Adventures of the
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MR. AND MRS. JOCHELSON. MUSEUM
(Copyright, 1904, b P. fc. Enstmcnt.)
M T 1 t." VT nld u 11 1 V arniltlil n 111 1 1 11 111
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L and gaxc In open-mouthed wonder
I at nrehlstorlc skehtons from Si
beria, totem poles from Alaska,
hnn nncuri from the cannibal
is'ands of the Pacific, and a thousand other
curios from all the ends of the earth, they
seldom give a thought to how tie things
came there. It seems as natural as for the
morning milk to appear promptly on the
breakfast table. Yet the collection of mu
seum specimens is one of the most difficult
and adventurous of professions.
In one of the principal museums of Amer
ica the other day a group of officials were
talking about one of their number who hap
pened to be away on sick leave. "He's
never been really well since he came back
fiom his expedition to Patagonia," said a
man whose face was bronzed by long ex
posure to the tropical sun In many parts of
the world. "He had to sleep out In the
open for many months, without even a tent
p;irt of the time, and the rains were so in
cessant that for over three weeks he hevev
wore dry clothing. No wonder he got
broken up, poor fellow! His health waa
completely ruined by that trip, and now he
Is always suffering from rheumatism and
ague."
"And do you know," said another of the
officials, "that he waa ordered off on that
trip at a day's notice. He was asked one
afternoon by the authorities -whether he
could be ready to sail for Buenos Ayres
and thence to Patagonia, on the following
morning. He was young and unmarried, so
he said yes. In this line of work a man
has to be ready to move to the other side
of the earth as rapidly as a war correspond
ent or a soldier, but I think the dangers
that he runs are even greater than theirs."
The reports sent In by various collectors
who have been sent abroad by American
museums in recent years bear out this
statement. Consider, for example, the re
markable experiences of Dr. Berthold Lau
fer of the Berlin Academy of Sciences
among the Gilyak, Tungus and Ainu tribes
on the Island of Sakhalin about six years
ago.
Alier spending some time on the Island,
gathering Idols, amulets and other articles
for a well known American museum, Dr.
Laufer was taken 111 with the grip at a
Gilyak village. He lay on his back for
weeks, and directly he got up again he was
attacked by pneumonia the result of the
hardships of his llfe-and his Investigation
Buffered a long Interruption.
As soon as he could stand, the doctor
got a horse and rode over the island to
visit the Tungus and Ainu tribes. After
few days he collapsed from exhaustion
and could no longer ride his horse; but he
got a reindeer sledge and continued on his
Journey. Then he received a telegram from
the Russian governor of the Island, telling
him to return Immediately If he valued
his life, for a band of outlaw was terror
izing the region by alaylrg the native
nd holding up travelers. Dr. Laufer
put the telegram In his pocketbook and
calmly drove his reindeer ahead until ho
reached the Ainu tribes and collected a
lot of valuable Information from .them, as
well aa some remarkable museum speci
mens. "I had very good auoeesa In using the
phonograph," said Dr. Laufer, "and ob
tained songs of the Gilyak and Tungns.
It was difficult to talk to the people, be
cause there were no Interpreters, and no
body knew more than the most common
phrases of Russian, although Saghalighn Is
a Russian colony. Among the Ainu, Rus
sian Is entirely unknown, and for. tha
purpose of Interpreting I had to use Japa
nese, with which, however, -they are not
very familiar, either. Nevertheless, my
knowledge of the Japanwtw language facil
itated my work among them, since they
like the Japanese people.
"I did not succeed in obtaining any en
thropmetrie measurements, althotnth I tried
to do so. The people were afraid that they
wonld die at once after snbmttting to
the process. Although I hd their confl
uence, I failed In my efforts in this direc
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COLLECTORS, TRAVELING IN SIBERIA)
tion, even after offering them present
which they considered of great value.-
"I only succeeded in measuring a single
individual, a man of Imposing stature and
great strength. He wss' a fine-looking
creature, but after a few measurements
had been taken he fell prostrate on the
floor, (he picture tf despair, and groaned:
'Now I am going to die tomorrow!'
"When I visited one of the Gilyak vil
lages the people were celebrating their
bear festival. For five days I ted In
the ceremonial, and was even permitted
to witness the sacrifice of the dog, which
is kept secret from the Rurolans.
"While among the Gllyaks I took phono
graphic records of songs, which created
the greatest Fensatlon among Ihe Russims
as well as among the natives. A young
Gilyak woman who sang into the Instru
ment said:
" 'It took me so long to learn this song,
.and this thing has learned it at once, with
out making any mistake. There is surely
a man or a spirit in the box which imitates
me.'
"All the time she was crying and laugh
In g with excitement."
