Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1888-02-07

month 'sT wear unless speeiHed on the Sann-
script 6f previously agreed upon betweeu the
Pasnss ...-.
make a long skip and go right to
Sitka, the objective point of our trip.
There are about fifteen hundred In
Giahs. parts of MANY tribes, at the
present time they have lost most OF,
their tribal distfhel lions, lliasing been
under Russian rules for quite one
hundfea years. and I've together
under Hns chief OF their own selec-
tion. The Siti1a in his best day was
a a. brick" and no mistake. They
lived in rude huts made of logs. some
of theml i. G. the hutss and at their
heuse-warmings practieed the most
fiendish and diabolical cruelties- A
slave was killed with cruel ceremony
under each of the corner uprights,
and as a house could not have less.
than four of these, and sometimes
more by its irregularities one may
contemplate the suffering with which
large village like. that OF. Sitka has
been baptized. But white men have
put stop TO all such. There are
other objects. of interest. in : and
around this, enchanted town. We,
found the q. s. Ship. Pinta" an.
chored at Sitka, Population about
1.500A1 600 Indians, 400 Russians
and 100 Americans. The Presbytea
rian church has a fine mission with
I25 boys and girls who have been
adopted and are being educated by
the church, On our return trip
took up collection on board the,
(" 01ympian, amounting to S53, for.
the benefit of the mission, we gave-it
to the purser of the boat to he sent
back. There are but three mules In
Alaska, no horses, two of those be-
Hong to the mission aud one 10 the
government. The Greek church,
built forty two years ago, contains
some very fine paintings and the
Bishops crown which contains some
S25. 600 worth Of precious stones,
The T'linket Indian is iiu sloueh.
In , physical aprppoftions he is good,
!. e. apparahtly at least, of medium
stature, proud-erect bearing, olive
color, hands and feet Small, COARSE
stiff, ahlack hair, dark eyehrows faint
lly delineated over large black eyes
full of expression, white teeth and
| good, immense check bones, thick
4 lips, the 1ower. .pfetruding the sePtnm
of the Nose The lower lip and the
eaf; both the lobe. and all around the
margin is frequently pierced for the
purpose of.ipsertug ornaments. &c.
Both men and women paint theft
faces black and rcd. They All burn
their dead except he be witch, sor-
eerer or slares the latter is thrown
| into the sea tie former buried above
ground. This description, aud
these customs are apphcai'ic ID most
all of these numerous tribes, (with
some variations. however Slti<a, Of
tho Ecstern co,,fins a. / s. - Do. 80 Sc.
-ui-. -. 80 I. l..< : n ,.i,..t n.
fIur1 of Chaidea is or was TO- the
eastern Continent or MesopCtnmlan
Valley II is here aud around its
Island and peaks that the first giims
4 merings of man s advent show theIns
selves, Almost directly northwest
from Sitkh about fifteen miles is
Mount Edgecumbe, 3. named by
Cooke" previously it was called
Mount San Jacinto and il had other
synonyms it is 5000 feet above
the level of the sea. Lieutenant
Wood gives the following legend pre-
served by the Indians in their sacred
store-house of % Totem poles," &c.
A long time ago the earth sank be-
meath the water, and the water rose
and covered the highest places, so
that no man could live. II rained so
hard that IL was as IL the sea fell
) from the sky, all was black, and IL
: became so dark that no man knew
another. Then few people ran
here and there and made raft of
: cedar logs, but nothing could stand
: against the white waves. and the raft
: was broken in two. On one part
t hoated the ancestors of the T'linket,
r on the other the parents of all other
7 nations. The water tore them apart
and they never saw each other againJ
! now their children are all different
and do not understand each other:
' In the black tempest Chethl Osprey
! was torn from his sister Ah-gish-ahu-
, ahkou, (the woman who supports the
earth) called aloud to her IS You will
never see me again, bit tod will
5 hear my voice forever" Then he
BCCdLnE III CuOl blAA SNA hN " ~
9 the southwest. till no eye could fol
: low him. Ah-gish-ahu-abkou climbed
1 above the waters and reached the
< summit of Edgecumbe. The noun
s tain opened and received her into
e the bosom of the earth. that hole
y (the crater) is where she vent down.
: Ever since that time she has held
d the earth above the water. The
: earth is shaped like the back of :
t a turtle and rests on a pillar. All
$ Sish-ahu-ahkou holds the pillar
d Evil spirits that wish TO destroy man
d kind, seek to overthrow her and
: drive her away. The terrible battle:
e are long and fierce in the lower
= darkess. Often the pillar rocks and
i sways in the struggle, and the eartt
r tumbIes and seems like to fall bu
le Ah-gish-ahu-ahko is good anC
1t strong, so the earth is safe. Cheth
}, iives in the bird Kuna-kath-eth; hi
"a nest is in the top of the mountain IL
le the hole through which his sister dis
" appeared. He carries whales in hi
IS claws to this eyrie. and there devourl