ostrog is presided by a chief, called toyon. This kind of magistrate is chosen from among the natives of the country, by a plurality of voices. The Russians have preserved to them this privilege, but the election must be approved by the jurisdiction of the province. This toyon is merely a peasant, like those whom he judges and governs; he has no mark of distinction, and performs the same labours as his subordinates. His office is chiefly to watch over the police, and inspect the execution of the orders of government. Under him is another Kamtschadale, chosen by the toyon himself, to assist him in the exercise of his functions, or supply his place. This vice-toyon is called yesaoul, a Cossac title adopted by the Kamtschadales since the arrival of the Cossacs in their peninsula, and which signifies second chief of their band or clan. It is necessary to add, that when the conduct of these chiefs is considered as corrupt, or excites the complaints of their inferiors, the Russian officers presiding over them, or the other tribunals established by government, dismiss them immediately from their functions, and nominate others more agreeable to the Kamtschadales, with whom the right of election still remains.
The rain continuing, we were unable to proceed on our journey; but my curiosity led me to embrace a short interval that offered in the course of the day, to walk out into the ostrog, and visit its environs.
I went first to the church, which I found to be built of wood, and ornamented in the taste of those of the Russian villages. I observed the arms of captain Clerke, painted by Mr. Webber, and the English inscription upon the death of this worthy successor of captain Cook; it pointed out the place of his burial at Saint Peter and Saint Paul's.
During the stay of the French frigates in this port, I had been at Paratounka, in a hunting excursion, with viscount de Langle. As we returned, he spoke of many interesting objects he had observed in the church, and which had entirely escaped my attention. They were, as far as I can remember, various offerings deposited there, he said, by some ancient navigators, who had been shipwrecked. It was my full intention to examine them upon my second visit to this ostrog; but whether it escaped my recollection, or that my research was too precipitate, from the short time that I had to make it, certain it is that I did not discover them.
The village is surrounded with a wood; I traversed it by proceeding along the river, and perceived at length a vast plain which extends to the north and the east as far as the mountains of Petropavlofska. This chain is terminated at the south and west by another, of which the mountain of Paratounka forms a part, and which is about five or six wersts[22] from the ostrog of that name. Upon the banks of the rivers that wind in this plain, there are frequent traces of bears, who are attracted by the fish with which these rivers abound. The inhabitants assured me, that fifteen or eighteen were frequently seen together upon these banks, and that whenever they hunted them, they were sure to bring back one or two, at least, in the space of twenty-four hours. I shall soon have occasion to speak of their chace, and their weapons.
We quitted Paratounka and resumed our journey; twenty horses sufficed for ourselves and our baggage, which was not considerable, M. Kasloff having taken the precaution of sending a great part of it by water, as far as the ostrog of Koriaki. The river Avatscha has no tide, and is not navigable farther than this ostrog; and not at all indeed, except by small boats, called batts. The baidirs only serve to cross the bay of Avatscha, and can proceed no farther than the mouth of the river, where their lading is put into these batts, which, from the shallowness and rapidity of the water, are pushed forward with poles. It was in this manner our effects arrived at Koriaki.
As to ourselves, having crossed the river Paratounka at a shallow, and winded along several of its branches, we left it for a way that was woody and less level, but which afforded us better travelling; it was almost entirely in valleys, and we had only two mountains to climb. Our horses, notwithstanding their burthens, advanced very briskly. We had no reason to complain of the weather for a single moment; it was so fair, that I began to think the rigour of the climate had been exaggerated; but shortly after, experience too well convinced me of its truth, and in the sequel of my journey, I had every reason to accustom myself to the most piercing frosts, too happy when in the midst of ice and snow, that I had not to contend with the violence of whirlwinds and tempests.
We were about six or seven hours in going from Paratounka to Koriaki, which, as far as I could judge, is from thirty-eight to forty wersts. Scarcely arrived, we were obliged to take refuge in the house of the toyon, to shelter ourselves from the rain; he ceded his isba to M. Kasloff, and we spent the night there.
The ostrog of Koriaki is situated in the midst of a coppice wood, and upon the border of the river Avatscha, which becomes very narrow in this part. Five or six isbas, and twice, or at most three times the number of balagans, make up this village, which is similar to that of Paratounka, except that it is less, and has no parish church. I observed in general that ostrogs of so little consideration were not provided with a church.
The next day we mounted our horses and took the way to Natchikin, another ostrog in the Bolcheretsk route. We were to stop a few days in the neighbourhood for the sake of the baths, which M. Kasloff had constructed at his own expence, for the benefit and pleasure of the inhabitants, upon the hots springs that are found there, and which I shall presently describe. The way from Koriaki to Natchikin is tolerably commodious, and we crossed without difficulty all the little streams that fall from the mountains, at the foot of which we passed. About three-fourths of the way we met the Bolchaïa-reka[23]; from the site of its greatest breadth, which in this place is about ten or twelve yards, it appears to wind to a considerable extent to the north east; we journeyed on its bank for some time, till we came to a little mountain, which we were obliged to pass over in order to reach the village. A heavy rain which came on as we left Koriaki, ceased a few minutes after; but the wind having changed to the north-west, the heavens became obscured, and we had abundance of snow; we were about two-thirds of our way, and it continued till our arrival. I remarked that the snow already covered the mountains, even such as were lowest, upon which it described an equal line at a certain elevation, but that below them no traces of it were yet perceptible. We forded the Bolchaïa-reka, and found on the other side the ostrog of Natchikin, where I counted six or seven isbas and twenty balagans, similar to what I had seen before. We made no stay there, M. Kasloff thinking it proper to hasten immediately to the baths, to which I was inclined as much from curiosity as from necessity.
The snow had penetrated through my clothes, and in crossing the river, which was deep, I had made my legs and feet wet. I longed therefore to be able to change my dress, but when we came to the baths our baggage was not arrived. We proposed drying ourselves by walking about the environs, and observing the interesting objects which I expected to find there. I was charmed with every thing I saw, but the dampness of the place, added to that of our clothes, gave us such a chilliness that we quickly put an end to our walk. Upon our return we had a new source of regret and impatience. Unable either to dry ourselves or change our dress, our equipage not being arrived, to complete our misfortune, the place to which we had retired was the dampest we could have chosen, and though it seemed sufficiently sheltered, the wind penetrated on every side. M. Kasloff had recourse to the bath, which quickly restored him; but not daring to follow his example, I was obliged to wait the arrival of our baggage. The damp had penetrated to such a degree that I shivered during the whole night.
The next day I made a trial of these baths, and can say that none ever afforded me so much pleasure or so much benefit. But before I proceed, I must describe the source of these hot waters, and the building constructed for bathing.
They are two wersts to the north of the ostrog, and about a hundred yards from the bank of the Bolchaïa-reka, which it is necessary to cross a second time in order to arrive at the baths, on account of the elbow which the river describes below the village. A thick and continual vapour ascends from these waters, which fall in a rapid cascade from a rather steep declivity, three hundred yards from the place where the baths are erected. In their fall, which is in a direction east and west, they form a small stream of a foot and half deep, and six or seven feet wide. At a little distance from the Bolchaïa-reka, this stream is met by another, with which it pours
