30 BOWDOLN BOYS IN LABRADOR. 



the early Eskimo dined ; as well as remnants of all the imple- 

 ments which Eskimos used in the household generations ago, 

 and which can nearly all now be recognized by the almost iden- 

 tically shaped and made implements in the houses of Eskimos 

 there in Hopedale, so little do they change in the course of 

 centuries. The village has been completely deserted for over 

 one hundred years, and was in its prime centuries before that, 

 so the tales of its greatness are only dim Eskimo traditions. 



The houses were found to average about thirty-five feet across 

 on the inside ; are separated by a space of about fifteen feet, 

 and each had a long, narrow doorway or entrance, being almost 

 exactly in line. The walls are about fifteen feet thick and now 

 about five feet high, of earth, with the gravel beach for a foun- 

 dation. The inside of the wall was apparently lined with some- 

 thing resembling a wooden bench. When, in one of the houses, 

 the remains of the dirt and stone roof that had long since crushed 

 down the rotten poles and seal skins that made the framework 

 and first covering, had been carefully removed, the floor was 

 found to be laid with flagstones, many three or four feet across, 

 closely fitted at the edges and well laid in the gravel so as to 

 make a smooth, even floor. This extended to the remains of 

 the bench at the sides, and made a dwelling which for Eskimo 

 land must have been palatial. The evidences of fire showed the 

 hearth to have been near the center of the floor, a little towards 

 the entrance, in order to get the most from its heat. The Hope- 

 dale Eskimo were themselves surprised at the stone floor, but 

 one old man remembered that he had been told that such floors 

 were used long ago, in the palmier days of Eskimo history, if 

 such an expression is fitting for an arctic people. 



A village arranged on a similar plan, except that the houses 

 were joined together, was found to constitute the supposed 

 remains of a settlement on Eskimo Island in Lake Melville. 



In both cases the front of the row is towards the east, and the 

 houses are dug down to sand on the inside, making their floors 

 somewhat below the level of the ground. 



A more thorough investigation than we were able to make of 

 the remains at Eskimo Island would undoubtedly yield much of 



