important fields. There they are, unable to live on what the feeble churches can pay them, and some of them will be in great extremity by this action of the Board. We deeply sympathize with them. But the Board has promised not to incur a debt at the end of the year. Additional obligations cannot be assumed with a shrinkage in receipts. About twenty of the forty councilmen of the City of Richmond, Va., are Baptists. A good thing for Richmond, no doubt, and we trust not a bad thing for the Baptists. Still, in this connection, we are reminded of Nathaniel Hawthorne's remark: "Neither the front nor the back entrance of the Custom House opens on the road to Paradise." It is true also of some common council chambers, up this way at least. We observe that some influential Southern Baptists are openly asserting that the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention is a superfluity, and ought to be dispensed with entirely. Its field is covered by old and efficient State Conventions, the only new mission fields to which it devotes attention being portions of Florida and Texas. It is felt that a special organization for such limited work is not called for now, whatever may have been the demands for it in the past. All the missionaries of the Society have received the reports of the committees of the Society for 1885 and 1886 on "Systematic Beneficence" and "Methods in Christian giving." The Society expects every missionary. pastor to train up his church in the way it should go, as well in the grace of giving as in In many small mission churches, where efficient men are few, the pastor must divest himself of undue delicacy and devote personal attention to the finances and benevolence of the church, or they will not be properly attended to. We know whereof we affirm, for we have been in precisely that position. the other Christian graces. On Monday, January 3, several colored missionaries sailed from New York for Africa, under the appointment of the Foreign Mission Convention of the colored Baptists of this country. Nearly or quite all of them were educated at the schools of the Home Mission Society, in the South. Among the number was Rev. E. B. Topp, of Mississippi, a former student at Jackson College, and for a time a missionary of the Home Mission Society. He is a man of real ability, and if his life is spared will, undoubtedly, make his mark in Africa. Thus our Home Mission work is increases there, the supply must be found helping on the work abroad. As the demand here. To strengthen the work here means the hastening of the evangelization of Africa. On to Mexico! The sum of $25,000 in good pledges has been secured for mission headquarters in the City of Mexico. About $7,000 have been paid in. The Board has appointed Dr. Pope and Assistant Secretary Bliss to proceed to the City of Mexico to confer with Brother Sloan about site, plans, and the erection of the needed buildings. They expect to leave New York by steamer for Vera Cruz, January 20, arriving in Mexico about February 1. Dr. Pope will probably remain until May to give personal attention to the erection of the house. correspondence relating to Church Edifice In the meantime matters should be addressed to the Corresponding Secretary at New York. The good friends who have made pledges for this purpose will greatly oblige us by an early payment thereof, so that the work may be carried forward without delay or embar rassment. Again we,thank God and take courage and rejoice that we belong to the Baptist brotherhood-including the sisterhood who have been specially active in this good work. Reports of revivals on many of our mission fields are very cheering. The indications are that the blessing of the Lord is attending the labors of the Society's missionaries in an unusual degree. ALASKA. SITKA, ALASKA. NOTES OF A TRIP BY THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY. THE POPULATION OF ALASKA. When the United States purchased Alaska in 1867, its population was supposed to be from 56,000 to 70,000. So it had been repeatedly reported to the Russian Government by the Rus. sian American Company. That these figures were too high was disclosed by the census of 1880, which gave a total of 33,426. These are distributed as follows: In the Arctic division, 3,094; in the Yukon division, 6,890; in the Kuskokvim division, 8,911; in the Aleutian division, 2,451; in the Kadiak division, 4,352; in the Southeastern division, 7,748. Portions of the country, however, formerly were more densely populated than now. In 1837-1839 the ravages of the small-pox were frightful, sweeping off about 20 per cent. of the population in the most favored localities, and almost depopulating many interior and northern districts. It is said that "the abandoned village sites in the Yukon and Kuskokvim valleys far outnumber the settlements now inhabited, and whole populous villages were converted into cemeteries by the burial of the dead of their own dwellings." Since 1839, as shown by a careful counting of the population in certain localities then and now, there has been no material change in numbers-on the whole, a slight increase. The Russians, most of whom were connected with the Government, or with the Russian American Company, very generally left the country after its acquisition by the United States. The first detachment of 200 went in 1868, and in 1870, Sitka, "which had once held nearly 1,000 Russians, the governor and a large retinue of officers and officials, a bishop with his train of priests, and which was then the scene of gay society life, was now almost deserted." WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? The census of 1880 thus divides them : White, 430; Creole (i. e., descendants of Rus. sian fathers and native mothers), 1,756; Eskimo, 17,617; Aleut, 2,145; Athabascan, 3,927; Thlinket, 6,763. Since 1880 it is probable that about 1,000 whites have gone thither. The Eskimo, or Innuit," " is found nearly all the way around the coast-line of Alaska, from the Arctic Ocean on the north, Behring Strait and the Pacific Ocean on the west, and on the south including Kadiak Island and a narrow strip about 300 miles easterly from Cook's Inlet toward Mt. St. Elias. The Aleut occupies the Aleutian Islands to the southwest. These were supposed at one time to be of Asiatic origin, partly because of a general resemblance in features; but the structure and inflection of their language shows them to be of American origin, and probably related to the Eskimo. The Athabascans, or Tinneh, are found chiefly in the interior, though a few bands dwell along the lower course of the Yukon and Kuskokvim rivers. These are undoubtedly of Indian stock. The Thlinkets occupy southeastern Alaska, in and around the Alexander Archipelago. Their traditions make them the descendants of the North American Indians. In this region also, on Prince of Wales Island, are the Hy. dahs, about 800 strong, and of marked Indian type. