Bidarkis 
fatigued that it can be knocked on the head and 
so secured. This was the old and original way 
of hunting these animals. I understand now, 
however, that this ingenious but primitive method 
has been superseded by shooting the animals 
with rifles. In any case the poor brutes have 
been so persecuted that it is only a question of 
a few years, unless they are most stringently pro- 
tected, before they are doomed to complete ex- 
tinction. The bows and arrows, therefore, have 
a considerable interest in themselves, and the 
Indians, I was told, would not part with them 
under any circumstances. However, the chief, 
who lived near Kenai, sold me all he owned him- 
self and others he collected for me for one 
dollar each, and as I understood that this sum 
or its equivalent was paid by the users to the 
expert Indians who made them, my obtaining 
them at this price was somewhat of a bargain. 
The bidarkis are wonderful boats; they weigh, 
when empty, about forty pounds, and will carry 
quite a lot of stuff stowed away between decks, 
in addition to the crew. Each man is provided 
with a waterproof jacket and hood in one piece, 
a sample of which I was fortunate enough to 
obtain ; when in use it is tied with a draw-string 
beneath the chin, around the wrists, and around 
the wooden ring which surrounds each of the 
holes in the deck of the boat in which the men 
sit. These jackets are called ‘‘ kamalinkas,”’ and 
235 
