302 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [eth.ann 18 



their friendly disposition. When tliey were motioned to come along- 

 side, they approached hesitatingly until some of them recognized me, 

 having seen me during a visit they had made to St Michael the previ- 

 ous year. At this they began to shout vociferously to attract my 

 attention, and immediately came on board. This lack of confidence 

 was caused by the fact that these people had looted it small trading 

 vessel the year before, and later in the same season, when they boarded 

 a larger ship, they had been very roughly handled. 



When the trading umiaks from the shores of Bering strait made 

 their summer visits to St Michael, the people were always remarkably 

 civil and quiet, in marked contrast to their manner when seen about 

 their native place. At Cape Prince of Wales I went ashore in a small 

 boat with a couple of men. On our way we met an umiak with twelve 

 or fifteen iiaddlers; as they came near they turned and paddled straight 

 at our little dingy, whooping and shouting at the top of their voices 

 and coming so directly at us that I feared they would run us down. 

 When within a boat's length the paddle men on one side suddenly 

 backed water while those of the other side made a heavy stroke, causing 

 the big umiak to turn as on a pivot and shoot astern of us. As we 

 landed several hundred people ran down to meet us and as many as 

 could get hold of our boat seized it along the sides and dragged it some 

 25 or 30 yards up the beach with us still seated in it; afterward, when 

 I wished to go on board, it was only with the greatest difliculty that I 

 could get one of them to help launch the boat. 



As already noted, the people at Point Hope were boisterous and 

 confident when we saw them at home, but later in the season when we 

 met several umiaks with people from that place near Cape Lisburne, 

 they came within about 150 yards of the Corwin and then all raised 

 their empty hands over their heads, shouting " nii-hu-ruk, nu-ku-ruk,''' 

 until the officer of the deck called to them, after which they came on 

 board, but were very quiet. 



The Malemut extend their wanderings from Kotzebue sound even to 

 Kuskokwim river and Bristol bay, but hardy as they are they have the 

 same prudence in avoiding trouble while away from home. One case 

 illustrating this came to my knowledge in connection with a party of 

 them who were camping beside a village of Kuskokwim Eskimo. One 

 of the Malemut became enraged at a Kuskokwim man, and hastened 

 into his tent to obtain a weapon. Two of his companions went after 

 him and tried to persuade him to give up his idea of revenge for the 

 slight affront, but he refused to listen to them and went out. His two 

 fellow tribesmen then took him, one by each arm, and walked along; 

 still trying to dissuade him from his project. When he again refused 

 to listen to then), the man on his right suddenly drew his long sheath 

 knife and slashed him in the abdomen, completely disemboweling him, 

 so that he sank down and died in a few moments. In speaking of it 

 afterward, the man who had done the killing said that if they had 



