36 FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



myself, and this is Ooualaska. The}' still live in the western settle- 

 ments in the barabakies. 



Q. Have these barabakies floors ? — A. Sometimes loose boards, but 

 generally they get dried grass and put in them. At Oonalaska when 

 I first went there, there were not, I suppose, less than one-half of the 

 population that lived in barabakies, but at this time the people at Oona- 

 laska are living in frame houses aud barabakies are done away with. 

 There is no obligation for the company to build frame houses at Oona- 

 laska, and there is no obligation for tbem, of course, to build any 

 frame houses on the seal islands, but they have not only built them on 

 the seal islands, but also at Oonalaska. 



Q. The Alaska Commercial (.'ompany? — A. Yes, sir. Their idea was 

 to do that because the natives had been dying off very fast with typhoid 

 pneumonia, and that they would have better health in these wooden 

 houses than in those close places where there is no ventilation, and 

 where they are dark and damp, and where they would huddle in im- 

 mense numbers in order to keep themselves warm by human contact, 

 and the constant exhalations of the human body were fearful in such a 

 damp place. Of course they had to economize in fuel, as all they could 

 get at Ooualaska in the way of fuel was a little dry moss, click-i-snick. 

 That was the system there. They get coal now at Oonalaska because 

 the company furnishes it to them at a low rate, so they are better fixed 

 for fuel as well as for houses. 



Q. How are they clothed as compared with what they were for- 

 merly?— A. At Attoo you will find a fellow wearing a bird skin "parka, 

 while the woman would have a blue kind of skirt with a little calico 

 waist. Up on our island they had everything but bustles, aud I guess 

 they have those now. When they saw a picture of a nice dress they 

 would take the money to the agent at the company's house and ask 

 him to bring them a dress like that from San Francisco. 



Q. They dress, then, in the fashion 1 — A. Yes, sir ; they get hold of a 

 Harper's and they would see a dress and they would go to the office of 

 the agent and dej^osit $10 or $12 and say, " I want you to buy me 

 a dress like that one, direct from San Francisco." He would bring it, 

 and they would go to work and every one would have one made on that 

 model, no matter how small the model was. They are very clever 

 about all that. Two or three women did most of the dressmaking, 

 and did it very well. 



Q. You were speaking about how the houses were furnished ! — A. 

 We had one hundred and ten people there, including the priest's family, 

 and he had ten or twelve. The number of families was from nineteen to 

 twentj'-five, which varied a little by peoi)le coming to and fro from St. 

 Paul. They had six sewing-machines among that community of twenty 

 families and every family had an accordeon, so I think they were pretty 

 well fixed. The men dressed well. You could buy a good suit in the 

 store for $10 or $15; of course you could get some cheaper, but a suit 

 good enough for anybody — good enough for me to wear — the men would 

 buy, and at the end of the season, after a good dividend, they would 

 stock up in clothing. Besides, clothing was a good thing to use in a 

 poker game. 



Q. Does the health of the natives seem to have been improved? — A. 

 They think it has. There are some desperate bad cases — the people are 

 scrofulous. The greatest cause of death among the Aleuts in the 

 Aleutian Islands is scrofulous consumption, and the next, chronic bron- 

 chitis, and the doctors are doing what they can to eradicate the scrofula 

 out of them. The doctors work at them all the time. They keep doc- 



