After we became acquainted with these Russians, some of our gentlemen, at different times, visited their settlement on the island, where they always met with a hearty welcome. This settlement consisted of a dwelling-house and two store-houses. And, besides the Russians, there was a number of the Kamtschadales, and of the natives, as servants, or slaves, to the former. Some others of the natives, who seemed independent of the Russians, lived at the same place. Such of them as belonged to the Russians were all males, and they are taken, or perhaps purchased, from their parents when young. There was, at this time, about twenty of these, who could be looked upon in no other light than, as children. They all live in the same house; the Russians at the upper end, the Kamtschadales in the middle, and the natives at the lower end, where is fixed a large boiler for preparing their food, which consists chiefly of what the sea produces, with the addition of wild roots and berries. There is little difference between the first and last table, besides what is produced by cookery, in which the Russians have the art to make indifferent things palatable. I have eat whale's flesh of their dressing, which I thought very good; and they made a kind of pan-pudding of salmon roe, beaten up fine, and fried, that is no bad succedaneum for bread. They may, now and then, taste real bread, or have a dish in which flour is an ingredient; but this can only be an occasional luxury. If we except the juice of berries which they sip at their meals, they have no other liquor besides pure water; and it seems to be very happy for them that they have nothing stronger.
As the island supplies them with food, so it does, in a great measure, with clothing. This consists chiefly of skins, and is, perhaps, the best they could have. The upper garment is made like our waggoner's frock, and reaches as low as the knee. Besides this, they wear a waistcoat or two, a pair of breeches, a fur cap, and a pair of boots, the soles and upper leathers of which are of Russian leather, but the legs are made of some kind of strong gut. Their two chiefs, Ismyoff and Ivanovitch, wore each a calico frock, and they, as well as some others, had shirts, which were of silk. These, perhaps, were the only part of their dress not made amongst themselves.
There are Russians settled upon all the principal islands between Oonalashka and Kamtschatka, for the sole purpose of collecting furs. Their great object is the sea-beaver or otter. I never heard them enquire after any other animal; though those, whose skins are of inferior value, are also made part of their cargoes. I never thought to ask how long they have had a settlement upon Oonalashka, and the neighbouring isles; but to judge from the great subjection the natives are under, this cannot be of a very late date.[119] All these furriers are relieved, from time to time, by others. Those we met with arrived here from Okotsk, in 1776, and are to return in 1781; so that their stay at the island will be four years at least.[15]
It is now time to give some account of the native inhabitants. To all appearance, they are the most peaceable, inoffensive people, I ever met with. And, as to honesty, they might serve as a pattern to the most civilized nation upon earth. But, from what I saw of their neighbours, with whom the Russians have no connection, I doubt whether this was their original disposition, and rather think that it has been the consequence of their present state of subjection. Indeed, if some of our gentlemen did not misunderstand the Russians, they had been obliged to make some severe examples, before they could bring the islanders into any order. If there were severities inflicted at first, the best apology for them is, that they have produced the happiest consequences, and, at present, the greatest harmony subsists between the two nations. The natives have their own chiefs in each island, and seem to enjoy liberty and property unmolested. But whether or no they are tributaries to the Russians, we could never find out. There was some reason to think that they are.[16]
These people are rather low of stature, but plump and well-shaped, with rather short necks, swarthy chubby faces, black eyes, small beards, and long, straight, black hair, which the men wear loose behind and cut before, but the women tie up in a bunch.
Their dress has been occasionally mentioned. Both sexes wear the same in fashion, the only difference is in the materials. The women's frock is made of seal-skin, and that of the men, of the skins of birds, both reaching below the knee. This is the whole dress of the women. But over their frock, the men wear another made of gut, which resists water, and has a hood to it, which draws over the head. Some of them wear boots, and all of them have a kind of oval snouted cap, made of wood, with a rim to admit the head. These caps are dyed with green and other colours; and round the upper part of the rim are stuck the long bristles of some sea-animal, on which are strung glass-beads, and on the front is a small image or two made of bone.
They make use of no paint; but the women puncture their faces slightly; and both men and women bore the under-lip, to which they fix pieces of bone. But it is as uncommon, at Oonalashka, to see a man with this ornament, as to see a woman without it. Some fix beads to the upper-lip, under the nostrils; and all of them hang ornaments in their ears.
Their food consists of fish, sea-animals, birds, roots, and berries, and even of sea-weed. They dry large quantities of fish in summer, which they lay up in small huts for winter use; and probably they preserve roots and berries for the same time of scarcity. They eat almost every thing raw. Boiling and broiling were the only methods of cookery that I saw them make use of; and the first was probably learnt from the Russians. Some have got little brass-kettles; and those who have not, make one of a flat stone, with sides of clay, not unlike a standing pye.