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Tous laa autras axamplairaa originaux sont filmAs mn commandant par la pramiira paga qui comporta una amprainta d'imprassion ou d'iiiustration at an tarminant par la darniira paga qui comporta una ta!la amprainta. Tha last racordad frama on aach microficha shall contain tha symbol -^^ (moaning "CON- TINUED "). or tha symbol V (moaning "END "). whichavar applias. Un das symbolaa suivants apparaitra sur la darnlAra imaga da chaqua microficha. salon la cas: la symbols — ► signifia "A SUIVRE ". la symbols V signifia "FIN". Maps, platas. charts, ate, may ba filmad at diffarant raduction ratios. Thosa too larga to ba antiraly includad in ona axposura ara filmad baginning in tha uppar laft hand cornar. laft to right and top to bottom, as many framas as requirad. Tha following diagrams illustrata tha mathod: Las cartas, planchas, tablaaux, ate. pauvant Atre filmAs A das taux da reduction diffArants. Lorsqua la documant ast trop grand pour Atro raproduit an un saul clichA. il ast filmA A part^r da I'angla supAriaur gaucha. da gaucha A droita, at da haut an bas. an pranant 9a nombra d'imagas nAcassaira. Las diagrammas suivants idustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 12 3 4 S 6 S4f7«v 264 Hussian America, [July, RUSSIAN AMERICA. ITS PHTSIOAL CIIARACTKRISTIOS AND NATIVE TKlBES. It is doubtful if there be a spot on the globe that can trnly be called useless. An observant itiind may always perceive much that is beautiful, as weU as much that is useful, and we who have voyaged in many distant regions notice this every- where. Neither arctic nor antarctic climes are so barren as generally supposed. Mines of wealth — even if not always similar to what exists in civihzed life — abound in them, and statistics prove that an abundant return is generally found for liberal enterprise in those quarters. Greenland, under the wise administration of the Danish king, is an instance of what that whenever the summit of the moy«- tains which extend in a direction parallel to the coast from the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude to the point of intersection of the one hundred and forty-first degree of west longitude shall prove to be at the distance of more than ten marine leagues from the ocean, the limit between the Brit- ish possessions and the line of co.ost which is to belong to Russia, as abo /e mentioned — that is to say, the liir it to the posses- sions ceded by this Cor.vention — shall be formed by a line parpdel to the winding W the coast, and which shall never ex- ceed the distance of ten marine leagues may be done ; a.id Russian America can therefrom. The western limit, within undoubtedlj'^ become the same, if proper- ly ruled. What the prospects are of mak- ing it not only a useful, but ultimately a valuable acquisition to the United States, may perhaps be gathered from the fol- lowing information concerning it. The boundaries and extent of the new Territory are as follows: Commencing from the southernmost point of the island called Prince of Wales, which point lies in the parallel of 54° 40' north latitude, and between the 131st and 133d oi west longitude, meridian of Greenwich, the said line shall a-^cend to the north along the channel called Portland Channel, so far as the point of the continent where it strikes th»> filly-sixth degree of north lati- tude. From this last-mentioned point the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast as far as the point of inter- section of the one hundred and forty-first degree of west longitude of the same meridian, and finally from the point of intersecting the said meridian line of the one hundred and forty-first degree in its prolongation as *'ar as the Frozen Ocean. With reference to the line of demarcation laid down in the preceding article, it is understood — first, that the island called Prince of Wales Island shall belong wholly to Russia, and now, by this ces- sion,wholly to the United States ; second, which the territories and dominions con- veyed are contained, passes through a point in Behring's Straits on the parallel of sixty-five degrees thirty minutes north latitude, at its intersection by the meri- dian which passes midway between the islands of Krusenstern, or Ignaalook and the island of RatmanofF, or Noonarbook, and proceeds due north without hmita- tion into the same Frozen Ocean. The ^ame western limit, beginning at the same initial point, proceeds thence in a course nearly southwest through Behring's Straits and Behring's Sea, so as to pavss midway between the northwest point of the island St. LaAvrence and the south- east point of Cape Choukottki to the me- ridian of 172° west longitude. Thence, from the intersection of that meridian in a southwesterly direction, so as to pass midway between the Island of Attou and the Copper Island of the Kormanddorski couplet or group in the North Pacific Ocean, to the meridian of 103 degrees west longitude, so as to include in the territory conveyed the whole of the Aleu- tian Islands east of that meridian. Taking the coast-line to begin with, there are numerous islands fringing the mainland, with several excellent harbors and places of shelter. Inside of these islands, vessels can navigate with perfect safety to the Aleutian Archipelago, and > < h ' i BiHHE . >w-ii»nmi-^ 1867.] JRussian America. 