JOURNEY TO THE YOUCAN, RUSSIAN AMERICA. 419 
much paint, its absence was atoned for by tatooing, which appeared universal 
among them. This singular custom seems to be one of the most widely diffused 
practices of savage life; and was not unknown among the ancients, as it, or 
something like it, seems to be forbidden to the Jews, “ye shall not print any 
marks upon you,” Lev. xix, 28. 
Polygamy, as in almost all other barbarous nations, is very prevalent among . 
them, and is often the source of much domestic unhappiness among them. The 
New Zealander multiplies his wives for show, but the object of the Kutchin is 
to have a greater number of poor creatures whom he can use as beasts of bur- 
den for hauling his wood, carrying his meat, and performing the drudgery 
of his camp. They marry young, but no courtship precedes, nor does any 
ceremony attend the union. All that is requisite is the sanction of the mother 
of the girl, and often is it a matter of negotiation between her and the suitor 
when the girl is in her childhood. The father has no voice in the matter what- 
ever, nor any other of the girl’s relatives. 
The tribes frequenting Peel’s river bury their dead on stages, the corpse 
being securely enclosed in a rude coffin made of hollowed trees. About the 
Youcan they were formerly burnt, the ashes collected, placed in a bag, and sus- 
pended on the top of a painted pole. Nightly wailings follow for a time, when 
the nearest relative makes a feast, invites his friends, and for a week or so the 
dead dance is performed, and a funeral dirge sung, after which all grief for 
the deceased is ended. I witnessed their dance at the fort, and have been told 
by others that the dead song is full of wild and plainitive strains, far superior 
to the music of any other tribes in the country. 
Altars, or rites of religion, they had none, and before the traders went 
there not even an idea of a God to be worshipped. Medicine men they had, 
in whose powers they placed implicit faith; and whose aid they dearly pur- 
chased in seasons of sickness or distress. ‘They were, emphatically, a people 
‘without God in the world.” Knowing their prejudices, I commenced my 
labors among them with much fear and trembling; but earnestly looking to 
God for help and strength, and cannot doubt that both were granted. For, 
before I left, the medicine men openly renounced their craft, polygamists freely 
offered to give up their wives, murderers confessed their crimes, and mothers 
told of deeds of infanticide that sickened one to hear. Then all earnestly 
sought for pardon and grace. Oh! it was a goodly sight to see that vast num- 
ber, on bended knees, worshipping the God of their salvation, and learning 
daily to syllable the name of Jesus. Since my return I have read a glowing 
picture of savage life, when left to its native woods and streams, and heartily 
as I feel that I could be a friend of him who is, in truth, the friend of the 
aborigines, yet sadly do I feel that between theory and fact there is often a 
gaping discrepancy. ‘To draw a picture of savage life is one thing, to see “the 
heathen in his darkness” is another. To speak of the Indian roaming through 
his native woods, now skimming over the glassy lake, or floating down the silent 
current, may be to show the poetry of his life; but there is the sterner chapter 
of reality to place over against it. From that chapter the above remarks have 
been gathered, they present the heathen as they are in themselves. For twenty 
years have not yet elapsed since the white man planted his foot in the Youcan 
valley, and since he has been there his influence has been to improve, and not 
to contaminate. And if a testimony be valuable, more from the cause to which 
it is given than from the source whence it proceeds, most heartily do I bear 
mire to the humane and considerate treatment that the Indians of the Macken- 
zie river district receive from the officers of the company. In many instances 
that I could mention, the officer is more like the parent of a large family of 
adult children than what his position represents. ‘The undoubted fact is, that 
the whole tendency of heathenism is to brutalize and debase, while it remains 
with civilization and the Gospel to elevate and to bless. 
