[Illustration:  DISCHARGING A DECK LOAD.]

I next inquired if the trader did not first throw out the men to whom he was most indebted, but could not obtain information on that point.  It is probable that with an eye to business he disposes promptly of his creditors and keeps debtors to the last.  What a magnificent system of squaring accounts!

The Chukchees have mingled much with whalemen along Anadyr Bay and the Arctic Ocean, and readily adopt the white man’s vices.  They drink whisky without fear, and will get very drunk if permitted.  When Captain Macrae’s telegraph party landed at the mouth of the Anadyr the natives supposed the provision barrels were full of whisky, and became very importunate for something to drink.  The captain made a mixture of red pepper and vinegar, which he palmed off as the desired article.  All were pleased with it, and the hotter it was the better.

One native complained that its great heat burned the skin from his throat before he could swallow enough to secure intoxication.  The fame of this whisky was wide-spread.  Captain Kennan said he heard at Anadyrsk and elsewhere of its wonderful strength, and was greatly amused when he arrived at Macrae’s and heard the whole story.

Many of these natives have learned English from whalemen and speak enough to be understood.  Gov.  Bilzukavitch visited Anadyrsk in the spring of 1866, and met there a Chukchee chief.  Neither spoke the other’s language, and so the governor called his Koriak servant.  The same dilemma occurred, as each was ignorant of the other’s vernacular.  There was an awkward pause until it was discovered that both Koriak and Chukchee could speak English.  Business then proceeded without difficulty.

[Illustration:  REINDEER RIDE.]

Among the Chukchees a deer can be purchased for a pound of tobacco, but the price increases as one travels southward.  With the Koriaks it is four or five roubles, at Ohotsk ten or fifteen, and on the banks of the Amoor not often less than fifty.  South of the Amoor the reindeer is not a native.  I am inclined to discredit marry stories of the wonderful swiftness of this animal.  He sometimes performs remarkable journeys, but ordinarily he is outstripped by a good dog team.  Reindeer have the advantage of finding their food under the snow, while provision for dogs must be carried on the sledge.  When turned out in winter, the deer digs beneath the snow and seeks his food without troubling his master.  The American sailors when they have liberty on shore in these northern regions, invariably indulge in reindeer rides, to the disgust of the animals and their owners.  The deer generally comes to a halt in the first twenty yards, and nothing less than building a fire beneath him can move him from his tracks.