ALASKA. 239 



how much tbey shall pay the natives, or to advise the natives 

 how to meet the traders "! I iiterf'erence thus b^' the Govorninent 

 with the relationship of the traders to the natives will surely 

 he bad; i.e., if the natives are fleeced now, they will, with 

 an Indian agent arbitrating, be doubly fleeced. The poor 

 Aleuts are the gainers by having only one power, the traders, 

 to deal with, as at present, or they could not live as they do. 

 There is no middle ground here. If Alaska is an Indian reser- 

 vation, then there can be no white people there ; if not, then 

 Government cannot interfere with legitimate trade. 



With regard to the schoolmasters, were the Government able 

 to select and send the most zealous and excellent of their class, 

 they would find in this Territory a barren field. Let the Greek 

 Catholic Church continue its work ; it is the only power that 

 can accomplish any good in the mental future of the Aleut. 



(9) I think myself that Ounalashka is the best place, but 

 Kodiak is more central. 



(10) I happened to be talking about this matter, in tiie 

 spring of 1872, with one of the persons, perhaps, of whom Mr. 

 Dall complains. It is, however, a very clear case, and the oidy 

 one that has occurred since the granting of the lease, and in no 

 way improper ; but " as it opens a wide door for scandal, if not 

 for fraud," I was assured by the company that the thing should 

 never again occur. The facts are these : During the sojourn of 

 one of the Government agents, stationed on the islands, this 

 gentleman took a deep interest in the language of the Aleuts, 

 being himself a linguist of fine accomplishment ; the agent of 

 the company conceived the idea of getting him to teach the 

 school, on account of his knowledge of the Russian, which the 

 schoolmaster employed did not possess, in the hope that the 

 school would be more attractive to the native children. During 

 the winter, therefore, the Government officer voluntarily taught 

 school, although the attendance was small, for reasons which I 

 have given in the body of my report. The oidy other instance 

 where anything of this kind had occurred was in the case of 

 this same gentleman, who had with great labor and pains com- 

 piled an English and Aleutian vocabulary, which was deemed 

 by the Alaska Commercial Company to be of value for the use 

 of their traders, and they purchased it for some 8100, 1 believe, 

 soon after the connection of this gentleman with the Seal 

 Islands was dissolved. But long before the date of Mr. Dall's 

 letter the company's agent informed me of this action on their 



