34 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



In late winter and spring, the Eskimo, for the most part, 

 leave the land and spread in small groups over the ice, 

 travelling by dog-sledges along the coast, and never re- 

 maining very long in one place. They live at this time 

 in snow houses, warmed by blubber lamps, and hunt seals, 

 chiefly by the " maupak " method — that is, the hunter sits 

 down by the side of an air-hole and waits till a seal comes 

 up to breathe, when he despatches it with a harpoon : as 

 the year advances, the " arpok " method is also used, the 

 seal in this case being killed as it lies basking at midday in 

 the sun. 



The dress of the Eskimo, which is much the same for the 

 women as the men, consists of short trousers and a tunic 

 ending above in a hood to cover the head. The trousers are 

 sometimes continued downwards into stocking feet. Of boots, 

 which are well made, they have a great variety, to be worn 

 according to the weather. Shoes with very ingeniously con- 

 trived soles are made for walking on the ice. Fur gloves or 

 mittens are also worn. An overall for use in wet weather is 

 made from the intestines of the seal. The intestine is thoroughly 

 cleaned, inflated with air, and hung up to dry. It is then 

 carefully flattened and rolled up tight, like a spool of ribbon. 

 When required for use it is slit up longitudinally, and makes 

 a strip about three to five inches wide. The margin is pared, 

 and several strips are sewn together into the desired form. 

 These overalls are extremely light, not above six or seven 

 ounces in weight. The transparency of the seal's gut renders 

 it useful for other purposes : it makes an excellent substitute 

 for glass as a window-pane. 



The Eskimo wear their dress only when out of doors ; in 

 their houses they go stark naked, and the first hospitality 

 offered to a visitor is an invitation to strip. 



Notwithstanding the hardships of the struggle which the Es- 

 kimo wage with reluctant Nature for their existence, they were 

 at one time by no means a miserable race ; they made them- 

 selves comfortable in a frozen region where other men would 

 have perished, took a health}- enjoyment in life, and were dis- 

 tinguished by many estimable domestic and social qualities. The 

 intrusion of the white man has brought with it its usual evil 

 blight — poverty, sickness, selfishness, and loss of self-respect. 

 It would be beyond our province to give instances, but one 



