rors, and the difficulty of maintaining
discipline amongst troops so scattered, ended in nearly exterminating
the Kamtschatkans. Although subsequent regulations restrained the
disorders of the wild Cossacks, the population is still very thin; but
under a wise and careful government it will certainly increase.

The name of Kamtschatka, pronounced Kantschatka, conferred by the
Russians, was adopted from the native appellation of the great river
flowing through the country. This river derived its name, according to
tradition, from Kontschat, a warrior of former times, who had a
stronghold on its banks. It is strange that the Kamtschatkans had no
designation either for themselves or their country. They called
themselves simply men, as considering themselves either the only
inhabitants of the earth, or so far surpassing all others, as to be
alone worthy of this title. On the southern side of the peninsula, the
aborigines are believed to have been distinguished by the name of
Itelmen; but the signification of this word remains uncertain.

The Kamtschatkans acknowledged an Almighty Creator of the world, whom
they called Kutka. They supposed that he inhabited the heavens; but had
at one time dwelt in human form in Kamtschatka, and was the original
parent of their race. Even here the tradition of a universal deluge
prevails, and a spot is still shown, on the top of a mountain where
Kutka landed from a boat, in order to replenish the world with men. The
proverbial phrase current in Kamtschatka, to express a period long past,
is, "that was in Kutka's days."

Before the expeditions of the Russians to Kamtschatka, the inhabitants
were acquainted only with the neighbouring Koriacks and Tchuktchi.

They had also acquired some knowledge of Japan, from a Japanese ship
wrecked on their coast. They acknowledged no chief, but lived in perfect
independence, which they considered as their highest good.

Besides the supreme God Kutka, they had a host of inferior deities,
installed by their imaginations in the forests, the mountains, and the
floods. They adored them when their wishes were fulfilled, and insulted
them when their affairs went amiss; like the lower class of Italians,
who, when any disaster befalls them, take off their cap, enumerate into
it as many saints' names as they can call to mind, and then trample it
under foot. Two wooden household deities, Aschuschok and Hontai, were
held in particular estimation. The former, in the