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 Overland Monthly 
 
 Vol.. XXX. (Second Series.) September iSItT. NO. 177 
 
 V ■• ■ ■ • ^ ■ > 
 
 ALASKA BY LAND AND SEA 
 
 I. THH V()V,\(iH ANl) THH NATIVHS 
 
 i;v 1,I.\('(IL.\ COTIIU.AN. .M. It. 
 
 -• -1 
 
 the nidrninn <•! .\|)ril llHli. 
 iSlC, Isaileillnr.Ma.^kii 
 to aet a.«; |ihy.sieian ami 
 surfTtMin t" a larjje .sal- 
 mon packinj,' company. 
 .•\ftera not parlieularly 
 eventful voyajte (» f 
 twenty-seven days, we 
 .-saw the tirst indications 
 of land in driftin^j sea- 
 I'he remainder of the .sea 
 
 IS de.serilted in the following; notes from 
 
 arv made at the time. 
 
 Vfeds tloatinn hy 
 
 ,ri|. 
 
 tili 
 
 
 ^'f ■ '•■. 
 
 
 .May 17lh, 11 a. m. 
 
 We are .sailinji beautifully this nuirnint;. 
 he yards square, Itefore a fair wind. Cal- 
 •niations indicate we shall si^ht land before 
 il^^lit. The vessel just passed a sidendid 
 .pecimen of the larj^e jjray albatnt.ss the 
 ■■ondor of the seas. Hestretclied liisjii^fan- 
 ic win^^.s. measuring'' ten to twelve ft-et from 
 ip to tip. and l)eat a^^ainst llie water many 
 inu's before he was abit- to rise. 
 
 I v. \i. 
 
 Wind has luronie stroiii^i-r and we an- 
 Irawin!,^ chise to land. i>r rather to lui^e, 
 Hirren, and desolate rock-islands ten- 
 mted only by wild fowl. Tlu-se rocks are 
 sl.inds situated near the western end of the 
 \laskan peninsula, in onler to reach I'.er- 
 nu sea it is necessary to pass throujjjh a 
 •trait only twelve miles wide, the entrance 
 o which is hedf^ed with innumerable rocks 
 ihd sunken reefs, to strike one of which 
 
 would mean certain destruction. The strait 
 known as I'niniak jiass lies between ttgomak 
 and I'nimak islamis. Uoth of these islands 
 contain live volcanoes. The pa.ss is ren- 
 dered more dan;i;erous because it is almost 
 constantly enveloped in dense fog with no 
 warning lignt-hou.se nor fog-horn. iTwo 
 
 OL- 
 
 A .XMImnAk HKI.I.K 
 
 ' ' ; Copyright. lS!t7, by (»VW{'..AN1» MoNTHl.Y I'l iti.isiiiNi; CitMi'ANV) All rights reserved 
 
 ■ ' Brown, Mcesr .S: CrB>l>l(Hk. S »-. 
 
 
 41 9^r; 
 
196 
 
 OVKKLANI) MONTMIA' 
 
 [naIhga, 
 
 'CHIWACH 
 TA 
 
 hours more will brinjt us to the pass. It is 
 snowing now and one cannot see half a milt* 
 away. 
 
 .■>::{(» 1'. M. 
 
 The cry of "Land hoi" made us rush 
 from the dinner tal)le to the deck. Dead 
 ahead loomed up a ruf^jjed. snow-clad moun- 
 tain ranjje, lookinjj spectral and forbiddintf 
 in the storm of .><leel rainin^j down uiton us. 
 Captain Peterson yelleii: "Lull' the rudder! 
 Tack ship!" and as the great ves.sel slowly 
 turned ai)out, rolling and pitching in a heavy 
 sea, he cried: "Call up the watch helow! 
 .Ml hands on deck!" For nearly an hour 
 we watched the.se wnite mountains which 
 had .so dangerously and une.xpectedly hlockeii 
 our passage, then they faded in the fog and 
 distance. 
 
 We had missed the " jtass." and nearly 
 gone to pieces on those rocks. .Something 
 was wrong. Oh.servatioiis and reckonings 
 were made at noon, .so it was thought our 
 exact location was known; and we ha<l 
 steered for I'nimak |)a.ss. The ocean cur- 
 rent .setting westward had lieen taken into 
 account, so the error lay either in some in- 
 explicable deviation (d" the compass or el.s* 
 the .ship's chronometer was wrong, thus 
 putting us off in our longitude. 
 
 .May iHth, 1 ::'.(» l-. M. 
 
 Tall mountains covered with sonwdrifts 
 
 again came into view at nine o'clock. These 
 were taken to be I'nalaska islantl, .so we 
 made off for an hour or two, and th«}n 
 steered northeast, hoping to strike the pa.ss. 
 I It was .so foggy the altitude (d* the sun could 
 not be taken at noon, and we don't know 
 •vhere we are. 
 
