TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 189 



we must not fail to be obliged and appreciative. We 

 stood our ground, and the Innuit lady seemed to 

 fairly drink in the noxious odour, her nose wrinkling 

 up like a rabbit's as it sniffs new grass. Dipping 

 her arms deep into the mass of rapidly-decomposing 

 fish, she brought out a specimen sans, a good deal 

 of itself, but quite sufficient to be exceedingly impres- 

 sive. This she smilingly bestowed upon me with the 

 air of one who feels that this time at least there can 

 be no doubt as to the value of the gift. 



My diplomacy was now to be tested. I grasped 

 the horror by what tail it had left, and smiled and 

 bowed my thanks. Every one seemed delighted that 

 at last I was fixed up with something really edible, 

 and in the end we had to take the salmon aboard the 

 bidarka, which came to take us back to the Lily, 

 because our friends of the settlement would not leave 

 us, and had we remained ashore we must have been 

 compelled to devour the fish. 



I afterwards discovered that these salmon pits are 

 to be found in many Innuit settlements, and nobody 

 dies from the effects. The natives are like the bears, 

 and prefer salmon with a little " bings " about 

 it. 



The skipper asked us that night if we had, by any 

 chance, a skunk in the hold ! It was the redolent 

 whiffs of my khaki coat really for the salmon had 

 been consigned to its own element long ago and 

 it took days and days to go off. 



Nearing the estuary of the Kuskokwim, a dull 

 expanse of mud flats, rather like the reaches of the 



