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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..108fcfa --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #68177 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68177) diff --git a/old/68177-0.txt b/old/68177-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1bcfc74..0000000 --- a/old/68177-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6827 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Among unknown Eskimo, by Julian W. -Bilby - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Among unknown Eskimo - -Author: Julian W. Bilby - -Photographer: Archibald Lang Fleming - -Release Date: May 26, 2022 [eBook #68177] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg (This - file was produced from images generously made available by - The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG UNKNOWN ESKIMO *** - - - - - - AMONG - UNKNOWN ESKIMO - - AN ACCOUNT OF TWELVE YEARS INTIMATE RELATIONS - WITH THE PRIMITIVE ESKIMO OF ICE-BOUND - BAFFIN LAND, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF - THEIR WAYS OF LIVING, HUNTING - CUSTOMS & BELIEFS - - - BY - JULIAN W. BILBY - - Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society - Member of the Folk Lore Society - - - - WITH THIRTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS & A MAP - - PHILADELPHIA - J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY - LONDON: SEELEY, SERVICE & CO., Ltd. - 1923 - - - - - - - - - -PREFACE - - -In offering the present book on the Eskimo tribes of the Arctics to the -reading British public, I must discharge the grateful and pleasing duty -of acknowledging my indebtedness for much courtesy and documentary -assistance to the Canadian Government, in the person of F. C. C. Lynch, -Esq., Superintendent of the “National Resources Branch of the -Department of the Interior.” He has been zealously instrumental in -enabling me to consult sources of classic recent information of which -otherwise I should not have had the confirmation and the benefit, and -also has placed at my publishers’ disposal the section of the official -map which represents the most up-to-date geographical information about -Baffin Land. - -There is a considerable literature about the Eskimo (as distinct from a -quite formidable list of works dealing with travel and voyages in the -Arctics) which should be consulted by students of ethnography. - -The classical authorities in this department are Dr Franz Boas and Dr -Rink, a study of whose researches should underlie all the more recent -first-hand contributions to what must remain for a long time to come a -new subject. - -For the photographs I am greatly indebted to the Rev. A. L. Fleming, -L.T.H., who spent several years among the Eskimo of South Baffin Land. -His photos were taken during many intrepid journeys in those wilds, and -he knew exactly the scenes it was desired to record by photography in -this work. I am also indebted to Miss A. B. Teetgen for her assistance -in the literary construction of the book. - -Finally, I wish to record my admiration and respect for the genial and -brave Eskimos of those barren lands, and for the way they face and -overcome the difficulties of the Arctic wilds. - - - - - - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - CHAPTER I - The Voyage to the Arctics 17 - - CHAPTER II - Baffin Land 32 - - CHAPTER III - Arctic Flora & Fauna 47 - - CHAPTER IV - The Eskimo 56 - - CHAPTER V - The Building of the Village 72 - - CHAPTER VI - The Sealing Grounds 85 - - CHAPTER VII - Womanhood in the Arctics 97 - - CHAPTER VIII - Clothing—Boat Building 108 - - CHAPTER IX - Eskimo Dogs 119 - - CHAPTER X - Tribal Life 136 - - CHAPTER XI - Tribal Life—continued 154 - - CHAPTER XII - The Eskimo Language 171 - - CHAPTER XIII - Legends 184 - - CHAPTER XIV - The Conjurors 196 - - CHAPTER XV - The Sedna Ceremony 210 - - CHAPTER XVI - The Native Surgeon 224 - - CHAPTER XVII - Sport & Hunting 235 - - CHAPTER XVIII - The Creatures of the Wild 252 - - Appendix 265 - - Index 271 - - - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - A Woman of the Fox Channel Tribe Frontispiece - PAGE - An Ancient Aboriginal Encampment 40 - Part of an Eskimo Tribe of Women and Children 56 - An Iglovegak or Eskimo Dwelling 64 - An Eskimo Tupik 73 - An Eskimo Snowhouse 76 - An Eskimo Home 80 - The Return of the Successful Seal Hunter in Springtime 88 - Young Seal Hunting in May 92 - Two Women in Summer Dress 96 - A Young Wife with her Baby in her Hood 104 - Eskimo Family Group 104 - Models of Kayak, Umiak, and Okushuk 112 - An Ancient Form of Sled 134 - The Two Wives of a Hunter 144 - An Eskimo Family outside their House 144 - Preparing for a Long Winter Journey 160 - A Native Chart 177 - Asseak and his Wife 200 - An Umiak or Family Boat 208 - The Summer Tent or Tapik 208 - A Conjuror’s Mask 211 - A Kagge or Singing House (Elevation) 218 - A Kagge or Singing House (Plan) 219 - An Eskimo Woman of the Fox Channel Tribe 224 - An Eskimo Summer Encampment 224 - Specimens of Native Stone Carving 232 - An Eskimo in his Kayak 240 - Beginning to Build a Snowhouse 240 - A Wolf Trap 255 - An Eskimo Trap for Bears, Foxes or Wolves 257 - A Seagull Trap 261 - - - - - - - - - -THE ESKIMO OF BAFFIN LAND - - -CHAPTER I - -THE VOYAGE TO THE ARCTICS - - -A voyage to the Arctics has always been a dangerous and exciting -adventure, whether entered upon by whalers and hunters, intrepid men -lured by the hardy business of the frozen North, or by the no less -intrepid pioneers of exploration and of science. For the moment, we are -not concerned with the latter, but rather with some aspects of life in -the barren lands and icy seas north of “the Circle,” and with the -adventures and experiences of the few ships’ crews who have been making -yearly voyages in those regions for trading purposes ever since the -efforts of the sixteenth century navigators to discover the famous -North West Passage began to chart out these hitherto unnavigated seas. - -The search, indeed, for this passage, a sea route of communication -between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (or, in other words, a short -way to the East Indies without doubling the Cape of Good Hope)—was -incidentally the means of opening up the whole of the north polar -regions to exploration and discovery. As early as the year 1527, the -idea of such a passage was suggested to Henry VIII by a merchant of -Bristol; but it was not until the beginning of the following century -that a first expedition was fitted out at the expense of some London -merchants and despatched to the arctic seas. - -Centuries before this, however, the Arctic Ocean was entered by a -Norwegian adventurer about the time of King Alfred; and the west coast -of Greenland was colonised from Iceland early in the eleventh century. -But no further progress was made in arctic discovery until the -sixteenth century, when various seas and points of land were mapped -out, mainly in the eastern hemisphere. The navigator Henry Hudson -discovered the Straits and Bay named after him in the great North -American archipelago, in 1610. Frobisher, Drake, and Hall, made voyages -to the west coasts of Greenland and to the opposite coasts; but the -entrance to the arctic regions west of that continent was discovered by -John Davis in 1585. In 1616, Baffin and Bylot passed through this -passage and sailed up Smith Sound, but nothing further was learned of -these parts for another two hundred years. - -The Eskimo preserve to this day the story of Frobisher. It was, indeed, -narrated to the writer with a wealth of authentic detail by a native, -to whom it had been handed down amid other oral traditions of his tribe -and locality. - -“Now it is said that Frobisher, coming to Nauyatlik for the first time, -not knowing the place or where there was a safe anchorage, crept along -the side (of the land) in his small ship, and was wrecked. For it was -shallow water there, and getting aground, he ordered the fuel (coal) to -be taken out and carried ashore to a place called Akkelasak. For the -ship was no longer habitable. The crew found refuge on a small, flat -island, and pitched tents there of the vessel’s sails, and began to -fashion a graving dock by digging out the soft ground. When it was -finished, they towed the wreck to the spot and docked her. All this -happened a long time ago, but traces of their work are still visible. -The shipwrecked sailors overhauled the hull. When at length their -repairs and rebuilding were complete, they towed out the ship and -moored her alongside a cliff, at the top of which they fixed their -tackle, unstepped and restepped the mast, their task being completed. -At last, and having buried those of their shipmates who had died during -this weary time, they abandoned the remainder of their fuel and set -sail for home. This is the narrative of one who had it from her mother, -who in turn had received it from her dead father, who had it from his -forbears; for thus they were accustomed to narrate it.” - -The above translation, of course, is very free. It would interest the -philologist to have it in the original, or even in a literal version; -but possibly the foregoing will convey to the general reader that -graphic grasp of the story which renders all Eskimo history so reliable -and enduring. - -The attempt to find a north west passage by sea, from the Atlantic -Ocean to Behring Strait, where farthest east meets farthest west, was -abandoned until Commander John Ross, in modern times (1818), was sent -out to prosecute further exploration in the Arctic. Throughout the -nineteenth century, many intrepid voyages were made, with which the -names of such men as Parry, Ross, Richardson, Rae and Franklin are -associated. Prior to this wonderful epoch of dauntless adventure, all -within the Arctic Circle upon the map was a blank. The entire geography -of the Canadian arctic archipelago has been worked out, defined, -charted, and named, since that time. Voyages of discovery were made in -rapid succession, after Sir John Ross’s expedition in 1818, many of the -leaders working in conjunction with the officials of the Hudson Bay Fur -Trading Company, who were anxious to determine the extent and limits of -the immense continent they controlled, now known as the North West -Territories. Every name upon the arctic map, whether of sea, sound, -inlet, strait, island, peninsula or cape, is a historical association -with the personnel or the patrons of these numerous expeditions. - -All the islands of the Arctic Archipelago lying to the northward of the -mainland of the continent, and the whole of Baffin Land, form part of -the British possessions in North America by right of discovery. They -were formally transferred to the Dominion of Canada by Order in Council -of the Imperial Government on September 1st, 1880. - -An immense amount of scientific information was derived from all this -hardship, endurance and enterprise. The story of Sir John Franklin -alone is a deathless epic in the annals of this seafaring nation. And -the whole field was opened up for the whalers, sealers, hunters and -fishers, whose business it soon became to demonstrate that arctic -exploration had a bearing on commerce and the hardier industries of -maritime mankind. - -The whaling trade originated as early as the discoveries of Barentz and -Hudson, but Sir John Ross opened up the northernmost waters of Baffin’s -Bay to it, in recent times. The search for the North West Passage, -indeed, proved abortive for many years, owing to the fact that the -season in which it was possible to navigate in very high latitudes only -lasted about seven weeks. The most experienced men, though, never gave -up the theory of the probability of its existence. Half a century went -by before the route was found at last. Captain McClure, in the search -for the long-lost Franklin, achieved the discovery of two routes to the -Behring Straits and the Pacific Ocean, in the autumn of the year 1850. -Useless and futile as the discovery proved to be, who can sufficiently -estimate and appraise all that has gone, of human worth and high -resolve, of suffering and of life itself, to the making of it? - -Of the whalers and traders who followed in the wake of the explorers, -the Scottish seamen have been the most persistent. Scotch vessels -continue, to-day, to visit the Arctic every year. They sail from home -in early summer, cross the North Atlantic, work their way up Davis’ -Strait, and, (unless they winter on the coast of Baffin Land or -Greenland), return to Scotland late in “the fall.” Sometimes the -practice was to make the passage, generally through open water, from -Dundee to St. John’s, spend some weeks upon the sealing grounds, then -return to refit at the Newfoundland port for a whaling cruise farther -north in Lancaster Sound. Having secured their cargo of seal skins and -oil, they return home. The vessels of the Dundee whaling fleet are -designed and built for navigation in northern seas. The hull is of -wood, on account of its resisting power where pressed by ice, and the -hardwood (“greenheart”) sheathing minimises the abrasions caused by -conflict with the jagged edges of the floes. The ship is immensely -braced by stout cross beams inside. The cutwater is protected by iron -bands or plates, to enable her to withstand the heavy strain of the -ice. She is barque rigged (i.e., a square rigged vessel, having yards -on the foremast and mainmast, but not on the mizzen mast), and fitted -with steam, to enable her to proceed during a calm, to shear her way -through ice, or to enter and leave harbour independently of wind or -tide. On all other occasions she depends upon her sails. A whaler -fitted after this fashion is called an “auxiliary steam vessel.” She -sails, however, much faster than she can steam. She carries about 500 -tons of coal. - -Many of these tried and tested Scottish whaling ships have been bought -up by the leaders of Arctic and Antarctic exploring expeditions, and -remodelled and refitted for the scientific uses to which they would be -put, and have done yeoman service in the assault on the Poles. - -Of late years the Hudson Bay Company (of historic and ubiquitous -enterprise in Canada), have established posts on the southern shores of -Baffin Land, (opposite to that northernmost region of the bleak -Labrador known as Ungava), so that their ships, which sail from -Montreal as annual supply ships for all the Company’s “Forts” and -“Factories” along the Canadian coasts, have points of call along Hudson -Strait en route for Hudson Bay itself and the fur ports of that vast -inland sea. - -The Scotch whaling industry has various agents posted in many a bleak, -un-heard of spot along the icebound littoral of the Eskimo countries, -whose duty it is to collect and store the pelts brought in by the -natives—employed by the agent—and ship them away annually or -bi-annually, as the case may be. - -A whaling voyage was filled, especially in the earlier days, with as -much danger as adventure. The ships were manned by sailors who had -taken to the life as lads, or, held by the fascination of the North, -returned thither year after year, seldom caring to make voyages -elsewhere. They lived amid the ice. True northman and fine seaman, many -a whaler’s master is proud of the fact that he began his career as a -cabin boy and worked his way aft. He is a fighter, every inch of him, -such as only “the wild” can breed. He has an iron code of honour, and a -strain of true Norse hardness in him for his enemy. But he has also the -manly virtues of his type—fidelity to his fellows, and generosity to -lesser men than himself. - -Previous to an Arctic voyage, months were spent in the commissioning of -these vessels. Every rope and block was overhauled. The ships’ boats -were rigorously tested and each carefully fitted out. Food and stores -of all kinds were taken aboard wholesale, against every contingency -experience and foresight could suggest, especially that of a forced -wintering in the north. An armoury of weapons was carried: harpoons and -harpoon guns for the boats, lances for killing whales, huge knives for -cutting up the carcases, bombs, hatchets, rifles and ammunition. No -less exhaustive was the inventory of the “trade”—articles for the -Eskimo trade and barter—such as needles, soaps (scented and otherwise), -pipes, matches, calico, beads, and, above all, tobacco! Every boy’s -book of adventure will suggest the scope of the slop chest, the -incredible handiness and nattiness of the galley, the reek of the -fo’c’sle, the snug dignity of the Captain’s cabin, and the compressed -completeness of an equipment designed to last a ships’ entire crew (let -us say her tonnage is about 129, and her company number twenty-nine) -over many months of toil, emergency, and utter isolation. She carried -no doctor. The first mate presided over the medicine chest, and had -resort to some small book of directions as to what to give and what to -do in case of illness or accident. In the early days adventurers to the -Arctic were sorely stricken with scurvy, for want of vegetable food and -a knowledge of how to provide against this deficiency. We have often -heard of desperate feats of amateur surgery carried out on board ship. -It has been that the mate of a whaling vessel often acted, not at all -unsuccessfully, as surgeon. - -Doctor William S. Bruce, indeed, tells us in his “Polar Exploration” -that, generally speaking, germ diseases are unknown in the Arctic, the -intense cold making everywhere—in the air, on the sea and on the -land—for a high degree of bacterial sterility. “Under ordinary -conditions it is not possible to ‘catch cold’ in the polar regions .... -infectious fevers are practically unknown, unless contracted in a dirty -ship or filthily kept house.” Hence the feasibility of a practical -asepsis in accident or operation. Bishop Bompass once amputated a man’s -leg above the knee, and the operation was completely successful. The -Bishop had no medical knowledge beyond having attended some lectures at -an opthalmic hospital, in order to learn how to treat his Indians for -snow-blindness. - -The whaling voyage itself might be uneventful enough until a high -latitude was reached; but after that, the greatest possible skill was -required to navigate the ship safely through the “pack” ice coming down -from the Pole through Davis Straits and Fox Channel, on its way to the -coast of Labrador and Newfoundland, to be finally melted and dispersed -in the Gulf Stream. - -Arctic navigators and oceanographers enumerate many varieties and -vagaries of the polar ice. Suffice it here to note that “pack ice” is -the jammed and frozen conglomeration of masses of ice from broken floes -and vast disintegrating “fields” of ice. In Straits, this pack is -always heaviest in the centre but less compact along the shores, so -that a vessel can sometimes be worked along the coast when navigation -in the middle would be impossible. This “middle pack” is rightly -dreaded by Arctic seamen. A change of wind might drift it in upon the -shore, when the ship’s destruction would be inevitable. The great -danger in meeting the ice pack out at sea consists in the fact that the -larger part of the floe is almost submerged and little of it is to be -seen. Again, it bristles with spurs and points which stick up and out -like spears and rams, any one of which might rip up a hull sailing at -any speed. - -The rapidity with which the ice pack moves is something wonderful. -Miles upon miles of sea will be free from ice, with the exception of -small masses from the floes, and the ship ploughs a steady course to -the north. Suddenly the wind changes. Ice swiftly makes its appearance -on every quarter, and—with incredible rapidity—the vessel is -surrounded. But warning has been given from the “crow’s nest” (the -look-out aloft, a barrel at masthead), and the Master works a cautious -way through the “leads” in the shifting ice. Should the pack be -exceptionally heavy, threatening to pen in the ship completely, -measures for her safety are immediately taken. Orders ring out sharply. -The crew, with ice saws or blasting powder, quickly make a space in the -ice, like a temporary dock, large enough to warp her into, where she -can lie snug while the savage floes grind and crash against each other -without. Woe to the ship caught between them ere such a refuge can be -made! No vessel that ever adventured in the polar seas could stand the -awful grip. There would be a rending of the stoutest timbers, groans of -a ship in agony, a lift and a quiver, and as the floes swung apart on -the black swell below, the brave creature, mangled, rent, and stove in, -would plunge to her bitter grave. As for her crew, their only chance -would be to lower the boats, and, either marooned on the ice, drift -south on the prevailing current until perchance sighted by a ship; or, -if afloat, work their perilous way to the Greenland coast, and take -refuge at one of the Danish settlements sparsely scattered on its -southern extremity. - -Icebergs—those rightly dreaded wanderers of the northern seas—afford a -glorious vision in bright, calm weather, as they wend their majestic -course to the south, tinted by the setting sun or by the indescribable -loveliness of the northern sunrise. Sometimes a large portion having -been melted, breaks from the berg, when the vast mass slowly careens -over, plunges with a thunderous crash, and reasserts itself upon a new -floating base, peerless and beautiful as ever. The ship is fortunate -who finds herself standing well away at such a moment. - -In spite, however, of their bad reputation, the bergs have their uses -for those hardy wayfarers of the sea who know them. The ancient Arctic -mariner will tell you that an iceberg can sail against the wind as well -as with it! Gripped for two-thirds of its bulk by a strong -under-current, it can crash its way and forge ahead against the wildest -adverse gale. An old whaler told of an experience he had when his ship -was beset by the loose floe, and like to be crushed to matchwood. The -men were striving all they knew to get her into safety, when a vast -berg drove slowly down beside her through the ice, shouldering it aside -as a giant liner drives through a heavy sea. With the inspiration of -sheer desperation, the Captain saw his chance! The vessel was -cautiously worked still nearer the berg and then kedged on to it. Towed -thus, with resistless might, she too forged safely through the chafing -floe to clear water and deliverance. - -Again, a ship—no matter of what class or tonnage—can only carry a -certain quantity of water. So, too, with a whaler; she is limited in -her supply. It sometimes happens that, cruising about week after week, -she runs short of water. On sighting an iceberg, she sends off her -boats loaded with casks, and the crews refill them either with water -from the pools at the foot of the berg, or with the ice itself, which -being fresh water ice, melts down, of course, into splendid drinking -water after the brine and salt coating from the sea has first been -scraped off. For, be it remembered, an iceberg is a portion—the seaward -end—of one of the polar glaciers. As the immense ice river reaches the -coast it is pushed out over the cliffs, and vast masses break off with -terrific detonation, plunge into the sea, and the newly born icebergs -go floating far and wide. A large number of these bergs are formed in -Eternity Fiord on the Greenland coast, and the crash and roar of them -can be heard for miles. - -As the season wears on and the whaler’s hold slowly fills with the -cargo of the Arctic hunt, from time to time she puts into the sparse -harbours of the northern coasts, to refit, or to meet the tribes of -Eskimo gathered there to do “trade” with her. The Hudson Bay Company -have lately introduced a form of coinage for this purpose, anything of -the sort being previously quite unknown among the natives. Pieces of -metal in various shapes represent the values of a currency and are used -as money. But the prehistoric marketing of barter still holds good -throughout the greater part of the Arctic regions. - -Sometimes a shipmate has to be left, perforce of accident or illness, -to sleep the long sleep that knows no earthly waking, in this drear and -far-off land. - -So much then for the voyage and the voyagers to the Arctic. Now for -that frozen world itself, and for those strange people whose lot, -compared with that of all the rest of the more genially situated sons -of men, would seem to have fallen in the bleakest, harshest and most -forbidding places, where human life might scarcely exist. - -When the first ship seen by an Eskimo tribe touched on the coast, what -did they think of it; what was the bewildering impression they got? An -old hunter, recounting the story of his tribe and its adventures, gave -the writer a graphic account of just such an event. An enormous boat, -he said, appeared, filled with Kabloonâtyet (strangers), speaking an -unknown tongue and having hairy faces! The tall masts were hung with -the clouds (sails), and there was a door in the roof (the companion -leading from the deck), instead of in the side of the house. At first -the tribesmen hovered round this amazing thing in their canoes, afraid -to approach too near. Presents were thrown out to them of which they -could make nothing. They just smelt at the tobacco, biscuit and sweets, -and cast them aside. There were knives, but they cut themselves with -these, not knowing how to handle steel ones. It was almost as if some -unimaginable craft from another sphere were to visit the Earth and make -incomprehensible overtures to us by means of objects which conveyed -nothing to our intelligence—something after the style of Mr. Wells’s -Martians. At last, however, looking glasses resolved the situation. -These the Eskimo received with huge delight and amazement. Eventually -they were induced to board the strange boat and open up some sort of -initial overtures with her alarming crew. His fore-fathers, said the -old hunter, had seen these things and carefully handed them down. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER II - -BAFFIN LAND - - -A landfall in the Arctics is forbidding enough. Little is to be seen -save bare rocks broken by ravines, filled with snow even so late as far -into July and August—bare rocks, rising into gaunt hills from 500 to -1,500 feet high. The coastline is broken by bays and fiords, running -deep inland. These inlets with their irregular outlines have a singular -if rather drear beauty of their own, especially in the summer-time, -when what little vegetation there may be—a spare, coarse grass and a -red and white variety of heather—adds a grateful note of relief to the -severe scene. There are miles and miles of rocky coast in places, where -not so much as a handful of soil to support the hardiest little living -thing could be found. - -Baffin Land, or Baffin Island—the country with which this book has to -do—is an immense portion of the Canadian Arctic archipelago lying -between latitude 62° and 72° N. By far the greater part of it extends -north of the Arctic Circle, while its southern-most cape touches the -latitude of the Faroe Islands, ’twixt the Shetlands and Iceland, in our -own more familiar waters. The whole country lies far beyond the -northernmost limit of trees, although it is not without an Arctic flora -of its own. Baffin Sea, or Baffin Bay (that stretch of the North -Atlantic Ocean which, beyond Davis Strait, divides the west coast of -Greenland from North America), was discovered by the navigator William -Baffin in 1615. Hence the name of the country. Discredit was thrown -throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries on Baffin’s work in -the north; and, after him, Arctic exploration ceased for about two -centuries. Then Sir John Ross verified Baffin’s observations in 1818, -and many of them became the bases of later expeditionary enterprise. - -A glance at the map shows how the country lies. To the north of it, -beyond the whaling grounds of Lancaster Sound, Devon Island is the next -stretch of the poleward tapering continent. The Gulf of Bothnia and Fox -Channel divide it on the west from the enormously broken coasts of the -North West Territories. “The territory now known as Baffin Land was, -until about 1875, supposed to consist of different islands, known as -Cockburn Island, Cumberland Island, Baffin’s Land, Sussex Island, Fox -Land, etc. It seems to be now established that these are all connected -and that there is but one great island, comprising them all, to which -the name of Baffin Land has been given. It forms the northern side of -Hudson Strait.... It has a length of about 1,005 English statute miles, -with an average breadth of 305 miles, its greatest width being 500 and -its least 150 miles. Its area approximates 300,000 square miles, and it -therefore comprises about one tenth of the whole Dominion. It is the -third largest island in the world, being exceeded only by Australia and -Greenland” (Annual Report of Geolog. Survey of Canada, 1898.) - -It is an entirely Arctic country, immediately north of which runs the -polar limit of human habitation. - -Up to the actual time of writing, Baffin Land has been held to be -incapable of inland commercial development, but a Royal Commission of -the Government of the Dominion have recently examined the possibility -of establishing there a reindeer and muskox ranching industry. Their -report has not yet been published, but already some steps are being -taken to realise such a project. If this should have results, a new -means of livelihood would be opened up to the Eskimo, at present -employed exclusively by the whaling agents on the coast. But the -natives are not herders, and in all probability Lapps would be brought -over from northern Europe to initiate the industry. From this would -ensue doubtless some racial modifications—probably quite inappreciable -to any but those observers, like the present writer, used to the pure -and unmixed Eskimo stock. In the present book, little account will be -taken of those tribes which have been in contact with other races, like -those of Alaska and Labrador, whence results hybridization or -degeneration. The writer proposes to confine his attention entirely to -the people of ancient, unmixed blood, and to depict their life and -customs as uninfluenced by the forces of trade and civilisation, which -are already threatening to usher in a new era and extinguish the last -representatives of the “reindeer age.” - -From another point of view, however, Baffin Land should not pass -without remark. It has certain undetermined mineral resources. At Cape -Durban, on the 67th parallel, coal is known to exist, and graphite -(plumbago) has been found abundant and pure in several islands. Again, -pyrites and mica are all to be found in its rocks. - -The geology of the Arctic regions is, of course, a study in itself -beyond the scope of this book. It may be of interest, however, to note -that the two great distinctive bodies of rock to be observed in a -country like Baffin Land are the granite and the finer grained, darker, -basic rock. The ironstone from there is very similar to that brought -from India to be smelted in England. The graphite might be mistaken for -coal, but for its formation under geological conditions which could not -have given rise to the latter. The two pyrites occur in the rocks of -all ages; the one is a brassy yellow, very hard mineral, and the other -a brilliant black stone (magnetic pyrites) looking much like a mass of -loosely formed crystals. Garnets are also formed in several kinds of -rock, but are chiefly to be found in the schist. As a rule, these -little gems are far too much broken and split by the intense frost to -be worth collecting. In the winter, the hardest rock is so split by the -cold that every peculiarity of its composition can be clearly seen. The -graphite can be chipped out with an axe and utilised very conveniently -for writing. - -The scenery everywhere is typical of the “Barrens,” the “Bad Lands of -the North.” In winter, a featureless waste of snow, where in that dark -season “come those wonderful nights of glittering stars and northern -lights playing far and wide upon the icy deserts; or where the moon, -here most melancholy, wanders on her silent way through scenes of -desolation and death. In these regions the heavens count for more than -elsewhere; they give colour and character, while the landscape, simple -and unvarying, has no power to draw the eye.” (Nansen.) In summer, when -the iron grip of ice is relaxed around the frozen coast, snow may -disappear from the interminable wastes of rounded granite hills which -are a feature of the interior. The effect of this endless succession of -low bare elevations is one of “appalling desolation.” The long, -high-pitched howl of the wolf, the ultimate note of the wilderness, -falls occasionally upon the ear of the twilight camper. This, and the -cry of the loon from the lakes, with the crowing bleat of the ptarmigan -in the low scrub, are the chance evening sounds (of spring and summer) -in the Barrens. - -The country generally is mountainous and of a hilly and barren aspect. -In some districts comparatively level Laurentian areas occur, where -immense herds of reindeer roam in the summer. At this season the ranges -have a dark or nearly black appearance, owing to the growth of lichens -upon them, but this sombre character is often relieved in valleys and -on hill-sides by strips and patches of green, due to grasses and sedges -in the lower bottoms, and a variety of flowering plants on sheltered -slopes exposed to the sun. - -The high interior of Baffin Land, lying just north of Cumberland Sound, -is apparently all covered with ice, like the interior of Greenland. -Around the margins of this ice cap the general elevation above the sea -is about 5,000 feet, and it rises to about 8,000 feet in the central -parts. Large portions of the northern interior are over 1,000 feet -above the sea, so that vast regions of the country may be said to be -truly mountainous. - -There are no trees or shrubs of any kind in Baffin Land. Of Arctic -flowers, a small yellow poppy seems to be the hardiest and most -widespread. Even in those parts where desolation seems to reign -supreme, this poppy (Papaver radicatum), and a tiny purple saxifrage -(Saxifraga appositifolia) can generally be discerned. There are coarse -grasses growing in scant patches, and immense tracts of reindeer moss, -upon which the cariboo entirely subsist. - -Unlike the sterile Antarctic, however, it is well known that the flora -of Arctic lands is a feature of such importance that it has been the -subject of an immense amount of expert investigation carried out by -very many eminent botanists from every country. Professor Bruce says it -is quite impossible to enter into detail regarding arctic botany, -largely on account of its sheer profusion. “No matter how far the -explorer goes, no matter how desolate a region he visits, he is sure to -come across one or more species of flowering plants.... Every arctic -traveller is thoroughly familiar with scurvy grass, the sulphur -coloured buttercup, the little bladder campion, several potentillas, -the blaeberry, many saxifrages, the rock rose, the cotton grass and the -arctic willow.” In Grinnell Land (far north of Baffin Land) the British -Arctic Expedition of 1875 met with “luxuriant vegetation.” The presence -or absence of the Arctic current along the shores of these countries -seems to have much to do with the problems of vegetation. Baffin Land, -bathed in its icy waters, is far more barren than Greenland, where it -does not touch. Possibly Grinnell Land is immune from its influence. It -is, nevertheless, quite possible for a dense plant life to -flourish—under certain conditions of climate, altitude and -situation—deep within the Arctic Circle, where even the tundra, a -wilderness of snow in the winter, becomes an impassable fever-haunted, -mosquito ridden, torrid, flower decked swamp in the summer. - -But there is more than this in the botany of Baffin Land! The natural -or geological history of the Arctic regions generally is that of the -earth’s crust itself, and from this point of view the study of these -northern blossoms is more wonderful than that of its rocks. - -The fossil plants of these ice-bound countries belong to the Miocene -period, an epoch warmer than the present, which preceded the glacial -age now triumphant there. The latitudes of Baffin Land were once -covered by extensive forests representing fifty or sixty different -species of arborescent trees, most of them with deciduous leaves, some -three or four inches in diameter, the elm, pine, oak, maple, plane, and -even some evergreens, showing an entirely different condition of -seasons to that which now holds sway in the far, far north. The modern -botany of the Arctics, comprising some 300 kinds of flowering plants, -besides mosses, algae, lichens, fungi, is characteristic of the -Scandinavian peninsula. Now, the Scandinavian flora is one of the -oldest on the globe. It represents unique problems in distribution, -from which the most tremendous scientific deductions have been drawn, -such as those concerning a former disposition of terrestrial continents -and oceans, and some concerning changes in the direction of the earth’s -axis itself! All this is very far beyond the scope of any such account -of Baffin Land as the present. Suffice it, nevertheless, to indicate -the deep vistas of interest that lie behind the “appalling desolation” -of its appearance to-day, and the limitations of its hyperborean native -folk. - -The reindeer moss is a very important asset of the country. It is a -delicate grey-green in colour and beautiful in form as well. It grows -luxuriantly to about the height of six inches. When dry, it is brittle, -and may be crumbled to powder in the hands; but when wet it is very -much of the consistency of jelly, and very slippery. The reindeer live -entirely upon it all the year round. In the winter, when it lies under -a deep blanket of snow, to get at it the deer have to scrape their way -down with their great splay hoofs. It sometimes happens that a season -comes when a thaw may be followed by a sharp frost. In this case the -surface of the snow is first melted and then quickly frozen, making a -coating of ice over all the surface of the ground. To scrape this would -cut the deers’ legs, so there is an exodus of the herd to other feeding -places, and hunger even to famine and starvation may reign in the -district they have deserted. Generally speaking, the herds keep to the -high grounds and hills in the winter, because there the moss is more -exposed and easier to come at. They move down to the coast at -intervals, to lick the salt which comes up through the “sigjak,” i.e., -ground ice, along the shore, when the tides rises and the water leaves -pools behind it. - -The deer feed in a peculiar manner. Once a pit has been sunk in the -snow and the moss at the bottom is browsed down, the creatures do not -attempt to enlarge the place, but scramble out again, only to dig a -fresh hole and sink shoulder high in it at a little distance, and begin -feeding afresh. The herd is always dogged by a pack of watchful wolves, -ever on the qui vive to attack; but the leaders’ vigilance never -slackens, and battle breaks out in the wild at the first movement of -aggression. - -There are one or two particularly interesting facts, astronomical and -otherwise, which account for the extraordinary physical phenomena and -conditions of life in the polar regions. To begin with the seasons. The -“Arctic” properly so called is geographically defined by that circle of -latitude where the sun on midwinter day does not rise, and where on -midsummer day it does not set. In Arctic countries the sun is never -more than 23½ degrees above the horizon, and their intense cold is due, -in summer, to the sharp obliquity of his rays, and in winter, to his -entire absence. In the latitude of Blacklead Island, on December 25th, -the whole orb of the sun is not visible, only the upper section shows -above the horizon (unless mist or snow overcast the heavens) for a -brief ten minutes at midday. On May 18th, conversely, the sun has been -noted as shining for eighteen hours, the remaining six out of the -twenty-four being a bright twilight, scarcely distinguishable from day. - -The whole year round there is little to be seen but rocks and snow. No -tilling, sowing, harvesting, mark the progress of the seasons or call -man to the pursuits which have brought all civilisation in their train -in milder climes. These seasons (which depend, of course, upon the -position of the earth in its orbit round the sun, and upon the -inclination of the polar axis to the plane of the ecliptic giving a six -month’s day and six month’s night at the poles), are markedly defined -in Baffin Land. But far more distinctly so on shore than at sea, where -unbroken ice may reign supreme throughout the greater part of the -twelve-month. Winter sets in on the southern coast about the end of -September; farther north a week or two earlier. By this date the hills -are getting their snow caps, which extend downwards every day, and a -thin sheet of ice appears upon the sea at night. A rim of ice along the -shore marks the rise and fall of the tide. Frequent snowstorms now set -in, and the ice at sea thickens and strengthens, until by November it -extends as far as the eye can rove. This ice, however, is not stout or -welded enough to bear sleds, except in the fiords and smaller bays, -until nearly Christmas time. The sea freezes when the temperature of -the air falls to about 15° F., and the whole surface of the water -becomes covered with a mass of ice spicules known to polar sailors as -Bay Ice, from its forming first in the bays of the coast. Presently -this solidifies and thickens, growing ever whiter and more translucent -in the process, and is broken, even in calm weather, by the action of -gentle swell or the currents beneath into thousands of discs, large and -small, like pans of ice. Sea ice is formed at a temperature of 3° F. -below the freezing point of fresh water. There are many remarkable and -interesting physical distinctions between ice formed on land and ice -formed at sea. The latter when melted is quite drinkable, being not -nearly so salt as salt water. The intense cold, though, of drinking -water so obtained tends to inflame the mucous membrane of the mouth and -throat, and its slight salinity still further augments thirst; so it is -never resorted to except of necessity. These pans eventually freeze -together into one great solid floor of “pancake ice,” and the Eskimo, -away hunting in the winter for seal, may camp and live for weeks, miles -out from land on the frozen sea. - -The days grow ever shorter and shorter until, in midwinter, there may -be only a few hours or even minutes of daylight left. The long Arctic -night lasts from September to March. - -By the end of March, however, the sun is once more high in the heavens; -the sudden spring has begun, and the sound is everywhere heard of water -trickling under the snow. Readers of Alaskan romance will recall many a -fine passage about the ice “going out” on the Yukon, and realise the -terrific transformation undergone by the whole still, silent, rigid, -frozen landscape when the iron bonds of winter at length give way. -Springtime in the Arctics is a wonderful time. The thaw comes from -below. The rocks take the heat, and the snow sinks down, baring more -and more of them every day. It grows quite warm; bird sounds (ptarmigan -and snow bunting) enliven all the day; ducks quack at the floe edge. -Sunrise beams upon the Arctic hills until they lie smiling in the full -beauty of sunshine on their mantles of untrodden snow. - -At the end of June, summer is come; the sun is really hot, and the -long-covered earth, bared at last to its benign influence, puts forth -heather and grass and flowers. For six months there is no more night. -Its place is taken by the pale light that offers so strange a -phenomenon to the dweller from the south. If the sky be unclouded, -shadows will be seen pointing to the south. If clouds cover the -heavens, the landscape stands out without shadow at all, clear and -sharp under this strange illumination. There is no one point from which -the light can come; it comes from everywhere. Owing to the length of -this Arctic “day,” the ground has no time to radiate away the welcome -warmth, hence the rapid growth of what vegetation the region may show. -Again, as Nansen says so poetically: “In these regions the heavens -count for more than elsewhere: they give colour and character ... to -the landscape ... it is flooded with that melancholy light which -soothes the soul so fondly and is so characteristic of the northern -night.” - -The stars are an open book to the Eskimo. They know all the principal -groups, and use them for the directing of their journeys. They can make -a very creditable chart of the northern heavens. They recognise the -Plough, and the Bear (which is indeed called “Nanook”—the Bear), and -they recognise the constellation of three stars in a straight line and -at equal distances from each other, which they call the “Runners,” and -describe as the spirits of three brothers in pursuit. The arctic -hunters are marvellous students of nature generally. They have the lore -of the wild at their finger tips, and all the wisdom of the seasons. It -is probable that this primitive people have preserved nearly all the -original instincts—as to the presence of danger, right direction, etc., -etc.—of primaeval man, which are all but extinct in the -over-civilisation of the modern European. - -In August autumn begins. Last year’s ice has been broken up and carried -far out to sea. There are frequent showers of rain, and the nights -begin again to encroach more and more on the day. It is about this time -that the trading ships generally arrive and put in at various points -along the coast to do business and refit. They pick up the annual -intelligence of the whaling stations, and leave for home as soon as the -new ice begins to form. - -Then winter comes down upon the land once more. The sky, like velvet, -is bespangled with stars of incomparable brilliance, burning like -opals. The Northern Lights, like lambent curtains of amazing -illumination, swing weirdly through the sky; the blanched hills and the -frozen fiords stand out in ghostly black and white under the startling -moonlight. There is no sound save the sharp cracking of rock or ice -under the strain of the intense frost, the uneasy growl of dogs, the -distant howl of a wolf. - -Suddenly, however, there may be a chorus of barking in the night, as a -strange team of dogs sweeps into view up the fiord, or the harbour, and -visitors descend upon the camp. Except for the noise, one could imagine -the newcomers to be the ghosts of ancient hunters haunting their old -grounds. But cheery cries, the crack of whips and the howls of the -dogs, dispel any such idea as the group comes up. They are stalwart and -sturdy individuals enough, clad from head to foot in deerskin, and -covered with rime and frost. They are seeking hospitality here, and at -once friendly doors are open to them, invitations are readily extended -and accepted, and soon everyone of the strangers is comfortably -bestowed (after Eskimo notions of comfort) in one or another of the -various dwellings, the dogs are unharnessed and fed, and peace resumes -her tranquil sway. - -The natives thus name the four seasons: Opingrak, spring; Auyak, -summer; Okeoksak, autumn (i.e., material for winter), and Okeok, -winter. The months are named by the sequence of events—the coming of -the ducks, the birth of the reindeer fawns, the coming of the fish (sea -trout), etc., as “the duck month,” “the fawn month,” “the fish month,” -etc. And the days are distinguished as “oblo,” to-day; “koukpât,” -to-morrow; “ikpuksâk,” yesterday; “ikpuksâne,” the day before -yesterday, and so forth. “Akkâgo” means next year, and “akkâne” is last -year. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER III - -ARCTIC FLORA AND FAUNA - - -Another striking feature of the Arctics is the effect upon the -appearance and character of those shores touched by the Gulf Stream, as -compared with those where its waters never pass. Thus the coast of -Greenland is comparatively luxuriant in vegetation and its seas teem -with fish, while Baffin Land, opposite, washed by arctic currents, is -desolate and barren, with no fishing off its shores. The same contrast -holds good with respect to the north and south coasts of Hudson Strait. -There are no cod off Baffin Land, but the Labrador fishermen ply their -trade right into Hudson Bay. - -Baffin “Island” is a trackless, mysterious continent where, high up on -the summits of some of the mountains, there are vast lakes fed from -hidden springs—or from streams from still higher ranges—wherein salmon -trout abound! At least, these fish are exactly like the sea trout which -come up the rivers every year to spawn, save that the hue of the belly -is bright red. The Eskimo point to this as proof that they never go -down to the sea, and call them the “dirty fish,” since they never quit -the lakes. How they ever got into them is a mystery the arctic -zoölogist must be left to solve, since neither hunter nor fisherman can -offer a suggestion. The trout could not have attained any such level -upstream. It would almost appear—if one might hazard a guess—that at -some remote geologic epoch this part of the N. American continent was -submerged, for the Eskimo of Baffin Land speak of an inland sea, now -dry, where fossil remains are to be found of large creatures such as -the whale and walrus. They come across fossil fish, indeed, in their -more extended wanderings, also shells, and bring them back to camp as -curiosities. - -The Eskimo are properly a seaboard people and seldom penetrate farther -inland than thirty miles from the coast, unless during the annual deer -hunt, when they may be away for a couple of months, according to the -distance the quest may take them. - -Possibly these unaccountable trout are the descendants of fish cut off -from access to the sea, when the gradual rise of the continental level -left lakes of originally salt water among the ranges. Where they are -not without marine life (excepting those wonderful seaweeds which are -found at the tropics as well as in the arctic), the waters round these -shores contain many species of fish commonly known elsewhere, only in a -much less developed state. Such creatures as sea anemones, shrimps, sea -snails, small squid, and salt water centipedes, are to be found on the -arctic beach. Naturalists enumerate a formidable list of the sort, -bristling with scientific nomenclature. Then there are the mosquitoes, -of which more anon, and small yellow, white and brown butterflies. It -is indeed due to the comparatively rich fauna and flora of the arctic -regions, both east and west, that arctic exploration has been carried -out so frequently. The utter absence of plant or animal or human life -in the dead antarctic has greatly militated against the success of -southbound expeditions. - -To deal with the mosquitoes! These insects abound in the summer-time, -and are a terrible pest. It is a puzzle how they survive the winter, -when everything is frozen solid, and the very spots which thaw under -the sudden warmth of an arctic spring and allow them to swarm out in -their malignant millions are iron-bound as the rocks themselves for the -greater part of the year. So formidable are these insects that man -himself has sometimes fallen a victim to their onslaught. On one -occasion, a polar bear was crossing a swamp on the prowl, when he was -attacked by mosquitoes. They stung his eyes, the inside of his ears, -penetrated his nostrils and stung them. As the nasal passages became -inflamed and swollen, the bear was forced to open his mouth to breathe, -when his enemies swarmed in, fastened on to tongue, palate and throat, -causing them also to swell, until the tormented brute succumbed to -suffocation. His howls attracted the attention of some Eskimo hunters, -who afterwards told the tale. - -Another time, some women in a summer camp noticed a kyak (skin canoe) -drifting about at sea in a curious way, and a man went off to -investigate. On arriving within hail he found a body in the canoe, -leaning back stone dead; done to death in precisely the same way by -mosquitoes. - -Arctic birds are numerous. Most of them are migratory, but an eagle, a -hawk, some owls and a raven, remain the year round. The most typical of -all Arctic birds, the Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), is the -first to arrive and bring news of the spring. He comes about the same -time as the Ptarmigan. Lastly comes the bird that always seems to greet -the explorer on landing, the Purple Sandpiper (Tringa striata). He -comes soon after the ducks—the Eider, the King Eider, the Pintail and -the Harlequin. Between the two, there is a rapid vernal succession of -birds, including sea pigeons and geese. - -Eskimo hunters speak of the wild swan, on the south coast and in the -vicinity of Frobisher Bay. The raven is the only arctic bird which does -not change its plumage to match the surroundings. He is always -aggressively, blatantly black. Possibly, being so able a match for any -ordinary foe, this bird has no need to adopt the “protective -resemblance” of white. The writer has watched a raven alight to secure -some tit-bit of offal, and keep even the wolfish Eskimo dog at a -respectful distance, with its huge beak. The bird is cunning to a -degree. It will follow a trapper, note the position of his traps, and -return to visit and despoil them of their bait as soon as the coast is -clear. Then it takes up its stand on some convenient rock just out of -gunshot range, and watches the trapper on his return, just for all the -world as if it relished his comments! - -So much for the land birds. At sea there are petrels, gulls, and skuas. -The natives do not recognise pictures of puffins or penguins, as these -birds are not known on their coasts. - -Again, the animals of the frozen north form quite a formidable list. -There are three large lakes in Baffin Land (shown on the map at the -end), linked together by rivers and making connection with the sea by -river. - -The southern lake is called “Angmakjuak” (“the great one”). The length -of this sea may indeed exceed 120 miles by 40 in breadth in its central -part. The central lake, “Tesseyuakjuak,” is possibly 140 miles long by -60 broad, and the northern lake “Netselik” (the place of seals) is at -least 15 miles across. The difference in level between these great -sheets of water is so inconsiderable that the natives can paddle with -ease either up or down the waterways connecting them; perhaps none of -them lie much higher than 300 feet above the sea. They teem with seal -coming up from the coasts, and on the shores of Netselik old hunters -will tell you they have seen the Red Fox, as well as white and smoky. -This may well be so, as the fox is a denizen of Labrador, and might -easily cross Hudson Strait on the ice during a hard winter. The seal of -these lakes and of the coast (much hunted for food and for their skins -by the natives), are the grey haired seals of wide-spread commerce, but -not the fine, fur-bearing animals whose pelts are of the first beauty -and value. This latter is a different species and is protected by -Government, only a certain number being allowed to be killed each year. - -Bears, of course, abound. The female is the only arctic land creature -which hibernates. Then there is the wolf, the white and blue fox, [1] -the ermine, the arctic hare, a tailless snow mouse, or lemming, the -musk ox, and—the most widely distributed of all—the cariboo or reindeer -(Rangifer tarandus). It would be impossible to over-estimate the value -of the last named beautiful creature, alive or dead, to all the peoples -of the arctic countries, east or west. It would be superfluous here to -remark much about it, except to note one interesting peculiarity. The -reindeer differs from all other deer in that both sexes bear antlers. - -The wolves, of course, are the inveterate enemies of the deer. In the -winter, when the latter herds leave the lowlands and go up to pasture -among the hills, where the snow lies less deep and can be more easily -scratched away, they are dogged by the wolves. These hungry and -voracious creatures know well enough that the deer are sentinelled -while feeding by their fighting males, and make no movement of -aggression until one of them chances to stray from the herd. When this -happens, the luckless animal is immediately headed off towards the -shore and hunted down. The wolfish pack concentrates behind it and -draws in on either side, so as to leave but one avenue of apparent -escape. The quarry dashes down and away, out on towards the ice; but -its weight is so great and its hoofs so sharp that the frozen crust of -snow gives way beneath it and sorely cuts it about the legs. The deer -loses blood and slackens in speed, so that the wolves, skimming easily -over the treacherous surface, close in and soon drag it down. - -It is a fact well known to the Eskimo hunter that the actual chase is -put up by the female wolf, the male only coming in at the last, for the -kill. The former do the hustling and placing of the victim, as it were, -and the latter do the fighting and killing at the end. - -The Lemming (Cuniculus torquatus) is a queer typical little arctic -animal. It has a chubby build, a rudimentary tail, and no external -ears. The first toe of the forepaw is almost nil, but the third and -fourth have very strong claws, which grow longer and still more -powerful in winter. It is grey in summer and white for the rest of the -year. It lives upon the grubs to be found amid the moss under the snow, -and burrows its way along as it searches for food. It is quite a -familiar sound to hear the scratch, scratch, scratch of a lemming’s -claws beneath, as one lies on the snow sleeping bench of an Eskimo’s -igloo. The creature’s skin when dried is used by the natives for -sticking over cuts or boils. It is hunted in the spring by the women -and children, who are guided by the sound of its burrowings. They arm -themselves with a stick having a long barbed wire attached, and spear -the animal with this through the snow. - -Around the coasts there are various species of whales. The Grampus -(Orca gladiator) or killer, as it is called by the whalers, is a fierce -member of the dolphin group, sometimes attaining a length of thirty -feet, with large powerful teeth, from ten to thirteen in number, on -each side of the jaw. It has a high, upstanding fin on the back, like a -shark. It is very swift in the water and can easily overtake and kill -one of these latter creature. It is shunned and feared by all the -denizens of the arctic seas except the Walrus and the great Sperm -Whale. The Grampus is incredibly voracious, and has been known to -devour thirteen porpoises and fourteen seals at one meal. - -All the smaller animals take refuge in shallow water inshore at the -approach of a Killer, only to fall a prey there to the native. The -Killers hunt the whalebone whale, which, fast though it is, cannot make -good its escape. The pursuers will leap right out of the water and -crash down upon the head of their victim; or rush upon it and ram it, -until terrified, stunned and exhausted, the whale drops its jaw, when -the Killers tear out huge pieces of the tongue. (The tongue of a whale -is a vast mass of fat, weighing in a full sized animal as much as a -ton.) Finally, the unwieldly carcase is also despatched, and the -Grampuses take themselves off, replete. The male Walrus is too active -and fierce to be beset in this manner, but a female encumbered with a -calf will often be pursued by the Killer. She takes the young one under -her flipper and tries to escape; but the aggressor rushes in and butts -at her. Sometimes he succeeds in claiming this tender mouthful; -sometimes he is killed by the infuriated mother. - -The Sea Unicorn or Narwhal (Monodon monoceros), is a purely arctic -animal. The curious “horn” is really the left tooth grown to the length -of six or seven feet. It is only hollow for a certain distance. -Exteriorly this horn is spirally grooved, to allow presumably for quick -thrust and withdrawal. The Narwhal often engage in a mock combat among -themselves with these horns, but use them with fierce and deadly -precision when engaged in actual warfare. - -It were too long to linger here with the creatures of the North, since -we shall meet them all, and many more, in dealing with the human -inhabitants of the country. Arctic animals have a fascination all their -own, and of late years a wonderfully sympathetic and intuitive -literature has grown up having them almost exclusively for its -protagonists. Jack London has endeared the powerful, savage, husky dog -to us for all time, in his “White Fang.” - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE ESKIMO - - -The inhabitants of the Arctic are the Eskimo, also written Esquimaux, -Usquemows, called by themselves Innuit (Innuk s. Innooeet p.) or the -“people.” The word Usquemow is Indian, meaning raw flesh eaters. The -English and Scotch anglicised it to Eskimo. The name “Husky” as applied -to the native is merely slang, a corruption of Eskimo perpetrated by -men whose ears and tongues were untrained to the language—whalers who -sometimes employed the tribesmen in their hunting, and dubbed them with -the first jargon name that came handy. It is still used in this sense -in localities where Europeans are numerous, such as Alaska, and Hudson -Bay. - -Pure blood Indians do not penetrate so far north as the Eskimo -territories, being denizens of the forest but not of the barrens. The -Eskimo are a kindly, intelligent people, hardy to a degree. They follow -the manner of life and the pursuits of primitive man; but when brought -into contact with the whites and with civilisation, show themselves by -no means incapable of assimilating a good deal of instruction. They -have qualities of amiability, hospitality, ingenuity and endurance, -which all travellers have agreed in extolling; although here and there -in the records of the voyages of exploration in the nineteenth century -we also find unfavourable comments passed upon them. They exist in -small, scattered tribes along the sea coasts, whence they derive the -bulk of their subsistence. Owing to the establishment of whaling and -other stations, the geographical areas of the tribes are now more -circumscribed and confined than they used to be, as each station is a -centre of trade where most of the necessaries of life can be obtained. - -The origin of the Eskimo is a matter of ethnographical conjecture. They -themselves had no written language until comparatively few years ago, -and depended upon oral tradition for their history. And even to-day it -is only the few who have been taught to read and write, so that legend -still holds sway throughout the greater part of Baffin Land, Cockburn -Land, and the rest. Their past is lost in obscurity. In the obscurity -perhaps of that neolithic or “reindeer age” of which their life, even -now, has so often been cited as a close replica. - -That immense span of time in the history of the human race known as the -Stone Age, falls into five divisions. There is the Palaeolithic period -(Early, Middle and Late), and the Neolithic period (Transitional and -Typical). During the last throes of the glacial epoch in Europe, the -type of human being was that represented by the relic which has come -down to us known as the Neanderthal skull. But the later Pleistocene -period saw a greater diversity in the matter of types, and one race in -particular is represented by a fair number of specimens. They denote a -good-looking, purely human being. Another race of the same period is -represented by a single specimen only. It is known as the Chancelade -Race, and “the skeleton, of comparatively low stature, is deemed to -show close affinities to the type of the modern Eskimo.” (Dr. Marett.) -This is exceedingly interesting as giving us some idea of the antiquity -of the stock, and as showing how glacial conditions in prehistoric -times in Europe produced a type which lingers on amid the races of the -modern world in the still existing glacial epoch of the Arctic. - -The “Reindeer men” of prehistoric times lived lives no harder in the -bleak climate and unprogressive conditions of glaciated Europe than -those of the Eskimo in glaciated America to-day. “The races of Reindeer -men were in undisturbed possession of western Europe for a period of at -least ten times as long as the interval between ourselves and the -beginning of the Christian era.” (H. G. Wells.) If we add these periods -of time together we may form some estimate of the age of a civilisation -such as the climatic conditions have produced and proscribed in the -modern Arctics. - -Perhaps it may be said that in one sense the Eskimo have no history. -They are living the same life, under the same rigorous conditions, in -the same way now, as their forefathers lived it before them, and as far -back as human life could be traced in the Arctic earth. It is wonderful -how faithfully this oral tradition of theirs has been handed down -through the generations, for the same adventures and incidents and -stories will be told with little or no alteration by various people of -widely different tribes, and events that took place centuries ago will -still be invariably related with circumstantial precision. - -The writer well remembers an account given to him one winter’s night by -an aged hunter, of some stores left by a party of the early explorers. -It was during a journey along the south coast of Baffin Land, and -shelter had been sought in the snow house of an ancient Eskimo couple. -The old man was grandfather of the tribe, and had been a noted hunter -in his day, and had fought many a battle with the savage elements and -more savage beasts of the wild. It was after the evening meal. The old -fellow and his equally old wife had been warmed with some steaming -coffee liberally sweetened with molasses, and regaled with ship’s -biscuit. The pipes of both had been filled, and were drawing well. -Their bronzed, lined faces, lined like the shell of a walnut, shone -with contentment, they huddled on their sleeping bench and smoked and -dreamed of the strenuous past. A question or two soon elicited a flood -of guttural reminiscences. The old hunter pictured himself as a youth -again, and went over the exploits of his prime, prompted now and again -by the crone at his side, in a shrewd expectation of further acceptable -items. Among other things, he told of the various “dumps” or “caches” -of stores made by the white men who came long ago, remembering exactly -the localities and the contents of every one. Some had been broken into -long since by wandering Eskimo; some had been destroyed by bears; some -remained intact. His memory was as exact and reliable as if he had seen -the things but a week—instead of a lifetime—before. Perhaps it was an -echo, all that time afterwards, of the Franklin tragedy. - -These primitive Eskimo inhabit the great archipelago which stretches -polewards from the northern shores of the Canadian continent, from -Greenland on the east to Alaska and the Aleutian islands on the extreme -west. There is, too, a settlement of Eskimo beyond Behring Strait. Some -ethnographers hold them to be of purely American origin with no -affinities in Asia, however Mongolian they may be in appearance. Dr. -Rink believes in an Alaskan origin for the Eskimo, as opposed to an -Asian, but another authority, Dr. Boas, thinks the solution of this -racial problem might be obtained by means of an archæological research -on the coast of the Behring Sea. - -The original Eskimo stock is now probably extinct. In language and -physique, many of the present day tribes exhibit traits of racial -admixture with the Red Indians. This has occurred in such junction -areas as Labrador and Alaska, and has given rise to the probably quite -fallacious idea of an Indian origin for the Arctic race. This error -could not be made in Eskimo lands proper. Those who have lived for long -years with both Indian and Eskimo, and are intimately acquainted with -the language, legends, and characteristics of both peoples, hold -strongly to the opinion that they are entirely distinct. Personally, -the writer would incline to the belief that the Innooeet are of -Mongolian stock. He has heard on good authority of a pure Eskimo sailor -being addressed by a Chinaman in Chinese, under the impression that he -was speaking to a fellow-countryman. It is conjectured that in the -remote past some Mongols may have reached the sea coast in the extreme -east, and have crossed by boat from island to island, and so to the -Arctics of North America. Increasing there in numbers, they presently -dispossessed the aboriginals—the “Tooneet”—and drove them to the “back -of the Arctic beyond.” But of this more when we come to Eskimo legends. - -Undoubtedly the Eskimo are linked, if not by blood certainly by custom, -to the Arctic peoples of Siberia, to the Lapps and Finns of northern -Europe. In historic times they mixed with the Danes and Norsemen. They -are not numerically very strong. Forty thousand may possibly total the -nation, and of those 12,000 are in Greenland, and rather more in -Alaska, leaving some 13,000 souls scattered along the shores of Baffin -Land, Melville Peninsula, Boothia, Victoria Island, Banks Island and -the rest of the bleak, fragmented continent. It is in Baffin Land, in -Boothia, and Victoria that the pure Eskimo race is found. Elsewhere the -type is extremely mixed. It is to be deplored, too, that where the -people have been in contact with vicious and unscrupulous whites, -traders, sailors, and the rest, the introduction not only of alien -blood but of the diseases of “civilisation” have here and there -threatened extinction to whole tribes. - -The “Central” tribes of Eskimo (i.e., those tribes exclusive of the -Greenlanders, the Alaskans, and all the Labradorians save those on the -northern shore of Hudson’s Strait) number about thirty-two. They have -been carefully classified, enumerated, and geographically located, by -the ethnologist, Dr. Boas. Three communities are found along the -northern shore of Hudson’s Strait (the southern shore of Baffin Land), -the Sikkoswelangmeoot at King Cape, the Akuliangmeoot at North Bluff, -and the Quamanangmeoot in the Middle Savage Islands. All along the -coast of Davis’ Strait are scattered another nine tribes, the chief of -which are the Nuvungmeoot, in the neighbourhood of Frobisher Bay, and -the Oqomiut (divided into four territorial groups) all about Cumberland -Sound. The Lake Netselings Eskimo are a branch of these, called the -Talikpingmeoot. In the extreme north of Baffin Land the Tunungmeoot are -found at Eclipse Sound, and the Tununirusirmeoot about Admiralty Inlet. - -There is constant intercourse and intermarriage among these scattered -groups (none of which is numerically large), wherever the tracts of -land in between them are not wholly impassable. Other groups are more -or less isolated by long stretches of territory, unnegotiable by any -means of Eskimo travel. These folk are not only migratory in their -habits, but great travellers for the sake of travelling, as well. They -often engage on journeys which occupy months or even years, although -there is a strong tendency among the old people to return to their -native spot before the end, and so territorial distinctions are -maintained. - -Even before the advent of Europeans and the trade they brought with -them, there was a certain amount of barter going on among the Arctic -folk themselves, occasioning not a little movement. More driftwood -being found in some localities than in others (chiefly at a place -called Tudjadjuak), the tribes came from everywhere to barter for it -with those on the spot. Again, the soapstone or “potstone,” of which -their lamps and cooking utensils were made, is found in a few places -only, such as at Kautag, Kikkerton and Quarmaqdjuin; so that the -natives came long distances to dig or trade for that, too. Pyrites for -striking fire was also a valuable if local production, and flint for -arrow head making. On the whole the relationships of the various tribes -were very friendly, and open hospitality was everywhere observed -throughout all the regions where communication was fairly open and -established. Some feuds or tribal reserves obtained where the peoples -were strange to each other, and hence arose some extraordinary customs -as to greetings, which looked very much like challenges to single -combat by the chosen representatives of either group. - -There seems to be some evidence that the present day Eskimo were not -the original inhabitants of these regions at all. There are definite -traces still remaining of an earlier folk called the Tooneet. Eskimo -tradition speaks repeatedly of these Tooneet as having been conquered -by the ancestors of the present race and pushed farther and farther -north, until they were lost sight of altogether. Some of their words -have been preserved by the Medicine Men (Angakooeet, the conjurors), -and the remains of their dwellings and graves were to be seen up to a -few years ago, the latter still containing skeletons and weapons. - -The Tooneet were short, between four and five feet in stature, and very -broadly built. (On this subject the reader should consult Dr. Rink, -“Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo.”) The skull was oval, unlike the -present race, who are round-headed. Their weapons were fashioned of -stone, but of a different shape to those of to-day. Their skin canoes -were short and broad instead of the long, narrow kyak in use now. Of -these aboriginals little further trace or memory remains. The writer -met a very ancient Eskimo on the south coast of Baffin Land, who -related that his grandfather had seen two Tooneet on the shores of an -inland lake. They were getting into their canoes, and would not allow -the other to come near. They appeared to understand nothing of the -shouted greeting, but hastily paddled off. The Tooneets were also found -on the coast of Labrador. The present tribes of the region were -originally enslaved to them. At Nakrak, their remains are to be seen. - -The unmixed Eskimo type of to-day closely resembles the Chinese, with -an average stature of five feet, lank black hair and small peaked eyes. -Nansen gives us a very life-like picture of them: “Their faces are as a -rule round, with broad, outstanding jaws, and are, in the case of the -women particularly, very fat, the cheeks being especially full. The -eyes are dark and often set a little obliquely, while the nose is flat, -narrow above and broad below. The whole face often looks as if it had -been compressed from the front and forced to make its growth from the -sides. Among the women, and more especially the children, the face is -so flat that one could almost lay a ruler across from cheek to cheek -without touching the nose; indeed, now and again one will see a child -whose nose really forms a depression in the face rather than the -reverse. It will be understood from this that many of the people show -no signs of approaching the European standard of good looks, but it is -not exactly in this direction that the Eskimo attractions usually lie. -At the same time there is something kindly, genial and complacent in -his stubby, dumpy ... features which is quite irresistible. Their hands -and feet alike are generally small and well shaped.” Elsewhere he adds: -“One cannot help being comfortable in these people’s society. Their -innocent, careless ways, their humble contentment with life as it is, -and their kindness, are very catching, and must clear one’s mind of all -dissatisfaction and restlessness.” The length of the excerpt will be -forgiven, since it gives more than a delightful pen picture—an -inimitable bit of human psychology, that touch of insight which makes -the whole world kin. - -The Eskimo on the southern coasts of Baffin Land are taller than their -fellows, sometimes attaining a stature of six feet and breadth in -proportion. The majority of the men are beardless. Their hair, black -and coarse, is worn either long or short, but is cut square across the -forehead. It covers the ears, to prevent frostbite, and a band is tied -round the head to prevent it blowing about too freely in the wind. We -shall deal with the ladies’ coiffure at greater length in another -connection. - -Each band of Eskimo inhabits some particular spot or tract of the -coast, and takes its name after the country, or some peculiarity it -exhibits. For instance, the land at the point of Fox Channel and Hudson -Strait is called Sikkoswelak, a term which describes the fact that the -ice just there is seldom stable, owing to the swift local tides. Thus -the tribe is known to the rest as the Sikkoswelangmeoot or -“The-People-of-the-Place-which-never-Freezes.” Again, there are the -Puisortak or the “People-who-live-where-Something-Shoots-up” (a -blow-hole in a glacier). The tribe is not a very big unit. It consists -of about ten to twenty families (generally less, and, be it noted, the -people are polygamists), but the birth-rate is a low one. The deaths -fairly balance the births, so that their numbers remain more or less -stable. Were not this the case, the regions they inhabit could never -support them, for the Eskimo are voracious eaters (naturally, -considering the climate!) and so far as land animals are concerned, the -hunting is very scanty for many months of the year. - -Apropos of this peace-loving, non-belligerent quality in the Eskimo -character, some word should be offered in explanation of the fact that -these people have occasionally shown themselves dangerous to the white -men, and have murdered a few whalers and traders. - -As far as any historical records of them exist at all, it would seem -that on one occasion only did the Eskimo ever go to war, or make an -active and successful stand against their enemies. This was many -centuries ago. The handful of Norsemen from Iceland who originally -colonised some spots along the coast of southern Greenland, lived -peaceably enough with the natives they discovered there. At last, -however, a quarrel broke out, blood was spilt, and the Eskimo, plucking -up a courage and spirit never since repeated, fought and killed off the -foreigners. But in America, whenever the Innuit came into contact with -the Red Indians they simply fled before them ever farther and farther -into the icy fastnesses of the north. The red men seem to have been -always particularly savage and inimical to the others. And when in the -course of time they became possessed of firearms, they pressed this -overwhelming advantage against the spear and bow-and-arrow people more -ruthlessly than ever. - -The Eskimo believed that it was the white fur trader who had armed the -Adlât with these “fire-tubes” against him, hence the original hostility -of these people towards all other white folk. As a matter of fact, the -servants of the Hudson Bay Company did all they could, in those early -days, to protect the Eskimo against the Indian, and to bring about an -understanding between the native races of the great territory they -exploited. It was, however, this original fear and prejudice which must -be held accountable for any barbarity white men have met with since at -the hands of the Eskimo (unless indeed the instance has been one of -recently and immediately provoked reprisals). For the most part, it -certainly holds good that the inhabitants of the Arctic north have been -the least dangerous “savages” explorers have ever met. There are some -conflicting accounts on this subject in the annals of arctic voyagers; -but as a very general rule the Eskimo have been found to be a kindly -and harmless folk. Seldom as they wage war against others, seldom as -they can be provoked or even terrified into self-defence (except by -flight), they never fight, in a collective sense, among themselves. -This is not due to effeminacy or cowardice, for no one could connect -any such suspicion with the hardy intrepid natives of the most pitiless -regions of the earth. It is simply that the Eskimo are not made in the -mould too common to all the other races of mankind—they are not -fighters. Most people, it has been said, regard war as a reversion to -primitive instincts. But some historians hold that war—organised war, -as we understand the term to-day—was not primaeval in its origin. It -was unknown to early man, and it is unknown to early man’s last -representatives, such as the Black Fellows of Australia and the Eskimo -of the Arctics, at the present time. The Eskimo can be doughty enough -in single combat when necessity or custom require it of him; but -generally speaking he is the most pacific being on earth. - -Where these people come within the sphere of practical British -influence, they are treated somewhat on the same lines as the North -American Indians, but without being gathered into Reservations. There -is a Government Agent in charge of the tribe, and its material needs -are provided for by the annual supply ship sent along the coast. It is -generally the Agent, trading or Departmental, who extends the first -handclasp of welcome to medical man or evangelist who betakes himself -to the peoples of the Arctic. - -There have been, however, few travellers in Baffin Land, excepting, of -course, the seamen who use its coast. Much of the country is -unexplored. Probably the only whites who have penetrated it at all have -been missionaries and explorers. - -Thus the very modern and limited story of Baffin Land trade, etc., is -the only civilised history it has. As for its native history, we might -refer almost without qualification to any archæological account of the -fur-clad men of the stone age. The similarity of the Eskimo’s -implements, their ways of life, their primitive pursuits, their -domestic and tribal management, to those of the neolithic age, has -often been pointed out. The only other notices of the Baffin Islanders -to be found are those which occur in the journals of explorers’ -voyages, such as Captain Parry’s second expedition of 1821, in which we -get a lively account of the junketings on the ice between the “savages” -and the crews of the “Fury” and the “Hecla.” - -It was during this voyage that the leader fell in with an Eskimo girl -whose name should be rescued from oblivion. Igloolik added to many -native graces and accomplishments a bright intelligence and so good an -idea of hydrography and of the seacoasts in the neighbourhood of the -“Fury’s” moorings, that the Captain utilised the charts and drawings -she made for him in the further prosecution of his expedition, finding -them always reliable and mainly correct. He afterwards called an island -by her name. - -Ten years later, Captain John Ross received the same sort of assistance -during his second Arctic voyage, from another Eskimo woman named -Teriksin. She revised and corrected for him the sketches of the -surrounding coasts furnished by some of the men of the tribe. - -The chart which illustrates Chapter XII is just such another as -Igloolik and Teriksin might have drawn. It was furnished from memory by -a man called Pitsoolak, and is very fairly correct. The hunters and -fishers of the Arctic are taught as children to memorise the contours -of the coast, all landmarks, and every “blaze” of any sort a trail -might afford. They have no unit of measurement, except the “sleep,” -i.e., the length of a day’s march and its interval of rest. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE BUILDING OF THE VILLAGE - - -The Eskimo are a wandering folk, thus their dwellings must of necessity -be capable of quick erection, demolition and easy transport. The tribe -lives in tents in the summer, moving from one camp to another as the -hunters decide; but winter quarters are more permanent, and the snow -built house—the igloo—takes the place of the sealskin tupik on a more -lasting foundation. The Eskimo tent is a wholly different affair from -the Indian wigwam or lodge. It consists of a penthouse shaped framework -of poles, semi-circular at the back, with overlapping strips or -curtains of dressed skin for the entrance in front. The whole thing -carries a covering of skins, firmly and beautifully stitched together. -The back part of the tent, used as the family sleeping place, is -covered with skins of the large ground seal—ogjuk—or of the ordinary -grey seal, with the hair left on in order to ensure some darkness -during the long, unbroken day of the arctic summer. The heavy hair also -serves to throw off the rain in wet weather. But the front portion of -the dwelling has a roofing of the inner membranes of the sealskins, -pared from the entire pelt when fresh and moist. These membranes are -first stretched upon frames and dried, prior to being sewn together, -when they become almost transparent, so that there is plenty of light -in the rest of the tent. They are so beautifully and so neatly stitched -as to be practically waterproof, like the fine fishing jackets made of -dried and split seal gut for the kyakers. The finish of Eskimo -clothing, fur “blankets” and tent coverings, is always neat and -workmanlike and gives no ragged, tatterdemalion impression of nomad -savagery such as might be derived from some Indian’s belongings. - -Towards the back of the tent, inside, a board is fixed from side to -side, and the whole space between this and the walls is filled with a -deep bed of heather, spread on top with deerskins. This is the sleeping -place of the family, in the dark half of the dwelling. Additional -deerskins serve as blankets, and lie about the bed, rolled up, during -the day. The rest of the furnishing is very simple. - -Inside the entrance hang the bags of seal oil used for lighting or -cooking purposes. Then there are the cooking pots (“kettles,” as they -are called), deep, oblong boxes of soapstone without a lid. And the -lamps, also of soapstone, and in shape not unlike a crumb tray, with a -raised lip and a little shelf at the back for refuse bits of wick. -These “lamps” are fed with seal oil. The wick consists of dried moss -and gossypium. This is moulded into pellets; a row of wick balls is set -on the rim of the lamp and then kneaded down into a line upon it and -kept carefully trimmed, so that the edge of flame remains clear and -bright. All the cooking is done over a “lamp” of this description, -unless over a fire of heather and driftwood out in the open. The Eskimo -housewife uses a blubber hammer (a stone, or mallet of ivory tusk set -in a wooden handle), to beat down the seal or whale fat into oil for -her lamps. Her furs, and her cooking pots, together with her needles, -and knives and implements for dressing skins, constitute the Eskimo -woman’s domestic outfit; a training in the clever use of them is the -Eskimo girl’s education, and the dowry of the Eskimo bride. The tent -and these impedimenta are portable enough for the wanderings of the -arctic summer, and it is remarkable what an amazing host and medley of -belongings can be stowed in the family travelling boat, and unloaded -from it—a veritable Pandora’s box—at the next bit of summer beach. - -The winter locale and the winter dwelling is altogether another story. -The tribe having chosen the site of a village in some sheltered bay, -near a frozen lake or stream (or, at any rate, where ice or water can -be obtained), will return to it year after year, and remain there -throughout the long dark season, until the time comes round again for -the summer-exodus. An occasional excursion is undertaken by both men -and women in search of supplies, but the old folk are left on guard. - -The building of this village is quite a work of art, and is begun as -soon as the snow lies deep enough. Before this happens, the tents have -been getting very cold to live in, despite the stitching on of several -layers of dried heather to break the force of the wind and keep all -snug inside. At last a day comes when by common consent the hunters all -remain in camp, and join forces with the old men and the boys to build -the winter dwellings. - -Each man plans and builds his own house according to the size of his -family; but only in his turn, and assisted by the rest of the -community, to whom he has already given, or is prepared to give, his -services. The first houses to be erected are those of the Angakooeet, -the Medicine Men; the chief hunters are the next to be considered, and -everyone else comes in the order of his estimation in the tribe. - -The main considerations the Eskimo has to bear in mind in building his -snow house are that it will have to be kept in repair, and that it must -be adequately lighted and warmed. This means labour and oil, so for his -own sake the dwelling is planned on as small a scale as possible. It -varies in nothing but in this point of size from all the rest of the -village. - -The hunter having chosen his site, next takes a sealing spear, a long -twelve-inch knife and a saw, and begins piercing the snow in every -direction, his object being to find a spot where it is deep, and so -closely packed and hardened by the wind that it can be cut out into -great blocks for building. Otherwise his “bricks” would be too brittle -or too friable for the purpose. Should no such patch lie near at hand, -the builder calls all hands, and together they start trampling and -packing down the snow with their feet, while the old men, the women and -boys constantly bring up fresh supplies and throw it in to be stamped -firm. Having thus prepared what he considers sufficient material for -his purpose, the good man commences to saw out huge rectangular blocks -of this solidified snow mass, each one of which taxes his utmost -strength to lift. He begins his house by building a ring of them, a -larger or smaller ring as the case may be, fitted and jointed together -with the utmost nicety by means of his knife. A second tier is added to -this ring, the builder working from the inside and the blocks being -brought up by his assistants. As soon as this is “well and truly laid,” -he trims the upper surface to a slope, and continues building, but in a -spiral now and slightly sloping inwards, until he has reached the top -of what has grown to be a dome roof. A key block is deftly fitted in to -complete and close it, and the shell of the dwelling is complete. - -A semicircular opening in the side is next cut out for the doorway, and -then the builder turns his attention to the sleeping bench—the -principal feature of the Eskimo igloo. He builds a line of blocks from -side to side, facing the opening, up to the height of a man’s legs. The -space between this and the walls is filled with broken snow like -rubble, which is trampled down until brought to the necessary level, so -as to form a solid bench of snow right across the building. - -Then side pieces are built out, to form solid shelves for the lamps and -family utensils and to serve generally as a larder and storage place -for oil and blubber; so that, by the time all is done there is little -of the original floor space left. - -The next step is the porch or sukso, another little domed erection much -like the main igloo, built in front of the entrance and intended, first -to break the force of the wind and to keep the larger place warm, and -secondly as a store house for surplus meat and blubber, for the dogs’ -harness, whips, sealing lines, and anything the latter and the wolves -might find eatable. (Eskimo dogs, be it remarked, find nothing -uneatable save sticks and stones). As an entrance or exit for the -sukso, a further passage is built, like a little tunnel; again as -protection from the arctic wind. - -The finishing touch is the window. Light is a necessity, but the Eskimo -is scarcely particular about ventilation. The less he gets of that the -more successful his architecture seems to be. A square opening is cut -high up in the dome of the igloo, facing the sleeping bench. It is then -glazed after the fashion of the Arctics. The builder sets off for the -nearest sheet of fresh water ice, and with the butt end of his sealing -spear shivers out a good thick pane of it. This he places over the hole -in the roof, packing its edges round with half melted snow, and pouring -water over the packing. In two minutes, everything is frozen airtight -and solid, and a window of flawless ice lets the illumination of the -northern night into the pure and icy chamber of the newly made house. -Failing a window of ice, one is made of strips of dried seal intestine -(a thin, translucent material, not unlike oiled silk), stitched -together with fine deer sinew. The seams are parallel, and as neatly -executed as if by machine working on the smallest stitch. The fabric is -stretched over the opening and pegged down at the corners, and -congealed into its place by half melted snow. A small hole is cut in -the dome for ventilation, and a snow block provided to stop it up again -when necessary. - -Finally, the interior has to be glazed. While the householder himself -has been busy more or less within the building, on the outside the old -men and the children and the women have been set the task of packing -every joint and crevice in the snow masonry with loose snow, so as to -make it absolutely wind tight. Now comes the moment when the doorways, -too, are closed and every entrance blocked. Two lamps, well trimmed and -well supplied with oil, have been carefully lit and left burning -inside, much as we in this country leave a sulphur candle in a room to -be fumigated after infectious illness, and seal up the door. As the -lamps burn slowly away, the temperature rises and all the surface of -the snow is slightly melted. As the lamps die out the temperature falls -again, and the surface freezes to glass-like smoothness. Every asperity -of the sawn blocks of snow is annealed, and the dwelling is as proof -against draught as the inside of a bottle. Water, too, is thrown on the -floor, to make it smooth as marble and as durable as cement. - -The writer has dwelt thus at length upon the building of the Eskimo’s -winter quarters, since there is something almost like a fairy tale in -this fantastic yet ingenious and practical use of snow and ice. If -masters of taste have always insisted upon the principles in -architecture that design should be in keeping with site and -surroundings, and material should be indigenous to the locality, surely -the houses that these hardy children of the frozen North build for -themselves are by no means wanting in true artistry. - -These snow houses do not take very long to construct. An Eskimo can -build an igloo large enough to house about six people in a few hours, -given some assistance. It would be imagined that no great degree of -comfort could be expected within a dwelling where a thaw of the roof -and walls begins as soon as the temperature rises above freezing point. -But warmth is a matter of degree in the Arctic, and shelter from the -bitterness of the wind alone is almost warmth. The stillness of the air -inside, the greatly lessened intensity of cold, and the local if foul -warmth over the lamps and cooking pots, all make for comfort as the -native understands it. - -In some parts of the country the natives line the dome and walls of -their houses with cleverly stretched skins, and between them and the -snow walls the intervening space acts as a regulator against the -interior warmth, so that excessive thaw is checked, or its effects are -prevented from damping the family circle below. - -Lest the foregoing account of the white and frozen village should -convey too dazzling an idea of such a settlement, it should be -remembered that the snow all round and about is trampled up, and -incredibly defiled by all the refuse of a community who have no ideas -at all about sanitation and seemly surroundings. Hence there is an -appearance of dirt and squalor wherever the Eskimo encamp, and these -little congeries of human beings contrive quite effectually to blot and -mar the pure immensity of the snow-white northern landscape. - -The Igloovegak once finished, it remains to do the furnishing. This is -essentially the women’s work. Heather is lavishly spread over the -sleeping bench, and covered again with the heavy winter skins of deer. -The rolled-up fur rugs (or “blankets”) of the family are ranged round -the walls. Two of the soapstone lamps are placed on stands at each end -of the sleeping bench, and a rough framework of wood and deer thongs -arranged above them by way of a rack for drying clothes. Stone cooking -pots may be suspended over the lamps when required, and a store of -blubber and meat is kept handy on the snow benches behind the lamps. - -The rest of the family belongings are stowed away in the porch, and the -house is ready for occupation. - -There is another description of snow dwelling used by the Eskimo called -a Sinniktâkvik, an acquired sleeping place. This is merely a temporary -affair, a hastily built igloo sufficient to house a travelling party -for the space of a “sleep,” having no porch or window, and only -intended to be abandoned next day. - -It is interesting to note that the remains of the dwellings of the -Tooneet can be distinguished by the fact of their circular floors -having been laid down with rough stones, unlike the modern igloo, which -leaves little or nothing to mark its site by the time it has all melted -away in summer. The sleeping bench in the Tooneet house was narrower -than the present day Eskimo’s, showing that the earlier people were of -shorter stature. - -The family continue to inhabit the winter igloo until the spring thaw -comes, and the roof falls in. Then, for a week or two, skins are -stretched over the hole to keep the storms from beating in; but this is -only a temporary measure. By the time the milder weather really sets -in, and the trickle of water can be heard everywhere, and the -tunnelling, too, of the lemming under the sleeping bench, the tupik has -to be in readiness. It has been stored away under a heap of stones -during the winter, but with the advent of the ducks it is brought forth -and erected once more. - -These Eskimo settlements are not built according to plan. Each man -chooses a site for his own igloo, generally in the shelter of some -rock, or where there is a good supply of hard packed snow. The -dwellings are not very scattered, however, but grouped fairly closely -together, for the double purpose of sociability and common defence -against attack by dogs, wolves, or bears. The true Eskimo village -boasts of no common room or general meeting house such as may be in use -among some of the tribes in Alaska and elsewhere, where few native -customs survive unchanged. Nor is the log or sod hut ever seen in the -regions where Eskimo life is still lived as it used to be before -Europeans set foot in the polar wilds. - -It is noteworthy that, when an Eskimo tribe moves to another locality, -the old igloos are never destroyed. In the barrens, the law of -hospitality is universally observed, and such of these buildings as may -survive the springtime thaw, might serve for shelter at any time to -travellers on journey. Those that are fairly intact when the tribe -moves away are merely blocked up; but those which have become unsafe -have the roof knocked in. The writer has frequently come across these -deserted villages in the course of his journeys, and had occasion to -avail himself of the shelter thus offered. It is a weird and desolate -sight—a collection of derelict igloos—some gaping open, others closed; -but no smoke or steam escaping from their little domes. And, over all, -the pall of the frozen silence of the Arctic. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE SEALING GROUNDS - - -The day’s work in an Eskimo village (i.e., permanent winter quarters), -is full and varied, and quite regular. It is a busy life they lead, -both men and women, marked by all sorts of skilled activities; by -intervals of neighbourly recreation and gossip; by the excitement and -stir of the hunters’ return from sealing or bear hunting; and by -wonderfully cheery, cosy, hospitable orgies of eating in the evening, -when everyone is getting dry and warm and replete for the night. - -The hunters start out early in the morning, after a hasty meal of raw -flesh and a drink of water, accompanied by their sons and the dogs, -four or five in number, harnessed to a light sled loaded with lines and -harpoons, or whatever implements may be needed for the proposed chase. -The team starts out in a fine tear, urged by shouting and the cracking -of whips, and off they all race, men and dogs together, to the sealing -grounds out on the frozen sea, or inland for deer. The stars serve as a -compass, or in thick weather the wind will be sufficient guide. - -No food is borne on the sled, for the hunter depends upon himself for -his dinner. The duty of the boys is to watch the sled, to mind the -dogs, and see they do not fight or stampede, to study the conditions of -the ice, the signs of the weather, the habits of animals, to note their -calls and movements and how to imitate them, to take careful notice of -the topography of the country and make mental drawings of it to serve -as charts and maps, to read the stars, and, generally to endeavour to -become skilled and successful hunters themselves. - -They arrive at the sealing ground as the winter day breaks, and -immediately start the search for a seal hole; for upon the finding of -this depends the comfort and sustenance of the whole family for days to -come, and the succour of the families of anybody else who may not be in -luck, but who may return home, cheery as ever, but empty handed. - -All around as far as the eye can see is a vast, white expanse, utterly -featureless and monotonous save for an occasional iceberg or a ridge of -hummocky ice. Behind is the white line of the broken coast; ahead is a -dark mist, marking the floe edge and the open sea; and above all, the -twilight sky, darker than the drear white world, of the Arctic winter. -To a European, the effect of such a scene is crushing in its -melancholic immensity, its frozen immobility and silence. Not so to the -native. He remains irrepressibly cheerful, his whole soul preoccupied -with the necessities of his larder, buoyed up with the hope and the -tireless patience of the sealer. He goes searching for his blow hole. -The slight indication for which his practised eye is scanning every -foot of the ice is a faintly rounded bump with a small opening in it no -bigger than a shilling. As soon as he catches sight of one of these he -is reassured, and prepares to wait—quite indefinitely, and perfectly -still—for what must presently happen. - -The seal is a warm-blooded creature, whose need of air to breathe is -urgent and frequent. As soon as the sea begins to freeze, the animal -takes precautions against being imprisoned and drowned under the ice. -It makes a series of breathing holes over the whole area of its feeding -ground below. If one or another of these freezes over again, there are -the rest; or if an enemy is encountered at one hole, it can have -recourse to another. The seal comes methodically after feeding to each -blow hole in turn, and keeps it open by scratching away any newly -formed ice threatening to close it up. It puts its nose to the opening -and breathes long, deeply, and luxuriously, before diving once more. - -The hunter knows every move in the game. - -Having discovered a seal hole, he provides himself with a block of snow -to sit upon, and prepares for a lengthy wait. He takes up his patient -station facing the wind (for the seal has the keenest scent, and the -Eskimo is, to say the least of it, somewhat smelly), thrusts his feet -and legs into a deerskin bag, tucks his hands into the sleeves of his -jacket, lays his spear across his knees, and watches—it may be for -hours—motionless as a rock, for sound travels under the ice and the -prey must not be warned. A sealer will wait all day and all night, if -need be, at the blow hole. If he should fall asleep, he runs the risk -of being maimed for life with frostbite. - -Presently he hears the expected scratching, and the scraping of the -paws of a seal coming up to breathe. Silently he prepares for action. -Now is the critical time. First, there comes the expulsion of the foul -air long pent in the animal’s lungs; but not yet dare the watcher make -the slightest sign. The seal withdraws its head and listens intently -for a possible foe. Reassured after a few moments, it again approaches -the hole with the little dome of snow and, putting its head well up, -takes a long, reviving breath. This is the hunter’s moment. His hand -slips to his spear (his fur garments making no sound), grips it, and -poises it with unerring aim. With one swift downward thrust, the weapon -is through the blow hole and its barb buried deep in the neck of the -seal. When the eye is true and quick the stroke is seldom missed. The -animal immediately dives, taking out the barb and line. The Eskimo seal -spear has a movable head or barb, which is attached to the shaft in -such a way that it becomes detached from it the moment an animal is -struck, and remains firmly embedded in the flesh with the long line of -white whale hide attached, while the spear itself floats on the water -or falls on the ice as the case may be. The hunter instantly recovers -this shaft, and now the butt comes into play. The hole is quickly -enlarged and the prey hauled up and killed, there on the ice, with one -quick stroke. - -It is but the work of a few minutes for the dog team (which had been -driven away back from the hole as soon as it was discovered), to come -racing up. A shout summons every other hunter within sight, and quicker -than it takes to tell, there is a concourse of fur-clad figures, the -seal is cut open, and a rib, dripping with the fresh, hot blood, is -presented to each by way of an invigorating snack. The carcase is soon -skewered together again by means of the long ivory pins carried by the -hunter, and loaded on to the sled, when the successful “outfit,” -bidding a cheery adieu to the others, strikes off then and there for -home, rejoicing in the thought of fresh supplies of meat and blubber, -and another skin added to the family stores. - -When the sealing season fully sets in, sealing camps are formed far out -on the ice at sea, over the sealing grounds, and thither the younger -half of the entire Eskimo community resorts for a month or more. A new, -roughly fashioned, temporary village quickly springs up, and all the -usual household goods are installed in readiness for the season’s work -on the spot. The camp igloos are much smaller and less ambitious -dwellings than those on shore, their sole object being to provide a few -weeks’ shelter. There is none of the home life of the permanent -village. The men and boys are away all day long, and the women spend -all their time preparing and drying the skins and keeping the cooking -pot going. Water is obtained either from the snow lying deep on the -surface of the ice, or from ice from the nearest berg. From early -morning till late at night the camp resounds with the crack of whips, -the shouts of the dog-team drivers, the gruff voices of men and the -shrill voices of boys, as they drive hither and thither, quartering the -expanse of the sealing grounds in search of the blow holes. Every foot -of the way is closely scanned. Suddenly a deep “Ugh!” from the hunter -announces the saucer-like depression in the snow which tells him that a -seal cavern is beneath. - -Here and there a solitary sportsman with but one dog on a long line -sets out on his own, over the sealing ground. He trudges observantly -along, urging the dog to ferret about and pick up the scent of the -quarry beneath the snow. “White Fang,” nothing loth, sets all his -sharp, trained wits to work, and presently starts snuffling and -scratching, like any terrier at a rat hole, and the hunter knows he has -come upon his prey. - -To understand the activities of the sealing camp it is necessary to -know something of the habits of the seal in the breeding season. For -some time before the baby creature is born, for instance, the mother -has been preparing a house for it. She does not give birth in the water -nor on the surface of the snow, for the obvious reasons of the cold and -of the possible presence of enemies. She makes a hole in the sea ice -big enough for her to get through, and proceeds to scrabble out an airy -cavern in the deep layer of snow above, leaving a sort of shelf or -flooring of clear ice upon which she can lie in safety and bring her -young to birth. This place is—comparatively—warm, dry, and even cosy. -It is within immediate reach of the hole through which she can dive -back into the water at a moment’s alarm, and it is almost completely -hidden from above. The baby is left in this cavern while the mother -seeks food, and it lives there until, after a series of short -educational excursions in the water, it has learnt to hunt for itself, -and its lungs have accustomed themselves to the conditions of the adult -seal’s existence. - -Frequently indeed the baby gets drowned! The mother may have heard some -noise above which has alarmed her. Fearing danger, she has thrust her -head up through the diving hole, caught hold of the young one, and -hastily retreated with it to a depth unsuitable for its tender lungs, -with a sad and fatal result. - -The Eskimo sealer knows all this natural history as he knows that of -every other denizen of the Arctic, and founds upon it his methods in -hunting. - -Directly he has detected the locality of a seal’s nursing cavern under -his feet, either by the presence of a slight depression in the snow, or -by the pointing of the dog, he arms himself with a nixie, or hook on -the end of a long shaft, and gathering himself together makes a -tremendous jump into the air, coming down with all his weight and force -upon the spot. He jumps again and again, until at last the snow caves -in and blocks the hole below, cutting off the baby seal’s retreat into -the sea beneath. Then he prods and probes among the débris of the -cavern for the imprisoned creature, locates it, hooks it out, and kills -it with one blow on the head. After that, there is the mother to be -caught. She is probably lurking under the ice nearby. So, before he -kills the little one, the hunter ties his sealing line to one of its -flippers and pushes it through the diving hole into the water. The -mother at once tries to come to its rescue, only to encounter her own -devoted death. She, too, is hooked, dragged out, and despatched. - -The seal has other enemies to contend with besides man. The bear has a -keen scent, a heavy paw, a huge appetite, and a peculiar relish for her -young. He, too, wanders out on the sealing grounds at the proper -season, and having found a cavern, sets his two huge forepaws on the -snow and, with one mighty push, breaks it all in. He easily hooks the -helpless little creature beneath, and devours it with ursine relish. - -Or it may be that an arctic fox decides to spend a day seal hunting. He -glides over the snow, an almost invisible shape, like nothing so much -as a white wraith of the desolation around. His scent having guided him -to a likely spot, and being unable, like the bear, to do his -housebreaking by mere brute force, he adopts a peculiarly wicked plan -of his own. Planting all four feet together pivot-fashion, he spins -himself round and round, his claws boring a way through the snow, until -he corkscrews his unwelcome presence into the seal’s retreat. The baby, -again, falls a helpless victim. - -This seal hunting of the tribesmen, far out at sea in the camp on the -ice, is not without its dangers, as the following tale will show. - -For several weeks all had gone prosperously with the sealers. The -weather had been good, and the young seals plentiful. Loaded sleds had -been continually going to and fro between the winter village on shore -and the village on the ice, bearing meat and skins to the old folk at -home. Contentment and jollity reigned, for had not the Conjurors -guaranteed prosperity and good luck, and were their prophecies not -amply fulfilled? - -But, one day, the sky became overcast. Hour after hour it grew more -heavily banked with forbidding cloud, whilst from seaward came a low -roar, the presage of an arctic storm. The sealers hastily retreated to -their dwellings, and blocked up their doors, and prepared to wait. -Evening drew nigh, and the tempest rose. An occasional quiver of the -icy floor told of the pounding of heavy breakers at the floe edge, and -a portentous shiver now and again spoke of masses of it being broken -away. - -With the indifference which comes of familiarity with danger, these -hardy northern folk stayed out there in camp, on the very edge as it -were of death; and as the night drew on, merely rolled themselves in -their fur blankets and went to sleep, confident that the morning would -see an abatement in the storm. Nevertheless, it went on increasing and -grew more and more violent. The shivering dogs scratched holes for -themselves in the snow on the lee side of the igloos, and buried -themselves as deeply as they could. At length the Eskimo instinct of -peril was aroused, and an intuitive sense of the full extent of the -catastrophe at hand (a sense not developed to any marked degree among -civilised peoples), roused the entire camp. - -It began when a woman and her husband waked suddenly, feeling that all -was not well. They looked round the igloo, yet could detect nothing -amiss. Its other occupants slept soundly. There was the thud and the -roar of the wild hurricane without, but all seemed snug within. - -And yet—what was that? Even as the goodwife watched and waited, there -came another of those strange quiverings in the ice, and the cooking -pot suspended over the lamp began to swing. The awful thing told its -own tale! The ice on which the camp was built was breaking up beneath -it, and every soul was faced with imminent and deadly peril. The sea -was fathoms deep below; the land a long distance away! Darkness and the -savage uproar without made chaos of the arctic night. - -Then indeed the ice gave way, and in a moment became nothing but a -pounding, grinding mass of detatched fragments, on which the wrecked -camp tossed. The sealers, roughly awakened, smashed down their doors, -or with knife and spear cut a way out of their igloos as best they -might, and got clear of them, followed by the women and children. With -the strange but unerring instinct of primitive man, they headed, even -in that tumult and pitchy darkness, for the unseen land; and then began -a perilous race with death and the spirits of the storm. - -They had to spring from floe to floe, following each other, encouraging -and helping the women, finding a way where from moment to moment there -might be none, risking everything at every leap. - -Among those in the crowd was Kownak, a young hunter, and his new made -wife. The girl was only then recovering from a recent sickness, and her -strength completely failed her. The two started, indeed, on their -ghastly journey like the rest; but before half the distance to safety -was accomplished the young wife—wet, terrified, and weak—sank down -exhausted and beaten on the bitter ice with a cry of despair. Kownak -lifted her up and bore her on in his arms. But the rocking of the ice -flung them both into the sea time and again, despite his utmost -endeavour. Once he managed to grip the edge of the floe, whilst the -girl scrambled back on to it again over his shoulders. He stripped off -his coat to wrap it round her in the frantic effort to keep her from -freezing, and tried again to lift and carry her. But it was an -impossible feat on the tossing, glassy ice. She struggled to rise and -stagger on, but could endure no more and sank down again, unconscious, -to be frozen to death within another minute. - -Kownak could not tear himself from the body until it had become nothing -but an indistinguishable mass, one with the ice. Only then did he -remember his own desperate plight, and make a final effort to save -himself. After incredible exertions and hairbreadth escapes, at last he -reached the shore, black with frostbite, and joined the surviving -remnant of the sealing camp. The merest handful of the people had -outlived that terrible night. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -WOMANHOOD IN THE ARCTICS. - - -In the meantime, the women, left in the village on shore, have been far -from idle. As soon as the husband has gone off for the day the wife -sets about her domestic affairs. First, she rolls up the bedding and -tidies the sleeping bench. The next job is to sweep the hoar-frost from -the window and the cupola, to prevent the dripping of any moisture, and -then to sweep up the floor—littered, likely enough, with the remains of -a good feed overnight. These duties are performed with a brush made of -the outspread wings of a duck or raven; it might almost be called a -double-bladed brush. The backs are sewn together and the upper bones -form the handle. Such a contrivance is a very handy affair altogether, -and will last quite a long time. - -The next task is to prepare a quantity of blubber for oil. This is -pulped with a bone hammer or koutak, and the fuel so obtained is -suspended over the shallow lamps in such a way as to dip into them and -keep them supplied. New wick is fashioned from dried moss and cotton -plant trimmed upon the lamps. Next comes the stew for supper. The -Eskimos have only one way of cooking meat, and that is stewing it in -the stone “kettles” already described. These are partly filled with sea -water for the sake of the salt, a quantity of seal’s blood is added, -and then comes the meat. The whole thing hangs simmering over the lamps -all day, and by the time the men come back at night a reeking hot meal -is ready, rich, nourishing, and as tender as a sharp-set hunter could -desire. - -Water is the next consideration. The Eskimo housewife hauls it in skin -buckets from the nearest stream, bailing it up through a hole in the -ice; or, failing that, she brings in the ice itself, or snow, and sets -it to melt over a spare lamp. These people are thirsty souls, and water -is hard to come by in the winter. Every drop that can be obtained is -used for drinking or cooking, so that washing (except the hands and -face), is dispensed with perforce of arctic circumstance. Fresh water -ice melts more quickly than beaten snow, and it is an interesting fact -that an iron or tin pot used for melting the former will last much -longer than for melting snow. The latter process causes it to become -quickly pitted with spots of rust and perforated. Aluminium vessels -last the longest. In the old days—i.e., prior to the establishments of -trading posts—the Eskimos had no utensils of any sort except those of -native manufacture from bone, or stone, or ivory. Nowadays they have -steel-tipped spears, iron nails, and tinware for cooking purposes. - -Perhaps the next most important employment of the feminine portion of -the community is the preparation of skins, the softening of leather, -and the finer animal tissues, the washing, drying, and stretching of -gut, and the manufacture of the marvellously fine sinew used for sewing -and stitchery. All this includes the making of tents and clothing. The -old women help the housewives as far as they are able, and the girls -watch and learn, with a view to rendering themselves eligible in the -eyes of the young men as accomplished brides-to-be. The women are -perpetually employed chewing the edges of skins and leathers to make -them pliable and soft for sewing. This process tends to wear down the -teeth to very unsightly stumps. - -The heavy work is done by the hale and hearty, who leave only the -lighter tasks, such as the tending of the lamps and the minding of the -house, to the older folk. Womanlike all the world over, the crones love -to get together and indulge in unlimited gossip. All the women, indeed, -pay a constant round of visits, and gathering, now here, now there, sit -about smiling and gossiping, as is their wont from the tropics to the -pole. - -The Eskimo are a genial, jovial, peaceable people, among whom -quarrelling is a crime, and he or she who disturbs the general peace is -a villain of the deepest dye. So, whatever else comes of all the -gossip, it is not—in an Eskimo village—malevolence, backbiting and -spite. They talk—these fur-clad, hard-working women—of their last -year’s journeyings, who and what they saw and heard, of their trials -and vexations, of their children and relations and husbands—each one’s -contribution to the conversation being punctuated by a chorus of “Ah, -Ah’s,” “Elarle! Elarle!” (Indeed! Yes!) from the rest. - -Suddenly, however, just when their enjoyment may be at its height, the -children’s cry of “Kumokse! Kumokse! Netsérkpok!”—(A sled, a sled! He’s -got a seal!) breaks up the gathering in excited confusion. There is a -rush, each wife to her own home. Cries of joy and anticipation fill the -air, and the whole village is stirred with cheerful and prosperous -bustle. The hunters are returning, and fresh supplies are at hand. Very -soon the cracking of the dog whips is heard, shouts of command, barks -and howls; and the teams appear, scrambling over the sigjak (the broken -ice along the shore), with their welcome loads. Quickly the harness is -thrown off and safely bestowed, the lines and everything eatable being -carried into the sukso; the dogs are fed and quieted, and curl round -and go to sleep in the snow. - -Then comes the evening meal. The stewpot is taken from the slings and -set in front of the mistress of the igloo. The sturdy men and children -crowd round her and each one is served with a generous piece of -sealmeat. They hold it in their hands to eat. Each bronzed or -wind-blackened face glows with enjoyment and contentment in the homely -lamplight, and an atmosphere of unfeigned goodwill and cheer dominates -the little group. The hungry folk whose husbands and fathers have not -been successful all day simply distribute themselves through the -village, and share the food of the lucky. The captor of to-day may -return empty handed to-morrow, when he may look for hospitality to his -guests of to-night. - -As soon as the meal in the pot is finished, the soup is poured out into -a drinking bowl and handed round, each one taking a good pull in turn. -The air soon reeks—the tight-packed assemblage of unwashed humanity, -the stench of seal oil and blubber, the strong odours from the pot and -the exhalations of garments spread out on the racks to dry, all -contribute to the malodorous atmosphere. But what of that to those -accustomed to nothing else, to whom the whole means warmth and plenty -and the nearness of his own, in the frozen immensity of the awful -arctic world without? - -As soon as the meal is done the day’s catch of seals is cut up. Each -animal is placed on its back on the floor, opened and dismembered, and -pieces of the meat and blubber are given to the needy. Open hospitality -is the law of the land in the Arctics. Travellers, whether native or -European, are always sure of welcome and shelter on reaching an Eskimo -village. On these occasions the stranger is always the first to be -served from the generous family stew. - -This sanguinary and odoriferous business being despatched, and the -neighbours having taken themselves off, the door is fixed for the -night—the door being a slab of snow cut to fit the main entrance to the -igloo, and set on one side during the day. The lamps are trimmed to a -low flame, wet clothes are spread on the drying frames above them, and -each member of the family rolls up in a fur blanket on the sleeping -bench and so goes to bed. Occasionally the mother wakes up, to trim the -lamps and turn the clothes during the night. She will be the first to -wake and rise in the morning, since it is part of the woman’s work -“which is never done,” to rub and soften the leathern clothing of her -good man and the boys, which had hardened in drying while they slept. - -Before the advent of the white man and his methods, the Eskimo used to -start a fire by means of “firesticks.” The writer has seen this done -repeatedly at the present day. An oblong piece of wood with a -depression made in it to hold the tinder (a mixture of dried moss and -cotton plant), receives the spindle. Another small piece of wood, -placed on top of the latter, is held in position by the teeth and -pressed down firmly upon it. The spindle is made to rotate rapidly by -means of a rough bow until a spark, caused by the friction, starts up -in the tinder. This is gently blown to a flame, and the fire is -kindled. Nowadays, steel, or pieces of iron, are used in place of the -driftwood board and spindle, especially on hunting expeditions; for -although matches have found their way into the Eskimo igloo, they are -costly, and apt to get damp. - -There seems to be a happy sort of sex equality among these people, or -perhaps it should rather be said that a mutually agreeable division of -equally essential labours cause the men and women to live more on a -common footing than they seem to do among many other uncivilised folk. -Old women, widows, and orphan girls, never want for protection and -sustenance, so long as the rest can shelter and support them. The -Eskimo are a very improvident people, never taking thought for the -hungry morrow when they can feast to-day; but so long as the good -things last, so long as they are to be had, the old and helpless of -both sexes are never neglected. If a time should come when there arises -a question of superfluous mouths to fill, the old people go into a sort -of voluntary retreat in their own houses, and willingly die the death -of starvation. More will be said on this subject elsewhere. - -On one dreadful occasion an Eskimo woman was betrayed by force of -circumstances into an act of cannibalism. This woman was a tall, -commanding figure from the south coast, with a grave, intelligent face. -She was an excellent huntress, equally at home with gun or spear. She -could wield her needle, too, and together with her husband, was a -first-rate worker and much respected by all the tribe. - -A party of women, including herself and her baby, were travelling to a -trading station. Their sled was well provisioned and their dogs in good -condition, and the route lay over mountains and valleys, and across all -the intervening fiords and bays. Soon after they started things began -to go wrong. The weather changed and a wind got up, bearing snow. Storm -after storm swept the country, through which the travellers could -scarcely force their way. The dogs sank to their shoulders in the deep -drift, and at last could make no further progress at all. The little -expedition called a halt. They built a sleeping place and prepared to -wait till the violence of the weather abated. But, as day after day -went howling by, each as impossible as the last, the stock of rations -became exhausted, and the whole party reached the verge of starvation. - -The Eskimo woman from the south fell ill, in consequence of the -hardships and privations, and lost consciousness. While she happened to -be in this state, a council was held by the others of the party, who -decided to keep life going by killing and eating the child. This was -accordingly done, and as soon as she could be partially roused, a -portion was given to the famished mother. Not knowing what it was she -did, she ate the meat—and survived. Some time afterwards the forlorn -band was rescued by some hunters and taken to their camp, and only then -the woman learnt the truth about her supposedly dead baby. Years after -the horrible thing occurred the writer met her and had the story from -her own lips. - -Women and their adventures figure largely in Eskimo folk tales. One of -them might almost point to a feminist movement in the Arctics! Two -brides, it is narrated, ran away from their homes before their very -first children ever saw the light. After awhile the fathers went in -search of their lost daughters. When the girls found they were -discovered they wept bitterly, and declared themselves most unwilling -to return to their husbands. The fathers, however, were quite relieved -to find them comfortably off where they were, and having stayed a -couple of “sleeps” in their daughters’ house, returned home without the -brides. When they got back to the tribe they had this amazing thing to -tell—that two women without the company of any men, lived happily all -by themselves, and were never in want! - -There is a charming little story of a lonely woman who owned a bear -cub, and loved it and brought it up like a child and called it her son. -The bear repaid her devotion, and supported her by his prowess in -hunting so well that the rest of the villagers grew jealous and planned -to kill him. So, conscious of their evil designs, he departed, almost -as much to the grief of the children of the village as to that of his -“mother.” He never ceased, however, to repay her love, and continued -out on the ice floes to catch seals for her support. - -The gruesome story of the murderess Toodlânak has never hitherto—so far -as the writer can ascertain—been included in any ethnologist’s -collection of the Eskimo legends. - -It is narrated by the Ancient Ones that there lived this Toodlânak, who -was an evil spirit in female disguise. She had a large house -(igloovegak) built by the side of the route used by hunters going -inland after deer. It was far up country, many days’ journey either -from the sea or from the pastures of the interior. The house was large -and comfortable, and Toodlânak had a reputation for hospitality. She -loved to entertain any who passed that way and to give them food and -shelter for the night. She allotted to them the best rugs and the most -comfortable part of the sleeping bench. Presently, however, it began to -be noticed that few if any of these hunters returned. At last the -brother of one of these inexplicably missing men determined to look -into things. He started out with a companion, and in due course both -reached the half-way house. Out came Toodlânak, as usual, all smiles -and amiability, inviting them to enter and refresh and rest themselves -there for the night. They did so, but the suspicious young man kept his -wits about him, and never relaxed a sharp look-out on his hostess. He -had a notion that she knifed her guests in their slumber. - -Unknown to Toodlânak, he secreted a flat stone within the bosom of his -tunic (the netseak), and, rolling himself in his blanket, lay flat on -his back apparently in deep sleep. His hostess had also retired to -rest, and seemed also quite dead to the world. But, about midnight, he -saw her rise by the dim light of the lamp, and creep over to his -companion where he also lay asleep on the bench. The movement betrayed -the fact that the awful creature had a knife-like tail with which she -struck her victim through the chest and killed him. She then crept -stealthily towards the watcher, and would have served him the same way -but that he was ready for her. The vicious tail struck, indeed, at his -chest, but shivered on the hidden stone, broke off, and left Toodlânak -defenceless. The hunter sprang up and killed her on the spot. He -searched all over the place, and found the remains of innumerable -victims, and their property hoarded away. He broke down the house, -buried his luckless companion, and returned home with the news that at -last the country was ridded of its pest and might be safely travelled. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -CLOTHING—BOAT BUILDING - - -In the preceding chapters little but an outline has been given of the -activities of the day in an Eskimo encampment. Boat building is one of -the occupations in which men and women jointly engage; but before this -is described at the length it requires, there is much to be said about -the dressing and fashioning of the various skins which form the most -important item of Eskimo economy. - -The Eskimo woman values none of her possessions more than the ooloo, a -short-handled knife shaped like a small half-moon turf cutter, chiefly -used for paring off the inner membrane of the stout sealskin for the -lighter hangings of the summer tent, but of universal utility. With it -she cuts out her garments or dismembers a seal. In addition to this she -has steel or ivory needles and a thimble. - -The Eskimo have no woven fabrics or European clothes until they come in -contact with the whites, and—perhaps unfortunately—acquire the -beginnings of a civilisation alien to the natural evolution and -necessities of their lives. - -Their own native dress consists entirely of deerskins for winter use -and sealskins for the summer. Both sets are warmly lined with fur. The -deerskins employed as clothing are the summer and autumn hides; those -flayed in the winter are reserved for the kaksak or sleeping blankets. -The men’s and women’s tunics are lined either with fawn skins or the -summer skins with the hair on. No underclothing is required, fur always -being worn next to the skin. The man’s jacket is looser in shape than -the woman’s, and the hood (nessak) fits closely round the face. The -woman’s garment is quite different. It has shorter, baggy sleeves, is -large and roomy at the back, fitting, however, tightly to the waist; it -has a hood (amout) big enough for two heads, a short stomacher-like -apron about twelve inches long in front, and a lengthy tail reaching to -the heels behind. The Eskimo women carry their babies on their backs in -this queer jacket. The child has no clothing on it, but it keeps -admirably warm next the fur-clad mother. Its feet rest on her waist -line and its head peers from out of the capacious hood over her -shoulder. - -Both sexes wear short, wide trousers. For footgear they have long -deerskin stockings like Lifeguardsmen’s boots, with the hair turned -next the skin, reaching well up over the knees under the pants. Over -these is worn a sock like a Turkish slipper, made from the skin of the -Large Glaucus Gull, the feathers being inside; and over this again goes -a short sock of deerskin, with the hair turned outwards and upwards so -as to enable the long boot, or kummik, to pull on easily. This boot is -tied on below the knee and round the ankle. The sole is made of the -leather of the large ground seal, with the hair shaved off, and the leg -is the skin of deer’s legs stoutly stitched together. - -The women take immense pride in the cut, fit, workmanship and -ornamentation of their dresses, showing no little taste and -discrimination in the management of design and ornament. The various -furs are introduced in lines, panels and patterns, with an eye to -colour and texture a skilled furrier might envy. - -Prior to the advent of Europeans to the Arctics, fringes of deerskin -were the most popular form of ornament for clothing; but to-day the -Eskimo women are passionately fond of elaborate beadwork. The beads are -of European manufacture, but the design in which they are applied is -native. The favourite beads are small and brightly coloured. The native -sempstress will also sew two or three coins down the front of the -inside jacket and down the tail of the dress, or even the bowls of a -few spoons. These clink as they walk, and greatly delight their -wearers. - -The Eskimo tailor has a wonderfully correct eye, and can so scrutinise -a figure as to be able to turn out a well-fitting suit of skins without -taking a single measurement, or “trying on.” - -The men’s clothes are plain, without ornamentation, and the fashion of -them does not vary with the season. In summer they are lined with the -white skins of the baby seal, which are as soft and fleecy as lambs’ -wool; in winter, with the skins of the fawn, which are very soft and -warm. - -The Eskimo housewife prides herself greatly upon her store of skins. -These, and the soapstone cooking utensils, and the carefully housed -poles for the summer tupik, dogs, sled, and kyak, constitute the wealth -of a native family. Fine sewing thread is made from the sinew of deer’s -legs, scraped and dried. For stouter purposes, seal sinew is used. -Eskimo stitching requires to be seen to be appreciated. It is amusing -to note that the age of a child can be told at a glance by the length -of the tail of its little jacket. - -Apropos generally of domestic tastes, a word must be added on the -women’s hairdressing. The hair is generally parted down the centre and -plaited on either side of the face, the two plaits being looped under -the ears (reminiscent of the early Victorian style!) and tied in a knot -at the back. In some tribes the women gather their hair up and bind it -all into a stiff vertical cone on the top of the head. They weave into -this stubborn erection every hair which comes out, so that in time a -woman’s age may be guessed by the size of her topknot. It used to be -the fashion in bygone days to tattoo the face with linear designs, but -this has now practically died out. - -It is a common error of writers upon the Eskimo folk to assert that -they oil themselves to keep out the cold, that they drink oil as a -food, and revel in grease generally. Nothing of this is correct. The -dirtier and the greasier a man is, the colder he is; so every effort is -made—not after cleanliness exactly, as that is an impracticable -standard—to keep grease from the clothes and the person. When engaged -in preparing or cleaning anything very oily, the women remove part of -their dress to save it, and afterwards rub away as much of the grease -as possible from their hands and arms. Seal oil and melted blubber act -as strong purgatives, hence it would be impossible to use them as -drink, besides they are required for the lamps. - -Perhaps the next most important business of the Eskimo women, after -cooking and making the clothes, is the preparation of skins for the two -types of boat in use on the coast. This entails considerable labour and -skill. The men are responsible for the framework. - -The kyak—a creation as truly national to these intrepid coasters as the -snowshoe may be to the Indian, the ski to the Norwegian, and the -alpenstock to the Swiss mountaineer—is a covered canoe, graceful as a -fish, for use at sea. It can be handled in the roughest weather. It -consists of a light framework, formerly of whalebone, but now generally -of driftwood, fastened together with thongs of sealskin. It is from -eighteen to twenty feet in length, strong and elastic to a degree, and -entirely covered with skins, almost resembling a torpedo in shape, with -long, tapering extremities. There is a small circular opening -amid-ships, where the kyaker sits, fitting closely round his body. In -rough weather he wears a waterproof jacket (of seal gut), the hood -fitting tightly round his face and the sleeves to his wrists. The lower -edge of this comes over the opening in the canoe and is laced round it, -so that man and craft are fairly one. - -The Rev. A. L. Fleming, formerly a naval architect, informed the writer -that the lines of the kyak are perfect, and from the point of view of -sea-going architecture could not be improved. The Baffin Land kyak is -broader than the Greenland type. The latter is much narrower, and -requires great skill to handle. Readers of Arctic literature will -recall Nansen’s account of the extraordinary feats performed by the -Eskimo on the west coast of Greenland in manœuvring these canoes. The -Baffin Islanders are also very skilful. They can right themselves, if -completely overturned, by a peculiar quick jerk of the paddle. The kyak -cannot fill, should the waves wash right over it. It probably comes -nearer the ideal of an unsinkable boat than many a more ambitious -construction. It would be hard to say, as between hunting and fishing -(the staple business of their lives), which is the characteristic -national “sport” of the Eskimo; but certainly no one not born and bred -to the handling of the kyak could acquire the native degree of ease and -daring. - -The sealskins for these canoes are bleached. Either they are scalded, -or tied in bundles and hung up in a warm atmosphere to ferment. This -process is allowed to go on for a week or two, until the stench becomes -unbearable. When taken down and shaved with the ooloo, the black -epidermis comes away with the hair, leaving the skins beautifully -white. The inner membranes are left intact. The next step is to stitch -the skins together. Bleached hides may be made to alternate with -unbleaced ones, by way of ornament; or the entire covering may be -merely black or brown. - -The thread is sinew from seal flesh, since it must be derived from the -same source as the skins, to ensure the same degree of shrinking and -stretching. The seams are double stitched, first through the skin only, -leaving the membrane untouched, and then oversewing the latter, so as -to make them perfectly watertight. The moistened skins are then loosely -applied to the framework; as they shrink and dry they fit to it -exactly, and form a light, drum-tight covering over the whole. It is -part of the man’s job to fit the wooden rim to the opening on top, and -to make the loops which serve to secure his weapons. - -He carries a three-pronged bird spear on the left hand side in front of -him; on the right is his sealing spear, and between the two is a small -round tray for the coiled seal line fixed to the detachable spearhead. -Behind him on the left is his nixie or hook, on the right a heavy -harpoon for striking walrus or the larger creatures he may encounter, -between the two and immediately behind him an inflated sealskin with -the end of his sealing line attached. Thus equipped, the canoe is -complete, a thing of pride to its owner, which will last all his life -and be handed down to his sons and their sons after him. - -The sealing spear has an ivory (or nowadays a steel) butt for breaking -ice, and acts as an ice chisel. Its shaft consists of a piece of -driftwood, its long keen point is made from part of the jawbone or rib -of the whale, and its detachable barbed head is of steel or ivory. The -long line attached to this is a stout strip of white whale hide. The -harpoon, too, is of wood and ivory, as also is the long hunting knife -and the small kit of lesser tools without which the hunter seldom -moves. All these things are made during the endless winter evenings, -while sitting round the seal oil lamps in the igloo, or on stormy days -when the Arctic blizzard obliterates the world without. (There is an -interesting collection of Eskimo dresses and implements and utensils to -be seen in the Ethnological Gallery at the British Museum; but perhaps -even more representative a one is that in the Natural History Museum in -New York.) - -The paddle of the kyak is made from a long piece of driftwood. Its -proper length is the span of the owner (the full extent of the two -extended arms), and half a span again. The blades are narrow, since -they are for use at sea, and engage the most skilful attention of the -craftsman. Both are tipped with ivory. This pouteek, as it is called, -can be used as an outrigger. On top of the kyak, in front of the man, -there are four strongly made loops of hide, the exact width of the -blade of the paddle. If the rower wishes to stand up or give play to -free movement, to cut up and store away a seal either upon the craft or -inside it, he cannot do so without an outrigger or he would simply -capsize. To prevent this, he pushes one end of the paddle into the -loops, which hold it fast. The other end, outboard, acts as a -counter-weight and exactly balances the canoe. It is then perfectly -stable and almost impossible to upset. The dexterity of the kyaker has -already been alluded to. He can do anything with this boat. His -confidence is so complete that not infrequently, when a heavy wave is -atop of him, he will deliberately turn turtle, receive the weight of -the water on the bottom, and right himself when the moment is passed. - -The Umiak is a very different craft, and serves the Eskimo family as a -sort of general pantechnicon and removing van. It consists of a large, -clumsy framework of wood, covered with the skins of the big ground -seal, which are dressed into a thick tough leather. It is really an -open sailing boat, capable of carrying perhaps six families and a huge -and miscellaneous cargo. It has a square stem and stern and a stumpy -mast set well forward in the bows. The large square sail used to be -made in earlier days of skin stitched together, or of the intestines of -seals blown out and dried, then split open, the long, broad strips -alternating with narrow strips of the same material, to ensure equal -stretching and shrinking. Nowadays, the natives provide themselves with -sail-cloth from the trading posts. The Umiak is an unhandy thing to -manage, but a good enough boat in a heavy sea way. When on a long -voyage up or down the coast or across the bays, in former times, the -Umiak had a double skin; the outer covering becomes so waterlogged and -the movement so sluggish that the whole thing is cast off, and the -journey proceeds in the inner, lighter and drier shell. The gut sail -requires constant wetting to prevent it splitting into ribbons. This -primitive concern is paddled by women when the paddles become -necessary, but a man has the steering in his charge. - -The oars for the Umiak are clumsy things compared to the kyak paddle. -The blades are rough oblongs of wood, almost like spades, fitted to -poles of wood by no means necessarily straight, and bound on by thongs -of hide. Sometimes the oar is quite a crooked branch, and a collection -of these in the hide hung boat looks about as prehistoric an outfit as -Mr. E. T. Reed’s most comic imagination might depict among his -inimitable parodies of life in the neolithic period. - -The Kyak and the Umiak are the two purely native types of boat used on -the Arctic coast. The people, however, are familiar and handy enough -nowadays with rowing and sailing boats of European model, wherever they -have had the opportunity of using and knowing them. They have other -ingenious means of getting about on the water when boats of any -description are not to be had at all. The hunter at the edge of the -floe can stand and paddle himself away out to sea on a raft or slab of -ice detached from the mass; and the deerstalker inland, anxious to -cross a sheet of water or a river, will utilise a skin stuffed with -dried heather, stoutly bound about with thongs of hide. He sits on this -and skims off as happily as a water-beetle. - -The possession of a couple of boats like the foregoing, of a good store -of hunting weapons, plenty of skins, a team of well-trained dogs, and -two sleds—one, a short, light, travelling affair for hunting, and the -other a heavy, long-distance thing for the migrations of the -family—constitute the Eskimo house-holder’s wealth, and determine his -social precedence and standing in the tribe. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -ESKIMO DOGS - - -The value to the Eskimo of a good team of about five dogs is equivalent -to that of a kyak or a sled, or a reliable gun. To assess it in terms -of money would have no significance in a land where utility and -necessity alone determine the scale. - -The breed is part, or half, wolf. In build, the true Eskimo dog is well -formed, almost slim about the hindquarters compared with the rest of -his body, the broad and sturdy chest, the strong neck and heavy jaws. -His hair is very thick, grey or tawny in colour, and his tail immensely -bushy, always carried erectly, curving over the back. He is a different -creature to the Samoyede and the Kentucky wolf hound; but probably -there is very little to distinguish him from the famous Alaskan “husky” -dog of so much literary fame, and the dog of the Labrador. - -The dogs in Baffin Land are fed solely on seal flesh, unlike those of -the trappers and mail carriers in Alaska and elsewhere, who subsist on -a spare and spartan ration of frozen fish. Sacks of chopped seal are -always carried on the sleds for the dogs on a winter journey, skin and -hair included. They are wonderful travellers, although the speed with -which a trip may be accomplished depends on a good many other factors -than dog power alone. In the winter a team may average thirty miles a -day; or when conditions of ice and wind are particularly favourable -this figure may be doubled. - -The Eskimo dogs begin their lives in quite pleasant domestic comfort. -They breed in the spring and autumn, and the puppies when born are kept -on the sleeping place in the tent or igloo, and played with by the -women and children in order to accustom them to being handled, and to -the scent of human beings. Otherwise they would grow up wild and -savage, and a trouble to their owners; and, moreover, might too easily -fall a fat and toothsome morsel to any particularly hungry parent or -stray wolf about the camp. They are pretty, playful puppies, full of -puppy imbecility and fun. When about six weeks old this halcyon period -of irresponsibility and shelter comes to an abrupt end. Out go the lot -into the hard world, to eat and sleep with the grown-up dogs of the -village. And immediately the puppy’s training begins. He has a -miniature harness made for him and a little sled. The small boys take -him in hand. They harness him and drive him about, to his unfathomable -disgust and their own diversion, until he becomes used to the process -and the various words of command. - -As time goes on and he gets a little older his serious education -engages the attention of the men. Puppy is harnessed to the real sled -with the older dogs and has to help to drag it to the hunting grounds. -He objects strongly to leaving the village and what it has of -possibilities in the way of tit-bits; but the accustomed orders break -over his head in a fearful roar he has never heard before, and he -scares up a new obedience. Soon, however, he tries the effect of -rebellion, and bolts back on the trail, only to be brought up with a -jerk as he reaches the end of his line. He is unceremoniously dragged -along on his back, bumping over the rough ice, hating everything and -everybody, thinking life not a bit worth living and that the bottom of -his world has fallen out. He is rudely brought to! The leader of the -team knows what to do. Like a parent spanking a naughty child, the -leader sails in, and with many a forceful shake and many a shrewd nip -at every tender point, he forces Puppy to take his rightful station in -the team and do his best to pull. As he goes back to his own position -at the head the Leader just passes word along to the rest to follow his -example. They make quite a point of it. As often as the recruit shows a -tendency to slack off again, or so much as rolls an eye towards the -back trail, they give him a shake up or a nip on the leg to encourage -him to proceed, rather, in the right direction. He receives further -assistance towards this desirable fixity of purpose by an occasional -and painfully adroit flick of the hunter’s long driving lash. - -A few days of this sort of thing, and the youngster registers the -lesson that discretion is the better part of valour. He learns to keep -his objections to himself. - -The next thing to dawn upon his expanding mind is that dragging heavy -weights over the snow makes one’s feet uncommonly sore. The older dogs -knew that long ago, and lay down before starting in the morning, quite -willing to have their boots put on. The dog “boot” is merely an oblong -strip of seal leather with two holes for the nails to go through and a -couple of thongs to secure the ends round the leg. Everywhere in the -Arctics the freight dogs are obliged to have protection for their feet. -But Youngster, whose turn for practical investigation has ere this -convinced him that nothing is inedible except sticks and stones, -retires promptly to the back of the sled or behind the nearest cover, -and eats his boots there and then, with early morning relish. The team, -to a dog, say nothing, but start off as usual. Youngster licks his -lips, curls his tail, and feels good. But after a few miles something -of the curl goes out of his tail, his feet become tender and he droops -a little. The others plod on; he lags. Instantly comes the sting of the -whip or a nip of teeth like a vice. Youngster sprints ahead, only to -flag more and more, to limp and crawl at last with the pain in his -unprotected, wayworn feet. At the end of the day he simply staggers -home, a very sad and sobered Puppy. Leader strolls over, when he thinks -he will, looks at him en passant, and grins. The culprit adds another -mental note to his list of things not good for the digestion. No more -boots! - -Comes another milestone on the hard path of learning and -virtue—pilfering. - -Young dogs have to learn that everything on the sled is rigorously -taboo—for them. Not to be touched, or so much as sniffed at, on any -account whatever. This lesson can only be enforced by many a whipping. -For Youngster does so love to stroll past the sled with a preoccupied -air, hands in pocket as it were. If he were a human being he would hum -a hymn tune. Then, just in that flick of time when no one seems to be -looking, he steals a mouthful of seal-meat or blubber. Instantly -retribution envelops him. He is severely thrashed. If an experience of -this sort repeated once or twice does not cure him his master becomes -harsh indeed. The hunter must at all costs gain and keep the ascendancy -over his dogs. The thief has his head forced hard back with the mouth -wide open, and the man smashes out the two long upper fangs with the -back of his hunting knife. That bit of violence completes this part of -Youngster’s spartan education. - -He graduates by learning how to smell for seal holes in the ice, how to -tackle a bear, how to defend himself, how to guard the tent or igloo, -how to brave every extreme of bitter weather. When an Eskimo dog knows -all this he becomes a valuable asset to his master. - -The Eskimo drives his sled team spread out fanwise. In this formation -they are less likely to break through the snow crust than if driven -Indian fashion, one ahead of the other. The tandem style is suitable -for wooded country, where there is no room to expand and where it is -imperative to keep to a narrow, perhaps ill-defined trail; but in the -Arctics one of the greatest dangers of travelling is to fall into deep -snow. Men and dogs alike can be smothered if the crust gives way, for -their struggles only cause them to sink the deeper. The dogs are driven -by word of command only (i.e., orders to get up, start, straight ahead, -right or left, lie down), and by the whip, a tremendously long thong of -white whale hide attached to a short stock. Half the art of dog driving -consists in the right management of this difficult whip. It has to sail -out to touch just the right dog in just the right place, and should -crack sharply at the tip. The Leader is the most important, reliable -and experienced dog in the team. He is attached to the sled by a longer -trace than the others, so that he runs ahead of them, and his position -is in the centre. It goes without saying that he is very conscious of -his eminence, and gives himself insufferable airs. - -In camp the team always sleep curled round in the snow, if not in the -porch at least near their master’s dwelling, ready for any scraps that -may be flung out; and woe betide any other dog who dares to come near, -or even essays to pass by! There is a rush and the outsider is severely -mauled. Another time, he makes a wide détour. The people never leave -the tents without a guard if they can possibly help it. If the man and -woman are both away a child is left. The dogs can tell the place is -inhabited and refrain from a raid, which would only bring a storm about -their ears if once the alarm were raised. But should the dwelling be -empty even for a short time, the dogs at once get to know it—and they -know about the stores of meat and oil and blubber inside! Now, the -Leader of the team belonging to the establishment is there also as a -“guard,” but his argument seems to be that this obligation applies only -to outsiders. Having driven off any strange visitants who may venture -around, he has no further scruples about helping himself. Moreover, he -has a remarkable business head. He believes, in letting the others -down—for his own advantage and prestige. - -As soon, then, as he decides the tupik is really empty, he gives one -short, deep note, well understood by the others dogs, signifying that -the coast is clear. Then he bounces at the tent wall, bursts through -it, and snatching the first big mouthful of meat he can get, beats a -discreet retreat, leaving the others like thoughtless children to do -the work and get themselves into the required mess. They rush in, of -course, make hay of the tent, and kick up a tremendous uproar, giving -themselves away to the whole village. It does not take long for the -natives to cope with the situation. Armed with sticks, they hurry to -the spot, and while some penetrate the tent to lay about and drive the -dogs outside, others stand ready for the culprits when they come out, -to give them such hard blows as will last them well—until next time! -Out comes number one, a lump of provender in his teeth. He gets his -blows right enough, but sticks to the meat ... only to be met, further -on by the Leader, a surprised and indignant look on his face, as who -should say “What! You at it again! Stealing, when you ought to be on -guard! And having the effrontery to try to pass Me with your plunder! -Put that meat down instantly and I’ll take charge of it! If you want -any more, go back and get it.” - -There is no getting past this. The delinquent is bowled out, rolled -over, bullied until he loses his head and his booty into the bargain. -He is glad to escape alive. He breaks away at last, frantically licking -his wounds. Whereupon Leader absent-mindedly eats the meat and sits -down to await another scrap from the next offender. He calls this -keeping his end up with the mob. - -On one lurid occasion of this sort, all the canine raiders had escaped -from the tent but one, a small fat puppy. He happened to be in the -place at the time and quite enjoyed entering into the spirit of the -thing—meant to do his best like the others. So he climbed into the -lamp, freshly replenished with oil, and fitted it so exactly, -lubricating himself from head to foot, that he stuck in situ to be -caught, but looking quite proud of his position and feeling altogether -grown up. He was soaked in oil and grime; oil dripped from his mouth, -and the laugh on his face plainly said, “My! This is good! Why didn’t I -think of it before?” He was summarily pulled both out of the lamp and -out of his complacency. Infantile yells outside told of early -correction being administered and a lesson in honesty enforced. After -that his mother took him in hand and licked him clean. - -It is sometimes asserted that the Eskimo dog does not bark. This is a -mistake, as he certainly has a snappy bark of his own, however little -it may resemble the recognised barks of all other sorts of dogs. For -the most part he howls. - -The dogs, one and all, are up to every sort of trick. Moreover, their -stomachs are for ever empty and always keen for any sort of food. They -are fed at night whilst on the trail, in order that the meal should -have time to digest and strengthen them. Incidentally, they sleep -soundly buried in the snow, and neither attempt to stray nor to break -into the hunter’s sleeping place. In the morning they are nowhere to be -seen. The white expanse remains unbroken. They are all under the snow, -and in no way inclined to rouse up and be harnessed. Nobody wastes time -looking for them. Someone takes a lamp outside the shelter and empties -the oil on the ground. Immediately black noses emerge from here and -there, tempted by the smell, and the rest is easy. - -Once upon a time Nannook (the bear) the Bad Hat of the team, had a -brilliant idea. He had often considered the weighty problem of the -driving lash it seemed so impossible for his master ever to forget. The -point was, how to get rid of it. So long as that whip cracked forever -about them there was no chance of making the other dogs do his share of -the work, no opportunity to slack off or snatch a rest. The only scheme -seemed to be to eat it. Nothing loth, Nannook waited for the usual -midday halt. The hunter chopped off some frozen pieces of meat, sat -down in the lee of the sled and ate and smoked. The whip lay unheeded -on the snow behind his shoulder. - -Nannook sneaked up, caught hold of the end of the lash, and steadily -began to chew. He chewed yard after yard, his stomach feeling better -with every foot of the way. He chewed up to the very stock, undetected; -and having packed away at least eighteen feet of seasoned whalehide, -crept back to the team. Presently the hunter bestirred himself for a -start. Picking up his whip—he just gazed round. It was a dog, without a -doubt; but which one? Who on earth could tell! All were innocently -dozing, every one in his place, the picture of virtuous decorum. No one -could tell. No one, therefore, could be punished. The rest of the -journey was accomplished perforce of shouting only. For once in a way -the dogs had the best of the joke. - -It sometimes happens on a long trail with a heavy sled that a blizzard, -or some other untoward circumstance, may delay a traveller for a longer -or shorter time; sometimes for days. His food supply gives out and the -dogs come to an end of their rations. The team gets ever more weary and -more weak. The hunter goes on ahead, breaking the trail for them on -snowshoes; the dogs stagger along after him, often lying down and -refusing to get up. But the trouble has not been unforeseen. The master -has prepared for this sort of emergency by carefully bringing along -some particularly bad bits of refuse seal meat. The stench of them -would imbue a skunk with self-respect, in comparison. Taking one of -these, he forges ahead, calling the dogs and leaving behind him a lure -like poison gas. He drops the meat, and the Leader, picking up the -scent, with a new cock in his dispirited ears, bustles round, spurring -up the team with the information. “Come on!” he says. “Can’t you see -he’s dropped that bit? My, can’t you smell it? Hurry up, and let’s get -it!” They do get up, poor dupes; but the Leader, in virtue of his -longer trace gets there first, and doesn’t wait to argue. Over and over -again this manœuvre is repeated, both on the hunter’s part and on the -Leader’s. The rest of the team make all the effort they can to get -equal with such duplicity, and sometimes even succeed in snatching -first at the bait. Anyway, it is a fine way of getting the sled along -and taking their minds off their troubles. A trail of loathsome scraps, -each one encouraging a spurt on the part of the dogs, helps over the -distance. Often an exhausted team has been enabled to cover the last -few miles by this method, when otherwise they must have dropped. - -In spite of the rigour of his life and the necessary hardness of his -owner, the Eskimo dog is not without that glorious power of faithful -canine devotion which is one of the most beautiful forms of love on -earth. The writer knows of at least two instances where a dog has -wasted away and died of grief in his master’s absence or after his -death. But such a true canine trait is very rare. For the most part, -these animals readily transfer their affections to the hand that feeds -them. - -They are savage to all strangers. The team guards its master’s tent or -igloo because he is the one who provides for it. The dogs sleep in the -porch as a rule; and before entering a dwelling the visitor is well -advised to call to one of the inmates to quiet them, otherwise he will -be severely bitten. In winter, when hungry, the dogs are more dangerous -than ever. It happened, once, that two Eskimo had died, and been sewn -up in their blankets and buried beneath a cairn of huge stones in a -neighbouring valley. One of the bodies was even enclosed in a light -barrel. During the night the dogs raided the place, tore down the -stones, and ate the dead. In the summer time they forage for themselves -on the seashore, picking up small fish left by the tide, and anything -edible they can find. - -The Eskimo dog has a great deal that is wolfish and dangerous in him. -The strain, indeed, is very little differentiated from the wolf. -Sometimes a dog will leave camp, go back to the wild, and join a pack -of wolves as one of themselves. Those who do this seldom return; but -when they do, puppies of the direct resulting strain are greatly -valued. It has been remarked that, whereas wolves in the Arctic seldom -attack a human being, dogs will not uncommonly do so. The extraordinary -thing about this is that hydrophobia is practically unknown. It would -be difficult to say exactly what may be the natural span of life of the -Eskimo dogs, but they seem to be at least as long lived as the larger -breeds of European dogs. - -The Eskimo names his dog ‘The Lively One,’ the ‘Bear,’ the ‘North -Star,’ and in similar fashion. The animals possess much humour of their -own; one belonging to the writer, of whom he was extremely fond, -certainly enjoyed fun, and could very nearly speak! - -Lest, while on the subject of these creatures too much space should be -devoted to them, this chapter cannot be concluded without a brief -description of the sleds to which their toilsome lives are vowed. - -The small, light-going sled used for hunting is only about six feet in -length. The cross bars are fastened to the runners by sealskin thongs, -to ensure a certain degree of pliability in travelling over rough ice. -A pair of reindeer horns with part of the skull attached are fastened -by thongs to the back of the sled, forming a sort of erect triangle. -This serves as a rack upon which to hang coils of sealing line and -various implements, and also as a rest to lean against for anyone -sitting on the sled. The runners are shod with strips of bone sawn from -the ribs or jaw of the whale, and fastened on either by wooden pegs or -by thongs sunk into grooves to prevent them wearing through. These -runners are the object of very special care and constant daily -attention on the part of the owner. They are covered with a thick -coating of seal’s blood, for the sake of a fine surface. The craftsman -takes a mouthful of this material and squirts it upon the runners, -moulding it at the same time with his fingers. It freezes even as he -smooths it down, and with a final squirting of water takes a high, hard -glaze which ensures smooth and swift running for the sled. If seal’s -blood happens to be scarce the maker uses a mixture of moss roots and -water, which gives an almost equally good surface when applied in the -same way, and looks like nothing so much as a first-class cork lino. - -The Kummotik, or long travelling sled, is double the length of the -foregoing and heavier in proportion. Otherwise its construction is the -same. It requires a team of from twelve to eighteen dogs, whereas five -are sufficient for the hunting sled. The loading of a Kummotik is a -work of art. There is a place for everything, and everything has to go, -just so, into its place. The spears and weapons are stowed in the -bottom of the sled in front, by the driver. At the far end, a piece of -skin is laid down and upon this slab upon slab of blubber for the lamp -is piled up, and the lamp set atop of the lot, bottom up, because of -the grease and dirt. Then the meat for the journey is put aboard—frozen -deer hams, and frozen seals entire, enough for the whole party until -they fetch up at the next tribe’s camping ground. The meat is, of -course, uncooked, since a minimum of raw meat gives a maximum of heat -and strength. (Hence the Eskimo prefer their rations raw when there is -work to be done. The cooked stew of an evening is a mere luxury meal.) -A skin is thrown over the heap of provisions to prevent the travellers’ -clothing being soiled by it. Over it all are piled the rolled-up -sleeping blankets and the karsâte or deerskin rugs for mattresses. -Knives, axes and lines hang upon the horns behind. The driver’s seat in -front is a box containing small tools, flint and steel. The whole load -is securely lashed down to the cross bars of the sled. The man’s spear -is slipped into the lashings on one side, so as to be handy for use at -a moment’s notice. The women and children perch on top of the load, or -make their way alongside on foot, as they prefer. The dogs’ lines are -all gathered to a point (like the sticks of a fan) just in front of the -runners, when they are tied and then divided into the two short traces -which, fastened to right and left on the runners, draw the sled. - -A still more ancient form of sled was in use among the Eskimo before -the advent of the whites, but the elders of the villages remember it -well and describe it to-day. In those times wood was very scarce, tools -very rude, and whales more abundant than at present. So strips of -whalebone taken from the mouth (before this valuable material came into -the markets of the world at all) were stitched together by whale or -hide thongs, until a sled could be fashioned out of them, something -like a huge, long, black shovel, very hard, durable and strong. Dogs -harnessed to this contrivance made good speed with it, even with the -driver squatting upon it. In one respect it was more serviceable than -the modern form with runners, since unlike these it did not sink in -snow or easily break through a rotten crust. It should be noted that a -full-grown whale has about a ton of this black whalebone fringe hanging -from his jaw, the longest part of it attaining six or seven feet when -the mouth is open; so that a fair sized sled could easily be made out -of such a great supply. - -The struggle for existence in the Arctic has taught the Eskimo to -utilise in the most ingenious ways resources at their disposal so -limited that the marvel is so self-sufficing, so healthy, hearty and -happy a civilisation, of its kind, could ever have been evolved. - -Where these tribes have come so much in contact with other peoples, and -even with well-meaning white enterprise on their behalf, that they have -attempted to substitute for their old ways a method and mode of living -indigenous neither to the climate nor to their own physique, they have -invariably degenerated. The Eskimo of Labrador and Alaska have largely -abandoned the snow house for the log shack or sod hut, and have in -consequence been decimated by tuberculosis. Everywhere, contact with -“civilisation” has tended so to divorce these children of the North -from their natural environment as to initiate their wholesale decline. -It is only now, in “the last North of all”—in Baffin Land, Boothia -Island, Victoria Land, and the rest—that the Eskimo retain their old -ways and their old vigour. Their life and their type everywhere else -has become mongrel and nondescript. While there can never, of course, -be any question in believing and thinking man’s mind about the -inestimable boon of Christianity and educating these people along the -lines suggested by a sympathetic study of them on the spot, it seems to -be very inadvisable to interfere with them, to “civilise” them too much -after the unsuitable European model, to revolutionise the natural and -suitable scheme of life they have so bravely and so ingeniously worked -out for themselves during the uncivilised centuries of their existence -in the bleakest and most inhospitable regions of the earth. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER X - -TRIBAL LIFE - - -In their family and tribal life the Eskimo carry out a very smooth -running sort of communism, the chief tenets of which are rigidly -enforced peaceableness, open hospitality to the stranger, and a sharing -of food and the necessaries of precarious existence among each other. -Tribal government is wholly patriarchal in character. The Angakooeet, -or chief conjurors—a class of men apart—hold the first place in public -esteem and common council. After them the village is ruled by the -successful hunters, who foregather with the former and with the aged -and experienced, when it is a question of deciding where to go and what -to do about the hunting, or change of encampment, or treatment of a -delinquent. - -The Eskimo have no idea of authority, except that which one man may -exercise over another in virtue of his superior wisdom, experience, -skill or strength. There has recently been some question of -inaugurating a reindeer and musk ox industry on the vast moss pastures -of the hinterland of Baffin Land, and the purport of much evidence -given on this subject before a Royal Commission abundantly confirms the -experience of the present writer, and emphasises the remarks that have -been made as to the inadvisability of rushing matters with regard to -“civilising” the Eskimo, and radically changing his mode of life from -that to which the conditions of his environment have hitherto formed -him. Savage as these conditions are, the Eskimo has wrought out his own -well-being, and in his native state is as happy and contented an -individual as could be desired. He has his hard seasons of -semi-starvation, when the hunting is poor; but even these are borne -with cheerfulness and equanimity. - -“They seem to have the communal idea very strongly implanted,” said D. -Jewess, Esq., one of the witnesses. “Theirs is a community in which one -man is equal to any other man. The idea of one man being a servant to -another would not seem to be native to the Eskimo; it is a foreign -idea. It would seem that they must learn the whole idea of one man -serving another before they could be counted upon as reliable -employees. - -“An Eskimo will serve you faithfully on certain conditions, and will -expect his payment afterwards. He will serve you for a limited time and -perform almost any work, and will then expect his payment. The moment -that payment is made he is an absolutely free man; but for the period -of work, if he understands his contract clearly, he will serve you -faithfully. They seem to work partly through the binding force of a -promise; but a great factor in keeping them at work seems to be that of -having them understand that they will be well rewarded at the end. As -is the case with all human beings, they vary; but on the whole they may -be considered as faithful as white people found in civilised -communities. Experience seems to show that they will keep to an -agreement unless they get angry. In this event, they seem to forget -their promise. If they, in a casual manner, more or less promise to do -a thing, they are as likely as not to fail. Like most primitive people, -if they trust you they will do what they can to justify your confidence -in them. - -“At the present time the Eskimo is not responsible. He would make an -excellent servant, and in time an excellent trapper, guide and hunter. -This is speaking of the Coronation Gulf Eskimo, who have known white -men only during the past four or five years. It would seem that the -Eskimo of Hudson Bay and of the east generally have other -characteristics which have been moulded through this influence. It is -not thought that this contact with white men is necessarily an -advantage, if one is trying to convert the Eskimo into a reliable, -responsible servant or working man. A great deal naturally depends upon -the kind of white men with whom the natives have had to associate.” - -It must be remembered that life in an Eskimo tribe is almost a family -one. Each family is interdependent upon the others, and all have close -ties and relationships. Thus anything which interferes with the general -harmony is dangerous and, in the unwritten law, a crime. - -Matte, a good hunter and a man of standing in the tribe of X——, in the -locality of Z——, had for long disturbed the peace of the rest. He had -quarrelled, had spread ill reports about the doings of the hunters, had -divulged their secrets, and been generally independent and unsociable. -For a long time Matte was a thorn in the side of his tribe. He -disregarded their customs and traditions, and became, according to -Eskimo law, altogether a first-class misdemeanant. At last he became -unbearable. His big voice and burly frame were no longer tolerable in -the settlement. A day came when, in his absence, the Angakooeet and -chief men met in council to decide what should be done. His case was -reviewed and discussed at length, and arguments were brought forward -both for and against the accused. At length the verdict was given by -the Angakut, the Chief of the Conjurors, and ratified by the Council. -Matte was to be put to death. - -Five men were chosen by the Angakut, and instructed in their duties. -Two were to hold the prisoner’s arms, two his legs, and the fifth was -to strike and kill. - -As the time for the man’s return approached the executioners went out -and waited for him in the path outside the village. No sooner had he -appeared than they seized upon him. Matte read his doom in their eyes. -He had but time for one ejaculation of despair when the knife struck -through his breast and justice was done. The body was thrown aside and -left for the dogs and wolves to rend and devour. - -The five men returned to their homes. One of them (the one who -afterwards related the story to the writer), married Matte’s widow at -her express wish, and “lived happy ever after.” The woman indeed was -quite agreeable to the removal of her first husband, as it was -miserable to be the wife of so unpopular a member of the community. - -Continued quarrelling, like that of this man Matte, is punishable by -death. So also is murder. A thief is banished from the village, but -petty pilferers are merely sent to Coventry. - -Old people are held in great respect among the Eskimo, and their -counsel is always considered. They help as far as they are able in the -household work, the old men repairing weapons, harness, etc., and the -old women in sewing or tending the lamps. In times of scarcity, as in -winter, meat and oil are always shared round. Directly a deer or seal -is brought in it is cut up and pieces sent to each needy family. In -times of plenty each family is supposed to provide for itself; but old -people, widows and orphans have always the first claim upon those who -have the means. - -Among these people, mutual kindliness is a general obligation. A widow -or orphan child is never left alone, but taken into the house and -family circle of the nearest relative. The widow gives her services in -return for food and lodging and clothing, and the child is cared for -exactly as the man’s own offspring. - -Children have always the right of entry to any house and to partake -there of whatever food may be going. Women are seldom refused a like -privilege. In times of famine children are fed first, the women next -and the men last. The writer has known a hunter to go out four days in -succession and meet with no success. He had shared a portion of seal -with another man who had caught one and cut it up as usual, but this -had been given to his wife and family, whilst he himself, taking no -more than a drink of warm water, went off with unimpaired cheerfulness -to try his luck again. - -Strangers and travellers, too, are always entertained and provided for -so far as the means of the moment may permit. A native arriving from -another tribe and having no relations in the village just puts up at -any igloo he may chose—as a rule he will select the family best able to -entertain him—and there his dogs are fed, his equipment is repaired or -the necessary material offered, and food and a sleeping place provided -for himself. Should he be on the trail alone, a temporary wife is -furnished him from the widows or spinsters of the community, and it -becomes her business to see that his clothes are dried and mended, and -that when he departs again he has sufficient food to carry him over the -next stage of his journey. - -The Eskimo are aware that in some respects European customs differ from -their own, and when entertaining a white man his peculiarities are -rigidly respected. The Eskimo standard of morals is not that of the -European. It may be that in this matter of the temporary wife, as in -the annual exchange of wives during the Sedna festivities, nature is -making her own instinctive provision for the continuation of a race; -otherwise so heavily handicapped are they by arctic conditions of life -generally that without it wedlock would scarcely suffice for the -purpose. The Eskimo despite customs which look like promiscuity -according to the standards of civilisation, are not afflicted with the -diseases associated with European vice—until they come in contact with -unscrupulous whites. Either the germs of these scourges have not made -their appearance in the Eskimo communities, or the people are -particularly resistive to them. That this latter supposition is not -borne out is evidenced by the havoc that has been wrought among the -tribes in the past. The Eskimo, when left to themselves, are a moral -people according to their own ideas, and the rude health they keep -despite these strange customs, seems to vindicate them from an -unthinking criticism. - -If he can, the wayfarer makes suitable offerings in return, but they -are not necessarily expected. He drops in on the family overnight, just -perhaps when the hunter has returned with a good fat seal, and the -jolly distribution of it all round is going on. There is a broad smile -on the face of the housewife as she picks out the best bits for her -friends and leaves the scraggy remnants for those of whom she cannot -profess to be so fond. The children rush hither and thither, willing -servitors of those who cannot come themselves. - -The blood is carefully scooped into an ice bowl for future stew or for -the glazing of sled runners. At the hospitable shout, “Kileritse! -Kileritse!”—“Come ye! Come ye!”—everyone, friend and stranger alike, -crowds into the house and squats on the bench or the floor, or in the -porch, and is duly served out with his share. Nothing is heard for -awhile but the crunch of strong ivory teeth; the red blood stains hands -and faces; black eyes glisten with enjoyment. Then, after a time, the -hum and clatter of talk rises to the smoky roof. Everything is -devoured, even the entrails (squeezed through the fingers to flatten -and empty them). Reindeer moss, taken from the stomach of a deer may be -served up as well by way of that greatest possible luxury—a salad! - -Finally, everyone goes to bed. The doorway is blocked up, blankets are -unrolled, and men and women and children, stripped to the skin, wrap -themselves up in these and lie down with their heads towards the lamps -and their feet towards the back of the snow house, and sleep the sleep -of health and good humour and repletion until the break of another -arctic winter “day.” - -The children of an Eskimo community have quite a good time. Whenever -infanticide has been practised among these people, it was never through -cruelty or wanton waste of infant life, but simply because of a dearth -of provisions. As a matter of fact, the Eskimo prides himself on having -as large a family as possible. He is entitled to have as many wives as -he can support. It is not uncommon for a well-found man to have three -wives—possibly sisters—all living amicably together. The children are -named after some place or object, and many names descend from father to -son. Thus we have “Moneapik,” the little egg; “Oonapik,” the little -hunting spear; “Pitsoolak,” the sea pigeon; “Shokak,” roof of the -mouth; and other names too crude for translation. - -The pastimes of the children are just like those of children all the -world over. On fine days they romp with the puppies, as described -elsewhere, or they borrow a sealskin from their mothers and, finding a -snow incline, drag it to the top and toboggan down on it in fine style -and with resounding glee. They build snow houses; play with little -improvised sledges; kick a seal bladder about by way of a ball; -discover cat’s cradles for themselves with any odd bits of thong; and -get up to all the usual mischief with bows and arrows. The girls make -dolls. The boys have an ivory top corresponding to cup and ball, and -another game called “spearing the seal,” which is played by two, with a -piece of skin for the ice, and a bit of bone that moves about -underneath it for the seal. There is a blow hole, of course, and a -miniature spear. - -The education of the Eskimo boy all turns on hunting. All sorts of -curious observances wait on his first adventures in that line. When he -secures his first weasel, for instance, he gives it to the dogs, simply -to be torn in pieces; and that night has to sit up by the igloo door, -one hand on hip and in the other a lamp stick. Possibly the root idea -is to defend himself from the spirit of the little beast. When he gets -his first bird, Young Hopeful sits in the middle of the sleeping bench, -his mother on one side and his grandmother on the other. The boy is -told to take off his jacket, and the two women wrench the bird apart -between them in a sort of tug of war, to the accompaniment of cries of -congratulation. The mangled spoil is then eaten to bring good luck to -the boy. - -The following tale of the voluntary suicide of the old people who feel -that they have outgrown their usefulness to the community, and have -rather become a burden to it, shows how strongly the communal feeling -dominates the Eskimo, how essential to existence each one of them finds -the social life of the tribe and village to be. - -For many weeks summer has reigned in the arctics. Snow has disappeared. -The ice has broken up and drifted away to the south; only a few bergs -remain, like the remnants of a majestic fleet, wending their wandering -way after the rest. For weeks on end it has been one long, glorious -day, when the sun has scarcely set an hour. The weather is hot and the -sky is blue. Arctic flowers and arctic heather gem the short turf; -streams and cascades fill the valleys with the unwonted music of -running water. The dogs lie about, basking in the sunshine, or betake -themselves to the seashore to hunt for fish and such toothsome morsels -as may be left in the rock pools by the falling tide. The village of -sealskin tents is pitched in a sheltered spot near some handy stream, -overlooking the inlet. Contentment, ease and plenty are the order of -the day. The kyakers skim the waters of the bay, hunting as usual, and -in the evening the boys have a turn in the same light craft, to -practice with harpoon or birdspear. They vie with each other in skill -and speed, and take lessons from their elders. - -The old men and women potter about, visiting each other. The crones -occupy themselves teaching the younger women how things were best done -in their day, and the granfers fight their own battles over again and -exploit their own adventures, as they listen to the talk of the younger -men—the tales of more recent feats accomplished, perils survived, and -clever captures achieved. As the bright day wanes to that short -twilight which is the arctic summer night, the men fetch their blankets -from the tents, roll themselves up in them under the shelter of some -boulder, and sleep in the open air. - -The month of the eider ducks has come and gone. The women have manned -their boats and made their annual raid on the island where the birds -breed, returning with hundreds of eggs, plenty of ducks, and a goodly -store of eiderdown from the nests. The days have been one long, joyous -picnic, all the hardships, privations and dangers of the winter -forgotten. The babies, brown and mother-naked, have sprawled about in -the sun and waxed fat and jolly, with the freedom and the play and the -plenty of summer. - -But now the time has come to get ready for a very big annual enterprise -indeed—the great deer hunt, upon which the fortunes of the tribe will -turn for months. If the Eskimo lay up little store of food, they -accumulate all the hides they can for winter clothing. For several -weeks before the start is made, stores of meat are prepared, slices of -seal cut and spread on the rocks, or hung on lines in the sun to dry. -Piles of moss and cotton plant are collected and dried for the winter’s -supply of lamp wick. Sealskins are cleaned and stretched and dried for -clothing, boot soles, boat coverings, and water buckets; intestines are -inflated and dried for sail cloth and material for making windows. The -dogs are outfitted with sealskin panniers for transport purposes. The -trek ahead of the tribe is a long and laborious one. They will journey -for many days by water up the rivers, and climb long ranges of hills -and cross many valleys, before they reach the interior and the pastures -of the deer. Each man, woman and child must shoulder his own pack, for -none can carry a double load. And so, it often chances, comes the -tragedy of old and enfeebled age. - -Seorapik was an octogenarian. Her hair was grey and her back was bent. -She had managed, somehow, the previous year to carry her belongings on -the long, long trail, and to stumble along after the tribe. But at last -the bitter fact forced itself upon her that she could follow the -hunters no more. She must stay behind—alone. She could no longer carry -her load nor keep pace with the folk on the way, and none might carry -her. She had no alternative but to remain in the deserted village and -await the tribe’s return. - -Now Seorapik, like every other Eskimo, was an intensely sociable being. -She loved nothing so much as to hear laughter and jokes about her, and -to be in the thick of all the village talk and doings. As she faced the -prospect of the long lonely weeks ahead, in the lifeless silence of the -empty camp, with the days growing ever shorter and colder, without a -soul—except perhaps a child—to bear her company, her heart quailed and -grew very heavy. There was the danger, too, of attack by wolf or bear, -and of sickness coming on—and death. Death, all alone! True, they would -leave her a plentiful store of food—the good village folk—and lots of -skins; but what comfort could these afford her in their absence? - -But the law of the North is stern and immutable. - -They knew it—those sons and daughters of hers, and all their sons and -daughters. They grieved for Seorapik, and remembered her many acts of -kindness to each and every one of them, and her life of cheery toil -spent wholly in their service. They had a custom to be sure—but it was -hard to endure it when it came face to face. A familiar custom, -designed to meet such as case as this; but a heartbreaking one, all the -same. Seorapik remembered it, too, and was the first to summon the -courage to announce it. - -She proposed to bid the tribe goodbye rather than let it take leave of -her. Her time to go on the long, lone journey from which none ever -returned could not be far off in any case. She decided to anticipate -it. She could not face seeing her folk load up the packs, start out on -the trail, without her, and disappear over the hills. She could not -contemplate the intense loneliness that it would all mean, and miss the -laughter of the children, and even the rough and tumble among the dogs. -So the dread subject was broached to her son. - -He gave his assent. Itteapik announced the decision to the villagers, -and they came to help with the preparations for Seorapik’s death. - -A rough, round igloo was built, and the old woman withdrew into it, -taking her few belongings, escorted by all her kindred and friends. -They encouraged her to the last with every kindly and sympathetic thing -they could think of to say. She braved it out, and, with her cheery but -quavering goodbye still in their ears, her loved ones blocked up the -entrance to the little death chamber in such a way that no dog or wolf -might break in. - -And there she sat down slowly and willingly to starve to death, quite -happy so long as her children continued to come from time to time and -call to her from outside, and tell her all that was going on, every -single little thing that happened.... She never asked for food or -drink; they never gave it.... She never wanted to come out; they never -moved a stone.... She simply had to go. Their part was to make her last -days, her last hours, as happy as they could, simply by being -there—quite close—outside. - -Then the time came when the feeble voice just ceased to make one more -response. She had gone on her own long journey first, to the land where -parting would be no more, nor the fear and sadness of it. Her last -hours had been happy ones, cheered by the sounds of the village life, -the cries and gurgles of the babies, the shouts and cat-calls of the -boys and girls, the murmur of men and women talking over their -accustomed tasks. She had no loneliness to bear, after all, no -desolation, no silence. The old Eskimo died with a smile of love and -contentment on her face, with a long record behind her of woman’s good -and motherly work, of a humble, “primitive” life indeed, but lived -according to what light she had—and so into the better life beyond. - -There was Nandla (the spear), too, the blind hunter, who also went to -death under the lash of arctic circumstance. - -The incident took place near Davis’ Strait, and was related to the -writer by one who had witnessed it. Again, the inexorable law of the -wild left one handicapped as Nandla was no choice. The man was -comparatively young, but by reason of his blindness useless to himself -and a burden upon others. In a hungry land, where every extra mouth to -be filled represents a problem, there is no room for one who cannot -provide for himself. The severity of the code of the North is very -great. It cannot be judged by the ordinary standards of humanity. - -Spring was at hand—the joyous spring of the arctics. The days were -lengthening and the seals increasing in numbers. They were coming up -from the south for the breeding season. In the village all was life and -bustle. The hunters were full of preparations, and the dogs scarcely -less so. The boys were loading the sleds and harnessing the teams. One -by one, each hunting outfit glided off over the frozen ground, out -towards the bay. - -Outside his snow house sat Nandla, the blind hunter, listening to every -sound and seeing every detail in his mind’s eye. His heart was heavy as -lead. In his younger days he, too, had gone forth just like these -others, to spear the season’s catch, and come home rejoicing with a -heavy sled. But repeated attacks of snow blindness (despite his wooden -snow goggles) had destroyed his sight; and here he was, in early middle -age, a useless, hopeless, helpless man, tied to the house, dependent -upon his folk for food and clothing, and a drag upon them all. - -Each night, as the hunters came home, the whole tribe gathered as usual -round the cooking pots, when the excitements and doings of the day -would be discussed with no less gusto than the food. Nandla always had -his place in the family circle, and eagerly drank in every word the -hunters had to say. He longed to hunt again, himself; to bring back the -kill, to see the children come pushing into his house for their share, -and to bid his wife give generously to the aged and the destitute! In -his mind he pictured it all: the village nestling in the bay, huge, -snow-clad cliffs rearing up at the back of it, and overhead the pure -blue of the bright sky, where the glaucus gulls wheeled and cried. He -pictured the scavenger ravens perched about everywhere, on the look-out -for bits; the vast expanse of the frozen bay, glaring white in the cold -sunlight; and beyond, a heavy black mist smoking up in the wind, -marking the water line. Out there were the hunters—mere dots—moving -about in the still immensity. - -And here was he—Nandla—idle and useless, unable to occupy himself even -with such tasks as fell to the ancients of the tribe—the repairing of -lines, harness, and weapons. He could not patch up a snow house any -more, or trim a lamp! Often, during the months of severe weather and of -scarcity his relations had been hard pushed to find the wherewithal to -feed him or clothe him. Nandla was very wretched. - -At length, one evening, after just such a bad spell of weather and of -luck, Nandla begged to be taken out on to the hunting grounds. Now, his -relatives had been thinking things over rather grimly, and had seen -nothing ahead for him but long years of misery and possibly of want. -The problem suggested but one solution. It was simple enough. This -request of the blind man’s to be equipped once more for the hunt and -taken along with the rest, gave them their opportunity. They fell in -with his desire and made their plan. They knew of a certain rout where -danger lay. Nandla should be taken that way. - -It was neither treachery nor murder they planned, but an end for the -afflicted man of his anxieties and griefs. Nandla set out that morning -full of delight. His heart was full of unwonted excitement. He yelled -to the dogs and bumped and glided over the ice on the sled with a long -missed sense of exhilaration. - -They soon reached the grounds. Nandla’s guide seized his hand and led -him towards a gaping seal hole. - -“Follow me!” he said, dropping the other’s hand and lightly stepping to -one side. - -“I follow!” replied the sightless man, and straightway fell into the -hole. - -He went right under, then and there—under the ice—and was immediately -drowned and frozen. A handy piece of ice served to seal the death trap, -and all was over. Nandla had died on the hunt, and had entered the -Eskimo heaven like the other valiant men of his tribe, and taken his -place with the doughtiest of them, where there would be joy and plenty -for evermore. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -TRIBAL LIFE—Continued - - -Childhood in the arctics does not last long. There are among the Eskimo -a number of strange customs and superstitions attending not only the -transition time between girlhood and maturity, but the whole physical -life of woman, which may have their interest for the ethnologist -(especially from the point of view of the interpretation of the -mentality of primitive peoples), but in which the general reader would -scarcely find much interest. Suffice it to say that the root -reason—probably instinctive—underlying many of these observances and -rites, these taboos and indications, is very possibly a hygienic one, -since in nearly every instance some purpose of the sort seems to be -unconsciously served. It may be that herein lies one of the true -distinctions between uncivilised and civilised existence. In the -latter, most of the functional aspects of life are subordinated to the -intellectual and the spiritual, while in the former they bulk -self-consciously and far more obtrusively even than among the lower -animals. - -The Eskimo community in sanitation or in sex matters has few -reticences. This may be another way of saying it has no pruderies. The -native attaches no more importance to the functions of sex than to -those of eating, drinking or sleeping. It would, of course, be easier -to attribute complete insouciance in these respects to the native mind -if, instead of trapping some of them out with rather elaborate -ceremonial, it kept them all much on a level. In most instances of -insistence, however, a hygienic motive, conscious or unconscious, lies -behind them. Although the people live under very crude conditions, -crowded together in the igloo, without privacy or special quarters for -women, they are not without a sense of the fitness of things or some -idea of personal modesty. It is the height of ill-breeding to stare, -for instance, at anyone whilst dressing or undressing. - -Like the Indians, and like most other uncivilised people, the Eskimo -marry early, sometimes indeed at the age of twelve years. Unions are -arranged by the mothers and grandmothers. A woman with a marriageable -daughter is fully alive to the advantage of seeing a good hunter attach -himself to the domestic circle. She looks round in good time, and -noting some promising youth, makes overtures to his mother on the score -of the cleverness, the docility and the industry of her girl. The whole -thing at once becomes a fertile topic of discussion. Some amicable -understanding having been reached, presents are interchanged and the -young couple are informed that they are to be married. There is no -ceremony. The girl is sent to her mother-in-law’s house, and for a -month or more works there under a pair of sufficiently vigilant eyes. -This gives the boy also an opportunity of making up his mind about her. -And the prospective bride has a chance to do the same about him. As a -rule, the whole thing works out quite satisfactorily, and even happily; -but if the girl turns out lazy or careless or bad-tempered, a divorce -is declared and she returns to her parents’ igloo, to be married -elsewhere, with better luck next time. - -This sending of the bride to the hunter’s mother’s house scarcely -amounts to an interval of probation. The girl certainly expects to -stay. In all probability the young folk have known each other from -childhood up, and there is no reason to suppose their marriage will be -anything but a success. It is the Eskimo way of asserting the -world-wide fact that you never know a person until you have to live -with him—or her. - -Should, however, real faults of temper or character be presently -discovered on either side, it is quite open to the bride or bridegroom -to ask to have a divorce declared. The matter is arranged between the -families concerned, not necessarily by the Angakok. Should a girl be -returned on her people’s hands enceinte, after an experiment of this -sort (not a likely contingency at an early age), the child forms no -obstacle to her contracting another union later on. It is adopted into -the mother’s family and cared for as usual, without a trace of stigma -attaching to either. In the Arctics, where families are small, children -are an asset, and represent little burden to a community every member -of which is willing to help feed and support them. If a child is a boy, -he will grow up to be a hunter, and catch seals for the tribesfolk; if -a girl, she will become the wife of a hunter and the mother of more -hunters. - -The difference between married life and free or promiscuous unions, -even with this primitive folk, is quite clearly marked. A married -woman, i.e., a woman belonging definitely and recognisedly to such and -such a man, is faithful to him and he to her, so long as harmony reigns -between them and no “divorce” takes place. The occasional interchange -of wives, such as during the Sedna ceremony, is a recognised -institution of Eskimo life, and interrupts the even tenor of the -connubial way in no permanent sense. There is a good deal of -“immorality” (according to standards entirely inapplicable to this -people in the native state), and promiscuous intercourse with widows -and discarded wives. It is from this class that strangers staying in -camp are accommodated with their temporary partners. - -Fidelity is observed between married people while they agree to remain -married. Sometimes, however, two husbands will come to an agreement -with each other, with the knowledge and consent of their respective -wives, to effect a temporary exchange. Again, fidelity is now observed -as long as the exchange endures, but reverts to the original partner -when presently dissolved. Should any children come of this interlude, -they generally remain with the mother, the permanent husband being -quite willing to adopt them. - -The new-made bridegroom does not leave his parents’ home and set up his -own establishment until he is able to maintain it by hunting. If the -husband and wife belong to different tribes, the woman is adopted into -that of the man. The men sometimes maltreat their wives, if aggravated -by shrewish tempers or bad household management, but children very -seldom experience any but the kindest and most indulgent treatment. The -writer knew a boy who stabbed his mother in the arm during a fit of -temper, but was merely scolded for it. That he knew no better was the -excuse alleged in his defence, and it was his elder’s business to teach -him self-control and good behaviour. Children are devotedly loved by -the Eskimo, and maternity (never prolific in the arctics) is held in -the highest esteem. If the men occasionally beat the women it has never -been known that children are ever abused or neglected. All travellers -and observers agree in this respect. - -A girl will be attended in childbirth with her first baby, but not -after that. The expectant Eskimo mother has to be alone (except on the -first occasion), in a little house set apart for her, and without -assistance. After it is born, the baby is never washed but rubbed down -with a soft fur or bird skin and put straight away, stark naked, into -the capacious hood of its mother’s tunic. The woman must, however, -never eat alone during this time, lest a Tougak with three fingers -steal her food and bring evil upon the child. She must pay no visits -until she has quite recovered in the space of a full month, and only -then if she has a new suit of clothes. - -As an illustration of what has been said about some real reason -underlying such injunctions as the foregoing, it may be remarked that, -why the mother may not eat alone is probably to ensure that she does -not starve. She is in solitary confinement, and cannot procure and -prepare food for herself. To ensure her being fed she must have the -food brought to her and the messenger stays to share the meal. Again, -an expectant mother must always run out of her igloo or tupik during -the day when the dogs howl. They do not howl incessantly, as might be -imagined, since they are away with the hunters in the day, and asleep, -buried in the snow, at night. The woman has to sit up on her haunches -when she hears the dogs in the night-time, and not lie down again until -they cease. After all, there is good sense in this. The women sit about -in their houses for the most part, and get comparatively little -exercise. The two rules involved in this dog howling enactment ensure -the expectant mother a modicum of exercise and fresh air, which she -might not otherwise exert herself to obtain. - -Childbirth is always attended by the women conjurors, never by the men. -The event in itself is thought little of, and not looked forward to -with any dread. The writer has known of a case of husband and wife -being on the trail together with their sled, in midwinter, when the -woman was taken in labour. The man merely stopped the team and hastily -put up a snow shelter. The wife retired to it for a little while, then -placed the new-born child in her hood, clambered back upon the sled, -and continued the journey. A long day’s journey later, they reached the -village for which they were making, and in a very short while the -mother was walking about in it, as well and strong as ever. - -The would-be mother who has reason to fear her hopes of a child are -groundless, has recourse to the conjuror, the Angakok. Here again, the -interrogations, the incantations, the conjuration to which this worthy -commits himself (the while his spirit is supposed to ascend to the moon -to procure “material for a child”), the conjuror claims and is allowed -the right of cohabitation and so follow the accompaniment of a natural -sequence of events, which probably result in the woman realising her -desire. In many instances the superstitions with which Eskimo laws and -injunctions are wrapped up, serve to enforce them. Otherwise they would -either not be followed at all, or would have no weight in public -estimation. It is only possible to make head or tail of primitive -ritual by the aid of some tentative interpretation of the sort, which -must be deduced from long familiarity with the people amid their own -surroundings. - - - -All was quiet in the village. The sealers had gone off early in the -morning, taking the boys with them, and the women had settled down to -their own tasks for the day. The old folks were for the most part -asleep on the sleeping benches in the dwellings. It was a cloudy day, -visibility very low, sun-dogs in the misty heavens foretold bad weather -to come. - -Suddenly a tumult of sound broke upon the village, and the few old dogs -left there on guard gave vigorous tongue in turn, as somewhere from out -the murk came a chorus of yowls and yelps mingled with the shouts of -men and the sharp crack of whips. - -An immediate exodus took place. Everyone sprang up and ran off to meet -the newcomers. The children scrambled up the cliff at the back of the -little settlement, sheltering it, and the elders tottered along to the -head of the pathway cut through the sijak or shore ice, to catch a -glimpse of the strangers and their sleds. Presently two large -travelling outfits with full team of dogs, and crowded with Eskimo, -swept into view. Cries of “Chimo! Chimo!” (Welcome) resounded from -every side, and there were hearty hand-shakings as the strangers -tumbled out and declared their gladness to have arrived. - -It seemed they had come from Fox Channel, many “sleeps” away, and had -travelled over hills and across frozen bays and through deep snow, for -days and days, in order to visit this tribe. In a twinkling the dogs -were unharnessed and fed, the sleds unloaded, and the guests carried -off into the hospitable igloo under the cliff. - -Then matters began to clear, and the object of the journey declared -itself. A head man and his wife, it seemed, had come this long distance -on behalf of their son, a lad of about fifteen, a promising young -hunter of marriageable age, who desired to find a wife. No girl in his -own tribe had taken his fancy, but the family had heard of a likely -bride in the Middle Coast tribe, and had come to see her and her -people. She had the reputation of being clever at all household duties, -docile and pleasing in manner, with eyes like sloes and hair as glossy -black as the raven’s wing. Moreover, they had heard that she had no -relatives and dependents except a widowed mother. The whole idea had -pleased them so much—mother, father and son—that here they were, to -look into the thing for themselves, to give and receive news, and to do -a bit of incidental trading. They settled down in camp for a few days, -and both hosts and visitors thoroughly enjoyed themselves. - -Negotiations proceeded apace, without hitch or difficulty, and at last -were brought to a pleasant conclusion. The prize secured, a day was -fixed for the departure of the bride and bridegroom and his people. Her -treasures and possessions were packed on the sleds, and with many tears -she said goodbye to the good folk of her own village. - -All seemed to augur well for the wedding journey. The sky was clear and -the sun shone. The ice was perfect and the snow well packed and good -for sled travelling. The dogs, rested and well fed, flew over the -ground in high spirits. The sleeping houses built en route by the -wooer’s party, proved to have remained intact; the frozen meat and -blubber, buried beneath the floor in each of them, had not been -disturbed. - -The first night was spent in singing. The young man gave a vocal -account of the exploits of his tribe and of his own prowess in hunting, -to an audience consisting of his admiring parents and the bride. All -went merrily, too, the second day out; but after that, disaster -overtook the party. - -They came to a stretch of newly formed ice, over which they must pass -or make a long détour. They decided to risk the shorter way. The ice -was very thin, so they got off the sleds and attempted the crossing on -foot, each one at a stated distance from the other. Treading as lightly -as possible, they started the venture, but, half-way across, a scream -rang out, the ice broke, and the two women were engulfed in the icy -current beneath. Lines were flung to them and a rescue effected, -although they remained in imminent danger of being frozen. Prompt -measures had to be taken. There was no shelter at hand, and no -immediate means of making a fire. There was only the powdery snow! In -this the half-drowned women were rolled and rubbed. The snow acted -almost like blotting paper, and they were soon comparatively dry, -although still perishingly cold. A shelter was quickly built for them -and a lamp hastily lit. Their blankets were unrolled and they were -snugly wrapped up in their capacious folds and put to sleep, to recover -from the shock. - -The very next day, late in the afternoon, as they drew near their next -sleeping place and were looking forward to a feast on the rations -stored there, another disaster befell this ill-fated arctic wedding -party. They actually sighted the wayside house and were driving right -up to it, when a deep growl came from inside and, before they had time -to descend or prepare for attack, a full sized polar bear rushed out -and hurled himself upon them. - -The women fled and the men scattered, whilst the animal took possession -of the sleds. All the spears and guns were lashed in place, so the -refugees were unarmed and powerless. The bear, muttering and growling, -tore the bales of provisions apart and feasted on the meat and blubber. -While he was so engaged, one of the hunters, bolder than the rest, -stalked his way up to one of the sleds and managed to secure a spear. -Then he opened an attack on the highwayman, after the approved manner -of bear-fighting. - -Crouching with poised weapon low on his haunches, he suddenly sprang up -and began to sing and dance about, on this side and on that, but -drawing nearer all the time to his astonished adversary. The bear -became more and more bemused by the noise and the agility of the -oncomer, until at last the latter was able to rush close in and strike -him one fatal blow with the practised spear. Although the creature had -rifled the travellers’ house and devoured their cache, it was now their -turn to skin and eat him; and so accounts were squared. - -After this, the luck of the bride and bridegroom seemed to turn again, -and the rest of the journey was accomplished in comfort and safety. The -young woman settled down happily with the Fox Channel tribe into which -she had married, and became a model wife under the vigilant eye of her -husband’s mother. - - - -Having sketched something of the education the native children receive, -and of the adult life and occupations of the tribe generally, the next -thing to deal with is death, and the elaborate ritual of an Eskimo -funeral. - -These people fear death, and the dying. Just before a man dies he is -dragged outside the house or tent, so that his spirit may not haunt it. -No dwelling where a death has taken place is ever re-occupied. Should -anyone chance to die inside, all the possessions are held to be -polluted and must be cast away. - -A corpse is sewn up in the deceased’s accustomed sleeping blanket, -placed upon a hand sled, and hauled away to the chosen place of burial, -followed by the members of the family and the relatives. It is laid -upon the bare rock (the ground being frozen hard as iron, grave-digging -is out of the question), and huge stones are piled around and upon it, -like a cairn. In the case of a man, his weapons, drinking cup and -knife, or these things in miniature, are placed beside him, his sled or -a small model of it nearby, and he is buried with a little sort of doll -representing a woman. In the case of a female, her needles, knife, cup, -and a man doll, are laid beside her. Food is deposited on a flat rock -near the pile, and the mourners sit down to eat a farewell meal with -the spirit of the dead. Then they march in single file seven times -round the cairn, following the direction of the sun, i.e., from east to -west, chanting directions to the departed:— - - - Innoserra arkiksimalarook: My life, pray let it be put right. - Illooprakoole kissearne: Through that which is pleasant alone. - Nakrook mallilugo: Through space following. - Kaumâttevoot malliglo: Following that which gives light. - - -The idea is that the spirit must follow the course of the sun, to guide -it to the realms of bliss and light whence comes that glory, and -whither it goes. - -The objects placed with the corpse under the stones are to assist and -accompany the spirit on this journey. - -The word illooprakoole is a “spirit word,” used only in addressing -spirits. It means a route through pleasant ways not beset by dangers. -The same significance, in an ordinary mortal connection, is expressed -by a different word altogether. Nakrook is another “spirit word,” -meaning the Great-Air-Space-beyond-the-Earth. The ordinary word in -everyday usage is Sillarlo. This spirit language used by the conjurors -has its parallel in every case in ordinary parlance. The following are -a few instances:— - - - Ordinary Word Meaning. Spirit word used - in everyday use. in conjurations. - - Netsuk A seal Angmeatseak - Angakok A conjuror Takreoo - Agakka The hand Issarkrateeka - Sennayo One who works Issarrayo - Aput Snow Nungooark - Kyak Canoe Agfarkjuk - Angoot A man Peyaktoiyo - etc., etc. - - -In the case of the burial of an unpopular or badly conducted man, the -people walk round the cairn in the reverse direction, i.e., from west -to east, with a different refrain. The idea being to direct the spirit -away from the light and into outer darkness, their refrain begins with -the words to the effect:— - - - “Evil will always have evil.” - - -All this is called the custom of the Kingarngtooktok. - -The mourners at length return to their village, and apparently forget -all about the funeral, unless in the case of the deceased being of ill -repute. Should the conjuror assert that his spirit has gone to the -realms of Sedna (the Eskimo hell), gifts and offerings have to be -collected in order that the necessary conjurations may effect his -translation to some other abode (the Eskimo purgatory). - -The people much dislike to have their dead bodies devoured by dogs, -lest their souls have to wander over the ice and land on vain hunting -trips; but they do not object to wolves on the same score, since the -wolves also devour the souls, and the departed, thus disposed of, will -always hunt deer successfully and live on the meat. Neither do they -object to the carrion-loving raven, as the soul in this case is also -absorbed by the bird and provided for in perpetuity. It would indeed -take a trained psychologist to determine wherein comes the distinction -as between dogs and the other scavengers! - -On the anniversary of a death, the spirit of the deceased, good or bad, -is supposed to return to the grave of its body, and is there met by its -friends still in the flesh, who bring it offerings of food. - -On the return from a funeral the mourners march round the dead man’s -dwelling from east to west, then entering, take a draught of water, for -luck in sealing. The chief mourners neither leave the house nor work on -any skins for three days in succession. Afterwards they throw away -their clothes and abandon the dwelling. After a death the community -should not wash or do their hair nor cut their nails for three days. -Those who transgress this injunction are called Nuggatyauyoot, the -disobedient. Nor are men allowed to have their stockings taken out of -their boots and dried, for the Tarnuk (spirit) will kill them in that -case. - -Unfathomable to the white man’s intelligence as many of these odd -observances may be, the root idea will explain the general scope of -them. The spirit of the deceased is earth-bound for three days, and if -of an evil disposition when alive, is liable to do much mischief to his -late family and friends. Earth-bound spirits are the Toopelât (pl.), -the evil spirits of the dead. Hence the custom of haling the dying well -outside the house. During the three following days, a knife edge, -placed outwards, is set at the entrance of the igloo to prevent the -spirit from returning, especially at night, and doing some -injury—causing some pain, sickness or death—to the sleepers within. - -When an Eskimo community hears of a death in its midst, the husband on -his return from sealing waits for the first quiet moment in his house, -and then offers his wife the third finger of the right hand, to crook, -and they say together, “Tokkoneangelagoot” (we shall not die). This is -the custom of “Killaryo.” The children then come to the mother, and in -turn she takes the third finger of each one’s left hand between her -teeth and singes a little piece of the hair on the left temple of the -child. The child is bidden to bite the mother’s jacket on the shoulder, -and say “Sittatoot,” the mother answering with another formula of -preservation. The writer has made every effort to get at the meaning of -these doings, but they seem to have lost their original significance by -now, and even the oldest natives fail to interpret them any more. They -were probably some form of supplication against the entry into the body -of the Spirit of Death. - -From much of the foregoing it will be seen that the Eskimo have a -decided belief in the soul, the innua—the spiritual, immortal essence -of man. Also that they have formed for themselves definite ideas about -the after life, either in bliss, as a reward for good living, or in -misery, as a punishment for evil—Good and Evil, of course, being -tinctured by the cast and scope of the Eskimo mind and its standards of -social life. There is little of ethical content in it all. The heaven -and hell of Eskimo conception are gross and material. Heaven is a land -of warmth and sunshine, with good hunting, absence of storms and hard -seasons, and plenty of fat seals in its ice-free sea. Hell is the dark -and bitter abode of the submarine Sedna, the enemy of man, who -engineers bad weather and times of scarcity. Descriptive legends of her -awful “house” abound among the tribes, showing a fancifulness and -imagination fantastic as nightmare. - -To deal with the subject of the Eskimo religion, however, requires a -chapter to itself. Its chief priests are the Conjurors, and its chief -festival the Sedna ceremony. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE ESKIMO LANGUAGE - - -The Eskimo tongue requires a chapter to itself, for although it can -boast of no literature—being until recently an unwritten language—it -should have exceptional interest for the student of comparative -philology. It is the speech of a primitive, untutored folk, yet its -vocabulary is very large, its grammar complete, methodical and perfect, -and its construction capable of expressing subtleties and combinations -by inflection, unlike those of any tongue, springing from the -well-known stocks of human speech. It is euphonic, agglutinative, and -complex. - -Europeans find Eskimo difficult to acquire. The writer, like others, -had largely to construct his own grammar when studying it. He spent -many long hours, first with the young folk to get the purity of the -sounds, then with the middle-aged men to arrive at correct idiom and -fluency, then with the ancients to get at the folk lore of the tribe. -Oftentimes their speech was merely a series of long and complicated -gutturals, two hours of it being enough to make a man’s head spin for -the rest of the day. But labour and pertinacity were at length -rewarded; the language was mastered, and the minds of the arctic people -revealed. - -The romance of this grammar consists in the fact that it has all been -marshalled and classified, and reduced to a system which will bear -comparison with even the classic tongues. Unless the first missionaries -to the arctic had taken up this virgin and inchoate subject and handled -it by the aid of the centuries of culture to which they were heir, -Eskimo speech must have still remained a sealed book to the -philologist, and—what is of far more importance—presented a Hill of -Difficulty for years to all those who should come after them in the -same ministry. With the aid of the grammars and dictionaries so -patiently and thoughtfully compiled in the dark, unknown and bitter -North, the would-be evangelist to-day may prepare himself for work -among the Eskimo in the merest fraction of the time it took the first -Danish envoys from civilisation. - -The original attempt was made by the well-known Danish pastor, Hans -Egede, who went to Greenland with his wife in 1721, and lived there -among the natives for many years. Eskimo was the mother-tongue of their -son, born in the country as one of its own people. In time, this lad -was sent to Denmark to study at the University of Copenhagen. On his -return to Greenland, young Egede applied himself to the scientific -study of the language he knew so intimately, and to the compilation of -a grammar and a dictionary. His example was followed by the teachers -who came after him, some of them being German linguists imbued with the -meticulous love of learning and of intellectual conquest the task -seemed preeminently to require. These tracked down and classified the -many meanings of Eskimo inflection and expression, and perfected their -system of interpretation. Hence, of course, the thoroughly Teutonic -mould into which the syntax of the Eskimo tongue has been thrown. - -All this work has formed the basis of study for everybody who has had -occasion to learn the language since, although such an undertaking has -always entailed a new and personal effort to work out the grammar and -compile a local vocabulary. For all students of Eskimo, including the -present writer, find a variety of dialects, although generally it may -be said that the language varies so inconsiderably from one region to -another, that hunters from widely different parts of the arctics can -soon—by mutual questionings—understand each other. Those in Greenland -speak practically the same tongue as those in Alaska. - -Apropos of the purely etymological aspect of this little known -language, it is interesting to recall an observation made by Dean -Farrar in a lecture before the Royal Institution, delivered in 1869. “I -hardly hesitate to prophesy,” he said, “the extreme probability that -the final answer to many high scientific problems regarding the nature -and the origin of man may come from enquiries into the languages of -nations such as these (the Chinese, Eskimo and Cherokee) rather than -from any other branch of ... palaeontological research.” - -Eskimo has indeed received some measure of study and analysis, and it -is for grammarians to tell us whether or no this prophesy has been to -any extent fulfilled. A French writer, M. Hovelaque, hesitates to -answer any question as to what group of human language the -“hyperborean” tongues should be assigned. His observations should be -recorded here perhaps, by way of a commentary on the exhaustiveness -with which the Germans seem to have gone into the subject: “Au surplus -le nom d’hyperboréennes ou arctiques, sous lequel on réunit ces -differentes langues, ne doit pas donner le change sur le plus ou moins -d’affinité soit entre elles, soit avec autres idiomes. Bien des -hypothèses sont encore permises à ce sujet, mais il est vraisemblable -qu’un certain nombre de ces idiomes résisteront à toutes les tentatives -que l’on pourra faire en vue de les laisser parmi tel ou tel groupe -suffisament connu. Il serait dangereux, en tout cas, d’accorder aux -relations des missionaires sur telle ou telles de ces langues, -notamment sur celles des Esquimaux, plus de crédit qu’il ne convient. -On n’y trouve, le plus souvent, que des rapprochements de mots, des -etymologies; en somme rien de scientifique. Ajutons, d’autre part, que -certains idiomes hyperboréens ont été étudiés avec soin et par des -auteurs compétents, ainsi qu’on peut le voir dans les publications de -l’Academie de Petersbourg.” (La Linguistique. Bibliothèque des Sciences -contemporains.) - -Up to within recent times the Eskimo had no system of writing. But -another patient evangelist, inspired by the necessity of delivering the -message of Christianity in a more permanent form than by oral teaching -only, invented what is known as the Syllabic Character for the benefit -of the Indians, at a post called Norway House. This was the Rev. James -Evans, a minister of the Canadian Methodist Church. The Syllabic -Character, which is a sound (and not a letter, or alphabetical) -writing, similar to shorthand, was designed for the Cree, but proved to -be easily adaptable to represent the Eskimo speech. Without such a -method, it is difficult to imagine how restless and roving tribes, at -this post to-day and gone to-morrow, could ever have been taught to -read. By this means, however, an ordinarily intelligent individual can -learn in eight or nine weeks. - -The principle of Mr Evans’ characters is phonetic. There are no silent -letters. Each character represents a syllable; hence no spelling is -required. As soon as the series of signs—about sixty in number—are -mastered, and a few additional secondary signs (some of which represent -consonants and some aspirates, and some partially change the sound of -the main character), the native scholar of eighty or of six years of -age can begin to read, and in a few days attain surprising accuracy. - -Such results as these, such gifts of pure intellectual effort, are -surely among the greatest blessings civilisation has to confer on the -few primitive peoples still left in the world. - -Of late years the British and Foreign Bible Society have taken charge -of the work, and now the Gospel in Cree, Syllabic and Eskimo is widely -spread. - -The Syllabic Character is known far and wide to-day in the arctics. It -has not been spread solely by white men, for the people teach each -other as they travel from tribe to tribe. The Eskimo freely write -letters to their friends and hand them over for delivery to anyone -taking a journey in the desired direction. The letters always reach -their destination, because the postman at his first sleeping place -invariably reads them all through from first to last; so that if, as -often happens, one or two should get lost, the addressee receives the -missive by word of mouth; and incidentally the postman knows -everybody’s business and is altogether the most glorious gossip who -could ever drop in and enliven the circle round the igloo lamp of a -winter’s night. - -Pen, ink and paper, it may be noted, are innovations of the new -civilisation. Prior to the advent of the white man the only idea and -the only means of calligraphy the Eskimo had was the etching on ivory -or bone. Many vigorous and spirited drawings exist of hunting or other -scenes, scratched on blade or handle, and sharply bitten in, black and -clear, by rubbing with soot from the lamps. It is not remarkable that a -knowledge of writing and reading should have spread among the people in -this way, for the Eskimo are avid of instruction, and eagerly avail -themselves of any opportunity of being taught. Where Christianity -itself has gained a footing it has been largely through the -instrumentality of some among them who have come in contact with -missionaries, and passed on to others all they had seen and heard. - -One of the most puzzling aspects of Eskimo is its “agglutinative” -character. The words all run together. All the parts of speech may be -joined to the verbal root and then conjugated in its various moods and -tenses, so that the word finally produced by this process may be sixty -or more syllables long. Students find the principal difficulty, not so -much in building up and saying these peculiar words, but in correctly -understanding what the natives say. - -The following lengthy remark will illustrate three things: first, a -characteristic mood and tense of the verb “to flee”; secondly, the -phonetic characters used; and, thirdly, the composite nature of the -word. - - - 1. Kemâyomaneangelara = I shall not wish to flee from him. - 2. ᑭᒪᔪᒪᓂᐊᖏᓚᕋ - 3. Ke-mâ-yo-ma-ne-â-ng-ge-lâ-ra. - - -The Eskimo tongue has a full complement of the parts of speech. There -is no definite article, but the numeral adjective one, attousik, takes -its place; e.g., attousik angoot, a man, i.e., one man. - -There is no form to express gender. Sex is distinguished by the word -“man” or “woman” (really male or female) added to another noun; as -kingmuk, a dog; arngnak, a woman; angoot, a man. Kingmuk arngnak, a -female dog; kingmuk angoot, a male dog. - -In many cases where English admits of only one word for an animal, -Eskimo has several. A deer is a deer in English all the year round; in -Eskimo it has a different name for its growth or habits at certain -seasons, as in the fawning period, etc. - -The noun plays an important part in the sentence on account of the -various affixes which may be attached. It is inflected for number, and -for no less than nine cases (rendered by prepositions in translation); -it draws possessive pronouns and some adjectives to itself as a magnet -draws iron filings; it has moreover a transitive and an emphatic form. -At the risk of writing a chapter which might be taken from an Eskimo -Primer, we venture to give examples of some of these intricacies of the -snow folks’ strange speech, since whatever else it may be, this can -scarcely be called a hackneyed subject! So the transitive form of the -noun is used when it is the subject of a transitive verb:— - -Ernipta nagligevâtegoot = our son, (he) loves us. - -The emphatic form:— - -Angootib erninne nagligeva = the man loves his own son. - -There are three numbers—singular, dual and plural:—Noonak, a land; -noonâk, two lands; noonât, lands; and each of these is declined with -different endings to express eight cases translated by the nominative -and vocative, and then “of,” “to,” “in,” “through,” “from,” and “like” -a land. We feel we are getting on to firm ground somewhere when it is -possible to note down such a rule as this: “Nouns in the singular end -either in a vowel or in the consonants k and t. The dual always ends in -k, and the plural in t.” - -We must not part with the noun unceremoniously. Its possibilities are -not easily exhausted. It must have cost a good deal of thinking, -originally, to get it into grammatical harness. For nouns of different -kinds have different terminations, which add all sorts of ideas to -their isolated meaning. For instance, kut, a family; innuk, an Eskimo; -innukut, the family of an Eskimo. Vik, time or place, and kooveasook, -rejoicing; hence kooveasookvik, a place of rejoicing. Again, katte, a -companion, and nerre, to eat; hence nerrekattega, my table companion, -ga being the possessive pronoun. - -The possessive pronouns, indicated by inflection, include “our two,” -“your two,” and “their two.” There is also a possessive emphatic form -of the noun, his “own” son. - -The Eskimo have names for the numerals up to six, after which figure -they use a system of addition and multiplication to express number. -Seven, for instance, is six and one; nineteen is ten and eight and one. -The figure ten is arrived at as being the count of a man’s fingers on -two hands; twenty includes his toes. Eighty is translated by “Men four, -their extremities finished.” It must indeed have been a matter of some -mild philological exhilaration to the first translators when they -arrived at such a conclusion as this! - -Then there are the verbs. This part of speech may be almost called the -whole of the Eskimo tongue. It annexes both subject and object, and can -express through various particles a sentence which would require in -English half a dozen or even ten words. There are two kinds of verbs, -transitive and intransitive; three Voices, active, passive, and middle; -the usual Moods, of which one—the subjunctive—lends itself to an -interesting inferential sort of meaning. When the person addressed can -form some idea of what the speaker wants or means, without the use of -the principal verb, this moods comes into play: “Because there are no -partridges,” is the sentence; “I didn’t get any,” is the inference. -“Because I am very hungry” leaves it to be inferred “therefore I want -some food.” When this is confined to the obvious, well and good; it -would scarcely be so clear, “Because the house is very warm” therefore -“you must make it cooler,” unless the conversation took place in a snow -house where conviviality was having a disastrous effect on the roof and -the walls. - -The verb has participles and tenses, which have many modifications of -meaning with no equivalent except an entire sentence in English. In -narration, there is an extraordinarily graphic past, not adequately -rendered by “When So-and-So lived;” but “in So-and-So’s own time of -being in the world.” There are impersonal verbs, and irregular verbs, -and all sorts of particles; potential (I can do a thing), optative (I -wish to do it), negative (I do not do it), the proper “sorting out” of -which is half the battle of learning Eskimo. Time is expressed by time -particles placed between the verb and the verbal termination; there are -also verbal and adverbial particles which have fixed rules as to -position, always preceding the time particle. Thus, a word may be -elaborated, such as Tikkenarsuakpok, “He-endeavours-to-arrive,” or -Tikkenarsuatsinakpok, “He-endeavours-always-to-arrive;” and -“I-indeed-hear-you,” or “I-indeed-hear-only-you.” - -It would be perhaps superfluous to offer further notes on the Eskimo -tongue, since the foregoing will suffice to give some idea of its scope -and complexity. The syntax falls under two headings, the formation of -compound words and the arrangement of these into sentences. The -position of words in a sentence, particularly a short one, may be -changed without altering the sense. It is no part of the present -writer’s purpose to do more, here, than to sketch the briefest outline -of one whole section of his subject. To do justice to this language -would require very considerable space. Again, there is no particular -object in adding a chart of the syllabic characters, which are purely -arbitrary, have no history beyond that already given, and belong in no -sense to the genius of the Eskimo themselves. The only recommendation -they might have—if the general reader could pronounce them—is that they -far more nearly give the sounds of what is really a flowing and not -unmusical tongue than the barbaric conglomeration of outlandish -consonants and double vowels which, as a poor expedient, represent to -the eye only, Eskimo words in our inadequate letters. It is for this -reason that we have so often given, in the foregoing pages, only the -translation and not the Eskimo words themselves. In Roman characters -they convey a hideous idea to the eye, and a still worse idea to the -ear. - -It is for the future to reveal whether or no the newly found gift of -writing will lead these people on to extensive literature. The -Moravians have published some well known books, such as “Christie’s Old -Organ,” etc. If so, by the analogy of every literature in the world, it -will begin with verse, by the enshrining of the folk tales immemorially -dear to every nation, and by the composition of some sort of Eskimo -saga. The Greenland Eskimos composed long songs in honour of Fridtjof -Nansen before he took leave of them, after the first crossing of their -icy continent. It may be that these Eskimo poems, printed in his book, -together with Dr. Rink’s collection of “Tales and Traditions of the -Eskimo,” and Dr. Boas’ similar collection of the fables of this people -(“The Central Eskimo”) and the present writer’s contribution to the -same subject, constitute so far the bulk of the offering made by these -children of the arctic to the literature of mankind. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -LEGENDS - - -There exists among the Baffin Islanders, as among all the other tribes, -one long consecutive legend in particular, which should rank, if not -with the great Scandinavian and Icelandic Sagas beloved of William -Morris and of Wagner, at least with some of the most picturesque of -Grimm’s immortal fairy tales, and certainly with any of the strange and -monstrous legends of Kalevala, the Finnish cycle of national song. - -Students of national story-telling will probably find analogies and -relationships between the Eskimo story of “Sedna” and the -characteristic folk tales of the other arctic or sub-arctic peoples -east and west. “Sedna” is beguiled into marriage by a gallant hunter -who is really not a man at all, but a sea bird. This sort of tragedy, -or disillusionment, is common in Eskimo fable. In one Alaskan-Eskimo -tale, the heroine marries the human semblance of a bear. - -The Sedna legend—a religious legend around which turns a large volume -of Eskimo superstition—has its repulsive as well as its poetic aspects. -But to one who has lived intimately with these people, it would seem -that so strange and awesome a story of the wild north as the tragedy -and death of Sedna should be set, in song, to the metre of Kalevala and -Hiawatha. It is the metre of a child-like version of adventures -happening to a child-like folk. - -Belief in this legend, in the existence and the power of Sedna, a -maleficent sea-goddess of the underworld, forms a large part of the -Eskimo religion, and the annual autumnal festival arising out of it is -the principal celebration in their calendar. In connection with this -phantasy, it is noteworthy that the Eskimo conception of the spirit of -evil—or at least of hostility to man—is unlike that of any other -nation. The Eskimo devil is a woman. - -The Eskimos are great story-tellers, and the bulk of their fables, -handed down by oral tradition from generation to generation, has -assumed a stereotyped form. Their narration demands the exercise of an -art in which the arctic folk excel—the art of vivid narration. Many of -these tales begin as recitatives; some are almost wholly related in -verse or musical form; others are told in prose, with every sort of -appropriate gesture, modulation of the voice, and facial expression. A -number of them are onomatopoeic in character, imitating the calls and -cries of the birds and creatures of the wild. Story-telling is one of -the principal features of the social life of these people of the north, -and bulks largely in the programme of all festivities. - -Many of the Eskimo legends would require a certain amount of -bowdlerising before they could be presented to the world as a book of -Eskimo tales, a contribution to the folk lore of the nations; but some -of them (notably the well dramatised story of the migration of the -Saglingmiut, with its very essence of primitive arctic life) could be -retold intact. Ethnologists have made a fairly representative -collection of these stories in the course of the past fifty years, and -most of them are to be found in the bibliography of arctic travel. -Those incidental to these pages, with the exception, of course, of the -Sedna tradition, are fresh contributions to the subject, not included, -to the best of the writer’s belief, in any other work. - -An amusing tale, related to the writer, is that of the amorous youth -who made a particularly disappointing mistake. - -In a certain village there lived a lovely maiden with her father. She -possessed little but a happy disposition and a ready smile. The old man -himself was so poor that his one dream of the future turned on the hope -of his daughter securing a first-class hunter for a husband, who would -provide for the two of them ever after. No young man, attracted by the -girl’s bright eyes, was made welcome over the lamp in that igloo unless -her father satisfied himself as to his credentials. But, as luck will -have it apparently all the world over, the daughter’s love was won by -the most ineligible suitor of them all—a youth poor in everything but -in courage and hope and promise. The old man rejected all his overtures -and rudely denied him his daughter. So the two were driven to form -plans of their own. - -They decided to run away together, and that she should merely feign -resistance when her lover arrived to carry her off. The night came for -the attempt. The old man and the girl retired to rest as usual, rolled -up in their blankets on the sleeping bench, and the lamp burnt low. -Now, the approach to their abode was across a neck of ice spanning a -deep ravine. The youth came along, and cautiously crept over the narrow -bridge. Quickly entering the igloo, and perceiving the two sleeping -forms, he snatched up one of them, furs and all, and rushed back whence -he had come. To evade all possibility of pursuit, he smashed down the -ice bridge behind him. Then, burning to look upon the face of his -bride, he drew the blankets from about her head—only to discover with -the utmost consternation that he had carried off the father instead of -the girl! Dropping his burden none too gently, he made off at top speed -and fled into the night. The story-teller failed to draw upon his -imagination as to what happened in the domestic circle thus -disastrously broken up, after that. - -To return, however, to the chief of the legends—the legend of Sedna: - -There was, once upon a time, a beautiful Eskimo girl, called Sedna. She -was her widowed father’s only daughter, and they abode together by the -sea shore. As she grew up she was wooed by many a youth of her own -tribe, and of others who came from afar. But to no single one of her -lovers did her heart incline in the least. She refused altogether to -marry. She had a proud spirit and delighted in disdain. At last, -however, a day came when a very handsome young hunter appeared upon the -scene, from a far-off strange country. Neither Sedna nor Anguta, her -father, had ever heard of him before. He had beautiful skins cunningly -wrought with a stripe in the coat, and a spear of ivory. His kyak drove -inshore over the shining sea; but instead of landing on the beach, he -poised it on the edge of the surf and called to the maiden in her tent -above the strand to come off to him. He wooed her with an enticing -song: “Come to me; come into the land of the birds, where there is -never hunger, where my tent is made of the most beautiful skins. You -shall rest on soft bearskins.... Your lamp shall always be filled with -oil, your pot with meat.” - -Sedna, framed in the entrance of the leathern hangings, refused. She -would not come down. Wholly won at first sight, maidenlike she must -refuse! So he began to plead and woo. He drew for her a picture of the -home where he would take her, the rich furs that he would give, and the -necklaces of ivory. Even though she vowed she wanted no husband, let -her come down with her bag, her sealskin sack of treasures, and fly -with him! Sedna made the coy boast, “Am I not the only one who does not -want a husband?” but even as she said it, her hand fell from the tent -flap and she stepped down towards the sea. “Let my bag be brought....” - -He placed her aboard his kyak and paddled off on his return journey. So -Sedna went away with her lover and her father saw her no more on the -cliff by the seashore that was her home. - -Came swift awakening and a bride’s tears! Sedna’s lover was no man at -all, but a phantom man whose real self was a Bird! One of those -peerless creatures of the arctic sky who, with “wide wing ... -broad-spread to glide upon the free blue road” above the crashing -floes, wheels over the bitter waters of the North. Some have it a -Fulmar, and some a Loon. It was a Spirit bird, having power to -transform itself into the semblance of a human thing. Falling in love -with the maiden, it had taken the form of the hunter and decoyed her to -its own. - -Sedna was inconsolable. She had the horror of a very human girl at her -strange mate, and could by no means make his land her home and his -people hers. The legend has it that the Loon provided for her as an -ordinary hunter would have done; but she was wild and homesick, and -passed her days bewailing, as lone and desolate an exiled maiden as -ever cried, “Woe, woe!” - -(Sedna’s disillusionment is a note in the story wholly coarse to -European ideas. The Eskimos are a people without prudery. A perfectly -natural incident on the journey revealed that the lover was a bird.) - -But the father wearied for his daughter—the Eskimo word has the loving -possessive “his own daughter”—and at length fitted out his boat and -sailed away to that distant coast whither she had been borne. The -husband Bird was from home when he came to this land, and it was a sad -and sorry tale that greeted his ears from the wind-lashed, spray-beaten -maiden that had been his smiling, contented child. Without more ado, he -lifted her into his boat, made one swift turn, and fell to retracing -his course. The craft—a tiny mark—was soon lost to sight in the welter -of the waves. - -Then the Loon, returning, enquired and said, “But where is my wife?” -The cry echoed round the naked cliffs. And answering cries, wind-borne -on the darkening air, told him that his wife had fled. Her father had -come and snatched her back, in grief and anger, to his bosom. - -At once, the Bird, assuming the Phantom form again, followed in his -kyak; but when the Father saw him coming he covered up his daughter -with the furs and things he had loaded in the boat. Swiftly the kyaker -bore down upon them, and rushing alongside demanded to see his wife. - -“Let me see my wife!” he cried. “Let me only see her; pray let me see -her!” - -The angry father refused, and held determinedly on his way. - -“Then let me see her hands only. I only ask to see her hands!” the -Kokksaut cried, to be passionately rejected again. - -Then, bowing his head over the opening of his kyak in grief and -desolation, the kyaker fell behind. He had failed! His manhood had -failed; Sedna had hated and left as true a lover as ever a man could -have been to her, and he would no more of it! With one wild sweep of -his wings, he was a bird again, the kyak a mote upon the waters -beneath, and a stroke or two of his great vans brought him above the -boat of the fugitives. He hung there awhile, uttering the strange cry -of the Loon; but at last dropped away into the darkness. - -Then there arose a storm—a black arctic storm—out at sea. - -And Sedna’s father was stricken with fear. Terror of the bird-man -gripped his heart. Terror of the offended powers of sky and sea nerved -him to a bitter sacrifice. The raging waves demanded Sedna, and he must -give her up, and repulse her struggling, and see her drown. He bent -forward, and with one fearful thrust, cast his daughter out of the -boat—so to propitiate the offended sea! - -The wild, white face rose to the surface, and despairing hands caught -at the gunwale. But the Terror was not to be defrauded, and the father, -frenzied with grief and the desperate determination of his deed, -snatched up an axe—a heavy thing of ivory and wood—and brought it down -upon those pathetic, clinging fingers. The maiden fell back into the -sea (and the first joints of her maimed and bleeding hands turned into -seals). But, coming up again, with agony in her eyes she made another -struggle to catch at the boat. Three times the drowning creature came -back; but she was the doomed victim of the sea, and the father must -consummate the sacrifice. Three times he smote and chopped at her -mangled hands. (The second joints became the ojuk, the ground seals; -the third joints made the walrus; and whales sprang of the rest.) - -Apropos of this reeking legend, it must be borne in mind that the -Eskimo believe implicitly in Spirits and in their power to demand -sacrifice. The father, believing the storm to be an expression of the -anger of the Sea god (on behalf apparently of the sea-bird) and a -demand for the daughter he had reclaimed, did not hesitate to give her -up and to steel himself against her drowning agony. - -At last Sedna sank, to rise no more. - -And the storm sank, too. The boat presently came to land. The father -entered his tent and lay down beneath it and slept a sleep of -exhaustion and overspent grief. In the tent was fastened Sedna’s dog. -But that night there was a high tide which washed up the beach, -demolished the tupik, and drowned the two living creatures within. So -that man and dog rejoined the maiden in the depths of the sea. There -they have dwelt ever since, in some “house” or cave of Eskimo -imagination. There they preside over one whole region—called -Adlivun—where souls are imprisoned for punishment for a while or all -time, after death. - -The sea creatures who owe their origin to Sedna belong to her and she -controls them. She protects them, and causes the storms which bring -wreckage and famine to the kyakers and sealers. Hence she is in Eskimo -mythology inimical to mankind, the source of the worst evils they know, -a spirit who has to be propitiated or quelled by ceremony, as the case -may be. - -She is considered to be of enormous stature, with two plaits of hair, -each thick as an arm, and she has only one eye. The other was pierced -and put out in her drowning struggle. - -The writer has seen an example of this sort of sacrifice in actual -life, and it redeems the story of Sedna’s father from the senseless -selfishness of which it seems to be compounded by some narrators. Two -boats containing a party of hunters were returning from sealing, when a -squall struck them. Before sail could be taken in, one boat overturned -and the men were thrown into the water. They all climbed back except -one, who was numbed with cold and dazed with shock. He did not sink -immediately, being held up by his deerskins. He even drifted close by -the boat, and easily within reach. One man, indeed, did reach out and -touch him with an oar, but when he failed to grasp it the general -decision was to let him drown. He was “material for the Tongak” -spirits, claimed by the Spirit of the sea—as was Sedna in the legend. -He simply drowned in the sight of the others, and of the women on -shore, who covered their faces with their hoods and gave the death -wails, i.e., began to shriek and howl in the frenzied manner proper to -the circumstances. - -It is possible that no better story than that of Sedna (with all its -elements of phantasy, human emotion, poetry and savagery) could be -found in illustration of a good deal Dr. Marrett has to tell us in his -“Psychology and Folk Lore,” by way of reducing primitive folk-lore and -primitive procedure (religious or medical, or both, arising out of it) -to a science of primitive psychology. His masterly analysis of the -outlook of the wholly untutored mind on the phenomena of cause and -effect demonstrates quite clearly the sincerity and the obviousness of -the “savage” rites and customs which seem to us so barbaric, irrelevant -and monstrous. - -The Sedna myth gives rise to the taboo, and the practices of the Sedna -ceremony. The aboriginal theory of things (the origin of the sea -creatures, the cause of storms, etc.), leads to aboriginal methods of -dealing with them “On (close) acquaintance, such as perhaps is to be -obtained only on the field,” says Dr. Marrett, “the savage turns out to -be anything but a fool, more especially in anything that relates at all -directly to the daily struggle for existence ... common sense is no -monopoly of civilisation,” although the educated application of it to -the material and spiritual needs of life may easily be so. The interest -of the primitive theurgist is a practical one, and the elements in his -problem are only two, namely, a supernormal power to be moved and a -traditional rite that promises to move it. The special function of the -conjuror or the medicine man among aboriginal peoples is to grapple -with the abnormal, and “this ever tends to constitute for the savage a -distinct dispensation, a world of its own.” There is in such a story as -the Sedna legend some groundwork of common sense and verifiable -experience; and in the practices which arise out of it, this has to be -taken into account, together with some very real occult content -(whether of suggestion or hypnotism, the most modern of sciences alone -could say), and some conscious fraud no doubt on the part of the -conjurors. - -Prior, however, to an account of this ceremony, it will be as well -perhaps to devote some space to the conjurors themselves. For, among -the Eskimo, as among other primitive peoples, the typical “medicine -man” is a specialist, trained for his vocation and initiated into an -exclusive guild. He is by no means necessarily a fraud and a charlatan. -Normally, the primitive faith healer has as much faith in himself and -his methods as his patients have, and between the two of them—when it -is a question of a mental reaction to be obtained—there is no reason -why absolute success should not crown his efforts. In the sphere of -material results these amazing methods seem to be wholly empirical, and -yet it cannot be denied that the Eskimo conjurors sometimes produce -effects comparable only to some of the well-known demonstrations of the -“magic” of the East. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE CONJURORS - - -The greatly esteemed profession of Conjuror is open among the Eskimo to -both men and women. Anyone is eligible to become a student in the rites -and lore of the caste, but only those who pass its tests (i.e., only -those who attain, not only a really high degree of the power of mental -concentration, of intuition and character reading; but some true occult -gift), are allowed to practise. The art has its own hierarchy of -professors according to their degree of aptitude and initiation. Only -those with some particular qualification, natural or acquired, such as -the power of throwing themselves into true trance, attain the highest -degree of dignity. Aspirants to the position of conjuror who fall short -of this, but have yet studied and schooled themselves to some purpose -in the art, are not denied its practice altogether, but hold lesser -rank and officiate on minor occasions. - -The would-be conjuror is put through a fairly long and fairly severe -course of training, the whole of which, wrapped up in an immense amount -of magical circumlocution and sheer imposture, simply tends to enhance -his intellectual qualities, such as they may be, at the expense of the -grosser appetites of the Eskimo lay individual. - -The candidates to the caste—youth or young woman—begins by choosing a -conjuror—male or female—under whom to study. And immediately the -neophyte enters upon his apprenticeship. The length of time this may -last rests upon his capacity to learn the rites and acquire the -psychological stock-in-trade of a conjuror. It is to the teacher’s -advantage to spin out this period of tuition as long as possible, since -for the whole term of his training the disciple is the body servant of -the master, and performs for him even the most menial offices. The -novice is a sort of articled pupil into the bargain. He pays for his -initiation. - -First of all, he has to acknowledge all his breaches of the communal -law and custom, and confess to the conjuror whatever of wrongdoing -there may have been in his life. The Eskimo believe in this sort of -confession, and it is frequently enjoined. He receives forgiveness, and -thereupon embarks upon a wholly new course of life. - -Fasting and abstinence and the mastery of the appetites of eating and -drinking are the first trials, and the first victories he has to win. -The Eskimo are vast eaters, and so much of their diet being flesh meat -and in the raw state, their physique tends to grossness. This grossness -has to be remedied if the conjuror is to be capable of dominating other -minds by the greater force and clarity of his own. The neophyte eschews -all luxuries whilst learning, again, of course, with the idea of -self-command and of that detachment from the unnecessary things of life -which—under civilised conditions also—hang so many trammels round a -finer aspiration. In the terms of Eskimo experience, this involves -allowing the hair to grow long and hang down; to eat with the hands -covered; and to go to rest without discarding the clothes. The strict -diet, the austerities, the real course of mental training, improve the -candidate’s natural powers of mind, enhance his memory, and concentrate -his will and consolidate so solid a belief in the system and powers he -is attaining that the graduate has really, at last, something -professional and exclusive to offer the community. - -To begin with, the aspirant has to become absolutely familiar with all -the ancient customs of the people, and their significance. Then he has -to study the spirit language, the tongue of the conjurors—that is to -say, the language in which spirits are to be addressed and in which -they express themselves through the initiate. He proceeds to study the -cause of sickness (this however in a superstitious and not a natural -sense), and what penalties to inflict for the wrongdoing which sickness -is supposed to indicate. He has to learn all the various incantations -for various occasions, and exactly how to set about them. - -All this is merely the first stage of his apprenticeship. He begins to -show of what stuff he is made, so far as the career of conjuror is -concerned, when it comes to dealing with matters of guilt and secrecy. -The accomplished conjuror must be able to detect and affix guilt. Here -he is concerned entirely with the minds of his fellow men, and trying -to fathom and read them. The Eskimo mind is as tortuous as the Eastern. -The conjuror pursues his own method, which may have a good deal to -recommend it in the eyes of those who have made a study of the occult, -but which is not the method of direct evidence and deduction. He throws -himself into a perfectly genuine trance, and stakes everything on the -intuitions of that state and the awesome effect of it upon the -interested beholders. - -To do this the conjuror sits down with his face to the wall, and -drawing his hood well over his features, rocks himself backwards and -forwards, calling the while on his familiar spirit (his Tongak) to come -to him. He continues this howling and rocking until such concentration -of mind is effected that he becomes unconscious; he foams at the mouth. -Whilst in this condition of self-induced hypnotism—or however the -spiritists may explain it—his spirit, it is believed, goes below to -Sedna, or above to the regions of beatitude, to find out what has been -the cause of the guilt in question, and discover the requisite -punishment. - -The interesting thing about this performance is that it is by no means -the tissue of imposture one might suppose. The Eskimo conjuror may be -no more and no less a fraud than the medium of a spiritistic séance. -The writer has been creditably assured by these practitioners that the -trance ensues in the vision of a great white light (like the light -thrown on a sheet by the magic lantern), and then in that illumination -they see the whole scene of the supposed crime re-enacted, all the -people implicated in it, and its every detail. They are told, or -inspired, what penalty to inflict. On returning to consciousness, the -vision is not forgotten, but sharply remembered. The conjuror is able -to accuse the offender, to question him, and extort a confession from -him. The penalty generally takes the form of some obnoxious task to be -performed or some fine to be paid in kind. - -This power to see the white light and to project in it the thoughts, -probably, of the assistants at the conjuration—for the performance, -when genuine, amounts to nothing less—is really a remarkable psychic -feat. Probably the conjurors understand it as little as the laity; they -have only trained themselves to achieve it, and they explain it -according to the fantastic body of superstition which constitutes the -Eskimo religion. It is only after long practice and the sustained -effort after great mental concentration that the manifestation is -attained, that the light can be seen, and incidents recorded in it. -This is the final test for the honours of full conjurorship. The -candidates sit night after night with the teacher, faces to the wall, -and the lamps burning low, shutting out all extraneous objects and -distractions, in the endeavour to see the light, to pass into trance. -Those who remain for ever unable to arrive at this, fail to pass the -test, and are rejected from the class of the full-fledged. They must -content themselves with minor dignities in the order of conjurors. One -of these inferior grades is that of the Kunneyo, the one who incants -for the seal hunters. Another is the Makkosâktok, the one who goes -round with the whip during the Sedna ceremonies; and a third is the -Noonageeksaktok, another official at the great annual celebration. - -On the completion of his training and on his passing the final test for -the witch-doctorate, the candidate is publicly acknowledged as a -Conjuror. He makes a visitation of all the dwellings in the settlement, -performs incantations in each, and receives in payment a number of -charms, such as small pieces of carved ivory or bits of deerskin -fringes. These things are valueless in themselves, but signify that the -tribesfolk have accepted the new conjuror. - -It is easy to see how the conjurors acquire the power they undoubtedly -have over the people, and easy to imagine how much of fraud, -imposition, hypocrisy and sheer self-seeking could be practised under -the thick cloak of their rites, incantations, superstitions, and—last, -but not least—their clever trickery and legerdemain. What may be -perhaps not quite so easy is to convey to the reader an idea of the -real good faith and of some demonstrable if inexplicable occult command -underlying much of the conjuror’s art. The whole subject is too big, -either from the point of view of primitive superstitions and procedure, -or from that of occultism, to be dealt with at much length here and -now; but by way of illustrating the point that the Eskimo conjuror can -perform miracles (collective hypnotism?) as striking as the well-known -Eastern trick of the mango-tree, one of the incidents of the Sedna -ceremony may be instanced. - -At a certain stage of the Sedna proceedings, the conjuror, who has the -spirit of a walrus or bear for Tongak (familiar spirit), spears himself -through the jacket, or is speared by others, deep in the breast. When -this whole performance is not merely a spectacular trick, it seems to -be quite genuinely done. A line is attached to the deeply embedded, -barbed spearhead, and the people catch hold of this and pull on it and -haul the impaled man about, to prove that he is fairly caught, as the -victim of a hunt might be. The conjuror is bathed in blood. At length, -however, he is let go, and he makes his wounded way alone to the -seashore. Here the Tongak releases him from the spear, and after a -short space of time he returns to the festival whole and well as ever, -with no sign about him except his torn clothing to indicate the rough -handling he has undergone. - -The whole stock-in-trade indeed of the Eskimo conjuror is a certain -very demonstrable, acquired, occult power. Besides this, he has a good -memory, an immense amount of shrewdness and cunning, an intimate -knowledge of animals and their habits, of weather conditions and -seasons, and, above all, of course, a capacity to judge of his fellow -men. - -It is after the period of training is over that the conjuror becomes -the bestial, sensual creature, full of cupidity and trickery, he is so -often represented to be. After graduating in the guild, no further -prohibitions and denials are observed. He marries, indeed; but no woman -of the community is safe from him. Under one professional pretext or -another, he may have his way with each and every one of them, with or -without her own particular man’s consent. This, however, is seldom -withheld. On the whole, monogamy is the rule among the Eskimo, although -there are plenty of exceptions. The writer has known a conjuror with -three wives, two of whom were sisters. - -When a wife is childless it is a great grief both to her and her -husband. The conjuror is called in for professional advice and to find -out why she is not favoured by the spirits. He resorts to his -incantations, but takes an obvious advantage of the situation (quite as -much for his own ends as for the satisfaction of the would-be parents), -and all is satisfactorily arranged. Again, when a man is very ill and -has been performed over by the conjuror, one of the things demanded by -the latter is that the patient’s coat shall be brought to his house in -the evening by the man’s wife, and not taken home again until next day. - -Eskimo life is full of this sort of thing, and the crudities of -relationships entering into any of their typical folk-stories make -these a little hard to reproduce in a manner acceptable to better -taste. But there is certainly some distinction to be drawn between the -primitive doings of a people struggling numerically against the -cruellest conditions of life nature can impose, (who moreover have no -conception of the ethical idea of morality), and mere promiscuity and -vice as practised for their own sakes by the “civilised” peoples of far -more favoured lands. - -One of the commonest occasions of calling in the aid of the conjuror is -during bad weather. The days have been dark and stormy, with bitter -gales and snowstorms, so that the hunters have been unable to go -afield. The witch doctor arms himself with a whip—either an ordinary -dog whip or one made from sea-weed—and a knife, and rushes out to join -the howling elements. He slashes the wind and shouts down the gale. -“Taba! Taba! Namuktok!” (Stop! Stop! It is enough!). - -And presently the wind drops, and the accustomed death-like stillness -of the frozen world supervenes upon the uproar. - -The conjuror of course could read the signs of the weather even more -astutely than the practised hunters, and awaited the moment when the -gale had spent itself for the exhibition of his influence. - -After the death of anyone looked upon as more or less of a criminal, -the conjuror is called upon to drive the evil-intentioned spirit of the -departed away from his old home. He does this by shading his eyes -carefully in the effort to perceive the spirit. Then, with a knife or -spear he rushes about, yelling and shouting, and stabbing as if at his -invisible foe, calling upon it to depart and go to its own place below. -At length he vanquishes the spirit, and announces that it is to be -dreaded no more; by their belief in him he removes their fears and -restores tranquility of mind and body; whereupon he receives his dues -and the perturbed and anxious relatives recover their poise and -cheerfulness. - -In order to grasp how seriously the Eskimo believe their lives, and -every adventure of their lives, to be beset by unseen influences, it -must be remarked that the main idea of their uncouth religion is that, -not only man, but all things, animate or inanimate, have souls. Rocks, -wood, earth, water, sun, moon, stars, fire, fog, icebergs, plants, all -animals, all creeping things, and even hunting implements, have spirits -which never die. The Tarnuk, or soul of a man, has the shape of a man, -but is about one inch in height, and is to be discovered in the hand of -a conjuror or in that of a new-born babe. The soul of a bear is like a -bear; that of a walrus like a walrus; but the soul of a deer resembles -a spider, and that of a salmon, a man! The souls of rocks are like -sturdy, thickset men; the soul of the earth looks like a piece of -liver. Animals’ souls are black and hairless, but those of some -inanimate objects are clothed in deerskin. It would indeed take a great -deal of study to determine how and why the people should have arrived -at these fantastic notions and distinctions. Perhaps it would never be -given to the mind of the modern white man to fathom the workings of -such primitive intelligence, building up for itself a monstrous, -nightmare scheme of things, on foundations of the blackest ignorance. - -For sheer phantasy, the writer is aware of course that the beliefs of -the Eskimos are paralleled by those of many other uncivilised peoples. -It may be that along lines of comparative savage mythology some -generalisations might emerge which would throw light upon the whole -subject. Here, however, would lie the study of a lifetime. - -Briefly put, the Eskimo religion consists in the belief in a -multiplicity of spirits, good and bad, and in one Supreme Spirit, of -whom no fear is felt because he has no evil intention towards man. The -conjuration and propitiation of the evil spirits is the constant -business of the conjuring class, although everyone has some degree of -power to deal with them. Man was made, indeed, by the Great Supreme -Spirit, and his name was given, Âkkolukju; and woman, Omaneetok, was -fashioned from his left-hand floating rib. - -The Eskimo very highly esteem their own race, but hold Europeans in -considerable contempt. They have an unpleasant legend of a woman and a -dog being cast away together in a boat or on a floe, by way of -accounting for the origin of the whites. - -Man’s spirit, like the spirit of everything else, is immortal, and -destined to a future life in bliss, in the region where the Great -Spirit presides over a happy community of very prosperous Eskimo, such -as has already been described. Those who die on the hunt go to this -heaven, also women in childbirth, and those who die a violent death by -any sort of accident. The road to this Eskimo heaven is beset by many -obstacles and pitfalls. It is haunted by savage animals, who lie in -wait to attack, maim, and kill the wayfarers upon it. Legend has it -that at the end of this road, at the rim of this world which is the -gate to the next, two huge rocks are set, confronting each other across -the narrow path. They sway ominously and often crash together, so that -the soul seeking heaven has to run the risk of being caught and crushed -between them as he endeavours to get through. - -All illness other than that derived from these causes is looked upon as -a consequence of sin, i.e., the failure to be a good member of the -community, the having been of a quarrelsome turn, bad-tempered, mean or -ungenerous, and the having failed to own up to these things when -exhorted by the conjuror. When a sick person, having confessed yet -dies, it is believed that he had some mental reservation and was not -quite honest about his confession. These bad folk go to the Eskimo -hell, to the awful realms of Sedna. But a third idea of a sort of -purgatory comes in, a place to which the damned can escape before they -are finally admitted to bliss. The spirit of the conjuror is able to go -below and fight the evil one, and liberate the soul in question. The -whole transaction is generally a somewhat expensive one for the -relatives. - -All animals have their guardian spirits (Tongak) who have power over -their souls (Innua). The bear, walrus, killer, ground seal, etc., have -the best and strongest familiars. It is the custom for each conjuror to -adopt one of these spirits as his own, in order to avail himself of its -attributes and powers. The bear is a special favourite, since his -Tongak is possessed of cunning and intelligence above the ordinary. -Sedna, the goddess or protectress of the sea creatures in her briny -underworld, controls and safeguards their bodies only; each one’s -particular Tongak controls its soul. The conjuror, in turn, controls -the Tongak; so this important personage can counteract Sedna’s -machinations against successful hunting. The hunter invokes the aid of -the conjuror, who thereupon causes the Tongak of the seals to enter -into the man and lead him to success. This familiar companionship is -forfeited if the hunter commit some breach of the law and does not -confess as much to the witch doctor, or if he fail to pay for the -services rendered. - -Eskimo mythology is almost an inexhaustible subject. In addition to the -active, informing spirit called the Tongak, which everyone possesses -and which can be invoked for guidance or assistance by every man at his -need, all other beings, animate and inanimate, possess an indwelling -spirit peculiar to themselves alone. This individual, permanent, -presiding spirit is the Innua, something distinct from the patron -spirit, the Tongak. - -The writer has collected an immense mass of notes on the Eskimo -deities, as they were described to him by the most creditable of the -conjurors. He believes that his list is unique, and offers the student -of such matters entirely original material. In it are enumerated no -less than fifty of these tutelary spirits, with their personal -descriptions (generally uncouth and imaginative to a degree), their -supposed habitat—earth, air, or water—and their characteristic -activities or patronages. - -There is Keekut, for instance, a being who lives on the land, in -appearance is like a dog without hair, and who works in a more or less -maleficent manner. There is Segook, a spirit with a head like a crow, a -body like that of a human being, and who is black. It has wings. It is -a benefactor to the tribesfolk, and brings them meat in its beak. It is -fabled to exist upon the eyes of deer and seals. The list is -monotonously fabulous, and could only be wearisome to the general -reader. - -Ataksok lives in the sky. He is like a ball, and has the means of -bringing joy to his beholders as often as he may be invoked by the -conjurors. Akseloak is the spirit of rocking stones. When called upon, -he arrives rolling, and falls flat upon his face at the witch doctor’s -feet. Ooyarraksakju is a female spirit, and lives in the rocks and -boulders; is beneficent in her activities. - -So the list goes on. It would doubtless have a value all its own for -the student of primitive imagery or fable, and form an addition to -ethnographical researches on the Eskimo; but to give it here in extenso -would perhaps serve little or no purpose. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -THE SEDNA CEREMONY - - -At the end of the arctic summer, before the young ice begins to form -again along the shores, there comes a spell of tempestuous weather, -with frequent storms and high, rough tides. Food grows more and more -scarce as sealing increases in risk and difficulty. Those intrepid -hunters who do venture out, return empty-handed day after day, and it -grows high time for something to be done. The goddess Sedna is supposed -to be causing these storms and all this dirty weather at sea, to -prevent her animals being killed. And so a conjuration has to be -performed to liberate the seals. - -This is the occasion of the most elaborate festival in the Eskimo -calendar. - -It begins by the conjurors, in full dress, calling the people -altogether to dispense them for a short space from their marriage ties. -Each witch doctor is masked, and clad in women’s clothing. The idea of -his amazing get-up, apart from the usual intention to awe the people by -grotesqueness or hideousness, is to disguise the face and body, to -efface as it were the well-known individual, to make the people lose -sight of the conjuror in the representation of a great power at work -among them. His dress is partly that of a man and partly that of a -woman, and he carries the usual implements used by both sexes. This is -to bring the needs of either before the great power, and to intercede -for their respective needs. - -To begin with, the Angakok wears several pairs of nether garments and -boots, until he looks very big and out of his usual proportions. He has -a woman’s pointed tunic, whose sleeves are elaborately trimmed with -fringes and charms. The hood is pulled down over his head, and he wears -a mask of black skin tattooed all over. On his shoulders he carries an -inflated sealskin float, and over his arm a coil of walrus hide. In his -left hand he bears a woman’s skin scraper, and in his right a spear. -Thus caparisoned, he emerges from his tent and begins by pairing off -the couples. - -The tribesfolk are ranged in two long lines, the men and women facing -each other, and a lane between. Then the “Kailuktetak” (a minor order -among the initiate) open the ceremonies. Each conjuror is furnished -with a deer-horn scraper like a long curved knife (used in the ordinary -course of things for scraping the newly formed ice from the kyaks as -they are drawn out of the water), to which is attached a small piece of -bearskin. He starts off down the living lane, dancing and shouting in -glee, touching first a man and then a woman with the wand as he goes. -The two thus indicated pair off, and are man and wife for the next -twenty-four hours, or perhaps a little longer. The fun is fast and -furious. Much of the whole thing has been prearranged, and the element -of surprise is rather subordinate to that of anticipation. The -conjurors choose among the women for themselves first, and next for -those hunters who have had sufficient eye for beauty and sufficient of -this world’s goods to mention the fact privately and persuasively -beforehand. - -There has been quite a stream of visitors to the conjuror’s house of -late, and quite a number of presents made, which forgetfulness on the -part of that worthy has failed to return. So that the pairing off on -this auspicious day is largely a prearranged affair. However, it -occasions plenty of Eskimo laughter and delight. The enceinte (and the -old folks) are not included in this adventure. They play the part of -spectators only, but applaud or deride as heartily as the rest over -each mating. These women are Kooveayootiksatyonerktoot, i.e., -“no-longer-the-material-for-a-rejoicing,” having apparently given -hostages to fortune already, or having sufficiently fulfilled the hopes -of the community. Children are paired off first—boys and girls of no -more than twelve years—and then the adults. - -Each couple, as they are selected, join hands and walk away towards the -man’s dwelling, attended for a little distance by the Kiluktetak who -has picked them out, dancing all round them and about them like a mad -thing. If they chance to touch him, they too begin to dance, and to -voice their excitement in no uncertain manner. On entering the -dwelling, each drinks a little water and mentions the place of his or -her birth. - -The conjuror has an âvetak slung upon his breast, that is, the entire -skin of a seal which, inflated, is generally used as a float on the -kyak. On this day, however, it serves another purpose. As the couple -presently return to the Kilukletak, they pour water into this, and each -individual, drinking from it again and again, mentions the place of his -or her birth a second time. The rite is official, and sets the -conjuror’s seal upon the proceedings and its consequences. - -The root idea of this pairing off is to strengthen a race that might -easily be weakened by too much inter-marriage, and to increase the -birth-rate. The writer has elsewhere commented on the defensibility of -such a custom—from the Eskimo point of view—but it remains to be added -here that, as regards parentage, the father of a child is always known -and acknowledged, be he the woman’s husband or her temporary Sedna -mate. The Sedna offspring is cared for by the regular husband, or by -the community. - -Next comes the extraordinary performance already described, when the -conjuror is speared through the chest. - -After this, the principal Angakok prepares to give battle to Sedna. The -goddess can be killed; but as she subsequently comes to life again, -this killing has to take place every year. The whole performance is a -representation of seal-spearing on the ice. The conjuror coils a rope -on the floor of a large hut, and leaves a little opening at the top to -represent the blow hole. Two assistants stand on either side, armed -respectively with harpoon and spear. A third chants incantations at the -back of the dwelling. Sedna is supposed to be lured from the -underworld, and when she comes to the hole, is transfixed at once. She -sinks away again, dragging the harpoon with her, wounded and incensed. -The conjurors haul on the line for all they are worth, and recover the -weapon. - -Then the chief Angakut squats upon the floor, with his arms and legs -bound by a length of light hide line. The lamps are pressed down to -burn so dimly that it is all but dark. The rest of the folk also sit -about the floor with their heads bowed, so that none may stare at the -conjuror’s face. He begins his incantations, rocking to and fro and -uttering sounds that seem incredible for a human throat to compass. He -works himself into a state of insensibility (but not before his -familiar spirit has undone the knots and released him from his bonds.) -It is this trance which makes such an impression on the tribesfolk. -They believe that the witch doctor’s spirit has left his body and their -midst, and has really gone to meet and despatch the powerful figment of -their myth, to kill her and liberate the seals. - -The hardening of the weather soon after this ceremony, when the -prospects of the sealers naturally improve, seems to the Eskimo mind a -clear demonstration of cause and effect. Probably the conjuror quite -believes it, too, and although he has done nothing but hypnotise -himself and strike awe thereby into the onlookers, this assumption of -all that he accomplishes in the meantime is as real to him as to the -others. - -After the Kiluktetak—the chief of the whole conjuring band—has -concluded this séance, he proceeds to make good hunters. Those who are -ambitious to make a name for themselves in this respect, and greatly -desire the skins and trappings that come of abundant catches, pay the -conjuror a walrus hide line; whereupon he resorts again to his -incantations, and his Tougak causes the soul of a seal to enter the -body or mind of the young man in question. The whole business may -perhaps have some result, perforce of suggestion, and the sealer who -had hitherto doubted his own judgment or prowess, who had felt -discouraged by ill success, or who had failed perhaps in skill or -patience, picks up a fortuitous confidence in himself and really has -better luck afterwards. - -It is impossible to believe that these beliefs and ceremonies would be -so widespread among the people and carry so much weight, were no sort -of explanation to be sought for them. These folk are trained and -accomplished hunters; they attribute their success to junketings of -this description, and by no means wholly to the obvious care they take -to ensure it. If the ceremonies had no value and proved by experience -to have no bearing on all these vital matters, even the primitive mind -would scarcely perpetuate them for their own sakes pure and simple. - -In the meantime, while the Kiluktetak has his hands full in the -underworld, all sorts of other things are taking place, all sorts of -games going on, in the village above. - -There is a tug of war with a rope of walrus hide or white whale hide, a -contest provocative of uproarious fun, watched by a keen, delighted -crowd. One end of the rope is manned by the “Ptarmigans” (those born in -the winter time) and the other by the “Ducks” (those born in summer.) -If the former yield to the latter, it is taken as an augury of good -weather for the ensuing season. - -After this a curious game is played. One of the lesser conjurors is -fantastically got up in a number of garments, and in a pair of trousers -with very narrow legs. The trousers seem to tickle the Eskimo sense of -the ludicrous in exactly the same way as Charlie Chaplin’s baggy ones -and his “caterpillar” boots tickle ours. He takes a piece of wood in -one hand, a skin scraper in the other, and starts capering off, calling -on all and sundry to follow him and assemble in the “Kagge,” or singing -house. - -The ceremony in the Kagge was performed in the past but now only the -Sedna ceremony is performed, minus the Kagge. - -The Eskimo build larger houses than those they usually occupy, for -feasting, singing and dancing on particular occasions. The singing -house is dedicated to a particular spirit which has the shape of a -bow-legged, hairless man. It is generally built upon the usual round -plan of the igloo, sometimes three being grouped together, apse and -transept fashion, with a common entrance (nave). The company disposes -itself in concentric rings round the house, married women by the wall, -spinsters in front of them, and a ring of men to the front. Children -are grouped on either side of the door, and the singer or dancer, -stripped to the waist, takes his stand amid them and remains on the one -spot all the time. A pillar of snow in the middle of the house supports -as many lamps as it requires to illuminate the proceedings and to warm -the air. Singing festivals and competitions in the Kagge especially -mark the great occasion of the tribal deer hunting in the spring, so -that it will be described at somewhat greater length in that -connection. - -As soon as everyone has crowded in, all the new made (temporary) -couples are bidden to join hands and guide each other out. Everyone is -laughing, but the pair in question have to preserve the gravity of -owls. If they yield to the infectious merriment and badinage going on, -and fail to keep absolutely solemn faces, some grievous sickness will -befall them. The conjuror touches their feet as they cross the -threshold, and when he himself follows out the last pair, blows off -hard, like a seal. - -At the risk of wearying the reader with the apparent uncouthness of all -this (an alien humour is always hard to perceive), one more incident of -the festival must be given. - -The Mukkosaktok possesses himself of a whip with a particularly short -handle, and starts on a tour of the village on his own account. He -enters the first house he comes to, and starts to lay about him in -play. He fillips one of the inmates with the end of his lash, and -orders him to sing a song—an extempore song of his own composition. If -the victim fails, another one has to take his place, and so in turn -until the circle is exhausted. This goes on in every household, all -sorts of weird howls and chants and guttural distiches being elicited -by force majeure, until at last the Mukkosaktok is playfully hustled to -the door and pushed outside. - -The underlying idea of much of all this is doubtless that of promoting -sociability and good feeling all round. The Eskimo are an intensely -sociable people, and, to the very limited extent of their powers and -opportunities, delight in entertainment. These festival songs, for -instance, have required a certain amount of preparation. They are -composed about some event that has taken place and caught the singer’s -attention. They have been rehearsed and, if successful, will be -repeated all through the long winter nights, when the folk spend so -much weather-bound time in visiting each other and exchanging tales and -gossip round the igloo lamps. No tribesman likes to be laughed at, so -he really does his best over his song. - -There is a real groundwork of sense about the ceremony of visiting each -house in turn, and the scramble for presents. In the first place, it is -a symbol of goodwill and plenty. Each householder is expected to keep -up appearances by doing this sort of thing, and he uses every effort to -gain the wherewithal to meet the obligation. This militates against -laziness and any tendency to hoard—great crimes in the Eskimo -estimation of things. The hunter strains every nerve to provide the -things his neighbours scramble for, and the women of the village do -their utmost, so far as attractiveness and domesticity go, to attach -such men as husbands. Again, by a general scramble, the poorer and less -lucky folk get a good many windfalls otherwise unobtainable. - -The roysterers flock off in a body, to make the round of the -encampment, stopping at every man’s house in turn. The owner goes -inside, makes a selection of all sorts of unconsidered -trifles—generally bits of sealskin used for the legs of boots, with -different kinds of sewing sinew attached—and, returning to the -vociferous crowd waiting outside, scatters these things broadcast. -There is a grand commotion and no end of noise, as the oddments are -battled for. As this performance is repeated at every house in the -village it necessarily takes some time. - -Little information is obtainable as to the significance of these games -or ceremonies, or whatever the Eskimo themselves may consider them. The -annual pairing off doubtless serves to keep up the numbers of the -tribe. Women are always in excess of men, owing to hunting fatalities -among the latter, and other causes; and some of these, although -married, may be childless. The Sedna proceedings tend to remedy this -state of things to a satisfactory extent. The writer’s own idea is -that, in addition to the main responsibilities of the festival, which -rest on the shoulders of the Kiluktetok, the doings of the lesser -lights of the order of conjurors are designed more or less to keep -things going merrily and to establish themselves firmly in the -good-will of the community. - -The main idea of the frequent acknowledgment of breaches of village law -is undoubtedly to keep the social life intact, to ensure that no -secrecies and plottings shall break it up, and no hoarding of supplies -lead to quarrels and injustices. Another feature of the Sedna day is a -general “confessing” of all these “sins.” Another lesser luminary, -called a Noonageeksaktoot, dresses himself up in a medley of garments -and dons a close-fitting cap made from the skull of a ground seal. This -cap has a peak, to represent a bird’s bill. He binds upon his feet some -of the sticks used for beating snow from clothes, so that they resemble -a raven’s, and hops about in imitation of that bird. As often as the -people come up and accuse themselves of wrongdoing, he betakes himself -to the beach, to tell Sedna, and returns with forgiveness. - -It will be readily understood that it is of great value in the hard -fight for existence in the arctic that a spirit of hope and -cheerfulness should be maintained. No one knows this better than the -commander of an arctic or antarctic expedition, or than the head of a -trading station! It is quite essential that the Eskimo village should -make itself a centre of jollity and comfort to the returning hunters, -and to travellers on the trail. There are sound economic principles -underneath the queer trappings of some of all this barbaric custom, and -even sound hygienic laws governing some of the regulations and taboos -of daily life. That one, for instance, which forbids a woman in -childbirth to eat any food not provided by her husband, probably acts -quite beneficially. Eskimo food is very rich and often consumed in the -raw state, so that a glut of it, as would result from a shower of -benefactions, would upset the new-made mother. - -The Sedna ceremony has been carefully studied by the best ethnologists, -like Dr. Boas, who have travelled for the sake of science among the -arctic tribes; but it may be hazarded that the raison d’être of much of -it could only dawn on an observer who had actually lived for a very -considerable time in close personal and linguistic touch with the -people. - -The writer offers his interpretations with all diffidence, but believes -they constitute something original to the descriptions of other -writers. Those who easily dismiss the whole subject as fantastic -savagery, much of which is unfit for publication, seem singularly to -have failed in any real grasp of the character of these benighted, but -in many ways cheery and genuine, children of the sternest wild in the -world. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -THE NATIVE SURGEON - - -One of the principal offices of the native conjuror is to find out the -reason of sickness and death, or of any misfortune or disaster -happening to the tribesfolk. But in this matter of primitive medicine, -the Eskimo are probably far behind the untutored folk of other -uncivilised peoples, for the simple reason that, unlike the dwellers in -temperate or tropical and therefore vegetated regions of the world, -they have nothing with which to experiment, in sickness, by way of -herbs and simples. An absolutely barren land, covered for the most part -of the year with snow, provides no material for the empirical -pharmacist. Eskimo medical practice consists entirely in incantation, -in dealings with the spirit world, and in the exercise of an amazing -and complicated system of fetish and taboo, i.e., the doing or -refraining from doing all sorts of unreasonable things to attain or -produce some desired end. In surgery, the conjuror is no less intrepid, -if considerably more lucky (thanks to an air so pure as to be almost -sterile) than the ghastly practitioners of West Africa, whose appalling -anatomical ventures are described in Mary Kingsley’s unrivalled book of -travel in the Cameroons. - -The arctic folk seem to have no glimmering of an idea as to natural -cause and effect in sickness. Bodily ills and death, to them, admit of -only one explanation. The sufferer has in some way or other in some -particular transgressed the communal law. The disorders of women are -considered as a punishment for the infringement of some of the -meticulous regulations laid down for their observance at certain times. -Hence the first business of the conjuror on being summoned to a sick -bed, is to scare or worry the invalid into the remembrance and -acknowledgment of whatever he or she may have done contrary to the -general well-being of the village. He does this after his usual -fashion, by crawling into the igloo in some particularly horrid guise, -and sitting down in the darkened place with his face to the wall and -his features well concealed by his hood, giving vent to the most -horrific howls, mutterings, ventriloquisms and unhuman-sounding noises, -at his ingenious command. Then he proceeds to interrogate the sick -person, and of course wrings some acknowledgment from him or her. -Treatment—of sorts—may ensue; but as a rule the issue of commands as to -atonement or compensation is the wind-up of what the Americans would -aptly describe as the whole “stunt.” Occasionally a piece of flaming -moss wick from one of the lamps is laid upon the painful part of the -sufferer’s body and fanned with the conjuror’s breath, or merely blown -up into the air. All real attempt at cure is left to nature, and it -must be added that the recuperative powers of a hearty-eating, hardy, -healthy-blooded people like the tribes of Eskimo, are quite remarkable. - -Eskimo flesh has wonderful healing power. The writer has seen the most -fearful gashes quickly close and heal up without any precautions or -dressing whatever. One case he certainly thought would have a fatal -termination. A hunter was repairing his implements, a small box of -tools lying on the ground beside him. A large file without a handle -happened to be sticking straight up out of the box. The man’s foot -slipped on the ice and he fell, in a sitting posture, straight upon the -file. He sustained a deep punctured wound. It was merely bandaged with -some very dirty strips of soiled skin underclothing, and inflammation -and intense suppuration presently set in. At no time did the wound -receive any further attention, but in due course the hunter was about -again, as though nothing had happened. - -Something, however, must be said for the conjuror as an anatomist. By -virtue of his calling and of his continual dealing with animals of all -kinds, he knows the positions of joints, muscles, ligaments, veins and -arteries, and can find any one of them. Some men have more aptitude in -this respect than others, and these occasionally act as surgeons. A -young woman, who may be called Omanetok, the daughter of one of the -minor conjurors, developed a large mysterious swelling in the groin. -There was acute inflammation, pointing to deep-seated pus in -accumulation. A native surgeon was called in, and after examination he -pronounced for an immediate operation. He decided to lance the -swelling. A time was arranged, and by special request the writer was -allowed to be present. - -The surgeon arrived, accompanied by two hefty fellows as assistants -(his “dressers,” probably, in an enhanced state of things!) His lancet -consisted of a rough piece of all-round, useful steel, inserted into a -piece of ivory by way of a handle. The blade was about two inches long -and had a rounded end instead of anything so convenient as a sharp -point. This blade had, however, been filed, in an attempt at an edge. -In addition, there was a small oilstone. Both stone and instrument were -very dirty. The operator began by spitting on the oilstone and -sharpening the lancet upon it, afterwards wiping the latter with a -soiled piece of birdskin previously used for scouring out the cooking -pots. - -The patient was then “prepared” by her mother. She was laid flat upon -the bed bench, and the part to be operated upon was exposed. The -surgeon, wetting his fingers in his mouth, proceeded to moisten and -slightly cleanse (!) the skin. Then the two assistants grasped Omanetok -by the legs, her mother held her head, and two more helpers held her -well down by the shoulders. The conjuror inserted the lancet simply by -pressing on it and sawing it in, backwards and forwards, until it had -gone deep enough to reach the pus. Omanetok squirmed considerably, but -her nurses had her well in hand. The contents of the swelling were -expelled by repeated pressure, and wiped away from time to time with a -little bit of dirty mouse or lemming skin. When this was finished, the -wound was covered by a piece of lemming skin, licked by the operator’s -tongue and stuck on over the place. - -Two days afterwards the patient was walking about, well and jolly as -ever she had been in her life. - -Apropos of the extraordinary command the conjurors universally exercise -over the people, and of the paramount psychic influence they establish -in the community, it is not too much to say that they hold every man’s -life in their hands. We know how the fatalistic-minded Asiatic can die -by auto-suggestion. The Eskimo, too, dies by suggestion, even when -strongly against his will. - -A fully qualified practitioner, well known for a sensual and -self-indulgent man, was particularly tenacious of his purposes and able -to bide him time. He had long desired the good-looking half-breed wife -of a certain hunter, and had frequently approached the man on the -question. Contrary to the general rule, in this instance he was -consistently refused. Now, Moneapik, the hunter, was a skilful fellow, -well able to provide himself and his wife with food and clothing. He -was careful, too, and rather exclusive, not liking to squander his -gains upon the lazy folk of the village, after the generally accepted -fashion. For this reason he was unpopular. He had his own circle of -friends, however, and was content not to enlarge it. The conjuror had -nothing to work upon so far as Moneapik was concerned, except the -latter’s superstition. The man was neither poor, nor feckless, nor -friendless. - -At length a long spell of bad weather set it, bringing in its train a -season of sickness and semi-starvation. The conjuror was expected to -set matters right by his arts and incantations; but on this occasion he -had only a signal failure to register. He loudly excused himself for it -on the ground that the spirits were profoundly offended by the -unsociable practices of Moneapik. He had committed the heinous offence -of keeping largely to himself; he had not given freely to the -tribesfolk. Only by his death could the powers be propitiated and the -famine ended. The majority of the villagers were prone enough to agree -with this, for over and over again the hunter had set their greed at -nought. Whereupon the conjuror boldly faced the man, stated the -incontrovertible facts, pronounced his death sentence, and departed -saying: “I command you to die!” - -Moneapik was a strong, healthy man, in the prime of life and the pink -of condition. Normally, he should have lived to a ripe old age. But so -ingrained was his belief in the conjuror, in his power to get into -communication with the spirit world, that this command was virtually -fatal. He said: “I am commanded to die!” He gave up his active -occupations, withdrew into his tent, ate and drank very sparingly, and -within four days was dead. They sewed up the body in skin blankets and -left it on the rocks of a neighbouring island, to be devoured by foxes. -The writer visited the spot a few days later—but only bones remained. - -Friends had indeed visited Moneapik in his tent before the end, and -argued with him, laughed at him, tried by every possible means to -disabuse the man’s mind of its obsession. But all in vain. The victim’s -sole response was, “I am commanded to die!” And die he did, although it -was by no means a death from starvation. It was death by suggestion. - -The conjuror, of course, obtained his own ends. - -An account has already been given of the conjuror spearing himself in -the breast during the Sedna ceremony, and appearing no whit the worse -for it shortly afterwards. Although this extraordinary action may often -perhaps be simulated by a trick, (the performer concealing a bladder of -blood under his tunic and merely stabbing that), there seems to be -sufficient evidence that such feats are within the compass of the -genuine practitioner. No less authority than Dr. Boas gives an instance -of an Angatok, on the island of Utussivik, who thrust a harpoon through -his body and was led through the village by twenty-five men. Another -conjuror, at a place called Umanaqtuaq, on finishing his incantations, -“jumped up and rushed out of the hut, to where a mounted harpoon was -standing. He threw himself upon the harpoon, which penetrated his -breast and came out at the back. Three men followed him, and holding -the harpoon line led the Angatok, bleeding profusely, to all the huts -in the village. When they arrived again at the first hut, he pulled out -the harpoon, lay down on the bed, and was put to sleep by the song of -another Angatok. When he awoke after a while he showed the people he -was not hurt, although his clothes were torn and they had seen him -bleeding.” (Monograph on the Central Eskimo, by Dr. Boas.) - -The underlying idea in the treatment of all sickness (as distinguished -from accident) being that some spirit is offended and is punishing the -delinquent, it becomes necessary to discover what custom has not been -complied with or what observance has been omitted, or what prohibition -has been neglected. The science of divining what spirit, too, is -antagonised, comprises perhaps the whole volume of Eskimo fetish and -superstition. The conjuror knows beforehand, of course, the character -and the failings of any individual he may be called upon to attend. He -makes a shrewd guess from hearsay what the man may have been doing, and -by skilful questions and half accusations, manages pretty generally to -get at the core of the matter and extort more or less genuine (if -wholly irrelevant) confession. - -There are some crimes for which there is no forgiveness, such as having -communion with the dead, especially the Toopelat, i.e., the earth-bound -spirits of indifferent folk. If the sick man confesses to this, there -is no hope of cure for him. Adown the long interrogatory we come upon a -few questions which illumine the apparent nonsense of all the rest with -gleams of good human sense and logic: Have you stolen from the sick? -Have you greatly lied about your neighbours or your race? Have you been -abusive to the old folk? And—for a woman—have you concealed a -miscarriage? - -Otherwise the questions turn upon whether the patient (if a woman) has -worked upon forbidden sorts of skins, i.e., heavy and arduous work -likely to upset her (if she is enceinte), at certain seasons; whether -the meat of land and sea creatures has been eaten at the same meal; -whether shell fish were gathered when seal should have been hunted; -whether lamps were cleaned during a time of taboo, etc., etc. The -underlying idea of half these prohibitions is lost in the obscurity of -time immemorial, and the Eskimo to-day can account for them no better -than by saying, “As our fathers did, so do we.” - -The invalid thoroughly believes in the authority and omniscience of the -conjuror. He racks his brains for the remembrance of some breach of the -unwritten social law, and generally succeeds in the effort, and so -complies with what is required of him. Should he be so grievously ill, -however, that the conjuror can elicit no sort of response, should the -sickness be obviously leading to death, the failure of all these -proceedings is taken as proof positive that a crime has been committed -beyond the power of the witch doctor’s machinations to palliate, -because beyond the power of the spirits to forgive. - -In any less serious case the practitioner has a peculiar method whereby -to determine the probable duration of the sickness, and also its -gravity. He has among his assistants minor conjurors called the head or -leg lifter, as the case may be; and an incantor whose business it now -becomes to squat upon the floor with covered head and improvise a chant -for the occasion. He is called the Kunneyo. - -As soon as this wail begins the others assistants bind a piece of wood -upon the sick man’s head with a length of thong, and lift it -tentatively as if in the act of weighing it, asking the spirit -meanwhile wherein the patient has offended. If the head is inert and -heavy feeling, he is judged to be guilty; if it feels light, he is -innocent. Sometimes the wood is bound upon the leg, and this is lifted -instead of the head. When this examination is over and the patient has -promised to comply with any orders given him, the conjuror commands, -“Let the bindings be cast off.” This is done, and he pursues, “Let the -cause of guilt be cast away, and let him recover.” - -The penalty imposed often takes the form of some abstinence to be -observed for a time. When the illness has been brought about by -gluttony or exposure, this injunction, joined to a period of rest and -quietness, may prove quite enough to restore the patient to his -accustomed health. Nature does her own work. Should there have been -some real fear or disquiet of mind, the whole thing simply resolves -itself into a faith cure. Incidentally, the Angatok maintains his -inflated authority, and earns a fat livelihood. He exacts payment, of -course—a dog, a sled, a skin, a length of line, and the favours of the -patient’s wife; and prescribes the use of various charms. These charms -may be a fringe of deer or bearskin, a spider or beetle sewn up in a -piece of skin, worn on boot or breast or back, as directed. Most potent -of all is a scrap of the garment worn during the first year of life, -and this is always affixed to the cap or hood. Then, of course, a -present has to be given to the spirit. Some small article is placed -among the rocks and dedicated. - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -SPORT AND HUNTING - - -A whole book could be written on Eskimo sport and on the Eskimo methods -of hunting generally. These methods are based, of course, on an -intimate knowledge and experience of the habits and characters of the -arctic birds and animals. Something has already been said in this -connection about seals and seal hunting. But a little space must now be -devoted to some account of a few more of these methods and adventures. - -With the coming of March, the sealing season has set in. The days begin -to draw out, the sun climbs higher in the heavens, and even sheds a -faint warmth now on the lee side of shelter, if there be no movement in -the air. The seals are arriving in droves, and their young are being -born in their caves under the snow, all over the wide expanse of the -ice off shore. - -A spirit of restlessness seizes upon the tribesfolk. The hunting -weapons are gladly brought out for examination and getting in -readiness; the small hunting sleds are put in order; the heavy winter -deerskin clothing is laid aside and the lighter garments of summer -sealskin put in thorough repair, to don as soon as the tribe shall be -ready to move off en masse to the sealing grounds. Mysterious meetings -take place between the Angakooeet and the chiefs, when the spring -campings are fully discussed and arranged among them. - -At last the great day arrives when, with much shouting and bustle, the -sleds are loaded and the dogs harnessed. Each hunter and his wife -assemble and pack their belongings—the lamp, the cooking pot, the box -of small tools, the large knife for building (i.e., for cutting out -blocks of snow), spears, lines, spare skins for clothing, etc., etc., -etc. The baby is popped into the mother’s hood; the boy takes up his -station by the team, to learn to drive and manage it, and with many a -shout, much touching of noses in farewell, cracking of whips, laughter -and joking, each outfit pulls out and drives away, off into the frozen -bay. - -The old folk are left behind in the village, to await the end of the -season, to dress the skins brought in to them every now and again by -boys returning from the camps. Sealmeat abounds; everyone gorges to -Eskimo repletion