CHAPTER IX.

ON THE SIBERIAN COAST-INDIAN POINT-TRADING WITH THE NATIVES-AN INDIAN VILLage-DeSCRIPTION OF THE WIGWAMS-MASS OF FLOATING ICE THE MARINER'S DANGER CLEVER HANDLING OF THE SHIP-HAIR SEAL SHOT-A LARGE WALRUS-EIDER DUCKS-AT ST. LAWRENCE BAY-OBJECT OF VISITING SIBERIA—HABITS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RUSSIAN NATIVES-FAST DYING OUT-THE PRINCIPAL CAUSE-AMERICAN RUM.

The 30th of June, 1898, was a delightful day upon the waters of the Bering Sea. The sun shone brilliantly for twenty-two hours that day, the wind blew gently from the north, the atmosphere was cool and invigorating. We lay at anchor one league from Indian Point, Siberia, and the natives with their furs and ivory swarmed about the ship all day.

The ivory was from the walrus, that large marine mammal next in size to the whale, and the furs consisted principally of the seal, deer and fox. We tarried here for twenty-four hours during which time the natives came and went at brief intervals, and throughout the whole of that calendar day a continual round of trading was kept up between the Russian natives and the American adventurers in violation of the commercial treaty between the two countries.

Early in the afternoon seven of us in a row boat visited the little Russian village which skirts the borders of Indian Point. The surf was running high as we neared the beach, yet by the timely assistance of one of the natives, who came out waist deep into the

water to assist us, we succeeded in safely making the landing.

A number of natives, male and female, old and young, came down to meet us, all exceedingly filthy. Otherwise they were comparatively well clad, their clothing being made from the skins of the fur animals that inhabit this part of the Siberian coast. They stared at us curiously, yet seemed to be jovial, kind and hospitable.

Ascending the gravelly beach toward the village, we passed by a score or more of natives, men, women and children, lolling in the sunshine on the ground. These Kengikmeet, for that is their tribal name, were peaceful and clever. Occasionally a kodak was focused upon them by one of the visitors, and after the exposure had been made the natives would crowd around in their eagerness to see the camera. The kodak was explained to them, and to make the explanation clearer they were shown a finished picture. This greatly

heightened their curiosity and they would now want to see the picture just taken. When told they could not, and the reason why, they would comprehend at once and go off apparently in a gleeful mood.

Passing up into the village, and a quaint little village it was, we counted twenty-one houses, or "tupecks," as they are called in the native language, scattered about within an area of a thousand yards square. The houses are circular in form and constructed mostly from the skins of the walrus. The sides are about six feet high, the tip of the cupola about eight feet, and the circumference about forty feet. Passing inside through a low narrow opening we were environed by peltries of every kind known to the Russian hunter and trapper. Rich furs hung about the interiors of the tupecks, lay upon the dirt floor and were stored in heaps in the corners. The houses usually have two apartments, a sleeping apartment and the family room. The divisions are made. by drapings of furs.

We inspected two or three of the sleeping rooms, and cosy places they were. The bedding is made of pelts of the larger animals, such as the deer, the bear and the moose. Upon these the natives seek repose after their weary chase or the monotonous routine of the day, and drawing the heavy fur robes about them at night bid defiance to the piercing cold of that region during the long winter months.

We lingered in this strange village for several hours, mingling with the natives, gathering curios and romping with the children upon the sunny beach, returning to the ship at half past seven o'clock in the evening.

Bright and early the next morning the Catherine Sudden weighed anchor and bore off Indian Point toward St. Lawrence Bay, passing a number of small islands and Indian villages on the way.

As we neared this picturesque bay of the Russians a large mass of floating ice came down through the straits, blocking somewhat our progress. On entering within the limits of the drift ice of the Arctic region the mariner must keep a sharp lookout as there is always more or less danger of his ship being disabled by the pack. Captain Green, with marine glass in hand, stood for hours by the foremast that day carefully

watching the movements of the floe, and skillfully directing the course of his vessel. A gentle breeze from the northwest carried the ship, with clever handling of the helm, slowly through the interstices of the vast area of drifting ice, and at six o'clock that evening we anchored safe in St. Lawrence Bay.

Numerous hair seals inhabit these waters. The little animals would pop out of the water by the hundreds, carefully measuring their distance however, so

as to be out of range of the rifle. One of them miscalculated and a bullet from a 44-caliber rifle ended its existence. A boat was lowered and the dead seal picked up and brought aboard the vessel. It was skinned and dressed by two of the sailors, and the crew, with a number of passengers, enjoyed a feast of blubber that night.

The

Three miles to starboard on a large cake of floating ice was a walrus sluggishly basking in the sun. natives on the beach were making hurried preparations for an onslaught on the monstrous animal. Myriads of eider ducks flew high about our heads on their way to more northern shores, and away in the distant horizon the mirage of the ice-blink was visible. The sun dipped below the sea that night at exactly twenty minutes to twelve, ship's time.

- Before our ship dropped anchor in the bay the main deck was literally covered with natives from the dif ferent villages near by. They came in their bidarkas and kyaks with an abundant supply of fur clothing and footgear to trade.

In their facial expressions, customs, habits and general appearance these natives are akin to those at Indian Point already described. At both places the absence of the influences of Christianity is noticeable as compared with some of the tribes on the Alaskan coast where the missionaries are at work.

The object of touching Indian Point and St. Lawrence Bay was to secure fur clothing and footwear from the natives. We thought it was absolutely necessary to be clothed in furs like the natives if we expected to survive an Arctic winter, but in this we were mistaken as we subsequently learned. The fur bearing animals are much more plentiful on the Russian coast than on the American side, and consequently one