WlLfTILI^MMiil 
 
 rsMaamifi] 
 
 MARY-F-NIXtob3--RbliLET 
 
This book must not 
 be taken from the 
 Library building. 
 
 AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 ENDOWED BY THE 
 
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 SOCIETIES 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
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THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 Elizabeth Preston Ward 
 
 in memory of 
 Jean Versfelt Preston 
 
Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
THE 
 
 Little Cousin Series 
 
 (trade mark) 
 
 Each volume illustrated with six or more full-page plates in 
 
 tint. Cloth, i2mo, with decorative cover, 
 
 per volume, 60 cents 
 
 LIST OF TITLES 
 By Mary Hazelton Wade 
 
 (unless otherwise indicated) 
 
 Our Little African Cousin 
 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet 
 
 Our Little Arabian Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 
 Our Little Armenian Cousin 
 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet 
 Our Little Brazilian Cousin 
 
 By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet 
 
 Our Little Brown Cousin 
 Our Little Canadian Cousin 
 
 By Elizabeth R. MacDonald 
 
 Our Little Chinese Cousin 
 
 By Isaac Taylor Headland 
 
 Our Little Cuban Cousin 
 Our Little Dutch Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 
 Our Little Egyptian Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 
 Our Little English Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 
 Our Little Eskimo Cousin 
 Our Little French Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 
 Our Little German Cousin 
 Our Little Greek Cousin 
 
 By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet 
 
 L. C. PAGE & COMPANY 
 
 New England Building, Boston, Mass. 
 
 Our Little Hawaiian Cousin 
 Our Little Hindu Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 
 Our Little Indian Cousin 
 Our Little Irish Cousin 
 Our Little Italian Cousin 
 Our Little Japanese Cousin 
 Our Little Jewish Cousin 
 Our Little Korean Cousin 
 
 By H. Lee M. Pike 
 
 Our Little Mexican Cousin 
 
 By Edward C. Butler 
 
 Our Little Norwegian Cousin 
 Our Little Panama Cousin 
 
 By H. Lee M. Pike 
 
 Our Little Philippine Cousin 
 Our Little Porto Rican Cousin 
 Our Little Russian Cousin 
 Our Little Scotch Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 
 Our Little Siamese Cousin 
 Our Little Spanish Cousin 
 
 By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet 
 
 Our Little Swedish Cousin 
 
 By Claire M. Coburn 
 
 Our Little Swiss Cousin 
 Our Little Turkish Cousin 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/ourlittlealaskanOOnixo 
 
" KALITAN FISHED DILIGENTLY BUT CAUGHT LITTLE." 
 
 (See page 3) 
 
SILS 
 
 I Our Little Alaskan! 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Cousin 
 
 Mary F. 
 
 By 
 
 Nixon-Roulet 
 
 Author of " Our Little Spanish Cousin" 
 a Pessimist in Spain" " Gtfrf, J&e 
 2£wg, My Brother" etc. 
 
 Illustrated 
 
 With 
 
 Boston 
 L. C. Page £r Company 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
 .* 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 ^4*4*4*444* 4*4*4444444*4*444*444*444^ 
 
Copyright, igoj 
 By L. C. Page & Company 
 
 (incorporated) 
 All rights reserved 
 
 Third Impression, May, 1909 
 
TO MY LITTLE SON 
 
 3fa!m JRtfon Ue Koulet 
 
Preface 
 
 Away up toward the frozen north lies the 
 great peninsula, which the United States bought 
 from the Russians, and thus became responsi- 
 ble for the native peoples from whom the Rus- 
 sians had taken the land. 
 
 There are many kinds of people there, from 
 Indians to Esquimos, and they are under the 
 American Government, yet they have no votes 
 and are not called American citizens. 
 
 It is about this country and its people that 
 this little story is written, and in the hope of 
 interesting American girls and boys in these 
 very strange people, their Little Alaskan Cous- 
 ins. 
 

 Contents 
 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 PAGB 
 
 I. 
 
 Kalitan Tenas .... 
 
 I 
 
 II. 
 
 Around the Camp-fire 
 
 12 
 
 III. 
 
 To the Glacier .... 
 
 . 26 
 
 IV. 
 
 Ted Meets Mr. Bruin . 
 
 ■ 38 
 
 V. 
 
 A Monster of the Deep 
 
 . 48 
 
 VI. 
 
 The Island Home of Kalitan 
 
 . 60 
 
 VII. 
 
 Twilight Tales and Totems 
 
 7* 
 
 VIII. 
 
 The Berry Dance 
 
 . 82 
 
 IX. 
 
 On the Way to Nome . 
 
 93 
 
 X. 
 
 In the Gold Country . 
 
 108 
 
 XI. 
 
 Afternoon Tea in an Eglu . 
 
 119 
 
 XII. 
 
 The Splendour of Saghalie Tyee . 
 
 . 129 
 
List of Illustrations 
 
 " Kalitan fished diligently but caught lit- 
 tle " (See page 3) ... Frontispiece 
 "Away went another stinging lance " . -57 
 " a group of people awaiting the canoes " . 64 
 Mount Shishaldin ...... 99 
 
 " ' Let's watch those two men. They have 
 
 evidently staked a claim together ' " . ii3 
 " two funny little lapp babies he took to 
 
 ride on a large reindeer " . . i34 
 
Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 KALITAN TENAS 
 
 It was bitterly cold. Kalitan Tenas felt it 
 more than he had in the long winter, for then 
 it was still and calm as night, and now the wind 
 was blowing straight in from the sea, and the 
 river was frozen tight. 
 
 A month before, the ice had begun to break 
 and he had thought the cold was over, and that 
 the all too short Alaskan summer was at hand. 
 Now it was the first of May, and just as he 
 had begun to think of summer pleasures, lo ! 
 a storm had come which seemed to freeze the 
 very marrow of his bones. However, our little 
 
2 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 Alaskan cousin was used to cold and trained 
 to it, and would not dream of fussing over a 
 little snow-storm. 
 
 Kalitan started out to fish for his dinner, 
 and though the snow came down heavily and 
 he had to break through the ice to make a 
 fishing-hole, and soon the ice was a wind-swept 
 plain where even his own tracks were covered 
 with a white pall, he fished steadily on. He 
 never dreamed of stopping until he had fish 
 enough for dinner, for, like most of his tribe, 
 he was persevering and industrious. 
 
 Kalitan was a Thlinkit, though, if you asked 
 him, he would say he was " Klinkit." This is 
 a tribe which has puzzled wise people for a 
 long time, for the Thlinkits are not Esquimos, 
 not Indians, not coloured people, nor whites. 
 They are the tribes living in Southeastern 
 Alaska and along the coast. Many think that 
 a long, long time ago, they came from Japan 
 or some far Eastern country, for they Iook 
 
Kalitan Tenas 3 
 
 something like the Japanese, and their lan- 
 guage has many words similar to Japanese in it. 
 
 Perhaps, long years ago, some shipwrecked 
 Japanese were cast upon the coast of Alaska, 
 and, finding their boats destroyed and the land 
 good to live in, settled there, and thus began 
 the Thlinkit tribes. 
 
 The Chilcats, Haidahs, and Tsimsheans are 
 all Thlinkits, and are by far the best of the 
 brown people of the Northland. They are 
 honest, simple, and kind, and more intelligent 
 than the Indians living farther north, in the 
 colder regions. The Thlinkit coast is washed 
 by the warm current from the Japan Sea, and 
 it is not much colder than Chicago or Boston, 
 though the winter is a little longer. 
 
 Kalitan fished diligently but caught little. 
 He was warmly clad in sealskin; around his 
 neck was a white bearskin ruff, as warm as 
 toast, and very pretty, too, as soft and fluffy as 
 a lady's boa. On his feet were moccasins of 
 
4 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 walrus hide. He had been perhaps an hour 
 watching the hole in the ice, and knelt there 
 so still that he looked almost as though he were 
 frozen. Indeed, that was what those thought 
 who saw him there, for suddenly a dog-sledge 
 came round the corner of the hill and a loud 
 halloo greeted his ears. 
 
 " Boston men," he said to himself as he 
 watched them, " lost the trail." 
 
 They had indeed lost the trail, and Ted 
 Strong had begun to think they would never 
 find it again. 
 
 Chetwoof, their Indian guide, had not talked 
 very much about it, but lapsed into his favourite 
 " No understand," a remark he always made 
 when he did not want to answer what was said 
 to him. 
 
 Ted and his father were on their way from 
 Sitka to the Copper River. Mr. Strong was 
 on the United States Geological Survey, which 
 Ted knew meant that he had to go all around 
 
 ' 
 
Kalitan Tenas 5 
 
 the country and poke about all day among rocks 
 and mountains and glaciers. He had come with 
 his father to this far Alaskan clime in the hap- 
 piest expectation of adventures with bears and 
 Indians, alway dear to the heart of a boy. 
 
 He was pretty tired of the sledge, having 
 been in it since early morning, and he was cold 
 and hungry besides; so he was delighted when 
 the dogs stopped and his father said: 
 
 " Hop out, son, and stretch your legs. We'll 
 try to find out where we are before we go any 
 farther." 
 
 Chetwoof meanwhile was interviewing the 
 boy, who came quickly toward them. 
 
 " Who are you?" demanded Chetwoof. 
 
 " Kalitan Tenas," was the brief reply. 
 
 " Where are we? " was the next question. 
 
 " Near to Pilchickamin River." 
 
 " Where is a camp? " 
 
 " There," said the boy, pointing toward a 
 clump of pine-trees. " Ours." 
 
6 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 Ted by this time was tired of his own un- 
 wonted silence, and he came up to Kalitan, 
 holding out his hand. 
 
 " My name is Ted Strong," he said, genially, 
 grinning cheerfully at the young Alaskan. " I 
 say this is a jolly place. I wish you would teach 
 me to fish in a snow-hole. It must be great fun. 
 I like you; let's be friends!" Kalitan took 
 the boy's hand in his own rough one. 
 
 " Mahsie " (thank you), he said, a sudden 
 quick smile sweeping his dark face like a fleet- 
 ing sunbeam, but disappearing as quickly, leav- 
 ing it grave again. u 01o?" (hungry). 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Strong, " hungry and cold." 
 
 " Camp," said Kalitan, preparing to lead the 
 way, with the hospitality of his tribe, for the 
 Thlinkits are always ready to share food and 
 fire with any stranger. The two boys strode 
 off together, and Mr. Strong could scarcely 
 help smiling at the contrast between them. 
 
 Ted was the taller, but slim even in the furs 
 
Kalitan Tenas 7 
 
 which almost smothered him, leaving only his 
 bright face exposed to the wind and weather. 
 His hair was a tangle of yellow curls which no 
 parting could ever affect, for it stood straight 
 up from his forehead like a golden fleece; his 
 mother called it his aureole. His skin was fair 
 as a girl's, and his eyes as big and blue as a 
 young Viking's; but the Indian boy's locks 
 were black as ink, his skin was swarthy, his 
 eyes small and dark, and his features that 
 strange mixture of the Indian, the Esquimo, 
 and the Japanese which we often see in the best 
 of our Alaskan cousins. 
 
 Boys, however, are boys all the world over, 
 and friendly animals, and Ted was soon chatter- 
 ing away to his newly found friend as if he had 
 known him all his life. 
 
 " What's your name? " he asked. 
 
 " Kalitan," was the answer. " They call me 
 Kalitan Tenas ; 1 my father was Tyee." 
 1 Little Arrow. 
 
8 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 " Where is he? " asked Ted. He wanted to 
 see an Indian chief. 
 
 " Dead," said Kalitan, briefly. 
 
 " I'm sorry," said Ted. He adored his own 
 father, and felt it was hard on a boy not to 
 have one. 
 
 " He was killed," said Kalitan, " but we had 
 blood-money from them," he added, sternly. 
 
 " What's that? " asked Ted, curiously. 
 
 " Long time ago, when one man kill another, 
 his clan must pay with a life. One must be 
 found from his tribe to cry, ' O-o-o-o-o-a- 
 ha-a-ich-klu-kuk-ich-klu-kuk ' " (ready to die, 
 ready to die) . His voice wailed out the mourn- 
 ful chant, which was weird and solemn and 
 almost made Ted shiver. " But now," the boy 
 went on, " Boston men " (Americans) " do not 
 like the blood-tax, so the murderer pays money 
 instead. We got many blankets and baskets 
 and moneys for Kalitan Tyee. He great chief." 
 
 " Do you live here? " asked Ted. 
 
Kalitan Tenas 9 
 
 " No, live on island out there." Kalitan 
 waved his hand seaward. " Come to fish with 
 my uncle, Klake Tyee. This good fishing- 
 ground." 
 
 " It's a pretty fine country," said Ted, glanc- 
 ing at the scene, which bore charm to other than 
 boyish eyes. To the east were the mountains 
 sheltering a valley through which the frozen 
 river wound like a silver ribbon, widening 
 toward the sea. A cold green glacier filled the 
 valley between two mountains with its peaks 
 of beauty. Toward the shore, which swept in 
 toward the river's mouth in a sheltered cove, 
 were clumps of trees, giant fir, aspen, and hem- 
 lock, green and beautiful, while seaward swept 
 the waves in white-capped loveliness. 
 
 Kalitan ushered them to the camp with great 
 politeness and considerable pride. 
 
 " You've a good place to camp," said Mr. 
 Strong, " and we will gladly share your fire 
 until we are warm enough to go on." 
 
io Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 Ted's face fell. " Must we go right away? " 
 he asked. " This is such a jolly place." 
 
 " No go to-day," said Kalitan, briefly, to 
 Chetwoof. " Colesnass." 1 
 
 "Huh!" said Chetwoof. "Think some." 
 
 " Here comes my uncle," said Kalitan, and 
 he ran eagerly to meet an old Indian who came 
 toward the camp from the shore. He eagerly 
 explained the situation to the Tyee, who wel- 
 comed the strangers with grave politeness. He 
 was an old man, with a seamed, scarred face, 
 but kindly eyes. Chief of the Thlinkits, his 
 tribe was scattered, his children dead, and Kali- 
 tan about all left to him of interest in life. 
 
 " There will be more snow," he said to Mr. 
 Strong. " You are welcome. Stay and share 
 our fire and food." 
 
 " Do let us stay, father," cried Ted, and his 
 father smiled indulgently, but Kalitan looked 
 at him in astonishment. Alaskan boys are 
 
 1 Snow. 
 
Kalitan Tenas II 
 
 taught to hold their tongues and let their elders 
 decide matters, and Kalitan would never have 
 dreamed of teasing for anything. 
 
 But Mr. Strong did not wish to face another 
 snow-storm in the sledge, and knew he could 
 work but little till the storm was passed; so 
 he readily consented to stay a few days and let 
 Ted see some real Alaskan hunting and fishing. 
 
 Both boys were delighted, and soon had the 
 camp rearranged to accommodate the strangers. 
 The fire was built up, Ted and Kalitan gather- 
 ing cones and fir branches, which made a fra- 
 grant blaze, while Chetwoof cared for the 
 dogs, and the old chief helped Mr. Strong pitch 
 his tent in the lee of some fragrant firs. Soon 
 all was prepared and supper cooking over the 
 coals, — a supper of fresh fish and seal fat, 
 which Alaskans consider a great delicacy, and 
 to which Mr. Strong added coffee and crackers 
 from his stores, — and Indians and whites ate 
 together in friendliness and amity. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 AROUND THE CAMP-FIRE 
 
 " How does it happen that you speak Eng- 
 lish, Kalitan ? " asked Mr. Strong as they sat 
 around the camp-fire that evening. The snow 
 had continued during the afternoon, and the 
 boys had had an exciting time coasting and 
 snow-balling and enjoying themselves generally. 
 
 cc I went for a few months to the Mission 
 School at Wrangel," said Kalitan. " I learned 
 much there. They teach the boys to read and 
 write and do sums and to work the ground be- 
 sides. They learn much more than the girls." 
 
