CEUISE OF STEAMER COR WIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 33 



us to anchor, and grant them an opportunity to lounge around the vessel, as they are very fond of 

 doing. These people have not a very good character among the whalers and traders, and it is 

 but seldom that any vessel comes to anchor there, although they generally have a good supply of 

 whalebone and ivory for sale. Whalers, in trading with them, lay with the topsail to the mast, 

 ready to fill aw ay at any time, and when trade gets dull the master orders " brace forward," and 

 the natives understanding that to mean that the vessel is about to leave, trade becomes more active 

 for a while ; and when it slacks the same thing is repeated. I believe, as a rule, the whalers do 

 not sell them whisky. At East Cape and Saint Lawrence Bay they told us they had bought some 

 from the bark Francis Palmer, from their description. I judge that it was put up iu square cans 

 similar to those used for coal oil ; empty cans of this description were seen on shore among the 

 natives. So far as I could learn, they have never molested white men in any way, and my opiuiou 

 is that the dread of them arises more from their large numbers and boisterous manners than any- 

 thing else. They would probably steal anything left in their way, but I think fear of the conse- 

 quences would prevent them from doing anything worse. 



When ready to start ahead, Joe was told to inform the natives that we were about to start, 

 and that they must leave the vessel. Over a hundred of them were on deck, but not one started. 

 Seeing that talking had no effect, the bell was struck and the engine started ahead; then a long 

 blast of the whistle was given, which caused a general rush for the boats, each native yelling at the 

 top of his voice, and bunches of whalebone, ivory, and fox-skins were thrown into their boats indis- 

 criminately. After getting them fairly started, the engine was stopped long enough to permit 

 them to get away from the side in safety. 



From Cape Tchapliu we proceeded to Marcus Bay, where we lauded Joe. From Marcus Bay 

 we proceeded to Saint Lawrence Island, where we arrived the following morning, and spent half 

 a day examining the deserted villages on the north side and making a collection for the National 

 Museum, consisting of human skulls, hunting and fishing implements, parts of suits of armor, &c. 

 Fragments of these suits were found at various places, but notably at Saint Lawrence Island, East 

 Cape, and theDiomedes. Many of them were made of bone and walrus ivory, and had the appear- 

 ance of being very old, but some on Saint Lawrence Island were made of iron, probably heavy 

 cask-hoops, and did not appear to be many years old. They were all made in the same way, being 

 composed of pieces about C inches in length by 1 in width, and one-quarter of an inch in thickness 

 in the center and one-eighth at the edges, where they overlap like fish-scales. The whole is fas- 

 tened by seal-skin thongs, and would, no doubt, be a safe protection against a knife, arrow, or even 

 a light spear, but would offer but slight resistance to a bullet from the Remington and Sharps rifles 

 now iu use among them, or even a Winchester, and it is not probable that they are used much at 

 the present time. We saw no entire suits at any place, although we offered liberal prices for them, 

 Mr. Nelson being very anxious to secure one for the National Museum. 



The day being unusually fine and the atmosphere clear, we were favored with a fine view of 

 Saint Lawrence Island nearly its entire length. The island is of volcanic formation. From our 

 anchorage at North Cape I counted thirty perfectly formed volcanic cones, each with an extinct 

 crater, many of them so recent that no sign of vegetation had begun to appear on them, notwith- 

 standing its rapid growth in these latitudes. The beds of the streams of lava which had run their 

 zigzag course from the crater to the sea were plainly visible. These streams also exhibit no signs 

 of weathering, so recently were they formed. Iu addition to the larger cones and lava streams, 

 innumerable little cones or mud volcauoes dotted the valleys and hillsides. The sight was a very 

 interesting one from a geological point of view. 



After completing the ethnological collection, Mr. Nelson returning to the ship, we got under 

 way for Saint Michael's with a fresh southwest wind and fair weather. In the evening a fog set in 

 and necessitated slowing down a little,but as the fog lay iu banks with clear spaces between, we kept 

 up a fair rate of speed, and on the following afternoon (July i) we anchored at Saint Michael's, 

 where we found the Alaska Commercial Company's steamer in port, to our great satisfaction, as we 

 hoped tosend mail by her. All the employes of the Alaska Commercial Company were hard at work 

 under the direction of Captain Erskine and Chief Engineer Cox, of the St. Paul, putting up a 

 small steamer for the use of the up-river traders, to take the place of a smaller one which, worn out 

 S. Ex. 204 5 



