THE GREAT ISLAND OF KADIAK. 109 



clocks of our own make ; the bright, omnipresent " samovar" in 

 which the boiling water for tea is never allowed to get cool ; little 

 curtains over the small windows, and big curtains puckered around 

 the beds everything is usually clean, tidy, and quiet within the 

 Creole's home. 



The wants of the Creole are very few outside of what the coun- 

 try in which he li ves affords him. He manages to so deal in sea-otter, 

 and fox and bear skins as to get from the trader's store what tea, 

 sugar, flour, and cloth are required for his family. Beyond this 

 exertion and that displayed in his gardening he rests wholly at 

 peace with himself and all the rest of the world. 



The Kaniags or Kadiakers, who are the natives of this island 

 and contiguous islands, are in much greater numbers, and are to 

 be found everywhere here in small hamlets that nestle in the deep 

 fiords and bays of Kadiak. They resemble the Aleutes so closely in 

 outward form and characteristics that the full description given 

 in a following chapter of those people will cover the whole ground 

 of this inquiry, only let it be remembered that the Kaniag is a 

 trifle taller than his Aleutian cousin, has a fairer skin, a somewhat 

 broader face, and is considerably more muscular. Like the Aleutes, 

 he has small feet and hands, small black eyes set in deep sockets, 

 little or no beard, and an abundance of coarse, straight, black hair, 

 which he cuts off roughly just above his shoulders ; he has a trifle 

 more beard and a better mustache, but this is a very fine distinc- 

 tion. He is lighter-hearted, freer, and more jovial, but has less 

 patience during seasons of privation or epidemic disease. 



"When the Kaniags gather together they are exceedingly talka- 

 tive, abounding in jokes, in the recitation of funny legends, and 

 stories of every imaginable nature associated with their simple 

 li ves. As they paddle their bidarkas and bidarrahs in making long 

 journeys, they enliven the labor by continuous songs, snatches 

 from church tunes, or lively airs taught them by the Russians and 

 later by our soldiers and traders. They are in every respect much 

 more susceptible of emotional impulses than are the Aleutes. This 

 greater sociability is well exhibited by the invariable erection, in 

 every settlement, of a "kashima," or public dance and work-house, 

 or, in fact, a town-hall as we have it : the Aleutes have nothing of 

 the sort. They pass a good deal of their time on the land, travers- 

 ing mountain trails in quest of bears, wolves, foxes, the land-otter, 

 and the marmot, or " yeavrashkie," which is made into that famous 



