The Coming of Behring
Close your hand together tightly, leaving the forefinger pointing
straight out. You now have before you the general shape of the peninsula
of Alaska, which lies in the northwestern part of North America.
The children of Alaska have a much more comfortable home than the little
Greenlanders. Their shores, except in the far north, are not bound in
ice the year around; the winters are not so cold and the summers are
warmer; trees grow in thick forests over a great part of the country,
and many flowers bloom there.
The reason for this is, that warm winds blow over the country from the
west, and these winds are due to a broad stream of water flowing through
the Pacific ocean, called the Japanese current. It makes its way from
the south and keeps its warmth during its long journey through the
colder waters of the main ocean. And so it is that the children of
Alaska who feel the warm winds blowing eastward from the Japanese
current, do not need the heavy furs worn by the Greenlanders, neither do
they require as much fat meat to give heat to their bodies, nor as close
and stuffy homes to live in.
The boys and girls of Alaska belong to several different races. There
are the yellow-skinned Eskimos of the far north and west; there are the
copper-colored Indians who are found in the south, and along the banks
of the rivers of the inland country; there are the Aleuts, who live on a
chain of islands stretching westward towards Asia, and who are like
Indians in some ways and like the Japanese in others. No one really
knows what these Aleuts are, nor where they came from. Perhaps in the
long-ago they made their way to these islands from Asia, for the
distance is not great, and small boats could have crossed over safely in
good weather. Besides these Aleuts and the Indians and Japanese, there
are white children from the United States whose fathers are busy trading
for furs or digging gold in the mines.
Early in the eighteenth century, a brave seaman named Vitus Behring was
sailing under the orders of Peter the Great of Russia. He crossed the
Pacific ocean from Asia and traveled far into the north. He passed
through a strait and entered a sea, both of which were named in his
honor, Behring. Then he coasted along the shores of a land whose
mountains often rose up out of the ocean. He was the first white man to
look on the peninsula of Alaska.
A dreadful storm arose during this voyage and Vitus Behring and his men
were wrecked on a small island to which also the name of the commander
was given. Here he died, and here his men built a vessel out of what
they saved from the wreck, and sailed away for home to tell of what had
been discovered.
Time went by and other Russian ships visited Alaska and began to trade
with the natives for the furs which they got from the wild animals
roaming through the country. After a while they built small stations
here and there on the coast, for the purpose of trading, and to these
stations ships came regularly to receive loads of seal and fox, beaver
and martin skins which the Indians and the Eskimos were glad to trap and
kill, when they found they could get bright-colored blankets, tobacco,
and many other things in exchange for them.
In this way it came about that a few Russian children with blue eyes and
yellow hair found their way to Alaska, and lived in rough log houses
with wild-looking Indians and Eskimos for their neighbors. About fifty
years ago the children of the United States began to hear many stories
of Alaska. Their parents told them that Russian fur-traders had made
fortunes there. Moreover, Russia was willing to sell the country for a
few million dollars.
Some people said, "Why should not Americans buy it? Besides the valuable
furs, there are rich forests in Alaska."
At this time a statesman by the name of Seward was urging the United
States to purchase that far-away peninsula, for he was quite sure this
country would be well repaid for doing so. People listened to his
reasons, and at last they decided to follow Mr. Seward's advice, and
Russian America, as it had been called up to that time, received its new
name of Alaska, and became a territory of the United States. There were
many, however, who thought it a most foolish purchase and often spoke of
it as "Seward's folly." To-day everyone looks upon it, instead, as
"Seward's wisdom," for it has made many an American child's father rich,
not only through its furs, but also through the salmon caught in its
waters and the gold found in its mines.
The Little Eskimos.
Along the northern and western shores of Alaska, in the coldest part of
the country, are scattered villages of the Eskimos. They are much like
their brothers and sisters of Greenland. They dress in furs, and live
chiefly on the fat meat of the seal and walrus. They seldom go far from
the shore, because most of their food is obtained from the sea.
Their winter homes are small stone huts built partly underground, and
with long tunnel-like entrances dug out of the earth and leading down
into them. Turf and mud are plastered over the cone-shaped roofs, while
in the middle, at the top of each, there is a small opening to let out
the smoke. Directly under this opening is the family fireplace where
wood is burnt except in the most northern homes. There the Eskimo
children help their mothers tend just such lamps of seal-oil as the
Greenlanders use, since it is too cold for trees to grow on the frozen
marshes that stretch along the shores of the Arctic ocean. Oil is the
one thing that they can obtain, and of this they must make use. In the
short summer the little Eskimos of Alaska delight in the skin tents
which their mothers stretch over light frames, while from time to time,
during the spring and fall, they camp out in snow-houses.
