tchouktchis

Updated: May 9, 2025

The idiom spoken by the sedentary Tchouktchis has great affinity with that of the Esquimaux, whom they also resemble in their mode of building their huts and leather boats, and in the instruments they use. Lütke did not see many Reindeer Tchouktchis, so that he could add nothing to the information obtained by his predecessors.

Jules Verne - Celebrated Travels and Travellers: Part III. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century

During one of these visits, the captain met with a strange adventure. He had been for several days on a friendly footing with the Tchouktchis, whose knowledge of the people and customs of Russia he endeavoured to increase. "These natives," he says, "were friendly and polite, and endeavoured to pay back our jokes and tricks in our own coin.

Jules Verne - Celebrated Travels and Travellers: Part III. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century

He was of opinion, however, that they had been painted in unfairly gloomy colours, and that their turbulence and wildness had been grossly exaggerated. The sedentary Tchouktchis, generally called Namollos, spend the winter in sheds, and the summer in huts covered with skins. The latter usually each serve for several families.

Jules Verne - Celebrated Travels and Travellers: Part III. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century

He was sure that the land in the north was inhabited, because a dead whale had once been washed on to Aratane Island with spears tipped with slate in its flesh, and the Tchouktchis never used such weapons. These facts were very curious, and they increased Wrangell's desire to penetrate to the unknown northern districts; but the truth of all the rumours was not verified until our own day.

Jules Verne - Celebrated Travels and Travellers: Part III. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century

This includes two races, one nomad, like the Samoyedes, called the Reindeer Tchouktchis; the other, living in fixed habitations, called the sedentary Tchouktchis. The mode of life, the physiognomy, and the very language of these two races differ.

Jules Verne - Celebrated Travels and Travellers: Part III. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century

His mouth became full of blood, and he finally cut a piece of his tongue off, and held the piece out in his hand. Here the curtain fell, probably because the skill of the professor of legerdemain could go no further. The people inhabiting the north-east corner of Asia are known under the general name of Tchouktchis.

Jules Verne - Celebrated Travels and Travellers: Part III. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century