jA^t:>., ."?' ./'^ -:^^ /I* /^i! TRIP TO ALASKA OF WHAT WAS SEEN AND HEARD DURINC SUMMER CRUISE IX ALASKAX WA TERS BY GEORGE WAIiDMAN UNITED STATES TREASURY AGENT AT THE SEAL ISLANDS Sax Fiiancisjco SAMIT.L CARSON & CO. PUBLISIIEllS VX) SUTTKR Srr.KKT BOSTON LEK AND SHKI'AllD ISS.4 r^ (*, F' '- Copyright, 1884, Hv Sami'i:i, Cakson'. All Itifilits liesfrred. A lliU'lX) ALASKA. WLF 4in. Vi i^\ CONTENTS. I. II. \ III. IV. V. VI. VII. X '^ n VIII. IX. X. XL XII. XIII. XIV. ^ XV. XVI. XVII. o XVIII. XIX. - XX. ^ XXL XXIL XXIII. XXIV. San Francisco to Nanaimo .... 1 It Rains 13 J'oLi.owiNG Vancouver's Wake ... 22 Canoes and Cakved Poees 3;") Wrangel and Sitka 46 Sitka and Kadiak 61 Kadiak 65 The Shumagin Islands 72 Onalaska's Shore 77 Sealskin Sacql'es 89 Communistic 109 The Fur West 119 Islands, Rocks, and ^Mummiks .... 132 Our Arctic Relations 144: St. Michael's and the Yukon . . . 1.56 Killing the White Whale 165 Superstitions 170 Dogs and Drivers 178 Products of iih: Yukon Region. . . 186' The Summer Chov of Sfals .... 200 Aleut Courtship and Marriage . . 21;') A Fated Polar (RriSEP^ 221 A Wreck 226 Conclusion 235 A TEIP TO ALASKA. CHAPTEK I. SAN FRANCISCO TO NANAIMO. "Xn'OTWITHSTAXDING all that has been -^^ written about Alaska there seems to be an amazinof lack of o-eneral information amoncr the people of the United States concerning that country, its inhabitants, climate, resources, and even its extent. People ask, " Is it very cold in Alaska ? " when there is a range of nearly twenty degrees in latitude, reaching from fifty- four to seventy-two north and a variation in temperature of one hundred and fifty degrees, Fahrenheit, between the hottest summer and coldest winter Aveather. The general idea of Alaska is based upon crude notions concerning Sitka, and are not much more valuable than would have been the notions of a wild African cast away upon Ke}' West four hundred years ago about the region now knoAvn as the United States. 2 A TRIP TO ALASKA. In the summer of 1879 the writer obtained permission from Hon. John Sherman, ut that time Secretary of the Treasury, to proceed in the United States revenue steamer "Richard Rush," Captain Bailey, on her cruise from San Francisco to Sitka, the Fur Seal Islands, the Sea Otter Grounds, and other points in Alas- kan waters. The voyage proved exceedingly interesting, and the author gave an account of what he saw and heard to certain newspapers, in a desultory way, but he has been led to believe that his observations may l)e read in a more permanent form with interest, and he hopes with profit, by those who may be in search of information concerning Alaska. Going from California, or the east, to Sitka, the most practical route of travel is b}^ steamer from San Francisco. The course is coastwise to Cape Flattery, and then up the Straits of Fuca and by inland passages to the objective point. The interest of the voyage to the tourist begins at the mouth of the Straits, "where the vessel leaves the open sea and enters a broad channel with Washington Territory upon one hand and Vancouver Island on the other. From this point to Sitka the scene is one of varied interest to the traveller, and quite free from the usual discomforts of ocean travel. SAX FRANCISCO TO NANAIMO. 3 De Fuca, who reported the discovery here of a great inland passage to Hudson's Bay or some Mediterranean sea, gave a "Wonderfully imagi- native account of the rich and rare products of the country and the wealth of the natives, who were said to be decorated with gold and silver ornaments in great profusion, thus proving very conclusively that he knew nothing about the country, but had only been mildly en- dorsing in 1640 what De Fonte, another alleged Spanish navigator, told about as early as 1582. This bold liar, whose existence, however, was never fully established, related that he had found a northwest passage through, in about latitude fifty, to the Atlantic, along which he sailed for three hundred leagues, till he met a ship from Boston, commanded liy a Captain Slade, who gave him not only a succinct ac- count of the i)assage, but sold him charts of the entire coast on l)oth sides for ten thousand dollars. The charts never appeared in print, having been mislaid somewhere on board the purchaser's ship. It is more than strange they have never been published. There is no doubt that a book was published purporting to have been written by T)e Fonto. init the fact that it was published in Fngli>h. by an Fdinburgh house, leads to the susjiicioii that De Fonte never existed outside of the print-shop. 4 A TRIP TO ALASKA. At all events, though Captain Cook discov- ered and named Cape Flattery, before being barbecued by the Sandwich Islanders, even then the fact of the existence of such an open- ing of the sea into the land as the Straits of Fuca was doubted. "When Captain Vancouver arrived off the coast, only a degree below, he MTote doubtingly of it, and denied the existence of the Columbia River even, after having passed its very mouth. He referred to the reports of such openings as the probable creations of "closet philosophers." After having passed up to Nootka Sound as " one of the openings " to Fuca Straits, he dropped down to Cape Flat- tery, and to his great astonishment soon found himself sailing in an inland sea about fifteen miles in width and Avithout bounds to the east- ward as far as he could at first observe. It Avas not till the evening of the second da}' of his cruise that he arrived at Avhat proved to be the archipelago. Captain Vancouver went to work like the thorough navigator tliat he was, when once certain that tliere Avas something to be investi- gated, and ho made a complete survey of all the inlets, channels, and shoals, not only in the Straits proper, but up to the head of Pugot Sound, Avith all its ramifications ; and to this SAN FRANCHSCO TO NANAIMO. 5 (lay, his is the best description of these waters extant, although he made his examination in 1792. His delight on getting out from the stormy, foggy sea over which he had been sailing for days and weeks, and passing through such scenes as the "Rush" came upon after the fog arose, may be better imagined than de- scribed, for this region was then in a primitive condition of unbroken forests, covering pictur- esque hills and snow-capped mountains that rear their hoary heads above the envious clouds. As we steamed up from the Pacific the mists clung about the hillsides till about eleven o'clock, when they arose somewhat on the northern shore, but clung to Washington Terri- tory with great persistence till noon. The British side from the mouth of the Straits up as far as Victoria and beyond is climaticall}' fav- ored, having hio-h mountains to break the force of the northerly winds, and a southern expo- sure sloping down to the water's edge, offering every inducement for summer residences and picnic grounds. The American side is more given to fogs and raw winds, which sweep across the fifteen miles of open water. From a purely picturesque point of view this country is all that could be desired, and the farther one penetrates into the country the attractions for the tourist multiply. b A TRIP TO ALASKA. The town of Victorica is beautifully situated, but it is a dead town. It was largely built up during the Fraser lliver gold excitement, which commenced in 1857, attracting hither thousands of miners who a])andoned li'ood dia'ffinsrs in Cal- ifornia and arrived here in a starving condition, but confident of a revival of '49 flush times. They were doomed to disappointment and extreme suffering. Hundreds died of hunger and exposure, l)ut thousands returned to Cali- fornia after undertjoinjr almost incredible hard- ships. A few remained and made "grub" wages, but the great expectations proved falla- cious, and as the prospects lessened and the diggings " petered out," Victoria began to decline and went down almost as fast as it o^rew. Rows of houses constructed at irreat cost now stand idle in the half-deserted city, which once enjoyed a consideral)le degree of oommercial prosperity. About thirty-live miles southeastward from Victoria, and at the entrance proper to Pugot Sound, is Port Townsend, the American coun- terpart to British Victoria. It is a dilapidated place of an easy-going character, celebrated for dogs, drinking-shops, and a custom-house. We did not see Port Townsend, and what I say refers only to its general reputation. It may SAN FRANCISCO TO NANAIMO. 7 be as moral and virtuous a place as a settlement of Shakers for aught the author knows person- ally. Above Port Townsend there are a num- ber of small cities, the most ambitious at present being Seattle and Taconia, the latter of which hopes to be the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railway. Passing Victoria we wind sharply around to the left between Trial and Discovery Islands, finding ourselves in a narrow channel, and we leave the Straits, Paget Sound, and Olympian Mountains away to the southward. The pretty little farms above and below Victoria all enjoy an air of apparent prosperity, green in verdure or brown in new-plowed fields, as we pass to the left of the once famous San Juan, about which we did not want to fight, but would not give up, and which, along with other islands around it, was awarded to us by good and kind King Wilhelm, now Emperor of Germany. San Juan was for a long time a bone of con- tention between Uncle Sam and John P>ull, l)ut it was a sort of frontier paradise in its way. There were two military encampments upon the island, ours on the eastern and the Pritish on the western side, both claiming and neither darino- or carinir to exercise civil or criminal jurisdiction over it. The troops were friendly 8 A TRIP TO ALASKA. enough, and used to meet half wa}' to play base ball, cricket, and other national games. As neither owned the property in fact, neither could or would collect taxes for years ; and Avhen it came to tr\ing criminals for such pleas- antries as killing people, that was a more deli- cate piece of business still, and the consequence was a man might murder an entire family and, if arrested, prove himself to be an xVmerican citizen or an English subject ; and it was equal to an alibi or a plea of insanity and much cheaper. There is one thing, however, that San Juan is good for, and that is lime. It is an island of limestone, and if enough people would come out to this region and l)uild a sufficient number of houses to create a demand for it, we might put San Juan through lime-kilns, and so get rid of it. But unless the Inmiigration Bounty Bill, or some similar bad measure, shall become a law, there is no telling when there will be a demand for San Juan lime. The "San Juan question" was whether the main channel from the forty-ninth parallel going out to the sea l)y the wa}' of the Straits of Fuca led through the Canal De liaro on that side of the island toward Vancouver, or through Ivosario Straits, on the American side, the main SAN FRANCISVO TO NANAIMO. 9 channel from our western land terminus at the forty-ninth parallel being, by the terms of the treaty under the Northwestern Boundary Com- mission, determined on as the national water-line. Swinij^ino; around still farther to the left, as we pass San Juan, we catch a last glimpse of Mount Baker, sixty or seventy miles to the southward, covered with snow, and now we begin to pass away up the east side of Van- couver, but among countless islands which divide the waters here into channels, winding in and out, a labyrinth of land and water. On every side, behind and before, are rugged islands rising up out of the sea, and, with few exceptions, covered with evergreen trees at the tops, while those of a lighter, fresher green abound near the bases. The inspiring breeze which had helped us along up the Straits died away ere this, or is lost to us in the iirst great bend around from Victoria, and the blackened canvas of the energetic little steamer has been folded away as carefully as clean napkins. The air grows warm among these islands shortly after noon, and having walked the deck for an hour or so, it seemed like midsummer, while a thermometer swinging in the open :iir over the pilot-house indicated seventy-six above. Then we enter upon one of the most interesting litlle 10 A TRIP TO ALASKA. runs experienced on this trip. This is the pas- sage through Active Pass, where for a])out two miles we are led to port and starboard in short, sharp, quick turns, directed by our pilot, like a beginner pushed through the bewildering move- ments of a contra-dance. At every turn new beauties come suddenly into view ; new islands, new shapes, new^ scenery, with here and there an Indian rancheria or a somewhat civilized-looking shanty nestling among the trees. Occasionally a son of the forest (and sea) paddles his way along in his trusty "dug-out," as proud and independent as a Doge of Venice in his gondola ; and it may be doubted if ever the Adriatic was so beauti- ful as this. The loveliest islands, the most inviting groves, the greenest mosses and briglit- est waters are seen everywhere. Out of this, nature's })loasure grounds of lake and jjrove, we emer2:e into the Gulf of Georgia a broad expanse of water stretching away to the westward beyond the horizon. On the right is a gap in a timbered promontory, mark- ing the line Avhere the forty-ninth parallel finds its jum})ing-()fr })lace in the extreme north- western cornel" of the Ignited States. Beyond this we soon have the mouth of Frascr River on our riirht, and all aloiiu- on that side are snow- SAX FRAXCL'iCO TO XAXAIMO. 11 capped mountains. Xow we stem up through this broad inland sea for Xanaimo with no ob- struction in our path, as far as the eye can see. We continue steaming up the gulf till, after a gorgeous sunset of crimson and gold, and a temperature down to fifty, we make a long curve of six or seven miles, still toward the left, and are now heading directly toward our starting point on the other side of the island in the morning. We came to anchor in the snug little harbor of Xanaimo, a town of some eight hundred or nine hundred inhabitants, mostly Welsh, who gain a livelihood by digging coal. It should be said that Xanaimo coal is considered the best on the Pacific coast for steaming, for Avhich reason it is freighted to all points up as high as Behring Straits, and as far south as San Diego. The town is situated on the eastern side of Van- couver's Island, about one hundred and forty miles from Cape Flattery, as we came, but across the island to the mouth of the Straits it is not more than forty or fifty miles. Xanaimo is prettily situated, with rising wooded hills to the rear and a number of small islands lying in front, one of which, by its posi- tion and shape, forms a circular slip before the town, which, owing to the rise and fall of the tide, constitutes a natural dry-dock where ships 12 A TRIP TO ALASKA. may be scraped and calking done in perfect safety. The enterprising Cliinaman is here, and a telegraphic wire connects this place with Victoria. In spite of all advantages, however, the fact is, too much rain falls here. The spring is always backward, and the harvest sel- dom amounts to anything. It rains four or five times a day, altogether too much when it is kept up the year round. Coal, however, is in good demand, and it is said the supply is insufficient to satisfy the wants of trade. The coal is run down in cars from the mines to the wharf and dumped through chutes on ship1)oard. Here our steamer filled all available space, fore and aft, giving her the appearance of a regular collier. With rain and coal so mixed as we had it, the contracted quarters on board became smaller and the neatness less conspicuous. CHAPTEK II. IT KAINS. /^NE day on shipboard in northwestern ^^ waters in spring or early summer is very much like another ; too nuicli so under the circumstances and condition of ali'airs to be pleasant. Suppose the little "liush," one hun- dred and ninety tons burden starting out at daybreak, after anchoring all night in conse- quence of thick weather. With a heavy rain all nio-ht and a dense fo"- to thicken the weather, it would be destruction to attem})t to run through the darkness. At daylight there is no improvemeuient so far as the weather is concerned, but daylight enables one to see land dimly once in a while on either hand. Sailing in the open sea and cruising among the Alaskan islands or the British Columbia archipelago are two entirely dillcrent matters. One may be prosecuted at night without great risk other than a collision with another ship, but when the mariner has islands to the right of him and to the left of him, as well 13 14 A TRIP TO ALASKA. as ahead, all enveloped in fog and mist, the compass is a poor reliance without sharp eye- sifjht and a knowledo;e of ambuscaded reefs and rocks lying in wait for the careless voy- ager. But to the start. At half past two or three or four o'clock in the morning, our captain appears on deck with his calm good-natured face and clear blue eyes visible beneath the rim of his sou'-wester. He is enveloped from neck to heels in an oil- skin "jacket," like an overgrown yellow night- shirt. Peeping out below is a pair of rubber boots. The rain runs down out of the clouds as if the string opening a shower-bath had been pulled and the supply of water above was un- limited. The rain does not seem to be angry ; it is not in a hurry ; it does not try to be irrita- tins: or severe ; it mav not be a verv cold rain. It is simply a rain running down straight and steady as if it was an old and every-day occur- rence no pretension nor airs nothing but a plain rain attending to its regular dut}^ and without any feeling in the matter. The captain removes his meerschaum and says, " Good morning," as mildly and pleasantly as the rain streams down. You respond and say still further, "It's a wet morning." The captain receives this intelli- IT RAINS. 15 gence Avithout any air of surprise, and if he is not occupied giving orders about getting under- way, lie may remark, "It rains very easy in this country." Tiiat 's it exactly. Take it all the way up the coast from San Francisco to the Straits of Fuca, from Victoria to Sitka, from Sitka to the Seal Islands, and you may generally tind it raining about as easily as it could possibly do if care had been taken to make it oil instead of water. AVe get under way as soon after daylight as may be compatil)le with safety for the steamer. The rain slips down unceasingly. ]Mists shut out from view everything, unless on one side or the other a bank, a shade darker than the clouds, may be distinguished by trained qxq^. It may be an island, a rock, or only a bank of fog thicker than the average mist. The captain, the officer of the deck, and tlic pilot say it is land, and tell the name of it. Against such an array of nautical opinion it would be folly for a landsman to contend. Call it land if you will. It looks very much as if we had land ahead, too, but the engines are steadily working, and we may be making eight knots an hour. We run through the apparent land ahead. The rain continues to slide down, l)ut ever}'- thing goes on as (juietly and systematically on 16 A TRIP TO ALASKA. ])oard as thoufrh this Avere a \vritinfj:-school. The captain paddles around in his long yellow gown and softly stepping gum boots till five or six o'clock, when he sees everything all right, and having his position and bearings beyond a doubt, turns in, till breakfast time. The officer of the deck, who is also nuisquerading in sou'- "svester, oil-skin and rubber boots, and the pilot similarly arrayed, remain on duty and receive the rain which glides down over the rims of their ru])ber helmets and oiled armor as if it had no more purpose there than lightning on an iron-rod to get down and leave no mark. At eight bells the officer of the deck goes below, being relieved by a In-other similarly arrayed, who acts as conductor to the rain for the ensuing four hours. The })ilot is temporarily relieved for break- fast by the captain, after which he returns to the " house," where he smokes his cigarette and gazes out into the fog ahead, port and starboard, till dinner. Tie keeps this up till supper time, or till vcQ. come to an anchor. The officer of the first watch paddles around on the " house "' till noon, when he is relieved by another of his style in dress and manners. After breakfast the captain quietly appears on deck again, and if tired carrying his water-proof around he goes IT RAINS. 17 into the pilot house and keeps a look out there all da}'. He knows the country quite as well as the pilot, and he keeps the position of the vessel strictly. Perhaps 1)y noon, if what is called a fine day among the islands, a patch of hlue about as 'large as a postage-stamp may be seen overhead, but the fog still presses low down on the water all around. A little later it rises in patches, but even on a very clear afternoon, with the sun visible in the western sky, patches of fog will be found roosting in the tree tops "svhere they remain all day, and all night it may be, for at dark they still hang around as if loth to go up into the cold air of the mountain summits. Yet do not think that ])ccause the sun comes out the rain is over. That tnakes no difference Avhatever. The rain goes on and attends to its business all the same. With the sun shining the rain filters down by fits and starts in a desultory way, like a sprinkling-cart that runs itself out and then goes back to the hydrant for anotlior supply. This is particularly tine weather for this region. When the fog does rise, and the clouds l)reak away in circumscribed localities, the rugged mountain tops thrust tliemselves up as if they had rent the sk\-. On the British Columbian 18 A TRIP TO ALASKA. Islands above the Gulf of Georuia, snow- covered peaks rise from one thousand to six thousand feet, almost perpendicularly above the water. Their toi)s are cov jred with snow, but for two or three thousand feet from the base they are adorned with thick-2:ro\vin<>: spruce. A\'ith mixed weather and scenery the prospect is always charming, presenting an endless panorama. Still, the great feature of the country is water, a])ove and below. On the day of our departure from Xanaimo, we sail through fog and mist and rain, up to the head of the Gulf of Georgia, and thence into Discovery Passage. About six miles from the entrance to Discovery Passage Ave come by a short turn to Soj^mour's Narrows. Here the tide is forced through a narrow, winding channel at from four to six knots an hour. There are foaming swirls over the face of the rocks, and great eddies caused by meeting cur- rents. The Narrows are not more than a pistol shot across, and a deviation of a (piarter of a point from the true channel sends a ship to de- struction. Here the contending currents take a vessel l)y the nose and swing her from port to starl)oard, and from star))()ar(l to ])()rt, as a terrier shakes a rat. It may ])e doubted if the Argonaut ic ex})edition ex})erienced greater ])erils IT RAINS. 19 than are to be met in Seymour Xarrows, at the mouth of which the bones of the United States ship Saranac lie bleaching fathoms down. Having safely made our exit from the Xar- rows, we continue on through smooth waters, with comparatively easy curves, till we reach Johnstone Straits, when once more we go winding away among pretty coves, and at the foot of high mountains, covered with an inex- haustible crop of firs and spruce which, high up, look like green velvet ; ])ut the sailing is safe, for a hundred fathoms of line will not permit the lead to touch bottom here. It has the appearance of a ])road, smooth river, wind- ing its way sleepily between high mountains and steep, rocky cliffs. The canoes, or '' duo-out s," in the north- western Avaters are as large, sometimes as graceful and possil^ly swifter, than Cleopatra's barge. The natives travel in them for weeks up and down these inland seas and salty cur- rents to trading posts, carrying their furs for ))arter. They take their families at times, as a Pennsylvania farmer takes his wife and daugh- ters and stalwart sons in his Conestoga wagon to York or Keading. These canoe cruisers paddle or :^ail ad day with the tide, and go into eamp wherever they 20 A TRIP TO ALASKA. please, resuming their journey on the next flood. They fish as they go, and find fresh water running down the mountain sides from the snow reservoirs al)()ve. AVhat ponies and the trails of the mountains and valleys are to the Indians of the Plains, canoes and inland passages among the islands are to the natives of British Columbia and xllaska. One evening, just after the "Kush" turned a short l)end in Johnstone Straits, a large canoe was sighted off the port l)ow. She was moving slowly along and contained several persons. As the wind was pretty still', and the set of the tide uncertain, the captain told "oNIike," our pilot, that he might bear u}) a trifle so as to speak the canoe. As soon as the movement became apparent to the natives, all hands l)egan to paddle with collegiate energy, and the "dug- out" spurted for shore as if with a determina- tion to scramble to the to]) of the mountain. " ]\rike,'' wlio was long since a trader in these waters, at once asserted with all confldence that the canoe had whiskey aboard, and as whiskey is contraband among the Indians of British (yolumbia, the paddlers were fleeing to avoid confiscation. x\s the "Hush "had no jurisdiction in British wnters there was no eflbrt to overhaul tlic " dno--()ut."" and as soon as its occupants IT RAINS. 