They have their teams of dogs, which they pet and train. They have their
skin-covered kayaks made in much the same way as those of the Greenland
Eskimos, although it is very probable that they have never heard of
their relations in that distant island. Mother Nature has provided
certain things to maintain life in the frozen lands of the north,--not
many to be sure; but the minds of those who dwell in places far distant
from each other seem to have thought out much the same way of using
them.
[Illustration: An Eskimo Village in Alaska.]
In these far northern regions the little Eskimos are often treated to a
most beautiful sight. It is the northern lights, which flash over the
heavens during the long cold winter nights, and are far brighter than
are ever seen in Greenland or Iceland. Think of the most glorious
rainbow you can imagine,--the brilliant green, yellow, blue, and violet
spreading out in great waves of light over the sky. For a few moments it
is as light as day. Then the colors fade away and all is darkness once
more. It is not strange that the little Eskimos who stand watching are
filled anew with wonder and think of it as the work of great and
powerful spirits.
Among the Indians.
Along the southern shores of Alaska and on the banks of the rivers of
the inland country are many Indian villages. They belong to several
different tribes, but their way of living is much the same. Their huts
are generally built of logs and bark, and they like best to dress in the
bright-colored blankets, with red and yellow handkerchiefs on their
heads, which they get in barter from the white traders. The red children
have broad faces, black eyes, and black hair. Long ago, before the white
men lived among them, these little Indians believed that they could make
themselves more beautiful by tattooing their bodies. As these poor
children grew up, they suffered many an hour of pain while the red or
blue lines were marked on their chins by threads drawn along under the
skin. Now, however, as the red men learn more and more of the ways of
the white people, this cruel fashion is passing away. Many of the little
Indians of Alaska go to school, where they take delight in learning to
read and write. They are rather slow, but they are very patient, and
proud indeed are they when they have mastered a hard lesson.
Most of them, however, are still in Mother Nature's school alone, but
their bright eyes are continually learning new things about the trees
and the flowers, and the wild animals that roam through the forests and
over the snowfields. These children of the red men delight in the water.
The rivers of Alaska are the roadways, and here as well as on the coast,
the boys paddle in their canoes for many a mile, hunting, fishing, and
racing. Many an Indian has a morning bath in the ice-cold river, or in
the ocean. "It will make my child strong," his mother thinks, and so,
whether it be a bright summer day, or a dark and freezing winter
morning, in he goes for his daily plunge.
In front of many homes of the red children are tall, straight posts.
Horrible-looking faces are carved upon these posts, as well as the
figures of birds, fishes and wild animals.
"It is the totem-pole," the Indian child will tell you with pride. The
totem is the mark of his family. It is even more to him than is the
coat-of-arms to many an Englishman. Suppose a wolf is the principal
carving upon the pole. The child's parents tell him it is their
guardian, and the child learns to look upon it with reverence. Perhaps
his grandfather or his great-grandfather dreamed of the wolf while he
was fasting alone in the forest. He thought it was a vision from heaven,
and he chose it henceforth to be the totem of his tribe or of his
family.
Candle Fish.
Since Alaska lies so far north, the winter must be long and dark. No
lamps are needed to light the huts, however, if the children and their
parents have provided themselves with enough candle-fish. These fish are
about ten inches long, but quite thin. Strange to say, they are full of
oil, and after being carefully dried, they will burn like torches. One
of them will give as much light as two or three candles. At certain
times of the year, schools of candle-fish enter the mouths of the rivers
which empty into the ocean. The Indian children watch for their coming,
and as soon as they appear, they and their parents go down to the shore
and rake them out of the water by the bushel.
The Indian mothers not only dry the candle-fish for lighting their
winter homes, but they also boil great numbers of them, for in this way
they get a supply of hardened oil that takes the place of butter. The
older and the more rancid this oil is, the better they like it.
In the short Alaskan summer the fruits and flowers grow very fast. It
seems as though they must make the best possible use of the sunshine. In
the southern part of the country the children can pick the most
beautiful bouquets of white clover, maiden-hair ferns, and
bright-colored wild flowers. They go berrying to their hearts' content,
too. There are fields and fields filled with tall blueberry bushes;
there are the juicy yellow salmon berries; there are cranberries,
blackberries, red and white currants, and bilberries, but the best of
all are the sweet, wild strawberries that almost melt in the mouth.
Certainly the children of the greater part of Alaska can feast on good
things in summer. Why, the berries are so plentiful that not only the
boys and girls, but the birds of the country get fat with the rich
living. Many of the wild geese, indeed, can hardly fly after the
summer's feast, and are then easily caught by the boys and their
fathers.
