a large island separated from the coast of Chinese Tartary by a narrow channel. It is called Tchoka by the natives, and Oku-Jesfu by the Chinese. It is situated between 46° and 54° N. Lat.; but its breadth from east to west is unknown. The frigates under the command of Peroufe came to anchor in different bays, to the finest of which, in 48° 59' N. Lat. and 140° 32' E. Long., from Paris, the French commodore gave the name of Baie d'Eftaing.

Segalien is well wooded, and mountainous towards the centre, but flat and level along the coast, the soil of which is peculiarly favourable to agriculture; and vegetation is extremely vigorous. The whole surface is almost covered with forests of pine, birch, oak, and willow trees; and the seas, rivers, and brooks, abound with excellent salmon and trout. In general, the weather is mild and foggy; and the inhabitants are healthy and strong, and many of them live to an extreme old age. The presents received by the natives from the French, were only valued in proportion to their utility. They make use of looms, which are complete instruments, though small. The inhabitants in general do not exceed five feet in height, although some of the tallest measure about five feet four inches. Their countenances are animated and agreeable; their cheeks are large, their nose rounded at the extremity; they have strong voices, and rather thick lips, which are of a dull red.

The women are not so tall as the men, but of a more rounded and delicate form, with dresses nearly similar; their upper lip is tattooed all over of a blue colour; the hair of their head is black, smooth, and of a moderate strength, worn about six inches long behind, and they cut it into a brush on the top of their head and over the temples. They wear lurtouts of skin or quilted nankeen, which reach to the calf of the leg, and sometimes lower, by which the use of drawers is in a great measure rendered unnecessary. They all wear girdles, like the lower orders among the Chinese, from which a knife is suspended as a defence against the bears, and a number of small pockets for holding their flint and steel, pipe and box of tobacco, for they are very great smokers. Their huts are small in proportion to the number of inhabitants they contain, but sufficient to defend them against the rain and other inclemencies of the atmosphere. The roof consists of two inclined planes, from 10 to 12 feet high at their union, and three or four on the sides; the breadth of the roof is 15, and its length 18 feet. They use iron pots in cooking, also shells, vessels made of wood and birch bark, of different forms and workmanship. They have two meals a-day, the one at noon, and the other in the evening. Each family has its own hunting and fishing implements, and their arms are bows, javelins, and a kind of spoon, which last is employed in hunting the bear.

The only domestic animals are dogs, of a middling size, with shaggy hair, pricked ears, and a long sharp muzzle, with a loud but not savage cry.

The people of Segalien are of a mild and unsuspicious disposition, and appear to hold a commercial intercourse with the Chinese through the medium of the Mantouch Tartars, with the Ruffians to the north of their island, and the Japanese to the south; but the articles of trade consist only of a few furs and whale oil.