Eastbound through Siberia: observations from the Great Northern Expedition
"In the winter of 1739, Georg Steller received word from Empress Anna of Russia that he was to embark on a secret expedition to the far reaches of Siberia as a member of the Great Northern Expedition. While searching for economic possibilities and strategic advantages, Steller was to send back...
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Bloomington, Indiana
Indiana University Press
2020
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| Zusammenfassung: | "In the winter of 1739, Georg Steller received word from Empress Anna of Russia that he was to embark on a secret expedition to the far reaches of Siberia as a member of the Great Northern Expedition. While searching for economic possibilities and strategic advantages, Steller was to send back descriptions of everything he saw. The Empress's instructions were detailed, from requests for a preserved whale brain to observing the child-rearing customs of local peoples, and Steller met the task with dedication, bravery, and a good measure of humor. In the name of science, Steller and his comrades confronted horse-swallowing bogs, leaped across ice floes, and survived countless close calls in their exploration of an unforgiving environment. Not stopping at lists of fishes, birds, and mammals, Steller also details the villages and the lives of those living there, from vice-governors to prostitutes. His writings rail against government corruption and the misuse of power while describing with empathy the lives of the poor and forgotten, with special attention toward Native peoples. What emerges is a remarkable window into life--both human and animal--in 18th century Siberia. Due to the secret nature of the expedition, Steller's findings were hidden in Russian archives for centuries, but the near-daily entries he recorded on journeys from the town of Irkutsk to Kamchatka are presented here in English for the first time."--Page 4 of cover |
| Beschreibung: | Translated from the German |
| Beschreibung: | xxv, 220 Seiten Illustrationen, Karten, Portraits 23 cm |
| ISBN: | 9780253047786 9780253047779 |
Internformat
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| 245 | 1 | 0 | |a Eastbound through Siberia |b observations from the Great Northern Expedition |c Georg Wilhelm Steller ; translated and annotated by Margritt A. Engel and Karen E. Willmore |
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| 520 | 3 | |a "In the winter of 1739, Georg Steller received word from Empress Anna of Russia that he was to embark on a secret expedition to the far reaches of Siberia as a member of the Great Northern Expedition. While searching for economic possibilities and strategic advantages, Steller was to send back descriptions of everything he saw. The Empress's instructions were detailed, from requests for a preserved whale brain to observing the child-rearing customs of local peoples, and Steller met the task with dedication, bravery, and a good measure of humor. In the name of science, Steller and his comrades confronted horse-swallowing bogs, leaped across ice floes, and survived countless close calls in their exploration of an unforgiving environment. Not stopping at lists of fishes, birds, and mammals, Steller also details the villages and the lives of those living there, from vice-governors to prostitutes. His writings rail against government corruption and the misuse of power while describing with empathy the lives of the poor and forgotten, with special attention toward Native peoples. What emerges is a remarkable window into life--both human and animal--in 18th century Siberia. Due to the secret nature of the expedition, Steller's findings were hidden in Russian archives for centuries, but the near-daily entries he recorded on journeys from the town of Irkutsk to Kamchatka are presented here in English for the first time."--Page 4 of cover | |
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Datensatz im Suchindex
| _version_ | 1804181857074413568 |
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| adam_text | CONTENTS Foreword: The Steller Legacy / Jonathan C. Slaght vii Translators’ Preface xv Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction і Instructions for Georg Wilhelm Steller from February 18,1739, from Yeniseysk / Johann Georg Gmelin and Gerhard Friedrich Müller 9 Part I Description of Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 1 About Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 27 2 About Irkutsk Itself 39 3 About the Public Offices 46 4 About the Clergy 52 5 About the Chinese Trade and Chinese Trade Goods 53 6 About Customs and Lifestyle in Irkutsk 59 7 About Transbaikalia 67 8 Report from the Uda River 75
vi ļ Contents Part II Travel Journal from Irkutsk to Kamchatka 9 From Irkutsk to Usťllginskaya (3/4-3/13) 81 10 From Usťllginskaya to Kirensk (3/14-5/1) 93 11 From Kirensk to Yakutsk (5/2-5/24) 99 12 In Yakutsk and Yarmanka (5/25-6/19) 107 13 From Yarmanka to the Amga River (6/20-7/2) 14 From the Amga to the Yuna River (7/3-7/21) 119 126 15 From the Yuna River to Yudoma Cross (7/22-8/8) 16 From Yudoma Cross to Okhotsk (8/9-8/13) 17 In Okhotsk (8/14-8/26) 152 160 18 Salmon Fishing and Preserving (8/27) 165 19 From Okhotsk to Bol’sheretsk (8/28-9/16) Afterword 172 174 Appendix A: Georg Wilhelm Steller’s Life 179 Appendix B: Schnurbuch Account Ledger 183 Appendix C: Letter to Johann Daniel Schumacher Appendix D: Plants Named after Steller Glossary of Foreign Words Glossary of People Bibliography Plant Index Index 211 139 197 207 195 191 189 185
INDEX Academy of Sciences, 4, 6,9,20,100 adaptability of people, 60 agate, black, 129 Akachan River, 144,145 Aldan River, 130,131; arrived at, 127; fish in, 72; forded, 128; meaning of name, 124; plants found on, 127,134,135,136,140; Yudoma and Maya flow into, 149 Aleksei. See Danilov, Sofronov Amga River, 124,131; description of, 126; soil along, 127 Amur River: dog salmon in, 166; find out about Gilyaks along, 19; Yakuts hunt sable on, 1x3 Anadyr River, 73; yasak paid by people living along, 47 Anadyrsk, Anadyrskoi Ostrog, 72-73; belu gas hunted, 170; thinly populated, 109 Ancha River, 140; permafrost recorded near, ix Anga Rivers, 85 Angara River, 47, 60, 81; description of, 27, 29,30-31,32,33; fish and fishing in, 33, 34,38Ո7; hunting along, 71; landscape along, 33,34,36,37; settlements along, 72; through Irkutsk, 37,39-40,42, 52, 56; iron smelting and value of, 50, 64, 72, 90; levies on people along, 91,92Ո2. See also Upper Angara Baikal omul, 64; fishing for and value of, 63; native to and endangered, 34; preserving, 202 Baikal seals, 64, 67-71; blubber, 68; com parison to harbor seal, 67; different kinds of, 68, 70; hunts for, 68,71; milk used by Tungus, 68; skins in trade, 54, 68-69,71 Baikal sig, 33; promyshlenniks fishing for, 63, 202 Balaganskoi Ostrog: fish found below, 29,34 Barguzin (Barguzinskoi Ostrog), 47,70,183; best pelts, 111; Cossacks moved to, 60; Stellers trip to, 180 Barguzin River: fishing, 61, 64; open to hunt ing, 68, 69 barrels: for fish, 62,63,167; holding brandy, 113 bears, 59; ate on dead whale, 162; compared with sea lions, 77; killed by
Captain Spångberg, 156 beavers, 61; attacked by dogs, 77; pelts, 54 Beasts of the Sea (De Bestiis Marinis), xvii, ххііпз, 180,181,200 Belaya River, 139,142,150,177; cotton mill and dyeworks on, 65; iron smeltering on, 50; now called Khanda, 65; traveling along, 128-133,136Ո3,137Ո18 belugas, caught: at Udskoi and Anadyrskoi Ostrogs, 170; in the Ural, 72; with nets, 76 Berckhan, Johann Christian, painter: cel ebrating, 122,144; drawings of plants, 116, 132,133,135,138Ո19,202; horse dies, 124; on a burial mound, 136; out on the ice, 100, 101; quarters in Yakutsk, 107; rank and support, xix, 10,13,14; shot a young loon, 130; traveling, 81,117,119,123,145,148,163, 180,182; in the dark, 146. See also names of individual plants Bering, Vitus, Captain Commander, vii, xii, xxiv, 1,17,181,195; correspondence with, 17, 22; Pisarev, his evil spirit, 196; sailing out of Okhotsk, 172; second expedition, 3, 4; Steller’s first meeting with, xii, 158 Bering Island, x, xvi, 181,200,201; pelts from, 5; recovered skeleton, xi Bering Strait, x, 199 Bibikov, Aleksei Yur’evich, Vice-Governor of Irkutsk, 46,110,174,195; Steller’s party accompanied by, 81 birdshot needed, xxi, 186 bismuth, 164 211
212 I Index black room, 149,1511115 blubber. See seals and whales bobylskie (peasants), 90,191 Bogul’deicha River, 65,69, 83; mouth of, 71 bolaric earth. See sour cream earth Boľsheretsk/Boľsheretskoi Ostrog, 19, 75,77 brandy, xix, 47-48,116,117,120,119,149, 154,176; cherry brandy, 116; distilleries, 47, 48,65,81,94; distribution, 47; double, 41,47,112,143, 202; loss of buckets of, 143; new bottles ordered, 108; police oversight, 43; price, 41,112; prize at target-shooting match, 152; smugglers nabbed, 111; station for distribution and taxation, 40-41,192; used for preserving specimens, 202, 204; ways of cheating, 48,112-13 bread, 62, 65,86,101,128,155,166,170Ո2,186; Aesop’s loaves, 57; grain for, 91; iukola as substitute for, 167; joy of having, 149; no taste for, 126; sweetvetch roots suitable for baking, 103 bullhead (pizda), 37 burbot (natím), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149 Buryats, 39, 54, 60, 61, 83; desired informa tion about, 15; meaning of name, 39; sell game, 37; unaffected by epidemic, 84; use of seal blubber, 68; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 capelin or candle fish (ueki), 169,171mi caravan: financed by, 47; physician to, 12, 81, 195; trade with China, 40,45Ո3,49-50 capercailles, 37 carp, crucian, 72,120,135; 142; blood-red, 111; dormant, 72; meal of, 121,140; sly, 72; Yakut driver’s name, 147 cattle: at Okhotsk, 156; butchered, 122,125Ո4, 128; “food on the hoof,” 6,105,107,124, 128,141,149,155; Gilyaks have, 114; lack of, 120; Yakuts’ loss of, 135 char, Arctic (kundsha), 169 Chernaya River,
73 Chechuiskoi Ostrog, 99 Chirikov, Aleksei, Captain, 195,198; his ship, 172,173,178; met in Okhotsk, 158 Chivirkui River, 61,63,64,70 Chukchi, 107,113; exaggerate their numbers, 109,118Ո2, іі8п5 clay, 20,156; cliffs/mountains, 89,95,131,162; for ovens, 149; for pottery, 23; mineral, 88; soils, xii, 16; sour-cream earth, 162-163 climate: cannot grow grain, 48; effect of dif fering ones, 59; protective, 44; much snow, 110; terrible, 5 coal: layers of, 126 coot, Eurasian, 120,121 Cossacks, xv, 31-32; 69, 73,87; chief, 107,111, 116,174; definitions of, ХХІІП4, 8m, 191, 192,193; earliest explorers, vii, 2; founders of Irkutsk, now few, 60; police chief, 42; origin of, 45Ո6; Steller appreciates, xv, 31-32 crabs: shall describe, 18; shall preserve, 21; found two special, 163 Crown, the: accounting to, 21; books for Gorlanov, 23; distilleries, 47; items received from, 10,11,14,17, 22-23; mo nopoly on trade, 40; peasants, 61; secrecy governing and ukases, 22; Steller costs it less, 175 crows: feeding on fish, 166 cuckoo, 118П11; starts to call, 122 curiosities: box for storing, 183; ordered to be collected, 16; preserving, 23,191; Russians’ liking for, 54; sheet of ice, 141 customs duty, 40,49,50,83; station, 40, 62,83 dace, Eurasian (yelets, yeltsi): caught in Lake Baikal, 33; in the Amga, 124, in the An gara, 33, in the Ilga, 90, in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120,124 daily journal to be kept, 21 Danilov, Aleksei, sluzhiv, 117,123,195; back to Yakutsk, 116; brought news and delivered horses, 111; Steller wrote instructions for, 163; with Steller to Okhotsk, 106;
117,123, 195 Daurken, Stellers horse, 145,152 Daurkin, Ivan, Secretary to Yakutsk voevod, 107,115,117 deer and red deer: hunted by promyshlenniks, 36
Index j շіз de la Croyère, Louis Delisle, Professor of Astronomy, 5, i6; 195; his wife, 106,149; Steller visited, 158, tői, 163; strange behav ior, 106 derevnya (small village), 89,90,91,93, 94,95, 96,97, too, 101,191; definition of, 72; nam ing of, 87,95-96 Devier, Anton Emmanuilovich, Commander of Okhotsk: arrival in Yakutsk, 110; meet ing on the trail, 139; visits with, 160,163, 164; cleaned up Okhotsk, 166 dogs: Berckhan’s, 145; “daughter of a dog,” 146; dead on streets, 43; dragged corpses, 77,78Ո3; gods of, 147; history of, 59; sled, 10, 66m, 114,154,168,201; Steller’s, 123, 158; swimming, 129; trade with China, 57; Yakuts barking like, 133 dolphins (marine pigs), 170 doshcheniks (boats), 97,111,19t; Angara’s banks full of, 37,40; drawing, 31; for journey from Irkutsk to Yakutsk, 12-13; full of saiga horns, 53; in trouble, 102; ordered one made, 97; promyshlenniks’ use of, 61, 62, 64,69,70 ducks: lakes full of, 130,135; northern eider, 1; sleds full of, 37; tufted, female shot, 130 ducklings, 113 duty. See customs eagles, 39,44П1-45; Steller’s sea, x, хіііпз, і earthquakes, 20; big one, 71,73m epidemics: along the Lena, viii, 84-85, 88, 90, 91; to be recorded on Kamchatka, 20 ermine: large numbers of, 87 Eurasian ruffe: absent in Siberian rivers, 29,34, 129; in the Ilga, 90; rigidity of dorsal fin, 29 exiles, 2,36, 60,107; contributing to prosti tution, 43 flatfish (kambala), unidentified), 169 flints: earth wax used in place of, 129; paid for fifty, 183; Samoilov to provide, 115 flooding, 37Ո2; of icy streams, 150; necessity of, 120; on the Amga, 124; on the
Angara, 30; on the Belaya and Yuna, 130; on the Lena, 108,97; to escape, 87 fog: in the mountains, 133,139; in winter, 30,108 food rations (soldier’s, sluzhiv’s), 10; Steller responsible for, 6 fox, arctic, 61; to be obtained alive, 16 French disease (Frenchmen). 66,151Ո14; has become naturalized, 43; French breasts, 44, 45Ո8; Yakuts infected with, 114, Gardebol, Simon, assayer, 20,113,195; lazy and unreliable, 155,174; loaned Steller horses, 115; instructions to Steller about, 18-19; Steller met and dined with, 107,108 geese: whole sleds full, 37; snow, 103 Geleitukase, 13,18,191 geography: research of, 4,10,18; of Yakutsk district, 17 Giliashev, Dmitrei, huntsman, 10,14,195; issued a rifle, 23 Gilyaks: description of, 75; of interest to eth nographers, 177; research, 19; trade with Yakuts, 113-114 Gmelin, Johann Georg, Professor of Botany, 5,64,158,163,180,191; controversy with Steller, 105,174-75; documents, 97,202, 204; impossible request to Steller, 91; instructions to Steller, xv, 9; plants, vii, 33, 86,116,127,128,158,199; poor health, 6 goiters, 94,98m Golousnaya River, 34, 69; fissures in ice at mouth of, 71 Gorlanov, Aleksei Petrovich, student, 9,14, 195,200, 202; books issued to, 23; concern ing horses, 106,116,135; his driver’s name, 147; duties, 7,10,15; traveling, 81,117,124, 144,149,180,182 gostinii dvor, 37,38Ո8; 40,41,52 grain, 48,85,140; barley and rye, when to plant, 88; for brandy, 47,49; grow ing regions, 37, 81, 83,86,87, 88,91,126; market, 41; not on Kamchatka, 140; prices, 37,88-89 grasshoppers, 120 gray paper, 14, 23,185; Chinese substitute,
143,181 grayling: looks different from Arctic, 154; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Urak, 154, in the Yudoma, 149; thrown up through ice fissures, 71
214 I Index grayling, Arctic (charius), 74ոշ, 155,169; carrying a string of, 34,37; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149; resembles Dolly Varden, 169 Great Northern Exedition. See Kamchatka Expedition (Second) grouse, 127; black, 37; hazel, 37; Siberian, 76 gudgeon: in the Ilga, 90 gulls: eating dead fish, 166; juvenile, 173; on the Yuna, 139; painted Shaman s Rock white, 32; shrieking, 67; two kinds of, ix.173 gunpowder, 11, 23; gift to old man, 101; spoiled by dunking, 143; storage in Ir kutsk, 40; too coarse to use, 186 Halle, 3; botanical excursions around, xx; orphanage in, 63, 66Ո4; Steller a student in, 4 hares: fell to death oiFPine Cliff, 99; in Yakutsk region, 120; on the Uda River, 75; Yakuts have to live on, 135-136 hawk, white: a northern goshawk, 127 hay, 65, 87,91,108; good hayfields, 36,72,89; hay market, 41 head tax, 47,88,90; definition of, 191; who pays, 39,48,81, 87 Henčke, Carl (Henks), caravan physician, 81,86,110 High Governing Senate, 7,20, 46; Stellers reports to, 14,100,186; ukases from, 9,11, 17,21,22 hogs raised in Birulka, 86 horses: arrangements for travel with, 10, 18,105-106,107,110,111,116; bones left by Yakuts, 133; butchered, 144; getting across rivers, 124,128,129,144,149,156; gift of, 110,122; in caravans, 45Ո3; lack of fodder, 145,150; letting them rest, 130,131,139; loading of, 115,117,121,122,136Ո8,140, 174; loss of, 121,122,128,129,130,135,139, 144,146,152; mishaps with, 131,135,148; stations for exchanging, 66m, 94; trade in, 56-57; Yakuts eat, 114,134 Horse Island, 119
hot spring, 70-71 huts (wayside/winter huts): along the Angara, 32,34; at mouth of Chernaya, 73; blubber used to light, 68; caretakers of, 65; earthen, 119,127; first one on road to the Lena, 83,153; Irkutsk started as, 60; made of foliage, 150; promyshlenniks use, 62, 64, 71. See also way stations, also zimov’e ice: blocks on river bank, 101; boats adrift in, 31,70; breakup, 97; effect of earthquake on, 71; freeze-up, 33; jams, 102,103; jump ing across floes, 101,102; patch, 141-142, 144,151Ո7; points on the Belaya River, 131; rivers as roads, 29; seals on, 70; traveling on the ice-choked Lena, 99-104; Yakut superstition concerning it, 73 Ilga River, 90 Ilim River, 33 Ilimsk (Ilimskoi Ostrog), 33, 46; District, 89.99 indigenous peoples. See natives inozemtsy (foreigners), 13, 23Ո2,191 interpreters: Gorlanov as, 7; Klimovskoi as, 10; of native languages, 13,19 Inya River, 169,172 Irkut River, 27,34, 60; origin of name, 39 Irkutsk: amenities of, 36-37; churches, 39, 41-42; fog over, 30; fortifications, 39; city gates, 40,42; inhabitants, 60-61, 65, 69,72,91,112; its start, 60; location, 33; nickname for townspeople, 59; prevention of fires in, 44; Provincial Administration’s obligations outlined, 5,12-15; weather, 29-30 iron: along the Amga, 126; as government income, 50; at Kamenka, 64, 71,90; at mouth of Bogul’deicha, 71; ferruginous soil along the Urak, 155; found on Kam chatka, 113; on the Talovka, 71; the Ushakovka’s, 34,71. See also smelters/smelting iukola (dried fish), 167,170Ո5 jasper, green, 129,132,133,155 jay: Eurasian or oak, 139,150Ո2 Kachega: about, 84-85;
location, 83; region around 86,88-90; today called Kachug, 88
Index Kalmyks: trade and war with the Chinese, 56-57 Kamchadals: paid yasak, 47; use of salmon and blubber, 167,168,170 Kamchatka, 6,9, 21, 73,116 arrival on, 173; ores found on, из; travel arrangements to, 15-16,18,19,105-106,111; what to investi gate, 19-20. See also Krasheninnikov Kamchatka Expedition (Second), xv, 3, 40, 48; added to bureaucracy, 40; negative impact of, 42,88,112; money transport for, 103; “proper evaluation” of, 134; purpose of, 4-5; secrecy imposed on, xi kastak. See brandy distillery Khanda River. See Belaya River Khitrov, Sofron Fedorovich, helmsman: groundings, 157,172; meaning of name, xii; Steller disliked, 174 Kirenga (Kirensk, Kirenskoi Ostrog): arrival in, 97; 100; Lena River at, 96; Monastery of the Trinity, 97 Kirenga River: ice dams on, 97 kislaia ryba. See sour fish Klimovskoi, Fedot, 14; interpreter of Yakut, 10,13; keeper of accounts, 10,15,183-184 Korff, Baron von, 9; Steller’s letters to, 14, I 215 Lake Baikal: fish in, 33,34,63; fishing on, 61-64; source of the Angara River, 29; Upper Angara feeds it, 30; freeze-up and break-up, 31; iron smelted around, 50; ostrogs around, 60; Steller explored the eastern shore, 67-73 Lake Baikal omul, 64; brandy for specimens, 202; fishing for and value of, 63; native to, 34; now endangered, 34 Lake Kurile, 181 lake minnows, 123,135,142; active in winter, 72; in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120 Lamuts (Evens), 19, 47 Lange, Lorenz, vice-governor of Irkutsk, 181,187 Lau, Johann Theodor, assistant surgeon, 160; tried to save Steller’s life, 182 Lena River: break-up, 97; changed course, 119;
investigations along, 15; lake-like stretch, 96; Steller to go to the lower Lena, 16 lenok (lenki), sharp-snouted: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda, 76, in the Ushakovka, 36 Listvenishnoe Zimov’e, 32 38Ո7,175,202 Koryaks, 73; how they treat dead shamans, 108-109; smallpox among, 109; Steller’s instructions concerning, 18,19 Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, student, 12,14,18; instructions for, 6; research, 19, 20.160.163 Krasnoyarsk, 46, 60,129 Krest, 32,36,37Ո3,39; 42 Kukhtui River, 168,169 kumis (mare’s milk), 121,122,147 Kunstkammer, 16,17,23Ո3,32; preserved specimens to, 21 Kurile Islands, 5,163; natives on, 72,170 Kuta River, 81, 83,85,94; in summer too small for a raft, 95 Kyakhta, 81,181; plants collected around, 116; Treaty of, 196 Kyakhta River, 46, trade in camels on, 56 Kychkin, Dmitrei, Yakutsk dvoryanin, 111, 113.115.163 mammoths: bones on the lower Lena, 16; Yakuts’ beliefs about, 73 marble: ice-polished, 104; black, 132,133; liver-colored, 133 marcasite, 164 Marikan River, 160,162,167,169 marine sponges, 164,170; Krasheninnikov’s description of, 19 merchants: and promishklenniks, 61, 64, 68; huts named after, 32; in Irkutsk, 41, 60; in the China trade, 53, 56; in the rhubarb trade, 49, 50; not harmed by natives, 109, 113; operate distilleries, 47,48; pay head tax, 92m; pay prostitutes well, 43; rapids costly for, 33; role in colonization, 61 merganser, common or red-breasted: female shot, 12 Messerschmidt, Daniel Gottlieb, 4,180 meteorological observations, 9; instruments in Irkutsk, 12
շւ6 ļ Index mica (sliuda): black» 93; “hunting” for, 64; large windows of, 44,45Ո9; trade with, 53, 61; price of, 183 mills: blubber used for greasing, 68; cotton mill on the Belaya, 65; Dementiev’s, 83; Glazunov’s, 72; Kranin’s, 81; mutovka, 95-96; near Kachega, 84; on the Kaya Riv er, 72; Ushakov’s (Pivovarov’s widow’s), 34,42, 60 millstones, 90,94 minerals: Steller instructed to research, 4,16, 21,186,187Ո2 mining: pits left, 71; regulations, 186; Stellers interest in, 179; tools left in Yakutsk, 17 moose, 36; antlers, 75 mosquitoes: effect of long days on, 111; trav elers plagued by, 121,124,140 Müller, Gerhard Friedrich, Professor of History, 5; described Irkutsk well, 27; instructions to Steller, 9; letters to, 97, 174 175; poor health, 6; published about pisani kameni, 86; suggestions for taxing brandy, 48 mussels, 164 Mynsicht’s Elixir, 143,151ШО natives (indigenous peoples), xi, xii, 1, 7,10, 191; Aklanskoi and Kamenskoi ostrogs, 73; food fond of, 168,170; loan sharks take advantage of, 91-92; medical practices, 111, 114,162; not to be executed or tortured, 8ո4; relationship with invaders, 2,3; replacing “heathens” with “natives,” 32; role in China trade, 56-57. See also names of individual tribes neima. See sheefish Nerchinsk, 46,52; inhabitants of, 47,49,50; 49,50; treaty of, 78Ո2 nerpa, nerpi. See Baikal seals, also seals Nikolski (Nikolskaya Zastava), 29,31,32 northern lights, 151Ո12; seen on the Kolyma, 76; brightness of in Turukhansk, 110 Okhota River, 19,157,160; bismuth and mar casite on, 164; fish in, 165,166,168,169 Okhotsk: arrival in, 158; commander
of, 46, 60-61,110,148,170Ո3,196; conditions for departure to, 18; difficult post, 61; fishery at 165-170; galleon, 163,164,172-173; in habitants of, 60-61; instructions concern ing, 9,11-21; preparations for transport there, 108,115,122; provisions expected to be there, 10; transport to, 154; unproduc tive land, 48,75 Okhotsk, Sea of: porpoises in, 160; preserv ing fish from, 185; rivers flowing into, 169; sailing into, 172; Steller’s first view of, 157; width of, 75,77m Okhotskoi Ostrog (map), 157 Olekma River, 113; breakup, 104 Olekminskoi Ostrog, 103-104 Ol’khon Island, 63, 64, 69 Orlenskaya Sloboda, 93-94 ostrogs (forts): each had a chapel, 2; defin ition of, 8ոշ; along route to Irkutsk, 10; in Irkutsk, 40; across and around Lake Baikal, 50, 60. See also under names of ostrogs Ovsianikov, Stepan, instrument maker apprentice, 144; almost drowned, 149; brought Steller’s horse, 128 Oyok/Oyoskaya Sloboda, 81, 83 palisades, 8ոշ, 39 partridge, Daurian, 37 pastures: excellent, 120,128,155; inundated, 30; marked by posts, 121; with “message” boards, 131 Pavlutskoi, Dmitrei Ivanovich, Major, 107, 110,163; information about the Chukchi, 108-109 pay (salary), 6,10,13; annual for each crew member, 14; for Gardebol, 17; for helms men, 104; for servant, 97; frustration over, 56; manner of payment for Crown employees, 60-61; Steller’s, 14; villages as pay, 87 pearls, impure, 164 peasants (farmers), 61, 85,177,191,192; houses, 89,94-97,154; Tomsk pride, 59; small villages, 90 Peledui River: icy banks, 100 Peleduiskaya Sloboda, 100 Penzhina River, 72
Index perch European (okuni), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90 permafrost, ix, 141 Peter the Great, 4,8пз, 42, 66пз, 92m, 187m; established Kunstkammer, 23Ո3; stan dardized arshin, 193 phosphorescence: of salmon, 168; of sea rasp berries, 172-173, pike, northern (shchuki): big in lakes, 72; in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 34; in the Ilga, 90; very old, 111; Yakuts deprived of, 120 pipe, 104,135,176; mouthpieces commis sioned, 115; smoking in place of food and/or bed, 144,146,149 pisani kameni (painted rocks, petroglyphs), 86, 89, pitch: in the mountains, 126; horses’ hoofs sealed with, 111 Plenisner, Friedrich, Corporal, 160 podval (brandy storage cellar), 40,47 podvoda, podvodi, 6, 81,105; horses for, 18; need for extra, 7,12; Steller and crew to receive, 10,13-14 podvodchiki, 106Ո3,123; children employed as, 94 Pokrovsky Monastery, 104,119; maps, 82,105 police, 42-43, 46; Stellers judgment of, 44; voevod has police powers, 8ns political history, research of, 9,10,16,18, 20; on Kamchatka, 19; the Buryats’, 15 porog/porogi (rapids): on the Tunguska, 33 porpoise (pig of the sea): dissected, 160 porsa (fish meal): how eaten, 168; how made, 167,170Ո5 posad (“suburb”), 41,192 posadskie: church built by, 41; pay for dwellings, 87; pay head tax, 92m; smelt iron, 50 Posolsky Monastery, 68,70; area owned, 69, 83; location, 31, 64 Posolsky Monastery Village, 81,83 prikazchik, 73; definition of, 13; Gabichev sent quarter ox, 103; places that have, 72, 89,90,94 progon (road toll), 10,49,117; Steller to receive for travel, 13,14,21 Į 217