Even in winter there are berries to add to the dinner of fish and oil,
for during the summer the children gather many bushels for their mothers
to dry and store away. Berries, fish and oil! Surely, think the people,
a person should be content if he has plenty of these three dainties.
There are deer and bears, mountain goats, wild ducks and geese. All
these are good for a change, but they cannot compare with fish, either
fresh or dried, with an abundance of hardened oil spread over them.
Along the coasts there are clams and oysters, mussels and crabs. The
natives like these, too; they dry and string them on long blades of
grass for the winter season. Thus they have more variety of food than
the people of Greenland.
Catching Salmon.
The boys of southern Alaska spend much time along the shores of the
waters which teem with cod and halibut, besides many smaller fish. But
most plentiful of all are the salmon that leave the ocean as spring
opens and enter the mouths of the rivers. How busy the people are then!
The men and boys have nets all ready, and with these they paddle out
into the water in their canoes. After the season has well opened, they
load their boats again and again in one day, and before the season is
over there is many a time when they simply scoop the fish on to the
shore with the blades of their paddles. Salmon are so sweet and fat,
that the Indians are very fond of them. They can feast on fresh fish
during the summer, while the women split up great numbers of them and
hang them up on racks to dry for the coming winter.
Many years ago the white people learned that salmon are plentiful in
Alaska, so that now the Indians are busy, not only in getting the fish
for themselves, but for the factories where tin boxes and casks are made
by the hundreds and packed with the delicious fish which are sent to the
people of the United States and elsewhere. Sometimes the children of the
white men who are in the salmon business go to live in Alaska and there
they see many a strange sight. They look with wonder at the half-naked
Indian boys and girls, with their wild bright eyes. They watch with envy
as the red children glide over the water in their light bark canoes, and
race with one another on the rivers. They shudder at the hideous faces
carved on the totem poles. They look on with delight at the dances and
the odd games of their red neighbors, and they laugh when they hear of
Mr. Bruin and his way of catching fish. They would rather not be alone,
however, when the bear is creeping down through the woods to get his
dinner. They think he might possibly prefer a white child to the
delicate pink salmon, but in this they are quite mistaken.
Bears.
The bears seem to know when the salmon arrive as well as the human
beings do. They leave their homes in the woods and make their way down
to the quiet little coves along the shore. When the fish come crowding
in, out go the bears' paws into the water, scooping in the salmon of
which they are so fond. Mr. Bruin swallows one after another until he
has had his fill; then he creeps away as quietly as he came, to seek
safety once more among the trees of the forest. Sometimes, alas, the
white hunter discovers the trail and follows the bear to the shore. Then
bang! bang! sounds through the air and Bruin's salmon feasts are over.
There are many bears in Alaska,--black, cinnamon, and in the far north
the dangerous grizzly; but the red boy's father teaches him that it is
best not to kill these animals. He has an idea that the bear's spirit
will be angry and harm him if he does so. The white traders, however,
want the skins and are willing to pay a good price for them, so the
Indians sometimes go bear hunting, although after they meet with
success, they go through strange rites, hoping thus to make peace with
the bear's spirit.
Whales and Sea Otters.
As the children who live along the shores of Alaska look out to sea,
they sometimes notice what appears to be a water spout, then another and
another far away in the distance. It is the blowing of a school of
whales, which have come up to the surface for fresh air. They run to
tell the news to the older folks of the village, for nothing could be
more delicious than a dinner of whale. The men get their lances ready at
once and hurry down to their canoes. Then away they paddle with all
their might in the direction in which the monsters have been seen.
If they succeed in coming upon the whales, there is busy and dangerous
work for a while. The hunters must not think of fear as they draw near
to the huge creatures to throw their spears in such a way as to inflict
dangerous wounds. Then away they must paddle for dear life so as not to
be swamped by the whales as they dive below. Before the men threw their
lances they carefully fastened sealskin buoys to them. As the whales
plunge after being wounded, these buoys on the surface make it hard for
them to stay below and they are soon worn out. When the hunters have
wounded a whale as much as possible, they go home and wait for the tide
to bring the dead animal ashore. Then there is a great feast in the
village and all make merry. Many years ago white men fitted out big
ships to sail into the northern waters after whales. In those days the
oil was burnt in lamps; but now, since kerosene is plentiful, whale-oil
with its unpleasant odor is little used. Whale-bone, however, is still
valuable, and for this reason many ships are still engaged hunting these
monsters of the sea.
