30 



deed, is astonishing when compared with what may be called 

 wealth among Eskimo people. It consisted of articles belonging 

 to clothing, tools, weapons, and utensils arranged in 34 bundles 

 containing 20, end 2 bundles with 5 pieces each, the whole 

 making 690 presents. The bundles were tied to a line and 

 lowered through a hole in the middle of the roof and then 

 distributed. On the next day the festivities were begun early 

 in the morning and when all the ceremonies concerning the 

 memory of the deceased were finished , the festival passed to 

 ordinary merrymaking, singing, dancing and feasting, the male 

 performers having the upper part of their body naked, in dan- 

 cing and beating the drum. It seems probable that this part 

 of the ceremonies has comprised performances like the nith- 

 songs of the Greenlanders. 



Mr. Gilbert Sproat, the well known writer on the Indians 

 of western Vancouver Island, says in a note: Was Darwin 

 long enough among the Fuegians to be enabled authoritatively 

 to affirm that perfect equality exists among the individuals 

 composing the Fuegian tribes?" The objection involved in these 

 words, as we see, is strikingly applicable to several authors 

 on the Arctic Regions also. Some of Sproat's statements con- 

 cerning the AHT- INDIANS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND, so near to 

 Alaska are too interesting to be wholly omitted here. In speak- 

 ing of their mutual intercourse in daily life he says: if struck 

 in anger, it must be paid the next day with a present. The 

 respect entertained for the head of the family is generally 

 sufficient to preserve order within the family circle. Quarelling 

 is also rare among children. He has never witnessed a fight 

 between two sober natives. The great feasts take place in 

 winter, but feasting occasionally with distributions goes on at 

 all times. Animated speeches are delivered by various orators, 

 praising their forefathers' achievements and skill in hunting, and 

 boasting of the number and the admirable qualities of their 

 powerful friends. No institution is more specifically defined 