21 found the chase abandoned, they rested their paddles and Avaved farewell salutes with their hats. Occasionally, as often as a dozen times in a hundred miles, smoke may be seen rising from amono- the trees in British Columbia alons; the inland passage. Solitary cabins of such white men as take Indian wives and who are content to live by hunting and fishing, occur at unfrequent intervals, and still farther apart are Indian villao'es of wooden houses. Game is said to be abundant in the hills, and hsh are plentiful in the waters. With canoes for trans- portation and guns and fishing tackle to secure the necessaries of life, these people subsist in contentment. The cold is not severe, and the natural dampness produced by continuous rain is put up with as a blessing from the clouds. CHAPTER III. FOLLOWING Vancouver's wake. QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S SOUND, which we cross on the way to Sitka, is a dan- gerous place. Here, in our very course, in 1794, A'ancouver got tlie Discovery, his flag- ship, upon the rocks one day, and had no sooner, by the rising of the tide, floated her again, than the Chatham, lier consort, went upon another reef farther seaward. After a (Uiy and a night of severe la]x)r, the Chatham was reh>ased, having sustained l)ut compara- tively little damage. Our own ships in later days have not always been so fortunate. The Suwanee, doul)lo-ender, went to pieces here in 18G8, though all on board Avere saved. But in 1873 the steamer George S. W right struck on some rocks here, as is supposed from portions of wreck which were found scattered among the islands, and all on board were lost. She was ))0un(l from Sitka for San Francisco, and is su))})osed to have struck during a snow storm. Some bodies 22 FOLLOWING VANCOUVER- S WAKE. 23 were found cast ashore with life preservers on, the wearers having evidently perished in the water. Al)out four years later, a Sound Indian turned up wlio represented that he Avas the sole survivor of the Wrio-ht disaster. His storv was to the effect that he had l)een a coal-heaver on hoard the lost steamer, and after she struck he oot into a boat along with the cai)tain, pilot, and some soldiers. They made land and built a fire, soon after which a party of Indians ap- peared and were offered five hundred dollars by the captain to take the castawa}'s to Fort Rupert, about twenty-five miles to the southward. The sole survivor went on to relate that though the Indians appeared, for a time, to entertain the proposition favorably, they finally concluded to kill the whites, which detcnniuation was carried into execution. This alleged sole survivor gave as a reason for not telling his story before, that the murderers threatened to kill his father if he told anything about it, but his conscience finally impelled him to make the i-evelation. It was a good story and it found many believ- ers. The accused Indians were arrested hy the British authorities, and were in a fair way to be hanged. v\-hen it was proven beyond question that the allecred sole survivor was srrviu'j a 24 A TRIP TO ALASKA. term in the Victoria jail at the time of the AVriofht disaster. His motive for iiiventino: the charge against the accused was revenge. Crossing Queen Charlotte's Sound we enter Fitzhugh's Sound, after passing up which about a mile we come upon another interesting locality, Safety Cove, where Vancouver an- chored his ships for a few days' rest and repair, after months of hardships and dangers. Safety Cove is about an eighth of a mile across at the mouth, and, maintaining nearly an equal width all the way, extends l)ack into the mountains for a mile. The hills on either side rise precip- itously to the height of at least a thousand feet, covered with a growth of spruce, pine, and cedar that is almost impenetrable. A})out two- thirds of the distance u}) the Cove, on the north side, a stream of Avater tumbles down the bank so conveniently thnt the breakers in the ship's boats mav be filled without the men jroinn; ashore. It is pure, ice-cold water from the top of the snowy mountain. At the head of this cove a large stream puts in from a low opening. The Cove is as smooth and bright on the surface as a mirror, and with the framework of dark green surrounding it and the " Rush " riding in the centre, the only sign of civilization in this provincial wilderness, a lovelier picture could not FOLLOWING VANCOUVER'S WAKE. 25 be conjured by the liveliest imagination. The sun, which did not set till eight o'clock, could not be seen in the Cove, l)ut down across Fitz- hugh's Sound he glanced his last rays from the summits of snow-capped mountains, throwing pink upon the snovv and purple and crimson shades among the brown and dark green of hill and vale in richest profusion. The men not on duty caught a plentiful supply of flounders here. xVmong other hands on board the "Rush" were some Japanese boys, two of whom were employed in the ward room and one in the cabin. The captain's boy was the first to haul up a wonderfid tisli or reptile with s})otted skin, long tapering tail, and a full set of teeth like a section of an ivory comb. The tish, which liad no scales, was provided with openings for gills under the })ectoral tins. On the head was a curved sort of horn or clamp on a hinge, the outer end of which, concave and armed with sharp teeth or points, rested in a socket. As the cabin boy raised this horn to examine the curiosity, it took the end ofl' his tinger, and he prosecuted his scientific investi- gations no further. The doctor could not identify this strange fish, which would weigh al)out four pounds, his authorities on ichthyology being silent on 26 A Tliir TO ALASKA. the subject, but "Mike" saj's they are called " rat fish " a name that would appear to be ap- phed ill consequence of the peculiar formation of tail and teeth. The fish had prominent eyes, ofcnerallv dark blue, but in some shades of lioht a brilliant green. At intervals all through these inland waters may be seen Indian burial places, if ''l)urial " is a pro})er word to use in this connection. The Indians of British Columbia are cremators, and the places where the ashes of their dead are deposited are remarkable for the care Avith which they are preserved and decorated. Indian sepulchres may be seen, sometimes one or two in a place, on a prominent headland, marked with circular l)oards or with cloth stretched on hoops, looking at the distance of a thousand yards, like targets. A flag is occasionally set near by as if still more strongly to attract attention. One of the most remarkable burial places in British Columbia, on this route, is in Mc- Laughlin's Bay at a Hudson Bay trading port called Bella Bella. Here the houses which con- tain the saci'cd ashes of the dead are numerous, and about half a dozen spots are marked and decorated as the tombs of chiefs. ^Mien we passed that point on the morning after leaving FOLLOWING VAXCOUVER'S WAKE. 2i Safety Cove, flags were flying in the cemetery as it" it were Memorial Day, and it is said tlitit these decorations are renewed as often as carried away or destroyed by tlie elements. There is also quite an extensive Indian village at Bella Bella. Game would appear to be scarce hereabouts, l)ut it must exist somewhere in the hills, for deer skins are sent out on steamers and trading vessels. From the deck of the steamer the timber on all sides of the islands, as at Safety Cove, appears too dense to ofler good range for deer, yet venison is found in places. After ofettini": in amonij the thousands of islands between Victoria and this point we have seen but few birds or iish. A fln ])ack whale preceded us into Seymours Narrows, as if cunningly enticing us to our destruction, dis- appearing as soon as we were so far advanced as to make return or backout impossible, and on the day after a shark skimmed the surface contentedly along side, but animal life abo\'e the surface of the waters is not plentiful. In August 1792, Vancouver wrote of a point on the mainland in latitude fifty-two degrees, three minutes as follows : "This rendezvous was about thii'ty-seven miles from the station of the vessels (Safety Covej in as desolate, inhospitable a country as the most melancholy creature 28 A TRIP TO ALASKA. could be desli'ous of inhabiting. The eagle, ci*ow, and raven that occasionally had borne us company in our lonely researches visited not these dreary shores. The common shell fish, such as muscles, clams, and cockles, and the nettle, samphire and other coarse vegetables that had been so highly essential to our health and maintenance in all our former excursions, were scarcely found to exist here; and the ruins of one miserable hut, near where we had lodged the preceding night, was the only indication we saw that human beings ever re- sorted to the country before us." The chief attractions of the latter portion of our run one day were among mountains rising al)ruptlj from one to four thousand feet in lieight, down which rusli roaring cataracts from the melting snows al)ove. INIany of these streams fall down the faces of ruiri^ed CTanite cliffs Avhich cut the water into fine spray and mist. In others the water spreads out in a thin, smooth sheet like a broad rib])on of white satin. Again it appears as spun glass of the finest quality. Frequently a foaming torrent tumbles over among huge boulders at the mouths of canons so low in grade as to afford a chance for salmon to ascend. In such places fishing may be prosecuted in season with satis- factory results. The sides of the mountains in many places show deep scars, bearing silent testimony to past land slides, Avhich, for thou- FOLLOWING VAXCOlVEK'>i WAKE. 29 sands of feet in length and hundreds of yards in breadth, increasing in width as they descended, had swept down the forests and stripped the thin soil from the rocks which now stand out like fleshless bones. For purely artistic beauty, however, Gran- ville channel exceeds anything yet seen on this cruise among the untamed beauties of nature on land and water. Imagine an avenue of clear, calm water, straight as a transit road live miles in length, a (juarter of a mile across at the eastern end and running down to a tapering point closed up completely and thoroughly, as it appears by a bold mountain two thousand feet in height. The mountains on either side are e(]ually high, all making sharp lines, green, low down with spruces, which also ap})ear, but scatteringly, on the snow-crowned summits. The regularity of the channel so far as it is in sight, the varied lines of the mountains and the unhroken still- ness, except the regular thuniping of the steamer's engines, altogether form an enchant- ing scene. Of course when we get to the mountain at the western terminus, which we do as daylight gives way to darkness, there is a passage out, and at a quarter })ast nine P. M. we anchor in seventeen fathoms for the night, in Lowe's Inlet, and go to sleep to the droning 80 A TRIP TO ALASKA. sound of the cataract on shore, into which an arrow might be shot from the deck of the steamer. On the next morning we obtain our first view of Alaska, Cape Fox being visibk^ for a short time. In tlie afternoon we let go anchor at Port Simpson, still in British Columbia. Of the character of the country through which we had been passing for a week, no i)erson can form any conce})lion from ordinary maps. AVe had been spending days and travelling hundreds of miles among islands innumerable, and chan- nels in every direction, narrow sometimes, so that a pistol ball might be fired across, and yet hundreds of fathoms in depth. There arc thou- sands of passages into which we do uoi enter, because our object is to i)ursue the most direct course through the country, and, doubtless, many of them have been only su})erlicially sur- veyed. Their number and magnitude in some cases, as the Straits of Fuca, Gult" of Georgia, Queen Charlotte's Sound and others, are won- derful. It seems as if the Almighty had here shattered the mountains with an ()nmi})()tent sledge for a thousand miles and turned the waters of the sea to flow among the fragments. It is a wonderful country to look at, and if situated so as to l)e a\ailable f"or Sunday excur- FOLLOWING VANCOUVER'^ WAKE. 31 sioiis from ;i i>rcat city or a iiunihcr of great cities, it miglit he put to some profitable use. For any other purpose it has very few, if any recommendations at present. The timber grows on a thin, skinny soil at best, and often only holds on by roots in crevices of the rocks. The climate is wet, cold, and cheerless, and vegeta- tion, though it may grow, docs not mature. Even the greater portion of the timber seems to die young. The country has attractions for the artist and })ossil)ly for the scientist, l)ut it will probably remain in possession of the Indians for many generations, if not for all time. Jus- tice would now seem to require that the rndians should be pernu'tted to remain in undisturbed possession of these islands of lU-itish Columbia. Of course, if valnablo mineral or other products should be discovered here that would be quite a different thing. Port Siin})son is a Hudson Bay trading post where steamers plying between A'ictoria and \Vrangel or Sitka sometimes touch. There is no post-ofhce lun'e, and letters are only for- warded as unc(>rtain opportunities |)erinit. It is like many another settlement which we have seen during the ])ast week. One of" the most remarkable of" those is Duncan's ^Mission at Afctlahcatlah in Ohathanfs Sound, about fifteen miles from l*(>rt Simpson. 32 A TRIP TO ALASKA. In 1858 Duncan was sent to Port Simpson as a missionary, and soon afterward, having some disagreement with the Hudson Bay Company's agent at that phice, he moved down to Methih- cathdi, intending to take all of the Indians with him, but the company brought Rev. ]Mr. Crosby out and saved about half of them. Duncan, however, built up a settlement and prospered in more ways than one. He has a snug town in which there is a church, a semi- nary, a jail, and a great many adjuncts of civilization, if not all the modern improvements. He is a magistrate, and has Indian constables to execute his warrants and enforce his decrees. He will not tolerate whiskey or outside tradeivs within his jurisdiction, but does some outside trading himself. It is reported that he gets the better of Uncle Sam to the extent of twenty thousand dollars or thirt}' thousand dollars a year l)y sending his Indians with goods up some of the inland passages to trade with the Alaskan natives, by which snniggliug our revenues are made to suffer. At all events, whether true or false, Duncan has the reputation of being a prosperous and successful missionary. "Mike," our pilot, attempted to land some whiskey at ]\Ietlahcatlali some years ago, before he experienced a change, but he says Duncan's FOLLOWING VANCOUVER' b WAKE. 33 police ran him out. Possibly if he could have 2jot ashore there ^vith enoui>li whiskev to run the place for tln-ee days, the mission might have been wiped out and Duncan would have been, before this, seeking proselytes among nations further removed from tlie retiniug intlii- ence of civilization, or in some secret nook unknown to the alcoholic corsair of the western isles. As it is, both ''Mike" and Duncan are now good citizens, and if the missionary is the richer in this world's goods the pilot is an inexhaustible mine of interesting reminiscences of contraband cruisings before he experienced a change. Port Simpson \vas established by the Hudson Bay Company in 182!), and has seen many wars with the native tribes, but it still lives an important post of the company. It is now^ a general rendezvous for various tribes, but is located on the lands of the Tongass. The objects of greatest interest here at the present time are "potlatch" poles, which average about twenty feet in height, and arc carved near the base in grotesque figures of monsters bearing cohunns upon their heads. Some of the col- umns have the tigurcs of Ijcasts set vertically on top, but the prevailing idea is of monstrous faces carved bclo\v. These have an idolatrous 34 A TRIP TO ALASKA. air about them, and are not in favor with Mr. Crosby, the missionary, who is having them removed as fast as possible. In a short time they \vill all have disappeared and carried with them whatever of traditional meaning they may have for the Aborigines, who will also disappear in a few generations, or would under American influences. It is the policy of the Hudson Bay Company, however, to preserve the Indian, for on his labors that corporation thrives. CHAPTER IV. CANOES AND CARVED POLES. 'T^HE first anchorage made ])y the "Rush" in -*- Alaskan waters, on this cruise, was in Karta or Kassan Bay, before the vilhige of the Indian Chief Scowl, on Prince of Wales Island. This is one of the most interesting Indian vil- lages on this coast for several reasons, most prominent of which are that Scowl is chief of all tlie Ilyda Indians, headquarters of the tribe being on Prince of Wales, and his village con- tains the most extensive and elaborately carved poles, of which brief mention was made in the preceding chapter. Old Scowl is now totally l)lind and nearly deaf, but he appears to l)e the remains of a once physically powerful man, and he long wielded unquestioned authority in his widely extended tribe. The Ilydas are great hunters and fishers, and at the time of our visit the chief village was almost deserted, the inhabitants l)eing away seal hunting out Ijeyond Queen Cliarlotte's Island. 35 36 A TRIP TO ALASKA. These Indians of the Northwest coast differ as much in appearance as in customs from those of the plains. The l)uftalo eaters Jire a hardy race of strong, muscuhir men, with the piercing eyes, high clieek-bones, and aquiline noses of a Avarlike people. The Hydas, Tsimpsiens, Ton- gass, and others of this region, from Puget Sound to Sitka, have round, fat faces with dull expression, indicative of anything ])ut bravery and ambition. The Sioux live principally on buft'alo meat, and take an abundance of rough exercise on horseback over mountain and plain. The Ilydas and their kind paddle or drift around with the tides in canoes, live on fish, and become oily and lazy looking. The habits and diet of both classes reveal themselves in form and face, the meat caters being tall and lean, as a rule, the tish eaters fat and squatty. The canoe is the sole means of locomotion here. All the "' trails" arc by water, and the canoes of this people are wonderful sj)ecimens of savage naval architecture. The Ilydas make the best and largest canoes in this section of the coast. At Port Simpson '"dug-outs," from forty to fifty feet in length, are (juite common, and some are nnich longer. One taken to the C(Mitennial was eighty feet in length and so dee]) that men sitting in it were concealed from CANOES AND (JAHVEl) PULES. 37 view up to their shoulders. The canoes are duij: and burned out, each beini; constructed of a cedar log, which, after the excavation, is spread open till thoroughly dried in that posi- tion. They are all constructed on one model, being a simple curve at the stern, the prow sticking sharply from the Avater and projecting upward and outward in a graceful form, after the style of ancient Koman and Grecian war galleys as we see them pictured in books. With ten, fifteen, twenty or forty paddles on a side (the Centennial canoe carried the latter numl)er when fully manned), these "dug-outs" are propelled through the water at a rate e(|ual to two miles for any ship boat's one. Port Simpson is headquarters for the canoe trade, whole fleets bein<>- brouo-ht in at times for sale as at fairs or markets in great commercial cities. At times a fleet of new '^ dug-outs" go paddling into the harbor where they are to be sold, in the form of a great crescent within the bay, and arc brought to the beach amid chanting and shouting and general demonstrations, intended to give importance to the occasion. These sales attract Indians from the surround- ing country to Port Simpson where considerable property changes hands in consequence, some canoes sellimr as lii- to the woman over whom he exercised complete control. It was with a view of putting a stop to these demoralizing prac- tices that the missionaries have discouraged the erection and preservation of the "potlatch" poles. If the heir apparent fails to distril)ute a sufficient quantity of goods to entitle him to take rank as the head of the family, some other member, more successful, or more ambitious, may produce the l)lankets and walk off with the honors. At Port Simpson and at INIctlahcatlah tlie missionaries have effected encouraging results and achieved considerable success among the Indians, but old Scowl, chief of the llydas, frowns down all preachers ^vho approach his possessions. Two preachers attem[)ted to make a beginning among the IlN-das a few years ago, but they were })olitcly informed that if they did not go away they would be killed. They did not remain. Consequently ScowTs people not only retain their ""potlatch" })()les, but they enjoy some other privileges which no conscien- tious missionary could approve, and at least one of which is not in harmony with the spirit of our laws since the war. The Ilydas own slaves, and have owned 42 A Tliir TO Al.A^KA. them since the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. The original stock of shives generally consisted of children captured in war- fare, "whose })osterity remained in a condition of bondage. Slaves have been sold Ijy these more northern tribes to the Indians of Puget Sound, and the power over such chattels has been so complete that they have been killed out of com})liment to or regard for a dying master, and the women have l)cen leased out for evil })urposes. Old Scowl has slaves now, raid, as he is believed to l)e on his last legs, the wisest thing they could do would 1)e to emigrate to the land of the free, farther east. AMien a Ilj'da chief dies it is su})posed he will need servants in the felicitous fishing fields, and that the l)est way to secure them is to take them with him. Ilie records of the Hudson Bay C()m})any at Port Simpson show, that in 1(S42 on one occasion the agcmt visited a^ dying- man of some note and entered the place wliere he lay just in time to find him engaged in an attem})t to strangle his ne])hew. The agent rescued the boy and took him into the post, where he was kept till after tlu^ departure of the si)iril of his kingly uncle. 'I'hen came the mothci' of the lad and demanded comix'usation of the c()in])any for the amioyance and incon- CANOES AND CARVED POLES. 43 venience to which her departed brother would be put in the other world, by reason of not having the spirit of her son servilely attendant upon his ghostly majesty. The company paid for that interference in family affairs. Rude as these people may be considered by persons of artificial culture, it must be said in their favor that all men have a commercial value in their ej'es, and accidental insurance is one of the things that they believe in. If one or twenty of these' Indians are hired for laI)or they must be returned or paid for, some costing as much as one hundred dollars. ^Nlany years ago, when the Russians were in possession of Alaska, a Frenchman came out to open up the fur trade and add to the commercial importance of his brilliant nation. He hired a lot of Sitka In- dians to hunt seals and moved down al)out Queen Charlotte's to commence operations. He put his Indians ashore there, Avhere twenty- three of them were killed l)y the Ilydas and nine in another place. AVhcn he returned to Sitka he paid two hundred dollars apiece for the missing Indians, according to contract, and had a grand total of sixty-three se:dskins worth al)out live dollars each as the result of his cruise. Then he sailed for La Pjelh; France with rather a poor opinion of the country. 44 A TRIP TO ALASKA. The women of those tnl)es have their foibles, as other women have, and as they differ some- what from what appears farther east and south- ward, it may be well to mention some items. They do not parade to any irreat extent in sealskin sacques or other fine fur, a fact which ma}' l)e due, at least in part, to early teachings. The Hudson Bay Company, which first intro- duced manners, things, and ideas of civilization among these Indians, forbade their employes wearing furs under any circumstances, as it was found if they made use of such articles in their wearing apparel the Indians would imitate them, and good furs would thus be wasted as it were, and there would l)e nothing in the country worth trading for. And now calico and blan- kets are more worn by Ilyda ^vomen than furs. What they lack in skins, howe\er, they make up in jewelry. They wear rings upon their fingers, in their ears, and in their noses. But they have another sort of ornament which is peculiar to the squaws on this coast. On ar- riving at the age of womanhood they pierce the lower li}), through which they thrust a piece of ivory or a silver pin about an incli long and as tliick as a knitting needle. Inside the mouth the end of the pin is fastened to a ]:)late which CANOES AND CAHVED POLES. 4a rests before the gum. This piii is increased in thickness as the hidy advances in years, till it looks as if the entire lip had l>een torn out and the hole stopped by a bone. The women are industrious, as Indian "women generally are, cleaning the fish, curing skins, hewing wood, and drawino; Avater. They make a corday hangs a talc. It is said that previous to his W RANG EL AND .'e circumstances it is still a triumph for the doctor, as killing the w itch is as good proof of witchcraft in that portion of Alaska WR ANGEL AND SITKA. 57 to-day as it was in New England two hundred years ago. The missionaries are laboring to abolish the "Siwash" school of practice, but, unfortunately, as they are themselves ignorant of allopathy, homoeopathy or hydropathy, perhaps, they have nothing to offer in its i)lace. There is an occa- sional M. 1). at Wrangel, travelling to the " di- down with the honest miners in the autunni, but they have little sympathy for sick Indians, upon Avhom they lay a tax so heavy, when called in, that their charges come to be regarded as the extor- tions of impostors. I heard of a doctor from the mines charoino; an Indian tive dollars for a small box of sim})le salve, to be a})i)lied to a sore heel, and that style of healing is the Hy in the ointment, that operates seriously against the success of the missionary who preaches against the athletic antics of the "Siwashes," who pro- fess to cast out unclean spirits and cure Indian tlesh of obstinate ailments. If it suggests anything it is that young men who are educated as missionaries should receive regular instruction in medicine and surgery, which may be as necessary to success among savages as heavy rendings in theology. Miners come down the Stickeen in the fall 58 A TRIP TO ALASKA. and make the town lively by increasing business generally. They patronize the dance-houses and swing corners with the dusky maidens of the forest and island, but the dissipation in these i)riniitive halls of Terpsichore c;)nsists mainly of indulgence in apples and cigars, to which cotillon partners are treated. At the time of m\' visit no beer was sold here, but it has since ])een introduced. AMien the miners are in funds they gamble also, l)ut members of Congress are popularly credited ^vith similar recreation as a relief to "overtaxed ])rains." Gambling as a pastime or })rofcssion has never yet been eradicated l)y law. though often prohibited with severe penal- tics for infraction. When the miners have monc}' they pay for their dancing, and when they have not, toward spring, they are only taxed for the lights. Failing to get pay for the illumination, the dancing master takes his tiddle under his arm, clears the house, walks out, locks the door, goes to the mines, and Wrangel society suffers a collapse, '^fhere would appear to be nothing of a serious nature ai)Out that. It is ti"U(i a man was killed here during the wintci- of bS78-9, but the shooter was tried by a jury of twelve men selected by liimself. The court was presided over by three judges of WRANGEL AXD SITKA. 