E. B. Delaharre, Ph. D. 153 



piety and respect for the Sabbath, and with a rather unsavory- 

 reputation for wrecking their vessels in order to collect the 

 insurance on them. In the latter respect, however, it is 

 doubtless the few whose misdeeds darken the reputation of 

 the many. 



General Conditions of Life. — Along the southern part of 

 the coast these numerous visitors and the regular fortnightly 

 trips of the mail steamer in summer give fairly good com- 

 munication with the outside world. But both mail and fish-' 

 ermen venture only a part of the way, and those who live 

 farther north see only the rare vessels of the missionaries and 

 of the trading company. The land is too cold and barren 

 to permit any occupations other than those of the hunter, 

 the fisherman, and the trader. The conditions of life are 

 therefore extremely simple, and are naturally in many re- 

 spects hard and often pitiful. The winters are long and cold, 

 while fuel and food to contend with their severity are scanty 

 and difficult to obtain. The struggle for bare subsistence 

 gives at the best so narrow a margin of surplus that a bad 

 season, or the loss of the supporting members of a family, 

 occasions frequent cases of absolute destitution. Neighbors 

 are few and far away. During the long periods when no 

 work is possible, with little stimulus in the way of books or 

 games, there must be a great dreariness to life; and dreari- 

 ness usually involves much of moral and intellectual debase- 

 ment. 



Ignorance of hygienic and medical principles leads to 

 a great amount of suffering. Accidents often happen and 

 are always serious. Many a gunshot wound that under 

 proper treatment might have been easily healed has left the 

 only provider for a family a permanent cripple. At least one 



