A JOURNEY TO THE YOUCAN, RUSSIAN AMERICA, 
BY WwW. W. KIRBY. 
T left home on the 2d of May in a canoe paddled by a couple of Indians be- 
longing to my mission. We followed the ice down the noblé McKenzie, staying 
awhile with Indians wherever we met them, and remained three or four days at 
each of the forts along the route. On the 11th of June I left the zone in which 
my life had hitherto been passed, and entered the less genial arctic one. Then, 
however, it was pleasant enough. ‘The immense masses of ice piled on each 
side of the river sufficiently cooled the atmosphere to make the travelling en- 
joyable, while the sun shed upon us the comfort of light nearly the whole 
twenty-four hours. And as we advanced further northward he did not leave us 
at all. Frequently did I see him describe a complete circle in the heavens. 
Betwen Point Separation and Peel’s river we met several parties of Esqui- 
maux, all of whom, from their thievish propensities, gave us a great deal of 
trouble, aad very glad were we to escape out of their hands without loss or in- 
jury. They are a fine-looking race of people, and from their general habits and 
appearance, I imagine them to be much more intelligent than the Indians. And 
if proof were wanting I think we have it in a girl who was brought up from the 
coast little more than three years ago, and who now speaks and reads the English 
language with considerable accuracy. 'The men are tall, active, and remarkably 
strong, many of them having a profusion of whiskers and beard. ‘The women 
are rather short, but comparatively fair, and possess very regular and by no 
means badly formed features. The females have a very singular practice of 
periodically cutting the hair from the crown of their husband’s head, (leaving a 
bare place like the tonsure of a Roman Catholic priest,) and fastening the spoil 
to their own, wear it in bunches on each side of their face, and a third on ihe 
top of their head, something in the manner of the Japanese who recently visited 
the United States. This custom, as you will imagine, by no means improved 
either their figure or appearance, and as they advance in life, the bundles must 
become to them uncomfortably large. A very benevolent old lady was most 
urgent for me to partake of a slice of blubber, but I need hardly say that a 
sense of taste caused me firmly but respectfully to decline accepting her hos- 
pitality. Both sexes are inveterate smokers. Their pipes they manufacture 
themselves, and are made principally of copper; in shape, the bowl is very 
like a reel used for cotton, and the hole through the centre of it is as large as 
the aperture of the pipe for holding the tobacco. This they fill, and when 
lighted will not allow a single whiff to escape, but in the most unsmoker-like 
manner swallow it all, withholding respiration until the pipe is finished. The 
effect of this upon their nervous system is extremely great, and often do they 
fall on the ground completely exhausted, and for a few minutes tremble like an 
aspen leaf. The heavy beards of the men, and the fair complexions of all, as- 
tonished my Indians greatly, and in their surprise called them ‘Manooli Conde,” 
like white people. They were all exceedingly well dressed in deer-skin clothing, 
with the hair outside, which being new and nicely ornamented with white fur, 
gave them a clean and very comfortable appearance. Their little Kyachs were 
beautifully made, and all the men were well armed with deadly-looking knives, 
spears, and arrows, all of their own manufacture. ‘The Indians are much afraid 
of them, and so afraid of my safety were two different parties that I saw on my 