255 i < then<;e, in the summer season, northward through Behring's Strait, round Point Barrow to the Mackenzie River, with far less obstruction from ice, than on the east about Hudson or Baffin Bay. In- deed, Ught drauglit vessels may coast the whole line of territory, with rarely any great impediment, and, as the Mackenzie is navigable for 1 000 miles, for even large ships, so may the Colville River yet be found capable of conveying craft on its waters near to the Yukon, or Kvihpak. On the southern coant, the scenery is magnificent. Consely timbered moun- tains, with several fine rivers and noble inlets breaking through the gaps, meet the eye. The Steeken, or St. Francis River, in latitude, 50^" is the first stre»m we meet of any importance, and is navi- gable for nearly 200 miles. Gold htis been ibund in its neighborhood, but whether sufficient to pay for working there, until better settled, is a question. Game and fish, however, are abuadant, as indeed may be found throughout the whole ter- ritory. Beyond the Steeken are met several other rivers coming from the interior, and some of them connecting by lakes. These streams and water-channels are import- ant, and future exploration will no doubt discover them to be far more valuable than as known now. Indeed, the wiiole system of water communication in that region is better than ordinarily supposed. The British Hudson Bay Company has long leased the strip of land on the sea- coast between Fort Simpson and Cross Sound. It runs inland for about 30 miles, and was originally rented at 2,000 otters a year, but has latterly been paid for at a sura of £1,500 sterling per annum. New Archangel (Sitka), the principal Russian settlement, is on the Island of Baranor, and has a fine harbor, in lati- tude, 57i°, longitude 137|°. Here, the mean temperature in summer is 57°, and in winter 34". Indeed, the whole coast of Northwest America is very much milder than on the Atlantic board in the same latitudes. An examination of the charts of Professor Dove will show that 41° Fah. is the equal annual mean tem- perature about Sitka, 30^° for th© mean annual temperature just north of St* Elias, which has its isociiimal line of 32'' running to New York ; 32" the mean annual temperature in latitude G4" ; and 23° in latitude G9' N. With reference to tlie southern por- tion of these territories, the Ibllowing ex- tract from official reports in tlie British House of Commons, shows its value : "At Fort Simpson, on Mackenzie River, five hundred miles from sea-coast, on a large island of deep alluvial soil, farming was unusaally successful. There were regular crops of barley, regular cattle, and a very good gjirden. Tliat is in about latitude 62. Barley grew there very well indeed." —Lefroy H. B. Report, 18, 24G. Beyond the Peninsula of Aliaska there are fine rivers running into the sea from the far interior, but the most noble of them all is the Kvihpak, which enters the ocean by several mouths south of Cape Romans, off Norton Sound. This splen- did stream is navigable for steamers full a thousand miles, where it receives the Rat or Porcupine River, flowing from near the lower part of the Mackenzie, and the Yukon coming from the south-east. The Hudson Bay Company have a port called Fort Yukon, at the junction of the Rat and Yukon with the Kvihpak. About the region of Fort Yukon, travelers and official evidence prove that there is min- eral wealth to be found greater in value than all the returns of the fur trade. Bar- ley is grown there, and also at Ft. : t Nor- man, in latitude 64" 31', where oacs and potatoes have likewise been raised. But in- dependent of all this, the valuable whale- fishery to the north of Russian America, and about the mouth of the ^lackenzie River, deserves particular notice. The Mackenzie, it is true, belongs to British dominion, but as it is a river oi' g"3at im- portance, navigable, without obsu action, to the Great Slave Lake, one thousand miles from the sea, it commands especial attention. As for the whale-fishery, an official navy report from Washington a few years back, stated that " a ♦rade had sprung up by the capture of whalos to the north of Behring Strait, of more value to 44391 4 256 Russian America. [July, the Unltcfl States than all