TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 93 



to adopt the habitations and dress of civilization. 

 Here, in consequence, the natives are indolent, impu- 

 dent, and, if possible, more avaricious than their 

 less cultured brethren. 



Amongst the Aleuts, where timber is Scarce, the 

 ordinary dwellings, locally called baraboras, are 

 small dug-out huts, half below the ground level, 

 having the sides and roofs composed of logs covered 

 with earth. Poor, miserable hovels, scarcely suited 

 for dog-kennels in a civilized land. The hardy 

 Eskimo are nomads, dwellers in tents during the 

 summer, or houses made from the skins of walrus, 

 called topeks, but with the commencement of winter, 

 and the first heavy snow-falls, they construct snow 

 houses, which are known as iglus, and in these they 

 dwell until the approach of spring. 



The true Eskimo, or Husky, of the barren lands, 

 still remain unsullied by the tarnish of civilization. 

 Their character has been well described by Mr. David 

 Hanbury in his book. Travel in the Northland of 

 Canada. Few men are better qualified to speak of 

 the Eskimo as they are to-day, he having " lived 

 their life, shared their habitations, clad in deerskins, 

 and subsisted on caribou and musk-ox meat in winter, 

 and on fish in summer." 



He says : " The Husky character is naturally easy- 

 going, happy and contented. To counterbalance an 

 occasional display of sulks he has many good, even 

 noble, qualities. The good Husky knows no fear, 

 and never gets excited either on land or water. 



