Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-08-17
IN ALASKA.
Diet of the Bsrbsrians on Our Northwestern Pro-
montory.

montory.
From the San Francisco Chronicle.]
They live largely on ukali (dried fish,,
with fresh fish in season, and occasionally
take beluga or white whale, besides
many hair seals. They donot take kind
ly to bread or tea, SO the traders say.
When they are SO fortunate as to cap
ture beluga the whole village INDUCES
in feasting while it lasts, gorging them
selves upon the flesh immoderately. [
believe that alternate feasting and fast
ing are characteristic habits of nearly all
barbarious peoples. Captain Cook, in
his "Third Voyage relates that he saw
upon a certain occasion when the Aleut
chief of Ounalaska made his dinner off
the raw head of large halibut just
caught. After two of his servants had
eaten the gills, with no dressing except
squeezing out the slime, one of them cut
off the head of the fish, washed it in the
sea, and then laid it upon the grass near
the chief, at the same time strewingsom
more grass before the great man to serve
as table cloth. The attendant then cut
large pieces off the cheeks of the fish and
laid them within reach of the grand mo-
gul. "who swallowed them with as much
satisfaction as we should doraw oysters"
When the chief had done, the remains
of the fish's head were cut in pieces and
given to the attendants, ''who tore off
the meat with their teeth, and gnawed
the bones like SO many dogs" Captain
Lyon, the Arctic explorer, gives in his
journal an even more disgusting account
of an Esquimaux meal. "From Koolit-
al ho
maux luxury. He had eaten till he was
drunk, and every moment fell asleep,
with a flushed and burning face and his
mouth open. By his side sat Arnalooa
(his wifeG, who was attending her cook
ing pot, and at short intervals awakened
her spouse, in order to cram as much as
was possible of a large piece of half
boiled flesh into his mouth with the as
sistance of her forefnger, and, having
filled it quite full, cut off the morsel
close to his lips During this operation
the happy man moved no part of him
but his jaws, not even opening his eyes,
but his extreme satisfaction was occa-
sionally shown by most expressive
grunt, whenever he enjoyed sufficient
room for the passage of sound.
"The drippings of the savory repast
had so plentifully covered his face and
neck that had no hesitation in deter
mining that man may look more like
beast by overeating than by drinking to
excess" But enough of this; enough is
as good as a feast, even an Esquimaux
feast. On the hand, when putr1d whale
meat and other native luxuries are scarce,
these versatile creatures can adapt them
selves to the situation and rival Tanner
in fasting. They will worry along for
days, and even weeks, on the smallest
possible amount of food-nothing more
than little ulaki once every day or two.
So the attending physicians say. 1t
must have been their hungry season when
was at ST. Michael's, for squads of them
were hanging around the traders kitchen
door at every meal hour, where they
maintained their positions with unhinch-
ing fortitude, and waited in eloquent
silence and with speaking looks until the
calls of the stomach were answered with
broken victuals.