INNUIT LIFE AXD LAND. 897 



heathenish rites and festivals were postponed at his bidding, sur- 

 ly shamans fomented seeds of hate and fear. Finally an hour 

 arrived when, at a preconcerted signal, the slumbering wrath of 

 the savages was aroused, and they fell upon and slew this unsus- 

 pecting missionary and destro^'ed every vestige of his existence 

 among them. The cause of Father Juvenal's death Avas his strong- 

 opposition to polygamy. It is said that when he was attacked by 

 savages he neither lied nor did he defend himself, either of which 

 he might have successfully done ; but he delivered himself unre- 

 sistingly into the hands of his murderers, asking only for the safety 

 of his subordinates, which was granted. The natives say, in their 

 recitation of the event, that after the monk had been struck down 

 and left by the mob as dead, he " rose up once more, walked towards 

 them, and spoke." They fell ujjon him again, and again, and again, 

 for he repeated this miracle several times, until at last, in bewil- 

 dered fury, they literally cut him into pieces. 



Reindeer cross and recross the Kvichak River in large herds 

 during the mouth of September, as they range over to and from 

 the Peninsula of Alaska, feeding, and also to escape from mosqui- 

 toes. At the mouth of this stream is one of the broadest deer-roads 

 in the country. The natives run along the banks of the river 

 Avhen reindeer are swimming across, easily and rapidly spearing 

 those unfortunate animals as they rise from the water, securing 

 in this way any number that fancy or want may dictate. At one 

 time a trader counted seven hundred deer-cai'casses as the}' lay 

 here on the sands of the river's margin, untouched save by a re- 

 moval of the hides ; not a pound of that meat out of the thousands 

 IDutrefjdng had been saved by these lazy Innuits ; who, improvident 

 wretches as they are, would be living, less than five months later, in 

 a state of starvation ! But all this misery of famine in March will 

 have been forgotten again next September, when the same svtrplus 

 of food is within their reach, for they will not store up against the 

 morrow — the labor is too great — the shiftless sentiment of a savage 

 forbids that exertion. 



There is a curious distinction drawn by nature between the 

 Siberian and Alaskan reindeer. Everybody is familiar with the 

 fact that on the Asiatic side these animals are domesticated and 

 serve as a mainstay and support of large tribes, both savage and 

 civilized. But the spirit of the Alaskan deer is such that it will not 

 live under the control of man, or even within his presence. If con- 