Dr. Laufer'a dairy contains the fo lowing
entry:
"2d January I started by dog sledge
northward. This Journey was exceedingly
difficult and sometimes even dangerous.
At one time I narrowly escaped drowning
when crossing the ice at the foot of a steep
promontory. I broke through the ice,
which was much weakened by the cction
of the waves. Fortunately, my guide hap
pened to upset his sledge at the same
moment when I broke through. Thus it
was that he saw my situation and ex
tracted me with his staff"
One of the most remarkable expeditions
undertaken by a museum collector in re
cent years was that of Waldemar Jochel
son In Siberia, from the Sea of Okhotsk
westward over the Stanovol mountains to
the Yukaghir, and thence to Yakutsk and
Irkutsk.
This journey amounted to nearly 8,000
Carpenter's Letter
f (Continued from Page Twelve.)
that consumption Is not hereditary, and
very likely leprosy is the same."
"Are there many children born on the
Island of MolokaiT"
"No," said Governor Carter. "The lepera
have but few children, and the number of
grown-ups is decreasing. Altogether there
are 950 there now."
"Do you have consumption in the Ha
waiian lslandsT"
"To some extent, but chiefly among the
latlve Hawallans, who are decreasing very
rapidly. In 1836 there were more than 100,
000 natives on the islands; sixty years later
there were less than 0,00, and today we
have only about 30,000. The Hawaiian isl
ands generally are very healthful. Cur
temperature la about aa equable as that of
any part of the world. We cull our country
the 'Paradise of the Pacific," and every
one who visits us says the islands are
rightly named."
"Is your tourist travel Increasing?"
"Very rapidly. The Pacific ocean la be
coming one of the pleasure resorta of the
nations, and with the big steamers which
have been recently added to the Pacific
fleets the travel will be greater than ever.
There are good hotels in all parts of in
far east, and Honolulu has one of the
finest hotels of the Pacific. It .osit $1,800,
00. It Is a modem six-story. Are proof
structure, with a great roof garden of one
third of an acre, capable of seating 2,500
people. We have other good hotolg in Hon
olulu and at Walklki, our seaside iifcrt
close by. and also In other parts of the Inl
ands. There are now good facilities of
travel from island to 'gland, a- d tU.r-j la
no place where one can aee ao nu :h grand
acenery under such pleasant condition,"
"Is Honolulu growing?"
"Yes; havs many new buildings, ai d
Museum Collector
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MUSEUM. COLLECTORS IN CAMP
miles, and Mr. Jocheb-on was accompanied
all the way by his wife, herself a noted
scientist and a doctor of medicine of the
University of Zurich.
They had Just got well started when the
party lost six horses In a . terrific snow
storm, and six more died soon afterwards
from exhaustion, while two of the native
guides almost perished from cold and hun
ger. Undismayed by the misadventures Mr.
and Mrs. Jochelson pushed on and lived
for some time umong the native Koryaks.
Their dairy contains the following entry:
"While among the Maritime Koryaks we
lived mct of the time In their under
ground dwel'lngs, which are reached by a
ladder leading down through the smoke
hole. It is almost Impossible to describe
the squalor of these dwellings. The smoke
which fills the hut makes the eyes smart.
It is pirtlcularly dense In the upper part
of the hut. po that work that has to be
dor.c In an uplpht porltlon becomes al
most Impossible. Walls, ladders and house
hold utensils are covered with n greasy
soot, so that contact with them leaves
shining black spots on hands and cloth
Irz. "The dim light which fails through the
smolcc-hole Is hardly sufficient for writing
and reading. The odor of blubber and of
refuse Is almost Intolerable; and the In
mates. Intoxicated with fly agaric, add to
the discomfiture of the situation. The nat
ives are infr?tcd -vlth vermin. As long
as we remained In thepo dwellings we
could not esc-pe- there Inserts, which we
dreaded more than any of the privations of
our Journey.
"The winter tents of the Reindeer Ko
ryak nre so cold that we could not work In
them; therefore, we had to put up a tent
of our own. It was furnished with a small
Iron stove, and there wo carried on our
ethnological and anthropometrlcal work.
At right, however, the Unt was very cold,
altogether nhout 4G.000 Inhabitants. The
city has twenty mlUs of ek'clr:c car track,
1,1J0 telephones, four public purlin, two
opera houses, three boat and yacht c.h'bs
and social clubs of various kinds. The as
sessed valuation of our property is $28,000,
000 and the rate of taxation Is 1 per cent.
We have morning and afternoon newspa
pers, and since the cable hus been com
pleted we have telegraphic dispatches from
all parts of the world."
