500 DR. KANE'S EXPEDITION. 



was something of the gourmet in their mode of assort- 

 ing their mouthfuls of beef and blubber Slices of each, 

 or rather strips, passed between the lips, either to- 

 gether or in strict alternation, and with a regularity of 

 sequence th.crt kept the molars well to their work. 



" They did not eat all at once, but each man when 

 and as often as the impulse prompted. Each slept after 

 eating, his raw chunk lying beside him on the buffalo- 

 skin ; and, as he woke, the first act was to eat, and the 

 next to sleep again. They did not lie down, but slum- 

 bered away in a sitting posture, with the head declined 

 upon the breast, some of them snoring famously. 



" In the morning they were anxious to go ; but I had 

 given orders to detain them for a parting interview with 

 myself. It resulted in a treaty, brief in its terms, that 

 it might be certainly remembered ; and mutually bene- 

 ficial, that it might possibly be kept. I tried to make 

 them understand what a powerful Prospero they had had 

 for a host, and how beneficent he would prove himself so 

 long as they did his bidding. And, as an earnest of my 

 favor, I bought all the walrus-meat they had to spare, 

 and four of their dogs ; enriching them, in return, with 

 needles and beads, and a treasure of old cask-staves." 



The flesh of the seal is eaten universally by the Danes 

 of Greenland, and is, at certain seasons, almost the 

 staple diet of the Esquimaux. These animals are shot 

 lying by their atliik or breathing-holes. Their eyes are 

 so congested by fhe glare of the sun in midsummer as 

 to render them more readily approachable. 



" On one occasion," says Dr. Kane, " while working 

 my way toward the Esquimaux huts, I saw a large Usuk 

 basking asleep upon the ice. Taking off my shoes, I 

 commenced a somewhat refrigerating process of stalk- 

 ing, lying upon my belly, and crawling along, step by 

 step, behind the little knobs of floe. At last, when I 



