164 A YEAR WITH A WHALER^ 



used in making the liquor, we learned, was a fer- 

 mented mixture of flour and molasses obtained 

 in trade from whale ships. It was boiled in the 

 still, a twist of moss blazing in a pan of blubber 

 oil doing duty as a furnace. The vapor from 

 the boiling mash passed through the worm in 

 the flake-stand and was condensed by ice-cold 

 water with which the powder keg was kept con- 

 stantly filled by hand. The liquor dripped 

 from the worm into a battered old tomato can. 

 It was called " kootch " and was potently in- 

 toxicating. An Eskimo drunk on " kootch " 

 was said to be brave enough to tackle a polar 

 bear, single-handed. The little still was oper- 

 ated in full view of the villagers. There was no 

 need of secrecy. Siberia boasted no revenue 

 raiders. 



The owner of the plant did an extensive trade 

 up and down the coast and it was said natives 

 from Diomede Islands and Alaska paddled over 

 in their canoes and bidarkas to buy his liquor. 

 They paid for it in walrus tusk ivory, whale 

 bone, and skins and the " moonshiner " was the 

 richest man in all that part of Siberia. 