 :! V. M. 
 
 We are now sailing in full sight of land 
 that we lake to beTigalda island, one of the 
 .\leutian groujt that lies along the .\laskan 
 peninsula. 
 
 :i:.SO 1'. M. 
 
 Sighteci Igomak island, which gives us 
 our itearings. On the strait side is a tow- 
 ering l)lulf, once seen always to be remem- 
 bered. We are steering boldly into the 
 pass. 
 
 10 o'clock I'. .M. 
 
 We are now within the heaillaiids and 
 darkness gathering fast, our course we.st liy 
 north, with :i fair wind, tlooil tide, and calm 
 aea. 
 
 .May IKth. :i::i(» A. M. 
 
 The .second mate awoke me and 1 went uj» 
 on the deck to see the volcano of I'ogrum- 
 poi. With all canvas spread we were cut- 
 ting the waters of Mering.sea. The sun was 
 rising and tilled the heavens with pale opal 
 luminance. It came up behind a low moun- 
 tain range on I'nimak island, which is com- 
 posed of a series of rocky pinnacles. High 
 above them all, like the pyramid of Cheops 
 lieside children's playhou.se.s, i.solated and 
 lonely, loomed the volcano of I'ogrumpoi. 
 .About every three minutes a cloud of bhick 
 smoke slowly gathered altout the .summit 
 and then the wind would waft it away. 
 .After we had enjoyed this unwonted spec- 
 tacle for half an hour a curtain of fog shut 
 oti" the view. 
 
 7:ao v. m. 
 
 .No land in sight. 
 
 .May 2;tth, a. .m. 
 
 Was Just awakened by a noise re.sembling 
 crushing of bot ties. We are jia.ssing through 
 an ice-|»ack formed of small tloes which .seem 
 to be fast thawing. The sound is produced 
 liy the ice grating against our (topper sides. 
 
 • » A. M. 
 
 (In all sides of us are innumerable ice- 
 floes which project from six inches to six 
 feet aliove the water. Thtdr tops are cov- 
 ered with snow. This ice is formed in the 
 rivers and along the shallow shores, and 
 carried out to .sea liv the tides and currents 
 
 I i 
 
 ' 
 
I I 
 
 
 
 lj^^f^^^^k^:i^ 
 
 mnw u ' (i ^^AUmi^*^ 
 
 A KHIKMll.V .Al.l. AT KlM;(;iMr. 
 
 t luTf rcceivinij fiirthi-r inert'iiionts by frcfz- 
 iiijij spray and snow. 
 
 C. r. M. 
 
 \\> have sletred a zip^zan course all day, 
 to avoid as much as pos-^'lilt' thcst- ici- 
 masst's. They form nearly continuous slrinjjs 
 about live hundrt-d yards wide and many 
 miles in ler.jrth. A clear belt of sea sev- 
 eral miles in width intervenes till the next 
 strinji. A^ two miles distance they remind 
 me of the San .loaijuin plains covered with 
 white ^jreese. 
 
 May LMst. C l'. M. 
 
 No more ice today. It is bitter cold, the 
 thermometer standinji at thirty-two dej^rees. 
 Fahrenheit. 
 
 Herinji sea is as smooth and placid as an 
 
 inland lake. The water is jjreenish in hue, 
 and nowhere exceeds ninety fathoms in 
 de|»th, the average depth being forty-five 
 fathoms. The ship was hove to for an hour 
 and we had tine .-^port catching codfish. 
 Kvery sailor and pa.-*senger put out a line, 
 and in a short time the decks were covered 
 with Happing fish. \ piece of bacon is the 
 hest bait, ".here is only one feature to mar 
 your pleasure. .\s you pull in the line, which 
 has bet-n let down three hundrc ' feet, the 
 lower half is covered with a yellow, slippery 
 slim*', and your ] ids .soon become lacer- 
 erated and benun ed with the cold. 
 
 May 22d. 
 Heating around to avoid the ice again to- 
 day. U is only about fifty miles to Cape 
 
19S 
 
 OVKULANI) MONTHLY 
 
 ( 'onstantino. Sht)nltl tlu- wind turn t'air will 
 make the Nushanak river ami cast anchor 
 sometime tomorrow afternoon 
 
 May -IM. 
 Sun shining i)ri,<j;htly; sky clear, Imt head 
 winds drive us out of our course. 
 
 2:m) v. m. 
 
 I'assinji now within ten miles of llajja- 
 meister island. This white, flattened, rocky 
 waste presents a picture of indescrihahle 
 liesolation. To the southward lies Walrus 
 island, from which the snow has not yet 
 melteil. 
 
 May 2 1th. X .\. m. 
 
 Again we are crashing throu^jh white ice- 
 fields before a strong wind. The ship is 
 dismantled of nearly all her .sails to lessen 
 speeil. 
 
