111. FOUR-POST COFFIN.
The Aleuts, who inhabit the Aleutian Islands are, to a considerable extent, of mixed blood, Russian and Koloschian. They have advanced in civilization far beyond any other of the Esquimaux race. Not a few of them have received a fair education, and among the priests of the Greek Church there are not a few who go through the service of the church in the Greek language, with a full understanding of the words of the service.
112. TANANA INDIAN.
Quite nine-tenths of the whole territory of Alaska is purely Arctic, and is not only uninhabited but uninhabitable. The other tenth is now sparsely inhabited, and there is little reason to suppose that the population will ever be greatly beyond its present number. Except in special cases, the possible population of a country is measured by its agricultural capacity. Leaving out of view the extreme northern parts of Alaska, the best accounts as yet accessible show that at St. Michael’s lettuce, parsnips, and turnips can be raised by sowing them in beds. At Fort Yukon potatoes not much larger than cherries can be raised. At Sitka potatoes will grow a little larger. On some of the islands the inhabitants can even venture upon barley. The forest-trees, which flourish in isolated parts, will soon be exhausted, as far as any profitable use of them is concerned. Fish and furs constitute almost the sole value of Alaska. The fisheries are among the most valuable in the world. The furs will soon be exhausted, unless prompt measures are taken to prevent the capture of fur-bearing animals in the breeding season.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE ESQUIMAUX.
Their wide Extension.—Climate of the Regions they inhabit.—Their physical Appearance.—Their Dress.—Snow Huts.—The Kayak, or the Baidar.—Hunting Apparatus and Weapons.—Enmity between the Esquimaux and the Red Indian.—The “Bloody Falls.”—Chase of the Reindeer.—Bird-catching.—Whale-hunting.—Various Stratagems employed to catch the Seal.—The “Keep-kuttuk.”—Bear-hunting.—Walrus-hunting.—Awaklok and Myouk.—The Esquimaux Dog.—Games and Sports.—Angekoks.—Moral Character.—Self-reliance.—Intelligence.—Iligliuk.—Commercial Eagerness of the Esquimaux.—Their Voracity.—Seasons of Distress.
Of all the uncivilized nations of the globe none range over a wider space than the Esquimaux, whose various tribes extend from Greenland and Labrador, over all the coasts of Arctic America, to the Aleutic chain and the extreme north-eastern point of Asia. Many are independent, others subject to the Russian, Danish, or British rule. In Baffin’s Bay and Lancaster Sound they accost the whale-fisher; they meet him in the Icy Sea beyond Bering’s Straits; and while their most southerly tribes dwell as low as the latitude of Vienna, others sojourn as high as the 80th degree of northern latitude, and probably roam even still higher on the still undiscovered coasts beyond—a nearness to the pole no other race is known to reach.