Rev. W. W. Kirby, a missionary who reached the valley of the Yukon by way of British Columbia, fully describes the Eskimos whom he mingled with in the northwestern part of the Territory. He considers them to be more intelligent than the average Alaska Indians, and far superior to them in physical appearance, the women especially being much fairer and more pleasing to look upon. They are more addicted to the use of tobacco than are these southern tribes, often smoking to great excess, and in the most peculiar manner, swallowing every swiff from their pipes, until they become so poisoned as to fall senseless upon the ground, where they remain in this condition for ten or fifteen minutes. They dress very neatly with deerskins, wearing the hair on the outside. The men have heavy beards, shave the crown of their heads, leaving the sides and back growth to fall freely about the face and neck. Mr. Kirby is obliged to censure the thievish propensities of this people, which was a source of great trouble and considerable loss to him. Speaking of his high northern latitude when among the Eskimos, he says: “As we advanced farther northward, the sun did not leave us at all. Frequently did I see him describe a complete circle in the heavens.” As far south as Pyramid Harbor, latitude 59° 11′ north, the sun does not set in midsummer until about two o’clock in the morning, rising again four hours later. Even during these four sunless hours fine print can be read on the ship’s deck without the aid of any other than the natural light. Mr. Kirby found the Indians of the Yukon valley to be rather a fierce and turbulent people, more like our Western Indians than any other tribes whom he met. Their country is in and about latitude 65° north, and beginning at the Mackenzie River, in British Columbia, runs through Alaska to Behring Strait. They were formerly very numerous, but have frequently been at war with the Eskimos north of them, and have thus been sadly reduced in numbers, though they are still a strong and powerful people. There is a singular system of social division recognized among them, termed respectively Chit-sa, Nate-sa, and Tanges-at-sa, faintly representing the idea of aristocracy, the middle class, and the poorer order of our civilization. There is another peculiarity in this connection, it being the rule for a man not to marry in his own, but to take a wife from either of the other classes. Thus a Chit-sa gentleman will marry a Tanges-at-sa peasant without hesitation; the offspring in every case belonging to the class to which the mother is related. This arrangement has had a most beneficial effect in allaying the deadly feuds formerly so frequent among neighboring tribes, and which have been the cause of so reducing their memorial strength by sanguinary conflicts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XVI.