246 



THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT 



[ETH. ANN. 18 



inches wide and usually from 4 to 6 inclies in thickness, or left half 

 rounded below 5 this heavy bench is supported by stout sticks placed 

 diagonally across the corners of the room, and is used as a sleeping 

 place, also as a seat during festivals and at other times. 



At the back of the room, supported on an upright post from 2 to 3 

 feet high, a lamp is kept burning, by public contribution, at all times 

 when the kashim is gloomy. A gut-skin cover is used over the smoke 

 hole at all times, except when the fire is burning in the pit, or when the 

 heat becomes too oppressive. 



The accompanying illustration (figure 76) shows the outside pf the 

 kashim at St Michael, with the long passageway of logs. A sectional 

 plan of one of these buildings is given in figure 77. 



i lu. 7t>— Kashim at tit Michael. 



Pikmiktalik was a very populous place in the days when reindeer 

 were plentiful along this coast, some ten or fifteen years previously to 

 my residence in this region; but in 1878 only two or three families 

 remained, and the kashim and other houses were falling to pieces. 



Pastolik, near the Yukon mouth, is the southernmost settlement of 

 the Unalit, and its buildings are typical. Ascending the Yukon and 

 passing several unimportant little villages, the first characteristic 

 settlement of the Yukon Eskimo is reached above Andreivsky. From 

 that point up the river the towns are similar to one another, consisting 

 of winter houses and kashims built on the ordinary plan, and of large, 

 loosely built summer houses of hewed planks on an inner framework, 

 with sloping roofs. 



