NELSON] HOSPITALITY —STEALING 299 
they were constantly falling over one another. Entering one of the 
lodges where the owner had carried my stock of trading goods, I pro- 
ceeded to purchase such ethnological material as was brought me by 
the people. 
The eagerness to see the strangers was so great that a dense crowé 
outside pressed against the frail walls of the lodge until the frame- 
work was broken in several places. At this the owner became offended 
and insisted on my giving him a present to pay for the damage thus 
done by his fellow-villagers. 
At Cape Espenberg we landed at another summer village of five 
lodges, where some thirty people were stopping. Several upturned 
sleds and umiaks, and supplies of dried seal and walrus meat lay seat- 
tered about, and a freshly killed seal was lying under an old piece of 
sealskin. 
Fastened to stakes in a circle about the camp were over twenty dogs, 
which set up a howl of welcome as we landed, their cries being joined 
by the voices of the children. The women and children ran down to 
the shore to meet us, and the whole party was very friendly. 
At Cape Lisburne we found a camp of people from Point Hope. 
Nine umiaks were drawn up on the shore and braced up on one edge 
by sticks and paddles. Scattered about on the ground were sealskin 
bags of oil and large pieces of walrus and whale meat. Just back of 
the umiaks were the conical and round-top lodges, where the men 
and the women of the camp were walking about or sitting in the sun, 
engaged in sewing or in other work. These people were dressed in fur 
clothing, which was very ragged and daubed with dirt and grease, 
presenting an extremely filthy appearance. In oue of the lodges an 
old woman, stripped to the waist, was rolling up a bed. Children 
played about the lodges with small, fat puppies, and numerous well-fed 
dogs prowled listlessly through the camp. 
Between the lodges ran a elear, sparkling brook, entering the sea 
over the pebbly beach, and just back of the camp rose high cliffs, 
fronting the shore. 
Before we left they broke camp. The umiaks were launched, oil 
bags, tents, clothing, meat, and supplies were bundled into them, and 
several dogs being harnessed to the towline from each umiak, they 
started up the coast, a single person trom each umiak remaining on 
shore to drive the dogs. ‘ 
The peopie of the islands and shore of Bering strait and Kotzebue 
sound are notorious among the trading vessels for pilfering. On 
several occasions the villagers of Cape Prince of Wales fairly took 
possession of vessels with small crews, and carried off whatever they 
wished. 
While in the village at Hast cape, Siberia, the children were con- 
stantly trying to steal small objects from me and repeatedly attempted 
to take my handkerchief from my pocket. At Point Hope, while I was 
