The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1869-01-09
Alaska Relics Of an Old CiyIlIEa-
tiOn, etc.

der that Russia, so eager for territorial
lgrandizement, should have let II slip out
Of its grasp for love or money. so long !
rs Russia held it we should have always I
been hankering after it, and for pretty I
much the same reasons of laudable pride
and jealousy as A. I. Stewart, who owned
nineteen-twentieths Of his block, envied
Master Goupil his twentieth share of IT, [
It is all settled now, however, in spite OF (
the grumblers, and we have hopeful re- ;
ports of what has been surveyed Of the /
mainland and the islands, which suggests
to us that perhaps we need not despair Of
better things yet behind. We had call
yesterday from Captain Ed 8. Fast, Of
the United States army, who has been
exploring those regions during the past
twelve months, and brings to the center
of the modern civilization upon this con-
tinent very interesting collection Of gen
uine antiquities from that despised Col
gotha of dry bones, which he dug up
from the graves Of an extinct race of
Dndalians who once lived there and flour
ished abundantly, and were adopts at
metallurgic art, carvery, and other orna-
mental skills and devices.
He heard by chance wind that there
were curiosities to be had in that country
for the buying, and his ambition for the
archaeological distinction induced him to
weigh anchor at Sitka and make all sail |
for the promised land. He soon discoV-
cred, however, that if he were to make |
good thing out of the exhibition he |
must make friends with the "old families"
and study the language so that he could
understand the natives. This he did, and
h. IL hau nnl
lected into MS. some three or four thou
sand words, by the help Of the priests and
his own perseverance-but chiefly to the
former, who have been at the work some
| fifty years. He describes the people as
/ the Pelasgi of a conquered race-or at all
| events as lamentably degenerated crowd
who, however, Notwithstanding their
| ignorance, know the value of Mexican
! dollars, and were willing to sell any
thing Ithey possessed in order that
they might possess them, from dearly be-
loved wife up to an ancient tobacco pipe,
the heirloom of centuries untold and un-
known. Every article which he bought
OF them he had to pay for in white com.
They had learned thing or two from
their long transactions with the Russians,
and were not to be bamboozied by paper
money, although, sooth to say the mo-
ment they got the dollars they went off to
the whisky shops and came not out thence
until they had spent their utmost farthing,
Captain Fast showed us, at his room in the
Gerard Hotel, some specimens OF the
money, God wot which the slippery Rus
slams had palmed off upon these people,
their subjects, in exchange for the goods
and conmodities-skin and furs-of the
native industry. And we will venture to
saw that outside the Livingstone regions
4 in savage Africa, where shells are the only
small change of commerce, no Chancellor
ofthe Exchequer ever issued before such
gOod.for-nothing currency 1t consisted
of bits of leather, representing in figures
various sums of money, from cent 70
three dollars, and perhaps TO figures Of q
far higher denomination. NotWithstand-
ing this, however, they said in ST. Peters
burg, if bits of leather will ego" why not
TIM And they forthwith set to work and
Issued tin currency, which the natives
were ordered to use for the purchase Of
, whisky -although for what reason did
, not clearly appear. Years agoa large cop
per coin, equal in value to some two ol
our cents, was the chief circulating medi
um Of the country It was issued by
Catharine il. to commemorate the mrs
discovery of copper in Siberia; but 1t wa
found subsequently,, that the real valuI
: was far greater than its nominal value
q and 80 the coin was recalled, to be melted
over again and reduced to its exact value
/ But they forgot Alaska when the ordel
/ was made, and so large quantities Of 1t hav'
q been preserved secretely in that country
!. ever since, and some specimens were pur
|, chased BY Captain Fast, and with varloul
4 other examples of rare Russian coin cal
y 4 be seen by those who take an interest IL
4 that kind of old metal.
r The AlasKans are on the whole, he says
d a.handsome people, well made, with I'm
. ewes and hair, but abominably dirty il
: their skin, clothing, and habits. The mel
are usually clothed in diDgy blanket, an,
( tbe women are also covered with the sam
! garment, dyed blue color and trimme'
r with red fringe and spsngled with .larg
p buttons. They are incorrigible gambler
10 and will stake their blankets # they hav
Is no money or furs The Captain describe
y their gambling apparatus as consisting
several, wooden cylinders, all numbere
and often carved, which fit one within th
.. other. A handful Of these articles
4 taken haphazard out Of. the bag ii
OF PLAYER then fixes upon number which /
q sees is marked on one Of the cylinders
" v has in his hand he then shutiles them U
ur all together and returns them to the othe
1g in the bag, and If in five attempts he fai
IF to draw the cylinder he has chosen for h
pt prize, he loses the stakes This game h
e, been handed down from immemorial tin
III III and the old foreiathers of whom they a
he soproud The Captain has some of the ga
he ments worn by these ancients, but th'
gs were unpacked. Ansrtist of Frank Leslie
lot however, had made drawings Of the
when they were exhibited in San Fra
cisco, ana those we saw. They are We
Id, graceful, andaremade either Of the skins
yal animals, in tunic form, OF of the skins
ly, birds, with all the Fathers on, In the SAL
of form. They even wore pants, and
sly sleeves of the tunic must have been 7
.ed comfortably broad, like a Bishops lav
~ sleeves.
ne The presentrace ofyoung female saval
me have abandoned the practice Of weari
pr. nose rings, SO common among Northt
re, Indians The married women, howev
ma stick a silver needle each through her o.
his particular nose,
The men have nat faces, round sku
ma. and semi-almond- shaped eyes, like
des Japanese and Chinese They are pur
mp. Mongolian race. The old Chiefs hi
Who long black hair, which is worn tailed, q
the knotted with plumes and feathers 1
BAR eyes are mostly dark, andso are the bro
Iun but they have no whiskers, and very II
beard. They disdgure their faces "
various pigments, made from the bu
~, bark of trees, and they set in the bea
ano full filth with the grease Of the wall
=. The faces Of the women are not quite
oi black colored as tho mems, and the 4
sle. tain Is ecstatie in his praises Of their
nple and rounded persons
reo These remarks apply chiefly to the
loshians, Of whom there are about
. thousand. They are not . nomadic
N. = but have villages hundreds Of years
~ ~ and live by huntinga and fishing, using
w, wv. Old Russian nint gun until the tran
~ and preferfing them TO the percusI
49, Now the Americans have Furnished :
ess ~ with excellent weapons, both guns
- reyolyers. They are very fond q 9 oei