promyshlenniks, xv, 2,13,36, 41,50,60; fishing cooperative, 62-64, 69; fishing earnings, 63; not allowed to marry, 39,43; occupations, 64-66, 68-72, no; places of origin, 61; seasonal workers, 61,95-96 prostitution (whoring): causes of, 43, 66; effects of, 43-44, 66,77,91; Steller’s pro posed solutions to, 44 protoki. See river channels provisions (food supplies): costs of, 155,184; endangered by ice, 102; for Krashenninikov, 12; logistics, xii, 11,13-16,18,84, 88,106,108,154; paperwork required for, 6, 163; problems with, 48, 88,154 pud, 63,193; of rye flour, 37 rafts, 13; adrift in ice-choked river, 102; arrival in Yakutsk, 108; given to the vo evod, 114; to be built, 90; used to transport salt, 95 rapids. See porog/porogi, also shivera/shiveri Ray’s aphyam aculeatam: Steller caught, 169 raznochintsi (commoners), 68,90,95 reindeer, 75,114,135,150; as a human name, 147; carrying shamans’ bones, 109; clack ing hooves, 72; jerky, 136; milk used by Tungus, 162 rhubarb: trade with, 40, 45Ո2; where it grows, 129; word prohibited, 49. See also trade river channels (protoki), 101,104,135,192; on the Angara, 31; on the Belaya, 131; on the Okhota, 157; on the Urak, 154,155,156; the Vitim’s, 99 roach, common (plotva): in the Angara, 33, 34 Rozvodnaya: Greater Rozvodnaya, 42, 72; Malaya Rozvodnaya, 39 Russian Orthodox Church, 2; archbishop’s residence, 37, 41; churches in Ust’Ilginskoi Ostrog, 90; in Ust’Kutsk, 94. See also churches in Irkutsk sables: as yasak, 8Ո4,114; hunted, 36; dyed pelts, 54,77; as gift, 104; hunt for, 61, 64, 70,75,100,113-114; quality of pelts where,
110-111
2i8 ļ Index saddlebags, 17,18,108 saddle blankets, 139 saiga, 55,57Ո2 salmon, dog or chum (keta): entering rivers, 169; growing teeth, 166; at mouth of the Uda, 76 salmon, red (nerka, lomok): first to enter riv ers, 168; better than dog salmon, 169. See also iukola, porsa, salt, sour fish salt, 63,64,98m, 121,184; from under ground, 163; salted fish, 34, 62, 65,166-168; salted meat, 62,149; saltworks, 95; trade in, 51; white, exuded, 120 Samoilov, Grigorei, miner, 10,14,106,115; equipment issued to, 23 sandstone, 95,143; gray, 32,126,127; cliffs of red, 85,89 Saturn-Jupiter Saturday, 152,158m schist, 134 Schnurbuch (ledger), 10,15, 21-22, scoter, white-winged (turpany), 113 sculpin, antlered (byki), 169,171Ո12 sea lions, 1,181; fall from cliffs, 77; Steller’s, xi Sea of Okhotsk. See Okhotsk, Sea of sea otters, xi sea raspberries, 163; glowing, 164,172 sea stars, 163; glowing, 76 sea urchins, 163 seals: harbor, 67; around Okhotsk, 165; swimming up the Okhota, 170. See also Baikal seals seeds: cataloged, 163; collected, 130,134,139, 140,141,155,156,162,186; descriptions of, 200; lost in shipwreck, 14; to be collected, 21. See also individual plants Selenga River: fishing in, 31, 64, 69; open for hunting, 68 Selenginsk, 46, 62,108 Senate. See High Governing Senate shamans, 15,86,108,146,151Ո14; Shamanski kamen, 32; Shamanskoi Porog, 33; Steller guided by drumming, 122; predictions, 116 Shcheki, 99,106m sheefish (neima): in the Penzhina, 73; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 shipyards (pristani), 92; at Ust’Kutsk, 95 shivera/shiveri (big rapids): in the Angara, 31; in the Tira, 96; in
the Tunguska, 33 Siberian Office (Sibirskii Prikaz, Siberian Government Authority), 3,8Ո3,8ո4, 5, i8, 40, 42; appoints voevods, 46 silver: Gilyaks use, 75; mines, 51; silver smiths, 65; trade with, 53 Skornyakov-Pisarev, Gregorei Gregor’evich, Commander of Okhotsk, 156,166; known for his vicious temper, 170Ո3; replaced by Devier, 148; wanted impossible link to the Urak, 152 sled dogs. See dogs sleds, 6, to, 77, 81,114; with game for sale, 37; winter provisions brought by, 154; women and children drive, 94 sliuda. See mica slobodas: around Irkutsk, 37,48, 91; defin ition of, 38Ո6; development of, 61. See also individually named sluzhivs, xix, ХХІІП4, 2; Cossacks now called, 60; how employed, 61; to be requisitioned, 10,11 smelt (koriukha), 169 smelters/smelting, 50; 91,112; on Kamchatka, 113; promyshlenniks involved in, 64, 65, 7i 72 93- See also iron Sofronov, Aleksei, Steller’s servant, 114,117, 121,123,142,144 soil: best along the Angara, 37; clay, 131; fer ruginous, 155; loam, 88; mammoth bones in, 16; on top of permafrost, 141; peat, 127; siliceous, 155; universal, 155,159Ո3. See also clay sour cream earth (zemlianaia smetana), 162-163 sour fish (kislaia ryba), 168. See also fish for dog food Spångberg, Martin, Captain, 5,17,19,101, io6n8,152; had told about famines, 162; Steller traveling with, 114,155-158; 160; Steller visited, 105,107,108 specimens, 6, 21,164, i8ini, 195 squirrels, 87; ground, 103; quality of pelts, 110-111 station. See taxation and way stations
Index Steller: as physician, 85,95,114; health, 134, 143,162; medical training, 179-180; peas ant smock, 126,153,158; spectacles, 145 steppe, 8i, 86; Cossacks originated from, 45Ո6; iron under, 71; Koşaya or Sloping, 83; no agriculture on, 88; flowers on, 107, 118ШО, 136m sterlet: in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96 sticklebacks: near Rozvodnaya, 72; sea, Steller caught, 169 sturgeon, common: in Lake Baikal, 68; in the Aldan, 22; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96; in the Selenga, 64; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 sturgeon, starry: in the Angara, 33; value of, 63 sturgeon glue, 50,54 swallow, bank, 39,92Ո6 syphilis. See French disease taimen, Siberian: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda,76; in the Yudoma, 149 Tatars, 53; Tatar-style stove, 100,104 taxation: collection station, 83; for brandy, 40-41,48, 49; in fishing, 63, 64; in mining, 50; property, 61; Steller for fairer, 91,177. See also head tax and yasak tea, 91,115,145,149,183; brick in the river, 131; cups and pots, 56,163; fireweed used as, 106Ո7; Gilyaks have, 75; green, 57; Northern Labrador, 104,133; Steller en joyed, 119,132,140,154 tench {Uni, doctor fish): caught near Rozvod naya, 72 thunder, 97,123,129; thunderstorm, 141 tobacco, 75, 113-114, 122; Chinese, 40, 43; 50; gift of, 110; exchanged for guide, 123; smuggled as red tea, 50. See also pipe Tobolsk, 5, 52, 60; relationship to Irkutsk, 27, 46; Steller in, 182 Tomsk, 32, 60,180; nickname for towns people, 59; Tatars, 53; Steller in, 180; trade in, 55. 56 trade: Chinese trade goods,
40; impact on people, 59; in pack animals, 56-57; I 219 in pelts, 55; in rhubarb, 40,45Ո2, 49; in tobacco, 114 trails: bad, 81,126,128,132,133,135,143,152, 154; finding it, 117,122,145; fires set to dry them out, 131; good, 120,121,130,140,148; on a mountain, 124; rocky, 154; rudimen tary system of, 7; to the Amga, 123; tree less, 127; twisting, 131 translators. See interpreters trapping. See names of individual animals trout: Dolly Varden (malma), 169; in the Yudoma, 149; species of, 29, 74Ո2 Tungus, 54, 62; desired information about, 15; guide to sour cream earth, 162; hunt ing marine animals, 170; treatment of wounds, 75; use of seal milk and blubber, 68,170; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 Tunkinski Range, 32-33 Udskoi Ostrog, 19; belugas hunted in, 170 ukases: administrative, 9,11,12,13,14,17, 65, 72; affecting trade, ббпз; concerning the students, 21; of prohibition, 22,39,49, 64; ordering Steller back, 182; Steller recom mends, 87, 92 Upper Angara, 70,71; larger seals around, 68-69; dangerous, 61-62 Urak River, 152,156; fish in, 166,168,169; headwaters of, 153,154; mouth of, 162,163 Uratsky Wharf, 154,155 Ushakov, Moisei, surveyor, 116,117,124,144; his horse died, 129 Ushakovka (Ida) River, 27,39,42, 60; descrip tion of, 34; fish in, 36; smelters on, 65,71 Ust’Ilginskaya (UstTlga, UstTlginskoi Ostrog), 84,90,96; leaving, 93; Pier, 92 Ust’Kutsk (Ust’Kutskoi Ostrog, Ust’Kuth), 90,94.95.96 utesi (cliffs), 85, 89 Verkholensk: description of and cottage industry at, 86; salt taken to, 95 villages. See derevnya, slobodas visits with centenarians, 93,101 Vitimsk
(Vitimskaya Sloboda), 99,100,126; forests around, 111
220 ļ Index wagtails, yellow, 139 Walton, William, Lieutenant, 154; together with Steller, 105,158,163 Waxell, Sven, Lieutenant, 105,158,163; floated fast to Okhotsk, 154 way stations, 66m, 124,153; Posikov’s, 122; second and third on trail to Okhotsk, 120-121; station hand, 117; stationmaster, 122. See also huts, zimov’e whales: Gilyaks hunt, 76; Koryaks to hunt, 18; spermaceti, 18; stranded, 160,162,163, 170 whitefish, broad (chiri)·, in the Penzhina, 73 whitefish, common (sig): in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Yudoma, 149 whitefish, round (vaiki): in the Ilga, 90 wolves, 59; heard howling, 141 to proceed upon arrival, 15; inhabitants’ character, 120; pleasant location of, 119; rapid plant growth in, 109 Yarmanka: arrived in, 115; horse ran back to, 122 yasak: Chinese do not demand, 75; finances trading with China, 47; quotas estab lished, 3, 8ո4; shady deals with, 91-92, 113-114 Yeniseysk: Cossacks, 60,178; cowhide fac tory in, 55; former province, 46; nickname of townspeople, 59; sensible choice, 32 Yudoma Cross: ice patch between Yuna and, 142; birch growth, 177; brandy for, 112; stay at, 149; transporting provisions to, 154, 155,168 Yudoma River, 148,149,150 Yuna River: arived at, 135: fast current, 130; floods quickly, 129; Mongolian poplar found along, 139; ice sheet at half-way point, 142 yurts: Koryaks’, 109; in Irkutsk province, 46; on the Amga, 124; Russian fishers’, 156; station yurt, 121; wooden, 83. See also names of indigenous peoples Yakov, Steller s servant, 116; pay for the year, 97; let go, 117 Yakuts: burial practices,
76-77,78Ո3,135; Chief Mazarin, 104-105; conductors of caravans, 45Ո3; desired information about, 15,17; chokania (summer festival), 123; lan guage, 10,124,148,168; living ofl՜ the land, 115,116,120; medical practices, 111-112,114; naming their children, 146-147; netting carp, 72; poverty, 128,140; refugees in Gilyak country, 75; smithy, 121; solicited information, 100,121-122,146; stations, 156; superstitions, 73,76,93,94,135,138Ո22,142, 146-147; trading with the Gilyaks, 113-114 Yakutsk: arrival in, 105; climate and weather, 108,118Ո3; dusk during night, 107; how Zaborovskoi, Aleksei Eremeevich, Yakutsk voevod; Steller called on, 105; dinners with, 107,108,110,115 zaimka/zaimki (farm, small village): defini tion of, 34,193; individually named, 72,81, 83, 86, 87,94,95,116,183; near Irkutsk, 34, 36; on the Peledui, 100 zemlianaia smetana. See sour cream earth Zhigani: Steller describes birds from, 108, 111; porsa from, 167 Zhilkina Village: archbishop s beautiful building in, 37, 52 zimov e/ztmovia (winter huts): definition of, 37m; illustration of, 84,95,193; first on trail, 83; system of, 7. See also huts, way stations Vitim River: mica found on, 64,93 Vladislavish-Raguzinsky, Count Sava Lu kich, 56, 58Ո5 voevods, 3,8n6; in Irkutsk, 47; to assist Steller in Yakutsk, 14-18 volcanoes, 20,131; Windy Mountain, 130
CONTENTS Foreword: The Steller Legacy / Jonathan C. Slaght vii Translators’ Preface xv Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction і Instructions for Georg Wilhelm Steller from February 18,1739, from Yeniseysk / Johann Georg Gmelin and Gerhard Friedrich Müller 9 Part I Description of Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 1 About Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 27 2 About Irkutsk Itself 39 3 About the Public Offices 46 4 About the Clergy 52 5 About the Chinese Trade and Chinese Trade Goods 53 6 About Customs and Lifestyle in Irkutsk 59 7 About Transbaikalia 67 8 Report from the Uda River 75
vi ļ Contents Part II Travel Journal from Irkutsk to Kamchatka 9 From Irkutsk to Usťllginskaya (3/4-3/13) 81 10 From Usťllginskaya to Kirensk (3/14-5/1) 93 11 From Kirensk to Yakutsk (5/2-5/24) 99 12 In Yakutsk and Yarmanka (5/25-6/19) 107 13 From Yarmanka to the Amga River (6/20-7/2) 14 From the Amga to the Yuna River (7/3-7/21) 119 126 15 From the Yuna River to Yudoma Cross (7/22-8/8) 16 From Yudoma Cross to Okhotsk (8/9-8/13) 17 In Okhotsk (8/14-8/26) 152 160 18 Salmon Fishing and Preserving (8/27) 165 19 From Okhotsk to Bol’sheretsk (8/28-9/16) Afterword 172 174 Appendix A: Georg Wilhelm Steller’s Life 179 Appendix B: Schnurbuch Account Ledger 183 Appendix C: Letter to Johann Daniel Schumacher Appendix D: Plants Named after Steller Glossary of Foreign Words Glossary of People Bibliography Plant Index Index 211 139 197 207 195 191 189 185
INDEX Academy of Sciences, 4, 6,9,20,100 adaptability of people, 60 agate, black, 129 Akachan River, 144,145 Aldan River, 130,131; arrived at, 127; fish in, 72; forded, 128; meaning of name, 124; plants found on, 127,134,135,136,140; Yudoma and Maya flow into, 149 Aleksei. See Danilov, Sofronov Amga River, 124,131; description of, 126; soil along, 127 Amur River: dog salmon in, 166; find out about Gilyaks along, 19; Yakuts hunt sable on, 1x3 Anadyr River, 73; yasak paid by people living along, 47 Anadyrsk, Anadyrskoi Ostrog, 72-73; belu gas hunted, 170; thinly populated, 109 Ancha River, 140; permafrost recorded near, ix Anga Rivers, 85 Angara River, 47, 60, 81; description of, 27, 29,30-31,32,33; fish and fishing in, 33, 34,38Ո7; hunting along, 71; landscape along, 33,34,36,37; settlements along, 72; through Irkutsk, 37,39-40,42, 52, 56; iron smelting and value of, 50, 64, 72, 90; levies on people along, 91,92Ո2. See also Upper Angara Baikal omul, 64; fishing for and value of, 63; native to and endangered, 34; preserving, 202 Baikal seals, 64, 67-71; blubber, 68; com parison to harbor seal, 67; different kinds of, 68, 70; hunts for, 68,71; milk used by Tungus, 68; skins in trade, 54, 68-69,71 Baikal sig, 33; promyshlenniks fishing for, 63, 202 Balaganskoi Ostrog: fish found below, 29,34 Barguzin (Barguzinskoi Ostrog), 47,70,183; best pelts, 111; Cossacks moved to, 60; Stellers trip to, 180 Barguzin River: fishing, 61, 64; open to hunt ing, 68, 69 barrels: for fish, 62,63,167; holding brandy, 113 bears, 59; ate on dead whale, 162; compared with sea lions, 77; killed by
Captain Spångberg, 156 beavers, 61; attacked by dogs, 77; pelts, 54 Beasts of the Sea (De Bestiis Marinis), xvii, ххііпз, 180,181,200 Belaya River, 139,142,150,177; cotton mill and dyeworks on, 65; iron smeltering on, 50; now called Khanda, 65; traveling along, 128-133,136Ո3,137Ո18 belugas, caught: at Udskoi and Anadyrskoi Ostrogs, 170; in the Ural, 72; with nets, 76 Berckhan, Johann Christian, painter: cel ebrating, 122,144; drawings of plants, 116, 132,133,135,138Ո19,202; horse dies, 124; on a burial mound, 136; out on the ice, 100, 101; quarters in Yakutsk, 107; rank and support, xix, 10,13,14; shot a young loon, 130; traveling, 81,117,119,123,145,148,163, 180,182; in the dark, 146. See also names of individual plants Bering, Vitus, Captain Commander, vii, xii, xxiv, 1,17,181,195; correspondence with, 17, 22; Pisarev, his evil spirit, 196; sailing out of Okhotsk, 172; second expedition, 3, 4; Steller’s first meeting with, xii, 158 Bering Island, x, xvi, 181,200,201; pelts from, 5; recovered skeleton, xi Bering Strait, x, 199 Bibikov, Aleksei Yur’evich, Vice-Governor of Irkutsk, 46,110,174,195; Steller’s party accompanied by, 81 birdshot needed, xxi, 186 bismuth, 164 211
212 I Index black room, 149,1511115 blubber. See seals and whales bobylskie (peasants), 90,191 Bogul’deicha River, 65,69, 83; mouth of, 71 bolaric earth. See sour cream earth Boľsheretsk/Boľsheretskoi Ostrog, 19, 75,77 brandy, xix, 47-48,116,117,120,119,149, 154,176; cherry brandy, 116; distilleries, 47, 48,65,81,94; distribution, 47; double, 41,47,112,143, 202; loss of buckets of, 143; new bottles ordered, 108; police oversight, 43; price, 41,112; prize at target-shooting match, 152; smugglers nabbed, 111; station for distribution and taxation, 40-41,192; used for preserving specimens, 202, 204; ways of cheating, 48,112-13 bread, 62, 65,86,101,128,155,166,170Ո2,186; Aesop’s loaves, 57; grain for, 91; iukola as substitute for, 167; joy of having, 149; no taste for, 126; sweetvetch roots suitable for baking, 103 bullhead (pizda), 37 burbot (natím), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149 Buryats, 39, 54, 60, 61, 83; desired informa tion about, 15; meaning of name, 39; sell game, 37; unaffected by epidemic, 84; use of seal blubber, 68; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 capelin or candle fish (ueki), 169,171mi caravan: financed by, 47; physician to, 12, 81, 195; trade with China, 40,45Ո3,49-50 capercailles, 37 carp, crucian, 72,120,135; 142; blood-red, 111; dormant, 72; meal of, 121,140; sly, 72; Yakut driver’s name, 147 cattle: at Okhotsk, 156; butchered, 122,125Ո4, 128; “food on the hoof,” 6,105,107,124, 128,141,149,155; Gilyaks have, 114; lack of, 120; Yakuts’ loss of, 135 char, Arctic (kundsha), 169 Chernaya River,
73 Chechuiskoi Ostrog, 99 Chirikov, Aleksei, Captain, 195,198; his ship, 172,173,178; met in Okhotsk, 158 Chivirkui River, 61,63,64,70 Chukchi, 107,113; exaggerate their numbers, 109,118Ո2, іі8п5 clay, 20,156; cliffs/mountains, 89,95,131,162; for ovens, 149; for pottery, 23; mineral, 88; soils, xii, 16; sour-cream earth, 162-163 climate: cannot grow grain, 48; effect of dif fering ones, 59; protective, 44; much snow, 110; terrible, 5 coal: layers of, 126 coot, Eurasian, 120,121 Cossacks, xv, 31-32; 69, 73,87; chief, 107,111, 116,174; definitions of, ХХІІП4, 8m, 191, 192,193; earliest explorers, vii, 2; founders of Irkutsk, now few, 60; police chief, 42; origin of, 45Ո6; Steller appreciates, xv, 31-32 crabs: shall describe, 18; shall preserve, 21; found two special, 163 Crown, the: accounting to, 21; books for Gorlanov, 23; distilleries, 47; items received from, 10,11,14,17, 22-23; mo nopoly on trade, 40; peasants, 61; secrecy governing and ukases, 22; Steller costs it less, 175 crows: feeding on fish, 166 cuckoo, 118П11; starts to call, 122 curiosities: box for storing, 183; ordered to be collected, 16; preserving, 23,191; Russians’ liking for, 54; sheet of ice, 141 customs duty, 40,49,50,83; station, 40, 62,83 dace, Eurasian (yelets, yeltsi): caught in Lake Baikal, 33; in the Amga, 124, in the An gara, 33, in the Ilga, 90, in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120,124 daily journal to be kept, 21 Danilov, Aleksei, sluzhiv, 117,123,195; back to Yakutsk, 116; brought news and delivered horses, 111; Steller wrote instructions for, 163; with Steller to Okhotsk, 106;
117,123, 195 Daurken, Stellers horse, 145,152 Daurkin, Ivan, Secretary to Yakutsk voevod, 107,115,117 deer and red deer: hunted by promyshlenniks, 36
Index j շіз de la Croyère, Louis Delisle, Professor of Astronomy, 5, i6; 195; his wife, 106,149; Steller visited, 158, tői, 163; strange behav ior, 106 derevnya (small village), 89,90,91,93, 94,95, 96,97, too, 101,191; definition of, 72; nam ing of, 87,95-96 Devier, Anton Emmanuilovich, Commander of Okhotsk: arrival in Yakutsk, 110; meet ing on the trail, 139; visits with, 160,163, 164; cleaned up Okhotsk, 166 dogs: Berckhan’s, 145; “daughter of a dog,” 146; dead on streets, 43; dragged corpses, 77,78Ո3; gods of, 147; history of, 59; sled, 10, 66m, 114,154,168,201; Steller’s, 123, 158; swimming, 129; trade with China, 57; Yakuts barking like, 133 dolphins (marine pigs), 170 doshcheniks (boats), 97,111,19t; Angara’s banks full of, 37,40; drawing, 31; for journey from Irkutsk to Yakutsk, 12-13; full of saiga horns, 53; in trouble, 102; ordered one made, 97; promyshlenniks’ use of, 61, 62, 64,69,70 ducks: lakes full of, 130,135; northern eider, 1; sleds full of, 37; tufted, female shot, 130 ducklings, 113 duty. See customs eagles, 39,44П1-45; Steller’s sea, x, хіііпз, і earthquakes, 20; big one, 71,73m epidemics: along the Lena, viii, 84-85, 88, 90, 91; to be recorded on Kamchatka, 20 ermine: large numbers of, 87 Eurasian ruffe: absent in Siberian rivers, 29,34, 129; in the Ilga, 90; rigidity of dorsal fin, 29 exiles, 2,36, 60,107; contributing to prosti tution, 43 flatfish (kambala), unidentified), 169 flints: earth wax used in place of, 129; paid for fifty, 183; Samoilov to provide, 115 flooding, 37Ո2; of icy streams, 150; necessity of, 120; on the Amga, 124; on the
Angara, 30; on the Belaya and Yuna, 130; on the Lena, 108,97; to escape, 87 fog: in the mountains, 133,139; in winter, 30,108 food rations (soldier’s, sluzhiv’s), 10; Steller responsible for, 6 fox, arctic, 61; to be obtained alive, 16 French disease (Frenchmen). 66,151Ո14; has become naturalized, 43; French breasts, 44, 45Ո8; Yakuts infected with, 114, Gardebol, Simon, assayer, 20,113,195; lazy and unreliable, 155,174; loaned Steller horses, 115; instructions to Steller about, 18-19; Steller met and dined with, 107,108 geese: whole sleds full, 37; snow, 103 Geleitukase, 13,18,191 geography: research of, 4,10,18; of Yakutsk district, 17 Giliashev, Dmitrei, huntsman, 10,14,195; issued a rifle, 23 Gilyaks: description of, 75; of interest to eth nographers, 177; research, 19; trade with Yakuts, 113-114 Gmelin, Johann Georg, Professor of Botany, 5,64,158,163,180,191; controversy with Steller, 105,174-75; documents, 97,202, 204; impossible request to Steller, 91; instructions to Steller, xv, 9; plants, vii, 33, 86,116,127,128,158,199; poor health, 6 goiters, 94,98m Golousnaya River, 34, 69; fissures in ice at mouth of, 71 Gorlanov, Aleksei Petrovich, student, 9,14, 195,200, 202; books issued to, 23; concern ing horses, 106,116,135; his driver’s name, 147; duties, 7,10,15; traveling, 81,117,124, 144,149,180,182 gostinii dvor, 37,38Ո8; 40,41,52 grain, 48,85,140; barley and rye, when to plant, 88; for brandy, 47,49; grow ing regions, 37, 81, 83,86,87, 88,91,126; market, 41; not on Kamchatka, 140; prices, 37,88-89 grasshoppers, 120 gray paper, 14, 23,185; Chinese substitute,
143,181 grayling: looks different from Arctic, 154; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Urak, 154, in the Yudoma, 149; thrown up through ice fissures, 71
214 I Index grayling, Arctic (charius), 74ոշ, 155,169; carrying a string of, 34,37; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149; resembles Dolly Varden, 169 Great Northern Exedition. See Kamchatka Expedition (Second) grouse, 127; black, 37; hazel, 37; Siberian, 76 gudgeon: in the Ilga, 90 gulls: eating dead fish, 166; juvenile, 173; on the Yuna, 139; painted Shaman s Rock white, 32; shrieking, 67; two kinds of, ix.173 gunpowder, 11, 23; gift to old man, 101; spoiled by dunking, 143; storage in Ir kutsk, 40; too coarse to use, 186 Halle, 3; botanical excursions around, xx; orphanage in, 63, 66Ո4; Steller a student in, 4 hares: fell to death oiFPine Cliff, 99; in Yakutsk region, 120; on the Uda River, 75; Yakuts have to live on, 135-136 hawk, white: a northern goshawk, 127 hay, 65, 87,91,108; good hayfields, 36,72,89; hay market, 41 head tax, 47,88,90; definition of, 191; who pays, 39,48,81, 87 Henčke, Carl (Henks), caravan physician, 81,86,110 High Governing Senate, 7,20, 46; Stellers reports to, 14,100,186; ukases from, 9,11, 17,21,22 hogs raised in Birulka, 86 horses: arrangements for travel with, 10, 18,105-106,107,110,111,116; bones left by Yakuts, 133; butchered, 144; getting across rivers, 124,128,129,144,149,156; gift of, 110,122; in caravans, 45Ո3; lack of fodder, 145,150; letting them rest, 130,131,139; loading of, 115,117,121,122,136Ո8,140, 174; loss of, 121,122,128,129,130,135,139, 144,146,152; mishaps with, 131,135,148; stations for exchanging, 66m, 94; trade in, 56-57; Yakuts eat, 114,134 Horse Island, 119
hot spring, 70-71 huts (wayside/winter huts): along the Angara, 32,34; at mouth of Chernaya, 73; blubber used to light, 68; caretakers of, 65; earthen, 119,127; first one on road to the Lena, 83,153; Irkutsk started as, 60; made of foliage, 150; promyshlenniks use, 62, 64, 71. See also way stations, also zimov’e ice: blocks on river bank, 101; boats adrift in, 31,70; breakup, 97; effect of earthquake on, 71; freeze-up, 33; jams, 102,103; jump ing across floes, 101,102; patch, 141-142, 144,151Ո7; points on the Belaya River, 131; rivers as roads, 29; seals on, 70; traveling on the ice-choked Lena, 99-104; Yakut superstition concerning it, 73 Ilga River, 90 Ilim River, 33 Ilimsk (Ilimskoi Ostrog), 33, 46; District, 89.99 indigenous peoples. See natives inozemtsy (foreigners), 13, 23Ո2,191 interpreters: Gorlanov as, 7; Klimovskoi as, 10; of native languages, 13,19 Inya River, 169,172 Irkut River, 27,34, 60; origin of name, 39 Irkutsk: amenities of, 36-37; churches, 39, 41-42; fog over, 30; fortifications, 39; city gates, 40,42; inhabitants, 60-61, 65, 69,72,91,112; its start, 60; location, 33; nickname for townspeople, 59; prevention of fires in, 44; Provincial Administration’s obligations outlined, 5,12-15; weather, 29-30 iron: along the Amga, 126; as government income, 50; at Kamenka, 64, 71,90; at mouth of Bogul’deicha, 71; ferruginous soil along the Urak, 155; found on Kam chatka, 113; on the Talovka, 71; the Ushakovka’s, 34,71. See also smelters/smelting iukola (dried fish), 167,170Ո5 jasper, green, 129,132,133,155 jay: Eurasian or oak, 139,150Ո2 Kachega: about, 84-85;
location, 83; region around 86,88-90; today called Kachug, 88
Index Kalmyks: trade and war with the Chinese, 56-57 Kamchadals: paid yasak, 47; use of salmon and blubber, 167,168,170 Kamchatka, 6,9, 21, 73,116 arrival on, 173; ores found on, из; travel arrangements to, 15-16,18,19,105-106,111; what to investi gate, 19-20. See also Krasheninnikov Kamchatka Expedition (Second), xv, 3, 40, 48; added to bureaucracy, 40; negative impact of, 42,88,112; money transport for, 103; “proper evaluation” of, 134; purpose of, 4-5; secrecy imposed on, xi kastak. See brandy distillery Khanda River. See Belaya River Khitrov, Sofron Fedorovich, helmsman: groundings, 157,172; meaning of name, xii; Steller disliked, 174 Kirenga (Kirensk, Kirenskoi Ostrog): arrival in, 97; 100; Lena River at, 96; Monastery of the Trinity, 97 Kirenga River: ice dams on, 97 kislaia ryba. See sour fish Klimovskoi, Fedot, 14; interpreter of Yakut, 10,13; keeper of accounts, 10,15,183-184 Korff, Baron von, 9; Steller’s letters to, 14, I 215 Lake Baikal: fish in, 33,34,63; fishing on, 61-64; source of the Angara River, 29; Upper Angara feeds it, 30; freeze-up and break-up, 31; iron smelted around, 50; ostrogs around, 60; Steller explored the eastern shore, 67-73 Lake Baikal omul, 64; brandy for specimens, 202; fishing for and value of, 63; native to, 34; now endangered, 34 Lake Kurile, 181 lake minnows, 123,135,142; active in winter, 72; in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120 Lamuts (Evens), 19, 47 Lange, Lorenz, vice-governor of Irkutsk, 181,187 Lau, Johann Theodor, assistant surgeon, 160; tried to save Steller’s life, 182 Lena River: break-up, 97; changed course, 119;
