The Nome nugget., 1902-01-15
A Winter Among the Natives of North
 eastern Siberia.
Capt. Sem Tells of Experiences Among the Fierce and Warike Natives of the Siberian Coast-Coast Natives Stand in Awe of the Deermen of the Interior
 Unreliebe Interpreters.

feye teeth cut by trading with three generations now of Yankee whalers.
 Ehe blander they are the more they know, and they can tell about as slick and plausible a line and have less com junction to do so than the sharpest horse dealer in the States. They were hav- ing good thing and they knew it and took full advantage of it, while they were bat1ling Dr.. Jackson from pre- curing deer. For years they were ad- vanced trade goods by the Bear to buy up deer during the winter. but when the summer came around there was always some excuse why they did not have them ready for deliverance. At times it was, "Ob, yes, the deer would 1 be at certain place at a certain time" :" and when the vessel would steam there at the appointed time she would be kept waiting with one excuse after an- other, until the captain got good and tired and steamed away without any. The Eskimo, of course. put the blame all on the deerman for not having been able to keep his word, and the lies he could invent on the spurt to that effect were always apt and marvelously credible.
 So with one thing and another the introduction of dolnesticaled reindeer Unto Alaska progressed very slowly and to quicken it Dr. Jackson conceived the idea of establishing regular purchas ing post and agency on the Siberian coast. This idea was carried into execution the next year, and MT. John w. Kelly was asked to take charge or the proposed station. He accepted the position with the prOviso that it should be arranged so that ! l could accom- pany him 4as assistant. This was acceded to. Mr. Kelly and had been nelghbors and friends tor years at Point Barrow. happened to be that Francisco. Only,afLer a ripe consider | atlon, | decided to accept the offer to join him, leaving the quite lucrative whaling business l was engaged ln to identify myself with the reindeer busl- ness. the importance of which, perhaps, is by nobody realized as well as by men like myself who have spent the best.years of their lives in Alaska. ! I had seen the caribou diminishing year by year. and the Immense moss pastures growing more and more idle, and 1 felt it and knew that it would only be question of d short time when the Alaska mineral wealth. of which we had had for years good prospects and abundant indications, would ,draw thousands of people to the north and that the dOmestlcaLed reindeer would not alone become.a thing of utility but almost a thing of necessity for the right development Of tnls great Northland. However readily accepted the prof. fered position I did not by any means a.cert tt lightly. Both MT. Kelly and 1 were well acquainted, by hearsay, at lea t, with the general 4Elarchistic con dition, of Chowchuan land; we knew that oi all the trades, who in former years had been lOolhardy enough to es- tablish trading post there, none had survived the winter to tell the tale; we both bal heard narrowing tIle, of the general ill treatment received when thrown on the mercy of these natives, which were narrated to us by some of of the crew of tue U. s. Str. Rodger | which was burnt to the water edge sn st. Lawrence bay, Siberia. in the | winter of loSJ whlle on the Jeanette search expedition; and the Siberian coast Eskimo who would often ship as d hand on whaling vessel, would never tire of telling what warllke, fierce and revengefuI lot the deermen in the interior of his country were. So we both had hal our warning and were 1 well aware of the dangerous character of our. mission, but we took the view that things, as rule, are never as black as they are painted, and relying to some extent on our past experience with the North Alaska Eskimo, who were considered very Law and wooly when we first came north, and among whom we had succeeded without much trouble to establish ourselves. and, tO.,, on the circumstance that in nearly every strange land there are always available conditions which rightly looked into and taken advantage of, will assure good and quick footing, we concluded to go. Well, no doubt, we both had our curiosity to know more abuut the ChOwchuan and th.ir land, somewh to blame and guess we both were dared more or less by old whaler friends to un ert,Lke 1t.
 There happe ed to be li,ing in San Francisco tt tne ti e man by tle name of Vince i, t OaIy s,rvisCr out of tOurtee t .e rev the wieckei