 S I". \i. 
 
 .\s far from Xushagak as three days ago. 
 Headwinds and ice impede our voyage. 
 We are sailing in a .salt ])ond about four 
 miles in diameter surrountied by itanks of 
 inipenetral)le ice. Wht're the jiacks have 
 jammed together carried by counter cur- 
 rents, enormous slabs are piled on top of 
 one another like tombstones. We sail alone 
 in this little .sea. our wake tiescribing .snake- 
 tracks and figure eights. It will lie the 
 good (lod's luck if we do not tie ourselves 
 in a knot which we cannot slip through. If 
 a gale of wind should spring up it would 
 drive th<- ice down upon u.s, and the old 
 Meroni with her cargo of human freight 
 would find her last resting jilace at the 
 bottom of Bering .sea. 
 
 May 2<;th. 7::!ti v. w. 
 
 Kan through a rift in the ice last evening; 
 sailing all day with a fair wind towani 
 Hagamei.ster island, which lies clo.se to the 
 mainland of Alaska. We hope to sail east 
 by .south between the shore and the ice- 
 l»acks to Cajie Constantine and then enter 
 the N'ushagak river. We are in the same 
 position as four ilays ago when driven ofi' 
 by contrary winds and ice. .Sighted Haga- 
 meister island a few minutes ago. Sun sets 
 at .S:4r) toilay. but the twilight is long, last- 
 ing beyond 1():.'{0 r. M. 
 
 s ::'.() A. \i. 
 
 Two more of the .salmon packing Meet 
 bound for Bristol Bay district are cbt.se by 
 us. sailing on the .same tack. Ice on the 
 east again shuts us out from Cape t'onslan- 
 tine. 
 
 May L'Sth. 
 
 Today is exactly like vesterdav. 
 
 .\iay 2!»th. 
 
 .\ high wind just sprang up. and the 
 .Merom is throwing ot!" the foam like a race- 
 horse. .\ thick f(»g exists, caused by the 
 air becoming warmer (forty-five degrees. 
 Fahrenheit), blowing over the frozen fioes. 
 \ moment ago we plunged by the schooner 
 Lewis, beam to beam. Her sailors blew a 
 hoarse horn the only human .sound we 
 have heard in thirty-nine days beside those 
 made on our bark. 
 
 Since headway on our course cannot be 
 made, the main concern is to avoid collision 
 with one of the other ships and to kee|)safe 
 from being crushed and sunk in the ice. In 
 this far-olf unfretiuenlerl sea a collis >n is 
 more to be dreaded than even tire the 
 two most appalling cries that could ring out 
 on the dock of a doomed shij*. The cap- 
 tain poured out a pint of castor oil into an 
 old rusty fog-horn which works with a 
 piston. At half minute intervals all night 
 a sailor on the forecastle deck pumjied out 
 long thunderous wails. 
 
 May M()th.;{ v. M. 
 
 In a thick fog we spoke the bark Kenny 
 at fifty yards distance. She had run up 
 against an ice field and then gone off. We 
 l)lunged into it past the Kenny, but had not 
 proceeded two hundred yards before we 
 were bumping against icebergs ten to fif- 
 teen feel from top to bottimi. Soon the 
 ice became a solid ma.s.s, and it was a matter 
 of life and death to extricate ourselves. 
 Kvery minute the old ship creaked and 
 treml>led as if her ribs were being knocked 
 in, and the splinters flew w';ile we crashed 
 into large mas.ses of ice. .some ef them two 
 humlr-'d feel long. Nearly all the sails 
 were taken in to slacken s|>eed. We 
 worked our way slowly ami tediously and 
 finallv got out of the dangerous situation. 
 
 '.»::{(> p. M. 
 
 .\m writing without aid of artificial light. 
 Still steering a iK'vious way among the ice- 
 bergs. Thermometer has been at the freez- 
 ing point all day. Our ship look.>'. like a 
 Santa Claus outfit. The dense fog blowing 
 through the shrouils and rigging is frozen 
 white and presents the appearance of Itits 
 of cotton stuck on everywhere. T\v' heavy, 
 damj) .sails are frozen stiff and crai kle and 
 rasp as they are hoisted by the iiu-n hauling 
 the halyards. 
 
 1 
 
■■T If w ■ ttm 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 ■ 'il 
 
 A Still Hunt 
 
20() 
 
 OVKULAND M()\TIII,Y 
 
 KSKIMo WIKK (IK (iKHMW TKAri'EK AT 
 K.WOOI.IK 
 
 May :nst. 
 
 This morninj; w*- ari' stuck fast in the 
 ice. At 7. A.M. (». yiad sound! we heard 
 V ''team whistle, and .soon the little steamer 
 Hattie (iajje (my friend, ('a{(tain .Nelson, 
 commander) lay alonfj side of us. The 
 steamer took us in t(tw up the river. We 
 mi^ht have lain in the ice two or three 
 weeks in helpless jieril were it not for tliis 
 timely aid. 
 
