Chapter 51 - The Grand Bear Hunt by Mayne Reid
The Kamschatdales
The bear of Kamschatka had to be skinned next. But it was necessary to catch one before he could be skinned; and also necessary to go to Kamschatka before he could be caught. To get to Kamschatka was not so difficult as it may sound to the ear. Our travellers were just in the place, from which it was possible to, proceed direct to this Asiatic peninsula. Vessels belonging to the Russian Fur Company every year collect the furs along the north-west coast of America, and among the Fox and Aleutian islands—Sitka being their port of rendezvous. Thence proceeding to the harbour of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (Petropaulouski), on the coast of Kamschatka, they complete their cargoes with the “skin crop” that during the winter has been collected throughout the peninsula. Thence to China a portion of these furs are taken—especially skins of the sable, which the Chinese mandarins use extensively for trimming their costly robes; and for which, teas, silk, lacquer-ware, and other articles of Chinese manufacture are given in exchange.
The Japanese also, and other wealthy Oriental nations, buy up quantities of costly furs; but by far the greater portion of this produce is consumed by the Russians themselves—in whose cold climate some sort of a fur coat is almost a necessity. Even most of the furs collected by the Hudson’s Bay Company find their way into Russia: for the consumption of these goods in Great Britain is extremely limited, compared with that of many other articles de luxe.
In the fur ship our travellers proceeded from Sitka to the port of Petropaulouski, which is situated on Avatcha bay, near the southern end of the peninsula.
As Avatcha bay is nearly land-locked, it forms one of the most sheltered harbours on that side of the Pacific; but unfortunately during winter the bay freezes over; and then ships can neither get into nor out of it.
The vessel which carried our adventurers arrived at Petropaulouski late in the spring; but, as the winter had been unusually prolonged, the bay was still blocked up with ice, and the ship could not get up to the little town. This did not hinder them from landing. Dog-sledges were brought out upon the ice by the inhabitants; and upon these our travellers were carried to the town, or “ostrog” as it is called—such being the name given to the villages of Kamschatka.
In Petropaulouski, many curious objects and customs came under the observation of our travellers. They saw no less than three kinds of houses—first, the “isbas,” built of logs, and not unlike the log-cabins of America. These are the best sort of dwellings; and belong to the Russian merchants and officials, who reside there—as well as to the Cossack soldiers, who are kept by the Russian Government in Kamschatka.
The native Kamschatdales have two kinds of houses of indigenous architecture—one for summer, the “balagan,” and another to which they retire during the winter, called the “jourt.” The balagan is constructed of poles and thatch upon a raised platform—to which the Kamschatdale climbs up by means of a notched trunk of a tree. There is only one story of the house itself—which is merely the sloping thatched roof—with a hole in the top to give passage to the smoke—and resembles a rough tent or hayrick set upon an elevated stand. The space under the platform is left open; and serves as a store-house for the dried fish, that forms the staple food of all sorts of people in Kamschatka. Here, too, the sledges and sledge harness are kept; and the dogs, of which every family owns a large pack, use this lower story as a sleeping place.
The winter-house or “jourt,” is constructed very differently. It is a great hole sunk in the ground to the depth of eight or ten feet, lined round the sides with pieces of timber, and roofed over above the surface of the ground—so as to look like the rounded dome of a large bake-oven. A hole at the apex is intended for the chimney, but it is also the door: Since there is no other mode of entrance into the jourt, and the interior is reached by descending a notched tree trunk—similar to that used in climbing up to the balagan.
The curious fur dresses of the Kamschatdales; their thin yellowish white dogs, resembling the Pomeranian breed; their dog-sledges, which they use for travelling in winter; the customs and habits of these singular people; all formed an interesting study to our travellers, and enriched their journal with notes and observations. We find it recorded there, how these people spend their time and obtain their subsistence. Very little agriculture is practised by them—the climate being unfavourable to the growth of the cereals. In some parts barley and rye are cultivated; but only to a very limited extent. Cattle are scarce—a few only being kept by the Russian and Cossack settlers; and horses are equally rare, such as there are belonging to the officials of the Government, and used for Government purposes. The common or “native” people subsist almost entirely on a fish diet—their lakes and rivers furnishing them with abundance of fish; and the whole of the summer is spent in catching and drying these for their winter provision. Several wild vegetable productions are added—roots and berries, and even the bark of trees—all of which are eaten along with the dried fish. Wild animals also furnish part of their subsistence; and it is by the skins of these—especially the sable—that the people pay their annual tax, or tribute, to the Russian Government. From animals, too, their clothing is chiefly manufactured; and many other articles used in their domestic economy. The peninsula is rich in the fur-bearing quadrupeds, and some of these furnish the very best quality of furs that are known to commerce. The sable of Kamschatka is of a superior kind as also the many varieties of the fox. They have, besides, the wolverine and wolf, the ermine and Arctic fox, the marmot and polar hare, and several smaller animals that yield furs of commercial value. The sea otter is common upon the coasts of Kamschatka; and this is also an object of the chase—its skin being among the costliest of “peltries.” The great argali, or wild sheep, and the reindeer, furnish them both with flesh and skins; but one of the chief objects of the chase is that great quadruped for which our young hunters had come all the way to Kamschatka, the bear. Into his presence they would find no difficulty in introducing themselves: for perhaps in no country in the world does master Bruin’s family muster so strongly as in this very peninsula.