59 equal jurisdiction, responsible business men of the place, and the murderer was regularly hanged on a regularly constructed scaltbld. He had, or might have had, the benetit of clergy, and I believe some of the ladies sent him bouquets and sweetmeats while he was awaiting execution, which is all that could have been done for him in Boston or Philadelphia. There was no other disturbance of a serious character at Wrangel, except a slight row l)e- tween the resident Indians and some of the visiting tril)es, but the Indians can and always will settle their own affairs, if given a chance. They settled that, and though the Ilydas thought thev oualit to have a <2:un])oat to blow the Stickeens into smithereens, they got along without it and nol)ody was killed. On the whole it appears that the pco]ile at Wrangel were al)le to take care of themselves, and as they had no taxes to pay they thought they could get along without a (Tovcrnment imported from the East. They have no corpo- rate system of Avater works, nor any })aved streets: neither have they a l)onded debt. Tiiere may be })lcnty of work here for mis- sionaries, but there is no lack of missionaries willing to do it. There is room for moral improvenient possible, but such a condition of 60 A TRIP TO ALASKA. afFuii's is not confined exclusively to Wrangel Island. If the people of ^Vlanrel Avere suffering for government at the time of our visit, they did not seem to be aware of it. The permanent white population of this place was seventy-five per- sons. Indians, and transitory miners, and Chinese far outnumber them but do not count as population. CHAPTER VI. SITKA AND KADIAK. n^HE situation at Sitka Mas not greatly clifFer- -*- ent from that at AVrangel as to character of country and })eople, l)ut there were fewer people at Sitka. It is less than a day's run for the steamer from the one place to the other. In good old Russian times Sitka was y, the caj^ital of Alaska. It was occupied by a garrison of some three hundred men who were well provided with such munitions of war as were then regarded the most approved machines for nuu'dor. In those halcyon days, say before the Mexican war, Sitka was a real metropolis and the most important maritime town on the western coast of America north of ]\Iexico. The " castle" which was once the residence of llie Governor-General still stands high upon a mound overlooking the settlement and the l)eau- tiful bay. Ikit the garrison is gone ; the shij)- building has ceased ; the martial music is silent ; more than three-fourtlis of the houses are vacant ; the Stockade has been contemptuously Gl C^2 A TRIP rO ALASKA. carried away l)}^ Indians for fuel, and the place had altogether a deserted and discouraging aspect. Still the few whites here talk of mines and great things in future for Sitka. It must ])e mines, if anything, that will create a future for this reminiscence of a settlement. At the time of our visit there were a])out seventy-five whites, men, women, and children, of all nation- alities here. Outside the line of the old Stock- ade there were about a thousand Indians. In the harbor was a sloo})-of-war to keep the peace, Sitka is situated upon a swampy island hav- ing the sunless, very wet climate conmion to this coast al)ove California and much worse in Alaska than in Oregon and AVashington Territory, where the climat(-' does admit of some farming. But no man should come to Sitka to look for farming lands or climate. And on all this coast there is not a more cheerless looking place than Sitka. AVlien Dr. LeMoync celel)rated the comple- tion of his crematory by the incineration of the remains of the eccentric Baron \'on Balm, the whole country was in a state of })erspiration for daj's o\cr the event, and re})rescntatives of the press from J'hiladelphia and Xew York were sent out to 'Washington, Benns\-lvania, 1o re})ort the wonderful ceremony. Here it is SITKA AXn KADIAK. 63 different. Cremation is as common as death itself among tlie Indiiins. AVe were hardly at anchor in the har])or at Sitka before we were informed that a body was to be barl)eciied, and innncdiately after break- fast I went ashore to see something of the cere- mony. The funeral pyre consisted of a crib of dried logs, each about six inches in diameter and six feet in length, arranged four at the ends and three upon each side, supported by green stakes. The arrangements Avere very sim})le. The bod}' of a squaw, who had died on Sunday (this was on \A'e(hiesday), was hoisted out of the smoke-hole in the center of the house. Dead Ixxlies are never permitted to go out through the doorway, among these Indians. If they were taken out that wa}*, the s})irits would ))(> almost certain to return to })lague their sur- viving relatives. The Ixxly in question was wrap})ed in a connnon bark mat, such as these Indians make, and laid in the crib, the top being covered with lo2"s laid crosswise. The lire was then started and the mourners, who con- sisted of female relatives, sat around upon the ground to the windward and slightly to the right of the burning ])ile. Their hair had been cut short, their faces ^vcrc all Ijlackened, and as 64 A TRIP TO ALASKA. the tears from their weeping e\^es cut channels through the lampl)lack, the effect was exceed- ingly touching. The squaws, who numbered fifteen or twenty, sobbed, sniffled, and whined with every evidence of genuine grief. To the left of the women a number of male relatives of the deceased put in the time chanting contin- ually and keeping time with staves about five feet long, M'ith which they rapped pieces of boards. The men stood erect all this time and were led in the chant by an old man who held a crow totem in one hand, Avhich being shaken, produced a rattling noise, hy pebbles within the hollow instrument. The ceremony continued for about three hours and a half, when the remains were con- sumed, with the exception of some of the larger leg and arm 1)()nes and a portion of the skull. As soon as the residuum was cool enough to be taken up, the mass, along with some of the wood ashes, was placed in a box, which was deposited in a sort of small hen-coop on stakes, scores of which dot the hill behind the village. x\fter the cremation the tired Indians turned in and slept during the afternoon, and at night had their customary dance in honor of the suc- cessful issue of the enterprise. CHAPTER yil. KADIAK. OO fur as mere extent of territory is con- '^ cerned it must be admitted that in the purchase of xVlaska we got enough land, or water and rocks, for the money. Our property in this region connnences at Cape Fox as the southeastern extremity, about 50 42' north latitude and 130 west from Greenwich. From this point a strip of ten marine leagues in width along the coast extends northward to Mount St. Eiias, and thence due north to the Arctic Ocean. Along the coast of the southeastern portion a number of islands form many inland passages similar to those on the coast of Iji-itish Columljia. The southern portion of Alaska is split about the sixtieth parallel, leaving the mainland to continue southward to the line of British Columl)ia, while to the westward ex- tends the peninsula, which terminates in lon- gitude 160 20' west. Then commences the Aleutian Archipelago, forming a chain of islands (55 66 A TRIP TO ALASKA. with narrow passages between, ])cnding around to the southward and westward, re;iching to Attou, 187 40' west, or 172 20' east from Greenwich. Thus it will be seen our most Avesterly Alaskan settlement is in the eastern hemisphere nearer to London by a western than by an eastern course. From Cape Fox the southeastern extremity of Alaska to Attou, is thirty-tive and one-half degrees, or about nineteen hundred miles. A line drawn from Attou through the middle of Behring Straits will })ass between the Diomed Islands at a distance of about one thousand miles from Attou. From there we may claim north- ward till stopped by polar ice. This is an extensive territory, taking in the water, but even of land there are live hundred and sixty- one thousand square miles; and if the land, which is mostly set u}) on end, so far as it is known, ^\ere flattened down, there would be a great deal more. But probably there is enough of it now, such as it is. The mountains of Kadiak rise into view at iitty miles distance from the harl)or, presenting an exceeilingly rugged and })ictures(jue appear- ance. The foregound is l)arren and cold look- ing, with shar}) ridges and peaks of snow in the rem-. As we a})})r()ach, forests of scraggy EADIAK. 67 spruce become visible, and we arc told to take a good look at them, because we will see no timber to the west and north. Kadiak is an island a hundred miles or more in lenath and averaging, perhaps, forty miles in width, being se})arated from the mainland bv the Straits of Shelikoo. Kadiak and adjacent islands contain a population of upwards of two thousand souls, many of them being Russians and of nn'xed blood. The great majority of the people, however, are Innuits, who live principally on tisii, Avhich is here the staple article of food, as l)rcad is in some connnunitics. The settlement of Kadiak or St. Paul's, as it is i)ut down on some of the charts contains a church (Kusso-(Trcek), the stores of two trading companies, a custom- house, the remains of a United States garrison, and quite a village of houses in which the na- tives reside. The Russians made an attempt to have their headquarters at Kadiak, being a central point, and in many respects quite advantageous ; hut a l)etter harbor was found at Sitka, tivc hun island, and as many more on Woody KADIAK. 69 Island, across the harbor, "vvhere the ice com- pany has its liead quarters. Here is found the agent "vvho hires the people to cut ice, to run his saw-mill, to build his boats, and to care for his horses. He buys their furs, furnishes them with such store ijoods as thev need, ad- ministers medicines when they are sick, and has a general supervision of the colony except in the matter of religion, which he leaves them to enjoy according to their education. For him- self he enjoys life. He sails, he hunts, he rides, walks, and takes all sorts of athletic exercises, and has sport of all kinds that can be had in a country like this, prolific in game and free from political and other restrictions. His house is well furnished, his table luxurious!}' supplied, he has no taxes to pay, no elections to trouble him or his people, no police, nor any use for them. One of the institutions of Kadiak is the "galanka." This is an upright furnace made of brick, the best and most economical heater that has ever been tried, so the people say out this way, and they all agree on this point. It is a series of connecting Hues which retain the heat for twenty-four hours after the small amount of wood used has been consumed. Out in this country there is nothing to compare witli the jjalanka as a house-warmer. 70 A TRIP TO ALASKA. The commercial im})ort:ince of Kadiak at present consists of its fur tnide drawn from the surrounding country, })rinci|)ally irom Cook's Inlet. This will probal)ly diminish, but there seem to be other resources here Avhich, in the course of time, may develop into something of value. The waters hereabouts arc plentifully supplied with lisli, cod, salmon, and herring being caught in any quantity required. There is a cannery at Karlook where excellent salmoir are preserved. There is considerable spruce timber suitable for the construction of small vessels, and the natives are apt at mechanical emplo^'ments, lal)()r being cheap, so that there seems to be no reason why tishing could not be made an important industry at Kadiak. The agricultural resources of the island are consid- ered supei'ior for Alaska, but they must be rated exceedingly limited in fact. Here, as about Wrangel and Sitka, there are morasses on the tops of the hills. Snow lingers on the mountains all sunmier, melting just fast enough to keep the whole island saturated with ice water, and ice "water is not generally considered a valu- able adjunct to fancy gardening, or even to protitable fanning. Along the coast, adjacent to the beaeli. are the dryest and warmest s])()ts of soil. In these ])l;iees small nati\"e })otatoes and other liai'dv vei^'elables will o'row. 'Ww, native KADIAK. 71 potatoes are very good, 1)ut exceedingly small. They bear about the same relation to the l)est varieties of potatoes that Texas cattle do to short- horns. In all the little gardening to be seen at Sitka and Kadiak, success depends on making- narrow, raised beds sloping southward, so that they may be kept as warm jmd dry as possible on the surface. Wild cranberries grow plentifully on Kaditik, and, though they are of tine flavor, they are small and probably could not be shipped with [)rofit. Furs and tish are the most valuable of its products at present. The furs consist of sea and land otter, marten, mink, lynx, wolverine, and fox, including red, cross, black, and silver- gray. ]\Iink and 1>eaver are low-})riced fnrs, hut a great many go in with the others. One of the companies had ju'^t got in the spring ship- ments of furs a short time Ijefore our arrival at Kadiak, and, hanging on the loft of the ware- houses, they made a display which would be an ol)jcct of great public interest if on exhil)i- tion in any large city of the "" States." The va- riety and richness of grades and shades were bewildering. In addition to wliat those com- panies obtain, the Wood Island trader buys all of the best that are otforod him. Altogolhor the three houses ship ])orha})s one hundred thousiuid dollars worth of furs from Kadiak annuallv. CHAPTER YIII. THE SHUMAGIX ISLANDS. T EAVING Kadiak we steam westward to -^-^ I-iiga, one of the Sliuiiiagin group of" is- lands lying south of the j)eninsula of Alaska. Coasting along for two days, land is almost con- stantly within sight rough, barren-looking mountains. The ^'Eush" lost considerable time in deep-sea soundings between Kadiak and Unga, and in making o])servations of prominent points. The deep-sea soundings did not develop much, but the observations resulted in establish- ing the fact that the coast-survey charts are considerably "out" in the position^ of many headlands. Unga is the chief of the Shumagin group and is the centre of considerable cod-fishing. A num])er of small schooners are up here in- dependently, and a California company has a station on l^o]K)fl' Island, twelve miles distant from Delaroff, the hnrbor and settlement of Unga Island. At that station, which is called 72 THE SHU M AGIN ISLAXDH. 73 Pirate Cove, the fish are salted and packed for shipment to San Francisco, A\here they are dried. A number of small vessels trade among these islands for furs. The leading variety is sea otter, a great many of which are taken hereabouts, though Belkoosky, on the mainland, is head centre for these skins. Still Unga is much resorted to for fnrs, as the numerous rocks about the islands are frequented by tlie otter, which is very vabiable. The sea otter is said to be the shvest of ani- mals and most sensitive to the presence of man or any to them unfamiliar odoi'. Hunters will remain for months on a rock in the coldest and wettest of winters without a fire or any means of warming their food or sleeping-places, waiting and watching for their prey. They endure the most severe sufferings, and they have their rewards in skins which bring them from thirty to sixty dollars each. But such privations as the hunters imdergo shorten their lives, and what might be needed to complete first-class cases of consum})tion is found in the '"barabaras," sod huts in which they live, half underground, almost entirely in the dark, and quite without ventilation. Consunq)ti.)n is the great agent of death among the Aleuts, as among the Alaskan Indians, while rheumatism 74 A TRIP TO ALASKA. is the acute disease that racks their bodies with sharp i)ains through life. Th(! Siiuinai>in Islands, like other points visited by the '"Iviish" in Alaska, possess the undesiral)lc i)eculiarity of being scant in soil in moderately dry spots, while the tops of hills are swani[)s, cold and unfathomable. AVhat at a short distance looks like an attractive range of rolling hills proves on close inspection to be only a morass in mIucIi a sheep would be lost unless })rovided with a cork jacket. ^^ hy white men should leave the United States and settle down in such an inhos[)ita])le region as this is almost incomprehensi))lc, except on the theory that they have had a rough experience in their j)ast lives, or have retired for some good reason from localities which once knew them, but which know them no more. Yet here are half a dozen of them, and until recently the}' labored under disadvantages which the natives wei'(> not obliged to encounter, for all, except natives, were forbidden to hunt. This order was issued with a view of preventing out- siders from crowding in here to destroy the sea otter, and thus leave the natives without means of earning a livelihood. The rule has recently been modified by the Secretary of the Tre:isin-v, who sont out circulars announcing- that white THE SHUMAGiy ISLANDS. iD men married to native women would be con- sidered natives in regard to privileges of hunt- ing, which is consoling to the men, who get their citizenship in this manner, though they always hunted. Steerino- around amonof the Shumai>ins by tortuous courses, and avoiding the jagued rocks, Avhich stand in skirmish line deployed from the snow-covered mountains, Ave come to Bel- koosky. an Aleutian settlement upon a point of the peninsula, and almost, if not quite, the head centre of the sea-otter hunting. Sea otters are found among the rocks, and rocks stick out of the water here in every direction. Belkoosky is exposed to southeast gales, but the settle- ment was not established as a pleasure resort. If it had been, it might have been })laced on an arm of Belkoosky Bay, which is as smooth as a mill-d;un. lUit r)elkoosky Bay in that part freezes over, and the ice would prevent '' bidar- kies" putting out with the seal hunters, while from the present exposed position of the place the sea is open to the hunters at all times. "NMien people live by the sea this is an ad\'an- tage. The Belkoosky settlement consists mainly of Aleuts, all members of the Greek cluuvh. They live much as the people do at Unga, ])aying no 76 A Til' IP TO ALASKA. attention to agriculture, for whicli their country is but poorly adapted, and looking to the sea for the necessaries of life. Thej^ live in har- mony barring family squa])l)les and they do not ask for national interference. All they seem to want is to be let alone. Onalaska, Atka, Attou, all of the Aleutian settle- ments, are similarly situated in regard to government and politics. The}' have none, and they do not seem to want any. CHAPTER IX. oxalaska's shore. /^XALASKA is the chief settlement of the ^-^ Aleiitiuu Archipehigo. ^"essels from here cruise among the islands to eastward and \vest- ward, bringing in the sea-otter, fox, and other furs. At the time of our arrival one warehouse contained one thousand two hundred sea-otter skins, worth here at that time about forty dol- lars each. Before these were shipped the num- ber swelled to three thousand, worth in London some two hundred and twcnty-tive thousand dol- lars. This will represent, perhaps, two-thirds of all the sea-otter skins furnished to the world annually; for comparatively t'o^v go from any other quarter. The sea otter has a tine, close fur, but it is used principally for trinnning, being too heavy and too expensive for full gar- ments. The fur-seal is much more desirable for cloaks and not so costly. In addition to sea otter, black, silver-gray, cross, and red foxes, and other land furs, mainly from Bristol Bay, centre here for shipment to San Francisco, and when 78 A TRIP TO ALAtiKA. lumo^inof in the warehouses make a jjrand dis- play. Two fur coin})anies had head quarters here for operations east, west, and northward. Like all other Aleut settlements of any eon- secjuenee, Onalaska has a Kussian church ; but here the priest, Father Shiesnekoo, enjoys a degree of contidence, respect, and influence not possessed by all of the gown in Aleutia. Some of the priests in Alaska are not nmch thought of. It was reported that a num1)er of them, along with some from San Francisco, were to be sent to Siberia, and, though there may have been grounds for the supposition that the}^ ought to go, none went. It may not ])e generally known that the Ivussian government l)a3s the salaries of the Greek priests in America, over one hundred thousand rul)les per annum being sent by the Czar to the San Francisco Consistory. The Aleuts are all mcmbei's of the Greek faith. The forms and ceremonies of this church are better suited to their simple minds than those of any (jther Christian denomination. It is full of mysteries, and that is what they want to make religion palatable. They would not i"cs})ect a doctrine that they could under- stand. Fntil they shall have been further advanced intellectually, nothing but the incom- l)rehensible will satisfy their sjjiritual longings. ONALASKA'S SHORE. 79 The meinbers of the Russian church do not sit witliin their houses of worship. The ves- tibule of er.ch of these churches opens into a o-orgeous rotunda, decorated with reb'frious pictures, furnished with immense sllver-phited chandeliers, having sconces for a dozen candles each. Candelabrtv, with many lights, stand upon a raised dais and reach as high as a man's head. In the centre, facing you as you stand with your back to the entrance, is a lattice door, on the inner side of which is a curtain concealing whatever may be within. As you enter, the congregation stands facing the screen, ])ut ])ack from the rotunda. The men stand upon the right, the women on the left. The singers consist of men and l)()ys led b}' tlie second jn-iest. In Sitka the choir had a posi- tion ])ehin(l a screen to the rigiit of the rotun- da. Here in Onalaska they occupy a narrow gallery, ^diere there is also a l)ench for visi- tors. There may be no priest in sight, but the sing- ing in a monotonous half-chant continues at all times when the priest is not reading or ]n"aying. Presently the curtain in the centres is drawn back, an altar within tlu^ xaiichini saDcfortnii is revealed, and a priest in gorgeous vestments and wearinu-atall, belUcrowned, blue-velvet hat, 80 A TRIP TO ALASKA. is seen reading, praying, or swinging a censer. The attendant who waits upon him kisses his hand with each article given him, and crosses himself as he passes the altar. The curtain is drawn again and the holy of holies is once more concealed from view. After another short interval the priest comes out into the rotunda by a side door, and walks around to the centre, carrying a chalice or some other portion of the communion service. As he appears, the peo})le to right and left fall to bending and crossing themselves as rapidly as possible. The youngsters especially, who are kept in front, toward the rotunda, l)end like growinor "rain in a sunnner's aale, and cross themselves as if troubled by mosquitoes. Hands fly from forehead to breast, and from shoulder to shoulder, while the body ])cnds and SAvays, and occasionally a forehead touches the floor, the devout worshipper being down on hands and knees. The priest walks slowly around toward the raised platform in the centre and disa|)pears in the inner room, which is elevated a foot or two al)()ve the rotunda. The latticed doors meet l)ehind him, and, as the chalice is placed upon the little altar, the curtain again shuts out the view from the conirre<>:ation, who stand with OJVALASKA'S SHORE. 81 bowed heads mentally repeating prayers, as would appear from their frequent crossings. Now the nnsteries of transub.stantiation are taking place. Shortly the curtain is again thrown back, the priest walks out with a silver chalice and spoon, takes position on the lower step of the dais, and a number of women, with children in their arms, step forward one at a time. Tlie youngsters are from a few months to two years of age, and as they are held up the priest takes a small portion of the contents of the chalice in the spoon and inserts it in the child's mouth. The forehead of the child is touched Avith the chalice, and the ceremony of communion is completed. Altogether the service is such as could not fail to make a profound impression on the minds of humble people like the Aleuts; and as they stand bowing and crossing themselves, or touching their foreheads to the tioor, the young- est girls, with small colored shawls, worsted scarfs, or ])right htmdkerchiefs over their heads and about their full olive faces, the young- ladies in hats somewhat gay with blue and white ribbons and feathers, the older women in head- gear of a more subdued character, the effect is exceedingly })i('turcs(|ue. As to I'eligioii. it is with these [)('o[)Ie a matter of faith, pure and 82 A TRIP TO ALASKA. unadulteruted. It is the priest's Inisiness to conduct them to heaven. All they have to do is what they are told, and this tlic]^ aj^jpear to do in great earnestness, at least in form. The Kussians had the advantage over others in dealing with these people, which is the result of both using the same language and of long domination, which completely subjected them to the will of what they for generations felt be a superior race backed by mdimited ])o\ver. The children got some exceedingly j)rimitive rudiments of l)ook knowledge in the Russian language, but not enough to hurt them with all the proverbial })erils of limited learning. Xow the Alaska Conmiercial Compan}' su})ports an English school upon this as u})on each of the seal islands, lentil English l)ccomes the lan- guage of the countr\', American missionaries need not look to do much })rosel3ting from the liussian church. In ti'uth there does not seem to l)e any reason why the\' should. The Aleuts are ])eaceful and contimted, and will ask for nothing that their present condition does not atlbrd them until their characters shall ha^e b;'cn changed l)y the intermingling of Anglo- Saxon blood. A\'hen this occurs they may want ])olitics and an imi)r()ved religion. .lust now the}' get along very well, all things OXALA!mallest cx})cnditure of 84 A TRIP TO ALASKA. fuel, for ill former times fuel was exceedingly scarce. Since leaviiiir Kadink, about seven hundred miles to the eastward, we have not seen any standing timber larger than a walking-stick. At present the Alaska Commercial Company brings up coal from Nanaimo for use on board their vessels and in their offices and other build- ings, but previous to this the only fuel in use on these islands was drift from the northward and a viney sort of shrub called "chik-a-snik." Native women now go up to the mountains, and they do not have far to go, where the}' gather the "timber," which is rolled into bundles like hay, and carried down upon their l)acks. These women may l)e seen coming over the hills in single file, loaded down with " chik-a-snik," like pack trains in the mines. They are Chris- tians, but, when loaded, look very much like sfjuaws unconverted. When chik-a-snik wa^^ the only fuel, as it is still with a great majority of the Aleuts, the l)arabara was found to bo the warmest habita- tion for the people. They boil tea water with chik-a-snik as fuel, and that is the principal part of their cookery. Their fish is also pre- pared over it Mlien not eaten raw. For warmth the}- formerly depended on their fur and feather ON ALASKA'S SHORE. 