"200 PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



oiie-Lalf the diKstaiice over tlie river route, which is and must be fol- 

 lowed, would be avoided. Eetweeu these localities are some of the 

 highest mouiitaius of the northern continent, and certainly the highest 

 volcano (Wrangell); below are huge glaciers {Mileo and Child's), which 

 hem in the river, rendering navigation extremely' dangerous. Besides 

 these geograi)hical considerations, the climate, which is practically 

 seven montlis severe, affects in a large measure the customs of the 

 l)eoj)le. 



Their vegetable products are limited in variety and scanty in quan- 

 tity. Besides the berries, including cranberries, blueberries, a small 

 red berry (called by them (jmess), a small blackberry (called by them 

 f/i.z)ieh), quite similar to the red one, is a fruit called tdmhd, that grows 

 on a bush several feet high. It hangs on the bushes all the winter, 

 and may be eaten in the spring, even to summer, when it is very dry 

 and nearly tasteless. The sha])e and nature of the fruit is very similar 

 to the black haw, though it is of a yellowish-white color. The natives 

 fiy it in moose or other fat, at the same time mashing it well with a 

 stick or spoon, thus making of it a jialatable dish. Their chief vege- 

 table food, however, is a peculiar parsnip-shaped root, but longer, wlii(ih 

 they call chass. The portion of it above ground ispiot more than ('» to 

 lli inches high and not uidike a bunch of small willows, while the root 

 is frequently several feet long. It is never cured, but is eaten raw, 

 boiled, or roasted, and especially during the spring. 



Fish, rabbit, moose, sheep, caribou, bear, goat, porcupine, beaver, 

 lynx, muskrat, goose, duck, and grouse constitute the mass of their food. 

 Of these fish is decidedly the most important, with rabbits next in order. 

 They have no process of curing save that by drying in the sun. The 

 fat of the moose is nielted and run into the guts, while the blood is saved 

 in the i^aunch. It is of little importance to them wliether or not their 

 meat be cooked, and in boiling it is seldom allowed to become done 

 through. The entire entrails of rabbits are boiled sometimes with the 

 bodies from which they were taken, and again with other meat; and form 

 one of thcmost potent antiscorbutics used by them. Good or special 

 food is always cooked by the men and the refuse of all is given to the 

 women. A boy five or six years old has precedence at meals over his 

 mother. There seems to be almost no limit to the amount of food a 

 liungry native can consume, A single kind of food must be abundant 

 to furnish in sutticient quantities the necessary elements required by 

 the system. A much less quantity of mixed food satisfies. Like most 

 other Indians, they seem to eat when hungry, without regard to fixed 

 intervals. 



The only drink that I saw used by them, excepting tea, of which they 

 are passionately fond, and tlie li(]uois in which the food is boiled, was 

 from thei)lant lamkill, used by nearly all the Tinneh of Alaska and by 

 the inhabitants of the lIn<lson I'.ay country and Labrador. No special 

 preparation of this is recpiired, not even drying being necessary before 

 using. 



