34 CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 



in service, had been crushed by ice and sunk during the past winter. The new steamer, built at San 

 Francisco, witli boiler and engine and everything complete, being too small to make the sea voy- 

 age, had been taken apart and shipped to Saint Michael's by the St. Paul, and now only required 

 to be put up and fastened (everything being fitted), and the boiler and engine put in place. The 

 work was being rapidly pushed forward and it was expected that the hull would be ready to 

 launch in a few days. These small steamers, owned by each of the two trading companies, are 

 used by them in transporting goods to the different trading posts ou the Yukon and its tributaries, 

 and in bringing down the furs purchased during the winter. They come down when the ice 

 breaks up and return as soon as they can transfer the furs to the company which they represent 

 and take in a new stock of goods. These furs and trade goods are not taken on board the steamer, 

 but each trader has a large boat in which he carries his supplies and the boats are towed by the 

 steamer. Formerly immense skin-covered boats were used, but they gave a good deal of trouble 

 on account of the necessity of taking them out of the water to dry every three or four days. Un- 

 less dried and oiled occasionally, they become so soft and stretched that they are likely to spread 

 out if the least sea is encountered. A number of the traders now have fine large clinker-built 

 boats brought up from San Francisco. 



The trip up the river against the current is a long, tedious one, aud, without the assistance of 

 steam, would be one of great labor; but the descent is readily made without any other assistance 

 than the current, which will carry a boat sixty or seventy miles a day. 



A number of Indians from the interior having come down with the traders, as they are accus- 

 tomed to do each year, they were invited ou board, aud several shells were fired from the broadside 

 guns for their benefit. They seemed very much astonished at the size of the shell, and also at the 

 second explosion. One old chief, after considerable urging and many assurances that the opera- 

 tion was entirely safe, consented to pull the lock-string and fire one of the guns, although evidently 

 in great doubt as to the result. This old fellow, whose name is Sa-mah-tu, is chief of the Yukous, 

 and is said to be the only hereditary chief remaining on the river. According to report he is also 

 distinguished for more acts of conspicuous bravery aud pure Indian viciousness than any Indian 

 in that section of the country, circumstances which furnish material for the many stories told ot 

 him by the traders. It is related that at one time, having a desire for revenge against a neigh- 

 boring tribe for some slight oft'ense, he pretended great friendship and invited them to a dance. 

 Before the dance began, Sa-mah-tu made a speech, in which he expressed the warmest friendship 

 for his neighbors, and to convince them of the genuineness of his professions, he threw away his 

 knife and directed his men to do the same, after which he invited the visitors to follow their 

 example, saying that being entirely unarmed would prevent the possibility of trouble during the 

 excitement of the dance. The request, under the circumstances, seemed so reasonable to his 

 guests that it was readily complied with. But the old rascal had taken the precaution to have his 

 men wear two knives, and no sooner were their visitors entirely unarmed than, drawing their 

 second knives, Sa-mah-tu and his men attacked aud killed every one of them. So far as I know, 

 he has never molested the whites, from motives of policy probably, believing that it pays better 

 to be friendly with them. I have often noticed this peculiarity of Indian character: those that 

 are worst and most dreaded among their own people, are most auxious to secure the friendship of 

 the whites. Other stories told of Sa-mah-tu illustrate his vicious and vindictive character; how 

 he robs other men of their wives, and shoots them down if they resist ; how he enforces trades on 

 his own terms, &c. Physically, Sa-mah tu is a fine specimen of a man, and, notwithstanding his 

 treacherous manner of dealing with his enemies, is brave as a lion, aud has never been known to 

 decline an open tight with any one when it became necessary. He prefers to dispose of his enemies 

 by strategy if possible, not because he dreads a fight, but because, to the Indian mind, bravery and 

 treachery are synonymous. Indians that will willingly face an armed man on an equal footing, if 

 necessary, will resort to the greatest cunning and treachery to kill an unarmed one, if it can be 

 accomplished in that way. 



I learned from Captain Erskine, of the steamer St. Paul, that after his departure from the 

 Seal Islands on the return trip but one special agent would remain, and in view of the information 

 contained in the letter of Special Agent Otis on the occasion of our former visit to this place, and 



