The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-01-27
Life InIAIasIra. sitka.

| tn0uSanu 1nulhnh anu mo THOUSAND dogs.
OF tho dogs, al bot one arc Of TIC same
sliarp cared MollAh type aSen,amoDg the
Indians Of the plains. Theexception was
o handy legged lpp-eared cur Of civilized
breed, the only one among the two thous.
and that showed a. lack OF ciYility by
barking at our heels. The houses much
more resemble the smisubterrauean
abodcs Of the LaplandeB and Esquimaux
than the wigwams Of American Indians.
Like the oak described by the Roman
poet, they extend as far into the erath as
aboyeit. Some ofthem are from twerty
TO thirty feet square, and built of very
wide cedar planks, many Of them moro
than four feet across, worked out by these
rude people. t-s.,.
Weentercd several. Creeping through
apertures, both square and round, not
more than three feet In diameter, we des.
cended flights Of steps into the large sin.
gle room. In the center Of each a fire
was built on theground, and in the center
oil each roof hole, out Of which passed
a smalllportion OF the smoke, the most
Of II remaining for the benefit Of tho sal.
mon hanging over our heads, and 10
make sore eyes for the inmates. The
whole inside Is 1oored, except the fire.
place in the middle. On both sides arc
tho sleeping places, covered with skins
and blankets, and in some instances sepa.
rated by low partitions. In the rear, and
on shelves above the dormitories,
were stored potatoes and dried salmon in
small bales, covered with mating. There
largest potatoes are the size Of a hulled
walnut.
U The women were either cooking or
working small baskets and other utensils
ofdricd grass, In the manufacture Of
which they are surprisingly skilful. The
men were building canoes outside, or car.
wing odd images OF wood or walrus ivory,
for sale TO curious voyagers, one Of whom
is your correspondent. This was indica.
ted by his many purchases otqueer pipes,
little skin boats, bows and barbed arrows
for the slaughter Of fur seals, and other
articles Of VeIta but Of no especial utility.
AS time is Of no value to these people,
they bestow great labor for small rewards.
A grass mat orbaSket or an ivory carving
that has occupied several days in its con.
struction, can be bought for two or three
bits, and dressed deer.skin, tanned as only
they can do it, over which some hours Of
many days have been spent, may be pur.
chased for trile. .
Their canoe building is worthy Of
note. Out ola huge spruce or cedar tree
they work vessel of perfect symmetry
that will carry from five to ten tons. AZ.
ter roughly ihewing It in the forest, they
tow aud drag tito their homes, which are
always near the shore TO be finished at their
leisure. An Indian does not like to be hur.
ried, and especially by such men as Sher-
dan and Crook. 1saw many OF these canoes
in process of construction. The most
curious operation is that Of stretching
them apart, when reduced to the proper
thinness Of an inch or more. Before
stretching they may be four feet deep and
only two feet wide at the top. After it,
these proportions will be reversed, making
the width four feet. To accomplish this,
the hollowis filled with water, which Is
raised to the boiling point with heated
stones. 1t is then covered with mats I'm.
til throughly steamed, when the stretch
ing begins. The sides are kept apart by
crOss-pieces, which serve afterwards as
seats for the paddlers. But few OF them
have yet learned the labor.saving capac.
ity of oars. They use no nails, but fasten
their woods with roots and wythes.
They make spoons and other useful
articles form the horns of the argali and
the tusks Of the walrus. They burn the
dead, and deposit the ashes in little out
door structures that look like cross be.
tween an old.fashioned beehive and q
small hen.cOop. They build square
hollow pile oflogs, and after getting them
well ablaze, thrust the body in head tor
most, whereby tho mourning relatives are
consoled with the savory odors of roast
Indian.
The ladies beautiiy their compilations
with SCOT and red paint, and still further
enhance their charms by wearing bone
through the under lip, the size of which is
in rease from year to year until, in some
of the old ones, it attains width of two
inches, An Indian lady thus adorned,
with her coarse, black, uncombed locks
hanging in matted profusion around her
beautiful pig eyes and Top ears, ia only
resistible to those whose affections are
thoroughly preoccupied. The delights OF
courtship must be doubled by the pleasant
aroma Of salmon which prevades the
premises, and, as 1 have heard their per-
sons. .....
Among them the crow and the raven
are held sacred, and fit around their
lodges undistrubed. They live manly on
fish, and have monopoly OF the trapping.
There is but one while trapper In the
country, and he is at Cooks Inlet, six
hundred miles w. N. W. He came down
TO Sitka once 10 go To Kodiak. Learn.
ing that no vessel would sail for q month,
and growing tired OF the place, he said he
would take "a little walk" He started
with his rifle and a pocketful Of salt: and
traVersed alone that mountain wilderness
for three weeks. He had no extra COW
ering 1T night but the skins Of freshly
slaughtered animals He returned in
good condition, and, in answer TO qucs.
lions, boosted that he had lived better
han his quCstioners.
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