 " Huh ! " said the old chief, grimly. " Girls 
 learn too much. They no good for Indian 
 wives, and white men not marry them. Best 
 
Around the Camp-fire 13 
 
 for girls to stay at home at the will of their 
 fathers until they get husbands." 
 
 " So you've been in Wrangel," said Ted to 
 Kalitan. " We went there, too. It's a dandy 
 place. Do you remember the fringe of white 
 mountains back of the harbour? The people 
 said the woods were full of game, but we didn't 
 have time to go hunting. There are a few 
 shops there, but it seemed to me a very small 
 place to have been built since 1834. In the 
 States whole towns grow up in two or three 
 weeks." 
 
 " Huh ! " said Kalitan, with a quick shrug 
 of his shoulders, " quick grow, sun fade and 
 wind blow down." 
 
 " I don't think the sun could ever fade in 
 Wrangel," laughed Ted. " They told me there 
 it hadn't shone but fifteen days in three months. 
 It rained all the time." 
 
 " Rain is nothing," said Kalitan. " It is 
 when the Ice Spirit speaks in the North Wind's 
 
14 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 roar and in the crackling of the floes that we 
 tremble. The glaciers are the children of the 
 Mountain Spirit whom our fathers worshipped. 
 He is angry, and lo! he hurls down icebergs 
 in his wrath, he tosses them about, upon the 
 streams he tosses the kyaks like feathers and 
 washes the land with the waves of Sitth. When 
 our people are buried in the ground instead of 
 being burnt with the fire, they must go for ever 
 to the place of Sitth, of everlasting cold, where 
 never sun abides, nor rain, nor warmth." 
 
 Ted had listened spellbound to this poetic 
 speech and gazed at Kalitan in open-mouthed 
 amazement. A boy who could talk like that 
 was a new and delightful playmate, and he 
 said: 
 
 %i Tell me more about things, Kalitan," but 
 the Indian was silent, ashamed of having 
 spoken. 
 
 " What do you do all day when you are at 
 home? " persisted the American. 
 
Around the Camp-fire 15 
 
 " In winter there is nothing to do but to 
 hunt and fish," said Kalitan. " Sometimes we 
 do not find much game, then we think of how, 
 when a Thlinkit dies, he has plenty. If he has 
 lived as a good tribesman, his kyak glides 
 smoothly over the silver waters into the sunset, 
 until, o'er gently flowing currents, it reaches 
 the place of the mighty forest. A bad war- 
 rior's canoe passes dark whirlpools and terrible 
 rapids until he reaches the place we speak not 
 of, where reigns Sitth. 
 
 " In the summer-time we still hunt and fish. 
 Many have learned to till the ground, and we 
 gather berries and wood for the winter. The 
 other side of the inlet, the tree-trunks drift 
 from the Yukon and are stranded on the islands, 
 so there is plenty for firewood. But upon our 
 island the women gather a vine and dry it. 
 They collect seaweed for food in the early 
 spring, and dry it and press it into square cakes, 
 which make good food after they have hung 
 
1 6 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 long in the sun. They make baskets and sell 
 them to the white people. Often my uncle and 
 I take them to Valdez, and once we brought 
 back fifty dollars for those my mother made. 
 There is always much to do." 
 
 " Don't you get terribly cold hunting in the 
 winter?" asked Ted. 
 
 " Thlinkit boy not a baby," said Kalitan, a 
 trifle scornfully. " We begin to be hardened 
 when we are babies. When I was five years 
 old, I left my father and went to my uncle to 
 be taught. Every morning I bathed in the 
 ocean, even if I had to break ice to find water, 
 and then I rolled in the snow. After that my 
 uncle brushed me with a switch bundle, and 
 not lightly, for his arm is strong. I must not 
 cry out, no matter if he hurt, for a chiefs son 
 must never show pain nor fear. That would 
 give his people shame." 
 
 " Don't you get sick? " asked Ted, who felt 
 
Around the Camp-fire 17 
 
 cold all over at the idea of being treated in such 
 a heroic manner. 
 
 " The Kooshta 1 comes sometimes," said 
 Kalitan. " The Shaman 2 used to cast him out, 
 but now the white doctor can do it, unless the 
 kooshta is too strong." 
 
 Ted was puzzled as to Kalitan's exact mean- 
 ing, but did not like to ask too many questions 
 for fear of being impolite, so he only said: 
 
 " Being sick is not very nice, anyhow." 
 
 " To be bewitched is the most terrible," said 
 Kalitan, gravely. 
 
 "How does that happen?" asked Ted, 
 eagerly, but Kalitan shook his head. 
 
 " It is not good to hear," he said. " The 
 medicine-man must come with his drum and 
 rattle, and he is very terrible. If the white 
 men will not allow any more the punishing of 
 
 1 Kooshta, a spirit in animal's form which inhabits the 
 body of sick persons and must be cast out, according to 
 Thlinkit belief. 
 
 * Shaman, native medicine-man. 
 
18 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 the witches, they should send more of the white 
 medicine-men, if we are not to have any more 
 of our own." 
 
 " Boys should not talk about big things," 
 said the old chief suddenly. He had been sit- 
 ting quietly over the fire, and spoke so suddenly 
 that Kalitan collapsed into silence. Ted, too, 
 quieted down at the old chief's stern voice and 
 manner, and both boys sat and listened to the 
 men talking, while the snow still swirled about 
 them. 
 
 Tyee Klake told Mr. Strong many interest- 
 ing things about the coast country, and gave 
 him valuable information as to the route he 
 should pursue in his search for interesting 
 things in the mountains. 
 
 " It will be two weeks before the snow will 
 break so you can travel in comfort," he said. 
 " Camp with us. We remain here one week, 
 then we go to the island. We can take you 
 
Around the Camp-fire 19 
 
 there, you will see many things, and your boy 
 will hunt with Kalitan." 
 
 " Where is your island? " asked Mr. Strong. 
 
 Ted said nothing, but his eyes were fixed 
 eagerly upon his father. It was easy to see that 
 he wished to accept the invitation. 
 
 " Out there." Tyee Klake pointed toward 
 where the white coast-line seemed to fade into 
 silvery blue. 
 
 "There are many islands; on some lives 
 no one, but we have a village. Soon it will be 
 nearly deserted, for many of our people rove 
 during the summer, and wander from one camp- 
 ing-ground to another, seeking the best game 
 or fish. But Kalitan's people remain always on 
 the island. Him I take with me to hunt the 
 whale and seal, to gather the berries, and to 
 trap the little animals who bear fur. We find 
 even seal upon our shores, though fewer since 
 your people have come among us." 
 
 " Which were the best, Russians or Ameri- 
 
20 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 cans?" asked Mr. Strong, curious to see what 
 the old Indian would say, but the Tyee was not 
 to be caught napping. 
 
 " Men all alike," he said. " Thlinkit, Rus- 
 sian, American, some good, some bad. Rus- 
 sians used Indians more, gave them hunting 
 and fishing, and only took part of the skins. 
 Americans like to hunt and fish all themselves 
 and leave nothing for the Indians. Russians 
 teach quass, Americans teach whiskey. Before 
 white men came, Indians were healthy. They 
 ate fish, game, berries; now they must have 
 other foods, and they are not good for Indians 
 here," — he touched his stomach. " Indian 
 used to dress in skins and furs, now he must 
 copy white man and shiver with cold. He soon 
 has the coughing sickness and then he goes into 
 the unknown. 
 
 " But the government of the Americans is 
 best because it tries to do some things for the 
 Indian. It teaches our boys useful things in 
 
Around the Camp-fire 21 
 
 the schools, and, if some of its people are bad, 
 some Indians are bad, too. Men all alike," 
 he repeated with the calm stoicism of his race. 
 
 " The government is far away," said Mr. 
 Strong, " and should not be blamed for the 
 doings of all its servants. I should like to see 
 this island home of yours, and think we must 
 accept your invitation; shall we, Ted?" he 
 smiled at the boy. 
 
 "Yes, indeed; thank you, sir," said Ted, 
 and he and Kalitan grinned at each other hap- 
 pily. 
 
 " We shall stay in camp until the blue jay 
 comes," said the old chief, smiling, " and then 
 seek the village of my people." 
 
 " What does the blue jay mean? " asked Ted, 
 timidly, for he was very much in awe of this 
 grave old man. 
 
 Kalitan said something in Thlinkit to his 
 uncle, and the old chief, looking kindly at the 
 boy, replied with a nod : 
 
22 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 " I will tell you the story of the blue jay," 
 he said. 
 
 " My story is of the far, far north. Beside 
 a salmon stream there dwelt people rich in 
 slaves. These caught and dried the salmon for 
 the winter, and nothing is better to eat than 
 dried salmon dipped in seal oil. All the fish 
 were caught and stored away, when lo ! the 
 whiteness fell from heaven and the snows were 
 upon them. It was the time of snow and they 
 should not have complained, but the chief was 
 evil and he cursed the whiteness. No one 
 should dare to speak evil of the Snow Spirit, 
 which comes from the Unknown! Deeper and 
 deeper grew the snow. It flew like feathers 
 about the eglu, 1 and the slaves had many troub- 
 les in putting in limbs for the fire. Then the 
 snow came in flakes so large they seemed like 
 the wings of birds, and the house was covered, 
 and they could no longer keep their kyaks on 
 'Hut. 
 
Around the Camp-fire 23 
 
 top of the snow. All were shut tight in the 
 house, and their fire and food ran low. They 
 knew not how many days they were shut in, 
 for there was no way to tell the day from night, 
 only they knew they were sore hungry and that 
 the Snow Spirit was angry and terrible in his 
 anger. 
 
 11 But each one spoke not; he only chose a 
 place where he should lie down and die when 
 he could bear no more. 
 
 " Only the chief spoke, and he once. ' Snow 
 Spirit,' he said aloud, ' I alone am evil. These 
 are-not so. Slay me and spare ! ' But the Snow 
 Spirit answered not, only the wind screamed 
 around the eglu, and his screams were terrible 
 and sad. Then hope left the heart of the chief 
 and he prepared to die with all his people and 
 all his slaves. 
 
 " But on the day when their last bit of food 
 was gone, lo ! something pecked at the top of 
 the smoke-hole, and it sang ' Nuck-tee,' and it 
 
24 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 was a blue jay. The chief heard and saw and 
 wondered, and, looking 'neath the smoke-hole, 
 he saw a scarlet something upon the floor. 
 Picking it up, he found it was a bunch of In- 
 dian tomato berries, red and ripe, and quickly 
 hope sprang in his breast. 
 
 " ' Somewhere is summer/ he cried. * Let 
 us up and away.' 
 
 " Then the slaves hastened to dig out the 
 canoe, and they drew it with mighty labour, 
 for they were weak from fasting, over the 
 snows to the shore, and there they launched 
 it without sail or paddle, with all the people 
 rejoicing. And after a time the wind carried 
 them to a beach where all was summer. Birds 
 sang, flowers bloomed, and berries gleamed 
 scarlet in the sun, and there were salmon jump- 
 ing in the blue water. They ate and were sat- 
 isfied, for it was summer on the earth and sum- 
 mer in their hearts. 
 
 " That is how the Thlinkits came to our 
 
Around the Camp-fire 25 
 
 island, and so we say when the snow breaks, 
 that now comes the blue jay." 
 
 " Thank you for telling us such a dandy 
 story," cried Ted, who had not lost a word of 
 this quaint tale, told so graphically over the 
 camp-fire of the old chief Klake. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 TO THE GLACIER 
 
 Ted slept soundly all night, wrapped in the 
 bearskins from the sledge, in the little tent he 
 shared with his father. When the morning 
 broke, he sprang to his feet and hurried out 
 of doors, hopeful for the day's pleasures. The 
 snow had stopped, but the ground was covered 
 with a thick white pall, and the mountains were 
 turned to rose colour in the morning sun, which 
 was rising in a blaze of glory. 
 
 " Good morning, Kalitan," shouted Ted to 
 his Indian friend, whom he spied heaping wood 
 upon the camp-fire. " Isn't it dandy? What 
 can we do to-day? " 
 
 " Have breakfast," said Kalitan, briefly. 
 " Then do what Tyee says." 
 
 26 
 
To the Glacier 27 
 
 Well, I hope he'll say something exciting," 
 said Ted. 
 
 " Think good day to hunt," said Kalitan, as 
 he prepared things for the morning meal. 
 
 " Where did you get the fish? " asked Ted. 
 
 " Broke ice-hole and fished when I got up," 
 said the Thlinkit. 
 
 " You don't mean you have been fishing 
 already," exclaimed the lazy Ted, and Kalitan 
 smiled as he said: 
 
 " White people like fish. Tyee said: ' Catch 
 fish for Boston men's breakfast,' and I go." 
 
 " Do you always mind him like that? " asked 
 Ted. He generally obeyed his father, but there 
 were times when he wasn't anxious to and ar- 
 gued a little about it. Kalitan looked at him 
 in astonishment. 
 
 " He chief! " he said, simply. 
 
 " What will we do with the camp if we all 
 go hunting? " asked Ted. 
 
 " Nothing," said Kalitan. 
 
28 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 " Leave Chetwoof to watch, I suppose," con- 
 tinued Ted. 
 
 "Watch? Why?" asked Kalitan. 
 
 "Why, everything; some one will steal our 
 things," said Ted. 
 
 " Thlinkits not steal," said Kalitan, with dig- 
 nity. " Maybe white man come along and steal 
 from his brothers; Indians not. If we go away 
 to long hunt, we cache blankets and no one 
 would touch." 
 
 " What do you mean by cache? " asked Ted. 
 
 " We build a mound hut near the house, and 
 put there the blankets and stores. Sometime 
 they stay there for years, but no one would take 
 from a cache. If one has plenty of wood by 
 the seashore or in the forest, he may cord it and 
 go his way and no one will touch it. A deer 
 hangs on a tree where dogs may not reach it, 
 but no stray hunter would slice even a piece. 
 We are not thieves." 
 
 " It is a pity you could not send missionaries 
 
To the Glacier 29 
 
 to the States, you Thlinkits, my boy," said Mr. 
 Strong, who had come up in time to hear Kali- 
 tan's words. " I'm afraid white people are less 
 honest." 
 
 " Teddy, do you know we are to have some 
 hunting to-day, and that you'll get your first 
 experience with a glacier." 
 
 " Hurrah," shouted Ted, dancing up and 
 down in excitement. 
 
 " Tyee Klake says we can hunt toward the 
 base of the glacier, and I shall try to go a little 
 ways upon it and see how the land lies, or, 
 rather, the ice. It is getting warmer, and, if 
 it continues a few days, the snow will melt 
 enough to let us go over to that island you are 
 so anxious to see." 
 
 Ted's eyes shone, and the amount of break- 
 fast he put away quite prepared him for his 
 day's work, which, pleasant though it might be, 
 certainly was hard work. The chief said they 
 must seek the glacier first before the sun got 
 
30 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 hot, for it was blinding on the snow. So they 
 set out soon after breakfast, leaving Chetwoof 
 in charge of the camp, and with orders to catch 
 enough fish for dinner. 
 
 " We'll be ready to eat them, heads and 
 tails," said Ted, and his father added, laugh- 
 ingly : 
 
 " ' Bible, bones, and hymn-book, too.' " 
 
 " What does that mean?" asked Ted, as 
 Kalitan looked up inquiringly. 
 
 " Once a writer named Macaulay said he 
 could make a rhyme for any word in the Eng- 
 lish language, and a man replied, ' You can't 
 rhyme Timbuctoo.' But he answered without 
 a pause : 
 
 " If I were a Cassowary 
 On the plains of Timbuctoo, 
 I'd eat up a missionary, 
 Bible, bones, and hymn-book, too." 
 
