,

Rein,

OLD WORLD.

N° 1. 1 In parts oi Lithuania, and
about mount Caucafus ;
except there, univerfally
domefticated.

N°2

p. 12.

Moofe, N° 3

N«

A variety in the interior
parts of Guinea^ and the
fouth of Africa. See
Hijl, ^ad. i. N° 9.

Sardinia. Corfica, Crete.
North of India. Per/tan
Alps. About the Onon
and Argun, in Sibiria.
Mongalia, to lat. 60.
Eaft of the Lena, and
quite to Kamtfchatka.

Norway. Sweden, to lat.
64. RuJJia. Sibiria, as low
as lat. 53. As far eaft as
Lake Baikal ; and in the
north of China to the
north of Corea. lat. 45*.

Lapland. Norway. Samoi-

edea. Along the ArSlic
coafts,

NEW WORLD.

To the weft of Canada, and
as low as Louifiana, In
New Mexico^ on the wef-
tern fide of North Ame-
rica.

To the north of Hudfon's
Bay, from Churchil river
to lat. 73, and among
the Chrijiinaux, and in
New Mexico.

Sufpeded to be found in
California ; but not on
the beft authorities.

Hudfon^s Bay. Canada. No-
va Scotia. New England 'y
and near the northern
part of the river Ohio*

Hudfon's Bay. Northern

parts of Canada. La-
bradoTy

• Or lat, 4s, according to Mr, Zipimeman's mw M^]p»

TABLE OF QJJ ADRUPEDS.

cLxrx

GENUS.

Stag,

N»5.

OLD WORLD,
coafts, to Kamtfchatka.
In the UralUan moun-
tains to Kungur, in Jat.
57. 10. About Lake
Baikal, Spiizbergen.
Greenland.
Norway, and moft part of
Europe to the fouth. In
the north of Jjia. China.
Barbary. E.

NEW WORLD.
hrador. Ifland of NeiV'
foundland.

Virginian, N° 6.

Mexican Roe,N°7 .
Roe, N^ 8.

Norway, Sweden. Moft
part of Europe, except
RuJJia, Scotland.

From Canada, over all
parts of North America.
Mexico,

From the provinces fouth

of Canada to Florida.

Perhaps in Guiana.
Interior north- weftern parts

of America ? Mexico.
According to Charlevoix ■,

in Canada P

IV. Doc.

Wolf, N° 9.

ArSiicY o-K,W 1.0.

Common Fox,

N

Fox, I
° 11.)

D I V. I.

From the ArSfic circle to^
the moft fouthern part
of Europe. In AJia, from
the circle to Perfia.
Kamtfchatka. All parts
of Africa.

Within the whole Ar£lic
circle. Iceland. Spitz-
bergen. Greenland. Fin-
mark. North of Sibiria.
Kamtfchatka, and its ifles.

In all parts of Europe, and

the cold and temperate

parts of Afia, Kamtf-

chatka^

From Hudfon's Bay to the
moft fouthern parts of
North America,

Hudfon's Bay. The ifles
in the high latitudes on"
the weftern fide of Am^
rica*

From Hudfon^s Bay, crofs

the continent to the Fox

Ifles* Labrador. New-

faundland.

CIXX

TABLE OF (QUADRUPEDS.

CEUV S,

V. Cat.

VI. Bjear.

Grey, N^ 12.

Silvery, N" 13.
Puma, N° 14,

Lynx, N° 15.

Bay Lynx, N° 16.

Mountain, N°i7.
Polar, N" 18.

Black, N° 19.
Brown, N" slo.

Wolverene,No2i,

OLD WORLD.

chatka, and its furtheft
ifles. Iceland. £.

Forefts of the north of
Europe, and many of the
fouth. Spain. North of
Jfia, and the mountains
in the north of India *.

Within the whole polar
circle of Europe and
Jfia.

Jefo Mafima, north of ^a-
pan ; perhaps in 'Japan.

In moft parts of Europe^
north and fouth. The
fame in Afia.^ even as far
as Arahia. Barbary f-
Ceylon, Kamtfchatka.

North oi Norway. Lapland.
North of Sibiria, Kamtf-
chatka,

NEW WORLD.
foundland. Canada. Not

further fouth : a variety

only, the Brandt Fox,

in Penfylvania.
From New England to the

fouthern end of North

America.
In Louiftana.
From Canada to Florida ;

thence through Mexico^

quite to ^ito in Peru.
From Canada, over moft

parts of North Anurica*

In the province of NeiM
York.

Carolina, and perhaps other
parts of North America.

The fame in Ajnerica j alfo
as low as Hudfon's Bay
and Labrador.

In all parts of North Amc
rica.

To the north - weft of
Hudfoa's Bay, and on the
weftern fide of America,
About Nootka Sound,
On the Andes of Peru %•

As far north as the Copper

River, and fouth as the

country between lake

Huron and Superior, On

the

• As I have been affured by Doflor Pallas, fince the publication of my Hifory of Siuadrupeds.
'^ Skavj^ Travels, iif^, % Condemm^s Trawls, %i,^Ulloa'sFojage, i, 461,

tABLE OF Q.UADRUPEDS.

CLXXI

GBNUS,

VII. Badger.

VIII. Opossum.

IX. WEESEi.

Raccoon, N« 22.

No 23.

Virginian, N" 24.
Common, N°25.

Stoat, N** 26.

Pine Martin,

N

n, 7

°27.j

X. Otter»

Pekan, N°28.

Vifon, N°29.

Sable, N°30.

Fifher, N°3i.

Striated, N" 32.

Skunk, N°33.

Common, N° 34.

OLD WORLD.

In the fouth of Norway,
and all the more fouth-
ern parts of Europe, In
the temperate parts of
Jf.a^ as far as China
eaftward. E,

Moft parts of Europe. Si-
biria. Karntfchatka. Bar-
bary. E.

All the northern parts of
Europe and JJia ; and as
far as Kamtfchatka and
the Kuril ifles. E.

North of Europe. Rare in
France. Only in the weft
of Sibiria, In China. E.

Sibiria. Kamtfchatka. Kuril
ifles.

Northern Europe and JJia.
Kamtfchatka, E,

NEW WORLD.

the weftern fide of North
America,

From New England to Flo'
rida. Mexico. Ifles of
Maria, near Cape Cori^
entes, in the South Sea.

In the neighborhood of
HudforCs Bay. Terra de
Labrador, and as low as
Penfylvania,

As far north as Canada,

and from thence to the

Brafils and Beru.
Hudfons Bay. Newfound"

land. As far fouth as

Carolina.
Hudfons Bay, and as low

as Newfoundland and

Canada,

Northern parts of North
America, quite to the
South Sea.

Hudfon's Bay, Canada,

Canada,

Canada,

Hudfons Bay. New Eng-
land. Penfylvania.

Penfylvania to Louifiana.

From Hudfon^s Bay to Peru.

Y torn Hudfon's Bay ioLoui-^
fiana.

Leffer,;

CLXXK

GENUS,

TABLE OF QUADRUPEDS.

Lcfler, N° 35.

Sea,

N°36.

OLD WORLD.

About the banks of the
Talk. Poland. Lithuania.
Finland.

Kamtfchatka. Kuril ifles.

NEW WORLD.

From New Jerfey to Co'
rolina.

D I V.

ir.

XL Hare.

XIL Beaver.

XIIL PORCU

:1

PINE

XIV. Makmot.

Varying, N° 37.
American^ N° 38.
Alpine, N° 39.
Caftor, N° 40.

Mulk, N°4i.

Canada, N° 42.

^ebec, N° 43
Maryland, N°44.

Hoary, N° 45.
Tail-lefs, N°46.
Earlefs, N<^ 47.

XV, Squirrel.

Scandinavia. RuJJia. Sihi-
ria. Kamtfchatka. Green-
land. E.

From the Altaic chain to
lake Baikal \ thence to
Kamtfchatka.

Scandinavia. About the
Jenefei and Kondu. In
Cafan, and about the
Talk.

Hudfon, N° 48.

Bohemia. Auflria. Hunga-
ry. From the Occa over
the temperate parts of
Sibiria. About Jakutz.
Kamtfchatka.

Weftern coafts of America.

Hudfon's Bay. About
Cook's river.

From Hudfon's Bay to the
extremity of North Amc'
rica.

Aleutian ifles. Poflibly the
weft of North America,

From Hudfon^s Bay to Lou-
ifiana.

From HudfonsBay to Lou-

ifiana.
From Hudfon's Bay to Vir^

ginia,
Canada.
From Penfylvania to the

Bahama ifles.
North of North America.
Hudfon's Bay.
Weftern fide oiNirth Ami'

rica.

Hudfon's Bay. Labrador,
Grey,

TABLE OF (QUADRUPEDS.

CLXXill

GENUS.

XVI. Dormouse.

XVII. Rat.

XVIII. Shrew.

XIX. Mole.

Grey, N°49.

Black, N°5o.
Flying, N''5i.

Hooded, N°52>
Severn River, "7
N°53.1
Striped, N° 54.
Englijh ? N" 55.

Black, N''56.

Jmerican, N°58.
Water, N^fg.

OLD WORLD.

Moufe, N° 60.

Field, N°6i.

Virginian^ N° 62.
Labrador^ N°63.
Hudfons, N"64.
Meadow, N° 65.

Hare-tailed ?

N'>66
Foetid, N° 67.

]

Long-tailed, 7
N°68-i
Radiated, N° 69.
Brown, N° 70.

Sibiriai as high as lat. 65.

Sweden, and all Europe
fouth. E. Carolina P

All Europe. Many of the
South Sea iflands. E,

Mongolia.

From Lapland to the fouth
oi Europe. From Peterf-
burgh to Kamtfchatka,
and as low as the Caf-
pian fea, and Perfia. E.

Univerfal. E,

All Europe. Not beyond
the Urallian chain. E.

Sweden. All temperate -Kz</^
Jia. In Sibiria only to
the Irtifch, E.

Sibiria,

Europe. Sibiria. Kamtfchat-
ka. E.

NEW WORLD.

New England to Peru and

Chili.
New England to Mexico.
From tlje fouthern part of

Hudfon's Bay to Mexics.
Virginia.

Hudfon's Bay.

Hudfon's Bay to Louifiana*

The rocks among the Blue

Mountains.
North America.
From Canada to Carolina.

Among the rocks, with the

Black Rat.
Hudfons Bay. New Tork»

Virginia.

Hudfons Bay, Labrador.
Same places.

Hudfon^s Bay, Newfound-
land,

Hudfon's Bay.
Hudfon^s Bay. Carolina.

New York. Interior parts

of Hudfons Bay,
New York,
New York.

D I V.

CLXXIV

TABLE OF Q.UADRUPEDS.

D I V.

III.

GENUS.

XX. Walrus.

XXI. Seal.

XXII. Manati.

Ara,

ic.

N°7i.

OLD WORLD.

Spltzhergen. Greenland. No-
va Zemlja. The coafl: of
iUcFrozen Sea. And on the
Jfiatlc fide, to the fouth
of Bering's ftreights, as
low as lat. 62. 50.
Common, N° 72. ] All th^ European and north-
ern Afiatlc feas, even to
the fartheft north. Kamtf-
chatka. E.

Greenland and Kamtfchatka.
E.

White Sea. Iceland. Spitz-
bergen. Kamtfchatka.

Spitzbergen. Greenland. Ice-
land. White Sea. Kamtf-
I chatka,
N° 79. Kamtfchatka, New Zealand.

Great, N" 73.
Leporine, N° 75.
Harp, N° 77.

Urfine,

Leonine, N° 80.

Whale-tailed, 1
N°8i.l
Sea Ape, p. i8i>

Kamtfchatka*

Bering's ifle, and near the
ifle of St. Mauritius.

XXIII. Bat.

New lor^, N 82.

Long haired, 7

No 83. 3

Noaule, N<'84.

D I V. IV.

New Zealantf.

France. E,

NEW WORLD.
Hudfons Bay. Gulph of.
St. Laurence. On the
weftcrn fide of America,
as low as lat. 58. 42.

Northern feas of America.

Weft of North America.

There can be no doubt
that every fpecies of
Seal is found on the
American coaft.

Weft of America^ and from

the ifle of Gallipagos to

Nevj Georgia,
Wt^oi America. Streights

of Magellan. Staten land.

Falkland ifles.
Weft of America*

Weft of America.

New York,
Carolina.
Hudfon's Bay,

Some

JOURNEY TO THE ICY SEA. clxxv

Some years ago a very important difcovery was made, not very remote from the Journey to the
place where Captain Cook was obliged to defift from his northern voyage.
Mr. Samuel Hearncy in the fervice of the HudforH s Bay Company, by dire£tion of
the governors, began a journey, on December yth 1770, towards the northern li-
mits oi America. He went attended only by Indians, with whom he had been long
acquainted. He fet out from Prince of JFales fort, 58, 50, north lat. He
for a long fpace took a north-weftern courfe, croffed Menifchtic lake, in
lat. 61, a water thirty-five miles in breadth, full of fine iflands, and joining with
the river NamaJJy. He pafied over Wiethen and CoJJed lakes, and from the laft
kept due weft. In April he reached Thleweyaza Teib, a fmall lake in long, ig,
weft from Ckurchil fort, lat. 61. 30, near which he made fome ftay to build
canoes, now requifite againft the breaking up of the froft'. From that lake he
began a courfe due north, and crofted a chain of lakes, of which Titumeg is
one. In lat. 64. he went over Pejl^ew lake j after that, the great lake Cogeed^
«ut of which iflues a river pointing north-eaft, which is fuppofed to fall into
Baffin % bay. About the middle of June he crofted the great river Conge- catha-
wha-chaga^ in lat, 68. 46; and fromChurchil nvev weft long. 24. 2. About thofe
parts are the Stoney Mountains, extending in longitude from 116 to 122 from
London: craggy, and of a tremendous afpedl. On July 7th he arrived at Buffalo lake,
in lat. 69. 30 : here he firft faw the Mujk Buffalo, N° 2. Near the north end is
Grizzle Bear-hill, in about lat. 70, fo called from its being the haunt of numbers
of thofe animals. On July 13th he reached the banks of Copper River, which runs Copper River.
due north. into the Icy Sea. About the fouth end is much wood, and very high
hills. Its current is very rapid, and its channel choaked with fhoals, and crofted
with ftoney ridges, which form three great catarads. Its banks are high, the
breadth about a hundred and eighty yards ; but in fome places it expands into
the form of a lake. In an ifland of the river unfortunately happened to be a
fummer encampment of five tents of EJkimaux. The Indians attendant on Mr. Eskimaux.

Hearne grew furious at the fight of them. It is their firm opinion, that thefe
favages are magicians, and that all the evils they experience refult from their
incantations. Mr. Hearne in vain folicited his Indians to forbear injuring thefe
poor people. They, with their ufual cowardice, deferred the attack till night,
when they furprifed and murdered every one, to the number of between twenty
and thirty. A young woman made her efcape, and embraced Mr. Hearne's feet ;
but ftie was purfued by a barbarian, and transfixed to the ground. He obferved
in their tents (which were made of deer-ftcins with the hair on) copper veflels,
and whale-bone, and the fkins of Seals, wooden troughs, and kettles made of a
foftftone (by his defcription a lapis ollaris), and difhes and f]:oons formed from

z 2 the

cLxxvi JOURNEY TO THE ICY SEA.

the thick horns of the Buffalo. Their arms are fpears, darts, and bows and ar-
rows ; the lall: pointed with ftone or copper, but moft rudely made, for want of
proper tools. In their drefs they much refemble the EJkimaux of Hudfons Bay,
but the tails of their jackets are fhorter ; neither do the women, like them, ftiffen
out the tops of their boots. Their canoes differ in not having long projedling prows,
but in other refpeils are of the fame conftrudlion. In moft circumftances thefe
people refemble thofe of the Bay ; and differ materially only in one, for the
men in thefe pull out by the roots all the hair of their heads. — Mr. Hearne firft
faw the fea on July i6, at the diftance of eight miles. He went to the mouth
of the river (in lat. 72 ; v/eft long, from Lojjdon 121) which he found full of fhoals
and falls, and inacceffible to the tide, which feemed to flow twelve or fourteen
feet. The fea was at this time full of ice, and on many pieces he faw Seals.
The land trended both to the eaft and to the weft, and the fea was full of iflands.
The land about Copper river, for the fpace of nine or ten miles to the fea, con-
fided of fine marfties, filled in many places with tall Willow, but no fort of berry-
bearing fhrubs. There are no woods within thirty miles of the mouth of Copper
river ; and thofe which then appear, confift of ill-fliaped and ftunted Pines.

The people who live nearcft to this river, are the Copper-jnine Indians, and
the Plat-cotes de Cbiens, or Dog-ribbed Indians ; thefe have no diredl commerce
with Hudfons Bay, but fell their furs to the more fouthern Indians, who come
for them, and bring them down to the fettlements. The Dog-ribbed Indians
ftill make their knives of ftones and bones, and head their arrows with flate.
The Copper Indians have abundance of native copper in their country ; they
make with it ice-chiffels and arrow-heads. The mine is not known ; but I
find that an Indian chief, who had many years ago communication with a Mr.
Froji, one of the Company's fervants, fays, that the copper was ftruck off a rock
with fharp ftones ; and that it lay in certain iflands far to the northward, where
was no nisht durino- fummer *.

Mr. Hearne fet out on his return the 22d of July. He took, in fome places, a
route different from what he did in going, and got to the fettlements in June 1772.
I have perufed the journal, and had frequent converfation with Mr. Hearne the
laft year. I took the liberty to queftion him about the waters he had croffed
during winter upon the ice j and whether they might not have been at that time
obftni6led ftreights, a paffage to the Pacific Ocean ? He affured me, that he could
make no miftake : that he paffed over many of them in canoes during the fum-

* Dohbi's Account of Hudforis Bajf Sec. 47.

mer.

GREENLAND. cLxxvu

mer, and that the others had large rivers running out of them, almofl: every
one to the weft: that the Indians^ who crofled them annually, in their way
to the north to trade for furs, were exceedingly well acquainted with them,
and knew them to be frefti-water lakes ; and in particular ufed to fifh in them for
Pikes, fifh notorioufly known never to frequent falt-water.

I muft now take a blind unguided courfe along the Icy Sea. The charts give Greenlaxd.
the land a turn to the fouth, in lat. 8i. long. 22 from London, This is the moft
northern extremity of the country called Greenland^ if it reaches fo far ; but, be-
yond the difcovery hy ^Ar. Hearnsy in lat. 72,- the northern limits given in our.
charts appear to be merely conjectural. To the fouth, on the eaftern coaft, in
1670, was feen land in lat. 79. Another part, in lat. 77. 30, called in the maps
the land of Edam, was feen in 1655. The inlet named Gacl-hajnkes, in lat. 75,
was difcovered in 1664. A headland was obferved, in 1665, a degree further
fouth : and in 1607 our celebrated Hudfon difcovered what he named Hold with
Hope, in lat. 73 *. Excepting the laft, the reft of the attempts were made by
the Danes, for the recovery of Old Greenland. Gael-hamkes alone continues known
to navigators, and is annually frequented by European Whale-fifhers, who ex-
tend their bufinefs even to this coaft. It is reprefented as a great ftreight, twenty-
five leagues wide, communicating with Baffns Bay. A fpecies of Whale, fre-
quent in Davis's Streights, and not found on this fide of the coafts, is often (qqxi
here harpooned with the ftone weapons of the inhabitants of the oppofite country ;
which fifli muft have efcaped through this paflagef. The land to the north oi Gael-
hamkes is level, and not very high j and within five or fix leagues from it are
foundings. That to the fouth is very lofty, and rifes into peaks like that of
Spitzbergen; and the fea oppofite to it is fathomlefs %.

In lat. 71. long. 8. weft from London, is John Mayens ifland, formerly much John Mayen's
frequented by Whale-fifliers ; but thofe animals have now left the neighboring
fea. The north end rifes into a prodigious mountain called Beerenberg, or the
Bears, from its being the haunt of numbers ; but it is fo fteep as to be inacceffible
to all human creatures. The fea, within mufket-fliot from fhore, was fixty fa-
thoms deep ; a little farther the depth is paft the reach of the line ||.

Oppofite to /;^/<v«(^ begins the once-inhabited part of Old Greenland. A very OldGreenlak©.
deep ftreight opens a little oppofite to Snafelnas, and runs acrofs Greenland, near
Jacob's Haven, into Davis's Streights, fo as quite to infulate the country : it is

* PurchasyVA. c^(>%. ^ Foyages par de Pages, u. zzz. J Same. ^Marten^s

Spitzb, 186.

now

ctxxvm OLD GREENLAND.

now almoft entirely clofcd with ice, and annually fills the fea with the greated
icebergs^ which are forced out of it. A little to the north of the eaftern entrance
are two mountains of a ftupendous height, called Blaaferk and Htiitferky cafed in
perpetual ice. The whole country, to the fouthern end, confifts of fimilar
mountains: a (e.w exhibit a ftoney furface; but the greater part are genuine
glacieres^ (hooting into lofty peaks, or rugged fummits : yet fuch a country as
^' '''^^'^ ^^ °^' this became the fettlement of numbers of AVif^o-zWj durinsi feveral centuries.
The valiant Eric Raude^ or the Red^ having committed a murder in his own country
(a common caufe for feeking adventures, with the heroes of Greece as well as ^can-
dinavia) fled here in the tenth century. Numbers of his countrymen followed
him. Le'if^ his fon, became a convert to Chriftianity. Religion flourifhed here:
a biflioprick was eftabliflied, and monafteries founded. The cathedral was at
Gardar^ a little to the fouth of the polar circle.
VoyAGE OF THE In Hackliiyt * is a relation of the voyage of the two TLeni (noble Venetians)
ZtNi. Yvho in 1380 vifited this country, and give evidence to the exiftence of the con-

vent, and a church dedicated to St. Thomas^ pofiefled by friers preachers. It
appears to have been built near a vulcano, and the materials were lava, ce-
mented with a (ort of pulvis puteolanus^ which is known to be a vulcanic at-
tendant. A fpring of boiling water was near the houfe, and was conveyed into it
for all their culinary ufes. I am not averfe to giving credit to this account ;
there being no reafon to deny the former exiftence of burning mountains, when
fuch numbers are to be found in the neighboring Iceland \ and at this very time
there is a fountain of hot water in the Ifle of Onortok^ not remote from Cape Farewell f,
A ftrange phrafeology runs through the voyage of thefe two brethren, and perhaps
fome romance; but fo much truth is every where evident, that I hefitate not to
credit the authenticity.

Torfceus enumerates feventeen bifliops who prefided over the diocefe. The laft
prelate was appointed in 1408. The black death had almoft depopulated the coun-
try not long before that period. Probably the furviving inhabitants fell vidlims to
want, or were extirpated by the natives : for, after that year, we hear no more of
them. It certainly had been well inhabited: the ruins of houfes and churches
evince its former flate. In the fifteenth century the kings of Demnark attempted to
difcover whether any of the antient race remained; but all in vain : the adventurers
were driven off the coaft by the ice with which it was blocked up, which remains
an invincible obftacle to re-fettle the eaftern coaft, even were there the left tempta-
tion. All is a dreadful traft from lat. 81 to Staten Hook or Cape Farewell^ its

* Vol. iii. 123 ; and Purchas, iii. 610, f Crantz, i. 18.

fouthern

NEW GREENLAND. clxxix

fouthern extremity, on an iile off that point, in lat. 59 ; on both fides

deeply indented Vv'ith bays, bounded by icy promontories. Many of thefe bays

bad been parts of pervious. ftreights, which had divided the country into feveral

iflands; but are now totally obftruded with ice. Befides that I before mentioned,

was one in lat. 63, called Bclr-fiind ; and that in 62. 50, immortalized by the

name of our celebrated failor Frobijber, who penetrated into it fixty leagues, in Froeisher'b

his lirft voyage in 1576, in his fearch for a paflage to Cathaya ; but imagined that ot&eights.

Jfia bounded the right fide, and America the left *. He met with inhabitants,

defcribes them and their oeconomy, and is particular about their great dogs, and

their ufe of them in drawing their fledges. In his fecond voyage he found a

Narwhal dead on the fliore, and has given a figure of it. ' This home,' fays

he, ' is to be feene and referved as a jewel by the Queens Majefties commandemet,

in her wardrop of robes f*' — The original map of his voyages is a fmgular

fketch of erroneous fuppofition. He makes his ftreights reach to the Icy Seay

oppofite to what he calls Cathaya, juft to the north of what is made to refemble

the new-difcovered ftreights of Bering ; which, in the map, are called thofe of

Anion y and accidentally gives them a tolerably juft form %• Thofe of Anion are

equally fabulous with thofe of de Fuca, but of prior invention ; and, like them,

were fayed to have been a pafTage from the South to the North fea||. Queen

Elizabeth beftowed on his difcoveries the name of Meta Incognita.

Greenland v/as re-fettled with Norvjegians in 1721, by the zeal of the Reverend New Green-
Mr. Hans Egede, the ^/<^/V apoftle §. He continued, till 1735, preaching the land.

Gofpel to the poor natives ; and had not only the happinefs of feeing his labors
bleffed with effect, but his example followed by a numerous fct of mifllonaries,
who have formed (on the weftern fide only) many fettlements, which flourifti
€ven to this day. Mr. Egede returned to Denmark, founded a feminary for ftu-
dents in the Greenland langmge, from which mifllonaries were to be drawn; and

, finiihed his pious life in 1754.

K At Cape Farewell begins the vaft opening between Greenland and Terra de La-
brador, which leads to Hudfon's Bay. Betv.^een the weft fide of Greenland and cer-
tain vaft iflands, are Davis's Streights, which lead to Barn's Boy. Thefe iflands

» ' A true Difcourfe of the late Voyages of Difcoverle for finding a Paflage to Cathaya by the
* north-weft, under the Condufl oi Martin Frobi/her, General. Vnnitdhy Henry Bjtinyman^ i578«'
Firft Voyage, p. 48.

f The Same, Second Voyage, p. 19.

X In the fame book.
. II See an account of thefe imaginary ftreights in Drage's Voy. to Hudfon's Streights, vol. ii. 68.

^ Crantz, i. 279, 285.

6 in

CLXXX

NEW GREENLAND.

in different maps bear difiercnt names, and in one are even confolidated ; fo little
are thefe parts known *.

Todefcribe Greenland, would be to ring changes on ice, and fnov/, and lofty
mountains (fome, according to Mr. Crontz, a thoufand fathoms high) rifing into
broken crags or (harp fpires, or vallies with no other garniture than mofs and
fome moor grafs ; and in fome parts are long flat mountains, clad with perpetual
ice and fnow. Where the birds, by their dung, have formed a little foil, fome
plants are found. Mr. Crantz f enumerates about twenty-four fpecies, bcfides
Trees. the cryptogamious kinds. Egede obferved, in lat. 6o or 6i, fmall Junipers,

Willows, and Birch; the laft two or three yards high, and as thick as a man's
■ legt; ^i^ amazing tree for this country. Davis alfo faw fome low Birch and
Willows as high as about lat. 65 §. Nature here fuffers the reverfe of meliora-
tion ; the glacieres conftantly gain on the vallies, and deftroy all hopes of im-
Ice-Blinck. provemxnt. That amazing glaciere^ the he Blinck or Ice Glance^ on the weftern
coaft, is admirably defcribed by Mr. Crantz. I mufl; refer to him for the account,
after faying, that it is a ftupendous aggregate at the mouth of an inlet, and of an
amazing height ; the brilliancy of which appears like a glory to the navigators at
many leagues difl:ance. It forms, beneath, a feries of mofl magnificent arches, extend-
'■ ing eight leagues in length, and two in breadth; through thefe are carried, at the

ebb of tide, great fragments of ice, which have fallen from various icebergs, and
prove one fupply to the ocean of its floating ice ||. The flreights, nowobftruded to
navigation, are fuppofed to be open at bottom, by arches fimilar to thofe fpoken
of; for an immenfe quantity of ice is annually difcharged from their mouths **.

I have mentioned the iflands of ice at p. lxxxv; for thofe of Spitzbergen have
everything in common with thofe of Greenland. Perhaps the colors in the laft
may be more brilliant ; the green being as high as that of the emerald, the
blue equal to that of the fapphir ; the firft, Mr. Egede attributes to the cono-e-
lation of frefh, the latter to that of falt-water.ff. Here are frequent inftances of
the freezing of the fea-water. The froft often forms a pavement of ice from ifland
to ifland, and in the confined inlets JJ.
Tides, The tides rife at the fouth of this country three fathoms, in lat 65; on the weft

fjde two, or in fpring-tides three; at Difco, about lat. 69, only^one; further
north it finks even to one foot. In great fpring-tides, efpecially in winter, is
this ftrange phsenomenon : fprings of frefh-water are forced up on the fhores in
places where they were before unknown §§.

* Collate Mr. Middleton'% map, and others. -j- Vol. i. 60. t Hift. Greenl.

§ Hacklujt. iii. 101. || Crantz. i. 21 1024. ** Same, 19. ^-j- Egede, 55.

\X Crantz, I. ^i. §§ Same, 41.

Durins:

GREENLAND, clxxxi

During the long day of the fhort fummer is confiderable heat. The long Aurora Borea-
winter is a little cheared by the Aurora Borealis^ which appears and radiates with ''"'

unufual brilliancy and velocity, in the fpring, about the time of the new moon.
Fogs give a gloom to the fummer, and froft-fmoke often adds horror to the winter.
It rifes out of the opening of the Ice in the fea, and peels off the very (kin frora
thofe who venture to approach it. The effect of the froft is very violent on the
human body ; but lefs fo than in the north-eaft of Sibiriay where at times it
is fatal to ftir abroad, even when protected with every guard of cloathing*.

The Greenlanders faftidioufly ftyle themfelves Innu'it^ i.e. inen^ as if they were
the ftandard of the human race ; yet few of them attain the height of five feet 5
but are well made. Their hair is long and black ; their faces flat ; their eyes
fmall. They are a branch of the EJkimaux, the fmall race which borders all
the ArSlic coafls. They originated from the Samoied Jfiatics^ who, paffing over
into the New World, have lined the coaft from Prince IFilliani's Sound on the
weftern fide, in lat. 61, quite to the fouthern part oi Labrador on the eaftern.
They crept gradually in their little canoes northward, and diminiflied in fize in
their progrefs, till they attained their full degeneracy in the EJklmaux and Green-
landers. Similar people, or veftiges of them, have been feen in different places,
from Prince William s Sound to the north of Bering's ftreights. They were again
feen by Mr. Hearne in lat. 72. By report of the Greenlanders of Difco bay,
there are a few inhabitants in Baffin's bay. In lat. 78. Egede fays, that the coun-
try Is peopled to lat. 76 + ; but the higheft colonized fpot Is at Noogfook^ in lat. 71.
They are a race made for the climate, and could no more bear removal to a tem-
perate clime, than an animal of the torrid zone could into our unequal fky :
feafons, and defe£t of habitual food, would foon bring on their deftrudion. This
race has been found to agree In manners, habits, and weapons, and in many
inftances in language, from Prince William's Sound to the end of Labrador, a tra6t
extending near fifteen hundred leagues J. They only line the coafts; for the Indians
perfecute them with mercllefs hatred, and almoft pufli them Into the fea. They
imagine thefe poor creatures to be magicians, and that to them they owe every ill
fuccefs in life §. The numbers of the Greenlanders are now amazingly diminifhed.
In 1730 there v/ere thirty thoufand fouls, at prefent only ten thoufand ; a decreafe
chiefly owing to the ravage of the fmall-pox.

Greenland has been moft happy in its Zoologiff. The Reverend Mr. Otto Fa-
bricius, whom a laudable zeal for enlightening the minds of the grofs inhabitants,

• Voyage en Siberie, i. 381. f As quoted in G?v^;fsmap cf America. J Cook's Foy, i.

Pref. LXXiv. § Same, ii. 43.

a a led

CLXXXIZ

GREENLAND.

led to thefe parts, hath given a moft ample and claffical account of the animals.
His Fauna Groenlandica is among the firft works of the kind. I eagerly ex-
pe6l the performance of the promifed remainder of the work.
QUADRUPEDS. The Quadrupeds of this country are, the Rein-deer^ N" 4, which are here

merely confidered as objeds of the chace. Their number is lefTened greatly,
and they are now only found in the moft remote parts. The Ukalcrajek * is, I
fufpeil, an animal of imagination. It is faid, by the Greenlanders^ to be long-
eared, hare-lipped, and to refemble that animal j to have a (hort tail ; to be of a
white color, with a dark lift down the back, and of the fize of a Rein-deer.
The Dogs, p. 41, refemble Wolves in figure, fize, and nature. Left to them-
felves, they hunt in packs the few animals of the country, for the fake of prey.
They exadly refemble the Dogs of the Ejkimaux of Labrador. It is probable,
that they might have been originally brought here by their mafters, who firft fled
that country, and populated Greenland. Arctic Foxes, N° 10, abound here ; and,
withPoLAR Bears, N'^ 18, infeft the country. Had I not fuch excellent authority,
1 fhould have doubted whether the Wolverene^ N" 21, ufually an inhabitant of
wooded countries, was found in Greenland-^ but it is certainly met with, yet rarely, in
the fouthern parts, where it preys on the Rein-deer and White Hares. It muft have
been originally wafted hither on the ice from Terra de Labrador^ the neareft place
to this of which it is an inhabitant. The Varying Hare, N' 37, is very
common. The Walrus, and five fpecies of Seals, inhabit thefe feas : the
Common, N° 72 ; the Great, N° 73 ; the Rough, N° 74 ; the Hooded, N'^ 76;
the Harp, N° 77 ; and an obfcure fpecies, called by the Laplanders^ Fatne Findac,
with a round head and long fnout, bending like the probofcis of an elephant f.
Mr. Fabridus zdds to the marine animals, the Whale-tailed iJ/i?;/^?^/, N° 81, of
which he once faw the head partly confumed.

The Polar Bears, Seals, and Manati, were originally natives of thefe coun-
tries. The other Quadrupeds found their way here from either Hudfon's Bay or
Labrador, on the iflands of ice. TheJr^ic Fox found the fame kind of conveyance
from Greenland to Iceland as it did with the Rein-deer to Spit-zbergen. To the
laft was wafted, probably from Labrador, the Common Weefel, the Red or Com-
mon Fox j and the Moufe, mentioned p. XLix, mifiTed Greenland, but arrived
at and ftocked Iceland \ and the Common Bat was originally tempeft-driven to the
latter from Norway : the Wolverene and Varying Hare never reached farther than
Greenland. — This feems the progrefs of Quadrupeds in the frigid zone, as highr
as land is found.

* Faun, Croetil. p. a6. •}• Same, p. j-j.—LeemsLafm, 214., Z15.

The

GREENLAND.

CLXXkltl

The note * gires the fum of the Birds, land and water.

The numbers of Fifh which frequent thefe icy feas are very confiderable.
They are, indeed, the great rendezvous of Whales. There is a fiftiery for them
by the Dutch, in Di/ko Bay, as early as Jpril\. The natives take them at other
times, cut off the blubber in an awkward manner, and preferve that and the whale-
bone as articles of commerce. It is certain that they do not drink train-oil,
like the true EJkimaux, and fome other congenerous people %• The fpecies
which frequent Greenland are, the Monodon Monoceros, or Narwhal,
Lin. Syji. 105 : the Monodon Spurius, Fcmn. GroenL N<* 19 ; a rare
fpecies, with two teeth, about an inch long, proje(fting from the extremity
of the upper jaw: the Balaena Mvstecetus, or Common Whale, Br.
Zool. iii. N° 16 : Balaena Phvsalus, or Finfish, N° 18 ; Balaena
MuscuLUs, or Round-lipped, N" 19 : the Balaena Rostrata, Faun.
GroenL N°84; a very fmall fpecies with a long fnout : Physeter Macroce-
phalus. Faun. GroenL N° 25 : Physeter Catodon, or Round-headed
Cachalot, Br. ZooL iii. N° 22 : Physeter Microps, or Blunt-headed Ca-

BlRDS.

FiSHSSi

A.

Hebridal Sandpiperj

, No 382

Glaucous,

p. 532 B

* Cinereous Eagle,

p. S14. B.

Dunlin Sandpiper,

No 391

Ivory Gull,

No 457

Greenland Falcon,

220 E.

Alwargrim Plover,

No 398

Tarrock,

P- 533 P

Gyrfalcon,

4Z1 F.

Ringed Plover

No 401

Araic,

No 459

Collared Falcon,

a22 G.

Fulmar Petrel,

No 461

Long-eared Owl ?

N° 117

C.

Shearwater P.

No 462

Snowy Owl,

No 121

Grey Phalarope

No 412

Goofander

No 465

Raven,

No 134

Red Phalarope,

No 4.13

Red-breafted G.

No 465

Ptarmigan,

p. 315 B.

D.

Canada Goofe ?

No 471

Snow Bunting,

No 222

Great Auk,

No 424

Grey lag Goofe,

No 473

Lulean Finch,

p. 380 B.

Razor-bill,

N° 425

Brant,

No 478

Lefs Red-poll

No 262

Black-billed,

No 426

Bernacle,

No 479

Wheat-ear

p. 420 P.

Puffin,

No 427

Eider Duck,

No 480

Crefted Titmoufe ?

p. 427 F.

Liule,

No 429

King Duck,

No 481

Black Guillemot,

No 437

Golden Eye

No 486

B.

Northern Diver,

No 439

Pin-tail

No 500

Common Heron,

No 43 3

Red-throated D.

No 443

Long-tailed,

No 501

Snipe,

No 366

Great Tern,

No 448

Harlequin,

No 490

Jadreka,

No 375

Black-backed Gull,

No 451

Mallard,

No 494

Striated Sandpiper,

No 383

Cinereous G. {Lin.

Syfi.) 224

Morillon,

P- 573 F-

The fifth fpecies is very doubtful. Except the Canada Goofe ? there is not a fpecies of Bird which
is not found in Europe. This induces me to place all thofe of Greenland in the appendages to the
genera, as they feeni to have little clame to America.

-|- CraniZy i. 118. 1 E^ede, 134. — Crantz^ i, 144.

a a 2 ghalot.

ctxxxiv

GREENLAND.

CHALOT, Br. Zool. I'll. No 21 : Delphinus Orca, or Spekhucger, FauN.
Groenl. N" 28 ; the tormentor of the greater Whales, whom they will fix on, as
Bull dogs will on a Bull, and tear out large pieces from their bodies : Delphi-
nus Phoca, the PoRPESSE, Br. Zool. iii, N 25: Delphinus Delphis,
or the Dolphin, N° 24: the Delphinus Tursio, or the Grampus, N» 26 :
and finally, the Delphinus Albicans, or Beluga Whale, p. 182 of this
Work, which enlivens thofc waters with its refplendent whitenefs.

Among the cartilaginous fpecies are the Raia Fullonica, Lin. SyJ}. 396 : the
White Shark, Br. Zool. iii. N" 42, equally voracious from the equator to the
Jr^ic circk-y and, v/ith fiercencfs unfubdued by climnte, often bites in two the
Greenlanders fitting in their Seal-fkin canoes : the Picked Shark, Br. ZooL
N° 40: the Basking Shark, N-^ 41: the SquALUs Pristis, or Saw
Shark, Lin. Syji. 401 : the Lump Sucker, Br. Zool. iii. N» 57 ; a great ar-
ticle of food with the natives : Cyclopterus Spinosus, or Spiny Sucker,
Faun. Groenl. "N" g2- Cyclopterus Minutus, or the Minute, N° 94 : the
Unctuous Sucker, Br. Zool. N" 58.

Of the boney Fiflies, the Eel, Br. Zool. N° 63, is rarely found in the fouthern
rivers. The Wolf-fish, N° 65, appears here in the fpring with the
Lump Fifli, and difappears in autumn. The Greenland Faunift defcribes a lefTer
variety, in N" 97, b. The Launce, Br. Zool. iii. N° 66 : the Ophidium Vi-
RiDE, Faun. Groenl. N^ 99 : the- Haddock, Br. Zool. iii. N" 74, is plentiful
here in winter. Gadus Callarias, or Varied Cod, Zz'w. (Syy?. 436 ; and
Common Cod, Br. Zool. iii. N" 73, frequent the coafts in fpring and au-
tumn. The Pout, N° 75 : Gadus Virens, or Green Cod, Lin. SyJi.
438: the Hake, Br. Zool. N° 81 : the Ling, N° 85: and the Gadus
Brosme, Faun, Groenl. N° 107, are fpecies of Cod-fifh found in thefe feas.
The Spotted Blenny, Br. Zool. in. N°g3. A new fpecies, the Blennius
Punctatus, Faun. Groenl. N^iio; and that curious fifh the Coryphaena
RuPESTRis, N° III, J<^. Nidr. iii. tab. iii.; the firft rare, the laft fre-
quent in the deep fouthern bays. The Armed Bull-head, Br. Zool. iii. N° 98.
The Father Lasher, N"' 99, is a moft common fifh, and fingularly ufe-
ful. Cottus ScoRPiOiDES, Faun. Grsenl. N° 114, or Quadricornis, Lin,
SyJi. 451 ; and the River Bull-head, Br: Zool. iii. N° 97, are found here
in falt-water. The Zeus Gallus, Lin. Syjf. 454, a fifh of the hotteft parts of
South America, is fufpecSted to be found here. The Holibut, Br. Zool. iii.
N° 102, is very common; as is the Pleuronectes Cynoglossus, Faun. GroenL
N" 118; and the new fpecies, Pl. Platessoides, N'^ 119, is feen here in
fmall numbers near the mouths of rivers, Labrus Exoletus,, Faun. Groenl.

N" 120 :

GREENLAND.

N° 120: Striped Wrasse ? Br. Zool. iii. 119: Porca Norvf.gica, Faun,
Groenl.N'' 121: Three-Spined Stickleback, ^r. ZW. iii. N° 129, not only in
rivers but places overflowed by the fea. The Salmon, N° 143, is extremely
fcarce at prefent ; yet in Davis's time, v^^as among the prefents made to him by
the favao-es ; and Bajin * faw moft amazing flioals of thefe fifh in Cockin's Sounds
on this weftern coaft, in lat. 65. 45. The Salmo Carpio, Faun. Groenl. N" 124,
is one of the moft common and ufeful fifhes ; is frequent in the lakes, rivers, and
eftuaries. The Char, Br. Zool. iii. N" 149, conforts w^ith the other, and is as
common. The Salmo Stagnalis, Faun. Groenl. N° 126, a new fpecies, found
remote in the mountain lakes, and caught only by the hunters of Rein-deer. The
Salmo RivALis, No 127, is another, inhabiting fmall brooks. The Salmo
Arcticus, No 128, or Capelin of the Newfoundland filhers t> is the laft
of this genus, but the moft ufeful ; the daily bread, and the fifh in higheft
efteem with the Greenlanders^ and providentially given to them in the greateft
abundance. The Common Herring, Br. Zool. iii. N° 160, is a rare fifh in thefe
feas ; as is the Anchovy, N° 163.

The fame indefatigable Zoologift hath difcovered in this country (including
cruftaceous) not fewer than ninety-one Infects, a hundred and twenty-fix Vermes,
fifty-nine {hells, and forty-two Zoophytes.

John Davis, a moft able feaman, was the firft who examined the weft fide
of Greenland. Before his time the eaftern coaft was the only part known to
Europeans. He made there three different voyages, in 1585, 1586, and 1587.
After doubling Cape Farewell^ he founded, and could not find bottom with three
hundred fathoms of line. North of what he properly called the Land of Defola-
iion, he arrived in a filthy, black, and ftagnating water, of the depth of a hun-
dred and twenty fathoms. He found drift-wood in lat. 65, and one entire tree
fixty feet long, with its root ; the fpecies were Fir, Spruce, and Juniper J,
which came down from remote places on the banks of the rivers of Hudfons
Bay; for Mr. Hutchins aflures me, that to this day, in certain years, vaft quanti-
ties of timber are brought down with the ice at the opening of the rivers. He alfo
met with black Pumices ||, whether from neighboring vulcanoes, burning or ex-
tinct, remains unknown ; or whether, which is moft probable, conveyed there
from Iceland. The ftone of the country is moftly granitical. Some fand-ffone,
and many forts of coarfe marble. The Lapis Ollaris is found here in abun-
dance, and of great ufe to the natives for making of pots. Talc is frequent here^

* Purchast iii. 848. f See it well engraven in M. Du Hamel, HiJ\. de Poifons, part if.,

tab. xxvi. X Davis' J Foj.'m Hackliiyt, iii. loi, |1 Same, iit»

Afbeftos>

cLxxxy

cLXKXVi . BAFFIN'S BAY.

Afbeftos, and Gypfum, Granates are not uncommon. Sulphureous Marcantes,
which have more than once deceived the navigators with the opinion of their be-
ing gold *. The mineral fymptoms of copper, fuch as ftains of blue and green,
are feen on thefe rocks j but avarice itfelf v/iil never tempt adventurers to make
here a trial.

Davis got as high as lat. 72, and called the country London Coajl. The
ftreight he pafled, between the weft of Greenland znd the great iflands, is honored
by his name. He feems to have been engaged among the great iflands ; for he
fays he failed fixty leagues up a found, found the fea of the fame color with
the main fea, and faw feveral Whales. He failed through another found to the
fouth-weft, found ninety fathom water at the entrance ; but within could not
touch ground with three hundred and thirty. He had hopes of having found the
long-fought-for paflage. The tides rofe fix or feven fathoms ; but, as is frequent
among iflands, the flood came from fuch variety of places, that he could not
trace its principal origin f.

Baffin's Bay.

At lat. 72. 30, I muft take as my pilot that great feaman JVilUam Baffin, who
o-ave name to the great bay I now enter on. His firft voyage was in 1613; his
fecond, in which he made the moft efFe<Slual trial for the north-weft pafl'age, was
in 1 616. He paflfed through Davis's Streights. In lat. 70. 20, on the London Coajl,
he found the tides rife only eight or nine feet. In Horn Sound, lat. 73. 45, he met
with feveral people J. To the north of that, in 75. 40, was a large and open bay ; Cape
Dudley Digges forms its northern point; within is Wejlenhohne Sound; beyond that.
Whale Sound; and in the extreme north, or bottom of this great bay, is that named by
Baffin after Sir Thomas Smith, lying in 78 degrees. In thofe three founds were abun-
dance of Whales J but in thelaft the largeft in all this bay. It is highly probable,
that there are one or more communications from hence to the Icy Sea, through
which the Whales pafs at certain feafons ; and this (if I may collect from their
numbers) might be that of their migration fouthward. The diftance into the
Icy Sea can be but very fmall, but probably blocked up with ice ; or if not, from
the fudden fhifting of the ice in that fea by the change of wind, the paflage
muft be attended with too great hazard to be attempted. The ice prevented our
creat feaman from making trial of the tides in this bay, which would have brought
the matter to greater certainty. He faw multitudes of Walrufes and Seals in
thefe parts, but no figns of inhabitants. From hence the land trended wefterly,

• furclas, iii.833.— >E^^^^, 32. t Hadluyt, iii. 102. J Same, 84^.

to

RUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS. . cLXxxvri

to a found he called by the name of Alderman Jojies^ in lat. 76. 40. Here the land
ran due fouth to a great found in lat. 74. 20, which he called Sir James Lancafler's.
From this place the land took an eaftern curvature, to the ftreights between the
continent and Cumberland ifland. Baffin took, his courfe between that ifle and
the ifle of Saint James, left his name to the ftreight he pafled, and arrived fafe
in Cochins Sound, on the coaft of JVeJi Greenland, where he found the tide rife
eighteen feet : this, and fimilar excefles, arifing from the confined fituation of
places *.

This is the only voyage ever made into Baffin's Bay. Chrijlian IV. of Denmark^
in 1619, fent John Munch, a moft able feaman, to make difcoveries in thefe parts ;
but, notwithftanding any furmifes of his having reached this famous bay, he got
no farther than Hudfon's Bay ; to which, in honor of his mafter, he gave the
name of Chrijlian Sea. He pafTed a miferable winter in Churchill river, and re-
turned home the next year, after lofing, during his ftay on Ihore, every man but
two f .

Before I quit thefe frozen regions, I muft once more return to Spitzbergen, to
relate, what has but very lately been communicated to me, that the Ruffians have
of late attempted to colonize thefe dreadful iflands. They have, for a few years
paft, fent parties to continue there the whole year ; who have eftablifhed fettle-
ments on the ifle of Spitzbergen, at Croon Bay, King's Bay, Magdalena Bay, Smee^
renburgh, and Green Harbour j where they have built huts, each of which is oc-
cupied by about two boats crews, or twenty-fix men. They bring with them
falted fifh, rye-flour, and the ferum or whey of four milk. The whey is their
chief beverage, and is alfo ufed in baking their bread. Each hut has an oven,
which ferves alfo as a flove ; and their fuel is wood, which they bring with them •
from Archangel. The huts are above ground, and moft furprizingly warm j
placed alfo in fituations which may guard them as much as pofllble from the keen-
nefs of the northern wind.

Mr. Erjkine Tonnach, furgeon of Dunbar (who, by the friendfliip of the worthy
Mr. George Baton, of Edinburgh, favored me with this account) gives me the
following particulars from his own knowledge. — " During our ftay on the ifland,
my curiofity prompted me to go on fliore, that I might fee the oeconomy of thefe
arclic fettlers ; and had an opportunity of feeing them dine : and thouo-h their
fare appeared coarfe, the difpatch they ufe, faid a great deal for their health and

» For the account of this curious voyage, ksPurchas, iii. from p. 836 to 848.
t Clerk of x\\t Calif ornia's Foy.'i, 106. — For a further account of this unfortunate voyage, fee
Chur chill' i Col legion, ii, 472.

5 appetite.

CLXxxviii HUDSON'S BAY.

appetite. They boil their fifh with water and rye-meal : and this conftitutes their
diet during winter. In the fummer they live chiefly on fowls, or their eggs ; but
in general they forbear flefh, as the fafts prefcribed by their religion are fo nu-
merous. They are drefled in the fkins of the animals they kill, which they ufc
with the fur fide next to their bodies : their bedding is lilcewife compofcd of fkins,
chiefly of thofe of the Bear or Rein Deer. The flcin of the Fox is the mofl: va-
luable; but thefe are preferved as articles of commerce in their own country.
They catch the Beluga, or white Whale, in nets, being converfant in this fpecies
of fifliery ; but are ignorant of that of the great Whale. They were very felicitous
to get information on that fubjedl ; which I endeavoured to inftruiSl them in, in
return for the information they fo readily gave me. They are moft excellent
markfmen ; but, what is peculiar, in prefenting their piece, they do not raife it
to their fhoulder, but place the butt-end between their arm and their fide, fixing
their eye on the obje<St toward which they diredl the barrel. I faw a Bear receive
a confiderable fliot : it aflonifhed me greatly to fee the animal apply great quan-
tities of fnow to the part (which was bleeding freely) as if confcious of its ftyptic
powers. It retreated with much flownefs ; but at (hort intervals looked behind,
and, with much art, threw abundance of fnow with its hind-paws into the wound.
Few of the Rujftans die from the feverity of the cold, but are often frofl-bitten,
fo as to lofe their toes or fingers j for they are fo hardy as to hunt in all weathers.
I naturally aiked them. Had they a furgeon ? They replied, ' No ! no ! Christ
is our do6tor !' They quit the ifland in September^ and are privileged to leave the
place by the 22d of that month, whether they are relieved by a frefh party from
Rujfia or not." — Let me remark, that the great exercife ufed by thefe volunteer
adventurers ; their quantity of vegetable food ; their frefhening their fait provi-
fion, by boiling it in water, and mixing it with flour; their beverage of whey;
and their total abftinence from fpirituous liquors — are the happy prefervatives
from the fcurvy, which brought all the preceding adventurers, who perifhed, to
their miferable end *.