investigations along, 15; lake-like stretch, 96; Steller to go to the lower Lena, 16 lenok (lenki), sharp-snouted: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda, 76, in the Ushakovka, 36 Listvenishnoe Zimov’e, 32 38Ո7,175,202 Koryaks, 73; how they treat dead shamans, 108-109; smallpox among, 109; Steller’s instructions concerning, 18,19 Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, student, 12,14,18; instructions for, 6; research, 19, 20.160.163 Krasnoyarsk, 46, 60,129 Krest, 32,36,37Ո3,39; 42 Kukhtui River, 168,169 kumis (mare’s milk), 121,122,147 Kunstkammer, 16,17,23Ո3,32; preserved specimens to, 21 Kurile Islands, 5,163; natives on, 72,170 Kuta River, 81, 83,85,94; in summer too small for a raft, 95 Kyakhta, 81,181; plants collected around, 116; Treaty of, 196 Kyakhta River, 46, trade in camels on, 56 Kychkin, Dmitrei, Yakutsk dvoryanin, 111, 113.115.163 mammoths: bones on the lower Lena, 16; Yakuts’ beliefs about, 73 marble: ice-polished, 104; black, 132,133; liver-colored, 133 marcasite, 164 Marikan River, 160,162,167,169 marine sponges, 164,170; Krasheninnikov’s description of, 19 merchants: and promishklenniks, 61, 64, 68; huts named after, 32; in Irkutsk, 41, 60; in the China trade, 53, 56; in the rhubarb trade, 49, 50; not harmed by natives, 109, 113; operate distilleries, 47,48; pay head tax, 92m; pay prostitutes well, 43; rapids costly for, 33; role in colonization, 61 merganser, common or red-breasted: female shot, 12 Messerschmidt, Daniel Gottlieb, 4,180 meteorological observations, 9; instruments in Irkutsk, 12
շւ6 ļ Index mica (sliuda): black» 93; “hunting” for, 64; large windows of, 44,45Ո9; trade with, 53, 61; price of, 183 mills: blubber used for greasing, 68; cotton mill on the Belaya, 65; Dementiev’s, 83; Glazunov’s, 72; Kranin’s, 81; mutovka, 95-96; near Kachega, 84; on the Kaya Riv er, 72; Ushakov’s (Pivovarov’s widow’s), 34,42, 60 millstones, 90,94 minerals: Steller instructed to research, 4,16, 21,186,187Ո2 mining: pits left, 71; regulations, 186; Stellers interest in, 179; tools left in Yakutsk, 17 moose, 36; antlers, 75 mosquitoes: effect of long days on, 111; trav elers plagued by, 121,124,140 Müller, Gerhard Friedrich, Professor of History, 5; described Irkutsk well, 27; instructions to Steller, 9; letters to, 97, 174 175; poor health, 6; published about pisani kameni, 86; suggestions for taxing brandy, 48 mussels, 164 Mynsicht’s Elixir, 143,151ШО natives (indigenous peoples), xi, xii, 1, 7,10, 191; Aklanskoi and Kamenskoi ostrogs, 73; food fond of, 168,170; loan sharks take advantage of, 91-92; medical practices, 111, 114,162; not to be executed or tortured, 8ո4; relationship with invaders, 2,3; replacing “heathens” with “natives,” 32; role in China trade, 56-57. See also names of individual tribes neima. See sheefish Nerchinsk, 46,52; inhabitants of, 47,49,50; 49,50; treaty of, 78Ո2 nerpa, nerpi. See Baikal seals, also seals Nikolski (Nikolskaya Zastava), 29,31,32 northern lights, 151Ո12; seen on the Kolyma, 76; brightness of in Turukhansk, 110 Okhota River, 19,157,160; bismuth and mar casite on, 164; fish in, 165,166,168,169 Okhotsk: arrival in, 158; commander
of, 46, 60-61,110,148,170Ո3,196; conditions for departure to, 18; difficult post, 61; fishery at 165-170; galleon, 163,164,172-173; in habitants of, 60-61; instructions concern ing, 9,11-21; preparations for transport there, 108,115,122; provisions expected to be there, 10; transport to, 154; unproduc tive land, 48,75 Okhotsk, Sea of: porpoises in, 160; preserv ing fish from, 185; rivers flowing into, 169; sailing into, 172; Steller’s first view of, 157; width of, 75,77m Okhotskoi Ostrog (map), 157 Olekma River, 113; breakup, 104 Olekminskoi Ostrog, 103-104 Ol’khon Island, 63, 64, 69 Orlenskaya Sloboda, 93-94 ostrogs (forts): each had a chapel, 2; defin ition of, 8ոշ; along route to Irkutsk, 10; in Irkutsk, 40; across and around Lake Baikal, 50, 60. See also under names of ostrogs Ovsianikov, Stepan, instrument maker apprentice, 144; almost drowned, 149; brought Steller’s horse, 128 Oyok/Oyoskaya Sloboda, 81, 83 palisades, 8ոշ, 39 partridge, Daurian, 37 pastures: excellent, 120,128,155; inundated, 30; marked by posts, 121; with “message” boards, 131 Pavlutskoi, Dmitrei Ivanovich, Major, 107, 110,163; information about the Chukchi, 108-109 pay (salary), 6,10,13; annual for each crew member, 14; for Gardebol, 17; for helms men, 104; for servant, 97; frustration over, 56; manner of payment for Crown employees, 60-61; Steller’s, 14; villages as pay, 87 pearls, impure, 164 peasants (farmers), 61, 85,177,191,192; houses, 89,94-97,154; Tomsk pride, 59; small villages, 90 Peledui River: icy banks, 100 Peleduiskaya Sloboda, 100 Penzhina River, 72
Index perch European (okuni), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90 permafrost, ix, 141 Peter the Great, 4,8пз, 42, 66пз, 92m, 187m; established Kunstkammer, 23Ո3; stan dardized arshin, 193 phosphorescence: of salmon, 168; of sea rasp berries, 172-173, pike, northern (shchuki): big in lakes, 72; in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 34; in the Ilga, 90; very old, 111; Yakuts deprived of, 120 pipe, 104,135,176; mouthpieces commis sioned, 115; smoking in place of food and/or bed, 144,146,149 pisani kameni (painted rocks, petroglyphs), 86, 89, pitch: in the mountains, 126; horses’ hoofs sealed with, 111 Plenisner, Friedrich, Corporal, 160 podval (brandy storage cellar), 40,47 podvoda, podvodi, 6, 81,105; horses for, 18; need for extra, 7,12; Steller and crew to receive, 10,13-14 podvodchiki, 106Ո3,123; children employed as, 94 Pokrovsky Monastery, 104,119; maps, 82,105 police, 42-43, 46; Stellers judgment of, 44; voevod has police powers, 8ns political history, research of, 9,10,16,18, 20; on Kamchatka, 19; the Buryats’, 15 porog/porogi (rapids): on the Tunguska, 33 porpoise (pig of the sea): dissected, 160 porsa (fish meal): how eaten, 168; how made, 167,170Ո5 posad (“suburb”), 41,192 posadskie: church built by, 41; pay for dwellings, 87; pay head tax, 92m; smelt iron, 50 Posolsky Monastery, 68,70; area owned, 69, 83; location, 31, 64 Posolsky Monastery Village, 81,83 prikazchik, 73; definition of, 13; Gabichev sent quarter ox, 103; places that have, 72, 89,90,94 progon (road toll), 10,49,117; Steller to receive for travel, 13,14,21 Į 217
promyshlenniks, xv, 2,13,36, 41,50,60; fishing cooperative, 62-64, 69; fishing earnings, 63; not allowed to marry, 39,43; occupations, 64-66, 68-72, no; places of origin, 61; seasonal workers, 61,95-96 prostitution (whoring): causes of, 43, 66; effects of, 43-44, 66,77,91; Steller’s pro posed solutions to, 44 protoki. See river channels provisions (food supplies): costs of, 155,184; endangered by ice, 102; for Krashenninikov, 12; logistics, xii, 11,13-16,18,84, 88,106,108,154; paperwork required for, 6, 163; problems with, 48, 88,154 pud, 63,193; of rye flour, 37 rafts, 13; adrift in ice-choked river, 102; arrival in Yakutsk, 108; given to the vo evod, 114; to be built, 90; used to transport salt, 95 rapids. See porog/porogi, also shivera/shiveri Ray’s aphyam aculeatam: Steller caught, 169 raznochintsi (commoners), 68,90,95 reindeer, 75,114,135,150; as a human name, 147; carrying shamans’ bones, 109; clack ing hooves, 72; jerky, 136; milk used by Tungus, 162 rhubarb: trade with, 40, 45Ո2; where it grows, 129; word prohibited, 49. See also trade river channels (protoki), 101,104,135,192; on the Angara, 31; on the Belaya, 131; on the Okhota, 157; on the Urak, 154,155,156; the Vitim’s, 99 roach, common (plotva): in the Angara, 33, 34 Rozvodnaya: Greater Rozvodnaya, 42, 72; Malaya Rozvodnaya, 39 Russian Orthodox Church, 2; archbishop’s residence, 37, 41; churches in Ust’Ilginskoi Ostrog, 90; in Ust’Kutsk, 94. See also churches in Irkutsk sables: as yasak, 8Ո4,114; hunted, 36; dyed pelts, 54,77; as gift, 104; hunt for, 61, 64, 70,75,100,113-114; quality of pelts where,
110-111
2i8 ļ Index saddlebags, 17,18,108 saddle blankets, 139 saiga, 55,57Ո2 salmon, dog or chum (keta): entering rivers, 169; growing teeth, 166; at mouth of the Uda, 76 salmon, red (nerka, lomok): first to enter riv ers, 168; better than dog salmon, 169. See also iukola, porsa, salt, sour fish salt, 63,64,98m, 121,184; from under ground, 163; salted fish, 34, 62, 65,166-168; salted meat, 62,149; saltworks, 95; trade in, 51; white, exuded, 120 Samoilov, Grigorei, miner, 10,14,106,115; equipment issued to, 23 sandstone, 95,143; gray, 32,126,127; cliffs of red, 85,89 Saturn-Jupiter Saturday, 152,158m schist, 134 Schnurbuch (ledger), 10,15, 21-22, scoter, white-winged (turpany), 113 sculpin, antlered (byki), 169,171Ո12 sea lions, 1,181; fall from cliffs, 77; Steller’s, xi Sea of Okhotsk. See Okhotsk, Sea of sea otters, xi sea raspberries, 163; glowing, 164,172 sea stars, 163; glowing, 76 sea urchins, 163 seals: harbor, 67; around Okhotsk, 165; swimming up the Okhota, 170. See also Baikal seals seeds: cataloged, 163; collected, 130,134,139, 140,141,155,156,162,186; descriptions of, 200; lost in shipwreck, 14; to be collected, 21. See also individual plants Selenga River: fishing in, 31, 64, 69; open for hunting, 68 Selenginsk, 46, 62,108 Senate. See High Governing Senate shamans, 15,86,108,146,151Ո14; Shamanski kamen, 32; Shamanskoi Porog, 33; Steller guided by drumming, 122; predictions, 116 Shcheki, 99,106m sheefish (neima): in the Penzhina, 73; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 shipyards (pristani), 92; at Ust’Kutsk, 95 shivera/shiveri (big rapids): in the Angara, 31; in the Tira, 96; in
the Tunguska, 33 Siberian Office (Sibirskii Prikaz, Siberian Government Authority), 3,8Ո3,8ո4, 5, i8, 40, 42; appoints voevods, 46 silver: Gilyaks use, 75; mines, 51; silver smiths, 65; trade with, 53 Skornyakov-Pisarev, Gregorei Gregor’evich, Commander of Okhotsk, 156,166; known for his vicious temper, 170Ո3; replaced by Devier, 148; wanted impossible link to the Urak, 152 sled dogs. See dogs sleds, 6, to, 77, 81,114; with game for sale, 37; winter provisions brought by, 154; women and children drive, 94 sliuda. See mica slobodas: around Irkutsk, 37,48, 91; defin ition of, 38Ո6; development of, 61. See also individually named sluzhivs, xix, ХХІІП4, 2; Cossacks now called, 60; how employed, 61; to be requisitioned, 10,11 smelt (koriukha), 169 smelters/smelting, 50; 91,112; on Kamchatka, 113; promyshlenniks involved in, 64, 65, 7i 72 93- See also iron Sofronov, Aleksei, Steller’s servant, 114,117, 121,123,142,144 soil: best along the Angara, 37; clay, 131; fer ruginous, 155; loam, 88; mammoth bones in, 16; on top of permafrost, 141; peat, 127; siliceous, 155; universal, 155,159Ո3. See also clay sour cream earth (zemlianaia smetana), 162-163 sour fish (kislaia ryba), 168. See also fish for dog food Spångberg, Martin, Captain, 5,17,19,101, io6n8,152; had told about famines, 162; Steller traveling with, 114,155-158; 160; Steller visited, 105,107,108 specimens, 6, 21,164, i8ini, 195 squirrels, 87; ground, 103; quality of pelts, 110-111 station. See taxation and way stations
Index Steller: as physician, 85,95,114; health, 134, 143,162; medical training, 179-180; peas ant smock, 126,153,158; spectacles, 145 steppe, 8i, 86; Cossacks originated from, 45Ո6; iron under, 71; Koşaya or Sloping, 83; no agriculture on, 88; flowers on, 107, 118ШО, 136m sterlet: in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96 sticklebacks: near Rozvodnaya, 72; sea, Steller caught, 169 sturgeon, common: in Lake Baikal, 68; in the Aldan, 22; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96; in the Selenga, 64; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 sturgeon, starry: in the Angara, 33; value of, 63 sturgeon glue, 50,54 swallow, bank, 39,92Ո6 syphilis. See French disease taimen, Siberian: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda,76; in the Yudoma, 149 Tatars, 53; Tatar-style stove, 100,104 taxation: collection station, 83; for brandy, 40-41,48, 49; in fishing, 63, 64; in mining, 50; property, 61; Steller for fairer, 91,177. See also head tax and yasak tea, 91,115,145,149,183; brick in the river, 131; cups and pots, 56,163; fireweed used as, 106Ո7; Gilyaks have, 75; green, 57; Northern Labrador, 104,133; Steller en joyed, 119,132,140,154 tench {Uni, doctor fish): caught near Rozvod naya, 72 thunder, 97,123,129; thunderstorm, 141 tobacco, 75, 113-114, 122; Chinese, 40, 43; 50; gift of, 110; exchanged for guide, 123; smuggled as red tea, 50. See also pipe Tobolsk, 5, 52, 60; relationship to Irkutsk, 27, 46; Steller in, 182 Tomsk, 32, 60,180; nickname for towns people, 59; Tatars, 53; Steller in, 180; trade in, 55. 56 trade: Chinese trade goods,
40; impact on people, 59; in pack animals, 56-57; I 219 in pelts, 55; in rhubarb, 40,45Ո2, 49; in tobacco, 114 trails: bad, 81,126,128,132,133,135,143,152, 154; finding it, 117,122,145; fires set to dry them out, 131; good, 120,121,130,140,148; on a mountain, 124; rocky, 154; rudimen tary system of, 7; to the Amga, 123; tree less, 127; twisting, 131 translators. See interpreters trapping. See names of individual animals trout: Dolly Varden (malma), 169; in the Yudoma, 149; species of, 29, 74Ո2 Tungus, 54, 62; desired information about, 15; guide to sour cream earth, 162; hunt ing marine animals, 170; treatment of wounds, 75; use of seal milk and blubber, 68,170; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 Tunkinski Range, 32-33 Udskoi Ostrog, 19; belugas hunted in, 170 ukases: administrative, 9,11,12,13,14,17, 65, 72; affecting trade, ббпз; concerning the students, 21; of prohibition, 22,39,49, 64; ordering Steller back, 182; Steller recom mends, 87, 92 Upper Angara, 70,71; larger seals around, 68-69; dangerous, 61-62 Urak River, 152,156; fish in, 166,168,169; headwaters of, 153,154; mouth of, 162,163 Uratsky Wharf, 154,155 Ushakov, Moisei, surveyor, 116,117,124,144; his horse died, 129 Ushakovka (Ida) River, 27,39,42, 60; descrip tion of, 34; fish in, 36; smelters on, 65,71 Ust’Ilginskaya (UstTlga, UstTlginskoi Ostrog), 84,90,96; leaving, 93; Pier, 92 Ust’Kutsk (Ust’Kutskoi Ostrog, Ust’Kuth), 90,94.95.96 utesi (cliffs), 85, 89 Verkholensk: description of and cottage industry at, 86; salt taken to, 95 villages. See derevnya, slobodas visits with centenarians, 93,101 Vitimsk
(Vitimskaya Sloboda), 99,100,126; forests around, 111
220 ļ Index wagtails, yellow, 139 Walton, William, Lieutenant, 154; together with Steller, 105,158,163 Waxell, Sven, Lieutenant, 105,158,163; floated fast to Okhotsk, 154 way stations, 66m, 124,153; Posikov’s, 122; second and third on trail to Okhotsk, 120-121; station hand, 117; stationmaster, 122. See also huts, zimov’e whales: Gilyaks hunt, 76; Koryaks to hunt, 18; spermaceti, 18; stranded, 160,162,163, 170 whitefish, broad (chiri)·, in the Penzhina, 73 whitefish, common (sig): in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Yudoma, 149 whitefish, round (vaiki): in the Ilga, 90 wolves, 59; heard howling, 141 to proceed upon arrival, 15; inhabitants’ character, 120; pleasant location of, 119; rapid plant growth in, 109 Yarmanka: arrived in, 115; horse ran back to, 122 yasak: Chinese do not demand, 75; finances trading with China, 47; quotas estab lished, 3, 8ո4; shady deals with, 91-92, 113-114 Yeniseysk: Cossacks, 60,178; cowhide fac tory in, 55; former province, 46; nickname of townspeople, 59; sensible choice, 32 Yudoma Cross: ice patch between Yuna and, 142; birch growth, 177; brandy for, 112; stay at, 149; transporting provisions to, 154, 155,168 Yudoma River, 148,149,150 Yuna River: arived at, 135: fast current, 130; floods quickly, 129; Mongolian poplar found along, 139; ice sheet at half-way point, 142 yurts: Koryaks’, 109; in Irkutsk province, 46; on the Amga, 124; Russian fishers’, 156; station yurt, 121; wooden, 83. See also names of indigenous peoples Yakov, Steller s servant, 116; pay for the year, 97; let go, 117 Yakuts: burial practices,
76-77,78Ո3,135; Chief Mazarin, 104-105; conductors of caravans, 45Ո3; desired information about, 15,17; chokania (summer festival), 123; lan guage, 10,124,148,168; living ofl՜ the land, 115,116,120; medical practices, 111-112,114; naming their children, 146-147; netting carp, 72; poverty, 128,140; refugees in Gilyak country, 75; smithy, 121; solicited information, 100,121-122,146; stations, 156; superstitions, 73,76,93,94,135,138Ո22,142, 146-147; trading with the Gilyaks, 113-114 Yakutsk: arrival in, 105; climate and weather, 108,118Ո3; dusk during night, 107; how Zaborovskoi, Aleksei Eremeevich, Yakutsk voevod; Steller called on, 105; dinners with, 107,108,110,115 zaimka/zaimki (farm, small village): defini tion of, 34,193; individually named, 72,81, 83, 86, 87,94,95,116,183; near Irkutsk, 34, 36; on the Peledui, 100 zemlianaia smetana. See sour cream earth Zhigani: Steller describes birds from, 108, 111; porsa from, 167 Zhilkina Village: archbishop s beautiful building in, 37, 52 zimov e/ztmovia (winter huts): definition of, 37m; illustration of, 84,95,193; first on trail, 83; system of, 7. See also huts, way stations Vitim River: mica found on, 64,93 Vladislavish-Raguzinsky, Count Sava Lu kich, 56, 58Ո5 voevods, 3,8n6; in Irkutsk, 47; to assist Steller in Yakutsk, 14-18 volcanoes, 20,131; Windy Mountain, 130
CONTENTS Foreword: The Steller Legacy / Jonathan C. Slaght vii Translators’ Preface xv Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction і Instructions for Georg Wilhelm Steller from February 18,1739, from Yeniseysk / Johann Georg Gmelin and Gerhard Friedrich Müller 9 Part I Description of Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 1 About Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 27 2 About Irkutsk Itself 39 3 About the Public Offices 46 4 About the Clergy 52 5 About the Chinese Trade and Chinese Trade Goods 53 6 About Customs and Lifestyle in Irkutsk 59 7 About Transbaikalia 67 8 Report from the Uda River 75
vi ļ Contents Part II Travel Journal from Irkutsk to Kamchatka 9 From Irkutsk to Usťllginskaya (3/4-3/13) 81 10 From Usťllginskaya to Kirensk (3/14-5/1) 93 11 From Kirensk to Yakutsk (5/2-5/24) 99 12 In Yakutsk and Yarmanka (5/25-6/19) 107 13 From Yarmanka to the Amga River (6/20-7/2) 14 From the Amga to the Yuna River (7/3-7/21) 119 126 15 From the Yuna River to Yudoma Cross (7/22-8/8) 16 From Yudoma Cross to Okhotsk (8/9-8/13) 17 In Okhotsk (8/14-8/26) 152 160 18 Salmon Fishing and Preserving (8/27) 165 19 From Okhotsk to Bol’sheretsk (8/28-9/16) Afterword 172 174 Appendix A: Georg Wilhelm Steller’s Life 179 Appendix B: Schnurbuch Account Ledger 183 Appendix C: Letter to Johann Daniel Schumacher Appendix D: Plants Named after Steller Glossary of Foreign Words Glossary of People Bibliography Plant Index Index 211 139 197 207 195 191 189 185
INDEX Academy of Sciences, 4, 6,9,20,100 adaptability of people, 60 agate, black, 129 Akachan River, 144,145 Aldan River, 130,131; arrived at, 127; fish in, 72; forded, 128; meaning of name, 124; plants found on, 127,134,135,136,140; Yudoma and Maya flow into, 149 Aleksei. See Danilov, Sofronov Amga River, 124,131; description of, 126; soil along, 127 Amur River: dog salmon in, 166; find out about Gilyaks along, 19; Yakuts hunt sable on, 1x3 Anadyr River, 73; yasak paid by people living along, 47 Anadyrsk, Anadyrskoi Ostrog, 72-73; belu gas hunted, 170; thinly populated, 109 Ancha River, 140; permafrost recorded near, ix Anga Rivers, 85 Angara River, 47, 60, 81; description of, 27, 29,30-31,32,33; fish and fishing in, 33, 34,38Ո7; hunting along, 71; landscape along, 33,34,36,37; settlements along, 72; through Irkutsk, 37,39-40,42, 52, 56; iron smelting and value of, 50, 64, 72, 90; levies on people along, 91,92Ո2. See also Upper Angara Baikal omul, 64; fishing for and value of, 63; native to and endangered, 34; preserving, 202 Baikal seals, 64, 67-71; blubber, 68; com parison to harbor seal, 67; different kinds of, 68, 70; hunts for, 68,71; milk used by Tungus, 68; skins in trade, 54, 68-69,71 Baikal sig, 33; promyshlenniks fishing for, 63, 202 Balaganskoi Ostrog: fish found below, 29,34 Barguzin (Barguzinskoi Ostrog), 47,70,183; best pelts, 111; Cossacks moved to, 60; Stellers trip to, 180 Barguzin River: fishing, 61, 64; open to hunt ing, 68, 69 barrels: for fish, 62,63,167; holding brandy, 113 bears, 59; ate on dead whale, 162; compared with sea lions, 77; killed by
Captain Spångberg, 156 beavers, 61; attacked by dogs, 77; pelts, 54 Beasts of the Sea (De Bestiis Marinis), xvii, ххііпз, 180,181,200 Belaya River, 139,142,150,177; cotton mill and dyeworks on, 65; iron smeltering on, 50; now called Khanda, 65; traveling along, 128-133,136Ո3,137Ո18 belugas, caught: at Udskoi and Anadyrskoi Ostrogs, 170; in the Ural, 72; with nets, 76 Berckhan, Johann Christian, painter: cel ebrating, 122,144; drawings of plants, 116, 132,133,135,138Ո19,202; horse dies, 124; on a burial mound, 136; out on the ice, 100, 101; quarters in Yakutsk, 107; rank and support, xix, 10,13,14; shot a young loon, 130; traveling, 81,117,119,123,145,148,163, 180,182; in the dark, 146. See also names of individual plants Bering, Vitus, Captain Commander, vii, xii, xxiv, 1,17,181,195; correspondence with, 17, 22; Pisarev, his evil spirit, 196; sailing out of Okhotsk, 172; second expedition, 3, 4; Steller’s first meeting with, xii, 158 Bering Island, x, xvi, 181,200,201; pelts from, 5; recovered skeleton, xi Bering Strait, x, 199 Bibikov, Aleksei Yur’evich, Vice-Governor of Irkutsk, 46,110,174,195; Steller’s party accompanied by, 81 birdshot needed, xxi, 186 bismuth, 164 211
212 I Index black room, 149,1511115 blubber. See seals and whales bobylskie (peasants), 90,191 Bogul’deicha River, 65,69, 83; mouth of, 71 bolaric earth. See sour cream earth Boľsheretsk/Boľsheretskoi Ostrog, 19, 75,77 brandy, xix, 47-48,116,117,120,119,149, 154,176; cherry brandy, 116; distilleries, 47, 48,65,81,94; distribution, 47; double, 41,47,112,143, 202; loss of buckets of, 143; new bottles ordered, 108; police oversight, 43; price, 41,112; prize at target-shooting match, 152; smugglers nabbed, 111; station for distribution and taxation, 40-41,192; used for preserving specimens, 202, 204; ways of cheating, 48,112-13 bread, 62, 65,86,101,128,155,166,170Ո2,186; Aesop’s loaves, 57; grain for, 91; iukola as substitute for, 167; joy of having, 149; no taste for, 126; sweetvetch roots suitable for baking, 103 bullhead (pizda), 37 burbot (natím), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149 Buryats, 39, 54, 60, 61, 83; desired informa tion about, 15; meaning of name, 39; sell game, 37; unaffected by epidemic, 84; use of seal blubber, 68; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 capelin or candle fish (ueki), 169,171mi caravan: financed by, 47; physician to, 12, 81, 195; trade with China, 40,45Ո3,49-50 capercailles, 37 carp, crucian, 72,120,135; 142; blood-red, 111; dormant, 72; meal of, 121,140; sly, 72; Yakut driver’s name, 147 cattle: at Okhotsk, 156; butchered, 122,125Ո4, 128; “food on the hoof,” 6,105,107,124, 128,141,149,155; Gilyaks have, 114; lack of, 120; Yakuts’ loss of, 135 char, Arctic (kundsha), 169 Chernaya River,
73 Chechuiskoi Ostrog, 99 Chirikov, Aleksei, Captain, 195,198; his ship, 172,173,178; met in Okhotsk, 158 Chivirkui River, 61,63,64,70 Chukchi, 107,113; exaggerate their numbers, 109,118Ո2, іі8п5 clay, 20,156; cliffs/mountains, 89,95,131,162; for ovens, 149; for pottery, 23; mineral, 88; soils, xii, 16; sour-cream earth, 162-163 climate: cannot grow grain, 48; effect of dif fering ones, 59; protective, 44; much snow, 110; terrible, 5 coal: layers of, 126 coot, Eurasian, 120,121 Cossacks, xv, 31-32; 69, 73,87; chief, 107,111, 116,174; definitions of, ХХІІП4, 8m, 191, 192,193; earliest explorers, vii, 2; founders of Irkutsk, now few, 60; police chief, 42; origin of, 45Ո6; Steller appreciates, xv, 31-32 crabs: shall describe, 18; shall preserve, 21; found two special, 163 Crown, the: accounting to, 21; books for Gorlanov, 23; distilleries, 47; items received from, 10,11,14,17, 22-23; mo nopoly on trade, 40; peasants, 61; secrecy governing and ukases, 22; Steller costs it less, 175 crows: feeding on fish, 166 cuckoo, 118П11; starts to call, 122 curiosities: box for storing, 183; ordered to be collected, 16; preserving, 23,191; Russians’ liking for, 54; sheet of ice, 141 customs duty, 40,49,50,83; station, 40, 62,83 dace, Eurasian (yelets, yeltsi): caught in Lake Baikal, 33; in the Amga, 124, in the An gara, 33, in the Ilga, 90, in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120,124 daily journal to be kept, 21 Danilov, Aleksei, sluzhiv, 117,123,195; back to Yakutsk, 116; brought news and delivered horses, 111; Steller wrote instructions for, 163; with Steller to Okhotsk, 106;
117,123, 195 Daurken, Stellers horse, 145,152 Daurkin, Ivan, Secretary to Yakutsk voevod, 107,115,117 deer and red deer: hunted by promyshlenniks, 36
Index j շіз de la Croyère, Louis Delisle, Professor of Astronomy, 5, i6; 195; his wife, 106,149; Steller visited, 158, tői, 163; strange behav ior, 106 derevnya (small village), 89,90,91,93, 94,95, 96,97, too, 101,191; definition of, 72; nam ing of, 87,95-96 Devier, Anton Emmanuilovich, Commander of Okhotsk: arrival in Yakutsk, 110; meet ing on the trail, 139; visits with, 160,163, 164; cleaned up Okhotsk, 166 dogs: Berckhan’s, 145; “daughter of a dog,” 146; dead on streets, 43; dragged corpses, 77,78Ո3; gods of, 147; history of, 59; sled, 10, 66m, 114,154,168,201; Steller’s, 123, 158; swimming, 129; trade with China, 57; Yakuts barking like, 133 dolphins (marine pigs), 170 doshcheniks (boats), 97,111,19t; Angara’s banks full of, 37,40; drawing, 31; for journey from Irkutsk to Yakutsk, 12-13; full of saiga horns, 53; in trouble, 102; ordered one made, 97; promyshlenniks’ use of, 61, 62, 64,69,70 ducks: lakes full of, 130,135; northern eider, 1; sleds full of, 37; tufted, female shot, 130 ducklings, 113 duty. See customs eagles, 39,44П1-45; Steller’s sea, x, хіііпз, і earthquakes, 20; big one, 71,73m epidemics: along the Lena, viii, 84-85, 88, 90, 91; to be recorded on Kamchatka, 20 ermine: large numbers of, 87 Eurasian ruffe: absent in Siberian rivers, 29,34, 129; in the Ilga, 90; rigidity of dorsal fin, 29 exiles, 2,36, 60,107; contributing to prosti tution, 43 flatfish (kambala), unidentified), 169 flints: earth wax used in place of, 129; paid for fifty, 183; Samoilov to provide, 115 flooding, 37Ո2; of icy streams, 150; necessity of, 120; on the Amga, 124; on the