 Ted laughed, but Kalitan said, grimly: 
 
 " Not good to eat Boston missionary, he 
 
 all skin and bone ! " 
 
To the Glacier 31 
 
 "Where did they get the name Alaska?" 
 asked Ted, as they tramped over the snow 
 toward the glacier. 
 
 " Al-ay-ck-sa — great country," said Kalitan. 
 
 " It certainly is," said Ted. "It's fine! I 
 never saw anything like this at home," point- 
 ing as he spoke to the scene in front of him. 
 
 A group of evergreen trees, firs and the 
 Alaska spruce, so useful for fires and torches, 
 fringed the edge of the ice-field, green and ver- 
 dant in contrast to the gleaming snows of the 
 mountain, which rose in a gentle slope at first, 
 then precipitously, in a dazzling and enchanting 
 combination of colour. It was as if some mar- 
 ble palace of old rose before them against the 
 heavens, for the ice was cut and serrated into 
 spires and gables, turrets and towers, all seem- 
 ing to be ornamented with fretwork where the 
 sun's rays struck the peaks and turned them 
 into silver and gold. Lower down the ice 
 looked like animals, so twisted was it into fan- 
 
32 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 tastic shapes; fierce sea monsters with yawning 
 mouths seeming ready to devour; bears and 
 wolves, whales, gigantic elephants, and snowy 
 tigers, tropic beasts looking strangely out of 
 place in this arctic clime. 
 
 Deep crevices cut the ice-fields, and in their 
 green-blue depths lurked death, for the least 
 misstep would dash the traveller into an abyss 
 which had no bottom. Beyond the glacier it- 
 self, the snow-capped mountains rose grand and 
 serene, their glittering peaks clear against the 
 blue sky, which hue the glacier reflected and 
 played with in a thousand glinting shades, from 
 purpling amethyst to lapis lazuli and tur- 
 quoise. 
 
 As they gazed spellbound, a strange thing oc- 
 curred, a thing of such wonder and beauty that 
 Ted could but grasp his father's arm in si- 
 lence. 
 
 Suddenly the peaks seemed to melt away, the 
 white ice-pinnacles became real turrets, houses 
 
To the Glacier 33 
 
 and cathedrals appeared, and before them arose 
 a wonderful city of white marble, dream-like 
 and shadowy, but beautiful as Aladdin's palace 
 in the " Arabian Nights." At last Ted could 
 keep silent no longer. 
 
 '" What is it?" he cried, and the old chief 
 answered, gravely: 
 
 "The City of the Dead," but his father 
 said: 
 
 " A mirage, my boy. They are often seen 
 in these regions, but you are fortunate in seeing 
 one of the finest I have ever witnessed." 
 
 " What is a mirage? " demanded Ted. 
 
 " An optical delusion," said his father, " and 
 one I am sure I couldn't explain so that you 
 would understand it. The queer thing about 
 a mirage is that you usually see the very thing 
 most unlikely to be found in that particular 
 locality. In the Sahara, men see flowers and 
 trees and fountains, and here on this glacier we 
 see a splendid city." 
 
34 O ur Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 " It certainly is queer. What makes glaciers, 
 daddy?" Ted was even more interested than 
 usual in his father's talk because of Kalitan, 
 whose dark eyes never left Mr. Strong's face, 
 and who seemed to drink in every word of 
 information as eagerly as a thirsty bird drinks 
 water. 
 
 *' The dictionaries tell you that glaciers are 
 fields of ice, or snow and ice, formed in the 
 regions of perpetual snow, and moving slowly 
 down the mountain slopes or valleys. Many 
 people say the glaciers are the fathers of the 
 icebergs which float at sea, and that these are 
 broken off the glacial stream, but others deny 
 this. When the glacial ice and snow reaches 
 a point where the air is so warm that the ice 
 melts as fast as it is pushed down from above, 
 the glacier ends and a river begins. These are 
 the finest glaciers in the world, except, perhaps, 
 those of the Himalayas. 
 
 " This bids fair to be a wonderfully interest- 
 
To the Glacier 35 
 
 ing place for my work, Ted, and I'm glad 
 you're likely to be satisfied with your new 
 friends, for I shall have to go to many places 
 and do a lot of things less interesting than the 
 things Kalitan can show you, 
 
 " See these blocks of fine marble and those 
 superb masses of porphyry and chalcedony, — 
 but there's something which will interest you 
 more. Take my gun and see if you can't bring 
 down a bird for supper." 
 
 Wild ducks were flying low across the edge 
 of the glacier and quite near to the boys, and 
 Ted grasped his father's gun in wild excite- 
 ment. He was never allowed to touch a gun 
 at home. Dearly as he loved his mother, it had 
 always seemed very strange to him that she 
 should show such poor taste about firearms, 
 and refuse to let him have any; and now that 
 he had a gun really in his hands, he could hardly 
 hold it, he was so excited. Of course it was not 
 the first time, for his father had allowed him 
 
36 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 to practise shooting at a mark ever since they 
 had reached Alaska, but this was the first time 
 he had tried to shoot a living target. He se- 
 lected his duck, aimed quickly, and fired. Bang! 
 Off went the gun, and, wonder of wonders I 
 two ducks fell instead of one. 
 
 " Well done, Ted, that duck was twins," 
 cried his father, laughing, almost as excited as 
 the boy himself, and they ran to pick up the 
 birds. Kalitan smiled, too, and quietly picked 
 up one, saying: 
 
 " This one Kalitan's," showing, as he spoke, 
 his arrow through the bird's side, for he had 
 discharged an arrow as Ted fired his gun. 
 
 " Too bad, Ted. I thought you were a 
 mighty hunter, a Nimrod who killed two birds 
 with one stone," said Mr. Strong, but Ted 
 laughed and said: 
 
 " So I got the one I shot at, I don't care." 
 
 They had wild duck at supper that night, for 
 
To the Glacier 37 
 
 Chetwoof plucked the birds and roasted them 
 on a hot stone over the spruce logs, and Ted, 
 tired and wet and hungry, thought he had never 
 tasted such a delicious meal in his life. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 TED MEETS MR. BRUIN 
 
 It seemed to Ted as if he had scarcely 
 touched the pillow on the nights which followed 
 before it was daylight, and he would awake to 
 find the sun streaming in at his tent flap. He 
 always meant to go fishing with Kalitan before 
 breakfast, so the moment he woke up he jumped 
 out of bed, if his pile of fragrant pine boughs 
 covered with skins could be called a bed, and 
 hurried through his toilet. Quick as he tried 
 to be, however, he was never ready before Kali- 
 tan, for, when Ted appeared, the Indian boy 
 had always had his roll in the snow and was 
 preparing his lines. 
 
 Kalitan was perfectly fascinated with the 
 American boy. He thought him the most won- 
 
 38 
 
Ted Meets Mr. Bruin 39 
 
 derful specimen of a boy that he had ever seen. 
 He knew so much that Kalitan did not, and 
 talked so brightly that being with Ted was to 
 the Indian like having a book without the 
 bother of reading. There were some things 
 about him that Kalitan could not understand, 
 to be sure. Ted talked to his father just as if 
 he were another boy. He even spoke to Tyee 
 Klake on occasions when that august personage 
 had not only not asked him a question, but was 
 not speaking at all. From the Thlinkit point 
 of view, this was a most remarkable perform- 
 ance on Ted's part, but Kalitan thought it must 
 be all right for a " Boston boy," for even the 
 stern old chief seemed to regard happy-go-lucky 
 Ted with approval. 
 
 Ted, on the other hand, thought Kalitan the 
 most remarkable boy he had ever met in all his 
 life. He had not been much with boys. His 
 " Lady Mother," as he always called the gentle, 
 brown-eyed being who ruled his father and 
 
40 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 himself, had not cared to have her little Gala- 
 had mingle with the rougher city boys who 
 thronged the streets, and had kept him with 
 herself a great deal. Ted had loved books, and 
 he and his little sister Judith had lived in a 
 pleasant atmosphere of refinement, playing hap- 
 pily together until the boy had grown almost 
 to dread anything common or low. His mother 
 knew he had moral courage, and would face 
 any issue pluckily, but his father feared he 
 would grow up a milksop, and thought he 
 needed hardening. 
 
 Mrs. Strong objected to the hardening proc- 
 ess if it consisted in turning her boy loose to 
 learn the ways of the city streets, but had con- 
 sented to his going with his father, urged 
 thereto by fears for his health, which was not of 
 the best, and the knowledge that he had reached 
 the u bear and Indian " age, and it was cer- 
 tainly a good thing for him to have his experi- 
 ences first-hand. 
 
Ted Meets Mr. Bruin 41 
 
 To Ted the whole thing was perfectly de- 
 lightful. When he lay down at night, he 
 would often like to see " Mother and Ju," but 
 he was generally so tired that he was asleep 
 before he had time to think enough to be really 
 homesick. During the day there was too much 
 doing to have any thinking time, and, since he 
 had met this boy friend, he thought of little 
 else but him and what they were to do next. 
 The Tyee had assured Mr. Strong that it was 
 perfectly safe for the boys to go about together. 
 
 " Kalitan knows all the trails," he said. 
 " He take care of white brother. Anything 
 come, call Chetwoof." 
 
 As Mr. Strong was very anxious to penetrate 
 the glacier under Klake's guidance, and wanted 
 Ted to enjoy himself to the full, he left the boys 
 to themselves, the only stipulation being that 
 they should not go on the water without Chet- 
 woof. 
 
 There seemed to be always something new 
 
42 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 to do. As the days grew warmer, the ice broke 
 in the river, and the boys tramped all over the 
 country. Ted learned to use the bow and ar- 
 row, and brought down many a bird for sup- 
 per, and proud he was when he served up for 
 his father a wild duck, shot, plucked, and 
 cooked all by himself. 
 
 They fished in the stream by day and set 
 lines by night. They trapped rabbits and hares 
 in the woods, and one day even got a silver fox, 
 a skin greatly prized by the fur traders on 
 account of its rarity. Kalitan insisted that Ted 
 should have it, though he could have gotten 
 forty dollars for it from a white trader, and Ted 
 was rejoiced at the idea of taking it home to 
 make a set of furs for Judith. 
 
 One day Ted had a strange experience, and 
 not a very pleasant one, which might have been 
 very serious had it not been for Kalitan. He 
 had noticed a queer-looking plant on the river- 
 bank the day before, and had stopped to pick 
 
Ted Meets Mr. Bruin 43 
 
 it up, when he received such a sudden and unex- 
 pected pricking as to cause him to jump back 
 and shout for Kalitan. His hand felt as if it 
 had been pierced by a thousand needles, and he 
 flew to a snow-bank to rub it with snow. 
 
 " I must have gotten hold of some kind of 
 a cactus," he said to Kalitan, who only replied: 
 
 " Huh ! picked hedgehog," as he pointed to 
 where Ted's cactus was ambling indignantly 
 away with every quill rattling and set straight 
 out in anger at having his morning nap dis- 
 turbed. Kalitan wrapped Ted's hand in soft 
 mud, which took the pain out, but he couldn't 
 use it much for the next few days, and did not 
 feel eager to hunt when his father and the Tyee 
 started out in the morning. Kalitan remained 
 with him, although his eyes looked wistful, for 
 he had heard the chief talk about bear tracks 
 having been seen the day before. Bears were 
 quite a rarity, but sometimes an old cinnamon 
 or even a big black bruin would venture down 
 
44 O ur Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 in search of fresh fish, which he would catch 
 cleverly with his great paws. 
 
 Kalitan and Ted fished awhile, and then Ted 
 wandered away a little, wondering what lay 
 around a point of rock which he had never yet 
 explored. Something lay there which he had 
 by no means expected to see, and he scarcely 
 knew what to make of it. On the river-bank, 
 close to the edge of the stream, was a black 
 figure, an Indian fishing, as he supposed, and 
 he paused to watch. The fisherman was cov- 
 ered with fur from head to foot, and, as Ted 
 watched him, he seemed to have no line or rod. 
 Going nearer, the boy grew even more puzzled, 
 and, though the man's back was toward him, 
 he could easily see that there was something un- 
 usual about the figure. Just as he was within 
 hailing distance and about to shout, the figure 
 made a quick dive toward the water and sprang 
 back again with a fish between his paws, and 
 Ted saw that it was a huge bear. He gave a 
 
Ted Meets Mr. Bruin 45 
 
 sharp cry and then stood stock-still. The crea- 
 ture looked around and stood gnawing his fish 
 and staring at Ted as stupidly as the boy stared 
 at him. Then Ted heard a halloo behind him 
 and Kalitan's voice : 
 
 " Run for Chetwoof, quick ! " 
 
 Ted obeyed as the animal started to move 
 off. He ran toward the camp, hearing the re- 
 port of Kalitan's gun as he ran. Chetwoof, 
 hearing the noise, hurried out, and it was but 
 a few moments before he was at Kalitan's side. 
 To Ted it seemed like a day before he could 
 get back and see what was happening, but he 
 arrived on the scene in time to see Chetwoof 
 despatch the animal. 
 
 " Hurrah!" cried Ted. "You've killed a 
 bear," but Chetwoof only grunted crossly. 
 
 "Very bad luck! " he said, and Kalitan ex- 
 plained: 
 
 " Indians don't like to kill bears or ravens. 
 Spirits in them, maybe ancestors." 
 
46 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 Ted looked at him in great astonishment, 
 but Kalitan explained : 
 
 " Once, long ago, a Thlinkit girl laughed at 
 a bear track in the snow and said : ' Ugly animal 
 must have made that track ! ' But a bear heard 
 and was angry. He seized the maiden and bore 
 her to his den, and turned her into a bear, and 
 she dwelt with him, until one day her brother 
 killed the bear and she was freed. And from 
 that day Thlinkits speak respectfully of bears, 
 and do not try to kill them, for they know not 
 whether it is a bear or a friend who hides 
 within the shaggy skin." 
 
 The Tyee and Mr. Strong were greatly sur- 
 prised when they came home to see the huge 
 carcass of Mr. Bruin, and they listened to the 
 account of Kalitan's bravery. The old chief 
 said little, but he looked approvingly at Kali- 
 tan, and said " Hyas kloshe " (very good), 
 which unwonted praise made the boy's face 
 glow with pleasure. They had a great discus- 
 
Ted Meets Mr. Bruin 47 
 
 sion as to whom the bear really belonged. Ted 
 had found him, Kalitan had shot him first, and 
 Chetwoof had killed him, so they decided to 
 go shares. Ted wanted the skin to take home, 
 and thought it would make a splendid rug for 
 his mother's library, so his father paid Kalitan 
 and Chetwoof what each would have received 
 as their share had the skin been sold to a trader, 
 and they all had bear meat for supper. Ted 
 thought it finer than any beefsteak he had ever 
 eaten, and over it Kalitan smacked his lips audi- 
 bly. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 A MONSTER OF THE DEEP 
 
 The big bear occupied considerable atten- 
 tion for several days. He had to be carefully 
 skinned and part of the meat dried for future 
 use. Alaskans never use salt for preserving 
 meat. Indeed they seem to dislike salt very 
 much. It had taken Ted some time to learn 
 to eat all his meat and fish quite fresh, without 
 a taste of salt, but he had grown to like it. 
 There is something in the sun and wind of 
 Alaska which cures meat perfectly, and the 
 bear's meat was strung on sticks and dried in 
 the sun so that they might enjoy it for a long 
 time. 
 
 It seemed as if the adventure with Bruin was 
 enough to last the boys for several days, for 
 
 4 8 
 
A Monster of the Deep 49 
 
 Ted's hand still pained him from the porcu- 
 pine's quills, and he felt tired and lazy. He lay 
 by the camp-fire one afternoon listening to Kali- 
 tan's tales of his island home, when his father 
 came in from a long tramp, and, looking at 
 him a little anxiously, asked : 
 
 " What's the matter, son? " 
 
 Hl Nothing, I'm only tired," said Ted, but 
 Kalitan said: 
 
 " Porcupine quills poison hand. Well in a 
 few days." 
 
