The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1879-09-09
The bottom Of which a tunnel eigh, feet long

conducts linn 10 Tue SuOteIIaAcAh POieioa
the dwelling. The hut is circular, and Il
sunk into the ground about tive feet. Ibe
portion above tie level Of the ground is built
OF mud. and is VI conical form. Only one
op-nin. Is y; ovided, and this is in the apex,
Where it gives escape 10 tie smoke. AT night
THIS ols. lug is closely covered with seal-skiD,
AMI TIE tunnei tightly closed. SO that ali &C
crss to the cold and to the Air as well IS cut
eii. In this ila.iiser the baydtdrd IS made
very VAIN but exceedingly INV holesnme.
Where \ hut Of this description was nut met
with at ai.htfaIi the travellers dug a square
i.oie in the SHOW, built a rampant Vi branches
toward the northern side. from which tie
wind nearly always blows. and sought repose
o., 2 couch, OF bou-hs thickly laid Oh the bot
tom Of the hole. Exposed thus TO Arctic
cid ia the ope, air tea Is the only beverage
used by tie No,thrrser. Strong spiri's create
q .feaier atuOuid Of heat in the system. but
tie reaction following leaves the travel r
more thar, ever exposed TO dagger Of death
from freezing. While among those people
,i. bishop also formed the acquaintance Of u
Medicine Nan. who undertook by his incan-
tailDiis 10 cure a sick child i'll the house where
the Bishops party We're guests. Part OF the
performance consisted in pounding a gOig
WIKI a club, anu when the Bishop learned
that this ceremony vas to be continued all
iiie.It- y iiccA iiJt III pms uS ttidt c tLC
prrve.tiai patienc e Of the missionary became
exhausted. AID that e ct dymis the Alaskan
NJ. u. was forthwith deprived of his profess
SIC .lAi parapiieriiai.a.
Returning to Nutalo the party started down
the river Dy siedse. experiencing such IA degree
Of cold that WS belnW zero Was frequently
registered by the spirit thermometer. On the
TIP IN. Bishop witnessed d religious cere-
inoiiy Which seemed To mean the worship Of
tire if it meait anything =; and that half frozen
wretciies should 1t length take to the aiiora-
ton OF tire AS their salvation from the Polar
cold is not very strange. Those Indians are
adopts in making ear;henw arc, some of their
utensils being Of a capacity 10 hold several
gallons, aid representing a very considerable
advance in the po.ter's art. Ii.ey diier from
the southern Indians of the Pacific coast in
their manner Of, dispOsing Of their dead,
which are buried. not burned as among the
ri Ctes, Washoes or Digsers. They resemble
the whites in having a tase for OriaInenting
the graves Of their departed warriors, but one
epitapli found by the Bishop was not calcula-
ted TO stir very PROFOUND depshs of woe. 1t
had probably beef picked up at some tr der's
camp and devoted to use as an epitaph, the
finder evidently believing it to possess vir-
tues not of this world. Fastened to a pole
and placed at the head of q departed warrior
IL gave
"BEE-HIvE BREAKFAST BACON"
As its recital Of the virtues possessed by the
deceased. But perhaps the most interesting
fact mentioned ny the Reverend lecturer is
the astonishing proficiency in music acquired
by those savases. So far advanced are they
that their arias can easily be committed to
writing BY our system Of musical notation.
Three or four Of these songs were rendered,
word and note, by his Grace, who has a fine
baritone voice. In one, a warriors funeral
dirge, a lDingling of grief with eulogy OF
martial proves must have been the meaning
of the words, SO clearly did the air express
those combined feelings. The lecturer also
gave specimens Of Alaskan dancing. which it
appears is lone principally by the women,
under the eyes Of their adlniring lords. The
dance is highly and superlatively " proper"
consisting as it does of a leaning posture in
which the dancer stands OH one foot while she
pounds the floor with the heel of the other,
the toe not being removed from the floor.
Even the most straight laced Of Puritans
could have nothing to say against such
IS steps" With these vivid r~eci;als Of the
customs OF those strange people His Grace
brought his highly entertaining and instruct
i've lecture to a close, not because his mate
rial was exhausted, but because his discourse
had already occupied far more than the time
usually devoted to a lecture. After a few
appropriate remarks by Mr.. Clark, and the
of a unanimous vote Of thanks. the
was dismissmed.