"How Is the new cable working, gov
ernor?" "It la doing very well. Indeed, and wa
think it comparatively -cheap. The coBt la
85 cents a word for a dispatch to San Fran
cisco, and about 47 cents a word to Wash
ington. Your Question as to. how It works
reminds ma how the cable was explained
to one of our natives at the time the con
nection was first made. The native could
not understand how you could send niea
auses such a long way under the water,
until at last the wire waa compared to a
dns. Said the cable-agent, who wus ex
plaining the matter: "Suppose you hud a
dog, one of these long-bodied dogs with
short legs. If you pinch Its tail the dg
will bark. Now, If you will suppose a dog
so long that If Its hind logs stood In San
Francisco and Its front legs In Honolulu
and some one pinched the dog's tail in
San Francisco, would not the front end of
the dog bark in Honolulu? It is on that
same principle that cable messages are
sent from one place to the other.'
"The laat legislature or fo has been very
extravagant and has made appropriations
unnecessarily heavy. I called the legisla
ture together In special session a few
months ago and preached retrenchment
As a result the appropriations were roducej
about one-third, the Kcsslon waa short and
the bills passed were In the Interest of the
whole people. I think we ahall do very
well from now on."
ViULNK G. CARPENTER.
: A
IN 8AGHALIEN ISLAND.
and we slept in b.iga made oi wolf sklna.
While on the way we spent the nlghta on
the snow, covered with fur blankets. Sev
eral times we were exposed to snowstorms,
and had to wait under out blankets cov
ered with snow until the gale waa over."
Later on, the party proceeded on a dan
gerous boat Journey, and were driven by
storms Into the Bay of Atykyna, where
they were penned In by the weather for
five days, almost without any provisions.
On the fourth day of their atay they were
lucky enough to kill two seals and thua
escaped death from starvation.
Still worse hardships were In store for
them when they hnd to cross over tha
Stanovol mountains.
"We were the first whitea to cross the
Stanovol mountains at this point," aald
Mr. Jochelson. '"In winter, nomadic F"un
gus visit tills country, but In summer It Is
deserted by all human beings.
"This Journey was the moat difficult on
that it was every my fate to undertake.
Bogs, mountain tqrrenta, rocky pusaea and
thick forests combined to hinder our prog
ress. Part of our provisions consisted of
bread and dried fish. A heavy rain which
fell during the first few daya of our jour
ney soaked the loads of the pack horse
and caused the provisions to rot. There
fore, we had to cut down our rationa from
the very beginning.
"After crossing the parses of the Stan
ovol mountains we reached the upper
course of the Korkodon river. By this
time our horsca were exhausted and it
waa necessary to take a long rest. Mean
while the cold was increasing day by day
and haste was necessary if we were to
reach our destination before the closing
of the river. Therefore, I left three Yakut
with the horses and the goods and prepared
to descend the river on a raft with the
rest of my party, hoping thus to reach
a camp of the Kukaghir, which la located
on the course of the Korkodon.
"It took us one day to build a strong
raft, and then we began the descent of the
river, made dangcroua by numerous rapids)
and short bends, by the rocky banka and
by Jams of driftwood. Our guidea had in
timated that we could make tbe descent
In two day a, but instead we spent nine
days on the raft.
"It was my desire to leave ample pro
visions with the three Yakut who staid with
the horaoa, and for this reason I reduced
our own allowance to the very lowest limit.
Thus it happened that three days' rations)
had to last us through the nine daya which
we spent on the rnft. For the last six days
we had to be satisfied with forty-five pounds
of flour, or an allowance of two cupa a day
for every person, and a little tea without
sugar.
"We spent four days among the Yukaghir
of the Korkodon and after finishing our
work and purchasing a supply of fish we
continued our Journey to Vcrkne-Kolymslc
In a boat, down to Korkodon and the Ko-'
lyma. The Journey took seven daya. In
the night following the aeventh day th
river froze up while we were still forty
milea from our goal. Wo left the boat and
after a tramp of two daya reached Verkne
Kolyir.rk on October , 1901."
Edmund Otla Hovey, a geologist attached
to the American Museum of Natural His
tory, waa sent down post haste to Investi
gate the eruptions of La Souffrlcre and
Mont Pelee In the West Indies In 1902, and
to collect specimens of the volcanlo ma
terial. He made several adventuroua as
cent! of the two volcanoea and narrowly ea
caped death many tlmea.
Another American museum collector trav
eled In the unexplored purta of Mexico and
discovered a remarkable tribe who call
themselvea the Huicholea or "Goda of Fire."
They are fire-worshippers, and have weird
religious ceremonies, in which they sur
round themselves with burning brushwood
until it would sm to an ouUider thatt
they must burn to death.
RALPH li. CA-RRUT11ER3L