 " So your live cactus is getting in his work, 
 is he? I'm glad it wasn't the bear you mistook 
 for an Alaskan posy and tried to pick. I'm 
 tired myself," and Mr. Strong threw himself 
 down to rest. 
 
 " Daddy, how did we come to have Alaska, 
 anyway? " 
 
 " Well, that's a long story," said his father, 
 " but an interesting one." 
 
 " Do tell us about it," urged Ted. " I know 
 
50 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 we bought it, but what did we pay the Indians 
 for it? I shouldn't have thought they'd have 
 sold such a fine country." 
 
 Kalitan looked up quickly, and there was a 
 sudden gleam in his dark eyes that Ted had 
 never seen before. 
 
 " Thlinkits never sell," he said. " Russians 
 steal." 
 
 Mr. Strong put his hand kindly on the boy's 
 head. 
 
 "You're right, Kalitan," he said. " The 
 Russians never conquered the Thlinkits, the 
 bravest tribe in all Alaska. 
 
 " You see, Teddy, it was this way. A great 
 many years ago, about 1740, a Danish sailor 
 named Bering, who was in the service of the 
 Russians, sailed across the ocean and discovered 
 the strait named for him, and a number of 
 islands. Some of these were not inhabited, 
 others had Indians or Esquimos on them, but, 
 atter the manner of the early discoverers, Be- 
 
A Monster of the Deep 51 
 
 ring took possession of them all in the name of 
 the Emperor of Russia. It doesn't seem right 
 as we look at things now, but in those days 
 ' might made right, 5 and it was just the same 
 way the English did when they came to Amer- 
 ica. 
 
 " The Russians settled here, finding the fish- 
 ing and furs fine things for trade, and driving 
 the Indians, who would not yield to them, far- 
 ther and farther inland. In 1790 the Czar 
 made Alexander Baranoff manager of the trad- 
 ing company. Baranoff established trading- 
 posts in various places, and settled at Sitka, 
 where you can see the ruins of the splendid 
 castle he built. The Russians also sent mission- 
 aries to convert the Indians to the Greek 
 Church, which is the church of Russia. The 
 Indians, however, never learned to care for the 
 Russians, and often were cruelly treated by 
 them. The Russians, however, tried to do 
 something for their education, and established 
 
52 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 several schools. One as early as 1775, on Ka- 
 diak Island, had thirty pupils, who studied 
 arithmetic, reading, navigation, and four of the 
 mechanical trades, and this is a better record 
 than the American purchasers can show, I am 
 sorry to say. 
 
 " One of the recent travellers 1 in Alaska 
 says that he met in the country * American citi- 
 zens who never in their lives heard a prayer for 
 the President of the United States, nor of the 
 Fourth of July, nor the name of the capital of 
 the nation, but who have been taught to pray 
 for the Emperor of Russia, to celebrate his 
 birthday, and to commemorate the victories of 
 ancient Greece. ' In March, 1867, the Russians 
 sold Alaska to the United States for $7,200,- 
 000 in gold. It was bought for a song almost, 
 when we consider the immense amount of 
 money made for the government by the seal 
 
 1 Dr. Sheldon Jackson, General Agent of Education in 
 the Territory. 
 
A Monster of the Deep 53 
 
 fisheries, the cod and salmon industries, and the 
 opening of the gold fields. The resources of the 
 country are not half-known, and the govern- 
 ment is beginning to see this. That is one of 
 the reasons they have sent me here, with the 
 other men, to find out what the earth holds for 
 those who do not know how to look for its 
 treasures. Gold is not the best thing the earth 
 produces. There is land in Alaska little known 
 full of coal and other useful minerals. Other 
 land is covered with magnificent timber which 
 could be shipped to all parts of the world. 
 There are pasture-lands where stock will fatten 
 like pigs without any other feeding; there are 
 fertile soils which will raise almost any crops, 
 and there are intelligent Indians who can be 
 taught to work and be useful members of soci- 
 ety. I do not mean dragged off to the United 
 States to learn things they could never use in 
 their home lives, but who should be educated 
 
54 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 here to make the best of their talents in their 
 home surroundings. 
 
 " That is one crying shame to our govern- 
 ment, that they have neglected the Alaskan citi- 
 zens. Forty years have been wasted, but we 
 are beginning to wake up now, and twenty 
 years more will see the Indians of Kalitan's gen- 
 eration industrious men and women, not only 
 clever hunters and fishermen, but lumbermen, 
 coopers, furniture makers, farmers, miners, and 
 stock-raisers." 
 
 At this moment their quiet conversation was 
 interrupted by a wild shout from the shore, 
 and, springing to their feet, they saw Chetwoof 
 gesticulating wildly and shouting to the Tyee, 
 who had been mending his canoe by the river- 
 bank. Kalitan dropped everything and ran 
 without a word, scudding like the arrow from 
 which he took his name. Before Ted could 
 follow or ask what was the matter, from the 
 ocean a huge body rose ten feet out of the water, 
 
A Monster of the Deep 55 
 
 spouting jets of spray twenty feet into the air, 
 the sun striking his sides and turning them to 
 glistening silver. Then it fell back, the waters 
 churning into frothy foam for a mile around. 
 
 " It's a whale, Ted, sure as you live. Luck 
 certainly is coming your way," said his father; 
 but, at the word " whale," Ted had started 
 after Kalitan, losing no time in getting to the 
 scene of action as fast as possible. 
 
 " Watch the Tyee ! " called Kalitan over his 
 shoulder, as both boys ran down to the water's 
 edge. 
 
 The old chief was launching his kiak into 
 the seething waters, and to Ted it seemed in- 
 credible that he meant to go in that frail bark 
 in pursuit of the mighty monster. The old 
 man's face, however, was as calm as though 
 starting on a pleasure-trip in peaceful waters, 
 and Ted watched in breathless admiration to 
 see what would happen next. 
 
 Klake paddled swiftly out to sea, drawing 
 
56 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 as near as he dared to where the huge monster 
 splashed idly up and down like a great puppy 
 at play. He stopped the kiak and watched; 
 then poised his spear and threw it, and so swift 
 and graceful was his gesture that Ted exclaimed 
 in amazement. 
 
 " Tyee Klake best harpoon-thrower of all the 
 Thlinkits," said Kalitan, proudly. " Watch!" 
 
 Ted needed no such instructions. His keen 
 eyes passed from fish to man and back again, 
 and no movement of the Tyee escaped him. 
 
 The instant the harpoon was thrown, the 
 Tyee paddled furiously away, for when a har- 
 poon strikes a whale, he is likely to lash vio- 
 lently with his tail, and may destroy his enemy, 
 and this is a moment of terrible danger to the 
 harpooner. But the whale was too much aston- 
 ished to fight, and, with a terrific splash, he 
 dived deep, deep into the water, to get rid of 
 that stinging thing in his side, in the cold green 
 waters below, 
 
AWAY WENT ANOTHER STINGING LANCE. 
 
A Monster of the Deep 57 
 
 The Tyee waited, his grim face tense and 
 earnest. It might have been fifteen minutes, 
 for whales often stay under water for twenty 
 minutes before coming to the surface to breathe, 
 but to Kalitan and Ted it seemed an hour. 
 
 Then the spray dashed high into the air 
 again, and the instant the huge body appeared, 
 Klake drew near, and away went another sting- 
 ing lance again, swift and, oh ! so sure of aim. 
 This time the whale struck out wildly, and Kali- 
 tan held his breath, while Ted gasped at the 
 Tyee's danger, for his kiak rocked like a shell 
 and then was quite hidden from their sight by 
 the spray which was dashed heavenward like 
 clouds of white smoke. 
 
 Once more the creature dived, and this time 
 he stayed down only a few minutes, and, when 
 he came up, blood spouted into the air and dyed 
 the sea crimson, and Kalitan exclaimed: 
 
 " Pierced his lungs! Now he must die." 
 
 There was one more bright, glancing weapon 
 
58 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 flying through the air, and Ted noticed attached 
 to it by a thong a curious-looking bulb, and 
 asked Kalitan: 
 
 " What is on that lance? " 
 
 " Sealskin buoy," said Kalitan. " We make 
 the bag and blow it up, tie it to the harpoon, 
 and when the lance sticks into the whale, the 
 buoy makes it very hard for him to dive. After 
 awhile he dies and drifts ashore." 
 
 The waters about the whale were growing 
 red, and the carcass seemed drifting out to sea, 
 and at last the Tyee seemed satisfied. He sent 
 a last look toward the huge body, then turned 
 his kiak toward the watchers on the banks. 
 
 " If it only comes to shore," said Kalitan. 
 
 " What will you do with it? " asked Ted. 
 
 " Oh, there are lots of things we can do with 
 a whale," said Kalitan. " The blubber is the 
 best thing to eat in all the world. Then we use 
 the oil in a bowl with a bit of pith in it to light 
 our huts. The bones are all useful in building 
 
A Monster of the Deep 59 
 
 our houses. Whales were once bears, but they 
 played too much on the shore and ran away to 
 sea, so they wore off all their fur on the rocks, 
 and had their feet nibbled off by the fishes." 
 
 " Well, this one didn't have his tail nibbled 
 off at any rate," laughed Ted. " I saw it flap 
 at the Tyee, and thought that was the last of 
 him, sure." 
 
 " Tyee much big chief," said Kalitan, and 
 just then the old man's kiak drew near them, 
 and he stepped ashore as calmly as though he 
 had not just been through so exciting a scene 
 with a mighty monster of the deep. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE ISLAND HOME OF KALITAN 
 
 Swift and even were the strokes of the pad- 
 dles as the canoes sped over the water toward 
 Kalitan's island home. Ted was so excited that 
 he could hardly sit still, and Tyee Klake gave 
 him a warning glance and a muttered " Koole- 
 tchika." 1 
 
 The day before a big canoe had come to the 
 
 camp, the paddlers bearing messages for the 
 
 Tyee, and he had had a long conversation with 
 
 Mr. Strong. The result was astonishing to 
 
 Teddy, for his father told him that he was to 
 
 go for a month to the island with Kalitan. 
 
 This delighted him greatly, but he was a little 
 
 1 " Dangerous channel." 
 60 
 
The Island Home of Kalitan 61 
 
 frightened when he found that his father was 
 to stay behind. 
 
 " It's just this way, son," Mr. Strong ex- 
 plained to him. " I'm here in government em- 
 ploy, taking government pay to do government 
 work. I must do it and do it well in the short- 
 est time possible. You will have a far better 
 time on the island with Kalitan than you could 
 possibly have loafing around the camp here. 
 You couldn't go to many places where I am 
 going, and, if my mind is easy about you, I can 
 take Chetwoof and do my work in half the 
 time. I'll come to the island in three or four 
 weeks, and we'll take a week's vacation to- 
 gether, and then we'll hit the trail for the gold- 
 fields. Are you satisfied with this arrange- 
 ment?" 
 
 " Yes, sir." Ted's tone was dubious, but 
 his face soon cleared up. " A month won't be 
 very long, father." 
 
 11 No, I'll wager you'll be sorry to leave when 
 
62 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 I come for you. Try and not make any trouble. 
 Of course Indian ways are not ours, but you'll 
 get used to it all and enjoy it. It's a chance 
 most boys would be crazy over, and you'll have 
 tales to tell when you get home to make your 
 playmates envy you. I'm glad I have a son 
 I can trust to keep straight when he is out of 
 my sight," and he laid his hand affectionately 
 on the boy's shoulder. Ted looked his father 
 squarely in the eye, but gave only a little nod 
 in answer, then he laughed his clear, ringing 
 laugh. 
 
 ''Wouldn't mother have spasms!" he ex- 
 claimed. Mr. Strong laughed too, but said: 
 
 " You'll be just as well off tumbling around 
 with Kalitan as falling off a glacier or two, as 
 you would be certain to do if you were with 
 me. 
 
 Teddy felt a little blue when he said good- 
 bye to his father, but Kalitan quickly dispelled 
 his gloom by a great piece of news. 
 
The Island Home of Kalitan 63 
 
 " Great time on island," he said, as the canoe 
 glided toward the dim outline of land to which 
 Ted's thoughts had so often turned. " Tyee's 
 whale came ashore. We go to see him cut 
 up." 
 
 "Hurrah!" cried Ted, delighted. " To 
 think I shall see all that! What else will we 
 do, Kalitan?" 
 
 " Hunt, fish, hear old Kala-kash stories. See 
 berry dance if you stay long enough, perhaps a 
 potlatch; do many things," said the Indian. 
 
 One of the Indian paddlers said something 
 to Kalitan, and he laughed a little, and Ted 
 asked, curiously: "What did he say?" 
 
 " Said Kalitan Tenas learned to talk as much 
 as a Boston boy," said Kalitan, laughing heart- 
 ily, and Ted laughed, too. 
 
 The canoes were nearing the shore of a 
 wooded island, and Ted saw a fringe of trees 
 and some native houses clustered picturesquely 
 against them at the crest of a small hill which 
 
64 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 sloped down to the water's edge, where stood a 
 group of people awaiting the canoes. 
 
 " My home," said Kalitan, pointing to the 
 largest house, " my people." There was a 
 great deal of pride in his tone and look, and 
 he received a warm welcome as the canoes 
 touched land and their occupants sprang on 
 shore. The boys crowded around the young 
 Indian and chattered and gesticulated toward 
 Ted, while a bright-looking little Malamute 
 sprang upon Kalitan and nearly knocked him 
 down, covering his face with eager puppy 
 kisses. 
 
 The girls were less boisterous, and regarded 
 Teddy with shy curiosity. Some of them were 
 quite pretty, and the babies were as cunning as 
 the puppies. They barked every time the dogs 
 did, in a funny, hoarse little way, and, indeed, 
 Alaskan babies learn to bark long before they 
 learn to talk. 
 
 The Tyee's wife received Teddy kindly, and 
 
"A GROUP OF PEOPLE AWAITING THE CANOES. 
 
The Island Home of Kalitan 65 
 
 he soon found himself quite at home among 
 these hospitable people, who seemed always 
 friendly and natural. Nearly all spoke some 
 English, and he rapidly added to his store of 
 Chinook, so that he had no trouble in making 
 himself understood or in understanding. Of 
 course he missed his father, but he had little time 
 to be lonely. Life in the village was anything 
 but uneventful. 
 
 At first there was the whale to be attended 
 to, and all the village turned out for that. The 
 huge creature had drifted ashore on the farther 
 side of the island, and Ted was much interested 
 in seeing him gradually disposed of. Great 
 masses of blubber were stripped from the sides 
 to be used later both for food and fuel, the 
 whalebone was carefully secured to be sold to 
 the traders, and it seemed to Ted that there 
 was not one thing in that vast carcass for which 
 the Indians did not have some use. 
 
 Ted soon tired of watching the many things 
 
66 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 done with the whale, but there was plenty to do 
 and see in the village. 
 
 The village houses were all alike. There 
 was one large room in which the people cooked, 
 ate, and slept. The girls had blankets strung 
 across one corner, behind which were their beds. 
 Teddy was given one also for his corner of the 
 great room in the Tyee's house. 
 
 He learned to eat the food and to like it very 
 much. There was dried fish, herons' eggs, ber- 
 ries, or those put up in seal oil, which is ob- 
 tained by frying the fat out of the blubber of 
 the seal. The Alaskans use this oil in nearly all 
 their cooking, and are very fond of it. Ted 
 ate also dried seaweed, chopped and boiled in 
 seal oil, which tasted very much like boiled and 
 salted leather, but he liked it very well. Indeed 
 he grew so strong and well, out-of-doors all day 
 in the clear air and bright sunshine of the Alas- 
 kan June, that he could eat anything and tramp 
 all day without being too tired to sleep like a 
 
The Island Home of Kalitan 67 
 
 top all night, and wake ready for a new day 
 with a zest he never felt at home. 
 
