the name given by Europeans to a large island separated by a narrow channel from the coast of Chinese Tartary, and called by the natives Tchekoa, and by the Chinese Oku-Jefo. It lies between the 46th and 54th degrees of north latitude, but its breadth from east to west is not known. Indeed hardly anything about it was known till the year 1787, that M. La Perouse penetrated almost to the bottom of the channel which separates it from the continent, and which grew so very shallow as he advanced northward. Segalien, that, in all probability, the island will soon become a peninsula. The French frigates came to anchor in different bays on the coast of Segalien; and the finest of these bays, to which the Commodore gave the name of Baie d'Eflange, is situated in 48° 59' N. Lat. and 140° 32' Lon. East from Paris.

La Pérouse and M. Rollin, the surgeon of his ship, both describe the natives of this island as a worthy and intelligent people. Of the presents which were made to them, they seemed to let a value only on such as were useful. Iron and stuffs prevailed over every thing; they understood metals as well as their guests, and for ornament preferred silver to copper, and copper to iron. They make use of looms, which, though small, are very complete instruments; and by means of spindles they prepare thread of the hair of animals, of the bark of the willow, and the great nettle, from which they make their stuffs. They are of a moderate size, squat, and strong built, with the muscles of their bodies very exactly defined: their common height is five feet, and the greatest does not exceed five feet four inches; but men of this size are very uncommon among them. They have all a large head, and a broader and more rounded face than Europeans; their countenance is animated and agreeable, though, upon the whole, it is defective of that regularity and grace which we esteem so essential to beauty: they have large cheeks, a short nose rounded at its extremity, with very broad nostrils; their eyes are lively, of a moderate size, for the most part black, though some have blue ones among them; their eyebrows are bushy, their mouths of the common size, their voice is strong, their lips are rather thick, and of a dull red: M. Rollin remarked, that in several the upper lip was tattooed, and tinged of a blue colour: these, as well as their eyes, are capable of every variety of expression: their teeth are white, even, and of the usual number; their chin is rounded and a little advancing; their ears are small: they bore and wear in them glass ornaments or silver rings.

The women are not so large as the men, and are of a more rounded and delicate figure, though there is but little difference between the features of their faces. Their upper lip is tattooed all over of a blue colour, and they wear their hair long and flowing: their dress hardly differs from that of the men; the colour of the skin in both sexes is tawny, and that of their nails, which they suffer to grow to a great length, is a shade darker than that of Europeans. These islanders are very hairy, and have long beards, which gives, especially to the old men, a grave and venerable air: these last appear to be held in much respect by the younger part of the inhabitants. The hair of their head is black, smooth, and moderately strong; in some it is of a chestnut colour: they all wear it round, about six inches long behind, and cut into a brush on the top of their head and over the temples.

Their clothing consists of a kind of surtout which wraps over before, where it is fastened by little buttons, strings, and a girdle placed above the haunches. This surtout is made of skin or quilted nankeen, a kind of stuff that they make of willow bark: it generally reaches to the calf of the leg, and sometimes even lower; which for the most part renders the use of drawers unnecessary: some of them wear seal skin boots, the feet of which, in form and workmanship, resembles the Chinese shoe; but the greater number of them go bare-footed and bare-headed: a few indeed wear a bandage of bear-skin round the head; but this is rather as an ornament than a defence against the weather.

Like the lower classes of the Chinese, they all wear a girdle, to which they hang their knife as a defence against the bears, and several little pockets, into which they put their flint and steel, their pipe, and their box of tobacco; for they make a general practice of smoking.

Their huts are sufficient to defend them against the rain and other inclemencies of the air, but are very small in proportion to the number of the inhabitants which they contain. The roof is formed of two inclined planes, which are from ten to twelve feet high at their junction, and three or four on the sides: the breadth of the roof is about fifteen feet, and its length eighteen: these cabins are constructed of frame work, strongly put together, the sides being filled up with the bark of trees, and the top thatched with dry grass in the same manner as our cottages are.

On the inside of these houses is a square of earth raised about six inches above the ground, and supported on the sides by strong planking; on this they make the fire: along the sides of the apartment are benches twelve or fifteen inches high, which they cover with mats, on which they sleep.

The utensils that they employ in cooking their food consist of an iron pot, shells, vessels made of wood and birch bark, of various shapes and workmanship; and, like the Chinese, they take up their food with little sticks: they have generally two meals in the day, one at noon, and the other in the evening.

The habitations in the south part of the island are much better built and furnished, having for the most part plastered floors: our author saw in them some vessels of Japan porcelain, on which the owners appeared to set great value, probably because they are not to be procured but with great trouble and at considerable expense. They cultivate no kind of vegetable, living only on dried and smoked fish, and what little game they take by hunting.

Each family has its own canoe, and implements for fishing and hunting. Their arms are bows, javelins, and a kind of pontoon, which they use principally in bear-hunting. By the side of their huts are the magazines, in which they lay up the provision which they have prepared and collected during summer for their winter subsistence. It consists of dried fish, and a considerable quantity of garlic and wild celery, angelica, a bulbous root which they call apé, better known under the name of the yellow lily of Kamtchatska, and fish oil, which they preserve in the stomachs of bears, and other large animals. These magazines are made of planks, strongly and closely put together, raised above the ground on stakes about four feet high.

Dogs are the only domestic animals belonging to the natives of Tchoka; they are of a middling size, with shaggy hair, pricked ears, and a sharp long muzzle; their cry is loud and not savage.

These people, who are of a very mild and unsuspicious disposition, appear to have commercial intercourse with the Chinese by means of the Mantchou Tartars, with the Russians to the north of their island, and the Japanese to the south; but the articles of trade are of This fish is caught only on the southern coast of the island. Their mode of extracting the oil is by no means economical; they drag the whale on shore on a sloping ground, and suffer it to putrefy, receive in a trench, at the foot of the slope, the oil, which separates spontaneously.

The island is well wooded, and mountainous towards the centre, but is flat and level along the coast, the soil of which appears admirably adapted to agriculture: vegetation is extremely vigorous here; forests of pine, willow, oak, and birch, cover nearly the whole surface. The sea abounds with fish, as well as the rivers and brooks, which swarm with salmon and trout of excellent quality. The weather is, in general, foggy and mild. All the inhabitants have an air of health and strength, which they retain even to extreme old age; nor did our author observe among them any instance of defective organization, or the least trace of contagious or eruptive disorders.