INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 11)5 



under one category. The sub.stantiA'e.s, at all events, appear to be 

 denotive rather than connotive, but my hast}^ observations may be 

 incorrect. I do not mean, however, to infer from this seeming averse- 

 ness to svnthesis that in their process of ideation there is a lack of full 

 development, exactly; this is, to a certain extent, true. It is pro])ably 

 the result of a very limited horizon. Synthetic functions are doubt- 

 less latent, but not apparent in their mental action generally. This 

 leads me to say that I imagine that judgments are generall}^ fairly 

 well grounded. I do not regard them as a people who carefully reach 

 their conclusions by painstaking, syllogistic methods, ])ut as relying 

 upon their intuitions considerably, and not a little upon their feelings. 

 The apperceptive or relational function of the mind may be less 

 delicately organized than in the case of the Caucasian, that is to say, 

 in its higher reaches of reflection and judgment. In its lower reaches, 

 of course, it is present in sense perception, association and conception. 

 I should not expect to find these people accordingly given to intro- 

 spection, philosophic speculation, or constructive science, ])ut occupied 

 with the struggle to live in an envii'onment which promises in due 

 time to annihilate them. They are children of nature in every sense 

 of the term. Far from being- discouraged in the contest, the}^ are 

 cheerful, fond of practical jokes, witty, and frolicsome. Tiieii- creed 

 is evidently, "So let the wide world wag as it will, I will be gay and 

 happ3^ still." This temperament, in spite of very discouraging sur- 

 roundings, which they refuse to recognize as hopeless, however, is a 

 proof of the fine mettle of their minds. A degenerate race would 

 yield to despair and give over the struggle. These people are superior 

 to their circumstances. I am prone to believe that wore they like the 

 Caucasian, the "heirs of the ages," stimulated by suggestions from the 

 past and present, in an abode where the mental life could take prece- 

 dence of the physical and admit of all its latent functions being called 

 forth into symmetrical activity, they would compare very favorably 

 with the l)cst types of civilized races to-day. In judging their mental 

 traits, one must bear in mind that scarcely two decades have inter- 

 vened, in all proba))ility, between the present status of these peoples 

 and the "stone age." To be sure, they not only used stone for weapons 

 and utensils, but employed iv^ory, wood, and more recently ii'on, yet 

 they have emerged completely from primitive conditions scarcely 

 more than twenty-five years, if I apprehend their statements correctly. 

 It is hardly more than one decade since whalemen began their animal 

 sunmier visits to this village, and these visits have l)een of brief dura- 

 tion, as the ship would leave after a da}' of trading, as a rule. Three 

 whaling captains spent a winter here six years ago, not having their 

 officers and crews with them, and the following year my predecessor, 

 Mr. Vene C. Gambell, and his wife began their resid(Mu-e here as mis- 

 sionaries, remaining three years. I have, with a Norwegian, spent the 