 Fresh fish were plentiful. The boys caught 
 salmon, smelts, and whitefish, and many were 
 dried for the coming winter, while clams, gum- 
 boots, sea-cucumbers, and devil-fish, found on 
 the rocks of the shore, were every-day diet. 
 
 Kalitan's sister and Ted became great friends. 
 She was older than Kalitan, and, though only 
 fifteen, was soon to be married to Tah-ge-ah, 
 a fine young Indian who was ready to pay high 
 for her, which was not strange, for she was 
 both pretty and sweet. 
 
 " At the next full moon," said Kalitan, 
 " there will be a potlatch, and Tanana will be 
 sold to Tah-ge-ah. He says he will give four 
 hundred blankets for her, and my uncle is well 
 pleased. Many only pay ten blankets for a 
 wife, but of course we would not sell my sister 
 for that She is of high caste, chiefs daughter, 
 
68 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 niece, and sister," the boy spoke proudly, and 
 Ted answered : 
 
 " She's so pretty, too. She's not like the 
 Indian girls I saw at Wrangel and Juneau. 
 Why, there the women sat around as dirty as 
 dogs on the sidewalk, and didn't seem to care 
 how they looked. They had baskets to sell, 
 and were too lazy to care whether any one 
 bought them or not. They weren't a bit like 
 Tanana. She's as pretty as a Japanese." 
 
 Kalitan smiled, well pleased, and Ted added, 
 " I guess the Thlinkits must be the best Indians 
 in Alaska." 
 
 Kalitan laughed outright at this. 
 
 " Thlinkits pretty good," he said. " Ta- 
 nana good girl. She learned much good at 
 the mission school, marry Tah-ge-ah, and 
 make people better. She can weave blankets, 
 make fine baskets, and keep house like a white 
 girl." 
 
The Island Home of Kalitan 69 
 
 " She's all right," said Ted. " But, Kalitan, 
 what is a potlatch? " 
 
 " Potlatch is a good-will feast," said his 
 friend. " Very fine thing, but white men do 
 not like. Say Indian feasts are all bad. Why 
 is it bad when an Indian gives away all his goods 
 for others? That is what a great potlatch is. 
 When white men give us whiskey and it is 
 drunk too much, then it is very bad. But Tyee 
 will not have that for Tanana's feast. We will 
 drink only quass, 1 as my people made it before 
 they learned evil drinks and fire-water, which 
 make them crazy." 
 
 " I guess Tyee Klake was right when he said 
 all men were alike," said Ted, sagely. " It 
 seems to me that there are good and bad ones 
 in all countries. It's a pity you have had such 
 
 1 Quass is a native drink, harmless and acid, made with 
 rye and water fermented. The bad Indians mix it with 
 sugar, flour, dried apples, and hops, and make a terribly intoxi- 
 cating drink. 
 
70 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 bad white ones here in Alaska, but I guess you 
 have had good ones, too." 
 
 " Plenty good, plenty bad, Thlinkit men and 
 Boston men," said Kalitan, " all same." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 TWILIGHT TALES AND TOTEMS 
 
 " Once a small girl child went by night to 
 bring water. In the skies above she saw the 
 Moon shining brightly, pale and placid, and she 
 put forth her tongue at it, which was an evil 
 thing, for the Moon is old, and a Thlinkit child 
 should show respect for age. So the Moon 
 would not endure so rude a thing from a girl 
 child, and it came down from the sky and took 
 her thither. She cried out in fear and caught at 
 the long grass to keep herself from going up, 
 but the Moon was strong and took her with 
 her water-bucket and her bunch of grass, and 
 she never came back. Her mother wept for 
 her, but her father said : ' Cease. We have 
 71 
 
72 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 other girl children ; she is now wedded to the 
 Moon; to him we need not give a potlatch.' 
 
 " You may see her still, if you will look at 
 the Moon, there, grass in one hand, bucket in 
 the other, and when the new Moon tips to one 
 side and the water spills from the clouds and 
 it is the months of rain, it is the bad Moon 
 maiden tipping over her water-bucket upon the 
 earth. No Thlinkit child would dare ever to 
 put her tongue forth at the Moon, for fear of 
 a like fate to that of Squi-ance, the Moon 
 maiden." 
 
 Tanana's voice was soft and low, and she 
 looked very pretty as she sat in the moonlight 
 at the door of the hut and told Kalitan and 
 Ted quaint old stories. Ted was delighted 
 with her tales, and begged for another and yet 
 another, and Tanana told the quaint story of 
 Kagamil. 
 
 " A mighty toyon 1 dwelt on the island 
 1 Chieftain. 
 
Twilight Tales and Totems 73 
 
 of Kagamil. By name he was Kat-haya-koo 
 chat, and he was of great strength and much 
 to be feared. He had long had a death feud 
 with people of the next totem, but the bold 
 warrior Yakaga, chieftain of the tribe, married 
 the toyon's daughter, and there was no more 
 feud. Zampa was the son of Kat-haya-koochat, 
 and his pride. He built for this son a fine 
 bidarka, 1 and the boy launched it on the sea. 
 His father watched him sail and called him 
 to return, lest evil befall. But Zampa heard not 
 his father's voice and pursued diving birds, 2 
 and, lo ! he was far from land and the dark 
 fell. He sailed to the nearest shore and beheld 
 the village of Yakaga, where the people of 
 his sister's husband made him welcome, though 
 Yakaga was not within his hut. There was 
 feasting and merry-making, and, according to 
 their custom, he, the stranger, was given a chief- 
 tain's daughter to wife, and her name was Kitt- 
 1 Canoe. 2 Ducks. 
 
74 O ur Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 a-youx; and Zampa loved her and she him, 
 and he returned not home. But Kitt-a-youx's 
 father liked him not, and treated him with 
 rudeness because of the old enmity with his 
 Tyee father, so Zampa said to Kitt-a-youx: 
 * Let us go hence. We cannot be happy here. 
 Let us go from your father, who is unfriendly 
 to me, and seek the barrabora of my father, 
 the mighty chief, that happiness may come upon 
 us/ and Kitt-a-youx said : ' What my lord says 
 is well.' 
 
 " Then Zampa placed her in his canoe, and 
 alone beneath the stars they sailed and it was 
 well, and Zampa's arm was strong at his pad- 
 dle. But, lo ! they heard another paddle, and 
 one came after them, and soon arrows flew 
 about them, arrows swift and cruel, and one 
 struck his paddle from his hand and his canoe 
 was overturned. The pursuer came and placed 
 Kitt-a-youx in his canoe, seeking, too, for 
 Zampa, but, alas! Zampa was drowned. And 
 
Twilight Tales and Totems 75 
 
 when his pursuer dragged his body to the sur- 
 face, he gave a mighty cry, for, lo ! it was his 
 brother-in-law whom he had pursued, for he 
 was Yakaga. Then fearing the terrible rage 
 of Zampa's father, he dared not return with 
 the body, so he left it with the overturned canoe 
 in the kelp and weeds. Kitt-a-youx he bore 
 with him to his own island. There she was sad 
 as the sea-gull's scream, for the lord she loved 
 was dead. And her father gave her to another 
 toyon, who was cruel to her, and her life was 
 as a slave's, and she loathed her life until 
 Zampa's child was born to her, and for it she 
 lived. Alas, it was a girl child and her hus- 
 band hated it, and Kitt-a-youx saw nothing for 
 it but to be sold as a slave as was she herself. 
 And she looked by day and by night at the sea, 
 and its cold, cold waves seemed warmer to her 
 than the arms of men. ' With my girl child I 
 shall go hence,' she whispered to herself, ' and 
 the Great Unknown Spirit will be kind.' 
 
y6 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 " So by night she stole away in a canoe and 
 steered to sea, ere she knew where she was, 
 reaching the seaweeds where she had journeyed 
 with her young husband. The morning broke, 
 and she saw the weeds and the kelp where her 
 lover had gone from her sight, and, with a glad 
 sigh, she clasped Zampa's child to her breast 
 and sank down among the weeds where he had 
 died. So her tired spirit was at rest, for a 
 woman is happier who dies with him she 
 loves. 
 
 " Now Zampa's father had found his boy's 
 body and mourned over it, and buried it in a 
 mighty cave, the which he had once made for 
 his furs and stores. With it he placed bows 
 and arrows and many valuables in respect for 
 the dead. And Zampa's sister, going to his 
 funeral feast, fell upon a stone with her child, 
 so that both were killed. Then broke the old 
 chief's heart. Beside her brother he laid her 
 in the cave, and gave orders that he himself 
 
Twilight Tales and Totems 77 
 
 should be placed there as well, when grief 
 should have made way with him. Then he died 
 of sorrow for his children, and his people in- 
 terred him in his burial cave, and with him they 
 put much wealth and blankets and weapons. 
 
 " When, therefore, the people of his tribe 
 found the bodies of Kitt-a-youx and her child 
 among the kelp, having heard of her love for 
 Zampa, they bore them to the same cave, and, 
 wrapping them in furs, they placed Kitt-a-youx 
 beside her beloved husband 3 and in her burial 
 she found her home and felt the kindness of the 
 Great Spirit. This, then, is the story of the 
 burial cave of Kagamil, and since that day no 
 man dwelt upon the island, and it is known as 
 the ' island of the dead.' " 
 
 " I'd like to see it, I can tell you," said Ted. 
 " Are there any burial caves around here? " 
 
 " The Thlinkits do not bury in caves," said 
 Tanana. " We used to burn our dead, but 
 often we place them in totem-poles." 
 
78 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 " I thought those great poles by your doors 
 were totems," said Ted, puzzled. 
 
 11 Yes," said the girl. " They are caste to- 
 tems, and all who are of any rank have them. 
 As we belong to the Raven, or Bear, or Eagle 
 clan, we have the carved poles to show our 
 rank, but the totem of the dead is quite differ- 
 ent. It does not stand beside the door, but far 
 away. It is alone, as the soul of the dead in 
 whose honour it is made. It is but little carved. 
 A square hole is cut at the back of the pole, 
 and the body of the dead, wrapped in a matting 
 of cedar bark, is placed within, a board being 
 nailed so that the body will not fall to the 
 ground. A potlatch is given, and food from 
 the feast is put in the fire for the dead per- 
 son." 
 
 11 It seems queer to put weapons and blankets 
 and things to eat on people's graves," said Ted. 
 " Why do they doit?" 
 
 " Of the dead we know nothing," said Ta- 
 
Twilight Tales and Totems 79 
 
 nana. " Perhaps the warrior spirit wishes his 
 arrows in the Land of the Great Unknown." 
 
 " Yes, but he can't come back for them," 
 persisted Ted. 
 
 " At Wrangel, Boston man put flowers on 
 his girl's grave," said Kalitan, drily. " She 
 come back and smell posy? " 
 
 Having no answer ready, Ted changed the 
 subject and asked : 
 
 " Why do you have the raven at the top of 
 your totem pole? " 
 
 " Indian cannot marry same totem," said 
 Kalitan. " My father was eagle totem, my 
 mother was raven totem. He carve her totem 
 at the top of the pole, then his totem and those 
 of the family are carved below. The greater 
 the family the taller the totem." 
 
 " How do you get these totems? " demanded 
 Ted. 
 
 " Clan totems we take from our parents, but 
 a man may choose his own totem. Before he 
 
80 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 becomes a man he must go alone into the forest 
 to fast, and there he chooses his totem, and he 
 is brother to that animal all his life, and may 
 not kill it. When he comes forth, he may take 
 part in all the ceremonies of his tribe." 
 
 11 Why, it is something like knighthood and 
 the vigil at arms and escutcheons, and all those 
 Round-Table things," exclaimed Ted, in de- 
 light, for he dearly loved the stirring tales of 
 King Arthur and his knights and the doughty 
 deeds of Camelot. 
 
 " Tell us about that," said Kalitan, so Ted 
 told them many tales in the moonlight, as they 
 sat beneath the shadows of the quaint and curi- 
 ous totem-poles of Kalitan's tribe. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE BERRY DANCE 
 
 Teddy's month upon the island stretched 
 out into two. His father came and went, find- 
 ing the boy so happy and well that he left him 
 with an easy mind. Ted's fair skin was tanned 
 to a warm brown, and, clad in Indian clothes, 
 save for his aureole of copper-coloured hair, 
 so strong a contrast to the straight black locks 
 of his Indian brothers, he could hardly be told 
 from one of the island lads who roamed all 
 day by wood and shore. They called him 
 " Yakso pil chicamin," * and all the village 
 liked him. 
 
 Tanana's marriage-feast was held, and she 
 and Tah-ge-ah went to housekeeping in a little 
 
 T Copper hair. 
 81 
 
82 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 hut, where the one room was as clean and neat 
 as could be, and not a bit like the dirty rooms 
 of some of the natives. Tanana spent all her 
 spare time weaving beautiful baskets, for her 
 slim fingers were very skilful. Some of the 
 baskets which she made out of the inner bark 
 of the willow-tree were woven so closely that 
 they would hold water, and Teddy never tired 
 of watching her weave the gay colours in and 
 out, nor of seeing the wonderful patterns grow. 
 Tahgeah would take them to the mainland 
 when she had enough made, and sell them to 
 the travellers from the States. Meantime Tah- 
 ge-ah himself was very, very busy carving the 
 totem-pole for his new home, for Tanana was 
 a chieftain's daughter, and he, too, was of high 
 caste, and their totem must be carved and stand 
 one hundred feet high beside their door, lest 
 they be reproached. 
 
 Ted also enjoyed seeing old Kala-kash carve, 
 for he was the finest carver among the Indians, 
 
The Berry Dance 83 
 
 and it was wonderful to see him cut strange 
 figures out of bone, wood, horn, fish-bones, and 
 anything his gnarled old fingers could get hold 
 of, and he would carve grasshoppers, bears, 
 minnows, whales, sea-gulls, babies, or idols. 
 He made, too, a canoe for Ted, a real Alaskan 
 dugout, shaping the shell from a log and mak- 
 ing it soft by steam, filling the hole with water 
 and throwing in red-hot stones. The wood was 
 then left to season, and Ted could hardly wait 
 patiently until sun and wind and rain had made 
 his precious craft seaworthy. Then it was 
 painted with paint made by rubbing a certain 
 rock over the surface of a coarse stone and the 
 powder mixed with oil or water. 
 
 At last it was done, a shapely thing, more 
 beautiful in Ted's eyes than any launch or yacht 
 he had ever seen at home. His canoe had a 
 carved stern and a sharp prow which came out 
 of the water, and which had carved upon it a 
 fine eagle. Kalakash had not asked Ted what 
 
84 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 his totem was, but supposing that the American 
 eagle on the buttons of the boy's coat was his 
 emblem, had carved the rampant bird upon the 
 canoe as the boy's totem. Ted learned to pad- 
 dle and to fish, never so well as Kalitan, of 
 course, for he was born to it, but still he did 
 very well, and enjoyed it hugely. 
 
 Happily waned the summer days, and then 
 came the time of the berry dance, which Kali- 
 tan had spoken of so often that Ted was very 
 anxious to see it 
 
 The salmon-berry was fully ripe, a large and 
 luscious berry, found in two colours, yellow and 
 dark red. Besides these there were other small 
 berries, maruskins, like the New England dew- 
 berries, huckleberries, and whortleberries. 
 
 " We have five kinds of berries on our 
 island," said Kalitan. " All good. The birds, 
 flying from the mainland, first brought the 
 seeds, and our berries grow larger than almost 
 any place in Alaska." 
 