Angara, 30; on the Belaya and Yuna, 130; on the Lena, 108,97; to escape, 87 fog: in the mountains, 133,139; in winter, 30,108 food rations (soldier’s, sluzhiv’s), 10; Steller responsible for, 6 fox, arctic, 61; to be obtained alive, 16 French disease (Frenchmen). 66,151Ո14; has become naturalized, 43; French breasts, 44, 45Ո8; Yakuts infected with, 114, Gardebol, Simon, assayer, 20,113,195; lazy and unreliable, 155,174; loaned Steller horses, 115; instructions to Steller about, 18-19; Steller met and dined with, 107,108 geese: whole sleds full, 37; snow, 103 Geleitukase, 13,18,191 geography: research of, 4,10,18; of Yakutsk district, 17 Giliashev, Dmitrei, huntsman, 10,14,195; issued a rifle, 23 Gilyaks: description of, 75; of interest to eth nographers, 177; research, 19; trade with Yakuts, 113-114 Gmelin, Johann Georg, Professor of Botany, 5,64,158,163,180,191; controversy with Steller, 105,174-75; documents, 97,202, 204; impossible request to Steller, 91; instructions to Steller, xv, 9; plants, vii, 33, 86,116,127,128,158,199; poor health, 6 goiters, 94,98m Golousnaya River, 34, 69; fissures in ice at mouth of, 71 Gorlanov, Aleksei Petrovich, student, 9,14, 195,200, 202; books issued to, 23; concern ing horses, 106,116,135; his driver’s name, 147; duties, 7,10,15; traveling, 81,117,124, 144,149,180,182 gostinii dvor, 37,38Ո8; 40,41,52 grain, 48,85,140; barley and rye, when to plant, 88; for brandy, 47,49; grow ing regions, 37, 81, 83,86,87, 88,91,126; market, 41; not on Kamchatka, 140; prices, 37,88-89 grasshoppers, 120 gray paper, 14, 23,185; Chinese substitute,
143,181 grayling: looks different from Arctic, 154; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Urak, 154, in the Yudoma, 149; thrown up through ice fissures, 71
214 I Index grayling, Arctic (charius), 74ոշ, 155,169; carrying a string of, 34,37; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149; resembles Dolly Varden, 169 Great Northern Exedition. See Kamchatka Expedition (Second) grouse, 127; black, 37; hazel, 37; Siberian, 76 gudgeon: in the Ilga, 90 gulls: eating dead fish, 166; juvenile, 173; on the Yuna, 139; painted Shaman s Rock white, 32; shrieking, 67; two kinds of, ix.173 gunpowder, 11, 23; gift to old man, 101; spoiled by dunking, 143; storage in Ir kutsk, 40; too coarse to use, 186 Halle, 3; botanical excursions around, xx; orphanage in, 63, 66Ո4; Steller a student in, 4 hares: fell to death oiFPine Cliff, 99; in Yakutsk region, 120; on the Uda River, 75; Yakuts have to live on, 135-136 hawk, white: a northern goshawk, 127 hay, 65, 87,91,108; good hayfields, 36,72,89; hay market, 41 head tax, 47,88,90; definition of, 191; who pays, 39,48,81, 87 Henčke, Carl (Henks), caravan physician, 81,86,110 High Governing Senate, 7,20, 46; Stellers reports to, 14,100,186; ukases from, 9,11, 17,21,22 hogs raised in Birulka, 86 horses: arrangements for travel with, 10, 18,105-106,107,110,111,116; bones left by Yakuts, 133; butchered, 144; getting across rivers, 124,128,129,144,149,156; gift of, 110,122; in caravans, 45Ո3; lack of fodder, 145,150; letting them rest, 130,131,139; loading of, 115,117,121,122,136Ո8,140, 174; loss of, 121,122,128,129,130,135,139, 144,146,152; mishaps with, 131,135,148; stations for exchanging, 66m, 94; trade in, 56-57; Yakuts eat, 114,134 Horse Island, 119
hot spring, 70-71 huts (wayside/winter huts): along the Angara, 32,34; at mouth of Chernaya, 73; blubber used to light, 68; caretakers of, 65; earthen, 119,127; first one on road to the Lena, 83,153; Irkutsk started as, 60; made of foliage, 150; promyshlenniks use, 62, 64, 71. See also way stations, also zimov’e ice: blocks on river bank, 101; boats adrift in, 31,70; breakup, 97; effect of earthquake on, 71; freeze-up, 33; jams, 102,103; jump ing across floes, 101,102; patch, 141-142, 144,151Ո7; points on the Belaya River, 131; rivers as roads, 29; seals on, 70; traveling on the ice-choked Lena, 99-104; Yakut superstition concerning it, 73 Ilga River, 90 Ilim River, 33 Ilimsk (Ilimskoi Ostrog), 33, 46; District, 89.99 indigenous peoples. See natives inozemtsy (foreigners), 13, 23Ո2,191 interpreters: Gorlanov as, 7; Klimovskoi as, 10; of native languages, 13,19 Inya River, 169,172 Irkut River, 27,34, 60; origin of name, 39 Irkutsk: amenities of, 36-37; churches, 39, 41-42; fog over, 30; fortifications, 39; city gates, 40,42; inhabitants, 60-61, 65, 69,72,91,112; its start, 60; location, 33; nickname for townspeople, 59; prevention of fires in, 44; Provincial Administration’s obligations outlined, 5,12-15; weather, 29-30 iron: along the Amga, 126; as government income, 50; at Kamenka, 64, 71,90; at mouth of Bogul’deicha, 71; ferruginous soil along the Urak, 155; found on Kam chatka, 113; on the Talovka, 71; the Ushakovka’s, 34,71. See also smelters/smelting iukola (dried fish), 167,170Ո5 jasper, green, 129,132,133,155 jay: Eurasian or oak, 139,150Ո2 Kachega: about, 84-85;
location, 83; region around 86,88-90; today called Kachug, 88
Index Kalmyks: trade and war with the Chinese, 56-57 Kamchadals: paid yasak, 47; use of salmon and blubber, 167,168,170 Kamchatka, 6,9, 21, 73,116 arrival on, 173; ores found on, из; travel arrangements to, 15-16,18,19,105-106,111; what to investi gate, 19-20. See also Krasheninnikov Kamchatka Expedition (Second), xv, 3, 40, 48; added to bureaucracy, 40; negative impact of, 42,88,112; money transport for, 103; “proper evaluation” of, 134; purpose of, 4-5; secrecy imposed on, xi kastak. See brandy distillery Khanda River. See Belaya River Khitrov, Sofron Fedorovich, helmsman: groundings, 157,172; meaning of name, xii; Steller disliked, 174 Kirenga (Kirensk, Kirenskoi Ostrog): arrival in, 97; 100; Lena River at, 96; Monastery of the Trinity, 97 Kirenga River: ice dams on, 97 kislaia ryba. See sour fish Klimovskoi, Fedot, 14; interpreter of Yakut, 10,13; keeper of accounts, 10,15,183-184 Korff, Baron von, 9; Steller’s letters to, 14, I 215 Lake Baikal: fish in, 33,34,63; fishing on, 61-64; source of the Angara River, 29; Upper Angara feeds it, 30; freeze-up and break-up, 31; iron smelted around, 50; ostrogs around, 60; Steller explored the eastern shore, 67-73 Lake Baikal omul, 64; brandy for specimens, 202; fishing for and value of, 63; native to, 34; now endangered, 34 Lake Kurile, 181 lake minnows, 123,135,142; active in winter, 72; in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120 Lamuts (Evens), 19, 47 Lange, Lorenz, vice-governor of Irkutsk, 181,187 Lau, Johann Theodor, assistant surgeon, 160; tried to save Steller’s life, 182 Lena River: break-up, 97; changed course, 119;
investigations along, 15; lake-like stretch, 96; Steller to go to the lower Lena, 16 lenok (lenki), sharp-snouted: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda, 76, in the Ushakovka, 36 Listvenishnoe Zimov’e, 32 38Ո7,175,202 Koryaks, 73; how they treat dead shamans, 108-109; smallpox among, 109; Steller’s instructions concerning, 18,19 Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, student, 12,14,18; instructions for, 6; research, 19, 20.160.163 Krasnoyarsk, 46, 60,129 Krest, 32,36,37Ո3,39; 42 Kukhtui River, 168,169 kumis (mare’s milk), 121,122,147 Kunstkammer, 16,17,23Ո3,32; preserved specimens to, 21 Kurile Islands, 5,163; natives on, 72,170 Kuta River, 81, 83,85,94; in summer too small for a raft, 95 Kyakhta, 81,181; plants collected around, 116; Treaty of, 196 Kyakhta River, 46, trade in camels on, 56 Kychkin, Dmitrei, Yakutsk dvoryanin, 111, 113.115.163 mammoths: bones on the lower Lena, 16; Yakuts’ beliefs about, 73 marble: ice-polished, 104; black, 132,133; liver-colored, 133 marcasite, 164 Marikan River, 160,162,167,169 marine sponges, 164,170; Krasheninnikov’s description of, 19 merchants: and promishklenniks, 61, 64, 68; huts named after, 32; in Irkutsk, 41, 60; in the China trade, 53, 56; in the rhubarb trade, 49, 50; not harmed by natives, 109, 113; operate distilleries, 47,48; pay head tax, 92m; pay prostitutes well, 43; rapids costly for, 33; role in colonization, 61 merganser, common or red-breasted: female shot, 12 Messerschmidt, Daniel Gottlieb, 4,180 meteorological observations, 9; instruments in Irkutsk, 12
շւ6 ļ Index mica (sliuda): black» 93; “hunting” for, 64; large windows of, 44,45Ո9; trade with, 53, 61; price of, 183 mills: blubber used for greasing, 68; cotton mill on the Belaya, 65; Dementiev’s, 83; Glazunov’s, 72; Kranin’s, 81; mutovka, 95-96; near Kachega, 84; on the Kaya Riv er, 72; Ushakov’s (Pivovarov’s widow’s), 34,42, 60 millstones, 90,94 minerals: Steller instructed to research, 4,16, 21,186,187Ո2 mining: pits left, 71; regulations, 186; Stellers interest in, 179; tools left in Yakutsk, 17 moose, 36; antlers, 75 mosquitoes: effect of long days on, 111; trav elers plagued by, 121,124,140 Müller, Gerhard Friedrich, Professor of History, 5; described Irkutsk well, 27; instructions to Steller, 9; letters to, 97, 174 175; poor health, 6; published about pisani kameni, 86; suggestions for taxing brandy, 48 mussels, 164 Mynsicht’s Elixir, 143,151ШО natives (indigenous peoples), xi, xii, 1, 7,10, 191; Aklanskoi and Kamenskoi ostrogs, 73; food fond of, 168,170; loan sharks take advantage of, 91-92; medical practices, 111, 114,162; not to be executed or tortured, 8ո4; relationship with invaders, 2,3; replacing “heathens” with “natives,” 32; role in China trade, 56-57. See also names of individual tribes neima. See sheefish Nerchinsk, 46,52; inhabitants of, 47,49,50; 49,50; treaty of, 78Ո2 nerpa, nerpi. See Baikal seals, also seals Nikolski (Nikolskaya Zastava), 29,31,32 northern lights, 151Ո12; seen on the Kolyma, 76; brightness of in Turukhansk, 110 Okhota River, 19,157,160; bismuth and mar casite on, 164; fish in, 165,166,168,169 Okhotsk: arrival in, 158; commander
of, 46, 60-61,110,148,170Ո3,196; conditions for departure to, 18; difficult post, 61; fishery at 165-170; galleon, 163,164,172-173; in habitants of, 60-61; instructions concern ing, 9,11-21; preparations for transport there, 108,115,122; provisions expected to be there, 10; transport to, 154; unproduc tive land, 48,75 Okhotsk, Sea of: porpoises in, 160; preserv ing fish from, 185; rivers flowing into, 169; sailing into, 172; Steller’s first view of, 157; width of, 75,77m Okhotskoi Ostrog (map), 157 Olekma River, 113; breakup, 104 Olekminskoi Ostrog, 103-104 Ol’khon Island, 63, 64, 69 Orlenskaya Sloboda, 93-94 ostrogs (forts): each had a chapel, 2; defin ition of, 8ոշ; along route to Irkutsk, 10; in Irkutsk, 40; across and around Lake Baikal, 50, 60. See also under names of ostrogs Ovsianikov, Stepan, instrument maker apprentice, 144; almost drowned, 149; brought Steller’s horse, 128 Oyok/Oyoskaya Sloboda, 81, 83 palisades, 8ոշ, 39 partridge, Daurian, 37 pastures: excellent, 120,128,155; inundated, 30; marked by posts, 121; with “message” boards, 131 Pavlutskoi, Dmitrei Ivanovich, Major, 107, 110,163; information about the Chukchi, 108-109 pay (salary), 6,10,13; annual for each crew member, 14; for Gardebol, 17; for helms men, 104; for servant, 97; frustration over, 56; manner of payment for Crown employees, 60-61; Steller’s, 14; villages as pay, 87 pearls, impure, 164 peasants (farmers), 61, 85,177,191,192; houses, 89,94-97,154; Tomsk pride, 59; small villages, 90 Peledui River: icy banks, 100 Peleduiskaya Sloboda, 100 Penzhina River, 72
Index perch European (okuni), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90 permafrost, ix, 141 Peter the Great, 4,8пз, 42, 66пз, 92m, 187m; established Kunstkammer, 23Ո3; stan dardized arshin, 193 phosphorescence: of salmon, 168; of sea rasp berries, 172-173, pike, northern (shchuki): big in lakes, 72; in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 34; in the Ilga, 90; very old, 111; Yakuts deprived of, 120 pipe, 104,135,176; mouthpieces commis sioned, 115; smoking in place of food and/or bed, 144,146,149 pisani kameni (painted rocks, petroglyphs), 86, 89, pitch: in the mountains, 126; horses’ hoofs sealed with, 111 Plenisner, Friedrich, Corporal, 160 podval (brandy storage cellar), 40,47 podvoda, podvodi, 6, 81,105; horses for, 18; need for extra, 7,12; Steller and crew to receive, 10,13-14 podvodchiki, 106Ո3,123; children employed as, 94 Pokrovsky Monastery, 104,119; maps, 82,105 police, 42-43, 46; Stellers judgment of, 44; voevod has police powers, 8ns political history, research of, 9,10,16,18, 20; on Kamchatka, 19; the Buryats’, 15 porog/porogi (rapids): on the Tunguska, 33 porpoise (pig of the sea): dissected, 160 porsa (fish meal): how eaten, 168; how made, 167,170Ո5 posad (“suburb”), 41,192 posadskie: church built by, 41; pay for dwellings, 87; pay head tax, 92m; smelt iron, 50 Posolsky Monastery, 68,70; area owned, 69, 83; location, 31, 64 Posolsky Monastery Village, 81,83 prikazchik, 73; definition of, 13; Gabichev sent quarter ox, 103; places that have, 72, 89,90,94 progon (road toll), 10,49,117; Steller to receive for travel, 13,14,21 Į 217
promyshlenniks, xv, 2,13,36, 41,50,60; fishing cooperative, 62-64, 69; fishing earnings, 63; not allowed to marry, 39,43; occupations, 64-66, 68-72, no; places of origin, 61; seasonal workers, 61,95-96 prostitution (whoring): causes of, 43, 66; effects of, 43-44, 66,77,91; Steller’s pro posed solutions to, 44 protoki. See river channels provisions (food supplies): costs of, 155,184; endangered by ice, 102; for Krashenninikov, 12; logistics, xii, 11,13-16,18,84, 88,106,108,154; paperwork required for, 6, 163; problems with, 48, 88,154 pud, 63,193; of rye flour, 37 rafts, 13; adrift in ice-choked river, 102; arrival in Yakutsk, 108; given to the vo evod, 114; to be built, 90; used to transport salt, 95 rapids. See porog/porogi, also shivera/shiveri Ray’s aphyam aculeatam: Steller caught, 169 raznochintsi (commoners), 68,90,95 reindeer, 75,114,135,150; as a human name, 147; carrying shamans’ bones, 109; clack ing hooves, 72; jerky, 136; milk used by Tungus, 162 rhubarb: trade with, 40, 45Ո2; where it grows, 129; word prohibited, 49. See also trade river channels (protoki), 101,104,135,192; on the Angara, 31; on the Belaya, 131; on the Okhota, 157; on the Urak, 154,155,156; the Vitim’s, 99 roach, common (plotva): in the Angara, 33, 34 Rozvodnaya: Greater Rozvodnaya, 42, 72; Malaya Rozvodnaya, 39 Russian Orthodox Church, 2; archbishop’s residence, 37, 41; churches in Ust’Ilginskoi Ostrog, 90; in Ust’Kutsk, 94. See also churches in Irkutsk sables: as yasak, 8Ո4,114; hunted, 36; dyed pelts, 54,77; as gift, 104; hunt for, 61, 64, 70,75,100,113-114; quality of pelts where,
110-111
2i8 ļ Index saddlebags, 17,18,108 saddle blankets, 139 saiga, 55,57Ո2 salmon, dog or chum (keta): entering rivers, 169; growing teeth, 166; at mouth of the Uda, 76 salmon, red (nerka, lomok): first to enter riv ers, 168; better than dog salmon, 169. See also iukola, porsa, salt, sour fish salt, 63,64,98m, 121,184; from under ground, 163; salted fish, 34, 62, 65,166-168; salted meat, 62,149; saltworks, 95; trade in, 51; white, exuded, 120 Samoilov, Grigorei, miner, 10,14,106,115; equipment issued to, 23 sandstone, 95,143; gray, 32,126,127; cliffs of red, 85,89 Saturn-Jupiter Saturday, 152,158m schist, 134 Schnurbuch (ledger), 10,15, 21-22, scoter, white-winged (turpany), 113 sculpin, antlered (byki), 169,171Ո12 sea lions, 1,181; fall from cliffs, 77; Steller’s, xi Sea of Okhotsk. See Okhotsk, Sea of sea otters, xi sea raspberries, 163; glowing, 164,172 sea stars, 163; glowing, 76 sea urchins, 163 seals: harbor, 67; around Okhotsk, 165; swimming up the Okhota, 170. See also Baikal seals seeds: cataloged, 163; collected, 130,134,139, 140,141,155,156,162,186; descriptions of, 200; lost in shipwreck, 14; to be collected, 21. See also individual plants Selenga River: fishing in, 31, 64, 69; open for hunting, 68 Selenginsk, 46, 62,108 Senate. See High Governing Senate shamans, 15,86,108,146,151Ո14; Shamanski kamen, 32; Shamanskoi Porog, 33; Steller guided by drumming, 122; predictions, 116 Shcheki, 99,106m sheefish (neima): in the Penzhina, 73; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 shipyards (pristani), 92; at Ust’Kutsk, 95 shivera/shiveri (big rapids): in the Angara, 31; in the Tira, 96; in
the Tunguska, 33 Siberian Office (Sibirskii Prikaz, Siberian Government Authority), 3,8Ո3,8ո4, 5, i8, 40, 42; appoints voevods, 46 silver: Gilyaks use, 75; mines, 51; silver smiths, 65; trade with, 53 Skornyakov-Pisarev, Gregorei Gregor’evich, Commander of Okhotsk, 156,166; known for his vicious temper, 170Ո3; replaced by Devier, 148; wanted impossible link to the Urak, 152 sled dogs. See dogs sleds, 6, to, 77, 81,114; with game for sale, 37; winter provisions brought by, 154; women and children drive, 94 sliuda. See mica slobodas: around Irkutsk, 37,48, 91; defin ition of, 38Ո6; development of, 61. See also individually named sluzhivs, xix, ХХІІП4, 2; Cossacks now called, 60; how employed, 61; to be requisitioned, 10,11 smelt (koriukha), 169 smelters/smelting, 50; 91,112; on Kamchatka, 113; promyshlenniks involved in, 64, 65, 7i 72 93- See also iron Sofronov, Aleksei, Steller’s servant, 114,117, 121,123,142,144 soil: best along the Angara, 37; clay, 131; fer ruginous, 155; loam, 88; mammoth bones in, 16; on top of permafrost, 141; peat, 127; siliceous, 155; universal, 155,159Ո3. See also clay sour cream earth (zemlianaia smetana), 162-163 sour fish (kislaia ryba), 168. See also fish for dog food Spångberg, Martin, Captain, 5,17,19,101, io6n8,152; had told about famines, 162; Steller traveling with, 114,155-158; 160; Steller visited, 105,107,108 specimens, 6, 21,164, i8ini, 195 squirrels, 87; ground, 103; quality of pelts, 110-111 station. See taxation and way stations
Index Steller: as physician, 85,95,114; health, 134, 143,162; medical training, 179-180; peas ant smock, 126,153,158; spectacles, 145 steppe, 8i, 86; Cossacks originated from, 45Ո6; iron under, 71; Koşaya or Sloping, 83; no agriculture on, 88; flowers on, 107, 118ШО, 136m sterlet: in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96 sticklebacks: near Rozvodnaya, 72; sea, Steller caught, 169 sturgeon, common: in Lake Baikal, 68; in the Aldan, 22; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96; in the Selenga, 64; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 sturgeon, starry: in the Angara, 33; value of, 63 sturgeon glue, 50,54 swallow, bank, 39,92Ո6 syphilis. See French disease taimen, Siberian: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda,76; in the Yudoma, 149 Tatars, 53; Tatar-style stove, 100,104 taxation: collection station, 83; for brandy, 40-41,48, 49; in fishing, 63, 64; in mining, 50; property, 61; Steller for fairer, 91,177. See also head tax and yasak tea, 91,115,145,149,183; brick in the river, 131; cups and pots, 56,163; fireweed used as, 106Ո7; Gilyaks have, 75; green, 57; Northern Labrador, 104,133; Steller en joyed, 119,132,140,154 tench {Uni, doctor fish): caught near Rozvod naya, 72 thunder, 97,123,129; thunderstorm, 141 tobacco, 75, 113-114, 122; Chinese, 40, 43; 50; gift of, 110; exchanged for guide, 123; smuggled as red tea, 50. See also pipe Tobolsk, 5, 52, 60; relationship to Irkutsk, 27, 46; Steller in, 182 Tomsk, 32, 60,180; nickname for towns people, 59; Tatars, 53; Steller in, 180; trade in, 55. 56 trade: Chinese trade goods,
40; impact on people, 59; in pack animals, 56-57; I 219 in pelts, 55; in rhubarb, 40,45Ո2, 49; in tobacco, 114 trails: bad, 81,126,128,132,133,135,143,152, 154; finding it, 117,122,145; fires set to dry them out, 131; good, 120,121,130,140,148; on a mountain, 124; rocky, 154; rudimen tary system of, 7; to the Amga, 123; tree less, 127; twisting, 131 translators. See interpreters trapping. See names of individual animals trout: Dolly Varden (malma), 169; in the Yudoma, 149; species of, 29, 74Ո2 Tungus, 54, 62; desired information about, 15; guide to sour cream earth, 162; hunt ing marine animals, 170; treatment of wounds, 75; use of seal milk and blubber, 68,170; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 Tunkinski Range, 32-33 Udskoi Ostrog, 19; belugas hunted in, 170 ukases: administrative, 9,11,12,13,14,17, 65, 72; affecting trade, ббпз; concerning the students, 21; of prohibition, 22,39,49, 64; ordering Steller back, 182; Steller recom mends, 87, 92 Upper Angara, 70,71; larger seals around, 68-69; dangerous, 61-62 Urak River, 152,156; fish in, 166,168,169; headwaters of, 153,154; mouth of, 162,163 Uratsky Wharf, 154,155 Ushakov, Moisei, surveyor, 116,117,124,144; his horse died, 129 Ushakovka (Ida) River, 27,39,42, 60; descrip tion of, 34; fish in, 36; smelters on, 65,71 Ust’Ilginskaya (UstTlga, UstTlginskoi Ostrog), 84,90,96; leaving, 93; Pier, 92 Ust’Kutsk (Ust’Kutskoi Ostrog, Ust’Kuth), 90,94.95.96 utesi (cliffs), 85, 89 Verkholensk: description of and cottage industry at, 86; salt taken to, 95 villages. See derevnya, slobodas visits with centenarians, 93,101 Vitimsk
(Vitimskaya Sloboda), 99,100,126; forests around, 111
220 ļ Index wagtails, yellow, 139 Walton, William, Lieutenant, 154; together with Steller, 105,158,163 Waxell, Sven, Lieutenant, 105,158,163; floated fast to Okhotsk, 154 way stations, 66m, 124,153; Posikov’s, 122; second and third on trail to Okhotsk, 120-121; station hand, 117; stationmaster, 122. See also huts, zimov’e whales: Gilyaks hunt, 76; Koryaks to hunt, 18; spermaceti, 18; stranded, 160,162,163, 170 whitefish, broad (chiri)·, in the Penzhina, 73 whitefish, common (sig): in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Yudoma, 149 whitefish, round (vaiki): in the Ilga, 90 wolves, 59; heard howling, 141 to proceed upon arrival, 15; inhabitants’ character, 120; pleasant location of, 119; rapid plant growth in, 109 Yarmanka: arrived in, 115; horse ran back to, 122 yasak: Chinese do not demand, 75; finances trading with China, 47; quotas estab lished, 3, 8ո4; shady deals with, 91-92, 113-114 Yeniseysk: Cossacks, 60,178; cowhide fac tory in, 55; former province, 46; nickname of townspeople, 59; sensible choice, 32 Yudoma Cross: ice patch between Yuna and, 142; birch growth, 177; brandy for, 112; stay at, 149; transporting provisions to, 154, 155,168 Yudoma River, 148,149,150 Yuna River: arived at, 135: fast current, 130; floods quickly, 129; Mongolian poplar found along, 139; ice sheet at half-way point, 142 yurts: Koryaks’, 109; in Irkutsk province, 46; on the Amga, 124; Russian fishers’, 156; station yurt, 121; wooden, 83. See also names of indigenous peoples Yakov, Steller s servant, 116; pay for the year, 97; let go, 117 Yakuts: burial practices,
76-77,78Ո3,135; Chief Mazarin, 104-105; conductors of caravans, 45Ո3; desired information about, 15,17; chokania (summer festival), 123; lan guage, 10,124,148,168; living ofl՜ the land, 115,116,120; medical practices, 111-112,114; naming their children, 146-147; netting carp, 72; poverty, 128,140; refugees in Gilyak country, 75; smithy, 121; solicited information, 100,121-122,146; stations, 156; superstitions, 73,76,93,94,135,138Ո22,142, 146-147; trading with the Gilyaks, 113-114 Yakutsk: arrival in, 105; climate and weather, 108,118Ո3; dusk during night, 107; how Zaborovskoi, Aleksei Eremeevich, Yakutsk voevod; Steller called on, 105; dinners with, 107,108,110,115 zaimka/zaimki (farm, small village): defini tion of, 34,193; individually named, 72,81, 83, 86, 87,94,95,116,183; near Irkutsk, 34, 36; on the Peledui, 100 zemlianaia smetana. See sour cream earth Zhigani: Steller describes birds from, 108, 111; porsa from, 167 Zhilkina Village: archbishop s beautiful building in, 37, 52 zimov e/ztmovia (winter huts): definition of, 37m; illustration of, 84,95,193; first on trail, 83; system of, 7. See also huts, way stations Vitim River: mica found on, 64,93 Vladislavish-Raguzinsky, Count Sava Lu kich, 56, 58Ո5 voevods, 3,8n6; in Irkutsk, 47; to assist Steller in Yakutsk, 14-18 volcanoes, 20,131; Windy Mountain, 130
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CONTENTS Foreword: The Steller Legacy / Jonathan C. Slaght vii Translators’ Preface xv Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction і Instructions for Georg Wilhelm Steller from February 18,1739, from Yeniseysk / Johann Georg Gmelin and Gerhard Friedrich Müller 9 Part I Description of Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 1 About Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 27 2 About Irkutsk Itself 39 3 About the Public Offices 46 4 About the Clergy 52 5 About the Chinese Trade and Chinese Trade Goods 53 6 About Customs and Lifestyle in Irkutsk 59 7 About Transbaikalia 67 8 Report from the Uda River 75
vi ļ Contents Part II Travel Journal from Irkutsk to Kamchatka 9 From Irkutsk to Usťllginskaya (3/4-3/13) 81 10 From Usťllginskaya to Kirensk (3/14-5/1) 93 11 From Kirensk to Yakutsk (5/2-5/24) 99 12 In Yakutsk and Yarmanka (5/25-6/19) 107 13 From Yarmanka to the Amga River (6/20-7/2) 14 From the Amga to the Yuna River (7/3-7/21) 119 126 15 From the Yuna River to Yudoma Cross (7/22-8/8) 16 From Yudoma Cross to Okhotsk (8/9-8/13) 17 In Okhotsk (8/14-8/26) 152 160 18 Salmon Fishing and Preserving (8/27) 165 19 From Okhotsk to Bol’sheretsk (8/28-9/16) Afterword 172 174 Appendix A: Georg Wilhelm Steller’s Life 179 Appendix B: Schnurbuch Account Ledger 183 Appendix C: Letter to Johann Daniel Schumacher Appendix D: Plants Named after Steller Glossary of Foreign Words Glossary of People Bibliography Plant Index Index 211 139 197 207 195 191 189 185
INDEX Academy of Sciences, 4, 6,9,20,100 adaptability of people, 60 agate, black, 129 Akachan River, 144,145 Aldan River, 130,131; arrived at, 127; fish in, 72; forded, 128; meaning of name, 124; plants found on, 127,134,135,136,140; Yudoma and Maya flow into, 149 Aleksei. See Danilov, Sofronov Amga River, 124,131; description of, 126; soil along, 127 Amur River: dog salmon in, 166; find out about Gilyaks along, 19; Yakuts hunt sable on, 1x3 Anadyr River, 73; yasak paid by people living along, 47 Anadyrsk, Anadyrskoi Ostrog, 72-73; belu gas hunted, 170; thinly populated, 109 Ancha River, 140; permafrost recorded near, ix Anga Rivers, 85 Angara River, 47, 60, 81; description of, 27, 29,30-31,32,33; fish and fishing in, 33, 34,38Ո7; hunting along, 71; landscape along, 33,34,36,37; settlements along, 72; through Irkutsk, 37,39-40,42, 52, 56; iron smelting and value of, 50, 64, 72, 90; levies on people along, 91,92Ո2. See also Upper Angara Baikal omul, 64; fishing for and value of, 63; native to and endangered, 34; preserving, 202 Baikal seals, 64, 67-71; blubber, 68; com parison to harbor seal, 67; different kinds of, 68, 70; hunts for, 68,71; milk used by Tungus, 68; skins in trade, 54, 68-69,71 Baikal sig, 33; promyshlenniks fishing for, 63, 202 Balaganskoi Ostrog: fish found below, 29,34 Barguzin (Barguzinskoi Ostrog), 47,70,183; best pelts, 111; Cossacks moved to, 60; Stellers trip to, 180 Barguzin River: fishing, 61, 64; open to hunt ing, 68, 69 barrels: for fish, 62,63,167; holding brandy, 113 bears, 59; ate on dead whale, 162; compared with sea lions, 77; killed by