the commerce ■with what is called the East, and in two years there had been added to the na- tional wealth, from this source alone, more than eight million dollars." With reference to the minerals, Sir John Richardson says: " I have little doubt of many of the accessible districts abound- ing in metallic wealth of far greater value than all the returns which the fur trade can ever yield." In fact, the whole of the Mackenzie River Valley — and from that testimony we can equally judge of the other localities west — is a mass of min- erals, the banks of the river being com- posed of deep beds of bituminous shale as- sociated with alum and beds of iron clay. The soil is, in parts, actually plastic with the transfusion of mineral tar. Mr, Is- bister often drove a pole into one of the natural pits in which it occurs, ten feet deep without finding any bottom. The ri/er itself is of great depth, and will ad- mit vessels of the largest class. On some of the newly-discovered is- lands, northward, the natives were found to have all their implements made of cop- per, their spears and arrows barbed with the same, the ore being remarkably fine. At the south-east corner of Norton Sound, upon a peninsula, is situated Fort St. Michael, or Michaelowski, a principal Russian port, and several other ports are on the Kvihpak, the Darabin, and along the coast. * The northern part of the territory, about the coast, is low and full of small lakes or pools of fresh water to a distance of about fifty miles from the shore, where the sur- face becomes undulating and hilly, and, further south, mountainous. The level part is a peat-like soil covered with moss and tufty grass, interspersed with brushwood, perfectly free from rocks and stones, and only a little gravel is occasion- ally seen in the beds of rivers. The bones of the fossil elephant and other animals are found in many localities, particularly in Escholtz Bay. The land is intersected by several riv- ers which frequently unite, or so connect by channels, that large boats can go from bay to bay without risking the sea pass- age. Four of the largest of these rivers take their ri.se far to the south-east, in a mountainous country, inhabited by the In- dians. The most northernly is the Kang'- e-a-nok, which, alter receiving on its right bank two tributaries, flows northward, and, at about one hundred miles from the sea, divides into two streams, the one known as the Colville, which is two miles wide at its mouth, and the other as the Tu-tu-a'-ling, or Kok. This latter flows through the level country nearly due west into Wainwright Inlet, ninety miles south- west of Point Barrov , The Mu-na-tak is the next large river, and has its source close to that of tlie Col- ville, going to the west, direct through the country until, with a curve, it falls into Hotham Inlet, Kotzebue Sound. By the natives, it is considered their most import- ant river, as boats can ascend it and be transported across the intervening land to the Colville in two days. The river Ko'-wak is next in size and importance, and is prized for a few min- eral substances procured in iLs neighbor- hood. The Si'-la-wik comes next, and empties into a large lake which communi- cates with the eastern extreme of Ho- tham Inlet. This lake is twenty-five miles in length from east to west, and fifteen in breadth from north to south, of an irreg- ular oval form. Large pine-trees border these rivers in many parts, especially at their embouch- ures. Some that were measured had a girth of sixty inches at not less than six feet from the ground. • -» There are many settlements of natives at, or near these rivers, and along the coast; but the principlil are at Point Bar- row, Cape Smyth, Point Hope, and Cape Prince of Wales. This latter, or close to it, at King-ing, or King-a-ghee, is the great trading-place with the Asiatic or Tehoutki tribes who after midsummer, cross the straita in boa from East Cape to the Diomede Islands and thence to the Cape. From there, aft«r trading with the people belonging to the Southern Dis- tricts, the boats pro ed along the shore of Kotzebue Sound until the high land near Cape Krusenstern comes into view, 1867.] Russian America. 257 when tliey stof r by it for Se-sti-a-ling, nt the mouth of the Nu-nn-tak, At tliis place, townrds the latter end of July, peo- ple from all the coasts and rivers, to a preat distance, meet, and an extensive barter takes {ilar-e amidst feasting, danc- ing, and other enjoyments. From Se-su-a-ling the Nu-na-tak peo- ple now carry the goods into the interior, and finally descend the Colville, where the tribes from Point Barrow on the west, and others from tli(; east, meet for a fresh scene of barter anblack foxes, the beaver, muskrats, and lemmings. In summer, birds are very numerous, particularly geese in the interior, and ducks on the coast. Black-lead, and several varieties of stones for making whetstones, arrow- heads, labrets, and for striking fire, are produce of the land and articles of barter. In the summer months the available re- sources of game, salmon, whales, seal, etc., as well as fruit, are enormous. Voy- agers have occasionally obtained large quantities for the merest trifle in compar- ison, and Sir Edward Belcher states that, on two visits, the results of bartering were as follows : For 1 cutter load of salmon — about one ton — was given ilb tobacco. 