eat rapidity. For we soon
had visits even from distant settlements, and the _Vega_ finally
became a resting-place at which every passer-by stopped with his
dog-team for some hours in order to satisfy his curiosity, or to
obtain in exchange for good words or some more acceptable wares a
little warm food, a bit of tobacco, and sometimes when the weather
was very stormy, a little drop of spirits, by the Chukches called
_ram_, a word whose origin is not to be sought for in the
Swedish-Norwegian _dram_, but in the English word _rum_.

All who came on board were allowed to go about without let or
hindrance on our deck, which was encumbered with a great many
things. We had not however to lament the loss of the merest trifle.
Honesty was as much at home here as in the huts of the reindeer
Lapps. On the other hand, they soon became very troublesome by their
beggary, which was kept in bounds by no feeling of self-respect. Nor
did they fail to take all possible advantage of what they doubtless
considered the great inexperience of the Europeans. Small deceptions
in this way were evidently not looked upon as blameworthy, but as
meritorious. Sometimes, for instance, they sold us the same thing
twice over, they were always liberal in promises which they never
intended to keep, and often gave deceptive accounts of articles
which were exposed for sale. Thus the carcases of foxes were
offered, after having been flayed and the head and feet cut off, on
several occasions as hares, and it was laughable to see their
astonishment at our immediately discovering the fraud. The Chukches'
complete want of acquaintance with money and our small supply of
articles for barter for which they had a liking besides compelled
even me to hold at least a portion of our wares at a high price.
Skins and blubber, the common products of the Polar lands, to the
great surprise of the natives, were not purchased on the _Vega_. On
the other hand a complete collection of weapons, dresses, and
household articles was procured by barter. All such purchases were
made exclusively on account of the Expedition, and in general the
collection of natural and ethnographical objects for private account
was wholly forbidden, a regulation which ought to be in force in
every scientific expedition to remote regions.

As the Chukches began to acquire a taste for our food, they never
neglected, especially during the time when their hunting failed, to
bring daily on board driftwood