Captain Spångberg, 156 beavers, 61; attacked by dogs, 77; pelts, 54 Beasts of the Sea (De Bestiis Marinis), xvii, ххііпз, 180,181,200 Belaya River, 139,142,150,177; cotton mill and dyeworks on, 65; iron smeltering on, 50; now called Khanda, 65; traveling along, 128-133,136Ո3,137Ո18 belugas, caught: at Udskoi and Anadyrskoi Ostrogs, 170; in the Ural, 72; with nets, 76 Berckhan, Johann Christian, painter: cel ebrating, 122,144; drawings of plants, 116, 132,133,135,138Ո19,202; horse dies, 124; on a burial mound, 136; out on the ice, 100, 101; quarters in Yakutsk, 107; rank and support, xix, 10,13,14; shot a young loon, 130; traveling, 81,117,119,123,145,148,163, 180,182; in the dark, 146. See also names of individual plants Bering, Vitus, Captain Commander, vii, xii, xxiv, 1,17,181,195; correspondence with, 17, 22; Pisarev, his evil spirit, 196; sailing out of Okhotsk, 172; second expedition, 3, 4; Steller’s first meeting with, xii, 158 Bering Island, x, xvi, 181,200,201; pelts from, 5; recovered skeleton, xi Bering Strait, x, 199 Bibikov, Aleksei Yur’evich, Vice-Governor of Irkutsk, 46,110,174,195; Steller’s party accompanied by, 81 birdshot needed, xxi, 186 bismuth, 164 211
212 I Index black room, 149,1511115 blubber. See seals and whales bobylskie (peasants), 90,191 Bogul’deicha River, 65,69, 83; mouth of, 71 bolaric earth. See sour cream earth Boľsheretsk/Boľsheretskoi Ostrog, 19, 75,77 brandy, xix, 47-48,116,117,120,119,149, 154,176; cherry brandy, 116; distilleries, 47, 48,65,81,94; distribution, 47; double, 41,47,112,143, 202; loss of buckets of, 143; new bottles ordered, 108; police oversight, 43; price, 41,112; prize at target-shooting match, 152; smugglers nabbed, 111; station for distribution and taxation, 40-41,192; used for preserving specimens, 202, 204; ways of cheating, 48,112-13 bread, 62, 65,86,101,128,155,166,170Ո2,186; Aesop’s loaves, 57; grain for, 91; iukola as substitute for, 167; joy of having, 149; no taste for, 126; sweetvetch roots suitable for baking, 103 bullhead (pizda), 37 burbot (natím), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149 Buryats, 39, 54, 60, 61, 83; desired informa tion about, 15; meaning of name, 39; sell game, 37; unaffected by epidemic, 84; use of seal blubber, 68; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 capelin or candle fish (ueki), 169,171mi caravan: financed by, 47; physician to, 12, 81, 195; trade with China, 40,45Ո3,49-50 capercailles, 37 carp, crucian, 72,120,135; 142; blood-red, 111; dormant, 72; meal of, 121,140; sly, 72; Yakut driver’s name, 147 cattle: at Okhotsk, 156; butchered, 122,125Ո4, 128; “food on the hoof,” 6,105,107,124, 128,141,149,155; Gilyaks have, 114; lack of, 120; Yakuts’ loss of, 135 char, Arctic (kundsha), 169 Chernaya River,
73 Chechuiskoi Ostrog, 99 Chirikov, Aleksei, Captain, 195,198; his ship, 172,173,178; met in Okhotsk, 158 Chivirkui River, 61,63,64,70 Chukchi, 107,113; exaggerate their numbers, 109,118Ո2, іі8п5 clay, 20,156; cliffs/mountains, 89,95,131,162; for ovens, 149; for pottery, 23; mineral, 88; soils, xii, 16; sour-cream earth, 162-163 climate: cannot grow grain, 48; effect of dif fering ones, 59; protective, 44; much snow, 110; terrible, 5 coal: layers of, 126 coot, Eurasian, 120,121 Cossacks, xv, 31-32; 69, 73,87; chief, 107,111, 116,174; definitions of, ХХІІП4, 8m, 191, 192,193; earliest explorers, vii, 2; founders of Irkutsk, now few, 60; police chief, 42; origin of, 45Ո6; Steller appreciates, xv, 31-32 crabs: shall describe, 18; shall preserve, 21; found two special, 163 Crown, the: accounting to, 21; books for Gorlanov, 23; distilleries, 47; items received from, 10,11,14,17, 22-23; mo nopoly on trade, 40; peasants, 61; secrecy governing and ukases, 22; Steller costs it less, 175 crows: feeding on fish, 166 cuckoo, 118П11; starts to call, 122 curiosities: box for storing, 183; ordered to be collected, 16; preserving, 23,191; Russians’ liking for, 54; sheet of ice, 141 customs duty, 40,49,50,83; station, 40, 62,83 dace, Eurasian (yelets, yeltsi): caught in Lake Baikal, 33; in the Amga, 124, in the An gara, 33, in the Ilga, 90, in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120,124 daily journal to be kept, 21 Danilov, Aleksei, sluzhiv, 117,123,195; back to Yakutsk, 116; brought news and delivered horses, 111; Steller wrote instructions for, 163; with Steller to Okhotsk, 106;
117,123, 195 Daurken, Stellers horse, 145,152 Daurkin, Ivan, Secretary to Yakutsk voevod, 107,115,117 deer and red deer: hunted by promyshlenniks, 36
Index j շіз de la Croyère, Louis Delisle, Professor of Astronomy, 5, i6; 195; his wife, 106,149; Steller visited, 158, tői, 163; strange behav ior, 106 derevnya (small village), 89,90,91,93, 94,95, 96,97, too, 101,191; definition of, 72; nam ing of, 87,95-96 Devier, Anton Emmanuilovich, Commander of Okhotsk: arrival in Yakutsk, 110; meet ing on the trail, 139; visits with, 160,163, 164; cleaned up Okhotsk, 166 dogs: Berckhan’s, 145; “daughter of a dog,” 146; dead on streets, 43; dragged corpses, 77,78Ո3; gods of, 147; history of, 59; sled, 10, 66m, 114,154,168,201; Steller’s, 123, 158; swimming, 129; trade with China, 57; Yakuts barking like, 133 dolphins (marine pigs), 170 doshcheniks (boats), 97,111,19t; Angara’s banks full of, 37,40; drawing, 31; for journey from Irkutsk to Yakutsk, 12-13; full of saiga horns, 53; in trouble, 102; ordered one made, 97; promyshlenniks’ use of, 61, 62, 64,69,70 ducks: lakes full of, 130,135; northern eider, 1; sleds full of, 37; tufted, female shot, 130 ducklings, 113 duty. See customs eagles, 39,44П1-45; Steller’s sea, x, хіііпз, і earthquakes, 20; big one, 71,73m epidemics: along the Lena, viii, 84-85, 88, 90, 91; to be recorded on Kamchatka, 20 ermine: large numbers of, 87 Eurasian ruffe: absent in Siberian rivers, 29,34, 129; in the Ilga, 90; rigidity of dorsal fin, 29 exiles, 2,36, 60,107; contributing to prosti tution, 43 flatfish (kambala), unidentified), 169 flints: earth wax used in place of, 129; paid for fifty, 183; Samoilov to provide, 115 flooding, 37Ո2; of icy streams, 150; necessity of, 120; on the Amga, 124; on the
Angara, 30; on the Belaya and Yuna, 130; on the Lena, 108,97; to escape, 87 fog: in the mountains, 133,139; in winter, 30,108 food rations (soldier’s, sluzhiv’s), 10; Steller responsible for, 6 fox, arctic, 61; to be obtained alive, 16 French disease (Frenchmen). 66,151Ո14; has become naturalized, 43; French breasts, 44, 45Ո8; Yakuts infected with, 114, Gardebol, Simon, assayer, 20,113,195; lazy and unreliable, 155,174; loaned Steller horses, 115; instructions to Steller about, 18-19; Steller met and dined with, 107,108 geese: whole sleds full, 37; snow, 103 Geleitukase, 13,18,191 geography: research of, 4,10,18; of Yakutsk district, 17 Giliashev, Dmitrei, huntsman, 10,14,195; issued a rifle, 23 Gilyaks: description of, 75; of interest to eth nographers, 177; research, 19; trade with Yakuts, 113-114 Gmelin, Johann Georg, Professor of Botany, 5,64,158,163,180,191; controversy with Steller, 105,174-75; documents, 97,202, 204; impossible request to Steller, 91; instructions to Steller, xv, 9; plants, vii, 33, 86,116,127,128,158,199; poor health, 6 goiters, 94,98m Golousnaya River, 34, 69; fissures in ice at mouth of, 71 Gorlanov, Aleksei Petrovich, student, 9,14, 195,200, 202; books issued to, 23; concern ing horses, 106,116,135; his driver’s name, 147; duties, 7,10,15; traveling, 81,117,124, 144,149,180,182 gostinii dvor, 37,38Ո8; 40,41,52 grain, 48,85,140; barley and rye, when to plant, 88; for brandy, 47,49; grow ing regions, 37, 81, 83,86,87, 88,91,126; market, 41; not on Kamchatka, 140; prices, 37,88-89 grasshoppers, 120 gray paper, 14, 23,185; Chinese substitute,
143,181 grayling: looks different from Arctic, 154; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Urak, 154, in the Yudoma, 149; thrown up through ice fissures, 71
214 I Index grayling, Arctic (charius), 74ոշ, 155,169; carrying a string of, 34,37; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149; resembles Dolly Varden, 169 Great Northern Exedition. See Kamchatka Expedition (Second) grouse, 127; black, 37; hazel, 37; Siberian, 76 gudgeon: in the Ilga, 90 gulls: eating dead fish, 166; juvenile, 173; on the Yuna, 139; painted Shaman s Rock white, 32; shrieking, 67; two kinds of, ix.173 gunpowder, 11, 23; gift to old man, 101; spoiled by dunking, 143; storage in Ir kutsk, 40; too coarse to use, 186 Halle, 3; botanical excursions around, xx; orphanage in, 63, 66Ո4; Steller a student in, 4 hares: fell to death oiFPine Cliff, 99; in Yakutsk region, 120; on the Uda River, 75; Yakuts have to live on, 135-136 hawk, white: a northern goshawk, 127 hay, 65, 87,91,108; good hayfields, 36,72,89; hay market, 41 head tax, 47,88,90; definition of, 191; who pays, 39,48,81, 87 Henčke, Carl (Henks), caravan physician, 81,86,110 High Governing Senate, 7,20, 46; Stellers reports to, 14,100,186; ukases from, 9,11, 17,21,22 hogs raised in Birulka, 86 horses: arrangements for travel with, 10, 18,105-106,107,110,111,116; bones left by Yakuts, 133; butchered, 144; getting across rivers, 124,128,129,144,149,156; gift of, 110,122; in caravans, 45Ո3; lack of fodder, 145,150; letting them rest, 130,131,139; loading of, 115,117,121,122,136Ո8,140, 174; loss of, 121,122,128,129,130,135,139, 144,146,152; mishaps with, 131,135,148; stations for exchanging, 66m, 94; trade in, 56-57; Yakuts eat, 114,134 Horse Island, 119
hot spring, 70-71 huts (wayside/winter huts): along the Angara, 32,34; at mouth of Chernaya, 73; blubber used to light, 68; caretakers of, 65; earthen, 119,127; first one on road to the Lena, 83,153; Irkutsk started as, 60; made of foliage, 150; promyshlenniks use, 62, 64, 71. See also way stations, also zimov’e ice: blocks on river bank, 101; boats adrift in, 31,70; breakup, 97; effect of earthquake on, 71; freeze-up, 33; jams, 102,103; jump ing across floes, 101,102; patch, 141-142, 144,151Ո7; points on the Belaya River, 131; rivers as roads, 29; seals on, 70; traveling on the ice-choked Lena, 99-104; Yakut superstition concerning it, 73 Ilga River, 90 Ilim River, 33 Ilimsk (Ilimskoi Ostrog), 33, 46; District, 89.99 indigenous peoples. See natives inozemtsy (foreigners), 13, 23Ո2,191 interpreters: Gorlanov as, 7; Klimovskoi as, 10; of native languages, 13,19 Inya River, 169,172 Irkut River, 27,34, 60; origin of name, 39 Irkutsk: amenities of, 36-37; churches, 39, 41-42; fog over, 30; fortifications, 39; city gates, 40,42; inhabitants, 60-61, 65, 69,72,91,112; its start, 60; location, 33; nickname for townspeople, 59; prevention of fires in, 44; Provincial Administration’s obligations outlined, 5,12-15; weather, 29-30 iron: along the Amga, 126; as government income, 50; at Kamenka, 64, 71,90; at mouth of Bogul’deicha, 71; ferruginous soil along the Urak, 155; found on Kam chatka, 113; on the Talovka, 71; the Ushakovka’s, 34,71. See also smelters/smelting iukola (dried fish), 167,170Ո5 jasper, green, 129,132,133,155 jay: Eurasian or oak, 139,150Ո2 Kachega: about, 84-85;
location, 83; region around 86,88-90; today called Kachug, 88
Index Kalmyks: trade and war with the Chinese, 56-57 Kamchadals: paid yasak, 47; use of salmon and blubber, 167,168,170 Kamchatka, 6,9, 21, 73,116 arrival on, 173; ores found on, из; travel arrangements to, 15-16,18,19,105-106,111; what to investi gate, 19-20. See also Krasheninnikov Kamchatka Expedition (Second), xv, 3, 40, 48; added to bureaucracy, 40; negative impact of, 42,88,112; money transport for, 103; “proper evaluation” of, 134; purpose of, 4-5; secrecy imposed on, xi kastak. See brandy distillery Khanda River. See Belaya River Khitrov, Sofron Fedorovich, helmsman: groundings, 157,172; meaning of name, xii; Steller disliked, 174 Kirenga (Kirensk, Kirenskoi Ostrog): arrival in, 97; 100; Lena River at, 96; Monastery of the Trinity, 97 Kirenga River: ice dams on, 97 kislaia ryba. See sour fish Klimovskoi, Fedot, 14; interpreter of Yakut, 10,13; keeper of accounts, 10,15,183-184 Korff, Baron von, 9; Steller’s letters to, 14, I 215 Lake Baikal: fish in, 33,34,63; fishing on, 61-64; source of the Angara River, 29; Upper Angara feeds it, 30; freeze-up and break-up, 31; iron smelted around, 50; ostrogs around, 60; Steller explored the eastern shore, 67-73 Lake Baikal omul, 64; brandy for specimens, 202; fishing for and value of, 63; native to, 34; now endangered, 34 Lake Kurile, 181 lake minnows, 123,135,142; active in winter, 72; in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120 Lamuts (Evens), 19, 47 Lange, Lorenz, vice-governor of Irkutsk, 181,187 Lau, Johann Theodor, assistant surgeon, 160; tried to save Steller’s life, 182 Lena River: break-up, 97; changed course, 119;
investigations along, 15; lake-like stretch, 96; Steller to go to the lower Lena, 16 lenok (lenki), sharp-snouted: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda, 76, in the Ushakovka, 36 Listvenishnoe Zimov’e, 32 38Ո7,175,202 Koryaks, 73; how they treat dead shamans, 108-109; smallpox among, 109; Steller’s instructions concerning, 18,19 Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, student, 12,14,18; instructions for, 6; research, 19, 20.160.163 Krasnoyarsk, 46, 60,129 Krest, 32,36,37Ո3,39; 42 Kukhtui River, 168,169 kumis (mare’s milk), 121,122,147 Kunstkammer, 16,17,23Ո3,32; preserved specimens to, 21 Kurile Islands, 5,163; natives on, 72,170 Kuta River, 81, 83,85,94; in summer too small for a raft, 95 Kyakhta, 81,181; plants collected around, 116; Treaty of, 196 Kyakhta River, 46, trade in camels on, 56 Kychkin, Dmitrei, Yakutsk dvoryanin, 111, 113.115.163 mammoths: bones on the lower Lena, 16; Yakuts’ beliefs about, 73 marble: ice-polished, 104; black, 132,133; liver-colored, 133 marcasite, 164 Marikan River, 160,162,167,169 marine sponges, 164,170; Krasheninnikov’s description of, 19 merchants: and promishklenniks, 61, 64, 68; huts named after, 32; in Irkutsk, 41, 60; in the China trade, 53, 56; in the rhubarb trade, 49, 50; not harmed by natives, 109, 113; operate distilleries, 47,48; pay head tax, 92m; pay prostitutes well, 43; rapids costly for, 33; role in colonization, 61 merganser, common or red-breasted: female shot, 12 Messerschmidt, Daniel Gottlieb, 4,180 meteorological observations, 9; instruments in Irkutsk, 12
շւ6 ļ Index mica (sliuda): black» 93; “hunting” for, 64; large windows of, 44,45Ո9; trade with, 53, 61; price of, 183 mills: blubber used for greasing, 68; cotton mill on the Belaya, 65; Dementiev’s, 83; Glazunov’s, 72; Kranin’s, 81; mutovka, 95-96; near Kachega, 84; on the Kaya Riv er, 72; Ushakov’s (Pivovarov’s widow’s), 34,42, 60 millstones, 90,94 minerals: Steller instructed to research, 4,16, 21,186,187Ո2 mining: pits left, 71; regulations, 186; Stellers interest in, 179; tools left in Yakutsk, 17 moose, 36; antlers, 75 mosquitoes: effect of long days on, 111; trav elers plagued by, 121,124,140 Müller, Gerhard Friedrich, Professor of History, 5; described Irkutsk well, 27; instructions to Steller, 9; letters to, 97, 174 175; poor health, 6; published about pisani kameni, 86; suggestions for taxing brandy, 48 mussels, 164 Mynsicht’s Elixir, 143,151ШО natives (indigenous peoples), xi, xii, 1, 7,10, 191; Aklanskoi and Kamenskoi ostrogs, 73; food fond of, 168,170; loan sharks take advantage of, 91-92; medical practices, 111, 114,162; not to be executed or tortured, 8ո4; relationship with invaders, 2,3; replacing “heathens” with “natives,” 32; role in China trade, 56-57. See also names of individual tribes neima. See sheefish Nerchinsk, 46,52; inhabitants of, 47,49,50; 49,50; treaty of, 78Ո2 nerpa, nerpi. See Baikal seals, also seals Nikolski (Nikolskaya Zastava), 29,31,32 northern lights, 151Ո12; seen on the Kolyma, 76; brightness of in Turukhansk, 110 Okhota River, 19,157,160; bismuth and mar casite on, 164; fish in, 165,166,168,169 Okhotsk: arrival in, 158; commander
of, 46, 60-61,110,148,170Ո3,196; conditions for departure to, 18; difficult post, 61; fishery at 165-170; galleon, 163,164,172-173; in habitants of, 60-61; instructions concern ing, 9,11-21; preparations for transport there, 108,115,122; provisions expected to be there, 10; transport to, 154; unproduc tive land, 48,75 Okhotsk, Sea of: porpoises in, 160; preserv ing fish from, 185; rivers flowing into, 169; sailing into, 172; Steller’s first view of, 157; width of, 75,77m Okhotskoi Ostrog (map), 157 Olekma River, 113; breakup, 104 Olekminskoi Ostrog, 103-104 Ol’khon Island, 63, 64, 69 Orlenskaya Sloboda, 93-94 ostrogs (forts): each had a chapel, 2; defin ition of, 8ոշ; along route to Irkutsk, 10; in Irkutsk, 40; across and around Lake Baikal, 50, 60. See also under names of ostrogs Ovsianikov, Stepan, instrument maker apprentice, 144; almost drowned, 149; brought Steller’s horse, 128 Oyok/Oyoskaya Sloboda, 81, 83 palisades, 8ոշ, 39 partridge, Daurian, 37 pastures: excellent, 120,128,155; inundated, 30; marked by posts, 121; with “message” boards, 131 Pavlutskoi, Dmitrei Ivanovich, Major, 107, 110,163; information about the Chukchi, 108-109 pay (salary), 6,10,13; annual for each crew member, 14; for Gardebol, 17; for helms men, 104; for servant, 97; frustration over, 56; manner of payment for Crown employees, 60-61; Steller’s, 14; villages as pay, 87 pearls, impure, 164 peasants (farmers), 61, 85,177,191,192; houses, 89,94-97,154; Tomsk pride, 59; small villages, 90 Peledui River: icy banks, 100 Peleduiskaya Sloboda, 100 Penzhina River, 72
Index perch European (okuni), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90 permafrost, ix, 141 Peter the Great, 4,8пз, 42, 66пз, 92m, 187m; established Kunstkammer, 23Ո3; stan dardized arshin, 193 phosphorescence: of salmon, 168; of sea rasp berries, 172-173, pike, northern (shchuki): big in lakes, 72; in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 34; in the Ilga, 90; very old, 111; Yakuts deprived of, 120 pipe, 104,135,176; mouthpieces commis sioned, 115; smoking in place of food and/or bed, 144,146,149 pisani kameni (painted rocks, petroglyphs), 86, 89, pitch: in the mountains, 126; horses’ hoofs sealed with, 111 Plenisner, Friedrich, Corporal, 160 podval (brandy storage cellar), 40,47 podvoda, podvodi, 6, 81,105; horses for, 18; need for extra, 7,12; Steller and crew to receive, 10,13-14 podvodchiki, 106Ո3,123; children employed as, 94 Pokrovsky Monastery, 104,119; maps, 82,105 police, 42-43, 46; Stellers judgment of, 44; voevod has police powers, 8ns political history, research of, 9,10,16,18, 20; on Kamchatka, 19; the Buryats’, 15 porog/porogi (rapids): on the Tunguska, 33 porpoise (pig of the sea): dissected, 160 porsa (fish meal): how eaten, 168; how made, 167,170Ո5 posad (“suburb”), 41,192 posadskie: church built by, 41; pay for dwellings, 87; pay head tax, 92m; smelt iron, 50 Posolsky Monastery, 68,70; area owned, 69, 83; location, 31, 64 Posolsky Monastery Village, 81,83 prikazchik, 73; definition of, 13; Gabichev sent quarter ox, 103; places that have, 72, 89,90,94 progon (road toll), 10,49,117; Steller to receive for travel, 13,14,21 Į 217
promyshlenniks, xv, 2,13,36, 41,50,60; fishing cooperative, 62-64, 69; fishing earnings, 63; not allowed to marry, 39,43; occupations, 64-66, 68-72, no; places of origin, 61; seasonal workers, 61,95-96 prostitution (whoring): causes of, 43, 66; effects of, 43-44, 66,77,91; Steller’s pro posed solutions to, 44 protoki. See river channels provisions (food supplies): costs of, 155,184; endangered by ice, 102; for Krashenninikov, 12; logistics, xii, 11,13-16,18,84, 88,106,108,154; paperwork required for, 6, 163; problems with, 48, 88,154 pud, 63,193; of rye flour, 37 rafts, 13; adrift in ice-choked river, 102; arrival in Yakutsk, 108; given to the vo evod, 114; to be built, 90; used to transport salt, 95 rapids. See porog/porogi, also shivera/shiveri Ray’s aphyam aculeatam: Steller caught, 169 raznochintsi (commoners), 68,90,95 reindeer, 75,114,135,150; as a human name, 147; carrying shamans’ bones, 109; clack ing hooves, 72; jerky, 136; milk used by Tungus, 162 rhubarb: trade with, 40, 45Ո2; where it grows, 129; word prohibited, 49. See also trade river channels (protoki), 101,104,135,192; on the Angara, 31; on the Belaya, 131; on the Okhota, 157; on the Urak, 154,155,156; the Vitim’s, 99 roach, common (plotva): in the Angara, 33, 34 Rozvodnaya: Greater Rozvodnaya, 42, 72; Malaya Rozvodnaya, 39 Russian Orthodox Church, 2; archbishop’s residence, 37, 41; churches in Ust’Ilginskoi Ostrog, 90; in Ust’Kutsk, 94. See also churches in Irkutsk sables: as yasak, 8Ո4,114; hunted, 36; dyed pelts, 54,77; as gift, 104; hunt for, 61, 64, 70,75,100,113-114; quality of pelts where,
110-111
2i8 ļ Index saddlebags, 17,18,108 saddle blankets, 139 saiga, 55,57Ո2 salmon, dog or chum (keta): entering rivers, 169; growing teeth, 166; at mouth of the Uda, 76 salmon, red (nerka, lomok): first to enter riv ers, 168; better than dog salmon, 169. See also iukola, porsa, salt, sour fish salt, 63,64,98m, 121,184; from under ground, 163; salted fish, 34, 62, 65,166-168; salted meat, 62,149; saltworks, 95; trade in, 51; white, exuded, 120 Samoilov, Grigorei, miner, 10,14,106,115; equipment issued to, 23 sandstone, 95,143; gray, 32,126,127; cliffs of red, 85,89 Saturn-Jupiter Saturday, 152,158m schist, 134 Schnurbuch (ledger), 10,15, 21-22, scoter, white-winged (turpany), 113 sculpin, antlered (byki), 169,171Ո12 sea lions, 1,181; fall from cliffs, 77; Steller’s, xi Sea of Okhotsk. See Okhotsk, Sea of sea otters, xi sea raspberries, 163; glowing, 164,172 sea stars, 163; glowing, 76 sea urchins, 163 seals: harbor, 67; around Okhotsk, 165; swimming up the Okhota, 170. See also Baikal seals seeds: cataloged, 163; collected, 130,134,139, 140,141,155,156,162,186; descriptions of, 200; lost in shipwreck, 14; to be collected, 21. See also individual plants Selenga River: fishing in, 31, 64, 69; open for hunting, 68 Selenginsk, 46, 62,108 Senate. See High Governing Senate shamans, 15,86,108,146,151Ո14; Shamanski kamen, 32; Shamanskoi Porog, 33; Steller guided by drumming, 122; predictions, 116 Shcheki, 99,106m sheefish (neima): in the Penzhina, 73; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 shipyards (pristani), 92; at Ust’Kutsk, 95 shivera/shiveri (big rapids): in the Angara, 31; in the Tira, 96; in
the Tunguska, 33 Siberian Office (Sibirskii Prikaz, Siberian Government Authority), 3,8Ո3,8ո4, 5, i8, 40, 42; appoints voevods, 46 silver: Gilyaks use, 75; mines, 51; silver smiths, 65; trade with, 53 Skornyakov-Pisarev, Gregorei Gregor’evich, Commander of Okhotsk, 156,166; known for his vicious temper, 170Ո3; replaced by Devier, 148; wanted impossible link to the Urak, 152 sled dogs. See dogs sleds, 6, to, 77, 81,114; with game for sale, 37; winter provisions brought by, 154; women and children drive, 94 sliuda. See mica slobodas: around Irkutsk, 37,48, 91; defin ition of, 38Ո6; development of, 61. See also individually named sluzhivs, xix, ХХІІП4, 2; Cossacks now called, 60; how employed, 61; to be requisitioned, 10,11 smelt (koriukha), 169 smelters/smelting, 50; 91,112; on Kamchatka, 113; promyshlenniks involved in, 64, 65, 7i 72 93- See also iron Sofronov, Aleksei, Steller’s servant, 114,117, 121,123,142,144 soil: best along the Angara, 37; clay, 131; fer ruginous, 155; loam, 88; mammoth bones in, 16; on top of permafrost, 141; peat, 127; siliceous, 155; universal, 155,159Ո3. See also clay sour cream earth (zemlianaia smetana), 162-163 sour fish (kislaia ryba), 168. See also fish for dog food Spångberg, Martin, Captain, 5,17,19,101, io6n8,152; had told about famines, 162; Steller traveling with, 114,155-158; 160; Steller visited, 105,107,108 specimens, 6, 21,164, i8ini, 195 squirrels, 87; ground, 103; quality of pelts, 110-111 station. See taxation and way stations
Index Steller: as physician, 85,95,114; health, 134, 143,162; medical training, 179-180; peas ant smock, 126,153,158; spectacles, 145 steppe, 8i, 86; Cossacks originated from, 45Ո6; iron under, 71; Koşaya or Sloping, 83; no agriculture on, 88; flowers on, 107, 118ШО, 136m sterlet: in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96 sticklebacks: near Rozvodnaya, 72; sea, Steller caught, 169 sturgeon, common: in Lake Baikal, 68; in the Aldan, 22; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96; in the Selenga, 64; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 sturgeon, starry: in the Angara, 33; value of, 63 sturgeon glue, 50,54 swallow, bank, 39,92Ո6 syphilis. See French disease taimen, Siberian: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda,76; in the Yudoma, 149 Tatars, 53; Tatar-style stove, 100,104 taxation: collection station, 83; for brandy, 40-41,48, 49; in fishing, 63, 64; in mining, 50; property, 61; Steller for fairer, 91,177. See also head tax and yasak tea, 91,115,145,149,183; brick in the river, 131; cups and pots, 56,163; fireweed used as, 106Ո7; Gilyaks have, 75; green, 57; Northern Labrador, 104,133; Steller en joyed, 119,132,140,154 tench {Uni, doctor fish): caught near Rozvod naya, 72 thunder, 97,123,129; thunderstorm, 141 tobacco, 75, 113-114, 122; Chinese, 40, 43; 50; gift of, 110; exchanged for guide, 123; smuggled as red tea, 50. See also pipe Tobolsk, 5, 52, 60; relationship to Irkutsk, 27, 46; Steller in, 182 Tomsk, 32, 60,180; nickname for towns people, 59; Tatars, 53; Steller in, 180; trade in, 55. 56 trade: Chinese trade goods,
40; impact on people, 59; in pack animals, 56-57; I 219 in pelts, 55; in rhubarb, 40,45Ո2, 49; in tobacco, 114 trails: bad, 81,126,128,132,133,135,143,152, 154; finding it, 117,122,145; fires set to dry them out, 131; good, 120,121,130,140,148; on a mountain, 124; rocky, 154; rudimen tary system of, 7; to the Amga, 123; tree less, 127; twisting, 131 translators. See interpreters trapping. See names of individual animals trout: Dolly Varden (malma), 169; in the Yudoma, 149; species of, 29, 74Ո2 Tungus, 54, 62; desired information about, 15; guide to sour cream earth, 162; hunt ing marine animals, 170; treatment of wounds, 75; use of seal milk and blubber, 68,170; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 Tunkinski Range, 32-33 Udskoi Ostrog, 19; belugas hunted in, 170 ukases: administrative, 9,11,12,13,14,17, 65, 72; affecting trade, ббпз; concerning the students, 21; of prohibition, 22,39,49, 64; ordering Steller back, 182; Steller recom mends, 87, 92 Upper Angara, 70,71; larger seals around, 68-69; dangerous, 61-62 Urak River, 152,156; fish in, 166,168,169; headwaters of, 153,154; mouth of, 162,163 Uratsky Wharf, 154,155 Ushakov, Moisei, surveyor, 116,117,124,144; his horse died, 129 Ushakovka (Ida) River, 27,39,42, 60; descrip tion of, 34; fish in, 36; smelters on, 65,71 Ust’Ilginskaya (UstTlga, UstTlginskoi Ostrog), 84,90,96; leaving, 93; Pier, 92 Ust’Kutsk (Ust’Kutskoi Ostrog, Ust’Kuth), 90,94.95.96 utesi (cliffs), 85, 89 Verkholensk: description of and cottage industry at, 86; salt taken to, 95 villages. See derevnya, slobodas visits with centenarians, 93,101 Vitimsk
