CHAPTER III 



THE COLONY OF PROVEN. — THE KAYAK OF THE GREENLANDER. — SCARCITY 

 OF DOGS. — LIBERALITY OF THE CHIEF TRADER. — ARCTIC FLORA. 



We were escorted into the harbor of Proven by the 

 strangest fleet of boats and the strangest-looking boat- 

 men that ever convoyed a ship. They were the far- 

 famed kayakers of Greenland, and they deserve a 

 passing notice. 



The haijak of the Greenlander is the frailest speci- 

 men of marine architecture that ever carried human 

 freight. It is eighteen feet long and as many inches 

 wide at its middle, and tapers, with an upward curv- 

 ing line, to a point at either end. The skeleton of 

 the boat is made of light wood ; the covering is of 

 tanned seal-skin, sewed together by the native women 

 with sinew thread, and with a strength and dexterity 

 quite astonishing. Not a drop of water finds its way 

 through their seams, and the skin itself is perfectly 

 water-proof The boat is about nine inches deep, and 

 the top is covered like the bottom. There is no 

 opening into it except a round hole in the centre, 

 which admits the hunter as far as his hips. This 

 hole is surrounded with a wooden rim, over which the 

 kayaker laces the lower edge of his water-tight jacket, 

 and thus fastens himself in and keeps the water out. 

 He propels liimself with a single oar about six feet 

 long, which terminates in a blade or paddle at either 

 end. This instrument of locomotion is grasped in the 



