Alaska coast

Alaskan arrows like those of the Tungus and Tatars

Editorial contextOn Kayak Island Steller uncovered a covered storage pit full of smoked fish, sweet grass, bark and seaweed cord. Among the goods were arrows much bigger than Kamchatka ones, which he says came close to the arrows of the Tungus and Tatars and were so smooth and black that the owners must have had iron knives. It is a small sign of how Siberian travellers used Tatar gear as their measuring stick.

Among these I also found some arrows which in size far exceeded those of Kamchatka and came close to the arrows of the Tungus and Tatars, very smoothly scraped and painted black, so that one would certainly suppose they had iron tools and knives.

Working translation

Original wording

Unter diesen fand ich auch einige Pfeile, so an Größe die Kamtschatkischen weit übertrafen und denen Pfeilen der Tungusen und Tataren nahe kamen, sehr glatt geschabet und schwarz angestrichen, daß man allerdings eiserne Instrumente und Messer bey ihnen vermuthen sollte.

About Tatars and Tungus (as a comparison); Alaskan coast people