(Vitimskaya Sloboda), 99,100,126; forests around, 111
220 ļ Index wagtails, yellow, 139 Walton, William, Lieutenant, 154; together with Steller, 105,158,163 Waxell, Sven, Lieutenant, 105,158,163; floated fast to Okhotsk, 154 way stations, 66m, 124,153; Posikov’s, 122; second and third on trail to Okhotsk, 120-121; station hand, 117; stationmaster, 122. See also huts, zimov’e whales: Gilyaks hunt, 76; Koryaks to hunt, 18; spermaceti, 18; stranded, 160,162,163, 170 whitefish, broad (chiri)·, in the Penzhina, 73 whitefish, common (sig): in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Yudoma, 149 whitefish, round (vaiki): in the Ilga, 90 wolves, 59; heard howling, 141 to proceed upon arrival, 15; inhabitants’ character, 120; pleasant location of, 119; rapid plant growth in, 109 Yarmanka: arrived in, 115; horse ran back to, 122 yasak: Chinese do not demand, 75; finances trading with China, 47; quotas estab lished, 3, 8ո4; shady deals with, 91-92, 113-114 Yeniseysk: Cossacks, 60,178; cowhide fac tory in, 55; former province, 46; nickname of townspeople, 59; sensible choice, 32 Yudoma Cross: ice patch between Yuna and, 142; birch growth, 177; brandy for, 112; stay at, 149; transporting provisions to, 154, 155,168 Yudoma River, 148,149,150 Yuna River: arived at, 135: fast current, 130; floods quickly, 129; Mongolian poplar found along, 139; ice sheet at half-way point, 142 yurts: Koryaks’, 109; in Irkutsk province, 46; on the Amga, 124; Russian fishers’, 156; station yurt, 121; wooden, 83. See also names of indigenous peoples Yakov, Steller s servant, 116; pay for the year, 97; let go, 117 Yakuts: burial practices,
76-77,78Ո3,135; Chief Mazarin, 104-105; conductors of caravans, 45Ո3; desired information about, 15,17; chokania (summer festival), 123; lan guage, 10,124,148,168; living ofl՜ the land, 115,116,120; medical practices, 111-112,114; naming their children, 146-147; netting carp, 72; poverty, 128,140; refugees in Gilyak country, 75; smithy, 121; solicited information, 100,121-122,146; stations, 156; superstitions, 73,76,93,94,135,138Ո22,142, 146-147; trading with the Gilyaks, 113-114 Yakutsk: arrival in, 105; climate and weather, 108,118Ո3; dusk during night, 107; how Zaborovskoi, Aleksei Eremeevich, Yakutsk voevod; Steller called on, 105; dinners with, 107,108,110,115 zaimka/zaimki (farm, small village): defini tion of, 34,193; individually named, 72,81, 83, 86, 87,94,95,116,183; near Irkutsk, 34, 36; on the Peledui, 100 zemlianaia smetana. See sour cream earth Zhigani: Steller describes birds from, 108, 111; porsa from, 167 Zhilkina Village: archbishop s beautiful building in, 37, 52 zimov'e/ztmovia (winter huts): definition of, 37m; illustration of, 84,95,193; first on trail, 83; system of, 7. See also huts, way stations Vitim River: mica found on, 64,93 Vladislavish-Raguzinsky, Count Sava Lu kich, 56, 58Ո5 voevods, 3,8n6; in Irkutsk, 47; to assist Steller in Yakutsk, 14-18 volcanoes, 20,131; Windy Mountain, 130
CONTENTS Foreword: The Steller Legacy / Jonathan C. Slaght vii Translators’ Preface xv Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction і Instructions for Georg Wilhelm Steller from February 18,1739, from Yeniseysk / Johann Georg Gmelin and Gerhard Friedrich Müller 9 Part I Description of Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 1 About Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 27 2 About Irkutsk Itself 39 3 About the Public Offices 46 4 About the Clergy 52 5 About the Chinese Trade and Chinese Trade Goods 53 6 About Customs and Lifestyle in Irkutsk 59 7 About Transbaikalia 67 8 Report from the Uda River 75
vi ļ Contents Part II Travel Journal from Irkutsk to Kamchatka 9 From Irkutsk to Usťllginskaya (3/4-3/13) 81 10 From Usťllginskaya to Kirensk (3/14-5/1) 93 11 From Kirensk to Yakutsk (5/2-5/24) 99 12 In Yakutsk and Yarmanka (5/25-6/19) 107 13 From Yarmanka to the Amga River (6/20-7/2) 14 From the Amga to the Yuna River (7/3-7/21) 119 126 15 From the Yuna River to Yudoma Cross (7/22-8/8) 16 From Yudoma Cross to Okhotsk (8/9-8/13) 17 In Okhotsk (8/14-8/26) 152 160 18 Salmon Fishing and Preserving (8/27) 165 19 From Okhotsk to Bol’sheretsk (8/28-9/16) Afterword 172 174 Appendix A: Georg Wilhelm Steller’s Life 179 Appendix B: Schnurbuch Account Ledger 183 Appendix C: Letter to Johann Daniel Schumacher Appendix D: Plants Named after Steller Glossary of Foreign Words Glossary of People Bibliography Plant Index Index 211 139 197 207 195 191 189 185
INDEX Academy of Sciences, 4, 6,9,20,100 adaptability of people, 60 agate, black, 129 Akachan River, 144,145 Aldan River, 130,131; arrived at, 127; fish in, 72; forded, 128; meaning of name, 124; plants found on, 127,134,135,136,140; Yudoma and Maya flow into, 149 Aleksei. See Danilov, Sofronov Amga River, 124,131; description of, 126; soil along, 127 Amur River: dog salmon in, 166; find out about Gilyaks along, 19; Yakuts hunt sable on, 1x3 Anadyr River, 73; yasak paid by people living along, 47 Anadyrsk, Anadyrskoi Ostrog, 72-73; belu gas hunted, 170; thinly populated, 109 Ancha River, 140; permafrost recorded near, ix Anga Rivers, 85 Angara River, 47, 60, 81; description of, 27, 29,30-31,32,33; fish and fishing in, 33, 34,38Ո7; hunting along, 71; landscape along, 33,34,36,37; settlements along, 72; through Irkutsk, 37,39-40,42, 52, 56; iron smelting and value of, 50, 64, 72, 90; levies on people along, 91,92Ո2. See also Upper Angara Baikal omul, 64; fishing for and value of, 63; native to and endangered, 34; preserving, 202 Baikal seals, 64, 67-71; blubber, 68; com parison to harbor seal, 67; different kinds of, 68, 70; hunts for, 68,71; milk used by Tungus, 68; skins in trade, 54, 68-69,71 Baikal sig, 33; promyshlenniks fishing for, 63, 202 Balaganskoi Ostrog: fish found below, 29,34 Barguzin (Barguzinskoi Ostrog), 47,70,183; best pelts, 111; Cossacks moved to, 60; Stellers trip to, 180 Barguzin River: fishing, 61, 64; open to hunt ing, 68, 69 barrels: for fish, 62,63,167; holding brandy, 113 bears, 59; ate on dead whale, 162; compared with sea lions, 77; killed by
Captain Spångberg, 156 beavers, 61; attacked by dogs, 77; pelts, 54 Beasts of the Sea (De Bestiis Marinis), xvii, ххііпз, 180,181,200 Belaya River, 139,142,150,177; cotton mill and dyeworks on, 65; iron smeltering on, 50; now called Khanda, 65; traveling along, 128-133,136Ո3,137Ո18 belugas, caught: at Udskoi and Anadyrskoi Ostrogs, 170; in the Ural, 72; with nets, 76 Berckhan, Johann Christian, painter: cel ebrating, 122,144; drawings of plants, 116, 132,133,135,138Ո19,202; horse dies, 124; on a burial mound, 136; out on the ice, 100, 101; quarters in Yakutsk, 107; rank and support, xix, 10,13,14; shot a young loon, 130; traveling, 81,117,119,123,145,148,163, 180,182; in the dark, 146. See also names of individual plants Bering, Vitus, Captain Commander, vii, xii, xxiv, 1,17,181,195; correspondence with, 17, 22; Pisarev, his evil spirit, 196; sailing out of Okhotsk, 172; second expedition, 3, 4; Steller’s first meeting with, xii, 158 Bering Island, x, xvi, 181,200,201; pelts from, 5; recovered skeleton, xi Bering Strait, x, 199 Bibikov, Aleksei Yur’evich, Vice-Governor of Irkutsk, 46,110,174,195; Steller’s party accompanied by, 81 birdshot needed, xxi, 186 bismuth, 164 211
212 I Index black room, 149,1511115 blubber. See seals and whales bobylskie (peasants), 90,191 Bogul’deicha River, 65,69, 83; mouth of, 71 bolaric earth. See sour cream earth Boľsheretsk/Boľsheretskoi Ostrog, 19, 75,77 brandy, xix, 47-48,116,117,120,119,149, 154,176; cherry brandy, 116; distilleries, 47, 48,65,81,94; distribution, 47; double, 41,47,112,143, 202; loss of buckets of, 143; new bottles ordered, 108; police oversight, 43; price, 41,112; prize at target-shooting match, 152; smugglers nabbed, 111; station for distribution and taxation, 40-41,192; used for preserving specimens, 202, 204; ways of cheating, 48,112-13 bread, 62, 65,86,101,128,155,166,170Ո2,186; Aesop’s loaves, 57; grain for, 91; iukola as substitute for, 167; joy of having, 149; no taste for, 126; sweetvetch roots suitable for baking, 103 bullhead (pizda), 37 burbot (natím), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149 Buryats, 39, 54, 60, 61, 83; desired informa tion about, 15; meaning of name, 39; sell game, 37; unaffected by epidemic, 84; use of seal blubber, 68; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 capelin or candle fish (ueki), 169,171mi caravan: financed by, 47; physician to, 12, 81, 195; trade with China, 40,45Ո3,49-50 capercailles, 37 carp, crucian, 72,120,135; 142; blood-red, 111; dormant, 72; meal of, 121,140; sly, 72; Yakut driver’s name, 147 cattle: at Okhotsk, 156; butchered, 122,125Ո4, 128; “food on the hoof,” 6,105,107,124, 128,141,149,155; Gilyaks have, 114; lack of, 120; Yakuts’ loss of, 135 char, Arctic (kundsha), 169 Chernaya River,
73 Chechuiskoi Ostrog, 99 Chirikov, Aleksei, Captain, 195,198; his ship, 172,173,178; met in Okhotsk, 158 Chivirkui River, 61,63,64,70 Chukchi, 107,113; exaggerate their numbers, 109,118Ո2, іі8п5 clay, 20,156; cliffs/mountains, 89,95,131,162; for ovens, 149; for pottery, 23; mineral, 88; soils, xii, 16; sour-cream earth, 162-163 climate: cannot grow grain, 48; effect of dif fering ones, 59; protective, 44; much snow, 110; terrible, 5 coal: layers of, 126 coot, Eurasian, 120,121 Cossacks, xv, 31-32; 69, 73,87; chief, 107,111, 116,174; definitions of, ХХІІП4, 8m, 191, 192,193; earliest explorers, vii, 2; founders of Irkutsk, now few, 60; police chief, 42; origin of, 45Ո6; Steller appreciates, xv, 31-32 crabs: shall describe, 18; shall preserve, 21; found two special, 163 Crown, the: accounting to, 21; books for Gorlanov, 23; distilleries, 47; items received from, 10,11,14,17, 22-23; mo nopoly on trade, 40; peasants, 61; secrecy governing and ukases, 22; Steller costs it less, 175 crows: feeding on fish, 166 cuckoo, 118П11; starts to call, 122 curiosities: box for storing, 183; ordered to be collected, 16; preserving, 23,191; Russians’ liking for, 54; sheet of ice, 141 customs duty, 40,49,50,83; station, 40, 62,83 dace, Eurasian (yelets, yeltsi): caught in Lake Baikal, 33; in the Amga, 124, in the An gara, 33, in the Ilga, 90, in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120,124 daily journal to be kept, 21 Danilov, Aleksei, sluzhiv, 117,123,195; back to Yakutsk, 116; brought news and delivered horses, 111; Steller wrote instructions for, 163; with Steller to Okhotsk, 106;
117,123, 195 Daurken, Stellers horse, 145,152 Daurkin, Ivan, Secretary to Yakutsk voevod, 107,115,117 deer and red deer: hunted by promyshlenniks, 36
Index j շіз de la Croyère, Louis Delisle, Professor of Astronomy, 5, i6; 195; his wife, 106,149; Steller visited, 158, tői, 163; strange behav ior, 106 derevnya (small village), 89,90,91,93, 94,95, 96,97, too, 101,191; definition of, 72; nam ing of, 87,95-96 Devier, Anton Emmanuilovich, Commander of Okhotsk: arrival in Yakutsk, 110; meet ing on the trail, 139; visits with, 160,163, 164; cleaned up Okhotsk, 166 dogs: Berckhan’s, 145; “daughter of a dog,” 146; dead on streets, 43; dragged corpses, 77,78Ո3; gods of, 147; history of, 59; sled, 10, 66m, 114,154,168,201; Steller’s, 123, 158; swimming, 129; trade with China, 57; Yakuts barking like, 133 dolphins (marine pigs), 170 doshcheniks (boats), 97,111,19t; Angara’s banks full of, 37,40; drawing, 31; for journey from Irkutsk to Yakutsk, 12-13; full of saiga horns, 53; in trouble, 102; ordered one made, 97; promyshlenniks’ use of, 61, 62, 64,69,70 ducks: lakes full of, 130,135; northern eider, 1; sleds full of, 37; tufted, female shot, 130 ducklings, 113 duty. See customs eagles, 39,44П1-45; Steller’s sea, x, хіііпз, і earthquakes, 20; big one, 71,73m epidemics: along the Lena, viii, 84-85, 88, 90, 91; to be recorded on Kamchatka, 20 ermine: large numbers of, 87 Eurasian ruffe: absent in Siberian rivers, 29,34, 129; in the Ilga, 90; rigidity of dorsal fin, 29 exiles, 2,36, 60,107; contributing to prosti tution, 43 flatfish (kambala), unidentified), 169 flints: earth wax used in place of, 129; paid for fifty, 183; Samoilov to provide, 115 flooding, 37Ո2; of icy streams, 150; necessity of, 120; on the Amga, 124; on the
Angara, 30; on the Belaya and Yuna, 130; on the Lena, 108,97; to escape, 87 fog: in the mountains, 133,139; in winter, 30,108 food rations (soldier’s, sluzhiv’s), 10; Steller responsible for, 6 fox, arctic, 61; to be obtained alive, 16 French disease (Frenchmen). 66,151Ո14; has become naturalized, 43; French breasts, 44, 45Ո8; Yakuts infected with, 114, Gardebol, Simon, assayer, 20,113,195; lazy and unreliable, 155,174; loaned Steller horses, 115; instructions to Steller about, 18-19; Steller met and dined with, 107,108 geese: whole sleds full, 37; snow, 103 Geleitukase, 13,18,191 geography: research of, 4,10,18; of Yakutsk district, 17 Giliashev, Dmitrei, huntsman, 10,14,195; issued a rifle, 23 Gilyaks: description of, 75; of interest to eth nographers, 177; research, 19; trade with Yakuts, 113-114 Gmelin, Johann Georg, Professor of Botany, 5,64,158,163,180,191; controversy with Steller, 105,174-75; documents, 97,202, 204; impossible request to Steller, 91; instructions to Steller, xv, 9; plants, vii, 33, 86,116,127,128,158,199; poor health, 6 goiters, 94,98m Golousnaya River, 34, 69; fissures in ice at mouth of, 71 Gorlanov, Aleksei Petrovich, student, 9,14, 195,200, 202; books issued to, 23; concern ing horses, 106,116,135; his driver’s name, 147; duties, 7,10,15; traveling, 81,117,124, 144,149,180,182 gostinii dvor, 37,38Ո8; 40,41,52 grain, 48,85,140; barley and rye, when to plant, 88; for brandy, 47,49; grow ing regions, 37, 81, 83,86,87, 88,91,126; market, 41; not on Kamchatka, 140; prices, 37,88-89 grasshoppers, 120 gray paper, 14, 23,185; Chinese substitute,
143,181 grayling: looks different from Arctic, 154; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Urak, 154, in the Yudoma, 149; thrown up through ice fissures, 71
214 I Index grayling, Arctic (charius), 74ոշ, 155,169; carrying a string of, 34,37; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149; resembles Dolly Varden, 169 Great Northern Exedition. See Kamchatka Expedition (Second) grouse, 127; black, 37; hazel, 37; Siberian, 76 gudgeon: in the Ilga, 90 gulls: eating dead fish, 166; juvenile, 173; on the Yuna, 139; painted Shaman s Rock white, 32; shrieking, 67; two kinds of, ix.173 gunpowder, 11, 23; gift to old man, 101; spoiled by dunking, 143; storage in Ir kutsk, 40; too coarse to use, 186 Halle, 3; botanical excursions around, xx; orphanage in, 63, 66Ո4; Steller a student in, 4 hares: fell to death oiFPine Cliff, 99; in Yakutsk region, 120; on the Uda River, 75; Yakuts have to live on, 135-136 hawk, white: a northern goshawk, 127 hay, 65, 87,91,108; good hayfields, 36,72,89; hay market, 41 head tax, 47,88,90; definition of, 191; who pays, 39,48,81, 87 Henčke, Carl (Henks), caravan physician, 81,86,110 High Governing Senate, 7,20, 46; Stellers reports to, 14,100,186; ukases from, 9,11, 17,21,22 hogs raised in Birulka, 86 horses: arrangements for travel with, 10, 18,105-106,107,110,111,116; bones left by Yakuts, 133; butchered, 144; getting across rivers, 124,128,129,144,149,156; gift of, 110,122; in caravans, 45Ո3; lack of fodder, 145,150; letting them rest, 130,131,139; loading of, 115,117,121,122,136Ո8,140, 174; loss of, 121,122,128,129,130,135,139, 144,146,152; mishaps with, 131,135,148; stations for exchanging, 66m, 94; trade in, 56-57; Yakuts eat, 114,134 Horse Island, 119
hot spring, 70-71 huts (wayside/winter huts): along the Angara, 32,34; at mouth of Chernaya, 73; blubber used to light, 68; caretakers of, 65; earthen, 119,127; first one on road to the Lena, 83,153; Irkutsk started as, 60; made of foliage, 150; promyshlenniks use, 62, 64, 71. See also way stations, also zimov’e ice: blocks on river bank, 101; boats adrift in, 31,70; breakup, 97; effect of earthquake on, 71; freeze-up, 33; jams, 102,103; jump ing across floes, 101,102; patch, 141-142, 144,151Ո7; points on the Belaya River, 131; rivers as roads, 29; seals on, 70; traveling on the ice-choked Lena, 99-104; Yakut superstition concerning it, 73 Ilga River, 90 Ilim River, 33 Ilimsk (Ilimskoi Ostrog), 33, 46; District, 89.99 indigenous peoples. See natives inozemtsy (foreigners), 13, 23Ո2,191 interpreters: Gorlanov as, 7; Klimovskoi as, 10; of native languages, 13,19 Inya River, 169,172 Irkut River, 27,34, 60; origin of name, 39 Irkutsk: amenities of, 36-37; churches, 39, 41-42; fog over, 30; fortifications, 39; city gates, 40,42; inhabitants, 60-61, 65, 69,72,91,112; its start, 60; location, 33; nickname for townspeople, 59; prevention of fires in, 44; Provincial Administration’s obligations outlined, 5,12-15; weather, 29-30 iron: along the Amga, 126; as government income, 50; at Kamenka, 64, 71,90; at mouth of Bogul’deicha, 71; ferruginous soil along the Urak, 155; found on Kam chatka, 113; on the Talovka, 71; the Ushakovka’s, 34,71. See also smelters/smelting iukola (dried fish), 167,170Ո5 jasper, green, 129,132,133,155 jay: Eurasian or oak, 139,150Ո2 Kachega: about, 84-85;
location, 83; region around 86,88-90; today called Kachug, 88
Index Kalmyks: trade and war with the Chinese, 56-57 Kamchadals: paid yasak, 47; use of salmon and blubber, 167,168,170 Kamchatka, 6,9, 21, 73,116 arrival on, 173; ores found on, из; travel arrangements to, 15-16,18,19,105-106,111; what to investi gate, 19-20. See also Krasheninnikov Kamchatka Expedition (Second), xv, 3, 40, 48; added to bureaucracy, 40; negative impact of, 42,88,112; money transport for, 103; “proper evaluation” of, 134; purpose of, 4-5; secrecy imposed on, xi kastak. See brandy distillery Khanda River. See Belaya River Khitrov, Sofron Fedorovich, helmsman: groundings, 157,172; meaning of name, xii; Steller disliked, 174 Kirenga (Kirensk, Kirenskoi Ostrog): arrival in, 97; 100; Lena River at, 96; Monastery of the Trinity, 97 Kirenga River: ice dams on, 97 kislaia ryba. See sour fish Klimovskoi, Fedot, 14; interpreter of Yakut, 10,13; keeper of accounts, 10,15,183-184 Korff, Baron von, 9; Steller’s letters to, 14, I 215 Lake Baikal: fish in, 33,34,63; fishing on, 61-64; source of the Angara River, 29; Upper Angara feeds it, 30; freeze-up and break-up, 31; iron smelted around, 50; ostrogs around, 60; Steller explored the eastern shore, 67-73 Lake Baikal omul, 64; brandy for specimens, 202; fishing for and value of, 63; native to, 34; now endangered, 34 Lake Kurile, 181 lake minnows, 123,135,142; active in winter, 72; in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120 Lamuts (Evens), 19, 47 Lange, Lorenz, vice-governor of Irkutsk, 181,187 Lau, Johann Theodor, assistant surgeon, 160; tried to save Steller’s life, 182 Lena River: break-up, 97; changed course, 119;
investigations along, 15; lake-like stretch, 96; Steller to go to the lower Lena, 16 lenok (lenki), sharp-snouted: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda, 76, in the Ushakovka, 36 Listvenishnoe Zimov’e, 32 38Ո7,175,202 Koryaks, 73; how they treat dead shamans, 108-109; smallpox among, 109; Steller’s instructions concerning, 18,19 Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, student, 12,14,18; instructions for, 6; research, 19, 20.160.163 Krasnoyarsk, 46, 60,129 Krest, 32,36,37Ո3,39; 42 Kukhtui River, 168,169 kumis (mare’s milk), 121,122,147 Kunstkammer, 16,17,23Ո3,32; preserved specimens to, 21 Kurile Islands, 5,163; natives on, 72,170 Kuta River, 81, 83,85,94; in summer too small for a raft, 95 Kyakhta, 81,181; plants collected around, 116; Treaty of, 196 Kyakhta River, 46, trade in camels on, 56 Kychkin, Dmitrei, Yakutsk dvoryanin, 111, 113.115.163 mammoths: bones on the lower Lena, 16; Yakuts’ beliefs about, 73 marble: ice-polished, 104; black, 132,133; liver-colored, 133 marcasite, 164 Marikan River, 160,162,167,169 marine sponges, 164,170; Krasheninnikov’s description of, 19 merchants: and promishklenniks, 61, 64, 68; huts named after, 32; in Irkutsk, 41, 60; in the China trade, 53, 56; in the rhubarb trade, 49, 50; not harmed by natives, 109, 113; operate distilleries, 47,48; pay head tax, 92m; pay prostitutes well, 43; rapids costly for, 33; role in colonization, 61 merganser, common or red-breasted: female shot, 12 Messerschmidt, Daniel Gottlieb, 4,180 meteorological observations, 9; instruments in Irkutsk, 12
շւ6 ļ Index mica (sliuda): black» 93; “hunting” for, 64; large windows of, 44,45Ո9; trade with, 53, 61; price of, 183 mills: blubber used for greasing, 68; cotton mill on the Belaya, 65; Dementiev’s, 83; Glazunov’s, 72; Kranin’s, 81; mutovka, 95-96; near Kachega, 84; on the Kaya Riv er, 72; Ushakov’s (Pivovarov’s widow’s), 34,42, 60 millstones, 90,94 minerals: Steller instructed to research, 4,16, 21,186,187Ո2 mining: pits left, 71; regulations, 186; Stellers interest in, 179; tools left in Yakutsk, 17 moose, 36; antlers, 75 mosquitoes: effect of long days on, 111; trav elers plagued by, 121,124,140 Müller, Gerhard Friedrich, Professor of History, 5; described Irkutsk well, 27; instructions to Steller, 9; letters to, 97, 174 175; poor health, 6; published about pisani kameni, 86; suggestions for taxing brandy, 48 mussels, 164 Mynsicht’s Elixir, 143,151ШО natives (indigenous peoples), xi, xii, 1, 7,10, 191; Aklanskoi and Kamenskoi ostrogs, 73; food fond of, 168,170; loan sharks take advantage of, 91-92; medical practices, 111, 114,162; not to be executed or tortured, 8ո4; relationship with invaders, 2,3; replacing “heathens” with “natives,” 32; role in China trade, 56-57. See also names of individual tribes neima. See sheefish Nerchinsk, 46,52; inhabitants of, 47,49,50; 49,50; treaty of, 78Ո2 nerpa, nerpi. See Baikal seals, also seals Nikolski (Nikolskaya Zastava), 29,31,32 northern lights, 151Ո12; seen on the Kolyma, 76; brightness of in Turukhansk, 110 Okhota River, 19,157,160; bismuth and mar casite on, 164; fish in, 165,166,168,169 Okhotsk: arrival in, 158; commander
of, 46, 60-61,110,148,170Ո3,196; conditions for departure to, 18; difficult post, 61; fishery at 165-170; galleon, 163,164,172-173; in habitants of, 60-61; instructions concern ing, 9,11-21; preparations for transport there, 108,115,122; provisions expected to be there, 10; transport to, 154; unproduc tive land, 48,75 Okhotsk, Sea of: porpoises in, 160; preserv ing fish from, 185; rivers flowing into, 169; sailing into, 172; Steller’s first view of, 157; width of, 75,77m Okhotskoi Ostrog (map), 157 Olekma River, 113; breakup, 104 Olekminskoi Ostrog, 103-104 Ol’khon Island, 63, 64, 69 Orlenskaya Sloboda, 93-94 ostrogs (forts): each had a chapel, 2; defin ition of, 8ոշ; along route to Irkutsk, 10; in Irkutsk, 40; across and around Lake Baikal, 50, 60. See also under names of ostrogs Ovsianikov, Stepan, instrument maker apprentice, 144; almost drowned, 149; brought Steller’s horse, 128 Oyok/Oyoskaya Sloboda, 81, 83 palisades, 8ոշ, 39 partridge, Daurian, 37 pastures: excellent, 120,128,155; inundated, 30; marked by posts, 121; with “message” boards, 131 Pavlutskoi, Dmitrei Ivanovich, Major, 107, 110,163; information about the Chukchi, 108-109 pay (salary), 6,10,13; annual for each crew member, 14; for Gardebol, 17; for helms men, 104; for servant, 97; frustration over, 56; manner of payment for Crown employees, 60-61; Steller’s, 14; villages as pay, 87 pearls, impure, 164 peasants (farmers), 61, 85,177,191,192; houses, 89,94-97,154; Tomsk pride, 59; small villages, 90 Peledui River: icy banks, 100 Peleduiskaya Sloboda, 100 Penzhina River, 72
Index perch European (okuni), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90 permafrost, ix, 141 Peter the Great, 4,8пз, 42, 66пз, 92m, 187m; established Kunstkammer, 23Ո3; stan dardized arshin, 193 phosphorescence: of salmon, 168; of sea rasp berries, 172-173, pike, northern (shchuki): big in lakes, 72; in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 34; in the Ilga, 90; very old, 111; Yakuts deprived of, 120 pipe, 104,135,176; mouthpieces commis sioned, 115; smoking in place of food and/or bed, 144,146,149 pisani kameni (painted rocks, petroglyphs), 86, 89, pitch: in the mountains, 126; horses’ hoofs sealed with, 111 Plenisner, Friedrich, Corporal, 160 podval (brandy storage cellar), 40,47 podvoda, podvodi, 6, 81,105; horses for, 18; need for extra, 7,12; Steller and crew to receive, 10,13-14 podvodchiki, 106Ո3,123; children employed as, 94 Pokrovsky Monastery, 104,119; maps, 82,105 police, 42-43, 46; Stellers judgment of, 44; voevod has police powers, 8ns political history, research of, 9,10,16,18, 20; on Kamchatka, 19; the Buryats’, 15 porog/porogi (rapids): on the Tunguska, 33 porpoise (pig of the sea): dissected, 160 porsa (fish meal): how eaten, 168; how made, 167,170Ո5 posad (“suburb”), 41,192 posadskie: church built by, 41; pay for dwellings, 87; pay head tax, 92m; smelt iron, 50 Posolsky Monastery, 68,70; area owned, 69, 83; location, 31, 64 Posolsky Monastery Village, 81,83 prikazchik, 73; definition of, 13; Gabichev sent quarter ox, 103; places that have, 72, 89,90,94 progon (road toll), 10,49,117; Steller to receive for travel, 13,14,21 Į 217
promyshlenniks, xv, 2,13,36, 41,50,60; fishing cooperative, 62-64, 69; fishing earnings, 63; not allowed to marry, 39,43; occupations, 64-66, 68-72, no; places of origin, 61; seasonal workers, 61,95-96 prostitution (whoring): causes of, 43, 66; effects of, 43-44, 66,77,91; Steller’s pro posed solutions to, 44 protoki. See river channels provisions (food supplies): costs of, 155,184; endangered by ice, 102; for Krashenninikov, 12; logistics, xii, 11,13-16,18,84, 88,106,108,154; paperwork required for, 6, 163; problems with, 48, 88,154 pud, 63,193; of rye flour, 37 rafts, 13; adrift in ice-choked river, 102; arrival in Yakutsk, 108; given to the vo evod, 114; to be built, 90; used to transport salt, 95 rapids. See porog/porogi, also shivera/shiveri Ray’s aphyam aculeatam: Steller caught, 169 raznochintsi (commoners), 68,90,95 reindeer, 75,114,135,150; as a human name, 147; carrying shamans’ bones, 109; clack ing hooves, 72; jerky, 136; milk used by Tungus, 162 rhubarb: trade with, 40, 45Ո2; where it grows, 129; word prohibited, 49. See also trade river channels (protoki), 101,104,135,192; on the Angara, 31; on the Belaya, 131; on the Okhota, 157; on the Urak, 154,155,156; the Vitim’s, 99 roach, common (plotva): in the Angara, 33, 34 Rozvodnaya: Greater Rozvodnaya, 42, 72; Malaya Rozvodnaya, 39 Russian Orthodox Church, 2; archbishop’s residence, 37, 41; churches in Ust’Ilginskoi Ostrog, 90; in Ust’Kutsk, 94. See also churches in Irkutsk sables: as yasak, 8Ո4,114; hunted, 36; dyed pelts, 54,77; as gift, 104; hunt for, 61, 64, 70,75,100,113-114; quality of pelts where,
