ABORIGINAL LIFE OF THE SITKANS. 45 



conceal the fact with astonishing success. Again, the ferocity and 

 exceptionally savage expression of their faces, which Captain Cook 

 and Vancouver saw and so graphically recorded, has faded out com- 

 pletely ; but in all other respects they agree to-day perfectly with 

 those descriptions of these early voyagers. In those days firearms 

 had not destroyed their faith in elaborate armaments of spear and 

 bow and body armor-shields of wood and leather, so that they then 

 appeared in much more elaborate costumes and varied pigments 

 than they do now. 



Each tribe has one or more large "rancheries," or villages, in 

 which it lives, and which are always located at the level of the sea, 

 just above tide and surf, at river-mouths, or on sheltered bays of 

 the islands, or the mainland ; these rancheries, or houses, are built 

 of solid, heavy timbers in the permanent villages, or thrown loosely 

 together of lighter material in their temporary or camping stations. 

 The general type of construction is the same throughout the archi- 

 pelago, the most substantial houses being those of the Haidahs, 

 who give more care to the accurate fitting together and ornamen- 

 tation of their edifices than is shown elsewhere. They certainly 

 show a greater constructive facility and mechanical dexterity, not 

 only in the better style of house-building but in the greater num- 

 ber of, greater size of, and excessively elaborate carved totem posts. 

 These peculiar adjuncts to Alaskan Indian architecture are small 

 and shabby everywhere else when compared with the Prince of 

 Wales exhibition. 



All permanent villages are generally situated with regard to one 

 great idea easy access to halibut-fishing banks and such coast fish- 

 eries, which occupy the greater proportion of the natives' time in 

 going to and coming from them when not actually engaged in fishing 

 upon these chosen grounds ; therefore it happens that, occasionally, 

 a village will be located on a rocky coast, bleak and exposed, though 

 carefully placed at the same time so as to permit of the safe landing 

 of canoes in rough water. These houses always face seaward, and 

 stand upon some flat of soil, elevated a few feet above the high-tide 

 mark, where below there is usually a sandy or gravelly beach upon 

 which the fleet of canoes is drawn out, or launched from, as the 

 owners come and go at all hours of the day and night. The houses 

 are arranged side by side, either in close contact, or else a space of 

 greater or less width between. A promenade or track is always left 

 between the fronts of the houses and the edge of the bank, from 