85 clothing and crowding together in close quar- ters. At present some of the natives occupy, rent-free, small frame houses, built and owned by the Alaska Commercial Company. The villages of Unga and Belkoosky, farther to the eastward, are similar to Onalaska in the matter of huts, diet, and fuel, but they are not such important settlements as this. The natives live principally in barabaras ; they rely on driftwood and chik-a-snik for fuel ; they hunt the sea otter for wealth, subsist principally on fish, and profess the Greek Catholic faith. As a rule they are not neat in their persons and seldom attractive in appearance. Some of the women are taught to dress after the style of the humbler of their more enlightened sisters, ])ut the general effect presented by them as they attend to their various duties is not very fasci- nating. The ])idarkie is a boat used by the Aleuts in hunting and tishing. A frame fifteen to twenty feet in length is constructed of narrow light strips of wood, lashed together with thongs of seal skin, and this frame is covered with skins of sea lion, from which the hair has been scraped. The seams are closed with grease, and as the entire frame is covered over with the exception of one or two round hatches 86 A TBI I' TO A LA, 'SKA. or holes for the paddlers to sit in, they have a craft light and seawoi'thy. One or two, some- times three, men will go to sea in one of these frail ])arks, and though the waves may da-sh over them, no water is shipped so long as the frame holds together. In addition to the pad- dlers, who sit in the liatches, their wives and children are sometimes stowed away in the hold, so that the\' are entirely out of sight within the boat, lying between the feet and legs of the men. Fish and i'urs are similarly transported. At Kadiak the natives use a single paddle, shaped like a narrow and [)ointed si)ade, but the peo})le to the westward of that island invari- a))h' have doul)le-bladed paddles, Avhich they dip alternately port and stai'l)oard. The ])idarkie is constructed somewhat after the model of a workinji-boat, but so liuht on the Avater that a person not accustomed to navigating it is extremely lial)lc to ca])size, unless having an expert on board to balance the craft. The natives are very dextci-ous in the management of the bidarkies, as may be supposed. Xo matter where human beings may be cast away, tlun' acconmiodate themselves to their surroundings. Here is a peo})le who, living in a foggy, rainy, cold, inhospitable country, go to work and produce ever}' article necessary to OyALA^'^iKA'S SHORE. 87 their existence. They catch fish, Avhich is dried for Aviuter use and soaked in oil to make it digestible. The seal is captured for meat and clothing. Sea-lion skins are used for the con- struction of boats, in which the natives ply their trade. The intestines of the seal are pre- pared for the manufacture of waterproof shirts. Waterproof boots are made, with sea-lion flip- pers for soles, seal fiip[)ers for uppers, and walrus throats for tops. The sea is watched for wood, the mountains are climbed for the viney chik-a-snik, a light fuel, but still of service, "svhale sinews are used for thread, walrus ivory for spears, and tanned bird-skins for parkies, or outside robes, which are worn in dry, winter weather, and warm garments the}' are. So situated and provided for, the Aleuts are con- tented and attached to their homes, fond of their cliildren and wives, seldom beating them except in the way of kindness. As I have said that the Aleutian Islands are not suitable for agricultural or pastoral pur- poses, justice demands the admission that a dozen head of cattle, a flock of about twenty sheep, numerous chickens, and a fe\v pigs are >iiQ\\ in Onalaska. but their 'presence is not due to nor appreciated by the Aleuts. Traders own and cherish them. The natives would 8S A TRIP TO ALA>>KA. rather lla^'e a dead whale drift asliore than to own the best croj) of the Ijiao-est farm in the United States. Dead M'hale is a great blessing in the Aleutian part of our Alaska possessions, and agricultural products are hut little sought after or valued. The dead Avhale may be so putrid that the etHuvia arising from it will blacken the white })aint of a vessel lying one hundred 3'ards distant, but, all the same, the whale is a blessing. ]Men and boys dig holes through the mon- ster's skin and descend into the lower regions to excavate the choice parts. Children claw out long strips of l)lubl)er, on one end of which they begin and chew until, inch by inch, yards of it disappear, and their little round ])ellies are puffed out like aldermanic paunches, while the oil runs in two small streams down from the corners of their sweet baby mouths and they are happy. CHAPTER X. SEALSKIN SACQUES. rpHE seal "fisheries'" of the Piy])ilov Islands -*- in Behi'inu: Sea control tiie markets of the Avorld in the connnodity which they })roduce in greatest al^undance. Of the two i.shuids in the group upon which the fur seal is taken, 8t. Paul furnishes eighty thousand skins annually, which is about one-half of all that arc sent to market. The fur sealskins of the M'orld are mainly taken as follows : St. Paul's, eighty thousand ; St. George's, t\venty thousand (one hundred tliousand from these two islands ])ciiig all that our government authorizes the lessees to take) ; from Cop[)er and Pchring Islands, on the Asiatic side of Behring Sea, twenty-five thou- sand ; mouth of the La Plata Iviver, P)razil, about five thousand ; Crozctte Islands, Indian Ocean, fifteen hundred ; from Shetland and Falkland Islands, otf Cape Horn, five thousand, 89 90 A TRIP TO ALASKA. and a fow hundreds from Robbin's Island, in the Okhot!?k Sea. In all perhaps less than one hundred and sixty thousand sealskins are taken annually, including those which are shot along the coast from California to Alaska. Although less than live thousand are taken annually on the Shetlands and Falklands, not less than twenty thousand so-called ''Shetland fur seal- skins" are sold every year. The possibility of such an incoherent state of trade is one of the })eculiaritics of commerce, caused by the fact that the Shetland fur seals are supposed to be the best in the world. But the Alaska fur seals are perhaps the best. R()l)1)in's Reef, in the Okhotsk Sea, was once a rich fur field, but the seals have been almost exterminated or driven away. The first seals discovered on Robl)ins Reef were found by a cruiser named Allen, from Xcw London, Con- necticut, alxnit tweniy-fi\e years ago. Allen Avas an old whaler, who had lived ashore for a numl)er of years, ])ut in 18.58 he set out in a new ship to cruise for oil. Touching at Rol)- bin's Reef, he found fur seals there in such munber as to enable him to make uj) a very \alua- ble cargo of tlieir skins. lie loaded and hurried down to Honolulu for salt to preserve them, and finally got his prize safely to market. The SEALSKIN SACQUES. 91 profits of that voyage paid for his new ship and enabled the jolly old sea dog to retire once more and live happily ever afterward ; but within two years the seals were nearly extermi- nated in that locality. When we purchased Ahiska we obtained, along with an inmiense amount of worthless ter- ritory, two islands in Behring's Sea which are a mine of wealth, inexhaustible and incalculable in value so long as properly managed. The largest of these two islands, St. Paul's, is situated in north latitude 57^ 8' and west longi- tude 170 13', and is about twelve miles long by eight wide between extreme points. St. George's is situated forty miles to the southward from St. Paul's. From these two islands one hundred thousand fur sealskins and, according to law, no more may be taken annualh'. As they form the most extensive and valuable fur seal fisheries in the known world, some ac- count of what occurs here may be acceptable to the ladies if to no other readers, for every lady is supposed to have a sealskin sacquc, or is suspected o a desire to own one : and of course she should know something about the origin of the garment she wears. This knowl- edge, however, must be limited at best, for the comino-s and a'oinus of the fur seal are so en- 92 A TRIP TO ALASKA. veloped in mystery that a u^reat deal about their inoveinents is merely conjectural. The Prybilov Islands are named in honor of a Kussian trader, who discovered them a hun- dred years ago, when sealskin sacques were not so much in vouue as now. There were many liussian traders among the Aleutian Islands in those days, and it Avas Avhile hunting tor new sea-otter grounds for his employers that Pry- bilov discovered St. George's, one hundred and ninety miles north of the nearest point of the Aleutian Archipelago. St. Paul's Mas discov- ered during the foHowing year. AVhen tirst found, the islands, M'hich are of comparativeh' recent volcanic formation, had no inhabitants, Aleuts ])ciiig brought in l)y the Pussians for the Avork of sealing. For a number of years (Pry- bilov's discovery soon ]:)ecoming known to the other traders) there Mas great competition and an indiscriminate slaugiiter of seals, whi(,'h threatened their extinction : but later the Rus- sian govermnent leased all Alaska to one com- })any. and then steps were taken to prevent the extermination of the valuable animal. The seals were protected so as to }'ield a certain revenue till Alaska was transferred to the United States, when, during the intei'reg- nuni between the departure of the Kussians and SEALSKIN SACQtIES. 93 installation of our government in actual posses- sion, a general onslaught was made by every whaler and trader under the American flao- in these waters, so that extermination of the seals again seemed imminent. Finally the isltmds were leased to one company, to the exclusion of all others, but with limitations as to the number of skins not exceeding one hundred thousand to be taken aimuallj'. Under this arningement the number of seals is steadily increasing, and the lessees pay about three hundred thousand dollars annually into the Treasury. Competi- tion in seal slaughter would destroy all the seals and this revenue within two years. The matured male fur seal, when he draws up out of the ocean after a six or eight months' cruise in waters to us unknown, is a magnificent animal. Bold, bad, and beautiful, he takes a position in May among the basaltic rocks which are washed by the surf in storms, 1)races his broad chest upon his fore flippers, stretches his heavily maned, glossy, undulating neck, throws his tapering head aloft, and roars forth a hoarse bellow of defiance to all the world. He closes with a guttural growl tliat sounds like two quarts of pel)bles rattling in his throat ; while do\\'n by the corners of his threatening mouth, stockaded witli ivory fangs, droop the long, gray lines of his aristocratic moustache. 9i A TRIP TO ALASKA. Here he takes his stand, and in this position he will meet his expected family, or death. In the full vigor and power of a perfect physical condition, he may be killed, but cannot be driven away from the around which he has chosen U>v his seraglio, for he is a polygamist of the most uncompromising character. In June comes his multitudinous bride. The male fur seal is a huge, but symmetrical, brown- ish bulk of six to eight hundred pounds. The female is a meek, modest, suljmissive-looking little creature averaging about a hundred- weight. She creeps up out of the Avater with a demure, downcast countenance, with the shining- hair neatly brushed back from her pretty little head, and arrayed in a brown sacque, think you? Xot at all. She is a Quakerish looking matron in unpretending steel gray, l)ut sleek and tidy, without a wrinkle in her dress. There could not ])e a greater contrast in seeming than that between the male and female fur seal. lie, aggressive, fierce, and ))1()()(1- thirsty ; she, meek and lowly, but, as rumors go, sly withal, and were she sole mistress of her lord's afl'ections would, no doubt, exhil)it a temper of her own. Competition keeps her spirit down, poor thing. There are more females than males. SEALSKIN SACQUES. 95 Both male and female seals are perfect models of grace and symmetry. There is not an angle in the contour of either, Imt in size, color, and character \\i.ey are opposites. One represents strength and courage, the other timidity and affection. The baby seals are black, playful little imps, that roll and wrestle with each other on the grass, kiss and quarrel, learn from their fond mammas how to swim, and start out on their first voyage to sea in autumn, or furnish the Aleuts with veal through the winter. Some ma\' swim and some must boil in their baby- hood. Some are swallowed by sharks or " killers,"' and some return to celebrate their birth anniversary where they first saw the fog. In their second year they are safe on the Prybilov Islands, but exposed to danger alono; the coast, where neither ao;e nor sex is spared l)y those who may be able to shoot or spear them. During their third year the males may be rapped on the sconce at St, Paul's or St. George's, wherever they haul out, and in their fourth year their chances for living to old age are considerably less. At five years thev are comparatively safe again ; at six, assurance i)olicies might be issued to them at small })remiums ; and at 96 A TlilP TO ALASKA. eight they have nothing to fear from the lessees of the Prybilov group. The "' pup " seals may be killed by the natives in the fall in sufficient numbers to afford food during the winter ; but the fur sealskin is not marketable before the second year ; they are at their best when the animal is four or five years old, but after six the coating of the hide runs gradually from fur to hair, till the latter pre- dominates and tlie skin is not valuable. The females are never killed here, unless by accident, when slaughtering a drove. The coast lines of the two islands are largely occupied by what are known as "rook- eries," or breeding-grounds of the seal, which come here once a year. A sandy ])each is not much favored by the seals. They select locali- ties where basaltic boulders al)ound as plenti- fully as hills in a potato patch, and considerably larger. The " bulls," as they are technically called, arrive first. AVhere they go in the fall, or where they come from in the spring, is mainly conjectural, but as soon as the ice melts or floats from the shores of tliesc islands the bulls appear and take positions among the rocks, all laying claim to tracts nearly uniform in size and shape, about twenty feet in diameter, on an average. Some seasons are so late in opening SEALSKIN SAC QUE S. 97 that the ice is dug away from the sliores by the company's employees in order to permit the seals to land. The first to arrive are the strongest of the seals, and th(\v lake u\) claims nearest the Avater. Thos{! which are later or Avcakcr are driven further hack to less desirable places. ]\light makes right in these matters, seals which arc not lirst-class fighters going to the wall or u}) the bluff. It is a case of the survival of the Jj'jJdeat. The old bulls occupy their pre-emptions for weeks without going into the water, awaiting the arrival of the females, sleeping upon their ground, neither eating nor drinking during that time. This, however, is hut preliminary to a much longer vigil and fast, which continues for three months after the ai'rival of the females. During this time they live by al)s()rption of the blubber which they accumulate while away. AMien they depart they are Aveak and lean. When they return they are sleek and fat. If there is lighting over the pre-emj^tion and holding of ground for the hnrcm, there is a much greater struggle a few weeks later. AMicn the females arrive the old Turks in waiting dance down to the water's edue to escort them 98 A TRIP TO ALASKA. to the liurcnis. Then the fio-hting' bejiins in earnest, the eontestants tearing clunn)s of fur out of eaeh other for the })rivilege of doing the lionors and taking the party in steel-gray under their ])rotection. Half a dozen males nia}' be engaged for a moment in a very rough and indiscriminate tunil)le over a new arrival, but when the water is tilled with new comers there is no time to Ije Avastcd in prolonged struggles, and as soon as one gallant is driven out of a contest he turns his attention to the nearest other charmer that may be landing. And thus aifairs are so conducted that the honors are pretty evenly distributed along the water front and for a iew rows l)ack from the landing; but the elder]}' rakes to the rear are often left to sigh in celil)acy all sunmier, Avhile more fortunate lords of the seal kingdom revel in the Utopian hixury of fifteen ^ives a})iece. There are several classes of male seals which are de})rived of the delights and refining in- fhu'nces of female society. There are young- bachelors which have never yet had the courage to go in and tight for a claim, being a})})arenlly Uwed into remaining at a res})ectal)le and safe distance from the })otent brown and tawny seniors. These vouuij fellows haul out in crowds of thousands by themselves close to tlie SEALSKIN SAC QUE S. 99 water and not far distant from the serasflios. They are from one to four or five years ohl, and they alternate their pastimes ])etween lying on their backs among the rocks where they fan their heated bodies with a hind tii[)per, if it is a Avnrm utta-percha-like character of the flippers scrv- inii' to raise the Ijody and pr()})cl it forward. The hinder portion of the body, when the seal travels on land, works somewhat after the fashion of an angle worm or caterjnllar, gather- ing itself together and springing forward as if connected with the fore(|uarters by some power- ful elastic attachment. AVith the fore flii)pers the seal can raise itself upon a rock or knoll two feet in height, and as the animal is strong the hinder })arts are compelled to follow. The hind flippers, which act as rudders when in the water, draij alonor when the animal moves on land, like a couple of four-button kid gloves pinned upon the rear extremity of a lady's dress. In the water the}' are quite handy for steering, but on land they only go for orna- ments, or for fans on proper occasions. The best time for dri\ing fur seals is on a rainy day, when the sun is ol)scured and the grass is wet, enabling the hinder portion of the body to slide along as easily and elegantly as a dress-train on a velvet carpet. On a dn', sun- shiny dav they cannot ])e driven, Ijut, bccomins: 102 A TIUP TO ALASKA. heated, full prostrute, and will not rise for any amount of threatening. On such days, too, if not disturbed, they lie on their backs at the hauling i)laccs, fanning themselves Avith their hind flippers, the rookeries then reminding one of the fluttering in a crowded theatre or full church during the heated term ; but the seal fans are black and noiseless, the latter being a quality not sufficiently considered by some ladies in cultured assemblages. Seals being fat and scant of breath, and dressed in an exceedingly inappropriate suit for hot weather, seek out a climate of fog and rain for their summering places. That is one reason why they come to the Pryl)ilov Islands, where mists and gloom ])revail during the summer months, sunshine being a rarity and an aljomination to the seal hunters. On favorable days a l)and of bachelor seals may be driven live or six miles, and when the air is very cool, the grass wet, and the sky cloudy, they can l)e pushed a mile in an hour. Yet they are not generally considered notable pedes- trians. For driving, the men carry staffs lour or five feet in length, and M'ith this wea])()n they go among the seals, opening avenues and cutting off })orlions of the l)and at })leasure. The seals are never killed near the "rook- SEALSKIN SAC QUE S. 103 eries" or hauling grounds, upon Avhieh they land from the sea, but are driven away back to the settlement ^vhen possible, tiiough in some cases they are slaughtered at remote points and their skins hauled in. But as the pelts weigh aljout eight pounds when first taken off, or ten pounds when salted, tliere is a great saving in transpor- tation to comi)el them to carry their own skins and blubl)er in when practicable. On the afternoon of our first arrival at St. PiiuTs, a 1)and which had been driven three miles and a half was seen halted on a hill, unable to proceed, owing to the warmth of the day, al- though it was not distressing us to walk about in overcoats. In the evening, however, they were pushed down to a lagoon, Avhere the}' soon became cool, after which they moved along without much trouble. At six o'clock next morning killing com- menced. Just ))ef()re this hour twenty or thirty natives were seen going out to the drove, about half a mile from the village. They might have been taken for a party of machinists organ- ized into base-ball clubs. Nearly all wore caps and were dressed in I)lue denims overalls and jumpers. About a do/en of the ))arty carried hickory clubs of the dianu^tor of a bas(>-l)all bat, but five feet in length. The others had knives. 104 A TRIP TO ALASKA. Arriving: on the irround the drivers were found to have eut otf about one-fifth of tlie l)and, and were giving tlie smaller l)ody a ehance to cool off. After a few minutes a numl)er not to exceed fifty or sixty were dri\en u}) toward the killers, who stood close together. As soon as the small band arrived at the fatal spot they were surrounded 1)V the men with clul)s, who proceeded Avitli the utmost diligence to raj) them on the nose or ])etween the eyes. A smart rap of a base-l>all club on the tip of a fur seal's nose puts him beyond recovciy. Some are killed by being hit l)etween their lai'ge. soft, intelligent eyes (the memory of which would haunt any but sc.d-killcrs), and others fall senseless from a l)low on the ])ack of the neck. One group after another was brought forward tmd knocked down so rapidly that in less than \\\vqo hours nine hundred and ninety- seven seals had l)een killed and skinned. Out of each small band di'i\"en up to the killers, at least twenty ])er cent were tui-ned away, this jn-actice l)e:ng })ursuQd in order to kec}) up the su{)ply from year to year. After the clubl)ers followed two or three men Avith kni\('s. avIio cut a short slit in the skin l)etween the fore flij)}iers and then stabl)ed the seal to the heart. Next succeeded the rip))er'- ,SAL.SKiy SACQUES. 1(5 who split the skin lengthwise along the belly and cut around the neck and flippers to make way for the skinners, who will not })ernn't their blades to touch the outer portion of the hide, where sand might dull the keen edges. On an average the skins are removed in two minutes each and thrown beside the carcass, whence they are hauled to the salting house. The skins, when hauled from the killing ground, are salted down in large bins, where they remain about a week, when they are removed and piled in tiers in the warehouse, like cured l)ac()n in a pork- packing establishment. When sufficiently salted they are prepared for shipment by rolling two skins together, the flesh-sides facing, after which they are tied, forming a liundJe about four inches in thickness and ten in length. In San Francisco they are packed in casks and go to London in that condition. In London they are put through a course of treatment which destroys the grease and re- moves the long hairs, which stand out as a protection to the fur. This is done by shavinir the flesh down and pulling the hairs out liy machinery. After the skin has l)eeii sufficiently mani})ulated in these processes, it is dyed, and this is said to be the most important mattcn- of all in connection with its treatment. It is as- 106 A TRIP TO ALASKA. serted and denied that the skins can be success- fully dyed in the United States, Init at all events London controls the l)usiness at present. AVhere the fur seals herd to- gether would seem to l)e almost impossible. They are sup})osed to feed on lish and kel[), that [jrolific product of the ocean which is found floating in nearly ail latitudes, 1)eing torn from its rocky bed by storms and carried around the world upon tides and ciu'rents. Kelp furnishes the food for the seal, and it collects in tangled masses to form a couch for the shy sea otter, which slce})s upon it in a gale, and it has l)een used to soothe the hungry stomach of many a hunter who for days had failed to find other food. While it is I)elieved that tish and kelp form the chief article of seal sul)sistence. the seal, as stated, can live foi' months on his inner con- sciousness or blub])er which is strongly flavored with seaweed. The stomach of a seal cut 0})en on the islands })roves to be (|uitc empt}'. It reveals nothing of its owners habits. It is a mystery. Tht^ manufacture of oil from >eal blubber may be much more satisfactorily studied from a vvriiten descrii)lion than in llie factory, for it is not producti\"e of the most rehned odors. AVlien seal oil was made uj)on the islands the 108 A TRIP TO ALASKA. " blubber-snatchors " followed the skinners and stn[)ped the carcass a second time, removing the fat from all around the body in one sheet, which was rolled up and carted to the oil fac- tory, where it was dum})ed into a wooden vat. I'he vats were sui)plicd with steam from a boiler under ninet\' pounds pressure. Five or six wagon-loads of i)lubber were thrown into a vat, which \vas cIoscmI at the top, the steam turned on, and the boiling })rocess continued for twelve to tiftecn hours, at the end of which time the oil was i)ressed out and raised by cold Avater and run off the top into casks holding from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and eighty gallons each. Carcasses of the seal killed for their fur yield about half a gallon of oil each when they are fat, l)ut as the season advances they }ield less, living by absor})tion of their own grease. In tiring under the boiler, seal carcasses, ])lu])ber, l)ones, and flesh were used for fuel, ;ind a warm tire they make, but the tiremen must be relieved frequently, for the stench of the boil- ing blubber and of the burning bodies combined is too much for any set of human nerves to en- dure long at any one time. Since the foregoing A\as written, oil-making on our seal islands has l>een discontinued as unpi'ofitable. CHAPTER XI. COMMUNISTIC. rpiIE natives of St. Paul's and St. George's -*~ islands live in a sort of connnunistie state, and are, withal, purse-proud aristocrats. They perform a few days' labor for the com pan}' out- side of seal-taking, for which they are paid at tlie rate of ten cents per hour. All earnings for killing seals are distributed i)ro rata in classes, not only to those who work according to their ability, but to some who are unable to perform any labor. They are not frugal in their habits. They spend the greater part of their money on luxuries. Having house rent, fuel, tisli and seal meat, doctor and school- master free, they look around for sonx^thing to buy. For the one hundred and twenty women on one island the company carries u}) a hundred dozen tine silk handkerchiefs which are gen- erally worn on tlie head, a hundred dozen fine worsted colored stockings, almost as many 110 A TRIP TO ALASKA. scurfs and nubias, dozens of fine shawls, one thousand two hundred yards of calico (some of these seal-killers' wives have a dozen dresses at a time), three hundred yards of other dress goods and flannels, with three suits of clothing, boots, and ca})s for every man and boy in the village, and good cassimere clothinir is tlie kind they demand. For food sup})lies on one island they have thirty-five thousand pounds of biscuit and crackers and two hundred and thirty barrels of Hour ; seventy chests of tea, fifty-two pounds each ; four hundred boxes candles, stearine and paraffinc ; one thousand sacks of rice, fifty pounds each ; one thousand gallons kerosene, etc. A few years ago these same natives lived in ))arabaras (sod huts), twenty-live to forty })ersons in one room. They used ])lub))er lb?' lights and fuel till the lam})l)lack hung in strings from the ceiling. Now they have iVamc houses, cook-stoves, coal, kerosene, and ])arafiine can- dles. They have good church buildings on each island, and schools Avith teachers as well as doctors, at the ex})ense of the c()m})any. The natives of the seal islands arc not long- lived. Sixty is old age, to which i'vAW ever I'each, and even those of lifty are scarce. I'he