MURDOCH. ] INSECTS—PLANTS. 59 
Insects and other invertebrates.—Of insects, they recognize the trouble- 
some mosquito, kiktoriy (Culex spp.), flies, humblebees, and gadflies 
(estrus tarandi), both of which they seem much afraid of, and call i’gu- 
tyai, and the universal louse, ku/mek. All the large winged insects, 
including the rare butterflies and moths and erane flies, are called ta- 
kila/kica, or takilakidja/ksim, which is also the name of the yellow poppy 
(Papaver nudicaule). We were told that * by and by” the poppies 
would turn into “little birds” and fly away, which led us to suppose 
that there was some yellow butterfly which we should find abundant 
in the later summer, but we saw none either season. A small spider is 
sometimes found in the Eskimo houses, and is called pidrairu’re, ‘ the 
little braider.” They pay but little attention to other invertebrates, 
but are familiar with worms, kupidro, a species of crab, kinau’re, (Hyas 
latifrons), and the little branchipus, iritu/‘na (Greenlandic issitorak, 
“the little one with big eyes”), of the fresh water-pools. Cockles (Bue- 
cinum, etc.) are called siu’tigo (Gr. sinterok, from siut, ear), and clams 
have a name which we failed to obtain. Jellyfish are called ipiaru’re, 
“like bags.” They say the “ Katmudlin” eat them! 
PLANTS. 
Few plants that are of any service to man grow in this region. The 
willows, ii’/kpik, of various species, which near the coast are nothing 
but creeping vines, are sometimes used as fuel, especially along the 
rivers, where they grow into shrubs 5 or 6 feet high. Their catkins are 
used for tinder and the moss, mf/nik, furnishes wicks for the lamps. 
We could find no fruit that could be eaten. A cranberry (Vaccinium 
vitis-idwa) occurs, but produced no fruit either season. No use is made 
of the different species of grass, which are especially luxuriant around the 
houses at Utkiavwii, where the ground is richly manured with various 
sorts of refuse,' though the species of mosses and lichens furnish the rein- 
deer with food easily reached in the winter through the light covering 
of snow. Little attention is paid to the numerous, and sometimes 
showy, flowering plants. We learned but two names of flowers, the 
one mentioned above, tikila’kica, tikilakidja‘kstin, which seemed to be 
applied to all striking yellow or white flowers, such as Papaver, Ranun- 
culus, and Draba, and mai‘sun, the bright pink Pedicularis. All the 
wood used in this region, except the ready-made woodenware and the 
willow poles obtained from the Nunatanmiun, comes from the drift on 
the beach. Most of this on the beach west of Point Barrow appears 
to come from the southwest, as the prevailing current along this shore 
is to the northeast, and may be derived from the large rivers flowing 
into Kotzebue Sound, since it shows signs of having been long in the 
water. The driftwood, which is reported to be abundant east of Point 
Barrow, probably comes from the great rivers emptying into the Arctic 
1 “The oil had acted as a manure on the soil, and produced a luxuriant crop of grass from 1 to 2 feet 
high” (village at Point Atkinson, east of the Mackenzie). Richardson Searching Exp.,vol.1, p. 254. 