Hvdsoh'sBay. ^^ "ow proceed through a namelefs ftreight, between the main land and the
two great iflands on the eafl ; and, after doubling Cape Southampton, enter into
Hudfoyis Bay, in the gulph called the TVelco?ne. This bay was difcovered in i6lO,
by that able feaman Heitry Hudfon, from whom it takes its name. His view, in
the voyage he made, was the difcovery of a pafTage to the Eajl Indies. The

* See thi's fubjefl amply treated by Doflor Aikin, in a Treatlfe on the fuccefs, with r«fpeit to the
iieahh, q{ fome attempts to pafs the winter in high northern latitudes,

trial

HUDSON'S BAY. clxxxix

ftlal has been vigoroufly purfued fince his days, but without fuccefs. In 1742 an
attempt was made, as low as the bottom of the Welcome^ by Captain Middleton ;
and from the check he met with, he called that part Repulfe Bay. In fubfequent
trials Wager'' s Water was fufpedled to be the pafTage into the Weftern ocean ;
but in 1747 its end was difcovered, and found to terminate in two navigable
rivers. The romantic fcenery which the adventurers met with in the way is
moft admirably defcribed by the elegant pen of Mr. Henry Ellis.

Chcjlerjield, or Bowdens Inlet, was likewife fufpe<Sed to have been the defired Chesterfiblb
ftreight ; but in 1762 MeflVs. Norton and Chrljlopher, in a floop and cutter be- Inlet.

longing to the Company, went to the remoteft end. At the diftance of a hundred
and twenty-eight miles from the mouth was fcarcely any tide ; thirty miles fur-
ther it quite died away. The land here grew contradled into a very narrow pafTage.
Here the adventurers entered with the cutter, and difcovered that the end was in a
magnificent frefh- water lake, to which was given the name of Baker^s. The land
was quite level, rich in grafs, and abounding with Deer. They found the end
quite innavigable, and to terminate in a fmall ftream, with many fhoals at its
mouth, and three falls acrofs it. After finding the water decreafe to the depth of
two feet, they returned fully fatisfied with their voyage.

Hudfons Bay has been fo frequently defcribed, that I fliall only give a general
view of it and its adjacent parts. Its entrance from the ocean, after leaving to the
north Cape Farewell and Davis's Streights^ is between Refolution ifles on the north,
and Button's ifles, on the Labrador coaft, to the fouth, forming the eaflern extre-
mity of the flreights diftinguifhed by the name of its great difcoverer. The
coafts very high, rocky, and rugged at top; in places precipitous; but fome-
times exhibit large beaches. The ifles of Salijbury^ Nottingham, and D'lgges,
are alfo very lofty, and naked. The depth of wat^r in the middle of the bay
is a hundred and forty fathoms. From Cape Churchill to the fouth end of the bay
are regular foundings ; near the fliore fhallow, with muddy or fandy bottom.
To the north of Churchill, the foundings are irregular, the bottom rocky, and
in fome parts the rocks appear above the furface at low water. From Moofe river,
or the bottom of the bay, to Cape Churchill, the land is flat, marfhy, and wooded
with Pines, Birch, Larch, and Willows. From Cape Churchill to Wager's Water
the coafl:s are all high and rocky to the very fea, and woodlefs, except the mouths
o{ Pockerekejkoy and Seal rivers. The hil-Is on their back are naked, nor are there
any trees for a great diftance inland.

The mouths of all the rivers are filled with fhcals, except that of Churchill,
ill which the largefl fhips may lie ; but ten miles higher, the channel is obftru6led
.with fand-banks ; and all the riversj as far as has been navigated, are full of rapids

b b and

cxc H U D S O N ' S B A Y.

and cataracls, from ten to fixty feet perpendicular. Down thefe rivers the Indian
traders find a quick paflage ; but their return is a labor of many months.

As far inland as the Company have fettlements, which is fix hundred miles to the
weO, at a place called Hudfon Hovfzy lat. 53. long. 106. 27, from London^ is flat
country : nor is it known how far to the eaftward the great chain, fcen by our
navigators from the Pacific Ocean^ branches oft.
Climate, The climate, even about Haye's river, in only lat. 57, is, during winter, ex-

cefiTively cold. The fnows begin to fall in O^ober, and continue falling by in-
tervals the whole winter ; and, when the froft is moft rigorous, in form of the fincft
fand. The ice on the rivers is eight feet thick. Port wine freezes into a folid
mafs; brandy coagulates. The very breath fell on the blankets of the beds in form
of a hoar froft, and the bed-cloaths often were found frozen to the wall *, The
fun rifes, in the {horteft day, at five minutes paft nine, and fets five minutes
before three. In the longeft day the fun rifes at three, and fets about nine. The
ice begins to difappear in May^ and hot weather commences about the middle of
June-y which, at times, is fo violent, as to fcorch the face of the hunters. Thun-
der is not frequent, but very violent. But there muft be great difference of heat
and cold in this vaft extent, which reaches from lat. 50. 40, to lat. 63, north.

During winter the firmament is not without its beauties. Mock funs and
halos are not infrequent ; are very bright, and richly tinged with all the colors of
the rainbow. The fun rifes and fets with a large cone of yellowifli light. The
night is enlivened with the Aurora Borealis, which fpreads a thoufand diff^erent
lights and colors over the whole concave of the fky, not to be defaced even by the
fplendor of the full moon ; and the ftars are of a fiery rednefs f.
Fish. Hudfon' s Bay x?, very ill fupplied with Filh. The common Whale is frequent

there. The Company have attempted to eftablifli a fiftaery ; and for that pur-
pofe procured experienced people from the Spitzbergen fhips, and made confi-
derable trialslietweenlat. 61 and 69 ; but, after expending twenty thoufand pounds,
and taking only three fifh, were, in 177 1, obliged to defift. The ice prevent-
ed the veflels from getting to a proper ftation in due time ; and the hard gales,
and quick return of winter, always deprived them of an opportunity of making
a fair trial. The fifliery of the Beluga, or White Whale, is attended with more
fuccefs. It haunts the mouths of rivers in June, as foon as they have difcharged
the ice, and are taken in great numbers. There are two varieties ; one with a
blue caft, the other of a pure white. Thefe animals, probably, fuperfete j a

* Voy. to Hudfoti'sBay, 1746, written by the Clerk of iht California ^ i. 159. His name was
Drage\ his account is fenfible and entertaining. -f £//;/, 172.

1 feet US

HUDSON'S BAY.

fcetus of fix inches in length having been extra£led, at the fame time that a
young one has been feen (as is their cuftom) mounted on the back of another.

Sturgeons of a fmall fize are found in the rivers, not far from the fea. They ap-
pear to me to be of the fame fpecies v^nth the EfigliJ}}. Sturgeons are found in great
plenty in the lakes far inland, and from the v/eight of fix to forty pounds. I fuf-
pe6l thefe to be the fame v^^ith the Sturgeons of the great lakes of Canada^ which,
I am told, are fmooth, or free from tubercles; and probably the Acipenfcr Hufa
of Lifinaus, and Hanfen of the Gennans, a fifti of the Damihe and JVolga.

The Lophius Pifcatorius, or Common Angler, B}-, Zool. iii. N*^ 51, appears to-
wards the furface only in windy weather j for which reafon it is called by the
natives Thutina-meg^ or the JVind-fiJh.

The Gadus Lota, or Burbot, Br. Zool. ii. N" 86, Is common in the rivers, and
is caught with hooks after nine o'clock at night. It is called here Martby ; grows
to the weight of eight pounds ; is fo voracious as to feed even on the tyrant Pike j
will devour dead Deer, or any carrion, and even fwallow ftones to fill its fto-
mach : one of a pound weight has been taken out of a fifh of this fpecies. It
fpawns about February 8th, and is unhappily moft prolific. Mr. Hutchlm count-
ed, in a fingle fifh, 671,248 ovaria.

Allied to this is the Maihemeg of the natives, the Land Cod of the E^iglijh^ a
fifli abundant in the northernly lakes ; it grows to the length of three feet, and
the weight of twelve pounds : has three beards on the lower jaw; the middlemoft
the longeft : the back is brownilh : the belly grey.

The Perca Fluviatilis^ or common Perch, Br. Zool. iii. N° 124, is found In
the rivers, but not in plenty; and fometimes grows to the weight of eight pounds.
The Gajlerojleus acuhatiis., or three-fpined Stickleback, Br. Zool. iii. N° 129, is
found here in great numbers.

Salmo Salar, or the common Salmon, Br. Zool. iii. N'^ 143, is taken in plenty from
'June to Auguji^ in nets placed along the fea-fhores, and falted for ufe. Very few
are caught to the fouth of Churchill river.

The Namaycujh., is a fpecies of Trout, with the head, back, dorfal fin, and tail
of a dark blue : the fides dufky, marked with white and reddifh fpots ; the belly
filvery : the flefh white, and very delicate. It is caught with the hook in lakes
far inland ; and fometimes of the weight of thirty pounds. A Trutta lacujlris
generis^ p. 1012. Wil. Icth. 198 ?

Salmo Alpinus, or Char, Br. Zool. iii. N° 149, is common in the frefli waters,
and weighs from two to fix pounds.

The Salmo Lavaretus^ or Gwiniad, Br. ZooL iii. N° 152, is found here in vaft
abundance 5 and grows to a fize far fuperior to thofe of Europe, There is a lefler

bb 2 kind.

CXCII

HUDSON'S BAY.

kind, called here the Sea Gwintad : the head is not fo duficy : eyes fmaller ; ani
back lefs arched.. The nofe of the male is blunt ; and the ftomach mufcular, like
a gizzard : the female has an arched nofe. They are very numerous in autumn,
juft when the rivers are frozen over, and are called here Tickorneg. The Salmo
Araicus^ or Capelin^ is obferved to precede the Salmon, and is fometimes thrown
on (hore in amazing quantities by hard gales.

The Omijco Maycus is a new fpecies of Trout, taken in May in Albany river,
not exceeding four inches and a half long. It has five branchioftegous rays ; firft
dorfal fin has eleven rays, ventral eight, anal feven, peroral thirteen: tail fork-
ed : in the jaws are minute teeth : back, as low as the lateral line, is of a pale
color, marked with two longitudinal rows of black ftelliform fpots : below the
lateral line the color filvery : the belly white.

The Pike, Br. Zool. iii. N° 153, abounds in all the lakes. It by no means
arrives at the fize of the Englljh. Mr. Hutchim does aot recollea: any above ths
weight of twelve pounds..

The Cyprinus CataJio7nm of Dr. Forjier *,^or Sucker Carp, is a new fpecies : of
which there are two varieties; the Mithco- Mapeth of the Indians^ marked with a
broad ftripe of red along the lateral line, and found on the fea-coafi: ; and tha
White, or Namapeth, with larger fcales,, and wholly of a whitifh color: very
fcarce in the fait- water, but in fuch plenty in the inland lakes and rivers, as
to be even burdenfome to the nets. They grow to the weight of two pounds
and a half. The form is oblong: the head boney, rugged, and decreafing ta
the tip of the nofe : the mouth fmall^^ and placed beneath : the body fcaly : the
tail lunated.

Shell-fifh are very fcarce in this fea. Mytllus Edulis, the Edible Mufiel, Br,
Zool. iv. N" 73, alone are plentiful ; but of Cockles, only the dead {hells are feen.
From the number of fhells which are dug up, for the fpace of ten miles inland
of this flat muddy country, may be colleded a proof of the great retreat of thff
water ; but for want of inhabitants, the period of its lofs cannot be af-
certained.
Birds. Among the birds, which efcaped my notice while I was writing the zoologie

part of this Work, are two of the Eagle kind, found in this country : the firft is the
Yellow-Keaded, with a dulky bill, cere, and irides : head and neck yellowifh:.
back dark brown; each feather tipped with dirty yellow. This fpecies appears,
in Hud/on's Bay in April. Builds its neft in trees, with flicks and grafs ; and

* By whom it is well defcrtbed and figured, in vol. Ixiii. p. 155. tab. vi. of Ph. Tranf.

lays.

HUDSON'S BAY.

lays one egg. It preys on young Deer, Rabbets, and Fowls. Retires fouthward

in OSfober. Is called by the Indians, Ethenefue Mickefue f.
A variety of the Golden Eagle is alfo a native of the fame place. The

forehead is brown : crown and hind part of the neck ftriped with brown, white

and rufty yellow : lower part of the neck, breaft, and belly, deep brown : co-
verts of the wings, back, fecondaries, and fcapulars, of the fame color ; the two
laft white towards their bottoms, and mottled with brown : primaries black : mid-
dle feathers of the tail brown, barred with two or three cinereous bands ; exterior
feathers brown, blotched with cinereous : legs cloathed with pale brown fea-
thers to the toes, which are yellow. Length three feet. A fpecimen of this
was prefented to the Brltijh Mufeum.

To thefe may be added a genuine Falcon, communicated to me by Mr. Latham.
The bill very fharp, and furniftied with a large and pointed procefs in the upper
mandible: cere yellowifh: head, front of the neck, breaft, and belly, white:
each feather marked along the fhaft with a line of brown, narroweft on the head :
the back and coverts of the wings of a dirty bluifh afh-color j the edo-es of the
feathers whitifh, and many of them tipped with the fame : primaries dufky ; ex-
terior webs blotched with white ; interior barred with the fame color : tail of the
fame color with the back, barred with white ; but the bars do not reach the fliaft,
and, like thofe in the Iceland Falcon, oppofe the dark bars in the adverfe web :
the legs bluifli. The length of this fine fpecies is two feet two inches.

Multitudes of birds retire to this remote country, to Labrador, and New-
foundland, from places moft remotely fouth, perhaps from the Antilles \ and fome
even of the moft delicate little fpecies. Moft of them, with numbers of aquatic
fowls, are feen returning fouthward, with their young broods, to more favorable
climates. The favages, in fome refpedts, regulate their months by the appearance
of birds ; and have their Gaofe fnonth from the vernal appearance of Geefe from the
fouth. All the Grous kind. Ravens, cinereous Crows, Titmoufe, and Lapland
Finch, brave the fevereft winter ; and feveral of the Falcons and Owls feek (helter
in the woods. The Rein Deer pafs in vaft herds towards the north, in Osioher,
feeking the extreme cold. The male Polar Bears rove out at fea, on the floating
ice, moft of the winter, and till June : the females lie concealed in the woods, or
beneath the banks of rivers, till March, when they come abroad with their twin
cubs, and bend their courfe to the fea in fearch of their conforts. Several are
killed in their paflage ; and thofe which are wounded Ihew vaft fury, roar hide-
oufly, and bite and throw up into the air even their own progeny^ The females
and the young, when not interrupted, continue their way to fea. In June, the

t The defcription and hiftory of this fpecies was communicated to me by Mr, Hutchins,

males

CXCIH

SRADOR.

cxciv TERRA DE LABRADOR.

males return to fliore, and, by Augujl^ arc joined by their conforts, with the cubs,
by that time of a confiderable fize*.
Terra de La- The eaftcrn boundary of the bay is Terra de Labrador ; the northern part has

a flrait coaft facing the bay, guarded with a line of ifles innumerable. A vaft
bay, called the Jrchiwinnipy Sea^ lies within it, and opens into HudJorCi
Bay by means of Gulph Hazard, through which the Beluga Whales dart in
great numbers. Here the Com.pany had a fettlement, for the fake of the fifhery,
and for trading with the EJkimaux ; but deferted it as unprofitable about the
year 1758 or 1759. The eaftern coaft, fo admirably defcribed by that ho-
nored name, Sir Roger Curtis f ! is barren paft the efforts of cultivation. The
furface every where uneven, and covered with mafles of ftone of an amazing
fize. It is a country of fruitlefs vallies and frightful mountains, fome of an
aftonifliing height: the firfl watered by a chain of lakes, formed not from fprings
but rain and fnow, fo chilly as to be produ6tive of only a few fmall Trout. The
mountains have here and there a blighted fhrub, or a little mofs. The vallies are
full of crooked ftunted trees. Pines, Fir, Birch, and Cedars, or rather a fpecies
of Juniper. In lat. 60, on this coaft, vegetation ceafes. The whole fhore, like
that on the weft, is faced v/ith iflands at fome diftance from land. The inha-
bitants among the mountains are Indians ; along the coafts, EJJdmaux. The
Dogs of the former are very fmall ; of the latter, large, and headed like a Fox.
]Notwithftanding they have Rein-deer, they never train them for the fledge ; but
apply the Dogs to that ufe J. Walrufcs vifit a place called Nuchvunk, in lat. 60,
during winter ; from thence they purchafe the teeth, with which they head their
darts. Davis fufpedled that he had found a paflage on this coaft, in 1586, to the
Wefiern ocean ; but it proves no more than a deep bay.

The laudable zeal of the Moravian clergy hath induced them to fend, in the
year 1752, miflionaries from Greenland to this country. They fixed on NiJbet^S
harbour for their fettlement ; but the firft party was partly killed, partly driven
away. In 1764, under the prote6tion of our government, another attempt
was made. The miflionaries were well received by the EJkimaux, and the miflion
goes on with fuccefs \. Thefe pious people, like the Jefuits, have penetrated
almoft into every part of the known world j and, for the fake of the Gofpel,
dared the extremities of heat and cold. They endeavour to humanize the favages
of Greenland, and improve the morals of the foft inhabitants of the unwholefome
coafts of Bengal. They are not aduated by ambition, political views, or ava-

• See an ingenious and laudable Calendar of /f;/<^o«'j 5^j', publiftied by Doftor Mflc/^i/, in his
new Syftem of General Geography, 34.810354., f F^, 'Tt^k/". Ixiv. 372. % Same, 386.

II Craniz, Hijl. Mora-v, 4.04, 608.

rice.

NEWFOUNDLAND.

cxcv

Isles.

rice. Here my comparifon with the once-potent order of the Roman church
fails.

Terra de Labrador, at Cape Charles^ in lat. 52, trends towards the fouth-weft.
Between that cape and the ifle o^ Newfoundland begin the ftreights of BelleiJIe, a
paflage with from twenty to thirty fathoms watery but often choaked up with
the floating ice from the north, even fo late as the middle of June *. They open
into the vaft triangular gulph of St. Laurence, bounded to the north by Terra de '
Labrador ; to the weft by Nova Scotia; to the eaft by Cape Breton and Newfoundland,
In the weftern corner, the vaft river of St. Laurence difcharges itfelf ; arifing from
a thoufand ftreams which feed the fea-Iike lakes of Canada, and, after falling down
the amazing catara£l of Niagara, and darting down the flopes of numberlefs
foaming rapids, tremendous to all but Britijh battalions f, forms a matchlefs
navigation of many hundred miles. Jacques Cartler, a native of St. Makes, had,
in 1534, the honor of being the firft difcoverer of this noble river.

In the gulph are fcattered feveral important illands, occupied by the Engl'ijh and Magdalene
Trench for the fake of the fifheries. The fmall rocky ifles of St. Magdalene are
ftill frequented by numbers of JValrvfes. There is an annual chace during the
feafon, and numbers are killed for the fake of the oil and fkins %- The water
round the Magdalencs is only from three to nine fathoms deep, and the fhores
flope moft conveniently into it for the afcent or defcent of thefe animals. The
water round the other ifles is of one depth, except on the north fide of St. John^s,

Newfoundland (a name, in the infancy of difcovery, common to all North Ame-
rica) was difcovered in 1496, by the celebrated Venetians, Sehafiian Cabot and his
three fonsj who, at their own charges, under a grant of Henry Vll. giving themi
poflTeflTion (as vaflTals of his) of all lands they might difcover §, coafted from
]at. 67. 30, to the capes of Florida, and thus indifputably gave to ill-fated Britain
the right, by pre-difcovery, of the whole continent of North America. The
fhort-fighted avaricious prince, under whofe banners it was difcovered, had not
the heart to make the proper advantage. He had before negleded the offer of Co-
lumbus, which would have given him that fpecies of right to the whole Nev/
World. ' But,' fays the courtier-like Bacon ^, ' it was not a refufal on the king's
' part, but a delay by accident, which put by fo great an acqueft.' The French
foon found out the gold mine of the Newfoundland difcovery, which offered itfelf
in the fiflieries. Of all minerals (twice fays the fame noble philofopher) there

• Barringtott's Mifcel. 15. f Read the account of Lord Amherj\''z defcent down this river, in 17S0.
X See p. 148. § K:jmefi feed, f Hlji, King Henry VU, Bacojit fforks, iii, 89.

is

cxcvi NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERY.

is none like the fifherles. In 1534 they were adbually engaged in them. A pri-
■vate man, Sir Humphry Gilbert^ brother-in-law to Raleigh, or, what was bet-
ter, animated by a congenial foul, failed in 1583 with every provifion for fettling
this important colony. On his return he was fwallowcd up by the ocean.
His love of improvement, and his piety, never forfook him. He was feen fitting
unmoved in the flern of his {hip, with a book in his hand; and often heard to
fay, ' Courage, my lads ! we are as near heaven at fea as at land *.'

The ifle oi Newfoundland is of a triangular form, and lies between lat. 46. 40,
and 51. 30 : vifited occafionally, but not inhabited, by favages from the continent.

The boafted mine of this ifland lies on the fouthern and weftern fides, on the
great bank, which ftretches from north-eaft to fouth-weft, about two hundred
leagues. The water on the bank is from twenty-two to fifty fathoms j on the
outfide from fixty to eighty ; on the lefler banks much the fame. A great
fwell and thick fog generally mark the place of the greater. The fubjeft of the
fifhery has been often treated of ; but the following (hort though clear account of
fo interefting a fubjecSt cannot fail being acceptable to the Britijh reader.

Newfoundland ts 'X'hg boats or fliallops are forty feet in the keel, rigged with a mainmafl: and

Fishery"

foremaft, and lugfails ; furniflied with four oars, three of which row on one

fide, and the other (which is twice as large) belays the other three, by being

rowed fideways over the ftern, by a man who ftands up for that purpofe, with his

face towards the rowers, counteracting them, and fleering at the fame time as he

gives way to the boat.

" Each of the men in this boat is furniflied with two lines, one at each fide of
the boat, each furniflied with two hooks ; fo here are fixteen hooks conftantly em-
ployed ; which are thought to make a tolerable good day's work of it, if they
brino- in from five to ten quintals of fifti, though they have ftowage for, and
fometimes bring in thirty. Two hundred quintals is called a faving voyage ; but
not under. The bait is fmall fifli of all kinds ; Herring, Capelin, Lance, Tom
Cod, or young Cod ; the firft of which they fait, and keep for fome time, in cafe
of fcarcitv of the reft; but thefe are not near fo eagerly taken by the fifli when
faked. In cafe fmall fifli cannot be got, they ufe fea-fowl, which are eafily taken
in vaft numbers, by laying nets over the holes in the rocks where they come to
roofl: in the night. If neither fmall fifli nor birds are to be got, they are forced
to ufe the maws of fifli they catch, which is the worft bait of any.

" When the fifli are taken, they are carried to the ftage, which is built with one
end over the water for the conveniency of throwing the offals into the fea, and

* Hackluytf ill. 159.

for

NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERY. cxcvii

for. their boats being able to come clofe to difcharge their fifti. As foon as they
come on the ftage a boy hands them to the header, who ftands at the fide of a
table next the water end j whofe bufinefs it is to gut the fifh and cut off the
head, which he does by prefling the back of the head againft the fide of the table,
which is made fharp for that purpofe ; when both head and guts fall through a
hole in the floor into the water. He then ftioves the fifli to the fplitter, who flands
oppofite to him ; his bufinefs is to fplit the fifh, beginning at the head, and open-
ing it down to the tail ; at the next cut he takes out the larger part of the back-
bone, which falls through the floor into the water. He then fhoves the fifh off the
table, which drops into a kind of hand-barrow, which, as foon as filled, is car-
ried off to the falt-pile. The header alfo flings the liver into a fcparate bafket,
for the making of train-oil, ufed by the curriers, which bears a higher price than
Whale-oil.

" In thefalt pile, the fifh are fpread upon one another, with alayer of fait between.
Thus they remain till they have taken fait; and then are carried, and the fait
is wafhed from them by throwing them off from fhore in a kind of float called
a Pound. As foon as this is completed, they are carried to the lafl operation, of
drying them ; which is done on flanding flakes made by a flight wattle, jull flrong
enough to fupport the men who lay on the fifh, fupported by poles, in fome
places as high as twenty feet from the ground : here they are expofed, with th-e
open fide to the fun ; and every night, when it is bad weather, piled up five or
fix on a heap, with a large one, his back or fkinny part uppermoft, to be a fliel-
ter totherefl from rain, which hardly damages him through his fkin, as he refts
flanting each way to fhoot it off. When they are tolerably dry, which in good
weather is in a week's time, they are put in round piles of eight or ten quin-
tals each, covering them on the top with bark. In thefe piles they remain three
or four days to fweat ; after which they are again fpread, and when dry put into
larger heaps, covered with canvas, and left till they are put onboard.

** Thus prepared, they are fent to the Mediterranean, where they fetch a good
price J but are not efleemed in England : for which place another kind of fifh is
prepared, called by them Mud Fifh ; which, inflead of being fplit quite open,
]ike their dry fifh, are only opened down to the navel. They are faked,
and lie in fait, which is wafhed out of them in the fame manner with the others;
but inflread of being laid out to d.ry, are barrelled up in a pickle of fait boiled in
water.

" The train-oil is made from the livers : it is called fo to difi:inguifh it from
Whale or Seal oil, which they call fat oil, and is fold at a lower price (being only

c C" ufed

cxcviii CAPE BRETON. NOVA SCOTIA.

ufed for lighting of lamps) than the train-oil, which is ufed by the curriers.
It is thus made : — They take a half tub, and, boring a hole through the bottom,
prefs hard down into it a layer of fpruce boughs ; upon which they place the livers;
and expofe the whole apparatus to as funny a place as poflible. As the livers cor-
rupt the qil runs from them, and, draining itfelf clear through the fpruce boughs,
is caught in a veffel fet under the hole in the tub's bottom."

Cape Breton. The barren ifland of Cape Breton forms one fide of the great entrance into the

gulph of St. Laurence. It is high, rocky, and dreary ; rich in thick beds of coa!, and
may prove the ISfewcaJlle of America. This ifle was firft difcovered by Sir Humphry
Gilbert, in his fatal voyage. It was foon after frequented, on account of the
Walrufes, and the fifliery of Whales. Among the earlieft adventurers were the
induflrious Bifcayeners, who feem to have been our mafters in the art. Till of
late years, it had been important by being the feat of the French fifliery ; but the
flrong fortrefs of Louijbourg is now demoliflied, and the place deferted.

Nova Scotia. The great peninfula of Nova Scotia is feparated from Cape Breton by a narrow

ftreight. It was, in 1616, poflefTed by the French, who attempted to colonize it
from their new fettlement in Canada ; but they were foon expelled by the EngUJhy
who deemed it part of North Virginia ; the whole continent, at that time, going,
under the name of Virginia, fo called, originally, in honor of our virgin queen. The
French had given it the name of Acadie, James I. made a grant of the country to
Sir IVilliam Alexander in 1621, on condition that he would form there a fettle-
ment. It then received the title of Nova Scotia. In order to encourage Sir IVil"
Ham, he planned the order of baronets, which is called after the country. Ta
every knight who would engage to colonize any part, a grant v/as to be made
of certain portions of land. The order was not inflituted till 1625, when a number
were created, and they held their lands from the crown of Scotland zs a free barony,
with great privileges to all who would fettle in the country *. The defign almoft
inftantly failed, and the French were permitted to repoflefs themfelves of the pro-
vince. Its value became known, and fince that period it has frequently changed
mafters. It never was effectually fettled till the year 1749, when a large colony
was fent there under the aufpices of the Earl of Halifax.
Climate» The climate of this province is, during the long winter, extremely fevere,

and the country covered with fnow many months : the fummer mifty and
damp. The face of it is in general hilly ; but can fcarcely be called moun-

* Collini's Baronets, iv. 330.

tanouSp

NOVA SCOTIA.

<;xcix

tanous, being the lowered continuation of the great chain which pervades the
whole continent- The ground is not favorable to agriculture, but may prove
excellent for pafturage. Due attention to the breeding of cattle will not only
repay the indufuy of the farmer, by the home confumption, but be an exten-
five benefit to our iflands. The country cannot boaft, amidft its vaft forefts,
timber fit for large mafts, nor yet for the building of large fhips ; yet it will
prove an inexhauftible magazine for that fpecies of timber called lumber, fo
eiTential to our fugar plantations.

Its fituation, in refped to the fiflierles, is fcarcely inferior to that of Its Fisheries-
Newfoundland. The vaft banks, called Sable IJland's^ Brown s, and St. George's^
with many others, are frequented by myriads of Cod-fifli. It is the duty of
the Parent State to encourage, with all diligence, this branch of commerce;
and in a manner fo expeditious and fo frugal, as may anticipate and under-
fell foreign adventurers. Without that, our remnants of the New World will
be but of little ufe. The fifheries, the ftaples of Nova Scotia and Newfound"
land, are open to other nations j and if they are permitted to excel us in the
articles expedition and frugality, our labors are truly vain. It is to the antient
hardy colonifts we mull look up for the fupport of the toils of the fea, and
the advantages we may expecl to gain from them : they fliould have their
encouragement. But there is another fet of men who of late (a public
calamity) have made hither an involuntary migration, who with fad hearts
recolledl their exiled land :

Nos Patriae fines, nos dulcia linquimus arva :
Nos Patriam fiigimus.

Thefe fufferers are in general unufed to the fatigues of a maritime life, and
ought to be foftered, for their filial piety, at firft, with a parental care ; to
be encouraged in the paftoral life, or in fuch arts as may fupply the failor and
the fiftierman with food, and with materials for their profefiions. If the
climate is fit for corn, for flax and hemp, let due rewards be given for the fuc-
cefsful efforts of their induftry. The fucceeding generation, hardened to the
climate, and early habituated to another kind of life, may join the maritime
adventurers, and give importance to themfelves, and ftrength to the ifland from
which they fprung.

The harbours of this province are frequent and excellent. The tides are in many Harbours.

places moft uncommonly high. Thofe of the bay of Fundy are the moft re-
jnarkable j for they force themfelves into the great creeks with a bore or head

c c 2 from

ci; N O V A S C O T I A.

from fifty to feventy-two feet high, and with moll: amazing rapidity. Hogs/which
feed along the fhorcs, are much more fenfible of its approach than mankind ;
they are obferved to liften, to prick up their ears for fome time, and then
fuddenly to run ofFat full fpeed.
Magnificent The coafts are, in general, rude and rocky, with fome variations j but in

V I £ VV S

many pUces exhibit moft pi6turefque fcenery. All the northern fide is high,
red, and rocky. The ifles of Canfo are varied with many low white rocks. From
them to Torhay is a feries of lofty coaft, broken and white. Beaver Harbour is
guarded by moft pIcSturefque rounded ifles. South fliore of Chehu£io fteep : the
plaifter cliffs in George Bay are remarkable for their precipitous face and white-
nefs. Sable or Sand IJland is diflinguiflied (as the name imports) by amazing
fand-hills of a fugar-loaf form. The ifle oi Great Manan^ on the weftern fide
of the entrance of the bay of Fundy, is very loftj', the ftrata divided, and the
top wooded. St. Marfs Bay is nobly bounded by high rocks, cloathed on their
fummits with woods : the entrance into it are the Grand and Petit PaJJage ; the fides
of the laft are either covered with hanging woods, floping to the water-edge, or
broke into (hort precipices. The entrance into the fine harbour of Jnnapolis is
moft auguft : a narrow gut, bounded by enormous precipices, with lofty hills
foaring above, the tops of which are even and cloathed with woods. The
approach to the bafon of Minas is not lefs magnificent. The columnar rocks
of Cape Split are very fingular. The ifle of Haute is lofty and fteep on every
fide. The whole neighborhood abounds with views of the moft fublime and
romantic caft. This peninfula joins the great continent by a very narrow
ifthmus, beyond which we retain a wretched barren remnant of near half of the
New World ; the fad reverfe of the ftiort fpace of twenty years ! — My eyes
withdraw themfelves from the mortifying fight. Britain, which fate (by the
wifdom of one man) as the Queen of Nations, now deplores her folly ; and
ought to confefs, that ' thofe things which were for her wealth, proved to her
' an occafion of falling.' She funk under the delufion of profperity, by falfe
iecurity, and the pride of vidlories. If fhe makes a proper ufe of adverfityj^
fhe ftill may rife into glory and wealth, by honeft induftry, and by the repreffion
of rapacity and fordid ambition. — Once more, gracious Heaven, endeavour to
fave an ungrateful people ! once more raife up fome great inftrument to execute
thy mercies ! — Pour with full meafure into our youthful Minifter the virtues
of his father ! — Emulate, young Man, his virtues, and then-

Si qua fata afpera rumpas ;
Tu Marcellus eris.

INDEX

I

N

D

E X

TO THE

INTRODUCTION.

A.

A

page

LPS oi Great Britain, their couife xix

xciv
cxxxix

CLI

LXII

XCII

CLX

XCIX

Sibiria

America — —

Alajhka promontory — —

Alaiid ifles — —

Archangel, its origin ~

America, from whence peopled —

ArSiic flats —•

Antiquities Britijb, in the Orknies and

Schetland —

in Scandina'via —

Koman in Schetland —

Roman in Sconen, in Snveden

Altaic chain or mountains, its courfe

Arzina, where Sir Hugh Willoughby pe-

rifhed —— — —

Aleutian ifles

Aurora Borealis, formerly fuppofed to

be porttntcus — xxviil
ht2^VLi\h\\'m Schetland xxvii
moft Angular in 5'z^jVw en
in Greenland — CLXXXi

in Hudfoni Bay — cxc

B.

Bor've, an antient Scotch caftle on a per-
forated rock • —

XXXI

XXXVI

XXXIII

LIX

XCV

LXXX
CXXXV

B^//;V fea, rather a gulph. Defcribed pagar

by Tacitus — Lix

its depth — ib.

no tides in LX

once joined to the White Sea LXV

very few fifli in — — — LXil

Breton, Cape — - — — >

Baikal, the greatett of lakes in the Old

World — XCVII

Birds in Britain and France —

Orknies — xXVl

Feroe Ifles — xl

Iceland — — — - — LI

Scandina'via — — Lxxv

Spitzbergen — xc

Greenland • — CLxxXIil

about Prince William's Sound cxLViii

about Nootka Sound — — cxLiii

Brijiol Bay ^ — CLiv

Bering, Captain, account of — ex

Iceland cxxxiii

Streights cxi

Birds omitted in the Zoological part CXLVU

Bifcayeners early in the whale-fiftiery

Baffin's Bay CLXXXVi

BzYov^zfi oi Nova Scotia — — cxcviii
Bow of bone moft curioufly engraven

by the Americans — CXLIV

Bear, black, error of mine concern-
ing, corrected — —

white land —

Polar, farther hiftoryof —
C.

cxx

CXLVII
CXCIII

Cafiam

INDEX

T O

THE

c.

page

Cafum Neifius, \\\t w.oitvn HeilgelanJ Lvii
lites celebrated there to

to the goddef's Hertha ih.
Camp, Roman? in one of the Schetland

ifles — xxxiii

California ■ — cxxxvi

C/w/ijv'fl?; deluge, its conlequences — LVJii

Citnbrica Cherfonefus — ib,

Cnven Sea. See White Sea.

Cberie Ijland — Lxxx

Chain ot mountains in Afia — xciv

in America — cxxxix

Cook, Captain — — — cxxxviii

river - — CL

Clerk, Captain, purfues Captain Cook's
(iifcoveries — — —

Copper Ijle — ~ cxxxiil

Culloms common to the Anuricatis and

northern Afiatics — — CLXi
Coals found in V€ry high latitudes — Lxxi, c
Cabot gave, by his difcovery, an origi-
nal to the Englijh of Horth America cxcv

D.

Donjer Streights, not aboriginal — ii

their depth — 1 1 1
increafe of foundings to call

and weft — ib.

Drift-wood, on the Iceland coaft — xLiv
on tiie Spiizbergen and

No-va Zemljea/2 — Lxxxii

in the Icy Sea — cLix

in Hud/ofz^j Bay — — Lxxxv

from whence brought — Lxxxii
from whence the manu-

fa61ured pieces — ib,
Drake, Sir Francis, his difcovery of

New Albion — - — cxxxvii

E.

Eagles, new fpecies ■■■ — cxLVii
BJkimaux, of the weftern fide of Ame-
rica CXHX, CLIII, CLV

maflacre of, near Copper Ri-

cuer — — — — CLxxv

of Greenland — — CLxxxi

of Labrador - —

£gede,'Mi. the A}-^ic apoUk] — CLxxix

F.

FoJIa, a German deity, the fame with

Fle'vo Lacus, now loft in the Ziiyder Zee
FlanderSy antient llate of

page
LVII
LVI

ib.
II

France, once joined to Britain —

correlpondency of its coaft and

cliffs — ib.

its number of Quadrupeds and

Birds V, VI

Feroe IJles, their number — — — xxxix

when difcovered — xLli

Fowling, defperate method in Feroe XL

in Schetland — — — xxix

Fruits or Kuts of the Weji Indies, how

wafted to Norivay, Sec. Lxix

Fifli of Iceland, moftly common to
Greenland — —

of the Baltic, very few — LX

oi Lapland — — — Lxii

of Nornjuay — — — Lxxvi

ot Spiizbergen - - ■ xc

of the 6'/Z'/rz«« rivers — — — Cli

the Frozen Sea — — — ib.

Ka7ntJ'cbatka — Cxxii

Greenland — — cLxxxiii

Hudfons Bay — CLxxxix

Fabricius, Mr. O//0, amoff ableZoologift CLxxxi

Fleets, vaft, of the northern nations Lxvii

Froft-fmoke, its danger — clxxxi

FolTils of Greenland — — — CLxxxv

G.

Couberman, ifles off Iceland, fuddenly

abforbed — XLvii

Gulph ftreanij an account of Lxix

Guillemot, lefTer (omitted at p. 517,

Zool.) — Lii

Germanicus doubles the Cimbrium Pro-

mcntorium — — •— — Lix

German Sea — — — — xx

Gilbert, Sir Humphry, his gallantry

and piety — — '

Greenland, Old — clxxvii

when firft difcovered — clxxviil
its antient colony of Nor-

njjegtans — —

ib.

vhen again colonized — cLxxix

H. Eollandt

INTRODUCTION.

H.

ffoUand, its antientflate ■■ — .

Her'uor,\\tr magical invocation, a runic

poem ■ ——

Hecla, number of Its eruptions —

the north-ern hell —

Hiiers, or jets-d'eaux of fcalding water

in Iceland —

Hoy, hill of, in Orkney, Its height — .
Hyperborean, or northern ocean —

Hyperboreans, a people defcribed by

P.Mela — - _

Herrings extend to ^^;«//(:;?;a^^<a: —
Hearne, Mr. his amazing journey to

H'tppopoda, what, probably -

HiUe--uio!ies, a people of Siveden

Uudfm''s Bay

I.

Iceland, its difcovery ■ ^—

almoft a mafs of /«x/« — —

its plants •

dreadful eruptions in — —
enflaved ftate — — ■— —
antient commerce from Britain
wonderful jets-d'eaux —
Qiiadrupeds and Bird? ■

Iflands newly raifed out of the fea —
fwallowed up in thefea —
of ice, their amazing extent

Icebergs {ox Jo kkeler) oi Iceland —
of Spitzbergen — — —

attempts to pafs it — —

very fhailow — — —

its time of freezing — —

Jenefei river — —

K.

Kandinos Ifland — — ■

Kattegatte, the — — —

Ki'vikke in S-iveden, Roman antiquities

Kamtfchatka ■ — .

fevere climate — —

plants of - —.

marine'plants -

religion ■ —

former beaftly hofpitality

page

LVI

XXXVII

XLVI

ib.
xLvr

XXV

XLV

XCIV

cxxvr

CLXXV

LXI7

LXV

CLXXXVII

XLII
XLIV

XLV

XLVI

XLVIII

LIV
XLVI
XL IX

XLV
XLV 1 1

Lxxxvr

XLV

LXXXV

CLVII

L.

Kuril Ifles
Koriacs, people

Labrador —
Lena, the river

M.

Mountains, Scoltijh, their height —
Scandina'vian — Lxix,

of Spitsbergen

of Sibiria —

Magdalene IJles, a great haunt of the

Walrufes ■ — — — .

Manga-zea, a moit antient Ar£lic mart

Mednoi, or Copper Ijle — — .

Montrofe pits, fingular excavations in at

fand-bank —

Mare, Scjlhicum vel Samarticum —
Pigrum ■ — —

Septentrionale — — —

Morimarufa — — —

Chronium • ■ ■ —

Sue'vicutn - — -^ ■ — ■

Moranjian clergy, their meritorious zeal
Markoff, his journey on the ice of the

Moucho More, a mufhroom, its dread-
ful efFe6ls —

page cxxxiii
■ cxxix

XCIX'

XIX
LXXIII

LXXXVII
XCIV

CXCIII
XCVII I
CXXXIV

XXI

LXIV

ib.

XX.

txiv
ib.

LVllI

cxciv

— cxvii-

Nk

c

LXV 11

CLVII I

North Cape — —

LXXX

G

North Sea. See German,

XCVII

Naturalilts employed by the Empress

xcvi

of Russia, their great merit —

CXIV

Nor-way • -

LXVI

XCVl

its vaft extent, and fingular

xcm

coalts Lxviij

1 LXVI It

Lviir

Norivegians, a fine race of men —

LXXVIII

-

faid to have difcovered

Lxxviir

America — —

CLXIV

ex I I

Nootkd Sound — — —

CXLII

CXIII

natives of, their feathers

CXLIII

CXIV

CXCVI

cxxvi 1 1

ib.

ex XX

No'va Scotia —^ —

CXCVI I I

CXXXl

romantic views in —

CO

0.

Omerr

INDEX TO THE

o.

O^ilie)' or Ohthere, the Norrusglafi, a

moft able voyager —

Conalajbka IJland — —

Obf the river — i

its annual llench —

page

LXXVI I
CLI I I

XCVI
XCVI I

V-cczora, once a place of great trade xci ii

Packing of the ice, what — lxxxiii, Lxxxv

PanoU, a falnilou; people — Lxiv

Pytkeas of Marfeilles, a moft antient

voyager — . — xLii

Prior, his beautiful fiflion of the ArSlic life civ
Plants. See Vegetables.

Prince JVilliam''s Sound — cxLvii

Port los Remedios, the tnoft northern

difcovery of the Spaniards — cxLv

Quadrupeds o\ Britain -^Vi^ Trance iv, V

of the Orknies and Schetland xxx

of Iceland • — xLix

o^ Scandinavia — -— Lxxiv

of Spitzbergen lxxxvi i i

of Kamtfchatka cxxi

o^ Greenland cLxxxii

Table of cLxvin

R.

^Wj^fl« empire, its vaft extent ■ Lxiii

Roman fleet fail to the mouth of the Baltic Lix
Jiipraps, afubmarinehilljoncepartofthe

ifthmus betvs'een France and Britain iii

Raven, facred to O^/iw • — Lii

ufed by Floke, the pirate, to

difcover land — — xLiii

RipheanhWh — xciv

Rublas Promoniorium • — Lxvi

Ruffians regularly winter In Spitzbergen cLxxxvi i

Saxonum Infula — —

SWiria^ its difcovery — — —

intenfe cold of ■■

Salmon fpecies very numerous in

Kamtfchatka — — - —

Lvri
cv

ClI

Saranne, the moft iifeful plant of page

Kamtfchatka ~.~—. . cxvi 1 1

Schalourof, his difcoverics _— ci

Schalotfkoi Cape, its latitude erroneous ci, eix

probably never doubkd Ci

Springs, hot in Iceland — xLvi

in Katn'fchatka ■ Cxiii

in Greenland •

Seven Sifiers IJJes, the moft remote of

known land

LXXIl

LXXIV

III

XCI I I

CLxi

LXV

LXVII

ib.

I, XXI

ib.

LV
LXXI I

Seuen Stflers in Nor-Tvaj, moft fmgular

mountains » ■

Seal lirtle (omitted in its place) —

Streights of Dover affe61t.d by the ocean

between the gulph oi Finland

and fi'hite Sea, now cloftd,

but ftiil to be traced lxv, xciit

Scalping in ufe with the Scythians —
Scandinavia, once infulatcd — —

the Officina Gentium —
ravage, yet aflift to peo-
ple much ol Europe
Sand banks, olf Britain, their utility

which dangerous —

off Flanders and Holland

Sevo Mens, Senjeberg

Sweet Plant, the, its great ufe in Kamtf-
chatka ' ^— cxvii
Spitzbergen ..-.^—^ — lxxxi
inftances of people winter-
ing there XC, C LXXXV 11

T.

Tides, height of, in the ftreights of

l)(nier ■ iii

at Calais, and the coafts oi Flan-
ders and Holland — — lv

on the coaft of Jutland ib.

of Norik'ay . Lxv 1 1 1

of the Frozen Sea
Kamtfchatka — cxxviii
weftern coaft of

America CLi, cxLii

Table of Quadrupeds • • CLxviii

Taimura Cape ■ ■ Ci

Torg-hatten, a fingular pierced rock Lxxii

TomahaiMk, a moft tremendous cxHV

Thomfon, the poet, his real reprefenta-

tion of ArSlic life — cv

Tfchutfki, 1 aft of 4A^^2^ people — CViii
'Tartarian \Ao\, figure of, illuftrating a

l>&ffage in Her0d(^tus ■ — clxi

U. Uralliet$

INTRODUCTION.

u.

page

XCiV
XLV

CXXXIX
CXil

UrtilUan chain or mountains, its courfe

Vulcanoes of Iceland —

chain of in South and North

America — — •

in Kamtfchatka —

in tlie illes of Afia to North

America ■ — cxxxiv,v

Vegetables, nvimbers in Iceland — xLV

o{ Spitsbergen >LXXxviii

comparative lilt of thole

of northern £aro/^ — Lxxxix

o<i Sibiria -^ f"-Vii

of Kamlfchatka cxiv

of the weftern fide of Ame-
rica — cxLVi

Qi Bering's IJle — cxxxiv

W.

Jfeflra, graves of in Schetland, their

contents — xxxv

Wefimonv in Iceland^ antiently a roy-
al port — = — iiy

Whirlpools between Cathnefs and the pag3

Orknies xxill,xxiy

of Suderoe, near the Feroe

IJles ■ XL 1 1

Willoughby, Sir Hugh, his difcoveries

and lad tate Lxxx

Waygat Itreights, Spitsbergen — Lxxxi

tht NovaZemljean xcvi

Wardhuys, the molt northern fortrefs Lxxix
Walruies, where abundant — Lxxxi, xcvi
Werchoturian mountains. See UraUian.
F'/6z"/^ 5^fl, early difcovered — Lxxvn, xcii
Weljh, their cla'me to the difcovery of

America — CLxiii

William" s, Prince, Sound — — cxLVii

Y.

Yaik river, its courfe — xcv

Termac, a Cojfac, firft conquers part of

Sibiria for the Rii[fians '- ■■■ ■ cv

Z.

Zujder Zee, when formed — — * Lvi

dd

ARCTIC Z O O L O G Y.

CLASS I. Q^U A D R U P E D S.
D I V. I. HOOFED.
H I S r. ^ U A B. Genus 11. I. oX.

American Ox, H:J}. Sluad. p. 19, H. — Smellie, vi. igd. j^ Bison.

OX. With flioi t, black, rounded horns ; with a great fpace between
their bafes : on the fhouldefs a vail bunch, compofed of a fiefhy
fubftance, much elevated : the fore part of the body thick and ftrong:
the hind part flender and weak : tail a foot long; naked to the end,
which is tufted : the legs fhort and thick.

The head and fhoulders of the Bull are covered with very long
flocks of reddilh woolly hair, falling over the eyes and horns, leaving
only the points of the latter to be {ttTi : on the chin, and along tlie
dewlaps, is a great length of fhaggy hairs : the reft of the body during
fummer is naked, in winter is cloathed equally in all parts. The
Cow is leiTer, and wants the fhaggy coat, which gives the Bull fo
tremendous an afpedt.

It grows to a great fize, even to the weight of fixteen hundred or §"*■•

two thoufand four hundred pounds *. The ftrongeft man cannot
lift the hide of one of thefe animals from the ground f.

• Lofwfon^ 116. 1 Cattjbjxx, h^-^,

B The

A xV T I E N T L Y

FOUM>,

a BISON.

The Bi/on and Aurochs of Europe is certainly the fame fpecies with
this ; the difference confifts in the former being lefs Hiaggy, and the
hair neither fo foft nor woolly, nor the hind parts fo weak. Both
European and American kinds fcent of mufk.
Where In antient times they were found in different parts of the old

world, but went under different names ; the Bonafus of Arijlotle, the
Urus of C^Jary the Bos ferus of StrabOj the Bifon of Pliny y and the
Bijion of Oppian, fo called from its being found among the Biftones
a people of Hhrace, According to thefe authorities, it was found in
their days in Media and in Paoniay a. province of Macedonia ; among
the AlpSy and in the great Hercynian foreft, which extended from Ger-
tnany even into Sarmatia *. In later days a white fpecies was a na-
tive of the Scottijh mountains ; it is now extind in its favage ftate,
but the offspring, fufficiently wild, is ftill to be feen in the parks of
Drumlanrigy in the South of Scotlandy and of Chillingham Caftle ia
Northumberland f.
Where at ^^ th.t(c times it is found in very few places in a ftate of nature;

PRESENT. it is, as far as we know, an inhabitant at prefent only of the forefts
Europe. o? Lithuania , and among the Carpathian mountains, within the extent

A' I A of the gvQ2Lt Hercynian wood J, its antient haunts; and in-^^, among

the vaft mountains of Caucafus,

It is difficult to fay in what manner thefe animals migrated ori-
ginally from the old to the new world ; it is moft likely it was
from the north of Afia^ which in very antient times might have been
Rocked with them to its moft extreme parts, notwithftanding they
are now extind,. At that period there is a probability that the old
and the new continents might have been united in the narrow chan-
nel between 7'chutkt nofs and the oppofite headlands of America ;

• Aript. Hift.An. lib.ii. c i C afar Bel, Gall. lib. yfi.—Plimi Hijl, iV«/. lib*

3iv. c. 15. — Opfian Cyneg. ii. Lin. 160.

+ Br. Zool. i. N° ^.—f^oy. Heirides, 124. — Tour. Scotl. 1772, Part ii. p. 285.
y^ t There is a very fine figure of the European Bi/on in Mr. Ridinger'i Jagbere Thiert.

and

BISON. ^

and the many iflands off of that promontory, with the AlevJian or
New Fox iflandsj fomewhat more diftant, ftretching very near to Ame-
ricay may with great reafon be fuppofed to be fragments of land
which joined the two continents, and formed into their infular ftate
by the mighty convulfion which divided Jfta from America. Spain
was probably thus disjoined from Africa j Britain from France ; Ice-
land from Greenland ; Spitzbergen from Lapland.

But that they pafled from Afia to America is far the more probable,
than that they flocked the new world from the fide of Europe, not
only on account of the prefent narrownefs of the ftreight between the
two continents, which gives a greater caufe to fuppofe them to have
been once joined ; but that we are now arrived at a certainty, that
thefe animals in antient days were natives of Sibiria: the. fcuils, with
the horns affixed, of a fize far fuperior to any known at this time, have
been found folTil not only on the banks of the Ilga, which falls into
the Lena, but even in thofe of the Anadyr, the moft eaftern of the
Sibirian rivers, and which difembogues north oIKamtJchatka into thofe
ftreights: fimilarfkuUs and horns have been difcovered near Dirjchau,
in Poland, alfo of a gigantic magnitude ; and in my opinion of the
famefpecies with the modern Bifons *.

In America thefe animals are found in the countries fix hundred America.
miles weft of Hudfon's Bay ; this is their moft northern refidence.
From thence they are met with in great droves as low as Cibole f , in
lat. 23i ^ little north of California, and alfo in the province of Mivera,
in New Mexico J ; the fpecies inftantly ceafes fouth of thofe countries.
They inhabit Canada, to the weft of the lakes; and in greater abun-
dance in the rich favannas which border the river Miffifipi, and the
great rivers which fall into it from the weft, inthe upper Louifiana%.

* Nov, Com. Petrop. xvii. 460. tab. xi. xii. — I am forry to diitent from my eftecmcd
friend Doftor Pallat, who thinks them to be the Horns of Buffaloes ; which are longer,
ftraiter, and angular.

t Purchas, iv, 1560, 1566. % Fernandez, Nov, Hifp. x. c. ^o.^-'HernaftdeK, ^S.