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. The Eskimo races of Alaska, comprising, as we have seen, about half of the population, are at least a semi-civilized people, who generally wear ready-made clothing in summer and fur garments in winter. Their houses usually are something like the sod houses of some new settlers in portions of the West, outwardly resembling a circular mound of earth, seven or eight feet high and thirty or forty feet in circumference, with a low door at one side and a hole in the apex for the smoke to escape. The houses are frequently entered by an underground passage. Houses of logs and skins and bark are commonly erected for summer use. The Eskimo are quite industrious. South of Behring Straits they show a decided disposition to assimilate with the higher races. The Aleuts are more advanced than the Eskimo, probably because of their closer relations for about a century with the Russians and their identification with the great sealskin traffic. They wear the American dress, live in comfortable houses, in which frequently may be found pictures, musical instruments, and other evidences of civilization The Island of Oonalashka is headquarters for the business of the Alaska Commercial Company. The earnings of the people from the seal and the sea-otter business are quite large. The Athabascans, or Tinneh, are savages who lead a nomadic life, generally, subsisting principally by hunting and fishing. Polygamy prevails among them, and shamanism and witchcraft have great power over them. The Thlinkets of Southeastern Alaska have been well styled "marine nomads," as they occupy fixed dwellings only during the winter, unless occasionally when employed by the whites as at Juneau, Sitka, and other points where the nature of the industry calls for their labor. These only came under our direct observation, and of these we may speak more particularly. In stature they are below the average, being about the height of the Chinese, whom they strikingly resemble in color and general appearance. When dressed alike and intermingled as laborers on the docks, it was difficult for us to distinguish them, except by the cues and the more positively almond shaped eyes of the Chinese. The length of their bodies is disproportionate to that of their legs, and in walking they have very little of the light, elastic movement of the American Indian. This is attributed to the fact that they spend so much of their time seated flat in their canoes. On shore, when than one room; while a few are well constructed, the majority are rude affairs. At Douglas Island we entered one of the not occupied, men and women may be seen in front of their houses, stores, or public buildings, sitting on their heels by the hour. They dress in American clothing, though having a fond-largest at the time of the morning meal. Here ness for blankets, which are worn extensively by both sexes. The Indian, who has no savings bank in which to deposit his money, usually purchases blankets, which are always a market-ing its way through the opening in the roof, for able commodity. The only silk " 'stove-pipe" hat which we saw was worn by an Indian chief, a passenger on our boat, whose cache had been robbed of his accumulated stock of blankets. was a single room about twenty feet square; in the centre was bare earth, about five feet square, where an open fire was burning, the smoke find fireplaces and chimneys are unknown. The room contained thirteen adults, five children, several dogs, skins, boxes, household utensils, guns, and fishing tackle; part of the household squatted, or reclining about the fire, eating fried fish and bread, some exhibiting curios, and others, with heads to the sides of the house, rolled in blankets, taking their morning nap. Not a chair, stool, table, or bedstead in the establishment. One wrinkled, toothless, weird-looking woman of probably four-score years was doubtless the great grandmother of the younger people. Salmon, strung on poles for curing, adorn the approaches to the houses, which have Very generally the natives go barefooted, partly because the heavy rainfalls render moccasins almost worthless. Even in winter, children play barefooted on the ice. Many of the younger women have fair and attractive features. But like their more civilized white sisters, some of them paint their faces for the sake of their complexion. The paint, however, would hardly suit the American belle, as it is a mixture of soot and fish oil, sometimes with vermillion and blue coloring matter added. This is applied to the cheeks and not infrequently to the forehead, Many interesting facts must be omitted for nose, and chin, giving a peculiarly hideous appearance to the person. It constitutes a protec-industrious. The women make mats sell silver want of space. These people are moderately tion against the sun's direct and reflected rays when these Alaska ladies are in canoes on the water. Silver bracelets and anklets are common, also ear-rings and sometimes a nose-ring. Some women also wear a silver ornament projecting about half an inch through an orifice in the lower lip. The older women replace this with a larger ornament of bone or wood. This fashion is said to be falling into disuse, although we saw several dusky maidens thus adorned. At Fort Wrangel, Fort Tongas, Juneau, Douglass Island Kilisnoo, Sitka, and some other points where their villages are found, opportunity was afforded of seeing their modes of life. In the older settlements the first things to attract attention are the "totem poles." These are a kind of heraldic family