MURDOCH.] PSYCHICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 41 
even when practiced on themselves. They are generally peaceable. 
We did not witness a single quarrel among the men during the two years 
of our stay, though they told us stories of fatal quarrels in former years, 
in which firearms were used. Liquor may have been the cause of these 
fights, as it is said to have been of the only suicide I ever heard of 
among them, which I am informed by Capt. E. E. Smith, the whaling 
master already referred to, occurred in 1885 at Nuwitk. Disagreements 
between man and wife, however, sometimes lead to blows, in which the 
man does not always get the best of it. 
When the station was first established many of the natives began 
pilfering from our stores, but they soon learned that by so doing they 
cut themselves off from the privilege of visiting the station and enjoying 
the opportunity for trading which it afforded, and were glad to promise 
to refrain from the practice. This promise was very well observed, 
though I think wholly from feelings of self-interest, as the thieves when 
detected seemed to have no feeling of shame. Some, I believe, never 
yielded to the temptation. There was seldom any difficulty in obtaining 
restitution of stolen articles, as the thief’s comrades would not attempt 
to shield him, but often voluntarily betrayed him. They acknowledged 
that there was considerable thieving on board of the ships, but the men 
of Utkiavwin tried to lay the blame on the Nuwiik people, and we may 
suppose that the charge was reciprocated, as was the case regarding 
the theft of the Plover’s sails.!. We also heard of occasional thefts 
among themselves, especially of seals left on the ice or venison buried 
in the snow, but men who were said to be thieves did not appear to lose 
any social consideration. 
Robbery with violence appears to be unknown. We never saw or 
heard of the “burglar-alarm” described by Dr. Simpson,’ which I am in- 
clined to believe was really a “demon trap” like that described by 
Lieut. Ray (see below, under Religion). 
They are in the main truthful, though a detected lie is hardly con- 
sidered more than a good joke, and considerable trickery is practiced in 
trading. For instance, soon after the station was established they 
brought over the carcass of a dog, with the skin, head, feet, and tail 
removed, and attempted to sell it for a young reindeer; and when we 
began to purchase seal-oil for the lamps one woman brought over a tin 
can nearly filled with ice, with merely a layer of oil on top. 
Clothing and other articles made especially for sale to us were often 
very carelessly and hastily made, while their own things were always 
carefully finished? 
Their affection for each other, especially for their children, is strong, 
1 Simpson, op. cit., p. 248. 
2Op. cit., p. 247. 
3 Compare Nordenskiéld’s experience in Siberia. The “Chukches” sold him skinned foxes with the 
head and feet cut off for hares, (Vega, vol. 1, p. 448), young ivory gulls for ptarmigan, and a dog's skull 
for a seal’s (vol. 2, p. 137). Besides, ‘‘ While their own things were always made with the greatest care, all 
that they did especially for us was done with extreme carelessness” (ibid). The Eskimos at Hotham 
Inlet also tried to sell Capt. Beechey fishskins sewed together to represent fish. (Voyage, p. 285.) 
