uiaii.i.'KA] INTRODUCTION 35 



Copper " shield." — Another interesting article, secured from Mr. 

 Simpson is a large old shieldlike plate of beaten copper, decorated 

 on one side with a characteristic Tlingit engraved design. Mr. Simp- 

 son, in a letter to Doctor Hough, dated June 2G, 1926, says: "The 

 shield, or to speak more correctly the copper plate — for it was not 

 used as a shield — was the most valuable possession of the Tlingits. 

 They were usually valued in slaves, this one, at the last known ex- 

 change, having been traded for three slaves. The possessor of four 

 or five such plates was a man of the utmost wealth. Some claim that 

 they got these copper plates from the early New England traders and 

 others that they came from the Copper River. Either is possible. 

 Lots of the Copper River nuggets were very large and Hat and could 

 have readily been hammered into plate form. I bought this in the 

 village of Klawak on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. I 

 do not know of another one around here. All of the local elderly 

 natives axe familiar with its previous value, and when they have 

 wandered into my shop to sell things they always made deep obei- 

 sance to this plate." 



Talks. — While in Juneau the writer spoke before the Rotarians, 

 who honored him with a lunch; and later, in the auditorium of the 

 fine new high school, gave a public lecture on " The Peopling of 

 America," etc. The object of these and the many subsequent talks in 

 Alaska was, on the one hand, to reciprocate as far as possible the 

 kindness and help received on all sides, and on the other to leave 

 wholesome information and stimulus in tilings anthropological. The 

 audience was invariably all that a lecturer could desire, and many 

 were left everywhere eager for help and cooperation. The aid of 

 some of these men, including prospectors, miners, settlers, engineers, 

 foresters, and various officials, may some day prove of much value 

 in the search for Alaskan antiquities. 



Juneau — Seward. — June 8, leave Juneau. It has been raining 

 every day, with one exception, and is misting now, depriving us of 

 a view of most of the coast. AVherever there is a glimpse of it, 

 however, it is seen to be mountainous, wooded below, snowy and icy 

 higher up, inhospitable, forbidding. 



June 10, arrive at Cordova, a former native and Russian settle- 

 ment of some importance. Will stay here large part of the day and 

 go to see about Indians, old sites, burials, and specimens, the main 

 hotel keeper, the assistant superintendent of the local railway, the 

 postmaster, the supervisor of the forests, and Di>. William Chase, 

 who lias been connected with the work of the Biological Survey in 

 these regions. Mr. W. J. McDonald, the forester, takes me out some 

 miles into the very rugged country, where there are still plenty of 

 bear and mountain goat. After which Doctor Chase takes me to the 

 old Russian and Indian cemetery. There are many graves, mostly 



