194 National Geographic Magazme. 
the 8th of September ; as we approached it closely the bareness | 
and forbidding appearance, which had been concealed at first sight 
by the bluish dimness of the outline, became very marked. Its 
sides were almost inaccessible, except from the western end, and 
it was free from ice, an almost exceptional state of affairs. In 
close seasons it is impossible to reach it, and, even more than 
Point Barrow, it may be shut out of the world by ice that refuses 
to move during the short summer. 
We passed the island late in the afternoon within a compara- 
tively short distance, standing on to the west with the hope of 
seeing Wrangel land before dark. At half past five land was 
reported ahead from aloft, and soon the high snowy peaks and. 
mountainous outline of Wrangel land was sighted from deck. 
It stood out beautifully in the late Arctic afternoon, and as we 
approached it more closely its outline became more and more 
fantastic and brilliant. At sunset we were a little over ten miles 
distant, and at dark, as we turned to the southeast for Point Hope, 
we exchanged hearty congratulations upon our successful passage 
from Mackenzie Bay to Wrangel land. Arriving at Point Hope 
upon the evening of the 10th of September, we found that many 
of the hunting parties had returned from the interior, and prepar- 
ations were going on for the winter season. 
The natives of Point Hope, like the Eskimos generally of north- 
western Alaska, have no tribal or other form of government 
except what exists by control of the head man, oomalik, or chief, 
whose superiority arises from his wealth and influence. The 
previous chief had lived a life that made him a terror to the 
community. His rule was by force alone and by the influence of 
the rifle, which was his inseparable companion. After a career 
distinguished for license, murder and robbery, he had come to a 
timely end by being assassinated by the brother of a wife he was 
tormenting to death. Since his death, up to the time of our stay 
in September, anarchy had prevailed. On account of the very 
indifferent treatment received by the survivors of the wrecked — 
whaler “Little Ohio” from the Eskimos at Point Hope the pre- 
vious winter, I determined to appoint a head man or chief who 
would be charged with the responsibility and duty of caring for 
any shipwrecked persons or destitute whites. Anokolut, who 
was appointed by me and whose appointment was afterwards 
confirmed by the Governor of Alaska, had married the niece of 
the previous chief, and was the best whaleman and hunter of 