1 " " eider duck— i ton— " ilb " 610 lbs. solid venison " 1 knife = to 4 pence. 7 haunches venison " 1 string beads = 1 cent. 1 sealskin full of reindeer fat = to 60 lbs. i ,, ,„ , o 1 > " 1 Id tobacco. 2 very large swans ) The same officer remarks: "All their clothes, finery — indeed, I may add, very delicate embroidery — are executed by the women, and our rnusemus attest the beau- ty of their designs, as well as the extreme delicacy of their manufacture. Can we then allow for a moment, that males as well as females, possessing such taste and aptitude for invention, are not in a condi- tion for improvement as well as civiliza- tion ? Indeed, if they are not tampered with by the introductioTj of ardent spirits, who shall assert that at no very remote pe- riod those people may not be furnishing for our Pacific commerce, in Japan and Northern China, products of considerable value, as regards mercantile transactions, for exchange of goods. Salmon may be Vol. v.— 17 ' " cured, furs obtained, and minerals of val- ue to the Japanese, taken to their south- ern markets. We have not as yet ascer- tained from what source plumbago and other minerals found among them are procured, simply because we have not ex- hibited to them the objects in their crude state." Their ingenuity and skill are indeed very remarkable, and vie with civilized life. The chert, or flinty weapons, are in general use, and the material ia obtained in many parts along the coast. At Cape Lisburne, chert has been taken from the vein, and manufactured by the natives under the inspection of Sir E. Belcher. This cape is about sixty feet high, compos- ed of a grayish dolomite, in which many 258 Russian America. [July, i fossil encrinitos, corals, and Crustacea arc found. Near the base, aliout Jbur ft'ct above the Kea-lovel, a vein of chert exists on wliich the friable stone lies. Tlie.xe Esquimaux are evidently of Tar- tar origin, and no doubt migrated from Asia about the time of their wars in China during the ninth and tenth centuries. They are distinct from the Indiana, with whom they not infrequently have severe quarrels. These latter, however, are far from being a friendly people, and one or two ma.ssacres committed by them on the Russian settlers and strangers, show bar- barous treachery not to be ignored in dealing with them. Not so the Esqui- maux. In general, they are well disposed and willing to receive friendly advances made to them. The exploring voyagers all, as a rule, speak favorably of their behavior. To themselves they apply the word Enyuin — people — the plural of e-nyiik, a person of any nation, prefixing, when necessary, the name of their nuna^ or country, as, Nu-wting-meun, that is, Nu- wtik En-yu-in, Noowook or Point Barrow people : Ing-ga-lan-da-meum, English- men. Of their language we have not space to say much here. There is hardly any dif- ference between that of the Esquimaux on the eastern parts of America, and those about Beliring Strait, and the Tchoutski of the coast. Interpreters born on the shores of Hudson Bay have no difficulty in conversing with the natives of North- west America by the sea, Moravian mis- sionaries of Labrador, also, can speak with them. They divide the year into four seasons, as follows : O'-Jci-ak, including October, Novem- ber, and December. , O'-ki-ok, which is January, February, and March. O-pen-rak'-sak, April, May, and part of June. 0-pen-rak', the remaining part of June, together with July, August, and Septem- ber. They have also particular designa- tions for the successive moons, to the : number of twelve, the setting in of win- ter being the com.noncomcnt of their year. For denoting time they also have ex- pressions equivalent to yesterday, to-day, to-morrow, morning, afternoon, evening, etc., but these are by no mc^ans very pre- cise; and in speaking of evenis a year or more past, they use two terms, ai-pd-ne, and al-rd-ne, in the olden time, or indefi- nitfily. The following gives a sample of a few words belonging to their language : One — Ah-tou'-zuk. Two — I'-pah. Three— Il'-lahn. , , Four- -Tcheet'-ah-mahn. Five— Car -yee-mahn. Six — Ah-min'-ran, or Ar-wing'-ahng. Seven — I'-pahng. Eight — Il'-lahng. Nine— Tcheot'-ali-mahng. Ten — Cal'-yeo-mahng. It will be