COJIMU-iYIS TIC. Ill population has not increased to any appreciable extent since the United States came into posses- sion. Like all other Aleuts, the natives of the seal islands die generally of consumption. When it once appears it makes rapid work, and in a few days its victim is laid awav. Whatever may he the restorative qualities of tish-oil or blubber, it does not seem to benefit these people. They all eat enormously of these commodities, and, as a rule, die early. When attacked, physicians are in vain, and the patient falls at once into a condition of hopeless indifference, irenerally refusini? medicine, or nealectino- to take it dur- ing the doctor's al^sence. These people give liberally toward the support of their church, and l)uy many blessed candles at high prices. The church decorations of sih'cr chandeliers, candelabras, and pictures are l)oth elaborate and expensive. Large gilt candles have been sent from the San Francisco Consis- tory at the rate of three for fifty dollars, and, though this was considered high, they were paid for. They were large candles, it is true, but, Judging from the material of which they are composed, they should not cost more than four or five dollars each, even including the rather tawdry gilding upon their surfaces. But the 112 A TRIP TO ALASKA. seal-isliinders believe in blessed candles and can aftbrd to \n\\ for them. The "second" priest, or "striker," as he is sometimes denominated by irreverent Yankees, the "second mate," as the sailors call him, is an institution of the llussian Church in Alaska. The second })riest can hold services, but is not endowed with the right to perform the marriage ceremony. He leads the choir and attends on the first priest at mass. Sometimes the mar- riage ceremony is waived by parties entering into the marital state in the absence of a first priest, but when that individual comes around, he makes it all I'ight, and it is considered that no harm has been done. The vestments worn by the priest are very rich, but sometimes when he appears in gar- ments of gold and M'hite, with cavalry boots below, as often hapi)ens, tlie effect strikes strangers as being strong and novel rather than strictly ecclesiastic. It speaks somewhat loudly of church militant. There is no beer nor whiskey to be had by the natives of the fur-seal islands. The Treas- ury Department f()rl)ids the manufacture here or the introduction of beverages of an intoxicating character. KlTorts have been made in other Aleutian settlements to prevent the nianufac- COMMUNIS TIC. 113 tare of "quass," a sort of sour l)ccr manufiic- tured out of sugar, Hour, and water ; but where there are two or more trading companies in competition, the sugar can be obtained from one, if not from the other, and the su})pression of the traffic in such a comnumity is ahnost impossil)le. On the fur-seal islands, however. Treasury and company agents unite in efforts to su})press the manufacture of strong drink. It Avas, for a long time, difficult to reconcile these Aleuts to getting along witliout spirits, lender Russian rule it was the custom to issue s))irits to the men when at work, and this created an appetite, which was sought to be allayed by other drink when merchantable whiskey could not be had. (Jreat trouble is now experienced by the com])any"s traders elsewhere, owing to the natives getting intoxicated and raising disturb- ances, and it is a source of satisfaction to the agents on the fur-seal islands that they have been able to put an end to the nianulacture of "quass." Im'cu the old nati\'cs, who were the most difficult to wean. ha\c become reconcik'd to total al)stinence, and the fact that they have money in ])ank. and better houses, clothing, and food than were had when wliiskey and ''<[uass" prevailed, teaches Iheni that fu'e-water is the 114 A TRIP TO ALASKA. most expensive luxury poor people can indulge in. Tea is now the strongest beverage that these people absorb. The tea used here is of a superior (quality, the same cho}) as that fur- nished by the Russians years and years ago. The people don't want any other kind, and the company is perfectly willing to provide that which they prefer. The seal islands are situated in Behring Sea, and during the warmer months are almost con- tinually enveloped in fogs and mist. That is one reason why the seals make them their breeding; irrounds. There is no such thin>' in the seal business as "making hay while the sun shines," for the sun will drive the warm-coated animals into the water, when men with clu1)s could not do it ; for though the two and four- year-olds may l)e herded and driven like sheep, the older bulls, when on the rookeries, cannot be forced away b}' threats of violence. Con- tinued sunshine, however, would soon banish them from the islands. St. George's Island, which, on a clear day. can ])e seen from St. Paul's, is an e})itom(' of the larii'cr one. The pojjulation, at the hist count, was one hundred and two })ersons. They have a church, school-house, and frame dwell- COMMUNISTIC. 115 ings for the people, provided by the coiiipan}', which controls in all these matters and fur- nishes the modern improvements according to the ideas of its officers, whose suggestions in these matters are adopted. Xear Garden Cove, on the southeast coast of St. George's Island, is a large sea-lion rookery, the beach being red with the monsters, which lay packed together like hogs in a stock car going to market. The sea lion is found also on St. Paul's, but not so numerously as on St. George's. The sea lion seems to be more like an overgroAvn seal, larger than the fur-seal bulls, but their coat consists of hair only, which is of a coarse reddish l)rown. The flesh of the sea lion is preferred to that of the fur seal, and the hide, while having no value in the markets of the world, is in great demand among the Aleuts and Indians of the Northern Pacific and Behring Sea. The leather is, however, used to a limited extent on emery wheels for polishing in cutlery factories. The flippers of the sea lion are used for soles of the Aleut waterproof ])()ots : the skin is converted into coverings for the large open boats known as " l)idarrns."" These boats con- sist of a frame of wood with ribs imported from the Eastern States. The lion skins, the 116 A TRIP TO ALASKA. hair slnived off, are stretched over the frame, fifteen or twenty beinii: sewed togetlier, and when dry they are as tight as a drum. These boats arc constructed al)oiit forty feet in length and ten or twelve feet beam, witli a carrying capacity of from two to four tons. The bidarra is the favorite craft with the seal islanders as the two-hole bidarkic is with the Western Aleuts, the three-holed with the Kadiackers, and the tifty-foot cedar dugouts with the Hyda Indians. The natives of dilferent localities stick to their old ideas with the most olxlurate prejudice, those avIio use the t\vo- holed ])idarkic and double-bladed paddle ])eing near neighbors to those mIio insist on a three- holed boat and single-bladcd })a(ldlc. The bidarra is also the tinorite Avith the Indians of Behring Straits, l)elng na\igated l)y them from the American to the Asiatic shore. Sea Olter Island, lying about five miles south- wardly from St. Paurs, is another landing-j)lace ibr the I'ur seal, 1)ut only t(j a limited extent. Owing to the fact that it is not permanently inhal)ited, some marauders were in the hal)it of landing on the opposite side, where they could not l)e seen from St. Paul's, and killing what- ever seal th(\v eould lind, without reu'ard to sex. age, or condition. The company reported COMMUXL'i TIC. 117 these facts to the Secretary of the Treasury, who decided that the intention of the act under which the lease was authorized appeared to be to give all the islands of the group to the lessees, for the regulation of the traffic and preservation of the fur seal. Then, as the company could not defend Sea Otter Island, the Government ^vas asked to do so, and now the practice is to leave a revenue marine guard there during the sealing season. Sea Otter Island is famous for sea fowls' eggs, and also for foxes, which latter so infest the place that a former revenue marine officer experienced great difficulty in kee})ing the pests from destroying everything destroyal)le in his cabin. Birds' eggs l)uricd beneatli the floor were ravished by these cunning animals, which, during the officer's absence, dug under the walls and made their way into the house. They are principally blue foxes, such as are found on St. Paul's and St. (icorgc's. There is one more, AValrus Island, in the Pryl)ilov group, about six miles eastward from St. Paul, to which male walruses resort in con- siderable numbers each year. It is also famous for sea fowl, which resort thither in countless millions for breeding purposes. P>ut no fur seals are killed by the lessees upon either Otter or Walrus islands. 118 A TRIP ro ALASKA. As only natives may be employed to kill the seals, no whites are permitted to remain upon the Prybilov Islands unless either in the service of the United States or of the Alaska Commer- cial Company except the Russian priests. CHAPTER XII. THE FUR WEST. r^ OIXG from the fur seal islands to Attou ^-^ we lost a day. Xot that we had merely wasted twent3-four hours, but we- ^vere a day behind the Attou people in our account of time . AVe followed Greeley's advice to an extreme degree. AVe went west until we arrived in east longitude. Having crossed the one hundred and eightieth meridian west from Greenwich we were a day slower b}' our reckoning than the real time. According to tlie log-book of the "Rush" and the private journals of those on board, this page was written on Saturday, June 21. According to the people of Attou it was Sunday, June 22. The bells of the little church on shore were ringing out at eight o'clock in the morning for early mass, the American flag was flying, and the people were wearing their very liest calicoes and newest bird-skin "parkas." no 120 A TRIP TO ALASKA. Attou is the most Avesterly of our Aleutian islands, the extreme western settlement of tiie United States, and only two hundred miles from Copper Island, the nearest llussian possession, which from its situation would appear to 1)C a continuation of the volcanic reef stretchinii: across the Pacific from the peninsula of Alaska to Kanitschatka, which latter is l)ut a trifle over four hundred miles from this island. This dis- tance is so short and the route so natural that connnunication between Asia and xVmerica this way thousands of years ago may be assumed to have occurred often enough to stamp a record on the features of our a])origines, so-called. The Aleuts have a form, face, and stature similar to some of the Asiatic races, and if the Indians on the main hmd are taller, leaner, and more muscular, that fact may be due to different conditions of life through many o-enerations. Take two couples of one tribe and place them in different climates where they su])sist on different food and practice different exer- cises and games, })ursuing different occupations, two hunting in boats, the others indulging in the chase on horseback or on foot, and in a few- generations the successors of the two coujjles would present Avhnt might at first appear to be distinct races of peo})le, speaking different THE FUR WEST. 121 tongues, though traces of a common origin nn'ght he found. Such a condition of atfairs would account for the difference between our Aleuts and inland tribes of Indians. Terent y Prokopieff, tho " Tyone " or Chief of Attou, is an Aleut, Hfty-tive years of age. He is a deacon or sub-})riest of the Russian Church, reads and writes in Russian, and is agent of the Alaska Commercial Company, who have a store here. There are stories current of many wrecks from the East coming on shore here, l)ut the Tyone knows of only two occurring in his time. In 1853 a Japanese junk came ashore keel uppermost, and at the same time three dead l)odies were found on the beach, none being left to tell the tale of their vo3age further than might be inferred from inverted bark and stark corpses. But in 18t)l another junk from Japan was discovered by some otter-hunters w ho were out at sea in bidarkics from Attou. The hunters were shy of the strangers, who also had fears for their li\es, visions of })irates and cannil)als scudding athwart the excitc^l imaginations of botii })arties. The Aleuts paddled r.urriediy toward shore, and, encour- aged by this turn in affairs and urged by necessity, the voyagers from another land followed. They got on shore, when it was 122 A TRIP TO ALASKA. discovered to the inhabitants of the island that their visitors consisted of only three Japanese, who had been drifting for days without provisions and without water, four of their shipmates, including their captain and mate, having died at sea. The storm-tossed Asiatics were taken in by the hospitable Aleuts, kept here for eight months till the arrival of the steamer Alex- ander, which conveyed them to Eastern Si- beria, where they disembarked to make their way home overland. There are no records here in Attou of the first coming of shi})s from the westward, nor have the present people any idea of their origin be3'ond a tradition of a hixzy character. The old people here talk of wars long since, time without date, bctwcH-n the inhab- itants of Attou and those of islands to the eastward. A connnon story is that on one occasion the people of Alka, tive hundred miles to the eastward, c-ame to Attou and proceeded to exterminate the nativc-s. A\'hen they de[)arted they congratulated themselves on their comi)lete success and went home rejoicing. Three oi' four years afterward, however, some huntei-s disco\ered that one woman had escaped, and lived to wander THE FUR WEST. 123 about all this time in solitude as great as that experienced by Ko])inson Crusoe. Pitying her lone condition or repenting their abortive atteini)t at complete extermination, the\^ left one of their own number here, and the result was the repopulation of the island. This sounds somewhat like an Oriental tale of the origin of a peo[)le, and wiiether true or false it is hardly worth contradicting. Simihir stories are told of other portions of Alaska. It is said that three hundred and tifty 3'ears ago tierce wars prevailed between the men of Kadiak and those of Onalaska. Ex- cursions were freijuent from one island to the other, seven hundred miles distant, and it gen- erally occurred that the attacking party got the i)est of these lights, a result of which was that the victors carried the women of the vanquished away to their own dominions. This necessitated retaliation and the carrying of the o})p()site party's women home by w;iy of reprisals. It was like the matches and return games of base-ball clubs, cricketeiv<, and sharp-shooters of the present day in IIk^ United States, except there was more real sport, less eating and drinking, and more valii- al)lc prizes, it is to be hoped. The population of Attou consists of one hun- 124 A TRIP TO ALASKA. (Irod and thivty-lwo persons, the poorest of the poor among tlie Aleutians. The Tyone, how- ever, can rcnienil)er when the island contained a a"reat many more people, who have died or i>"one to hunt a livinir where it may ])e more certainly obtained. These one hundred and thirty-two persons, of Avhom only thirty-four men and Ixn's arc able to hunt, owe the Alaska ( ommercial Company Hve thousand dollars for ijfoods to keep them alive. There Avas a time when Attou was considered the centre of the best sea-otter-hunting' region in Behring Sea, but wanton cruisers came in as soon as the Rus- sians were bought out, and with guns con- stantly in the hands of their hunters in small boats, hunting at all seasons, discharging iire- arms, leaving otfal u})on the rocks and islands, the otter began to disappear rapidly. The rev- enue steamers coming into these waters later have driven the marauding schooners away, but serious damage was done before their coming. During Ivussian rule, the Tyone says, the people here captured from three hundred to seven hundred sea otter a year, but of late years from t\v(Mity to thirty skins are all that they get. Tlic company has Iteen trying to get the ])e()ple of this island to move to the main- land, where they could be supported at; less THE FUR WEST. 125 cost. But, like other poor people, those of Attoii cling to their impoverished homes, "which consist merely of ti few earthen huts, with not ti hundred dollars worth of furniture in the entire settlement. But the bones of their dead rela- tives are huried here in the sand beside the half underground habitations of the living, and there- fore the people refuse to go. The store may be taken away, but the agent, who is Tyone and deacon, will remain with his people, and with them trust to the sea to furnish them food, clothing, and fuel. Some of these Attou people go now for a year with- out tea or flour, unless in case of sickness, when the agent issues some indispensible article out of the company's stock, and enters the proper amount of debit upon the company's ])ooks, without much ho})e of ever seeing the account cancelled, unless the otter comes l)ack. This seems to be a remote contingency, but possibly it may occur. Of vegetables, canned goods, and the many little comforts of civilization these people know nothing except by tradition. Xow. in the sum- jner solstice, the peaks, two thousand feet in height, surrounding the settlement, ai'c covered Avith snow, drifts of which, fallen last winter, still lie in the o-nlches at the rear of the huts. 126 A TRir TO ALASKA. Xeurly all the children run about barefooted and barelegged, with a little shirt or bird-skin gown as their only covering. At least, most oi" them were in that condition until the arrival of the ''Rush," the officers of which, seeing their destitution last year, came provided on this cruise with bags of clothing, not onlv for the children, but for women, some of whom were l)ut scantily arrayed for either sunnner or Avin- ter. They have been filled up, too, Avitli bread and what they prize most of all good tea, with sugar to sweeten it. This makes them happy for the time, and they look forward to a year's diet on dried fish, as the sta})lc article of food, with the consoling confidence that another day will come next summer, Avlicn the little steamer may drop anchor in the ha!'l)or, to afford them another season of tea and bread, with second-hand dresses for the women and children. Even xVttou, poor and destitute as the people ai'c, has a church, and, although no jjriest has been here for several years, services are held on every Sunday, connnencing on Saturday even- ing at sunset. Tin; rite of baptism is adminis- tered by the chief, but he cannot perform the marriage cei'emony nor administer conununion. AVhcn the next priest comes he will have plenty THE FUR WEST. 127 to do tightenino: the niatrimoninl knots that have been loosely formed in the interim. The lumber in the little church, the walls of Avhich are not higher than a man's head, has been sawed out of driftwood, most of it prol)- ably coming from the Yucon Kiver. A frame of four uprights, Avitli as many cr()ss-})ieces and a whip-saw, constitute the lumber factory at At- tou ; and the sea furnishes the logs, for not a stick of timber as large as a bean-pole grows upon any of the Aleutian Islands. The roof of the church is tiiatched with dried grass, Avhich here grows tall and coarse, one variety like wild rye. Just outside of the front door of the church is a little pavilion or belfry, upon the top of which a man standing upon the ground could put his hand. Under tlie four-raided roof of this modest structure hang two bells green with age and dampness. All the cliurches in these settlements have a number of bells, that at St. Paul's boasting a full octa\e. but in other and humbler connnunities there arc fron: two to live bells, handcnl down from the days of lvu-rs all came whirling closer and closer to inspect the strange visitor, for shijjs seldom 140 A TRIP TO ALASKA. sail within sight of Bogoslov. Next u band of sea lions appeared on our port beam, their sharp noses stickinir out of the Avater like hoa's, making their way toward the rock which is their Gibraltar. Looking surprised at tiie steamer, which was between them and the island, thev tinally settled down out of si^ht beneath the Avaves. Sharper now became the projections of the rock, and the nunrl)er of birds thickened the air as we steamed ahead through the nn'st. Ap- proaching still nearer, the sky overhanging the island was absolutely blackened by 1)irds on the wing, that swung and careered oyer tlieir rocky home as mosquitoes are seen to darken the air at wood-landings in the evening along the upj)er ^Missouri River. The sky was almost shut out from view hy birds. At the foot of this immense rock, and from end to end, the narrow beach is fringed with sea lions which occupy the base as water fowl hold possession up al)Ovc. The foaming waves which break on the scattered fallen boulders forl)id the ap})roach of a boat, and as the sides are too steej) for scaling, the inhabitants above and ])elow rest in apparent security from ma- rauding man. The fat, chubby, o])long murre, which at lirst came to meet us in lon character rise abruptly out 142 A TRIP TO ALASKA. of the sea, their summits being veiled in elouds or banks of mist, their sides covered Avilii snow. ^\'e have 1)een cruisini>- along the Alaskan mainland and islands from ]\Iay to July from ('a})e Fox to Attou, and never yet Irivc Ave seen land without snow. Not alone l)acke(l high up in cool crevices, but down ahnost to the water's edge. Yet the agricul- tural resources of this country are actu.-iUy asserted l)v certain writers on Alaska to e(jual those of New England, where corn cakes and ])U!npkin pies Hourish. At Four ^Mountains, one of the islands passed on the run from Attou, nuimniies are found in a cave, and though we did not touch at the island and con- se(|uently could not have descended into the cave to resurrect any of the remains, the writer saw at least one nnnnmy said to hiivo been brought from Four Mountains ; and re})orts of them having been once de})ositcd there in mun- bers are too well authenticated to be doul)te-ino- deiiree. Captain Bailev started COO 1 / nortlnvard with a view to investigating the illicit rum traffic in violation of the revenue laws in liehring Straits, and with favorable weather something might have been accom- l)lished. Thick fogs, however, going uj) and coming down, shut out the land at times when it was most desirable to cruise close to shore in shoal waters. V\e entered the Straits on the nigiit of the fourteenth, and it was hoped we might have clear weather. About four o'clock on the morning oi'-the fifteenth we passed Fairway llock, dimly seen through the thick fog rising abruptly out of the water, looking at a short distance like a hay- stack. A\'e had a l)eller view of it after mid- night on the sixteenth, and at live miles distance it showed up naked and al)rupt, rising live luuidred feet above the water Avithout so much as a spoonful of soil or a leaf of vegetation visi- ble upon it. Fairway IJock stands just south of the Diomede Ishuuls, between which, only live mih.\s apart, the line runs which separates America from Asia, the United States from liussia, or, to put it still more niceh^, the line between Alaska and Siberia. OUR ARCTIC RELATIONS. 147 The Diomedes are two islands in Behrinir Straits almost in a line between Cape Prince of "Wales on one side and East Cape on the other. From Cape Prince of "Wales to the most easterly of the two islands is twenty miles ; from East Cape to the larger and most westerly of the Diomedes is twenty-five miles ; from outside to outside of both is about nine miles, making fift\'-four miles across from continent to conti- nent, with two stepping-stones between. The narrowest point, however, is a trifle north of this, where the crossing may be made to East Cape, in a direct line, in forty-eight miles. Intercourse between the natives on either side has long been maintained, longer than we or they can tell. They have crossed from one continent to the other in large, open l)oats, and still do so for the exchange of commodities : and doubtless for hundreds, if not thousands, of years before Columbus crossed the Atlantic tlicre was marrying and giving in marriage l)etween Asia and America. Xow. on our ex- treme northwestern coast tlic pco]ilc are called Eskimos. Farther to the eastward and south- ward their cousins are called Xorth American Indians. At the })resont time considerable traffic- is made by "pirates" with our Indians, on the 148 A TRIP TO ALASKA. shores of Behrino; Straits and the Arctic, in bone, oil, and wah'us ivory. Neither the oil nor ivory are very vahiahle, but Avhale])one is Avorth three dollars a pound in New York, and the manner in Avhich it is obtained from the Indians leaves the trader a clear protit of about two dollars and a half per pound. Rum is bought in Honolulu for seventj'-tive cents a gal- lon ; it is watered one-half, and a a'fdlon of this diluted but villainous drink is given for a pound of bone. The Arcti(! is the summer residence of the right and bowhead whales, the only kinds from which great quantities of l)one are obtained. A bowhead will furnish from a thousand to two thousand pounds of l)one, all of which comes out of the mouth. l)ut which is not l)one at all. Right whales arc not quite so valuable for bone, but contain more oil. They yield from a hun- dred to a hundred and fifty barrels of oil, as a general thing. ])ut as nuich as three hundred barrels of oil have been taken from a single whale. The Indians up this way go to sea in skin Iwats and strike whales when discovered, hav- ing seal-skin huoys at the ends of their harpoon lines, so that if the monster gets away the\^ have a chance to follow him up. Their old bar- OUR ARCTIC RELATIONS. 149 poons Avere made of glass heads, that with every struggle worked farther and farther into the flesh, and when thrown in sufficient numbers resulted in bleeding the animal to death. Of course tlie capture of a whale is an important atfair to these people, as in addition to a thou- sand pounds of bone and a hundred l)arrels of oil they get an innnense supply of meat, which is buried for future use. Even though the whale should come ashore weeks after the hunt and be found in a putrid condition, the ))one is good, and the flesh is not wasted. The traffic about Cape Prince of Wales and Clarence Sound between '' jjirates " and the Es- kimos resulted in a number of murders a few years ago. Kum and breech-loading rifles were furnished to the natives in exchange for their commodities, and the result was not conducive to the welfare of the natives, profitable to the revenues of the country, nor just to legitimate traders who have scruples against infraction of the laws of the land and of morals. The In- dians along the straits get some land furs also, Mliich form a considerable item in this trade, although the skins are by no means so valuable as those obtained farther south in Alaska. The rum dealt out to the Indians is not only l)ad in that it is of the cheapest quality of 150 A TRIP TO ALASKA. sorghum fermentation, hut it is vile in re- spect that if is smuggled in from the Sandwich Islands, while honest Pennsylvania and Ken- tucky whiske}^ P^iys a tax of ninety cents a gallon. A remedy could and should be found for this state of affairs, and it might be applied with profit to the public purse. What is needed is a United States steam vessel of about five hundred tons, that would be able to carry enough coal from San Francisco or Nanaimo for a six months' cruise. She should be constructed Avith a view to going into the ice without having her stern-post and rudder carried away. She should ])e ready to enter the straits as soon as the ice o}KMied, in May or June, and cruise along the coast as high up as Kotzebue Sound, or even to Icy Cape, and down to Port Chirence, then work along the coast southward to San Francisco for winter quarters. A vessel of that class so managed would doubtless ))reak up the i)iralical opera- tions which ha\e been carried on in these waters. The " Push " made an unsuccessful run to the Arctic because she was too late, not ])eing risfired for iroinii" into the ice with safetv, and because her sliort su])})ly of coal would not OUR ARCTIC RELATIONS. 