262 ' ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



steps which I did to put the nuisance down, for it involved me at first 

 in a bitter personal controversy, Avhich, although I knew at the outset 

 it was inevitable, still weighed nothing in the scales against the evil 

 itself.' 



A few febrile disorders are occurring, yet they yield readily to good 

 treatment. The chief source of sickness used to arise from the wretched 

 character of the barrabkies in which they lived ; but it was, at first, a 

 very difficult matter to get frame houses to supplant successfully the 

 sod-walled and dirt-roofed huts of the islands. 



DiFFiouLTy OF ftETTiNfi SUITABLE HOUSES. — Many experiments, 

 however, were made, and a dozen houses built, ere the result was as 

 good as the style of primitive housing, when it had ))een well done and 

 kept in best possible repair. In such a damp climate, naturally, a strong 

 moldy smell pervades all inclosed rooms which are not thoroughly 

 heated and daily dried by fires; and in the spring and fall frost works 

 through and drips and trickles like rain adown the walls. The present 

 frame houses occupied by the natives owe their dryness, their warmth, 

 and protection from the piercing "boorgas" to the liberal use of stout 

 tarred paper in the lining. The overpowering mustiuess of the hall- 

 ways, outhouses, and, in fact, every roofed-in spot, where a stove is not 

 regularly used, even in the best-built residences, is one of the first dis- 

 agreeable sensations which the new arrivals always experience when 

 they take up their quarters here. Perhaps, if it were not for the nasal 

 misery that floats in from the killing-grounds to the novice, this musty, 

 moljjy state of things up here would be far more acute, as an annoy- 

 ance, than it is now. The greater grief seems to soon fully absorb the 

 lesser one; at least in my own case I can affirm the result. 



Amiable character of the natives. — These people are singu- 

 larly affectionate and indulgent toward their children. There are no 

 "bald-headed tyrants" in our homes as arbitrary and ruthless in their 

 rule as are those snuffly babies and young children on the seal islands. 

 While it is very young, the Aleut gives up everything to the caiTrice of 

 his child, and never crosses its path or thwarts its desire; the " deetiah" 

 literally takes charge of the house; but as soon as these callow mem- 

 bers of the family become strong enough to bear burdens au»d to labor, 

 generally between 12 and 15 years of age, they are then pressed into 

 hard service relentlessly by their hitherto indulgent parents. The 

 extremes literally meet in this application. 



They have another peculiarity : when they are ill, slightly or seriously, 



'This evil of habitual and gross intoxication, under Russian rule, was not charac- 

 teristic of these islands alone; it was universal throughout Alaska. Sir George 

 Simpson, speaking of the subject, when in Sitka, April, 18-12, says: "Some reforma- 

 tion certainly was wanted in this respect, for of all the drunken as well as of all 

 the dirty places that I had visited, New Archangel [Sitka] Avas the worst. On the 

 holidays in particular, of which, Sundays included, there are 1(35 in the year, men, 

 women, and even children were to be seen staggering about in all directions." 

 (Simpson: Journey Around the World; 1841-42, p. 88.) 



Surprise has often been genuine, among those who inquire, over the fact that there 

 is no law officer here at either village, and wonder is expressed why such provision 

 is not made by the Government. But when the following facts relative to this sub- 

 ject are understood it is at once clear that a justice of the peace and his constabu- 

 lary would be entirely useless if established on the seal islands. As these natives 

 live here, they live as a single family in each settlement, having one common pur- 

 pose in life, and only one; what one native does, eats, wears, or says is known at 

 once to all the others, just as whatsoever any member of our household may do will 

 soon be known to us all who belong to its organization ; hence, if they steal or (piar- 

 rel among themselves f hey keep the matter wholly to themselves and settle it to their 

 own satisfaction. Were there rival villages on the islands and diverse people and 

 employment, then the case would be reversed and need of legal machinery apparent. 



