2. That they ride upon bears; which the females suckle when young, and so tame; a fact, when verified, of equal novelty in zoology and ethnography.
The Peninsula of Sagalin, and the island of Jesso are the probable lines by which Japan was peopled; at least so far as the simple land-and-water conditions are concerned. And I know nothing that counteracts them.
The Kachhall.—This is a tribe mentioned by Von Middenorf as inhabiting the south bank of the Amur. He knows it, however, only from the description given by the Ainos. Their stature is short; the lower extremities disproportionately so.
THE KORIAKS.
Present area.—The parts between the Omolon, an eastern branch of the Kolyma, the Arctic Ocean, Behring's Straits, and the Gulf of Anadyr, except only a tract of coast in the two latter localities, inhabited by the Namollos. Southwards, to the middle of the Peninsula of Kamskatka, across the northern portion of which it extends. The head of the Gulf of Penjinsk, in the Sea of Okhotsk. Conterminous with the Yukahiri, Lamut Tungusians, Kamskadales, and Namollos.
Supposed ancient area.—As far west as the Kolyma, possibly farther. Probably also farther south. On the other hand, not so far east as at present; the Namollos being believed to have extended so far as Shelagskoi Noss.
Divisions.—a. Northern Koriaks, or Tshuktshi; b. Southern Koriaks, or Koræki. The two divisions separated by the river Anadyr.
Habits.—Nomadic. Kora, which is said to mean a rein-deer, is held to be the root of the term Koræki, a name which, for the southern Koriaks, is stated to be indigenous.
Religion.—Shamanism. In some cases an imperfect Christianity.
Political relations.—The Southern Koriaks tributary to Russia; the Northern, (or Tshuktshi) independent.