151 admit of her remaining; so far north in bad weather. Had the weather been clear she might have run across a contraband trader, even at that hite day in the season, althoug-h those ves- sels were supposed to be generally to the north and east of Ca})e Prince of AVales, es})ecially such as are rigged for whaling as well as trading. A'^either in the straits nor in the Arctic did we see a sail of any size or shape, not even a canoe ; and it was only at short intervals that we could see the land. At 7.30 O'clock on the morning of the fifteenth of July, then, according to dead reckoning, under the lee of the Dioniedes, with Cape Prince of Wales on the starboard l)eam, cal- culating from Fairway Rock, the last land seen, the ''Push" was hove to for clear weather. Dredging was commenced again m the cause of science, and it at once l)ecame ap])arcnt that we were drifting rapidly to the nortlnvard. This continued with thick fog till five o'clock in the evening, when the veil lifted and we picked ourselves up, according to observation, twenty- six miles to the northward of the Dioniedes and forty miles northeastwardly from East Ca})e to Siberia. We had drifted \vith the current at least twenty miles during the day and were well into the Arctic Ocean. 152 A TlilP TO ALASKA. As far as could Ijg seen to the northward the sky Avas clear and the Asiatic coast, which trends off to the northwestward, was visible for tifty or sixty miles, but the American side was still en- veloped in a thick fog. Al)0ut six o'clock this lifted so as to show the top of a mountain on Cape Prince of Wales for a few minutes, but this soon disappeared airain. Presently, how- ever, the gr:iy mists began to move off to the northeast, and then the rugged line of peaks on the extreme northwestwardly point of our pos- sessions stood out picturesquely, the low land along the coast northeastward of the cape l)eing still, and to the last, concealed from view. Then we had before us a nol)le picture of the bold headland of Siberia on the starboard l)eam. Cape Prince of Wales on the port, and, lying almost equidistant between them, the Dioniedes at the head of the straits. We were in the Arctic, with a pleasant but cool evening ; the thermometer indicating .32'' above all day. It promised to be a clear night, and Avith this hope Ave got under Avay, headed southward for the straits again, intending to lay in under the south- ern shore of Cape Prince of Wales to ascertain the condition of affairs thereabouts. A strong current was setting up from P)eh- ring Sea created in })art l)y the southeast Avinds OUR ARCTIC RELATIONiS. 153 which we had experienced on our way north, and we made slow progress against it. Still we had i)lenty of time to reach the Cape be- fore morning, if " morning" can be understood where there is no night, and there Avas no ap- parent cause for anxiety. Once more we began to hope for an all-da}' sun, but again, by half past ten, the northern sky was obscured by a bank of clouds which had come up out of the southwest. The sun disappeared behind the clouds but darkness did not come. At 11 r.:\i. the sky in the southeast was aglow with reflec- tions from behind the clouds in the o})posite point, over which the purple and crimson fringed clouds held out a signal that the sun was still above the horizon. As these hues faded out, a delicate straw tint appeared above the low clouds in the north, and this soon deepened to a satiVon which by midnight be- came a rich sjilmon color, and dawn was an- nounced as at hand in all her glory. xVlthough during the night and at twelve o'clock the northern sky was obscured l)y clouds, about nine degrees above the horizon there was a broad rent upon which the changes going on l)elow were recorded, that we might see and know. There was an abundance of clear sky overhead, the l)lue of dav so liu'ht that not a 154 A TRIP TO ALASKA. star could make itself visible at any time. It was cleiir day all night, briuliter at twelve than at eleven, if ]:)()ssible, and ])rigliter at one in the morning than at twelve, and brighter then also than at breakfast time, when the clouds and fog prevailed. The fog had formed in fanciful shapes, owing to the uneven surface of the land from which it had Ijeen lifted, and through this the light of the morning sun, toned by the strong colors of the north, were cast in a wonderfully striking manner. The pale sea green, like the sun siiining through the crest of a Avave, appeared in the north, again bordered by purple of richest dye, while crimson and molten gold appeared lower down. The "l)rassy" character of the sunset two nights before was here absent, the effects now being of the richest character possi- l)le to conceive. Turning out at seven o'clock in the morning and going upon deck, it was ascertained that at 3.30 A. 31. the fog had shut out the land, and the " Kush "' was ol)liged to haul otl", owing to the presence of shoals and reefs which could only be avoided in clear weather, as charts can- not l)e relied on for information concerning them. Then we stood down the straits again with the intention of j)utting in to Port Clar- OUR ARCTIC RELATIONS. 155 ence, a resort of northern cruisers ; but this could not be made with safety, owing to the thiclv weather; and there was nothing to be done but continue southward against wind and tide. A two-knot current sets up through the straits and tliat is what makes this the most de- sirable route for entering the Arctic. It is well known to whalers that they can get into the polar sea through Ik^hring Straits much earlier than from the head of the Atlantic. Coming southward the temperature of the sea water ran up ten degrees in one day ; enter- ing Xorton Sound, it went up six degrees in an hour. Soundings yesterday showed shallow water all the way down on our side of Behring Straits, ten miles off Port Clarence giving only seven and a half fathoms, whieh was also about the depth for hours in Xorton Sound till it shoaled to three and a half. The water here is shallow, warmed and discolored 1)}' the sand from the Yukon Uiver. The saline matter is twenty per cent less than that in the Arctic. CHAPTEE XV. ST. Michael's and the yukon. OT. MICHAEL'S, or Michaelovsky Redoubt, '^ as it was formerly called, stands upon an island in the southeast bend of Norton's Sound, beino- situated in latitude 63 29' 54" north, and 162 8' west longitude. This was established as a landing-place and. headquarters of the Russian-American Company for the Yukon River trade. In olden times that is to say, under Russian rule all goods intended for the Yukon trade were landed here, and generally taken around to the river in skin l)oats, or bidarras, but at })resent small stern-wheel steamboats are em- ployed for that purpose. These boats do not go out to sea from St. Michael's, but pass through a sort of slough or canal, to the river, which they reach in about fifty miles. They carry merchandise up to the various trading })osts in the summer, and in the following spring bring down the furs which are received during the winter months. 150 ST. illCHAEL'S AND THE YUKON. 157 The Alaska Commercial Company occupies the old redoubt, a picturesque collection of log buildings on one side of the bay, while three miles across were a number of new buildings, headquarters of the Western Fur and Trading Compan3\ On the same side with the redoubt, about half a mile away, is the ^Nlahlemute vil- lage, consisting of thirty or forty log huts and a " kashima," or club-house, where the Indians consre2:ate to dance and sweat in cold weather. When the "Rush" arrived, a number of Yukon Indians were gathered about the Western Fur and Trading Company's 1)uildings, having come down with the traders to get supplies for the ensuing season. They were in a despond- ent condition at that time, owing to the non- arrival of the vessel which was to bring the goods and the little steamer. But when we reported the arrival of their schooner at Ona- laska, with the assurance that she might be expected at the termination of her voyage within a few days, there were great rejoicings, and the Indians danced and sang all night. In this country, where, at this season of the year, there is daylight all night, there is a splen- did chance for making a long dance, and where beef is unknown and waterfowl are super- abundant, an eo-o- festival in season takes a form 158 A TRIP TO ALASKA. of barbaric gorgeousness that makes a powerful impression on one during his first visit. Here where the natives w^ear fur parkies, or over- shirts with liood attached, and deerskin boots of fancy manufacture and varied hue, and where blubber is considered almost indispensable, there is much for the visitor from civilization to see and consider. Eggs here in season are estimated by the bushel. Bushels of them are cooked for a meal wdiere there may be a dozen of guests, and hard-boiled goose eggs are eaten with impunity in such enormous quantities as in civilized com- munities would be considered certain death. The Yukon salmon are pronounced the finest on the Pacihc Coast, (ienerally s})eakinfr, sal- mon is dry and tasteless. The Columbia River furnishes an almost inexhaustible quantity, but a better quality is taken further north. Sitka is also famous for salmon, but Cook's Inlet and Bristol Bay have those that are better. Yet persons who have tried all say that they are best at the mouth of the Yukon and in adjacent waters. They range in weight from forty to one hundred and twenty pounds, and are very fat and well flavored. AMien drying in the sun the oil drips out of them, and once dried they may be set on fire and they will l)urn like pine knots. ST. MICHAEL'S AND THE YUKON. 159 Taken raw out of the brine up here, they are eaten with great relish by the civilized, as well as the savage, inhabitants. But accepting such a diet may be only another proof of the readi- ness with which man ada})ts himself to his sur- roundings. There is no beef here, and for some years past there has been little or no reindeer. At the present time moose is out of the ques- tion, and rabbits are as scarce as spring chicken. Vegetables are the rarest of luxuries, and ber- ries out of season. Therefore, if one can set him down to a feast of hard-boiled goose eggs or raw salmon fi"om the brine, after having:: been surfeited on salt pork and corned beef on shipboard, the change of diet is delightful, and the feast is })ron()unced a success. There are no gardens at St. ^Michael's. What could you expect in such a country, although, just now, it is delightful? Last week we had the thermometer down to thirty-two Fahrenheit, and forty was considered "away up." Here, in Norton's Sound, the ice did not break up till the 7th of June. On the 10th it moved out of the bay, but the weather was cold, wet, and stormy till late in July. In the win- ter the thermometer gc)(>s down thirty to fifty degrees below zero, and it is winter here eight months in the year. The hot days are the 160 A TRIP TO ALASKA. exception, even in summer, although berries grow plentifully, and even ripen well, back in the mountains. We had mosquitoes, too, on the first day of our stay ; fine, large, earnest mosquitoes, and barn swallows are plentiful about the redoubt. Yet in spite of all these signs of summer, agriculture will never form an important feature of this part of Alaska. It would be a peculiar country which would j)roduce walruses and polar bears, watermelons and tomatoes. "Walruses go away south of this into Bristol Bay, while St. Matthew's Island, one of our possessions to the southwest of this, is inhabited by polar bears exclusively, neither Chinamen, whites, nor negroes having any recog- nized rights there. As a purely agricultural proposition I do not hesitate to put it down that polar bears are worse than coons for green corn, and walruses are more discouraging than your neighbor's chickens to a tomato patch. As long as polar bears and walruses are per- mitted to run at large in this Territory, the corn and tomato crop cannot prosper. Some people may laugh at the meditative walrus, and ask how, with those long tusks, he can eat without standing on his head, but I have observed that where Avalruses al)ound ripe tomatoes are scarce, except in cans, and if those amphibious animals ,S2'. MICHAEL'S AXD THE Yl'KOX. 161 and polar bears are not kept yoked or muzzled there is no use looking for a larae corn and tomato crop from Alaska. St. ^Michaels, or to put it more detinitely, Michaelovsky, is seldom or never represented i)v mammoth vegetables at agricultural fairs. AMiere the ice crop can- not be got out of the way before the middle of June, Avhere the tops of the hills are morasses all summer, and where the inhabitants Avill risk being drowned for the sake of l)lubber, when the oil-skin at home is in a collapsed condition, it is useless to expect gigantic pumpkins and seven-foot cucumbers. In this res[)ect St. Mich- ael's greatly reseml)les other })arts of Alaska. There may be causes why certain people should come to Alaska and settle, as there have l)een arguments for making penal colonies in the Aleutian Archi[)elago. Ikit the reason for the one must l)e that the inunigrants were })er- sonal enesuies of those who advised their remov- al, and for the other that starvation should l)e the lot of all criminals. But in truth, from the southeast to the south- W(^st extremity of Ahiska. the "Uusli,"" which has been cruising around the coast and is.ands of this Territory from early ^lay to late July, has not visited a spot to which it would be advisal)le for any person to come from any part 162 A TRIP TO ALASKA. of the States where he may have a home and be able to earn a livelihood. Nor have I seen a man in any poiiition in Alaska Avho would advise a friend to come out here as a settler, either in trade or agriculture. We arc here in the home of the Innuit or Eskimo. All the way along the coast, from the Kuskoquim across the Yukon, around Norton Sound, out to Cape Prince of Wales, and thence northeastwardly to Point 15arro\v and beyond, these Eskimos are called Innuits. They are similar in form and feature, the}' dress simi- larly, they eat the same sort of food, they have similar modes of conveyance, similar weapons and implements, have the same traditions and speak the same language, with slight local variations. It has been acknowledged, or it is asserted, that the roots of the language or tongue s])oken by these peo})le and the Eskimos of (jreenland are identical, the covered skin boat used hy both being called "kyack," while the open boat is denominated "oomiak" here and there alike. l)Ut this might l)e accounted for by the fact that l)()th tril)es have always lived and hunted seals, whales, and Avalruses along the coast, and al- though the northeast or northwest passage is im))racticablc for ships, connnunication between .ST. MICHAEL'S AXD THE YUKOX. 163 these people must have been frequent, and often, doubtless, involuntary. In an}' event, it may be assumed as not at all improlxible that the Greenlanders were carried over from this continent on the ice, as these men are now occasionally carried out to sea, and sometimes heard of no more, and Jis their ancestors were probably carried from Asia. Such a case as this was reported here, when an Inditin trader, In'inging" down a lot of seal- skins from Unalakleet, represented that one of his men was carried away this spring on the ice, and the chief was inquiring if our vessel had found him. It is also known that Captain Tyson and his men were carried two thousand miles on ice from the "Polaris" a few years ago. After the "Kush" hove to under the lee of Diomedes on the tifteenth, she drifted into the Arctic at the rate of two knots an hour ; so the fact that the Alaskan Innuits and the Greenland Eskimos use similar words in similar positions is not remarkable. It is astonishing, however, that Indians on the ^Mackenzie I^ivcr. in British America, speak the same tongue as those low down on the Yukon, with tilleen or twenty tribes or bands between \ho\u which have an altogether different tongue, and which com- pletel\' prevent anything like communication 164 A TRIP TO ALASKA. l)etween those having the words and idioms ; yet such is sa'd to be tlie fact. These Innuits or Eskimos of Alaska live by hunting hair seals, whales, and walruses, which furnish them food and oil for their own use and with connnoditics for trade to interior Indians for furs, of which they make dresses and bed- covering. The seal supplies them with a hide Avhich, when tanned, is used to cover ])oat-frames, forming the kyack somewhat similar to the bidarkie of the Aleutians and Kadiakers. These hides, called "lovtak." are in great demand by the Indians up the Yukon tor boats, and those same interior men have a desire for oil which makes an interchange of connnoditics between the coast and inland nalives highly advanta- geous to both and of jjrofit to the white traders, who ha\(^ come in as middlemen and as pur- chasers of the surplus oil and furs. The ^valrus is hunted ibr its ivorv, which is used in the manufacture of arrow and spear heads, and also many other articles of value and adornment. Any animal, from a whale to wild duck, may be taken by ivory-headed spears, which are more ])lentifnl among these Indians than either lirearms or iron-headed weapons. CHAPTER XVI. KILLING THE WHITE WHALE. T~\URIXG our stay at St. MichaeVs, we were -^-^ so fortunate as to witness the killing of a white whale, or gnunpus, by the Indians. An Indian who acts as trader at Unalakleet for the Alaska Commercial Company came sailing up the sound one day in a large Ijidarra. He car- ried a foretopsail, and came floating in as quietl}- and gracefully as Elaine's barge, with the dumb boatman, floated with the tide to King Arthur's castle. The bidarra sailed up to the beach, the mast was sent down, and the contents of the boat l)egan to And tlieir way ashore. Twenty- three men, women, and children and two dogs were flrst landed. Then tents, camp equipaofe, and salmon, fresh and dried, for the party. After that the men commenced carrying off shoulder loads of dressed sealskins, neatly put up, five in a bundle, till forty-eight large and forty-one of the smaller size were landed. Five bundles of sealskin thongs, lashings for boat- 165 16() A TRIP TO ALASKA. building no nails Ix'ing used were carried off next, followed by two sealskins of oil, and l)undles containing live hundred marmot skins for fur robes. All this came out of an o])en skin l)oat twenty-live feet long hy eight feet beam, fiat bottom, of course. As the bidarra came in, the natives noticed a school of white whales in the bay. They had been running in great numbers all day without being disturl)ed. After the freight had ])een landed, however, one of the men who came down from Unalakleet jumped into a kyack and paddled out. He did not go a mile before he came u}) with his game, and as one of the largest sized arose to blow, the Indian threw his har[)oon, which took a solid hold. At the moment Avhen the whale shot down, the shaft of the harj)oon slipped away from the head, which was coimected by a lino with an inflated sealskin, acting as a buoy. The harpoon was not to kill, but to connect the fish with the buoy. As soon as the lazy Indians loafing on shore and on board the steamer saw that the " beluga," as it is called, was struck, they put out, to the number of a dozen, to assist in the ca])ture and share in the sport and spoils. As they gathered around they formed a novel and an excitinir scene. It was a hunt of a KILLING THE WHITE WHALE. 1()7 dozen men in small sealskin boats after a mon- ster with power enough to wreck them all with one blow if it could strike tliem all together. The floating sealskin indicated the movements of the beluga below, and the little fleet, formed in a semicircle, went paddling for the prey. A beluga cannot remain l)elow very long, and, whenever this one came up to l)low, a kyack was alongside, and an ivory s})ear or half a dozen spears would be darted in through the alabaster skin to the l)hibber. As the number of spears increased, the beluga became quicker in its motions and more changeful in course, but no matter what the direction taken, or when or where the tortured animal arose, the inevita- l)le kyack was there, and more ivory sjjears were thrown. Lashing the waters and tumbling about, rolling from side to side in terror, but yet not struck in a vital i)oint. the beluga hur- ried hither and thither, but there was no escape from the remorsoless pursuers. Hither and thither, to tiie riglit and to the left, but alwa^'s advancing in line or circuhir form, light on the surface of the water as sea-birds, ;ind swift as the tish l)eneath. tlew the buoyant kyncks, iin- })elled and guided by the single-bladed })adclle. Each navigator of each bubble of a boat was always ready with another spear until the l)e- 168 A TRIP TO ALASKA. luga, as it rolled up, looked like a porpoise of huge dimensions l)ristling with enormous quills. For two hours the chase continued, extend- ing over a line of at least three miles, the beluga being gradually worried and tired out. Finally it moved more slowly and sluggishly, but as yet spouted no blood, nor did it appear much weakened. It was exhausted and half suft'o- cated for want of air, but, if then released, might live for many years. Then, as it came quite exhausted to the sur- face, and slowh' turned upon its side, the hunter who had fastened the harpoon into it was at hand and, taking a long lance, thrust it into the body just back of the right tin and, churning it up and down two or three times \vith lightning- like rapidity, shot away to avoid troul)le. The l)ehiga was now mortally hurt, and as he lashed the water into foam ;uk1 s})outed blood for a few moments in death agony, the Indians knew that the chase was over. f licy fell l)ack and looked on with a quiet air of satisfaction after their ex- citing hunt, as if they had done nothing out of the ordinary course of events with them. The -next matter was to tow their prize ashore, which was done l)y buoying it up between four kyacks. the owners of which paddled with it to the In- dian camp. Here some forms and ceremonies KILLING THE WHITE WHALE. 169 were necessary before haulino- it out of the water and cutting it up. It will not do to cut up a beluga with an axe, and, if there are seals around, it would be flying in the face of fortune to chop wood. On such occasions the lire-wood must be cut with a knife. One hunter will not permit his wife to taste of moose meat of his own killing when it is fresh, l)ut after three days she may have some of it. In some cases, for weeks after a woman has become a mother, she will not be permitted to eat flesh of any kind, or her husband would have no luck in hunting. In the case of landing the beluga, the tedious ceremonies performed by the successfid hunter concluded M'ith trinnning a small strip from the edge of each fin, from the tail, and from the upper lip, l)efore the game was hauled out from the water. After he had performed his ceremonies he walked away, leaving those who chose to cut off what they wanted. During the night there was a groat feast in camp, the kettles J)eing kept boiling till morning, and as some thirty or forty Indians were working away at it, the beluga was not much more than a skeleton in twentv-four hours. CHAPTER XVII. SUPERSTITIOXS. ^pilESE Indians believe in the "Shaman," or -*- ^ledicine ]Man. The Shaman is not born to his ])r()fes8ion here, as amono- the h)wer Alask- ans, lie is the creature of accident or of revela- tion, lie has a dream sometime, which, bein<^ vcrilied, he goes off alone into some remote place, ^vhere he fasts for several days, after Avhich he comes out and announces himself a Shaman. jSow he is ready to heal the sick, to reuulate the Aveather, and to su})|)ly o-ame in seasons when it is scarce. I lis manner of curino- diseases is l)y incantations, no vik' drugs l)einu' administered. The cure, if eti'ccted, is due to his miraculous influence M'ith invisil)le spirits. If he fail, and the patient dies, he })ersuadcs the mourning relatives into the belief that some other Shaman or some old woman bewitched the deceased, and then death is the lot of the oflcnding party who comes ill lietween the doctor and the dead. Some of these Shamans believe in themselves, 170 SUPERSTITIOXS. 171 but as a rule they know that they are hunil)ugs. There was one at the "Mission" on the Yukon, who, during a scarcity of deer. })roposed to go up to the moon and get a supply. It should be known that, accordins; to Innuit accounts, all game comes out of the moon, the origin of which orb and others is thus accounted for : In the beginning there was plenty of land, water, and sky, but no i)lanetary system. An Indian, who noticed that the sky came down to the ground in a certain locality, Avent forward and made holes in it with his paddle. One stroke formed a rent through which the sun sliines, another tore away tlie curtain from l)e- fore the moon, and smaller stabs with the oar made places through which the stars are now visible. The moon being merely a hole through which the light shines from a land where the supply of game is inexhaustible, all a Shaman has to do for his tribe is to go up and throw a sufficient number of moose or doer down through the hole. There is no doubt in the minds ol' some that he can do this. The Shaman at the Mission who volunteered to go up to the moon after game went on a strong pull. lie fastened a ro})e around his body, beneath his arms, and al)out his nock. Then he wont down under the floor of the 172 A TRIP TO ALASKA. " kashiina," or club-house, "where the}" have then- dunces and festivities. He left one end of the line in the hands of some Indians a])Ove, with instructions for them to pull as soon as he irot out of sight. The}' obeyed, and pulled vigorously until they l)ecanie tired. They waited and rested l)riotly, l)ut, hearing nothing, the}' pulled for anotlier quarter of an hour. They rested again, and after that took another pull, and kept this u}) till the exercise liecame too monotonous even for an Eskimo. Then they went doNvn and found the Shaman dead. They supposed this was a regular part of the progrannne of going to the moon, and perhaps in this they were not far from being correct. But they believed the Shaman would come back after throwing down enough game from the moon, and they saved liim for eight days in a sitting posture. At the end of that time, as the spirit failed to come back, they laid the body away to be called for. lieindeer were formerly plentiful hereabouts; a few years ago they disa])peared, and the next winter thcv were seen in unusual numbers, not in the moon, but down al)out Belkoosky, on the peninsula of Alaska. They may come ])ack, but the spirit of the Shaman will probably re- main in the moon. suPEHsTjrioys. 