TWO HUNDRED MILES UP THE KUSKOKWIM 



89 



MrilTKF.KHl-AGAMUTE 



river, which hitherto had been an unbroken stream, was now di- 

 vided by numerous islands into many channels. The shores 

 were lined with a higher growth of underwood, and thickets of 

 small birch trees alternated with grassy or mossy banks. The 

 tide was also sluggish.' 1 



The next day, sailing still among enchanting wooded islands^ 

 they came to Napahaiagamute, where a lot of Eskimos were in 

 their kayaks or sealskin boats with a single hole — fishing for 

 salmon with gill nets. Soon they passed Napahaiagamute and, 

 rounding an island, came in view of the important trading sta- 

 tion of Mumtrekhlagamute, situated on a high bank, with a back- 

 ground of pine trees and a hill range in the distance. The tide 

 here rises about 4 feet. The station comprises two large, well- 

 built log-houses and several smaller ones, and a Russian bath- 

 house or kashima, besides the usual annex of native barabarahs. 

 Here the boatmen struck for higher wages, as they always do, 

 but were finally conciliated by the factor of the trading post. 

 The dogs here were numerous, and howled so as to disturb the 

 missionary when he was reading the 116th Psalm by daylight at 

 1 o'clock a. m. The cause proved to be a wrestling match be- 

 tween two rivals for the permanent possession of a woman. The 



