304 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



a sheatli knife and a skin tobacco pouch. Theii* breeches are made of 

 tanned hair-seal skin, fitting the legs closely, and tied at the ankle with 

 leather strings. They wear on their feet a kind of a moccasin made of 

 seal skin, with a sole of walrus hide. The dress of the women is some- 

 what difierent. Their upper garment is made of the intestines of the 

 walrus, neatly sewed together, and is similar in shape to that of the 

 men, but longer, and worn without a belt. Beneath this they wear short 

 drawers, reaching only to the knee, made of tanned seal skins. Instead 

 of moccasins they wear a sort of boot, the legs of which are made of 

 either the throat or intestines of the walrus, and the sole of walrus hide. 

 Most of the men shave the crown of their heads, leaving only a rim of 

 their hair, about an inch wide, entirely around the head. The women 

 do not cut their hair, but part it in the middle, and wear it in two braids 

 with strings of beads intermixed. Their foreheads, cheeks, chins, and 

 arms are tattooed in various devices with a light blue pigment of some 

 kind, and tlie ears of some have little notches cut in them. None of the 

 men are tattooed, but many wear little strings of beads in their ears. 

 Their countenances are bright and rather intelligent, and both men and 

 women are lively and talkative. Their habitations are of two kinds, 

 being designed for summer and winter occupation. The summer houses 

 are jjortable, and are evidently shifted from place to place. They are 

 about 15 feet square and 6 feet high, and consist of light framework 

 of wood covered entirely, sides, ends, and roof, with dried walrus 

 skins. The roofs have a very low pitch, and slope slightly to the rear. 

 The interior of one which we entered was divided into three nearly 

 equal spaces, by logs of driftwood laid upon the ground in two paral- 

 lel lines. The two outer ones were covered with skins and used for 

 sleeping places. There was a fire built between several large stones, 

 burning near the center of the house, about which were their cooking 

 utensils, consisting of two sheet-iron kettles and several wooden bowls. 

 The latter were used for boiling water by throwing into them heated 

 stones. They had also platters and smaller bowls neatly made of wood. 

 Hanging about in various parts of the hut were reindeer and hair-seal 

 skins, skins of wild geese and ducks, walrus and whale meat, bladders 

 of oil, .articles of clothing, and numbers of smoked fish; also their 

 weapons, which are h)ng wooden si^ears, with coarse iron points, bows 

 and arrows, knives, and a few smoothbore muskets. They seemed to 

 have but a small supply of ammunition for the latter, as they used small 

 stones for bullets, though they had a few buck shot. Their only tools are 

 their knives and small adzes made both of walrus ivory and iron. Yet 

 they make the framesof their boats and wooden vessels with great nicety. 

 There were 14 people living in this house, 5 men, G women, and 3 chil- 

 dren. They seemed hospitably disposed, inviting us to enter their house, 

 and offering us boiled fish and whale's meat. Their winter house, which 

 was near the other, was built under, ground (the roof only appearing 

 above the surface), and showed great attention to comfort in its construc- 

 tion. It was rather larger, and square in form, with a dome shaped roof 

 The sides were walled with wood, and had a raised bunk extending 

 around three of them. The floors were also of wood. The roof was 

 thickly covered with earth and turf, except a small round hole in the 

 center, left open to supply air, light, and a passage for the smoke, but 

 which could be closed by a wooden shutter on the inside. The entrance 

 to the liouse was through a square hole in the ground at a distance of 

 several yards from the house, but connected with it by a narrow under- 

 ground passage. This house contained the greater part of their posses- 



