Puslapio vaizdai
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not eggs. They average about five feet two inches in height, are broad-chested, well made, and have a fine appearance compared with the Japanese. Their eyes are always black, and their hair is of the same color. They are active and fond of work, seldom suffering from sickness. The Kúrile-Ainos are very few in number. They live almost entirely on fish, and are fond of travelling from island to island in their boats. They are noted for their mildness, quiet manners, hospitality, and general goodwill toward strangers and each other.

The little knowledge* which we do possess with regard to this interesting people makes us regret that we know no more. They have probably adopted many customs from their Japanese conquerors. Without a grammar or vocabulary of their language, any theories in regard to their origin are mere speculation. The - Japanese consider them to be descended from the original inhabitants of the islands, who, according to the Japanese records, were conquered by the former about the year 600 of the Christian era. Many of their habits and customs appear similar to those of the northeastern races of Asia.

Nikoláiffsk. This town is situated near the mouth of the Amoor. It owes its principal importance to the trade of that river and the garrison which was transferred there from Petropávlovsk by the government in 1855. American and Sandwich Island traders monopolize most of its commerce. Owing to the difficult and dangerous character of the navigation of the Amoor, from the constantly changing sand-bars which obstruct the channel, most vessels carry their cargoes to De Castries Bay in Sakhálin Straits, whence it has been proposed to build a railroad to Nikoláiffsk. The population of the place is estimated at twelve thousand, and the trade is principally in lumber, liquors, fancy articles, and breadstuffs.

It has been proposed to form an ice company here, for the purpose of supplying the Chinese ports; but it is doubtful if the enterprise would pay for many years, as the market is very limited at present.

This concludes the list of points or people of interest in the foreign territories adjacent to Alaska.

* Most of the above facts are from a paper by Professor A. S. Bickmore, in Silliman's Journal, 1868.

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APPENDIX A.

FRO

GLOSSARY.

ROM ignorance of the true phonetic value of the Russian compound consonants, and from literal transcription, instead of phonetic translation, of the German rendering of Russian and native names, much confusion has arisen.

Many writers persistently represent the third letter of the Russian alphabet by W, writing Románow instead of Románoff, &c. The twenty-fifth letter is also frequently rendered TS CH instead of C H soft, as in church, which fully represents it in English. The Russian O, when not accented, should be rendered in English by A; from the neglect of this we have Kódiak instead of Kadiák, and many similar errors. The twenty-second letter of the Russian alphabet should properly be represented by K H in English; it has the exact value of the German CH as in welcher.

The spelling throughout this volume has been made as simple as the phonetic values would allow. It is to be hoped that authors in future will endeavor to follow up this reform, especially when they learn that it is as gross an error to spell Kamchátka, for instance, Kamtschátka, as it would be for a foreigner to represent the English word church by tschurtsch, and so on. The letter U in Russian and native words has almost invariably the sound of U in Luke.

This Glossary has been added to explain, more fully than was convenient in the text, the meaning and derivation of some words.

ALASKA. - This name, now applied to the whole of our new territory, is a corruption, very far removed from the original word. When the early Russian traders first reached Unaláshka, they were told by the natives that to the eastward was a great land or territory. This was called by the natives Al-ák-shak or Al-áy-ek-sa. The island now known as Unaláshka was called Na-gún-aláyeksa or “the land

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near Aláyeksa." From Aláyeksa the name became, by corruption, Aláksa, Aláshka, Aliáska, and finally Aláska. Aláska is an English corruption; the Russians never used it. In all the later maps the name of the peninsula is spelled Aliáska, and this spelling has been preserved in this volume, as affording a convenient distinction between the general and the specific names. In the same way, Nagún-aláyeksa became Agún-aláksa, Agún-aláshka, and finally Unaláshka. The term Unaláska has no authority, is not known to either Russians or Aleuts, and I have not employed it, as it has no grounds for preference. We have, then, Aláska for the territory, Aliáska for the peninsula, and Unaláshka for the island; all derived from the same root, meaning a great country or continent.

ALEUT, or ALEUTIAN. This term is now universally used to designate the inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands. Its origin is obscure. Some of the early writers state that it was derived from one of the Eastern Siberian dialects, and meant originally servant or slave. It is certain that it is a word foreign to the language of the islanders, who called themselves originally Kagataya Koung'ns, meaning "men of the east," their traditions indicating an eastern or continental origin. The Kaniagisti or Kaniágmut of the island of Kadiák, quite a different branch of the Orarian stock, were also called Aleuts by the early traders.

ALIÁSKA, a corruption of Aláveksa. See Aláska.

AVÁCHA, or AVÁTCHA. The name of a river in Southeastern Kamchátka, and also of the noble bay into which it falls. Originally Su-wácha, it was soon corrupted into Avácha by the Russians, and is well known by the latter name. Ignorance or stupidity has done its worst in the different methods of spelling this clear and simple name. On Niakína Cove, one of the numerous small harbors in the bay, is situated the town of Petropavlovsk.

BABÍCHE. -The term applied by the French Canadians of Hudson Bay to a fine rawhide line, formed by removing the hair from the reindeer skin, soaking, cutting into line, and finally stretching and drying the latter. It is used by the voyageurs for the netting of their snowshoes, and lashing their sleds, or any use to which twine might be applied. A similar line is made from sealskin by the Innuit, and is generally known among the voyageurs as rémni. It is exceedingly tough and strong, and is used for the same purposes, on the coast, that are served by babiche in the interior. The rémni, according to my experience, is the better of the two.

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