173 In order to have influence among the people, it is necessary that the Shamans should be pos- sessed of mysterious powers. They perform many feats that would do credit to " material- izing mediums." There was one who would l^ermit his hands to be bound together with leather thongs behind his back, and would pull the lashings through his body and show the wrists still fastened in front. But it was indis- pensable that this miracle should be performed beneath his jxirka, or skin robe. Of course, he could not draw his bound hands through the l)arka. On one occasion, the parka being raised unexpectedly to the Shaman, it was found that one of his hands was already half out of the bindings, and it appeared that his wrist was disproportionately large, so that he could re- lease and again insert the hand in the lashings. Such a development generally only proves the presence of unfavorable spirits. Another clement of influence is for the Sha- man to be able to r('})cat some words, or jargon, which the common Indians cannot comprehend. Tlic words may have no meaning or significance, but they have a great influence among the unin- itiated. A Shaman who goes aboard of a vessel and picks up some of the phrases of the sailors (such as are called " viirorous Saxon"' when 174 A TRIP TO ALASKA. used by greut men, but are put down and re- buked as '' lion-id oaths " in the mouth of the connnon herd) sui)plies himself with a sort of annnuuition that can be used to great advantage in incantations for game, or to drive out devils. Some of these fakirs eat fire, also, which is a valualjlc accomplishment ; and one Siiaman, at Pastolic, between St. ^Michael's and the mouth of the Yukon, permitted himself to })e burned alive to satisfy the people that he was not a swindler. lie had an innncnse pyre of logs arranged near tlie hut in which all of the |)e()})le were assembled, and, at a given signal, he took a position in the ccnti-e, and the torch was ap- plied, lie stood thei'c cahn as a tobacco sign, with a wooden mask u})on his face, and gazed upon the people as they retired into the hut to " make medicine " for hiin. In half an hour they came out. and saw nothing but the mask in the centre, all the logs around it being on lire. The next time they went out all was burned down to cinders, and they again returned to the hut. l^'csentlx' a slight noise was heard uj)on the roof, loHowed immediately l)y the descent of the Shaman, mask and all. The cifect was wonderful, as it was in- tended to ])e, but it cost the Shanuin al)out twenty-live dolhirs worth of skins to his two SUPERSTITIONS. 175 accomplices who arranged the hole through which he crawled out under the logs of the pyre, and who worked the people into the hut and out again at the proper time. One of the confederates, who afterwards worked for a white man, confessed the material part he liad taken in the mystery. The mask seen in tlie Hre was not upon the Shaman's face, but fasten(Ml to a pole. The origin of man and other annuals, accord- ing to the account of the up-country Indians, is not without its m3'stery also. ]Man and all other animals were created bv the eao-le and the blue-jay, jointly. xVfter num was nearly finished, the jay proposed to give him Avings, but to this the eagle objected, saying that he had already been made too powerfid, and to permit him to fly would be to make him alto- gether dangerous. Some controversy occurred on this, but the eagle would not give way, and consequently the jay would have nothing fur- ther to do in the matter, and withdrew from the co-partnership. That dispute explains why the eagle keeps as i*ar from man as ]iossil)le. while the jay goes into his camp with impunity, and takes what- ever he wants, if he can And it. The jay knows he did all he could for man, and as the man knows it, too. tlie l)ird is not molested. 176 A. TRIP TO ALASKA. When the Indian dies he goes to that land which the wild geese seek in the winter. It is a long way off, and the entrance to it is a narrow pass which may be travelled only when the snow is melted. Some Indians the had ones have greater trouble than others in making the jour- ney, being obliged to go through a long, dark passage, probabl}^ through the Hoosac tunnel. They are not yet determined on the exact na- ture of that portion of the journey. It is an article of faith which they say they believe in, but do not consider it necessary to comprehend. Their views and doubts on this question are almost enough to lead one to suspect them of having a religion, but the\' haven't. They all believe, however, that, once in the promised land they will find clear skies, warm weather, and an inexhaustible supply of game. It is the "happy hunting ground"' over again, with variations having their origin in the climate in which the Indian passes his earthly existence. Living here in an Arctic region, with a brief but delightful summer of three months, mostly composed of daylight, the Indian creates such a heaven as he fancies he would most enjoy. Summer and game are the chief elements of heavenly happiness. Other Indians will incor- porate some common want, as a dog and a SUPERSTITIONS. Ill pony, and create a heaven accordingly. Start- ing on common ground, the Indian idea of a future life has changed as the Indian changed, generation after generation, from one locality to another. These Indians don't know what a horse is. The plain Indians cannot fancy hap- piness without horses, and these ideas influence their view of futurity. The "Great Spirit," and even the " Great Father" in AVashington are beings of whom nothing is asked among the Eskimos. Give them plenty of blul)ber to-day, and they do not concern themselves about to-morrow or the future. They like plenty of grease, and for that reason would rather encounter a whale than a missionar}'. They need boats, and would rather capture a hair seal, the skin of which is an important article in their naval architecture, than to receive a trunkful of tracts, 'i'hey think more of a dog-team than of a free-school five stories high, Avith double-acting seats and desks. The}' are a lazy, dirty set, and when the Catholic l)ishop was u}) here among them, ofl'ering to baptize their children, they said he nn'ght if he would pa\' them for it. A\'hen peo- ple get religion in tliat way it does n't take a very strong hold on them, under a generation or two. CHAPTER XVni. DOGS AND DRIVERS. ^T^HE old scliool])oy notion of the North -^ American Indian as a creature that could run day and night through the pathless woods, from the Alleghany ^Mountains to the Black Hills, livnig on panthers and catamounts as he raced along, going for weeks without sleep or rest of any kind, does not fit these Innuits or Eskimos. These fellows seldom walk, they take their exercise mainly in boats during the summer, and c()m})el the squaws to dry enough salmon and collect a sufficient quantity of driftwood to last during the winter. When compelled, however, they can do some good travelling with dog-teams and sledges in the winter. St. Michael's is one of the most noted places for dog teams. When we landed at St. ^lichael's we were warmly welcomed by al)out fifty dogs, thirty- two of which had been provided for by the " Jeannctte" and eight more were expected for 178 DOGS AND DRIVERS. 179 the same expedition. These Mahlemute or Es- kimos dogs are good-natured fellows, always fflad to see a white man, no matter how oreat a stranger he may be. They stand around the landing-place on the beach waving their bushy tails and lolling out their tongues on warm days in the most friendly manner possil)le. They do not wag their tails like frivolous society dogs in civilization, but gently and gracefully sway them to and fro like willow branches waving in a summer breeze. Having greeted the stranger as a friend, and by every look and action in- vited him to make his home among them, they lay the Avelcoming tail upon the left hip, and walk up the hill with him in a grave and digni- fied manner, as to say, " Xow that you are one of us, no form nor ceremony, you know. If you see anything you want, take it."' To a person nervous on the dog question, to one always expecting to be clutched at the throat b}' a mastiff, or be nipped on the heel by a cur. to one M'ho believes in hydrophobia in its most terrible form, it cannot ])e other than a genuine pleasure to meet a party of Eskimo dogs, which seem to entertain a sincere friend- ship and respect for the Avhite man. Indeed. it is quite Mattering when compared with ilieii' indifference for the Indian. I sav nothino- about 180 A TRIP TO ALASKA. the domestic " tiffs" among these dogs, because those are afTairs that never ought to l)e heard of outside the fiunily circle, but it is well known that their ears, when in a normal condition, always stick sharply up, while after being " chawed " they hang down in a Avay that gives the animal to which ihey belong a blase, not to say a de])auched appearance and a good many ears are in a morbidly despondent condition. AVhen the sun shines and the thcrmomett-r gets up to sixty, as we had it at St. ^Michael's, these dogs lie in the shade and pant. AVhen there is a sunnner shower ihey stroll about and smile. They have heav}' coats for the cold winters, and as yet their masters have not gone so far as to consult their comfort by shearing them in I he spring like sheep. So they must sweat and j^ant in dog-days. Two tennis hitched up to sledges here afforded us an exhibition of how such aflairs are man- aged, and in ])oth instances, as soon as the har- ness was brought out and laid upon the ground, every old dog al)out the place was wild with excitement and eager to get into colhir and traces. We went up on the ''tundra,*' or Avet prairie, back of the redoubt, and with five dogs hitched tandem, had a ri(l(^ upon the sled, which was hustled ;dong over the grassy hummocks at DOGS AND DRIVERS. 181 a good trot, a man running- ahead as a guide, and another holding the handles behind, as with a plow, to steady and keep the sled from going over. These tandem teams were of ''American mastifi"' breed, the Eskimo dogs being always, till very lately, worked double, one on each side of a line from the sled to a single leader in front. They have their advantages and disad- vantages. The American dogs are more power- ful than those of Eskimo breeding, and working them in single file requires less trail-breaking in a deep, light snow. But they cannot stand severe cold equal to the Eskimo dogs, which have the shaggy coats, and have been acclimated through generations of predecessors. The Eskimo dogs are generally of a light brown, frequently mottled with a darker shade of the same color. A few show some white. They are about twice as large, on an average, as the Spitz dog, which is connnon in the States. While patient and tractable with man, they have their own troubles and fre(|uently make night hideous with their howlings. There has been much romancing and exagge- ration about the capacities of Eskimo dog teams, but from the best accounts it is not prudent to start out on a trip of any considerable distance with more than two hundred pounds to a team 182 A TRIP TO ALASKA. of seven dogs. The traders generally travel with a number of teams together, that the men nvdy be of assistance to each otlier. The cargo is lashed tinnly into the sled, so that, in case of a capsize, it can be righted again without re- packing. Under very favorable circumstances, on good roads (smooth ice or well-packed, level snow), long distances are made. Xinety miles in one day of fifteen hours have l)een traversed with a team of nine dogs. Such drives are, however, of rare occurrence. During the sum- mer the dogs receive but little attention, being left to forage for their food generally, getting a few scraps or a little fish soup occasionally. But in the winter Xhay are valuable property, and are often swai)ped or sold at fancy prices. When a trader is starting out alone from the base of supplies with his team, all the other traders make a i)oint of being up and about at an earlj' hour on that morning, to see that no mistakes are made about the dogs harnessed, as an ej'e is always kept to the main chance of ffainins: a ijood d()i>- by accident. The Eskimos are generally a quiet, inoff"ensive people. From the Kuskoquim northward to the rum region the Indians have a flattering fear of the white man. They, and all other Indians in Alaska havinu- connnunications with traders DOGS AND DRIVERS. 183 before Seward's purchase, were kept in close subjection ])y the Russians, who made them feel their power, so that even to this day a white man may go into a "kashima"' alone and un- armed, and beat whomsoever he pleases without much risk of meeting with resistance or retalia- tion ; and this among a people who l)elieve m avenging the death of a relative by blood. Of the white man they have a dread, l)ecause they believe he represents a power that could crush them out of existence, and would be quick to do it if provocation were given. That is among the more southern Innuits or Eskimos, and above, among the Yukon and Tennanai Indians, where white men go to trade. It is well for the whites that the Indians so regard them, or they would not dare to stay in the country an hour. Among the coast natives of Cape Prince of AVales and Kotzbue Sound, there is a different condition of atlairs. White men would hardly be safe to go among them alone as they do u}) the Yukon. The UKxle of traffic up tlie coast way is for the Indians to come oft' in their boats to the vessels that frequent tlicsc waters, and do their trading on board. Even this is now con- sidered somewhat dangerous for vessels with a small equipment. 184 A TRIP TO ALASKA. It was Jit Cape Prince of Wales that the In- dian massacre occurred in 1877, and as there have been fights and feuds at other points to the northward, in consequence of the presence of rutn among them, it is not a good place for a white man to go alone. How long the more southern Eskimos will maintain their present submissive character cannot be foretold, but the presence of an armed ship in these waters every year w^ould go a long way toward keeping these peaceable, and toward preventing the further demoralization of those to the northward, by suppressing the rum traffic. These coast Indians about Norton Sound have a fashion of clipping their hair from the up])er part of the head, leaving the lower portion to irrow lono-er. This is then cut around in a circular fashion so as to have it "banged" on the forehead, after the style of the young ladies of the United States and other highly civilized places. From the forehead the lower line is graduated around in a slope to the back of the neck. Now, when some of the Tennanai In- dians come down the Yukon and see this style, they adopt it as the "latest agony," and go home with a swaggering air as if just returned from London and Paris to Oshkosh. Some of these Indians have their noses pierced. DOGS AND DRIVERS. 185 and a great many have two holes, one on each side of the lower lip, just below the corners of the mouth. h\ southern Alaska and in British Columbia, squaws have one such aperture, in which they wear an ivory ornament, sometimes an inch in width and a quarter of an inch in thickness, but here the men have two of these wounds. It is not an uncommon thing here to see a young girl going along with a short string of beads pendant from her nose, the sight of which may l)e very fascinating among the young men of her tribe, but to one not accustomed to such ornamentation the effect at a distance of ten or fifteen paces is not particularly pleasing. A closer view, when one comes to see exactly what it is, is not quite so sliocking ; and, pos- sibly, if one were onh' used to it, the fashion would be quite as toleral)le as rings in the ears, bano-in"- the hair, and chewini>- o;um. CHAPTER XIX. PRODUCTS OF THE YUKON REGION. rFlHERE are no fur seal nor sea-otter skins in -*- the trade aniona" tlie Eskimos, ])ut there is a character to the furs whicli tells of the country where they originate. AVhite foxes, the Arctic hare all Avhite, white wolves, white bear, and white deer skins, are common articles of trade. In addition to these are the land otter, marten, American sable, mink, beaver, red fox, marmot or ground s(|uirrel, and muskrat, as the princi- pal skins. The difference between martin anc American sable is one rather of degree than of kind. The Siberian sable, the most valuable of land furs (except silver-gray and black foxes), is darker than the American salde when it is found in the woods wliere there is a perlect shade. The scarcity of trees makes the fur lighter in color, until, in the marten, it becomes a brown and, rarely, yellow. In the animal itself there api)ears to l)e no marked difl'ercnce l)etwccn the sable and tin; marten. The marten ISO PRODUCTS OF THE YUKON REGIOX. 187 is quick and bold enough to kill the porcupine ; and yet it can be easily tamed so that it will spring up in a sociable way and snatch the meat from its master's plate. It is quicker than a cat, and is sure death on rats and mice. Whether it is called marten or American sable the animal is the same. The quality of the marten and sable, as well as the color, is atfected by local circumstances. AVhen the snow is soft and light all the Avinter, the fur gets a l)right polish and remains smooth and even on the surface. AVhen the snow becomes hard and sharp, by packing and by thawing and freezing, it cuts the long tine hairs of the skins, jjroducing un- even and harsh edges. This circumstance makes an important ditference in the value of the skin. AA\)lverines were formerl}' so nuich in demand among the coast Indians up this way, that the trading companies purchased them in Cook's Inlet and Bristol P)ay for importation here. M'hcre they were used by the natives in trim- ming parkies. The wolverine is not only scarce among them, but it is a "medicine" animal, the Indian killing one setting every sort of food available and lighted candles, or oil-lamps, around the carcase for two days before skinning it. That is the custom amonii' the interior 188 A TRIP TO ALASKA. Indians who kill thera. Upon the coast, how- ever, the wolverine is not found, and conse- quently the skins are in great demand. They are not so largely imported from below as formerly, being now brought down by traders from the u})per Yukon. The parka, or fur robes, on the American side of the Straits, are made of the marmot or ground squirrel, trimmed with wolverine around the lower edge of the skirt, the hood having a border of white wolf, which gives the face of the wearer a weird and fantastic appearance. The men's parkas are generally plain, except the wolver- ine border on the skirt and wolf on the hood ; but some of the v.omen's robes are very orna- mental. They are cut circular at the bottom of the skirt, before and behind, leaving a space about twelve inches from top to bottom on each side. The lower portions of the skirt of the woman's parka are generally ornamented with white deerskin, land otter and fanc\' work with thread and dyed feathers. The finest parkies, however, are of fawn skin, and come from Sil)eria. They are richly embroidered on the flesh side with silk, in (colors, and are very expensive, some rating as high as one hundred and twentj-five dol- lars. The connnon jiarka, such as is used by PRODUCTS OF THE YUKON REGION. 189 the ordinary Eskimos, and such as were pro- vided for the men of the " Jeannette," are cheap, being made of squirrel skins, without ornamentation. They are warm, and warmth is what is required in the Arctic region. The hooded parka and the fancy deerskin boots, which complete the attire so far as visible, make a picturesque dress, admirably suited to the climate and the people. It is stated that the women wear leathern pantaloons be- neath this beautiful outer covering. For people, their habits and customs, imple- ments and dress ; for scenery and climate at this season of the year : for salmon and wild- goose eggs, and an appetite that is backed hj digestive organs extraordinary, this is one of the most interesting places to which civilized people, sweltering in the great cities of the Eastern States, could make summer excursions, albeit somewhat out of the route of palace cars. But for a permanent residence it cannot be com- mended. Tiiere are some half-dozen whites here, and they appear to enjoy life, but their minds are generally occupied by questions of trade, either in having it or preparing for it ; and, moreover, they all look forward to a time of leaving the countrv and returninir to the haunts of civiliza- 190 A TRIP TO ALASKA. tion. Besides, thej are not completely exiled, as they go down to San Francisco on a furlough once in every two or three years. The thought of these journeys buoys them up before they go and sustains them after they return. So they get through life and manage to keep them- selves in flesh. St. Michael's is a good place for the curiosity hunter to visit. The Indians up this way, with feathers through their noses, their fanciful fur clothing, their skin-l)oats, their dogs and sledges, their ivory-headed s[)ears and arrows, their stone-lamps for ])urning blubber, and a luni- dred other queer commodities, furnish a fertile field for the collection of ctirios. ^Nlammotli tusks are more plentiful al)out here than forest trees, and they may be had cheap as firewood. Even stone axes are to be obtained occasionally, though they may be numl^ercd with the friction fire-producers among implements now ol)so- Icte. Everything of this kind, or samples of all such articles, arc in constant demand at that great repository of wonders, the Smithsonian Institute, which has emissaries in all i)arts of the country gathering cast-off clothing and worn-out implements among savages. Of all the curios from this country the most inexplica])le was found near Fort Yukon several PRODUCTS OF THE YUKON REGION. 191 years ago. At that time a Canadian who Avas then in the employ of the Alaska Commercial Company, discovered a skull a1)out half a mile from the fort, which he could not " identify." It was apparently from some animal of the bo- vine kind, but Avhat particular species w^as a mystery. Having spent some years on the Upper Missouri and on the Rod River of the Xorth, he was familiar with the buffalo, and felt satisfied it could not be a buffalo skull ; beside buffalos are not found so far north as Fort Yukon, Avhicli is within the Arctic Circle. After puzzling his head over the mystery for months, he sent the skull down to the Com- pan\''s office in San Francisco, with an account of where it was found. There all efforts to identify it failed, and it was forwarded to the Smithsonian, accompanied l)y a written explana- tion of its discovery. The scientists of the Smithsonian, spent long da}s and nights over it, and though they may not admit the fact, were at a loss to make a very succinct explanation of the character of the animal to which it be- longed. It was finally pronounced the head of an extinct species of elk, and experts at once set to Avork making drawings and plaster models of the extinct animal. About three years ago the lucky finder of the 192 A TRIP TO ALASKA. skull learned that when Fort Yukon was sup- posed to be within British America the Hudson Bay Company imported a bull and a cow to that place. The bull died and the cow was killed for beef, havino- been latterly in a condi- tion of constant mourning for her departed lord and there is no longer any room for doubt that the skull which puzzled the Smithsonian scientists was a cow's skull and nothing less. It is possible that, as soon as the report of this dis- covery l)ecomes pul)lic, the cow's skull may be ground up and used as a fertilizer on the beau- tiful Smitlisonian grounds, the plaster casts re- duced to powder, and the records of the learned debates on the subject will be immediately de- stroyed. The professors may then deny the facts. Down about Sitka one hear some very possi- tive talk al)out "mines," and this breaks out, even up here, occasionally, but in a subdued way. There may be gold u}) the Yukon, as sonte peo[)le affect to believe, but, if so, the dio'irings .should be wonderfully rich to be profi- table. Tn a country where the winters are of eight months' duration, and Avhere the ther- mometer indicates sixty to seventy degrees below zero for a month at a time, with forty to fifty degrees for longer periods, the Avork PRODUCTS OF THE YUEOX REGION. 193 done in the summer months ought to be well paid for. At all events, although there have been rumors of diggings, ther^ has been no reliable information of mines in this extreme northern part of our possessions. So far as at present known this region is fit for nothing l)ut the fur trade, and tliat will prol)- ably never furnish profitable returns for many, if any, more than those now engaged in it. The resources of an agricultural country may be developed, and the products increased, by rail- roads and steamboats, by innnigration, and by improved machinery. The fur trade is such that, the more it is encouraged when open to competition, the sooner it declines and becomes exhausted. This is one ])ranch of trade which M'ill not endure stinudating, and if there is anything of value in the Yukon region, outside of the fur trade, it does not now make any demonstration. The Yukon is *i wonderful river, capable of carrying a tonnage c(jual to the Mississippi, but there is nothing at present tributary to it that is capable of creating a connnerce. Two stern- wheel steamers api)ear to be capable of satisfy- ing the wants of c(jnnnerce upon the Yukon at present and for a long time to come. There are said to be immense vallcvs or bottom lands 194 A TRIP TO ALASKA. of great richness of soil along the Yukon and on some of its tributaries, and upon the Kusko- quim, south of the Yukon ; but the richest soil is valueless if the climate be such that nothing for the benefit of man will grow and ripen in it. There is no timber along this northern coast, although spruce is almndant in the interior, but the value of this cannot be ap})reeiated. Possi- bly cattle might be raised here if grass would ripen and hay could l)e i)rocured for winter foddering, but when live-stock may be raised without this troul)]e and unavoidable expense of this country several thousand miles nearer to market, the advantages of Alaska as a pastoral region can hardly be made apparent during the })resent century. Alaska is really of little value to our government beyond what is derived from the seal i.slands, rent, and tax, and the vague benefits from the fur trade in general. Ikit the coast might be surveyed in the interests of nav- igation, though it might take years to make a relialjle chart of that portion from Bristol VyAV to Norton Sound. There might be no profit in it, l)ut a great nation ought to know something about its own possessions, and particularly about its coasts and border lines ; and the navy or some other department could find employ- ment u}) here in many i)laces. Trotit, however, PRODUCTS OF THE YUKOX EEGIOy. 