. Alaska and the Klondike . ncers began to grunt and then to shout intheir rough, guttural tones, and the excitement spread tothe other Indians, who presently became a sort of chorus,joining in the measured strain. What an absurd perform-ance, indeed! But there is nothing ridiculous or farcicalabout all this—not to the Indian; he is intense in his seri-ousness and the expression on every face is as near to thatof enthusiasm as it is possible for the Indian to get. Atlast the dancers begin to show signs of exhaustion; thestrenuousness of the performance gradually diminishesand finally it stops.
. Alaska and the Klondike . ncers began to grunt and then to shout intheir rough, guttural tones, and the excitement spread tothe other Indians, who presently became a sort of chorus,joining in the measured strain. What an absurd perform-ance, indeed! But there is nothing ridiculous or farcicalabout all this—not to the Indian; he is intense in his seri-ousness and the expression on every face is as near to thatof enthusiasm as it is possible for the Indian to get. Atlast the dancers begin to show signs of exhaustion; thestrenuousness of the performance gradually diminishesand finally it stops. The dancers gasp for breath andstagger about while the sweat rolls from their glisteningbodies. The show is over, the story of personal or oftribal achievement and valour has been told and there isnothing more to be done except to snap the camera as oneof the dancers stands for an instant under the opening inthe roof, and then to seek the outer air, which smells andtastes sweeter than it ever did before. No admission fee. u 136 ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE to this unique performance is accepted; this is the partwhich the Indian villagers play in the entertainment ofthe party from Boston-land. The revenue-cutter service is a branch of the publicservice with which those of us who live in the interiorhave little to do and of which the most of us probablyknow little. We may not generally know, for instance,that it is really older, as an organisation of the Govern-ment, than the navy, and that it was established in 1789with the aid of vessels belonging to some of the originalstates which they, as colonies, had employed for coast de-fence before the federal Government was formed. Anyhistory of Alaska must deal more or less with the revenue-cutter service, because it has had more to do with the ad-ministration of affairs than any other agency of the Gov-ernment in Alaska. Some account of this service belongsin this story not only on account of the important partit bears in the conduct o
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidalaskaklondi, bookyear1915
