THE RUSSIAN FUR-SEAL ISLANDS. 35 



Most of tlie natives on both islands live in neat frame houses, huilt and pi-esented 

 to them by Miitchinson, Kohl, I'hilippeus & Co., instead of the damp and (ilthy sod- 

 huts (here called yiirt) which they formerly lived in. If properly located and bnilt, 

 however, the sod-house is well suited to the climate and the needs of the people, and 

 the munificence of the above company ceasing with the expiration of the lease, the 

 Zholti Mys natives, as well as many a new- wed young couple, have erected new sod- 

 liuts. These are built over a wooden frame, lined inside with boards, and the site 

 |)ropcrly drained (plates 1~>I> and IGa). 



Nowadays the males dress almost exclusively in imported ready-made clotlies, and 

 tlie women make themselves dresses of calico or woolen goods, though for heavy over- 

 coats and capes they wear al.so imported ready-made articles. Even the latest ftishions 

 penetrate rapidly to these distant shores. My surprise may well be imagined at 

 seeing girls tliere last year wearing gay-(!o]ored waists with enormous " leg-o'-mutton " 

 sleeves! lieady-niade shoes are also used in great quantities, for althougli a few men 

 have been tauglit shoemaking, comparatively little repairing is done. The old home- 

 made garments are going out of use. The old rain-coat, made of dried seal-guts, is 

 being laid a^idc for the oil coat, and the native torbossi — moccasins made of seal skin 

 or the inside throat-lining of the old bull seals — are giving way to rubber boots. Even 

 the baidarka, the graceful skin canoe, is a thing of the past, as the sea-lion has become 

 nearly exterminated on the islands, and the same fate has befallen the large skin 

 baidaras, great lighters made of a framework of wood over which was stretched 

 sea-lion skins sewed together. The framework is taken apart and used for other 

 purposes, and the steamers' boats do the work of the baidara. 



The municipal institutions of the two Commander Island communities are particu- 

 larly interesting, not only because they are peculiar, but because they ditter so radically 

 on the two islands. The system on Bering Island is one of nearly pure conmnmism, 

 while on Copper Island it may be termed individualistic by comparison. The local 

 administration has of course a great power and influence, but the natives have also 

 a great deal to say in regard to their own affairs. They elect for a certain term a, chief 

 and an assistant chief, subject to the approval of the administrator or local governor. 

 The chief, in a measure, represents the community, and through him all comnmnica 

 tions to the natives have to go. This is particularly the case with reference to the 

 company and its agents, who have absolutely no authority whatsoever over the natives, 

 much less over the chief. The men attend to their internal affairs, receive the Gov- 

 ernment's comnumications, and hold their elections in their assembly house. The 

 chief's business, among other things, is to see that the governor's orders are executed, 

 that work to be undertaken is properly done, and that the moneys coming to the 

 natives are properly distributed, etc. If I wanted a team of dogs and sledge I could 

 not arrange with any luxtive I pleased, but had to notify the chief, who would then 

 send me the one whose turn, as duty or privilege, it would be to furnish the ilogs. 



A specified tariff for all work is provided. On Bering Island tlie total jiroceeds 

 from the seal killing, 1.50 rubles per skin, is paid into the community fund and then 

 distributed according to shares, each family, according to the individual rating of the 

 members, receiving a certain number of shares and fraction of shares. For this the 

 able-bodied men have to do the (iommunity work, including the sealing, without fur- 

 ther compensation. On Copper Island an entirely ditterent system prevails. There 

 each family is paid for each skin which a member of the family brings to the salt- 



