INTRODUCTION" OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 249 



May 19: 35^. 33"-; northeast and east winds, moderate. Clear in the 

 afternoon. Two parties from Siberia in whaleboats arrived here to-day 

 and paid their respects to me. They understood English quite well, 

 having been associated for long periods with American whalemen. 

 One man had been to 'Frisco. The people at Indian Point had lost five 

 or six persons by death during the winter. Some reindeer had per- 

 ished, unable to get moss on account of the hard frozen snow. At 

 Indian Point, East Cape, South Head, St. Lawrence Bay, and Plover 

 Bay the natives had procured a Avhale. The Indian Point men. in 

 answer to my questions, informed me that the language of their peo- 

 ple and that of the Plover Ba}' natives is the same as that of the peo- 

 ple on St. Lawrence Island; evidently at one time these three peoples 

 were intimately related. There are a few differences in customs, and, 

 doubtless, in the dialects. 



May 20: 30-, 36~-; east wind, moderate: fog and snow. "Was 

 informed by Shoolook that the Indian Point natives reported the dis- 

 appearance of five hunting parties in whaleboats, chiefly men. of the 

 Plover Bay natives. The captains of the "'whalers" had looked in 

 vain for them. They may have been caught in young ice which would 

 not hold them should they try to pull their boats over it, or they may 

 have encountered a rough sea which dashed and broke their l)oats 

 against large blocks of ice. These men had, in some instances, large 

 families, having two or even three wives. Probably half .of the male 

 population of Plover Bay has thus perished. 



May 21: 34^: east wind, light; later moderate. Rain in morning 

 followed by fog. I held Sunday school in spite of a bad cough. Only 

 a very few persons were present, the others l^eing absent hunting. 



May 22: 35-, 33"; east wind, moderate: foggy until evening, then 

 clear. The Belvedere, Captain Du^-all. came to anchor. "Went on 

 board. Shoolook brought Taninga. an Indian Point chief, to see me. 

 They have been from youth sworn friends, as their fathers were, and 

 it was pleasant to see their mutual regard. 



Mav 23: 31:-. 35^: northeast and east winds light in forenoon; fosr 

 and snow. "Went hunting with Timkaroo and his crew in a whale- 

 boat. anoNiu^red from the cold, as I was too thinly clad. "We returned 

 after ten hours, having sailed about 40 miles. I judged. "We had no 

 compass, and yet our helmsman Timkaroo. without sight of the sun or 

 shore, kept his bearings on the open sea during eight hours of thick 

 fog. No walruses or seals were brought in. although some of the for- 

 mer were shot at. but missed, owing to the long range and the motion 

 "M^the whaleboat. 



May 24: 33-; calm, snow, in morning and evening, fog in afternoon. 

 Read newspapers. Influenza is epidemic here. 



Msij 25: 32'^, 33"^; east wind very light: snow in morning, fog later. 



May 26: 32'. 35^; calm forenoon, northeast wind light, later foggy 

 and cloud}'. The WiHuo/i BiiyJ!et< came to anchor in the morning for 



