Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 33.djvu/392

378 for ten days. The dogs were for the purpose of tracking, the Indian method of traveling in summer, and the only way the river can be ascended, on account of its rapid current. In tracking, the dogs are made to pull the boat by means of a long line, one end of which is secured to the boat and the other to the dogs' harness. The dogs trot along the bank, the boat being kept in the stream by a paddle astern. When the bank becomes impassable, they are taken into the boat and paddled to the other shore. After tracking two days, my companion and myself secured two natives as guides, and, leaving the river, set off for the mountains. At the end of the first day's tramp we sighted a black bear feeding upon berries about a mile distant. We were both so exhausted from our tiresome walk across the tundra, that we concluded to send one of the guides after the bear.

The Indian first seated himself and examined his rifle, selecting three cartridges and placing them in the gun. He then pulled a few hairs from his clothing, which he threw into the air to ascertain the direction of the wind, and then started so as to come up to leeward of the bear. We kept careful watch through a glass, and saw him on hands and knees work slowly toward the animal. When within one hundred and fifty yards, he fired two shots. The bear jumped and fell almost in his tracks.

There are probably no more superstitious people in the world than the northern Alaska Indians. Every action of their daily life is governed by some belief handed down from father to son, or originated by the shaman, the Indian doctor, who holds great sway over them. The ceremonies attending the killing of the bear will illustrate. Bruin was first placed upon his back, with the head toward the mountains. The head was then skinned, severed from the body, and taken by one of the natives who, placing himself astride of the dead animal, raised and lowered the head three times, touching the bear just over the heart each time, and muttering some incantation. The third time he threw it from him, uttering a loud shout, in which the other natives joined. This was done to drive the bear's spirit to the mountains, so that it would cause them no future trouble. A part of the dead animal had to be left on the spot where he was killed, or the hunters would get no deer that season. A camp was made at the place, and after the head had been roasted and picked clean it was placed in the top of a high tree, but for what purpose they would not tell. The skin was stretched flat upon the tundra—fur-side down. The portion of the bear not consumed was placed in a tree and a rude scarecrow made to keep away birds. The following winter the skin and meat were sledged for and found in good condition.

While tracking along the river, numbers of dead salmon were