68 REPORT ON THE INTRODUCTION OF 



Accordingly, 011 December 3D, a half dozen men were started on the 

 work and continued it until January 27, working each day while it was 

 light enough to see, and during that time the mercury ranged Irom 2-1° 

 above zero to 29° below, the mean temperature being 11° below. 



During this time they had dug through a slight raise of ground for 

 about 10 rods to a depth of from 2 to 4 feet and 18 inches wide. They 

 were obliged to pick and chop the earth out, it being frozen solid, and 

 sometimes a half dozen strokes would have to be made to get off a small 

 piece. It was most discouraging digging, and in this work I noticed 

 what has impressed me so often, that the Eskimo possesses patience to a 

 remarkable degree. 



Cutting through this little hill connects the lower land on this side 

 with the lake, so that the rest of the digging to finish the drain was 

 comparatively a little job. After this cut had been made the natives 

 worked at draining the creek above referred to, and when the work 

 was discontinued in the winter all that was necessary to complete the 

 drain was to fill in with brush and dirt. 



We had only tools enough for G men to work advantageously and it 

 was a hard matter to select those who were to do the work. They would 

 come to the house before daylight, or even before we were up, and stand 

 around in the cold until we had eaten our breakfast., sometimes a dozen 

 crowding in for their rations of three navy biscuits each and a cup of tea, 

 when they knew 6 men were all we could set to work. And they would 

 do this when the mercury was so low that their hair, eyebrows, eye- 

 winkers, and any fuzz or whiskers they happened to have on their faces 

 were made to look like those of old white-haired men. 



On the morning of January 4 we were aroused just after breakfast by 

 loud knocks at the door, and on opening it found a native who said 

 Darkus, the second youngest of our Siberian herders, was sick and 

 barking like a dog. 



I went to the frame building where he slept and was startled at the 

 scene that met me. It was not yet daylight, and the dim glow from 

 the lamp showed what proved to be a man, dressed in his fur clothing, 

 crouching down on all fours, and astride of his back Avas one of the 

 Siberians holding the one underneath with a grip of death. The man 

 underneath was Darkus, and he was twisting and writhing about, growl- 

 ing, barking like a dog, and sinking his teeth into the skins and bed- 

 ding. Standing about were half a dozen natives, all looking serious, 

 and all in such a position to the door that they could dart out at au 

 instant's warning. 



For a moment I was startled, and my first impulse was to get the door 

 between me .mil the sick man as soon as possible, for it looked as if I 

 were standing in the dreadful presence of a genuine case of hydropho- 

 bia, 'this feeling did not last long, however, for I was told that the 

 man was bitten only a few hours before, and it occurred tome that 

 hydrophobia did not develop as rapidly as i.uist have occurred in this 