 The steam tender left us clear of ice in 
 the mouth of .Nushajjak river, and started 
 hack to tow the other vessels in. We 
 dropjied anchor for the nijjht in twelve 
 fathoms of water. 
 
 .June 2d, 10 a. m. 
 
 It is a wonderful morninj,', the air is 
 redolent with stimulatinj; ozone, and the 
 .sun shines warm, with thermometer at .sev- 
 enty-two deffrees, Fahrenheit. 
 
 The low river lianks on either side of us 
 four miles away are fringed with ruffles of 
 broken ice. The hij^h rutjjjed hills to the 
 northwest are streaked with meltin^ snow- 
 drifts in the ravines and sunless slopes; 
 while the ridj^es and projecting; peaks stand 
 out gray and barren. 
 
 Were there only a forest with ^jreen foli- 
 
 Hge it would be an ideal picnic time and 
 place, the sunshine is so warm, the winti 
 HO s(dt and mild. This is written on deck 
 in my shirt sleeves. 
 
 We sailed up the river opposite to the 
 cannery jit the native village of Kanulik 
 (.sometimes calletl Carmel by the Moravian 
 missionaries I and dropped penianent an- 
 ch(.r. 
 
 About three hundred yards away, al)ove 
 the high yellow river bank, surroundeil by 
 a crowil of natives and a |»ack of howling 
 dogs, stood Ueverend .lojin Tchokert. the 
 missionary. .\s we came in sight he hoisted 
 the .\merican flag and fired a .salute. 
 
 In a few minutes dozens of natives canie 
 |iaddling out to us in their kyaks and bi- 
 darkas. .\s they .sat in their .skin boats 
 watching us it was curious to .see them 
 smile and hear them call out: "Che meel 
 Che meel" This is their salutation. 
 
 These natives are short in stature, aver- 
 aging five feet. They have the racial char- 
 acteristics »d' the .Mongol, straight, black. 
 coar.se hair, retreating forehead, black or 
 brown eyes with the outer angles t-levated. 
 high cheek bones, and dark smctky-yellow 
 complexion, which is doubtless nioditied liy 
 tlie ciimale and their habit of life. 
 
 They are a simjile. trustful, honest, moral, 
 and trulli-ttdling people. Kachof the young 
 men is married to :i single wife. They 
 have but a small progeny one to tive 
 children, i'rostituticm among the women is 
 almost unknown. .\ few white men who 
 live here have taken native wives. 
 
 Tliey are never so happy as when giving 
 succor to a white man in ilanger, who. in 
 return, browleits, swindles, and endeavors 
 to contaminate them, and even strikes down 
 tile hand whose skill, perhajis. has saved 
 him from death in the treacherous rivers, 
 maybe from starvation, or guided him 
 through the trackless snow to shelter and 
 life. It is true they are ignorant (d' our 
 civilization. They have no luxuries no 
 telegraphs, r.o steamboats and railroad.s. no 
 great cities, no factories, no churches (ex- 
 cept of late years those managed by Uus- 
 sian jiriesis and missionaries!, no colleges, 
 no news])aper.s, no books. They also have 
 no mortgages, no landlords, no ti-nement 
 hou.«es. IK) sweat-shops, no in.s.ane a.sylums, 
 no jieor houses, no tram|)s. no usurers, no 
 remorsele>s combinations of capital, abso- 
 
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 avian 
 
 an- 
 
 AI.ASKA HY I,ANI> ANI> SKA 
 
 2()1 
 
 lutely no crim*'. and hj-ncc nt» nt-cfl for |u'n- 
 itcntiarics. Their individual efforts jiro- 
 cure rainietil, food, and shelter, yet they 
 Hhare readily with one another should any 
 one need help, not with reluctant and 
 nij^tjardly charity as in alms- houses, nor 
 with the lofty scorn bestowed upon the 
 ^K'^;^ars of modern civilizati(»n. 
 
 Their food is derived from seals and 
 tteliijta whales, and trom small tish, which 
 
 turn the stomach of a starving white man. 
 The majority of the Kskimos men and 
 women alike wear a dress (jtarka) made 
 of many s<piirrel skins ( ahout .seventy) 
 jiatched tojrether, with the tails and lejjs 
 hanjfint; in ta.s.sels all (tver the garment. 
 In shape it is very much like a ni^ht ^f^>\^^rt, 
 ri-achini; lielow the knees. It has a fur 
 collar. The cap is made of some kind of 
 fur. Their hoots are hand sewed from hair- 
 