§ Du PratZfii, 50. i. 116, 286.

B 2 There

> B I S O N,

There they are feeii feeding in herds innumerable, promiicuouny v/Ith
multitudes of ftags and deer, during morning and evening i retiring
in the fukry heats into the fhade of tall reeds, which border the rivers

of America.

Timid. They are exceeding'y fhy ; and very fearful of man, unlefs they are

wounded, when they purlue their enemy, and become very dangerous.

Chasz. The chafe of thefe animals is a favorite diverfion of the Indians^

it is cffefted in two ways ; firft, by fhooting ; when the markfman
muft take great care to go againft the wind, for their fmcll is fo ex-
quifite that the moment they get fcent of him they inftantly retire
with the utmoft precipitation *. He aims at their Ihoulders, that they
may drop at once, and not be irritated by an ineffedual wound. Pro-
vided the wind does not favor the beafts, they may be approached very
near, being blinded by the hair which covers their eyes. The other
method is performed by a great number of men, who divide and
form a vaft fquare: each band fets fire to the dry grafs of the favanna
where the herds are feeding ; thefe animals have a great dread of
fire, which they fee approach on all fides; they retire from it to the
center of the fquare f j the bands clofe, and kill them (prefTed toge-
ther in heaps) without the left hazard. It is pretended, that oa
every expedition of this nature, they kill fifteen hundred or two
thoufand beeves.

The hunting-grounds are prefcribed with great form, leaft the dif-
ferent bands ftiould meet, and interfere in the diverfion. Penalties
are enadtcd on fuch who infringe the regulations, as well as on thofe
wha quit their pofts, and fuff'er the beafts to efcape from the hollow
fquares \ the punifliments are, the ftripping the delinquents, the:
taking away their arms ( which is the greateft difgraee a favage caa
undergo), or laftly, the demolition of their cabins J.

Anotmir

METHOD.

• Du PratXy i. 49. ii. 227» t Charlevoix, N, France , v. 192.

I Cbarlrveix, V. 19^2.

9

The

BISON. f-

The ufes of thele animals are various. Pcwder-flafks are made of Vtta.

their horns. The fldns are very valuable -, m old times tEe India-ris
made of them the beft targets*. When drelied, they form an excellent Skin-.

buff J the Indians drefs them with the hair on, and cloath themfelve^
with tliem ; the Europeans of Louifiana ufe them for blankets, and
find them light, warm, and foft. The flefh is a confiderable article of
food, and the bunch on the back is efteemed a very great delicacy.
The Bulls become excefllvely fat, and yield great quantity of tallow. Tallow.

a hundred and fifty pounds weight has been got from a fingle beaftf,
which forms a confiderable matter of commerce. Thefe over-fed
animals ufually become the prey of Wolves ; for, by reafon of their
great unwieldinefs, they cannot keep up with the herd.

The Indiansy by a very bad policy, prefer the flefh of the Cows ;
which in time will deftroy the fpecies : they complain of the rank-
nefs of that of the Bulls j but Dti Pratz thinks the laft much more
tender, and that the ranknefs might be prevented, by cutting off the
tefticles as foon as the beaft is killed.

The hair or wool is fpun into cloth, gloves, ftockings, and gar- Hai»,

ters, which are very fl:rong, and look as well as thofe made of the
beft fheeps wool j Governor Pownall affures us, that the moft luxu-
rious fabrick might be made of it J. The fleece of one of thefe
animals has been found to weigh eight pounds.

Their fagacity in defending themfelves againft the attacks of D«fenc«
Wolves is admirable : when they fcent the approach of a drove of against

WoLVJJ,

thofe ravenous creatures, the herd flings itfelf into the form of a
cirtle : the weakeft keep in the middle, the ftrongeft are ranged on ""

the outfide, prefenting to the enemy an impenetrable front of horns :
ihould they be taken by furprize, and have recourfe to flight, numbers
of the fatteft or the weakeft are fure to perilh |(.

• Purchat, iv. 1550, t J5)« Pratx, J Topog. De/cr. N. Am. S*

n Du FratKi^, 288.

Attempts

6 B I S O N.

Hard to be Attempts have been made to tame 'and domefiricate the wild, by

TAMED. catching the calves and bringing them up with the common kind,

in hopes of improving the breed. It has not yet been found to an-
fwer: notwithftanding they had the appearance for a time of having
loft their favage nature, yet they always grew impatient of reftraint,
and, by reafon of their great ftrength, would break down the ftrongeft
inclofure, and entice the tame cattle into the corn-fields. They have
been known to engender together, and to breed; but I cannot learn
whether the fpecies was meliorated * by the intercourfe : probably
perfeverance in continuing the crofles is only wanfed to efFed; their
thorough domeftication ; as it is notorious that the Btfons of the old
world v/ere the original ftock of all our tame cattle.

Thefe were the only animals which had any affinity to the Eiiro-
■pean cattle on the firft difcovery of the new world : before that pe-
riod, it was in poffefTion of neither Horfe nor Afs, Cow nor Sheep,
Hog, Goat, nor yet that faithful animal the Dog. Mankind were
here in a ftate of nature ; their own pafTions unfubdued, they never
thought of conquering thofe of the brute creation, and rendering
them fubfervient to their will. The few animals which they had
congenerous to thofe mentioned, might poffibly by induftry have
been reclamed. This animal might have been brought to all the
ufes of the European Cow ; the Pecari might have been fubftituted
for the Hog ; the Fox or Wolf for the Dog : but the natives, living
wholly by chafe, w«re at war with the animal creation, and negleded
the cultivation of any part, except the laft, which was imperfedly
tamed.

Such is the cafe even to the prefent hour; for neither the example
of the Europeansy nor the vifible advantages which refult from an at-
tention to that ufeful animal the Cow, can induce the Indian to pay
any refpeft to it. He contemns every fpecies of domeftic labour,
except what is necefiary for forming a provifion of bread. Every

* Kalnt i. 207.

J wigwam

BISON. sf

wigwam cr village has its plantation of Mayz^ or Indian corn, and
on that is his great dependence, Ihould the chafe prove unfuccefsful.

Domefticated cattle are capable of enduring very rigorous cli-
mates ; Cows are kept at ^ickjock in Lech a Lapmarkj not far from Lapmark,
the ar6tic circle -, but they do not breed there, the fucceffion being
preferved by importation : yet in Iceland j a fmall portion of which Iceland.
is within the circle, cattle abound, and breed as in more fouthern
latitudes : they are generally fed with hay, as in other places j but
where there is fcarcity of fodder, they are fed with the fifh called the
Sea-Wolf, and the heads and bones of Cod beaten fmall, and mixed
with one quarter of chopped hay : the cattle are fond of it, and, what
is wonderful, yield a confiderable quantity of milk. It need not be
laid that the milk is bad.

Kamtfchatkay like America, was in equal want of every domeftic^ani- Kamtschatka,
mal, except a wolf-like Dog, till the Ruffians of late years intro- ^

duced the Cow and Horfe. The colts and calves brought from the
north into the rich paftures of Kamtjchatka, where the grafs is high,
grow to fuch a fize, that no one would ever fufpeft them to be de-
fcended from the Ponies and Runts of the Lena *. The Argali, the
ftock of the tame Sheep, abounds in the mountains, but even to this
time are only objects of chafe. The natives are to this hour as un-
cultivated as the good Evander defcribes the primary natives of
Laiium to have been, before the introduftion of arts and fciences.

Quels neque mos, neque cultus erat, nee jungere tauros,.
Aut componere opes norant, aut parcere parto :
Sed rami atque afper vi£lu venatus alebat.

No laws they know, no manners, nor the. caje
Gf lab'ring Oxen, or the fhlning Share ;
No arts of gain, nor what they gain'd to fpare ;
Their exercife the chafe : the running flood
Supplied their thirft ; the trees fupplied their food.

• Pallas., Sf, ZqqL fafc, xi, 76,

^Drjilen,

Mufk

>IZ£.

O N.

2. Musk. Muflc Ox, Bljf. ^ad. N" 9.

Le Boeuf mufque, de M. Jeremle, Voy. au Nord, ill. 3 14.— Charlevoix, U. F ranee ^
V. 194. — Lev. Mus.

ULL. Withliorns clofely united at the bafej bending inwards

and downwards ; turning outwards towards their ends, which

taper to a point, and art very fliarp : near the bafe are two feet ia

girth; are only two feet long meafured along the curvature : v/elgat

of a pair, feparated from the head, fometimes is fixty pounds *.

The hair is of a dufliy red, extremely fine, and fo long as to trail on
the ground, and render the beaft a feeming fhapelefs mafs, without
diftinfbion of head or tail -j- : the legs and tail very Ihort : the
ihoulders rife into a lump.

In lize lower than a Deer, but larger as to belly and quarters t.
I have only feen the head of this animal j the reft of the defcription
is taken from the authorities referred to : but by the friendfnip of
Samuel IVegg, Efq; I received laft year a very complete fkin of th?
cow of this fpecies, of the age of three years, which enables me to
give the following defcription :

Cow. The noftrils long and open : the two middle cutting teeth
broad, and fharp-edged; the three on each fidefmall, and truncated :
under and upper lips covered with Ihort white hairs on their fore
part, and with pale brown on their fides : hair down the middle of
the forehead long and erefl ; on the cheeks fmooth and extremely
long and pendulous, forming with that on the throat a long beard :
the hair along the neck, fides, and rump hangs in the fame manner,
and almoft touches the ground : from the hind part of the head
to the lliouldcrs is a bed of very long foft hair, forming an upright
mane : in the old beafts the fpace between the Ihoulders rifes into a

• M. Jtrtmity in Forages m Nord, lii. 315.

t Th« fame. % Drake's Foj, ii. 260.

hunch :

MUSK. 5

hunch : the legs are very fhort, covered with fmooth whitifh hairs ;
thofe which encircle the hoofs very long, and of a pure white :
hoofs fhort, broad, and black : the falfe hoofs large in proportion :
tail only three inches long, a mere flump, covered with very long
hairs, fo as to be undiftinguifhable to the fight. Of the tail, the
Eskimaux of the north-weft fide of the bay make a cap of a moft hor-
rible appearance j for the hairs fall all round their head, and cover
their faces ; yet it is of fingular fervice in keeping off the Mufque-
toes, which would otherwife be intolerable*.

Space between the horns nine inches : the horns are placed exactly Horns.

on the fides of the head j are whitiih j thirteen inches and a half
long i eight inches and a half round at the bafe ; of the fame fort of
curvature with thofe of the Bull : the ears are three inches long, quite Ears.

ered -, fharp-pointed, but dilate much in the middle ; are thickly
lined with hair of a dufl<;y color, marked with a ftripe of white.

The color of tjie hair black; except on thefe parts : — from the bafe Color.

of one horn to that of the other, is a bed of white and light ruft-co-
lored hair : the mane is duflcy, tinged with red, which is continued in
a narrow form to the middle of the back j on which is a large roundifh
bed of pure white, and the hairs in that fpace fhorter than any of the
reft, not exceeding three inches in length, and of a pale brown to^
wards their roots.

The hairs are of two kinds, the longeft meafure feventeen inches ; Hair,

are very fine and glofTy, and when examined appear quite flat : this
is the black part, which cloaths moft part of the animal.

The bed of hair between the horns, and that which runs along the
top of the neck, is far finer and fofter than any human hair, and ap-
pears quite round. The white bed is ftill finer, and approaches to
the nature of wool.

Beneath every part of the hair grows in great pknty, and often in Wool.

flocks, an afh-colored wool, moft exquifitely fine, fuperior, I think,

* Ellis^svoj. 232,

C to

10

M U S K.

to any I have feen, and which might be very ufeful in manufactures
if fufficient could be procured. I give full credit to M. Jeremie^ who
fays, that he brought fome of the wool to France^ and got (lockings
made with it, more beautiful than thofe of filk *. The fkin is thin.
S,z£. The length of the whole hide, from nofe to tail, is about fix feet

four inches : of the head alone fourteen inches. The legs could not
be well meafured, but were little more than a foot long.

The fituation of thefe animals is very tocal. They appear firft in
the tra6t between Churchill river and that of Seals ^ on the v/eft fide of
Hudforis Bay. They are very numerous between the latitudes 66 and'
73 north, which is as far as any tribes of Indians go. They live in
herds of twenty or thirty, Mr. Hearn ■\ has feen in the high latitudes
feveral herds in one day's walk. They delight moft in the rocky and
barren mountains, and feldom frequent the woody parts of the coun-
try. They run nimbly, and are very adlive in climbing the rocks..
The flefh taftes very ilrong of Muf!c, and the heart is fo ftrongly
infefted as hardly to be eatable ; but the former is very wholefome,.
having been found to reftore fpeedily to health, the fickly crew who
made it their food J .

They are Ihot by the Indians for the f^ke of the meat and fkins,
the laft from its warmth making excellent blankets. They are
brought down on fledges to the forts annually during winter, with
about three or four thoufand weight of the flcih. Thefe are called.
Churchill Buffaloes, to diftinguifh them from the laft fpecies, which
are in Hudfon's Bay called Inland Buffaloes, of which only the
tongues are brought as prefcnts H.

They are found alfo in the land of the Cris or CriJiinauXy and the
JJfmibouels : again among the Attimofpiquayj a nation fuppofed to in-

• Foy. au Nord,\iu 314.

■}• The gentleman who undertook, in 1770, 1771, 1772, the arduous journey to-
the Ify Sea, from Prince ofWaks'sFort, Hud/on' s Bay, To him, through Mr. Wegg'%-
intereft, I am indebted for the fkin and this information.

1 Drao-^i voy, ii. 260, || Mr. Craham't MS., .

habic

MUSK. tt

liabit about the head of the river of Seals *, probably not very re-
mote from the South Sea. They are continued from thefe countries
ibuthward, as low as the provinces of Rivera and Cibola ; for Father
Marco di Nifa^ and Gomaray plainly defcribe both kinds f .

Some of the fkuUs of this fpecies have been difcovered on the
mofly plains near the mouth of the Ohy in Sibiria. It is not faid
how remote from the fea; if far, they probably in fome period might
have been common to the north of Jfia and of America ; if near the
fhore, it is poffible that the carcafes might have floated on the ice
from America to the places where the remains might have been
found J. Of this fpecies was the head, and fuch were the means of
conveyance, from the coaft of HudJorCs or Baffin s^ mentioned by Mr.
FabriciuSy and which he faw fo brought to Greenland || ; for it could
not have been, as he conje6lures, the head of th€ grunting Ox, an ani-
mal found only in the very interior parts of northern Afia.

* Dohbs^s Hud/oti's Bay, 1 9, 25. f PunhaSyhr. \^6i. v. 854. J P-allas,

in mv, com, Petrof, xvii. 601. tab. xvii. 1| Faun, Groenl, s8.

C 2 SHEEP.

la SHEEP,

S H E E P. Hijl. ^lad. Genus III.

A R G A L I : Wild Sheep, HiJl. ^ad. N" ii. H. p. z^.—Smellie, vi. 205.—

Lev. Mus.

THE Sheep, in its wild ftate, inhabits the north-eaft of y^^>
beyond lake Baikal, between the Omn and Argun, to the
height of latitude 60, on the eaft of the Lena, and from thence to
Kamtjchatka, and perhaps the Kurili iflands. I dare not pronounce
that they extend to the continent of America -, yet I have received
from Do(5tor Fallas a fringe of very fine twifted wool, which had or-
namented a drefs from the iile o^ Kadjak; and I have myfelf another
piece from the habit of the Americans in latitude 50. The firft was of
a fnowy whitenefs, and of unparalleled finenefs j the other as fine, but
of a pale brown color : the firft appeared to be the wool which
grows intermixed with the hairs of the Argali ; the laft, that which
is found beneath thofe of the Muflc Ox. Each of thefe animals may
exift on that fide of the continent, notwithftanding they might have
not fallen within the reach of the navigators in their fhort ftay off^the
coaft.

Certain quadrupeds of this genus were obferved in California by
the rniflionaries in 1697 -, one as large as a Calf of one or two years
old, with a head like a Stag, and horns like a Ram : the tail and
hair fpeckled, and fhorter than a Stag's. A fecond kind was larger,
and varied in color j fome being white, others black, and furnifhed

v/ith

SHEEP. 13

•with very good wool. The Fathers called both Sheep, from their great
refemblance to them *. Either the Americans of latitude 50 are pof-
fefled of thefe animals, or may obtain the fleeces by commerce from
the fouthern Indians.

The Argali abound in Kamtjchatka \ they are the moft ufeful of
their animals, for they contribute to food and cloathing. The
Kamtjchatkans cloath themfelves with the fkins, and efteem the flelh,
efpecially the fat, diet fit for the Gods. There is no labor which Chase I^f
they will not undergo in the chafe. They abandon their habitations,
with all their family, in the fpring, and continue the whole fummer
in the employ, amidft the rude mountains, fearlefs of the dreadful
precipices, or of the avelenches, which often overwhelm the eager
fportfmen.

Thefe animals are fliot with guns or with arrows ; fometimes with
crofs-bows, which are placed in the paths, and difcharged by means
of a ftring whenever the Argali happens to tread on it. They are
often chafed with dogs, not that they are overtaken by them i but
when they are driven to the lofty fummits, they will often (land
and look as if it were with contempt on the dogs below, which gives
the hunter an opportunity of creeping within reach while they are fo
engaged j for they are the fhyeft of animals.

The Mongols and Tungufi ufe a nobler fpecies of chafe : they col- In Mongolia.
left together a vaft multitude of horfes and dogs, attempting to fur-
round them on a fudden ; for fuch is their fwiftnefs and cunning,
that if they perceive, either by fight or fmell, the approach of the
chajfeursj they inftantly take to flight, and fecure themfelves on the
lofty and inacceflible fummits,

Domefticated Sheep will live even in the dreadful climate of Sheep in
Greenland. Mr. Fabricius-\{2iySj they are kept in many places. They
are very numerous in Iceland. Before the epidemical difeafe which
raged among them from 1740 to- 1750, it was not uncommon for a

Ph, Tranf. ahr, v. part ii. 195. f Faun. Groenl. p. 29,

fingle

H SHEEP.

fingle perfon to be pofleffed of a thoufand or twelve hundred. They
have upright ears, fhort tails, and often four or five horns *. They
are fometimes kept in ftables during winter, but ufually left to take
their chance abroad, when they commonly hide themfelves in the
caves of exhaufted vulcanoes f. They are particularly fond of fcurvy-
grafs, with which they grow fo fat as to yield more than twenty pounds.
The ewes give from two to fix quarts of milk a day, of which butter
and cheefe is made. The wool is never fhorn, but left on till the
end of Mny^ when it grows loofe, and is ftripped entirely off in one
fleece ; and a fine, fhort, and new wool appears to have grown be-
neath ; this continues growing all fummer, becomes fmooth and
glofTy like the hair of Camels, but more fliaggy J. With the wool
the natives manufacture their cloth ; and the flcfh dried is an article
of commerce.

In all parts of European Rujfia are found the common Sheep. Thofe
of the very north, and of the adjacent Finmark, have fhort tails and
upright ears, and wool ahPioft as rude as the hair of Goats ; but are
feldom polyccratous. They fometimes breed tv/ice in a year, and
bring twins each time H.

In the y^fiat'ic dominions of Rujfia, from th« borders of Rujia to
thofe of (Shinuy is a moft fingular variety of Sheep, deflitute of tails,
with rumps fv/elling into two great, naked, and fmooth hemifpheres
of fat, which fometimes weigh forty pounds : their nofes are arched :
their ears pendulous : their throats v/attled : their heads horned, and
fometimes furnifhed with four horns. Thefe are fo abundant
throughout Tartary, that a hundred and fifty thoufand have been an-
nually fold at the Orenburg fairs j and a far greater number at the
fort Trolzkaja, from whence they are driven for Daughter into difFe-

* SmeIIie,vl2oy,2ig. . t Horrdonv, 46. t TrciVs 'voy. 138.

II Leems, 228.

rent

SHEEP. 15

rent parts o^ Rujfta*. Sheep do not thrive in Kamtfchutka^ by rea-
fon of the wetnels of the country.

Sheep abound in New England and its iflands : the wool is fliort,
and much coarfer than that of Great Britain -, polTibly proper at-
tention to the houfing of the Sheep may in time improve the fleece ;
but the feverity of the climate will ever remain an obftacle to its
perfedion. Manufaftures of cloth have been eftablifliedj and a to-
lerable cloth has been produced, but in quantities in no degree
equal to the confumption of the country. America likewife wants
downs i but by clearing the hills of trees, in a long feries of years
that defed may be alleviated. As we advance further fouth, the
Sheep grow fcarcer, worfe, and the wool more hairy.

* P alias t 5/. Zool^ fafc. xi. 63. tab^ iv,.

G O A T.

i6 GOAT.

GOAT. Hiji. ^ad. Genus IV.

IBEX, HiJi. ^ad, N" 13, • Is fuppofed to extend to the mountains of the
eaftern part of Sibiria, beyond the Lena, and to be found within the gQ-
\trnmtviX, oi Kamt/chatka. — Lev. Mus,

THE tame Goat inhabits northern Europe as high as Wardhuys^
in latitude 71, where it breeds, and runs out the whole year,
only during winter has the protection of a hovel : it lives during that
feafon on mofs and bark of Fir-trees, and even of the logs cut for
fuel. They are fo prolific as to bring two, and even three, at a time.
In Norway they thrive prodigioufly, infomuch that 70 or 80,000 of
raw fkins are annually exported from Bergen, befides thoufands that
are fent abroad drefled.

Goats are alfo kept in Iceland^ but not in numbers, by reafon
of the want of fhrubs and trees for them to brouze. They have been
introduced into Greenland^ even to fome advantage. Befides vege-
table food, they will eat x\\q Ar^ic trouts dried j and grow very fat f.

The climate of South America agrees fo well with Goats, that they
multiply amazingly : but they fucceed fo ill in Canada, that it is ne-
ceiTary to have new fupplies to keep up the race J.

• SmeUie,\i. 363. f Faun. Cmnl. p. 29. X DeBufon, ix. 71.

DEER.

k

MOOSE. - 17

DEER. BJi. ^ad. Genus VII.

Elk, Hiji. ^ad. Y^P \z.—SmelUev\, 315.— Lev. Mus. 3. Moosb.

E E R. With horns with fhort beams, fpreading into a broad
palm, furnifhedon the outward fide withfharp fnags; the inner
fide plain : no brow antlers: fmalleyes: long douching afinine ears:
noftrils large: upper lip fqu are, / great, and hanging far over the
lower j has a deep furrow in the middle, fo as to appear almofl bifid :
under the throat a fmall excrcfcence, with a long tuft of coarfe black
hair pendent from it : neck fhorter than the head ; along the top
an upright, fhort, thick, mane : withers elevated : tail fhort : legs
long i the hind legs the fhortefl : hoofs much cloven.

Color of the mane a light brown \ of the body in general a hoary Color.

brown : tail dufky above \ white beneath. The vafl fize of the
head, the fhortnefs of the neck, and the length of the ears, give the
beafl a deformed and flupid look.

The greatefl height of this animal, which I have heard of, is feven- ' Size.
teen hands i the greatefl weight 1229 pounds.

The largefl horns I have feen are in the houfe of the Uudjons Bay of Horn*.
Company ; they weigh fifty-fix pounds : their length is thirty-two
inches j breadth of one of the palms thirteen inches and a half j fpace
between point and point thirty-four.

The female is lefier than the male, and wants horns.

Inhabits the ifle of Cap Breton^ Nova Scotia, and the weflern fide Place.

of the Bay oi Fundy, Canada, and the country round the great lakes,
almofl as far fouth as the river Ohio *. Thefe are its prefent northern
and fouthern limits. In all ages it affeded the cold and wooded re-
gions in Europe, Afia, and America. They are found in all the woody
trafts of the temperate parts c>{ Rujfia, but not on the Ar6tic flats,
nor yet in Kamtfchatka. In Sibiria they are of a monflrous fize, par-
ticularly among the mountains.

* DuPratz, i, 301.

D The

i^ MOOSE.

Name. j^^^ £j|^ ^^^ ^^^ Moofe are the fame fpecies j the fafl derived-

from Mii/u, which in the Algonkin language fignifies that animal *\
The EngUJJj ufed to call it the Black Moofe, to diftinguiih it from the-
Stag, which they named the Grey Moofe f. The French call it
lOOrtgnal.
Residence A\D Thefe animals refide amidft forefts, for the conveniency of broufing
°°°* the boughs of trees, becaufe they are prevented from grazing with

any kind of eafe, by reafon of the fhortnefs of their necics and length,
of their legs. They often have recourfe to water-plants, which they
can readily get at by wading. M. Sarrafin fays, that they are very
fond of the anagyris fcetida^ or ftinking bean trefoil, and will un-
cover the fnow with tlieir feet in order to get at it.

In pafling through the woods, they raife their heads to a horizon-
tal pofition, to prevent their horns from being entangled in the
branches,
®AiT. They have a fmgular gait : their pace is a fhambling trot, but

they go with great fwiftnefs. In their common walk they lift their,
feet very high, and will without any difficulty ftep over a gate five
feet high.

They feed principally in the night. If they graze, it is always
againft an afcent; an advantage they ufe for the reafon above afligned.
Ruminate. xhey ruminate like the Ox.

They go to rut in autumn j are at that time very furious, feeking
Yo.uNQ. the female by fwimming from ifle to ifle. They bring two young at

a birth, in the month of A-pril, which follow the dam a v/hole year.
During the fummer they keep in families. In deep fnows they col-
le6t in numbers in the forefts of pines, for proteftion from the incle-
mency of the weather under the ihelter of thofe ever-greens.

They are very inofFenfive, except in the rutting-feafonj or except
they are wounded, v/hen they will turn on the affaiiant, and attack

* Kalmt i. 298. iii. 204., t Mr, Dudley's Phil. Tra»/, Ahridg. vii. 447.

2? him.

MO O S E-,

i9

him with their horns, or trample him to death beneath their great
hoofs.

Their fleih is extremely fweet and nourilhing. The Indians fay, Flesh*

that they can travel three times as far after a meal of Moofe, as after
any other animal food. The tongues are excellent, but the nofe is
perfe6t marrow, and efteemed the greateft delicacy in all Canada.

The Ikin makes excellent bufFj is ftrong, foft, and light. The Skij.%

Indians drefs the hide, and, after foaking it for fome time, ftretch and
render it fuppie by a lather of the brains in hot water. They not
only make their fnow-fhoes of the Ikin, but after a chafe form the
canoes with it : they few it neatly together, cover the feams with
an unftuous earth, and embark in them v/ith their fpoils to return
home *.

The hair on the neck, withers, and hams of a full-grown Elk is of Hair.

much ufe in making mattraffes and faddles ; being by its great
length well adapted for thofe purpofes.

The palmated parts of the horns are farther excavated by the fa- Horns-.

vages, and converted into ladles, which will hold a pint.

It is not ftrange that fo ufeful an animal Ihould be a principal ob-
jed of chafe. The favages perform it in different ways. The firft, Chas*.

and the miore fimple, is before the lakes or rivers are frozen. Mul-
titudes affemble in their canoes, and form with them a vaft crefcent,
each horn touching the Ihore. Another party perform their Ihare of
the chafe among the v/oods j they furround an extenfive trad, let
loofe their dogs, and prefs towards the water with loud cries. The
animals, alarmed with the noife, fly before the hunters, and plunge
into the lake, where they are killed by the perfons in the canoes j
prepared for their reception, with lances or clubs f.

The other method is more artful. The favages inclofe a large
fpace with flakes hedged with branches of trees, forming two fides

* La Htntaa, L ^g. f C^ar/eveix, v. iZ2.

D 2 o^

flQ MOOSE.

of a triangle : the bottom opens into a fecond-^nclofure, com-
pletely triangular. At the opening are hung numbers of fnares,
made of flips of raw hides. The Indians^, as before, affemble in great
troops, and with all kinds of noifes drive into the firft enclofure not
only the Moofes, but the other fpecies of Deer which abound in that
country : fome, in forcing their way into the fartheft triangle, are
caught in the fnares by the neck or horns -, and thofe which efcape
the fnares, and pafs the little opening, find their fate from the arrows
of the hunters, directed at them from all quarters *.

They are often killed with the gun. When they are firft unhar-
boured, they fquat with their hind parts and make water, at which
inftant the fportfman fires ; if he mifles, the Moofe fets off in a moft
rapid trot, making, like the Rein-deer, a prodigious rattling with its
hoofs, and will run for twenty or thirty miles before it comes to bay
or takes the water. But the ufual time for this diverfion is the win-
ter. The hunters avoid entering on the chafe till the fun is ftrong
enough to melt the frozen cruft with which the fnow is covered,
otherwife the animal can run over the firm furface : they wait till
it becomes foft enough to impede the flight of the Moofe ; which
finks up to the flloulders, flounders, and gets on with great difficulty.
The fportfman purfues at his eafe on his broad rackets, or fnow-flioes,^
and makes a ready prey of the diftreflfed animals.

As weak againft the mountain- heaps they pufh.
Their beating breaft in vain, and piteous bray.
He lays them quivering on th' enfanguin'd fnows,.
An 4. with. loud Ihquts rejoicing bears them home.

Thompson.

Superstitions The Opinion of this animal's being fubje<5fc to the epilepfy feems to^

thYmoo° J.° h^^^ ^^^" univerfal, as well as the cure it finds by fcratching its ear

with the hind hoof till it draws blood. That hoof has been ufed in

Indian medicine for the. falling-ficknefs ; they apply it to the heart of

* Charlevoix i acd la Hon fan, i, 65.

the.

MOOSE. at

the afflifled, make him hold it in his left handj and rub his ear with
it. They ufe it alfo in the colick, pleurify, vertigo, and purple fever;
pulverifing the hoof, and drinking it in water. The Algonkins pre-
tend that the fleih imparts the difeafe -, but it is notorious that the
hunters in a manner live on it with impunity.

The favages elleem the Moofe a beaft of good omen; and are per-
fuaded that thofe who dream often of it may flatter themfelves with
long life *.

Their wild fuperftition hath figured to them a Moofe of enor-
mous fize, which can wade with eafe through eight feet depth of fnow;
which is invulnerable, and has an arm growing out of its fhoulder,
fubfervient to the purpofes of the human : that it has a court of
other Moofes, who at all times perform fuit and fervice, according to
his royal will f.

I lament that I am not able to difcover the animal which owned Fossil hornj

the vafl horns fo often found in the bogs of Ireland^ fo long and fo '^^'^ belonging

tothbMoose>
confidently attributed to the Moofe. Thefe have been found to be

fometimes eight feet long, fourteen between tip and tip J, furnifhed

with brow antlers, and weighing three hundred pounds : the whole

flceleton is frequently found with them.

The fables delivered by Jojfelyn, of the Moofe being thirty-three

hands, or twelve ittty high ; and by Le Uontan^ of its horns weighing

between three and four hundred pounds; occafioned the naturalills of

paft times to call the fofiil horns thofe of the Moofe ; and to flatter

themfelves that they had difcovered the animal they belonged to : but

recent difcoveries evince the error. I once entertained hopes that

the Wajkejfe § of the Hud/on' s Bay Indians was the fpecies ; but by

fome late information I received from Mr. Andrew Graham^ fadtoc

in the Bay^ I find it to be no other than the common Moofe.

• CharJe'voixt v. 1 86. f The fame. % Wright^s Louthianay

book iii. 2q. tab. xxii. § Hiji, ^ad. 45.

22 R E I N.

4* Rein. fjij^^ ^lad, W \i.^Smellie, vl. 316.— /f^f/f/wj/, iii. 114. — ^Lev. Mus.

EER. With large but flender horns, bending forward j with
brow antlers broad and palmated, fometimes three i^tx. nine
inches long ; two feet fix from tip to tip ; weight, nine pounds
twelve ounces avoirdupoife. The body is thick and fquare : the
legs fhorter than thofe of a Stag : the height of a full-grov/n Rein
four feet fix.

Color of the hair, at firfl; fliedding of the coat, of a brownifh
afli ; afterwards changes to a hoary whitenefs. The animal is
admirably guarded againft the rigor of the climate by the great
thicknefs of the hairs, which are fo clofely placed as totally to hide
the flcin, even .if they are put afide with ever fo much care.

Space round the eyes always black : nofe, tail, and belly white :
• above the hoofs a Vv^hite circle : hair along the lower fide of the
neck very long : tail Ihort.

Hoofs, and falfe hoofs, long and black ; the lafl loofely hung,
making a prodigious clatter when the animal runs.
Jemale, The female is furniflied with horns j but lefiTer, broader, and flat-

ter, and with fewer branches than thofe of the male. She has fix
teats, but two are fpurious and ufelefs. They bring two young at a
time.
Place. The habitation of this Deer is ftill more limited than that of the

former, confined to thofe parts where cold reigns with the utmoft fe-
verity. Its moft fouthern refidence is the northern parts of Canada^
Hudson's-Bat, bordering on the territories of UudforCs Bay. Charlevoix mentions
a fingle inftance of one wandering as far as the neighborhood of
^ehec *. Their true place is the vaft trad which furrounds the

* V. 19J.

Bay,

REIN. 23

Bay. They are met with in Labrador, and again in Newfoundland^ Labrador.
originally wafted thither acrofs the narrow ftraits of Belkijle, on
iflands of ice.

They fpread northerly into Greenland, particularly on the weftern Greenland.
eoaft, about DifRo * . I can find no traces (even traditional) of them in
Iceland; which is the more furprizing, as that iflandlies nearer to Green^
land than Nezvfoundland does to the Labrador coaft. It is probable
that they were deftroyed in very early times, when that ifland was fo
infinitely more populous than it is at prefent] and the farther mi-
gration of thefe animals prevented by the amazing aggregate of ice,
which in later ages blocked up and even depopulated the eaflern
fide of Greenland. No vegetable, not even mofs, is to be found on
that extenfive coaft to fupport thefe hardy animials. Their laft
migration was from the weftern parts of Greenland, over unknown
regions and fields of ice, to the inhofpitable Alps of S-pitzbergen, Spitzberokn-..
Thefe, with the Polar Bear and Ardic Fox, form the fliort catalogue
of its quadrupeds. They refide there throughout the year j and by
wondrous inftincl do difcover their food, the lichen rangiferinus, be-
neath the fnow, which they remove to great depths by means of their
broad and fpade-like antlers -, and thus find fubfiftence thirteen de-
grees beyond the Arctic circle f .

To the weftern fide of Hud/on s Bay I trace the Rein as far as the
nation called Les Plat-cote des Chiens J , the remoteft we are ac-
quainted with in the parallel of that latitude. Beyond, are lands
unknown, till we arrive at that new-difcovered chain of iflands, which
extends to within a fmall diftance oiAfia, or the northern cape oiKa?nt- Kamtschatka*
Jchatka, where I again recover thefe animals. There is reafon to ima-
gine that they are continued acrofs the continent of America, but not
on the iflands which intervene between it and Afa \\ . But in the

* Egede, 59. CrantXy i. 70. — The Canadians call it Le Caribou. f Mar-

ien's Spitzbergen, gg. Phipps's 1/0^.185. J Dobbs's Hud/on' S Bay, 19.

il Mullet's voyages from AJia to America, Preface x;<v.

ifle

H

REIN.

iQe of Kadjak, and others of the eafternmoft Fox ijlands, the inha-
bitants have &ins of them from the Jmerican continent, and border
their bonnets with the white hairs of the domeftic Rein-deers,
'^ ftained red. They are found again in the countries which border on
the Icy fea * j from which they retire, at approach of winter, towards
the woods, to feed on the mofs, not only that which grows on the
o-round, but the fpecies pendulous from the trees. The whole north-
eaft of Sibiria abounds with them. They alfo are yet found wild in
the Urallian mountains; along the river Kamaj as far as Kungus -, and
about fome fnowy fummits more fouth : and again on the high chain
bordering on Sibiria on the fouth, and about lake Baikal. Towards
Samoiedea. the weft they are continued in the land of the Samoieds; and finally
among the well-known Laplanders. I here tranfgrefs the limits of
my plan, to give a flight comparative view of the progrefs of civili-
zation among the inhabitants of thefe frozen climes.
Laplanders, With the Laplanders this animal is the fubftitute to the Horfe,

HEIR USES OF IT. ^^^ q^^^^ ^j^^ Shccp, and the Goat. Thofe moft innocent of people
have, even under their rigorous flcy, fome of the charms of a paftoral
life. They have fubdued thefe animals to various ufes, and re-
clamed them from their wild ftate. They attend their herds of
Rein-deer, during fummer, to the fummits of their alps ; to the
■fides of their clear lakes and ftreams, often bordered with native rofes.
• They know the arts of the dairy, milk thefe their cattle, and make

from it a rich chcefe. They train them to the fledge, confider them
as their chief treafure, and cherifli them with the utmoft tendernefs.
5amoi.ed8, The brutifli Samoied conflders them in no other view than as ani-

mals of draught, to convey them to the chafe of the wild Reins 3 which
they kill for the fake of the fl?:ins, either to cloath themfelves, or to
cover their tents. They know not the cleanly delicacy of the milk
or cheefe; but prefer for their repaft: the inteftines of beafts, or the
half-putrid flefli of a horfe, ox, or flieep, which they find dead on
the high road f .

• JBaretitz vey, f Le Bruyttj i. 7, 8.

Th«

REIN. if

The Korekij a nation of Kamt/cbaikay may be placed on a level Koreki.

V/ith the Samoieds : they keep immenre herds of Reins -, fome of the
richeft, to the amount of ten or twenty thoufand ; yet fo fordid are
they as to eat none except fuch which they kill for the fake of the^-.
Ikins ; an article of commerce with their neighbors the Kamtjchaikansi
otherwife they content themfelves^'iyith the flelh of thofe which die
by difeafe or chance. They train them in the fledge, but negle<^
them for every domeftic purpofe *. Their hiftoridn fays, they couple
two to each carriage j and that the Deer will travel a hundred and fifty
verfts in a day, that is, a hundred and twelve Englijh miles. They
caftrate the males by piercing the fpermatic arteries, and tying the
fcrotum tight with a thong.

The inhabitants about the river Kolyma make ufe of the foft flcins
of the Rein-deer, drefled, for fails for a kind of boat called Schitiki^
caulked with mofs -y and the boards as if fewed together with thongs i
and, the cordage made of flices-of the fldn of the Elk f.

The favaere and uninformed Efkmaux znd Greenlanders. who pofTefs, Eskimawx ,

° ... AND

amidft their inows, thefe beautiful animals, negled not only the do- Greenlanders,

medic ufes, but even arc ignorant of their advantage in the fledge.

Their element is properly the water; their game the Seals. They feem

to Want powers to domefticate any animals unlefs Dogs. They are at

enmity with all; confider them as an objed: of chafe, and of no utility

till deprived of life. The flefh of the Rein is the moft coveted part

of their food ; they eat it raw, drefled, and dried and fmoked with

the fnow lichen. The wearied hunters will drink the raw blood ; but

it is ufually drefled with the berries of the heath : they eagerly

devour the contents of the fl:omach, but ufe the intefl:ines boiled.

They are very fond of the fat, and will not lofe the left: bit J. The

Ckin, fometimes a part of their cloathing, drefl'ed with the hair on, is

foft and pliant ; it forms alfo the inner lining of their tents, and moft:

* Hiji, Kamtfchatkoy 226, 227. — The Kortii exchange theirDeer with the neighboring
nations for rich furs. f Mu&r^s Summarj, l^c. xviii. XFaun. Grotnl. p. 28,

E excellent

*fi^ R E I N.

excellent blankets. The tendons are their bow-ftrings, and when
fplit are the threads with which they few their jackets *.

The Greenlanders, before they acquired the knowlege of the gun,
caught them by what was called the clapper-hunt f . The women and
children furrounded a large fpace, and, where people were wanting
fet up poles capped with a turf in certain intervals, to terrify the ani-
mals i they then with great noife drove the Reins into the narrow
defiles, where the men lay in wait and killed them with harpoons or
darts. But they are now become very fcarce.
Multitudes On the contrary, they are found in the neighborhood oi Hudjon' s Bay

IN „ in moil amazin» numbers, columns of eight or ten thoufand are feen

Hudson's Bay. ,, '='. , ^,., i/-,^,,

annually pafiing from north to fouth in the months of March and

April J, driven out of the woods by the muiketoes, feeking refrefh-
MicRATioK. ment on the Ihore, and a quiet place to drop their young. They go
to rut in Sept ember , and the males foon after fhed their horns ; they
are at that feafon very fat, but fo rank and mufky as not to be eat-
able. The females drop their young in June^ in the moft fequeftered
fpots they can findj and then they likewife lofe their horns. Beads
of prey follow the herds : firft, the Wolves, who fingle out the ftrag-
glers (for they fear to attack the drove) detach and hunt them dov/n :
the Foxes attend at a diftance, to pick up the offals left by the former.
In autumn the Deer with the Fawns re-migrate northward.
Usis. The Indians are very attentive to their motions i for the Rein forms

the chief part not only of their drefs but food. They often kill multi-
tudes for the fake of their tongues only ; but generally they feparate
the flelh from the bones, and preferve it by drying it in the fmoke :
they alfo fave the fat, and fell it to the Englijh in bladders, who ufe
it in frying inftead of butter. The fkins are alfo an article of com-
merce, and ufed in London by the Breeches-makers.

The Indians Ihoot them in the winter. The Englijh make hedges,
with (takes and boughs of trees, along the woods, for five miles in

Ckasi.

• Drag^s voj, i. 25.. f CrantK, i. 71. % Deih, ig, 22.

length

w

REIN. 27

length, leaving openings at proper intervals befet with fnares, in
which multitudes are taken.

The Indians alfo kill great numbers during the feafons of migra-
tion, watching in their canoes, and fpearing them while palling over
tlie rivers of the country, or from ifland to ifland ; for they fwim
mofl admirably well.

Hiji. Sluad, N<' 45.— ^«^///V iv. 74. — Lev. Mas. ,, Stao.

I aEER. With long upright horns much branched : Tlender and
•*-^ Iharp brow antlers : color a reddifh brown : belly and lower
fide of the tail white : the horns often fuperior in fize to thofe of the
European Stags, fome being above four feet high, and thirty pounds
in weight.

Inhabits Canada, particularly the vaft forefts about the lakes; are
feen in great numbers grazing with the Buffaloes on the rich favannas
bordering on the MiJJiftpiy the Mijfourij and other American rivers ;
they are alfo found within our Colonies, but their numbers decreafe
as population gains ground. An Indian living in 1748 had killed
many Stags on the fpot where Philadelphia now ftands *.

They feed eagerly on the broad-leaved Kalmia ; yet that plant is a
poifon to all other horned animals ; their inteftines are found filled
with it during winter. If their entrails are given to Dogs, they be-
come ftupified, and as if drunk, and often are fo ill as hardly to ef-
cape with life f .

Stags are alfo found in Mexico, where they are called AcuUiame :
they differ not from thofe of Spain in fiiape, fize, or nature J. South
America is deftitute of thefe animals : they can bear the extremes of
heat but not of cold. They are found neither in Hud/on's Bay^

* Kam i. 336. f Kalm i. 338. J Hernandext Nov. Hi/p. 325.

E 2 Kamtfchatka,

iZ STAG.

Kamtfchatka, nor In any country inhabited by the Rein — a line in a
manner feparates them.

Their fldns are an article of commerce imported * by the Hud/on s
Bay company ; but brought from the diftant parts far inland by the
Indians, who bring them from the neighborhood of the lakes. In
moft parts of Norfh America they are called the Grey Moofe, and the
Elk ; this has given occafion to the miftaken notion of that great
animal being found in Virginia, and other fouthern provinces.

The Stags of America grow very fat : their tallow is much ef-
teemed for making of candles. The Indians fhoot them. As they
are very fhy animals, the natives cover themfelves with a hide, leaving
the horns ere6t j under fhelter of which they walk within reach of
the herd. De Brie, in the xxvth plate of the Hiftory of Florida, gives
a very curious reprefentation of this artful method of chafe, when it
was vifited by the French in 1564.

Stags are totally extirpated in Rujfia, but abound In the mounta-
nous fouthern trad of Sibiria, where they grow to a fize far fuperior to
what is known in Europe. The height of a grown Hind is four feet
nine inches and a half, its length eight feet j that of its head one foot
eight inches and a half.

The fpecies ceafes in the north-eaftern parts of Sibiria, nor are any
found in Kamtfchatka.

6. ViRGIKlAW. ^'J^' ^^'^^ N' 46.-LFV. Mus.

DEER. With round and flender horns, bending greatly forward -,
numerous branches on the interior fides : deftitute of brow ant-
lers : color of the body a cinereous brown : head of a deep brown :
belly, fides, fhoulders, and thighs, white, mottled with brown : tail

* In the fale of 1764, 1307 were entered.

VIRGINIAN DEER. 29

ten Inches long, of a dufky color : feet of a yellowifli brown. Are
not fo well haunched as the Englijlo Buck, and are lefs a6tive *.

Inhabits all the provinces fouth of Canada^ but in greateft Place.

abundance in the fouthern ; but efpecially the vaft favannas con-
tiguous to the MiJJififiy and the great rivers which flow into it.
They graze in herds innumerable, along with the Stags and Buffaloes,
This fpecies probably extends to Guianaj and is the Baieu of that
country, which is faid to be about the fize of a European Buck, with
fhort horns, bending at their endsf.

They are capable of being made tame ; and when properly trained,
are ufed by the Indians to decoy the wild Deer (efpecially in the rut-
ting feafon) within fhot. Both Bucks and Does herd from September
to March j after that they feparate, and the Does fecrete themfelves
to bring forth, and are found with difficulty. The Bucks from this
time keep feparate, till the amorous feafon of September revolves.
The Deer begin to feed as foon as night begins ; and fometimes, in
the rainy feafon, in the day : otherwife they feldom or never quit their
haunts. An old Americam fportfman has remarked, that the Bucks
will keep in the thickets for a year, or even two J,

Thefe animals are very reftlefs, and always in motion, coming and
going continually §. Thofe which live near the fhores are lean and bad,
fubjed: to worms in their heads and throats, generated from the eggs
depolited in thofe parts 1|. Thofe that frequent the hills and favannas
are in better cafe, but the venifon is dry. In hard winters they will feed
on the long mofs which hangs from the trees in the northern parts.

Thefe and other cloven-footed quadrupeds Qi America are very fond of salt.
fond of fait, and refort eagerly to the places impregnated with it.
They are always feen in great numbers in the fpots v/here the ground

• The late Ingenious Mr. Ellis fhewed me a Bezoar found in one of thefe Deer,
killed in Georgia. It was of a fpheroid ioxm, an inch and three quarters broad, half
an inch thick in the middle j of a pale brown color ; hard, fmooth, and glofly.

\ Bancroft. % Doaor Q^ardeiu % Du Pratz, ij. 5 1 . jl La'w/on, 1 24.

10 has

30 V I R G I N I A N D E E R.

has been torn by torrents or other accidents, where they are fecn
licking the earth. Such fpots are called licking-places. The huntf-
men are fure of finding the game there -, for, notwithftanding they
are often difturbed, the Buffaloes and Deer are fo paffionately fond
of the favory regale, as to bid defiance to all danger, and return in
droves to thefe favorite haunts.

The (Icins are a great article of commerce, 25,027 being imported
from Neiv-York and Penfylvania in the fale of 1764.

The Deer are of the firfl importance to the Savages. The fkins
form the greatell: branch of their trafiick, by which they procure
from the colonifts, by way of exchange, many of the articles of life.
To all of them it is the principal food throughout the year j for by
drying it over a gentle but clear fire, after cutting it into fmall pieces,
it is not only capable of long prefervation, but is very portable in
their fudden excurfions, efpecially when reduced to powder, which is
frequently done.

Hunting is more than an amufement to thefe people. They give
themfelves up to it not only for the fake of fublifbence, but to fit
themfelves for war, by habituating themfelves to fatigue. A good
huntfman is an able warrior. Thofe who fail in the fports of the
field are never fuppofed to be capable of fupporting the hardlhips
of a campaign ; they are degraded to ignoble ofHces, fuch as dreff-
ing the fl^ins of Deer, and other employs allotted only to flaves and
women f.

When a large party meditates a hunting-match, which is ufually
at the beginning of winter, they agree on a place of rendezvous, often
five hundred miles diftant from their homes, and a place, perhaps,
that many of them had never been at. They have no other me-
thod of fixing on the fpot than by pointing with their finger. The
preference is given to the eldeft, as the moll experienced J .

t Law/en, 208. J Catejlj, App. xiu

When

V I R G I N I A N D E E R. ' ji

When this matter is fettled, they feparate into fmall parties, travel
and hunt for fubfiftence all the day, and reft at night ; but the wo-
men have no certain relling-places. The Savages have their particular
hunting countries i but if they invade the limits of thofe belonging
to other nations, feuds enfue, fatal as thofe between Percy and
Douglas in the famed Chevy Chace.

As foon as they arrive on the borders of the hunting country,
(which they never fail doing to a man, be their refpe6live routes ever
fo diltant or fo various) the captain of the band delineates on
the bark of a tree his own figure, with a Rattlefnake twined round
him with diftended mouth \ and in his hand a bloody tomahawk.
By this he implies a deftru6live menace to any who are bold enough
to. invade their territories, or to interrupt their diverfion *.

The chafe is carried on in different ways^ Some furprife the Deer
by ufing the ftale of the head, horns, and hide, in the manner be-
fore mentioned : but the general method is performed by the whole
body. Several hundreds difperfe in a line, encompafling a vaft fpace
of country, fire the woods, and drive the animals into fome ftrait or
pjeninfula, where they bfcome an eafy prey. The Deer alone are not
theobje6ti Foxes, Raccoons, Bears, and all beads of fur, are thought
worthy of attention, and articles of commerce with the Europeans.

The number of Deer deftroyed in fome parts o^ America is incre-
dible } as is pretended, from an abfurd idea which the Savages have,
that the more they deftroy, the more they Ihall find in fucceeding
years. Certain it is that multitudes are deftroyed ; the tongues only
preferved, and the carcafes left a prey to wild beafts. But the motive
is much more political. The Savages well difcern, that fhould they
overftock the market, they would certainly be over-reached by the
European dealers, who take care never to produce more goods than
are barely fufficicnt for the demand of the feafon, eftablifhing their
prices according to the quantity of furs brought by the natives. The
hunters live in their quarters with the utmoft feftivity, and indulgence

• Catejhj, App. ix.

m

I

$1 V I R G I N I A N D E E R.

in all the luxuries of the country. The chafe rouzes their appetites j
they are perpetually eating, and will even rife to obey, at midnight,
the calls of hunger. Their viands are exquifite. Venifon boiled
with red peafe j turkies barbecued and eaten with bears fat ; fawns
cut out of the does belly, and boiled in the native bag ; fifh, and
crayfifh, taken in the next ftream ; dried peaches, and other fruits,
form tlie chief of their good living *. Much of this food is carmina-
tive : they give loofe to the effeds, and (reverfe to the cuftom of
the delicate Jrah f) laugh moft heartily on the occafion J.

They bring along with them their wives and miftrefTes : not that
they pay any great refpecl to the fair. They make (like the Cath-
7ie/Ians) errant pack-horfes of them, loading them with provifions,
or the fkins of the chafe ; or making them provide fire-wood. Love
is not the pafTion of a Savage, at left it is as brief with them as with
the animals they purfue.

7. Mexican. ' Mexican Roe ? i///?. %a</. N" 52.— 5z«f///>, iv. 136.

DEER. With horns near nine inches long, meafuring by th»
curvature j and near nine inches between tip and tip, and two
inches diftant between the bafes. About an inch and a half from the
bottom is one fharp eredl fnag. This, and the lower parts of the
horns, are very rough, ftrong, and fcabrous. The upper parts bend
forwards over the bafes j are fmooth, flatted, and broad, dividing
into three fharp fnags. Color of the hair like the European Roe 3 but
while young are rayed with white. In fize fomewhat fuperior to the
European Roe.

Inhabits Mexico [j i probably extends to the interior north-wcfterrt
parts o( America y and may prove the Scenoontung or Squinaton, defcribed
as being lefs than a Buck and larger than a Roe, but ytty like it,
and of an elegant form §.

