a. The oil. b. The wick. c. The foot. d. The basin under it. e. Stick for trimming the wick.
"Every tent is besides provided with some drums (yárar). These are made of a wooden ring, about seventy centimetres in diameter, on which is stretched a skin of seal or walrus gut. The drum is beaten with a light stick of whalebone. The sound thus produced is melancholy, and is so in a yet higher degree when it is accompanied by the natives' monotonous, commonly rhythmical songs, which appear to me to have a strong resemblance to those we hear in Japan and China. A still greater resemblance I thought I observed in the dances of these peoples. Notti is a splendid yárar-player. After some pressing he played several of their songs with a feeling for which I had not given him credit. The auditors were numerous, and by their smiles and merry eyes one could see that they were transported by the sounds which Notti knew how to call from the drum. Notti was also listened to in deep silence, with an admiration like that with which in a large room we listen to a distinguished pianist. I saw in the tent no other musical instrument than that just mentioned.
"The day we arrived at Najtskaj we employed in viewing the neighbourhood of the village. We accordingly ascended a hill about thirty metres high to the south of the village in order to get a clear idea of the region. From the summit of the hill we had a view of the two lagoons west and east of Najtskaj. The western appeared, with the exception of some earthy heights, to embrace the whole stretch of coast between Najtskaj, the hill at Yinretlen, and the mountains which are visible in the south from the Observatory. The lagoon east of Najtskaj is separated from the sea by a high rampart of sand, and extends about thirty kilometres into the interior, to the foot of the chain of hills which runs along there. To the eastward the lagoon extends along the coast to the neighbourhood of Serdze Kamen. This cape was clearly seen and, according to an estimate which I do not think was far from the truth, was situated at a distance of from twenty-five to twenty-six kilometres from Najtskaj. It sinks terracewise towards the sea, and its sides are covered with stone pillars, like those we saw in the neighbourhood of Cape Great Baranoff. Serdze Kamen to the south is connected with mountain heights which are the higher the farther they are from the sea. Some of these have a conical form, others are table-shaped, reminding us of the Ambas of Abyssinia. Ten or twelve miles into the interior they appear to reach a height of six hundred to nine hundred metres.
"The fishing in the eastern lagoon takes place mainly in the neighbourhood of Najtskaj, at a distance of about five kilometres from the village. Hooks are exclusively used, and no nets or other fishing implements. In a few minutes I saw twenty cod (urokadlin) caught, and about as many small fish, called by the natives nukionukio. For the fishing the natives make a hole in the ice, a decimetre in diameter. Round the hole they build, as a protection against wind and drifting snow, a snow wall eighty centimetres high, forming a circle with an inner diameter of a metre and a half. The fish-hooks are of iron and are not barbed. The line is about five metres long, To the west Idlidlja Island, in the background the village Tjapka, to the right the great lagoon. (After a drawing by O. Nordquist.)
and is fixed to a rod nearly a metre in length. At the end of the angling line hangs a weight of bone, and beside it the hook. It is generally the women who fish, yet there are generally two or three men about to open the holes, build the walls, and keep the fishing-places clear. All the holes with their shelter-walls lie in an arc, about a kilometre in length, whose convex side is turned to the east. The ice in the lagoon was 1.7 metre thick, the water 3.2 metres deep, and the thickness of snow on the ice 0.3 metre.
"The day after our arrival at Najtskaj we visited the village Tjapka, which lies at a distance of six kilometres. This village contains thirteen tents, some of which are more roomy and better built than any Chukch tent I have previously seen. We lodged in a tent which belonged to Erere, a friendly man with a face that was always cheerful. His sleeping-chamber was so large that it could hold more than one family. We found the inmates there completely naked, Erere's wife, Kedlanga, not excepted. Kedlanga was well formed, her bosom full, her stomach somewhat projecting, the thighs poor, the legs slender, the feet small. The men appeared to have a greater disposition to stoutness than the women. Some of the children had disproportionately large stomachs. Both men and women wore copper rings on the legs, the wrists, and the upper arms. On festivals they decorate themselves with iron rings, with which some reminiscence appears to be connected, to judge by the fact that they will not part with them.
"Erere's family was very numerous, according to the prevailing state of matters here. He had five children, whose names, according to their age, were, Hatanga, Etughi, Vedlat, Uai, and Umonga. In all the tents which I visited I have inquired the number of children. Only two or three wives had more than three; the average may be estimated at two.