insignia. These poles are erected by the dwellings, and are from twenty to forty feet high, and from one to two feet in diameter. They contain rude carvings of human faces, forms of beasts and birds, the raven and the wolf being frequent-for the two great clans are known by these names. Sometimes the totem pole is plain and surmounted by the figure of a huge raven, frog, or head of a wolf. each one door and often no window. rings and bracelets, and carved spoons made from the horn of the mountain goat. The men at the Juneau mines were represented as being good workmen, with average powers of endurance. The hop districts about the southern shores of Puget Sound, between Tacoma and Seattle, depend very largely upon these Indians to gather the crop. We saw canoes, each containing six or eight persons with their household effects, dogs included, leaving Juneau for hop fields, six or seven hundred miles southward. These Indians, particularly the Hydahs, of Prince of Wales Island, have rare skill in the construction of graceful and commodious canoes, specimens of which were on exhibition at the Centennial Exhibition, and may now be seen at Washington. THEIR POLITICAL STATUS. Their political status is somewhat indefinite. They are not "the wards of the nation," like the Indians on reservations elsewhere in the United States. They can sue and be sued, make contracts, go and come at pleasure, and do whatever any other person can do lawfully. This is not the privilege of Indians on reservations. The Act of Congress in 1882, consti The houses themselves rarely contain more tuting Alaska "a civil and judicial district," 66 provided That the general laws of the State of Oregon now in force are hereby declared to be the law in said district so far as the same may be applicable, and not in conflict with the provisions of this Act or the laws of the United States." THEIR EDUCATIONAL PRIVILEGES. In 1784 Grigor Shelikof and his wife started the first school at Kadiak Island. The RussianAmerican Company was required by their charter to provide certain educational privileges for the people, but they did this ordinarily to such an extent only as was promotive of their business interests. Schools in connection with the missions of the Greek Church were maintained at numerous points. At Sitka there was a seminary for the education of Creole and native priests. From 1810 to 1825 missionaries of the Greek Church prepared an alphabet for the Aleuts of Belcovsky, many of whom read and write. Several years prior to the acquisition of Alaska by the United States, the schools generally were discontinued by the embarrassed Russian-American Company. The Government required the Alaska Commercial Company, in the twenty years' lease from 1870, to maintain schools for eight months each year on the seal islands of St. Paul and St. George. This has been done. The population of these islands is about 400. With this exception, until 1884 nothing was done for education in Alaska. Then $25,000 was appropriated for general purposes, and a further appropriation of $15,000 "for the support and education of Indian children of both sexes at industrial schools in Alaska." The Presbyterian schools, chiefly that at Sitka, got the entire benefit of this latter appropriation. In 1885-6 Congress appropriated $15,000 more for last year's work. Dr. Sheldon Jackson was appointed superintendent of education. Under his direction schools have been established at the principal points in the territory. Instruction is imparted only in the English language. The priests of the Greek Church look with jealousy upon these incoming Englishspeaking Christian teachers, but the advantages of an English education bring many to these schools. In some of the most favored settlements of Western Alaska, where the Creole element prevails, fifty to seventy-five per cent. of the population can read or write in the Russian or their own vernacular, or both. Petroff, | however, in his report published in 1884, states that, "among the 7,000 or 8,000 members of the Russian Church, I have found less than 400 able to read and write in either the Russian, the Aleutian, or the Kadiak vernacular, though in the villages where parish churches are located quite thirty per cent. of these people possess the rudiments of education." In Southeastern Alaska, since 1878, the Presbyterians have carried on school and mission work at an expense approaching $100,000, a large portion of which has been provided by the Woman's Home Mission Society of the Presbyterian Church. MORALS AND RELIGION. Slavery, which was formerly common among some of the tribes of Alaska, is now rare; yet in the school at Sitka we saw a young girl who had been rescued from slavery. Gambling is a besetting vice. The Hydahs on Prince of Wales Island practice polygamy, and the domestic relations are of the loosest sort. A very low state of morals prevails generally among the Thlinkets of Southeastern Alaska. Contact with the baser elements of white population which always drift into a new country has not improved their condition. Traffic in intoxicants has greatly demoralized the people. Hardly was the American flag unfurled at Sitka in 1867, before two ten-pin alleys, two drinking saloons, and a restaurant were opened. By Act of Congress in 1884, the importation, manufacture, and sale of intoxicating liquors in Alaska, except for medicinal, mechanical, and scientific purposes, was prohibited. But it is carried on almost without molestation in Southeastern Alaska. In the territory under control of the Alaska Commercial Company, and in some other portions of the territory, ardent spirits have not yet been introduced, and sad will be the day when it shall be done. Unless Christians are active, the rum-sellers and the roughs will work demoralization among large numbers of the natives, to such an extent as to render Christian effort for them almost nugatory. Their native religious beliefs, like those of similar peoples, are generally vague. The Thlinkets believe in the immortality and migration of souls-not into bodies of animals, but into other human beings, chiefly into relatives of the female line. They believe in a Supreme Spirit, the creator of all things. "Shamanism" has held, and still to a consider |