The Alaskan boys are ever on the watch for sea-otters. These shy
creatures never leave the ocean, except when they have little ones to
care for. Even then, it is said, the mother sea-otter sometimes chooses
a bed of sea-weed out on the waves and there she floats, with her babes
beside her. It is a curious sight. More curious still is it to see one
of these huge creatures asleep on her back, floating along on the
surface of the water, with her little ones held in her close embrace. A
party of Indians often go on a sea-otter hunt, for the animal is covered
with fine black fur, through which are scattered long white hairs. It is
very beautiful, and the white traders are always willing to pay a large
sum for a sea-otter skin.
The hunters must paddle quite a distance out to sea before they begin to
look for an otter's nose to appear above the surface of the water as the
creature comes up to breathe. The moment it is seen, they swing their
canoes around in a wide circle. Then, with spears in hand, they watch
eagerly for the right moment to hurl them. Many days sometimes pass
before the patient watchers are rewarded with even the sight of the
longed-for prize, and even then the hunters may fail to secure it, yet
it is worth all the time they spend, for the fur is among the richest
and the rarest in the world. Indeed, the sea-otter is rarely found
except in the waters which wash the shores of Alaska.
More than once an Indian child has tried to raise a sea-otter, but he
has never succeeded, for he cannot make the little creature eat, and it
soon starves to death.
Seal-Hunting.
You remember that on the islands reaching out into the west from Alaska,
many children are living who are neither Indians nor Eskimos. They are
called Aleuts. Before the coming of the white people the Aleuts looked
much like the Japanese, but afterwards the Russians married among them,
so that many of their children to-day have lost much of the appearance
of the yellow race.
Few trees grow around the homes of the Aleuts but enough wood drifts
over from the forests of the mainland to furnish fuel for their fires.
They live in dark, damp huts built mostly underground, so it is no
wonder that they love best to be out-of-doors when the hills and the
fields are covered with pretty grasses, mosses, and bright flowers in
the summer time. Many blue foxes run wild through the islands and these
are hunted by the men, for the fur is very valuable and the white
traders are always ready to buy the skins.
The little Aleuts love the sea, where they paddle about in their light
canoes, or fish in the clear waters. Northward from the Aleutian islands
are two others called the Pribylov or Seal Islands. Thick fogs shut them
in during the summer, while in the winter the shores are surrounded with
drift ice. They are very important, however, because they are the
greatest hunting grounds for seals in the whole world. The Aleuts are
the only people who live on these islands, except for a few white men
who oversee the work of killing the seals. The villages are scattered
here and there, close to the sea, each with its church and its
school-house, and during the winter the little Aleuts pass their time
quietly in play and study.
But when the spring comes, they are full of excitement, as they watch
the seals, big and little, old and young, gather on their shores. No one
knows how far these creatures have traveled, nor in what distant waters
they have passed the winter. Come they do, however, by hundreds and
thousands, and on the shores of these islands the baby seals are born.
They are graceful little creatures, and play and frolic together like
kittens. When they are born they are quite blind, but they begin to see
after a few days. When they are about six weeks old their mother leads
them down to the water for their first swim. At first they are afraid,
but their mother coaxes and urges them on, so that in a short time they
are able to swim about with ease. Before long they enjoy this new
water-life as much as their fathers and mothers do, and are soon able to
hunt for the small fishes and kelp which are the seals' principal food.
The hunting season lasts about six weeks, and begins early in June, soon
after the arrival of the seals. The men arm themselves with clubs, and
then drive the seals up into a cleared space away from the shore, where
the animals are helpless, because they are clumsy and move slowly when
out of the water. A single blow on the seal's head is enough to end his
life, and to give the hunter the beautiful soft skin he wishes.
Year after year goes around and each summer brings herds of seals to
these islands, with no understanding that thousands of their number are
coming only to die at the hands of the hunters. Sometimes the Indian
boys catch baby seals and keep therm for pets. They are gentle little
creatures, and soon learn to love their young masters, and to follow
them about. They bark much like puppies and are often taught to do
tricks.
Hunting in Alaska.
The Indian boys of Alaska could tell you many stories about the wild
animals they hunt with their fathers. There are martens, with their soft
brown fur, black and silver foxes, beavers, muskrats, mountain-goats,
moose, deer, otter and many others which roam in great numbers over the
hills and through the valleys. The Yukon River, one of the largest in
the world, is the most important one in Alaska, and through the country
on either side of it the wild animals are found in great numbers. The
hunters get many of them in traps. There, on the banks of that great
river, hundreds of canvas-back ducks lay their eggs on the platforms of
grass and twigs which they build on the low marshes, and the Indian
children go in parties to hunt for their eggs and the baby ducklings.