observed that seven, eight, nine, and ten are almost identical with two, three, four, five, and it is doubtful if they have any words for numbers over six. All quantities above that are given by repetition. A man — Mah'-tah-lok. A woman — Ar'-nak. A brother — Noo-kahng'. A sou — Noo-koo'-pe-ach. A daughter — E-mun'-ha. Mamma — Ah-ma'h-mah. Water— E-ma'ak. . .., j I'ire — Nah-ne'-ach. , ., > Earth — Noo'-nah. . < . . The Sun— Tzeer-ka-nok. ..,, Moon — Taht'-koouk. ,, - * Wood— Ki'- yoke. Stone — Ko'-yoke. Ice — Noo-woo-ra'-me-oht Copper — Kar-no-je'-ach. A Pipe — Koyn'-gah. A Boat — Ung'-yak. To sleep — Tchin'-ning. To awaken — Tche-kin'-ning. To eat— Ne-go'-yok. The accents denote more emphasis on the syllable. Strangers, without an interpreter, may, however, soon form an acquaintance with them. On first meeting they will pause ,V.' V it ^ 4 1807.] Rasaian America. 259 ^ \ awhile to observe if you are friendly; then, advancing with their hand.s held up at an angle of 45'* over their head, they will .slowly lower them and make rapid |>iu«.ses over the stomaeh as a salutation. If this is returned, they will approach, and lixing tins forehead against the vis- itor's, use it as a ful(,TUin to rnh noses — a very expressive, if not agreeable cere- mony. Then follows a desire to trade, and it is generally understood that for everything given something nuist be re- turned. If a free gift is made, wrong is often suspected ; and it is always better to bestow or leceive an article, no matter how trifling, in return, than to ofler or take gratuitously. The stature of these people is not so dwarfish iis supposed. Some are 5 fl. 10 in., and rarely any under 5 ft. 1 in. They are roburst, muscular, and active, their chief strength being in the back. Their coarse, sooty black hair is cut in an even line across the forehead, cropped close on the crown, but kept long at the back and ears. The color of the akin is a light yel- lowish brown, growing darker, and soon weatherbeaten, as age advances. They have remarkably firm and regular white teeth when young, but towards middle age they have lost their enamel, and be- come black, or are worn down to the gums. In general, they have a good-hu- mored expression of countenance, but tat- tooing and lip ornaments much disfigure them. Their dresses are made of the skins of deer and seals. The upper garments are double, the inner one having the hair of the skin next to the body, and the outer one in the reverse direction. The coat or frock has a hood attached to it for tlraw- ing over the bead, and a skirt hanging down to the calf of the leg in a peak,. Their trowsers descend low in the leg, and they often wear two pair of sealskin boots, with the hairy side of both turned inwards. The dwsllings of these people are, in summer, good, substantial tents, made with deerskins, and in winter, log- houses, constructed of driftwood, which is generally abundant on the Arctic shores, and collected in large quantities by the nativc.«». The outline of the house is fonned by digging a pit about twelve feet square and ten in depth, and driving vertical piles within these lines. These servo for the support of long spars laid obliquely, and which, resting on their vertical ends, ami ballasted with earth on their butts, form a four-sidc'l pyramiilal roof, leaving an opening at the sunmiit about eighleun inches scpiare, which serves as a window as well as ventilator. This is closed, when re«iuisiti', by a Irame, on which the large skin of the paunch of the whale or seal is stretched, excluding the air and cold, and yet aflbrding a pleasant, subdued light, about equal to ground glass. The flooring is formed of split timber nicely smoothed, the interstices filled or caulked internally and externally with moss. Over all, out- side, the hut is coated with bark, fine brushwood and turf. The entrance to them is constructed on a scientific principle. It is a passage of about twenty or twenty -five feet long, from the south, and from four to six feet below the flooring. This passage is at first six feet high, and descends gradually until about five feet below the surface of the ground, becoming low and narrow before it terminates beneath the floor of the hut. Near its middle, on one side, branches off a recess, ten to twelve feet long, with a conical roof open at the top, forming an apartment which serves as a cookhou.se; and on the other side is often a similar place, used as a store or clothes- room. The youst is entered by a round aperture in the floor, so that a person has to descend into the passage, crawling along it, and then ascend into the room, the outer entrance being generally closed by a slab of ice. On each side the room, bed-places are formed away from the entrance, and on either side is an oil-burner, or " fire-place," having a