From time to time small native villages are seen on the islands and the mainland, all typical of the people, and quite picturesque in their dirtiness and peculiar construction. Some of their cabins are built of boards, but mostly they are rude, bark-covered logs. In front of these dwellings stand totem-poles, presenting hideous faces carved upon them in bold relief, together with uncouth figures of birds, beasts, and fishes. A portion of these tall posts are weather-beaten and neglected, significantly tottering on their foundations, green with mould, unconsciously foreshadowing the fate of the aboriginal race. Groups of natives in bright-colored blankets, with scarlet and yellow handkerchiefs on their heads, come into view, watching us curiously as we glide over the smooth water, while bevies of half-naked children are seen shifting hither and thither in clamorous excitement. What wonderfully bright, black eyes these children have! Some of the women are gathering kelp, for the shores are lined with edible algæ, possessing not only fine nutritious qualities, but being also a recognized tonic, with excellent medicinal properties. This sea-product is collected in the most favorable season of the year, and after being pressed into convenient sized and esculent cakes is stored for future use. The native hamlets are always built near to the shore, accessibility to the water being the first consideration, because from that source comes nine tenths of their subsistence. To clear the forest and secure open fields presupposes more thrift and application than these natives possess; but it would unveil some of the richest soil in the world. These Alaskans have no idea of sewerage, or the proper disposal of domestic refuse. All accumulations of this sort are thrown just outside the doors of their dwellings, to the right and left, anywhere in fact which is handiest. The stench which surrounds their cabins, under these circumstances, is almost unbearable by civilized people, and must be very unwholesome. These natives have broad faces, small, pig-like eyes, and high cheek bones, not very nice to look upon, yet not without a certain expression of real intelligence gleaming through the accumulated dirt. “What is needed here,” said a humorous observer to us, “is the mission teacher with his Bible, spelling-book, and—soap!”