 Vll.I.AiiK AT I.AKK KI.AkNAi;AK 
 
 after drying without .>alt are placed in 
 roujjh boxes (caches) elevated from the 
 ground jiliout six feet to protect them fr.im 
 ravenous doj^s. The lio.xesare covfrcd with 
 moss and turf to kee|» out the rain. These 
 people are fond of .silmon which are liurii'd 
 whole (without removing the entrails) in 
 the frozen ground, and exhuniel in the 
 winter. In appearance they look as when 
 placed in the j,'round. They do not sn^' il 
 iiad, hut the'r taste temjits none (dher than 
 the native palate, one mouthful would 
 
 seal skin. A truthful description can but 
 attest to their iincleanlincss of person. The 
 raiment of stpiirrd skins is worn without 
 chan,ue until it literally falls from their 
 bodies. Still they are not more filthy than 
 whites in similar destitution. 
 
 The villajie of Kanulik, one of the lar- 
 gest, and typical of iheni all, is situated on 
 a low hill on the north bank of the Nu- 
 shaj^ak, about forty miles from the mouth. 
 Hxcept the fish caches nothinjr is visible of 
 the village on the surface but a slightly 
 
■^ 
 
 9m 
 
 nVKi:i..VNI> MONTHLY 
 
 mi-tt'd miiun<l with a small ho|t> altout two 
 l»y thrt't' ft'i't for the cntraiu't' of a " siutw- 
 hiiusc." Yoii I'aiH'iitcr tl)i> hole upon yitiir 
 hatuls anil kni't-s ami orawl alony a liorizoii- 
 tal tunnel finlit or itMi iVet lon^j. You 
 «u MiMily tinil yourself in a small outt-r 
 chanilicr. tlu'ti ^fliilf aloni; another tunnel 
 for the same distanee, when you reach the 
 burrow proper. This contains two or tliree 
 Htraw-moss lieds, a tire-|tlace with ventila- 
 tion in root', ami various articles, such as 
 rude cookint; utensils, wearing; apparel. 
 toolrt, spears, ami hows ami arrows. 
 
 Kach home is the factory and the store 
 hou.se for all needful iinidements luid sup- 
 plies to meet the exif^encies of existence. 
 Every one knows r)r learns how to make 
 clothing. Itoats, hows and arrows s|»ears. 
 tish-nets, sleds, doj;- harness, etc. They are 
 ver.-ied in woodcraft wiUi lis ihousand in- 
 tricacies, the paths ihrouf^h tiie endless for- 
 ests ami frozen tumira.s, throu^^h swam|)s 
 and rivers with thtdr i>erilous rajdds and 
 waterfalls. They know the haunts and 
 habits of all animals. Their foresi^jht of 
 the weather-chanjres and sudden storms is 
 iminensely superior to our y;imcrack sif^nal 
 .service. 
 
 In variety and experience id' life, in ver- 
 .satility of knowledije and handicraft, the 
 despised native is a para^jon of intellii,'ence 
 when compared with the averajie working- 
 man with his dull, routine, humdrum exist- 
 ence. Contrast the horizon of a laliorer in 
 a Massachusetts shoe factory, who spends 
 his life in nailin<j pe^js into the heel of a 
 machine-made shoe. 
 
 The bidarkas are twelve to thirty feet 
 lon<r, eifjhteen inches t.) two feet in width, 
 and about sixteen inches deep. They con- 
 tain one to three holes to sit in. and are 
 made of tanned seal or bear skin stretched 
 like a drum over a lij;ht birch framework. 
 They are ideal in construction as furnishing 
 the least resistance to passajje Ihrounh 
 water. ( »n account of their extrenie nar- 
 rowne.ss. they are liable to capsize and ^o 
 to the bottom in other than a native's man- 
 ajjement; but it is somethin}^ like ridintr a 
 bicycle. when you have learned to ride 
 you wonder how you could onci' have been 
 .so clumsy. 
 
 Their villages are invariably located on a 
 river bank, near its mouth or else hi^h up 
 at the river's source by a lake. Two con- 
 siderations determine the location; first. 
 
 suitability for calchitiu walru.ses. whale.s. 
 •seals, and tish (salmon, trout, and white- 
 tishl. Second, proximity to l.-irnl abounding 
 in berries. The niosslierry. a small round 
 black berry urnwiny in the moss, ripens in 
 the fall and is then ;;ood to eat. and |iro- 
 tecteil by the snow is >iill nooil several 
 months later when the snow melts. The 
 hucklelierries are as hirtje as bijj gooseber- 
 ries an I Very Juicy and palatable. Salmon 
 'lerries, wiiicii look like the roe of salmon, 
 only mui'h larger, are sweet ami appeiiziny;. 
 Their little wild cranberries are didicious. 
 
