, 1896-10-06
BLACK ART Adopts.
STRANGE :EATS OF MEDICINE MEN
or KINGS ISLAND.
Bringing the Dead Rack to Life by . Few
Incantation. and TumbIinGs Strange
Rock JpeG Which a Queer People Re
side In 4 pparrnt Conteutment.

lamentations and TumbIings Strange
Rock Upen Which "a Queer People Re
side In Apparent Contentment
"Trc ]strlnvcst island in the world"
said Captain NJ. J. Healy Of the United
States stcamts' Bear in the Occidental
hotel, lis Kings island, $500 miles
northwest of hero and 1870 miles off the
coast Of Siberia.
lit lies almost in the middle Of Be-
ring strait. almost equidis1ant from the
ASiatIc and American shores. 1t is in
habitcd by lS6 of tho queerest people l
ever ser eyes upon. The inhabitants
comprise lnor, women and children of
all ages, and besides these there are mn.
m"rou~ dogs uf all degrees except high,
The island is little more than o rock
rising out of the storm tossed waters ct
the ever turbulent strait. 1t is about n
mile long aud laif n mile wide, and its
sides ar" so precipitous that they are
like cliffs.
almost in tho middle of the island
and at the south side is Ill indentatiOn
made Ivy the rushing waters. This is
eXpaHCcd into II funncllike hole, reach
ing into the island aud out at the top at
an angle arproxin,ating 90 degrees. The
hole is $50 feet deep. and during stormy
weather TIE natives let down n rope and
drag up the seals. walruses aud other
sea animals which they have taken.
at is Of these animals that the ma
tivcs suh-ist. They are very expert in
taking them. rs wei! as great whales,
which ii!cy do not fear to attack, and
in fact sCCurc us trophies Of their PROV
css. They hunt all these animals in
the:r kyak~.-hcats so stout and skill
fully made that, though they are often
tossed oycr and ever by thu surf. they
are never wrecked and are speedily
riGktcd. Tie hcatnucn sit with their
feet in holes IN the boats, clad in water
tight wal,us skins. These boats will
put off successfully whore tho ordinary
boat would not live II minute.
But about the catch of these walrus.
cs and other animals and the strange
island. The natives have scooped out
queer rccop,aclcs on both sides of the
entrance On the ledge. Theso are 80 cool
that they are natural refrigerators, and
in these they store the bodies Of the ami
mails for future uso. There are about
go Of these rcccptaclcs or natural re.
t~rigcratorS, and there is nearly always
a supply Of meat i'll them, 20 that the
chances Of starving at any time are COM
parativcly scarce.
"On the right side of the island above
is the village Of the Indians. It il q
qlccr town, whose miniature houses are
made Of walius skins, stretched on light
frames. The ground is so rough that the
little skin aLodes are ranged one above
the other, like houses i'll a mining camp
on a mountain side. In the distance
they look small and fragile. but they
are fall Of people and active as beehiyes,
From the tossing waves where the
bear lay the catacomblike refrigerators
and the village presented a novel ap-
pcarancH.
"Il.c island, although a sort Of re-
public i'll its government, is ruled by =
few medicine men, Zach of different dc.
grecs of Importance. The medicine
men hold their positions by their re-
markablc feats of legerdemain. Mauy
people have gone to see Hermann and
Blitz also i'll his lifetime aud have
wondered at the fcats they have seen
them perform. But l undertake to say
that none Of these professors Of the black
art has PER- ormed more marvellous
things than l have seen these barbarian
medicine men do there.