388 



OUR ARCTIC PROVINCE. 



to making a fresh fire in the hearth below and prepares his coarse 

 breakfast. 



The women assist their husbands in harnessing and unharness- 

 ing the dogs ; they go out and gather the firewood, and employ 

 themselves in sewing, patching, and making thread from deer-ten- 

 dons. They plait grass mats and weave grass stockings, because 

 nearly all of the coast Innuits wear socks very skilfully made of 

 dried grass. The boys and girls scatter about the vicinity looking 

 after their snares and traps, or engage, in hilarious groups, playing 

 at ball and leap-frog games, tag, and jumping matches. They har- 

 ness up the young dogs and the pups, and sport for hours at a 

 time with them. 



" Tatlah ; " an Innuit Dog. 



These people are savages, and not at all affected by the earnest 

 and persistent attempts of the Russian priests to Christianize them. 

 They are even less influenced by the teachings of missionaries than 

 the Siwashes of the Sitkan archipelago, and that is saying a great 

 deal for their hardness of heart. They are a brave race, and have 

 displayed the utmost physical courage in fighting their way up the 

 great rivers, Yukon, Kuskokvim, and Nooshagak, whereby they dis- 

 placed and destroyed the Indians who once lived there. The Kolt- 

 chanes, or Ingaleeks of the interior, who disputed that privilege 

 with them, bear cheerful witness to this fact. But all such strife 

 between the two great families is only known to us by legends 

 which they recite of ancient time. No trace of recent war can be 

 found among them. 