 The Kskimos are natiiral ni^ht prowlers, 
 lieiiijr in this respect like savage animals. 
 They are compelled to take advantane of 
 the chan>j;in>f tides to do their traveling, 
 hunting;, and tishinu: hence they only sleep 
 when through their work, day or iiii^ht cut- 
 lin;i; no tij^ure. .\nother reason for this 
 'inusual custom is the ;,freat length of days 
 in summer over nineteen hours on .hine 
 -list when the shortness of the nights 
 c )mpels sleep while the sun shines. In win- 
 ter the days are short and nijjhts lon^j. and 
 .sonielhinfT must he done in the lony,' dark 
 hours. There are no idlers amon^r them. 
 
 < >nce every year, about < ' 'totyer L'Oth. the 
 natives from many villaf^es cont^ret;ate at 
 one place for the Joyful " tjive-away " dance 
 Kvery able-bodied man brinjjs .some of his 
 most valualde effects, as l)idarkas, hunting; 
 imjdements. skins, tish, or dothinji, and they 
 are all jxradually piled uj* in one heap. .Men 
 and women bedeck themselves in barbaric 
 •-'JUKery, bear claws alM)ut their heads, lon^ 
 hair collar.s, and other wild ornaments. 
 They form a circle, sinf^in^ and wildly jjes 
 ticulatinjf. and each advances in turn into 
 the center and piles his |)resent upon the 
 pyramid. They vie with one another in this 
 jjive-away dance to briny; Mieir best eti'ects. 
 .U its cimclusion .some ot those who were 
 the richest have ab.solutely nothinjj left but 
 the skiii upon their Itacks. 
 
 Tho.se amonji; them infirm or helpless by 
 reason of sickness, ohl a^e. or calamity, 
 appropriate accordin^f to their needs the 
 articles that have l»een j^iven away. Thus, 
 yearly, is accomplished that distribution of 
 life's tjood Itiintjs, amid overtlowinji hearts, 
 jjeneral reJoicin<i, and no rej^rets, which it 
 takes jfeiieralions of mis>rovernnienl and 
 cruelty to apjtroximate in civilized ( ".' ) com- 
 munities, and then only throutjh revolution 
 and slaughter. 
 
 

 >?* 
 
 The Kskimos have no wonls sijjnifyiny,-. 
 ■■ Thank you." Kvery jjonerous liet^d is doin' 
 simply anil naturally, without thoujjht of 
 value of service rendereil, or expectation of 
 reward. Every one's door or lanler is as 
 open to the stranjjer as one of his own flesh 
 ami hlood. 
 
 In the family circle \vhippinj>; of children 
 or forcible restraint is r ikno vn. In an in- 
 
 sm 
 
 tiniate acipiaintance with more than one 
 thousand of the.se people, .seen under all cir- 
 cumstances, at home, at play, and at work, 
 (of cour.se Itarriny; infants.) 1 have never 
 heanl a child cry. .No wron^ is ever will- 
 fully done hy one to another; hence no need 
 for penalty or puni.shn.ent. 
 
 Neither do they .set up one of their num- 
 ber as kinjj, clothe him in purple robes, and 
 
BBe-^' ^**- 
 
 204 
 
 OVERLAND MONTHLY 
 
 encircle his head with a crown, to lord it 
 over them. They maintain no court, do 
 obeisance to no ruler with imaginary divine 
 rights and superior wisdom. It is true that 
 in every village there is a man called the 
 tyok or taion, who by virtue of high intel- 
 ligence acts in an advisory capacity. He 
 is respected for his knowledge and better 
 judgment, and does what he can to further 
 the general interests. Hvt this man re- 
 ceives no unusual attentions, no compensa- 
 tion, and is not elevated in rank or caste 
 by virtue of being the taion. 
 
 The natives are subject to nearly all the 
 common diseases, barring nervous com- 
 plaints and those of endemic character l)e- 
 longing to other zones. 1 found no traces, 
 however, of small-pox. Tuberculosis is 
 even more prevalent than in tem])erate 
 zones. This is owing to the cold ;md damp- 
 ness of the climate necessitating close 
 quarters in the snow-houses, which afford 
 poor chance of escajjing infection from 
 tubercle bacilli. Syi)hilis was introduced 
 into .\anek in the summer of iSJt.") by a 
 white fisherman. Two cases developed 
 while I was there, one in a man, the other 
 in a woman. They are the first authenti- 
 cated cases occurring north of the peninsula 
 among the natives of .Alaska, nis disease, 
 if unchecked by the instrumentality of 
 white physician.s, is destined to make fright- 
 ful inroads with these people even to 
 exterminate their race! 1 did everything 
 pos.sible to quarantine the.^^e ca.><es and 
 hasten their cure, but any ])hysician knows 
 that in four months very little can be ac- 
 comj)lished in dealing with this di.sea.se. 
 The shameless white scoundrels, lost to 
 manhood and con.science, who s])read this 
 poison can procure relief in charity hospi- 
 tals upon returning to San PVancisco; iiut 
 the innocent victims of their criminal lust, 
 the Kskinios, must rot above the ground 
 unless further medical aid is soon sent. 
 
