( 3i ) 
ing of a central fireplace on the ground and a slightly elevated 
walk on one or more sides, which is used for sleeping, and is 
usually sufficiently large to accommodate a family, which con¬ 
sists often of twenty or thirty persons. In appearance the Indians 
are copper-color, the shade increasing or diminishing with location, 
and of fine physique, save in those instances where the habit of 
prolonged sitting in a canoe, as in fishing, has prevented the de¬ 
velopment of the lower limbs. 
The coast and interior Indians of southeastern Alaska are not 
on friendly terms. The interior tribes, less numerous and war¬ 
like, complain that the coast Indians will not permit them to trade 
directly with the whites. When accomplished surreptitiously, 
it is at the risk of punishment if discovered. Prospectors who 
have passed months in the interior state that the interior, or “ Stick ” 
Indians, as they are called, are inoffensive. The coast tribes are 
warriors, and have frequently engaged each other in fierce and 
protracted w r ars, on w hat would appear to us very slight provoca¬ 
tion. Usually, however, their quarrels are not long continued, if 
the conflict at first has been sufficiently decisive to indicate the 
probable result. Terms of peace can often be quickly arranged, 
on the basis of indemnity to the friends of the killed and wounded, 
which is generally the payment of a certain number of blankets, 
previously agreed upon. The wealth of an Indian or tribe is de¬ 
termined by the number of blankets possessed. 
Their relations with the whites are not always friendly, and in 
these rather exceptional instances their hostility can often be traced 
to some real or imaginary wrong inflicted by the whites. As a rule, 
the natives do well, and if they could be entirely deprived of 
alcoholic drinks, and the whites would treat them more kindly, 
the few assassinations at the hands of the Indians would be still 
further reduced. To this there are exceptions, and there will be 
as long as the Indian feels that the white man and all he 
possesses within the Territory is his lawful prey. The treachery of 
the Indian, then must not be overlooked under any circumstances, 
as the following instance which occurred some years ago, will 
show. A schooner, having on board a captain and tw o miners, 
entered Yakutat Bay, about one hundred miles to the westward 
of Sitka, with the view of prospecting for gold. The wife of the 