110-111
2i8 ļ Index saddlebags, 17,18,108 saddle blankets, 139 saiga, 55,57Ո2 salmon, dog or chum (keta): entering rivers, 169; growing teeth, 166; at mouth of the Uda, 76 salmon, red (nerka, lomok): first to enter riv ers, 168; better than dog salmon, 169. See also iukola, porsa, salt, sour fish salt, 63,64,98m, 121,184; from under ground, 163; salted fish, 34, 62, 65,166-168; salted meat, 62,149; saltworks, 95; trade in, 51; white, exuded, 120 Samoilov, Grigorei, miner, 10,14,106,115; equipment issued to, 23 sandstone, 95,143; gray, 32,126,127; cliffs of red, 85,89 Saturn-Jupiter Saturday, 152,158m schist, 134 Schnurbuch (ledger), 10,15, 21-22, scoter, white-winged (turpany), 113 sculpin, antlered (byki), 169,171Ո12 sea lions, 1,181; fall from cliffs, 77; Steller’s, xi Sea of Okhotsk. See Okhotsk, Sea of sea otters, xi sea raspberries, 163; glowing, 164,172 sea stars, 163; glowing, 76 sea urchins, 163 seals: harbor, 67; around Okhotsk, 165; swimming up the Okhota, 170. See also Baikal seals seeds: cataloged, 163; collected, 130,134,139, 140,141,155,156,162,186; descriptions of, 200; lost in shipwreck, 14; to be collected, 21. See also individual plants Selenga River: fishing in, 31, 64, 69; open for hunting, 68 Selenginsk, 46, 62,108 Senate. See High Governing Senate shamans, 15,86,108,146,151Ո14; Shamanski kamen, 32; Shamanskoi Porog, 33; Steller guided by drumming, 122; predictions, 116 Shcheki, 99,106m sheefish (neima): in the Penzhina, 73; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 shipyards (pristani), 92; at Ust’Kutsk, 95 shivera/shiveri (big rapids): in the Angara, 31; in the Tira, 96; in
the Tunguska, 33 Siberian Office (Sibirskii Prikaz, Siberian Government Authority), 3,8Ո3,8ո4, 5, i8, 40, 42; appoints voevods, 46 silver: Gilyaks use, 75; mines, 51; silver smiths, 65; trade with, 53 Skornyakov-Pisarev, Gregorei Gregor’evich, Commander of Okhotsk, 156,166; known for his vicious temper, 170Ո3; replaced by Devier, 148; wanted impossible link to the Urak, 152 sled dogs. See dogs sleds, 6, to, 77, 81,114; with game for sale, 37; winter provisions brought by, 154; women and children drive, 94 sliuda. See mica slobodas: around Irkutsk, 37,48, 91; defin ition of, 38Ո6; development of, 61. See also individually named sluzhivs, xix, ХХІІП4, 2; Cossacks now called, 60; how employed, 61; to be requisitioned, 10,11 smelt (koriukha), 169 smelters/smelting, 50; 91,112; on Kamchatka, 113; promyshlenniks involved in, 64, 65, 7i 72 93- See also iron Sofronov, Aleksei, Steller’s servant, 114,117, 121,123,142,144 soil: best along the Angara, 37; clay, 131; fer ruginous, 155; loam, 88; mammoth bones in, 16; on top of permafrost, 141; peat, 127; siliceous, 155; universal, 155,159Ո3. See also clay sour cream earth (zemlianaia smetana), 162-163 sour fish (kislaia ryba), 168. See also fish for dog food Spångberg, Martin, Captain, 5,17,19,101, io6n8,152; had told about famines, 162; Steller traveling with, 114,155-158; 160; Steller visited, 105,107,108 specimens, 6, 21,164, i8ini, 195 squirrels, 87; ground, 103; quality of pelts, 110-111 station. See taxation and way stations
Index Steller: as physician, 85,95,114; health, 134, 143,162; medical training, 179-180; peas ant smock, 126,153,158; spectacles, 145 steppe, 8i, 86; Cossacks originated from, 45Ո6; iron under, 71; Koşaya or Sloping, 83; no agriculture on, 88; flowers on, 107, 118ШО, 136m sterlet: in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96 sticklebacks: near Rozvodnaya, 72; sea, Steller caught, 169 sturgeon, common: in Lake Baikal, 68; in the Aldan, 22; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96; in the Selenga, 64; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 sturgeon, starry: in the Angara, 33; value of, 63 sturgeon glue, 50,54 swallow, bank, 39,92Ո6 syphilis. See French disease taimen, Siberian: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda,76; in the Yudoma, 149 Tatars, 53; Tatar-style stove, 100,104 taxation: collection station, 83; for brandy, 40-41,48, 49; in fishing, 63, 64; in mining, 50; property, 61; Steller for fairer, 91,177. See also head tax and yasak tea, 91,115,145,149,183; brick in the river, 131; cups and pots, 56,163; fireweed used as, 106Ո7; Gilyaks have, 75; green, 57; Northern Labrador, 104,133; Steller en joyed, 119,132,140,154 tench {Uni, doctor fish): caught near Rozvod naya, 72 thunder, 97,123,129; thunderstorm, 141 tobacco, 75, 113-114, 122; Chinese, 40, 43; 50; gift of, 110; exchanged for guide, 123; smuggled as red tea, 50. See also pipe Tobolsk, 5, 52, 60; relationship to Irkutsk, 27, 46; Steller in, 182 Tomsk, 32, 60,180; nickname for towns people, 59; Tatars, 53; Steller in, 180; trade in, 55. 56 trade: Chinese trade goods,
40; impact on people, 59; in pack animals, 56-57; I 219 in pelts, 55; in rhubarb, 40,45Ո2, 49; in tobacco, 114 trails: bad, 81,126,128,132,133,135,143,152, 154; finding it, 117,122,145; fires set to dry them out, 131; good, 120,121,130,140,148; on a mountain, 124; rocky, 154; rudimen tary system of, 7; to the Amga, 123; tree less, 127; twisting, 131 translators. See interpreters trapping. See names of individual animals trout: Dolly Varden (malma), 169; in the Yudoma, 149; species of, 29, 74Ո2 Tungus, 54, 62; desired information about, 15; guide to sour cream earth, 162; hunt ing marine animals, 170; treatment of wounds, 75; use of seal milk and blubber, 68,170; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 Tunkinski Range, 32-33 Udskoi Ostrog, 19; belugas hunted in, 170 ukases: administrative, 9,11,12,13,14,17, 65, 72; affecting trade, ббпз; concerning the students, 21; of prohibition, 22,39,49, 64; ordering Steller back, 182; Steller recom mends, 87, 92 Upper Angara, 70,71; larger seals around, 68-69; dangerous, 61-62 Urak River, 152,156; fish in, 166,168,169; headwaters of, 153,154; mouth of, 162,163 Uratsky Wharf, 154,155 Ushakov, Moisei, surveyor, 116,117,124,144; his horse died, 129 Ushakovka (Ida) River, 27,39,42, 60; descrip tion of, 34; fish in, 36; smelters on, 65,71 Ust’Ilginskaya (UstTlga, UstTlginskoi Ostrog), 84,90,96; leaving, 93; Pier, 92 Ust’Kutsk (Ust’Kutskoi Ostrog, Ust’Kuth), 90,94.95.96 utesi (cliffs), 85, 89 Verkholensk: description of and cottage industry at, 86; salt taken to, 95 villages. See derevnya, slobodas visits with centenarians, 93,101 Vitimsk
(Vitimskaya Sloboda), 99,100,126; forests around, 111
220 ļ Index wagtails, yellow, 139 Walton, William, Lieutenant, 154; together with Steller, 105,158,163 Waxell, Sven, Lieutenant, 105,158,163; floated fast to Okhotsk, 154 way stations, 66m, 124,153; Posikov’s, 122; second and third on trail to Okhotsk, 120-121; station hand, 117; stationmaster, 122. See also huts, zimov’e whales: Gilyaks hunt, 76; Koryaks to hunt, 18; spermaceti, 18; stranded, 160,162,163, 170 whitefish, broad (chiri)·, in the Penzhina, 73 whitefish, common (sig): in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Yudoma, 149 whitefish, round (vaiki): in the Ilga, 90 wolves, 59; heard howling, 141 to proceed upon arrival, 15; inhabitants’ character, 120; pleasant location of, 119; rapid plant growth in, 109 Yarmanka: arrived in, 115; horse ran back to, 122 yasak: Chinese do not demand, 75; finances trading with China, 47; quotas estab lished, 3, 8ո4; shady deals with, 91-92, 113-114 Yeniseysk: Cossacks, 60,178; cowhide fac tory in, 55; former province, 46; nickname of townspeople, 59; sensible choice, 32 Yudoma Cross: ice patch between Yuna and, 142; birch growth, 177; brandy for, 112; stay at, 149; transporting provisions to, 154, 155,168 Yudoma River, 148,149,150 Yuna River: arived at, 135: fast current, 130; floods quickly, 129; Mongolian poplar found along, 139; ice sheet at half-way point, 142 yurts: Koryaks’, 109; in Irkutsk province, 46; on the Amga, 124; Russian fishers’, 156; station yurt, 121; wooden, 83. See also names of indigenous peoples Yakov, Steller s servant, 116; pay for the year, 97; let go, 117 Yakuts: burial practices,
76-77,78Ո3,135; Chief Mazarin, 104-105; conductors of caravans, 45Ո3; desired information about, 15,17; chokania (summer festival), 123; lan guage, 10,124,148,168; living ofl՜ the land, 115,116,120; medical practices, 111-112,114; naming their children, 146-147; netting carp, 72; poverty, 128,140; refugees in Gilyak country, 75; smithy, 121; solicited information, 100,121-122,146; stations, 156; superstitions, 73,76,93,94,135,138Ո22,142, 146-147; trading with the Gilyaks, 113-114 Yakutsk: arrival in, 105; climate and weather, 108,118Ո3; dusk during night, 107; how Zaborovskoi, Aleksei Eremeevich, Yakutsk voevod; Steller called on, 105; dinners with, 107,108,110,115 zaimka/zaimki (farm, small village): defini tion of, 34,193; individually named, 72,81, 83, 86, 87,94,95,116,183; near Irkutsk, 34, 36; on the Peledui, 100 zemlianaia smetana. See sour cream earth Zhigani: Steller describes birds from, 108, 111; porsa from, 167 Zhilkina Village: archbishop s beautiful building in, 37, 52 zimov'e/ztmovia (winter huts): definition of, 37m; illustration of, 84,95,193; first on trail, 83; system of, 7. See also huts, way stations Vitim River: mica found on, 64,93 Vladislavish-Raguzinsky, Count Sava Lu kich, 56, 58Ո5 voevods, 3,8n6; in Irkutsk, 47; to assist Steller in Yakutsk, 14-18 volcanoes, 20,131; Windy Mountain, 130
CONTENTS Foreword: The Steller Legacy / Jonathan C. Slaght vii Translators’ Preface xv Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction і Instructions for Georg Wilhelm Steller from February 18,1739, from Yeniseysk / Johann Georg Gmelin and Gerhard Friedrich Müller 9 Part I Description of Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 1 About Irkutsk and Its Surroundings 27 2 About Irkutsk Itself 39 3 About the Public Offices 46 4 About the Clergy 52 5 About the Chinese Trade and Chinese Trade Goods 53 6 About Customs and Lifestyle in Irkutsk 59 7 About Transbaikalia 67 8 Report from the Uda River 75
vi ļ Contents Part II Travel Journal from Irkutsk to Kamchatka 9 From Irkutsk to Usťllginskaya (3/4-3/13) 81 10 From Usťllginskaya to Kirensk (3/14-5/1) 93 11 From Kirensk to Yakutsk (5/2-5/24) 99 12 In Yakutsk and Yarmanka (5/25-6/19) 107 13 From Yarmanka to the Amga River (6/20-7/2) 14 From the Amga to the Yuna River (7/3-7/21) 119 126 15 From the Yuna River to Yudoma Cross (7/22-8/8) 16 From Yudoma Cross to Okhotsk (8/9-8/13) 17 In Okhotsk (8/14-8/26) 152 160 18 Salmon Fishing and Preserving (8/27) 165 19 From Okhotsk to Bol’sheretsk (8/28-9/16) Afterword 172 174 Appendix A: Georg Wilhelm Steller’s Life 179 Appendix B: Schnurbuch Account Ledger 183 Appendix C: Letter to Johann Daniel Schumacher Appendix D: Plants Named after Steller Glossary of Foreign Words Glossary of People Bibliography Plant Index Index 211 139 197 207 195 191 189 185
INDEX Academy of Sciences, 4, 6,9,20,100 adaptability of people, 60 agate, black, 129 Akachan River, 144,145 Aldan River, 130,131; arrived at, 127; fish in, 72; forded, 128; meaning of name, 124; plants found on, 127,134,135,136,140; Yudoma and Maya flow into, 149 Aleksei. See Danilov, Sofronov Amga River, 124,131; description of, 126; soil along, 127 Amur River: dog salmon in, 166; find out about Gilyaks along, 19; Yakuts hunt sable on, 1x3 Anadyr River, 73; yasak paid by people living along, 47 Anadyrsk, Anadyrskoi Ostrog, 72-73; belu gas hunted, 170; thinly populated, 109 Ancha River, 140; permafrost recorded near, ix Anga Rivers, 85 Angara River, 47, 60, 81; description of, 27, 29,30-31,32,33; fish and fishing in, 33, 34,38Ո7; hunting along, 71; landscape along, 33,34,36,37; settlements along, 72; through Irkutsk, 37,39-40,42, 52, 56; iron smelting and value of, 50, 64, 72, 90; levies on people along, 91,92Ո2. See also Upper Angara Baikal omul, 64; fishing for and value of, 63; native to and endangered, 34; preserving, 202 Baikal seals, 64, 67-71; blubber, 68; com parison to harbor seal, 67; different kinds of, 68, 70; hunts for, 68,71; milk used by Tungus, 68; skins in trade, 54, 68-69,71 Baikal sig, 33; promyshlenniks fishing for, 63, 202 Balaganskoi Ostrog: fish found below, 29,34 Barguzin (Barguzinskoi Ostrog), 47,70,183; best pelts, 111; Cossacks moved to, 60; Stellers trip to, 180 Barguzin River: fishing, 61, 64; open to hunt ing, 68, 69 barrels: for fish, 62,63,167; holding brandy, 113 bears, 59; ate on dead whale, 162; compared with sea lions, 77; killed by
Captain Spångberg, 156 beavers, 61; attacked by dogs, 77; pelts, 54 Beasts of the Sea (De Bestiis Marinis), xvii, ххііпз, 180,181,200 Belaya River, 139,142,150,177; cotton mill and dyeworks on, 65; iron smeltering on, 50; now called Khanda, 65; traveling along, 128-133,136Ո3,137Ո18 belugas, caught: at Udskoi and Anadyrskoi Ostrogs, 170; in the Ural, 72; with nets, 76 Berckhan, Johann Christian, painter: cel ebrating, 122,144; drawings of plants, 116, 132,133,135,138Ո19,202; horse dies, 124; on a burial mound, 136; out on the ice, 100, 101; quarters in Yakutsk, 107; rank and support, xix, 10,13,14; shot a young loon, 130; traveling, 81,117,119,123,145,148,163, 180,182; in the dark, 146. See also names of individual plants Bering, Vitus, Captain Commander, vii, xii, xxiv, 1,17,181,195; correspondence with, 17, 22; Pisarev, his evil spirit, 196; sailing out of Okhotsk, 172; second expedition, 3, 4; Steller’s first meeting with, xii, 158 Bering Island, x, xvi, 181,200,201; pelts from, 5; recovered skeleton, xi Bering Strait, x, 199 Bibikov, Aleksei Yur’evich, Vice-Governor of Irkutsk, 46,110,174,195; Steller’s party accompanied by, 81 birdshot needed, xxi, 186 bismuth, 164 211
212 I Index black room, 149,1511115 blubber. See seals and whales bobylskie (peasants), 90,191 Bogul’deicha River, 65,69, 83; mouth of, 71 bolaric earth. See sour cream earth Boľsheretsk/Boľsheretskoi Ostrog, 19, 75,77 brandy, xix, 47-48,116,117,120,119,149, 154,176; cherry brandy, 116; distilleries, 47, 48,65,81,94; distribution, 47; double, 41,47,112,143, 202; loss of buckets of, 143; new bottles ordered, 108; police oversight, 43; price, 41,112; prize at target-shooting match, 152; smugglers nabbed, 111; station for distribution and taxation, 40-41,192; used for preserving specimens, 202, 204; ways of cheating, 48,112-13 bread, 62, 65,86,101,128,155,166,170Ո2,186; Aesop’s loaves, 57; grain for, 91; iukola as substitute for, 167; joy of having, 149; no taste for, 126; sweetvetch roots suitable for baking, 103 bullhead (pizda), 37 burbot (natím), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149 Buryats, 39, 54, 60, 61, 83; desired informa tion about, 15; meaning of name, 39; sell game, 37; unaffected by epidemic, 84; use of seal blubber, 68; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 capelin or candle fish (ueki), 169,171mi caravan: financed by, 47; physician to, 12, 81, 195; trade with China, 40,45Ո3,49-50 capercailles, 37 carp, crucian, 72,120,135; 142; blood-red, 111; dormant, 72; meal of, 121,140; sly, 72; Yakut driver’s name, 147 cattle: at Okhotsk, 156; butchered, 122,125Ո4, 128; “food on the hoof,” 6,105,107,124, 128,141,149,155; Gilyaks have, 114; lack of, 120; Yakuts’ loss of, 135 char, Arctic (kundsha), 169 Chernaya River,
73 Chechuiskoi Ostrog, 99 Chirikov, Aleksei, Captain, 195,198; his ship, 172,173,178; met in Okhotsk, 158 Chivirkui River, 61,63,64,70 Chukchi, 107,113; exaggerate their numbers, 109,118Ո2, іі8п5 clay, 20,156; cliffs/mountains, 89,95,131,162; for ovens, 149; for pottery, 23; mineral, 88; soils, xii, 16; sour-cream earth, 162-163 climate: cannot grow grain, 48; effect of dif fering ones, 59; protective, 44; much snow, 110; terrible, 5 coal: layers of, 126 coot, Eurasian, 120,121 Cossacks, xv, 31-32; 69, 73,87; chief, 107,111, 116,174; definitions of, ХХІІП4, 8m, 191, 192,193; earliest explorers, vii, 2; founders of Irkutsk, now few, 60; police chief, 42; origin of, 45Ո6; Steller appreciates, xv, 31-32 crabs: shall describe, 18; shall preserve, 21; found two special, 163 Crown, the: accounting to, 21; books for Gorlanov, 23; distilleries, 47; items received from, 10,11,14,17, 22-23; mo nopoly on trade, 40; peasants, 61; secrecy governing and ukases, 22; Steller costs it less, 175 crows: feeding on fish, 166 cuckoo, 118П11; starts to call, 122 curiosities: box for storing, 183; ordered to be collected, 16; preserving, 23,191; Russians’ liking for, 54; sheet of ice, 141 customs duty, 40,49,50,83; station, 40, 62,83 dace, Eurasian (yelets, yeltsi): caught in Lake Baikal, 33; in the Amga, 124, in the An gara, 33, in the Ilga, 90, in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120,124 daily journal to be kept, 21 Danilov, Aleksei, sluzhiv, 117,123,195; back to Yakutsk, 116; brought news and delivered horses, 111; Steller wrote instructions for, 163; with Steller to Okhotsk, 106;
117,123, 195 Daurken, Stellers horse, 145,152 Daurkin, Ivan, Secretary to Yakutsk voevod, 107,115,117 deer and red deer: hunted by promyshlenniks, 36
Index j շіз de la Croyère, Louis Delisle, Professor of Astronomy, 5, i6; 195; his wife, 106,149; Steller visited, 158, tői, 163; strange behav ior, 106 derevnya (small village), 89,90,91,93, 94,95, 96,97, too, 101,191; definition of, 72; nam ing of, 87,95-96 Devier, Anton Emmanuilovich, Commander of Okhotsk: arrival in Yakutsk, 110; meet ing on the trail, 139; visits with, 160,163, 164; cleaned up Okhotsk, 166 dogs: Berckhan’s, 145; “daughter of a dog,” 146; dead on streets, 43; dragged corpses, 77,78Ո3; gods of, 147; history of, 59; sled, 10, 66m, 114,154,168,201; Steller’s, 123, 158; swimming, 129; trade with China, 57; Yakuts barking like, 133 dolphins (marine pigs), 170 doshcheniks (boats), 97,111,19t; Angara’s banks full of, 37,40; drawing, 31; for journey from Irkutsk to Yakutsk, 12-13; full of saiga horns, 53; in trouble, 102; ordered one made, 97; promyshlenniks’ use of, 61, 62, 64,69,70 ducks: lakes full of, 130,135; northern eider, 1; sleds full of, 37; tufted, female shot, 130 ducklings, 113 duty. See customs eagles, 39,44П1-45; Steller’s sea, x, хіііпз, і earthquakes, 20; big one, 71,73m epidemics: along the Lena, viii, 84-85, 88, 90, 91; to be recorded on Kamchatka, 20 ermine: large numbers of, 87 Eurasian ruffe: absent in Siberian rivers, 29,34, 129; in the Ilga, 90; rigidity of dorsal fin, 29 exiles, 2,36, 60,107; contributing to prosti tution, 43 flatfish (kambala), unidentified), 169 flints: earth wax used in place of, 129; paid for fifty, 183; Samoilov to provide, 115 flooding, 37Ո2; of icy streams, 150; necessity of, 120; on the Amga, 124; on the
Angara, 30; on the Belaya and Yuna, 130; on the Lena, 108,97; to escape, 87 fog: in the mountains, 133,139; in winter, 30,108 food rations (soldier’s, sluzhiv’s), 10; Steller responsible for, 6 fox, arctic, 61; to be obtained alive, 16 French disease (Frenchmen). 66,151Ո14; has become naturalized, 43; French breasts, 44, 45Ո8; Yakuts infected with, 114, Gardebol, Simon, assayer, 20,113,195; lazy and unreliable, 155,174; loaned Steller horses, 115; instructions to Steller about, 18-19; Steller met and dined with, 107,108 geese: whole sleds full, 37; snow, 103 Geleitukase, 13,18,191 geography: research of, 4,10,18; of Yakutsk district, 17 Giliashev, Dmitrei, huntsman, 10,14,195; issued a rifle, 23 Gilyaks: description of, 75; of interest to eth nographers, 177; research, 19; trade with Yakuts, 113-114 Gmelin, Johann Georg, Professor of Botany, 5,64,158,163,180,191; controversy with Steller, 105,174-75; documents, 97,202, 204; impossible request to Steller, 91; instructions to Steller, xv, 9; plants, vii, 33, 86,116,127,128,158,199; poor health, 6 goiters, 94,98m Golousnaya River, 34, 69; fissures in ice at mouth of, 71 Gorlanov, Aleksei Petrovich, student, 9,14, 195,200, 202; books issued to, 23; concern ing horses, 106,116,135; his driver’s name, 147; duties, 7,10,15; traveling, 81,117,124, 144,149,180,182 gostinii dvor, 37,38Ո8; 40,41,52 grain, 48,85,140; barley and rye, when to plant, 88; for brandy, 47,49; grow ing regions, 37, 81, 83,86,87, 88,91,126; market, 41; not on Kamchatka, 140; prices, 37,88-89 grasshoppers, 120 gray paper, 14, 23,185; Chinese substitute,
143,181 grayling: looks different from Arctic, 154; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Urak, 154, in the Yudoma, 149; thrown up through ice fissures, 71
214 I Index grayling, Arctic (charius), 74ոշ, 155,169; carrying a string of, 34,37; in the Aldan, 128-129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90; in the Ushakovka, 36; in the Yudoma, 149; resembles Dolly Varden, 169 Great Northern Exedition. See Kamchatka Expedition (Second) grouse, 127; black, 37; hazel, 37; Siberian, 76 gudgeon: in the Ilga, 90 gulls: eating dead fish, 166; juvenile, 173; on the Yuna, 139; painted Shaman s Rock white, 32; shrieking, 67; two kinds of, ix.173 gunpowder, 11, 23; gift to old man, 101; spoiled by dunking, 143; storage in Ir kutsk, 40; too coarse to use, 186 Halle, 3; botanical excursions around, xx; orphanage in, 63, 66Ո4; Steller a student in, 4 hares: fell to death oiFPine Cliff, 99; in Yakutsk region, 120; on the Uda River, 75; Yakuts have to live on, 135-136 hawk, white: a northern goshawk, 127 hay, 65, 87,91,108; good hayfields, 36,72,89; hay market, 41 head tax, 47,88,90; definition of, 191; who pays, 39,48,81, 87 Henčke, Carl (Henks), caravan physician, 81,86,110 High Governing Senate, 7,20, 46; Stellers reports to, 14,100,186; ukases from, 9,11, 17,21,22 hogs raised in Birulka, 86 horses: arrangements for travel with, 10, 18,105-106,107,110,111,116; bones left by Yakuts, 133; butchered, 144; getting across rivers, 124,128,129,144,149,156; gift of, 110,122; in caravans, 45Ո3; lack of fodder, 145,150; letting them rest, 130,131,139; loading of, 115,117,121,122,136Ո8,140, 174; loss of, 121,122,128,129,130,135,139, 144,146,152; mishaps with, 131,135,148; stations for exchanging, 66m, 94; trade in, 56-57; Yakuts eat, 114,134 Horse Island, 119
hot spring, 70-71 huts (wayside/winter huts): along the Angara, 32,34; at mouth of Chernaya, 73; blubber used to light, 68; caretakers of, 65; earthen, 119,127; first one on road to the Lena, 83,153; Irkutsk started as, 60; made of foliage, 150; promyshlenniks use, 62, 64, 71. See also way stations, also zimov’e ice: blocks on river bank, 101; boats adrift in, 31,70; breakup, 97; effect of earthquake on, 71; freeze-up, 33; jams, 102,103; jump ing across floes, 101,102; patch, 141-142, 144,151Ո7; points on the Belaya River, 131; rivers as roads, 29; seals on, 70; traveling on the ice-choked Lena, 99-104; Yakut superstition concerning it, 73 Ilga River, 90 Ilim River, 33 Ilimsk (Ilimskoi Ostrog), 33, 46; District, 89.99 indigenous peoples. See natives inozemtsy (foreigners), 13, 23Ո2,191 interpreters: Gorlanov as, 7; Klimovskoi as, 10; of native languages, 13,19 Inya River, 169,172 Irkut River, 27,34, 60; origin of name, 39 Irkutsk: amenities of, 36-37; churches, 39, 41-42; fog over, 30; fortifications, 39; city gates, 40,42; inhabitants, 60-61, 65, 69,72,91,112; its start, 60; location, 33; nickname for townspeople, 59; prevention of fires in, 44; Provincial Administration’s obligations outlined, 5,12-15; weather, 29-30 iron: along the Amga, 126; as government income, 50; at Kamenka, 64, 71,90; at mouth of Bogul’deicha, 71; ferruginous soil along the Urak, 155; found on Kam chatka, 113; on the Talovka, 71; the Ushakovka’s, 34,71. See also smelters/smelting iukola (dried fish), 167,170Ո5 jasper, green, 129,132,133,155 jay: Eurasian or oak, 139,150Ո2 Kachega: about, 84-85;
location, 83; region around 86,88-90; today called Kachug, 88
Index Kalmyks: trade and war with the Chinese, 56-57 Kamchadals: paid yasak, 47; use of salmon and blubber, 167,168,170 Kamchatka, 6,9, 21, 73,116 arrival on, 173; ores found on, из; travel arrangements to, 15-16,18,19,105-106,111; what to investi gate, 19-20. See also Krasheninnikov Kamchatka Expedition (Second), xv, 3, 40, 48; added to bureaucracy, 40; negative impact of, 42,88,112; money transport for, 103; “proper evaluation” of, 134; purpose of, 4-5; secrecy imposed on, xi kastak. See brandy distillery Khanda River. See Belaya River Khitrov, Sofron Fedorovich, helmsman: groundings, 157,172; meaning of name, xii; Steller disliked, 174 Kirenga (Kirensk, Kirenskoi Ostrog): arrival in, 97; 100; Lena River at, 96; Monastery of the Trinity, 97 Kirenga River: ice dams on, 97 kislaia ryba. See sour fish Klimovskoi, Fedot, 14; interpreter of Yakut, 10,13; keeper of accounts, 10,15,183-184 Korff, Baron von, 9; Steller’s letters to, 14, I 215 Lake Baikal: fish in, 33,34,63; fishing on, 61-64; source of the Angara River, 29; Upper Angara feeds it, 30; freeze-up and break-up, 31; iron smelted around, 50; ostrogs around, 60; Steller explored the eastern shore, 67-73 Lake Baikal omul, 64; brandy for specimens, 202; fishing for and value of, 63; native to, 34; now endangered, 34 Lake Kurile, 181 lake minnows, 123,135,142; active in winter, 72; in the Ushakovka, 36; Yakuts deprived of, 120 Lamuts (Evens), 19, 47 Lange, Lorenz, vice-governor of Irkutsk, 181,187 Lau, Johann Theodor, assistant surgeon, 160; tried to save Steller’s life, 182 Lena River: break-up, 97; changed course, 119;
investigations along, 15; lake-like stretch, 96; Steller to go to the lower Lena, 16 lenok (lenki), sharp-snouted: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda, 76, in the Ushakovka, 36 Listvenishnoe Zimov’e, 32 38Ո7,175,202 Koryaks, 73; how they treat dead shamans, 108-109; smallpox among, 109; Steller’s instructions concerning, 18,19 Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, student, 12,14,18; instructions for, 6; research, 19, 20.160.163 Krasnoyarsk, 46, 60,129 Krest, 32,36,37Ո3,39; 42 Kukhtui River, 168,169 kumis (mare’s milk), 121,122,147 Kunstkammer, 16,17,23Ո3,32; preserved specimens to, 21 Kurile Islands, 5,163; natives on, 72,170 Kuta River, 81, 83,85,94; in summer too small for a raft, 95 Kyakhta, 81,181; plants collected around, 116; Treaty of, 196 Kyakhta River, 46, trade in camels on, 56 Kychkin, Dmitrei, Yakutsk dvoryanin, 111, 113.115.163 mammoths: bones on the lower Lena, 16; Yakuts’ beliefs about, 73 marble: ice-polished, 104; black, 132,133; liver-colored, 133 marcasite, 164 Marikan River, 160,162,167,169 marine sponges, 164,170; Krasheninnikov’s description of, 19 merchants: and promishklenniks, 61, 64, 68; huts named after, 32; in Irkutsk, 41, 60; in the China trade, 53, 56; in the rhubarb trade, 49, 50; not harmed by natives, 109, 113; operate distilleries, 47,48; pay head tax, 92m; pay prostitutes well, 43; rapids costly for, 33; role in colonization, 61 merganser, common or red-breasted: female shot, 12 Messerschmidt, Daniel Gottlieb, 4,180 meteorological observations, 9; instruments in Irkutsk, 12