The Berry Dance 85 
 
 " They're certainly good," said Ted, his 
 mouth full as he spoke. " These salmon-ber- 
 ries are a kind of a half-way between our black- 
 berries and strawberries. I never saw anything 
 prettier than the way the red and yellow berries 
 grow so thick on the same bush — " 
 
 " There come the canoes! " interrupted Kali- 
 tan, and the two boys ran down to the water's 
 edge, eager to be the first to greet the visitors. 
 Tyee Klake was giving a feast to the people 
 of the neighbouring islands, and a dozen canoes 
 glided over the water from different directions. 
 The canoes were all gaily decorated, and they 
 came swiftly onward to the weird chant of the 
 paddlers, which the breeze wafted to the lis- 
 teners' ears in a monotonous melody. 
 
 Every one in the village had been astir since 
 daybreak, preparing for the great event. Par- 
 allel lines had been strung from the chief's 
 house to the shore, and from these were hung 
 gay blankets, pieces of bright calico, and fes- 
 
86 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 toons of leaves and flowers. As the canoes 
 landed their occupants, the dancers thronged 
 to welcome their guests. The great drum 
 sounded its loud note, and the dancers, arrayed 
 in wonderful blankets woven in all manner of 
 fanciful designs and trimmed with long woollen 
 fringes, swayed back and forth, up and down, 
 to and fro, in a very graceful manner, keeping 
 time to the music. 
 
 In the centre of the largest canoe stood the 
 Tyee of a neighbouring island, a tall Indian, 
 dressed in a superb blanket with fringe a foot 
 long, fringed leggins and moccasins of walrus 
 hide, and the chiefs hat to show his rank. It 
 was a peculiar head-dress half a foot high, 
 trimmed in down and feathers. 
 
 The Tyee, in perfect time to the music, 
 swayed back and forth, never ceasing for a 
 moment, shaking his head so that the down 
 was wafted in a snowy cloud all over him. 
 
 As the canoes reached the shallows, the shore 
 
The Berry Dance 87 
 
 Indians dashed into the water to draw them 
 up to land, and the company was joyously re- 
 ceived. Teddy was delighted, for in one of 
 the canoes was his father, whom he had not 
 seen for several weeks. After the greetings 
 were over, the dancers arranged themselves in 
 opposite lines, men on one side, women on the 
 other, and swayed their bodies while the drum 
 kept up its unceasing tum-tum-tum. 
 
 " It's a little bit like square dances at home," 
 said Ted. " It's ever so pretty, isn't it? First 
 they sway to the right, then to the left, over 
 and over and over; then they bend their bodies 
 forward and backward without bending their 
 knees, then sway again, and bend to one side 
 and then the other, singing all the time. Isn't 
 it odd, father?" 
 
 " It certainly is, but it's very graceful," said 
 Mr. Strong. " Some of the girls are quite 
 pretty, gentle-looking creatures, but the older 
 women are ugly." 
 
88 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 " The very old women look like the mum- 
 mies in the museum at home," said Ted. 
 " There's one old woman, over a hundred years 
 old, whose skin is like a piece of parchment, 
 and she wears the hideous lip-button which 
 most of the Thlinkits have stopped using. Kali- 
 tan says all the women used to wear them. The 
 girls used to make a cut in their chins between 
 the lip and the chin, and put in a piece of wood, 
 changing it every few days for a piece a little 
 larger until the opening was stretched like a 
 second mouth. When they grew up, a wooden 
 button like the bowl of a spoon was set in the 
 hole and constantly enlarged. The largest I 
 have seen was three inches long. Isn't it a 
 curious idea, father?" 
 
 " It certainly is, but there is no telling what 
 women will admire. A Chinese lady binds her 
 feet, and an American her waist; a Maori 
 woman slits her nose, and an English belle 
 pierces her ears. It's on the same principle that 
 
The Berry Dance 89 
 
 your Thlinkit friends slit their chins for the lip- 
 button." 
 
 " I'm mighty glad they don't do it now, for 
 Tanana's as pretty as a pink, and it would be 
 a shame to spoil her face that way," said Ted. 
 " The dancing has stopped, father; let's see 
 what they'll do next. There comes Kalitan." 
 
 A feast of berries was to follow the dance, 
 and Kalitan led Mr. Strong and Ted to the 
 chief's house, which was gaily decorated with 
 blankets and bits of bright cloth. A table cov- 
 ered with a cloth was laid around three sides 
 of the room, and on this was spread hardtack 
 and huge bowls of berries of different colours. 
 These were beaten up with sugar into a foamy 
 mixture, pink, purple, and yellow, according 
 to the colour of the berries, which tasted good 
 and looked pretty. 
 
 Ted and Kalitan had helped gather the ber- 
 ries, and their appetites were quite of the best. 
 Mr. Strong smiled to see how the once fussy 
 
90 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 little gentleman helped himself with a right 
 good-will to the Indian dainties of his friends. 
 
 Many pieces of goods had been provided for 
 the potlatch, and these were given away, given 
 and received with dignified politeness. There 
 was laughing and merriment with the feast, 
 and when it was all over, the canoes floated 
 away as they had come, into the sunset, which 
 gilded all the sea to rosy, golden beauty. 
 
 Ted's share of the potlatch was a beautiful 
 blanket of Tanana's weaving, and he was de- 
 lighted beyond measure. 
 
 " You're a lucky boy, Ted," said his father. 
 " People pay as high as sixty-five dollars for 
 an Alaskan blanket, and not always a perfect 
 one at that. Many of the Indians are using 
 dyed yarns to w r eave them, but yours is the 
 genuine article, made from white goat's wool, 
 long and soft, and dyed only in the native reds 
 and blacks. We shall have to do something 
 nice for Tanana when you leave." 
 
The Berry Dance gi 
 
 " I'd like to give her something, and Kali- 
 tan, too." Ted's face looked very grave. 
 " When do I have to go, father? " 
 
 " Right away, I'm afraid," was the reply. 
 " I've let you stay as long as possible, and now 
 we must start for our northern trip, if you are 
 to see anything at all of mines and Esquimos 
 before we start home. The mail-steamer passes 
 Nuchek day after to-morrow, and we must go 
 over there in time to take it." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Ted, forlornly. He wanted 
 to see the mines and all the wonderful things 
 of the far north, but he hated to leave his In- 
 dian friends. 
 
 "What's the trouble, Ted?" His father 
 laid his hand on his shoulder, disliking to see 
 the bright face so clouded. 
 
 " I was only thinking of Kalitan," said 
 Ted. 
 
 " Suppose we take Kalitan with us," said 
 Mr. Strong. 
 
92 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 "Oh, daddy, could we really ?" Ted 
 jumped in excitement. 
 
 " I'll ask the Tyee if he will lend him to us 
 for a month," said Mr. Strong, and in a few 
 minutes it was decided, and Ted, with one great 
 bear's hug to thank his father, rushed off to 
 find his friend and tell him the glorious news. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 ON THE WAY TO NOME 
 
 '" Well, boys, we're off for a long sail, and 
 I'm afraid you will be rather tired with the 
 steamer before you are done with her," said 
 Mr. Strong. They had boarded the mail- 
 steamer late the night before, and, going right 
 to bed, had wakened early next day and rushed 
 on deck to find the August sun shining in bril- 
 liant beauty, the islands quite out of sight, and 
 nought but sea and sky around and above them. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know; we'll find something 
 to do," said Teddy. " You'll have to tell us 
 lots about the places we pass, and, if there aren't 
 any other boys on board, Kalitan and I will 
 be together. What's the first place we stop? " 
 
 " We passed the Kenai Peninsula in the 
 93 
 
94 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 night. I wish you could have caught a glimpse 
 of some of the waterfalls, volcanoes, and gla- 
 ciers. They are as fine as any in Alaska," said 
 Mr. Strong. " Our next stop will be Kadiak 
 Island." 
 
 " Kadiak Island w T as once near the main- 
 land," said Kalitan. " There was only the nar- 
 rowest passage of water, but a great Kenai 
 otter tried to swim the pass, and was caught 
 fast. He struggled so that he made it wider 
 and wider, and at last pushed Kadiak way out 
 to sea." 
 
 " He must have been a whopper," said Ted, 
 11 to push it so far away. Is that the island? " 
 
 " Yes," said his father. " There are no 
 splendid forests on the island as there are on 
 the mainland, but the grasses are superb, for the 
 fog and rain here keeps them green as emerald." 
 
 " What a queer canoe that Indian has ! " ex- 
 claimed Ted. " It isn't a bit like yours, Kali- 
 tan." 
 
On the Way to Nome 95 
 
 " It is bidarka" said Kalitan. " Kadiak 
 people make canoe out of walrus hide. They 
 stretch it over frames of driftwood. It holds 
 two people. They sit in small hatch with apron 
 all around their bodies, and the bidarka goes 
 over the roughest sea and floats like a bladder. 
 Big bidarka called an oomiak, and holds whole 
 family." 
 
 " Some one has called the bidarkas the ' Cos- 
 sacks of the sea,' " said Mr. Strong. " They 
 skim along like swallows, and are as perfectly 
 built as any vessel I ever saw." 
 
 " What are those huge buildings on the small 
 island?" asked Ted, as the steamer wound 
 through the shallows. 
 
 " Ice-houses," said his father. " Before peo- 
 ple learned to manufacture ice, immense car- 
 goes were shipped from here to as far south 
 as San Francisco." 
 
 " It was fun to see them go fishing for ice 
 from the steamer when we came up to Ska- 
 
c6 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 guay," said Ted. " The sailors went out in a 
 boat, slipped a net around a block of ice and 
 towed it to the side of the ship, then it was 
 hitched to a derrick and swung on deck." 
 
 " Huh ! " said Kalitan. " What people want 
 ice for stored up? Think they'd store sun- 
 shine ! " 
 
 " If you could invent a way to do that, you 
 could make a fortune, my boy," said Mr. 
 Strong, laughing. " The next place of any 
 interest is Karluk. It's around on the other 
 side of the island in Shelikoff Strait, and is 
 famous for its salmon canneries. Nearly half 
 of the entire salmon pack of Alaska comes from 
 Kadiak Island, most of the fish coming from 
 the Karluk River." 
 
 " Very bad for Indians," said Kalitan. 
 " Used to have plenty fish. Tyee Klake said 
 salmon used to come up this river in shoal six- 
 teen miles long, and now Boston men take them 
 all." 
 
On the Way to Nome 97 
 
 " It does seem a pity that the Indians don't 
 even have a chance to earn their living in the 
 canneries," said Mr. Strong. " The largest 
 cannery in the world is at Karluk. There are 
 thousands of men employed, and in one year 
 over three million salmon were packed, yet with 
 all this work for busy hands to do, the canneries 
 employ Chinese, Greek, Portuguese, and Ameri- 
 can workmen in preference to the Indians, 
 bringing them by the shipload from San Fran- 
 cisco." 
 
 "What other places do we pass?" asked 
 Ted. 
 
 " A lot of very interesting ones, and I wish 
 we could coast along, stopping wherever we felt 
 like it," said Mr. Strong. " The Shumagin 
 Islands are where Bering, the great discoverer 
 and explorer, landed in 1741 to bury one of 
 his crew. Codfish were found there, and Cap- 
 tain Cook, in his ' Voyages and Discoveries,' 
 speaks of the same fish. There is a famous 
 
98 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 fishery there now called the Davidson Banks, 
 and the codfishing fleet has its headquarters on 
 Popoff Island. Millions of codfish are caught 
 here every year. These islands are also a fa- 
 vourite haunt of the sea otter. Belofsky, at the 
 foot of Mt. Pavloff, is the centre of the trade." 
 
 "What kind of fur is otter?" asked Ted, 
 whose mind was so inquiring that his father 
 often called him the " living catechism." 
 
 " It is the court fur of China and Russia, and 
 at one time the common people were forbidden 
 by law to wear it," said Mr. Strong. " It is a 
 rich, purplish brown sprinkled with silver-tipped 
 hairs, and the skins are very costly." 
 
 " At one time any one could have otter," said 
 Kalitan. " We hunted them with spears and 
 bows and arrows. Now they are very few, and 
 we find them only in dangerous spots, hiding 
 on rocks or floating kelp. Sometimes the hunt- 
 ers have to lie in hiding for days watching them. 
 Only Indians can kill the otter. Boston men 
 
MOUNT SHISHALDIN. 
 
On the Way to Nome 99 
 
 can if they marry Indian women. That makes 
 them Indian." 
 
 " Rather puts otter at a discount and women 
 at a premium," laughed Mr. Strong. " Now 
 we pass along near the Alaska peninsula, past 
 countless isles and islets, through the Fox 
 Islands to Unalaska, and then into the Bering 
 Sea. One of the most interesting things in this 
 region is called the ' Pacific Ring of Fire,' a 
 chain of volcanoes which stretches along the 
 coast. Often the passengers can see from the 
 ships at night a strange red glow over the sky, 
 and know that the fire mountains are burning. 
 The most beautiful of these volcanoes is Mt. 
 Shishaldin, nearly nine thousand feet high, and 
 almost as perfect a cone in shape as Fuji Yama, 
 which the Japanese love so much and call ' the 
 Honourable Mountain.' At Unalaska or Ilin- 
 link, the * curving beach,' we stop. If we could 
 stay over for awhile, there are a great many 
 interesting things we could see; an old Greek 
 
ioo Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 church and the government school are in the 
 town, and Bogoslov's volcano and the sea-lion 
 rookeries are on the island of St. John, which 
 rose right up out of the sea in 1796 after a day's 
 roaring and rumbling and thundering. In 18 15 
 there was a similar performance, and from time 
 to time the island has grown larger ever since. 
 One fine day in 1883 there was a great shower 
 of ashes, and, when the clouds had rolled away, 
 two peaks were seen where only one had been, 
 separated by a sandy isthmus. This last was 
 reduced to a fine thread by the earthquake of 
 1 89 1, and I don't know what new freaks it 
 may have developed by now. I know some 
 friends of mine landed there not long ago and 
 cooked eggs over the jets of steam which gush 
 out of the mountainside. Did you ever hear of 
 using a volcano for a cook-stove? " 
 
 " Well, I should say not," said Ted, amused. 
 " These Alaskan volcanoes are great things." 
 
 " The one called Makushin has a crater filled 
 
On the Way to Nome ioi 
 
 with snow in a part of which there is always a 
 cloud of sulphurous smoke. That's making 
 extremes meet, isn't it? " 
 
 " Yehl J made many strange things," said 
 Kalitan, who had been taking in all this infor- 
 mation even more eagerly than Teddy. " He 
 first dwelt on Nass River, and turned two blades 
 of grass into the first man and woman. Then 
 the Thlinkits grew and prospered, till darkness 
 fell upon the earth. A Thlinkit stole the sun 
 and hid it in a box, but Yehl found it and set 
 it so high in the heavens that none could touch 
 it. Then the Thlinkits grew and spread abroad. 
 But a great flood came, and all were swept away 
 save two, who tossed long upon the flood on a 
 raft of logs until Yehl pitied, and carried them 
 to Mt. Edgecomb, where they dwelt until the 
 waters fell." 
 
 " Old Kala-kash tells this story, and he says 
 
 1 Yehl, embodied in the raven, is the Thlinkit Great 
 Spirit. 
 
I02 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 that one of these people, when very old, went 
 down through the crater of the mountain, and, 
 given long life by Yehl, stays there always to 
 hold up the earth out of the water. But the 
 other lives in the crater as the Thunder Bird, 
 Hahtla, whose wing-flap is the thunder and 
 whose glance is the lightning. The osprey is 
 his totem, and his face glares in our blankets 
 and totems." 
 
 " I've wondered what that fierce bird was," 
 said Teddy, who was always quite carried away 
 with Kalitan's strange legends. 
 