and lives in luxury. The ground is covered with skins, -pegged out to dry in the sun, prior to being scraped, washed, and -prepared for making up. - -The newly flensed hide is first freed from its inner layer of fat and -blubber, and this is rendered down for oil for the lamps. The fur is -then washed with warm water to remove the grease. Then small holes are -pierced all round the edge of the skin, and the whole is pegged out to -its full extent on a frame, or merely on the ground, to dry and sweeten -and bleach in the genial brightness of the arctic spring day. After -this process, the inner membrane is first pared off, and the skin is -ready to be tailored. Everyone left behind in the village on shore is -kept busy at this sort of work. - -As the spring sealing season wears on towards the arctic summer, an -entire change comes over the activities of the tribesfolk. They have, -now, to prepare for the long trail inland to the feeding ground of the -deer. Stacks of provisions are accumulated, and the boats and kyaks got -ready for the trip to the head of the fiord, whence the expedition will -make its start. The framework of the umiaks is carefully examined, and -new pieces put in where required. All thongs and lashings are -strengthened or renewed; secondary skins in former times were prepared -as boat coverings, to be discarded when they became so waterlogged as -to check the pace. As a rule, one of these large travelling boats is -owned and shared by several families, and will contain the whole of -their effects. - -At length these preparations are complete. The day comes when a general -packing up absorbs all the energies of the tribe. Tents are struck and -folded away at the bottom of the boat, together with big consignments -of sealskin buckets and hunting weapons. The women ship the ponderous -and unhandy oars, children and dogs pile in on top of everything, and -the men take up their travelling stations fore and aft, in readiness to -defend the transport from any sort of attack, or to launch a harpoon at -any likely prey. - -They pull away joyously and hilariously on the great summer trip. As -often as the wind will allow they hoist the great square sail made of -seal intestine, and one member of the crew takes up a station beside it -with a water bucket, to keep it constantly wet. Otherwise it would dry, -and split into ribbons before the breeze. At the present day canvas -sails are used. - -Every now and again, as they coast along among the islands, they put in -here or there for fresh supplies of drinking water. At night they fetch -some well-known point for an encampment. The umiaks are moored, heather -and driftwood collected, fires lit, kettles slung, and the evening stew -set to simmer, while the men forage afield for the next day’s -provender. Then, rolling themselves up in their blankets, the -travellers drop off to sleep right there on the ground, under the -shelter of whatever cover it may afford, to be up and under way again -before sunrise next morning. - -The days pass very pleasantly. The scenery is grand, the weather clear -and sunny; the water, gemmed with islands dark brown and green, is -still as a mill-pond. The fleet of primitive, uncouth-looking skin -boats, filled with barbaric northern folk with tattooed faces and -guttural speech, reproduces a picture of pre-historic times. Many of -these scenes of Eskimo life and enterprise are deserving of record by -the best of artists, if only to bring before us in these effete days of -over-civilisation a vivid, still existent, picture of the very earliest -adventures of the human race. - -At length the head of the inlet is reached. The boats proceed up river -at high tide to the appointed place of debarkation. Here the umiaks are -hauled well inshore, unloaded, dismantled, and turned over, to be -covered with a pile of stones against the time of the hunter’s return. -The personal treasures of the women are also hidden away in some safe -cavity among the rocks, and left there. Then the loads are carefully -apportioned all round, and made up in bundles according to the strength -of their carriers. The men bear the weapons and ammunition only and -travel light, in order to go on ahead and secure game on the trail. -Children are lightly loaded, and the old people carry nothing but their -own belongings; so that the bulk of the heavy transport falls on the -able-bodied women of the tribe. Each one toils along under tent poles -and coverings, piles of skins and meat, and the baby of the family into -the bargain. The whole staggering load is hoisted on to the woman’s -back and secured by lashings round the waist and a broad leather band -round the forehead. She is almost wholly eclipsed by the enormous -burden. - -So they file off, one by one, from the point of landing, and make their -way to the uplands and the appointed general meeting place of all the -tribes engaged upon the annual hunt. Thither many such parties -converge: the people from Fox Channel, the tribe from the neighbourhood -of Kikkuktâkjuak, or Big Island, the Saddlebacks, the Noovingmeoot from -Frobisher Bay, and as many more from north, south, east and west. They -time themselves all to arrive as punctually as possible. The spot is a -high plateau among the hills, at the head of the inlet described above. - -When at last all the tribes have assembled, the elders hold a general -meeting and decide upon the direction and the details of the -prospective hunt. As soon as this important business is settled the -people give themselves up en masse to a few days’ holiday-making. - -It is the height of arctic summer; food abounds; and friends meet each -other once again after a year of separation. The people are care-free -and happy. No danger threatens from any direction. So that Eskimo good -spirits attain their highest pitch, and for a short time the people -abandon themselves to their every hospitable and sociable instinct, to -their love of jollity and fun, to sports all day, to singing, -entertainments, feasting and story-telling of an evening and well into -the night. - -The sports are inter-tribal. There are running and wrestling matches, -too, races and competitions of all sorts. The youth are keenly aware of -being watched by the bright, sloe-eyed, laughing girls, and of being -criticised or applauded by the elders. As true a sporting spirit of -emulation, good temper and fair play obtains in this far-away arctic -festival as on the famous “playing fields of Eton,” and as many a -romance comes of it as well. For this is an immensely important social -and fashionable function among these primitive folk, and men and -maidens meet and strike many a match of their own. - -There are contests with the bow and arrow. Poles are fixed in the -ground with skins suspended from them to represent deer and seals. The -vital spot, of course, is the Eskimo idea of the bull’s eye. The -spear-throwing competition calls for a high degree of skill. From the -top of a fixed, inclined pole, a line is carried to the earth, having -an ivory ring tied in it half way down. This ring is carefully -concealed by fringes of hide, and the spear throwers, stationed at a -recognised distance away, have to cast their weapons deftly through it. -The attempt demands the greatest accuracy of vision and training of the -hand. The contests are very keen, and great éclat awaits those who -distinguish themselves. Their names become household words round the -igloo lamps all during the succeeding winter, much as those of crack -footballers become familiar to the sporting manhood of this country. - -In the evening come the singing contests—quite one of the most -important features of the annual festival. Ethnologists generally are -agreed that the Eskimo excel in poetry and music. Improvisation with -them is a recognised art. Every man is something of a composer, and is -called upon whenever festivities are in progress to contribute a number -of his own to the improvised concert. The form of these songs is quite -strict, and the melodies, even to unaccustomed European ears, may be -reduced to accepted notation. Travellers who have but a superficial -acquaintance with the arctic folk, distinguish little in the extempore -contests of the Kagge or of the Sedna ceremony but sheer barbaric -cacophony—yowlings, yells, and monotonous and seemingly endless -repetition. But there are some to whom Gregorian chant itself conveys -but little more! - -These Eskimo songs deal with any and every subject which may occur to -the singer, those of a satirical or personal or topical character -proving the most popular. The contests give rise to untold amusement -and delight. Nothing is more appreciated in the whole round of the -programme. As a rule, the competitors are only men. The “ptarmigans” -(i.e., those born at the end of winter or beginning of spring) -challenge the “ducks” (or those born in the summer). Each side extols -its own prowess in hunting, its natal advantages, etc., etc., to the -detriment of the other. All sorts of ridicule is poured upon the -opposite party, causing the wildest merriment among the auditors, who -shriek with laughter at each successful or witty sally, clap their -hands, and vociferate over the comedian who wins the contest. The -Eskimo have a very lively sense of fun, and appreciate each home thrust -and happy skit every bit as keenly as a Cockney music-hall audience. - -The Kagge, or singing house, of the summer deer-hunt is, like that of -the Sedna ceremony, a big round house, similarly tenanted by the people -in circles around the walls. The summer Kagge is built of sod and -stones. The women wear skin gloves—the backs black and the palms -white—and take their station behind everybody else, with the children. -The men come next, and the Angakooeet, as judges, sit in the front -circle. The centre of the house is left vacant for the performers. - -The first part of the entertainment consists of songs describing the -exploits of the dead and gone heroes and hunters of the tribe, each -song having a refrain which is taken up by the women, who sway their -bodies from side to side as they sing, so raising and lowering their -arms as to show first a circle of waving white and then a circle of -waving black hands. Many of these songs are old-established favourites, -extemporised at first by some individual as his own contribution to -some occasion, which “caught on” and became part of the tribe’s -collective musical tradition. - -After these come the extempore efforts of the current evening. Each man -contributes a song of his own, turning upon some event in his career, -or some more or less poetic fancy which has occurred to him. The songs -have probably been composed and polished, and possibly practised, in -private for some time, but the contest is the occasion of their -publication to the musical world. They are most attentively received, -and judged by the Angakooeet. - -The outstanding event of the evening, to which all look forward on the -tip-toe of expectation, is the tournament of satires between the -ptarmigans and the ducks. A ball of thoroughly good-tempered musical -ridicule is tossed backwards and forwards between each pair of singers, -accompanied by roars of laughter from the auditors, who hold their -sides and roll in ecstasies of enjoyment. Tears of merriment stream -down the women’s faces. - -This sort of thing goes on night after night for as long as a whole -week; and only at the end of that time does the gathering begin to -break up, and set about the prodigious business of getting on with the -summer’s work. - -As soon as this interlude of festivity and recreation is concluded, the -tribes separate, each bound for its own appointed sphere of hunting -operations, independently of the others. The new camp is soon pitched -in some sheltered valley where there is a running stream, but not too -close to the selected district, for fear of alarming the shy quarry. -The men then go daily to search the hills and stalk the deer. - -As soon as a herd is located, word is passed down to the camp, and the -women rally to the men’s assistance. As each arrives she receives her -instructions from the hunters. A valley is selected having but one -exit, where there seem to be plenty of boulders. The women station -themselves in a rough sort of ring all round it, hidden behind the -rocks, each one with her skin jacket off and slung over her arm. -Meanwhile, the men creep up, and, keeping also under cover, surround -the herd, and begin, by the well aimed throwing of first one stone, -then another, to drive it off in the direction of the selected ravine, -where other hunters are gathered in force with bows and arrows ready. - -The deer, still suspecting nothing, move slowly to their fate. -Presently one woman, to the rear, and then another, gets up in the open -and beats her jacket on the rock behind which she had been hiding. This -scares the creatures forward in the right direction, and drives them -within the reach of the men. Directly they come within bowshot their -doom is sealed. So skilful are the hunters that no man expends more -than an arrow apiece on the deer. The whole herd is killed with the -greatest celerity. - -The carcases are retrieved and skinned, and immense feasting follows. -These manœuvres are repeated day after day throughout the whole season, -until the snow begins to appear again on the higher ranges, and the -arctic summer is on the wane. Gradually the tribesfolk move off again -towards the lower grounds, the south, and the sea, transporting with -them huge bundles of invaluable skins and a great quantity of deer -hams, until one by one they reach the various points of water where -they left and stored their boats on the up-country trip. - -There is no general point of assembly on the return journey. Each tribe -takes its own course and works its way back towards its own territory -unaccompanied by the others. The women and children get a brief spell -of rest when they reach the coast, while the men put in a few days seal -hunting, to provision the homeward voyage. Finally, the umiaks are -launched again and reloaded to the very gunwales; the sails are -hoisted, and the fleet draws away through the archipelagoes of the -coast to its port of registration! - -Not infrequently on one of these big summer hunting expeditions, traces -are discovered of a winter deer hunting party which had been overtaken -by disaster. The evidences of some tragedy lie there for all to read: -the sled torn to pieces, weapons scattered about, small boxes lying -here and there, and bones—human, canine or vulpine—all over the place. -Hunger, perhaps, overtook the party; sickness followed. Wolves -attacked, or the hungry team of dogs got out of hand and tore down the -hunters, who were unable successfully to defend themselves. The writer -could instance many a savage incident of this description. - -In a very similar district to the one described in the preceding -account of the summer hunting, there was a fiord leading up to a -landlocked bay, a favourite resort of the white whales. Regularly each -year the hunters of the tribes in the vicinity used to go to hunt these -creatures with gun and spear, taking splendid hauls of meat back to the -camp, and bales of stout hide to be made into thongs, harness, etc. So -much flesh and offal was left about on the scene of action that wolves -came to infest the entire region. In early spring the fiord afforded a -particularly good sealing ground, being so sheltered from the crashing -seas outside. - -An Eskimo and his son ventured thither one day, intending to form a -camp there for awhile and put in some good hunting. Mile after mile was -covered, headland after headland passed, until they were nearing the -sealing grounds, when the dogs began to show signs of panic. They could -scarcely be got to proceed, no matter how sharply urged by voice and -whalehide whip. Nothing moving, however, caught the keen sight of the -men; no sound came to their ears. Suddenly, just as they passed another -point, a fierce howl rang out on the bitter air, followed by a chorus -of more howls, and a large pack of wolves swept out from behind it and -came into full view. They had been lying in wait until the sled came -up. Their bleached coats had rendered them invisible until they moved. - -The hunters at once realised their deadly peril, and turning instantly -about, headed at top speed for home. A long fierce chase ensued. There -was no need to drive the dogs. They strained every terrified nerve in -their bodies and flew over the ice. The wolves rushed on behind. They -spread out fanwise, trying to encircle the dogs and cripple them one by -one as opportunity offered, by making brilliant forward dashes and -slashing with savage fangs at their legs. - -The man thrust a sealing spear into the boy’s hands and shouted to him -to thrust it at any wolf attempting to attack at close quarters at side -or rear, while he himself, armed with the terrible dog whip, lashed out -continuously with the courage of despair, and the effectiveness of -years of practice. He roared, and swung the murderous thong over the -backs of the team, so as to protect it from the attacking wolves, -crippling any one of them who ventured within its sweep. As often as -one of the bloodthirsty brutes rushed in, it was met with a terrific -cut, and fell back howling and disabled. - -Hour after hour the awful race went on; until at last, when it seemed -even to the hardy and seasoned hunter that neither he nor the wretched -dogs could sustain the strain a moment longer, they came in sight of -the last headland which hid the settlement from view. A final heroic -effort might yet bring them to safety! - -With a yell of encouragement to the exhausted son, and renewed vigour -in his wielding of the whip, the hunter pressed on. The wolves, -realising that their prey was actually escaping, redoubled their -efforts to close in upon the sled. It dashed round the point only in -the nick of time. The dogs in camp beyond, scenting what was afoot, -instantly rushed out to give battle to the wolves. The pack, perceiving -that the odds were now heavily against them, snarled viciously, turned -coward tails, and vanished.... - -The refugees arrived in camp in a state of utter collapse. The man’s -whip arm was swollen beyond further usage, like his tongue, and his -voice had gone. He staggered to his house, and both he and the boy lay -there for days before either sufficiently recovered to rise and go -about their ordinary work again. - -Many a party have been waylaid by wolves like this, and have not had -the good fortune to survive. Should there be a shortage of food, -resulting in subsequent sickness and weakness among the travellers or -hunters, they fall victims very easily to the rapacity of the savage -animal denizens of the wild. The male dogs of the teams get killed, and -the females join the marauding horde and revert to their wolfish state. - - - THE SONG OF THE PINTAILED DUCK. - - As sung in Competition in the Kagge. - - Samane samiyeyiya, iya, neakoa koololotingoâle - Sigoole kokiglotingoale aglokugle pooarkretingoagle - Okagle allotingoarkinna ikkoâto kettemalotikogikgoa - Ookeonne pissorayakattalale ipâ adyelikjolikpanma - Iya annungmenik ipa sosooktelaneyonele annamane - Adyegegaloâgoone kattargit nippotenekpategikkoa - Issungatoot annenarsuarâyakto. - - -Free Translation of the Song of the Pintailed Duck in Competition with -the Ptarmigan. - - - “His head is like a swollen thumb joint, - His beak is like the thumb nail. - His lower beak is like a shovel, and his tongue is like a spoon. - They come together (the Ptarmigans) in the winter; - They walk together, and make a soft sleeping place - By covering the hard rocks with dung. - But their breasts freeze hard down to this, - They flap their wings, - And try to fly away ...” - - -The singer goes through all the appropriate (if somewhat broad) actions -of this bit of burlesque, flapping his arms to ridicule the birds -caught fast on the rocks in their own frozen droppings. The Ptarmigan -is not slow to respond. - - - THE SONG OF THE HUNTER. - - Panneyukpayiyeyâ â sakkokalemukkoa - Panneyuktarrekâ okeoksaktalimingmat - Samaniyiyeyeya â sakkokalemukkoa - Panneyuktarreka oonarramanna panneyaktarrega - Okeaksaktalemingmat sammiyiyeyiya â - Ipparramanna toosneksaktangmeta innarlo - Sângane samiyiyeyeya â oonaralelidlugolemanaeyâ - Iyuksaktareka innâlo sângane samiyiyeyiyâ â - Kinnalena imnarlo sângane. - - -Free Translation of the Song of the Hunter: - - - “He is preparing his hunting weapons and his ammunition. - Mine also are being prepared, - Because it is again autumn. - My spear is prepared, and my seal warp. - Because they catch the sound of my preparing, - Of my placing my spear, - In the front of the high cliffs - The seals have gone away. - Although the face of the high cliffs - Smells of the seals” - (Understood, yet they have gone away.) - - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -THE CREATURES OF THE WILD - - -Bear hunting, again, is pursued by the Eskimo with no less zest than -that of the seal or deer. It forms quite a subject by itself, and calls -for some description of its own customs, methods, and superstitions. - -The bear is much respected by the Eskimo for his intelligence and -cunning, and his strength. Indeed, they consider him second only, among -the creatures of the wild, to man himself. It is for this reason that -they so often choose for their “tongak,” or guardian familiar, the -spirit of a bear. - -One very curious belief about the animal is that the bear himself has a -tongak (quite distinct from his Tarngnil or soul), and that when this -spirit requires any new commodity, such as a new seal warp or line, -which is represented by the black skin round the mouth of its protégé, -this tongak causes the bear to fall in the hunter’s way and be killed. -The hunter spares the black skin, and refrains from cutting it when -flaying the carcase, as an offering to the spirit. A further offering -of the sort is made by transfixing various portions of the beast’s body -and entrails on a stake or spear, together with a man’s implement—such -as a knife, if the bear were a male, or a woman’s implement, such as a -needle or skin scraper, if it were a female—and exposing the gift for -three days. At the end of that time it is thrown into the sea. - -In bear hunting, the rule is for the skin to go to the first hunter who -sights the prey (not necessarily the first to kill it.) The best part -of the body goes to him who deals the fatal blow. - -The arctic bear is not an hibernating animal, for it is only the female -who sleeps through the winter. The pair hunt together until the -approach of winter, when the female, fat, and in the pink of condition -after the summer months of good feeding, searches for a suitable place -in which to retire and bear her cubs. She generally chooses a sheltered -spot on land, where the snow lies deeply drifted. The two partners -scratch out a comfortable cave in this, and the female then enters and -rolls herself up to sleep. The male bear blocks up the entrance, and -the next fall or drift of snow effectively completes his task, and -obliterates all traces of the animal’s activities. He takes himself -off, to roam about at his own sweet will, and attend to nobody’s -appetite but his own for the next few months, returning to the female -only in the spring, when she emerges from her hiding place, gaunt and -hungry, and accompanied by the cubs. The male is always the safer -creature to hunt at such a season, since the female is then thoroughly -out of condition and very savage. - -Bears are particularly fond of and feed upon the blubber of seal and -walrus, and resort to many tricks in order to procure it. The older -generation of hunters studied the habits of the arctic creatures more -carefully than do the Eskimo of to-day, and affirm many interesting -things as to the bear’s tactics when on the prowl for food. They—the -bears—know just as much about seal hunting as the tribesmen know, i.e., -that these creatures lie about on the ice in the frozen bays, but are -so wary of danger that they plunge out of sight in an instant through -their “agloes” or seal holes at the slightest alarm. The bear goes -nowhere near the sealing ground at first, but makes his way up any -slight hill or eminence in the neighbourhood from which he can view the -seals, and their adjacent holes. He impresses some sort of a map of it -all, and of the safest route towards it, on his mind, and then makes -the best haste he can towards the broken ice along-shore. He slides -down the snow on his haunches like a tobogganist, carefully avoiding -any rocks and obstacles projecting themselves in his path. After that, -he creeps along with extraordinary caution towards the first sleeping -seal he has marked down. He is all but invisible against the white -background, and he is absolutely silent. He just glides towards his -victim, and then at the last, when sufficiently close, he rushes -forward and kills it with a single blow of his paw. - -In the latter part of the spring, when the seal holes have become so -enlarged that several of the animals may be making use of the same one, -the bear takes careful note of this fact and adopts a bolder plan of -action. He creeps up to any neighbouring hole, examines it, dives down -through it, and swims along under the ice towards the place where the -seals are congregated. He suddenly pops up through their own particular -hole, thus cutting off their retreat, kills them at his leisure, and -gorges on their fat. - -When hunting walrus the bear adopts different tactics. He knows that -these creatures are at a great disadvantage on land, but that they love -to drag themselves up on to the rocks or shore ice, and lie there -asleep or basking in the sun beneath some cliff, and safely screened -from their principal enemy—man. When the bear sights a walrus in such a -position, he risks no direct attack, but takes careful note of the -situation, loads a massive piece of ice or rock upon his shaggy -shoulder, and making a cunning détour, works his way to some spot -directly behind and above his intended victim. Then he launches his -missile down upon its head. The skull of the walrus is so thick it is -almost impossible to smash it; but at least the animal is stunned, and -the bear has only to scramble down and complete his work with a blow or -two of his paw. - -(This method of hunting, incredible though it seems, has been -emphatically affirmed by several ancient hunters.) - -No wonder the human hunter has conceived the highest respect for the -bear, and is anxious to secure his Tongak for a familiar spirit! - -In the water the walrus is a swift and formidable creature, to capture -whom taxes the kyaker’s utmost skill and courage. The man has nothing -but his spear and drag, i.e., an inflated sealskin attached to his -spearhead, by means of which the animal, when transfixed, is prevented -from diving too deeply or travelling too fast. As he approaches the -walrus, man and beast manœuvre for an opening. The kyaker, keenly on -the alert, with a touch of the paddle just keeps his frail craft moving -until the other, with a sudden grunt and roar, rushes at him through -the water, rearing right up at striking distance, a terrible vision -indeed, with huge slavering tusks, eyes bloodshot and glistening with -rage ... The coolest courage is required to face it! - -The hunter pauses there for just that fraction of a second until the -creature is upon him, then slips aside, and the harpoon drives deep as -the animal surges past. It instantly dives, intending to come up and -tear the kyak from beneath. But the drag of the float upon the line -checks it and causes it to misjudge the distance, so that when it rises -the kyak is not there. Meanwhile, the hunter has easily kept track of -the beast’s rush under water, by the air bubbles (or by his highly -trained instinct), and when its savage head reappears he races up, and -strikes it in the face before it has recovered from its bewilderment. -The startled, baffled foe immediately dives again, and remains below -the surface as long as possible, only to be driven down once more the -instant it emerges for a breath of air. - -At last, utterly exhausted and nearly drowned, it comes up the last -time and meets its fate at the hands of the plucky and relentless -pursuer. Should the hunter miss his stroke at the first awful attack -and fail to get clear, the kyak is instantly overturned and the man -savagely mauled in the water, the walrus driving its tusks right -through his body time and time again. Or it sometimes seizes the hunter -between its flippers and, in full view of the other kyakers, holds him -under water, coughing hoarse defiance at them all as they rush up to -the rescue; and then slowly submerges, taking its enemy with it. Such -are the casualties of arctic life. - -One of the very few creatures who seems to have it all his own way in -the frozen regions of the north is the raven. He supplies an element of -sheer impishness and insouciance in Eskimo life, without which the -native might want for a good deal of fun and aggravation. - -The bird abounds everywhere. Even in the most bitter and desolate spots -the raven turns up in a sufficiently glossy and well nourished -condition. His huge beak is a formidable weapon and always stands him -in good stead. He is like a spirit of mischief, able to calculate to a -hair how near to spear or gun he may with safety venture. He is the -despair of men and dogs alike. He is an expert thief, and cannot be -excelled in pilfering. - -During the day, whilst the hunters are away and there is nothing much -doing, the raven sits on a crag or other convenient spot overlooking -the village, and with a melancholic and malignant eye broods in -disgust. You can almost hear him hoarsely remark: - -“What a rotten show! What a poverty-stricken hole! This really is the -limit! Not a scrap to filch since daybreak!” - -Should you pass by, he brightens up and cocks an eye at you in an -expectant way, as though it were the plainest duty of all bipeds to -shed scraps and bits for him to enable him to pick up an honest living. -Although, as a matter of fact, he much prefers a dishonest one. - -Towards evening, there is an air of expectancy about the raven group. -They have trimmed themselves up and sharpened their beaks on any stone -or pole handy for the purpose. As the hunters begin to put in an -appearance the birds move off and entrench themselves behind such cover -as the neighbourhood may afford. They know from experience that man is -uncertain with his gun, and it may go off unexpectedly with detrimental -effects to themselves. Anyhow, they prefer to have a boulder in -between. - -Presently one bird, sharper-set than the rest, peers from his -concealment to see how things are progressing. A croak of disgust at -the leaden-footedness of events announces his observations to the rest. -But presently a hunter emerges from his house with a bowl of dainties -for the dogs (the dainties are more or less putrid), and empties it -into a tumultuous crowd of them, when each one vies with his neighbour -in catching and bolting as much as possible in the least space of time. -At this, there is an ebon rush from the surrounding crags, and a fierce -rear attack upon the dogs from the voracious birds. - -A beak like cold steel driven deep into a dog’s flank just as he is -engulfing a particularly delicious morsel, tends to make him choke. He -does so in fact, and his feathered aggressor, striking hard now at his -nose, snatches the lump of meat from him in the very act of flapping -and floating off to safety in mid air. The dog, disgusted and -disappointed beyond expression, sits down and howls maledictions on -thieves in general and ravens in particular, to the remotest of their -generations. - -No one loves the raven. The hunter uses every art to catch him, but -generally in vain. He will set out early of a winter’s morning with a -supply of the most cunning traps he can contrive, and of the most -tempting bait. Nothing is in sight as he leaves the camp. When he -reaches the trapping grounds he sets a line of fox traps in all the -most likely places, and carefully conceals his work with snow. But his -every movement his been ’cutely watched, and as soon as his back is -turned there comes an amused and contemptuous croak, as who should say: -“What an ass! Do you suppose I’m not equal to that?” - -The croaker spreads bold wings and sails over to the trap. Inserting -his bill beneath it like a lever, he simply wrests it over and so -springs it. In a trice he tweaks out the bait and bolts it. He makes a -point of being there on the hunter’s return in the evening, just to -hear his remarks. The bird has the audacity indeed to sit there, close -by, his head upon one side and a bored expression in his eye, as though -he were reflecting on the pitiable amateurishness of the whole affair. - -“What!” he seems to say. “You call that a snare? And you think you’re -eloquent about it now! Why, if it comes to that, I could make your hair -stand on end with the force and aptness of my remarks!” - -With a hoarse, derisive note, he rises then and wheels off into the -arctic empyrean. - -The gulls, on the other hand, come well within the category of those -creatures whom the Eskimo hunter can outwit. These birds are always -much in demand, both as food and for the sake of their skins, which -latter, turned inside out, make capital socks. The old men spend a good -deal of their time in winter, catching gulls. - -The hunter builds himself a small igloo among the rough ice by the -seashore, and creeps inside. He proceeds to cut a hole in the top just -big enough for the passage of a bird’s body, and round this opening, on -the outside, he spreads attractive bits of seal meat and blubber. Then -he prepares to wait. Presently a gull, sweeping by on the endless -search for food, spies these dainties, and descrying no sign of foe or -danger, swoops ever nearer and nearer, until at last it alights on top -of the igloo for a brief second, seizes a morsel and wheels off again. -Nothing untoward having occurred, the bird grows bolder, returns, and -finally settles down to the feast outspread in that tempting spot. - -Suddenly a hand comes up and grips it by the legs, and drags it -downwards through the hole. Another hand slides up its body to its -neck, so that it cannot fight or bite, and in a moment or two the life -is choked out of it. Bird after bird is caught in this way, until at -the end of the day the hunter returns to the village under a load of -white and grey feathers. He laughs delightedly to think how he has -tricked the greedy gulls, and how his cunning bird-calls have deceived -one after another. - -He recounts the story of it all over the cooking pot into which the -birds are thrown as soon as skinned, and keeps his women-folk well -entertained as they sit chewing the skins to pliability in their strong -white teeth, for the rest of the arctic evening. - -Such is a glimpse into the lives of these brave and hardy warriors of -the North, a country which they love. Fierce and relentless though it -be, it brings out all the best that is in them. All honour and praise -to them. - - - - - - - - - -APPENDIX - -ESKIMO DEITIES - - -Sedna. Goddess of sea animals, but not of the sea itself. - -Ooluksâk. God of the lakes. He lives by the side of the lakes, and it -is by his instrumentality that the conjurors get their light when -performing their rites. - -Tekkitserktok. God of the land. He owns all deer. This god is greater -in power than all the other gods. Offerings are made to this god by -hunters before going inland for the annual deer hunt. - -Kingoatseak. This god lives in the sea and is like a dog in appearance; -legs very thin like a dog’s. Is not able to come to the surface. - -Sinnilktok. Lives on the land. One side of this god is like a woman, -one side like a dog. It is a benevolent spirit, gives seals to the -conjurors and cures the sick, but is very much afraid of Eskimos and -dogs. - -Keekut. Lives on land and is like a dog without hair. Is an evil -spirit, and does evil of various kinds. - -Segook. This spirit has a head like a crow and a body like a human -being, and is black, and has wings. It does good and brings meat to the -Eskimos in its beak. It eats the eyes of deer and seals. - -Tekkonatelik. A spirit living on land, with a body like a fox, fiery -eyes, red hair. Benevolent in disposition. - -Eeyeekadluk. Lives on land. In appearance like a short man with fairly -large eyes, black face, very short legs, eyes frightful to look upon. -Lives in a stone igloo. Good spirit, tries to cure the sick. - -Mummerreak. Lives on land. Like an Eskimo, masc. gender, but has his -hair dressed like a woman, and his skin clothes have no hair upon them. -Good spirit; is helpful by heaving rocks at the deer and killing them. -The deer are then found by the Eskimos. - -Angootelooktook. Lives on land. Like a man in appearance. His thighs -are crippled and he wobbles whilst walking. Benevolent spirit; keeps -close to the conjurors and pays heed to his incantations. - -Nooesarnak. Lives on land. In appearance like a woman with thin legs. -Is clothed like a woman, in deerskins. Has a deerskin mask. Benevolent -spirit; always wishes to give deerskins to the people. - -Toodlanak. Lives on land. Like a woman in appearance. Is a great -walker, and walks about with bedding and tupik (tent) on her back, as -the people do when on journey inland. She has no husband. Has a nice, -pleasant face, and wears long boots. She is a good spirit and gives -deer to the Eskimo, i.e., drives them within their reach. - -Aipalookvik. This spirit is malevolent and lives on the sea bottom. Has -a large head and face, human in appearance, but ugly like a cod’s. Is a -destroyer by desire, and tries to bite and eat the kyakers (canoemen). - -Akktonakjuvoonga, or Akktonakjuak. Live under the sea. Are very thin in -appearance and like Eskimo. They congregate and cry to each other, -“Shevarktonakjoovoonga” the others replying, “Shevarktonakjoovtit” (I -am a rope. Reply: Thou art a rope). - -Ogjunak. Lives on land. Like an Eskimo in appearance, one side black, -one side white. Has European clothes. Face covered with hair, thin -legs, arms and body. Good spirit; tries to cure sick. - -Koopvilloarkju. Lives on land. Like a small Eskimo man. Has orange -coloured hair and orange coloured clothes. Good spirit; said to give -food and heal the sick. - -Ooleooyenuk. Lives by the side of the sea. Like a man in appearance, -his clothes made with lapels and scallops. Eats seaweed. Good spirit. - -Aulanerk. Lives in the sea. Like a stout man. Is naked, writhes about -and makes waves. Is a source of joy to the Eskimo. - -Naput. Lives on land. Like an Eskimo; is very thin, cannot walk, but -jumps and stands upright. He is never angry, and classed as a good -spirit. - -Angemenooat. Lives on land. Is like a woman, very thin, almost like a -skeleton, and has a string round her waist like a woman who is carrying -a child. Has very large clothes and a benevolent mind. - -Ookomark. On land. Like a short, thin man; very large, round face, a -stout body. Is very strong, and is dangerous if seen by mortals. Lives -in a stone house and kills animals with stones. (Not benevolent; temper -uncertain; needs careful handling.) - -Oovineroolik. Those who were flesh. (These are the spirits of departed -Europeans.) Lives on land; clothed in a shirt; like a European in -appearance. Has a boat and hunts seals. Is captain of three boats, two -of which are manned by other departed Europeans. When boats are full, -meat given to the Eskimo. Very good spirits. - -Isserootaitok. (Also spirit of departed European.) Lives on land; like -a European in appearance. Wears a jacket with no buttons. Always -arrives from a distance; has no boat, but tries to do good. - -Nessallogainalik. Lives on land. Has no clothes, but wears a hat. Is -like a European; generally sleeps on a ship; is supposed to be the -spirit of a departed sailor. - -Oyakkert. This spirit is an Innooa and not a Tongak. It lives in small -stones; in appearance like an Eskimo. Has a very red face, black body -and legs; is very thick and heavy. Only seen by conjurors. Has no -attributes. - -Koodjânuk. First-class spirit. When the world was made he was a very -large bird with black head and hooked beak, white body. Lived on the -boundary of the earth. Is a benevolent spirit; a trifle blasé through -age. Has the ability to give, and does so when asked by the conjurors; -also heals sick. - -Poolaiyittok. Lives on land, by the side of the lakes. Like a woman in -appearance. Is accompanied by a dog like a white fox. Is a good spirit -and does good when asked. - -Bokoomeerlekuluk. Lives on the sea bottom. Like a fox in appearance, -with fur, black in colour; but head and face like an Eskimo, with two -tusks, which are used for cleaning purposes and for killing seals, -which are given to the Eskimo. - -Kalluktok. Lives on land and on ice. Like an Eskimo, dwarf in size. He -has dogs and a sled, and is a good hunter. Gives meat to the people. Is -very swift with his sled. - -Kulaktok. Lives on land in a tupik (skin tent). Like an old woman, and -is the mother of Kalluktok. She is always cooking, because her son is a -good hunter. She constantly gives food to her Tongak friends. - -Kallooetok. Lives on land. Is father to Kalluktok and husband of -Kullaktok. Is a bad hunter because his eyes are bad. He is very old and -does not go hunting, but has good intentions to the Eskimo. - -Tooktooak. Lives on land. In appearance like a very tall and thin -Eskimo; hair white and clothing black, with no hair upon it. He is a -good spirit in intention. - -Koodjaunuk. Lives at the bottom of the sea. Like an Eskimo. Wears no -clothes and is very thin. He is not one to be feared, as his intentions -are good, and comes to the surface when called by the conjuror. - -Toonekotario. This one lives on land. It is the spirit of one of the -departed Tooneet. Carries a bone harpoon and comes as often as invoked. - -Aumanil. Lives on land. Has a black face with fiery eyes. His mouth, -eyes and nostrils are very much distended when invoked by the conjuror. -He guides whales. - -Nootaitok. The spirit of the Icebergs. He lives in the sea. Like an -Eskimo. Wears black skin clothes; has bright eyes. Is a good spirit and -gives seals when invoked. - -Adjarkpaluk. Lives on land. Is like a European, and wears European -clothing. When invoked, will come from afar. He has a good mind and -does no harm. - -Tooloreak. Lives on land. Is like an Eskimo. Has large canine teeth -like a bear; wears bearskin trousers, and the rest of his clothing of -skin without hair. Black in colour. Does not wear boots, but has feet -covered with hair. He is a good spirit and comes when called and gives -as desired. - -Agloolik. He lives beneath the ice like an ogjuk (large seal). He is -the guardian spirit of the seal holes. He gives seals to the hunters -and is considered a good spirit. - -Akselloak. This is the spirit of the rocking stones. When called he -arrives rolling, and when near the conjuror he falls flat upon his -face. He is considered a good spirit. - -Tootegâ. Like a small woman. Lives on an island in a stone house. She -is able to walk upon the sea. - -Ataksâk. Lives in the sky. He is like a ball in appearance. He has the -means of joy within himself, thus he is the joy-giver. He comes to the -Eskimo as often as he is invoked by the conjuror. He has many strings -of charms on his clothing. These charms are very bright, and as he -moves about his body is also bright. He arrives to the people as a ball -of light and causes the people to be joyful, through the conjuror. He -is considered good. - -Kingmingoarkulluk. He lives on land and is like a very small Eskimo. -When seen he is always singing with joy: “Kingmingoarkulloona, aiya, -samaiya.” (He is always singing that he is Kingmingoarkulluk.) The name -is derived from a plant called Kingmingoark. He is of a good -disposition and does good generally. - -Ooyarraksakju. She lives in the big stones, hence her name: the -beautiful material for stone. She is like a large woman in appearance, -lives on various things; gives various good things to the Eskimo. - -Ooyarrauyamitok. Has no definite abode. Is sometimes on earth, -sometimes in Heaven. In appearance is like a middle-aged Eskimo. Is -frequently invoked by the conjurors when incanting. This god, if -invoked and respected, gives meat to the Eskimo, i.e., enables them to -get it. - -Koodloorktaklik. He lives far inland and is like a man, and does not -wish to be seen by the Eskimo. He is bright and clean in appearance. He -does good to the sick, and in various other ways. He generally has the -ends of deer hoofs attached to his clothing, hence his name. - -Kakkakotauyak. Lives on land. Is like a dog in appearance; whitish in -colour. His eyes and nose are black. He is not dangerous, even if seen. -Has amiable characteristics, and sends seals and deer to the Eskimo. - -Sillaseak. Lives inland, and is like a man. He never goes on the ice. -He lives in a house under the earth. He gives deer to the Eskimo when -deer-hunting. - -Kattakju. Lives on land and is like an old woman in appearance and is -very tall. She presides by the sick when the conjuror tests them by -head or leg lifting, and reveals their state and chances of recovery to -the conjuror. - -Niksiglo. This god lives under the earth, and is like one with a hook -with a line attached. In appearance he is like a walrus tusk. Is a -Tongâk and a bad character. He steals the hunters’ deer and seals by -hooking them. He is seen only by conjurors, if seen at all. There are -many of these tongâk, and if seen stealing by a conjuror, the aid of -another conjuror is called in. The spirits of these two search for the -thief; the one watching from above, the spirit of the other goes below, -and from a small house beneath the dwelling of the tongâk he is able to -see the thief and kill him. - -Angalootarlo. Is another tongâk and a bad character. He is a great -thief, and has two personalities; is like a large bearded seal when in -the sea, and like an Eskimo when on the ice. He is frightful in -appearance and works in the following manner: When an Eskimo is alone -at sea in his kyak, this tongâk, keeping the appearance of a seal, -swims away from land and is followed by the kyaker. When a long -distance from land, the tongâk gets upon a piece of ice and the kyaker, -having no gun, follows to kill him, still thinking it is a seal. Then, -when the hunter draws near, the tongâk changes his shape into that of -an Eskimo, and kills the hunter, he having no gun and being very near. - -Pukkeenegak. Lives on land, and is like a small woman, with face -tattooed. She has her hair done up into a knot on the top of her head, -like the Greenlanders. She has very large boots (kummeek) made from the -deer legs, and has very nice clothes. Is quite aristocratic. She is -considered to be good, as she gives food, material for clothes, and -babies, to the Eskimo women. - -Toodlayoeetok, also Pissukyongnangetok. Has his abode in Heaven. Is -like an Eskimo, but cannot walk, hence his name: he who is unable to -walk. He sits on a small sled and propels himself along by two sticks. -He is considered a good deity. He catches animals by lassooing them, -and then gives them to the Eskimo. - -Orkshualik. Lives on land ice. - - - - - - - - - -FOOTNOTE - - -[1] Occasionally the black fox is taken, and the fortunate hunter may -receive as much as the equivalent of $100 to $500 for a pair of fine -skins, from the Agent. - - - - - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG UNKNOWN ESKIMO *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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-} -.p218width { -width:717px; -} -.p219width { -width:718px; -} -.p224-1width { -width:557px; -} -.p224-2width { -width:719px; -} -.p232width { -width:445px; -} -.p240width { -width:486px; -} -.xd31e3115 { -text-indent:6em; -} -.p255width { -width:648px; -} -.p257width { -width:719px; -} -.p261width { -width:712px; -} -.mapwidth { -width:700px; -} -/* ]]> */ </style> -</head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Among unknown Eskimo, by Julian W. Bilby</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Among unknown Eskimo</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Julian W. Bilby</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Photographer: Archibald Lang Fleming</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: May 26, 2022 [eBook #68177]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG UNKNOWN ESKIMO ***</div> -<div class="front"> -<div class="div1 cover"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure cover-imagewidth"><img src="images/new-cover.jpg" alt="Newly Designed Front Cover." width="480" height="720"></div><p> -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 frenchtitle"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first center large">AMONG UNKNOWN ESKIMO -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 frontispiece"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure frontispiecewidth" id="frontispiece"><img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="A Woman of the Fox Channel Tribe." width="485" height="720"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">A Woman of the Fox Channel Tribe.</span></p> -<p class="first">With jacket splendidly worked in beadwork. Her husband has obtained the beads by barter -from whaling ships.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 titlepage"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure titlepage-imagewidth"><img src="images/titlepage.png" alt="Original Title Page." width="448" height="720"></div><p> -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="titlePage"> -<div class="docTitle"> -<div class="mainTitle">AMONG<br> -UNKNOWN ESKIMO</div> -<div class="subTitle">AN ACCOUNT OF TWELVE YEARS INTIMATE RELATIONS<br> -WITH THE PRIMITIVE ESKIMO OF ICE-BOUND<br> -BAFFIN LAND, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF<br> -THEIR WAYS OF LIVING, HUNTING<br> -CUSTOMS & BELIEFS</div> -</div> -<div class="byline">BY<br> -<span class="docAuthor">JULIAN W. BILBY</span> -<br> -<i>Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society<br> -Member of the Folk Lore Society</i></div> -<div class="docImprint">WITH THIRTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS & A MAP -<br> -PHILADELPHIA<br> -J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY<br> -LONDON: SEELEY, SERVICE & CO., <span class="sc">Ltd.</span><br> -<span class="docDate">1923</span></div> -</div> -<p></p> -<div class="div1 imprint"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first center small">Printed in Great Britain. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb11">[<a href="#pb11">11</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 preface"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">PREFACE</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">In offering the present book on the Eskimo tribes of the Arctics to the reading British -public, I must discharge the grateful and pleasing duty of acknowledging my indebtedness -for much courtesy and documentary assistance to the Canadian Government, in the person -of F. C. C. Lynch, Esq., Superintendent of the “National Resources Branch of the Department -of the Interior.” He has been zealously instrumental in enabling me to consult sources -of classic recent information of which otherwise I should not have had the confirmation -and the benefit, and also has placed at my publishers’ disposal the section of the -official map which represents the most up-to-date geographical information about Baffin -Land. -</p> -<p>There is a considerable literature about the Eskimo (as distinct from a quite formidable -list of works dealing with travel and voyages in the Arctics) which should be consulted -by students of ethnography. -</p> -<p>The classical authorities in this department are Dr Franz Boas and Dr Rink, a study -of whose researches should underlie all the more recent first-hand contributions to -what must remain for a long time to come a new subject. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb12">[<a href="#pb12">12</a>]</span></p> -<p>For the photographs I am greatly indebted to the Rev. A. L. Fleming, L.T.H., who spent -several years among the Eskimo of South Baffin Land. His photos were taken during -many intrepid journeys in those wilds, and he knew exactly the scenes it was desired -to record by photography in this work. I am also indebted to Miss A. B. Teetgen for -her assistance in the literary construction of the book. -</p> -<p>Finally, I wish to record my admiration and respect for the genial and brave Eskimos -of those barren lands, and for the way they face and overcome the difficulties of -the Arctic wilds. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb13">[<a href="#pb13">13</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="toc" class="div1 contents"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"> <span class="tocPageNum xd31e190">PAGE</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER I -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch1" id="xd31e197">The Voyage to the Arctics</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">17</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER II -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch2" id="xd31e207">Baffin Land</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">32</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER III -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch3" id="xd31e217">Arctic Flora & Fauna</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">47</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER IV -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch4" id="xd31e227">The Eskimo</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">56</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER V -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch5" id="xd31e238">The Building of the Village</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">72</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER VI -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch6" id="xd31e248">The Sealing Grounds</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">85</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER VII -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch7" id="xd31e258">Womanhood in the Arctics</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">97</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER VIII -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch8" id="xd31e268">Clothing—Boat Building</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">108</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER IX -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch9" id="xd31e278">Eskimo Dogs</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">119</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER X -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch10" id="xd31e288">Tribal Life</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">136</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER XI -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch11" id="xd31e299">Tribal Life</a></span>—<i>continued</i> <span class="tocPageNum">154</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER XII -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch12" id="xd31e311">The Eskimo Language</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">171</span> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb14">[<a href="#pb14">14</a>]</span></p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER XIII -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch13" id="xd31e322">Legends</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">184</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER XIV -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch14" id="xd31e332">The Conjurors</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">196</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER XV -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch15" id="xd31e342">The Sedna Ceremony</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">210</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER XVI -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch16" id="xd31e353">The Native Surgeon</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">224</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER XVII -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch17" id="xd31e363">Sport & Hunting</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">235</span> -</p> -<p class="tocLabel">CHAPTER XVIII -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch18" id="xd31e373">The Creatures of the Wild</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">252</span> -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#app" id="xd31e381">Appendix</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">265</span> -</p> -<p class="tocChapter"><span class="sc"><a href="#ix" id="xd31e389">Index</a></span> <span class="tocPageNum">271</span> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb15">[<a href="#pb15">15</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 contents"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> -<table class="tocList"> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#frontispiece"><span class="sc">A Woman of the Fox Channel Tribe</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><i>Frontispiece</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum xd31e190">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p040"><span class="sc">An Ancient Aboriginal Encampment</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">40</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p056"><span class="sc">Part of an Eskimo Tribe of Women and Children</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">56</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p064"><span class="sc">An Iglovegak or Eskimo Dwelling</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">64</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p073"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Tupik</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">73</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p076"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Snowhouse</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">76</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p080"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Home</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">80</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p088"><span class="sc">The Return of the Successful Seal Hunter in Springtime</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">88</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p092"><span class="sc">Young <span class="corr" id="xd31e472" title="Source: Se l">Seal</span> Hunting in May</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">92</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p096"><span class="sc">Two Women in Summer Dress</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">96</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p104"><span class="sc">A Young Wife with her Baby in her Hood</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">104</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p104"><span class="sc">Eskimo Family Group</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">104</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p112"><span class="sc">Models of Kayak, Umiak, and Okushuk</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">112</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p134"><span class="sc">An Ancient Form of Sled</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">134</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p144"><span class="sc">The Two Wives of a Hunter</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">144</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p144"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Family outside their House</span></a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb16">[<a href="#pb16">16</a>]</span></td> -<td class="tocPageNum">144</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p160"><span class="sc">Preparing for a Long Winter Journey</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">160</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p177"><span class="sc">A Native Chart</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">177</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p200"><span class="sc">Asseak and his Wife</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">200</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p208"><span class="sc">An Umiak or Family Boat</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">208</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p208"><span class="corr" id="xd31e571" title="Not in source"><span class="sc">The Summer Tent or Tapik</span></span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><span class="corr" id="xd31e576" title="Not in source">208</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p211"><span class="sc">A Conjuror’s Mask</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">211</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p218"><span class="sc">A Kagge or Singing House (Elevation)</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">218</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p219"><span class="sc">A Kagge or Singing House (Plan)</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">219</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p224-1"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Woman of the Fox Channel Tribe</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">224</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p224-2"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Summer Encampment</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">224</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p232"><span class="sc">Specimens of Native Stone Carving</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">232</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p240"><span class="sc">An Eskimo in his Kayak</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">240</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p240"><span class="sc">Beginning to Build a Snowhouse</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">240</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p255"><span class="sc">A Wolf Trap</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">255</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p257"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Trap for Bears, Foxes or Wolves</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">257</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><a href="#p261"><span class="sc">A Seagull Trap</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">261</td> -</tr> -</table> -<p></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 last-child errata"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">ERRATA.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The legends to illustrations facing pages 40 and 88 have been transposed. -</p> -<p class="transcriberNote">In this edition, this is corrected by also transposing the illustrations. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb17">[<a href="#pb17">17</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="body"> -<div id="ch1" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e197">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="super">The Eskimo of Baffin Land</h2> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER I</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">The Voyage to the Arctics</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">A voyage to the Arctics has always been a dangerous and exciting adventure, whether -entered upon by whalers and hunters, intrepid men lured by the hardy business of the -frozen North, or by the no less intrepid pioneers of exploration and of science. For -the moment, we are not concerned with the latter, but rather with some aspects of -life in the barren lands and icy seas north of “the Circle,” and with the adventures -and experiences of the few ships’ crews who have been making yearly voyages in those -regions for trading purposes ever since the efforts of the sixteenth century navigators -to discover the famous North West Passage began to chart out these hitherto unnavigated -seas. -</p> -<p>The search, indeed, for this passage, a sea route of communication between the Atlantic -and Pacific Oceans (or, in other words, a short way to the East Indies without doubling -the Cape of Good Hope)—was incidentally the means of opening up the whole of the north -polar regions to exploration and discovery. As early as the year 1527, the idea of -such a <span class="pageNum" id="pb18">[<a href="#pb18">18</a>]</span>passage was suggested to Henry VIII by a merchant of Bristol; but it was not until -the beginning of the following century that a first expedition was fitted out at the -expense of some London merchants and despatched to the arctic seas. -</p> -<p>Centuries before this, however, the Arctic Ocean was entered by a Norwegian adventurer -about the time of King Alfred; and the west coast of Greenland was colonised from -Iceland early in the eleventh century. But no further progress was made in arctic -discovery until the sixteenth century, when various seas and points of land were mapped -out, mainly in the eastern hemisphere. The navigator Henry Hudson discovered the Straits -and Bay named after him in the great North American archipelago, in 1610. Frobisher, -Drake, and Hall, made voyages to the west coasts of Greenland and to the opposite -coasts; but the entrance to the arctic regions west of that continent was discovered -by John Davis in 1585. In 1616, Baffin and Bylot passed through this passage and sailed -up Smith Sound, but nothing further was learned of these parts for another two hundred -years. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo preserve to this day the story of Frobisher. It was, indeed, narrated to -the writer with a wealth of authentic detail by a native, to whom it had been handed -down amid other oral traditions of his tribe and locality. -</p> -<p>“Now it is said that Frobisher, coming to <i lang="iu-latn">Nauyatlik</i> for the first time, not knowing the place or where there was a safe anchorage, crept -along the <span class="pageNum" id="pb19">[<a href="#pb19">19</a>]</span>side (of the land) in his small ship, and was wrecked. For it was shallow water there, -and getting aground, he ordered the fuel (coal) to be taken out and carried ashore -to a place called <i lang="iu-latn">Akkelasak</i>. For the ship was no longer habitable. The crew found refuge on a small, flat island, -and pitched tents there of the vessel’s sails, and began to fashion a graving dock -by digging out the soft ground. When it was finished, they towed the wreck to the -spot and docked her. All this happened a long time ago, but traces of their work are -still visible. The shipwrecked sailors overhauled the hull. When at length their repairs -and rebuilding were complete, they towed out the ship and moored her alongside a cliff, -at the top of which they fixed their tackle, <span class="corr" id="xd31e699" title="Source: unsteped">unstepped</span> and <span class="corr" id="xd31e702" title="Source: resteped">restepped</span> the mast, their task being completed. At last, and having buried those of their shipmates -who had died during this weary time, they abandoned the remainder of their fuel and -set sail for home. This is the narrative of one who had it from her mother, who in -turn had received it from her dead father, who had it from his forbears; for thus -they were accustomed to narrate it.” -</p> -<p>The above translation, of course, is very free. It would interest the philologist -to have it in the original, or even in a literal version; but possibly the foregoing -will convey to the general reader that graphic grasp of the story which renders all -Eskimo history so reliable and enduring. -</p> -<p>The attempt to find a north west passage by sea, <span class="pageNum" id="pb20">[<a href="#pb20">20</a>]</span>from the Atlantic Ocean to Behring Strait, where farthest east meets farthest west, -was abandoned until Commander John Ross, in modern times (1818), was sent out to prosecute -further exploration in the Arctic. Throughout the nineteenth century, many intrepid -voyages were made, with which the names of such men as Parry, Ross, Richardson, Rae -and Franklin are associated. Prior to this wonderful epoch of dauntless adventure, -all within the Arctic Circle upon the map was a blank. The entire geography of the -Canadian arctic archipelago has been worked out, defined, charted, and named, since -that time. Voyages of discovery were made in rapid succession, after Sir John Ross’s -expedition in 1818, many of the leaders working in conjunction with the officials -of the Hudson Bay Fur Trading Company, who were anxious to determine the extent and -limits of the immense continent they controlled, now known as the North West Territories. -Every name upon the arctic map, whether of sea, sound, inlet, strait, island, peninsula -or cape, is a historical association with the personnel or the patrons of these numerous -expeditions. -</p> -<p>All the islands of the Arctic Archipelago lying to the northward of the mainland of -the continent, and the whole of Baffin Land, form part of the British possessions -in North America by right of discovery. They were formally transferred to the Dominion -of Canada by Order in Council of the Imperial Government on September 1st, 1880. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb21">[<a href="#pb21">21</a>]</span></p> -<p>An immense amount of scientific information was derived from all this hardship, endurance -and enterprise. The story of Sir John Franklin alone is a deathless epic in the annals -of this seafaring nation. And the whole field was opened up for the whalers, sealers, -hunters and fishers, whose business it soon became to demonstrate that arctic exploration -had a bearing on commerce and the hardier industries of maritime mankind. -</p> -<p>The whaling trade originated as early as the discoveries of Barentz and Hudson, but -Sir John Ross opened up the northernmost waters of Baffin’s Bay to it, in recent times. -The search for the North West Passage, indeed, proved abortive for many years, owing -to the fact that the season in which it was possible to navigate in very high latitudes -only lasted about seven weeks. The most experienced men, though, never gave up the -theory of the probability of its existence. Half a century went by before the route -was found at last. Captain McClure, in the search for the long-lost Franklin, achieved -the discovery of two routes to the Behring Straits and the Pacific Ocean, in the autumn -of the year 1850. Useless and futile as the discovery proved to be, who can sufficiently -estimate and appraise all that has gone, of human worth and high resolve, of suffering -and of life itself, to the making of it? -</p> -<p>Of the whalers and traders who followed in the wake of the explorers, the Scottish -seamen have been the most persistent. Scotch vessels continue, to-day, <span class="pageNum" id="pb22">[<a href="#pb22">22</a>]</span>to visit the Arctic every year. They sail from home in early summer, cross the North -Atlantic, work their way up Davis’ Strait, and, (unless they winter on the coast of -Baffin Land or Greenland), return to Scotland late in “the fall.” Sometimes the practice -was to make the passage, generally through open water, from Dundee to St. John’s, -spend some weeks upon the sealing grounds, then return to refit at the Newfoundland -port for a whaling cruise farther north in Lancaster Sound. Having secured their cargo -of seal skins and oil, they return home. The vessels of the Dundee whaling fleet are -designed and built for navigation in northern seas. The hull is of wood, on account -of its resisting power where pressed by ice, and the hardwood (“greenheart”) sheathing -minimises the abrasions caused by conflict with the jagged edges of the floes. The -ship is immensely braced by stout cross beams inside. The cutwater is protected by -iron bands or plates, to enable her to withstand the heavy strain of the ice. She -is barque rigged (i.e., a square rigged vessel, having yards on the foremast and mainmast, -but not on the mizzen mast), and fitted with steam, to enable her to proceed during -a calm, to shear her way through ice, or to enter and leave harbour independently -of wind or tide. On all other occasions she depends upon her sails. A whaler fitted -after this fashion is called an “auxiliary steam vessel.” She sails, however, much -faster than she can steam. She carries about 500 tons of coal. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb23">[<a href="#pb23">23</a>]</span></p> -<p>Many of these tried and tested Scottish whaling ships have been bought up by the leaders -of Arctic and Antarctic exploring expeditions, and remodelled and refitted for the -scientific uses to which they would be put, and have done yeoman service in the assault -on the Poles. -</p> -<p>Of late years the Hudson Bay Company (of historic and ubiquitous enterprise in Canada), -have established posts on the southern shores of Baffin Land, (opposite to that northernmost -region of the bleak Labrador known as Ungava), so that their ships, which sail from -Montreal as annual supply ships for all the Company’s “Forts” and “Factories” along -the Canadian coasts, have points of call along Hudson Strait en route for Hudson Bay -itself and the fur ports of that vast inland sea. -</p> -<p>The Scotch whaling industry has various agents posted in many a bleak, un-heard of -spot along the icebound littoral of the Eskimo countries, whose duty it is to collect -and store the pelts brought in by the natives—employed by the agent—and ship them -away annually or bi-annually, as the case may be. -</p> -<p>A whaling voyage was filled, especially in the earlier days, with as much danger as -adventure. The ships were manned by sailors who had taken to the life as lads, or, -held by the fascination of the North, returned thither year after year, seldom caring -to make voyages elsewhere. They lived amid the ice. True northman and fine seaman, -many a whaler’s master is proud of the fact that he began his career <span class="pageNum" id="pb24">[<a href="#pb24">24</a>]</span>as a cabin boy and worked his way aft. He is a fighter, every inch of him, such as -only “the wild” can breed. He has an iron code of honour, and a strain of true Norse -hardness in him for his enemy. But he has also the manly virtues of his type—fidelity -to his fellows, and generosity to lesser men than himself. -</p> -<p>Previous to an Arctic voyage, months were spent in the commissioning of these vessels. -Every rope and block was overhauled. The ships’ boats were rigorously tested and each -carefully fitted out. Food and stores of all kinds were taken aboard wholesale, against -every contingency experience and foresight could suggest, especially that of a forced -wintering in the north. An armoury of weapons was carried: harpoons and harpoon guns -for the boats, lances for killing whales, huge knives for cutting up the carcases, -bombs, hatchets, rifles and ammunition. No less exhaustive was the inventory of the -“trade”—articles for the Eskimo trade and barter—such as needles, soaps (scented and -otherwise), pipes, matches, calico, beads, and, above all, tobacco! Every boy’s book -of adventure will suggest the scope of the slop chest, the incredible handiness and -nattiness of the galley, the reek of the fo’c’sle, the snug dignity of the Captain’s -cabin, and the compressed completeness of an equipment designed to last a ships’ entire -crew (let us say her tonnage is about 129, and her company number twenty-nine) over -many months of toil, emergency, and utter isolation. <span class="pageNum" id="pb25">[<a href="#pb25">25</a>]</span>She carried no doctor. The first mate presided over the medicine chest, and had resort -to some small book of directions as to what to give and what to do in case of illness -or accident. In the early days adventurers to the Arctic were sorely stricken with -scurvy, for want of vegetable food and a knowledge of how to provide against this -deficiency. We have often heard of desperate feats of amateur surgery carried out -on board ship. It has been that the mate of a whaling vessel often acted, not at all -unsuccessfully, as surgeon. -</p> -<p>Doctor William S. Bruce, indeed, tells us in his “Polar Exploration” that, generally -speaking, germ diseases are unknown in the Arctic, the intense cold making everywhere—in -the air, on the sea and on the land—for a high degree of bacterial sterility. “Under -ordinary conditions it is not possible to ‘catch cold’ in the polar regions .… infectious -fevers are practically unknown, unless contracted in a dirty ship or filthily kept -house.” Hence the feasibility of a practical asepsis in accident or operation. Bishop -Bompass once amputated a man’s leg above the knee, and the operation was completely -successful. The Bishop had no medical knowledge beyond having attended some lectures -at an opthalmic hospital, in order to learn how to treat his Indians for snow-blindness. -</p> -<p>The whaling voyage itself might be uneventful enough until a high latitude was reached; -but after that, the greatest possible skill was required to navigate <span class="pageNum" id="pb26">[<a href="#pb26">26</a>]</span>the ship safely through the “pack” ice coming down from the Pole through Davis Straits -and Fox Channel, on its way to the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland, to be finally -melted and dispersed in the Gulf Stream. -</p> -<p>Arctic navigators and oceanographers enumerate many varieties and vagaries of the -polar ice. Suffice it here to note that “pack ice” is the jammed and frozen conglomeration -of masses of ice from broken floes and vast disintegrating “fields” of ice. In Straits, -this pack is always heaviest in the centre but less compact along the shores, so that -a vessel can sometimes be worked along the coast when navigation in the middle would -be impossible. This “middle pack” is rightly dreaded by Arctic seamen. A change of -wind might drift it in upon the shore, when the ship’s destruction would be inevitable. -The great danger in meeting the ice pack out at sea consists in the fact that the -larger part of the floe is almost submerged and little of it is to be seen. Again, -it bristles with spurs and points which stick up and out like spears and rams, any -one of which might rip up a hull sailing at any speed. -</p> -<p>The rapidity with which the ice pack moves is something wonderful. Miles upon miles -of sea will be free from ice, with the exception of small masses from the floes, and -the ship ploughs a steady course to the north. Suddenly the wind changes. Ice swiftly -makes its appearance on every quarter, and—with incredible rapidity—the vessel is -surrounded. But <span class="pageNum" id="pb27">[<a href="#pb27">27</a>]</span>warning has been given from the “crow’s nest” (the look-out aloft, a barrel at masthead), -and the Master works a cautious way through the “leads” in the shifting ice. Should -the pack be exceptionally heavy, threatening to pen in the ship completely, measures -for her safety are immediately taken. Orders ring out sharply. The crew, with ice -saws or blasting powder, quickly make a space in the ice, like a temporary dock, large -enough to warp her into, where she can lie snug while the savage floes grind and crash -against each other without. Woe to the ship caught between them ere such a refuge -can be made! No vessel that ever adventured in the polar seas could stand the awful -grip. There would be a rending of the stoutest timbers, groans of a ship in agony, -a lift and a quiver, and as the floes swung apart on the black swell below, the brave -creature, mangled, rent, and stove in, would plunge to her bitter grave. As for her -crew, their only chance would be to lower the boats, and, either marooned on the ice, -drift south on the prevailing current until perchance sighted by a ship; or, if afloat, -work their perilous way to the Greenland coast, and take refuge at one of the Danish -settlements sparsely scattered on its southern extremity. -</p> -<p>Icebergs—those rightly dreaded wanderers of the northern seas—afford a glorious vision -in bright, calm weather, as they wend their majestic course to the south, tinted by -the setting sun or by the indescribable loveliness of the northern sunrise. Sometimes -<span class="pageNum" id="pb28">[<a href="#pb28">28</a>]</span>a large portion having been melted, breaks from the berg, when the vast mass slowly -careens over, plunges with a thunderous crash, and reasserts itself upon a new floating -base, peerless and beautiful as ever. The ship is fortunate who finds herself standing -well away at such a moment. -</p> -<p>In spite, however, of their bad reputation, the bergs have their uses for those hardy -wayfarers of the sea who know them. The ancient Arctic mariner will tell you that -an iceberg can sail against the wind as well as with it! Gripped for two-thirds of -its bulk by a strong under-current, it can crash its way and forge ahead against the -wildest adverse gale. An old whaler told of an experience he had when his ship was -beset by the loose floe, and like to be crushed to matchwood. The men were striving -all they knew to get her into safety, when a vast berg drove slowly down beside her -through the ice, shouldering it aside as a giant liner drives through a heavy sea. -With the inspiration of sheer desperation, the Captain saw his chance! The vessel -was cautiously worked still nearer the berg and then kedged on to it. Towed thus, -with resistless might, she too forged safely through the chafing floe to clear water -and deliverance. -</p> -<p>Again, a ship—no matter of what class or tonnage—can only carry a certain quantity -of water. So, too, with a whaler; she is limited in her supply. It sometimes happens -that, cruising about week after week, she runs short of water. On sighting an iceberg, -<span class="pageNum" id="pb29">[<a href="#pb29">29</a>]</span>she sends off her boats loaded with casks, and the crews refill them either with water -from the pools at the foot of the berg, or with the ice itself, which being fresh -water ice, melts down, of course, into splendid drinking water after the brine and -salt coating from the sea has first been scraped off. For, be it remembered, an iceberg -is a portion—the seaward end—of one of the polar glaciers. As the immense ice river -reaches the coast it is pushed out over the cliffs, and vast masses break off with -terrific detonation, plunge into the sea, and the newly born icebergs go floating -far and wide. A large number of these bergs are formed in Eternity Fiord on the Greenland -coast, and the crash and roar of them can be heard for miles. -</p> -<p>As the season wears on and the whaler’s hold slowly fills with the cargo of the Arctic -hunt, from time to time she puts into the sparse harbours of the northern coasts, -to refit, or to meet the tribes of Eskimo gathered there to do “trade” with her. The -Hudson Bay Company have lately introduced a form of coinage for this purpose, anything -of the sort being previously quite unknown among the natives. Pieces of metal in various -shapes represent the values of a currency and are used as money. But the prehistoric -marketing of barter still holds good throughout the greater part of the Arctic regions. -</p> -<p>Sometimes a shipmate has to be left, perforce of accident or illness, to sleep the -long sleep that knows no earthly waking, in this drear and far-off land. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb30">[<a href="#pb30">30</a>]</span></p> -<p>So much then for the voyage and the voyagers to the Arctic. Now for that frozen world -itself, and for those strange people whose lot, compared with that of all the rest -of the more genially situated sons of men, would seem to have fallen in the bleakest, -harshest and most forbidding places, where human life might scarcely exist. -</p> -<p>When the first ship seen by an Eskimo tribe touched on the coast, what did they think -of it; what was the bewildering impression they got? An old hunter, recounting the -story of his tribe and its adventures, gave the writer a graphic account of just such -an event. An enormous boat, he said, appeared, filled with <i lang="iu-latn">Kabloonâtyet</i> (strangers), speaking an unknown tongue and having hairy faces! The tall masts were -hung with the clouds (sails), and there was a door in the roof (the companion leading -from the deck), instead of in the side of the house. At first the tribesmen hovered -round this amazing thing in their canoes, afraid to approach too near. Presents were -thrown out to them of which they could make nothing. They just smelt at the tobacco, -biscuit and sweets, and cast them aside. There were knives, but they cut themselves -with these, not knowing how to handle steel ones. It was almost as if some unimaginable -craft from another sphere were to visit the Earth and make incomprehensible overtures -to us by means of objects which conveyed nothing to our intelligence—something after -the style of Mr. Wells’s Martians. At last, however, looking glasses resolved the -situation. <span class="pageNum" id="pb31">[<a href="#pb31">31</a>]</span>These the Eskimo received with huge delight and amazement. Eventually they were induced -to board the strange boat and open up some sort of initial overtures with her alarming -crew. His fore-fathers, said the old hunter, had seen these things and carefully handed -them down. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb32">[<a href="#pb32">32</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch2" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e207">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER II</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">Baffin Land</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">A landfall in the Arctics is forbidding enough. Little is to be seen save bare rocks -broken by ravines, filled with snow even so late as far into July and August—bare -rocks, rising into gaunt hills from 500 to 1,500 feet high. The coastline is broken -by bays and fiords, running deep inland. These inlets with their irregular outlines -have a singular if rather drear beauty of their own, especially in the summer-time, -when what little vegetation there may be—a spare, coarse grass and a red and white -variety of heather—adds a grateful note of relief to the severe scene. There are miles -and miles of rocky coast in places, where not so much as a handful of soil to support -the hardiest little living thing could be found. -</p> -<p>Baffin Land, or Baffin Island—the country with which this book has to do—is an immense -portion of the Canadian Arctic archipelago lying between latitude 62° and 72° N. By -far the greater part of it extends north of the Arctic Circle, while its southern-most -cape touches the latitude of the Faroe Islands, ’twixt the Shetlands and Iceland, -in our own more <span class="pageNum" id="pb33">[<a href="#pb33">33</a>]</span>familiar waters. The whole country lies far beyond the northernmost limit of trees, -although it is not without an Arctic flora of its own. Baffin Sea, or Baffin Bay (that -stretch of the North Atlantic Ocean which, beyond Davis Strait, divides the west coast -of Greenland from North America), was discovered by the navigator William Baffin in -1615. Hence the name of the country. Discredit was thrown throughout the seventeenth -and eighteenth centuries on Baffin’s work in the north; and, after him, Arctic exploration -ceased for about two centuries. Then Sir John Ross verified Baffin’s observations -in 1818, and many of them became the bases of later expeditionary enterprise. -</p> -<p>A glance at the map shows how the country lies. To the north of it, beyond the whaling -grounds of Lancaster Sound, Devon Island is the next stretch of the poleward tapering -continent. The Gulf of Bothnia and Fox Channel divide it on the west from the enormously -broken coasts of the North West Territories. “The territory now known as Baffin Land -was, until about 1875, supposed to consist of different islands, known as Cockburn -Island, Cumberland Island, Baffin’s Land, Sussex Island, Fox Land, etc. It seems to -be now established that these are all connected and that there is but one great island, -comprising them all, to which the name of Baffin Land has been given. It forms the -northern side of Hudson Strait.… It has a length of about 1,005 English statute miles, -with an average breadth of 305 <span class="pageNum" id="pb34">[<a href="#pb34">34</a>]</span>miles, its greatest width being 500 and its least 150 miles. Its area approximates -300,000 square miles, and it therefore comprises about one tenth of the whole Dominion. -It is the third largest island in the world, being exceeded only by Australia and -Greenland” (Annual Report of Geolog. Survey of Canada, 1898.) -</p> -<p>It is an entirely Arctic country, immediately north of which runs the polar limit -of human habitation. -</p> -<p>Up to the actual time of writing, Baffin Land has been held to be incapable of inland -commercial development, but a Royal Commission of the Government of the Dominion have -recently examined the possibility of establishing there a reindeer and muskox ranching -industry. Their report has not yet been published, but already some steps are being -taken to realise such a project. If this should have results, a new means of livelihood -would be opened up to the Eskimo, at present employed exclusively by the whaling agents -on the coast. But the natives are not herders, and in all probability Lapps would -be brought over from northern Europe to initiate the industry. From this would ensue -doubtless some racial modifications—probably quite inappreciable to any but those -observers, like the present writer, used to the pure and unmixed Eskimo stock. In -the present book, little account will be taken of those tribes which have been in -contact with other races, like those of Alaska and Labrador, whence results hybridization -or degeneration. The writer proposes to confine his attention <span class="pageNum" id="pb35">[<a href="#pb35">35</a>]</span>entirely to the people of ancient, unmixed blood, and to depict their life and customs -as uninfluenced by the forces of trade and civilisation, which are already threatening -to usher in a new era and extinguish the last representatives of the “reindeer age.” -</p> -<p>From another point of view, however, Baffin Land should not pass without remark. It -has certain undetermined mineral resources. At Cape Durban, on the 67th parallel, -coal is known to exist, and graphite (plumbago) has been found abundant and pure in -several islands. Again, pyrites and mica are all to be found in its rocks. -</p> -<p>The geology of the Arctic regions is, of course, a study in itself beyond the scope -of this book. It may be of interest, however, to note that the two great distinctive -bodies of rock to be observed in a country like Baffin Land are the granite and the -finer grained, darker, basic rock. The ironstone from there is very similar to that -brought from India to be smelted in England. The graphite might be mistaken for coal, -but for its formation under geological conditions which could not have given rise -to the latter. The two pyrites occur in the rocks of all ages; the one is a brassy -yellow, very hard mineral, and the other a brilliant black stone (magnetic pyrites) -looking much like a mass of loosely formed crystals. Garnets are also formed in several -kinds of rock, but are chiefly to be found in the schist. As a rule, these little -gems are far too much broken and split by the <span class="pageNum" id="pb36">[<a href="#pb36">36</a>]</span>intense frost to be worth collecting. In the winter, the hardest rock is so split -by the cold that every peculiarity of its composition can be clearly seen. The graphite -can be chipped out with an axe and utilised very conveniently for writing. -</p> -<p>The scenery everywhere is typical of the “Barrens,” the “Bad Lands of the North.” -In winter, a featureless waste of snow, where in that dark season “come those wonderful -nights of glittering stars and northern lights playing far and wide upon the icy deserts; -or where the moon, here most melancholy, wanders on her silent way through scenes -of desolation and death. In these regions the heavens count for more than elsewhere; -they give colour and character, while the landscape, simple and unvarying, has no -power to draw the eye.” (Nansen.) In summer, when the iron grip of ice is relaxed -around the frozen coast, snow may disappear from the interminable wastes of rounded -granite hills which are a feature of the interior. The effect of this endless succession -of low bare elevations is one of “appalling desolation.” The long, high-pitched howl -of the wolf, the ultimate note of the wilderness, falls occasionally upon the ear -of the twilight camper. This, and the cry of the loon from the lakes, with the crowing -bleat of the ptarmigan in the low scrub, are the chance evening sounds (of spring -and summer) in the Barrens. -</p> -<p>The country generally is mountainous and of a hilly and barren aspect. In some districts -comparatively <span class="pageNum" id="pb37">[<a href="#pb37">37</a>]</span>level Laurentian areas occur, where immense herds of reindeer roam in the summer. -At this season the ranges have a dark or nearly black appearance, owing to the growth -of lichens upon them, but this sombre character is often relieved in valleys and on -hill-sides by strips and patches of green, due to grasses and sedges in the lower -bottoms, and a variety of flowering plants on sheltered slopes exposed to the sun. -</p> -<p>The high interior of Baffin Land, lying just north of Cumberland Sound, is apparently -all covered with ice, like the interior of Greenland. Around the margins of this ice -cap the general elevation above the sea is about 5,000 feet, and it rises to about -8,000 feet in the central parts. Large portions of the northern interior are over -1,000 feet above the sea, so that vast regions of the country may be said to be truly -mountainous. -</p> -<p>There are no trees or shrubs of any kind in Baffin Land. Of Arctic flowers, a small -yellow poppy seems to be the hardiest and most widespread. Even in those parts where -desolation seems to reign supreme, this poppy (<i lang="la">Papaver radicatum</i>), and a tiny purple saxifrage (<i lang="la">Saxifraga appositifolia</i>) can generally be discerned. There are coarse grasses growing in scant patches, and -immense tracts of reindeer moss, upon which the cariboo entirely subsist. -</p> -<p>Unlike the sterile <span class="corr" id="xd31e807" title="Source: Antartic">Antarctic</span>, however, it is well known that the flora of Arctic lands is a feature of such importance -that it has been the subject of an immense amount of expert investigation carried -out <span class="pageNum" id="pb38">[<a href="#pb38">38</a>]</span>by very many eminent botanists from every country. Professor Bruce says it is quite -impossible to enter into detail regarding arctic botany, largely on account of its -sheer profusion. “No matter how far the explorer goes, no matter how desolate a region -he visits, he is sure to come across one or more species of flowering plants.… Every -arctic traveller is thoroughly familiar with scurvy grass, the sulphur coloured buttercup, -the little bladder campion, several potentillas, the blaeberry, many saxifrages, the -rock rose, the cotton grass and the arctic willow.” In Grinnell Land (far north of -Baffin Land) the British Arctic Expedition of 1875 met with “luxuriant vegetation.” -The presence or absence of the Arctic current along the shores of these countries -seems to have much to do with the problems of vegetation. Baffin Land, bathed in its -icy waters, is far more barren than Greenland, where it does not touch. Possibly Grinnell -Land is immune from its influence. It is, nevertheless, quite possible for a dense -plant life to flourish—under certain conditions of climate, altitude and situation—deep -within the Arctic Circle, where even the tundra, a wilderness of snow in the winter, -becomes an impassable fever-haunted, mosquito ridden, torrid, flower decked swamp -in the summer. -</p> -<p>But there is more than this in the botany of Baffin Land! The natural or geological -history of the Arctic regions generally is that of the earth’s crust itself, and from -this point of view the study of these <span class="pageNum" id="pb39">[<a href="#pb39">39</a>]</span>northern blossoms is more wonderful than that of its rocks. -</p> -<p>The fossil plants of these ice-bound countries belong to the Miocene period, an epoch -warmer than the present, which preceded the glacial age now triumphant there. The -latitudes of Baffin Land were once covered by extensive forests representing fifty -or sixty different species of arborescent trees, most of them with deciduous leaves, -some three or four inches in diameter, the elm, pine, oak, maple, plane, and even -some evergreens, showing an entirely different condition of seasons to that which -now holds sway in the far, far north. The modern botany of the Arctics, comprising -some 300 kinds of flowering plants, besides mosses, algae, lichens, fungi, is characteristic -of the Scandinavian <span class="corr" id="xd31e818" title="Source: peninusla">peninsula</span>. Now, the Scandinavian flora is one of the oldest on the globe. It represents unique -problems in distribution, from which the most tremendous scientific deductions have -been drawn, such as those concerning a former disposition of terrestrial continents -and oceans, and some concerning changes in the direction of the earth’s axis itself! -All this is very far beyond the scope of any such account of Baffin Land as the present. -Suffice it, nevertheless, to indicate the deep vistas of interest that lie behind -the “appalling desolation” of its appearance to-day, and the limitations of its hyperborean -native folk. -</p> -<p>The reindeer moss is a very important asset of the country. It is a delicate grey-green -in colour and <span class="pageNum" id="pb40">[<a href="#pb40">40</a>]</span>beautiful in form as well. It grows luxuriantly to about the height of six inches. -When dry, it is brittle, and may be crumbled to powder in the hands; but when wet -it is very much of the consistency of jelly, and very slippery. The reindeer live -entirely upon it all the year round. In the winter, when it lies under a deep blanket -of snow, to get at it the deer have to scrape their way down with their great splay -hoofs. It sometimes happens that a season comes when a thaw may be followed by a sharp -frost. In this case the surface of the snow is first melted and then quickly frozen, -making a coating of ice over all the surface of the ground. To scrape this would cut -the deers’ legs, so there is an exodus of the herd to other feeding places, and hunger -even to famine and starvation may reign in the district they have deserted. Generally -speaking, the herds keep to the high grounds and hills in the winter, because there -the moss is more exposed and easier to come at. They move down to the coast at intervals, -to lick the salt which comes up through the “<i lang="iu-latn">sigjak</i>,” i.e., ground ice, along the shore, when the tides rises and the water leaves pools -behind it. -</p> -<div class="figure p040width" id="p040"><img src="images/p040.jpg" alt="An Ancient Aboriginal Encampment." width="720" height="485"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">An Ancient Aboriginal Encampment.</span></p> -<p class="first">A group of Eskimo on the site of an ancient encampment of the Tooneet, or aborigines -of that country. Tooneet used to build their houses of large stones filled in with -moss. They were small but very strong, and are now, as far as can be known, extinct.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The deer feed in a peculiar manner. Once a pit has been sunk in the snow and the moss -at the bottom is browsed down, the creatures do not attempt to enlarge the place, -but scramble out again, only to dig a fresh hole and sink shoulder high in it at a -little distance, and begin feeding afresh. The herd is always dogged by a pack of -watchful wolves, ever on the <i lang="la">qui <span class="pageNum" id="pb41">[<a href="#pb41">41</a>]</span>vive</i> to attack; but the leaders’ vigilance never slackens, and battle breaks out in the -wild at the first movement of aggression. -</p> -<p>There are one or two particularly interesting facts, astronomical and otherwise, which -account for the extraordinary physical phenomena and conditions of life in the polar -regions. To begin with the seasons. The “Arctic” properly so called is geographically -defined by that circle of latitude where the sun on midwinter day does not rise, and -where on midsummer day it does not set. In Arctic countries the sun is never more -than 23½ degrees above the horizon, and their intense cold is due, in summer, to the -sharp obliquity of his rays, and in winter, to his entire absence. In the latitude -of Blacklead Island, on December 25th, the whole orb of the sun is not visible, only -the upper section shows above the horizon (unless mist or snow overcast the heavens) -for a brief ten minutes at midday. On May 18th, conversely, the sun has been noted -as shining for eighteen hours, the remaining six out of the twenty-four being a bright -twilight, scarcely distinguishable from day. -</p> -<p>The whole year round there is little to be seen but rocks and snow. No tilling, sowing, -harvesting, mark the progress of the seasons or call man to the pursuits which have -brought all civilisation in their train in milder climes. These seasons (which depend, -of course, upon the position of the earth in its orbit round the sun, and upon the -inclination of the polar <span class="pageNum" id="pb42">[<a href="#pb42">42</a>]</span>axis to the plane of the ecliptic giving a six month’s day and six month’s night at -the poles), are markedly defined in Baffin Land. But far more distinctly so on shore -than at sea, where unbroken ice may reign supreme throughout the greater part of the -twelve-month. Winter sets in on the southern coast about the end of September; farther -north a week or two earlier. By this date the hills are getting their snow caps, which -extend downwards every day, and a thin sheet of ice appears upon the sea at night. -A rim of ice along the shore marks the rise and fall of the tide. Frequent snowstorms -now set in, and the ice at sea thickens and strengthens, until by November it extends -as far as the eye can rove. This ice, however, is not stout or welded enough to bear -sleds, except in the fiords and smaller bays, until nearly Christmas time. The sea -freezes when the temperature of the air falls to about 15° F., and the whole surface -of the water becomes covered with a mass of ice spicules known to polar sailors as -Bay Ice, from its forming first in the bays of the coast. Presently this solidifies -and thickens, growing ever whiter and more translucent in the process, and is broken, -even in calm weather, by the action of gentle swell or the currents beneath into thousands -of discs, large and small, like pans of ice. Sea ice is formed at a temperature of -3° F. below the freezing point of fresh water. There are many remarkable and interesting -physical distinctions between ice formed on land and ice formed at sea. The latter -when melted is quite drinkable, <span class="pageNum" id="pb43">[<a href="#pb43">43</a>]</span>being not nearly so salt as salt water. The intense cold, though, of drinking water -so obtained tends to inflame the mucous membrane of the mouth and throat, and its -slight salinity still further augments thirst; so it is never resorted to except of -necessity. These pans eventually freeze together into one great solid floor of “pancake -ice,” and the Eskimo, away hunting in the winter for seal, may camp and live for weeks, -miles out from land on the frozen sea. -</p> -<p>The days grow ever shorter and shorter until, in midwinter, there may be only a few -hours or even minutes of daylight left. The long Arctic night lasts from September -to March. -</p> -<p>By the end of March, however, the sun is once more high in the heavens; the sudden -spring has begun, and the sound is everywhere heard of water trickling under the snow. -Readers of Alaskan romance will recall many a fine passage about the ice “going out” -on the Yukon, and realise the terrific transformation undergone by the whole still, -silent, rigid, frozen landscape when the iron bonds of winter at length give way. -Springtime in the Arctics is a wonderful time. The thaw comes from below. The rocks -take the heat, and the snow sinks down, baring more and more of them every day. It -grows quite warm; bird sounds (ptarmigan and snow bunting) enliven all the day; ducks -quack at the floe edge. Sunrise beams upon the Arctic hills until they lie smiling -in the full beauty of sunshine on their mantles of untrodden snow. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb44">[<a href="#pb44">44</a>]</span></p> -<p>At the end of June, summer is come; the sun is really hot, and the long-covered earth, -bared at last to its benign influence, puts forth heather and grass and flowers. For -six months there is no more night. Its place is taken by the pale light that offers -so strange a phenomenon to the dweller from the south. If the sky be unclouded, shadows -will be seen pointing to the south. If clouds cover the heavens, the landscape stands -out without shadow at all, clear and sharp under this strange illumination. There -is no one point from which the light can come; it comes from everywhere. Owing to -the length of this Arctic “day,” the ground has no time to radiate away the welcome -warmth, hence the rapid growth of what vegetation the region may show. Again, as Nansen -says so poetically: “In these regions the heavens count for more than elsewhere: they -give colour and character … to the landscape … it is flooded with that melancholy -light which soothes the soul so fondly and is so characteristic of the northern night.” -</p> -<p>The stars are an open book to the Eskimo. They know all the principal groups, and -use them for the directing of their journeys. They can make a very creditable chart -of the northern heavens. They recognise the Plough, and the Bear (which is indeed -called “<i lang="iu-latn">Nanook</i>”—the Bear), and they recognise the constellation of three stars in a straight line -and at equal distances from each other, which they call the “Runners,” and describe -as the spirits of three <span class="pageNum" id="pb45">[<a href="#pb45">45</a>]</span>brothers in pursuit. The arctic hunters are marvellous students of nature generally. -They have the lore of the wild at their finger tips, and all the wisdom of the seasons. -It is probable that this primitive people have preserved nearly all the original instincts—as -to the presence of danger, right direction, etc., etc.—of primaeval man, which are -all but extinct in the over-civilisation of the modern European. -</p> -<p>In August autumn begins. Last year’s ice has been broken up and carried far out to -sea. There are frequent showers of rain, and the nights begin again to encroach more -and more on the day. It is about this time that the trading ships generally arrive -and put in at various points along the coast to do business and refit. They pick up -the annual intelligence of the whaling stations, and leave for home as soon as the -new ice begins to form. -</p> -<p>Then winter comes down upon the land once more. The sky, like velvet, is bespangled -with stars of incomparable brilliance, burning like opals. The Northern Lights, like -lambent curtains of amazing illumination, swing weirdly through the sky; the blanched -hills and the frozen fiords stand out in ghostly black and white under the startling -moonlight. There is no sound save the sharp cracking of rock or ice under the strain -of the intense frost, the uneasy growl of dogs, the distant howl of a wolf. -</p> -<p>Suddenly, however, there may be a chorus of barking in the night, as a strange team -of dogs sweeps into view up the fiord, or the harbour, and visitors <span class="pageNum" id="pb46">[<a href="#pb46">46</a>]</span>descend upon the camp. Except for the noise, one could imagine the newcomers to be -the ghosts of ancient hunters haunting their old grounds. But cheery cries, the crack -of whips and the howls of the dogs, dispel any such idea as the group comes up. They -are stalwart and sturdy individuals enough, clad from head to foot in deerskin, and -covered with rime and frost. They are seeking hospitality here, and at once friendly -doors are open to them, invitations are readily extended and accepted, and soon everyone -of the strangers is comfortably bestowed (after Eskimo notions of comfort) in one -or another of the various dwellings, the dogs are unharnessed and fed, and peace resumes -her tranquil sway. -</p> -<p>The natives thus name the four seasons: <i lang="iu-latn">Opingrak</i>, spring; <i lang="iu-latn">Auyak</i>, summer; <i lang="iu-latn">Okeoksak</i>, autumn (i.e., material for winter), and <i lang="iu-latn">Okeok</i>, winter. The months are named by the sequence of events—the coming of the ducks, -the birth of the reindeer fawns, the coming of the fish (sea trout), etc., as “the -duck month,” “the fawn month,” “the fish month,” etc. And the days are distinguished -as “<i lang="iu-latn">oblo</i>,” to-day; “<i lang="iu-latn">koukpât</i>,” to-morrow; “<i lang="iu-latn">ikpuksâk</i>,” yesterday; “<i lang="iu-latn">ikpuksâne</i>,” the day before yesterday, and so forth. “<i lang="iu-latn">Akkâgo</i>” means next year, and “<i lang="iu-latn">akkâne</i>” is last year. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb47">[<a href="#pb47">47</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch3" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e217">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER III</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">Arctic Flora and Fauna</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Another striking feature of the Arctics is the effect upon the appearance and character -of those shores touched by the Gulf Stream, as compared with those where its waters -never pass. Thus the coast of Greenland is comparatively luxuriant in vegetation and -its seas teem with fish, while Baffin Land, opposite, washed by arctic currents, is -desolate and barren, with no fishing off its shores. The same contrast holds good -with respect to the north and south coasts of Hudson Strait. There are no cod off -Baffin Land, but the Labrador fishermen ply their trade right into Hudson Bay. -</p> -<p>Baffin “Island” is a trackless, mysterious continent where, high up on the summits -of some of the mountains, there are vast lakes fed from hidden springs—or from streams -from still higher ranges—wherein salmon trout abound! At least, these fish are exactly -like the sea trout which come up the rivers every year to spawn, save that the hue -of the belly is bright red. The Eskimo point to this as proof that they never go down -to the sea, and call them the “dirty fish,” since they never quit the lakes. How they -ever <span class="pageNum" id="pb48">[<a href="#pb48">48</a>]</span>got into them is a mystery the arctic zoölogist must be left to solve, since neither -hunter nor fisherman can offer a suggestion. The trout could not have attained any -such level upstream. It would almost appear—if one might hazard a guess—that at some -remote geologic epoch this part of the N. American continent was submerged, for the -Eskimo of Baffin Land speak of an inland sea, now dry, where fossil remains are to -be found of large creatures such as the whale and walrus. They come across fossil -fish, indeed, in their more extended wanderings, also shells, and bring them back -to camp as curiosities. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo are properly a seaboard people and seldom penetrate farther inland than -thirty miles from the coast, unless during the annual deer hunt, when they may be -away for a couple of months, according to the distance the quest may take them. -</p> -<p>Possibly these unaccountable trout are the descendants of fish cut off from access -to the sea, when the gradual rise of the continental level left lakes of originally -salt water among the ranges. Where they are not without marine life (excepting those -wonderful seaweeds which are found at the tropics as well as in the arctic), the waters -round these shores contain many species of fish commonly known elsewhere, only in -a much less developed state. Such creatures as sea anemones, shrimps, sea snails, -small squid, and salt water centipedes, are to be found on the arctic beach. Naturalists -enumerate a formidable list of the sort, bristling with scientific nomenclature. Then -<span class="pageNum" id="pb49">[<a href="#pb49">49</a>]</span>there are the mosquitoes, of which more anon, and small yellow, white and brown butterflies. -It is indeed due to the comparatively rich fauna and flora of the arctic regions, -both east and west, that arctic exploration has been carried out so frequently. The -utter absence of plant or animal or human life in the dead antarctic has greatly militated -against the success of southbound expeditions. -</p> -<p>To deal with the mosquitoes! These insects abound in the summer-time, and are a terrible -pest. It is a puzzle how they survive the winter, when everything is frozen solid, -and the very spots which thaw under the sudden warmth of an arctic spring and allow -them to swarm out in their malignant millions are iron-bound as the rocks themselves -for the greater part of the year. So formidable are these insects that man himself -has sometimes fallen a victim to their onslaught. On one occasion, a polar bear was -crossing a swamp on the prowl, when he was attacked by mosquitoes. They stung his -eyes, the inside of his ears, penetrated his nostrils and stung them. As the nasal -passages became inflamed and swollen, the bear was forced to open his mouth to breathe, -when his enemies swarmed in, fastened on to tongue, palate and throat, causing them -also to swell, until the tormented brute <span class="corr" id="xd31e919" title="Source: sucsumbed">succumbed</span> to suffocation. His howls attracted the attention of some Eskimo hunters, who afterwards -told the tale. -</p> -<p>Another time, some women in a summer camp noticed a kyak (skin canoe) drifting about -at sea in <span class="pageNum" id="pb50">[<a href="#pb50">50</a>]</span>a curious way, and a man went off to investigate. On arriving within hail he found -a body in the canoe, leaning back stone dead; done to death in precisely the same -way by mosquitoes. -</p> -<p>Arctic birds are numerous. Most of them are migratory, but an eagle, a hawk, some -owls and a raven, remain the year round. The most typical of all Arctic birds, the -Snow Bunting (<i lang="la">Plectrophenax nivalis</i>), is the first to arrive and bring news of the spring. He comes about the same time -as the Ptarmigan. Lastly comes the bird that always seems to greet the explorer on -landing, the Purple Sandpiper (<i lang="la">Tringa striata</i>). He comes soon after the ducks—the Eider, the King Eider, the Pintail and the Harlequin. -Between the two, there is a rapid vernal succession of birds, including sea pigeons -and geese. -</p> -<p>Eskimo hunters speak of the wild swan, on the south coast and in the <span class="corr" id="xd31e936" title="Source: vicinty">vicinity</span> of Frobisher Bay. The raven is the only arctic bird which does not change its plumage -to match the surroundings. He is always aggressively, blatantly black. Possibly, being -so able a match for any ordinary foe, this bird has no need to adopt the “protective -resemblance” of white. The writer has watched a raven alight to secure some tit-bit -of offal, and keep even the wolfish Eskimo dog at a respectful distance, with its -huge beak. The bird is cunning to a degree. It will follow a trapper, note the position -of his traps, and return to visit and despoil them of their bait as soon as the coast -is clear. Then it takes up its stand on some convenient rock <span class="pageNum" id="pb51">[<a href="#pb51">51</a>]</span>just out of gunshot range, and watches the trapper on his return, just for all the -world as if it relished his comments! -</p> -<p>So much for the land birds. At sea there are petrels, gulls, and skuas. The natives -do not recognise pictures of puffins or penguins, as these birds are not known on -their coasts. -</p> -<p>Again, the animals of the frozen north form quite a formidable list. There are three -large lakes in Baffin Land (shown on the map at the end), linked together by rivers -and making connection with the sea by river. -</p> -<p>The southern lake is called “<i lang="iu-latn">Angmakjuak</i>” (“the great one”). The length of this sea may indeed exceed 120 miles by 40 in breadth -in its central part. The central lake, “<i lang="iu-latn">Tesseyuakjuak</i>,” is possibly 140 miles long by 60 broad, and the northern lake “<i lang="iu-latn">Netselik</i>” (the place of seals) is at least 15 miles across. The difference in level between -these great sheets of water is so inconsiderable that the natives can paddle with -ease either up or down the waterways connecting them; perhaps none of them lie much -higher than 300 feet above the sea. They teem with seal coming up from the coasts, -and on the shores of <i lang="iu-latn">Netselik</i> old hunters will tell you they have seen the Red Fox, as well as white and smoky. -This may well be so, as the fox is a denizen of Labrador, and might easily cross Hudson -Strait on the ice during a hard winter. The seal of these lakes and of the coast (much -hunted for food and for their skins by the <span class="pageNum" id="pb52">[<a href="#pb52">52</a>]</span>natives), are the grey haired seals of wide-spread commerce, but not the fine, fur-bearing -animals whose pelts are of the first beauty and value. This latter is a different -species and is protected by Government, only a certain number being allowed to be -killed each year. -</p> -<p>Bears, of course, abound. The female is the only arctic land <span class="corr" id="xd31e962" title="Source: creatures">creature</span> which <span class="corr" id="xd31e965" title="Source: hybernates">hibernates</span>. Then there is the wolf, the white and blue fox,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e968src" href="#xd31e968">1</a> the ermine, the arctic hare, a tailless snow mouse, or lemming, the musk ox, and—the -most widely distributed of all—the cariboo or reindeer (<i lang="la">Rangifer tarandus</i>). It would be impossible to over-estimate the value of the last named beautiful creature, -alive or dead, to all the peoples of the arctic countries, east or west. It would -be superfluous here to remark much about it, except to note one interesting peculiarity. -The reindeer differs from all other deer in that both sexes bear antlers. -</p> -<p>The wolves, of course, are the inveterate enemies of the deer. In the winter, when -the latter herds leave the lowlands and go up to pasture among the hills, where the -snow lies less deep and can be more easily scratched away, they are dogged by the -wolves. These hungry and voracious creatures know well enough that the deer are sentinelled -while feeding by their fighting males, and make no movement of aggression until one -of them chances to stray from <span class="pageNum" id="pb53">[<a href="#pb53">53</a>]</span>the herd. When this happens, the luckless animal is immediately headed off towards -the shore and hunted down. The wolfish pack concentrates behind it and draws in on -either side, so as to leave but one avenue of apparent escape. The quarry dashes down -and away, out on towards the ice; but its weight is so great and its hoofs so sharp -that the frozen crust of snow gives way beneath it and sorely cuts it about the legs. -The deer loses blood and slackens in speed, so that the wolves, skimming easily over -the treacherous surface, close in and soon drag it down. -</p> -<p>It is a fact well known to the Eskimo hunter that the actual chase is put up by the -female wolf, the male only coming in at the last, for the kill. The former do the -hustling and placing of the victim, as it were, and the latter do the fighting and -killing at the end. -</p> -<p>The Lemming (<i lang="la">Cuniculus torquatus</i>) is a queer typical little arctic animal. It has a chubby build, a rudimentary tail, -and no external ears. The first toe of the forepaw is almost nil, but the third and -fourth have very strong claws, which grow longer and still more powerful in winter. -It is grey in summer and white for the rest of the year. It lives upon the grubs to -be found amid the moss under the snow, and burrows its way along as it searches for -food. It is quite a familiar sound to hear the scratch, scratch, scratch of a lemming’s -claws beneath, as one lies on the snow sleeping bench of an Eskimo’s <i>igloo</i>. The creature’s skin when dried is used by the natives for sticking over cuts or -boils. It is hunted in the spring by the <span class="pageNum" id="pb54">[<a href="#pb54">54</a>]</span>women and children, who are guided by the sound of its burrowings. They arm themselves -with a stick having a long barbed wire attached, and spear the animal with this through -the snow. -</p> -<p>Around the coasts there are various species of whales. The Grampus (<i lang="la">Orca gladiator</i>) or killer, as it is called by the whalers, is a fierce member of the dolphin group, -sometimes attaining a length of thirty feet, with large powerful teeth, from ten to -thirteen in number, on each side of the jaw. It has a high, upstanding fin on the -back, like a shark. It is very swift in the water and can easily overtake and kill -one of these latter creature. It is shunned and feared by all the denizens of the -arctic seas except the Walrus and the great Sperm Whale. The Grampus is incredibly -voracious, and has been known to devour thirteen porpoises and fourteen seals at one -meal. -</p> -<p>All the smaller animals take refuge in shallow water inshore at the approach of a -Killer, only to fall a prey there to the native. The Killers hunt the whalebone whale, -which, fast though it is, cannot make good its escape. The pursuers will leap right -out of the water and crash down upon the head of their victim; or rush upon it and -ram it, until terrified, stunned and exhausted, the whale drops its jaw, when the -Killers tear out huge pieces of the tongue. (The tongue of a whale is a vast mass -of fat, weighing in a full sized animal as much as a ton.) Finally, the unwieldly -carcase is also despatched, and the Grampuses take themselves off, replete. The male -Walrus <span class="pageNum" id="pb55">[<a href="#pb55">55</a>]</span>is too active and fierce to be beset in this manner, but a female encumbered with -a calf will often be pursued by the Killer. She takes the young one under her flipper -and tries to escape; but the aggressor rushes in and butts at her. Sometimes he succeeds -in claiming this tender mouthful; sometimes he is killed by the infuriated mother. -</p> -<p>The Sea Unicorn or Narwhal (<i lang="la">Monodon monoceros</i>), is a purely arctic animal. The curious “horn” is really the left tooth grown to -the length of six or seven feet. It is only hollow for a certain distance. Exteriorly -this horn is spirally grooved, to allow presumably for quick thrust and withdrawal. -The Narwhal often engage in a mock combat among themselves with these horns, but use -them with fierce and deadly precision when engaged in actual warfare. -</p> -<p>It were too long to linger here with the creatures of the North, since we shall meet -them all, and many more, in dealing with the human inhabitants of the country. Arctic -animals have a fascination all their own, and of late years a wonderfully sympathetic -and intuitive literature has grown up having them almost exclusively for its protagonists. -Jack London has endeared the powerful, savage, husky dog to us for all time, in his -“White Fang.” -<span class="pageNum" id="pb56">[<a href="#pb56">56</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e968"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e968src">1</a></span> Occasionally the black fox is taken, and the fortunate hunter may receive as much -as the equivalent of $100 to $500 for a pair of fine skins, from the Agent. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e968src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch4" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e227">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER IV</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">The Eskimo</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The inhabitants of the Arctic are the Eskimo, also written Esquimaux, Usquemows, called -by themselves Innuit (Innuk s. Innooeet p.) or the “people.” The word Usquemow is -Indian, meaning raw flesh eaters. The English and Scotch anglicised it to Eskimo. -The name “Husky” as applied to the native is merely slang, a corruption of Eskimo -perpetrated by men whose ears and tongues were untrained to the language—whalers who -sometimes employed the tribesmen in their hunting, and dubbed them with the first -jargon name that came handy. It is still used in this sense in localities where Europeans -are numerous, such as Alaska, and Hudson Bay. -</p> -<div class="figure p056width" id="p056"><img src="images/p056.jpg" alt="Part of an Eskimo Tribe of Women and Children." width="720" height="486"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">Part of an Eskimo Tribe of Women and Children.</span></p> -<p class="first">With their outside jackets off, the inner jackets showing the ornamentations of beadwork.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>Pure blood Indians do not penetrate so far north as the Eskimo territories, being -denizens of the forest but not of the barrens. The Eskimo are a kindly, intelligent -people, hardy to a degree. They follow the manner of life and the pursuits of primitive -man; but when brought into contact with the whites and with civilisation, show themselves -by no means incapable of assimilating a good deal of instruction. They have qualities -of amiability, hospitality, ingenuity and <span class="pageNum" id="pb57">[<a href="#pb57">57</a>]</span>endurance, which all travellers have agreed in extolling; although here and there -in the records of the voyages of exploration in the nineteenth century we also find -unfavourable comments passed upon them. They exist in small, scattered tribes along -the sea coasts, whence they derive the bulk of their subsistence. Owing to the establishment -of whaling and other stations, the geographical areas of the tribes are now more circumscribed -and confined than they used to be, as each station is a centre of trade where most -of the necessaries of life can be obtained. -</p> -<p>The origin of the Eskimo is a matter of ethnographical conjecture. They themselves -had no written language until comparatively few years ago, and depended upon oral -tradition for their history. And even to-day it is only the few who have been taught -to read and write, so that legend still holds sway throughout the greater part of -Baffin Land, Cockburn Land, and the rest. Their past is lost in obscurity. In the -obscurity perhaps of that neolithic or “reindeer age” of which their life, even now, -has so often been cited as a close replica. -</p> -<p>That immense span of time in the history of the human race known as the Stone Age, -falls into five divisions. There is the Palaeolithic period (Early, Middle and Late), -and the Neolithic period (Transitional and Typical). During the last throes of the -glacial epoch in Europe, the type of human being was that represented by the relic -which has come down to us known as the Neanderthal skull. But the later <span class="pageNum" id="pb58">[<a href="#pb58">58</a>]</span>Pleistocene period saw a greater diversity in the matter of types, and one race in -particular is represented by a fair number of specimens. They denote a good-looking, -purely human being. Another race of the same period is represented by a single specimen -only. It is known as the Chancelade Race, and “the skeleton, of comparatively low -stature, is deemed to show close affinities to the type of the modern Eskimo.” (Dr. -Marett.) This is exceedingly interesting as giving us some idea of the antiquity of -the stock, and as showing how glacial conditions in prehistoric times in Europe produced -a type which lingers on amid the races of the modern world in the still existing glacial -epoch of the Arctic. -</p> -<p>The “Reindeer men” of prehistoric times lived lives no harder in the bleak climate -and unprogressive conditions of glaciated Europe than those of the Eskimo in glaciated -America to-day. “The races of Reindeer men were in undisturbed possession of western -Europe for a period of at least ten times as long as the interval between ourselves -and the beginning of the Christian era.” (H. G. Wells.) If we add these periods of -time together we may form some estimate of the age of a civilisation such as the climatic -conditions have produced and proscribed in the modern Arctics. -</p> -<p>Perhaps it may be said that in one sense the Eskimo have no history. They are living -the same life, under the same rigorous conditions, in the same way now, as their forefathers -lived it before them, <span class="pageNum" id="pb59">[<a href="#pb59">59</a>]</span>and as far back as human life could be traced in the Arctic earth. It is wonderful -how faithfully this oral tradition of theirs has been handed down through the generations, -for the same adventures and incidents and stories will be told with little or no alteration -by various people of widely different tribes, and events that took place centuries -ago will still be invariably related with circumstantial precision. -</p> -<p>The writer well remembers an account given to him one winter’s night by an aged hunter, -of some stores left by a party of the early explorers. It was during a journey along -the south coast of Baffin Land, and shelter had been sought in the snow house of an -ancient Eskimo couple. The old man was grandfather of the tribe, and had been a noted -hunter in his day, and had fought many a battle with the savage elements and more -savage beasts of the wild. It was after the evening meal. The old fellow and his equally -old wife had been warmed with some steaming coffee liberally sweetened with molasses, -and regaled with ship’s biscuit. The pipes of both had been filled, and were drawing -well. Their bronzed, lined faces, lined like the shell of a walnut, shone with contentment, -they huddled on their sleeping bench and smoked and dreamed of the strenuous past. -A question or two soon elicited a flood of guttural reminiscences. The old hunter -pictured himself as a youth again, and went over the exploits of his prime, prompted -now and again by the crone at his side, in a shrewd expectation of further acceptable -items. Among other <span class="pageNum" id="pb60">[<a href="#pb60">60</a>]</span>things, he told of the various “dumps” or “caches” of stores made by the white men -who came long ago, remembering exactly the localities and the contents of every one. -Some had been broken into long since by wandering Eskimo; some had been destroyed -by bears; some remained intact. His memory was as exact and reliable as if he had -seen the things but a week—instead of a lifetime—before. Perhaps it was an echo, all -that time afterwards, of the Franklin tragedy. -</p> -<p>These primitive Eskimo inhabit the great archipelago which stretches polewards from -the northern shores of the Canadian continent, from Greenland on the east to Alaska -and the Aleutian islands on the extreme west. There is, too, a settlement of Eskimo -beyond Behring Strait. Some ethnographers hold them to be of purely American origin -with no affinities in Asia, however Mongolian they may be in appearance. Dr. Rink -believes in an Alaskan origin for the Eskimo, as opposed to an Asian, but another -authority, Dr. Boas, thinks the solution of this racial problem might be obtained -by means of an archæological research on the coast of the Behring Sea. -</p> -<p>The original Eskimo stock is now probably extinct. In language and physique, many -of the present day tribes exhibit traits of racial admixture with the Red Indians. -This has occurred in such junction areas as Labrador and Alaska, and has given rise -to the probably quite fallacious idea of an Indian origin for the Arctic race. This -error could not be made in <span class="pageNum" id="pb61">[<a href="#pb61">61</a>]</span>Eskimo lands proper. Those who have lived for long years with both Indian and Eskimo, -and are intimately acquainted with the language, legends, and characteristics of both -peoples, hold strongly to the opinion that they are entirely distinct. Personally, -the writer would incline to the belief that the Innooeet are of Mongolian stock. He -has heard on good authority of a pure Eskimo sailor being addressed by a Chinaman -in Chinese, under the impression that he was speaking to a fellow-countryman. It is -conjectured that in the remote past some Mongols may have reached the sea coast in -the extreme east, and have crossed by boat from island to island, and so to the Arctics -of North America. Increasing there in numbers, they presently dispossessed the aboriginals—the -“Tooneet”—and drove them to the “back of the Arctic beyond.” But of this more when -we come to Eskimo legends. -</p> -<p>Undoubtedly the Eskimo are linked, if not by blood certainly <i>by custom</i>, to the Arctic peoples of Siberia, to the Lapps and Finns of northern Europe. In -historic times they mixed with the Danes and Norsemen. They are not numerically very -strong. Forty thousand may possibly total the nation, and of those 12,000 are in Greenland, -and rather more in Alaska, leaving some 13,000 souls scattered along the shores of -Baffin Land, Melville Peninsula, Boothia, Victoria Island, Banks Island and the rest -of the bleak, fragmented continent. It is in Baffin Land, in Boothia, and Victoria -that the pure Eskimo race is found. <span class="pageNum" id="pb62">[<a href="#pb62">62</a>]</span>Elsewhere the type is extremely mixed. It is to be deplored, too, that where the people -have been in contact with vicious and unscrupulous whites, traders, sailors, and the -rest, the introduction not only of alien blood but of the diseases of “civilisation” -have here and there threatened extinction to whole tribes. -</p> -<p>The “Central” tribes of Eskimo (i.e., those tribes exclusive of the Greenlanders, -the Alaskans, and all the Labradorians save those on the northern shore of Hudson’s -Strait) number about thirty-two. They have been carefully classified, enumerated, -and geographically located, by the ethnologist, Dr. Boas. Three communities are found -along the northern shore of Hudson’s Strait (the southern shore of Baffin Land), the -<i lang="iu-latn">Sikkoswelangmeoot</i> at King Cape, the <i lang="iu-latn">Akuliangmeoot</i> at North Bluff, and the <i lang="iu-latn">Quamanangmeoot</i> in the Middle Savage Islands. All along the coast of Davis’ Strait are scattered -another nine tribes, the chief of which are the <i lang="iu-latn">Nuvungmeoot</i>, in the neighbourhood of Frobisher Bay, and the <i lang="iu-latn">Oqomiut</i> (divided into four territorial groups) all about Cumberland Sound. The Lake <i>Netselings</i> Eskimo are a branch of these, called the <i lang="iu-latn">Talikpingmeoot</i>. In the extreme north of Baffin Land the <i lang="iu-latn">Tunungmeoot</i> are found at Eclipse Sound, and the <i lang="iu-latn">Tununirusirmeoot</i> about Admiralty Inlet. -</p> -<p>There is constant intercourse and intermarriage among these scattered groups (none -of which is numerically large), wherever the tracts of land in between them are not -wholly impassable. Other groups <span class="pageNum" id="pb63">[<a href="#pb63">63</a>]</span>are more or less isolated by long stretches of territory, unnegotiable by any means -of Eskimo travel. These folk are not only migratory in their habits, but great travellers -for the sake of travelling, as well. They often engage on journeys which occupy months -or even years, although there is a strong tendency among the old people to return -to their native spot before the end, and so territorial distinctions are maintained. -</p> -<p>Even before the advent of Europeans and the trade they brought with them, there was -a certain amount of barter going on among the Arctic folk themselves, occasioning -not a little movement. More driftwood being found in some localities than in others -(chiefly at a place called <i lang="iu-latn">Tudjadjuak</i>), the tribes came from everywhere to barter for it with those on the spot. Again, -the soapstone or “potstone,” of which their lamps and cooking utensils were made, -is found in a few places only, such as at <i lang="iu-latn">Kautag</i>, <i>Kikkerton</i> and <i lang="iu-latn">Quarmaqdjuin</i>; so that the natives came long distances to dig or trade for that, too. Pyrites for -striking fire was also a valuable if local production, and flint for arrow head making. -On the whole the relationships of the various tribes were very friendly, and open -hospitality was everywhere observed throughout all the regions where communication -was fairly open and established. Some feuds or tribal reserves obtained where the -peoples were strange to each other, and hence arose some extraordinary customs as -to greetings, which looked very much like <span class="pageNum" id="pb64">[<a href="#pb64">64</a>]</span>challenges to single combat by the chosen representatives of either group. -</p> -<p>There seems to be some evidence that the present day Eskimo were not the original -inhabitants of these regions at all. There are definite traces still remaining of -an earlier folk called the <i lang="iu-latn">Tooneet</i>. Eskimo tradition speaks repeatedly of these <i lang="iu-latn">Tooneet</i> as having been conquered by the ancestors of the present race and pushed farther -and farther north, until they were lost sight of altogether. Some of their words have -been preserved by the Medicine Men (<span class="corr" id="xd31e1105" title="Source: Anga koeet">Angakooeet</span>, the conjurors), and the remains of their dwellings and graves were to be seen up -to a few years ago, the latter still containing skeletons and weapons. -</p> -<div class="figure p064width" id="p064"><img src="images/p064.jpg" alt="An Iglovegak or Eskimo Dwelling." width="720" height="458"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">An Iglovegak or Eskimo Dwelling.</span></p> -<p class="first">The house is built entirely of snow and takes about a day to build and finish, the -window seen in front is a slab of fresh water ice.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The Tooneet were short, between four and five feet in stature, and very broadly built. -(On this subject the reader should consult Dr. Rink, “Tales and Traditions of the -Eskimo.”) The skull was oval, unlike the present race, who are round-headed. Their -weapons were fashioned of stone, but of a different shape to those of to-day. Their -skin canoes were short and broad instead of the long, narrow kyak in use now. Of these -aboriginals little further trace or memory remains. The writer met a very ancient -Eskimo on the south coast of Baffin Land, who related that his grandfather had seen -two Tooneet on the shores of an inland lake. They were getting into their canoes, -and would not allow the other to come near. They appeared to understand nothing of -the shouted greeting, but hastily paddled off. The Tooneets <span class="pageNum" id="pb65">[<a href="#pb65">65</a>]</span>were also found on the coast of Labrador. The present tribes of the region were originally -enslaved to them. At <i lang="iu-latn">Nakrak</i>, their remains are to be seen. -</p> -<p>The unmixed Eskimo type of to-day closely resembles the Chinese, with an average stature -of five feet, lank black hair and small peaked eyes. Nansen gives us a very life-like -picture of them: “Their faces are as a rule round, with broad, outstanding jaws, and -are, in the case of the women particularly, very fat, the cheeks being especially -full. The eyes are dark and often set a little obliquely, while the nose is flat, -narrow above and broad below. The whole face often looks as if it had been compressed -from the front and forced to make its growth from the sides. Among the women, and -more especially the children, the face is so flat that one could almost lay a ruler -across from cheek to cheek without touching the nose; indeed, now and again one will -see a child whose nose really forms a depression in the face rather than the reverse. -It will be understood from this that many of the people show no signs of approaching -the European standard of good looks, but it is not exactly in this direction that -the Eskimo attractions usually lie. At the same time there is something kindly, genial -and complacent in his stubby, dumpy … features which is quite irresistible. Their -hands and feet alike are generally small and well shaped.” Elsewhere he adds: “One -cannot help being comfortable in these people’s society. Their innocent, careless -ways, their humble contentment <span class="pageNum" id="pb66">[<a href="#pb66">66</a>]</span>with life as it is, and their kindness, are very catching, and must clear one’s mind -of all dissatisfaction and restlessness.” The length of the excerpt will be forgiven, -since it gives more than a delightful pen picture—an inimitable bit of human psychology, -that touch of insight which makes the whole world kin. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo on the southern coasts of Baffin Land are taller than their fellows, sometimes -attaining a stature of six feet and breadth in proportion. The majority of the men -are beardless. Their hair, black and coarse, is worn either long or short, but is -cut square across the forehead. It covers the ears, to prevent frostbite, and a band -is tied round the head to prevent it blowing about too freely in the wind. We shall -deal with the ladies’ coiffure at greater length in another connection. -</p> -<p>Each band of Eskimo inhabits some particular spot or tract of the coast, and takes -its name after the country, or some peculiarity it exhibits. For instance, the land -at the point of Fox Channel and Hudson Strait is called <i lang="iu-latn">Sikkoswelak</i>, a term which describes the fact that the ice just there is seldom stable, owing -to the swift local tides. Thus the tribe is known to the rest as the <i lang="iu-latn">Sikkoswelangmeoot</i> or “The-People-of-the-Place-which-never-Freezes.” Again, there are the <i lang="iu-latn">Puisortak</i> or the “People-who-live-where-Something-Shoots-up” (a blow-hole in a glacier). The -tribe is not a very big unit. It consists of about ten to twenty families (generally -less, and, be it noted, the people are polygamists), but the birth-rate is a low <span class="pageNum" id="pb67">[<a href="#pb67">67</a>]</span>one. The deaths fairly balance the births, so that their numbers remain more or less -stable. Were not this the case, the regions they inhabit could never support them, -for the Eskimo are voracious eaters (naturally, considering the climate!) and so far -as land animals are concerned, the hunting is very scanty for many months of the year. -</p> -<p>Apropos of this peace-loving, non-belligerent quality in the Eskimo character, some -word should be offered in explanation of the fact that these people have occasionally -shown themselves dangerous to the white men, and have murdered a few whalers and traders. -</p> -<p>As far as any historical records of them exist at all, it would seem that on one occasion -only did the Eskimo ever go to war, or make an active and successful stand against -their enemies. This was many centuries ago. The handful of Norsemen from Iceland who -originally colonised some spots along the coast of southern Greenland, lived peaceably -enough with the natives they discovered there. At last, however, a quarrel broke out, -blood was spilt, and the Eskimo, plucking up a courage and spirit never since repeated, -fought and killed off the foreigners. But in America, whenever the Innuit came into -contact with the Red Indians they simply fled before them ever farther and farther -into the icy fastnesses of the north. The red men seem to have been always particularly -savage and inimical to the others. And when in the course of time they became possessed -of firearms, they <span class="pageNum" id="pb68">[<a href="#pb68">68</a>]</span>pressed this overwhelming advantage against the spear and bow-and-arrow people more -ruthlessly than ever. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo believed that it was the white fur trader who had armed the <i lang="iu-latn">Adlât</i> with these “fire-tubes” against him, hence the original hostility of these people -towards all other white folk. As a matter of fact, the servants of the Hudson Bay -Company did all they could, in those early days, to protect the Eskimo against the -Indian, and to bring about an understanding between the native races of the great -territory they exploited. It was, however, this original fear and prejudice which -must be held accountable for any barbarity white men have met with since at the hands -of the Eskimo (unless indeed the instance has been one of recently and immediately -provoked reprisals). For the most part, it certainly holds good that the inhabitants -of the Arctic north have been the least dangerous “savages” explorers have ever met. -There are some conflicting accounts on this subject in the annals of arctic voyagers; -but as a very general rule the Eskimo have been found to be a kindly and harmless -folk. Seldom as they wage war against others, seldom as they can be provoked or even -terrified into self-defence (except by flight), they never fight, in a collective -sense, among themselves. This is not due to effeminacy or cowardice, for no one could -connect any such suspicion with the hardy intrepid natives of the most pitiless regions -of the earth. It is simply that the <span class="pageNum" id="pb69">[<a href="#pb69">69</a>]</span>Eskimo are not made in the mould too common to all the other races of mankind—they -are not fighters. Most people, it has been said, regard war as a reversion to primitive -instincts. But some historians hold that war—organised war, as we understand the term -to-day—was not primaeval in its origin. It was unknown to early man, and it is unknown -to early man’s last representatives, such as the Black Fellows of Australia and the -Eskimo of the Arctics, at the present time. The Eskimo can be doughty enough in single -combat when necessity or custom require it of him; but generally speaking he is the -most pacific being on earth. -</p> -<p>Where these people come within the sphere of practical British influence, they are -treated somewhat on the same lines as the North American Indians, but without being -gathered into Reservations. There is a Government Agent in charge of the tribe, and -its material needs are provided for by the annual supply ship sent along the coast. -It is generally the Agent, trading or Departmental, who extends the first handclasp -of welcome to medical man or evangelist who betakes himself to the peoples of the -Arctic. -</p> -<p>There have been, however, few travellers in Baffin Land, excepting, of course, the -seamen who use its coast. Much of the country is unexplored. Probably the only whites -who have penetrated it at all have been missionaries and explorers. -</p> -<p>Thus the very modern and limited story of Baffin Land trade, etc., is the only civilised -history it has. <span class="pageNum" id="pb70">[<a href="#pb70">70</a>]</span>As for its native history, we might refer almost without qualification to any archæological -account of the fur-clad men of the stone age. The similarity of the Eskimo’s implements, -their ways of life, their primitive pursuits, their domestic and tribal management, -to those of the neolithic age, has often been pointed out. The only other notices -of the Baffin Islanders to be found are those which occur in the journals of explorers’ -voyages, such as Captain Parry’s second expedition of 1821, in which we get a lively -account of the junketings on the ice between the “savages” and the crews of the “Fury” -and the “Hecla.” -</p> -<p>It was during this voyage that the leader fell in with an Eskimo girl whose name should -be rescued from oblivion. Igloolik added to many native graces and accomplishments -a bright intelligence and so good an idea of hydrography and of the seacoasts in the -neighbourhood of the “Fury’s” moorings, that the Captain utilised the charts and drawings -she made for him in the further prosecution of his expedition, finding them always -reliable and mainly correct. He afterwards called an island by her name. -</p> -<p>Ten years later, Captain John Ross received the same sort of assistance during his -second Arctic voyage, from another Eskimo woman named Teriksin. She revised and corrected -for him the sketches of the surrounding coasts furnished by some of the men of the -tribe. -</p> -<p>The chart which illustrates Chapter XII is just such another as Igloolik and Teriksin -might have drawn. <span class="pageNum" id="pb71">[<a href="#pb71">71</a>]</span>It was furnished from memory by a man called Pitsoolak, and is very fairly correct. -The hunters and fishers of the Arctic are taught as children to memorise the contours -of the coast, all landmarks, and every “blaze” of any sort a trail might afford. They -have no unit of measurement, except the “sleep,” i.e., the length of a day’s march -and its interval of rest. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb72">[<a href="#pb72">72</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch5" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e238">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER V</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">The Building of the Village</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The Eskimo are a wandering folk, thus their dwellings must of necessity be capable -of quick erection, demolition and easy transport. The tribe lives in tents in the -summer, moving from one camp to another as the hunters decide; but winter quarters -are more permanent, and the snow built house—the <i>igloo</i>—takes the place of the sealskin <i lang="iu-latn">tupik</i> on a more lasting foundation. The Eskimo tent is a wholly different affair from the -Indian wigwam or lodge. It consists of a penthouse shaped framework of poles, semi-circular -at the back, with overlapping strips or curtains of dressed skin for the entrance -in front. The whole thing carries a covering of skins, firmly and beautifully stitched -together. The back part of the tent, used as the family sleeping place, is covered -with skins of the large ground seal—<i lang="iu-latn">ogjuk</i>—or of the ordinary grey seal, with the hair left on in order to ensure some darkness -during the long, unbroken day of the arctic summer. The heavy hair also serves to -throw off the rain in wet weather. But the front portion of the dwelling has a roofing -of the inner membranes of the sealskins, pared from the entire pelt when fresh and -<span class="pageNum" id="pb73">[<a href="#pb73">73</a>]</span>moist. These membranes are first stretched upon frames and dried, prior to being sewn -together, when they become almost transparent, so that there is plenty of light in -the rest of the tent. They are so beautifully and so neatly stitched as to be practically -waterproof, like the fine fishing jackets made of dried and split seal gut for the -kyakers. The finish of Eskimo clothing, fur “blankets” and tent coverings, is always -neat and workmanlike and gives no ragged, tatterdemalion impression of nomad savagery -such as might be derived from some Indian’s belongings. -</p> -<div class="figure p073width" id="p073"><img src="images/p073.png" alt="An Eskimo Tupik." width="714" height="575"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Tupik.</span></p> -<p class="first">A summer tent of sealskins stretched over a framework of poles made from driftwood -and held down with boulders. The shaded parts show skins with hair for the purpose -of excluding light and to throw off rain. The front part is made of membrane to give -light. These tents, or tupiks, are used in summer camps, lighter ones being used for -travelling.</p> -</div><p> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb74">[<a href="#pb74">74</a>]</span></p> -<p>Towards the back of the tent, inside, a board is fixed from side to side, and the -whole space between this and the walls is filled with a deep bed of heather, spread -on top with deerskins. This is the sleeping place of the family, in the dark half -of the dwelling. Additional deerskins serve as blankets, and lie about the bed, rolled -up, during the day. The rest of the furnishing is very simple. -</p> -<p>Inside the entrance hang the bags of seal oil used for lighting or cooking purposes. -Then there are the cooking pots (“kettles,” as they are called), deep, oblong boxes -of soapstone without a lid. And the lamps, also of soapstone, and in shape not unlike -a crumb tray, with a raised lip and a little shelf at the back for refuse bits of -wick. These “lamps” are fed with seal oil. The wick consists of dried moss and <span class="corr" id="xd31e1194" title="Source: gossjpiun">gossypium</span>. This is moulded into pellets; a row of wick balls is set on the rim of the lamp -and then kneaded down into a line upon it and kept carefully trimmed, so that the -edge of flame remains clear and bright. All the cooking is done over a “lamp” of this -description, unless over a fire of heather and driftwood out in the open. The Eskimo -housewife uses a blubber hammer (a stone, or mallet of ivory tusk set in a wooden -handle), to beat down the seal or whale fat into oil for her lamps. Her furs, and -her cooking pots, together with her needles, and knives and implements for dressing -skins, constitute the Eskimo woman’s domestic outfit; a training in the clever use -of them is the Eskimo girl’s education, and <span class="pageNum" id="pb75">[<a href="#pb75">75</a>]</span>the dowry of the Eskimo bride. The tent and these impedimenta are portable enough -for the wanderings of the arctic summer, and it is remarkable what an amazing host -and medley of belongings can be stowed in the family travelling boat, and unloaded -from it—a veritable Pandora’s box—at the next bit of summer beach. -</p> -<p>The winter locale and the winter dwelling is altogether another story. The tribe having -chosen the site of a village in some sheltered bay, near a frozen lake or stream (or, -at any rate, where ice or water can be obtained), will return to it year after year, -and remain there throughout the long dark season, until the time comes round again -for the summer-exodus. An occasional excursion is undertaken by both men and women -in search of supplies, but the old folk are left on guard. -</p> -<p>The building of this village is quite a work of art, and is begun as soon as the snow -lies deep enough. Before this happens, the tents have been getting very cold to live -in, despite the stitching on of <span class="corr" id="xd31e1202" title="Source: serveral">several</span> layers of dried heather to break the force of the wind and keep all snug inside. -At last a day comes when by common consent the hunters all remain in camp, and join -forces with the old men and the boys to build the winter dwellings. -</p> -<p>Each man plans and builds his own house according to the size of his family; but only -in his turn, and assisted by the rest of the community, to whom he has already given, -or is prepared to give, his services. <span class="pageNum" id="pb76">[<a href="#pb76">76</a>]</span>The first houses to be erected are those of the <i lang="iu-latn">Angakooeet</i>, the Medicine Men; the chief hunters are the next to be considered, and everyone -else comes in the order of his estimation in the tribe. -</p> -<p>The main considerations the Eskimo has to bear in mind in building his snow house -are that it will have to be kept in repair, and that it must be adequately lighted -and warmed. This means labour and oil, so for his own sake the dwelling is planned -on as small a scale as possible. It varies in nothing but in this point of size from -all the rest of the village. -</p> -<div class="figure p076width" id="p076"><img src="images/p076.png" alt="An Eskimo Snowhouse." width="720" height="544"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Snowhouse.</span></p> -<p class="first">Ground plan and elevation of a snowhouse large enough for one family. (Central Eskimos.) -These very complete houses are built in the winter encampments and last through the -winter, those built in temporary camps are less elaborate. The one shown in the sketch -would occupy half to the whole of one day to build.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The hunter having chosen his site, next takes a <span class="pageNum" id="pb77">[<a href="#pb77">77</a>]</span>sealing spear, a long twelve-inch knife and a saw, and begins piercing the snow in -every direction, his object being to find a spot where it is deep, and so closely -packed and hardened by the wind that it can be cut out into great blocks for building. -Otherwise his “bricks” would be too brittle or too friable for the purpose. Should -no such patch lie near at hand, the builder calls all hands, and together they start -trampling and packing down the snow with their feet, while the old men, the women -and boys constantly bring up fresh supplies and throw it in to be stamped firm. Having -thus prepared what he considers sufficient material for his purpose, the good man -commences to saw out huge rectangular blocks of this <span class="corr" id="xd31e1224" title="Source: solidfied">solidified</span> snow mass, each one of which taxes his utmost strength to lift. He begins his house -by building a ring of them, a larger or smaller ring as the case may be, fitted and -jointed together with the utmost nicety by means of his knife. A second tier is added -to this ring, the builder working from the inside and the blocks being brought up -by his assistants. As soon as this is “well and truly laid,” he trims the upper surface -to a slope, and continues building, but in a spiral now and slightly sloping inwards, -until he has reached the top of what has grown to be a dome roof. A key block is deftly -fitted in to complete and close it, and the shell of the dwelling is complete. -</p> -<p>A semicircular opening in the side is next cut out for the doorway, and then the builder -turns his attention <span class="pageNum" id="pb78">[<a href="#pb78">78</a>]</span>to the sleeping bench—the principal feature of the Eskimo <i>igloo</i>. He builds a line of blocks from side to side, facing the opening, up to the height -of a man’s legs. The space between this and the walls is filled with broken snow like -rubble, which is trampled down until brought to the necessary level, so as to form -a solid bench of snow right across the building. -</p> -<p>Then side pieces are built out, to form solid shelves for the lamps and family utensils -and to serve generally as a larder and storage place for oil and blubber; so that, -by the time all is done there is little of the original floor space left. -</p> -<p>The next step is the porch or <i lang="iu-latn">sukso</i>, another little domed erection much like the main <i>igloo</i>, built in front of the entrance and intended, first to break the force of the wind -and to keep the larger place warm, and secondly as a store house for surplus meat -and blubber, for the dogs’ harness, whips, sealing lines, and anything the latter -and the wolves might find eatable. (Eskimo dogs, be it remarked, find nothing uneatable -save sticks and stones). As an entrance or exit for the <i lang="iu-latn">sukso</i>, a further passage is built, like a little tunnel; again as protection from the arctic -wind. -</p> -<p>The finishing touch is the window. Light is a necessity, but the Eskimo is scarcely -particular about ventilation. The less he gets of that the more successful his architecture -seems to be. A square opening is cut high up in the dome of the <i>igloo</i>, facing the <span class="pageNum" id="pb79">[<a href="#pb79">79</a>]</span>sleeping bench. It is then glazed after the fashion of the Arctics. The builder sets -off for the nearest sheet of fresh water ice, and with the butt end of his sealing -spear shivers out a good thick pane of it. This he places over the hole in the roof, -packing its edges round with half melted snow, and pouring water over the packing. -In two minutes, everything is frozen airtight and solid, and a window of flawless -ice lets the illumination of the northern night into the pure and icy chamber of the -newly made house. Failing a window of ice, one is made of strips of dried seal intestine -(a thin, translucent material, not unlike oiled silk), stitched together with fine -deer sinew. The seams are parallel, and as neatly executed as if by machine working -on the smallest stitch. The fabric is stretched over the opening and pegged down at -the corners, and congealed into its place by half melted snow. A small hole is cut -in the dome for ventilation, and a snow block provided to stop it up again when necessary. -</p> -<p>Finally, the interior has to be glazed. While the householder himself has been busy -more or less within the building, on the outside the old men and the children and -the women have been set the task of packing every joint and crevice in the snow masonry -with loose snow, so as to make it absolutely wind tight. Now comes the moment when -the doorways, too, are closed and every entrance blocked. Two lamps, well trimmed -and well supplied with oil, have been carefully lit and left burning inside, much -as <span class="pageNum" id="pb80">[<a href="#pb80">80</a>]</span>we in this country leave a sulphur candle in a room to be fumigated after infectious -illness, and seal up the door. As the lamps burn slowly away, the temperature rises -and all the surface of the snow is slightly melted. As the lamps die out the temperature -falls again, and the surface freezes to glass-like smoothness. Every asperity of the -sawn blocks of snow is annealed, and the dwelling is as proof against draught as the -inside of a bottle. Water, too, is thrown on the floor, to make it smooth as marble -and as durable as cement. -</p> -<p>The writer has dwelt thus at length upon the building of the Eskimo’s winter quarters, -since there is something almost like a fairy tale in this fantastic yet ingenious -and practical use of snow and ice. If masters of taste have always insisted upon the -principles in architecture that design should be in keeping with site and surroundings, -and material should be indigenous to the locality, surely the houses that these hardy -children of the frozen North build for themselves are by no means wanting in true -artistry. -</p> -<div class="figure p080width" id="p080"><img src="images/p080.jpg" alt="An Eskimo Home." width="720" height="482"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Home.</span></p> -<p class="first">Here is a little collection of <span class="corr" id="xd31e1263" title="Source: igloes">igloos</span> joining each other, with one common entrance. It is really a collection of relations -living together, each one having their own <span class="corr" id="xd31e1266" title="Source: iglo">igloo</span> with doorways opening into the principal families’ <span class="corr" id="xd31e1269" title="Source: iglo">igloo</span>.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>These snow houses do not take very long to construct. An Eskimo can build an <i>igloo</i> large enough to house about six people in a few hours, given some assistance. It -would be imagined that no great degree of comfort could be expected within a dwelling -where a thaw of the roof and walls begins as soon as the temperature rises above freezing -point. But warmth is a matter of degree in the Arctic, and shelter from <span class="pageNum" id="pb81">[<a href="#pb81">81</a>]</span>the bitterness of the wind alone is almost warmth. The stillness of the air inside, -the greatly lessened intensity of cold, and the local if foul warmth over the lamps -and cooking pots, all make for comfort as the native understands it. -</p> -<p>In some parts of the country the natives line the dome and walls of their houses with -cleverly stretched skins, and between them and the snow walls the intervening space -acts as a regulator against the interior warmth, so that excessive thaw is checked, -or its effects are prevented from damping the family circle below. -</p> -<p>Lest the foregoing account of the white and frozen village should convey too dazzling -an idea of such a settlement, it should be remembered that the snow all round and -about is trampled up, and incredibly defiled by all the refuse of a community who -have no ideas at all about sanitation and seemly surroundings. Hence there is an appearance -of dirt and squalor wherever the Eskimo encamp, and these little congeries of human -beings contrive quite effectually to blot and mar the pure immensity of the snow-white -northern landscape. -</p> -<p>The <i lang="iu-latn">Igloovegak</i> once finished, it remains to do the furnishing. This is essentially the women’s work. -Heather is lavishly spread over the sleeping bench, and covered again with the heavy -winter skins of deer. The rolled-up fur rugs (or “blankets”) of the family are ranged -round the walls. Two of the soapstone lamps are placed on stands at each end of the -sleeping <span class="pageNum" id="pb82">[<a href="#pb82">82</a>]</span>bench, and a rough framework of wood and deer thongs arranged above them by way of -a rack for drying clothes. Stone cooking pots may be suspended over the lamps when -required, and a store of blubber and meat is kept handy on the snow benches behind -the lamps. -</p> -<p>The rest of the family belongings are stowed away in the porch, and the house is ready -for occupation. -</p> -<p>There is another description of snow dwelling used by the Eskimo called a <i lang="iu-latn">Sinniktâkvik</i>, an acquired sleeping place. This is merely a temporary affair, a hastily built <i>igloo</i> sufficient to house a travelling party for the space of a “sleep,” having no porch -or window, and only intended to be abandoned next day. -</p> -<p>It is interesting to note that the remains of the dwellings of the Tooneet can be -distinguished by the fact of their circular floors having been laid down with rough -stones, unlike the modern <i>igloo</i>, which leaves little or nothing to mark its site by the time it has all melted away -in summer. The sleeping bench in the Tooneet house was narrower than the present day -Eskimo’s, showing that the earlier people were of shorter stature. -</p> -<p>The family continue to inhabit the winter <i>igloo</i> until the spring thaw comes, and the roof falls in. Then, for a week or two, skins -are stretched over the hole to keep the storms from beating in; but this is only a -temporary measure. By the time the milder weather really sets in, and the trickle -of water can be <span class="pageNum" id="pb83">[<a href="#pb83">83</a>]</span>heard everywhere, and the tunnelling, too, of the lemming under the sleeping bench, -the <i lang="iu-latn">tupik</i> has to be in readiness. It has been stored away under a heap of stones during the -winter, but with the advent of the ducks it is brought forth and erected once more. -</p> -<p>These Eskimo settlements are not built according to plan. Each man chooses a site -for his own <i>igloo</i>, generally in the shelter of some rock, or where there is a good supply of hard packed -snow. The dwellings are not very scattered, however, but grouped fairly closely together, -for the double purpose of sociability and common defence against attack by dogs, wolves, -or bears. The true Eskimo village boasts of no common room or general meeting house -such as may be in use among some of the tribes in Alaska and elsewhere, where few -native customs survive unchanged. Nor is the log or sod hut ever seen in the regions -where Eskimo life is still lived as it used to be before Europeans set foot in the -polar wilds. -</p> -<p>It is noteworthy that, when an Eskimo tribe moves to another locality, the old <i>igloos</i> are never destroyed. In the barrens, the law of hospitality is universally observed, -and such of these buildings as may survive the springtime thaw, might serve for shelter -at any time to travellers on journey. Those that are fairly intact when the tribe -moves away are merely blocked up; but those which have become unsafe have the roof -knocked in. The writer has frequently come across these deserted villages in the course -of his journeys, <span class="pageNum" id="pb84">[<a href="#pb84">84</a>]</span>and had occasion to avail himself of the shelter thus offered. It is a weird and desolate -sight—a collection of derelict <i>igloos</i>—some gaping open, others closed; but no smoke or steam escaping from their little -domes. And, over all, the pall of the frozen silence of the Arctic. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb85">[<a href="#pb85">85</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch6" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e248">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VI</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">The Sealing Grounds</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The day’s work in an Eskimo village (i.e., permanent winter quarters), is full and -varied, and quite regular. It is a busy life they lead, both men and women, marked -by all sorts of skilled activities; by intervals of neighbourly recreation and gossip; -by the excitement and stir of the hunters’ return from sealing or bear hunting; and -by wonderfully cheery, cosy, hospitable orgies of eating in the evening, when everyone -is getting dry and warm and replete for the night. -</p> -<p>The hunters start out early in the morning, after a hasty meal of raw flesh and a -drink of water, accompanied by their sons and the dogs, four or five in number, harnessed -to a light sled loaded with lines and harpoons, or whatever implements may be needed -for the proposed chase. The team starts out in a fine tear, urged by shouting and -the cracking of whips, and off they all race, men and dogs together, to the sealing -grounds out on the frozen sea, or inland for deer. The stars serve as a compass, or -in thick weather the wind will be sufficient guide. -</p> -<p>No food is borne on the sled, for the hunter depends <span class="pageNum" id="pb86">[<a href="#pb86">86</a>]</span>upon himself for his dinner. The duty of the boys is to watch the sled, to mind the -dogs, and see they do not fight or stampede, to study the conditions of the ice, the -signs of the weather, the habits of animals, to note their calls and movements and -how to imitate them, to take careful notice of the topography of the country and make -mental drawings of it to serve as charts and maps, to read the stars, and, generally -to endeavour to become skilled and successful hunters themselves. -</p> -<p>They arrive at the sealing ground as the winter day breaks, and immediately start -the search for a seal hole; for upon the finding of this depends the comfort and sustenance -of the whole family for days to come, and the succour of the families of anybody else -who may not be in luck, but who may return home, cheery as ever, but empty handed. -</p> -<p>All around as far as the eye can see is a vast, white expanse, utterly featureless -and monotonous save for an occasional iceberg or a ridge of hummocky ice. Behind is -the white line of the broken coast; ahead is a dark mist, marking the floe edge and -the open sea; and above all, the twilight sky, darker than the drear white world, -of the Arctic winter. To a European, the effect of such a scene is crushing in its -melancholic immensity, its frozen immobility and silence. Not so to the native. He -remains irrepressibly cheerful, his whole soul preoccupied with the necessities of -his larder, buoyed up with the hope and the tireless patience of the sealer. He goes -searching <span class="pageNum" id="pb87">[<a href="#pb87">87</a>]</span>for his blow hole. The slight indication for which his practised eye is scanning every -foot of the ice is a faintly rounded bump with a small opening in it no bigger than -a shilling. As soon as he catches sight of one of these he is reassured, and prepares -to wait—quite indefinitely, and perfectly still—for what must presently happen. -</p> -<p>The seal is a warm-blooded creature, whose need of air to breathe is urgent and frequent. -As soon as the sea begins to freeze, the animal takes precautions against being imprisoned -and drowned under the ice. It makes a series of breathing holes over the whole area -of its feeding ground below. If one or another of these freezes over again, there -are the rest; or if an enemy is encountered at one hole, it can have recourse to another. -The seal comes methodically after feeding to each blow hole in turn, and keeps it -open by scratching away any newly formed ice threatening to close it up. It puts its -nose to the opening and breathes long, deeply, and luxuriously, before diving once -more. -</p> -<p>The hunter knows every move in the game. -</p> -<p>Having discovered a seal hole, he provides himself with a block of snow to sit upon, -and prepares for a lengthy wait. He takes up his patient station facing the wind (for -the seal has the keenest scent, and the Eskimo is, to say the least of it, somewhat -smelly), thrusts his feet and legs into a deerskin bag, tucks his hands into the sleeves -of his jacket, lays his spear across his knees, and watches—it may be for hours—<span class="pageNum" id="pb88">[<a href="#pb88">88</a>]</span>motionless as a rock, for sound travels under the ice and the prey must not be warned. -A sealer will wait all day and all night, if need be, at the blow hole. If he should -fall asleep, he runs the risk of being maimed for life with frostbite. -</p> -<div class="figure p088width" id="p088"><img src="images/p088.jpg" alt="The Return of the Successful Seal Hunter in Springtime." width="720" height="482"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">The Return of the Successful Seal Hunter in Springtime.</span></p> -<p class="first">His wife and friends dragging the seal to his tupik, where it will be cut up and all -will be invited to the evening meal.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>Presently he hears the expected scratching, and the scraping of the paws of a seal -coming up to breathe. Silently he prepares for action. Now is the critical time. First, -there comes the expulsion of the foul air long pent in the animal’s lungs; but not -yet dare the watcher make the slightest sign. The seal withdraws its head and listens -intently for a possible foe. Reassured after a few moments, it again approaches the -hole with the little dome of snow and, putting its head well up, takes a long, reviving -breath. This is the hunter’s moment. His hand slips to his spear (his fur garments -making no sound), grips it, and poises it with unerring aim. With one swift downward -thrust, the weapon is through the blow hole and its barb buried deep in the neck of -the seal. When the eye is true and quick the stroke is seldom missed. The animal immediately -dives, taking out the barb and line. The Eskimo seal spear has a movable head or barb, -which is attached to the shaft in such a way that it becomes detached from it the -moment an animal is struck, and remains firmly embedded in the flesh with the long -line of white whale hide attached, while the spear itself floats on the water or falls -on the ice as the case may be. The hunter instantly recovers this shaft, and now the -butt comes into play. <span class="pageNum" id="pb89">[<a href="#pb89">89</a>]</span>The hole is quickly enlarged and the prey hauled up and killed, there on the ice, -with one quick stroke. -</p> -<p>It is but the work of a few minutes for the dog team (which had been driven away back -from the hole as soon as it was discovered), to come racing up. A shout summons every -other hunter within sight, and quicker than it takes to tell, there is a concourse -of fur-clad figures, the seal is cut open, and a rib, dripping with the fresh, hot -blood, is presented to each by way of an invigorating snack. The carcase is soon skewered -together again by means of the long ivory pins carried by the hunter, and loaded on -to the sled, when the successful “outfit,” bidding a cheery adieu to the others, strikes -off then and there for home, rejoicing in the thought of fresh supplies of meat and -blubber, and another skin added to the family stores. -</p> -<p>When the sealing season fully sets in, sealing camps are formed far out on the ice -at sea, over the sealing grounds, and thither the younger half of the entire Eskimo -community resorts for a month or more. A new, roughly fashioned, temporary village -quickly springs up, and all the usual household goods are installed in readiness for -the season’s work on the spot. The camp <i>igloos</i> are much smaller and less ambitious dwellings than those on shore, their sole object -being to provide a few weeks’ shelter. There is none of the home life of the permanent -village. The men and boys are away all day long, and the women spend all their time -preparing and drying the <span class="pageNum" id="pb90">[<a href="#pb90">90</a>]</span>skins and keeping the cooking pot going. Water is obtained either from the snow lying -deep on the surface of the ice, or from ice from the nearest berg. From early morning -till late at night the camp resounds with the crack of whips, the shouts of the dog-team -drivers, the gruff voices of men and the shrill voices of boys, as they drive hither -and thither, quartering the expanse of the sealing grounds in search of the blow holes. -Every foot of the way is closely scanned. Suddenly a deep “Ugh!” from the hunter announces -the saucer-like depression in the snow which tells him that a seal cavern is beneath. -</p> -<p>Here and there a solitary sportsman with but one dog on a long line sets out on his -own, over the sealing ground. He trudges observantly along, urging the dog to ferret -about and pick up the scent of the quarry beneath the snow. “White Fang,” nothing -loth, sets all his sharp, trained wits to work, and presently starts snuffling and -scratching, like any terrier at a rat hole, and the hunter knows he has come upon -his prey. -</p> -<p>To understand the activities of the sealing camp it is necessary to know something -of the habits of the seal in the breeding season. For some time before the baby creature -is born, for instance, the mother has been preparing a house for it. She does not -give birth in the water nor on the surface of the snow, for the obvious reasons of -the cold and of the possible presence of enemies. She makes a hole in the sea ice -big enough for her to get through, and proceeds to <span class="pageNum" id="pb91">[<a href="#pb91">91</a>]</span>scrabble out an airy cavern in the deep layer of snow above, leaving a sort of shelf -or flooring of clear ice upon which she can lie in safety and bring her young to birth. -This place is—comparatively—warm, dry, and even cosy. It is within immediate reach -of the hole through which she can dive back into the water at a moment’s alarm, and -it is almost completely hidden from above. The baby is left in this cavern while the -mother seeks food, and it lives there until, after a series of short educational excursions -in the water, it has learnt to hunt for itself, and its lungs have accustomed themselves -to the conditions of the adult seal’s existence. -</p> -<p>Frequently indeed the baby gets drowned! The mother may have heard some noise above -which has alarmed her. Fearing danger, she has thrust her head up through the diving -hole, caught hold of the young one, and hastily retreated with it to a depth unsuitable -for its tender lungs, with a sad and fatal result. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo sealer knows all this natural history as he knows that of every other denizen -of the Arctic, and founds upon it his methods in hunting. -</p> -<p>Directly he has detected the locality of a seal’s nursing cavern under his feet, either -by the presence of a slight depression in the snow, or by the pointing of the dog, -he arms himself with a nixie, or hook on the end of a long shaft, and gathering himself -together makes a tremendous jump into the air, coming down with all his weight and -force upon the spot. He <span class="pageNum" id="pb92">[<a href="#pb92">92</a>]</span>jumps again and again, until at last the snow caves in and blocks the hole below, -cutting off the baby seal’s retreat into the sea beneath. Then he prods and probes -among the débris of the cavern for the imprisoned creature, locates it, hooks it out, -and kills it with one blow on the head. After that, there is the mother to be caught. -She is probably lurking under the ice nearby. So, before he kills the little one, -the hunter ties his sealing line to one of its flippers and pushes it through the -diving hole into the water. The mother at once tries to come to its rescue, only to -encounter her own devoted death. She, too, is hooked, dragged out, and despatched. -</p> -<div class="figure p092width" id="p092"><img src="images/p092.png" alt="Young Seal Hunting in May." width="720" height="434"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">Young Seal Hunting in May.</span></p> -<p class="first">An Eskimo hunter breaking through into a young seal’s dwelling. This is done by jumping -upon the top of the dwelling and breaking in the roof which, falling down, fills up -the hole in the ice and prevents the mother from rescuing the young one. The hunter -then inserts his hook and secures the young seal.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The seal has other enemies to contend with besides man. The bear has a keen scent, -a heavy paw, a huge <span class="pageNum" id="pb93">[<a href="#pb93">93</a>]</span>appetite, and a peculiar relish for her young. He, too, wanders out on the sealing -grounds at the proper season, and having found a cavern, sets his two huge forepaws -on the snow and, with one mighty push, breaks it all in. He easily hooks the helpless -little creature beneath, and devours it with ursine relish. -</p> -<p>Or it may be that an arctic fox decides to spend a day seal hunting. He glides over -the snow, an almost invisible shape, like nothing so much as a white wraith of the -desolation around. His scent having guided him to a likely spot, and being unable, -like the bear, to do his housebreaking by mere brute force, he adopts a peculiarly -wicked plan of his own. Planting all four feet together pivot-fashion, he spins himself -round and round, his claws boring a way through the snow, until he corkscrews his -unwelcome presence into the seal’s retreat. The baby, again, falls a helpless victim. -</p> -<p>This seal hunting of the tribesmen, far out at sea in the camp on the ice, is not -without its dangers, as the following tale will show. -</p> -<p>For several weeks all had gone prosperously with the sealers. The weather had been -good, and the young seals plentiful. Loaded sleds had been continually going to and -fro between the winter village on shore and the village on the ice, bearing meat and -skins to the old folk at home. Contentment and jollity reigned, for had not the Conjurors -guaranteed prosperity and good luck, and were their prophecies not amply fulfilled? -<span class="pageNum" id="pb94">[<a href="#pb94">94</a>]</span></p> -<p>But, one day, the sky became overcast. Hour after hour it grew more heavily banked -with forbidding cloud, whilst from seaward came a low roar, the presage of an arctic -storm. The sealers hastily retreated to their dwellings, and blocked up their doors, -and prepared to wait. Evening drew nigh, and the tempest rose. An occasional quiver -of the icy floor told of the pounding of heavy breakers at the floe edge, and a portentous -shiver now and again spoke of masses of it being broken away. -</p> -<p>With the indifference which comes of familiarity with danger, these hardy northern -folk stayed out there in camp, on the very edge as it were of death; and as the night -drew on, merely rolled themselves in their fur blankets and went to sleep, confident -that the morning would see an abatement in the storm. Nevertheless, it went on increasing -and grew more and more violent. The shivering dogs scratched holes for themselves -in the snow on the lee side of the <i>igloos</i>, and buried themselves as deeply as they could. At length the Eskimo instinct of -peril was aroused, and an intuitive sense of the full extent of the catastrophe at -hand (a sense not developed to any marked degree among civilised peoples), roused -the entire camp. -</p> -<p>It began when a woman and her husband waked suddenly, feeling that all was not well. -They looked round the <i>igloo</i>, yet could detect nothing amiss. Its other occupants slept soundly. There was the -thud and the roar of the wild hurricane without, but all seemed snug within. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb95">[<a href="#pb95">95</a>]</span></p> -<p>And yet—what was that? Even as the goodwife watched and waited, there came another -of those strange quiverings in the ice, and the cooking pot suspended over the lamp -began to swing. The awful thing told its own tale! The ice on which the camp was built -was breaking up beneath it, and every soul was faced with imminent and deadly peril. -The sea was fathoms deep below; the land a long distance away! Darkness and the savage -uproar without made chaos of the arctic night. -</p> -<p>Then indeed the ice gave way, and in a moment became nothing but a pounding, grinding -mass of detatched fragments, on which the wrecked camp tossed. The sealers, roughly -awakened, smashed down their doors, or with knife and spear cut a way out of their -<i>igloos</i> as best they might, and got clear of them, followed by the women and children. With -the strange but unerring instinct of primitive man, they headed, even in that tumult -and pitchy darkness, for the unseen land; and then began a perilous race with death -and the spirits of the storm. -</p> -<p>They had to spring from floe to floe, following each other, encouraging and helping -the women, finding a way where from moment to moment there might be none, risking -everything at every leap. -</p> -<p>Among those in the crowd was Kownak, a young hunter, and his new made wife. The girl -was only then recovering from a recent sickness, and her strength completely failed -her. The two started, indeed, on their ghastly journey like the rest; but before <span class="pageNum" id="pb96">[<a href="#pb96">96</a>]</span>half the distance to safety was accomplished the young wife—wet, terrified, and weak—sank -down exhausted and beaten on the bitter ice with a cry of despair. Kownak lifted her -up and bore her on in his arms. But the rocking of the ice flung them both into the -sea time and again, despite his utmost endeavour. Once he managed to grip the edge -of the floe, whilst the girl scrambled back on to it again over his shoulders. He -stripped off his coat to wrap it round her in the frantic effort to keep her from -freezing, and tried again to lift and carry her. But it was an impossible feat on -the tossing, glassy ice. She struggled to rise and stagger on, but could endure no -more and sank down again, unconscious, to be frozen to death within another minute. -</p> -<p>Kownak could not tear himself from the body until it had become nothing but an indistinguishable -mass, one with the ice. Only then did he remember his own desperate plight, and make -a final effort to save himself. After incredible exertions and hairbreadth escapes, -at last he reached the shore, black with frostbite, and joined the surviving remnant -of the sealing camp. The merest handful of the people had outlived that terrible night. -</p> -<div class="figure p096width" id="p096"><img src="images/p096.jpg" alt="Two Women in Summer Dress." width="720" height="480"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">Two Women in Summer Dress.</span></p> -<p class="first">They are wearing their inner jackets only. The row of beads on the front of one of -the dresses is made by the woman herself. She makes a rough mould in a piece of ivory -or bone and drops lead into it. They are very proud of their beads, for this purpose -they will take lead as part payment for work done.</p> -</div><p> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb97">[<a href="#pb97">97</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch7" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e258">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VII</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">Womanhood in the Arctics.</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">In the meantime, the women, left in the village on shore, have been far from idle. -As soon as the husband has gone off for the day the wife sets about her domestic affairs. -First, she rolls up the bedding and tidies the sleeping bench. The next job is to -sweep the hoar-frost from the window and the cupola, to prevent the dripping of any -moisture, and then to sweep up the floor—littered, likely enough, with the remains -of a good feed overnight. These duties are performed with a brush made of the outspread -wings of a duck or raven; it might almost be called a double-bladed brush. The backs -are sewn together and the upper bones form the handle. Such a contrivance is a very -handy affair altogether, and will last quite a long time. -</p> -<p>The next task is to prepare a quantity of blubber for oil. This is pulped with a bone -hammer or <i lang="iu-latn">koutak</i>, and the fuel so obtained is suspended over the shallow lamps in such a way as to -dip into them and keep them supplied. New wick is fashioned from dried moss and cotton -plant trimmed upon the lamps. Next comes the stew for supper. The Eskimos have only -one way of cooking meat, and that is stewing it in the <span class="pageNum" id="pb98">[<a href="#pb98">98</a>]</span>stone “kettles” already described. These are partly filled with sea water for the -sake of the salt, a quantity of seal’s blood is added, and then comes the meat. The -whole thing hangs simmering over the lamps all day, and by the time the men come back -at night a reeking hot meal is ready, rich, nourishing, and as tender as a sharp-set -hunter could desire. -</p> -<p>Water is the next consideration. The Eskimo housewife hauls it in skin buckets from -the nearest stream, bailing it up through a hole in the ice; or, failing that, she -brings in the ice itself, or snow, and sets it to melt over a spare lamp. These people -are thirsty souls, and water is hard to come by in the winter. Every drop that can -be obtained is used for drinking or cooking, so that washing (except the hands and -face), is dispensed with perforce of arctic circumstance. Fresh water ice melts more -quickly than beaten snow, and it is an interesting fact that an iron or tin pot used -for melting the former will last much longer than for melting snow. The latter process -causes it to become quickly pitted with spots of rust and perforated. Aluminium vessels -last the longest. In the old days—i.e., prior to the establishments of trading posts—the -Eskimos had no utensils of any sort except those of native manufacture from bone, -or stone, or ivory. Nowadays they have steel-tipped spears, iron nails, and tinware -for cooking purposes. -</p> -<p>Perhaps the next most important employment of the feminine portion of the community -is the preparation <span class="pageNum" id="pb99">[<a href="#pb99">99</a>]</span>of skins, the softening of leather, and the finer animal tissues, the washing, drying, -and stretching of gut, and the manufacture of the marvellously fine sinew used for -sewing and stitchery. All this includes the making of tents and clothing. The old -women help the housewives as far as they are able, and the girls watch and learn, -with a view to rendering themselves eligible in the eyes of the young men as accomplished -brides-to-be. The women are perpetually employed chewing the edges of skins and leathers -to make them pliable and soft for sewing. This process tends to wear down the teeth -to very unsightly stumps. -</p> -<p>The heavy work is done by the hale and hearty, who leave only the lighter tasks, such -as the tending of the lamps and the minding of the house, to the older folk. Womanlike -all the world over, the crones love to get together and indulge in unlimited gossip. -All the women, indeed, pay a constant round of visits, and gathering, now here, now -there, sit about smiling and gossiping, as is their wont from the tropics to the pole. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo are a genial, jovial, peaceable people, among whom quarrelling is a crime, -and he or she who disturbs the general peace is a villain of the deepest dye. So, -whatever else comes of all the gossip, it is not—in an Eskimo village—malevolence, -backbiting and spite. They talk—these fur-clad, hard-working women—of their last year’s -journeyings, who and what they saw and heard, of their trials and vexations, of their -children and relations and <span class="pageNum" id="pb100">[<a href="#pb100">100</a>]</span>husbands—each one’s contribution to the conversation being punctuated by a chorus -of “<i lang="iu-latn">Ah, Ah’s</i>,” “<i lang="iu-latn">Elarle! Elarle!</i>” (Indeed! Yes!) from the rest. -</p> -<p>Suddenly, however, just when their enjoyment may be at its height, the children’s -cry of “<i lang="iu-latn">Kumokse! Kumokse! Netsérkpok!</i>”—(A sled, a sled! He’s got a seal!) breaks up the gathering in excited confusion. -There is a rush, each wife to her own home. Cries of joy and anticipation fill the -air, and the whole village is stirred with cheerful and prosperous bustle. The hunters -are returning, and fresh supplies are at hand. Very soon the cracking of the dog whips -is heard, shouts of command, barks and howls; and the teams appear, scrambling over -the <i lang="iu-latn">sigjak</i> (the broken ice along the shore), with their welcome loads. Quickly the harness is -thrown off and safely bestowed, the lines and everything eatable being carried into -the <i lang="iu-latn">sukso</i>; the dogs are fed and quieted, and curl round and go to sleep in the snow. -</p> -<p>Then comes the evening meal. The stewpot is taken from the slings and set in front -of the mistress of the <i>igloo</i>. The sturdy men and children crowd round her and each one is served with a generous -piece of sealmeat. They hold it in their hands to eat. Each bronzed or wind-blackened -face glows with enjoyment and contentment in the homely lamplight, and an atmosphere -of unfeigned goodwill and cheer dominates the little group. The hungry folk whose -husbands and fathers have not been successful all day simply distribute themselves -through the <span class="pageNum" id="pb101">[<a href="#pb101">101</a>]</span>village, and share the food of the lucky. The captor of to-day may return empty handed -to-morrow, when he may look for hospitality to his guests of to-night. -</p> -<p>As soon as the meal in the pot is finished, the soup is poured out into a drinking -bowl and handed round, each one taking a good pull in turn. The air soon reeks—the -tight-packed assemblage of unwashed humanity, the stench of seal oil and blubber, -the strong odours from the pot and the exhalations of garments spread out on the racks -to dry, all contribute to the malodorous atmosphere. But what of that to those accustomed -to nothing else, to whom the whole means warmth and plenty and the nearness of his -own, in the frozen immensity of the awful arctic world without? -</p> -<p>As soon as the meal is done the day’s catch of seals is cut up. Each animal is placed -on its back on the floor, opened and dismembered, and pieces of the meat and blubber -are given to the needy. Open hospitality is the law of the land in the Arctics. Travellers, -whether native or European, are always sure of welcome and shelter on reaching an -Eskimo village. On these occasions the stranger is always the first to be served from -the generous family stew. -</p> -<p>This sanguinary and odoriferous business being despatched, and the neighbours having -taken themselves off, the door is fixed for the night—the door being a slab of snow -cut to fit the main entrance to the <i>igloo</i>, and set on one side during the day. The lamps are trimmed to a low flame, wet clothes -are <span class="pageNum" id="pb102">[<a href="#pb102">102</a>]</span>spread on the drying frames above them, and each member of the family rolls up in -a fur blanket on the sleeping bench and so goes to bed. Occasionally the mother wakes -up, to trim the lamps and turn the clothes during the night. She will be the first -to wake and rise in the morning, since it is part of the woman’s work “which is never -done,” to rub and soften the leathern clothing of her good man and the boys, which -had hardened in drying while they slept. -</p> -<p>Before the advent of the white man and his methods, the Eskimo used to start a fire -by means of “firesticks.” The writer has seen this done repeatedly at the present -day. An oblong piece of wood with a depression made in it to hold the tinder (a mixture -of dried moss and cotton plant), receives the spindle. Another small piece of wood, -placed on top of the latter, is held in position by the teeth and pressed down firmly -upon it. The spindle is made to rotate rapidly by means of a rough bow until a spark, -caused by the friction, starts up in the tinder. This is gently blown to a flame, -and the fire is kindled. Nowadays, steel, or pieces of iron, are used in place of -the driftwood board and spindle, especially on hunting expeditions; for although matches -have found their way into the Eskimo <i>igloo</i>, they are costly, and apt to get damp. -</p> -<p>There seems to be a happy sort of sex equality among these people, or perhaps it should -rather be said that a mutually agreeable division of equally essential labours cause -the men and women to live <span class="pageNum" id="pb103">[<a href="#pb103">103</a>]</span>more on a common footing than they seem to do among many other uncivilised folk. Old -women, widows, and orphan girls, never want for protection and sustenance, so long -as the rest can shelter and support them. The Eskimo are a very improvident people, -never taking thought for the hungry morrow when they can feast to-day; but so long -as the good things last, so long as they are to be had, the old and helpless of both -sexes are never neglected. If a time should come when there arises a question of superfluous -mouths to fill, the old people go into a sort of voluntary retreat in their own houses, -and willingly die the death of starvation. More will be said on this subject elsewhere. -</p> -<p>On one dreadful occasion an Eskimo woman was betrayed by force of circumstances into -an act of cannibalism. This woman was a tall, commanding figure from the south coast, -with a grave, intelligent face. She was an excellent huntress, equally at home with -gun or spear. She could wield her needle, too, and together with her husband, was -a first-rate worker and much respected by all the tribe. -</p> -<p>A party of women, including herself and her baby, were travelling to a trading station. -Their sled was well provisioned and their dogs in good condition, and the route lay -over mountains and valleys, and across all the intervening fiords and bays. Soon after -they started things began to go wrong. The weather changed and a wind got up, bearing -snow. Storm after storm swept the country, through which the <span class="pageNum" id="pb104">[<a href="#pb104">104</a>]</span>travellers could scarcely force their way. The dogs sank to their shoulders in the -deep drift, and at last could make no further progress at all. The little expedition -called a halt. They built a sleeping place and prepared to wait till the violence -of the weather abated. But, as day after day went howling by, each as impossible as -the last, the stock of rations became exhausted, and the whole party reached the verge -of starvation. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo woman from the south fell ill, in consequence of the hardships and privations, -and lost consciousness. While she happened to be in this state, a council was held -by the others of the party, who decided to keep life going by killing and eating the -child. This was accordingly done, and as soon as she could be partially roused, a -portion was given to the famished mother. Not knowing what it was she did, she ate -the meat—and survived. Some time afterwards the forlorn band was rescued by some hunters -and taken to their camp, and only then the woman learnt the truth about her supposedly -dead baby. Years after the horrible thing occurred the writer met her and had the -story from her own lips. -</p> -<div class="figure p104width" id="p104"><img src="images/p104.jpg" alt="A Young Wife with her Baby in her Hood." width="527" height="720"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">A Young Wife with her Baby in her Hood.</span></p> -<p class="first">The ornamentation on the front of her jacket is strings of various coloured beads, -much prized by the women. -</p> -<p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">Eskimo Family Group.</span> -</p> -<p>The Eskimo marry at an early age, generally at about 14 years of age, the marriage -being arranged between the parents of the parties.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>Women and their adventures figure largely in Eskimo folk tales. One of them might -almost point to a feminist movement in the Arctics! Two brides, it is narrated, ran -away from their homes before their very first children ever saw the light. After awhile -the fathers went in search of their lost daughters. When the girls found they were -discovered they wept <span class="pageNum" id="pb105">[<a href="#pb105">105</a>]</span>bitterly, and declared themselves most unwilling to return to their husbands. The -fathers, however, were quite relieved to find them comfortably off where they were, -and having stayed a couple of “sleeps” in their daughters’ house, returned home without -the brides. When they got back to the tribe they had this amazing thing to tell—that -two women without the company of any men, lived happily all by themselves, and were -never in want! -</p> -<p>There is a charming little story of a lonely woman who owned a bear cub, and loved -it and brought it up like a child and called it her son. The bear repaid her devotion, -and supported her by his prowess in hunting so well that the rest of the villagers -grew jealous and planned to kill him. So, conscious of their evil designs, he departed, -almost as much to the grief of the children of the village as to that of his “mother.” -He never ceased, however, to repay her love, and continued out on the ice floes to -catch seals for her support. -</p> -<p>The gruesome story of the murderess <i lang="iu-latn">Toodlânak</i> has never hitherto—so far as the writer can ascertain—been included in any ethnologist’s -collection of the Eskimo legends. -</p> -<p>It is narrated by the Ancient Ones that there lived this <i lang="iu-latn">Toodlânak</i>, who was an evil spirit in female disguise. She had a large house (<i lang="iu-latn">igloovegak</i>) built by the side of the route used by hunters going inland after deer. It was far -up country, many days’ journey either from the sea or from the pastures of the interior. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb106">[<a href="#pb106">106</a>]</span>The house was large and comfortable, and <i lang="iu-latn">Toodlânak</i> had a reputation for hospitality. She loved to entertain any who passed that way -and to give them food and shelter for the night. She allotted to them the best rugs -and the most comfortable part of the sleeping bench. Presently, however, it began -to be noticed that few if any of these hunters returned. At last the brother of one -of these inexplicably missing men determined to look into things. He started out with -a companion, and in due course both reached the half-way house. Out came <i lang="iu-latn">Toodlânak</i>, as usual, all smiles and amiability, inviting them to enter and refresh and rest -themselves there for the night. They did so, but the suspicious young man kept his -wits about him, and never relaxed a sharp look-out on his hostess. He had a notion -that she knifed her guests in their slumber. -</p> -<p>Unknown to <i lang="iu-latn">Toodlânak</i>, he secreted a flat stone within the bosom of his tunic (the <i lang="iu-latn">netseak</i>), and, rolling himself in his blanket, lay flat on his back apparently in deep sleep. -His hostess had also retired to rest, and seemed also quite dead to the world. But, -about midnight, he saw her rise by the dim light of the lamp, and creep over to his -companion where he also lay asleep on the bench. The movement betrayed the fact that -the awful creature had a knife-like tail with which she struck her victim through -the chest and killed him. She then crept stealthily towards the watcher, and would -have served him the same way but that he was ready for her. The vicious tail struck, -<span class="pageNum" id="pb107">[<a href="#pb107">107</a>]</span>indeed, at his chest, but shivered on the hidden stone, broke off, and left <i lang="iu-latn">Toodlânak</i> defenceless. The hunter sprang up and killed her on the spot. He searched all over -the place, and found the remains of innumerable victims, and their property hoarded -away. He broke down the house, buried his luckless companion, and returned home with -the news that at last the country was ridded of its pest and might be safely travelled. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb108">[<a href="#pb108">108</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch8" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e268">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VIII</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">Clothing—Boat Building</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">In the preceding chapters little but an outline has been given of the activities of -the day in an Eskimo encampment. Boat building is one of the occupations in which -men and women jointly engage; but before this is described at the length it requires, -there is much to be said about the dressing and fashioning of the various skins which -form the most important item of Eskimo economy. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo woman values none of her possessions more than the <i lang="iu-latn">ooloo</i>, a short-handled knife shaped like a small half-moon turf cutter, chiefly used for -paring off the inner membrane of the stout sealskin for the lighter hangings of the -summer tent, but of universal utility. With it she cuts out her garments or dismembers -a seal. In addition to this she has steel or ivory needles and a thimble. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo have no woven fabrics or European clothes until they come in contact with -the whites, and—perhaps unfortunately—acquire the beginnings of a civilisation alien -to the natural evolution and necessities of their lives. -</p> -<p>Their own native dress consists entirely of deerskins for winter use and sealskins -for the summer. <span class="pageNum" id="pb109">[<a href="#pb109">109</a>]</span>Both sets are warmly lined with fur. The deerskins employed as clothing are the summer -and autumn hides; those flayed in the winter are reserved for the <i lang="iu-latn">kaksak</i> or sleeping blankets. The men’s and women’s tunics are lined either with fawn skins -or the summer skins with the hair on. No underclothing is required, fur always being -worn next to the skin. The man’s jacket is looser in shape than the woman’s, and the -hood (<i lang="iu-latn">nessak</i>) fits closely round the face. The woman’s garment is quite different. It has shorter, -baggy sleeves, is large and roomy at the back, fitting, however, tightly to the waist; -it has a hood (<i lang="iu-latn">amout</i>) big enough for two heads, a short stomacher-like apron about twelve inches long -in front, and a lengthy tail reaching to the heels behind. The Eskimo women carry -their babies on their backs in this queer jacket. The child has no clothing on it, -but it keeps admirably warm next the fur-clad mother. Its feet rest on her waist line -and its head peers from out of the capacious hood over her shoulder. -</p> -<p>Both sexes wear short, wide trousers. For footgear they have long deerskin stockings -like Lifeguardsmen’s boots, with the hair turned next the skin, reaching well up over -the knees under the pants. Over these is worn a sock like a Turkish slipper, made -from the skin of the Large Glaucus Gull, the feathers being inside; and over this -again goes a short sock of deerskin, with the hair turned outwards and upwards so -as to enable the long boot, or <i lang="iu-latn">kummik</i>, to pull on easily. This boot is tied on below the knee and round the <span class="pageNum" id="pb110">[<a href="#pb110">110</a>]</span>ankle. The sole is made of the leather of the large ground seal, with the hair shaved -off, and the leg is the skin of deer’s legs stoutly stitched together. -</p> -<p>The women take immense pride in the cut, fit, workmanship and ornamentation of their -dresses, showing no little taste and discrimination in the management of design and -ornament. The various furs are introduced in lines, panels and patterns, with an eye -to colour and texture a skilled furrier might envy. -</p> -<p>Prior to the advent of Europeans to the Arctics, fringes of deerskin were the most -popular form of ornament for clothing; but to-day the Eskimo women are passionately -fond of elaborate beadwork. The beads are of European <span class="corr" id="xd31e1579" title="Source: manfacture">manufacture</span>, but the design in which they are applied is native. The favourite beads are small -and brightly coloured. The native sempstress will also sew two or three coins down -the front of the inside jacket and down the tail of the dress, or even the bowls of -a few spoons. These clink as they walk, and greatly delight their wearers. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo tailor has a wonderfully correct eye, and can so scrutinise a figure as -to be able to turn out a well-fitting suit of skins without taking a single measurement, -or “trying on.” -</p> -<p>The men’s clothes are plain, without ornamentation, and the fashion of them does not -vary with the season. In summer they are lined with the white skins of the baby seal, -which are as soft and fleecy as lambs’ wool; in winter, with the skins of the fawn, -which are very soft and warm. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb111">[<a href="#pb111">111</a>]</span></p> -<p>The Eskimo housewife prides herself greatly upon her store of skins. These, and the -soapstone cooking utensils, and the carefully housed poles for the summer <i lang="iu-latn">tupik</i>, dogs, sled, and kyak, constitute the wealth of a native family. Fine sewing thread -is made from the sinew of deer’s legs, scraped and dried. For stouter purposes, seal -sinew is used. Eskimo stitching requires to be seen to be appreciated. It is amusing -to note that the age of a child can be told at a glance by the length of the tail -of its little jacket. -</p> -<p>Apropos generally of domestic tastes, a word must be added on the women’s hairdressing. -The hair is generally parted down the centre and plaited on either side of the face, -the two plaits being looped under the ears (<span class="corr" id="xd31e1594" title="Source: remniscent">reminiscent</span> of the early Victorian style!) and tied in a knot at the back. In some tribes the -women gather their hair up and bind it all into a stiff vertical cone on the top of -the head. They weave into this stubborn erection every hair which comes out, so that -in time a woman’s age may be guessed by the size of her topknot. It used to be the -fashion in bygone days to tattoo the face with linear designs, but this has now practically -died out. -</p> -<p>It is a common error of writers upon the Eskimo folk to assert that they oil themselves -to keep out the cold, that they drink oil as a food, and revel in grease generally. -Nothing of this is correct. The dirtier and the greasier a man is, the colder he is; -so every effort is made—not after cleanliness exactly, as that is an impracticable -standard—to keep grease from <span class="pageNum" id="pb112">[<a href="#pb112">112</a>]</span>the clothes and the person. When engaged in preparing or cleaning anything very oily, -the women remove part of their dress to save it, and afterwards rub away as much of -the grease as possible from their hands and arms. Seal oil and melted blubber act -as strong purgatives, hence it would be impossible to use them as drink, besides they -are required for the lamps. -</p> -<p>Perhaps the next most important business of the Eskimo women, after cooking and making -the clothes, is the preparation of skins for the two types of boat in use on the coast. -This entails considerable labour and skill. The men are responsible for the framework. -</p> -<div class="figure p112width" id="p112"><img src="images/p112.jpg" alt="(1) A Kayak. Fully equipped for hunting. (2) The Light Framework of (1) over which skin is stitched. (3) Model of a Umiak. The sail is made of seal intestines. (4) An Okushuk. A cooking-pot with drinking-bowl, made of soapstone." width="486" height="720"><p class="figureHead">(1) <span class="sc">A Kayak.</span> Fully equipped for hunting. (2) <span class="sc">The Light Framework of (1)</span> over which skin is stitched. (3) <span class="sc">Model of a Umiak.</span> The sail is made of seal intestines. (4) <span class="sc">An Okushuk.</span> A cooking-pot with drinking-bowl, made of soapstone.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The kyak—a creation as truly national to these intrepid coasters as the snowshoe may -be to the Indian, the ski to the Norwegian, and the alpenstock to the Swiss mountaineer—is -a covered canoe, graceful as a fish, for use at sea. It can be handled in the roughest -weather. It consists of a light framework, formerly of whalebone, but now generally -of driftwood, fastened together with thongs of sealskin. It is from eighteen to twenty -feet in length, strong and elastic to a degree, and entirely covered with skins, almost -resembling a torpedo in shape, with long, tapering extremities. There is a small circular -opening amid-ships, where the kyaker sits, fitting closely round his body. In rough -weather he wears a waterproof jacket (of seal gut), the hood fitting tightly round -his face and the sleeves to his wrists. The lower edge <span class="pageNum" id="pb113">[<a href="#pb113">113</a>]</span>of this comes over the opening in the canoe and is laced round it, so that man and -craft are fairly one. -</p> -<p>The Rev. A. L. Fleming, formerly a naval architect, informed the writer that the lines -of the kyak are perfect, and from the point of view of sea-going architecture could -not be improved. The Baffin Land kyak is broader than the Greenland type. The latter -is much narrower, and requires great skill to handle. Readers of Arctic literature -will recall Nansen’s account of the extraordinary feats performed by the Eskimo on -the west coast of Greenland in manœuvring these canoes. The Baffin Islanders are also -very skilful. They can right themselves, if completely overturned, by a peculiar quick -jerk of the paddle. The kyak cannot fill, should the waves wash right over it. It -probably comes nearer the ideal of an unsinkable boat than many a more ambitious construction. -It would be hard to say, as between hunting and fishing (the staple business of their -lives), which is the characteristic national “sport” of the Eskimo; but certainly -no one not born and bred to the handling of the kyak could acquire the native degree -of ease and daring. -</p> -<p>The sealskins for these canoes are bleached. Either they are scalded, or tied in bundles -and hung up in a warm atmosphere to ferment. This process is allowed to go on for -a week or two, until the stench becomes unbearable. When taken down and shaved with -the <i lang="iu-latn">ooloo</i>, the black epidermis comes away with the hair, leaving the skins beautifully white. -The inner membranes <span class="pageNum" id="pb114">[<a href="#pb114">114</a>]</span>are left intact. The next step is to stitch the skins together. Bleached hides may -be made to alternate with unbleaced ones, by way of ornament; or the entire covering -may be merely black or brown. -</p> -<p>The thread is sinew from seal flesh, since it must be derived from the same source -as the skins, to ensure the same degree of shrinking and stretching. The seams are -double stitched, first through the skin only, leaving the membrane untouched, and -then oversewing the latter, so as to make them perfectly watertight. The moistened -skins are then loosely applied to the framework; as they shrink and dry they fit to -it exactly, and form a light, drum-tight covering over the whole. It is part of the -man’s job to fit the wooden rim to the opening on top, and to make the loops which -serve to secure his weapons. -</p> -<p>He carries a three-pronged bird spear on the left hand side in front of him; on the -right is his sealing spear, and between the two is a small round tray for the coiled -seal line fixed to the detachable spearhead. Behind him on the left is his nixie or -hook, on the right a heavy harpoon for striking walrus or the larger creatures he -may encounter, between the two and immediately behind him an inflated sealskin with -the end of his sealing line attached. Thus equipped, the canoe is complete, a thing -of pride to its owner, which will last all his life and be handed down to his sons -and their sons after him. -</p> -<p>The sealing spear has an ivory (or nowadays a steel) butt for breaking ice, and acts -as an ice chisel. <span class="pageNum" id="pb115">[<a href="#pb115">115</a>]</span>Its shaft consists of a piece of driftwood, its long keen point is made from part -of the jawbone or rib of the whale, and its detachable barbed head is of steel or -ivory. The long line attached to this is a stout strip of white whale hide. The harpoon, -too, is of wood and ivory, as also is the long hunting knife and the small kit of -lesser tools without which the hunter seldom moves. All these things are made during -the endless winter evenings, while sitting round the seal oil lamps in the <i>igloo</i>, or on stormy days when the Arctic blizzard obliterates the world without. (There -is an interesting collection of Eskimo dresses and implements and utensils to be seen -in the Ethnological Gallery at the British Museum; but perhaps even more representative -a one is that in the Natural History Museum in New York.) -</p> -<p>The paddle of the kyak is made from a long piece of driftwood. Its proper length is -the span of the owner (the full extent of the two extended arms), and half a span -again. The blades are narrow, since they are for use at sea, and engage the most skilful -attention of the craftsman. Both are tipped with ivory. This <i lang="iu-latn">pouteek</i>, as it is called, can be used as an outrigger. On top of the kyak, in front of the -man, there are four strongly made loops of hide, the exact width of the blade of the -paddle. If the rower wishes to stand up or give play to free movement, to cut up and -store away a seal either upon the craft or inside it, he cannot do so without an outrigger -or he would simply capsize. To prevent this, he pushes one end <span class="pageNum" id="pb116">[<a href="#pb116">116</a>]</span>of the paddle into the loops, which hold it fast. The other end, outboard, acts as -a counter-weight and exactly balances the canoe. It is then perfectly stable and almost -impossible to upset. The dexterity of the kyaker has already been alluded to. He can -do anything with this boat. His confidence is so complete that not infrequently, when -a heavy wave is atop of him, he will deliberately turn turtle, receive the weight -of the water on the bottom, and right himself when the moment is passed. -</p> -<p>The <i lang="iu-latn">Umiak</i> is a very different craft, and serves the Eskimo family as a sort of general pantechnicon -and removing van. It consists of a large, clumsy framework of wood, covered with the -skins of the big ground seal, which are dressed into a thick tough leather. It is -really an open sailing boat, capable of carrying perhaps six families and a huge and -miscellaneous cargo. It has a square stem and stern and a stumpy mast set well forward -in the bows. The large square sail used to be made in earlier days of skin stitched -together, or of the intestines of seals blown out and dried, then split open, the -long, broad strips alternating with narrow strips of the same material, to ensure -equal stretching and shrinking. Nowadays, the natives provide themselves with sail-cloth -from the trading posts. The <i lang="iu-latn">Umiak</i> is an unhandy thing to manage, but a good enough boat in a heavy sea way. When on -a long voyage up or down the coast or across the bays, in former times, the <i lang="iu-latn">Umiak</i> had a double skin; the outer covering becomes so waterlogged <span class="pageNum" id="pb117">[<a href="#pb117">117</a>]</span>and the movement so sluggish that the whole thing is cast off, and the journey proceeds -in the inner, lighter and drier shell. The gut sail requires constant wetting to prevent -it splitting into ribbons. This primitive concern is paddled by women when the paddles -become necessary, but a man has the steering in his charge. -</p> -<p>The oars for the <i lang="iu-latn">Umiak</i> are clumsy things compared to the kyak paddle. The blades are rough oblongs of wood, -almost like spades, fitted to poles of wood by no means necessarily straight, and -bound on by thongs of hide. Sometimes the oar is quite a crooked branch, and a collection -of these in the hide hung boat looks about as prehistoric an outfit as Mr. E. T. Reed’s -most comic imagination might depict among his inimitable parodies of life in the neolithic -period. -</p> -<p>The <i lang="iu-latn">Kyak</i> and the <i lang="iu-latn">Umiak</i> are the two purely native types of boat used on the Arctic coast. The people, however, -are familiar and handy enough nowadays with rowing and sailing boats of European model, -wherever they have had the opportunity of using and knowing them. They have other -ingenious means of getting about on the water when boats of any description are not -to be had at all. The hunter at the edge of the floe can stand and paddle himself -away out to sea on a raft or slab of ice detached from the mass; and the deerstalker -inland, anxious to cross a sheet of water or a river, will utilise a skin stuffed -with dried heather, stoutly bound about with thongs of <span class="pageNum" id="pb118">[<a href="#pb118">118</a>]</span>hide. He sits on this and skims off as happily as a water-beetle. -</p> -<p>The possession of a couple of boats like the foregoing, of a good store of hunting -weapons, plenty of skins, a team of well-trained dogs, and two sleds—one, a short, -light, travelling affair for hunting, and the other a heavy, long-distance thing for -the migrations of the family—constitute the Eskimo house-holder’s wealth, and determine -his social precedence and standing in the tribe. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb119">[<a href="#pb119">119</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch9" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e278">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER IX</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">Eskimo Dogs</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The value to the Eskimo of a good team of about five dogs is equivalent to that of -a kyak or a sled, or a reliable gun. To assess it in terms of money would have no -significance in a land where utility and necessity alone determine the scale. -</p> -<p>The breed is part, or half, wolf. In build, the true Eskimo dog is well formed, almost -slim about the hindquarters compared with the rest of his body, the broad and sturdy -chest, the strong neck and heavy jaws. His hair is very thick, grey or tawny in colour, -and his tail immensely bushy, always carried erectly, curving over the back. He is -a different creature to the Samoyede and the Kentucky wolf hound; but probably there -is very little to distinguish him from the famous Alaskan “husky” dog of so much literary -fame, and the dog of the Labrador. -</p> -<p>The dogs in Baffin Land are fed solely on seal flesh, unlike those of the trappers -and mail carriers in Alaska and elsewhere, who subsist on a spare and spartan ration -of frozen fish. Sacks of chopped seal are always carried on the sleds for the dogs -on a winter journey, skin and hair included. They are <span class="pageNum" id="pb120">[<a href="#pb120">120</a>]</span>wonderful travellers, although the speed with which a trip may be accomplished depends -on a good many other factors than dog power alone. In the winter a team may average -thirty miles a day; or when conditions of ice and wind are particularly favourable -this figure may be doubled. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo dogs begin their lives in quite pleasant domestic comfort. They breed in -the spring and autumn, and the puppies when born are kept on the sleeping place in -the tent or <i>igloo</i>, and played with by the women and children in order to accustom them to being handled, -and to the scent of human beings. Otherwise they would grow up wild and savage, and -a trouble to their owners; and, moreover, might too easily fall a fat and toothsome -morsel to any particularly hungry parent or stray wolf about the camp. They are pretty, -playful puppies, full of puppy imbecility and fun. When about six weeks old this halcyon -period of irresponsibility and shelter comes to an abrupt end. Out go the lot into -the hard world, to eat and sleep with the grown-up dogs of the village. And immediately -the puppy’s training begins. He has a miniature harness made for him and a little -sled. The small boys take him in hand. They harness him and drive him about, to his -unfathomable disgust and their own diversion, until he becomes used to the process -and the various words of command. -</p> -<p>As time goes on and he gets a little older his serious education engages the attention -of the men. Puppy is harnessed to the <i>real</i> sled with the older dogs and <span class="pageNum" id="pb121">[<a href="#pb121">121</a>]</span>has to help to drag it to the hunting grounds. He objects strongly to leaving the -village and what it has of possibilities in the way of tit-bits; but the accustomed -orders break over his head in a fearful roar he has never heard before, and he scares -up a new obedience. Soon, however, he tries the effect of rebellion, and bolts back -on the trail, only to be brought up with a jerk as he reaches the end of his line. -He is unceremoniously dragged along on his back, bumping over the rough ice, hating -everything and everybody, thinking life not a bit worth living and that the bottom -of his world has fallen out. He is rudely brought to! The leader of the team knows -what to do. Like a parent spanking a naughty child, the leader sails in, and with -many a forceful shake and many a shrewd nip at every tender point, he forces Puppy -to take his rightful station in the team and do his best to pull. As he goes back -to his own position at the head the Leader just passes word along to the rest to follow -his example. They make quite a point of it. As often as the recruit shows a tendency -to slack off again, or so much as rolls an eye towards the back trail, they give him -a shake up or a nip on the leg to encourage him to proceed, rather, in the right direction. -He receives further assistance towards this desirable fixity of purpose by an occasional -and painfully adroit flick of the hunter’s long driving lash. -</p> -<p>A few days of this sort of thing, and the youngster registers the lesson that discretion -is the better part of valour. He learns to keep his objections to himself. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb122">[<a href="#pb122">122</a>]</span></p> -<p>The next thing to dawn upon his expanding mind is that dragging heavy weights over -the snow makes one’s feet uncommonly sore. The older dogs knew that long ago, and -lay down before starting in the morning, quite willing to have their boots put on. -The dog “boot” is merely an oblong strip of seal leather with two holes for the nails -to go through and a couple of thongs to secure the ends round the leg. Everywhere -in the Arctics the freight dogs are obliged to have protection for their feet. But -Youngster, whose turn for practical investigation has ere this convinced him that -nothing is inedible except sticks and stones, retires promptly to the back of the -sled or behind the nearest cover, and eats his boots there and then, with early morning -relish. The team, to a dog, say nothing, but start off as usual. Youngster licks his -lips, curls his tail, and feels good. But after a few miles something of the curl -goes out of his tail, his feet become tender and he droops a little. The others plod -on; he lags. Instantly comes the sting of the whip or a nip of teeth like a vice. -Youngster sprints ahead, only to flag more and more, to limp and crawl at last with -the pain in his unprotected, wayworn feet. At the end of the day he simply staggers -home, a very sad and sobered Puppy. Leader strolls over, when he thinks he will, looks -at him <i lang="fr">en passant</i>, and grins. The culprit adds another mental note to his list of things not good for -the digestion. No more boots! -</p> -<p>Comes another milestone on the hard path of learning and virtue—pilfering. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb123">[<a href="#pb123">123</a>]</span></p> -<p>Young dogs have to learn that everything on the sled is rigorously taboo—for them. -Not to be touched, or so much as sniffed at, on any account whatever. This lesson -can only be enforced by many a whipping. For Youngster does so love to stroll past -the sled with a preoccupied air, hands in pocket as it were. If he were a human being -he would hum a hymn tune. Then, just in that flick of time when no one seems to be -looking, he steals a mouthful of seal-meat or blubber. Instantly retribution envelops -him. He is severely thrashed. If an experience of this sort repeated once or twice -does not cure him his master becomes harsh indeed. The hunter must at all costs gain -and keep the ascendancy over his dogs. The thief has his head forced hard back with -the mouth wide open, and the man smashes out the two long upper fangs with the back -of his hunting knife. That bit of violence completes this part of Youngster’s spartan -education. -</p> -<p>He graduates by learning how to smell for seal holes in the ice, how to tackle a bear, -how to defend himself, how to guard the tent or <i>igloo</i>, how to brave every extreme of bitter weather. When an Eskimo dog knows all this -he becomes a valuable asset to his master. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo drives his sled team spread out fanwise. In this formation they are less -likely to break through the snow crust than if driven Indian fashion, one ahead of -the other. The tandem style is suitable for wooded country, where there is no room -to expand <span class="pageNum" id="pb124">[<a href="#pb124">124</a>]</span>and where it is imperative to keep to a narrow, perhaps ill-defined trail; but in -the Arctics one of the greatest dangers of travelling is to fall into deep snow. Men -and dogs alike can be smothered if the crust gives way, for their struggles only cause -them to sink the deeper. The dogs are driven by word of command only (i.e., orders -to get up, start, straight ahead, right or left, lie down), and by the whip, a tremendously -long thong of white whale hide attached to a short stock. Half the art of dog driving -consists in the right management of this difficult whip. It has to sail out to touch -just the right dog in just the right place, and should crack sharply at the tip. The -Leader is the most important, reliable and experienced dog in the team. He is attached -to the sled by a longer trace than the others, so that he runs ahead of them, and -his position is in the centre. It goes without saying that he is very conscious of -his eminence, and gives himself insufferable airs. -</p> -<p>In camp the team always sleep curled round in the snow, if not in the porch at least -near their master’s dwelling, ready for any scraps that may be flung out; and woe -betide any other dog who dares to come near, or even essays to pass by! There is a -rush and the outsider is severely mauled. Another time, he makes a wide détour. The -people never leave the tents without a guard if they can possibly help it. If the -man and woman are both away a child is left. The dogs can tell the place is inhabited -and refrain from a raid, which would only bring a storm about their ears if <span class="pageNum" id="pb125">[<a href="#pb125">125</a>]</span>once the alarm were raised. But should the dwelling be empty even for a short time, -the dogs at once get to know it—and they know about the stores of meat and oil and -blubber inside! Now, the Leader of the team belonging to the establishment is there -also as a “guard,” but his argument seems to be that this obligation applies only -to outsiders. Having driven off any strange visitants who may venture around, he has -no further scruples about helping himself. Moreover, he has a remarkable business -head. He believes, in letting the others down—for his own advantage and prestige. -</p> -<p>As soon, then, as he decides the <i lang="iu-latn">tupik</i> is really empty, he gives one short, deep note, well understood by the others dogs, -signifying that the coast is clear. Then he bounces at the tent wall, bursts through -it, and snatching the first big mouthful of meat he can get, beats a discreet retreat, -leaving the others like thoughtless children to do the work and get themselves into -the required mess. They rush in, of course, make hay of the tent, and kick up a tremendous -uproar, giving themselves away to the whole village. It does not take long for the -natives to cope with the situation. Armed with sticks, they hurry to the spot, and -while some penetrate the tent to lay about and drive the dogs outside, others stand -ready for the culprits when they come out, to give them such hard blows as will last -them well—until next time! Out comes number one, a lump of provender in his teeth. -He gets his blows right enough, but sticks to the meat <span class="pageNum" id="pb126">[<a href="#pb126">126</a>]</span>… only to be met, further on by the Leader, a surprised and indignant look on his -face, as who should say “What! You at it again! Stealing, when you ought to be on -guard! And having the effrontery to try to pass Me with your plunder! Put that meat -down instantly and I’ll take charge of it! If you want any more, go back and get it.” -</p> -<p>There is no getting past this. The delinquent is bowled out, rolled over, bullied -until he loses his head and his booty into the bargain. He is glad to escape alive. -He breaks away at last, frantically licking his wounds. Whereupon Leader absent-mindedly -eats the meat and sits down to await another scrap from the next offender. He calls -this keeping his end up with the mob. -</p> -<p>On one lurid occasion of this sort, all the canine raiders had escaped from the tent -but one, a small fat puppy. He happened to be in the place at the time and quite enjoyed -entering into the spirit of the thing—meant to do his best like the others. So he -climbed into the lamp, freshly replenished with oil, and fitted it so exactly, lubricating -himself from head to foot, that he stuck <i lang="la">in situ</i> to be caught, but looking quite proud of his position and feeling altogether grown -up. He was soaked in oil and grime; oil dripped from his mouth, and the laugh on his -face plainly said, “My! This is good! Why didn’t I think of it before?” He was summarily -pulled both out of the lamp and out of his complacency. Infantile yells outside told -of early correction being administered and a lesson in honesty <span class="pageNum" id="pb127">[<a href="#pb127">127</a>]</span>enforced. After that his mother took him in hand and licked him clean. -</p> -<p>It is sometimes asserted that the Eskimo dog does not bark. This is a mistake, as -he certainly has a snappy bark of his own, however little it may resemble the recognised -barks of all other sorts of dogs. For the most part he howls. -</p> -<p>The dogs, one and all, are up to every sort of trick. Moreover, their stomachs are -for ever empty and always keen for any sort of food. They are fed at night whilst -on the trail, in order that the meal should have time to digest and strengthen them. -Incidentally, they sleep soundly buried in the snow, and neither attempt to stray -nor to break into the hunter’s sleeping place. In the morning they are nowhere to -be seen. The white expanse remains unbroken. They are all under the snow, and in no -way inclined to rouse up and be harnessed. Nobody wastes time looking for them. Someone -takes a lamp outside the shelter and empties the oil on the ground. Immediately black -noses emerge from here and there, tempted by the smell, and the rest is easy. -</p> -<p>Once upon a time Nannook (the bear) the Bad Hat of the team, had a brilliant idea. -He had often considered the weighty problem of the driving lash it seemed so impossible -for his master ever to forget. The point was, how to get rid of it. So long as that -whip cracked forever about them there was no chance of making the other dogs do his -share of the work, no opportunity to slack off or snatch a rest. The only <span class="pageNum" id="pb128">[<a href="#pb128">128</a>]</span>scheme seemed to be to eat it. Nothing loth, Nannook waited for the usual midday halt. -The hunter chopped off some frozen pieces of meat, sat down in the lee of the sled -and ate and smoked. The whip lay unheeded on the snow behind his shoulder. -</p> -<p>Nannook sneaked up, caught hold of the end of the lash, and steadily began to chew. -He chewed yard after yard, his stomach feeling better with every foot of the way. -He chewed up to the very stock, undetected; and having packed away at least eighteen -feet of seasoned whalehide, crept back to the team. Presently the hunter bestirred -himself for a start. Picking up his whip—he just gazed round. It was a dog, without -a doubt; but which one? Who on earth could tell! All were innocently dozing, every -one in his place, the picture of virtuous decorum. No one could tell. No one, therefore, -could be punished. The rest of the journey was accomplished perforce of shouting only. -For once in a way the dogs had the best of the joke. -</p> -<p>It sometimes happens on a long trail with a heavy sled that a blizzard, or some other -untoward circumstance, may delay a traveller for a longer or shorter time; sometimes -for days. His food supply gives out and the dogs come to an end of their rations. -The team gets ever more weary and more weak. The hunter goes on ahead, breaking the -trail for them on snowshoes; the dogs stagger along after him, often lying down and -refusing to get up. But the trouble has not been unforeseen. The master has prepared -<span class="pageNum" id="pb129">[<a href="#pb129">129</a>]</span>for this sort of emergency by carefully bringing along some particularly bad bits -of refuse seal meat. The stench of them would imbue a skunk with self-respect, in -comparison. Taking one of these, he forges ahead, calling the dogs and leaving behind -him a lure like poison gas. He drops the meat, and the Leader, picking up the scent, -with a new cock in his dispirited ears, bustles round, spurring up the team with the -information. “Come on!” he says. “Can’t you see he’s dropped that bit? My, can’t you -smell it? Hurry up, and let’s get it!” They do get up, poor dupes; but the Leader, -in virtue of his longer trace gets there first, and doesn’t wait to argue. Over and -over again this manœuvre is repeated, both on the hunter’s part and on the Leader’s. -The rest of the team make all the effort they can to get equal with such duplicity, -and sometimes even succeed in snatching first at the bait. Anyway, it is a fine way -of getting the sled along and taking their minds off their troubles. A trail of loathsome -scraps, each one encouraging a spurt on the part of the dogs, helps over the distance. -Often an exhausted team has been enabled to cover the last few miles by this method, -when otherwise they must have dropped. -</p> -<p>In spite of the rigour of his life and the necessary hardness of his owner, the Eskimo -dog is not without that glorious power of faithful canine devotion which is one of -the most beautiful forms of love on earth. The writer knows of at least two instances -where a dog has wasted away and died of grief in his master’s <span class="pageNum" id="pb130">[<a href="#pb130">130</a>]</span>absence or after his death. But such a true canine trait is very rare. For the most -part, these animals readily transfer their affections to the hand that feeds them. -</p> -<p>They are savage to all strangers. The team guards its master’s tent or <i>igloo</i> because he is the one who provides for it. The dogs sleep in the porch as a rule; -and before entering a dwelling the visitor is well advised to call to one of the inmates -to quiet them, otherwise he will be severely bitten. In winter, when hungry, the dogs -are more dangerous than ever. It happened, once, that two Eskimo had died, and been -sewn up in their blankets and buried beneath a cairn of huge stones in a neighbouring -valley. One of the bodies was even enclosed in a light barrel. During the night the -dogs raided the place, tore down the stones, and ate the dead. In the summer time -they forage for themselves on the seashore, picking up small fish left by the tide, -and anything edible they can find. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo dog has a great deal that is wolfish and dangerous in him. The strain, -indeed, is very little differentiated from the wolf. Sometimes a dog will leave camp, -go back to the wild, and join a pack of wolves as one of themselves. Those who do -this seldom return; but when they do, puppies of the direct resulting strain are greatly -valued. It has been remarked that, whereas wolves in the Arctic seldom attack a human -being, dogs will not uncommonly do so. The extraordinary thing about this is that -hydrophobia <span class="pageNum" id="pb131">[<a href="#pb131">131</a>]</span>is practically unknown. It would be difficult to say exactly what may be the natural -span of life of the Eskimo dogs, but they seem to be at least as long lived as the -larger breeds of European dogs. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo names his dog ‘The Lively One,’ the ‘Bear,’ the ‘North Star,’ and in similar -fashion. The animals possess much humour of their own; one belonging to the writer, -of whom he was extremely fond, certainly enjoyed fun, and could very nearly speak! -</p> -<p>Lest, while on the subject of these creatures too much space should be devoted to -them, this chapter cannot be concluded without a brief description of the sleds to -which their toilsome lives are vowed. -</p> -<p>The small, light-going sled used for hunting is only about six feet in length. The -cross bars are fastened to the runners by sealskin thongs, to ensure a certain degree -of pliability in travelling over rough ice. A pair of reindeer horns with part of -the skull attached are fastened by thongs to the back of the sled, forming a sort -of erect triangle. This serves as a rack upon which to hang coils of sealing line -and various implements, and also as a rest to lean against for anyone sitting on the -sled. The runners are shod with strips of bone sawn from the ribs or jaw of the whale, -and fastened on either by wooden pegs or by thongs sunk into grooves to prevent them -wearing through. These runners are the object of very special care and constant daily -attention on the part of the owner. They are covered with a thick coating of seal’s -blood, <span class="pageNum" id="pb132">[<a href="#pb132">132</a>]</span>for the sake of a fine surface. The craftsman takes a mouthful of this material and -squirts it upon the runners, moulding it at the same time with his fingers. It freezes -even as he smooths it down, and with a final squirting of water takes a high, hard -glaze which ensures smooth and swift running for the sled. If seal’s blood happens -to be scarce the maker uses a mixture of moss roots and water, which gives an almost -equally good surface when applied in the same way, and looks like nothing so much -as a first-class cork lino. -</p> -<p>The <i lang="iu-latn">Kummotik</i>, or long travelling sled, is double the length of the foregoing and heavier in proportion. -Otherwise its construction is the same. It requires a team of from twelve to eighteen -dogs, whereas five are sufficient for the hunting sled. The loading of a <i lang="iu-latn">Kummotik</i> is a work of art. There is a place for everything, and everything has to go, just -so, into its place. The spears and weapons are stowed in the bottom of the sled in -front, by the driver. At the far end, a piece of skin is laid down and upon this slab -upon slab of blubber for the lamp is piled up, and the lamp set atop of the lot, bottom -up, because of the grease and dirt. Then the meat for the journey is put aboard—frozen -deer hams, and frozen seals entire, enough for the whole party until they fetch up -at the next tribe’s camping ground. The meat is, of course, uncooked, since a minimum -of raw meat gives a maximum of heat and strength. (Hence the Eskimo prefer their rations -raw when there is work to be <span class="pageNum" id="pb133">[<a href="#pb133">133</a>]</span>done. The cooked stew of an evening is a mere luxury meal.) A skin is thrown over -the heap of provisions to prevent the travellers’ clothing being soiled by it. Over -it all are piled the rolled-up sleeping blankets and the <i lang="iu-latn">karsâte</i> or deerskin rugs for mattresses. Knives, axes and lines hang upon the horns behind. -The driver’s seat in front is a box containing small tools, flint and steel. The whole -load is securely lashed down to the cross bars of the sled. The man’s spear is slipped -into the lashings on one side, so as to be handy for use at a moment’s notice. The -women and children perch on top of the load, or make their way alongside on foot, -as they prefer. The dogs’ lines are all gathered to a point (like the sticks of a -fan) just in front of the runners, when they are tied and then divided into the two -short traces which, fastened to right and left on the runners, draw the sled. -</p> -<p>A still more ancient form of sled was in use among the Eskimo before the advent of -the whites, but the elders of the villages remember it well and describe it to-day. -In those times wood was very scarce, tools very rude, and whales more abundant than -at present. So strips of whalebone taken from the mouth (before this valuable material -came into the markets of the world at all) were stitched together by whale or hide -thongs, until a sled could be fashioned out of them, something like a huge, long, -black shovel, very hard, durable and strong. Dogs harnessed to this contrivance made -good speed with it, even with the driver squatting upon it. In one respect it was -more serviceable <span class="pageNum" id="pb134">[<a href="#pb134">134</a>]</span>than the modern form with runners, since unlike these it did not sink in snow or easily -break through a rotten crust. It should be noted that a full-grown whale has about -a ton of this black whalebone fringe hanging from his jaw, the longest part of it -attaining six or seven feet when the mouth is open; so that a fair sized sled could -easily be made out of such a great supply. -</p> -<div class="figure p134width" id="p134"><img src="images/p134.png" alt="The Ancient Form of Sled as Described by the Oldest Hunters." width="717" height="250"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">The Ancient Form of Sled as Described by the Oldest Hunters.</span></p> -<p class="first">In the past when whales were plentiful and the whalebone of no value to the Eskimo, -strips of whalebone were stitched together with whalebone thongs, and a flat sled -formed. It was very strong and less liable to sink in the snow.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The struggle for existence in the Arctic has taught the Eskimo to utilise in the most -ingenious ways resources at their disposal so limited that the marvel is so self-sufficing, -so healthy, hearty and happy a <span class="corr" id="xd31e1795" title="Source: civilsation">civilisation</span>, of its kind, could ever have been evolved. -</p> -<p>Where these tribes have come so much in contact with other peoples, and even with -well-meaning white enterprise on their behalf, that they have attempted to substitute -for their old ways a method and mode of living indigenous neither to the climate nor -to their own physique, they have invariably degenerated. The Eskimo of Labrador and -Alaska have largely abandoned <span class="pageNum" id="pb135">[<a href="#pb135">135</a>]</span>the snow house for the log shack or sod hut, and have in consequence been decimated -by tuberculosis. Everywhere, contact with “civilisation” has tended so to divorce -these children of the North from their natural environment as to initiate their wholesale -decline. It is only now, in “the last North of all”—in Baffin Land, Boothia Island, -Victoria Land, and the rest—that the Eskimo retain their old ways and their old vigour. -Their life and their type everywhere else has become mongrel and nondescript. While -there can never, of course, be any question in believing and thinking man’s mind about -the inestimable boon of Christianity and educating these people along the lines suggested -by a sympathetic study of them on the spot, it seems to be very inadvisable to interfere -with them, to “civilise” them too much after the unsuitable European model, to revolutionise -the natural and suitable scheme of life they have so bravely and so ingeniously worked -out for themselves during the uncivilised centuries of their existence in the bleakest -and most inhospitable regions of the earth. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb136">[<a href="#pb136">136</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch10" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e288">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER X</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">Tribal Life</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">In their family and tribal life the Eskimo carry out a very smooth running sort of -communism, the chief tenets of which are rigidly enforced peaceableness, open hospitality -to the stranger, and a sharing of food and the necessaries of precarious existence -among each other. Tribal government is wholly patriarchal in character. The <i lang="iu-latn">Angakooeet</i>, or chief conjurors—a class of men apart—hold the first place in public esteem and -common council. After them the village is ruled by the successful hunters, who foregather -with the former and with the aged and experienced, when it is a question of deciding -where to go and what to do about the hunting, or change of encampment, or treatment -of a delinquent. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo have no idea of authority, except that which one man may exercise over -another in virtue of his superior wisdom, experience, skill or strength. There has -recently been some question of inaugurating a reindeer and musk ox industry on the -vast moss pastures of the hinterland of Baffin Land, and the purport of much evidence -given on this subject before a Royal Commission abundantly confirms the experience -<span class="pageNum" id="pb137">[<a href="#pb137">137</a>]</span>of the present writer, and emphasises the remarks that have been made as to the inadvisability -of rushing matters with regard to “civilising” the Eskimo, and radically changing -his mode of life from that to which the conditions of his environment have hitherto -formed him. Savage as these conditions are, the Eskimo has wrought out his own well-being, -and in his native state is as happy and contented an individual as could be desired. -He has his hard seasons of semi-starvation, when the hunting is poor; but even these -are borne with cheerfulness and equanimity. -</p> -<p>“They seem to have the communal idea very strongly implanted,” said D. Jewess, Esq., -one of the witnesses. “Theirs is a community in which one man is equal to any other -man. The idea of one man being a servant to another would not seem to be native to -the Eskimo; it is a foreign idea. It would seem that they must learn the whole idea -of one man serving another before they could be counted upon as reliable employees. -</p> -<p>“An Eskimo will serve you faithfully on certain conditions, and will expect his payment -afterwards. He will serve you for a limited time and perform almost any work, and -will then expect his payment. The moment that payment is made he is an absolutely -free man; but for the period of work, if he understands his contract clearly, he will -serve you faithfully. They seem to work partly through the binding force of a promise; -but a great factor in keeping <span class="pageNum" id="pb138">[<a href="#pb138">138</a>]</span>them at work seems to be that of having them understand that they will be well rewarded -at the end. As is the case with all human beings, they vary; but on the whole they -may be considered as faithful as white people found in civilised communities. Experience -seems to show that they will keep to an agreement unless they get angry. In this event, -they seem to forget their promise. If they, in a casual manner, more or less promise -to do a thing, they are as likely as not to fail. Like most primitive people, if they -trust you they will do what they can to justify your confidence in them. -</p> -<p>“At the present time the Eskimo is not responsible. He would make an excellent servant, -and in time an excellent trapper, guide and hunter. This is speaking of the Coronation -Gulf Eskimo, who have known white men only during the past four or five years. It -would seem that the Eskimo of Hudson Bay and of the east generally have other characteristics -which have been moulded through this influence. It is not thought that this contact -with white men is necessarily an advantage, if one is trying to convert the Eskimo -into a reliable, responsible servant or working man. A great deal naturally depends -upon the kind of white men with whom the natives have had to associate.” -</p> -<p>It must be remembered that life in an Eskimo tribe is almost a family one. Each family -is interdependent upon the others, and all have close ties and relationships. Thus -anything which interferes with the <span class="pageNum" id="pb139">[<a href="#pb139">139</a>]</span>general harmony is dangerous and, in the unwritten law, a crime. -</p> -<p>Matte, a good hunter and a man of standing in the tribe of X——, in the locality of -Z——, had for long disturbed the peace of the rest. He had quarrelled, had spread ill -reports about the doings of the hunters, had divulged their secrets, and been generally -independent and unsociable. For a long time Matte was a thorn in the side of his tribe. -He disregarded their customs and traditions, and became, according to Eskimo law, -altogether a first-class misdemeanant. At last he became unbearable. His big voice -and burly frame were no longer tolerable in the settlement. A day came when, in his -absence, the Angakooeet and chief men met in council to decide what should be done. -His case was reviewed and discussed at length, and arguments were brought forward -both for and against the accused. At length the verdict was given by the Angakut, -the Chief of the Conjurors, and ratified by the Council. Matte was to be put to death. -</p> -<p>Five men were chosen by the Angakut, and instructed in their duties. Two were to hold -the prisoner’s arms, two his legs, and the fifth was to strike and kill. -</p> -<p>As the time for the man’s return approached the executioners went out and waited for -him in the path outside the village. No sooner had he appeared than they seized upon -him. Matte read his doom in their eyes. He had but time for one ejaculation of despair -<span class="pageNum" id="pb140">[<a href="#pb140">140</a>]</span>when the knife struck through his breast and justice was done. The body was thrown -aside and left for the dogs and wolves to rend and devour. -</p> -<p>The five men returned to their homes. One of them (the one who afterwards related -the story to the writer), married Matte’s widow at her express wish, and “lived happy -ever after.” The woman indeed was quite agreeable to the removal of her first husband, -as it was miserable to be the wife of so unpopular a member of the community. -</p> -<p>Continued quarrelling, like that of this man Matte, is punishable by death. So also -is murder. A thief is banished from the village, but petty pilferers are merely sent -to Coventry. -</p> -<p>Old people are held in great respect among the Eskimo, and their counsel is always -considered. They help as far as they are able in the household work, the old men repairing -weapons, harness, etc., and the old women in sewing or tending the lamps. In times -of scarcity, as in winter, meat and oil are always shared round. Directly a deer or -seal is brought in it is cut up and pieces sent to each needy family. In times of -plenty each family is supposed to provide for itself; but old people, widows and orphans -have always the first claim upon those who have the means. -</p> -<p>Among these people, mutual kindliness is a general obligation. A widow or orphan child -is never left alone, but taken into the house and family circle of the nearest relative. -The widow gives her services <span class="pageNum" id="pb141">[<a href="#pb141">141</a>]</span>in return for food and lodging and clothing, and the child is cared for exactly as -the man’s own offspring. -</p> -<p>Children have always the right of entry to any house and to partake there of whatever -food may be going. Women are seldom refused a like privilege. In times of famine children -are fed first, the women next and the men last. The writer has known a hunter to go -out four days in succession and meet with no success. He had shared a portion of seal -with another man who had caught one and cut it up as usual, but this had been given -to his wife and family, whilst he himself, taking no more than a drink of warm water, -went off with unimpaired cheerfulness to try his luck again. -</p> -<p>Strangers and travellers, too, are always entertained and provided for so far as the -means of the moment may permit. A native arriving from another tribe and having no -relations in the village just puts up at any <i>igloo</i> he may chose—as a rule he will select the family best able to entertain him—and there -his dogs are fed, his equipment is repaired or the necessary material offered, and -food and a sleeping place provided for himself. Should he be on the trail alone, a -temporary wife is furnished him from the widows or spinsters of the community, and -it becomes her business to see that his clothes are dried and mended, and that when -he departs again he has sufficient food to carry him over the next stage of his journey. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo are aware that in some respects European customs differ from their own, -and when <span class="pageNum" id="pb142">[<a href="#pb142">142</a>]</span>entertaining a white man his peculiarities are rigidly respected. The Eskimo standard -of morals is not that of the European. It may be that in this matter of the temporary -wife, as in the annual exchange of wives during the Sedna festivities, nature is making -her own instinctive provision for the continuation of a race; otherwise so heavily -handicapped are they by arctic conditions of life generally that without it wedlock -would scarcely suffice for the purpose. The Eskimo despite customs which look like -promiscuity according to the standards of civilisation, are not afflicted with the -diseases associated with European vice—until they come in contact with unscrupulous -whites. Either the germs of these scourges have not made their appearance in the Eskimo -communities, or the people are particularly resistive to them. That this latter supposition -is not borne out is evidenced by the havoc that has been wrought among the tribes -in the past. The Eskimo, when left to themselves, are a moral people according to -their own ideas, and the rude health they keep despite these strange customs, seems -to vindicate them from an unthinking criticism. -</p> -<p>If he can, the wayfarer makes suitable offerings in return, but they are not necessarily -expected. He drops in on the family overnight, just perhaps when the hunter has returned -with a good fat seal, and the jolly distribution of it all round is going on. There -is a broad smile on the face of the housewife as she picks out the best bits for her -friends and leaves the scraggy remnants for those of whom she cannot profess <span class="pageNum" id="pb143">[<a href="#pb143">143</a>]</span>to be so fond. The children rush hither and thither, willing servitors of those who -cannot come themselves. -</p> -<p>The blood is carefully scooped into an ice bowl for future stew or for the glazing -of sled runners. At the hospitable shout, “<i lang="iu-latn">Kileritse! Kileritse!</i>”—“Come ye! Come ye!”—everyone, friend and stranger alike, crowds into the house and -squats on the bench or the floor, or in the porch, and is duly served out with his -share. Nothing is heard for awhile but the crunch of strong ivory teeth; the red blood -stains hands and faces; black eyes glisten with enjoyment. Then, after a time, the -hum and clatter of talk rises to the smoky roof. Everything is devoured, even the -entrails (squeezed through the fingers to flatten and empty them). Reindeer moss, -taken from the stomach of a deer may be served up as well by way of that greatest -possible luxury—a salad! -</p> -<p>Finally, everyone goes to bed. The doorway is blocked up, blankets are unrolled, and -men and women and children, stripped to the skin, wrap themselves up in these and -lie down with their heads towards the lamps and their feet towards the back of the -snow house, and sleep the sleep of health and good humour and repletion until the -break of another arctic winter “day.” -</p> -<p>The children of an Eskimo community have quite a good time. Whenever infanticide has -been practised among these people, it was never through cruelty or wanton waste of -infant life, but simply because of a <span class="pageNum" id="pb144">[<a href="#pb144">144</a>]</span>dearth of provisions. As a matter of fact, the Eskimo prides himself on having as -large a family as possible. He is entitled to have as many wives as he can support. -It is not uncommon for a well-found man to have three wives—possibly sisters—all living -amicably together. The children are named after some place or object, and many names -descend from father to son. Thus we have “<i lang="iu-latn">Moneapik</i>,” the little egg; “<i lang="iu-latn">Oonapik</i>,” the little hunting spear; “<i lang="iu-latn">Pitsoolak</i>,” the sea pigeon; “<i lang="iu-latn">Shokak</i>,” roof of the mouth; and other names too crude for translation. -</p> -<p>The pastimes of the children are just like those of children all the world over. On -fine days they romp with the puppies, as described elsewhere, or they borrow a sealskin -from their mothers and, finding a snow incline, drag it to the top and toboggan down -on it in fine style and with resounding glee. They build snow houses; play with little -improvised sledges; kick a seal bladder about by way of a ball; discover cat’s cradles -for themselves with any odd bits of thong; and get up to all the usual mischief with -bows and arrows. The girls make dolls. The boys have an ivory top corresponding to -cup and ball, and another game called “spearing the seal,” which is played by two, -with a piece of skin for the ice, and a bit of bone that moves about underneath it -for the seal. There is a blow hole, of course, and a miniature spear. -</p> -<div class="figure p144width" id="p144"><img src="images/p144.jpg" alt="The Two Wives of a Hunter." width="524" height="720"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">The Two Wives of a Hunter.</span></p> -<p class="first">Polygamy is allowed, but generally speaking most have only one. -</p> -<p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Family outside their House.</span> -</p> -<p>The women in full winter dress of deerskins.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The education of the Eskimo boy all turns on hunting. All sorts of curious observances -wait on his first adventures in that line. When he secures his <span class="pageNum" id="pb145">[<a href="#pb145">145</a>]</span>first weasel, for instance, he gives it to the dogs, simply to be torn in pieces; -and that night has to sit up by the <i>igloo</i> door, one hand on hip and in the other a lamp stick. Possibly the root idea is to -defend himself from the spirit of the little beast. When he gets his first bird, Young -Hopeful sits in the middle of the sleeping bench, his mother on one side and his grandmother -on the other. The boy is told to take off his jacket, and the two women wrench the -bird apart between them in a sort of tug of war, to the accompaniment of cries of -congratulation. The mangled spoil is then eaten to bring good luck to the boy. -</p> -<p>The following tale of the voluntary suicide of the old people who feel that they have -outgrown their usefulness to the community, and have rather become a burden to it, -shows how strongly the communal feeling dominates the Eskimo, how essential to existence -each one of them finds the social life of the tribe and village to be. -</p> -<p>For many weeks summer has reigned in the arctics. Snow has disappeared. The ice has -broken up and drifted away to the south; only a few bergs remain, like the remnants -of a majestic fleet, wending their wandering way after the rest. For weeks on end -it has been one long, glorious day, when the sun has scarcely set an hour. The weather -is hot and the sky is blue. Arctic flowers and arctic heather gem the short turf; -streams and cascades fill the valleys with the unwonted music of running water. The -dogs lie about, basking in the sunshine, or betake themselves <span class="pageNum" id="pb146">[<a href="#pb146">146</a>]</span>to the seashore to hunt for fish and such toothsome morsels as may be left in the -rock pools by the falling tide. The village of sealskin tents is pitched in a sheltered -spot near some handy stream, overlooking the inlet. Contentment, ease and plenty are -the order of the day. The kyakers skim the waters of the bay, hunting as usual, and -in the evening the boys have a turn in the same light craft, to practice with harpoon -or birdspear. They vie with each other in skill and speed, and take lessons from their -elders. -</p> -<p>The old men and women potter about, visiting each other. The crones occupy themselves -teaching the younger women how things were best done in their day, and the granfers -fight their own battles over again and exploit their own adventures, as they listen -to the talk of the younger men—the tales of more recent feats accomplished, perils -survived, and clever captures achieved. As the bright day wanes to that short twilight -which is the arctic summer night, the men fetch their blankets from the tents, roll -themselves up in them under the shelter of some boulder, and sleep in the open air. -</p> -<p>The month of the eider ducks has come and gone. The women have manned their boats -and made their annual raid on the island where the birds breed, returning with hundreds -of eggs, plenty of ducks, and a goodly store of eiderdown from the nests. The days -have been one long, joyous picnic, all the hardships, privations and dangers of the -winter forgotten. The babies, brown and mother-naked, have sprawled about <span class="pageNum" id="pb147">[<a href="#pb147">147</a>]</span>in the sun and waxed fat and jolly, with the freedom and the play and the plenty of -summer. -</p> -<p>But now the time has come to get ready for a very big annual enterprise indeed—the -great deer hunt, upon which the fortunes of the tribe will turn for months. If the -Eskimo lay up little store of food, they accumulate all the hides they can for winter -clothing. For several weeks before the start is made, stores of meat are prepared, -slices of seal cut and spread on the rocks, or hung on lines in the sun to dry. Piles -of moss and cotton plant are collected and dried for the winter’s supply of lamp wick. -Sealskins are cleaned and stretched and dried for clothing, boot soles, boat coverings, -and water buckets; intestines are inflated and dried for sail cloth and material for -making windows. The dogs are outfitted with sealskin panniers for transport purposes. -The trek ahead of the tribe is a long and laborious one. They will journey for many -days by water up the rivers, and climb long ranges of hills and cross many valleys, -before they reach the interior and the pastures of the deer. Each man, woman and child -must shoulder his own pack, for none can carry a double load. And so, it often chances, -comes the tragedy of old and enfeebled age. -</p> -<p>Seorapik was an octogenarian. Her hair was grey and her back was bent. She had managed, -somehow, the previous year to carry her belongings on the long, long trail, and to -stumble along after the tribe. But at last the bitter fact forced itself upon her -that she <span class="pageNum" id="pb148">[<a href="#pb148">148</a>]</span>could follow the hunters no more. She must stay behind—alone. She could no longer -carry her load nor keep pace with the folk on the way, and none might carry her. She -had no alternative but to remain in the deserted village and await the tribe’s return. -</p> -<p>Now Seorapik, like every other Eskimo, was an intensely sociable being. She loved -nothing so much as to hear laughter and jokes about her, and to be in the thick of -all the village talk and doings. As she faced the prospect of the long lonely weeks -ahead, in the lifeless silence of the empty camp, with the days growing ever shorter -and colder, without a soul—except perhaps a child—to bear her company, her heart quailed -and grew very heavy. There was the danger, too, of attack by wolf or bear, and of -sickness coming on—and death. Death, all alone! True, they would leave her a plentiful -store of food—the good village folk—and lots of skins; but what comfort could these -afford her in their absence? -</p> -<p>But the law of the North is stern and immutable. -</p> -<p>They knew it—those sons and daughters of hers, and all their sons and daughters. They -grieved for Seorapik, and remembered her many acts of kindness to each and every one -of them, and her life of cheery toil spent wholly in their service. They had a custom -to be sure—but it was hard to endure it when it came face to face. A familiar custom, -designed to meet such as case as this; but a heartbreaking one, all the same. Seorapik -remembered it, too, and was the first to summon the courage to announce it. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb149">[<a href="#pb149">149</a>]</span></p> -<p>She proposed to bid the tribe goodbye rather than let it take leave of her. Her time -to go on the long, lone journey from which none ever returned could not be far off -in any case. She decided to anticipate it. She could not face seeing her folk load -up the packs, start out on the trail, without her, and disappear over the hills. She -could not contemplate the intense loneliness that it would all mean, and miss the -laughter of the children, and even the rough and tumble among the dogs. So the dread -subject was broached to her son. -</p> -<p>He gave his assent. Itteapik announced the decision to the villagers, and they came -to help with the preparations for Seorapik’s death. -</p> -<p>A rough, round <i>igloo</i> was built, and the old woman withdrew into it, taking her few belongings, escorted -by all her kindred and friends. They encouraged her to the last with every kindly -and sympathetic thing they could think of to say. She braved it out, and, with her -cheery but quavering goodbye still in their ears, her loved ones blocked up the entrance -to the little death chamber in such a way that no dog or wolf might break in. -</p> -<p>And there she sat down slowly and willingly to starve to death, quite happy so long -as her children continued to come from time to time and call to her from outside, -and tell her all that was going on, every single little thing that happened.… She -never asked for food or drink; they never gave it.… She never wanted to come out; -they never moved a <span class="pageNum" id="pb150">[<a href="#pb150">150</a>]</span>stone.… She simply had to go. Their part was to make her last days, her last hours, -as happy as they could, simply by being there—quite close—outside. -</p> -<p>Then the time came when the feeble voice just ceased to make one more response. She -had gone on her own long journey first, to the land where parting would be no more, -nor the fear and sadness of it. Her last hours had been happy ones, cheered by the -sounds of the village life, the cries and gurgles of the babies, the shouts and cat-calls -of the boys and girls, the murmur of men and women talking over their accustomed tasks. -She had no loneliness to bear, after all, no desolation, no silence. The old Eskimo -died with a smile of love and contentment on her face, with a long record behind her -of woman’s good and motherly work, of a humble, “primitive” life indeed, but lived -according to what light she had—and so into the better life beyond. -</p> -<p>There was Nandla (the spear), too, the blind hunter, who also went to death under -the lash of arctic circumstance. -</p> -<p>The incident took place near Davis’ Strait, and was related to the writer by one who -had witnessed it. Again, the inexorable law of the wild left one handicapped as Nandla -was no choice. The man was comparatively young, but by reason of his blindness useless -to himself and a burden upon others. In a hungry land, where every extra mouth to -be filled represents a problem, there is no room for one who cannot provide for himself. -The severity of the code <span class="pageNum" id="pb151">[<a href="#pb151">151</a>]</span>of the North is very great. It cannot be judged by the ordinary standards of humanity. -</p> -<p>Spring was at hand—the joyous spring of the arctics. The days were lengthening and -the seals increasing in numbers. They were coming up from the south for the breeding -season. In the village all was life and bustle. The hunters were full of preparations, -and the dogs scarcely less so. The boys were loading the sleds and harnessing the -teams. One by one, each hunting outfit glided off over the frozen ground, out towards -the bay. -</p> -<p>Outside his snow house sat Nandla, the blind hunter, listening to every sound and -seeing every detail in his mind’s eye. His heart was heavy as lead. In his younger -days he, too, had gone forth just like these others, to spear the season’s catch, -and come home rejoicing with a heavy sled. But repeated attacks of snow blindness -(despite his wooden snow goggles) had destroyed his sight; and here he was, in early -middle age, a useless, hopeless, helpless man, tied to the house, dependent upon his -folk for food and clothing, and a drag upon them all. -</p> -<p>Each night, as the hunters came home, the whole tribe gathered as usual round the -cooking pots, when the excitements and doings of the day would be discussed with no -less gusto than the food. Nandla always had his place in the family circle, and eagerly -drank in every word the hunters had to say. He longed to hunt again, himself; to bring -back the kill, to see the children come pushing into his house for <span class="pageNum" id="pb152">[<a href="#pb152">152</a>]</span>their share, and to bid his wife give generously to the aged and the destitute! In -his mind he pictured it all: the village nestling in the bay, huge, snow-clad cliffs -rearing up at the back of it, and overhead the pure blue of the bright sky, where -the glaucus gulls wheeled and cried. He pictured the scavenger ravens perched about -everywhere, on the look-out for bits; the vast expanse of the frozen bay, glaring -white in the cold sunlight; and beyond, a heavy black mist smoking up in the wind, -marking the water line. Out there were the hunters—mere dots—moving about in the still -immensity. -</p> -<p>And here was he—Nandla—idle and useless, unable to occupy himself even with such tasks -as fell to the ancients of the tribe—the repairing of lines, harness, and weapons. -He could not patch up a snow house any more, or trim a lamp! Often, during the months -of severe weather and of scarcity his relations had been hard pushed to find the wherewithal -to feed him or clothe him. Nandla was very wretched. -</p> -<p>At length, one evening, after just such a bad spell of weather and of luck, Nandla -begged to be taken out on to the hunting grounds. Now, his relatives had been thinking -things over rather grimly, and had seen nothing ahead for him but long years of misery -and possibly of want. The problem suggested but one solution. It was simple enough. -This request of the blind man’s to be equipped once more for the hunt and taken along -with the rest, gave them their opportunity. They fell in with his desire and made -their <span class="pageNum" id="pb153">[<a href="#pb153">153</a>]</span>plan. They knew of a certain rout where danger lay. Nandla should be taken that way. -</p> -<p>It was neither treachery nor murder they planned, but an end for the afflicted man -of his anxieties and griefs. Nandla set out that morning full of delight. His heart -was full of unwonted excitement. He yelled to the dogs and bumped and glided over -the ice on the sled with a long missed sense of exhilaration. -</p> -<p>They soon reached the grounds. Nandla’s guide seized his hand and led him towards -a gaping seal hole. -</p> -<p>“Follow me!” he said, dropping the other’s hand and lightly stepping to one side. -</p> -<p>“I follow!” replied the sightless man, and straightway fell into the hole. -</p> -<p>He went right under, then and there—under the ice—and was immediately drowned and -frozen. A handy piece of ice served to seal the death trap, and all was over. Nandla -had died on the hunt, and had entered the Eskimo heaven like the other valiant men -of his tribe, and taken his place with the doughtiest of them, where there would be -joy and plenty for evermore. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb154">[<a href="#pb154">154</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch11" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e299">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XI</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">Tribal Life—Continued</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Childhood in the arctics does not last long. There are among the Eskimo a number of -strange customs and superstitions attending not only the transition time between girlhood -and maturity, but the whole physical life of woman, which may have their interest -for the ethnologist (especially from the point of view of the interpretation of the -mentality of primitive peoples), but in which the general reader would scarcely find -much interest. Suffice it to say that the root reason—probably instinctive—underlying -many of these observances and rites, these taboos and indications, is very possibly -a hygienic one, since in nearly every instance some purpose of the sort seems to be -unconsciously served. It may be that herein lies one of the true distinctions between -uncivilised and civilised existence. In the latter, most of the functional aspects -of life are subordinated to the intellectual and the spiritual, while in the former -they bulk self-consciously and far more obtrusively even than among the lower animals. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo community in sanitation or in sex matters has few reticences. This may -be another way <span class="pageNum" id="pb155">[<a href="#pb155">155</a>]</span>of saying it has no pruderies. The native attaches no more importance to the functions -of sex than to those of eating, drinking or sleeping. It would, of course, be easier -to attribute complete insouciance in these respects to the native mind if, instead -of trapping some of them out with rather elaborate ceremonial, it kept them all much -on a level. In most instances of insistence, however, a hygienic motive, conscious -or unconscious, lies behind them. Although the people live under very crude conditions, -crowded together in the <i>igloo</i>, without privacy or special quarters for women, they are not without a sense of the -fitness of things or some idea of personal modesty. It is the height of ill-breeding -to stare, for instance, at anyone whilst dressing or undressing. -</p> -<p>Like the Indians, and like most other uncivilised people, the Eskimo marry early, -sometimes indeed at the age of twelve years. Unions are arranged by the mothers and -grandmothers. A woman with a marriageable daughter is fully alive to the advantage -of seeing a good hunter attach himself to the domestic circle. She looks round in -good time, and noting some promising youth, makes overtures to his mother on the score -of the cleverness, the docility and the industry of her girl. The whole thing at once -becomes a fertile topic of discussion. Some amicable understanding having been reached, -presents are interchanged and the young couple are informed that they are to be married. -There is no ceremony. The girl is sent to her mother-in-law’s house, and for a <span class="pageNum" id="pb156">[<a href="#pb156">156</a>]</span>month or more works there under a pair of sufficiently vigilant eyes. This gives the -boy also an opportunity of making up his mind about her. And the prospective bride -has a chance to do the same about him. As a rule, the whole thing works out quite -satisfactorily, and even happily; but if the girl turns out lazy or careless or bad-tempered, -a divorce is declared and she returns to her parents’ <i>igloo</i>, to be married elsewhere, with better luck next time. -</p> -<p>This sending of the bride to the hunter’s mother’s house scarcely amounts to an interval -of probation. The girl certainly expects to stay. In all probability the young folk -have known each other from childhood up, and there is no reason to suppose their marriage -will be anything but a success. It is the Eskimo way of asserting the world-wide fact -that you never know a person until you have to live with him—or her. -</p> -<p>Should, however, real faults of temper or character be presently discovered on either -side, it is quite open to the bride or bridegroom to ask to have a divorce declared. -The matter is arranged between the families concerned, not necessarily by the Angakok. -Should a girl be returned on her people’s hands enceinte, after an experiment of this -sort (not a likely contingency at an early age), the child forms no obstacle to her -contracting another union later on. It is adopted into the mother’s family and cared -for as usual, without a trace of stigma attaching to either. In the Arctics, where -families are small, children are an asset, and represent little burden to a community -<span class="pageNum" id="pb157">[<a href="#pb157">157</a>]</span>every member of which is willing to help feed and support them. If a child is a boy, -he will grow up to be a hunter, and catch seals for the tribesfolk; if a girl, she -will become the wife of a hunter and the mother of more hunters. -</p> -<p>The difference between married life and free or promiscuous unions, even with this -primitive folk, is quite clearly marked. A married woman, i.e., a woman belonging -definitely and recognisedly to such and such a man, is faithful to him and he to her, -so long as harmony reigns between them and no “divorce” takes place<span class="corr" id="xd31e1979" title="Source: ..">.</span> The occasional interchange of wives, such as during the Sedna ceremony, is a recognised -institution of Eskimo life, and interrupts the even tenor of the connubial way in -no permanent sense. There is a good deal of “immorality” (according to standards entirely -inapplicable to this people in the native state), and promiscuous intercourse with -widows and discarded wives. It is from this class that strangers staying in camp are -accommodated with their temporary partners. -</p> -<p>Fidelity is observed between married people while they agree to remain married. Sometimes, -however, two husbands will come to an agreement with each other, with the knowledge -and consent of their respective wives, to effect a temporary exchange. Again, fidelity -is now observed as long as the exchange endures, but reverts to the original partner -when presently dissolved. Should any children come of this interlude, they generally -remain with the mother, the <span class="pageNum" id="pb158">[<a href="#pb158">158</a>]</span>permanent husband being quite willing to adopt them. -</p> -<p>The new-made bridegroom does not leave his parents’ home and set up his own establishment -until he is able to maintain it by hunting. If the husband and wife belong to different -tribes, the woman is adopted into that of the man. The men sometimes maltreat their -wives, if aggravated by shrewish tempers or bad household management, but children -very seldom experience any but the kindest and most indulgent treatment. The writer -knew a boy who stabbed his mother in the arm during a fit of temper, but was merely -scolded for it. That he knew no better was the excuse alleged in his defence, and -it was his elder’s business to teach him self-control and good behaviour. Children -are devotedly loved by the Eskimo, and maternity (never prolific in the arctics) is -held in the highest esteem. If the men occasionally beat the women it has never been -known that children are ever abused or neglected. All travellers and observers agree -in this respect. -</p> -<p>A girl will be attended in childbirth with her first baby, but not after that. The -expectant Eskimo mother has to be alone (except on the first occasion), in a little -house set apart for her, and without assistance. After it is born, the baby is never -washed but rubbed down with a soft fur or bird skin and put straight away, stark naked, -into the capacious hood of its mother’s tunic. The woman must, however, never eat -alone during this time, lest a <i lang="iu-latn">Tougak</i> with three fingers <span class="pageNum" id="pb159">[<a href="#pb159">159</a>]</span>steal her food and bring evil upon the child. She must pay no visits until she has -quite recovered in the space of a full month, and only then if she has a new suit -of clothes. -</p> -<p>As an illustration of what has been said about some real reason underlying such injunctions -as the foregoing, it may be remarked that, why the mother may not eat alone is probably -to ensure that she does not starve. She is in solitary confinement, and cannot procure -and prepare food for herself. To ensure her being fed she must have the food brought -to her and the messenger stays to share the meal. Again, an expectant mother must -always run out of her <i>igloo</i> or <i lang="iu-latn">tupik</i> during the day when the dogs howl. They do not howl incessantly, as might be imagined, -since they are away with the hunters in the day, and asleep, buried in the snow, at -night. The woman has to sit up on her haunches when she hears the dogs in the night-time, -and not lie down again until they cease. After all, there is good sense in this. The -women sit about in their houses for the most part, and get comparatively little exercise. -The two rules involved in this dog howling enactment ensure the expectant mother a -modicum of exercise and fresh air, which she might not otherwise exert herself to -obtain. -</p> -<p>Childbirth is always attended by the women conjurors, never by the men. The event -in itself is thought little of, and not looked forward to with any dread. The writer -has known of a case of husband and wife being on the trail together with their sled, -<span class="pageNum" id="pb160">[<a href="#pb160">160</a>]</span>in midwinter, when the woman was taken in labour. The man merely stopped the team -and hastily put up a snow shelter. The wife retired to it for a little while, then -placed the new-born child in her hood, clambered back upon the sled, and continued -the journey. A long day’s journey later, they reached the village for which they were -making, and in a very short while the mother was walking about in it, as well and -strong as ever. -</p> -<div class="figure p160width" id="p160"><img src="images/p160.jpg" alt="Preparing for a Long Winter Journey." width="720" height="486"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">Preparing for a Long Winter Journey.</span></p> -<p class="first">Two families are going to a far tribe and will be many days on the journey. The sleds, -from 20ft. to 30ft. long, are bring packed with all the family belongings and sacks -of chopped up seal meat for the dogs.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The would-be mother who has reason to fear her hopes of a child are groundless, has -recourse to the conjuror, the Angakok. Here again, the interrogations, the incantations, -the conjuration to which this worthy commits himself (the while his spirit is supposed -to ascend to the moon to procure “material for a child”), the conjuror claims and -is allowed the right of cohabitation and so follow the accompaniment of a natural -sequence of events, which probably result in the woman realising her desire. In many -instances the superstitions with which Eskimo laws and injunctions are wrapped up, -serve to enforce them. Otherwise they would either not be followed at all, or would -have no weight in public estimation. It is only possible to make head or tail of primitive -ritual by the aid of some tentative interpretation of the sort, which must be deduced -from long familiarity with the people amid their own surroundings. -</p> -<hr class="tb"><p> -</p> -<p>All was quiet in the village. The sealers had gone off early in the morning, taking -the boys with them, <span class="pageNum" id="pb161">[<a href="#pb161">161</a>]</span>and the women had settled down to their own tasks for the day. The old folks were -for the most part asleep on the sleeping benches in the dwellings. It was a cloudy -day, visibility very low, sun-dogs in the misty heavens foretold bad weather to come. -</p> -<p>Suddenly a tumult of sound broke upon the village, and the few old dogs left there -on guard gave vigorous tongue in turn, as somewhere from out the murk came a chorus -of yowls and yelps mingled with the shouts of men and the sharp crack of whips. -</p> -<p>An immediate exodus took place. Everyone sprang up and ran off to meet the newcomers. -The children scrambled up the cliff at the back of the little settlement, sheltering -it, and the elders tottered along to the head of the pathway cut through the sijak -or shore ice, to catch a glimpse of the strangers and their sleds. Presently two large -travelling outfits with full team of dogs, and crowded with Eskimo, swept into view<span class="corr" id="xd31e2023" title="Not in source">.</span> Cries of “<i lang="iu-latn">Chimo! Chimo!</i>” (Welcome) resounded from every side, and there were hearty hand-shakings as the -strangers tumbled out and declared their gladness to have arrived. -</p> -<p>It seemed they had come from Fox Channel, many “sleeps” away, and had travelled over -hills and across frozen bays and through deep snow, for days and days, in order to -visit this tribe. In a twinkling the dogs were unharnessed and fed, the sleds unloaded, -and the guests carried off into the hospitable <i>igloo</i> under the cliff. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb162">[<a href="#pb162">162</a>]</span></p> -<p>Then matters began to clear, and the object of the journey declared itself. A head -man and his wife, it seemed, had come this long distance on behalf of their son, a -lad of about fifteen, a promising young hunter of marriageable age, who desired to -find a wife. No girl in his own tribe had taken his fancy, but the family had heard -of a likely bride in the Middle Coast tribe, and had come to see her and her people. -She had the reputation of being clever at all household duties, docile and pleasing -in manner, with eyes like sloes and hair as glossy black as the raven’s wing. Moreover, -they had heard that she had no relatives and dependents except a widowed mother. The -whole idea had pleased them so much—mother, father and son—that here they were, to -look into the thing for themselves, to give and receive news, and to do a bit of incidental -trading. They settled down in camp for a few days, and both hosts and visitors thoroughly -enjoyed themselves. -</p> -<p>Negotiations proceeded apace, without hitch or difficulty, and at last were brought -to a pleasant conclusion. The prize secured, a day was fixed for the departure of -the bride and bridegroom and his people. Her treasures and possessions were packed -on the sleds, and with many tears she said goodbye to the good folk of her own village. -</p> -<p>All seemed to augur well for the wedding journey. The sky was clear and the sun shone. -The ice was perfect and the snow well packed and good for sled travelling. The dogs, -rested and well fed, flew over <span class="pageNum" id="pb163">[<a href="#pb163">163</a>]</span>the ground in high spirits. The sleeping houses built en route by the wooer’s party, -proved to have remained intact; the frozen meat and blubber, buried beneath the floor -in each of them, had not been disturbed. -</p> -<p>The first night was spent in singing. The young man gave a vocal account of the exploits -of his tribe and of his own prowess in hunting, to an audience consisting of his admiring -parents and the bride. All went merrily, too, the second day out; but after that, -disaster overtook the party. -</p> -<p>They came to a stretch of newly formed ice, over which they must pass or make a long -détour. They decided to risk the shorter way. The ice was very thin, so they got off -the sleds and attempted the crossing on foot, each one at a stated distance from the -other. Treading as lightly as possible, they started the venture, but, half-way across, -a scream rang out, the ice broke, and the two women were engulfed in the icy current -beneath. Lines were flung to them and a rescue effected, although they remained in -imminent danger of being frozen. Prompt measures had to be taken. There was no shelter -at hand, and no immediate means of making a fire. There was only the powdery snow! -In this the half-drowned women were rolled and rubbed. The snow acted almost like -blotting paper, and they were soon comparatively dry, although still perishingly cold. -A shelter was quickly built for them and a lamp hastily lit. Their blankets were unrolled -and they were snugly <span class="pageNum" id="pb164">[<a href="#pb164">164</a>]</span>wrapped up in their capacious folds and put to sleep, to recover from the shock. -</p> -<p>The very next day, late in the afternoon, as they drew near their next sleeping place -and were looking forward to a feast on the rations stored there, another disaster -<span class="corr" id="xd31e2047" title="Source: befel">befell</span> this ill-fated arctic wedding party. They actually sighted the wayside house and -were driving right up to it, when a deep growl came from inside and, before they had -time to descend or prepare for attack, a full sized polar bear rushed out and hurled -himself upon them. -</p> -<p>The women fled and the men scattered, whilst the animal took possession of the sleds. -All the spears and guns were lashed in place, so the refugees were unarmed and powerless. -The bear, muttering and growling, tore the bales of provisions apart and feasted on -the meat and blubber. While he was so engaged, one of the hunters, bolder than the -rest, stalked his way up to one of the sleds and managed to secure a spear. Then he -opened an attack on the highwayman, after the approved manner of bear-fighting. -</p> -<p>Crouching with poised weapon low on his haunches, he suddenly sprang up and began -to sing and dance about, on this side and on that, but drawing nearer all the time -to his astonished adversary. The bear became more and more bemused by the noise and -the agility of the oncomer, until at last the latter was able to rush close in and -strike him one fatal blow with the practised spear. Although the creature had rifled -<span class="pageNum" id="pb165">[<a href="#pb165">165</a>]</span>the travellers’ house and devoured their cache, it was now their turn to skin and -eat him; and so accounts were squared. -</p> -<p>After this, the luck of the bride and bridegroom seemed to turn again, and the rest -of the journey was accomplished in comfort and safety. The young woman settled down -happily with the Fox Channel tribe into which she had married, and became a model -wife under the vigilant eye of her husband’s mother. -</p> -<hr class="tb"><p> -</p> -<p>Having sketched something of the education the native children receive, and of the -adult life and occupations of the tribe generally, the next thing to deal with is -death, and the elaborate ritual of an Eskimo funeral. -</p> -<p>These people fear death, and the dying. Just before a man dies he is dragged outside -the house or tent, so that his spirit may not haunt it. No dwelling where a death -has taken place is ever re-occupied. Should anyone chance to die inside, all the possessions -are held to be polluted and must be cast away. -</p> -<p>A corpse is sewn up in the deceased’s accustomed sleeping blanket, placed upon a hand -sled, and hauled away to the chosen place of burial, followed by the members of the -family and the relatives. It is laid upon the bare rock (the ground being frozen hard -as iron, grave-digging is out of the question), and huge stones are piled around and -upon it, like a cairn. In the case of a man, his weapons, drinking cup and knife, -or these things in miniature, are placed beside <span class="pageNum" id="pb166">[<a href="#pb166">166</a>]</span>him, his sled or a small model of it nearby, and he is buried with a little sort of -doll representing a woman. In the case of a female, her needles, knife, cup, and a -man doll, are laid beside her. Food is deposited on a flat rock near the pile, and -the mourners sit down to eat a farewell meal with the spirit of the dead. Then they -march in single file seven times round the cairn, following the direction of the sun, -i.e., from east to west, chanting directions to the departed:— -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line"><i lang="iu-latn">Innoserra arkiksimalarook</i>: My life, pray let it be put right.</p> -<p class="line"><i lang="iu-latn">Illooprakoole kissearne</i>: Through that which is pleasant alone.</p> -<p class="line"><i lang="iu-latn">Nakrook mallilugo</i>: Through space following.</p> -<p class="line"><i lang="iu-latn">Kaumâttevoot malliglo</i>: Following that which gives light.</p> -</div> -<p class="first">The idea is that the spirit must follow the course of the sun, to guide it to the -realms of bliss and light whence comes that glory, and whither it goes. -</p> -<p>The objects placed with the corpse under the stones are to assist and accompany the -spirit on this journey. -</p> -<p>The word <i lang="iu-latn">illooprakoole</i> is a “spirit word,” used only in addressing spirits. It means a route through pleasant -ways not beset by dangers. The same significance, in an ordinary mortal connection, -is expressed by a different word altogether. <i lang="iu-latn">Nakrook</i> is another “spirit word,” meaning the Great-Air-Space-beyond-the-Earth. The ordinary -word in everyday usage is <span class="pageNum" id="pb167">[<a href="#pb167">167</a>]</span><i lang="iu-latn">Sillarlo</i>. This spirit language used by the conjurors has its parallel in every case in ordinary -parlance. The following are a few instances:— -</p> -<div class="table"> -<table> -<thead> -<tr class="label"> -<td class="cellHeadLeft cellHeadTop cellHeadBottom">Ordinary Word in everyday use. -</td> -<td class="cellHeadTop cellHeadBottom">Meaning. -</td> -<td class="cellHeadRight cellHeadTop cellHeadBottom">Spirit word used in conjurations. -</td> -</tr> -</thead> -<tbody> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft"><i lang="iu-latn">Netsuk</i> </td> -<td>A seal </td> -<td class="cellRight"><i lang="iu-latn">Angmeatseak</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft"><i lang="iu-latn">Angakok</i> </td> -<td>A conjuror </td> -<td class="cellRight"><i lang="iu-latn">Takreoo</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft"><i lang="iu-latn">Agakka</i> </td> -<td>The hand </td> -<td class="cellRight"><i lang="iu-latn">Issarkrateeka</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft"><i lang="iu-latn">Sennayo</i> </td> -<td>One who works </td> -<td class="cellRight"><i lang="iu-latn">Issarrayo</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft"><i lang="iu-latn">Aput</i> </td> -<td>Snow </td> -<td class="cellRight"><i lang="iu-latn">Nungooark</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft"><i lang="iu-latn">Kyak</i> </td> -<td>Canoe </td> -<td class="cellRight"><i lang="iu-latn">Agfarkjuk</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft"><i lang="iu-latn">Angoot</i> </td> -<td>A man </td> -<td class="cellRight"><i lang="iu-latn">Peyaktoiyo</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft cellBottom"> </td> -<td class="cellBottom"> </td> -<td class="cellRight cellBottom xd31e2180"> etc., etc.</td> -</tr> -</tbody> -</table> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>In the case of the burial of an unpopular or badly conducted man, the people walk -round the cairn in the reverse direction, i.e., from west to east, with a different -refrain. The idea being to direct the spirit away from the light and into outer darkness, -their refrain begins with the words to the effect:— -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“Evil will always have evil.”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">All this is called the custom of the <i lang="iu-latn">Kingarngtooktok</i>. -</p> -<p>The mourners at length return to their village, and apparently forget all about the -funeral, unless in the case of the deceased being of ill repute. Should the conjuror -assert that his spirit has gone to the realms of Sedna (the Eskimo hell), gifts and -offerings have to be collected in order that the necessary conjurations may effect -his translation to some other abode (the Eskimo purgatory). -<span class="pageNum" id="pb168">[<a href="#pb168">168</a>]</span></p> -<p>The people much dislike to have their dead bodies devoured by dogs, lest their souls -have to wander over the ice and land on vain hunting trips; but they do not object -to wolves on the same score, since the wolves also devour the souls, and the departed, -thus disposed of, will always hunt deer successfully and live on the meat. Neither -do they object to the carrion-loving raven, as the soul in this case is also absorbed -by the bird and provided for in perpetuity. It would indeed take a trained psychologist -to determine wherein comes the distinction as between dogs and the other scavengers! -</p> -<p>On the <span class="corr" id="xd31e2197" title="Source: anniversay">anniversary</span> of a death, the spirit of the deceased, good or bad, is supposed to return to the -grave of its body, and is there met by its friends still in the flesh, who bring it -offerings of food. -</p> -<p>On the return from a funeral the mourners march round the dead man’s dwelling from -east to west, then entering, take a draught of water, for luck in sealing. The chief -mourners neither leave the house nor work on any skins for three days in succession. -Afterwards they throw away their clothes and abandon the dwelling. After a death the -community should not wash or do their hair nor cut their nails for three days. Those -who transgress this injunction are called <i lang="iu-latn">Nuggatyauyoot</i>, the disobedient. Nor are men allowed to have their stockings taken out of their -boots and dried, for the <i lang="iu-latn">Tarnuk</i> (spirit) will kill them in that case. -</p> -<p>Unfathomable to the white man’s intelligence as <span class="pageNum" id="pb169">[<a href="#pb169">169</a>]</span>many of these odd observances may be, the root idea will explain the general scope -of them. The spirit of the deceased is earth-bound for three days, and if of an evil -disposition when alive, is liable to do much mischief to his late family and friends. -Earth-bound spirits are the <i lang="iu-latn">Toopelât</i> (pl.), the evil spirits of the dead. Hence the custom of haling the dying well outside -the house. During the three following days, a knife edge, placed outwards, is set -at the entrance of the <i>igloo</i> to prevent the spirit from returning, especially at night, and doing some injury—causing -some pain, sickness or death—to the sleepers within. -</p> -<p>When an Eskimo community hears of a death in its midst, the husband on his return -from sealing waits for the first quiet moment in his house, and then offers his wife -the third finger of the right hand, to crook, and they say together, “<i lang="iu-latn">Tokkoneangelagoot</i>” (we shall not die). This is the custom of “<i lang="iu-latn">Killaryo</i>.” The children then come to the mother, and in turn she takes the third finger of -each one’s left hand between her teeth and singes a little piece of the hair on the -left temple of the child. The child is bidden to bite the mother’s jacket on the shoulder, -and say “<i lang="iu-latn">Sittatoot</i>,” the mother answering with another formula of preservation. The writer has made -every effort to get at the meaning of these doings, but they seem to have lost their -original significance by now, and even the oldest natives fail to interpret them any -more. They were probably some form of supplication <span class="pageNum" id="pb170">[<a href="#pb170">170</a>]</span>against the entry into the body of the Spirit of Death. -</p> -<p>From much of the foregoing it will be seen that the Eskimo have a decided belief in -the soul, the <i lang="iu-latn">innua</i>—the spiritual, immortal essence of man. Also that they have formed for themselves -definite ideas about the after life, either in bliss, as a reward for good living, -or in misery, as a punishment for evil—Good and Evil, of course, being tinctured by -the cast and scope of the Eskimo mind and its standards of social life. There is little -of ethical content in it all. The heaven and hell of Eskimo conception are gross and -material. Heaven is a land of warmth and sunshine, with good hunting, absence of storms -and hard seasons, and plenty of fat seals in its ice-free sea. Hell is the dark and -bitter abode of the submarine Sedna, the enemy of man, who engineers bad weather and -times of scarcity. Descriptive legends of her awful “house” abound among the tribes, -showing a fancifulness and imagination fantastic as nightmare. -</p> -<p>To deal with the subject of the Eskimo religion, however, requires a chapter to itself. -Its chief priests are the Conjurors, and its chief festival the Sedna ceremony. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb171">[<a href="#pb171">171</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch12" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e311">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XII</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">The Eskimo Language</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The Eskimo tongue requires a chapter to itself, for although it can boast of no literature—being -until recently an unwritten language—it should have exceptional interest for the student -of comparative philology. It is the speech of a primitive, untutored folk, yet its -vocabulary is very large, its <span class="corr" id="xd31e2248" title="Source: grammer">grammar</span> complete, methodical and perfect, and its construction capable of expressing subtleties -and combinations by inflection, unlike those of any tongue, springing from the well-known -stocks of human speech. It is euphonic, agglutinative, and complex. -</p> -<p>Europeans find Eskimo difficult to acquire. The writer, like others, had largely to -construct his own grammar when studying it. He spent many long hours, first with the -young folk to get the purity of the sounds, then with the middle-aged men to arrive -at correct idiom and fluency, then with the ancients to get at the folk lore of the -tribe. Oftentimes their speech was merely a series of long and complicated gutturals, -two hours of it being enough to make a man’s head spin for the rest of the day. But -labour and pertinacity were at length rewarded; the <span class="pageNum" id="pb172">[<a href="#pb172">172</a>]</span>language was mastered, and the minds of the arctic people revealed. -</p> -<p>The romance of this grammar consists in the fact that it has all been marshalled and -classified, and reduced to a system which will bear comparison with even the classic -tongues. Unless the first missionaries to the arctic had taken up this virgin and -inchoate subject and handled it by the aid of the centuries of culture to which they -were heir, Eskimo speech must have still remained a sealed book to the philologist, -and—what is of far more importance—presented a Hill of Difficulty for years to all -those who should come after them in the same ministry. With the aid of the grammars -and dictionaries so patiently and thoughtfully compiled in the dark, unknown and bitter -North, the would-be evangelist to-day may prepare himself for work among the Eskimo -in the merest fraction of the time it took the first Danish envoys from civilisation. -</p> -<p>The original attempt was made by the well-known Danish pastor, Hans Egede, who went -to Greenland with his wife in 1721, and lived there among the natives for many years. -Eskimo was the mother-tongue of their son, born in the country as one of its own people. -In time, this lad was sent to Denmark to study at the University of Copenhagen. On -his return to Greenland, young Egede applied himself to the scientific study of the -language he knew so intimately, and to the compilation of a grammar and a dictionary. -His example was followed by the teachers <span class="pageNum" id="pb173">[<a href="#pb173">173</a>]</span>who came after him, some of them being German linguists imbued with the meticulous -love of learning and of intellectual conquest the task seemed preeminently to require. -These tracked down and classified the many meanings of Eskimo inflection and expression, -and perfected their system of interpretation. Hence, of course, the thoroughly Teutonic -mould into which the syntax of the Eskimo tongue has been thrown. -</p> -<p>All this work has formed the basis of study for everybody who has had occasion to -learn the language since, although such an undertaking has always entailed a new and -personal effort to work out the grammar and compile a local vocabulary. For all students -of Eskimo, including the present writer, find a variety of dialects, although generally -it may be said that the language varies so inconsiderably from one region to another, -that hunters from widely different parts of the arctics can soon—by mutual questionings—understand -each other. Those in Greenland speak practically the same tongue as those in Alaska. -</p> -<p>Apropos of the purely etymological aspect of this little known language, it is interesting -to recall an observation made by Dean Farrar in a lecture before the Royal Institution, -delivered in 1869. “I hardly hesitate to prophesy,” he said, “the extreme probability -that the final answer to many high scientific problems regarding the nature and the -origin of man may come from enquiries into the languages of <span class="pageNum" id="pb174">[<a href="#pb174">174</a>]</span>nations such as these (the Chinese, Eskimo and Cherokee) rather than from any other -branch of … palaeontological research.” -</p> -<p>Eskimo has indeed received some measure of study and analysis, and it is for grammarians -to tell us whether or no this prophesy has been to any extent fulfilled. A French -writer, M. Hovelaque, hesitates to answer any question as to what group of human language -the “hyperborean” tongues should be assigned. His observations should be recorded -here perhaps, by way of a commentary on the exhaustiveness with which the Germans -seem to have gone into the subject: <span lang="fr">“Au surplus le nom d’hyperboréennes ou arctiques, sous lequel on réunit ces differentes -langues, ne doit pas donner le change sur le plus ou moins d’affinité soit entre elles, -soit avec autres idiomes. Bien des hypothèses sont encore permises à ce sujet, mais -il est vraisemblable qu’un certain nombre de ces idiomes résisteront à toutes les -tentatives que l’on pourra faire en vue de les laisser parmi tel ou tel groupe suffisament -connu. Il serait dangereux, en tout cas, d’accorder aux relations des missionaires -sur telle ou telles de ces langues, notamment sur celles des Esquimaux, plus de crédit -qu’il ne convient. On n’y trouve, le plus souvent, que des rapprochements de mots, -des etymologies; en somme rien de scientifique. Ajutons, d’autre part, que certains -idiomes hyperboréens ont été étudiés avec soin et par des auteurs compétents, ainsi -qu’on peut le voir dans les publications de l’Academie de Petersbourg.” <span class="pageNum" id="pb175">[<a href="#pb175">175</a>]</span>(La Linguistique. Bibliothèque des Sciences contemporains.)