YESSO. 25 



huts are usually about fifteen or twenty feet long by 

 ten or twelve in width, sloping from the base to the 

 top, and have a square, open hole at one end of the 

 upper part to allow the smoke to escape, and generally 

 a smaller opening lower down on the opposite side as a 

 window. The door is always under the chimney end 

 of the hut, and has a porch or small outer chamber, 

 with another door to it. In this compartment they 

 keep their nets and such gear; their dogs also live 

 here. In the centre of the large chamber is the fire- 

 place. The inside of these rude dwellings is black 

 from the smoke rising from the constant wood-fire. 

 Close to every hut is a storehouse of the same material 

 and construction as the dwelling hut, raised eight or 

 ten feet off the ground on poles. Here is kept the 

 winter store of fish and other food. These stores are 

 raised from the ground to be clear of the snow, and 

 out of reach of wolves, foxes, and dogs. The birch 

 bark, besides being woven into a coarse kind of cloth, 

 is used for twine, from which their fishing-nets are 

 made. Log canoes, from twenty-five feet in length 

 to much smaller ones, are still used, although the 

 Japanese have brought to the settlements their own 

 more handy flat-bottomed boats. 



Their dead are buried almost anywhere, a short 



