tundra grass, and about the ponds and pools a 

 few creeping willows. Red and copper-colored 

 lichens cover all the rocks and crags of the hills. 

 Thousands of ducks and other aquatic birds nest 

 about the lagoons and on the shores of the ponds 

 and lakes. When I had the time I went out 

 shooting ; but at this season one must always 

 wear a net and keep hands and ankles well pro- 

 tected, as clouds of mosquitoes and gnats assail 

 the hunter with unheard-of ferocity. 



On the whole, our Eskimo neighbors were by 

 no means bad people to live among. All except 

 the four shamans were well disposed to us, and 

 often showed their good-will hj neighborly ser- 

 vices. Many of them were proud of the prog- 

 ress of their children and wei"e grateful for the 

 pains we took. 



During the second and third winters my wife 

 and I often spoke of what a peaceable village it 

 was, and how few quarrels and altei'cations oc- 

 curred. Indeed, the tribe was like one large, 

 harmonious family. Uniform kindness and 

 good humor seemed to be the rule of life. The 

 supply of food was sufficient in these years, and 

 everybody seemed qviite content. 



Wherein, do you suppose, lay the secret of 

 such marked good-fellowship and peace, and 

 why was this hamlet of semi-savage Mahlemiuts, 

 wholly unprovided with police courts, lawyers, 

 or laws of any sort, more peaceful than any civ- 

 ilized village in our own country ? It was be- 

 cause no intoxicants could be procured. There 



were none on the island. Happy the community 

 where alcohol is unknown ! 



Nine years before our arrival at the island a 

 trading vessel had sold to the natives a brand of 

 vile whiskey in large quantities. In exchange 

 for it the Mahlemiuts had given nearly every- 

 thing they possessed. Drunken orgies were con- 

 stant, and during the ensuing winter nine-tenths 

 of the population perished from starvation and 

 disease. The struggle of the Eskimo for exist- 

 ence in his severe clime is at best a hard one. 

 Intoxicants mean ruin and death for him. Since 

 then, the survivors of that tragic winter had not 

 even seen liquor; and gradually the island was 

 becoming repopulated. 



But this "golden age " was fated not to con- 

 tinue. One evening we heard an unusual .shout- 

 ing at the far end of the village. Twice my wife 

 went to the door to listen. " I don't see what it 

 can be about," she said, uneasily. 



"One of their tuvik games, probably," I re- 

 plied. "They often raise a great shout when a 

 player makes a good cast." 



"No; but this doesn't sound good-natured," 

 she objected. "It sounds like some drunken 

 man." 



I laughed, — it seemed so unlikely, — and said 

 that possibly one of the shamans was making a 

 "medicine" powwow over some one who had 

 eaten too much walrus fat. 



"It doesn't sound like that, either," she re- 

 joined. 