* La'wfon, 207, t D^Jrvieux^s tra'veh, 147. t Law/on, 207.

n HirnandeK> § DiMis Hud/otit Bay, 24.

R

O

E.

33

Hijl. ^ad, N°5i. — Smellie, iv. 120. — Lev. Mus.

EER. With upright, round, rugged horns, trifnrcated: hairs
tawny at their ends, grey below : rump and under-fide of the
tail white. Length near four feet : tail only an inch.

According to Charlevoix, they are found in great numbers in Ca-
Jidda. He fays they differ not from the European kind : are eafily
domefticated. The Does will retreat into the woods to bring forth,
and return to their mafter with their young *. They extend far weftf .
If Pifo's figure may be depended on, they are found in Brazil Xi
are frequent in Europe j and inhabit as high as Sweden and Norway § :
is unknown in Rujjia,

7. Roe.

Tail-less Roe, HiJ}. ^ad, p. 109.

In its ftead is a larger variety : with horns like the lafb, and color
the fame ; only a great bed of white covers the rump, and extends
fome way up the back : no tail, only a broad cutaneous excrefcence
around the anus.

Inhabits all the temperate parts of Rujfia and Sibiria, and extends
as far to the north as the Elk. Defcends to the open plains in the
winter. The Tartars call it Saiga : the RuJJian^ Dikaja Roza.

Fallow Deer, Hiji. ^ad. N° 44.

Are animals impatient of cold : are unknown in the RuJJian empire,
except by importation: and are preferved in parks in Sweden \.
The Englijh tranflator of Pontoppidan mentions them (perhaps erro-
neoufiy) am.ong the deer of Norway.

* HiJ}. Nowv. Frame, w. 195. f Dobbs's Hud/on's Bay, 24. % 97.

§ Faun. Suec. N* 43, and Pontop. Nor^ivay, ii. 9. || Du Pratz, ii. 54.

F MUSK.

34 MUSK.

MUSK. HiJ}. ^ad. Genus X.
A. Tibet M. Hiji. ^ad. N« 54.^Mofchus, Pallas Sp. Zool. fafc. xiii. Lev. Mus.^

U S K. With very fharp flender white tufks on each fide of the
upper jaw, hanging out far below the under jaw: ears rather
large : neck thick : hair on the whole body long, upright, and
thick fet ; each hair undulated ; tips ferruginous j beneath them
black; the bottoms cinereous : on each fide of the front of the
neck is a white line edged with black, meeting at the cheft j another
croiTes that beneath the throat : limbs very flender, and of a full
black : tail very Ihort, and fcarcely vifible. The female wants the
tuflcs and the mufls:-bag.

The mulk-bag is placed on the belly, almofl between the thighs.
A full-grown male will yield a drachm and a half of mufk ; an old
one two drachms.
Size. The length of the male is two feet eleven; of the female, two feet

three. The weight of a male from twenty-five to thirty pounds,
Troy weight : of an old female, from thirty to thirty-five j but fome
young ones do not exceed eighteen.
Place. Inhabits Jfia, from lat. 20 to 60, or from the kingdoms of Laos

and Tong-Kipig, between India and Chinay and through the kingdom
of-'Tii^et* as high as Mangafea. The river Jenefei is its weflern
boundary, and it extends eaftward as far as lake Baikal ^ and about
the rivers Lena and Witini ; but gradually narrows the extent of its re-
fidence as it approaches the tropic. Lives on the highefi and rudeft
mountains, amidft the fnows, or in the fir-woods which lie between
them : goes ufually folitary, except in autumn, when they collect in
flocks to change their place : are excefllvely a6live, and take amazing

• Correa in p. 113, Biji, ^ad. 9. 44 or 45, read 20.

leaps

MUSK. 35

leaps over the tremendous chafms of their alps, or from rock to rock :
tread fo light on the fnow, with their true and falfe hoofs extended, as
fcarcely to leave a markj while the dogs which piirfue them fink in,
and are forced to defift from the chafe: are fo fond of liberty as
never to be kept alive in captivity. They feed on lichens , arhutus,
rhododendron y and whortleherry-^\2ints. Their chafe is moft labo-
rious: they are taken in fnares ; or fhot by crofs-bows placed in
their tracks, with a firing from the trigger for them to tread on and
difcharge. The ^unguft fhoot them with bows and arrows. The
Ikins are ufed for bonnets and winter drefles. The Ruffians often
fcrape off the hair, and have a way of preparing them for fummer
cloathing, fo as to become as foft and Ihining as filk.

The two other hoofed animals of the north o^ Afia, the Two- Camel.

bunched Camel, and the Wild Boar, do not reach as high as lat. 60 : ,
the firft is found in great troops about lake Baikal, as far as lat. ^(>
or 57 j but if brought as high as Jakutjk, beyond lat. 60, perifh with
cold*. The Wild Boar is common in all the reedy marfhes of Tl^r/^ry Wild Boar.
and Sibiria, and the mountanous forefts about lake Baikal, almofl
to lat. 55 3 but none in the north-eaftern extremity of Sibiria^

• Zimmerman, 357.

F 2 D I V,

D I V, II.

DIGITATED QJJADRUPEDS.

SECT. I. With Canine Teeth.

38

W O

F.

D I V. 11. Digitated Quadrupeds.

SECT I. With Canine Teeth.
Rapacious, Carnivorous.

DOG. HIST. ^U A D. GzNus XVII.

9. WoLFr Hijl.^ad. N° 137. — Smellie,\v, 196. — Lev. Mus.

OG. With a long head: pointed nofe : ears fliarp anderefl:
legs long : tail bufhy, bending down : hair pretty long. Color
ufually of a pale brown, mixed with dull yellow and black.

Inhabits the interior countries fouth of Hud/on' s Bay j and from
thence 2X\Ame?-icay2iS low as Florida. There are two varieties, a greater
and a leffer. The firft ufually confines itfelf to the colder parts.
The latter is not above fifteen inches high*. In the more uninhabited
parts of the country, they go in great droves, and hunt the deer
like a pack of hounds, and make a hideous noife. They will attack
the Buffalo j but only venture on the ftragglers. In the unfrequented
parts of America are very tame, and will come near the few habita-
tions in hopes of finding fomething to eat. They are often fo very
poor and hungry, for want of prey, as to go into a fwamp and fill
themfelves with mud, which they will difgorge as foon as they can
get any food.
Color. The Wolves towards HudJorCs Bay are of different colors ; grey

and white ; and fome black and white, the black hairs being mixed
with the white chiefly along the back. In Canada they have been
found entirely black f. They are taken in the northern parts in log-
traps, or by fpring-guns ; their fkins being an article of commerce.

In the Leverian mufeum is the head and fcuU of a wolf;
dufky and brown, formed by the natives into a helmet. The pro-

* J)u PretXy ii. 54.
10

f Smellie, iv. 212.

tedion

WOLF.

te^lion of the head was the natural and firfl thought of mankind ;
and the fpoils of beafts were the firfl things that offered. Hercules
feized on the flcin of the Lion : the Americans ^ and ancient Latians that
of the Wolf.

Fulvofque Lupi de pelle galeros
Tegmen habet capiti.

Wolves are now fo rare in the populated parts of America^ that the
inhabitants leave their Iheep the whole night unguarded : yet the
governments oiFenJylvania and Ne'is) Jerjey did fome years ago allow
a reward of twenty fhillings, and the lafl even thirty fhillings, for the
killing of every Wolf. Tradition informed them what a fcourge
thofe animals had been to the colonies ; fo they wifely determined
to prevent the like evil. In their infant ftate, wolves came down in
multitudes from the mountains, often attrafted by the fmell of the
corpfes of hundreds of Indians who died of the fmall-pox, brought
among them by the Europeans : but the animals did not confine their
infults to the dead, but even devoured in their huts the fick and dying
Savages*.

The Wolf is capable of being in fome degree tamed and domef-
ticated f. It was, at the firlt arrival of the Europeans, and is ftill in
many places, the Dog of the Americans J. It ftill betrays its favage ^o^'

defcent, by uttering only a howl inflead of the fignificant bark of the
genuine Dog. This half-reclamed breed wants the fagacity of our
faithful attendant j and is of little farther ufe in the chafe, than in
frightening the wild beafts into the fnares or traps.

The Kamtfchatkansy EJkimaux, and Greenlanders, Arrangers to the
fofter virtues, treat thefe poor animals with great negle6t. The for-
mer, during fummer, the feafon in which they are ufelefs, turn
them loofe to provide for themfelves ; and recall them in 05ioher in-
to their ufual confinement and labor : from that time till fpring they

• Kalm,\. 285. t The fame, 286. Lanv/on, 119. J Smith's Hi/.

Virginia, 27. CrantK Greenland, i. 74.

are

59

40 W O 1. F.

are fed with filli-bones and opana, i. e. putrid fiih preferved in
pits, and ferved up to them mixed with hot water. Thofe ufed for
draught are caftrated; and four, yoked to the carriage, will draw
five poods, or a hundred and ninety Englijh pounds, befides the
driver; and thus loaden, will travel thirty verfts, or twenty miles, a
day; or if unloaden, on hardened fnow, on Aiders of bone, a hun-
dred and fifty verfts, or a hundred Englijh miles*.

It is pretty certain that the Kamtfchatkan Dogs are of wolfilh de-
fcentj for Wolves abound in that country, in all parts of SiMria,
and even under the Arctic circle. If their mafter is flung out of
his fledge, they want the afFe6tionate fidelity of the European kind,
and leave him to follow, never ftopping till the fledge is overturned,
or elfe ftopped by fome impediment f. I am alfo ftrengthened in
my opinion by the fl:rong rage they have for the purfuit of deer, if
on the journey they crofs '^ the fcent ; when the mafter finds it very
difficult to make them purfue their way.

The great traveller of the thirteenth century, Marco Poloy had
knowlege of this fpecies of conveyance from the merchants who went
far north to traffic for the precious furs. He defcribes the fledges ;
adds, that they were drawn by fix great dogs ; and that they changed
♦ them and the fledges on the road, as we do at prefent in going
poftll.

The Kamtfchatkan s make ufe of the fl^ins of dogs for cloathing, and
the long hair for ornament : fome nations are fond of them as a
food; and reckon a fat dog a great delicacy §. Both the Aftatic and
American Savages ufe thefe animals in facrifices to their gods ^, to be-
fpeak favor, or avert evil. When the Koreki dread any infedlion,

* HiJi.Kamt/chatka, loj. 197. f The fame, 107.

% The fame. — There is a variety of black wolves in the Vehoturian mountains*
The (he-wolves have been fuccefsfully coupled with dogs in fome noblemen's parks
about Mc/couj.

II In Bergeron, 160. § Hijt. Kamtfchaika, 231. The J/nericafis do the hme,

Drage, i. 216. «?[ Hf/^. Kamtfch, 226. Drage, ii. 41.

they

WOLF. 4^

they kill a -dog, wind the inteflines round two poles, and pafs be-
tween them.

The Greenlanders are not better maflers. They leave their dogs Greet^lanp.
to feed on muiTels or berries j unlefs in a great capture of fealsj
when they treat them with the blood and garbage. Thefe people
alfo fometimes eat their dogs : ufe the fkins for coverlets, for cloath-
ing, or to border and feam their habits : and their beft thread is
made of the guts.

The Dogs in general are large; and, in the frigid parts at left,
have the appearance of Wolves : are ufually white, with a black face;
fometimes varied with black and white, fometimes all white -, rarely
brownj or ail black : have fharp nofes, thick hair, and fhort «ars : and
feldom bark j but fet up a fort of growl, or favage howl. They ileep
abroad ; and make a lodge in the fnowi lying with only their nofes
out. They fwim moil excellently : and will hunt, in packs, the
ptarmigan, arftic fox, polar bear, and feals lying on the ice. The
natives fometimes ufe them in the chafe of the bear. They are ex-
ceffively fierce ; and, like wolves, inftantly fly on the few domeftic
animals introduced into Greenland. They will fight among them-
felves, even to death. Canine madnefs is unknown in Greenland*.
They are to the natives in the place of horfes : the Greenlanders faften
to their fledges from four to ten ; and thus make their vifits in
favage fl:ate, or bring home the animals they have killed. Egede
fays that they will travel over the ice fifteen German miles in a day,
or Sixty Englijhj with fledges loaden with their maflers and five or fix
large feals f .

Thofe of the neighboring ifland of Iceland have a great refem- Icelan*.
blance to them. As to thofe o^ Newfoundland, it is not certain that
there is any difl:in6l breed : mofl; of them are curs, with a crofs of the
maflifF: fomc will, and others will not, take the water, abfolutely
refufing to go in. The country was found uninhabited, whidi
makes it more probable that they were introduced by the Europeans j

"* Faua.Greenl. p. jg. f ^sede,6^, Cra»tx,i.-j^.

G who

42 WOLF.

who ufe them, as the fa6lory docs in HudforCs Bayy to draw firing^
from the woods to the forts.

The Savages who trade to Hudfon's Bay make ufe of the wolfifh
kind to draw their furs.

It is fingular, that the race of European Dogs fhcw as ftrong an
antipathy to this American fpecies, as they do to the Wolf itfelf.
They never meet with them, but they fnew all poflible figns of diflike,
and will fall on and worry them ; while the wolfifh breed, with every
mark of timidity, puts its tail between its legs, and runs from the
rage of the others. This averfion to the Wolf is natural to all ge-
nuine Dogs : for it is well known that a whelp, which has never
feen a wolf, will at firll fight tremble, and run to its mafter for pro-
te6lion : an old dog will inftantly attack it.

I fhall conclude this article with an abflra6t of a letter from Dr.
PallaSy dated October 5th 178 ij in which he gives the following:
confirmation of the mixed breed of thefe animals and Dogs.

" I have feen at Mo/cow about twenty fpurious animals from dogs.
" and black wolves. They are for the mofl part like wolves, except
*^ that fome carry their tails higher, and have a kind of coarfe bark-
«^ ing. They multiply among themfelves : and fome of the whelps
" are greyifh, rufly, or even of the whitifh hue of the Arftic wolves :
" and one of thofe I faw, in fhape, tail, and hair, and even in bark-
" ing, fo like a cur, that, was it not for his head and ears, his ill-
" natured look, and fearfulnefs at the approach of man, I fhould
" hardly have believed that it was of the fame breed."

10. Arctic. Arftic Fox, Hj/^.j^a^/. N" — ^Lev. Mus..

DOG. With a fharp nofe : ears almoft hid in the fur, fhart and
rounded : hair long, foft, and filky : legs fhort : toes covered
above and below with very thick and foft fur : tail fhorter than that
of the common Fox, and more bulliy.

Inferior in fize to the common Fox : color a blueifh-grey, and
3. fometimes

X

A R C T I C F O X. 43

fometimes white. The young, before they come to maturity, dufl^y.
The hair, as ufual in cold regions, grows much thic'ker and longer
in winter than fummer.

Thele animals are found only in the Arftic regions, a few degrees with-
in and without the Polar circle. They inhabit Spitzbergen.^ Greenland^
and Icela7id* : are only migratory in Hud/on s Bay^ once in four or five
years f : are found again in Bering's and % Copper Ijle, next to it ; but
in none beyond : in Kamtjchatka^ and all the countries bordering on
the frozen fea, which feems their great refidence ; comprehending a
woodlefs tra6l of heath land, generally from 70 to G^ degrees lat.
They abound in Nova Zemhla \ : are found in Cherry ifland, midway
between Finmark and Spitxhergen §, to which they mufl have been
brought on iflands of ice ; for- it lies above four degrees north of
the firil, and three fouth of the lafl : and laftly, in the bare mountains
between Lapland and Norway.

They are the hardieft of animals, and even m Spitzhergejt and Nov^
Zemhla prowl out for prey during the feverity of winter. They live
on the young wild geefe, and all kind of water-fowl ; on their eggs ;
on hares, or any leffer animals ; and in Greenland^ (through neceffity)
on berries, lliell-fifh, or whatfoever the fea throws up. But in the
north o{ Afia^ and \n Lapland-, their principal food is the Lemings^.
The Ar6lic foxes of thofe countries are as migratory as thofe little
animals ; and when the laft make their great migrations, the latter
purfue them in vaft troops. . But fuch removals are not only un-
certain, but long : dependent on thofe of the Leming. The Foxes
will at times defert their native countries for three or four years,
probably as long as they can find any prey. The people of Jenijea
imagine, that the wanderers from their parts go to the banks of
the Ohy.

• Egede, 62. Marten^ s Spit&h. 100. Horreboiu^s Iceland, 43. f Mr. Graham.

X Muller^s Col. 'voy. 53. j] Heemjkirk^s 'voy. 34. § Purchas, iii. 559.

^ Of which I apprehend there are two fpecies — the Lapland, Hiji . ^lad, N° 317,
and the Mus Migratorius of Pallas, or Talk Rat, HiJi. ^a4, N" 326. which inhabits
the country near the Talk.

G 2 Thofe

^^^ A R C T I C F O X.

THofe found on Bering's and Copper iTles were probably broiigKt
from the Afiatk fide on floating ice : StelTer having feen in the re-
moter iflands only the black and brown foxes : and the fame only on
the continent oi America. They burrow in the earth, and form holes
many feet in length -, ftrewing the bottom with mofs. But in Spitz-
hergen and Greenland^ where the ground is eternally frozen, they live in
the cliffs of rocks : two or three inhabit the fame hole. They fwim
well,, and often crofs from ifland to ifland in fearch of prey. They
are in heat about Lady-day j and during that time continue in the
open air : after that, retreat to. their earths. Like dogs, continue united
in copulation : bark like them : for which reafon the Ruffians call
them Pefzti. They couple in Greenland m March j and again in
May t and bring forth in Jpril and in June*.

They are tame and inoiFenfive animals ; and fo fimple, that there
are inflances of their Handing by when the trap was baiting, and in-
ftantly after putting their heads into it. They are killed for the fake
of their fkins, borh in Jfia and Hudfons Bay : the fur is light and
warm, but not durable.. Mr. Graham informed me, that they have
appeared. in fuch numbers about the fort, that he has taken, in dif-
ferent ways, four hundred from December to March. He.likewife
aflured me, that the tips of their tails are always black; thofe of the
common foxes always white : and that he never could trace the
breeding-places of the former.

The Greenlanders take them either in pitfalls dug in the fnow, and
baited with the Capelin fifh j or in fprings made with' whale-bone^ .
laid over a hole made in the ffiow, flrewed over at bottom with .
the fame kind of fifh ; or in traps made like little hutSj with flat
ftones, with a broad one by way of door, which falls down (by
. means of a firing baited on the infide with a piece of flefh) whenever*
the fbx enters and pulls at itf. The Greenlanders preferve the fkins
for traffic} and in cafes of necefTity eat the flefh... They alfo make.-

'^ FautuGreenh ZQ, f Cr0fitXyi, yz,-

buttons

^

ARCTIC FOX. 45

buttons of the (kins : and fplit the tendons, and make iife of them in- .
(lead of thread. The blue furs are much more eiteemed than the
white*

European Fox, Hijl. ^ai. N* i^^^-^Smellie, iv. 214.— Lev. Mus.- "• European:,

DOG. With a pointed nofe : pointed erefb ears: body of a
tawny red, mixed with alh-color : fore part of the legs black :
tail long and bufhy, tipt with white.

Inhabits the northern parts of North America from Hudjon's Bay,
probably acrofs the continent to the iflands intermediate between y^;»f-
rica and Kamtjchatka. Captain Bering fav/ there five quite tame,,
being unufed to the fight of man.

This fpecies gradually decreafes to the fouthward, in numbers and
in fize : none are found lower than Penfyhania. They are fuppofed
not to have been originally natives of that country. The Indians
believe they came from the north of Europe in an excefTive hard
winter, when the feafon was frozen. The truth feems to be, that
they were driven in fome fevere feafon from the north of their own
country,- and have continued there ever fince. They abound about
Hudfon's Bay, the Labrador country, and in Newfoundland and Ca^
nada ; and are found in Iceland* . They burj-ow as the European foxes
do ; and in Hudjon's Bay, during winter, run about the woods in
fearch of prey, feeding on birds and leffer animals, particularly
mice.

New England is faid to have been early ftocked with foxes by a
gentleman who imported them from England, for the pleafure of the
chafe f; and that the prefent breed fprung from the occafion. This
ipecies is reckoned among the pernicious animals, and, being very
deflru6tive to lambs, , are profcribed at the rate of two Ihillings a
head.

The variety oi Eritifi fox, with a black tip to the tail, feems un-^
known in America.

* Olaffeitf i^ 3 1 r t : Kalm, i. 283 ,

5-. The

4*^ EUROPEAN, BLACK, and CROSS FOX.

The n<:ins are a great article of commerce : abundance are im-
ported annually from Htidjoris Bay and Newfoundland. The natives of
Hudjon's Bay eat the flefli, rank as is it is.

This fpecies abounds mKamtJchatka, and is the fineft red fur of any
known : grows fcarce within the Arftic circle of the Jjiatic regions,
and is found there often white.

« Black, ^T^HIS variety is found very often entirely black, with a white tip to
the tail j and is far inferior in value and beauty to thofe o{KamtJ-
chatka and Sibiria^ where a fingle fkin fells for four hundred rubles.

The beft in North America are found on the Labrador fide of Hud-
Jon s Bay. They are alfo very common on the iflands oppofite to
Kamtfchafka. The American black foxes, which I have examined, are
frequently of a mixed color: from the hind part of the head to the
middle of the back is a broad black line : the tail, legs, and belly,
black : the hairs on the face, fides, and lower part of the back, cine-
reous j their upper ends i black the tip white.

& Cross. T7CX. With a bed of black running along the top of the back,
croflfed by another pafiing down each fhoulder ; from whence it
took the name. The belly is black : the color of the reft of the body
varies in different f^ins ; but in all is a mixture of black, cinereous,
and yellow : the fur in all very foft : and the tail very bulhy and full
of hair ^ for nature, in the rigorous climate of the North, is ever
careful to guard the extremities againft the injury of cold.

This is likewife a very valuable variety. It is remarked, that the
more defireable the fur is, the more cunning and difficult to be taken
is the fox which owns it*. The Cojfacks quartered in Kamtfchatka
have attempted for two winters to catch a fingle black fox. The
Crofs fox, vulpes crucigera of Gejner^ and Kors-raef of the Swedes f, is
found in all the Polar countries.

• Hiji, Kamtfchatka, 95. + Gefner ^ad, ^6y. Faun, Sh((. N*^.

In

BRANT AND CORSAK FOX. 47

In the riew-difcovered Fox ijlands thefe animals abound : one in
three or four are found entirely black, and larger than any in Sihiria :
the tail alfo is tipt with white. But as they live among the rocks,
there being no woods in thofe iflands, their hair is almoft as coarfe
as that of the Wolf, and of little value compared to the Sibirian.

Brant Fox, HiJ}. ^ad. p. 235. ^ Brant.

lyOX. With a very fharp and black nofe : fpace round the
ears ferruginous : forehead, back, fhoulders, fides, and thighs,
red, cinereous, and black : the aih-color predominates, which gives
it a hoary look : belly yellowiili : tail black above, cinereous on the
fides, red beneath.

About half the fize of the common fox. Defcribed from one Mr.
Brooks received from Penfylvaniay under the name of Brandt-fox ; but
it had not that bright rednefs to merit the name of either Brandt-
fuchfej or Brand-raef, given by Gefner and Linnaus.

CorfakFox, Hiji» ^ad. p.236. JCorsak.

■pox. With upright ears : yellowilh-green irides : throat white :
color, in fummer, pale tawny j in winter, cinereous : middle of
the tail cinereous ; bafe and tip black ; the whole very full of hair :
the fur is coarfer and fhorter than that of the common fox»

I difcovered this fpecies among the drawings of the late Taylor
White, Efq; who informed me that it came from North America, I
imagine, from HudJorCs Bay,

This fpecies is very common in the hilly and temperate parts of
Tartary, from the Don to the Amur \ but never is found in woody
places : it burrows deep beneath the furface. It is alfo faid to in-
habit the banks of the rivers Indigijky and Anadyr, where the hills
grow bare. In the reft of Sibiria it is only known beyond lake
Baikal, and from fkins brought by the Kirghifian and Bucharian
traders^ In RuJJia it is found in the defarts towards Crimea and AJlrar-
ean^ and alfo on tlie fouthern end of the Urallian mountains^

Gi-ey

48 GHEY AND SILVERY FOX.

IS. Grey. Grey Fox, Hijl. ^ad. N» 142.

FOX. With a fharp nofe: long fliarp upright ears : long legs:
color entirely grey, except a little rednefs about the ears.
Inhabits from New England to the Ibuthern end of North America %
but are far more numerous in the fouthern colonies. They have not
the rankfmell of the red foxes. They are alfo lefs aflive, and grow
very fat*. They breed in hollow trees: give no diverfion to the
fportfmenj for after a mile's chafe they run up a treef. They feed
on birds; are deftrudlive to poultry ; but never deftroy lambs J. The
flcins are ufed to line clothes : the fur is in great requeft among the
hatters. The greafe is reckoned efficacious in rheumatic diforders.

13. Silvery. Silvery Fox, Bijl.^ad. N" 143.

OX. With a fine and thick coat of a deep brown color, ovC:
fpread with long filvery hairs of a moil elegant appearance.
Inhabits Lo«7/?^;?<«, where their holes are feen in great abundance on
the woody heights. As they live in forefts, which abound in game,
they never moleft the poultry, fo are fufFered to run at large §.

They differ fpecifically from the former, more by their nature la
burrowing, than in colors.

• £«w/o«, 125. \ CtttefiyZ-iw^l, Jofelynt^Z. ' % Kalm,\, Z%2.

% Du. Praiz, ii. 64. Charlevoix, v. 1^6.

Hisr.

U M A. 49

H I S r. ^UJD. Genus XIX. CAT.

Hi/. ^aJ. N° iGo.'—SMeUie, v, 197. 200.-.LEV. Mu«. »4- ^vua.

CAT. With a fmall head: large eyes: ears a little pointed:
chin white : back, neck, fides, and rump, of a pale brownifh
red, mixed with dufky hairs : breaft, belly, and infide of the legs, ci-
nereous : tail a mixture of dufky and ferruginous, the tip black.

The teeth of a vaft fize : clawj whitifh ; the outmoft claw of the
fore feet much larger than the reft : the body very long : the legs
high and ftrong. The length of that I examined was five feet three
from head to tail ; of the tail, two feet eight.

Inhabits the continent o{ North America ^ from Canada to Florida-, and
the fpecies is continued from thence low into South America, through

■*■ ■'CD

Mexico^ Guiana^ Brafd, and the province of ^itOj in Peru, where it is
called Puma, and by the Europeans miftaken for a Lion : it is, by
reafon of its fiercenefs, the fcourge of the country. The different
climate of North America feems to have fubdued its raee, and ren-
dered it very fearful of mankind : the left cur, in company with his
mafter, will make it run up a tree*, which is the opportunity of
(hooting it. It proves, if not killed outright, a dangerous enemy ;
for it will defcend, and attack either man or beaft. The flefti is
white, and reckoned very good. The Indians ufe the fkin for winter
habits } and when drefted is made into ihoes for women, and gloves
for menf. *^

It is called in North America the Panther, and is the moft pernicious
animal of that continent. Lives in the forefts. Sometimes purs, at
other times makes a great howling. Is extremely deftrut^ive to do-

• CaUjhy, App. xxv. f La-w/ont ii?»

H meftic

so P U M A. L Y N X.

meftic animals, particularly to hogs. It preys alfo upon the Moofc^
and other deer j falling on them from the tree it lurks in, and never
quits its hold*. The deer has no other way of faving itfelf, but by'
plunging into the water, if there happens to be any near ; for the
Panther, like the Cat, detefts that element. It will feed even orr
beafts of prey. I have fecn the fkin of one which was fhot, juft as it
had killed a wolf. When it has fatisfied itfelf with eating, it care-
fully conceals the reft of the carcafe, covering it with leaves. If any
other animal touches the reliques, it never touches them again.

15. Lynx. jy/^. ^^^d^ N*" lyo.-^Smtl/ie, v. 207. 217.— Lzv. Mus..

CAT. With pale yellow eyes : ears ere6t, tufted with black long
hair: body covered with foft and long fur, cinereous tinged
with tawny, and marked with dufky fpots, more or lefs vifible in dif-
ferent fubjedls, dependent on the age, or feafon in which the animal
is killed : the legs ftrong and thick : the claws large. About three
times the fize of a common Cat : the tail only four inches long,
tipt with black.

Inhabits the vaft forefls of North America : is called in Canada^ Le
Chat, ou Le Loup-cervier-\y on account of its being fo deftru6live to
deer j which it drops on from the trees, like the former, and, fixing
on the jugular vein, never quits its hold till the exhaufted animal
fails through lofs of blood J.

The Englijh call it a Wild Cat. It is very deftruflive to their young
pigs, poultry, and all kind of game. The flcins are in high efteem
for the foftnefs and warmnefs of the fur 3 and great numbers are an-
nually imported into Europe.

* Charlevoix, v. 189, who by miftake calls it Carcajou, and Kincajou ; two very dif-
ferent animals, t CbarkvouttX. 195. % Laiv/on, 118. Cate/hy,App.XKv»^

Bay

6 A Y L Y N X. S'i

Bay Lynx. Hi/f. ^ad. N^ 171. 16. Bat.

CAT. With yellow irides : ears like the former : color of the
head, body, and outfide of the legs and thighs, a bright bay,
obfcurely marked with dufl'Cy fpots : the forehead marked with black
ftripes from the head to the nofe : cheeks white, varied with three
or four incurvated lines of black : the upper and under lip, belly,
and infides of the legs and thighs, white : the iniide of the upper
part of the fore legs crofled with two black bars : the tail lliort ; the
upper part mai'ked v/ith duflcy bars, and near the end with one of
black ; the under fide white. In fize, about twice that of a common
Cat ; the fur lliorter and fmoother tlian that of the former.

This fpecies is found in the internal parts of the province of Neiv
York, I faw one living a few years ago in London. The black bars
on the legs and tail are fpecific marks.

Hiji.^ad,'t^'\^%, 17. Mountain.

Cat-a-mountain ? Lavt/oH, 118. Du Fratz,\i.S\.

CAT. With upright pointed ears, marked with two brown bars :
head and upper part of the body of a reddilli brown, with long
narrow ftripes of black: the fides and legs with fmall round fpots : chin
and throat of a clear white : belly of a dull white : tail eight inches
long, barred with black. Length from nofe to tail two feet and a half. Si«t.

Inhabits North America. Is faid to be a gentle animal, and to
grow very fat. Defcribed originally in the Memoires de V Academic ;
fince which an account of another, taken in Carolindy was communi-
cated by the late Mr. CoUinJon to the Count de Buffon^'. The only
difference is in fize j for the laft was only nineteen inches long : the
tail four J but the fame charaderiftic ftripes, fpots, and bars, on the
tailj were fimilar in both.

• Supplcm. iii. 247.

, H 2 -There

5«

MOUNTAIN CAT.

OsacuRESpEcifie. There ftill remain undefcribed Tome animals of the Feline race,
which are found m- North America, but too obfcurely mentioned by
travellers to be afcertained. Such is the beaft which Law/on faw to
the weftward of Carolina, and calls a Tiger. He fays it was larger
than the Panther, i. e. Puma, and. that it differed from the Tiger of
Jfia and Africa*. It pofTibly may be the Brafilian Panther, Hiji. ^ad.
N° 158, which may extend further north than we imagine. It may
likewife be the Cat-a-mount of Z)« Tratx^; which, he fays, is as high
as the Tiger, i. e. Fuma, and the fkin extremely beautiful.

The Pijoux of Louifiana, mentioned by Charlevoix^, are alfo ob-
fcure animals. He fays they are very like our Wild Cats, but larger :
that fome have Ihorter tails, and others longer. The firft may be
referred to one of the three laft fpecies : the laft may be our Cayenne
Cat, N°i63.

Domcilic Cats are kept in Iceland and Norway §. Some of them
efcape and relapfe to a favage flate. In Iceland thofe are called Urda-
kelter, becaufe they live under rocks and loofe ftones, where they hide
themfelves. They prey on fmall birds. The moft valuable of their
Ikins are fold for twelve Daniffj flciilings, or fix pence a-piece. Linn^tiSy
fpeaking of the cats o^ Sweden, fays, they are of exotic origin ||. They
are not found wild either in that kingdom, or any part of the Ruffian
dominions. Unknown in America..

* HiJi. Carolina, 1 19.

t ii. 64. I wifti to fupprefs the fynonym oi Cat-a-mount, as applied to the Caytnm
Caty as it feems applicable to a much larger fpecies.

\ HiJi. de le Nowv. France, vi. 158. § Oluf. Iceland, i. Paragr. 80. Pontofo-

ii. 8. U Faun. Suec^ N° Q.. _

Hisr.

POLAR BEAR.

53

HISr, ^UJD. Genus XX. BEAR.

Hijf. Sluad. N' 175. — Lev. Mus, 18. Polar.

BEAR. With a long narrow head and neck : tip of the nofe
black : teeth of a tremendous magnitude : hair of a great length,
foft, and white, and in part tinged with yellow : limbs very thick
and ftrong : ears fliort and rounded.

Travellers vary about their fize. 'De Buffon quotes the authority
of Gerard le Ver* for the length of one of the fkins, which, he fays,
was twenty-three feet,. This feems to be extremely mifreprefented ;
for Gerardy who was a companion of the famous Barentz^ and HeemJ-
kirky a voyager of the firft credit, killed feveral on Nova Zemhla, the
largeft of which did not exceed thirteen feet in length f. They feem
fmaller on Sptzbergen : one meafured by order of a noble and able
navigator J, in his late voyage towards the Pole, was as follows : I
give all the meafurcments to afcertain the proportions.

Feet. Inches.
Length from fnout to tail -- _ y j

from fnout to flioulder-bone - 1 3

Height at the Ihoulder - - 4. ^

. Circumference near the fore legs - ' y q

of the neck near the ear 2 i

Breadth of the fore-paw - -07

Weight of the carcafe without the head,

fkin, or entrails - - - 610 lb;

This fpecies, like the Rein and Arftic Fox, almoft entirely fur- Vlacz,

rounds the neighborhood of the Polar circle. It is found within it,

• De Bujon, Suppl.in. 200. f See Le Ver, p. 14. ed. 1606. Ampid:

J.: The Honorable Confiantint John Phipps, inow Lord Mulgrave.

fa*"

54 P O L A R B E A R.

far as navigators have penetrated j in the ifland of Spitzbergen^ and
within Baffin s Bay-, in Greetdand zwd Hudjons Bay\ in l^erra di Labra-
dor*-^ and, by accident, wafted from Gree^landy on iflands of ice, to
Iceland and Newfoundland. It perhaps attends the courfe of the
Arftic circle along the vafl regions of America \ but it is un-
known in the groiipes of iflands between that continent and Jfia j
neither is it found on the Tchuktki NofSy or the Great Cape, which
juts into the fea north of Kamtfchatka f. None are ever feen in that
country. But they are frequent on all the coafts of the Frozen Ocean,
from the mouth of the Ob J, eaftward ; and abound moft about the
efluaries of the Jens/ei and Lena, They appear about thofe favage
trads, and abound in the unfrequented iflands of Nova Zembla,
Cherry^ and Spitzbergen, where they find winter quarters undiflurbed
by mankind. The fpecies is happily unknown along the fhores of
the White fea, and thofe of Lapland and Norway. Poffibly even
thofe rigorous climates may be too mild for animals that afFe6t the
utmoft feverity of the Ardic zone. They never are feen farther
fouth in Sibiria than Mangajea^ nor wander into the woody parts,
unlefs by accident in great mills.

They are fometimes brought alive into England. One which I faw
was always in motion, relllefs, and furious, roaring in a loud and hoarfe
tone } and fo impatient of warmth, that the keeper was obliged to
pour on it frequently pailfuls of water. In a flate of nature, and in
places little vifited by mankind, they are ot dreadful ferocity. In
Spitzbergen, and the other places annually frequented by the human
race, they dread its power, having experienced its fuperiority, and
fhun the conflid : yet even in thofe countries prove tremendous
enem.ies, if attacked or provoked.

Barenfz, in his voyages in fearch o^ a north-eaft paflage to Chinay
had fatal proofs of their rage and intrepidity on the ifland of Nova
Zembla-: his feamen were frequently attacked, and fome of them

* Fhil. Tratif, Ixiv. ^jj. f Muller, Pref. xxv. J Purcbas's Pilgrims,

iii. €oc,

killed.

\

P O L A R B E A R. 5S

killed. Thofe whom they feized on they took in their mouths, ran away
with the utmoft eafe, tore to pieces, and devoured at their leifure,
even in fight of the furviving comrades. One of thefe animals was ,
ftiot preying on the mangled corpfe, yet would not quit its hold ; but
continued ftaggering away with the body in its mouth, till difpatched
with many wounds*.

They will attack, and attempt to board, armed veffels far diftant
from Ihore ; and have been with great difficulty repelled f. They
feem to give a preference to human blood j and will greedily dif-inter
the graves of the buried, to devour the cadaverous contents ijl.

Their ufual food is filh, feals, and the carcafes of whales. On Foo».

land, they prey on deer ||, hares, young birds, and eggs, and often on
whortleberries and crowberries. They are at conftant enmity with
the WalruSj or Morfe : the laft, by reafon of its vaft tuflcs, has ge-
nerally the fuperiority; but frequently both the combatants perifli
in the confiidl §.

They are frequently feen in Greenland j in lat. 76, in great' droves ;
where, allured by the fcent of the fiefh of feals, they will furround the
habitations of the natives, and attempt to break in^i but are foon
driven away by the fmell of burnt feathers**. If one of them is by
any accident killed, the furvivors will immediately eat it f f .

They grow exceffively fat ; a hundred pounds of fat has been taken
out of a fingle beaft. Their flefh is coarfe, but is eaten by the fea~
men : it is white, and they fancy it taftes like mutton. The liver is
very unwholefome, as three of Heemjkirk's failors experienced, who
fell dangeroufly ill on eating feme of it boiled JJ. The fl<;in is an
article of commerce : many are imported, and ufed chiefly for covers
to coach-boxes. The Greenlanders feed on the fiefli and fat j ufe the
fkins to fit on, and make of it boots, fhoes, and gloves ; and fpiit the
tendons into thread for fewing.

* Heemjkirk's'voy. 14, f The fame, 18. t Martin's Spitzb. 102.-

U Faun. Groenl. p, 23. § Egede, 83. ^ The fame, 60. ** Faun,

GrotnLjp. 2,3. ft Hcemjkirky 51, JJ The fame. 45.

During

SS P O L A R B E A R.

During fummer they refide chiefly on iflands of ice, and pafs fre-
quently from one to the other. They fwim moft excellently, and
fometimes dive, but continue only a fmall fpace under water. They
have been feen on iflands of ice eighty miles from any land, preying
and feeding as they float along. They lodge in dens formed in the
vaft maflfes of ice, which are piled in a ftupendous manner, leaving
great caverns beneath : here they breed, and bring one or two at a
time, and fometimes, but vefy rarely, three. Great is the afl'eftion
between parent and young j they will fooner die than defert one
another *. They alfo follow their dams a very long time, and are
grown to a very large fize before they quit them.

During winter they retire, and bed themfelves deep beneath, form-
ino- fpacious dens in the fnow, fupported by pillars of the fame, or to
the fixed ice beneath fome eminence; where they pafs torpid the long
and difmal night f, appearing only with the return of the fun J. At
their appearance the Ar5fic Foxes retire to other haunts ||.

The Polar Bear became part of the royal menagery as early as the
.reio-n of Henry III. Mr. Wal-pole has proved how great a patron that
defpifed prince was of the Arts. It is not lefs evident that he ex-
tended his proteftion to Natural Hifliory. We find he had procured
a White Bear from Norway^ from whence it probably was imported
from Greenland^ the Norwegians having polTefled that country for
fome centuries before that period. There are two writs extant from
that monarch, diredling the fheriffs of London to furnifh fix pence a
day to fupport cur White Bear in our Tower of London j and to pro-
vide a muzzle and iron chain to hold him when out of the water ;
^ and a long and ftrong rope to hold him, when he was fiihing in the
Thames §. Fit provifion was made at the fame time for the king's
Tlephant.

• Marten'' s Spitzb. I02.

t Egede, 60. Martens fays, that the id": is ufed in pains of the limbs, and that it
^£ifts parturidon.

t Heemjkirk'i, -voy. in Purchas,'\n. 500, 501. U The fame, 499. § Madox's

Antiquities of the Ex(hequer/\. 376.

P O L A R B E A R. 57

The fkins of this fpeciesj in old times, were offered by the hunters
to the high altars of cathedrals, or other churches, that the prieft
might {land on them, and not catch cold when he was celebrating
high mafs in extreme cold weather. Many fuch were annually of-
fered at the cathedral at Drontheim in Norway ; and alfo the fkins of
wolves, which were fold to purchafe wax lights to burn in honor of
the faints *.

- Hiji. ^ad, N° I74> — Smellie, v. 19. ig.BLACKo

EAR. With a long pointed nofe, and narrow forehead : the
cheeks and throat of a yellowifh brown color : hair over the
whole body and limbs of a gloffy black, fmoother and fhorter than
that of the European kind.

They are ufually fmaller than thofe of the old world; yet Mr.
Bartram gives an inflance of an old he- bear killed in Florida which
was kYtn feet long, and, as he gueffed, weighed four hundred
pounds f .

Thefe animals are found in all parts of North America^ from Hud-
Jon^ s Bay to the fouthern extremity ; but in Loui/iana and the fouthern
parts they appear only in the winter, migrating from the north in
fearch of food. They fpread acrofs the northern part of the Ameri-
can continent to the Kamtfchatkan fea. They are found again in the
oppofite country J, and in the Kuriljki iflands, which intervene be-
tween Kamtjchatka and Japan ||, Jejo Majimay which lies north of
Japan^y and probably Japan itfelf ; for K^empfer fays, that a few fmail
bears are found in the northern provinces ^.

It is very certain that this fpecies of bear feeds on vegetables. Food.

Du PratZj who is a faithful as well as intelligent writer, relates, that

• Olaus Magnus, lib. xviil. c. 20. f Journal of his travels Into Eafi Flo-

rida, 26. X HiJl. Kamtfch, iii. 385. (j The fame, 287. § Voj, au Nord, iv. 5.
•ff HiJi. Japan, i. 126.

I in

58 B L A C K B E A R.

ia one fevere winter, when thefc animals were forced in multitudes-
from the woods, where there was abundance of animal food, they re-
jefted that, notwithftanding they were ready to perifh with hunger ;
and, migrating into the lower Louifiana^ would often break into the
courts of houfes. They never touched the butchers meat which la)r
in their way, but fed voracioufly on the corn or roots they met with*.
Necefllty alone fometimes compels them to attack and feed on.
the fwine they meet in the woods : but flefh is to them an un-
natural diet.. They live on berries, fruits, and pulfe of all kinds ;
are remarkably fond of potatoes, which they very readily dig up with:
their great paws ; make great havock in the fields of maize; and are
great lovers of milk and honey. They feed much on herrings, wliich
they cateh in the feafon when thofe fiili come in fnoals up the creeks,,
which gives their flefh a difagreeable tafte ; and the fame effed is
obferved when they eat the bitter berries of the Tupelo.

They are equally inoffenfive to mankind, provided they are not
irritated -, but if wounded, they will turn on their aflailant with
great fury, and, in cafe they can lay hold, never fail of hugging him
to death ; for it has been obferved they never make ufe, in their ragCj
of either their teeth or claws. If they meet a man in a path they
will not go out of his way; but will not attack him. They never-
feek combat. A fmall dog will make them run up a tree.

The bears of Kamtjchatka refemble thofe of America : they are-
neither large nor fierce.. They alfb wander from the hills to the
lower lands in fummer, and feed on berries and fiih. They reje6t:
carnivorous food, nor ever attack the inhabitants, unlefs they find
them afleep, when, through wantonnefs, they bite them feverely,
and fometimes tear a piece of flelli away ; yet, notwithftanding they
get a tafte of human blood, are never known to devour mankind.
People thus injured are called 'Dranki^^ or th.t flayed.

The Anerican bears do not lodge in caves or clefts of rocks, like
thofe of Europe, The bears of Hud/on' s Bay form their dens beneath

* Du Pratx, ii. 57. f ^'^' Kamifchatka, iii. 386*

the

BLACKBEAR. 59

tlie fnow, and fuffer fome to drop at the mouth, to conceal their re-
treat.

The naturalift's poet, with great truth and beauty, defcribes the
retreat of this animal in the frozen climate of the north :

There through the piny forell half abforpt.
Rough tenant of thofc fhades, the fhapelefs BeaRj
With dangling ice all horrid, ftalks forlorn ;
Slow pac'd, and Tourer as the ftorms increafe.
He makes his bed beneath th' inclement drift.
And with ftern patience, fcorning weak complaint.
Hardens his heart 5j;ainft aflailing want.

Thofe of the fouthern parts dwell in the hollows of antient trees.
The hunter difcovers them by ftriking with an ax the tree he fufpefts
they are lodged in, then fuddenly conceals himfelf. The Bear is
immediately rouzed, looks out of the hollow to learn the caufe of
the alarm ; feeing none, finks again into repofe *, The hunter then
forces him out, by flinging in fired reeds ; and Ihoots him while he

v defcends the body of the tree, which, notwithftanding his aukward
appearance, he does with great agility ; nor is he lefs nimble in
afcending the tops of the higheft trees in fearch of berries and
fruits.

The long time which thefe animals fubfift without food is amaz-
ing. They will continue in their retreat for fix weeks without the left
provifion, remaining either afleep or totally inaftive. It is pretend-
ed that they live by fucking their paws ; but that is a vulgar error.
The fa6t is, they retire immediately after autumn, when they have

*^ fattened themfelves to an exceflive degree by the abundance of
the fruits which they find at that feafon. This enables ani-
mals, which perfpire very little in a ftate of reft, to endure an abfti-
nence of uncommon length. But when this internal fupport is ex-
haufted, and they begin to feel the call of hunger, on the approach of
the fevere feafon^ they quit their dens in fearch of food. Multitudes

* Du PratZj ii. 6i.

I 1 then

6o BLACK BEAR.

then migrate into the lower parts o( Louifiana : they arrive very lean j
but foon fatten v/ith the vegetables of that milder climate*. They
never wander far from the banks of the Mijfifipy and in their march
form a beaten path like the track of men.

Law/on and Catejhy ■\ relate a very furprizing thing in refpeft to
this animal, which is, that neithe? European or Indian ever killed a
Bear with young. In one winter were killed in Virginia five hun-
dred bears, and among them only two females j and thofe not preg-
nant. The caufe is, that the male has the fame unnatural diflike
to its offspring as fome other animals have : they will kill and de-
vour the cubs. The females therefore retire, before the time of par-
turition, into the depth of woods and rocks, to elude the fearch of
their favage mates. It is faid that they do not make their appear-
ance with their young till March \.

All who have tafted the flefh of this animal fay, that it is moft de-
licious eating : a young Bear, fattened with the autumnal fruits, is a
difh fit for the niceft epicure. It is wholefome and nourifhing, and re-
fembles pork more than any other meat. The tongue and the paws
are efteemed the mod exquifite morfels \ the hams are alfo excellent,,
but apt to ruft, if not very well preferved.

Four inches depth of fat has been found on a fingle Bear, and fif-
teen or fixteen gallons of pure oil melted from it §. The fat is of a
pure white, and has the fingular quality of never lying heavy on the
flomach, notwithftanding a perfon drank a quart of it || . The Ame^
7-icans make great ufe of it for frying their fifh. It is befides ufed
medicinally, and has been found very efficacious in rheumatic com-
plaints, achs, and flrains..

The Indians of Louifiana prepare it thus : — As foon as thejr have
killed the Bear, they flioot a Deer ; cut off the head, and draw the-
fkin entire to the legs> which they cut off : they then flop up every
orifice, except that on the neck, into which they pour the melted fat

• Du Pratz, ii. 60. ' f Lanvfon, 117. Caiejly, App. xxvi. % Jofelyn's'

I'oj; 91. § Barlrafii'tjourn, E, Florida, 26* j|. Laiu/on, 116.

of

BLACK BEAR. 6t

of the Bear j which is prepared by boiling the fat and flefli together.
This they call a Deer of oily and fell to the Fre?7cb for a gun, or fome-
thing of equal value*.

Bears greafe is in great repute in Europe for its fuppofed quality
of making the hair to grow on the human head. A great chymift in
the Hay mar kef in London ufed to fatten annually two or three Bears
for the fake of their fat.

The fkin is in ufe for all purpofes which the coarfer forts of furs
are applied to : it ferves in America, in diflant journies, for coverlets j
and the finer parts have been in fome places ufed in the hat manu-
fadlure f..

The Indians of Canada daub their hands and face Vv^ith the greafe,
to preferve them from the bite of mufketoes : they alfo fmear their
bodies with the oil after exceflive exercife J. They think, like the
Romans of old, that oil fupples their joints, and preferves them in
full activity..

Black Bear, Eift.^ad. N° 174.— 5'a?f///V, v. 19. 20. Brown*

EAR. With long fhaggy hair, ufually dufky or black, with
brown points •■> liable to vary, perhaps according to their age, or
fome accident, which does not create a fpecific difference.

A variety of a pale brown color, whofe f!<:ins I have feen imported
from Hud/on' s Bay. The fame' kind, I believe, is alfo found in Europe.
The cubs are of a jetty black, and their necks often encircled with.
white

Bears fpotted with white^

Land Bears, entirely white^ Such fometimes fally from the lofty
mountains which border on Sibiria, and appear in a wandering
manner in the lower parts of the country ||. Marco Polo relates, that
they were frequent in his time in the north of Tart(iryj and of a very
great fize.

* Du PratK,\i,6z, f Law/on, 117. % K^lm/m, 15. j| Do^^or Pallas.

c Grizzly

62 BROWN BEAR.

^. Grizzly Bears. Thefe are called by the Germans Silber-bary or

the Silver-hear;, from the mixture of white hairs. Thefe are found
ivf Europe, and the very northern parts of North America, as high as
lat. 70 ; where a hill is called after them, Grizzle Bear Hill, and where
they breed in caverns*. The ground in this neighborhood is in all
parts turned by them in fearch of the hoards formed by the Ground
Squirrels for winter provifion.

All thefe varieties form but one fpecies. They are granivorous
and carnivorous, both in Europe and America j and I believe, accord-
ing to their refpe6tive palates or habits, one may be deemed a va-
riety which prefers the vegetable food ; another may be diftinguilhed
from its preference of animal food. Mr. Graham aiTures me, that
the brown Bears, in the inland parts oiHudJon's Bay, make great ha-
vock among the Buffaloes : are very large, and very dangerous when
they are attacked and wounded.

Bears venerat- In all favage nations the Bear has been an obje6t of veneration.

EB IN America, ^j^^^j^g ^j^^ Americans a feaft is made in honor of each that is killed.
The head of die beaft is painted with all colors, and placed on an
elevated place, where it receives the refpecfls of all the guefts, who
celebrate in fongs the praifes of the Bear. They cut the body in
pieces, and regale on it, and conclude the ceremony f .
Chase. The chafe of thefe animals is a matter of the firft importance, and

never undertaken without abundance of ceremony. A principal
warrior firfl gives a general invitation to all the hunters. This is
followed by a moft ferious faft of eight days, a total abftinence
- from all kinds of food ; notwithftanding which, they pafs the day in
continual fong. This they do to invoke the fpirits of the woods to
dired them to the place where there are abundance of bears. They
even cut the fleOi in divers parts of their bodies, to render the fpirits
more propitious. They alfo addrefs themfelves to the manes of the
beafts flain in preceding chafes, as if it were to dired them in their
dreams to plenty of game. One dreamer alone cannot determine

* Mr. Samuel Hearne, t Charkvoi^^ Nouv, Fr* v. 443.

the

B R O W N B E A R. 63

the place of chafe, numbers muft concur j but, as they tell each other
their dreams, they never fail to agree : whether that may arife from
complaifance, or by a real agreement in the dreams from their
thoughts being perpetually turned on the fame thing.

