﻿VILLAGES. 347 



then retreated into the 'Tinne lands, and fish can- 

 not at that season be procured in their waters ; life, 

 therefore, can only be maintained in an Eskimo 

 winter by stores provided in summer. 



In the country of the 'Tinne, on the contrary, 

 the winter fishery is productive, and animals are 

 by no means scarce at that season, but they require 

 to be followed in their movements by the hunter 

 and his family often to a great distance. In such a 

 case, any surplus of food that has been procured 

 must be placed en cache^ as the term is, where it is 

 exposed to the depredations of wolverenes, or the still 

 more irresistible attacks of their hungry fellow- 

 countrymen, who are wont to track up a successful 

 hunter in order to profit by his labours. The 

 'Tinne, therefore, have practically decided that 

 it is better for them to live profusely while they 

 have venison, and then to go in search of more. 

 Were they to be content with the product of their 

 fisheries, they might build villages, and live easily 

 and well, so productive are the boundless waters 

 of the north ; but they like variety of diet, and 

 prefer the chase, with the hazard of occasional 

 starvation which follows in its train. 



The villages of the Eskimos are, therefore, a 

 feature in their domestic economy in which they 

 differ wholly from their neighbours. The houses 

 are framed strongly of drift timber, are covered 



