INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 235 



terms when requested to translate into the vernacular. A fur seal 

 was found dead on the ice. The species is exceedingly rare in these 

 waters, I am told. 



December 9: School. 8°; very strong east wind; clear. A clear 

 day is greatly appreciated at this place, at least by myself, as they are 

 very infrequent. Have been attending to the sick, as usual. As I 

 administer drugs and bandage cuts and dress sores daily, I wish that I 

 were possessed of the skill of a professional and not the vague knowl- 

 edge of an amateur. I have helped some very sick persons, however, 

 in spite of my deficient knowledge of medicine and surgery. Some 

 books here containing emergency methods of treating the sick, which 

 I have consulted from time to time, have been suggestive. 



December 11: Sunday school. Light east wind; 16°; clear. With 

 the exception of the sunrise over the Fairweather Range last June the 

 sunrise this morning was the finest that I have ever seen. In the east 

 and south the color was a brilliant tint of saffron, while in the west 

 and north there was an exquisitely delicate shade of pink, bordered on 

 the underside by a substratum of gorgeous purple. The glistening 

 whiteness of a large ice floe and the rich green of the open water made 

 a fine contrast with the glowing tints in the sky. There was a large 

 attendance at Sunday school. 



December 12: Had a conference with the chief, Assoone, with ref- 

 erence to the irregular attendance of the children at school, which was 

 a cause of anxiety to me, as my work in connection with the school 

 had been unsatisfactory in its results, at least to myself. 



I requested Assoone, after hearing that the people had no complaint 

 to make with reference to my methods, to inform the community that 

 as the Massinga people had not been called upon by the Government 

 to contribute toward the erection and the maintenance of the school, 

 and the employment of the teacher, and, moreover, no charge was made 

 for the use of books and stationery, it would seem that the parents 

 and the children ought to appreciate this generosity extended toward 

 them. It would be of the utmost advantage, I argued, to the children 

 to become thoroughly grounded in the rudiments of an English train- 

 ing, in view of the fact that in the not distant future a change of 

 residence to the mainland of Alaska might become absolutely neces- 

 sary on account of the insuflicient supply of food on this island; and 

 in that event, in competition with Caucasians who were acquainted 

 with English methods, they would require all the information which 

 this school could in the course of five or six years mete out to them. 



December 13: School. 16°; east and later southeast winds; cloudy. 

 A garment belonging to myself was stolen from the clothesline during 

 the night. A pair of Abrahamsen's mittens disappeared a few days 

 ago, and while one boy was in the act of concealing a pair of mine 

 "A." discovered and exposed the theft. 



