Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1866-02-08

GEOGRAPHY CORRECTED.-The Biographies
all that we have ever seen-assign kamtchatka
to the lowest grade of habitable regions, and
the Kamchadalcs to the lowest order Of the
human species. Upon the former We are ac-
customed to look as an icy, rocky, sterile, de
ISOLATE and inhOspitable country, horrible to the
natives, and repulsive to travellers. We have
regarded the people as stunted, debascd,
coarse, ignorant and brutal. An adventurous
New Englander, attached to the Behring's
Straits expedition writes from there to 4 BoS-
ton paper that the school book descriptions Of
the place and the people are erroneous. lie
says it is ga pleasant country full of high,
volcanic peaks, many smoking still, and with
their Jagged sides uphOlding q glacier occa-
sionally, and between them, broad intervals,
as at North Conway, and fertile valleys gay
with flowers in the summer season. Here,
cattle Craze and sheep feed, giving the richest
milk, though not much of it, and allurding
beef, mutton and curds, of superior quality.
Potatoes, turnps, radisheS, and other hardy
vegetables grow of good quality and pro-
flsely. Little shaggy horses do the summer
draught work. Ducks, bears, wolves, salmon,
trout and other game are plenty"
Ofthe dogs he says:
" But the wealth of the Kamchadale is his
dogs. In the winter they carry him every
where, obedient to his voice, defend him from
the wild animals, and live ON dried fish at two
4 day, costing $40 a thousand. They are in-
terbred with the native wolf, which they much
resemble, and of which several females are
kept in confinement in the town for that pur-
pose. They have two kinds of Sledges, one
called Narka, and used for long journeys and
freight-the other, the Sanka, carrying one
man only, and giving him all he can do to hold
on. They are made of wood with rawhde
thongs, and entirely without nails or iron. The
Naria is ten feet long, two feet wide, and
eighteen inches high. The Sanka is four feet
long, two high, and about six inches wide at
the seat, the runners spreading to eighteen
inches. You sit a-Straddle, guiding the dogs
entirely by the voice, without reins or whip,
and only carrying bent stick to thrust into
the snow when you wish TO stop the dogs
Some of the dogs are very cunning, aud will
seem to pull like all possessed while the ras-
Gals are not pulling at all, and you throw your
owstle or curved stick ut them, and catch 1t
up as you go along without stopping. They
will travel from forty to sixty rerStS in day,
a verSt being three quarters OF 4 mile. They
are different from the ESquimaux dogs, which
are smaller and stOuter in proportion"
Ofthe people he says:
"The principal food of the Kamchadalcs is
salmon, black bread and tea, which they make
aud use in the Russian way. They nearly all
talk Russian only, and the kamchat is obsolete,
with the exception OF a few words. They are
4 dark Tartaric looking race, with short legs,
big mouths and ill shapes frequently; but the
women have fine compilations, eyes and hair,
and are much handsOmer than the Russians,
more faithful and domestic. In summer they
live on milk curdS, potatoes, game and fish !;
but in the winter their occupation is hunting
sable, the glorious Russian sable, that every
lady covets so much, and which is as different
from Hudson Bay sable as leopard is from
the tawny panther. 1t belongs to the family of
the civit and pole cat. 1t is very small, dark
and rich ia fur. The skins are worth in Petro-
paulski Sl5 each, undreSSed. They are about
as big as the back of your hand. Siberian
squirrel, ermiue, beaver, fur seal, sea otter,
| land otter, and bear skins are Obtainable, but
| in small quantities aud at high prices. The
best sable comes from the AMOR river coun-
try, and the next best, from Kamchatka.
1.-The natural history of this region is very
interesting, and strongly reminds one of New
! England, many species undistinguishable from
those of New England being found there. The
Russians have very little energy, and go mul-
fled to their noses in fur all the year round.