OFF THE ALASKAN COAST 



frozen. The aurora, as in mockery of his sufferings from 

 the cold, danced in the heavens above him with undimin- 

 ished brilliancy for the greater part of the night, and 

 occasionally sent its crimson streamers to the zenith, form- 

 ing coronas, most beautiful to behold. Day finally dawned 

 and he began his homeward march, but he had not gone far 

 before he saw his Eskimo ally coming with a dog team in 

 search of him. The faithful Eskimo showed both intelli- 

 gence and forethought, for he brought with him blankets, 

 change of clothing, and food. He also showed more than 

 ordinary concern about the welfare of the " kab-lu-nah," 

 for if any evil had befallen the captain, the Eskimo would 

 have been denounced by his own people as " a bad man." 



While the following facts pertain especially to the Es- 

 kimo on the Siberian coast, yet I know from personal 

 observation that the kindly and self-sacrificing spirit shown 

 by these people pervades all the Eskimo of arctic Alaska. 



Late in the year 1866, the ship Japan, Captain Barker 

 commanding, while trying to make her way out of the 

 Arctic Ocean, during a severe snow-storm and gale, was 

 driven ashore on the north side of Cape East. The officers 

 and crew were rescued by the coast Eskimo, who at once 

 distributed the shipwrecked persons among the villages 



