to the different objects of the chase. For land animals, a single barbed point; for birds, three points of light bone, spread and barbed; for seals, &c. they use a false point, inserted in a socket at the end of the dart, which parts on the least effort of the animal to dive, remaining in its body. A string of considerable length is fastened to this barbed point, and twisted round the wooden part of the javelin. This serves as a float to direct them to the seal, which having the stick to drag after it, soon tires, and becomes an easy prey. These darts are not shot from a bow, but slung from a small plank, about 18 inches long and two inches broad. In order that the weapon may be held the faster, they have a sort of handle at the lower end, and an opening through which the fore-finger is thrust. At the other end is a small channel, into which the javelin fits, with a little knob which serves to retain it. When the javelin is to be thrown, the plank is held horizontally, and the aim being taken, the weapon is directed by the middle finger and thumb. This is done with so much dexterity, and the motion given to it is so powerful and so rapid, that the object aimed at is rarely missed; even whales are killed without any other weapon.
Their favourite amusement appears to be dancing, in which, however, they do not seem to exhibit any particular exertion of strength or expression of elegance, the only motion being a sort of hop, the performer scarcely moving from the place he first takes up. Their music is exceedingly rude, consisting of a small drum or tambour, and a rattle made of the bladder of a sea-dog, filled with peas or small pebbles. In their leisure hours they amuse themselves with making these little drums and rattles, which are frequently ornamented with a good deal of ingenuity and elegance; and with cutting out from the teeth of the sea-cow small figures of men, fish, sea-otters, and other objects, in a manner that appears very extraordinary, considering that the sea-cow's teeth are much harder than ivory, and that they have no proper tools to work with.
The religion of these islanders, like that of most uncivilized nations, consists in superstitious observances and a belief in charms. Many of them have been baptized, and are nominally professors of the Greek faith; of which, however, they understand nothing more than making the
sign of the cross. They have no marriage ceremony: every man may have as many wives as he can conveniently maintain: if his means decrease, he sends first one, then another, back to their parents; and these women become perfectly at liberty to look out for other husbands. Sometimes the same woman lives with two husbands; and it is not uncommon for men to sell or exchange wives. Boys, if they happen to be very handsome, are often brought up entirely in the manner of girls, instructed in the arts of female blandishment, and used as concubines. This shocking, unnatural, and immoral practice has prevailed here even from the remotest times. Such men are known under the name of schopans. The bodies of the dead, especially of the men, were formerly interred in places set apart for the purpose, and with particular ceremonies. Their best javelins and clothes, with a portion of train-oil and other articles of food, were laid with them in the grave; and sometimes even slaves of both sexes were slaughtered upon the occasion. These customs are now, however, entirely laid aside.
The population and government.
The population of Unalashka and the neighbouring islands appears to have been considerable, amounting to several thousands. In 1790 Sarytcheff reckoned it at 1300. According to the most recent accounts, it does not appear to amount to more than 300. This rapid depopulation is ascribed partly to the practice of
sending the best hunters from hence to a distance, to chase the large sea-otters, few of whom ever return to their families; and partly to the state of oppression under which the natives live, and the change which has taken place in their modes of living. Captain Cook seems to consider the natives of these islands as originally of the same extraction with the Greenlanders and Esquimaux. When first discovered by the Russians they were under the government of Toigons, or chiefs, who, however, possessed little superior distinction or dignity, and had no revenue. At present they are all subject to the government of the Russian settlers.
Throughout the whole of the Aleutian Islands, on the island of Kadyak, and the western coast of America, the Russians have formed settlements, for the purpose of hunting and collecting furs, with which they carry on a lucrative commerce, particularly with the Chinese. The most valuable fur is that of the sea-otter; an animal which has now become rare on these islands, in consequence of the extreme eagerness with which they have been hunted and killed. Besides the sea-otter, there are numbers of foxes, especially on the Fox Islands. The black foxes found on these islands are not so valuable as those of Siberia. The Arctic or ice fox, called also the rock fox, and the blue fox, from the natural colour of the fur, which is of a bluish grey, is very common. From the first discovery of these islands by Behring and Tscherikoff, in 1741, the fur-trade was carried on for a long period entirely by private adventurers, and appears to have been productive of great abuses. The natives were frequently treated in the most cruel and barbarous manner; and the keenness displayed by these rapacious hunters threatened to extirpate the race of animals upon which the trade depended. Convinced of the extreme necessity of putting a stop to this destructive plan of proceeding, Schelikoff, an intelligent Russian merchant, took considerable pains to unite the different partakers of this trade into a company, in order that it might be conducted with prudence and precaution, upon some plan that might prove advantageous to all parties. In 1785 he succeeded in joining company with the Golikoffs. They increased their capital, and fitted out several ships, which the enterprising Schelikoff commanded in person. Factories, protected by forts, were established in almost all the Aleutian Islands, as far eastward as Kadyak; and during several years they continued this lucrative trade in conjunction, by which they acquired considerable wealth. The success of this connection induced several merchants to unite like Schelikoff and the Golikoffs; and in this manner was laid the foundation of the present Russian American Company. The irregular manner, however, in which the trade was still carried on, and the cruelty which was frequently exercised by the Russian merchants towards the natives of the islands, drew upon them great and well-founded censure; insomuch that the emperor Paul determined to put an end to the company and the trade at the same time. This determination would have infallibly been carried into effect, but for the interference of M. von Resanoff, who had married Schelikoff's daughter, and was personally interested in the successful continuance of the American Company. In consequence of his active interposition, the new-established company was formally confirmed in 1799, with considerable privileges.