slender rack of wood suspended over it, on which articles of clothing are placed to dry, also a block of snow to melt and drip into a large wooden vessel. Beneath the last, again, are other vessels for different purposes, some of them fre- quently containing skins to undergo prep- aration for being dressed. These vessels 4 1 III M ! il II t r 260 Rxissian America, [July, are oaoh niftde of a thin board of the breadth rc(itiired, bent into the form of a hoop, and the ends aewed togcthorneatly with strips of whalebone, the bottom be- ing retained in itn place by a score like the end of an ordinary cask. The oil-l)urner, or lamp, is an article deservinj» mention. This )amp is a flat stone of a peculiar shape, three to four and a half feet long, and four inches thick, pointed at the ends by the union of the two unequally convex sides, somewhat like the gibbous moon. The upper sur- face is hollowed to the depth of three- quarters of an inch, to contain the oil, leaving merely a thin lip all round, and several narrow ridges dividing the hol- low part, both lengthwise and transverse- ly. It is placed on two horizontal pieces of wood, fixed in .'ha side of the hut, about a foot from thfi floor. Not only a good light, but a great degree of heat, is produced by these lamps, and it is seldom that the temperature of the room is under 70° Fah. Great care is taken to keep it trimmed, and no offensive degree of smoke arises, though the olfactory nerves are gener ,luted by other scents any- thing 0, -reeable. Captain TroUope, when describing the dwelling-places of the Esquimaux he en- countered during a journey to Kingaghee, says : " The interior was really clean and cheerful. It was a spacious room, twenty feet square, with brilliant lights in troughs of seal oil, the wicks, formed of moss, placed in a row at the edge, and fed by a piece of blubber hanging within reach of the flame. The light was excellent. I was reminded of the jets of gas often seen in shop windows ; and the heat was far more than I could have believed." The Esquimaux seem to be particularly fond of dancing ; and the tambourine is, apparently, their only approach to what we should call music. It is a thin skin (intestine of a seal), well stretched on a circular frame of wood, and beat against a stick. On one occasion, when several of the natives were on board the Plover, a flute was played by an officer. This greatly astonished them. They could not comprehend how the sounds were pro- duced, and it wa.s highly amusing to the sailors to see one of the most intelligent of the Esquimaux, who fancied there was some trick practised, examine the fingers and lips of the musician to find out the deceit. On another occasion, Captain Maguire permitted several of the natives, who had evinced a friendly disposition, to enter the vessel, and witness some of the amusements going on amongst the crew. "Being made," says the Captain, " to seat themselves round the deck, the entertainment commenced by serving each native with a little tobacco; then our musical instruments (a violin, corno- pean, fijll belief that no twin'- gak (or spirit) would stop at a place wiiero he had received such bad trealniont. but would depart to some other region, from which, on being deU'jted, he would be driven away in a similar inaniier. The wonuin are more poetically super- stitious than the men. The firmanuMit aliovo, they consider to be filletl with fiery bodies, as j)roved in their estimation by the shooting stars, which they look upon as [)ortions thrown offby fixed ones. They form them into groups, and give tlumi luunes, many of which they explain. And here again the women show more intel- lectinil powijr than the men, being better istronomers as well as geographers. T!ie star Aldebaran, with the cluster of III Ilyades and other smaller ones around, are • I'.led Pa-chukh'-lu-rin — " the sharing oiit" of food; the chief star representing a Polar Bear just killed, and the others the hunters around, i)reparing to cut up their prize, and give each hunter his por- tion. The three stars in Orion's Belt are three men who were carried away on the ice to the southward, in the dark winter. They were, for a long time, covered with snow, but at length, perceiving an open- ing above them, they ascended further and fiirther, until they became fixed among the stars. Another group is called the " house-building," and represents a few people engaged in constructing a winter hut. Invisible spirits people the earth, the air, and the sea. Some are good, some bad. Sometimes they are seen, and resemble the upper half of a man, but are likewise in many other forms. Ghosts they be- lieve in. Once two young girls, going from a ship, in the short twilight of a win- ter's day, turned back in breathless haste on seeing a sledge set up on end