</span> -</p> -<p>Up to within recent times the Eskimo had no system of writing. But another patient -evangelist, inspired by the necessity of delivering the message of Christianity in -a more permanent form than by oral teaching only, invented what is known as the Syllabic -Character for the benefit of the Indians, at a post called Norway House. This was -the Rev. James Evans, a minister of the Canadian Methodist Church. The Syllabic Character, -which is a <i>sound</i> (and not a letter, or alphabetical) writing, <span class="corr" id="xd31e2276" title="Source: similiar">similar</span> to shorthand, was designed for the Cree, but proved to be easily adaptable to represent -the Eskimo speech. Without such a method, it is difficult to imagine how restless -and roving tribes, at this post to-day and gone to-morrow, could ever have been taught -to read. By this means, however, an ordinarily intelligent individual can learn in -eight or nine weeks. -</p> -<p>The principle of Mr Evans’ characters is phonetic. There are no silent letters. Each -character represents a syllable; hence no spelling is required. As soon as the series -of signs—about sixty in number—are mastered, and a few additional secondary signs -(some of which represent consonants and some aspirates, and some partially change -the sound of the main character), the native scholar of eighty or of six years of -age can begin to read, and in a few days attain surprising accuracy. -</p> -<p>Such results as these, such gifts of pure intellectual <span class="pageNum" id="pb176">[<a href="#pb176">176</a>]</span>effort, are surely among the greatest blessings civilisation has to confer on the -few primitive peoples still left in the world. -</p> -<p>Of late years the British and Foreign Bible Society have taken charge of the work, -and now the Gospel in Cree, Syllabic and Eskimo is widely spread. -</p> -<p>The Syllabic Character is known far and wide to-day in the arctics. It has not been -spread solely by white men, for the people teach each other as they travel from tribe -to tribe. The Eskimo freely write letters to their friends and hand them over for -delivery to anyone taking a journey in the desired direction. The letters always reach -their destination, because the postman at his first sleeping place invariably reads -them all through from first to last; so that if, as often happens, one or two should -get lost, the addressee receives the missive by word of mouth; and incidentally the -postman knows everybody’s business and is altogether the most glorious gossip who -could ever drop in and enliven the circle round the igloo lamp of a winter’s night. -</p> -<p>Pen, ink and paper, it may be noted, are innovations of the new civilisation. Prior -to the advent of the white man the only idea and the only means of <span class="corr" id="xd31e2289" title="Source: caligraphy">calligraphy</span> the Eskimo had was the etching on ivory or bone. Many vigorous and spirited drawings -exist of hunting or other scenes, scratched on blade or handle, and sharply bitten -in, black and clear, by rubbing with soot from the lamps. It is not remarkable that -a knowledge of writing and reading should have spread <span class="pageNum" id="pb178">[<a href="#pb178">178</a>]</span>among the people in this way, for the Eskimo are avid of instruction, and eagerly -avail themselves of any opportunity of being taught. Where Christianity itself has -gained a footing it has been largely through the instrumentality of some among them -who have come in contact with missionaries, and passed on to others all they had seen -and heard. -</p> -<div class="figure p177width" id="p177"><img src="images/p177.png" alt="A Native Chart." width="720" height="348"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">A Native Chart.</span></p> -<p class="first">A chart made from memory by Pitsoolak an Eskimo hunter, giving the Sea Coast, Inlets, -and Islands of the south coast of Baffin Land. These men are trained from boyhood -to remember the coast and routes of travel and know them well.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>One of the most puzzling aspects of Eskimo is its “agglutinative” character. The words -all run together. All the parts of speech may be joined to the verbal root and then -conjugated in its various moods and tenses, so that the word finally produced by this -process may be sixty or more syllables long. Students find the principal difficulty, -not so much in building up and saying these peculiar words, but in correctly understanding -what the natives say. -</p> -<p>The following lengthy remark will illustrate three things: first, a characteristic -mood and tense of the verb “to flee”; secondly, the phonetic characters used; and, -thirdly, the composite nature of the word. -</p> -<ul> -<li class="numberedItem"><span class="itemNumber">1.</span> <span lang="iu-latn">Kemâyomaneangelara</span> -= I shall not wish to flee from him.</li> -<li class="numberedItem"><span class="itemNumber">2.</span> <span lang="iu" class="large">ᑭᒪᔪᒪᓂᐊᖏᓚᕋ</span></li> -<li class="numberedItem"><span class="itemNumber">3.</span> <span lang="iu-latn">Ke-mâ-yo-ma-ne-â-ng-ge-lâ-ra.</span></li> -</ul><p> -</p> -<p>The Eskimo tongue has a full complement of the parts of speech. There is no definite -article, but the numeral adjective one, <i lang="iu-latn">attousik</i>, takes its place; e.g., <i lang="iu-latn">attousik angoot</i>, a man, i.e., one man. -</p> -<p>There is no form to express gender. Sex is distinguished <span class="pageNum" id="pb179">[<a href="#pb179">179</a>]</span>by the word “man” or “woman” (really male or female) added to another noun; as <i lang="iu-latn">kingmuk</i>, a dog; <i lang="iu-latn">arngnak</i>, a woman; <i lang="iu-latn">angoot</i>, a man. <i lang="iu-latn">Kingmuk arngnak</i>, a female dog; <i lang="iu-latn">kingmuk angoot</i>, a male dog. -</p> -<p>In many cases where English admits of only one word for an animal, Eskimo has several. -A deer is a deer in English all the year round; in Eskimo it has a different name -for its growth or habits at certain seasons, as in the fawning period, etc. -</p> -<p>The noun plays an important part in the sentence on account of the various affixes -which may be attached. It is inflected for number, and for no less than nine cases -(rendered by prepositions in translation); it draws possessive pronouns and some adjectives -to itself as a magnet draws iron filings; it has moreover a transitive and an emphatic -form. At the risk of writing a chapter which might be taken from an Eskimo Primer, -we venture to give examples of some of these intricacies of the snow folks’ strange -speech, since whatever else it may be, this can scarcely be called a hackneyed subject! -So the transitive form of the noun is used when it is the subject of a transitive -verb:— -</p> -<p><span lang="iu-latn"><i>Ernipta</i> nagligevâtegoot</span> = our son, (he) loves us. -</p> -<p>The emphatic form:— -</p> -<p><span lang="iu-latn">Angootib <i>erninne</i> nagligeva</span> = the man loves his own son. -</p> -<p>There are three numbers—singular, dual and plural:—<i lang="iu-latn">Noonak</i>, a land; <i lang="iu-latn">noonâk</i>, two lands; <i lang="iu-latn">noonât</i>, lands; and each of these is declined with different endings <span class="pageNum" id="pb180">[<a href="#pb180">180</a>]</span>to express eight cases translated by the nominative and vocative, and then “of,” “to,” -“in,” “through,” “from,” and “like” a land. We feel we are getting on to firm ground -somewhere when it is possible to note down such a rule as this: “Nouns in the singular -end either in a vowel or in the consonants k and t. The dual always ends in k, and -the plural in t.” -</p> -<p>We must not part with the noun unceremoniously. Its possibilities are not easily exhausted. -It must have cost a good deal of thinking, originally, to get it into grammatical -harness. For nouns of different kinds have different terminations, which add all sorts -of ideas to their isolated meaning. For instance, <i lang="iu-latn">kut</i>, a family; <i lang="iu-latn">innuk</i>, an Eskimo; <i lang="iu-latn">innukut</i>, the family of an Eskimo. <i lang="iu-latn">Vik</i>, time or place, and <i lang="iu-latn">kooveasook</i>, rejoicing; hence <i lang="iu-latn">kooveasookvik</i>, a place of rejoicing. Again, <i lang="iu-latn">katte</i>, a companion, and <i lang="iu-latn">nerre</i>, to eat; hence <i lang="iu-latn">nerrekattega</i>, my table companion, <i lang="iu-latn">ga</i> being the possessive pronoun. -</p> -<p>The possessive pronouns, indicated by inflection, include “our two,” “your two,” and -“their two.” There is also a possessive emphatic form of the noun, his “own” son. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo have names for the numerals up to six, after which figure they use a system -of addition and multiplication to express number. Seven, for instance, is six and -one; nineteen is ten and eight and one. The figure ten is arrived at as being the -count of a man’s fingers on two hands; twenty includes his toes. Eighty <span class="pageNum" id="pb181">[<a href="#pb181">181</a>]</span>is translated by “Men four, their extremities finished.” It must indeed have been -a matter of some mild philological exhilaration to the first translators when they -arrived at such a conclusion as this! -</p> -<p>Then there are the verbs. This part of speech may be almost called the whole of the -Eskimo tongue. It annexes both subject and object, and can express through various -particles a sentence which would require in English half a dozen or even ten words. -There are two kinds of verbs, transitive and intransitive; three Voices, active, passive, -and middle; the usual Moods, of which one—the subjunctive—lends itself to an interesting -inferential sort of meaning. When the person addressed can form some idea of what -the speaker wants or means, without the use of the principal verb, this moods comes -into play: “Because there are no partridges,” is the sentence; “<i>I didn’t get any</i>,” is the inference. “Because I am very hungry” leaves it to be inferred “<i>therefore I want some food</i>.” When this is confined to the obvious, well and good; it would scarcely be so clear, -“Because the house is very warm” therefore “<i>you must make it cooler</i>,” unless the conversation took place in a snow house where conviviality was having -a disastrous effect on the roof and the walls. -</p> -<p>The verb has participles and tenses, which have many modifications of meaning with -no equivalent except an entire sentence in English. In narration, there is an extraordinarily -graphic past, not adequately rendered by “When So-and-So lived;” <span class="pageNum" id="pb182">[<a href="#pb182">182</a>]</span>but “in So-and-So’s own time of being in the world.” There are impersonal verbs, and -irregular verbs, and all sorts of particles; potential (I can do a thing), optative -(I wish to do it), negative (I do not do it), the proper “sorting out” of which is -half the battle of learning Eskimo. Time is expressed by time particles placed between -the verb and the verbal termination; there are also verbal and adverbial particles -which have fixed rules as to position, always preceding the time particle. Thus, a -word may be elaborated, such as <i lang="iu-latn">Tikkenarsuakpok</i>, “He-endeavours-to-arrive,” or <i lang="iu-latn">Tikkenarsuatsinakpok</i>, “He-endeavours-always-to-arrive;” and “I-indeed-hear-you,” or “I-indeed-hear-only-you.” -</p> -<p>It would be perhaps superfluous to offer further notes on the Eskimo tongue, since -the foregoing will suffice to give some idea of its scope and complexity. The syntax -falls under two headings, the formation of compound words and the arrangement of these -into sentences. The position of words in a sentence, particularly a short one, may -be changed without altering the sense. It is no part of the present writer’s purpose -to do more, here, than to sketch the briefest outline of one whole section of his -subject. To do justice to this language would require very considerable space. Again, -there is no particular object in adding a chart of the syllabic characters, which -are purely arbitrary, have no history beyond that already given, and belong in no -sense to the genius of the Eskimo themselves. The only recommendation they <span class="pageNum" id="pb183">[<a href="#pb183">183</a>]</span>might have—if the general reader could pronounce them—is that they far more nearly -give the sounds of what is really a flowing and not unmusical tongue than the barbaric -conglomeration of outlandish consonants and double vowels which, as a poor expedient, -represent to the eye only, Eskimo words in our inadequate letters. It is for this -reason that we have so often given, in the foregoing pages, only the translation and -not the Eskimo words themselves. In Roman characters they convey a hideous idea to -the eye, and a still worse idea to the ear. -</p> -<p>It is for the future to reveal whether or no the newly found gift of writing will -lead these people on to extensive literature. The Moravians have published some well -known books, such as “Christie’s Old Organ,” etc. If so, by the analogy of every literature -in the world, it will begin with verse, by the enshrining of the folk tales immemorially -dear to every nation, and by the composition of some sort of Eskimo saga. The Greenland -Eskimos composed long songs in honour of Fridtjof Nansen before he took leave of them, -after the first crossing of their icy continent. It may be that these Eskimo poems, -printed in his book, together with Dr. Rink’s collection of “Tales and Traditions -of the Eskimo,” and Dr. Boas’ similar collection of the fables of this people (“The -Central Eskimo”) and the present writer’s contribution to the same subject, constitute -so far the bulk of the offering made by these children of the arctic to the literature -of mankind. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb184">[<a href="#pb184">184</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch13" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e322">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XIII</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">Legends</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">There exists among the Baffin Islanders, as among all the other tribes, one long consecutive -legend in particular, which should rank, if not with the great Scandinavian and Icelandic -Sagas beloved of William Morris and of Wagner, at least with some of the most picturesque -of Grimm’s immortal fairy tales, and certainly with any of the strange and monstrous -legends of Kalevala, the Finnish cycle of national song. -</p> -<p>Students of national story-telling will probably find analogies and relationships -between the Eskimo story of “Sedna” and the characteristic folk tales of the other -arctic or sub-arctic peoples east and west. “Sedna” is beguiled into marriage by a -gallant hunter who is really not a man at all, but a sea bird. This sort of tragedy, -or disillusionment, is common in Eskimo fable. In one Alaskan-Eskimo tale, the heroine -marries the human semblance of a bear. -</p> -<p>The Sedna legend—a religious legend around which turns a large volume of Eskimo superstition—has -its repulsive as well as its poetic aspects. But to one who has lived intimately with -these people, it would <span class="pageNum" id="pb185">[<a href="#pb185">185</a>]</span>seem that so strange and awesome a story of the wild north as the tragedy and death -of Sedna should be set, in song, to the metre of Kalevala and Hiawatha. It is the -metre of a child-like version of adventures happening to a child-like folk. -</p> -<p>Belief in this legend, in the existence and the power of Sedna, a maleficent sea-goddess -of the underworld, forms a large part of the Eskimo religion, and the annual autumnal -festival arising out of it is the principal celebration in their calendar. In connection -with this phantasy, it is noteworthy that the Eskimo conception of the spirit of evil—or -at least of hostility to man—is unlike that of any other nation. The Eskimo devil -is a woman. -</p> -<p>The Eskimos are great story-tellers, and the bulk of their fables, handed down by -oral tradition from generation to generation, has assumed a stereotyped form. Their -narration demands the exercise of an art in which the arctic folk excel—the art of -vivid narration. Many of these tales begin as recitatives; some are almost wholly -related in verse or musical form; others are told in prose, with every sort of appropriate -gesture, modulation of the voice, and facial expression. A number of them are onomatopoeic -in character, imitating the calls and cries of the birds and creatures of the wild. -Story-telling is one of the principal features of the social life of these people -of the north, and bulks largely in the programme of all festivities. -</p> -<p>Many of the Eskimo legends would require a certain <span class="pageNum" id="pb186">[<a href="#pb186">186</a>]</span>amount of bowdlerising before they could be presented to the world as a book of Eskimo -tales, a contribution to the folk lore of the nations; but some of them (notably the -well dramatised story of the migration of the <i lang="iu-latn">Saglingmiut</i>, with its very essence of primitive arctic life) could be retold intact. Ethnologists -have made a fairly representative collection of these stories in the course of the -past fifty years, and most of them are to be found in the bibliography of arctic travel. -Those incidental to these pages, with the exception, of course, of the Sedna tradition, -are fresh contributions to the subject, not included, to the best of the writer’s -belief, in any other work. -</p> -<p>An amusing tale, related to the writer, is that of the amorous youth who made a particularly -disappointing mistake. -</p> -<p>In a certain village there lived a lovely maiden with her father. She possessed little -but a happy disposition and a ready smile. The old man himself was so poor that his -one dream of the future turned on the hope of his daughter securing a first-class -hunter for a husband, who would provide for the two of them ever after. No young man, -attracted by the girl’s bright eyes, was made welcome over the lamp in that <i>igloo</i> unless her father satisfied himself as to his credentials. But, as luck will have -it apparently all the world over, the daughter’s love was won by the most ineligible -suitor of them all—a youth poor in everything but in courage and hope and promise. -The old man rejected all his overtures and rudely denied <span class="pageNum" id="pb187">[<a href="#pb187">187</a>]</span>him his daughter. So the two were driven to form plans of their own. -</p> -<p>They decided to run away together, and that she should merely feign resistance when -her lover arrived to carry her off. The night came for the attempt. The old man and -the girl retired to rest as usual, rolled up in their blankets on the sleeping bench, -and the lamp burnt low. Now, the approach to their abode was across a neck of ice -spanning a deep ravine. The youth came along, and cautiously crept over the narrow -bridge. Quickly entering the <i>igloo</i>, and perceiving the two sleeping forms, he snatched up one of them, furs and all, -and rushed back whence he had come. To evade all possibility of pursuit, he smashed -down the ice bridge behind him. Then, burning to look upon the face of his bride, -he drew the blankets from about her head—only to discover with the utmost consternation -that he had carried off the father instead of the girl! Dropping his burden none too -gently, he made off at top speed and fled into the night. The story-teller failed -to draw upon his imagination as to what happened in the domestic circle thus disastrously -broken up, after that. -</p> -<p>To return, however, to the chief of the legends—the legend of Sedna: -</p> -<p>There was, once upon a time, a beautiful Eskimo girl, called Sedna. She was her widowed -father’s only daughter, and they abode together by the sea shore. As she grew up she -was wooed by many a <span class="pageNum" id="pb188">[<a href="#pb188">188</a>]</span>youth of her own tribe, and of others who came from afar. But to no single one of -her lovers did her heart incline in the least. She refused altogether to marry. She -had a proud spirit and delighted in disdain. At last, however, a day came when a very -handsome young hunter appeared upon the scene, from a far-off strange country. Neither -Sedna nor Anguta, her father, had ever heard of him before. He had beautiful skins -cunningly wrought with a stripe in the coat, and a spear of ivory. His kyak drove -inshore over the shining sea; but instead of landing on the beach, he poised it on -the edge of the surf and called to the maiden in her tent above the strand to come -off to him. He wooed her with an enticing song: “Come to me; come into the land of -the birds, where there is never hunger, where my tent is made of the most beautiful -skins. You shall rest on soft bearskins.… Your lamp shall always be filled with oil, -your pot with meat.” -</p> -<p>Sedna, framed in the entrance of the leathern hangings, refused. She would not come -down. Wholly won at first sight, maidenlike she must refuse! So he began to plead -and woo. He drew for her a picture of the home where he would take her, the rich furs -that he would give, and the necklaces of ivory. Even though she vowed she wanted no -husband, let her come down with her bag, her sealskin sack of treasures, and fly with -him! Sedna made the coy boast, “Am I not the only one who does not want a husband?” -but even as she said it, her hand fell from <span class="pageNum" id="pb189">[<a href="#pb189">189</a>]</span>the tent flap and she stepped down towards the sea. “Let my bag be brought.…” -</p> -<p>He placed her aboard his kyak and paddled off on his return journey. So Sedna went -away with her lover and her father saw her no more on the cliff by the seashore that -was her home. -</p> -<p>Came swift awakening and a bride’s tears! Sedna’s lover was no man at all, but a phantom -man whose real self was a Bird! One of those peerless creatures of the arctic sky -who, with “wide wing … broad-spread to glide upon the free blue road” above the crashing -floes, wheels over the bitter waters of the North. Some have it a Fulmar, and some -a Loon. It was a Spirit bird, having power to transform itself into the semblance -of a human thing. Falling in love with the maiden, it had taken the form of the hunter -and decoyed her to its own. -</p> -<p>Sedna was inconsolable. She had the horror of a very human girl at her strange mate, -and could by no means make his land her home and his people hers. The legend has it -that the Loon provided for her as an ordinary hunter would have done; but she was -wild and homesick, and passed her days bewailing, as lone and desolate an exiled maiden -as ever cried, “Woe, woe!” -</p> -<p>(Sedna’s disillusionment is a note in the story wholly coarse to European ideas. The -Eskimos are a people without prudery. A perfectly natural incident on the journey -revealed that the lover was a bird.) -</p> -<p>But the father wearied for his daughter—the Eskimo <span class="pageNum" id="pb190">[<a href="#pb190">190</a>]</span>word has the loving possessive “his own daughter”—and at length fitted out his boat -and sailed away to that distant coast whither she had been borne. The husband Bird -was from home when he came to this land, and it was a sad and sorry tale that greeted -his ears from the wind-lashed, spray-beaten maiden that had been his smiling, contented -child. Without more ado, he lifted her into his boat, made one swift turn, and fell -to retracing his course. The craft—a tiny mark—was soon lost to sight in the welter -of the waves. -</p> -<p>Then the Loon, returning, enquired and said, “But where is my wife?” The cry echoed -round the naked cliffs. And answering cries, wind-borne on the darkening air, told -him that his wife had fled. Her father had come and snatched her back, in grief and -anger, to his bosom. -</p> -<p>At once, the Bird, assuming the Phantom form again, followed in his kyak; but when -the Father saw him coming he covered up his daughter with the furs and things he had -loaded in the boat. Swiftly the kyaker bore down upon them, and rushing alongside -demanded to see his wife. -</p> -<p>“Let me see my wife!” he cried. “Let me only see her; pray let me see her!” -</p> -<p>The angry father refused, and held determinedly on his way. -</p> -<p>“Then let me see her hands only. I only ask to see her hands!” the Kokksaut cried, -to be passionately rejected again. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb191">[<a href="#pb191">191</a>]</span></p> -<p>Then, bowing his head over the opening of his kyak in grief and desolation, the kyaker -fell behind. He had failed! His manhood had failed; Sedna had hated and left as true -a lover as ever a man could have been to her, and he would no more of it! With one -wild sweep of his wings, he was a bird again, the kyak a mote upon the waters beneath, -and a stroke or two of his great vans brought him above the boat of the fugitives. -He hung there awhile, uttering the strange cry of the Loon; but at last dropped away -into the darkness. -</p> -<p>Then there arose a storm—a black arctic storm—out at sea. -</p> -<p>And Sedna’s father was stricken with fear. Terror of the bird-man gripped his heart. -Terror of the offended powers of sky and sea nerved him to a bitter sacrifice. The -raging waves demanded Sedna, and he must give her up, and repulse her struggling, -and see her drown. He bent forward, and with one fearful thrust, cast his daughter -out of the boat—so to propitiate the offended sea! -</p> -<p>The wild, white face rose to the surface, and despairing hands caught at the gunwale. -But the Terror was not to be defrauded, and the father, frenzied with grief and the -desperate determination of his deed, snatched up an axe—a heavy thing of ivory and -wood—and brought it down upon those pathetic, clinging fingers. The maiden fell back -into the sea (and the first joints of her maimed and bleeding hands turned into seals). -But, coming up again, <span class="pageNum" id="pb192">[<a href="#pb192">192</a>]</span>with agony in her eyes she made another struggle to catch at the boat. Three times -the drowning creature came back; but she was the doomed victim of the sea, and the -father must consummate the sacrifice. Three times he smote and chopped at her mangled -hands. (The second joints became the ojuk, the ground seals; the third joints made -the walrus; and whales sprang of the rest.) -</p> -<p>Apropos of this reeking legend, it must be borne in mind that the Eskimo believe implicitly -in Spirits and in their power to demand sacrifice. The father, believing the storm -to be an expression of the anger of the Sea god (on behalf apparently of the sea-bird) -and a demand for the daughter he had reclaimed, did not hesitate to give her up and -to steel himself against her drowning agony. -</p> -<p>At last Sedna sank, to rise no more. -</p> -<p>And the storm sank, too. The boat presently came to land. The father entered his tent -and lay down beneath it and slept a sleep of exhaustion and overspent grief. In the -tent was fastened Sedna’s dog. But that night there was a high tide which washed up -the beach, demolished the tupik, and drowned the two living creatures within. So that -man and dog rejoined the maiden in the depths of the sea. There they have dwelt ever -since, in some “house” or cave of Eskimo imagination. There they preside over one -whole region—called Adlivun—where souls are imprisoned for punishment for a while -or all time, after death. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb193">[<a href="#pb193">193</a>]</span></p> -<p>The sea creatures who owe their origin to Sedna belong to her and she controls them. -She protects them, and causes the storms which bring wreckage and famine to the kyakers -and sealers. Hence she is in Eskimo mythology inimical to mankind, the source of the -worst evils they know, a spirit who has to be propitiated or quelled by ceremony, -as the case may be. -</p> -<p>She is considered to be of enormous stature, with two plaits of hair, each thick as -an arm, and she has only one eye. The other was pierced and put out in her drowning -struggle. -</p> -<p>The writer has seen an example of this sort of sacrifice in actual life, and it redeems -the story of Sedna’s father from the senseless selfishness of which it seems to be -compounded by some narrators. Two boats containing a party of hunters were returning -from sealing, when a squall struck them. Before sail could be taken in, one boat overturned -and the men were thrown into the water. They all climbed back except one, who was -numbed with cold and dazed with shock. He did not sink immediately, being held up -by his deerskins. He even drifted close by the boat, and easily within reach. One -man, indeed, did reach out and touch him with an oar, but when he failed to grasp -it the general decision was to let him drown. He was “material for the Tongak” spirits, -claimed by the Spirit of the sea—as was Sedna in the legend. He simply drowned in -the sight of the others, and of the women on shore, who covered their faces <span class="pageNum" id="pb194">[<a href="#pb194">194</a>]</span>with their hoods and gave the death wails, i.e., began to shriek and howl in the frenzied -manner proper to the circumstances. -</p> -<p>It is possible that no better story than that of Sedna (with all its elements of phantasy, -human emotion, poetry and savagery) could be found in illustration of a good deal -Dr. Marrett has to tell us in his “Psychology and Folk Lore,” by way of reducing primitive -folk-lore and primitive procedure (religious or medical, or both, arising out of it) -to a science of primitive psychology. His masterly analysis of the outlook of the -wholly untutored mind on the phenomena of cause and effect demonstrates quite clearly -the sincerity and the obviousness of the “savage” rites and customs which seem to -us so barbaric, irrelevant and monstrous. -</p> -<p>The Sedna myth gives rise to the taboo, and the practices of the Sedna ceremony. The -aboriginal theory of things (the origin of the sea creatures, the cause of storms, -etc.), leads to aboriginal methods of dealing with them “On (close) acquaintance, -such as perhaps is to be obtained only on the field,” says Dr. Marrett, “the savage -turns out to be anything but a fool, more especially in anything that relates at all -directly to the daily struggle for existence … common sense is no monopoly of civilisation,” -although the educated application of it to the material and spiritual needs of life -may easily be so. The interest of the primitive theurgist is a practical one, and -the elements in his problem are only two, namely, <span class="pageNum" id="pb195">[<a href="#pb195">195</a>]</span>a supernormal power to be moved and a traditional rite that promises to move it. The -special function of the conjuror or the medicine man among aboriginal peoples is to -grapple with the abnormal, and “this ever tends to constitute for the savage a distinct -dispensation, a world of its own.” There is in such a story as the Sedna legend some -groundwork of common sense and verifiable experience; and in the practices which arise -out of it, this has to be taken into account, together with some very real occult -content (whether of suggestion or hypnotism, the most modern of sciences alone could -say), and some conscious fraud no doubt on the part of the conjurors. -</p> -<p>Prior, however, to an account of this ceremony, it will be as well perhaps to devote -some space to the conjurors themselves. For, among the Eskimo, as among other primitive -peoples, the typical “medicine man” is a specialist, trained for his vocation and -initiated into an exclusive guild. He is by no means necessarily a fraud and a charlatan. -Normally, the primitive faith healer has as much faith in himself and his methods -as his patients have, and between the two of them—when it is a question of a mental -reaction to be obtained—there is no reason why absolute success should not crown his -efforts. In the sphere of material results these amazing methods seem to be wholly -empirical, and yet it cannot be denied that the Eskimo conjurors sometimes produce -effects comparable only to some of the well-known demonstrations of the “magic” of -the East. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb196">[<a href="#pb196">196</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch14" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e332">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XIV</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">The Conjurors</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The greatly esteemed profession of Conjuror is open among the Eskimo to both men and -women. Anyone is eligible to become a student in the rites and lore of the caste, -but only those who pass its tests (i.e., only those who attain, not only a really -high degree of the power of mental concentration, of intuition and character reading; -but some true occult gift), are allowed to practise. The art has its own hierarchy -of professors according to their degree of aptitude and initiation. Only those with -some particular qualification, natural or acquired, such as the power of throwing -themselves into true trance, attain the highest degree of dignity. Aspirants to the -position of conjuror who fall short of this, but have yet studied and schooled themselves -to some purpose in the art, are not denied its practice altogether, but hold lesser -rank and officiate on minor occasions. -</p> -<p>The would-be conjuror is put through a fairly long and fairly severe course of training, -the whole of which, wrapped up in an immense amount of magical circumlocution and -sheer imposture, simply tends to enhance his intellectual qualities, such as they -may be, <span class="pageNum" id="pb197">[<a href="#pb197">197</a>]</span>at the expense of the grosser appetites of the Eskimo lay individual. -</p> -<p>The candidates to the caste—youth or young woman—begins by choosing a conjuror—male -or female—under whom to study. And immediately the neophyte enters upon his apprenticeship. -The length of time this may last rests upon his capacity to learn the rites and acquire -the psychological stock-in-trade of a conjuror. It is to the teacher’s advantage to -spin out this period of tuition as long as possible, since for the whole term of his -training the disciple is the body servant of the master, and performs for him even -the most menial offices. The novice is a sort of articled pupil into the bargain. -He pays for his initiation. -</p> -<p>First of all, he has to acknowledge all his breaches of the communal law and custom, -and confess to the conjuror whatever of wrongdoing there may have been in his life. -The Eskimo believe in this sort of confession, and it is frequently enjoined. He receives -forgiveness, and thereupon embarks upon a wholly new course of life. -</p> -<p>Fasting and abstinence and the mastery of the appetites of eating and drinking are -the first trials, and the first victories he has to win. The Eskimo are vast eaters, -and so much of their diet being flesh meat and in the raw state, their physique tends -to grossness. This grossness has to be remedied if the conjuror is to be capable of -dominating other minds by the greater force and clarity of his own. The neophyte eschews -all luxuries whilst learning, again, <span class="pageNum" id="pb198">[<a href="#pb198">198</a>]</span>of course, with the idea of self-command and of that detachment from the unnecessary -things of life which—under civilised conditions also—hang so many trammels round a -finer aspiration. In the terms of Eskimo experience, this involves allowing the hair -to grow long and hang down; to eat with the hands covered; and to go to rest without -discarding the clothes. The strict diet, the austerities, the real course of mental -training, improve the candidate’s natural powers of mind, enhance his memory, and -concentrate his will and consolidate so solid a belief in the system and powers he -is attaining that the graduate has really, at last, something professional and exclusive -to offer the community. -</p> -<p>To begin with, the aspirant has to become absolutely familiar with all the ancient -customs of the people, and their significance. Then he has to study the spirit language, -the tongue of the conjurors—that is to say, the language in which spirits are to be -addressed and in which they express themselves through the initiate. He proceeds to -study the cause of sickness (this however in a superstitious and not a natural sense), -and what penalties to inflict for the wrongdoing which sickness is supposed to indicate. -He has to learn all the various incantations for various occasions, and exactly how -to set about them. -</p> -<p>All this is merely the first stage of his apprenticeship. He begins to show of what -stuff he is made, so far as the career of conjuror is concerned, when it comes to -dealing with matters of guilt and secrecy. <span class="pageNum" id="pb199">[<a href="#pb199">199</a>]</span>The accomplished conjuror must be able to detect and affix guilt. Here he is concerned -entirely with the minds of his fellow men, and trying to fathom and read them. The -Eskimo mind is as tortuous as the Eastern. The conjuror pursues his own method, which -may have a good deal to recommend it in the eyes of those who have made a study of -the occult, but which is not the method of direct evidence and deduction. He throws -himself into a perfectly genuine trance, and stakes everything on the intuitions of -that state and the awesome effect of it upon the interested beholders. -</p> -<p>To do this the conjuror sits down with his face to the wall, and drawing his hood -well over his features, rocks himself backwards and forwards, calling the while on -his familiar spirit (his <i lang="iu-latn">Tongak</i>) to come to him. He continues this howling and rocking until such concentration of -mind is effected that he becomes unconscious; he foams at the mouth. Whilst in this -condition of self-induced hypnotism—or however the spiritists may explain it—his spirit, -it is believed, goes below to Sedna, or above to the regions of beatitude, to find -out what has been the cause of the guilt in question, and discover the requisite punishment. -</p> -<p>The interesting thing about this performance is that it is by no means the tissue -of imposture one might suppose. The Eskimo conjuror may be no more and no less a fraud -than the medium of a spiritistic séance. The writer has been creditably assured by -these practitioners that the trance ensues <span class="pageNum" id="pb200">[<a href="#pb200">200</a>]</span>in the vision of a great white light (like the light thrown on a sheet by the magic -lantern), and then in that illumination they see the whole scene of the supposed crime -re-enacted, all the people implicated in it, and its every detail. They are told, -or inspired, what penalty to inflict. On returning to consciousness, the vision is -not forgotten, but sharply remembered. The conjuror is able to accuse the offender, -to question him, and extort a confession from him. The penalty generally takes the -form of some obnoxious task to be performed or some fine to be paid in kind. -</p> -<div class="figure p200width" id="p200"><img src="images/p200.jpg" alt="Asseak and His Wife." width="720" height="506"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">Asseak and His Wife.</span></p> -<p class="first">Asseak was a skilful hunter, but lost his sight through snow blindness. His wife was -a noted conjuror in her day.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>This power to see the white light and to project in it the thoughts, probably, of -the assistants at the conjuration—for the performance, when genuine, amounts to nothing -less—is really a remarkable psychic feat. Probably the conjurors understand it as -little as the laity; they have only trained themselves to achieve it, and they explain -it according to the fantastic body of superstition which constitutes the Eskimo religion. -It is only after long practice and the sustained effort after great mental concentration -that the manifestation is attained, that the light can be seen, and incidents recorded -in it. This is the final test for the honours of full conjurorship. The candidates -sit night after night with the teacher, faces to the wall, and the lamps burning low, -shutting out all extraneous objects and distractions, in the endeavour to see the -light, to pass into trance. Those who remain for ever unable to arrive at this, fail -to pass the test, and are rejected from the class of the <span class="pageNum" id="pb201">[<a href="#pb201">201</a>]</span>full-fledged. They must content themselves with minor dignities in the order of conjurors. -One of these inferior grades is that of the <i lang="iu-latn">Kunneyo</i>, the one who incants for the seal hunters. Another is the <i lang="iu-latn">Makkosâktok</i>, the one who goes round with the whip during the Sedna ceremonies; and a third is -the <i lang="iu-latn"><span class="corr" id="xd31e2577" title="Source: Noonagecksaktok">Noonageeksaktok</span></i>, another official at the great annual celebration. -</p> -<p>On the completion of his training and on his passing the final test for the witch-doctorate, -the candidate is publicly acknowledged as a Conjuror. He makes a visitation of all -the dwellings in the settlement, performs incantations in each, and receives in payment -a number of charms, such as small pieces of carved ivory or bits of deerskin fringes. -These things are valueless in themselves, but signify that the tribesfolk have accepted -the new conjuror. -</p> -<p>It is easy to see how the conjurors acquire the power they undoubtedly have over the -people, and easy to imagine how much of fraud, imposition, hypocrisy and sheer self-seeking -could be practised under the thick cloak of their rites, incantations, superstitions, -and—last, but not least—their clever trickery and legerdemain. What may be perhaps -not quite so easy is to convey to the reader an idea of the real good faith and of -some demonstrable if inexplicable occult command underlying much of the conjuror’s -art. The whole subject is too big, either from the point of view of primitive superstitions -and procedure, or from that of occultism, to be dealt with at <span class="pageNum" id="pb202">[<a href="#pb202">202</a>]</span>much length here and now; but by way of illustrating the point that the Eskimo conjuror -can perform miracles (collective hypnotism?) as striking as the well-known Eastern -trick of the mango-tree, one of the incidents of the Sedna ceremony may be instanced. -</p> -<p>At a certain stage of the Sedna proceedings, the conjuror, who has the spirit of a -walrus or bear for <i lang="iu-latn">Tongak</i> (familiar spirit), spears himself through the jacket, or is speared by others, deep -in the breast. When this whole performance is not merely a spectacular trick, it seems -to be quite genuinely done. A line is attached to the deeply <span class="corr" id="xd31e2590" title="Source: imbedded">embedded</span>, barbed spearhead, and the people catch hold of this and pull on it and haul the -impaled man about, to prove that he is fairly caught, as the victim of a hunt might -be. The conjuror is bathed in blood. At length, however, he is let go, and he makes -his wounded way alone to the seashore. Here the <i lang="iu-latn">Tongak</i> releases him from the spear, and after a short space of time he returns to the festival -whole and well as ever, with no sign about him except his torn clothing to indicate -the rough handling he has undergone. -</p> -<p>The whole stock-in-trade indeed of the Eskimo conjuror is a certain very demonstrable, -acquired, occult power. Besides this, he has a good memory, an immense amount of shrewdness -and cunning, an intimate knowledge of animals and their habits, of weather conditions -and seasons, and, above all, of course, a capacity to judge of his fellow men. -</p> -<p>It is after the period of training is over that the <span class="pageNum" id="pb203">[<a href="#pb203">203</a>]</span>conjuror becomes the bestial, sensual creature, full of cupidity and trickery, he -is so often represented to be. After graduating in the guild, no further prohibitions -and denials are observed. He marries, indeed; but no woman of the community is safe -from him. Under one professional pretext or another, he may have his way with each -and every one of them, with or without her own particular man’s consent. This, however, -is seldom withheld. On the whole, monogamy is the rule among the Eskimo, although -there are plenty of exceptions. The writer has known a conjuror with three wives, -two of whom were sisters. -</p> -<p>When a wife is childless it is a great grief both to her and her husband. The conjuror -is called in for professional advice and to find out why she is not favoured by the -spirits. He resorts to his incantations, but takes an obvious advantage of the situation -(quite as much for his own ends as for the satisfaction of the would-be parents), -and all is satisfactorily arranged. Again, when a man is very ill and has been performed -over by the conjuror, one of the things demanded by the latter is that the patient’s -coat shall be brought to his house in the evening by the man’s wife, and not taken -home again until next day. -</p> -<p>Eskimo life is full of this sort of thing, and the crudities of relationships entering -into any of their typical folk-stories make these a little hard to reproduce in a -manner acceptable to better taste. But there is certainly some distinction to be drawn -between <span class="pageNum" id="pb204">[<a href="#pb204">204</a>]</span>the primitive doings of a people struggling numerically against the cruellest conditions -of life nature can impose, (who moreover have no conception of the ethical idea of -morality), and mere promiscuity and vice as practised for their own sakes by the “civilised” -peoples of far more favoured lands. -</p> -<p>One of the commonest occasions of calling in the aid of the conjuror is during bad -weather. The days have been dark and stormy, with bitter gales and snowstorms, so -that the hunters have been unable to go afield. The witch doctor arms himself with -a whip—either an ordinary dog whip or one made from sea-weed—and a knife, and rushes -out to join the howling elements. He slashes the wind and shouts down the gale. “<i lang="iu-latn">Taba! Taba! Namuktok!</i>” (Stop! Stop! It is enough!). -</p> -<p>And presently the wind drops, and the accustomed death-like stillness of the frozen -world supervenes upon the uproar. -</p> -<p>The conjuror of course could read the signs of the weather even more astutely than -the practised hunters, and awaited the moment when the gale had spent itself for the -exhibition of his influence. -</p> -<p>After the death of anyone looked upon as more or less of a criminal, the conjuror -is called upon to drive the evil-intentioned spirit of the departed away from his -old home. He does this by shading his eyes carefully in the effort to perceive the -spirit. Then, with a knife or spear he rushes about, yelling and shouting, and stabbing -as if at his invisible foe, calling upon <span class="pageNum" id="pb205">[<a href="#pb205">205</a>]</span>it to depart and go to its own place below. At length he vanquishes the spirit, and -announces that it is to be dreaded no more; by their belief in him he removes their -fears and restores tranquility of mind and body; whereupon he receives his dues and -the perturbed and anxious relatives recover their poise and cheerfulness. -</p> -<p>In order to grasp how seriously the Eskimo believe their lives, and every adventure -of their lives, to be beset by unseen influences, it must be remarked that the main -idea of their uncouth religion is that, not only man, but all things, animate or inanimate, -have souls. Rocks, wood, earth, water, sun, moon, stars, fire, fog, icebergs, plants, -all animals, all creeping things, and even hunting implements, have spirits which -never die. The <i lang="iu-latn">Tarnuk</i>, or soul of a man, has the shape of a man, but is about one inch in height, and is -to be discovered in the hand of a conjuror or in that of a new-born babe. The soul -of a bear is like a bear; that of a walrus like a walrus; but the soul of a deer resembles -a spider, and that of a salmon, a man! The souls of rocks are like sturdy, thickset -men; the soul of the earth looks like a piece of liver. Animals’ souls are black and -hairless, but those of some inanimate objects are clothed in deerskin. It would indeed -take a great deal of study to determine how and why the people should have arrived -at these fantastic notions and distinctions. Perhaps it would never be given to the -mind of the modern white man to fathom the workings of such primitive intelligence, -building up for itself a monstrous, nightmare <span class="pageNum" id="pb206">[<a href="#pb206">206</a>]</span>scheme of things, on foundations of the blackest ignorance. -</p> -<p>For sheer phantasy, the writer is aware of course that the beliefs of the Eskimos -are paralleled by those of many other uncivilised peoples. It may be that along lines -of comparative savage mythology some generalisations might emerge which would throw -light upon the whole subject. Here, however, would lie the study of a lifetime. -</p> -<p>Briefly put, the Eskimo religion consists in the belief in a multiplicity of spirits, -good and bad, and in one Supreme Spirit, of whom no fear is felt because he has no -evil intention towards man. The conjuration and propitiation of the evil spirits is -the constant business of the conjuring class, although everyone has some degree of -power to deal with them. Man was made, indeed, by the Great Supreme Spirit, and his -name was given, <i lang="iu-latn">Âkkolukju</i>; and woman, <i lang="iu-latn">Omaneetok</i>, was fashioned from his left-hand floating rib. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo very highly esteem their own race, but hold Europeans in considerable contempt. -They have an unpleasant legend of a woman and a dog being cast away together in a -boat or on a floe, by way of accounting for the origin of the whites. -</p> -<p>Man’s spirit, like the spirit of everything else, is immortal, and destined to a future -life in bliss, in the region where the Great Spirit presides over a happy community -of very prosperous Eskimo, such as has already been described. Those who die on the -hunt go to this heaven, also women in childbirth, and those <span class="pageNum" id="pb207">[<a href="#pb207">207</a>]</span>who die a violent death by any sort of accident. The road to this Eskimo heaven is -beset by many obstacles and pitfalls. It is haunted by savage animals, who lie in -wait to attack, maim, and kill the wayfarers upon it. Legend has it that at the end -of this road, at the rim of this world which is the gate to the next, two huge rocks -are set, confronting each other across the narrow path. They sway ominously and often -crash together, so that the soul seeking heaven has to run the risk of being caught -and crushed between them as he endeavours to get through. -</p> -<p>All illness other than that derived from these causes is looked upon as a consequence -of sin, i.e., the failure to be a good member of the community, the having been of -a quarrelsome turn, bad-tempered, mean or ungenerous, and the having failed to own -up to these things when exhorted by the conjuror. When a sick person, having confessed -yet dies, it is believed that he had some mental reservation and was not quite honest -about his confession. These bad folk go to the Eskimo hell, to the awful realms of -Sedna. But a third idea of a sort of purgatory comes in, a place to which the damned -can escape before they are finally admitted to bliss. The spirit of the conjuror is -able to go below and fight the evil one, and liberate the soul in question. The whole -transaction is generally a somewhat expensive one for the relatives. -</p> -<p>All animals have their guardian spirits (<i lang="iu-latn">Tongak</i>) who have power over their souls (<i lang="iu-latn">Innua</i>). The bear, <span class="pageNum" id="pb208">[<a href="#pb208">208</a>]</span>walrus, killer, ground seal, etc., have the best and strongest familiars. It is the -custom for each conjuror to adopt one of these spirits as his own, in order to avail -himself of its attributes and powers. The bear is a special favourite, since his <i lang="iu-latn">Tongak</i> is possessed of cunning and intelligence above the ordinary. Sedna, the goddess or -protectress of the sea creatures in her briny underworld, controls and safeguards -their bodies only; each one’s particular <i lang="iu-latn">Tongak</i> controls its soul. The conjuror, in turn, controls the <i lang="iu-latn">Tongak</i>; so this important personage can counteract Sedna’s machinations against successful -hunting. The hunter invokes the aid of the conjuror, who thereupon causes the <i lang="iu-latn">Tongak</i> of the seals to enter into the man and lead him to success. This familiar companionship -is forfeited if the hunter commit some breach of the law and does not confess as much -to the witch doctor, or if he fail to pay for the services rendered. -</p> -<p>Eskimo mythology is almost an inexhaustible subject. In addition to the active, informing -spirit called the <i lang="iu-latn">Tongak</i>, which everyone possesses and which can be invoked for guidance or assistance by -every man at his need, all other beings, animate and inanimate, possess an indwelling -spirit peculiar to themselves alone. This individual, permanent, presiding spirit -is the <i lang="iu-latn">Innua</i>, something distinct from the patron spirit, the <i lang="iu-latn">Tongak</i>. -</p> -<div class="figure p208width" id="p208"><img src="images/p208.jpg" alt="An Umiak or Family Boat." width="550" height="720"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">An Umiak or Family Boat.</span></p> -<p class="first">Used for migrating from place to place. -</p> -<p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">The Summer Tent or Tapik.</span> -</p> -<p>This is built of rough poles of drift wood covered with seal skins. It is large enough -for a family of six.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The writer has collected an immense mass of notes on the Eskimo deities, as they were -described to him <span class="pageNum" id="pb209">[<a href="#pb209">209</a>]</span>by the most creditable of the conjurors. He believes that his list is unique, and -offers the student of such matters entirely original material. In it are enumerated -no less than fifty of these tutelary spirits, with their personal descriptions (generally -uncouth and imaginative to a degree), their supposed habitat—earth, air, or water—and -their characteristic activities or patronages. -</p> -<p>There is <i lang="iu-latn">Keekut</i>, for instance, a being who lives on the land, in appearance is like a dog without -hair, and who works in a more or less maleficent manner. There is <i lang="iu-latn">Segook</i>, a spirit with a head like a crow, a body like that of a human being, and who is -black. It has wings. It is a benefactor to the tribesfolk, and brings them meat in -its beak. It is fabled to exist upon the eyes of deer and seals. The list is monotonously -fabulous, and could only be wearisome to the general reader. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Ataksok</i> lives in the sky. He is like a ball, and has the means of bringing joy to his beholders -as often as he may be invoked by the conjurors. <i lang="iu-latn">Akseloak</i> is the spirit of rocking stones. When called upon, he arrives rolling, and falls -flat upon his face at the witch doctor’s feet. <i lang="iu-latn">Ooyarraksakju</i> is a female spirit, and lives in the rocks and boulders; is beneficent in her activities. -</p> -<p>So the list goes on. It would doubtless have a value all its own for the student of -primitive imagery or fable, and form an addition to ethnographical researches on the -Eskimo; but to give it here <i lang="la">in extenso</i> would perhaps serve little or no purpose. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb210">[<a href="#pb210">210</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch15" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e342">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XV</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">The Sedna Ceremony</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">At the end of the arctic summer, before the young ice begins to form again along the -shores, there comes a spell of tempestuous weather, with frequent storms and high, -rough tides. Food grows more and more scarce as sealing increases in risk and difficulty. -Those intrepid hunters who do venture out, return empty-handed day after day, and -it grows high time for something to be done. The goddess Sedna is supposed to be causing -these storms and all this dirty weather at sea, to prevent her animals being killed. -And so a conjuration has to be performed to liberate the seals. -</p> -<p>This is the occasion of the most elaborate festival in the Eskimo calendar. -</p> -<p>It begins by the conjurors, in full dress, calling the people <span class="corr" id="xd31e2724" title="Source: altogther">altogether</span> to dispense them for a short space from their marriage ties. Each witch doctor is -masked, and clad in women’s clothing. The idea of his amazing get-up, apart from the -usual intention to awe the people by grotesqueness or hideousness, is to disguise -the face and body, to efface as it were the well-known individual, to make the people -lose sight of the conjuror in the representation of a great power <span class="pageNum" id="pb211">[<a href="#pb211">211</a>]</span>at work among them. His dress is partly that of a man and partly that of a woman, -and he carries the usual implements used by both sexes. This is to bring the needs -of either before the great power, and to intercede for their respective needs. -</p> -<div class="figure p211width" id="p211"><img src="images/p211.png" alt="A Conjuror’s Mask." width="720" height="650"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">A Conjuror’s Mask.</span></p> -<p class="first">Mask made of sealskin with hair shaved off, and with tattoo marks, used by ancient -Eskimos of Central tribes. This mask is used by the Conjuror at the celebration of -the Autumnal Sedna feasts and ceremonies. <i>Sketch by a Conjuror of the Central Eskimos.</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>To begin with, the Angakok wears several pairs of nether garments and boots, until -he looks very big and out of his usual proportions. He has a woman’s pointed tunic, -whose sleeves are elaborately trimmed with fringes and charms. The hood is pulled -down <span class="pageNum" id="pb212">[<a href="#pb212">212</a>]</span>over his head, and he wears a mask of black skin tattooed all over. On his shoulders -he carries an inflated sealskin float, and over his arm a coil of walrus hide. In -his left hand he bears a woman’s skin scraper, and in his right a spear. Thus caparisoned, -he emerges from his tent and begins by pairing off the couples. -</p> -<p>The tribesfolk are ranged in two long lines, the men and women facing each other, -and a lane between. Then the “<i lang="iu-latn">Kailuktetak</i>” (a minor order among the initiate) open the ceremonies. Each conjuror is furnished -with a deer-horn scraper like a long curved knife (used in the ordinary course of -things for scraping the newly formed ice from the kyaks as they are drawn out of the -water), to which is attached a small piece of bearskin. He starts off down the living -lane, dancing and shouting in glee, touching first a man and then a woman with the -wand as he goes. The two thus indicated pair off, and are man and wife for the next -twenty-four hours, or perhaps a little longer. The fun is fast and furious. Much of -the whole thing has been prearranged, and the element of surprise is rather subordinate -to that of anticipation. The conjurors choose among the women for themselves first, -and next for those hunters who have had sufficient eye for beauty and sufficient of -this world’s goods to mention the fact privately and persuasively beforehand. -</p> -<p>There has been quite a stream of visitors to the conjuror’s house of late, and quite -a number of presents <span class="pageNum" id="pb213">[<a href="#pb213">213</a>]</span>made, which forgetfulness on the part of that worthy has failed to return. So that -the pairing off on this auspicious day is largely a prearranged affair. However, it -occasions plenty of Eskimo laughter and delight. The enceinte (and the old folks) -are not included in this adventure. They play the part of spectators only, but applaud -or deride as heartily as the rest over each mating. These women are <i lang="iu-latn">Kooveayootiksatyonerktoot</i>, i.e., “no-longer-the-material-for-a-rejoicing,” having apparently given hostages -to fortune already, or having sufficiently fulfilled the hopes of the community. Children -are paired off first—boys and girls of no more than twelve years—and then the adults. -</p> -<p>Each couple, as they are selected, join hands and walk away towards the man’s dwelling, -attended for a little distance by the <i lang="iu-latn">Kiluktetak</i> who has picked them out, dancing all round them and about them like a mad thing. -If they chance to touch him, they too begin to dance, and to voice their excitement -in no uncertain manner. On entering the dwelling, each drinks a little water and mentions -the place of his or her birth. -</p> -<p>The conjuror has an <i lang="iu-latn">âvetak</i> slung upon his breast, that is, the entire skin of a seal which, inflated, is generally -used as a float on the kyak. On this day, however, it serves another purpose. As the -couple presently return to the <i lang="iu-latn">Kilukletak</i>, they pour water into this, and each individual, drinking from it again and again, -mentions the place of his or her birth a <span class="pageNum" id="pb214">[<a href="#pb214">214</a>]</span>second time. The rite is official, and sets the conjuror’s seal upon the proceedings -and its consequences. -</p> -<p>The root idea of this pairing off is to strengthen a race that might easily be weakened -by too much inter-marriage, and to increase the birth-rate. The writer has elsewhere -commented on the defensibility of such a custom—from the Eskimo point of view—but -it remains to be added here that, as regards parentage, the father of a child is always -known and acknowledged, be he the woman’s husband or her temporary Sedna mate. The -Sedna offspring is cared for by the regular husband, or by the community. -</p> -<p>Next comes the extraordinary performance already described, when the conjuror is speared -through the chest. -</p> -<p>After this, the principal Angakok prepares to give battle to Sedna. The goddess can -be killed; but as she subsequently comes to life again, this killing has to take place -every year. The whole performance is a representation of seal-spearing on the ice. -The conjuror coils a rope on the floor of a large hut, and leaves a little opening -at the top to represent the blow hole. Two assistants stand on either side, armed -respectively with harpoon and spear. A third chants incantations at the back of the -dwelling. Sedna is supposed to be lured from the underworld, and when she comes to -the hole, is transfixed at once. She sinks away again, dragging the harpoon with her, -<span class="pageNum" id="pb215">[<a href="#pb215">215</a>]</span>wounded and incensed. The conjurors haul on the line for all they are worth, and recover -the weapon. -</p> -<p>Then the chief Angakut squats upon the floor, with his arms and legs bound by a length -of light hide line. The lamps are pressed down to burn so dimly that it is all but -dark. The rest of the folk also sit about the floor with their heads bowed, so that -none may stare at the conjuror’s face. He begins his incantations, rocking to and -fro and uttering sounds that seem incredible for a human throat to compass. He works -himself into a state of insensibility (but not before his familiar spirit has undone -the knots and released him from his bonds.<span class="corr" id="xd31e2777" title="Not in source">)</span> It is this trance which makes such an impression on the tribesfolk. They believe -that the witch doctor’s spirit has left his body and their midst, and has really gone -to meet and despatch the powerful figment of their myth, to kill her and liberate -the seals. -</p> -<p>The hardening of the weather soon after this ceremony, when the prospects of the sealers -naturally improve, seems to the Eskimo mind a clear demonstration of cause and effect. -Probably the conjuror quite believes it, too, and although he has done nothing but -hypnotise himself and strike awe thereby into the onlookers, this assumption of all -that he accomplishes in the meantime is as real to him as to the others. -</p> -<p>After the <i lang="iu-latn">Kiluktetak</i>—the chief of the whole conjuring band—has concluded this séance, he proceeds to make -good hunters. Those who are ambitious to <span class="pageNum" id="pb216">[<a href="#pb216">216</a>]</span>make a name for themselves in this respect, and greatly desire the skins and trappings -that come of abundant catches, pay the conjuror a walrus hide line; whereupon he resorts -again to his incantations, and his <i lang="iu-latn">Tougak</i> causes the soul of a seal to enter the body or mind of the young man in question. -The whole business may perhaps have some result, perforce of suggestion, and the sealer -who had hitherto doubted his own judgment or prowess, who had felt discouraged by -ill success, or who had failed perhaps in skill or patience, picks up a fortuitous -confidence in himself and really has better luck afterwards. -</p> -<p>It is impossible to believe that these beliefs and ceremonies would be so widespread -among the people and carry so much weight, were no sort of explanation to be sought -for them. These folk are trained and accomplished hunters; they attribute their success -to <i>junketings</i> of this description, and by no means wholly to the obvious care they take to ensure -it. If the ceremonies had no value and proved by experience to have no bearing on -all these vital matters, even the primitive mind would scarcely perpetuate them for -their own sakes pure and simple. -</p> -<p>In the meantime, while the <i lang="iu-latn">Kiluktetak</i> has his hands full in the underworld, all sorts of other things are taking place, -all sorts of games going on, in the village above. -</p> -<p>There is a tug of war with a rope of walrus hide or white whale hide, a contest provocative -of uproarious fun, watched by a keen, delighted crowd. One end of <span class="pageNum" id="pb217">[<a href="#pb217">217</a>]</span>the rope is manned by the “Ptarmigans” (those born in the winter time) and the other -by the “Ducks” (those born in summer.) If the former yield to the latter, it is taken -as an augury of good weather for the ensuing season. -</p> -<p>After this a curious game is played. One of the lesser conjurors is fantastically -got up in a number of garments, and in a pair of trousers with very narrow legs. The -trousers seem to tickle the Eskimo sense of the ludicrous in exactly the same way -as Charlie Chaplin’s baggy ones and his “caterpillar” boots tickle ours. He takes -a piece of wood in one hand, a skin scraper in the other, and starts capering off, -calling on all and sundry to follow him and assemble in the “Kagge,” or singing house. -</p> -<p>The ceremony in the Kagge was performed in the past but now only the Sedna ceremony -is performed, minus the Kagge. -</p> -<p>The Eskimo build larger houses than those they usually occupy, for feasting, singing -and dancing on particular occasions. The singing house is dedicated to a particular -spirit which has the shape of a bow-legged, hairless man. It is generally built upon -the usual round plan of the <i>igloo</i>, sometimes three being grouped together, apse and transept fashion, with a common -entrance (nave). The company disposes itself in concentric rings round the house, -married women by the wall, spinsters in front of them, and a ring of men to the front. -Children are grouped on either side of the door, and the singer or dancer, <span class="pageNum" id="pb218">[<a href="#pb218">218</a>]</span>stripped to the waist, takes his stand amid them and remains on the one spot all the -time. A pillar of snow in the middle of the house supports as many lamps as it requires -to illuminate the proceedings and to warm the air. Singing festivals and competitions -in the Kagge especially mark the great occasion of the tribal deer hunting in the -spring, so that it will be described at somewhat greater length in that connection. -</p> -<div class="figure p218width" id="p218"><img src="images/p218.png" alt="A Kagge or Singing House. (Elevation.)" width="717" height="378"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">A Kagge or Singing House. (Elevation.)</span></p> -<p class="first">Singing competitions at the assembly of the tribes are held in these. The songs are -composed by the singer, the audience joining in the chorus, the head men and conjurors -being judges. Much fun and merriment are caused by the songs.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>As soon as everyone has crowded in, all the new made (temporary) couples are bidden -to join hands and guide each other out. Everyone is laughing, but the pair in question -have to preserve the gravity of owls. If they yield to the infectious merriment and -badinage going on, and fail to keep absolutely solemn faces, some grievous sickness -will befall them. The conjuror touches their feet as they cross the threshold, <span class="pageNum" id="pb219">[<a href="#pb219">219</a>]</span>and when he himself follows out the last pair, blows off hard, like a seal. -</p> -<p>At the risk of wearying the reader with the apparent uncouthness of all this (an alien -humour is always hard to perceive), one more incident of the festival must be given. -</p> -<div class="figure p219width" id="p219"><img src="images/p219.png" alt="A Kagge or Singing House. (Plan.)" width="718" height="512"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">A Kagge or Singing House.</span> (<span class="sc">Plan.</span>)</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The <i lang="iu-latn">Mukkosaktok</i> possesses himself of a whip with a particularly short handle, and starts on a tour -of the village on his own account. He enters the first house he comes to, and starts -to lay about him in play. He fillips one of the inmates with the end of his lash, -and orders him to sing a song—an extempore song of his own composition. If the victim -fails, another one has to take his place, and so in turn until the circle is exhausted. -This goes on in every household, all sorts <span class="pageNum" id="pb220">[<a href="#pb220">220</a>]</span>of weird howls and chants and guttural distiches being elicited by <i lang="fr">force majeure</i>, until at last the <i lang="iu-latn">Mukkosaktok</i> is playfully hustled to the door and pushed outside. -</p> -<p>The underlying idea of much of all this is doubtless that of promoting sociability -and good feeling all round. The Eskimo are an intensely sociable people, and, to the -very limited extent of their powers and opportunities, delight in entertainment. These -festival songs, for instance, have required a certain amount of preparation. They -are composed about some event that has taken place and caught the singer’s attention. -They have been rehearsed and, if successful, will be repeated all through the long -winter nights, when the folk spend so much weather-bound time in visiting each other -and exchanging tales and gossip round the <i>igloo</i> lamps. No tribesman likes to be laughed at, so he really does his best over his song. -</p> -<p>There is a real groundwork of sense about the ceremony of visiting each house in turn, -and the scramble for presents. In the first place, it is a symbol of goodwill and -plenty. Each householder is expected to keep up appearances by doing this sort of -thing, and he uses every effort to gain the wherewithal to meet the obligation. This -militates against laziness and any tendency to hoard—great crimes in the Eskimo estimation -of things. The hunter strains every nerve to provide the things his neighbours scramble -for, and the women of the village do their utmost, so far as attractiveness and domesticity -go, <span class="pageNum" id="pb221">[<a href="#pb221">221</a>]</span>to attach such men as husbands. Again, by a general scramble, the poorer and less -lucky folk get a good many windfalls otherwise unobtainable. -</p> -<p>The roysterers flock off in a body, to make the round of the encampment, stopping -at every man’s house in turn. The owner goes inside, makes a selection of all sorts -of unconsidered trifles—generally bits of sealskin used for the legs of boots, with -different kinds of sewing sinew attached—and, returning to the vociferous crowd waiting -outside, scatters these things broadcast. There is a grand commotion and no end of -noise, as the oddments are battled for. As this performance is repeated at every house -in the village it necessarily takes some time. -</p> -<p>Little information is obtainable as to the significance of these games or ceremonies, -or whatever the Eskimo themselves may consider them. The annual pairing off doubtless -serves to keep up the numbers of the tribe. Women are always in excess of men, owing -to hunting fatalities among the latter, and other causes; and some of these, although -married, may be childless. The Sedna proceedings tend to remedy this state of things -to a satisfactory extent. The writer’s own idea is that, in addition to the main responsibilities -of the festival, which rest on the shoulders of the <i lang="iu-latn">Kiluktetok</i>, the doings of the lesser lights of the order of conjurors are designed more or less -to keep things going merrily and to establish themselves firmly in the good-will of -the community. -</p> -<p>The main idea of the frequent acknowledgment of <span class="pageNum" id="pb222">[<a href="#pb222">222</a>]</span>breaches of village law is undoubtedly to keep the social life intact, to ensure that -no secrecies and plottings shall break it up, and no hoarding of supplies lead to -quarrels and injustices. Another feature of the Sedna day is a general “confessing” -of all these “sins.” Another lesser luminary, called a <i lang="iu-latn">Noonageeksaktoot</i>, dresses himself up in a medley of garments and dons a close-fitting cap made from -the skull of a ground seal. This cap has a peak, to represent a bird’s bill. He binds -upon his feet some of the sticks used for beating snow from clothes, so that they -resemble a raven’s, and hops about in imitation of that bird. As often as the people -come up and accuse themselves of wrongdoing, he betakes himself to the beach, to tell -Sedna, and returns with forgiveness. -</p> -<p>It will be readily understood that it is of great value in the hard fight for existence -in the arctic that a spirit of hope and cheerfulness should be maintained. No one -knows this better than the commander of an arctic or antarctic expedition, or than -the head of a trading station! It is quite essential that the Eskimo village should -make itself a centre of jollity and comfort to the returning hunters, and to travellers -on the trail. There are sound economic principles underneath the queer trappings of -some of all this barbaric custom, and even sound hygienic laws governing some of the -regulations and taboos of daily life. That one, for instance, which forbids a woman -in childbirth to eat any food not provided by her husband, <span class="pageNum" id="pb223">[<a href="#pb223">223</a>]</span>probably acts quite beneficially. Eskimo food is very rich and often consumed in the -raw state, so that a glut of it, as would result from a shower of benefactions, would -upset the new-made mother. -</p> -<p>The Sedna ceremony has been carefully studied by the best ethnologists, like Dr. Boas, -who have travelled for the sake of science among the arctic tribes; but it may be -hazarded that the <i lang="fr">raison d’être</i> of much of it could only dawn on an observer who had actually lived for a very considerable -time in close personal and linguistic touch with the people. -</p> -<p>The writer offers his interpretations with all diffidence, but believes they constitute -something original to the descriptions of other writers. Those who easily dismiss -the whole subject as fantastic savagery, much of which is unfit for publication, seem -singularly to have failed in any real grasp of the character of these benighted, but -in many ways cheery and genuine, children of the sternest wild in the world. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb224">[<a href="#pb224">224</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch16" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e353">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XVI</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">The Native Surgeon</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">One of the principal offices of the native conjuror is to find out the reason of sickness -and death, or of any misfortune or disaster happening to the tribesfolk. But in this -matter of primitive medicine, the Eskimo are probably far behind the untutored folk -of other uncivilised peoples, for the simple reason that, unlike the dwellers in temperate -or tropical and therefore vegetated regions of the world, they have nothing with which -to experiment, in sickness, by way of herbs and simples. An absolutely barren land, -covered for the most part of the year with snow, provides no material for the empirical -pharmacist. Eskimo medical practice consists entirely in incantation, in dealings -with the spirit world, and in the exercise of an amazing and complicated system of -fetish and taboo, i.e., the doing or refraining from doing all sorts of unreasonable -things to attain or produce some desired end. In surgery, the conjuror is no less -intrepid, if considerably more lucky (thanks to an air so pure as to be almost sterile) -than the ghastly practitioners of West Africa, whose appalling anatomical ventures -are described in Mary Kingsley’s unrivalled book of travel in the Cameroons. -</p> -<div class="figure p224-1width" id="p224-1"><img src="images/p224-1.jpg" alt="An Eskimo Woman of the Fox Channel Tribe." width="557" height="629"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Woman of the Fox Channel Tribe.</span></p> -<p class="first">She is wearing very elaborate bead work on the back of her deerskin dress.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<div class="figure p224-2width" id="p224-2"><img src="images/p224-2.jpg" alt="An Eskimo Summer Encampment." width="719" height="357"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Summer Encampment.</span></p> -<p class="first">These tents, although large, are easily packed and moved.</p> -</div><p> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb225">[<a href="#pb225">225</a>]</span></p> -<p>The arctic folk seem to have no glimmering of an idea as to natural cause and effect -in sickness. Bodily ills and death, to them, admit of only one explanation. The sufferer -has in some way or other in some particular transgressed the communal law. The disorders -of women are considered as a punishment for the infringement of some of the meticulous -regulations laid down for their observance at certain times. Hence the first business -of the conjuror on being summoned to a sick bed, is to scare or worry the invalid -into the remembrance and acknowledgment of whatever he or she may have done contrary -to the general well-being of the village. He does this after his usual fashion, by -crawling into the <i>igloo</i> in some particularly horrid guise, and sitting down in the darkened place with his -face to the wall and his features well concealed by his hood, giving vent to the most -horrific howls, mutterings, ventriloquisms and unhuman-sounding noises, at his ingenious -command. Then he proceeds to interrogate the sick person, and of course wrings some -acknowledgment from him or her. Treatment—of sorts—may ensue; but as a rule the issue -of commands as to atonement or compensation is the wind-up of what the Americans would -aptly describe as the whole “stunt.” Occasionally a piece of flaming moss wick from -one of the lamps is laid upon the painful part of the sufferer’s body and fanned with -the conjuror’s breath, or merely blown up into the air. All real attempt at cure is -left to nature, and it must be added that the recuperative <span class="pageNum" id="pb226">[<a href="#pb226">226</a>]</span>powers of a hearty-eating, hardy, healthy-blooded people like the tribes of Eskimo, -are quite remarkable. -</p> -<p>Eskimo flesh has wonderful healing power. The writer has seen the most fearful gashes -quickly close and heal up without any precautions or dressing whatever. One case he -certainly thought would have a fatal termination. A hunter was repairing his implements, -a small box of tools lying on the <span class="corr" id="xd31e2908" title="Source: groud">ground</span> beside him. A large file without a handle happened to be sticking straight up out -of the box. The man’s foot slipped on the ice and he fell, in a sitting posture, straight -upon the file. He sustained a deep punctured wound. It was merely bandaged with some -very dirty strips of soiled skin underclothing, and inflammation and intense suppuration -presently set in. At no time did the wound receive any further attention, but in due -course the hunter was about again, as though nothing had happened. -</p> -<p>Something, however, must be said for the conjuror as an anatomist. By virtue of his -calling and of his continual dealing with animals of all kinds, he knows the positions -of joints, muscles, ligaments, veins and arteries, and can find any one of them. Some -men have more aptitude in this respect than others, and these occasionally act as -surgeons. A young woman, who may be called Omanetok, the daughter of one of the minor -conjurors, developed a large mysterious swelling in the groin. There was acute inflammation, -pointing to deep-seated pus in accumulation. A native surgeon was called in, and <span class="pageNum" id="pb227">[<a href="#pb227">227</a>]</span>after examination he pronounced for an immediate operation. He decided to lance the -swelling. A time was arranged, and by special request the writer was allowed to be -present. -</p> -<p>The surgeon arrived, accompanied by two hefty fellows as assistants (his “dressers,” -probably, in an enhanced state of things!) His lancet consisted of a rough piece of -all-round, useful steel, inserted into a piece of ivory by way of a handle. The blade -was about two inches long and had a rounded end instead of anything so convenient -as a sharp point. This blade had, however, been filed, in an attempt at an edge. In -addition, there was a small oilstone. Both stone and instrument were very dirty. The -operator began by spitting on the oilstone and sharpening the lancet upon it, afterwards -wiping the latter with a soiled piece of birdskin previously used for scouring out -the cooking pots. -</p> -<p>The patient was then “prepared” by her mother. She was laid flat upon the bed bench, -and the part to be operated upon was exposed. The surgeon, wetting his fingers in -his mouth, proceeded to moisten and slightly cleanse (!) the skin. Then the two assistants -grasped Omanetok by the legs, her mother held her head, and two more helpers held -her well down by the shoulders. The conjuror inserted the lancet simply by pressing -on it and sawing it in, backwards and forwards, until it had gone deep enough to reach -the pus. Omanetok squirmed considerably, but her nurses had her well in hand. The -contents of the <span class="pageNum" id="pb228">[<a href="#pb228">228</a>]</span>swelling were expelled by repeated pressure, and wiped away from time to time with -a little bit of dirty mouse or lemming skin. When this was finished, the wound was -covered by a piece of lemming skin, licked by the operator’s tongue and stuck on over -the place. -</p> -<p>Two days afterwards the patient was walking about, well and jolly as ever she had -been in her life. -</p> -<p>Apropos of the extraordinary command the conjurors universally exercise over the people, -and of the paramount psychic influence they establish in the community, it is not -too much to say that they hold every man’s life in their hands. We know how the fatalistic-minded -Asiatic can die by auto-suggestion. The Eskimo, too, dies by suggestion, even when -strongly against his will. -</p> -<p>A fully qualified practitioner, well known for a sensual and self-indulgent man, was -particularly tenacious of his purposes and able to bide him time. He had long desired -the good-looking half-breed wife of a certain hunter, and had frequently approached -the man on the question. Contrary to the general rule, in this instance he was consistently -refused. Now, Moneapik, the hunter, was a skilful fellow, well able to provide himself -and his wife with food and clothing. He was careful, too, and rather exclusive, not -liking to squander his gains upon the lazy folk of the village, after the generally -accepted fashion. For this reason he was unpopular. He had his own circle of friends, -however, and was content not to enlarge it. The conjuror had nothing to work upon -<span class="pageNum" id="pb229">[<a href="#pb229">229</a>]</span>so far as Moneapik was concerned, except the latter’s superstition. The man was neither -poor, nor feckless, nor friendless. -</p> -<p>At length a long spell of bad weather set it, bringing in its train a season of sickness -and semi-starvation. The conjuror was expected to set matters right by his arts and -incantations; but on this occasion he had only a signal failure to register. He loudly -excused himself for it on the ground that the spirits were profoundly offended by -the unsociable practices of Moneapik. He had committed the heinous offence of keeping -largely to himself; he had not given freely to the tribesfolk. Only by his death could -the powers be propitiated and the famine ended. The majority of the villagers were -prone enough to agree with this, for over and over again the hunter had set their -greed at nought. Whereupon the conjuror boldly faced the man, stated the incontrovertible -facts, pronounced his death sentence, and departed saying: “I command you to die!” -</p> -<p>Moneapik was a strong, healthy man, in the prime of life and the pink of condition. -Normally, he should have lived to a ripe old age. But so ingrained was his belief -in the conjuror, in his power to get into communication with the spirit world, that -this command was virtually fatal. He said: “I am commanded to die!” He gave up his -active occupations, withdrew into his tent, ate and drank very sparingly, and within -four days was dead. They sewed up the body in skin blankets and left it on the rocks -of a neighbouring <span class="pageNum" id="pb230">[<a href="#pb230">230</a>]</span>island, to be devoured by foxes. The writer visited the spot a few days later—but -only bones remained. -</p> -<p>Friends had indeed visited Moneapik in his tent before the end, and argued with him, -laughed at him, tried by every possible means to disabuse the man’s mind of its obsession. -But all in vain. The victim’s sole response was, “I am commanded to die!” And die -he did, although it was by no means a death from starvation. It was death by suggestion. -</p> -<p>The conjuror, of course, obtained his own ends. -</p> -<p>An account has already been given of the conjuror spearing himself in the breast during -the Sedna ceremony, and appearing no whit the worse for it shortly afterwards. Although -this extraordinary action may often perhaps be simulated by a trick, (the performer -concealing a bladder of blood under his tunic and merely stabbing that), there seems -to be sufficient evidence that such feats are within the compass of the genuine practitioner. -No less authority than Dr. Boas gives an instance of an Angatok, on the island of -Utussivik, who thrust a harpoon through his body and was led through the village by -twenty-five men. Another conjuror, at a place called Umanaqtuaq, on finishing his -incantations, “jumped up and rushed out of the hut, to where a mounted harpoon was -standing. He threw himself upon the harpoon, which penetrated his breast and came -out at the back. Three men followed him, and holding the harpoon line led the Angatok, -bleeding profusely, to all the huts in the village. When they arrived again at the -first hut, <span class="pageNum" id="pb231">[<a href="#pb231">231</a>]</span>he pulled out the harpoon, lay down on the bed, and was put to sleep by the song of -another Angatok. When he awoke after a while he showed the people he was not hurt, -although his clothes were torn and they had seen him bleeding.” (Monograph on the -Central Eskimo, by Dr. Boas.) -</p> -<p>The underlying idea in the treatment of all sickness (as distinguished from accident) -being that some spirit is offended and is punishing the <span class="corr" id="xd31e2940" title="Source: deliquent">delinquent</span>, it becomes necessary to discover what custom has not been complied with or what -observance has been omitted, or what prohibition has been neglected. The science of -divining what spirit, too, is antagonised, comprises perhaps the whole volume of Eskimo -fetish and superstition. The conjuror knows beforehand, of course, the character and -the failings of any individual he may be called upon to attend. He makes a shrewd -guess from hearsay what the man may have been doing, and by skilful questions and -half accusations, manages pretty generally to get at the core of the matter and extort -more or less genuine (if wholly irrelevant) confession. -</p> -<p>There are some crimes for which there is no forgiveness, such as having communion -with the dead, especially the <i lang="iu-latn">Toopelat</i>, i.e., the earth-bound spirits of indifferent folk. If the sick man confesses to -this, there is no hope of cure for him. Adown the long interrogatory we come upon -a few questions which illumine the apparent nonsense of all the rest with gleams of -good human sense and logic: Have you <span class="pageNum" id="pb232">[<a href="#pb232">232</a>]</span>stolen from the sick? Have you greatly lied about your neighbours or your race? Have -you been abusive to the old folk? And—for a woman—have you concealed a miscarriage? -</p> -<p>Otherwise the questions turn upon whether the patient (if a woman) has worked upon -forbidden sorts of skins, i.e., heavy and arduous work likely to upset her (if she -is enceinte), at certain seasons; whether the meat of land and sea creatures has been -eaten at the same meal; whether shell fish were gathered when seal should have been -hunted; whether lamps were cleaned during a time of taboo, etc., etc. The underlying -idea of half these prohibitions is lost in the obscurity of time immemorial, and the -Eskimo to-day can account for them no better than by saying, “As <span class="corr" id="xd31e2952" title="Source: out">our</span> fathers did, so do we.” -</p> -<div class="figure p232width" id="p232"><img src="images/p232.jpg" alt="Specimens of Native Ivory Carving." width="445" height="720"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">Specimens of Native Ivory Carving.</span></p> -<p class="first">(1) A hunter sitting at a seal hole. (2) A Kayak off for a day’s hunt. (3) Hunter -spearing seal in the springtime. (4) Hunter and his wife returning from a day’s sealing.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The invalid thoroughly believes in the authority and omniscience of the conjuror. -He racks his brains for the remembrance of some breach of the unwritten social law, -and generally succeeds in the effort, and so complies with what is required of him. -Should he be so grievously ill, however, that the conjuror can elicit no sort of response, -should the sickness be obviously leading to death, the failure of all these proceedings -is taken as proof positive that a crime has been committed beyond the power of the -witch doctor’s machinations to palliate, because beyond the power of the spirits to -forgive. -</p> -<p>In any less serious case the practitioner has a peculiar method whereby to determine -the probable <span class="pageNum" id="pb233">[<a href="#pb233">233</a>]</span>duration of the sickness, and also its gravity. He has among his assistants minor -conjurors called the head or leg lifter, as the case may be; and an incantor whose -business it now becomes to squat upon the floor with covered head and improvise a -chant for the occasion. He is called the <i lang="iu-latn">Kunneyo</i>. -</p> -<p>As soon as this wail begins the others assistants bind a piece of wood upon the sick -man’s head with a length of thong, and lift it tentatively as if in the act of weighing -it, asking the spirit meanwhile wherein the patient has offended. If the head is inert -and heavy feeling, he is judged to be guilty; if it feels light, he is innocent. Sometimes -the wood is bound upon the leg, and this is lifted instead of the head. When this -examination is over and the patient has promised to comply with any orders given him, -the conjuror commands, “Let the bindings be cast off.” This is done, and he pursues, -“Let the cause of guilt be cast away, and let him recover.” -</p> -<p>The penalty imposed often takes the form of some abstinence to be observed for a time. -When the illness has been brought about by gluttony or exposure, this injunction, -joined to a period of rest and quietness, may prove quite enough to restore the patient -to his accustomed health. Nature does her own work. Should there have been some real -fear or disquiet of mind, the whole thing simply resolves itself into a faith cure. -Incidentally, the Angatok maintains his inflated authority, and earns a fat livelihood. -He exacts payment, of course—a dog, a sled, a skin, a <span class="pageNum" id="pb234">[<a href="#pb234">234</a>]</span>length of line, and the favours of the patient’s wife; and prescribes the use of various -charms. These charms may be a fringe of deer or bearskin, a spider or beetle sewn -up in a piece of skin, worn on boot or breast or back, as directed. Most potent of -all is a scrap of the garment worn during the first year of life, and this is always -affixed to the cap or hood. Then, of course, a present has to be given to the spirit. -Some small article is placed among the rocks and dedicated. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb235">[<a href="#pb235">235</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch17" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e363">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XVII</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">Sport and Hunting</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">A whole book could be written on Eskimo sport and on the Eskimo methods of hunting -generally. These methods are based, of course, on an intimate knowledge and experience -of the habits and characters of the arctic birds and animals. Something has already -been said in this connection about seals and seal hunting. But a little space must -now be devoted to some account of a few more of these methods and adventures. -</p> -<p>With the coming of March, the sealing season has set in. The days begin to draw out, -the sun climbs higher in the heavens, and even sheds a faint warmth now on the lee -side of shelter, if there be no movement in the air. The seals are arriving in droves, -and their young are being born in their caves under the snow, all over the wide expanse -of the ice off shore. -</p> -<p>A spirit of restlessness seizes upon the tribesfolk. The hunting weapons are gladly -brought out for examination and getting in readiness; the small hunting sleds are -put in order; the heavy winter deerskin clothing is laid aside and the lighter garments -of summer sealskin put in thorough repair, to don as <span class="pageNum" id="pb236">[<a href="#pb236">236</a>]</span>soon as the tribe shall be ready to move off en masse to the sealing grounds. Mysterious -meetings take place between the Angakooeet and the chiefs, when the spring campings -are fully discussed and arranged among them. -</p> -<p>At last the great day arrives when, with much shouting and bustle, the sleds are loaded -and the dogs harnessed. Each hunter and his wife assemble and pack their belongings—the -lamp, the cooking pot, the box of small tools, the large knife for building (i.e., -for cutting out blocks of snow), spears, lines, spare skins for clothing, etc., etc., -etc. The baby is popped into the mother’s hood; the boy takes up his station by the -team, to learn to drive and manage it, and with many a shout, much touching of noses -in farewell, cracking of whips, laughter and joking, each outfit pulls out and drives -away, off into the frozen bay. -</p> -<p>The old folk are left behind in the village, to await the end of the season, to dress -the skins brought in to them every now and again by boys returning from the camps. -Sealmeat abounds; everyone gorges to Eskimo repletion and lives in luxury. The ground -is covered with skins, pegged out to dry in the sun, prior to being scraped, washed, -and prepared for making up. -</p> -<p>The newly flensed hide is first freed from its inner layer of fat and blubber, and -this is rendered down for oil for the lamps. The fur is then washed with warm water -to remove the grease. Then small holes are pierced all round the edge of the skin, -and the <span class="pageNum" id="pb237">[<a href="#pb237">237</a>]</span>whole is pegged out to its full extent on a frame, or merely on the ground, to dry -and sweeten and bleach in the genial brightness of the arctic spring day. After this -process, the inner membrane is first pared off, and the skin is ready to be tailored. -Everyone left behind in the village on shore is kept busy at this sort of work. -</p> -<p>As the spring sealing season wears on towards the arctic summer, an entire change -comes over the activities of the tribesfolk. They have, now, to prepare for the long -trail inland to the feeding ground of the deer. Stacks of provisions are accumulated, -and the boats and kyaks got ready for the trip to the head of the fiord, whence the -expedition will make its start. The framework of the <i>umiaks</i> is carefully examined, and new pieces put in where required. All thongs and lashings -are strengthened or renewed; secondary skins in former times were prepared as boat -coverings, to be discarded when they became so waterlogged as to check the pace. As -a rule, one of these large travelling boats is owned and shared by several families, -and will contain the whole of their effects. -</p> -<p>At length these preparations are complete. The day comes when a general packing up -absorbs all the energies of the tribe. Tents are struck and folded away at the bottom -of the boat, together with big consignments of sealskin buckets and hunting weapons. -The women ship the ponderous and unhandy oars, children and dogs pile in on top of -everything, and <span class="pageNum" id="pb238">[<a href="#pb238">238</a>]</span>the men take up their travelling stations fore and aft, in readiness to defend the -transport from any sort of attack, or to launch a harpoon at any likely prey. -</p> -<p>They pull away joyously and hilariously on the great summer trip. As often as the -wind will allow they hoist the great square sail made of seal intestine, and one member -of the crew takes up a station beside it with a water bucket, to keep it constantly -wet. Otherwise it would dry, and split into ribbons before the breeze. At the present -day canvas sails are used. -</p> -<p>Every now and again, as they coast along among the islands, they put in here or there -for fresh supplies of drinking water. At night they fetch some well-known point for -an encampment. The <i>umiaks</i> are moored, heather and driftwood collected, fires lit, kettles slung, and the evening -stew set to simmer, while the men forage afield for the next day’s provender. Then, -rolling themselves up in their blankets, the travellers drop off to sleep right there -on the ground, under the shelter of whatever cover it may afford, to be up and under -way again before sunrise next morning. -</p> -<p>The days pass very pleasantly. The scenery is grand, the weather clear and sunny; -the water, gemmed with islands dark brown and green, is still as a mill-pond. The -fleet of primitive, uncouth-looking skin boats, filled with barbaric northern folk -with tattooed faces and guttural speech, reproduces a picture of pre-historic times. -Many of these scenes of Eskimo life and enterprise are deserving of record <span class="pageNum" id="pb239">[<a href="#pb239">239</a>]</span>by the best of artists, if only to bring before us in these effete days of over-civilisation -a vivid, still existent, picture of the very earliest adventures of the human race. -</p> -<p>At length the head of the inlet is reached. The boats proceed up river at high tide -to the appointed place of debarkation. Here the <i>umiaks</i> are hauled well inshore, unloaded, dismantled, and turned over, to be covered with -a pile of stones against the time of the hunter’s return. The personal treasures of -the women are also hidden away in some safe cavity among the rocks, and left there. -Then the loads are carefully apportioned all round, and made up in bundles according -to the strength of their carriers. The men bear the weapons and ammunition only and -travel light, in order to go on ahead and secure game on the trail. Children are lightly -loaded, and the old people carry nothing but their own belongings; so that the bulk -of the heavy transport falls on the able-bodied women of the tribe. Each one toils -along under tent poles and coverings, piles of skins and meat, and the baby of the -family into the bargain. The whole staggering load is hoisted on to the woman’s back -and secured by lashings round the waist and a broad leather band round the forehead. -She is almost wholly eclipsed by the enormous burden. -</p> -<p>So they file off, one by one, from the point of landing, and make their way to the -uplands and the appointed general meeting place of all the tribes engaged upon the -annual hunt. Thither many such <span class="pageNum" id="pb240">[<a href="#pb240">240</a>]</span>parties converge: the people from Fox Channel, the tribe from the neighbourhood of -Kikkuktâkjuak, or Big Island, the Saddlebacks, the <i lang="iu-latn">Noovingmeoot</i> from Frobisher Bay, and as many more from north, south, east and west. They time -themselves all to arrive as punctually as possible. The spot is a high plateau among -the hills, at the head of the inlet described above. -</p> -<div class="figure p240width" id="p240"><img src="images/p240.jpg" alt="An Eskimo in his Kayak." width="486" height="720"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">An Eskimo in his Kayak.