[50] Their nets are made of pack thread, like ours; they purchase it of the Russians: there is another kind however, which they fabricate themselves from nettles, of which they take care to lay up a considerable store. They gather them in autumn, tie them in bundles, and place them under their balagans to dry. When their fishing and harvests are compleated, they prepare their nettles. They slit them, and then strip off the rind expertly with their teeth; the rest they beat and shake till the filaments are separated, and it is fit for spinning. [51] They are castrated like horses, but the mode of performing the operation is different. The Kamtschadales do not extirpate the testicles, but bruise them, and the instrument they make use of is their teeth. Some of them do not survive, and others are crippled and unfit for service. In the mean time it is imagined that equal advantage could not be derived from these animals, if they were permitted to remain in their natural state; it would not be practicable to harness them with females. All the males, however, are not mutilated; a sufficient number is reserved for the preservation of the species, and these are frequently used for hunting. [52] The sledges for baggage are called _narta_, and are drawn by ten dogs. [53] Called _alaki_. [54] This stick is called _oschtol_. [55] The dogs feeling their burthen become lighter, advance with such speed as frequently not to stop till they have exhausted themselves with fatigue, or dashed the sledge to pieces against the trees. [56] The snow began to fall 5 November, and so heavily, that the country was covered almost immediately. But the frost being later, and gusts of wind continuing almost without cessation, the sledges could not conveniently be used till a considerable time after, as will be seen in the sequel. [57] These rackets are called _ligi_. In the northern part of the peninsula they use another sort of racket, called _lapki_, which are shorter, and made of leathern thorns twisted, like the firings of a tennis racket; two small sharp pointed bones are fixed in the bottom, which penetrate the ice, and are a preservative against sliding. [58] A kind of close coach to sleep in, and which is fitted to the sledge. It is like a carriage very common in Russia, called _vezok_; mine was lined with bear's skin, and covered with the skin of the sea wolf. [59] In an ostrog at some distance from Bolcheretsk, I had afterwards an opportunity of considering this subject more fully, and my observations will be found in their proper place.