The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
The Kurile Islanders.

The Kurile islands, forming al almost
unknown archipelago, drop like n chain
of small links from Kamschatka down to
the Japanese island of Ycssc, so closing
in the Okahotsk sca from the Northern
Pacific. They have recently been coded
by the car to the mikado in exchange
for the large island. of S~aghalin. The
islanders are a small race, hardy, honest
and pcaccablc. BY the Alcuts they are
called the ''hairy men," but whether this
is because they dress entirely in skins or
because they are sparingly provided with
that arctic rarity, n beard, is not known.
Anything more chccrlcss and unlovcly
than the lives of the Kurilcans can
scarcely be imagined. Living Oh what
is not much more than 4 succession OF
huge stcppingstoncs from Kamschatka to
japan. they are exposed to the full fury
and rigor Of the winters of the far North.
The spring is comparativcly pleasant, but
with the summer comes on such logs that
ar impcnctrablc wall seems to be raised
between the islands and the rest of the
world. The foys clear off, there is a
brief glimpse of a low sun, and then the
bleak winter comes down blackly again.
Not a thing grows on the island except
moss, the whole group being destitute
of tree, or shrub, or blade of grass. For
food the natives depend upon whatever
| they may eaten in their fishing and hunt
ing expeditions, with the rare addition
of a little bears meat whenever bruln IS
adventurous enough to swim off from
the mainland. Just as the islands are
destitute of foliage, so they arc of ami
mails, the only creature on them, beside
the natives, being a breed of small, swift
foxes.
The habits Of the Kurilcans are in
keeping with the surroundings. Hardy
and adventurous, having 10 such word
as home in their mcagre language and no
appreciation Of such an institution, they
roam in their canoes from island to island,
killing whatever brcathcs, putting
up rude huts when they arc
forced into winter quarters, but
generally dcspising anything like
Shelter and living in their boats. So lit
tic arc they used to the art Of construc-
ton that, unlike their fc~llow.nativcs,
they do not build skin canoes, but make
up what are called baidara, n class of
craft that is as primitive as the rest OF
their habits. Wrecks arc not %infrcquent,
and the islanders wandering along the
shore pick up whatever driftwood may be
scattered about, the women being gcncr-
ally engaged in this harvest of fotsam
and jctsam. The pieces arc rudely tied
together with thongs in the shape of a
long box and calkcd with moss. The
roughncss of the clements and the rough
ness of the work arc not particularly con
ducivc to scaworthincss, and they gencr-
ally spring a heavy leak an hour after
they are launched. To keep them atloat
the Kurilcans always put a load of moss
and a couple Of women on board, the
moss being to stop up whatever cracks
may open, and the women being en-
ploved in this work with a bunch Of moss
and a piece of stick, daubing any partic-
ular obstinate ~crcvicc with a lump Of seal
fat. Nomadic as they arc, the kurilcans
have still some sort of a capital, and
make i%nfrcqucnt and cratic visits to the
village of Shumshu, which, after all, is
little more than a collection of huts, now
rapidly falling into decay and nearly de,