rbaric
bric-a-brac.

Many of the tombs are above ground--airy sarcophagi on high poles
rocking in the wind and the rain. Some are nearer the earth, like
old-fashioned four-poster bed-steads; and there the dead sleep well.
Others are of stone, with windows and peaked roofs,--very comfortable
receptacles. But most of the bodies are below ground, and the last
vestiges of their graves are lost in the depths of the jungle.
Incineration is not uncommon in Alaska, and in such cases the ashes are
distributed among the winds and waves. Birds feast upon the bodies of
certain tribes--meat-offerings, very gracious in the sight of the Death
Angel; but by far the larger portion find decent burial, and they are
all long and loudly and sincerely mourned.

We awoke one morning at Casa-an, and found ourselves made fast to a
dock. On the dock was a salmon-house, or shed, a very laboratory of
ancient and fish-like smells. It was not long before the tide slipped
away from us and left the steamer resting easily on her beam-ends in
shallow water. We were prisoners for a few hours; but we were glad of
this, for every hour was of interest to us. This was our first chance to
thoroughly explore an Indian village; and, oh! the dogs, cousins-german
to the coyotes, that shook off their fleas and bayed us dismally! Lodges
of the rudest sort were scattered about in the most convenient
localities. As for streets or lanes, there were none visible. The
majority of the lodges were constructed of hemlock bark or of rough
slabs, gaudily festooned with split salmon drying in the sun. The lodges
are square, with roofs slightly inclined; they are windowless and have
but one narrow door about shoulder high.

The Casa-an Indians are a tribe of the Haidas, the cleverest of the
northern races. They are expert craftsmen. From a half dollar they will
hammer out or mold a bangle and cover it with chasing very deftly cut.
Their wood-carvings, medicine-man rattles, spoons, broth bowls, and the
like, are curious; but the demand for bangles keeps the more ingenious
busy in this branch of industry. Unfortunately, some simple voyager gave
the rude silversmiths a bangle of the conventional type, and this is now
so cunningly imitated that it is almost impossible to secure a specimen
of Haida work of the true Indian pattern. Very shortly the Indian
villages of Alaska will be stocked with curios of genuine California
manufacture. The supply of antiquities and originals has