 Scurvy is very common in sjtring. owing 
 to the meager. .semi-starvati(m diet, now 
 limited almost solely to fish. 
 
 The .saddest feature in the life of this 
 cheerless people is their extreme destitu- 
 tion. Their raiment is tattered .skins. 
 Their food, little lietter than carritm. is .so 
 scarce ihat many of them perish every win 
 ter from starvation. 
 
 It is not because they are slothful, indo- 
 lent, or improvident. Twenty years ago, 
 
 their industry in hunting and ti.shing yielded 
 them an abundance of skins for clothing 
 and food suitable to this icy clime. The 
 life-blood of the Eskimos with their inde- 
 pendence and manhood has been swallowed 
 \i\) by three great corporations whose heads 
 are in San Francisco. 
 
 .About fifty men have grown ^enormously 
 rich to the utter degradation and impover- 
 ishment of a virtuous and self-reliant race. 
 .\n important food and industrial sujijily, 
 the whale, has been dynamited out of Alas- 
 kan waters by the steam-schooners of the 
 Pacific Whaling Company. The seals and 
 other fur-bearing animals have been prac- 
 tically annihilated on both land and .sea by 
 the .Alaska Fur and Commercial Company. 
 This company, has wrought its purposes in 
 .Alaska by fixing a bondage on the natives 
 more galling and detestable than outright 
 slavery, because it disclaims res|)onsibility 
 or care for its wretched serfs. 
 
 I'nder the guise of pre.serving the game 
 from (juick destruction, and to prevent up- 
 risings of the natives against the comi)any's 
 traders at the various posts (they line the 
 mainland and iteninsula from Sitka to Ber- 
 ing straits, and extend ujt the many large 
 rivers), a law was caused to be enacted at 
 Washington prohibiting the sale of repeat- 
 ing arms to the natives of .Alaska. This 
 was a ruse to keep outside parlies aw;iy, 
 and to enable the traders themselves to 
 .supply arms at unheard of and almost fabu- 
 lous i»rices. The native was not slow in 
 ajtpreciating the superiority of fire-arms 
 over bows and arrows in hunting bears and 
 .seals. The method of exchaiige was as 
 follows: The rifie was .set upright on the 
 ground, stock down, and the natives piled 
 skins upon one another Hatwi.se until the 
 stack reached to the muzzle. Thus, often, 
 more than eight or nine hudred dollars 
 worth of fine furs were ot)tained for a ten- 
 dollar gun. 
 
 There never was any excuse for the law 
 which gave opportunity to iier]»etrate this 
 shameful robbery. In sjdteof its ost^-i.sible 
 (lurpo.si' the fur-bearing animals have l»e- 
 come almost extinct. The natives have ex- 
 hibited the greatest forbearance and looked 
 on in all humility at the devastation this 
 com]iany has made. So far from an up- 
 rising against the traders ( whcmi. Cod 
 knows, they ought to have annihilated), 
 there has been but one native homicide in 
 
 w> 
 
'jt: 
 
 j-w j~A f^^-vTt^^^^^n^^'mi^ 
 
 ■0f«HH 
 
 Iciwed 
 lirads 
 
 
 (. ' -^ --.-sx-^.,- -^^ 
 
 thirty "years amonjj a population of many 
 thousands, and in spite of the fact that the 
 company's traders themselves supplied the 
 Eskimos with guns better to eiiuij) them as 
 hunters. The law referred to has been only 
 a flimsy moscjuito bar to cover the unblusli- 
 in}^ extortion practised by the .Vlaska Fur 
 ard Commercial ('omp.'.ny. This ini(iuitous 
 law ought to be instantly repealed, then the 
 natives can buy guns from other parties for 
 what they are worth. 
 
 These trading posts al.sosupjtly the natives 
 with cheap-.Iohn tea, tobacco, crackers, cal- 
 ico, and worthless gewgaws, such as tin cru- 
 cilixes and bra.ss rings. 
 
 The poor, hungry, half-naked native in his 
 craving for tea and tobacco (they dare not 
 madden him with whisky for fear he will 
 turn upon them) has thus been made the in- 
 strument of his own undoing. 
 
 Inde|)endence and plenty have been ex- 
 changed for serfdom and squalor liy the de- 
 struction of the animals of this hind. In 
 the summer the r-ountry is covered with 
 high grass ami flowers. I'nless ym go far 
 away in the interior, you will lire yourself 
 
 
 wandering over the tundras and through the 
 forests and never see a vestige of life, ex- 
 ce|)t very rarely, a frightened ptarmigan. 
 .\nd yet innumerable millions of dollars 
 worth of furs have been taken here. Not 
 long ago the sea. the river banks, the lakes, 
 tuniiras, and mountains, swarmed with seals, 
 otters, foxes, minx, bears, lynx, martens, 
 beavers, wolverines, and wild reindeer. 
 