195 in the way of dollars and cents, to be returned at any near day, should not be looked for. If the sound inu's are ever made, it should only be as a matter of national pride, and that ought to be understood. They could hardly be of any value to the people of Alaska, nor could they do much toward developing a country which is almost entirely without such natural resources as can be turned to any good account. While upon this subject I "wish to make a few meteorological observations drawn from offi- cial and unofficial records. 1 am aware that there are people interested in Alaska who main- tain that this Territory is snited for agricul- tural purposes ])ecause they honestly believe in the country, and because a few potatoes and hardier roots have been grown here, but in exceedingly limited quantities. A record of the weather up the Yukon was made at Fort Reliance, about latitude G5, longitude 142 west. Fort Eeliance, at which })oint it was taken from a spirit thermometer by the trader 'Jack" ^IcQuestin, winter of 1878-9, is four hundred and fifty miles ])v tlie course of the river above Fort Yukon, but not so far to the northward, the latter being just within the Arc- tic Circle, and the most northerly regular trad- ing-post in any part of the United States or its 196 A TRIP TO ALASKA. Territories. As the climate in the interior is pronounced highly satisfactory hy Alaskan en- thusiasts, and as several persons declare the possibilities of its agricultural products to l3e exceedingly great, these tigures may be of interest to those seeking' information concerning the country. The highest temiieraturc of the year 1878 at Fort Reliance was IT above zero, on May 14 and September 13, dates which might be called the beginning and end of summer. The lowest temperature of the winter was 00 below on the 21st of February, 1879. On Februarj^ 20, four observations, made at 9 a.m., 12m., 6 p.m., and 9 r.M., aggregated 200, an average of 50 below zero for the entire da}'. The mean for the lowest month in that winter, February, Avas 25.^ Ik'Iow ; the highest mean for any month Avas in ]May, GO^ above. On the Gth of February the thermometer indi- cated a rise of temperature, during a southwest wind, from '>><' l)elow at 7 a.m. to zero at noon, to 14 above at o v.m.. then down again to 18 below at h p.m., and 2S below at 10 p.m. This was a variation of 56 in one day. At Fort Reliance, in the winter of 1855-6, as is alleged by one of the ti'aders, a two-pound bot- Ik^ of quicksilver in a cabin remained frozen for PRODUCTS OF THE YUKON REGION. 197 two weeks. At St. Michael's, Xorton vSound, in 1878, the highest thermometer was in July, 73 above, and the lowest in February, 25 l)elow. The winter mean for November, De- cember, February, and ]March, was 60 below. The summer mean for June, July, and August was 50 above. The yearly mean was 29 above. The rainfall last year, including melted snow, was but 10.8 inches. The highest velocity of the wind per hour was in August, 74 miles, and the total wind in that month was 11,279 miles. The highest temperature at St. Michael's in five years was 75 above ; lowest, bh below. It may possibly be olijected that the Yukon weather reports quoted above are from an ex- treme northerly district, which is true ; but it is asserted Ijy Alaskan advocates that though the coast line from Cape Fox the southern ex- tremity of the Territory to Sitka is too foggy, rainy, and swampy, the inland soil and climate are superior. It is not probable, however, that the country immediately back of Sitka is much more favorable than further to the northward, being of great altitude and remo\ed from the influence of sea currents, though undoubtedly there are some differences, perhaps not always in favor of the Sitka latitude. 198 A TRIP TO ALASKA. As a set-off for the Yukon and St. Michael's record 1 copy from the log of the "Rush" the weather record of the Aleutian Islands during the month of June, 1879. This record was written down every four hours, or six times a day, from Ukolonoy, just south of the peninsula of Alaska, to Onalaska and Attou, within a belt between 52 and 55 10' north latitude, reaching briefly as high as 57 the fur seal islands. This includes the entire scope of the Aleutian Archipelago, which has been recommended by some persons who never saw Alaska as desira- ble for the location of penal colonies where men might agriculturally earn their own livings and get themselves new family relations. Here is the June weather of the Aleutian Islands about same latitude as Sitka. Date. Thermometer. Weather. une 1 . . mean 39 . . Foggy. " 2 . . " 40 . . Fog, squalls, and rain. " 3 . . " 39i . . " " 4 . . " 40 . . " " 5 . . " 39 . . Hail and snow squalls. " 6 . . " 40 . . Cloudy and rain squalls " 7 . . " 411 . . Squally and rainy. " 8 . . " 44 . . Cloudy " " 9 . . "41 . . Fog " " " 10 . . " 40 . . Squally " " " 11 . . " 41 . . Breezy " " 12 . . " 38 . . Squalls, sleet, and rain PRODUCTS OF THE YUKON REGION. 199 Date. Therraometer. Weather. June 13 . . . mean 36 . . . Squalls, sleet, and rain *' 14 . ' 39f . . Light breeze, clear. " 15 . ' 37 . . Frequent snow squalls. ' 16 . ' 38 . . Calm, but overcast. " 17 . 39 . . Light airs, overcast. " 18 . ' 38 . . . Misty, overcast. " 19 . ' 43 . l^oggy, squally, thick. ' 20 . ' 40i . . Heavy squalls, thick. " 21 . ' 39f . . Thick, rainy, squalls. " 22 . ' 39 . and rainy. " 23 . ' 42 . " " 24 . ' 40i . . Changeable, with rain. " 25 . 42 . . Partly clear. ' 26 . 394 . Overcast. " 27 . 38f . . Partly clear. ' 28 . 40| . . Overcast. ' 29 . ' 39 . . Foggy and misty. " 30 . ' 46i . . Partly clear. CHAPTER XX. THE SUMMER CROP OF SEALS. /^N tho afternoon of July 23, the "Rush" ^-^ steamed out from St. Michael's and again headed for the fur-seal island of St, Paul. Morton Sound was as smooth as a mill-pond, and Behrinpf Sea showed onh^ a slight ripple, called u}) by a soft, western breeze. The water along the coast from Norton Sound down to the mouth of the Kuskoquim is so shoal that it is dangerous for a ship to attempt the passage, in })laces, within ten miles of land. Going southward till the island of Xunivak was abeam, the '"Rush"' was stopped once every hour for soundings, a result of which was that, out of sight of the land, the \vater was found only deep enough for a good anchorage. The mouths of the Yukon have been depositing sand along the eastern shore of this portion of Behring Sea to such an ex- tent that it is now regarded by all navigators in these waters as particularly dangerous. An- 200 THE SUMMER CROP OF SEALS. 201 other element of clanger is found in the fact that the coast line, as ap[)ears from frequent and reliable observations by such navigators as are compelled to come this way, is set about ten miles too far to the eastward, on all the charts. The entire coast from Nuni- vak, at least, to Xorton Sound, ought to be surveyed, and soundings taken, so as to afibrd reliable information, where at present too nuich is left to conjecture. We experienced the l)rightest and most de- lightful weather from St. Michael's till the morning of the 26th, when a thick fog shut down, so that no observation of our position could l)e had. We were headed for St. Paul's, and l)v noon had run our distance out : but the weather was so thick it was impossible to know whether we were to the eastward or the west- ward of the land we wanted to make. In these waters, currents are continually setting vessels out of their courses, which is not so serious a matter when ol)servations can l)e taken daily and corrections made by the wa}' : but when a vessel is run for days l)y compass and dead reckoning only, the currents sometimes play sad havoc with the calculations, and a ship may be tifty or sixty miles out of position without anvliodv beins: blameable. 202 A TRIP TO ALASKA. The fog around the Seal Islands is peculiar in some respects. The sun may be shining overhead all day, so that the weather appears to l)e always at the clearing-up point, but the clearing does not take place. The fog hangs low and thick all around, so as to cut olF the line of vision not more than a ship-length away, even whike the sun is smiling upon the anxious navigator. The fog is of such a thick, creamy consistency, that it vv^raps itself around the rig- ging, finally stretching down and dropping olF like molasses. The man on the forecastle, offi- cers in charge of the deck, and the captain, try to look through it until their eyes are as red as if they had been half roasted. Having run the distance, according to dead reckoning, about noon on the 2Gth, the "Rush " was slowed down to the consumption of one l)ucket of coal per hour, and we began cautiously feeling for the island. The course is altered to the eastward, and soundings are taken every half-hour. They commence at 19 fathoms and gradually run up to 20, 22, 25, 30 and 35. The charts do not give any soundings about St. Paul's, and if we had ])een near the land we must now be getting away from it. The soundings being unsatisfactory, the course is chansfcd, and we go slowly feeling our w^ay THE SUMMER CROP OF SEALS. 208 on a northern tack. The captain requests those on tlie " house " with him to keep their weather- nostril open for a snifl' of the seal which at this season is very pronounced, hut neither snieHinir nor seeing is able to reveal the land. The vessel is laid on a course of north-northeast, and look- ing and sniffing continues, l)ut without results. In this manner the afternoon passes, and after su})pcr Ave find ourselves still hunting for the land, which we know is somewhere stuck awa}' in that thick fog. It begins to look as if we were doomed to make a night of it, when the captain and pilot, who have been leaning upon the pilot-house, crawl up in a nervous sort of way, trying to make something out of a slightly denser line than the great bulk of the fog. The irregular outline, as of hills here and there, give it an api)earance of land, and as the helm is put a-port and the " Rush " comes around to get the wind abeam, it is pronounced land, sure enough, and an odor as of old rain-water in a cistern comes aboard, succeeded l)y a stronger smell, and, as the land is neared, the outlines and smell become more distinct, the l)cllowing of bull seals is heard, the blaating of the cows mingles with the roar: Ihe " ow, ow I " of the pups can 1)0 distinguished, and, with Uu; sounds 204 A TRIP TO ALASKA. of a mammoth cattle-show, with the odors of a poultry exhibition, magnitied to the 6,385th de- gree, you have a fur-seal rookery on your weather beam late in July. The noise ceases not b}^ day nor by night, and the smell is something never to be forgotten. There may be other odors like it, but there is nothing and no place that has so much of it, for, in addition to the millions of seals living upon one island at this time, there are the carcasses of 75,000 killed, which, divested of their skins, for fashion, now lie decomposing upon the ground. There would be 80,000 car- casses, but some of them have been eaten by the natives. When we sailed from St. Paul's on the 14th of June, 10,557 seals had been killed for the years take. On the KJth of July the killing of the 80,000 was completed, and on the same day the last of St. George's quota of 20,000 were laid low. This was the quickest work and earliest close for a full allowance ever known to this seal-killing since the i)resent lessees have been in possession. It was extremely fortu- nate for the company tliat tlic work was done so rapidly, for there has l)een a hot, dry spell since, Avhich drove even the old bulls into tlie water, and which would pre\ent driving at this time. THE SUMMER CROP OF SEALS. 205 On our arrival here Dr. White, surgeon of the "Rush," being desirous of studying seal anatomy, made a temporary exchange of posi- tion with Dr. Kelly, the physician on the island, by which the latter took charge of the steamers sick roll, not an alarming one, while the former physicked the islanders and dis- sected seals for a few weeks. As Captain Bailey was anxious to get dow^n to Onalaska for coal and water, this writer also parted com- pany with the " Rush," remaining to see more of the seals, and to go down on the steamer ''St. Paul." We enjoyed a great deal of fur- seal society, varied by vain efforts to get at the sea-bird's nests on the cliffs, and yelped at by impudent foxes. It is a humiliating thinof to have a fox stand off about ten rods and bark at you, or follow you around, smelling at your heels ; but they will do it here. Foxes here are plentiful and fat and saucy at this time of year. They can always get plenty of seal meat during the summer and autunni. In the si)ring they eat eggs and sea-fowl, but in the winter they fall into traps and lose their valuable skins. Going out along the blutfs here, fox-trails may be seen leading in the direction of the places where the sea-birds deposit their eggs, but the birds seem 20n A TRIP TO ALASKA. to know just how far a fox or a man can go along-, or up, or down the face of the cliffs, for they take up positions in most unaccessible places, from which they gaze at the would-be intruder with that calm demeanor only acquired by confidence in moral rectitude or physical security'. These sea-birds lay on a shelf of rock so narrow that they cannot sit, but must stand, while setting, with neck stretched up the face of the wall in front of them, and there they remain for weeks, counting the possible chicks from one green and white mottled egg. They guard it as carefully as though it contained a future president of the United States. From the top of the bluff the sea-birds may be robbed by a reckless man let down with a rope ; but from the l)ottom or the side approach they are safe, no matter how easy the way and accessi- ble the position may appear at a i'ew paces distant. We tried it again and again, till the doctor had to be hauled a few times, out of places from which he could not extricate him- self, after Avhich he came to the conclusion that it was too late in the season for a white man to rob bird's nests, so he hired some of the natives to do it. The foxes, however, probably understand the THE SUMMER CROP OF SEALS. 207 nest-ro])bing business better, and no doubt they get occasional eggs in various stages of incuba- tion for breakfast, and have many a spring puifin, murre, or gull for dinner. The mainstay of the foxes for fresh meat in the summer, how- ever, is pup seal, young and tender, being milk nurtured and quite vealy in character. On St. George's, where foxes are more numerous than on St. Paul's, half a dozen of them will get around a yearling seal and drive him back to M'here they want him, so as to save the troul)le of carrying the meat after kiUing. The St. George's foxes might eat dried seal meat all Avinter, if they were provident as they are bold and cunning. The bull seals are not so aggressive in the latter part of July as about the first of June. Early in the season, on the approach of a man, they roar and rush at him, holding ground for their expected families. Now, on being ap- proached by searchers after scientific informa- tion, they roar and run away, scrambling over the pups regardless of results, and leaving the mothers to follow as fast as they can, "which fine instinct they rapidly obey, and the little ])lack lum})s of pups crowd together, turn up their pug noses and bleat to the best of their extraordinarv abilitv. 208 A TRIP TO ALASKA. The toughness of the pups is astonishing. The patriarch weighing six hundred pounds flops and tumbles over a mass meeting of pups, like a runaway cart going through a primary picnic ; and after the event the youngsters pull themselves together, dig the sand out of their mouths, eyes, and nostrils, and, finding noljody hurt, all begin to bawl. An old bull seal has no more regard for ten or twenty pups than the devil has for a penny box of matches. In the spring, when the patriarch is alone, he feeds his imagination with fancy pictures of family delights, the larger the family the better; and then he is ready to fight for his rights ; but after a few weeks' experience Avith a large harem and a nursery of corresponding dimen- sions to look to day and night, the old fellow becomes nervous and is more inclined to fly than to shed the blood of man. At this season a sheep may put an entire rookery to rout. Fog is indispensable to seal comfort on the rookeries and hauling-grounds, l)ut of course the fog lifts at times, and then the seals seek the soothing influence of sea bathing. Though the fog of this region is thick as molasses, it can come and go in a minute. From clear, bright skies and a horizon at the farthest possi- ble extrenn'ty, it changes to an obscuritj' that THE SUMMER CROP OF SEALS. 209 shuts out the view of a man's own nose, and another lightning change brings back the sun. On the (lay alter our return to the island, the steamer "St. Paul" started to go around from the eastern to the western anchorage to take on sealskins. The distance is about three miles. The atmosphere was clear when she got under way at seven o'clock in the morning, but l)efore she rounded the point, a quarter of an hour later, the fog fell :ind the land was shut out from view. She should have been at anchor within half an hour after getting under way, but she did not come in on time, and the jsteam-launch went out alons: shore lookino- for her. The "St. Paul" blew a whistle a mile away, the launch answered : and the big steamship and the little launch were blowing and whistling, and hunting for each other till two in the after- noon, when the smaller found the larger and led her in so close that the top of the blutfs hung almost overhead before the land was seen and the anchor let go. Yet the steamer was never a mile from the land during tliat tive or six hours of prospecting. When the fog lifts and the sun shines, the fur seals take to the water. This is one of the most interesting occasions for watching them. First the young bachelors. Avhich occupy hauling 210 A TRIP TO ALASKA. grounds convenient to the ])ree(ling rookeries, ofo out free and foot-loose vaga))onds that the}' are having no family cares to interfere with perfect comfort, so iar as perfect independence goes. They dive into the water and spring out of it, they twist and turn and roll and double up and straighten out, float u[)()n their backs, scratch their ears with their hind flippers, rub their noses with their fore flippers, and have a thorough wash, getting the sand out of their fur, cooling oft', and making themselves quite com- fortable. They enjoy their bathing and take plenty o'i it when once in the water, having nothing else to do. As the heat increases the females beg off from their lords and masters, and by ones and twos they get away generally at this time, leaving the pups behind. But even when they are only six weeks old the young ones are also driven down to the water on hot days, and they rapidly learn to swim. When the thermometer Ment up to flfty-eight in the shade, even the old l)ulls relaxed somewhat of their rigid rules, and went swimming also, showing how weak even a ]iatri- archal seal may ))e during dog-days. W'iicn the seals are all in the water it has the appear- ance of being absolutely thickened by them. They twist, tumble, and turn in every direction. THE SUMMER CROP OF SEALS. 211 thousands upon thousands of heads and flippers being visil)le along the bays for miles in length, and extending outward till heads and flippers become miere specks. At times a fleet of them will SAvim away in line, their noses alone being visible in long rows. Then they start off as if possessed by demons, forcing themselves out clear of tlie water, and disappearing, to break forth again under and over in a lively chase, indicating wonderful strength and powers of endurance. Being slightly cooled and refreshed, the bulls are the first to land again, reminded, perhaps, of home afiairs and the uncertainty of domestic relations in the seal kingdom. They hnsten to the beach, and, taking a hurried look around, set up a roar, and, without paying the slightest attention to the pups, await the arrival of the partners of their rocky homesteads. The '' cows," reminded of their progeny, come out next and proceed to find the young. Each cow seems to have a different tone to her snarling, and as she goes peering into every group of pups the youngsters toddle out and greet her, willing to accept nourishment from any mother that will offer it ; but though the young all look alike, being of the same age. color, and condition, the dams know, or think thev know, their own. and 212 A TRIP TO ALASKA. pick them out from hundreds of other clamorous applicants. Either the cows always know their own by their smell, or, like gentlemen at a party with their umbrellas, each one takes what is believed to be the best, leaving the worst to the latest. CHAPTER XXI. ALEUT COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. /^N the 30tli of July the steamer " St. Paul" ^^ sailed out of the fog surrounding the island which bears the same name as herself, having on l)oard a carsjo valued at more than a million dol- lars, for San Francisco. In addition to the seal- skins, she had in her hold last winter's take of land furs for the Alaska Commercial Company from the Yukon district. The latter, along with a hundred barrels of seal meat and a large quan- tity of oil, were discharged at Onalaska, where we arrived on the 1st of August, having been fog-bound outside for half a day. Every year the comi)any ])rings down a large amount of seal meat, which is distributed aratuitouslv anions; the Onalaska people, along with seal oil, which is almost indispensable among these people for food. The oil is a real luxury, and is used liberally, when available, to soften their dried fish. When the large casks, containing two hundred and tifty gallons of oil each, were rolled 213 214 A TRIP TO ALASKA. up the wharf here, to be pumped into barrels for distribution, the tricklings from the pump were scooped up on xA.leut ringers and sipped into Aleut mouths, as the gamins on wharves in the East suck the syrup that leaks from barrels of saccharine sweets. But seal meat and oil were not the only important shipments by the steamer " St. Paul" from the seal islands to On- alaska. There came down twenty Onalaska men who had been taken up last spring as lal>or- ers, and as Onalaska Aleuts are not so rich as those of the seal islands, their return with their earnings made (j^uite an important event for this community. Yet this was not all that contri))- uted to the importance of the occasion. The steamer lirought down four young men from St. George's, and tive from St. Paul's, looking for wives. It sliould ha known that the fur-seal islanders are the creme de la creme of Aleut society. They earn more money and li\e better than any other Aleuts, and naturally they become fascinating fellows as soon as they land among the maidens of Onahiska. Of course there are young women who desire to marry on tiie fur-seal islands, but the church will not })ermit marriages within the degree of third-cousin consanguinity, and, what makes the matter more oppressive, a relationship equally ALEUT COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 215 .'uinoying is manufactured at the baptismal font. An Aleut may not marry the son or daughter, nor niece, nor nephew, nor any relation within the seventh degree of his or her godfather or godmother. This is the solenm truth, and al- though people ought to be glad to have relations, when they are rich, there is such a thing as hav- ing too many when they are poor. There is now on St. Georofe's a marriageable youno: woman, unexceptional from an Aleut point of view, who is so related by ties of consanguinity with what Ave would call remote cousins, and so bewilderingly connected by baptism with god- fathers and godmothers and their relations, that she cannot marry ui)on the island, although there are plenty of young men there who need Avives, and who Avould like to have her. She got her temper up about it, and said she would never marry off the island, Avhich is a noble sort of self-sacritice highly worthy of admiration. When the seal islanders come down to Onalaska they lay siege to all the marriageable women in the settlement, and marriages begin at once. Those who cannot get wives here and some such cases are reiwrted ask the Company to fur- nish them free transportation " out West " to Atka, three hundred miles away. At the same time there i? a surplus of female population on 216 A TRIP TO ALASKA. the fur-seal islands who won't marry anybody but a fur-sealer, because they have been brought up in an aristocratic Avay in frame cottages, and provided with wardrobes which enable them to change dresses seven times a day. Such are the advantages and disadvantages of female educa- tion among the fur-sealers. There is not much of the spooney business in Aleut courtship. The steamer landed the wife- hunting seal-skinners on Friday. On Saturday one of them was asked, " Are you married yet ? " "Not yet, but I shall be to-morrow." "Who are you going to marry ? " "I don't know yet." On Sunday, two days after the arrival of the wife hunters, three of them were married, two couples at one time and one at another. The three couples would have been executed together but there were only four crowns among the church properties. Crowns and candles are indispensable at these weddings. When mar- rying a couple, the priest appears in full vestments, with the tall, slightly tapering coffee-pot-shaped velvet hat ; and a choir of male voices chant nasal responses to th(^ long service read by his reverence. The cou- ples to be married are stood up in a row, the first step being to place a lighted candle, deco- rated with a crimson bow, in each hand. Then ALEUT VOURTHHir A^D MARRIAGE. "ill the reading commences, and continues till the priest shows signs of fatigue, when the attend- ant brings out blessed rings on a blessed tray, and each one puts on his or her ring, taken at random from the tray, man and woman l)eing treated alike in this respect. After the rings there is more reading, with responses from the nasal choir ; and when the priest becomes ex- hausted again the blessed crowns are brought out. On this occasion there were four crowns, two which were old and lustreless, and two which were not only new, but brilliant with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, or what looked like them, and answered every purpose just as well. There stood the two couples, like the kings and queens of a chessboard, with crowns upon heads which did not tit them. Of the two couples in this case one bride, of a Russian appearance, was dressed in a light silk with a purple stripe ; she nad a blue 1)ow at her throat, and a pink sash around her waist. Her hair had been braided damp over night, and hung in waves down her shoulders. Her eyes were downcast constantly during the ceremony, and her nose, long and straight, pointed sharply toward the floor in an ominous manner. She wore a cynical sort of smile, like that of an ex- perienced circuit preacher when he knows that 218 A TRIP TO ALASKA. the other brother is o-ettinV.'^^ 1^\\>A'^W '^'^ 000 085 882 9 Univ S