</span></p> -<p class="first">With white whales in tow. -</p> -<p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">Beginning to Build a Snow House.</span> -</p> -<p>The first tier of snow blocks.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>When at last all the tribes have assembled, the elders hold a general meeting and -decide upon the direction and the details of the prospective hunt. As soon as this -important business is settled the people give themselves up <i lang="fr">en masse</i> to a few days’ holiday-making. -</p> -<p>It is the height of arctic summer; food abounds; and friends meet each other once -again after a year of separation. The people are care-free and happy. No danger threatens -from any direction. So that Eskimo good spirits attain their highest pitch, and for -a short time the people abandon themselves to their every hospitable and sociable -instinct, to their love of jollity and fun, to sports all day, to singing, entertainments, -feasting and story-telling of an evening and well into the night. -</p> -<p>The sports are inter-tribal. There are running and wrestling matches, too, races and -competitions of all sorts. The youth are keenly aware of being watched by the bright, -sloe-eyed, laughing girls, and of being criticised or applauded by the elders. As -true a sporting spirit of emulation, good temper and fair play obtains <span class="pageNum" id="pb241">[<a href="#pb241">241</a>]</span>in this far-away arctic festival as on the famous “playing fields of Eton,” and as -many a romance comes of it as well. For this is an immensely important social and -fashionable function among these primitive folk, and men and maidens meet and strike -many a match of their own. -</p> -<p>There are contests with the bow and arrow. Poles are fixed in the ground with skins -suspended from them to represent deer and seals. The vital spot, of course, is the -Eskimo idea of the bull’s eye. The spear-throwing competition calls for a high degree -of skill. From the top of a fixed, inclined pole, a line is carried to the earth, -having an ivory ring tied in it half way down. This ring is carefully concealed by -fringes of hide, and the spear throwers, stationed at a recognised distance away, -have to cast their weapons deftly through it. The attempt demands the greatest accuracy -of vision and training of the hand. The contests are very keen, and great éclat awaits -those who distinguish themselves. Their names become household words round the <i>igloo</i> lamps all during the succeeding winter, much as those of crack footballers become -familiar to the sporting manhood of this country. -</p> -<p>In the evening come the singing contests—quite one of the most important features -of the annual festival. Ethnologists generally are agreed that the Eskimo excel in -poetry and music. Improvisation with them is a recognised art. Every man is something -of a composer, and is called upon whenever festivities are <span class="pageNum" id="pb242">[<a href="#pb242">242</a>]</span>in progress to contribute a number of his own to the improvised concert. The form -of these songs is quite strict, and the melodies, even to unaccustomed European ears, -may be reduced to accepted notation. Travellers who have but a superficial acquaintance -with the arctic folk, distinguish little in the extempore contests of the Kagge or -of the Sedna ceremony but sheer barbaric cacophony—yowlings, yells, and monotonous -and seemingly endless repetition. But there are some to whom Gregorian chant itself -conveys but little more! -</p> -<p>These Eskimo songs deal with any and every subject which may occur to the singer, -those of a satirical or personal or topical character proving the most popular. The -contests give rise to untold amusement and delight. Nothing is more appreciated in -the whole round of the programme. As a rule, the competitors are only men. The “ptarmigans” -(i.e., those born at the end of winter or beginning of spring) challenge the “ducks” -(or those born in the summer). Each side extols its own prowess in hunting, its natal -advantages, etc., etc., to the detriment of the other. All sorts of ridicule is poured -upon the opposite party, causing the wildest merriment among the auditors, who shriek -with laughter at each successful or witty sally, clap their hands, and vociferate -over the comedian who wins the contest. The Eskimo have a very lively sense of fun, -and appreciate each home thrust and happy skit every bit as keenly as a Cockney music-hall -audience. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb243">[<a href="#pb243">243</a>]</span></p> -<p>The Kagge, or singing house, of the summer deer-hunt is, like that of the Sedna ceremony, -a big round house, similarly tenanted by the people in circles around the walls. The -summer Kagge is built of sod and stones. The women wear skin gloves—the backs black -and the palms white—and take their station behind everybody else, with the children. -The men come next, and the Angakooeet, as judges, sit in the front circle. The centre -of the house is left vacant for the performers. -</p> -<p>The first part of the entertainment consists of songs describing the exploits of the -dead and gone heroes and hunters of the tribe, each song having a refrain which is -taken up by the women, who sway their bodies from side to side as they sing, so raising -and lowering their arms as to show first a circle of waving white and then a circle -of waving black hands. Many of these songs are old-established favourites, extemporised -at first by some individual as his own contribution to some occasion, which “caught -on” and became part of the tribe’s collective musical tradition. -</p> -<p>After these come the extempore efforts of the current evening. Each man contributes -a song of his own, turning upon some event in his career, or some more or less poetic -fancy which has occurred to him. The songs have probably been composed and polished, -and possibly practised, in private for some time, but the contest is the occasion -of their publication to the musical world. They are most attentively received, and -judged by the Angakooeet. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb244">[<a href="#pb244">244</a>]</span></p> -<p>The outstanding event of the evening, to which all look forward on the tip-toe of -expectation, is the tournament of satires between the ptarmigans and the ducks. A -ball of thoroughly good-tempered musical ridicule is tossed backwards and forwards -between each pair of singers, accompanied by roars of laughter from the auditors, -who hold their sides and roll in ecstasies of enjoyment. Tears of merriment stream -down the women’s faces. -</p> -<p>This sort of thing goes on night after night for as long as a whole week; and only -at the end of that time does the gathering begin to break up, and set about the prodigious -business of getting on with the summer’s work. -</p> -<p>As soon as this interlude of festivity and recreation is concluded, the tribes separate, -each bound for its own appointed sphere of hunting operations, independently of the -others. The new camp is soon pitched in some sheltered valley where there is a running -stream, but not too close to the selected district, for fear of alarming the shy quarry. -The men then go daily to search the hills and stalk the deer. -</p> -<p>As soon as a herd is located, word is passed down to the camp, and the women rally -to the men’s assistance. As each arrives she receives her instructions from the hunters. -A valley is selected having but one exit, where there seem to be plenty of boulders. -The women station themselves in a rough sort of ring all round it, hidden behind the -rocks, each one with her skin jacket off and slung over her arm. Meanwhile, <span class="pageNum" id="pb245">[<a href="#pb245">245</a>]</span>the men creep up, and, keeping also under cover, surround the herd, and begin, by -the well aimed throwing of first one stone, then another, to drive it off in the direction -of the selected ravine, where other hunters are gathered in force with bows and arrows -ready. -</p> -<p>The deer, still suspecting nothing, move slowly to their fate. Presently one woman, -to the rear, and then another, gets up in the open and beats her jacket on the rock -behind which she had been hiding. This scares the creatures forward in the right direction, -and drives them within the reach of the men. Directly they come within bowshot their -doom is sealed. So skilful are the hunters that no man expends more than an arrow -apiece on the deer. The whole herd is killed with the greatest celerity. -</p> -<p>The carcases are retrieved and skinned, and immense feasting follows. These manœuvres -are repeated day after day throughout the whole season, until the snow begins to appear -again on the higher ranges, and the arctic summer is on the wane. Gradually the tribesfolk -move off again towards the lower grounds, the south, and the sea, transporting with -them huge bundles of invaluable skins and a great quantity of deer hams, until one -by one they reach the various points of water where they left and stored their boats -on the up-country trip. -</p> -<p>There is no general point of assembly on the return journey. Each tribe takes its -own course and works its way back towards its own territory unaccompanied <span class="pageNum" id="pb246">[<a href="#pb246">246</a>]</span>by the others. The women and children get a brief spell of rest when they reach the -coast, while the men put in a few days seal hunting, to provision the homeward voyage. -Finally, the <i>umiaks</i> are <span class="corr" id="xd31e3076" title="Source: lauched">launched</span> again and reloaded to the very gunwales; the sails are hoisted, and the fleet draws -away through the archipelagoes of the coast to its port of registration! -</p> -<p>Not infrequently on one of these big summer hunting expeditions, traces are discovered -of a winter deer hunting party which had been overtaken by disaster. The evidences -of some tragedy lie there for all to read: the sled torn to pieces, weapons scattered -about, small boxes lying here and there, and bones—human, canine or vulpine—all over -the place. Hunger, perhaps, overtook the party; sickness followed. Wolves attacked, -or the hungry team of dogs got out of hand and tore down the hunters, who were unable -successfully to defend themselves. The writer could instance many a savage incident -of this description. -</p> -<p>In a very <span class="corr" id="xd31e3082" title="Source: similiar">similar</span> district to the one described in the preceding account of the summer hunting, there -was a fiord leading up to a landlocked bay, a favourite resort of the white whales. -Regularly each year the hunters of the tribes in the vicinity used to go to hunt these -creatures with gun and spear, taking splendid hauls of meat back to the camp, and -bales of stout hide to be made into thongs, harness, etc. So much flesh and offal -was left about on the scene of action that wolves came to infest the entire region. -In early <span class="pageNum" id="pb247">[<a href="#pb247">247</a>]</span>spring the fiord afforded a particularly good sealing ground, being so sheltered from -the crashing seas outside. -</p> -<p>An Eskimo and his son ventured thither one day, intending to form a camp there for -awhile and put in some good hunting. Mile after mile was covered, headland after headland -passed, until they were nearing the sealing grounds, when the dogs began to show signs -of panic. They could scarcely be got to proceed, no matter how sharply urged by voice -and whalehide whip. Nothing moving, however, caught the keen sight of the men; no -sound came to their ears. Suddenly, just as they passed another point, a fierce howl -rang out on the bitter air, followed by a chorus of more howls, and a large pack of -wolves swept out from behind it and came into full view. They had been lying in wait -until the sled came up. Their bleached coats had rendered them invisible until they -moved. -</p> -<p>The hunters at once realised their deadly peril, and turning instantly about, headed -at top speed for home. A long fierce chase ensued. There was no need to drive the -dogs. They strained every terrified nerve in their bodies and flew over the ice. The -wolves rushed on behind. They spread out fanwise, trying to encircle the dogs and -cripple them one by one as opportunity offered, by making brilliant forward dashes -and slashing with savage fangs at their legs. -</p> -<p>The man thrust a sealing spear into the boy’s hands and shouted to him to thrust it -at any wolf attempting <span class="pageNum" id="pb248">[<a href="#pb248">248</a>]</span>to attack at close quarters at side or rear, while he himself, armed with the terrible -dog whip, lashed out continuously with the courage of despair, and the effectiveness -of years of practice. He roared, and swung the murderous thong over the backs of the -team, so as to protect it from the attacking wolves, crippling any one of them who -ventured within its sweep. As often as one of the <span class="corr" id="xd31e3094" title="Source: bloodthristy">bloodthirsty</span> brutes rushed in, it was met with a terrific cut, and fell back howling and disabled. -</p> -<p>Hour after hour the awful race went on; until at last, when it seemed even to the -hardy and seasoned hunter that neither he nor the wretched dogs could sustain the -strain a moment longer, they came in sight of the last headland which hid the settlement -from view. A final heroic effort might yet bring them to safety! -</p> -<p>With a yell of encouragement to the exhausted son, and renewed vigour in his wielding -of the whip, the hunter pressed on. The wolves, realising that their prey was actually -escaping, redoubled their efforts to close in upon the sled. It dashed round the point -only in the nick of time. The dogs in camp beyond, scenting what was afoot, instantly -rushed out to give battle to the wolves. The pack, perceiving that the odds were now -heavily against them, snarled viciously, turned coward tails, and vanished.… -</p> -<p>The refugees arrived in camp in a state of utter collapse. The man’s whip arm was -swollen beyond further usage, like his tongue, and his voice had gone. <span class="pageNum" id="pb249">[<a href="#pb249">249</a>]</span>He staggered to his house, and both he and the boy lay there for days before either -sufficiently recovered to rise and go about their ordinary work again. -</p> -<p>Many a party have been waylaid by wolves like this, and have not had the good fortune -to survive. Should there be a shortage of food, resulting in subsequent sickness and -weakness among the travellers or hunters, they fall victims very easily to the rapacity -of the savage animal denizens of the wild. The male dogs of the teams get killed, -and the females join the marauding horde and revert to their wolfish state. -</p> -<p class="center">THE SONG OF THE PINTAILED DUCK. -</p> -<p class="center">As sung in Competition in the Kagge. -</p> -<div lang="iu-latn" class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">Samane samiyeyiya, iya, neakoa koololotingoâle -</p> -<p class="line">Sigoole kokiglotingoale aglokugle pooarkretingoagle -</p> -<p class="line">Okagle allotingoarkinna ikkoâto kettemalotikogikgoa -</p> -<p class="line">Ookeonne pissorayakattalale ipâ adyelikjolikpanma -</p> -<p class="line">Iya annungmenik ipa sosooktelaneyonele annamane -</p> -<p class="line">Adyegegaloâgoone kattargit nippotenekpategikkoa -</p> -<p class="line xd31e3115">Issungatoot annenarsuarâyakto.</p> -</div> -<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb250">[<a href="#pb250">250</a>]</span></p> -<p>Free Translation of the Song of the Pintailed Duck in Competition with the Ptarmigan. -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“His head is like a swollen thumb joint, -</p> -<p class="line">His beak is like the thumb nail. -</p> -<p class="line">His lower beak is like a shovel, and his tongue is like a spoon. -</p> -<p class="line">They come together (the Ptarmigans) in the winter; -</p> -<p class="line">They walk together, and make a soft sleeping place -</p> -<p class="line">By covering the hard rocks with dung. -</p> -<p class="line">But their breasts freeze hard down to this, -</p> -<p class="line">They flap their wings, -</p> -<p class="line">And try to fly away …”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">The singer goes through all the appropriate (if somewhat broad) actions of this bit -of burlesque, flapping his arms to ridicule the birds caught fast on the rocks in -their own frozen droppings. The Ptarmigan is not slow to respond. -</p> -<p class="center">THE SONG OF THE HUNTER. -</p> -<div lang="iu-latn" class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">Panneyukpayiyeyâ â sakkokalemukkoa -</p> -<p class="line">Panneyuktarrekâ okeoksaktalimingmat -</p> -<p class="line">Samaniyiyeyeya â sakkokalemukkoa -</p> -<p class="line">Panneyuktarreka oonarramanna panneyaktarrega -</p> -<p class="line">Okeaksaktalemingmat sammiyiyeyiya â -</p> -<p class="line">Ipparramanna toosneksaktangmeta innarlo -<span class="pageNum" id="pb251">[<a href="#pb251">251</a>]</span></p> -<p class="line">Sângane samiyiyeyeya â oonaralelidlugolemanaeyâ -</p> -<p class="line">Iyuksaktareka innâlo sângane samiyiyeyiyâ â -</p> -<p class="line">Kinnalena imnarlo sângane.</p> -</div> -<p class="first">Free Translation of the Song of the Hunter: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“He is preparing his hunting weapons and his <span class="corr" id="xd31e3149" title="Source: ammuntion">ammunition</span>. -</p> -<p class="line xd31e3115">Mine also are being prepared, -</p> -<p class="line xd31e3115">Because it is again autumn. -</p> -<p class="line">My spear is prepared, and my seal warp. -</p> -<p class="line">Because they catch the sound of my preparing, -</p> -<p class="line xd31e3115">Of my placing my spear, -</p> -<p class="line xd31e3115">In the front of the high cliffs -</p> -<p class="line xd31e3115">The seals have gone away. -</p> -<p class="line">Although the face of the high cliffs -</p> -<p class="line xd31e3115">Smells of the seals” -</p> -<p class="line">(Understood, yet they have gone away.)</p> -</div> -<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb252">[<a href="#pb252">252</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch18" class="div1 last-child chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e373">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XVIII</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">The Creatures of the Wild</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Bear hunting, again, is pursued by the Eskimo with no less zest than that of the seal -or deer. It forms quite a subject by itself, and calls for some description of its -own customs, methods, and superstitions. -</p> -<p>The bear is much respected by the Eskimo for his intelligence and cunning, and his -strength. Indeed, they consider him second only, among the creatures of the wild, -to man himself. It is for this reason that they so often choose for their “tongak,” -or guardian familiar, the spirit of a bear. -</p> -<p>One very curious belief about the animal is that the bear himself has a <i lang="iu-latn">tongak</i> (quite distinct from his <i lang="iu-latn">Tarngnil</i> or soul), and that when this spirit requires any new commodity, such as a new seal -warp or line, which is represented by the black skin round the mouth of its protégé, -this <i lang="iu-latn">tongak</i> causes the bear to fall in the hunter’s way and be killed. The hunter spares the -black skin, and refrains from cutting it when flaying the carcase, as an offering -to the spirit. A further offering of the sort is made by transfixing various portions -of the beast’s body and entrails on a stake or spear, together with a man’s implement—<span class="pageNum" id="pb253">[<a href="#pb253">253</a>]</span>such as a knife, if the bear were a male, or a woman’s implement, such as a needle -or skin scraper, if it were a female—and exposing the gift for three days. At the -end of that time it is thrown into the sea. -</p> -<p>In bear hunting, the rule is for the skin to go to the first hunter who sights the -prey (not necessarily the first to kill it.) The best part of the body goes to him -who deals the fatal blow. -</p> -<p>The arctic bear is not an hibernating animal, for it is only the female who sleeps -through the winter. The pair hunt together until the approach of winter, when the -female, fat, and in the pink of condition after the summer months of good feeding, -searches for a suitable place in which to retire and bear her cubs. She generally -chooses a sheltered spot on land, where the snow lies deeply drifted. The two partners -scratch out a comfortable cave in this, and the female then enters and rolls herself -up to sleep. The male bear blocks up the entrance, and the next fall or drift of snow -effectively completes his task, and obliterates all traces of the animal’s activities. -He takes himself off, to roam about at his own sweet will, and attend to nobody’s -appetite but his own for the next few months, returning to the female only in the -spring, when she emerges from her hiding place, gaunt and hungry, and accompanied -by the cubs. The male is always the safer creature to hunt at such a season, since -the female is then thoroughly out of condition and very savage. -</p> -<p>Bears are particularly fond of and feed upon the <span class="pageNum" id="pb254">[<a href="#pb254">254</a>]</span>blubber of seal and walrus, and resort to many tricks in order to procure it. The -older generation of hunters studied the habits of the arctic creatures more carefully -than do the Eskimo of to-day, and affirm many interesting things as to the bear’s -tactics when on the prowl for food. They—the bears—know just as much about seal hunting -as the tribesmen know, i.e., that these creatures lie about on the ice in the frozen -bays, but are so wary of danger that they plunge out of sight in an instant through -their “<i>agloes</i>” or seal holes at the slightest alarm. The bear goes nowhere near the sealing ground -at first, but makes his way up any slight hill or eminence in the neighbourhood from -which he can view the seals, and their adjacent holes. He impresses some sort of a -map of it all, and of the safest route towards it, on his mind, and then makes the -best haste he can towards the broken ice along-shore. He slides down the snow on his -haunches like a tobogganist, carefully avoiding any rocks and obstacles projecting -themselves in his path. After that, he creeps along with extraordinary caution towards -the first sleeping seal he has marked down. He is all but invisible against the white -background, and he is absolutely silent. He just glides towards his victim, and then -at the last, when sufficiently close, he rushes forward and kills it with a single -blow of his paw. -</p> -<p>In the latter part of the spring, when the seal holes have become so enlarged that -several of the animals may be making use of the same one, the bear takes <span class="pageNum" id="pb255">[<a href="#pb255">255</a>]</span>careful note of this fact and adopts a bolder plan of action. He creeps up to any -neighbouring hole, examines it, dives down through it, and swims along under the ice -towards the place where the seals are congregated. He suddenly pops up through their -own particular hole, thus cutting off their retreat, kills them at his leisure, and -gorges on their fat. -</p> -<div class="figure p255width" id="p255"><img src="images/p255.png" alt="Wolf Trap." width="648" height="234"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">Wolf Trap.</span></p> -<p class="first">The wolves and foxes were trapped by the hunters in the above manner. A small igloo -was built in the broken ice along the sea shore where it would not be conspicuous, -and a loaded gun fixed pointing to the entrance, which did not allow space for anything -but forward movement. A trail of meat led to the entrance, inside of which was a piece -of meat (ancient) tied to a string, the other end of the string was attached to the -trigger. The wolf entered, seized the meat, and shot himself.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>When hunting walrus the bear adopts different tactics. He knows that these creatures -are at a great disadvantage on land, but that they love to drag themselves up on to -the rocks or shore ice, and lie there asleep or basking in the sun beneath some cliff, -and safely screened from their principal enemy—man. When the bear sights a walrus -in such a position, he risks no direct attack, but takes careful note of the situation, -loads a massive piece of ice or rock upon his shaggy shoulder, and making a cunning -détour, works his way to some spot directly behind and above his <span class="pageNum" id="pb256">[<a href="#pb256">256</a>]</span>intended victim. Then he <span class="corr" id="xd31e3212" title="Source: lauches">launches</span> his missile down upon its head. The skull of the walrus is so thick it is almost -impossible to smash it; but at least the animal is stunned, and the bear has only -to scramble down and complete his work with a blow or two of his paw. -</p> -<p>(This method of hunting, incredible though it seems, has been emphatically affirmed -by several ancient hunters.) -</p> -<p>No wonder the human hunter has conceived the highest respect for the bear, and is -anxious to secure his <i lang="iu-latn">Tongak</i> for a familiar spirit! -</p> -<p>In the water the walrus is a swift and formidable creature, to capture whom taxes -the kyaker’s utmost skill and courage. The man has nothing but his spear and drag, -i.e., an inflated sealskin attached to his spearhead, by means of which the animal, -when transfixed, is prevented from diving too deeply or travelling too fast. As he -approaches the walrus, man and beast manœuvre for an opening. The kyaker, keenly on -the alert, with a touch of the paddle just keeps his frail craft moving until the -other, with a sudden grunt and roar, rushes at him through the water, rearing right -up at striking distance, a terrible vision indeed, with huge slavering tusks, eyes -bloodshot and glistening with rage … The coolest courage is required to face it! -</p> -<p>The hunter pauses there for just that fraction of a second until the creature is upon -him, then slips aside, and the harpoon drives deep as the animal surges <span class="pageNum" id="pb257">[<a href="#pb257">257</a>]</span>past. It instantly dives, intending to come up and tear the kyak from beneath. But -the drag of the float upon the line checks it and causes it to misjudge the distance, -so that when it rises the kyak is not there. Meanwhile, the hunter has easily kept -track of the beast’s rush under water, by the air bubbles (or by his highly trained -instinct), and when its savage head reappears he races up, and strikes it in the face -before it has recovered from its bewilderment. The startled, baffled foe immediately -dives again, and remains below the surface as long as possible, only to be driven -down once more the instant it emerges for a breath of air. -</p> -<div class="figure p257width" id="p257"><img src="images/p257.png" alt="An Eskimo Trap for Bears, Foxes or Wolves." width="719" height="332"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">An Eskimo Trap for Bears, Foxes or Wolves.</span></p> -<p class="first">This was used before the time of Europeans living in this country. The trap was composed -of thin pieces of whalebone with sharpened points bent up and bound at the top by -cross strings of gut or sinew, the whole being embedded in a piece of meat and left -in the run of animals. The animal swallows the meat and trap. The gut strings dissolved -in the stomach and the instrument sprang open as in the accompanying sketch, transfixing -the stomach and killing the animal.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>At last, utterly exhausted and nearly drowned, it comes up the last time and meets -its fate at the hands of the plucky and relentless pursuer. Should the <span class="pageNum" id="pb258">[<a href="#pb258">258</a>]</span>hunter miss his stroke at the first awful attack and fail to get clear, the kyak is -instantly overturned and the man savagely mauled in the water, the walrus driving -its tusks right through his body time and time again. Or it sometimes seizes the hunter -between its flippers and, in full view of the other kyakers, holds him under water, -coughing hoarse defiance at them all as they rush up to the rescue; and then slowly -submerges, taking its enemy with it. Such are the casualties of arctic life. -</p> -<p>One of the very few creatures who seems to have it all his own way in the frozen regions -of the north is the raven. He supplies an element of sheer impishness and insouciance -in Eskimo life, without which the native might want for a good deal of fun and aggravation. -</p> -<p>The bird abounds everywhere. Even in the most bitter and desolate spots the raven -turns up in a sufficiently glossy and well nourished condition. His huge beak is a -formidable weapon and always stands him in good stead. He is like a spirit of mischief, -able to calculate to a hair how near to spear or gun he may with safety venture. He -is the despair of men and dogs alike. He is an expert thief, and cannot be excelled -in pilfering. -</p> -<p>During the day, whilst the hunters are away and there is nothing much doing, the raven -sits on a crag or other convenient spot overlooking the village, and with a melancholic -and malignant eye broods in disgust. You can almost hear him hoarsely remark: -<span class="pageNum" id="pb259">[<a href="#pb259">259</a>]</span></p> -<p>“What a rotten show! What a poverty-stricken hole! This really is the limit! Not a -scrap to filch since daybreak!” -</p> -<p>Should you pass by, he brightens up and cocks an eye at you in an expectant way, as -though it were the plainest duty of all bipeds to shed scraps and bits for him to -enable him to pick up an honest living. Although, as a matter of fact, he much prefers -a dishonest one. -</p> -<p>Towards evening, there is an air of expectancy about the raven group. They have trimmed -themselves up and sharpened their beaks on any stone or pole handy for the purpose. -As the hunters begin to put in an appearance the birds move off and entrench themselves -behind such cover as the neighbourhood may afford. They know from experience that -man is uncertain with his gun, and it may go off unexpectedly with detrimental effects -to themselves. Anyhow, they prefer to have a boulder in between. -</p> -<p>Presently one bird, sharper-set than the rest, peers from his concealment to see how -things are progressing. A croak of disgust at the leaden-footedness of events announces -his observations to the rest. But presently a hunter emerges from his house with a -bowl of dainties for the dogs (the dainties are more or less putrid), and empties -it into a tumultuous crowd of them, when each one vies with his neighbour in catching -and bolting as much as possible in the least space of time. At this, there is an ebon -rush from <span class="pageNum" id="pb260">[<a href="#pb260">260</a>]</span>the surrounding crags, and a fierce rear attack upon the dogs from the voracious birds. -</p> -<p>A beak like cold steel driven deep into a dog’s flank just as he is engulfing a particularly -delicious morsel, tends to make him choke. He does so in fact, and his feathered aggressor, -striking hard now at his nose, snatches the lump of meat from him in the very act -of flapping and floating off to safety in mid air. The dog, disgusted and disappointed -beyond expression, sits down and howls maledictions on thieves in general and ravens -in particular, to the remotest of their generations. -</p> -<p>No one loves the raven. The hunter uses every art to catch him, but generally in vain. -He will set out early of a winter’s morning with a supply of the most cunning traps -he can contrive, and of the most tempting bait. Nothing is in sight as he leaves the -camp. When he reaches the trapping grounds he sets a line of fox traps in all the -most likely places, and carefully conceals his work with snow. But his every movement -his been ’cutely watched, and as soon as his back is turned there comes an amused -and contemptuous croak, as who should say: “What an ass! Do you suppose I’m not equal -to <i>that</i>?” -</p> -<p>The croaker spreads bold wings and sails over to the trap. Inserting his bill beneath -it like a lever, he simply wrests it over and so springs it. In a trice he tweaks -out the bait and bolts it. He makes a point of being there on the hunter’s return -in the evening, just to hear his remarks. The bird has the audacity <span class="pageNum" id="pb261">[<a href="#pb261">261</a>]</span>indeed to sit there, close by, his head upon one side and a bored expression in his -eye, as though he were reflecting on the pitiable amateurishness of the whole affair. -</p> -<div class="figure p261width" id="p261"><img src="images/p261.png" alt="A Seagull Trap." width="712" height="636"><p class="figureHead"><span class="sc">A Seagull Trap.</span></p> -<p class="first">The skins of these birds are used for socks, which go over the fur stocking and inside -the boot to prevent the cold striking through to the foot. The old hunters build a -small <i>igloo</i> amid the broken ice of the sea shore, leaving a hole in the top. Pieces of blubber -are scattered outside to attract the gulls, who alight by the side of the hole and -are caught by their legs and dragged inside. The flesh is eaten.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>“What!” he seems to say. “You call that a snare? And you think you’re eloquent about -it now! Why, if it comes to that, I could make your hair stand on end with the force -and aptness of my remarks!” -<span class="pageNum" id="pb262">[<a href="#pb262">262</a>]</span></p> -<p>With a hoarse, derisive note, he rises then and wheels off into the arctic empyrean. -</p> -<p>The gulls, on the other hand, come well within the category of those creatures whom -the Eskimo hunter can outwit. These birds are always much in demand, both as food -and for the sake of their skins, which latter, turned inside out, make capital socks. -The old men spend a good deal of their time in winter, catching gulls. -</p> -<p>The hunter builds himself a small <i>igloo</i> among the rough ice by the seashore, and creeps inside. He proceeds to cut a hole -in the top just big enough for the passage of a bird’s body, and round this opening, -on the outside, he spreads attractive bits of seal meat and blubber. Then he prepares -to wait. Presently a gull, sweeping by on the endless search for food, spies these -dainties, and descrying no sign of foe or danger, swoops ever nearer and nearer, until -at last it alights on top of the <i>igloo</i> for a brief second, seizes a morsel and wheels off again. Nothing untoward having -occurred, the bird grows bolder, returns, and finally settles down to the feast outspread -in that tempting spot. -</p> -<p>Suddenly a hand comes up and grips it by the legs, and drags it downwards through -the hole. Another hand slides up its body to its neck, so that it cannot fight or -bite, and in a moment or two the life is choked out of it. Bird after bird is caught -in this way, until at the end of the day the hunter returns to the village under a -load of white and grey feathers. He laughs <span class="pageNum" id="pb263">[<a href="#pb263">263</a>]</span>delightedly to think how he has tricked the greedy gulls, and how his cunning bird-calls -have deceived one after another. -</p> -<p>He recounts the story of it all over the cooking pot into which the birds are thrown -as soon as skinned, and keeps his women-folk well entertained as they sit chewing -the skins to pliability in their strong white teeth, for the rest of the arctic evening. -</p> -<p>Such is a glimpse into the lives of these brave and hardy warriors of the North, a -country which they love. Fierce and relentless though it be, it brings out all the -best that is in them. All honour and praise to them. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb265">[<a href="#pb265">265</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="back"> -<div id="app" class="div1 appendix"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e381">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">APPENDIX</h2> -<h2 class="main"><span class="sc">Eskimo Deities</span></h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"><i lang="iu-latn">Sedna.</i> Goddess of sea animals, but not of the sea itself. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Ooluksâk.</i> God of the lakes. He lives by the side of the lakes, and it is by his instrumentality -that the conjurors get their light when performing their rites. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Tekkitserktok.</i> God of the land. He owns all deer. This god is greater in power than all the other -gods. Offerings are made to this god by hunters before going inland for the annual -deer hunt. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Kingoatseak.</i> This god lives in the sea and is like a dog in appearance; legs very thin like a -dog’s. Is not able to come to the surface. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Sinnilktok.</i> Lives on the land. One side of this god is like a woman, one side like a dog. It -is a benevolent spirit, gives seals to the conjurors and cures the sick, but is very -much afraid of Eskimos and dogs. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Keekut.</i> Lives on land and is like a dog without hair. Is an evil spirit, and does evil of -various kinds. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Segook.</i> This spirit has a head like a crow and a body like a human being, and is black, and -has wings. It does good and brings meat to the Eskimos in its beak. It eats the eyes -of deer and seals. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Tekkonatelik.</i> A spirit living on land, with a body like a fox, fiery eyes, red hair. Benevolent -in disposition. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Eeyeekadluk.</i> Lives on land. In appearance like a short man with fairly large eyes, black face, -very short legs, eyes frightful to look upon. Lives in a stone <i>igloo</i>. Good spirit, tries to cure the sick. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Mummerreak.</i> Lives on land. Like an Eskimo, masc. gender, but has his hair dressed like a woman, -and his skin clothes have no hair upon them. Good spirit; is helpful by heaving rocks -at the deer and killing them. The deer are then found by the Eskimos. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb266">[<a href="#pb266">266</a>]</span></p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Angootelooktook.</i> Lives on land. Like a man in appearance. His thighs are crippled and he wobbles whilst -walking. Benevolent spirit; keeps close to the conjurors and pays heed to his incantations. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Nooesarnak.</i> Lives on land. In appearance like a woman with thin legs. Is clothed like a woman, -in deerskins. Has a deerskin mask. Benevolent spirit; always wishes to give deerskins -to the people. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Toodlanak.</i> Lives on land. Like a woman in appearance. Is a great walker, and walks about with -bedding and <i lang="iu-latn">tupik</i> (tent) on her back, as the people do when on journey inland. She has no husband. -Has a nice, pleasant face, and wears long boots. She is a good spirit and gives deer -to the Eskimo, i.e., drives them within their reach. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Aipalookvik.</i> This spirit is malevolent and lives on the sea bottom. Has a large head and face, -human in appearance, but ugly like a cod’s. Is a destroyer by desire, and tries to -bite and eat the kyakers (canoemen). -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Akktonakjuvoonga</i>, or <i lang="iu-latn">Akktonakjuak</i>. Live under the sea. Are very thin in appearance and like Eskimo. They congregate -and cry to each other, “<i lang="iu-latn">Shevarktonakjoovoonga</i>” the others replying, “<i lang="iu-latn">Shevarktonakjoovtit</i><span class="corr" id="xd31e3368" title="Not in source">”</span> (I am a rope. Reply: Thou art a rope). -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Ogjunak.</i> Lives on land. Like an Eskimo in appearance, one side black, one side white. Has -European clothes. Face covered with hair, thin legs, arms and body. Good spirit; tries -to cure sick. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Koopvilloarkju.</i> Lives on land. Like a small Eskimo man. Has orange coloured hair and orange coloured -clothes. Good spirit; said to give food and heal the sick. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Ooleooyenuk.</i> Lives by the side of the sea. Like a man in appearance, his clothes made with lapels -and scallops. Eats seaweed. Good spirit. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Aulanerk.</i> Lives in the sea. Like a stout man. Is naked, writhes about and makes waves. Is a -source of joy to the Eskimo. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Naput.</i> Lives on land. Like an Eskimo; is very thin, cannot walk, but jumps and stands upright. -He is never angry, and classed as a good spirit. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Angemenooat.</i> Lives on land. Is like a woman, very thin, almost like a skeleton, and has a string -round her waist like a <span class="pageNum" id="pb267">[<a href="#pb267">267</a>]</span>woman who is carrying a child. Has very large clothes and a benevolent mind. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Ookomark.</i> On land. Like a short, thin man; very large, round face, a stout body. Is very strong, -and is dangerous if seen by mortals. Lives in a stone house and kills animals with -stones. (Not benevolent; temper uncertain; needs careful handling.) -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Oovineroolik</i><span class="corr" id="xd31e3404" title="Source: =">. </span>Those who were flesh. (These are the spirits of departed Europeans.) Lives on land; -clothed in a shirt; like a European in appearance. Has a boat and hunts seals. Is -captain of three boats, two of which are manned by other departed Europeans. When -boats are full, meat given to the Eskimo. Very good spirits. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Isserootaitok.</i> (Also spirit of departed European.) Lives on land; like a European in appearance. -Wears a jacket with no buttons. Always arrives from a distance; has no boat, but tries -to do good. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Nessallogainalik.</i> Lives on land. Has no clothes, but wears a hat. Is like a European; generally sleeps -on a ship; is supposed to be the spirit of a departed sailor. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Oyakkert.</i> This spirit is an Innooa and not a Tongak. It lives in small stones; in appearance -like an Eskimo. Has a very red face, black body and legs; is very thick and heavy. -Only seen by conjurors. Has no attributes. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Koodjânuk.</i> First-class spirit. When the world was made he was a very large bird with black head -and hooked beak, white body. Lived on the boundary of the earth. Is a benevolent spirit; -a trifle blasé through age. Has the ability to give, and does so when asked by the -conjurors; also heals sick. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Poolaiyittok.</i> Lives on land, by the side of the lakes. Like a woman in appearance. Is accompanied -by a dog like a white fox. Is a good spirit and does good when asked. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Bokoomeerlekuluk.</i> Lives on the sea bottom. Like a fox in appearance, with fur, black in colour; but -head and face like an Eskimo, with two tusks, which are used for cleaning purposes -and for killing seals, which are given to the Eskimo. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Kalluktok.</i> Lives on land and on ice. Like an Eskimo, dwarf in size. He has dogs and a sled, -and is a good hunter. Gives meat to the people. Is very swift with his sled. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb268">[<a href="#pb268">268</a>]</span></p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Kulaktok.</i> Lives on land in a <i lang="iu-latn">tupik</i> (skin tent). Like an old woman, and is the mother of Kalluktok. She is always cooking, -because her son is a good hunter. She constantly gives food to her Tongak friends. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Kallooetok.</i> Lives on land. Is father to Kalluktok and husband of Kullaktok. Is a bad hunter because -his eyes are bad. He is very old and does not go hunting, but has good intentions -to the Eskimo. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Tooktooak.</i> Lives on land. In appearance like a very tall and thin Eskimo; hair white and clothing -black, with no hair upon it. He is a good spirit in intention. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Koodjaunuk.</i> Lives at the bottom of the sea. Like an Eskimo. Wears no clothes and is very thin. -He is not one to be feared, as his intentions are good, and comes to the surface when -called by the conjuror. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Toonekotario.</i> This one lives on land. It is the spirit of one of the departed Tooneet. Carries -a bone harpoon and comes as often as invoked. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Aumanil.</i> Lives on land. Has a black face with fiery eyes. His mouth, eyes and nostrils are -very much distended when invoked by the conjuror. He guides whales. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Nootaitok.</i> The spirit of the Icebergs. He lives in the sea. Like an Eskimo. Wears black skin -clothes; has bright eyes. Is a good spirit and gives seals when invoked. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Adjarkpaluk.</i> Lives on land. Is like a European, and wears European clothing. When invoked, will -come from afar. He has a good mind and does no harm. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Tooloreak.</i> Lives on land. Is like an Eskimo. Has large canine teeth like a bear; wears bearskin -trousers, and the rest of his clothing of skin without hair. Black in colour. Does -not wear boots, but has feet covered with hair. He is a good spirit and comes when -called and gives as desired. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Agloolik.</i> He lives beneath the ice like an ogjuk (large seal). He is the guardian spirit of -the seal holes. He gives seals to the hunters and is considered a good spirit. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Akselloak.</i> This is the spirit of the rocking stones. When called he arrives rolling, and when -near the conjuror he falls flat upon his face. He is considered a good spirit. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Tootegâ.</i> Like a small woman. Lives on an island in a stone house. She is able to walk upon -the sea. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb269">[<a href="#pb269">269</a>]</span></p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Ataksâk.</i> Lives in the sky. He is like a ball in appearance. He has the means of joy within -himself, thus he is the joy-giver. He comes to the Eskimo as often as he is invoked -by the conjuror. He has many strings of charms on his clothing. These charms are very -bright, and as he moves about his body is also bright. He arrives to the people as -a ball of light and causes the people to be joyful, through the conjuror. He is considered -good. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Kingmingoarkulluk.</i> He lives on land and is like a very small Eskimo. When seen he is always singing -with joy: “<span lang="iu-latn">Kingmingoarkulloona, aiya, samaiya</span>.” (He is always singing that he is <span lang="iu-latn">Kingmingoarkulluk</span>.) The name is derived from a plant called <span lang="iu-latn">Kingmingoark</span>. He is of a good disposition and does good generally. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Ooyarraksakju.</i> She lives in the big stones, hence her name: the beautiful material for stone. She -is like a large woman in appearance, lives on various things; gives various good things -to the Eskimo. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Ooyarrauyamitok.</i> Has no definite abode. Is sometimes on earth, sometimes in Heaven. In appearance -is like a middle-aged Eskimo. Is frequently invoked by the conjurors when incanting. -This god, if invoked and respected, gives meat to the Eskimo, i.e., enables them to -get it. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Koodloorktaklik.</i> He lives far inland and is like a man, and does not wish to be seen by the Eskimo. -He is bright and clean in appearance. He does good to the sick, and in various other -ways. He generally has the ends of deer hoofs attached to his clothing, hence his -name. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Kakkakotauyak.</i> Lives on land. Is like a dog in appearance; whitish in colour. His eyes and nose -are black. He is not dangerous, even if seen. Has amiable characteristics, and sends -seals and deer to the Eskimo. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Sillaseak.</i> Lives inland, and is like a man. He never goes on the ice. He lives in a house under -the earth. He gives deer to the Eskimo when deer-hunting. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Kattakju.</i> Lives on land and is like an old woman in appearance and is very tall. She presides -by the sick when the conjuror tests them by head or leg lifting, and reveals their -state and chances of recovery to the conjuror. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Niksiglo.</i> This god lives under the earth, and is like one with a hook with a line attached. -In appearance he is like a <span class="pageNum" id="pb270">[<a href="#pb270">270</a>]</span>walrus tusk. Is a Tongâk and a bad character. He steals the hunters’ deer and seals -by hooking them. He is seen only by conjurors, if seen at all. There are many of these -tongâk, and if seen stealing by a conjuror, the aid of another conjuror is called -in. The spirits of these two search for the thief; the one watching from above, the -spirit of the other goes below, and from a small house beneath the dwelling of the -tongâk he is able to see the thief and kill him. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Angalootarlo.</i><span class="corr" id="xd31e3540" title="Source: —"> </span>Is another tongâk and a bad character. He is a great thief, and has two personalities; -is like a large bearded seal when in the sea, and like an Eskimo when on the ice. -He is frightful in appearance and works in the following manner: When an Eskimo is -alone at sea in his kyak, this tongâk, keeping the appearance of a seal, swims away -from land and is followed by the kyaker. When a long distance from land, the tongâk -gets upon a piece of ice and the kyaker, having no gun, follows to kill him, still -thinking it is a seal. Then, when the hunter draws near, the tongâk changes his shape -into that of an Eskimo, and kills the hunter, he having no gun and being very near. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Pukkeenegak.</i> Lives on land, and is like a small woman, with face tattooed. She has her hair done -up into a knot on the top of her head, like the Greenlanders. She has very large boots -(kummeek) made from the deer legs, and has very nice clothes. Is quite aristocratic. -She is considered to be good, as she gives food, material for clothes, and babies, -to the Eskimo women. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Toodlayoeetok</i>, also <i lang="iu-latn">Pissukyongnangetok</i>. Has his abode in Heaven. Is like an Eskimo, but cannot walk, hence his name: he -who is unable to walk. He sits on a small sled and propels himself along by two sticks. -He is considered a good deity. He catches animals by lassooing them, and then gives -them to the Eskimo. -</p> -<p><i lang="iu-latn">Orkshualik.</i> Lives on land ice. -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 imprint"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first center small">PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY <br> -THE DUNEDIN PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 map"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure mapwidth"><a href="images/maph.jpg"><img src="images/map.jpg" alt="Map for “Among Unknown Eskimo.”" width="700" height="720"></a><div class="figAnnotation mapwidth"><span class="figBottomLeft small"><i>Scale: 75 Statute miles to 1 inch</i> = 1 : 4,752,000. -</span><span class="figTop"> </span><span class="figBottomRight small"><i>Copyright: Seeley Service & C<sup>o</sup>. L<sup>td</sup>.</i></span></div> -<p class="figureHead">Map for “Among Unknown Eskimo.”</p> -</div><p> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb271">[<a href="#pb271">271</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ix" class="div1 index"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e389">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">INDEX.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Aged, the respect for, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>. -</p> -<p>Amateur Surgery, <a href="#pb25" class="pageref">25</a>. -</p> -<p>Ancient Dwellings, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>. -</p> -<p>Angakooeet or conjurors, <a href="#pb76" class="pageref">76</a>, <a href="#pb93" class="pageref">93</a>, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a>, <a href="#pb160" class="pageref">160</a>, <a href="#pb196" class="pageref">196</a>, <a href="#pb209" class="pageref">209</a>, <a href="#pb211" class="pageref">211</a>, <a href="#pb214" class="pageref">214</a>, <a href="#pb223" class="pageref">223</a>, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>, <a href="#pb230" class="pageref">230</a>, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>. -</p> -<p>Arctic animals, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb252" class="pageref">252</a>, <a href="#pb263" class="pageref">263</a>. -</p> -<p>— Birds, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>. -</p> -<p>— Explorers, <a href="#pb17" class="pageref">17</a>, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>. -</p> -<p>— Flowers, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Astronomy, <a href="#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>. -</p> -<p>Autumn, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>, <a href="#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>. -</p> -<p>Baffin Bay, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>. -</p> -<p>Baffin Land, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>, <a href="#pb23" class="pageref">23</a>, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>. -</p> -<p>— Dimensions, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>. -</p> -<p>— Geology, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>. -</p> -<p>— Scenery, <a href="#pb36" class="pageref">36</a>. -</p> -<p>— Vegetation, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>. -</p> -<p>Baffin, William, <a href="#pb18" class="pageref">18</a>, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>. -</p> -<p>Bears, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb92" class="pageref">92</a>, <a href="#pb98" class="pageref">98</a>, <a href="#pb164" class="pageref">164</a>, <a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>. -</p> -<p>— Hunting, <a href="#pb252" class="pageref">252</a>, <a href="#pb254" class="pageref">254</a>. -</p> -<p>— Hunting methods of, <a href="#pb254" class="pageref">254</a>, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a><span class="corr" id="xd31e3777" title="Not in source">.</span> -</p> -<p>Behring Strait, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>. -</p> -<p>Birds, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>. -</p> -<p>Birth-rate, <a href="#pb67" class="pageref">67</a>. -</p> -<p>Blankets, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>. -</p> -<p>Blow-holes, <a href="#pb86" class="pageref">86</a>, <a href="#pb87" class="pageref">87</a>. -</p> -<p>Blubber, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>. -</p> -<p>Boat-building, <a href="#pb112" class="pageref">112</a>, <a href="#pb114" class="pageref">114</a>. -</p> -<p>Bompass, Bishop, <a href="#pb25" class="pageref">25</a>. -</p> -<p>Boothia, Gulf of, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>. -</p> -<p>Boots, <a href="#pb109" class="pageref">109</a>, <a href="#pb110" class="pageref">110</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb272">[<a href="#pb272">272</a>]</span></p> -<p>Bruce, Prof. W. S., <a href="#pb25" class="pageref">25</a>, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Building, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>. -</p> -<p>Butterflies, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>. -</p> -<p>Bylot, <a href="#pb18" class="pageref">18</a>. -</p> -<p>Cannibalism, <a href="#pb103" class="pageref">103</a>, <a href="#pb104" class="pageref">104</a>. -</p> -<p>Characteristics of the Eskimo, <a href="#pb68" class="pageref">68</a>, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>, <a href="#pb206" class="pageref">206</a>. -</p> -<p>Charms, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>. -</p> -<p>Cheerfulness, <a href="#pb86" class="pageref">86</a>. -</p> -<p>Childbirth, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>, <a href="#pb160" class="pageref">160</a>. -</p> -<p>Children, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>, <a href="#pb239" class="pageref">239</a>. -</p> -<p><span class="corr" id="xd31e3925" title="Source: Civilization">Civilisation</span>, dangers of, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>. -</p> -<p>Clothing, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>, <a href="#pb108" class="pageref">108</a>, <a href="#pb110" class="pageref">110</a>, <a href="#pb112" class="pageref">112</a>. -</p> -<p>Coal, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>. -</p> -<p>Communism, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>. -</p> -<p>Conjurors, <a href="#pb76" class="pageref">76</a>, <a href="#pb93" class="pageref">93</a>, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a>, <a href="#pb160" class="pageref">160</a>, <a href="#pb196" class="pageref">196</a>, <a href="#pb209" class="pageref">209</a>, <a href="#pb211" class="pageref">211</a>, <a href="#pb214" class="pageref">214</a>, <a href="#pb223" class="pageref">223</a>, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>, <a href="#pb230" class="pageref">230</a>, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>. -</p> -<p>— payment of, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>. -</p> -<p>— training of, <a href="#pb197" class="pageref">197</a>, <a href="#pb198" class="pageref">198</a>. -</p> -<p>Cooking, <a href="#pb98" class="pageref">98</a>. -</p> -<p>— utensils, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>. -</p> -<p>Davis, John, <a href="#pb18" class="pageref">18</a>. -</p> -<p>Day’s work, the, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>. -</p> -<p>Death, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>. -</p> -<p>— customs, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>, <a href="#pb170" class="pageref">170</a>, <a href="#pb204" class="pageref">204</a>. -</p> -<p>Deer, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>. -</p> -<p>— hunting, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>, <a href="#pb245" class="pageref">245</a>. -</p> -<p>Deities, <a href="#pb209" class="pageref">209</a>, <a href="#pb265" class="pageref">265</a>, <a href="#pb270" class="pageref">270</a>. -</p> -<p>Deserted snow-houses, <a href="#pb84" class="pageref">84</a>. -</p> -<p>Dialects, <a href="#pb173" class="pageref">173</a>. -</p> -<p>Disposition of tribes, <a href="#pb62" class="pageref">62</a>. -</p> -<p>Dog-boots, <a href="#pb122" class="pageref">122</a>. -</p> -<p>Dogs, <a href="#pb119" class="pageref">119</a>, <a href="#pb120" class="pageref">120</a>, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>. -</p> -<p>— feeding, <a href="#pb127" class="pageref">127</a>, <a href="#pb128" class="pageref">128</a>, <a href="#pb259" class="pageref">259</a>. -</p> -<p>— training, <a href="#pb120" class="pageref">120</a>, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>, <a href="#pb124" class="pageref">124</a>. -</p> -<p>Domestic implements, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>, <a href="#pb98" class="pageref">98</a>, <a href="#pb108" class="pageref">108</a>. -</p> -<p>— work, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>. -</p> -<p>Dundee whaling fleet, <a href="#pb22" class="pageref">22</a>. -</p> -<p>Dwellings of ancient inhabitants, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb273">[<a href="#pb273">273</a>]</span> -</p> -<p>Early Arctic exploration, <a href="#pb17" class="pageref">17</a>, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>. -</p> -<p>Education, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>. -</p> -<p>— of conjurors, <a href="#pb197" class="pageref">197</a>, <a href="#pb198" class="pageref">198</a>. -</p> -<p>— of girls, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>. -</p> -<p>Egede, Hans, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>. -</p> -<p><span class="corr" id="xd31e4217" title="Source: Employes">Employees</span>, Eskimo, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>. -</p> -<p>Ermine, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>. -</p> -<p>Eskimo, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>, <a href="#pb34" class="pageref">34</a>, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>, <a href="#pb65" class="pageref">65</a>, <a href="#pb66" class="pageref">66</a>, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>, <a href="#pb206" class="pageref">206</a>. -</p> -<p>— of Labrador, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>. -</p> -<p>— astronomy, <a href="#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>. -</p> -<p>— dogs, <a href="#pb119" class="pageref">119</a>–135. -</p> -<p>— history, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>. -</p> -<p>— hospitality, <a href="#pb46" class="pageref">46</a>, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>, <a href="#pb101" class="pageref">101</a>, <a href="#pb161" class="pageref">161</a>. -</p> -<p>— language, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>, <a href="#pb178" class="pageref">178</a>, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>. -</p> -<p>— maps, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>, <a href="#pb71" class="pageref">71</a>. -</p> -<p>— numerical strength, <a href="#pb61" class="pageref">61</a>. -</p> -<p>— origin, <a href="#pb60" class="pageref">60</a>, <a href="#pb61" class="pageref">61</a>. -</p> -<p>— tribes, <a href="#pb62" class="pageref">62</a>, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>. -</p> -<p>— war with Norsemen, <a href="#pb67" class="pageref">67</a>. -</p> -<p>— women, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>, <a href="#pb98" class="pageref">98</a>, <a href="#pb102" class="pageref">102</a>, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>, <a href="#pb160" class="pageref">160</a>. -</p> -<p>Exploration, early Arctic, <a href="#pb17" class="pageref">17</a>, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>. -</p> -<p>Farrar, Dean, <a href="#pb173" class="pageref">173</a>. -</p> -<p>Fatalism, <a href="#pb228" class="pageref">228</a>. -</p> -<p>Fauna, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb252" class="pageref">252</a>, <a href="#pb263" class="pageref">263</a>. -</p> -<p>Firesticks, <a href="#pb102" class="pageref">102</a>. -</p> -<p><span class="corr" id="xd31e4413" title="Source: Flemming">Fleming</span>, Rev. A. L., <a href="#pb113" class="pageref">113</a>. -</p> -<p>Flora, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>. -</p> -<p>Folk-lore, <a href="#pb104" class="pageref">104</a>, <a href="#pb105" class="pageref">105</a>, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>, <a href="#pb195" class="pageref">195</a>. -</p> -<p>Fossils, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>. -</p> -<p>Foxes, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb93" class="pageref">93</a>. -</p> -<p>Franklin, Sir John, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>. -</p> -<p>Freezing of salt water, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>. -</p> -<p>Frobisher, shipwreck of, <a href="#pb19" class="pageref">19</a>. -</p> -<p>Funeral customs, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>. -</p> -<p>Games, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>. -</p> -<p>Geology, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>. -</p> -<p>Government agents, <a href="#pb69" class="pageref">69</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb274">[<a href="#pb274">274</a>]</span></p> -<p>Grammar, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>, <a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>, <a href="#pb180" class="pageref">180</a>. -</p> -<p>Grampus, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>. -</p> -<p>Granite, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>. -</p> -<p>Graphite, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>. -</p> -<p>Greenland, <a href="#pb18" class="pageref">18</a>, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Grinnell Land, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Gulf Stream, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>. -</p> -<p>Gulls, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>, <a href="#pb263" class="pageref">263</a>. -</p> -<p>Hair-dressing, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>. -</p> -<p>Harness, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>. -</p> -<p>Heaven, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>. -</p> -<p>Hell, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>, <a href="#pb170" class="pageref">170</a>, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>. -</p> -<p>Heroism, <a href="#pb96" class="pageref">96</a>. -</p> -<p>History, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>. -</p> -<p>Housewives, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>. -</p> -<p>Hospitality, <a href="#pb46" class="pageref">46</a>, <a href="#pb83" class="pageref">83</a>, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>, <a href="#pb101" class="pageref">101</a>, <a href="#pb161" class="pageref">161</a>. -</p> -<p>Hostility to white men, cause of, <a href="#pb68" class="pageref">68</a>. -</p> -<p>Hovelaque, M., <a href="#pb174" class="pageref">174</a>. -</p> -<p>Hudson Bay Fur Trading Company, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>, <a href="#pb23" class="pageref">23</a>, <a href="#pb29" class="pageref">29</a>. -</p> -<p>Hudson, Henry, <a href="#pb18" class="pageref">18</a>, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>. -</p> -<p>Humour, <a href="#pb242" class="pageref">242</a>, <a href="#pb244" class="pageref">244</a>. -</p> -<p>Hunting, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>, <a href="#pb87" class="pageref">87</a>, <a href="#pb88" class="pageref">88</a>, <a href="#pb90" class="pageref">90</a>, <a href="#pb92" class="pageref">92</a>, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>, <a href="#pb249" class="pageref">249</a>, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a>, <a href="#pb257" class="pageref">257</a>. -</p> -<p>— dangers of, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>, <a href="#pb258" class="pageref">258</a>. -</p> -<p>Hypnotism, <a href="#pb196" class="pageref">196</a>, <a href="#pb199" class="pageref">199</a>, <a href="#pb200" class="pageref">200</a>, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>. -</p> -<p>Ice, <a href="#pb26" class="pageref">26</a>, <a href="#pb27" class="pageref">27</a>,28, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>, <a href="#pb117" class="pageref">117</a>. -</p> -<p>Icebergs, <a href="#pb28" class="pageref">28</a>, <a href="#pb29" class="pageref">29</a>. -</p> -<p>Ice-rafts, <a href="#pb117" class="pageref">117</a>. -</p> -<p>Igloo or snowhouses, <a href="#pb72" class="pageref">72</a>, <a href="#pb76" class="pageref">76</a>, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>. -</p> -<p>Illness, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>. -</p> -<p>Improvidence, <a href="#pb103" class="pageref">103</a>. -</p> -<p>Infanticide, <a href="#pb143" class="pageref">143</a>. -</p> -<p>Infants, method of carrying, <a href="#pb109" class="pageref">109</a>. -</p> -<p>Inland sea, traces of, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>. -</p> -<p>Interior, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>. -</p> -<p>Ironstone, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>. -</p> -<p>Journeys, preparation for, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>. -</p> -<p>Justice, summary, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb275">[<a href="#pb275">275</a>]</span> -</p> -<p>Kagge or singing house, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>, <a href="#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>. -</p> -<p>Kettles, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>. -</p> -<p>Kummotik or heavy sled, <a href="#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>. -</p> -<p>Kyak, <a href="#pb112" class="pageref">112</a>, <a href="#pb113" class="pageref">113</a>, <a href="#pb114" class="pageref">114</a>, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a>, <a href="#pb257" class="pageref">257</a>. -</p> -<p>— management of, <a href="#pb113" class="pageref">113</a>, <a href="#pb115" class="pageref">115</a>. -</p> -<p>Labrador, Eskimo of, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>. -</p> -<p>Lakes, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>. -</p> -<p>Lamps, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>, <a href="#pb81" class="pageref">81</a>. -</p> -<p>Language, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>. -</p> -<p>— agglutinative character of, <a href="#pb178" class="pageref">178</a>. -</p> -<p>— of spirits, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>. -</p> -<p>— system of writing, <a href="#pb175" class="pageref">175</a>. -</p> -<p>Laws and customs, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>–141. -</p> -<p>Legends, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>, <a href="#pb195" class="pageref">195</a>. -</p> -<p>Lemming, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>, <a href="#pb83" class="pageref">83</a>. -</p> -<p>Letters, Eskimo, <a href="#pb176" class="pageref">176</a>. -</p> -<p>Maps, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>, <a href="#pb71" class="pageref">71</a>. -</p> -<p>Marine life, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>. -</p> -<p>Marriage customs, <a href="#pb142" class="pageref">142</a>, <a href="#pb155" class="pageref">155</a>, <a href="#pb156" class="pageref">156</a>, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>, <a href="#pb162" class="pageref">162</a>, <a href="#pb213" class="pageref">213</a>, <a href="#pb214" class="pageref">214</a>. -</p> -<p>Mask, conjurors’, <a href="#pb211" class="pageref">211</a>. -</p> -<p>Meals, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>, <a href="#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>, <a href="#pb143" class="pageref">143</a>. -</p> -<p>Migration of birds, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Miocene Period, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>. -</p> -<p>Miracles, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>, <a href="#pb230" class="pageref">230</a>. -</p> -<p>Morals, <a href="#pb142" class="pageref">142</a>, <a href="#pb204" class="pageref">204</a>. -</p> -<p>Moravian missions, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>. -</p> -<p>Marrett, Dr, <a href="#pb194" class="pageref">194</a>. -</p> -<p>Mosquito, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>. -</p> -<p>— death from, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Moss, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>. -</p> -<p>Mountain lakes, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>. -</p> -<p>Musk-ox industry, proposed, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a>. -</p> -<p>Names, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>. -</p> -<p>— of seasons, <a href="#pb46" class="pageref">46</a>. -</p> -<p>— of deities, <a href="#pb265" class="pageref">265</a>, <a href="#pb270" class="pageref">270</a>. -</p> -<p>Nandla, the blind huntsman, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>, <a href="#pb153" class="pageref">153</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb276">[<a href="#pb276">276</a>]</span></p> -<p>Nanook, the Great Bear, <a href="#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>. -</p> -<p>Nansen, Fridtjof, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>. -</p> -<p>— on the Arctic summer, <a href="#pb36" class="pageref">36</a>. -</p> -<p>— on the Eskimo, <a href="#pb65" class="pageref">65</a>. -</p> -<p>Narwhal, the, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>. -</p> -<p>Norsemen, war with, <a href="#pb67" class="pageref">67</a>. -</p> -<p>Northern lights, <a href="#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>. -</p> -<p>North-west passage, <a href="#pb17" class="pageref">17</a>, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>. -</p> -<p>— discovery of, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>. -</p> -<p>Occultism, <a href="#pb196" class="pageref">196</a>, <a href="#pb197" class="pageref">197</a>, <a href="#pb200" class="pageref">200</a>, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>. -</p> -<p>Oil, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>. -</p> -<p>— a common error about, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>. -</p> -<p>Ooloo, or knife, <a href="#pb108" class="pageref">108</a>, <a href="#pb113" class="pageref">113</a>. -</p> -<p>Operation, an amateur surgical, <a href="#pb25" class="pageref">25</a>. -</p> -<p>— a native, <a href="#pb227" class="pageref">227</a>. -</p> -<p>Oral tradition, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>. -</p> -<p>Origin of Eskimo, <a href="#pb61" class="pageref">61</a>. -</p> -<p>Ornaments, personal, <a href="#pb110" class="pageref">110</a>. -</p> -<p>Pack ice, <a href="#pb26" class="pageref">26</a>, <a href="#pb27" class="pageref">27</a>. -</p> -<p>Paddles, <a href="#pb115" class="pageref">115</a>, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>. -</p> -<p>Parry, Captain, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>. -</p> -<p>Peace and plenty, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>. -</p> -<p>Pintailed duck, song of, <a href="#pb249" class="pageref">249</a>, <a href="#pb250" class="pageref">250</a>. -</p> -<p>Pleistocene period, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>. -</p> -<p>Poetry, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>. -</p> -<p>Polar-bears, <a href="#pb164" class="pageref">164</a>, <a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>, <a href="#pb254" class="pageref">254</a>. -</p> -<p>Polygamy, <a href="#pb142" class="pageref">142</a>, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>. -</p> -<p>Poppy, yellow, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>. -</p> -<p>Primitive barter, <a href="#pb63" class="pageref">63</a>. -</p> -<p>Primitive peoples, pacific nature of, <a href="#pb69" class="pageref">69</a>. -</p> -<p>Ptarmigans and ducks, contest of, <a href="#pb242" class="pageref">242</a>, <a href="#pb244" class="pageref">244</a>. -</p> -<p>Purple-sandpiper, the, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Purgatory, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>. -</p> -<p>Pyrites, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>. -</p> -<p>Ravens, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>, <a href="#pb258" class="pageref">258</a>, <a href="#pb260" class="pageref">260</a>. -</p> -<p>Raw meat, <a href="#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb277">[<a href="#pb277">277</a>]</span></p> -<p>Recuperative powers, <a href="#pb226" class="pageref">226</a>. -</p> -<p>Red fox, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>. -</p> -<p>Red Indians, <a href="#pb67" class="pageref">67</a>. -</p> -<p>Reindeer, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb244" class="pageref">244</a>, <a href="#pb245" class="pageref">245</a>. -</p> -<p>— moss, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>. -</p> -<p>Religion, <a href="#pb205" class="pageref">205</a>, <a href="#pb206" class="pageref">206</a>, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>, <a href="#pb265" class="pageref">265</a>, <a href="#pb270" class="pageref">270</a>. -</p> -<p>Respect for the old, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>. -</p> -<p>Richardson, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>. -</p> -<p>Ross, Commander Sir John, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>, <a href="#pb23" class="pageref">23</a>, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>. -</p> -<p>Sacrifice, human, <a href="#pb193" class="pageref">193</a>. -</p> -<p>Sails, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a>. -</p> -<p>Salmon-trout, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>. -</p> -<p>Salt water, freezing of, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>. -</p> -<p>Sandpiper, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Sanitation, lack of, <a href="#pb81" class="pageref">81</a>. -</p> -<p>Scurvy, <a href="#pb25" class="pageref">25</a>. -</p> -<p>Sea unicorn, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>. -</p> -<p>Seals, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb87" class="pageref">87</a>, <a href="#pb88" class="pageref">88</a>, <a href="#pb90" class="pageref">90</a>, <a href="#pb91" class="pageref">91</a>, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>. -</p> -<p>— hunting, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>, <a href="#pb87" class="pageref">87</a>, <a href="#pb88" class="pageref">88</a>, <a href="#pb90" class="pageref">90</a>, <a href="#pb91" class="pageref">91</a>, <a href="#pb93" class="pageref">93</a>, <a href="#pb94" class="pageref">94</a>, <a href="#pb95" class="pageref">95</a>. -</p> -<p>— by bears, <a href="#pb90" class="pageref">90</a>, <a href="#pb91" class="pageref">91</a>, <a href="#pb255" class="pageref">255</a>, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a>. -</p> -<p>— oil, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>. -</p> -<p>Seasons, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>. -</p> -<p>Sedna, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>, <a href="#pb208" class="pageref">208</a>. -</p> -<p>— legend of, <a href="#pb184" class="pageref">184</a>, <a href="#pb187" class="pageref">187</a>, <a href="#pb193" class="pageref">193</a>. -</p> -<p>— ceremony of, <a href="#pb210" class="pageref">210</a>, <a href="#pb223" class="pageref">223</a>. -</p> -<p>Sense of danger, <a href="#pb94" class="pageref">94</a>. -</p> -<p>Seorapik, story of, <a href="#pb149" class="pageref">149</a>. -</p> -<p>Servants, Eskimo as, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>. -</p> -<p>Sewing-thread, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>, <a href="#pb114" class="pageref">114</a>. -</p> -<p>Sex equality, <a href="#pb102" class="pageref">102</a>. -</p> -<p>Singing, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>, <a href="#pb220" class="pageref">220</a>, <a href="#pb242" class="pageref">242</a>, <a href="#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>. -</p> -<p>— houses, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>, <a href="#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>. -</p> -<p><span lang="iu-latn">Sinniktâkvik</span> or temporary snowhouse, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>. -</p> -<p>Skins, the preparation of, <a href="#pb99" class="pageref">99</a>, <a href="#pb113" class="pageref">113</a>, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>. -</p> -<p>Sleds, <a href="#pb118" class="pageref">118</a>, <a href="#pb131" class="pageref">131</a>, <a href="#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>. -</p> -<p>— ancient form of, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>. -</p> -<p>— harness, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb278">[<a href="#pb278">278</a>]</span></p> -<p>Sleeping benches, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>, <a href="#pb143" class="pageref">143</a>. -</p> -<p>Snow bunting, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Snowhouses, <a href="#pb76" class="pageref">76</a>, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>, <a href="#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>, <a href="#pb81" class="pageref">81</a>, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>. -</p> -<p>Social habits, <a href="#pb99" class="pageref">99</a>. -</p> -<p>Socks, <a href="#pb109" class="pageref">109</a>, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>. -</p> -<p>Souls of inanimate objects, <a href="#pb205" class="pageref">205</a>. -</p> -<p>Spears, <a href="#pb114" class="pageref">114</a>. -</p> -<p>Spirits, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>, <a href="#pb193" class="pageref">193</a>, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>, <a href="#pb252" class="pageref">252</a>, <a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>. -</p> -<p>— language of, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>. -</p> -<p>Spring in the Arctic, <a href="#pb43" class="pageref">43</a>, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>. -</p> -<p>Stockings, <a href="#pb109" class="pageref">109</a>. -</p> -<p>Stone-age, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>. -</p> -<p>Storm, an arctic, <a href="#pb94" class="pageref">94</a>, <a href="#pb95" class="pageref">95</a>. -</p> -<p>Strangers, treatment of, <a href="#pb46" class="pageref">46</a>, <a href="#pb161" class="pageref">161</a>. -</p> -<p>Suicide of the aged, <a href="#pb149" class="pageref">149</a>. -</p> -<p>Sukso or porch, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>. -</p> -<p>Summer, <a href="#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a>, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>. -</p> -<p>Superstitions, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>, <a href="#pb169" class="pageref">169</a>, <a href="#pb184" class="pageref">184</a>, <a href="#pb194" class="pageref">194</a>, <a href="#pb195" class="pageref">195</a>, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>, <a href="#pb230" class="pageref">230</a>, <a href="#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>. -</p> -<p>Supreme spirit, the, <a href="#pb206" class="pageref">206</a>. -</p> -<p>Surgery, amateur, <a href="#pb25" class="pageref">25</a>. -</p> -<p>— native, <a href="#pb224" class="pageref">224</a>. -</p> -<p>Syllabic characters, <a href="#pb175" class="pageref">175</a>, <a href="#pb176" class="pageref">176</a>, <a href="#pb178" class="pageref">178</a>. -</p> -<p>Tailor, an Eskimo, <a href="#pb110" class="pageref">110</a>. -</p> -<p>Tents, or tupiks, <a href="#pb72" class="pageref">72</a>, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>. -</p> -<p>Thread, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>, <a href="#pb114" class="pageref">114</a>. -</p> -<p>Tongak, or spirits, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>, <a href="#pb193" class="pageref">193</a>, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>, <a href="#pb252" class="pageref">252</a>. -</p> -<p>Toodlânak, story of, <a href="#pb105" class="pageref">105</a>, <a href="#pb106" class="pageref">106</a>. -</p> -<p>Tooneet or ancient inhabitants, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>, <a href="#pb65" class="pageref">65</a>, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>. -</p> -<p>Trapping, <a href="#pb261" class="pageref">261</a>–262. -</p> -<p>Travelling, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>, <a href="#pb163" class="pageref">163</a>, <a href="#pb239" class="pageref">239</a>. -</p> -<p>Trial, an Eskimo, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>. -</p> -<p>Tribal intercourse, <a href="#pb62" class="pageref">62</a>. -</p> -<p>— life, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a>, <a href="#pb170" class="pageref">170</a>. -</p> -<p>Tribes, disposition of, <a href="#pb62" class="pageref">62</a>. -</p> -<p>Tug of war, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>. -</p> -<p>Tupik, <a href="#pb72" class="pageref">72</a>, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb279">[<a href="#pb279">279</a>]</span> -</p> -<p>Umiaks or heavy boats, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>, <a href="#pb117" class="pageref">117</a>, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a>, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>. -</p> -<p>Unicorn, sea, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>. -</p> -<p>Unwritten law, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>. -</p> -<p>Villages, <a href="#pb72" class="pageref">72</a>, <a href="#pb83" class="pageref">83</a>. -</p> -<p>Voluntary starvation, <a href="#pb103" class="pageref">103</a>. -</p> -<p>Walrus, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>, <a href="#pb255" class="pageref">255</a>, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a>. -</p> -<p>Water, <a href="#pb98" class="pageref">98</a>. -</p> -<p>Weapons, <a href="#pb114" class="pageref">114</a>, <a href="#pb115" class="pageref">115</a>, <a href="#pb245" class="pageref">245</a>. -</p> -<p>Wedding party, an ill-fated, <a href="#pb164" class="pageref">164</a>. -</p> -<p>Whales, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>. -</p> -<p>Whale-bone sled, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>. -</p> -<p>Whalers, Scottish, <a href="#pb22" class="pageref">22</a>, <a href="#pb24" class="pageref">24</a>. -</p> -<p>Wick, lamp, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>. -</p> -<p>Windows, <a href="#pb79" class="pageref">79</a>. -</p> -<p>Winter, <a href="#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>, <a href="#pb46" class="pageref">46</a>. -</p> -<p>Winter-quarters, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>, <a href="#pb81" class="pageref">81</a>. -</p> -<p>Wolves, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>. -</p> -<p>— their hunting methods, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>. -</p> -<p>— attacks by, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>, <a href="#pb247" class="pageref">247</a>, <a href="#pb248" class="pageref">248</a>. -</p> -<p>Women, <a href="#pb67" class="pageref">67</a>, <a href="#pb81" class="pageref">81</a>, <a href="#pb89" class="pageref">89</a>, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>, <a href="#pb102" class="pageref">102</a>, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>, <a href="#pb160" class="pageref">160</a>. -</p> -<p>Writing, <a href="#pb175" class="pageref">175</a>. -</p> -<div class="div2 last-child section"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">FAUNA AND FLORA OF BAFFIN LAND.</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<div class="div3 section"> -<div class="divHead"> -<h4 class="main"><span class="sc">Fauna.</span></h4> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Bears, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb92" class="pageref">92</a>, <a href="#pb164" class="pageref">164</a>, <a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a>. -</p> -<p>Black fox, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>. -</p> -<p>Blue fox, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>. -</p> -<p>Bunting, snow, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Butterflies, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>. -</p> -<p>Deer, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>. -</p> -<p>Eagles, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Eider, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Foxes, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>, <a href="#pb93" class="pageref">93</a>. -</p> -<p>Gulls, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>, <a href="#pb263" class="pageref">263</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb280">[<a href="#pb280">280</a>]</span></p> -<p>Harlequins, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Hawks, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>King eider, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Lemming, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>, <a href="#pb83" class="pageref">83</a>. -</p> -<p>Mosquitoes, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Owls, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Petrels, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>. -</p> -<p>Pintail ducks, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Polar bears, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb92" class="pageref">92</a>, <a href="#pb164" class="pageref">164</a>, <a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a>. -</p> -<p>Ptarmigan, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Purple sandpiper, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Ravens, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>, <a href="#pb258" class="pageref">258</a>, <a href="#pb260" class="pageref">260</a>. -</p> -<p>Red fox, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>. -</p> -<p>Reindeer, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>. -</p> -<p>Seal, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>, <a href="#pb87" class="pageref">87</a>, <a href="#pb88" class="pageref">88</a>, <a href="#pb90" class="pageref">90</a>, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>, <a href="#pb255" class="pageref">255</a>. -</p> -<p>Skuas, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>. -</p> -<p>Snow mouse, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>, <a href="#pb83" class="pageref">83</a>. -</p> -<p>Snow bunting, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Swans, wild, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>White fox, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>. -</p> -<p>Wolves, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>, <a href="#pb248" class="pageref">248</a>. -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div3 last-child section"> -<div class="divHead"> -<h4 class="main"><span class="sc">Flora.</span></h4> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Bladder campion, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Blaeberry, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Buttercup, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Cotton-grass, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Moss, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>. -</p> -<p><i lang="la">Papaver radicatum</i>, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>. -</p> -<p>Potentilla, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Purple saxifrage, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>. -</p> -<p>Reindeer moss, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>. -</p> -<p>Rock-rose, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p><i lang="la">Saxifraga appositifolia</i>, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>. -</p> -<p>Scurvy grass, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Willow, arctic, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Yellow poppy, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>. -</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="transcriberNote"> -<h2 class="main">Colophon</h2> -<h3 class="main">Availability</h3> -<p class="first">This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project -Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at <a class="seclink xd31e44" title="External link" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/">www.gutenberg.org</a>. -</p> -<p>This eBook is produced by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at <a class="seclink xd31e44" title="External link" href="https://www.pgdp.net/">www.pgdp.net</a>. -</p> -<p>Scans of this book are available from the Internet Archive (copy <a id="xd31e54" href="#xd31e54ext">1</a>). -</p> -<h3 class="main">Metadata</h3> -<table class="colophonMetadata" summary="Metadata"> -<tr> -<td><b>Title:</b></td> -<td>Among unknown Eskimo</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Author:</b></td> -<td>Julian William Bilby (1871–1932)</td> -<td>Info <span class="externalUrl">https://viaf.org/viaf/7658160486160605180000/</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Photographer:</b></td> -<td>Archibald Lang Fleming (1883–1953)</td> -<td>Info <span class="externalUrl">https://viaf.org/viaf/26980504/</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>File generation date:</b></td> -<td>2022-05-26 14:37:59 UTC</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Language:</b></td> -<td>English</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Original publication date:</b></td> -<td>1923</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -</table> -<h3 class="main">Revision History</h3> -<ul> -<li>2022-05-24 Started. -</li> -</ul> -<h3 class="main">External References</h3> -<p>Project Gutenberg does not use active external links in its ebooks. -The following URLs are shown purely for information. If so desired, you can copy and -paste them into the address-bar of your browser. -</p> -<table class="externalReferenceTable"> -<tr> -<th>Page</th> -<th>URL</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><a class="pageref" id="xd31e54ext" href="#xd31e54">N.A.</a></td> -<td><span class="externalUrl">https://archive.org/details/amongunknowneski00bilb</span></td> -</tr> -</table> -<h3 class="main">Corrections</h3> -<p>The following corrections have been applied to the text:</p> -<table class="correctionTable" summary="Overview of corrections applied to the text."> -<tr> -<th>Page</th> -<th>Source</th> -<th>Correction</th> -<th>Edit distance</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e472">15</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Se l</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Seal</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e571">16</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Not in source</i>] -</td> -<td class="width40 bottom"><span class="sc">The Summer Tent or Tapik</span></td> -<td class="bottom">24</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e576">16</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Not in source</i>] -</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">208</td> -<td class="bottom">3</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e699">19</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">unsteped</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">unstepped</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e702">19</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">resteped</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">restepped</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e807">37</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Antartic</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Antarctic</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e818">39</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">peninusla</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">peninsula</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e919">49</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">sucsumbed</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">succumbed</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e936">50</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">vicinty</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">vicinity</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e962">52</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">creatures</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">creature</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e965">52</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">hybernates</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">hibernates</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1105">64</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Anga koeet</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Angakooeet</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1194">74</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">gossjpiun</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">gossypium</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1202">75</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">serveral</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">several</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1224">77</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">solidfied</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">solidified</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1263">80</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">igloes</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">igloos</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1266">80</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1269">80</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">iglo</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">igloo</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1579">110</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">manfacture</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">manufacture</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1594">111</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">remniscent</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">reminiscent</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1795">134</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">civilsation</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">civilisation</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1979">157</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">..</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">.</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2023">161</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3777">271</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Not in source</i>] -</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">.</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2047">164</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">befel</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">befell</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2197">168</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">anniversay</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">anniversary</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2248">171</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">grammer</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">grammar</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2276">175</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3082">246</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">similiar</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">similar</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2289">176</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">caligraphy</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">calligraphy</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2577">201</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Noonagecksaktok</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Noonageeksaktok</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2590">202</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">imbedded</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">embedded</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2724">210</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">altogther</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">altogether</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2777">215</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Not in source</i>] -</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">)</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2908">226</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">groud</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">ground</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2940">231</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">deliquent</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">delinquent</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2952">232</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">out</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">our</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3076">246</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">lauched</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">launched</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3094">248</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">bloodthristy</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">bloodthirsty</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3149">251</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">ammuntion</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">ammunition</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3212">256</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">lauches</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">launches</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3368">266</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Not in source</i>] -</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">”</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3404">267</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">=</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">. </td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3540">270</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">—</td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> </td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3925">272</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Civilization</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Civilisation</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4217">273</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Employes</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Employees</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4413">273</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Flemming</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Fleming</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -</table> -</div> -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG UNKNOWN ESKIMO ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these 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