A THREE-HATCH BIDARKA. 



170 GRINNELL 



low wooden box or platform on which the worshipper 

 might kneel. Practically all of these Aleuts belong to the 

 Greek Church, and conform to its outward observances. 



The barabara 

 is built of wood, 

 sometimes of 

 planks neatly 

 joined together, 

 or again of strips 

 of cottonwood, roughly split out and fitted as closely as 

 possible. Over this foundation of wood is a thick thatch 

 of dried grass, held in place by heavy sticks laid upon it, 

 which in turn are bound down with withes of willow. 

 Sometimes the covering is merely this thatch, or it may 

 be overlaid with earth and sod, on which grows a rank 

 vegetation. The buildings are warm, dry, and comforta- 

 ble, and it is stated that flies and mosquitoes never enter 

 them. This is no doubt explained by the fact that when 

 occupied they are extremely smoky. 



Away from the few settlements, the Aleuts still depend 

 entirely on fishing and on the chase. The population is 

 sparse, and the country is divided into districts for fishing 

 and for hunting — each district belonging to certain families 

 and handed down from father to son. No Aleut tres- 

 passes on the territory of his neighbor, either for fishing 

 or hunting. Near the mouths of certain salmon rivers vis- 

 ited, we found the barabaras belonging to the owners of the 

 fishing there, and even their drying scaffolds, and some of 

 their fishing implements hung up against the time when they 

 should return, in the season when the salmon are running. 

 The Harriman expedition's view of the Aleuts was, of 

 course, hasty and superficial. It does not appear worth 

 while to repeat here what has been written by explorers 

 whose opportunities for studying them were so much bet- 

 ter than ours. 



