INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 33 



Flour'' very much in evideuce. Soon the decks were swarming with 

 them, and there was bartering of fox skins, ivory, and curios for powder, 

 lead, flour, tobacco, drilling, matches, and other useful articles. 



The Alaskan Eskimo and the Siberian seem to care nothing for 

 articles so frivolous as beads and looking-glasses; their struggle for life 

 in their barren, sterile environment has rendered them intensely prac- 

 tical in their desires. Mr. and Mrs. Gambell came into the cabin and 

 spent a few hours receiving and giving the news of a year. Although 

 exiled from civilization, the first teachers among a hitherto primitive 

 peoi)le, they have been hapi)y and contented, and are in the best of 

 health and spirits. The school has an enrollment of 52. In the after- 

 noon several of us descended into one of the larger canoes, and were 

 paddled ashore by a chattering, gesticulating crowd. Landing through 

 the surf on an icy beach from an unsteady oomiak whose bottom gives 

 when you tread on it is distinctly an achievement. When we entered 

 the foaming surf several of the most stalwart men leaped into the 

 boiling waters, seized the thwarts of the oomiak, and, with loud shouts, 

 dragged it beyond the reach of the breakers. The excited gesticulations 

 of these islanders in fur, their loud cries, the seething waters churning 

 the ice and gravel of the beach formed a scene of animation never 

 to be forgotten. Snatching up camera cases and trijiods, clambering 

 over natives, seats, and j^addles that seemed to be everywhere, we 

 passengers scrambled our way to the prow and made wild leaps for 

 terra firma. Over heaps of gJiavel with ice beneath it we made our 

 way to the schoolhouse and cosy home of the Gambells. Then, escorted 

 by a throng of bright-looking natives and equally numerous dogs, we 

 strolled through the village, taking several photographs. The village 

 contains 32 houses or tents of deerskin and has a population of 332. 



At 8.40 next morning we weighed anchor and headed for Indian Point, 

 Siberia, about 40 miles distant. In a few hours land was sighted on 

 the starboard bow — sharply defined peaks projecting above the low- 

 lying mists, and as we drew nearer, the clustering deerskin tents that 

 form the Tuchtchee village of Indian Point came into view. As usual, 

 almost the entire population came on board. Prominent among them 

 was Koharri, the most influential native in that region. He has a 

 little frame house, filled from floor to ceiling with tobacco, flour, and 

 looking-glasses, which he has obtained from the whalers, and from 

 which he supplies the country for miles around. This man has been 

 known to have as much as $75,000 worth of whalebone in his store- 

 house at one time. He does a business of probably $100,000 a year 

 and yet not a single bank note or bank check is used, nor are any books 

 kept. All transactions are by barter — furs and whalebone being 

 exchanged for tobacco, flour, and whisky. This wholesale merchant of 

 the North Siberian coast can neither read nor write, nor can anyone 

 associated with him. Although so wealthy, he lives in an ordinary 

 tent and sleeps on the ground on a pile of deerskins. At this place 

 S. Doc. Ill 3 



