THE FUR-SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA. 23 



that Hie barrels were not emptied when I left the island in 1873. They use a very little coffee during the year — 

 not more than 100 pounds — but of tea a great deal. I do not know exactly — I cannot find among my notes a 

 record as to this article — but I can say, that they do not drink less than a gallon of tea apiece per diem. The 

 amount of this beverage which they sip, from the time they rise in the morning until they go to bed late at night, is 

 astounding. Their "samovars", and. latterly, the regular tea-kettles of our American make, are bubbling and 

 boiling from the moment the housewife stirs herself at daybreak until the fire goes out when they sleep. It should 

 be stated in this connection, that they are supplied with a regular allowance of coal every year by the company, 

 (/nttisj each family being entitled to a certain amount, which alone, if economically used, keeps them warm all 

 winter in their new houses ; but, for those who are extravagant and are itching to spend their extra wages, an extra 

 supply is always kept in the storehouses of the company for sale. Their appreciation of and desire to possess all 

 the canned fruit that is landed from the steamer, is marked to a great degree. If they had the opportunity, I 

 doubt whether a single family on that island today would hesitate to bankrupt itself in purchasing this commodity. 

 Potatoes they sometimes demand, as well as onions, and perhaps if these vegetables could be brought here and 

 kept to an advantage, the people would soon become very fond of them. (See note, 39, G.) 



Occupation. — The question is naturally asked: How do these people employ themselves during the long 

 nine months of every year after the close of the sealing season and until it begins again, when they have little or 

 absolutely nothing to do ? It may be auswered, that they simply vegetate ; or, in other words, are entirely idle, 

 mentally and physically, during most of this period. But to their credit, let it be said, that mischief does not 

 employ (heir idle hands; they are passive killers of time, drinking tea and sleeping, with a few disagreeable 

 exceptions, such as the gamblers. There are a half-dozen of these characters at St. Paul, and perhaps as many at 

 St. George, who pass whole nights at their sittings, even during the sealing season, playing games of cards, taught 

 by Prussians and persons who have been on the island since the transfer of the territory; but the majority of the 

 men, women, and children, not being compelled to exert themselves to obtain any of the chief, or even the least, of 

 the necessaries of life, such as tea and hard bread, sleep the greater portion of the time, when not busy in eating, 

 and in the daily observances of the routine belonging to the Greek Catholic church. The teachings, pomp, and 

 circumstance of the religious observances of this faith alone preserve these people from absolute stagnation. In 

 obedience to its teachings they gladly attend church very regularly. They also make and receive calls on their 

 saints' days, and these days are very numerous. I think some 290 of the whole year's calendar must be given up 

 to the ceremonies attendant upon the celebration of some holy man's or woman's birth or death. 



In early times the same disgraceful beer-drinking orgies which prevailed to so great an extent, and still cause so 

 much misery and confusion seen elsewhere in the territory, prevailed here, and I remember very well the difficulty 

 which I had in initiating the first steps taken by the Treasury Department to suppress this abominable nuisance. 

 During the last four or five years, it gives me pleasure to say, since the new order of things was inaugurated, the 

 present agents of the department have faithfully executed the law. 



The natives add to these entertainments of their saints' day and birth festivals, or "Emannimiks", the music 

 of accordeons and violins ; upon the former and its variation, the concertina, they play a number of airs, and are 

 very fond of the noise. A great many of the women, in particular, can render indifferently a limited selection of 

 tunes, many of which are the old battle-songs, so popular during the Bebellion, woven into weird Eussiau waltzes 

 and love ditties, which they have jointly gathered from their former masters and our soldiers, who were quartered 

 here in 1869. From the Bussians and the troops, also, they have learned to dance various figures, and have 

 been taught to waltz. These dances, however, the old folks do not enjoy very much. They will come in and sit 

 around and look at the young performers with stolid indifference ; but, if they manage to get a strong current of 

 tea setting in their direction, nicely sugared and toned up, they revive and join in the mirth. In old times they 

 never danced here unless they were drunk, and it was the principal occupation of the amiable and mischievous 

 treasury agents, and others, in the early days to open up this beery fun. Happily, that nuisance is abated. 



As an illustration of their working ability on the seal-grounds, I offer the following table, which shows the 

 actual time occupied by them in finishing up the three seasons' work which I personally supervised: 



On St. Paul island : 



In 1872, 50 days' work of 71 men secured 75,000 seal-skins. 



In 1S73, 40 days' work of 71 men secured 75,000 seal-skins. 



In 1874, 39 days' work of 84 men secured 90,000 seal-skins. 



This exhibit plainly presents the increased ability and consequent celerity of action among the natives, and 

 furnishes also at the same time abundant proof of the statement which I make, of the full and undiminished supply 

 of killable seals, or "holluschickie", from year to year. 



The influence of the Alaska Commercial Company. — Before leaving the consideration of these people, 

 who are so intimately associated with and blended into the business on these islands, it may be well to clearly define 

 the relation existing between them, the government, and the company leasing the islands. When Congress granted 

 to the Alaska Commercial Company of San Francisco the exclusive right of taking a certain number of fur-seals 

 every year, for a period of twenty years on these islands, it did so with several reservations and conditions, which were 