 " Well, what else do we see on the way to 
 Nome, father? " 
 
 " The most remarkable thing happening in 
 the Bering Sea is the seal industry, but I do not 
 think we pass near enough to the islands to see 
 any of that. You'd better run about and see 
 the ship now," and the boys needed no second 
 permission. 
 
 It was not many days before they knew 
 
On the Way to Nome 103 
 
 everybody on board, from captain to deck 
 hands, and were prime favourites with them 
 all. Ted and Kalitan enjoyed every moment. 
 There was always something new to see or hear, 
 and ere they reached their journey's end, they 
 had heard all about seals and sealing, although 
 the famous Pribylov Islands were too far to 
 the west of the vessel's route for them to see 
 them. They sighted the United States revenue 
 cutter which plies about the seal islands to keep 
 off poachers, for no one is allowed to kill seals 
 or to land on this government reservation ex- 
 cept from government vessels. The scent of 
 the rookeries, where millions of seals have been 
 killed in the last hundred years, is noticed far 
 out at sea, and often the barking of the animals 
 can be heard by passing vessels. 
 
 "Why is sealskin so valuable, father?" 
 asked Ted. 
 
 " It has always been admired because it is so 
 warm and soft," replied Mr. Strong. " All the 
 
104 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 ladies fancy it, and it never seems to go out of 
 fashion. There was a time, when the Pribylov 
 Islands were first discovered, that sealskins were 
 so plentiful that they sold in Alaska for a dollar 
 apiece. Hunters killed so many, killing old and 
 young, that soon there were scarcely any left, 
 so a law was passed by the Russian government 
 forbidding any killing for five years. Since the 
 Americans have owned Alaska they have pro- 
 tected the seals, allowing them to be killed only 
 at certain times, and only male seals from two 
 to four years old are killed. The Indians are 
 always the killers, and are wonderfully swift and 
 clever, never missing a blow and always killing 
 instantly, so that there is almost no suffering." 
 
 " How do they know where to find the 
 seals? " asked Ted. 
 
 " For half the year the seals swim about the 
 sea, but in May they return to their favourite 
 haunts. In these rookeries families of them 
 herd on the rocks, the male staying at home 
 
On the Way to Nome 105 
 
 with his funny little black puppies, while the 
 mother swims about seeking food. The seals 
 are very timid, and will rush into the water 
 at the least strange noise. A story is told that 
 the barking of a little pet dog belonging to a 
 Russian at one of the rookeries lost him a hun- 
 dred thousand dollars, for the seals took fright 
 and scurried away before any one could say 
 'Jack Robinson !'" 
 
 " Rather an expensive pup ! " commented 
 Ted. " But what about the seals, daddy? n 
 
 " You seem to think I am an encyclopaedia 
 on the seal question," said his father. " There 
 is not much else to tell you." 
 
 " How can they manage always to kill the 
 right ones? " demanded Ted. 
 
 " The gay bachelor seals herd together away 
 from the rest and sleep at night on the rocks. 
 Early in the morning the Aleuts slip in between 
 them and the herd and drive them slowly to 
 the killing-ground, where they are quickly killed 
 
106 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 and skinned and the skins taken to the salting- 
 house. The Indians use the flesh and blubber, 
 and the climate is such that before another year 
 the hollow bones are lost in the grass and 
 earth." 
 
 " What becomes of the skins after they are 
 salted?" 
 
 " They are usually sent to London, where 
 they are prepared for market. The work is all 
 done by hand, which is one reason that they 
 are so expensive. They are first worked in saw- 
 dust, cleaned, scraped, washed, shaved, plucked, 
 dyed with a hand-brush from eight to twelve 
 times, washed again and freed from the least 
 speck of grease by a last bath in hot sawdust 
 or sand." 
 
 " I don't wonder a sealskin coat costs so 
 much," said Ted, " if they have got to go 
 through all that performance. I wish we could 
 have seen the islands, but I'd hate to see the 
 seals killed. It doesn't seem like hunting just 
 
On the Way to Nome 107 
 
 to knock them on the head. It's too much like 
 the stock-yards at home." 
 
 " Yes, but it's a satisfaction to know that 
 it's done in the easiest possible way for the 
 animals. 
 
 " What a lot you are learning way up here 
 in Alaska, aren't you, son? To-morrow we'll be 
 at Nome, and then your head will be so stuffed 
 with mines and mining that you will forget all 
 about everything else." 
 
 11 I don't want to forget any of it," said Ted. 
 " It's all bully." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 IN THE GOLD COUNTRY 
 
 A LOW, sandy beach, without a tree to break 
 its level, rows of plain frame-houses, some tents 
 and wooden shanties scattered about, the surf 
 breaking over the shore in splendid foam, — 
 this was Teddy's first impression of Nome. 
 They had sailed over from St. Michael's to 
 see the great gold-fields, and both the boys were 
 full of eagerness to be on land. It seemed, 
 however, as if their desires were not to be real- 
 ized, for landing at Nome is a difficult matter. 
 
 Nome is on the south shore of that part of 
 Alaska known as Seward Peninsula, and it Has 
 no harbour. It is on the open seacoast and 
 catches all the fierce storms that sweep north- 
 ward over Bering Sea. Generally seacoast 
 
 108 
 
In the Gold Country 109 
 
 towns are built in certain spots because there 
 is a harbour, but Nome was not really built, 
 it " jes' growed," for, when gold was found 
 there, the miners sat down to gather the harvest, 
 caring nothing about a harbour. 
 
 Ships cannot go within a mile of land, and 
 passengers have to go ashore in small lighters. 
 Sometimes when they arrive, they cannot go 
 ashore at all, but have to wait several days, 
 taking refuge behind a small island ten miles 
 away, lest they drag their anchors and be dashed 
 to pieces on the shore. 
 
 There had been a tremendous storm at Nome 
 the day before Ted arrived, and landing was 
 more difficult than usual, but, impatient as the 
 boys were, at last it seemed safe to venture, and 
 the party left the steamer to be put on a rough 
 barge, flat-bottomed and stout, which was 
 hauled by cable to shore until it grounded on 
 the sands. They were then put in a sort of 
 wooden cage, let down by chains from a huge 
 
no Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 wooden beam, and swung round in the air like 
 the unloading cranes of a great city, over the 
 surf to a high platform on the land. 
 
 " Well, this is a new way to land," cried Ted, 
 who had been rather quiet during the perform- 
 ance, and his father thought a trifle fright- 
 ened. " It's a sort of a balloon ascension, isn't 
 it?" 
 
 " It must be rather hard for the miners, who 
 have been waiting weeks for their mail, when 
 the boat can't land her bags at all," said Mr. 
 Strong. " That sometimes happens. From No- 
 vember to May, Nome is cut off from the world 
 by snow and ice. The only news they receive 
 is by the monthly mail when it comes. 
 
 " Over at Kronstadt the Russians have ice- 
 breaking boats which keep the Baltic clear 
 enough of ice for navigation, and plow their 
 way through ice fourteen feet thick for two 
 hundred miles. The Nome miners are very 
 
In the Gold Country 1 1 1 
 
 anxious for the government to try this ice-boat 
 service at Nome." 
 
 " Why did people settle here in such a forlorn 
 place?" asked Ted, as they made their way 
 to the town, which they found anything but 
 civilized. " I like the Indian houses on the 
 island better than this." 
 
 " Your island is more picturesque," said Mr. 
 Strong, " but people came here for what they 
 could get. 
 
 " In 1898 gold was discovered on Anvil 
 Creek, which runs into Snake River, and this 
 turned people's eyes in the direction of Nome. 
 Miners rushed here and set to work in the 
 gulches inland, but it was not till the summer 
 of 1899 tnat g°ld was found on the beach. A 
 soldier from the barracks — you know this is 
 part of a United States Military Reservation — 
 found gold while digging a well near the beach, 
 and an old miner took out $1,200 worth in 
 twenty days. Then a perfect frenzy seized the 
 
H2 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 people. They flocked to Nome from far and 
 near; they camped on the beach in hundreds 
 and staked their claims. Between one and two 
 thousand men were at work on the beach at one 
 time, yet so good-natured were they that no 
 quarrels seem to have occurred. Doctors, law- 
 yers, barkeepers, and all dropped their business 
 and went to rocking, as they call beach-mining." 
 
 " Oh, dad, let's hurry and go and see it," 
 cried Ted, as they hurried through their dinner 
 at the hotel. " I thought gold came out of deep 
 mines like copper, and had to be melted out or 
 something, but this seems to be different. Do 
 they just walk along the beach and pick it up? 
 I wish I could." 
 
 " Well, it's not quite so simple as that," said 
 Mr. Strong, laughing. " We'll go and see, and 
 then you'll understand," and they went down 
 the crooked streets to the sandy beach. 
 
 Men were standing about talking and laugh- 
 ing, others working hard. All manner of men 
 
"'let's watch those two men. they have evidently 
 
 STAKED A CLAIM TOGETHER.'" 
 
In the Gold Country 113 
 
 were there scattered over the tundra, 1 and Ted 
 became interested in two who were working 
 together in silence. 
 
 " What are they doing? " he asked his father. 
 " I can't see how they expect to get anything 
 worth having out of this mess." 
 
 " Beach-mining is quite different from any 
 other," said his father. " Let's watch those 
 two men. They have evidently staked a claim 
 together, which means that nobody but these 
 two can work on the ground they have staked 
 out, and that they must share all the gold they 
 find. They came here to prospect, and evi- 
 dently found a block of ground which suited 
 them. They then dug a prospect hole down 
 two to five feet until they struck * bedrock,' 
 which happens to be clay around here. They 
 passed through several layers of sand and 
 gravel before reaching this, and these were care- 
 fully examined to see how much gold they con- 
 1 The name given to the boggy soil of the beach. 
 
114 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 tained. Upon reaching a layer which seemed 
 to be a good one, the gravel on top was stripped 
 off and thrown aside and the ' pay streak ' 
 worked with the rocker." 
 
 1 * What is that?" asked Ted, who was all 
 ears, while Kalitan was taking in everything 
 with his sharp black eyes. 
 
 " That arrangement that looks like a square 
 pan on a saw-buck is the rocker. The rockers 
 usually have copper bottoms, and there is a 
 great demand for sheet copper at Nome, but 
 often there is not enough of it, and the miners 
 have been known to cover them with silver 
 coins. That man you are watching has silver 
 dollars in his, about fifty, I should say. It seems 
 extravagant, doesn't it, but he'll take out many 
 times that amount if he has good luck." 
 
 The man, who had glanced up at them, 
 smiled at that and said : 
 
 " And, if I don't have luck, I'm broke, any- 
 how, so fifty or sixty plunks won't make much 
 
In the Gold Country 115 
 
 difference. You going to be a miner, young- 
 ster?" 
 
 " Not this trip," said Ted, with a smile. 
 " Say, I'd like to know how you get the gold 
 out with that." 
 
 11 At first we used to put a blanket in the 
 rocker, and wash the pay dirt on that. Our 
 prospect hole has water in it, and we can use 
 it over and over. Some of the holes are dry, 
 and there the men have to pack their pay dirt 
 down to the shore and use surf water for wash- 
 ing. Most of our gold is so fine that the 
 blanket didn't stop it, so now we use ' quick.' 
 I reckon you'd call it mercury, but we call it 
 quick. You see, it saves time, and work-time 
 up here is so short, on account of winter setting 
 in so early, that we have to save up our spare 
 minutes and not waste 'em on long words." 
 
 Ted grinned cheerfully and asked: " What 
 do you do with the quick?" 
 
 s< We paint it over the bottom of the rocker, 
 
Ii6 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 and it acts like a charm and catches every speck 
 of gold that comes its way as the dirt is washed 
 over it. The quick and the gold make a sort 
 of amalgam." 
 
 " But how do you get at the gold after it 
 amalgams, or whatever you call it?" asked 
 Ted. 
 
 " Sure we fry it in the frying-pan, and it's 
 elegant pancakes it makes," said the man. " See 
 here," and he pulled from his pocket several 
 flat masses that looked like pieces of yellow 
 sponge. " This is pure gold. All the quick 
 has gone off, and this is the real stuff, just as 
 good as money. An ounce will buy sixteen dol- 
 lars' worth of anything in Nome." 
 
 " It looks mighty pretty," said Ted. " Seems 
 to me it's redder than any gold I ever saw." 
 
 11 It is," said his father. " Nome beach gold 
 is redder and brighter than any other Alaskan 
 gold. I guess I'll have to get you each a piece 
 for a souvenir," and both boys were made happy 
 
In the Gold Country 117 
 
 by the present of a quaintly shaped nugget, 
 bought by Mr. Strong from the very miner who 
 had mined it, which of course added to its value. 
 
 " You're gathering quite a lot of souvenirs, 
 Ted," said his father. " It's a great relief that 
 you have not asked me for anything alive yet. 
 I have been expecting a modest request for a 
 Malamute or a Husky pup, or perhaps a pet 
 reindeer to take home, but so far you have been 
 quite moderate in your demands." 
 
 " Kalitan never asks for anything," said Ted. 
 " I asked him once why it was, and he said In- 
 dian boys never got what they asked for; that 
 sometimes they had things given to them that 
 they hadn't asked for, but, if he asked the Tyee 
 for anything, all he got was l Good Indian get 
 things for himself,' and he had to go to work 
 to get the thing he wanted. I guess it's a pretty 
 good plan, too, for I notice that I get just as 
 much as I did when I used to tease you for 
 things," Teddy added, sagely. 
 
Ii8 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 " Wise boy," said his father. " You're cer- 
 tainly more agreeable to live with. The next 
 thing you are to have is a visit to an Esquimo 
 village, and, if I can find some of the Esquimo 
 carvings, you shall have something to take home 
 to mother. Kalitan, what would you like to 
 remember the Esquimos by? " 
 
 Kalitan smiled and replied, simply, " Muk- 
 luks." 
 
 " What are mukluksf " demanded Ted. 
 
 " Esquimo moccasins," said Mr. Strong. 
 " Well, you shall both have a pair, and they 
 are rather pretty things, too, as the Esquimos 
 make them." 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 AFTERNOON TEA IN AN EGLU 
 
 The Esquimo village was reached across the 
 tundra, and Teddy and Kalitan were much in- 
 terested in the queer houses. Built for the long 
 winter of six or eight months, when it is impos- 
 sible to do anything out-of-doors, the eglu 1 
 seems quite comfortable from the Esquimo 
 point of view, but very strange to their Ameri- 
 can cousins. 
 
 " I thought the Esquimos lived in snow 
 houses," said Ted, as they looked at the queer 
 little huts, and Kalitan exclaimed: 
 
 " Huh! Innuit queer Indian! " 
 
 " No," said Mr. Strong; "his hut is built 
 
 1 The eglu is the Esquimo house. Often they occupy 
 tents during the summer, but return to the huts the first 
 cool nights. 
 
 119 
 
120 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 by digging a hole about six feet deep and stand- 
 ing logs up side by side around the hole. On 
 the top of these are placed logs which rest even 
 with the ground. Stringers are put across these, 
 and other logs and moss and mud roofed over 
 it, leaving an opening in the middle about two 
 feet square. This is covered with a piece of 
 walrus entrail so thin and transparent that light 
 easily passes through it, and it serves as a win- 
 dow, the only one they have. A smoke-hole is 
 cut through the roof, but there is no door, for 
 the hut is entered through another room built 
 in the same way, fifteen or twenty feet distant, 
 and connected by an underground passage about 
 two feet square with the main room. The en- 
 trance-room is entered through a hole in the 
 roof, from which a ladder reaches the bottom 
 of the passage." 
 
 " Can we go into a hut? " asked Ted. 
 
