m™!".!™,] mechanical animals. ,173 



The fox was thus liolil up by the sprinj-- piirallrl In the Icu.ulli of the 

 board with its head and tniclc'^s iaisc<l. A striiii;- ol' sinew Itiaid !(• 

 feet long was ])asscd thioii.uli a liole in the sept nin of the lo\"s iKise and 

 knotted ouce so as to lca\c t\v(i ei|ual ends. Tlirsc ends were i-anied 

 dowiT through two lioles, one in i-ach cdi^c of llic hoiud '.l[ inclics from 

 the forward end, and. ■acli wastiedtoa rou.^ldy rounded hit of pine stiek 

 round whieli it was rceh'd wiicu not in nsr. I'.y pidlini;- llicsc strings 

 together, the fox was inaih' to (hirt down his hrad, wliirli was laisfd 

 by the spring as soon as tlic string was shirkened. i'.y pulling one 

 or the other string tlie fox could be niaib' to dart to one or the otiiei' 

 side of the board. 



One man manipulated the fox, pulling a string with each liainl. The 

 lemming's lioles were aliont 1:^ inches in dianu'ter, one in cadi edge of 

 the board and at such a distance ti'oni the end that wlun the siring, 

 which was 7 feet 4: inches long, was draw n thmugli them, it crossed 

 the board just where the fox"s nose struck, when it was pulled down. 

 The ends of the string were reeled round bits of stick. The Icninnug 

 was a narrow strip of wolf's fur, about 3 inches long, doubled in the mid- 

 dle, with the middle of tlie string hitched into the bight. By jiulling the 

 ends of the string alternately, the leniining was made to jump out of 

 the hole on one .side, run aca-oss the board and into the other, very much 

 as a live lemming runs from one tuniud to aimtlier on tlic tundra. It 

 took two persons, one on each side, to handle the lemming. The fox- 

 skin and spring appeared to be older than the rest of the machine. 

 The board was originally 111 inches or 1 foot longer at eadi end, l)ut 

 had to be cut off to pacdc it. 



Petroff mentions a similar (ustom among tlie '• Nushegagmiit<'" of 

 Bri.stol Bay, of introducing stuffed animals moved with hidden strings 

 in their performances;' and DalP describes a festival at Norton Sound, 

 where a dead seal was brought in and moved about with strings. 



Drxciiiiliiiii (if fcstirals.— It is greatly to be regretted that we had not 

 established su<h intimate ndations with the natives, as afterwards 

 was the case, in the winter of lS81-'83, since this was the only on<' of 

 the two seasons that the great winter festival was held at Utkiavwin. 

 In the winter of ]8S!>-'s;{ there had been so many deaths in the village 

 that the natives did not feel like celebrating any regular festival, and 

 only indulged in a few iminomptu dances late in the season. These 

 were unfortunately held in the evening when the writer's tour of duty 

 at the station prevented his witnessing them. Those of the party who 

 did go over brought back oidy fiagmentary and rather vague accounts 

 of the performance. The confining nature of the work at the station 

 prevented our witnessing any of the celebrations at Kuwfik or at 

 Pernyfi, when the "Nuuatanminn" visitors were entertained. 



The best accounts we have of any performance is given b,\- Lieut. 



I |. ,.,„..,, „ 1:15, ' Alaska, p. 156. 



