124 Dr King on the Industrial Arts of the Esquimaux, 



two,* and even three, t circular openings, so as to hold two 

 or three men, in which instances a single, instead of the 

 usual double paddle is used ; and it is worthy of remark, that 

 Thorwold, who fell mortally wounded on the eastern coast 

 of Greenland, in 1003, whilst leading a most uncalled for and 

 brutal attack on this peacefnl nation, states that the boats 

 there held three persons. If this fashion was at the time 

 prevalent, which is likely from the psychological history 

 of the people, it was not so in 15764 Necessity frequently 

 obliges the Esquimaux to lash together various little scraps 

 of wood, ivory, and bone, for paddles,§ but v^^hen wood is at 

 hand they are well formed, and the broad blades neatly shod 

 with bone, to enable them to bear the concussion of the ice. 

 The oomiak, called baidar at Ochotsk and Kamtschatka, 

 is from 20 to 25 feet long, by 8 broad, and is capable of ac- 

 commodating twenty persons. At Hudson Straits and 

 Greenland it is navigated by women, and at the north-west 

 corner of America by men, the women occasionally assisting. 

 The one is of superior workmanship, and is propelled by men 

 with single paddles, the rowers facing the bow ; the other by 

 women with rudely shaped oars, resembling a spade at the 

 water end, the rowers facing the stern. These family boats 

 all agree in the general framework, and in being covered 

 with seal or walrus skin, but they vary in form. They are not 

 in use at Regent Inlet and Melville Peninsula. The oomiak 

 of Hudson Straits and Greenland is flat-sided and flat-bot- 

 tomed, about three feet high, and nearly square at the bow 

 and stern, and contains from five to six seats secured to the 

 gunwales by thongs, and that of the north-west coast is 

 sometimes pointed at the bow and stern, and at other times 

 at the bow only. The sail of the oomiak is what sailors call 

 lug-shaped, and is formed of walrus gut sewed together with 

 great neatness, in breadths of about four inches, and weighs 

 only three pounds and three quarters. The mast, which is 

 placed well forward, is made of wood, and has a very neatly 

 formed ivory sheave for the halyards to run on. Consider- 

 able taste and attention is bestowed on the bow and stern of 



* Cook. t Sauer. \ Parry. § Frobisher. 



