250 



THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT 



[KTH. ANN. 18 



wall of the structure. The roof is made by the usual arrangement 

 of logs forming a rectangular pyramid with a flat top, in the middle of 

 which is the smoke *hole. The entrance passage is unusually high 

 and roomy, opening directly into the kashim above ground by means 

 of a round hole in the front of the wall. 



In winter the entrance is through a hole in the floor of the entrance 

 passage, thence through the underground tunnel as usual to an exit 

 hole, which has on each side a walrus tusk with the point and base 

 sunk into the plank and the curve upward, affording convenient hand- 

 rests when going in and out and preventing the necessity of placing 

 the hands on the wet planks at the side of the hole. The plan of this 

 kashim is shown in figure 78. 



In addition to the kashims, the village contained about twenty 

 houses, accommodating about one hundred and twenty-five people. It 



Fig. 78 — Section of kasliiiu at Kn.sbunuk. 



is built in a straggling manner on a slightly rising piece of ground, 

 with elevated storehouses and raised frameworks for the boats and 

 sledges. The entire area covered is about a quarter of a mile in 

 length. Kearer the sea is the site of an ancient village that was 

 occupied by the ancestors of these people. 



To the southward of this place the next village was Kaialigamut, 

 which contained about one hundred people and two kashims. The 

 houses and kashirns were like those of the last two villages described, 

 except that the kashims were smaller and were provided with a second 

 and narrower shelf above the first sleeping benches, on which the men 

 placed their clothing and other belongings. 



The early Russian traders who visited this district say that the peo- 

 ple in these large villages had underground passageways leading from 

 the kashim to adjacent houses, for use in case of sudden attack by an 

 enemy. A Russian told me that he once discovered a passage of this 



