Native Dishonesty and Hospitality. 193 



sickness overtakes them, often abandoned, and not seldom expe- 

 dited into the other world by means of a club in order to save 

 further trouble. No instance of infanticide came under my 

 notice during our stay on Porcupine river, although very com- 

 mon among the coast tribes of Bering sea, and especiall}^ at 

 Saint Michael. Cannibalism is by no means rare. A shocking 

 instance of this was reported to us during our stay at Rampart 

 house. Two women, running short of provisions, killed a man 

 and a boy Avhile asleep, and subsisted upon the remains for 

 several weeks. 



Though grasping, unscrupulous, and often dishonest in his 

 dealings with the whites, in his own tent the Indian is a creature 

 of another stamp. His ideas of hospitality are strangely incon- 

 sistent with his conduct in other matters. The last morsel of 

 food is shared cheerfully Avith the hungry stranger, the warmest 

 jDlace before the fire is assigned for his use, and the snuggest 

 corner in the tent is reserved for his sleeping hours. In the matter 

 of cleanliness and morality the native is like unto his ancestors. 

 No exhortation by the most eloquent missionary can force him 

 to bathe. He fears the water like a cat. No amount of script- 

 ural teaching can convey to his brain the first glimmering of the 

 meaning of such a word as morality ; and unless he is permitted 

 to carry with him at all times a plentiful stock of certain insects 

 he considers his usefulness at an end. It is somewhat singular 

 that a race of beings so degraded and having so little need of a 

 full language should be credited with a vocabulary of twenty 

 thousand words. Mr Wallis, the present Church of England 

 missionary at Rampart house, doubtless carried away by enthu- 

 siasm, assured me that in every respect the native language was 

 far superior to the English tongue. While this statement should 

 be taken cam grano sails, it is undoubtedly true that the lan- 

 guage in question is superior to most of the native tongues in 

 northern Alaska. Commencing at Senati's village, the language 

 remains unchanged until Peel river is reached. It is much to be 

 regretted that Archdeacon McDonald has provided no vocabu- 

 lary or grammar to accompany his translations of the New Tes- 

 tament into the native tongue. 



The various tribes speaking this language are divided into the 

 Kutcha Kutchin (Senatis tribe) ; the Natsei Kutchin (Dwellers 

 in the North), numbering 150 or thereabouts, residing in the 

 country north of fort Yukon, and known also as the Gens de 



