Curiosity led me to ask him a thousand questions. He answered with a shrewdness and sagacity that I had not observed in any of his countrymen. The being able to talk with him without the assistance of an interpreter, rendered his conversation more valuable, and during my short stay at Kaminoi it was a source of instruction and amusement to me. Of the various topics upon which we discoursed, that of religion was the most interesting. Though equally informed respecting the Russian and the Koriac mode of worship, he in reality professed neither. He seemed disposed however to be baptized, and only waited till he was better instructed upon certain points which he did not comprehend. Full of admiration at the sublimity of the Christian morals, and the majestic pomp of its external worship, he acknowledged that nothing could give him a greater desire to become a convert to it; but the imperious severity of some of our religious rites[23], the uncertainty of celestial happiness, and particularly the idea of a God threatening eternal torments, filled him with inquietude and dismay. With all its visions and all its absurdities, the religion of his country, he said, offered him at least more hope than fear; its punishments were confined to the present world, and it promised him a recompence in the next; the evil spirit could only torment him during his life, and happiness awaited him at his death. Agitated by these considerations, his mind floated in continual doubt and perplexity. He dared neither abjure, nor continue stedfast in the faith of his fathers. He blushed at its errors, yet his heart cherished them. The simplicity with which he avowed his irresolution, interested me the more, as I could discover in his conversation and in his heart, an uncommon fund of virtue, and a singular love of truth. To fix his wavering mind, it would have been first necessary to clear away the prejudices that obscured it, and which had originated from the false principles that he had imbibed. Any other person would perhaps have undertaken the talk. I was deterred from it by the fear of not succeeding in my attempt, from the short time I should be able to spend with him. He arrived at Ingiga the day after me, as he had promised, and rendered me very considerable services by his endeavour to furnish all the information respecting his country that I desired, and to supply me with what I wanted for the continuance of my journey.