300 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
buying ethnological specimens in the village, one of the men suddenly 
began talking and demanded some tobacco, saying that he had not 
been paid enough for something which he had sold me. He assumed an 
air of anger and in a loud voice and with many gestures tried to bully 
me into giving him something additional; while he was motioning with 
his hands to emphasize his demands I noticed that he had concealed 
in his palm a small comb, which I at once recognized as having been 
stolen from my box of trading goods. I immediately grasped his wrist 
and wrested the comb from his hand, calling him a thief. His com- 
panions, who had undoubtedly seen him take the article, laughed at 
him in ridicule at his being caught, whereupon he slunk away without 
further word. 
As with all savages, the Eskimo are extremely sensitive to ridicule 
and are very quick to take offense at real or seeming slights. 
When among their own tribesmen in large villages they frequently 
become obtrusive, and the energetic, athletic people about the 
shores of Bering strait and northward are inclined to become over- 
bearing and domineering when in sufficient numbers to warrant it. On 
the other hand, when traveling away from their native places in 
small numbers, among strangers, they become very quiet and mild- 
mannered. When we landed at Point Hope a great crowd of people 
came running down to the beach, crying, ‘d-sin', d-sin’,” meaning “a 
present, a present,” and caught hold of us on either side. They hung 
to our arms and clothing, continually asking for presents. Two men 
ran along on each side of the captain of the Corwin, begging for the 
gloves he wore, while others kept trying to steal some tobacco leaves 
which I was carrying under my arm. 
The whalers give the people of this locality a bad reputation, as they 
do likewise those of Point Barrow. During the summer of our visit a 
whaling vessel was crushed by the ice pack just off Point Barrow, and 
the crew threw upon the ice a large quantity of provisions, clothing, 
and other articles before the vessel sank. The Eskimo at the point 
had seen the accident and with their dog sleds hurried out to the 
wreck where they at once set to work to loot everything they could get 
hold of. They ran aloft like monkeys and cut away the sails, which, 
with the sails of the small boats, they carried ashore. 
They stole the clothes chests of the officers, the chronometers, charts, 
and the ship’s books; the latter they tore up, and the next day, when 
the officers tried to recover some of their clothes, they refused to deliver 
them, and wore them about before the eyes of the owners. The 
wrecked crew went ashore and camped near the place occupied by the 
Eskimo, who were living upon canned meats and erackers from the 
Ship’s stores, and refused to permit any of the whalers to take any 
unless it was paid for with some of the small supply of tobacco which 
had been saved. As a consequence, the wrecked crew were forced to 
give up what few things they had been able to save and were forced 