The chief of the hunt now gives a great feaft, at which no one
dares to- appear without firft bathing. At this entertainment they eat
with great moderation, contrary to their ufual cuftom. The mafter
of the feaft alone touches nothing ; but is employed in relating to
the guefls antient tales of the wonderful feats in former chafes :
and frefh invocations to the manes of the deceafed bears conclude
the whole.. They then fally forth amidfl the acclamations of the
village, equipped as if for war, and painted black. Every able
hunter is on a level with a great warrior^ but he mufb have killed
his dozen great beails before his chara6ler is eftabliflied : after which
his alliance is as much courted as that of the moil valiant captain.

They now proceed on their way in a direft line: neither rivers,,
marlhes, or any other impediments, ftop their courfe; driving before;
them all the beads which they find in their way. When they arrive
in the hunting-ground, they furround as large a fpace as their com-
pany will admit, and then contra<5t their circle ; fearching, as they-
eontraft, every hollow tree, and every place fit for the retreat of the
bear, and continue the fame pra<5tice till the time of the chafe is ex-
pired'.

As foon as a bear is killed, a hunter puts into its mouth a lighted
pipe of tobacco, and, blowing into it, fills the throat with the fmoke^
conjuring the fpirit of the animal not to refent what they are going
to do to its body ; nor to render their future chafes unfuccefsful.
As the bead makes no reply, they cut out the firing of the tongue,
and throw it into the fire: if it crackles and runs in (which it is al-
moft fure to do) they accept it as a good omen; if not, they confider
that the fpirit of the bead is not appeafed, and that the chafe of the
next year will be unfortunate.

The hunters live well during the chafe, on provifions which they
bring with them. They return home with great pride and felf-

fufficiency ;

KA.

64 B R O W N B E A R. . ,

iufficiency ; for to kill a bear forms the cliarader of a complete man.
They again give a great entertainment, and now make a point to
leave nothing. The feaft is dedicated to a certain genius, perhaps
that of Gluttony, whofe rcfentment chey dread, if they do not
eat every morfel, and even fup up the very melted greafe in which
the meat v/as dreffed. They fometimes eat till they burft, or bring
on themfelves fome violent diforders. The firft courfe is the greateft
bear they have killed, without even taking out the entrails, or takin*
oif the ilcin, contenting themfelves with fmgeing the ilcin, as is prac-
tifed with hogs *.
In Kamtschat- fhe Kamtfchatkans, before their converfion to Chriftianity, had al-
moft fimilar fuperftitions refpeding bears and other wild bealls :
they entreated the bears and wolves not to hurt them in the chafe,
and whales and marine animals not to overturn their boats. They
never call the two former by their proper name, but by that of 6"/-
pang J or ill-luck.

At prefent the Kamtjchatkans kill the bear and other wild beads
with o-uns : formerly they had variety of inventions; fuch as filling the
entrance of its den with logs, and then digging down upon the ani-
mal and deflroying it with fpears f. In Sibiria it is taken by making
a trap-fall of a great piece of timber, which drops and cruHies it to
death : or by forming a noofe in a rope faftened to a great log ; the
bear runs its head into the noofe, and, finding itfelf engasjeL', grows
furious, and either falls down fome precipice and kills itfelf, or wea-
ries itfelf to death by its agitations.

The killing of a bear in fair battle is reckoned as great a piece of
heroifm by the Kamtjchatkans as it is with the Americans. The vidor
makes a feaft on the occafion, and feafts his neighbors with the beafli
then hangs the head and thighs about his tent by way of trophies.

Thefe people ufe the llcins to lie on, and for coverlets; for bonnets,
gloves, collars for their dogs, foles for their Ihoes, to prevent them

* Charlevoix y v. 169 to 174, f Hiji, Kamtfchatka, Fr. iii. 73.

from

B R O W N B E A R. 6$

from flipping on the ice. Of the fhoulder-blades they make inftiu-
ments to cut the grafs i of the inteftines, covers for their faces, to
protedt them from the fun during fpring j and the Cojfacks extend
them over their windows inftead of glafs. The fiefli and fat is among
the chief dainties of the country *.

Superftitions, relative to this animal, did not confine themfelves to
America and 4fia, but fpread equally over the north of Europe. The
Laplanders held it in the greateft veneration : they called it the Dog
of God, becaufe they efteemed it to have the ftrength of ten men,
and the fenfe of twelve f- They never prefume to call it by its
proper name of Guouzbjay leaft it revenge the infult on their flocks ;
but ftyle it Moedda-aigia, or the old man in a furred cloak f .

The killing of a Bear was reckoned as great an exploit in Lapland
as it was in America^ and the hero was held in the higheft efteem by
both fexes j and, by a fingular cuftom, was forbid all commerce with
his wife for three days. The Laplanders bring home the (lain beads
in great triumph. They ere6t a new tent near their former dwelling,
but never enter it till they have flung off the drefs of the chafe.
They continue in it three entire days j and the women keep at home
the fame fpace. The men drefs the flelh of the Bear in the new
tent, and make their repaft, giving part to the females j but take
great care never to beflow on them a bit of the rump. Neither will
they deliver to them the meat through the common entrance of the
hut, but through a hole in another part. In fign of victory, the men
fprinkle themfelves with the blood of the beaft.

After they have finiflied eating the flefli, they bury the bones with
great folemnity, and place every bone in its proper place, from a
firm perfuaflon that the Bear will be rellored, and" re-animate a new
body.

At the pulling ofi^ the flcin, and cutting the body into pieces, they
were ufed to flng a fong, but without meaning or rhyme Jl i but the

« Hifl. Kamtfchatkay Fr, iil. 390. t Ltems Lafmarky Suppl. 64. t The

fame, 502. \\ The fame, Suppl.

K antient

66 B R O W N B E A R.

antient Fins had a fong, which, if not highly embellifhed by the
tranfiator, is far from inelegant.

Beafl ! of all foreft beafts fubdued and flain.

Health to our huts and prey a hundred-fold

Reftore ; and o'er us keep a conftant guard !

I thank the Gods who gave fo noble prey !

When the great day-ftar hides beyond the alfs,

I hie me home ; and joy, all clad in flowers.

For three long nights Ihall reign throughout my hut.

With tranfport fliall I climb the mountain's fide.

Joy op'd this day, joy fliall attend its clofe.

Thee I revere, from thee expedl my prey ;

Nor e'er forgot my carol to the Bear *.

21. WOLVERENB. ^//?. %««'. N° I76, 1 77. Sjn. ^ad.

Gulo, Pallas Spicil. Zool. Fa/c. xiv. 25. tab. ii. — Lev. Mws.

EAR. With fliort rounded ears, almofl concealed by the fur :

face fharp, black, and pointed : back broad, and, while the

animal is in motion, much elevated, or arched -, and the head carried

low : the legs Ihort and ftrong : claws long and fharp, white at their

ends.

The length from nofe to tail twenty-eight inches; of the trunk of
the tail feven inches. It is covered with thick long hairs, reddifh at
the bottom, black at the end ; fome reach fix inches beyond the
tip.

The hairs on the head, back, and belly, are of the fame colors,
but much finer and fofter. Before they are examined, the animal ap-
pears wholly black. The throat whitifh, marked with black. Along
the fides, from the fhoulders to the tail, is a broad band of a ferrugi-
nous 'color : in feveral of the fl<.ins, brought from Hiidfon's Bay^ I ob-

* Nicholi's RuJJian Nations, i. 50.

ferved

V/ O L V E R E N E.

67

Place.

WRITERS!

ferved this band to be white. The legs are black ; the feet covered
with hair on the bottom. On the fore feet of that which I examined
were fome white fpots. On each foot were five toes, not greatly di-
vided.

It hath much the aftion of a Bear ; not only in the form of its back,
and the hanging down of its head, but alfo in refting on the hind
part of the firft joint of its legs.

This is one of the local animals o( America. I trace it as far north
as the Copper river, and to the countries on the weft and fouth of Hud-
Jon's Bay J Canada, and the traft as far as the ftraits of Micbillmakifiac,
between the lakes Huron and Superior.

I have reafon to think that the Glutton of the old v/riters is the Glutton of old
fame with this animal j and that in my Hiftory of Quadrupeds I un-
neceffarily feparated them. Since I have received the late publication
of Dr. PallaSj I am fatisfied that it is common to the north of America,
Europe, and AJia, even to Kamtfchatka ; inhabiting the vaft forefts of
the north, even within the Polar circle. The Kamtjchatkans value
them fo highly as to fay, that the heavenly beings wear no other
furs. The fi^ins are the greateft prefent they can make their miftref-
fes ; and the women ornament their heads with the parts of the
white banded variety. The Ruffians call thefe animals Rojfomak ; the
Kamtjchatkans, Tymi, or Tummi.

It is a beaft of uncommon fiercenefs, the terror of the Wolf and
Bear -, the former, which will devour any carrion, will not touch the
carcafe of this animal, which fmells more fetid than that of a Pole-
cat. It has great ftrength, and makes vaft refiftance when taken ;
will tear the traps often to pieces -, or if wounded, Vv'ill fnap the ftock
from the barrel of the mufket -, and often do more damage in the
capture than the fur is worth.

It preys indifferently on all animals which it can mafter. It feeds
by night, and, being flow of foot, follows the track of wolves and
foxes in the fnow, in order to come in for fliare of their prey. It will
dig up the carcafes of animals^ and the provifions concealed by the

K 2 ^ huntfmen

Manner;

^8 WOLVERENE.

huntfmen deep in the fnow, which it will carry away to other places
to devour. About the hena it will attack horfes, on whofe backs
are often feen the marks of its teeth and claws. By a wonderful fa-
gacity it will afcend a tree, and fling from the boughs a fpecies of
mofs which Elks and Reins are very fond of; and when thofe ani-
mals come beneath to feed on it, will fall on them and deftroy them :
or, like the Lynx, it afcends to the boughs of trees, and falls on the
Deer which cafually pafs beneath, and adheres till they fall down
with fatigue. It is a great enemy to the Beaver *, and is on that ac-
count fometimes called the Beaver-eater. It watches at the mouth of
their holes, and catches them as they come out. It fearches the traps
laid for taking other beafts, and devours thofe which it finds taken.
It breaks into the magazines of the natives, and robs them of the pro-
vifions ; whether they are covered with logs, brulhwood, and built
high between two or three ftanding trees f.

It lodges in clefts of rocks, or in hollows of trees, and in Sibiria
often in the deferted holes of Badgers; never digging its own den,
nor having any certain habitation. It breeds once a year, bringing
from two to four at a litter J. Its fur is much ufed for muffs. Not-
withftanding its great fiercenefs when wounded, or firft feizure, it is
capable of being made very tame ||.
luR. 'j-j^g fkins are frequently brought from Hudfon's Bay^ and com-

monly ufed for muff's. In Sibiria the jfkin is moil valued which is
black, and has left of the ferruginous band. Thefe are chiefly
found in the mountanous forefts of Jakutjk, and ufed by the natives
to adorn their caps. Few of the Sibirian flcins are fent into RuJiUy.
but are chiefly fold to the Mongals and Chinefe.

The relations of the exceflive gluttony of this animal ; that it eats,
till it is ready to burft, and that it is obliged to unload itfelf by
fqueezing its body between two trees; are totally fabulous: like,
other animals, they eat till they are fatisfied, and then leave off §.

* Dohbs, 40. t ^' Graham. X The fame. U Ed'w. ii. i^i,..

% Hijl\ Kamt/ch, 385,

H>Jf>

L

RACCOON. 6^

Hijl, ^d. N" ly^.-^SmtUie, v. ^^.—Lev. Mus. 22. Raccook*

BEAR. With upper jaw larger than the lower: face fliarp-
pointed, and fox-like : ears fhort and rounded : eyes large, of
a yellowifh green; the fpace round them black: a dufky line ex-
ten- Is frjm the forehead to the nofe ; the reft of the face, the cheeks,
and the throat, white : the hair univerfally long and foft ; that on
the back tipt with black, white in the middle, and cinereous at the
roots : tail annulated with black and white, and very full of hair :
toes black, and quite divided : the fore-feet ferve the purpofes of a
hand.

Thefe animals vary in color. I have feen fome of a pale brown,
others white. Their ufual length, from nofe to tail, is two feet :
near the tail about one.

Raccoons inhabit only the temperate parts Oi North America ^ ^rorc\ Place.

New England * to Florida f. They probably are continued in the fame
latitudes acrofs the continen':, being, according to Dampier, found in
the ifles of Maria, in the South Sea, between the fouth point of Ca^
lifornia and Cape Corientes, It is alfo an inhabitant o^ Mexico , where
it is called Mapach \ .

It lives in hollow trees, and is very expert at climbing. Like Manhers.
other beafts of prey, keeps much within during day, except it proves
dark and cloudy. In fnowy and ftormy weather it confines itfelf to
its hole for a week together. It feeds indifferently on fruits or fiefh;
is extremely deflruftive to fields of mayz, and very injurious to all
kinds of fruits -, loves ftrong liquors, and will get excefllvely drunk..
It makes great havock among poultry, and is very fond of eggs. Is
itfelf often the prey of Snakes §.

• Jojfelyn^svoy, 85. f Account of Florida, ^Q, \\ Ftrnand, Nov. Hijfi, i;

% Kalruy i. 97. ii. 63.

Thofe

70 RACCOON.

Thofe which inhabit places' near the fhore live nauch on fhell-fiih,
•particularly oyflers. They will watch the opening of the fhell, dex-
troufly put in its paw, and tear out the contents -, fometimes the
oyfler fuddenly clofes, catches the thief, and detains it till drowned
by the return of the tide. They likewife feed on crabs, both fea and
land. It has all the cunning of the Fox, Law/on * fays, that it will
ftand on the fide of a fwamp, and hang its tail over into the water :
the crabs will lay hold, miftaking it for a bait; which, as foon a»
the Raccoon feels, it pulls out with a fudden jerk, and makes a prey
of the cheated crabs.

It is made tame with great eafe, fo as to follow its mafter along
the ftreets ; but never can be broke from its habit of ftealing, or
killing of poultry f . It is fo fond of fugar, or any fweet things, as
to do infinite mifehief in a houfe, if care is not taken J.

It has many of the adtions of a Monkey ; fuch as feeding itfelf
with its fore feet, fitting up to eat, being always in motion, being
very inquifitive, and examining every thing it fees with its paws.
Notwithftanding it is not fond of water, it dips into it all forts of
dry food which is given to it i and will wafh its f^ce with its feet,^
like a Cat.

It is fought after on account of the fur. Some people eat it, and
cfteem it as very good meat. The Swedes call it Siupj and E/pan -, the
Dutchy Hefpan ; and the Iroqueje^ Affigbro. The hair makes the beft
hats, next to that of the Beaver. The tail is worn round the neck
in winter, by way of prefervative againll the cold || .

* 121. \ Kalm, i,2oi. t The fame. \\ Kalm,u. <^y..

HIST.

BADGER. yr

HISr. ^UJD. Genus XXI. BADGER.

American Badger, Hi/}, ^ad. p. 298. $. — SmelUe, iv. 226.— Lev. Muj, 23. Common.

ADGER. With rounded ears: forehead, and middle of the
cheeks, marked with a white line, extending to the beginning of
the back, bounded on each fide by another of black : cheeks white :
fpace round the ears dulky : body covered with long coarfe hair, ci-
nereous and white.

The legs were wanting in the fkin which I faw ; but I fupply that
defed from M. de Buffon's defcription. They were dufky, and the
toes furnilhed with claws, like the European kind. M, de Buffon ob-
ferved only four toes on the hind feet j but then he fufpedled that
one was torn off from the dried fkin he faw.

Thefe animals are rather fcarce in America. They are found in Place.

the neighborhood of Hudfon's Bay^ and in Terra di Labrador ; and
perhaps as low as Penfyhanniay where they are called Ground Hoo-s *.
They do not differ fpecifically from the European kind i but are fome-
times found white in America f .

I do not difcover them in northern Afia, nearer than the banks of
the Yaik %. They are common in China^ where they are frequently
brought to the fhambles, being an efteemed food ||. In northern
Europe y they are found in Norway and Sweden §.

Le Comte de Buffon imagines this animal^ to be the Carcajou of
the Americans y and not the Wolveren. The matter is uncertain:

• ICaI»t,i. iSg, -^ Brijon ^ad. 1%^. % Pallas. \\ Bell's

trauels, ii. 83. § Potitoppidan, ii. 28. Faun. Suec. N'' zo. f; Suj^pl,

torn. iii. 242.

la

yet

73 BADGER.

yet I find that name beflowed on the latter by La Hontan\ by Dobhs^
who makes it fynonymous j and by Cbarkvoixy though the laft mif-
takes the animal, yet not the manners of that which he afcribes it
to. On the other hand, Mr. Graham and Mr. Edwards omit that
title, and call it only Wolveren, or Queequehatch,

HIST,

OPOSSUM. 73

HIST, ^UAB. Genus XXII. OPOSSUM.

Hifi. ^ad. N° i8j.

OTO'SSUM. With ten cutting teeth above, eight beneath: =^4* Vi*oinia».
eyes black, fmali, and lively : ears large, naked, membranace-
-ous, and rounded : face long and pointed ; whiikers on each fide "^f
the nofe, and tufts of long hairs over the eyes: legs are fhort ; the
thumb on the hind feet has a flat nail, the reft of the toes have <3h
them Jharp talons : the body is fhort, round, and thick : the tail
long J the bafe is covered with hair for three inches, the reft is co-
vered with fmall fcales, and has the difgufting refemblance of a
Snake,

On the lower part of the belly of the female is a large pouch, in
wliich the teats are placed, and in which tlie young lodge as foon as
they are 'born. The body is cloathed with very long foft hairs, ly-
ing ufually uneven : the color appears of a dirty white j the lower
parts of the hairs dufl^y : and above each eye is a whitifh fpot : the
belly tinged with yellow.

The length of one I examined was feventeen inches, of the tail
fourteen.

This fpecies is found as far narth zs Canada* j where the Fr^n^b Placi.

call it Le Rat de hois ; from thence it extends ibuthward, even to the
Brafils and Feru. The fingularity of the ventral pouch of the fe-
male, and the manner of its bringing up its young, places it among
the moft wonderful animals of the new continent.

As "foon as the female finds herfelf near the time of bringing forth,
ihe prepares a nefl of coarfp grafs, covered with long pieces of
fticks, near four feet high ami five in diameter, confufedly put to-

* CbarhvMx, v. 15)7,

L gether.

74 -

OPOSSUM.

gether*. She brings forth from four to fix at a time. As foon as
they come into the v/orld they retreat into the falfe belly, blind, naked,
and exadiy refembiing little foetufes. They faften clofely to the
teats, as if they grew to them ; which has given caufe to the vulgar
error, that they were created fo. There they adhere as if they were
inanimate, till they arrive at a degree of perfe6lion in fhape, and
attain fight, ftrength, and hair : after which they undergo a fort of
fecond birth. From that time they run into the pouch as an afylum
from danger. The female carries them about with the utmoft af-
.feftion, and would rather be killed than permit this receptacle to be
opened ; for fhe has the power of contrafling or dilating the orifice
by the help of fome very ftrong mufcles. If they are furprifed, and
have not time to retreat into the pouch, they will adhere to the
tail of the parent, and efcape with herf .

The GpolTum is both carnivorous and frugivorous. It is a great
enemy to poultry; and will fuck the blood and leave the flelh un-
touched J. It climbs trees very expertly, feeding on wild fruits, and
alfo on various roots. Its tail has the fame prehenfile quality as
that of fome fpecies of Monkies. It will hang from the branches
by it, and by fwinging its body, fling itfelf among the boughs of
the adjacent trees. It is a very fluggifh animal; has a very flow
pace, and makes fcarcely any efforts to efcape. When it finds itfelf
on the point of being taken, it counterfeits death ; hardly any torture
will make it give figns of life §. If the perfon retires, it will put it-
felf in motion, and creep into fome neighboring bufh. It is more
tenacious of life than a Cat, and will fuffer great violence before it
is killed II .

The old animals are efleemed as delicate eating as a fucking pig j
yet the fkin is very foetid. The Indian women of Louifiana dye. the
hair, and weave it into girdles and garters ^.

• Bantram's journal E.Floriiiay' jo. r f The fame. % Du Pratz^iu 6^.

\ The fame, 66. U Laiv/on^ i20» ^ Du Pratz, ii, 66.

i ' HIST.

W E E S E L. 7^

HIST. ^UAD. Genus XXIII.

WEESEL.

1 -^//?. ^fl^. N<» 192.— 5/wf///V, iv. 257.— Lev. Mus. 25. Common.

'T'ff'7 EESEL. With fmall rounded ears : beneath each corner of
W the mouth is a white fpot : breaft and belly white; reft of the
body , of a pale; tawny brown. Its length, from the tip of the nofe to
the tail, is about feven inches -, the tail two and a half.

Inhabits the country about Hudfon's Bay, Newfoundland, and as far Place.

fouth as Carolina* . Mr. Graham fent fome over, both in their fum-
n^er coat, and otheft almoft entirely white, the color they aflume in
winter. We meet with them again in Kamtfchatka, and all over
RuJJia zndi Sibiria j and in thofe northern regions they regularly turn
white during winter. . One, which was brought from Natka Sound
in North America, had between the ears and nofe a bed of glofly
black, which probably was its univerfal color before its change. Dr.
Irving faw on Mojfen ifland, north of Spitzbergen, lat. 80. an animal,
perhaps of this kind, fpotted black and white f .

HiJI. ^ad. N® ig^.'-Smellte, It. 262. — Lev. Mus. 26. Stoat.

WEESEL. With fhort ears, edged with white: head, back,
fides, and legs, of a pale tawny brown : under fide of the
body white : lower part of the tail brown, the end black.

In northern countries, changes in winter to a fnowy whitenefs, the
end of the tail excepted, which retains its black color : in this ftate
is called zn Ermine.

» Cate/iy, App, f Phipps'i voj. 58.

L 2 Length,

!(>■ S T a A T.

Place,,

Length, from nofe to tail, ten inches ; the tail is five and a half.

Inhabits only Hudjon's Bay^ Canada, and the northern parts of
North America. In Newfoundland it is fo bold as to connmit its thefts
in open view. Feeds on eggs, the young of birds, and on the mice
with which thofe countries abound. They alfo prey on Rabbits, and.
the White Grous. The fkins are exported from Canada among what
tlie French call la-meyiue-felUierie., or fm all furs *..

It is found again in plenty in Kamtfchatka f , the Kurili iflands. Si-
^ir/^, and Jh' all the northern extremities oi Bur ope. It is fcarce- in
Kamtfchatka i and its cha{e is not attended, to, amidft the quantity of
fugerior furs. But in SiiirJasind Norway they- are a confiderable ar—
Capture. tide of commerce; In, the former, they are;taken in traps, baited
with a bit of flefti J j in the latter, either lliot with blunt arrows, or
taken, as garden mice are in England j by-a flat ftone propped by a.
baited flick,-, wjiich- falls. down on the Jejft touch, and.crufties them to
d?a.th § ^ They arie .found in Sibiria in great plenty in woods of birch,,.
yet are never feen in thofe of fiE.. Their fkins are fold:.thtre on the:
Ipotfrom two to three pounds flerling per hundred [[.

They are not found on the Air^ic flats. The inhabitants . of' the:
TJchuktfchi.Nofs get therriin.exehange from, the --^'i'Jsmc/z^j, where they.'
are of a larger fize than.anyin the jR«^«;.dominions-

The excelTive cold of certain winters has obliged even thefe hardy^
animals to migrate, as was evident in theyear 1730, and 1744^.

•Z7. Pine. ^lij}. 0uad. N'' 200.— Sr. Zool, i. N" i6*~~SmeJIie,iv. 345.— Lev. Mus. '

Martin. ^ -^ tj

*dEESEI,. With white cheeks and tips -of ears J yellow thtoat
and. breafl; refl of the fur of a fine deep chefnut-GoloDinr-
the makj paler ir^ the female : tail bufby, and of a^deeper color than
the body,

• Charlevoix, y, igj, f Hijl. Kamtfchatka,^^. J BeWs traveli^u ^99*

^ Ptatepfidatit ii. 25. \\ .Cmeliit.RuJ'. Samlungy 5i6»/ ^;^VV«v, Sp, an. 188.

c Thefe

P r N fi MAR T IN. 77

Thefe animals inhabit, in great abundance, the northern parts of Place.

America ; but I believe the fpecies ceafes before it arrives at the tem-
perate provinces. They appear again in the north of £«rcip^, extend
acrofs the Urallian chain, but do not reach the Oby.

They inhabit forefts, particularly thofe of fir and pine, and make Mamjers,
their nefts. in thr trees. Breed once a year, and bring- frcrnT two to
four at' a litter: They feed principally upon mice j blifdeftroy alfo
all kintls of birds which they can mafter; They are taken by the
Ti2itiv€S of Hud/on' s Bay in fmall log-traps, baited, which fall on and
kill them. The natives eat the flefh.

Their fkins are among the more valuable furs, ah'd make a moft
important article of' commerce. I obferved, that in one of the Z/^^^-
/<7«'j 5«y Company's annualfales, not fewer than 12,370 good" fkins,
and 2360 damaged, were fold; and in that year (i'743) 30,325 were
imported by tire French from Canada into the 'port of Rcchelle. They
are found irr great' numbers inthe midil of the woods of Canada ; and
once in two or three years come out in great multitudes, as if their
retreats- were overftbcked': this the hunters look on as a forerunner
©f great friows, and a feaf6n favorable to the chafe*.

It 'is remarkable, that notwithftancting this fpecies extends acrofs the
cxmimthVoi^Americayftoiri Hudfon'^s Bay to the opppfitefide, yet it is
Itiil^on the Afiatic fide of the ftraits of TJchuktfchi ; nor is it recovered
tifr yon reach Catherlnehourg^ 2: dix^ndi' of Sihiria weft of'Tohol/k), and
twenty-five degrees weft longitude diftant from America. The fineft
in the known world are taken about Ufa, and in the mountains of
CaucaJiLs f. It is known that the '^Jchuktjchi J procure the fkins for
doathing themfelvcs- fromnh&-y/«^nVtf^j-; their country being def-
titute of trees, and eonfequently of the animals, inhabitants of forefts,
furnifhing thofe ufeful articles.

The Houfe Martin, Uiji. ^ad. W i^^, is found -neither in^^i^-
ricaf or th.Q ArSfic countries.

• CiarUvoifc, v* 197. f DoilorPallat, % Muller, Prcf.xxlx.

78 P E K A N,

a8. Pekan. Hifi. ^a/i, N" 204. — Smellie,\n. 307,«— Lev. Mus.

EE S E L. With ears a little pointed : body and head covered
with hair of a mixture of grey, chefnut, and black, and be-
neath protefled by a cinereous down : the lower jaw encircled with
white : legs and tail black : on the breaft, between the fore-legs, a
fpot of white, and another on the belly between the hind-legs : toes
covered above and below with fur.

I faw this and the following animal at PariSy in the cabinet of M.
Aubryy Cure de St. Louis en Uljle. They were in glafs cafes, fo I
could get only an imperfe6t view of them. According to M. de
Bufforiy the length of this was a foot and a half French meafure j the
tail ten inches *. The fur is fine j and the fl<:ins were often imported
by the French from Canada.

This feems to me to be very nearly allied to the European Martin,
N° 15. Br. Zool. vol. i. It agrees very much in dimenfions, and in
the white marks. It is alfo the animal which Mr. Graham fent to the
Royal Society from Hudjon's Bay, under the name of Jackajhy which
he fays harbours about creeks, and lives on filh. Brings from two to
four young at a time. Is caught by the natives, who eat the flefli
and barter the fkins.

39. VisoN. Hiji. ^ad. N° 20^,'^Smellie, vii. 307.

WEES EL. With a long neck and body : fhort legs : head and
body brov/n tinged with tawny : tail black : the down of a
bright afh-color.

* LePtkan, torn, xiii. 304, tab. xlii. xlili.

Length

V I S O N. 79

Length from head to tail one foot four inches, French -, tail feven
inches, or to the end of the hairs nine.
Inhabits Canada.

H'lji. ^ad. N* 20 1, and p. 328. — Smellie,vi\. 309.
Mullela Zibellina, Pallat Sp. Zool.fafc, xiv. 54. tab.

30. Sable<

WEES EL. With head and ears whitifli: the ears broad, in-
clining to a triangular form, and rounded at top, in the Afia-
ttc fpecimens 3 in the American:, rather pointed : whole body of a light
tawny : feet very large, hairy above and below : claws white.

Length, from nofe to tail, twenty inches j of the trunk of the tail,
four inches i from the bafe to the end of the hairs eight : of a dufky
color.

This defcriptioii is taken from a fkin fent from Canada : but it ex- Place,

tends acrofs the whole continent, being frequently found among the
furs which the Americans traffic with among the inhabitants of the
^Jchuktjcbi Nofs *. T]\t American fpecimen, which I had opportunity of
examining, was of the bleached, or worft kind j probably others may
equal in value thofe of Afta.

The great relidence of thefe animals is in^^, beginning at the Ural-
lian chain, and growing more and more plentiful as they advance eafl-
ward, and more valuable as they advance more north. None are
found to the north-eaft of the Anadiry nor in any parts deftitute of
trees. They love vaft forefls, efpecially thofe of fir, in which thofe
of molt exquifite beauty are found. They are frequent in Kamtf-
chatka^ and are met with in the Kuril ifles f . They extend from about
lat. 50 to lat. 58.

They are very eafily mad-e tame : v/ill attach themfelves fo to their
iTiafter, as to wander a confiderable way, and return again to their home

* DoSlor Paliaf* \ Defer. Kamtfcbatka, 275.

J They

«p SABLE.

They abhor water : therefore tke notion tof their being the iSafihmon
■of y^rijtotle is erroneous.
Capture. Anoiher way of taking them, befides thofe which I before men-

tioned, is by placing a piece of tinnber from tree to tree horizontally;
near one end of this is placed a bait : over the lower piece of wood is
placed another, fufpende.d obliq.\3elyj and refting At one end on a poft
very (lightly : a rod extends from it to a noofe, to which the bait is
faftened. As foon as the Sable feizes the meat, the upper timber
falls, and .kills the precious animal *. The hunting-feafon always be-
gins with the firfl: fnows : but they are now become fo very fcarG5e,m$
to be confined to the vaft forells of the extreme parts of Sibiridy and
to the diilant Kamtfchatka. Such has been the rage of luxury !
Furs WHEN KiRST It was not till the later ages that the furs of beafts became an ar-
us^ED AS A Luxu- ji^le of luxury. The more refined nations of antient times never
made ufe of them : thofe alone whom the former ftigmatized as bar-
barians, were cloathed in the fkins of animals^ Strabo defcribes the
Indians covered with the fkins of Lions, PantherSj and Bears f j and
Senega J, the Scythians cloathed with the fkins of Foxes, and the leffer
quadrupeds. Virgil exhibits a pi6bure of the favage Hyperboreans^
fimilar to that which our late circumnavigators can witnefs to in the
cloathing of the wild Americans y unfeen before by any poliQied people*

Gens effraaa virum Riphao timditar Euro j
J&t pccudum fulvis velantur corpora ietis.

Mofl part of Europe was at this time in fimilar circftmflances. Cajar
might be as much amazed v/ith the fkin-drefTed heroes of Britain, as
our celebrated Cook was at thofe of his new-difcovered regions. What
time hath done to ua, time, under humane conquerors, may cffeft
for them. Civilization may take place, and thofe fpoils of animals,
which are at prefent efTential for cloathing, become the mere ot^e<5ts
of ornament and luxury,

* Ikcouvertes dam le Ruje, &c. hr. 337. tab, vi. vii« ^ Strahe^ lib. xvil.

p. 1.184. t ^'/- ^P' '"^*

I can-

\

SABLE. 8i

T cannot find that the Greeks or old Romans ever made ufe of furs. It
originated in thofe regions where they mofb abounded, and where the
feverity of the climate required that fpecies of cloathing. At firft it
confided of the fkins only, almoft in the (late in which they were tora
from the body of the bead ; but as foon as civilization took place,
and manufa6lures were introduced, furs became the lining of the drefs,
^nd often the elegant facing of the robes. It is probable, that the north-
ern conquerors introduced the falhion into Europe. We find, that
about the year 522, when 'Totilay king of the Viftgoths, reigned in Italy,
that the Suethons (a people of modern Sweden) found means, by help
of the commerce of numberlefs intervening people, to tranfmit, for the
ufe of the Romans , Japhilinas pelles, the precious Ikins of the Sables *.
As luxury advanced, furs, even of the moft valuable fpecies, were ufed
by princes as lining for their tents: thus Marco Polo, in 1252, found
thofe of the Cham of 'Tartary lined with Ermines and Sables f . He
calls the laft Zibelines, and Zambolines. He fays that thofe, and other
precious furs, were brought from countries far north ; from the land of
Darknefsj and regions almoft inaccefTible, by reafon of morafles and
ice J. The TVel/h fet a high value on furs, as early as the time oiHowel
Dda II, who began his reign about 940. In the next age, furs became
the fafliionable magnificence o( Europe. When Godfrey oi Boulogne, and
his followers, appeared before the emperor Alexis Comnene, on their
way to the Holy Land, he was ftruck with the richnefs of their drefTes,
tarn ex ojiro quam aurifrigio et niveo opere harmelino et ex mardrino grr-
fioque et vario. How different was the advance of luxury in France,
from the time of their great monarch Charlemagne, who contented
himfelf with the plain fur of the Otter ! Henry I. wore furs; yet in
his diitrefs was obliged to change them for warm JVelfh flannel §. But
in the year 1^37 the luxury had got to fuch a head, that Edward III.
enafted, that all perfons who could not fpend a hundred a year,
fhould abfolutely be prohibited the ufe of this fpecies of finery.

• Jornande$ dt Rehui Geticis. f /„ Bergeron's Cell. 70. Purchas, lii. 86.

% 160, 161, 162. jl leiet fFallUa; § Barringtan in th Statute, 4th ed. 243.

M Thefe,

52 F I S H E R.

Thefe, from their great expence, mufl: have been foreign furs, ob^
tained from the Italian commercial dates, whofe traffic was at this
period boundlefs. How ftrange is the revolution in the fur trade !
The north aiJ/ia^ at that time, fupplied us with every valuable kind;
at prefent we fend, by means of the poflefTion of Hudfon's Bay^ furs,
to immenfe amount, even to 'Turkey and the diftant China.

31. Fisher. Hiji. ^ad. N" zoz.'—SmeUie, v. 297. — Lev. Mus,

WEESEL. With ears broad, round, and dufky, edged with
white : head and fides of the neck pale brown mixed with
alh-color and black : hairs on the back, belly, legs, and tail, brown
at the bafe, and black at their ends : fides of the body brown.

The feet very large and broad, covered above and below thickly
•with hair : on each foot are five toes, with white claws, fharp, ftrong,
and crooked : the fore legs jfhorter than thofe behind : the tail is full
and bufhy, fmalleft at the end. Length, from nofe to tail, is twenty-
eight inches -, of the tail feventeen.

This animal inhabits Hudfon's Bay^ and is found in New England,
and as low as Pen/ylvania, About Hudfon's Bay they are called M^e-
jacksy and Woodjhocks. They harbour about creeks, feed upon fifli, and
probably birds. They breed once a year, and have from two to four
at a birth. The natives catch them, and difpofe of the fkins, which
are fold in England for four or fix fhillings apiece. Such is the ac-
count I received from Mr. Graham.

The late worthy Mr. Peter Collinfon tranfmitted to me the fol-
lowing relation, which he received from Mr. Bartram : — " They are
<« found in Penfylvania'i and, notwithftanding they are not amphibia
*< ous, are called FifherSy and live on all kinds of lefler quadrupeds."
I do not know how to reconcile thefe accounts of the fame animal
(for fuch it is) unlefs it preys indifferently on fifh and land animals,
as is often the cafe with rapacious beafts, and that both Mr. Graham
and Bartram may have overlooked that circumflance.

STRIATED W E E S E U^ 83

Htji. S^ad. l^°207. — Sme/Ize,v, 297* ^2. Striate©

"1 TTEESEL. With fmall and rounded ears: the ground color
^ ^ of the whole aninnai black, marked on the back and fides
with five long parallel lines of white ; one extending from the head
along the top of the back to the bafe of the taili with two others on
each fide, the higheft of which reaches a little way up the tail : the
tail is long, and very bufhy towards the end.

This fpecies varies in the difpofition of the ftripes, and I fufpeft
the male is entirely black, as defcribed by M. Du Pratz * j who fays,
that the femak has rings of white intermixed. If that is the cafe,
.the Coafcy which M. de Buffon f received from Virginia^ is of this
kind. It is of an uniform color j but what is a ftronger proof of
their differing only in fex, is the agreement in number of toes in the
fore feet, there being four on each ; an exception to the charafler of
ihis Genus.

In fize it is equal to an European Pole-cat, but carries Ifs^ back
more elevated.

Thefe animals are found from Penfylvania as far as Louifianay where
they are known by the name of the Pole-cat % or Skunk i which is
-given indifferently to both of thefe fcetid beafts.

Nature hath furnifhed this and the following a fpecies of defence
fuperior to the force either of teeth or claws. The French moll juftly
-call thefe animals enfans du THahky or children of the Devil, and Betes
fuantesy or the ilinking beafts ; as the Swedes beftow on them that of
Fi/katta, The peftiferous vapour which it emits from behind, when
it is either attacked, purfued, or frightened, is fo fuffocatino- and
foetid, as at once to make the boldeft afTailant retire with precipita-

• Vol. ii. S-j, i xiil. Coa/e, p. 288. Le Conepnte (the female) ibid. tab.

xxxviii. xl. X Catejhy^ ii. tab. 62.

M 2

tion.

^4 ' S T R I A T E D W E E S E L.

tion. A fmall fpace is often no means of feciirity j the animal either
will turn its tail, and by a frequent crepitus prevent all repetition of
attempts on its liberty; or elfe ejaculate its ftifling urine to the dif-
tance of eighteen feet *. Its enemy is flupified with the abominable
flench ; or perhaps experiences a temporary blindnefs, fhould any of
the liquid fall on his eyes. No wafhing will free his cloaths from-
the fmell : they muft even be buried in frelh foil, in order to be ef-
fedually purified.

Perfons who have juft undergone this misfortune, naturally run ta
the next houfe to try to free themfelves from it j but the rights of
hofpitality are denied to them : the owner, dreading tlie infedlion, is
fure to fhut the door againft them.

Profeffor Kalm ran the danger of being fuffocated by the flench of
one, which was purfued into a houfe where he was.

A maid-fervant, who deflroyed another in a room where meat was
kept, was fo afFe6led by the vapour as to continue ill for feveral daysj.
and the provifions were fo infeded, that the mafler of the houfe was.
forced to fling them away f.

Travellers are often obliged, even in the midfl of forefls,. to hold
their nofes, to prevent the effe6ls of its flench.

The brute creation are in like dread of its efHuvia. Cattle v/ill
roar with agony ; and none but true-bred dogs will attack it : evea
thofe are often obliged to run their nofes into the ground before they
can return to complete its deflruftion. The fmelL of the dogs, after
a combat of this nature, remains for feveral days intolerable.

Notwithftanding this horrible quality, the fiefh is eaten, and is
eflcemed as fweet as that of a Pig. The bladder mufl be taken out^
and the fkin flayed off, as foon as the animal is killed J..

I fhould think it a very difagreeable companion : yet it is often
tamed fo as to follow its mafler like a Dog ;. for it. never emits its

* KaJffi,i. 275. t The fame, 277. t Laivfon, irp. Kalm,i.2y^»

vapoitr-

STRIATED WEESKL. SKUNK. ' »5

vapour unlefs terrified *. It furely ought to be treated with the
higheft attention.

The flcin is negleded by the Eurofeans^ by reafon of the coarfenefs
of the hair. The Indians make ufe of it for tobacco pouches, which
they carry before them like the Highlanders.

It climbs trees with great agility. It feeds on fruits f and infeds.
Is a great enemy to birds, deftroying both their eggs and young. It
will alfo break into hen-roofts, and deftroy all the poultry t. It
breeds in holes in the ground, and hollow trees, where it leaves its
young, while it is rambling in queft of prey»

////. Sijtad. N° ziS.—Smellie, v; 297.— Lev. Mus. ,,^ Skukk.

WEES EL. With fhort rounded ears : fides of the face white :
from the nofe to the back extends a bed of white j along the
top of the back, to the bafe of the tail, is another broad one of black,
bounded on each fide by a white llripe : the belly, feet, and tail,
black. But the colors vary : that which is figured by M. de Buffcn
has a white tail : the claws on all the feet very long, like thole of a
Badger : the tail very full of hair.

This inhabits tlie continent of America, from Hud/on s Bay ^ ta
Peru II . In the laft it is called Chinche. It burrows like the former,
and has all the fame qualities. It is alfo found in Mexico^ where it is
called Ccne^atl^ or Boy's little Fox^\.

* Kalm,\. Z78. f Catejhy, ii. tab. 6^2, % Kalm, i. 274. § Sent

from thence by Mr. Graham. || FeuilUe Ohf. Peru, 17 14, p. 372, ^ He-r^

uandeZf Mex. 382.

HIST.

86 O T r E R,

OTTEE. .JJISr, ^UJD. Genus XXIV.

34. Common.. ^ff//}, ^aJ. N» znS.'-Br, ZooL i. N" ig.'—Smel/ie, iv. 43a. — Lev. Mus.

OTTER. With fhort rounded ears : head flat and broad : long
whifkers : aperture of the mouth fmall : lips very mufcular, de-
■figned to clofe the mouth firmly while in the aftion of diving : eyes
fmall, and placed nearly above the corners of the mouth : neck fhort :
:body long : legs fhort^ broad, and thick : five toes on each foot,
each furnilhed with a ftrong membrane or web : tail deprefled, and
tapering to a point.

The fur fine ; of a deep brown color, with exception of a white
fpot on each fide of the nofe, and another under the chin.

Thefe animals inhabit as far north as Hudfon's Bay, Terra di Lahra^
.dor, and Canada, and as low fouth as Carolina and Louifiana *; but
in the latter provinces are very fcarce. The fpecies ceafes farther
fouth. Law/on fays that they are fometimes found, to the weftward
of Carolina, of a white color, inclining to yellow. Thofe of North
America are larger than the Euro-pean, and the furs of fuch which in-
habit the colder parts are very valuable. Their food is commonly
.filli J but they will alfo attack and devour the Beaver f.

They are found again in Kamtfchatka, and in moft parts of northern
Europe and Jfta, but not on the Ar5lic flats : are grown very fcarce
in Rujfia. The Kamtfchatkans ufe their furs to face their garments, or
to lap round the fl<ins of Sables, which are prefcrved better in Otter
(Ivins than any other way. They ufually hunt them with dogs, in
time of deep fnow, when the Otters wander too far from the banks of
rivers J.

• Laiv/otif 119, andDuPrafz, ii. 69. f Veii'Sj 40, J Hi/. Kamtf,

115.116.

TLe

OTTER. 87

The Americans round Hudfon's Bay fhoot or trap them for the fake
of the fkins, which are fent to Europe, They aifo life the fkins for
pouches, ornamented with bits of horn j and eat the flelh.

Otters are probably continued along the ArElk parts of America^
weftward; being found on the moil eaftern, or the greater Fox
IJlandsy which are fuppofed to be pretty near to that continent..

LefTer Otter, Hijl. S^uad. N° zzS. ,5.. Minx.

OTTER. With a white chin : rounded ears : top of the head Description
in fome hoary, in others tawny : the body covered with fhort
tawny hairs, and longer of a duflcy color : the feet broad, webbed, and
covered with hair : the tail dulky, ending in a point. This animal
IS of the fhape of the common Otter, but much fmaller: its length
being only twenty inches from head to tail ; of the tail only four.

It inhabits the middle provinces o^ North America^ from New Jer- America.
Jey to the Carolhms. I did not difcover it among the fkins fent by
Mr. Graham from UiidforCs Bay 3 the animal defcribed as one of this
fpecies differing from the many I have feen from the more fouthern
colonies : yet poffibly it may be found in a more northern latitude
than that which I have given it, if the FcufereauXj an amphibious-
fort of little Polecats mentioned by La Honta}?, be the fame *.

It frequents the banks of rivers, inhabiting hollow trees, or holes
which it forms near the water f. It has, like the Skunks, when pro-
voked, a mofV exceflively foetid' fmell. It lives much upon fiih, frogs,
and aquatic infefts ; dives admirably, and will continue longer under
water than the Mufk-beaver J : yet at times it will defert its watery
haunts, and make great havoke in the poultry yards, biting off the
heads of the fov/ls, and fucking the blood. At times it lurks amidfli

• i. 6z. f Kalf^t ii, 62. % Letter from Mr. Peter Collin/on,

9> .the

8« L E S S E R O T T E R.

the docks and bridges of towns, where it proves a ufeful enemy to
rats *.

It is befides very deftrudlive to th-e Tortoife ; whofe eggs it fcrapes
out of the fand and devours : and eats the frefb-water mufcles; whofe
fhells are found in great abundance at the mouth of their hoks. It
is capable of being made tame, and domefticated f.
Asia. 'j'j^e fpecies is fpread in Afia, along the banks of the Yaiky in the

Orenhurg government J. None are feen in Sibiria -, but appear
-again near the rivers >vhich run into the Amur. Its fur is in thofe
parts very valuable, and efteemed as next in beauty to the Sable. It
EuROPB. jg either hunted with dogs or taken in traps. In Europe it is found

in Polajid and Lithuania^ where it is named Nurek; and the Germans
call it Nurtz. It is alfo an inhabitant of Finland: the natives call it
1'ichuri ; the Swedes, M^enk §, a name carried into America by fome
SwedifiJ cdonift, and with a (light variation is flill retained.

36. Sea. Hiji. ^ad. N* 230.

Lutra Marina, Kalan. Nov. Com, Petrop. ii, 367. tab. xvi.
Caftor Marin, Hift. Kamtfchatka, 444.
Sea Otter, Muller, 57, 58 ||. — Lev. Mixs.

Pescrjptiokj

OTTER. With hazel irides : upper jaw long, and broader than
the lower: nofe black : ears ereft, conic, fmall : whiflcers long
and white : in the upper jaw fix, in the lower four, cutting teeth :
tyrinders broad : fore leg-s thick ; on each four toes, covered with
hair, and webbed : the hind feet refemble exactly thofe of a Seal : the
toes divided by a ftrong fhagreened membrane, with a fkin fl<irting
the external fide of the outmoft toe, in the manner of fome water fowl.

• Kalm, il. 61. t la-wfon, 122. X Dr. Palias. ^ Fauna Suec. N« 13.

II I here infert the fynonym^ ; for in the Synopfis of Quadrupeds, following Linnaits
and Brifon, I confound the Braftlian Otter oi Marcgrave with this animal.

Tl>e

SEAOTTER. 89

The fkin is extremely thick, covered clofely with long hair, re-
markably black and glofly ; and beneath that is a foft down. Th€
hair fometimes varies to filvery. The hair of the young is foft and
brown.

The length, from nofe to tail, is about three feet ; that of the tail Sizi,

thirteen inches and a half. The tail is depreflcd, full of hair in the
middle, and fharp-pointed. The weight of the biggeft, feventy or
eighty pounds.

Thefe are the moll local animals of any we are acquainted with. Place.

being entirely confined between lat. 44 and 60, and weft longitude
126 to 150 eaft from Lmidon^ in the coaft and feas on the north-eaft
parts of America ; and again only between the Kamtjchatkan fliores
and the ifles which intervene between them and America, They
land alfo on the Kuril idands 5 but never are feen in the channel be-
tween the north-eaft part of Sibiria and America.

Th€y are moft extremely harmkfs, and moft fingulardy affedlionate Manners.
to their young. They will never defert them, and will even pine to
death on being robbed of them, and ftrive to breathe their laft on
the fpot where they experienced the misfortune.

It is fuppofed that they bring but one at a time. They go be-
tween eight and nine months with young, and fuckle it almoft the
whole year. The young never quits its dam till it takes a mate.
They are monogamous, and very conftant.

They bring forth on land : often carry the young between their
teeth, fondle them, and frequently fling them up and catch them
again in their paws. Before the young can fwim, the old ones will
take them in their fore feet, and fwim about upon their backs.

They run very fwiftly : fwim fometimes on their fides, on their
backs, and often in a perpendicular diredion. They are very fpor-
tive, embrace each other, and kifs.

They never make any refiftance ; but endeavour, when attacked,
to fave themfelves by flight : when they have efcaped to fome dif-
tance, they will turn back, and hold one of their fore feet over their

N eyes.

90

SEA OTTER.

eyes, to gaze, as men do their hands to fet more clearly in a funny
day ; for they are vtry dull-fighted, but remarkably quick-fcented.

They are fond of thofe parts of the fea which abound moft with
weeds, where they feed on fifh, fepise, lobfters, and lliell-fiih, which
they comminute with their flat grinders.
C.-,PTVRE. They are taken different ways : in the fummer, by placing nets

among the fea-plants, where thefe animals retire in the frequent ftorms
of this tempefluous coall.

They are killed with clubs or fpears, either while they lie afleep
on the rocks, or in the fea floating on their backs.

Thirdly, they are purfued by two boats till they are tired, for
they cannot endure to be long at a time under water.

Durino- winter they are brought in great numbers to the Kurilian
iflands, by the eaftern v/inds, from the American fhore.

The hunter goes with a dog, who points them. He knocks it on
the head, and flays it, while the dog is beating about for another.

They are called in the Kamtfchatkan tongue Kalan, in the plural

Kalajii.

Their flefh is preferred to that of Seals by the natives ; but the
unfortunate crew who were Ihipwrecked in the expedition in 1741,
under Captain Beringy found it to be infipid, hard, and tough as
leather ; fo that they were obliged to cut it in fmall pieces before
they could eat it. Others pretend, that the flelh of the young is very
delicate, and fcarcely to be diftinguilhed from young lamb.
Fur. But the valuable part of them is their fkin. Few are brought into

Europe ; but great quantities are fold to the Chinefe, at vaft prices, from
feventy to a hundred rubles apiece, or 14 or 25 1. fterling each.
What a profitable trade might not a colony carry on, was it pofllble
to penetrate to thefe parts of North America by means of the rivers
and lakes ! The accefs to Pekin would be then eafy, by failing up
the gulph of Petcheli. At prefent, thefe valuable furs are carried by
land above three thoufand miles to the frontiers of Chinay where they

are delivered to the merchants.

Thefe

S E A O T T E R. ^i

Thefe animals partake very much of the nature of Seals, in their
almoft conftant refidence in the water, their manner of fwimming,
fin-like legs, and number of fore teeth. In their ears they greatly
refemble the little Seal of my Hiftory of Quadrupeds, N° 386, and
feem the animals which connect the genera of Otters and Seals.

They are feen very remote from land, fometimes even at the dif-
tance of a hundred leagues*

i

N 2 D- I V;

*

D I V. IL Sect. II.

DIGITATED QJJ ADRUPEDS.

Without Canine Teeth : and with two Cutting Teeth

only in each jaw.

f

94 VARYINGHARE.

DIV. II. Sect. II. Digitated Quadrupeds.

Without Canine Teeth : and with two Cutting Teetk

only in each jaw.

Generally Herbivorous, or Frugivorous.
HARE. H I S r. ^U J D. Genus XXVI.

37. Varyin©, ^'J^' ^^' N° 242. — Alpine Hare> Br. ZooL u N° 21.— Lev. Mus..

HARE. With the edges of the ears and tips black: the colors,,
in fummer, cinereous, mixed with black and tawny : tail always,
white.

Mr. Graham fays, that thofe of Hudjan's Bay are of the fame fize
with the common ; but thofe which I have examined in Scotland are
much lefs;> weighing only fix pounds and a half: the common Hare
weighs upwards of eight.

