TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 187 



apartments raised on stilts, to be clear of the floods 

 standing alongside, and these fish-drying and stor- 

 ing rooms are infinitely preferable to the Innuit living 

 establishment. For the most part these people live 

 on the salmon of the country, hair seals, from the 

 outlying rocks, and an occasional delicacy in the way 

 of walrus meat. 



This newly-discovereH settlement was very de- 

 serted, ami appeared to be in the charge of an old 

 patriarch, who sat in the sun chewing tobacco. The 

 younger people of both sexes were harvesting, the 

 men spearing hair seals, the women catching clothes 

 for the family in some far-off range. We noticed 

 that the parkas worn by the Innuit women were made 

 much shorter in length than those worn by the men. 

 Some of the Innuit ladies affected shapeless boots 

 made from seal-skin, which reached half-way up to 

 the knee. 



The Innuit seldom smokes, but men and women 

 chew, soaking the tobacco beforehand in seal-oil, and 

 rolling it into a tight ball. Seal-oil is the everything 

 of life to the natives of Alaska, sauce for all eatables, 

 and no excursion is possible without a goodly store. 

 Very often the oil is carried in an ingenious bag 

 made from a whole seal-skin which has been skinned 

 out from the neck. In the September berry season, 

 when the wild raspberry, the saskatoon, and the soap 

 berry can be gathered, the natives pick them by 

 quarts, and putting them into a can or cauldron of 

 sorts, squeeze the fruit through the fingers, beating 

 it about until the whole is a frothing mass. Seal- 



