THE FUR-SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA. 21 



recruits been regularly drawn from the mainland and other islands every season when the^hips came np. As they 

 lived then, it was a physical impossihilitj' for them to increase and multi])ly; but, since their elevation and their 

 sanitary advancement are so marked, it may be reasonably expected that those people for all time to come will at least 

 hold their own, even though they do not increase to any remarkable degree. Perhaps it is better that they should 

 not. But it is exceedingly fortunate that they do sustain themselves so as to be, as it were, a prosjierous corporate 

 factor, entitled to the exclusive i)ri\ilege of labor on these islands. As an encouragement for their good behavior 

 the Alaska Commercial Company, in i)ursuance of its enlightened treatment of the whole subject, so handsomelj' 

 exhibited by its housing of these jieojile, has assured them that so long as they are capable and willing to perform 

 the labor of sLiuning the seal catch every year, so long will they enjoy the sole privilege of participating in that 

 toil and its reward. This is wise on the part of the company, and it is exceedingly happy for the people. They 

 are, of all men, especially fitted for the work connected with the seal-business — no comment is needed — nothiug 

 better in the way of manual labor, skilled and rapid, could be rendered by any body of men, efjual in numbers, 

 living under the same circumstances, all the year round. They appear to hhake off thc.i)eriodic lethargy of winter 

 and its forced inanition, to rush with the coming of summer into llie severe exercise and duty of caj)tnring, killing, 

 and skinning the seals, with vigor and with persistent and conmiendable energy. 



To day only a very small proportion of the population are descendants of the pioneers who were brought here 

 by the several Russian companies, in 17S7 and 1788; a colony of 137 souls, it is claimed, prineipallv recruited at 

 Oonalashka and Atkha. I have placed in the appendix, together with other scattered notes, a list of these people 

 -who were living on St. Paul island in August, 1873; also showing at the same time those who were living there iu 

 1870. It is a simple record, perhaps of no interest to anybody except those who are intimately associated with the 

 islan< s. (See note, 30, F.) 



OiiiGiN AND TRAITS OF THE ALEUTS. — The question as to the derivation of these natives is still a mooted one 

 among ethnologists, for in all points of personal bearing, intelligence, character, as well as physical structure, they 

 seem to form a i)erfect link of gradation between the Japanese and Eskimos, although their traditions and their 

 language are entirely distinct and jieculiar to themselves ; uot one »vord or numeral of their nomenclature resembles 

 the dialect of either. They claim, however, to have come first to the Aleutian islands from a "big laud to the 

 -westward", and that when they came there first they found the land uninhabited, and that they did not meet with 

 any peoi)le, until their ancestors had pushed on to the eastwaid as far as the peninsula and Kadiak. Contirmatory 

 of this legend, or rather highly suggestive of it, is the fact that repeated instances have occurred within our day 

 -where Japanese junks have been, in the stress of hurricanes and typhoons, dismantled, and have drifted clear over 

 and on to the reefs and coasts of the Aleutian islands. Only a short time ago, in the summer of 1871, such a craft 

 was so sti-anded, helpless and at the mercy of the sea, upon the rocky coast of Adak island, in this chain; the few 

 surviving sailors, Japanese, Ave in number, were, I remember, rescued by a party of Aleutian sea-otter hunters, 

 who took care of them until the vessel of a trader carried them back, by way of Oonalashka, to San Francisco, and 

 from thence they returned to their native land. 



The Aleuts on the islands, as they appear to-day, have been so mixed up with Eussian, Koloshian, and 

 Kamschadale blood, that they present characteristics, iu one way or another, of all the various races of men, from 

 the negro up to the Caucasian. The predominant features among them are small, wide-set eyes, broad and high 

 cheek-bones, causing the jaw, which is full and square, to often appear peaked ; coarse, straight, black hair, small, 

 ueatly-shaped feet and hands, together with brownish-yellow complexion. The men will average in stature five 

 feet four or five inches; the women less iu proportion, although there arc exceptions to this rule among them, 

 some being over six feet in height, and others are decided dwarf's. The manners and customs of these jieople to-day 

 possess nothing iu themselves of a barbarous or remarkable character, aside from that which belongs to an advanced 

 state of semi civilization. They are exceedingly i)olite and civil, not only in their business with the agents of the 

 company on the seal-islands, but aau^ng theuiselves; and they visit, the one with the other, freely and pleasantly, 

 the women being great gossips. But, on the whole, their intercourse is subdued, for the simple reason that the 

 topics of conversation are few, and, judging from their silent but unconstrained meetings, they seem to have a 

 nuitual knowledge, as if by sympathy, as to what may be occupying each other's minds, rendering speech superfluous. 

 It is only when under the influence of beer or strong liquor, that they lo.se their naturally quiet aud amiable 

 disi)ositiou ; they then relapse into low, drunken orgies and loud, brawling noises. Having beeu so long under the 

 control and influence of the Pussiaus, they have adopted many Sclavic customs, such as giving birthday-dinners, 

 naming their children, etc.; they are remarkably attached to their church, and no other form of religion could be 

 better adapted or have a firmer hold upon the sensibilities of the people. Their inherent chastity and sobriety 

 cannot be commended. They have long since thrown away the uncouth garments of the Eussian rule — the shaggy 

 dog .skin caps, with coats half seal and half sea lion — for a complete outfit, cap-u-pw, such as our own people buy in 

 any furnishing house; the same boots, socks, underclothing, and clothing, with ulsters and ulsterettes; but the 

 violence of the wind prevents their selecting the hats of our Jutut ion and sporting fraternity. As for the women, they 

 too have kei)t pace and even advanced to the level of the men, tor in these lower races there is much more vanity 

 displayed by the masculine element than the feminine, according to my observation; in other words, I hav(^. noticed 



