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in a wooden box of its own. But it is not with the shaman as with the warrior. The shaman is merely interred; since he is supposed to be too full of the evil spirit to be consumed by fire. The reason why burning is preferred to burying is because the possession of a piece of flesh is supposed to enable its owner to do what mischief he pleases. _Now the Konaegi are admitted Eskimo._ Notwithstanding the similarity between the Sitkans and Konaegi there is no want of true American customs amongst them. Cruelty to prisoners, indifference to pain when inflicted on themselves, and the habit of scalping are common to the Indians of King George's Archipelago, and those of the water-system of the Mississippi. On the other hand, they share the skill in painting and carving with the Chenuks and the aborigines of the Oregon. _The Digothi._--The Dahodinni are Athabaskan rather than Koluch; the Nehanni Koluch rather than Athabaskan. Now I imagine that the Dahodinni country is partially encircled by Koluch populations, and that a fresh branch of this stock re-appears when we proceed northwards. On the Lower McKenzie, in the valley of the Peel River, and at the termination of the great Rocky Range on the shore of the Polar Sea, we find the _Digothi_ or _Loucheux_; the only family not belonging to the Eskimo class, which comes in contact with the ocean; and, consequently, the only unequivocally Indian population which interrupts the continuity of the Eskimo from Behring's Straits to the Atlantic. Perhaps the alluvium of a great river like the McKenzie, has determined this displacement. Such an occupancy would be as naturally coveted by an inland population, as undervalued by a maritime one. At any rate, the Loucheux have the appearance of being an encroaching tenantry; indeed, few Indians have had their physical appearance described in terms equally favourable. Black-haired and fair-complexioned, with fine sparkling eyes, and regular teeth, they approach the Nehanni in physiognomy, and surpass them in stature. The same authority which expressly states that the Nehanni are not generally tall, speaks to the athletic proportions and tall stature of the Loucheux; adding that their countenances are handsome and expressive. Whence came they? From the south-east, from Russian America. Their points of contrast to the Eskimo indicate this. Their points of contrast to the Athabaskans indicate it also. Their points of similarity to the Kol
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