ARCTIC ALASKA. 381 



their absence, pots made of native clay are used The cooking is 

 done by the women, who taste the meat from the moment it is put 

 on the fire until looked. The remainder of the fire is then thrown 

 out through the hole in the roof by the young men, and, as soon as 

 the hut is clear of smoke, the flap that covers the chimney-hole is 

 hauled over for the night. The hunters return usually about this 

 time of the day, and upon entering the hut take off most of their 

 clothes. After eating pounds of the deer-meat, alternating the 

 cooked with raw meat, and drinking quantities of the soup, they 

 smoke a pipe, and all hands go to sleep. All the household are 

 fond of stripping and baking themselves before the fire, particu- 

 larly the old people, who go so close as to almost blister them- 

 selves. They say the heat makes them young, and drives away 

 their pains. 



The deer are not usually hunted as in the manner just de- 

 scribed, but are killed in the following fashion : For miles before 

 arriving at a village, long rows of stakes were noticed stuck in the 

 snow. They consisted of bushes about six feet high, and were 

 placed about fifty feet apart. Against the white background they 

 give the appearance of a man. Two lines of these bushes are 

 made, their outer extremities a mile apart. The lines gradually 

 converge, so as to form a lane. At the end of this lane is a corral, 

 built of brush and wood, through which a deer can not penetrate. 

 The brush is hung with nooses to catch the animals should they 

 attempt to pierce the confines. A herd of deer being sighted, they 

 are driven by the natives toward the entrance of this trap. The 

 deer flee from one side of the lane to the other, mistaking the 

 bushes for men, and finally enter the corral, where they are killed 

 with bow and arrow. Hundreds are killed every season in these 

 traps. 



The first of December, as there was then plenty of snow on the 

 ground, the sledging-trips commenced. I had looked forward to 

 them, anticipating a great deal of pleasure. My idea of sledging 

 was based upon a half-forgotten picture in an old school atlas, 

 representing a man dressed in furs comfortably seated upon a 

 sled, brandishing a long whip over six dogs in front, all on a trot. 



The first thing to be considered upon preparing for a sledging- 

 trip is the question of provisions — for both party and dogs — cook- 

 ing-utensils, clothing, tent, and numerous smaller articles, until 

 the prospect of comfortably tucking one's self in a robe on the sled 

 looks very much like riding upon the hump of a camel. At least 

 two persons are necessary in the management of a sled : one to 

 run ahead for the dogs to follow, and the other to remain with and 

 guide the vehicle. The dogs will follow a beaten path, but in cross- 

 ing the trackless country it is always necessary to have a runner 

 ahead. The sleds were loaded so heavily that all thought of rid- 