շւ6 ļ Index mica (sliuda): black» 93; “hunting” for, 64; large windows of, 44,45Ո9; trade with, 53, 61; price of, 183 mills: blubber used for greasing, 68; cotton mill on the Belaya, 65; Dementiev’s, 83; Glazunov’s, 72; Kranin’s, 81; mutovka, 95-96; near Kachega, 84; on the Kaya Riv er, 72; Ushakov’s (Pivovarov’s widow’s), 34,42, 60 millstones, 90,94 minerals: Steller instructed to research, 4,16, 21,186,187Ո2 mining: pits left, 71; regulations, 186; Stellers interest in, 179; tools left in Yakutsk, 17 moose, 36; antlers, 75 mosquitoes: effect of long days on, 111; trav elers plagued by, 121,124,140 Müller, Gerhard Friedrich, Professor of History, 5; described Irkutsk well, 27; instructions to Steller, 9; letters to, 97, 174 175; poor health, 6; published about pisani kameni, 86; suggestions for taxing brandy, 48 mussels, 164 Mynsicht’s Elixir, 143,151ШО natives (indigenous peoples), xi, xii, 1, 7,10, 191; Aklanskoi and Kamenskoi ostrogs, 73; food fond of, 168,170; loan sharks take advantage of, 91-92; medical practices, 111, 114,162; not to be executed or tortured, 8ո4; relationship with invaders, 2,3; replacing “heathens” with “natives,” 32; role in China trade, 56-57. See also names of individual tribes neima. See sheefish Nerchinsk, 46,52; inhabitants of, 47,49,50; 49,50; treaty of, 78Ո2 nerpa, nerpi. See Baikal seals, also seals Nikolski (Nikolskaya Zastava), 29,31,32 northern lights, 151Ո12; seen on the Kolyma, 76; brightness of in Turukhansk, 110 Okhota River, 19,157,160; bismuth and mar casite on, 164; fish in, 165,166,168,169 Okhotsk: arrival in, 158; commander
of, 46, 60-61,110,148,170Ո3,196; conditions for departure to, 18; difficult post, 61; fishery at 165-170; galleon, 163,164,172-173; in habitants of, 60-61; instructions concern ing, 9,11-21; preparations for transport there, 108,115,122; provisions expected to be there, 10; transport to, 154; unproduc tive land, 48,75 Okhotsk, Sea of: porpoises in, 160; preserv ing fish from, 185; rivers flowing into, 169; sailing into, 172; Steller’s first view of, 157; width of, 75,77m Okhotskoi Ostrog (map), 157 Olekma River, 113; breakup, 104 Olekminskoi Ostrog, 103-104 Ol’khon Island, 63, 64, 69 Orlenskaya Sloboda, 93-94 ostrogs (forts): each had a chapel, 2; defin ition of, 8ոշ; along route to Irkutsk, 10; in Irkutsk, 40; across and around Lake Baikal, 50, 60. See also under names of ostrogs Ovsianikov, Stepan, instrument maker apprentice, 144; almost drowned, 149; brought Steller’s horse, 128 Oyok/Oyoskaya Sloboda, 81, 83 palisades, 8ոշ, 39 partridge, Daurian, 37 pastures: excellent, 120,128,155; inundated, 30; marked by posts, 121; with “message” boards, 131 Pavlutskoi, Dmitrei Ivanovich, Major, 107, 110,163; information about the Chukchi, 108-109 pay (salary), 6,10,13; annual for each crew member, 14; for Gardebol, 17; for helms men, 104; for servant, 97; frustration over, 56; manner of payment for Crown employees, 60-61; Steller’s, 14; villages as pay, 87 pearls, impure, 164 peasants (farmers), 61, 85,177,191,192; houses, 89,94-97,154; Tomsk pride, 59; small villages, 90 Peledui River: icy banks, 100 Peleduiskaya Sloboda, 100 Penzhina River, 72
Index perch European (okuni), 34; in the Aldan, 129; in the Amga, 124; in the Ilga, 90 permafrost, ix, 141 Peter the Great, 4,8пз, 42, 66пз, 92m, 187m; established Kunstkammer, 23Ո3; stan dardized arshin, 193 phosphorescence: of salmon, 168; of sea rasp berries, 172-173, pike, northern (shchuki): big in lakes, 72; in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 34; in the Ilga, 90; very old, 111; Yakuts deprived of, 120 pipe, 104,135,176; mouthpieces commis sioned, 115; smoking in place of food and/or bed, 144,146,149 pisani kameni (painted rocks, petroglyphs), 86, 89, pitch: in the mountains, 126; horses’ hoofs sealed with, 111 Plenisner, Friedrich, Corporal, 160 podval (brandy storage cellar), 40,47 podvoda, podvodi, 6, 81,105; horses for, 18; need for extra, 7,12; Steller and crew to receive, 10,13-14 podvodchiki, 106Ո3,123; children employed as, 94 Pokrovsky Monastery, 104,119; maps, 82,105 police, 42-43, 46; Stellers judgment of, 44; voevod has police powers, 8ns political history, research of, 9,10,16,18, 20; on Kamchatka, 19; the Buryats’, 15 porog/porogi (rapids): on the Tunguska, 33 porpoise (pig of the sea): dissected, 160 porsa (fish meal): how eaten, 168; how made, 167,170Ո5 posad (“suburb”), 41,192 posadskie: church built by, 41; pay for dwellings, 87; pay head tax, 92m; smelt iron, 50 Posolsky Monastery, 68,70; area owned, 69, 83; location, 31, 64 Posolsky Monastery Village, 81,83 prikazchik, 73; definition of, 13; Gabichev sent quarter ox, 103; places that have, 72, 89,90,94 progon (road toll), 10,49,117; Steller to receive for travel, 13,14,21 Į 217
promyshlenniks, xv, 2,13,36, 41,50,60; fishing cooperative, 62-64, 69; fishing earnings, 63; not allowed to marry, 39,43; occupations, 64-66, 68-72, no; places of origin, 61; seasonal workers, 61,95-96 prostitution (whoring): causes of, 43, 66; effects of, 43-44, 66,77,91; Steller’s pro posed solutions to, 44 protoki. See river channels provisions (food supplies): costs of, 155,184; endangered by ice, 102; for Krashenninikov, 12; logistics, xii, 11,13-16,18,84, 88,106,108,154; paperwork required for, 6, 163; problems with, 48, 88,154 pud, 63,193; of rye flour, 37 rafts, 13; adrift in ice-choked river, 102; arrival in Yakutsk, 108; given to the vo evod, 114; to be built, 90; used to transport salt, 95 rapids. See porog/porogi, also shivera/shiveri Ray’s aphyam aculeatam: Steller caught, 169 raznochintsi (commoners), 68,90,95 reindeer, 75,114,135,150; as a human name, 147; carrying shamans’ bones, 109; clack ing hooves, 72; jerky, 136; milk used by Tungus, 162 rhubarb: trade with, 40, 45Ո2; where it grows, 129; word prohibited, 49. See also trade river channels (protoki), 101,104,135,192; on the Angara, 31; on the Belaya, 131; on the Okhota, 157; on the Urak, 154,155,156; the Vitim’s, 99 roach, common (plotva): in the Angara, 33, 34 Rozvodnaya: Greater Rozvodnaya, 42, 72; Malaya Rozvodnaya, 39 Russian Orthodox Church, 2; archbishop’s residence, 37, 41; churches in Ust’Ilginskoi Ostrog, 90; in Ust’Kutsk, 94. See also churches in Irkutsk sables: as yasak, 8Ո4,114; hunted, 36; dyed pelts, 54,77; as gift, 104; hunt for, 61, 64, 70,75,100,113-114; quality of pelts where,
110-111
2i8 ļ Index saddlebags, 17,18,108 saddle blankets, 139 saiga, 55,57Ո2 salmon, dog or chum (keta): entering rivers, 169; growing teeth, 166; at mouth of the Uda, 76 salmon, red (nerka, lomok): first to enter riv ers, 168; better than dog salmon, 169. See also iukola, porsa, salt, sour fish salt, 63,64,98m, 121,184; from under ground, 163; salted fish, 34, 62, 65,166-168; salted meat, 62,149; saltworks, 95; trade in, 51; white, exuded, 120 Samoilov, Grigorei, miner, 10,14,106,115; equipment issued to, 23 sandstone, 95,143; gray, 32,126,127; cliffs of red, 85,89 Saturn-Jupiter Saturday, 152,158m schist, 134 Schnurbuch (ledger), 10,15, 21-22, scoter, white-winged (turpany), 113 sculpin, antlered (byki), 169,171Ո12 sea lions, 1,181; fall from cliffs, 77; Steller’s, xi Sea of Okhotsk. See Okhotsk, Sea of sea otters, xi sea raspberries, 163; glowing, 164,172 sea stars, 163; glowing, 76 sea urchins, 163 seals: harbor, 67; around Okhotsk, 165; swimming up the Okhota, 170. See also Baikal seals seeds: cataloged, 163; collected, 130,134,139, 140,141,155,156,162,186; descriptions of, 200; lost in shipwreck, 14; to be collected, 21. See also individual plants Selenga River: fishing in, 31, 64, 69; open for hunting, 68 Selenginsk, 46, 62,108 Senate. See High Governing Senate shamans, 15,86,108,146,151Ո14; Shamanski kamen, 32; Shamanskoi Porog, 33; Steller guided by drumming, 122; predictions, 116 Shcheki, 99,106m sheefish (neima): in the Penzhina, 73; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 shipyards (pristani), 92; at Ust’Kutsk, 95 shivera/shiveri (big rapids): in the Angara, 31; in the Tira, 96; in
the Tunguska, 33 Siberian Office (Sibirskii Prikaz, Siberian Government Authority), 3,8Ո3,8ո4, 5, i8, 40, 42; appoints voevods, 46 silver: Gilyaks use, 75; mines, 51; silver smiths, 65; trade with, 53 Skornyakov-Pisarev, Gregorei Gregor’evich, Commander of Okhotsk, 156,166; known for his vicious temper, 170Ո3; replaced by Devier, 148; wanted impossible link to the Urak, 152 sled dogs. See dogs sleds, 6, to, 77, 81,114; with game for sale, 37; winter provisions brought by, 154; women and children drive, 94 sliuda. See mica slobodas: around Irkutsk, 37,48, 91; defin ition of, 38Ո6; development of, 61. See also individually named sluzhivs, xix, ХХІІП4, 2; Cossacks now called, 60; how employed, 61; to be requisitioned, 10,11 smelt (koriukha), 169 smelters/smelting, 50; 91,112; on Kamchatka, 113; promyshlenniks involved in, 64, 65, 7i 72 93- See also iron Sofronov, Aleksei, Steller’s servant, 114,117, 121,123,142,144 soil: best along the Angara, 37; clay, 131; fer ruginous, 155; loam, 88; mammoth bones in, 16; on top of permafrost, 141; peat, 127; siliceous, 155; universal, 155,159Ո3. See also clay sour cream earth (zemlianaia smetana), 162-163 sour fish (kislaia ryba), 168. See also fish for dog food Spångberg, Martin, Captain, 5,17,19,101, io6n8,152; had told about famines, 162; Steller traveling with, 114,155-158; 160; Steller visited, 105,107,108 specimens, 6, 21,164, i8ini, 195 squirrels, 87; ground, 103; quality of pelts, 110-111 station. See taxation and way stations
Index Steller: as physician, 85,95,114; health, 134, 143,162; medical training, 179-180; peas ant smock, 126,153,158; spectacles, 145 steppe, 8i, 86; Cossacks originated from, 45Ո6; iron under, 71; Koşaya or Sloping, 83; no agriculture on, 88; flowers on, 107, 118ШО, 136m sterlet: in the Aldan, 128; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96 sticklebacks: near Rozvodnaya, 72; sea, Steller caught, 169 sturgeon, common: in Lake Baikal, 68; in the Aldan, 22; in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33,38Ո5; in the Lena, 96; in the Selenga, 64; in the Ural (Yaik), 72 sturgeon, starry: in the Angara, 33; value of, 63 sturgeon glue, 50,54 swallow, bank, 39,92Ո6 syphilis. See French disease taimen, Siberian: in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Uda,76; in the Yudoma, 149 Tatars, 53; Tatar-style stove, 100,104 taxation: collection station, 83; for brandy, 40-41,48, 49; in fishing, 63, 64; in mining, 50; property, 61; Steller for fairer, 91,177. See also head tax and yasak tea, 91,115,145,149,183; brick in the river, 131; cups and pots, 56,163; fireweed used as, 106Ո7; Gilyaks have, 75; green, 57; Northern Labrador, 104,133; Steller en joyed, 119,132,140,154 tench {Uni, doctor fish): caught near Rozvod naya, 72 thunder, 97,123,129; thunderstorm, 141 tobacco, 75, 113-114, 122; Chinese, 40, 43; 50; gift of, 110; exchanged for guide, 123; smuggled as red tea, 50. See also pipe Tobolsk, 5, 52, 60; relationship to Irkutsk, 27, 46; Steller in, 182 Tomsk, 32, 60,180; nickname for towns people, 59; Tatars, 53; Steller in, 180; trade in, 55. 56 trade: Chinese trade goods,
40; impact on people, 59; in pack animals, 56-57; I 219 in pelts, 55; in rhubarb, 40,45Ո2, 49; in tobacco, 114 trails: bad, 81,126,128,132,133,135,143,152, 154; finding it, 117,122,145; fires set to dry them out, 131; good, 120,121,130,140,148; on a mountain, 124; rocky, 154; rudimen tary system of, 7; to the Amga, 123; tree less, 127; twisting, 131 translators. See interpreters trapping. See names of individual animals trout: Dolly Varden (malma), 169; in the Yudoma, 149; species of, 29, 74Ո2 Tungus, 54, 62; desired information about, 15; guide to sour cream earth, 162; hunt ing marine animals, 170; treatment of wounds, 75; use of seal milk and blubber, 68,170; venerating Shamanski kamen, 32 Tunkinski Range, 32-33 Udskoi Ostrog, 19; belugas hunted in, 170 ukases: administrative, 9,11,12,13,14,17, 65, 72; affecting trade, ббпз; concerning the students, 21; of prohibition, 22,39,49, 64; ordering Steller back, 182; Steller recom mends, 87, 92 Upper Angara, 70,71; larger seals around, 68-69; dangerous, 61-62 Urak River, 152,156; fish in, 166,168,169; headwaters of, 153,154; mouth of, 162,163 Uratsky Wharf, 154,155 Ushakov, Moisei, surveyor, 116,117,124,144; his horse died, 129 Ushakovka (Ida) River, 27,39,42, 60; descrip tion of, 34; fish in, 36; smelters on, 65,71 Ust’Ilginskaya (UstTlga, UstTlginskoi Ostrog), 84,90,96; leaving, 93; Pier, 92 Ust’Kutsk (Ust’Kutskoi Ostrog, Ust’Kuth), 90,94.95.96 utesi (cliffs), 85, 89 Verkholensk: description of and cottage industry at, 86; salt taken to, 95 villages. See derevnya, slobodas visits with centenarians, 93,101 Vitimsk
(Vitimskaya Sloboda), 99,100,126; forests around, 111
220 ļ Index wagtails, yellow, 139 Walton, William, Lieutenant, 154; together with Steller, 105,158,163 Waxell, Sven, Lieutenant, 105,158,163; floated fast to Okhotsk, 154 way stations, 66m, 124,153; Posikov’s, 122; second and third on trail to Okhotsk, 120-121; station hand, 117; stationmaster, 122. See also huts, zimov’e whales: Gilyaks hunt, 76; Koryaks to hunt, 18; spermaceti, 18; stranded, 160,162,163, 170 whitefish, broad (chiri)·, in the Penzhina, 73 whitefish, common (sig): in the Amga, 124; in the Angara, 33; in the Ilga, 90; in the Yudoma, 149 whitefish, round (vaiki): in the Ilga, 90 wolves, 59; heard howling, 141 to proceed upon arrival, 15; inhabitants’ character, 120; pleasant location of, 119; rapid plant growth in, 109 Yarmanka: arrived in, 115; horse ran back to, 122 yasak: Chinese do not demand, 75; finances trading with China, 47; quotas estab lished, 3, 8ո4; shady deals with, 91-92, 113-114 Yeniseysk: Cossacks, 60,178; cowhide fac tory in, 55; former province, 46; nickname of townspeople, 59; sensible choice, 32 Yudoma Cross: ice patch between Yuna and, 142; birch growth, 177; brandy for, 112; stay at, 149; transporting provisions to, 154, 155,168 Yudoma River, 148,149,150 Yuna River: arived at, 135: fast current, 130; floods quickly, 129; Mongolian poplar found along, 139; ice sheet at half-way point, 142 yurts: Koryaks’, 109; in Irkutsk province, 46; on the Amga, 124; Russian fishers’, 156; station yurt, 121; wooden, 83. See also names of indigenous peoples Yakov, Steller s servant, 116; pay for the year, 97; let go, 117 Yakuts: burial practices,
76-77,78Ո3,135; Chief Mazarin, 104-105; conductors of caravans, 45Ո3; desired information about, 15,17; chokania (summer festival), 123; lan guage, 10,124,148,168; living ofl՜ the land, 115,116,120; medical practices, 111-112,114; naming their children, 146-147; netting carp, 72; poverty, 128,140; refugees in Gilyak country, 75; smithy, 121; solicited information, 100,121-122,146; stations, 156; superstitions, 73,76,93,94,135,138Ո22,142, 146-147; trading with the Gilyaks, 113-114 Yakutsk: arrival in, 105; climate and weather, 108,118Ո3; dusk during night, 107; how Zaborovskoi, Aleksei Eremeevich, Yakutsk voevod; Steller called on, 105; dinners with, 107,108,110,115 zaimka/zaimki (farm, small village): defini tion of, 34,193; individually named, 72,81, 83, 86, 87,94,95,116,183; near Irkutsk, 34, 36; on the Peledui, 100 zemlianaia smetana. See sour cream earth Zhigani: Steller describes birds from, 108, 111; porsa from, 167 Zhilkina Village: archbishop s beautiful building in, 37, 52 zimov'e/ztmovia (winter huts): definition of, 37m; illustration of, 84,95,193; first on trail, 83; system of, 7. See also huts, way stations Vitim River: mica found on, 64,93 Vladislavish-Raguzinsky, Count Sava Lu kich, 56, 58Ո5 voevods, 3,8n6; in Irkutsk, 47; to assist Steller in Yakutsk, 14-18 volcanoes, 20,131; Windy Mountain, 130 |
| any_adam_object | 1 |
| any_adam_object_boolean | 1 |
| author | Steller, Georg Wilhelm 1709-1746 |
| author2 | Engel, Margritt A. Bunge 1934- Willmore, Karen E. |
| author2_role | trl trl |
| author2_variant | m a b e mab mabe k e w ke kew |
| author_GND | (DE-588)118753401 (DE-588)1053059515 (DE-588)1221754297 |
| author_facet | Steller, Georg Wilhelm 1709-1746 Engel, Margritt A. Bunge 1934- Willmore, Karen E. |
| author_role | aut |
| author_sort | Steller, Georg Wilhelm 1709-1746 |
| author_variant | g w s gw gws |
| building | Verbundindex |
| bvnumber | BV046948043 |
| ctrlnum | (OCoLC)1190873207 (DE-599)BVBBV046948043 |
| era | Geschichte 1740 gnd Geschichte 1739-1740 gnd |
| era_facet | Geschichte 1740 Geschichte 1739-1740 |
| format | Book |
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Engel and Karen E. Willmore</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="264" ind1=" " ind2="1"><subfield code="a">Bloomington, Indiana</subfield><subfield code="b">Indiana University Press</subfield><subfield code="c">2020</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="300" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">xxv, 220 Seiten</subfield><subfield code="b">Illustrationen, Karten, Portraits</subfield><subfield code="c">23 cm</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="336" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">txt</subfield><subfield code="2">rdacontent</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="337" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">n</subfield><subfield code="2">rdamedia</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="338" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">nc</subfield><subfield code="2">rdacarrier</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="500" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Translated from the German</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="520" ind1="3" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">"In the winter of 1739, Georg Steller received word from Empress Anna of Russia that he was to embark on a secret expedition to the far reaches of Siberia as a member of the Great Northern Expedition. While searching for economic possibilities and strategic advantages, Steller was to send back descriptions of everything he saw. The Empress's instructions were detailed, from requests for a preserved whale brain to observing the child-rearing customs of local peoples, and Steller met the task with dedication, bravery, and a good measure of humor. In the name of science, Steller and his comrades confronted horse-swallowing bogs, leaped across ice floes, and survived countless close calls in their exploration of an unforgiving environment. Not stopping at lists of fishes, birds, and mammals, Steller also details the villages and the lives of those living there, from vice-governors to prostitutes. His writings rail against government corruption and the misuse of power while describing with empathy the lives of the poor and forgotten, with special attention toward Native peoples. What emerges is a remarkable window into life--both human and animal--in 18th century Siberia. 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| genre | (DE-588)4076645-7 Reisebericht gnd-content |
| genre_facet | Reisebericht |
| geographic | Sibirien (DE-588)4054780-2 gnd |
| geographic_facet | Sibirien |
| id | DE-604.BV046948043 |
| illustrated | Illustrated |
| index_date | 2024-07-03T15:40:23Z |
| indexdate | 2024-07-10T08:58:19Z |
| institution | BVB |
| isbn | 9780253047786 9780253047779 |
| language | English |
| oai_aleph_id | oai:aleph.bib-bvb.de:BVB01-032356598 |
| oclc_num | 1190873207 |
| open_access_boolean | |
| owner | DE-12 |
| owner_facet | DE-12 |
| physical | xxv, 220 Seiten Illustrationen, Karten, Portraits 23 cm |
| psigel | BSB_NED_20210108 |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateSearch | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | Indiana University Press |
| record_format | marc |
| spelling | Steller, Georg Wilhelm 1709-1746 Verfasser (DE-588)118753401 aut Eastbound through Siberia observations from the Great Northern Expedition Georg Wilhelm Steller ; translated and annotated by Margritt A. Engel and Karen E. Willmore Bloomington, Indiana Indiana University Press 2020 xxv, 220 Seiten Illustrationen, Karten, Portraits 23 cm txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Translated from the German "In the winter of 1739, Georg Steller received word from Empress Anna of Russia that he was to embark on a secret expedition to the far reaches of Siberia as a member of the Great Northern Expedition. While searching for economic possibilities and strategic advantages, Steller was to send back descriptions of everything he saw. The Empress's instructions were detailed, from requests for a preserved whale brain to observing the child-rearing customs of local peoples, and Steller met the task with dedication, bravery, and a good measure of humor. In the name of science, Steller and his comrades confronted horse-swallowing bogs, leaped across ice floes, and survived countless close calls in their exploration of an unforgiving environment. Not stopping at lists of fishes, birds, and mammals, Steller also details the villages and the lives of those living there, from vice-governors to prostitutes. His writings rail against government corruption and the misuse of power while describing with empathy the lives of the poor and forgotten, with special attention toward Native peoples. What emerges is a remarkable window into life--both human and animal--in 18th century Siberia. Due to the secret nature of the expedition, Steller's findings were hidden in Russian archives for centuries, but the near-daily entries he recorded on journeys from the town of Irkutsk to Kamchatka are presented here in English for the first time."--Page 4 of cover Steller, Georg Wilhelm 1709-1746 (DE-588)118753401 gnd rswk-swf Geschichte 1740 gnd rswk-swf Geschichte 1739-1740 gnd rswk-swf Große Nordische Expedition (DE-588)4269009-2 gnd rswk-swf Sibirien (DE-588)4054780-2 gnd rswk-swf Steller, Georg Wilhelm / 1709-1746 / Travel / Russia (Federation) / Siberia Steller, Georg Wilhelm / 1709-1746 / Travel / Arctic regions Steller, Georg Wilhelm / 1709-1746 / Diaries Kamchatskai͡a ėkspedit͡sii͡a / (2nd / 1733-1744) Siberia (Russia) / Discovery and exploration / Early works to 1800 Arctic regions / Discovery and exploration / Early works to 1800 Siberia (Russia) / Description and travel / Early works to 1800 Arctic regions / Description and travel / Early works to 1800 Steller, Georg Wilhelm / 1709-1746 Kamchatskai͡a ėkspedit͡sii͡a Travel Discoveries in geography Arctic Regions Russia (Federation) / Siberia Diaries Early works (DE-588)4076645-7 Reisebericht gnd-content Steller, Georg Wilhelm 1709-1746 (DE-588)118753401 p Große Nordische Expedition (DE-588)4269009-2 s Geschichte 1739-1740 z DE-604 Sibirien (DE-588)4054780-2 g Geschichte 1740 z Engel, Margritt A. Bunge 1934- (DE-588)1053059515 trl wst Willmore, Karen E. (DE-588)1221754297 trl wst Online version Steller, Georg Wilhelm Eastbound Through Siberia Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2020 9780253047830 Digitalisierung BSB München - ADAM Catalogue Enrichment application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000001&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Inhaltsverzeichnis Digitalisierung BSB München - ADAM Catalogue Enrichment application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000003&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Register // Gemischte Register Digitalisierung BSB München - ADAM Catalogue Enrichment application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000005&line_number=0003&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Inhaltsverzeichnis Digitalisierung BSB München - ADAM Catalogue Enrichment application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000007&line_number=0004&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Register // Gemischte Register Digitalisierung BSB München - ADAM Catalogue Enrichment application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000009&line_number=0005&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Inhaltsverzeichnis Digitalisierung BSB München - ADAM Catalogue Enrichment application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000011&line_number=0006&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Register // Gemischte Register |
| spellingShingle | Steller, Georg Wilhelm 1709-1746 Eastbound through Siberia observations from the Great Northern Expedition Steller, Georg Wilhelm 1709-1746 (DE-588)118753401 gnd Große Nordische Expedition (DE-588)4269009-2 gnd |
| subject_GND | (DE-588)118753401 (DE-588)4269009-2 (DE-588)4054780-2 (DE-588)4076645-7 |
| title | Eastbound through Siberia observations from the Great Northern Expedition |
| title_auth | Eastbound through Siberia observations from the Great Northern Expedition |
| title_exact_search | Eastbound through Siberia observations from the Great Northern Expedition |
| title_exact_search_txtP | Eastbound through Siberia observations from the Great Northern Expedition |
| title_full | Eastbound through Siberia observations from the Great Northern Expedition Georg Wilhelm Steller ; translated and annotated by Margritt A. Engel and Karen E. Willmore |
| title_fullStr | Eastbound through Siberia observations from the Great Northern Expedition Georg Wilhelm Steller ; translated and annotated by Margritt A. Engel and Karen E. Willmore |
| title_full_unstemmed | Eastbound through Siberia observations from the Great Northern Expedition Georg Wilhelm Steller ; translated and annotated by Margritt A. Engel and Karen E. Willmore |
| title_short | Eastbound through Siberia |
| title_sort | eastbound through siberia observations from the great northern expedition |
| title_sub | observations from the Great Northern Expedition |
| topic | Steller, Georg Wilhelm 1709-1746 (DE-588)118753401 gnd Große Nordische Expedition (DE-588)4269009-2 gnd |
| topic_facet | Steller, Georg Wilhelm 1709-1746 Große Nordische Expedition Sibirien Reisebericht |
| url | http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000001&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000003&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000005&line_number=0003&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000007&line_number=0004&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000009&line_number=0005&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=032356598&sequence=000011&line_number=0006&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA |
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