The Nome nugget., 1902-01-18
A Winter Among the Natives of Nerth-
 eastern Siberia.
Captain Siem Tells Of Experiences ei Himself and John w. Kelly Among the Fierce and Treachecous Natives of the Siberian Coast-D.sp!ay of ,Frmness
 Probably Saved Their Lives.

course to the law of the land at that.
 These Siberian natives were not like our E>kimus and Indians, simp'y hun 'te,'S. They had been cattle owners and
 h Arders for generations upon gene,a-
 tions. and all their laws and rules,
 though unwritten, governing the ro la tionSard a!lotmeEts of pasture lands,
 are as real and sacred to them as if
 they had been compiled time and tine
 again by q Moses or Blacksto, Q.
 Storie,, too, of the aggrts ,iveness of tthe white mcn must have penetra ed
 to them again and again. Alaska as only short way across, and how tie lwhite men were Overrunning hat country then must have been relat, q to them by tlieir Eskimo friends f,t m i there when on q trading visit to them. | First, one or two had come: the next year few more, and then plenty, and s no doubt, would it be the case in Chowchu.and unles, they started in to k Ill them off as fast as they were com ing in and thereby scare the rest from coming. Were they not right in their reasoning? :? They weie no fools, and we had no right to presume that they were. We had been the fools for not thinking il out that way before we had absulu.eiy committed ourselves. So our treatment was we'll deserved, and whensoever it was harsh | could not resent 1t. O. course, to defend our lives and gOuds was our right. but on ChowchnIand demanded the quick eX- terlninatlon of the white deermen.
 The very fact that we had started in 50 propiLiodsly made the opposition al the stronger. That we had mapag, d to make friends made Us all the more to be feared, and the people who kept on befi leading Us did so at the risk .oi ! tiietr lives. During the winter two Gf' them were killed on that account with out Il, being able to prevent 1t. Tie C, a,t Esnluio, 70 the biggest part. had Uiht II tuttI SuC HUH bfiS uCSl ultus whea the howl had been set up against us, and among them existed that ue- pray cu and treLcheiUuS element who. under guise of friend hip, would try to take L, una wares, anI by marder.ng uS, to lieap g,uty on them elves and to gain fer ever alter he good will of the { hnv vr, ,., i(,tD ia l,N Inc Ra.lr or other vessels they did nut fear, be- ,cause they cUul.i always pat the biau.e ,n the dceru.en afterwards. A double care was therefOre necessary in our dealings with them. If we had been iu Alaska or ,on American sOl we would, no doubt, have proceeded To take high hand and the offensive with these ieufgades. They wele rewards, one and all, and it would have 1 been easy enough to lntiinidate them and hold ,heln i'll line. It might have meant kiliing solAe<M them, though; and here We were in SIberia, to all ends and purposes Tn the Rus,ian do- ma n, prac icaiiy agen,s for the Lnlted sta es government. How would high- handed pro..eed .n.s by Us have be,n construed. however necessary at he 1 lne we miAhl have deemed ,heiA {! We had ha lhe Assurance b, the de ,partment that full .permis ion to.estab- | n>u a purchasing post had been glant ed by the Russian government. but al the papers Mir. Kelly had were slmp.y letters of introduction to the ipsyrak- nics trhief, of police) of Pet, opau.owsk
 and Gehzega from he Russlan prime
 minister, a,l.ipg them to assist MI. Kelly in his nilsson in every way nIt l contrary to prior instructions. II the' Russian cutter should 6tve come as far north as St. I.awrence bay that. iall l | have no doubt that the Russian officers
 would have treated us polite enough,
 but she happened to come that year not further than Anadir bay, where she
 had been boarded by some Indian
 Point native traders. These, of course, had notified the Russian captain ef the presence of the two American stiaDgers, , W he had built large houses n St. Law Lrence bay and had loads ofAll kinds ot
 barter goods in ehelr possession. The I "a Dlain of the cutter msst have been too much pressed for tiule 10 come north to investigate, aud uader the l Impression that lt was some American Ismuggling concern he had bluntiy told I the natives to chase us out of the c0un- l try. 1t seems that he had not been ad- !, visrd, of the. permission granted to the I Aiaer.san sus etnilent to erect pa'- I chaslni post. Of course, the words ol lthls blunt captain were sptead neaa.
 and Iar o,er the whole conp.ry, They I we're 1y ported to Us by i'o'nnef q ; d .tfereDt natives, anu to sone extent tney blansIe,i us as i.ars and obviously Il served to make our rosit.vn more stckiish:
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