This fpecies inhabits Greenland^ where alone they continue white
throughout the year*; and are very numerous amidft the fnowy
mountains. They are ufually fat j and feed on grafs, and the
white mof^ of the country. They are found about the rocks at
Churchill, and the ftreights of UndJorCs Bay ; but are not common.
They breed once a year, and bring two at a time f. They change
their color to white at approach of winter.. They are met with in
Canada and Newfoundland -y after which the fpecies ceafes to the
fouthward, or at left I have no authority for its being continued j
the Hare of New England feeming, by Jojfelyns account, to be the
following fpecies.

• Crantz,, i. 70. Egede^ 62.. t Mr> Graham.

The

VARYING HARE.

The Greenlanders eat the flefli drefTed, and the contents of the
ftomach raw. They ufe the excrements for wick for their lamps ;
and cloath their children with the foft and warm fkins.

This fpecies abounds from Livonia to the north-eaft part of SiMria
and Kamtfchatka ; and from Archangel to Saratof, on the banks of the
Wolgay in eaft lat. 49. 52, and even farther into the Orenburg govern-
ment. In Sibiria they quit the lofty mountains, the fouthern boun-
daries of that country, and, coUefting in flocks innumerable, at ap-
proach of winter migrate to the plains, and northern wooded parts,
where vegetation and food abound. Mr. Bell met with them daily
in their progrefs *. Multitudes of them are taken in toils by the
country people, not for the fake of the flefh, but the fkins ; which are
fent to Peterjhurgy and from thence exported to various parts.

95

American Hare, Ph. Tranf. Ixii. 4. 376. Hiji. ^ad. N^ 243.

38. American.

HARE. With ears tipt with grey: neck and body rufty, cine-
reous, and black : legs pale ruft color : belly white : tail black
above, white beneath.

The diftindtions between this and the common Hares and varying
Hares are thefe : — They are lefs, weighing only from three pounds
eight ounces to four pounds and a half: the length to the fetting-on of
the tail only nineteen inches. The hind legs are longer in proportion
than thofe of the common Hare or varying Hare ; the length of this,
from the nofe to the tip of the hind legs, extended, being two feet
five : of a varying Hare, meafured at the fame time, in Hud/on' s Bay^
only two feet i^vtn and a half j but from the nofe to the tail was two
feet : its weight feven pounds fix ounces.

Size;

of a varyimg.
Hakk.

• Travels f odlavo ed. i. 346.

Thefe-.,

96 A M E R I C A N H A R E.

Thefe animals are found from Hudjon's Bay to the extremity of
North America ; but fwarm in countries bordering on the former.
In the time of M. Jeremie^ who refided in HudJorCs Bay from 1708 to
17 14, twenty-five thoufand were taken in one feafon *. At prefent
they are a principal winter food to our refidents there. They are
^ taken in wire fnares, placed at certain intervals in fmall openings

made in a long extent of low hedging formed for that purpofe ; the
animals never attempting to jump over, but always feek the gaps.
Thefe hedges are removed, on the falling of the fnows, to other places,
when the Rabbets feek new tracks f . Their flelh is very good j but
almoft brown, like that of the EngliJJj Hare.

From Hud/on's Bay, as low as New Englandj thefe animals, at ap-
proach of winter, receive a new coat, which confifts of a multitude
of long white hairs, twice as long as the fummer fur, which ftill re-
mains beneath. About the middle of April they begin to fhed their
winter covering.

From iVifw £;z^/^«^ fouthward they retain their brown color the
whole year. In both warm and cold climates they retain the fame
nature of never burrowing j but lodge in the hollow of fome decayed
tree, to which they run in caie they are purfued. In the cultivated
parts o{ America, they make great havoke among the fields of cabbage,
or turnips J. In Carolina, they frequent meadows and marfhy places ;
and are very fubje6t to have maggots breed in the fkin §. In that
province they breed veiy often, and even in the winter months, and
bring from two to fix at a time ; but ufually two or four ||.

I know of no ufe that is made of the fkins, excepting that the na-
tives of HudJorCs Bay wrap them round the limbs of their children, to
preferve them againft the cold.

* Voyages au Nor d,\\\. 344. f Drage, i. 176. J Kalm,ii.j^6,

^ Laiv/on, 122. jl Do^or Garden,

** With-

A L P I N E H A R E, $7

* * Without a tail.

Biji. ^ad. N^ 248. — Blackh. Muf, j^. ALPIMf

'ARE. With fliort, broad, rounded ears : long head, and whifkers :
fur dufl<:y at the roots ; of a bright bay near the ends j tips
white : intermixed are divers long dufky hairs.

Length nine inches.

Found from the Altaic chain to lake Baikal ^ and from thence to
Kamtfchatka. They dwell amidft the fuows of the loftieft and mod
dreadful rocky mountains, and never defcend to the plains. They
alfo are faid to inhabit the farthefl Fox or Aleutian iilands : therefore
poiTibly may be met with in America.

The manners are fo amply defcribed in my Hiilory of Quadru-
peds, that I fhall not repeat an account of them.

O HIST,

$B CASTOR.

lEAVER. HIS r ^UAD. Genus XXVII.

40. Castor,

Hiji. ^ad. N® 2^i,'-SmeUie, v. ai. — Lev. Mus.

©EscRipTioM. YJ E AVER. With a blunt nofe : ears fhort, rounded, and hid in.
jlJ the fur : eyes fmall : very ftrong cutting teeth : hair of a deep
chefnut brown : fore feet fmall, and the toes divided : hind feet large,
and the toes webbed : the tail eleven inches long, and three broad i
almoft oval, flat, and covered with thin fcales.

The ufual length, from nofe to tail, is about two feet four; but I
have meafured the fl<:in of one, which was near three feet long.

Beavers vary in color. They are fometimes found of a deep black,
efpecially in the north. In Sir Ajloton Lever's mujeum is a fpecimen
quite white. As they advance fouthward, the beauty of their fur
decreafes. Among the Illinois they are tawny, and even as pale as
llraw color *.

In North America theCc animals are found in great plenty all round
Hudfons Bay^ and as low as Carolina -f 3.nd Louijiana '^. They are
not known in Eajl Florida §. The fpecies alfo ceafes before it arrives
in South America. To fpeak with precifion, it commences in lat. 60,
or about the river of Seals, in Hudfons Bay j and is loft in lat. 30, in-
houifiana.

From Hudjon's Bay and Canada^ I can trace them weftward to 1 20
degrees of longitude, as far as the tra£t weft of Lac Rouge ^ or the
Red lake 1|. The want of difcovery prevents us from knowing whe-
ther diey are continued to the weftern extremity of this great conti-
nent oppofite to Afta :- probably they are, for the RuJJian adventurers
got fome of their flcins on the iQe of Kadjak, which the natives muft.

*- Cbarlemoix, v. 240. f Laijjfen, J Du.Prtiiz, ii. 6g» § Jccount

^Eaji Florida, 50. \\ Dohbh 35,

ljay,e.

FlACB.

CASTOR. ^9

have had from America. They certainly are not found in the iflanc^s
of the new Archipelago j nor yet in liamtjchatka *, by realbn of the
interruption of woods, beyond the river Konyma. From thence I
doubt whether they are met with alTociated, or in a civilized ftate»
nearer than the banks of the river Jeuefeiy or the Konda^ and other
rivers which run into the Oby : but they are found fcattered in the
woody parts of independent l!a7'tary ; alfo in Cafan, and about the
Taiky in the Orenburg government. In the fame u nfoci able ilate they
inhabit Europe, and are found in Rujfia, in Lapland, Norway, and
JSweden.

Thefe are the moil fagacious and indullrious of animals. They Sagacity.
live in fbciety, and unite in their labors, for the good of the com-
monwealth they form. They ere6t edifices, fuperior in contrivance
to the human beings. They ufualiy live near, and fhew a dexterity
in their oeconomy unequalled by the four-footed race.

In order to form a habitation, they feleft a level piece of ground. Dwellings.
with a fmall rivulet running in the midlt. To effect their works, a
community of two or three hundred affembles : every individual
bears his fhare in the laborious preparation. Some fall trees of great Labors.

fize, by gnawing them afunder with their teeth, in order to form
beams or piles ; others are employed in rolling the pieces to the wa*
ter ; others dive, and fcrape holes with their feet in order to fix them j
and another fet exert their efforts to rear them in their proper places.
A fifth party is bufied in colle6bing twigs to wattle the piles. A fixth,
in colle6ling earth, ftones, and clay; others carry it on their broad
tails to proper places, and with their feet beat and temper the earth
into mortar, or ram it; between the piles, or piaiiler the infide of the
houfes.

All thefe preparations are to form their dwellings within an arti- Dam».

ficial piece of water or pond, v/hich they make by raifing a dam
acrofs the level fpot they had pitched on. This is done, firft by driv-

• The Sea Beaver (as it is called) Sp. of thi« work, muH not be confounded with
this.

O a ing

loo - CASTOR.

ing into the ground flakes, five or fix feet long, placed in rows, and
fecuring each row by wattling it with twigs, and filling the inter-
ftices with clay, ramming it down clofe. The fide next to the water
is floped, the other perpendicular. The bottom is from ten to
twelve feet thick ; the thicknefs gradually diminiilies to the top,
which is about tv/o or three. The centre of the dam forms a fegment
of a circle ; from which extends, on each fide, a flrait wing : in the
midfl of the centre is ufually a gutter left for the wafte water to dif-
charge itfelf Thefe dams are often a hundred feet long, and nicely
covered with turf.
HovsEs» The houfes thefe wife animals make, are placed in the water col-

lected by means of the dam, and are feated near the fhore. They are
built upon piles, and are fometimes round, fometimes oval j the tops
are vaulted, fo that their infide refembles an oven, their outfide a
dome. The walls are made of earth, flones, and flicks, and ufually
two feet thick. They are commonly about eight feet high above the
furface of the water*, and are very neatly and clofely plaiflered on
the infide. The floor is a foot higher than the water. The houfe,
fometimes, has only one floor, which is ftrewed with leaves or mofs,
on which each Beaver lies in its proper place -, at other times there
are three apartments ; one to lodge, another to eat in, and a third to
dung inf: for they are very cleanly, and infbantly caufe the filth to
be carried off by the inferior Beavers.

M. Du Pratz J fays, that thofe of Louiftana form numbers of cells,
and that each animal, or more probably each pair, poffefs one. He
fays, that he has feen no lefs than fifteen of thefe cells furrounding
the centre of one houfe. He alfo acquaints us, that the Beavers of
Louifiana are a third lefs than the brown fort ; are covered with a ci-
nereous down, which is covered with long filvery hairs.

In each houfe are two openings j one towards the land, the other
is within, and communicates with the water, for the conveniency of

* Clerkfi. 141. f Mr, Graham, Catejhy^ Jpp, xxx. X »• 241.

getting

CASTOR. Id

getting to their magazine of provifion in frofty weather. This ori-- Macazinej.
fice is formed fo as to be beyond the thicknefs of the ice ; for they
lodge their provifions under the water, and dive and bring it into
their houfe according as they want it.

Their food is laid in before winter by the tenants of each houfe j Food.

it confifts of the bark and boughs of trees. Law/on fays that they
are fondeft of the faflafras, afli, and fweet gum. In fummer they
live on leaves, fruits, and fometimes crabs and cray-fifh ; but they
are not fond of fifli.

The number of houfes in each pond is from ten to twenty-five: Number of

1 /~ • 1 • 1 r 1 • MOUSES ;

the number oi animals in each, from two to thirty. They are fup-
pofed to afibciate in pairs ; are therefore monogamous : another proof
of their advances towards civilization.

I think I have heard that every family confifts of an even number, of inhabitant*.
Sometimes the community, within the precin6t of a dam, confifts of
four hundred j but I prefume this muft be in places little frequented
by mankind.

They begin to build their houfes, when they form a new fettle-
ment, in the fummer j and it cofts them a whole feafon to finifli their
work, and lay in their provifions.

They are very attentive to their fafety ; and on any noife take to
the water for their further fecurity. They form vaults or burrows in
the banks of the creek formed by the dam, into which they retreat.
in cafe of imminent danger.

They feem to be among quadrupeds, what Bees are among infefts.
They have a chief, or fuperintendant, in their works, who direfts the Overseers.
whole. The utmoft attention is paid to him by the whole commu-
nity. Every individual has his tafk allotted, which they undertake
with the utmoft alacrity. The overfeer gives a fignal by a certain
number of fmart flaps with his tail, expreflive of his orders. The
moment the artificers hear it, they haften to the place thus pointed
out, and perform the allotted labor, whether it is to carry wood, or
draw the clay, or repair any accidental breach.

They

102

CASTOR.

CUT.

.Ck'NTiNELs. They have alfo their centinels, v/ho, by the fame kind of fignd,

give notice of any apprehended danger.
Slaves. They are faid to have a fort of flavifli Beaver among them (analo-

gous to the Drone) which they employ in fervile works, and the do-
meftic drudgery *.

I have mentioned before their fagacity in laying in the winter pro-
THEIR WOOD HOW vifion. They cut the wood they prefer into certain lengths; pile
them in heaps beneath the water, to keep them moift; and, when they
want food, bite the wood into fmall pieces, and bring it into their
houfes. The Indians obferve the quantity which the Beavers lay in
th^ir magazine at approach of winter. It is the Almanack of the
Savages ] who judge from the greater or lefs ftock, of the mildnefs or
feverity of the approaching feafon f.

The expedition with which they cut dov/n trees, for the forming
their dams, is amazing. A number furrounds the body, and will in
a few minutes gnaw through a tree of three feet in circumference ;
and always contrive to make it fall towards the fpot they wifh J.

Beavers have in America variety of lakes and waters in which they
might fix their feats \ but their fagacity informs them of the preca-
rious tenure of fuch dwellings, which are liable to be overthrown by
every flood. This induces them to undertake their mighty and mar-
vellous labors. They therefore fele6t places where no fuch inconve-
niences can be felt. They form a dam to fupport a refervoir, fed
only by a fmall rill i and provide for the overflow of the wafte water
by a fuitable channel in the middle of their bank. They have no-
thing to fear but from land floods, or the fudden melting of the
fnows. Thefe fometimes make breaches, or damage their houfes ;
but the defeats are inftandy repaired.

During the winter they never ftir out, except to their magazines of
provifion \ and in that feafon grow exceflively fat.

They are ftrongly attached to certain haunts, there being places
ivhich they will not quit, notv/ithftanding they are frequently dif-

* Mn Graham' f Charltvoix, V. I5I« % CateJby,Jfp. 30.

turbed.

CASTOR. 103

turbed. There is, fays Charlevoix^ a ftrong inflance on the road be-
tween Montreal and lake Huron, which travellers, through wantonnefs,
annually moleft J yet is always repaired by the induftrious inhabi-
tants.

In violent inundations they are fometimes overpowered in their
attempts to divert the fury of the water. In thofe cafes they fly into
the woods : the females return as foon as the water abates ; the males
continue abfent till July, when they come back to repair the ravages
made in their houfes *.

Beavers breed once a year, and bring forth the latter end of winter;
and have two or three young at a birth."

There is a variety of the Beaver kind, which wants either the fa- Terriek
gacity or the induftry of the others, in forming dams and houfes.
Thefe are called 'Terriers. They burrow in the banks of rivers, and
make their holes beneath the freezing depth of the water, and work
upwards for a great number of feet. Thefe alfo form their winter
magazines of provifion. Beavers which efcape the deilruflion of a
community, are fuppofed often to become Terriers.

Strange animal feen by Mr. Phipps and others in Ne'vofoundland, of
a Alining black : bigger than a Fox : fhaped like an Italian grehound :
legs long : tail long and taper. One gentleman faw five fitting on a
rock with their young, at the mouth of a river i often leapt in and
dived, and brought up trouts, which they gave to their young. When
- he Ihewed himfelf, they all leapt into the water, and fwam a little
way from fhore, put their heads out of the water and looked at him.
An old furrier faid, he remembered a fkin of one fold for five guineas.
The French ofienfce them m Hare Bay.

Beavers have, befides man, two enemies; the Otter, and the Wol- their ^^^H\^s•^
verene; which watch their appearance, and deftroy them. The lafl
is on tha, account called, in fome parts q{ America, the Beaver-eater.
They are very eafily overcome; for they make no refiflance : and have
ftO„ fecurity but in flight.

* Charh'voix, v. 151,.

a. * It

104 CASTOR.

It is not wonderful that fuch fociable animals fhould be very affec-
tionate. Two young Beavers, which were taken alive and brought
to a neighboring faftory in HudJorCs Bay^ were preferved for fome
time ; and throve very faft, till one of them was killed by an acci-
dent. The furvivor inftantly felt the lofs, began to moan, and ab-
Itained from food till it died *.
lew TAKEN. They are taken feveral ways : fometimes in log-traps, baited with

poplar flicks, laid in a path near the water. T\\c Indians ^\-^z,y^
wafh their hands before they bait the traps, otherwife the fagacious
animal is fure to fhun the fnare.

Sometimes they are fhot, either while they are at work, or at food,
or in fwimming acrofs the rivers. But thefe methods are ufed only
in fummer, and not much praftifed ; for the fkins in that feafon are
far lefs valuable than in the winter. At that time they are taken in
nets placed above and below their houfes, acrofs the creeks, on flakes.
If the water is frozen, the ice is cut from fhore to fhore, in order to
put down the flakes. When the net is fet, the Indians fend their
women to the Beaver-houfes to diflurb the animals j who dart into
the water, and are ufually taken in the net, which is inflantly hauled
up ; and put down again with all expedition. If the Beaver miffes
the net, it fometimes returns to its houfe, but oftener into the vaults
on the fides of the banks ; but the poor creature feldom efcapes, be-
ing purfued into all his retreats, the houfes being broke open, and
the vaults fearched by digging along the fhores.

The value of the fur of thefe animals, in the manufacture of hats,
is well known. It began to be in ufe in England in the reign of
Charles I.f, when the manufaflure was regulated, in 1638, by procla-
mation ; in which is an exprefs prohibition of ufing any materials qx~
ct^t Beaver Jiuffi or Beaver wool -, and the hats called demi-caflors
were forbidden to be made, unlefs for exportation.

This caufed a vafl encreafe of demand for the flcins of the Beavers.
The Indians J on the difcovery of America^ feem to have paid very
* Drage'i njoj.'i, 151. f Rymer^s Frndtra^xx. 230.

little

G A S T O R. 105

little attention to theni, amidfl: the vaft variety of beafts they at that
time polTeired, both for food and cloathing. But about the period of
the fafliion of hats, they became an article of commerce, and objecl of
chafe. The fouthern colonies foon became exhaufled of their
Beavers ; and of later years the traffic has been much confined to Ca-
nada and Hudjon's Bay. The importance of this trade, and the ra-
vages made among the animal creation in thofe parts, will appear by
the following Hate of the imports into the ports of London and
Rochellem 1743. I take that year, as I have no other comparative
ftate :

Hudjon's Bay company fale, begun No'VemheY 17th 1743.
2,6,750 Beaver fkins.
14,730 Martins.
590 Otters.
1,110 Cats, i. e. Lynx.
320 Fox.
600 Wolverenes.
320 Black Bears.
1,850 Wolves.

40 Woodfhocks, or FiHiers.
10 Minx.
5 Raccoon.
120 Squirrels,
130 Elks, i. c. Stags.
440 Deer.
Imported into Rochelle in the fame year.
127,080 Beavers.
16,512 Bears.
110,000 Raccoon.
30,325 Martins.
12,428 Otters andFilhers.
1,700 Minx.
1,220 Cats.

P 1,267 Wolves,

tc6 CASTOR.

1,267 Wolves.
92 Wolverenes.
10,280 Grey Foxes and Cats.
451 Red Foxes.
This great balance in favor of the French arifes not only from their
fiiperior honefly in their dealings with the ignorant IndianSy but the
advantageous fituation of Canada for the fur trade. They had both
fides of the river St. Lawrence j the country round the five great
lakes J and the countries bordering on the rivers flowing into them ;
and finally, the fine fur countries bordering on the Hudfon's Bay
company, many of whofe waters falling into the St. Lawrence,
gave an eafy conveyance of thofe commodities to Montreal -, where
^ a fair is annually kept, with all the favage circumftances attendant
on Indian concourfe.

The traffic carried on in Hudfon's Bay is chiefly brought from the
chain of lakes and rivers that empty themfelves into the bay at
Nelfons river, running foutherly from lat. 56 to lat. 45. Lake
Pachegoia is the moft northerly : there the Indians rendezvous in
Marcby to make their canoes for the tranfportation of the furs ; for
at that feafon the bark of the birch-tree feparates very eafily fram
the wood.

41. Musk. Hiji, ^ad. N° 252. — Smcllie, v. 260.

E AVER. With a thick nofe, blunt at the end : ears fhort, hid

in the fur : eyes large : body thick, and in form quite refembles

that of the Beaver ; its color, and that of the head, a reddifh brown :

breafl: and belly cinereous, tinged with rufl:-color : the fur is very

foft and fine.

The toes on every foot are diftincft and divided : thofe of the

hind feet fringed on both fides with ftiff" hairs or briflles, clofely fet

together : tail comprefl^ed, and thin at the edges, covered with fmall

fcaleSj with a few hairs intermixed,

I Length,

M U S K.

Length, from nofe to tail, one foot : of the tail nine inches.

Thefe animals are in fome parts o^ America called the Little Beaver^
on account of its form, and fome parts of its oeconomy. From its
fcent it is ftyled the Mufk Rat, and Mufquafh. The Hiirons call it
Ondathra ; from which M. de Buffon gives it the name of Ondatra *.

It is found from Hudjon's Bay to as low at left as Carolina f. Like
the Beaver, it forms its houfe of a round Ihape, covered with a
dome, and conftruded with herbs and reeds cemented with clay.
At the bottom and fides are feveral pipes, through which they pafs
in fearch of food ; for they do not lay in a ftock of provifion, like
the former. They alfo form fubterraneous paflages, into which they
retreat whenever their houfes are attacked.

Thefe houfe:> are only intended for winter habitations; are deferted,
and rebuilt annually. During fummer, they live in pairs, and bring
forth their young from three to fix at a time. At approach of win-
ter, they conftrudl their houfes, and retire into them, in order to be
protected from the inclemency of the feafon. Several families occupy
the fame dwelling, which is oft-times covered many feet with fnow and
ice; but they creep out and feed on the roots which lie beneath.
They are very fond of \\\^ Acorus Verus^ or Calamus AromaticusX.
This perhaps gives them that ftrong mufky fmell thefe animals are fo
remarkable for ; which they lofe during winter, probably when this
fpecies of plant is not to be got. They alfo feed on the frelh-water
MulTels. They feed too on fruit ; for Kalm fays, that apples are
the baits ufed for them in traps. We may add, that in winter they
eat the roots of nettles, and in fummer, ftrawberries and rafberries |i,
during which time it is rare to fee the male and female feparate.

The flefli is fometimes eaten. The fur is made ufe of in the ma-
nufafture of hats. The Mufk*-bag is fometimes put among cloths,
to preferve them from worms or infedls

Thefe animals, as well as the Beaver, feem to have their Tern'erSy or
fome which do not give themfelves the trouble of building houfes,

* X, 12. f Law/ott, 120. t LaiM/ont 120. \\ Charlevoix, v» 158.

P 2 but

107

io3 MUSK.

but burrow, like^ Water-rats, in banks adjacent to lakes, rivers, and
ditches *, and often do much damage, by admitting the water
through the embankments of meadows. They continue in their
holes, except when they are in the water in fearch of food. They
make their nefts with flicks, placing a lining of fome foft materials
within f. Charlevoix % adds, that they fometimes make ufe of a
hollow tree for their relidence.

When taken young, they are capable of being tamed ; are very
playful and inofFenfive, and never bite.

* Kalm, n. 56, and Chark'voix, f Kalm, ii. 58. J v. 158.

HIST.

CANADA PORCUPINE.

109

HIST. ^UJD. Genus XXVIII.

PORCUPINE.

Hi/, ^ad. N° 257. — Lev. Mvs,

42. Canada.

ORCUPINE. With fhort ears, hid in the iuv : hair on the
head, body, legs, and upper part of the tail, long, foft, and of a
dark brown color i but fometimes found white : on the upper part
of the head, body, and tail, are numbers of flrong fliarp quils j the
longed, which are thofe on the back, are three inches long ; the
fhorteft are towards the head and on the fides, and concealed in the
hair J mixed with them are certain ftiff ftraggling hairs, at left three
inches longer than the others, tipt with dirty white : the under fide
of the tail is white.

On each fore foot are four toes j on the hind five i all armed with.
long claws, hollowed on the under fide.

The fize of one,^ which Sir Joseph Banks brought from Newfound'-
land, was about that of a Hare, but more compa6lly made ; the
back arched j and the whole form refemblins that of the Beaver :
the tail is fix inches long, which, in walking, is carried a little bent
upwards.

This fpecies inhabits America, from Hudfon's Bay to Canada *, Newr-
foundland. New England, and,, but rarely, as far fouth as Virginia f.
Law/on makes no mention, of it among the animals of Carolina. Du
Pratz J fays, it loves the cold, and is found on the banks of the
Illinois. It may therefore be ranked among the local northern ani-
mals.

They are found in great plenty about Hudjon's Bay, where the trad-
ing Indians depend much on them for food. They are reckoned ex-
cellent eating, even by the Europeansy tafting, when roafted, like fuck-

* Charlevoix, v, 198.

t Catejhy, j^pj), XXX,

X ii. 68.

ing-

iio CANADA PORCUPINE.

ing-pig. The bones, during winter, are of a greenifh yellow, owing,
as is fuppofed, to their feeding during that feafon on the bark of tlie
pine. It is obferved, that the bones of animals fometimes take a
tindure from their diet; for example, thofe of beafts which feed on
madder become red *. They are alfo very fond of the bark of ju-
niper. In fummer, they live on the wild fruits, and lap water, but
will not go into it. In winter, take fnow by way of beverage.

They neftle under the roots of great trees, and will aifo, in quefl
of fruits, afcend the boughs. When the Indians difcover one in a
tree, they cut it down, and kill the animal by a blow on the nofe.

They defend themfelves with their quills. They fly from their
purfuer -, but when they cannot efcape, will fidle towards their ene-
my, in order to pufh their quils into him : they are but weak inftru-
ments of offence j for a fmall ftroke v/ith the hand againft the grain
will bring them from the il<in, leaving them (licking flightly in the
flefh. The Indians ufe them to make holes in their nofes and ears,
for the placing their nofe and ear-rings, and other finery f . They
alfo trim the edges of their deer-flcin habits with fringes of dyed
quils J, or make pretty linings with them for the bark boxes.

They are very indolent animals, fleep much, and feldom travel a
mile from their haunts ||.

M. de Biiffon gives two figures of this bead, under the name oi Le
Coendou 2in<\ UUrJon. The firft he makes an inhabitant oi Brafil :
the lafl, of Hud/on' s Bay : but the Coendou is a very different ani-
mal §. The two figures he has exhibited are of our Porcupine in the
winter and fummer drefs, the hair growing thinner as the warm
feafon approaches f. His Coendou fhews it in the firft ftate, his Urfon
in the fecond **.

They are faid to copulate in September^ and to bring only one

young, the firft week in Jfril -, another, which it brings forth, being

always deadff.

* Phil. Tranf. IxH. 374. f Dyage'i'voy. i, 177. % The fame, 191.

Ij Mr. Graham, § See Byn. ^ad, N" f E/ivj. Hiji. Birds, i. 52.

** Hill. Nat. xii. tab. liv. Iv. ff Mr* Graham,

HIST',

QUEBEC AND MARYLAND MARMOT.

Ill

HISr. ^UAB, Genus XXIX.

MARMOT.

Hiji. Sluad, N° 259.

Mus empetra, Pallas Nov. Sp. ^ad.fafc, i. 75.

43. QUEBSC.

MARMOT. With fhort rounded ears: blunt nofe : cheeks
fwelled, and of a cinereous color : end of the nofe black :
top of the head chefnut : the hair on the back grey at the bottom,
black in the middle, and the tips whitifh : the belly and legs of a
deep orange, or a bright ferruginous color.

Toes black, naked, and quite divided : four toes, with the rudi-
ments of another, on the fore feet, five on the hind feet : tail fhort,
duflcy, and full of hair.

The fpecimen which I faw formerly at Mr. Brook\^ alive, appeared
larger than a Rabbet ; but the fpecimen in the Royal Society's Mu-
feum* was only eleven inches long from nofe to the tail, and the
tail three inches. This probably was a young one.

Bift, ^uad, '^'^zSo.—Smellie, Iv. 346.

MARMOT. With prominent dark eyes : fhort rounded ears :
nofe Iharper-pointcd than that of the laft, and of a cinereous
colour : head and body of a brown color, which is lighter on the
fides, and ftill more fo on the belly : the legs and feet dulky : toes
long, and divided : claws long, and fharp : tail dufky, and bufhy ;
half the length of the body : a fpecific diftindion from the other
kinds.

Size of a Rabbet.

• Phil. Tran/. Ixii, 37^.

Inhabits

44. Maryland.

tia . HOARY AND TAIL-LESS MARMOT.

Inhabits the teniperate and warm parts of North America^ from

Petifyhania to the Bahama JJlands. It feeds on fruits, berries, and

•vegetables. In the provinces it inhabits the hollows of trees, or

burrows under ground, fleeping for a month together. The Euro-

;pean fpecies continues dormant half the year : whether it takes a long

fleep in the warm climate of the Bahamas I am uncertain. It dwells

there among the rocks, and makes its retreat into the holes on the

approach of the hunters. In thofe iflands it is very fond of the

berries of the Ehretia Bourreria, called there Strong Back. The flefh

" is reckoned very good, but refembles more that of a Pig than a

Rabbet *.

It is called there the Bahama Coney. By Mr. Edwards^ who figures
one from Maryland^ the Monax^ or Marmot oi America f.

45. HoARv-. Ji;j}, ^ad. N° 261.— Lev. Mus.

MARMOT. With the tip of the nofe black : ears fliort, and
oval : cheeks whitifh : crown dufky and tawny : hair in all
parts rude and long -, on the back, fides, and belly, cinereous at the
bottoms, black in the middle, and tipped with white, fo as to fpread
a hoarinefs over the whole : legs black : claws duflcy : tail full of
hair, black and ferruginous.
Size of the preceding.
Inhabits the northern parts of North America.

46. Tail-lbss. Hiji. ^ad. N" —Lev. Mus.

MARMOT. With fhort ears : color of the head and body a
cinereous brown : the extremities of the hairs white : two
cutting teeth above, four below : no tail.
About the fize of the common Marmot.
Inhabits Hudjon's Bay,

* Catejhy Car el. ii. 79, ^//. xxviil, f HiJi, Birds, ii, 104.

E A R-L ESS MA R M O T.

lU

Hiji, ^ad. N-* zSi.^Smellie, vlii. 234. ^^^ Ear-les..

MARMOT. Without ears; face cinereous: back, and hind
part of the head, of a light yellowilh brown; fometimes
fpotted diftind:ly with white, at others undulated with grey : belly
and legs of a yellowifli white : tail about four inches and a half long.
Length, from nofe to tail, about nine and a half. But there is a
pygmy variety wholly yellow, and with a lliort tail, frequent near
the fait lakes, between the mouths of the Yaik and the Jemba.

Inhabits Bohemia, Auftrta, and Hungary, and in the PatJJian empire j
begins to be common about the Occa, eaft oiMoJcow ; extends over
all the temperate and open parts of Sibiria, and about Jakutjk^ and in
Kamtjchatka. It is alfo on the illand oiKadjak, and v/as feen in great
numbers by Steller on Schamagins iiles, almoil clofe on the fliore of
North America, which give it place iri this part of the work.

They burrow, and fink the pipes to their retreats obliquely, and MAKKrus.
then winding ; and at the end is an arched oblong chamber, a foot in
diameter, ftrewed with dried grafs. The entrances, or pipes, of the
males are of greater, and thofe of the females of lefTer, diameters.
Towards winter they make a new pipe to their neft, but that only
reaches to the turf; and with the earth which is taken out they fill
up the fummer pipe.

They live entirely in a ftate of folitude, unlefs In the amorous
feafon, when the females are found in the fame burrows with the
males ; but they bring forth in their own burrows, and by that
means prevent the males from defb-oying the young, as they cannot
^nter by reafon of the narrownefs of the pipes, the males being
fuperior in fize to their mates. They flcep all night; but in the
morning quit their holes, efpecially in fine weather, and feed and
fport till approach of night. If the males approach one another,
they light Iharply. The fern. ales often fet up a very fharp whiftle j
the males are, for the mofl part, filent. At the fight of a man, they

Q. inftantiv

114

MARMOT.

inftantly run into their burrows j and are often feen Handing upright,
and looking about them, as if on the watch : and if they fpy any body,
give a loud whiftle, and difappear.

They are very eafily tamed, and become very fportive and amuf-
ingi and are very fond of being flroked and cherifhed. In this
ftate they will eat grain, and many forts of herbs. In a wild ftate
they prey on mice, and fmall birds, as well as vegetables. Gmelin
fays, that in Sibiria they inhabit granaries ; but I do not find it con-
firmed by Doftor Pallas. Gmelin adds, that thofe v/ho frequent
granaries, feek for prey during the whole winter * : as to the others,
they certainly remain torpid all the fevere feafon, and revive on the
melting of the fnows.

They bring forth from three to eight at a time. The young grow
very quick, and defert the maternal burrows in the fummer.

Their enemies are all forts of Weefels, which dig them out of their
holes. More males than females perifh, as the latter are fiercer,
and defend themfelves much better. During day they are fnatched
up by hawks and hungry crows.

In fome places they are taken in fnares, for the fake of their fkins,
which are ufually fent to China. The Kamtjchatkans make moft ele-
gant garments and hoods of them j fpecimens of the latter are pre-
ferved in the Leverian Mujeum. In Sibiria their flefh is efteemed a
great delicacy, efpecially in autumn, when they are a lump of fat.

The RuJJians call them Suflik ; the Sibirians, Jevrajcha^ and 'Jemii'
ranka 3 the Kamtjchatkans 3 Syr^th,

* Foyage en SihJriej i. u^t

£0SAK>

M

R M O T,

115

A. BoBAK, Hiji.^ad. N° 262.'— Smlliey vii. 198,

MARMOT. With fhort oval thick ears : fmall eyes : upper
part of the body greyilh, mixed with long black and dufky
hairs, tipt with grey : throat ruft-colored : reft of the body and
infide of the limbs yellowifli ruft : four claws on the fore feet, and
a fhort thumb furnifhed with a ftrong claw : five toes behind : tail
fliort, (lender, and full of hair. Length fixteen inches : of the tail
five.

Inhabits Poland, the Ukraine, I'artary, Sihiria, and even in plenty
in Kamtfchatka.

Its manners moft amply defcribed in the Hiftory of Quadrupeds.

0.2

HIST,

ii6 ' H U D S O N S Q^U I R R E L.

SQUIRREL, lllSr, ^U/IB. Genus XXX.

iV". B. The ears of the American Squirrels have no tufts.

48, Hudson. Hudfon's Bay Squirrel, Hij^. ^ad. N'^ 274.— Lev. Mus.

SQUIRREL. Of a ferruginous colour, marked along the top
of the back with a line of a deeper hue : belly of a pale aili-co-
lor, mottled with black, and divided from the fides by a dufl^y line :
la.il fhorter and lefs bulhy than that of the European kind j of a ruft-
color, barred, and fometimes edged with black.

Inhabits the pine-forefts of Hudfon's Bay and Labrador : live upon,
the cones : keep in their nefbs the whole winter. Are found as high
as the Copper river ; yet do not change their colors by the feverity
of the winter, like the Petits gris of northern Europe and Afia^ from
which they form a diftincl fpecies. I know of only one exception in
change of color in thofe oi America ^ Sir AjJjton Lever being poiTefTed
of a fpecimen of a milky whitenefs ; but he did not know from,
what part of the contirient it came.

«. Carolina *. With the head, back, and fides, grey, white, and fer-
ruginous, intermixed : belly white : the color divided from that of"
the fides by a ruft-coloured line : lower part of the legs red : tail
brown, mixed with black, and edged with white.

Both thefe are rather lefs than the European Squirrels.

49. Grey. Hiji. ^ad. N° 272. — Smellie, v. 321. — Lev. Mus.

QUIRREL. With hair of a dull grey color, intermixed with
black, and frequently tinged v/ith dull yellow : belly white. But
they vary, the body being fometimes of a fine uniform grey.

* Leffer Grey Squirrel, Hi/}, ^nd. p.

This:

GREY ^^ U I R R E L. 117

«

This is the largeft of the .^ ■.' . and grows to half the iize of a
Rabbet.

\n America I do not di-^-.. .... ; ........_. inorth than iV^ci'

England^ ; from whence they are foimd in va^: n^mbrrs as far foiitb as
Leuifjana-\. Thefe, and uic oiL. c

greateft pefts to the farmers o^ Noi tb nneri-.. x Key iwarm in fc-
veral of the provinces, and often defcend iii crooj-s from che back
fettlements, and join the reil in their ravages on ^ iie plantatio-is of
mayzj and the various nuts and mafb which that fertile country
produces.

Thofe which migrate from the mountains generally arrive in au-
tumn; inftantly clear the ground of the fallen acorns, nut.-i, and mali,
and form with them magazines for their winter provifions, in holes
which they dig under ground for that purpofe. They are often
robbed of their hoards j for the coloniils take great pains to find
them out \ and oft-times the hogs, which rove about the v/oods, root
up and devour their magazines. It is from thefe that they fupply
themfelves, from time to time, with provifions, quitting their nefts,
and returning with a fufiicient flock to lail them for fome fpace 3 it ^

being obferved, that during winter they do not care to quit their
warm retreat, unlcfs on a vifit to their ftorehoufes ; therefore, when-
ever they are obferved to run about the woods in greater numbers
than ufual, it is a certain fign of the near approach of fevere cold j
for inftinft dire6ls them to lay in a greater ftock than ufual, leafl the
inclemency of the weather fhould deprive them of accefs to their
fubterraneous magazines.

The damage which they do to the poor planters, by dedroying "he
mayz, is incredible. They come by hundreds into the fields, climb
up the (talks, and eat the fweet corn wrapt up in the heads, and
will deftroy a whole plantation in a night. For this reafon they were
profcribed. In fome places the inhabitants v/ere, each, obliged an-
nually to bring in four Squirrels heads. In others, a fum was given,

* JoJJely^i's voy, 86. f BoJ/lty i, 3611

about

GREY S QJJ I R R E L.

about three pence, for every one that was killed. This proved fuch
an encouragement, as to fet all the idle people in the province in
purfuit of them. Penjylvania paid, from January 1749 to January
1750, 8000I. currency : but on complaint being made by the depu-
ties, that their treafuries were exhaufted by thefe rewards, they were
reduced to one half. How improved muft the flate of the Americans
then be, in thirty-five years, to wage an expenfive and fuccefsful war
againft its parent country, which before could not bear the charges
of clearing the provinces from the ravages of thefe infignificant ani-
mals !

It has been obferved, that the Squirrels are greatly multiplied
within thefe few years, and that in proportion to the encreafe of
the fields of mayz, which attra6t them from all parts j I mean not
only the grey fpecies, but all the others.

They are eaten by fome people, and are efteemed very delicate.
Their fkins, m' America^ are ufed for ladies fhoes ; and are often im-
ported into Englandy for lining or facing for cloaks.

They make their nefls in hollow trees, with mofs, flraw, wool, and
other warm materials. They cliiefly inhabit trees of the deciduous
kind ; but fometimes in pines, whofe cones are an article of their
provifion. They keep their nells for feveral days together, feldom
fhirrino: out, except for a frefh fupply of food. Should a deep fnow
prevent them from getting to their ftorehoufes, multitudes perifh.
with hunger.

When they are fitting on a bough, and perceive a man, they in-
llantly move their tails backward and forward, and gnafh their teeth
with a very confiderable noife. This makes them detefted by the
fportfmen, who lofe their game by the alarm they give. The Grey
Squirrel is a difficult animal to kill : it (its on the highefl trees, and
often between the boughs, and changes its place with fuch expedi-
tion that the quickeft markfman can fcarcely find time to level his
piece i and if it can once get into a hoie^ or into any old neft, nothing

can

CAT AND BLACK SQUIRREL. 119

can provoke it to get out of its afylum. They run up and down the
bodies of trees, but very rarely leap from one to the other.

They are eafily made tame ; will even be brought to play with
cats and dogs, which in a ftate of domefticity will not hurt them.
They will alfo attach themfelves fo far as to follow children to and
from the woods.

They agree in their manner of feeding with the European kinds ;
and have all the fame fort of attitudes.

SQUIRREL. With coarfe fur, mixed with dirty white and /S. Cat.

black ; the throat, and infide of the legs and thighs, black : the tail
is much fhorter than is ufual with Squirrels, and of a dull yellow,
mixed with black : in fize equal to that of the Grey.

Inhabits Virginia. Mr. Knaphan, in whofe colleftion I found it,
informed me, that the planters called it the Cat Squirrel.

I fufpe6l that this animal is only a variety. Law/on * fays,
that he has feen the Grey fpecies pied, reddifh, and black ; but this
point muft be determined by natives of the countries which they
inhabit, who, from obfervation, may decide by their manners, or
their colors, in different feafons, or periods of life.

Hiji. ^ad. N" z'li.-'Bro'wn't Zoology, tab. xlvli.— Lev. Mus. 50. Black*

SQUIRREL. With white ears, nofe, and feet : the body totally
black : the tail black, tipt with white : in fize equal to the
former.

Thefe fometimes vary : there being examples of individuals which
are wholly deflitute of any white marks. The beautiful figure of
one of thefe animals from Eafi Florida^ in Mr. Bro^jon% Zoology, has
cars edged with white^ and a much longer tail than ufual,

* HiJi, Carol, 124.

Q,4 Inhabits

^^° FLYING SQUIRREL.

Inhabits neither Hudfon's Bay nor Canaday but is found in moft
other parts of Jmerica, as far as Mexico*. It is equally numerous,
and as deflru6live to the mayz as the Grey Squirrel, but breeds and
aflbciates irj troops feparate from that fpecies f j yet makes its neft
in the fame manner, and like it forms magazines of provifion ao ainfl
the fevere feafon.

In Mexico^ and probably in other parts of JmeHca, they eat the
cones of pine-trees j and lodge in the hollows of the trees.

A. With membranes from leg to leg.
fi. Flying. Hijl.^ad. "t^" z^^.^Smellie, v. 307.— Lev. Mus.

QUIRREL. With large black eyes: round and naked ears :
a membrane, covered with hair, extending from the fore to the
hind legs : the hairs on the tail difpofed flatways on each fide : are
long in the middle, fhort towards the end, which tapers to a point :
that and the body of a brownifh cinereous : the belly white, tinged
with yellow.

Inhabits all parts of North Jmericay and as low as MexicOj where
it is called ^imichpatlan J. The natives o( Firginia named it Jfa-
panic II .

They live in hollow trees. Like the Dormoujey they fleep the
whole day; but towards night creep out, and are very lively and
aftive. They are gregarious, numbers being found in one tree. By
means of the lateral membranes, they take prodigious leaps, im-
properly called flying ; and can fpring ten yards at an eflx^rt.
When they would leap, they extend the hind legs, and ftretch

* Is the ^auhiechalhililtic y or TlilacotequiUin, of the Mexicapis . Fernandez, 8.
f Catejhjy ii. 73. } Fernand, Ncv, Hifp» 8. || Smitb'j Firgittia, ij.

-? out

HOODED S QJJ I R R E L. 121

6Ut the intervening {kin, which producing a larger furface, makeathc
animals fpecifically lighter than they would otherwife be : even with
all this advantage, they cannot keep in a ftrait line, but are urged
downward with their weight. Senfibie of this, they mount the tree in
proportion to the diftance of the leap they propofe to take, leaft they^
Ihould fall to the ground before they had reached a place of fecurity.

They never willingly quit the trees, or run upon the ground, be-
ing conftant refidents of the branches. They go in troops of ten or
twelve, and feem in their leaps, to people unaccuflomed to them,
like leaves blown off by the wind.

They bring three or four young at a time. They ufe the fame
food, and form their hoards like other Squirrels.

They are very eafily tamed, and foon grow very familiar. They
feem of a tender nature, and to love warmth, being very fond of
creeping to the fleeve or pocket of the owner. If they are flung
down, they fhew their diflike to the ground, by inftantly running up
and Iheltering themfelves in his cloaths.

Hi/, ^uad. N<> 224. 52. Hooded,

SQUIRREL. With the lateral fkins beginning at the ears,
uniting under the chin, and extending, like thofe of the former,
from fore leg to hind leg : the ears naked, and rather long : the hairs
on the tail difpofed horizontally.

The color of the upper part of the body reddilh : the lower part
cinereous, tinged with yellow.

This fpecies, according to Selfa, who is the only perfon who has
defcribed or figured it, came from Virginia *. Linnaeus is very
confufed in his fynonyms of this and the former kind j that of
Mr. Edwards refers to the other fpecies j and that of Seba^ in his
-article of Sciurus VolanSy to both t-

• Seb.Muf. I. tab. xliv. p. 72.

t %?. Nat, 85, where he calls i| Mui Volaxs', and p, 88, where he ftyles it Sciurus,

R It

m SEVERN RIVER S QJJ I R R E L.

It is fingular that there flioiild be only one fpecimen ever brought of
this fpecies,. from a country we have had fuch great intercourfe with.
It may perhaps be a monftrous variety, by the extent of the fl<in inta
a fort of hood. As to color, that is an accidental difference, which,
happens to numbers of other animals.

53. Severn HiJl.Quad. N" 282.

^'^^^* Greater Flying Squirrel, Py^. 97. Ixii. 379..

SQUIRREL. With the hair on the body and fides of a deep
cinereous color at the bottom ; the ends ferruginous : bl-eaft and
belly of a yellowifh white : the whole coat long and full : the tail
thick of long hairs, difpofed in a lefs flatted manner than thofe of
the European kind ; brown on the upper fide, darkeft at the end j the
lower part of the fame color with the belly : the lateral fl<in, the
inftrument of flight, difpofed from leg to leg, in the fame manner-
as in the firfl: fpecies, N° 51. .

In fize it is far fuperior to the common Flying Squirrel, being at
left equal to the EngliJJj kind.

This fpecies is found in the fouthern parts oiHudforis Bay, in the
forefts of the country bordering on Severn river in James's bay.

j^. Common. Hiji. ^ad. N® 266. — SmelUe/w. 268. — Lev. Mus;

SQUIRREL. With tufted ears : head, body, and legs, ferru-
ginous : breaft and belly white : tail reddifh brown.
This fpecies inhabits the northern world, as high as Lapmarki is
10 con-

COMMON SQJJIRREL. tix

continued through all the Arftic countries, wherefoever wood is
found ; abounds throughout SiHria, except in the north-eaft parts,
and in Kam(/cbatkay where it ceafes, by reafon of the ceflation of
forefts.

In all thefe countries they are red in fummer, but at approach of
winter change to various and elegant greys. Their furs are of ex-
quifite foftnefs, and are the forts known to us by the name of Petit
Gris. In the more foutherly parts of thefe cold climates, they retain
a tinge of the fummer red, and are lefs valuable. The change of
color is effedled gradually, as is its return in fpring to its ferruginous
coat.

It is very fingular, that the alteration is not only performed in the
feverity of the open air, but even in the warmth of a ftove. Dr.
Pal/as made the experiment on one which was brought to him on the
1 2th of September y and was at that time entirely red. About the 4tH
of 0£}ober many parts of the body began to grow hoary ; and at
the time it happened to die, which was on the 4th of Novejuher^ the
whole body had attained a grey color, and the legs, and a fmall part
of the face, had alone the reddilh tinge *.

The varieties are as follow : — A blackifli one, with the fur footy tipt
with red, and full black glofly tail, are common about lake Baikaly
and the whole courfe of the Lena. Sir AJJjton Lever is in pofTelTion
-of one of a jetty blacknefs, with a white belly: its ears, as well as
thofe of all the Petit Gris, are adorned with very long tufts. Thefe
change in winter to a lead-color, and are taken in the thick Jlpine
forefts, where the Pinus Cembra, or Stone Pines, abound. The fkins
of thefe are negleded by the Chinefe, but greatly efteemed in Europe^
cfpecially the tails, for facings of dreffes.

This variety is obferved fometimes to migrate in amazing num-
bers from their lofty alpine abodes, compelled to it whenever there
happens to be a fcarcity of provifion f . Swarms have appeared even

f Nov. Sp, ^a4, 373. t Nov, Sp. an, i88»

R 2 - in

124 EUROPEAN FLYING SQUIRREL.

in the town o^Tomfkj in defertcd houfes, and In the towers of the forti-
fications ; where numbers are taken alive, and of great fize, by the
children of the place.

A beautiful and large variety, about the Baraba^ called the Teleu-^
tian, is in great efteem for its beautiful grey color, like a Gull's
back, with a filvery glofs, and finely undulated. Their fummer
color is ufually dulky red, and the fides and feet black. Thefe are
highly efteemed by the Chinejei and fell at the rate of 6 or 7/. fterling
per thoufand *

A fmall variety of this, lefler even than the common kind, is met
with about the neighborhood of the Kajym and Ifet.

A variety is alfo met with which change to a white color; and
others again retain a white color both in winter and fummer.

The late navigators to the Icy fea brought home with them from
Pulo Condor i a knot of iflands in north lat. 8. 40. on the coaft of
Camhodiay a Squirrel totally black.

B. EuROPEAK Flyikg Squirrel, Hiji.^ad, N" 235. — SmtUie^, v. 307r— Ley. Mur.

SQUIRREL. With naked ears: flying membranes extending
from the middle of the hind legs to the bafc of the fore feet,
and fpreading there in a rounded fail : tail full of hair, and round at
the end: color of the upper part of the body a fine grey, like that
of a Gull's back : the lower part white.

Length to the tail four inches and a quarter ; of the tail, five.

Inhabits the birch-woods of Finmark, Lapland j Finland, Lithuania^
and Livonia. Is found in y^fta, in the woods of the Urallian chain,
and from thence to the river Kolyma. Nellies in the hollows of trees
remote from the ground, where it makes its neft of the fofteft mofles.
Is always folitary, except in the breeding-feafon, and never appears

♦ Mm* Rujf. AftaU vii. \ 24^

in

EUROPEAN FLYING SQUIRREL. i^S

in the day-time. Lives on the buds and catkins of the birch, and
on the fhoots and buds of pines, which give its juices a itrong re-
finous fmell j and its excrements will burn llrongiyy with a pitchy
fcent. The lafl: are always found at the root of the tree, as if the
animal defcended to eafe nature. It feldom comes out in bad wea-
ther i but certainly does not remain torpid during winter j for it is
often taken in the traps laid for the Grey Squirrels. The fkins are
often put up in the bundles with the latter, fo that the purchafer is
defrauded, as their fur is of no value. They leap at vafl diftances
from tree to tree, and never defcend but for the purpofe before
mentioned. By reafon of fimilitude of color between them and the
birch bark, they are feen with great difficulty, which preferves them
from the attacks of rapacious birds.

They bring forth two, three, and rarely four, young at a time.
When the parent goes out for food, fhe laps them carefully up in the
mofs. They are very difficult to be preferved,^ and feldom can be
kept alive, by reafon of want of proper food. They are born blind,
and continue fo fourteen days. The mother pays them great atten-
tion ; broods over them, and covers them with its flying membrane^.
The Rujftms call them Ljetaga, or the Flyings

Hist.

^26 STRIPED DORMOUSE,

DORMOUSE.

HIS^. ^UJD. Genus XXXL

54. Striped. Ground Squirrel, Hift.^ad. 1^° zSS.—Smllte, v, ^zg.^l,Ev, Mvs,

D

OR MOUSE. With naked rounded ears : the eyes full and
black ; about them a whitifh fpace : the head, body, and tail,
of a reddifh brown, deepeft on the laft : from neck to tail a black
line extends along the top of the back : on each fide run two others,
parallel to the former, including between them another of a yellow-
ifh white : breaft and belly white : the toes almoft naked, and of a
fiefh-color ; long, (lender, and very diftind ; four, with the rudiment
of a fifth, on the fore feet ; five pcrfeft toes on the hind.
Size. The length is about five inches and a half; of the tail, to the end

of the hairs, rather longer.

