NELSON] HOUSES AT EAST CAPE 257 
At Cape Prince of Wales, on the American shore of Bering strait, 
there were two villages. One near the hill at the southern side of the 
cape was called the “hill village,” and the other, located on the flat, was 
called the “spit village.” They were separated by a space of about 75 
yards. The houses were built of driftwood covered with earth, and 
were very similar to those of the Diomede islands. The people of 
these two villages had a standing feud that occasionally broke into 
open quarrels. Those of the “spit village” were the most aggressive, 
and were hated and feared by the others. 
Crossing the strait a large Eskimo village was found on the point of 
Hast cape, Siberia. This was built on a steep slope fronting the sea, 
and its dome-shape houses with small outer openings gave it the 
sane appearance of being a cluster of cliff swallows’ nests that we had 
Fic, 85—Eskimo village at Bast cape, Siberia. 
noticed on our approach to King island. From the anchorage fifty-four 
occupied houses were counted; these must have contained over two 
hundred and fifty people. 
Just around the cape, to the north, was a village of equal size, which 
was not visited. The village on the point was built on a slope of loose 
granite fragments inclined at such an angle that there was space for 
ouly a narrow trail in front of most of the houses, and then a sharp 
descent of some yards. The houses consisted of a stone wall laid up 
two or three feet from the ground, in oval form, and continued in the 
shape of an arched or open-top entrance passage three or four yards 
long, as shown in figure 85. 
Upon this stone wall was a framework of whale-ribs arched to a com- 
mon point over one side of the entrance, where they were met by the 
18 Etu——17 
