210 FUE-«LAL FISHEKIES OF ALASKA. 



coukl uot marry anybody on St. George or St. Paul because she was 

 connected by ties of cousauo-uiuity, some remote to the forty-seventh 

 degree, with about everybody on the two isUmds. The Kussian church 

 does not permit the marriage of such relations. She had the reputation 

 of being a very nice and decent girl — the best of the lot, the general re- 

 port went. The real facts in the case I do not know. 



Q. You have been on the Aleutian Islands *? — A. Yes, sir. 



Q. I want to ask you now, from your own observation, what do vou 

 say as to the condition of the natives of Alaska before and since ihe 

 transfer of the Territory to the United States, whether it has been im- 

 proved or not"? — A. You mean natives generally? 



Q. Yes, sir. — A. When I made that cruise in the Bush, in 1879, down 

 about Fort Wrangel and Sitka they had some mission schools, and the 

 general reputation of the native women there was exceedingly bad ; 

 that is, they would send girls to the mission schools until they learned 

 to wash and clean themselves, and then sell them to the miners. That 

 was common report, but I never knew anything like that on the Aleu- 

 tian Islands. The women at Athka were considered the handsomest 

 and neatest women in the Territory, and I think they were the best 

 looking women I saw except on the Seal Islands. 



Q. What do you say in regard to the natives of Alaska who have 

 come in contact with the Alaska Commercial Company, as to whether 

 they are better or worse in those localities where the company has sta- 

 tions ? — A. I think they are improved considerably, particularly at 

 Oonalaska, where the company ako maintains a school. 



Q. Did the company build houses I — A. They built houses. They 

 took out the old barabacas and made frame houses. 



Q. That you know has nothing to do with the lease. — A. Nothing 

 whatever. The Alaska Commercial Company has no monopoly at 

 Oonalaska. Anybody that wants to can go there and do business. 



Q. That is so any where iu the Territory except on the Seal Islands "? — 

 A. Yes, sir. As I stated when I was here last summer, there was com- 

 petition for the fur trade at various points — Kodiak, Unga, Oonalaska, 

 St. Michael's and other trading points. 



Q. What were Mr. Webster's habits as to drinking? Was he a man 

 that got drunk and ran through the village at 3 o'clock in the morning 

 while you were there ? — A. I never heard of it. He was generally the 

 first man to bed and the tirst u\>. He was up and moving around some- 

 times at 6 in the morning, heaving rocks at the Government house to 

 get me up. 



Q. Was he a man in the habit of getting drunk ? — A. No, sir ; he was 

 not. I "set them np" for him myself on Washington's birthday . He 

 took a drink with Dr. Noyes and myself. I had some whisky on the 

 22d of February which I had taken up in my trunk in May. We took 

 a drink out of that bottle. 



Q. Was Kirk there when you were there ?— A. Yes, sir. 



Q. What sort of a man was Kirk ? — A. I never had any trouble with 

 him. 



Q. What is his business? — A. He went up there as assistant in the 

 store. He was always in the store on store days, and he also drove the 

 mule, hauling the skins, and the bull also at times. He was the general 

 assistant. As Mr. Webster said when I wanted him to go down oa that 

 vessel, he was the only assistant that he had and he would have to 

 keep him there. 



Q. Was Dr. Lutz there, and Dr. Noyes ? — A. Yes, both were there, 



