The San Francisco call., 1898-05-15

cisco via Seallle rom a CTulSe A of adventure and discovery
 among the waters of the north ern territory. They tell of a remark able tribe of Indians whom they found inhabiting an island near the sixty fifth parallel of latitude and south of Bering Strait, called Kings Island.
 The Indians seemed to belong to the Innuit or Eskimo family, as they pre- sented the same physical characteris- tics as these people. they being large, the men generally over six feet, with small black eyes, high cheek bones, vel low skin, brown hair and full brown boards half concealing thick lips. In the corners of the lower lips of many of the men holes had been punched, in which pendant ornaments were worn. The people appeared docile and agree able. and when the strangers went among them they offered them no harm.
 A surprising feature of the tribe was the stature and strength of the women They were equally as tall, if not taller than the men, and fully as stout as their lords They did not display the barbarous ornaments upon their faces with which men increase the esteem in which they hold one another, and they were much better looking than the males.
 Their strength of body was wonder full. One of these women, 1t Is related, carried off In her birch bark canoe an SO0-p pound stone for use as an anchor to the whaler's boat. When it reached the vessels deck 1t required two men to lift it and they were strong men, too, though the woman had not found the moving of 1t beyond her powers. One woman, 1t was stated, lifted box containing 2S0 pounds of lead and car ried it upon her shoulders. When food is scarce they will frequently travel thirty or forty miles without eating, going over the country on the main land in search of wherewithal to sus- tain life. Both men and women ap- pear to be endowed with remarkable vigor and power. They are highly athletic and can outrun and outjump any persons of any other race pitted against them
 This physical vigor Is extraordinary to be produced by the kind of food they consume They live on carrion fish and seal oil. The fish, generally the salmon, are caught in the fall and bur fed in the ground intact, without the entraiIs being removed They are so
  thermometer ranges from 90 to 40 de- grees below zero, and they are dug up as consumption requires. When they are brought to the air they have the appearance of sound fish, but their stench is unbearable to the civilized nose.
 The island is great mass of black rock. basaltic in texture, about a mile long and two-thirds of a mile wide, with perpendicular cliffs one thousand feet high frowning upon the ocean on three sides. On the south this wall has fallen and a steep rift of canyon, filled with rocks and snow, cuts up from the waters edge to the top of the island. At the lower end of this ravine, and in the tall side of the basalt there is a cave worn into the rock by the restless action of the waves. The ocean surf roars and splashes at its mouth and at high tide that mouth is nearly closed by the sea- But In the rear or the cave there is great filling or bank of perpetual snow. How it gets there Is a question, unless there is a rift in the rock to connect with the snow mass in the ravine. which is probably the case. In this cave snow the Indians have ex- cavated rooms in which they store their walrus and seal meat and whale blubber. There such provision quickly freezes and Is kept so congealed indeh- niteIy. or until needed for use.
 Where these people have come from is the curious problem in the estima- ton of the three whalers; as few years ago the island was almost en- tirely depopulated of its inhabitants by starvation.
 Food in that region is no longer so abundant as to be readily obtainable with the primitive weapons end imple- ments used by Indians. The American whalers from the south have nearly rid the waters of the white whale, the great food of these natives, and what fish of this variety there IS now seeks the protection of the frozen ocean; or if the fish venture south through the strait they are so wild and timid that 1t is rarely possible that an Indian vil- lager can catch one of them. The walrlls too, such an important animal in the Eskimo's scheme of sub sistence has so nearly disappeared now a rarity. The whalers have caught and destroyed them for the ivory of their tusks. The caribou on the main land are all gone, and the Indian is now forced to subsist mainly on small fish and sea lions. Some of the salmon, l however, are enormously large. being | five feet long and weighing as much as 100 rounds. Their skins are heavy and | tough and when sealed and tanned | are ,1sed to cover biarkas-the Eskimo | boat.
 The Indians have lately turned to l fishing for deep water cod, the supply | of which Is inconceivable, as the re- source is yet comparatively undis- 1 turbed. They have to fish In about l forty fathoms of water. and. equipped with only their shall boats, and with no pulleys upon which to reel up the lines. it is exceedingly difficult work. 1 They are we'll rewarded for their la bors. however. as every line draws up from three to five cod, according to the number of their bone hooks used, each fish weighing from twenty to thirty pounds.
 1t would seem that with such facili- | ties for cold storage these Kings Island l Indians could so preserve their food l that it would have more agreeable | (. to tho capaitiva pa1ate R,1t fbo