Inhabits all parts of North Ainerica, I think, from Hudfon's Bay to
. Louiftana ; certainly from Canada, where the French call thern Les
SuifeSy from their fkins being rayed with black and white, like the
breeches of the Switzers who form the Pope's guard *.

They are extremely numerous : live in woods, yet never run up
trees, except when purfued, and find no other means of efcape. They
live under ground, burrow, and form their habitations with two en-
trances, that they may fecure a retreat through the one, in cafe the
other fliould be flopped. Thefe little animals form their fubterra-
neous dwellings with great fkill, working them into the form of long
galleries, with branches on each fide, every one terminating in an
enlarged apartment, in which they hoard their ftock of winter pro-
vifion •\. Their acorns are lodged in one, in a fecond the mayz, in
•a third the hickery-nuts, and in the laft their moft favorite food,

• ChurUvoifc, v, 198. f Kalm, i. 322. 325,

the

STRIPED DORMOUSE. 127

felie Chlnquaqiiiny or chefnut. Nature has given to them, as to the
Hamfier *, a fine conveniency for coUedling its provifions, having fur-
nifhed them with pouches within their cheeks, which they fill with
mayz, and other -articles of food, and fo convey them to their ma-
gazinesi

Thofe of Sibiria live chiefly on feeds, and particularly on the
kernels of the Cemhray or Stone Pine ; and thefe they hoard up in
fuch quantities,, that ten or fifteen pounds of the moil choice have
been found in a fingle magazine f .

They pafs the whole winter either in fleep or in eating. During
the fevere feafon, they very rarely ftir out, at left as long as their
provifions laft; but if by an unexpedted continuance of bad wea-
ther their provifions fail, they will then fally out, and dig under
ground in cellars where apples are kept, or into barns where mayz is
ftored, and make great devaftations. They will even enter houfes,
and eat undifmayed, before the inhabitants, any corn they chance to
meet with J. The Cat makes great havock among them, being at all
feafons as great an enemy to them as to domeftic Mice. It is hunger
alone that tames them. They are naturally of a very wild nature, will
bite moft feverely, and cannot by any means be rendered familiar.

They are remarkably nice in the choice of their food^ when the vari-
ety of autumnal provifions gives opportunity. They have been ob-
ferved, after having ftuff'ed their pouches with the grains of rye, to
fling it out when they meet with wheat, and to replace the rye with
the more delicious corn.

Their flcins, form a trifling article of commerce, being brought
over among le menue ^elliterie, the fmall furs, and ufed for the lining
of ladies cloaks.

In Sibiria they are killed with blunt arrows, or caught in fall-traps.
About the Lenay the boys go out in the amorous feafon of thefe
little animals, and, ftanding behind a tree, mimic the noife of the
females, which brings the males within reach of their flicks, with which

* Hifi, ^ad. N» 324, t Pallas, Novi S/>, an, 379. % Du Pratz, ii. 6S.

they

taS ENGLISH DORMOUSE.

they kill them. The (kins are fold to the Chineje merchants. About
the Lena^ a thoufand of their Ikins are not valued at more than fix
or eight rubles *.

Thefe animals are found in great numbers in Jfia^ beginning about
the river Kama f , and from thence growing more and more frequent
in the wooded parts of Sibiria j but thefe, and all the fpecies of
Squirrel, ceafe towards the north-eaft extremity of the country, by
reafon of the interruption of woods, which cuts them off from Kamt-
fchatka.

55. Enclish ? Dormoufe, Sr. Zool. i.N° 234.^ — Hi/, ^ad. N® 289. — Smellii, iv, 334. — Lev. Mu3.

Mr. Law/on fays that the Englijh Dormoufe is found in Carolina ;
but it has not as yet been tranfmitted to Great Britain, In order to
afcertain the fpecies, I add a brief defcription*

DORMOUSE. With full black eyes : broad, thin, femi-tranf-
parent ears : throat white : reft of the body and the tail of a
tawny red. Size of the common Moufe j but the body of a plumper
form, and the nofe more blunt : tail two inches and a half long,
covered on every fide with hair.

In Europe, inhabits thickets ; forms its neft at the bottom of a tree
or Ihrub j forms magazines of nuts for winter food ; fits up to eat,
like the Squirrel ; lies torpid moft of the winter ; in its retreat,
rolled up into the Ihape of a ball 3 retires to its neft at approach of
Cold weather,

• Ptdlasy Nov, Sp. an. 380.

t A river falling into the WoJga about forty miles below Ce^an.

HIST.

B L A C K R A T. ^^9

HIS T. ^UAD, Genus XXXIII. ^^T.

Sr.ZcoL i. No 25. — ^//?. %«</. N" zg^.-^Smellie, iv. 275.— Lev. Muj. 56. Blacic.

RAT. With head and body of a very deep iron grey, nearly
black : belly afh-colored : legs almoft naked, and dulky : a
claw inltead of a fifth thumb on the fore feet. Length, from nofc
to tail, feven inches ; tail near eight.

Inhabits Nor^b Americaj not only the fettled parts, but even the
rocks of the Blue mountains *, remote from all human dwellings.
There they live among the ftones, and in the fubterraneous grottos
frequent in thofe hills. They lie clofe during day, but at night
come out, and make a moll horrible noife amidft thefe American
alps. In violent frofts they lie torpid ; and in the inhabited parts
of the country they are obferved to redouble their fcreaks before fe-
vere weather, as if they had fome prefage from their conftitutions.

By Mr. Bartram's, obfervations it appears very certain, that thefe
animals are natives of America. They are found even at prefent in
the moft defolate places, as well as in the houfes and barns of the
inhabited parts. It is unknown in Europey that either the common
Rat or Moufe ever deferted the haunts of mankind, for rocks and
deferts : they therefore have been there from the earlieft times. It
is likely, that if ever the Blue mountains become inhabited, the
v/ild Rats will quit their rocks, and refort to thofe places where they
find harvelled food, and will quickly become pernicioufly domefiic.

We are pofitively told, that South America was free from thefe
troublefome animals, till they were introduced there from Europe^ by
the means of fhips, in 1544 1-

* Bariram, as quoted by Mr, K<i/m, ii. 47. f Garcilajfo de la Vega^ 384.

S We

ijo BROWN, AMERICAN, AND WATER, RAT.

We find none of the fpecies in Kamtfchatka, nor any where to the
eaftof the Urallian chain. America muft therefore have been (locked
with them from the fide of Europe^ They are very common in
Rujfia. Towards Aftracan they are very fmall, but of the fame color
with the others.

<^']. Brown. Br. Zool. i. N" 26. — 77//?. ^ad, N° 298. — Smellie, iv. 336.— Lev. Mus.

AT. Above, light brown mixed with tawny, diifky, and cine-
reous : below, of a dirty vdiite : four toes before, and a claw
inflead of a fifth toe.

I have no authority for giving this fpecies a place here : but muft
fuppofe that the new world could not poflibly efcape the peft, as it is
univerfally become a mod defbrudive inhabitant of European fhips.

58. American. ^^^ ^^^^ ^, ^^^^

Characho, Jike Cholqomac, or Great Moufe of the Monguh. — Lev. Mus.

AT. With the upper jaw extending very far beyond the lower :
ears large and naked : tail rather fhorter, in proportion, than
that of the Black, to which it is rather fuperior in fize : color a dufky
brown.

The fpecimen, from which this defcription is taken, was fent from
North America to Sir Apton Lever; but I am not informed, whether
it only frequented the deferts, or infefted houfes.

59. Watir. Br. Zool. N°300. — Hiji. ^ad. N° 300. — Smellie, iv. 290, — Lev. Mus.

AT. With fmall eyes: ears covered with the fur: teeth yel-
low : body covered with long hairs, black mixed with a few of
a ruft-color : belly of a deep grey.

Length

MOUSE, AND FIELD RAT. iji

Length of the head and body feven inches j tail five, covered with
fhort black hair?. Weight nine ounces.

Inhabits North America, from Canada to Carolina *. In the firft,
varies to tawny and to white f : feeds on the fry of fifh, infeds, fheli-
fifh, frogs, and roots ; burrows on the banks of ponds and rivers ;
and dives and fwims as well as an Otter, notwithftanding it is not
web-footed.

In northern Europe and Jfta it is extremely common ; from PeterJ-
hurgh to Kamtjchatka in Sibiria, they are twice as large as in other
places. They are found alfo from Lapland to the Cajpian fea, and
alfo in Ferfta ; and are one of the animals which endure the cold of
the Ar(5tic circle.

Br. Zool,\. N" lO.—HiJl.^iad. N° -^oi. —Smellie, iv. 282.— Lev. Mus. g^^ Mouse.

T^HIS common animal needs no defcription. It is very abun-
dant in the inhabited parts oi AniericaX^ and is to be found
from Pelerjhurgh perhaps as far as Kamtjchatka.

Z^f^/;;?? imagines them to be Vi2X\Yt% q>1 America \ for he affures us
that he has killed them in the crevices of the rocks in defert places,
far from the haunt of man |.

Hiji.^ad. N° 302. a. American. — Sme/I/e, Iv. zS^. — Lev. Mus. ^ r

AT. With great, naked, and open ears : cheeks, fpace below the
ears, and fides quite to the tail, orange-colored : back dufky
and ruft-colored, marked along the top, from head to tail, with a
dark line : throat, breaft, and belly, of a pure white : tail dufky
above, white beneath : feet white : hind legs longer than thofe of
the EngliJJj kind.

Length about four inches and a half; of the tail, four inches.
Inhabits Hud/on's Bay and New Tork.

* Lanv/on Carolina, 122. \ De Buffon, xlv. 401. J Kalm, ii. 46.

II The fame, 47.

S 2 • HiJI.

132 VIRGINIAN, LABRADOR, AND HUDSON'S, RAT,

62. Virginian. Hi/, ^ad. H* 307.

RAT. With a black nofe : fur fhort, and in all parts white :
limbs flender : tail very thick at the bafe, tapering to a pointy
and cloathed with long hair.

Sel^a alone, vol. i. p. 76. tab. xlvii. fig. 4, defcribes this fpecies^

6^. Labrador. j^i/?. ^ad. N" 295.

R

AT. With a blunt nofe : mouth placed far below : upper lip
bifid : ears large, naked, rounded : fore legs fliort, furnifhed
with four toes, and a tubercle inftead of a thumb : hind legs long
and naked, like fome of the Jerboas : toes long, (lender, and diilinft j
the exterior toe the fhorteft : thumb fhort.
She. The whole length of the animal is eight inches, of which the tail

is four and three quarters.
Colors, Color above a deep brown, beneath white, feparated on each fide

by a yellow line.

Inhabits Hudfon's Bay and Labrador. Sent over by Mr. Graham,

* * With Ihort tails.
64. Hudson's. Hiji. ^ad. N* 319.— Lev. Mus.

AT. With foft long hair, dulky at the bottom, whitilh brown
at the points : along the middle of the back, from head to tail,
runs a duiky line : fides yellowilh : belly and infide of the thighs of
a dirty white.

Legs very Ihort : on the toes of the fore feet of the male only are
four very large and Iharp claws, tuberculated beneath i in the fe-
male fmaller and weaker : on the hind feet five toes with fiender
claws. ^ - ^^.j

MEADOW AND HARE-TAILED RAT, ijj

Tail not three quarters of an inch long, terminating with long-
ftifF hairs j it is fcarcely vifible, being almoft loft in the fur.

Defcribed from a ilcin which Do6lor P«//^^ favored me with, which
he received from the Labrador coaft.

This is nearly a-kin to the Lemmus, '

Short-tailed Field Moufe? Br. Zool. i. N° 31. — Hiji, ^ad. N° 322 ? — Smellie, gr. Meadow f

iv. 293. — Lev. Mus.

RAT. With a blunt nofe : great head: prominent eyes: ears
buried in the fur : head and upper part of the body of a ferru-
ginous brown mixed with black : belly of a deep afh-color.

Length, from head to tail, fix inches j tail only one and a half, with
a fmall tuft at the end.

Inhabits Hudjons Bay and Newfoundland y in the laft very nume-
rousj and does vaft damage in the gardens j refides under ground.

mj}. ^ad, N" 320. 66.HARE-TArLEi>,

"OAT. With fmall and rounded ears : head broad j color duflcy
-■-^ and tawny brown : the belly of a dirty white : a dufky lin^
pafles from between the eyes, and extends obfcurely along the
back. Larger than the common Moufe. Defcribed from fo muti-
lated a fpecimen, fent to the Royal Society from Hudfon's Bay *, that
it was impoflible to determine the fpecies j only, by the dark line
along the back, it feemed likeft the Hare-tailed, an inhabitant
of Sibiriay whofe manners ai-e defcribed in the Hiftory of Qua-
drupeds.

* Ph, TV, Ixii. 379. Sp.- 15.

CECONOMIJC,

'34

CE C O N O M rC RAT.

A. CEcONOMic, Hift. '^lad. N° 313.— i>^r. Kamtfchatka, Fr. cd. 392.

AT. With naked ears^ ufually hid in the fur : fmall eyes: teeth
tav/ny : limbs flrong : color, an intermixture of black and yel-
low, darkeft on the back : under fide hoary.

Length four inches and a quarter, to the tail -, the tail one inch.

Inhabits in vaft abundance Sibiria, from the eafl: fide of the Ural-
lian chain, even within the Ar6lic circle, and quite to Kamtfchatka,
It is the noted T^egultjchitch of that country, diftinguifhed by its cu-
riou.s oeconomy and by its vaft migrations.

They make their burrows with the greateft fl^ill, immediately be-
low the furface of the foft turfy Ibil. They form a chamber of a
flattifli arched form,. of a fmall height, and about a foot in diameter,
to which they fometimes add as many as thirty fmall pipes or entrances.
Near the chamber they often form other caverns, in which they lodge
their winter (lores : thefe confift of various kinds of plants, even
fome of fpecies poifonous to mankind. They gather them in fum-
mer, harveft them, and even at times bring them out of the cells
to give them a more thorough drying in the fun. The chief labor
refts on the females. The males, during fummer, go about folitary,
and inhabit fome old nefts -, and in that feafon never touch their
hoards, but live on berries. They are monogamous, and the male
and female at other times found in the fame n^fl. The female brings
two or three young at a time, and breeds often in the year.

10 No

CECONOMIC AND RED RAT. IJ5

No little anim lis are fo refpeded by the Kamtjchatkans as thefe,
for to them they owe a delicious food ; and with great joy, about
autumn, rob the hoards, and leave there many ridiculous prtfents
byway of amends : they alfo never take the whole of their provifions,
and leave befides a little dried ovaries of fifli for their fupport.

But the migrations of thefe Mice, in certain years, is as extraordi- Migrations.
nary a fa6t as any in natural hiftory : I will only mention thofe of
Kamtfchatka. The caufe is unknown. Do6lor Pallas thinks it may
arife from the fenfations of internal fire in that vulcanic tra6l, or a
prefcience of fome unufual and bad feafon. They gather together in
the fpring in amazing numbers, except the fev/ that are converfant
about villages, where they can pick up fome fubfiilance. This makes
it probable that the country is over-flocked, and they quit it for
want of food. The mighty hofl proceeds in a direft courfe wefl-
ward, and with the utmofl intrepidity fwim.s over rivers, lakes, and
even arms of the fea : many are drowned, many deflroyed by water-
fowl, or rapacious fifh ; thofe which efcape refl awhile, to bafk, dry
their fur, and refrefh themfelves. If the inhabitants find them in that
fituation, they treat them with the utmofl tendernefs, and endeavour
to bring them to life and vigor. As foon as they have croPfed the
river Pen/chimi at the head of the gulph of the fame name;, they turn
fouthward, and reach the rivers Judoma and Ochot by the middle of
July. The fpace is mofl furprifing, on confulting the map of the
country. The flocks are alfo fo numerous, that an obferver has
waited two hours to fee them all pafs. Their return into Kamt/chatkaj
in O^oher, is attended with the utmofl feflivity and welcome. The
natives confider it as a fure prognoftic of a fuccefsful chafe and
fifhery : the firfl is certain, as the Mice are always followed by mul-
titudes of beafls of prey. They equally lament their migration, as
the feafon is certainly filled with rains and tempefls.

Rep.

136 LEMMUS RAT.

B. Red, /f(y?. j^/7^. N° 3I4.•

RAT. With briftly nofe and face: ears oval, rifing above the
hair, naked, only tipt with fur : color, from forehead to rump,
a bright red : fides light grey and yellow : belly whitilh : tail dufky
above, light below.

Length not four inches ; tail more than one.

Grow very common beyond the Oby and live fcattered over all
Sibiria, in woods and mountains, and about villages j extend even
to the Arctic circle. It is the TJchetanauJiJchu^ or Red Mouje of the
Kamtfchatkans. It is a fort of drone : makes no provifion for itfelf, but
robs the hoards of the laft fpecies *. Lives under logs of trees ; fre-
quents houfes J dares the fevereft weather, and is abroad amidft the
fnows ; feeds on any thing, and is often caught in the traps fet for
Ermines, in attempting to devour the bait.

C. Lemmus, Hiji, ^ad. N° 317. — Godd'e Saeppan, LeemSf 224.

RAT. With fmall eyes and moufh : upper lip divided : ears fmall,
placed far backwards : four {lender toes on the fore feet, and a
fharp claw, like a cock's fpur, in place of a thumb : fkin very thin.
Color of the head black and tawny, of the belly yellow.

Length of thofe oi Scandinavian Lapland^ above five inches; thofe
of the Ruffian dominions not four.

The manners and wonderful migrations of the Lemmi of Europe ^
have been fully treated of in my Hiflory of Quadrupeds.

They abound in the countries from the White Sea to the gulph of
the Ohy^ and in the northern end of the Urallian chain j but differ
in fize and color from thofe of Europe. Like them, they migrate at
certain periods ; and tend from the Urallian mountains, fometimes
towards Jevejei, fometimes towards Petzorahj and at thofe times re-

• Defer. Kamt/chatka, 392.

joice

LENA AND RINGED RAT. 1J7

jolce the Samoieds with a rich chafe of the animals which piirfue the
wanderers. The Samoieds aflert, that the Rein-Deer will greedily
devour them ; perhaps they take them medicinally, as Sheep are
known as greedily to feek and fwallow Spiders.

©. Lena, Mus Gmelini, Pa/las, Nov, Sp. an, 195.

"13 AT. With fhort round ears : white whifkers : thick broad bo-
-'-^ dy, in all parts nearly of equal breadth : tail Ihort^ thickly
covered with rude hairs : five toes on the fore feet, with claws very
ftrong and white : four on the hind feet, with claws much weaker 1
the fur pretty long j three parts of its length, from the roots, cine-
reous, the reft white j fo that the animal appears entirely white, except
the cheeks, which are afh-colored, and the chin, which is dufky.

The length is three inches one-fifth, the tail four-fifths of an
inch.

They are feen in great numbers in autumn, on the borders of the
Icy Sea, and about the parts of the Lena that fall into it. They
appear fuddenly, and depart as expeditioufly. They feed on the
roots of moffes, and are themfelves the food of Ar5iic Foxes. Per-
haps they extend to the Jenefei : for it is faid that there are two forts
of Mice found there ; one wholly white j the other black, yellow> and
white, which perhaps is the Lemmus *.

E. Ringed, Hift,^ad. N" 205.

RAT. With a blunt nofe : ears hid in the fur : hair very fine \
claws ftrong and hooked : color of the upper part, fometimes
ferruginous, fometimes light grey undulated with deep ruft- color :
a crefcent of white extends on each, from the hind part of the head
towards the throat, bounded on each fide by a bed of ruft-color.

* Nov, Sp, aft. 197.

T Length

ij8 T C H E L A G R A T.

Length to the tail little more than three inches 3 tail one, termi-
nated by a briftly tuft.

Found in the Ar5lic neighborhood of the Ohy. Makes its neft
with rein, deer and fnowy liver- worts, juft beneath the turfy furface.
Are faid to migrate, like the Lemtnus,

P. TcHEtAC, Defer. Kamtfchatka, 392.

TH E author of the defcription of that great peninfula fays no
more than that it is a very fmall fpecies ; frequents houfes s,
and will go out and eat boldly any thing it has flolen. The natives
call it 'Tchela^atchitch^

HJsr.

F CE T I D SHREW. 139

HIST ^UAD. Gekus XXXIX. SHREW.

Br. Zool. i. N° iz.—HiJi. ^ad. N* 341.— Smellie, iv. 305. 67. Foetid ?

SHREW. With the head and upper part of the body dufl<:y:
fides of a brownilh ruft-color : eyes very fmall, ahnoft hid in
tlie fur : ears fhort : nofe very long and (lender : upper mandible
extends far beyond the lower.

Inhabits Hud/on s Bay^ and probably Carolina^ as Law/on mentions
a Moufe found there which poifons Cats * if they eat it. It is a no-
tion in England that they are venomous : it is notorious that our Cats
will kill, but not feed on them ; probably thofe of America have the
fame inflin6t: fo that their deaths in the new world muft arife from
fome other caufe, and be falfely attributed to thefe animals.

Mr. Graham fent over two other fpecimens, befides that defcribed.
They were of a dufky grey above, and of a yellowifh white beneath :
their fize, rather iefs than the Englijh kind; one being only two inches
and a quarter long, the other only two inches ; but they feemed noc
to differ fpecifically from the other.

The common Shrew is found in RuJJla ; in all parts of Sibiriay evea
in the Ar5lic flats ; and in Kamtfchatka.

* Hiji, Carolina, 115.

T 2 nisr.

HO LONG-TAILED AND RADIATED MOLE.

MOLE. Hist. ^UJD. Genus XXXV,

63. LoNG^ TAILED. Hiji. ^ad, N" 552. — Lev. Muj.

MOLE. With two cutting teeth in each jaw, and two fharp
(lender canine : the grinders fmall and iharp : nofe long, tlie
end radiated with Ihort tendrils : fore feet not fo broad as thofe of
the EngliJJj Mole, furnifhed with very long white claws : toes on the
hind feet quite feparated : body not fo thick and full as that of
the common Ipecies : hair long^ foftj and of a. rufty brown : tail co-
vered with Ihort hair.

Length of the body four inches two-tenths i of the tail, two ancS
a half.

Inhabits North America. Received from New Tork^

6g. Radiated* ffiji, ^ad. N** ^^i.^SmelSe, iv. 516.— Lev. Mws.

M

OLE. With a long nofe, radiated like the former : the
body fhorter, and more full i hair duflcy, very long, fine, and'
compaft : fore feet refembling thofe of the preceding ; but the toes^
of the hind feet are clofely conneded.

Length to the tail three inches three quarters : the tail flender,,

round, and taper,, one inch three-tenths long*

Received from Neiv Tork.

Mamners, This fpecies forms fubterraneous paflages in the field's, running irr^

various dire<5tions, and very Ihallow. Their courfe may be traced

by the elevation of the earth on the furface, in form of 2l little bank,,,

two inches high, and as broad as a man's hand. Thefe holes are

finable to fupport any weight, fo that walkers find it very trouble-

^ feme:

BROWN MOLE. 141

fome to go over places where thefe animals inhabit, the ground per^
petually breaking under their feet *.

Thefe Moles have all the ftrength in their legs as thofe o^ Europe^
and work in the ^ame manner. They feed on roots, are very iraf-
cible, and will bite very feverely.

HiJi.Sluai, N''353. — Lev. Mus. 70* Brown.

OLE. With a long and very flender nofe : two broad cutting
teeth in the upper, four fharp and flender in the lower, jaw j
the two middlemofl; fhort : the grinders very numerous, ftrong, fharp,
and feparate : the fore feet very broad y thofe and the hind feet ex-
adly like thofe of the European kind.

Length about fix inches j tail one,

I received two fpecimens of this animal from New York, The PtACi.

hair in both foft, filky, and glofly : the hair in each dufky at the
bottom J but in one, the ends were of a yellowifh brown ; in the
other, brown : the feet and tail of both were white. I fufpeft that
they were varieties of the kind defcribed by Seha f , which he got
from Virginia : it was totally black, gloffed over with a mofl re-
fplendent purple. I may here note, the Tail-lefs Mole, figured by
Sel^a in the fame plate, is not a native of Sil>iria, as he makes itj but
is an inhabitant of the Cape of Good Hope,

Thefe three fpecies agree pretty nearly with the Shrew in the fore
teeth J for which reafon Linnaus clafTes the two he defcribes among the
Sorices. I call them Moles from their fhape, which differs not from
the European kind ; but thofe who chufe to be very fyftematic, may '

divide the genus of Shrews, and fly le thefe Sorices ^alpa-formes.

• Ka/m,i* 19O9 f P. 51. tab. xx;cii.

T^ EUR0PEAK,»

142 M O L E. H E D G E . H O G.

A. European, Hijl.^ad.xu N<' Br.ZooL'u

M.

OLE. With fix cutting teeth in the upper; eight in the
lower jaw j and two canine teeth in each : color of the fur
black.
Place. Inhabits 6'w^</^«i but does not extend farther than the fouth of

Norway, where it is called Vo7jd. Is frequent in the temperate parts
oi RuJJia, and even in Sibiriaj as far as the Lena. In Sibiria it is
twice as big as thofe o{ Europe. Is found there milk-white, but more
ufually fo in the Verchoturian mountains.

H E D G E - H O G, Hifi. ^lad. Genus XXXVI.

B. Common, Hifi. ^chI. ii. N° 355.-5/'. Zool. i. N'

EDGE-HOG. With noftrils bounded on each fide by a loofe
flap : ears rounded : back covered with prickles, white, barred
with black : face, fides, and rump, with ftrong coarfe hair : tail an
inch long.
Place; Is found \n Sweden, in the diocefe o( Jggerhuys ; and in that of

Bergen, in Norway *. It is called, in the Norwegian tongue, Bujiedyvel,
Is common in Ruffla, except in the extreme northern and fouthern
parts. None in Sibiria, or very fcarce at left,

• Lstrnt, 229. Pento^pidan, ii. aS. ^

10 D I V »

D I V. III.

PINNATED Q^U A D R U P E D Sj
Or,, with Fln-like Feet..

144 A R C T I C W ^ L R U S.

D I V. III. Pinnated Quadrupeds ;
Or, with Fin-like Feet.

WALRUS. HIST. ^U J D, Genus XLI.

71. Arctic. ^r)?. %<t</. N" 373.— P>&/>/i*/«r«jf. 184.

Rofmarus, Zimmertnaftf J30.
Le Tricheque, Schrtber, ii. 82. tab. Ixxix.
Cheval Marin, Hift, Kamt/cbatka, 427. — SmelUe, vii. 354. — Lev, Mus,

DEJCRiFTiaw. TTTALRUS. With a round head ; fliortneck; fm all and fiery
VV eyes, funk a finger's depth in the fockets, and retradtile from
external injuries*: mouth very fmall j lips very thick, befet above
and below with great whilkers, compofed of briftles, tranfparent,
and thick as a ftraw : inftead of ears are two minute orifices, placed
in the moft diftant part of the head.

Body is very thick in the middle, leffening gradually towards the
tail. The flcin in general is an inch thick, and two about the neck f,
and much wrinkled about the joints : it is covered with fhort hair,
of a moufe-color ; fome with reddilh, others with grey j others are
almoft bare, as if they were mangy, and full of fears J.

The legs are very fhort ; on each foot are five toes, connefled by
•webs, with a fmall blunt nail to each. The hind feet, like thofe of
' Seals, are very broad : the tail is very fhort : the penis two feet long,

and of a bony fubflance,

* Crantz, i. 126. f Crantz, i, 125. J Marten's Spitzherg.

In

ARCTIC WALRUS.

145

In the upper jaw are two very long tufks, bending downwards.
No cutting teeth ; but in each jaw, above and below, four grinders,
flat at top, and the furfaces of thofe which I examined much worn.
The length of the largeft tuflc I have heard of, was two feet three
inches, EngliJIj meafure, the circumference at the lower end, eight
and a half; the greateft weight of a fingle tufk twenty pounds :
but fuch are rarely found, and only on the coafts of the Icy fea, where
they are feldom molefted, and of courfe permitted to attain their full
growth *.

The Walrus is fometimes found of the length of eighteen feet,
and the circumference, in the thickeft part, ten or twelve. The
weight from fifteen hundred to two thoufand pounds.

Inhabits, in prefent times, the coafts of the Magdalene iflands, in
the gulph of St. Laurence^ between latitude 47 and 48, their moft
foutherly refidence in any part of the globe. They are not found
on the feas of Lahradore. The EJkimaux purchafe the teeth, for
the heading their Seal-darts, from the Indians of Nuckvatikj about lat.
6aj who fay, that they are annually vifited in the winter by multitudes
of thefe animals f . They are found in Davis's Streights, and with-
in Hudjon's Bay^y in lat. 62. They alfo inhabit the coaft of Green-
land. I am uncertain whether they frequent Iceland ; but they are
found in great numbers near the iflands of Spitzbergeny and on all the
floating ice from thence to Cherry IJle^ a folitary fpot intermediate
between the laft and the moft northerly point of Norway. In 1608,
they were found there in fuch numbers, huddled on one another,
like hogs, that a fhip's crew killed above nine hundred in feven
hours time §.

If they are found in the feas of Norway y it is very rare || in thefe
days. LeemSy p. 310, fays that they fometimes frequent the fea
about Finmark ; but about the year 980, they feemed to have been
fa numerous in the northern parts, as to become objeds of chafe and

Tketh.

Size.

Place.

America.,

Spitzbergen.
Cherry Isle.

Norway..

* Hiji Kamtfchatka, I20.
Marttns Spitzber^. 182.

+ Ph. Tranf. Ixiv. 378.
II FonioppidattiXX. 15:7.

u

X Ellis^s 'voy, 80.

commerce..

14,6 ARCTIC WALRUS.

commerce. The famous OElher the Norwegian^ a native of Hclge-
land in the diocefe of 'Dronthem^ incited by a moft laudable curiofity
and thirft of difcovery, failed to the north of his country, doubled
the North Cafe, and in three days fi-om his departure arrived at the
fartheft place, frequented by the Horfe-whale hi^,\tTS. From thence
he proceeded a voyage of tliree days more, and perhaps got into the
White Sea. On his return he vifited England, probably incited by
the fame of King Alfrid\ abilities, and the great encouragement he
gave to men of diftinguiflied chara6ler in every profefllon. The
traveller, as a proof of the authenticity of his relation, prefented the
Saxon monarch with fome of the teeth of thefe animals, then a fub-
ftitute of ivory, and valued at a high price. In his account of his
voyage, he alfo added that their f^ins were ufed in the Ihips inftead
of ropes *.
Nova Zemela, They are found again on the coafls oi Nova Zemhla, and on the
headlands which ftretch mioil towards the north Pole -, and as far as
the 'Tfchutki point, and the ifles off that promontory. They fcarcely
extend lower than the neighborhood of the country of xht Anadyr, but
are feen in great abundance about cape Newnham, on the coail of
America. The natives of the iflands off the Tchutki No/s ornament
' themfelves with pieces of the Walrus ftuck through their lips or nofes ;

for which reafon they are called by their neighbors Zoohatee, or large-
teethed -\. The natives -stkiOwtUnalaJcha, Sandwich Sound, zndi 'Turn-
again river, obferve the fame fafhion. I entertain doubts whether
thefe animals are of the fame fpecies with thofe of the Gulph of St.
.Laurence. The tuflcs of thofe of the Frozen Sea are much longer,
more flender, and have a twift and inward curvature.

They are gregarious, and fometimes have been found together in
thoufands ; are very Ihy, and avoid the haunts of mankind. They
ufually are feen on the floating ice, preferring that for their refidence,
as their bodies require cooling, by reafon of the heat which arifes
from their exceflive fatnefs \.

* Hackluyt,]. ^. t mji.Kamtfchatka, i^-]. % Nov. Com, Pe^trop. n. 291'^

They*"

Manners.

^ R 1 1 i C W A L R u s. H?

l^fiey aire monogamous i couple in 7««^, and bring forth in the
feairlieft fpring *. They bring one f, or very rarely two young at a
time J feed on fea-plants, fifli, and Ihellsj v/hich they either dig out
of the fand, or force from the rocks with their great teeth. They
make ufe alfo of their teeth to afcend the iflands of ice, by faftening
them in the cracks, and by that means draw up their bodies.

They fleep both on the ice and in the water, and fnore excefllvely
loud J.

They are harmlefs, unlefs provoked -, but when wounded, or at-
tacked, grow very fierce, and are very vindidlive. When lurprifed
upon the ice, the females firft provide for the fafety of the young, by
flinging it into the fea, and itfelf after it, carrying it to a fecure
diftance, then returning with great rage to revenge the injury.
They will fometimes attempt to fallen their teeth on the boats, with
an intent to fmk them, Or rife in numbers under them to overfet .
them ; at the fame time they fhew all marks of ragej by roaring in a
dreadful manner, and gnafhing their teeth with great violence j if
once thoroughly irritated, the whole herd will follow the boats till they ,
lofe fight of them. They are ftrongly attached to each other, and '
will make every effort in their power, even to death, to fet at liberty
their harpooned companions |!.

A wounded Walrus has been known to fink to the bottom, rife
fuddenly again, and bring up with it multitudes of others, who united
in an attack on the boat from which the infult came §. -

They fling the water out of their noHrils, as the Whale does out of
Its head. When chafed hard, they commonly vomit, and fling up
fmall ilones. Their dung is like that of a Horfe, and excefllvely
fetid, efpecially where they are found in large companies^ -

The tongue, which is about the fize af a Cow's, may be eaten, if Ujses.

boiled frefli j but if kept, foon runs into oil. The teeth ufed to be
applied to all the purpofes of ivory i but the animals are now killed

• Faun. Greeel.^, -^ BarenlZyJ^. X Martens, icg. \\ Martens, no.

§ Phipps's voy. 57.

U 2 only

148 A R C T I C W A L R U S.

only for the fake of the oil. Seamen make rings of the bridles of
the whill^ers, which they wear as prefervatives againft the cramp.
The French coach-makers have made traces for coaches of the fliins,
which are faid to be flrong and elaftic *. The Ruffians formerly ufed
the bone of the penis pulverifed, as a remedy againft the ftone f .
Bartholinus % recommends it, infufed in ale, in firs of the ftrangury.
The Greenlanders eat the flelh and lard, and ufe the laft in their lamps.
Of the H'vin they make ftraps. They fplit the tendons into thread j
' and ufe the teeth to head their daits, or to make pegs in their boats.

Their only enemies, befides mankind, are the Polar Bears, with
whom they have dreadful conflifts. Their feuds probably arife
from the occupancy of the fame piece of ice. The Walrus is ufually
vidorious, through the fuperior advantage of its vaft teeth 1|. The
efFeds of the battle are very evident ; for it is not often that the
hunters find a beaft with two entire tufks §.

" The Walrus, or Sea Cow, as it is called by the Americans,'' fays
Lord Shuldham f , " is a native of the Magdalene iflands, St. John'Sy
" and Anticojliy in the gulph of St. Laurence. They refort, very
« early in the fpring, to the former of thefe places, which feems by
<* nature particularly adapted to the nature of the animals, abound-
" ing with clams (efcallops) of a very large fize ; and the moft
«' convenient landing-places, called Echoueries. Here they crawl up
" in great numbers, and remain fometimes for fourteen days together
" without food, when the weather is fair j but on the firft appear-
" ance of rain, they retreat to the water with great precipitation.

* De Buffon. t Worm, Muf. 290.

X As quoted in Mufeum Regium Hafni^e, Sec. pars. i. feft. iii. 9.

,(| Egede, 83. § Crantz, i. 126. ^ Phil. Tranf, Ixv. part. i. 249.

The French call them Vacbes Marines. Charlevoix, v. 216. That voyager fays,
that the Englijh had once a fifhery of thefe animals on the IJle de Sable, a. fmall lAand
fouth of CaJ>e Breton ; but it turned out to no advantage,

« They

ARCTIC WALRUS. 149

«' They are, when out of the water, very unwieldy, and move with
," great difficulty. They weigh from fifteen hundred to two thou-
" fand pounds, producing, according to their frze, from one to two
" barrels of oil, which is boiled out of the fat between the fkin and
«^ the flefh. Immediately on their arrival, the females calve, and
<f engender again in two months after j fo that they carry their young
" about nine months. They never have more than two at a time,
" and feldom more than one.

*' The Echoueries* 2iVt formed principally by nature, being a gradual
** flope of foft rock, with which the Magdalene iflands abound, about
" eighty or a hundred yards wide at the water-fide, and fpreading fo
*' as to contain, near the fummit, a very large number of thefe ani-
" iTials. Here they are fuffered to come on fhore, and amufe the'm-
*' felves for a confiderable time, till they acquire a degree of bold-
«^ nefs, being at their firft landing fo exceedingly timid as to make
" it impoflible for any perfon to approach them.

" In a few weeks they alTemble in great multitudes : formerly, when
" undifturbed by the Americans, to the amount of feven or eight
" thoufand. The form of the Echouerie not allowino; them to re-
" main contiguous to the water, the foremoft are infenfibly pufhed
" above the flope. When they are arrived at a convenient diftance,
" the hunters, being provided with a fpear fharp on one fide, like a
" knife, with which they cut their throats, take advantage of a fide^
" wind, or a breeze blowing obliquely upon the Ihore, to prevent
" the animals from fmelling them, becaufe they have that fenfe in
" great perfedlion. Having landed, the hunters, with the 'alTiftance
" of good dogs, trained for that purpofe, in the night-time endea-
" vour to feparate thofe which are moft advanced from the other?,
« driving them different ways. This they call making a cut •■, it is
" generally looked upon to be a moft dangerous procefs, it being
" impoflible to drive them in any particular dire6lion, and difficult
" to avoid them \ but as the Walrufes, which are advanced above^

• This word is derived from Eehouer, to land, or run on Ihore. •
"3 the

i$o ARCTIC WALRUS.

<* the flope of the Echouerie, are deprived by the darknefs of the
<f night from every dire^ion to the water, they are left wandering
*f about, and killed at leifure, thofe that are neareft the fhore being
'' the firft vi6lims. In this manner have been killed fifteen or fix-
" teen hundred at a chL

*f The people then fkin them, and take off a coat of fat which al-
<^« ways furrounds them, and diflblve it into oil. The Ikin is cut
«' into flices of two or three inches wide, and exported to America
" for carriage traces, and into England for glue. The teeth make
" an inferior fort of ivory, and is manufactured for that purpofe i
" but very foon turns yellow."

HIST,

C O mU O N S E A L. 151

// 1ST. ^UJD. Genus XLIL SEAL.

Br.Zool. i. N^7i.— H//?. ^fl^. N°-j75.—Sme//ie, 72. Common.

Kaffigiak, Fau». GreetiL N° 6. — Lev. Mus.

EAL. "With a flat head and nofe : large black eyes : large
whifkers : fix cutting teeth in the upper jaw ; four in the lower:
two canine teeth in each jaw : no external ears : hair on all parts
fhort and thick : five toes on each foot, furnilhed with ftrong fharp
claws, and ftrongly v/ebbed : tail fnort and flat.

Ufual length of this fpecies, from five to fix feet. Their color
differs ; dufl^y, brinded, or fpotted with white and yellow.

Inhabits all the European feas, even to the extreme north ; and is
found far within the Jr£fic circle, in both European and Aftatic feas.
It is continued to thofe of Kamtjchatka *.

Thefe animals may be called the flocks of the Greenlanders, and
many other of the Arctic people. I cannot defcribe the ufes of them
to the former more cxpreflively than in the very words of Mr. Crantz,
a gentleman very long refident in their chilly country.

«' Seals are more needful to them than Sheep are to us, though they their great
*^ furnifh us with food and raiment; or than the cocoa-tree is to the i^„y!!,7*°.TT*^!.

vrR£ENLAND£RSa

'* IndianSy although that prefents them not only with meat to ea;t, and
" covering for their bodies, but alfo houfes to dwell in, and boats to
" fail in, fo that in cafe of necefTity they could live folely from it. The
*' Seals flefli (together with the Rein-deer, which is already grown
<«^ pretty fcarce) fupplies the natives with their mofl: palatable and fub-
" ftantial food. Their fat furnifhes them with oil for lamp-light, cham-
" ber and kitchen fire ; and whoever fees their habitations, prefently

* Steller, in Nov, Com, Pitrop* ii, 290.

7 finds.

152 C O M M O N S E A L,

" finds, that if they even had a fuperfluity of wood, it would not do,
" they can ufe nothing but train in them. They alfo mollify their
" dry food, moftly fifli, in the train ; and finally, they barter it for all
" kinds of necelTaries with the fadtor. They can few better with
«^ fibres of the Seals finews than with thread or filk. Of the fkins of
" the entrails they make their windows, curtains for their tents,
" fhirts, and part of the bladders they ufe at their harpoons ; and
" they make train bottles of the maw. Formerly, for want of iron,
" they made all manner of inftruments and working-tools of their
" bones. Neither is the blood wafted, but boiled with other ingre-
" dients, and eaten as foup. Of the fkin of the Seal they fland in
" the greateft need ; for, fuppofing the (kins of Rein-deer and birds
" would furnifh them with competent cloathing for their bodies,
" and coverings for their bedsj and their flefh, together with fifh,
" with fufficient food -, and provided they could drefs their meat
'* with wood, and alfo new model their houfe- keeping, fo as to have
" light, and keep themfelves warm with it too ; yet without the
" Seals fkins they would not be in a capacity of acquiring thefe
*^ fame Rein-deer, fowls, fifhes, and wood j becaufe they muft cover
" over with Seal-flcin both their large and fmall boats, in which they
** travel and feek their provifion. They muft alfo cut their thongs
*< or ftraps out of them, make the bladders for their harpoons, and
" cover their tents with them j without which they could not fubfift
" in fummer.

" Therefore no man can pafs for a right Greenlander who cannot
*« catch Seals. This is the ultimate end they afpire at, in all their-
" device and labor from their childhood up. It is the only art
" (and in truth a difficult and dangerous one it is) to which they are-
*' trained from their infancy j by which they maintain themfelves,
" make themfelves agreeable to others, and become beneficial mem-
*« bers of the community*.

* HiJ}, Greenl, i, 130.

*' The

C O M M O N S E A L. 155

TAKING.

*' The Greenlanders have three ways of catching Seals: either fing- Manner of
*' ly, with the bladder j or in company, by the clapper-hunt ; or in
** the winter on the ice : whereto may be added the fhooting them
*^ with a gun,

" The principal and moft common way is the taking them with
*' the bladder. When the Greenlander fets out equipped according
*^ to the 7th Se(5lion, and fpies a Seal, he tries to furprife it una-
" wares, with the wind and fun in his back, that he may not be
'^ heard or feen by it. He tries to conceal himfelf behind a wave,
" and makes haftiJy, but foftly, up to it, till he comes within four,
*^ five, or fix fathom of it ; niean while he takes the utmoft care
<^ that the harpoon, line, and bladder, lie in proper order. Then he
*' takes hold of the oar with his left hand, and the harpoon with
*' his right by the hand-board, and fo away he throws it at the
'* Seal,, in fuch a manner that the whole dart flies from the hand-
" board and leaves that in his hand. If the harpoon hits the mark,
*' and buries itfelf deeper than the barbs, it will dire6lly difengage
*^ itfelf from the bone-joint, and that from the Ihaft j and alfo un-
'^ wind the firing from its lodge on the kajak. The moment the
*' Seal is pierced^, the Greenlander muft throw the bladder, tied to
" the end of the firing, into the water, on the fame fide as the Seal
" runs and dives j for that he does inflantly, like a dart. Then the
*^ Greenlander goes and takes up the fliaft fwimming on the water,
*' and lays it in its place. The Seal often drags the bladder with it
*^ under water, though 'tis a confiderable impediment, on account
:^* of -its great bignefs ; but it fo wearies itfelf out with it, that it
^^ mufl come up again in about a quarter of an hour to take breath.
^^ The Greenlander haflens to the fpot where he fees the bladder
-" rife up, and fmites the Seal, as foon as it appears, with the great
« lance defcribed in the 6th Sedion *. This lance always comes
^'^ out of its body again ; but he throws it at the creature afrefli
" every time it comes up, till 'tis quite fpent. Then he runs the

* Sec the Scftions referred to, and tab, v.

X « little

1154 C .0 M M O N S E A^ L.

*' little lance Into it, and kills it outright, but ftops up the wound
** dire^lly to preferve the blood ; and laftly, he blows it up, like a
•' bladder, betwixt (kin and flefh, to put it into a better capacity of
" fwimnning after him ; for which purpofe he fattens it to the left-
*' fide of his kajak, or boat *.

" In this exercife the Greenlander is expofed to the moft and
" greateft danger of his life ; which is probably the reafon that they
*' call this hunt, or fifhery, kamavocky i. e. the Extin6tion, viz. of life,
" For if the line fhould entangle itfelf, as it eafily may, in its fud'
'^ den and violent motion ; or if it ihould catch hold of the kajaky
*' or fhouM wind itfelf round the oar, or the hand, or even the neck,
" as it lometimes does in windy weather; or if the Seal fhould turn
«« fuddenly to the other fide of the boat ; it cannot be otherwife than
" that the kajak muft be overturned by the ftring, and drawn down
«* under water. On fuch defperate occafions the poor Greenlander
" Hands In need of all the arts defcribed in the former Sedbion, to
<f difentangle himfelf from the ftring, and to raife himlelf up from
" under the water feveral times fiiccefTively ; for he will continually^
*' be overturning till he has quite dilengaged himfelf from the line.
*' Nay, when he imagines liimfelf to be out of all danger, and comes
*' too near the dying Seal, it may ftill bite him in' the face or hand;,
" and a female Seal that has young, inftead of flying the field, will
«' fometimes fly at the Greenlander in the moft vehement rage^ and
*' do him a mifchief, or bite a hole in his kajak that he muft fink.

"• In this way,, fingly,, they can kill none but the carelefs ftupid'
" Seal,- called Attar/oak f.. Several in company muft purfue the
" cautious Kajfigiakf% by the clapper-hunt. In the fame manner they
" rlfo furround and kill the AttarJoit\ in great numbers at certain*
" feafons of the year; for in autumn they retire into the creeks or
" inlets in ftormy weather, as in the Nepi/et found in Ball's river,
" between' the main land and the iQand iT^;/^^/^, which is full two-

• See vol. i. 150. tab. viii, f See N' TJ, of this work. J Ditto, N" 72;

B Ditto, a variety of N* 77.

g leagues

COMMON SEAL. i^;,

*< leagues long, but very narrow. Thtre the Greenlanders cut off their
«' retreat, and frighten them under water by fliouting, clapping, and
<f throwing ftones j but, as they muft come up again continually to
" draw breath, then they perfecute them again till they ai-e tired,
« and at laft are obliged to ilay fo long above v/ater, that they fur-
<f round them, and kill them with the fourth kind of dart, defcribed
" in the 6th Seftion. During this hunt we have a fine opportunity
■«f to fee the agility of the Greenlanders, or, if I may call it fo, thei-t
^f huflar-like manoeuvres. When the Seal rifes out of the water,
« they all fly upon it, as if they had wings, with a defperate noife ;
«f the poor creature is forced to dive again diredlly, and the moment
« he does, they difperfe again as faft as they came, and every one
" gives heed to his pofl:, to fee where it will ftart up again ; which
<* is an uncertain thing, and is commonly three quarters of a mile
<* from the former fpot. If a Seal has a good broad water, three
<f or four leagues each way, it can keep the fportfmen in play for a
*« couple of hours, befoi-e 'tis fo fpent that they can furround and
<f kill it. If the Seal, in its fright, betakes itfelf to the land for a
<f retreat, 'tis welcomed with flicks and flones by the women and
*' children, and prefently pierced by the men in the rear. This is
<' a very lively and a very profitable diverfion for the Greenlanders,
" for many times one man will have eight ar ten Seals for his
'* fhare.

" The third method of killing Seals upon the ice, is moltly prac-
<f tifed in Di/ko, where the bays are frozen over in the winter. There
<f are feveral ways of proceeding. The Seals themfelves make
*< fometimes holes in the ice, where they come and draw breath ;
*' near fuch a hole a Greenlander feats himfelf on a ftool, putting
*« his feet on a lower one to keep them from the cold. Now when
<f the Seal comes and puts its nofe to the hole, he pierces it in-
" ftantly with his harpoon j then breaks the hole larger, and draws
<« it out and kills it quite. Or a Greenlander lays himfelf upon his
'f belly, on a kind of a fledge, near other holes, where the Seals

X 2 come

H6 c o m m o n s e a l,

" come out upon the ice to bafk themfelvcs in the fun. Near this:
" great hole they make a little one, and another Greenlander puts
'* a harpoon into it with a very long fhaft or pole. He that lies
'* upon the ice looks into the great hole, till he fees a Seal com-
*' ing under the harpoon -, then he gives the other the fignal, who
f* runs the Seal through with all his might.

" If the Greenlander fees a Seal lying near its hole upon the ice,
" he Aides along upon his belly towards it, wags his head, and
" grunts like a Seal j and the poor Seal, thinking 'tis one of its in-
'^ nocent companions, lets him come near enough to pierce it with
" his long dart.

" When the current wears a great hole in the ice in the fpring,

'^ the Greenlanders plant themfelves all round it, till the Seals come

" in droves to the brim to fetch breath, and then they kill them

*' with their harpoons. Many alfo are killed on the ice while they

» " lie fleeping and fnoring in the fun *."

Nature has been fo niggardly in providing variety of provifion for
the Greenlanders i that they are necefiitated to have recourfe to fuch
Uses in Kamt- vvhich is offered to them with a liberal hand. The Kamtjchatkan na-
tions, which enjoy feveral animals, as well as a great and abundant
choice of fifb, are fo enamoured with the tafte of the fat of Seals,
that they can make no feaft without making it one of the difhes.
Of that both Rujfians and Kamtfchatkans make their candles. The
latter eat the flefh boiled, or elfe dried in the fun. If they have a
great quantity, they preferve it in the following manner :

They dig a pit of a requifite depth, and pave it with flones ; then
tell it with wood, and fet it on fire fo as to heat the pit to the warmth
of a ftove. They then collect all the cinders into a heap. They
llrew the bottom with the green wood of alder, on which they place
feparately the flelli and the fat, and put between every layer branches
of the fame tree ; when the pit is filled they cover it with fods, fo
that the vapour cannot efcape. After forae hours they take out both

• PP' iS3> 4» 5' 6, 7.

fat

CUSTOM,

COMMON SEAL. 157

fat and flefli, and keep it for winter's provifions, and they may be.
p'referved a whole year without fpoiling.

The. Kamt/chatkans have a naoil fingular ceremony. After they take SupERsTirioiys
the flefh from the heads of the Seals, they bring a vefTel in form
of a canoe, and fling into it all the fculls, crowned with certain herbs,
and place them on the ground, A certain perfon enters the habita-
tion with a fack filled with ^onchitchej fweet herbs, and a little of the
bark of willow. Two of the natives then roll a great ftone towards the
door, and cover it with pebbles j two others take the fweet herbs
and difpofe them, tied in little packets. The great ftone is to
fignify the fea-fhore, the pebbles the waves, and the packets Seals.
They then bring three difhes of a hafli, called 'Tolkoucha 3 of this
th^y make little balls, in the middle of which they ftick the packets
of herbs : of the willow-bark they make a little canoe, and fill it
with 1'olkouchay and cover it with the fack. After fome time, the
two Kamtjchatkans who had put the mimic Seals into the ^olkouchay
take the balls, and a vefTel refembling a canoe, and draw it along the
fand, as if it was on the fea, to convince the real Seals how agreeable
it would be to them to come among the Kamtjchatkans, who have a
fea in their Ytry jurtSy or dwellings. And this they imagine will in-
duce the Seals to fufi^er themfelves to be taken in great numbers.
Various other ceremonies, equally ridiculous, are pradbifed j in one
of which they invoke the winds, which drive the Seals en their Jhores,
to be propitious *,

Befides the ufes which are made of the flefli and fat of Seals, the
fkins of the largeft are cut into foles for fhoes. The women make
their fummer boots of the undrefied fkins, and wear them with the
hair outmoft. In a country which abounds fo greatly in furs, very
little more ufe is made of the fkins of Seals in the article of drefs
than what has been mentioned f . But the Koriaks, the Oloutores, and
I'chutfchi, form with the fliins canoes and veifels of different fizes,
ibme large enough to carry thirty people.