near the path to the village. They fancied the sledge was an evil spirit. They believe in spiritual influences, as may be inferred from the following: A man was once carried away by the ice, during the time one of the exploring ships was in the vicinity. His wife then had a long, thin thong of seal-skin stretched in four or five turns around the walls of her 264 Russian America, [July, \ I ? trit li i! i! hut, and anxiously watched it, night and day, until she heard of her husband's fate. Their impression is that, so long as the person watched for is alive and moves about, his twin'-gak (spirit) causes the cord to vibrate, and when at length it hangs slack and vibr; 'es no longer, he is sup- posed to be dead. This wife, having heard of the movements of a magnet suspended by a thread to the ship's observatory, sent to inquire if it had any connection with her husband's case. Thunder is rare in their locality, but, when it occurs, they say it is caused by a man-spirit who dwells, with his family, in a tent far away to the north. He is an ill-natured fellow, who sleeps most of his time, and, when he wakes up, he bids his children go out and make thunder and lightning, by shaking inflated skins and waving torches. They do not entertain any clear idea of a future state of existence, nor can they apparently imagine that a person alto- gether dies. The soul is a twin-gak, they say, seated in the lungs, and from it em- anates all thoughts, which, as they rise, the tongue gives utterance to. Some of tJiem consider a man has/o«rtwin'-gaks in his breast, and others that, wherever a man went, there was, in the ground be- neath him, his familiar spirit, which moved as he moved, and was only severed from him in death. They say the body sleeps, and the spirit descends into the earth, to associate with those which have gone be- fore, and subsists on bad food, such as roots, stones, and mosquitoes. In order not to offend the spirits of the departed, their bodies are wrapped in skins, and laid with the head to the east. As liis clothes, and other portions of property he habit- ually used, including the sledge on which he was carried, would bring ill-luck to any one else who took them, tliey are left with the body, in a torn or broken state ; and the family to which he belonged keep within the hut for five days, not daring to work, lest the spirits should be offended. They believe death will happen to any one infringing this custom. Diseases are twin'-gaks, and so hurtful do they think the touch of a corpse that they will not smoke from the same pipe, nor drink out of the same cup, with any one who was a near relative of the deceased, until after a period of purification. Of the Indians, it is related that some of them are very savage and cruel, loving deeds of nuirder simply for the sportof killing. But these we believe; to belong more to the interior tribes, for many in- stances are recorded where the Indian is very different to this, and may be con- sidered perfectly trustworthy. The fol- lowing illustrates this : " The printed slips of paper delivered by the officers of H. M. S. Plover, on the 25th of April, 1854, to the Rat Indians, were received 27th June, 1854, at the Hudson Bay Company's establishment. Fort Youcon, supposed latitude, 66" N., longitude, 7° 55' W. The Rat Indians are in the habit of making periodical trading excursions to the Esquimaux along the sea-coast. They are a harmless, inoffen- sive set of Indians, ever ready and will- ing to render every assistance they can to the whites." Still there are other tribes who have often proved very ferocious. These belong to the Koolooch group, which comprise thirteen tribes, and abide west of the Rocky Mountains, numbering about forty- five thousand souls. Some of these In- dians, especially the Kok-you-kons, are considered revengeful, fierce, and blood- thirsty. It was a portion of them that fell upon and murdered the Governor, em- ployes, Esquimaux villagers, and an Eng- lish oflioer, at the Russian port of Darabiu, in February, 1851. But the fault does not lie with the Red Men. Sir Edward Bel- cher has well observed " that civilization might be materially facilitated were the aborigines not bound down by the iron hand of Russian dominaiion." This, alas ! has betn too true, not only of Russia, but of the Hudson Bay Company's rule also ; and, now that the poor native tribes are to have a new and more enterprising Power to reign over them, let us hope their better qualities will be drawn out, and the future prove more beneficial to their unfortunate race. or drink out e who was a until after a .\"? ' y' -4,, / t. <" ,\ V. 's -i. . ^7 0> V/^ .,! 1 V V 1 ',* /.►v" «- < "H ' ' ■>, 'V ' t ,h ♦v/ '.V' *- ^ ^ ^ >» y-r^C ■ ♦: it'' k ^ * r» M,r \ Vjc^ - Yt * ^?v, • -^' ^ I - 'i. .^X ^^S^S4:^. i ^t i -