NELSON] HOSPITALITY STEALING 299 



they were constantly falling over one another. Entering one of the 

 lodges where the owner had carried my stock of trading goods, I pro 

 ceeded to purchase such ethnological material as was brought me by 

 the people. 



The eagerness to see the strangers was so great that a dense crowd 

 outside pressed against the frail walls of the lodge until the frame 

 work was broken in several places. At this the owner became offended 

 and insisted on my giving him a present to pay for the damage thus 

 done by his fellow-villagers. 



At Cape Espenberg we landed at another summer village of five 

 lodges, where some thirty people were stopping. Several upturned 

 sleds and umiaks, and supplies of dried seal and walrus meat lay scat 

 tered about, and a freshly killed seal was lying under an old piece of 

 sealskin. 



Fastened to stakes in a circle about the camp were over twenty dogs, 

 which set up a howl of welcome as we lauded, their cries being joined 

 by the voices of the children. The women and children ran down to 

 the shore to meet us, and the whole party was very friendly. 



At Cape Lisburne we found a camp of people from Point Hope. 

 Nine umiaks were drawn up on the shore and braced up on one edge 

 by sticks and paddles. Scattered about on the ground were sealskin 

 bags of oil and large pieces of walrus and whale meat. Just back of 

 the umiaks were the conical and round-top lodges, where the men 

 and the women of the camp were walking about or sitting in the sun, 

 engaged in sewing or in other work. These people were dressed in fur 

 clothing, which was very ragged and daubed with dirt and grease, 

 presenting an extremely filthy appearance. In one of the lodges an 

 old woman, stripped to the waist, was rolling up a bed. Children 

 played about the lodges with small, fat puppies, and numerous well-fed 

 dogs prowled listlessly through the camp. 



Between the lodges ran a clear, sparkling brook, entering the sea 

 over the pebbly beach, and just back of the camp rose high cliffs, 

 fronting the shore. 



Before we left they broke camp. The umiaks were launched, oil 

 bags, tents, clothing, meat, and supplies were bundled into them, and 

 several dogs being harnessed to the towline from each umiak, they 

 started up the coast, a single person from each umiak remaining on 

 shore to drive the dogs. 



The people of the islands and shore of Bering strait and Kotzebue 

 sound are notorious among the trading vessels for pilfering. On 

 several occasions the villagers of Cape Prince of Wales fairly took 

 possession of vessels with small crews, and carried off whatever they 

 wished. 



While in the village at East cape, Siberia, the children were con 

 stantly trying to steal small objects from me and repeatedly attempted 

 to take my handkerchief from my pocket. At Point Hope, while I was 



