DEATH OF A CHUKCHE GIRL. 423 



he says, " about nine P.M. that she was very sick, and that 

 her breathing was very difficult. I looked at her, and told 

 her people, ' Makee' (go die). As I said this two or three of 

 them rushed over towards her with knives, and cut off some 

 of her hair, her beads, and amulets (made of seal-gut with 

 beads intertwined), at the same time calling her name and 

 shaking her by the arms. But the poor girl was past hear- 

 ing, and soon expired. They gathered her clothing, beads, 

 bags containing needles and deer sinews, and placed the 

 whole upon her breast. Then her boots were drawn on, and 

 the ianglan and the neighbors were sent for. 



"As soon as the whole of the invited guests had arrived, 

 the ianglan tied the end of a long coil of sealskin rope 

 around the head of the girl ; the other end he fastened to a 

 stick resembling a crutch in form. The father of the girl 

 then commenced asking questions, and at each query the 

 rope was lifted up, causing the girl's head to be raised from 

 off the ground. This performance lasted three hours, dur- 

 ing which time there was not a sound heard in the hut. At 

 the expiration of the period, food was partaken of by all 

 present, after which the ianglan, producing some seal-gut 

 rope, proceeded to lash the corpse, tying the arms close to 

 the body, and the legs with the feet pointing outward. A 

 sledge was then prepared on the outside, and the girl's father 

 taking a knife, cut a slit in the side of the hut, as a passage- 

 way for the removal of the corpse. The dead are not allowed 

 to be carried through the ordinary entrance, as the natives 

 say, ' Should that happen, the spirit will find its way home 

 again.' The body being placed on the sledge, the relatives 

 proceeded to pull it, and another sledge with provisions, 

 toward a high range of hills distant some fifty miles inland." 



Subsequently the body was visited to see if some walrus 

 meat left with it had been eaten by crows which is con- 

 sidered a favorable omen. At a second visit, the body was 

 covered with snow. 



Lieutenant Berry, after leaving St. Lawrence Bay as 

 previously stated, proceeded to Camp Hunt, and on arriving 