 " I'll ask that woman cooking over there," 
 said Mr. Strong, as they went up to a woman 
 
Afternoon Tea in an Eglu 121 
 
 who was cooking over a peat fire, holding over 
 the coals an old battered skillet in which she 
 was frying fish. She nodded and smiled at the 
 boys, and, as Esquimos are always friendly and 
 hospitable souls, told them to go right into her 
 sglu, which was close by. 
 
 They climbed down the ladder, crawled 
 along the narrow passage to where a skin hung 
 before an opening, and, pushing it aside, entered 
 the living-room. Here they found an old man 
 busily engaged in carving a walrus tooth, an- 
 other sewing mukluks, while a girl was singing 
 a quaint lullaby to a child of two in the corner. 
 
 The young girl rose, and, putting the baby 
 down on a pile of skins, spoke to them in good 
 English, saying quietly: 
 
 11 You are welcome. I am Alalik." 
 
 " May we see your wares ? We wish to buy," 
 said Mr. Strong, courteously. 
 
 " You may see, whether you buy or not," she 
 said, with a smile, which showed a mouth full 
 
122 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 of even white teeth, and she spread out before 
 them a collection of Esquimo goods. There 
 were all kinds of carvings from walrus tusks, 
 grass baskets, moccasins of walrus hide, stone 
 bowls and cups, parkas made of reindeer skin, 
 and one superb one of bird feathers, ramleikas, 
 and all manner of carved trinkets, the most 
 charming of which, to Ted's eyes, being a tiny 
 oomiak with an Esquimo in it, made to be used 
 as a breast-pin. This he bought for his mother, 
 and a carving of a baby for Judith; while his 
 father made him and Kalitan happy with pres- 
 ents. 
 
 " Where did you learn such English? " asked 
 Mr. Strong of Alalik, wondering, too, where 
 she learned her pretty, modest ways, for Es- 
 quimo women are commonly free and easy. 
 
 " I was for two years at the Mission at Holy 
 Cross," she said. " There I learned much that 
 was good. Then my mother died, and I came 
 home." 
 
Afternoon Tea in an Eglu 123 
 
 She spoke simply, and Mr. Strong wondered 
 what would be the fate of this sweet-faced girl. 
 
 " Did you learn to sew from the sisters?" 
 asked Ted, who had been looking at the gar- 
 ments she had made, in which the stitches, 
 though made in skins and sewn with deer sinew, 
 were as even as though done with a machine. 
 
 Kl Oh, no," she said. " We learn that at 
 home. When I was no larger than Zaksriner 
 there, my mother taught me to braid thread 
 from deer and whale sinew, and we must sew 
 very much in winter if we have anything to sell 
 when summer comes. It is very hard to get 
 enough to live. Since the Boston men come, 
 our people waste the summer in idleness, so 
 we have nothing stored for the winter's food. 
 Hundreds die and many sicknesses come upon 
 us. In the village where my people lived, in 
 each house lay the dead of what the Boston 
 men called measles, and there were not left 
 enough living to bury the dead. Only we es 
 
124 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 caped, and a Black Gown came from the Mis- 
 sion to help, and he took me and Antisarlook, 
 my brother, to the school. The rest came here, 
 where we live very well because there are in the 
 summer, people who buy what we make in the 
 winter." 
 
 " How do you get your skins so soft? " asked 
 Ted, feeling the exquisite texture of a bag she 
 had just finished. It was a beautiful bit of 
 work, a tobacco-pouch or " Tee-rum-i-ute," 
 made of reindeer skin, decorated with beads and 
 the soft creamy fur of the ermine in its summer 
 hue. 
 
 " We scrape it a very long time and pull and 
 rub," she said. " Plenty of time for patience 
 in winter." 
 
 " Your hands are too small and slim. I 
 shouldn't think you could do much with those 
 stiff skins," said Teddy. 
 
 Alalik smiled at the compliment, and a little 
 flush crept into the clear olive of her skin. She 
 
Afternoon Tea in an Eglu 125 
 
 was clean and neat, and the eglu, though close 
 from being shut up, was neater than most of the 
 Esquimo houses. The bowl filled with seal oil, 
 which served as fire and light, was unlighted, 
 and Alalik's father motioned to her and said 
 something in Innuit, to which she smilingly 
 replied : 
 
 " My father wishes you to eat with us," she 
 said, and produced her flint bag. In this were 
 some wads of fibrous material used for wicks. 
 Rolling a piece of this in wood ashes, she held 
 it between her thumb and a flint, struck her 
 steel against the stone, and sparks flew out 
 which lighted the fibre so that it burst into 
 flame. This was thrown into the bowl of oil, 
 and she deftly began preparing tea. She served 
 it in cups of grass, and Ted thought he had 
 never tasted anything nicer than the cup of 
 afternoon tea served in an eglu. 
 
 " Alalik, what were you singing as we came 
 in? " asked Ted. 
 
126 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 " A song my mother always sang to us," she 
 replied. " It is called ' Ahmi,' and is an Es- 
 quimo slumber song." 
 
 " Will you sing it now? " asked Mr. Strong, 
 and she smiled in assent and sang the quaint, 
 crooning lullaby of her Esquimo mother — 
 
 " The wind blows over the Yukon. 
 
 My husband hunts the deer on the Koyukun Mountains, 
 
 Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, wake not. 
 
 Long since my husband departed. Why does he wait in the 
 
 mountains ? 
 Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, softly. 
 Where is my own ? 
 
 Does he lie starving on the hillside ? Why does he linger ? 
 Comes he not soon, I will seek him among the mountains. 
 Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, sleep. 
 The crow has come laughing. 
 His beak is red, his eyes glisten, the false one. 
 * Thanks for a good meal to Kuskokala the Shaman. 
 On the sharp mountain quietly lies your husband.' 
 Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, wake not. 
 ' Twenty deers' tongues tied to the pack on his shoulders; 
 Not a tongue in his mouth to call to his wife with, 
 Wolves, foxes, and ravens are fighting for morsels. 
 Tough and hard are the sinews, not so the child in youi 
 
 bosom.' 
 
Afternoon Tea in an Eglu 127 
 
 Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, wake not. 
 
 Over the mountains slowly staggers the hunter. 
 
 Two bucks' thighs on his shoulders with bladders of fat 
 
 between them. 
 Twenty deers' tongues in his belt. Go, gather wood, old 
 
 woman ! 
 Off flew the crow, liar, cheat, and deceiver ! 
 Wake, little sleeper, and call to your father. 
 He brings you back fat, marrow and venison fresh from the 
 
 mountain. 
 Tired and worn, he has carved a toy of the deer's horn, 
 While he was sitting and waiting long for the deer on the 
 
 hillside. 
 Wake, and see the crow hiding himself from the arrow, 
 Wake, little one, wake, for here is your father." 
 
 Thanking Alalik for the quaint song, sung 
 in a sweet, touching voice, they all took their 
 departure, laden with purchases and delighted 
 with their visit. 
 
 " But you must not think this is a fair sample 
 of Esquimo hut or Esquimo life," said Mr. 
 Strong to the boys. " These are near enough 
 civilized to show the best side of their race, but 
 theirs must be a terrible existence who are in- 
 
128 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 land or on islands where no one ever comes, 
 and whose only idea of life is a constant strug- 
 gle for food." 
 
 " I think I would rather be an American," 
 remarked Ted, while Kalitan said, briefly: 
 
 " I like Thlinkit." 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE SPLENDOUR OF SAGHALIE TYEE 
 
 The tundra was greenish-brown in colour, 
 and looked like a great meadow stretching From 
 the beach, like a new moon, gently upward to 
 the cones of volcanic mountains far away. 
 
 The ground, frozen solid all the year, thaws 
 out for a foot or two on the surface during the 
 warm months, and here and there were scattered 
 wild flowers; spring beauties, purple primroses, 
 yellow anemone, and saxifrages bloomed in 
 beauty, and wild honey-bees, gay bumblebees, 
 and fat mosquitoes buzzed and hummed every- 
 where. 
 
 Ted and Kalitan were going to see the rein- 
 deer farm at Port Clarence, and, as this was 
 
 to be their last jaunt in Alaska, they were deter- 
 129 
 
130 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 mined to make the best of it. Next day they 
 were to take ship from Cape Prince of Wales 
 and go straight to Sitka. Here Ted was to 
 start for home, and Mr. Strong was to leave 
 Kalitan at the Mission School for a year's 
 schooling, which, to Kalitan's great delight, was 
 to be a present to him from his American 
 friends. 
 
 " Tell us about the reindeer farms, daddy. 
 Have they always been here? " demanded Ted, 
 as they tramped over the tundra, covered with 
 moss, grass, and flowers. 
 
 " No," said his father. " They are quite 
 recent arrivals in Alaska. The Esquimos used 
 to live entirely upon the game they killed before 
 the whites came. There were many walruses, 
 which they used for many things; whales, too, 
 they could easily capture before the whalers 
 drove them north, and then they hunted the 
 wild reindeer, until now there are scarcely any 
 left. There was little left for them to eat but 
 
Splendour of Saghalie Tyee 131 
 
 small fish, for you see the whites had taken away 
 or destroyed their food supplies. 
 
 11 One day, in 1891, an American vessel dis- 
 covered an entire village of Esquimos starving, 
 being reduced to eating their dogs, and it was 
 thought quite time that the government did 
 something for these people whose land they had 
 bought. Finding that people of the same race 
 in Siberia were prosperous and healthy, they 
 sent to investigate conditions, and found that 
 the Siberian Esquimos lived entirely by means 
 of the reindeer. The government decided to 
 start a reindeer farm and see if it would not 
 benefit the natives." 
 
 11 How does it work? " asked Ted. 
 
 " Very well, indeed," said his father. " At 
 first about two hundred animals were brought 
 over, and they increased about fifty per cent, 
 the first year. Everywhere in the arctic region 
 the tundra gives the reindeer the moss he lives 
 on. It is never dry in summer because the frost 
 
132 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 prevents any underground drainage, and even 
 in winter the animals feed upon it and thrive. 
 There are, it is said, hundreds of thousands of 
 square miles of reindeer moss in Alaska, and 
 reindeer stations have been established in many 
 places, and, as the natives are the only ones 
 allowed to raise them, it seems as if this might 
 be the way found to help the industrious Es- 
 quimos to help themselves." 
 
 " But if it all belongs to the government, 
 how can it help the natives? " asked Ted. 
 
 " Of course they have to be taught the busi- 
 ness," said Mr. Strong. " The government 
 brought over some Lapps and Finlanders to 
 care for the deer at first, and these took young 
 Esquimos to train. Each one serves five years 
 as herder, having a certain number of deer set 
 apart for him each year, and at the end of his 
 service goes into business for himself." 
 
 " Why, I think that's fine," cried Ted. " Oh, 
 Daddy, what is that? It looks like a queer, 
 
Splendour of Saghalie Tyee 133 
 tangled up forest, all bare branches in the sum- 
 
 mer." 
 
 " That's a reindeer herd lying down for their 
 noonday rest. What you see are their antlers. 
 How would you like to be in the midst of that 
 forest of branches? " asked Mr. Strong. 
 
 " No, thank you," said Teddy, but Kalitan 
 said: 
 
 " Reindeer very gentle ; they will not hurt 
 unless very much frightened." 
 
 " What queer-looking animals they are," said 
 Ted, as they approached nearer. " A sort of a 
 cross between a deer and a cow." 
 
 " Perhaps they are more useful than hand- 
 some, but I think there is something picturesque 
 about them, especially when hitched to sleds 
 and skimming over the frozen ground." 
 
 The farm at Teller was certainly an interest- 
 ing spot. Teddy saw the deer fed and milked, 
 the Lapland women being experts in that line, 
 and found the herders, in their quaint parkas 
 
134 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 tied around the waist, and conical caps, scarcely 
 less interesting than the deer. Two funny little 
 Lapp babies he took to ride on a large reindeer, 
 which proceeding did not frighten the babies 
 half so much as did the white boy who put them 
 on the deer. A reindeer was to them an every- 
 day occurrence, but a Boston boy was quite an- 
 other matter. 
 
 Better than the reindeer, however, Teddy 
 and Kalitan liked the draught dogs who hauled 
 the water at the station. A great cask on 
 wheels was pulled by five magnificent dogs, 
 beautiful fellows with bright alert faces. 
 
 " They are the most faithful creatures in 
 the world," said Mr. Strong, " devoted to their 
 masters, even though the masters are cruel to 
 them. Reindeer can work all day without a 
 mouthful to eat, living on one meal at night of 
 seven pounds of corn-meal mush, with a pound 
 or so of dried fish cooked into it. On long jour- 
 neys they can live on dried fish and snow, and 
 
"TWO FUNNY LITTLE LAPP BABIES HE TOOK TO RIDE ON A 
 LARGE REINDEER." 
 
Splendour of Saghalie Tyee 135 
 
 five dogs will haul four hundred pounds thirty- 
 five miles a day. They carry the United States 
 mails all over Alaska." 
 
 " I should think the dog would be worth 
 more than the reindeer," said Ted. 
 
 " Many Alaskan travellers say he is by far 
 the best for travelling, but he cannot feed him- 
 self on the tundra, nor can he be eaten him- 
 self if necessary. The Jarvis expedition proved 
 the value of the reindeer," said Mr. Strong. 
 
 " What was that? " asked Ted. 
 
 " Some years ago a whale fleet was caught 
 in the ice near Point Barrow, and in danger 
 of starving to death, and word of this was sent 
 to the government. The President ordered the 
 revenue cutter Bear to go as far north as possi- 
 ble and send a relief party over the ice by sledge 
 with provisions. 
 
 " When the Bear could go no farther, her 
 commander landed Lieutenant Jarvis, who was 
 familiar with the region, and a relief party. 
 
136 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 They were to seek the nearest reindeer station 
 and drive a reindeer herd to the relief of the 
 starving people. The party reached Cape 
 Nome and secured some deer, and the rescue 
 was made, but under such difficulties that it is 
 one of the most heroic stories of the age. 
 These men drove four hundred reindeer over 
 two thousand miles north of the Arctic Circle, 
 over frozen seas and snow-covered mountains, 
 and found the starving sailors, who ate the 
 fresh reindeer meat, which lasted until the ice 
 melted in the spring and set them free.' , 
 
 " I think that was fine," said Ted. " But it 
 seems a little hard on the reindeer, doesn't it, 
 to tramp all that distance just to be eaten?" 
 
 " Animals made for man," said Kalitan, 
 
 briefly, 
 
 * * * 
 
 A golden glory filled the sky, running up- 
 wards toward the zenith, spreading there in 
 varying colours from palest yellow to orange 
 
Splendour of Saghalie Tyee 137 
 
 and deepest, richest red. Glowing streams of 
 light streamed heavenward like feathery wings, 
 as Ted and Kalitan sailed southward, and Ted 
 exclaimed in wonder: " What is it? " 
 
 " The splendour of Saghalie Tyee" 1 said 
 Kalitan, solemnly. 
 
 " The Aurora Borealis," said Mr. Strong, 
 " and very fortunate you are to see it. Indeed, 
 Teddy, you seem to have brought good luck, 
 for everything has gone well this trip. Our 
 faces are turned homeward now, but we will 
 have to come again next summer and bring 
 mother and Judith." 
 
 " I'll be glad to get home to mother again," 
 said Ted, then noting Kalitan's wistful face, 
 11 We'll find you at Sitka and go home with you 
 to the island," and he put his arm affectionately 
 over the Indian boy's shoulder. Kalitan pointed 
 to the sky, whence the splendour was fading, 
 and a flock of birds was skimming southwards. 
 1 Way-up High Chief, i.e., God. 
 
138 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 " From the sky fades the splendour of Sa- 
 ghalie Tyee," he said. " The summer is gone, 
 the birds fly southward. The light goes from 
 me when my White Brother goes with the birds. 
 Unless he return with them, all is dark for 
 Kalitan!" 
 
 THE END. 
 
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