Viewing page 46 of 52

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

arms over a space of 4 to 5 feet and woe betide the unfortunate duck whose line of flight brings it in contact with one of these for in an instant the whole lot have wound themselves in a network about his body & wings & he comes down like a shot. Each man watches his sling till it comes to the ground and if he gets a bird he kills the prize by placing one knee upon its back & suffocates it while he winds the sling about his head with the balls on the front just over the forehead & ready for use in an instant.
Note 2. The language of these Chuckchee both sedentary & wandering is the same but they say (vide the interpreter, Joe) that there are two [[crossed out]] such [[/crossed out]] sets of terms one used by what they term the common people and the other by the wealthier or the high class - probably this difference is the only one holding between the Reindeer & Coast Chuckchee. That there is such a distinction is certain for Capt. H. when getting a vocabulary several times heard two terms given the same object and on inquiry was told that they were applied thus by the two classes but that there is any hard & fast line between sedentary & Reindeer people is not true the only difference being in the change of certain words brought about by a change in the manner of life. The Chuckchi language is soft & liquid with many soft l's and flowing vowels so that it has a peculiarly