Big Four; Big Father; Alaskan terms (1741-1742)

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BIG FOUR

Big Four  (Denali National Park, Alaska)--moose, caribou, wolf, brown bear
Big Five (Kruger National Park, South Africa)--buffalo, rhino, elephant,
lion, leopard

   I will be in Alaska for about eight days, beginning June 25.  Denali
appears to pump its "big four" as Africa does its "big five" animals.

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BIG FATHER

A JOURNEY TO ALASKA IN THE YEAR 1868:
BEING A DIARY OF THE LATE EMIL TEICHMANN
edited with an introduction by his son Oskar
Argosy-Antiquarian Ltd., New York
1963

Pg. 47:  The little town, which on our previous visit had been so quiet, was
now somewhat excited by the arrival of a delegation consisting of three
Indian chiefs fromj Eastern Oregon, who were about to make the long journey
to Washington in order to lay before the "Big Father" (as they call the
President) complaints about the non-delivery of the supplies of blankets and
foodstuffs which they has hitherto received regularly, to carry them through
the winter months.

Pg. 112:  A this time the majority of the "Bucks" (or men) were away on a
fishing expedition to the River Nass...

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JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE WITH BERING, 1741-1742
by Georg Wilhelm Steller
edited and with an introduction by O. W. Frost
translated by Margritt A. Engel and O. W. Frost
Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA
1988

   I don't know what date OED wants to give this, but it has tons of terms.

Pg. 38:
1793  Peter Simon Pallas's edition of Steller's journal, issued in St.
Petersburg.
1925  First complete English translation of Steller's journal by Leonhard
Stejneger, based on Pallas's edition.

Pg. 65:  ...leftover _iukola_, or dried fish...
Pg. 65:  ...blue mussels or _musculi_...

Pg. 67:  _Lukoshki_, or receptacles made of bark...

Pg. 91:  ...Greenland pigeons, sea parrots, and _michagatkas_.
Pg. 91:  Of fish, we saw _malma_ and _ramsha_.

Pg. 93:  Excepting the lingonberries and black crowberries (or _shiksha_)
found here abundantly, the plants of greatest use to us were the magnificent
antisorbutic plants, such as _Cochlearia_, _Lapathum folio cubitali_,
_Gentiana_, and other cresslike plants that I gathered only for my use and
the Captain-Commander's.

Pg. 120:  ...a diver, called _starik_, came flying aboard ship at nighttime.

Pg. 129:  ...partly slaying them with an ax, partly stabbing them with a
Iakut _palma_.

Pg. 142:  ...Luka Alekseev's yurt.
("Yurt" is also on two other pages, and is listed in the index--ed.)

Pg. 143:  Instead, every day we fried fresh Siberian _kolaches_, or cakes, in
seal or whale oil and finally in manatee fat.
(OED has "kolach" as a Czech word, not a Russian one.  OED's first citation
is 1918, when it was coined by novelist Willa Cather.  Boy, this is bad--ed.)

Pg. 147:  The nursing otters, which because of their poor pelts are called
_medvedki_, or young bears, can be compared at all times with a nursing lamb
because of their tenderness, both roasted and boiled.

Pg. 156:  Afterwards Lieutenant Waxell invited each and all to his dwelling,
and in the absence of other beverages entertained us with Mongolian
_saturan_, or tea soup, with flour roasted in butter.
("Saturan" is not in OED?--ed.)

Pg. 227:
   Glossary
Terms below are defined as Steller used them.
ADJUNCT...
AMBAR (Russian).  Structure for storing supplies, including food.  The
underground structure Steller found on Kayak Island (Chapter 2) he also
called a _cellar_.  Underground swellings on Kamchatka, the Aleutians, and
along the Alaska coastline were called _barabaras_ (Kamchadal).
ARSHIN (Russian).  28 inches.
BAIDAR (Russian).  Large, open, skin-covered, wood-framed boat rowed with
oars.  The Aleut skinboat Steller described (Chapter 5) became known as a
_baidarka_ or _kayak_ (Aleut); it is portable, has a deck with a hatch, and
is propelled by a single paddle with a blade at each end.
CAPTAIN-COMMANDER...
COSSSACK (Tatar).  Any hired person, or soldier or sailor, on RUssia's
frontier.
ELL (Old English)...
FATHOM (English)...
FLEET MASTER...
GALLIOT (Latin)...
GEODESIST (Greek)...
MILE, Dutch or German...
Pg. 228:
NOS (Russian).  Cape, peninsula; literally "nose."
OSTROG (Russian).  Fortified settlement.  In his _Beschreibung von dem Lande
Kamtschatka_, Steller applied the term to any settlement, whether Russian for
or native village, on Kamchatka.
PACKET BOAT...
PROMYSEL (Russian).  A hunt.  In SIberia and the North Pacific, a hunter,
trapper, or trader was known as a _promyshlennik_.
PUD (Russian).  36 pounds.
SLUZHIV (Russian).  Low-ranking government employee, civilian or military.
VERST (Russian).  0.66 English statute miles.
YAWL (Dutch).