 It is only a matter of a few years until 
 the last food source of the Eskimos will be- 
 come ruined by the numerous salmon can- 
 neries, which are now under the control of 
 another big corporation called the .Maska 
 Packers' .Association. 
 
 Secretary !:'eward's purchase of Alaska in 
 1S()."), for seven million dollars, has never 
 benefited the common citizens of the I'nited 
 .States, who were taxed to pay for it, one 
 iota. It has enriched a few, however, - 
 the members of three gigantic corporations, 
 who have literally skinned the land of most 
 all its natural wealth and left nothing in re- 
 turn that couhl in ;.ny way aid its develop- 
 ment. These corporations are guilty of re- 
 ilucing a happy and prosperous people to 
 
.« ^.^ !«■.»•: 
 
 'SR^ 
 
 208 
 
 OVEKLANl) MONTH I, Y 
 
 an extremity of destitution and misery un- 
 paralleled on this planet. 
 
 All the legislation concerning Alaska has 
 been at the behest of the various commer- 
 cial companies, not from any recoj^cnition of 
 the welfare or necessities of the native in- 
 habitants. The Conj^ress at Washinf^ton 
 has been too careless and credulous in list- 
 eninji to the siren tongues of attorneys 
 sent by the corporations whose " commerce " 
 with the natives has been carried on at the 
 expense of nakedness, hunger, and human 
 life. 
 
 1 wish to make a i)lea in Itehalf of those 
 who are helpless, whose natural rights have 
 been outraged, and whose hapjiiness and 
 prosperity the government of the I'nited 
 States is in honor bound to employ all its 
 pov.e»* to protect and promote. The many 
 exclusive and monopolistic jjrivilegesgranted 
 to the companies that have so tiagrantly 
 abused them, ought to be annulled The 
 Federal government ought not to abandon 
 its Eskimo proteges to the sordid and unre- 
 strained rapacity of the.se companies. 
 
 Owing to the ditticnity of communication, 
 the territorial government at Sitka on Roma- 
 
 noff island, at the extreme .southern boun- 
 dary, knows no more of what is taking place 
 in the great mainland of -Alaska north of 
 the peninsula, than do the inhabitants of 
 Vermont. I'nder the policy of the past 
 twenty years more than half of the E.skimo 
 poj)ulation have perished from cold and 
 starvation. In this article I have only hintei! 
 here and there at the rapine that has char- 
 acterized " government " by the trading com- 
 panies. 
 
 Should President .McKinley appoint a 
 competent commission to investigate things 
 in northern Ala.^ka, their report would be 
 the blackest and most sorrowful record that 
 has been written in modern times. .\t the 
 end of a long tale of unsjieakable wrong 
 and outrage, they would tell of the decay- 
 ing vestiges of hundreds of formerly pros- 
 perous villages, de.serted now, and marked 
 only by Oreek Catholic crosses above the 
 graves. 
 
 Let our government fulfil the moral ob- 
 ligation to extend its sheltering and pro- 
 tecting arms over these wild but beautiful- 
 nat'ired people. 
 
 
 JESSIE 
 
 Mv ISADOUE MAKER 
 
 KVER.M, years ago there n\\- 
 \lj^ jjeared in a leading magazine 
 ^^^ an article entitled ".A Study 
 of Calvin." It would be 
 interesting to know how 
 many orthodox souls were 
 di.sapitointed at finding no 
 new light on controversial 
 history in the fact that Calvin was a cat 
 once owned by Mrs. Stowe. He walked 
 into her house one day out of the great un- 
 known and .seemed to be as much at home 
 as if he had always been a friend of the 
 family. He appeared to have artistic and 
 literary taste.s, and it was as if he had in- 
 quired at the door if that were the residence 
 of the author of Incle Torn's Cabin, and 
 
 upon being assured that it was, had decided 
 to dwell there, .\fter Mrs. Stowe made her 
 winter home in Florida, Calvin spent many 
 years in the home of Mr. Charles Dudley 
 Warner, and exhibited .so many remarkable 
 traits of character that the genial author 
 sent a " Study '" of him to the < 'inhiri/ mag- 
 azine. 
 
 In like manner, the heroine of the pres- 
 ent story is not of the conventional type, 
 but is simply a fox-terrier that belonged to 
 Mr. Eugene Field and was given to him by 
 the husband of .le.-(sie I'artlett Dav's, the 
 singer. So fond was the jioet of this partic- 
 ular pet, that when .lessie was lost, strayed, 
 or stolen, he was incon.^^olable. .lessie was 
 ca|tricious and hail a jmipensity for di.sap- 
 
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j^j^piwrT™?^ 
 
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