* Defer. Kamtfchatkai. 435» f The fame, 41, 42, 424.

Seals

i5« COMMON SEAL.

Seals fwarm on all the coafts of Kamtjchatka^ and will go up the-
rivers eighty verjls in ptirfuit of fifh. They couple on the ice in
Afril^ and fometimes on the rocks, and even in the fca in calm
weather. The 'Tunguji give the nailk of thefe animals to their chil-
dre« inftead of phyfic.
Capture. The Seals in this country are killed by harpooning, by fliooting, by

watching the holes in the ice and knocking th^m on the head as they
rife J or by placing two or three ftrong nets acrofs one of the
rivers which thefe animals frequent : fifty or more people affemble
in canoes on each fide of the nets, while others row up and dov/n,
and with great cries frighten the Seals into them. As foon as any
are entangled, the people kill them with pikes or clubs, and drag
them on fhore, and divide them equally among the hunters j fome-
times a hundred are taken at a time in this manner.

The navigators obferved abundance of Seals about Bering's ifland,
but that they decreafed in numbers as they advanced towards the
ftraits J for where the Walrufes aboundedj the Seals grew more and
more fcarce.

I did not obferve any Seal-fkin garments among thofe brought
€ver by the navigators, fuch as one might have expected among the
EJquimaux of the high latitudes they vifited, and which are fo much in
life with thofe oiHudfon's Bay and Labrador. That fpecies of drefs
doubtlefsly was worn in the earlieft times. Thefe people wanted their
Massaget^ hiftorians i but we are aflured that the Af<2^^^/^ * cloathed them-
Seal-skins, felves in the fkins of Seals. They, according to Z)'^;?!;///^', inhabited
the country to the eaft of the CaJ-pian fea, and the lake Aral \ both of
which waters abound with Seals.

Seals are now become a great article of commerce. The oil from
the vaft Whales is no longer equal to the demand for fupplying the
magnificent profufion of lamps in and round our capital. The
chafe of thefe animals is redoubled for that purpofe ; and the fkins>
properly tanned, are in confiderable ufe in the manufadory of boots
and fhoes.

* Straho, lib, xi. 76 1.

Hift.

G R E A T S E A ti. 159

B0. ^ad. N» 382. 73. GREATi,^

Phoca Barbata, Faun. Greenl. N" 9, — ^Urkfuk. Greehl,
Lakkfcak, Hifl, Kamtfchatkat 420. — Lev. Mus,

SEAL. With long pellucid white whiflcers with curled points :
back arched : black hairs,, very deciduous, and thinly difperfed
over a thick fkin^ which in fummer is almoft naked : teeth like the
common Seal : fore feet like the human hand j middle toe the
longefb J thumb fhort : length more than twelve feet.

The Greenlanders cut out of the flcin of this fpecies thongs and
lines, a finger thick, for the Seal-fifhery. Its fleih is white a^ veal,
and efteeraed the moft delicate of any : has plenty of lard, but does
not yield much oil. The Ikins of the young are fometimes ufed to
lie on.

It inhabits the high fea about Greenland-, is a timid fpecies, and
•ufually refts on the floating ice, and very feldom the fixed. Breeds
in the earlieft fpring, or about the month oi March y and brings forth
a fingle young on the ice, ufually among the iflands 3 for at that
feafon it approaches a little nearer to the land. The great old ones
fwim very" flowly.

In the feas of the north o{ Scotland is found a Seal twelve feet long*.
A gentleman of my acquaintance iliot one of that Iize on the coail
©f Sutherland -y but made no particular remarks on it. A young one,
feven- feet and half long, was fhewn in London fome years ago, which
had not arrived at maturity enough even to have fcarcely any teeth*:
yet the common Seals have them complete before they attain the fize
of fix feet, their utmoft growth.

A fpecies larger than an Ox, found in the Kamtfchatkan feas from:
56 to 64 north latitude,, called by the natives Lachtakf. They weighed

• PX>. Tra»f* Mr, ix, 74, tab. v. xlvii. ijto. f iV*v, Com^ Pttrop, ij. 290.

eisht

1^0 R O U G H S E A L.

eight hundred pounds : were eaten by Bering's, crew; but their flelh
was found to be very loathfome*. The cubs are quite black.

Steller has left behind him accounts of other Seals found in thofe
wild feas ; but his defcriptions are fo imperfecft as to render it im-
pofTible to afcertain the fpecies. He fpeaks in his MSS. of a middle-
fized kind, univerfally and moft elegantly fpotted; another, black with
brown fpots, and the belly of a yellowilh white, and as large as a
yearling Ox; a third fpecies, black, and with a particular formation
of the hinder legs ; and a fourth, of a yellowilh color, with a great
circle on it of the color of cherries f .

7I-. Rough, HiJ^. ^ad. N" 3^$.

Phoca Foetida, fau». Green/. N° 8. — Neitfeck Greenl. CrantXt u

SEAL. With a fhort nofe, and fliort round head : teeth like the
common Seal : body almoft of an elliptical form, covered with
lard almoft to the hind feet : hairs clofely fet together, foft, long,
and fomewhat ereft, with curled wool intermixed : color dufky,
ftreaked with white ; fometimes varies to white, with a dufky dorfal
line.

Does not exceed four feet in length.

Never frequents the high feas, but keeps on the fixed ice in the re-
mote bays near the frozen land ; and when old never forfakes its
haunts. Couples in June ; brings forth in January^ on the fixed ice,
which is its proper element. In that it has a hole for the benefit of
filliing ; near that it remains ufually folitary, rarely in pairs. Is very
incautious, and often fieeps on the furface of the water, yielding itfelf
^ prey to the Eagle. Feeds on fmall fifh, fhrimps, and the like. The
ufes of the fkin, tendons, and lard, the fame with thofe of other
Seals. The flelh is red, and foetid, efpecially that of the males,
which is naufeated by even the Greenlanders.

* MuUer'i voy, 60. f Dr, Pallas, and De/cr. Kamtfchatka, 420,

The

LEPORINESEAL. ^^J

The Seal-hunters in Newfoundland have a large kind, which they
call the Square Phippe^-, and fay weighs five hundred pounds. Its coat
is like that of a Water-dog ; fo that it feems by the length of hair
to be allied to this -, but the vafl difference in fize forbids us from
pronouncing it to be the fame fpecies.

Hiji. Sluad. N° 381.

Phoca Leporina, Lepechin, ASl. Acad, Petrop, pars i. 264. tab. vlli. ix.—
Hiji.^ad. N° 381.

SEAL. With hair of an uniform dirty white color, with a tinge
of yellow, but never fpotted i hairs creft, and interwoven ; foft
as that of a Hare, efpecially the young : head long : upper lip fwell-
ing and thick : whifkers very flrong and thick, ranged in fifteen
rows, covering the whole front of the lip, fo as to make it appear
bearded : eyes blue, pupil black : teeth flrong ; four cutting teeth
above, the fame below *: fore feet fhort, and ending abrupt : the
membranes of the hind feet even, and not waved : tail fliort and
thick ; its length four inches two lines.

Length of this fpecies, from nofe to tip of the tail, is fix feet fix j
its greatefl circumference five feet two. The cubs are milk white.

This kind inhabits the White Sea during fummer, and afcends and

defcends the mouths of rivers f with the tide in queft of prey. It is

alfo found on the coafts of Iceland, and within the Polar circle from

Spitzbergen to I'chutki N'o/s, and from thence fouthward about Kamt-

Jchatka.

Like the others, it is killed for its fat and fkin. The lafl is cut
into pieces, and ufed for flraps and reins. The fkins of the young,
which are remarl^ably white, are dyed with black, and ufed to^face
caps, in imitation of Beavers Pivins j but the hairs are much flifrer,
and do not foon drop off.

• Mr. Lepechin compares the number of the teeth to that of another kind (our
Harp Seal) which, he fays, has only four teeth in the lower jaw.
t The fame.

Y ^C/?-

75. Leporine.

Size.

i62 H O O D E D S E A L.-

76, Hooded. ^^. ^^d. N" 384.

Phoca Leonina, Faun. Greenl. N*5..

SEAL. With four cutting teeth above, four below : fore htt
like the human ; the thumb long : the membranes on the hind
ittt extend beyond the claws : on the forehead of the male is a thick
folded flcin, ridged half the way up, which it can inflate and draw
down like a cap, to defend its eyes againil ftorms, waves, ftones, and
fand. The females and young have only the rudiment of this guard.
It has two fpecies of hair ; the longefl white, the fhorteft thick, black,
and woolly, which gives it a beautiful grey color.

It grows to the length of eight feet. The Greenlanders call it
Neitfek'foak *, or the Great Neitfek. It inhabits only the fouthern
parts of their country, where it inhabits the high feas j but in ApriVy

' May, and June, comes nearer to the land. Is polygamous j copulates
v.'ith its body ereft. Brings forth my^pril one young upon the ice.
Keeps much on the great fragments, where it fleeps in an unguarded
way. Bites hard : barks, and whines : grows very fierce on being
wounded j but will weep on being furprized by the hunter. Fight
among themfelves, and infli6l deep wounds. Feed on all kinds of
greater fifli. The fkins of the young form the moft elegant drefTes
for the women. The men cover their great boats with thofe of the
old j they alfo cover their houfes with them, and when they grow old
convert them into facks. They ufe the teeth to head hunting-fpears.
Of the gullet and inteftines they make the fea-dreffes. The ftomach
is made into a filhing-buoy.

^ It is alfo found in Newfoundland. Our Seal-hunters name it the,
Hooded Seal, and pretend they cannot kill it till they remove that
integument. Tht Germans cdllix. Klap-MutZi^xovn its covering its
face as if with a cap.

The moft dreaded enemy which this fpecies has in Greenland, is
the. Phyfeler MJcrops.; on the very fight of which it takes to the ice,

* Crani%, i, 2,5^

and;

HARP SEAL. 1^3

and quietly expe(5bs its fate *. The Greenlanders therefore deteft this
fpecies of Whale, not only on account of the havock it nnakes among

the Seals, but becaufe it frightens them away from the bays f .

It is entirely different from the Leonine Seal, or from that of thft
South-fea, called the Bottle-nose.

Hifi. %«^. N° 385. 77. Harp.

Phoca Oceanica, Krylatca RuJJts, Lepechin, ASl, Acad, Pelrop. pars i. 259. tab,

vi. vii.
Phoca Greenlandica, Faun, GreenL N° 7. — AtalcGr^w;/. Atarfoak, Crantz, i. 124.

EAL. With a round head: high forehead : nofe fhort : large
black eyes : whifkers difpofed in ten rows of hairs : four cutting
teeth in the upper jaw, the two middlemoll the longeilj four alfo in
the lower, lefs fharp than the others: two canine teeth in each jaw:
fix grinders in each jaw, each three-pointed : hairs fliort : fkin thick
and ftrong.

Head, nofe, and chin, of a deep chefnut color, nearly black ; reft
of the body of a dirty white, or light grey : on the top of the
fhoulders is a large mark of the fame colore with the head bifurcated,-
each fork extending downwards along the fides half way the length
of the body. This mark is always conftant j but there are befides a
few irregular fpots incidental to the old ones.

The female has only two, retradile, teats; and brings only one
young at a time. The cub, the firll year, is of a bright alli-color,
whitifh beneath, and marked in all parts with multitudes of fmall
black fpots, at which period they are called by the Ruffians White
Seals. In the next year they begin to be fpotted \ from that period
the females continue unchanged in color. The males at full age,
which Mr. Crantz fays is their fifth year, attain their diftinguifhing
fpot, and are called by the Greenlanders Attar/oak \. ; by the Ruffians^
Krylatka^ or winged.

* Faun. Groenl, p. 9. f The fame, p. 45. J Crantz, i. 124.

Y 2 This

j€4 H a R P S E a L.

This Inhabits the fame countries with the Rough and Leporine Seal -y
but loves the coldeft parts of the coaft. Continues on the loofe ice
of Nov^ Zemhla the v/hole year -, and is feen only in the winter in
the White Sea^ on the floating ice carried from the northern feas.
It brings forth its young about the end oi April , and after fuckling
it a fufficient time departs with the firft ice into the Frozen Ocean.
The young remains behind for fome time, then follows its parent
with the ice which is loofed from the fhore *.

It abounds in Greenland and about Spitzbergen^ efpecially in the
bottoqis of the deep bays. Migrates in Greenland tw'ict in the year:
in March, and returns in May -, in June, and returns in September.
Couples in July, and brings forth towards the end of March or be-
gining o{ April : has one young, rarely two, which it fuckles on frag-
ments of ice far from land. It never afcends the fixed ice j but
lives and fleeps on the floating iflands in great herds. Swims in great
numbers, having one for a leader, which feems to watch for the fe-
curity of the whole. Eats its prey with its head above water. Swims
in various ways ; on its belly, back, and fide, and often whirls about
as if in frolick. Frequently fleeps on the furface of the water. Is.
very incautious. Has great dread of the Phyfeter Microps, which
forces it towards the fliore. It is often furrounded by troops of
hunters, who compel it even to land, where it is eafily killed.

It is found alfo about Kamijchatka, being the third fpecies men-
tioned by Steller.

S»2B. Jt grows to the length of nine feet. The meafurements of one de-

fcribed by Mr, Lepechin are as folio Wr— The length, from the nofe to
the tip of the tail, was fix feet : the length of the tail five inches three-
lines : the girth of the thickefl: part of the body four feet eight.

Xis's.u The flcin is ufed to cover trunks -, that of the young, taken in the

iile o( Solovkr, on the wefl: fide of the White Sea, is made into boots,
and is excellent for keeping out water. The Greenlanders, in drefling
the fkins, curry off the hair, and leave fome fat on the infide to ren-

* Jit. Jcad. Peirop. pars 263.

2 d£r

RUBBON AND URSINE SEAL. 165

def them thicker. With thefe they cover their boats, and with the
undreffed fkins their tents -, and, when they can get no other, make
ufe of them for cloathing.

The oil extrafted from the blubber of this Seal is far the molt
valuable, being fweet, and fo free from greaves as to yield a greater
quantity than any other fpecies. The flefh is black.

The Newfoundlmid Seal-hunters call it the Har'py or Heart Seal,
and name the marks on the fides the faddle. They fpeak too of a
brown fort, which they call Bedlemer^ and believe to be the young
of the former.

Hiji. ^ad. N" 380. fig. at p. 513. 78. Rubbon.

SEAL. With very fhort briflly hair, of an uniform glofly color
almoft black : the whole back and fides comprehended within
a narrow regular ftripe of pale yellow.

It is to Dr. Pallas I owe the knowlege of this fpecies. He re-
ceived only part of the fkin, which feemed to have been the back
and fides. The length was four feet, the breadth two feet three ;
fo it muft have belonged to a large fpecies. It was taken off the
Kuril iflands..

^//?. %«^. N° 357. ^ • 70, Ursinh.

Kot RuJ/is Gentilibus ad Sinum Penthinicumj Tarldt/chega, Nov. Com. Petrop. ii. 33I.

tab. XV.
Sea Wolf*, Pernety, Eogl. Tr. 187. tab. •x.vi.—Vlloa' s 'voy . i. 226.
Chat Marin, HiJi. Kamtfchatka, 433,

SEAL. With a high forehead: nofe projecting like that of a
dog : black irides : fmaragdine pupil : whiflcers compofed of
triangular hairs, thinly fcattered : noftrils oval, divided by 2ifeptum:
lips thick i their infide red, and ferrated.

* The French generic name for the Seal is Loup ^Marh, &nd the Sjani/^, Loho Ma-^
rino*.

In

i66 '■ URSINE SEAL.

Teeth, In the upper jaw four bifurcated cutting teeth; on each fide of

thefe a very fharp canine tooth bending inwards ; beyond thefe ano-
ther, which, in battle, the animal ftrikes with, as Boars do with their
tufks. Inftead of grinders, in each upper jaw are fix fharp teeth
refembling canine, and very (lightly exerted. In the lower jaw four
cutting teeth, and canine like thofe in the upper ; and on each fide
ten others in the place of grinders. When the mouth is clofed all the
teeth lock into each other.
Tongue, Ears. The tongue rough and bifid : the ears fhort, fmall, and fharp-
pointed, hairy on the outfide, finooth and polifhed within.
Fore legs. Fore legs two feet long, not immerfed in the body, like thofe

of other Seals, but refemble thofe of common quadrupeds. The
feet are furnifhed with five toes, with the rudiments of nails j but
thefe are fo entirely covered with a naked fkin, as to be as much
concealed as a hand is with a mitten. The animal (lands on thefe
legs with the utmoft firmnefs ; yet the feet feem but a fhapelefs
mafs.
Hind legs. The hind legs are twenty-two inches long, and fituated like thofe

of Seals i but are capable of being brought forward, fo that the ani-
mal makes ufe of them to fcratch its head : on each are five toes.
Tail. connected by a large web; and are a foot broad. The tail is only

two inches long.
Body. 'j^j^e hodj is of a conoid (hape. The length of a large one is

about eight feet ; the circumference near the fhouldcrs is five feet,
near the tail twenty inches. The weight eight hundred pounds.
Female. The female is far inferior in fize to the male : it has two teats,

placed far behind.
Color. The whole animal is covered with long and rough hair, of a

blacki(h color ; that of the old is tipt with grey ; and on the neck of
the males is a little longer and ered : beneath the hair is a foft fur
of a bay color. The females are cinereous. The (kin is thick and
flrong.
Place. Thefe animals are found in amazing multitudes on the iflands be-

tween

URSINE SEAL. 167

tween Kamtfchatka and America *j but are fcarcely known to land on
the Afiatic fhore : nor are they ever taken except in the three Kurilian
iflands, and from thence in the Bobrowoie More, or Beaver Sea, as
far as the Kronojki headland, off the river Kamtfchatka, which com-
prehends only from 50 to 56 north latitude. It is obfervable that
they never double the fouthern cape of the peninfula, or are found
on the weftern fide in the Fenjchinjka fea : but their great refort has
been obferved to be to Bering's iflands. They are as regularly mi-
gratory as birds of palTage. They firll appear off the three Kurili MicRATORr.
iflands and Kamfjchatka in the earliefl: fpring. They arrive excefllvely
fat ; and there is not one female which does not come pregnant. Such
which are then taken are opened, the young taken out and flcinned.
They are found in Bering's ifland only on the wefl:ern fliore, being
the part oppofite to /f/ia, where they firfl: appear on their migration
from the fouth. They continue on fliore three months, during which:
time the females bring forth. Excepting their employ of fuck-
ling their young, they pafs their time in total inactivity. The males -Long sleep and
fink into the mofl: profound indolence, and deep fleep ; nor are they fasting.
ever roufed, except by fome great provocation, arifing from an inva-
fion of their place, or a jealoufy of their females. During the whole-
time they neither eat nor drink. Steller diflTefted numbers, without
finding the lefl: appearance of food in their fl:omachs.

They live in families. Every male is furrounded by a feraglio of Live in fami-
from eight to fifty mifl:reflres ; thefe he guards with the jealoufy of
an eaftern monarch. Each family keeps, feparate from the others,
notwithiranding they lie by thoufands on the fhore. Every family,,
with the unmarried and the young, amount to about a hundred and
twenty. They alfo fwim in tribes when they take to the fea.

* They fay that the Sea-Cat, or Si-wutchay is found in thofe iflands ; but Sinx:uicha
is the name given by the Ktimtfchatkans and KurUiant to the Leonine Seal on!/.
Motthern Archipelago, ^Z» hy Foa Stiebhn* Y tlnx^ A iov Hey dinger, 1774, P» 34*

Thfe:

r69 URSINE SEAL.

Affection to- i^he males fiiew great affeftion towards their young, and equal

WARDS THEIR i i /- i i-r-i r r • i

YOUNG. tyranny towards the females, i he former are fierce in the protec-

tion of their offspring ; and fhould any one attempt to take their
cubj will (land on the defenfive, while the female carries it away in
her mouth. Should Ihe happen to drop it, the male inftantly quits its
enemy, falls on her, and beats her againfl the ftones till he leaves
her for dead. As foon as fhe recovers, fhe crawls to his feet in the
moil fuppliant manner, and wafhes them with her tears; he at the fame
time brutally infults her mifery, flalking about in the mofl infblent
manner. But if the young is entirely carried off, he melts into the
greateft affliftion, likev/ife flieds tears, and fhews every mark of deep
forrow. It is probable that as the female brings only one, or at mofl
two cubs, he feels his misfortune the more fenfibly.

Thofe animals which are deftitute of females, through age or im-
/ potence, or are deferted by them, withdraw themfelves from fociety,

and grow exceflively fplenetic, peevifli, and quarrelfome ; are very
furious, and fo attached to their antient flations, as to prefer deatli
to the lofs of them. They are enormoufly fat, and emit a moft
naufeous and rank fmell. If they perceive another animal approach
its feat, they are inftantly roufed from their indolence, fnap at the
Conflicts. encroacher, and give battle. During the fight they infenfibly in-
trude on the flation of their neighbor. This creates new offence; fo
that at length the civil difcord fpreads through the whole fhore, at-
tended with hideous growls, their note of war. They are very
tenacious of life, and will live a fortnight after receiving fuch
wounds as would foon deftroy any other animal.
Causes OF them. q^j^e particular caufes of difputes among thefe irafcible beafts are
the following : — The firfl and greateft is, when an attempt is made to
feduce any of their miftreffes, or a young female of the family : a
battle is the immediate confequence of the infult. The unhappy
vanquifhed inftantly lofes his whole feraglio, who defert him for the
vi6torious hero.

The

U R S I N E S E A L. 169

The invafion of the ftation of another, gives rife to fiefii conflids ;
and the third caufe is the interfering in the difputes of others. The
battles they wage are very tremendous ; the wounds they inflift very
deep, like the cut of a fabre. At the conclufion of an engagement
they fling themfelves into the fea to wafh off the blood.

Befides their notes of war, they have feveral others. When they Note*.

lie on lliore, and are diverting themfelves, they low like a Cow. After
vi6bory they chirp like a Cricket. On a defeat, or after receiving a
wound, mew like a Cat.

Common Seals, and Sea Otters, {land in great awe of thefe ani- Dread the Leo*
mals, and fhun their haunts. They again are in equal awe of the
Leonine Seals, and do not care to begin a quarrel in their fight,
dreading the intervention of fuch formidable arbitrators ; who like-
wife poffefs the firft place on the Ihore.

The great and old animals are in no fear of mankind, unlefs they Fear not Man-
are fuddenly furprized by a loud fhout, when they will hurry by
thoufands into the fea, fwim about, and Hare at the novelty of their
difturbers.

When they come out of the water, they fhake themfelves, and
fmooth their hair with their hind feet : apply their lips to thofe of
the females, as if they meant to kifs them : lie down and balk in the
fun with their hind legs up, which they wag as a Dog does its tail.
Sometimes they lie on their back, foraetimes roll themfelves up in-
to a ball, and fall afleep* Their fleep is never fo found but they
are awoke by the left alarm ; for their fenfe of hearing, ind alfo
that of fmelling, is moft exquifite.

They copulate, more humanOy in July^ and bring forth in the June Copulation.
following ; fo they go with young eleven months. The cubs are Gestation.
as fportive as puppies ; have mock fights, and tumble one another
on the ground. The male parent looks on with a fort of compla-
cency, parts them, licks and kifles them, and feems to take a greater
affection to the vidor than to the others.

Z They

17© URSINE SEAL.

SiviBT svviMMiRs. Tlic)^ fwiiTi 'wich amazing fwiftnefs and ftrength, even at the rate
of feven or eight miles an hour^ and often on their back. They
dive well, and continue a great while under water. If wounded in
that elem.ent, they will feize on the boat, carry it with them with-
great impetuofity, and often will fink it.

When they wifb to afcend the rocks, they fix their fore feet oa
them, arch their backs> and then draw themfelves up.
Capture. The Kamtjchatkans take them by harpooning, for they never land

on their fiiore. To the harpoon is faftened a long line, by whicH
they draw the animal to the boat after it is fpent with fatigue; but
in the chafe, the hunters are very fearful of too near an approach^
leafl the animal fliould fallen on and fink their velTcl.
Uses; The ufes of them are not great. The flefh of the old males is

rank and naufeous -, that of the females is faid to refemble lamb j of
the young ones roafted, a fucking pig. The fkins of the young, cut
out of the bellies of the dams, are efteemed for cloathing, and are
fold for about three (hillings and four pence each j thofe of the old
for only four Ihillings.

Re-micration, Their re-migration is in the month q>{ Sep ember, when they depart
excefiively lean, and take their young with them. On their 're-
turn, they again pafs near the fame parts of Kamtjchatka which th'ey
did in the fpring. Their winter retreats are quite unknown ; it is
probable that they are the iflands between the Kurili and Japan, of
which we have fome brief accounts, under the name of Ccmpagme
'Land, States Land, and Jefo Gaf/ma, which were difcovered by Martin
Uriel'm 164,2*. It is certain that by his account the natives em-
ploy themfelves in the capture of Seals f. Sailors do not give-
themfelves the trouble of obfei-ving the nice diftiniftion of fpecific
marks, we are therefore at liberty to conjedure thofe which he faw

* He failed from the eaft fide of Japan In the fhip Caftricom^ -vifited the ifle ofjefo^
and difcovered the iflands which he called States Laud and CompbnyLahdy the i^ft^itdt
very remote from the moft fouthern Kurili ifland. Recueil de voj, au Nord, iv. 1.

t The fame, 12.

URSINE SEAL. i7f

to be our animals, efpecially as we can fix on no more convenient
place for their winter quarters. They arrive along the fhores of the
Kurili iflands, and part of thofe of Katntfchaikay from the foiith. They
land and inhabit only the weftern fide of Berijig'?, ifle, which faces
Kamtjchatka ; and when they return in Se^terabery their route is due
fouth, pointing towards the difcoveri^s of Uriel. Had they mi-
grated from the fouth-eaft as well as the fouth-weft, every ifle, and
every fide of every ifle, would have been filled with them ; nor fhouid
we have found (as we do) fuch a conitant and local refidence.

Before I quit this article I muft obferve, that there feems to be
in the feas of Jefo Gafimo another fpecies of Seal, perhaps our little
Seal, N° 386. Hiji. ^ad. The account indeed is but obfcure,
which I muft give as related by Charlevoix in his compilations re-
fpefbing that ifland. '^ The natives," fays he, " make ufe of an oil
«<^ to drink, drawn from a fort of fifh, a fmall hairy creature with
" four feet." If this account is true, it ferves to point out the far-
theft known refidence of this genus, on this fide of the northern he-
mifphere.

Finally, the Urftne Seals are found in the fouthern hemifphere, ursine Seal in
€ven from under the line, in the ifle of Gallipagos f, to New Georgia%y the southern

H E W r S P H R II P

in fouth latitude 54. 15. and weft longitude 37. 15. In the interme-
?diat-e parts, they are met with in New Zeland ||, in the ifle of Juan
FernandeZy and its neighbor Majfa Fuera^ and probably along the
coafts of Chili to T^erra del FuegOy and Staten Land, In Juan Fer-
vandezy Staten handy and new Georgia %y they fwarm ; as they do at
the northern extremity of this vaft ocean. Thofe of the fouthern
hemifphere have alfo their feafons of migration. Alexander Selkirk,
who pafled three lonely years on the ifle of Juan Fernandez, remarks

t Woodes Rogers's nioy, 265. He fays that they are neither fo numerous there, nor m
their fur fo fine as thofe on Juan Fernandez^ which is faid to be extremely foft and
delicate.

X Cook's voy. ii. 213. ]j Coek, i. 72. 86. forjier's Oh/, 189, % Aft/on's

voy. 122, Coc/f, ii. 194. 213. ^

Z 2 tKat

17^ URSINE AND LEONINE SEAL.

that they come afhore in June, and ftay till September *. Captain
Cook found them again, in their place of remigration, in equal abun-
dance, on Staten Land and New Georgia, in the months of December
and January f ; and Don Pernety J found them on the Falkland
iflands, in the month o^ February.

According to the Greenlanders, this fpecies inhabits the fouthern
parts of their country. They call it Auvek^jak. That it is very fierce,
and tears to pieces whatfoever it meets; that it lives on land as
well as in water, fwims moft impetuoufly, and is dreaded by the-
hunters \.

«0, Leonine. Hijl. ^ad. N° 389.

Beftia Marina, Kurillis, Kamtfchadalis t\ RuJJis, KurilJico^ nomme Siivut/cba dlfta,

No-v. Com. Petrop.'n. 360.
Lion Marin, Hijf. Kamtfchatka, 428.

SEAL. With a large head : nofe turning up like that of a pug
Dog : eyes large ; pupil fmaragdine : the greater angle of each
as if ftained with cinnabar color. In the upper jaw four fmall cut-
ting teeth ; the exterior on each fide remote, and at fome diftance
from thefe are tv/o large canine teeth: in the lower jaw four fmall
cutting teeth, and the canine : the grinders fmall and obtufe -, four
on each fide above, and five below : ears conic and eredl : feet exact-
ly like thofe of the Urfine Seal'.

Along the neck of the male is a mane of fliff curled hair ; and
the whole neck is covered with long waved hairs, fuch as diftinguilh
a Lion ; the refl: of the animal cloathed with fiiort reddifh hairs':
thofe of the female are of the color of ochre ; the young of a much,
deeper. The old animals. grow grey with age*

* Selkirk's account in W. Rogers^ s ^oy. 136. f ii, 194. 213. J His

vo)^ge, Engl. Tt\ 187. if Fnun, Greenh p. €j

The-

L E O N I N E S E A L. 173

The weight of a large male beaft is fixteen hundred pounds.
Length of the males is fometimes fourteen, or even eighteen feet *.
The females are very difproportionably leffer, not exceeding eight
feet.

Inhabits the eaftern coafls of Kamtfchatka, from cape Kronozki as
low as cape Lapatka and the Kurili iflands, and even as far as
Matjhiaiy which probably is the fame with Jefo Gajma. Near MatJ-
mai Captain S-panherg obferved a certain ifland of a mod pidlurcfque
form, bordered with roclcs refemblrng buildings, and fwarming with
thefe animals, to which he gave the name of the Palace of the Sea
Lio7Js f . Like the Urfine Seals, they are not found on the v/eflern
fide of the peninfula. They abound, in the months o^ June, July.,
Augufty and Septemberj on Berpig% ifland, which they inhabit for the
fake of quiet parturition and fuckling their young. Stdler alfo
faw them in abundance in July on the coafts oi America.

They do not migrate like the former ; but only change the place
of refidence, having winter and fummer ftations \. They live chiefly
on rocky fliores, or lofty rocks in the fea, which feem to have been
torn away from the land by the violence of fome earthquake 1|,
Thefe they climb, and by their dreadful roaring are of ufe in foggy
weather to warn navigators to avoid defl:ru6lion.

They copulate in the \y\0'!\xki% oi Auguji and September; go ten
months, and bring only one at a time. The parents fliew them little
affection, often tread them to death through carelefsnefs, and will
fuffer them to be killed before them without concern or refentment.
The cubs are not fportive, like other young animals, but are almoft
always afleep. Both male and female take them to fea to learn
them to fwim ; when wearied, they will climb on the back of their
dam J but the male often puflies them off', to habituate them to the

* Narhorough, 31. Penrofe Falkland IJles, 28. Pernetti, 'voy. Malouines, 240. By hrs
confounding the names of this and the Bottle-nofe Seal, N° 288. Hijl. ^ad. he
led me into a miftake about the length of this.

t VeJiT, Kamt/chatka, 433. % No-v. Com. Fetro^, ii. 365. || MuUer^s voy. 60.

6. exercife^

174 L B O N I N B SEA U

exercife. I'he Ruffians v/ere wont to fiing the cubs into t\\^. water,
and they always iwam back to fhore.

The males treat the females with great refped, and are very fond
of their carefles. They are polygamous, but content themfelves
with fewer wives than the former, having only from tv/o to four
apiece.
Fear mankind .j The males have a terrible afpefr, yet they take to flight on the fii*ft
appearance of a human creature j and if they are difturbed from
their flecp, feem feized with great horrors, figh deeply in their at-
tempts to go away, fall into vaft confufion, tumble down, and trem-
ble in fuch a manner as fcarcely to be able to ufc their limbs. But if
they are reduced to a ftrait, fo as not polTibly to cffed an efcape,
they grow defperate, turn on their enemy with great fury and noife,
and even put the moii: valiant to flight.
uKLEss HABiTu- By ufc they lofe their fear of men. Steller once lived for fix days
'^'^^P* in a hovel amidil their chief quarters, and found them foon recon-

ciled to the fight of him. They would obferve what he v/as doing
with great calmnefs, lie down oppofite to him, and fufi^er him to
feize on their cubs. He had an opportunity of feeing their conflifts
about their females ; and once faw a duel between two males, which
lafl:ed three days, and one of them received above a hundred
, wounds. The Urfine Seals never interfered, but got out of the way

as fafl: as poflible. They even fuffered the cubs of the former to
fport with them. without ofi^ering them the left injury.

This fpecies has many of the fame a<5tions with the former, in
fv/imming, walking, lying, and fcratching itfelf. The old bellow
Notes.; like Bulls j the young bleat like Sheep. Steller hys^ that from their

notes he feemed like a ruftic*amidft his herds. The males had a
ftrong fmell, but were not near fo fetid as the Urfine fort.
Pood. Their food is fifli, the lefler Seals, Sea Otters, and other marine

animals. During the months of June and July the old males almolt
entirely abftain from eating, indulge in indolence and fleep, and be-
come exceflively emaciated.

o The

L E O N I N E S E A L. i7j

The voyagers made ufe of them to fubfift on, and thought the Uses.

iiefli of the young very favoury. The feet turned into jelly on be-
ing drelTed, and m their fituation were efteemed great delicacies.
Th« fat v/as not oily ; that of the young refembled the fuet of mutton,
and was as delicious as marrow. The fkin was ufeful for ilraps,.
fhoes, and boots.

The Kamtfchatkans efteem the chafe of thefe animals a generous Chasb*

diverfion, and hold the man in higheft honor, in proportion to the
number he has killed. Even thefe heroes are very cautious when
they attack one of the animals on fhore : they watch an opportunity
when they find it afleep, approach it againft the wind, ftrike their
harpoon, fattened to a long thong, into its breaft, while .t|ieir
comrades fallen one end to a Hake, and that done, he takes to his
heels with the utmoft precipitation. They efFed his deftruftion at
a diftance, by fhooting him with arrows, or flinging their lances
into him i and when exhaufted, they venture to come near enough to
knock him on the head with clubs.

When they difcover one o.n the lonely rocks in the fea, they fhoot
it with poifoned arrows : unable to endure the pain of the wound,
heightened by the falt-water, which it plunges into on the firft re-
ceiving it, it fwims on fhore in the greateft agony. If they find a
g^ood opportunity, they transfix it with their weapons -, if not, they
leave it to die of the poifon, which it infallibly does in twenty-four
hours, and in the mofl dreadful agony *.

They efteem, it a great difgrace to leave any of their game behind :
and this point of honor they often obferve, even to their own de-
Rruftion ; for it happens that when they go in fearch of thefe ani-
mals to the ific of Alait, which lies fome miles fouth-wefl of Lapatka
promontory, they obferve this principle fo religioufly, as to over-
load their boats fo much, as to fend them and their booty to the
bottom ; for they fcorn to fave themfelves, at the expence of throw-
ing overboard any part f .

■♦ Defer. Kamt/chatka, 377* f Nov. Com, Peirop. ii, 302,

This

LEONINE SEAL.

This fpecies has been difcovered very low in the fouthern hemi-
fpherc i but, I believe, not on the weftern fide. Sir John Narbo-
rough *met with them on an ifland off Port Deftr£y in lat. 47. 48. Sir
Rkh'ard Hawkins f found them on Pinguin ifle, within th€ fecond Nar-
row of the ftreights of Magellan, They abound in the Falkland
IJlandsX; and were again difcovered by Captain Cook on the Nezv Tear's
IJlands, off the weft coaft o{ Staten Land\\. In thofe fouthern latitudes
they bring forth their young in the middle of our winter, the fcafon
in which our late circumnavigators § vifited thofe diftant parts.

• Foy, 31. f Foy, 75, X Perttety* rvey. i88. tab. xvi,

il Cook, ii. 194. 203. The months in which thefe animals were obferved by the na-
vigators, were January and February ; but by Sir J, Narborough, in the ftreights ef
Magellan, about the 4th oi March, O. S,
§ Forjier'^s voj. ii, 514,

HIST.

WHALE "TAILED MANATL

177

HISr. ^UAD, Genus XLIIL

MAN ATI.

Hift. ^ad. N° 390.

Morfkaia Korowa, Ruffhrum. Nov, Com. Petrop. ii. 291.

Vaches Marines, Defer. Kamtfchatka, 44.6.

Ii. Whale-
tailed.

MAN AT L With a fmall oblong fquarilli head, hanging down :
mouth fmall : lips doubled, forming an outward and inward
lip: about the junftion of the jaws a fet of white tubular briftles, as
thick as a pigeon's quil, which ferve as ftrainers to permit the run-
ning out of the water, and to retain the food : the lips covered with
ftrong briftles, which ferve inftead of teeth to crop the ftrong roots
of marine plants : no teeth, but in each jaw a flat white oblong bone
with an undulated furface, which being placed above and below,
performs the ufe of grinders to comminute the food.

Noftrils placed at the end of the nofe, and lined with briftles : no
ears, only in their place a fmall orifice.

Eyes very fmall, not larger than thofe of a Sheep, hardly vifiblc
through the little round holes in the ikin j the irides black -, the
pupil livid : tongue pointed and fmall.

The whole animal is of great deformity : the neck thick, and its
union with the head fcarcely difcernible : the two feet, or rather
fins, are fixed near the ftiouldcrs ; are only twenty-fix inches long 5
are deftitute of toes, or nails, but terminate in a fort of hoof, concave
beneath, lined with briftles, and fitted for digging in fand.

The outward fkin is black, rugged, and knotty, like the bark of an
aged oak : without any hair 5 an inch thick, and fo hard as fcarcely
to be cut with an ax j and when cut, appears in the infide like ebony.
From the nape to the tail it is marked, with circular wrinkles rifing
into knotSj and-ftiarp points on the fide. This.fi^in covers the whole

A a , body

J73 WHALE-TAILED MANATI.

body like a cruft, and is of fingular ufe to the animal during winter,
in protedting it againft the ice, under which it often feeds, or againft
the fharp-pointed rocks, againft which it is often dalhed by the
wintry ftorms. It is alfo an equal guard againft the fummer heats ;
for this animal does not, like moft other marine creatures, feed at
the bottom, but with part of the body expofed, as well to the rays
of the fun as to the piercing cold of the froft. In fad, this inte-
gument is fo effential to its prefervation, that Steller has obferved
feveral dead on the ftiore, which he believes were killed by the ac-
cidental privation of it. The color of this Ikin, when wet, is dulky,
when dried, quite black.
Y^jj_^ The tail is horizontally flat; black, and ending in a ftifFfin, com-

pofed of laminae like whale-bone, terminating with fibres near nine
inches long. It is flightly forked ; but both ends are of equal
lengths, like the tail of a Whale.

It has two teats placed exactly on the breaft. The milk is thick
and fweet, not unlike that of a Ewe. Thefe animals copulate more
humano, and in the feafon of- courtftiip fport long in the fea ; the
female feigning to ftiun the embraces of the male, who purfues her
through all the mazes of her flight.

The body, from the ftioulders to the navel, is very thick ; from
thence to the tail grows gradually more flender. The belly is very
large ; and, by reafon of the quantity of entrails, very tumid.
SiM» Thefe animals grow to the length of twenty-eight feet. The

meafurements of one fomewhat leflTer, as given by Mr. Steller , are as
follow :

The length, from the nofe to the end of the tail, twenty-four
feet and a half: from the nofe to the ftioulders, or fetting-on of the
fins, four feet four. The circumference of the head, above the
noftrils, two feet feven ; above the ears, four feet : at the nape of the
neck, near feven feet : at the fhoulders, twelve : about the belly,
above twenty : near the tail, only four feet eight : the extent of the
tail, from point to point, fix feet and a half.

WHALE -TAILED MANATL 179

The weight of a large one is eight thoufand pounds. Weight.

Inhabits the fhores of 5m;7^'s" and the other iflands which inter- Place.-

vene between the two continents. They never appear off Kamt/chafka,
unlefs blown afhore by tempefts, as they fometinnes are about the
bay o{ Awatfcha. The natives ftyle them Kapujiniky or cabbage-
eaters, from their food. This genus has not been difcovered in any
other part of the northern hemifphere. That which inhabits the
eaftern fide of South America, and fome part of Africa, is of a dif-
ferent fpecies. For the latter I can teftify, from having feen one
from Senegal. Its body was quite fmooth; its tail fwelled out in
the middle, and (loped towards the end, which was rounded *. To
fupport my other opinion, I can call in the faithful Dampier ; who
defcribes the body as perfe6lly fmooth f : had it that ftriking inte-
gument which the fpecies in queftion has, it could not have efcaped
his notice. Let me alfo add, that the fize of thofe which that able
iearnan obferved, did not exceed ten or twelve feet ; nor the weight
of the largeft reach that of twelve hundred pounds J.

I fufpeft that this fpecies extends to Mindanao, for one kind is cer-
tainly found there ||. It is met with much farther fouth; for I dif-
cover, in the collection of Sir Joseph Banks, a fketch of one taken
near Diego Rodriguez, vulgarly called Diego Rais, an ifle to the ea(t of
Mauritius ; and it may poffibly have found its way through fome
northern inlet to the feas of Greenland ; for Mr. Fabricius once dif-
covered in that country the head of one, half confumed, with teeth
exactly agreeing with thofe of this fpecies §.

Thefe animals frequent the fhallow and fandy parts of the ihores. Manners.
and near the mouths of the fmall rivers of the ifland of Bering, feem-
ingly pleafed with the fweet water. They go in herds : the old keep
behind and drive their young before them : and fome keep on
their fides, by way of protedlion. On the rifing of the tide they

* A figure of this fpecies is given in De Buffhn, xii. tab. Ivii. and in Scbrebett ii.
tab. Ixxx.

t ^^y* *• 33' X Ibid, jl Dampier, i. 321. § Faun. Greenl. p. 6,

A a 2 approach

tSo WHALE-TAILED MANATI,

approach the Jfhores, and are fo tame as to fufFer themfelves to be
flroked: if they are roughly treated, they move towards the feaj
but foon forget the injury, and return.

They live in families near one another: each confills of a male and
female, a half-grown young, and a new-born one. The families
bften unite, fo as to form vaft droves. They are monogamous*
They bring forth a fingle young, but have no particular time of par-
turition ; but chiefly, as Sieller imagines, about autumn.

They are moft innocent and harmlefs in their manners, and moft
ftrongly attached to one another. When one is hooked, the whole
herd will attempt its refcue : fome will flrive to overfet the boat, by
going beneath it ; others will fling themfelves on the rope of the
hook and prefs it down, in order to break it ; and others again will
make the utmoft efforts to force the infl:rument out of its wounded
companion.
' Their conjugal afi'eftion is moft exemplary : a male, after ufing
all its endeavours to releafe its mate which had been ftruck, purfued
it to the very edge of the water j no blows could force it away. As
long as the deceafed female continued in the water, he perfifted in
his attendance j and even for three days after fhe was drawn on fhore,
and even cut up and carried away> was obferved to remain, as if in
expecflation of her return.

They are mofl voracious creatures, and feed with their head under

water, quite inattentive of the boats, or any thing that pafTes about

them ; moving and fwimming gently after one another, with.

much of their back above water. A fpecies of loufe harbours in the

roughnefs of their coats, which the Gulls pick out, fitting on them as

Crows do on Hogs and Sheep. Every now and then they lift their

nofe out of the water to take breath, and make a noife like the fnort-

ing of Horfes. When the tide retires, they fwim away along witK.

it ; but fometimes the young are left afhore till the return of the

water : otherwife they never quit that element : fo that in nature, as

well as form, they approach the cetaceous animals, and are the link

between Seals and them.

They

WHALE-TAILED MANATL i8i

They were taken on Berhtg's ifle by a great hook faftened to a Capture.
long rope. Four or five people took it with them in a boat, and
rowed amidft a herd. The (Irongeft man took the inftrument, ftruck
it into the neareft animal ; which done, thirty people on fhore feized
the rope, and with great difficulty drew it on fhore. The poor crea-
ture makes the flrongeft refiftance, afTifted by its faithful companions.
It will cling with its feet to the rocks till it leaves the fkin behind ;
and often great fragments of the crufly integument fly off before it
can be landed. It is an animal full of blood ;, fo that it fpouts in
amazing quantities from the orifice of the wounds

They have no voice -, only, when wounded, emit a deep figh.

They have the fenfes of fight and hearing very imperfefl j or at
lefl negleft the ufe of them.

They are not migratory -, for they were feen about Bering's ifland
the whole of the fad ten months which Mr. Steller pafTed there after
his fhipwreck.

In the fummer they were very fat 3 in the winter fo lean that tlie
ribs might be counted.

The fl<.in is ufed, by the inhabitants about the promontory Tchukt- Uses.

chii to cover their boats. The fat, which covers the whole body like The Fat.
a thick blubber, was thought to be as good and fweet as May-hut-
ter : that of the young, like hogs-lard. The fiefh of the old, when Lean,

well boiled, refembled beef: that of the young, veal. The flefh vnW
not refufe fait. The crew preferved feveral cafks full, which was
found of excellent fervice in their efcape from their horrible con-
finement *.

To this article mufl be added an imperfeft defcriptibn of a marine Sea Ape,.

animal feen by Mr. Steller on the coaft of America^ which he calls a
Sea Ape. The head appeared like that of a Dog, with fliarp and
upright ears, large eyes, and with both lips bearded : the body
round and conoid; the thickefl part near the head : the tail forked;

* Mulhr^s'voy, 62, No'v, Com, P strop, ii. 329.

the

i82 S E A A P E,

the upper lobe the longed : the body covered with thick hair, grey
on the back, reddifh on the belly. It feemed deilitute of feet.

It was extremely wanton, and played a multitude of monkey-
tricks. It fometime-s fwam on one fide, fometimes on the other fide
of the fnip, and gazed at it with great admiration. It made fo near
an approach to the vefTel, as almoft to be touched with a pole j but
if any body moved, it inftantly retired. It would often ftand ere6t
for a confiderable fpace, with one-third of its body above water j
then dart beneath the Ihip, and appear on the other fide i and repeat
the fame thirty times together. It would frequently arife with a fea-
plant, not unlike the Bottle-gourd, tofs it up, and catch it in its
mouth, playing with it numberlefs fantaftic tricks *.

On animals of this Ipecies the fable of the Sirens might very well
be founded.
Sea I fhall conclude this article with a recantation of what I fay in the

Beluga. 357th page of my Synopfis, relating to the Beluga-, which I now find

was coUeded, by the author I cite, from the reports of Cojfacks, and
ignorant fifhermen. The animal proves at laft to be one of the
cetaceous tribe, of the genus of Dolphin, and of a fpecies called by
the Germans JVit-FiJchy and by the Ruffians Beluga f ; both fignifying
White fifh : but to this the laft add Morjkaia, or ofthefeay by way of
diftinguifhing it from a fpecies of Sturgeon fo named. It is com-
mon in all the Armc feas j and forms an article of commerce, being
taken on account of its blubber. They are numerous in the gulph
of St. Lawrence i and go with the tide as high as §^ebec. There
are fifheries for them, and the common Porpejfey in that river. A
confiderable quantity of oil is extraded ; and of their fkins is made
a fort of Morocco leather, thin, yet ftrong enough to refift a mufquet-
ball {. They are frequent in the Dwina and the Oby -, and go in
fmall families from five to ten, and advance pretty far up the rivers
in purfuit of filh. They are ufually caught in nets^ but arc fomc-

* HiJI.. Kamtfchatka, 136.

t Pallas, Itin.vix. 84. tab. iv. Cratitz Greenl, i. 114. Purchases Pilgrims, in, $^9-

1 Charkvoije, v, 217.

tunes

SEA BELUGA. t^3

times harpooned. They bring only one young at a time, which is
duilcy J but grow white as they advance in age i the change firft
commencing on the belly. They are apt to follow boats, as if they
were tamed; and appear extremely beautiful, by reafon of their re-
Xplendent whitenefs *.

It being a fpecies very little known, and never well engraven, I
fliall give a brief defcription, and adjoin an engraving taken from
an excellent drawing communicated to me by Dr. Pallas.

The head is Ihort : nofe blunt : fpiracle fmall, of the form of a Description,
Crefcent : eyes very minute : mouth fmall : in each fide of each jaw
are nine teeth, fhort, and rather blunt; thofe of the upper jaw are
bent, and hollowed, fitted to receive the teeth of the lower jaw when
the mouth is clofed : peftoral fins nearly of an oval form : beneath
the Ikin may be felt the bones of five fingers, which terminate at
the edge of the fin in five very fenfible projeftions. This brings it
into the next of rank in the order of beings with the Manati. The
tail is divided into two lobes, which lie horizontally,, but do not
fork, except a little at their bafe. The body is oblong, and rather
flender, tapering from the back (which is a little elevated) to the
tail. It is quite deftitute of the dorfal fin.

Its length is from twelve to eighteen feet. It makes great ufe of Size.

its tail in fwimming ; for it bends that part under it, as a Lobfter
does its tail, and works it with fuch force as to dart along with th&
rapidity of an arrow..

A full account of the filh of the Whale kind, feen by the Reverend
Dr. Borlaje t between the Land's End and the Scilly iflands, is a
deftderatum in the Britijlj Natural Hiftory. He defcribes them as
being from twelve to fifteen feet long ; fome were milk-white, others
brown, others fpotted. They are called Hhornhacks^ from a fharp
and broad fin on the back. This deflroys my fufpicion of their be-
ing of the above fpecies.

* M.ann, GmnU 51. t Obf, Scillj JJIandsiZ^

XY, Winced,.

i84 NEW YORK AND LONG-HAIRED BAT.

IV. Winged.
BAT. HIST. ^UAD. Genus XLIV.

New York. ^//?. j^W. N" 403. — Lev. Mus.

BAT. With the head like that of a Moufe : top of the nofe a
little bifid: ears broad, jQiort, and rounded: in each jaw two
canine teeth : no cutting teeth : tail very long, inclofed in the mem-
brane, which is of a triangular form : the wings thin, naked, and
duflcy : bones of the hind legs very flender.

Head, body, and upper part of the membrane inclofing the tail,
covered with very long hair of a bright tawny color, paled on the
head, beginning of the back, and the belly : at the bafe of each
wing is a white fpot.

Length from nofe to tail two inches and a half j tail, one inch
eight-tenths : extent of the v ings, ten inches and a half.

Inhabits the province o{ New York\ and difcovered by Dr.F^r/?<?r*
n New Zealand J in the South Seas,

83. Long- Mr, Clayton^ in Ph. Tranf. Ahridg. ili. 594.

HAIRED. ^

I AT. With long ftraggling hairs, and great ears.

The above is all the account we have of this fpecies; which
i-s faid to be an inhabitant of Virginia^

Mr. Law/on fays, that the common Bat is found in Carolina f .

* Oh/er'vations, ^c. iSg. t ^i/^- Carolina, 125.

Hifi.

NOCTULE AND COMMON bat; i^S

Hiji. ^ad. N» 407.- Great Bat, Br. Zool. i. N° 38. 84. NoctuibI-

AT.. With the nofe flightly bilobated : ears fmall and rounded :
on the chin a fmall wart : body of a cinereous red.
Extent of wings fifteen inches : body between two and three in
length : tail, one inch feven-tenths.

Brought from Hudjon's Bay in fpirits. 1 faw it only in the bottle -,.
butlt appeared to be this fpecies.

A^ Common B AT, J!fe/?. ^cid. N« J^iu^Br. Zool. i. N° 41.-L1V. Mus..

THIS fpecies is found in Iceland, as I was informed by the late
Mr. Fleifcher, which is the moft northernly refidence of this
genus. In Jfia I can trace them no farther eaftward than about the
river Argun, beyond lake Baikal,

Bfe CLASS

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