[Illustration: An Alaskan Village Showing Indian Totem Poles.]
The older boys trap many a fox and musk-rat, whose skins they proudly
give to their fathers who will sell them to the white traders, and get
sugar, tea, and blankets in exchange. They spend hours in hunting along
the banks of the stream for beaver villages, and taking these little
creatures unawares.
The Gold Mines.
Not many years ago it was found that not only furs and salmon could be
obtained in Alaska, but in some places the rocks were rich with precious
gold. The Treadmill gold-mine is one of the most valuable in the world.
The men who work there do not have to leave the sunlight and dig far
down under the earth, for the mine, or rather quarry, is above ground,
and there the workers are kept busy, breaking away the masses of rock
which are afterwards crushed in heavy stamps, to separate the gold from
the quartz. When darkness falls, electric lights make everything as
bright as day. There are more than two hundred of these stamps at the
Treadmill mine, so you can imagine that when all are at work crushing
the great masses of rock, the noise is enough to deafen one's ears.
As the gold is separated, it is made up into bricks, each one of which
is worth between fifteen and eighteen thousand dollars! These bricks are
afterwards sent in ship loads to the mint at San Francisco.
Sitka.
On an island off the southern shore of Alaska, lies Sitka, the capital
of the territory. It was built long ago when the Russians owned the
country, and even now you may visit the moss-grown Castle, where the
governors always lived. There they held many a feast and dance, to which
the savage Indian chiefs from the country around were sometimes invited.
Fine glass and silver, which had come all the way from Russia, sparkled
at these feasts. Grand ladies in silks and satins laughed and chatted
beneath the soft light of hundreds of candles, trying perhaps to forget
their longing for home.
Now that Alaska belongs to the United States, many things have been done
to make Sitka healthful and comfortable. The new governors chose Indians
for policemen. Very grand they must have thought themselves when they
first put on their blue uniforms, with gilt letters on their caps and
silver stars on their breasts.
Among other wise things, the governor made the law, that the children
must go to school. Now, there were many Indians in Sitka, and they did
not understand what a fine thing it is to have learning. But the
governor directed that all the houses must be numbered. Not only this,
but each child of the house was given a number, and this was stamped on
a tiny, round plate which he was obliged to wear on a string tied around
his neck. He had to show this number to the school-teacher and in this
way one could keep track of him.
Whenever an excursion steamer enters the harbor, the people of Sitka
make ready for a holiday, while the Indians hasten to get out their
blankets to sell to the visitors. Many people travel in Alaska in the
summer time, on purpose to see the wonderful sights there,--the high
mountains covered with snow, the valleys filled with flowers, the wild
Indians, the strange huts before which the totem poles rise high in the
air; but most interesting of all are the glaciers, whose beginning is
far up in the snow-covered mountains. Slowly but surely, they make their
way down to the sea, growing larger as other and smaller glaciers join
themselves to them. There is a certain bay in Alaska which the summer
visitors are sure to visit if they can possibly do so. It is called
Glacier Bay, because of an immense glacier which enters it. Imagine
yourself on a steamer entering this bay on a bright sunshiny day of
mid-summer. Yet you shiver, for the air begins to grow colder and
colder. It is no wonder, for icebergs meet your eyes on every side. They
are clear as crystal and are lighted with the most beautiful
colors,--delicate pinks and blues. As you look, you fancy that they have
the shapes of different animals or of grand castles. Some of them,
indeed, seem like great lonely beings. From time to time flocks of birds
pass overhead and light on the bergs for a short rest.
Whence did these bergs come, and whither are they drifting so slowly?
You look ahead and there before you is the Muir glacier entering the
sea. As you draw nearer it seems like a mighty fortress. The captain of
the steamer tells you that its face is three miles wide, and that all
these icebergs, among which the ship has to be steered so carefully,
have broken away from this one glacier. He does not dare to carry his
passengers too near, for some time, without any warning, a fresh berg
may break away. As it plunges into the bay, with a noise like thunder,
it will stir the waters into an angry whirlpool.
There are many other glaciers in Alaska, but this one is the largest and
the most wonderful of them all. Geysers and volcanos are also to be
found in the country. One of the mountains, named Mt. McKinley, is the
highest peak in North America. Another, Mt. Elias, rises almost out of
the ocean, and its cloak of snow and ice reaches nearly to its base.
When boys and girls wish to travel where they can see many strange and
wonderful sights, they would do well to take a summer's trip to
Alaska,--the land of gold and fur, of waterfalls, geysers and glaciers.