occasion to speak, as fully as my own knowledge enables
me, of the bears, and the method of killing them, I shall only here
observe, that all those I saw were of a dun brown colour; that they are
generally seen in companies of four or five together; that the time they
are most abroad is during the season that the fish (which is their
principal food) are pushing up from the sea into the rivers, and that they
are seldom visible in the winter months.[66]

Their skins are exceedingly useful. They make both excellent warm matresses
and coverings for their beds; comfortable bonnets and gloves, and good
collars for the dogs' harness. Their flesh, and particularly the fat, are
considered as great delicacies.

The wolves are only seen in the winter; at which season they prowl about,
as I was told, in large companies, in search of prey.

There are rein-deer, both wild and tame, in several parts of the peninsula;
but none in the neighbourhood of Awatska. It is somewhat singular, that
this nation should never have used the rein-deer for the purposes of
carriage, in the same manner as their neighbours, both to the north and the
eastward. Their dogs, indeed, seem fully sufficient for all the demands of
the natives in their present state; and the breed of Russian horses will
probably increase with the future necessities of the country. But when it
is recollected, that the use of dogs, in a great measure, precludes them
from the advantage of bringing up any other domestic animals, it will
appear the more extraordinary, that they should not have adopted the
services of an animal so much more gentle as well as powerful.

The argali, or wild mountain-sheep,[67] an animal, I believe, unknown in
Europe, (except in Corsica and Sardinia,) is here in great plenty. Its skin
is like the deer's, but in gait and general appearance, it partakes more of
the goat. It has two large twisted horns, sometimes weighing, when at full
growth, from twenty-five to thirty pounds, which in, running it rests upon
its back. These creatures are exceedingly, nimble and swift, haunt only the
most craggy and mountainous parts, and make their way among the steepest
rocks with an agility that is astonishing. The natives work their horns
into spoons, and small cups and platters; and have frequently one of a
smaller size hanging to a belt, which serves them to drink out of in their
hunting expeditions. This animal is gregarious. I frequently tasted the
flesh of them, a